time shall passe for a division for here is Flesh against Spirit and Spirit against Flesh and lust against lust and these in the same man and this man cleft and sundred betweene these in a bitter and restlesse Combat My purpose rather is to shew you the originall and ground of this Duell where and whom it challengeth and how that so the nature and qualitie of this warre being discover'd I may with more truth and boldnesse unmaske the Hytocrite pull off the visard from the Mountebanke in Religion shem you Christianity in her owne face and feature without the whoredomes either of Art or Falsehood the gildings and overlayings of Dissimulation and Imposture tell you who are selected Souldiers for the Lords Battell and who Volunteers for the service of the Enemy what they are that march under the Ensignes of the Spirit and what these under the colours of the Flesh and all this in a Caro concupiscit adversus Spiritum The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit lusteth against the Flesh of which briefly and as my custome is bluntly in a few broken Meditations such as I could solder and piece up from the remainders of a more involv'd and laborious discourse And now Caro-concupiscit The Flesh lusteth MAN since the breach of his first Truce with his Greater hath beene a continuall Rebell and Mutineere up in armes against God and himselfe too Gen. 3. the violation of that great Caveat Ne manducas Thou shalt not eate hath expos'd both him and his posterity to the Sword and the doom thereof lies fresh upon record in a Mortemorieris The Lord hath bent his Bow Isai 9. and whet his Sword and prepar'd for him his instruments of Death Psal 7.12 13. And whereas Man hath forsaken the way of peace and broken his league with the great Prince thereof and by that revolt made himselfe no more a Man of peace but of open warre God therefore will signe him his Letters of Mart Gen. 3.15 with an Ego ponam inimicitiam Gen. 3. I will set enmity not onely betweene the Serpent and the Woman or the Woman and the Man but even betweene man and himselfe so that instead of Davids pax inter muros Psal 122.7 Peace within the walls of Ierusalem peace within these spirituall walls calmenesse and quietnesse in the bosome of the Saints here the noyse of Discord hath beene shrill in our eares and that Propheticke speech of our Saviour is come not only about us but within us Bella rumores bellorum Matth. 24.6 There shall be warres and rumours of warres Warres within us and rumours of warres without us Certamen illud praeclarum decertavi saith Saint Paul I have sought the fight the good fight 2 Tim. 4. There 's the warre we talke of Sonum bucccinae audit Anima mea clangorem belli My soule hath heard the sound of the Trumpet the Alarum of Dissention Ier. 4.19 there 's the rumour of warre To come home Care concupiscit adversus spiritum the Flesh is at opposition with the Spirit and the Spirit with the Flesh in the Text here there 's the warre within Vices exercitus tui sunt contra me Thy changes and thine Armies are against me Iob 10.17 there 's the warre without Now though in these wars and rumours of wars there be not as in the other insurrectio gentium a rising up of Nation against Nation or of Church against Church or of opinion against opinion for in their bloudy pursuit the Sword hath been a long time drunke and made the Prophet of them for the truth of his predictions no lesse than a true God yet there is a rising of Brother against Brother nay of each Brother against himselfe the Spirituall is against the Carnall the unregenerate against the sanctified the inward against the outward man and all these as I told you in the same man and this man sawed and rent betweene these in an irreconcileable Discord Neither is there onely thus a rising of Brother against Brother but in an allegoricall way of the Brother against the Sister of the body against the Soule nay of the Sister against the Sister of the Soule against her selfe And herein both Rome and Geneva kisse Cornel. a lap in cap. 7. Rom. v. 25. Solius animae lis ista the soule onely is ingag'd in this Combat the Flesh as Flesh meerely hath nought to doe but as a second to abbet or look on And therefore we take not the word Caro here properly for this fleshly Masse or lump which is as it were the paste and crust of the body but metaphorically for the carnall and unregenerate part of man neither doe we take the word Spirit physically for the reasonable Soule meerely but Theologically for the spirituall regenerate part of man and between this Spirit and that Flesh this regenerate and that unregenerate part this new and that old man there is a continuall skirmish in the same man and this Quarrell not to be decided but by Death Now as this Combat all the Saints and servants of God have so they onely have it a Combat so proper to the true christian that none can fight it but hee alone hanc pugnam non experiuntur in semetipsis nisi bellatores virtutum et debellatores vitioorum saith S. Augustine those that fight for virtue Serm. 59. de diversis and against vice feele this warre and no other and this is a blessed warre and where it is not there is but a cursed Peace If all bee husht and calme within there is not onely a Sleepines but even a vacancy of goodnes the spirit is no longer spirit in man then when it is in agitation and at variance with the flesh And therefore wee here peremptorily exclude two sorts of men from any interest they can challenge in this warre of the Regenerate such as are so buried in the flesh that they seeme to have no spirit at all and such as glory altogether in the spirit as if they had no flesh for as on the one side if there bee no spirit there can bee no reluctancy of the flesh so on the other if no flesh no opposition of the spirit and if neither of these no warre if no Warre no Crowne no Garland no Glory The former sort wee may compare to the children of Israell in the times of Deborah Iudges 5.8 There is not a sworde nor a speare amongst fourty thousand of them a troope of secular and carnall men which know not the use of S. Pauls artillery The sworde of the spirit Ephes 6.14 et 17. and the shield of faith the brest-plate of righteousnes and the helmet of salvation are not their proper harnesse but as unwieldy for their shoulders as Sauls armour was for David A brawling perhaps they may have betweene reason and affection or betweene naturall conscience and naturall affection between the will and the understanding which as in a
or degrees of perfection in them in some of them not all Oculus corporis est anima animae mens the soule is the eye of the body and the minde is the eye of the soule and as the eye is the beautie of the face the bright Starre of that Orbe it moves in so is this the beautie and bright Starre of the soule and therefore that is called Mens quod emineat in Anima Minde because it shines in the soule as a light in the spheare it rolls in Hence some would derive the Etimology of Mens from the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 D. Aug. ut supra cap. 11. which signifies the Moone not so much for varietie of change as brightnesse or else Mens a mensurando from a dexteritie it hath in measuring or contriving Now Dijudicare mensurare estactus intellectus Parte 1. q. 79. Art 9. ad 4. sayes Thomas to judge and to measure is an art of the understanding and the understanding is the very forme and selfe-being of the soule or rather the soule of the soule as the apple of our eye is the very Eye of our eye so that the minde is the beame and splendor of the soule as the soule is of the body so neere Divinity and so much resembling it that the Romanes of old ador'd the Minde as a Goddesse and by Marcus Aemilius Scaurns there was a Temple dedicated Deae menti ut bonam haberent mentem as S. Augustine observes in his 4. Booke De civitate Dei 21. chapter Well then that we may now looke backe unto the Text we take not here the word Mens physically for reason and understanding as they are in Meris naturalibus but Theologically for the spirituall and regenerate part of man And so taken it stands at some distance with the word Anima though not with the word Spiritus For though every Soule be a kinde of Spirit yet every Spirit is not a Soule nor every Soule a Minde at least a Minde regenerate but Minde and Spirit for the most part kisse in Scripture Saint Paul in the latter end of this chapter calling that Mens which in the very beginning of the next he names Spiritus so that Minde and Spirit in a sacred sympathy goe hand in hand but soule and spirit doe sometimes justle My Soule doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoced in God my Saviour Luk. 1.46 Here the blessed Virgin makes a difference betweene her * Non in hoc gemmo vocabule gemina substantia intelligitur sed cum ad distinctionem ponitur gemina vis ejusdem substantiae una superior per spiritum altera inserior per animam designatur in hac utique divisione anima quod animale est in imo remanet spiritus autem quod spiritale est ad summum evolat ab infimis dividitur ut ad summa sublimetur ab anima seinditur ut domino uniatur De Spiritu Anima cap. 34. soule and her spirit and why why It is called soule in respect of vivification spirit of contemplation Soule as it is a leiger and sojourner with the body quickning and informing that Spirit as it is mounted and imbarqu'd for Heaven and rapt with the beatitude of that caelestiall Host the soule doth onely magnifie God as a God the spirit rejoyceth in that God as a Saviour In a word the soule in man as it is a soule is like Fire raked up in embers the spirit like that fire extenuated and blowne into a flame the one glowing in our ashy part the other sparkling in our intellectuall And this distinction the great Doctour himselfe useth to his Thessalonians where after some benediction at length he prayeth that their whole spirit and soule and body may be preserved blamelesse to the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ 1 Thes 5.23 Marke hee begins with the spirit O culatissima hominis parte the Eagle part of man which eyes things divine that like another Mary alwayes sits at the feet of Iesus then comes the soule Stella in cap. 1. Lucae Quae naturales exercet ratiocinales this like another Martha is cumbred with much serving busied about Reason and the naturall faculties but the unum necessarium it hath not chosen yet And lastly the Body that villa Marthae the Village where our Martha dwells those earthly affections of ours which so taste of the body and earth that if they be not restrain'd make man as it were all body that is all carnall for which cause we finde some men call'd spirituall some animall and some carnall 1 Cor. 2.3 Thus the spirit is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Pilot or Governour squaring and fashioning new motions in the regenerate and subjecting their will to the will of God The soule is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under whose Lee come the sensitive faculties Reason Iudgement not yet wash'd and purified by the spirit the body Organum illorum the engine and Instrument of both which they imploy in their diversities of actions and operations These three are the integrall parts of a man regenerate when of the earthly man there are only two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aret. in Ep. 1. Thess cap. 5. v. 23. soule and body no spirit he it is foolishnesse unto him Hence proceedes that double man so frequently mentioned in the Scriptures the one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Animall or carnall and lives yet in the state of Nature the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentall or spirituall and in the state of Grace shewing his profession by his Faith and his Faith by his Workes Now as with man there is a double man spirituall and secular so with the spirituall man there is a double man too inward and outward the one in the Text here call'd Minde the other Flesh that serving the Law of God and this the Law of sinne And here by the Law of God wee understand not that onely on Mount Sinai first promulgated by Moses and after him taught by the Prophets but that also on Mount Sion by Christ and his Apostles to wit The eternall will of God declared in the Doctrine of the Gospell which is no lesse a Law than the other and this Law every regenerate man doth serve serve though not fulfill serve with the minde a willing minde crying out with the Prophet My heart is ready Psal 42.1 my heart is ready so ready that it panteth and gaspeth for the water-brooke the Commandements of God which are as deepe waters But on the other side the Flesh playes the Craven and as if it had received some deadly wound makes him complaine with the same Prophet Thine Arrowes sticke fast in me there is no health in my flesh nor any rest in my bones by reason of my sinne Psal 38.3 You heare then how sinne still lyes at the doores of the Flesh though the Flesh be not properly the
and treading the by wayes to Rhemes and Doway make a double partin Man Reason and Sensuality the one of them they stile Spirit the other Flesh dishonouring thereby the sacred Doctrine of our Apostle as if Reason and the Spirit sounded alike in regard of the Inward man Flesh and Sensualitie in respect of the Outward But this were to rivall Philosophy with Scripture Acts 19.9 send S. Paul to Stagyra and Aristatle to the Schoole of Tyrannus for the same Divinity the great Peripateticke preacheth in the first of his Ethicks where hee divides the Minde into two parts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cap. 13. where Reason dwelleth and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where Passions reigne These drawing one way and That another Appetite in an incontinent man being towards Reason ut membrum paraliticum as a limme that is strucke with the dead Palsie turne it to the right hand and it falls to the left whatsoever Reason dictates for the Better Sensuality straineth to the worse and what is that say they but the Flesh and the Spirit Thus they would confound Nature with Grace the meere Carnall men with the Regenerate making the struglings of the one betweene Sensuality and Reason the others combate betweene the Flesh and the Spirit Lib. 6. cap. 11. But S. Augustine tells Julian the Pelagian who first hatch'd this dangerous Cockatrice that in these words of the Apostle Sunt gemitus sanctorum contra carnales concupiscentias dâ—rnicantium the deepe sighes and groanes of the Saints breath'd out against their remainders of corruption and their carnall frailties their minde serving the Law of God but the Flesh the fraile Flesh lead captive by the Law of Sinne. Now in Scripture you know the word Caro Flesh Isa 40.6 is taken either properly pro carnulentâ illâ mole for the body which is compos'd of Flesh or else Tropically Gen. 6.3 for her fleshly qualities and in this latter sense it sometimes signifies the corruptions of the Flesh sometimes the lusts of the Flesh sometimes men expos'd to Both which are nothing else but Flesh and hold a direct Antipathy with the Spirit And therefore the learned African tells his Consentius Epist 164. that he that will be Eminent in vertue must be free of the Flesh And hence is the Apostles Vos non estis in carne Yee are not in the flesh but in the spirit Rom. 8.9 And the Evangelists Quicquid natum de carne caro est Whatsoever is borne of the flesh is flesh and whatsoever is borne of the Spirit is Spirit Joh. 3.6 Againe Caro goes sometimes for Concupiscentia Cornel. a lap in Canon verb. Epist Sancti Pauls pag. 22. not properly as if Flesh were Concupiscence it selfe but Metonimically because the Flesh is as it were the shop of the Soule where it moulds and workes as the Potter doth his clay Concupiscentiarum imagines portenta I know not what strange Anticks and Monsters of concupiscence And therefore some Philosophers are of opinion that as the censations so the motions of the sensitive appetite are as well in the body and organs of it as in the soule though others more subtilly and indeed more rationally say that as they are spirituall vitall and animall so they are in the soule onely since that alone is said of it selfe to live and the body by that life and yet the body as they conceive by the Organs Spirits and Blood doth dispose and assist the soule in these and the like motions and operations whereas Saint Cyprian will by no meanes heare that the affictions should any way belong unto the body but to the soule Hoc ipsum quod dico carnis affectus impropriè dico saith the Father For vices indeed are principally the Soules to which sinne is directly and properly imputed for as much as it is indowed with judgement will knowledge power by which it may eschew that which is evill and cleave to that which is good the Soule using the Body as the Smith his hammer or his Anvile by which hee forgeth and fashioneth Omnium turpitudinum idola quarumcunque voluptatum simulachra all her voluptuous and filthy Idols of lust and sensualitie The Flesh doth neither dictate nor invent nor forme nor dispose no project no thought no malice no sinne from her not from her but by her S. Cyp. in prol de Card navirt Christi the soule not sinning neither but by the flesh Saltem mediatione remotâ And yet the Flesh as it is Flesh meerely without the Soule can neither sinne nor serve sinne knowing that when the Flesh is separated from the Soule Idem ibid. it is nothing else but Putredinis massa paludis Acervus a putted and corrupt Masse or Bog and when it is joyned with it It is at best but Quadriga Animae as Galen calls it the Chariot of the Soule in which it jogs for a time in Triumph and then it is Seneca's Carcer animae the Goale and Fetters of the Soule nay his Sepulchrum animae the Greekes calling it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Tombe or Sepulchre a living death a sensible carrion a portable grave Vbi homo in vitijs est sopultus ubi corrupti corporis scatent scelera ubi homo hominis est sepulchrum ubi in homine non homo cernitur sed cadaver as the golden tongu'd iChrysologus in his 120. Sermon upon the fifth of S. Matthew But what then is it this Carkasse and Tombe and Sepulchre St. Paul here so much complaines of is it the bodie and the frailetties there that are here meant by this word Flesh noe But as before wee tooke the word Mens Theologically not Phisically so doe wee here the word Caro Flesh not for the fleshly lumpe this fraile masse of shinne bloud and nerves kneaded and incorporated into one substance but for the Carnall and as yet unregenerate part of man Will Minde Affections soil'd and corrupted from the old Adam so Gal. 5.20 Heresies are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Workes of the flesh Now Heresies you know flow from the minde not from the bodie so that the minde is in some sort Flesh as well as the other not flesh sensible and materiall but Metaphorically taken insomuch that the very Saints and servants of God as long as they have the dregs and remainders of sinne about them not only in the inferior part of the soule but even in the minde and the will are said to bee Flesh and the reason is because that that sinne by which wee consent unto the lusts of the flesh is not committed but in the will where it hath his originall and foment The Schooleman defining Concupiscence to bee nothing else but Voluntatem improbam Altissiod lib. 3. tract 2. cap. 3. q. 2. qua Anima appetit fornicari in creatura A depravednes of the will by which the Soule desireth to play the strumpet with the creature And hence it is that
imaginations following their owne Spirit by which they see nothing and leaving that Spirit by which they might see all So that now wee cannot but discover here a double Spirit the two Spirits spoken of by Saint Paul Dei Hominis 1. Cor. 2.11 By which wee may cleerely distinguish the foolish from the wise the false from the true Prophet That followes the tracke of his owne wheele meerely as his spirit or fancy gyres him This turnes his thoughts with those wheeles in Ezekiel whithersoever the spirit was to goe they went Thither was there spirit te goe too Ezec. 1.20 The one is in Egypt still in darkenesse darkenesse so thicke that it may be felt a grosse and affected stupidity The other followeth his pillar of fire his inspired illuminations and they conduct him to his promised Canaan The former with his darke lanthorne stumbles along the broad way which leads downe to the chambers of Death The latter with a lanthorne too but a light unto his stepps treads that Semitam rectam in the Psalmist and that brings him into the land of the living In fine the foolish Prophet without any divine influence or revelation proprio vaticinatur corde makes the thoughts of his owne heart oraculous when the Prophet of the Lord knowing that the thoughts of the heart are evill continually leaves those vaine suggestions perceiving that he is blinde by nature and must to his poole of Syloam desires to have his Spittle and his Clay wash'd off and so cryes out with David Lord open mine eyes and then I shall see the wonderfull workes of thy Law Here then as there is a double Spirit so a double Prophet And to distinguish either Prophet from his Spirit Saint Augustine borroweth a double word from the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and both these from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spiro but this latter a Spirit of a courser temper Wee reade in the last of Saint John that Christ breath'd upon his Disciples Spiritum sanctum the Originall there using the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which for the most part hath reference to the Spirit of Sanctity That the Father appropriates to the wise Prophet In the 2. of Genesis 't is said of Adam that God breath'd into him Spiritum vitae the word of the Septuagint is there * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more frequently used in the expression of humane spirit then divine This he bestowes on the foolish Prophet And therefore some Auncient Romans well verst in the Criticisme of that language D. Aug. lib. 13. C. Dei cap 24. and for the better discovery of the difference in Idioms will not call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spiritum but Flatum So in the 5. of Esay the vulgar translation reades it Omnem flatum ego feci Flatus no doubt there taken for Anima And so also that of Genesis Halitum not Spiritum breath of life Cap. 2.7 not Spirit though the Chaldee paraphrase to reconcile both joynes there Flatus Spiritus together and so reades God breath'd into man flatum sive animam vitae the soule that is the breath of life Vid. Coqueum in lib. 13. Aug. de Civ Dei cap. 24. and man was made in Spiritum loquentem a speaking Spirit Thus after some strugling with the words we have brought Soule Breath spirit in one and this Spirit in the wise Prophet following the true God It is time now to looke backe unto the Text and there view the foolish Prophet leaving the true God and following his owne Spirit Vae Prophetis insipientibus Woe to the foolish Prophet which followes his owne Spirit And what is that Spirit which he followes By Spirit no doubt are understood the corrupt thoughts and imaginations of the Heart For what in the 2. verse of this chapter was call'd Prephecy of their owne heart is in the Text here following their owne Spirit And indeed in the naturall man Spirit and Imagination are al one in essence though in action and vertue diverse the one receiving the formes and images of things with a kinde of passion and impression of the soule occasion'd by the presence of her objects therefore call'd Imagination The other a subtle facility in the penetration of those formes and images received and therefore Spirit which though for the vivacity and quicknesse of it some have beene pleas'd to stile the image of the living God a taste of the immortall substance a streame of the immortall Divinity a celestiall Ray by which there is a kinde of kinred betweene God and Man there being nothing great with God but Man and nothing great in Man but his Spirit yet if this Spirit be not guided by a higher as the poise and wheele by which it moves but leaving the influence of that followes the motions of its owne breast we shall make it the source of all vanity and error a meere Quack-salver in the Church the seedesman of imposture and debate and the very ground worke of novelty and innovation I have seene folly in the Prophets of Samaria an horrible thing in the Prophets of Ierusalem saith Ieremy What is this thing of Folly and Horrour he so deepely complaines off What They walke in lyes what lyes the visions of their owne heart Ier. 23.16 And doubtles the visions of the heart meerely can be no lesse then lyes and therefore lyes because visions of their owne and therefore their owne lyes too because they walke in them and because they thus walke in them they deceive themselves and then there is no hath in them Truth hath abounded by my lie to Gods glory Rom. 3.3 meum dixit mendacium saith S. Augustine veritatem Dei Truth there hath reference to God Lye unto Man unto man properly and solely and therefore Meum mendacium my lye and why my lye because I follow mine owne Spirit which being mans cannot but erre and so prove false and not the Spirit of God which being Gods cannot but be true The Prophet then that thus followes his owne Spirit cannot but speake according to that Spirit which hee followes And he that so speakes must of necessity lye Qui de seipso loquitur Mendax est He that speakes of his owne is a verylyer Iohn 8.44 God only is to be beleeved in all he sayes and that because he sayes it Truth depends not on any humane revelation or authority I may lawfully dispute whether it will passe for current except it be stamp'd with a Sic dicit Dominus Thus saith the Lord God * Audi dicit Dominus non dicit Donatus aut Rogatus aut Vincentius aut Ambrosius aut Augustâ—nus sed dicit Dom nus D. Aug. Epist 48. there are no Principles in man if Divinity hath not either reveal'd or confirm'd them All the rest is but a fancy or a dreame the heate of some private spirit at first which taking bud and blossome
from the approbation of some weaker proselites grew at length to the height of Aphorismes and so must spread our beleefe without controulment But as the great Criticke of the French observes what judgement can be so infatuated or made drunke as to receive for classicall either Plato's Idaea's Charron sap lib. 1. or Epicuru's Atomes or Pithaegora's numbers or Copernicu's vertigo of the earth They were but the indigestions of distemper'd spirits meere chymera's of their brain which they rather faign'd than knew and wee receive than trust All humane positions weigh alike except Reason turne the scale and with most men all divine too without the Text. Personall Authoritie may not totally sway us except it convince our judgement then wee not onely submit but subscribe too But to be milk'd along with a bare Ipse dixit not weighing the reason as well as the authority were to borrow our owne overthrow and turn Bankerupt upon trust A hastie beliefe speakes the heart light Qui cito credit levis est corde John 5.36 1 John 4.1 1 Cor. 11.13 and the braine shallow The Holy Ghost tells us that we are to search Scriptures and try Spirits and judge of occurrences and yet oftentimes we pin our Faith to the spirit of another and so beleeve and judge and live and dye and all upon his authority There is not an Art or Science without a Sic dicit to it and the power of that must carry my reason sometimes my Religion too Not a place of remarke or same without this Apothegme 'T is at Athens Sic dicit Socrates at Siracusa Sic dicit Archimedes at Stagyra Sic dicit Aristoteles at Millaine Sic dicit Ambrosius at Hippo Sic dicit Augustinus at Geneva Sic dicit Calvinus And that Sic dicit comes hither too where it hath been so long advanc'd in the opinions of many that heretofore it seem'd to grow disputable which was of greater authority a sic dicit Calvinus or a sic dicit Dominus Let no hasty censurer condemne mee here I like the sic dicit of Antiquity well like it magnifie it You heare I quote it often Calvines very well if his sic ratiocinatur goe with it Otherwise I may fairely evade him with that of the learned Cardinall Authoritatem video argumentum non video I acknowledge him the great Patriarch of the reformed Discipline the Lucernae lucens both of the age and Church he liv'd in a man of admirable dexterity and spirit and yet a man too a man that in some things too much followed his owne spirit and so might and did erre And therefore to lay the whole bulke and body of my Religion on a foundation in part fraile or sandy must either question my weaknesse or partiality or both and so whilst I leane too much to the positions of a private man I must fall off from the principles of my God Plura sunt quae nos tenent quam quae premunt opinione potiùs Sen. ad Lucil. Ep. 53. quam re laboramus More things take hold of our beliefe than carry our reason and wee are not so much transported with the weight of things as the conceit of him that fram'd them Thus wee are led along by the Spirit of another which is as great a folly as to be led by our owne and that which points us the way is for the most part a blinde Guide that common Huckster of ignorance and popularity Opinion which without scanning the nature and truth of things growes at once resolute and lawlesse and so travels the world without a Past-port But I would not have men pretending to knowledge and sounder literature to be muffled in matters of Religion like Hawkes that are unman'd kept hooded for feare of bating An implicite faith wee vehemently cry downe in the Romish Church let 's not begin to advance it in our owne for who had ever eyes given him to keepe them shut or Intellectuals that they should slumber or Judgement that it should fall asleepe Spiritualis omnia dijudicat saith Saint Paul The spirituall man judgeth 1. Cor. 2.15 or at least should judge all things all things that are not immediately sacred and inspir'd knowing that there is no captivation of minde or judgement to any principle but divine all humane propositions having a taste of frailtie and following too much the spirit of him that followes his owne spirit and how such a spirit must delude heare and then judge Man poore man in himselfe understands nothing perfectly and purely as hee should doe appearances doe alwayes circle and involve him which are no lesse in things that are false than true Errours are receiv'd into our soule 't is Charron's I confesse Lib. 1. cap. 14. there I had it by the same Pipe and Conduit that the Truth is the Spirit hath no power to discerne nor choose Truth and Errour are but Cousin-germans remov'd and these sometimes so neere that a wise man is put to his plundge to distinguish them the meanes wee principally use for the discovery of Truth are two Reason and Experience and the one of these is a meer Cheat the other a Curtisan Experience it selfe tells us that experience cozens us the same conclusion now made triall of speakes one thing upon a second experiment another Insomuch that learned men have bestowed one prime honour on it in making it The mother of fooles On the other side Reason playes the Dalilah hath Samson in her armes but a Philistin in her heart lulls us one way but betrayes us another It hath two faces in one head carries a staffe with two pikes Charron ibid. a Pot saith Epictetus with two handles There is no Reason but hath a contrary reason and upon which of these shall I raise a principle for Truth Thus we see how weake our Spirit is how false and yet how proud The Foole that ownes it is not so properly a companion of it as a drudge he goes not with it but followes it whereby he reposeth himselfe meerely in his owne opinions moves in his owne circumference rests in his owne Center will not vouchsafe an eare to the reasons of another but supposes the whole world must saile by his Compasse as if Heaven and Earth and all mov'd when hee mov'd But this sayes that wise man is a Disease of our Judgement an Ignorance of our selves in not discerning the weaknesse of our Spirit which if it chance prove vigorous and quicke as in some it doth it is the Mother of all prodigie and disorder growes not only troublesome but dangerous makes Earth-quakes in Religion shakes the very Rocke and Buttresse of our Faith justles the grey haire to make roome for an upstart lifts at aged principles to bring in novelty and under a colour of cleering old doubts creates new It would seem to remove weeds but it sowes Tares to root out Solecisme but plants Error to prune impertinences but grafts Faction And this is the common
first set up by Saint Ambrose in Millaine according to the custome of the Easterne Churches D. Aug. lib. 9. confes cap. 7. Ne populus maeroris taedio contabescat so that it was not only a speciall in ducement to the mortification of those which otherwise had been still secularly dispos'd but a maine cordiall and solace for them also which under the sword of Arrianisme were set apart of old for the Fiery Triall Some Philosophers are of opinion that the Spirit knoweth and understandeth onely by the help and service of the Sences Nihil est in intellectu quod non fuerit prius in sensu which if it bee generally true our eares doubtlesse are as trap-doores to our mentall faculties which as they are shut or open so shut or open to their spirituall operations But Aristotle here was too much a Naturallist and somewhat injurious to the soule in so beslaving it and setting it a begging of the senses as if it had not vertue and wisdome enough of it selfe to exercise her functions without the speciall administration of outward Adjuncts knowing that the Senses apprehend onely the simple Accidents and not the Formes and Essence of things much lesse the secrets in or above Nature which are a journey and taske for our contemplative and intellectuall powers and these also puzled sometimes in their inquisition and well nigh lost in the windings and turnings both of metaphisicall and naturall speculations And therefore doubtlesse in spirituall affaires where the Soule chiefely is imbarqu'd we are or should be more elevated to God by Reason than by Sense when we ascend to him by serious Meditations deepe Penetrations of his Word Tho. Wr. ut supra Majestie Attributes Perfections which chiefely transport those that are truely grave that are mortified indeed when this overtickling of the Sense by the plausibility of sounds this courting and complementing with the Eare by the elegance and raritie of some well-run-voluntary or descant are for Punies in devotion to whom notwithstanding they are as sensuall objects to ascend to God in Spirit to contemplate his sweetnesse blessednesse eternall felicitie though even in those also that are most pure and sanctified to whom the most curious Ayre that ere was set is not halfe so harmonious as one groane of the Spirit doe not alwayes attend those deeper cogitations but now and then intermingle their devotions with this sacred sensualitie which as a pleasant path leadeth to the Fountaine of spirituall joy and endlesse comfort And therefore let the Psalmist bee once more our remembrancer and as a remembrancer an informer too Laudate Dominum in Psalterio Psal 150.5 laudate eum in Cymbalis Iubilationis let our outward praises of the Lord so runne with those within that our Soule may magnifie him and our Spirit rejoyce in him that sav'd us and then no doubt wee may sing cheerefully of his Power and sing aloud of his Mercy so sing and sing aloud that our Psalterie may bare a part with our Cymball our heart with our tongue our sincerity with our profession our actions with our words Saint Augustine paraphrasing on that of the 104. Psalme Sing unto the Lord sing Psalmes unto him makes a criticisme betweene Cantate and Psallite Singing unto God singing Psalmes unto him Verbo Cantat Psallit Opere hee sings to God that barely professes him he Psalmes it that obeys him the one is but Religion voyc'd the other done and 't is this doing in spirituall businesse that sets the crowne on Christianity Profession onely shewes it and oftentimes scarce shewes it truly like an hypocriticall glasse which represents a feature as it would be not as it is as it desires to seeme not as it lookes Againe Psalterium pulsatur manibus D. Aug. ibid. Ore Cantatur Manibus Psallitur he that Sings makes use of the mouth hee that Psalmes it doth exercise the hand so that the mouth it seemes onely expresseth our faith the hand our good workes the one doth but tattle Religion the other communicates it And therefore our Prophet no sooner mentions his Cantate and his Psallite but immediately there followes a Narrate and a Gleriamini First Sing unto the Lord and sing Psalmes unto him and then in the next verse Talke of his wondrous works glory in his holy name So that belike He that onely sings unto God the vocall professor he doth but talke of his wondrous workes but he that Psalmes it the realist in Christianity he glories in his holy Name And to this purpose the Father doubles on the Prophet Psal 67. Sing unto God D. Aug. in Psal 67. sing praises unto his Name Cantat Deo qui vivit Deo Psallit nomini ejus qui operatur in gloriam ejus hee sings unto God that lives unto God and hee sings praises to his Name that doth something for the glory of his Name And happie is that man that so sings and sings praises that both lives and does to the glory of GODS Name And how can Gods Name be better glorified than in his House and how better in his house than by singing of his Power and Mercy his Mercy in so drawing us that wee can live unto him his Power for inabling us to doe something for his Glory And 't is well that Those whom God hath enabled to doe will doe something for Gods Glory for the Glory either of his Name of House A President this way is but Miracle reviv'd and the Thing done doth not so much beget Applause as Astonishment 'T is somewhat above Wonder to see the One without Prophanation or the Other without Sacriledge I meane not and I say I meane not to forestall the preposterous Comments of others which sometimes injuriously picke knots out of Rushes that Sacrilege which fleeces the Revenewes but the Ribbes and Entrailes of a Church defaces Pictures and rifles Monuments tortures an innocent peece of Glasse for the limme of a Saint in it Razes out a Crucifice and sets up a Scutchion Pulls down an Organ and advances an Houre-glasse and so makes an House of Prayer a fit den for Theeves And indeed this malicious dis-robing of the Temple of the Lord is no better than a Spirituall Theft and the Hands that are guilty of it are but the Hands of Achan and for their Reward deserve the hands Gebazi God is the God of Decency And Ornaments either In his House or About it as they are Ornaments are so farre from awaking his Jealousie that they finde his Approbation He that hath consulted with the Iewish Story cannot want instance this way nor illustration The Law of old required the Altar cleane the Priest wash'd the Sacrifices without blemish and this when there was yet not onely a Temple not built but not projected but this once enterpriz'd straightway stones must be choicely hewed from the Mountaines Artificers fetch'd from Tyre Cedars from Libanus Silver from Tharshish Gold from Ophir 1 King 6. 7. 2
mind inlightned only not renewed is nothing else but a neighborly discord between flesh flesh but for any solid debate between will and will affections and affections flesh and spirit indeed they have none at all it being true of these which God by Mosis spake of those of the old world My spirit shall no longer contend with them for they are but flesh Gen. 6.3 The other sort we may fitly resemble to the Children of Ephraim who being harnessed and carrying Bowes Psal 78.10 turned themselves backe in the day of Battell Men that make a shrewd flourish in the vant-guard of Religion their Bow is ready bent against the wicked and they shoot their Arrowes even bitter words desperately bitter but when they come themselves to the shocke and brunt of the Battell to the handy-gripe of the Adversary to the tryall indeed of their spirituall manhood they instantly forsake their Colours and the Roe is not more swift on the Mountaines than they to flye from the Standard and Ensigne under which they fought running from one Clime and Church unto another from an old one here founded on a Rock Councels Synods Decrees Harmony of Fathers the practice of the very Apostles themselvs to a new one built on the sands of their owne fancies the brain-sick plantations of unstable souls And such are so farre from any true spirituall valour or wisdome that our Apostle bestowes on them the livery of Fooles their first March and On-set might perhaps bee in the Spirit but their Retrait doubtles was in the flesh their Comming on in lightning and thunder but their Going off in smoake And here in this throng I cannot passe without shouldring a little with the Anabaptist and the Persectist men forsooth so wholly seal'd up by the spirit that they seeme to disclaime the least impressions of the flesh and pretending that they see visions do nothing else but dreame dreames lull'd along in a confidence of their legall righteousnesse and slumbring in an opinion of their perfection in this life as if they were no longer militant but triumphant But as in the mouth of the foolish there is virga superbiae saith Solomon Arod of pride Prov. 13.3 so in the mouth of those proudones there is virga stultitiae A rod of folly If I iustifie my selfe mine owne mouth shall condemne mee if I say I am Perfect I shall also proue my selfe perverse Iob 9 20. Loe here in one text these great vaunters with all their flourishes and bravado's are put unto the foile and the justice and perfection they so wrestle for throwne flat upon the backe even by Iob himselfe as just a man the text saies as any the earth had and yet hee tels them plainely by his owne experience tht if they glory in the one their owne mouth shall condemne them if they but mention the other they shall prove themselves as indeed they are wayward and perverse Shall wee leave the just and enquire after the perfect man David the man after Gods owne heart and such a one was a perfect man you will say if the earth had any wee shall finde him complayning of uncleanesse within and vehemently importuning the Lord for purging and washing Psal 51.7 S. Hieron Regmonach c. p. 15 In carne justorum imperfecta tantum perfectio est saith Saint Ierome the most righteous upon earth here have but an imperfect perfection and those that would bee thought more righteous then others a perfect imperfection And therefore I may say of these phanatickespirits as Hanna the wife of Elkanah said of Peninnah Talke no more so exceeding proudly 1. Sam. 2.3 let not arrogance come out of your mouth for the Lord is a God of knowledge and by him actions are waighed His hand is ever at the beame his eye looking how it turnes and so when your clipt your washt gold comes to the scale your false stamp'd shekle to the ballance of his sanctuary how will it bee found lighter then vanity it selfe how more vaine then nothing for if Angells before him are charged with folly how much more those that dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust that are crush'd before the moth Iob 4.19 That of the Athenians to Pompey the great Ipsd est perfectio hominis invenisse se non esse perfectum D. Aug. Serm. 49. de temp D. Aug. Serm. 44. de temp was a remarkable saying Thou art so much the more a God by how much thou acknowledgest thy selfe to bee a man To bee an excellent man is to confesse himselfe to be a man indeed that is fraile imperfect haec est vera regenitorum persectio si imperfectos se esse agnoscant saith Saint Augustine then is a regenerate man come to his true perfection here when hee knowes that hee hath none here truly And questionlesse 2. Cor. 4.16 2. Cor. 7.1 If the inward man bee renewed day by day and that wee are yet to perfect holines in the feare of God as S. Paul testifies then this renovation and sanctification being not yet absolutely ripe cannot produce any perfect operation untill it selfe bee perfect and therefore our habituall justice is so farre forth compleate and no farther D. Aug. lib. 3. contra 2. Epist pelag cap. 7. ut ad eius perfectionem pertineat ipsius imperfectionis et in veritate cognitio et in humilitate confessio A true knowledge and an humble confession of our own frailties is the greatest justice and perfection we have about us Though thou wash thee with nitre and take thee much soape yet thy iniquity is still marked before thee Jer. 2.22 And Though I wash my selfe with snow-water and make my hands never so clean yet thou shalt plunge me in the ditch and my very cloathes shall abhorre me Job 9.30 31. There is no perfection then in this earthly Tabernacle None none as wee are Sojourners and in our pilgrimage But at our Iournies end in the Palestina above None of Degrees I meane but of Parts onely As an Infant is a perfect man because hee hath the perfect proportion of a Man there is nothing monstrous nothing defective or superfluous in him in respect of the Organs or Parts but in respect of the Faculties and Functions and the Operation of the Organicall parts which is the perfection of Degrees hee hath none at all for though hee have members yet they cannot doe their office The feet walke not the hands feede not the head judgeth not So it is in our spirituall growth where there is onely perfctio viae not patriae S. Augustine detrmining this point with a Tum erit perfectio Boni quandoerit consummatio mali A perfection of Good and a consummation of Evill have their Joynt-inheritances in the Kingdome of Heaven so the Father in his 15. Sermon de verbis Apostoli No doubt Aegypt here may afford us her Garlike her Onions and her Flesh-pots but the Flowings of milke and honey and the
the most part 't is a sinne of will and choyce and delight and custome in the other a sinne of infirmity and reluctation and contempt a sinne of invasion not of appetite Besides as there is a difference in the manner of their sinning so there is in their opposition which they make against their sinnes The reluctancy which the regenerate hath is from the apprehension of the goodnes of Gods law forbidding sinne of the carnall man D. D. ut si p. 〈◊〉 from the apprehension of the truth of the judgements denounced by that law punishing those sinnes that from love this from feare Credit bonus et verè credit saith Saint Augustine credit malus sed non vere credit credit Christum sed odit Christum the good man beleeves and hee beleeves truly the wicked man beleeves too but he beleeves not truly hee beleeves Christ but hee loves not Christ hee beleeves him as a GOD loves him not as a Iudge in a word habet confessionem fidei in timore poenae non in amore coronae Peters confession of Christ and the Divells was all one in respect of the words but not of the heart they both acknowledged that hee was filius Dei magni the Sonne of the living God Math. 16. But see the difference Hujus confessio quia cum odio Christi prolata est merito damnatur Eius D. Aug. Serm. 59. de diversis Tom. 10. p. 616 quia ex interna dilectione processit aeterna beatitudine remuneratur The Divell as an Angell that was fallen enviously acknowledged Christs divinity therfore his own just condemnation Peter as an Angell that should rise had an inward tast of his mediatourship and therefore of his owne undoubted glorification In fine though the motions of the flesh bee alike in both yet the humouring of those motions is not Aliud est concupiscere aliud post concupiscentias non ire It is one thing to lust another to goe a whoring after it As it is one thing to glance and dart a wanton desire another to court and plead it A man may have and hath and must as hee is man his carnall titillations and yet a spirituall man all this while if hee oppugne them if hee withstand their march and onset But if hee once hang out his flags of truce if hee give way to their fiery seige if hee open the city gates to let in this armed monster the spirituall man hath lost the day and the carnall hath the full triumph Hearke what Saint Augustine in this case obtrudeth Quicunque carnalibus concupiscentiis cedis atque consentis c Whosoever thou art that givest way to thy carnall concupiscences and either thinkest them good to fill up the saturity of thy lust or else so seest them to be evill that notwithstanding that evill thou doest assent and so follow them where they leade thee and what they suggest commit Tu tu quisquis talis es totus totus carnalis es Thou art carnall Thou thou whosoever thou art art All all carnall And therefore the advice of the same Father will be seasonable here If the infirmities of the Flesh be such D. Aug. Serm. 5. de verb. Apost ut concupiscas saltèm post concupiscentias non eas If thou must needs lust as lust thou must because a man yet run not after thy lusts Though they surge and boile let them not breake upon thee though their flouds rise though they lift up their voyce aloud though their waves are mighty and rage horribly let them not compasse thee about Psalm 93. v. 3.4 let them not come in upon thy soule But though the raine fall and the windes blow and these flouds come and beate upon thy house of clay yet remember the Rocke upon which it is founded the Rocke Christ The Rocke of thy strength as David calls him and the Rocke of thy refuge and the Rocke of thy salvation Againe Math. 7.25 seeing the Flesh is Hostis internus gravissimus as Origen stiles it and that our greatest Enemies are those of our owne House those that are about us Psal 62.7 and within us pâ—aeâ—aeteris omnibus carnis insidiae formidandae sunt we should principally beware of the Stratagems and Ambuscadoes of the Flesh let us strive to awaken her forces abate the edge both of her pride and teachery knowing that where this Syren sings it doth but presage our shipwracke when this Delilah imbraceth 't is but to betray us to the spirituall Philistine 't is the principall snare and pit fall the Divell useth to entrap us to our destruction He may be the Father begetting sinne but the Flesh for the most part is the Mother conceiving and bringing it forth And therefore Saint Iames saith that Every man when he is tempted is enticed and drawne away by his owne Concupiscence Jam. 1.14 So that although Satan hath a hand a powerfull a subtle and malicious hand in tempting us yet the Flesh and her Lusts carry the greater stroke He tempts onely the other entice and draw away he doth but lay the baite the other cause us to play and nibble and at length to swallow it The Divell hath onely a subtilty in perswading no power in compelling man to sinne Non enim cogendo sed suadendo nocet D. Aug. Serm. 197. de temp nec extorquet à nobis consensum sed petit saith Saint Augustine But the Flesh doth not onely insinuate consent to sinne but even extort it she being both a Traytor and a Tyrant first layes her powder-plot and then blowes us up And therefore let every one of us arme himselfe against the assaults of the Flesh the suggestions of our corrupter Lusts humbling and macerating these pamper'd bodies of ours by Prayer and Abstinence choaking all inordinate motions and all wayes of distemper and excesse which may give them either flame or nourishment You know who tells you that Gluttony is the fore-chamber of Lust and Lust is the inner-roome of Gluttony On the other side Abstinence is the mid-wife of Devotion and Devotion is the sister of Zeale and Zeale is the mother of true Prayer so that there is neither Zeale nor Prayer nor Devotion truely without Abstinence I meane as well a corporall as mentall Abstinence a Restraint from the fulnesse of bread as from the fulnesse of Sinne. For it is with the soule and Body for the most part pardon the similitude I beseech you as it is with the Common-wealth and the Exchequer if the one be full the other they say is still empty The Soule which is Gods Exchequer and Storehouse of his Graces when it is full of Contemplations and heavenly Entrancements the Body is commonly empty of her carnall repletions as causing a drowsinesse and dulnesse in all spirituall agitations On the other side the Body which is the Common-wealth of the senses the rebells commonly of the Spirit when that is cramm'd with satiety the bloud dancing in the cheeke
maintenance and support of these fleshly tabernacles thou shalt eate and drinke ad necessitatem and the church to take downe the frankenesse of nature and tame the wildnesse of the flesh for in point of fasting there is as well a religious as a civill or politicke respect saies thou shalt not eate and drinke ad intemperantiam let us so eate and drinke that we may live and not lust and so live that thus eating drinking we care not if we die to morrow The cause why Moses so long fasted in the Mount was meere divine speculation the cause why David did humiliation so that the way to mortify the flesh and to advance the spirit is by the doore of abstinence whereby wee may undermine the pallaces of lust and wantonnes plant parcimony as nature where riotousnes hath beene study Hooker Eccles pol. lib. 5. that whereas men of the Flesh eate their bread with joy and drinke their wine with a merry heart Eccles 9.7 The man of the Spirit may be contrite and wounded and so humble his soule with fasting Psal 35.13 Beware then of this Ingenuosa Gula this kick-shawed luxury when the braine turnes Cooke for pleasing both of the eye and palate let 's not court appetite when we should but feed it not feed excesse when we should strangle it Moderation and sobrietie are the best Governours of our meetings and where these are as they are not too often in the meetings of a multitude the example of our Saviour will allow us to turne Water into Wine and the advice of his Apostle to drinke it also for our stomacks suke and doubtlesse sometimes for our mirths sake too if we exceed not the bounds of temperance nor flye out into superfluity or Epicurisme which are the blot and staine of Societie and a hinderance of that true joy and comfort which otherwise might smile in our publike meetings when invitations are turned into riots feeding into suffocation clogging the body and damping the spirits and thereby those blessings which else happily might have shower'd upon us A Soule drown'd in meat as the Father phraseth it can no more behold the light of God than a body sunk in puddle can behold the light of the Sun For as fogs and mists arising from the Earth and hiding the light of the Sunne from us debarre us for the present of the vertue of those heavenly influences which otherwise we might partake of So the fumes and vapours of an over-charg'd stomacke ascending to the brain cause a cloudinesse in the soule hindring and darkning those heavenly speculations which the Spirit would else mount to in God and his Son Christ Iesus To conclude then it should be our principall care to keepe the whole man brush'd all sluttishnes swept-of as well within as without not only those outward spots and blemishes which bestain the flesh but even those smaller dusts and atomes which over-spred the soule Remember it is the white robe which is the dressing of the Saint and that the hand which is wash'd in innocency is accepted at Gods Altar The haire that is unshaven is not for his congregation nor the fowle and uncleane thing for his kingdome We read that Solomons Temple had two altars the one without Vbi animaliū caedebatur Sacrificium 1. Kings 6.20 22. where the bullocke was flaine for sacrifice The other within Vbi Thymiamitis offerebatur incensum where incense and perfumes were offered the best mirrhe and the onyx the sweet storax Ecclus. 24.15 And we know that this temple of the holy Ghost hath two altars also the one without in the flesh where the bullocke should bee slaine the Hecatomb of our hundred beasts offered our beastly lusts and corruptions which fight against the soule The other within in the minde where the fumes of mirrhe and frank incense ascend the incense of prayer and gratulation that spirituall holocaust that viall of the Saints full of odours which reacheth the very nostrils of the Almighty On these two altars D. Aug. 256. serm de temp God requires a two fold sacrifice munditiem in corde cleanesse in the heart which David so vehemently desired create in mee a cleane heart O God Psal 5 1. and castitatem in corpore chastity in the body S. Bern. inter sententias which S. Bernar calls martyrium sine sanguine a martyrdome without bloud where there is a death of the flesh without the death of the body a death of her lusts and a death of her corruptions by mortifying and subduing all carnall rebellions And this martyrdome of the flesh S. Paul glories in I keepe under my body or as the Greeke hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Corpus contundo Paulin. Ep. 58. et Lividum reddo soe Paulinus reades it to S. Augustine I Bray as it were and macerate my body and marke what followes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In servitutem redigo I bring it into subiection 1. Cor. 9.27 And in subjection indeed it must be brought in subjection to the soule which as it gives the other forme so it should steere and master it Vnumquodque sicundum hoc vivat unde vivit saith S. Augustine let every thing live according to the rule and platforme of that by which it lives Vnde vivit caro tua De anima tua unde vivit anima tua De Deo tuo unaquaque harum secundum vitam suam vivat Whence lives thy body from thy soule whence lives thy soule from thy God Let both then live according to that Life which gave them life The world was made for man and man for his soule his soul for God Tū rectè vivit carosecundū animā D. Aug. Serm. 13. deverb Dom. cùm anima vivit secundum Deum The sweet Saint Augustine still then the body lives rightly according to the soule when the soule lives rightly according unto GOD. Let the body then so live after the soule and the soule after GOD that both body and soule may live with God in his eternall kingdome and that for his deare Sons sake Iesus Christ the righteous to whom with the Father the holy Ghost bee all honour and glory ascrib'd both now and for ever Amen Gloria in excelsis Deo FINIS Jehovah-Jireh GOD In his PROVIDENCE And OMNIPOTENCE Discovered A SERMON PREACHED Ad Magistratum at CHARD in Sommerset 1633. By Humphrey Sydenham Laudate Dominum de omnimoda potentia ejus Laudate eum secundum multitudinem Magnitudinis ejus Psal 150.2 LONDON Printed by IOHN BEALE for Humphrey Robinson at the Signe of the Three Pigeons in PAULS Church-yard 1637. TOMY HIGHLY HONOUR'D FRIEND Sr. JOHN STAVVELL Knight of the BATH THIS SIR IUST promises are just debts and debts though delayed ever come acceptably if they come with advantage I long since promised you a transcript of this Sermon which was the Principall and now I send it you with a Dedication which is the Interest and such an Interest I
perplex'd by the Pagan Sophisters about this great Attribute of God Omnipotence Omnipotens Omnia-potens some jangling meerely about the etymology of the word have dash'd themselves against the rockes of heresy Faustus the Manichee and Cresconius the Grammarian have put Saint Augustine to the sweat about it who dwelling too critically upon God's omnia potest went about to geld his omnipotence Nay D. Aug. lib. 26. Cont. Faust cap. 5. some herein making reason their pole-starre and not faith have leap'd out of their curiosity into blasphemy as the Hermians and Seleucians of old those hoeretici materiarii as Tertullian styles them who following the proud sect of the Platonists Adversus Hermog cap. 25. made their materia prima co-omnipotent with God because God as they pretended could not make the world out of nothing but of some praeexisting matter And from this hive belike swarm'd those Locusts of their age Menander Carpocrates and Cerinthus who tooke off the power of God in the creation of the world and set it upon Angells D. Aug. de fide Symb. c. 1. and so either par'd too much the divine prerogative in making it slow or unable for so great a worke or else super-added to the glory of those intellectuall natures as if this great frame of the universe had been rather the workmanship of their hands then of his that created both it and them Although others of a like vertigo were not so over-stagger'd with their owne phrenzies but that they allowed the God-head a superintendency of power and yet not that * Tri. Vne Triune power the christian struggles for a power of three persons in one essence of equall majesty and commaund but ascrib'd to the Father only a sulnes of power a mediocrity to the Sonne and to the holy Ghost none at all and of this sinke was Petrus Abaialardus censured by Saint Bernard in his 190. Epistle ad innocentium But leaving these to their strong delusions knowing that an evil conjecture hath overthrown their judgement Ecclus. 3.24 Let us returne whence wee have digress'd a little to divine omnipotence and wee shall finde by ground or reason there of to bee divine essence for GOD workes not but by his essence and by how much more perfect the forme is in every agent by which it workes by so much the power is greater in working Seeing then the essence of God is infinite his power of necessity must bee infinite too now because to be thus infinite is to bee but one there is but one omnipotence as there is but one essence and yet for the diversities of respects Divines have cut it into a double file an actuall and absolute omnipotence Omnipotentia absoluta the absolute omnipotence of God is that by which hee can perfectly doe any thing that is possible to bee done and it is called absolute because it is not limited by the universall law of nature as if divinity were necessarily pinn'd to the order of secondary causes and that God could not doe any thing besides or above that law and this the schooles call omnipotentia Dei extraordinaria Gods extraordinary power because by that hee can worke besides the trodden and accustomed course of nature producing of himselfe as wel those effects of secundary agents as others Pol. syntag lib. 20. cap. 29. to which sublunary creatures cannot attaine Haec simpliciter essentialis saith the Syntagmatist this omnipotence is simply essentiall by which God can absolutely and simply doe all things which are possible to bee done to wit such as doe not repugne the will or nature of God though they doe sometimes the course of nature for that may bee impossible in respect of the one which is not of the other Quod dicitur impossibile secundum aliquam Parte 1. q. 25. Art 40. ad primum potentiam naturalem divinae subditur potentiae saith Thomas what naturall power calls impossibillity is without dispute possible to omnipotence and therefore there is nothing that hath but a * Quicquid potest habere rationem entis comprehenditur sub possibilâ—bus respect n omnipotentiae absolutae capability of being that comes not within the verge of Gods absolute power of his power though sometimes not of his will or wisedome for God can doe many things which these thinke neither convenient nor necessary to bee done To imagine any thing of God as if hee did it because he can doe it is an abrupt and rude presumption non quia omnia potest facere ideo credendum est Deum fecisse etiam quod non fecerit sed an secerit requirendum God can of stones raise up children unto Abraham Lomb. lib. 1. dist 43. ex Aug. lib. de spir et lit Cap. 1. but hee never did nor I thinke will Potuit Deus ut duodecim legiones Angelorum c. God could have sent twelve legions of Angells to fight against those Iewes that apprehended Christ sed noluit saith Lombard potuit Deus hominem pennis ad volandum instruxisse God could have given man as well wings as feete made him soare as goe non tamen quia potuit Tert. lib. adversus Prax. cap. 10. secit saith Tertullian Potuit et Praxeam et omnes pariter haereticos statim extinxisse hee could have crush'd Praxeas and all other heretickes in their very shell and first matter non tamen quia potuit D. Aug. lib. de Nat. et Grat. cap. 7. extinxit saith the same Father Once more Dominus Lazarum suscitavit in corpore nunquid dicendum est non potuit Iudam suscitare in mente God rais'd Lazarus in body and could hee not Iudas in spirit also potuit quidem sed noluit saith S Augustine Thus Antiquity you heare still pleades for Gods Potuit His infinite Power the Fathers generally acknowledge but they sometimes restraine the execution of it and mince it with a Noluit or a non fecit And doubtlesse he can doe more things than he doth doe if hee would doe them but he will not not that there is any defect in his Will or Power but because in Wisedome he doth not thinke it meet Gods actuall Omnipotence is that by which he is not onely able to doe whatsoever he wil'd or decreed to be done Actualis omnipotentia but also Really doth it Solo voluntatis imperio at a becke or command without difficulty or delay with a meere Dixit factum est He speakes onely and he does it So does it that it cannot be hinder'd by any cause or impediment whatsoever And this the Schooles call againe Omnipotentia Dei ordinata Gods ordinated Omnipotence because hee doth by that what hee hath ordain'd or decreed to doe And this hath respect to the particular Law of nature and to a speciall order bequeath'd things by that Law through which he at first creat'd all things and still either conserves or moderates or destroyes them Now as there are
Plea of all Innovators especially those of the refin'd and nimbler cut who in mysterious and abstruser points the very Riddles and Labyrinths of Divinity elevate their Acumen whet and sharpen the very point of their Spirit by which they thrust into the closet of the Almighty nay into his very Bosome ransacke his secrets there call out his Prescience his Will his Decree his Justice bring them to the Barre Arraigne them Censure them know at a haires breadth whom he will save or damne or else they will devest him of his God-head make him unjust and so manacling his Incomprehensiblenesse to their Reason belch sometimes their prouder blasphemies that God must doe this if he be God or else he is no God And thus whilst they follow too much the heat of their owne Spirit they come within the lash of our Prophet the Insipiens takes them by the sleeve the Foole here in the Text the holy Ghost puts it on them Not I Thus saith the Lord God Woe to the foolish Prophet that followes his owne Spirit Nil Sapientiae odiosius acumine nimio your richest wits are neither over-stor'd with wisedome nor holinesse neither with the subtilty of the Serpent nor the innocency of the Dove The ordinary way of knowledge they contemne nothing pleases them but the Curvet and the Levolto Vp they must in their metaphisicall Speculations their sublimate Raptures the high built scaffolds of their owne pride and spirit which indeed are but the fury of braines intranc'd and good for nothing but the torment of themselves and others There was never any great wit without a touch of madnesse which not rightly modifi'd as it ought is a fit stocke to graft a villaine on whither in Church or State I have observed some my selfe that have past for Master-peeces and petty miracles in their way when their discourse hath beene closely Atheisme and their jeast the Scripture And he that hath but traverst a little Ecclesiasticke story shal finde That in primitive times it was the only Seminary of Heresie and Revolt witnesse those two Fire-brands of their age Iulian and Arrius T was the greatnesse of their Braines made them lose their Bowells and the foule Blasphemies they breath'd thence purchas'd them a just Herse and Tombe in their owne dung It is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of God a dangerous into the hands of men but a most pernicious into the hands of our selves When in a presumptuous and proud dotage of our owne parts a foolish following our own spirit we commit idolatry with our owne bosome adore our selves worship the thoughts of our owne hearts not looking up to our primus Motor who rules and turnes this Machine and Frame of our little world but without any reflecting on our personall imperfections wee deifie these moulds of Earth as if wee could raise Eternity out of ashes or build Immortality on pillars of dust saying to our selves We shall bee as Gods when God saies we are but men and that man in his best honour is as the beast that perisheth You know there is a proverbe current now in our language but originally from the Spaniard O Lord keepe my selfe from my selfe and this is the tenour of our daily prayers Libera nos a malo Lord deliver us from evill What evill Ego sum malus libera me a me malo si bonus liberaverit me a malo me a me malo ero de malo bonus so the Father runnes his descant in his 30 Sermon de verbis Apostoli And doubtlesse if wee but ransacke the inward man sift the chinks and crannies of our owne breasts wee must acknowledge with the Apostle That in mee that is in my flesh dwelleth no good and therefore Libera me a malo me a me malo Lord deliver my selfe from my selfe my selfe from that evill in my selfe and my selfe from my selfe that am all evill High thoughts are but the vaine Alarums of the heart and 't is the pride of it that beats them Omnis homo qui sequitur spiritum suum superbus est Every man that followes his owne spirit is a foole we know but why a proud man good Saint Augustine the Father answers putatse aliquid esse cum nihil est He thinkes himselfe something when he is nothing and in such a thought there is both Pride and Folly and this Pride and Folly a very nothing Insomuch that we finde a blessednesse promised to those who are poore in Spirit pauperes Spiritu suo saith the Father divites autem Spiritu divino Serm. 30 de verb. Apost poore in their owne Spirit but rich in the Spirit of the Lord. True humility was ever a step to glory and to a sence and feeling of that Spirit which can either make us to know God or God us or us our selves as we should doe When my spirit was overwhelmed within mee saith David then thou knewest my path Psal 142.3 Quare defecit Spiritus tuus O Martyr in tribulatione posite When thou wert in tribulation O blessed Martyr why was thy spirit so troubled in thee the Father that made the Quaere answers it Vt non mihi arrogem vires meas ut sciam D. Aug. ut supra quod alius in me operatur istam virtutem that I might not be blowne up with a conceite of mine owne spirit not arrogate to my selfe mine owne strength but know that thou art the Fountaine of all vertues and that their streames runne from and by thee who doest only so replenish them and me that out of mine and their bellyes shall flow Rivers of living waters Thus as we are emptied of our own spirit God fils us up with his otherwise when we are full we are but empty still empty as well of knowledge as of grace groap after shadowes and refemblances of things and so are coze'nd with probabilities for truth There is but one certainty upon Earth and that is that there is nothing certaine there and there is but one knowledge in man and that is a great knowledge if he knew it well that hee knowes nothing nothing in himselfe as he should know Nosce teipsum was a wise mans Motto and indeed a hard taske if it be impartially done It is a twisting of our vanities a little closer a bringing of our selves within our selves that we may say we are men indeed that is understand our selves weigh our actions with our words and our deportment with our actions and then the Insipiens in the Text hath no reference to us we are Prophets of a diviner straine There are many Plausibilities in the world which passe currently for Gold glitter and spangle hansomely a farre off which brought unto the touch will prove at best but Alchimy or copper meere counterfeite peeces which have stamp and colour right but the mettall is naught Vniversus mundus exercet histrioniam the whole world is a meere Play where he that best dissembles acts best And such a one carries
all 'T were well if such had a hooke put in their Nostrils and a bridle in their jawes that as there is now a generall uniformity in our habit so there may be in our mind and manners too one Heart one Conformity one Obedience I shut up all with the advice of Saint Paul to his Ephesians Since he hath given some Apostles Ephes 4. some Prophets some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministery for the edifying of the body of Christ Be not henceforth any more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftinesse of those whereby they lye in wait to deceive but speaking the truth in love grow up to him in all things which is our head even Christ from whom the whole body fitly joyn'd together and compacted by that which every joynt supplyeth according to the effectuall working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body to the edifying of it selfe in love And therefore if there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfill my joy that yee be like minded having the same love being of one accord and of one judgement end eavouring to keepe the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace knowing that there is but one Body one Spirit one hope of our calling one Faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all 1 Thes 5.23 And Now the very God of peace sanctifie you throughout and I pray God that your whole spirit and soule and body may be preserved blamelesse unto the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ Amen Amen Gloria in excelsis Deo FINIS The Good Pastor A SERMON Ad Clerum Preached at the Primary Visitation of the right Reverend Father in GOD WILLIAM by divine providence Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells At CHARD in SOMMERSET Anno Dom. 1633. By Humphrey Sydenham MATTH 7.15 Cavete vobis a pseudo-Prophetis qui veniunt ad vos in vestimentis ovium sed intrinsicus sunt lupi rapaces LONDON Printed by IOHN BEALE for Humphrey Robinson at the Signe of the Three Pigeons in PAULS Church-yard 1637. TO MY REVEREND AND LEARNED FRIEND Dr. RALEIGH Chaplaine in Ordinary to his Majesty and Rector of Chedsey in Sommerset SIR WOnder not that in such a troope of Dedications I set a Learned Doctour in the Reare for it is my custome in publike Epistles as in my private Letters To remember my choisest Friend in a Postscript Besides you know I am a Divine and no Herauld and therefore should not so much study priority of place as merit or had I done both in these I should have met with no great disparity since vertue was ever thought a companion for bloud and fortune especially in them which can challenge as well an eminency of Descent as Knowledge And therefore to suppose a distance here were but to distinguish men at Ordinaries and make an upper end at a round Table To you then I cannot but send this wandering Pastor of mine who amongst my other Pilgrims abroad hopes to find countenance entertainment frō you and from you in a just claime and interest where like severall streames in a full channell Integritie Learning and Charity meet and what else may speake a Pastor good or a good man glorious In confidence whereof I tender this with my selfe and you can have no more of your best votaries than all assuring you that you have not a truer honourer any where than with Your most respective Friend and Servant HUM SYDENHAM THE GOOD PASTOR JEREM. 3.15 I will give you Pastors according to my heart which shall feede you wich knowledge and understanding GOD is the God of Israel and Israel is now sicke at heart and her Pastors as sicke as Israel Her Diseases are in chiefe two Ignorance and Idolatry and these no lesse fatall than infectious This contagion hath over-spread the Land Numb 1.46 and amongst so many hundred thousands in her Tribes which have bin worshippers of the true God so many that they have bin compar'd to the stars of Heaven for multitude there is but a remnant free seven thousand left that have not bowed to Baal Shee that had so long the affectionate and familiar stile of the Daughter of my people Ezech. 23.3 and in purity preserv'd her Virgin Teats unbruised as the Prophet speakes is at length become the Strumpet of the Nations Vpon every high Mountaine and under every greene Tree Jer. 3.6 shee hath played the Harlot and through the lightnesse of her whoredomes hath committed Adultery with stockes and stones Those Altars which were wont to smoake onely to the Lord of Hostes now cast up their incense to false and imaginary Gods Jer. 7.18 The children gather wood and the Fathers kindle the fire and the women knead the Dough to make Cakes to the Queene of Heaven The Gods of the Ammonite and the Moabite have their Offerings of drinke and bloud when the Mighty One of Iacob hath not so much as a Sheepe or an Oxe for Sacrifice In this great disorder of the Church GOD himselfe will become Bishop and intends a Visitation no lesse severe than speedie and because he will reforme as well as visite he threatneth the deposing of the Old with the choice of a New Priesthood Wherein you may please to observe first the manner of Ordination and that in the Dabo vobis I will send or give you Next the parties to be ordered and they are intitled here to the word Pastores I will give you Pastors Thirdly their Qualification Secundum cor meum Pastors according to my heart Fourthly their Office Pascent vos they shall feed you Lastly the power and manner of that feeding in respect of their mentall endowments Scientiâ and Intelligentia with Knowledge and Vnderstanding Dabo vobis I will give you I Begin this Dabo vobis Pars 1. with the glosse of Stella upon that Mittam vos of Christ to his Disciples Luke 10. Non est omnium se divino ministerio ingerere sed qui a Deodatur eligitur Instead of a Translator here pray take an Apostle who gives us the sence though not the words No man takes this honour to himselfe but hee that is called of God as Aaron was Heb. 5.4 In matters of divine Ministery to runne and not be sent is not to undertake but to invade it which invasion is no lesse bold than dangerous and therefore amongst the Iewes such as prophesied without a Vision were called Dreamers and not Prophets or if Prophets Prophets of the deceit of their owne heart Jer. 23.26 and by the Sword and Famine such Prophets were consumed Ier. 14.15 The Scribe that made a voluntary tender of himselfe to Christ resolving to follow him wherso'ere he went was