to keepe or warily to looke to because flowers or tender plants need care lest they bee blowne downe with a winde or otherwise wronged Upon which grounds Saint p Ber. de concept Christ Voluit concipiflos in flore intra florem id est intra Nazareth ut fieret ipse flos florens id est Nazarenus Bernard thus pleasantly descanteth The sweet flower of Jesse would bee conceived in the wombe of the blessed virgin a most sweet and unblasted flower planted in Nazareth the flower of Galilee that he might budde and become a Nazarene that is a flourishing flower I will adde no more at this time of Nazareth but that as it was said of Archelaus that q Eras Adag Non Euripides ex Archelai sed Archelaus ex Euripidis amicitiâ nomen assequutus est Euripides was not famous for his acquaintance with Archelaus but Archelaus for his acquaintance with Euripides so for ought I ever read Christ was not ennobled by Nazareth but Nazareth honoured nay rather eternized by Christs dwelling in it This Nazareth is situate in Galilee where our Lord first preached the Gospell of the Kingdome and declared the power of his Deity by many signes and wonders and because his Countrey-men shewed least respect to his person and gave least credit to his doctrine it fell out by the just judgement of God in the conquest of Palaestine by the Romanes that the Galileans first smarted for their unbeliefe the whole countrey being spoiled and laid waste by Vespasian From Galilee we returne with our Saviour to Judaea where hee met John and was Baptized of him At the first mention of our Lords baptisme this objection offereth it selfe to every mans conceit The whole need not the Physitian but they that are sicke the cleane need not to be washed but they that are foule the innocent neede not to aske or receive pardon but the guilty why then should the health and salvation of all mankind take this purge why should the immaculate lambe bee washed in the Font why did hee desire the seale of remission of sinnes who knew no sinne neither was there guile found in his mouth 1 S. r Amb. in Luk. 2. Baptizatus est Dominus non mundati volens sed mundare aquas ut ablutae per carnem Christi quae peccatum non novit baptismatis jus haberent Ambrose answereth that our Lord was baptized not that hee might bee cleansed by the water but as was touched before intending thereby to cleanse and sanctifie the water that being washed by Christs flesh it might thereby bee elevated to bee an instrument of the holy Ghost in the spirituall washing of the soule 2 Saint ſ Aug. de bapt Christ Ne homines gravarentur ad baptismum Domini venire cum Dominus ipse non gravaretur ad baptismum servi venire Austine addeth that our Saviour vouchsafed to bee baptized to draw all men to Christian baptisme for why should any refuse to come to the Lords baptisme when the Lord himselfe daigned to come to the baptisme of his servant 3 Saint Jerome assigneth a third reason of Christs receiving baptisme from John viz. that hee might ratifie and give authority to Saint Johns baptisme 4 t Calvin haerm evang Ut certiùs sibi persuadeant fideles se in Christi corp inseri consepeliri cum eo in baptismo ut in novitate vitae resurgant Calvin yeeldeth a fourth reason that the faithfull might bee more assured that they are engraffed into Christ and are buried together with him in baptisme that they may rise up againe with him in newnesse of life But our Saviours reason must stand for all thus it becommeth to fulfill all righteousnesse the righteousnesse of the law hee had fulfilled in that behalfe in being circumcised the eighth day and now hee began to fulfill the righteousnesse of the Gospell The ceremoniall law was in force in Christs infancy which required circumcision and now the Gospell began to bee in force after Johns baptisme circumcision went out and baptisme came in with John therefore it was now requisite that Christ should bee baptized But why should hee bee baptized of John Of John It had beene an office beseeming the first of the Angelicall Hierarchy to lay hands on the head of the Church True but Jesus now came in humility and as hee was in the forme of a servant so hee vouchsafed to bee baptized of a servant The Lord commeth to doe honour to his servant the sunne to bee enlightned by a starre the fountaine to bee washed in his owne streame the roote to receive sappe and moisture from the branch God to receive the Sacrament from man This doth not more set forth our Lords humility than adde to Johns glory And questionlesse a speciall reason that moved our Saviour to receive baptisme from Saint John was to countenance Johns ministry and to give authority to his fellow-labourer and if I may so speake under-workman For John brought stones to Jesus and cut them for the building and Jesus layd them in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem neare himselfe the corner stone John rough-hewed the Jewes with the axe of Gods judgements threatned against them u Mat. 3.10 The axe is layd to the root of the tree c. to cut them downe and cast them into hell-fire unlesse they repented Christ smoothed and polished them with the doctrine of the Gospell that they might bee like * Psal 144.12 the polished corners of the Temple or like the x Lam. 4.7 Nazarites whose polishing was of Saphire John washed the sores of wounded consciences with water as the Jailer did y Act. 16.33 Paul and Silas stripes of body Christ healed them with the ointment of the spirit John cleansed the inward roomes of the soule by the water of baptisme and penitent teares Christ strawed the swept roomes with the flowers of Paradise John began Christ finished John baptized with water Christ with the holy Ghost and with fire Jesus and John resemble the Cherubins in the Arke casting a gracious looke one upon the other Alter in alterius jacientes lumina vultum Jesus like the sunne casteth light upon John and John like a Chrystall glasse reflects it upon him Jesus saith of z Joh. 5.35 John he was a burning and shining lampe John a Joh. 1.34 saith of Jesus This is the Sonne of God Jesus testifieth of John that hee was Elias John of Jesus that hee was the Messias Jesus pointeth to John saying b Mat. 11.9 Behold a Prophet yea and more than a Prophet John to Jesus saying c Joh. 1.29 Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world Jesus commeth to honour John in desiring his baptisme John by putting him back at the first honoureth him the more saying I d Mat. 3.14 have neede to bee baptized of thee and commest thou to me John saith of Jesus e Mat. 3.11 I am not
worthy to beare his shooes Jesus saith of John in effect I account him worthy to lay hands on my head I have gone down the foure former steps and descents of our Saviours humility I am now to descend to the fift which was Christs descending into Jordan and his vouchsafing to accept of the water of that common river to consecrate baptisme in his owne body The Ancients who delighted much in Acrostickes wrote for Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a Fish for if you take the first letters of these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jesus Christ the son of God crucified and joine them together they make the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or mystical Fish is taken by John in the river Jordan and that head before which the Cherubins and Seraphins Caput tremendum potestatibus inclinatur ab homine and all Principalities in heaven bow is bowed by John on earth and dipped under the water in the river Jordan this the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intimateth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is word for word Hee was baptized into the river Jordan Here if you demand with the curious Schoole-Divines why Jordan hath the honour and precedencie of all other rivers why Christ made not choice rather of the Red sea to bee baptized in it as hee fled into Egypt considering the Red sea was an evident type of baptisme For as Pharaoh and his hoste were drowned in the Red sea so all our spirituall enemies are destroyed in the Red sea of Christs blood whereof the waters of baptisme are a figure Wee neede not goe farre for answer the words immediately going before may resolve the point in question Jesus came to bee baptized of John who baptized at this time in Jordan Christ chose not John to baptize him for Jordans sake but Jordan to be baptized in for Johns sake Howbeit it if you will dive deeper into Jordan you may find in it a more remarkable type of baptisme than in the Red sea For as Zeno the Bishop of Verona long agoe observed the Israelites after they had passed the Red sea came into the wildernesse but wee passe through the Red sea of Christs blood over into Paradise The river Jordan was in the children of Israels way to the land of promise so is the water of baptisme in ours to the coelestiall Canaan Shall I adde out of Saint f Aug. ser 2. de Epiph. Sicut aquae Jordanis conversae sunt transeuntibus Israelitis Ita Christo baptizato retrorsum peccata conversa sunt Austine that as the waters of the river Jordan were turned backe when the Israelites passed over it so at this entry of Christ into Jordan the sinnes of all true believers were driven back and the course of our nature turned another way Or out of h Aquinas in suplem Elias divisit aquas Jordanis cum rapiendus esset in coelum quia transeuntibus per aquam baptismi per ignem Spiritus sancti patet aditus in coelum Aquinas that as Elias after he had divided the waters of Jordan was carried up into heaven in a fiery chariot so after wee have parted the waters of the Font in our baptisme through the fire of the holy Spirit wee are carried up by divine contemplation first and after by reall ascention into heaven As I have sprinkled the waters of Jordan on you in the explication of my text so give mee leave in the application to rub and cleanse some sores in you with them 1 Christ travelled over a great part of Palaestine to Jordan to receive Johns baptisme where are they who will not stirre out of doores to receive Christs baptisme Jesus came himselfe to Jordan they will have Jordan by a secret pipe conveyed into their private houses Mistake mee not I beseech you beloved brethren I goe not about to streighten the bowels of our Mother the Church which in great charity and compassion sendeth the water of life in baptisme to infirme infants and the bread of life in the other Sacrament to sicke persons who are not able to fetch them But when the childe is strong the minister provided the congregation assembled if perchance there fall a drop of raine to wet their new set ruffe or there lye any dirt in the street to foule their shooes upon such or the like sleight occasions and frivolous pretences to deprive God of his publike worship the congregation of the spirituall foode the infant of the benefit of the prayers of the whole assembly argueth a great neglect of the solemne worship of God and an insufferable wrong to his Church The Martyrs heretofore could not bee kept from the Church and publike ministry of the Word and Sacraments by feare of haile-shot or bullets these are kept from it by a few drops of raine 2 Jesus was baptized who are they who sleightly esteeme baptisme If the immaculate Lamb were washed in the Font of baptisme how much more ought they to desire to be cleansed therein who are fuller of spots than Leopards If Christ saith S. i Ambros in Luk. Si Christus peccata nostra lavit quanto magis nos lavare peccata nostra convenit si pro nobis Christus lavit imò nos in corpore suo lavit quanto nos magis lavare delicta nostra debemus Ambrose washed for us nay rather washed us in his owne body how much more ought wee to wash our owne sinnes originall in the laver of our baptisme and actuall in the baptisme of teares 3 Jesus vouchsafed to bee baptized of John a man though of admirable gifts and eminent place in the Church yet in comparison of our Saviour hee was not so much as a starre of the sixt magnitude to the sunne where are they who refuse the holy Sacraments from the hands of any minister who is of inferiour place or of meaner gifts at least in their account Doth the potion worke the lesse because the Physitian that administreth it is himselfe crazie doth the plaster lesse heale because it is applyed by an Apothecary that hath a sore hand doth not the lees or sope scoure white which is received from the hand of a blackmore is a piece of coine bee it an Angell or Soveraigne or Jacobus of lesse value if it bee tendered by a beggar They need to be better catechized who know not that the effect of the Sacrament dependeth upon the power and promise of God and right forme of administring it according to his Word and not upon the dignity of the minister 4 Jesus was baptized in the open and common river Jordan where are they who disdaine the common Font No Font will serve them but a Font of gold new made or a silver bason with their armes on it Saint Paul teacheth us that the way to heaven is a hard and rugged a stony and thorny way through many afflictions these thinke to goe to heaven treading all the way upon
erit timor ut mihi perseveranter adhaereant I will put my feare in their hearts that they depart not from me what is it else than to say the feare which I put in their hearts shall be such and so great that they shall assuredly or perseveringly cleave unto me They whose hearts are kept alwaies in this feare need never feare finall Apostacy from God Counterfeit f Sen. de clem l. 1. Nemo potest personam diu ferte ficta cito in naturam suam recidunt things are discovered by their discontinuance variation but true by their lasting That which glareth for a time in the aire and out-braveth the stars even of the first rank or magnitude but after a few daies playeth least in sight is a Comet no true starre Stella cadens non est stella cometa fuit Likewise that which glistereth like gold yet endureth not the fire is Alchymy stuffe no pretious metall The stone that sparkleth like a Diamond yet abideth not the stroke is a cornish or counterfeit not a true orient Diamond It is artificiall complexion and meere painting not true beauty which weareth out in a day and is washed off with a showre Feigned things and false saith the g Cic. de â—sâ—c l. 3. Ficta omnia tanquam slosculi decidunt vera gloria â—adices agiâ— â—que etiam propagatur Oratour soone fall like blossomes true glory taketh root and spreadeth it selfe The truth himselfe our h Joh. 8 31. Lord and Saviour maketh perseverance a certain note of true Disciples If yee continue in my word then are you my Disciples indeed Would any of you know whether he be a true sonne of God and member of Christ he can by no thing so infallibly finde it in himselfe as by the gift of perseverance This St. i 1 Joh. 2.19 John giveth for a touch-stone of a true Apostle They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had beene of us they would have continued with us but they went out that they might bee made manifest that they were not of us Saint Paul of a true k Heb. 3.6 member of Christ or temple of the holy Ghost But Christ is a sonne over his owne house whose house are wee if wee hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firme to the end Saint l Aug. de correp grat c. 9. Tunc verè sunt quod appellantur si manseâ—int in co propter quod sic appellantur Augustine of the true children of God Then they are truely what they are called the sonnes of God if they continue in that for which they are so called The fourth pillar I named unto you was the power of regenerating grace 1 Pet. 1.3 4. whereby wee are begotten againe unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us That which is incorruptible cannot bee destroyed or perish that which is reserved for us cannot be taken away from us Now if any demand what preserveth faith in the soule in such sort that it is never habitually lost though the act thereof be sometimes suspended I answer 1. Outwardly the powerfull ministry of the Word and Sacraments 2. Inwardly renewing grace infused into the soule at the first moment of our conversion This grace is by the holy Ghost termed the * Jam. 1.21 Receive with meeknesse the engraffed word which is able to save your soules engraffed word sometimes the a 1 Joh. 2.27 But the annointing which ye hâ—ve received of him abideth in you and as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him annointing that abideth in us sometimes the b 1 Cor. 3.16 Know ye not that ye are the temples of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you spirit dwelling in us sometimes a c John 4.14 Whosoever drinketh of the water I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of water springing to everlasting life Well of water springing up to everlasting life sometimes Gods d 1 John 3.9 Whosoever is borne of God doth not coÌ„mit sin for his seed remaineth in him seed remaining in us sometimes e 1 Pet. 3.23 Being borne againe not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever incorruptible seed whence we may frame an argument like to that of our Saviours to Nicodemus As f John 3.6 That which is borne of the flesh is flesh but that which is borne of the spirit is spirit that which is borne of corruptible seed is corruptible so that which is borne of incorruptible seed is incorruptible How can he that is borne of incorruptible and spirituall seed be corrupted and dye spiritually how can hee that hath in his belly a Well of ever-springing water thirst eternally how can he in whom the annointing S. John speaketh of abideth putresie in his sinnes how can hee in whom the spirit dwelleth be estranged from the love of God how can he that is borne of God become a childe of the Divell Saint g 1 John 3.9 John strongly argueth against it Whosoever is born of God cannot commit sinne because he is borne of God I conclude this argument with that daring interrogation of Saint h Aug. de bono persev c. 7. Contra tam claram veritatis tubam quis voceâ— ullâ—s auaâ—â—t humanas Austin Against so cleere and loud sounding trumpet of divine truth what man of a sober and watchfull faith will endure to heare any voices or words from man The fifth pillar is Christs prayer for the perseverance of all true beleevers The pillar is like to Jacobs ladder that reacheth from earth to heaven and though heaven and earth be shaken yet this pillar will stand immoveable I know saith Christ that thou i John 16.23 Verely verely I say unto you whatsoever you aske the Father in my name he will give it you O Father hearest mee alwaies If wee obtaine whatsoever we aske for Christs sake shall not Christ obtaine what he asketh for us If the Word of God sustaine the whole frame of nature shall not Christs prayer be able to support a weake Christian Doth God heare the softest voice and lowest sigh and groane of his children upon earth and will he not heare the loud cry of his Sonne in his bosome in heaven What therefore if Sathan seeke to winnow us like wheat Saint k Cypr. de simpl prelat Triticum non rapit ventus manes paleae tempestate jactantur Cyprian biddeth us never to feare blowing away It is empty chaffe that is blowne away with the winde the corne still abides on the floore Shall Sathans fanning bee more powerfull to scatter than Christs prayer to gather us shall any winde of temptation be of more force
worse than perdition to bee saved for ever in these flames to bee ever scorched and never consumed that is to bee ever dying and never dye Here as Saint g Aug. de civit Dei l 13. c. 11. Ibi non erunt homines ante mortem neque post mortem sed semper in morte atque per hoc nunquam viventes nunquam mortui sed sine fine morientes Austine acutely observeth wee can never bee sayd properly dying but either alive or dead for to the moment of giving up the ghost wee are alive and after that dead whereas on the contrary the damned in hell can never bee said to bee alive or dead but continually dying not dead because they have most quicke sense of paine not alive because they are in the pangs of the second death O miserable life where life is continually dying O more miserable death where death is eternally living Yea but shall all be salted with this fire the fire of hell God forbid Doth Christ say of this salt not of the earth but of hell that it is good ver 50. is this the meaning of his exhortation have salt in you that is procure the salt of hell fire to keep you alive in the torments of eternall death to preserve you to everlasting perdition By no meanes h In hunc locum Maldonat therefore and Barradius and all that are for this first interpretation are justly to bee blamed because they had an eye to the antecedents but not to the consequents of my text On the other side those who adhere to the second interpretation are not free from just exception because they had an eye to the consequents and not to the antecedents For wee ought to give such an interpretation of these words as may hold good correspondence both with the antecedents and consequents and either give light to both or receive it from them The elect to whom these latter restraine the word All have nothing to doe with the unquenchable fire of hell mentioned ver 48. neither have the reprobate to whom the former interpreters appropriate these words any thing to doe with the good salt ver 50. yet both have to doe with some kinde of salting and with some kinde of fire For every one shall bee salted one way or other either here with the fire of the spirit seasoning our nature and preserving it from corruption or hereafter with the fire of hell There is no meanes to escape the never dying worme of an evill conscience but by having salt in us nor to prevent the unquenchable fire of hell but by fire from heaven I meane heart-burning sorrow for our sinnes Dolor est medicina doloris That we may not bee hereafter salted with the fire of hell wee must be here salted with a threefold fire of 1 The word 2 The spirit 3 Affliction or persecution First with the fire of the word the word is a fire i Jer. 23.29 Is not my word like a fire saith the Lord It hath the three properties of fire 1 To give light 2 To burne 3 To search First it giveth light therefore Psal 119. it is called a lanthorn to our steps and a light to our paths Secondly it burneth 1 In the eare 2 In the mouth 3 In the heart First in the eare k 1 Sam. 3.11 Whosoever heareth my words saith God his eares shall tingle Secondly it burneth in the mouth l Jerem. 5.14 I will make my words fire in the mouth Thirdly it burneth in the heart m Luk. 24.32 Did not our heart burne within us when hee opened to us the scriptures Lastly it searcheth pierceth and tryeth like fire The n Heb. 4.12 word of God is mighty in operation and sharper than a two-edged sword c. Secondly with the fire of the spirit the spirit is a fire o Act. 1.5 You shall be baptized with the holy Ghost and with fire Water will wash out filthy spots and blots on the skinne onely but fire is more powerfull it will burne out rotten flesh and corrupt matter under the skinne This fire of the holy Ghost enlightneth the understanding with knowledge enflameth the will and affections with the love of God and zeale for his glory and purgeth out all our drossie corruptions Thirdly with the fire of persecution and affliction Persecution is called a p 1 Pet. 4.12 fiery tryall and all kinde of afflictions and temptations wherewith Gods Saints are tryed in Saint Austines judgement are the fire whereof Saint Paul speaketh q 1 Cor. 3.15 He shall be saved as it were through fire And of a truth whatsoever the meaning of that text bee certaine it is that the purest vessels of Gods sanctuary first in the Heathen next in the Arrian and last of all in the Antichristian persecution have beene purified and made glorious like gold tryed in the fire There is no torment can bee devised by man or divell whereof experiments have not beene made on the bodies of Christs martyrs yet the greater part of them especially in these later times have beene offered to God by fire as the Holocausts under the law Bloody persecutors of Gods Saints set on fire with hell of all torments most employed the fiery because they are most dreadfull to the eye of the beholders most painefull to the body of the sufferers and they leave nothing of the burned martyr save ashes which sometimes the adversaries maâ—ice outlasting the flames of fire cast into the river And many of Gods servants in this land as well as in other parts in the memory of our fathers have been salted with this fire call you it whether you please either the fire of martyrdome or martyrdome of fire And howsoever this fire in the dayes of Queen Mary was quenched especially by the blood of the slaine for the testimony of Jesus Christ as the fire in the city of the r Liv. decad 3. l. 8 Bruson facet exempl l. 1. Astapani as Livie observeth when no water could lave it our was extinguished with the blood of the citizens yet wee know not but that it may bee kindled againe unlesse wee blow out the coales of wrath against us with the breath of our prayers or dead them with our teares Admit that that fire should never bee kindled againe yet God hath many other fires to salt us withall burning feavers fiery serpents thunder and lightning heart-burning griefes and sorrowes losse of dearest friends wracke of our estates infamy disgrace vexations oppressions indignation at the prosperity of the wicked terrors of conscience and spirituall derelictions And God grant that either by the fire of the Word or of the Spirit or seasonable afflictions our fleshly corruptions may bee so burned out in this life that wee bee not salted hereafter with the fire of hell which burneth but lighteth not scorcheth but yet consumeth not worketh without end both upon soule and body yet maketh an end of neither O that
they are zealous without discretion some have salt but want fire they are discreet but without zeale The Papists have fire fervent zeale but they want salt direction from Gods word and judgement to discerne betweene reasonable service and will-worship and for want of this salt their devotions are tainted with much superstition The conformable Protestant hath store of salt wholsome directions from Gods word to season his spirituall sacrifices but doth hee not want fire is hee as zealous for Christ as the other is for Anti-christ doth hee contribute as freely to the pure worship of God as the other doth to the garish service of the Masse are his eyes as often fixed on Christ in heaven as the others are on his crucifixe doth hee keepe the Lords day as strictly as the other doth our Ladies and other Saints Although the Papist hath no command for hallowing any day to Saints especially such as wee finde in the Romane Kalendar wee have both the command of God and the injunctions of the Church to devote this day n Homily of the time and place of prayer wholly to the service of God yet how many Clients on this day besiege your doores when you and wee all should bee Clients onely unto God Should God deale so with us in our portion of time on the weeke-dayes as wee deale with him in his should hee restraine the light of the sunne and take away so many houres from every day in the weeke as wee defaulk from his service on this day what darkenesse what out-cryes what horrour what confusion would bee in all the world When o Xen Cyr. paed l. 2. Cyrus was young Sacas was appointed by his Grandfather to bee his moderatour both in his diet recreations and all expence of time but when hee grew riper in yeeres hee became a Sacas to himselfe and tooke not so much liberty as Sacas would have given him Where the law seemeth too laxe there every man ought to bee a Sacas to himselfe and for the health of his soule forbeare something that is permitted to the recreation of his body Againe those who are of the stricter and preciser sort have fire in their invectives against Popery in their reproofe of sinne and their voluntary and extemporary devotions but they want many a graine of salt and therefore offer often times with Nadab and Abihu strange fire upon Gods altar they distinguish not betweene Episcopall Hierarchy and Papall tyranny superstitious rites and comely ceremonies decent ornaments and meretricious painting of Christs spouse They are alwayes Boanerges and seldome or never Barnabasses alwayes Sons of thunder and seldome or never Sons of consolation And when they are Sonnes of thunder and cast forth their lightning it is not like the lightning whereof p Plin. nat hist c. 51. l. 2. Martia gravida icta partu exanimato vixit Pliny writeth which killed Martia's childe in her wombe but hurt not her at all that is destroy sinne in the conscience but no way hurt the person in his reputation but contrariwise they blast the person but kill not the sin Their prayers are all fiery indeed burning with zeale and therein commendable but for want of salt of discretion they make all things fuell for this sacred fire like fire their devotion keeps within no bounds As the ringing so the praying now adayes in request is all upon the changes the round of a set forme is utterly despised and as ringers in the changes so these in their extemporary orisons goe up and downe backward and forward are often at a stand use vaine q Mat. 6.7 repetitions prohibited by our Saviour and by clashing phrases as the Apostle speaketh make r 1 Tim. 1.6 vaine janglings Suffer I beseech you yet one word of exhortation it shall bee but a Monosyllable sal we live in a most t Juven sat 1. Et quando uberior vitiorum copia quando major avaritiae patuit sinus c Nil erit ulterius quod nostris moribus addat Posteritas corrupt age and therefore never more need of salt than now Et vos est is sal you are the salt of the commonwealth as wee of the Church si sal infatuatus fuerit if the salt grow unsavoury through the corruption of heresie bribery simony or vitious living quo salietur wherewith shall it be seasoned I hope it is not so I pray God it bee never so but that wee may bee alwayes like pure and wholsome salt preserving our selves and others from corruption The good will of him who appeared in the fiery bush salt our persons with the fire of the Word Spirit and seasonable Afflictions and season our sacrifices with the salt of faith and discretion that God may have alwayes respect to us and our sacrifice for the merits of Christs infinite sacrifice offered on the Altar of the Crosse To whom c. THE SPIRITUALL BETHESDA A Sermon preached at a Christening in Lambeth Church the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Duke of Buckingham being God-Fathers October 29. Anno Dom. 1619. THE SIXTEENTH SERMON MARKE 1.9 And it came to passe in those dayes that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized of John in Jordan BEing to treate of a subject agreeable to the occasion of our present meeting I have made choice of this Scripture representing unto us the baptisme and if I may so speake the christening of Christ himselfe 1 Because the baptisme of Christ here related by the Evangelist cleansed the holy Font and sanctified the river Jordan and other waters to the spirituall ablution of the soule and fetching out of stains and spots out of the conscience not by the infusion of any supernaturall quality into the water but by annexing a gratious promise to the religious use of the element according to his ordinance For to this end especially as Saint a Aug. Ser. de temp 30. Non ut sibi munditiem acquireret sed ut nobis fluenta purgaret Austine observeth our Saviour would bee baptized To sanctifie the Font in himselfe not to cleanse himselfe in the Font. In which respect wee may rightly tearme Christ his baptisme baptisma baptismatis the christening of baptisme it selfe in as much as our Lord by the descending into the water raised it above it's owne pitch and of a corporall Bath made it a spirituall Laver of an earthly Element an heavenly Sacrament and this I take to bee the riches which that holy Father saith Christ put into the river Jordan in like manner as the Geographers report that the Indians yeerely throw in a great masse of gold and silver into the river Ganges Christs body saith hee b Aug. ser 1. de Epiph. Attactu corpora tinguntur fluenta ditantur vitalemque gratiam non corpus ex flumine sed flumen mutuatur ex corpore was washed and the streame thereby was enriched the body received not vertue from the water but the water from
his body 2 Because Christ was not baptized for himselfe but for us to wash away that filth and corruption which wee draw from the loines of our parents As the cause of his baptisme was in us so the effect was for us hee was baptized corporally in his naturall body that wee might bee baptized spiritually in his mysticall As for himselfe his immaculate conception preserved him from originall corruption and therefore the remedy of baptisme to him in respect of himselfe was needlesse on whom the disease neither had nor could fasten but as for us he had bin before circumcised so for us was he now baptized who believe and are baptized in his name So c Joh. 17.19 For their sakes I sanctifie myselfe that they might be truly sanctified neither pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me throught their word himselfe testifieth As our superfluities were pared off with his knife in circumcision so our spots were washed away with water in baptisme by his baptisme of water wee are cleansed from originall and by his baptisme of blood in the garden and on the crosse from all our actuall sinne When hee went downe into the river hee carried our old man with him and drowned him there in Jordan To which point Saint d Amb. in Luk. Unus mersit sed lavit omnes unus descendit ut ascenderemus omnes unus omnium peccata suscepit ut in illo omnium peccata morerentur Ambrose speaketh as fully as elegantly One dived into the water but he washed all one descended that wee might all ascend one tooke upon him the sinnes of all that hee might destroy the sinnes of all in himselfe 3 Because Christs baptisme was the perfect sampler and patterne of ours For as Christ was washed with water so is a Christian As when Christ was baptized the e Mat. 3.16.17 three persons in the Trinity manifested themselves the Father by a voice from heaven the Sonne by the water the holy Ghost by the dove so likewise in our baptisme the three persons are expresly mentioned In the name of the Father c. Lastly as at Christs baptisme the heavens were opened and the holy Spirit descended on our Saviour in the similitude of a dove so at the christening of the children of the faithfull who are innocent like doves the heavens are opened and the grace of the holy Spirit descendeth upon them and after this their new birth by Water and the Spirit God acknowledgeth them for his Sonnes Thus farre you heare a perfect concord betweene Christs baptisme and ours but in one circumstance which I am now to touch upon there seemeth a discord for Christ was baptized in his perfect age wee in our infancy or nonage In those dayes saith my f Luk. 3.1 Evangelist about the beginning of Johns baptisme which was in the fifteenth yeere of the reigne of Tiberius Caesar vers 23. when Jesus himselfe began to bee about thirty yeeres of age At which circumstance of time the Anabaptists greedily catch as men that are in danger of drowning lay hold on flagges and rotten stakes by the bank side that are not able to support them For though Christ were not baptized till hee came to his perfect age it doth not thence ensue that wee ought 〈…〉 our baptisme so long or that if we were christened in our infancy wee ought to bee baptized againe in our perfect age when wee can give a good account of the hope that is in us after the manner of the Anabaptists For neither was Christ rebaptized neither is Christs case and ours alike Not therefore to lay much stresse upon Aquinas his resolution that Christ was baptized in his perfect age to shew that baptisme maketh a man perfect which is in effect to say that this delay of baptisme in Christ was of a mysticall signification not for our necessary imitation I answer that Christ his example in this case ought to bee no president for us and that for many reasons 1 Our Saviour in his infancy received circumcision which then was in stead of baptisme it being the authenticall seale of Gods covenant and it was not requisite that two broad seales if I may so call them of the King of heaven should bee put to the same deed at the same time both being entire Neither was it convenient that the figure and the verity the type and the antitype the sacrament of the old and of the new should meet at the same period but that there should be a good distance of time between them 2 Christ needed not baptisme at all for himselfe being conceived and borne without sinne and therefore there could be no danger in deferring his baptisme in that regard but wee are conceived and borne in sinne and have no remedy to heale the leprous contagion of our birrh but by being washed in this Jordan which Christ sanctified by his baptisme Wherefore it is no way safe for us to put off this sacrament the onely cure of this malady lest God take us out of this world whilst our filthy scurfe and sores are upon us 3 Christ desired not to bee baptized of John to bee cleansed thereby but either as I shewed before to sanctifie baptisme it selfe or to receive a testimony from the Father and from John and to declare himselfe to the world in which regard hee deferred his baptisme till the time was come when hee should take off the vaile from his face and suffer the rayes of divine majesty to breake forth 4 Our Font is alwayes open or ready to bee opened and the Minister attends to receive the children of the faithfull and dip them in that sacred Laver but in Christs infancy there was neither Baptist nor baptisme Before our Saviour was thirty yeeres of age either Saint John had not his Commission to baptize or at least began not to execute it but as soone as hee tooke upon him that holy office and unsealed the sacred Font and multitudes came to him from all parts In those dayes came Jesus from Galilee and was baptized of John in Jordan Having spoken of the substance Christs baptisme let us now poize the circumstances which are all weighty and beare downe the scale of Christs humility to the ground 1 That Christ in his perfect age should take if I may so speake the festraw into his hand and bee entred in his Primer and receive the token of the first admittance into his owne schoole 2 That he should not expect John to come and tender his service to him but should take a long journey to meet with the Baptist 3 That hee should daigne to let him lay his hands on his head who was not worthy to g Mat. 3.11 untye his shooe that the fountaine of all christianity in whose name wee are all baptized should receive his christendome as wee speake from another and bee baptized in the open and common river Jordan Each of these considerations
addeth a degree of descent to our Saviours humility and consequently a degree of ascent to his glory For there is nothing more glorious than for highest majesty to humble himselfe in the lowest and lowliest manner The h Plin. in Panegyr Curiad summum fastigium nihil superest is uno modo crescere potest si se submiserit tree that is at the highest pitch can no otherwise grow than downeward 1 If Christ would bee baptized why not in his infancy why in his perfect age would hee stoope to the childrens Font or to speake more properly the spirituall Lazars bath in those dayes when hee was about thirty yeeres of age 2 If in that age hee would be baptized to grace and countenance Johns baptisme why yet did hee not send for John to come to him why did hee take a voyage to John why did hee seeke after and runne to his forerunner Jesus came from Galilee 3 If hee would take such a journey to be baptized having no need of baptisme for himselfe to fulfill all righteousnesse for us why would hee not bee baptized by an i Luk. 2.21 His name was called Jesus which was so named of the Angell before hee was conceived in the wombe Angell who first named him Jesus but by John his servant Was baptized of John 4 If hee would bee baptized by a man the rather to prove his manhood or countenance the ministery of man why gave hee not order for some Font of gold to bee made for him in a princely palace why would hee uncloath himselfe in the open ayre and goe downe into the common river Jordan to bee washed there as an ordinary man Why all this but to exalt his glory by humility and to teach us to stoope low when wee enter in at the gate of Christs schoole In those dayes c. Perfection it selfe in his full age taketh the remedy of our imperfections Jesus receiveth baptisme The way it selfe taketh along and tedious journey Jesus came from Nazareth to Galilee The k Leo ser de Epiph Descendere in se fontem foelix unda miratur fountain of all purity is washed And was baptized The Lord and author of baptisme receiveth his owne badge and cognizance from his servant Of John The boundlesse ocean descendeth into the river In Jordan Well might saith Barradius the heavens bee opened that the Angels might behold this wonderfull sight A strange and wonderfull baptisme indeed in which he that was washed was purer than the Font it selfe in which the person is not sanctified by the Sacrament but the Sacrament by the person A strange and wonderfull baptisme in which he is baptized with water who baptizeth with the holy Ghost and with fire A strange and wonderfull baptisme in which the person baptized is the Sonne of God and the two witnesses the Father and the holy Spirit A strange and wonderfull baptisme in which not the Church doore but heaven gates were opened and in stead of a Sermon from the mouth of a mortall man there was heard a voice from heaven saying This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased Observe I beseech you in this and other straines of the sweet harmony of the Evangelists how the Bases and Trebles answer one the other how where they depresse our Saviour most in his humanity there they raise him highest in his divinity In the passages of one and the selfe same story where you finde most pregnant proofes of his infirmity and humility as man there you have also most evident demonstration of his majesty and glory as God What greater humility than to lye for many moneths in the dark prison of the Virgins wombe and to bee borne of a poore handmaid this sheweth him to bee a true man yet what greater glory than to bee conceived of the holy Ghost and to have a regiment of heavenly Souldiers to guard him as it were into the world and a quire of Angels to sing at his birth this demonstrateth him to bee God What greater argument of his humility than to bee borne in an Inne lodged in a Stable and laid in a Manger this sheweth him to bee virum dolorum a man in distresse and great necessity yet what greater glory than to bee manifested by a starre and presented by the Heathen Sages with Gold Frankincense and Myrrhe this demonstrateth him to bee God What greater humility than to bee carried up and downe from place to place by Satan and to bee tempted by that foule fiend this sheweth him to bee a man yet what greater glory than to be attended on and ministred unto by l Mat. 4.11 Then the Divell leaveth him and behold Angels came and ministred unto him Angels in the desart this demonstrateth him to bee God What greater humility than to suffer himselfe to bee taken by the high Priests servants armed with swords and staves against him as if hee had beene a Malefactor this sheweth him to bee a man and that of little or no reputation among the Rulers yet what greater glory than with the breath of his mouth to cast downe those that assaulted him and make them fall m John 18.6 As soone as hee had said unto them I am he they went backward and fell to the ground backeward to the ground in such sort that hee might have trampled them under his feete this demonstrateth him to bee God What greater humility than to bee nailed to the crosse and to dye in torments this sheweth him to bee a mortall man yet what greater glory than at his death to eclipse the sunne and obscure the heavens and move the earth and cleave the rockes and rend the vaile of the Temple from the toppe to the bottome and open graves this demonstrateth him to be God In like manner here in my text what greater testimony of humility than to descend into the river and suffer himselfe to bee baptized by John yet what greater glory than at his baptisme to have the heavens opened and the holy Ghost in a visible shape to descend upon him and God the Father from heaven to acknowledge him for his Sonne this demonstrateth him to bee God But to bound my selfe within the eclipticke line of my text where it followeth Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee Nazareth was a little towne or village in Galilee where our Saviour dwelt with his parents for many yeeres and from his aboad there tooke the appellation of Nazarene This his countrey with his person was highly exalted upon the crosse the Trophee of his victory over the world as appeareth by that inscription Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jewes n Hieron de nom Hebr. Drusius ad voces N. T. comment Steph. interp nom Heb. Nazareth signifieth florem or virgultum ejus a flower or a twigge derived from o Buxlorf epit rad Natsar surculus sic dictus quod custodiâ curâ egeat ne à vento dejiciatur aut frangatur Natsar
glorifie our Father that is in heaven To represent this outward purity and integrity of the Saints to the y Apoc. 19.8 wife of the Lambe it was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linnen cleane and white for the fine linnen saith St. John is the righteousnesse of Saints As vertue in z Arist ethic l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristotles time was the character of a Grecian and vice of a Barbarian so in the first and best ages of the Church a Christian was distinguished from a Heathen by his innocency and charity they suffered all they offered no wrong they visited the sicke how infectious soever the disease was they defended the fatherlesse and the widow and kept themselves unspotted of the world the light of their good workes so dazled the eyes of the Infidels that even malice it selfe confessed them to be good men a Tert. in Apolog. Bonus Caius tantummodo malus quod Christianus Caius is an honest man hee hath but one fault that he is a Christian I could love Seius with all my heart setting aside his religion Such speeches Tertullian over-heard the Gentiles use concerning those innocent lambes in his dayes which were dayly sacrificed by the Roman Emperours Doubtlesse as the purer bloud in the veines causeth a better colour and complexion in the outward parts so the purer the faith and religion is it begetteth alwayes in all the sincere professours thereof a holier life and conversation You will object that as when a law was made among the Romans that chast Matrons should weare a kind of girdle to distinguish them from b Bodin de rep Curtizans that all the Curtizans in Rome though never so dissolute got on those girdles so that if outward conformity and purity in conversation be given for a note of a Saint that many Hypocrites Heretickes and Schismatikes will lay a faire claime to sanctity For Priscillian was of a most strict life Novatus outstripped most catholike Bishops in outward appearance and semblance of holinesse John of Constantinople who first usurped the title of universall Bishop for his continuall fasting and praying was sirnamed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jejunator the Faster but I answer with c Lib. 2. de anima Non urit ignis pictus nec rugit leo marmoreus Lodovicus Vives Paint a fire most artificially yet it will not burn it may deceive the sight but not the touch Cut the proportion of a Lion in marble or carve it in wood and lay live colours upon it yet be confident this wooden or marble Lion wil never roare much lesse devoure The grapes which Zeuxis painted had the colour but not the taste of grapes a glow worme hath the light but not the heat of fire a counterfeit stone hath the lustre but not the vertue of a pretious stone hypocrisie heresie and schisme have the vizard but not the face of holinesse their outward conformity and seeming sanctity differeth from theirs who are holy ones indeed in three things 1 It is not sincere 2 Not entire 3 It is not permanent or constant 1 It is not sincere pone in pectore dextram nil calet though their veines swell and their faces be as red as bloud as if they were all fire and made of zeale yet if you could put your hand into their bowels you should find their heart either but key cold or luke warm like a false gemme in which the light is in the outside onely and not in the body of the stone Such is their zeale and precise purity in which they will streine at the gnat of a ceremony and harmelesse custome in publike and yet swallow a Camel of ougly heresie or beastly sensuality or biting usury or abominable sacriledge in private b Prov. 30.12 They are a generation pure in their owne eyes but yet are not washed from their filthinesse they as St. c Greg. mor. in Job l. 34. Quasi habitam sanctitatem ante oculus hominum videntur amittere sed eam ante oculos Dei nunquam habuerunt Gregory speaketh may seeme in the eyes of men to be cloathed with holinesse but in Gods eyes they are starke naked 2 It is not entire if they are forward in the duties of the first table you shall take them tardy in the duties of the second if they are strict one way you shall finde them loose enough another way like Numa they have a Nymph Aegeria in a corner some private sinne which they hugg in their bosome either of covetousnesse as Seneca or of ambition as John the Faster or wantonnesse as Montanus or fraudulent lying and cousening as Priscillian or spirituall pride and uncharitable censuring of others as Novatus 3 It is not constant their sanctity is like painted beauty which is washed away with a storme or drops over a fire they are true Ephraimites Their d Hos 6.4 goodnesse is as a morning cloud and as the early dew it goeth away their over hot zeale soone slaketh and their charity in time waxeth cold Fained things saith the Oratour like blossomes soone fall or are blowne away with a puffe of winde true vertue taketh root and propagateth it selfe The experience of all times maketh it good that those things which have had but a shew of appearance have had but a thought of continuance We have discerned the Saints by two markes their blew and their white there remaines yet one more their red marke They have died their garments In the bloud of the Lambe that is their owne innocent bloud saith Saint Austin but herein venerable Beda shooteth neerer to the marke They washed their garments and made them white in the bloud of Christ who is the Lambe of God that taketh away the sins of the world Saint e Aug. Serm. 2. de sanct Stolas Martyres laverunt dum membra sua quae oculis insipientium visa sunt poenarum squalore foedare sic potius fuso pro Christo sanguine ab omnibus mundavere contagiis Austin indeed drawes a fine line but without the rules of the text The Martyrs saith hee washed their robes in bloud when they cleansed their members from all contagion by their bloud shed for Christ wherewith in the eyes of fools they seemed to defile and deforme their bodies But neither is it said here they washed their robes in sanguine agnino or sanguine suo but sanguine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Beza well rendereth agni illius they washed not their garments in their owne bloud or lambes bloud simply but f Beza annot in Apoc. the bloud of that lambe who ver 17. shall feede them and leade them unto living fountaines of waters Neither is it the bloud which we shed for Christ but the bloud which Christ shed for us that g John 1.7 cleanseth us from all sin It is true that the bloud of Martyrs shed for the testimony of the Gospell is a most acceptable sacrifice unto God yet
temptations by his constant perseverance unto the end Obser 1 It is said to him that overcommeth to include our labour and industry yet it is added I will give to exclude merit 2 It is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to him that is to every one for an indefinite propofition in materiâ necessariâ is equivalent to an universall to teach us that the promises of the Gospel are generall yet to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to him that overcommeth to shew us that this generality is conditionall 3 The Spirit saith not to him that fighteth but to him that overcommeth All vertues adorne a Christian but perseverance alone crowneth him 4 To him that overcommeth the Spirit saith not I will give to see but to eat of the hidden Manna and receive the white stone with the new name Our eternall happinesse consisteth not in the bare contemplation but fruition of the hidden Manna the white stone and the new name 5 It is not Manna simply but the hidden Manna nor a stone but a white stone nor a name but a new name every subject hath here his adjunct every face his shadow every letter his flourish every diamond his foile every kind his quality All Manna is not the hidden what is this hidden Manna All pretious stones are not the white what is this white stone All names are not new names what is this new name O thou who hast the key of David and openest and no man shutteth open the treasure of this Scripture that we may see what heavenly mysteries lie in this hidden Manna are engraven in this white stone and character'd in this new name Obser 1 The prophecies in the Old and New Testament like the Cherubins in the Arke looke one upon the other Alter in alterius jacientes lumina vultum You shall hardly light upon any vision or revelation in this booke concerning the succeeding estate of the Church which hath not some kind of reference to the predictions of the ancient Prophets of things already accomplished God to whom all things past and future are eternally present in his infinite wisedome hath so fitted latter events to former presidents that the same perspectives of Propheticall visions for the most part in which holy men under the law saw things now long past serve St. John to represent unto him the image of the last times even till our Lords second comming For brevity sake at this time I will instance onely in my text where every word is a relative The first vincenti referreth you to Job 7.1 Is not the life of man a warfare upon earth The second Dabo I will give to Luke 12.32 It is your Fathers pleasure to give you a kingdome The third Manna absconditum the hidden Manna to Exod. 16.33 Take a pot and put an Omer full of Manna therein and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations The fourth Calculum candidum the white stone to Esay 28.16 Behold I lay in Zion a tried stone a pretious stone The fift novum Nomen a new name to Esay 62.2 And thou shalt be called by a new name Christ who hath overcome the world under these metaphors looking to foregoing prophesies and promises incourageth all Christians like valiant Souldiers to follow him setting before them all spirituall delicacies implyed in the hidden Manna all treasures in the white stone all true honour in the new name To him that overcommeth pleasure and abstaines from sinfull delights I will give hidden Manna To him that overcommeth covetousnesse and esteemeth not of worldly wealth and earthly treasure I will give a white stone To him that overcommeth ambition and seeketh not for a name upon earth I will give a new name written in heaven In many other texts the letter is easie but the spirituall meaning difficult but on the contrary in this the spirituall meaning is facile and out of question but the letter is much controverted For some contend that the metaphor is here taken from the manner of feasting great Personages wherein the Prince Ambassadour or great States-man is entertained with rare and reserved dainties served in under covered dishes and after the last course hath a medall or a stone with his name engraven in it and a posie given unto him which because he carrieth away with him and keepeth it as a memoriall of his honourable entertainement the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this is Alcasar his conceit Others place the Scene if I may so speake in a Greene where he that out-runneth the rest receiveth a white stone this is Aretus his ghesse A third sort of Expositors runne upon a pitched field which he that wanne had his victory with his name entred into the Roman Fasti with a white stone this is Sixtus Senensis his interpretation But the most of our later Commentatours imagine that Christ had an eye to the Roman Judiciall proceedings in their Courts in which he that overcame his accuser and had the better of the cause was absolved by the Judges casting white stones into an urne or pitcher Mos erat antiquis niveis atrisque lapillis His damnare reos illis absolvere culpâ But sith wee have the Jewell let us not much trouble our selves about the casket let us not contend about the shell but rather taste the kernell Obser 2 To him that is to every one As Dido at the building of Carthage offered like priviledges to the Tyrians and Trojans saying a Virg. Aen. 4. Tros Tyriusque mihi nullo discrimine agetur so Christ in the building of the spirituall Jerusalem which is his Church putteth no difference betweene Jew and Gentile but propoundeth salvation upon like conditions of repentance and faith unto all At his incarnation he tooke not upon him the singular person of any man but the common nature of all men and accordingly offered himselfe a surety for all mankinde laying downe a sufficient ransome for all and inviting all by the hand of faith to take so much as may serve to free themselves and satisfie for their debt b Esay 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth saith the Prophet come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy ye wine and milke without money and without price c John 7.37 If any man thirst saith our Saviour let him come unto me and drinke He that beleeveth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water d Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavie laden and I will give you rest e Apoc. 3.20 Behold I stand at the doore and knocke if any man heare my voyce and open the doore I will come in to him and will sup with him In the law of Moses there is a great difference between the Jew and the Gentile but in Christ there is none at all we who were sometimes farre off are made nigh by
oftentimes withhold his rod from his dearest children To speake nothing of the reliques of originall sin in us after Baptisme which like cindars are still apt to set on fire Gods wrath and like an aguish matter left after a fit still cause new paroxysmes of Gods judgements ease it selfe and rest casteth us into a dead sleep of security which we are never thoroughly awaked of till God smite us on the side as the d Acts 12.7 Angel did Peter Prosperity and a sequence of temporall blessings like fatnesse in the soyle breed in the mind a kind of ranknesse which the sorrowes of afflictions eate out Moreover worldly pleasures distemper the taste of the soule so that it cannot rellish wholsome food which evill is cured by drinking deep in the cup of teares Neither seemeth it to stand with the justice of God that they who are to triumph in heaven should performe no worthy service in his battels upon the earth It is too great ambition for any Christian to desire two heavens and to attaine greater happinesse than our Lord and King who tooke his crosse in his way to his Kingdome and was crowned with thornes before hee was crowned with glory e Lact. div instit Lactantius rightly observeth Bonis brevibus mala aeterna malis brevibus bona aeterna succedunt that we are put to our choice either to passe from momentary pleasures to everlasting paines or to passe from momentary paines to everlasting pleasures either to forgoe transitory delights for eternall joyes or to buy the pleasures of sinne for a season at the deare rate of everlasting torments Were there no necessity of justice that they who are to receive a superexcellent weight of glory should beare heavie crosses in this life nor congruity of reason that they who are to be satisfied with celestiall dainties should fast here and taste of bitter sorrowes that they might better rellish their future banquet yet it were an indecorum at least that the Captaine should beare all the brunt and endure all the hardnesse and the common souldier endure nothing that the head should be crowned with thornes and the members softly arrayed that the head should be spit upon and the members have sweet oyntments poured on them Wherefore Saint Paul teacheth us that all whom God fore-knew he predestinated to be made conformable to the f Rom. 8.29 image of his Sonne who was so disfigured with buffets stripes blowes and wounds that the Prophet saith he had no g Esa 53.2 forme in him What himselfe spake of the children of Zebedee appertaines to us all Ye shall h Mat. 20.22 drink of my cup and be baptized with the baptisme wherewith I am baptized withall By baptisme he meaneth not to be dipped only in the waters of Marah but to be plunged in them over head and eares as the ancient manner of baptisme was He who was nailed to the Crosse for us will have us take up our i Mat. 10.38 crosse and follow him He that endured so much to shew his love to us will have us in some sort to answer him in love which as it is a passion so it is tryed rather by passions than by actions in which respect we must not only doe but suffer for his sake that our love may be compleat both in parts and degrees To you it is k Phil. 1.29 given saith Saint Paul not only to beleeve in him but to suffer for his sake For he l 1 Pet. 2.21 suffered for us giving us an example Should he have suffered all for us and as he tooke away all sinne so all suffering from us carrying away all crosses and tribulations with him patience should not have had her worke among other divine vertues and graces and thereby our crowne of glory should have wanted one most faire and rich jewell Wherefore God who is all goodnesse desirous to make us partakers of all the goodnesse which our nature is capable of by the misery of his distressed members giveth matter for our charity and compassion by our continuall temptations matter for faith by conflicts with heretickes and persecuters matter for constancy by the dangers of this life matter for wisedome by our manifold infirmities and frailties matter for humility by chastenings and afflictions matter for patience to worke upon Whether for these or any better reasons best knowne to himselfe it is that our heavenly Father holdeth a heavie hand sometimes over his dearest children certaine it is that few or none of them escape his stroake he chasteneth as many as hee loveth or as wee reade Hebr. 12.6 hee scourgeth every sonne whom hee receiveth therefore all that n 2 Tim. 3.12 will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer affliction Afflictions are in our way to heaven for wee must through many o Acts 14.22 afflictions enter into the Kingdome of God Before wee sing the song of Moses and the servants of God we are to swimme through a sea of burning glasse the sea is this present life swelling with pride wan with envie boyling with wrath deep with fraud and malice foming with luxuriousnesse ebbing and flowing with inconstancy which is here said to be of p Apoc. 15.2 I saw as it were a sea of glasse mingled with fire glasse to signifie the brittle nature thereof and burning to represent the furnace of adversity wherein the godly are still tryed and purified in this world And that we may not thinke that God his rod is for those only who are habes in Christ Jesus let us set before us David and Jeremy the former a man after Gods owne heart the latter a Prophet sanctified from his mothers wombe the former laid his heart a soaking in the brine of afflictions Every q Psal 6.6 night saith hee wash I my bed and water my couch with my teares and r Psal 102.9 I have eaten ashes for bread and teares have been my drinke day and night The other cryeth out in the bitternesse of his soule I am the man that have seen * Lam 3.12 15. affliction in the rod of his indignation Hee hath bent his bow and made mee a marke for his arrowes and hath filled mee with bitternesse and made mee drunke with wormwood Verily Job sipped not of the cup of trembling but tooke such a deep draught that it bereft him in a manner of all sense and put him so far besides himselfe that he curseth the very day of his birth and would have it razed out of the calendar Å¿ Job 3 4 5 6 7. Let that day be darkned let the shadow of death obscure it let it not be joyned to the dayes of the yeer nor let it come within the count of the moneths why dyed I not in my birth why dyed I not when I came out of the wombe Yee heare the loud cryes of Gods children whereby yee perceive they feele oftentimes the smart of their Fathers rod and are
after the act of sinne is committed there is felt in all that have not seared consciences remorse sorrow feare and shame sorrow for the losse of Gods favour the jewels of his grace the comforts of the Spirit feare for the guilt of sinne and shame for the filthinesse and turpitude thereof Of these three consisteth compunction which y In verbo compunct Compunctio est humilitas mentis cum lachrymis veniens de recordatione peccati timore judicii S. Isidore defineth to be a dejection of the minde with teares caused by the remembrance of sinne and feare of judgement By z Ex Aquinate in supplement Humilitas mentis inter spem timorem annihilans peccatum nam ut vermis qui nascitur in ligno lignum exest ita dolor ex peccato peccatum ipsum absumit S. Gregorie thus A dejection of the mind full of anxietie betweene feare and hope annihilating or destroying sinne For as the worme which breedeth in the wood consumeth it so saith St Chrysostome the sorrow which ariseth from sinne consumeth and destroyeth it Pia proles hoc ipso quod devoret matrem An happie issue in this onely that it eateth out the heart of the parent Thus I have pricked you out to use the phrase of the Musitians a lesson of compunction which though it be a sad pavin to the outward man yet it is a merrie galliard to the inward The physicke which kindly worketh and maketh the patient heart-sicke for the present yet much comforteth him out of assured hope that the present pain will bring future ease help The smarting plaister is the most wholsome such is that I have spread by the amplification of my Text and now I am to lay it to by the application thereof If compunction of the heart be the true marke of a penitent let the eye of our soule look into our heart and see whether we can find it there If we find it we may take comfort in it if we find it not we may be sure we are no true converts There is no vertue in the physick if it paine us not no force in the plaister if it smart not the dis-located bone is not brought to his place if we felt no pain in the setting it As the colours and shapes which are burnt in glass cannot be obliterated unless the glass be broken all to pieces so neither can the ougly shapes of vices images of Sathan be razed out of the soule unlesse the heart be broken with true contrition Spices when they are bruised and pownded in a mortar yeeld a most fragrant smell O then let us bruise our hearts with true contrition Tertul. de poenitent Miserum est securi cauterio exuri pulvoris alicujus mordacitate cruciari attamen quae per insuaviem medentur emolumento curationis offensam sui excusant praesentem injuriam supervenientis utilitatis gratia commendat that our zealous meditations may be like fragrant spices in the nostrils of God If the Jewes were pricked in heart at the remembrance of Christs suffering if their hearts bled for once crucifying the Lord of life how much more ought ours for crucifying him daily O thinke upon this dearly beloved seriously both in the day and in the night and let it make your beds to swim with teares As often as ye sweare by the wounds of Christ ye teare them wider as often as ye belch out blasphemy against God ye spit upon your Saviours face as often as ye distemper your selves with strong wines ye give him vinegar to drink as often as ye grieve the holy spirit ye pricke his very heart as often as yee unworthily receive the sacrament ye tread his bloud under your feet Me thinks I hear you sobbing and sighing out the words of the Jewes in my Text If these things are so if those sins are so hainous and grievous which we have made so light of Men and brethren what shall we doe I answer you in the words of Saint Peter following Repent and be baptized every one of you not in the font of sweet water in the Church but in the salt water of your teares let your a Cypr. de laps Alto vulneri diligens longa medicina ne desit poenitentia crimine minor non sit sorrow be answerable to your sinfull pleasures and bring forth fruits meet for repentance The wound is deep thrust the tent to the bottome of it your sins have been many and grievous let your teares bee abundant and your sighes many Yee have had a long time of sinning give not over presently your exercises of mortification hold on your strict abstinence your devout prayers your frequent watchings your humble confessions and sad meditations the whole time which the Church hath prescribed you by your sorrow here prevent eternall b Tertul. de poenit Fletu fletum temporali afflictione aeterna supplicia expungite in quantum non peperceritis vobis in tantum vobis parcet Deus lamentations and woe by your remorse of conscience here prevent weeping and gnashing of teeth hereafter by your temporall affliction in this world prevent eternall malediction and endlesse torments of body and soule in hell the lesse you spare your selves in this kind God will spare you so much the more and so much the sooner and easier be reconciled unto you To whom c. CHRISTIAN BROTHER-HOOD A Sermon preached on the second Sunday in Lent THE LXVIII SERMON ACTS 2.37 And they said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles Men and brethren MAny of the ancients write that S. Luke was an excellent limmer and drew the blessed Virgin to the life how true it is that he tooke the picture of the mother of God I know not for the first relaters were Apocryphall writers but sure I am in this text as a table hee setteth forth the children of God in their colours and describeth them by their proper marks which are three 1. In the eare 2. In the heart 3. In the hand 1. The eare-marke is carefull attention when they heard 2. The heart-marke is deepe compunction they were pricked in heart 3. The hand-marke is sollicitous action Men and brethren what shall we doe Wee have already viewed the eares of these converts and found them bored thorow for the perpetuall service of God and hung with the jewels of the Gospel next we searched into their hearts and found them pierced with sorrow for being some way accessarie at least by consent to the death of the Lord of life and now wee are to looke to their hands and see what they will doe or rather what they will not bee willing to doe to make their peace with God and wash away the guilt of spilling his Sonnes bloud Men and brethren what shall we doe Ye heare men and brethren in this close of the verse 1. A courteous compellation which savoureth of 1. Humanity Men. Now they hold
in the children of his love than the mutuall love of his children one to another n Mat. 23.8 Ye are all brethren love therefore as brethren be pitifull be courteous not rendering evill for evill nor railing for railing but contrariwise o 1 Pet 3.8 9. blessing knowing that yee are thereunto called that yee should inherit a blessing As beames of the same sunne let us meet in the center of light as rivelets of the same spring joyne in the source of grace as sprigs on the same root or twins on the same stalke sticke alwaies together Such was the love of the Saints of God in old time that their hearts were knit one to the other yea which is more All the beleevers had but p Acts 4.32 The multitude of them that beleeved were of one heart of one soule one heart But such love is not now to be found in our bookes much lesse in our conversations we hardly beleeve there can be such love in beleevers we seem not to be of their race wee seem rather to be descended many of us from Coelius who could not be quiet if he were not in quarrells who was angry if he were not provoked to anger whose motto was Dic aliquid ut duo simus Say or doe something that we may be two or from Sylla of whom Valerius Maximus writeth that it was a great question whether he or his malice first expired for he died railing and railed dying or of Eteocles and Polynices who as they warred all their life so after a sort they expressed their discord and dissention after their death for at their funerals the flame of the dead corpses parted asunder when they were burned When the Son of man commeth shall hee find q Luke 18.8 faith on the earth saith our Saviour I feare we may demand rather shall he find charity on the earth All the true family of love may seem to be extinct for the greater part of men as if they had been baptized in the waters of strife from the font to their tomb-stone are in continuall frettings vexings quarrells schisme and faction Turba gravis paci placidaeque inimica quieti But let these Salamanders which live perpetually in the fire of contention take heed lest without speedy repentance they be cast into the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone forever If r Mat. 5.9 blessed are the peace-makers for they shall be called the children of God cursed are all make-bates for they shall be called the children of the wicked one If the fruits of ſ Jam. 3.18 righteousnesse are sowne in peace of them that make peace certainly the fruits of iniquity are sowne in contention by them that stirre up strife and contention If they that sow t Pro. 6.16 19. These sixe things doth the Lord hate yea seven are abomination unto him a false witnesse that speaketh lies and he that soweth discord among brethren discord among brethren are an abomination to the Lord they that plant love and set concord are his chiefe delight What u Cic. tusc 1. Optimum non nasci proximum quà m citissimè mori Silenus spake of the life of man The best thing was not to be borne the next to dye as soone as might be may bee fitly applyed to all quarrells and contentions among Christian brethren it is the happiest thing of all that such dissentions never see light the next is if they arise and come into the Christian world that they dye suddenly after their birth at the most let them be but like those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 small creatures Aristotle speaketh of whose life exceedeth not a summers day Let not the * Ephes 4.26 sun goe down upon our wrath How can we long be at odds and distance if we consider that we are all brethren by both sides For as we call one God our Father so we acknowledge one Church our Mother wee have all sucked the same breasts the Old and New Testaments we are all bred up in the same schoole the schoole of the crosse we are all fed at the same table the Lords board we are all incorporated into one society the communion of Saints and made joynt-heires with our elder brother Christ Jesus of one Kingdome in Heaven If these and the like considerations cannot knit our hearts together in love which is the bond of perfection the Heathen shall rise up in judgement and condemne us x Mart. epig. lib. 1. Si Lucane tibi vel si tibi Tulle darentur Qualia Ledaei fata Lacones habent c. Martial writeth of two brothers between whom there was never any contention but this who should die one for the other Nobilis haec esset pietatis rixa duobus Quod pro fratre mori vellet uterque prior The speech also of Pollux to Castor his brother is remarkable y Mart. epig. lib. 1. Vive tuo frater tempore vive meo I cannot let passe Antiochus who when he heard that his brother Seleuchus who had been up in armes against him died at Galata commanded all the Court to mourne for him but when afterwards hee was more certainly enformed that he was alive and levied a great army against him he commanded all his Commanders and chiefe Captaines to sacrifice to their gods crown themselves with garlands for joy that his brother was alive But above all z Plut. de fraterno amore Euclid shewed in himselfe the true symptomes of brotherly affection who when his brother in his rage made a rash vow Let me not live if I be not revenged of my brother Euclid turnes the speech the contrary way Nay let me not live if I be not reconciled to my brother let me not live if we be not made as good friends as ever before Shall nature be stronger than grace bonds of flesh tie surer than the bonds of the spirit one tie knit hearts together faster than many The a Cic. offic l. 1. Oratour saith Omnes omnium charitates patria complectitur but we may say more truly Omnes omnium charitates Christus complectitur all bonds of love friendship affinity and consanguinity all neernesse and dearnesse all that can make increase or continue love is in Christ Jesus into whose spirit we are all baptized into whose body we are incorporated who in his love sacrificed himselfe to his Fathers justice for us who giveth his body and bloud to us in this sacrament to nourish Christian love in us For therefore we all eate of one bread that we may be made one bread therefore wee are made partakers of his naturall body that wee may be all made one mysticall body and all quickned with one spirit that spirit which raised up our head Christ Jesus from the dead Cui cum Patre c. THE PERPLEXED SOULES QUAERE A Sermon preached on the third Sunday in Lent THE LXIX SERMON ACTS 2.37 What shall we doe THe words of the