forth fruit So this maiden Mother knew no man she did not conceive after the manner of women but by the power of the Holy Ghost The Holy Ghost shall over-shadow thee says Gabriel Bene dictum est obumbrabit says Gregory Vmbra enim a lumine formatur corpore i. e. A Deo Virgine The world is full of expression which says the Holy Ghost shall over-shadow her for a shadow is caused by the resplendency of Light and the opacity of a gross body standing between So Christ who is the shadow of our refuge under which we stand to couch our selves from the scorching anger of Gods wrath he was conceived in the womb of the blessed Virgin that was the body the Light of Heaven and the Holy Ghost reflecting upon it Verbum fuit pater ejus auditus mater says Fulgentius Upon the word of the Salutation of the Angel and by the Ear of Mary that heard the word between these two alone he was made man and they were unto him like as a Father and a Mother St. Austin says very sweetly that this admirable Creature Mary the Mother of our Lord is in this verse like unto the Church of Christ the Church is often called a Virgin the Virgin the Daughter of Sion I but since so many faithful Sons are born unto the Church by the Preaching of the Gospel how can they be the Sons of the Church or the Church their Mother if she be still a Virgin Very fitly and conveniently as he answers Virgo est parit Mariam imitatur quae Dominum peperit the Church is a Virgin and yet fruitful of Children for she is like the Mother of our Lord who was a Virgin Mother Why God did make this choice I mean why he chose this Blessed Virgin of the line of David to carry her own Redeemer and ours in her Womb before all the daughters of women ask in Gods name and seek the reason but let this be the ground upon which you build Sapientia aedificavit sibi domum Prov. 9.1 Wisdom did build her self an house God did befit himself with so clean a vessel as there was not a more heavenly creature upon earth neither since nor before her and such a Virgin was the purest casket which might be found wherein to lay up the gem of the world The very body of Christ without the soul was laid up in a tomb wherein never Corps were laid before in a new Tomb and reason good for though the soul was flitted away yet the union between the Body and the Divine Nature was not dissolved and therefore his Sepulchre was a new Sepulchre which was never seasoned with man before O then when the living Body and the Godhead were united into one person very meet and requisite it was that no Child should ever take up that Womb before the Son of God the son of a sinner was not first to possess that place which was ordained for the Son of God Moreover as the Woman Mary did bring forth the Son who bruised the Serpents head which brought sin into the world by the woman Eve so the Virgin Mary was the occasion of Grace as the Virgin Eve was the cause of Damnation Eve had not known Adam as yet when she was beguiled and seduced the man so Mary had not known Joseph Et illa peperit and she brought forth her first born Son And thus you see Sapientia adificavit sibi domum wisdom did build her self an house To make some use of this point unto our selves we see how well the Womb of the Virgin Mary did fit the Birth of Christ but will you know what manner of house wisdom doth build unto her self even unto this day Our Saviour was so well pleased with a Virgin-dwelling for once that ever since he loves to abide and dwell in a Virgin and unpolluted heart Cor simplex est cor Virgineum a plain dealing heart such a one as Jacobs was a charitable well-meaning heart is a single heart that hath no guile such a one is in travel with Christ Cor duplex est cor adulterum an hypocrites heart that hath two faces and speaks with two tongues he conceives mischief and brings forth ungodliness this is an adulterous heart and as concerning the heart of the hypocrite and malicious if any man say loe here is Christ or loe there is Christ believe them not Beloved you see how curiously every feathered Fowl makes a nest to lay her young one art and reason are not able to make such a work as the ingenuity of Nature doth wherefore let it not irk you once again to hearken how to prepare a nest wherein to lay your Saviour Grace is more choice and curious than either Art or Nature Still I am resolved it must be a Virgins breast that is fruitful to bring forth Christ but in my sense Zacheus was a Virgin and perchance living in the state of Wedlock Nay Mary Magdalen was a Virgin in this acception though sometimes a Sinner given to the flesh yet Anna the ancient Widow may pass for this Virgin without a Paradox For as a Virgin is at the dispose of her Father to be given and betrothed so is the virgin soul altogether into the will of God and surely in a sort Christ himself is there for it hath conceived by the Holy Ghost Nothing is wanting that this soul so formed into obedience should be answerable unto Mary but as we read of her it must be of the house and lineage of David Saint Chrysostom said of David's heart it was volumen charitatis a volume of love and charity always chanting and singing zeal and devotion to let your heart say according to the tune of his heart My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed I will sing and give praise as if it could not be removed from God nor God from it and then it is of the house and lineage of David I have said enough I think to shew what is in some competent sort proportionable in a good Christian to the virginity of Mary that his soul may be made fit to bring forth Christ St. Bernard calls me back a little Respexit Dominus humilitatem Mariae non virginitatem Mary confessed her self that God regarded her lowliness and not her virginity Et illa peperit and the lowly hand-maid brought forth the Babe of exceeding glory Hail thou that art highly favoured says the Angel yea but thrice hail thou that art lowly minded Etiam in coelo stare non potuit superba sublimitas if we will not beware of pride by the fall of men whose examples are often seen why take heed of it by the fall of Angels Heaven would not let pride be unpunished in Lucifer but threw it lower than the earth Christ would not let great humility be unrewarded in Mary but exalted it I may say above the heavens for so you shall perceive by the second part of my Text the strange
the word of men though they call themselves the Church for the children of men are deceitful upon the weights they are altogether lighter than vanity it self To draw this Doctrine streight and even upon the Text 1. Many will alledge Simeons example and say they could willingly die if they might see this or that come to pass Pray observe that such as these seldom or never see their desire come to pass because they fabricate vain hopes to themselves without the word of the Lord. 2. When that which they long'd for doth come to pass they are content to redeem it with any Physick or cost that they may not die for all their bragging like the woman in the Fable that was miserably poor and gathering sticks for her fire and herbs for her sustenance being vexed with extreme want she bursts out into this frowardness O that death would come to me Says the Fable death did come to her to know what she would have Help me up with my bundle of sticks says she I have nothing else to say to you But this is the sum of this point all our petitions are but avaritious craving or unchristian presumption unless we say Lord let it be according to thy word And now I shall end my Sermon in that point wherein Simeon desired to end his life it is the reason upon which he stood why he would depart because he had seen that which his soul waited for before it flitted away For mine eyes have seen thy salvation which is to this effect the Redeemer is come let my fetters therefore be broken off my joy is excessive and superlative this frail flesh cannot contain it The new Wine is poured in O let the old bottles break Thou hast granted me more than ever thou didst grant to any Prophet upon earth therefore exalt me to thy Saints in heaven For all the Prophets could get no more than this answer that a Virgin should conceive Immanuel that is God with us should be born and their posterity should not fail to behold him in after ages but says St. Paul all these died in Faith not having received the promises themselves but having seen them afar off Heb. xi 13. Now this Patriarch did far exceed all the Prophets that he saw the Messias with his own eyes and none other And mark the Pleonasmus not contented to have said I have seen thy salvation He doth denote the assurance of the act that he was not deceived hisce oculis vidi I have seen him with mine eyes it is the very Jesus that shall save the world I cannot be deluded as Vlysses speaks to Circe in Homer that she should re-transform his associates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 distinguishing true sight from phantastical Nicephorus a most corrupt Historian hath a tale by himself that Simeon was so far stricken in years that he had been long blind and as soon as ever this heavenly babe was brought near unto him he recovered his sight and therefore he magnifies God that his eyes were restored to see the object of all objects the blessed Child Incarnate and is it likely that St. Luke would have concealed such a miracle if it had been true and would God have let us receive it from so corrupt an hand as Nicephorus The Scripture says ver 27. of this Chapter He came by the Spirit into the Temple not that he was led like a blind man There are some conjectures that rove at random likewise by what means he should discern such Divine glory in our Saviour Admit there were other Infants presented in the Temple at the same time how did he perceive that this was the Son of the most high rather than any of the rest I find one Author shoot his bolt that a celestial splendor came down from Heaven and shone round about the Child I find another Author more superstitious than this that the Blessed Virgin was compast about with a cloud of glorious light in the place where she stood and so that honour should terminate it self upon her and not upon Christ This is to trifle in a most serious matter for certainly the suggestion of the Holy Ghost within him was enough to direct him without any external cognizance and therefore Nyssen says well Blessed were the eyes both of his soul and body his bodily eyes did see the happiest sight in heaven and earth but the eyes of his soul did respect that which is invisible His bodily eyes did see God made of a woman an object more beautiful and estimable then even Paradise it self when Adam saw it at the best Nay more beautiful than the whole Revelation which S. John saw in heaven excepting Christ himself whom he saw upon his throne Abraham would have given his portion in the promised land to have seen him David his Kingdom Solomon his revenews of Ophir and therefore no wonder if Simeon triumph in it that the eyes of his body had seen him But what the eyes of his soul did pierce into is magnum auctarium an huge addition They did see his salvation and salvation cannot be comprehended but by a lively and an effectual Faith They did see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cornu salutis as old Zachary calls it in whom God had reposed all the stock and treasure of salvation But why thy salvation and not rather ours had it not been more proper to say mine eyes have seen mine or our salvation There is no difference in effect one saying is as proper as the other salutare tuum for he is the Son of God the gift of God to us the holy One conceived by the Holy Ghost and in those notions Gods salvation as David says the Lord hath made known his salvation Psal xcviii 2. Again salutare nostrum for he came to redeem us and to give himself a ransom for us and so he is our salvation As if Simeon had said this is he after whom Jacobs heart panted Gen. xlix 18. I have waited for thy salvation O Lord. This is he of whom Isaiah foretold All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God chap. lii 10. He comes with much impotency and weakness to be presented in the Temple and to be redeemed after the custom of the Law with five shekels of silver but he will redeem us both from the bondage of the Law and from the bondage of sin with the five wounds of his body If such salvation as this were only to be glanced upon perfunctorily this sage Israelite would have been contented to have seen him and rested there but forasmuch as we must incorporate our Saviour in our souls and endeavour that there be a real union 'twixt Christ and us therefore in the verse before my Text Simeon took up our Saviour into his arms and St. John makes that a great mystery of his own and his brethrens happiness that their hands had handled the word of life Quod Simeon ulnis gestavit nos fide
worship the Lord there with pure and undefiled service he wandred away from this regal fortune to keep sheep in the Wilderness O most magnanimous servant of God that had rather keep sheep with a pure conscience than be a King among Idolaters for how much wiser is it to purchase eternal felicity with a little miserie than to heap up eternal miserie by enjoying a little felicity There are things to come far more precious than these which the tempter extols but alass he did offer nothing to speak of to countervail the loss of a soul when he mouthed these words as a donative which could not be refused all these things will I give thee Finally to go but one deliberation further though Satan was incredulous and would not be perswaded that Christ was the eternal Son of God consubstantial with the Father that had taken our flesh in the Virgins womb to redeem us yet he could not but observe how holy and zealous He was in all his waies endowed with sanctity beyond all the Prophets that ever liv'd therefore this Tentation must needs be ill placed and most unseasonable for God is all manner of riches to those that serve him unfeinedly and with an upright heart Plenitudo deliciarum sufficientia divitiarum Deus est no strong line but a sweet and most emphatical meditation of St. Austins Where God abides there goes with him the alacrity of all delight and the inheritance of all riches Where was St. Pauls Exchequer think you in what corner of the world did his rents lye that he wrote to the Philippians I have all and abound Philip iv 18. Satan cannot be so shameless to offer any thing to him that hath all already there 's work for an Auditor let him cast up those sums if he can and make them even 2 Cor. vi 10. as having nothing and yet possessing all things such Apostolical spirits those few that are measure themselves wealthy not by the weight of silver and gold but by the grace of God which inhabits in them and doth enable them to refuse more than Satan can pretend to give There was somewhat else which St. Peter lookt for that was not in the Inventory of all this baggage which the tempter would impart to Christ these are his words Lo we have left all and followed thee what shall we have Mark x. 28. this is odd you will say to leave all and then to fall a demanding and looking for more but first he lookt for the promise of the coming of the Holy Ghost which David pray'd for Encline my heart unto thy law and not to covetousness rather a dram of virtue than a talent of fortune Secondly he lookt for the glorification of body and soul where Satan shall no more stand at our right hand to tempt us where the spirit shall be ready and the flesh as willing to fall down and worship the Lord for evermore Amen THE SIXTEENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 9. All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me St. Luke more largely renders it thus chap. iv 6. All this power Will I give thee and the glory of them for that is deliver'd unto me and to whom soever I will give it if thou therefore Wilt Worship me all shall be thine YOU heard before what vast sums of wealth the great Prince of the riches of this World did commend out of his most abundant but deceitful liberality to our Saviour all these things will I give thee Solomon had a mighty Tribute 666 talents of gold yearly and silver as the stones of the street all his vessels were of pure gold silver was not anything accounted of in the daies of Solomon Yet the whole revenue of Solomon was but beggerie to those comings in which Satan promised in this place haec omnia whatsoever the globe of the earth conteins without exception or deduction But as if the Tempter would exceed himself and rise above all expectation his mouth speaks greater things by far in that which follows now to be handled than in those particulars which I opened before for he will engage to make our Saviour Lord of all the Kingdoms in the World all this power will I give thee and the glory of them he should have that into the bargain Pompey the great saith Livie made the Romans Lords of so much land by his successful victories that unless he had taken so many captives as he did the land could not have been till'd and occupied and again he made them Lords of so many captives that unless he had seiz'd upon so much land the captives could not have been received and harbour'd So the Devil offer'd our Saviour so much wealth that unless he had promis'd to give him all the honour of the world it could not have been spent and again he offer'd him so much honour that unless he had promised him all the wealth in the world it could not have been maintein'd But what will all this come to here 's a shower of wealth and glory pour'd down what thunderbolt comes after it timeo Daneos dona ferentes shut the gift out of doors till ye know the condition why it should be receiv'd a wise man will be as careful lest any thing should be basely given him as he will be circumspect that nothing be unjustly taken from him for many times the intent of pernicious liberality is to make a man incur the foulest sins in the world to avoid ingratitude The woman had a cup of gold in her hand but it was full of abomination Rev. 17.14 so the purpose of this great gift is to take the Devils Damm with a Dowry to be raised up on high above all the Dominions of the Earth ut lapsu graviore ruat then to fall down from that height and to commit Idolatry What were the several particulars which I charged upon the whole Text the last time it will be fit for me to repeat and for you to hear First wherein the forcible enticement of this last Tentation consists in giving a speeding word I told you and very provocative dabo I will give thee Secondly what and how much he would give and that 's twofold First as a Mammon of iniquity all riches and possessions that the eye could see and as a Lucifer of pride the power of all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them Thirdly he shews Christ his evidences quo jure by what right and authority he can make over all this unto him in those words for that is deliver'd unto me and to whomsoever I will give it Fourthly and lastly every bait hath his hook under it this promise hath a most impious condition annext unto it if Christ will fall down and worship him I have spoken of the former part of the gift which this insolent Braggart made ostentation to bestow he would put all the riches of the world into one donative
hypocrite I am perswaded in the world that thinks his soul blank and to have no spot upon it Every man must go a little further to try what opinion he hath of his own righteousness Is the rumour of War or the fear of Pestilence or the calamity of a Famine in the Land This is a case to prove an humble Consessionary For if your heart smite you as if you knew enough by your self to provoke all that vengeance it is well you have made a strict examination But if you look about you to see who should blush first and take it to himself you are not in good terms with God and a good Conscience Behold what St. Peter preacheth the Heavens and the Earth are reserved for fire against the day of judgment Will an humble sinner lay his head upon his Pillow with the Prophet Jonas And suffer the rest of the Passengers to cast lots upon the trial and find him out that hath offended A true Disciple hath learnt that his wantonness hath subjected every Creature to vanity so that they must be purged by the fire of God Such a one will strive to put out the flame with tears of contrition which he and his Concupiscence have kindled in heaven and earth Finally you cannot be ignorant that there was Copiosa redemptio plenteous redemption in our Saviours Sufferings enough and to spare a man would thinks Suppose that fewer stripes had been laid upon his back fewer buffetings given him on the face fewer thorns platted upon his head I say had all this been spared but his death upon the Cross had not our ransom been sufficiently discharged O but perswade your Consciences every man in particular I beseech you that the overplus was paid for you and that your Bond must be cancelled out of the superfluity of his sufferings Bonarum mentium est ibi culpam agnoscere ubi culpa non est There is no hurt in that He that doth not look upon his own sins with that detestation that he would look upon those that multiplied ignominy upon Christ he hath wash'd his hands in Pilates Bason Now I proceed to shew what crime it is which Pilate would so much abandon it is the crying sin of Murder Innocens sanguinis I am innocent of bloud a fault which God would not pardon in Cain though he were the first-born in the Generations of men In the sin of bloud Jehoiada the Priest would not spare Athaliah the Mother of the King David would not spare it in Joab the Captain of his Host Jacob would not forgive it in his own Sons Simeon and Levy but did revile them in his blessing A fault which St. Austin looking upon the bare story doth tax in Moses for killing the Egyptian but St. Stephen defends him Acts vii that it was a courage inspired from God The life of any thing that bears Gods Image is to be gently handled For if the body be the Temple of the Holy Ghost then our soul is the Priest and to cast the Priest out of the Temple it is not only violence but profanation But above all the Heathen men were so tender to confess that bloud-guiltiness could obtain pardon that Socrates in Phaedon tells it upon his knowledge Animam quae caede alicujus polluta est fugit quisque though a murderous man upon better behaviour were admitted to the Elysian joys yet he lived solitary by himself and was quite abandoned The Philosopher Aristotle speaking what things those were which were not Enthymems for an Orator that is no fit subjects for a probable Argument excepts nothing but committing of murder for no Rhetorick can ever make so foul a sin to be plausible How God himself hath accustomed man for meekness and not for cruelty I will give you a short survey out of the holy Scripture before the Flood we had no food but herbs and fruits no blood was lawfully spilt that we read of for 1600 years except it were for sacrifice When flesh was allowed to our Table for after the Floud the green herb and the trees afforded not such nourishment as they had done before to eat with the blood from the Law until Christ was meat unhallowed Nay the Churches of the Gentiles were held unto that Ceremony by the Apostles Acts xv and long after the Apostles no man did eat either blood or strangled Gregory could say in his time Non diu est ex quo Christiani suffocatum aut sanguinem comederunt it was but yesterday in his time since that strict observation was cancelled and I hope we can all collect that if it was unlawful for the mouth to taste blood it was more execrable for the hand to spill it or for the heart to thirst for it When Lepers and blind men when sick folks that had Fevers nay when such as had Devils came to Christ he put forth his hand and toucht them and they were healed but the woman that had the bloody Issue put her own finger upon his Garment and our Saviour laid not his hand upon her Disease alone because it was an Issue of blood Now shame be it unto Christians to fall into deadly quarrels upon terms of Honour and count it reputation to shed blood when Pilat had the conscience to shun the infamy Surely he that thinks it a disparagement to receive the lye did never scan what Honour was unless he think it a far greater infamy to be a wilful Murderer Seneca gives it as a Character of the most pure and harmless Age of the World that there was no single Combats fought in fury no bloody Wars of seditious Princes odium omne in feras verterant all that they killed it was in hunting and having spent their anger upon their Game they were satisfied But no cruelty hath more offended the Church in all Seasons than exposings of mens lives to death in Sports and Recreations the adventuring of their young Champions to encounter wild Beasts to propound reward unto their Sword-players to kill each other upon their Theatres it could not but be a great eye-sore to all Christians that knew how precious every life was unto God for which the Son of God did pay his life Homo occiditur in hominis voluptatem scelus non tantum geritur sed docetur quid potest inhumanius quid acerbius dici they are the words of St. Cyprian A pleasure it is unto you barbarous Nations to see a mans throat cut with skill and dexterity you have Masters to teach it Schools to practise it and which is worst of all eyes which do not weep but smile to behold it But for your part Beloved enlarge your bowels with clemency and compassion as I would love to do good offices in Christian burial much the better for Josephs sake that took my Saviour from the Cross and laid him in his own Tomb so I would hate a bloody mind much the more for their sakes who did scourge and pierce his body Upon that
the name of the whole Congregation to offer up two Lambs of the first year for a Sacrifice of Peace-offerings You will say that 's no strange matter to present a Peace-offering to the Lord true indeed particular persons did it often in their own behalf but Maimonides observes it that the publick Body the Vniversal Church of the Jews never offered any Peace-offering but at the Feast of Pentecost O who will work this work for the Militant Catholique Church that we may say of all the parts of it omnes unanimiter they conclude all for the Orthodox Faith with one accord Some strange salvation must drop out of the clouds we know not how to work this Attonement yet on both sides let every man take heed he make not the rent bigger with more obstinacy and greater separation sweetly did a meek Moses of our own Church write there will come a time when three words uttered with charity and meekness shall receive a far more blessed reward than three thousand Volumes written with disdainful sharpness of wit It may seem a wonderful and unanswerable scruple that many in the former Ages of the Church did so much transcend us in these dayes for gifts of Miracles gifts of Devotion and Learning for Watchings and Fastings for Industry and assiduous diligence for most prosperous success in winning many Souls to the Kingdom of Heaven but the true cause is that their unanimity and pious agreement opened a wide gate to admit sanctification into their breast and our discords exclude it No spirit can give life to Members dismembred unless they be first united and compact together Ezekiel knew not how scattered bones could live but the bones came together bone to his bone and then the breath of the Lord came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet Ezekiel xxxvii 10. The Scribes and Elders of the Jews in few years after our Saviour was crucified were like broken bones scattered and divided like as one breaketh and heweth wood every year by bribery or calumniations the High Priest lost his dignity and a new one was substituted Josephus most impartially hath related that there was no care of Religion no zeal for the Law among them because there was nothing but bandings and factions in their Synagogues Here was no accord and therefore no Holy Spirit came down into their habitations Against the Congregation of the famous first Nicene Council the Fathers that met together it is not to be concealed forgat themselves so far that they put up innumerous Bills of complaints one against another before the Emperor Constantine The Emperor knew this was a most repugnant beginning to the good work they had in hand to enter into the consideration of Christs business with distracted enmities therefore he threw all their bills and brables into the fire and then bad them proceed in the name of Christ and in the grace of his Holy Spirit Their heart is divided now shall they be found faulty says the Prophet Hosea chap. x. 2. A contentious stickler that loves to be the head of a Faction and to disjoynt things out of peace and quietness I wonder whether ever he thinks how the Apostles were composed and prepared when they received the Holy Ghost Fuerunt omnes eâdem animatione simul in unam so St. Austin reads they had one heart and one mind and one inclination to advance the Kingdom of Christ they were all with one accord in one place I enter now upon the last part of all that I may find the way out of my Text and conclude it is the other Preparation for the coming of the Holy Ghost as all the Disciples were knit in vinculo pacis in the bond of peace and concord so they were united together in vinculo spei in the bond of hope by patience and expectation they were ejusdem unanimitatis and ejusdem longanimitatis they kept together for the promise of the Holy Ghost till fifty days were fulfilled God made the Israelites number fifty days after their coming out of Egypt before the Law was delivered ut adventus sui desiderium accenderet to make their hearts burn within them with longing for his coming so he put off the coming of the Holy Ghost for the same space of time to make them think of his promise with eager expectation The Jews called it the Feast of fifty days and the Feast of weeks for whether we reckon by days or weeks or years we must wait the Lords leisure and say expectans expectavi Psal xl 1. I have waited patiently for the Lord and say with our Saviour not my will but thy will be done that is not my time but thy time be fulfilled Where is the faith where is the humility of those rash spirits that will not tarry the fulness of time but have all things at their whistle by and by or quarrel with God as if he had forgot them They received this blessing of wonderful grace that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 long abiders in the 13. verse of the former chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or perseverantes ver 14. such as continue till the day of promise was fully come He that believeth let him not make haste says the Prophet Isaiah God will do all things by his own leisure and maturity if he happen to stay stay for him Habak ii 3. for at last he that cometh will come and then he is no flitter his gifts are without repentance and he will abide with us for ever AMEN THE SECOND SERMON UPON THE Descent of the Holy Ghost ACTS ii 2. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and filled all the house where they were sitting THE Feast of Christs Resurrection and the Feast of Whitsunday or coming of the Holy Ghost are distant one from another fifty days in space of time but are as near to themselves as the bark unto the tree in real substance and in spiritual conjunction In the Resurrection the strength of Hell was weakened for us In the descending of the Holy Ghost the vertue of Heaven was made powerful in us In the first the doors of the Grave were unlock'd that we might not be held in death In the other the windows of heaven were opened that we might be partakers of the life to come The Resurrection reduceth the soul into the body again which was dissolved by the sin of Adam The coming of the Holy Ghost doth again reduce grace into the Soul when original Justice had been taken from it by the same mans transgression These are parallell'd in primo gradu and the comparison may reach a little further to our present business that there was a great noise caused at Christs rising For behold there was an Earthquake Mat. xxviii 2. And loe as great a noise from above at the coming of the Holy Ghost for behold there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind These two honourable Feasts
dead works were not quickned by grace better it might be for us that we had never been born therefore the life of Sanctification was begun in the Church as it were with a gentle gust of wind when Christ breathed on his own and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost So you see this outward sign of insufflation was constantly used at our Creation at our Resurrection at our Sanctification to shew how it is the same God that worketh all in all Yet St. Ambrose comes in with a third Meditation upon it Says he God did give man a living soul at first by breathing or inspiration to let him see he did not only give him a temporal or carnal vivification but grace and sanctity to live for ever But when man had lost this primitive grace and original righteousness it was fit to let us know that such losses could be repaired by none but Christ therefore Christ breathed again upon man to demonstrate that he was the restorer of those immortal blessings which exceed our merits and pass all understanding But when Christ was ascended up on high the Spirit could not be infused immediately from the breath of his mouth but in Analogy to it it came into the place where the Apostles were gathered together like the murmuring wind or the breath of heaven As Solomon fore-told it in his Poetical Ode Cant. iv 16. Awake O North wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out And here again I shall pass through some humane Comparisons to the illustration of most divine Mysteries First of all Elementary Creatures the Wind is the most active thing in the world nothing so quick and active as it Vsque adeo agit ut nisi agat non sit when it is not active it is not at all no stirring of the air no wind So it is with the Spirit of faith and love the very being of it consists in being operative What shall I do to inherit eternal life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostome it impels the heart to be never out of motion in some spiritual exercise Either the Tongue is praying or the Ear is hearing or the Heart is meditating or the Hand is giving or the Soul is thirsting for remission of sins When the Spirit beats not in the Pulses there is no spirit in the body it is a dead Carkass and in whomsoever there is a cessation from all good works you may say it justly that there the Holy Ghost is extinguished there is no difference between a standing Puddle and a dead Sea And cozen not your selves with a vain confidence that albeit you be altogether barren and unprofitable no fruit of Sanctification budding from you yet Semen Dei manet the sap may be in the root the vertue in the Seed-corn though it do not put out These may-bees are pitiful Anchors of hope and miserable comforters Will you say the wind is up when there is a still Serena no puff of air moving Then think as little that God dwells in that brest where there are no tokens of Sanctification Secondly I have it from St. Austin Flatus ille à carnali palea corda mundabit The Wind is the advantage of the Husbandman to winnow Chaff from Wheat and where the Spirit blows upon the conscience it will purge it from all dead works The cares of this world the thought of getting Riches anxieties for honours and advancements these overspread the life of a natural man left to the ways of carnal reason but as soon as ever we begin to sift and discuss these cogitations by the doctrine of the Spirit they vanish and disperse Tradam protervis in mare Creticum portare ventis they are light and empty of true goodness and so are blown away to the Father of errors and delusions to the Devil himself from whence they came Thirdly Says St. Chrysostome Suppose a Ship be well appointed with Pilot Mariners Sails Cables Anchors and all convenient appurtenances to what use will all this serve if the winds stir not So let there be profound Judgment quick Invention neat Eloquence and all the graces of Art in a man these will not bring a man one whit onward in his Voyage to the haven of happiness to the kingdom of glory unless the sweet gales of the Spirit carry him forward those are the wings of the Dove upon which the Soul shall fly away and be at rest Another Author taken for St. Chrysostome writing upon St. Matthew composeth it thus As the ground doth not fructifie by rain alone but there is a prolificous vertue in the winds which blows upon the fields and makes the Spring to sprout So it is not our Doctrine alone which converts your Souls though it distill like the soft drops of rain upon the earth but benediction of inward grace that goes with the word breaths salvation upon our heart The Letter may kill but the Spirit quickneth and in our Evangelical Priesthood we are Ministers not of the Letter alone but of the Spirit also Qui instat praecepto praecurrit auxilio the words of Leo which I take to be solid truth in this Point when God presseth us with the outward instruction of his Word He impresseth the secret operation of his Spirit to make it fructifie And now to come to another portion of the Text it agrees very accurately with the nature of that supernal gift which God infuseth into his Saints that the Spirit came with a sudden flaw of wind And I am very willing to make that collection of it which divers have done before me Datur haec gratia ex improviso sine meritis Grace is a blessing that comes unlook'd for unawares nay it is impossible for an unconverted man to say now I am prepared for it now I expect it now my heart is ready to receive it for there is no good preparation for grace in the soul of man till some portion of it have entred before Natural dispositions cannot attain to bring in supernatural grace Therefore the first influx and admission of it must needs be sudden and unawares As you can make no rules for the Wind why it should blow South to day and North to morrow why from this Point of heaven at such a season rather than from another So there is no aim to be taken how this or that man was first partaker of the heavenly light which is thus couched in our Saviours words The kingdom of God cometh not with observation neither shall they say loe here or loe there for the Kingdom of God is within you Luk. xvii 20. For what observation can we make or through what tokens can we collect that God will begin to draw a sinner unto him Will you say he lives justly and chastely If they were Christian justice and chastity the seed of the Spirit was in his heart before If they be but moral conformities he is still the
says St. Hierom that is if the Wolf come near the Sheepfold he must not only be threatned with the Staff but the Dogs must bark at him likewise and then he will leave his Prey and take him to his heels St. Austin presseth the same Doctrin out of St. Paul Ephes iv 11. He gave some Apostles and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers Says he I collect from hence that every Pastor that is every Bishop must be a Teacher for it is not said he gave some Pastors and some Teachers as it went before some Apostles and some Prophets but Pastors and Teachers are put together without a distinctive member ut intelligerent Pastores ad officium suum pertinere doctrinam that Pastors may know how teaching is included in their duty and cannot be separated from it This then was the principal intent of giving the tongue at the Feast of Whitsuntide as it is Isa l. 4 The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season First then negligent silence in Pastors is a stifling the grace of God Quantùm vitae merito aedificat tantùm destruit silentio Secondly affected silence is affronting the grace of God as those Orders of Friars that bind themselves by vow and institution of life not to utter a word excepting one day or it may be one hour in the week sometimes not so often Agatho the Anchorite is commended in the lives of the Fathers that he never spake what is this but as it were to advow not to receive the benediction of the Holy Ghost Finally to be preproperous and over-hasty to teach the Gospel is to prevent the Spirit or rather not to wait for the grace of God For Christ had first rooted the knowledge of the Word and Scripture in the Apostles and then endued them with a tongue but they that start up Teachers before they be grounded in the Word speak with their own tongue before they have received the tongue of the Holy Ghost But the tongue supplies another office in nature and that 's to taste The ear trieth words as the mouth tasteth meats Job xxxiv 3. so the Spirit makes us feel and know the good things of God that are in us even as the tongue makes us relish that which is sweet upon the palat and will be delectable for nourishment Nay we do not only taste the things of heaven slightly and as we say upon the tip of the tongue but the same Spirit makes us to ruminate upon them and chew the cudd my heart is always musing of thy testimonies says David O 't is a comfortable thing to have a tast of Heaven in our Soul to have some persuasive Experiment that the Holy Ghost dwelleth in us especially to have it proceed to that most pleasing Sapor when the Spirit shall testifie to our Spirit that we are the Sons of God but in all that are meetly disposed to Eternal Life there is some perceivance in others more in others less there 's some Tast some Consolation that Christ is in them and works in them by Faith and Love and the more you tast it the more sweetness you shall find to breed an Appetite The Natural Man perceives not the things that are of God he counts the Doctrin of Christ and him crucified to be Madness and Foolishness he thinks they that kill his Apostles do God good service he puts bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Isa 5.20 there 's all the Tast that he hath he wants a Tongue to dijudicate of the Manna that comes from Heaven which no man knows but he that receiveth it Rev. ii 17. He to whom it is given to know what is the height bredth and depth of the Love of our Lord Jesus and his Redemption he accepts of all things in a diverse manner from him to whom the mind of the Lord is not revealed he interprets the Poverty of Christ to be the Riches of the World his Ignominy to be the Triumph of the Saints Tribulation for the truth is a Refreshing to his body Mortification and pious Sorrow a dainty Lenitive to his soul he receives the Doctrin of our Ministry not as the Word of Man but as it is indeed the Word of God he cannot but speak the Truth though his life ly at the stake for it negare Dei verbum non valeo quia spiritus sancti linguam habeo it is Gregories I cannot deny the word of God because the Holy Ghost hath given me a tongue to speak it To conclude this point no man can have a smack of the Kingdom of Heaven but through the rellish of this tongue no man can say that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. xii 3. as we are born children of wrath in our unregenerate estate we have bitterness in our throat and the poison of Asps under our lips how can we savour the things that are of God but the Spirit makes us a new creature and takes away all this sourness and ill relished acrimony and then his fruit will be sweet unto our mouth Cantic ii 3. Having delivered unto you the substance of this Vision which is a tongue it follows to speak of the Figure and Form of it It was cloven that 's truly called the Figure and like as of fire that 's truly called the Form A Tongue was a Commission and an enabling of the Apostles to preach but a Cloven Tongue was their hability to preach unto many The Syrian language was all that they could speak before and in that they faultered too and mouthed it rudely and unelegantly a silly Damosel quipt even St. Peter with it Thou art a Galilaean and thy speech betrayeth yet such a tongue as it was they were unlettered men and could speak no more all the world beside were Barbarians to them and they Barbarians to all the world But the Lord knew that they had need of many tongues to pay that great debt which they owed his Church ite praedicate universae creaturae go and teach all Nations from Jerusalem and Samaria even unto the ends of the world I would a little satisfie my Auditors before I go any further that would know how the tongues did resemble a cloven figure that sat upon the Apostles If you look upon such types of it as Picture-drawers have framed remember that there is no heed to be given to their Pencil for they will extremely abuse your ignorance they usually represent the Apparition as if every Apostle and the Blessed Virgin sitting in the midst of them had a little lamp of fire like the flame of a small Torchet blazing upon their head and so would thrust this belief upon the rash gazer that God sent down a shew of many firy tongues into the place where this holy Society was gathered together and that there was singularis flammula a little flame proportioned somewhat like a Tongue sitting
these persons and to this season not to these persons for it is most likely that none but the Apostles were partakers of the Divine illumination which came from Heaven upon this day and the Apostles no man calls it in question had the talents of that grace delivered unto them which saved their souls Ir is a masterless and a false fame that any castaways were in the number of these that were filled with the Holy Ghost Christ himself is said to be full of the Holy Ghost Luke iv 1. and the Blessed Virgin gratiâplena full of grace and St. Stephen the Captain of all Martyrs full of the Holy Ghost Acts vi and Barnabas the Son of Consolation full of the Holy Ghost Acts xi None but such as were peerless Saints are deigned with that praise to give this scruple a full satisfaction regard the time and season wherein this dew of heaven did drop down into the Fleece of wooll it is the day so long before promised wherein the Spirit should be poured out upon all flesh the scaturigo the first spouting out of the Spirit and do you think that this being the original from whence the spring began that all the best Balsams and Liquors did not flow into them that received it I resolved therefore that these persons in my Text did not only partake such gifts as made them wonderful in the eyes of the world but such also as made them holy and acceptable in the sight of God that is it did not only speak in their tongues but it was diffused in their hearts To end this matter remember what manner of spirit that is which God bestows it is from above it is holy it is not our own but Christs a Spirit from above and not from beneath as St. Paul says Now we have received not the spirit of this world but of God 1 Cor. ii 12. Spiritus mundi est per quem arripiuntur phanatici says St. Ambrose that 's the spirit of this world with which phanatical men are led which drives them into contention or vain glory but they are enemies to peace and savour not the things which belong to God And since we are bidden to deny our selves if we will be Christs Disciples we must also deny our own private Spirit and submit our selves to the Spirit of the Church which is the Spirit of God for our Saviour hath promised to be with it unto the end of the world Take heed of this hot windy humour which makes some cleave pertinaciously to their own imagination and attribute far more to their own ignorant judgment than becomes them The Spirit of the Prophets is subject to the Prophets but if any one think that some new mysteries are revealed to him which the Church never heard of before and begin to trouble our peace with his falsesly pretended raptures and enthusiasms I say unto such in Ezekiels words Woe unto the foolish Prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing Thus far I have spoken of the Gift which was given to the Apostles to supply the room of Christ himself now he was gone and ascended into Heaven Hominem portavit in coelum Deum misit in terram says St. Austin he carried away his Manhood into Heaven and instead thereof he sent down God unto the Earth I mean the Holy Ghost and this Gift more worth than all the world beside is his usual and continual favour but the measure of it is more than ordinary repleti sunt omnes they were all filled with the Holy Ghost And Leo did very well to mark it that this was not spiritus inchoans but cumulans not the initiation but the accumulation of the Spirit the augmenting of the old stock which the Apostles had in a good quantity before not the beginning of a new They had the Spirit before as appears particularly in St. Peter when Christ told him he had prayed that his faith might not fail therefore he had a portion of faith In general it is most manifest that Christ breathed on them all and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost But as it appears by Elisha's request to his Master Elias there are single and there are double Portions of the Spirit there is a single Talent of Grace given to one Servant two to a second and five Talents committed to him that was most entrusted by his Master there are such as have a little of this Manna in their Omer and them that have it top full And these that received the Holy Ghost at this Feast were such as were not sprinkled but replenished with it quibus nulla pars animae mansit carens spiritu sancto says Cajetan the fruits of sanctification did not grow thinly in them here a berry and there a berry upon the top of a bough but pious conformity to Gods will obedience and the fear of the Lord were in every faculty of their soul and body The Romanists oftentimes put in such impertinent cautions that their bedging in of some needless exception lays waste the truth of God Among others of that bad stamp this is one that the Apostles and other holy men are said to be filled at this time with the Holy Ghost because an Increase was put to that which they had before but the Blessed Virgin was so full before that she received not any new addition or if she received a new distillation of it now illud erat ut in nos tantum effunderet says Lorinus it was for our sakes that it might overflow and be transfused from her to us even as Christ was full of grace and truth from the first moment that he was incarnate and yet for our sakes the Spirit came upon him when he was baptized in Jordan Matth. iii. a most scandalous comparison between the Infinite and the Finite between the Creator and the Creature for though Christ thought it no robbery to be equall with God Philip. ii yet it is a great robbery of the Divine honor to make the Blessed Virgin equal with Christ But to keep to mine own work the Apostles had an earnest penny of the Spirit before but they came to the fulness of it by degrees first they were baptized and so had an introduction unto sanctity afterward Christ breathed on them that was their proficiency last of all came this mighty rushing and cloven tongues as it were fire and sat upon each of them that 's their perfection by nature and of themselves they were of the earth earthly but they were regenerate and born again in Baptism that 's an Element above the Earth The next step of their heavenly promotion was that the Lord breathed on them so the Air is above the Water In conclusion the Holy Ghost came down upon them in fire this is a sign that they were now full to the brim for that 's the Element which is above the Water and the Air and is the next to Heaven And well may it be called a
mans excogitation is frivolous Indeed Ceremonies for the most part are unprescribed that particular Churches may be their own carvers in them only let them beware that they use their liberty discreetly But the offering of burnt Sacrifices is a matter of substance how came this into Noahs heart to do it By divine information certainly At some time about the beginning of time God did appoint a form of Religion to Adam and his Posterity which in the Breviary of the Book of Genesis is omitted which Lesson was read to Cain and Abel from whom they undertook the solemnity of Sacrifice and the Candle was lighted from hand to hand till the Tradition came safe to Noah Or thus very briefly Which God did deliver to Adam which Adam did commit ro Jared he to Methusalem which Methusalem did commend to Noah Never imagine that they were appointed precisely about the food of their body that is in the Letter of the Book and no instruction delivered for the food of their Soul That were such an omission that the worst Lawgiver would prevent much more the wisest The Lord did set his holy Patriarchs in order from succession to succession till the Law was written to communicate true Religion And it is St. Hieroms rule Omne verum à quocunque dicitur à spiritu sancto est Every mouth that speaks truth speaks it from the Holy Ghost From Abel downward all those whose Oblations had a sweet savour offered by Faith if by Faith then by Precept and Instruction for Faith comes by hearing Rom. x. 17. Sacrifice then was that Divine Worship which God revealed did please him that was the general approbation I do not say that every time they kept that duty they had need of a new and a special Commission St. Ambrose says that Noah did this good work of his own genius and not by any new particular Commandment Qui debitum gratiae ut à se exigatur expectat ingratus est A man must not stay after he hath received a benefit till God say unto him thank me now for such thankfulness were ingratitude Yet St. Ambrose hath far more voices against him than of his part that this holy Father had special directions for the solemnizing this Sacrifice and that expresly it was revealed unto him upon the taking in of seven of the clean beasts into the Ark Gen. vii 2. Of clean beasts by sevens that three Pairs were for propagation and the single odd one the seventh of clean Beasts and clean Fowls the celebs animal the pure Creature which mixt with no female was to be dedicated in an whole burnt-offering to the Lord. And then this example will so little favour Will-worship that it utterly beats it down the invention of man had so little hand in it that it was Scientia à Deo indita an inspiration immediately put into the Prophet by the will of God The reason why the bloud of Beasts was poured out to the Lord and well accepted of him will be ripe to be rendred by and by when I have first shewn in a word that Religion did never discord from it self by mutation of times The Saints in all Ages had the same Faith the same Worship the same Hope and expectation Pietas ante legem in lege post legem piissime sibi concordat Piety in the Law before the Law and since the Law is constantly the same and did never vary Mark therefore from this Text that the Levitical Ordinances of Moses in many things are but a renovation and amplification of Ceremonial Customs before the Law I said in many things that I might not fall into the same error with them who have overlasht that all the Ceremonial Law was in use and practice with the Patriarchs and that Moses did but compile and gather it up into a body If these men had been askt where they did read of the Levites and all the ritual Orders of the Priesthood before Moses where concerning the trial of Leprosie of Jealousie and an hundred things more I know they must be gravell'd and could not answer Nay in the next Chapter and the third verse says the Lord to Noah Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you but many living things were prohibited to the Jews in the Law of Ordinances that they should not eat them But this ground I know cannot be shaken that many parts of the Ceremonial Law had clear passage in the Church presently after the Floud long before they came forth in Moses name And the whole Moral Law was acknowledged to be just and righteous even from the beginning of the world Sacrifices Altars distinction of clean from unclean abstaining from bloud and things strangled Vows the Brother to raise up seed unto the Brother that died without Issue these are all purely Ceremonial and yet in practice before ever Jacob went down into Egypt and that was 210 years before ever the Levitical Institutions were enacted And that all the Ten Commandments were ingrafted in the good seeds of nature there are such evident examples for them in all the book of Genesis that it will be less tedious for you to ruminate upon them than for me to remember them But as a Book which is ill set forth or rare to be had is sometimes reprinted again in a good Edition by them that are careful to propagate Learning So those things Moral and Ceremonial which were in use before were revived again when the Law was committed to Writing and called the Scripture partly because the Age of man grew short and the Tradition of Religion through the more hands it went was the more corrupted and because the Devil did superseminare in corde scatter so many Tares among the Wheat that the pure Law was scarce to be found in mans heart and partly men were grown so guilty of the Law that they would not look into their own hearts where they found thoughts accusing them Facti sunt fugitivi à cordibus suis says St. Austin they shunned to look into their own knowledge and conscience which did condemn them therefore it was necessary to have the Law written that it might come unto men since men did run from it But the effects and grounds both of Ceremonial Sacrifices and Moral Precepts were in force from the beginning And we may say with Solomon There is no new thing under the Sun that which is called new hath been already of old time which was before us Eccles i. 10. And because all things which are written are written for our instruction I will spare some time to shew that it concerns us even after the cessation of all Sacrifice to learn why the Lord would be honoured with the bloud of beasts and with the fat of Sacrifices One of the best and choicest of the Fathers thought it such a gross kind of serving of God to kill Oxen and Sheep and throw their flesh into the fire such a tyrannizing over the
roved at random so I would not put it upon Philosophical Inquisition how she became a Pillar of Salt He that wrote of the marvelous works of God that occur in Scripture and calls himself St. Austin bids it be observed that there is an hidden vein of salt in every mans body as appears by the tears in our eyes and the rheum in our mouth and that this salt Spring did overflow all the body in an instant as God commanded and turned the whole substance into its own malignity Aben Ezra the Rabbine says that she felt part of the punishment of Sodom for as it is Deut. xxix 23. The whole Land is brimstone and salt and burning So that the fire that came down from God upon those Cities had salt and sulphur in it and she was scorched with those salt sulphurious flames and made a Pillar of salt Not incinerated as the word is as if a sudden flash of fire had wasted her into small corns of salt as into ashes for then the translation should have been not statua but cumulus not a Pillar but an heap of salt and so indeed it was translated before St. Hieroms time but when he visited the Holy Land and saw this Figure with his own eyes he mended the errors of all former Copies and translated it a Pillar of salt Nor was it of the nature of that salt which we make by Art and sometimes compact it into Pyramidal shapes and other Figures that you know fall away into dirt if wet take it but this lump into which Lot's Wife was congealed endured all injuries of Rain and Snow Therefore it was that which we call Sal metallicum the Metal of salt which is a durable stubborn stone which kept the shape of an humane body as the Reporters say continually lick'd upon by the Herds of Cattel that grazed in those places to provoke their appetite by the saltish sapour yet not at all diminished Nunquam pluviis nec diruta ventis says Tertullian but that Poem of his hath such prodigious additions that I shame to rehearse them Burchardus says that this fatal Monument was to be seen in his days not three hundred years past between Engadi and the Red Sea The Jerusalem Targum undertook to Prophesie almost 1600 years ago that there it was to stand untill the Resurrection And therefore I conjecture that Luther had met with none of these reports for he says that the Pillar of Salt into which she was turned was presently destroyed with the City of Sodom and pash'd to pieces with thunder But all Geographers who have wrote upon it testifie there was the very taste of salt in it literally it was a Pillar of salt Others that love to find more in the Scripture than there is in the Letter say it is not so called because it was of a saltish Element but for another respect 1. Because it was to stand for long continuance and a Pillar of Salt is as much as an incorruptible Pillar so Numb xviii Gods eternal Covenant with his people is called a Covenant of Salt for Salt is a preservative from Corruption 2. As Salt makes Viands taste well upon the palate so the sight of this dreadful Monument was to put the savour of Gods judgements in the thoughts of them that called it to mind Humilibus fidelibus quoddam praestitit condimentum ut sapiant aliquid says St. Austin Every notable punishment that a sinner incurs in the eyes of all the world it is salt unto the wise to make them cautious In me quis intuens pius esto as it was engraven upon the Monument of an Egyptian King who went down with much sorrow to his grave because of his Sacriledge so look upon this pair that came out of Sodom upon Lot and his Wife Hic perfectè mundum deserit illa tepide he renounced the vain world perfectly and devoutly and it went well with his life She said she would renounce it and did not persevere and she died relapsing Though she was foolish she may make us wise though she were evil yet her salt is good Let her unsavouriness be our seasoning There are yet two Points to be dispatcht The one of terrour that this was a momentaneous and a sudden death The other of some alloy that though it were a mortal yet we cannot say it was a final destruction She that is her body was concrete into salt in an instant the soul you know could admit of no such transmutation but it was violenced out of the flesh in the twinkling of an eye O if she had suspected her eyes should have been closed for ever at that turning her self about she would not have look'd back for all the world If Ananias had imagined he should have breathed his last while he was forging a lie to deceive the Holy Ghost he would not have retained a denier of his possessions but cast it all at the Apostles feet No man would be an unrepentant sinner to day but that he hopes for to morrow No man can be so desperate to sin so fast but that he thinks his Age runs away but slowly The Devil knows there is no way to advance his Kingdom but to set a false glass before us that we have long to live Perswade your selves that your days are numbred and the strength of sin is evacuated I never heard of more constancy in any man of this kind than Thuanus records to have been in a Landgrave of Hessen within these forty two years for the space of ten years and more before he departed he composed himself to die every night with all the solemnity of taking of leave of Children Friends and Family confessing where he had offended that day and asking pardon of his worst inferiours and so he left very little room for any sin to enter because he prepared himself to give place unto death and to admit it every moment Beloved against death we cannot fortifie our selves against the suddenness of death we may and yet our labour is to put off death and to live always which is impossible and nothing is less studied than to mitigate the mischief which may come by sudden death and that is possible and necessary But I will not close my Text in a disconsolate key She became a Pillar of salt that is her body became a hard rock and her breath was stopt before she could cry Ah Lord God or ah be merciful Surely death in the very act of sin is most terrible especially put this unto it that it was no common Visitation But from hence shall we leave her among those that went down into the nethermost pit Gods gentleness and mercy will not let me say so Christ prevented such censures when he gave us some comfort of their salvation on whom the Tower of Siloam fell suddenly How the soul may commend it self to the compassion of God in the very moment of egress and out passage it is within the hope of
seed of Angels but the seed of Abraham yet they are as forward in praise and thanksgiving as if the benefit had been their own Let the envy of wicked natures envy at this that God hath such good servants as are possessed with exceeding joy not for their own but for their fellow servants happiness O most Angelical perfection to account of the blessings that fall upon our brethren as if they descended upon our selves This heavenly Host did sing with mirth upon our Holy day but it is the Devils manner to houl and cry at the good of others if Christ came to save a man they rore that he came to torment them before the time Since the deliverance of poor distressed men was the Devils pain let the salvation of all those upon whom the faith of the Gospel doth shine be our rejoycing The foundation of Lycurgus his Commonwealth among the Spartans was Ne scirent privatim vivere that they should not accustom themselves to think of the private but of the publick good and it is the foundation of charity among Christians Nescirent privatim gratias agere that they should not restrain their thankfulness to their own peculiar but to extend it for favours which do befall every member in the Church of Christ Thirdly The Choire of heaven sang praise unto God on this day to set us in whom it concern'd to us a Child is born and to us a Son is given Shall the standers by pour out their Jubilee and will we hold our peace Will we make it no holy day when it only concerns ours and not the Angels redemption Was it not opprobrious to the Scribes and High Priests and Pharisees that a troop of Wisemen should beat out a journey of twelve days perhaps and peradventure more and bring all the precious gifts with them that those Eastern Countries afforded and all this to honour him that was born King of the Jews and yet his own people neither visit upon those reports nor search for him suffer him to fly away into Egypt and never miss him he came unto his own and his own received him not And when Satan stands forth to accuse the Sons of men will he not as much cast it in our teeth the Angels began a pleasant Song for your sakes and you ungrateful whose nature he took upon him did not follow they piped unto you but you did not dance He came unto his own and his own rejoyced not Fourthly Gregory puts in his conjecture among the rest Dum nos conspiciunt recipi suum gaudent numerum impleri Lucifer and his adherents whose rebellion had cast them out of Heaven did break the numbers of the glorious Angels and make them less therefore they break out into singing because the rooms of those collapsed Angels shall be filled in Heaven with those penitent sinners on earth that walk by Faith and newness of life as Peter and the rest no doubt were much comforted after Judas had fall'n away from his place by transgression that Matthias was numbred with the eleven Apostles The Church of Christ hath lost ground in great shares of Europe and Asia but what happy tidings are those and I trust they shall be better and better when we hear that souls are gained as fast in the furthest India and remotest America The Lacedemonians had a choice band of Souldiers which they call'd their immortal Phalanx because the number was always kept full at the instant almost when one of the band died or was slain another was elected into the order So the true flock of Christ is certain and invariable the number cannot be wrong'd many Apostates slide away yet elsewhere many millions are added to the Church This augmentation of them that are lost makes the Angels glad and sing Glory be to God on high Fifthly and lastly since the eternal Son of God did inhabit upon the earth the earth was become an amiable theatre for heavenly creatures to play their parts upon And as the Poet flatter'd Augustus Caesar that the spirits of the Decii and of the Scipio's wisht they had been reserv'd to have lived in his happy Reign so we may say and yet in no flattering phrase that the Angels either wisht themselves incarnate or else to minister to Christ continually upon earth in their incorporeal condition As the Saints arose out of their graves in their bodies and descended out of heaven in their souls and appeared unto many in the holy City of our Saviours Resurrection so the Cherubims came down from the firmament above and made their apparition in a visible form to celebrate the mystery of his Incarnation Not one of the Fathers but have wrote resolutely without doubting that Angels are part of our assembly in these Congregations ever since and most intelligently do so interpret St. Paul 1 Cor. 11.10 The woman ought to have power of her head because of the Angels that is to do nothing immodestly or unchastly because the Angels would be witnesses of their impudency And thus far on that point how the celestial chantors that modulate their tunes continually before the Throne of God these were the organs and well tuned Cymbals that welcomed Christ with a Song of Joy unto the earth But beside their heavenly nature they were a multitude a numberless concourse of them as some think even the whole company of Angels ten thousands of thousands that minister before the Throne of God as the Prophet Daniel speaks the windows of heaven were opened and Seraphins came down as thick as rain It is hard to say whether it would not have been pain and grief for any of those blessed Spirits to have staid behind though it were in Heaven whether they could have quieted their own desires to be absent from this occasion I am sure St. Paul leaves out none of them but cites them altogether Heb. i. 6. When he brings his first-born into the world he saith and let all the Angels of God worship him Another says and that 's Salmeron the fields of Bethlehem could not contain all the Angels supposing as it is truth that they appeared visibly Sed ex omni hierarchia aliqui advenerant sicut in militia sunt multi ordines but some appeared out of every Hierarchy instead of all the rest as sometimes certain choice Souldiers are pickt out of every Squadron in an Army It was a matter of great consequence never any tidings of such weight were brought into the world before and reason good then that divers should come to testifie it and it was matter of great praise as ever shall be sung and reason good then that many should come to celebrate it If you will argue what would barely have sufficed I confess though fewer had preacht Christ in the audience of the Shepherds and though a multitude of this multitude had been spared yet the tidings would effectually have been believed and the whole world have been partakers of them But it is no contradiction
Mother and in his own arms he might not live to see him hanging between two Thieves as if he had said O let me not survive to see the infidelity of mine own Nation O let me not live to see him crown'd with thorns Lastly A mans native Country can never deserve so ill but he will wish it subsistence that it may not utterly be ruined and albeit the sins of Jerusalem would call for vengeance and desolation upon it this loving Patriot desired to be called out of the way that he might not see her made an heap of stones As the Historian says that Anastasius a good Bishop of Rome gave up his breath with a broken heart immediately before the Goths had sackt that imperial City Ne orbis caput sub tali Episcopo truncaretur So Simeon saw that the sins of the Jews were not yet come to the worst but that their hardness of heart rejecting Christ would draw more grievous judgments upon them therefore he desired while matters were not yet come to their extremity now he might depart in peace I know 't is trivial with every rash spirit that is discontented with his fortune to say emori cupio like Clitipho in the Scene I would I were out of the world but it is a good corrective speech of the old mans Prius quaeso disce quid sit vivere learn first to live as you ought and so had Simeon done for in the fourth part of my Text he pleads that he was prepared to die in peace Lord now c. It cannot be conceiv'd of him since we must allow the best men some grains of infirmity but that his heart had been oppressed with many recurrent thoughts between that long space that God did first make the promise unto him unto the actual birth of Christ never did any Father expect the return of his only Son after twice seven years travail from month to month from day to day as he did watch the advent of the Lord continually when he should be presented in the Temple and surely it is likely that Hanna and divers more had heard from Simeons mouth what the Lord had revealed unto him and that his credit suffered a little with good people as if he had deluded them for the riff raff if such a thing were come to their ear no marvail if they taunted him that he was a lying Prophet and that he was possessed with a spirit of wicked divination These assaults from without and the revolvings of his heart from within did make his conscience boil like a troubled Sea because that gracious Oracle which he had received was not yet to come to pass nor like to be fulfilled in the short remainder of his days since his candle was burnt to the socket wherefore at the first glimpse that he viewed the holy one of God in swadling clouts this ejaculation starts from him as if his joy had burst the vessel like new liquors that swell'd within it as who should say I began to be troubled I began to distrust I was afraid that thy promises would fail and by so much the more I was afraid of death now come what will come I am secure and confirm'd my heart is quiet my Faith is built upon a rock Lord now c. just as old Jacob was ready to die for gladness when he saw that Joseph was alive says he now let me die since I have seen thy face because thou art yet alive Gen. xlvi 30. And the content which this holy Prophet took in embracing the Messias who had been so long waited for could not be better exprest than thus that his soul was ready to take leave of the world in peace for as bread imports all manner of sustenance in the phrase of the Hebrews so peace in their signification imports all manner of good that is desirable health plenty honour safety tranquility of conscience comfort in the Holy Ghost all sorts of prosperity heavenly and earthly are no more but peace in their acception therefore the interpretations what Simeon would have are many and all agreeable to pious analogy First Euthymius expounds it of the peace of his thoughts that he did fluctuate before and hang in suspence what God would do but when Christ was born he was resolv'd against all the slights and cavillations of Satan that the Lord was just in all his sayings and holy in all his works There may be security in a bad man I will not deny him that carnal priviledge who refresheth himself with the comforts of this life but there can be no stability in him no setledness against distraction and fluctuation unless by much meditation he do set Christ before his eyes as if he were born in him and endeavour to Incarnate the promises of the word in his soul by Faith as the blessed Virgin gave flesh to the eternal word by bearing him in her womb Secondly Others interpret this peace de pace intrepiditatis he did not fear to be dissolved though his decayed body lay even under the stroke of death he saw nothing why he should flinch but that he might say with David I will lay me down in peace and take my rest Before a Saviour was granted to mankind death was death and Hell to boot now it is but a sleep without all disturbance a repose without all annoyance a releasement out of bonds a transmigration to felicity He therefore that will not die in peace knowing that Christ stands at the right hand of God to make intercession for him and to purchase in his behalf instead of a transitory estate a far abundant exceeding weight of glory the fault is his own Vitam in manibus fero mori non timeo A strange darkness is before the eyes of unbelieving impenitent men at their last gasp their conscience knows not how to answer that objection which it makes to it self Quae nunc abibis in loca My soul whither art thou going in what woe or sorrow shalt thou be entertained hereafter Thus Cain was dejected Every one that findeth me will slay me Gen. iv 14. Thus Nabals dastardly spirit fainted and nothing brought him to death but the fear of death His sordid churlish inhospitable life here and the rest of his undeservings represented nothing but horrors to entertain him in the life to come Sed quis est iste qui de hoc seculo recedit in pace nisi is qui intelligit Deus erat in Christo mundum reconcilians sibi says St. Austin But who is the man that gathers up his feet into his bed sweet and placidly as old Jacob did and dies in peace but he that felt the consolation within him that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself Thirdly The sense holds very well to interpret it de pace gaudii he should be gathered to the dead in great joy because the troubles and thraldoms of his Nation should no more disquiet him For who could doubt of
goodness were remarkable for the quantity that he had an exceeding portion of the Spirit in which regard he was more than a Prophet for the time that he received it it was from the womb yea and in some signs before the womb had opened to bring him forth in which regard he was more than the child of any Prophet these two the Angel hath put together He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mothers womb This was inundatio spiritus the Spirit abounding in him as a River at high-water fills the banks but in the most probable opinion it was not emundatio spiritus it did not cleanse his soul from corruption in every part but it instructed him with vertue more than ordinary to do great works For God forbid but that a man may be said to be sanctified and to be full of the Holy Ghost although the infectious poyson of original sin do still remain in him Which original contagion raigns in the wicked is much abated and kept under in the Just was lessen'd by Gods especial favour more than usually in John but the malignity thereof is not quite taken away till our mortal have put on immortality The reason is very slender that the sin wherein his mother conceived him was taken away before he was born because he seemed to have a passion of faith before ever he saw the light when he leapt at the presence of our Saviour for that might be a transient passion and no doubt it was no more and nothing lets but sin may abide also where the Spirit of grace doth inhabit and continue That which is alledged to prove him to have some defilement like all the Sons of Adam is far more forcible namely where the Scripture says how all are conceived and born in sin Where it lets us know in another place how God hath concluded all under sin that he might have mercy upon all And St. Austin upholds this cause Nemo dici potest renatus nisi priùs sit natus Christ says Unless a man be born again he cannot be the child of God Surely common sense will lead us to this notion a man must be first born before he can be born again and if carnal birth go before Regeneration then no man can be cleansed from all sin before the birth of the womb Besides out of the same reason that St. Austin brings against the Pelagians to prove that the leprosie of Adams sin is in little Infants by the same I will prove it to be in John because the wages of sin is death Christ only excepted who took our sins upon him and the beheading of John is a remonstrance that the meritorious cause of death was in him I mean iniquity To give full measure to this Point and running over Mat. xi 11. Verely says Christ among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist yet he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he I leave the multipliciousness of Expositions upon that Text and betake me to St. Hieroms Aliud est coronam justitiae possidere aliud in acie pugnare The least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than John because he was in his race and did struggle against sin and Satan the least in the kingdom of heaven hath his Crown upon his head and is past the fear of tentation So I have shewn that John had some frailties of flesh and bloud in him wherefore most submissively he flies to the true Altar of mercy for a pardon I have need to be baptized of thee Let the Saints of God have their due honour but let the mercies of Christ and the benefit of his bloud shed upon the Cross be dilated to every one that dies in the Lord which was the reason why I prosecuted the last Point And it is according to the humility of John to set forth his low estate when men would exalt him For the more the Embassadors of the Jews did magnifie him with Art thou the Christ Art thou Elias The more did he abase himself saying There is one among you whose shooes latchet I am not worthy to unloose Displiciat sibi unusquisque in se ut totus in Deo placeat Be displeased every man with himself and God will be pleased with thee This was of all comforts most intimate to the Prophets soul that he saw his own need and knew the right way to call for succour And the less hope he had of himself the more hope he had of God O how his hope quickned and exulted when he saw his Redeemer at Jordan whom he had never seen before He saw such comfort coming down with him as the Angel brought to Peter when he was in hold now the prison doors are opened get thee loose from thy sins But what speak I of Angels They had been sent indeed upon messages of joy there had been Patriarchs there had been Prophets in the world these were like fair diamonds whose light sparkles in the eye but gives no warmth to that which is cold But as the Psalmist says Except the Lord build the house the labourers labour but in vain Except the Son of God had vouchsafed in his own person to build the Church we had never reapt the fruit of eternal life John Baptist was an Israelite yet he trusts not to the Seed of Abraham Born under the Law but he knew it were death to rely upon that killing Letter He was a Prophet sanctified from the womb he cares not for that For what had he which he had not received and could he boast then as if he had not received it Finally He was full of fasting austerity preaching all manner of works yet he relies not upon them for when we have done all we can we are but unprofitable servants These are the strongest stays of humane trust that can be built upon yet he flies from them all and runs to the all-sufficient merits of Christ for succour This was a right aim taken Ac si oculo rubricam dirigat uno this was a straight line drawn bringing his hope just upon the Lord and giver of life I have need to be baptized of thee The time hath stopt me from proceeding to the last part which shall be made the beginning of our business upon the next occasion To God the Father c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON THE Baptism of our Saviour MAT. iii. 14 15. And comest thou to me And Jesus answering said unto him Suffer it to be so now For thus it becommeth us to fulfil all righteousness IF ever such an Argument could be laid before man wherein it might become his wit to dispute it with God I think verily it fell out in this Story which I continue in that Text that I have read unto you I will not except that instance which is able to amaze any Reader when the Lord spake unto Abraham to take his only Son Isaac and
of Adam the Sacrament of waters had not been ordained as if we were refined with Fullers Sope. There are but two Baptisms spoke of in the New Testament the one of Water the other of Fire and both are put together for the use of our impurities that all defilement may be driven out Molliora per aquam duriora metalla igne expurgantur If there be spots in Linnen or in any thing that is soft and supple we take them out in water if it be dross in stubborn Metals we decoct it and scum it off in a furnace of fire So our nature is most soft and supple to contract every kind of iniquity as easily as a cloath is stain'd And our heart is hard like iron stubborn and refractory to forsake iniquity therefore God applies Water and Fire to purge us to the bottom Water in the outward Laver Fire in the inward Spirit so by Christs humility who vouchsafed to dip himself in such water as we do he merited of his Father that we should be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire Non mundari voluit sed mundare Jordanem says St. Ambrose he came not to be cleansed but to cleanse the River Jordan and all other waters for the mystical washing away of sin Unus mersit sed lavit omnes unus descendit ut ascenderemus omnes One Jesus dived into the River that we might all rise up from the death of sin one man descended into the Pool in great humility that we might all ascend up into glory Therefore if any man ask why he that was whole in every part would step into Bethesda as if he were diseased why the immaculate Son of God would wash with sinners Let him take this answer That he was brought to Baptism even as the Spirit came down upon him anon after from heaven in the shape of a Dove It was not for want of the Spirit before or that any thing could be added to that plentiful grace which did inhabit in him but to call for the Holy Ghost that it might rest upon his Church So it was not for want of cleanness that he suffered such a Ceremony at Jordan to be done unto him as belongs to them that are impure but to make the Sacrament vertuous and powerful for them that should take it after him Pro nobis Christus lavit imò nos in corpore suo lavit all our defilements if we repent and believe are wash'd away upon his body There were certain legal cleansings with water in the Statutes of Moses Figures of things to come and ordained to satisfie for pollutions that hapned through chance and ignorance but Christ submitted himself to the Ordinance of the New Testament and avoided them For 1. They were Figures what should he do with such things that was the very truth 2. They appertained to the polluted What reference could they have to him that is immaculate 3. They were appointed for trespasses of ignorance What application could they have to him who knows all things in heaven and earth and under the earth And lest he should be mistaken for one in the rank of sinful men as if he came to be baptized for the same end that we do John pronounceth him holy after the strictest manner in another Gospel not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom behold him that is without sin but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 behold him that taketh away the sin of the whole world his soul must needs consist of nothing but untainted righteousness He did communicate in his Last Supper with his Disciples and this was his difference from them he took the Bread when he had blessed it Ad spirituale solatium non ad augmentum gratiae not to augment grace and charity as we do but for the delight of his Spirit So it delighted him to sanctifie the waters of our new Birth to the washing away of our sins Vnde ista vertus aquae St. Austin speaks like one astonisht Whence comes it that the poor Element toucheth the skin and mundifieth the heart But even from him whose hem of his garment an impotent woman took in her hand and Christ perceived that vertue was gone out of him and as you must not conceive any Physical inherent vertue was in his cloaths to stop an issue of bloud as there is in some stones and herbs which in their substance are medicinal so you must not mistake as if Christ had sanctified all Rivers that a strange hidden vertue is infused into such water as is blessed to baptize whereby ex opere operato by the meer aspersion the soul should become unpolluted but by this act of our Saviours it was ordained and instituted to be the matter of that Sacrament which should sanctifie the Children of God Neither doth the Doctrine of this reason stretch so far as if God could not have caused Jordan and all other Fountains to take away pollution though Christ had never been washed in his own Person for that immortal Laver is the medicine of our souls because the vertue of the Holy Ghost is upon it Spiritus novit locum suum as many of the Fathers when the world was first made the Spirit moved upon the waters and he keeps the same place in our New Birth when we are made again children I mean by adoption and grace and so far of the second reason Thirdly It appears from hence what the Prophet Isaiah foretold Chap. liii 6. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all because he hath received our sins upon him and offered himself as bail for us to his Father to discharge us from malediction therefore he was baptized in the form of a sinner and was reckoned among those that had need to be wash'd for their sins In all things it behov'd him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and a faithful High Priest Heb. ii 17. Nazianzen makes all things consist in these three Points man may be said to be born thrice 1. A miserable Infant from his mothers womb 2. He is regenerate and born again by water and the holy Spirit 3. He is brought to life again at the last day when the Grave shall give up the dead in every one of these Christ was made like unto man by his Nativity by his Baptism by his Resurrection But to be made like unto us in Baptism was more against his dignity than both the rest in some comparisons His Mother brought him forth indeed in the form of a poor helpless Infant yet you will grant that to be an Infant is the order of nature and not a misery He did overcome death at his Resurrection nothing was ever done more triumphantly he did overcome such enemies which to that time had been unvanquishable but he came to Baptism in the person of many sinners that as he had honoured our nature in his Birth so he might purifie it in Baptism to be made sin
to the Members of his body and it was laudible in him to wish some trial that he might encounter the Devil and spoil him of his Kingdom Tentationem exoptare in eo qui succumbere nequit est laudabile say the Schoolmen It was an heroical magnanimity in Christ to wish tentations so might fall upon him because he could not be vanquished And therefore some gather an observation contrary to St. Chrysostom that our Saviour went into the Wilderness and fasted forty days and after was an hungry destinating that the Devil should find him out Obviam procedit Diabolo quem scit non pug naturum nisi lacessitum He went out to dare the Tempter because he knew he would not come on and fight unless he were provok'd yet it is the sounder way to collect that for our instruction when we should examine this Story Christ did not go in a bravado or a challenge to offer himself to be tempted but the Spirit led him as who should say this was not Curtius in foveam a precipitated intrusion Let not man expose himself to temptation Dubia est victoria who knows that carries the badge of Adams frailty in his body whether he shall come off with victory or captivity Happy is that man and the Lord shall bless his integrity who will not come near the suburbs of sin for no man can keep the Commandments unless he be careful to avoid the first invitations of evil and to shun the farthest and remotest impediments of obedience Have you seen little children dare one another which should go deepest into the mire But he is more childish that ventures further and further even to the brim of transgression and bids the Devil catch him if he can I will but look and like says the wanton where the object pleaseth me I keep company with some licentious persons says an easie nature but for no hurt because I would not offend our friendship I will but bend my body in the house of Rimmon when my Master bends his says Naaman I will but peep in to see the fashion of the Mass holding fast the former profession of my faith Beloved I do not like it when a mans conscience takes in these small leaks it is odds you will fill faster and faster and sink to the bottom of iniquity I have read of a Bishop that was performing the Office of Baptism to many that were converted from Gentilism and when a Virgin came near the Font of an extraordinary beauty he desired a substitute to discharge the place for he would not please his eyes no not for a few minutes to look upon such an object as allured his fancy What a careful Christian this was that kept off occasions of sin and would not suffer them before him as David charged his treacherous Son Absalom to keep a distance and not to come near Jerusalem Hannibal that approved Souldier placed himself in a battel where many Darts of the enemy flew round about him and when some commended him that he ventured his person upon the mouth of danger you mistake says Hannibal I am more ashamed of my self this day than ever I was in my life that being the General of the Field I came in peril to be wounded This is well applied to every Souldier that fights under Christs Banner when we are run into tentations it is good and blessed to come off with the least impairment to our innocency But why did you come so near the flame that you were in peril to be scorched Job comforted himself that he had kept his eyes from wandring Jeremy was careful neither to lend upon Usury nor to borrow upon Usury In a word when Tentations fall upon you by Gods permission resist them manfully but if you mean to be led by the Spirit do not wittingly and daringly fall upon tentations This is the sum of the third observation I defer the fourtn to a larger tractate To God the Father c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 1. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the VVilderness to be tempted of the Devil THis Text you see will not let me go I have been parting from it twice and still it invites me to stay As the Levite took his farewel at Bethlem sundry times and could not get away Judg. xix And now I have good cause to tarry being led by the leading of the Spirit Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile with him go with him twain says Christ Mat. v. 21. And if the Spirit of God compel us to go with him one Sermon we will go with him twain it cannot be irksom or weary to follow such contemplations But it is fit I should satisfie you where I stick in this verse for the present that I do not proceed how Christ was tempted wherefore he was tempted by whom he was tempted when he was tempted I have rid my hand of these discourses Likewise I have passed thus far how Christ was marshalled into the field by the divine impulsion of the Holy Ghost Here I resume my task into my hands where I left it That which remains for me to survey and for you to exercise your attentions upon is this First Since Christ himself was led by the Spirit when he went forth to fast and pray and to fight against the Devil therefore I will make enquiry how the grace of God doth lead us to eschew evil and to do good And secondly I will bring you along to consider the place whereon our Saviour planted himself to encounter his enemy it was the Wilderness How all men whom God calls to the saving truth by the preaching of the Spirit are led by the Spirit that is governed and directed by his grace is the Doctrine with which I begin in which intricate subject I confess my self to be in a Wilderness before I come to the last part of my Text if ever there were a question which troubled the whole world it is this How the will of man is guided unto Salvation by the supernatural help of God It is run into a Proverb that there are three things almost impossible to be traced The one how a King doth govern his Kingdom the secret reasons of state make the course of his actions so obscure Cor regis inperscrutabile says Solomon The other how grace doth govern the soul And the third how God doth govern the world We are sure divine motions move within us and yet we know not how they move Our Saviour did admonish us it would be a hard matter to understand when he spake of the Holy Ghost who doth regenerate us The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou knowest not whence it comes nor whither it goes What impression a spiritual quality doth or can make upon a spiritual substance Philosophy cannot judge of it but so far as the Scripture opens the mysterie Divinity may examine it and faith must believe it In these labyrinths
distinction in Aquinas so well accepted by some that there are so many forms of adoration as there are kinds of excellencie for honour and worship are done to the person for the excellency which is in it Now excellency is either divine and infinite in God which deserves that adoration call'd by him latria or humane excellency which is grounded or in mens honours or in their virtues and so deserves civil and political reverence or it is an excellency less than divine yet more then humane which is in the Angels and souls of holy men departed and that claims the worship of dulia unto it self Put this into plain meaning he that can and shew me how these three are distinguisht in outward or bodily adoration I will agree that in those things we worship we do apprehend excellency three manner of wayes First there is cultus sacrosanctae religionis the religious and pious worship which we give to God for his omnipotent and most glorious excellency Secondly there is cultus civilis subjectionis the worship which we give to our superiors in authority as we live in political subjection because they are set over us for our good Thirdly there is cultus moralis reverentiae the worship of moral respect and reverence which we give to some for their good gifts and qualities although we are not under them in any political ordination All these worships are performed upon several excellencies apprehended in the persons worshipped but the act of worship it self as concerning that which the head the knee the hand or any part of the body doth execute may be the same for the distinguishing of one and another must be in the heart and mind as I proceed now to shew at large unto you The definition of divine worship must be thus framed adoratio est talis veneratio exterior quae ex corde pio religioso procedit that 's the adoration due to God and to him alone which with the exterior veneration of the body proceeds out of the pious and religious intentions of the heart If you yield any token of outward obeysance and mean it to honour him who hath made you redeem'd you sanctified you and conferred all other benefits upon you then it is raised up from civil homage and duty and is become divine worship a distinction will help the memory of them that can conceive it a little further There are three things which concur to that virtue which we call the worship of God First the act of the understanding must put forth it self to apprehend and know the glorious excellency of God that he made the whole world out of nothing and susteins all things by the word of his power Then secondly the act of the will comes in wherein we assent and apply our selves to adore his excellency to magnifie him and devote our hearts unto him Thirdly these two joyned together do urge and command the exterior act of worship which is performed by the body tanti est adorare all these must be in it if it be true adoration S. Paul speaks of some that have the forms of godliness but deny the power thereof The formal cringing and bending are but like a part play'd upon a Stage if they be sever'd from the power of godliness from the knowledg of the understanding what glory belongs to God and from the will and purpose of the heart to exalt his holy name both privately and in his holy Temple Well I can but call upon you to prepare your hearts and you will every one say I am sure my heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed The Lord knows but we that are your instructors do not whether that internal part of worship be well discharg'd by you therefore I come to that quarter of the virtue whereof men may be witnesses if it be carefully executed unto outward adoration it was upon the quarrel of outward worship that Christ here disputed with Satan God had respect to Abel and to his offering Gen. iv 4. to Abel that is to his internal piety to his offering that is to his external worship Abel had been unrespected at that time if he had not been good at both And as a plaister of cordial ingredients laid to the stomach or an unction well slickt upon the skin comforts the spirits within and makes them execute their vital functions chearfully so outward reverence helps us greatly against our dulness and drowzie infirmities The lifting up the hands and eyes make a man crave more passionately the knocking of the breast whets our repentance with indignation against our selves bowing down the head and knee imprints into us the great distance which is between God and us the uncovering the head makes that needful thought sink into our heart in whose presence we stand Glorifie God with your body 1 Cor. vi 20. Tertullian and S. Cyprian read it Portate Deum in corpore vestro Carry God in your body in every joynt and member of it It may be they met with some Greek Copy that read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Religion is compared to a Marriage there is a contract between God and our soul and this is gain'd from the similitude that the Wife is the Husbands as well in bodie as in affection and so are we the Lords As Man and Wife are but one flesh so Christ the Bridegroom of the Church did assume the whole man bodie and soul into the unity of his person He hath conjoyn'd them both unto God and let us conjoyn them both to the worship of God A Sermon cannot be spent upon a subject which doth more deserve our exhortation The Lord created a Star on purpose only to bring the Magi of the East to worship Christ and they did so even when He lay in most despicable manner before them in the Manger of a Stable and shall we be slacker to kneel before his footstool when he reigns triumphantly in the highest Heavens the Heaven and Earth the Stars and Prophets all lead us to the worship of God Scriptura mundus ad hoc sunt ut colatur qui creavit adoretur qui inspiravit so St. Cyprian The Scripture and the world are to this end that He that created the one and inspir'd the other might be worshipped It is no mean duty which made those wise men of the East take so tedious and long a journey to post in twelve days from the mountains of the East to Bethlem and that other Traveller Acts viii the Treasure of the Queen Candace came from the uttermost parts of Ethiopia to Jerusalem and all for no other end but this to worship The Scripture saies so expresly and when they had done that they went home again We had need carry a very true heart to God in these daies for many of us put him off all together with the zeal of our heart and think it will excuse us if we neither honor him with our
bodie nor with our substance He shall have neither our goods nor our knee but likely we put it off He shall have our soul why this is only to give God his thirds as a reverend Father saies to compound like Bankrupts and give him two parts less than we owe him and yet we look for ten thousand times more than He owes us We have some that are to be suspected for a kind of Sadduces among us that believe no resurrection of the body else they would never palter with discipline but be more forward in the prostration and worship of the bodie than the Church could be to command them Some have given a great blow to this duty by harping upon the bare words of S. John and not digesting the true meaning of his Text Joh. iv 23. The hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth Mark the occasion why this was spoken and the words precedent The woman of Samaria moved a doubt whether God was to be worshipped at Jerusalem as the Jews taught or at Mount Girizin as the Samaritans taught Now the Samaritans worshipt God falsely they worshipt they knew not what says Christ The Jews held strictly to Moses Law and observ'd figures and shadows of things to come which were all to give place and vanish upon the incarnation of our Lord. Now it is easie to discern the substance of our Saviours answer what it is to serve God in spirit and truth Truth is opposed to the false superstition of the Samaritans Spirit is opposed to the Jewish figures and sacrifices And Christ tells the woman God will neither be served any more after the Samaritan way or Jewish way but after the newness of the Gospel The hour cometh and now is when ye shall neither worship the Father in this Mountain nor at Jerusalem but they shall worship him in spirit and truth Do these words exempt the worship of the body nothing less The word spirit is not taken there for the soul divided from the body signifying only an internal act of the spirit but for all manner of virtuous actions as well external as internal which proceed from the grace of the Holy Spirit being acceptable to God because the Holy Spirit brings them forth not because they are figures of things to come I will sing with the spirit says St. Paul 1 Cor. xiv 15. and yet singing is a bodily action He did worship in spirit when he said For this cause bow I my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Ephes iii. to come to a point Remember therefore how we adore God in spirit when we adore him with those outward gestures of the body to which we are stirred up by the Spirit of truth And so much of the first member of my Text which I laid out to be handled by it self the Lord God is to be worshipped The next duty is the other Pillar of Religion which upholds the Church of the Elect the Lord God is to be served By worship you know already we understand all humble outward devotion and reverence Now by service you must conceive the inward conformity of the heart to all duty and obedience The will of the Lord is revealed to us two manner of ways Either as he doth promise us blessings and benefits and assures us great rewards in the Kingdom of heaven Or as he doth stipulate and covenant with us what we shall do to obtain his favour In the former respect as he hath given us the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth most liberally and as he doth promise greater fruits of his mercy most graciously we fall down and worship him for his benefits but as he doth condition with us to do somewhat for his sake that he may leave a blessing with us we serve him faithfully and bind our inward faculties our soul and our mind to be prompt and ready to execute all obedience That you may the better compose your hearts to attend Gods will in all things and to serve him I will supply your knowledge with these few motives following First There is no other Lord beside our God properly called 1 Cor. viii Though there be that are called Gods as there be Gods many and Lords many that is by opinion and nuncupation but to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him And again Eph. v. 4. One Lord one Faith one Baptism one God who is above all and through all and in you all Super omnes dominio per omnes providentiâ in omnibus justificatione Above all by his Dominion through all by his Providence in all by sanctifying us with his grace and justifying us from sin He that is subject to none inferiour to none independent of himself in all his power He may well be called a Lord and such a Lord deserves to be served Petty Magistrates hold of Princes favours and Kings hold their tenure under God Therefore some of the Roman Emperours having the perceivance that they could command nothing absolutely if he that sate above the heavens did stop it they would not be called Domini because themselves were servants in relation to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords therefore their circumscribed power did not answer the title When the Scripture brings in the most High the saying is Haec dicit Dominus Thus saith the Lord. If we would examine this after the stile of man you would say Lord of what Why universal Lord without any particular designment Specifications to be Lords of this or that are earthly phrases are notes of minority Attalus the Martyr was askt what name that Lord had whom he served Says he Qui plures sunt nominibus discernuntur qui autem unus est non indiget nomine Where there are many Lords they must be distinguish'd by their properties but what need that Lord a name for distinction who is the only Ruler by himself without any equal or partner in his dominion now since we must serve for sin hath brought servitude into the world whom would a man choose to serve but that only Lord to whose sheave all other sheaves do bend and who only hath authority Secondly In all service you will consider in what state and place it puts you Do so in this and spare not But let St. Peter be the Judge 1 Epist ii 9. Ye are a chosen generation a royal Priesthood an holy nation a peculiar people There is royalty in the very service Cui servire est regnare To do him service is a Kingly Ministry Nay there is more in one of our Church Collects in one Line of it than in the most Augustious title of a King God whose service is perfect freedom A King may be so much subject to naughty passions as he shall be in vile thraldom to his own sensualities and so
Ruby and Saphir but the colour of the Diamond cannot be well called by any name there is a white gloss and a sparkling flame mixt together which shine fairly but render no constant colour So we cannot say what manner of shew the Rayment of our Saviour did make These two did concur to the composition of the beauty Candor lux A whiteness mixed with no shadow a light bedimmed with no darkness It was white and glistering says our Evangelist White as the light says St. Matthew And his face being bright as the Sun his rayment exceeding white as the snow says St. Mark these two make such a medley that no Painter can think how to ground a colour to resemble it Altera pars de coelo splendidior sole altera de terrâ candidior nive The Divine Nature of Christ is from heaven and that exceeds the very Sun in the heaven in brightness His Humane Nature is from the earth beneath and that did exceed the very snow upon the earth in whiteness They had more fancy than sure foundation for their doctrine that grounded upon this place how the bodies of the righteous when they are risen and stand at Gods right hand shall not abide naked but be overcast with a Regal Robe of excellency Neither will it help that they fetch a proof Rev. vi 11. that the souls under the Altar had white Robes given to adorn them to make the true interpretation of these things more passable First I will speak of the alteration in Christs Garment then of the candor and whiteness It is well known in holy Scripture that Christ is called our garment and that as many as are true members of the Church are called Christs Garment Gal. iii. 27. As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ There the Saviour of mankind is our Robe Now we read of the conversion of the Gentiles and their being gathered into the Church Isa xlix 18. Lift up thine eyes round about and behold all these gather themselves together and come unto thee As I live saith the Lord thou shalt surely cloath thee with them all as with an ornament As Charity useth to be painted full of young children some hanging upon her Arms some upon her Brests So the Son of God is love it self and all his Children lay fast hold upon him and hang about him as a Vesture covers the body these are his Garment which shall shine for his sake in the Kingdom of heaven for ever Cornelia the mother of the Gracchi was visited by a great Lady in Rome who came in a specious fashion with her Chains of Pearl and Ear rings and Jewels about her Cornelia expected till her Sons came home who demeaned themselves before her with awful dutie and fit obeysance and to these she points saying Hi sunt gemmae meae torques monilia mea These are my Jewels and my Pendants that adorn me At such a value Christ accounts all those that live in him by faith these are his Garment which is white and glistering and no Fuller upon Earth can make a thing so white no earthly felicity can be comparable with that heavenly glory Philosophers and Heathen Orators these are Fullers upon earth their wits are not able to reach to the imagination of that spiritual joy which Christ hath prepared for them that fear him And they that have a Pharisaical opinion to be justified by their own works these are Fullers upon earth that would make all clean by the Art of man Alas it lies not in our skill in our endeavours in our righteousness it is Christ that can present a Church all glorious not having spot or wrinkle he will set us as a Signet upon his arm and as a seal upon his right hand he will wear us as a robe of dignity and bedeck us with grace and glory so that no Fuller on earth can make a thing so white There are three things metaphorically called Garments in whose whiteness and purity consists the perfection of all our happiness Stola sanctitatis justificationis gloriae 1. Here is the fair Robe of sanctity and innocency in the first place as God says of some good ones in the Church of Sardis Rev. iii. 4. They have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white They had not defiled their Garments that is they had not spotted their Conscience with uncleanness Therefore the Primitive Church emblematically did stir up such as were baptized to righteousness and holiness of life by enjoyning them that Ceremony to wear white Garments at the time of their Baptism Accipe vestem candidam immaculatam quam perferas sine maculâ ante tribunal Domini says St. Ambrose Thou that comest to be made a Christian take this white unstained garment and keep it unspotted unto the day of the Lord. 2. There is the robe of Justification when God looks upon us not as we are in our selves but as we are cloathed with the merits of Jesus Christ Non est breve pallium it is no scanty short Cloak which will not come down to the foot but it reacheth over all from our conception to our death it is spread over all our sins both original and actual and hides all our deformities Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ O fair nuptial garment which will bring us into the Bride-chamber of the Bridegroom for ever 3. The robe of justification makes us fit to be invested with the robe of glory That eternal life which we desire and expect is moralized in the name of a white garment because such apparel was used among the Jews upon occasion of gladness The Wiseman commending a life which was always led in mirth and alacrity without lumpish austerity says he Let thy garments be always white and let thy head lack no oyntment And because the life of Angels and Saints shall be nothing but singing of Psalms and pleasance and festivity before God for evermore therefore the Angels appeared in long white garments in our Saviours Sepulchre Mark xvi 5. And to express that eternity of joy which we shall have in bliss Christ would not be transfigured without this circumstance that his rayment was white and glistering Albedo vitae puritatem splendor doctrinae eminentiam significat That Allusion shall be noted to conclude this Point whiteness commends a pure and an innocent life glistering commends the word of truth in the holy Scripture that it is as clear as the Sun at noon-day But it is not an outside of purity which will stand the trial before God Hypocrites may go in sheeps cloathing a fair and a clean nap may be upon their coat without when their inside is a ravening Wolf So Hereticks will parget their Doctrine over with plausible reasons I perhaps through the power of Satan they will shine with miracles but take heed you do not worship their Idol because it shines like Gold Haeretici falsa dogmata
allow God a seventh day for sanctification so much is divine in the fourth Commandment and what seventh day but the same which Christ sanctified in his Resurrection which is the new Creation of the World the same which the Scriptures point at the same which the Church hath constantly kept in all successions Salve festa dies toto venerabilis anno says Lactantius and Origen says that Manna did begin to fall down about the Tents of the Israelites the first day of the Week and in the same day you are bound to bring your Omer to gather Spiritual Manna in your holy Assemblies that your Soul may eat and be satisfied When the Proconsuls of several Provinces enquired who were Christians to punish them you shall find in the Acts of the Martyrs this was their Question to descry them Dominicam servâsti What do you keep the Lords Day The good man being persecuted answers Christianus sum intermittere non possum I am a Christian and cannot intermit it Do we differ from the Jews then in nothing but exchanging day for day Yes Beloved as in sanctifying Gods name we are to go beyond them because the Spirit is given to us in more abundant measure than it was to them so in nice Points of rest and cessation from all bodily labour and exercise we are not tied so strictly as they were I wonder from whom they had their Doctrine that teach the contrary I know they will not say they had it from the Fathers I know they cannot say it justly I appeal to the best lights of this latter Age. Out of the French Reformed Churches I cite Beza Thus he The keeping of the Lords day is an Apostolical and a divine Tradition yet so that we are not tied he means by Gods Law to observe the Judaical cessation from all kind of work for to observe the Judaical rest were to change the day and not the Judaism Imperial Laws made by Constantine and other godly Princes did first interdict that no open and usual buying and selling or other Merchandise should be used for it is fit for the better sanctifying of the day that we should sequester worldly affairs and be altogether vacant to God Thus far he Out of the German Reformed Churches I will cite Paraeus This is his Argument Who first approves that the Lords day is to be kept with a decent cessation from manual labours and that it is very scandalous to pollute it with usual secular affairs but if any will run further to impose upon Christians the Rites and Ceremonies of the Jewish rest in their Sabbath thus he convinceth them The observation of the Jewish rest was figurative and typical and all those figures of truth were to be kept under pain of severe judgment because the figure was the pledge and Protestation of the truth which should come to pass now there being no such figurative dependence upon the sanctification of the Lords day we are tied only to such rest as shall adorn and beautifie our Worship of God upon that day I mean both our Morning and Evening Sacrifice Beware therefore to be a Jew in opinion but beware to be a dissolute Libertine in practice Violate not this day nor any the like in the whole year with Negligence Idleness Luxurious Pastimes or Riot give thy body rest that the soul may be more busie in the holy work 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rest which is not imployed in the fear of God is the Mother of all wickedness I cannot end this Point better than with those words of St. Basil Let me adventure with your patience upon the next Point and I will defer the handling of the last That which I mean only to speak of is Mary Magdalens expedition her restless diligence her watchfulness without all sloath She came early when it was yet dark Every hour seemed seven to this pious Matron till she came to the body of Christ the Sabbath of the Jews was but now ended and she had much ado to refrain coming before it was done The Stars of the night had not yet run their courses when she set forth toward the Monument for it is probable she kept the Sabbath at her own Town and she dwelt at Bethany two miles from Jerusalem yet by Sun-rising when it was yet dark she was come to the Sepulcher a journey of two miles and had brought her Spices with her She had no sleep I believe fell upon her eyes for thinking of her Saviour I am sure she had no leisure to paint her face to powder her hair or to dress her self with finical curiosity We had divers I confess that came early this morning to the holy Sacrament when it was yet dark I praise them for it We have others that seldom or never find the way to Church till the Afternoon you may know by their vain Attire trickt up in Print what they were doing all the Morning At last we have their company scarce with half a thought to please God but with their whole heart to be praised of fools and to please such wanton and adulterous eyes that gaze upon them What a coil is here with this carion flesh Ye are but painted Sepulchers full of rotten bones and not worthy to come with Mary to the Sepulcher of Christ much less to come to the Communion of his body and bloud O proud mortality they that make their Looking-glass all the Text which they take out in the Morning little think that the Grave may be the Pew in the Church wherein they shall be placed before Evening Now they walk abroad so strong with sweet smells that they are able to perfume a Sepulcher with Spices in less than four days all this delicacy may turn to stink and rottenness Come early to the Sepulcher that is think of death in your young blossoming years how suddenly ye may be cut off then leave to fashion your selves after this French or that Italian dressing and spin a poor shrowding sheet which may wrap you up in the earth against the day of the Resurrection I hasten Was it yet dark when Mary came when St. Mark says punctually it was at the rising of the Sun What an intricate case some have made of this objection which is nothing in it self For the Evangelist doth not mean it was so dark that the women could not see about them for then all they reported would be taken to be fancy and not a known truth But the Sun newly rising some obscurity of darkness remains in some places especially it might be so about a Monument which was cut of a Rock in the Earth and the Monument in a Garden where shady trees do not suddenly admit light and the Garden perhaps lying under an Hill and compassed about with a Wall some dusky darkness may incloud such a place early in the Morning They shoot wide therefore that expound the darkness figuratively that the Scriptures were not opened as yet how
as when a bow-string is snapt in twain yet both parts of the strings do still remain in the nocks of the Bow So the body of our Saviour was holy and venerable because it retained the personal union of the Godhead and the Sepulcher where it was reposed deserved the attendance of an Angel Fourthly If not an Angel who else would be believed in so great a matter as this was Tell me who could give testimony beside that would be credited The Disciples were never so tardy to conceive never so unapprehensive in any thing else as in this They knew not as yet what the rising from the dead did mean Observe the talk of Cleophas and the other Disciple Luk. xxiv 21. And guess at all the company beside They confess Christ had been a Prophet mighty in word and deed whom Pilate and the Rulers had condemned to death and crucified but we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel As who should say being he is dead there is an end of our hope we look for no more redemption from him God loves to have better witnesses than these in all his works that we may not say he takes us unprepared we were not well wrought to credulity David said it in his haste what if he had said it upon premeditation All men are liars It was not fit so fundamental an Article of faith as this was should be preatcht at first time by lying lips nay rather by an Angel who was confirmed in grace that he would not lie And how little had the authority of any man swayed Mary Magdalen to believe when albeit an Angel had told her the truth how Christ was risen yet she distrusts and runs to Peter and John with a quite contrary tale that some body had taken away her Masters body and she knew not where they had laid it and therefore because an Angel could not put that faith into her Christ took it in hand and disclosed himself Fifthly An Angel appears at the mouth of the Grave after Christ came to life again who is the first fruits of our Resurrection which is in effect to promise that we shall be exalted after death to the society of Angels Thus a worthy Author observed it before me The finding of an Angel in the place of dead bodies is for a pledge that there is a possibility and hope that dead bodies may come into the place of Angels Why not the bodies in the Grave to be advanced in heaven one day as well as the Angels in heaven to be about the Grave this day And I pray you mark it with me There are many Apparitions of Angels recorded in holy Scripture yet this one time and no more if I be not mistaken an accurate description is made what manner of Robe and Garment they did seem to wear His countenance was like lightning and his rayment white as snow in the next verse to my Text. The Holy Ghost would never have instanced in the bright colour of the Garment but to shew with what Angelical shapes we shall be cloathed in the Resurrection 6. Lastly Angels desire to be present at every thing wherein mankind is benefited that they may rejoyce with us No envy no malignity in them that we shall be made perfect in both parts of nature both in body and soul and so in that respect exceed them who are only spiritual substances For they that rejoyce when one sinner is converted how much more do they rejoyce that all mankind shall be deliver'd from the Prisons of death and beautified with immortality they fought with the Devil about the Body of Moses they will strive with death and corruption about the restauration of our bodies For God will send forth his Angels and they shall gather his Elect from the four corners of the earth this is meant of their Ministry to rake up our bones and dust together at the great day of the Resurrection Surgente Christo terrenis redditur coeleste commercium now Angels came down in bodily shapes because Christ had exalted frail flesh unto incorruption now they talk familiarly to Gods servants as with the tongues of men because our tongues shall be made Psalteries of the divine praise for ever I have done with the Angels descent from heaven and now I come to the third motion which was particularly about our Saviours Sepulchre He came and rolled back the stone from the door When you hear that the door of our Saviours Sepulchre was a great stone and a stone rolled upon it you must not conceive the manner by such Tombs and Monuments as we have now adaies Neither will I refer you to those types and Medals which are printed now adaies and taken from the fashion of the Sepulchre which at this day is to be seen in the Holy City and is kept by certain Orders of Friars with great reverence For with what assurance can I say it is the same Sepulchre wherein our Saviour lay when Eusebius says that in the reign of Constantine the Emperor the place was nothing but a rude heap of earth so that there was no memory remaining of our Saviours Burial place But those of the learned that seem to me to speak probably say thus Jerusalem was seated upon a rocky place so that all their chief Monuments were digged out of stony Quarries Every Family of noble reputation as the learned Casaubon notes it out of the Rabbies had a Sepulchre proper to it self with a certain number of hollow places or excavations to receive the Corpses of that Family Some say there were wont to be thirteen in every Vault some say but eight In such a Vault belonging to Joseph of Arimathaea was Christ laid a rocky stony Moument it was lest some should say he was digg'd out by some secret Mine a new one wherein never any had been laid lest they should say not He but another body rose a Tomb not belonging to himself but to another man because he neither died nor was buried for himself but for us men and for our salvation St. Cyril helps us further to know that the Monuments of the Kings of Juda and Israel were raised a little above the ground but the Tombs of all others of that Nation who were under the Princely rank were hewn out seven cubits under ground Eusebius very directly says of his Tomb it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Cave but none so pat as the Prophet Jeremy Lam. v. 53. They have cut off my life in the dungeon and cast a stone upon me An hollow descension into a low place is called a Dungeon And as we cover a Wells mouth with planks of wood or with lead so in sundry places of Scripture it appears that they rolled great stones upon the mouth of their Caves And surely Joseph of Arimathaea barr'd this Sepulchre with a stronger stone than ordinary that our Lords body might not be abused by the malice of his Enemies
Church was that there were no divisions or distractions in their Body God be praised for the multiplication of his Saints now over all the world we cannot meet now under one Roof as these did nor sit down in rows in one Field together as those 5000 did whom our Saviour fed in the Desart the bounds of all the Land of Canaan are not able to hold us God be glorified for the increase Our unity of place is to meet in those publique Assemblies which are allotted to particular Churches at those appointed times which are enjoyned us In no wise to slack our presence here on the Lords day to flock together on other festival days at Morning Prayer on week days to be much more diligent than we have been fie upon our tardiness and excuses in that duty do we look that God shall bless us in our Persons and Calling to take a Benediction away with us to serve us the whole week and come no oftner is not he the God that makes men to be of one mind to come to the Temple together and there to receive the Holy Ghost Chiefly I wish heartily in Christ that they would consort together with us who take no offence at our Doctrine established but make a separation and strangeness both from us and among themselves for matter of Ceremonies and things indifferent They that are baptized into Christ and one Faith why should they not come together with one accord in one place I must not be prolix I will say no more to it but let us say with St. Paul Hebr. x. 39. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are not of them who separate or draw back unto perdition Vnto perdition let that be noted The observation of this point gains thus much more out of St. Austin As all the Tribes of Israel were gathered together about Mount Sinah to hear in what manner the Law was proclaimed so here was an agreement of all persons to joyn together to receive the Holy Ghost but in that admirable similitude there is this dissimilitude that the people were prohibited with many terrors to come near the place where the Law was delivered but at this time the Holy Ghost was sent unto them who expecting the promise were all with one accord in one place And Calvin conjects much unto this note that the minds of the faithful were exceedingly encouraged and chang'd for the better the stoutest Champions of them all had no manlike fortitude in them before the Shepherd was smitten and instantly they were scattered and ran away for fear now the very women had hardned themselves against all danger they mix themselves together in one place with that holy company and fear no evil that can happen unto them A resolved constant mind an heroick heart to take up the Cross of Christ and to suffer unto the death for righteousness sake is a sign of much grace in the soul and an admirable preparation to receive the greatest measure of the Holy Ghost And that you may not think this Apostolical Society had crept into a dark corner where no espials could find them out Many Authors that have laboured to understand where it was say it was a spacious goodly Room of as much note as any private House in all Jerusalem and frequented so often by the Apostles that their haunt was known through all the City All that I have met withal conclude it was the same upper Chamber where our Saviour celebrated his last Supper and so consecrated the place Nicephorus and Cedrenus say it was the House of John the Evangelist for he took the Blessed Virgin to his own home and she was now among them a slender guess God wot and repugnant to many circumstances of Scripture Theophylact says it was the House of Simon the Leper how can that be when his House was in Bethany Matth. xxvi 6. Euthymius says it was the House of Joseph of Arimathea an honourable Counseller and had goodly Rooms to receive them Baronius goes with the most voices all are but conjectures that it was the House of Mary the Mother of John whose surname was Mark. To this Adrichomius consents and says this was the place where 3000 Jews were converted by Peter and baptized thither Peter betook himself when the Angel brought him out of prison there Stephen and others were made Deacons there James the Brother of our Lord so called was consecrated Bishop of Jerusalem there the first Council of the Apostles was held Acts xv All ancient Authors conclude it was about where the Tower of Sion stood and this is certain that Helen the Mother of Constantine did build a goodly Temple upon the same place to honour that holy ground It was a Figure of the whole Church of Christ so much the more to be remembred and the Church is a Figure of the Kingdom of Heaven where all the Saints and I trust all we shall praise the Lord with one accord in one place for evermore It follows now as the outward Bond of Peace was with this Society so they were claspt together faster with the inward Bond of Agreement with the unity of the same spirit they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one accord There cannot be a more proper true and certain disposition to make us meet for the Holy Ghost than unanimity As the Halcyon so our Naturalists say never appears but against fair weather so the Spirit comes either not at all or not very plentifully unto us until he find concord among us without jars and tranquility without bitterness The unity of the Apostles is called by the Fathers parasceue spiritus the way-making to receive the grace of God and if the Patient be prepared aright the Agent will do his work the sooner and the better No gifts of benediction are given to strive and oppose to fight one against another but for charity and edification therefore it was the beginning of our Collect three Sundays past Almighty God which dost make the minds of all faithful men to be of one will and it is a principal part of our Gospel for this day Peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you That peace which Christ left among the Apostles was as it were an earnest penny put into their hands that they should have the full donative of the Comforter from above Our Saviour was born in the days of Caesar Augustus when a still Peace was over all the world now He pours out his holy spirit upon them that were of one accord and of one heart the one was his first act upon earth the other is his last then he was cloathed with our flesh now we are invested with his spirit This remarkable amity and Saint-like brotherhood among the Members of the Church which had no ruptures was well prefigur'd in the old Feast of Pentecost which was kept by the Jews For Levit. xxiii 19. upon the day of Pentecost among other Burnt-offerings the Priests were appointed in
fulness not that the Vessel of any of their hearts was so replenisht but that God could have poured in more if it had seemed good unto him for nothing but the essence of God is all sufficient and can admit of no augmentation but never was there such copious measure of it either diffused among the Israelites in the Old Law no nor imparted to us Christians since this Generation did leave the world Rupertus says upon it it was now now when this Ocean of the Spirit was poured out that the Devil was bound and cast into the bottomless pit though that is rather to be ascribed to the virtue of Christ's Passion and to his bloud shed upon the Cross When Mary poured a Box of Spiknard very precious upon our Saviour's head Judas grumbled and said quorsum perditio to what end is so much waste and lest any profane person should so gibe at this blessing and say to what end was so much plenty and superfluity of the Spirit take these reasons with you for your use and instruction and I will begin with two Maxims of reasons 1. Si natura non deficit in necessariis multò minùs spiritus sanctus if Nature is furnisht with all instruments and faculties fit for its work surely the Holy Ghost would not be scanty in any thing that should conduce to resound the Glory of God over all the world 2. Speculative men tell us tantum medii sumendum est quantum ad finem conducit he that is a wise Appointer will lay forth so much means as will bring the end to pass Put these together and it will follow that here was neither too little nor too much nothing wanting nor yet to spare The work of the Apostles was the greatest Task that ever was put upon mens shoulders Christ gave them one Commission which might be discharg'd with some moderate pains and adventures to preach unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel Their second Commission might seem unto flesh and bloud insupportable Go and teach all Nations c. How much ground was to be trod how many deaths to be hazarded how many subtle Philosophers to be convinced we preach unto them that are brought up in Religion and are glad to hear us they were sent to those that stop their ears at them and could not endure the name of Christ their heart therefore their judgment their courage their patience did require a far other proportion of the Spirit than will suffice a common Christian their filling must be more abundant because they were to empty it out to so many And unto whomsoever God hath imparted more copious grace let him not despise his Brethren but let him use that plenteous Gift for the benefit of many for the edification of the Members of Christ's Body or else the blessing that did adorn him will condemn him The next thing we learn is that we must strive and contend and pray for the fulness of the Spirit it is not every Modicum and pittance of it which will content him that truly loves the Lord. The Son of Syrach says of that wisdom which sanctifieth all things They that eat me shall be hungry and they that drink me shall yet be thirsty Ecclus xxiv 21. And very certain none so eager to have more grace as they that have a liberal portion already None so instant to get ten Talents as he that hath received five Let Elisha have some enlightnings of a Prophetical Spirit and then he makes bold to ask that a double portion of Elias his Spirit may rest upon him Gregory says it is the property of the fruits of the Spirit Cum non habentur in fastidio sunt cum habentur in desiderio They that have them not either never miss them or think vilely of them they that have them do insatiably desire them It is a sign of a disdainful lothsomness in nature to come to the Fountain of living waters and to do no more but sip and wet our lips with it He that hath a truly heavenly gust of it pleno se proluit alveo As St. Paul phraseth it We are all made to drink into one spirit 1 Cor. xii 12. Still we shall call for more and more not because want and driness doth afflict us but because desire doth please us Nemo primo statim die ad satietatem potatur spiritus sancti says Calvin no man is made Christian enough in a day to go to the Kingdom of heaven unless it be in such a rare example as that was of the penitent Thief It is a false spirit that says unto any mortal man it is well if you can keep at this stay and prove no worse I know the greatest part of indifferent Christians are so affected to carnal content that if it were possible to measure out to a drachm what quantity of righteousness would serve them to be endued with that they might attain salvation they would reach so far if the grace of God would assist them but would take no care to seek any further I say if they knew the trick how to make just a Saint and no more they would spare a labour for seeking beyond that Point and for the rest sacrifice to carnal security Christianum esse probant minimum esse non probant as St. Hierom speaks they do not love a man unless he be a Christian And again they will not love him if he be a vehement and an earnest Christian to serve the Lord. Certainly it is a sign that there is no sanctification in that conscience where there is not a studious longing of the soul for an augmentation The learned among the Heathen love to talk of strange Creatures and Plutarch tells of a fish whereof if a man taste but a little it is hurtful if he eat it up all it is medicinal True or false be his story it comes fit to be applied a little holiness will vanish away like a morning mist as Hosea speaks nay it is prone to turn to mans hurt for when there is but little of it it turns to hypocrisie but as God hath given us plenteous redemption in Christ so we must return him plenteous faith and plenteous obedience with all our heart and with all our soul and love our neighbour with a plenteous love even as we love our selves and that is to be filled with the Holy Ghost Let this be the conclusion of the first part of my Text the inward donation of the Spirit the outward exercise of it remains to be handled They began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance The Spirit which is signified by the wind and inspiration is necessary to all Christians who are invited to faith But as it appears in Tongues so it was requisite for them only that were sent to teach all Nations That is if God had meant only to make good men of them the wind would have sufficed but intending to make good Apostles of
Spirit of grace into the Soul and is not discerned there it sanctifies there it reforms there it changeth the mind and yet we cannot understand what manner of quality it is a thing of no appearance and yet of infinite efficacy Our senses are the Cinque-ports of all humane knowledg if any thing come into us either it must enter by those passages or we have no means to know how it should enter without those passages But when we feel the agitation of grace in our heart nothing is left us but to say Lord how camest thou hither We know not which way thou camest The Jews were sealed outwardly in the Body with the Mark of Circumcision whereby every man knew his Brother but our Mark is privily imprinted upon the Soul the Holy Spirit whereby we are sealed unto the day of Redemption whereby God only knoweth his Elect. God knows it the Conscience of the faithful feels but if we go about to consider what manner of Essence or Influence it is it will amaze us that we cannot understand it Again do you wonder at things which are rarely found then marvel to see how sparingly the Grace of God doth grow upon the Earth To whom hath the Arm of the Lord been revealed and who hath believed our Report The Sun illuminates half the World at once with his Light and leaves the other half in Darkness but the tenth part of the Sons of Men are not beautified with the Light of Grace nay the sixth part of the Earth hath not heard whether there be an Holy Ghost It strikes me with Admiration how so many do want the Heavenly Calling for the Ravens and the Sparrows do not want the comfort of their daily Food Naturas rerum minimarum non destituit Deus the smallest things that be God doth not leave them destitute yet there are Millions of men and women that continue in a barbarous and unrepented life So that it turns to be the Subject of Admiration to find out those few that are the small Remnant of Jacob. Christ himself marvelled at the faith of the Centurion a Commander and so submissive a Gentile and so devout an Example seldom seen and the Lord did marvel at it So he lifted up his voice in Acclamation to the Canaanitish womans praise O woman great is thy faith a denied Supplicant and so constant a disgraced Supplicant and so patient Seldom doth the Grace of God inhabit where it proves so well But O love the Saints and magnifie God in their good success Such as serve God truly in spirit are no usual sight therefore the coming down of the Holy Ghost was matter of Amazement But above all the Effects and Benefits of it are so beneficial to mankind that it amounts to the highest admiration It opens unto us the meaning of the Scriptures without which the Eunuch may read but he knows not the interpretation it teacheth us to pray with zeal and faith without which our words are but babling it makes us hear the Word of God to our edifying and salvation without which it is lost in stony or thorny ground it puts the tast of Christs Body and Bloud into our mouths when we receive the Sacrament without which we eat and drink our own damnation it comforts us though we find the horror of sin in our conscience and tribulation in the world without which the vengeance of God and the wrath of man would overwhelm us it seasons our actions with piety and obedience without which nothing that we can do but is corrupted with the root of bitterness it intenerates the most stony Hearts it hath civilized the most barbarous Nations it hath brought in Nurture and the Use of Laws and Discipline among them that lived by nothing but rapine and robbery it hath made the Flesh of Man which was a Cage of uncleanness to be the Temple of God Upon whomsoever the Spirit of Grace doth rest the Lycaonians may say of them without offence Gods are come down unto us in the likeness of Men. You may justly extol it with a boundless Praise and a boundless Praise must needs close in with an Extasie of admiration You would bless your selves with wonder to see a mighty Cure wrought upon the Body by the Finger of God a Cure above nature and is it not more astonishable to see a supernatural Cure wrought upon the desperate Diseases and Distempers of the Soul If one that is born blind be made to see O then they cry out Never was the like seen from the beginning of the world Consider your selves I pray you in the better part are we not by nature blind and ignorant groping in darkness and cannot find a true step to Heaven The Spirit is eyes unto the understanding it makes us walk in marvelous light so that we shall not dash our foot against the stones and ruins of tentations which of these two is the greater Miracle To cast out a Devil from him that is possessed would make the Earth ring of the mighty virtue Doth not Grace cast out a Legion of Devils from the Soul To skip over all other instances but one no Miracle which Fame did publish with a lowder Trumpet than to raise the Dead chiefly to raise up Lazarus that had been four days dead Why a continuance in sin is the death of the Soul and no Paradox it is to say it is an immortal death Yet Christ rolls away the stone of impenitence under which it is buried looseth our hands and feet which were bound with the cords of Satan calls us forth from the Grave of Custom renews our spirit and makes us live unto holiness and you being dead in sins and trespasses hath he quickned Colos ii 13. So you see how hard it is to know the Spirit how rare to find it for totus mundus in maligno positus how copious and infinite in his Effects and Benefits it is above our capacity to measure it and most worthy of amazement to admire it Now as we know the Gift of the Holy Ghost better than these Jews so it is the more admirable to us by how much we know it the better but the persons of the Apostles were better known to the Jews than to us and that circumstance they fell upon as a strange thing which they could not dive into why the Lord did put so great a Treasure into such homely Vessels There was not a Moses among them skill'd in all the Learning of the Egyptians not a Joshua in all the cluster that could lead a Battel not a Samuel that had worn a Linnen Ephod from his childhood before the Lord not a Rabbi not a Pharisee not one of polite Education It is that which confounded the Multitude at the 7. verse Behold are not all these which speak Galilaeans There was some reverence done to them in that Character they might have said are not all these Fishermen Publicans and Ideots Truly if there were nothing else these
ours is both a more joyful condition to enjoy the halcyon days of peace than to be renowned for the most triumphant days of war As Seneca said of the innocent days of Saturns Age that there were no terrible Battels fought by seditious Princes odium omne in feras verterant they kill'd none but wild Beasts in hunting so it is far more Christian in our days to hear it talked that Dogs do chace Stags than that Men devour Men as they do in our neighbour Nations But as David was the first King of Israel that maintained a Navy of Ships at Sea both to procure safety and honour and wealth to his people so it will be written of our Dread Soveraign that he hath matched if not exceeded all his Predecessors in that glory Touching the Personal Qualities of David Gifts of Virtue and Grace I confess they were rare and will admit but of few Comparisons never such an Enditer of holy Songs never any did exceed him in Zeal and Piety never since the world began did any Monarch heap up such a mass of Treasure to build up the Temple an hundred thousand Talents of Gold a thousand thousand Talents of Silver and Gold and Silver without number 1 Chron. xxii for ordering the Service of God in the disposition of the Priests in settling the sacred Musick he was so exquisite as the like was never heard of and in ordering all temporal affairs he was wise as an Angel of God says the woman of Tekoa for his mercy in forgiving offendors you shall not meet with the like till you ascend up to God himself how soon did a few courteous words in the mouth of Abigail cool his anger when he was in a most chaffing indignation what horrid revilings did he put up which Shemei cast upon him how indulgent he was to have spared Absolom the lewdest Son that did ever rise up against a Father When God did give such Ornaments to his Servant it may well be said that he made the day wherein he crowned him and for our due acknowledgment of Gods favours poured upon the head of our Augustious Sovereign you cannot deny but he is religious pious temperate gentle prudent good in all respects as David was but blemished with none of his vices But I will not make my Sermon a Cento of his deserved Praises not for that reason which Plato gives that it is folly to commend any man while he lives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because man is a changeable creature and may alter from good to worse I fear not this I see such constancy and stiff perseverance in all virtuous ways in our Illustrious King but partly because all Encomiastick Exercises are censur'd for flattery and do soon prove scandalous to the Auditors partly because the Temple is a place selected for the Praise of God and not of Man but I will confidently say that since we are so prosperous a People in a religious wise just chast merciful and temperate Sovereign no Nation under the Sun all things duly weighed hath more cause to confess than we this is the day which the Lord hath made And I may well say hitherto I have spoken of a Benefit now I am come to our bounden thankfulness we will rejoyce and be glad in it as who should say this is the Day which God made for this very end that we should rejoyce and be glad in it As the Lord loveth a chearful Giver so he loveth a chearful Receiver of his mercies he would have us consign it in our countenance and gesture that it pleaseth us and delights us exceedingly to be partakers of his Propitiations And surely this is no hard request no heavy yoke I am certain to require us to rejoyce and be merry with them that keep holy day to accommodate our selves to the season It becometh the righteous to be glad it becometh them to be merry and joyful says our Psalmist If we descend into the consideration of our manifold sins we had need of a long Lent set apart to bewail them nay the Church very anciently provided that every week in the year we should cast up that reckoning and singled out two whole days Wednesday and Friday for fasting weeping and mourning Yet since there is nothing worse for our proficiency in sanctification than to be swallowed up in grief and melancholy therefore it is the will of our Father that we should recreate our selves in solemn Festivals for the remembrance of his benefits which my Text calls to rejoyce and be glad The same passion of Exhilaration perhaps is set forth in both these terms yet it is usual to ascribe them severally the one to the Body the other to the Soul referring joy to the Body and gladness to the Soul for we owe our selves to God in both and we must honour him both in the inward and in the outward man Cor meum caro mea they go both together Psal xvi 9. therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth my flesh also shall rest in hope In such times as great Benefits are to be celebrated we must not think it enough to joy in our bosom it must break out into some sensible tokens and yet again we must not have a clear face and a cloudy overcast heart but let our Body and Soul be equally devoted to triumph in the name of the Lord. I dare not open too wide a gap for mirth lest instead of thanksgiving it prove to be licentiousness Solomon among other varieties would prove his own heart with mirth and pleasure and behold it turned to vanity Eccl. ii no passion more obnoxious to degenerate into vice therefore gaudete in Domino let the Lord be in the joy both of Body and Soul and forget not that the speakers in my Text promise not a carnal but a religious Festival wherein the Lord should be praised For the 27 verse of this Psalm in our reading promiseth a Sacrifice to God upon that Day in his holy Temple Bind the Sacrifice with cords unto the horns of the Altar but the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and it is followed by the Vulgar Latin which reads it Constituite diem solemnem in condensis usque ad cornua altaris appoint an holy day that the People may stand thick in the Temple from the Porch up to the horns of the Altar Some part of the day must be spent in the Church upon our Solemn times or else our rejoycing is not sanctified It is the mirth of Fools or rather of Mad-men to suppose that Christmas Holidays are well kept with gaming and revelling that Whitsun Holidays were made for nothing but Wakes and Dancing that the Solemnity of May-day being the Feast of two Apostles Philip and Jacob consists in decking up houses with green boughs or as in old time the Common People celebrated Allhollan-day with nothing but ringing of Bells Lawful Exercises and Pastimes may be used to refresh both the body and
examination for they will not tell us what they mean It cannot be that Terrestrial Paradise out of which Adam was banisht it cannot be that for the Floud prevailed above all the earth to waste and spoil it And for figurative significations of the word they are endless who can interpret them But will you know the truth upon Eccles xliv 16. The Vulgar Latine of such authentick credit with them hath cogg'd in the word Paradise Enoch pleased the Lord and was translated into Paradise The Arabick Version I hear upon the eleventh of the Hebrews hath used St. Pauls Text so and inserted the word Paradise into it Yet there is no such syllable in the 72 or in the Greek Text of the Son of Syrach that is all one to them where it serves their turn they make use of the Greek Copies before the Hebrew and of the Latine before the Greek the Roman Church can dignifie what Language it pleaseth But enough of this it is a meer Latine errour which first seduced the Schoolmen to write that Enoch was translated into Paradise Touching Limbus Patrum their Doctrine is more clear and explicite that it is a place below the earth called in large sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Hell a receptacle of the souls of those holy ones and good believers that died before Christ ascended into heaven where they were at rest and peace but enjoyed not the presence of God And this they expound to be that bosom of Abraham whither the Angels carried the soul of Lazarus The latter instance I suppose is enough to confute the former for the rich man looked up and saw Abraham and Lazarus in the high places above him a great gulf of exceeding distance being between them therefore it could be no such Limbus as they dream of in the Confines or Suburbs of hell And St. Austin dasht this opinion long since with an Argument not to be answered I have searched the Scriptures says he and could never find that Hades or Hell was taken in good part therefore to make a place of rest and joyful habitation to be the fourth and best degree of hell as all their Authors take it is beyond his understanding But why not Enoch assumed into some part of heaven Their reason for that The Scripture says plainly that Elias was carried up to heaven not because any quiet Habitation may be called Heaven in respect of this world of misery but forasmuch as verily he did change Earth for Heaven and therein is made a Type of Christs Ascension as Jonas the Prophet was a Type of his Resurrection So St. Ambrose I should have remembred it before upon the Funerals of Valentinian allows Abrahams bosom to be the house of God above the Firmament Certainly St. Paul would never have used that distinction Whether in the body or out of the body he knew not if it had been impossible for the body of man to be exalted into the third Heavens As Core and Dathan were swallowed quick into Hell body and soul for their great Rebellion so Enoch and Elias were carried quick into heaven body and soul for their great obedience The Greek Church keeps the Feast of Elias upon the twentieth of July says Metaphrastes in his Catalogue All that Lapide the Jesuit says unto it is that Elias his name is honoured upon that day by the Greek Church but he is not worshiped or invocated on that day because he is not in Heaven I know not whether the Jesuit say truth in that because I never saw the work of Metaphrastes but if the Greek Church neither make Prayers unto him nor give him religious honour I am sure they are the wiser and the farther from the Roman Superstition They have one question among the Schoolmen maintained pro and con with bitter contentions so God afflicts their wits that resist the truth upon their supposition that Enoch and Elias are not yet in Patriâ termino not yet come to the consummation of their days not yet in the receptacles of heaven but in some other place whither they be still in proficiency of holiness waxing better and better as when they lived upon earth for then say those Doctors this absurdity would follow they should exceed the Merits of the Blessed Virgin and all the Saints their stock of good Works should run on in infinitum I think they are afraid they might prove such excellent servants that God should scarce be able to requite them Thus they entangle themselves in endless strifes to keep Enoch out of Heaven and with him all those souls that died in the Faith before our Saviour gave up the Ghost and upon affected misconstruction of those Texts that Christ was the first fruits of them that sleep that no man hath ascended into heaven but he that first descended the Son of man that is in heaven To explain my self and satisfie them remember our Saviours words that there are divers mansions in his Fathers house that is divers Stories of glory in his Fathers house built one above another there are outward Courts of glory and inward Chambers Now it is not to be denied but that Enoch and all the souls of all the just men of the Old Testament were in some quarterings of Heaven as in their proper place and in a state of happiness and salvation which is figuratively called heaven yet I do not say but Christ did open a door unto them to bring them nearer to the Vision of God in the highest heavens when himself did enter into glory The souls of good men deceased were ever in the hand of God but not ever in like distance to the joyes of God They were in Heaven before Christ ascended but not in such an Heaven as they possess now after he ascended Their Lot was Heaven from the beginning but their inheritance is augmented that Verse in our Morning Hymn looks this way I take it when thou hadst overcome c. But of St. Pauls meaning to jump with this Doctrine I am very confident Heb. ix 8. The way into the holiest of all was not yet mode manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing That I may leave no objections behind me to stumble you the main scruple is that the Scripture speaks as if Christ had made the first passage into Heaven in his own person which must be interpreted of the highest heavens where the blessed shall remain for ever no man was admitted there not the body nor the soul of man till he that was God and man in one person went in first and by his own merits and intercession gave access unto his brethren I settle in my own belief upon this answer not for want of two other answers and both of them probable The one that before ever Christ took flesh virtually and meritoriously he opened the Kingdom of heaven to all Believers Ab origine mundi operata est Christi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Ministry of
Land give me also springs of water Let me not lie concealed lest I be out of remembrance and thou forget me Let me do good and communicate lest I prove but an imaginary Notion Let me offer some dutiful Sacrifice lest I lose my Saviour Noahs internal Sanctity was not honoured with this praise that it exhaled sweetness before it proved it self by a most religious action For ought we know Hell may be full of them who had many good purposes but did never execute them Yet again put a bare Sacrifice into the Balance and it weighs as little I think none will conceive my Text in a literal sense that the flesh of a Beast burnt upon the coales did send a sweet savour but an offensive smell Some are at a wonder when many Cattel were burnt together how the nostrils of the Priests and People could endure it And yet there was no miracle in it as Abulensis supposeth as if God did always by omnipotent power draw a sweet steame from the Altar and the flesh that was burnt upon it What every day Miracles and yet this never revealed to us by any Prophet in all the Scriptures The resolution is easie The Altar of Burnt-offerings was in the open Court the air carried away the stench that would offend under a covered Seiling Some excellent Perfumes were cast into the fire at the same time I have Plutarchs testimony touching the noisom vapour of heathen Sacrifices that all manner of sweet Gums were thrown together into the flame to overcome the strong Odour especially the Priest was clad in perfumed Robes which made the worst smell tolerable to him But none can be deceived with the bare Letter of the Text as if God did smell any savour It is a Figure translating the affections of a man to the divine Essence And a second Figure upon that calling delight and complacency by the name of smelling a sweet Odour And the words lying so naked to be understood I say the Lord took no pleasure in a bare Sacrifice For what is it to him to have the beasts slain and their substance consumed Or how is a wicked man made more innocent by executing vengeance upon an harmless Sheep Gifts and Sacrifices could not make him that did the Service perfect as pertaining to the Conscience Heb. ix 9. When the Magi came to Bethlem and found the Babe whom they had sought they fell down and offered up their body they worshiped and offered up their Soul they were liberal of their Substance and presented their gifts But what Not Sheep and Oxen not work to imploy the Levites the Sons of Aaron Loe says St. Chrysostome in the beginning of the Gospel we find the turn of those ancient Rites whose place was supplied with Gold Mirrh and Frankincense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were not fat and fulsom like the Jewish Ordinances but pure and Intellectual Adoration Faith Obedience Charity We learn out of it that the vertue of the mind consecrates the Gift There is not any thing which St. Paul hath omitted 1 Cor. xiii but says that without the love of God all will come to nothing The opus operatum the material substance of any good work no more considered with it is a vapour that vanisheth Prayers Preaching the Sacraments in the more transitory work issuing not out of our Spirit are Consonants without Vowels it is past all skill to utter them And who would compare the best Statue with a living man Works of beneficence must be done and liberally He that hath much owes much he that hath but little ought not altogether to shut his hand Yet the richest endowment that ever was made in a pious way is a Sacrifice but of a dull smoak unless it be spiced with those good Odours of which I will now speak in the Affirmative how the Lord smelled a sweet savour First His devotion was very fragrant I begin with it because I would revive it I say revive it For it is much laid aside and takes as little with some as Jewish Sacrifice You shall not be much edified in it by our Sister Churches beyond Seas and their imitators and little will you learn of it without a Liturgy of Prayer comprized in a solemn order The Seraphical acclamations of such a pious model may carry up an Elias in its Chariot far above the clouds Humility is a great ingredient in it A devout soul the more it presseth to come near to God it keeps the greater distance from the glory of his Majesty Like a flame of a great Candle it mounts with heat but the more it ascends the more it trembles Holy Vows are inseparable from it a Vow is in the name of Devotion to bind us the faster to God Therefore it is a Bow that is strongly bent when the string is slack it is an useless Instrument Also without any force this is in the Word that a Devotee devoves his life and all he hath to maintain the honour of God after that excess of St. Pauls courage Acts xxi 13. I am ready not to be bound only but to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus This is devotion which counts not its life dear but doth devove it self for the Gospel of Christ St. Austin describes it with much plainness Devotio est pius humilis affectus ad Deum It is a compound of the best internal Piety and the most lowly and prostrate humility of the body More loftily in another place Carbo ignitus flammâ divini amoris accensus A firy coal wasting away all earthy dull affections with the flame of divine love I cannot mend it In brief it is the excess of a religious fear in the heart which doth all things outwardly with most becoming reverence Apply this to the example of Noah As soon as ever he came out of the Ark he made ready some solemn Worship and none so solemn in those days as Sacrifice and none could be more bountiful at that time than one of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl Seven of all clean Creatures were taken into the Ark three Couples to multiply and the odd one to be offered up it was Caelebs animal it lived single not coupled with any Female to be the purer Oblation And these were not offered on the ground but to shew the elevation of his heart he built an Altar for it which you never read of before Lastly It was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an whole burnt offering Holocausta sunt perfecta studia virtutum Origen began the Allegory and all have followed him they are whole Burnt-offerings that consume the old man and all the members of their concupiscence as much as they are able I score not out this Line to move you to the like in fleshly Sacrifices which are long since superannuated I will put the issue for your instruction upon that which the brevity of the Book of Genesis hath omitted but is necessarily understood that
with mourning I wept and chastened my self with fasting says David A pensive mind will seldom have a hungry stomach True sorrow will make a man forget to eat his bread Some will not deny that there is an harmony between Fasting and Mourning not to be broken but they cannot abide to come under the penance of Fasting and then they shut mourning out of doors because it wants its Mate But the Libertine maunders Fasting what is that to the advantage of Repentance The Kingdom of Heaven is not meat and drink If we eat we are not the worse and if we eat not we are not the better And what God hath given us freely why is our liberty abridged that we may not use it when we will I answer None is more firmly enfeoffed of any thing than the Husband is of the Wife and the Wife of the Husband And yet they may keep asunder with consent for a time that they may give themselves to Fasting and Prayer 1 Cor. vii 5. So the Lord hath given us the earth and the fulness of it but it is expedient sometimes as on this day to abstain from meats that the Spirit may be the stronger to work by the subjection of the body It is a means both upon the extraordinariness of it to make us look exactly into the bottom of our conscience as also to elevate the mind and to make it more capable of heavenly thoughts As we see it in St. Peter he fasted and fell into a trance and saw that Vision happy for us the calling of the Gentiles Act. x. So Daniel eat no pleasant bread nor drank Wine for three weeks and he was the better composed for those Prophetical Revelations which were imparted to him Dan. x. 2. It is not the bare abstinence from meats take it alone by it self that pleaseth God but as it is in conjunction with other holy duties as to dispose the body to Chastity and to heighten up the mind to the contemplation of heavenly things That you may know the right Fast from the wrong there are three to one in whom there is no profit at all Jejunat justus mendicus hypocritá parcus says the old verse 1. The Hypocrite abstains from meats and looks sadly not that he may cast himself down before God but that he may exalt his name among men 2. The Niggard fasts and torments his body to spare his Purse 3. The poor man fasts because he hath not wherewithal to relieve his hunger These are not within the compass of Religion But fourthly the devour man fasts to give his soul the true bias of penance and mourning and to testifie before heaven and earth that nothing shall comfort him but the mercy of God whom he hath offended I will come to particularise in the Sphere of our Nation First if there were no other sin among us but woe and alas we abound with a great deal more but if we had no other fault yet the strange intolerable luxury brought in in these consuming days the great mystery of Cookery utterly unknown to the laudable hospitality of our fore-fathers this wanton aromatical Ambergriece-diet what should I call it Doth it not deserve to be expiated by a Publick Fast Doth it not require that we should set aside all manner of food for one day till Even As good men and temperate were ashamed to eat for necessity because costly Palats are so profusely lavish in superfluity Let us confess and declare in act that we deserve not that which God hath given us let us subscribe by this humiliation that we have forfeited that right and dominion which we had in the Creatures and that we are not worthy so much as to gather up the Crums under our Masters Table Secondly We dwell in a Land upon which the heaven doth cast its most propitious influence it is the true Ganaan of the Western world flowing with so much plenty that I have oftner heard it grumbled at that it brought forth too much than that it brought forth too little Either it brings forth all manner of store or all manner of store by commodious Navigation is brought into it Ex te provenient vel aliunde tibi And how unthankful have we been for this most bounteous sustenance How slack in our acknowledgment that God hath opened the windows of heaven to rain down plenty upon us Is it not fit therefore that we should do justice upon our selves forbear and touch no more food untill we have sanctified a Fast and made an attonement for our ingratitude and press'd it upon our selves to be more thankful Thirdly The poor and needy have been neglected by us They have been almost famished when we have surfeited and they have wanted that which the rich mens Dogs have devoured O therefore chastise your bodies with hunger at this once that you may avenge the injuries which you have done to the poor upon your own flesh Cornelius the Centurton fasted and gave Alms whereupon says St. Austin Cornelius when himself fasted fed others who had no meat that their replenishing might make his Fast the more acceptable to God So this day you must feed the poor out of your own bellies and whatsoever you spare from your meal spend it on them and you shall feed your Saviour in them And as â—asting is a pious occasion thereby to ask pardon of God for our Gluttony our unthankfulness to God our hard heartedness to the poor so fourthly I would it might work some good amendment upon our most scandalous drunkenness I proâ—eâ—s I have little hope that that sin is corrigible among us For I believe verily I make my account right that we spend three hundred Cups of Wine in these days in this Kingdom for one that was spent when I was a Child Therefore â—o dehort from this debauchery I shall but put new wine into old bottels religious instruction before old unreclaimable Drunkards These bottels are stopt and will never receive my Doctrine They had rather be Swine than Men Horse-leeches that are always sucking at corruption He that cares not by over quaffing himself to lose his reason the most precious thing that is in the soul of man he is so drowned in intemperance that till he hates that Vice and casts it off he deceives himself if he thinks he can set any true valuation upon the grace of God But O that this holy Fast might reclaim those in this most conspicuous place or the whole Kingdom who are prone to be overwhelmed in the dead Sea of drink That you would fear least God should take you away when you are so pitifully overtaken That you would remember how they who enflame themselves with Wine now shall hereafter want a drop of water to cool their tongues in hell fire Yet for all those who forget themselves in that or in any other manner we keep this Publick Fast to remember God in their behalf Publicum jejunium est solemnis professio reatus they
she nor any Unbeliever can know till they have tasted the good gift of God Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst Go now and ask our Saviour Art thou greater than our Father Jacob that gave us this Well The Well was Jacobs perhaps but not the water he digged the Cystern but God gave the Spring that flowed into it this might have been alleged But what profit had come to the winning of a Soul if Christ had made comparisons between himself and his Servant It was his purpose at this time not to wrestle with Jacob but with the Woman of Samaria he came not to diminish the honour of his Saints but to magnifie the power of the Holy Ghost Petit potum ut det potum He met with one that was backward in courtesie and would not draw a Pitcher of water to cool his thirst yet he is forward in mercy and profers living water to quench the flame of her sins He drops by little and little upon her stony heart until he opened that hard rock that waters of salvation might flow out And first his Doctrin bred admiration in this Woman then a desire to learn then a sudden spark of faith which confessed that Jesus was the Messias then confusion for her sins then repentance and surely then godly sorrow and then tears and so she drew those waters before she was aware after which our Saviour thirsts above all others the tears of unfeigned repentance She denied him to take the pains to draw a draught out of Jacobs Well but he enforced her to draw out more precious liquors than those were from the bottom of her heart These are the words now read unto you which wrought that great effect and did pierce into her soul And let me say of that weak Instrument by whose tongue the Lord at this time doth make an offer unto you of that immortal Fountain as sometimes Gregory did when he exhorted many great persons to the contempt of the World and invited them to eat and drink with Christ in his Kingdom Etsi ego ad invitandum indignus appareo sed tamen magnae sunt deliciae quas promitto I am most unworthy to bid you come unto these waters and drink but the delicious Fountain which I promise to them that thirst after righteousness is worthy to invite you To handle it succinctly and to your edification there are four Branches of the Text to be propounded 1. The Subject to which all is to be referred is a water of a most different condition from that which is mentioned in the former verse 2. Who is able to draw it none but Christ it is a water that he gives and none beside him 3. How it is to be taken even as a soveraign and a delightful Receipt for the health of the Soul and the very soul of health it must be drunk 4. The exceeding benefit and virtue which amounts to that value that the whole World hath not riches enough to purchase it if it were to be bought for whosoever drinketh of it he shall never thirst To begin with these and the Touchstone upon which all other parts of the Text shall be tried is this What this mystical water is which our Saviour prefers so much before Jacobs Well Christ calls it living water at the tenth verse of this Chapter that 's a sweet Epithet indeed and yet it hath a more amiable description in the words that follow my Text a Well of water springing up unto everlasting life These are names of much elegancy and much obscurity but that we find a clear explanation of them in the seventh Chapter of this Gospel ver 38. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water But this he spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive So the Scripture hath written upon this water what it is that you may know it from any other it is the gift of Grace that cometh from above that sanctifieth our hearts and cleanseth us from all our sins it is the working of the Spirit which knits us unto Jesus Christ and makes us Heirs of Salvation God the Holy Ghost doth abase himself to be resembled to many of these inferior things for our understanding No man can miss to remember how the Spirit did appear in cloven tongues as it were of fire Acts ii 2. In another place Jo. 3.8 he is likened to the air The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou knowest not whence it comes nor whither it goes so is every one that is born of the spirit And here his name passeth down a descension beneath that and is termed water only the earth is too base an Element whereunto the Holy Spirit should be compared leave that to man and to his corruptible constitution The Fire the Air and Water have some infinitude in them after a sort quod suis terminis non continentur says the Philosopher they are diffusive bodies which are not properly bounded or circumscribed in any Figure as the Earth is therefore all their names are borrowed to signify some disposition of the Divine Spirit toward us whose Vertue is most diffusive and whose Majesty incomprehensible But in each of the Testaments Old and New the first time that we read of the Holy Ghost he was joyned unto the Waters in the first day of the Creation the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters Gen. i. 2. and upon the first manifestation of Christ that he shewed himself abroad to be the Messias of the World the Spirit sat upon his head when he was baptized at Jordan in the shape of a Dove And it is not vain to consider that when the Holy Ghost came down in fire at the Feast of Whitsontide yet St. Peter applies the place of the Prophet Joel to that occasion which speaks as if it had been water effundam spiritum In the last dayes I will pour out of my spirit to all flesh By that which is said already I have brought it to this the Scripture doth very much aim at this Comparison to be considered why the vertues and operations of the Holy Ghost are called Water and the choice of the Comparison I think are these particulars First as waters poured upon Hills will not stay upon their tops but runs down to the lowest places and fills the Valleys beneath so the Graces of God descend to the lowly and humble in heart and abide not with the proud Nay David says it will be the better for it if it be but a little Valley a diminitive thou makest fruitful the little Valleys thereof with the drops of rain Centurio quantò humilior tantò capacior says Bernard the Centurion lay very flat and low at our Saviour's feet and where was there a man that had a larger portion of the heavenly benediction for Christ said of him I have not found so great faith
the top of the Rocks with the Eagle if you make your nest on the ground the foot of man and beast will tread on it If you contrive it within the reach of the arm it is easily plucked down If within the boughs of a large tree it will be pelted Build high enough as the Eagle doth and then you are safe from wracks and injuries In all the whirle and revolutions of fortune this is our magnetical reduction look up to heaven And give thanks together as it follows to be handled From hence we have all that belongs to the being and to the well-being of Nature Whatsoever we want whatsoever we dread and fear it comes from above Frost and Snow Rain and fruitful seasons food for the body grace for the soul heaven supplies us with all these with more than we can ask or think How properly therefore doth this holy Office as it were take up the train of the former and come after it First he looked up to heaven and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he gave thanks In one of us I confess they piece well together in the person of a mortal man that lives by pension and allowance from the Lord in the person of David as it is Psal viii When I consider the heavens c. What is man that thou art mindful of him Or the Son of man that thou visitest him But it is a strange word in the mouth of Christ He give thanks Who hath obliged him by any favour Or to whose benignity is he beholding All his works praise him and his Saints give thanks unto him but he is engaged to none there must be one first cause that communicates it self to all things and receives of nothing and that is God of God very God of very God the King of glory Jesus Christ To take off this Objection with reason first Beneficium accepit in humanâ naturâ He took the form of a servant upon him and in that exinanition he was capable of a benefit to be done unto him Therefore he thank'd his Father that he would bring that to pass by his Omnipotency which he was purposed to effect by his Humane Nature Nay he did not divide himself from his Father in this giving of thanks But the Son of Mary that was flesh of our flesh gave thanks unto himself as he was God Eternal It is so through an ineffable Dispensation An Eternal Decree was ratified that Christ being made man should be glorified in working this Miracle for which Decree he gives thanks unto the Godhead for so it was decreed that Thanksgiving should precede before the Decree was executed And yet note it further because the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in the Manhood bodily Christ did not go about his work precario he did not pray that power might be given him to multiply the five Loaves into five thousand portions that was not to be craved now which was inherent in him from the beginning but being certain to effect that which he undertook he gave thanks before the effect was produced Secondly Beneficium accepit in membris It was a gracious Donative which was now about to be bestowed upon the People that were gathered together and out of a fellow-feeling to those that were his own our Saviour gave thanks for the kindness shewn to his Members And well I may say he made this grateful acknowledgment to his Father for their sakes that pertained to his body for there is not that tender-hearted man that comforts a poor Christian in his necessities but he will say as much to him In as much as ye have done it to one of the least of my brethren ye have done it unto me The Prophet David hath spoken of his love after the same manner whereby he united himself unto us Psal lxviii 18. Thou hast led captivity captive Dona accepisti in hominibus so the Vulgar Latine and it is so verbatim in the Original thou hast received gifts in men He gives all and he takes all for he takes that to himself which is distributed unto all As it was the foundation of the Spartan Commonwealth Ne scirent privatim vivere To live rather for the advancement of the publick than of the private Weale So it is a corner stone of Christian Brotherhood Ne scirent homines privatim gratias agere Not to pinch up their gratitude into that narrowness as to bless the name of God for no mercies but such as are conferred upon themselves Quomodo idiota dicet amen Let me apply that of St. Paul in a Parody he that is all for himself is that Idiot that when publick Thanksgiving is made knows not how to say Amen But as Christ gave thanks for the Members so must the Members one for another For in the Union of Faith and in the Bond of Charity all blessings diffused far and wide upon our brethren are our proper benefits Thirdly All Writers that handle my Text strike upon this Key that we are taught from hence to make some holy Preface to say Grace as we call it before we feed our body When we sit down to meat Quasi ad beneficentiae Dei concionem accedimus we are presented as it were with a Sermon of Gods benignity not in word but in deed and therefore it is Decorum that we should begin with a Prayer So did the Jews yery anciently the young Maidens whom Saul met told him so much that the People would not eat till Samuel came because he doth bless the Sacrifice and afterward they that be bidden eat We Christians have sufficient from St. Paul to make us diligent observers of this Ceremony Says he Every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer 1 Tim. iv 4 5. It is not sufficient says Theodoret upon it that the Creature of God is good but it must be sanctified also before we eat it That which was good by nature the name of God invoked upon it makes it wholsom and holy Either our body may fall into some distemper or our soul into some fearful sin unless we begin and end our refection in the name of the Lord. But the Apostle chargeth us ex abundanti that the Word of God and Prayer be conjoyned to it that is says Vatablus to attend to the reading of sacred Scripture beside the ordinary Benediction So it is in use to this day with them that lead a Regular and a Scholastical strictness and was not omitted of the very Heathen that had a grain of Philosophy in their disposition So Cornelius Nepos commends Pomponius Atticus Nunquam sine aliquâ lectione apud eum coenatum est He never supped but somewhat was read out of a learned Author before him His mind did ruminate upon Knowledge while his teeth did chew his bread lest like an horse his head should be only in the Manger And those
served under Decius the Emperour in Affrica banished hundreds of Christians out of Affrica threatning death unto them if they returned Divers of them did creep in secretly giving reason that they came to comfort their Brethren and to strengthen them in the faith St. Cyprian writes to them out of Prison to exile themselves again and to return no more else if they suffered they should be reputed not for Martyrs but for Malefactors I will not load them with envy though it be true that many of their Tenebrioes crept into England with damnable intentions make the best they can of their own actions St. Cyprian says if banisht men will enter into a Realm against the Law they shall die as Malefactors It is the Cause and not the Punishment that makes a Martyr What more trivial If a Virgin choose to die rather than to be ravished she is slain for the Word of If a good man be ruined rather than give his assistance to the ruine of an innocent it is for the Word of God c. But if he be brought to the Stake for confessing there are no Gods made with hands and that Jesus Christ God and man is the Saviour of all that believe if he stand to it and will not flinch for any terrour that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to hold his Testimony then he is slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony of the Lamb as the Dragon fought with them that kept the Commandments of God and had the Testimony of Jesus Christ meaning such as were holy and faithful very godly in their works very Orthodox in their belief This is that mixture of sweet Spices in whose exhalation a Martyr becomes an odour of a sweet savour unto the Lord. They were victimae altaris and thymiamata altaris Sacrifices slain upon the Altar of burnt-offerings and therefore became sweet Spices offered up upon the Altar of Incense which shall be the conclusion of this Point and the beginning of the next where the Apostle did behold those Saints that had exchanged their lives to glorifie God under the Altar And where doth St. John mean Where about is that Every curious itching ear will be more attentive to it than to any instruction that can be raised out of the Text A Traveller that asks his way if many of the Country Folk be present at his question it is ten to one but they will diversifie in their opinions and set him in so many ways that he shall never be wiser for their direction So I have consulted with more than a few Expositors to learn where I may find this Altar and not miss of it one points this way another that way Et incertior sum multò quà m dudum Among their variety of directions I know not which way to move Cosmography is a very easie part of learning to design the confines or distances of City from City Kingdom from Kingdom But it is one of the most difficult tasks in Divinity to understand the several quarterings and Mansion-places of heaven I confess I have no skill in Ouranography But to cut off all Proem I will be brief in my relation what is said to it and more brief in my determination The discordious opinions may be drawn to three heads some mean by the Altar an allotted place some relate it to the condition of their body some refer it to the state and condition of their Spirit Whosoever give the words a local meaning that the Souls were under the Altar they all agree in this that it imports that the Saints are kept back awhile from the uppermost part of Heaven where the Angels do offer up Praises continually upon the Altar of Incense which is next to the Holy of Holies and they that have not the nearest access to the Vision of God in form of Prophetical speech may be said to be under the Altar Some who pitcht upon this Interpretation had such fumes in their heads that they did not see the light Tertullian conceived that their Mansion was an earthly Paradise whither Enoch and Elias are translated Origen you may be sure hath some roaving excursion it is thus that the souls of the Faithful are put to School in some secret places before they go to heaven where they are purified from ignorance by degrees and then exalted Victorinus Afer a better Rhetorician than a Divine thinks that to be under the Altar is as if the souls were under the earth in some ample and pleasant regions like the Elysian Fields All these are humane Phantasies and I slip them aside But the most beaten rode to this purpose is that the souls of the Martyrs have a remuneration for their labours and sufferings past but not a consummation of that glory which shall be revealed unto them a share in Heaven but not a possession in the highest Heaven In atriis non in domo They are kept a loof off from the perfect Vision of God in the fulness of time they shall see him face to face Which is Bernards meaning when he says the blessed that are under the Altar because they are admitted to see the Humane Nature of Christ and not the Divine Not so as if totally they did see nothing of the Divine Nature but because they see it with less perspicacity than they shall hereafter so St. Ambrose and St. Hilary close with him And St. Chrysostom upon the Eleventh to the Hebrews Praeveniunt nos in certaminibus non praevenient in coronis they have fought a good fight before us but they shall not be crowned before us not because our Resurrection shall be at once the words will not bear it and the body is but the Robe which we shall put on the glory with which we shall be filled brim full that is the Crown which we shall wear in our Fathers Kingdom I know this is much distasteful to the Prelates of the Florentine and Tridentine Councils who have defined that the pure Souls in heaven enjoy the clearest Vision of God before the day of Judgment and want nothing to their integral happiness but the resuscitation of their bodies It may be so as they will have it But I am contented to say their state is Heaven and will go no further Neither can I see cause why the Churches of Christ should dissent if one say without pervicacious obstinacy the Spirits of righteous men are in the highest Heaven and another will say nothing peremptorily but that they are in Heaven indeed and do live with the Lord. Malo timidus esse quà m temerarius The Conclusion now is thus much That if this be granted for a Local Posture that the Souls are under the Altar there is nothing against Analogy of Faith to say they are in the outward Rooms of Heaven and stay there in expectation of more abundant glory Secondly Some relate this to the condition of their bodies And the Jesuits Ribera and à Lapide will have no
before King James I. Vpon Amos ix 2. Though they dig into Hell thence shall my hand take them p. 742 II. Vpon Acts xxviii 5. And he shook the beast into the fire and felt no harm p. 752 II Sermons preached at Whitehall upon Gen. v. 24. And Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him p. 762 Upon the same p. 771 III. Sermons preached at Whitehall upon Gen. viii 20 21. And Noah builded an Altar to the Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt offerings on the Altar And the Lord smelled a sweet savour p. 780 Upon the same p. 789 Upon the same p. 798 II Sermons preached at Whitehall upon Gen. xix 26. But his Wife lookt back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt p. 896 Upon the same p. 815 A Sermon preached at Whitehall upon Numb xxi 7. Pray unto the Lord that he take the Serpents from us p. 823 A Sermon upon Joshua xxii 20. And that man perished not alone in his iniquity p. 831 A Fast Sermon preached at Whitehall upon Nehem. i. 4. And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven p. 849 A Sermon upon Prov. iii. 3. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee p. 862 II Sermons concerning the Rechabites upon Jer. xxxv 6. But they said we will drink no wine p. 873 II Sermons preached at Whitehall upon John iv 13 14. Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst p. 483 Upon the same p. 902 III Sermons preached at Whitehall upon John vi 11. And Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks distributed to the Disciples and the Disciples to them that were set down and likewise of the fishes as much as they would p. 911 Upon the same 921 Upon the same 931 A Sermon preached at Whitehall upon St. Lukes day upon Acts xi 26. And the Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch p. 941 A Commencement Sermon preached at Cambridge upon Acts xii 23. And immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory p. 952 III Sermons preached at Whitehall upon Gal. iv 26. But Jerusalem which is above is free which is the Mother of us all p. 964 Upon the same 973 Upon the same 983 II Sermons preached upon All Saints day in Holbourn I. Upon Rev. vi 9. I saw under the Altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the Testimony which they held p. 992. II. Vpon Rev. vi 10. And they cried with a loud voice saying How long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judg and avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth p. 1003 AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE and DEATH OF THE AUTHOR THE Son of Sirach a renowned Preacher in his Generation has given us counsel to commend Famous Men and our Fathers of whom we are begotten and in the close of his excellent Book has presented us with a large Catalogue of them together with an Encomium of their Actions whose remembrance sayes he is sweet as Honey in all Mouths and pleasant as Musick at a Banquet of Wine St. Paul has directly imitated the Son of Sirach and enumerated many antient Heroes not without a due Commemoration and farther given us a Precept To remember our Governors or Guides in the Christian Faith holy Bishops and Martyrs after their death as appears plainly by the following words whose faith follow considering the end of their Conversation Accordingly in the Primitive times the Bishops of Rome took care that the lives and actions of all holy Men and Martyrs especially should be recorded For this purpose publick Notaries were appointed by S. Clement say some though Platina first ascribes their institution to Anterus whose Records were far more large than the present Roman Martyrology or that of Bede and Vsuardus or the Menologue of the Greeks which for the most part contain only the Names and Deaths of the Martyrs but those were a Narrative of their whole Lives and Doctrines and Speeches at large their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 famous Acts and Sufferings for the Christian Faith which were also read sometimes in their Religious Assemblies for the encouragement of others and are said to have converted many to the Christian Faith But these long since perished through the malice and cruelty of Dioclesian in those fires which consumed their Bodies and their Books together Afterwards when Christian Religion reflourished the Christian Church resumed these Studies again St Ambrose did right to the memory of Theodosius Paulinus of St. Ambrose Nazianzen to Athanasius St. Hierom to Nepotian Possidonius to St. Austin Amphilochius to St. Basil St. Hierom and Gennadius wrot of all Ecclesiastical Writers and illustrious men in the Christian Church from the beginning of it to their own times And after all these there wanted not Martyrologers and Writers of Lives but such as perhaps we had better have wanted than enjoyed their Writings insomuch that a great Lieutenant under the Papal Standard durst affirm that the Stories of the Heathen Captains and Philosophers were more excellently written then of Christs own Apostles and Martyrs For those were done so notably that they were like to live for ever whereas the lives of many Saints in the Christian Church were so corruptly and shamefully penn'd that they could no way advantage the Reader so that at this day we have two things to bewail not only that we have lost the true reports of the Primitive Christians but likewise that the lives of the Saints we have remaining have not been written by Saints and true men but by liars who have stufft their fastidious Writings with so many prodigious Tales as are more apt to beget infidelity than faith and all honest and judicious men are ashamed and grieved to read them For my own part I intend not in this tumultuary haste to write an absolute Life of the Author or recollect all his Actions praise-worthy but only for satisfaction of some importunate friends to represent quaedam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some few Memoirs and Passages of his Life which I have received from his Lordships most intimate acquaintance and for the most part from his own reports Tecum etenim longos memini consumere Soles and in them am resolved to sacrifice to Truth and not to Affection to the glory of God and not to humane fame to write nothing false or fictitious nor things true in an hyperbolical and flaunting manner as in a Panegyrick but only a Breviary of his most active and industrious life where the truth shall be recited without false Idea's and representations and his Lordship made to appear what really he was both in his Divine vertues and humane passions
nothing but the ruine that came He was naturally of a very pleasant and chearful temper but sad news made his soul retire a great way further into him and quite of another humour Indeed no man was more troubled and angustiated in mind for the miseries and distresses of this Church and Kingdom I have often heard his deep Sighs and his great Complaints when he did profess he did only breath but not live I have seen the heaviness of his eyes when he spake nothing his grave and ripe wisdom made him apprehend Fears more deeply than other people did But when his Majesties sufferings in Person came no man could conjecture the load of sorrow that was upon him He would say he felt his old heart wither within him and could not but sigh away his spirit he would often repent He had done no more by Preaching and Writing to prevent it and after the Kings Death frequently desired nothing else but to depart from this world of sin and suffering crying out Satur sum omnium quae video aut audio But next to the Death of his Royal Majesty he would bewail the cutting up the pleasant Vine of the Church of England and alienating the Churches Patrimony together with those of the King Queen Loyal Nobility and Gentry whereby the whole Kingdom of England was then in the hands of unjust Possessors For the Citie 's abetting this bloudy War He was now grown to a strong aversation toward London the place where he was born baptized bred and nothing could ever move him to go thither more until the Earls of Holland and Norwich both requested his Assistance at their expected deaths The Earl of Holland was very penitent for that he had deserted so good a Master in the beginning of the Wars Norwich was very chearful in the comforts of a good Conscience He would much admire how God sometimes gives secret admonition of things contrary to all humane expectations for the Earl of Holland had many Messengers came and told him they had Votes enough and to spare for his life yet nothing would perswade him but he should die within a few days and so he did The Earl of Norwich that knew of no friends yet would not believe but he should escape and so he did After this he return'd to his Rural retirement to end his Old Age in continual Prayer and Study omitting all exercise of body whereupon he fell into a great fit of sickness and upon his recovery the famous Dr. Harvy enjoyned him two things to renew his chearful conversation and take moderate walks for exercise assuring him that in his practise of Physick since these times he observed more people died of grief of mind than of any other disease and that his studious and sedentary life would contract him frequent sickness unless he used seasonable exercise Whereupon afterwards for his healths sake he would every Morning before he setled to his study take large walks very early to make him expectorate phlegm and other cloudy and fuliginous vapours whereby he afterwards continued Vegete and healthful to the last At this time he did much good in the Country by keeping many Gentlemen firm to the Protestant Religion who were much assaulted by lurking Priests who sought to perswade them that it was then necessary to joyn with the Roman Church or else they could be of none for they saw as the others said the Protestant Church quite destroyed But the good Doctor advised them better that the Church of England was still in being and not destroyed rather refined by her sufferings God then tried us as Silver is tried in the hot fire of persecution which purifies but wastes not Then especially our Church resembled the Primitive which grew up in persecutions and as the Earth is said to be the Lords in all its Fulness so the Church of England was the Lords in all its penury and emptiness And in these lowest of times he was full of faith and courage that himself should still live to see a better world one day and would greatly blame any of the Kings Friends who despaired of seeing the time of the restitution of all things His opinion was the Youths at Westminster spun a Spiders Web that could not last long and therefore was very confident of his Majesties return and would instance in Josephs case who was sometime sold for a slave imprisoned as a Malefactor yet afterwards advanced to be Governour of the Kingdom and in David who was hunted over all the Mountains of Israel yea and forced to fly his Country too and yet after brought to the Throne and also in Caius Marius who was forced to hide himself in the Flags of a Fenny ditch from the pursuers of Sylla so that the Historian asks Quis eum fuisse Consulem aut futurum crederet Who would ever have thought him to have been Consul or should live to be Consul again And therefore when any would say There was but little hope he would answer Tum votorum locus est cum nullus est spei They ought to pray the more and Prayer was a good reserve at the last cast Accordingly he would acknowledge that his many cares for the welfare of the King and Church of England did often send him to his Prayers but gave God thanks that his Prayers did always expel his cares After a day spent in Prayer he would tell an especial Friend he found in himself a marvelous illumination and chearfulness in the Evening and that as usually thick clouds in Winter cause dark weather till they were dissolved in rain or snow but then the Sun would shew himself and the air grow pleasant again So sorrows and cares cloud the mind and soul till we are able to dissolve them into devotion and holy Prayers and then post nubila Phoebus and professed nothing more contributed to his divine joys than his often reading and meditation upon Davids Psalms which he conceived they had done very wisely who set them in the midst of the Bible as the Fourth Commandment for Religious Assemblies was by God himself in the midst of the Decalogue In those doleful days that was done in St. Paul's London which Selymus threatned to St. Peter's at Rome to Stable his horses in the Church and feed them at the High Altar whereupon our Doctor was very confident their ruine grew ripe apace and not long after hapned the death of Oliver of which being suddenly told and the manner of it he only said as Tully of a Villain Mortem quam non potuit optare obiit and that we should see within a little while all the world would stink of him and disdain his Arbitrary and bloudy usurpations and accordingly in a very short time we saw all things incline to work about the happy revolution towards the accomplishment whereof no man was more active in stirring up the Nobility Gentry Clergy and People to desire a free Parliament and Petition General Monk
had often heard from credible Witnesses it was too usual with the discontented at their Meetings to charge the Church of England with those consequences which they did terminis terminantibus deny as the making of indifferent Ceremonies to be Sacraments and in kneeling at Sacrament to worship the Bread and thereupon be so furious against that reverend posture as though Kneeling were Popery and Sitting Protestancy when the Pope himself ever Communicates sitting These things were only spoken to make our Church odious to ignorant people and being permitted must needs in time destroy our Foundations again and therefore he wished that as of old all Kings and other Christians subscribed to the Conciliary Decrees so now a Law might pass that all Justices of Peace should do so in England and then they would be more careful to punish the depravers of Church Orders In matter of Doctrine he embraced no private and singular opinions as many great men delight to do in vetere viâ novam semitam quaerentes says the Father but was in all points a perfect Protestant according to the Articles of the Church of England always accounting it a spice of pride and vanity to affect singularity in any opinions or Expositions of Scripture without great cause and withal very dangerous to affect precipices as Goats use when they may walk in plain paths In the Quinquarticular Controversie he was ever very moderate but being bred under Bishop Davenant and Dr. Ward in Cambridge was addicted to their Sentiments Bishop Vsher would say Davenant understood those Controversies better than ever any man did since St. Austin but He used to say he was sure he had three excellent men of his mind in this Controversie 1. Padre Paulo whose Letter is extant to Heinsius Anno 1604. 2. Thomas Aquinas 3. St. Austin but besides and above them all he believed in his conscience St. Paul was of the same mind likewise yet would profess withal he disliked no Arminian but such a one as reviled and defamed every one that was not so and would often commend Arminius himself for his excellent wit and parts but only tax his want of reading and knowledg in Antiquity and ever held it was the foolishest thing in the world to say the Arminians were Papists when so many Dominicans and Jansenists were no Arminians and so again to say the Anti-Arminians were Puritans or Presbyterians when Ward and Davenant and Prideaux and Brownrig were Anti-Arminians and also stout Champions for Episcopacy and Arminius himself was ever a Presbyterian and therefore much commended the moderation of our Church which made not any of these nice and doubtful Opinions the resolved Doctrin of the Church this he judg'd was the great fault of the Tridentine and late Westminster Assemblies But our Church was more ingenuous and left these dark and curious points to the several apprehensions of learned men and extended equal Communion to both There is another Controversie that hath been much vexed in our times concerning the case of Divorce and Marriage afterwards in which it is confessed our Bishop did dislike all those Churches or Polities that were facile to allow separation in Marriage and much more Marriage after yet allowed the question was intricate and such a one as the Pharisees sought to entangle our Saviour withal and that the Church of England had doctrinally determined neither way but for practice only judg'd it better that neither party should marry again after Divorce while the other liv'd and therefore in the Canons of Queen Elizabeth Anno 97 and in 107 Canon of King James Anno 1604. required Caution by sufficient Sureties to that purpose He condemned not other Churches that allowed it otherwise but prefer'd our own Caution before them and for this he wanted not many more reasons than were wrot in a hasty Letter to a Gentleman his Neighbour and published without leave after his death together with his own Answer but it is no credit to conquer the dead says the old Proverb While living He would urge for the indissolubleness of Wedlock the Authority of Divine Institution how God was pleased to make them Male and Female and first one and then two out of one and then again two to become one by a Divine Institution saying Whom God hath once joyned let no man put asunder 2. The Dignity of Marriage which represents the mystical Union that is betwixt Christ and his Church and His Union with our humane nature both which are indissoluble and perpetual 3. The excellency of that love that one ought to bear to the other in Marriage For this cause shall a man leave his Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife therefore it is a stronger relation then between Father and Son but the Son while his Father lives can never cease to be a Son much more while the Wife lives can the Husband cease to be an Husband 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he shall cleave to his Wife signifying a glutinous conjunction that will sooner break any where than be parted there 4. The manner of the conjunction one flesh that is according to the Hebrew Idiom one Man which supposes the Woman to be the Body and the Man to be the Soul so that none can part these but He alone that can part Soul and Body 5. And therefore though he conceived Eve did Adam a far greater injury than when a loathed Strumpet does defile the Bed of Marriage yet God nor Adam thought of no rupture in the case but God only pronounced her future sorrow in Conception indeed Paludanus and Navar Roman Casuists maintain if one party be indangered to be drawn into mortal sin by the other it is sufficient occasion to separate and therefore probably would have cited Eve into their Courts and proceeded accordingly against her but from the beginning it was not so 6. In the New Testament he observ'd our Saviour's answer seem'd strange to his own Disciples insomuch that they replied If the case were so it were better not marry at all which shews how they understood him 7. To be sure St. Paul would not allow it in a Bishop but strictly required him to be the Husband of one Wife that is having repudiated one to take no other without exception of any case 8. He was sure he had in the New Testament six places of his side to one against him one only carrying an outward face for it Matth. 19.9 Whosoever shall put away his Wife except it be for fornication and marrieth another committeth adultery But Matth. 5. 32. Mark 10.11 Luke 16.18 all sound another way Whosoever putteth away his Wife and marrieth another committeth adultery Rom. 7.2 The Woman that hath an Husband is bound as long as her Husband lives 1 Cor. 7.10 Let not the Wife depart from her Husband and if she depart let her remain unmarried and again the 27. verse Art thou bound to a Wife seek not to be loosed he held it safer
clean and well shapen of a very serene and comely countenance vivid eyes with a rare alacrity and suavity of aspect representing the inward candour and serenity of his mind the temper of his body was rather delicate than strong yet through temperance and custom grown patient of long sitting and hard study His voice was ever wonderful sweet and clear so that Dr. Collins would say he had the finest Bell in the Vniversity and in one of his Speeches term'd him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Canora Cicada His behaviour was most gentile and civil no Courtier carried a better meen nor better understood the Art of behaviour which though fortuitous and contingent to him yet much became him in all company His Apparel was ever plain not morose or careless but would never endure to be costly upon himself either in Habit or Diet often quoting that of St. Austin Profectò de pretiosa veste erubesco he was as much ashamed of a rich Garment as others of a poor one and thought that they were fitter for a Roman Consul than a Christian Praesul and accordingly never put on a silk Cassock but at a great Festival or a Wedding of some near Friend holding that a glittering Prelate without inward Ornaments was but the Paraphrase of a painted Wall and on the other side if the Graces of the Mind could be seen the Beauties of the Body would seem but deformities nothing being so fair and to be admired as the lustre of Divine knowledg the eye of the soul attended with a fair hand of suitable practice These two were like Tabor and Hermon the two stately tops of the Soul that reach to Heaven it self And indeed though he had great comeliness and elegance of body his Divine Soul within was fairer than the lodging without When he was young he had a most lively and acute wit which rendred him acceptable to all companies but ever temper'd with wisdom and learning that rendred him more acceptable to the Best and with it he had a prodigious and immortal memory whereby he ever bore about him a constant Chronicle of all occurrences that he was able to give a present account of whatsoever he had at any time read heard or seen even all remarkable alterations and changes of weather that had been in his time were as present to his memory as if he had seen them written in the Air before his eyes yet all these no man valued less than he in comparison of his higher accomplishments He abounded not barely with great learning acute wit excellent judgment and memory but with an incomparable integrity prudence justice piety charity constancy to God and to his Friend in adversity and in his friendship was most industrious and painful to fulfil it with good offices and withal so ready and able upon all occasions to give good counsel that he to whomsoever God gave that Favour of his Lordship had a blessing scarce valuable Yet notwithstanding all these Endowments King Solomons words are true in regard of the body There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked and wise men must also die as well as the ignorant and foolish and the time was now come that this wise and good Bishop must die He had finished both Church and Quire which he beautified with most comely Stals of exquisite workmanship and had likewise set up an excellent Organ the whole Appartements about it Pipes Gilding Wainscot-case c. cost above 600 l. being a great lover of Church-Musick and would much bewail the peoples ignorance and fierceness who loved Guns more than Organs or else their lasciviousness that would pull them out of Churches and set them up in Taverns and chuse rather to sing in Babylon than in Zion And the last of his Lordships cares for that Church was for the Bells he had contracted with very able Founders for six excellent Bells fitting for a Cathedral which his Executor set up though three only were cast before his death and onely one viz. the Tenor hanged up which had not been hung so soon but that his Lordship called upon the Workmen to do it The first time it was rung his Lordship was very weak yet he went out of his own Bedchamber into the next Room to hear it and seem'd very well pleased with the sound and blessed God that had favour'd him with life to hear it but withal concluded it would be his own Passing Bell and so retired to his Chamber and never came out till he was carried to his Grave He had done his work and he must depart to the Church Triumphant He often said by a kind of presage many years before his death that some odd October would part us he felt his body more weak at that Autumnal season then any other and could not have held out so long but that he was forced to fly to Physick and Diet to corroborate or rather keep him from sinking every Spring and fall Accordingly he sickned upon St. Lukes day October 18. and died upon St. Simon and Judes day following aged 78 years the just time of Athanasius and St. Hierom of old according to Baronius Within a fortnight before his death he remitted nothing of his former studies when he was first taken sick he did not conceive it to be mortal and therefore sent the week before he died to a Friend in London to send him down the new Books from abroad or at home But being ever upon his Watch-Tower when he perceived God beckoned Him to come away then he laid aside his Books and all Communication or thoughts concerning any temporal matter his heart was fixed and not to be removed from the great Object of Eternal life He would say to his Visitants he was a decaying old man and desire them to avoid the Room where in confession of his sins he was ever most humble in godly sorrow most contrite in prayer most assiduous in faith most stedfast in suffering his sickness most patient in desiring to be uncloath'd of the Body most joyful and content He shewed no fear of death not the least sign of any perturbation of mind for his aproaching end but rather rejoyced that the day of the Lord was come which he had so often desired and as G. Nazianzen in his Funeral Sermon for St. Basil rejoyces that he died 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with godly sayings in his mouth in like manner did our godly Bishop so conclude his days in this world as he looked to begin them in the next that the end of this life should be sutable to the beginning of the other and that his last words he breathed forth here should have a good connexion with his first addresses when he saw God face to face there therefore being in perfect sense he sent for one of his Prebendaries to come and pray with him who after some holy conference read the Office appointed for the Sick after that his Lordship
desired him to add two Collects naming first that for the second Sunday in Lent and then afterward that for the first Sunday after Trinity both most pertinent to that great occasion and then to give the Blessing which being done he thanked him heartily with a faltring speech whereby the Company plainly perceived that with the end of his Prayers he drew near the end of his mortal life and desired to be left alone and so all departed the Room save a couple of Servants who within half a quarter of an hour gave notice of his placid departure with as gentle a transmigration to happiness as I think was ever heard of Thus I have declared sincerely the Life the Sickness the Departure of this worthy Christian Prelate who lived as good men desire to live and as many men that are but shadows appear to live and then departed with as easie an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as any man could desire to die His Funerals onely remain which were performed by the Reverend and Learned Dr. Scattergood his Lordships Chaplain in the Cathedral Church where He was interred neer the Body of his Predecessor Bishop Langthon as old people said both great Benefactors to that Church under a fair Tomb erected by the Piety of the most accomplisht Sir Andrew Hacket his Eldest Son and Heir both of his Estate and Virtues He was attended thither by multitudes of the Loyal Gentry and sorrowful Clergy of his Diocess all desirous to pay the utmost dues and rights they were able to his Memory thinking no Flowers too sweet for his Herse and no Box of Ointment too costly for his Burial all admiring his past Diligence sage Government admirable Ministrations and bewailing the great and universal loss by his Death Quantum praesidium Ausonia quantum Tu perdis Iule O Diocess of Lichfield what a Father hast thou lost O University of Cambridge what a Friend O House of Aaron what an Ornament O Church of England what a Saint Sic ora ferebant But we will no more deplore his Death or repine that He is taken from us but rather rejoyce and give God thanks that we ever had Him and that He lived so long with us This World was not worthy of Him who was fitter Company for Angels and Stars of Heaven then Clods of dust and bloud below and therefore God took Him from this Dunghil to stand before his Throne Where we leave thee blessed Soul among the Angelical Choir joyful in the illumination of the holy Trinity and ravisht with thy contemplation of the Divine and unconceivable glory We will endeavour not only to read and admire but practise all thy holy Counsels which now sound more loud from thy Books and Writings then they formerly did from thy rare Discourses and Preachings We ascribe the glory of all to God and will compose our selves to imitate thy Graces and Virtues O Divine Hacket whose Name is renowned and Memory for ever blessed And will hereafter listen with patience for the voice of the Arch-Angel and Trump of God for the Resurrection of the Dead the Renovation of the World the Creation of the New Heaven and New Earth at the glorious appearing of Christ Jesus with all his holy Angels and Saints and then in the Number of godly Prelates and faithful Doctors of the Christian Church I shall see again my Bishop and Father and hope to be seen of Him in Glory AMEN Come Lord Jesu come quickly OPTIMO PATRI PIENTISSIMVS FILIVS ANDREAS HACKET MILES F. F. JOANNIS HACKET Episc Lichf Coventr cinerib sacrum PRimaevae pietatis Et summae eloquentiae Praesulem Ecclesiae Anglicanae fidei orthodoxae Assertorem strenuum Concionatorem etiam ad ultimum assiduum Et Superstitionis Babylonicae tam maturum hostem Vt penè in cunis straverit Loyolitas Raro exemplo Vt Poeta praeluderet Theologo Vitae denique integritate innocentiâ Morum suavitate candore Charitate ergà pauperes eximiâ Et liberalitate erga suos insignem typum Verbo omnia Joh. Williams Metropol Ebor. Patroni sui Ectypum Desine ulterius quaerere Ista omnia Tabula haec unico in Hacketo exhibet Adversus positum caetera marmor habet Obiit 28. Oct. 1670. sub anno aetatis suae 79. Sistamus ergo Morae pretium est scire Quis demum Langthono claudit latus Solus HACKETUS tanto dignus contubernio Cujus piae liberalitati debetur Quod Langthoni cineres non frigescunt Aedis Cathedralis Lichfieldiae Instanrator illic Restaurator hìc jacet Ecclesiae Anglicanae antistitum par ingens Eóque ingentius quòd sibimet pares Scire vis Lector Quà m multis ille bonis flebilis occidit Schola regia Westmonast Alumnum Collegium SS Trinitatis Cantabr Socium Ecclesia S. Andreae Holbourn Quadragenarium Rectorem Et Cheam in agro Surriensi Quadragenarium Rectorem Aedes D. Pauli Residentiarium Sedes haec Episcopalis dignissimum sibi Praesulem abreptum deflet Sed ludo te Viator Dum inter mortuos refero Eum VIRVM Quem restauratae Pauli reliquiae Ceddae ruinae Quem Hospitium Episcopale SS Trin. Coll. de novo extructum Et Cantabr Bibliotheca libris cumulatè aucta Longum dabunt superstitem At the head of the Statue upon the Monument is ingraved I will not suffer mine eyes to sleep till I have found out a place for the Temple of the Lord. Psal 132. At the Feet Quam speciosa vestigia Evangelizantium pacem The Motto of the Coat at the Head of the Tomb Zelus domus tuae exedit me On the opposite Coat at the Feet Inservi Deo laetare Upon the Grave-stone that covers the Body in the Isle contiguous to the Monument JOHANNES HACKET Episcopus Lichf Coventr heic situs est THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION LUKE ii 7. And she brought forth her first born Son and wrapped him in swadling cloths and laid him in a Manger because there was no room for them in the Inn c. THis is a part of that joyful news which God did impart at first unto the Angels which the Angels in the twelfth ver did reveal unto the Shepherds which the Shepherds in the seventeenth verse made known abroad and thereby at first perchance it came to St. Luke which St. Luke made known in this Gospel to the Church which the Church from time to time hath delivered unto us which I at this day deliver unto you and which you must tell unto your Children that one Generation may comfort another with it unto the ends of the World I am in love with my Text but how shall I open and dilate my joy upon it No that most venerable name Mary the blessed Mother of our Lord knew not how to do it For although when Gabriel brought tidings unto her that she should conceive then she could come out with a strange word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if her spirit friskt and danc'd within for gladness
went out of Babylon to repair Hierusalem arose in the night and went their way Nehem. 2.12 And thirdly the great Redeemer who should pluck us out of the mire and draw us out of the bondage of Sin his fame is spread abroad when the Shepherds kept watch over their Flocks by night Nay almost no work of extraordinary worth and efficacy toward and after the time of the Passion but it fell out when darkness was upon the face of the earth To let his Birth alone and to say no more than my Text doth Excubarunt noctu the poor men heard of it that lay abroad in the night His Agony in the Garden took hold on him by night when the world was in a dead sleep his own Disciples drowsie and could not watch with him one hour He suffered when the Sun was darkned and the Stars gave no light Finally He arose out of the Sepulchre before any body was stirring in the morning What is the meaning of this Even to shew that we were dumb and still passives in all the work of our Redemption we slept and thought not of help and succour when it was plentifully supplied for our salvation when no soul awoke to think of blessing in the dark night of Ignorance Christ was born We are supine in our sins like men stretcht upon their bed when he sweat drops of bloud We regarded not his Passion when he suffered we were careless when he arose for our justification But of the time let this suffice to be spoken That which made up the fourth and fifth parts of my Text is concerning the persons they were Shepherds and they were many Shepherds so many as made a Plural number And there were in the same Country Shepherds c. The heathen make much ado and relate it not without admiration by what mean and almost despised persons the deep knowledge of Philosophy was first found out and brought to light As Protagoras earning his living by bearing burdens of wood and Cleanthes no better than a Gibeonite fain to draw water for his liberty Chrysippus and Epictetus mere vassals to great men for their maintenance yet these had the honour to find out the riches of knowledge for the recompence of their Poverty but the day shall come that these Philosophers will wonder that they found out no more than they did and be astonished that silly Shepherds were first deputed to find out one thing more needful than all the World beside even Jesus Christ Tiberius propounded his mind to the Senate of Rome that Christ the great Prophet in Jury should be had in the same honour with the other Gods which they worshipt in the Capitol The motion did not please them says Eusebius and this was all the fault because he was a God not of their own but of Tiberius invention So lest great men and Rulers of the earth should disdain at a Saviour which was not of their own discovery but found out by servants that kept their flocks I will make it good by reason that the Angel pickt out very choice persons for the business the Shepherds of the Field It is truly and modestly observed by Tolet Causa cur pastores visitantur est Dei beneplacitum multae autem congruentiae Why shepherds were visited by the Angel rather than men of another trade or calling and in particular why these Shepherds rather than all besides of the same Vocation no cause can be assign'd but the meer will and favour of God but his pleasure having done the deed much may be said to approve it why it is fit and convenient To be a Shepherd is a life of great servitude and poverty as Job says they spend their time desolate and solitary in the Wilderness and for vile company they are set with the dogs of the flocks and these were fit to be the first partakers of the Gospel because it is powerful in Spirit but base and contemptible according to the Flesh A sapientibus non quaerit testimonium qui parvulis se revelat he baulks the Pharises and Princes of the people and seeks the testimony of Shepherds because he reveals himself unto those that are lowly in their own eyes and poor in Spirit none more unlikely than they to do a message for Almighty God When Samuel came to Ishai and askt for his Sons that he might pick out the man whom the Lord had chosen Ishai presented the most likely as he thought indeed all but one There is one more says he in the field that keepeth sheep O says Samuel let that David be sent for from following the Ews great with young Surely thinks the Prophet because he hath been despised and neglected he is the man whom God hath in store to govern Israel Weak and impotent means are the fittest for the Lords choice that men of action and authority may not attribute that unto themselves which is only the doing of the Lord. Praevalet imperitia in rusticitate Pastorum says S. Austin When such ignaroes as these were sent abroad to tell in the City what they had heard and seen the world could not say they were enticed by Eloquence the enemies of the Faith could not say that crafty Philosophy got ground upon the simple but as the Devil chose a Serpent a wise creature above all the Beasts of the field and all that are in the water to destroy the world by subtlety so Christ chose Shepherds out of the Field and Fishermen out of the Water as the chief means to repair the world by innocency and simplicity 1 Cor. 1.26 Brethren says St. Paul you see your calling for so Erasmus will read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the present tense because the thing was open to all mens knowledge and perspicuous but what did they see so plainly not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called but foolish things were chosen to confound the wise c. Two things are to be drawn from hence first that we distort not the Scripture as if it pronounced nothing but confusion to the rulers of the earth let not the honourable person hang down his head as if power and wisdom and noble blood and dignity were causes of rejection before God no beloved Isaiah foretold that Kings should be nursing Fathers and Queens should be nursing Mothers of the Church but it is often seen that the benignity of nature and the liberality of fortune are made impediments to a better life and therefore Nobles and Princes are more frequently threatned with judgment I adjoyn moreover that the Scriptures speak more flatly against illustrious Magistrates than the common sort for if God had left it to men whose tongues are prostituted to flattery they had scarce been told that their abominable sins would bring damnation 2. The comfort of the poor is never to be forgotten in this point the servile life of a poor Shepherd is as fortunate as great exaltation when it
out of this spiritual sleep of sin for the voice of preaching and for good admonition he will be wakened with a mischief never any so sleepy and sluggish but Gods wrath or the hour of death or the final day of Judgment will start them out of their lethargy and then they shall awake as Sampson did that shook himself when he lifted up his head from Dalila's lap but the Lord was departed from him I have multiplied many precepts upon former occasions that you should be like watchful Shepherds expecting the coming of Christ one thing which I do not remember was then delivered shall serve at this time instead of many points of caution A man that cannot hold up his eyes and awake when need requires must be shaken and pincht violence must be offered to his drowziness So lest we sleep in sin Excitandus è somno Vellicandus est animus you must prick and gourd your own conscience with the terror of judgment with the menaces of damnation Suffer not your eye-lids to shut but sift and shake your own heart examine your self remember what a blessing it is to be a watchful Shepherd that an Angel of comfort may come and sing salvation unto you Watchfulness as it is only a restraint from bodily sleep is not that which I urge and enforce this is a season wherein I know its much in use to sit up late they that intend games and revels and pastimes are watchful enough though they turn the night into day and the day like heavy sluggards into night The luxury and voluptuousness of our Feasts in many Families do reach to midnight and then we think we have kept Christmas when we sit down to eat and drink and rise up to play Perchance excess and surfeiting do so distemper us that it is well when we have eat and drunk if we can rise up to play Some relaxation and triumphs of mirth were ever allowed to our Saviour's Nativity as Mordecay said of the days Purim that they were days of feasting and joy and sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor but the Devil envying our gladness hath turned it into riot and the very madness of luxury The careful progenitors made it many days work to labour hard and to leave a fair inheritance to their posterity and my dissolute heir makes it some few nights play to lose and consume it as if the day were not long enough he borrows the best part of the night to make riddance of his patrimony Great difference between such unlucky night ravens and these Shepherds in my Text that watch over their flocks by night I know the application runs in a right line upon the Priests of God but this is not a place for those instructions this I will not omit a certain postilling Frier that preferred his Monastery before the Pulpit knowing our labour and his own ease did thus observe upon the former verse that Christ was born in a Manger ut Anchoritarum caenobia solaretur to patronize the solitary Cells of Hermites and Anchorites an exact pattern of Solitariness I wiss to be born in a troublesome Inn nay in the Stable therefore which is common for all men and at such a time when Town and Countrey were gathered into Bethlehem Every house full of Strangers to pay their Subsidies to Caesar in the midst of this throng Is not our Frier much mistaken to put us in mind of a Monastery but rather we may note that the blessing of Christs Birth was first annuntiated not to slothful Monks but to Shepherds that watch over their flocks Our Saviour is diversly call'd both a Shepherd and a Lamb Vt Agnus apud greges annuntiatur Christ the Lamb is revealed unto Shepherds it is fit they should first hear of the yeaning of a Lamb. Christ the Shepherd is revealed among the flocks it is fit the flocks should be comforted that the Prince of Shepherds was born I add Christ the head of the Church under whom all Shepherds have their charge it is fit he should be notified to Shepherds that attend their charge that watch over their flocks To include you all every man and woman in the application suppose you are no bodies keeper but your own Vigila saltem super animam tuam why be watchful and prudent over the safety of your own soul and when I have spoke that word your soul I perceive instantly that you have a whole flock to look to and it is all your own the affections and passions of your mind them I mean if you bridle their lust and wantonness if they do you reasonable service you have a rich flock sheep that shall stand upon the right hand of God if they usurp and fill you full of uncleanness they are a flock of goats that shall be condemned unto the left What says Cato of our affections they are to be governed like a flock of sheep you may rule them altogether so long as they follow and keep good order but single one out alone and it will be unruly and offend you as who should say all our affections must be sanctified to God the whole flock let one passion have leave to straggle and all will follow it to destruction Many sit up late and eat the bread of carefulness for the increase of riches but those are the thorns that choak the seed Let the watchfulness of the heart especially be fixt upon this flock the desires the passions over all that issues out of the soul as the Star cast his beams directly upon the place where Christ was born Dei secreta non cognoscimus si in terrenis desideriis vigilemus we shall not find out the secret of God that is his Son if we watch over fleshly and earthly things Finally all the providence of our watch will be in vain as David says not sufficient to give repulse to the wolf that lies in wait unless the eye of God keep centinel over us Our custody is weak unless the Lord send his Angels as he did unto these Shepherds to pitch their pavilions round about us Wherefore pray we that the Watchman of Israel may be always about our paths and about our beds who neither slumbers nor sleeps to whom be Glory and Honour c. Amen THE THIRD SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION LUKE ii 9. And lo the Angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid NO Scripture more fertile of wonders or fuller of variety touching the Incarnation of our blessed Saviour than this Gospel and therefore I continue in this story year by year upon this glorious occasion And you may discern how we go up by stairs and degrees in every verse till at last we make the highest pitch that the eloquence of man can fly to We began with a Treatise of a most humble stile a Babe wrapt in swadling clouts lying in a Manger from thence
minute or hour yet it was in a short space after for he tells them in his Message This day is born unto you in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. When God was to destroy a people he thought it fit to make it known unto Abraham shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do Gen. 18.17 much more when he was to save a people he would immediately reveal the thing in hand and loe the Angel of the Lord as who should say shall I hide from these religious careful Shepherds the thing which I have done for their salvation Let us compare in a word Christ manifested to the Shepherds to the Wisemen of the East to Simeon and Anna in the Temple to the Shepherds he was made known the same day that his Mother brought him forth to the Magi of the East as the most ancient do collect twelve days after upon the Feast of the Epiphany to Simeon and Anna forty days after he was born when Mary according to the Law came to the Temple to be Purified The Shepherds were Jews and he was made known incontinently to them prefiguring that the first-fruits of the Gospel should be preacht before them at Jerusalem the bread of life should first be broken to the Children before the dogs had the Crums which fell under the Table Those Easterlings that brought gifts to his Cradle of Gold Myrrhe and Frankincense they were Gentiles and the Apostles were sent to them in a little distance of time after the Feast of Pentecost when it was illustrious that all Tongues and Nations should praise the Lord in their own Language Yet again there shall be another Revelation of the Gospel to the Jews after forty days numerus certus pro incerto when the Gentiles have had their part Simeon and Anna shall enjoy them that is in the fulness of time and in an hour that we do not think of a remnant shall be collected God will gather together the out-casts of Israel and the dispersions of Sion Once it was ecce Angelus Gods Minister stood in the midst of them in this Text pointing the Messias with his finger who then was in the City of David now after much attendance after many an ecce many a long look the glory of Israel shall be revealed unto them So much for the time of this Apparition 3. Loe or behold an Angel soft a while and let us ask in the third circumstance quomodo how we should behold him a Spirit hath not flesh to be seen or bones to be felt in what fashion therefore did he alter himself surely it well deserves Ecce Angelus a note of Admiration for the manner was wonderful Beloved if the Eternal Son of God did not abhor the Virgins Womb those ministring Spirits whom he commands could not abhor the shapes of men they appeared every way in the same form and fashion wherein we walk upon earth Yet thus we distinguish them from our selves our bodies are begotten theirs were created our flesh propagated from the loins of Adam their substance made extraordinarily not according to nature but by the finger of God our soul quickens the flesh which it possesseth and makes it live their bodies which they assum'd had not vivification by the breath of life but only serv'd them for motion and representation our bodies have the instruments of outward senses to convey sensible things to the fancy and so to the understanding they had eyes and ears and other sensible organs non ut sentiant sed ut corpus perfecte representent says the great Schoolman not to exercise those senses but for an ornament and complement sake lest their bodies should seem monstrous and formidable to the beholders Finally their bodies after they had appear'd to discharge their embassage vanisht into elements never to return again into that composition but our bodies shall revive out of that dust into which they were dissolv'd and live for ever in the resurrection of the righteous Some have so commented upon the Apparitions of Angels in holy Scripture as if they had not truly taken humane shapes the better to communicate their business to men but God deluded mens eyes and bred this thought in their fancy as if they had seen that which was not visible I confess there are prophetical Visions in holy Text when the fancy of certain Prophets was perswaded it saw that which it did not see it was a Divine passion which made Ezechiel think he saw beasts with wings and wheels under their feet chap. 1. It was a mere Divine passion which made Daniel suppose he saw the powerful ram push down all other beasts with his horn on the banks of Vlai Dan. 8. These objects were conceived by none but by them single Prophets no other eye could be partaker of it Now on the contrary that 's no prophetical Apparition but a real object which is equally visible to all spectators therefore the Apparition of Angels was not imaginary but substantial for loe the Angel of the Lord was seen of all the Shepherds and the Angels which Lot entertained were conspicuous not to Lot only who was a just man but equally to all the vicious Sodomites And so much for the fashion wherein he did appear not as a spirit but in the shape of a man and therefore Ecce Angelus loe an Angel of the Lord. 4. The next doubtful question is Quo situ after what manner the Angel took his place when he came unto them the Grammarians are at odds what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should mean whether he hover'd above their heads in the air or stood in the same level near unto them Beda prevented this quarrel and accepts of both interpretations Sunt juxta nos per amorem supra nos per authoritatem they stand near unto us by their love and they stand above us by their authority Surely if Christ had not been born to reconcile us to his Father we had not been worth the coming near we had been no company for those holy Seraphins but since he vouchsafed to take flesh and blood the nature of man came into respect and reverence the enemy shall not approach to hurt it but those auxiliary troops of heaven pitch their pavilions round about it supra juxta planting themselves as a fortress for our head and as a buckler for our arm And indeed those are the chief things that need good influence and assistance knowledge and action head and hand Some are secret inventors of mischief plotters and contrivers of disturbance their brain is a mint of oppression where is Angelus superveniens the Angel above Some know their Masters will but they do not do it nay quite contrary fear or favour wrings ill effects from them where is Angelus astans they want a good Angel at their elbow Where is Michael the great Prince Qui stat pro filiis populi tui which standeth for the children of thy people Dan. 12.1 But whether
that heavenly Host who were the first that preacht the Gospel to the Shepherds I take my self off from this discourse in which I might amply proceed lest you say unto me as one said of Hortensius that he advanc'd Eloquence to the skies craftily meaning that himself might be advanc'd as an Eloquent Orator in the commendation If we glory we will glory in our infirmities and in the Cross of Christ not presuming upon that amplification of analogy with Angels I will lay the scene of my reproof beyond the Seas but I would we were quit of the fault at home How many exalted Prelates refuse to do that office to teach Christ especially to poor Shepherds although a Cherubim of Heaven in my Text did willingly submit himself to do the work It troubled the Historiographers among our Adversaries to find out one Pope in almost 100 years that was a pulpit man when he became a Pope that was Pius V and he but rarely I may say of such men as Pliny did of those Emperours who made great suit to be Consuls and then disdain'd to discharge the Function O inscitia verae majestatis concupiscere honorem quem dedigneris dedignari quem concupieris O ignorance of duty to affect that honour which they scorn'd to execute to scorn to execute that honour which they earnestly affected Is an Angel no more than fit to preach Christ and is proud man too good for it 6. The fancies of men have assaye'd to add this for a sixth reason to the former that the noble Hierarchies of Heaven do merit some increase and addition of glory by their care and obsequiousness toward the universal body of the Church of Christ but the matter was better scann'd by Biel who therefore refutes that sentence of Lombard Tum sequitur si homo non fuisset creandus Angelus non habuisset summam suam beatitudinem Then it would follow that the Eternal Felicity of the Thrones of Heaven did depend upon the creation of man for except there had been a Church here below to which they might administer they had wanted occasion to demerit some increase of their glory Indeed it is an opinion that savours of servility and baseness as if they that stand always before the face of God would do nothing but upon gain and advantage Alas they have no other end of their labour but that which every man should have in charity the increase and enlargement of the Triumphant Church in Heaven and therefore our Saviour Luke 12.9 threatens Apostates from the Faith thus He that denieth me before men him will I deny before the Angels of God that is before the greatest friends and well-wishers of our beatitude Lastly It is an observation not to be omitted how St. Austin compares three several ways wherein Christ was manifested to the Shepherds by an Angel to the Wise men by a Star to Simeon and Anna devout people that spent their age in the Temple by the Holy Ghost Simeon and Anna were exceeding faithful such as waited and expected every day the salvation of Israel and therefore the Holy Ghost told them secretly in their hearts as soon as the Babe was brought into the Temple that this was the Lamb of God which should take away the sins of the world The Shepherds I presume were just men but had not so much perfection in the knowledge of the Law to look for and expect a Saviour therefore an extraordinary Nuntio an Angel was sent unto them but the Gentiles utter aliens from the Faith were directed to the Manger by signs and wonders from heaven So says St. Paul 1 Cor. 14.22 Signs are for them that believe not and Prophesies for them that believe And as the axiom is in Philosophy every thing is best collated when it is fitted ad modum recipientis Now the Shepherds were Jews and were taught in the Synagogues concerning the Apparition of Angels the Magi were Astronomers and better knew the course of Stars The book of the Creature was sit to teach the Gentiles but a Divine Spirit was better accommodate to teach a Jew that they might receive the Gospel even as they had received the Law and the Law was delivered says St. Paul by the ministration of Angels And so much for the first general part all the five questions being satisfied which of the Angels this was when he came in what figure and apparition how he did apply himself to the Shepherds and lastly why men were not accepted to do this office but loe an Angel of the Lord. The order which I propounded requires now that I speak of the pomp and solemnity which the Angel brought with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the glory of the Lord shone round about them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the glory of the Lord fitly rendred in this place by the vulgar Latin Claritas Domini a lightsome brightness or splendor which God caus'd to shine in that place making the night unto the Shepherds as clear as if it had been day So when a lightsome pure cloud did appear in the Dedication of Solomons Temple the Text says 1 Kings 8.11 The glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord therefore it was not properly that essential glory of God unto which no man in this life can approach but lux ante gloriam the consolation of a beautiful light which was the shadow and the fore-runner of Glory But it were a great trespass in Art to run into obscurity and confusion when we are to speak of light 1. Therefore I will endeavour to shew how many ways such brightsome apparitions are observable in holy Scripture 2. Why this illustrious Glory did shine round about the Shepherds When God would beautifie and adorn a thing in some excellent manner I find that in a four-fold fashion he scatters and transfuses the beams of light and splendor either upon it or about it 1. Let us reflect our remembrance upon our Saviours Transfiguration his face did shine as the Sun and his rayment was white as the light as white as snow says St. Mark so that no Fuller on earth could make a thing so white Now we know that Christ was not as yet glorified his body had not yet put on incorruption therefore Eluxit splendor à Divinitate it was the pleasure of his Divinity at this instant to alter his countenance and his garment and from the union of his Divine nature this glory did redound upon the outward parts 2. In the Resurrection when our flesh shall become an inhabitant of the heavens not only the face but all the body of man shall look in a triumphant manner like a pillar of light which unspeakable beauty shall result from the soul to the blessing and ornament of the body So I read Dan. 12.3 They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever 3. This claritude and heavenly
without the filthiness of it Blessed was the womb which brought him forth who was blessed from the Womb who was born not of blood nor of the will of flesh nor of the will of man but was the holy one of God and conceived by the Holy Ghost If ten righteous had been found in Sodom it had not been destroyed for tens sake but when one righteous one was not found among all the sons and daughters of men when we have all gone out of the way and there is none that doth good no not one Rom. iii. 12. What will become of us when there is not one to make attonement not one for whose sake the rest may be mercifully entreated Why it rested only in him who is one by himself above all to be made poor that we might be made rich to be made sin for our sakes that we might be found righteous in him who was born pure and unstained yet made a curse for our sakes that we that are born under the malignity of a curse might be made pure and undefiled to live in blessedness for evermore Nay fourthly before I end this point shee that said Blessed is the womb that bare thee she came short in her conceit by far how highly Mary was favoured of God how highly exalted above all women that the Infinite did not abhor to be inclosed in her Womb. Never was such honour cast upon any mortal creature never the like glory incident to any Archangel Nay since this fact is past and gone which is so marvellous in our eyes none can be capable of such excellency hereafter And therefore Beza breaks out Quis non fateatur Mariam infinitis partibus omnium mulierum praestantiam superare Who will not confess that Mary excells all women in glory by infinite degrees Is not that home spoken no just praise can be attributed to so excellent a vessel that our Church will not say Amen unto it An evil spirit is in them that charge us for being malignant to her eximious praise because as we avoid contumacious neglect of her honour so we do as much decline Superstition and Blasphemy We never gain-said that Hymn in their Missal Beata viscera Mariae Virginis quae portaverunt aeterni patris filium Blessed be the Womb of Mary that bore the Son of an Eternal Father We learnt it of the Angel Luke i. 28. Blessed art thou among women We learnt it of her Cousin Elizabeth who was great at that time with the greatest Prophet that ever was Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Ver. 45. Elizabeth renowns her in the very same words that the Angel did says St. Ambrose Novit sermonem suum spiritus sanctus neque unquam obliviscitur Nay we will rather learn it of her self than of Angels and Prophets All generations shall call me blessed She bare record of her self and yet she is worthy to be believed for she sought not her own praise but magnified the power of God I would some would stay at this and not pour on such measure as runs over and cannot be defended What a vanity is it to tell us that the Angels sing Hymns of her praise in Heaven for which of them hath ascended up to Heaven to bring us tidings of that and what an impiety it is to abuse the people with so many thousand Miracles of her aid assistance and apparitions as can be believed by none but by idiots of most stupid credulity and with what scandalous profaneness are they transported to call her the Queen of Heaven to enstile her a Court of Chancery to which we must sue to mitigate Christs Justice to cry out Impera filio tuo Deipara command thy Son thou Mother of God as St. Hierom said of Nepotian in his funeral Oration Foelix qui haec non videt foelix qui haec non audit happy she that did not see that immoderate honours done unto her happy she that did not hear those Blasphemies When Blesilla a woman that had been most modest in her apparel was buried with great pomp and a golden Mantle was cast upon the Coffin says the same Father Videbatur mihi clamare de coelo non agnosco vestes amictus iste non est meus she seemed to me to cry from Heaven I renounce this pomp that gorgeous garment which you cast upon my corps I will not own it for mine So methinks the Holy Virgin speaks from heaven I renounce these superlative super-mortal titles the worship that you give me the prayers that you make unto me are not mine Go not further than this woman did who did lift up her voice for our Saviours sake and said Blessed c. I have done with the first general part of the Text the acclamation both as a certain woman apprehended the words in her natural understanding and in that prophetical sense which was above her understanding Now it will be most material to observe how the Master of all wisdom corrected and refined it yea rather blessed c. First upon the note of emendation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea rather then upon the simple proposition Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea rather blessed are they which is spoken not negatively but comparatively 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Theophylact Christ doth not thrust out his Mother from the list of the blessed take heed of such a thought neither doth he reject it but that it was to be counted in some part of happiness that Mary bore such a Son An accumulation of good in any kind is a felicity much more in this Blessed are the eyes which see that which you see says our Saviour to his Disciples I and he were to be reputed a stupid stock that would not have reckoned himself most fortunate to have cast his eyes upon that glorious Babe in the Cratch whom the poor Shepherds beheld this day with so much reverence then ascend up in your imaginations and compare things together justly Was it not ten thousand times more noble and happy to be his Mother than to be his beholder to have fed him with her Breasts than to have seen him as some did to have attended him as Joseph his reputed Father did or to have held him in his arms as Simeon did or to have toucht the hem of his garment as one that had a bloody issue did yet there was somewhat which doth surpass all these for they that pierced him saw him Judas toucht him and kist him the High Priests servants held him and bound him his Mother Mary bore him and nourisht him with her paps but that did not make her soul more holy or more acceptable to God she magnified God she believed she obeyed From thence and from nothing else we are assured that her soul reigneth in eternal glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea rather that note is not at all in the Syrian Paraphrast so we
special priviledge not by common publication that which was a secret among some few is now vulgar to all God hath disclosed his hidden treasures to us as unto friends He was their Lord so he is ours but he is also our Father They were his servants and so are we but the interest we have in Christ that hath taken our nature upon him hath made us more than servants and exalted us to be his friends Hitherto I have held your attentions to the Supplicant now the Petition of his soul comes in order that he may depart The Servant had a burden that opprest him a frail and a corruptible body and he desires the Lord to ease him of it and to take it from him For so St. Ambrose and the Syrian Paraphrast read the word optatively Dimitte O take me away from hence and let me depart And they that say it is dimittis for dimittes the Present Tense for the Future bring it up to the same sense Lord thou wilt now let thy servant depart so Origen and St. Cyprian read it for the Hebrews use to make their Petitions in the future time as thou shalt hear my prayer in an acceptable time which is a fit form of words to ask in faith and not to waver as St. James says but the word here is Metaphorical in the original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as you would say in the native term Lord now lettest thou thy servant be unloosed as horses are taken from the Plough and set up to rest when they have drawn till Evening and are weary or to signifie says St. Ambrose that necessity compelled him to stay here Ideo dimitti poscit quasi à vinculis quibusdam ad libertatem festinaret therefore he desires to be let loose as if he had been enthraled like some Captive and now would shake off his bonds and attain his liberty This earth is not our Country therefore though we have an inbred desire to have the union of the body and soul maintained yet our willingness inclines to be uncloathed of the body rather than not go from hence when we are full of days Quis peregre constitutus non prepararet in patriam regredi says St. Cyprian that man were unnatural that affected to be a stranger and had rather travel always than settle himself at home in peace revolve in your memory the words of just men in holy Scripture and you shall find that this is common to them all to mourn and sigh because their pilgrimage was prolonged Wo is me that I am constrained to live with Mesech says David Who shall deliver me from the body of this death Says St. Paul It is enough Lord take away my life I am not better than my Fathers says Elias While the body was a Palace the soul was content to stay in it now it is become a filthy prison no wonder if it desires to be gone Let not Simeons Nunc dimittis nor this Doctrine be mistaken every mans willingness to leave this world and to die is not commended from hence but when it is joyned with patience and good internal motives especially when we find an aptness and good preparation in our selves that when we go from hence we shall be joyned to the Lord. There is no worse sign in some that God is departed from them than when they are sullen and froward with their life and care not which way they break violently out of the world so they may depart Seneca could say Mori velle non tantum fortis patiens set etiam fastidiosus potest that is not only stout men are resolved to die and such as are fortified against fear but the discontented that cannot bear his cross had rather lose himself than his peevishness good and bad upon several reasons are contented both to die and to live Sunt homines qui cum patientiâ moriuntur sunt autem quidam perfecti qui cum patientiâ vivunt says St. Austin There are some holy men that exercise their patience to be content to die there are some perfect men that exercise their patience to be content to live therefore the motives that induced Simeon to this must be sifted to make him an inoffensive nay a profitable example Salmeron the Jesuit follows a most capricious invention that this reverend Sire importuned God to put a period to his days as soon as Christ was born that he might be the first Nuncio to the Fathers that were in limbo and certifie them that the Messias was come into the world who would exalt them from that lowly condition in which they were held and conduct their souls into the Kingdom of heaven This is so extravagant that I give it you to note the man and the far-fetcht way of their expositions The true reason is that this cygnea cantio this farewel Song of his hath taught us that there is no terror in going to the Grave no sting in death since God appeared before us and became man to deliver our souls from the nethermost hell and to make our bodies like to his own most glorious body They that know not what their condition may be in the next world must needs think of death with an heavie heart and sigh and wring their hands when they feel it approaching He that could see Christ no otherwise than through the dark mists of the Law did count it somewhat an irksom thing to go out of the land of the living it was a good King of Judah that chattered like a Swallow when Isaiah told him he should live no longer But it is incredible to humane reason how it encourageth a faithful man to meet his death with chearfulness because though not in our own bodies yet in the Apostles and others we have seen we have heard and our hands have handled the word of life and that we know there is plentious redemption for us in Christ our Saviour Simeon knew the instant of his dissolution was at hand and yet he sang away the remainder of his life with joy as who should say Egredere ô anima fly away my soul fly away like a dove and take thy rest for now I see that the promises of grace and mercy are true here is Christ thy Saviour in thy hands thine eyes do see thine arms do support thy Salvation though thou departest thou shalt not go from him for he is man on earth to comfort thee and God in heaven to glorifie thee This is it which did animate Simeon to say Lord let me depart and therefore as the Patriarches in the time of the Law desired length of days upon earth that they might live to see the Messias so let us desire a joyful departure to be with him for evermore I proceed the time which he sets for the accomplishment of his Petition is presently or at that instant Now Lord now let c. Nunc ante hâc non item As who should say if I had been summoned to leave
hath redeemed his people Take the whole verse now together which is the exordium of this Prophetical Song and it contains two parts the magnifying of the divine goodness and the reason rendred why it was fit to break out into that devotion In the first here is the comprehension of all praise in this word blessed Secondly the comprehension of the divine titles the Lord God of Israel The next general member why this praise is given is drawn from two acts that God hath visited and that he hath redeemed And the Object of both those acts is it which makes it praise-worthy and thanks worth he hath visited his People First of all here is a full ascribing of all glory to God in this word blessed O how Zachary did meditate this all the while he was dumb O how much he desired all the while his utterance was stopt to bring forth these good words to the honour of his Maker He kept silence a long time from this heavenly Canticle but it was pain and grief unto him Now his mouth was opened with the key of the Holy Spirit to discourse of the wonderful works of God and it was a blessed thing that as soon as he was able to talk this was the first language that flowed from him Blessed be the Lord. Two things are the grace and dignity of our Elocutions Deum laudare verum dicere to praise the great Majesty of Heaven and to tell the truth upon Earth but why do I divide them two which will most properly fall into one For no truth so clear and evident as that the name of Christ is blessed for evermore They that speak the truth of him must speak well of him and whosoever blasphemes his honour is a Liar and an Antichrist As Hezekiah paid the Tribute which Sennacherib imposed upon him out of the Treasure of the house of the Lord and out of the Gold which over-laid the doors of the Temple 2 Kings xviii 16. so the praise of God is the chief treasure of our heart the chief thing that belongs to this holy place the very Gold of the Temple therefore when we magnifie his name we pay him Tribute out of the best thing which the Church can afford Neither is there any good business of Religion whereof we may be so confident that we are in a right course and do not swerve Our Belief may be grounded upon strong errors as it is among Hereticks Our Zeal may be transported into Faction as it is among Schismaticks Our Repentance may be slight and superficial as it is among Hypocrites We may be too forward in our Hope having no firm assurance from the fruits of a good Conscience Too free of our Charity when we do not distinguish who are fit to receive it Too prodigal of our Commendations when we do not note mens Actions whether they deserve it but be as copious as you will in magnifying your Creator and Redeemer and you are certain the work is very good most certain that you cannot tread awry Yet Satan and our own negligence are able to frame an objection against any truth which is most demonstrative What will our sluggish spirit say The honour of God doth not depend upon the fame of this World His glory cannot be raised higher than it is by our Jubilees and Songs or by our Instruments of Musick no though we could praise him as loud as claps of Thunder But for all this will you be content to glorifie him if it will bring your self to honour though it be no amplification to the Majesty of God Agreed then And first it is an high advancement that he will permit us to do him that homage though we should have no recompence for our labour it is abundantly rewarded that he will give us leave to exalt him he hath not dealt so with all people Unto the ungodly said God Why dost thou take my name within thy lips As it is an honour to the Magistrate that God hath committed the Sword of Justice to their power so it is an honour to every Christian that he hath permitted unto us to talk of his honour it is an Angels life continually to bless him and sound forth his glory Therefore that parcel of the Psalm may look this way let the praise of God be in their mouth and a two edged Sword in their hand the one is as great a priviledge belonging to us as the other to a Magistrate Secondly St. Peter grants it generally to all godly people Yè are an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices to God 1 Pet. ii 5. What is the spiritual Sacrifice but Praise and Thanksgiving Therefore let us offer up the sacrifice of praise sweetly and devoutly and all Christians shall become Priests in that respect and the holy portion of God and having offered up this visible sacrifice of praise we our selves in our hearts shall become the invisible sacrifice of God and bring oblation upon oblation unto the Altar it is nothing worth unless your own soul be the principal Oblation I press this the rather because it is so ill forgotten in the Roman Missal For they that do so often trouble your ears with their sacrifice and their Altar have not one word in their Missal that we or our souls should be a reasonable holy and living sacrifice to God Thirdly In giving glory to the Lamb and to him that sits upon the Throne we do not give but receive for no man can ascribe much praise to God but out of a large capacity of faith no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost no man can speak of the King of Kings according to his due excellency but it will procreate devotion and reverence therefore though Gods honour be in the same state that it was before yet your soul is in better state than it was before by praise and glorification Fourthly We do all agree with St. Paul that Charity is greater than the two other Theological Vertues greater than Faith that believeth all mysteries greater than Hope that expecteth all Promises and therefore greater because it shall abide with us in the Kingdom of Heaven when the other two shall vanish away So to laud and magnifie our Omnipotent Creator is far above all other acts of Religion because nothing else shall abide with us when we see God face to face There shall be no confession of Christ our Mediator for none shall deny him there shall be no fasting for man shall eat Angels food and have no need of nourishment no Alms shall be given for it is life without want and scarcity no Prayer for forgiveness of sins no hearing of the Word no sufferance of the Cross no intercession for them that suffer but the praise of God continueth and supplieth all the rest uncessantly we shall cry out Holy holy Lord God of Hosts which was and is and is to come Therefore it is called blessing of God because it
commanded to be made unless he had dominion over them that is unless he were Lord over them before they were made Rom. iv he calleth things that are not as things that are therefore he hath authority as a Lord over things that are not as much as over things that are The fair conclusion of it is the actual relation of the Creatures to his dominion began in time but their subjection to his will and power is for ever therefore God is the Lord from all eternity Whatsoever distinction may be put between these names yet when we praise God let us do as Zachary doth joyn them both together when we confess him let us do so likewise as Jonas did I am an Hebrew who worship the Lord God that made heaven and earth When we say our Belief let us do the same even as the Nicene Fathers did before us I believe in one God and in one Lord Jesus Christ And if you please your selves to distinguish accurately upon such Titles because St. Paul hath said that there be Gods many and Lords many let us distinguish between them and this supreme one the Lord God of Israel who is blessed for ever more Christ says the Scripture calleth them Gods to whom the word of God came Joh. x. 34. That Scripture is Psal lxxxii 6. I have said ye are Gods and ye are all the children of the most high From thence and from my Text you may state a profitable difference 1. Dixi I have said ye are Gods he hath said it and that made them so unless he had Godded them they had had no such pre-eminence What they have it is by entitling and nuncupation 2. Dixi Dii estis there are many of those Gods not only every Prince and Ruler chalengeth it by his Crown but every Christian hath his interest in it by adoption of filiation So I cited it from the mouth of our Saviour before the Scripture hath said they are Gods to whom the Word of God came 3. Estis ye are for a while ye are and after a while ye shall go from hence and be no more seen ye shall die like men but the true God abideth for ever 4. These heathen Semi-gods these that carry that badge upon earth shall not only die like men but like sinful men for it follows in the Psalm that when they fall God shall arise to judge the earth after they have judged they shall be judged upon it hereafter how they have judged But O man thou must not reply against the God of heaven his judgments are indisputable 5. The ever blessed God is praised in every thing that pertains unto him he is praised in all places of his dominion he is praised in all his works He hath done all things well say the people of Christ but among the actions of the best men Sunt bona sunt quaedam mediocria sunt mala plura Among some good there is much evil among some flourishing sprigs of praise there are divers dead boughs of frailty 6. These Nuncupative Gods preside over Civil Governments each of them is a golden head over his own Political body but Christ only is head of the whole Church from whence the whole body increaseth with the increase of God he alone is the Lord. And it is likewise upon some remarkable appropriation that the Psalmist says the Lord is his name he bears it certainly with many notorious marks of difference from all the Lordlings in the world First The dominion of man is joyned with some servitude in the Master for he that stands in need is a servant to his own necessities and the Master stands in need of the drudgery of the labouring man as much or more perhaps than that drudge stands in need of the wages of the Master But all our service is of no use or benefit to the King of heaven I said unto the Lord thou art my God my goods are nothing unto thee Psal xvi and therefore says St. Austin God did not make the world from all eternity to shew that he did not want the help of his Creature Secondly All things serve the Lord above nothing is hidden from the Scepter of his dominion but man in the highest Office upon earth is confined to a small scantling of authority he can command the body of his Vassal but not his soul He cannot command his Grass to grow or his Trees to bear or his Cattel to encrease or the weather to be seasonable But as the people said in admiration of the Miracles of the Son of God Who is this that commandeth the Winds and Seas and they obey him Thirdly All the Lordship upon earth is subalternate and dependant from a greater command Masters do that which is just unto your Servants knowing that you also have a Master in heaven Col. iv There is but one Lord and none but he that is responsive to no other the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Our Saviour though an unscrutable Abyssus of humility assumed that unto himself Ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am Joh. xiii 13. Such a Lord to whom all the Sons of men do bow and obey Such a Lord that though he were Davids Son yet David in spirit calleth him Lord The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstoole Lord of all things by the Essence of his Godhead Lord of all things in his Manhood by the Hypostatical Union but by special interest Lord of all those whom he redeemed with his most precious bloud Lord God of Israel in which numbers as soon as ever he believed Thomas concluded himself saying My Lord and my God As we have the Humanity of Christ expressed in the two subsequent actions so we have as surely his Divinity set forth in these Titles the Lord God of Israel But that God that filleth the heaven of heavens and that Lord who hath stretcht out the line of his power over the whole earth he is Canton'd in this Text to a little Region of the earth but a Molehill in respect of the extent of his Majestie the Lord God of Israel It was not with Zachary the Priest in this elegant Canto as it useth to be with other Poets who out of affectation do strain their Poetry to make honourable mention of their own Country where there was neither cause nor merit But this holy Prophet had sufficient warrant from the Spirit which cannot err to nominate him the Patron of this people rather than of any other the God of Israel and that for two reasons Propter notitiam verbi propter promissiones seminis benedicti First The Oracles of the Scriptures were committed to them and God was not truly worshipped any where but in the Synagogues of the Hebrews and therefore says the Psalmist Notus Deus in Israele God is well known in Israel there they knew him that he was to be adored that he
truth that the very God became a perfect man and was Immanuel God with us says David Psal viii 4. When I consider the heavens the work of thy hands the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained what is man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of man that thou visitest him as who should say he that hath such rare and excellent heavenly bodies to delight in what should he do on earth what is the Son of man who is nothing but sin and misery that the Son of God should visit him O first let it be remembred with faith and thankfulness lest desolation come upon us as it did upon the Jews because we knew not the time of our visitation Luke xix 44. Secondly Let us answer the humility of our Saviour with all possible humility and say as the Centurion did Lord we are not worthy that thou shouldest come under our roof well deserved that all the succors of heaven should have fled from us and abhorred our face therefore blessed be his name for evermore that brought us peace from his Father sanctification from the Holy Ghost justification by his own merits humble your selves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in the day of his visitation as the vulgar Latin reads it 1 Pet. v. vi Thirdly Abraham made a feast to the three Angels when they visited him at his tent door Gen. xviii so let us prepare a table to entertain our blessed Lord that is come unto us not a feast of junckets and costly viands but let us receive him piously and devoutly as befitteth such a guest at his own Table Ipse est conviva convivium He is come to be feasted and he hath giuen us his own body to make us a feast and blessed be the Lord God of Israel that hath visited us and given himself to be the true spiritual food for the nourishment of our souls And so much of that act which is most conjunct with the festivity of this day Christ hath visited us yet peradventure we should esteem that work of courtesie and friendship but of no benefit at all unless it did extend it self to some further end and what can our desires wish to follow better than that which comes after in this place visitavit redemit by visiting he hath redeemed his people It is of such consequence above all things else that are needful to our well-being that St. Cyprian doth quite drown the former act in the latter and reads my Text thus Prospexit Deus redemptionem populo suo not a tittle about visiting but he hath provided redemption for his people Now captivity must be presupposed on our part because we did await and expect redemption Miseri sunt quos visitavit captivi quos redemit as I said before our soul was filled with a sore disease and therefore we were visited we were also under the captivity of sin and the Devil and lamentable were our case if we had not been redeemed Look upon the bondage out of which we were pluckt and it will make us more thankful for the freedom unto which we are called Ad servum rex descendisti ut servum redimeres says St. Austin thou didst descend to be a servant O King of Heaven to enfranchise a servant and to bring him out of thraldom Remember therefore at once for all since we all desire to have our part in this redemption we must all confess we were envassalled in a servitude So St. Austin against the Pelagians who denied the traduction of natural corruption from Adam says he How can Infants be said to be redeemed in Baptism unless they were captives before by original sin Therefore in imitation of our Saviours mercy as the Ancient Church 1200. years ago was copious in all deeds of Charity so their greatest care was to dispend their treasury to redeem captives and Paulinus a Pious Bishop as some stories say when all the stock of the Church was spent put himself into captivity to redeem a poor Christian miserably chained under the yoke of Infidels But this charitable deliverance of their brethren from temporal bondage was to shew how gratefully we should take it that Christ had redeemed all those that would lay hold of his mercies from eternal captivity Secondly As his goodness is amplified from our captivity so the redemption is the more valuable because none else could have pluckt us out of those fetters but the Holy One our Lord and Master Says David no man can deliver his Brother nor make a ransom to God for him for it cost more to redeem their souls so that he must let that alone for ever Psal xlix 7. when we had all incurred everlasting misery and mercy did so far prevail that the Divine Justice was content to forgive us the wisdom of God held the scale and arbitrated the case that when a law was broken and a mediation for pardon was entertained the best way was not to pass by the fault with a total indulgence but with a commutation of punishment And when men and Angels were unfit for that service then steps in the Son of God and undergoes the condition in his own person and became our brother flesh of our flesh that according to the Law being next of kindred to us he might redeem that which we had morgaged Lev. xxv 25. we had sinned and so needed a Redeemer and not so sinned but God the Father being placable a Redeemer would serve the turn And there the point had stuck for ever and we for ever had been helpless unless Christ had given himself a ransom for many Alius solvit pro debitore aliud solvitur quam debebatur one was the debtor and another satisfied one thing was owed to God I mean the life of sinners but another thing was payed I mean the life of an Innocent And let it make a third animadversion that the manner of our redemption doth greatly exaggerate the most meritorious compassion of the Redeemer there hath been redemption wrought by force and victory so Moses brought the Israelites with an high hand out of the slavery of Egypt There is a redemption which is wrought by intercession and supplication so Nehemiah prevailed with King Cyrus to dismiss the Jews out of the Babylonish captivity or thirdly either gold or silver or somewhat more precious is laid down to buy out the freedom of that which is in thraldom that 's the most costly and estimable way when value for value is payed or fourthly the body of one is surrendred up for the ransom of another life for life blood for blood and greater charity cannot be shewn than to bring redemption to pass by such a compensation So St. Peter extolls that act in our Saviour says he ye were not redeemed with corruptible things but with the Blood of Christ as a lamb undefiled So out of his own mouth Matth. xx 28. the Son of man came not
sidepieces of the tree do resemble horns he might as well have said that the Metaphor was taken from the Altar in the Old Law upon which the Sacrifices were presented because the Psalmist says bind the Sacrifice with cords unto the horns or extremities of the Altar Into the number of these that are more elegant than litteral in their allusions let me cast in Lombard thus he an horn is an altitude above the flesh and because it grows higher than the flesh therefore Christ is called an horn rather than a buckler of salvation because our hope in him is not carnal but spiritual and it is he that gives us grace and power to overcome the flesh These and such like subtilties I think it fit rather to name than to prosecute But Theophylact hath collected the solid reasons of this Appellation into few words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it betokens either the mighty power or the Kingdom of salvation An horn is the weapon and strength of that Creature out of which it brancheth and therefore it is usual almost in every book of Scripture to borrow a Metaphor from it as the Lord shall give strength to his King and exalt the horn that is the power of his Anointed 1 Sam. ii 10 and Psal lxxxviii In my name shall his horn that is his strength and fortitude be exalted and to break the horns of sinners is to pull down their pride and dominion Psal lxxiv. I spare to recite innumerous quotations which are extant every where in Scripture but in this phrase the Holy Ghost intends that according to the translation which is in our Morning Service God hath raised up a mighty salvation in the house of his servant David O puissant Lord and Saviour who is able to comprehend what infinite power did concur to this effect that the everlasting God should be incarnate and become man This birth may seem to the outward man to be nothing but a spectacle of weakness and misery Look upon an Infant laid in a Manger wrapt in swadling clouts the Son of a poor Maid espoused to a Carpenter and from these circumstances the question might be askt Where is this horn Where is this strength which Zachary hath laboured to express so emphatically I answer That the Nativity of Jesus was the greatest demonstration of the power of God that ever the world received The Virgin Mary hath commended it to be very true in her Song verse 49 of this Chapter He that is mighty hath done unto me great things And St. Basil says that the Incarnation was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the evidence of the Divine Omnipotency It is a strange efficacy of nature to conjoyn repugnant Elements in the composition of our flesh as fire and water It is yet more strange to put an Elementary body and an immaterial soul into one composition but to joyn an increated and eternal God in one union of person with these things it exceeds all other marvels Neque Adami de limo terrae formatio neque Evae de viri carne plasmatio Iesu Christi potest ortui comparari says Leo the creation of Adam from the dust of the earth the efformation of Eve from the rib of Adam both are things to astonish our weak understanding but neither of these are comparable to his Nativity that was the Son of God and the Son of Mary this is the very firmitude of the horn whereof I am to speak there are other rights and branches of it For as Gods power doth astonish us that the Word should be made Flesh so it brings our admiration to more excess that he should become a Saviour he did overcome his own justice in that act and an Orator would say he grew mightier than himself if it were possible by sparing us Certainly there is good reason in that Axiom of the School that it was more to save a sinner than to create a world The heathen had their Saviours from wasteful diseases and pestilentious contagions as Pandion and Esculapius the Israelites had their Saviours from thraldom and the peril of the Sword as Moses and Joshuah But he that delivers us from the wrath of God and from the pit of hell he is the strong deliverer he is the horn of salvation Finally The Salvation which he hath brought us hath not only set us free but it hath put vigour and animosity in us to subdue our Adversaries that held us in thraldom What the Heathen spake of another thing I may fitly apply to Christ Tu spem reducis mentibus anxiis viresque addis cornua pauperi such as were poor and in misery being fast bound in the fetters of their sins thou hast refresht them with joy and given them horns to push down their enemies The dominion of sin is abated the edge of infernal tentations is rebated Death is swallowed up in victory the Devil cries out in the Gospel that he is tormented the gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church this is salvation obtained for us not by compounding with our Foes and asking their leave but by strong force and puissant victory Cornu salutare nobis sed impiis terrificum It is a soveraign horn to us but an instrument of offence against the wicked His horns are the horns of an Vnicorn with them shall he smite the heathen even the ends of the world Deut. xxxiii 17. the false flattering Prophet Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah put on horns to sooth up Ahab Antichrist is described with ten horns and seven heads Revel xvii 3. to denote that he is armed to bring destruction upon those that cleave in sincerity of truth unto the Lord. The Goat and the Ram which Daniel saw in his Vision chap. viii had terrible horns rising up between their eyes These were outragious tyrants whom God permitted to goar the innocent like mad Oxen but here 's an horn in my Text to break their malice as if it were but a slender reed The Judge that trieth the cause of the helpless against oppressors and casts them down for ever but our horn of salvation Indeed that 's his proper work to save and help his chosen it is by accident that for their sakes he wounds and offends their enemies he came not to destroy but to seek and to save that which is lost he would not the death of a sinner but that he should repent and be saved therefore it is due to be called not an horn of mischief but an horn of salvation Nor doth this word betoken his power only but his kingdom likewise as if Zachary had said God hath raised up a King of salvation to us in the house of his servant David So said St. Peter before the Council of the Scribes Acts v. 31. Him hath God lift up with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour The Chaldee Paraphrast who is very ancient agrees greatly with this for what the Psalm hath I will make the horn of David to flourish
It is a wonder how many learned men did acquiesce in this opinion as if none were like it Whereas cui bono to what end should two Evangelists spend such pains to describe both the legal and the natural line of Joseph and in the mean time the family of Mary should be forgotten by whom only it may be demonstrated that according to the Scripture Christ was of the house of David 3. The safest opinion and without any intricacy is that Joseph was the true Son of Jacob but the Son-in-law of Heli by the marriage of the Virgin Mary so the Virgin being the Daughter of Heli and Heli being of the stock of Nathan the Son of David the truth lifts up its head against all adversaries that Christ was of the lineage of David If any one dislike this as Calvin doth because Sons-in-law are called Sons I reply why not as well as Daughters-in-law Daughters Ruth xviii And if you will admit of the acuteness of Gomaras all is salved he doth enlarge the parenthesis Luke iii. 23. Jesus began to be about thirty years of age being the Son of Heli For that which comes between is a parenthesis being as was supposed the Son of Joseph but being the Son of Heli c. This reading hath my great approbation Heli being Christs Grand-father by the Mothers side and by this reading it is as clear as the light of the Sun that Christ was of the house of David Pardon me if I have troubled you with a genealogy at other times I will forbear but it is proper to this day Now I will end all with the use and fruit of his birth all this salvation this mighty salvation raised up to the admiration of heaven and earth all is for us and hath c. But for this word all the rest were loose this girds about us nay it fills our bosoms with it The Devils renounced his coming into the world What have we to do with thee says Satan Mat. viii 29. The good Angels had joy derived unto them through his Birth but neither glory nor salvation they were ours because he is ours because he is our horn of salvation But in what capacity doth Zachary take him to be his first as a Jew for it was fit that salvation should first be offered to them that were the natural branches Secondly As a Priest salvation came to the Priesthood out of the house of David that is the protection of the Church by God and the King Thirdly and principally as a man who is a sinner that had need of a Mediator For God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a lover of all mankind He excludes only those that include not themselves Want of Faith causeth that he that is born to all is not born to all Unto us a child is born says Isaiah c. 9. and he directs his message to King Ahaz a man of great iniquity but Christ was born for him as likewise he was born unto Zachary a just man and one that lived most unblamably The sinner that hath done very wickedly by faith in him and by repentance he may be saved the good man that lives obediently and devoutly without him he cannot be saved Finally since this horn of salvation is raised up unto us let us lay hold of it and fasten upon it Vtamur nostro in utilitatem nostram let us use him for our best behoof and draw the proper extract out of him I mean salvation He is ours by being made flesh and blood we shall be his by renouncing flesh and blood he is ours by his natural generation we are his by spiritual regeneration he is ours his Body and Blood are ours in the Holy Sacrament we shall be his both body and soul by receiving those mysteries worthily that is faithfully thankfully charitably penitently devoutly Amen THE THIRTEENTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION MAT. ii 1 2. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem Saying where is he that is born King of the Jews For we have seen his Star in the East and are come to worship him THe Nativity of Christ was that wonder which came to pass this day but how he was revealed and known of them that sought him is the use of the day for Christ was born that he might be found And that is the cause that the manifestation of his birth is joyned together with his birth and more copiously handled a great deal both by St. Matthew and St. Luke by St. Luke how the Shepherds were sent to find him in a Manger by St. Matthew how the Sages of the East were admonished to come from a far Country that he might be known unto them God could have brought it to pass that the blessed Virgin should have been delivered as she travelled to Bethlem either in the Wilderness or in the Forest of Lebanon where none should have been the wiser but loe this had been contrary to his own work of grace to fold up his mercy in darkness when light was come into the world Therefore he call'd so many witnesses about him after such a manner with such new and over-natural signs that his Nativity was as publick as Angels and Stars and Jews and Gentiles could make it The Angel sent the Shepherds out of the fields to enquire him as if he would have the whole Country of the Jews flock thither The Star called the Wisemen out of the East to come and worship him as if the heavens would invite all the Gentiles to resort to him thither God diffused the tidings that his Son was born both to common places such as Bethlem and the Stable and to holy places such as the Temple at Jerusalem where Simeon and Anna confessed him to be the light of the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel Mark it Beloved so long as the Witnesses came to worship him so long as those that had him in their arms praised the Lord and blessed the day they saw him so long he was manifested more and more But instantly he sate in a cloud as soon as Herod sought to kill him then he drew back the light by which he was known and hid himself in Egypt If then we are now met together with such faith as is fruitful to yield him honour and worship and praise and glory some strange Star will rise in our hearts and make it easie to find him out then those mysteries of my Text shall be opened to us how he was first revealed to the Gentiles hearken then to that story which hath been so precious with the Church in all Ages and begins as I have read unto you When Jesus was born in Bethlem c. Each of these verses contain a several portion of matter to be handled by it self the one concerning the doings the other concerning the sayings of the Wise-men first you have their Journey and then their Errand
John should leap at the presence of our Saviour in his mothers womb and though it were an extraordinary case yet it demonstrates that the Holy Ghost can inhabit in a babe that is yet unborn or newly brought forth into the world Choose ye which of these opinions you will or choose ye neither and only be contented to believe concerning little ones that theirs is the Kingdom of heaven and therefore they ought to be baptized for unless ye be born again of water and the holy Spirit ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven That is the stop of the first general Point the circumstance of time 1. Then when the people were full of repentance and did yearn for grace 2. Then when they began to conceit too much of John that he was the Christ 3. Then when our Saviour was of the ripe age of Priesthood and had seen thirty years in the world Then came c. It is time now to draw forward to the next general circumstance after what manner our Saviour would be baptized with the Baptism of John The Point is full of much matter even as Jordan it self in the time of harvest But I will obey the limits of the hour and handle two things briefly making my self your debter for the rest as God shall give occasion to pay it I frame therefore two questions on this sort 1. Upon what ground John did begin this new ceremony of Baptism never heard of before 2. What was the dignity or if you will call it so what was the vertue of Johns Baptism I address my self to the former To bring a new institution into the Church nay to bring in a new Sacrament of repentance for remission of sins this was more strange than if a new star had appeared in the Firmament What a confidence was in this great Prophet to call all Judea and the Regions round about unto him to receive Baptism And yet no print or footsteep in all the Law of Moses where such a Ceremony was commanded Nay if they had mark'd it it was to break the staff of the Law of Moses for upon the entertainment of a new Ceremony never heard of before it did betoken that old Rites and Customs were in their declination and near unto abolishing Besides is it not very strange that the learned Priests the wrangling Pharisees the ignorant people all with an unanimous consent should submit themselves to this new Ordinance and yet such an Ordinance as was confirmed by no miracle from heaven for John wrought no miracle the true wonder was that so many thousands should flock after him to be baptized without a miracle Yet the truth is that the most strict defenders of their own Law and the best Interpreters of it did not gainsay the new use of Baptism as unlawful for the Pharisees sent unto John and asked him Why baptisest thou if thou be not that Christ nor Elias nor that Prophet They do not quarrel the Ordinance of Baptism but what authority John had to baptize Two things are to be observed out of the forenamed Text for our satisfaction One that it was not belonging to the Office of any Priest or Prophet in the Old Testament to baptize unto remission of sins Another thing is that the Jews expected the washing of water to cleanse them from their sins under the Kingdom of Christ as S. Hierom thinks they collected it Isa iv 4. The Lord shall wash away the filth of the daughters of Sion as who should say Circumcision was a seal upon Male children only the water of regeneration under Christ shall belong to Females also Again Ezekiel speaking of the blessings that shall abound in Christ Chap. xxxvi 25. seems clearly to express this new Sacrament Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness Moreover I cannot say whether the Rabbies of deep learning had the knowledge to understand that their Forefathers were by a figure baptized in the red Sea and in the Cloud which went along with them in the Wilderness So St. Paul expounded it by the Spirit of God But the Pharisees and it seems all the people were perswaded that when the Messias came they should be baptized for the remission of their sins either by himself or by some great Prophet who should be his Associate Therefore if John were the Christ they confess he may baptize or if he were Elias he might baptize For Malachy foretold Chap. iv 5. Behold I will send Eliah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Or if he were that Prophet he might baptize not any Prophet inspired from God that is not the meaning but the same whom Moses speaks of Deut. xviii 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee of thy brethren like unto me unto him ye shall hearken The Jews had no particular name for this Prophet the plain meaning is that Prophet is Christ himself Now Johns answer to the Pharisees was twofold what he was not and what he was He denies that he was the Christ or Elias himself who shall come perhaps before Christ as an Apparitor at the day of Judgment or that Prophet Then they object that he must not baptize nothing must be innovated in the Church without divine authority but they wilfully forgat what he said he was The voice of a Crier to prepare the ways of the Lord why co jure as the fore-runner of Christs Kingdom he betokened a new work was beginning and a new Ceremony of grace appointed and he baptized as many as came to Jordan and did confess their sins Praecursionis ordinem servavit nascendo baptisando says Gregory he shewed himself to be Christs Harbinger that went before him in Birth in Preaching and in Baptism Now ye see by what priviledge John did quite alter the old Mosaical Rites and began to baptize and I cannot omit how graciously by these means God did turn their superstition into a blessing To begin with the heathen who perceived in natural causes that water gives growth to Plants and Seeds and fecundity to all things but they forgat God who made it a fruitful part of nature and conceited that there was somewhat divine in that Element more than in any other not could they be contented to rest upon that which every man knows that a clean river would wash the dust and sweat from their body but were so foolish to souze themselves every morning thrice over head and ears in some pure Fountain as if it had some inherent vertue to cleanse the filthiness of their souls The Pharisees being more superstitious in their generation than any other Jews followed the heathen close Mar. vii 3. They eat not except they wash often if they come from Market except they wash they eate not and therefore they quarrel some of the Disciples that they eat with defiled that is with unwashen
hands Defiled hands in the original are common hands for whatsoever was commonly touched by them and the Gentiles they called it defiled and in suspicion they might touch meat or vessels or apparel which was unclean by the Law they washed often to purge themselves from that defilement This is well illustrated Joh. ii where we read that at the marriage in Cana of Galilee there were ready standing six water-pots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews containing two or three Firkins a piece these have reference to that Pharisaical tradition of washing often lest they should be defiled Now mark how God observes both the heathen and the Pharisees in their own weakness and out of that which they made a vain tradition he makes a gracious Sacrament A good Author cites out of the Rabbins that the Jews had added over and above Moses his institution of the Passeover first these words in eating the sower herbs with the Lamb Take and eat these in remembrance of our deliverance from bondage And likewise they gave a cup of Wine one to another with these words Take and drink this in remembrance of the same c. And from hence according to a Custom of their own our Saviour did break bread and give wine and use the same words in his holy Supper Thus both the Sacraments to please them the better had their original from some of their own Ordinances but cast in a new mold so the heathen Temples were changed to be houses of Prayer The Cross which was no better than their Gallows is made a significant and laudable Ceremony in Christian Baptism And lastly Their superstitious bathings were turn'd by John and confirm'd by Christ to be an immortal Laver. This I hope satisfies the first question how this Institution of Baptism began being never heard of untill the days of John The dignity of Johns Baptism is now to be examined It is grown like many things more to be full of difficulty because of mens contentions and without discussion of these three things it cannot be understood 1 What is the vertue of a Sacrament 2. That Johns Baptism had the same substantial vertue with the Baptism of Christ that it now hath 3. That in some respects both Baptisms being one and the same the Baptism of Christ doth exceed the Baptism of John Sacraments are thus distinguished into such as went before the fall of Adam and such as went after Before the Fall there was one Sacrament and no more that was the Tree of Life ordained to be a sign of the Covenant of Works After the Fall God did not make a Covenant of Works but of Grace with man and ever since the Sacraments are Covenants of Grace and seals of the same And they of the Old Testament betoken the Covenant promised to our Fore-fathers they of the New Testament do imply the Covenant performed Let me distinguish again that in the Old Testament all the Sacrifices and a great part of the shadows and Types are sometimes in the Fathers called Sacraments because they had a signification of Christ to come but Circumcision and the Paschal Lamb they only had the Promise of Grace and Reconciliation annexed unto them which is a great deal more than bare signification And as St. Paul speaks honourably of Circumcision that it was a Seal of the righteousness of Faith so our Church thinks it not fit to speak contemptibly of the faith of the righteous men under the Law nor of those visible signs which God appointed to establish his Promise unto them but we make them equal in efficacy with Baptism and the Lords Supper That according as their faith did apply the Promise unto them their Sacraments were as profitable for Salvation as ours Only these are Circumstantial differences 1. That our Sacraments are meerly spiritual which betoken nothing of this world The Jews Sacraments had somewhat in them both which belong'd to the body as well as to the soul for Abraham received the sign of Circumcision that he should be the Father of many Nations and the Paschal Lamb was a remembrance that they came out of Egypt out of the house of bondage 2. As the light of Faith is brighter with us the measure of the Spirit more abundant so our Sacraments are justly said to to be Virtute majora more efficacious because we are endued with better means of application 3. Our Sacraments are actu faciliora to wash and be clean and to eat bread and drink wine are performed with more facility than the cutting the foreskin of Infants or the slaying of a Lamb to eat it with sower herbs 4. Take all the Types and Sacrifices of the Jews together which were an heavy burden because of their multitude then our Sacraments are numero pauciora we have but twain and so their number is not troublesom These are accidental differences but otherwise as St. Austin said of Manna that it was to them as the Lords Supper is to us In signis diversis fides eadem the Elements were divers but such as begot the same faith and are tokens of the same Lord Jesus Christ and beget the same Salvation That which thwarts this Doctrine is the distinction of the Schoolmen that the Sacraments ordained in Moses Law were significancies of Grace but the Sacraments of Christ did exhibit and confer Grace What means that Surely he that did eat the Paschal Lamb by faith to him it was spiritual nourishment and he that eats the Lords Supper to him only it is spiritual nourishment I can see no odds The late Romish Writers disclaim their gross opinion maintained long ago that in men capable of reason and knowledge for we set Infants aside the taking of the Sacrament should add a benefit to the Receiver Ex opere operato externo sine motu interno says Biel by the meer outward act without an inward preparation This opinion their Cardinal Controverser disavows for he that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks his own damnation Then if Faith be requisite in the Participant I cannot see how one Sacrament exhibits Grace more than another It is far from my meaning to diminish the excellency and vertue of our Sacraments No I had rather set all disputations aside and say with St. Austin Quorum vis inenarrabiliter valet plurimum that is their power prevails in such a sort as we cannot utter how it is Yet this may be safely taught that they are not helping and partial causes of Salvation to be joyned in office with the merit of Christ but only Instruments ordained to work Salvation by the Promise of God and the application of a lively faith Origens words express much if I could explain them Non sunt justitiae sed conditurae justitiarum The Sacraments are not our righteousness but as sauce makes meat fit to be eaten so they make righteousness fit to be put upon us The Word preacht is the power
eldest Fathers that some may go out of the world without this Sacrament by unavoidable necessity and their faith shall suffice to save them as if they had been baptized his saying is very memorable Sola interdum sides sufficit ad salutem fine ipsâ nihil sufficit Sometimes faith alone is enough to bring salvation to a man and without it nothing is enough Valentinian the Emperour having given battel to the Sarmatians and other Scythian Rebels broke a vein with out-cries to his Captains and eager encouragement to his Souldiers and soon after died in his Tent unbaptized yet St. Ambrose comforts his Subjects in a Funeral Oration that their Emperours soul was with God because his life was religious and his heart desired the benediction of that Sacrament St. Austin enrolls all Martyrs in the Catalogue of the Saints of heaven albeit Persecution snatcht them away suddenly before they could be baptized And that God will remit their sins who lay down their lives for his sake Quantùm si sacro fonte abluerentur as if they had been washed at the sacred Font. Why this was well and charitably concluded not as if Martyrdom did equal the vertue of Baptism but because it was joyned with an eminent faith Now God may see as much faith in one dying as if he were to suffer Martyrdom Fides idonea martyrio licet non interrogata martyrio says Bernard Therefore that faith shall stand them in as much stead as if they had actually been brought to Martyrdom Finally Whereas John Baptist may seem to desire this Sacrament in my Text saying I have need to be baptized it appears not whatsoever some Apocryphal Stories say that Christ did baptize him in water but the Learned say the willingness of this confession and his Martydom which he suffered under Herod did supply the want thereof and his faith did save him A fourth Proposition follows that we have good reason to hope for the salvation of such Infants being born within a believing Church as were deprived of life before the outward Element could conveniently be applied unto them to wash them from their sins because some have gone too far in doubting against this take my reasons in order First It is never questioned in the old Law but that the Male children of the Jews were blessed in the Lord which died before the eighth day having not received the Seal of Circumcision I will not urge that Circumcision was omitted for forty years all the while they travelled in the Wilderness it was with Gods especial dispensation so that no detriment redounded to any soul because of Circumcision I instance in Davids child the first he begat of Bathsheba it died the seventh day and yet the King who doubted not to enjoy the Crown of a better life comforts himself and expects that his soul should rest with the Child after death I shall go to him but he shall not return to me Secondly We have no Promise for the Seed of Infidels but we have express testimony from the Spirit that the Seed of faithful Parentage is holy from the birth and if the root be holy so are the branches Rom. xi 16. Nay albeit one Parent be an unbeliever yet if either Father or Mother make but one believer the Children are sanctified and for that ones sake they are not unclean but holy It is true that we are all in our selves born children of wrath from our Mothers womb But God is gracious to the thousand Generations of them that fear him much more to their very next Generation and because their Infants are his Childrens Children the guilt of their sin is blotted out and he is pleased to give them adoption of Sons What else is the fruit of that Promise that the off-spring of the Faithful are in the same Covenant with the Fathers The Promise is made to you and to your Sons and to them that are far off Acts ii 39. The constancy of the eternal Covenant made to the Posterity of the Just appeared says one in those extraordinary motions of Jacob when he wrestled with Esa◠of John Baptist when he congratulated the coming of Christ into the world the spiritual extasies of both these before they were born Therefore it is no unjudicious opinion to say that Infants are brought to Baptism not to take them into the Covenant of Grace but being of the Covenant before to seal it unto them If any man make a Scruple whether the Covenant be made to the Infants of Christian Parents as fast and firm as to the Jews and their Children let him not doubt nay assuredly the Covenant is made unto us much stronger For Christ came into the World to confirm the Promise made from the beginning of the World and to turn over Gods mercies in a more ample manner unto the Gentiles Of his fulness we have received and grace for grace that is to say plenty of grace and benediction This was the second Reason thus I propound the third I have formerly proved and delivered this Doctrine that to such of riper years as desired Baptism and were unawares prevented the willingness of their faith was reputed to them for Baptism Why this shall also comfort us for the tender fruit of the womb which died without the Sacrament as soon as it yaun'd the first breath for when they are baptized the faith of the Church and of those that present them at the Font is by God reputed to be their own So if they be cut short before they be outwardly ingrafted into the Congregation of Christ the willingness and desire of the same Church and of their Parents shall be imputed by our merciful Father to be theirs also Lastly I will pawn the practice of the best Churches in the world to prove it when they were in their ancient purity It was a Ceremony both among the Greeks and Latines to appoint but two solemn times of the year for the Baptism of Infants Easter and Whitsontide Indeed leave was given to dispense with this Ceremony if Passengers unbaptized were like to be cast away at Sea If War Pestilence or Persecutipn threatned their imminent ruine if Infants did dangerously languish But I pray you how often do Infants die away in the turning of an hand before it can be perceived Therefore the Sacrament had not been deferred unto those two solemn times if either Greeks or Latines had thought that Infants deprived of the Laver of Regeneration should eternally be deprived of the glory of God The fifth Proposition dispatcheth the long discourse upon this Point It is thus We are to hope well of the safety of Infants not baptized yet we cannot be so confident of their welfare as when the Church hath prai'd for them and given them the blessing of the Sacrament Let the worst come that our children pass'd away without the sprinkling of water it is fit to be prevented in a due course as much as may
to favour the weakness of Infants we cast no more than a dew of water upon their face yet when young men converted from heathen Idolatry required the Baptism of the Church their whole body waded into the River even as they that came to John stood up to the neck in Jordan yea and in hotter countries Infants were dipt into the bottom of the Font this the Fathers called a resemblance that the old Adam was buried in the waters St. Paul makes it a mystery that we are buried with Christ therefore I find that some were wont especially to baptize on the Satterday wherein Christ lay in the Grave and a threefold immersion of the Child into the water was an usual Ceremony because Christ lay buried three days in the Sepulchre After the representation of burial in the outward Element the good use of that Sacrament tells us we should die unto sin I say first buried and then die for the end of being buried with Christ is that we should die daily unto sin This order is no hard thing to conceive for suppose a man by mischance sunk into the bottom of the water before he loseth his life and dies it is true to say that he is buried in the stream which is gone over his head therefore upon this burial-resembling baptism it behoves you to die unto the world and to mortifie your members upon earth The death of sin is thus to be conceived not an utter privation of all evil but a beating down of concupiscence it is a death to your Adversary the Devil when he cannot reign in your mortal body Weeds which are cut down perhaps will grow no more but their savour still stinks upon your dunghil So you may sheare down the viciousness of your life like an unprofitable weed lay it dead and let it grow no more but it will ever leave a noisom smell in our nature While we live in this world flesh is but a dunghil of corruption it made St. Paul have a great desire to be dissolved that he might be a sweet savour in Christ As we are buried and die with Christ in Baptism so we must rise with him through the faith of the operation of God Col. ii 12. For when Christ is given to us to be our life to what end should we die as it were with him in the Laver of new birth unless it be to rise up in a new life This meditation cannot choose but stick by you if you will always carry the remembrance of those words before your eyes Abrenuntio Satanae I renounce the Devil and all his works They are a part of your Indenture that you made with God and how will you answer the violating of your Covenant St. Ambrose declames thus upon it Tenetur vox tua non in tumulo mortuorum sed in libro viventium Praesentibus Angelis locutus es non est fallere non est mentiri This word is recorded not among the dead but in the book of the living The Angels were present in the Church when the Sureties in your name gave their faith to God therefore hold you to your word you must not falter you must not lie unto the Lord. Walk in newness of life that Phrase hath somewhat in it that is not said barely in a new life In novis vivendi formis let there be no kind of likeness and conformity to thy self as once thou wert a neglecter of Prayer a Traducer a Fornicator a Drunkard an Oppressor Here is a Temple built up new unto the Holy Ghost which once was a den of uncleanness that which is to come of my life is altogether consecrated to the glory of my Saviour look not therefore before me now but get thee behind me Satan You have now heard all the five Reasons upon the second part of the Text why Christ was baptized I said in the third place it was but a preparatory to greater matters which should follow therefore he went up straightway out of the water The Text says straightway as who should say he staid not long upon that Circumstance no more will we 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he did ascend out of Jordan and very presently both these are the crums of the Text and they must not be lost Literally it imports that Christ stood not upon the shore having a few drops of water cast upon him but he went with his whole body into the River to intimate that if God should not help the deep waters of our sins would take us up to the neck and the stream had gone over our soul So Philip and the Eunuch went down into the waters Acts viii 38. That great Courtier of Queen Candace stript himself of all his cloaths before his servants that he might wash from head to foot What was it to him to be naked in the sight of divers men He was so ashamed of his sins that he forgot all other shamefac'dness Thus he press'd close to the example of our Saviour who went down into the stream of Jordan and it being not the time of harvest when that River used to fill his banks he went up and ascended from the Pool St. Austin allegorizeth Confestim ascendit ut ostendat quà m gravi onere in baptismo liberamur He went up nimbly to the banks to shew that by Baptism we are lightned of the great burden of our sins and fit to ascend unto our Father Others fasten this observation upon it that Christ went straightway out of the water For his Baptism was done with more speed and expedition than the common peoples the reason is this Among the multitude every one was baptized confessing their sins that took up some time to detain them before they parted Christ staid for no more than the sprinkling of the River who had no sins to confess and straightway went out of the water St. Luke affords a pious conjecture Luk. iii. 21. being baptized he prayed Therefore to teach us with what reverence these great mysteries are to be entertained he made hast incontinently to the shore to fall upon his knees and pray unto his Father Adoremus coram creatore says the Psalmist O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our maker If we are to worship him even as low as with the most humble prostration of our face upon the earth because he created us and gave us the life of nature then what knee can be so refractory as not to worship and fall down when we celebrate his infinite goodness in either of the Sacraments that he hath redeemed us from eternal death called us to the participation of grace and given us assurance in those blessed Seals of his Covenant that we shall enjoy the life of glory Remember what I said in the beginning beware of obstinacy Lastly He went up out of the waters to shew us every good deed is a step into another Do but enter into the practice of one good action and
Saints but would not have them forget Zeal Ne dolum habeas in columba demonstratum est ne simplicitas frigida remaneat in igne demonstratum est Guile and circumvention are to be banisht from Christianity if the Dove sit upon your head it will instill simplicity but simplicity may be chil and faint in a good cause therefore if a Pillar of fire sit upon your head it will infuse fervency There was no fire wanting in Stephen the Martyr when he did asperse the Jews with all manner of disdainful reproaches because they were stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart There was no Dove-like simplicity wanting because he prayed for them that stoned him And so far of the second point how aptly the Spirit came like a Dove upon Christ at his Baptism in cloven tongues and in fire upon the Apostles at the Feast of Whitsontide The conclusion of the Text rests now upon this Point that the figure of the Dove sweetly doth admonish us concerning many properties of the Holy Ghost It sate upon Christs head not to enrich him with any heavenly treasure which he wanted before but to derive the manifold issues of sanctification into our heart Solus injuriis se subdidit Dominus sed solus gratiam non quaesivit says St. Ambrose all manner of ignominies and buffetings all manner of injuries upon the Cross our Lord and Saviour took them to himself alone but the coming down of the Spirit that he took not to himself alone I will pray unto the Father and he will send you another Comforter Open your heart wide therefore and this Dove will fill it A dumb creature ye know and may signifie many things and because I am perswaded the Holy Ghost came down in that shape which had the largest number of significations for the advancement of piety therefore I will hold me to my task to collect all that are profitable and omit none And because it bears a similitude which will increase into many applications I will enter upon that occasion first therefore it is animal foecundum it is a bird of a most teaming fertility and whether any bird that flies doth breed oftner I am not certain I believe not many such fecundity there is always in a lively faith Like the trees of Eden always bearing fruit never without some good work either the tongue is praying or the ear is hearing or the heart is meditating or the eye is weeping or the hand is giving or the soul is thirsting for remission of sins and every pious action is like a Pomgranate in Aarons garment full of kernels to betoken it will seed farther and spread in infinitum This is faiths fertility therefore the Spirit harboured himself in the shape of a Dove Secondly The Gall is the drought of cholerical matter in mans body out of that distemper proceed anger revenge and malice but the Dove hath no gall or if Aristotle hath observed it better than others so small a one that it can scarce be perceived So the Spirit loves to inhabit in a mild and gentle soul without wrath and fury The wrath of man worketh not the will of God for his will is mercy and forgiveness The Dove will intreat for Miriam as Moses did and sheild off the revenge of David from Nabals folly as Abigail did and crave pardon of Philemon for his fugitive servant Onesiphorus as Paul did The bruised reed shall not be broken and the smoaking flax shall not be quenched therefore when James and John called for fire from heaven upon the Samaratans their check was Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of as who should say ye have forgot the coming down of the Dove Thirdly The harmlesness of that bird is notable it hath neither beak nor talons to tyrannize over smaller Creatures Sine armis extra sine felle intus the smallest flies or gnats may hum about it and take no harm for it devours nothing wherein there is life There is not I dare pronounce it a more Saint-like ornament in any Christian than a Dove-like innocency Devour not one another by greedy gaining by racking oppression by strict advantages by extortion by treacherous blind informations He that wrongfully fleeceth his neighbour of all his substance to increase his own store would eat the flesh likewise from his brothers arm like a savage Cannibal if he wanted sustenance The spoyls which you have robb'd from others perhaps they shall be found upon thy back at the dreadful hour of judgment but wil our Saviour say thou didst not learn this thou extortioner from the Dove that sate upon me Fourthly The Dove feeds cleanly not upon Carrion like Vultures Corvi de morte pascuntur Crows peck upon dead carkasses but it picks up grains of corn and the purest fruits of the field Me thinks in this propertie I see the Spirit invite us to the Table of the Lord What corn-food so pure as that which our Saviour brake and gave to his Disciples saying Take eat this is my body Non hoc corpus quod crucifigetur c. not as St. Austin glosseth my very body which shall be crucified and my very bloud which shall be spilt that was the gross understanding of the sapernaits to think our Saviour meant his fleshly body The Dove is no devourer of that fleshly body of Christ which he assumed from the Virgin Mary but it satisfies its spiritual hunger with those pure crums of bread which are the Sacrament of his body Fifthly It is impossible to teach a Dove to sing a chearful tune for nature hath ingrafted in it a solemn mourning Gemitus pro cantu and it is the Spirit that puts compunction into our spirit with groans unutterable Sometime hang up the Harps of mirth and sit down and weep You never read that God will honour your joy in his eternal remembrance you are sure he will not forget your mourning says David Psal lvi 8. Thou tellest my slittings put my tears into thy bottle are not these things noted in thy book Yea not only doth he bear them in mind and keep them in register but if some Interpreters erre not he wears them upon his head Cant. v. 2 My head is filled with dew says Christ and my locks with the drops of the night as if he wore our tears says the Paraphrast like drops of Pearl upon his head Dry eyes and unrelenting hearts are the curse of God Ezek. xxiv 23. Ye shall not mourn nor weep but ye shall pine away for your iniquities Sixthly The Holy Ghost useth the wings of Angels the wings of the wind the wings of the Dove a bird of strong flight for the Spirit is swift in operation what he doth he doth it quickly Nescit tarda molimina Abraham ran forth to meet the Angels that drew to his Tent Sarah made ready quickly three measures of fine meal Abrahams young man ran to the Herd to fetch a Calf tender and good Nemo piger est
in domo charitatis in a charitable Hospital family every man hastened to a good work as if he had flown like a Dove Was not Paul a brave wing'd Apostle that traversed much of Asia and preacht the Gospel in every place from Jerusalem to Illyricum Seventhly The Doves eyes are fixt upon the Rivers of waters Cant. v. 12. some say out of vigilancy to espy therein the gliding of the Kite that flies above and to save it self So the spiritual man looks backward to the first waters wherein he was dipt to the Vow which he made in Baptism There he remembers his Garment was made white and he must not stain it for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not only to wash away filth but to give tincture or colour to that which is died So in Baptism the foul spots of iniquity are taken forth and by sanctification a clear gloss is set upon our soul It was the exhortation of old at Baptism Accipe vestem candidam immaculatam c. Take this white garment pure and undefiled it was their Ceremony to put on such and keep it undefiled against the day of the Lord. Et grege de niveo gaudia pastor habet says Lactantius The Shepherd rejoyceth to see the fleeces of his Lambs fair and unspotted These are pennae deargentatae as the Psalmist says the Doves wings are silver wings and if they be bright Silver here it will be changed into a better Metal hereafter a Crown of Gold whose wings are silver wings and the feathers of Gold Lastly As it was toucht before in the days of Noah the Dove was a presager of a better world to come and in this Text likewise it is Nuncia futuri seculi the happy annuntiate that there is a better world to come when these evil days of sin and misery are ended So we are sealed with the holy Spirit of Promise which is the earnest of our inheritance the Spirit is a pledge of that possession which is purchased for us in the Kingdom of heaven whither he bring us c. THE SIXTH SERMON UPON THE Baptism of our Saviour MAT. iii. 17. And loe a voice from heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased SPeak O Heaven and hearken O Earth unto the word of the Lord. The Earth must keep silence and give ear when God is his own Orator himself and utters his pleasure with his own voice As it is usual when some great Palace is raising fron the Foundation that the Master of the Possession will lay the first stone with his own hands So the Church being to be built up again in the New Testament not upon the foundation of Works but upon Faith not upon Moses but upon Jesus Christ Loe the mighty God publisheth the first tidings of reconciliation from his own mouth and himself in the Prophet Isaiahs Phrase doth lay in Sion a chief corner stone elect and precious for the Foundation which sustains the whole body of the Saints is no other but such as is contained in that brief Proclamation which I have read unto you This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Some of the Fathers very aptly call the Text Gods ample testimonial given to his Son that the world might receive him gladly being about to preach the glad tidings of salvation Moses you know would not offer himself to the Children of Israel to be the means that should release them from Pharaohs bondage before he had a token of Credence who did send him to the People and the Lord said unto him Thou shalt say I am hath sent me unto you So our High Priest and anointed Saviour would keep that form to have a clear testificate to commend him to the World Now a Dove was but a dumb shew and might be interpreted many ways wherefore an articulate and a majestical voice was heard from heaven which would pierce the ears of all that were gathered together and could not be mistaken In that nature therefore as a Testimonial given to him that was now about to be the great Preacher of righteousness I will divide the Text 1. The Person that did bear witness it is the Father 2. The manner how he testified to the honour of his Son by a voice Loe a voice 3. The authority of that voice which was every way to be accepted because it was from heaven 4. The Person to whom the witness is born to a Son This is my Son 5. What is witnessed of him in respect of himself that he was beloved This is my beloved 6. What is witnessed of him in respect of our consolation that he is filius complacentiae in whom and through whom the Father is well pleased That is to say not only beloved in himself but procures us to be beloved likewise for his sake for all that by Baptism have put on Christ are unto God as Christ himself is Filii dilecti complacentes Sons beloved well pleasing So the Text is our Saviours Testimonial and our own Consolation And loe a voice c. The Father is become a witness to glorifie his Son that is the first consideration to be made upon my Text. The Spirit hath done his part before now the voice the Father is come to perfect this great solemnity and so the justice of God agrees with his own Law Ex ore duorum aut trium testium Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established was ever any truth so strongly confirmed so undeniably maintained that the Father which made all things should ratifie it sensibly in the audience of men Never was it heard of but only in this case which is the top of all truth that Jesus was the Son of God Other truths we are well perswaded of which come from the light of reason or from the testimony of man yet reason may be blind and man may err but it is impossible that God should lie Heb. vi And admit it to be good for who can controul it that the Prophets and Apostles were inspired from God so that the contents which they have written are certain and infallible then his divine wisdom which gave them that instinct whatsoever he utters immediately from himself it may well stand upon comparisons that it is much more infallible So St. Hierom distinguisheth between that truth which is increate and which is infused and participate that the truth of the Saints is called a lie in respect of that verity which abideth in the Father Yea let God be true and every man a liar in which words says he it is implied that God alone is true even as he alone is said to have immortality for although he hath communicated immortality to Angels and to the souls of men yet it is not their own immortality but his love and favour to give it to them So the Prophets and holy men were inspired with true knowledge yet it was not their own truth
time which the Devil chose to set upon him then says my Text that is in the next place after his Baptism which went before Immediately says St. Mark as soon as ever the voice from heaven had said This is my beloved Son 4. Christs manner of addressing himself to the combate He was led up of the Spirit or as St. Luke more emphatically Being full of the Holy Ghost he was led by the Spirit 5. Here are the Lists where the Combate was fought or at least begun to be fought the Wilderness Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit c. Christ put himself upon a Tentation that is the first part of the Text and the Load-star by which all is guided that pertains to the whole matter which I am to handle in this story Other things did fall out at the same time but this was the drift of our Saviour For although we read that he fasted forty days in the Wilderness yet the purpose of his going thither ultimately was not to fast but to be tempted fasting was an accessory he must fast when he was there because there was no food to be had So Moses fasted forty days in Mount Horeb yet he went not up to the Mountain to fast but to receive the Tables of the Law Therefore St. Mark says that Christ was forty days in the Wilderness tempted of Satan but he never speaks of his fasting It is true He did expose himself to both those infirmities in his body he suffered hunger in his soul tentation both at once but his purpose was not to shew how his natural body could subsist a long time without the sustenance of meats but to manifest his strength and innocency in the trial of Tentation That he might say with Davids words and St. Austin says they are his own speech and his own words Psal cxviii 13. Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall but the Lord helped me There are many things which will leave our wits in a maze if we cast our eye down from the top of Christs Majesty to the bottom of his infirmity the bread which came down from heaven did hunger strength it self was weak comfort it self was sad and heavy life it self did die but that purity and innocency it self in which no unrighteousness could be found should be instigated over and over to most horrid sins raiseth one point of admiration more than any thing else Magnum fuit facinus Deum conspui alapis caedi verum haec omnia ad malum paenae spectant c. It is a mystery of humility that God himself would be spit upon and beaten and be crown'd with thorns it was very much and yet these at the very worst were but the evils of punishment to be sollicited to distrust in his Fathers providence to be ambitious to be an Idolater these are far more incompetent to the Son of God because they are the evils of sin Let me search it therefore very diligently through all the causes which may be useful to your learning and instruction why Christ would be tempted of the Devil First He yielded himself to be assaulted with strong provocations of evil that he might pity us the more because he knew in his own case and trial what hard encounters we had with the enemy As if a General of a field would lie perdew take his rest on the bare ground assign a place unto himself in battel where he knew there was the greatest danger that he might the better understand and commiserate the distress of the common Souldier St. Paul comforts his brethren the Hebrews with a double consolation First That Christ our High Priest is gone into heaven to make intercession for us there Secondly That he bore all our afflictions upon earth and knows our infirmities here Heb. iv 14. Says he we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens and we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all Points tempted like as we are yet without sin so far as sin might not be admixed or have any place in him so far there was no kind of sorrow or tentation which we undergo but he bore his part therefore he sustain'd not the languors of feavours or sickness which are contracted usually by Luxury always by ignorance to preserve the constitution of our body in good plight both which are most unworthy of this High Priest And as for sin he suffered the outward invitement of tentation in great measure but not the inward rebellion of concupiscence to which we are obnoxious in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin Let not our hope therefore be utterly pressed down with the weight of our sins Christ will have compassion because he knows the devices of our Adversary and how feeble we are to make resistance his Spirit shall not strive with man because he is but flesh and if weak flesh be overcome sometimes by the spirit of darkness he will not be extreme to mark what is done amiss Quia fragilis est in homine conditio non eos ad aeternos servabit cruciatus says St. Hierom Every trespass wherewith our frail nature is deceived by the devil shall not be punished with eternal fire And the knowledge of God discerning of what corrupt metal we are made doth not only cause him to free us from eternal torments but also to mitigate his temporal chastisements Gen. viii 21. And the Lord said in his heart I will not again curse the ground any more for mans sake for the imagination of mans heart is evil from his youth Because the imaginations of mans heart are so evil and will lead him into disobedience therefore the Lord is merciful Once he destroyed the whole earth because all flesh had corrupted its way to satisfie his Justice but no more than once that he might not turn justice into wormwood and bitterness Sweetly St. Ambrose the Lord extended his universal revenge but once Vindicta ad timorem proficit magis quà m ad naturae commutationem quae corrigi in aliquibus potest in omnibus mutari non potest The Lord doth not reiterate his universal punishments for he knoweth that depraved nature may be corrected in some it cannot be changed in all Moses in this point is seconded by David that the discerning of our infirmities doth stir up Gods compassion Psal ciii 14. Like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him Novit enim figmentum nostrum for he knoweth our frame he remembreth that we are dust That is no marvel indeed says Gregory to say he knows our frame and the stuff whereof we are made for there is nothing hid from his knowledge What special notice doth he take of it more than any thing else Gregory answers Figmentum nostrum scire est hoc in seipso ex pietate suscepisse He knows our frame more nearly and intimately
forswearing unhallowing the Lords day Rebellion against the Magistrate Rapines murders Lying Dissimulation want of Remorse all these sins which we knew of old and all those new sins which mischeif can invent are incident to him that cares not to grow rich by Gods blessing alone but by any sort of Policy Judas had an impatient heart that he did not raise his fortunes by Christs service he got little or nothing under him How easie it was for Satan to enter in at this gap and to put it into his heart to accept of thirty pieces of Silver to betray him If Christ would have bid most and given him Gold for Silver Judas would have tried his cunning then to have betrayed the Devil Ad mercedem pii sumus ad mercedem impii Therefore the Devil brought him speedily to an untimely death lest he should revolt for a greater reward and retain to the contrary faction And as for the thirty pieces the wages which he took both to sell Christ and his own soul for the High Priests had so much more than they covenanted for Judas durst not keep them they durst not receive them the Pension of innocent bloud none durst finger it but as the holy man said He hath swallowed down riches he shall vomit them up again Job xx 15. Because the Lord doth sometimes alledge the Heathen against the disobedience of his own Servants to provoke them by a foolish people therefore I will give you an instance from the morals of an Heathen Philosopher whom he did condemn for such as were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as took where they had no right and heapt possessions and gain unto themselves by unjust dealing And very judiciously he premiseth that there are two sorts of men that pluck much to themselves by unjust rapine who are transcendent sinners above the usual stile of them that are noted for filthy lucre 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tyrants that invade whole Kingdoms that are not their own and sacrilegious persons that lay hands on Gods portion and to satisfie their own Avarice despoil that which is consecrated to holy uses The first of these Usurping Tirants do not repine that they want a little bread but like Ahab they are sick for vexation and cannot eat their bread with joy unless they may have Naboths Field nay unless they may have whole Regions that are not their own This was a Goatish barbarous Conclusion every Nation had a Title to that Kingdom which was better than their own Such as these will pretend not to satisfie their need but to feed their pride and luxury and care not how much bloud they sell to buy a wrong name a dignity which the Lord did never give them Take heed of the bread of violence and oppression says Solomon though in the beginning such bread be sweet to the Palate yet afterward their mouth is filled with gravel and then follows gnashing of teeth in which Christ deciphers one sting of torment belonging to eternal damnation The Amalekites spoil'd the Kingdom of Israel burnt Ziglag and took away the women Captives but while they were eating and drinking and dancing because of the great spoil David smote them from twilight even till the Evening of the next day 1 Sam. xxx 17. The other sort of transcendent unjust ones are they who if they be not prosperous in the abundance of wealth to joyn house to house and Land to Land God himself shall not keep his own from them these are the Sacrilegious they are not common stones that these men move to become rich but they will command that the stones of the Temple be made bread The Sons of Eli the High Priest for I will confess it to our shame that the very Priests themselves in all Ages have not been quit from Sacriledge would lurch from the Sacrifice it self the best part of the Sacrifice and the vengeance fell from heaven not only on their own persons to be slain in battel but the Ark of God being under the custody of such wicked Levites was taken by the Philistins and carried away in triumph Even mighty Princes have smarted for this sin for when Belshazzar called for the golden and silver Vessels which his Father had taken out of the Temple of Jerusalem that he his Princes his Wives and his Concubines might drink therein in the same hour was the hand seen which wrote upon the wall that his Kingdom was taken from him No Nation so Idolatrous but abandoned them which made private gain of that which was due to the Altar to the Priests or any way to the honour of their Gods It was strict and strange justice in the Athenians that put a little boy to death who had scrapt off a little Plate of Silver from some shrine in Dianaes Temple but the reason of that severe Sentence was Metuebant ne sacrilegus evaderet if he had liv'd to be a man they fear'd he would prove notoriously socrilegious These which I have spoken of Tyranny and Sacriledge a mere Naturalist could call the two transcendent tops of injustice There are others under these indeed yet of a most vile condition that eat their bread by wrongful dealing when it is grounded with the Devils Milstones and according to Aristotle my former director these may be ranged into three sorts Such as maintain themselves with no calling such as use a bad calling and such as cheat in a good Calling We must eat our bread by Prayer to God and good employment in the world that is by the duty of Invocation and by the fruits of our Vocation therefore he that fills up no place or part in a Common-wealth to earn his gains must needs take the Devils counsel to live by unjust means command that these stones be made bread I consider not so much in this censure Parasites and Flatterers that subsist by fauning upon those that will be gull'd with assentation nor Buffoons and Jesters upon whom the Philosopher toucheth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as lead an apish ridiculous life a far greater curse than if they would undergo Gods curse to eat their bread with the sweat of their brows but I speak of them whose impious hands maintain them no otherwise but by pilfering and stealing what swarms of these are round about us in every corner of the streets yea sometimes in this very house of God More witty wicked inventions are excogitated I am perswaded in this City to cheat to filch to circumvent than all the Nations beside under the Sun are aware of If ever any sin grew a monster in a State this is improved to be so in ours And the good suffer this shame for their sakes who are bad that thievery in other Countries is accounted the National blot of this Island It is not imprisonment it is not branding it is not a fatal death that will deter them Nay it is not the fear of eternal fire hereafter it is not that denouncement
in the Field As the Fable is that the Vnicorn dips his horn into the River and makes it wholsom for all the beasts to drink so the mercy of the Lord shall breath upon all thy sustenance and sanctifie it for chearfulness and health and thy bones shall be filled with marrow and fatness But though we take our meat from God yet through infidelity it seems to me we will not take his word that he will concoct it to vivificate and strengthen us For if you do trust to that secret infusion that he gives unto his gifts why are you so sollicitous what you shall eat and what you shall drink Why do you confect every thing you take with such licious cost Why do you ingurgitate your selves with superfluity I am sure this makes it evident that you will neither trust God nor nature unless all the Art which Luxury and Wantonness can excogitate be added unto it As Elkanah said to Hannah his Wife Am not I better to thee than ten Sons So let it run in your mind as if the Lord spake it to you in your ear Am not I better unto thee than all the Corn in the Fields Than all the Cattel upon a thousand hills Than all the Cookery in the world that can be sweet upon the Palate What is bread What is a plentiful Table without my benediction Man shall not live by bread alone c. The last Proposition shall be the more succintly handled as it is least of all the meaning of the Text. That there is another life for man to look to beside this which is sustained with bread the inward man the spiritual man which lives upon the first word which I handled in my Text Scriptum est it is written Non in solo pane vivet homo non potior pars hominis quae est anima as St. Ambrose The better half of man which is the Soul and Spirit lives not by material bread but by the Word of God A heavenly Doctrine and is not minded yet not the proper and native construction of the verse I confess Yet the reason why some Fathers inclined to that meaning in their Commentaries was forasmuch as Christ mentioned the Word which proceeded out of the mouth of God now indeed that particle Word is not in the Hebrew Text which goes no further than thus Man liveth not by bread alone but by every thing suppose that cometh out of the mouth of God The 72 Translators made it up by every word and so St. Cyprian and others made this plausible sense that bread indeed strengthens mans heart but the soul liveth by the Law of God Yet in this meaning the Devil had had room to prosecute his Argument and would have said Give your soul such comfort as befits the soul yet that is no impediment but the body also must have his necessary refection Satan dares not be so impudent to deny but there is somewhat in man which is to be cared for more than the flesh for he himself is a Spirit which will make him confess that a spiritual substance deserves our sollicitous love before a body which is made of dirt Therefore the banquet for the soul is like Benjamins Mess five times yea five hundred times as good as the victuals of this Carkass Martha was careful to provide meat for the families her Sister Mary sate at our Saviours feet and fed upon the Manna of those divine words which fell from him You know who made the comparison Mary hath chosen the better part A Philosopher that preferred solid knowledge before the best diet could say He had rather be invited by Plato than by any Nobleman in Athens for he that supp'd with him might be the better for his discourse the morrow after O how much better is it then to sup with Christ Sometimes tasting of his Sacrament sometime hearing his Priests deliver the Mysteries of Faith sometime reading the mellifluous story of his Gospel sometime meditating often praying that we may not suffer a famine of the Word which we justly deserve for our sins but that his sayings may sink into our hearts and nourish us that we may grow up from grace to grace from vertue to vertue that we may eat the bread of life in the Kingdom of Heaven and never hunger again AMEN THE TENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 5. Then the Devil taketh him up into the holy City and setteth him on a Pinacle of the Temple AT this Verse Satan fenceth against Christ with a new weapon and after the tentation of the Wilderness Now follows the tentation of the Pinacle wherein Christ fulfilled that Doctrine in the Gospel He that will compel thee to go with him one mile go with him twain for it was no presumption in our Lord to go with him from one trial to another because he was sure he should out-go him As the Romans said of Hannibal their enemy that he was a perpetual fire Cui nihil deerat nisi qui eum excitaret that would instantly flame if any man would stir him up So neither loss nor victory will make the Devil sit down with peace he is a perpetual fire to kindle sin in man that wants nothing but an occasion to stir him up When he could do no good by his first Patent taking away all that Job had he comes and sues for a new Commission that he might touch his flesh and bone Semblably when his first onset took no effect and could not penetrate our Saviour to make him satiate his hunger by unlawful means now he deals with him in a most different way whether he would be taken with pride and vain-glory He that will not despair of his Fathers Providence but that he shall be fed will he then presume of his protection that in the midst of the greatest dangers he shall be preserved Let not the Pontificians take my similitude in ill part for I shall speak no more than the truth As they have particular ways to ravish all mens affections and to fit each humour that every fancy may be satisfied and every appetite find what to feed on they have the dignity of a Cardinal to allure the magnificent mind the humility of a Capuchin to agree with a despiser of the world Employment enough for the stirring metal'd spirit of a Jesuite and ease enough for the sullen restive disposition of a Monk a Cloyster of Virgins for the chaste a street of Curtezans for the dissolute So Satan will be with some in the desart Wilderness with others in the populous City Practiseth with one man upon his hunger and poverty with another upon his ambition no retiring place so low but he hath an Engine to use in that no Pinacle so high but he can reach at that Cum tristibus severè cum remissis jucundè as the Orator did point out Cataline for a Devil incarnate he can sigh with them that want but to make them murmur
than the man that rides him And in this circumstance likewise Satan was egregiously cozened to his exceeding contumely for when Christ permitted himself to be lifted up from the earth it seemed to Satan that it was his strength and power which carried him away and though much unwilling to be caught up in that wise yet being an impotent man he could not help it Thus the evil Spirit was deluded to ascribe that to his own power that came to pass by the hand of God Like the Fly in the Fable sitting upon the Axeltree of the Cart when it was moved apace took it to it self that the Cart was driven so fast and cries out see what a dust I make So this evil Angel either took up Christ in his hands in that body which he had assumed and thought it was in his power to stay him from falling or as spiritual substances in some mens Philosophy can move a corporeal thing by emanation of vertue which goes from them though they do not touch it as the intelligences move the heavens and so Satan not touching Christ at all might think it was his force and efficacy that snatcht him up from the earth to a Pinacle of the Temple But the former way is more likely as if he would shew him how the Text of David was literally meant He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up Beloved as the Divel did arrogate that he took up Christ on high by his own force and arm yet it was nothing so In like manner he thinks that all those hold their tenure of him who are exalted by wicked means he took them up to a Pinacle of the Temple he raised them up to civil honour Indeed wicked persons live as if they owed their service rather to Satan than to God for their preferment but it is the Lord that sets both good and bad in the seat of dignity the powers that be they are from God For this cause I have raised thee up he spake it to wicked Pharaoh that I might make my power known in thee Let mighty ones therefore remember they are Gods liege men and not the Devils And they that rise up like smoke from hell fire like smoke they shall vanish into nothing So I have shewed it was not in the power of Satan to carry our Lord whither he would but Christ suffered this Assumption of Satans out of patience not out of infirmity and suffered himself to be lifted up on the Cross and at last he came to the third Assumption to be received up into glory There is a third thing remains to be satisfied which every one will expect what a gazing sight would this be for all the Region over which Christ did fly and for the populous City of Jerusalem It must needs be an object upon which all men would cast their eyes and why is it not more spoken of in the Gospel and objected to our Saviour by his enemies It is no solid answer to say it hapned in the night and none were aware of it For the tentation which follows must needs be done in the clear light when he shewed the Son of God all the Kingdoms and glory of the world in the twinkling of an eye The true answer is that Satan was more over-reach'd in this surmise than in all the rest For he thought by this hovering aloft in the Air to make Christ a spectacle to all the world that men might think him some Inchantor or Magician by riding above in the clouds in the mean time says St. Chrysostome Christ made himself invisible that he was seen of no man the Devil being no way privy to it that he did abide invisible So Joh. viii ult the Jews took up stones to cast at Christ but he hid himself and went out of the Temple going through the midst of them what was this to hide himself and to go through the midst of them But to pass through the throng invisible as among others Euthymius noteth No point of cozenage and sorcery was practised more of old by the Impes of Satan than these flyings aloft these aereal supervolitations to the wonder of the world Nero Caesar was given much to Incantations and to experiments above nature especially in this kind Suetonius says that one of his Flatterers would undertake to fly up to heaven at his command but got a tumbling cast for his labour insomuch that some of the parties bloud did light upon Nero himself as he sate to behold this new sight in the Theater I will not say that this was Simon the Sorcerer spoken of Acts viii because he in the Theater did personate Icarus in sport but Simons was a solemn undertaking to confute the Doctrine of Peter and Paul by flying up to heaven So it is in the book called Clemens his Constitutions that this child of the Devil began to take his flight up on high openly before all the people of Rome and at the instant Prayers of the Apostle Peter he fell down headlong and brake his legs Because that Book is justly suspected for an adulterate work Arnobius who wrote in the Reign of Dioclesian to all the Gentiles says as much Cursum Simonis Magi nominato Christo evanuisse The flight of Simon Magus was cross'd in the name of Jesus Christ This was grown so common either by Mathematical engines or by Witchcraft that every Impostor did begin to profess it Graeculus esuriens in Coelum jusseris ibit says the Satyrist The Prince of the Air thought to amuse the world and to do stupendious works in his own Territories but he that sits on high shall laugh them to scorn the Lord shall have them in derision These are but foolish Antiques and Mimicks of the proper sending up of our spirit to God by desiring to be dissolved and to be with Christ by having our conversation in heaven and delighting in those joys which are laid up for the Saints and by fervent Prayer which carries up the heart to God upon the wings of Zeal and Innocency so the Psalm mentions how a man may raise himself even unto the top of the holy City which is the new Jerusalem in heaven My soul flyeth unto the Lord before the morning watch I say before the morning watch And so much for the second general Point the manner of this tentation which was by Assumption Then the Devil taketh him up c. The holy City is the Locus communis the place largely taken to which he was carried out of the Wilderness and that is the ground to work upon for the third general Observation of the Text. This must needs be the Periphrasis of Jerusalem because God had a Temple no where else but there and St. Luke hath spared this Periphrasis and named the place he took him to Jerusalem and set him on a Pinacle of the Temple The eminent honour which this place had for many Sacred
make us his instruments to defile the holy Temple Gods glory is put to the greatest scandal and reproach And this is brought to pass so many ways that it is plain to see there hath been a most witty complotter in the treachery 1. When any Prelate is so puft up that he thinks himself too great to be a door-keeper in Gods house but will be higher than all the Church and seâ— on the top of the Pinacle who sitting in the Temple of God exalts himself above all that is called God 2. The Temple is defiled by setting up Idols in the Courts of our heavenly King even in the midst of thee O thou Sanctuary of the Lord. 3. By offering up unclean Sacrifice either false Doctrine or impious Prayers or superstitious Worship or corrupted Sacraments 4. When men set their foot within the sacred Tabernacle with carnal thoughts with worldly imaginations with no zeal or attention 5. To bring any prophane work any secular business within those walls which are consecrated to the name of the Lord. This is that Camel which the Jewish Priests did swallow when they strained at a Gnat. For they told our Saviour that he brake the Sabbath he did not keep the Law but they themselves did licence and allow the prophanation of the Temple by bringing Merchandize into it selling of Sheep and Oxen and changing money and you know how Christ revenged it even with anger and indignation I must borrow time to tell you how Christ did bestir himself in the reformation of that abuse more than in any thing else throughout all the Gospel For first he corrected that fault twice over in the second of St. Johns Gospel in the beginning of his Ministry and Mat. xxi toward the end of his life anon before he suffered You see what an obstinate evil it was which would not be redressed for one admonition 2. When he came to Jerusalem there were many other faults flagrant crimes wherewith the place abounded yet the first thing he reformed was the abuse of the Temple 3. He would not tolerate the least prophanation wink at no fault for he would not permit that any should carry so much as a Vessel through the Temple Mar. xi 16. 4. He reformed this trespass not only by preaching and quoating Scripture against it but by a scourge and by violence by word and deed And surely if words will not serve God will bring blows to maintain the reverence of his house that it be not contemned What a dissolute carriage it is to see a man step into a Church and neither veil his head nor bend his knee nor lift up his hands or eyes to heaven Who dwels there I pray you that you are so familiar in the house Could you be more saucy in a Tavern or in a Theater This is no other but the very gate of heaven says Jacob when he had but a vision of God and his Angels Brethren renounce the Devil let him not alienate your reverence from that place which God hath specially appointed for the saving of your soul Holiness becometh thine house for ever O holy blessed and glorious Trinity AMEN THE ELEVENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 6. And saith unto him If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down For it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone IT is altogether unknown to man when a sin comes merely from the suggestion of his own heart and when it comes from the tentation of the Devil But in one case eminently above many others it is most likely that there is some hellish provocation when out of good principles and religious grounds our heart is quite turned out of the way to rebell against the Lord. Ely the High Priest had a tender fatherly affection Who could turn this wholsom water into poyson to make him wink at the vices and dissoluteness of his Sons but Satan David was a thankful Prince and loved to remember how God had multiplied his favours upon him yet upon this stock grew that evil fruit to number the people Why the Text says Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel King Josias was an enemy to the Heathen that knew not God and he that deludes good motions made him so irreconcilable that he would fight against Pharaoh Necho to his own destruction and harkened not to the word which came from the mouth of God Certainly the hand of Joab was in this and in all such fallacies where a good fountain is made to send forth sweet waters and bitter as to sin because grace abounds to neglect publick Prayer because faith comes by hearing to cark and care too much for the world because a man would provide for his Posterity And this master-wit of Hell laid this bait to make our Saviour swallow it in this present tentation For Christ being demanded to make bread of stones he replies that he was confident in his Fathers Promises Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Are you so confident Thinks the Tempter and upon this confidence I will thrust you on Have you appeal'd to Cesar And to Cesaer you shall go It is true that you say God is very gracious and will not destitute you in any want or danger you have answered very well therefore cast your self down from this Pinacle and be confident still God will look to it that you shall be supported This is the very train discovered and made as clear unto you as the light of the Sun In the former tentation he would drive Christ to unlawful means if that take not because he trusts in God then trust in him still and refrain from the use of things lawful so St. Austin distinguisheth that his first fallacy was Deum defuturum ubi promisit that God would not help where he had promised to assist and the second fallacy which now I am to handle is Deum adfuturum ubi non promisit that God would help where he had not promised to assist Where many things are to be found out in one verse they must be divided severally and in this order I take it to be expedient 1. Here is Satans demand Cast thy self down 2. Upon what supposition he demands it Why if thou be the Son of God 3. Upon what authority authority enough for it is written 4. Upon what assistance why the best in the world whether it is the supreme or the instrumental The supremeis God He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and the instrumental are the most glorious powerful and excellent creatures in all the world the whole Host of Angels in their hands they shall bear thee lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone These are such particulars as the wisdom of the Spirit hath left us
to consider upon these words and as I begin at Satans demand so I make two branches of it the Motion and the Mover The Motion is tumbling headlong to be cast down and the Mover must be himself Cast thy self down To the handling and use of these are required your ear my utterance and Gods grace to both I begin with the Motion and if the meaning of him that counselled it had been well carried it were a motion easily perswaded to him that is of an humble spirit a good man is ever ready to be directed to go and sit down in the lowest room and to be abased to the very center of humility When the heart is in good awe of God the joynts will bend unto the earth O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker This we are sure is far from Satans purpose and can be no construction of his words Optat omnes cadere qui se sentit prae omnibus cecidisse says St. Austin He would have all men fall in that sort as himself hath done with aspiring and presumption that they might never rise again The Beast in the Fable which had lost his tail made an Oration before all the Beasts of the Wood what a comly thing it was to want a tail and very useful and so concluded that they would all cut off theirs but the Fox made answer You intend not to make us decent like your self but to have us all as deformed After the same manner the Devil Preacheth unto Christ to descend from the top of the Pinacle to the bottom not to set him in the posture of an humble man but to make him arrogant like Lucifer for such a violent precipitation says he can do no hurt at all to such a one as you are a most holy one that are called the Son of God I will use Bonaventure's saying upon it Satan did interlace lofty pride with this lowly seeming motion Vt descendendo corporaeliter faceret cum superbire spiritualiter ut simul esset ascensus vanus descensus verus That he might fall down bodily and be proud spiritually and so he thrust together a frivolous presumption and a dangerous descension How much is humility abused when Pride will wear the colours of that good vertue to deceive the world There was grose ambition in Absalons stooping to steal the hearts of the people The Scribes and Pharisees would dop to the ground when they greeted their friends in the Market place The same Bishop that hath more Princely Augustious titles ascribed unto him then would fill up a Sermon by themselves subscribes himself very often Servus servorum Christ the servant of the servants of Christ As a Kite will sweep the earth with his wings that he may truss the Prey in his Talons and fly aloft to devour it So all the crouches and submissions which an ambitious man makes are to get somewhat which he seeks for and to clamber to promotion This is observed because Satan impels Christ to cast himself down not for true humility sake but upon vain glory to flutter in the Air that all Jerusalem might take notice how precious he was to the care and custody of all the Angels In the next place convert your thoughts to this see what kind of Miracles they are which the Devil delights in the working of Miracles is reduced to Gods Omnipotent Prerogative beyond the ordinary Law of Nature And Christ did often put it in act to save to revive to comfort the body to convert the soul Nay but these are no part of the Devils asking neither cure the sick nor give eyes to the blind nor raise the dead nor help up Eutiches again as Paul did when he fell from the upper window of the house to the ground none of these good offices of mercy doth he require but mitte te deorsum if you be the Son of God tumble down and confound your self Non signa humano generi salutaria sed perniciosa requirit says Bernard Do some pernicious Miracle and then you please him Beware of those men whose wit whose counsels whose directions tend to nothing but to some mens ruine and destruction Hic niger est hunc tu Romane caveto you see who is their Leader and whose steps they follow The Heathen could say how that Orator must needs have much malice in his complexion who was a better Accuser than a Defender that could sooner find a hole in his Adversaries cause than help his own Client so it is Satanissimum let me use a new word in this case he is a very Satanist upon whom that description of David lights Destruction and unhappiness is in their counsels and the way of peace they have not known The Magicians of Pharaoh could bring forth Frogs upon all the Land of Egypt as well as Aaron when he stretcht forth his rod but the Magicians with all their Inchantments could not rid the Land of those Frogs as Aaron did when he cried unto the Lord. Inchanters are permitted to work strange mischiefs but the Lord hath reserved it to himself to work strange mercies Ahitophel was exceeding wise no doubt accounted the Oracle of his age yet we know no instance of his wit in all the Scripture wherein he had his hand but in most turbulent and seditious propositions The Devil made use of his craft to serve his own turn but a wit that is sanctified with Gods grace know it by this character it had rather make than mar advance than pull down preserve than destroy reconcile than put at enmity When the voice from heaven spake to Peter as he was in a trance Arise Peter kill and eat the meaning was he should eat of such things as the Gentiles did which were prohibited before communicate with the Gentiles convert the Gentiles Now do you think that Cardinals mouth was not full of gall that made this Exposition of the Miracle Arise Bishop of Rome wage war with the Venetians and kill them because they will not obey yout Interdict Certainly this mans breath was like the strong East Wind that brought most of the grievous Plagues of the Land of Egypt I do not like such Prophets though Micaiah was wrongfully reputed such a one by Ahab that never prophesie good but evil nor such Disciples as would shew their authority by calling down fire from heaven nor such unlucky spirits that are like the malignant Planets which produce nothing but maleficous effects When Songs were sung in every Street of Greece that Philip had eraced the fair City of Olynthus O but when will he build up such a City Says a silly woman and then I would sing too An ill turn is quickly watcht for beside the venomous inclination of our own nature to do hurt You shall have the Devil to boot to help it on he counsels like an enemy no miracle which brings good with it to mankind but destruction Mitte te deorsum Cast
these things and come to that heavenly Banquet without these preparatory steps and so you shall eat and drink your own damnation It is fit likewise that all our life should be a meditation of our death to number our days one by one as we go down to the grave No says the Tempter jump down from the Pinacle to the bottom it is a melancholy cogitation never think of it till it comes do not go down fair and softly with fear and trembling but defer all your repentance to the last hour and then commend yourself to God And none are more in fault in this kind than they who begin at the top of the golden Chain at Election and Predestination and straight leap into the assurance of their Glorification they are Predestinated to his Kingdom therefore theirs is the Adoption of Sons theirs is the inheritance without more ado Soft and fair this is a jump from one end to another without steps there must be a ladder of practice to come to these things or your boasting may be in vain and you may fail of that Salvation wherein you falsly glory Examine your Love if it be sincere examine your Repentance if it be very mournful and make you most resolute to be a new Creature Examine your Faith if it be stedfast and immovable prove it by such fruits as will grow upon a living tree and then God hath given you leave to rise up upon these degrees to ascend in these effects from one to another till you lay hold of the highest Link and say with the Prophet I am thine O save me I am thy Child by Adoption and Grace and thou art my Father who hast elected me before the foundations of the World But beware of these desultory motions to fall down from aloft and not pass by such steps and stairs as God hath ordained And so much for this motion to which the Tempter perswaded Christ Jace teipsum deorsum Cast thy self down Next let us see how the Tempter would have Christ take his fall from the Pinacle of the Temple why he would have it to be his own voluntary act Cast thy self down And subtilly continued to palliate this horrid Vice as if it had been humility Humility must be home-born flow from our own willingness without the least compulsion or constraint Cast thy self down For they that are pressed down and would get higher if they could they are not humiles but humiliati it is their cross fortune not their mortified affections that they are not upon the top of a Pinacle But as I have said already you can taste no such thing as pious humility in the Devils counsel But first as St. Hierom shews he doth much betray his own weakness in this to commend the execution of this tentation to Christ himself and not to take it into his own hands He can perswade he cannot precipitate a man whether he will or no. Nemini potest nocere nisi ipse se deorsum miserit It is not in his power to throw you down if you will save your self No Sorcerer no worker with familiar spirits had ever the power to hurt the meanest Magistrate in the Commonwealth that examined them or any Officer of correction that did chastise them His Dominion is inhibited that he can take away no mans life by hostile violence It is one of the flowers of Gods own Royalty that life and death are before him only he giveth breath and he calls it away when he pleaseth And as Satan cannot hurt the body of man but by our own consent and by our own permission so he must ask us leave and work it by our own perverse will if he ensnare our soul in any iniquity He cannot break open the door no nor so much as draw the latch but if he find the door open and the room swept and garnished then he enters in Luk. xv Some ungodly ones think they have made a fine excuse when they cast their faults upon the Devil If you have blasphemed or reviled it was he I wiss that was the cause of it if you have spilt bloud it was he that did direct your hand to this hainous fact if you lived in malice it was he no doubt that crossed you from many purposes to be reconciled what cares he to let you run on in these excuses You deceive your selves your Debts increase and I am sure he will never pay the score for you I allow it unto you that he is as subtil to cast scandalous objects in your way as malice can make him as forward to excite you to all evil as diligence will suffer him as vigilant as a restless spirit can be to divert you from all good But what of all this If you will not lend him your own free-will to practise with he is quite excluded All those Antecedents are but invitations to evil not compulsions Malorum immissor non impulsor If you will not cast your self down head-long he cannot thrust you into wickedness In this Text he confesseth that the last and complete power is in our selves to hurt our selves and not in him all precipitations are his counsels but our own motions Cast thy self down Then the Tempter could not cast our Saviour down it is his restraint and weakness moreover he would not though he could For Nullum praecipitium nisi voluntarium est praesumptio No tumbling cast had born the guilt of presumption with it unless it had been voluntary and of his own doing And now I am come to the most horrid part of this second Tentation wherein Christ was provoked to destroy himself with his own will to be guilty of his own murder the most irremediable sin as much as I can perceive that can be committed Though he would not come down from the Cross and save himself but was led with all patience as a Lamb unto the slaughter yet his death was inflicted upon him by Pilates Souldiers he was not his own Executioner The Jews never spake more despightfully against him than when they asked Will he kill himself because he says whither I go ye cannot come Job viii 22. No let Satan put such desperate resolutions into the heart of Judas the Traytor to make himself away And some Historiographers would perswade us that the Devil obtained this very request of him which he moved to Christ to cast himself down from some lofty Pinacle St Matthews words must be true that he hanged himself and St. Lukes words must be true that falling down headlong he burst asunder in the midst Acts i. 18. Theophylact says the bough of the tree bended to the ground upon which he hung and since he could not dispatch his life that way he brake his neck down a steepy Mountain and burst in twain And now all Ages call him Reprobate as well for this desperate conclusion of his life as for betraying Christ There were some Hereticks of whom I think one Petileus was the Author
words following And as some observe he was out as much in the choice of place to which he carried our Saviour For Battlements use to encompass the Roof in an high building that they who walk upon the open Leads may be preserved from falling Now the Devil would make use of Architecture the clean contrary way that he should cast himself down from the Battlements like Cacus the Thief he draws all things backward to a wrong use So he wrings reason in these words quite of one side If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down Cum convenientius diceret si filius Dei es ascende ad coelum says Chrysologus It had been a better Inference to say Because you are the Son of God ascend up to heaven If your Fathers Kingdom be above look after your inheritance and seek those things which are above And as Christ answered the Jews so he might put off Satan Vos deorsum estis ego de supernis You are from beneath I am from above Joh. viii Elijah removed himself from the presence of Ahaziah to the top of an hill and Ahaziah sent one of his Captains and fifty men with him saying O man of God thus the King hath said come down quickly and Elijah answered If I be a man of God let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty and ye know two Captains and their Companies were served so For if he were a man of God why would they be Instruments to a Tyrant to fetch Elijah to be slain So fire and brimstone remain unto the Devil and his Angels for this tentation For if Christ be the Son of God why should he fly down upon the wings of presumption to dishonour God and his own body I see now who is the author of that fallacy which I fear hath cost many a soul the loss of eternal life that such as assure themselves they are elect ones they are the Sons of God may make bold with their Fathers mercie may rely upon it and now and then transgress his Commandments for their pleasure or profit or some other fleshly consideration there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus God sees no sin in the righteous though they fall they shall rise again and many more such deluding Axioms as they apply them which I beseech you return back again to Hell with him that invented them Lay the redemption which you have in Christs bloud and the hope which you have through him to be partaker of everlasting glory and all other benefits which you have received and that when we were enemies we were reconciled to God put your own unworthiness and disdeservings to these and lay them all straight together and then consider if you are not tied in all strict obedience to do all which the Lord hath commanded you No such motive in the world to an ingenuous conscience to live a most strict and austere life as because the mercies of Jesus Christ are infinite St. Paul knew that he bad fought a good fight and therefore a Crown of life was laid up for him yet how chary he was to walk in a straight rule turning neither to the right hand nor to the left He would wrong no man defraud no man nay he would depart from his own right for the Kingdom of heavens sake All things are lawful to me but all things are not expedient which Tertullian put into these words Timeo ab omnibus indulgentiis Domini mei I refuse some things which God hath allowed me he would eat no flesh while he lived rather than offend his brother The Devil could not entice him to this or that liberty upon such a supposition as this If thou be the Son of God but rather thus I am the Child of God therefore I will not hearken to an enticer I am the Son of God therefore I will not dishonour him that hath begotten me again by his grace I am his Liege-man and have taken his Sacrament I must not rebel against him I have washt my garments white in the bloud of Christ how should I defile them again But this is the Devils use to urge mighty things at their hands that take themselves to be the best Sons ef God rather by presumption than by true vivification He will buz into their ears if you were a notable Christian above your fellows you would cast out Devils raise the dead cure diseases you would do some famous miracle and so he sets on others if you have good gifts of the Spirit though you be an illiterate man and have no ordinary calling to dispense Gods Word yet you may Interpret Scripture Preach Expound Rehearse Prophesie Ambitio sanctitatis ad insaniam usque nonnullos perduxit The ambition to appear more holy than others enforceth some men to Phrantiqueness and Lunacy It is Salmeron the Jesuites rule upon my Text and a true one but because he hath not illustrated it by examples I will do it for him The Sectaries of Montanus that claimed to have his Spirit thought it belonged to their Church to have four times as many publick Fasts as all other Christians The Circumcelliones among the Donatists would break their necks down from an high Wall rather than resort to any Congregation but their own as if they were purer than all others and this they boasted to be Martyrdom Praecipitia facit sic martyres facit in Affricâ says a Father upon my Text. A mere Heathen man Empedocles threw himself into the raging fire of Aetna to be called a God Deus immortalis haberi dum cupit Empedocles ardentem frigidus Aetnam insiliit But what were those that Cassianus speaks of but mad men through affected zeal As this Certain Novices were sent by their Abbot with some food to an Hermit and lost their way in the Desart and rather than eat of that which they were bidden to deliver to the Hermit they would starve for want of sustenance And one Mucius a Monk was bidden cast his crying Child into a River and drown it which he did and his Governour told him it was like the faith of Abraham O phrantique Hypocrisie Into what incredible attempts it will drive a man Gonzaga the Jesuite so much extolled by the Fatherhood was exceeding pensive if any man was friendly and loving to him forsooth he would have the World to hate him and this is pretty that they say he did affect to preach ridiculously that he might be scorn'd and laught at In a word all their blind obedience which is an indefinite undiscoursed surrendring of themselves to the will of a Superiour a swallowing down any thing that is commanded and never chewing the cud why or wherefore it is but a mad affectation of holiness of men stupid in foolery that would seem to be dead unto the world This is that obedience by which they say if a man were dignified so much as to talk with an
Aphorisms briefly upon it As Solomon says The righteous may be bold as a Lion We have such to fence us of whom more may be said than of the valiant Israelites one of them shall chase a thousand and two of them shall put ten thousand to flight Nedum Angeli sed Christus ipse says one if thou think not them enough you are under the tuition as well of Christ as of his Angels Yet secondly mans life must needs be full of enemies that even the Cherubims of heaven are so sollicitous of our safeguard Non tam magna pro nobis in coelo in terrâ sollicitudo gereretur c. Bernard doth often rouze up himself to think that God sees we are in more danger than we our selves can perceive because he provides such an Army to be on our side against all hostility Thirdly Si homines requirant Angelorum auxilium necesse est ut suum officium faciant You must look to your own quarter and the Angels will look to theirs Set your affections upon heaven and your hopes upon Gods protection yet do not separate the wit of the Serpent from the innocency of the Dove It is the best sign that the powers of heaven are watchful over a man when that man is watchful over his own safety But where God is angry with a sinner he makes the good Angels cast him out of their hands to be trodden down of his enemies When the Lord was angry with the Synagogue of the Jews which he calls his Vineyard to which he had been wanting in no grace and favour Go to says he I will tell you what I will do to my Vineyard I will take away the hedge thereof Isa v. 5. Auferam sepem ejus i.e. Angelorum custodiam I will take away the fence of the holy Angels from it and leave it to be trodden down And why hath he committed us to the tutelary help of Angels Not to adore them for Christ says within three verses following Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Nor to pray unto them for there is neither Pattern nor Precept to authorize it but to prevent us from dangers to assoil us from our Ghostly enemies to bear us up in their hands lest at any time we dash our foot against a stone He shall give his Angels charge and they shall bear thee up This Commission granted to a Plurality of Angels doth note that one Angel is not here deputed to a man but all to every man Stapleton and others of that side do rather strive to raile Calvin than to dispute him out of this opinion Set aside the conjectures of many ancient learned Authors there is not one tittle in Scripture to reprove what Calvin says Figmentum de binis cujusque geniis profanum est It is but a prophane excogitation to say that every man as soon as he is born is molested with the impugnation of a bad Angel and is committed to the defence of a Good against the former part that every man hath one evil genius to oppugn him how improbable it is since we read that Legions of evil Spirits have entred into one man And that bad men have their good Angel Guardian where is their evidence to prove it Nothing but because it was an old Platonique rule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every one good and bad hath his Daemon or his Genius like a Page to wait upon him and then the Schoolmen do thus divine that bad men had need of a good Angel to wait upon them Ne noceant aliis quantùm possint to debar them that they may not do so much hurt as they would But that every good man hath his Angel Guardian I confess is more generally maintained and yet not without this diversity some say he is deputed to every good Christian after he is baptized some say to every Elect one from the first moment of the Nativity and so say all that follow St. Hierom magna est dignitas animarum ut unaquaeque habet ab ortu nativitatis Angelum deputatum Yet again these Opinionists jossle for some quote Austin that an Angelical power is deputed to tender every visible thing in this World In Rev. xiv mention is made of the Angel that had power over the Fire of another Rev. xvi that had power over the Water as if every Element had its Angel Guardian But if every visible Element and every material thing be under the custody of an Angel that reason of Aquinas which all the Schoolmen suck up for the guardiancy of all mens souls must needs fall to nothing But thus he Men are incorruptible not only in the Species but also every one in his particular form Now he infers the divine Providence is conversant chiefly about incorruptible things therefore that Providence doth as much tend one man as an whole Species of Beasts and Plants therefore one Angel is allotted to every one man as to every one whole kind of other things to perish Thus you see there is no agreement but rangling about this Point because it hath no foundation in Scripture therefore Lombard though some of his fellows pinch him for it concluded very wisely that it is to be doubted whether every man hath his particular tutelary Angel In the search of holy Scriptures this Text remits us to believe that the Angels compass us about by troops and multitudes We find Lot his Wife and his two Daughters taken out of Sodom by no more than two that came unto them We read of innumerable Chariots in the Mountains that did appear to succour Elisha and his Servant There is but one Angel set over Greece and one more over Persia Dan. x. they that contend for the opposite either name one verse Mat. xiii which speaks not of one but of many Angels Their Angels do always behold the face of your Father which is in heaven or that other refuge out of a Text many ways expounded Acts xii 15. When the Maid affirmed how Peter knockt at door whom all that were present supposed to be in prison they said it is his Angel Theophilact and Bede say they meant it was his soul he being newly slain by Herod as they feared and suspected Some holy Fathers otherwise of great learning did dream that the souls of good men departed did visit their Friends which when Vigilantius denied St. Hierom very harshly Quare martyres post sanguinis effusionem tenebuntur inclusi Why should the souls of the Martyrs be lockt up and not permitted to wander abroad A question of more anger than reason Well if the words be not to be construed as if it were the soul of Peter but a very Angel yet Cornelius à Lap. dares to call this Angel Michael the great Prince and surely they will not say he was the particular Guardian of St. Peter Strange excursions are made upon it how the Angel Guardian will personate
using no labour cashiring all providence and yet expecting to live and thrive as well as they that eat the bread of carefulness by the sweat of their brows They look to be Gods Sparrows that lay up nothing neither sow nor reap and yet hope to be fed But Solomon's Pismire is so little that they cannot see the similitude that the sluggard should lay up for Winter and tred after the providence of that forecasting creature When Christ was in the Wilderness far from any provision he made use of his transcendent power to multiply many portions of food out of five loaves and two fishes but when he was near a Town he sent his Disciples to buy some food John 4. There is a way to use this world as if we us'd it not these tanquam non utentes God loves exceedingly such as seek for necessary means of life as if they sought it not such as possess that portion of riches which they have freely charitably being willing to communicate as if they possest it not Finally such as use the delights of the world yet sparingly in offensively as if they us'd it not These I say are tanquam non utentes but wretchless regardless humours such as are absolutely non utentes that will not seek after the natural benefits which God hath given but let his benefits drop down in their mouths like Manna and come to them these contemn Art and Nature and industry these are one rank of them that tempt the Lord. Then they shall stand for the fourth that make holy vows and bind themselves in a perpetual obligation where God hath given no promise of assistance that they shall be able to perform them The Apostles were offended with them that injoyned Christians to observe Judaical Ceremonies after Christs Ascension into Heaven not meerly because the Levitical Law was not only dead and buried but even become mortiferous to them that used it but because there was no promise any longer that the grace of Christ would assist them that undertook that kind of Worship which was discharg'd and abrogated The words of Peter are plain to this sense Acts xv 10. Why tempt ye God to lay a yoke upon the necks of the Disciples God is tempted when ye expect his Grace to bless you in those inventions of Will-worship where he never engaged himself to be present with his holy Spirit I step into this observation some have the gift to be Virgins without any dangerous reluctancy against the rebellion of the flesh all the days of their life but there is no express and punctual promise made that such as will endeavour it pray for it be earnest to attend it should be able to lead a vowed single life without the remedy of Matrimony therefore it is a gross presumption and no modest assurance for any one to bind himself by Vow to perpetual Virginity for such a man or woman will seem to engage God to give them victory over all Concupiscence that they may not be beholding to his holy institution of Matrimony But we see it by woful experience and they are too impudent that deny it how such presumption and tempting of God instead of unspotted Virginity falls very often into most gross carnality Fifthly to use such things again which either always or for the most part have been unto us an occasion of sinning is to tempt the Lord whether he will let those things prevail against our souls which so often have proved unto us an occasion of falling Look not on the wine while it is red in the glass says Solomon and that 's a proverb too which the Prophet useth Put not your finger upon the hole of the asp listen not to a smooth enticing tongue though you think your self and your constancy as impenetrable as flint yet a little rain wears out the hardest stone insensibly we know not how falling drop by drop upon it We do not read what became of Naaman after he craved leave to bow down sometimes in the house of Rimmon I fear his integrity suffered some detriment but I am sure both he and all men else are guilty of those sins towards which they drew near and approach'd when they might have kept further off I am sure we do read of Amnon what an hell of iniquity he brought upon himself when he entreated that his Sister Tamar might stand before him a conscionable man that feared to do evil would have turn'd away his eyes as from a Basilisk a moral man could do it barely to be renowned and spoken of and for no further end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Alexander he would not look upon those eye-sores the fairest of the Persian women for fear of incontinence Shall not Religion make us as cautelous as popularity made the heathen he that dares sail near the Syrens within hearing hath forfeited himself to unlawful pleasure he that dares come close to the threshold of sin shall be pluck'd into the doors for he hath tempted the Lord his God And sixthly this smells of a most audacious spirit provoking wrath and urging the patient God to indignation when you make slight of all the terrors and minacies in the Law as if they were high words but do what you will they shall never fall upon you this was the first imposture that Satan put upon our first Parents The threatning of the Lord is very strict indeed but nequaquam moriemini do you not regard it you shall not dye O how it exasperates the Divine Justice and draws down severity when any one deludes himself that the vengeance denounced against him is but as one said of the Popes Bull vacui murmur culici◠the humming of a poor empty gnat Some dispute it with Originists that at the end of certain years the damned shall be released from Hell As for the sentence of eternal fire Magis minaciter quam veraciter dictum Those words have more terror in them then verity Some would make it good by their wit that the souls of Reprobates shall have no sense of rosting and burning in fire but only be damnified and deprived of eternal happiness not to stand before the face of God at least that nothing but the loss of the beatifical presence was threatned against the disobedience of our first Parents And some mens hearts are hardned against all the thundering of Judgments which shall be discovered at the last day as if they were Chimera's or poetical fictions Such as these do most strongly tempt the terrible Judge to open the earth immediately and swallow them up quick into Hell like Dathan and Abiron that their bodies and souls may feel the pains of Hell sooner then all other men because they provokt him with their infidelity I have reserved to speak of one strong temptation in the seventh and last place To ascribe some notable effect unto a thing unto which it was not enabled or appointed by nature or by the Divine Ordinance revealed for such power
will The Tongue of man the Knee the Heart nay Body and Soul together are to be purchased As you bring with one hand you shall carry away Favour and Justice in the other The access of profit carries the main stroke in every thing The Heads judge for reward and the Prophets divine for money Mich. iii. 11. They that should be most clear from this fault you see are chiefly in the reprehension No man knows with what stint he would spend or how much he would lay up therefore unless where the conscience is much refined from greediness it is a pleasure to sacrifice to our net and above all things to catch at that which comes in with so much easiness as Dabo I will give thee Hazael King of Syria must have a present even all the hallowed things that were dedicated to the Lord that he might not come up against Jerusalem Felix the Governour without a feeling would not set Paul at liberty The corruption of the times was such in Israel that men thought the Prophets as greedy as themselves and would not ask them counsel of the Lord without a gift in their hand Benhadad sent a Present of all the good things in Damascus even forty Camels burdens to Elisha to enquire if he should recover of his sickness And Saul more apparently being counselled to go to Samuel to ask which way he should return home made a stand at it saying What shall we give to the man of God There is not a present left This polling Covetousness was very ordinary no doubt in that Land when the People knew nothing but the Prophets were devourers of gifts and would not open the Oracles of God unto them without Satans complement Dabo I will give thee The giver that would corrupt another such as the High Priests that delivered Judas thirty pieces of Silver to betray his Master such a one you see by the instance of my Text doth supply the place of the Devil I am sure God gave no man wealth to this end to buy another out of his honesty the eternal Law says that vertue only should be rewarded and he that keeps the Commandments therefore to give a Pension to man or woman to be vicious is to cross that supreme fundamental Law by which heaven and earth are governed Fie that so good a vertue as Liberality should be so scornfully imitated No vertue is more often commended by God than bounty and giving but above all moral qualities it is most plausible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristotle hit the reason in a word it redounds to the common benefit of others more than any other vertue which begets it favour and affections Now to cast dirt in the face of this vertue Satan sets up a liberality which is of a most different condition and nothing of kin to it when the great Patrons of sin care not what they bestow upon them that serve their turn for flattery for injustice for lust for sensuality When poor Lazarus wants a draught of cold water a shower of Gold shall rain down into the Lap of Danae the wages of an Harlot are far greater for the most part than the recompence of most faithful and honest service The Egyptian Rhodope out of the gifts of her Lovers was able to dispend enough to build a Pyramis an expence so great that few Kings in Egypt could accomplish it If the Daughter of Herodias shew her self lascivious and immodest Herod will cast away half his Kingdom upon her or if that be too little he leaves her to be her own carver she may ask any thing Dabo quodcunque volueris I will give thee whatsoever thou wilt ask O that noble qualities were as sure of Patronage as Instruments of wickedness are sure of means and maintenance As Suetonius said of his Nero Pecuniae fructum non alium putabat quà m profusionem He thought there was no use of riches but waste and profusion So in the Line that Satan draws out there is no use of giving but to procure Idolatry to fall down and worship him Cursed be those hands that open themselves wide to any one man or woman to make them the child of perdition Judah gave his Ring to Thamar to hire her unto Fornication I believe he repented him with many tears of bitterness because old Jacob did so abundantly bless him but let me propound unto him that is prone to do the like will you abuse those blessings those temporary blessings which God hath given you to buy Souls for the Devil Christ hath given a ransom out of his bloud to redeem that soul from Hell and will you give Gold and Silver to buy it into Hell again Was there no poor Member of Christ whose body you might save with that money wherewith you destroy a soul He that giveth to the needy lendeth to the Lord but he that purchaseth any one to be sinful by his bounty he lendeth to the Devil This that I have spoken of was the sin of Balaac to barter and be at a price with Balaam to do an evil act to curse them whom the Lord had blessed and it is the Chapman that makes the Market woe be to the giver that tempts the weakness of man with such a forcible provocation Aureo pugillo ferreus murus frangitur says the Heathen A Hammer of Gold will beat down a Wall of Iron Yet is there nothing to be said to the receiver Shall his hand be clear that hath taken when he is called to answer Nay none more accused by the Spirit of God none more criminous They are companions of thieves every one loveth gifts and followeth after reward Isa i. 23. Neither is robbery their alone enditement but the worst of sins against the Second Table Bloud and Murder Shut not up my life with the bloud-thirsty in whose hands is wickedness and their right hand is full of gifts Psal xxvi 9. He that takes reward to do evil takes a fee to lose his own salvation Nay what toil and drudgery some will undergo to earn the wages of iniquity Minori labore margarita Christi emi poterat says St. Hierom You might accompass that invaluable Pearl in the Gospel whereof the Parable speaks that the Merchant sold all he had to buy it I say that Pearl might have been gained with less danger and industry the whole treasure of the Kingdom of heaven Espencaeus being a Romish Doctor and a most learned may be bold with his own friends who hath revealed more corruption and bribery in the Roman Court than a modest Protestant could almost believe As Pensions taken not only for the punishment of incontinence past but to lay down somewhat before-hand for the time to come What if the Visitors met with such as resolved to be chaste yet the common Levy was exacted of such a one Habeat si velit O shameless word he may use the sin if he will Then the Taxa Camerae as they call it
that Psalm they that are just and faithful in their sayings he that speaks the truth from his heart v. 2. he that hath used no deceit in his tongue v. 3. he that sweareth to his neighbour and disappointeth him not though it were to his own hinderance v. 5. David desired to know by some sign whether he should come into the presence of Saul or fly from him Why Jonathan kept his word with David Jonathan desired that David would be merciful to his Posterity after him David sware unto him and kept his word with Jonathan But be you just in your promises to your brother and God will make good unto you the promise of eternal life the Lord is faithful in all his sayings and holy in all his works The next collection from hence shall be this that the Devil would not offer less than all he had to win a Soul he would not offer a trifle for that which he knew was the most precious thing upon earth And it is a little excuse though far from a good answer when a man is fetcht into a sin for a great bewitching recompence pretio octuplicis stipendii illectus as that famous Renego pleaded for himself that he was enticed back to the Church of Rome with a stipend eight times greater than he had in England but to be enticed from our heavenly Father like a Child with toyes of no estimation it accuseth us that we do not value our own soul at so good a rate as the Devil doth What a narrow mean reward was that for which the lying Prophets did change the service of God Ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread Ezek. xiii 19. What will you give me sayes Judas and I will betray him And you do not find that he did drive the Market with the Priests and Elders but took the first sum that they appointed him Anima lucri cupida etiam pro exiguo perire non metuit sayes Leo. A greedy covetous mind will damn both body and soul for a little money What could Esau have taken less than a mess of pottage especially made of lentiles the meanest pittance of relief that a beggar looks for at every door and what had Esau in this world to exchange for it so precious and valuable as his Birthright the Law shews the dignity thereof that all the first-born were peculiarly consecrated and given unto God Exod. xxii 29. they were next in honor to their Parents they had a double portion of their Fathers goods Until the Law was given the first-born administred the Priesthood in the Family that was a sacred thing and yet more sacred he was a type of Christ for Christ is called the first-born among many brethren Rom. viii 29. Moreover and above it was a type of our adoption and being heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven See what a vile exchange Esau did make for all this heavenly dignity that the Holy Ghost for good cause calls him a prophane person who for one meals meat and for such a course meal sold his birthright Heb. xii 16. If we will prostitute our selves so cheaply to the Prince of darkness and ask less than for shame he can offer to put our selves into the bondage of iniquity mark what will follow the Lord will debase us as we have debased our selves thou sellest thy people for nought and takest no money for them sayes the sweet Singer of Israel or as Moses told the Israelites if they sold themselves to commit iniquity they should be sold for slaves and no man would buy them Deut. xxviii 68. But for all this I must give you to know in my next admonition though Satan offer'd all that is in this world yet he did not offer enough for that which he would gain namely to win a soul every thing under the Sun comes short of that appretiation much more in this case it is to be considered that if our Lord Jesus could have been supplanted which was impossible all mankind had perisht for upon his righteousness and upon his perfect obedience did depend our Crown and our Salvation if therefore one soul is worth the whole world and more what could be valued against all the souls in the world But I will instance upon this for our use there is nothing so valuable that should bribe a man to commit the least sin against our Heavenly Father You will smile at the Indian Savages that part with gold and spices and amber for glass beads and saffron brouches yet whosoever sins for the mammons of iniquity barters for a far more unequal merchandise you change immortality for death eternal joy for continual care a certain treasure for uncertain riches the most happy fruition of the Creator for less than the felicity of a dream aut transeunt nobis viventibus aut dimittuntur nobis dormientibus the living may lose all they have got by injustice but for certain the dead cannot keep it What is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away Luke ix 25. if he lose himself the word following is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vulgar read it detrimentum sui faciat from whence a good Expositor sayes there is no comparison in the purchasing of earthly things non solùm cum damnatione aeternâ sed etiam cum jacturâ gratiae Dei though damnation and hell fire were not incurr'd to suffer the loss of the Holy Spirit and of the Grace of God Wherefore all that Satan could shew and let him shew as many worlds as Alexander could wish all is not worth such a cringe as he would have the Son of God to make to bow down and commit Idolatry We read of one Apostle so abounding in charity to his own Nation that he could be content to lose his part of heaven cupio anathema esse pro fratribus it was St. Paul who was willing to be anathema for his brethren that God might be glorified in all the people of Israel but he would not exchange the least degree of his sanctity and faith in Christ for all the muck in the world Joseph had rather lose that was comfortable to him in this life liberty good name yea the garments from his back then be defil'd with lust I have no instance fit to come after that of Moses Hebr. xi 24. who by faith refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Philo sayes of him that Thermut the only child and daughter of Pharaoh being long married and quite barren wanting issue to succeed fained her self big and at last to be delivered of Moses whom she found in an ark of bulrushes exposed to be drown'd him she brought up for her adopted child to inherit all the Kingdoms of Egypt But because Idolatry reigned in that place he could not
make supplications unto them When I commend my self to the Prayers of any man upon earth I attribute nothing unto him falsly as divine he hath ears to hear me he hath memory faith and chariry to commend his brethren to God But when I do the like to the Saints granting the distinction that they call upon them to intercede not to perform their request but when I do the like to them I make them stand in the place of God to hear all men every where at once perhaps lifting up their voice nay perchance no more than the thought of their heart unto them Solius Dei proprium est ubique omnes audire exandire It is the excellency of God alone to hear and attend to all men in all places at once Therefore he makes an Idol of that Saint in whom he supposeth as much vertue and excellency to hear him how much soever distant as is in God himself I omit burning Incense to their Shrines making Pilgrimages to their Sepulchres Building Churches wherein their memory may be worshipped and invoked And making Vows in their names which is one of the flowers of Gods eternal royalty They that are such earnest Devotees to Creatures and think there is not work enough for a Christian to worship God alone deserve that gross delusion which hath started from some of their own Confessions that many names are enrolled for glorified Saints and great Patrons of the Church whose souls are tormented in Hell Let God be worshipped for the holy Prophets Apostles and Martyrs departed so shall we our selves we trust one day have a place in that Coelestial Quire where the Lord our God is only worshipped and he only served day and night without ceasing AMEN THE TWENTIETH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 10. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve I Am come to this Text again in the zeal of Elias to let no kind of Idolater be unrebuked that doth not worship the Lord and serve him only according to these words which were Law at first and our Saviour by reciting them hath made them Gospel Take the Priests of Baal says that holy man and let not one of them escape 1 King xviii 40. I will trace his steps in this cause and will rather be a man of contention as Jeremy became by taking the Lords part then suffer Rags and Reliques Stocks and Stones to have an attractive virtue more than magnetical to draw religious honour and adoration unto them If men would hold their peace these things which I now proceed to arraign and condemn for having holy worship done unto them have no tongues to defend themselves They are not Angels or Saints departed they have neither life nor motion in them neither the Cedar that grows in Libanus nor the Hisop that grows on the top of the wall but the Trunck of the Cedar and such other things as Art hath made unfit for any further benefit of nature 'T is strange that sharp-witted men will take pains to extol such dull inanimate things as can never thank them And concerning inanimate liveless things how superstitiously such glory as belongeth to God alone hath been imparted unto them I shall spend my labours at this time for concerning rank Heathen Idol Gods imaginaries Deities and concerning the Host of Heaven above and the Spirits of darkness beneath how they are idolized by some I have maintained the judgment of our Church before But our quarrel against the Pontificians to vindicate all religious worship latrical and dulical to the Lord of Heaven alone is like a Suit in Law that holds many Terms as long a quarrel as upon any other common place in all Divinity I am in hand at this time with the same Controversie again to protest against four things namely 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Religious adoration of the Reliques of Saints 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Religious adoration of the Elements in the Lords Supper 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Religious adoration of the Sign of the Cross and that most stiffely and impudently maintained 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Worship of Pictures and Images whether resembling Christ or his Saints Wo is it for the Church of Christ that we must spend an hour in these dissentions but what peace can there be while these Idolatries are maintained under the name of great devotion and anathema denounced against them that cry out for the Lord and for his Christ to them glory and worship and to none but them And now I have sounded the trumpet to this battel I betake me to the particulars propounded First that Religious adoration of Reliques confronts the verity of my Text c. But in the Exordium if any one shall ask how do our Opposites worship or serve Reliques or any of the aforenamed I will satisfie him that for the intentions of their heart in their inward reverence towards these things we could not accuse them but that they profess and teach it is religious and holy honour for if it were no more than precious estimation to some of those things we would not disfavour their practice but consent unto it and for their outward behaviour which expresseth the affections within judg if this be not to worship to kneel unto to kiss those things to prostrate the body to hold up the hands and eyes and uncover the head before them judg also if this be not serving of them censing of perfumes in those places lighting candles to honour them adorning with the richest cost of jewels and gold Circumgestation Procession Supplication Festival days appointed for their service and as much as all these Guilds and Religious Orders appointed to attend them This is square and open dealing that I impute Idolatry and Will-worship unto them upon grounds of practice and confession Nay I have not said all no not by half touching that over respect which is done to the Reliques of Christ and his Saints They exalt them above the Altar St. Ambrose thought it a great honour for himself or any deceased Bishop to lye under the Altar they call that adoration which is given to them meritorious The Priests teach the people that there is a kind of grace communicated to those Reliques they take Pilgrimages to them swear by them carry parts about as Prophylacticks against bodily and ghostly evil and pronounce indulgence for venial sins to them that fall down and worship them Beside the main sin see the uncertainty of all this Of Saints they have mightily multiplied the number and of their Reliques far more than is possible to belong unto them Yet it is impossible to know by faith who are Saints deceased but those whose memorial is recorded in Scripture and for their Reliques it is not denied they are conjectur'd at by mere humane credulity The bones of a Varlet may be carried in procession for the bones of a Martyr decem millia talium rerum Romae fiunt says L.
him whose dominion is in the Sea and his right hand in the Flouds From him therefore Satan could not go from the light of his countenance from the comfort of his face he might go Nemo loco sed iniquitate à Deo elongatur No distance of place is remote from him who is with every thing and about all things and in all things He is as much in that place which every Creature takes up as the Creature it self yet without any impediment to the locality of it but our iniquities separate between God and us and where there is the most sin there is the greatest separation But to come to the plainest and most textual answer Christs Manhood is not receptive of Omnipresency so the Devil left his Humane Nature for a season and was not near it he went away to seek out those with whom he might more probably skirmish to get a victory If I should say the Tempter went not far from thence but hovered somewhere about Judaea the conjecture were not altogether without a foundation reason leads me to think he was very inquisitive about our Saviours ways and watchful to espy what miracles he wrought what he said how he might stir up enemies and unbelievers against him and some worse than Parricide to betray him St. Luke says He left him but for a season after these temptations as if he were ever in harms-way to offend him But above all I perceive by another of the Evangelists that the brood of Hell frequented the Land of Jurie in the days of our Saviour more than all other places in the earth a Legion of them in one man many Regiments of them in others that were possessed There was their Theater to play their wicked part where the Gospel might be most offended rather than in all the world beside Therefore St. Mark says one of the Devils which he cast out besought him that he would not send him out of that Country Mar. v. 10. They should want work in unfrequented places Idolatrous Cities though most populous were their own already their quickest trade lay in Judaea at this time here grew the unwillingness to leave that Country But now it is time to leave that question to what place Satan shifted when he was commanded to leave our Saviour Give ear to the next question Whether ever he returned again It is St. Lukes meaning that we should take notice he returned again and infested our Saviour after this bout for he says his departure was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a season and no more It was but for a short truce indeed till he had cast about to rise up against Christ in another fashion not by tempting him to sin but by exercising his patience under rebukes and misery and finally to work his death by treachery He knew him by this time to be his own Lord against whom he had rebelled in whom it was impossible to imprint any blot or blemish of iniquity But because that Humane Nature which Christ had assumed into his Person was of the Seed of Abraham and therefore obnoxious to death the Devil plotted his destruction from time to time and wrought his purpose at last by putting it into the heart of Judas to betray him being not advised out of the Scripture as he might have been by reason if God had not blinded him that our Saviour by death would overcome death and pull down the mighty one from his seat by triumphing on the Cross An ordinary curse ever since upon malicious persons the ruine of those against whom they are bent falls upon their own head and crusheth them to pieces But this was the service for which Satan returned again to vex his body after a season because his soul was spotless to oppose his prosperity because he could not hurt his vertue Thus Bonaventure comprizeth it Tentavit emollire per blanditias sed modicum tempus tentabit frangere per miserias Now he tried our Saviour with fair offers after a while he will thrust at him with foul calamities Now his own hand is in the work but then his Instruments The use of it shall come home to our selves thus The Lord sometimes takes off our foe from us and gives us breathing time after temptations it is but for a season not to flatter our selves with quietness and security but to repair our ruines to keep out the batteries that will ensue It is but a refreshing after the fit of an Ague the sick day is coming again Like a calm upon the Sea while a sweet gale blows what sensible man will not have all things ready for a tempest Remember the Parable Luke xi And what the unclean Spirit said I will return into my house from whence I came Like the Assyrian Souldiers when they had once found the way into the Land of Judaea they could never be dealt withal to forget it Hezekiah or whosoever might hire them to go home again for one year but the next Summer following they were sure to make a new invasion And do not stand too much upon affiance I have conquered these and these tentations often I dare trust my self now upon the brink of these sins and shall never be thrust in to make such security more doubtful and suspicious Cassianus hath a fit similitude says he A Fox will stretch himself for dead that Poultry may come into his reach and never fear him yet if they do stalk towards him they shall find to their cost he is not past doing mischief So the Tempter will give back as if he were fled for ever but he departs only for a more seasonable opportunity and will return again with seven spirits worse than himself when you are worst prepared The holiest Fathers of the Church had flesh and frailty in them and can speak in this point as well by Experience as by Art and Meditation and this is their common verdict Quo valentius vincitur eò ardentius ad insidias instigatur If he be vanquish'd by him that is strong in faith it sharpens his edge the more to make his part good again by Art and subtilty And so much for this last Point upon the first general part Satan departed from Christ but for a season But now he is gone though like a Wolf regardant looking back upon the Flock from which he was beaten And Christ had such company in exchange that my Text bids us mark and see the succession that followed and behold Angels came and ministred unto him This Particle of wonder Behold is a Dial or Index to three things First To note a moral alteration a lewd one is dismiss'd to receive an holy train in his room here was an accursed Spirit parlying with Christ instead of him here is a volly of Angels Whosoever he be that hath taken delight in the company of wicked men and sorted himself with those that have not the fear of God before their eyes let him cast them
off and abandon their Society and he shall find heavenly comforters in his soul as if Angels ministred unto him Qui expellit à se Satanam allicit ad se Angelos Bid Satan get him hence and the Angels take it for an invitation that they should pitch their Pavilions round about you Lot lived like a stranger in his own City and conversed not with the men of Sodom they called him a stranger he shut himself up and barr'd his doors against those filthy people What could he do more to keep the ungodly from his very sight as David said Thus estranging himself from the conversation of pernicious sinners he made himself sit to give hospitality to Angels A good Lesson for these times wherein ribbald roaring company is rather sought for than declined A strange thing that a Christian who feels some comfort in Christ and desires salvation in his bloud should with so much affection and longing thrust himself among them whose desperate behaviour is easily perceived if repentance help not to tend to utter damnation St. Paul was weary of his own body called it a body of death and groaned to be delivered from it because the Flesh rebelled against the Spirit Did he loath himself that he might love Christ the more And will you invite those into your friendship and fellowship that blaspheme Christ Shake off this dust from your feet all prophane intemperate lascivious persons from your familiarity if either you expect that God should give his Angels charge of you in this life or make you partakers of their fellowship of heavenly glory in the life to come The next thing towards which we turn our eyes at this word behold is the alteration of rest and quietness before there were assaults and troubles and molestations all this is changed in a moment into peace and tranquillity which shall be the certain issue of all those that fight a good fight with patience Semper asperiora laetiorum vicissitudine mitigantur Rough beginnings have joyful events by the temperature and vicissitude of Gods gracious mercy Such as were called prosperous among the heathen most usually the best share of their fortune was in the forepart of their life and their end was lamentable the seven first years in Pharaohs dream did betoken plenty but the seven last years famine and scarcity the head of Nebuchadonosors Image was of Gold and the toes of Clay the rich man had a great time of gathering more than he knew where to bestow it but in one night lost his soul and all This is an unkind and an unnatural method to taste the sweetest at the top of the Cup and after a little sipping to have our teeth set on edge with Aloes Doth it not taste better when the gracious providence turns the lot thus First a Deluge and then a Rainbow First a Captivity and then a joyful return First a Dioclesian and then a Constantine First the impugnation of the Devil and then the Congratulation of Angels Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour untill the evening says the Psalmist There is a time to give the body a cessation from toil and do you think the Lord doth not measure out when he will give the soul and spirit relaxation from misery As a stranger is received at night and bids God b'you in the morning so indignation and the severity of chastisement are stangers unto the Lords clemency he calls vengeance Peregrinum opus his strange work Isa xxviii Therefore it shall be dismissed from him like a stranger after it hath staid a while Heaviness may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning Psal xxx 6. Tentations have their bout and the storms of hell their period but the good Angels know their qu when to enter and to turn the scene Behold the Angels came and ministred unto him And once more this note of admiration Behold bids us regard to what alteration of dignity the truly humble are called Recusavit dominatum in homines habet imperium in Angelos Our Saviour turn'd away from that ambitious suggestion All this power will I give thee and the glory of them He desired not to have a Kingdom in this world or to have the pre-eminence of men and loe the pre-eminence over Angels is given unto him And it is more dignity to have two Angels minister unto him than to have ten thousand Kingdoms Every part of Christs humility was inlaid with honour to recompence it To be laid in a Manger was not so vile as it was most magnificent to be adored of the Wisemen of the East to be visited by Shepherds was not so contemptible as it was most glorious to be proclaimed of Angels To ride upon an Ass was not of such debasement but the cry of the children made amends Hosanna blessed is the King that cometh in the name of the Lord. It savoured not so much of infirmity to be tempted of the Devil but it is supplied as much with Majesty to be attended by the Cherubins No part of his humility went without a reward from the first to the last nay the last part had amends made for all He humbled himself unto the death even unto the death of the Cross propter quod wherefore God hath highly exalted him c. Humility was his direct way to glory but we think we are out of the way to promotion unless we shift and shuffle for the highest place and the chiefest room in the Synagogues The first shall be last and the last shall be first This is a riddle to them that love to set their feet upon a rising ground Yet David hath laid a curse upon preposterous ambition that it shall decline That which should have been for their wealth says he let it be unto them an occasion of falling The holy Father Basil lost no honour in this life by shunning the dignity which was intended him and flying away into obscurity when he was called to be a Bishop The Apostle Bartholomew is reported in some histories to have been of the bloud royal of the Kings of Egypt Was it any diminution to him to have left all to be a poor Disciple Is there any Christian King that doth not wish he had rather born his Office of Apostleship than have swayed a Scepter When Princes die their honour shall not follow after them but those twelve humble ones of our Saviours train shall sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel If spiritual thoughts will lift a man up to heaven an humble man is mounted above the earth all the while he seeks those things which are above Themislius an holy man put this Lesson in so pure a verse as it is beyond translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his heart sunk down when ambition puft him up but he felt his feet upon the Angels Ladder going up when humility cast him down Our Saviour despised all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory
to say what quarrels and exclamations there would have been if Luther or Calvin had said as much But Leo had tenter'd St. Peters praise to the height because he claimed himself to have a Prerogative by his succession Yet it is well to take off all claim of supremacy by this instance that John and James were in the company Non infra Charites said the Latin Proverb a good meeting was spoil'd if there were less than the number of three the number of the Graces but Christ did not choose so many because it was the fittest number but we must believe it was the fittest number because He chose so many neither was his force united by their company to do any thing the better as it useth to be among men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but being destinated to be witnesses of this same Miracle the Law had said it was a complete testimony to confirm any thing by the mouth of three and Christ was punctual that the Jews might not cavil as if He were defective in any circumstance of the Law St. Ambrose is very elegant in a mystical acuteness he says thus the glory of the Resurrection is that we hope for the way to that glory is to believe in the holy Trinity and to ground them in the belief of that Trinity Christ did not exceed that mystical number but assumed three Disciples to be present with him in Mount Tabor when Christ in visible splendour the Father in the voice the Holy Ghost in the bright cloud did manifest themselves upon the Mountain And when our Lord had chosen twelve Disciples out of all the people in Judaea it seems these three were the choice of that choice and the flower of that company selected for great matters If it be an honourable thing as St. Chrysostom rightly holds it to be in the List of those friends whom Paul saluted Rom. xvi then it cannot but be more renowned to be those egregii assumpti e grege those egregious servants whom Christ employed above all the rest all the Apostles Judas excepted were Davids Worthies but they attained not unto the first three Somewhat was in it that whereas it was usual for our Saviour to be followed with three attendants at least wheresoever He went to work a Miracle that we never find him vary but constantly to accept these same three and no other as when He raised up the Maiden to life Mark v. 37. and when He prayed and fell into his agony in the Garden before his Passion Matth. xxvi 37. and at this Miracle in my Text when He made his glory to appear That excellency paramount which some have observed in these three above their fellows is this In signis primus corruscavit Petrus sanguinem primus fudit Jacobus doctrinâ illustris fuit Johannes Peter is more noted in the book of the Acts than any of the Twelve for working Miracles James was the first among the Twelve that suffered Martyrdom and John was the Eagle that fored highest of them all in his Doctrin and Divinity What aptness there was in these three more than others I know not I leave it to God to give the grace of dispensation to one more than another who alone knoweth the heart and sees what is fittest for his own glory We see no outward sign to discover that they were better prepared to see this Vision than the rest of their fellows they slept when they should have watcht and they spake most ignorantly when they awoke as if they bad been still asleep therefore modesty will give no conjecture why they were prefer'd before their Brethren but the bare will of Christ who will exalt those more conspicuously than others whom He is pleased to honour As God said that He gave the Law to the Israelites not that they were better than their Neighbours but because the Lord had a pleasure in them and in their forefathers It is not obscurely taught in the verb assumpsit He assumed and took to him Peter and John and James what indisposition they had of themselves to receive such heavenly things and in all supernatural works we rather draw back than help on we had need to pray for Gods assumpsit to take us up unto it this corruptible body and corrupt affections press down the soul Nemo venit ad me nisi Pater traherit eum saith Christ no man cometh unto me unless the Father draw him There is a preparatory grace wherewith God invites us to salvation but his mercy staies not there for there is a special grace over and above that wherewith He draws us Draw me and I will run after thee says the Spouse Hale us un to thee O Lord and pluck us on with the cords of love our heart is heavy unto death and cannot follow unless the Father draw us unto him Coge nos intrare cum Coecis claudis We are those blind and lame in the Gospel I beseech thee O Father compel us to come unto thy Feast These three famous Apostles were not forward of themselves to ascend up to the holy Mountain but assumpsit their Lord and Saviour took them with him It were impertinent to observe some mens needless labour in their questions why Andrew was none of this Coram none of the three prime being the first of them all that followed Christ Joh. i. 40. and the instrument that brought Simon Peter his brother to see the Messias Why should it trouble us that he was omitted For we never read in the Gospel that it troubled him his eye was not evil because his Masters was good since the Holy Ghost fell down upon them all at the Feast of Whitsuntide it bred neither repining nor emulation that these three were partakers of some private mysteries St. Chrysostom commends the ingenuity of St. Matthew above all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He did not conceal the honor and priviledge of those Apostles that were prefer'd before him A brave Athenian offering himself in competition with divers to be one of their grand Council of 50 then newly to be chosen to govern that State and being left out of the number used this saying He was glad there were fifty more sufficient than himself to govern the Common-wealth So Matthew repin'd not that himself was not in the company but was glad that Christ had three more eximious than himself to be witnesses of the Transfiguration Yet there is a good crop to be reapt out of this question and no offence shall be committed through curiositie why the whole Company of the Apostles went not up into the Mountain with our Saviour they had all seen him work many miracles they had all seen him walk on the sea to let them know when he pleased his body was not gross and heavy they did all see him pass through the middest of the Jews untoucht when they sought to stone him to let them know his body had greater agility than ours when He pleased and could
quâ tanta sit fides ut speret omnia tanta devotio ut Deum videatur cogere let it be strong in faith to hope all things strong in patience to persist at all times and I know not what it is not able to effect to cast mountains into the sea says Christ to be transfigured says my Text into the glory of God to bring Peter out of Prison when Herod had locked him up within a brazen Gate yet then at the dead hour of the night did the Angel bring him forth and at the same time of midnight Peter found the Church at prayer for his deliverance Acts xii 5. Well I pray you remember that when our Saviour went up into the Mountain as well to be transfigured as to pray yet the Text names this only that he went up into the mountain to pray that name stands in chief and drowns the mention of the other business as if Prayer were a greater work than that resplendent Transfiguration And what needed he to pray but to bring us upon our knees humbly and frequently before his Father and our Father As Solomons Temple had three especial Ornaments the Golden Candlestick the Table of Shewbread and the Altar of Incense so three things of principal use do correspond to these in the Church of Christ the Word Preached which doth enlighten our darkness is the Golden Candlestick which is dearer says David than much fine gold Instead of the Table of Shew-bread we have the Communion of Christs Body and Blood the Table of the Lord. And instead of the Altar of Incense we have that which is much sweeter in Gods nostrils the Incense of Prayer Now abide these three to direct us in a good way says Bernard Verbum Exemplum Oratio the Word Preached the Edifying Examples of Holy men and Zealous Prayer but the greatest of these is Prayer Ea namque operi voci gratiam efficaciam promeretur for whether they be the actions of a pious life or the words of an eloquent tongue it is Prayer which accompasseth from Gods mercy that all should be effectual I have amplified this the more because some Ignaroes out of a preposterous zeal shuffle off this Christian duty with a most wicked and a regardless negligence if any man be transfigured from such a corrupt opinion by that which I have deliver'd it is that which I aimed at and which I desire of God yea it is that which our Saviour intended when he would be occupied in Prayer at that time and in nothing else when he was transfigured in glory Now in the fourth and last general Observation upon the Text as our Lord prepared himself with much humility in Prayer so in the consequent he was exalted in much honor the fashion of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glistering Beloved we are all like the Children of Israel standing below the Hill and dare not go up to pry in to the mystery of the inscrutable glory Let it suffice us to enquire into three things that follow which we may safely do since all Scripture is written for our instruction They are these 1. The Final Cause why Christ was transfigured 2. The Efficient Cause from whence this splendour was derived And 3. The Effect it self alteration in his countenance whiteness and glistering in his raiment In these three I will be brief without offensive curiosity to make us not only search but find out the cause why He would be transfigured I have regard to this rule of Damascens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every thing that Christ did in his conversation upon earth it is to be referr'd to the good of man First then I render this reason that the Redeemer of Souls lived in great humility upon earth nay like an abject worm to attract the love of the Church now he chang'd himself into this admired excellency to encrease their faith St. Peter pronounced a Confession of faith for all the Apostles Matth. xvi which their Master did exceedingly commend Thou art Christ the Son of the living God Yet they who did see the Majesty of God to be in him and did adore it were as yet ignorant of what glorification his body was capable which was the Veil of the Godhead He had suspended all outward appearance of Divine lustre that it should not shew it self in him To this meaning you cannot well choose but refer that of the Prophet Isaias chap liii 2. He hath no form nor comliness and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him that is he was pleased for a season not to look like one whose body had an illustrious influence from the soul and from the union with the Godhead he did suppress it till he was pleased to make it known Psal xciii The Lord is King he hath put on glorious apparel and in another place Thou art cloathed with Majesty and honour Indeed to have a brightness in his body as great or greater than the light of the Sun was as natural to that humane nature which is united to the Godhead as it is for the Sun to shine in the Firmament The Disciples marvailed that his face should glister this one time so that no Fuller on earth could make a thing so white whereas the greater marvel is that it was not so at all times Majus miraculum fuit hujus gloriae influxum reprimere quà m eam perpetuò retinere It was a greater miracle to restrain the apparition of this glory at any time than to have it alwayes dwel upon his face for blessed souls which enjoy God always have a virtue of claritude in them which redounds of it own accord into the body Therefore well might the Psalmist say of Christ whose soul was always blessed Thou art fairer than the children of men And though at other times his brightness was discoloured by humility yet now he removed the cloud and let his Witnesses see the fair beams of his Divine honor for a little time which is the first motive of his Transfiguration Secondly by this Apparition the three Disciples saw in what form he would come to judgment It is no dreadful thing to a good man either to see or to meditate with himself in what manner Christ will come in the Clouds at the last day to call the Quick and the Dead before him The Wicked that know they have crucified him again and trampled the blood of the Covenant under their feet will run into the dust for fear of his glorious presence and call for the Hills to cover them and the Mountains to fall upon them as for the Righteous that then shall be found upon earth in whose hearts he hath sealed the promise of his Holy Spirit they shall tremble with an awful reverence but when they have gain'd their memory to recall that he cometh with his reward in his hand they will praise that pomp of Judgment and say now our labour
is at an end we shall reign for evermore And because Christ did appear in Mount Tabor no otherwise than as he means to come to Judgment therefore he did qualify the light of his face to be no greater than the light of the Sun his body which is strange to consider shall have more resplendency than that mighty Lamp of Heaven but it is not for the Wicked to behold them they shall see him shine upon his Throne but with as little comfort as sore eyes gaze upon the Sun or with as little joy as we see flashes of lightning in a terrible thunder non dat lucem videntibus sed pavorem which is not sent to illuminate us in darkness but to agast us with the apparition Of this more at large hereafter But this is the second motive of this Miracle he transformed himself into that Majesty wherein He will judge the World Thirdly He did represent himself as the Argument and Idaea of that beautiful Reward which the bodies of the Just shall have in the General Resurrection The Pharisees required a Sign and Christ told them they should have no sign but the sign of the Prophet Jonas that a body being swallowed up in death should come to life again but these few Disciples over and above the Sign of the Prophet Jonas had the Sign of Transfiguration which is the dainty and delicate part of the Resurrection Say no more but that God will be the Redeemer of his Elect yet it would amuse a man to think what should become of this vile body every member whereof hath been a thousand times an instrument of iniquity well even this very naughty flesh shall have a beam of Divine mercy shine upon it it is impossible to make it ought in this life but a sink of corruption no Fuller upon earth can make it so white as God can In these days the Soul is full of bad concupiscence and the Body is made miserable Hereafter the Soul will be full of grace and the Body shall be made delectable And mark it that the Disciples had their item not to talk of these things till Christ were risen from the dead because the Transfiguration was intended to make up the complement of our joy touching the resurrection of the Body And to sink it deeper in our hearts that this brightsom alteration did not concern the Spirit but the Body his raiment was white and glistering which is no more than the shrowd of the Body In a word God did never reveal that He could take away the essential properties of a true Body and yet keep it a true Body they that believe so much believe beside the Book but in this Miracle appeared that God can add a celestial and beauteous form unto a Body so that the Sun in all his brightness shall not come near it This is the seed of that faith which St. Paul preacheth It is sown in dishonour it is raised in honour Praise the Lord therefore in Body and Soul since both shall be invested with a Royal Dignity to make them both fit for the society of Angels But herein we exceed the happiness of Angels they are glorious Spirits we shall be glorified both in body and spirit So the Prophet Isa lxi 7. They shall possess the double in their land everlasting joy shall be with them Duplicia possidebunt their Soul filled with the vision of God their Body transfigured in glory Fourthly this wants not a granes weight of a principal cause the Son of God in the dayes of his exinanition lookt like a person for this once of divine authority ut crucis scandalum tolleret that their minds might not be cast down with despair to see the misery of his Cross who had seen his glory upon Mount Tabor Now he lookt more Angelical than a Cherubin then he lookt more ruthful than the poorest Lazarus now the greatest in heaven did speak graciously unto him then the scum of the earth reviled him he than was glorified at one time could not be compelled to shame and ignominy but from his own patience and yielding would be crucified at another Sicut luctatores corpus inclinant sayes a Father Christ wrestled with Satan and though that old supplanter the Serpent did bruise his heel yet he could not get the Mastery Christ stooped low like a Lion couching for his prey and when he might seem to be cast down this was his feat to overturn his adversary Fifthly The fifth and last Reason hath a Moral Use There is an old man with his corruptions to be metamorphosed in us all sicut Pelias recoctus as the Fable goes that Medaea bathed the body of Pelias with certain magical drugs and from a decrepit old man transmuted him into a vigorous youth This is a figment for no man spent his young years so well to deserve at Gods hands in this world to be young again but there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a renovation in the spirit of our mind God will not know us in our own form and filthiness unless we put on the Image of Christ As Jacob obtained his Fathers blessing not in his own shape but in the Garments of Esau so we must sue our blessing having put on the righteousness of Christ then the Lord will receive his servant and say unto thee as Jacob did unto Esau I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God You have heard the final cause more wayes than one why this Miracle was wrought I may speak somewhat of the efficient cause how this splendor was derived and further than so I must not proceed now because of the time Many obscure points will come to light by asking this question Whether this lightsom beauty like the Sun did appear in our Saviour's face from the beatification of his humane Soul or from the union of his Divine nature First you must understand that the great School-man Aquinas took the best end of the cause into his hand when he answered to neither of those two members but rather to the purpose of the question in this wise fuit haec qualitas gloriae sed non corporis gloriosi quia nondum erat immortalis this Transfiguration was a quality of glory but not of a glorified body because He was not yet passed death and raised up to be immortal and impassible In this distinction is covertly included that it was not such a brightness as the Soul shall communicate to the Body when it is reunited in a joyful resurrection but was created at this time by the Divine power to foretel and shadow what would come to pass with much increase in the Kingdom of God Praelibatio regui Dei fuit haec transfiguration says Cajetan this was but the Landskip or Pattern of the true happiness which shall be in the Kingdom of Heaven It was a far more excellent splendour than that of Moses or Stephen upon earth but not so perfect or proper
as is derived from a Soul that is perfectly beatified Moses his face did shine like a God when he came down from the Mount yet it was ab externo colloquio because he had been a Companion with God Christs face did shine ab innatâ gratiâ potentiâ not because he was the Companion of God but because he was very God and was the fountain of all grace and beauty to communicate it to others Neither was St. Stephens irradiation any more than a preparative of the Resurrection and a declaration of his innocency to make the Council afraid of wrong judgment all that lookt upon him saw his face as it had been the face of an Angel But that which hapned to our Saviour was not from an external gift as Stephen saw Christ standing at the right hand of God but from an internal influence and emanation of the Deity Moses and Stephen were but Passengers and not to be compared in any sort of excellency with their Lord who was God and Man Yet by the dispensation of the Divine Power it was not such a total illumination in Christ as results from the Soul unto the Flesh when both shall come to appear before the living God The reasons are very full and home for the proof 1. The Soul in the state of eternal happiness shall derive amiable splendour to all the outward parts of the Body but no further In this present case the very garments were changed into such an outward gloss as the like was never seen Therefore this must be some brightness created for this instant by the Deity 2. Splendour is but one of the Ornaments of a glorified Body when the Soul doth transfuse the benefits of beatification into it it shall be a Spiritual Body it shall be nimble to pass from place to place like an Angel or like a thought likewise it shall not be obnoxious to death or dolour where were these Because therefore this was but a partial not a total glorification it flowed not from the Soul 3. It was not so large not so complete a claritude and beauty as will adorn the Lamb of God hereafter but a pittance and measure attemper'd for their weak reception that should see it His face did shine like the Sun What but like the Sun so much is promised to the faithful that they shall shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of his Father And think you that the Lord is not greater than the Servant and shall much excel that proportion of glory which we expect Therefore Lyra sayes this was an Ornament of the same true glory which we shall have hereafter quantum ad essentiam sed non quantum ad modum it had the very essence and truth of such illuminated brightness as the righteous shall have in Paradise but it had not such an ample measure and proportion 4. To make it sure and uncontradicted that this was not like to that glory which shall be derived from the Soul in eternal joy that is dos connaturalis this is passio transitoria Then it shall be a natural endowment never to be separated away Now it was but a transient passion soon on and as soon off again even as soon as ever the voice from Heaven had spoken Permanency unchangeableness never altering Eternity are so proper to future blessedness that without them it is not to be imagined St. Paul was elevated by the Divine grace to see and hear things unutterable in this rapture that is as I believe he saw the very Divine Essence in a short prospect and away yet Paul by this exceeding favour was none of the Beati till after his dissolution none of the Classis in St. Matthew Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God quia beatitudo denotat permanentiam Beatitude is not the participation of the best thing in the World for a little time but for ever and ever THE SECOND SERMON UPON The Transfiguration LUKE ix 29 30 31. The fashion of his Countenance was altered and his Raiment was white and glistering And behold there talked with him two wen which were Moses and Elias IN a well laid description an Artist represents things that are absent so verily so lively as if they were before us As Scaliger says of Virgil he did not read it in his verses but did even see the Mountain Aetna belching out fire and impestred with smoke and vapour But no Art so powerful in mans Writings to call back things that are done and past and to cloath them with such significant words as if they were before us like to the Pen of the Holy Ghost Do but observe for our present instance how St. Matthew began to delineate the beauty of Christ transfigured how St. Mark added fresh colours to make it appear more excellent and then how St. Lukes Pencil cometh after all and finisheth the Picture and you will say upon attentive heed these are not words which we read but even Christ himself in his Majestique glory St. Mathew begins thus His face did shine as the Sun and his raiment was white as the light Doth not this call the Idaea of your Lord into your mind as if your eye beheld him He said much for the face St. Mark speaks loftier for the Garment His raiment became shining exceeding white as snow so that no Fuller on earth can white them Then St. Luke neither compares him to the Sun above nor to the Snow beneath but says enough to make us conceive that positively it was a greater splendor than could be likened to any created thing The fashion of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glistering A vegetous faith is able to say unto a Mountain be removed into the Sea and it shall be removed much more is it able to carry the soul into the highest heaven into the presence of God by such a stedfast apprehension as it cannot judge it self whether it be in the body or out of the body Thus let every mans faith say at this time unto his Soul be thou removed into Mount Tabor thrust in with Peter and James and John perswade thine heart thou seest as much by relation as ever they saw by apparition there is thy Saviour having laid down the austere front of a Judge and looking like a specious Bridegroom The fashion of his countenance was altered c. Now that you may hear things laid down in order for a stay to your memory you will grant unto me that there are two things which make a spectacle to be wishly look'd upon Res mirae personae miâ—ae strange and uncouth things strange and unexpected persons Come therefore and see most rare things in the first part of my Text Christ even now an object in which you could discern nothing but poverty and humility Momento turbinis and as quick as a flash of lightning He hath put on such a countenance and such apparel as the clearest day light and the driven
snow did not equal him His countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glistering Then for strange persons such as long since were departed and gone out of the world because the world was not worthy of them they return in visible shapes to play a new part upon the stage of the earth Behold there talked with him two men which were Moses and Elias I enter upon the handling of these Points without more circumlocution I have acquainted you before with two things of main consequence in this Miracle of the Transfiguration first the final cause why Christ was transfigured Secondly the efficiency from whence this exceeding brightness was derived Now I come to set it forth unto you first in his face then in his raiment Distill out the very best that all the Heathen have wrote and it is not able to teach us so much as is contained in this portion of Scripture touching the immortality of the soul and the beatitude of the life to come Here are the two last Articles of the Creed exemplified and set out in their real truth the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting The immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the flesh are confirmed in the persons of Moses and Elias who are brought forth to appear before mortal men face to face And our Saviour makes himself a spectacle of the happiness of the world to come for the fashion of his countenance was altered or thus in another Evangelists description his face did shine as the Sun I may say unto him as Daniel did to Nebuchadonosor upon the interpretation of his dream Tu es caput aureum Thou O King art the head of Gold Dan. ii 38. But we are sure if that head be gold the inferiour members under him shall not be iron and clay Of his glory we shall all receive and with the light of his face all the body shall be beautified This is a Beacon shining upon the top of an hill which shines from the East unto the West from one end of the earth unto the other But it is a pacificous Beacon which portends peace and not war where you read that the Lord looks like burning fire there he threatens us to beware of his indignation so John makes a character of Christ Rev. i. 14. His eyes were as a flame of fire in a great commotion of passion the eye will look like a forge of wrath as Tully displaies Verres ardebant oculi toto ex ore crudelitas emicabat His eyes did burn with anger cruelty did every where sparkle out of his face The Philosopher says that the Phancy is seated in the middle Region of the brain above the eyes which upon great and sudden wrath calls up the spirits hastily unto it self and with that swift motion they are heated and seem to flame in the eyes Flammea torquens lamina says the Poet of his Turnus Therefore this phrase of speech is borrowed from the manner of men that the eyes of Christ were as a flame of fire And it bids us kiss the Sun lest he be angry if his wrath be kindled yea but a little blessed are all they that put their trust in him But at this apparition which I entreat of he did recreate his servants with his looks Here is no mention of fâ—â—e in his eyes but of light in his face and that is always taken in good part for an auspicious Omen They looked upon him and were lightned and their faces were not ashamed Psal xxxiv 5. They that stand before him and have a reflection from the light of his countenance shall not knit their brow and look down for fear unto the earth as Cain did Yet more than so this Sunshine Majesty wherewith he was beautified doth not only dissipate shame but serve us with the hope of Salvation Make thy face to shine upon thy servant O save me for thy mercies sake Psal xxxi 16. It is a good thing to be safe under his mercy the chearful aspect of his face doth promise that at the least And doth not this glistering transmutation assure us likewise that his grace shall shine in our hearts to produce the fruits of life The life is the light of men says St. John and by inversion it is true to say that this light is the life of the soul Therefore this was not the irradiation of the Sun or any other star which though it be a comely creature yet it is but an inanimate thing but to shew it was Lux viva and Lux ad vitam living light and light that begetteth eternal life therefore it sparkled from the living flesh of the eternal Sun of God And it may be observed how usefully St. Matthew says his face did shine like the Sun not as if he did then illuminate half the world at once with his face for then the rest of the Disciples who went not up to the Mountain must have known somewhat of this alteration it being most probable that the Transfiguration fell out in the night but because the Sun doth enough on his part to shine unto all men and if any want the benefit it is not for defect of the light which is spread sufficiently abroad So Christ by himself and his Priests hath annunciated the truth openly that it is our own fault and not his if it be not tendered to all people and known throughout the world 2. The Sun before he ariseth sends out beams and gives some light to the Horizon but makes the day more clear when he is risen upon the earth So Christ did give the Patriarchs a glimpse of faith before he was incarnate and lived upon the earth but he did embrighten the Church much more with faith when the world had heard and seen with their eyes and looked upon and their hands had handled the word of life And do you mark who were present witnesses at the fulgor of this transfiguration Both Moses and Elias who had lived on earth in the Age before and three Apostles who did live in that present Age because he was that light which gave the lustre of faith both to the former and to the latter Ages of the world take heed your heart be not thick clay and gross earth which will not admit and give transparency to this spiritual light He that believeth not abideth in darkness It is perilous to be in darkness and most horrible to abide in it and without faith you shall abide in the darkness of Hell for ever Though this which I have said already be much yet this prospective of admirable light leads us further for in this Transformation the Master did shew what Liveries of glory the Servants should wear when they should dwell with him in his Kingdom for ever As Zalumna said to Gideon of Gideons brethren so doth this enlightened countenance of Christ say unto his Saints As thou art so shall they be each one according to the form of the Children
fullonicant ingeniis suis says Origen Hereticks set a bright gloss upon their false opinions they in his construction are those Fullers upon earth that would make their doctrine if it were possible as white as truth but if you pattern it with the Scripture you shall see it colours not with that spiritual light which comes from Christ That Doctrine which hath the simplicity of the Spirit without the knotty entanglements of mans wit that which says let God have the glory but to us belongs shame and confusion of face That which impresseth humility into the thoughts zeal and devotion into the heart all manner of vertue into the practice This is that true light which comes from heaven no Fuller upon earth none that sit in the pestilent Chair of deceitful tongues can make a thing so white and every one that is of the truth loveth the light and hateth darkness And so far upon this admirable vision His countenance was altered and his rayment white and glistering These were res mirae strange and uncouth things the next general part of the Text doth handle personas miras strange persons whom a man would not expect in that place and at that time Behold there talked with him two men which were Moses and Elias If any of the people had been by that took him to be Elias or Jeremias or one of the old Prophets they should have seen a difference in this Vision between the head and the feet between the Lord and his Servants For surely some of the old Prophets two for all and those whom the Jews did most admire came upon this Theater to be seen that Christs glory might appear the more Let the eyes of Peter look upon them together and see if Christs glory be not far exalted above all the Saints Quantùm lenta solent inter viburna cupressi Among the Gods there is none like unto thee O Lord Psal lxxxvi 8. Non in Angelis coelestibus seu in altissimis says the Chaldee Paraphrase not among the Angels nor among any of the blessed souls that live in the highest places Was this such a business to be taught will some men say to bring the dead out of their graves Can any mistake that the honour of Christ is far exalted above all his Servants For to which of the Angels did the Father say at any time Sit thou on my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footstool Beloved are there none that keep the festival days of the Saints with more devotion and observance then the first day of the week for ever to be sanctified because Christ rose from the dead on that day Do they not make more Pilgrimages and Vows to some Patrons of their own invention who have been but men Are not there more Temples erected in their name More costly Ornaments bestowed upon their Images More Prayers poured out unto them than to Christ himself And had I not need to remember you that two men who were now glorified talked with Christ upon Mount Tabor that they might appear like little stars obscured before the greatest Planet Moses did but verifie in person what he had taught in a Song before Who is like unto thee O Lord among the Gods Who is like unto thee Exod. xv 11. I adjudge it for another reason that two men beatified came to talk with him because he would not seem to ingross the light of glory to himself without derivation to others It is not a treasure to be reserved unto himself but a communicable donative The glory which thou gavest me I have given them Joh. xvii 22. As a seed-corn is fruitless unless it die and bring forth stalks of Wheat so Christ compares himself to such a grain of Wheat which must die to bring forth much fruit or else it abideth alone as if all were marred unless we were accommodated by his fruitfulness The Kings honour is in the multitude of his people the joy of the Father is in the Olive branches round about his Table The glory of the woman is for the children to grow up and call the mother blessed The felicity of these consists herein to have some that are partners of their felicity But God is all-sufficient to contemplate his own glory though he had never made the world he did not make man to praise him as if he wanted voices to magnifie his name and make him God Yet he is pleased to express his love so far that his honour should be alone unless the goodly fellowship of Saints and Prophets were round about him Except a seed-corn fall into the ground and die it abideth alone Joh. xii 24. Lord why dost thou esteem thy self alone and heaven to be solitary without us But O man how canst thou be without him in thy heart on earth that would not be alone without thee in heaven Behold when he brought down heaven upon earth in his own body two of the Elect brought down their glory to the Mountain to assist him His own Disciples were yet but earth and corruption and therefore incapable of such illuminated brightness till the time should come to be translated out of the prison of mortality And Angels were not fit to be his Compeers at this bout because he manifested the glorification of the flesh which pertains not to Angels but to Men. None of the living would serve the turn to appear with him in Majesty they were not supernaturalized to undergo it nor any of the Angelical Order they were not of the right Predicament two men came down unto him who had been exalted into Heaven and now I will shew with what great congruity these two men who were Moses and Elias But to omit nothing which is fit to be observ'd I will make three general heads of this matter 1. Whether all Elias and all Moses did appear both body and soul 2. From whence they came to be Parties at the celebration of this great Miracle And 3. If I can reach so far Why they became the representative persons for the whole Body of the Saints in Heaven To the first that these two Witnesses presented themselves in bodily shapes there is no wit so scrupulous I think that can make a question of it for S. Matthew says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these men were seen of Peter James and John Then they were heard talking and by their talk discover'd to be those grand Prophets as I will shew hereafter They talked as men to men vocally not in an intellectual fashion as spirits do And the Apostles in their extasie mentioned the making of Tabernacles to shrowd them in but a Tabernacle is a Coverture for a Body and not for a Spirit The controversie doth not consist in this therefore I pass it over That which hath caused diversities of judgments to arise is herein what manner of Bodies these were wherewith Moses and Elias were cloathed to attend the Transfiguration of Christ I will make bold to remove
away one opinion of St. Austins as quite out of the cancels of truth and then proceed He doth not deny but the dead through Gods concession may upon such occasions as the Lord directs them to appear unto the living he cites Samuel brought up by the Witch of Endor to speak with Saul What if that were not Samuel but an evil Spirit or an Imposter he cites Ecclesiasticus He objects what if that Book be refused because it is not in the Canon of the Hebrews Then he cites our present instance of Moses and Elias yet he falls off again and thinks the Saints themselves appear'd not but seem'd to appear by the Ministry of Angels Many times in the Old Testament when the Angel is sent from God as a Legate He speaks in the person of his King I am the Lord thy God therefore he presumes that Angels in this place might be called by the names of Moses and Elias for whom they appeared The same most excellent Author is more orthodox in other places upon this point This cannot well consist Christs glory was true and not ficticious it betokened a true estate of blessedness to us miserable men hereafter therefore it cannot piece well together that all this should be confirmed by ficticious and imaginary Witnesses Now I venture forward and first I will speak of Elias how he came in his own body then of Moses I have a reason for it and St. Mark 's words ly so there appeared unto them Elias with Moses In what body should Elias be an assistant to Christs glory now but in the same body wherein He was taken up in a whirlwind to Heaven Henoch and Elias were ever parallelled to be of the same condition in Gods favour that their Body was never dissolved from the Soul but in their whole substance assumed up on high Some Jewish Rabbins have presum'd to teach more than Scripture that the Bodies of Henoch and Elias were dissolved into Elements in their rapture and nothing but their Soul was received into Abrahams bosom I smell the leaven of the Sadduces in those Rabbies for certainly the origen of it came from such as they who resisted the truth that a Body could not be exalted to heavenly places Is not St. Paul enough to silence all tongues of that language Heb. xi 5. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death If Enoch did not see death in his translation and that 's the fair letter of the Scripture no more did Elias Says Epiphanius Henoch and Helias their Bodies and Souls were never parted but remain undivided for ever Henoch lived a married life Elias was a Virgin to shew that continency in Marriage and Virginity shall both be glorified in the great day of the Resurrection Thus Epiphanius and I could name a multitude of concurrents who are advowers of the same sentence They that list to be contentious gainsay this Doctrin touching Elias his Body that it never was corrupted from the common theme of mans mortality Death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Rom. v. 12. Death passed upon all men what 's that but a just Sentence and Decree and none can say Why am I born to dy But there is mercy and power in the Most High to spare and to execute his Decree upon whom he pleaseth Heb. ix 27. Statutum est that presseth home says the Antagonist it is appointed unto men once to dye that 's the Text indeed but not statutum est omnibus it is appointed unto all men once to die as some do read it The ordinary end of men is death but God hath his exemptions and priviledges to limit that Statute I tell you a mystery says St. Paul We shall not all die but we shall all be changed there 's one limitation They that are found upon the earth at the second coming of Christ shall not die but shall be snatcht up with Christ in glory non separatione formae sed immutatione qualitatum their Soul shall not be taken of the Body but corruptible qualities shall be taken from the Body So it was in Elias his Rapture the Body was not destroyed but only that corruption which was in his Body Again it is appointed unto men once to die semel once and no more Yet the Shunamites Son Jairus Daughter Lazarus and many others brought back from their Graves died twice there 's another limitation of the Statute Nothing concludes from thence but that Elias his Body was never dissolved in that Body wherein he talked with God at Mount Horeb in the same Body he heard God talk to his Son at Mount Tabor about the time of the Transfiguration But as for Moses after what manner he came to Christ in the shape of a Body I cannot speak with any certainty To hold that the elements were compacted into the figure of a Body that he might use it for that occasion and then disperse it into air when the mysterie was finished hath an ill relish in it because imaginary shapes like Pageants to be set up for a while and strait taken down again were not fit demonstrations of the truth of the Resurrection Damascen observes wittily that it is likely how the Promise which God did long before make to Moses was now fulfilled Exod. xxxiii 23. That thou shalt see my back parts but my face shall not be seen meaning says he that the eye of man could not see his Divinity but he should have the honour to see Christ incarnate That is not unfitly called posteriora or exteriora Dei the out parts or the Veil of the Godhead Now was that desire of Moses fulfilled and the Son of Man in excellent beauty stood before him but had he not seen him with his own eyes all had not been according to his first desire and affection And me-seems that this conjecture is not weak if Elias had appeared in his own flesh Moses but in a phantastical shape this had derogated from the dignity of Moses who was the Prophet than whom none was greater from the Law to John the Baptist The Jews oppress us again with their figments in a second opinion saying that Moses was so beloved of God that he never saw death but continued in his Body for ever as Elias doth Josephus tells us his mind herein so plainly that I perceive the most did follow him that when Joshuah and Eleazar had parted with Moses upon Mount Nebo he was taken away from them in a Cloud and advanced to Heaven but to make the people quiet that they might not talk too much of his exaltation and attribute too much honour unto him he left it written that he died in the Land of Moab But this doth peremptorily contradict the Holy Word in divers places He died and was buried in a Valley in the Land of Moab Deut. xxxiv 6. according to the word of the Lord. That word is in the same book Deutr. xxxii 50. Thou
shalt die in the Mount whither thou goest up and be gathered unto thy people as Aaron thy Brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered unto his people therefore if Aaron died as we know he did Moses was not translated that he might not see death Nay the next opinion is more probable than so which takes away the offence which the former opinion gives and attributes great honor to Moses namely it consents as it ought to do that Moses died and that God by the ministry of his Angels did lay down his Body for a while to be buried in the Land of Moab but it did not abide in the earth there to be corrupted but was presently restored to life again and translated to immortality and because he did not abide in death therefore it is said that no man knoweth of his Sepulcher unto this day I draw to this side the rather because in the ninth verse of St. Judes Epistle the Angel did contend and dispute with the Devil about the Body of Moses Some say the contention was that the Angel bound the Devil not to reveal where his Body was buried lest the children of Israel finding it out should venerate and adore his Sepulcher and run into Idolatry Some say because the Angel buried him against Bethpheor which was a place of most diabolical Idolatry and Satan strugled not to be turned out of that place by the burial of this holy man I see no incongruity to say because the Angel did not only contend but dispute says Jude not about the Burial but about the Body that the argument was why the Body of Moses should be restored to life and not rot and putrify in the dust This opinion is maintained by Luther by Brentius and by the Jesuit Maldonat and it puts all in good square to defend and it may be done for ought I see without any absurdity that the Body of Moses was reserved in immortality with the Body of Elias and both were in all readiness to come to our Saviours Transfiguration Yet a number of Doctors have a fourth strein that Moses his Body was gathered by the power of God just at this time out of the dust and he took it up so long as this miracle lasted and then laid it down again and either resumed it shortly after when our Saviour rose from the dead for then many dead bodies of the Saints arose and appeared unto many in the holy City or else he awaits Gods leisure to be cloathed with his flesh for ever at the solemn and general Resurrection This cannot be gainsaid for nothing is irksom to Gods Saints which most conduceth to their Masters glory Yet once I must speak again that there is a fifth opinion and most commonly defended That Moses his own Body was reunited at this time to his Soul and that it did abide with him for ever and he did never lay it down more If we keep not this Opinion steady it will be much shaken with this Objection That Christ is commonly known by this property to be the first who rose from the dead to die no more The first-born from the dead Colos i. 18. The first-fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. xv 20. Some answer he is the first of them that rose from the dead as he is said to be the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world He was crucified from the beginning of the world and rose from death from the beginning not actually but virtually for the power of his Death and Resurrection were available ever since the Promise was made Secondly he is Primogenitus the First-born the strength the might of them that rise for he rose by his own will and virtue all beside him not by their own power but by the power of Christ But I shall neither satisfie my self nor you with an answer till I add a third thing that Christ was the first-fruits of them that rose from the dead and ascended up with his Body before the Majesty of the glory of the Most High For here I must bring in a very fit distinction though not used by many that it is one thing to make a Body change corruption into incorruption so shall all our Bodies be when they are raised from the dead another thing to make our vile Bodies be changed into glorified Bodies that shall not be till they are exalted into the highest Heavens Elias his Body being translated was incorruptible so was Moses his Body if he had it before the Transfiguration or if he retained it after but Christ Jesus was the first of them that rose from the dead whose glorified Body entred into the highest places I have been very brief in this intricate Controversie which is so stiffly disputed of all sides and it will make the next point come off more easie From whence Moses and Elias came to talk with Christ at his Transfiguration I conclude out of the former question that Elias was translated up on high in Soul and Body that 's indubitable and that Moses rose out of his Grave and assumed his own Body at this instant Miracle of all opinions that I take it is most probable Therefore I say Elias came down from whence he was ascended before and Moses rose up from whence he was descended before So the Son of God did demonstrate says S. Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he had the power in his hand both of life and death By Moses says Aquinas are represented all those Saints whose bodies from the beginning of the world to the end lye buried in the dust by Elias are understood the whole stock of men and women that shall be found at Christs second coming living upon the earth and both kinds shall be summoned to appear before him Oh that we may come from heaven to meet him as Elias did that we may shine with repentance and faith and charity these are the characters of them that shall be bold to stand before the Son of God in Majesty and they that have these endowments do as it were come from heaven with Elias to meet our Saviour But to the point we make no scruple from whence Moses his Body came to mount Tabor from whence but from the dust of the earth the difficult question will be out of what place of sequestration Elias came with his Body To which briefly as I am able to conjecture not to certifie you St. Cyprian was not earnest to enquire it when he left it off thus quo raptus sit Elias Deus novit whither Elias was taken up God knows yet sure he means he had not been taught nor could teach into what Region of Heaven he was assumed yet he never doubted but he was in some Canton of that Celestial Habitation The Scripture says no more of Enoch but he walked with God and he was not for God took him Gen. v. 24. But of Elias in plain words that he went up in a whirlwind to Heaven The
Septuagint Translation marrs all when it renders it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was taken up as it were into Heaven There is no such diminution of as it were in the sacred Text He went up to heaven sayes the Original That could not be the Element of Air which is sometimes called Heaven for the Air is rather the Seat of Satan who is called the Prince of the Air than of the Blessed from thence come turbulencies and winds and tempests but they are at rest from all labour and unquietness Nor can it be meant of that Heaven of the lower Orbs for then they should be hurried about every day with the swift motion of the Spheres from East to Occident Where then could Elias be reposed but in the Heaven of happiness in the tranquillity of Abraham's bosom as Dathan and Abiram were swallowed alive into Hell so Enoch and Elias were lifted up alive into Heaven Heaven is taken two wayes both for the place and for the state and condition of it and both wayes I have good ground to say that Elias was in body among the spirits of the Kings and Patriarchs and Prophets and just men who are dead in the love of God and all they went to Heaven locally as to their place and to Heaven figuratively that is to joy and happiness Which I oppose to the adverse and very erroneous opinion maintained by the Schoolmen among the Pontificians that the spirits of just men which departed before Christs ascension into Heaven were reclused into a receptacle call'd Limbus Patrum which was the verge or fringe of Hell where they suffered no pain but sustained a temporal loss having not as yet admittance into the Courts of the House of our God How unconsonant is this to our Saviour's words Many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac in the Kingdom of God How unlike to that Phrase of David Lord who shall ascend into thy holy hill how unagreeing to the title of Abrahams bosom wherein Lazarus was in a long distance from the gulf of sorrow But to go one step further and no more at this time did not Christ by his ascension open a passage to the Souls of the blessed to draw nearer to God in the highest heavens than ever before yes verily I believe it and I am compelled to maintain it by St. Pauls Doctrine Heb. ix 8. The way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing that is while the Law of Moses did endure Their Souls departing were at rest in Heaven in the hand of God no way obtruded near the confines of Hell as the Schoolmen taught who either could not or would not discern a medium between the Limbus of Hell and the highest Heaven They lived by the same faith that we do though not with the same evidence and fulness that we have therefore their Souls departing had a dimension of happiness allotted for them yet not with that fulness of joy which now they have nor perhaps with that measure and proportion which they and we shall have hereafter Beloved remember and consider Heaven is so large and spacious that it is fit to admit divers Quarterings and Mansions in it the Arch-angels Throne the Angels Palace the blessed seats of the faithful since Christs ascension the Refrigerium of the faithful before his ascension a Tabernacle allotted for Enock and Elias all these might be several yet Heaven big enough to make room for all In my Fathers house there are many mansions says Christ that went before us to prepare a place And To thee O blessed Saviour c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON The Transfiguration LUKE ix 31 32. Who appeared in glory and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Hierusalem But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep and when they were awake they saw his glory and the two men that stood with him WHen I compare many parcels of Sacred Scripture and many fictions of the Heathen together which are of great similitude I perceive that Satan intended to discredit the holy Writ by devising Fables so like to the sacred truth I do verily think their Deucalion and his floud was taken from the story of our Noah and his Deluge Their Hippolytus refusing the tentations of Phedra and yet accused by her for a Rape is our Joseph after the same manner impeached by his lustful Mistress Their Hercules is our Joshuah Their Bellerophon carrying Letters to cut his own throat is our Vrias so betrayed by David Their Nisus of Megara and his fatal purple hair cut off by Scylla is our Sampson and his locks cut off by Dalilah So their infamous transmutations of their Gods into Bulls and Swans and a thousand lying shapes were publisht by the Devil to make the Transfiguration of our Saviour suspected Shame upon such gross Figments which can no way darken the manifold light of the Gospel so palpably counterfeit that they need no refutation As Irenaeus passed his censure upon them Victoria est sententiae vestrae manifestatio it was victory enough to the Christian cause to tell and relate their absurd opinions But in reference to the Metamorphoses of those Idol Gods St. Peter justifies the truth of our Saviours Transfiguration thus We have not cunningly devised Fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eye witnesses of his Majesty 2. Pet. i. 16. The Heathen write how their Gods were changed upon earth but to their shame and ignominy The Son of God was changed miraculously upon earth but into a body of resplendent glory When God was come down to men upon earth the Heaven did seem to come down upon earth to God When the Greek Emperour John Palaeologus was drawn into Italy by Pope Eugenius the forth to be present in the Florentine Council the City of Venice entertained him so magnificently with their Streets all guilded and their Boats and Galleys as rich as their Streets that the Greeks in astonishment at the bravery cried out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Earth was become a Heaven for that day I have met with no parcel of a Story in my reading more fit to be applied to this occasion When Mount Thabor did harbour our Lord and our Lord did glister with beatifical brightness and the Saints above did come thither in their Princely array and the very clouds did look more white than Lillies and the voice of the Father spake more pleasing than the sweetest Musick This is my well beloved Son I may justly cry out the Earth was become an Heaven for that day All things else in the Gospel are intermixed with much humility this one Treatise lifts up my stile and makes me say Paulò majora canamus This piece which I spred before you is nothing but Triumph and Majesty and Glory Unto these words which
is like Gods Rainbow in the Clouds not only a beautiful but a merciful Token a Bow with the string towards the earth so that it is not prepared to shoot arrows against us As Pliny said to Trajan of his virtuous Consort nihil sibi ex fortunâ tuâ nisi gaudium vendicat so all that a Christian challengeth for his own is the blessed Virgins solace My spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour Beloved they forget that God is called the Father of mercies and the God of all consolations they forget that since Christ is come in the flesh the Dove is returned with the Olive branch of peace in his mouth who fill the minds of men with melancholly desperate doubts and do oftner cast before them black stones of condemnation than white stones of absolution Chearfulness and a delightsom countenance becomes the Disciples of Christ howsoever the austere Pharisees censur'd our Saviour himself for a Winebibber and a Glutton because he was sociable and did not always lowr and pout after their hypocritical fashion St. Chrysostom neither lived with content to his own heart nor gave content to other because he was untractable to all manner of joyful familiarity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was so earnest for sobriety that he run into a Cynical austerity Some not unfitly I think contend so much that a Christian is to deport himself in a sweet consolatory fashion that they understand Solomon to that meaning Eccl. ix 8. Eat thy bread with joy and let thy garments be always white as if none should put on mournings for the Gospel sake unless they wanted a good conscience to rejoyce in Christ Though the splendour of the Law was terrible yet the glory of the New Testament is amiable bonum est says St. Peter it is a good thing to see the Majesty of our Saviour in perfect beauty Secondly Thus far the Apostle gave a right judgment upon the vision and thus much further that he said it was bonum nobis intended not so much for Christs exalted bravery as for our good When I began this Miracle I cited a rule out of Damascen and I repeat it again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the impulsive cause of all things that our Saviour did upon earth was the love which he did bear to the generation of men yea the Lord hath made man the scope of all his other works in a subordinate way to his own glory For man is made to serve the Lord and the earth is made to serve and supply the use of man and both ways man is made happy and not God says Lombard Et quod accepit obsequium à creaturis quod impendit Deo either to take homage from the Creature or to do homage to the glory of God All things are ours says St. Paul whether it be the world or life whether it be the World as the Vassal of our service or Life eternal as the Crown of our service When our Saviour did exhibit himself in this rare feature at Mount Thabor quorsum haec was it not to catch our hearts and affect them with the vision he did not present himself as Agrippa and Bernice did Act. xxv 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with great pomp and estate to shew the regal lustre of their Royalty no the very Heathen were contented to say that the supreme power of Heaven must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contented with himself and needed no accessories to set forth his honour as Caesar spake in a lofty contempt to his mutinous Souldiers an vos momenta putatis ulla dedisse mihi so it would sound better from Gods mouth All the creatures upon earth cannot confer a scruple or the least moment to advance his excellency Christ was not contemptible by being made humble nor more renowned than he was before by appearing in Majesty Every way he is unobnoxious to the censure of man because every way he made himself fit for the good of man and when he joyned both humility and glory in one act both were for us See his lowly modesty when he rode upon an Ass to Jerusalem see his triumphs of dignity at the same time in those popular acclamations Hosanna to the Son of David blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. But all was to this end that we might see and hear the honor of God and the fruit of our own salvation all the brightness which shin'd upon him in Mount Thabor was to enlighten our darkness Bonum est nobis says Peter it is good for us 3. Yet once again I will speak that the Apostle did speak the very truth in a third Point it was good to be continually present with Christs glory and never part from it Bonum est esse hic there is no mutation in perfect joy but an abiding for ever We cannot change for the better to go from the beatifical presence of God how could Peter choose but desire to hold him to that when he had begun to taste of it I have read in some obsolete stories of Lazarus who was raised to life after he had been dead four days and some others of the like kind that their soul had seen a little of the happiness of the life to come and being brought again into the body by the word of Christ they were never seen to laugh or smile either because they knew better than others that there was no true joy upon earth or because they were melancholy to have their happiness interrupted My soul longeth and fainteth for the Courts of the Lord says David Psal lxxxiv 2. If he could faint with desire to obtain that which he had never seen how might this Disciple faint and languish to leave that which he had seen Old Anna the Widow departed not out of the Temple of God day nor night which is as much in effect as if St. Luke had said Whatsoever place is called by Gods name deserves our frequent company and I say unto you of this house where now we are which is called by his name Bonum est nos esse hic it is good for us to be here St. Chrysostome tells me of some great Princes in his time that desired upon their death-bed to be buried in the Porch of the Church that although they were taken away from being present at the holy Service which they were wont to love yet their bodies even in the Grave might as it were be door-keepers for ever in the house of God I will conclude this general part with Bernards words Quid aliud videtur bonum quam in bonis animam demorari quandoquidem adhuc corpus non potest What is good for a man but that his soul should abide and persevere in good meditations and good works since there is no good place of continuance upon earth to receive his body You have the flower of St. Peters Speech bolted out but there is more bran remaining in six Conclusions that
But her tentation would not take he preferred to refuse this offer and return home to his own Country Pleasure is not a Goddess but a Sorceress which would offer us the like Bonum est esse hic this is a fair inheritance were it not a gay thing if this were heaven and you imparadised in this pleasant seat for ever O no says celestial love go out my soul go out take the wings of the morning fly away to thy Country above the heavenly Jerusalem and then rest for ever Philip that mighty Macedonian feasted many Wits at a Banquet and he propounded a question to be argued before him What was the greatest thing in Nature After many Opinions one collected all that had been said and concluded Neither was Philip himself the greatest of all things nor the Hill Olympus nor the Sea of waters nor the Sun in the Firmament Sed cor quod res maximas despiceret the greatest of all things was an heart that despised the greatest things which are in this world beneath Unclog your affections from all contents of this miserable life if Tabor it self transport you the best part of the Militant Church where Christs glory shines which by Gods mercy I am confident we enjoy yet forget that and yearn for the Church Triumphant Be willing to bequeath the earth to the succession that follows you and your body to the ground and your soul to God 5. I am ready to move the fifth question alas when I consider it how unfit is the natural man for spiritual things An bonum sit quod paucis solummodò est bonum Whether we should call that good which is appropriated to our selves and not communicated to many This is it for which Origen thinks that Satan stirred up Peter to utter these words to entreat him to bless that little company upon Mount Taber with his presence and to leave all mankind without redemption O too forgetful Nimiumque oblite tuorum both of the other nine Disciples and of all that people that sate in darkness and in the shadow of death It was the most Jewish maliciousness that the Jews had to challenge God that his mercies and blessings belonged to their Nation and to no other Kingdom but this contraction is far more unreasonable to beseech Christ to smother his glory in a private corner with Moses and Elias and three Apostles as if these were the five wise Virgins enough to enter into the Marriage Chamber of the Bridegroom If one member be honoured all the members shall rejoyce with it but when all the members of the body are honoured every member shall rejoyce much more Tolle invidiam tuum est quod habeo tolle invidiam meum est quod habes says St. Austin Be not you envious and that which I have is yours Let not me be envious and that which you have is mine A carnal man you see wisheth his own happiness with the consequent infelicity of all the world beside let me oppose unto this the stupendious example of a regenerate man that wished his own damnation for the salvation of a great people I could wish that my self were accursed from Christ for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh Rom. ix 3. Some have commented upon it that Paul was unadvised in those words and offended God Nay Beloved the Holy Ghost cannot be unadvised by whose instinct he wrote and he doth Preface in the beginning I say the truth in Christ I lie not St. Chrysostom cannot speak better than he did upon that verse Quia nos longè sumus ab hâc dilectione Pauli ideo intelligere ejus verba non possumus We want so much of that love to our brethren which Paul had to his that we are not able to make a good construction of his meaning Yet I will direct you in a few words Paul did not desire to be separated for his brethrens sake from the charity and friendship of Christ for then he should love man better than God but from the felicity and sweet fruit of that friendship He would perish for ever not as Christs enemy but as an offering for his Nation He doth not desire to be out of the love of Christ but out of the Vision of Christ The conversion of an whole people he thought was more for Gods glory than the salvation of one man therefore although Gods Election must stand and that was impossible which he desired yet so long as he loved his brethren in God and not against God it was no excessive love And that is the judgment of Calvin But to draw to the use of the Point you see that perfect charity squints not at its own benefit with the great detriment of others Bonum est nobis is bad divinity and bad civility it spoils Church and Commonwealth that which is good to one or to a few will never thrive if it be not good for many It is true he is one of the fools of the world that is not wise for himself but he is one of Gods Reprobates that is wise for none but for himself Nequicquam sapit qui non omnibus sapit When every man is his own end all things will come to a bad end Blessed were those days when every man thought himself rich and fortunate by the good success of the publick wealth and glory We want publick souls we want them I speak it with compassion there is no sin or abuse in the world that afflicts my thought so much Every man thinks that he is a whole Commonwealth in his private Family Omnes quae sua sunt quaerunt All seek their own Did St. Paul write it against us or against the Philippians Chap. ii 21. Can the Publick be neglected and any mans Private be secure It is all one whether the mischief light upon him or his Posterity There are some says Tully that think their own Gardens and Fish-ponds shall be safe when the Commonwealth is lost Doth he not call them fools by craft Away with this bonum nobis to intend our own good rather than the general it was the greatest error that St. Peter committed 6. To the last question briefly in a word An bonum consistit in aspectu humanitatis Christi Could it be the supreme good of man to behold the Humane Nature of Christ only beatified Surely the Humane Nature shining as light as the Sun was a rare object that Peter could have been contented with that and no more for his part for ever yet the resolution of the School holds certain that blessedness consists essentially in beholding the Divine Nature which is the fountain of all goodness and power and in the fruition thereof accidentally it consists in beholding Christs Humane Nature glorified and in the consequent delectation These things must not be enlarged now because I am prevented by the time To God the Father c. THE FIFTH SERMON UPON The Transfiguration LUKE ix
33. And let us make three Tabernacles one for Thee and one for Moses and one for Elias not knowing what he said EVery small sin that a man commits cannot chuse but make a long reckoning before the Judgment of God for one error which St. Peter did incur hath made us work enough to examine it at two several daies You have heard before that whether he had a mind to hinder the crucifying of Christ or whether he desired not to see death not to be afflicted to continue in a pleasant habitation upon earth whether he aimed at his private without respect to the Vniversal Church or whether he fixt his thought upon Christs humane nature glorified for his utmost blessedness every way his words are censurable Master it is good for us to be here Now it follows because he could not build his opinion upon a good ground he will build a Tabernacle upon his opinion And let us make three Tabernacles c. He that will not desire much shall not sin much the greatest score of our sins grows from our wishes It is a great mastery to bridle the tongue but it is a greater victory to bridle the heart Pompey the Great being in the Vniversity of Athens every Sholar offered himself to dispute before him to shew his learning but when every man had had his turn there was one that continued to say nothing and when Pompey asked why he alone was mute among all the company says he that the Romans may know we have one Philosopher that can hold his peace But neither all Athens nor all the World no nor the Apostles of our Saviour could boast that there was one among them could hold in his appetite We are either for faciamus or habeamus every hour of the day either to have this or that or to make some new thing which we wanted And how soon our thoughts may become vile with desiring things in this World below when Peter is not excused for desiring to cast all earthly conversation behind his back and to remain in a kind of Paradise upon Mount Thabor where Christ was transfigured He thought he had found out a medium between Heaven and Earth he knew it was not Heaven he saw it was more gay and glistering than earth a content between both O no it was no discreet choice to desire to sit down as it were in the half way under a golden Canopy and not to run out unto the end of the race where the reward was to be received He knew not what he said It is obvious upon this occasion to make the same charitable construction for St. Peter which Paul did for the Jews I bear them record they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge The Jews were eager to retain their ancient Ceremonies and despised that the Gentiles should be invited to the fellowship of their happiness this bears the definition of zeal exactly zelus est affectio ad quam sequitur ob vehementiam dolor tum ex consortio aliorum tum ex defectu rei quae desideratur zeal is an affection so vehement that it afflicteth it self if either it want what it desires or if others do participate it So the Apostle wished that the Vision in Mount Thabor might ever last was even faint for sorrow when the Cloud carried Moses and Elias away and the emulation was so strong that he desired the Vision might be private to himself and a few more bonum est nobis it is good for us Here is ardour and pain in wishing ut res habeatur sine consortio aliorum to enjoy a good things and to be singular without comperes therefore I will divide the Text apologetically out of St. Pauls words that here was zelus erga Deum sed non secundum scientiam Zeal towards Gods glory is the first part of the Text Let us make three Tabernacles one for Thee and one for Moses and one for Elias but zeal not according to knowledg is the second part not knowing what he said A division being ever made for perspicuity take these three things to your consideration out of the first part fabri fabrica possessores the Builders in this word faciamus and let us make the Building three Tabernacles the Possessors Christ and the two Saints assisting him one for Thee and one for Moses and one for Elias In all which I will explain two things joyntly with the other Members Peters purpose what he aim'd at in zeal and his mistake wherein he erred his zeal was not according to knowledg Faciamus let us make I give the first place for method sake to the consideration of the Builders If he had said unto Christ do thou make three Tabernacles the work it is certain would have soonest been at an end that way God made the World by his Son and his Son at one word could have made three Tabernacles who spake the word and all things were created Every house is built by some man but he that built all things it God Heb. iii. 4. therefore if he had said do thou make these Tabernacles it would have been the suddener dispatch that 's the general neglect indeed the more shame for us let God build and repair his house himself for us or it is like to be let alone Nay herein St. Peter was right since God hath given all the materials upon earth let man offer before he is askt to make an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Let us make and work for him reason good we are his servants hired by every day and hour to do some task for his honour Nor doth Peter put it off with vos facite do you John and James work and build I will give aim and look on another worldly trick to put all upon others if any thing be to be done for Christs sake and exempt our selves both from charge and trouble many do love that God should have somewhat given him and somewhat built him with their neighbours purse like the Ape in the Fable that took the hot Chesnut out of the fire with the Cats foot Here is one that had not so learnt to glorifie God but with his own tongue and with his own hand says St. Ambrose Non laudasse contentus etiam ministerium pollicetur Peter praised this beatifical Vision Master it is good but he knew that praise is a very cheap part of Gods service and therefore he offers his pains to be doing somewhat in honor of it a wide mouth and a close hand is the character of an hypocrite the birds of the air have sweet voices but they have no hands to work for their Master an operative Religion becoms him that hath a body to serve God as well as a soul Faciamus let us make If you think this Mountain to be uninhabitable and inconvenient depart not for that I offer my service with my fellow Disciples to make you bowers to entertain you God never required by
of Heaven ut gentilis deprecatione ultio sanguinis istius à nobis ablata sit that the vengeance of his blood should be denounced against Israel and the Nations excused but yet Pilat was but mungril good and therefore his hand was in this bloody passion as well as the men of Jerusalem both Jew and Gentile did concur to his sufferings says Origen ut pro persecutoribus qui oraret gentiles non excluderet that when he prayed for his Persecutors the Gentiles might be at one end of his persecution and be partakers of his Prayers Had Pilat been as malicious as the Jews we poor souls had been liable to the vengeance of his blood had Pilat stopt his ears against the outcries and never yielded to the passion we had not been in the number of those Persecutors for whom he made intercession therefore this luke warm Magistrate began with Jacobs voice but ended with the hands of Esau neither could he say he was innocent of the blood of this just man Nay then I must tell you to forget Pilat a while were you all in this Assembly dearly beloved of none other but of the very choice and flower of the resurrection of the just a Rank of Patriarchs an Army of Martyrs a Company of holy Prophets yet Qui omnes conclusit sub peccato omnes conlusit suh homicidio he that doth lay sin to every mans soul doth lay the murder of our Lord and Saviour to every mans charge for the redemption of sins And then are you better than your forefathers Are you more righteous than the Prophets that you alone are innocent No you are also the crucifiers of your Redeemer and if your consciences do not say so bear witness of my words for an action of slander Solum peccatum homicida est Not Pilate but hypocrisie not Caiaphas but Simony not Herod but incestuous lust not the Souldiers but Bands and Troupes of Rapines and Blasphemies were the murderers of Christ When a Bullock was slain for a sin Offering to make an attonement for the whole Congregation Lev. iv 25. All the Elders of the City says Moses shall lay their hands upon the head of the Bullock that they being the representative body of all Israel might testifie that every soul in Israel was accessory to the death of the Sacrifice This was a figurative expression how the whole Generation of mankind did concur to be guilty of the bloudy Oblation of the Son of God As the trial hath been seen upon murderers when they have drawn near to the Carkass which hath been slain by their hands either fresh bloud from the wounds of the Carkass or an issue of their own bloud hath betrayed them as some say so let me question you when you stand before Christ especially when he stands before you in the holy Sacrament do not your hearts bleed within you to express your guiltiness of his Passion O give the flux a passage to come out I do not say in bloud but in tears which are the bloud of the soul The bleeding of the Vine draws away the life of the tree and leaves it barren of the Clusters which should hang upon it but the flowing of tears makes us fruitful to bring forth many Bunches of good works not the Clusters of an earthly but of an heavenly Canaan And now let me ask you as I would ask of men that shun those places out of horrour wherein they have spilt anothers bloud I say Why do you love this world so much wherein you have killed Christ Why are you not aweary of this place What can please us in such a soyl which should be unto us all as Aceldema was to Judas the Theater to act sins and therefore the field of bloud Wherefore do we not rather say with Tertullian Nihil nostri refert in hoc mundo nisi de eo quà m citò excedere We Christians have nothing to do in this earth but to make haste to forsake it for a better especially abandon the thoughts of deadly revenge do not wish for more bloud at any hand we have all spilt enough already in the funerals of our Saviour were he not both a Sacrifice slain for us as he is a Sacrifie slain by us more than ever we could answer for Make not your revengeful heart like Golgotha where Christ was crucified a place of dead mens sculls But least any man should be swallowed up with too much grief because he is endited for this hainous crime the bitter death of his Saviour let him take this for his comfort to put gladness in his heart it is not one death that our Lord Jesus doth stand upon Passus est quia voluit he never shrinks for one death but stretched out his arms upon the Cross to embrace it Take heed only that you do not crucifie him anew Nay mistake me not here though you sin ten thousand times over yet he can die but once for you but my meaning is the Summa totalis of all mens sins did abase the Son of God to the ignominy of the Cross yet this dolorous day was from Gods preordination But that we may not crucifie him anew first Do not neglect his death as if it were some common and uncommiserated anguish Secondly Do not run into admiration of your own merits as if had there been all such as you in the world his Passion had been spared Lastly Do not presume upon grace as if Remission of sins were a safe Indulgence for sins to be multiplied They that do commit such things are guilty not once but often to crucifie the Lord of life To conclude then against Pilates falshood and hypocrisie three things do concur in the crucifying of our Saviour Destinatio passionis executio passionis iteratio passionis In the Predestination of Christs Passion God did look upon all mankind the Elect especially as lapsed into sin and therein Pilate was not innocent The execution of his Passion upon earth was committed by the envy of the Priests the cruelty of the Souldiers and the power of Pilate What though his mind did not consent Yet he lent them his authority Herod was not willing it seems to have John Baptists head but it comes all to one pass if Herodias must have her content and therefore in the execution was not Pilate innocent The iteration of his Passion lights upon those who make an impenitent end and do not apply his sufferings to their sin-sick conscience and since Pilate lived a Vagabond for ever after and died like a desperate cast-away either by drowning at Vienna or falling upon his own Sword at Lions that is the difference of the History neither in this respect nor in any else could he say I am innocent of the bloud of this just person And so I pass to the second general part of my Text from this lie which Pilate told to his true testimony concerning Christ that he was a just person Yet I commend this disposition in
Marium says the Consul Marius and so daunted his Executioner Thus then our Saviour had escaped their hands divinitatem publicando 2. Where were the Legions of Angels that did attend him That Host of Princes who solemnized his Nativity with peace on earth and good will towards men would have recanted and sung a song quite of another nature to guard him from his passion And thus our Saviour had escaped exercitum producendo Durandus tries his skill for a third reason thus corpus in se mortale ad immortalitatem perducendo If you ask what he means by it I will enlarge his mind Our bodies do decay and decline every day more and more unto corruption necessarily because it is past the cunning of any mortal man to know precisely to a crum of bread what nourishment is best to fulfil the place of that which decays daily in our body but as for Christ scivit in alimento quantum necesse fuit sumere ad restaurationem deperditi He having the treasures of all wisdom hidden in him needed not the advise of any man to instruct him how the decays of nature being justly repaired could preserve his mortal body in a sound constitution for everlasting Scotus thinks this reason too weak and so do I also For although Christ had this inspection to discern wholsom from unwholsom in all the works of nature yet consumption and dissolution would happen to his body from two things The first prejudice to his health would be impuritas alimenti the earth and all the fruits thereof yield not such strength and vertue as they did before the Floud of Noah Si Adam habuisset alimentum nostrum mortuus fuisset senio says the same Schoolman very boldly if Adam in his best estate had been fed with such meats as we are and none besides age had brought him to his Grave Again there is potentiae nutritivae debilitatio that gentle heat which gives warmth to the faculty of concoction would have gone out like a candle in the socket and therefore it stands for a conclusion in his Divinity that a medicinal intelligence of herbs and fruits and other viands had not drawn out our Saviours life unto immortality There is a fourth reason how Christ could have restrained all agony and passion from his body for ever and it is without exception Death in a reasonable creature is the wages of sin they are relatives secundum esse so that a man may say here is a sinner and therefore a dead man here is the Tomb of a dead man and therefore the Grave of a sinner The next conclusion cannot be parted from the former for if Sin and Death be acus filum if one do draw the other after it then there must be some miraculous disposition in that mans body who is no sinner but innocent as an Angel of light and yet obnoxious to death as a vile transgressor Where then lies the miracle in the substance of our Saviour why thus the whole Manhood was united to the whole Godhead in the Union hypostatical but the influence the grace and priviledg of the Divine nature was not diffused over the flesh nay it cast not the celestial beams upon all the parts of his Soul till after the resurrection but it shined only upon the superior faculties of the will and understanding The strength then of our Samson did lye in capite in the Divine nature which he would not use to immortalize his Body before the Resurrection Potuit relaxare influentiam divinae naturae ut in inferiorem portionem redundarâ—t sayes Biel. It was a miracle then that He could confine the influence of his Godhead for a time to the superior faculties of the Soul and I think you will confess that there was no miracle done by necessity or compulsion but upon this presumption that the flesh was left unassisted of the Divinity there follows a threefold necessity of his death and dissolution The first is called necessitas naturae nature would have dropt away when it grew mellow ripe according to the course of humane constitution The second is called necessitas coactionis supposing the malice of the Jews and his obedience to unjust Authority he must have suffered by necessity of compulsion The third is called necessitas finis a necessity of death lay upon him from Gods eternal Decree to accompass the happy end preordeined which is mans Redemption But what is the fruit of this Doctrine now where are the sheaves to fill our bosom you will say now I doubt it not that Christ had power to lay down his life and to take it up Then enlarge your hearts to receive St. Austins Meditation Amplius tenemur Christo quod liberè voluit pati quà m quòd necessario Our engagement had been less if Christ had suffered by absolute and imperious necessity but we praise our God the more we bless him we magnifie him we give thanks unto him with the greater affection because our Sacrifice is of choice and liberty But I pass from the consideration of the mighty power which was in our Saviour Had he rejoyced like a Giant to run his course what death could have seized upon him had our Samson awoke out of sleep and shook himself no fetters could have held him But if you will lay your ear to the sweetest harmony that ever was tuned ad aquae lene caput sacrae if you will give attention to the soft and still bubling from whence sprung all our salvation voluit in a word he would not plead his innocency before Pilat he would be offer'd up he would be crucified It is a memorable accident which Plutarch doth report of a Sacrifice in Lacedaemon The Priests were in great distress for an unspotted Beast to be slain Satan no doubt desiring to supply them with fuel to kindle their Idolatry an unspotted Heifer swam over the River and laid it self down before the Altar I know not the truth of this Story but sure I am that I know a Sacrifice which will fit the Parable For when wrath had faln upon Mankind throughout all Generations and a burnt-Offering was wanting to appease the Lord to the end that Isaac and the Sons of Promise and Election might escape the blow of death the chief Ram of the Flock vir gregis even Jesus Christ thrust his horns into the Thicket and entangled his strength in the guilt of our sins so Isaac was saved and the Ram was sacrificed Voluit would he suffer was there no remedy but to cut off the Head to save the Body had not Christ humbled himself so far as to the death of the Cross yet had not our Redemption been finished by the ignominy of his poor Nativity the lowliness of submission to his Parents the pang of his Fastings the horror of his Agony in the Garden might not all other reproaches have ransomed his life This curious Question the Schoolmen ask therefore let them resolve it First says Biel
best luck then I have thee Affrica says he and I will hold thee What man is it whose feet have not slipt whose sins are not so burdensome as to cast him down the turning of the luck is where our hand lights God send our lot fall in a fair ground that we may say teneo te redemptor meus teneo te Domine I have laid hold on thee O Lord I caught thee fast my Redeemer So did the Father of the Faithful he went and took the Ram he took him and offered him for so it follows the same which he received the same he gave back again Quippe Dominum sui ipsius dono honorat says one he did as much as the best in the world can do that is to honor God with no other gift but with the same that God himself did give before but in this word Abraham acts another person than Abraham obtulit he offered up the Ram and who did ofâ—er up the Son but God the Father When Abraham went out of his own Country and grew rich in a strange place who was he then in the resemblance but Christ the second person of Trinity says St. Austin Qui relictâ Judaeâ ubi natus est apud gentes prevalet who leaving the faithless Countrey of Jury where he was born purchased to himself an Inheritance among the Gentiles but when his name was interpreted Pater multarum gentium a Father of many Nations and when this Priestly Office in my Text lay upon him obtulit that he offered up the Ram there we see the first Person in Trinity of him in this we see how God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that who so believed in him should not perish but have life everlasting Deus liberalitatem cum hominibus certavit says Origen he makes God in this place to contend with Man in liberality Abraham spared not his Son whom he loved no more did God this was his only Son so was he Gods but his Son was mortal and must die once Gods Son was immortal and his Father made him that he might unmake him he made him flesh that he might bring him to the Grave his Son should die for his own sins Christ died for ours his Son had been chopt off at once without sense of dying Gods Son was tented and beaten and bruised and wounded from midnight that he was taken in the Garden to this hour of the day wherein we speak of it which was turned for sadness into the first hour of the night In the Levitical Law the Priest laid his hand upon the head of the Sacrifice when it was to be kill'd Quia patris voluntate suscepit nostra peccata filius says one because the Son was an Expiation for our sins by the will of the Father so Luke xv 23. Bring the fat Calf and kill him says the relenting Father that he might bid welcom home to his Prodigal Son But you will say how did the Father offer up the Son Let the blame lie upon Judas and Pilate and the Souldiers but what did God you shall hear the Schoolmen answer it appertinently 1. Praeordinando who but the Father preordain'd it before the foundation of the World 2. Voluntatem patiendi humanam naturam infundendo it was he that did infuse an obedient affection into the Soul of the Manhood and did perswade it to be willing to suffer 3. Non protegendo a persecutoribus he that did not deliver him out of the hands of his Persecutors when he might have sent an hundred Legions of Angels to scatter his Enemies it was his charity towards us to offer him up for a Burnt-offering At this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Burnt-offering there comes in Christs part a Burnt-offering is that where all the flesh of the Sacrifice is quite consumed with fire grant us therefore both the active and passive obedience of Christ for our justification grant us the merit of his humility with the merit of his death or else it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some part was sacrificed for us but it was not an whole Burnt-offering Consider that every vein of his body had evacuated bloud that every inch of his flesh was gashed with wounds as the Firmament stands thick with stars consider that every faculty of his Soul was sad and sick with agony and distress and then tell me if he was not a Sacrifice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in every part when Christ himself concluded with consummatum est as who should say all the bitterness of anguish is past upon me that can be imagined then the Sacrifice was quite burnt out and the Passion ended Yet listen to one word which our Saviour uttered and then we will not stick at a scruple that may be made how his death was shadowed in a Ram that was burnt when his body suffered no corruption nor incineration but was crucified upon the Cross We must weigh this doubt in the Balance of that heavy Speech My God my God why hast thou forsaken me it was not it could not be the out-cry of his own Soul that was in desperation because it self was forsaken it was the voice of him that susteined the punishment of those who were plunged into despair and condemnation Non suscepit opera sed stipendia peccatorum our sins did not properly lye upon him but the wages of our sins Now will you see a Burnt-offering indeed now will you see a fire of brimstone flaming more violently than if a Mountain did burn from the top to the bottom Flammae inferni in animo Christi insufflantur says Brentius let us speak warily the pains of Hell had not got hold upon him but he saw the fire of vengeance which was prepared for us it scorcht I may say the very compassion of his heart when he saw that his Fathers justice would kindle it for the sins of the world not a spark could take hold on him Sed tu quod facies hoc mihi Pete dolet it set him all on fire as if he were a Burnt-offering for fear that we should suffer it the darkness which was over the face of the earth non solum incurrerunt in oculos sed etiam in animam Christi says Brentius it did not only appear like night to the eye of his Body but his Soul for our sakes did see and dread the utter darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth A little before when he said in the Garden My soul is heavy unto death there he did grapple with the horror of death and conquer'd it but when he lifted up his voice upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me there he did struggle with infernal fire there he did grapple with the horror of Hell and conquer'd it Tell me I beseech you are you not affected with these things like Cleophas and the other Disciple do not your hearts burn within you to hear them if you feel
our Saviour from his Miracles No man can do these miracles that thou dost except God be with him ver 2. Now the mactation of the Paschal Lamb had nothing in it but that which was ordinary in the external work but the use of the brazen Serpent was a mighty miracle Secondly As many Lambs were killed as there were housholds to eat them whereas there was but one Serpent made which comes nearer to the just resemblance that the Son of God by his one Oblation of himself once offered up made a sufficient satisfaction for the sins of the world Thirdly The Lamb was presented as other Viands are in a dish The Serpent was set up aloft as an Ensign a clearer pattern of the exaltation of the Cross Fourthly In the consumption of the Lamb God did embalm the memory of his great mercy and keep it fresh how he passed over the houses of the Israelites and did not kill them as he killed the Egyptians But the Serpent was set up for the cure of those that were bitten with Serpents In the former Type the people were sound and whole in the latter Type they were stung and sick and they that are whole do not perceive so well that they have need of the Physician as they that are sick Lastly He that did feed on the Paschal Lamb did eat by faith And he that look'd on the Serpent did see by faith But though faith is the evidence of things not seen yet the eye is more of kin to faith than the â—aste because it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bodily mind as the Heathen said and our most heavenly sense In a word there were many other Figures of Christs sufferings but not any so plain as this for the use and application of it that none but true believers can be saved by his sufferings To the full satisfaction therefore of that which is concerned upon this day here you have Christ upon his Cross two ways both in the Old and in the New Testament For the Old Testament in the best and most exact Figure for the New Testament in a direct and literal prediction The figure contains these parts first the symbolical thing a Serpent Secondly The posture of it it was lifted up Thirdly The place in the Wilderness Fourthly The end for which Sicut Moses as Moses lifted it up The Prediction of the New Testament is to fulfil the Figure And that denotes 1. The Person the Son of Man 2. His inglorious glory must be lifted up 3. Here is a sic for the former sicut a correspondence with the manner and the end of the Figure so must the Son of Man be lifted up First Here is Christ crucified in the Old Testament in a symbolical sign which is a Serpent When his body hung upon the Cross it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Luke calls it a sight for all the People to look upon that were present for outwardly it was the deed of wicked men But there was profundum crucis as St. Austin observes part of the accursed Tree was under ground for the stronger fastning the end and use of it which came from God which is discovered to them that search by faith is thus in a short sum a remedy against that punishment which our sins had deserved therefore to make a compleat survey of this Serpent first we must look upon it for our sins sake secondly for our punishment and thirdly for our remedy And first by the object of the Serpent we see sin in the Author Satan is traduced openly in this memorial for that Tempter that perswaded our first Parents to eat of the forbidden fruit It is his contumely to see himself disguised in so base a creature as God would not permit him to come in the form of a better creature but in this vile shape to do the office of a murderer so he is exposed to all Ages in the pourtract of that shape that his pride may see it self in a vaste distance of declension an Angel in Creation a despicable worm in his own mischievous Assumption But as St. Athanasius doth well observe there was a Serpent the Instrument and there was the Devil the Ingeneer two several natures compacted in some sort into one person and joyning in one stratagem to cast man out of Paradise So God and man two natures in one person met together in our Redeemer to reduce us unto the favour of God and to repossess us in a better Paradise And as the Language of sin was first taught through the mouth of a Serpent in the Garden of Eden so that it may never be forgotten it is continued in the dumb shew of a Serpent that was set up in the Wilderness Secondly By the object of the Serpent we see sin in the infection and contagion of it It is the biting of an Adder not perilous only to that part which is wounded but dispreading all over even to the vital parts of the body Every drop of bloud soaks in the malignity of that which is next unto it till there be no soundness remaining So one part of our body being tainted with the poison of sin traduceth its corruption to another if the ear be tickled with filthy talk the loins will be unchaste If the eye be wanton the heart will suffer and wax impure If the body pride it without the soul cannot be humble within every sense and faculty about us is a gangrene to another and if you give up one member you give up all to be instruments of uncleanness There is yet more contagion in the tooth of the Serpent by committing one transgression you are at the brink of the pit to fall into another the second offence makes the way smooth and slippery for the third Peccatum quod per poenitentiam non deletur mox suo pondere ad aliud trahit says Gregory Every sin that meets not with the Antidote of Repentance hath an operative and a venemous nature to fetch in another evil spirit like unto it self An high mind carries us to wrath and wrath to revenge and revenge to malice and malice to murder Thus it runs on like a spark in the stubble and unless grace extinguisheth it it is as unquenchable as the fire of hell Beside there is yet another Serpentine and pestilentious derivation in the works of darkness one sinner is a thousand sinners more in the dangerousness of his Leprosie one Absalom is an host of Rebels one Ring-leader is a shole of Hereticks one Jeroboam is a Kingdom full of Idolaters one incestuous person endangered the whole Church of Corinth with fornication says St. Paul and he was the occasion of his Proverb That a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump A drop of Poison mars a glass of Nectar Serpunt vitia in proximum quemque transiliunt contactu nocent says Seneca Stand far off from those that are impious they have a catching disease about them there is an infectious
continue as Pillars for Ages to come Burial did not abolish the memorial of his trespass as it was engraven upon the Monument of an Egyptian King that went down with much sorrow to his grave because of his sacriledge In me quis intuens pius esto He that looks upon my Sepulchre let him learn to be religious You read of Lots Wife in the same Gospel where you read of Mary Magdalen of her Pillar of salt as well as of the others box of Ointment There she stood congealed in the open field and never went down to the dead that she might be always in the remembrance of the living So the Brazen Serpent did exhibit those mortal Serpents which annoyed Israel in their journey Like to like And this the Lords of the Philistines had heard of and did imitate it 1 Sam. vi 4. For they sent home the Ark with a trespass-offering five golden Emerods the very figures of the diseases wherewith they were chastised I know no pattern that could lead them into that fancy but only this in my Text. The right use of it whether the Philistines knew it or no I am uncertain is this That when a punishment is exemplified in a figure and resembled to the life it is a deprecation that God would with-hold it from us and mitigate his wrath but so that we cannot be ignorant that his Arrow is still in his Bow and he hath not removed away his hand but is ready to send his Army of Serpents again if we return unto our sins And now according to the exact method of mortification having done our duty to set our sins and our punishment before us we may look towards the Serpent as a remedy And it shall come to pass that every one that looketh upon it shall live Num. xxi 8. A welcom sign to that poor People of the old Law the delights of the Synagogue for which they lifted up their hands to Heaven were length of days health and sound habit of body poor accessories of a transitory happiness they rested in such favours more than in better things that concerned their Spirit and their Soul wherein they succeed them that value the benefit of their Physician above the blessing of their Bishop But God did time it with them according to their imperfection and gave them a new Salve for a new Malady that their flesh might rejoyce in the living God The Land by which they passed was full of noxious Vermin Who led thee through the Wilderness wherein were firy Serpents and Scorpions Deutr. viii 15. If God had kept them from the teeth of this venemous brood â—equid erit pretii should he have gotten any thank for his protection affliction unfelt is unregarded It was better to have some sense of a wound that they might know what a Deliverer was in the experience of a Cure Or if Dictamnuâ— and the secret vertue of other herbs had relieved them as Moses was skilled in all that Science the work of Nature and not the God of Nature had been magnified But Discorides says that an hot venom namely that of the Dipsas and Causon are incurable therefore in a desperate case when all secondary causes were unprofitable nothing but a Miracle made them whole that were diseased And that which was most abhorr'd a Serpent was hanged up as if it were not enough to be cured but they triumpht over that which annoyed them Out of their mischief came the mitigation of their pain as cunning Leaches confect Treakle out of Vipers and Oil of Scorpions out of Scorpions a Serpent was the Instrument both of death and life for it is God that kills and makes alive again as a Whale devoured Jonas and a Whale cast him alive upon the shoar Again here was no application per contactum to the green Sore which is the ordinary course of Chirurgery not so much as an Unguent besmeared upon the substance of the Serpent the new device of Vnguentum armarium not so much as the touch of Moses hand upon the part ill affected as many of the Strumosi are toucht this day by God in the finger of the King No more was requir'd of them that languisht but to bestow the cast of their eye upon the Figure that God only might have the glory in the Medicinal operation For he that turned himself toward it was not saved by the thing which he saw but by thee O God the Saviour of all Wisd xvi 6. Yet more strange the Remedy having no congruity with the relief of the Disease God did supply the efficacy but this was like spittle and clay upon the eyes of the blind man fitter to make him blind than to make him see Rabbi Joseph says I say it upon his credit that to look upon polisht Brass is present death to him that is bitten with a firy Serpent To reconcile these enmities in nature to make antipathies afford friendship to turn destruction to be preservative to overcome one death by another it doth not only lighten my thoughts to the incomprehensible power of our Creator but it breaks me off from this object before I am aware to consider Christ and his Passion wherein these effects are gloriously conspicuous he is the Serpent lifted up in the Wilderness A Similitude of great humiliation Non solum per hominem sed etiam per pecudem est figuratus says St. Austin the mighty one by whom the Worlds were made did not only take the form of a Man but is disguised in the figure of a Beast and among Beasts if any be more filthy than another we all know it is a Serpent Yet thus much we must abate in him from the nature of that pestiferous brute 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Nazianzen it had the shape but not the poison of a Serpent God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh but no more than in the likeness and condemned sin in the flesh because no iniquity was found in him all that came out of his mouth was an antidote and not a venom His Maligners call'd him Carpenter in scorn they could not call him Sinner dicunt habet daemonium non dicunt habet peccatum they slandered him and said he had a Devil but their tongues would not let them lie nor permit them to say he was a Transgressor a Dove was not more innocent than this Serpent No Heresie methinks is more incredible if St. Austin had not faithfully reported it than that of the Ophitae who kept a Serpent under the Altar to creep out and lick their Oblations which they brought to God as if a noxious Dragon were a seemly imitation of this Image in my Text that had no offence in it What agreement was there between poison and no poison Nay between that which wounded and that which healed Between a Destroyer and a Saviour It must be harmless at least which stood in his stead that came not to condemn the world but that the world
through him might be saved And indeed the best that we can say of the Figure is That it was harmless and no very Serpent But it were dotage to suppose that the material thing had any secret vertue of restauration no more than the Figure of the Cross upon the post-fact is operative a superstition which our Church hath justly disclaimed He sent forth his word and he healed them says David it was Gods Word and Promise that cured them and not the brazen Element But Christ conteined remedy in himself and in his all-sufficient Sacrifice For the Son of righteousness did arise with healing in his wings Mal. iv 2. What hath he not healed if we will lay the plaisters of his Passion to our sins By his Poverty he hath condemned Covetousness by his charitable Prayers for his enemies implacable malice by the price for which the holy One was bought and sold Sacriledge by his Crown of thorns Ambition by the humility of his Cross Pride by his Gall and Vinegar Luxury by his Patience Impatience by his infinite Love Envy all his torments were preservatives against poison every part of him is sanity And that not only because this Figure was unvenomed but chiefly because it was a dead lump and not a living Serpent Mortuus serpens vivos superabat says Macarius The living Serpents were charmed by the dead one that they had no power to kill The bloud of Christ purgeth us from our sins and his death was our victory against death that we might live for ever It was well done of Nicodemus to spare no cost to imbalm his body It was piously done of Mary Magdalen to pour her precious Ointment upon his head against the day of his burial for therein we became the savour of life unto life and his Funeral was our immortality As Samson found his honey comb in the Carkass of the Lion so the Church finds sweetness in the bitterness of his Passion Caiaphas did not feel the vigour of his own Prophesie it slipt from his tongue and not from his heart That it was expedient that one man should die for the sins of the people His Successors contradict it obstinately to this day and controul it thus How can he save us that is crucified I return them an answer from my Text How could a dead lump of Brass expel their poison that were wounded If they depended upon a thing inanimate for the life of their body wherefore do they not attend the mystery that they must depend upon a Saviour put to death for the life of their Soul Attenditur serpens ut nihil valeat serpens attenditur mors ut nihil valeat mors says St. Austin The Jews look'd upon a Serpent to be freed from Serpents and Christians look upon death to be delivered from death There is one analogy more to be collected out of the unity of the Figure One Serpent was lifted up for the general preservation of all the Camp of Israel Not twelve distinct ones according to the number of their Tribes and much less no uncertain multiplication according to the number of their Families Nulla salus sine unitate The hope of health and remedy is founded in unity Our Gods are not Plural our Redeemers are not many they that have divers Saviours have never a Saviour They that have tutelary Martyrs for almost every Church and Patron Saints distinctly for every Kingdom they have so many Serpents lifted up and they look so many ways that their wounds stink and are corrupt through their foolishness and they prosper no way We have one head to which the body is knit one Shepherd to guide the Flock one corner stone in the building one Serpent in the Wilderness One Mediator between God and man the man Jesus Christ An infinite vertue can admit of no co-partnership I tremble at their infidelity that frame Scholastical Cases out of their own brain how others are subservient to the Son of God in the work of our Redemption But he says I have trod the wine-press alone and of the people there was none with me Isa lxiii 3. Whether an Israelite chanced to be stung in the head or in the face whether upon the breast or in the lower parts of the body one Serpent upon the Pole was enough to heal all So we have sins original and actual of commission and omission of ignorance infirmity and presumption of thought word and deed Vndique morsus we are stung from the crown of the head to the soul of the foot But as all are dead so one died for all that they which live should not live unto themselves but unto him that died for us and rose again Now for the material part out of which this Figure was carved it was not wrought in stone The Law was written in Tables of stone but grace and mercy are of another complexion It was not Silver or Gold though they in some sort are most correspondent in nature with Serpents for they are the bane of godliness and justice but we were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious bloud of Christ as of a Lamb undefiled It was erected in the strong and durable substance of Brass For one Generation passeth away and another cometh but the vertue of Christs Cross is perpetual and endures for ever It is not my excogitation but Isidors In serpente mortuus in aere aeternus Dead as the Serpent upon the Pole but durable as the Brass because the benefit of his death continues always Therefore his bloud is called The bloud of the everlasting Covenant Heb. xiii 20. Sooner shall all the brazen Pillars and Monuments upon earth be resolved into dust than one jot of this Covenant should be violated the merit of his Passion makes intercession for us continually before his Father and never ceaseth Behold our Pardon is engraven in Brass never to be blotted out it is too strong to be dissolved I look not upon that which is fluxive and changeable but upon a propitiation in Brass Yet not upon the Altar of Brass lest the Israelites should think that their own Sacrifices of Sheep and Oxen did help them but upon the Serpent of Brass to let them perceive that it was the Sacrifice of Christ that healed them Beside could a Statue of Brass endure more injuries than were laid upon the tender body of our Saviour Could an Anvile sustain more stripes and blows When Job began to sink under the pressure of his afflictions says he Is my strength the strength of stones Or is my flesh of brass He was a man that had the courage to suffer much yet he had not a brazen body infirmity made him sink and wish for death but Christ endured for our sakes as a man of brass I pray God we have not hearts of steel that do not consider it Above all the Prophets Isidore doth well to call Jeremy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most passive of
miracle was acted It was a waste in the borders of Edom a nameless and a barren piece of ground unprofitable to bring store into the barn but profitable to yield some pious meditations it is the wilderness There was no place that received Israel where some memory or monument of Gods mighty hand was not left behind in Egypt in the Red Sea in Moab in Basan in the Wilderness But this last put them to the greatest trial it was ilium malorum sorrows that met them single elsewhere rusht all upon them in the Wilderness There they suffered war and weariness thirst and hunger plagues and mortality And though they called for redress they had none only they had a cure for the biting of the fiery Serpents So in this Pilgrimage upon earth all manner of offences and afflictions are familiar unto us and though we fast and pray they shall not be taken from us No man must look for comfort or plenty or pleasure in a Wilderness Let it suffice for all that we have a remedy against the venom of the Serpent against the deadly sting of sin For if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is our propitiation not that we should not be afflicted but that we should not perish but have everlasting life I will make one question to the Point that I may give many answers Wherefore was so great a deliverance obscured in the Wilderness where the world could take no notice of it As the Disciples pressed our Saviour to go into Judea that men might see his works If thou do these things shew thy self to the world Joh. vii 4. So had it not been better that the most frequented Cities had been spectators of this wonderful power of healing And was not the Wilderness a little too secret for the fame and publication of it I answer first that is not the vogue and acclamation of the world that the God of sanctity aims at but the faith of the Elect. The fewer that saw these wonders the happier for them that believe and never saw them Many works of the Lord are not necessary to be seen of all but to be believed of all and for the greatest mysteries all must believe though the eye did not nay though it cannot see them Secondly Because the making of this Serpent by Moses had a typical drift in it to set forth Christ we shall not see him more like himself than if we go forth to find him in the Wilderness thither the Spirit led him forth to be tempted and he fought against the Devil so strongly in those Lists that he vanquished him by his innocency Adam in horto superbus Christus in deserto humilis Adam was accommodated with too much pleasure where the Serpent enticed him therefore the second Adam pitch'd his battel in a Desart of a contrary condition It was a Land uncomfortable for solitariness neither fountains nor fruits in it nothing but penury where Satan was overcome but it was a garden drest and delicate filled with all manner of store where he got the victory But is it not better to be humble with Christ in a barren Desart than to be proud with Adam in a delicious Paradise Fight against the Tempter upon the same advantage that our Captain chose Meet him not where pleasures abound meet him not in the Garden but in the Wilderness Come my beloved let us go forth into the field let us lodge in the Villages Cant. vii 11. There is much contagion in the communication with the world therefore the Beloved is invited rather to some harmless privacy Fuge seculi mare naufragium non timebis says St. Ambrose Sail away into some little stream leave the Ocean of ungodliness which is in the most frequented places and you shall not fear shipwrack Our Saviour made himself often a stranger unto this world and retired into a Mountain alone or into the Wilderness Quasi in mundo extra mundum ageret To teach us to live in this world as if we lived without it When we find our selves infected with the conversation of Court or City it is the Wilderness we must fly to a retiring to a private reckoning between God and our selves if we mean to be cured of Serpents We had need of longer Vacations than Terms more rest to pray and repent than stirring days to get wealth that we may ask God forgiveness at leisure for those sins which we did commit in our business Come ye apart into a desart place and rest awhile says our Saviour to his Apostles Mar. vi 31. All cannot receive this saying you will reply all have not the opportunity to come out of the croud some there are whose worth and dignity keeps them always in action To these I say as our Saviour prayed for his Disciples I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil Joh. xvii 15. Says St. Cypriaen Etsi omnes diversorium non capiat loci animi tamen omnino necessaria est solitudo All men cannot must not cast off care the Church and Republick cannot spare their company that they should sequester themselves into remote places O but let not the heart lose that happiness which is denied unto the body I may be vacant to good meditation in the midst of troubles I may stand before men as my Calling requires and be alone with God Pious Meditation which will not mix with any secular thing is like an hermitage to the soul Like a Wilderness wherein I have leisure to look stedfastly upon that Serpent who is the cure of Serpents and the Balm of Gilead Lastly for the time breaks me off that I must conclude there is no place more open or common in the world than a Wilderness There the Image of the Serpent was fixed as a publick benefit which was prohibited to none that would look upon it They that stood nigh they that were far off it was indifferent to both if they beheld it stedfastly So Christ crucified is alike unto all that believe and call upon him to Jew and Gentile to high and low to Rich and Poor to the generations that are passed to us that are further off and to the Generations that are yet to come Let it not trouble you that the Brazen Serpent was lifted up in the midst of the Camp of Israel as if it only served for the Latitude of that Meridian It fell not to their lot in Canaan or in Jerusalem but in the Wilderness which was every mans soil and every mans possession Therefore the root of Jesse is called an Ensign of the people to which the Gentiles shall seek Isa xi 12. All have their part in this Ensign the banner of our Victory Christ exalted that will seek unto him Crux Christi mundi est ara non templi says Leo The Cross of Christ was an Altar yet not a private
of nothing doth it not appear much easier to him to joyn them together again in one substance when they are separated Finemque potentia coeli non habet superi quicquid voluere peractum est To expound that Heathen Poet by our Heavenly Poet Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in heaven in earth in the sea and in all deep places He that will consider how every day is renewed after the night hath overcast it by the dawning of a new morning how every year is renewed after the cold and darkness of Winter by the return and advancement of the Sun how the naked Trees reflourish by the Vegetative vertue of the Spring how Flies and Moths and the brood of the Silk-worm have no motion no quickness no token of life in them for many months together and yet instantly quicken again when the warmth of the Sun beams do cherish them Finally to end in that chief instance for the Scripture hath made it so how the seed of Corn falls into the ground and dies and then revives again and brings forth much fruit he that puts all this together rationally will more easily consent that it is not improbable that God will shew more wonderful signs of his workmanship in man being next under the Angels the beauty of all his Creatures An unwise man doth not mark this as the Psalmist said and a fool doth not understand it St. Austin says that Tully in his 3. lib. de Repub. disputed against the reuniting of soul and body His Argument was To what end Where should they remain together For a body cannot be assumed into heaven I believe God caused those famous monuments of his Wit to perish because of such impious opinions wherewith they were farced But to his slender Argument the body raised up shall have shaken off all malignancy of flesh and bloud which made it unfit for heaven And when it is become a glorious body why not a body inhabit heaven as well as a spiritual coelestial soul converse upon earth But Plato was more Theological than Tully and he taught very truly that souls could not remain separated for ever without their bodies And though he put not a reason to his opinion there is a very sufficient one Posse perficere materiam est animae hominis essentiale It is the essential difference for ought we know between the Spirit of a man and an Angel who is a spiritual substance that mans soul hath an aptitude a desire a natural reference to inform and actuate a body and so hath not an Angel Therefore it cannot be that this natural aptitude to dwell in flesh should be in it unto all eternity when it is separated from the body and never be satisfied Perhaps some will think that this labour may be spared to shew the possibility of a body to be raised from the dead for here is that power in act it is done it is manifested in Christ it cannot be controuled Whom God hath raised up Some have wondred at our Saviour for his Birth his obedience to his Parents his Poverty his Passion that he should humble himself so far but no man can take hold of any occasion to wonder why he should be raised from the dead and glorified so far It was conformable to the eternal justice of his Father to exalt him that had humbled himself so much Lowliness shall not always be left in the dust to be despised Therefore some of the ancient Writers make those words by Analogy to suit with Christ Psal cxxxix 2. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising And that of Micah in the same Key Chap. vii 8. Rejoyce not against me O mine enemy when I fall I shall arise Obedience and patience shall not be forgotten at last Every Valley that subjecteth it self under the mighty hand of God shall be exalted Jesus Christ though he was crucified through weakness yet he liveth by the power of God 2 Cor. xiii 4. Secondly Satan must make this restitution for the wrong that he had done to an innocent Death had dominion no further than sin did reign so that it was a most unjust usurpation in death to seize upon him who knew no sin the Devil set on his Instruments to kill our Lord and prevailed but Hell and the Grave must needs regorge that which they had so unjustly received That eternal Law which hath destined most several retributions to the pure and impure would not suffer that he should continue in death whose soul was pure and his body undefiled The Resurrection of us sinners is out of grace and mercy the Resurrection of Christ is out of merit and justice Both shall arise alike as St. Austin says Similiter surgent corpora quae dissimiliter orta sunt Christi Adami nostrum Bodies that were diversly framed and made as Christs and Adams and ours shall not rise after a divers manner but have the same kind of Resurrection Yet the excellency of the head is above the members for though the head and members are conformable in nature yet they are not in vertue Therefore I bring it home to my second reason that God is pleased in his loving kindness that we should overcome death but he consented to his own justice that Christ should overcome death for Satan must make restitution again because he had slain an innocent That is the second reason upon the main whom God hath raised up Thirdly As God hath turned the sting of death to our benefit so much more out of the Resurrection of his Son he hath given us a salve of consolation For if his humility and reproach were our blessing how much more his glory Death is two ways abolished first by the pardoning of our sins for it is now become the passage to heaven for all penitent sinners which before was the gate of hell for all transgressors Secondly It is much more abolished by the Resurrection evacuating all that mortality had caused by the restauration of soul and body into an integral composition We have three grand enemies combined together against us Sin and Death and Hell But through the happy victory of Christ of all these Enemies Death doth least harm and therefore of all our Enemies he is last destroyed Among the Heathen death was their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most amating terror that could be set before a man the reason for they knew neither how that loss should ever be repaired nor what entertainment their Spirit should find in another world when it was departed But God hath provided better things for us not to let us fluctuate in these fears and uncertainties Nay we are enlightened to know that the malediction which was in death is extinguished how that which was at first inflicted as an entrance into perpetual pain is now a rest from all our labours Rev. xiv Furthermore that it is a rest from sin for while we draw in our breath we suck in iniquity grace doth
mitigate our pronity to evil nothing but death will quite stop and repress sin in us the wisdom of God providing that as sin brought death into the world so death should utterly abolish sin out of the world So death dissolves the works of the Devil but the Resurrection dissolves the works of death It is the last thing that the Saints desire of God to be cloathed again With that request being heard they leave wishing and the end of all desires must be the crown and top of all felicity Finally to bring it home to the Person of Christ whom God raised up much was our benefit by his Death but much more by his Resurrection For lay these two in comparison together to be eased of misery and to be brought into a state of joy and gladness Is not the addition of some good thing more thanks-worthy than the taking away of some evil Why thus it stands with those two blessings which our Saviour obtained for us they are the words of St. Austin I think Sicut humiliatus est moriendo ut nos liberaret à malis ita glorificatus est resurgendo ut nos promoveret ad bona As he was humbled unto death to deliver us from the evil of death so he was glorified by rising again that he might bring us to happiness and glory And of this great work of raising up enough at this once this being the tenth of these Easter Festivals wherein I have spoken upon the same Argument and occasion before you Yet I have a little to add before I leave this first Point touching the Agent and the Patient God was the Author of this great work and Christ in his own body returned again to life whom God raised up May not the Power and Majesty of Christ seem to suffer in this that St. Peter says God raised him up For our Saviour did often give the Jews to know that he would raise himself again from the dead on the third day Destroy this Temple and I will raise it up again in three days Joh. ii 19. And without any Parabolical speech Joh. x. 18. No man taketh my life from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again Why then doth not the Apostle clearly attribute unto him that he was the Author of his own Resurrection Because he spake of his Humane Nature first impotently obnoxious to Passion and then powerfully restored to life The Omnipotent vertue to revoke the soul into the body again was in the Divinity of Christ not in his Humane Nature Therefore Christ declareth in those words of St. John that it is not in the power of man to reserve the soul in the body when the pangs of death are upon it but for his own part though deadly wounds should be gashed in his body yet he had power through the union of his Godhead to stay his life and not to lay it down Likewise it is far from the ability of man to re-unite his Spirit to his Flesh when it is separated but the Divinity of our Saviour kept personal union with the body in the Grave and with the soul when it is flown away therefore he could bring them together again to remain in incorruption the ancient similitude was As a man that draws a Sword out of a Scabbard holds the Sword in one hand and the Scabbard in another So the Soul was unsheathed from the body but the Divine Nature held personal union with them both And as the Weapon is fit to be put into the Case that held it yet it cannot sheath it self without the hand of the Ownor thrust it in So the Soul of Christ was restored again to the body not by any vertue or activity in the humane soul but by the Power of God Christ was made like unto other men in all things sin only excepted and re-made or raised up like other men Si homo non vicisset inimicum hominis non justè victus esset says Irenaeus The Enemy of man was overcome by a man else he would have clamoured that he was overcome by Power and not by Justice Therefore St. Paul to let us know that Christ was left in death as man to be raised up says he As by man came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead Him God raised up him that man Christ Jesus that was crucified the self-same body let me touch upon that and then I will go on to new matter The Resurrection of our Lord is the Samplar of ours that very same material Flesh that died was revived again in him and so it shall be in us The impious Socinians the last and one of the worst and most pestilent Sects that ever was in the Church teach that we are not bound to believe it as an Article of Faith that we shall rise again in our own bodies Why then the same dead shall not rise again for if they want one essential part and the matter is one essential part of our composition it is not the same man Matter is the principle of individuation or numerical distinction say the Metaphysicks And the old Pythagoraeans could not deny in their Paradox of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if one mans soul came by many transmigrations into another mans body it was another man But leave we the help of humane reason though that be strong on our side and come to Divinity All the Ensamples or Preludiums of the Resurrection both in Old and New Testament were of such as had life restored to them in their own body the Shunamites Child the Widows Son Lazarus the Brother of Mary and Martha the Saints that came out of their Graves in the holy City and Christ himself that came out of the Sepulchre And let any equal Auditor judge if Job were not an Anti-Socinian Job xix 26. Though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall behold for my self and mine eyes shall see and not another And is it not equity that the righteous in the same body wherein they have worshipped God they shall be glorified that the wicked in the same body wherein they have lusted after evil things they shall be punished I will name no Fathers to Patronize this cause for all concur with one voice that as God raised up Christ so he will raise us up in our own bodies With the Resurrection of our Saviour which I have handled hitherto in the first part of my Text there is adjoyned in the next place the Complement of his Resurrection the full weight and excellency of it having loosed the pains of death Solutis doloribus inferni having loosed the pains of hell so the vulgar Latine and I will now go over the divers interpretations of both readings The first which is the reading of our Translation is the right and best therefore I will begin with that First St.
Chrysostomes judgment upon it is that when Christ came out of the Grave death it self was delivered from pain and anxiety 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 death knew it held him captive whom it ought not to have seized upon and therefore it suffered torments like a woman in travel till it had given him up again Thus he But the Scripture elsewhere testifies that death was put to sorrow because it had lost its sting rather than released from sorrow by our Saviours Resurrection Secondly Cajetan understands by the loosening of the pains of death the undoing or taking off those penalties which he suffered in triduo mortis in those three days while he lay asleep in the Sepulchre But what penalties are those in his construction Why one thing irksom unto him was that the body and soul should be divided in sunder the other that the very place of hell to which his soul descended is in it self ordained for torment Et mora in inferno erat paena infamiae as another said any stay or delay in hell was a derogation to his honour and for the body resting in the Grave though then it have no sense of smart yet for that while it is sub mortis victoriâ imperio under the charge and Empire of death There is somewhat near to truth in this Exposition as I will manifest by and by and somewhat clean mistaken For all the sorrow and punishment of Christ was finished in his death that was the consummation of all his penal sufferings Wherefore his body was not kept in the Grave much less his soul made progress to Hell to bear any penalty revenge or sorrow for our sakes or to satisfie for our sins but to fulfill all righteousness to confirm our faith that he was truly dead and to captivate the Devil Therefore his Resurrection did not cut off or mitigate any sorrows which he sustained in death I cannot consent to Cajetan if he mean the contrary But if he take not sorrows in a proper signification but Metaphorically for the bands of death as the Syrian Paraphrast reads it Solvens funes mortis loosening the cords or twists of death so I think it to be the very marrow and true sense of the Text that God raised up his Son not Christ but God the sense continuing in the same person having loosened or unbound him from that death wherein he was detained three days But if it agree to the Person of Christ that he loosed the pains of death though it be a little violence to Grammer me thinks then thirdly it comes to this interpretation that Christ had paid you know that is solvere too he had undergone he had satisfied the pains of death or a most painful death So Beza says it may be taken here Dolores mortis pro morte dolorum The pains of death for a death full of pains even all that spight and malice could wreck upon him Andradius likewise in his defence of the Tridentine Faith agrees with Beza that Christ after he had given up the Ghost and paid the debt of Nature upon the Cross was acquitted or exempted from the sorrows of death that is from a death full of sorrows sorrows that were not only deeply impressed into the body as far as whips and thorns and nails could reach but exceeding anguish and pain of mind sighs and horrors that we can not conceive Thus far only we may peep into it that God was represented to him most â—ngry at our sins that He felt the malediction of his wrath lying upon him for our sakes especially that He was troubled to shed his bloud for so many ungrateful wretches that had no regard of it these were the sorrows of death that compassed him about but that He should put on the horror of our guiltiness so far and suppose himself to stand in our person at his Fathers Tribunal even to the forgetting of himself to the confusion of his reason to the pangs of desperation as if He felt hell about him whatsoever a grave and worthy Author says to this point upon my Text and in other places I draw my consent from it Exceeding sorrows both of body and mind gat hold of him but they were loosened and finished upon the Cross But will some man say why doth St. Luke speak of these in order after his Resurrection I answer that Christ satisfied the wrath of God to the full upon the Cross and paid that debt for which He was our surety to the utmost farthing Thereby He loosed the deadly sorrows yet it did not appear so well that He had loosed those sorrows till the time He rose from the dead therefore the victory over those sorrows being estated as it were in his rising again St. Luke ascribes it to his resurrection I have not spared you see to open this third and most common opinion unto you yet I rather satisfie my self in this Interpretation that as it was Gods work to raise up Christ so it was his act to loose the pains of death solvere i. e. irritum reddere all that the pains and sharpness of death could do was to divorce his Soul from his Body and God did frustrate and dissolve all that by uniting them again in the Resurrection And according to this true reading of the words which I have hitherto beaten upon the Expositions are easie and full of consolation full of consolation I say for neither could the Scripture say that the sorrows of death were all paid neither had it been possible for Christ to have got out of the Grave if there had been any one sin though the least in the world unsatisfied The other reading is strange to the Original yet admitted by all them that are bound even to the errors of the vulgar Latin Translation and often quoted and cited for great authority in some Controversies solvens dolores inferni having loosed the pains of Hell 'T is true that Irenaeus and some others of good credit of old do use the same and our Criticks tell us of one antient Greek Copy that concurrs with them and a learned Bishop of our own Church reconciles the seeming difference on this wise that by death in that place is meant not the first but the second Death the second Death you know is eternal punishment in Hell fire and in his opinion it comes all to one pass to say having loosed the sorrows of death and having loosed the sorrows of hell This will be examined by and by but first I will premise how some have blundered themselves in this reading St. Austin in that famous Epistle of his to Evodius propounds it though very faintly that it is not improbable that the Soul of Christ went into Hell in triduo mortis and carried away with him some that were there tormented and if none other were released yet at least Adam was If the Father can be expounded to mean that Christ blotted out the hand-writing against us harrowed Hell and
took away all power from it against penitent sinners and so preserved Adam and other just men from that place of torment his Judgment is right but if his Sentence be flat for the other meaning that any of the damned were redeemed of those pains that so he loosed the sorrows of Hell then we forbear to give him credit But you shall hear him in the right anon Secondly there are more than many that think they have found their so much contended for fire of Purgatory in my Text for neither the Schoolmen nor almost any other of the Church of Rome do take the word Hell in the Creed properly and litterally as they ought for the Hell of the Damned it is their Doctrine that Christ went virtually thither but not locally no in their common Tenent he descended but to the Limbus of the Fathers or to the place of temporal sorrows where some were deteined for a while for the satisfaction of some venial sins Therefore Bellarmine having laid his conclusion at first that Christ descended to the nethermost Hell afterward went from it and held with their common way that in his substantial presence he went at the most no further than Purgatory This Pill being commonly swallowed among men it purgeth this fancy out of divers of their Authors that Christ redeemed not the damned out of Hell but He released many by a Plenary Indulgence out of Purgatory This is nothing else but to make the Scriptures chime according to that idle conceit that runs in their brains And thirdly Aquinas shuts this opinion out of doors to take in another to wit that to loose the pains of Hell was to loose the pains of the Patriarchs and Fathers who were sequestred in a Receptacle of ease but not admitted into any joys of Heaven till Christ had first ascended but what pains had these that were to be mitigated if they lived in quiet refreshment and in no pain at all he answers that they were full of sadness and affliction of mind because their deliverance was so long stopt and Christ staid so long before He came in the flesh to release them But I rejoyn if they were in such a state as they describe dato non concesso they might be full of desire and expectation but without any molestation or anxiety All these opinions which I have rankt formost as they miss the meaning of the Text so neither are they right according to analogie of faith But the last Paraphrase of the words though it rove from the meaning of the Text yet it is sound according to analogie of faith 't is thus that Christ loosed the sorrows of Hell not as if ever He had felt the sorrows of Hell in himself and shook them off but He subdued Satan for our sakes and delivered us from those pains with which we should have been held and captivated And herein St. Austin speaks to this point most intelligently that it is easie to understand how these sorrows were loosed to set us free quemadmodum solvi possunt laquei venantium ne teneant non quia tenuerunt as the snares of Hunters may be untied not to redeem that which is caught but that they may never catch any thing No man will ever deny but that we may be as well delivered from that torment which is deserved as from that which is inflicted and to prevent the Devil that he should not tyrannise over us is to loose and break in sunder the fetters that he had prepared for us and enough to make us confess with David Thou hast brought my soul out of hell thou hast kept my life from them that go down into the pit The three headed Monster that fights against us is the strength of Sin and Death and Hell put together Sin must not reign Death must no more sever Soul and Body Hell must have no power to receive and torment us all these must be vanquished or else Satans Kingdom is not quite destroyed and Christ subdued them all but the greatest and most perfect Conquest that He made whereof we most triumph in this life is that He overcame Hell or loosened the sorrows of Hell For Sin doth remain in us here though the force be broken Death also prevails against our body though it shall be but for a time but here is the fulness of our Redemption and of Christs Victory that Hell is absolutely conquered and shall never lay hold of them that believe And I must go one step further with them that follow this interpretation wherein my judgment favours them for true Doctrine that Christ did locally go down into Hell when He loosed the sorrows of Hell for his Elects sake Christus inferos adiit ne nos adiremus says Tertullian Christ went into Hell that we might never come thither and Fulgentius is a great light to this Article of the Creed It was fit that the Son of God being without sin should descend as far as man had faln by sin and so He freed all the faithful of the world from the beginning to the end that they should never come thither I will fill the Scale with no more authorities than St. Austin's this is his Sentence it was convenient that Christ should descend into Hell to procure us freedom from Hell as it behoved him to die and to rise again the third day that we might not die for ever but rise from death Some that affect not this way of Christs local descending into Hell rejoyn thus that no man denies but Christ delivered us from the power of darkness and that He spoiled Principalities and Powers and made a shew of them openly but it is not certain by what means this was done by his Divinity or by his Humanity or both by the vertue of his Sufferings Death Burial Resurrection or by the real Descending of his Soul in that place nay one Lutheran Confession is not averse to think that He went thither both in Body and Soul in the very moment of his Resurrection I believe by the penetration of the gross body of the Earth they would bring in some succour to help forward their Consubstantiation The most equal way to try this is the express Letter of the Scripture the clearest exposition of the Apostles Creed and the greatest consonancy of reason The Testimonies of Scripture most firmly to be insisted on is Ephes iv 9. That he ascended what is it but that he first descended into the lowest parts of the earth I know this may well be expounded that Christ was humbled to be a man upon earth in the form of a Servant But if the learned and pious Fathers that were of old may be the Judges of the interpretation And who fitter the lowest parts of the earth are the nethermost Hell Beza hath cited a parallel place out of the Psalms to make these words of the Apostle agree unto the Incarnation of our Lord Psal cxxxix 15. My substance was hidden
and Man especially how to remake him and restore him again being consumed to ashes And therefore says Beda very well Mirati sunt discipuli de exiccatione arboris quia omnia ejus miracula antehà c erant ad bonum the Disciples did marvail exceedingly to see the Figtree cursed and wither away our Saviour did never meddle with any thing before but it was the better for him The Jews talkt of their priviledg to have one Prisoner let loose against the Feast and that was a sweet one the seditious Barabbas the true King of the Jews did let loose a Prisoner indeed against the Feast and that was holy Lazarus for this Miracle was wrought not long before the dolorous day of his Passion as you may see by the sequel of the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom as who should say this was but an introduction to make the world believe in that great sign which followed the resurrection of the dead Non est admirationi una arbor cum tota sylva in eandem altitudinem excrescit says Seneca no notice is taken of one tall Cedar when all Lebanon is full of the like so we do not spend much admiration now upon the raising up of Lazarus because many dead bodies arose and appeared in the holy City yet upon the first delivery of this man from the Goal of death having been four days dead it was a thing not heard of and a matchless Miracle Demetrius as he was a most devillish Statesman so this was one of his Maxims as bad as any whosoever they be that stand in your way cut them off it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like those things which must be granted in the Art of Geometry before they can proceed any further The High-Priests and Pharisees had got this godly Lesson from their Father the Devil and because all the world did stare upon Lazarus as upon the great work of Christ needs must they consult how to kill him Was there ever a more foolish Senate when they saw Christ could raise him again as oft as he pleased yet the Projectors of the Sanhedrim set their wits and their cunning how to put Lazarus to death O happy man if he do fall into their hands if Christ will give them leave to cut him off Four days together hath he been dead that God and his blessed Son may be glorified in his suscitation once already did he loose his life for the honour of his Saviour let him be tormented be imprisoned be crucified the second time for Christs sake and who was ever so happy as Lazarus to make one poor life serve for a couple of Martyrdoms indeed it were an hard case as St. Austin sets it down ut idem homo semel nasceretur bis moreretur to be born once and to die twice and therefore St. Chrysostom would mollifie the matter that at this time of four days sleep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was rather reposed in his Mothers Womb than in a Sepulcher but his condition in very deed was not pitiful but very fortunate to be born but once and to die twice for Gods honour But here is one question first and more will follow Was Lazarus stone dead as we say the Soul quite separated from the Body and the spirit departed or was it anima sopita but a Soul laid a sleep the functions being discharged from working for a time and no more If it were not so yet it is able to pose a man why Christ should say unto Mary and Martha non est infirmitas ad mortem this sickness is not unto death in the 4. verse of this Chapter to the Question afterwards to the Text in the first place The Scripture would be satisfied and so it shall Mors non imminebat ad mortem sed ad miraculum says Lira very well how shall I expound it to you the languishment of his sickness did not encroach upon him that death might close up his eyes for ever but to disclose a Miracle As Aristotle said he would have death called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the termination of life but not the end as if we liv'd only to die so this infirmity was not unto death as you would say to make it the end of the work but that God and his Son might be glorified To the Question then Totus Lazarus de monumento exit qui totus ibi non erat says St. Austin dead he was then and his Soul undoubtedly departed his Sisters that had tried their best for his recovery would not send him forth rashly to his Grave but that all conclusions whether any breath remained were first examined Nay should you take a living man and bind him with grave Cloths head and foot enough to smother him and lay him in a cold Rock of Stone so long in such sharp weather when after this time the High Priests had a Fire within doors in their Hall enough to starve him and let him want food four days enough to famish him I say though he had been laid in quick you would never more have heard of him till the general Resurrection and therefore Jesus said unto the Disciples plainly in verse 14. Lazarus is dead No Parable no figurative speech alas it was too true our Lord himself wept his friend Lazarus was departed Jesus said plainly Lazarus is dead Profundè mortuus sed altus est Christus in misericordiâ Christs mercy was deeper than the grave or he had never seen the day more Do not graceless Sinners the accursed seed of Cham do they not tremble at this says St. Austin Si amicus Christi moritur inimicus quid patiatur He is descended into the Grave whom our Saviour loved whither shall they go into what Bottom shall they be cast if there be a bottom whom he hates and refuses There is yet another Problem riseth up in this Text as well as Lazarus What say you to the Disciples that caught the words from our Saviours mouth as if Lazarus had been cast into a slumber our friend Lazarus sleepeth but I go to wake him I go to wake him What so far as Judea It is strange to think that the Disciples would believe a man went so far to raise up one that slept And yet when Christ spoke like a Divine they answered him like Physicians If he sleep he shall do well Utrumque verum Christus dixit Lazarus mortuus Lazarus dormit mortuus vobis dormit mihi all was true that Christ said both ways he spake good Divinity Lazarus is dead he was so dead to them that could not recover him Lazarus is asleep he was so no more than in a sleep to him that could restore him Do you not a little marvel that the Apostles should so misinterpret Christs meaning and take his words in at the left ear Why were they so slow to understand that to awake from
sleep was to rescue from the power of the Grave Blessed are these days Beloved to whom much is given the Book is unclasped the Mysteries are open we are now as well instructed that the dead shall rise again as that the Trees shall put forth in the Spring which stood upon the ground like withered trunks in the Winter Or that the day shall break in the Morning when it is but the first crowing of the Cock and darkness upon the face of the earth but until Christ was risen and ascended and that the Holy Ghost had filled them with an Evangelical Spirit the Resurrection from the dead was a language they understood not The ancient Church had a Ceremony to light but one Candle on the Altar on Easter Eve all the rest standing by it were put out to signifie that the whole faith of the Resurrection of the Son of God for that time was only in the Virgin Mary and in no other Apostle Fides explicita resurrectionis in solâ virgine remansit was a common opinion and surely the Resurrection from the dead was one of the latest Articles which was explicitly believed And at this time they were but ill prepared to make good Believers no face is well seen in a troubled water and no mystery of faith can sink in deep when the mind is fearful Alas say they Master spare thy self it is death for you and us to go into Judaea let Lazarus sleep his Sisters will be careful to awake him Fear is but an evil Counsellor There was resolution in our Saviour such as you might expect from the Lion of the Tribe of Judah And as when Syracusa was oppressed Dion bethought himself how he might safely attempt to succour them at length most generously broke off that demur Me de meipso consulere non decet pereuntibus Syracusanis It was too late to consult how he might save himself when his dear Countrymen the Syracusians perished So it was out of time to tell our Saviour of sparing himself when Martha was discomforted Mary wept Lazarus dead and gone let them take up stones to cast at him but first tollite lapidem take away the Grave stone that his friend may live again Like Homers bird that fed her young ones and was her self an hungry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So Christ like the loving Dam will hatch the young ones in the Shell yea in the Tomb though himself be taken Though it is sure they will shortly cry out let him be crucified yet will he come to Judaea and cry with a loud voice Lazarus come forth But as the stone is in the Plum so the most difficult question is inmost and now to be handled Four days the body of Lazarus lay without life and sense the soul was parted But where did the soul rest in quatriduo mortis What place had it to rest in for four days until it returned to the ancient habitation St Paul was wrapt into the third heavens there all knowledge is to be had all mysteries to be expounded and yet he knew not how he came thither whether in the body or out of the body he leaves it altogether uncertain And shall I tell you but a worm upon earth what became of another man when Paul in heaven knew not what became of himself Look among the bold conjectures of the Schoolmen and as the old man said of his Advocates who did rather puzzle him than instruct him in his cause Incertior sum multò quà m dudum The farther you go on with their Problems the further you are from resolution And so many places have they allotted to receive souls that Adrian may well make a doubt Animula vagula blandula quae nunc abibis in loca it is hard to say by their rules at which end of the Town a soul should go out to take a journey Origen would say that all souls were created fzrom the beginning of the world and are sent in their turns to take bodies upon them as God disposeth That the soul of Lazarus when it flitted out being to be presently united to the flesh again returned to the place where souls expected to be committed into bodies as if it were a new birth not a Resurrection This favours of Plato rather than of the Scripture and therefore I rather dismiss it as a Fable And yet it helps not much to say his soul was translated to the place where Enoch was first reserved and then Elias Enoch's translation was not as they imagine in a solitary Tabernacle where he was reserved by himself in the outward Courts of heaven for then was Adam in a better estate in Paradise God did make him an helper to keep him company Surely if Enoch were not among the blessed that did see God face to face he was more happy upon earth when he walked with God Gen. v. wherefore there was no such thing as recessus Enoch if these conjectures fail not What other Closet have they thought upon to hold the soul of Lazarus Why Infants which die unbaptized mark the argumentation who are charged with no fault but Original sin which in their Divinity is but the privation of grace that should have been conferred are allotted to a place called Limbus infantum where they are not in torment but are excluded from seeing the glory of God a punishment like unto their sin not of sense but of loss and privation Yea but how know you that Lazarus was unbaptized One of an holy Family much endeared to the love of Christ it were strange if he had neither gone out to John into the Wilderness to partake of the Baptism of Repentance nor could be so much beholding to the Apostles to give him the Baptism of Christ Shall I press it further The foreskin of his flesh was circumcised after the manner of the Jews and the Circumcised were in the Covenant as well as the Baptized What say you now Doth not Limbus Infantum smell of a forgery But what think you of the commodity of Purgatory thither run many of the later Expositors and say that the soul of Lazarus went before them Like the Quadrature of a Circle so is this cleansing Lake a thing of much discourse and no appearance As Geographers when they do not know what inhabitants possess a Country they fill the empty place with the Pictures of Lions and Tigers and wild beasts so the Papists not knowing what kind of coast this Purgatory is replenish it with hideous Ghosts and tormented Spirits But surely if Lazarus had been removed among those souls of little ease would Christ have delayed his comming to the fourth day Since the Schoolmen grant that the pains of Hell are no greater than those of Purgatory only that there is more comfort in these because they shall have a determinate ending Nay Martha was an unkind Sister and so was Mary that never spake for his deliverance from pain if these pains be so unsufferable Some
word of the power of Christ which coupled again those parts divorced the soul and body not by breathing a new life into the body but by breathing out a loud voice Lazarus come forth Such as had been but banished their Country in the days of Caesar the Dictator and were restored again by the grace of Augustus and Antony were called Charonitae as if they had been wasted back again into this world when they were quite extinguished Those Roman Potentates would be esteemed Gods of another world that could unlock a man from the fetters of banishment needs then must he be greater than the Kings of the earth whose authority can break the bars of death and bring the Prisoners forth from the captivity of corruption The Scythians says Lucian swear by these two Idols as the Gods of the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Wind and by the Sword Hic spirandi est autor ille mortis The one gives breath to live the other takes life away Now that which gives life and that which takes away life can be no less than a God say the very Scythians These heathen knew no more of Gods power than to give life and to take away life Had they known what it was to restore life again that would have been the chief power of divinity even in their estimation Majus est restituere quà m dare quantò miserius est perdidisse quà m omnino non accepisse It is more admirable to restore the soul again than to create it at the first because it is more miserable for the body to have lost a soul than never to have received it The great Clerks the Athenians could not tell what to make of the infinite power of the Resurrection It is pretty that St. Chrysostome observes upon them Acts xvii when Paul preached unto them and mentioned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Resurrection of the dead they thought this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had been a God the unknown God at whose Altar they did worship Evil men can abuse that which is good God can make good employment of that which is evil Death upon the first sin was named to be a punishment It is Meritoria in Martyribus and I may say Gloriosa in resurgentibus it is made an instrument of great reward unto the Martyrs and the passage to an Article of faith to believe in the Resurrection We call them that are dead in the Lord Abraham and Isaac and Jacob alas there are no such now Abraham dissolved into dust is no longer Abraham the soul cannot be called Abraham only the whole man both soul and body but so sted fastly do we trust the dead shall rise again Quod defunctorum animas nominibus suppositi appellamus says Thomas We speak of the dead as if they were now alive because they shall live again even as Christ spake to the corps of Lazarus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not as to a Corps but as to one living not as to one that was dead but as to ears that could hear Lazarus come forth And it is well says the Father that among all the Corpses in the dust Christ pickt him out by name as who should say now I will have none but Lazarus to come forth others shall appear in their time otherwise all the Legions of the dead had come to light and stood thick upon the earth from the East unto the West Indeed the souls under the Altar cry our Quousque Domine fain would they stand before him like Enoch and Elias so eager they are and vehement instantly to have tongues to speak and hands to hold up and knees and heads to bow as if they were not contented that their days to come for those things were days of eternity We shall meet together all in the same Livery cloathed with bodies of youth according to the measure of our Saviours Age Eph. iv Alexander out of a surly Magnificence Soli Antipatro Phocioni salutem scripsit in Epistolis never wrote in the top of his Letters I wish you long life and prosperity but only to Phocion and Antipater But God will direct his voice to every member of his Church one summon shall call forth Abraham and Isaac and all the world which at this time begins for a relish of faith but with this person alone Lazarus come forth And thus much for the first thing wherein the power of his Divinity appeared Mortuus excitatur a dead Man was raised Now that Lazarus after four days was raised that he which was bound came forth of the Grave is discourse for some other time Thus much only in a word upon the present occasion The next thing that you shall read concerning Lazarus after he was raised is this he sate at Supper with our Saviour in the second verse of the next Chapter Why behold the Supper of the Lord there is the next place where you are to meet with Christ after you are risen from your sins and the preparation of this Table to replenish your hungry souls with grace is as great a testimony of our Saviours Divinity as to raise up Lazarus Tu das epulis accumbere Divum it is the highest power of God which he confers to his Church upon earth to give them leave to meet together before the food of Angels As Manna melted away with the Sun-rising and new store fell upon earth the next morning which is a kind of Resurrection so you that have quenched Gods Spirit that have melted away his grace and let it putrifie for want of good employment this is the Morning this is the Season to gather a new Omer full that you may cherish and increase your faith Which that you may do c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION JOHN xi 44. And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths and his face was bound about with a Napkin THis is an Easterday Text notwithstanding that the party intreated of is Lazarus for as John Baptist was born a little before the birth of Christ and John was the Forerunner of his Nativity so Lazarus rose from death but a little before Christ rose and was the Forerunner of his Resurrection The Jews Passover was nigh at hand so you shall read in the 55. verse of this Chapter certainly it was not long before Christ the true Paschal Lamb was offered upon the Cross that this Miracle was done Feriâ sextâ ante Dominicam de Passione says one the Friday before Passion Sunday which is nine days past 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom he put them into admiration with this work before this great day of admiration came Nor have we a Praeludium only how our Saviour should conquer death in this Chapter but you shall resent and perceive some resurrection wrought upon every person that had interest in this story First the news of Lazarus death was brought unto Christ beyond
Jordan his Disciples being with him What did this advantage them why Mors Lazari cum Lazaro discipulorum fides surgit cum sepulto says Chrysologus Lazarus was translated from death to life and this did increase the Disciples faith which lay half dead before 2. Martha sollicits for her Brother and 't is strange that Christ came to Bethany on purpose for Lazarus sake and yet spent more time with Martha than with them all The case is plain says Theophylact 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alas her belief was near unto death almost quite gone and Christ came especially to quicken her with his grace that was Martha's resurrection 3. Her Sister Mary was a woful woman and she falls down in compassion about out Saviours feet St. Austin takes her to be the very same Mary that was the publick sinner which washt his feet with her tears and wip'd them with the hairs of her head Luke 7. whereupon he infers Maria peccatrix magis resuscitabatur quà m Lazarus Mary the Sinner was more revived when she was made a penitent Saint than Lazarus was when he was made a living man that was Marries resurrection 4. Here were divers Jews that came to comfort the two Sisters they were witnesses of this work and did glorifie God and believe Christ thanked his Father for it Whereupon says St. Ambrose Non unum Lazarum sed fidem omnium suscitavit it was a Resurrection day not for Lazarus alone but for the faith of all the multitude that were present whether they were the Disciples or Martha or Mary or the multitude of the Jews they had not been as they were if Christ had not made one in every part of the Miracle wherefore let us make a difference between them that came to gaze and them that came to believe a Miracle from the twelfth of this Gospel and the ninth verse The Jews came not only for Jesus sake but to see Lazarus also We come not together this day so much to see Lazarus reviv'd as to see the strength of Jesus above the power of death I have entred once before into this verse and the former both which rise up into two eminent heads like Tabor and Hermon First it is a work of great Dignity that 's one part and a work of great Divinity that 's the other part The Dignity consists in these two points First in that which Christ had spoken before when he had thus said and what was that he prayed unto his Father wherefore it is dignum oratione a work worthy of a Prayer for the preparation Secondly it is dignum proclamatione it was cried with a loud voice and fit to be publisht to all the world The Divinity appears in these three Circumstances 1. Exeat mortuus that a dead man was summon'd to appear 2. Exeat quatriduanus Lazarus after four days departure comes forth 3. Exeat ligatus he that was bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths and his face with a Napkin he comes forth of the Monument O strange Divinity the Sepulchers which were shut did open for Christ did call who had the key of David the dead who lay in silence could hear his tongue for it was the same voice which makes the Hinds to bring forth young ones the Body which lay putrified four days gave no offence in the smel Christ was at hand who is a sweet favour for us unto God the feet which were bound with Grave-cloaths could walk before him for in him we live and move and have our being Was not this work worthy of a Prayer was it not worthy of a Proclamation so far I have gone already as likewise into the first Circumstance of the Divinity that a dead man was raised up As Aelian says of the Sybarites that they invite their Guests to a Feast a just year before the day of the Feast so long is it since I promised you the dispatch of this Text and now I am come to perform it you see what remains for this hours employment the two latter Circumstances Quatriduanus excitatur Lazarus is raised up after he had been four days in the Grave and 2 ligatus excitatur it was he that was bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths and his face with a Napkin two strange parts of his resurrection not lightly to be passed over for to speak of a Miracle suddenly and in a word non dat lucem videntibus sed pavorem it is like lightning says one the flash that glides by of a sudden it may terrifie the eye but not enlighten it First of ille quatriduanus he came forth alive who had been four days asleep in the Monument It is hard to perswade death to part with any thing it hath gotten The Devil strove with the Angel about the Body of Moses think you that Death would not strive with Christ much more about the Soul of Lazarus what a Guest of four dayes continuance and let him go I may say to the Grave as the Prophet said to Ahab for letting Benhadad escape Why hast thou let a man go out of thy hand who was appointed to utter destruction Wherefore St. Chrysostom brings in Death to complain of this fact for a sore grievance on this wise Elias rais'd up a Child whose soul was departed for a time Elisha did as much likewise this I took for a violence done to nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but here 's a Conqueror that 's more violent than them both he takes a dead man out of my chaws who stinks and hath been four days in the Sepulcher The same Father replies again this is a small thing to raise up one from burial after four days do you complain of that what if he were putrified what if he were dry bones what if he were dust and clay yea what if that dust were converted into other creatures Adam shall be cloathed again with flesh Noah hath lived in two Worlds he shall live again in a third And according to the Basil Edition of the 72. Job was one of those that rose and appeared in the holy City unto many Matth. 27. Si attendamus quis fecit delectari debemus potiùs quà m mirari says St. Austin If we do but attend who it is that doth all these things we shall rather break out into a passion of Joy than into Admiration For Christ that died for us and rose again for our Justification he hath the Keys of Life and Death and therefore we shall not see corruption for ever Martha had a faith that God could raise up her Brother again and that He would do it if Christ would pray unto him I know even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God God will give it thee O Woman says Chrysologus thou art yet but of little faith Judex ipse est quem tu postulas Advocatum Wouldest thou make Christ thine Advocate to plead thy Cause Nay Comfort is nearer at hand he is the Judge whom thou
Paul and when we do those things which Nature her self is asham'd at and blusheth then we are dead the second day 3. God gave us a Law by Moses for the spark which he had kindled in nature was almost put out and it was time to dig that into stone which was worn out in flesh and he that violates the Law of Moses is dead the third day 4. Sin is grown strong by the Law Precept upon Precept made us the worse corruption in the soul is like an ill affected body it desires that most which is forbidden And therefore Christ gave us Legem Evangelii a short Lesson Repent and believe which is called the Law of the Gospel and if we violate that Law it is the fourth day of death and we begin to stink in the Sepulcher What an hard task hath Christ what a troublesome work have we put him to to diminish the power of original sin to rectifie the impairs and decays of Nature to satisfie for the Law but above all to mollifie a stony heart that will not believe to quicken an unrepentant heart this is dignus vindice nodus Martha and Mary sent to Christ when their Brother was sick to come and help now he had more need of Christ quatriduanus est this is the Parable of a sinner that will not believe the Gospel Help Lord and raise us up for who else can do it but the Lord Five Miracles you shall meet with in this Gospel of St. John four of which are recorded by no other Evangelist every one is greater than another but this is the Master-piece The first was turning of Water into Wine at Cana in Galilee Christ at the first conversion makes us quite other men than we were before cold water becoms warm and chearful wine 2. Follows the scourging of the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple that signifies contrition and compunction of the heart when theevish fancies such as steal away our soul are cashiered from the holy place 3. A man was healed at Bethesda that had been sick of an infirmity 38 years Custom in sin and want of devotion is a sore languishing sickness it is more to cure them than to cast the den of theeves out of the Temple 4. A man born blind was restored to his sight he that languished 38 years had enjoyed health before but he that was born blind was never better and it exceeded all the rest to dispel ignorance and blindness quando synteresis extincta est when the light of the conscience was quite put out But fifthly what talk we of sickness or blindness the dead man the Graves Tenant for four dayes dead by original sin dead by imperfection of nature dead by disobedience to the Law dead by unbelief and want of faith in Christ dead four days is raised up Tollite lapidem says Christ away with the stone removete legis pondus gratiam praedicate away with the burden that lies heavy upon him preach grace and remission of sins unto him and he shall live Behold another Moral of the same Authors in the Sermons de tempore if they be St. Austins Sin when it is made very sinful grows up by four degrees titillatione consensu facto consuetudine 1. By delighting in the suggestions of sin not but that suggestions of sin are sin but I speak of the growth of sin and not the root 2. By consenting to those delights 3. By committing the evil whereunto we consented 4. By continuing in the custom of delight and consent and committing evil Delight is the rotting of the seed in the ground Consent is the blade Commission of evil is the grown fruit Custom is the root that fastens it to the ground the seed may quickly be pickt up the blade may be blasted the fruit may be cut down but the root lies deep hidden you must plow and turn up the earth and dig deep before you can get it out In the 3 former parts the waves of ungodliness are coming up but custom is the inundation of iniquity the stream that goes over our head It was said of one Mandrabulus that the Oracle of Apollo pronounced against him that he grew worse and worse For out of a thankful mind for all his happiness received the first year he offered up a Gold Cup he repented him of his cost and the next year it was a Cup of Silver yet he thought he was too bountiful and the third year it was a Boul of Wood the fourth year he thought he had been thankful enough and gave just nothing Now says Apollo is Mandrabulus as bad as He can be So the heart which pleaseth it self with vicious cogitations is much corrupted yet God may still have the better part The heart that makes a bargain with Satan to do injustice is half the Devil 's yet the Body is not defiled with the act The body also may be an instrument of uncleanness then the heart is even lost and gone yet it may detest the fact and return unto the Lord. But when custom hath as it were sealed the Covenant to the Devil and delivered up the Deed the case is very desperate all the heart is in the enemies hand Lazarus is under a Grave-stone four days Difficilè surgit quem moles malae consuetudinis premit he will hardly swim above water again that is cast into the bottom of the Gulf with a Milstone of evil custom about his neck Yet Christ can quicken him as he did Lazarus I do not deny it but let no man treasure up sin as it were to prepare himself to repent of such a mass of iniquities but let no man dispair of that repentance if frailty have overtaken him If you feel your self incline to presume of repentance says St. Austin oppose against it the uncertain hour of death if you feel your self incline to despair of repentance oppose against it the abundance of grace Moderation is the best When sin doth post from delight to consent from consent to act from act to custom yet after four days says Christ Lazarus come forth So much of that circumstance Lazarus quatriduanus that being four days dead he was raised up to life It follows to be considered Lazarus ligatus he was bound hand and foot with grave-cloaths and his face with a Napkin He was laid like a pledge in the grave and bound for security Christ was willing to release him some bonds he cancelled himself and some he left to be untied by others As for the bonds of death God did bind them and unloose them as for the bonds of the grave-cloaths let them unknit them that made the knot God did unty that which God bound let men unty their own work and then they are sure there can be no deceit As if our Saviour had said I know you will say of Lazarus as you did of the man born blind This is not he Will you deny it But here is your own
bond can you deny that Is not this Lazarus See but what infirmity Christ pretended in the beginning of this work and how powerfully it ended Jesus wept in the 35 verse as if it were a pitiful case indeed but he could not help it He asked where they had laid him Lord dost thou ask for the grave which was hard by and yet knowst thine own self no man told thee being two days journey from Bethany that Lazarus was dead Then he ask'd for help to take away the stone Debile initium miraculi a weak beginning God knows how should we expect that he should open the gates of Hell that with a word doth not command the Sepulchers to open Doth this offend you What and if you see not only a dead man after four days raised to life but also to walk before you when his feet and hands were bound As if he moved like an Angel rather by the will of his own Spirit than by bodily instruments This was the conclusion of the Miracle and whatsoever the beginning was the end was admirable As Samson went away with the Pin and the Web Judg. xvi 14. which were tied to his hair whatsoever Delilah bound him with still he walked So Lazarus went away with his bonds as if he had triumphed over death and carried the Ensigns away that is the grave-cloaths with him Peters Chains fell off from his hands and so he avoided the imprisonment of Herod Peter thought so strangely of this to walk when his fetters were off that a great while he wist not it was true that was done but thought he saw a vision What did Peter think of Lazarus then For he was one that stood by His eyes were blindfold that he could not see his way the hands are the blind mans Candle and serve to feel out the way and they had Manicles The feet had Shackles that should tread the way Yet as if he had flown out of the Grave rather than walked Lazarus came forth he was in the Sepulchre shortly to be brought forth as if he had been hatching in his mothers womb rather than in a Cave of interred men He was says St. Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like a babe new born wrapt in swadling clouts rather than like one in a winding sheet But when he walk'd without the use of feet or hands he was like Paul wrapt up into the third heavens whether in the body or out of the body he knew not It is a great comfort unto us says Irenaeus that Lazarus came forth cap-a-pe the same man that he was laid in the Grave nothing altered about him Igitur eâdem animâ eodem corpore sumus resurrecturi it shall be our own body it shall be our own soul in the Resurrection no substances newly created Lazarus could best speak for the soul that it must be his own because his former fancy and remembrance still remained And his Sisters could speak for the body they knew what they had foulded up and what they found when they had unfoulded it And therefore some think that it was unto Martha and Mary that Christ spake in the end of this verse Loose him and let him go When Elias raised up the Son of the Widow of Sarepta to life he gave him to his Mother when Elisha restored the Shunamites Child to life he gave him to his Mother when Christ raised up Lazarus from the Grave he puts him into the hands of his Sisters that they may unty what they had bound before nay when he rose from death himself he appeared first to Mary Magdalen What is the reason that at every turn the women had the Resurrection first declared unto them Because they did first occasion death therefore to shew that by faith they were excusable of the fault they had the first news of the life of them that rose again Lord says Martha if thou hadst been here my brother had not died She put all the fault upon the absence of Christ Nay woman says Chrysologus Nisi tu fuisses in paradiso If thou hadst not been in Paradise thy brother had not died But Lazarus is bound that you may unty him and give him breath who first did stop his breath by eating the forbidden fruit Exiit ligatus he came forth bound Lazarus was not glorified in body by this Miracle as the Saints shall be yet here you shall see one of the properties of a glorified body and they are reckoned up to be four by the Schoolmen Claritas incorruptibilitas spiritualitas motus agilitas 1. There shall be an exceeding brightness in those bodies as our Saviours body shined so white at the Transfiguration that no Fuller could make a thing so white 2. They shall be incorruptible Summer and Winter Fire and Sword could do them no violence as Christ said unto Mary Touch me not 3. They shall not be gross like our bodies and sustained with meat It is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body 4. It shall be nimble in motion like an Angel flying as Philip did from Gaza in the Desart to Azotus suddenly gliding upon the wings of the wind not depending upon feet as we do and to prefigure this property in a glorified body hereafter Lazarus came forth bound The vulgar Translation puts in a word to make the Miracle more strange Statim exiit that Lazarus came instantly forth without delay though his feet and hands were bound and his face with a Napkin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Nonnus he came not out like one that was shackled and halted because of his impediments he ran swiftly before them all For Christ useth not to do his work lamely and by halves St. Chrysostome makes this comparison As a horse and his Rider listen at the Race when the word shall be given and take it at the first syllable to be gone So says he as soon as Christ had but said Lazarus come forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he started out like the horse at his game and came on with speed and chearfulness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like one that watch'd the Sepulcher rather than the Corps Chrysologus brings in the Devil who is the Jaylor of death wonderfully amazed that our Saviour called for a dead Corps and makes him to speak thus Let him have the man he calls for let him have him bound hand and foot if he will let us not stay so long as to unty the knots make no delay Ne dum tardius unum referimus omnes cogeremur afferre lest while we prolong the time to restore one dead man he should call unto the Graves to restore them all As Luther called upon the Pope at first to have but one error amended concerning indulgences and while he trifled and hung off to do that Luther cried so loud that he caused divers Churches most happily to mend twenty more So death hastned away Lazarus being bound lest if he staid more would follow him As the
come unto the Sepulcher it was for the consolation of their Antecedent grief It was to shew them a difference between their bringing forth a child to life and Gods resuscitating our dead bones It was expedient to have a testimony from such harmless Witnesses And Mary Magdalen is supereminently named above them all for she was a most contrite penitent and Christ died for their sins and rose again for their Justification It is my course now according to the Propositions of my Text to remove forward to the meditation of her love which was so constant even after death that she came unto the Sepulcher of our Lord. A faith though it be never so weak never so languishing yet it will produce some effect which is worth the noting For instance as I cannot maintain but there was a defect in this womans faith so according to that little faith no man shall deny but there was a great deal of love As concerning faith it is apparent that she mistook the Scriptures in two things First that she thought to find Christ's body in the Sepulcher as if it were possible he could be held of death longer than the third day The Angel gave an item to the women that their coming was a vain labour Why seek ye the living among the dead Remember what he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee He did foretel it so expressively how he would rise from the Grave after three days that all his enemies took notice of the saying but those women were hard of belief or else they had forgot it Secondly It was Maries error and common to all her Partners to bring Spices to anoint our Saviours body the other Evangelists express that they came with such preparations purposing to apply them to the Corps that it might not putrifie It seems they understood not David Thou shalt not suffer thine holy One to see corruption It was not thought upon as it fell out that the flesh of Jesus was not like ours which is rank and sinful his was pure and undefiled which had never deserved to suffer rottenness and putrefaction And they ignorantly come to the Sepulcher with Spices to embalm him that his body might not be polluted But is there no way to excuse this forgetful and deceived faith It is a good mixture of praise and dispraise which a certain Author puts together It was an error not to be defended to think that Christ was held of death and lay still in the Sepulcher but because the custom to anoint dead bodies was an assured hope that the flesh should rise again to immortality therefore setting their particular error aside touching the person of Christ in general their respect was full of faith and honour and devotion toward the Resurrection of the body which general notion of so good an Article of faith won them pardon for this particular incredulity But I said before concerning this little faith no man must deny but she shewed a great deal of love As Thomas noted into what danger our Saviour imbarked himself when he told his Disciples Lazarus is dead and we will go unto him Let us also go and die with him says Thomas So there was Souldiers abroad to watch the Sepulcher Spies in every corner from the High Priests to mark who did confess and honour our Saviour to go to his Tomb was in effect to say let us go and die with him we care not for our lives True love esteems it sweet to suffer for his sake to whose memory their affection is constantly devoted And why did she address unto the Sepulcher A stone was rouled upon the mouth of the Grave and it was sealed with Pilates Seal she could see nothing but she drew near to that which she loved to see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostome It did her good to walk in that Garden where the body of the Son of God was laid such a Garden which inclosed him who was the Flower of Jessai saies the Prophet This was a Paradise to overmatch that Garden which was once in Eden by how much the second Adam risen here from death to life was better than the first Adam who fell there from life to death This was such a place as could not chuse but strike her with reverence as Moses stood before the bush which burnt with fire and the bush was not consumed so Mary came to stand before the Sepulcher where that divine body lay the first fruits of them that ever rose from the dead the Spear had entred his heart the whips and thorns had torn his flesh yet by his own power he lived again the bush was not consumed Think with thy self if thou wert now kneeling by that Cave of the earth where thy Saviours body lay what abundance of tears it would make thee shed for thy sins What a desire of heaven it would beget in thy soul What a contempt of this loathsom earth I do ever rise up from those relations which I read or which Pilgrims make of those places with a mortified heart Certainly Helen the Mother of Constantine St. Hierom and Paula made an admirable use to enflame their zeal by frequenting this very place which Mary did And my knowledge and Religion are in a dream or else Devotion without superstition is the most heavenly thing in the world We come into the Capitol sayes Tully only to please our eyes with looking upon that Bench in the Senate where the renowned Orator Crassus was wont to sit So Mary Magdalen came with a resolved opinion that it would give her great consolation to come near that place where Joseph had interred her Saviour St. John's History is brief and hath made him omit this clause of the Story remembred in St. Luke That they came with Spices which they had prepared with sweet spices that they might anoint him says St. Mark Why Joseph and Nicodemus had bought an hundred pound weight of Myrrh and Aloes and wrapped them with the body of Jesus was not that enough Pardon them if they over-do their part Amor non credit satis esse factum nisi ipse faciat says one cordial love thinks all is not done that should be unless it self be at the doing This chargeable spicing and anointing the dead was in use among the Gentiles for so they interred their deceased friends who are men of renown and Nobility So the Greek Poet reckons this Ceremony in the Funerals of Patroclus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Virgils Misenus Corpusque lavant frigentis ungunt Donatus the Grammarian gave no other reason but this Ut cadavera mortuorum citiù◠flammam conciperent To make the Carkasses consume to ashes the faster when they were put upon a pile of wood to be burnt Although others gather out of the Heathen that they esteemed it Piety to wash away all filthiness from the Câ—rpses of the deceased and the Officers that took the care of such things were called
Hell and to all Judaea that the Son of God about that instant as I do verily believe did break the gates of Brass and smite the bars of death in sunder It was heard to heaven and the Angel came down at his qu as soon as ever that triumphal sign was given wherein I have given you my opinion and not mine alone but of sundry others that the coming of the Angel was not a cause but a consequent of the Earthquake Tremuit terra non quia Angelus descendit de coelo sed quia ab inferis dominator ascendit The ground trembled not because the Angel descended from above but because the Conquerour ascended from beneath And I know not a prettier diversion in all the Scripture to put off that which might be expected than this is Who would not look that the story should run thus Behold there was a great Earthquake for Christ arose from the dead But the Holy Ghost to keep that Circumstance out of our knowledge at what time he arose did divert it in this manner Behold there was a great Earthquake for the Angel even at that instant and occasion came down from heaven And as heaven did partake of this noise when the earth was moved so I doubt not but the horror of it went down to Hell and troubled the Spirits that abide in chains of darkness for ever In all likelihood this great body of the world did quake from the Superficies to the Center of the Earth And Luther was possessed with this pious credulity that in this Earthquake the ground was parted with a large Hiatus from the Sepulcher to Hell and in the moment of that concussion of the ground our Saviour arose to life descended visibly to Hell made shew of his Resurrection there that Satan and Death were under his feet and presently came out of the Pit which could not shut its mouth against him As Luther may enjoy his own conjecture so thus far we may concur that the terrour of the Earthquake did penetrate to the Kingdom of the Devil And how far the Inhabitants of Judaea were affrighted at it it appears in the most couragious in the band of Souldiers who were tumbled to the ground at the noise like the stone which was rouled from the mouth of the Sepulcher and no marvel for St. Hierom either by his own perswasion or by tradition delivers that the rumbling of the earth was so great Vt cuncta concuteret eversionem terrae funditus minaretur That it josselled every thing together and threatned the subversion of this Universe To what end have I amplified it thus far but to make you conceive it fell out immediately through the wonderful hand of the Almighty Philastrius in his 54 Heresie enrolls it for an Heresie Si quis terram moveri putet naturaliter If any man shall say that an Earthquake comes to pass by naturall causes there he went beyond the Line for it appears evidently in Philosophical inquisitions that exhalations and hot air may be instrangled within the bowels of the earth and seeking a way for a larger room or else to get forth it breaks out with a terrible violence and removes some parts of this heavy Element To deny this were to put out the eye of reason Yet in this Earthquake that pertains to my Text I assent that there was no preparation of natural causes to produce it For just when our Saviours soul went out of the body at his Passion and just I think at the moment when his soul returned again into the body at the Resurrection the earth was smitten in a wonderful manner that the world might take notice that the like was never heard or seen And as I do resolutely conclude This motion of the Earth was supernatural so I hold off from the usual opinion that the Angel was made Gods instrument of the execution the manner the consequence of it so great that I am perswaded it was immediately the work of Christ himself Leo cubile in quo habitat tremere fecit says Chrysologus rationally and elegantly The Lion rouzed himself up from sleep the Lion of the Tribe of Judah roared and made his own den to quake Inferiour operations are committed to the Creatures the chief abide in God When Lazarus was raised from the dead says Christ to the Disciples Take ye away the stone and afterward being come forth of the Cave Do ye loose him and let him go So the Angel was an actor in the noble work of this day to roul away the grave-stone to dismay the Souldiers to comfort Mary Magdalen and the other women to preach the mystery to all But it was Christ himself that shook the ground from the Superficies to the Center this Ecce this Behold me seems bids us behold how it came from God and not from his Minister the Angel and behold there was a great Earthquake I remove forward to that which is more useful to be taught from the efficient to the final cause for what purpose was this great trembling and concussion of the earth at the Resurrection of our Saviour I will set forth six reasons First it makes us conceit that there was a great strugling and a combate between Christ and Death Death was brought unto the Bar impleaded before Almighty God divested by just judgment from all power found guilty because the guiltless and innocent was slain It was permitted to seize upon us Prisoners But it spared not the Judge himself which is Christ We that are slaves and servants were put under the dominion of it and Death presumed to offer violence to our Lord it was suffered to rage against men and it was bold to assault God Death according to the great Doom was the wages of sin how justly is the yoke of its tyranny broken when it became the murtherer of righteousness But how hardly would it lay down the authority which it had so long usurped over all mortal flesh So many Patriarchs so many Prophets Quo Tullus Dives Ancus so many Princes and Kings whose bodies crumbled into dust and their ashes were never made whole again and when this Law which had so long continued was to be broken what could be expected but that the earth would groan and struggle against the Resurrection When I speak of Death you know that I mean the Devil who had the power of death he had deluded himself with this fallacy Cruce vivus non descendit quomodo sepulchro mortuus ascendet Christ came not down from the Cross when he was alive how will he be able to come out of the Grave when he is dead He that had so much cunning was best able to deceive himself but with what resistance and murmuring the Prey was taken out of his mouth it is best set down thus briefly instead of a large description Behold there was a great Earthquake Secondly It betokens what noise and tumult there shall be in
of Christ the other at his Resurrection Terra quae in passione concussa fuerat horrore jam prae gaudio exilire videtur The whole Land of Judaea did quake with horror when he hung upon the Cross but it danced for joy when he rose out of the Grave so I have rendred the fifth reason The Sixth is Allegorical and thus in brief that our hearts must be shaken and inwardly troubled with compunction and repentance before we believe stedfastly in the Resurrection of Jesus Peter preacht and they that heard him were prickt in heart and said to him and to the rest of the Apostles Men and brethren what shall we do There was an heart-quake before they believed Paul and Silas prayed and sung praises to God and suddenly there was a great Earthquake then the Jaylor came in trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and said Sirs what must I do to be saved Here was an heart rent and torn a commotion in his conscience greater than an Earthquake and then he believed When Eve took and eat the forbidden fruit says an eloquent Father there was no Earthquake no horror to affright her O that the Palsie had possess'd her fingers O that her teeth had chattered that she might not have eaten but vitiis semper serviunt blandimenta All was hush and still nothing but fair allurements do minister to our vices But at Christs Resurrection the sound of an hideous noise was fierce and terrible to the ear Virtutibus austera fortia sunt amica Harsh and austere occurrencies are best agreeable to vertue Roul the thoughts of your heart up and down like a tempestuous Sea if you mean to make a fair voyage to heaven the commotion of a troubled spirit will breed eternal peace As Paul was smitten down before he believed so faith must be beaten into us with violence and therefore behold there was a great Earthquake at the Resurrection of Jesus Unto the motion of the Earth I conjoyn the next circumstance of my Text which I called the motion of the heaven it were like Copernicus his fancy in Astronomy to think that the Earth did only move and the Heavens stand still at the operation of this Miracle No the everlasting doors were set open and the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven Here is one Keeper more than the Jews look'd for about our Saviours Sepulchre one more than Pilate appointed One mighty Prince of that supernal Host whose countenance was able to daunt a Legion of the best Roman Souldiers perhaps there was a multitude with him to celebrate the Resurrection as there was a multitude that appeared in the fields of Bethlem to rejoyce at his Nativity But this Angel I may say determinately was one of the most royal Spirits that stand before the face of God for ever To make short I will not defer to give my reasons presently how sweetly the eternal Wisdom did dispose to let an Angel shew himself openly both at this place of the Grave and upon the celebration of this great day First Those ministring Spirits had been attendants upon all the parts of our Saviours humility and reason good they should be occupied upon all occasions of his exaltation and glory Since we read of Angels that gave all diligent attendance at his birth the holy Spirit of God knew that men would look for their company at the Resurrection I mean that we who know him now by faith would expect their mention upon this occasion in the Book of God Besides his Resurrection is a birth not called so because of a resemblance how man is brought to life out of the womb of his mother in natural Generation but properly in it self according to the phrase of Scripture Acts xiii 33. For Paul preaching at Antioch that God had fulfilled his Promise in raising up Jesus again says he As it is written in the second Psalm thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee So that these Phrases it seems are equivalent this day have I raised thee up from the dead and this day have I begotten thee And surely as a Father of our own Church says very well the news of his birth if God had so pleased might well have been brought by a mortal man it was but the entrance into a mortal life But the news of his Resurrection do become the mouth of an immortal Messenger because it was an entrance into life immortal Secondly The women came out of doors to embalm Christs body with a great deal of confidence they never thought how many difficulties were in their way and such difficulties as could never have been mastered if the Angel had not been sent to facilitate all things for them They mind not how the High Priests would excommunicate all those that professed to believe or do good to our Lord and Saviour they came to touch a dead body which was pollution by the Law they stand not upon that The Sepulcher was guarded with Souldiers who would permit none to come near it they would try that The Grave was sealed with Pilates perhaps with Caesars Seal which none must cancel on pain of death they would venture that The Grave-stone was exceeding heavy as much as twenty men could move says Nicephorus and barred strongly with Iron and they were out of doors and far on their way before they thought of that then they ask Quis removebit Who will roul us away this stone As who should say God will send us some assistance in so good an enterprise we will put on and hope for that and the Lord to make their Pilgrimage prosperous sent an Angel from heaven to remove away the stone Scipio Africanus besieged a City in Spain well fortified every way and wanted nothing and no hope did appear to take it In the mean time Scipio heard many causes pleaded before him and put off one before it was ended to be heard three days after and being asked by his Officers where he would keep his next Court he pointed to the chief Cittadel of the besieged City and told them he would hear the Cause there in that space he became Master of the Town and did as he had appointed He was not more confident to enter into a City rampar'd against him by his valour than these women were to enter into a Sepulcher by faith sealed and shut up but the Lord is present with couragious attempts and he sent his Angel to assist them Thirdly This shewed says St. Chrysostome that he who had been buried there was God as well as man Cum ad sepulchrum tanquam in coelo ubi Deus habitat assisterent for Angels were as officious at the Sepulcher as they use to be in heaven which is the throne of God If men be laid in their Tomb the worms attend them corruption goes to corruption But the body of Christ even when the soul had left it was still united in one person with the Godhead
Howsoever it was charm'd by Gods protection that man should not meddle with it a celestial Minister turn'd it aside from the mouth of the Pit A Cherubin in the Old Testament shut up Paradice and stopt the way of joy against us An Angel in the New Testament opens the Graves of sorrow He came and rolled back the stone from the door 'T is certain that the Scripture gives no reason why the Angel did it but this was one end to declare the truth of the Resurrection for after the Stone was cast aside says he Come see the place where He was laid He is not here It is not from the power of man but from Angelical help from Divine grace that we are led into the knowledg of the mysterie of the Resurrection The Law of Moses says one was written in Tables of stone and therefore was likened unto a Stone a Milstone which if Christ did not bear off the weight would grind us to powder Now the comfort of Redemption in Christ his Passion Resurrection Ascention the Coming of the Holy Ghost are mystically delivered in the Old Testament but are covered over darkly with the Letter of the Law as with a Stone but after the resurrection from the dead was well believed the Stone was rolled away I assure you great knowledg of Divine things ensued never before that time was the substance of faith so perfectly apprehended Beatus lapis qui non minùs corda aperit quà m sepulchrum says that Father whom I have often cited upon this Text. Happie stones at whose opening and rolling away not only the Sepulchre was unclosed but our hearts were opened to believe Beloved if there be one among you that is dull to conceive and slow to believe it is a sign that the Stone is not yet rolled away to him all is shut up to that poor Soul and he sees nothing such a mans Key must be continual prayer it behoves him to cry out earnestly Lord take away this stony heart and give me an heart of flesh Lord shut not up thy loving kindness in displeasure send down thy Holy Spirit to remove away all carnal impediments open mine eyes that I may look into thy Sepulchre and believe thy Resurrection Now the Scriptures assigning no cause for the rolling away of the Stone but to manifest that he was risen not that he might rise in his body when the mouth of the Cave was open and further as Gregory Nyssen urgeth the Angel doth not preach that he rose even now since He came down from Heaven but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 surrexit he hath risen he hath departed out of the Grave as if he spake of a thing that was past before his coming from whence you may observe what a perplexful question ariseth to be handled how the Body of Christ being now made alive again came out of the Sepulchre I do not find the several opinions collected together by any man some may escape me but as many as I have noted I will rehearse them all One opinion among the Antient Fathers and the most general if they be well understood is thus That He came forth by his own mighty power after what sort we cannot tell for God would not trouble us with those strange effefts which we are not able to apprehend So one of our late Writers after much ado concludes Divino nutu viam sibi aperuit mirando nobis inexplicabili modo he made way to come forth as he would himself in a miraculous and unspeakable manner These are Paraeus words And I put Calvin in this rank who goes no further but Christum ante surrexisse quà m ab Angelo sepulchrum aperiretur Christ rose before the Sepulcher was unbarred by the Angel but he determined not what way and it was a becoming modesty in him I could name a multitude more but divers have borrowed the words of Musculus Christ did use the external ministry of Angels to roll away the Stone for us not for himself He that rose to life though death were upon his Body could come forth into the Garden though the Stone were upon the Sepulchre But after what sort he came forth all these put their finger upon their mouth and say nothing To determine after what manner great mysteries are brought to pass when the Word of God is silent hath done more hurt to the Christian Church by procuring endless Controversies than all the Persecutions that ever were raised I concur therefore in mine own judgment with this first rank of Divines yet you shall hear the second That he issued out the Stone remaining on the mouth of the Grave creaturae mutatione non sui corporis by an alteration caused in the Stone not in the Body of Christ So Justin Martyr he came out by the Stone even as he made the Seas fit for his own feet and for Peters to tread upon No mutation can be said to be in Christs Body for the Father says it was corpus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a solid Elementary Body certainly Peters body also was heavy and earthy for after a little while he began to sink yet he at first walkt upon the Seas because Christ stiffned the waies to support him and Peter like a solid Pavement So the Stone might be attenuated and made thin as easie as air to transmit a body St. Austin reports of a Ring falln from a womans Girdle yet the Ring remaining and the Girlde whole and unbroken Admit it were true yet the Ring passed not through the substance of the Girdle but the one substance passed by while in a moment by Gods power the other gave place unto it So the place through which Christs Body passed admit no rarefaction of the Stone might be whole and shut by and by and streight after he passed by it not in the instant of his passing that 's contrary to the nature of a true body Some in credulous Jew when Malchus ear was cut off and presently on again might think the Sword had never gone between his ear and his head yet we are sure it did In such a starting while which could not be perceiv'd might the Stone yield to Christs Body and come together again or if not made thin parted of a sudden to let him pass by and in an instant come close together again Thirdly some antient Writers and divers moderns hold probably that Christ made his egress repagulorum cessione non penetrationum dimensione not as if one body had penetrated another but the Stone in the trembling of the earthquake started off from the mouth of the Cave and clos'd again till the Angel rolled it quite away This is made the more credible from Acts 5.23 the Apostles were shut up in the common Prison the Angel brings them forth the Officers being question'd confess The Prison truly found we shut with all safety the Keepers standing without before the doors but when we had opened it we found no
exist hic exclusus intravit these two St. Austin makes to be very like being shut in the Sepulchre he came out by his own power being shut out of doors he came in by his own power Well let it be answered that Christs body did not penetrate the dimensions either of stone or door as I told you before but that a passage was made for him miraculously so that in a moment which could not be discern'd they gave way and made him entrance and though this answer like not our Adversaries I am sure they cannot refute it And is this fair dealing when St. John doth not tell how Christ came in the doors being shut from thence to pronounce how Christ is present in the Holy Communion and see their inference Christ came in to his Disciples the doors being shut ergo Christs body being in heaven the same body is in the Priests hands in ten thousand places at once and in every little crumb of the Host his whole body is present He that understands this consequence is more than a mortal creature I will run over their chiefly alleaged subtilties and dispatch all Bellarmine affirms that the corporeal substance of Christ partakes the spiritual manner of Angelical existence that is he is present in the Eucharist substantially not quantitatively And yet Aquinas and He himself confess that the substance of Christs body is not there naked or divested of dimensive quantity it hath quantity there but is not there after a quantitative manner to have quantity but not the nature of quantity is not this a flat Chimaera to be in the Host substantially but not with quantity and local dimensions I have read it from them a thousand times but could never found what it should be And shall I think those millions of godly but unlearned Souls in the Church must learn such distinctions to obtein salvation but a late Jesuit would thus illustrate it the soul of man is an whole soul in every part of the body an Angel at once in distinct ubities or places the thoughts of man may be at once in many quarters of the Earth God is in Heaven and Earth at once therefore the body of Christ may be in many Hosts at the same instant I answer there is not one of these things alleaged will fit the purpose for every Angel is definitively in a place so that being in one site he removes to another The soul is immaterial by nature and the form of the body the thought of man is an intentional motion and action and not a corporeal or spiritual thing God is every where because he is infinite but Christs humane body is finite material limited to certain place and measure and differeth from all the former things therefore it hangs not together from the pretence of those instances that the same identical body of Christ is multiplied in the Sacrament of so many thousand Altars Thus their sophistical cavils have compel'd me to go with them one mile and for the last conclusion I will go with them twain But say those subtle Writers if God can put an whole Camel in the eye of a needle may he not put the whole body of Christ in the least part of a consecrated Crum In this Objection they strain at a Crum and swallow a Camel Christ did not say that a Camel continuing in his ordinary quantity can pass through the eye of a needle but by a supposition a rich man making Mammon his God may as easily pass to Heaven But lest we may seem to be averse to Gods omnipotency I go further that there is a two-fold power in God ordinata absoluta one according to the order which himself hath fixed by his Word and Will the other according to the infiniteness of his Essence which exceedeth his Will According to the power of God measur'd and regulated by his Word and Will it is impossible that a Camel in his gross bulk should pass through the eye of needle or that the whole body of Christ can be in a bit of bread or that he is substantively present in many places at one instant We do not say that the infinite Essence of God could not have ordeined these things to be possible but he hath in every place of Scripture reveal'd that He will not have these things to be possible The power of God is his will and what He will not He cannot is the saying of Tertullian Now that God will have it possible to have the body of Christ pass through the dimensions and solidity of the Grave-stone He no where affirmeth and therefore I do utterly reject the Pontifician interpretation I have finisht what I had premeditated upon all the three motions in my Text at last we see all was composed into quiet and the Angel sat upon the Grave-stone But here I will rest my self at this time and proceed no further Almighty God roll away the stone of ignorance and stubbornness from within us and settle all these things in our hearts for Jesus Christ his sake who died for our sins and rose again as this day for our justification AMEN THE SIXTH SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION MAT. xxviii 3 4. His Countenance was like lightning and his Rayment white as snow And for fear of him the Keepers did shake and became as dead men THere is no day mentioned in all the Scripture upon which so much business and action is recorded to fall out as upon this grand day the day of our Lord and Saviours Resurrection The holy Evangelists according to the secret wisdom of the Spirit write in a confused order the sundry accidents of this day which with your patience I will set down very briefly every one in their own place Mary Magdalen and the other women bought Odours and sweet Spices to embalm the body lying in the Sepulcher and to that end came forth very early in the Morning As they hastened on the day there hapned a great Earthquake and the Angel of God rouled the stone from the Sepulcher The Watchmen who kept the Monument are sore afraid at the sight of the Angel and at the opening of the Grave they certifie the High Priests all that was done and the High Priests out-face the truth with lying and corruption Now Mary Magdalen and the women being come to the place where the body had been laid miss it and wonder at it Mary runs to Peter and John and tels them they have taken the Lord out of the Sepulcher and we know not where they have laid him While Mary was gone the Angel comforts the other women that staid behind fear not ye seek Jesus which was crucified he is not here but he is risen go tell his Disciples c. Yet these women went not far from thence But in this space Peter and John came to the Sepulcher and found the Monument empty save of a few linnen cloaths Mary Magdalen also comes back to the Sepulcher and weeps
inward man must exceed all natural similitudes lavabis me dealbabor supra nivem thou shalt wash me and I shall be whiter than the snow We come into the world odious and defiled therefore we wash in the Sacrament of Baptism that we may be cleansed yet again we grow obscene and wallow in the mire of this world therefore we do often crave the bloud of Christ in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to cleanse and purifie our conscience and after all this he that toucheth pitch shall be defiled he that useth this world shall be contaminated therefore repentance which sometimes I hope brings tears with it must stand us often in stead to purge out the spots of uncleanness and this is our pureness before God that we sorrow for our impurity But remember I beseech you to keep your vessel chaste and undefiled for as this Angel appeared white as snow when Christ rose from the dead so let us go to our Graves as white as Doves in innocency and simplicity of heart that 's the colour of hope and purity belongs to all those that have hope of a glorious resurrection Secondly this snowy resplendent Vesture in the Angel is the Ensign of great joy for joy had never so good reason to break out heartily and redundantly as that Christ was risen from the dead The Sun and Moon in the Firmament do set every day and rise again no great joy to see those bright Lamps again because we certainly expect them but all that retein'd upon Christ thought when he was crucified such was their little faith that he was lost for ever and therefore when he came unto them and shewed them his feet and hands they believed not for joy and wondred Luke xxiv 41. and afterward being throughly perswaded of it they returned to Jerusalem with great joy v. 52. O Lord who is able to express what triumphs there were in Heaven when the Souls of the Saints perceived that Death was overcome that Hell had lost the victory and that they should be cloathed with their bodies for ever on Good Friday the Heaven and the Earth mourned the Eclipse put all in black on Easter day the colour is changed Heaven and Angels are all in white From this great Festival to the end of the next Lords day they that were baptized went all in white for the ancient Church took a delight to be ceremonious in these things and therefore the next day called Low Sunday by us the Low Sunday in respect of this the highest day in all the year with them was known by this name Dominica in albis the Sunday for wearing of white Garments and this colour was so constantly observ'd for the figurative signification of exceeding joy When Israel came out of Egypt and the House of Jacob from a strange language the Mountains skipped like Rams and the little Hills like young Sheep Psal cxiv And why is that one of the proper Psalms appointed to be read on this day because if the joy could not be expressed but by such strange Hyperboles when the People of God came out of the Bondage of Egypt then what unutterable gladness it is that the Son of God broke the bondage of death asunder and by his own victory brought us all out of the captivity of the Grave for ever It was a Proverb in their Heathen Entertainments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is a sign of good welcom when the Porter which lets you in is chearful the Cherubins are the Porters of Paradise in former times holding an Instrument of minacy in their hands to keep us back now they appear gladsom and will conduct us with joy to Christ I told you before that in all the other Evangelists the pious women that came with spices to the Sepulcher to embalm Christs Body did not see the afrightful rutilancy in the Angels face but only this fair gladsome Robe he lookt like a Priest to preach Christs Resurrection pur âque in veste Sacerdos a good decorum in the Heathen Poets verse although some are so foolish now-a-days that they had as live see lightning as a white Garment upon his back that supplies the place of the Angel But the Angel himself were not able to satisfie all such quarrelsom consciences therefore I let it pass The use of his coming was to stir us up to joy to rejoyce in God In the world we shall have tribulation but this is a blessing of which neither fire nor water nor any tyranny can prevent us we shall have a joyful resurrection And as the Jews had the Law written in the Fringe of their Garments so we may read this observation likewise in the long Robe of the Angel which was white as snow that it was idaea gloriae the Idaea of that triumphant glory which shall be in the bodies of the Elect when they are raised up in immortality Indeed if no such reason should be assigned it would be hard to answer this objection Quid facit indumentum ubi tegendi necessitas non habitat What should a Garment do where there is no need of covering neither heat nor cold Summer nor Winter Whether they that rise from the dead shall be naked in their bodies is a captious question to be propounded Nakedness had no shame in it I am sure in the days of innocency before Adam fell and then indubitably it will have less cause to blush in Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the opinion of the Greek Fathers and therefore the white Robe of this Celestial Messenger was rather figurative of the brightness of our glory than a description of our Vestiments And the Scripture is constant to that phrase to make us constant in our expectation Those few names in Sarda which had not defiled their Garments shall walk with me in white Revel iii. 4. and the President of all Patterns our blessed Saviour at his Transfiguration in which he shewed what manner of Citizens we should be in the Heavenly Jerusalem the fashion of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glistering The Pharisees required a sign and Christ told them they should have no sign but that of the Prophet Jonas for Jonas rose as it were out of the Whales belly to preach destruction against Nineveh so all that the Souldiers knew by Christs rising should be lightning to burn them up but the godly women that saw this Angel over and above the sign of the Prophet Jonas saw this glorious Apparel to betoken the dainty and delicate part of the resurrection In these our evil days our Soul is full of rebellious concupiscence and therefore our Body is made miserable hereafter the Soul will be enlightned with all kind of grace and the Body shall be changed to be incorruptible Equal or like to the Angels the Elect shall be Christ hath so promised and in a mutual assurance these Angels that came in white were made like to us Like to us I say but
not the same For howsoever they took upon them this glorious appearance yet it was nothing to them they are glorious spirits we shall be glorified both in body and in spirit they shall possess the double in their Land Everlasting joy shall be with them Isa lxi 7. Duplicia possidebunt this is their double portion their soul shall be filled with the vision of God and their body shall be bright like this Angels Garment yea fairer than earthly resemblance can decipher And so much for Gods Watchman upon the first verse and for those occurrent meditations which fell out upon it His countenance c. Against these the next verse opposeth Pilates Watchmen Watchmen indeed out of suspicions and infidelity not out of devotion and reverence Souldiers they were and no worse than of a Roman Garison but Souldiers in a piece of Arras would have serv'd as well Are these Romani rerum Domini Roman spirits whose brave resolution is a Proverb throughout all the world miserable Keepers that were set to daunt others and yet themselves shake for fear and became as dead men The Doctrin of this point will make up several Propositions to be considered First That the stoutest of wicked men have their great fears for their own heart tells them that there is one against them against whom it is impossible to stand The Philistins are mistrustful Who is able to withstand these mighty Gods The Aramites are quell'd if they do but think they hear a noise All the Money-changers of the Temple run away from a little scourge if Christ take it into his hand The High Priests Servants arm'd with swords and staves fall flat to the ground if He say no more unto them but whom seek ye I am He. Non potest stare quem conscientia destituit quem impellit reatus He that hath plummets of sin upon his conscience must sink to the ground it is impossible his legs should bear him And do not think this doctrine is less to be credited because there appears most resolute courage in many blasphemous Ruffians that are scarce half Christians that neither fear roaring Seas nor Earthquakes as the barbarous Celts were wont to say of themselvs for howsoever they are prodigal of their bloud and had rather die than seem to quail yet if you could see into their brest it must be that you should find a natural damp there because the Soul will be inquisitive what shall betide it hereafter and it is impossible it should speak comfort unto it self A Wolf is a most adventurous Beast yet he cannot run a furlong to seek his prey but he looks about to watch who follows him because he knows he is hated so the stoutest of the ungodly is bridled by the terror of an evil conscience in all his pride and glory I confess that some portion of fear is a passion incident to the righteous and best disposed Many things may intimidate a good man or woman for want of instruction what the Divine assistance can bring to pass out of a soft complexion out of a remorse for sin more acute in some than in others and out of too much love to themselves and those things upon earth which are most dear unto their love for such imperfections are in the best but it is not such a confus'd malignant fear as the enemies of Christ feel which makes Judas burst in twain which makes Arius fall in pieces which makes Cain surmise every one that sees him will kill him which makes Tyrants they dare not trust their nearest Servants nor their dearest Children which makes the Keepers of the Sepulcher shake for fear and become as dead men Secondly attend how terror falls upon them that think to terrifie Christs Saints they that were set to afright the Disciples are more afrighted themselves 'T is true that the zealous women which came with Odors and sweet Spices to the Sepulcher were much amazed yet the Angel spake mild and gentle words unto them and bid them be not afraid but the Souldiers were overwhelmed with perturbation and never comforted Let Pilate set another Guard upon his Guard for these are daunted upon whom both He and the Jews relied to maintain their fact which they had done against God and Man But the terrible men are requited with terror Pharaoh did never threaten Moses so sharply but before he saw him again he was in a worse perplexity than Moses for some grievous plague that was faln upon him David fled from Saul and yet Saul was more dejected in his heart than David Eusebius says upon the resolution of the Martyrs that their Persecutors were more afraid to see them suffer their torments than they were to endure it And some Heathen Historians testifie to this that Julian the Emperor had a device to trouble the Christian Church above measure by allowing and furthering the Jews to build up the Temple at Jerusalem again but the Workmen and their Taskmasters were let from proceeding by thunder and eruptions of fire and many such impediments which came from Heaven Satan was sent to buffet Paul but Paul did buffet Satan by mortiâ—ying his body by praying to the Lord that the rebellion of concupiscence might be taken from him The poor man in the Gospel possessed with Devils who fomed and gnasht with his teeth and was even torn with violence this man was not so much tormented as the Devils were to be cast forth and sent headlong to the Sea Of all stories methinks those are the pleasantest to read to see a malicious man stewed in his own sawce burnt in the same fire which he kindled for his neighbour An invading Enemy driven back with a mighty overthrow a litigious person cast in Law to his undoing A merciless man in the Gospel changing places with him whom he cast in prison Matth. xviii Hamans plot against Mordecai executed upon himself the Lions that were kept hungry to eat up Daniel devouring those that accused him the Souldiers set to scare all the well-willers of Christ that came to the Sepulcher and themselves scared out of their wits that their heart was dead within them The Dogs are sometimes gor'd and pauncht by the Beast which they hunted and they that meant destruction to the Saints are first destroyed O Lord let the malice of them that are ill affected to Christ and his Flock be ever so requiâ—ed Thirdly let it be attended that the fear of death is exceedingly in the hearts of them that do not believe in the Resurrection Alas they that set all their stake upon this life and are perswaded when this puff of breath is stopt that they shall sleep in an eternal night and never be wakened more can you wonder if they be infinitely agast upon the summons of death The Stag when he is at bay and ready to be pluckt down and torn sheds tears naturally and drops of sorrow trickle down from him because he shall part with his life for ever
and be utterly annihilated So an unbeliever who knows of no better condition that shall befall him than happens to Beasts that is not established in faith that though worms eat this Body in the Grave yet our Soul shall be cloathed with flesh and bone and enjoy an everlasting union in the highest places this man looks upon death as the extremity of all evils in which there is nothing but irreparable loss a thing that can admit of no consolation Resurrection is the edg of all valour and fortitude there can be no courage without it In assurance of it there is no sting there is no terror in our dissolution Says St. Paul Why stand we in jeopardy every hour why have I fought with beasts at Ephesus if the dead rise not as who should say there 's the encouragement of all that endure for the name of Christ Now these Souldiers whom the Jews obtein'd of Pilate to watch the Sepulcher were so far from apprehending this comfort that this Tabernacle of ours when we lay it down is sequesterd for a time till God restore it again out of the dust that they kept that place on purpose that there might be no resurrection According to their great demerits therefore those that were the most envious adversaries of life did shake for fear and became as dead men Fourthly the Souldiers feared exceedingly because they had been aiders to the malice of the Jews to crucifie Christ now when they saw the Sepulcher open the stone rolled away the Angel sitting upon it and by these signs the Resurrection declared that He whom they had put to death most barbarously was greater than death and Lord of the Angels their guiltiness must needs shake them to pieces and extreme horror stare them in the face When St. Peter came to that verse of his Sermon Act. ii 36. God hath made the same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ The Jews that heard this they were pricked in their hearts and cried out Men brethren what shall we do St. Chrysostom says that many of those who had cried out in Pilate's Judgment-Hall Crucifie him crucifie him were at the Sermon so perhaps those Souldiers that had cast lots upon his Vesture and he that thrust the Spear into his side was at the Sepulcher The greater would be their oppressure of fear when they had been actors in the Tragedy They shall look upon me whom they have pierced Zach. xii 10. a most melancholy object to his Persecutors Eusebius says that the Jews did recall to mind that innocent bloud of Christ which they had shed upon the time that their City was besieged by Titus and that the thought thereof did so enfeeble their hands that they could not fight Although their own Historian Josephus will not impute the calamity of the City to that fault but confesseth sin did reign in Jerusalem at that time so copiously and prodigiously as the like was never in Sodom and Gomorrah but certainly the suspicion of that sin hath debased the courage and broke the heart of all the Nation of the Jews to this day St. Paul writing to the Hebrews bids them cast aside 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. xii 1. the weight of their sin and I do not remember that he useth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a weighty ponderous sin to any other but to them I know we ought all to be sorry and lament that Christ was crucified for our sakes for those manifold sins that we have perpetrated and solum peccatum homicida est therefore we must be crucified with Christ in mortification and be buried with him in Baptism but the personal procurers of his death were the capital transgressors their sin was died in his bloud as it were in scarlet The Son of man must die and be betrayed but wo unto that man that doth betray him and crucifie him Beware therefore that we do not crucifie to our selves the Son of God a fresh the exposition is in the words following that we do not put him to an open shame Heb. vi 6. by heinous scandalous sins to cause Christs name to be blasphemed that is to put Christ to an ignominy and as it were to crucifie him again Such crimes will leave a sting behind them that will never cease to wound your conscience especially at the hour of death The Gentiles at first could not endure the Sign of the Cross it called their sins to remembrance but how will it tear your heart within you when you call to mind that the ignominy of Christ crucified is in your Soul The Souldiers saw what abomination they had committed when an Angel beautified Christs Sepulcher with his presence and for fear of him c. Fifthly the Souldiers could not keep Christs body in the Sepulcher as they were appointed by Pilat and the High-Priests therefore they feared those that had commanded them the task an evil Instrument is ever afraid of those that do imploy him The Pharisees were angry with their Servants and Officers that they did not bring Christ unto them and lay hands upon Him Joh. vii 43. yet it was not in them to do it no man could lay hands on him then for his hour was not yet come So the Watchmen knew what offence would be taken that Christs body was taken out of the Sepulcher yet they could not stop it No servitude in the world so heavy so dangerous so full of fear as to observe a wilful unreasonable Tyrant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nebuchadonosor put his Chaldaeans and Southsayers to death because they could not tell him the Dream which himself had forgotten Dan. ii 12. It is a just reward of wicked Instruments that they were always suspected always secretly hated by those that practise with them And when I have told you but one story in that kind I could be voluminous you will say Ohe jam satis est it is enough to represent the certain perdition of them that minister to ungodly practises But thus briefly Pope Paul the fifth fell out with the whole State of Venice interdicted all their Dominions began to raise arms against them for imprisoning the Abbot of Nervase whose crimes beside many other foul offences were these three 1. He poisoned his own Brother and wrought the death of a Prior of St. Austins Order and his Servant because they were conscious of it 2. He had long time the carnal knowledg of his own Sister and empoisoned her Maid lest she should betray him 3. He caused an Enemy of his to be killed and after that empoisoned the Murtherer lest he might accuse him This is related by no Protestant Pen but by Friar Paul of Venice of the Order of the Servites Nor do I report it to let you know what kind of offender the Pope protected but to manifest how He brought all those to an untimely end that had either the privacy or their parts to work for his iniquity I do
the dead and the resurrection of the soul from sin in this interview between himself and Mary Magdalen All men shall be restored to life good and bad for the Son of God redeemed the whole nature of man this day from the corruption of the Grave and the Devil did utterly loose jus mortis the dominion of death because our Saviour being an Innocent was put to death over whom he had no dominion But the glory of Christs victory was to conquer two at once Hell and Death So the Prophet Hosea cries out in form of triumph O Death where is thy sting O Hell where is thy victory and from his own voice Revel i. 18. I am he that liveth and was dead behold I am alive for evermore and have the keys of Hell and of Death So in his own person he shewed that he had conquered Death in the person of Mary Magdalen that he had conquered Hell Beloved this great day is Christs Festival and it is the Holiday of every penitent sinner because first he appeared to such an one to Mary Magdalen For our sakes both the Keys are turn'd and for our sakes both the Gates are opened that our bodies may escape the curse of corruption and that our souls may be delivered from the judgment of Hell through Jesus Christ the first fruits of the dead and that first appeared to an humble Convert AMEN THE EIGHTH SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION MAT xxviii 9 10. And as they went to tell his Disciples behold Jesus met them saying all hail and they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him Then said Jesus unto them be not afraid go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see me YOU may call to your remembrance that my subject upon Easter-day the last year was How Christ was first seen after he rose again from the dead of one whom he had raised before from the death of sin he appeared first to Mary Magdalen And in this Text other women have the next turn to see him appear in order of story That Sex it is apparent had the honour of the day in the first and second bout that the power of God might be seen in the weaker Vessels The women brought sweet Spices to embalm his body and they encounter that which was sweeter than all the Spices in the world the Vision of the Lord who came forth from the dark places of the dead to life again There is not the weakest capacity among you but must needs observe that the relations of these things are very diversly set down in the four Evangelists And there is not the learnedst capacity among men that can distinctly unfold how they should be reconciled I suppose the Primitive Church I mean the Disciples that were taught by the Apostles and other Scholars taught by them were informed of the true Exposition how every thing hapned in its order but the tradition is lost And they who boast they have kept the Traditions of the Church faithfully are not able to give us a clear rule how to refer these confusions to a certain order St. Paul 1 Cor. xv rehearseth sundry ways how Christ was seen of many after he rose from the dead yet he utterly omits how he was seen of these devout women St. John Chap. xx speaks of the famous interview between our Saviour and Mary Magdalen and no more Our Evangelist in the beginning of this Chapter mentions Mary Magdalen and the other Mary that is the Mother of Zebedees children he goes no further St. Mark quotes another woman that is Salome St. Luke names also one Joanna she was the Wife of Chusa Herods Steward and indefinitely he folds it up that there were other women whose particular cognisance is not revealed And divers things are related divers ways of these which may be reconciled as divers ways without jar or contradiction The stiffest knot in the dissention is that although St. Luke and St. Mark record how the Angels appeared to the women and spake unto them of Christs rising yet they do not say that Christ was seen of them St. Mark relates that he was seen of Mary Magdalen So doth St. John they go no further St. Matthew holds him to Mary Magdalen and to one other Mary that is all Yet he involves at large that as the women not those women only went to bring tidings to the Apostles of what they had seen and heard Christ did meet them by the way For the perplexity of these Narrations some do argue that none of the women saw him this day risen from the dead but Mary Magdalen and that when this Scripture says that he did appear to the women plurally yet it is a Synechdoche speaking that of many which was verified but in one for but one saw him instead of all her companions This is not so probable for it would work better if this truth were manifested by a multitude of Witnesses Others also consider that Mary Magdalen saw him alone and was controuled at that time not to touch him therefore it must be another Apparition when divers women did touch him and worship him Some say therefore that in a very little compass of time Mary Magdalen saw him twice this day unless there were two Mary Magdalens as St. Ambrose would have it first alone and then immediately with her Consorts Yet that seems not so congruous I can say no more against it that two Apparitions should be granted to her in a few moments Therefore without any pertinacy in rejecting the conjectures of others I conceive this second Apparition of Christ which we have in hand to be made to Mary the Mother of James Joanna and Salom with other devout women of Galilee when Mary Magdalen was lately departed from them to tell her errand to the Disciples Laying my ground upon that opinion I deduct these parts out of the Text First I will treat upon it what proceeded from the women Secondly what proceeded from Christ Touching the women again I will handle first what they did before they saw Christ secondly what they did after they had seen him Before they saw him they went to tell his Disciples somewhat After they had seen him 1. They came to him 2. They held him by the feet 3. They worshipped him That which belongs to Christ is contained in his Action and his Words His Action is thus expressed Behold Jesus met them His Words are first a Salutation All Hail 2. A Consolation Be not afraid 3. A Commission Go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee 4. A Promise There they shall see me These are the several talents which God hath committed to me in this and now I will employ them for my Masters profit The women before they had seen our Saviour went to tell his Disciples that must be our beginning They went and went to and fro sundry times upon this occasion It could not choose but be observed by the eyes
give him at her Brothers house at Bethany as she was wont to do she called him Rabboni and as she was wont to do she would have toucht him but where there wanted Reverence Christ corrected her mildly Touch me not But as for these Women that prostrated themselves at his feet with Adoration to worship him they had leave to touch because in heart they had tasted the fruit of life The Ark of God would not endure Vzzah's touch he died for it but the Priests that came near it with holy access had authority to touch it and it was the dignity of their Office Not to roll this stone any longer that good Saint Mary Magdalen was mistaken as if Christ lived again no otherwise than as her Brother Lazarus did to converse in the world as he had done before Touch him not with the finger of that little Faith But they that saw some greater excellency in him than before and fell low on the ground before him they may hold him by the feet Yet there is one Interpretation beside which casts no imputation at all upon Mary Magdalen and I like it the better 't is thus Christ had great use of her to dispatch her to his Disciples it being expedient to send her upon that errand yet she was loth to depart surmising that she should see him no more therefore when our Saviour would have her to insist no longer in expressing her love says he Touch me not I am not yet ascended to my Father which is to this effect I am not yet ascending or going away you shall have more time to converse with me hereafter but now it will do more good to my Disciples to hear I am risen than for you to stay and touch me depart insist no longer in these expressions of Love touch me not I am not quite going away to the Father But for these Women who made no such fond delay but laid their hands on his feet and worshipt him and rose again no such Interdict was upon them as Touch me not which is the Sum of this Point And the next thing they did confirms me that the holding his feet was unblamable and a sanctified action for they worshipt him If when the first begotten was brought into the world it is said Let all the Angels of God worship then when the first begotten from the dead came into Jerusalem his excellency proclaims it let all that behold his glorified presence worship him The wise men fell down before his Cradle and ador'd him when he lay in a poor and despicable manner and this was their wisdom to see the brightness of the Godhead in the dark Lantern of his Humanity Nay the evil Spirit having possessed the body of him that lived in the Tombs fell down before him and with a loud voice said what have I to do with thee thou Son of God most high Luke viii 28. Hell it self is not so refractory but that the Spirits of darkness confess he is to be worshipped and they did it It was not their own body but in that body over which they had command they did that function of their own accord before they were bidden Yet it was not thanks-worthy in them because they executed no more than the duty of the outward gesture I do highly commend the lowly service and inclination of the body O let down your body to the very ground before your Maker as these women did a man cannot be too reverent to his God And as a Plaister of cordial Ingredients laid to the stomach or an Unction well fomented upon the skin without comforts the spirits within and makes us more chearful in our vital operations so outward reverence helps us greatly against the dulness and drowziness of our heart the lifting up of the eyes and hands makes a man ask in prayer more passionately the knocking of our breast provokes our repentance to a more eager indignation against our selves the bowing down the head and knee makes us the better to understand the great distance between God and us the uncovering of the head fills us with that necessary consideration in whose presence we stand Glorifie God with your body 1 Cor. vi 10. Tertullian and St. Cyprian read it portate Deum in corpore vestro Carry God in your body that is bear your Religion openly in the observance and humility of your body Christ is the Husband of the Church an Husband to the Soul of every Christian now this is gained from the similitude that the Wife is the Husband 's both in her body and in her affections so we are Christ's as well in our bodily worship as in our spiritual adherence to him But because the act of worship as concerning that which the head the knee the hand do execute may be used to our superiours in civil demeanor as well as in religious usance to God it is the addition of sanctity conceiv'd in the heart and mind which makes it Religious Adoration for the complete definition of it is thus adoratio est veneratio talis exterior quae ex corde pio religioso procedit that is that 's the adoration due to God and to him alone which with the exterior veneration of the body proceeds out of the pious and religious intention of the heart If you yield any token of outward obeysance and mean it to him who hath created you who hath given you all that you have who rose from the dead that we also might rise with him then it is raised up from civil homage and it becomes Divine Worship These apprehensions were in the hearts of these women and thereupon their bodies bowed down in lowliness and so it wants not one grain of due weight but that it was the worshipping of the Lord Jesus From those things which were personally performed by the women I remove forward to all that which was personally performed by Christ and that is conteined in his action or his words his action is but in this one passage Behold Jesus met them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not to overtake one or to come behind them but to meet them full but as our phrase is therefore it hath somewhat in it diverse from that Apparition which was made to Mary Magdalen and it can not be the same for he stood behind her and she turned about to look upon him but when he presented himself to these Women he met them face to face They were going to tell his Disciples and he that was no hindrance to their journey stood in their way Behold and marvel at it for the hope of the Resurrection was out of their heads they came to embalm his dead Body not to see him living Or suppose we that the Angels had lately persuaded them to that Faith that he was alive again yet to speak indifferently they had no cause to expect him in that place or any where near to Jerusalem for the Angel told them thus in the 7. verse
sufficient bigness to hold those three thousand that were converted ver 41. of this Chapter To that other Circumstance also that the men and women are said to be sitting in the house when this blessing came down upon them I have little to add I love reverence of gesture with all my soul yet I love not to be so nice as some that hold it so necessary for the Apostles to be humbled on their knees when the grace of God fell on them that they say the meaning of the Text is not sitting but kneeling howsoever the words go and that to sit signifies not the posture of their body but their habitation I confess and believe if they had lookt for the Comforter at that moment they would have cast themselves down upon the ground when the Majesty of God was in the place and I perswade my self they did instantly kneel and give thanks as soon as they perceived what mighty work God had wrought upon them But remember they were taken suddenly and unawares in some honest communication no doubt And being so unprovided why might not Christ begin this Miracle while they were sitting as well as Christ appear from heaven to Paul as he was riding or God appear unto Moses while he was keeping sheep Excellently Cajetan Non horreo sessionem corporalem cum nihil indecens inducat I am not scrupulous or troubled at their sitting as long as it was done with no obstinate irreverent disobedient affection O but the Roman Missal for this day hath this Hymn Orantibus Discipulis Deum venisse nunciat While they were at their prayers they mean kneeling the sound gave them warning that the Holy Ghost was come Well this case is quickly resolved their Hymn is mistaken and let them mend their Missal and not mend the Scripture Is there any thing more to be extracted out of this last Point One thing and that is all It is a remarkable note of a most acute Father of our own Church Thus This Wind filled not all the Country or all Jerusalem but that house where they sate Nay says he and very truly that Room only of the house where they were assembled One Room for an whole house is a frequent Synechdoche Natural Winds breath over many places at once but this Wind blew electivè by choise and discretion The Spirit blows upon certain places where it will and upon certain persons and they shall plainly feel it and others about them not a whit It is a peculiar wind appropriate to the place where the Apostles are that is the Church else where to seek it is but folly the place it bloweth in is Sion This is the Divinity of that great Scholar Bishop Andrews that the Spirit hath not cast an universal diffusion over all the world but it blows by election and choise that is at Gods good will and pleasure upon that place only where Christ hath his Church For what use can they make or have they ever made of the Spirit to whom the name of Christ and salvation in his bloud was never revealed The purpose of giving the Holy Ghost is to make the Seed of the Word fruitful in our hearts that we may believe the Gospel that we may live holily according to the profession of our Faith and that through faith which must work by love if it be true faith we may be saved AMEN THE THIRD SERMON UPON THE Descent of the Holy Ghost ACTS ii 3. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them OF all Mysteries of all Visions of all Revelations which the Church ever had this that is conteined in my Text hath one peculiar blessing that it is most easie to be understood I can give no reason for it but this that as natural light makes all colours visible to our eyes and it self most visible so the Holy Ghost causeth all celestial Doctrin that concerns eternal salvation to be revealed to the knowledg of faith and makes himself to be most apparent and intelligible Therefore I cannot but observe it unto you that some Angel or some Saint departed did always interpose their presence at the other mighty works of the Gospel only they forbore to shew themselves at this Feast of Pentecost upon the sending of the Holy Ghost I will spread this before you in a trice and my conjecture upon it At the Nativity of our Saviour many Angels were employed to divulge it At his Transfiguration Moses and Elias appeared to ratifie it At his Agony in the Garden an Angel waited there to strengthen him At his Resurrection two Angels in white appeared in his Sepulcher to glorifie him And lastly at his Ascension two others clad in as white apparel as they did testifie of him But upon the descending of the Holy Ghost the Angels did quite withdraw themselves I am sure they came not in any bodily shape into the place where the Apostles were gathered together for that were as the Proverb says facem soli praeferre to light a candle before the Sun at noon day and that illustrates all things can be illustrated by nothing but by himself This is the comfort then of my Text that we have light on every side to walk in this is the great latitude of the benefit conteined in it that it gives us vocem scientiam linguam ignem both tongue and fire both science and elocution sapere fari quae sentiat to conceive clearly that which is fit to be learnt and to utter distinctly that which is wisely conceiv'd And therefore in one word we owe unto this blessed day both completely to be made happy and completely to know our happiness No marvel if the Old Church many hundred years since which was most prudent in appointing Festivals did constitute that between Easter and Whitsuntide all the fifty dayes should be destinated to joy and gladness that all the people should sing haleluja with a loud voice so often as they met in their holy Assemblies that there should be no fasting days no mourning no not so much as the dejection of kneeling on the ground but to stand and pray all that space of time these Fathers were exceeding full of ceremony to express the gladness which they had for the gift of the Holy Ghost And therefore Bernard calls the Lenten strictness that goes before Easter Quadragesimam luctus paenitentiae the fourty days of godly sorrow and repentance but he calls the time following to Whitsuntide Quinquagesimam gaudii the fifty days of Exaltation for our joy doth surpass our sorrow At Easter we are assured by Christs Resurrection that the body shall rise from corruption at Whitsuntide these firy tongues do manifest that the Soul shall rise from darkness and ignorance and be partaker of the marvelous light And because this mighty miracle was communicated to the Apostles in most sensible objects therefore I told you the last year that the third person
Wise men of Greece you are always Children what God was what Beatitude was what the Soul was what the state of men in the next world was nay what Vertue was so many Philosophers so many minds As fast as one built an opinion another pulled it down with his objections doubt was both the pleasure and the torment of their wits It is the Christian faith alone rooted in us by the operation of the holy Spirit never to be shaken or removed which delivers us from all diffidence and inconstancy of doubts The more miserable is the condition of our times wherein wanton wits make Problems and Disputations of divers Points of Divinity which were embraced before by all the Worthies of the Church from the begining of Reformation Had we no Scriptures before Or no helps of learning to expound them Or no illumination of the Spirit to know the sense of them Or is this the Age of new Revelations To doubt of that which hath been in a good frame so long must needs put Unity into Multiplicity Charity into Discord Peace into War and Faith into Infidelity But upon the first Introduction of Christian Religion at the first Mission of the Holy Ghost humane infirmity had some leave to doubt that it might learn so these dubitants said one to another What meaneth this Many of those that flock'd about the Apostles and were amazed at the Tongues wherewith they spake are called devout men ver 5. of this Chapter so it seems because they desire to come out of their doubting by framing such a question whereby they might learn what the power of God did intend Ita cum stupore admirari Dei opera convenit ut simul accedat intelligendi studium says Calvin so wonder at the works of God that withal you express a desire to understand them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says the Proverb propound doubts with this modest submission that wise men may expound them unto you The error was that they asked one another the blind enquired of the blind which was the way out of the wood the ignorant conferred with the ignorant such as God had not revealed himself unto argue the Point among themselves and they omit the Apostles who were in place and could best resolve them When the people will be their own Teachers and never consult with them who are Gods Interpreters and Embassadors by their calling will not St. Pauls Prediction be fulfilled upon them Desiring to be Teachers they understand not what they say nor whereof they affirm 1 Tim. i. 7. Though their Counsellors were not the wisest a riff raff multitude of all sorts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Oecumenius a mixture of hot and weak heads yet their question tended to an occasion of knowledge What meaneth this Just so their Fore-fathers when they saw the Manna which fell from heaven asked one of another Manhu as we have it in the Margin of our Bibles What is this Exod. xvi 15. I will answer for both parts as Moses did both for that which rained from heaven then for the sustenance of their bodies and for this which was poured out for the blessing of our souls this is the bread which the Lord hath given you from heaven But Beza reads this question potentially Quid hoc rei esse possit What will this come to hereafter These unlearned men are furnished with abilities to talk with all the world It is not a seed or two which they have got but they received a strange gift from God above in the whole sheaf What will the Lord bring to pass from these beginnings That was well considered For God doth not work secundum ultimum potentiae all that he can do at once He began with an handful of men and the Church increased to as many as the Stars in heaven for multitude He gave them a Cup of new wine at this Feast he did not leave till they had a copious Vintage and the Presses overflowed with liquor of eternal life In one day he made this truth exalt it self above the opposition of the Jews in a few Ages he made it too strong for all the contradiction of the Heathen When Luther and a few that harkened to him began to burnish true and Orthodox Doctrine from the Rubbish of Popery the adjacent Kingdoms that heard of it looked for small propagation But they that yearned in their bowels to see the expulsion of superstition expected a large progress from that small beginning Their hope was upon this question Quid hoc rei esse possit What will this come to It is Gods manner to work himself mighty honour out of small appearance And although the advancement of Religion is hindred abroad and I would it were not stopt at home the Jews are obstinate Mahumetans are prepotent Adversaries the Heathen are wilfully addicted to worship strange Gods yet the leaven of the Spirit hath not lost its vertue it will in those seasons which God hath appointed breath through the whole lump And still my heart attends to the efficacy of the Gospel which may be kept back it cannot be suppressed what will this come to before the end of the world Thus far we have conversed with them that were much affected with the miracle that God bestowed as on this day an Ocean of the Holy Ghost upon a small Assembly of Saints Now you shall hear that there was an ignoble off-scum of the people that made but a mockery of it Others mocking said these men are full of new wine St. Basil says they were the Pharisees that made this derision of Gods power In a bad action where none are named the Pharisees above all others deserve to be suspected Their whole life was hypocrisie and what is that but a mockery of God and a Stage-play to personate holiness Oecumenius says they were the Plebeians as the most ignorant are the greatest Taunters flouting agrees best with foolery and base breeding For certain they were Jews for Peter turns his speech unto them ver 14. Ye men of Judaea and he confutes them with the testimony of the Prophet Joel ver 16. and that Prophesie was only in the hands of the Jews a scoffing Nation and now it is returned upon their own head For it is even to be pitied that they are hooted at and derided publickly as they walk in the streets in all Kingdoms where they have purchased to themselves an habitation How often did they gibe at our Saviour and his Miracles As when he said that Jairus daughter was not dead but slept they laught him to scorn When he preach'd that plain and evident Doctrine that men cannot serve God and Mammon the Pharisees who were covetous derided him Luk. xvi 14. And that you may know the Servants were used no worse than the Master they called our Saviour a Wine-bibber Luk. vii 34. And you may be sure at such a great occasion as this the devil would keep his wont and do all despight to
the Spirit of grace and strive to put off the incomprehensible work of God with a jest These men are full of new Wine So that as soon as God sent firy Tongues from heaven upon his Apostles the Devil likewise raised up firy Tongues from Hell and put them in the mouth of his Apostles Envy and despitefulness cares not what reproach it puts upon good men though there be neither sense nor probability to make it credible That is right 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word which is here used to vent any thing against the credit of holy persons whether it be right or wrong It was impossible they should perswade it in any one that they were overtaken with new Wine for there is no such liquor to be had in May not till September at the soonest But slanders use to rove at random And new wine say the Greeks will sooner intoxicate than old 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But what sign was there to make the objection credible that the Apostles were drunken Did their tongues falter Were their eyes red Was the Gesture foolish I know no man but Carthusian who goes about to invent a sign which should put the Jews into that unlikely suspicion that as the face of Steven when he was full of the Holy Ghost did shine with brightness so the countenances of the Disciples had a splendour and ruddiness in them with the fire of the tongues which sate upon their heads which made the rash Gazers conceive that they were inflamed with drink As the countenances of many that are most sober being red with the heat of the Liver make the uncharitable surmise that they are intemperate so I remember a story that Cassius Bishop of Narnia was despised by King Toteila because he was high coloured whereas Cassius was most abstemious but high coloured by natural infirmity Another thing concurred that it was the Feast day of Pentecost wherein the Jews were wont to rejoyce yet it was not their wont to solemnize the day with Feasting till the morning Sacrifice was offered up and that time was not yet come Therefore St. Peter answers That these men were not drunken for it was but the third hour of the day They that are scandalous in the sin of drunkenness use not to be gone so soon They that are drunken are drunken in the night says St. Paul that is most usual Although some do spend the whole night in quaffing untill the morning In lucem semper Acerra bibit Some prevent the rising of the Sun and are scarce sober one hour of the day whose souls lie under the Prophets woe Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning to follow strong drink Isa v. 11. But Peter did not strive to make an invincible refutation of their slander because their scurrility was so improbable and ridiculous and a defence which is over-anxious makes a good cause suspicious Had the accusation been true it had deserved a scorn as Noah was derided when he was drunken The drunkard makes himself an Ape for Boys to sport with his brutishness a natural fool is not such an object for derision and laughter So that passively it is true what Solomon says Wine is a mocker Prov. xx 1. It exposeth it self to the flouting of vain persons here and shall reap the scorn of God hereafter But says St. Cyril the wickedness of man shall turn to the praise of God and this slander of the Jews shall expound some Prophesies of Scripture and the mystery of the Holy Ghost It is granted says the Father the Apostles on this day were full of new Wine Novum verè erat illud vinum novi Testamenti gratia that is it is the grace of the New Testament which makes glad the heart of man Inebriabuntur pinguedine domus â—uae the Vulgar Latine keeps that word Psal xxxvi 8. we read They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures And again Cant. v. 1. I have drunk my wine with my milk meaning both the comfort and the nourishment of the Gospel O friends drink yea drink abundantly O beloved To this pertains another Psalm of David xxv 5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies thou anointest my head with oyl my Cup runneth over Here is the oyl of the Spirit here is the Table of the Lord here is the Cup of Christs bloud an overflowing Cup sufficient to save a thousand worlds This Cup is that which ravisheth our Souls and carries up our Spirit to Heaven to partake of the body and bloud of Christ when we come to his holy Table this is Sobria ebrietas non madens vino sed ardens Deo This is a sober drunkenness an inflammation not with Wine but with the love of the Lord Jesus Happy were these Apostles that were drunken with drinking of him who says I am the Vine and ye are the branches But here is the difference between the meaning of these Scoffers and the meaning of those that make it an heavenly mystery he that is drunken with Wine looks like an incarnate Devil he that is drunken with the Spirit looks like an incarnate Angel I will stay a little while more not very long to shew how the mighty gifts poured out upon the Apostles on this day was a spiritual drunkenness First excess of Wine procures forgetfulness of things past so the Mission of the Holy Ghost made them that were converted to Christ forget the Ceremonial Law of Moses saving that little that was tolerated for a time to satisfie the weakness of the Jews it was laid aside as if it were quite dead and out of remembrance Thus St. Paul doth as it were make his Shears to pass between the Old and the New Law forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before Phil. iii. 13. Upon that accident that there wanted Wine at the Marriage in Cana the Gloss says Vetus legis vinum defecerat in nuptiis Ecclesiae none of the Wine of the Law remained at the Marriage of the Christian Church it was tilted and spent Secondly He that is giddy with wine makes no distinction of persons knows not his Friends from his Foes So he that is full of the Spirit renounceth all friendship affinity parentage in respect of the engagements of holiness and Religion Per calcatum perge patrem If thy Mother hold out her Breasts to entice thee from God if thy Father stop thy way shut thine eyes against the one tread upon the other make no respect of persons in that cause It is the praise and a most magnificent one which Moses gives to Levi Deut. xxxiii 9. Who said unto his Father and to his Mother I have not seen him neither did he acknowledge his brethren nor knew his own children Thus the mighty working of God works an extasie in his Servants that they care not for
death the Sun rose earlier by certain hours than the natural season Vt redderet lucis horas quas terror Dominicae passionis invaserat to make restitution of those hours of light which were lost by the Eclipse of the Sun at our Saviours Passion and so it should be called a Day because it was miraculous and longer than the natural proportion of a Day But this is without the Book and rather Poetical than Theological But secondly to more purpose it justly bears the title of a Day for were it not for the benefit of Christ's Resurrection we had been buried in eternal night our bodies had gone down into the Sepulchre as into the Land of darkness to perish and rot and never to see the light more Nox est perpetuò una dormienda but through him who hath planted us into the similitude of his Resurrection we awake from sleep we stand up from the dead and Christ shall give us light 3. The claritude of those glorified Bodies which we shall put on in the General Resurrection will make us carry Day about with us whithersoever we go You know how Christ did look at his Transfiguration his face did shine as the Sun and his raiment was white as the light Mat. xvii 2. therefore it must needs be day with the Saints for ever after they are risen from the dead since according to the Pattern of their Masters beauty their faces shall shine like the Sun in the Firmament But fourthly whether these curiosities touch the Point I am not sure upon this I dare build that it is called the Day which the Lord made because no greater work than the Resurrection of Christ was made upon any day since the world began for two things are to be considered in it Quod apparuit in Christo quod nondum apparuit in nobis that which was wrought upon Christ's Body and was seen in him and by virtue of his rising from the dead that which shall appear in us hereafter O infinite Power which quickned Jesus again the life and soul of all the Members of his Body and would not let him see corruption I know not how to compare the noblest Acts of the Lord as many have done I dare not do it as whether it were more to create a man out of nothing or to recompose a man again when his Soul was flitted and the Substance of his Body passed about into innumerous Transmutations after the revolution of five or six thousand years This I know that on our part it had been better for us never to have been than not to have been restored to the Image of God which was defaced in us and simply to be is nothing so well as to be made incorruptible in the outward man and the inward man to be restored unto Righteousness and Holiness of life Besides after the Creation God did cease from his work and there is no new thing under the Sun but after the Resurrection of Christ God doth continually save his people from their Sins Or if you interpose that as the Father did rest the last day of the Week from the Works of the Creation so the Son did rest on the first day of the Week having absolutely accomplished the Work of our Redemption then I infer if the Rest of the Father ceasing from creating material things did sanctifie a Day then this greater Rest of the Son must much more sanctifie a Festival As the new Heavens and the new Earth shall be more glorious than the old which are subject to vanity so the Jewish Feast on the Sabbath for the Remembrance of the Creation is nothing so honourable as the Christian Feast of the Lords Day in Remembrance of the Resurrection Therefore at the close of the Benefit let me admonish you of the Duty We will c. When Israel came out of Egypt and the house of Jacob from a strange Land they came home again to the Land of Canaan from whence they were descended like men that had lien long among the dead and were quite forgotten But with so much mirth and joy as is unutterable their mouth was filled with laughter and their tongue with joy This was but a Type of the Body brought back out of the Grave therefore this gladness will become us much better in the Substance than in the Figure Christ is returned victoriously out of the Sepulcher and in that victory hath redeemed us all from the captivity of the Grave then how requisite is it that our mouth should be filled with laughter and our tongue with singing for the Lord hath done very great things for us whereof we are glad There was never any Society I am perswaded more disconsolate more crest-faln than the Disciples were upon the Eve of this happy Resurrection their faith failed them and their courage failed them they lockt themselves up and sat drowzily like men that had lost the fairest expectation that heart could imagin and had neither life nor soul Heaviness did endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning Jesus came into the midst of them the doors being shut and shewed them his feet and his hands Then were the Disciples glad when they saw the Lord Joh. xx 20. before the Lords Ascension though their minds were yet somewhat carnal yet they were glad that his sayings were verified in despight of the Jews that He was risen again the third day The old Father confuted his churlish Son with that principle of good nature it was meet that we should make merry and be glad for this thy brother was dead and is alive again Luke xv 32. Again the Disciples were very frollick because when they saw the Lord revived again they were perswaded that He would restore the Temporal Kingdom unto Israel a thing which erroneously they had long lookt for but after his Ascension then their joy was high swoln and full to the brim for it was illuminated by faith they rejoyced that he was risen and gone up in glory to possess his Kingdom for when Christ our life shall appear again then shall we also appear in glory But because ancient Customs are things that will stick to the remembrance I will borrow a little time to impart unto you what glad remonstrances the Old Fathers of the Church were wont to make of it First their very outward Garments were of the best they had and full of splendor not out of pride and wantonness but to testifie that in every circumstance they did magnifie that holy Mystery of Christs rising from the dead and to witness in their outward habit that the resurrection of the dead is the cloathing of us with new and immortal apparel Therefore Nazianzen wishing for his own dissolution cries out take from me this ponderous Garment that is this sinful corruptible Body which makes me sweat and faint and give me a lighter that will never trouble me Secondly their Churches were trickt up with the best bravery that they could
world and therefore Dulia a petty Worship will serve for them to cross this absurdity I confess that God is honourable alike as in one Appellation so in another but our eternal happiness is granted unto us by this Appellation more than any other But when as Samuel came to anoint one of the Sons of Jessai for a King Eliab was beautiful in his eyes and so was Abinadab and so was Shammah but God would have the Horn of Oyl poured only upon the head of David So let every tongue confess that the names of Jehovah Elohim Immanuel and Christ are reverend and glorious and worthy that our knees should stoop unto them as low as Earth and our lips carry them as high as Heaven But Peter hath wrought Miracles by the Name of Jesus and Paul hath preach'd glorious things of the Name of Jesus therefore my Soul and Body shall be prostrate to that Name especially which is wonderful and holy The neglect of this is an undutiful omission yet I reckon it not in the place of the greatest sins But the greatest reproach and dishonour which the Name of God doth suffer is in the mouth of the Swearer and Blasphemer that is the Tongue whereof St. James speaks that is set on fire from Hell Yea and Nay the trial of all truth is accounted in this dissolute Age precise and simple communication What God is he that you swear by so often Is it not he that gave you breath and can stop your breath at a moment Whose Bloud is that you swear by Even that Bloud which should wash away your sins is unto you an occasion of more pollution Whose Wounds are these you swear by Even those Wounds wherein you should bury your sins make them live unto condemnation as St. Hierom said Ipse aer constupratur scelestis vocibus that ribald obscene talk did adulterate the air So I may say of Oaths that are vomited up from the superfluity of sin Ipse aer profanatur scelestis vocibus the Air is prophaned and unhallowed by abusing the Name of God Lord to what an excess this windy airy sin of Swearing is come to I think for one reason the Devil may be called the Prince of the Air because he is the Prince of such blasphemous language And so much for the Honour due to the Name of God But secondly to Honour his Name and to disobey his Word is to imitate those disloyal Subjects of the Emperour Maximilian they called Maximilian scornfully Regem Regum a King of Kings it was because the Nobles that were under him lived like Kings without subjection or obedience Or it is to make such a God to our selves as the Church of Rome makes Bishops in the East the one is called Bishop of Antioch another called Bishop of Jerusalem and Title enough they have if that would maintain them but nothing else Keep your Masters Commandments and love his Ordinances to do them and then God is Honoured Concerning Obedience read and observe the life and death of Saul he would sacrifice to God and that of the fattest Cattel among all the Flocks of the Amalekites Why this was Honour one would think No it was not juxta Verbum Domini according to the word which was brought unto him by the mouth of Samuel and God prefers Obedience before Sacrifice This is the reason says Aquine in Sacrifice we offer up the flesh of a beast but in Obedience we offer up our own will unto God The Jews did so much esteem the killing Letter of the Law that they wore it as the chief ornament of their Vesture in the Fringe of their Garments as Frontlets before their eyes and about the wrists of their hands mark but that before their eyes for meditation about their arms for practise and execution There is a rule in Physick says a learned Bishop Per brachium fit judicium de corde The Veins come from the heart to the hand and there Physicians take their Crisis by their Pulse and motion So it is in Divinity you must make conscience of your knowledge by your practice and obey the word David held the word of God super mille pondo auri argenti above thousands of Gold and Silver Solomon esteemed the Law to be as bright as the Sun in the Firmament Praeceptum Domini lucidum illuminans oculos You have heard of Idolaters that have worshipped the Sun and Moon Much more let true Believers reverence the Law of God which is brighter than the Sun in the Firmament for so Elias thought and he covered his face with a Mantle as soon as ever the Lord spake as if the voice of the Lord were eyes sufficient to see by and he needed not the eyes of this body But far above Kings and Prophets and all the Sons of men the holy Angels are so ready to do Gods will that you shall scarce once read in Scripture that they were bid to go of Gods Errand but before you could say Do this they were gone to dispatch the Lords Employment Surely as it was a great abasement for the Word which was God to be united to the flesh of man so it is a great Honour for man who is but flesh to be united in obedience to the Word of God To contract my self in this Point Remember what manner of Law it is that we should obey St. Paul says it is sancta justa bona holy in respect of God that gave it just toward all men in civil commerce good for our selves to live in peace and safety What yoke then is more easie than the yoke of that Law which is holy and just and good Now in the third place as the Air which we hear sounding in our ears by concretion says Philosophy becomes clear water and may be seen so the Word of God which we hear preached unto the Ear in the holy Sacraments of Baptism and the Lords Supper becomes verbum visibile a visible word in wine and water Honour one and honour the other for though they be twain in the administration yet in effect they are but one and the same one in application of our Saviours merits and the mercies of God one in fruit and efficacy to wash away our sins and to cleanse our Soul For as the bright Constellation which we call the Morning and Evening Star is one and the same So Christ in Baptism is the Morning light which illuminates Infants anon after they peep into the world and Christ in his Last Supper is the Evening Star Vltimum viaticum a light to shew every man the right way out of the world that is going to Heaven As one said of Prayer that it was due unto God when we rise and when we go to bed as a Morning and an Evening Sacrifice and therefore it might be called Clavis diei sera noctis the Key to open the day and the Bolt to lock in the night So I may say of the two Sacraments that they
are Clavis Ecclesiae sera Coeli Baptism the Key to open a door and give us admittance into the Church of Christ and the Eucharist is such a confirmation of grace that it is like a bolt that shuts us up into Heaven What reverence what devotion can be too much for such blessed mysteries Mistake me not when I speak of Reverence and Devotion I mean nothing less than Adoration and Worship to the Elements I allow not nay I abhor Popish Elevation and Procession I fear this lifting up of the Host ever since the Devil took up Christ to a Pinacle of the Temple I detest their gamish and gaudy Procession as if our Saviour did think it an Honour to ride upon the Popes Palfrey as Haman did upon King Ahasuerus Horse away with such ridiculous gesticulations But I am ashamed on the other side that there should be such froward Persons such unthankful Receivers of the Sacrament of thankfulness in our Church that deny the duty of their knee to the Supper of the Lord their feet stand stiff like the two Pillars which upheld the Theatre of the Philistines and Samson can scarce pluck them to the ground The very Devil durst not deny the truth in this Point Ask him what it is to honour Mat. 4. to fall down and worship As Maecoenas spake of a Roman that being amazed forgot to kneel unto Caesar when he came in his presence Hic homo timet timere Caesarem so these men are afraid lest they should over-reach themselves and give God more honour than his due It was an excellent speech of Scipio Africanus who being to ride in honour refused to sit in an Arch Triumphal Quia seni praetereunti non potuit assurgere if an old man passed by he could not rise up and do him reverence Beloved the Table of the Lord is a time of great triumph and solemnity and God is not passing from us but coming to us and is this all the honour that we will do him to stand upon stilts rather than kneel Will neither the apprehension of Christs Passion move us at that time Nor that Prayer which is used that body and soul may be preserved unto everlasting life will not that make us fall down Nor the consideration how Christ did humble himself for us unto the death of the Cross will not that make us humble Let it be the reproach of such profane men that Manna is faln down from Heaven round about our Tents and they will not stoop to gather it The fourth and last Honour which redounds to God is to obey the powers which are ordained of God It is good Divinity every day it is the proper Theam of this day O Lord make it a victorious and joyful day to thine Anointed Servant and our most gacious Soveraign many and many years and make it an happy and a triumphant day to his People that are under him and to their Children that are yet unborn Nazianzen speaking of Kings and Rulers to be the Images of God says that Monarchs and Kings in respect of God were like Pictures drawn clean throughout to the Feet the middle sort of Governours to Pictures drawn to the Girdle the third rank and lowest in authority to Pictures drawn but to the neck and shoulders but all in some sort are the Images of God only Christ is the express Image of his Person that sate down at the right hand of his Majesty Heb. i. O let Man who is made according to the similitude and likeness of Gods own goodness be faithful and Loyal to obey Kings and Princes in whom he hath imprinted the Image of his power and authority Mary Magdalen sate at our Saviours feet his Disciple John came nearer to his head and leaned upon his breast so God hath put all the world under his feet but Kings and Rulers lean as it were upon his breast as coming nearer to his love Now as the Altar was a refuge for them that fled unto it so Kings being as it were united unto God by an invisible copulation they are like priviledged persons always next unto the Altar and the hand of violence must not hurt them He that despiseth you despiseth me and he that honoureth you honoureth me But the Jesuit is more subtle than any beast of the field and he puts in a quarrel against Gods Anointed that if any prove an Heretick or a scandalous person to the Church nolumus hunc regnare then he hath lost the privilege of his Unction and his Scepter shall be broken by the Popes effulminating Authority I cannot answer this traiterous opposition better than by an Embleme of a Diamond with this word dum formas minuis He that pares a Diamond to make it give a better lustre and to point it artificially impairs the worth and value of the Diamond so to cut such large allowance from the due which God hath granted without that qualification to his Vice-gerents under pretence to make their Kingdom more beautiful and religious is the next way to break the neck of all Soveraignty it were well we had less of their art and more of their honesty As Agesilaus wrote to the Judges in the behalf of Nicias if Nicias his Cause be good let justice prevail if his Cause be wrong let favour prevail but be sure that Nicias prevail So say I if the Scepter of the King be a Scepter of mercy and righteousness God be blessed it is then we will honour it for righteousness sake if it should go wrong and not as we would have it so it hath far'd with other Common-wealths the Throne of the King is established in heaven and we must honour it for Gods sake but be sure the King be honour'd and obeyed There is a Fable which Plutarch hath to this purpose the Tail of the Snake began to cavil with the Head because the Head did always lead the way and direct the Body which way it list The Tail would not be contented unless it might go formost by course and the Head come sometimes behind but what followed upon this new contrivance the Tail prickt it self in thorns the Body was bruised every part offended and at last the Head was intreated to take upon him to lead and then the whole body was contented Beloved our part is to pray to God that the Head may run on in the right way like the matchless Pair that went before the mirrour of women pious Queen Elizabeth and the most excellent and learned of all wise Princes that ever were or shall be blessed King James Our part is to submit our wisdom to the secret counsels of the King and to demonstrate our faithfulness and love more amply by how much the times are like to be dangerous and troublesome but for the Tail to go formost it is a dishonour to God who hath given the Crown and Scepter to the King and it can breed nothing but disorder and confusion To sum up these four
residue the Lord will give victory to his chosen people But as Cyrus in Xenophon speaks of the manner of the Median hunting beasts in Gardens that they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hunt beasts that were bound so to follow these turncoat Fugitives which have sheltred themselves in Cloisters and are sworn to do us mischief it were vincta venari to pursue that which was entangled therefore I leave them with Judas and this brand upon both their foreheads concluding the second part of my Text c. I am now descended in the third place to the stratagem of this day and am faln upon the haters of my Lord the King A King who is an uniter of Kingdoms into one body as David was of Judah and Israel none more zealous no not David himself for the prosperity of Jerusalem and the magnificence of the holy Temple Under Christ not only the Supreme Head but under Christ the most careful Watchman of our Churches and as Christ did tenderly affect his Apostles above all other men so the Successors of the Apostles the Reverend and most holy Bishops of our Church have found not the smallest place in the love of our gracious Soveraign Surely above all men if the Clergy be not careful to set forth the honour of this day with great joy and solemnity it is their ignorance or their negligence Ignorance is the very annihilating of a Scholar negligence the foulest fault in a Labourer Had these furious Sword-men that laid their weapons to his throat sound an austere Master nay a Tyrant they must have born with it and not touch the man that bears the character of the Lords Anointed But his Peers are verè parâ—s welcom as his equals his familiar friends Had they been out of the lists of counsel not acquainted with secret affairs what should they do but be thankful for the peace which they enjoy without trouble and pray for that Government which fills them with plenteousness without their labour but they were familiars in whom he trusted adventuring his Royal Person not only under their roof but under their locks and custody Lastly had his bounty no way flown into their Coffers and whose bounty among all the Kings of the earth hath replenished more yet their bodies are secure by the protection of his Laws their souls secure by his maintenance of true Religion their goods secure by his Courts of Justice and yet his own c. Did eat of his bread that is true But to feed upon the Kings hospitality is a curtesie every day common to thousands that visit the Court But for a mighty Monarch to grace his Subjects Table with his Royal Presence and to eat of his bread this is not the felicity of every one Pauci quos aequus amavit Jupiter it is a respect of high honour where it lights and the glory of an illustrious Family And out of doubt that mind must be very sordid and avaricious that esteems it not the more noble grace to make their service find acceptation that they may expend somewhat rather than receive somewhat of a mighty Potentate I can spare no more time to publish the black sin of the Authors of this treachery It was Dionysius his saying to Plato that if he should dismiss him and give him leave to depart for Greece Plato would make him the common talk of Athens Do not think O King says Plato that we have so little care of learned conference that we would chuse you for our discourse So I hope beloved that our hearts are so full charged with thankfulness to God for this days deliverance that in twenty years and more we have no leisure as yet to think of the Malefactors Let this day be spent and many days following only in Prayer and Supplication and Thanksgiving to that God who hath given victory to his Anointed and will do to his Seed for evermore Nay let me add one thing coronidis vice and I have quite done we have found this verse to tax Achitophel to condemn Judas and lastly to lie at their door who perished deservedly this day in their own fury Bonaventure hath yet smelt out another enemy and such a one as none more familiar none more intimate to any of us all Is not this fair warning beloved And will you know who it is O man it is thy self He that prays to God to bless him from his enimies is afraid of malice indeed it is a dreadful thing He that prays to God to bless him from his friends is afraid of treachery and indeed no mischief less avoidable But let me pray to God to bless me from my self no enemie so full of flattery so like to prevail so cunning in tentation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is the Civil War which wastes the inward parts it is the carnal man against the spiritual Self-love is every mans disease Why You are your own familiar friend Confession of sins can hardly be extorted from us Why We trust to our selves too much Gluttony and Riot are within our Walls Why We feed our selves and are our own carvers From our enemies defend us O Christ from Forain Invasion from Domestical Conspiracy from the malice of Satan and from the corruption of this vile Flesh the body of death which we carry about Good Lord deliver us AMEN THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE Fifth of November AMOS ix 2. Though they dig into Hell thence shall my hand take them WE have two sorts of Holy-days and Festivals to call Assemblies together into the Church of God Some in honour of the Saints who are our friends that their Piety may redound to our imitation Some occasioned by the malice of our enemies to sing praises for our preservation both are useful if we advise aright And who knows whether King David was instructed better from Hushai his Friend or from Shemei that reviled him He that would be safe says Plutarch and walk sure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he must either have true Friends or bitter enemies And as God would have it the Church hath plenty of both sorts Saints of honour in heaven spiteful men to undermine it upon earth darkness beneath to complot treachery light above to reveal it There is both manus fodiens an hand digging into Hell against us and manus educens the eternal hand that fashioned all things on our side to take them out Beloved here are two chief instructions from two main ways to inform our faith blessed is every one that hath duly prepared one heart to receive them Which that we may the better do I pray observe what a lofty Hyperbole the whole verse doth consist of threatning the ungodly that they shall neither have advantage by Heaven nor Hell Though they dig c. They that go about to cast away themselves are not in their way except they wander And that you may know how sinners straggle whithersoever they go mark what several interpretations the words do bear Hugo the
Aaron and the Bishops of the Church that succeed St. Paul Let them know that it is not in their hand to be avenged of the life of their Adversaries The secular Sword in the Priests arm did never turn to the benefit of justice but to scandal And as St. Austin speaks of Sylla revenging the tyranny of Marius with greater cruelty Vindicta perniciosior fuit quam si scelera impunita relinquerentur that it had been better the faults had been unchastised than so revenged so say I to them better vindicative justice should sleep than be awaked by the Clergy Let the Priests of Baal be armed with Knives and Lancers to fill the ditches with bloud as Elias did with water let the Sacrificers of Bacchus give wounds to every one that passeth by instead of blessing But Christs Disciples are sent about even without the protection of a little staff in their hand If David would have a Sword in the Church Ahimelech must answer Non est hic here is none save the Sword of Golias which was kept there not for any use of it but for the memory Our weapons are Prayers and Tears and if we strike it is but vulnus calami the stroke of our Pen and that should always be Penna columbina I would it were so taken from the Doves wing not unsavory reproaches and Satyrical tants as if our Writings were stuck with the quils of Porcupines Angels were wont to fight against Jerusalem and against Senacharib but did you ever hear in our days of a fighting Angel The Shepherds when they saw an heavenly Host Luk. ii and pitch'd in the field and coming suddenly upon them looked for no other but a battel but quite beside the old manner they sung Praises to the Lord. Beloved the Ministry of our Gospel it succeeds the Ministry of Angels It is to be marked that St. Paul salutes the Corinthians Ephesians and the rest with grace and peace only but to Timothy and Titus his two Bishops he sends grace mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ The Popes Parasites never lin putting of him in mind Girt thy Sword upon thy thigh O thou most mighty good luck have thou with thy battels and renown and shake the Vipers into the fire And who shall determine who be Vipers Who but the Pope Who then kindle the fire to burn them Who but the Jesuits Gladiatores potiùs quà m clerici Fencers rather than Priests of God Rome while the Gentiles lived in it had for the Ensigns of their honour duos pugiones pileum two Daggers and a Cap Junius Brutus was the Author But see what time can do and to what encrease it brings every thing the two Daggers are become two Swords and the Cap is turned into a Triple Diadem Well Ahimelech gave up his Sword to David the King Peter and the Apostles are the salt of the earth and have nothing to do with such instruments Me thinks the Pope in this point had a very good answer from the Emperour when expostulating why one of his Sons the Cardinals was slain in battel the Emperour returned unto him the Cardinals Harness and this word Haec est tunica filii tui Is this your Son Josephs Coat But I warrant you the Church is in a strange case if she may not sight her own battels Truly no. St. Bernard thought it safe enough in the protection of the King Vterque gladius he speaks it to the Pope non tuâ manu sed tuo nutu est evaginandus And tuo natu was too much and smelt of the Age he lived in But the intercession of the Church may obtain the Sword from the Defender of the Faith to maintain the Gospel It cannot be so in Julians Reign and in the time of wicked Princes I grant it why then let us forbish up our own Armory Faith and Prayers and Tears So did Nazianzen in the Churches distress 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we entreat thy flaming sword O Lord to cut down thine enemies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we demand thy Plagues to light upon them and is not this good security God and the King Only one thing must be interposed for satisfaction in this point Why should Nazianzen or why should the Church curse her enemies with such a bitter curse Is not that breach of charity The Schoolmen very well have collected their answers into five heads 1. When you think the Prophets and holy Fathers curs'd they did not curse but prophesie It was St. Austins Collection long ago Solent figurâ imprecantis futura praedicere So David prayed that another might take the Bishoprick of Judas which needs must be a Prophesie 2. Their end is good and holy that the heathen may know themselves to be but men and in the bitterness of affliction seek the Lord. 3. Ad conformitatem divini judicii in all things to say the will of the Lord be done God hath spoken it in his holiness that he will cut off the wicked and we must say Amen in obedience 4. Ad regnum peccati destruendum not so much to destroy sinners as to destroy the kingdom of sin Curse your Meros curse it bitterly that the power of sin may fall with the fall of Kingdoms Lastly Ad consolationem infirmorum for the comfort of weak ones that they may know how the Church is the true Paradise by the flaming Sword which did defend it As Nero spake excellently when he entred into the Empire Nec odium nec injurias nec cupidinem ultion is ad regnum ferebat There was no hatred in his mind no revenge in his soul no injury in his memory so must we take the Kingdom of Heaven with the violence of love and not of hatred Better might Moths and Rust and Canker be suffered to be in Heaven than Malice and Revenge and Envy Then hear you godly to discern Gods finger from the hand of Paul He did not cast the Viper into the fire to shew us a way to be avenged of our enemies And hearken you ungodly for in this Text is the very similitude of your condemnation which shall appear by these circumstances 1. St. Paul gathered the sticks for fuel and so the good Angels shall gather the Tares in bundels for the fire 2. The barbarous people kindled the fire so shall the Devil and his Angels be your executioners 3. The Viper drops into the flame but we do not read it was consumed I say it is not expressed in the Text so tedious and everlasting is your misery In this world we mourn at every burial of our friends because death hath entred in by sin into the world Vbi mors nolentem animam pellit è corpore where death cashiers the soul unwillingly out of the body but in Hell-fire sinners shall bewail that there is no death Vbi mors nolentem animam tenet in corpore where death shall imprison the soul unwillingly in the body says
St. Austin Did you think to burn like chaff and thorns to be out with a blaze The Scripture never meant it Your torments shall belike a firy Oven Psal xxi where heat is furious without the blessing of light You shall be like the burning of Lime Isa xii where the fire encreaseth when you think to extinguish it Nay you shall be as Wax before the fire Mic. i. melted and heated but not consumed Aetna was never cold yet as if it were the stomach of the world Montes uruntur durant quid improbi hostes Domini says Tertullian Yea says the Atheist Hills are but dirt and dross without life they may last and burn Then say we the Salamander hath life and yet is not consumed in the fire So shall it be with the wicked True says the Atheist such Creatures may play in the flames because it is their nature and delight but can the wicked abide in pains unsufferable and not be consumed St. Austin in this point hath outgone their Logick says he Mirabile est dolere in ignibus tamen vivere sed mirabilius vivere in ignibus nec dolere That is the miracle above the other for the little beast to live unscorched without any pain among the burning coals rather then as the damned to continue so in torment Do you believe a vain story for the one then believe the Scriptures for the other But I leave those and many more the like Problems for the Schoolmen whose subtil heads have extracted such questions by distillation from Hell Furnace as if they did not dispute but conjure And I pass from this Song of deliverance how mischief lighted upon the Viper to Canticum Canticorum the Song of Songs even Deborahs song in this happy preservation He shook the beast into the fire and felt no harm This was not a brand snatcht out of the fire half saved half consumed Not like your bloudy Victories wherein the Conquerours may sit down and count their losses as well as the Conquered As Pyrrhus said very well when twice he vanquished the Romans but lost the flower of his own Army in the Victories Si tertio vicerimus if we overcome the third time we are undone for ever But it is Dalmaticus triumphus sine sudore sanguine The Viper left not so much smart behind it as the prick of a thorn or thistle He felt no harm How would a Stoick interpret this now Forsooth to be an obstinate contempt of grief I will not call it patience as if Paul were toucht to the quick but would not feel it So Taurus the Philosopher in Gellius excused a sick person of his Sect that seemed to groan in his disease Non est gemitus alicujus victi à dolore sed anhelitus viri enitentis vincere That is pain and disease did not make him groan as if it troubled him but he fetcht his wind short to over-master his sickness this is robusta stultitia madness not manhood and Philosophy to affect such stubborness Nature cannot but love it self and retire from pain and Reason will follow Nature And this is enough to satisfie the most curious that trouble their heads why our Saviour cast out those strong ejaculations of grief against the bitter cup Mat. xxvi Cum natura cogit etiam ratio data à naturâ cogitur As I said before Reason will follow Nature Wherefore to say that Paul felt no harm is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he did not suffer any He had been in the third heavens and in this one act God gave his body incorruption upon earth For so says Aquinas that many worthy Saints have had a taste of heaven upon earth not only by grace in their soul but by some other excellent quality shining in these vile bodies The properties of a glorified body are thus reckoned up by the same Author first that the Just shall shine like the Sun in the Firmament that is Claritas in corpore So the face of Stephen standing before the Council was bright as the face of an Angel The second ornament is agilitas in motu to be able to fly upon the wings of the wind thus Philip was carried by the Spirit from Gaza in the Desart to Azotus suddenly Thirdly our corruption shall put on incorruption as in this one act Paul suffered on his hand and felt no harm for the last attribute of a glorified body which is called spiritualitas I do not recknon it for according to the Schoolmens interpretation it doth quite destroy the nature of a body But let us remember to keep our bodies pure and undefiled since God hath given us a taste in this life that hereafter they shall be refined in greater glory O we doubt it not but we should all prove as holy as Paul himself if we were so dear to God as to feel no harm Our luxurious Courtiers would sing Songs unto the Lord with Shadrach Mesech and Abednego if the Son of God would walk with them in the firy Furnace and in the shadow of death that they might fear none ill Our wanton Ladies yea and their Handmaids also would play upon Timbrels unto God as well as Miriam if they might tread as safe upon the ground as she did and all Israel to fear none evil in the midst of the Sea No but if our danger did not come to be felt to tangit angit I fear we would be impudent and say there was no danger Like ignorant people who presume when beasts are tamed by discipline that they have no teeth because they bite not Jonah must be wakened to see the Tempest lest he sleep it out and deny it And if Saul miss nothing else yet he must lose his pot of water that he might acknowledge his own preservation and Davids fidelity As the Shepherd in Virgil was bitten by a Gnat to espy the hissing of a Serpent and we our selves try the edge of a Razor upon the nail of our finger and so come to know that if it should miscarry it would cut our throat And this is one cause why Paul did feel no harm because we are chastened with some feeling for they that be evil and feel no harm would be too too evil and feel no benefit But let my second reason be the answer and with your patience the conclusion for this time Such Miracles and such deliverances were required in the days of St. Paul the Apostle which are not now to be expected in these our days I call it a Miracle and so it is and in the nature of the greatest Miracles Small ones are but such as either seldom be seen and so come by their name so our Saviour wondred at the Centurions faith Or those which it is no news to see nor very hard to bring about but only it is above our reason perchance to know the cause as the turning of the point of the Loadstone to the North. But this is a more noble work and therefore
and the names of the Stars and Constellations and with flat Romances about the good Angels falling in love with mortal Creatures things most unworthy to be fathered upon Enoch that walked with God Therefore St. Jerom moderates the variance Non probavit librum totum Judas sed illud duntaxat testimonium St. Jude did patronize no more of that Book but that Prophesie which he copied out into his Epistle As St. Paul gave no divine authority to certain heathen Poets but only to those particular Verses which he borrowed To come to a point It sounds nearest to truth that Enoch was no such Prophet as left Canonical Records because Christ was wont to argue against the Jews from Moses and the Prophets allowing Moses for the most ancient Prophet that delivered Scripture to the Church by inspiration A late Capuchin Frier hath laboured to prove as he thinks solidly as I think very superficially that Monkish Fraternities and Covents were the first invention in the Church and in his sense to be a Prophet is all one as if Enoch had been of some Colledge or religious Order separated from the ordinary Sons of God Out of his own conjectures he doth erect two strict sodalities of Religion in those ancient days From Enos the Enoscaei such as professed silence from all talk and sequestration from all men And from Cainan the Cinaei or Kenites such as lived in a regular but an active Vocation More of this in due time but we read of no vow or affected institution of life into which the Patriarchs entred we read of some illuminated Prophets or Prophet among them and that was Enoch As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began Luk. i. 70. 3. His next mark of glory follows That he was an example of repentance to all Generations They that are careful to expound these words in Ecclesiasticus accurately are divided in the sense Some have searched among the Rabbines for their opinions of this and one of them says that wickedness did abound in the Age of Enoch the foul crimes of Sorceries and Witchcrafts had begun to shew their blade and Lamech was the seventh from Adam in the Race of Cain a Bigamist and a Murderer His sins in all likelihood were scandalous and contagious at that time over a great part of the earth and for these iniquities the Lord drowned the third part of the habitable world in Enochs time and Enoch threatned an universal Deluge to all flesh if they did not repent which indeed came to pass so his Doctrine and Prophesies gave notice of Repentance to all Generations But Procopius says upon this Text and he had it from some Jewish Scribes that this holy man had been very incontinent and vicious before he begat Methusalah but after that he proved so relenting a Convert laid hold so fast on God because he knew what a misery it was to lose him that his few years of repentance did God more faithful service than almost a thousand years of innocence in the best of the Patriarchs Which aspersion upon this holy Saint since it hath no ground to build upon it is answered well enough by Cajetan Enoch is twice commended in this Chapter that he walked with God in this Text and within two Verses before it the ingemination of that puts it into more probability that he was a constant follower of good works from his youth up till the time that God translated him Leaving these far-fetch'd conjectures this is the most sutable exposition to the words as I apprehend repentance is often taken for all that sanctification and righteousness which is in man that is born and conceived in sin Acts v. 31. God hath exalted Christ to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins but God gives a new heart and a new spirit to Israel and new obedience when he gives them forgiveness of sins To repent is properly reverti à peccato to return from a sinful life but sometimes it is avertere à peccato to turn a side from the broad way which leadeth to perdition though the Child of God never went astray in it So Enoch having a corruptible body which pressed down the pious alacrity of the soul and doing those things by frailty sometimes which he ought not to have done his innocency and holiness is called repentance whereupon the Son of Syrach calls him an example of repentance to all Generations 4. To be a Prophet to be an example of repentance both of these gives us an introduction to understand this Phrase that he walked with God but the true key that opens it is the fourth thing Vpon the earth was no man created like Enoch says the Son of Syrach A Cedar among other fair trees a great Star among other lesser lights a most sanctified man among many just ones like the man in the Parable that was the truest servant to his Master exceeded him that gained but two Talents exceeded him that gained five Talents he made return of ten Talents to his Lord and bore the praise away from them all that had done very well before him upon the earth was no man created like Enoch We commend those from our lips that are inter non pessimè malos not so bad as the worst But God commends them from his mouth that are inter optimos praecipui the most excellent of them that are the best Reuben was kinder towards Joseph than the rest of his Brethren so Reuben tells them of it Gen. xlii 22. yet he was but unnatural Jehu was a truer worshipper of God than the Priests of Baal yet wanted much of sincerity Gamaliel was more favourable to the Apostles than the rest of the Judges yet he did them unjustice and was an unbelieving Pharisee The Kingdom of heaven is not to be look'd for upon assurance that there are greater sinners than you but hereby you shall try if the love of God be in you when you pant and strive with all your soul and with all your might that none may be better It is a pitiful and indeed a dishonourable praise to point out a man and say he is religious devout or conscionable as the world goes Hath God ever promised to take measure from that form as a bad world goes how he will give a man an heritage with the Angels in the world to come To be an Hercules among the Argonautes I mean the first Champion in the Lords cause in the first file a Peter among the Disciples Lovest thou me more than these An Elias among Prophets a Moses an Aaron among his Priests and Samuel among such as called upon his name an Enoch among the Patriarchs upon the earth was no man created like him this is the pitch we must desire to grow unto and not to say with the Proverb Occupet extremum scabies All is well if you be not the worst of a wicked company Whatsoever you know or hear of
relate but that he finished this life I cannot say it His years are numbred before my Text like other mens three hundred sixty five just as many years as there be days in an usual year after the motion of the Sun not that this reckoning is the term of his life but the term of that time that he conversed with men As Tertullian glosseth upon St. Pauls words I am crucified with Christ How crucified and yet live Per emendationem vitae non per interitum substantia by the reformation of his life not by the loss of his life So Enoch had a period when he left to be with men Per emendationem vitae non per interitum substantia By an exaltation to a better life not by the corruption of his body As the men of Israel would not let Jonathan suffer death though Saul had given Sentence against him What say they shall Jonathan die that hath wrought such great salvation in Israel So when the Spirit of the Lord had testified what a Prophet Enoch was a perfect obedient that abhorred Will-worship a stiff maintainer of Gods part against the Devil and all his Instruments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a friend a familiar acquaintance a walker with God Upon this testimony Mercy opposeth Justice and though the Lord had said to Adam and to all that were in his loyns Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return What says Mercy shall Enoch die an example of repentance to all Generations So the stroke of death was diverted that he saw not the Grave and Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him The partition which I framed upon the whole Verse was on this wise first how uncorrupt Enoch was in his ways he walked with God and secondly that he did not see corruption And this second Point which is reserved for this hours labour is to be handled in two several heads the former I will call Enoch's passage out of this world He was not The latter his reposure in another world For God took him His place was left empty among the Patriarchs below and he filled a room among the Thrones and Angels above Upon these two I shall handle many particular Doctrines before you And he was not a concise phrase you see and brevity will breed obscurity especially put this unto it that it is a form of speech which is not used again in this sense to my remembrance in all the Scripture But the sense is made plain by St. Paul Heb. xi 5. By Faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death He had a passage out of this world without any dissolution of the soul from the body In the same body that he pleased God says Irenaeus he was translated being never uncloathed of the flesh that he might put on immortality That this truth may be carried the clearer I will debate it a little with them that oppose it and with them that qualifie it Some of the Hebrew Rabbines as I find them quoted because they consult not with the authority of the New Testament think they are not convicted by the Old Testament but that they may conclude how Enoch died and was taken away in an early Age as those times went much sooner than his Forefathers As if this Verse did rather bemoan him for his untimely departure than renown him for some glorious favour which did befal him The phrase indeed if we look no farther will bear it both in sacred and in heathen Writings to say of one departed fuit he was but is not this was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fair way of language to avoid an unpleasing word Yet the phrase doth not always stand in that sense but hath a double acception and both in one verse that you may the better carry it away Gen. xlii 36. Jacob there bemoans himself for the waat of two Children Joseph is not and Simeon is not the one he took to be dead indeed the other to be in fast hold and taken from his eyes removed where he could not come at him as Enoch was but no more So the Chaldee Paraphrase explains the meaning of Jacob Joseph non superest Simeon non est hic Joseph is quite lost and Simeon is not here The phrase then accords very well with that place of the Hebrews by faith Enoch was translanted that he saw not death And my Text must incline to that exposition for two reasons First that the Lord took him stands for a consequent that he was pleased in him it is the reward as you would say that he walked with God not that there is a necessary and perpetual coherency in it that whosoever walks with God should be exalted into Paradise and not see corruption but Enochs righteousness by a priviledge of favour was so requited a favour then being understood in those words it cannot be the sentence of death upon him it is impossible Secondly in this Chapter the last word that the Holy Ghost gives of Adam is Et mortuus est and he died so of Seth so of Enos so of Cainan so of all the Antecessors of Enoch wherefore unless Enoch had some other issue out of this world diverse from the rest which was by translation without death why should it be said of him so differently from all others he was not for the Lord took him So I have corrected the great error of those Hebrew Doctors who would lay Enochs honour in the dust But I suppose the general Exposition of the Jews was right and according to St. Pauls doctrine For Paul wrote to the Hebrews that he saw not death knowing the tradition was commonly so received among them and the Chaldee Paraphrast who lived straight after Christ was of the same judgment beside one of great note among them says he was disarrayed of the foundation corporal and cloathed with the foundation spiritual which words I conceive do jump with those who oppose not the Scripture that he saw not death far be it from them but they have a qualification for the meaning of it that death is taken two ways most properly for the separation of one essential part of man from the other the body from the soul a loath to depart it is a most unwelcom dissolution a punishment upon the sin of our first Father which was remitted to Enoch improperly it is no more but the separation or extinction of corruptible qualities from the soul and body one whom I named even now called it the disarraying of a man from the foundation corporal and so Enoch was purified altered made quite another man in the very moment that he was wrapt up to heaven This evacuation of corruptible qualities from the flesh is called death by some very good Authors in our own Church and so Procopius much more ancient than they Mirabili modo mortis defunctus est ad vitam coelestem translatus it was a rare and admirable kind of death he suffered
that he passed into heaven without death is twâ—fold Quoad alios quoad ipsum partly in regard of others partly in regard of himâ—â—lf In regard of others what greater consolation upon the proof did befall the Church in that Age than from hence that there was an apparent instance that after this life God had prepared another for his Saints These are the very words of life Non solùm in verbo sed in facto God did not only give a promise but took this man away as a real pawn of his favour that Death should be swallowed up in victory Two things had hapned which shook the world with much fear First that Abel who had offered a good and a pleasing Sacrifice should be slain by Cain Is this the reward of the Righteous Shall Sinners always have the upper hand Hold ye contented says God do not ye see that Enoch is accounted worthy to decline Fate and Mortality because he was found obedient and just in the sight of God Put Abels persecution in one scale Enochs glorification in another and you will find how equally the lives of the Saints are mixt with afflictions and consolations The other discomfort was that Adam the Father of all flâ—sh was dead before their eyes and this struck wonderful terrour into their hearts till their fears were mitigated in the Assumption of Enoch For he that assumed body and soul together into heaven for power he was able and for mercy very willing though he marred the bodies of his Children with corruption to repair them again There was Seth the fifth Patriarch above Enoch then living far stricken in years and every day looking for his dissolution within fifty years after he was carried to the grave like a timely fruit dropping from the tree What a comfort it was unto him to see a Son of his own loins caught up alive into the Mansions of Beatitude As who should say at last such honour have all his Saints Such as love to put forth curious questions demand why Adams eyes were shut that he never saw this blessing for it fell out 150. years after his death why he alone of all the good Patriarchs was excluded from this common consolation It is ingenuiously answered that he had as much comfort as that came to proper to himself for he received the very words of the Covenant out of Gods mouth The Seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head No man else was so happy to have the living Oracle of the Lords voice sound in his ears that Christ should prevail against the enmity of the Devil Therefore to see or hear of the rapture of Enoch was not necessary for him but for all others it was that had not heard the primitive consolation Can you imagine but it kindled great desires in all them that believed to fly away like a bird unto the hills and to possess that requium which Enoch enjoyed Did not their hearts burn within them to see that glory which one of their Brethren and Kindred enjoyed How much more should the same mind be in us to be with Christ Who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the way-maker unto life who is gone before to prepare a place for us No Enoch no Abel is our pattern but Christ himself hath shewn us by his own Ascension how our thoughts should ascend upward to sit at the right hand of God for evermore Hitherto I have declared that Enochs rapture was a comfort to all true believers against the terrours of death but I do not say as some do that the Resurrection of the body was any way exemplified in this mans translation The Scripture hath left it out among the Arguments of the Resurrection and the best instances are those which are applied by the Holy Ghost As our Saviour propounds the Prophet Jonas who was three days and three nights in the belly of the Whale and came forth alive St. Paul proves it to the Romans by this Argument If you have the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead he will also quicken your mortal bodies As if he had said being it is the same Spirit it will produce the same effects And he perswades it to the Corinthians with many strong demonstrations this is the principal if Christ be risen from the dead then are we also assured of our Resurrection for it is not possible that the head should live and we that are his members remain in death These are Apostolical reasons and we are not sent to learn this Lesson from the rapture of Enoch or Elias For indeed those ensampies belong to another purpose to that refining of the mortal body and not putting off of the flesh which shall befall them that shall be found alive at the great day of the Lord. The Mystery which was opened to the Thessalonians The dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds So says Tertullian Enoch and Elias never slept with their Fathers Quare documenta sunt futurae integritatis therefore they shew that body and soul shall be indissoluble which he calls integrity in them that shall be the last Generation of the world And Irenaeus The translation of Enoch makes it manifest that these gross bodies of ours shall be no impediment to meet the Lord in the clouds For as the hand of God which made man of the dust of the earth put him into Paradise so the same hand though he be still but dust and earth can exalt him to a better Paradise And that exaltation though it prove not the Resurrection so absolutely yet directly it proves that the body is fit and capable to be carried away with the soul into the Kingdom of God Thus far upon the benefit quoad alios which redounded unto others from meditating upon this story that Enoch was not and the Lord took him I must joyn a little to this of the benefit quoad ipsum how commodious and good it was to himself for two respects I told you in my last Sermon that instead of walking with God the Jerusalem Targum reads it and Enoch laboured in the truth before the Lord he was an assiduous Teacher of the wicked world to reclaim them from their vices a Prophet that spent himself and his strength like a candle to give light to others all the impediment was that it is an hard matter to gain credit to good Doctrine from them that are hardned in their sins and it is a great honour from God to the Labourer in his harvest when scornful men do not despise his Message Therefore to win authority to Enochs Prophesies the Lord did as it were stretch out his arm from heaven and take him away in the Palm of his hand this was a sure seal indeed to all people that his Doctrine was given by divine inspiration Many false Prophets have commended their vain impostures to the world giving out
Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt offerings on the Altar And the Lord smelled a sweet savour IT is impossible to choose a better method than Elihu did to find out wisdom Repetam scientiam meam à principio Job xxxvi 3. I will fetch my knowledge from far or from the very beginning But why do I call it Elihu's method When behold a greater than Elihu impugning the frivolous divorcements of marriages among the Jews which then had common passage doth thus overthrow them Ab initio non fuit sic It was not so from the beginning From which words I am bold to pronounce that this must be the leading rule of Divine Learning that all Religion must be tried and allowed from the first and most ancient Ordinations Now we have four Ages to run through upon that examination First for the Age before the Floud whereof Almighty God hath left us a very short and confused memorial I will not say as some do that the Church began when Enos was born to Seth although we find it written Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord Gen. iv ult Nor from the Sacrifices of Cain and Abel for the tradition of the Hebrews hath reason in it that Adam himself had often sacrificed before but the first hint of Religion in that Age is at this mark where the Lord made woman and brought her unto man which was a mystery of Christ and his Church Eph. v. 12. Secondly if you will know how the fear of God was first professed after the Floud it is written in my Text. Thirdly If you will be acquainted with the first institution of the Mosaical Law enquire for it at that time when God appeared in glory at Mount Sinai And fourthly If you will search to the bottom when the Law was quite abrogated and the Gospel was purely in force reckon from the coming down of the Holy Ghost at the Feast of Whitsontide Among these four I have wittingly light upon the second that I may entreat before you how Religion was first managed presently after the Deluge under the Law ot Nature For this seems to me to borrow somewhat of all the rest so that speaking of this one they will all be remembred The Mystery of Christ and his Church knit together is not here forgotten where the clean Beasts and the clean Fowls are laid upon the Altar The Sacrifices of Moses Law certainly were patterned by this example and the inspiration of the holy Spirit must needs be in the Sacrifices work from whence the Lord smelt a sweet savour If your attention be now ready to receive the distribution of these words into their several parts they may thus be divided into two principal branches here is the material part and the formal part the body and the soul of that Divine Worship which Noah performed unto the Lord. He builded an Altar unto the Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt offerings on the Altar that is the matter the visible body of his good work And the Lord smelled a sweet savour there is the invisible part or the Soul The material outward work contains these three things 1. That he offered burnt offerings 2. Of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl 3. Vpon an Altar which he built And Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings on the Altar In the formal part there are two things to be spoken of sensibile and sensus The sensibile that this Sacrifice had a sweet savour 2. There was a quick sense that took it and that is the Lords the Lord smelled a sweet savour And Noah builded an Altar c. I take the material part first in hand and this is the principal composition in the matter that Noah offered burnt-offerings to the Lord. This was it I perceive why Noah thought it long till the Floud were asswaged and sent one bird after another to learn if the waters were faln that he might come forth and worship him with an holy Worship that made both the Flouds and the dry Land As a conscionable man recovering from a perilous sickness which brought him even to deaths door thinks every hour seven till he present himself in the Church before the Lord that he may praise his name in the Congregation So the heart of this Patriarch had been so long full of meditations all those days that he was shut up in the Ark how he and his Posterity alone were preserved from the common Deluge that his desires grew restless and he sent forth the Dove three several times and no less to bring him better news if he might come forth and do his homage for the possession of the Earth upon an Altar of earth and that the Incense of his devotion might smoke up to heaven in Sacrifice Now I lift up this example before you to let you behold why we are born and for what use we have our Station in this Globe of Creatures The Lord hath opened our Mothers Womb to bring us forth into the light as he opened the door of the Ark to set Noahs feet in a large room We were shut up in a place which God had appointed for us till our passage was made into the world almost as long as he now we have our egress and the liberty of the Earth and Air. To what end all this What is appointed for man Which way should his business tend To enjoy the pleasures of the Age To extend our appetite over the abundance of all things which the earth affords To build and plant To be renowned and leave a Posterity behind us No that account is ill cast up for you may see in this condition of Noah that he and all that were with him were let forth of the Ark as a people then born again into a new world and the end was to offer up spiritual Sacrifices with a clean heart and while we have any being to praise the Lord. When the Angel had delivered the Apostles out of the common-Prison into which they were cast says he Go stand and speak to the people in the Temple all the words of this life So we are set at liberty from our Mothers Womb from that Ark to which we were committed for a time that we may go to the Courts of the house of our God even as Noah came abroad and took seisin of the earth immediately to make an Altar thereof and thereon to offer Sacrifice to the strength of his deliverance The question will be what direction the holy man had to worship the Lord with this kind of Service Lay it down for that which must be granted He that makes his own brain the model of his Religion shall have little thanks for his forwardness Ascribe unto the Lord the honour due unto his name honour of Duty and Precept is best that which is redundant and of
not taken reward against the innocent a clean eye that doth not look so far till it make the Soul commit fornication undefiled lips which have not defiled the holy name of the Most High and above all an heart that hath no savage inhumane malice in it Make clean the inside of the Platter or the best meat that you eat will be so unclean unto you that you will make the Table of the Lord become the Table of Devils Therefore as great persons in their Galleries keep the patterns of virtues in colours or in sculpture so these Creatures were forbidden to the Jews as the patterns and representments of inward uncleanness and ghostly pollution 3. If God can find uncleanness in these dumb things which follow their natural inclination and do not violate it what filthiness is in us in whom the rebellion of concupiscence is always burning We are all as an unclean thing says the Prophet an original leprosie hath overspread us but we must wash in the Bethesda of Christs bloud and we shall be purified from our sins So I have tried the Law briefly what is clean and unclean both for Meats and Sacrifice How stood it with Tradition before the Law Now I come close to that First as for Meats when flesh began to be meat all things were clean before the Law was given without restriction Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you even as the green herb have I given you all things Gen. ix 3. And for sacrifice Theodoret and Beda think that all things promiscuously might be sacrificed before the Law there was nothing then disallowed as unclean and that Moses wrote the Book of Genesis since the Law and that some things were call'd unclean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by anticipation But all ancient Expositors beside make a part against them that the Patriarchs received an institution from the beginning by Divine revelation delivered to Adam of what kind only and with exclusion of all things else they should sacrifice unto him And the Lord God caused Noah to receive clean Beasts and clean Fowls by sevens that the odd one might be allotted in due time for a Burnt-offering Therefore Rabbi Eleezar paraphraseth my Text that Noah brought out an Heifer a Sheep and a Goat a Turtle Dove and a Pigeon and offered these five creatures of every clean Beast and of every clean foul upon the Altar And to confirm it the more those are the very particulars and none other which God caused Abraham to present unto him Gen. xv 9. This Exposition yet some man will say had been much the clearer if it had been written that Abel had brought an Offering of clean things unto the Lord. But require it not beloved because it needed not Abel was a Keeper of sheep and Abel brought of the firstlings de grege suo says the Text therefore it is all one to say he presented a clean Sacrifice As Noah by due estimation of circumstances cannot be said to come short of Abel in that his Offering is not said to be de primitiis of the first birth of the Flock for he had no firstlings perhaps in the Ark but since he had not primitias pecorum yet he had primitias temporis he consecrated the first minutes of time unto the Lord as soon as ever he came out of the Ark and the choicest things that were in the Ark of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl For this is a common Law in every thing if it be for the name of the Good God let it be of the goodliest and best If one build an House of Prayer let it be fairer than his own Dwelling if he feed the hungry let it be of the wholsomest of the Table if he sanctify any thing for the ornament of Gods House let it be of the costliest if he preach Gods Word let it come from his studied and best industry and not with extemporary sawciness which some do they say for conscience I say for laziness and therein imitate Gonzaga the Jesuit of whom one of his own Fatherhood says he would preach ridiculously on purpose that he might be scorn'd and laught at Levit. iii. 16. all the fat is the Lords that is bring him none but the best the purest and choicest Oblations of clean Beasts and of clean Fowls to which I make but this short Appendix that as there were unclean Cattel as well as clean in the Ark so the ungodly are mixt in the Church with the righteous but the faithful only are the sacrifice of good acceptation and of sweet savour Good and bad are in the Ark but the pure and undefiled are received upon the Altar Many of the coarsest sort belong to the outward Society of the Church hypocrites seducers men empoisoned and empoisoning with malice but they are not of that principal and high degree that the blessings of the Church are made effectual in them and their souls offered up to the Lord on the Golden Altar before the Throne which is an Allegory of Christ Revel viii 3. So St. Austin differenceth the two diverse Tribes of the Church alii sunt in domo Dei ut ipsi etiam sint domus Dei c. Some are in such sort in the House of God that they also are the House of God and some are so in the House of God that they pertain not to the Frame and Fabrick of it But here the similitude concurs not between the unclean Beasts in the Ark and Hypocrites in the Church between the clean ones and the elect for once a clean beast and ever clean once an unclean and ever so accounted by the Law but How many are there that now wallow in all impurity and filthiness that hereafter we hope may be converted prove chast and undefiled How many that either blaspheme or know not Christ who we trust and expect shall be illuminated and believe These are sheep in Gods preordination yet for the present are unclean and follow the voice of a stranger On the other side How many have we known that have been chast for a while and afterward plunged themselves in sensuality How many that have vowed to bear the Cross of Christ and yet denied him How many that have eaten of the Lords Table and yet have resolv'd in their heart to betray their fellow Disciples as Judas did to betray Christ These had the seeds of righteousness and yet proved unclean which says let him that standeth take heed lest he fall and take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart to depart from the Living God To be brief in the remainder There is no separation now between clean and unclean things Rabbi Moses is quoted by Lyra for this saying nulla animalia erunt immunda tempore Messia when the Messias comes no living things shall be accounted unclean by any legal imputation So it is come to pass indeed and we have witness out of the mouth of an
Adversary But why should the Messias do all the Creatures that honour to be esteemed clean Hath God care of Oxen The Jewish Rabbi ventur'd not upon that question but Irenaeus answers it omnia purificata sunt per sanguinem Christi Christ hath set the Church at liberty to be debarred from nothing which God hath made and the uncleanness of the beasts is now accounted cleanness because our filthiness is washed away and made clean in his most precious bloud That which was commonly usurped among the Gentiles throughout all the world was branded for unclean and therefore Peter said Lord I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean but now the stile is chang'd and that which is most common is most clean Our riches are made clean by being scattered abroad and communicated in charity the Word of God is most clean and undefiled whose sound is gone forth into all Worlds Prayer and Preaching are best when they are performed in the Congregation and are most publick The holy Eucharist is cibus communis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Communion of the body of Christ and yet it is so pure a food that being eaten by faith it purifieth the heart and conscience above all things To the clean all things are clean but because we live in the contagion of the evil World and he that toucheth pitch shall be defiled and because our own heart is an impure fountain from which the streams of bitterness do continually flow Cleanse the thoughts of our heart O Lord by the inspiration of thy holy Spirit that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy Name by Christ our Lord. AMEN THE SECOND SERMON UPON NOAH GEN. viii 20 21. And Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt offerings on the Altar And the Lord smelled a sweet savour THis is our Sacrifice which we offer unto God at this time to preach of Sacrifice and Preaching hath a great similitude with the Law of the Peace-offering Deut. xxvii 7. Thou shalt offer Peace-offerings and shalt eat thereof and rejoyce before the Lord thy God So we are come together to speak unto the honour of God and to make our selves perfect in his ways and Testimonies to do them We offer unto the honour of our Saviour and eat of our own Offering which is the very condition of a Pacificatory Sacrifice Now that I may bring nothing unto the Altar but that which is pure and clean the Lord grant that he will circumcise my lips and put a right Spirit into my Meditations Among the Beasts such a one was clean that parted the Hoof and chewed the Cud upon which St. Chrysostome deviseth this interpretation to divide the Hoof is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to divide the Word of God aright in St. Pauls Phrase To chew the Cud is to ruminate upon sacred things to roul them in our understanding and to examine them maturely not to admit or swallow down Divine Mysteries rashly with slight and undiscoursed credulity That we may chew the Cud in this Fathers sense I take these words upon which I have lately spoken again into my mouth to make further proof what is contained in them And lest confusion should make all that is to be said unprofitable I will divide the Hoof after the condition required in a clean Sacrifice I have declared before that there are two principal branches to be noted in the Text the material part and the formal the body and the soul of that Divine Worship which Noah offered unto the Lord. In the material part again are two contents the Gift and the place which sanctified the Gift The Gift was an whole burnt-offering of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl the place was the Altar which he made and Noah built an Altar to the Lord. These are the visible body of the work The invisible part or the soul consists herein that the Lord smelt a sweet savour and that hath two members in it sensum and sensibile first the sweet Odour which did exhale from the Sacrifice what it was secondly a quick sense that took it the Lord smelled a sweet savour I did not dispatch all the material part when I first handled these words for accounting it a less fault to be abrupt than tedious I proceeded upon no more than the consideration of the bare Gift a Burnt-offering of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl At this time I have measured to go a little further without prolixity I shall speak God willing upon the place that sanctified the Gift and Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and upon the quick sense which did apprehend the sweet Odour it was even he who is present at every part of clean devotion and delighteth in it the Lord smelled a sweet savour From whence I will meditate 1. That the time was but new over that God destroyed almost the whole World see how soon he is pleased after his great wrath and with what small seeking 2. When we do any thing well there is joy in heaven 3. Many pious offices which stink in the Worlds opinion are sweet before God 4. There is no greater encouragement to do well than that we are sure it finds grace in the eyes of our heavenly Master it is sweet in his nostrils and he will reward it Of these as I have divided them And Noah builded an Altar c. The whole Earth had been overwhelmed for a long space with the waters of the Deluge in plain terms it was all under malediction but Noah builded an Altar of the tuâ—f and mold of the earth and so brought it again into good use and service and sanctified the whole Element to the Lord. Truly God that revealed unto Noah that he should make an Ark and be saved in the common Calamity deserved to have an Altar erected at his hands that thereon he might adore his Saviour The Jewish Rabbines are so punctual in their curiosities that they go about to tell us the very Plot of ground on which this Altar was raised and many things more of great fame to happen in the same place I am sure you will say the report is very strange if it be credible But this Ben-Maimon adventures to say that it is a Tradition by the hand of all where David built an Altar on the Threshing Flore of Araunah Solomon built a Temple and Abraham made ready there to offer up Isaac and Noah built this Altar in the same standing when he came out of the Ark that there was the Altar where Cain and Abel did first offer before Noah nay that the first man did offer an Offering there soon after he was created and yet he goes further our Wisemen say Adam was created out of the very earth of the same place There is no mediocrity in these mens conjectures and therefore I give them over without commending them Wheresoever
our charity though above the definition of our judgment And thus I would rise up into pious credulity of their salvation for our Church hath a pious credulity at their burial As the longer proportion of afflictions usually falls upon them that can more patiently suffer them and God lays his burden upon them that can best bear it so let our charity infer that he makes the bed of their sickness be long and tedious that had need of large repentance and takes them away suddenly that are best prepared St. Austin fills up this very doctrine with the instance of Lots Wife Magis est hoc exemplum eruditio nobis quà m condemnatio ipsius this Pillar of salt stood there rather for our instruction than for our condemnation And God doth often chastise his own in the flesh as well with sudden as with lingring correction to save the soul from the wrath to come Filii Aaronis castigati sunt non damnati says Gregory Nadab and Abihu were chastised and suddenly slain for offering strange fire but not damned So the old Prophet that was rent by the Lion for his disobedience lived and died an holy man in all the reputation of Israel Luther pleads thus for Lots Wife that in the general course of her life she was faithful and holy left Vr of the Chaldaeans to come away with Abraham from that sink of Idolatry and with Lot her Husband Gen. xii 5. and she stuck close to her Husband in this Exile out of Sodom Therefore it is to be credited that her former faith did not leave her though her soul had but a short moment to call for mercy I wonder the Jesuits should extenuate her sin to be but venial and yet make her a castaway For Lorinus says he would grant she was saved but that all their Authors were against him Lenior placet sententia quamvis Patronum non reperiam Nay I think the best of her in charity not by lessening her sin but by extolling Gods mercy Some of the Rabbies make a toy of it that she became a Pillar of Salt because she would not set Salt before the Angels whom she had received the night before in hospitality The Hebrews will write sometimes as if they were wiser than men sometimes scribble as if they were foolisher than children The fault was a vast one she cast away that which the Lord would have saved in regard of her self desperately of the Angel contumeliously of her Husband and Daughters scandalously of God and his favours unthankfully yet her last gasp might be illuminated by the Spirit to commend her soul into the hands of her gracious Father To which Father and the Holy Spirit together with Jesus Christ be all glory and honour AMEN A SERMON Preached at WHITE-HALL NUMB. xxi 7. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the Serpents from us I Preach of a People that travelled fourty years in a Wilderness wherein there was neither pleasure nor plenty that came in the end to the Land of rest I preach to a People that are willing according to the boundaries of our Church to number fourty days of Abstinence to be spent without plenty or pleasure to keep them in breath for true repentance that they may find rest for their Souls The People of whom I preach when they were in one of their last journeys at Salmonah I am sure in the last year of their travail were stopt by firy Serpents before they got into the Land of Promise And you to whom I preach are brought into the Land of the Living by the conduct of Joshuah the Servant of the Lord. And though we are come out of a Wilderness and are within the borders of our Canaan God be praised yet we cannot be quiet for Serpents Which puts this word into my mouth to day to avert the malice of the ungodly Pray c. The way wherein I mean to handle the Text is in two parts a Punishment for sin and a Repentance for sin The sin of the Nation must be considered in both and before both And that was murmuring as you may read it in two verses before Indeed it hath that name and another 1 Cor. x. 9 1◠Let us not tempt Christ as some of them tempted and were destroyed of Serpents neither murmur as some of them murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer Yet the stubbornness and the very back-bone of their sin is murmuring That was their guilt and the same is ours and the worse in us because we offend under the grace of a better Covenant The punishment of the sin of the murmuring Israelites was annoyance by true and real Serpents strictly and in the letter they were no other On our part nothing toucheth us of that nature but we are plagued with Serpents that are far worse as will appear in their ranks and conditions hereafter to be unfolded The repentance for their sin is seen two ways First that they fly to the remedy of Prayer For the Soul which God did breath into Man cannot shake off this principle that all succour comes from above for which it must breath out it self to God Secondly that they fly to that Prayer which comes out of the mouth of Moses That Moses with whom their whole Host was just before offended he is so generally in their good opinion thank the Serpents for it that he must now be their rescue and Advocate and none but he make their peace with God Thou Moses pray unto the Lord that he take away the Serpents from us Now you see what you are to look for out of the Text and in what order and that before I come to the Punishment I must look out a sin for affliction riseth not out of the dust neither doth trouble come out of the ground Job vi 5. Gods hand sends them and Mans sin brings them And this was brought on by repining at Gods mercy and quarreling at Moses his Minister Their tongues run as if they had drunk deep of Viper wine so the Lord sent Serpents among them They that serve God for temporal things and are too eager to get them cannot choose but fall into the tentation of murmuring Such was this People not one Tribe better than another that grumbled upon the lightest thing that crossed them that it was not God that brought them out of Egypt but a trick of Moses to be a King over them But being now more impatient than ever they insist upon two things as ver 4. that the soul of the People was much discouraged because of the way And why so they were not turned aside from the Land of Promise the Journey had been long but the fourtieth year was even spent the worst was past and six moneths would give them possession They could not complain of weariness their feet never swelled Deut. viii 4. Only they were foundred in their patience and would not stay a little while till the time was come which God had
Heathen described justice in their Idol Jupiter it was Aquila cum fulmine an Eagles eye to discern a fault a Thunderbolt to strike a Malefactor and the way thereof is as the way of an Eagle in the air when at the highest pitch we cannot see him Wherefore address we attentions to hear the cause how that man perished c. I have seen malum sub sole says Solomon evil under the Sun He might well tell it for a wonder that such a difference should light together The Sun builds up nature like a Giant Psal xix and evil pulls it down as fast like a Monster It was the vision of Moses at Mount Horeb Exod. iii. a flame of fire in a bramble bush and he that will look like a Prophet shall see there is nothing among us but Flamma splendoris divini or spina peccati I renounce the Manichees I make not two main causes good and evil but I say every thing shews the brightness of Gods glory shining in his works or the thorns and briars of sin in the defacing thereof such thorns were the sinful Jebusites I would the world were as free from it as the Song of Solomon wherein the name is not once to be read lest it should breed a discord in the tunes of love There must be sin there must be heresies but sin what art thou Alas that every man can sooner sin than tell what it is When we talk of it then it grows upon us when we forget it it encreaseth more when we hate it then we sin because we do not hate it as we ought but call it in one word as St. John doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the breach of Gods Law and you have said enough Me thinks Moses made the definition when spying the trespass the Calf they worshipped in Horeb He cast the Tables from him as who should say the Law is broken Only here is the difference the Tables were crackt in few pieces perhaps but the Law hath been ground like the Idol into powder so that a remnant is not kept whole in man St. Paul Rom. iii. reduceth sin into every part of us both soul and body as unto certain common places or you may call it the Geography of wickedness There is none that understandeth thus our reason is ignorant none that seeketh after God our will is disobedient If the Leaven be so bad what hope remains in the lump Our tongues have used deceit and the kisses of our lips envenom like the Asp Our feet are not lazy but swift to shed bloud Our eyes not dim but wanting before them the vail of reverence There is no fear of God before our eyes Our throat not cramm'd up or strangled but wide as an open Sepulchre Was Goliah more furnisht to do evil with that tomb of brass upon his body Was Esau more rough and hairy from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot Or that Hermogenes whom the Wits of Greece plaid upon that the Rasor knew not where to begin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for all his body was but one lock As we bring bloudy bodies into the world Tabe polluti occisis magis quà m natis similes says Plutarch so we bring a most wretched soul That as Marius could shew no honourable Pedigree for a Consulship to the Senate but thirty six wounds in his Breast so we cannot shew the glory of our immortal and heavenly created soul her Pedigree from God by reason of the wounds which stick fast upon it Aristotle said our soul was like a fair skin of Parchment wherein nothing was written O that it had been so they are rather like Ezekiels book within and without written with woes and lamentations or as Plato speaks of Dionysius his soul that it was scribled all over with evil Characters What an enditement may be made of this cause then when iniquity is a blemish all over as the whole bird was dipt in bloud Lev. xiv which was an Emblem of our pollution No words can sufficiently describe it but as one speaks of the Spanish Tyranny over the Indies the best Rhetorick was to besmear a bloudy leaf to express it Sin in its Essence is confederate with death and punishment It is the obedience of dumb creatures to chastise it The Earth waxed evil in bringing forth Plants and fruits when the choicest mold of it did fail in Adam it would not be so fruitful for a Sinner as for an Innocent The Prophetess Deborah knew so much Astrology that the Stars in their course fought against the Tyrant Sifera Et navicula Petri in quâ erat Judas turbabatur says St. Ambrose the Sea stormed at Peters Ship when Judas was in it but these are senseless scourges and God applies them What need I speak of Phinehas his righteous passion that killed the Princely Adulterer If the Angels might have their will no Tares should stand in the field they would root up every thing that had not the blade of Wheat But these are all heavenly Souldiers and holiness provokes them Well let the Devil be the judge and he delights both to accuse and punish Put it to evil men and they think Naboth should die for cursing God and the King The vilest persons for the most part are the Satyrs of the time and tax all the world like Angustus Nay put it to the sinner himself put it to Cain and Judas they find no favour no mitigation I dare say in the Court of their own conscience Prima est haec ultio quod se Judice nemo nocens absolvitur Let me lead you on with this distinction betwixt in and propter to perish in iniquity and for iniquity Sin is not always the propter the moving cause of Gods chastisements but sometimes the triall of an heroick faith so it was in Job Sometimes the confirmation of grace so it was in St. Paul the Messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him that Gods grace might be sufficient for him But in iniquitate is certain truth the wrath of God lights not but where transgressions have gone before Thus the Disciples were at a loss Joh. ix Did this man sin that he was born blind How was that possible in his Mothers Womb But was the sin of his Father or the guilt of his Mother imputed to him The imperfect fruit of the Womb could do no evil the offence of his Parents must not be thought his evil Rabbi quis peccavit Nec ille nec parentes says our Saviour neither for his nor his Parents sins was he born blind but that the works of God might be made manifest in him That was the cause and yet a mote had not troubled the eye of this blind man but that a beam of sin had possessed it before in his Mothers Womb I mean by original corruption Alas that we should be grown big enough for punishment before we are born to nature Sabores being but a breeding at the death of his
you love to hear the noise of it and which is more to hear them taxt And here is the difference between the Usurer and the Preacher Every Usurer would have no more such sinners as himself and the Preacher would have none at all But if Riches be your blessing O turn not your blessing to a curse And what greater curse than to build a house and not possess it to plant a Vineyard and not eat of the fruit of it To provide Cloathing for the body and never wear it Thus Haman cast about to put the Kings Robes on his shoulders but the Gallows prevented him Gehazi was furnished with two change of Raiments but his body was made unfit to wear one by Leprosie And Achan had provided a Babylonish Garment but it proved as fatal as his winding sheet Faithless sinner could not God provide for him except he stole a Rayment Why the Gibeonites came to him in pieced cloaths rent and thread-bare from the next Villages and his Apparel decayed not but he came to the Gibeonites in new furniture from beyond the Red Sea and the vaste Wilderness Why should he covet more change of Raiment if one Attire were so constant that no use could consume it no Moth could fret it What glory were it to be like a Peacock says Tertullian Toties mutando quoties movendo as often as she moves her self her feathers cast a new beauty and apparition The Fowls of the Air renew but certain feathers the Trees do not cast their bark only the accursed Serpent changeth his skin at appointed revolutions Jam positis novus exuviis nitidâque juventâ c. And this holy people the Children of Israel wore their Garments forty years like their skin and bone and Achan loathed it for continuance which some devotion would have kept as a Relique for the strangeness Is there any of the Israel of God among us that hath enticed strange fashions and Babylonish Garments to be brought into our Land What a question is that They do not hide it in their Tent like Achan they dare profess their names it is their boasting to have brought comliness into the Kingdom the Court admires it and yet I could adjudge with King Artaxerxes his Gardener to be the better Common-wealths man that had the Art to make Pomgranates fairer What Suetonius spake of Caligula in high disdain is become a decency in our Land Neque civili habitu neque patrio neque virili neque humano vestitus est First not modest apparel that is worn out of use nor according to his own Country fashion Who knows what that is in England Nor in the Attire of his own Sex we are come to that one Sex changes into the fashion of another Nay he went not like a reasonable man but like a beast This only remains from Gods judgment that like King Nebuchadonosor at last we should be cloathed like beasts and Eagles Anacharses a Scythian reproved for his blunt language despised the Elegancies of Athens with that Elogy Anacharses speaks Solaecisms in Athens and the Athenians speak Solaecisms in Scythia Such a Critick as he was in the Tongues such an esteem ought we to have of Rayment Every Fashion is an ornament in its own soil Achans Babylonish Garment had been unseemly and exotick in the Land of Jury And since cloathing is but the covering of our shame to be so curious and divers to hide our shame is silken hypocrisie Our Saviour put forth a Parable that Solomon in all his Royalty was not cloathed like a Lilly of the field The comparison will not enter into the eye of man that the wild Flower to day sprouting and to morrow in the Furnace was of such Orient colours as the Kings Robes But do you mark it Modest Nature had arrayed the one and Luxury the other it is Solomon not on worky days but in all his Royalty not Elias or John Baptist in their rough skins no our very bodies are comlier than the souls of beasts but the King of Israel sumptuous Cap-a-pe that was not cloathed like a Lilly of the field Give me leave to step aside into one question and I will return again Though Achan should have burnt his golden fleece in the flames of Jericho may nothing be preserved for the use of God out of the dens of pollution May not a comly Garment be put on at our Liturgy yea though it were worn in Babylon Quomodo scriptum est Shall we put it to that and so make a Canon Saul disgraced himself as basely as if he had sought Asses again because he preserved Agag and the fattest of the sheep of Amalech for a sacrifice and Achan was a common mischief that gathered up the goods of Canaan all this is true but it was done by an especial word of God and that will make no rule as the School confesseth Again Moses employed the Censors of Core and Dathan to make golden Plates for the Ark the Instruments of the rebellious for the use of Sanctity This also is too slender to make a rule for it was done by the appointment of the Lord. But when no particular revelation dream or vision is sent from God must we needs do as the Roman Army did when it won Tarentum Infaelices Divos populo Tarentino relinquamus touch none of the Gods that kept their Enemies City Or may not the Church be judge May it not spare or destroy Yes I will prove it by the Book In the first of Ezra Cyrus brought forth the Vessels of the Lord which Nebuchadonosor had put in the house of his Gods even those did he restore to Shezbazzar and Shezbazzar brought them for the service of the Lord to Jerusalem The wearing of our Surpless and other holy Robes is the thing I aim at for the comliness I call heaven to witness Such white Robes the Saints wear Apoc. xv Such our Saviour seemed to wear at his Transfiguration Mat. xvii And such alone and not the Bells and Ephod the High Priest put on to go into the Sanctum Sanctorum Lev. xvi 4. And all this the Fathers approved in the Primitive Church some of whom came so near our Saviour that almost they touched the hem of his Garment None of this is gainsaid by the Learned but the blame is that they have been polluted in a strange Land like sweet roots steep'd in Wormwood pleasant enough of themselves but they have lost their rellish Well I told you the Church of God entertain'd their holy Vessels again when the Heathen had quaffed in them to their Idols and such a Church it was that depended nicely upon Ceremonies and bodily defilings The Devil used the Scripture is the Scripture the worse for that Parrats and chattering birds are taught sometime to speak our Language shall I like speaking the worse and turn silenced Minister What shall become of all the rich endowments which the Church received in Popery Shall Superstition be bountiful and Reformation
together enough to purchase a good Fee-simple in Canaan if the Lord had not given him his Portion Men think themselves now adays past the Law and penalties of death when they have sinned so much that they are grown wealthy in iniquity because if need be they can buy the favour of the Judg and he that has Achan's wealth a Wedg of gold and two hundred Shekels of silver legit ut Clericus I warrant him he is a learned Clerk and deserves his pardon But this man when he began to say deliciare anima when he was furnished to live sumptuously then he is cut off that as Solomon says the remembrance of death may be bitter to that man who thought it pleasant to live This was St. Austins rule when he was old and had learnt the World Mundus ille periculosior est cum se illicit diligi quà m cum se cogit contemni I fear no hurt from the World when it goes against me and casts a froward look upon my fortunes but my danger is near at hand when it smiles and flatters me as if all were happy When St. Basil observed how carefully Kings and Princes gathered up Pearls into their Treasury 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the wise God to shew the contempt of them had put into Oister-shells and scattered about the Sea-shore as vile and unprofitable You do not well says he to make a Treasury of that which is so mutable in the Generation and will ebb and flow from you like the Sea which begot them Fortune never stood long upon a Pinacle summo stare loeo nescia The Sponges that swell with liquors are most likely to be pressed and emptied You do all remember how Cesar gloried in his Victory among the cowardly Asiatiques veni vidi vici he did but set his feet upon their Soil and looked them in the face and so dismaied and vanquished them 'T is no more than King David tells of himself Psal xxxvii Vidi veni non inveni vidi I saw the ungodly flourish like a green Bay-tree veni I passed by and sought him non inveni he was quite gone in the twinkling of an eye I could not find him Now recollect these three qualities of Achan who was more likely to prosper than a Souldier in the flower of his age a joyful man at his journies end in the Land of his peace a wealthy man in the plenty of his riches Take it to thought all you that have the World tied unto you with a threefold Cord of health and peace and prosperity which men dream as if it could not be broken for it broke like Tow among the sparks and iste periit c. But as Demades said when news was brought that King Philip was dead and there was no other talk among the people Peace says Demades if he be dead to day he will be dead to morrow and the next day following so I will end my discourse how Achan perished it is the way of all sinners and not much to be lamented But for an innocent to be cast away it deserves pity wherefore St. Hierom reads my Text thus utinam solus periisset it makes not much for Achans death but I would he had perished alone in his iniquity There is no word of wonder beside this in the Text and here we must stay a while as all the Hoste of Israel did when they found the dead Corps of Amasa bleeding what the Spirit of God means by this vengeance non solus that he perished not alone in his iniquity It is St. Austins rule Relevatio mali non fit per communionem cladis sed solatium charitatis To perish together with more than our selves is no comfort at all but more anxiety So it made the Scene of Achan's Tragedy full and very bitter to see 36 Israelites that drew swords for the same Victory to be slain about him On the right hand there is more misery nati cruentâ caede confecti jacent the Sons ask for bread and their Father gives them stones to stone them Two things stand before us to be observed as the Angel did in Balaams way first what Companions Achan had in his punishment and secondly how it will stand with Gods justice that every man should not perish single by himself for his own iniquity First his fellow Souldiers turn their backs and are cut down at the Siege of Ai a sort of men that I presume are prepared alwayes to die but seldom provided to die well men that engender great love together as I think David and Jonathan did at first by entring their bodies into the same dangers Wherefore St. Paul did express his love to Epaphroditus in that name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my fellow Souldier and so to Archippus my fellow Souldier In the Roman Discipline it was held so honourable to save another of the same company that he carried for his reward civicam coronam a Crown upon his head made of the grass of that earth whereupon he saved anothers life The infamy of Achan was as notorious on the other side that caused six and thirty to be slain of the Camp of Israel To see that bad things are sure to do us hurt and the best things are not sure to help us The Ark of God was sent into the Camp at Shilob Arca fortitudinis Domini the Ark of Gods strength Psal 132. and yet the Philistins prevailed and the Ark was taken but if one Achan come down into the Battail there is plain treachery in that mans conscience and his Wedg of gold shall fight more against Israel than all the swords of the men of Ai. Good qualities stick close to them which have them as Virtue and Learning and we cannot part or bequeath them to any man Gifts of fortune as Honours and Riches may be removed to others as you like it But it is a hard case our vices are sure to fall down upon the head of such only as are dearest to us Beloved is it so Was the hand of the Lord in the battel of Israel and doth God direct the Sword of Simeon as well as the books of Levi Those that spend their bodies so courageously for our peace deserve to have their souls well instructed Nulla fides pietasque viris qui castra frequentant I trust it is but a slander that Souldiers have small Religion where the Angel of God did draw his Sword at the threshing flore of Araunah the Jebusite David built an Altar So in every just quarrel it is the Lord himself and his anointed King that draws the Sword Wherefore do not defile the Camp with oaths and lust and drunkenness for the ground is fit for Davids Altar and the place is holy I have told you what it was to Achan to lose his fellow Souldiers yet the loss was not Achans so much as Joshuahs and he like a loving Prince did fall upon the ground and shewed much bitterness for the death
of his people You shall rather find Achan distracted in sorrow between the heaviness of his sins and the death of his children It was much that a Mother in the Maccabees could exhort seven Sons one after another to despise King Antiochus and to suffer death for the name of the Lord. It is much that Prudentius reports of a woman that carried her infant in her own arms to Martyrdom Nec tantum osculum impressit unum vale inquit ô dulcissime Nature can hardly stoop to part with those children unto God in a good cause but to lose a Son in the anger of God in the guiltiness of a trespass O my son Absolon c. then we are afraid least they be lost for ever Give me Children says Rachel or else I die and alas she was but a dead woman in the birth of Benjamin Elisha strived to be thankful to his good Hostess the Shunamite he would do any courtesie for her O says Gehazi give her children before any thing and then you please her The greatest cruelty that moved St. Ambrose against the Emperour Theodosius for the Massacre committed at Thessalonica was on this wise A Father came to redeem two Sons taken captive and appointed to be slain He was allowed but the life of one for his money take which he would His kind heart equally earning after both could not say this rather than him the elder before the younger and for want of speedy resolution both were made away before his face This says Sozomen cost the poor Father his wits for ever to think he might have saved one Son and did not No colours could paint the face of Agamemnon where his Daughter was to be offered for a Sacrifice Par nulla figura dolori As it was said to Tully when Antony perswaded him to burn his invective Orations Commentus est Antonius eripere quemadmodum vixeras Fie said his friends unto him die rather for Antony would strip you of that glory which will give you life for ever So all the Pedigree of Achan being erased out Eripuit Dominus quemadmodum viveret God took that from him wherein he might hope to survive this was not only to put out the right eye of the men of Jabesh Gilead but for a Jew to die without succession Christ being theirs after the flesh is to go down with sorrow to the grave where all things are forgotten Whatsoever else is tumbled into the fire before Achans face it was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it moved not his eyes to pity nor his ears to the cries of lamentation As his body was burnt wherein a soul so covetous did inhabit so his Tent was consumed with fire the habitation of so vile a body that Tent under which he was wont to sleep is cast over him the last time at his death where he must sleep for ever And as if every man were afraid to inherit Aurum Tolosanum his unlucky Gold it is made away for company Et pallium quod debuit cremari crematum est the Babylonish Garment which was appointed to be burnt in Jericho is now fired about his ears in the Valley of Achor Lastly The Cattel that should have laid down their lives honourably before the Altar under the Priests hand for a trespass offering even those innocent beasts are not suffered to live how many yellings were about his ears to resemble the very horrors of hell where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth A good man says Solomon is merciful to his beast as if the beasts fared the better for a good mans sake And jure Dominii the Lordship of man doth extend so far upon the Creatures that they are consortes paenae partakers of the punishment of evil men The Cattle of Egypt were slain with hail stones for the Egyptians Idolatry the beasts of Nineveh fasted for the Ninevites Luxury nay says the Prophet Jeremy the Herbs of the field wither and the Birds of the Air are consumed for the wickedness of them that dwell in the Land Dearly beloved the beasts are but Figures of God fierce indignation they are our brutish sins our cruelties more unnatural than the rage of beasts which God aims at it was not worth the praise to Achan that the beasts perished in his iniquity they will and must die with us Quicquid antea debebam nolle nunc non possum The only Sacrifice which God requires is to have them die before us And so I have done with every thing that partaked in the punishment of Achan I must now commit my self to a Problem of great perplexity how it stands with the righteousness of God that every man should not perish alone in proprio peccato in his own iniquity I am no Advocate against Gods Justice but against the ignorance of man Phaedon speaks thus to Socrates in Plato I pray you are you not displeased with these unrighteous Judges that have condemned you O not I says Socrates and if I were I would refer the case until I were dead and then meet Ajax and Palamedes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and would ask them how they could endure a wrongful judgment and so put up my injury A reverend opinion of a Heathen concerning the judgment of sinners how contented would this man have stood before any sentence of Gods Tribunal But to the purpose this shall be my method to follow the cause in hand First That it is self love to our own person which perswades us other men sin and we pay the ransom Secondly Heathen men and not Christians did first fill the world with that opinion Thirdly That the melancholy distinctions of some School Divines have abused the truth But lastly our Conclusion shall be that the hair of an innocent never fell to the earth but that every man dies propter peccatum suum for his own iniquity For the first Nature as it is good and perfect taught us to love our selves fond and corrupt nature taught us to love our selves too much Out of this vanity those excuses spring up which make us absolve our selves and bind others Let us tell our own tale and we will say our Fathers eat the sowre grape when we may be discovered with the bunches in our own hands Rather than confess our own complection we will bely the Heavens and say the Sun hath scorched us Delicta majorum immeritus lues Romane To pluck in immeritus no desert of ours we will lay the Child at their door that never begot it The very Pharisees thought themselves so holy and our Saviour so bad that for no fault of theirs but for his blasphemies the Romans would come and carry away their Nation Wherefore says Socrates it were well with some men instead of travelling Si a seipsis aberrarent if they could wander from themselves No man says Plutarch doth know his own blemishes because he doth always carry himself about A Painter brings his work to good perfection when he leaves it for a time
and comes a fresh to view and mend with a second or third fancy what the first did mistake So if we could lay aside our selves and then resume our substance again we might spy out faults which now we discern not nor acknowledge As who should say lay down your body in the dust take it up again in the Resurrection like a Picture cast aside then I know we shall learn where the fault lies But self love must not be the judge whether God doth punish one man for anothers iniquity Secondly The superstition of the Heathen encreased this error There was a bloudy opinion among them called Succidaneum sacrificium if you have heard of it wherein one may lay down his life unto the Gods to redeem the danger of another Antinous the great Minion to Hadrian the Emperour cut off the remaining days of his own youth to recover Adrian from a desperate feaver And Philumena passing the love of women spent her heart bloud as a Cordial Julap to recover her husband Aristides Now upon what presumption did they stand A Principle they had for it but manifestly against God and the Gospel that every man was Lord of his own life to employ where he would for himself or for another Vitam approbare aliis quisque debet sed mortem sibi Let us live to have the good liking of other men but let us die as we like it our selves And this made them esteem what a conscionable thing God had given man when he gave him life Hoc est unum quare de vitâ queri non possum neminem tenet No man need keep it longer than he would quite contrary not only to Gods Law but the good Philosophy of Plato It is better to die than to live says he but love not thy sell so well to do thy self that benefit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stay till some other do so good a turn for you But O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken ought not Christ alone to suffer for the sins of others The just for the unjust The plowers plowed upon my back and made long furrows Here is plowing and making furrows as if there were seeds sown in the wounds of Christ of which we may reap thirty sixty and an hundred fold according to the measure of our faith So then the Doctrine of the heathen is both against Nature and against the Sacrifice of Christ Wherefore these must not be our judges whether God doth punish one mans person for anothers iniquity But Ventum est ad Triarios the third rank of Adversaries are the School Divines left-handed Benjamites able to cast a distinction at an hairs breadth Whose Doctrine when it is good is like the Moon at the Full light and entire but perchance spotted But when their Doctrine is false it is like the Moon in the Wain full of horns and distinctions Give me leave to make proof of it in this cause which I have in hand First Say they iniquity is visited upon those Generations which did not commit the fault Si communitas favet unius delicto minimè verò si ignorat If many concur to favour the sin of one man that man shall not perish alone in his iniquity It is true and God hath spoken Lev. xx If the people do not punish the man that giveth his seed to Molech c. But what was this to Achan Did he reveal hâ—s fault to thirty six Souldiers or to his Children Very unlikely that a close sin should be known to so many Very likely that among his Children some were Infants that knew not what it was to sin and yet he perished not alone c. Durandus divides the case thus One is liable to judgment for the trespass of another in divino judicio non in humano Man must not adjudge man to condemnation for the trespass of another but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to Gods good will it may be done Doth Durandus say so But so doth not Ezekiel The soul of the Son is mine as the soul of the Father that soul which sinneth shall die Ezek. xviii 4. Mark what the Prophet says Before his judgment every soul shall escape that is innocent before his judgment that made the soul meaning God and not the Magistrate In Verse 25. Are not my ways equal Nay are not your ways unequal My ways you hear the Text. God is defended from this injustice and not the Magistrate Thirdly Some deliver their opinion in this distinction In temporali paenâ non in aeternâ A modern affliction which lasts but for a time may chastise the Son for the Fathers iniquity but not an eternal condemnation For although our bodies may answer for our Parents being the fruit of their Loyns yet my soul is not engaged to any but to God alone Besides the wounds of the body in this life are like the cutting of the bark of the tree to inoculate a Bud which may bring forth fruit But In inferno nemo te Laudat Domine there is no repentance no remorse in Hell So that the Christian use of Gods chastisements is lost in eternal torments but not in temporal O take heed of this opinion to put a draught of gall and vinegar to our Saviours mouth when his lips upon the Cross were full of mercy My meaning is do not impeach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the gentleness of Christ to say he doth exact a momentary punishment upon a guiltless person For this were to say that Adam was not only the Root and publick person of all mankind but that all other Parents have the same state of prerogative That which Pelagius did impudently deny in original sin is true in actual sins Qui remisit Tibi peccata tua non imputabit aliena Fear not to bear the burden of thy Fathers sin when if thou come unto Christ he will refresh thee of thine own A fourth refuge is on this wise Affliction doth befall a man sometimes Ex antecedenti pro alieno peccato formaliter pro suo Take an instance to understand it by a Minister neglects his Flock a Father the education of his Children Now the mischief of this neglect may redound to the hurt of God knows whom So that though the Ministers fault went before their destruction yet ignorance and blindness in their own neart is the proper cause of the curse which lies upon them which is all that I labour for in this present controversie The last assault made by the Schoolmen deserves your observation for the Authors sake it is Aquinas And his opinion is like fluctus decumanus the tenth wave and more troublesome than all the rest Vnus punitur pro altero modo medicinali non paenali As who should say the Arrows of God are shot from heaven as out of a well-drawn bow against the capital sinner Some that stand in the way are wounded with the Arrows head yet not out of purpose
gave you Sons and Daughters you give Obsides Domino Hostages unto God and if you rebel as Nathan said to David because thou hast made the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the Child that is born unto thee shall surely die The Fathers sins are visited unto the third and fourth Generation while the Grandsire full of fourscore years of sin stays awhile behind like the rotten root of evil and sees the tender branches cut away because the root was bad and corrupted Thus is the brief sum of the second part of my Text man perished in iniquity Corporeorum incorporeorum horison says Synesius the noble Image of God Secondly That man Achan a branch of the Olive tree even Israel which God had planted But an evil branch is evil though the stock were a Cedar of Libanus Non debent gloriari sarmenta quia non sunt spinarum ligna sed vitis says St. Austin Is it any glory for the dead branches to boast they were Vine branches and not Heythorn since they are cut off and cast away Lastly Non solus periit he fell down like the Tower of Siloam and brain'd all that were about him I have but one short part to dispatch Periit his execution how that man Perished c. To search much into Achans punishment were not the way to be more learned but more tormented And he that is Ingeniosus in suppliciis exquisite in describing the ruine of any man his invention smells of tyranny Briefly thus Every man in the rank of a Subject lives under the authority of three Commanders 1. Under the Conscience of his own heart 2. Under the Laws of his King 3. Under the Commandments of God Triplici nodo triplex cuneus every knot hath a wedge to drive into it And if we displease either God or the King or our own Conscience vengeance meets us on every side Conscientia parit vermem Magistratus mortem Deus Gehennam Conscience hath a worm in store nay a Cockatrice to sting us the Magistrate bears a Sword to divide us but especially it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God In an evil conscience we die unto all joy and comfort In our trespass against the Laws of man we die unto men In breaking the Statutes of God we die unto heaven surely he deserved not to die but one death that offended three All sin is mortal yet among sins some are still-born and make no noise in the world Some are crying sins that have a voice and a voice like the Edomites that cryed against Jerusalem Down with it down with it unto the ground Like the Jews that cried Crucifie him crucifie him and doubled the files of their iniquities Like the men of Ephesus that for two hours space made a noise Great is Diana of the Ephesians When sinners do double thus God finds out more deaths than one to punish them as if judgment had ransack'd the body to find two or three souls and would not leave to destroy all the brood of the Viper Abimelech a cruel murtherer of seventy brethren was crush'd under a Mill-stone and slain with his own Servants Sword it is pity he died not seventy times It was Sauls destiny first to die by the Arrows of the Bow and then to fall upon his own Sword It was Absolons destiny to be hang'd by the head in the Oak tree and be thrust through the heart with the Darts of Joab It was Judas his destiny to cast himself from the Gallows and to be broken in pieces upon the ground And lastly it was Achans destiny to be stoned with stones and then burnt with fire Thus that man perished c. It is very likely if this notorious rich sinner had lived his Tomb should have been as costly to lie over his dead corps as his Babylonish Garment was sumptuous to cover his living body But now there is not so much honour left him for his burial as earth to earth all is turned to ashes that the winds may blow him back again out of Canaan into Egypt from whence he brougt his iniquity A fair Tomb I confess cannot prove that I died a good man but that I died a wealthy Yet some honour is to be shewed to our dead corps because a dead body is nearer to the Resurrection than a living The Egyptians embalming the dead and the Odours and Spices which the Jews were wont to bestow do condemn those uncivil Funerals which some report of Geneva and Amsterdam that bury their dead in ditches and dunghils It makes Jesuits scoff at our Religion Scis ut haeretici colant parentes sulcant coemiteria sic colunt parentes Michael the Archangel fought about the body of Moses and Prudentius played the Poet very well touching Eulalia a Virgin Martyrs body cast abroad in a frosty night to the injury of the air and before morning it was overspread with icycles like a crystal Tomb. Pallioli vice linteoli ipsa elementa jubente Deo exequias Tibi virgo ferunt And certainly there was some such thing or St. Austin would not report it that divers Miracles as healing the sick and converting unbelievers have been wrought by Gods providence at the Tombs of the Martyrs to honour their death and memory But Achan was denied this happiness and though he had two deaths yet he had not one Tomb to be buried in Only an heap of stones were cast upon him for an infamy that as Varro said Monumentum quasi monimentum a Monument for admonition that we fear God and rebel not like Achan that perished fearfully c. The Papists will not leave Achan thus and remove him from Joshuahs hands and the Valley of Achor where he suffered into Purgatory But by what proof or warrant or Enditement Expect an Exposition fit for the nimble brains of the Colledge of Jesuits Achan was stoned with stones and then he died Afterward he and all he had were burnt with fire viz. Opera ejus accensa sunt in Purgatorio he and his works were burnt in Purgatory A likely matter since Joshuah was commanded to burn him and not the Devil Do you think Columbus that found out the fourth part of the world could have found out this third place to receive souls in which is neither Heaven nor Hell The Devil is much beholding to his Advocates that have made him not only Prince of darkness but that which God never made him Prince of Purgatory Some perchance will go a thought further and pronounce a fearful sentence that this man was wiped for ever out of the book of the living That is periit at the height the Lord bless us from it But St. Chrysostom was more mild and charitable As the digging of the earth says the Father and the plowing of it may seem but churlish usage yet that is the way to make it fruitful Ita magis erat Achani salutare supplicium quam aliis impunitas So Achan might go sooner to
heaven out of the fire than some out of their feather-bed The soul is in the body as the Lamps were in Gideons Pitchers break the Pitchers and the Lamps will shine and then begins the Victory What Seneca said of the state of Rome under Caesar the Dictator Respub sub eo stare non potuit sed cecidit in sinum boni principis the same is competent to the state of man We cannot hold out long we shall sink under the burden of sin Sed cecidit homo in sinum boni principis repent and we may fall into Abrahams bosom When Scipio led his Army against Carthage and his Scabberd fell off from his Sword his Souldiers were dismayed at it as a sign of ill fortune This is nothing says Scipio for I have my Sword still in my hand and that I must fight with So let the body fall into the dust or ashes keep the Soul clean make it white in the bloud of the Lamb by Faith and then all is safe It is the soul that first must taste of glory St. Austin asks why the Devil made so much of his darling Sylla that in all his life he was scarce perplexed with any misfortune The Father replies Timuit magis Diabolus nè corrigeretur Sylla quà m nè vinceretur The Devil cared not if he had burst his neck but he was afraid his vertue would be greater if his felicity were less Wherefore if Achan did give God the glory as Joshuah did instruct him all might go well with his soul though iste periit his body were consumed The Romans were wont to Deifie their Emperours on this sort Their bodies were placed in a pile of wood and at the top of the Hearse an Eagle was kept close untill the flame had taken hold of the body and then the Eagle was suffered to fly away to heaven So leave we the body of Achan in the Pile of wood yet in the mercies of Jesus Christ his Soul might take the wings of the Morning as David says and after all his tedious Pilgrimage live in rest for ever Nothing should make me mistrustful and doubt of his salvation but his too late repentance Is this a time to leave off sin when we must leave off life and can sin no more Poenitentiam dare possumus securitatem non possumus Do you then come to play the Huxters for mercy as if the Market were cheapest at the latter end of the day The Son of man will come to judgment suddenly as swift as the lightning The Resurrection shall be suddenly at one blast of the Archangels Trumpet Corruptio fit in momento the soul will not creep but fly out of the body suddenly Shall all things be sudden but mans repentance If you love your Country and wish it victory against all her enemies if you tender your Children and Allies and desire their safety nay if you love your Gold and Silver and cast about to leave a good inheritance beware to draw the anger of God Vnius ob noxam furias upon so many innocent souls have peace in Jesus Christ and let Achan perish alone in his aniquity AMEN A SERMON Preached before the KING at WHITE-HALL the 5. of April 1665. UPON THE SOLEMN FAST To crave a Blessing of GOD for his MAJESTIES NAVAL FORCES NEHEM i. 4. And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain dayes and fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven WE have many Solemn dayes in the year to remember the noble Works of our Saviour But the Church hath set forth no proper day to mind us how He will come to judgment in the end of the World Is not that an oversight will some say that there is no red letter in the Calender to bring the Object of that mighty Judgment before us that it may not be forgotten Hear the reason and I know you will excuse it All the beneficial Works of our Saviour came to pass upon certain days of the year whose revolution is known or easily guessed at and those days are exactly kept with holy diligence But for the Day of Judgment it is kept secret so that the Angels of Heaven are ignorant of it Therefore to keep one solemn day recurrent every year for an admonition that such a dreadful hour is to come were in a sort to prescribe God to an appointed time who must not be prescribed If any press it further and say Shall we then have no solemn opportunity to learn that capital Lesson that Christ will come in the clouds with power and great glory to call the Earth before him Far be that omission from us For to what end servs a publick Fast but to prepare us all to hear that voice Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye forth to meet him This is the day wherein every tender conscience should feel the Ax laid to the root of the Tree Now the whole Kingdom stands as it were at the Bar to be arraigned before the Majesty of God We come to call our selvs to judgment before Christ calls us to prevent him Here we are met not to justify our selves O God forbid but to confess the evil we have done that we may not suffer the evil we have deserved They are mighty sins which we come to deplore not only the iniquities of this place though great and exemplary not the sins of the great City alone though it abound in people and wickedness but the innumerous contagious crying sins of this Nation of this England for which and whose pardon we come to make our mournful supplication Now to teach you to stear your course by a Godly instance I lay my matter among the Servants of God in the Land of Judah of whom I could have told you that when they were in fear of bad Neighbours round about them kept a general Humiliation for all the People Nehem. ix 1. The People fasted in sackcloth and cast ashes upon their heads But I know where I am and I will rather instruct you from the Pattern of Nehemiah called the Tirshata a mighty Prince among the People who was so zealous for the prosperity of his Country that you can scarce match him with all that went before him Moses was the Grandfather of Israel that brought them out of the Captivity of Egypt Nehemiah was their Co founder or Foster father who repaired the ruins of the Captivity of Babylon The Text shews what he did in the beginning of his zeal to appease the anger of the Lord. In two general parts I will discover his piety which I call the wound of his heart and the cure of that wound the occasion of his humiliation and the humiliation it self The wound of his heart was given by evil tydings It came to pass when I heard these words which afflicted him two wayes first for the ruins which the Land had suffered secondly for the impediments of its reparation The care of the
Wound consists in five degrees of humiliation 1. He sat down 2. He wept 3. He mourned certain dayes 4. He fasted 5. He played before the God of Heaven That God that gives many Medicines to heal the sickness of the Body hath provided these sacred Remedies to heal the troubles of the Soul I rise up now from the first step Nehemiah was sore perplexed to hear what the Land had suffered Upon which I begin with this Observation that he was in great anguish not for any evil which he saw but with bad tidings and grievous reports as it is just before my Text The Remnant of Israel were in great affliction and reproach the Wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the Gates burnt with fire This is short and sowr yet far short of the total of their tribulation Howsoever Nehemiah saw none of this he was at Babylon when these Tragedies were acted at Jerusalem he heard of their distress but was not upon the place to behold it yet the noise that came to his ears did strike his heart that he sat down and wept So open your bowels and condole like Christians when you hear of one anothers miseries though they be far from you else God will draw them nearer I will name the remotest to you the mournful condition of the Servants of Christ in Hungary Dalmatia Greece and Candia under the Mahumetan cruelty though these are a thousand leagues from you yet joyn them close to you in your Prayers and Compassion Let me come home we are not upon the Seas to day with our illustrious Duke and valiant Country-men we are not in peril of Wracks and Storms and roaring Canons as they are but let our Prayers walk upon the Seas unto them as Peter assayed to go to Christ that as they hazard their lives for us we offer up our Souls to God for them To descend to lower Objects you do not see the hard food of the Poor his sorry Table his dry Morsels you do not see the comfortless Lodging and Dungeon of the Captive These are the Blessings of Wealth and Liberty Yea but do you not consider it sometimes and bewail and extend your hand to relieve it if not some of us may know what hunger and captivity mean if the report of those things in others do not cause you to melt in charity Nehemiah did not see much evil yet the report toucht him near and he sat down and wept My next Observation is that as he did not see the evil of the Land of Judah so he could not feel it If all Jerusalem had been burnt to ashes it had not broke him in his fortune nor eclipsed him in his honour He was a Courtier in the Palace of Artaxerxes his Cup-bearer a dignified Officer no weeping news could diminish his greatness Had he been a self-lover like too many of these dayes a cunning Courtier that had no end but to provide for himself then he would have measured all fortune by his own Last and unless his own person had been toucht the Shoo should not have wrung him But here was one reteining to the holy Court indeed to the Court of Heaven his own prosperity did disrelish with him because Gods anger was upon the Land to which he owed his life He did like a good man to involve himself in the publick fortune And what joy could he take in his Honours with Artaxerxes when reproach had spread upon the Country that bred him and upon the Church of God in which he lookt for salvation He that makes light of common danger with tush they are on the Seas I am on the Land I shall shift for one that man is the fairest mark at whom God will suddenly shoot with a swift arrow because he is in love with his own security Nehemiah could have shifted for one but that did not content him When it is best with our selves then it is safest to fear then to seek the Lord and to beseech him for the welfare of our selves and others Health and plenty and ease have not yet forsaken us yet the blasts of bad rumours and presages are about us When you hear such words it is time to mourn and fast and pray before the God of Heaven Hitherto I have treated that Nehemiah bewailed the sufferings past my next observation is upon another matter that when by Gods hand the repair was very hopeful it grieved him that the mischievous attempts of envious unlucky Neighbours did all that they could to stop the remedy which is just our case God sent this Tirshata this mighty man to build up the holy City again out of the ruines under which it was covered but it grieved their Neighbours over the next River Chap. ii 9. as ours are over the next Seas that there came a man to seek the welfare of Israel Ver. 10. Mark their conditions who they were Sanballat of Samaria and Samaria had long been the nest of Rebellion Tobiah the servant an Ammonite a man servile low born of base extraction Geshem the Arabian and the Arabians were great Thieves by Land as our Foes are Arabians upon the waters These Samaritans Ammonites Arabians Rebels and Thieves basely descended maligned the prosperity of Jerusalem when it began to flourish again under Nehemiah And note their shifts and half witted devices to oppose him First They fell to mocking and scoffing Chap. iv 1. Scurrility is to be expected from such as are bred up in the rudeness of a populacy Secondly At the eighth verse of the fourth Chapter they made ready to fight him but hearing his preparations shewed their teeth and never proceeded Thirdly Chap. vi 8. they raised scandalous reports against the Ruler and the People and how our Maligners would desame us with broaching lies Europe and all the world are witness Fourthly At the thirteenth verse of that Chapter they hired Prophets to Prophesie against Nehemiah to put him in fear and if we would be discouraged by such fictions they have not been wanting These were troubles which fell upon the noble heart of Nehemiah to see that blessing which God had begun by his industry cross'd and check'd by an ignoble and servile Generation So may our renowned Prince and General say in disdain at this upstart bog of men whose Noble Person is of more value than all their Provinces estimated at a rackt value Et mecum certasse ferentur Unless England had given them being and a power to resist they had not been able this day to have resisted the meanest of the Captains of my Lord the King To dispatch this Point though our Kingdom hath no resemblance to Pharaoh and the Egyptians God be praised yet our Plagues and those of Egypt have some parallel in their order Their first Plague was the Plague of bloud so was ours but God hath delivered us from the continual slaughters of a most impious and rebellious War Pass from the end of the seventh Chapter of Exodus to the beginning
of the eighth the next immediately is the Plague of Frogs So is ours croaking in the dirty ditches of the Netherlands which by the Rod of Moses and the Prayer of Aaron will be sent away to remain only in their own River Ver. 9. And when they are remanded to their own sinks and Marshes God deliver us from the Plague of Locusts in the Apocalyps that overspread this Land Before I shut up the sorrows of Nehemiah I consider what will be said by some that we are in no distress as Jerusalem was no foreign Foe hath brought us under the malice of an unthankful stock of men hath not so much as shaken our welfare Our Walls are the same which the Oracle commended to the Athenians Walls of wood well-built Ships maintained and multiplied for the honour and safeguard of the Island The Gates of Jerusalem before they were burnt down were their Courts of Justice for their Elders sate in the Gate when they did right between party and party And such Gates we have standing inviolate in their ancient dignity and priviledge that the poor may not be oppressed by him that is too mighty for him O happy if we knew it and were thankful that our Walls of defence and fortitude and our Courts of Justice are unimpaired and flourish Yet for all this as Nehemiah heard words that astonished him so foul blasts and tempests beat sore upon our ears which if God help not may drive us upon the Rocks Where can you converse abroad and not hear such talk as may provoke a Godly man to fast and mourn and pray before the God of Heaven My ears are grated with our modern Scepticks disputants against the Creation of the world out of nothing against the sacred authority of the Scriptures against the immortality of the soul of man While such dispute it sharply the Devil sits in the Chair to moderate Such sawcy petulant pedling wits dishonour God and these triumphing days wherein we live Besides what filthy obscene language is in the tongues of our Gallants What customary swearing What little reverence to that holy Name which should not be prophaned in a syllable What harmony is so sweet as to have incorrupt Religion and nothing else maintained in this Nation so wonderfully cleansed now for the space of about one hundred and twenty years from absolute superstition If Popery then be slickt over with cunning words if such jet about in every corner as will extol that Babylonish trumpery and reproach our Reformation to our face will it not stir us up to a publick bewailment and mourning in the sight of God Put to these base detractions of right worthy Patriots who deserve all honour for the present and a glorious memory hereafter and heap up all with malignant whisperings ungrateful murmurings and the whole riff-raff of vain talk are not these fore runners of a likely woe if we do not seek our heavenly Father betimes If we do not keep in our evil tongues God will ring his judgments into our deaf ears And though our enemies have not a spark of goodness in them whereby they should deserve to be Lords over us yet there may be so much wickedness among us that it may be our punishment to be kept under by them I am not afraid of the puissance of other Kingdoms for any store of vertue that I can hear is among them the whole World is out of frame and set upon mischief But we may expect the heavy hand of the Lord among us where he hath sown so much pure Gospel and reapt so little obedience So I have passed over the first part of my Text the cause of Nehemiahs humiliation applied to our selves And it came to pass when I heard these words c. His humiliation shall now be offered to your instruction in five passes or degrees beginning with his posture of sorrow that he sate down I call it a posture of sorrow for so it is in this place In cases of great heaviness it doth not signifie to repose the body in a seat of ease but to sink down to the ground and to sit upon the earth His legs could not bear the weight of his sorrows and he cast himself upon the ground You shall have some Texts of Scripture to confirm it Job overladen with misery sate down among the ashes Chap. ii 8. The King of Ninivey in dread of Gods anger rose up from his Throne covered himself with Sackcloth and sate in ashes Jon. iii. 6. And when the evil day of Captivity was coming the Daughter of Sion sate upon the ground Lam. ii 10. So that in the first place you see Nehemiah began at the right end abasing himself to this vile Element upon which we tread and expounding the Lords word in his own practice Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return In the seasons of joy and prosperity it is hard to bring a man into a right meditation what he is Then his imaginations are upon a Pinacle or he is flying in the air I hope therefore you will take out this Lesson better a great deal upon this day of common affliction Now I trust you will perceive that this Tabernacle of flesh in all the spangles and trappings of pride is but a muckhill or such rubbish as we stop our nose at in the dung cart or at the best that which the cleanly will not endure in their Chambers dust Therefore affliction is most natural to us which brings us to our proper Center and makes us sit upon the earth As who should say we are but Worms creeping upon the ground enter not into judgment with thy servants who are nothing in thy sight O where can we find so fit a place to receive us considering the abundance of iniquity which is in us as the bare ground Is there any pure metal in us Are we not all dross And whither should that be cast but into the high ways Do we not dishonour the name of Christian and turn the grace of God to wanâ—onness And if the salt have lost his savour is it good for any thing but to be cast out and trodden under foot But alas we are ill prepared for this godly exercise of affliction There is no thought in this Age of sitting down upon the ground Our ears are deaf to our Saviours Lesson Luk. xiv 10. Go and sit down in the lowest room That is a Parable and we lust not to know the meaning David says Psal xl 2. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me that I am not able to look up but our iniquities do take such hold upon us â—hat we do nothing but look up Was ever ambition so forward as in these times What striving what streining to come aloft Yet if aspiring after Promotion brought no other mischief but this one to the soul it were enough to condemn it that it carries a man into a strange Land quite into another Region far distant from humility or
from godly sorrow and repentance It knows not the way to sit down and to be dejected to the earth and yet to none else but such will our Saviour say Friend go up higher Another observation on this Point is that when sorrows came hudling upon Nehemiah and fell as thick as hail he sate down which is an evidence of patience that he submitted himself under the hand of the Lord. It is our modern phrase to express the humour of a man who struggles to repel an injury that he will not sit down by it But this servant of the Lord in my Text had no quarrel against the providence of his Maker let the cup of judgment be never so bitter which he was to drink he was quiet and sate down He knew we are all as clay in the hand of the Potter and shall the Vessel say to him that framed it what makest thou Gods judgments are wonderful and unsearchable sometimes they are never unjust And what fruit can the stubborn reap by endeavouring to break their chains What hath it ever profited them to challenge the Lord in the bitterness of their discontent What have they got by cursing murmuring and repining no other than to make the furnace of tribulation seven times hotter As it is best for the Child and for the Mother when the birth stays the due time before it be born So let us not struggle and toss about to ease our selves in a time of infelicity our redress will be most facile and fair when the Lord bringeth it to pass at his good pleasure If you think to be delivered sooner by quarrelling violence commotion it will prove an abortive remedy If you long to have things better when they are ill tarry for the Lord sit down and mourn be humble obedient keep a good conscience girt Nehemiahs patience unto you sit down and be still A third instruction upon this Point is that to sit down is to muse and to consider sadly of that which is brought before us So Nehemiah sate down to call his soul to counsel he intermitted all worldly business and composed himself to think of the Judgments of God It is well that the Royal Piety hath called us together to day upon so good an occasion Here is a Senate of Gods Servants gathered together in this holy place and in all other houses of God throughout this Realm Now we are set to it to call our ways to remembrance to revolve in our mind both every one a part how far we have corrupted our ways And likewise have taken this pause of time and sequestred our selves from all secular affairs to take a considerate view upon the sins of the Kingdom how near we are in all likelihood to relapse into some great troubles because the fear of the Lord is not much conspicuous among any sorts of men Are our Peers and Nobles renowned for their advancement and protection of true honour and vertue as their great Ancestors have been Sit down and think upon it The Reverend Sages of the Law are their minds set upon righteousness And do they judge the thing that is right with courage and integrity Sit down and think upon it The portion and Tribe of God the holy Clergy do they remember or can they forget how they were lately trodden down reviled and cast out of all they had for twenty years And doth it stir us up to be burning and shining lights more than ever And to double our diligence now in Prayer in Preaching and administring the holy Sacraments Sit down and think upon it For the Gentry are they not addicted to waste and riot Do they not crowd themselves into our enlarged Suburbs where they have no Calling but to emulate one another in excess of feminine Pride and rude debauchery Sit down and think upon it As for what concerns the great City not to rub it with salt and Satyrs is it not as palpable as Gods light that it did poison the whole Land with Rebellion and still infects it with Gaudiness Gluttony Whoredoms and Falshoods Sit down and think upon it Do the Country Villages deserve the old commendations of simplicity and innocency But how ignorant are they in the knowledge of Salvation How unthankful to God in all seasons How hath Satan bewitched them of late years into dissolute lives and drunkenness Sit down and think upon it I pass over many things in silence as not fit for publication Now though I have shewn you an Ocean of ungodliness breaking in upon us who almost unless such an extraordinary day as this doth spur them on who doth consider it and muse upon it with a leisurable sorrow The most will shake their heads at it and give it a shrug and then they are at their furthest There is all the regard they have when the sins of an whole Nation look as if they were white for harvest It is too tedious for them to sit down to cast up a sollicitous account to survey the parcels of our crimes to cast them up into a total sum as much as is possible This is too long labour for them who are very busie a doing nothing They will sit down as the Israelites did to eat and to drink and rise up to play Whereas the beginning of true repentance is to allot some time day by day for considering our own works seriously and the criminal faults of the whole Land Grant some good hours for the serious understanding of those things and run not away lightly from such holy thoughts but possess Nehemiahs room sit down and ponder the Judgments of the Lord. It follows in the second branch of his penitential carriage that the sins and desolation of Jerusalem wrought upon him so far that he wept Perhaps some sturdy spirit will say Mulier quid ploras Woman what ailest thou to weep A manly courage thinks shame of it Nay Infans quid ploras It is childish as some conceive to put the finger into the eye Indeed Quid potest infans nisi plorare How can a Child help it self when it is offended but by crying But when our heavenly Father is offended it is a sweet sign of grace to demean our selves like Children and cry Except you become as little children you cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven Mat. xviii 3. Nay says David I have brought my soul low like a weaned Child Psal cxxxi 2. and yet he no coward He became as a Child and not such a one as hath the breast and is still but a weaned Child taken from the comforts and lullabies of the Nurse and then you know it will burst into tears True repentance you see abhors all stubbornness and obstinate resolutions it abates its fortitude it melts in the sight of God Is not this much more religious than to have Nerves of Adamant and an heart of brass A stomach that is insensible of the divine wrath is a symptome of madness and not of courage There is
the Lord then Hezekiah chatters like a Swallow the day of trial begins to be nearly discerned But how much better is it to do this in your health and before your strength faileth There is nothing more sorrowful to the Devil than the godly sorrow of the Saints When his tentations come upon you open the flood-gates let in the sluces and drown them The Ark was made to float upon the Waters when the wicked world was drowned So the true Church of Christ shall be carried in safety upon the streams of devout tears Weep and lament the evil days that are past and be comforted that there is an Age an Eternity to come when God will wipe away all tears from our eyes Onward now to the next Point the third part of that remedy which Nehemiah used to cure the wound of a troubled soul says he I mourned certain days The heavenly water which fell from his eyes brought forth no weeds but sad and serious Repentance which ejected all light joy The Israelites in their days of distress had some outward badges of mourning as covering the head and lip not washing the face not combing the hair putting on Sackcloth or other sad rayment or such like Which whether they were to be seen in Nehemiah as I cannot affirm so I will not deny for I incline to perswade my self that he wanted not those outward marks and habilements of sorrow that the habit and grizly uncomposedness of his body might utter the affections of his mind But that which pleased God was the sorrow of the Heart and not of the Garment It is the distress of the soul with inward anguish that knocks at heaven for mercy and comfort will sooner shine upon them that cover themselves with darknâ—â—s and will not be comforted Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Mat. v. 4. It is not a punishment but a gift of God to be endued with godly sorrow And all his gifts put together make a treasure of felicity Cum te video in conspectu Domini suspirantem spiritum sanctum non dubito aspirantem Cyprian de caenâ Domini When I see thee breath out sighs upon earth I discern that God hath breathed into thee his holy Spirit from heaven Now the same Spirit took on him the shape of a Dove when he came down from heaven to sit upon our Saeviour at his Baptism It is impossible to teach a Dove to sing a chearful note for Nature hath ingraffed in her a solemn mourning Gemitum pro cantu it doth not sing like other birds but groan and it is the Spirit that puts afflictive thoughts into our Spirit with groans unutterable O hang up the Harps of mirth for a while and let them remain untuned Lament the days wherein we have provoked the Lord to give us nothing but lamentation You never read that God will honour your joy to keep it in his everlasting remembrance but you are sure he will not forget your mourning says David Psal lvi 8. Thou tellest my flitting put my tears into thy Bottel are not these things noted in thy Book Nor doth he merely bear them in mind and keep them in his Register but Figuratively as some interpret it he wears them upon his head for says Christ Cant. v. 2. My head is filled with dew and my locks with the drops of the night as if he wore the tears of our mourning like drops of Pearl upon his head Dry eyes and unrelenting hearts are the curse of God as it is Ezek. xxiv 23. You shall not mourn nor weep but ye shall pine away for your iniquities Do you love to be heightned in your pleasures To be always conversant in joy and voluptuousness Would you never be wrinced with any sorrow for your sins O what a mischief is this which you long for If you do not mourn at some seasons if you do not fall into pious contristation you shall pine away in your iniquities I may not forget the continuance of Nehemiahs mourning it lasted certain days As a watry Moon breeds foul weather for an whole month after So when he began to be a mourner for the sins and scourges of his people he persevered till it came to some magnitude of afflictive compunction Nothing will come to any large increase in an hour therefore he produced his sorrow longer and longer and mourned certain days Not first a sigh and suddenly a flux of laughter upon it not humbled in fasting to day and pampering the body in all excess and riot to morrow Are there none here that will be so fickle and change so soon God grant it For a short acquaintance with godliness is soon forgotten He that catcheth at Repentance by sudden fits will never lay hold of it Insist upon good motions protract them to day and to morrow and continue many such days together that Piety may have its perfect course When you will scarce hold out the length of an hour nay hardly the length of the Lords Prayer but your mind is drawn off from the survey of Repentance you have done as good as nothing They that first did distribute apt times and seasons in the Church for the Service of God contrived forty days together in Lent for religious sorrow and humiliation a long time of perseverance indeed that we might be perfect in the Lesson As Moses continued forty days together in the Mount that he might be perfect in the Law of the Lord. All that I bend towards in my instruction is this That forasmuch as we have but this one day allotted for our exercise of extraordinary Prayer and Mortification the benefit may dispread unto to morrow and the morrow after and so spin it out that we may keep time with Nehemiah and say we have mourned certain days But why hath he not expressed how long he continued in this sad habit of repentance I mourned certain days and wherefore are his certain days so uncertain Because he did not keep reckoning with God and take a precise account how much service he did him as the Pharisee had it at his fingers ends I fast twice a week and as the most are perfect to number their few good deeds I give so much yearly to the poor I frequent the holy Communion so often I go now and then on working days to morning Prayer And perhaps before night some will break out into boasting how many hours they have spent at Church upon this solemn Fast This is to serve God by weight and measure and to score up every good minute we have spent lest the Lord should forget it But Nehemiah doth not make ostentation of the just length of time which he spent in devotion and sorrow but closeth it up indefinitely in this manner I mourned certain days And this mourning drew on another exercise of religious affliction which denominates the Piety of this day He fasted It is very proper that this partner should go hand in hand
neither thrive abroad nor at home Pyrrho haec Samnitibus I can wish our Enemies no greater harm than such corrupted minds That Pyrrhus it is in Plutarch was a rambling Warriour and cared not whom he oppressed Says Cyneas to him his best Counsellor Shall we live thus always No says Pyrrhus when we have vanquished the Romans Compotabimus in otio vivemus We will drink stoutly and live merrily His Horse would have said as much if he could have spoken that when his service was done he would stand in the Stable and eat his Provender But the end of War is Peace and the end of Peace is to die unto Sin and to live unto Righteousness These are the last words I have to say now In the justness of our Cause confidence of Faith fervour of Prayer amendment of our Lives United Hearts and in our Religious and Noble ends we commend our most serene and excellent Admiral the whole Royal and gallant Expedition which he manageth to God In whom alone is our help For there is none that fights for us powerfully and irresistably but only thou O God To which God c. A SERMON UPON PROV iii. 3. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee THE Children of Israel were exhorted from their Prophet Moses to write the Law upon the Posts of their doors and to have Copies of it in the Fringes of their Garments as if the whole Land of Jury had been bound into one Sacred Volume to make a Bible for them This was Mandatum latissimum as David said a Commandment exceeding broad but a Proverb being by the very interpretation of the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Basil says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a quaint speech used in every street of the City and every high way of the field it is more vulgar and common than the Law it self that thou maist be unexcusable O man when his words are gone forth into the ends of the world Now in this brief essay which I have read unto you as the Heathen were wont to set up the Image of Mercury in the turnings of high-ways to direct Passengers their journey which was called Mercurialis acervus so King Solomon in these words hath reared up a Pillar in the broad way to instruct our ignorance which is ready to turn aside and wander like the lost sheep that whithersoever we set our face we keep this Via Regia the Kings high way Let not c. Mercy and truth so excellent a workmanship that I reverse what I said before it is not like a Pillar set up for an heathen Idol but rather Solomon hath made a new Cherubin for a new Temple a Cherubin with two wings stretched out upon our soul The wings are Mercy and Truth which either bear up the body to heaven as David says My soul flieth unto the Lord before the morning watch I say before the morning watch Or if it grow laden with sin that so great a burden cannot be supported these wings can fly away alone these vertues will be gone like Elias in his firy Chariot for a wounded Conscience who can bear it But if it be true that Tertullian says Omnis spiritus ales est Every Spirit is winged to fly much more let the Spirit of every regenerate man be this Avis Paradisi that our soul may say as David the Sparrow hath found her a nest and the Swallow a place to lay her young ones even thine Altar O Lord of Hosts and being thus fledg'd Mercy and Truth shall not forsake us Out of which words I collect these parts in order The first wing of a Christian soul is Mercy He shall protect me under his wings and I shall be safe under his feathers so God was merciful unto David and mercy is a Wing Secondly The next that answers unto it is Truth For the word of the Lord is that flying roul which Ezekiel saw and the Word of the Lord is the truth it self so that Truth is a wing Thirdly Note their conjunction Mercy and Truth they are coupled together Mercy and Truth are met together righteousness and peace have kissed each other they met long ago in Christ the head and we must not part them in his members Fourthly You must know that we may be so careless in our holy Profession that we may be stript of all the good endowments which we had Mercy and Truth may forsake us and then say we had them Lastly If we look to our part the gifts of God are without repentance ne deserant let them not depart there is a careful way whereby we may imp these wings from flying that they shall not forsake us else ne deserant were sounding brass and no true doctrine these are the five Lamps it remains I put oyl into them I begin at Mercy the fairest Omen that ever the World had in it The unmerciful brethren of Joseph consulted to put the blame of their cruelty upon the beasts we will say a cruel beast hath devoured him It is very well that they durst not profess themselves to be men who were so barbarous But neither is â—t in every beast of the field to be stony hearted The fouls of the air are gentle in their kind witness the Ravens that fed Elias and for the Cattel upon the hills the Ass forsook not his old Master the Prophet that was rent by the Lion The meanest of Creatures then have mercy by instinct of nature yea and the most glorious also dread not the Angels though they be called flaming spirits but rather consider what pity they have shewn in their Function towards the Sons of men To execute Gods wrath few do always come down as loath to be Ministers of indignation One destroying Angel appeared to punish Jerusalem one alone brought weeping news to Bochim Jud. ii Three appeared unto Abraham to bring him the joyful Message of a Son but their company grew less by one and but two of them brought tidings to Lot of the vengeance of Sodom But Elishas Servant saw Chariots and Horsemen and thousands in the Mountain to protect them To publish peace and joy heaven it self as I may so speak it was empty and there appeared a multitude of the heavenly Host to the Shepherds and sang praises unto God surely then one of their wings is Mercy But we must fetch our example further than the Angels let us go boldly to the throne of grace and fetch it from the third heavens Be you merciful with a sicut says our Saviour as your heavenly Father is merciful And if we cast our eye upon that pattern it blossoms like the rod of Aaron into these two buds condonationem and donationem First To forgive and remit sins Secondly To give liberally as God hath enabled us In the first I will thus proceed First that it is Gods nature and property to forgive secondly that man should rather forgive than God It did well deserve record
in holy Scripture both how the Devil tempted Christ to see if He were God and how the Pharisees brought a case before him to try if He were Messias Cast thy self down from the Pinacle of the Temple says Satan if thou be the Son of God No that were cruelty against his own person and charity begins at home Then the Pharisees brought a sinner before him taken in adultery Joh. viii Their fingers itcht to be casting stones at her but he would not suffer them And this mercy proved him both to be Messias and the Son of God If men and Angels had kept good we had only known the friendship of God what it was and not his anger that was natural unto him We provoked justice violently and wrung it out of his hands And as the King of Israel said to Elisha when his enemies were inclosed within his power Shall I smite them my Father shall I smite them No says the Prophet but set bread and water before them So Justice said to God when we had transgressed Shall I smite them Shall I consume them at once O no says our Saviour but set bread and wine before them the Sacrament of his body and bloud which being eaten by faith will save our souls Christ wept but twice in all once over his friend Lazarus that was a natural grief and once over Jerusalem that sought his bloud that was a coelestial passion Nay though he went but a foot pace from one City to another to preach the Gospel yet he would needs ride to Jerusalem so to make haste to suffer longing till the work of our Redemption was finished St. Ambrose says he groaned as well to have the bitter Cup come quickly as to have it pass away and grew weary of delay till He had paid the Hand-writing which was against us There passed but a little time from midnight to midday betwixt his Attachment his Arraignment and his Execution as if his feet had stood upon thorns until his head was crowned with them Now tell me how you will look upon this Christ O ye malicious hearted whose feet are swift to shed bloud in Duels and fierce Encounters your hatred and his pitty your desire to destroy your enemies and his good will to recover them and bless them they savour undoubtedly of two sort of Serpents Christ is the Brazen Serpent lifted up who cured the infirmities of the People they are like the fiery Vermin which stung Gods Travellers in the Wilderness And when God was put to it to punish see how Mercy wrestled with Indignation Ah I will be avenged of mine enemies says the Prophet Isaiah he sighed because he must be wrathful as it was said of the mild Emperor Vespasian Indoluit quoties debuit esse ferox When he destroyed Sodom with an heayy wrath his justice came down but in slow drops of fire but his mercy is a full torrent like Jordan in a time of Harvest it brought Israel to a Land flowing with milk and honey for his mercy endureth for ever His goodness is swifter than Eagles for in six dayes he framed the World and all that is therein But he took forty days to destroy one City of Nineveh and then he spared it When he was first angry with man he did but walk in the cool says the Text to chide Adam but the Father of the Prodigal you know who I mean ran in haste to meet his Son and pardon him when he was yet far from him Finally it is written in Mat. xxv that benediction is from God Come ye blessed of my Father But malediction and cursing are not from him Go ye cursed but not cursed of my Father no such word in the Text he has no hand in that It was Gods Dialogue with Jonas Shouldst thou grieve that the Gourd of herbs is decayed and should not compassion touch me much more for this mighty People true Lord but if thou pardonest man for sin who in thy sight is but as a flower of the field less than the Gourd of Jonas should not man much more remit the offence of his Brother which is done against him I say much more it behoveth man and I will hold my self to that For first there is somewhat in our eyes that blinds them it is pulvis humanitatis the dust of our humane nature that makes us when we are the most sharp censurers of other mens faults not to discern truly the filth of their sin but the eyes of the Lord are bright as a couple of flaming Torches in the Revelation and offences appear before them more ghastly and tragical than our dim Candle half put out can enlighten us to perceive For instance hereof To morrow there is a Feast unto Jehovah says Aaron but the Lord could see that the Feast was luxury they rose up to play and the Sport was flat Idolatry So Saul could discern no harm in himself but a little foolish pitty when he spared Agag but the flaming eye saw it was Rebellion as foul as the sin of Witchcraft And is the Lord merciful to our transgressions when they cry unto him like the sound of many waters and should not Man much more acquit the World of every offence done against him for as much as we conceive not what is evil because our selves are evil Secondly among men a gift pleaseth the eyes and a recompence is a safe correcting of an injury but that were peccatum bis tinctum a sin died in scarlet to think to blot out sins before the Lord with the Fruit of our Body or with Rivers of Oil And can this God be reconciled then and should not man much more be merciful Beloved in the third place We are all full of our own infirmities Who knows whose turn it may be next to fly unto the Altar for a pardon Two that grind in the same Mill and two that walk in the same Field nay Barnabas and Paul fellow Labourers in the same Gospel may daily stumble one at another Our communication together cannot choose but be offensive as the earth licks up the water and the water devours the earth but who is the churlish Labourer to whom God cannot say Friend I do thee no wrong O can the just one have mercy upon us and should not offenders between themselves sinners unto sinners much more be charitable But there is one thing more in mercy than forgiveness alms and bounty to do good and distribute to be Oil and Physick to the wounded like the good Samaritan this is also a full Plume in the Wing of Charity like that other Mat. xxiii how often would I have gathered thee under my wings as a Hen doth her Chickens but thou wouldest not Beloved God hath suffered his fire to be unmerciful to sweep away the Habitation of the fatherless and innocent that our hands might build it up again And we shall not only build up houses of clay the reward
gave me not my outward senses to delude me I am sure that Christ is there and I partake the meritorious Passion of his Body crucified and his Bloud shed upon the Cross all that men controvert more than this is to beget sorrow to the Church and laughter to the Devil My soul dwelleth among them that are enemies unto peace but I am content to say this is my Saviour who offered himself up for me therefore I will not let thy truth forsake me Lastly In that great Controversie of Justification there is a way in which the mists of errour cannot arise and there is a way in which the substantial food is lost by striving to comprehend the shadow with it By vertue of the Law I know my duty that I must be a Doer and thereby I discern my infirmity that I must be a Debtor By vertue of the Lords Prayer I find my self arreraged in iniquities that are past my flesh trembling at tentations to come my soul and body gasping for deliverance from evil round about me I find not one line wherein I may obtest unto God by any part of my own Sanctification Thirdly By vertue of my Creed I find that my Saviour was incarnate suffered and rose again to purchase Redemption unto us and Remission of our sins The Angels are not more sure of their incorruptible glory than we may be to say As many as walk in this rule peace be to them and mercy and on the Israel of our God Cogita de Deo quicquid meliùs potes de teipso quod deterius vales says St. Bernard and then thy truth is like Mount Sion which cannot be removed But to go a little further and to creep into the Mediatorship of Jesus Christ there is no likelihood but it should prove an unthankful blasphemy Being rooted in this most holy Faith and in our active Mercy toward the whole body of Christs Church there remains for us a passive mercy which will not forsake us the sure mercies of David in our blessed Redeemer who is called Amen and in whom are all the Promises And there is a truth which will stick to us as fast and answer for us against the slanders of Satan who is the Reviler of the Brethren For he that confesseth me before men there is truth on our part I will confess him before my Father which is in heaven there is truth on Gods part to which God Father c. A SERMON UPON THE RECHABITES JEREM. xxxv 6. But they said we will drink no Wine AT the first hearing of these words I may conjecture that some men thought of no such Scripture and that most men look for a strange construction and you shall have a construction to mollify the Paradox since it was ever safe to decline extremes in all opinions for they are like Jehu in his furious march what have they to do with peace Indeed if you will recount among many who they were that have professed so much austerity as those that say in my Text We will drink no wine you will neither commend them for wisdom nor for piety Lycurgus in the Luxury of his Country cut up every Vine by the roots and destroyed the Vineyards like those inconsiderate men in our dayes superexcessive Reformers of Religion who think there is no way to amend that which is abused but with Hezekias Justice against the Brazen Serpent utterly to consume it The Manichees would not endure to taste the Cup at the holy Communion as if Christ had been too prodigal to bestow Wine at his last Supper upon his Disciples And you know who they are that want not much to be Manichees Tertullian mentions a most harsh Discipline among the Romans that no Woman might know the taste of Wine sed sub Romulo quae vinum tetigerat impunè à marito trucidata est that it was lawful for the Husband to shed his own Wifes bloud if she tasted of the bloud of the Grape So likewise there were certain Christians called Severiani by a nick name that grudged the whole World St. Pauls allowance that Modicum which he granted unto Timothy and Pharaohs Butler with these men had been kept for ever in prison had he pressed a few Grapes into the Kings own Cup. But for all these men who grudg Cato his draught of wine when he is wearied with the affairs of the Common-wealth I say their abstemious life is perverseness and such were not the Rechabites that say in my Text We will drink no wine In which Text barren as it may seem there are many things very Religious and profitable to make up my Treatise at this time And as boldly as Prudentius said by a Catachresis that there were jejuniorum victimae many Sacrifices offered up to God by fasting and abstaining from meats so say I that this Text is abstemiorum racematio there is a fruitful Vintage to be gathered out of non bibemus We will drink no wine This whole Chapter is but of one entire piece like the silver Trumpets of Moses Numb 10. so is the discourse thereof without interruption or almost without full point from the beginning to the end First God is provoked to wrath by the rebellions of Judah False Prophets were crept in that had taught strange Doctrin and the People had itching ears and were worse Disciples Now what instrument should the Lord choose to lay open his indignation whom but Jeremy the Propher and him God knew to be fit for the Errand not as he knew Nathaniel under the shade of his Fig-leaves sed sub carnis umbraculo in his Mothers Womb. Jeremy sets himself to the Task and lays open their sins not by revilings by menacies by zeal as hot as fire and who could do less they made Moses the meekest Soul alive throw stones at them and break the Tables but setting before them the Example of the Rechabites promising their obedience should be had in an everlasting remembrance and Judah his stubborn Son should see their happiness and want it Et spectet nostros jam plebs Romana triumphos Will it not grieve them to see Strangers and Aliens bear the Bell away and themselves look on and be quite neglected Lastly what was the Obligation that kept the Rechabites under such aw and duty for Jeremy spread a Table entreated them courteously and set Flagons of wine before them Why nothing but this their Father Jonadab had made them protest to take this austere life upon them that they would drink no wine A hard case between God and Israel if you mark it What was Jonadab or who was it that gave him wisdom no stedfast faith could be put in his Laws nor certainty in his Statutes nay upon this Text it is Calvins opinion laudatur obsequium filiorum non legi approbatum fuisse consilium paternum 't is true that Jeremy commends the Sons of Jonadab for their obedience but the Holy Ghost did no where commend Jonadab for making such
a square body throw it as you will it lies flat and firm every way it keeps the same decent posture And so much for the second inducement which Jonadab had to ordain this Vow of Tabernacles and abstemiousness it was for the better preparation against Captivity In communi fame atque obsidione quà m utilis fuit frugalitas c. When Famine and Wars were in the City great advantage had the Rechabites above other men by their temperance and hard lodging in Tents says Calvin upon this place Lastly Jonadabs counsel was as an Oracle of God to frame such a Vow at this season Because the riches of the Land did exceedingly multiply above all Nations from the Reign of Solomon and to profess so much contempt of the world when all Jury was like a rich Exchequer full of Silver and Gold what an honour was this to the Rechabites that they durst be poor when all the Kingdom surfeited of plenty Quid habere nobis turpe sit quaeris Nihil says the Poet. Nothing was shame-worthy in that place but to be poor and have nothing Yet nothing they possess but such a quantity of substance as might best serve them to praise the Lord. Cattel they had and Lambs they had wherewith the Priests might make attonement for their sins and the sins of Judah Goods and substance which was not useful to the Temple of God to them such Riches were Apocryphal Some bring Censors of Gold some sweet Odours to the Altar They have no such Offerings But as it was said of Epictetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 None so poor in the riches of this world none so rich in the expectation of the next world The children of the true Church are compared to sheep coming from the shearer Cant. i. Whereupon says one Christianus est ovis detonsa hoc est omnibus mundanis spoliata A Christian is a sheep that stands dumb and is willing to part with all his Fleece and to lay it at the feet of the Shearer The Lord is merciful calcantibus terram says the Prophet Isaiah to them that spurn the earth From whence St. Austin raised this Meditation Est iis misericors qui amore coelestium terrena contemnunt He is merciful to men who trample the riches of the earth under feet and meditate upon the Kingdom of Heaven For as the Fathers observe upon St. Peters words Depart from me for I am a sinful man that such a depart was a Fishers hook to draw Christ nearer unto him So for these men to plant neither Vine nor Olive nor to so Seed in the Canaan beneath was to purchase the holy Paradise of happiness which remains for ever O let me oppose the life of these men to the covetous death of many in our Age that put out money upon Usury after they are buried like him in the Poet having his deaths wound Terram ore momordit he would carry his mouth full of earth away with him as if he should not have enough in his grave Had not the Israelites been too richly furnished with golden Ear-rings they had never had stuff to make an Idol there had been no Calf in Horeb. Had not Hezekiah been exalted with the pomp of so great a Treasury the Messengers of the King of Babylon had not known the riches of the Kings Palace an Army had not been brought against the Kingdom Methinks says Seneca the Romans should tremble at nothing more than to see Plate in their Streets and Jewels in their Chains and Gold upon the Posts of their doors Cogitet Romanus has apud victos se reperisse When they were first Conquerours they had none of these but they found them among their vanquished Captives So let Judah remember that they found their Gold and Silver among the Canaanites who were slain and rooted out And are they not fair baits to fall again into the hands of Conquerours Now alas says Synesius no man can think he is enthralled in the Fetters of Captivity as long as his Fetters be of Gold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are not wary of mischief being in a glorious misfortune Had they been all as wise as the Rechabites their abundance had not dazled the eyes of their enemies but now like Fowls which shed their feathers about their Nest they betray themselves by their own superfluity I have read of an Advocate of Rome that professed himself to be able to teach any man the Law to save his Lands from all question that he might be disquieted by no impleadment I do not value that cunning says Seneca but teach me to lose all I have and not to be moved with the misfortune and then I will pay you for my learning In like manner had Jonadab left a great volume of Precepts behind him how to teach his Kindred thrift and husbandry had he bequeathed to them the magisterium of the Philosophers Stone why all this labour had only made them worldly and avaritious But to institute a course and to put them in practise how to want and suffer scarcity as many as walk in that rule may have bodies that can live without this world as they have souls that can live without these bodies And so much for the three laudable inducements unto which Jonadab did respect when he made his Children vow a Vow unto the Lord. 1. It was expedient for strangers 2 It was a Cordial to comfort them in the Captivity of Babylon 3. It was an occasion both to withdraw the fuel which kindled the love of the world in their souls and it extinguished the envy of their Adversaries who were about to subdue their Country Now I follow my own method to handle the second consideration of this Vow that these circumstances were not only well foreseen but that the conditions of the thing vowed are just and lawful Not to tumble over all the distinctions of the Schoolmen which are as multiplicious in this cause as in any of Vows some are singular in uno individuo which concern one man and no more as when David vowed to build an house unto the Lord this was not a Vow of many associated in that pious work but of David only Some are publick when there is an unity of consent in divers persons to obtest the same thing before the presence of God And such was this Vow in my Text it concerned the whole Family of the Rechabites Again some Vows are private not in regard of the persons which may be numerous but in respect of the place some Vows are solemn when the protestation is made unto the Church So was not this Vow it was not solemn it was no Church matter To say that the Rechabites lived about the Temple and were a kind of Monks I know not what could be spoken more ignorantly by our Adversaries and yet it hath been written in defiance of our Religion None lived about the Temple but Priests and Levites except some great Prophetical Spirit was discerned in
them That the Nazarites had any dwelling in the Temple Maldonat is mistaken no more had these Shepherds who lived in Tabernacles Again some constrain themselves to the observation of a Vow but for a time for never any but Samson that we read of was a perpetual Nazarite some oblige the Votary for ever such was this which I treat of in Tabernacles they must live for ever Fourthly Some stand upon conditions like that of Anna if she had a Son she would give him to the Lord. Some are absolute like the Vow of Baptism wherein there is no capitulation But were it a Vow in any rank of these which I have named yet the complexion of the matter must have these four conditions according to the Schoolmen We will take that which is sound and refuse that which is corrupt Esto say they res adiaphora possibilis licita faciens ad cultum Dei 1. The thing vowed must be indifferent and free from necessity 2. An atchievment possible and not out of the reach of humane frailty 3. Unless it be lawful we offer our service unto Devils 4. That which we vow unto God must not be every idle fancy of our own brain it must bear weight and moment if we promise it unto the Lord. To begin with the first A thing not commanded but indifferent to be done or not done is the first condition of a Vow says Aquinas Stay there a while Shall I believe Aquinas or the Patriarch Jacob For I learn that the first ground of making a Vow is in Jacobs example Gen. xxviii by the light of nature before the Law and he vows both res praeceptas that God should be his God and res adiaphoras where the Stone was set to build up an house to God Beloved be not deceived with the leaven of the Jesuits this is Diana of the Ephesians and their credit lies upon it Indeed such Commandments as literally forbid sin are negative and obligant ad semper the yoke of them is never off from our conscience and so it is easie to acknowledge that they are Commandments But whereas inclusively there are duties to be done quae non obligant ad semper which bind us but at times and seasons therein we may meet with many parts of Divine Worship which seem superfluous and as it were given into the bargain Especially we want a good inspection to make a difference between these three things 1. There is the end of a Christian life 2. The next and immediate means to that end 3. The remoter means and further off The end is Gods glory and we cannot oversee that point but that it is the first injunction which lies upon our Soul The next and the proper end to that means are the strict words of the Commandments and those we cannot gainsay it are a necessary part of Christianity But as for the remote means which are further of there we boast that we do pay that which we did never owe but supererogate with God O deluded Conscience hearken and consider purity of body and soul is the scope of the seventh Commandment The next means to avoid Adultery is in some men Marriage in some the shunning of lascivious talk and lewd Company there are means more distant to subdue the wantonness of the body by strict Fastings by Canonical hours of Prayer to shun the very Country where bewitching Beauties tempt our affections Should you tell me in this case that your Prayers your Fastings your Pilgrimages were more than measure and above the Commandment I would tell you you did lie against God and your Conscience against God who hath commanded all that you can perform by might and strength and against Conscience for whatsoever my heart tells me will give me advantage to serve the Lord conscientia in iis est regula faciendorum and it is sin to omit it I appeal to a Jury of the Schoolmen Why did Christ and his Angels vow no vow because they are the most perfect Creatures of reasonable essence full of the noblest speculation yet they keep the Law of God and observe it Down then with that blasphemy that the observation of the Law is but Milk for Babes and Vows are left to try the vertues of an excellent and heroick spirits greater Tasks for the Champions of the Militant Church The Law is like the Passover which must be eaten Devotions of indifferency when conscience doth prescribe them are like the sower herbs to be eaten with it If you think the Sawce better than the Meat the Herbs more costly than the Lamb they are fermentum in Paschate and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees You will say was not this res adiaphora was it not in the power of the Rechabites to drink wine or refrain yes but when conscience had set it down before them as an excellent disposition to serve the Lord conscience hath made that which was indifferent in it self necessary unto them and their Task in this very thing to please the Lord. If this Chapter be not strong enough to convince our Adversaries though they glory in the Example of the Rechabites let them take the Cause For although they restrained themselves to the poorest life of keeping sheep and dwelt in Pavillions and drank no wine yet it came not from these observations that they were acceptable to God no God himself reduceth their good service to the fifth Commandment in the last verses of this Chapter because they have obeyed their Father Jonadab in all things therefore there shall not want a man of that Race to stand before him for ever And so much for the first condition of this Vow the observations in themselves are of indifferency and liberty but yet media remota ad praeceptum they are reducible to the fifth Commandment In the second condition I concur with the Schoolmen that a Vow must be possible to accompass lest they that pass by shake their heads and say this man laid a foundation and was not able to build it up non est votum sed ostentatio it is no Vow but plain boasting and ostentation They deal as certain of the Sect called Druides among the Gauls that took much upon trust in this life to pay their Creditors in the Resurrection When St. Peter would trust his feet to walk upon the Seas to Christ the waves surged and had well nigh drowned an Apostle A good Emblem for those who finding their affections calm and even say to morrow will be as yesterday and vow for the years to come but in time our heart loatheth this Manna and what are we but Bankrupts unto God and Peter sinketh A true Votary says Anselm gives unto God the whole tree with the fruit root and branches the works of the will and the power of the will for ever But if the Thistle should vow and threaten to bring forth grapes would it not be trodden down by the Beasts of the field as it is in the
manner of superfluity The Morallists and Poets of the Heathen were wise men and when they character the best and happiest times of the World I am not presumptuous but confident of my knowledge that they all insist upon this that the men of that Age studied not for their Diet but took the voluntary Offerings of the Springs and Mountains Now we have left that praise and happiness to the Beasts and Fowls of the air who take the next thing they light upon to satisfie their thirst and hunger Non fuit noverca nobis natura ut homo sine tot artibus non possit vivere It is our own fault that we consume our Revenues and spend all our labour as the Wise-man says for the belly Nature is not so much a Stepdame to us alone that no less than two hundred Arts and Trades may be reckoned before his Table can be magnificently furnished This is the only conveniency of great sins which are very expenceful though not for the sin yet for the charge sake they use to vanish away by little and little I have the more hope my labour shall not be fruitless to exhort you to fall back to some laudable measure of ancient frugality Though it be a thing grown quite out of the constitution of your bodies to thirst for water as my Text says yet I would you would thirst less for wine and as one said though once our Saviour was so gracious to turn water into wine yet it were happy now on our part if he would infuse such temperance into us as to turn our wine into water See into what luxury we have sopt our Souls in the revolution of time see how we are metamorphosed in our appetite those Wines which were wont to be sold by the Apothecaries for a Drug are now become every Meals liquor at our Tables and Water which was the ordinary drink of man now it is never used but as a Potion and for some Medicinal operation So that which was our Physick is become our ordinary Drink and that which was our daily Drink is become our Physick Satis est populo fluviusque Ceresque though bread for hunger and water for thirst are but a bare enough yet such expressions from our Saviour who knows what is fittest for us will make the most of us I hope ashamed when we compare it with an Epicures too much But whether temperate or intemperate whether the poor Beggar that drinks of the running Brook or the rich Glutton that quaffs the bloud of the Grape at sundry times they feel a scarcity and want of moisture it is an affliction upon our nature that all men have their thirst The Schoolmen ask and which is more they contend among themselves whether hunger and thirst had befallen Mankind if they had never sinned against the Lord The Controversy comes to this issue This heavenly part of us which God breathed into the body it is both Anima and Spiritus a Soul and a Spirit and therefore it causeth both an animal life which consists in the faculties of nourishment augmentation of every part generation c. and it causeth by Gods gracious gift a spiritual life making this corruptible flesh of ours incorruptible and transfusing many more of its own excellencies into this gross substance and then it is a glorified Body These by the Divine ordination were appointed after a large space to be one after another so says St. Paul That was not first which was spiritual but that which was natural and afterward that which is spiritual It was necessary therefore while it was a natural body that sustenance must be taken and at such a time when man knew right well by his own constitution that it was fit to repair nature he could not err and be deceived in that in the state of innocency and at that time his appetite would call for it as a pleasant and wholesome thing to be taken for you know what a loathing thing it is to take meat and drink into the mouth without an appetite Here 's the scruple plainly laid down before you whether hunger and thirst did provoke such an appetite in man before he fell into disobedience I answer that this Controversy is but a bare mistaking of a word If hunger and thirst be largely taken for that sense which a man hath how the stomach must be replenisht for the maintenance of life so Adam before he fell had sensum indigentiae a far more exacting feeling than we have when nature was in indigency and must be supplied but strictly and properly hunger and thirst habent adjunctam molestiam cruciatum they come upon us with some molestiousness and torment and so they are only incident to wicked man where punishment is manifold ways inflicted upon transgression Where heat doth dry up moisture and parch the juyce of the veins there our thirsty soul doth gape like a barren and dry Land that is when one elementary quality doth feed upon another and consume it But before sin entred into the World there was such an orderly mixture of all parts in us that the Elements were at peace in our Body no quality did seek to over-master another and corrupt it but the pangs and girds of thirst did ensue upon just revenge Reason proved rebellious to the Law of God the sensual appetite grew rebellious to reason and the distemperature of the body grew rebellious to appetite Shall I need to tell you how the Israelites in a sore thirst were ready to renounce God in the Wilderness or how the strength of Sampson fainted till the Jaw bone besmeared with the bloud of his Enemies did run with water or how Darius in extremity of drought was glad to drink of a most putrified puddle Every man hath felt such anguish in himself at some time or other every little scarceness threatens death or is worse than death to them that want the friendship of God And as our appetite is never but sick of longing so the body troubles it with a perpetual craving that which it takes to day is forgot to morrow as if it never had been Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again That which nourisheth the Soul of man must be immortal like the Soul but that which nourisheth a corruptible Body it self is corruptible One lean Harvest in Egypt made seven rich ones be quite forgotten A short Fast will gnaw the bowels though Ahasuerus his long Feast had gone before it Whatsoever you taste the pleasure of it is not remembred in a minute the strength and virtue of it is gone in a few hours A man that is grown to the end of a full age if he would reckon by measure and proportion how much waste in threescore and ten years one Belly hath made it would make him wonder and say to himself am I run on the score so far for my daily sustenance is it not due that my Carkass should rot in the
David for the pomp of Jerusalem nor for the taste of Meats nor for the noise of Musick then your inward delights are a River shut up the waters of comfort flit not out of the channel But if you desire to have a Portion in this life if you desire to taste a little of this honey as Jonathan did which hangs in the Trees round about you plenus rimarum effluis then the River opens your earnings and your desires will break out in a thousand Sluces If a Chrystal Glass were durable and not obnoxious to breaking with a fall it would be as estimable perhaps as a Silver Plate though the substance be not so precious So the vanities of this World which are but water or rather froth that passeth away had they been stable and of long endurance which God forbid for then who almost could have withstood their temptation as base as they are in themselves I say if they had not been so transitory they had deceived many instead of that which our Saviour commends so highly the water of Eternal Life But there is not such a terminus diminuens in nature not any word of more rejectment than to say they consume as fast as they are born they perish in their making and come to a perpetual end If I see a Meteor make a fair shew in a bright Evening I may take it for a Star but if it once glide in a flake of fire like a swift arrow I contemn it for a putrid exhalation so Honors and Riches make a gay sight but because they are as transitory as dreams and shadows I despise them Shall I moil my self like the Grecian Champions at Olympus for no more than a Garland of leaves that will wither before I go to bed for a corruptible Crown as St. Paul calls it How little did the recompense answer the danger These men you will say were fit to be laught at As they lived in a silly Age so they sped accordingly But now the World 's grown wiser they do not aim at a few flowers but at the whole Garden as Ahab did not at leaves but at fruit I warrant you and the trees that bear the fruit and the Lands and Lordships that the trees grow upon both to them and to their Posterity This will come to some value and not to be slighted like the labour of the Heathen for a Garland or for a corruptible Crown Yet for all this I will and must maintain that worldlings deserve the application both of this and of a worse Similitude I confess that the Heathen in their emulatory Sports aimed at trifles scarce fit to hang on the Posts of their Doors and no way comely for their head yet trifles as they were they engaged but a trifle against them their limbs and body but you venture your soul the Divine part of Man for things that may stick as little by you as a flower of the Garden Aut habebunt finem sui aut finem tui either your pleasure or your life or the whole World may pass away in a moment What a rotten pillar we lean upon which is subject to the hazard of three imminent casualties where lies the wit now they hazard Grass for Grass their Body against a Garland you hazard Heaven against Earth your Soul for Honours and increase of Substance you stake the hope of Salvation to drink in a few pleasing relishes of this World which fall away like water that runneth apace Because time is as transitory as these fickle things of fortune which I speak of therefore my discourse shall pass from this point without any longer trouble to you Now St. Austin observes how the pleasures of our natural life are not simply resembled here to River waters which you may take up with your hand and are in every mans fight that passeth by Our Saviour was now at Jacobs Well and he that will drink of it must draw it out from a deep bottom Et voluptas seculi est aqua in puteo seu profunditate tenebrosâ so our terrestrial pleasures are waters in a deep pit with which if you desire to fill your Pitcher this Body I mean which is an earthen Vessel you must bestow your labour to fetch it up from a low Abyssus from a dark profundity They that plunge themselves into delights of all fashions and conditions are not able to tell you how deep their own concupiscence is nor how far it would descend into vanities Tiberius the Emperor I confess no common example the worst not of men but even of four-footed beasts When he had run over all kind of pleasure that was known and common then he puts down the Bucket into the Well to fetch up rarities of sensuality and was so witty in nothing as to find out new studied pleasures unheard of to all former impiety Novum instituit officium à voluptatibus says Suetonius he created an Officer to reward such as brought forth new invented stratagems Are you not afraid when you go so low into these vile earthly things from one sensuality to another deeper and deeper I say are you not afraid that the next step should be into the bottomless pit A fugitive Servant in Plutarch being well nigh overtaken ran out of the way to hide himself in a Mill and the Mill was in those days instead of an House of Correction to torment Runnagate Servants O says the Master ubi te occuparem nisi in pistrino This is the very place where I wisht to find you So shall the Lord speak to those Epicures that make a mystery of their pleasures you are in the right way for my vengeance to find you out when you run into the dark and secret corners of voluptuousness as if you digged into Hell The deeper we reach into the Well Satan knows we must stoop down the more David complains what a snare it is when a man is enticed to dive as it were into a large bottom for his vanity incurvaverunt animam meam they have pressed down my soul Psal lvii 7. like Corn that 's beaten flat to the earth with a violent storm and when it is laid the Fowls of the air devour it As the eye of Cain which looked down dejectedly upon the earth was a sign of desperation is it not worse when the will and desire of the Soul tends downward to this base Element and to these transitory joys So it was with Israel when the Lord had forsaken them and left them to the dregs of their own carnal mind Es li. 23. I will put thee into the hand of them that have said unto thy soul bow down that we may go over thee A certain Parable and a Story go together on this wise Luke xiii A woman had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years and was bowed together and could in no wise lift up her self And a Fig-tree was planted in a good soil which for three years together bore no fruit Here 's the
sixth verse of this Chapter that Jesus being weary sat upon the Well quasi non alius fons esset quà m ipse Christus as who should say O ye Samaritans what Well do ye come forth to draw at that Pit from which ye drew of old is vanished but here 's a better sitting in the place a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. How ugly those things will appear to a regenerate man which in the days of unhappiness when sin did reign in his mortal body were the pride of his eyes how contemptibly he looks upon himself remembring how he was ambitious how high he thinks himself above the reach of fortune when he thinks not of high places The World would teach him wisdom how he may save his own the Gospel will teach him better wisdom to lose all for Christ before he could not see another glister and shine like a bigger Planet but he felt a gripe of emulation and his heart said oh that I were him or him but when he can truly say Vnto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul my conversation is in heaven then he can see no man abroad with whom he would change conditions and why all this O but because the new Wine hath filled the Bottle the Ram is offered up for a Burnt-offering and Abraham hath his Isaac untoucht Isaac is spiritual joy which Abraham cannot lose if the Ram which is carnal concupiscence be consumed instead of it and burnt to ashes Then Matthew leaves all his wealth with more delight than ever he got it then Paul esteems all the dignity he had in the Synagogue to be but dross for the excellency of the knowledg of Christ And you cannot hear too often what the holy Father St. Austin says of his own conversion that his fancy was in a good dream as if it heard a voice saying take up the Book and read and he pitcht upon these words Rom. xiii 13. Let us walk honestly as in the day not in chambering and wantonness not in rioting in drunkenness At that instant he felt a refrigeration within himself to cool the fire of lust which is kindled from Hell at that instant he laid his mouth to the Well of water nectareum bibit ore fontem and found it tempered with that ingredient of the Holy Ghost that he did never thirst It is a parabolical but a pious application which St. Austin maks upon the 28. of this Chapter The Woman of Samaria came forth with her Pitcher to draw water by which are moralized the unstable vanities that are as common as an open River Well upon some conference our Saviour reveals unto her that he was the Christ What 's next after that in the story the Woman left her water pot and went away into the City Now comes in Justins Parable the Water pot is this Appetite of ours made of clay and dirt with it we pluck up pernicious things from the hidden and dark pits of pleasure but she that knows Christ must abhor this Appetite and cast away her Pitcher quae credit in Christo renunciabit seculo leave your filthy desires behind you take them up no more and then Christ will take you up into his glory The third Experiment and the principal which extols this soveraign water comes now to be handled and it will serve fitly to conclude all 't is thus he that drinks of it liberally and thirstily unto the end of his life shall not only asswage the malignity of evil concupiscence now but shall be discharged of all manner of thirst hereafter when he changeth this life to live with God for ever Burdens heat the spirits and waste the moisture of the body and parch the throat with driness more than any thing Help a man that is so overladen with a comfortable draught of wine and you fortify and enable his strength to make him bear his carriage easily that he shall not sink under it but yet the burden remains upon his shoulders So in this time of our Pilgrimage sin will ever be a sore burden upon us and unless the spirit did comfort us it could not be supported but we have a draught of wine mingled with mirrh given us now to undergo the cross with fortitude and patience And in the day of Gods last visitation when He shall take thy soul into his rest thy burden shall be quite cast off and the tediousness shall be no more remembred Among the manifold mercies of God for which we are to bless his holy Name the pleasantest of them all is this Psal ciii Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles Surely there is much in joyning those two things together in that verse thy mouth shall be satisfied with good things when thy youth is renewed like the Eagles which is a Paraphrase of the resurrection of the life to come He that opens the door of his heart when Christ knocks to come in he shall sup with Christ Revel iii. 20. And Gregory notes that the grace which he will minister to us in the Kingdom of Glory is called a Supper quia post prandium coena restat post coenam nullum convivium for after Dinner the stomach may look for another Meal but having supt it looks for no more repast that day but is satisfied So in this life we dine with Gods grace and look for an other Banquet in the next life we sup with Gods grace that 's the hidden manna which is food for ever qui credit in me non sitiet in aeternum he that believeth in me shall not thirst for ever Then to drink of this water is to believe the reason is because faith swallows the hidden mysteries of salvation without chewing or biting upon them with the unsanctified tooth of humane reason fides sine difficultate intrat in animam it goes down like drink into our bowels with great facility Believe therefore that this water will suffer no thirst to possess your soul when you shall enjoy the presence of God and be it unto you according to your faith We ought not to trust so much to that which we see or feel as to be confident of the fulfilling of Gods Promises Lazarus shall no more thirst at the Rich mans Gate but the rich unmerciful man shall thirst for a drop of water to cool his tongue Therefore let him that is in misery say I take my turn to want for a little while I shall be full hereafter the hungry shall be fed with good things and the rich shall be sent empty away Fret not therefore at the prosperity of an unjust man Would you take his gains his honors his pleasures told ten times over with his losses and afflictions to boot which he shall sustein hereafter I am sure you like not the bargain The Silk-worm begins to live in silk at this time and continues but for two or three months the Ground-worm will not change conditions
may observe they were high attempts when the Son of God did use this Ceremony to look up to heaven It came from a good principle it tended to a good end and very good use is to be made of it The first good principle or impulsive cause is mercy He saw a great Multitude in want and destitute of sustenance and that was the provocation to make him fix his eyes upon the heavens to call down relief Our Evangelist in the fifth verse of this Chapter notes that he lift up his eyes meaning that he did affectionately behold a multitude of People all bescanted of food and that was the preparative to make him look higher to look up to heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is his own word in St. Mark My bowels yearn to provide for this people in their extremity of hunger These entrals of compassion make us bold to look up to God compassion is that Optique Nerve that draws up the eye lid and encourageth us to seek for grace because our eyes send forth the visual rays of Charity Better it is to want Eyes and Legs and Arms than to lack these entrals of Pity You may carve the proportion of a man in Stone or cast it in Brass a fair Figure it shall be but it hath no Bowels So he is no better than a Lump of Brass or Stone that hath not the Affections of Clemency an Idol that hath Ears and hears not that hath Eyes and sees not but he that hath the tender heart-strings of mercy in his bosom he may have confidence to look up to heaven Secondly It is Devotion which draws up our looks to God It is a sign that the interiour contemplation is directed thither when the exteriour glances fly aloft The Eye cannot refrain to fix it self upon that object which the mind doth passionately desire Therefore it is become an act of Latria or religious veneration to advance the eyes to heaven in the fervour of Prayer Vnto thee lift I up mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the heavens Psal cxxiii And to look up to Idols is all one as to worship Idols in the Phrase of Ezekiel Cast your eyes therefore to the Throne of God when you address your self to Prayer that Love and Zeal may be struck out of the fire of the Eye I do not press it as inseparable Ceremony for the humble Publican did well when he thought so abjectly of himself that he durst not lift up his eyes to heaven says St. Chrysostom like an Orator lest he should find the Catalogue of his sins written in the Firmament to accuse him Yet a perpetual affectation of winking or covering the face in Prayer seems not to me so laudable for why should we debar our selves to praise God with our most heavenly sense Next of all it carries us along with it to know what end Christ had in working this Miracle The root of all was above and he work'd downward he set his Fathers glory before his eyes and he directed this and all his actions to the propagation of it To feed such a scattered Rout so liberally so unexpectedly you may be sure it would spread his renown far and wide they would cry him up for a bountiful Lord in all places This was the fashion of the rising men in Rome about the time that Christ lived to fill the People with congiaries and Feasts and win their applause by cramming their belly But our Saviours conceit was above this earth he had none but coelestial intentions And therefore when the People out of admiration would have prosecuted it to a most honourable issue and have made him a King he shifted away into a Mountain that he might not be found at the fifteenth verse of this Chapter He neither began this work for temporal glory nor would let it end in temporal glory for he looked up to heaven Whether it be in sustaining the poor or in any other Christian work that flows from charity do it that ye may have honour of God and beware of the leaven of Ambition that you have no flat sinister thoughts in it or humane policies Popularity is like a thief in a Candle it makes it blaze much but it quickly wastes it He that doth good and looks up stedfastly to heaven makes God his Debtor he that looks asquint to the praise of men shall be paid with ignominy You know now out of what Principles Christ did this you are sure for what end he did it From both we have this Lesson Let our eyes look unto the eyes of our Master When he looks upward let not us look downward but let us mind heavenly things The frame of our bodies heaves us thither Erectos ad sidera tollere vultus it bids us look to God and that way should our soul turn it came from thence and thither it should draw again The composition of Nature therefore would not have us to be Moales rooting into the earth but grace goes further and would have us to be Eagles flying above the Clouds Aquila nidum sibi in arduis construit Job xxxix 27. The Eagle builds his nest on high It is the Emblem of a Christian whose Spirit is so transported with the meditation of a better life that he walks as it were among the Stars The soul is not where it lives but where it loves Therefore St. Paul said that his whole Negotiation was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a conversation which was in heaven Here is hunger and thirst there is indeficient satiety Here are Envyings and Seditions there are sweet Hymns and Halelujah's Here are Worms and Corruption there are Angels and Immortality And what a joyous thing is it to have a pledge of this happiness by looking towards it before the time be come about that we should possess it Most willingly therefore will I send up mine eyes as Harbingers before me to make room for the whole man both soul and body Laertius says of Empedocles that he answered one that asked him what was the end of his life Vt coelum aspiciam to view the heavens What could be the meaning of this Philosopher To pore upon it like a Star-gazer I cannot but imagine more acuteness in him that he discerned the felicity of man was laid up in those supernal places God is every where We circumscribe him not in heaven when we look up thither It is not the Throne of his Presence but of his Glory But because we should have narrow and gross cogitations if we sought him only in these fading things Therefore for our Hope sake for our Consolation sake especially for the elevation of our mind we turn our eyes towards him in that place where there is no mixture of mutability Exalt your Spirit that you live as fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God Eph. ii 19. Ascend up on high as belonging to that Church which hath the Moon under her feet Rev. xii 1. Fix your nest in
viluerunt Lesser things are admired which happen rarely the greater works of God because they are frequent are heeded carelesly Say not now but ye see cause enough why Christ did actuate this Miracle of the loaves no oftner than twice he would not stretch his Creatures beyond their natural size to please their idle curiosity And yet I will tell you of a miraculous multiplication but I do not wish you to believe that is done toties quoties as they think fit that have the Relique in their custody It is the Cross on which our Saviour was crucified you must not question the Story but that Helen found it in an heap of rubbish at Jerusalem many did desire Chips of it out of their devotion and though innumerous slices of it were cut away yet it kept its just magnitude and never varied The thing was divulged by some but none of the famous Doctors one thousand three hundred years ago One of them that is said to write extemporary Catechisms when he was a young man compares the Cross which wasted not for all the shivers that were borrowed from it to these Loaves and Fishes Another says out of his credulous good meaning that it got this solidity because the bloud of him was spilt upon it who saw no corruption And to this hour say such as get their living by this craft this holy wood is not consumed though it be abundantly imparted Is this credible that Christ did dispense this power unto any to work a Miracle when they would as if there were an Office erected to do signs and wonders Qui Bavtum non odit he that hath so strong a stomach to disgest this let him swallow such an other that out of three or four nails that pierced our Saviours hands and feet the Friers can direct you to Churches and Religious Houses where an hundred instead of four are exposed to adoration What though the Beam of the Cross did not diminish for the portions cut away yet which way did the Nails increase Did one Nail spawn another as big as it self None is so frontless to defend it But to cut off further process upon the matter It is best to bind the Legend how the Cross and the Nails have multiplied into volumes and believe them together But the sure way is not to parallel the glorious works of our Master with such Apocryphal fictions There is a great difference between Juggling and Miracles Hitherto touching the Act of his power in producing this admired work go onward to the next Point and we shall encounter his goodness Our Saviour did not use to do tricks to shew his skill but that some might be the better for him therefore his power was joyned with Beneficence Vt potestas non terreat sed amorem excitet says St. Austin That he might not astonish them with his greatness but endear them with his liberality Leaf gold is drawn out a great way and then it is fit for nothing but Ostentation So the multiplying of the Loaves and Fishes had served barely for the pomp of the eye but that the wonderful encrease thereof concluded in a benefit And first I note though the love of Christ to mankind was excessive strong unto death yet going in the Tract of reason they had little cause to look for this at his hands Alas he had no home to entertain them no Revenues wherewith to feast them no Olive yards or Vineyards to bestow upon them Could five thousand look for a Supper of his bestowing For our sakes he became poor that we through his poverty might become rich that is says Nazianzen he put on the poverty of my wretched flesh that I might gain the riches of his glorious Divinity They that followed him had not their wages in Meats and Drinks in Silver and Gold but in Sanctity and Justification in peace of Conscience and in the earnest of the Spirit to be heirs of Salvation And he whose Profession it was to open the Treasures of Heaven to his Disciples and to possess naught of Earth no not so much as to set his foot upon doth he strain himself to give entertainment to so many in the Wilderness What was this but to yield as it were to the time to be beneficial to the Jews in a temporal way that by all means he might win their love He had fed their Spirit with the Word of life and satiated them one would think with the promise of eternal Joy and Immortality if they believed in his name but he knoweth whereof we are made he considereth the Worm in our corruptible appetite which is always craving He remembred that a little in hand goes a great way with them that cannot abide to have all their state in reversion therefore he distributed unto the necessity of their body though his Errand for which he came into the world was to be the Saver of Souls as you would say he stept a little out of his own way to bring them into the right way I cannot but revolve it in my fancy that the Jews were more transported with this curtesie of our Saviours than with all that had preceded Hereupon they cry out This is the Messias this is he that should come into the world Let us take him up and make him a King How ignorantly and unequally doth flesh and bloud set a price upon the works of God I durst almost say that this was one of the least good turns that ever he did them When a Miracle came off graciously indeed it had such a tang at the end of it as Son thy sins be forgiven thee or This day is Salvation come to thine house This had no such heavenly adjunct but was a frank Feast among a promiscuous company as his rain falls upon the just and unjust Well though the grudgings of this disease are become natural to us all to like the heavenly offices of the Gospel the better if Christ befriend us a little with these corruptible things yet carnal Companions are most odious to apprice things momentary before coelestial How much better doth Solomon distinguish Length of days meaning endless days are in his right hand and in his left hand riches and honour Wherefore David describes evil affected men that value earth before heaven that their right hand is a right hand of iniquity because they grasp transitory things in their right hand fixing their chiefest complacency in them which are favours of much later digress and to be received in the left And the same Metaphor is prosecuted in another sacred Song Cant. ii 6. His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me Sinistra capiti non praeponitur sed supponitur says Bernard The left hand which bestows Loaves and Fishes must be under our head not above it as if it were the top of our desires but the right hand should compass us about at the very heart To this Point but a word more Christ produced
this Amplitude of sustenance even out of his penury when he had nothing and possessed nothing Quid facturae sunt ejus divitiae cujus paupertas nos divites fecit says St. Austin What great thing will he confer upon us out of the riches of his glory who made such generons welcom to so many thousands with his poverty May this suffice to unfold our Lords goodness in this distribution with respect to himself and his own humiliation Lay the present condition of the people in another balance to whom he opened his hand of liberality and you shall find him that faithful Steward that gives the portion of meat in due season to the Family Luk. xii The people were many thousands of men beside women and children These had given diligent attention to Christs Doctrine from morning to night It was in the Spring time much about the Passeover when the body is most lusty and the appetite most sharp and yet in all that space none of these no not so much as they or the weaker Sex and the tenderer Age had taken any refection As the Poet made a fancy of it that while Orpheus touch'd his Lute the Deer listened and had no leisure to drink or graze Neque amnem libavit quadrupes nec graminis attig it herbam So the throng that pressed about Jesus hung at his lips and hungerd so much for grace that they forgat the refreshing of nature The Disciples being not ill advised that faintness and infirmity must ensue upon it out of instancy and passion command their Lord send the multitude away and their Allegations indeed are pitiful this is a desart place it affords nothing these good men and women are unfurnished and have brought nothing to eat Dismiss them to seek their Supper in the adjacent Villages there is no other way and ten to one such poor Hosteries had nothing in store to entertain them With their leave this was counsel but no charity If a brother be destitute of food and one of you say be filled notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body what doth it profit Jam. ii 16. Yet to purge the Disciples from such luke-warm love I profess in their behalf they did to their utmost what they were able All the commiseration on earth set God aside could not just at the nick afford what they wanted the distress was such that it did as it were make an out-cry to all the world Is there any one that can relieve you I may say it truly without lightness this was Christs qu to come in and no opportunity like it it is his manner to be most propitious in an extreme plunge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Philo this is proper to God to be strong in weakness to abound in scarcity and to be most comfortable in a desperate necessity If things feasible or facile were only brought to pass Infidels would say Who could not do this Therefore God doth reserve his power and his rescue for hopeless miseries And David calls it articulately the time wherein he may be found Psal xxxii 7. As he called out to Abraham to stay his hand in the latest minim of the moment when there was not an hairs breadth between Isaac and death As the Israelites were disappointed of Manna till they were weary of their life and made that dismal moan Would to God we had died in Egypt And as Elias had no answer from heaven nor Ravens to feed him till he was at the pitch of discontent It is enough Lord take away my life for I am not better than my Fathers When these immediate natural causes which work strongest upon our senses when these fail and can cast no influence of succour upon our afflictions then God acts his part alone and arrests our Faith and challengeth it to give thanks to nothing but to his Omnipotency So he preached to Gideon The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands lest Israel vaunt themselves against me saying Mine own hand hath saved me Judg. vii 2. Let them be reduced to three hundred and their paucity will confess that it is the Sword of the Lord that got the victory But nothing more proper to illustrate this than my Theme in hand Christ could have led this people forth far from a Desart into a wealthy place where the fields were laden with fruits This is his usual way as he made man of the dust of the earth so to feed him with the fruits of the earth that she which was our Mother might be our Nurse likewise But so long as Nature is free and peremptory in this course we sacrifice to our own seed and our own labour Again he could have staid their appetite and prevented all hunger and faintness though they had gone away empty from the Wilderness I would not say it of this people I know some that would have grown insolent in such a case upon the merit of their fasting But best of all that they wanted and had not till Christ provided them a Table For lest we should forget God if we had not special use of him he hath laid extremities upon us such as these to make us remember him And as his glory doth triumph in helping his Creatures at special need so it captivates the Soul of man to very moderate contentation and brings it low like a weaned child When we wallow in abundance and have all manner of store at our command we are so wanton in our choice that the best will not please us but thrust us into the Desart where we are begirt with hard necessity then we grow supple and indifferent to any thing if the Lord will help us Our Saviour need not study to satisfie any mans licorish longing in this extremity of hunger he found five barley Loaves to break among them and he made them no better he did not turn them into sugar-plates or Marchpane Wherefore if any man find himself voluptuously transported let him pray to God that his prosperity may go a little backward like the Sun upon the Dial of Ahaz let him wish that he were come to the exigence of some extremity like the Prodigal that he were faln from the honey-comb to the husk which the Swine eat The Syrian Paraphrast intended this I believe in the Lords Prayer when it framed our tongue to supplicate on this wise Give us this day the bread of our necessity Now this Point for an upshot shall thus expire Our soul is in the same plight as their bodies were that had come a far journey and continued with our Saviour and had not one fragment of food to content their stomach So our Soul is streightned and wants blessedness it passionately longs to obtain it This world is a barren Wilderness there is nothing but grass in the place and that which fadeth like the flower of grass We are far from him as this
were more remaining in his hand than he had taken out of his Coffers Yes if the old man were not purblind and knew not what he took out I accept their good will that relate it somewhat they have imagined like to this success of eternal memory touching the five Loaves and two Fishes while the owners possessed it to themselves it was but a handful when they fed the hungry with it they found themselves Masters of Gods plenty Says Solomon There is that scattereth and that increaseth that 's consonant to my Text and there is that holdeth more than is meet and it tendeth to poverty Prov. xi 26. This is a riddle to Unbelievers that bounty should make them rich and yet an Heathen confessed it in that saying Haec habeo quaecunque dedi and that Parsimony should make them poor and yet a thousand examples confirm this where the blessing of the Lord hath subducted it self from the niggard One instance is as much as a Volume which Eusebius hath in the life of Constantine Ablaevius was a principal Officer both in the Palace and in the Army every where much esteemed by the Emperor his main fault was he had amassed up an infinite treasure craved perpetually and lived most sparingly upon a time as he pressed his Master the Emperor to obtein a suit that would bring in no small sum Constantine with a Spear in his hand drew the proportion of Ablavius his body upon the ground and says he When I have given thee all I can this is all that thou shalt have at last if thou gettest so much That if was a Prophetical word and there was a Divine sentence in the lips of the King as Solomon says for at last Ablavius was torn in pieces by the rude multitude and not an handful of his body was left to be buried in a Sepulcher The sum is the state of him that is gripple and cruel will be improsperous to himself much more to his Posterity But as alms and charity thrived extremely with the Disciples so it shall be with all those that remember the afflictions of Joseph and the Sun of comfort will shine upon those clouds above that drop their fatness upon the earth beneath And I am yet within the compass of the first part of my Text till I have delivered unto you not only what the Disciples did as good men but also as good Pastors they distributed unto them that were set down that is they fed the Flock which was committed unto them to feed the hungry to see that the fatherless and Widow have sustenance is an Ecclesiastical care I an Episcopal duty in no small degree The Apostles though they gave themselves wholly to prayer and to the Ministry of the Word yet they took order how the poor should be relieved Act. vi But it is a greater matter that this Miracle points unto not so much how the hunger of the body should be refreshed with charity as how the soul should be fed with the Word of Life So the ancient Doctors do commonly allude to those words which were the Introduction to this great work Give ye them to eat that our Saviour appointed the Twelve to sow the seeds of wholsom Doctrin among the people that there might not be a famine of the Word but to give them meat that endureth to everlasting life And in all likelihood this is the true cause why Christ when he had blessed the bread gave it over unto them to part it to the Assembly to shew that a Disciple is magnus animarum oeconomus as Nazianzen said of Athanasius his Lords Steward to provide for souls nay that one man should be as it were a God unto another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a terrestrial God to bring him salvation To the conveyance of divers benefits God hath called to himself divers Instruments and joyned them by a great condescension of his glory as Partners to himself as our Parents in the work of our bringing forth our Teachers in our training up Kings and Magistrates in the preservation of our lives and peace but the Ministers of his Word and Sacraments for the erudition of our souls The Omnipotent needs no such assistants as we are What is Man who could not keep the possession of a pleasant Garden upon earth that he should procure a celestial Paradise for the remnant that shall be saved And yet that we may be disciplined in the way of eternal life by such means as are familiar and connatural to our own infirmities we are labourers together with God 1 Cor. iii. 9. Reason is a strong adversary against this and will say that it is too excellent a function for one that consists both of clay and sin to preach the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven What! would you have the Lord to speak out of the clouds with his own voice O you know not what you ask you that shrink at the roaring of thunder would run into the dust for fear of his Majesty if he should speak The Cherubins and Seraphins can scarce endure it but they hide their faces when they hear the Trumpet of his glory An Army of five hundred thousand men interceded with Moses Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die Well if his Majesty make him too awful to be the Prolocutor of his Word and Testimonies yet would not the Angels be far better Ambassadors than Men to deliver the things pertaining to faith and godliness no nor they so fit For first Satan cannot now revile Gods justice that he is not repulsed upon equal terms as he overcame so is he vanquished again Us he tempted to disobedience and we are the mouth of the Lord to teach repentance and obedience Secondly better to have a Priest taken out among men than among Angels for men are compassed with infirmity and can have compassion of the ignorant and of them that are out of the way Thirdly since Christ took our flesh to make our Attonement with God in this nature this nature is the fittest to continue the working of that grace unto the end of the World This is ratified by an instance not to be controuled Act. x. An Angel comforts Cornelius that his Prayers and Alms were remembred before God medles no further but transmits him to the holy Priesthood of the Church Send to Joppa for one Simon he shall speak words whereby thou and thy houshold shall be saved The upshot is our Saviour could have finished this Miracle without Coadjutors and have given the portions of bread to the hungry with his own hands but to teach us that such as he delivers his Commission unto at no hand any others that they shall intercur in sacred Offices between him and his People The Disciples distributed to them that were set down And these were faithful Stewards that kept nothing back freely they received and freely they gave They were taught in this
convenient to begin your Reformation from the moment wherein you heard the Word taught in that place that then you stand slip off the old Serpents skin and renew your youth become a new Creature No man would sin so fast but he that thinks his Age runs away but slowly no man would be an unrepentant sinner to day but that he hopes for to morrow And why to morrow Nemo non suo die moritur My day to die was every day since I had an hour to live And I was a sinner before the first minute of that hour expired therefore why should not my heart smite me and contrition humble me lest Judgment should begin as soon as this word is spoken It is the Devils muttering and not a Christians to say Art thou come to torment us before thy time Of three things Cato did repent of more than the rest this is one Quod unum diem mansisset intestatus A day past over his head wherein his Will was not made he might have died intestate If a Heathen were so sollicitous that upon every day the things of this life might be duly ordered what care ought to be taken that we suffer not our eyes to flumber untill all things be accorded for the peace of our conscience for our reconciliation in Christ Jesus against the world to come Sickness and Death and Judgment who knows whether they be not as near to us as the avenging Angel was unto Herod who did immediately smite him that he was eaten c. Now I am faln in the last place upon the true castigation of Herods pride Tantus tam luctuosè that such a Potentate should die so miserably eaten up of Worms for five days says Josephus after he was smitten and then gave up the Ghost Lest he should glory that he was smitten by no less than an Angel Aeneae magni dextrâ behold the meanest of all Creatures the Worms are made his Executioners And lest he should domineer as Eusebius said he did that he died not sordidly in the rank of a mean man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the dignity of a King which is the much admired happiness therefore the loathsomness of his Disease the ignobleness of the Scourge the irrecoverableness of the Mischief all are conjoyn'd to debase his Spirit O torture little dreamt of at this time Had he not the Physicians of Arabia about him How could he feel mortality Was he not in perfect strength to make Orations to the People What could be doubted of his health Was not his body kept sweet and clean like the body of a King Who would have suspected the putrefaction of Worms But remember that Manna bred Worms and stank though it came from heaven when it was too long preserved against Gods Commandment So though the Soveraignty of a King do come from heaven yet if it offend the Lord it will consume and putrifie He that humbled himself to be vermis non homo a worm and no man he is exalted above men to the right hand of God He that would have been Deus non homo a God and not a man is dejected below a man and made a worm See what contrariety of Instruments God did use to make his death the stranger an Angel and a Worm An Angel that he might say with the Philistines Who is able to endure these mighty Gods A Worm that he might say Et tu Brute the meanest of Creatures can conquer a King by Gods ordination An Angel for his sake who was the Judge to shew his mightiness A Worm for his sake that was judged to shew his baseness An Angel to shew how a sinner cannot look upon heaven for it is full of wrath A Worm to shew he cannot tread safely upon the earth for it is full of vengeance An Angel is an immortal Creature to threaten such pain unto the soul A Worm is a most corruptible creature to shew the fading of the body As St. Paul said of his Widows which were busie-bodies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 She that is wanton is dead while she is alive because she is dead to Faith and good Works So I may say of Herod that he died while he was alive for Worms which feed sweetly upon the dead as Job says fed upon him in his life-time as if he had been buried after he had solemnly made his own Funeral Oration As the Poet spake of a poysonous death which wasted the body first and separated the soul afterward Eripiunt omnes animam tu sola cadaver So I may say of this Phthiriasis First it did eat up the body and so left no room for the soul to inhabite in the members Expertes opes ignaros quid vulnera vellent says Lucretius When anguish doth tear their heart skill cannot afford recovery when their whole body is but one sore they know not where they are wounded This disease is more observed in Histories to be the Arrow of the Lord against sinners of high presumption than any other Thus Sylla died thus Antiochus Epiphanes thus Herod the Great thus Arnulphus that spoiled the Churches of the Christians thus Phericides that gloried he never offered Sacrifice and yet lived as prosperously Quà m qui heccatombas immolant What do we talk of Blazing-stars that they are only fatal and ominous to the life of Noble Personages a few Worms have often bereaved them of their soul as easily as the little Worm smote the Gourd of Jonas But will some man say Do you make this disease an infallible sign of Gods especial indignation Brethren God forbid For Judgments fall promiscuously in this life upon the good and bad Seest thou a man rent with as many torments of infirmities as there be members in his body to receive them let your first Meditation be Acerrimum est praelium in viâ magnus erit triumphus in patriâ He suffers much in this life his triumph will be the greater in the world to come And let your second consideration be the dreadfulness of Gods anger Says Tertullian to the Roman Lords the tortures of your Bondslaves are Fetters your reward is a Cap of Liberty but we are servants of the most high Cujus judicium in suos non in compede aut pileo vertitur sed in aeternitate poenae aut salutis Whose judgment gives sentence either of Hell or Everlasting salvation To answer you more copiously One circumstance alone had bred no ill opinion of Herods death Many circumstances raise a suspicion that his Life was Criminal and his Death Exemplary 1. To be smitten in a sin immediately upon the fact to be smitten by an Angel to be gnawn to death with Worms the divine hand was over this Sentence and no natural cause Unless as Tertullian said of their lascivious Theaters that resounded with scurrility Ipse aer qui desuper incubat scelestis vocibus constupratur So that Sacrilegious shout which the people gave against the
Gospel He prosecutes the Trope from Ishmael the Son of the Bondwoman who was aliened from his Fathers house and from Isaac the Son of Sarah who was the Heir of the Promise And all this is curious and inlac'd like Mosaick work with most artificial correspondencies Thus Solomon delivered the Institutions of an honest life in plain and concise Proverbs but when he wrote upon the beauty of the Church he altered his stile into a polite and mystical Song And our Apostle doth frequently utter the things belonging to Justice and Temperance in lowly and vulgar forms of speech but when he goes about to describe the rights and graces of the Church then Paulò majora he is quite another man and handles that subject with many gradations of eloquence Witness my Text as in part I have unfolded it already which is a flower growing upon the stalk of this Allegory which I discuss the oftner to keep the Precept which David gives Psal xlviii Walk about Sion and go round about her tell the Towers thereof mark well her Bulwarks and consider her Palaces The Sion in that Psalm is the Jerusalem in my Text which consists of no ordinary Bays of building but all of sumptuous Architecture There is never a word in this Text but is either a Tower a Bulwark or a Palace of Jerusalem Mark them well go round about them says the Psalmist Her Towers rise up in state for Jerusalem is above she hath Bulwarks of safety for we are made free therein by the bloud of Christ Her Palaces are of large containment for she is the Mother of us all Out of six words in the verse I formerly considered six attributes of honour that belong to that Church which Christ hath purchased with his bloud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. She is a Jerusalem a visible fair City there is her external Communion 2. A Jerusalem above that is its internal Sanctity 3. A Jerusalem that is free which is her most proper Christian Badge and supernal Redemption 4. A Mother that is her fruitfulness 5. The Mother of us which imports a Brotherly Unity 6. The Mother of us all which expresseth the universality I have told and numbred the Towers of it and in a former day I proceeded to Jerusalem above Now I will mark her Bulwarks and consider her Palaces that she is free and the mother of us all Jerusalem which is above is free The precedent praise of the Church adheres unto this word for the consummation thereof If there be any that take upon them to belong to the New Jerusalem and to the City which is above let them shew the Copy of their Freedom that they are not led by the Spirit of Bondage but by the Spirit of Adoption There may be a plausible conversation of life in them that are out of the Pale of Jerusalem For Moral Vertues do not belong to Christian men as Christians but they pertain to them as men says Hooker There may be fair manifests of sanctity and the contempt of the world in their outward carriage whose heart is not above The sower morosity of the Pharisees would make you believe they renounced all vanities Pestilent Hereticks have exceeded that I may not say excelled in works of mortification Pelagius was of a demure honesty Vir ut audio non parvo profectu Christianus says St. Austin Severus Sulpitius says of Priscillian he was noted for many laudable parts of mind and body in fasting in humility in contentation So Anthimus and others Doth not this shew as if it were all for the world above And yet they had neither part nor lot in that matter The Reason because they had some bondage in them they were under a Captivity which they had not shaken off They had not liberale ingenium so that the last enquiry who belong to that Jerusalem above is upon this question Whether the truth hath made them free Joh. viii 52. For Jerusalem that is above is free It is a word that comprehends in it much favour and much duty And it shall pass under my hand with this examination 1. What this freedom is 2. How we got it 3. How we must use it Our freedom consists in a manumission from a four fold servitude 1. We are delivered from the Yoke of Ceremonies called the bondage of the Elements of this World in this Chapter verse 4. 2. We are most free for the New Covenants sake which is made with us For salvation is not offered us through the Works of the Law but through the Promise of grace We Brethren as Isaac was are Children of promise verse 28. 3. We have not received the Spirit of Bondage to fear but the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Rom. viii 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Theophylact upon my Text the Gospel exhorts us gently it doth not affright us tyrannously 4. The rewards of the New Testament are not momentary things such as the Law propounded but heavenly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says the same Author we are not servants that do our duty for visible wages And all these together make the copy of a perfect freedom He that is under rudiments is under age he that is bound to the works of the Law is under condemnation He that is curbed by threatnings is under thraldom He that looks for momentary things from God is under base afflictions From all these Christ hath exempted us by the Gospel which is called the perfect Law of liberty Jam. i. in this complete sort our Jerusalem which is above is free First To be exempted from the incumbrance of well nigh a Million of Levitical Ceremonies will not appear so gracious a benefit as it is unless we take a great deal of leisure to mark it Never was any people so Paedagogically handled as the Jews were The observation of the greatest part of their days was calculated their meats were stinted their bread was prescribed They had Ordinances upon their Garments precise rules for the fruits that grew in the field directions for their building appointment for their Apparel Not so much but the very cutting of their hair was subject to a Commandment What strict Orders against Pollution What nice receits to cleanse pollution What tedious Traditions in their Oblations and Sacrifices What Punctilioes to be nicely kept in all the discharges of their Religion In Secular affairs they could do nothing wherein their soul delighted In Sacred affairs it was impossible for them to perform every thing which Moses enjoyned God knew how much addicted they were to their own inventions therefore he leaves them nothing either holy or profane to be managed by their own discretion but are quite rejected as unworthy to judge of the smallest matters and they had their hands full of these petty duties to leave no room to extraneous Superstitions Tertulliam adds Et Deus operosis officiis dedolaret God did plain and smooth the ruggedness of their nature with many
being of our nature and yet I will tell you a vitious filthy sinner doth so ill become the name of a man that there is far more congruity between him and a Beast he is more Swine or Tyger or Fox or locust than man he is not four-footed but he is bruitish hearted in his inward parts he hath put off humanity But if repentance shall restore him out of this bestial conversation if God shall set good men at his right hand that by strength of reason force of perswasion timeliness of admonition yea or by sharpness of correction shall make him feel and know the beauty of an honest life he is redintegrated in the powers and faculties of a man which he had quite lost So that our being in the austerity of Philosophy is connexed with our well-being No good man and by consequent no not a man till he be governed by the Principality of reason civil Education and the conditement of Vertue is such a Parent as reposeth a vile person a transformed Monster into the proper line of his own Praedicament it makes him Man Not to flutter in the air as it were any longer with Paradoxes impious Catives I confess shall stand for men for they shall suffer the curses and punishment of men in Hell-fire What is it therefore which Jerusalem adds unto us that she is called our Mother why the renovation of the mind or the new man created after God in righteousness and true holiness And as the Birthright which Jacob obteined from Esau was instead of another birth unto Jacob so when such as were vessels of wrath became Heirs of the Promise by Baptism and the Ministry of the Church is not this a Mother that gives them a better life than they had before The Love of God is our life Faith conceives us Hope brings us forth Charity feeds us with her breasts Obedience wraps us in swadling bands and knowledg brings us up God doth inhabit our mind and understanding as the Soul doth inspire the Body As Abram was turned into Abraham and Simon into Peter when they pleased the Lord so take any one that is regenerate and chang'd from his vain conversation though his shape and substance continue as it was before yet the Angels that rejoyce at the conversion of a sinner behold him with their celestial eyes not as the same but as another Creature And no wonder if he become another object in the sight of Heaven the reasonable Soul is that which constitutes the natural man but Faith being superadded a better spirit possesseth him and Christ is the form of a Christian It is St. Paul's Phrase ver 19. of this Chapter My little children of whom I travel in birth again till Christ be formed in you As Ananias travel'd and earned for a Child till Christ was formed in Paul so Paul travel'd and had the sorrows of a Mother when â—he brings forth in the anxiousness of his heart till Christ was formed in the Galatians First the Church brought him forth then he laboured abundantly and assisted the Church to bring forth others The true solution of the old Riddle Mater me genuit eadem mox gignitur ex me the Son of Grace is begotten of this Mother and afterward filling up a place in the Communion of Saints he is reckoned into the collective Body which is called Jerusalem our Mother But a late Writer puts in his judgment very well I think how far the Motherhood of the Church intends to make us Children of Adoption it travels in birth that by her work Christ may be formed in us The Members of our fleshly body are formed in our Mothers Womb by her natural faculties she can go further for the absolution of the work that is the inhabitation of the Soul is the act of God so the Church doth the part of a Mother it propounds repentance discloseth the mysteries of faith perswades us with the expectation of a great reward in Heaven offers us the use of both the salutiferous Sacraments thus a new fashion a new Creature even the form of Christ doth creep upon us but the life by which we live it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it comes from without from above from the inspiration of the spirit of Christ But without that efformation or effigeation in the Womb of the Mother never expect the vivification or information of the Holy Ghost a Doctrin best known in those trivial words of St. Austin he cannot have God for his Father that will not have the Church for his Mother Ascribe the top of the blessing to him from whom every good gift especially those which are supernatural descends Of his own good will He begat us with the word of truth Jam. 1.18 His good will moved him to pity us his vertue and power went out from him to beget us and his truth which shined in our hearts was the instrumental cause to convert us Carry it along with you therefore that the invisible Father that is in Heaven works by the visible Mother the Church that is on Earth As Eve was the Mother of all living so she is the Mother of all believing Crescite multiplicamini is spoken to one as well as to the other both were ordeined in their several sorts for that blessing increase and multiply Therefore St. James hath conjoyned the Word of Truth to the Will of God both are mixed together to regenerate a pious people And although some have been too nice in expounding the Phrase Of his own will he begat us with the word of truth not with the words of truth in the plural as if our salvation were effected by pronouncing one word as when first we were made Members of Christ by saying I baptize thee and when we have sinned and return again to the Lord by saying I absolve thee yet be it briefly or largely it is the word spoken and preached by the Church which gives us this heavenly feature to be the holy ones of God Briefly the Mother that doth beget us is the Church Militant but the Mother to whose filiation and inheritance we aspire is the Church Triumphant It is true that in relation to Christ the Church is his Body and all we are his Members and in that reference it doth not make the Elect Servants of God but rather it is compounded of those Servants for properly the Body is not the Mother of the Members the Members are not the effect of the Body but they constitute the Body as integral parts And so Solomon hath more aptly given it honour in those delicious Metaphors of a Bundle of Myrrh a Cluster of Grapes and a Pomegranat which I think is the best resemblance a Pomgranat contains many kernels under one Coat so many thousands of Disciples are under the covering of Christ 2. As many kernels are in the small Pomegranat as in the great so the Graces of Christ are in the little Churches as in the more spacious 3. As
Prologue for both the Vision which he saw and the words which he heard though they deserve an Interpreter yet they are much more obvious to the capacity than the Antecedent Predictions If I had put it into my tasque to speak of the opening of the fifth Seal which begins the verse then I must have embarqued my self in a great controversie about the precise Age when such things fell out and what distance of Ages the several Seals do include But I undertake not to foretell events that were to Prophesie out of my own brain I apply nothing which St. John saw either to the Empire or to the Church below I deal no further than the prospective of these words doth carry me that is the Theatre of the Church Triumphant The Church Triumphant That puts another objection upon me For who is sufficient to handle that Subject Eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man what God hath done for his Saints in those glorious places I submit unto it and will not touch their inscrutable glory with my unwashen hands Upon two things we may taste without surfeiting of curiosity and I will set no more before you They are these Let us neither think that the Saints are extinguished in death for St. John saw the Souls under the Altar of them that were slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held Nor let us think that their enemies are forgotten for those Souls cry night and day saying c. To contract it into short terms for the more apt division here are two parts what the Apostle saw in the Church Triumphant and what he heard But of no more than the first of these at one time Wherein first I must speak a little de modo videndi after what manner he saw this Theory I saw 2. Quid vidit what he saw he saw Souls 3. Quales vidit what kind of Souls they were Souls of them which were slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held 4. Vbi vidit where and in what place he saw them Vnder the Altar When St. John relates how he did comprehend this wonderful object he says he saw it With what eye doth he mean No bodily Instrument you may be sure not such an eye as every birds dung can put forth not these foggy lights in our head that wax dim with Age and at last will spend themselves quite out in their Sockets these cannot attain to behold the Spirits of Saints Tertullian mistook a Parabolical passage for a real branch of a story where the Rich man in hell is said to see Lazarus in Abrahams bosom from whence he ascribed effigiation and colour to a soul and would not endure Critolaus and the Peripateticks that said it was a quintessence and no body no error more visible than this that the Souls in heaven are visible and have corporality The eye of man shall be endued with vertue to see the Angels nay to see the very Essence of God when this flesh shall be clarified and refined in the Resurrection In virtutem ipsius mentis quodammodò convertentur oculi says St. Austin This bodily eye shall then be transformed into an intellectual Faculty But as yet it can discern nothing but that which is earthy like it self Search we out therefore for some other way how John saw the souls under the Altar It lies in those words which we meet twice before in this Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was in the Spirit That is as I take it a Prophetical Revelation was infused into him through imaginary forms joyned with an abstraction from the senses Blame me not if this desription be somewhat difficult for who can tell what a divine Rapture is unless himself had been in a rapture I call it a Revelation it is the title of the Book for this reasâ—n Pharaoh and Nebuchadonosor had Visions and understood not what they meant but when the intelligence of the thing is opened as it was to Joseph and Daniel it became a Revelation So St. Austin observes Maximè propheta est qui in utroque excellit ut videat in spiritu corporalium rerum similitudines eas vivacitate mentis intelligat He is an eminent Prophet both ways who sees in the Spirit certain Figures and Similitudes of things to come and knows them by illumination So did this Apostle no question for all Scripture was opened to the Apostles much more was this Scripture opened to the Apostle who wrot it from the mouth of God 2. I blazon'd it for a Prophetical Revelation for the Angels have all things revealed unto them in the Vision of the Divine Essence but that is no Prophesie to them because as the Schoolmen speak it is Sine omnibus creatis adminiculis they have it put into them neither by word nor by deed nor by dream nor by figurative presentation but this being communicated to St. John by imaginary species it was no Angelical way of seeing but a Prophetical Revelation 3. I add infused by the holy Spirit For when Moses saw the bush burn and not consume it was a Prophetical Revelatio yet without inward infusion because he beheld it with his eyes This was not so but he saw it through abundant inspiration He was in the Spirit which is in effect to say that he became very Scriptural As Camerarius fits the phrase out of the Poet Euripides that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are very learned men most intimate with the Muses so this phrase denotes that the Holy Ghost had the dominion in John for the Spirit was not in him but he was in the Spirit 4. This must go with the rest that the Spirit infused this Revelation into him through imaginary forms supplying his fancy with the fashion of an Altar of a Throne a Lamb newly slain a Sea of Crystal and a thousand things more Many times new species and forms are created in the fancy of him that is illuminated many times that light which God gives doth shine upon those notions and conceptions which were in the mind before So we see that Isaiah and Amos this Apostle and other Prophets do utter their Prophesies through the similitudes known unto them in their former conversation 5. The utmost of all is that this Revelation was accompanied in him with a Rapture or abstraction from the senses So Beza interprets that phrase he was in the Spirit Correptus spiritu he was swallowed up of the Majesty of God so that his mind was taken away from the body Ezekiel says in one place that the Spirit entred into him Chap. ii 2. In another place that he was carried away in the Spirit Chap. xxxvii 1. There is great odds between these two the one was by ordinary inspiration the other by extasie and so was this of our Prophet when he saw the souls under the Altar he was so enwrapt in Celestial
Visions that he could take no notice for the present that he lived or had a body but his Spirit was quite abstracted from the senses and lifted up to converse with supernatural speculations Now to sum up this Point touching the modus how John saw the souls of the blessed you shall hear how St. Austin made no scruple of the like case The Angel appeared to Joseph in a dream How did Joseph see an Angel when his eyes were shut Nay rather says the Father how could he have seen an Angel if his eyes had been open So the more the senses of this Prophet were bound up the less communication he had with his mortal nature the more capable he was to see the secrets of God It were no digression at all to tell you at large in this place that St. John was not every body when he saw the Mysteries of the Ages to come in an holy trance Examine him from the time that he was the beloved Disciple while his Master Jesus Christ was upon the earth behold him in his other cognizances that he was an unspotted Virgin a patient Confessor An Evangelist that sored higher than his fellows an Eagle in his Gospel but a Dove in his Epistles where every line is enchased with Jewels of love the aged Patriarch who had long survived all the Apostles the Oracle that resolved all the Churches in their Controversies Finally that supereminent man that left not his like behind him and since his days his equal did never rise up after him Put all this together and mark what a sanctified Vessel this was to see the souls under the Altar and all those things which the Angel told him should come to pass in the days to come What wretch can think himself so prepared as he was to receive these Prophetical graces of God With how many favours of God is a Vision qualified to make it a perfect illumination Let it deter any one that is not possessed with the spirit of Arrogance to think that he is possessed with the spirit of Divination Quia videre non possumus audiamus says St. Austin There is no hope that we vile sinners should see such Visions it is our blessedness that we hear of them What laughter doth it give our Adversaries that this caution is not observed among us we had proof of it lately and almost year by year every hair-brain'd Schismatick that out of pride thinks himself more holy than others fancies that he is a Prophet These filthy dreamers presume they have learnt all that the Scriptures can teach them and therefore like apt Scholars they must be promoted to an higher Form to learn supernal Revelations As the Romanists are excessive in forging lies for their Saints sakes so these are excessive in forging lies for their own sakes both are liars both are Legendaries It was a gift which St. Austin says his Mother Monica had that she could distinguish inter Deum revelantem animam somniantem she knew when God gave her a supernatural inspiration in her sleep and when it was but a common dream By what mark or token could she do this Nay none at all Nescio quo sapore quem verbis explicare non poterat she could not express by what relish of the soul she made a difference between them Of whom have our modern Wizzards it is too good a name if I do not put frentique to it I say of whom have these phrentique persons learnt the trick of Divination Since they that were Prophets upon earth could not teach another how to be a Prophet If St. John knew how he saw this Theory in heaven it was his priviledge alone or with some very few more But God doth not carve a Prophet out of every Christian And so much de modo videndi which is the first Point Take the object now to your attention which he saw an object too subtil to be discerned by a bodily creature but disclosed to this Apostle in his Rapture in the excellency of Revelation he saw the souls of the blessed in heaven It could not out of Tertullians mind as I told you before but that he thought the soul when it was separated from the body had some bodily figure and dimension in it Those polite heathen men indeed whom he had perused did speak grosly in the point as if the Soul after it left this world did flit about the Elysian fields in the form of a thin cloud witness that fancy of the best Poets Infelix simulacrum atque ipsius umbra Creüsae And it is no injustice to excuse such Authors for though the substance of the Soul be incorporeal yet it is impossible for one of us to conceive a Spirit or an Angel but by the help of some corporeal Idea it is a true Metaphysical rule Nihil intelligimus in hôc statu sine verbo materiali in intellectu we understand every thing in this life by some material expression within our selves yet we are able by the undeniable proofs of Art to transcend the narrowness of our own fancy and to affirm that the soul cannot choose but be immaterial that it is not circumscriptive in any place though it have a determined and defined subsistence But this is no time to Philosophize and our Saviours words will carry it clear without the help of Humane Arguments Handle me and see a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have Luk. xxiv 39 which is thus in effect there is no corporeity in a Spirit And the Sixth general Council held against the Monothelites hath these weighty words Nascitur Deus humano corpore animam rationalem incorpoream habens The Son of God had an humane body with a reasonable and incorporeal soul I dismiss that Point it shall not hold you longer There are those that doubt it in their heart or at least they live as if they doubted it whether their soul hath a second state in reversion after this life Can there be any exception against such a Witness as St. John that was taken up into heaven to relate the truth to all Generations upon earth Why he saw the souls of the Saints in a triumphant and immortal condition after they were uncloathed of the body There cannot be an Apparition of that which had ceased to be that were a delusion Not one natural Writer that had a sound brain but maintained that the soul did survive the body and that it was at best liberty when it was released from the prison of the flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Aristotle that the Mind or Spirit can subsist by it self not mixt with any composition not affected with passions They could not search far enough why it should be so they never discovered that the dissolution of the soul from the body was brought into the world after Adam was created for the punishment of sin but their dim Candle gave them light to see that the soul was
apt to be separated I suppose an Epicure may lose his conscience in a mist for a little while and dispute it like a Galenist that the soul is nothing else but the temperature of the first qualities and so in death extinguished but can you imagine that the Spirit it self doth not often give him the lie and say within his breast you do me wrong I am immortal Verily I believe that they that put it off doubtingly and would be uncontrouled in their voluptuousness it may be it is not so are often tormented with the other part of the opinion it may be it is so If you will hear this truth upheld out of holy Scripture there is no resistance or cavillation against it Because I will not tie my self to every Text which chimes that way I will choose compendiously where others have made choice before me The Sadduces being stiff opposers against the separated existence of the Spirit and yet commending themselves in the Holy Patriarchs from whose Loyns they descended our Saviour selected that Scripture above all other to convict them which would catch them in their own net I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Jacob God is not the God of the dead but of the living How was God the God of Abraham unless he lived And in what did Abraham live but in his soul which was divorced from the body Irenaeus admires that any one should doubt of the souls perseverance after death since the enarration is so â—lear that the rich man saw Lazarus in joys when himself was tormented St. Hierom sets his rest upon those words Mat. x. 22. Fear not them that kill the body but are not able to kill the soul St. Austin recommends the words of Stephen to nick the Point without all contradiction Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Si animus moriturus esset causae nihil foret cur animum potiùs quà m corpus commendaret Aquinas against the Gentiles lays his strength upon that place of St. Paul 2 Cor. v. 8. We are confident and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with God One quotation were enough then how forcible are all these together He must be a beast in understanding that knows not that the souls of good men are Angels in reversion There are others that profess so much faith that the soul hath a state of happiness in reversion to those that die in the favour of God But that it comes not to any gust of this happiness till the end of the World For the soul say they falls asleep when the body perisheth that is it dies together with the body and when the flesh shall be quickned again and gathered out of the dust then the soul shall live again when both it and the body shall be exalted in the Resurrection I do not create Monsters to fight with all St. Austin found such Hereticks in his days he calls them Arabians who taught it every where that the Soul had no being after death till in the consummation of the World they both obtained together a joyful Resurrection Nay these Tares were sown long before St. Austin lived Irenaeus took the pains to root them up in his Age and he confutes them out of my Text says he how did St. John see the souls of the Martyrs who had been slain for the Testimony of Christ if the Soul should cease to be till the final Resurrection And if a Caviller shall say it doth not cease to be but it lies quiet and senseless in a trance Irenaeus blunts the point of that objection because in the next verse they desire vengeance for their bloud that was shed but principally because in the eleventh verse they are clad in white garments which are cognizances of their joy and glory and doubtless they wear them not sleeping but waking And do not think that I rake in the ashes of ancient Heresies that are quite forgotten For the Anabaptists in their Theses Printed at Cracovia Anno 1568 have this position We deny that any Soul hath a separated being after death that was a devise invented by the Papists to maintain Invocation of Saints and Purgatory this is Popery trimly reformed and according to that Proverb of the Jews they cast out Devils through Beelzebub the Prince of Devils And even at this day a new Generation of Vipers risen up at Racovia in Polonia do pledge the Anabaptists in the same cup namely that there is a futurition of glory for the soul when the whole Fabrick of man shall be redintegrated again in the Resurrection but they profess they cannot tell whether in the mean time there be any such thing extant as a separated soul yet St. Paul says he desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ And yet Christ told the good Thief that day he should be with him in Paradise And yet the Souls of just men departed do follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes Rev. xiv 4. These instances are more perswasive I am sure than that which they pretend that the Just do rest from their labours What rest in Gods name do they dream of They are not in a profound trance without motion or action as Adam was cast into a deep sleep when Eve was taken out of his side but it is a rest when the Spirit doth acquiesce in the Vision of God as David said Turn again unto thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath rewarded thee There are some that I must afford a little Patronage who are accused to lean to the Anabaptists in their opinion that do nothing less It was allowed for 1400 years as a Problem wherein Christians without breach of charity might have Latitude to dissent granting that the soul after the dissolution from the body was received into the joys of heaven whether it be not sequestred in some distance from the highest heaven where the invisible God doth chiefly reign in Power and Majesty till the whole Body of the Saints be accomplished It is well known what way St. Bernard took Nec sancti sine plebe nec spiritus sine carne That such as die before us shall not see the Beatifical Vision of the holy Trinity without us nor without their own body and that an integral Beatitude is not given but to an integral person And Calvin hath taken his freedom to be of the same mind says he Christ himself only is entred into the supreme Sanctuary of Heaven Et solus populi eminus in atrio residentis vota ad Deum defert and he alone commends the Petitions of the Saints to his Father whose Spirits attend in the outward Courts Those over-awing Fathers of the Florentine and Tridentine Councils have defined it indeed as an irrefragable Article of Faith that the Saints enjoy the most perfect Vision of God immediately after death What is that to us who will not lose our moderation in indifferent points for their
frame which the wise men of the world did think most out of order Some will say in their first cogitations upon my Text Are these the Souls of the First-born in Heaven that make such a clamour against their Persecutors Can they indeed be so eager of revenge Tantae ne animis coelestibus irae Besides Are they so passionately addicted to their own desires that they will not stay the prefixed time which God hath set but challenge him for slackness Vsque quo How long dost thou put us off Again What imperfection is this which they pretend as if they knew not how long it were till Christ would take the Kingdom into his hand and judge the proud after their deserving How do they know as they are known if they be kept so short of divine revelation But to stifle these Cavillations take special notice that you lose the whole Chain of this Prophesie if you hold not fast by this Link that St. John was in a rapture and taken up to the Heaven in the Spirit where the passages which he met withal were not really transacted but he seem'd to see the souls which were slain and he seemed to hear the moans which they made which is nothing else but a Prosopopaea where the Spirits of the Martyrs are imaginarily brought in as if they demanded the suppression of violent men that had spilt their bloud which doth not evince that any infirmities or disorderly affections are in them which may rashly be supposed but to set two things streight in our opinion which many Philosophizing heads did champ upon as if they were crooked in the Divine Providence First The righteous are taken away and no man regardeth it as the Prophet says Their days are cut short by violence and cruelty and yet their Persecutors live and are mighty What did the Heathen say to this who had good report for their Moral Conversation Is there no Justice in heaven Or doth it set no price upon the bloud of Just men Yes here is the best assurance that can be demanded a Scene as it were acted in heaven wherein is represented that the wrongs of the Saints are fresh in memory and shall never be forgotten Yet this is not all As this Scale is hoised up so there is another that must down as fast and that is principally aimed at in this Text. An Oppressor whose hand hath been very heavy upon another he is always jealous that in the turn of the Wheel his malice may be requited For none so miserable but in the Revolutions of Fortune may call his injuries to an account if he live What is the Method therefore of them that are profound Graduates in Malice Why mortui non mordent Let not thine Adversary live if you love to be secure dispatch him As Bassianus insulted over his Brother Geta when he had killed him Sit Divus frater meus modò ne sit vivus as long as my Brother lives not I care not though he be among the Gods Or as Jezebel cheared up Ahab that the worst was past Arise eat and take possession Naboth is not alive but dead This is a Maxim then in the Devils Politicks if you hunt for the destruction of any man your safety is in his utter extirpation This is as false as God is holy and true It is palpable that my Text labours especially with this Doctrine That the poor oppressed is more likely to obtain redress against his enemy when he is dead than when he was alive His Soul is then most precious to the Lord his Prayer most flagrant he is so near to Christ that he is next to the Altar his understanding is so enlightned that he knows what to ask and never fail Do their Oppressors think that these can do no harm because their bones lie scattered before the pit I would not be in Ahabs case though Naboth be dead and not alive for no worldly good would I provoke the clamours of such as these for they cry with a loud voice c. Here you have a Petition then put up to a mighty King by some persons that had sustained injury and after that garb I will divide it First As it useth to be in such petitory Writs consider we to whom the Supplication is preferred to one from whom there lies no appeal the King of Kings and Lord of Lords And the words are so laid together that the Souls under the Altar do beseech him by his three mighty Attributes Per potentiam per bonitatem per trigam gloriae He is the Lord therefore they implore him by that power which can do all things He is Holy therefore they solicite him by that goodness which detests Oppressions He is Truth and therefore they urge him by those Promises made which he cannot but accomplish It is the Lord holy and true into his hands they commend their Petition Secondly The manner of Petitioning is with vehemency and importunity With vehemency for they cried with a loud voice With importunity for they expostulate that it is not yet done How long Lord c. Thirdly Their asking and request is for no petty injury but for their bloud to judge and avenge their bloud Lastly The parties against whom they complain are expressed by contempt of their condition They dwell upon earth And now tell me if the Eagle hath not cause to fear though he hath torn these innocent Doves to pieces in his talons In what peril do those Grantortoes live that have slain the poor Servants of Christ heaps upon heaps When such a God is besought by the souls of such dear servants with such zeal and vehemency upon so great an injury and against such worldlings whose best project is to live upon the earth what will this come to in the end But the restauration of the afflicted the destruction of their Persecutors unto these tears for their joy in the nethermost Hell unto the others joy for their tears in the Kingdom everlasting Having thus distributed the Text into portions I go back to that which I put in the first rank the Petition is preferred to the Lord to the Lord that is holy and true And those words are both an invocation of praise and an obtestation by those sacred properties of the Divine Nature that their desire might be effected He that makes his address to God let him begin with his praise let him commemorate his excellent greatness let him delight to rehearse his Titles of Majesty without these your Petition is headless it hath no Exordium to induct it into the Court of grace extol him in his noble Attributes before you begin to exhibite your desires and the everlasting doors will be lifted up to let you in for the Lord cannot refuse his own glory As David bears you up to it in the last Psalm the Trumpet the Harp the Cymbal the Organ all Instruments of Musick are in the Tongue of him that doth praise the Lord. They were no babies
make interpellations before the face of God that their hoary head may go down to the Grave in sorrow which afflicted his Servants The Saints are so ravisht with the splendour of the Beatifical Vision that they have no leisure to think of the passions which they endured in this life much less can they spare a minute to cast away a thought upon their Persecutors As Plato replied stoutly to Dionysius of Syracusa the Tyrant had entertained him in his Court and was loath to let him return home when Plato much desired it After much importunity I would dismiss you says the Tyrant were it not that you would talk of me too much in your own Country Nay Sir says Plato I have somewhat else to do when I am in Athens among the Academicks than to talk of Dionysius So Stephen and Peter and James stoop not so low as once to mention the Pharisees or Herod or Nero but their Ashes in their Graves exclaim against them Parrisides that murdered those holy Fathers Even as Abel being dead doth yet speak by faith Heb. xi 4. which is in the words of God himself Thy Brothers bloud crieth unto me from the ground Gen. x. 4. Not thy Brother but thy Brothers bloud that direful Act which thou hast committed in the effusion of it that is it which pierceth mine ear though his soul utter not a word to that effect because it is never abstracted from Coelestial Contemplations It is a corrective manner of speaking when we glance at the secret sins of another to say If such a Room or such a Bed could speak if the Doors or the Hangings could speak they would tell foul Tales Spare your suppositions I beseech you and go roundly to work for every inanimate thing wherein we have committed any crime or injury it hath a voice to impeach us and we cannot escape the Accusation Job says of an Oppressour That his Land will cry against him and the furrows of the field will complain of him Job xxxi 38. Habakkuk says of him that hath built his house by cutting off many people I suppose he means Depopulators that the Stone shall cry out of the Wall and the Beam of the Timber shall answer it Chap. ii 9. So Judas Machabaeus implores God that he would remember the wicked slaughter of harmless Infants and hear the bloud that cried unto him 2 Mach. viii 3. Take heed of wrong and rapine take heed of cruelty of murdering the Innocent of beating your fellow-servants Luk. xii Every violence which you offer hath a tongue to accuse you and the ear of the Lord is in every place It is an easie thing by terrours to awe a poor simple man that he shall suck in his spittle and say nothing when he is ruin'd It is no unlikely thing that he shall be brought to Mortification to pray to the power above to forgive his Oppressors but he is not able to muzzle the wrongs that have been done him or to pluck out their tongue when he is asleep in his Bed when he is stiff in his Grave they never sleep they never die they never end their clamour and there is no such distance but that the cry of the Innocent will knock against it This is not meant to weaken the hand of Justice which rewards the wicked after their deserving Impenitent Caytives shall never come near the Altar in Heaven to moan themselves never fear their out-cry but beware to push at an innocent soul No private mans Oppressions shall be unrepayed how much more when whole Kingdoms and Principalities are devoured by the Invader When whole Nations are wasted out of their Inheritance when whole Rivers of bloud lift up their voice when the Scepters of Princes do plead for justice before his Throne that gave them their Throne and Dignity The Sun will shine upon that day when they shall be filled with slaughter that have delighted in it Forget not what Abner said to Joab Shall the Sword devour for ever Knowst thou not that it will be bitterness in the End And let this be the close of this second part of my Text the Souls themselves under the Altar make no unquiet interpellations to be revenged but the wounds and stripes and marks which they bore in their bodies for the Lord Jesus they cry out day and night how long Lord holy and good c. The next Point is almost of the same piece and very conjunct with the Petition it self it is the manner of preferring it which to the greater terrour of them that live by wrong hostility is done with all vehemency and importunity with a loud voice and a solicitous iteration The Heathen Poets fancied that the Souls in the Elysian Fields did utter their mind with audible and vocal sounds but with a low whispering as if Reeds were shaken with the wind Sometimes they would strive to speak out but all in vain Inceptus clamor frustratur hiantes This is Fiction and not Philosophy For separated souls speak not with corporeal Organs but with their Wills and Affections Animarum verba sunt ipsa desideria Their words which they utter are their desires which they send forth and therefore David says Thine ear hath heard the desire of their heart There is no such thing therefore as a loud voice proceeding from the souls in Heaven but flesh and bloud must be spoken to as it may understand and because the miseries are great which the Saints have suffered under the impotent rage of Tyrants and the Martyrs while they lived were wont to roar out for disquietness of heart in those extremities therefore by Prosopopea they are still said to call upon Heaven to judge their cause So Theophilus Antiochanus a most ancient Author Secundum eos affectus quos anima aliquando pro necessitate corporis generat such as were their affections in this life by a figurative translation such they are said to be in heaven Then they cried aloud for help and now they or rather their bloud and Martyrdom is said to cry aloud for vengeance Not they indeed but their injuries do so strongly plead against their Oppressors but they and their injuries are confounded as if they were but one Plaintiff in Law Therefore it is in Esdras Behold the righteous and innocent bloud crieth unto me and the souls of the Just complain continually Having cleared the Doctrine that this was no vocal clamour but an imaginary such as St. John encountred in a Vision note these few things in it First That all those Expositors that dare make an exact calculation of those times when the Seals in this mystical Book were opened say that the opening of the Fifth Seal when the Souls cried out so strongly was the instant deliverance from the Tenth and the greatest Persecution Observe from hence rather by experience than by rule that when God is about to give any thing unto us he stirs up our hearts unto Prayer more than ordinary Qui timide
of the Fathers I do confess speak ambiguously as if his soul had retired ad inferos which is no other than Hell it self although they speak of no dolor or calamity going with it Some place of darkness there may be say they which expound them where pain is not heard of And to little purpose is that fancy of Poetry cited out of Prudentius Sunt spiritibus saepe nocentibus Paenarum celebres sub Styge feriae Exultatque sui carceris otio Vmbrarum populus liber ab ignibus where there is no desperation nor worm of conscience there is no Hell those are worse than fire and brimstone Desperation and an evil conscience were far from this man and therefore no unknown dark corner of Hell could be a retiring place for the soul of Lazarus Now as the servants of Elisha would needs go look for Elias whether he were faln upon the Mountains or the Valleys all this while Elias was ascended up into heaven So to seek out the Spirit of Lazarus either with Enoch or in Limbo or in Purgatory or in Hell it is but lost labour for the Spirit of one whom Jesus loved so dearly why was it not all this while as well as the soul of the repentant thief in the joys of Paradise Nay but say the Adversaries of this opinion once a comprehender of the joys of heaven is a comprehender for ever and never more turned out to be a weary Pilgrim in the state of misery When the soul is once ravished with that unspeakable joy of the Beatifical Vision it is impossible to draw it back from that object Angeli non sic foras exeunt ut visione Dei priventur The Angels when they came upon messages to the Sons of men were at the same instant possessed of the Vision of the divine glory in heaven at the same instant that they did officiate upon earth So that the Spirit of Lazarus if it were once in Paradise it would never yield to return to mortal flesh but to a glorified body which stands always before the face of God I answer The eternal Godhead of the holy Trinity which makes the beholders so happy it is not speculum naturale but voluntarium man doth not see into it what he would see in the vehemency of his own desire but what it pleaseth God to reveal and so far forth as he doth enflame the heart of man to desire it Why might not God lay his hand upon him as he did upon Moses and cover his face deferring the felicity of the highest degree until the more full times of refreshment were accomplished O but you will say had he been but in the Cliff of the Rock with Moses and suffered there to see nothing but the hinder parts of God yet who would not rather still abide in the Cliff of the Rock than be translated into the throne of a Monarch Grant him but a door-keepers place the worst share in heaven grant him but a good passage out of this vexatious world and what benefit can it be to return again Were he no higher than the Orbe of the Moon yet he were better there than in Canaan a Land flowing with milk and honey Quis non exhorreat mori eligat si rursus ei proponatur aut mors perpetienda aut rursus infantâ—a Who would not rather choose to die says St. Austin than live again but the age of infancy wherein we remember not any evil we received But when Lazarus was passed the danger of Tentations quit from storms put safe into the Haven was it not an injury to be brought back again to try the danger of the Seas When Monicha was drawing to her end What should I stay for here any longer my Son says she There was one thing that made me desirous to live to see you a Catholick Christian this I have seen now I desire to be dissolved So might Lazarus say I desired mine eyes might see my Redeemer and I have seen him to be beloved by my Lord and he hath called me friend to see him entertained in our poor Cottage and my Sisters have received him it is but loss to me to stay Yea shortly my Saviour is to be crucified shortly to ascend into heaven and should I return to earth to lose him Nay what good to be done in such a place where there will be nothing but the envy of the Pharisees and the blasphemy of the High Priests against my Saviour Dearly Beloved I can quickly dispatch an answer to this and shew that the soul of Lazarus was happy to recoile again from heaven into the body There are degrees in the habitations of heaven one above another and one Star differs from another in glory put case that the righteous Abel was the first Saint dying in Gods favour But John Baptist was the greatest that was born of a woman and the Blessed Virgin the Mother of our Lord was a most glorified Vessel which all generations shall call blessed These living and dying four thousand years after Abel came later into the Kingdom of heaven yet as late as they came both being crowned with a more excellent Crown than Abel was which of them obtained the more desirable felicity Without question the Blessed Virgins Lot was the better for what are four thousand years reckoned in the time before to such an increase of joy for ever and ever Here is Lazarus his case Few days had he seen three years were the most that he had resorted to our Saviour perchance he had suffered not so much as ignominy for the name of Christ to bloud I am sure he had not ventred or resisted yet his eyes being closed according to the measure of his faith he is received into Abrahams bosom Let him there abide you will say if Christ love him truly let him return no more to mortality Nay not so Lazarus come forth see the days of thy Saviours Passion and be not offended confess his name and be scourged take your possessions once more into your hands and spend them upon the poor preach the Gospel as if the Angels had sent you back to bring more souls to bear them company die not in your bed the second time but upon the Cross as your Redeemer did then return the way which you know so well to the fellowship of Saints and bless the mouth which said Lazarus come forth for the second life I may well assure my self hath gained joy of a thousand fold increase in the life everlasting The first voyage was short and safe but not of the greatest profit the last was long and dangerous but as if you went for Gold to India Thus I have shewed that Lazarus was verily dead the soul quite flitted from the body that no other place but heaven did receive it that it was no miserable fortune to assume flesh again upon earth but an occasion to promote him to a far abundant exceeding weight of glory Now a
also thinks to elude the Scripture with a distinction that his holy Mother did first see him on this day non ad confirmationem dubii sed ad consolationem gaudii not to confirm her faith so he appeared first to Mary Magdalen who wavered and distrusted but no fill her with gladness If these things were so why did not the Book of God explain them if these things be not so why do they pretend Tradition without authority The truth is Gerardus a learned Lutheran hath taught us with more likelihood than ever any before how some unwary Clerks stumbled upon this error Epiphanius in his 68 Heres against the Marsalians lapsing in memory alleageth the words of Christ Touch me not to be spoken to his Mother when he first rose from the dead which indeed were spoken to Mary Magdalen and from hence came the misprision that he appeared first to his Mother when he rose from the dead Not out of desire to quarrel any thing that might justly concern the honour of the Blessed Virgin but for truths sake I have vindicated this Scripture that Christ first appeared to Mary Magdalen she saw his resurrection in the first bud and not only as others did in the blown flower You might have imagined this favour would have faln upon his Apostles or upon Joseph of Arimathea the Lord of the Soil where he first appeared but he was first found of her that first sought him especially he came first to her who gave greatest attendance to meet with him She brought a company of women with her to the Tomb before the Sun rose they were all vanisht but her self She fetcht Peter and John they came and lookt in and shrunk away Their going away commends her staying behind she held out to the last till at last her joy was fulfilled Reason good that those that run longest in the race should be first rewarded Our patience I fear is not so firm and stedfast as hers was if we have not every thing we ask for at the first we think our zeal is prejudiced and we utterly give over as if God were not our King on whom we waited but our Servant that must come at the first call Whereas you shall never speed with a twitch and be gon but with importunity and pertinacy The Kingdom of Heaven is gotten by violence and the violent take it by force But beside as all note it was her great love to Christ that made her partaker of the first-fruits of his glory a love that hath great perfection in it in contraries in the hardiness of her courage and in the softness of her mourning In the hardiness of her courage for do you know upon what pikes she run to stay so long at the Sepulcher of our Lord. As Thomas noted into what danger our Saviour embarked himself when he told his Disciples Lazarus is dead and we will go unto him Let us also go and die with him says Thomas So there were Souldiers abroad to watch the Sepulcher Spies in every corner from the High-Priests to mark who did confess and honour our Saviour to go to his Tomb much more to stay at it was in effect to say let us go and die with him we care not for our lives But true love esteems it sweet to suffer for his sake to whose memory their affection is constantly devoted And she that was thus magnanimous to die for him was a true woman in compassion and wept exceedingly because his body was lost They were tears mistaken as most tears are unless we weep for our sins As one says well our life is full of false sorrows and false joys we laugh when we have no cause to be merry and we weep when we have no cause to be sad So Mary laments that Christs body was not in the Sepulcher which truly known was the greatest cause of rejoycing that ever the world had No mans injury had brought that to pass but his own power and glory yet certainly her weeping was reputed as an office of love and zeal because she did it ignorantly out of a pious intention and we are all so addicted to profuse mirth that God doth seldom make a bad construction of mourning But alass how often do we lose God by sin through our own default which is the worst taking away of all and yet we afflict not our heart at the mischance we grieve not for it O weep for the light of that grace which we often lose and the day-spring of comfort will rise again in our consciences But it may be for all this Christ would not first have appeared to her after he was risen but that she was one out of whom in times past he had cast out seven Devils To the letter of the words be thus much said before I come to make application out of them the story runs concerning this Party that she had led a very wicked and a scandalous life for which she suffered this judgment from the Lord and very deservedly that she was made a prey to the Devil and seven evil spirits entred into her possest her wrackt her and tormented her But if seven evil spirits should take up their quarter in every Strumpet in these days wherein they abound I think their would not be Devils enough in Hell to furnish them I know that some who dip their Pen too much in allegories expound it not as if the very Devils themselves but as if the seven deadly sins had taken up their seat in her This is wrong for Luke viii 2. we find that there were with Christ certain women that had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities among whom was Mary Magdalen out of whom went seven devils Therefore it is not to be gainsaid but she was really dispossessed of seven infernal spirits that had entred into her Upon the account of this benefit she began to turn her heart to the fear of the Lord and grew up from grace to grace till no Disciple of her sex was more godly in her profession more servent in love more sincere in amendment of life Now out of all the Train that believed in the Name of the Lord he chose this convertita whom he had so mightily raised up to newness of life from the power of Satan I say he selected such an one to appear first unto her that the Church might know that such humble sinners as were partakers of his greatest mercy should also be partakers of his greatest glory And let every conscience which hath been opprest with the burden of iniquity refresh it self with this hope that our Redeemer liveth to gather those unto him whose iniquities have been many but they are washed clean in his bloud and are buried in his Grave As you have those comfortable words sounded in your ears before the receiving of the Lords Supper Come unto me all ye that are weary c. But thus Christ did as it were celebrate the resurrection of the body from