Fifty sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London, and elsewhere whereof twenty on the Lords Prayer / by ... Anthony Farindon ... ; the third and last volume, not till now printed ; to which is adjoyned two sermons preached by a friend of the authors, upon his being silenced.

The First SERMON . JEREM. XII . 1. Righteous art thou , O Lord , when I plead with thee : yet let me talk ( or reason the case with thee ) of thy Judgments : Wherefore does the way of the wicked prosper ? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously ?

THE most general Question which hath troubled the world , almost ever since it began , is that great Dispute , concerning the just and equal distribution of temporal blessings ; how to reconcile the prosperity of the wicked , and the miseries of the righteous , with those common Attributes which we assign unto God : how it can consist with the Divine Wisdom and Justice to promote the designs of the ungodly , whom he abhors at the very Soul ; and to crush and bear down those whom he calls by his own Name , stiles his peculiar people , and whom he esteems as the Apple of his Eye : For this objection hath gone through all degrees and qualities of men , high and low , rich and poor , miserable and happy , good and bad : the glorious flourishing and lofty sinner , whom God smiles upon , as Job speaks , he proves there is no Providence from his own success , because he goes smoothly on in his wickedness , without the least check or interruption ; Therefore pride compasses him , therefore he sets his mouth against heaven , and Psal. 73. 9. his tongue walks through the earth , scorning both God and Man . And not only they , but the very people of God too , seeing this unequal dispensation , even they say , How does God know , and is there knowledge in the most v. 11. high , v. 11. Nay , David himself professes , the thought of this came so cross him , as it had almost beat him down : My feet were almost gone , my v. 2. steps had well-nigh slipt , v. 2. of the same Psalm , and he very hardly recovered himself , but breaks out into this amazement , Behold these are the ungodly Psal. 73. 12. who prosper , they encrease in riches ; as if he had said , I lookt to see the righteous upon thrones , and the vertuous gay and flourishing ; but contrary to all expectation , Behold these are the ungodly who prosper , they increase in riches , which makes him cry out in the next verse , Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain ; in vain have I washed my hands in innocency ; a most desperate speech ! and means thus ; Let who will stand upon forms and niceties hereafter ; let who will betray his being and livelyhood to a timorous conscience : I will be scrupulous no longer , no longer shall the formality of Laws and Religion tye me to be undone ; if wickedness only thrives , I can be wicked too : Thus David , thus Habakkuk , and thus the Prophet Jeremy in this Chapter complains , who seeing the falsness and treachery both of his friends and enemies , still prevail against him ; and seeing the conspiracies of those Priests of Anathoth ( where he was born too ) never fail ; though God had told him in the first Chapter , He had made him a defenced City , an iron Pillar , a brazen Wall , and that he would enable him , by his Divine assistance , to oppose the whole Nation ; whilest he , alas , found himself but a Reed shaken with the wind , blown into a prison with every breath of a base Informer : Seeing and considering this cross-dealing , and debating within himself , what this should mean , falls out into this Exclamation ; Righteous art thou , O Lord , when I plead with thee , &c.

Where you have a Proposition or Doctrine laid down , as certain ; and then an Objection rais'd against this Doctrine . The Proposition , Righteous art thou , O Lord , when I plead with thee . The Objection , which seems to oppose it , in these words , Yet let me talk with thee of thy Judgments : Wherefore does the way of the wicked prosper ? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously ?

I begin with the Proposition it self ; Righteous art thou , O Lord , when I Proposition . plead with thee .

Where you may observe the most singular piety and resolution of the Prophet , though Gods design look't never so strange unto him , and seem'd , as it were a meer contradiction , yet still he held fast to his Principle , That God was just , whatsoever became of him or his Cause ; That whensoever he did plead and argue with God concerning his Dispensations , He assured himself thus much before hand , that God would overcome when he was judg'd ; and that his Righteousness , like a glorious Sun , would break through all the clouds of opposition cast about it : Righteous art thou , O Lord , when I plead with thee .

The Prophet did not preposterously conclude God just from the justice of his action ; but , arguing backwards , inferred his proceeding to be just , because he himself is righteous : He does not first examine Gods wayes , and then pronounce him just , because he finds him so , but first takes this as granted , that God is true , be the action what it will : and then afterwards inquires into the Reason of it . And whosoever , in reasoning about Gods actions , shall argue otherwise , or use any other method , will run himself upon many rocks and perplexities , and at last find blasphemy in the conclusion .

For we read of many actions commended in Scripture , so horrid in themselves , as no Orator can invent a colour to excuse them , but because God enjoyn'd them .

Look upon Abrahams offering of his Son Isaac simply by it self , and that will seem a Sacrifice fitter for Moloch then a merciful God , who requireth not so much as a Lamb from our fould ; but the Lord commanded it , and then the Patriarchs obedience stil'd him , for ever after , Gods friend .

Consider the action alone , without other Circumstances , and what a barbarous thing it was for the Israelites to dispossess the Canaanites of their lives and fortunes , who had done them no wrong ; when the very Heathen call'd Alexander , but a more glorious Thief , for doing less ? But God , when their sins were full , had devoted them to slaughter , and then they were call'd the Lords battels .

Davids most bitter curses and execrations would damn a Christian , if he should vomit them out of spleen ; but when the Holy Ghost did dictate them , then they became the raptures of a zealous Prophet .

Think of Rahabs preserving the Spyes by a down-right lye ; Sampson's killing of himself , with divers actions of this nature ; and then let me see him who can name any one thing , which God cannot make lawful , either by doing it himself , or commanding it in others .

And yet it 's a common saying amongst the Civilians and Schoolmen , That some things are in themselves immutable , which God himself cannot alter ; plac'd , as it were , out of Gods reach : as that some things are not evil , because God hath forbidden them , but are bad in their own nature , before God hath laid any command concerning them at all ; robbing God , as it were , of part of his Legislative power , which is to stamp every action , good , or bad , as it seems best to his Divine will and pleasure : Whereas , if you examine it rightly what they say , God , by his Almighty power cannot make such and such actions lawful , proceeds not from any Null-obliquity in the actions themselves , but because we have wrapt them up in irreconcilable terms .

As for instance , God cannot make it lawful for me to commit murder : for it is a plain contradiction , that ever it should be lawful to kill a man unlawfully ; but then God can make it lawful for me to kill any one living , though I have never so neer a relation to him : So again , God cannot make it lawful for me to steal , because to steal is to take away another mans right or property , whilst it is his right ; but God can make it lawful for me to possess my self of any thing which another has , by changing the property , and by giving me a right unto it ; so that we may as infallibly conclude the action just , whatsoever it be , as we can assure our selves that God does it , or authorizes it to be done , though it seems to us never so irregular , and even to contradict the Law of Nature .

Well then does the Prophet Jeremy here lay down this as a Maxim , which he cannot deny , that God is just , though at first sight , the prosperity of the wicked seems to overthrow it ; being if God does it , it must needs be just , because without any more ado God makes every action just by doing it , though we at present cannot find the reason of it .

Why ? what would we have ? would we be Gods our selves , and call the Lord to give us an accompt of all his Actions ? would we appoint him a day to bring in all his Reasons before us , why he deals thus , and thus , with us ? Is this that we desire , with the Prophet here , to dispute the Question with the Almighty , to circumscribe and bound him in , within our limits , to make a circle round about him , which he should not pass , but upon such causes , as our wisdoms shall think fit ? But what a ridiculous thing is it in us , to cry up Gods Councels , as unsearchable ; and fling him off , because we cannot comprehend him ? First to confess his paths past finding out , and then renounce God , because we cannot track him ? How childish does it shew in us , to acknowledge a Lord God , whose wayes are not our wayes , nor his thoughts as our thoughts , and yet bring him to our barr ; set him before our Courts of Justice ; and measure his actions by our line and plummet ▪ which are things of another kind , quite of another nature from Gods , which bear no proportion to them at all : For he who pronounces of Gods actions , according to those rules of Justice we have , is guilty of the same vanity , as if he should measure length by breadth , and judge of colours by sound , which are toto genere diversa , and carry not the least Analogie to one another .

Seneca , in one of his heats , says , He would rather believe Drunkenness a vertue , then Cato vicious for being intemperate ; A speech vain enough , in regard of him to whom he directed it ; but most excellently true , if applyed unto God : For we should rather believe Injustice to be Justice ; that to kill , is to make alive ; to fail our hopes , is to satisfie our longings ; ( as we think of Physicians Medicines , that to poyson , is to restore ) rather then by conceiving otherwise , lay the least imputation upon Gods Truth , because we cannot reconcile his proceedings with our Reason . We do indeed heap up all the glorious titles upon God imaginable , call him the Almighty wise God , the Everlasting Councellor : but in our dealings with him , we do by retail , take them all back again to our selves , and when he comes to exact any duty or obedience from us , which is troublesome ; then we cavil and murmur , as if He had no power at all , but were indeed a meer Idol . How could it happen else , that We , who will trust a Lawyer with our whole Estate , and , without any scruple , give him up all our Deeds and Writings , to manage , as he thinks fit ; yet will not trust our God one moment ? but as soon as ever we apprehend , that things do cross our Interests , presently we fall upon God , accuse his Judgments for the miscarriage , and as much as in us lies , would take the business quite out of his Hand , in seeking , by unlawful means , to preserve our selves ? How ( I say ) can it be else , that we who dare commit our Lives into a Physitians hands , and never question his Method , though he put us to a new pain every hour , as if he studied only how to torment us most ; will yet leave nothing to the Wisdom and disposing of God , without Articles , Conditions , at every turn , exacting an account of his Proceedings ?

When the Jews admir'd how God could possibly lay aside his ancient people , and turn to the Gentiles , whom he never knew , St. Paul , Rom. 9. answers this Question , with another , saying , Who art thou O man , that replyest against God ? As if he had said , suppose I could not assign any Reason for this Action of Gods , would it therefore follow , He were unjust ? 't is God whom thou replyest against ; and thou , who do'st reply , art but a man ; God whose way is in the Whirlwind , and the Clouds are the dust of his feet , Nahum 1. 3. God unsearchable in his Councils , and Man so ignorant , that he knows not whether the ground he treads upon , stands still or moves ; God , whose Thoughts do as far exceed our Thoughts , as the Heavens do the Earth ; nay more , for the distance between us and the highest Star is known , and calculated ; but the distance between us and God passes all Arithmetick ; It is infinite .

Why then should we sawcily pry into the hidden Councels of God ? If he hath let down a Veil before his Holy of Holies , how should we dare to tear it asunder , and prophanely break into his Mysteries ? What ? must we know before we will believe ? have a Demonstration for all God does , to give us satisfaction ? Why , perhaps we shall never answer Zeno's argument against Motion : and shall we therefore sit still all the days of our life , and say , we cannot stir ? perhaps it is impossible to solve Pyrrho's objections against Reality , shall we therefore fondly conceit , that every thing we see , is but an appearance only ? that it is but your fancy , that I seem now to speak , and nothing but your imagination , that you think you hear me ; a●●f our whole life were but one continued Dream ? And is it not as much madness to mistrust the truth and faithfulness of God , confirmed by so many Clouds of Witnesses , evinced by so many Ages of Instances , because we cannot answer this one objection against It ; because we cannot see through this one single particular of Providence ?

Why then should we think it any indiscretion , with Abraham , to believe against Hope ? or to be sure ( though we have least reason to expect it ) That the only way for a man to become a great Nation , is to kill his only Child ; and the means to overcome Canaan , was to go alone , and a stranger into it ? Pray , why should we not believe our Saviour , that to save , is to loose ; and to preserve , is to destroy ? Why should we imagine our selves any wiser then St. Paul , who committed his body to God , until the last day , and perswaded himself that God was able to keep it until that day ? 2 Tim. 1. 12. though it past through so many transmutations and changes , into beasts , fowl , and fish ; nay , though it became part of another Man , which is to rise together with him in the same Body ? Yet this seeming contradiction did not startle the Apostle ; He was sure of the thing , though he knew not how it could come to pass ; I know whom I have believed , says the Apostle in the same place . Yet though Almighty God might challenge our Obedience , without giving us account of his matters ; though we ought to conclude the Lord righteous in all his ways , and holy in all his works , when to our eye of flesh he appears neither holy , nor righteous , but rather the contrary ; though our understandings be shallow , and Gods Judgments profound ; though the Well be deep , and we have nothing to draw ; yet God like a most gracious Prince , when he might absolutely command , vouchsafes a reason why we should obey : submitting himself to our slender capacities , he appears at our Barrs , and to settle our wandring thoughts , to leave us quite without excuse ; exposes himself to be impleaded by us , to be judg'd by us , to be examined by us . Which leads me to the Objection , which seems to overthrow the Righteousness of God ; Wherefore does the way of the wicked prosper ? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously ?

The occasion of this Question , I told you , was , because the Prophets adversaries did continually prosper , and had power to do him hurt ; not simply because the wicked prosper'd ; but that by this their prosperity , they had means and opportunity to mischief him ; to smite him with their tongue , by secret whisperings ; and smite him with their fists , to hurry him from one prison to another ; and at last clap him up in the Dungeon , sealing him up there unto unevitable destruction .

Now the Prophet demands of God , in this Question ; why he did not disappoint the plots and contrivances of all those , who had designed his ruine ; being God had sent him as an especial Ambassador to his people ? So as we may resolve the Question into this ; Why does God suffer the wicked to have any Power to oppress the righteous ?

A Question , if we consider the time , in which the Prophet lived , not altogether idle or impertinent ; for he lived under the Law , a Covenant of Works ; unto which God had annexed Blessings and Cursings , in outward appearance , altogether temporal , Deut. 28. But , on the contrary , this Prophet found by sad experience , that he fled from his Enemies , and not they from him ; that not they , but he groped at noon days , being cast into a Dungeon , which was only a larger Sepulchre ; and that the Iron yoke was put upon his , not their necks : all which was contrary to the express words of the promise , as you may read at large in that Chapter : Which made him think God had forgotten to be gracious ; and to ask , wherefore does the way of the wicked prosper ? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously ?

Nevertheless , had the Prophet consider'd with himself rightly , he would not have thought this so strange a thing , even under the Law , where God seems to set bounds and terms , even to his Almighty power , and to confine his absolute Dominion and Royalty over the Creature , by making Promises , Oaths and Contracts with his People : Yet he never pass'd away the Land of Canaan , or any thing in it , so absolutely , but that still he reserv'd the title and propriety of it to himself : All souls are mine , saith the Lord , And the Land shall not be sold for ever , for the Land is mine , and ye are sojourners and strangers with me , Levit. 25. 23. God granted the use of it to them , yet kept still the Right and full disposal of it to himself : for the Lord calls them ( for all this Grant ) but sojourners and strangers , who held what they possest , under God , and continued in it no longer then he gave them leave , from whom he might take it away , and bestow it on whom he pleased : And truly , if we allow God the power but of a temporal Prince , and grant him to be King of Israel only ; we must allow him the liberty of changing , altering , and dispensing with his own Laws : For we read how Nebuchadnezzar might slay whom he would , and whom he would he might keep alive within his own Realms , set up whom he would , and whom he would he might put down , Dan. 5. 3. And least you might imagine such an unlimited power , over the Subject , unlawful , God is said to give him this power , in the same verse : and can we think , for all his promises , the Lord of the whole Earth may not challenge as much Soveraignty , as a Prince but of a single Shire enjoyes ? As then he , in whom the Supream power of a State resides , when he grants out property of life , liberty , and estate to his Subjects , does not by this Charter debar himself the liberty of taking them away again , if the use of the Publick so require ; in like manner God in that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Philo calls the Common-wealth of the Jews , Gods own peculiar Kingdom , where he reigned temporally , as the very Civil Magistrate of that Nation , never ty'd himself up so strictly , by his promises , as that he might not lawfully , for his own glory , and the good of his people , upon some extraordinary cases ( as to purge , to correct , to punish , or for tryal of them ) recal those good things he promised to the Righteous , and confer them upon the wicked : A most clear instance of this absolute Dominion in God , we see , in that under the Law , he punishes frequently one man for another ; nay , a whole Common-wealth for the sin of one man ; and , stranger yet , whole Ages of posterity , for the offence only of one single person : Which proves most evidently , God might , even under the Law ( where the Holy One seem'd most to be limited ) afflict , without any consideration of guilt or demerit , or else the punishment could not have justly past the offenders person . And this consideration , meerly , might have still'd the Prophet from asking this question .

But then that there should be some ( perhaps in this very Congregation ) who when they suffer ( as they think ) unworthily ; some , who call themselves Christians , who demand of God , why he gives them up into the hands of a Tyrant , to suffer what they deserve not ? That such ask it , is a wonder to me far greater then the Question it self : Have you so learn'd Christ ? Pienty , Peace , and Victory over Enemies , these , indeed , were the blessings under the Law , when God did not think fit ( as yet ) to discover fully the Joyes of a better life , he tempted Israel with the bliss of this ; and instead of Heaven , shewed them Canaan : But when it pleased him , by Christ , to reveal unto us a new Heaven , and a New Earth ; a Resurrection and an eternal weight of glory , ready to crown all such as do believe and practise ; then he proposes loss of estate , and loss of friends , poverty , scorn , shame , nakedness , imprisonment , and death it self , to his Disciples : for these , I , these are the blessings of the Gospel ; and by his example he proved them to be so : For what Crown had he , but of Thorns ? what Scepter but of Reeds ? or where was he ever lifted up , but upon the Cross ? Prosperity ? Why , were I to study for an Argument to render a Church suspected for a false One , I would object the outward splendor of it : not that God does not bestow sometimes temporal blessings upon his chosen people , even under the Gospel , to refresh and recover their wearied Spirits after a difficult tryal : But this , I say , is quite besides the promise of the Gospel ; a thing extraordinary in respect of it : Prosperity ? If this proves the goodness of a Cause , how many Arguments can the Turk alledge to assert his Mahomet ? Every battel he wins is a new Objection against us , and every Town he takes in Christendome , he gets ground of us in our Religion also : What would become of the glorious Martyrs , if it should be a blemish to suffer ? Why did St. Paul call his scars , the marks of the Lord Jesus ? which , were this true , they were the stigmata , and brands of guilt : and when the Apostle gloried in his infirmities and troubles , then he did but cry up his own sins : Nay , upon this account , we cannot possibly quit the eternal Son of God , whose whole life was but one continued Passion ; We , we Christians should wonder that wicked men do not alwayes prosper ; We should admire how it comes to pass that they do ever miss of their designs ; that a Traytor does not ever escape Justice , and the Oppressor does not alwayes hold his prey ? Which made some pious Christians to reverence and esteem Affliction so much , to think it so proper and peculiar to a Christian , as many times they have doubted of their Calling and Election , upon no other ground but this , because they did not find themselves miserable enough : therefore for want of others to do it for them , they persecuted their own selves , and gave away their Estates , when no body else would take them from them : Like noble Souldiers , they grew weary of peace and ease ; and like the Fencer in Rome , who was sick when he could venture his life but once a day .

And this is so certain and evident , that , if you examine this Question strictly , it will appear an Objection rais'd , not out of any desire to clear Gods Justice , or that true Holiness might be promoted upon the Earth , or out of any consideration that concerns the glory of God , but meerly out of Calamity , and a By-respect of our own , which I shall shew you plainly , and then the Objection will fall to the ground of it self .

As first , Men ask this Question , Why do the wicked prosper , because we do not see the usefulness of Affliction , nor sufficiently apprehend what rare and admirable effects it doth produce : which , amongst the rest , is Patience : 't is something indeed , when a sinner suffers the punishment he hath deserved meekly and humbly ; yet he that dares sin , durst likewise , if he could , resist the punishment due to that sin ; and when he doth suffer , who doth the sinner oblige in suffering ? Not God ; for it troubles him to punish ; He swears , as he lives , he would not do it ? What praise is it , what glory is it , if , when you be buffeted for your faults , you endure it patiently , says the Apostle , 1 Pet. 2. 20. No : this only is true Patience , Patience indeed , when we suffer for doing well : And , pray tell me , How can men bear injuries , if there be no wicked men to do them ? or how could a man loose his own , were there no violence to wrest it out of his hands ? If you suppose a robbery , you must suppose a Thief too ; where there is a Rebellion , there must be a Rebel , and a Traytour , where there is a Treason , for he that is born of God cannot sin , 1 John 3. 9. He , such an one , cannot be the Instrument of any wrong ; for when he does unrighteously , he ceases to be righteous : Abel would never have killed Cain , nor would the Israelites have oppressed Pharaoh : Paul would never have imprisoned the Romans , nor the Martyrs have kill'd their Persecutors ; and so we should have lost all these glorious examples of Constancy and Zeal , if God had not given leave to such wicked acts : lost the very priviledge of a Christian , which he injoyes above the Saints in Heaven , which is to suffer : Nay , had there been no Priests and Elders to take away his life , Christ had not dyed ; and then , as St. Paul argues , You had been yet in your Sins : When we suffer for sin , we do ( as the Latin's , best of all tongues express it ) dare poenas , give in exchange for some unlawful gain , or pleasure , either our body to the Executioner , or our estates to the Exchequer : this is a due debt , which we stand obliged to see satisfied : But when we suffer for doing well , and yet take it patiently , God will in a manner take this as a courtesie from us , as St. Peter implyes , 1 Pet. 2. 20. You need not wonder then , why our Saviour bids his Disciples be exceeding glad at their afflictions ; why Peter and John went away rejoycing when they suffered for the Name of Jesus ? Why St. Paul was so far from fearing it , that he long'd for his dissolution ? Why the Primitive Christians did so much court and admire danger , ruin , and destruction , for thus we glorifie God , and thus he glorifies us again , in accounting us worthy , and admitting us to suffer for his sake , that as the Apostle says , At last we may receive the peaceable fruits of Righteousness .

Besides , if good men were not opprest , we could not have so fair an opportunity to exercise our Charity : I confess we should pity those , whom their own folly hath brought into Calamity , whom Lust and Ryot have cast upon the Bed of Sickness , or whom Pride and Vanity have impoverished and thrown into Prison : But whom the Zeal of Gods house hath eaten up , and consumed , whom strictness of Conscience hath brought low and diminished , who is poor only , because he durst not be rich for fear of doing ill , this is such an Object of Charity , as a man would travel the world to find out , were there not too many nearer home . Our formerly religious Ancestors have run to Jerusalem to view the pretended Reliques of our Saviour , whether true or no : and thought it worth a pilgrimage to fetch a piece of the wood he suffered on , though perhaps it were a chip of the next Block : whereas in sheltring the afflicted , we bring Christ himself into our Houses , for he acknowledges whatsoever is done to his poor suffering Members , is done to himself . It was one of the promises Christ made to his Disciples , that they should alwayes have the poor amongst them , Matth. 26. to assure us , we should never want an opportunity to exercise that most powerful vertue of Charity which can lay so many obligations upon God to hear us , to pardon us , and to reward us both with the blessings of this , and a better life ; so that if you will but consider how much your own Interest does engage you to help and assist the oppressed , you will scarce find in your hearts to call that Liberality , which benefits the Giver more than the Receiver , but rather confess , by dispersing thus , you shew greater Charity to your selves , then to others . For where can you place your money more securely , then when you make God your Debter ? or how can you lay out what you have to greater advantage , then by purchasing Heaven with it ? one would think to build Churches to the honour of God , is a most high piece of Devotion : Melius est hoc facere , says St. Jerome , quàm repositis opibus incubare ; 't is better indeed to bestow our wealth thus , then keep it by only to look upon . The Holy Father speaks slightly of this kind of Charity , in respect of that which relieves the poor , and values one single Alms well placed , as a greater Munificence farr , then the erecting of the most stately Cathedral : For as St. Chrysostome argues upon the same subject , to build Christ a magnificent Palace , and at the same time suffer him himself in his poor Members to wander up and down for want of a lodging ; to offer to his Church a Golden Chalice , and deny him a Cup of cold water ; to cover his Altars with the richest furniture , whilst he himself goes about naked , is just as if you should see a man almost starv'd with cold and hunger , and then instead of feeding , and cloathing him , you should set up a Golden Statue to his honor , and let him pine with hunger : though the other be commendable , yet certainly this expresses our Piety most , when we supply the wants of the Necessitous , and give the poor and needy a good occasion to bless God , and trust to his Providence hereafter ; because thus we build up a Living Temple , which in the Apostles phrase is Every true , and sincere Christian . How much more then should you feed your Minister , who so often has fed you ? who for your sakes , has , with St. Paul , dyed daily , by venturing himself every hour , and by standing continually with his brest quite open to receive every clap of Thunder , that came against him : So that though he be not a Martyr , yet he is a Confessor ( who is next to a Martyr ) because he was ready to dye in this good Cause , though he be yet alive , and God preserve him so : therefore in common Gratitude you ought to assist him now in his distress , seeing his Zeal to keep you stead fast in the true Faith , has brought him into it . Methinks , I say , you should a little consider him now at parting : for the Question is not now , whether Tythes be due Jure Divino , or , whether the Law of the Gospel , as well as the Law of Moses , require you to give such a measure and proportion to your Minister ; but I ask you now whether you will give a man a cup of cold water in the name of a Prophet ? Whether you think your selves bound in conscience , not to let him starve at your doors as useless , whom you have praised and admired so much ? this will be Charity indeed : then you will give , whereas before you did but pay . But on the other side , to say , there goes a good Preacher , 't is pity he hath nothing to live on , to give him the wall , or your hat in the street , and then be glad in your hearts , you are past by him , to drink his health at your full Tables , whil'st he is ready to perish for hunger , to bring him to your very door in a complement , and then turn him out , is the same piece of Charity , as the Apostle mentions , as if one should say to the hungry , get a good meal , or to the naked , put on your cloaths , when he hath none left to cover him : and be sure what you give , give to God , rather then to the man : And be not like the Ravens who fed Elijah , that knew not what glorious thing it was to feed a Prophet .

Secondly , No man asks this Question , Why does the way of the wicked prosper ? but upon a false presumption of his own Righteousness , because , as he conceives , he does not deserve what persecution is laid upon him : and whosoever he be complains thus , if God should lay his sins in order before him proceeding from his evil thoughts , to his evil actions , from his sins of ignorance , to his sins of malice and despight against God , would rather think it reasonable to charge Gods Mercy as too remiss , then his Justice , as too severe . Why does God suffer the wicked to distress the Righteous ? The Supposition is notoriously false ; there hath not happened such a Case since the world began ; If , for any ends of his own , God would afflict a righteous man , he could not possibly find one to exercise this power upon : Perhaps you did never commit Adultery , but did you never cast a lascivious glance ? Perhaps you did never stab a man with your dagger , but did you never run one through with your tongue ? and though you did not kill your Brother , yet have you not been so much as angry with him , without a cause ? Now he that commits the least sin , deserves the Curse , as well as he that commits the greatest , for as St. James excellently gives the reason , for the same God did forbid one , as the other ; and he who stands at the door here , is as well out of the Church , as he who is 1000 miles off , though not so far . He that saith he hath no sin lyes , saith the Apostle ; at the very heart , he lyes ; St. Paul knew nothing by himself , yet for all that he would not quit himself , but refers that wholly to God , He that judges me is the Lord , 1 Cor. 4. 4. who knew his heart better then he himself did : And David cryes out , Cleanse me from my secret sins , O Lord ; Sins which fly our sight , that steal from us in crouds , or borrowed shapes , so slighly , as man ( who is the most absurd flatterer of himself ) cannot discern them : As pride in decency , malice in zeal , hypocrisie in devotion , boasting in charity , covetousness and extortion under the name of providing for our families : wherefore when we meet with those terms of Holy , Just , and Righteous given unto men in Scripture , we must not conceive them so , as if they were absolutely Just , Holy , and Righteous , no more than we can say , there is pure earth , or pure water , without the commixture of any other Element : But when we are said to be innocent , 't is either meant , in foro humano , because the Law of man can take no hold of us , though God , the searcher of all hearts , may ; as St. Paul saith , He was blameless , but not perfect , Phil. 3. Or as righteous Lot in wicked Sodom was , because he loathed to do such horrid things as they did ; though he committed Incest , so soon as ever he came forth ; or else because God seeing our Hearts and Intentions towards him , is pleased to cover our slips and failings with his mercy , as David is said to have done all things well , excepting the matter of Uriah ; not that he could , indeed , clear himself from all guilt ( for whosoever marks his story , will find many foul actions besides this of Uriah ) but because he did not lye dead in any sin but this ; for he had a Child before ever he thought he had committed Adultery .

The Prophet Habakkuk puts the Question into more reasonable terms ; who inquires not Why the wicked should devour the Righteous ? but , Why the wicked should devour the man , who is more righteous then he ? A man may be more righteous , yet not righteous neither : Perhaps he did not deserve it from this , or that man , but from God he did : As David deserved not the disloyalty from Saul , Absolom , and his familiar Friend , yet he deserved so much from God , as it was counted an escape when his Child only lost his Life : The Lord also hath put away thy sin , thou shalt not dye , saith Nathan to him .

But with what face can we complain against God ? We of this sottish and sinful Nation , whose sins are risen so high , as we may very well conclude , we were markt out to fulfill all the wickedness which is to fore-run the day of Judgment . Do we murmur because our fears have compassed us , when our Sins have beset us round about ? A Nation wholly divided between Debauchery and Hypocrisie ; between open profaneness , the Sin of Sodom , and Lying unto God , the Sin of those Priests and Elders which crucified our Saviour : What if our Churches be thrown down , when we have profaned them by our empty formality ? by bringing our Bodies thither , but leaving our minds and hearts fast with some lust at home . This , this was the Idolatry they so often twitted us withal , these were the Images and Pictures we set up in Churches , our empty Bodies that stood here without Souls and Hearts , to attends Gods Service : What ? would we call God to protect Stones and Morter ? when nothing besides zeal , holiness , and fervency of Devotion , these are the Encania , which do sanctifie , consecrate , and make a Temple .

The last thing which moves us to ask this Question , Why the wicked prosper ? is , because we think them in a better condition then they are : Envy not the ungodly , sayes the Psalmist , as if the main ground of our Impatience were our Envy , because we so earnestly dote on these earthly vanities , as we grow mad with such as injoyes them from us , and charge the most righteous God for bestowing them on others , as this very Prophet does in the seventh Chapter , whereas we quite mistake their Condition : The Objection supposes a false thing : For wicked men did never prosper in the world , unless you will call it Happiness for a man to assure Gods wrath upon himself , and to have a liberty to improve his sins , and increase his damnation : and this he does , if you will believe Scripture to be the word of God ; for this , which you call prosperity , engages us most certainly to punishment : The threats of Jonah saved Niniveh , though God had set down the very day , in which he would destroy it : But when we go finely on , in a wicked course of life , when we raise an Estate , by false-dealing , this flatters us to go still further , to put off the evil day far from us , and cause the Seat of violence to draw near us , Amos 6. 3. to pull our Lusts still closer and closer to us , but remove the thought of Gods Judgments farther and farther off , till at last we will not believe that he does see , that he does understand , and , which is worse , till we imagine God approves and blesses our sins , because we thrive by it : like Ephraim , who concluded , God should find no iniquity in all his labours , because he was rich : when , at that very time , he held the ballance of deceit in his hands , Hos. 12. 8. It is the last of Gods Judgments when he throws away the Rod , when he will smite us no more ; when he lays down his pruning knife , and will dress his Vineyard no more ; when he will not pour us out , and wrack us any longer , bus lets us settle upon the Lees , to putrifie and corrupt ; when God gives us over to our vile affections , and delivers us over to Satan already ; when he hath bound up our sins in a bundle , as the Prophet saith , Hos. 13. 12. and laid them by himself , till the day of his Feast , his Sacrifice , his Banquet ; for these are the terms by the which the Scripture expresses Gods laughter , mirth , and jollity , when he means to glut himself with the bloud of his Adversaries .

Again , we do not only assure our Damnation , but encrease it , by our seeming Prosperity , by having power to commit more and more sins , to treasure up wrath , to proceed from evil to evil , to add iniquity to iniquity , and so raise mischief to the height , till God cannot in Honour and Justice spare us , nor Mercy it self save us . How long , O Lord ! O Lord holy and true , dost thou not judge and revenge our bloud upon them that dwell on the earth , 't is the loud cry of the martyred Saints , Rev 6. 11. who receive this answer in the next verse , That they should rest yet for a little season , until their fellow servants also , and their brethren , that should be killed , as they were , should be fulfilled : as long as there remained one Saint to destroy , they should live and govern . That ( as our Saviour tells the Pharisees ) upon them might come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth , even since the beginning of the world : Did men consider this , would they believe wicked men happy , because they laugh and sing ? because they have as many Clyents pressing upon them here , as they shall have worms crowding to them in the Graue ? Alas ! we should rather pity and pray for them , as much , as if we saw them , like the Lunaticks in the Gospel , cutting and tearing their own flesh : For the Lord is not slack , he is but fitting up , and preparing all this while , whetting his Sword , bending his Bow , making ready his Arrows , putting on his Armour , and then the Lord will go out with a shout , as the Psalmist says , and all the world shall say , Verily there is a reward for the Righteous , verily there is a God that judges the earth .

Why then art thou troubled , O my soul , or why art thou disquieted within me ? trust in the Lord , who will yet deliver thee : For the Devil himself cannot so much as stir without Gods leave , as appears by many Examples in Job and the Gospel too , and wicked men are but Gods Instruments , his Hammer , and his Hatchet , as the Prophet Isaiah calls them , with which he cuts , carves , polishes , and works our hearts ; which otherwise would remain rude stone for ever .

Think of this , and it will still the murmuring Spirit when it is within thee , and when ever this Tempter doth assault thee to ask this Question , Wherefore does the way of the wicked prosper ? do as the Prophet does in this Text , Enquire of God , talk and discourse with God ; for it is not the wit of Seneca , the gravity of Plutarch , nor the distinctions of Epictetus , which can solve this Objection , but the Gospel only ; which tells us of a Judgment to come , and a Resurrection , without which , we of all men would be most miserable , as the Apostle himself acknowledges , to let others run away with the profit and pleasure of this world , whilst we brutishly look on , and pine for hunger : Nor , which is worse , let us in our desperate humors go into the house of mirth , to drown the cry of our wants , with the noise of a riotous jollity : What would you forget your miseries ? I thought you had with St. Paul , gloried in your Tribulations , if ye know ye are innocent : then are you miserable indeed , when by your murmuring and repining , you go from one Hell to another ; from poverty here , to eternal torments hereafter .

Oh , rather let me entreat you all to wait , wait , I say , upon God ; do not through your impatience , loose your affliction , and the benefit of that hour , wherein every one of you shall say , It is good for me that I was afflicted ; tarry the Lords leisure ; stand still , and see the salvation of the Lord : For all this will have a good issue , at least , in the other world , if not in this : Where God shall wipe every tear from our eyes , turn our howling into singing , Phil. 1. 12. 13. when he shall bring forth the eternal weight of Glory , which is laid up for all that shall endure unto the end : and so Lord Jesus come quickly .

The Second SERMON . PHIL. IV. 17. Not because I desire a Gift ; but I desire Fruit , that may abound unto your account .

AS that great Philosopher wrote over his School-door , That , none should presume to enter there , unless he had learn'd some Mathematicks : So our Lord and Master , Jesus Christ , requires one Principle of his Disciples likewise , as a necessary qualification , before their admittance into his Church , namely , To resolve before hand thus much , never to regard any thing hereafter besides him , to strip our selves of all earthly considerations whatsoever ; to go continually with our lives and fortunes in our hands , ready in an instant to lay them down , as soon as ever the Lord hath need of them : So as none must dare to follow Christ , without his Cross . Few amongst us but grant all this ; we are ready enough to acknowledge all this , till God comes to prove us . For how pleasant does it seem to discourse of a storm at Sea , under a warmer roof ? of banishment , at home in our own houses ? of imprisonment , as we ride abroad ? to magnifie , extoll , and , as it were , paint the Cross of Christ , with our fine speeches , in our success : but when tribulation begins to appear , we withdraw our shoulders quite from under it : then we stand upon our guard with our poor , slender distinctions , putting by danger , and most dishonourably , shift our selves out of the way , till , at last , we grow to the height of impudence , as to make it a Case of Conscience to renounce the command of God , that we may preserve our selves , though it be by forswearing Christ : a piece of the same valour , as if a man should describe a battel well with his finger in wine upon a Table ; or read some valiant Story with life and vigour , but in the field start at the report of a Gun . Wherefore St. Paul in this Epistle did very providentially , being now a prisoner of Jesus Christ in Rome , exposed to the fury of merciless Nero , who did ryot it in nothing more , then in the bloud and ruin of innocent people ; I say , St. Paul did very wisely encourage the Philippians here , to stand fast , to fear no opposition , but to go on boldly forwards in every work of a Christian , notwithstanding the terrible persecution was now begun . For do you not conceive this advice seasonable to his absent friends , when all his present acquaintance had forsaken him ? as he complains to the Corinthians : For affliction did make the Prophets themselves question Providence , and almost turn'd them Atheists ; affliction hath had power enough to remove rocks , as we find by St. Peter , and to stir that very foundation upon which Christ built his Church : it 's so great a temptation , as Almighty God try'd Abraham , with it ten times , before he would say , he was Faithful . Now that his sufferings might not more prevail upon them , then they did upon himself , by putting them into a fright , least they might suffer the like ; to fix their constancy , he uses these Arguments .

First , As for himself , they should not bemoan him , because , though he was laid in Irons , yet the Word of God was not bound ; the Gospel , that had freer passage by this his confinement : for though his person could never have been admitted into Nero's Palace , yet his afflictions had converted some , even of Caesars houshold , in the first and last Chapters . So that considering the things which happened to him , fell out thus to the furtherance Phil. 1. 12. 13. of the Gospel , they ought to joy with him , because he was in prison , it being only a more convenient place to preach in , where he might be heard the better ; for the voice of his sufferings reached further then his tongue could possibly do .

Then again , in respect of themselves ; why should they complain , if Christ would vouchsafe them the honour to put his own Crown of Thorns upon their Head ? If he would please to exalt them , and lift them up to his own Cross ? they should rather boast and be exceeding glad , for thus they tread his steps whom they profess to follow , in the other Chapters : and afterwards concludes the whole Epistle with a most pathetical acknowledgment of their great Liberality in supplying his present wants .

So that however Origen pleases to taxe St. Pauls writings , as broken , rugged , and unequal ; yet here both his matter and stile glides so smooth and eaven , that we easily see to the very bottom of it . But least these Philippians might mistake the joy he conceiv'd at this their charitable expression towards him , either as proceeding from a covetous desire to fill his pockets , or out of too much carefulness to secure himself against want for the future , he tells them plainly , that indeed , they solely , had contributed to his necessities , of all the Churches besides ; that they had not relieved him , once onely , but once and again , v. 13. that is , very often , according to the Greek Phrase : And , in this , the Apostle applauds them , You have well done , v. 14. of this Chapter . But why ? wherein does the blessedness of this action consist ? in relieving him ? in feeding him ? meerly in feeding his belly ? No : No such matter : But because in parting thus freely with their goods to supply him , they rais'd a bank in Heaven for themselves ; and in giving to him , became far more liberal to themselves , as it follows in my Text : Not because I desire a gift , but I desire fruit that may abound unto your account .

Where you see the Philippians liberality , at the same instant , refused , and accepted by St. Paul : Refus'd under the Notion of a Gift , and as it meerly serv'd his turn ; Not because I desire a Gift : but most gratefully Accepted , as it did respect and benefit those who did give , expressed in these words , but I desire fruit , that may abound to your account .

I begin first to consider the Philippians liberality towards the Apostle , under the Notion as he refuses it , namely , as a Gift ; Not that I desire a Gift .

A Gift ? A Gift does he say ? Why ? suppose he had indeed received their liberality , as a maintenance for himself to feed and cloath him only ? Suppose he had sent to them particularly for a subsistence from them ? without any regard to the benefit which they should reap by giving : Imagine , I say , the Apostle had expected a most speedy return from them , meerly that he himself might live : Yet could they look upon their Bounty , as a meer Gratuity , or a thing given away ? Or , indeed , could they boast of any more done , then they stood bound to do ? Will you perswade me St. Paul even in this had desired a Gift ? You acknowledge your selves obliged to discharge the Bills of Fare ; though they cost you as much again in Physick to cure the surfeits you got by them ? 't is a just and a due debt , which your wantonness in apparel hath contracted , and this you must quit , though you sell half your land for 't : and you think you wrong and neglect your selves extreamly , if you don't prove your Hearts with the madness of Mirth , and the folly of Pleasure , whatsoever it costs you : 't is just and noble to pay to your Lusts ; nothing but right to feed them : But to feed the hungry ; to cloath the naked ; to House him who knows not where to lay his head ; to perform all those Acts of Charity which stile us Christians , more then Faith it self , as St. Paul acknowledges ; This , of all things , we 1 Cor. 13. 13. esteem indifferent , accompting what we lay down here , as given , or rather , thrown away . 'T is true , St. Paul could not have su'd them , had they sent him nothing : for in those times of persecution , what Court of Justice stood open for poor Christians , but to condemn them ? Or how can you imagine this Apostle should be suffer'd to accuse another , who was not permitted to defend Himself ? especially recover maintenance by the Judgment of those men who did not think him worthy to live ? yet still notwithstanding all this , in those very days , where it was death to relieve a Christian , where , whosoever put forth his hand to succour them , did in a manner , stab himself ; yet then in relieving , they did but pay St. Paul what they ow'd Him ; nor so much gave an Alms , as they stroke out a Debt , to which they stood ingaged . For take the Apostle in his private capacity , only as a common Christian ; thus they were bound to relieve him , bound by the Law of Charity ; Mark you the Law of Charity : they are Lawyers , and Philosophers only , who tell you , the Acts of bounty and liberality fall not under the strict rules of Debt , and Obligation : for the Scripture mentions a Law of Charity , and calls Charity the fulfilling of the Law ; as if truly , there were no Law but it : and as all Laws have some punishment , either tacitly implied , or openly annexed , to make them obligatory and binding : so hath also this Law of Charity . For if it be a punishment to be thrown into a lower Hell then Gomorrah , and to suffer more then Sodom ; if it be a punishment at the last day , to be cast by upon Christs left Hand ; to live eternally in utter darkness , without any Light ; besides that of a sinful Conscience ; if it be a punishment for Christ not to own us , when he comes to Judge the world ; if any part of this , singly ; or all put together , deserve the name of punishment ; then , I 'me sure , who receives not a Disciple , feeds not the hungry , cloaths not the naked , will certainly be punished . If I should ask a Lawyer , why I may not commit Murder , or why I must needs satisfie my Creditors ; He 'l presently answer , because I should loose my life for one , and my liberty for my offending in the other : yet I may possibly corrupt the witnesses , bribe the Judge , or by a quirk , fool and out-wit the Statute ; or , it is possible , by using violence successfully , turn the point of the sword upon him who should punish with it : and , pray , where will our Lawyer then fix the obligation ? If I am bound only , because I shall receive a punishment here , when 't is ods , but by my Secrecy , Art or Power , I may escape the penalty of Humane Laws : Why then do we put such stress upon these Laws , which none of us would keep , beyond his conveniency and interest , were there not a power above them , who commands our obedience ? Or why should we say an Alms is not due to a poor man , because he cannot recover it in the Court ? and heedlesly pass by one distressed , and drop no Comfort , because he cannot take out a Writ against us , or because the Jury will not find it ? when God will punish us for our hard heartedness ; God from whose power no wings can carry us ; nor , as the Prophet speaks , Hell it self hide us . They then who admire the Law of the Land so much , and direct their Actions meerly according unto it ; I think , had they lived in Sparta , would have killed both father and mother , because there the Law did not punish parricide .

But may some object : If I am bound to express my Charity to him who Object . needs it ; why should a poor man thank me for my Alms ? for how do I shew any extraordinary kindness unto him in doing my own Duty , in bestowing that on him , which I was obliged to give him ? This seems quite to abolish two of the most noble Vertues among men ; Love and Gratitude : Love , in taking away the sweetness which alone gives it the Relish , by making every charitable Action involuntary ; and not leaving it to our choice , whether we will do good , or no : and then it cuts off all civil acknowledgments between us whatsoever . If I am ty'd to seed the Hungry , why may not they sit down at my Table without Invitation ? and if I must cloath the Naked , why may not he come and demand a Garment of me ? this appears to gain him a Right : for in all civil Commerce between man and man where one is bound to give , another may certainly challenge it as his own .

I answer , This doctrine does neither the one nor the other , neither destroys Answ. Gratitude , nor takes away Love , which must be free and unconstreined . For though God enjoyns me to relieve the oppressed , yet he gives them no power to constrein me : so as a beneficial Act , is an act of meer Indulgence , as to him who cannot enforce it from me ; but a due debt , as towards God , who gave me what I have , for no other end , then to deal it about as he hath commanded ; 't is an Act of Charity and Choice , in regard of him whom we relieve : an Act of Justice and Necessity , in respect of God , who hath enjoyn'd It : and you may easily apprehend somewhat due to a man , when he himself can lay no claim to it . This is no Paradox : I 'le give you an instance ; Suppose you send a present by some Messenger ( as here the Philippians did by Epaphroditus ) and he turns it to another use , and mispends it , so as the present never comes to him for whom you meant it : you see plainly , the money was due to him unto whom you sent it ; yet he shall never recover it by Law , because he never possessed it : but the Owner , he who sent it , shall have a good Action against the Messenger for breach of Trust . In like manner ( for we all are but Stewards to lay out what God gives us , as He shall dispose it ) if I take no notice of the Cry of the poor , when God hath put money in my hand to give him ; though the beggar here can have no relief from any Court of Justice , yet God ( whose Talent I have either hid through Covetousness , or consumed in Prodigality ) will , at the last , exact a most severe accompt of me : For I owe it to God , though I do not to the man : and God challenges the Acts of Charity as such a peculiar debt to himself , as he will not have man so much as know when we pay it , least they may seem to share in it ; but commands us to bestow our benevolence in all secrecy imaginable ; He will scarce allow us our selves to be privy to our own gifts , nor our right hand know , what our left hand gives away .

You see then , without taking in the particular obligation of the Philippians to St. Paul , as their Apostle ( which we shall consider by and by ) that put the case , he had requested some benevolence from them ; yet had he not then beg'd downright , or desir'd a bare Gift : nor could they justly have imputed it to him as a Gratuity only , because in some sense , they were bound to do it , as much as if he had had their bond for it : for God commands us to be charitable ; who is said many times , to leave Heaven , and come down from thence only to judg the poor and needy . No ( my Brethren ) then you give when you grant out a Revenew to one for his close drawing the curtain to an unclean bed ; then you give when you maintain your flatterer high and kicking ; then you give , when , like Judah , you come to pay for your unlawful Lusts , with the pure God , who cannot behold iniquity has forbidden you to contract for : This , this is to give ; but for your Minister , who leads you by the hand to the very gates of Heaven ; who begets you again , not unto a life , which beasts and trees injoy as well as you , but to a spiritual and eternal Being ; would you indeed lay down all that you have at his feet , were you then out of his debt , to whom you owe even your own selves , as St. Paul tells Philemon ?

But then , secondly , St. Paul did not desire a Gift , only to benefit himself , because he wanted nothing : they quite mistook his condition , if they look't upon him as a necessitous person : He might perchance seem dying , when , behold , he liv'd : appear outwardly sorrowful , yet rejoyced alwayes : seem then poor himself , when he had made many rich : and look as if he had nothing , when he possessed all things , 2 Cor. 6. Not that I want , saith the Apostle , a little before my Text ; he would not have them think so meanly of him , as if he needed their Benevolence , though he had nothing , not so much as a roof to shelter him from the weather , were it not for a Prison : And he gives this reason in the same verse , for I have learnt ( saith he ) in whate state soever I am , therewith to be content : I , this is the knowledge which makes us wise , rich , free , happy , every thing , supplies all our wants , and sets us above danger ; to have learnt quietly to submit our selves to God , in all the variety of his dispensations , to be content , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 't is a word which our English will not well express , to be self-sufficient , to have provision within our selves against all accidents ; when a Christian arrives to such a pass , as , like God , he stands in need of nothing in this world , though he can use it , if he hath it , yet doth he not want it , if he hath it not ; neither meat in Famine , nor cloaths in his Nakedness , nor liberty in Prison , but is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , wholly able to preserve himself without those outward helps : This is not to live in the world , Col. 2. 20. to have our Conversation in heaven already , and there discourse with none but God and Angels : Thus we may shame a Tyrant , and puff at his Terrors . For what , I beseech you , can the most subtle in curses invent against such , who call Banishment , a going to travel , Imprisonment , a getting out of a throng ; who say , to dye , is to lye down to sleep ? It is as impossible to torment these , as to confine a Spirit ; or to lay shackles upon that thing which has no Body to bear them : For you must not esteem these kind of expressions , the heat only of a luxuriant wit , because whatever happens in this life is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( as one most excellently calls it ) whose whole being consists meerly in Relation , seems good to such as like it , and evil to such as think the contrary ; just like meat , which though it nourish one , may kill another . His Brethren thought they had sold Joseph into a strange Country to destroy him ; but , he says , God sent him before to provide for their whole Family . So this Apostle collects with himself , that , if he dy'd , he should go to his Saviour , and , if he liv'd , he should serve his Brethren . If he were at liberty , his tongue should preach , but , being in prison , his sufferings did further the Gospel much more : If he met with all friends , they would receive the Truth chearfully , and if he found enemies , they would preach Christ for him , though out of strife and envy : With him to dye was gain , and to live was gain : He took every thing by the right ear , and found some benefit in every condition whatsoever : whether by good report , or by disgrace , whether by the left hand , or by the right , whether by hatred 2 Cor. 6. or out of good will , whether by life or death , if Christ were preached , he lookt no farther , he had his end , that unum necessarium , the advancement of the Gospel , and whatsoever happened besides this , he esteemed as an additional complement which he might very well spare , and yet remain an Apostle still : But now on the other side , what a continued torment is a mans life , without this spiritual carelesness , this holy neglect of our earthly Being ? Then are we born to misery indeed , if a moth , rust , or canker can make us wretched ; If the trouble , which ( as our Saviour says ) belongs to every single day , can sully our mirth , and cast us down ; If every wind and breath of an insulting Tyrant can twirl us about to all points of the Compass ; If we make our selves the shadow of the times , and take both form and figure only as men do Rise , and Set ; like some flowers , if we shut and open just as they shine , or not upon us ; 't were better a Mill-stone were tyed about our neck , and we were cast into the midst of the Sea ( for that would keep us steddy . ) Thus to halt , to be divided , as the word imports , between Heaven and Earth , Light and Darkness , God and Mammon ; It breeds the same deformity in the Soul , as would appear in the Body . If you fancied a man lookt with one ey directly up to the skie , and at the same time pitched the other ey streight down upon the ground ; how ugly would such a one seem unto you ? This , this is the carefulness ; or rather , this denying of Gods Providence , which makes so many desire a gift ; desire it ? Nay , most impudently , make it their whole design and business of their lives , to get it : mounting the Pulpit as they would do a Bank , and there sell of their Drugs for Medicines , when , in truth , they poyson the very Soul : Whence is it else , that they preach their dreams , calling that the word of God , which hits in their heads , when they cannot sleep ? Who bite with their teeth ( as Micha says ) eat on , and talk as the company will have it ; and ( as it follows in the same verse ) who puts not into their mouths , and gives not what they expect , they even prepare a war against him , Micha 3. 5. nay blot him out of their book of life : Doggs ( 't is St. Pauls word to them , or else I durst not use it ) Phil. 3. 2. that divine for money , who will be rich , whose greatest triumph is to lead captive silly women : Men that will help up a sin into your bosome , which otherwise , perhaps , a tender Conscience , would keep down , and set a whole City a fire , and then , like Nero , stand by and play to it : Men , without whom no mischief ever had a beginning , nor by whom shall ever any have an end . Give me leave , I beseech you , to bend this crooked bough as much the other way , and call such to St. Pauls example , who when he was to preach a new Law , preach'd 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Gospel without charge , 1 Cor. 9. who put his hands to work night and day , that they might not receive any thing but from himself ; And I heartily wish , what the Apostle did here of choice , the Civil Magistrate would whip them to : for they are a scandal to their beautiful Profession , to preach Providence , and at the same time scrape together ; as if God , who provides for all things , would have more care of a crow , or the grass of the field , then of man whom he created after his own Image ; as if he who sent forth his Disciples without scrip or penny , did it only to destroy them ; and how shall the people credit those who preach the contempt of the world to their Congregations , when they see these Foxes would only have their Auditors leave the world that they may enjoy it wholly to themselves ; calling that the Kingdom of Christ , when they themselves raign , or rather , when Lust raigns in them ; Whereas St. Paul often urg'd this , as an Argument to confirm his Doctrine , that he took nothing for it .

Thirdly , St. Paul did not desire a Gift , because their Benevolence kept him still alive , heartned his body up and prolong'd his days : which , considering St. Pauls condition was cruel mercy , the greatest injury they could possibly do him , to hold him thus from his Saviour , with whom he long'd to be : For the Apostle had fully weigh'd the poizes both of life and death , & concluded , the most beneficial thing to him , if he lookt only after his own advantage , was Death , having a desire to depart , and be with Christ , which is the better , Phil. 1. 23. For , pray resolve me , what kindness is it to fetch a wretch devoted and given up to affliction , necessity , and distresses , to stripes , imprisonment , tumults , to fasting , watching , and all kind of labours , 2 Cor. 6. to make much of a man only , that he may last out to torment ? to set his joynts , that he may go on upon the rack again ? to strengthen and enable him , that he may suffer yet more ? to bind up his wounds , as they did the Slaves in Rome , meerly that he might fight with more beasts ? This is the same pity , simply so considered ; as if you should give strong Cordials to one irrecoverably sick , to lengthen and draw out his pain , least he should not feel what he endured ? to wake a condemned man , and tell him he must dye ? Evasit , says the Tyrant , of one who had prevented his fury by a timely death ; Evasit , in dying quickly , he has made an escape , he got away , and has out-run me now : for there , in the Grave , the wicked cease from troubling , and there the weary are at rest , Job 3. 13. The prisoner and the oppressor there lye quiet both together , and there , every one is free , in the next verse ; and therefore , if we consider Death , only as a Rest from labour , the Apostle had no reason to be solicitous with what to preserve his life any longer : For we mistake exceedingly , if we think life , as life , is desirable ; for there are some that dig to find a Grave , as much as they would do to discover a Mine , as Job speaks : and God , when he would reward some memorable act of piety Job 3. 21. in a man , takes him out of the way before his Judgments come ; which made the Prophet , when he could not turn away Gods wrath utterly , pray'd the women might have miscarrying wombs ; and the Apostles seeing the persecution begin to rage , advises the Christians not to marry , lest they should 1 Cor. 3. only bring forth to the Sword and Faggot : Now not to be born and death , are , in effect , all one ; they are both equally alike , not to be here .

Again , Imagine the world had treated and dealt kindly with the Apostle , yet then he needed not much care for means , to keep up his life any longer , for he calls himself now , Paul the aged : a time when we might choose death Philem. 9. meerly out of satietie ; because it is tedious to do the same things over and over again so often ; to eat and be a hungry , and then eat again , to sleep and then wake , and then sleep again , to see things still go about in the same circle ; to behold peace breeding luxury , luxury war , and war smooth into peace again ; for is there any thing whereof it might be said , this is new ? Solomon Eccl. 1. 10. asks the Question , who had proved all things , and at last concludes by a particular Induction ( the surest Demonstration of any whatsoever ) That , as the Sun goes round , as the rivers hasten to the Sea from whence they came ; as the wind goes round the points of heaven , and whirls about continually ; so the actions of men have their circuits too : and whatever you wonder at in this or that Age , you may find the same in another , for there is no new thing under the Sun . The Apostles years therefore , he being now grown old , might induce him , not to be much concern'd how he should live , being now full of days , as the Scripture most elegantly expresses it ; having taken a perfect view now of whatever this world can afford ( which requires no long time to look over , for Christ saw it all in a moment , Luke 4. 14. ) and then I know not what a man has to do , but to despise it , and leave it with no more regret , then he would walk out of garden , where he found nothing that liked him : But there is a far higher Contemplation , not only to render living inconsiderable to a Christian , but likewise to ravish our thoughts up from hence , and that is the the promises of the Gospel , where we behold Heaven open , and those eternal Joyes revealed there , which have lain hid ever since the foundations of the Earth . If there were one that killed himself at reading Plato's immortality of the Soul ; If it be true , that there are yet some Heathens , who usually make away themselves upon no other account , but because they would be in heaven ; If natural Reason can cast meer Gentiles into such admiration of that Bliss ; What will you say to St. Paul , who was wrapt up alive into the Third Heavens , and saw what the Saints enjoyed above , though he could not express it when he came back ? with what scorn , do you think , he trod upon the ground afterwards , when the Angel set him down again here ? Who was fain to have a thorn run into 2 Cor. 3. his flesh , before he could find himself to be a Man : can you imagine he would petition for liberty , whose very body seemed a prison to him , till he returned to Christ again ? Or would he sue for a supply , to detain him from that which became his wish , his dissolution ? how would you fret at him who should lengthen the race , when you had almost won it ? or stake the prize yet farther off , when you had almost caught it ? Just such a courtesie is it to relieve him who would dye any way , that he might quickly enjoy his Saviour : 't is but deferring and putting off his happiness the longer , as if an unexpected supply should renew the fight then , when we thought we had now gotten the day ; Take no thought for your life , what you shall eat , or what you shall drink ( says Christ ) surely this precept is needless to the Matth. 6. 25. Disciples of Christ : Me-thinks he should rather allay our desire , then fear of death , who do expect such great things after it : Me-thinks he should rather advise us that we should not out of hasty longing to be in Heaven , neglect the means of continuing our being in this life : But , O you of little faith ! to talk of the blessedness the Saints of God enjoy above , and yet use the most base , abject , and sordid means to live here , and to keep your selves from it : If then we cannot apprehend the Apostles here as a necessitous person , nor any way concern'd to prolong his days by shifting about for maintenance , but rather obliged to leave this world as soon as he could , that he might enjoy a better : We must think of some other Reason why St. Paul entertain'd their Benevolence with such joy : Which leads me to the Consideration under which he accepted their Liberality ; viz. for their sakes , not his own ; But I desire fruit that may abound to your account , &c.

Fruit ! as fruit of their Patience , that they durst own one whom the world had not only laid by , as useless , but tyed up as dangerous ; and fruit of their Love , that they would acknowledge him ; and fruit of their Constancie , that they persevered still to admire the glory of the Gospel , though clouded with so much opposition , as the whole world had now set it up as a mark to shoot at : and as the fruit of their Zeal ; for in sending part of their substance to supply him , they gave testimony that they would part with the whole , and lives , and all , to advance the Kingdom of Christ : and lastly , as fruit of his Ministery , wherein he saw he had not run in vain , suffered in vain , or scattered his seed amongst stones or thorns : for in this he perceived that neither the fears nor love of the world had choaked it ; because , as he tells the Galatians , they neither despised , nor spued him up again Gal. 4. 14. ( as the word imports ) when he was in misery , but in the midst of his distress lookt upon him as an Angel of God ; nay , received him even as Jesus Christ ( as it is in the same verse ) at this he triumphs , at this he rejoyces in the Lord exceedingly , in this Chapter , v. 12. This makes him cry out here , I am full , I abound , not so much for his receiving , as for Gods accepting ; nor because what was sent , came to him , but because it went up into Heaven , like a sweet smell , and of an Alms , because a Sacrifice , in the sixth verse : For indeed , the intention only of the Giver commends the gift ; because a man may give his body to be burned , yet never be a Martyr ; distribute all whatsoever he hath to the poor , yet not be charitable : for he-may send his presents upon a hook to catch some greater thing , like those in the Gospel , who made one feast , that others might invite them to many , and therein he gives to his Covetousness : Or he may give , as he in the Gospel , only to rid himself of an importunate beggar , and then he gives to his ease and quiet : Or again , he may give like the Pharisees , with trumpets , and then he gives to his ambition : Or lastly , he may give , as some preached the Gospel in St. Pauls time , out of strife and contention , not to keep up the Man , but the Faction : as Kings send relief to those whom they hate , only to poize the scales , not that they may overcome , but that they may be in a condition to fight on : But as St. Peter says , their money perish with them , who give to a Disciple , and not in the name of a Disciple , and receive a Prophet , yet not in the name of a Prophet . Plato being asked what God does in Heaven , how he busies and imployes himself there , how he passes away eternity , made this answer , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , He works Geometrically : and in judging of our works of Charity , God most apparently does so : For the proportion of Faith , as St. Paul calls it , in this particular , is meerly Geometrical ; where we must not compare sum with sum , as they do in a market , or value the gift more or less by telling it ; but argue thus , as what he bestows is in proportion to his Estate , so is what I bestow unto mine : And in this sense , you know , the widows two mites were recorded as a more bountiful and a larger present , then if Solomon had thrown the wealth of his Kingdoms into the Treasury . 'T was the Faith therefore from which their Liberality proceeded , which cheared the Apostle in all his distresses ; not the gift it self : Now , says he , we live , if you stand fast in the Lord : This 1 Thes. 3. 8. he call'd a life , not to eat and drink ; for what good would all their presents have done him , if they , for whose sake he professes he would fast all his life time , should have fallen off from him ? If it is not eating and drinking which feeds the Minister , as our Saviour says , He hath meat which the 1 Cor. 9. world knows not of , to hold fast those that stand , lest they fall down , to see the Gospel spread wider and wider ; this is to enrich a true Minister ; to gain whole Territories unto Christ , and to leave them the Land , and to win whole Kingdoms over , not unto himself , but God : Wherefore in the fourth Chapter , v. 1. St. Paul calls these Philippians , whom he had instructed with such success , His Joy , and his Crown : for if there be degrees of Bliss hereafter , as our Saviour , as well as the Prophets , seem to imploy ; if there be certain Lofts and Stories in Heaven ; higher and higher Mansions in that Kingdom , we may not doubt but he who converts a Soul to God , as he is said to encrease the joyes of Heaven by doing it , so certainly he shall partake more of them , and shine as a Star for ever and ever , Dan. 12. 3. But yet the Apostle seems to decline even this consideration likewise of himself , to disclaim any interest of his own in promoting their good , nor to intend in it so much as his own Salvation , Therefore I endure all things for the Elects sake , that they also may obtain Salvation which is in Christ Jesus ( saith the 2 Tim. 2. 10. same Apostle : ) Therefore it might reasonably be presumed , that he ran those many hazards to avoid that terrible woe which he denounces against himself if he preached not the Gospel : But , behold here the last and utmost 1 Cor. 9. expression of Integrity ; he waves this , and as if he could not enjoy that Heaven without them , proposes this as the sole end and design of all his Labors , not to save himself , but them , That they also may obtain the salvation of God ; as if he meant literally , when he said for his Brethren he Rom. 9. 3. could wish himself accursed even from Christ ; and in the manner , here in my Text , He desires their Bounty , not so much as a fruit of their affection towards Him , or as an Act of Christian Charity any otherwise then as it did benefit them to give ; But I desire fruit which may abound to your Account .

Which their Charity to St. Paul produced many ways : As first by striking off a Debt from their Account , to which they stood engaged : for Charity ( as I have shewed you ) is a due Debt , though we cannot sue for it in a Court of Justice , because God alone , not man , hath a Right rigorously to force this Duty from us : But if you look upon St. Paul , as an Apostle , and above an ordinary Christian , what did they owe him then ? For , how did St. Paul grow into want ? was it not for their sakes ? did he not dye , even every day that they might live once for all ? Had he kept his Religion close to himself , and warily shifted faces with every company he met , as Peter does in the second of the Galatians : had he sate quietly at home , and not run from one Country to another , from City to City , from Town to Town , from Village to Village , as if he had been to draw a Map ; or ( which is the sly Providence of this our Age ) had he in his preaching , not only let alone the sore , but smoothed it over ; as praising thrift to a covetous man , and liberality to a prodigal , and commended courage and magnanimity before a stout and sturdy Rebel ; like a politick physician , applying a remedy to the Legg , when the distemper lies in the Head : nay , had St. Paul but used himself that common circumspection and caution , which he allows to others , perhaps he might have been able to relieve some of them : But when he was brought from Judge to Judge , from Prison to Prison , from Court to Court ; suffering that long Catalogue of Torments which he gives us in the Epistle to the Corinthians , till he wearied his persecutors , and till they entreat him to go out of prison , Act. 20. and all , because he taught them the truth sincerely . If we could invent an obligation more binding then a debt , surely you would think that due from them to him ; who had begotten them , nay , who was sacrificed for them , and saved them ; ( for these glorious terms the Apostle gives himself ) saved them ( I say ) not their Bodies from the Grave , but their Souls from Death . O my Brethren , there was a time when men sold all they had , and laid it down at the Apostles feet ; there was a time , even in our memory , when Sacriledg was thought a sin , and men conceived the maintenance of a lawful Clergy , as sacred as their own Revenues : in the time when axes and hammers were lifted up to build , not to break down the carved works of the Sanctuary ; yet something is due still , at least to give a cup of cold water in the name of a Prophet , to hold up their weak hands , and to support their feeble knees with your staff of Bread . For though St. Paul would have worked with his hands now , had they not been lock't up with manicles , rather then prove burdensome to them ( for then was not a time to receive Gifts in the infancy of the Church ) yet he always says , he might claim it as a recompence , that he had power to challenge it ; and proves it by all kind of Arguments : 1 Cor. 9. from Custom , Reason , and Scripture : and least you should pretend the abrogation of this Law by Christ ; the Apostle adds , v. 14. That the Lord hath ordained , that they who preach the Gospel , should live of the Gospel : he hath ordained it , enacted it , and made it a Law for ever ; he hath tied and bound you up to it for ever ; it is not left to your choice and discretion . And our Saviour , when he sends out his Apostles , calls their maintenance their Hire , Mat. 10. 10. as if there did pass a tacite contract and bargain between the Preacher and the Audience , that if he feeds their souls , they should feed his body ; if he gives them the water of life , he may claim a draught from out of their well , as due : and that he who deals the bread of life about , should have , in return , the bread that perishes ; a fair exchange , you 'l say , on your parts ; Carnal for Spiritual things , and a Birth-right that gives you title to become the heirs of God , for a small mess of porridge .

The second advantage we have by Charity is , the Exercise of our Patience before the day of Tryal come upon us . Who ( pray ) among you would leave , at this very instant , his whole Estate to preserve his Conscience , if violence should offer to take it from him ? or who would go immediately from this very place to the stake , if God should call him thither ? but Charity leads us to this perfection ; for whosoever gives away of his own willingly , may come in time , to endure quietly , if it be forced from him : and who can chearfully part with some to relieve his Brethren , will at last arrive so far , as contentedly to loose all , so he may preserve his Conscience . My Brethren , 't is all the business of our Time , Diligence , and Experience to be a Christian : for though God did sometimes extraordinarily pour forth as much of his Spirit into some Vessels of Mercy as enabled them , at once , to become Christians and Martyrs both together , ready to lay down their lives for the Faith as soon as ever they did believe : Yet 't is said of Christ , that notwithstanding he was a Son , yet learnt he obedience by the things which he suffered , Heb. 5. 8. He learnt it : Let others learn to measure the Earth , do you learn to despise it : and let Philosophers dispute the causes of lightnings , storms and thunder , but do you Christians learn the way to Mount Sion , where you may stand above them all .

The last and highest benefit we receive by our Charity , is , that as God will most severely punish the neglect of this duty , so if we do perform it , he will account himself in debt to us : for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , God will 1 Pet. 3. thank you for this : for this God will , in a manner , acknowledge himself beholding to you . You lend to the Lord , lend to him who possesses all already ; as if God would willingly part with his whole right and title to this world , so we , in compassion to our poor Brethren , would give him the least return of it again : God owes you a blessing which you shall be sure to have , not only hereafter but here also , if we can believe God , for whom it is impossible to lye . For as God did certainly punish some with temporal punishments for offending against the Gospel , as he did the Corinthians with diseases and sudden death , for their prophaning the Lords Supper : So 1 Cor: 11. 30. likewise may not we doubt , but God , under the Gospel also , rewards those who obey , even with temporal blessings ; and , if you observe it , nothing prospers here better , then this vertue of Charity . For the very Politian himself advises us to help our very enemies , if we mistrust they can get out of themselves , because thus we shall make them our friends . Beasts have so much reason and civility to return a courtesie : Nature is still calling upon us for this duty , so earnestly , as some have wished their very friends ( to whom they stand most obliged ) in misery , for no other reason , but that they might relieve them , and be quit of this debt : On the contrary , 't is remarkable what great advantages some have missed , meerly because they knew not how to give in season : For there is he ( saith Solomon ) that withholds what is meet , but it tends to poverty , Prov. 11. 24. But suppose men do turn inhumane and ungrateful , yet still he that gives to the poor shall not lack , Prov. 28. 27. For God in your extremities will either afford you an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a place to slip out of , or else give you strength to suffer ; which in effect , is all one . No great matter whether the three Children be in the Furnace or out of it , so the flame does not so much as singe them : and then you will , without all question , receive an ample reward in the world to come : For if Heaven do stand open to such as have their sins forgiven , then you , for your Charity shall be sure to enter in , for Charity shall cover the multitude of sins . If your luxury did make your Saviour faste , the feeding of his afflicted members , that will feed him again : and if your wantonness in apparel stript him , in covering their nakedness , you shall cloath him again : in short , if your sins crucified him , in relieving them you revive him , and make him alive again upon the earth . This Sacrifice will expiate all , Give to the poor what thou hast , and all shall be clean unto you , says our Saviour , Luke 11. 41. Again , do you think such as do all the whole will of God shall inherit eternal life ? then your Charity must of necessity let you in : for Charity is the fulfilling both of the Law and the Prophets , and Gospel too : What do you talk of Sermons , and of hanging Religion at the Ear ? when we are bound to break the Sabbath to save but an Ox or Ass ? what Ordinance may not we then trample under foot to relieve a Man ? or do you think lying down and believing will serve the turn ? When the Harlot Rahab , for her Charity unto the Spies , you find recorded Hebr. 11. among Abel , Enoch , Noah , and Abraham the father of the faithful ? When Cornelius his alms came up to Heaven , and lay continually before God as a memorial , before ever he heard of a Saviour ? No , my Brethren , Christ will not ask you at the last day , whom you have followed , what Church you frequented , but whom you have fed , whom you have clothed , whom you have relieved : this will be your Question , upon which you will be examined at the last Day of Judgment , as you may read in St. Matthew : not how often you have heard your Minister , but how often you have fed him . Do you think a Prophet will go to Heaven ? Why he that relieves a Prophet , becomes thus a Prophet himself , and shall receive a Prophets reward , Mat. 10. 41. Or an Apostle ? why St. Paul calls Epaphroditus here an Apostle , because he had administred to his wants ; nay , only because he did collect the contribution for the poor , Phil. 2. 25. Or don't you doubt but Martyrs wear their Crowns ? then be ye secure of yours : Charitie cannot fail : For by relieving the Apostle , the Philippians became his fellow-sufferers , Martyrs too , though at a cheaper rate . You do but lay up , secure , and traffick with that you bestow on your Brethrens wants . A Thief may break into your house , or a Robber spoil you of your money ; but what you give away is safe , and your own for ever , as being lockt up in the Treasury of Heaven , where no wicked person ever shall appear .

And now having done with my Text , sure I need not make any Application , or tell you how by St. Paul I meant your Minister all this while ; and you your selves by these liberal Philippians . I know to whom I preach , and besides spoke it plainly , that so necessary a subject might sink into the meanest capacitie : And because it hath pleased God to make me the happy Instrument first to strike this Rock at which your Charitie gush't out in streams , I am obliged to tell you , what I have heard him say that is concerned in it : How that now he glories more then ever in his sufferings and afflictions , because they have yielded you so fair an opportunity to express your faith : how he rejoyces not so much in your Gift , as in your Christianity ; and more in your love to God , then in your affection to himself : For now ( says he ) I see I have not spent my self in vain : I dare trust them now amidst a perverse and crooked Generation : and if in this dispersion I shall hear they stand fast and steddy in the Doctrine of Christ , I shall live ; for what else befalls me is impertinent , and drops quite besides me : But for this ( says he ) I will pray night and day , make Supplications without ceasing to him who is the author and finisher of every good work , that he will strengthen them against all Temptations , that they may run on till they have won the prize , fight on till they have gotten the day , and then receive the reward of those who shall endure unto the end : Thus much are his own words . But it is fit that I should conclude with something of mine own .

Seeing then this golden Candlestick is to be removed from you ; seeing that Light which hath made such a blaze about this City , is now to return again into its corner ; methinks I could acquaint you whom you loose , that you may be more satisfied , if possible , how well you have placed your Charitie ; but I spare him : for I could ask , when he desired a Gift , who received this , not without some violence ? I could ask you , whose houses hath he crept into , like those that come with a tale coloured over with Scripture mis-applyed , and grow , at last , to be Masters of your Family ? I could say that if I would have a School Question unridled , I would name him , or a Text soberly interpreted , I would choose him : and if I desired to see a sin rivited , as it were with thunder , into Hell , you your selves would then direct me unto him : I could speak more , and thus , and thus , and thus , and so begin another Sermon . And if St. Paul did boast himself , sure I might commend another : or if he lay here before you in a Coffin , then you would never think I had said enough : at parting give me leave to praise you at least , to commend the Congregation , if I may not the Preacher : Then I tell you I have seen such persons , when they were in Town , frequent this place , as were able to create a Temple wheresoever they went ; men , each of whom , single Dr. H. H. Dr. R. S. and alone made up a full Congregation , nay , a Synod : So as some have not unfitly named this Church the Scholars Church . But I shall wave this , and pass to what shall more profit you : Which is to desire you in the bowels of Jesus Christ , to consider and lay it to heart , that the last Judgment which God spent on the obstinate Jews was the destruction of the Temple , and the turning out of his Priests . I say , be think your selves what it should be , which makes Gods vengeance so implacable against you , that he threatens you not with cleanness of teeth , but the famine of the Word : examine your Consciences , and if you find your crying sins have put these Ministers to silence , you ought in conscience to maintain them ; to give them , as the Philippians here did , once and again ; to seek them out , and relieve them , as Onesimus did St. Paul : Owe no man any thing , says the Apostle , but to love one another : Rom. 13. 8. A most excellent speech , and means thus ; as if he said , you may pay your Bills at a Shop , and be out of the Trades-mans debt , you may lay down your money , and take up your Bonds ; you may really satisfie all other engagements , but this debt of Charity , never : This you must alwayes be paying , yet never think it satisfied . Break then off your sins by Prayer and Alms-deeds ; for who knows whether God will yet have mercy upon you , and set these Candlesticks again in their right places again : But you especially are bound to do thus , who resolve to partake of this blessed Communion : For here we celebrate the death of Christ , who left Heaven , to suffer for us , and shall not we part with one crum of earth to enjoy him ? For in feeding the poor we feed him ; in receiving a Disciple , we take Christ home to our houses , set Christ down at our Tables , and make him Incarnate again , make every day a Christmass-day , and every meal a Sacrament : and at last he will receive us into his eternal Mansions , where we shall never want more , where we shall spend all our Charity no longer in relieving one another , but in enjoying one anothers bliss and happiness , alwayes singing Praises unto the Lamb that sits upon the Throne .

A SERMON Preached by the AUTHOR Upon his being restored to the Exercise of his MINISTRY . GAL. IV. 12. Brethren , I beseech you , be as I am ; for I am as ye are : ye have not injured me at all .

AFTER so long a pause , after such an interruption as the unhappiness of the times have made ( for I will not put it upon any other score ) I am returned to the execution of my Ministerial Function , by the Providence of God , by the favour of some of the highest , and , as I hope , beloved Brethren , by your loving consent , and ( for I will presume it so , because I wish it so ) your unanimous approbation . Otherwise ( give me leave , I beseech you , to enlarge my self and open my heart to you ) far better were it for me to return to my dust and to my former condition , there to sit down and pray for my enemies , to possess my soul in patience and silence , to struggle with all those temptations which Poverty , Scorn , and contempt commonly bring along with them , then to embroyle my self in an odious and loathsome contention with those whom I am bound to count my brethren , though they think themselves bound to be my enemies ; whom if I do not love , I shall hate my own soul ; and whose salvation if I do not seriously tender ; I shall forfeit my own . Brethren , my hearts desire and prayer to God is , that all misconceit , prejudice , jealousie , suspition , which are the winds that blow the coals of contention , may be bound up for ever ; that they may be buried in the sea , and in everlasting oblivion ; that they may be drowned in the Ocean of Gods mercies , never to rise up again in any breast , there to create and set up that world of iniquity , that bitterness , that debate and hatred , which , as St. James speaketh , defile the whole man , and sets on fire the whole course of our nature , our youth , our age , and are themselves kindled at no other fire then that of hell . And therefore , that I may walk circumspectly , and not cast the least shadow of offense in the course I am to run , I so far drive it out of my thoughts to accuse any , that I would not give them leave to frame any apology or defense for my self ; which peradventure may be thought expedient , and some may expect . But in this I must take leave to deceive their expectation , and to follow the rules of Descretion and spiritual Prudence , which will teach us that thriving lesson , To loose something , that we may gain the more ; To yield , that we may overcome ; Not to be over-just to our selves , that others may be won at last to do us the more right ; Not to stand upon credit and reputation when we plead for peace . And of this most Christian art I may say what Gorgias once spake of a Tragedy , That it was a kind of fraud by which he that did deceive was juster than he that did not deceive , and he that was beguild was much wiser than he that was not . Oh that by this art , by this , by any continuance , by all the endeavours of my whole life , I might thus deceive you into such charitable conceits as might make you of the same mind one towards another , as St. Paul exhorts , and , not to have , as St. James Rom. 12. 16. James 2. 1. interprets St. Paul , the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ in respect of persons , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the faith , for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the believers , as appears by v. 2. not to look upon or consider one another as rich or poor , as learned or ignorant , as honorable or dishonorable , as pleasing or displeasing , but as Christians , as members of the same body , as called to the same hope of an everlasting inheritance . And to this end I have cull'd out these words of the blessed Apostle St. Paul , Brethren , I beseech you , &c.

Which words are as the droppings of the honycomb ; as that new wine and Cant. 4. 11. milk which were to drop and flow from the hills and mountains . And so many Joel 3. 18. of the Fathers interpret that place of the Apostles , who , as Hills , were eminent for Love and Piety . These words are the very breathings of Love , as those sweet spices of which the Apostle maketh a perfume and increase of Love , a composition artificially tempered together , pure and holy . What doth Exod. 30. 34. he not do , what doth he not say , to recover the Galatians from their dangerous deviations . What doth not this master-builder attempt to perfect his work ? How sincere is his heart ? He is still the same man , and yet how various are his expressions ? Sometimes he is in a maze , and wondreth , as ch. 1. 6 I marvail that you are so soon removed from me unto another Gospel . Sometime he is in trouble , and chides , as ch. 3. 1 , 3. Are you so foolish ? Have you begun in the Spirit , and are ye now made perfect by the Flesh ? Will you fall back from the Spirit , which teacheth true and solid piety , to a carnal and outward worship of God , to the ceremonies of the Law ? Throughout the whole Epistle he disputes , and convinceth them , That Christ and Moses , the Gospel and the Law , could not consist together ; That to seek for justification by the Law was quite to shut out Christ , whose peculiar office it was to justifie and save them . At last , after wondring , chiding and disputing , he turns his vehemency another way , and is as earnest and zealous in intreating , like a good Captain , who will attempt that fort by treaty which he cannot win by seige ; or like a wise Physician , who will condescend to flatter a froward Patient into health . From the height of Amazement , from Rebukes , which carry with them a mark of Superiority , from Arguing and Disputing , from Fighting , and Levelling all opposition in his way , he sinks by degrees , and falls low , even to Beseeching : Which whosoever doth , by the very doing of it he maketh himself an inferiour . See how his doctrine drops as the rain , and his speech distills as the dew ! The Spirit of Love blows upon him ; see how the spices flow abroad ! Brethren , I beseech you , &c.

You have the occasion of these words . Will you have these sweet Spices beaten yet smaller ? Then conceive our blessed Apostle speaking thus ; my little children , of whom I travel in birth again , until Christ be formed in you , till the true figure and image of Christ be stamped on you , which is now much defaced and almost wasted out by the artifice and deceitfulness of false Apostles ; if you felt my pain and sorrows , you would not thus look upon me as an enemy , but lend as open an ear to the truth as now you do unto fables ; You would recollect your selves at my wandring , and think sure there was something of moment that amazed me ; You would kiss my lips for my rebukes ; You would weigh the force of my reasons , and submit . You are not streightned in me , but you are streightned in your own bowels . For if I wondred , it was to make you consider : If I imputed folly to you , it was to make you wise : If I pressed you with reason , it was to make way for the truth : If I said you were bewitched , it was to uncharm and dis-deceive you . Habet & virga charitatem : Even my Rod was shook over you by a loving hand ; and the roughest wind , the harshest expression , came from the same treasury of a well affected heart , out of which the gentlest gate of perswasion useth to be breathed forth : and that Love which was as loud as thunder , can speak yet in a lower voice . For though you are in a dangerous error , which undermines the very foundation of the Gospel , yet I can call and do count you Brethren ; A name able to slumber any storm , to becalm any tempests , to make the roughest Esau as smooth as Jacob. And if there be not Rhetorick enough in that name of Brother to move you , then see , I bow lower yet , and beseech you . And though a request may be of that nature that no humility , no submission , no oratory can commend and prefer it , yet mine is not so ; My request is most equitable , grounded upon a principle of nature . I request but love for love ; Be ye as I am ; for I am as ye are : Which in all equity you are bound to believe as true , till some act of enmity prove it to be false . Lastly , do not make your displeasure an argument of mine , and finding nothing in me , lay hold on something in your selves , to prove me an enemy . Do not shape me out in your thoughts what no injury can make me . Do not draw a Lyon when the copy is a Lamb. Why should you be conscious of doing that wrong which I never suffered ? If you struck me , I felt it not : if you wronged me , I was not moved , because I was not sensible . Whatsoever you have done , or whatsoever you can do , I can shadow it with Love : And be the character never so visible , the impression never so deep , I can blot it out by Forgiveness . Why should you fear ? why should you suspect ? Behold , you have not injured me at all . What motives , what insinuations , what reasons , what wise prae-occupations and preventions , what art , what humility , what love is here ? I may be bold to say , The tongue of Men and Angels cannot be more expressive , more pathetical : No eloquence can out-speak this Love ; Brethren , I beseech you , &c.

This I conceive to be the sum of these words . Now they consist of these four parts : Here is 1. a loving Compellation , Brethren ; 2. a submissive Address by way of comprecation , I beseech you ; 3. a Request most reasonable , Be you as I am ; for I am as ye are ; 4. a wise and prudent Prae-occupation or Prevention , which removes all obstructions , and forestalls those jealousies , those surmises and groundless suspitions which are the bane of Charity , and the greatest enemies to peace , Ye have not injured me at all ; Of these the Request is the main . We shall at this time speak only of the first part , that adducing , perswading , powerful name of Brethren .

This word in Scripture is of a large and capacious signification and extent . Sometimes it is confined to a Bloud , to those who come from the same loyns . We be twelve brethren , sons of our Father . Somtimes it taketh-in a whole Gen. 42. 32. Kindred . So Abram , who was Lots uncle , calleth him Brother . And Christ is Gen. 13. 8. said to have Brethren , though Mary had no other son . Sometimes it is enlarged 1 Cor. 9. 5. to comprehend a whole Nation . Thus Paul calleth the Jews his Brethren Rom. 9. 3. according to the flesh : and Moses thus bespeaks the two Hebrews that were at strife , Sirs , you are Brethren ; why do ye wrong one to another ? Sometimes Acts 7. 26. it is of as large a compass as the whole World , and he that is a Man , by right of his humanity , is Brother to all the men that are . So Lot lovingly intreateth those wicked Sodomites , I pray you , Brethren , do not so Gen. 19. 7. wickedly , respecting only the common Brotherhood of Nature . And again , it is contracted into that narrow circuit of a little flock , the Church , those who are gathered together in one , the Children of God , that were scattered abroad . John 11. 52. We will not look upon the word Brethren in all these representations , but confine our selves to the two last , which are most apposite to our present purpose , and in all probability most sutable to the mind and meaning of our Apostle . And we will consider the Galatians and all Christians as Brethren by Nature , and as Brethren by Grace ; as partakers of the same flesh and bloud , and as partakers of the same heavenly calling ; Brethren as Men , and Brethren as Christians , professing the same Faith .

In the first place , Nature her self hath made all men Brethren . Have we not all one Father ? hath not one God created us ? There is great difference Mal. 2. 10. indeed in other respects . Some are high , others low ; some fair , others foul ; some learned , others unlearned ; some rich , others poor . But in respect of Original and Extraction there is no difference at all : we are all branches of the same Root , all hewn out of one rock , all digged out of one pit . We are all homines ab humo . And as we all have our rise from the ground , so to the ground again we must all fall . Out of it we were all taken , and unto Gen. 3. 19. it we must all return . The highest as well as the meanest may claim kindred with the Worm and Corruption . This point I have often touched : This doctrine Job 17. 14. is most evident both by Scripture and Experience , That all nations Acts 17. 26. of men are made of one bloud ; and that by nature we are all Brethren . We need rather to have it pressed then proved , and to be taught to practice what we cannot but know .

And therefore to make some use of that which we have learnt concerning our Brotherhood by Nature ; this may serve in the first place to condemn all those who look upon Men under other consideration then as Men , or view them in any other shape then that of Brethren . And the very name of Man and of Brother should be an amulet for all Mankind against the venome of Iniquity and Injustice . For all the title any one hath to these subluminary things , he hath it not jure adoptionis , by any right of Adoption or Filiation : Riches and the things of this world are not to be found in that Charter ; but an incorruptible Crown and eternal Life . These later indeed are demised unto us by our new birth : but the things of this world we hold by another tenure , jure Creationis , by the right of Creation , as we are Men , from him who hath made the earth , and given it in possession to the children of men .

Therefore , in the second place , by this light of Nature we may condemn our selves when any bitterness towards our brother riseth in our hearts , and allay , or rather root it out , with this consideration , That it is inhumane and most unnatural ; That we cannot nourish it in our breasts , and not fall from our creation , and leave off to be Men. How art thou fallen from heaven , O Lucifer , saith the Prophet , and cut down to the Isa. 14. 12. ground ? How art thou fallen from being a minister of light to be a Prince of darkness ? from being so filled with the Grace of the Divinity , to be a foul receptacle of malice ? from waiting on God in all his Majesty , to be thrust down into the foulest pit , there to be his executioner ? And how art thou faln , O Man , whosoever thou be that hatest thy brother , from heaven ( for in earth there is no other heaven then what Love makes ) to hell it self , to be a place for those foul spirits , Malice and Envy , to reign and riot in ? How art thou fall'n from thy conversing with Angels , to wallow in bloud ? from the glory of thy creation , to burning fire , and to blackness and darkness and tempest ? from being a Man , to be worse then the beasts that perish ? Oh what a shame is it to our royal and high discent ! Oh what a shame is it that Man , who was formed and fashioned by the hand of Love , by the God of Love , by Love it self ( for it is Divine Love that laid the foundation of the World , that breathed a soul into Man , and stamped that image of God upon him ) that Man , I say ; so elemented , so composed , so compassed about with Love , should delight in war , in variance , and contentions ! that this creature of Love should be as a hot fiery furnace , sending forth nothing but sulphur and stench , but malice and the gall of bitterness ! that he who is candidatus Angelorum , made to be a competitor with the Angels , and in time to be equal to them , made to be conformed with Christ , and to be transformed into his image , as the Apostle speaks , should make himself a companion with Devils ! and for a malicious man , though he be not possessed , yet may be sure he carries a Devil about with him whithersoever he goes , that this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , this honorable creature , as Synesius calls Man , should turn Savage , should be a Beast , nay a Devil , to accuse , deceive , and destroy ! We use indeed to stand much upon our honor and repute : But none can dishonour us more then our selves do , even then when we are in our altitudes ; when we glory in our shame ; when one man hath trodden down another as the clay in the streets ; when we think our selves great men by making our brethren little ; when we contemn and despise , hate and persecute them ; then in this height , in this glory , in this triumph , we are the most despicable creatures on the earth in his sight who being the God of Love , and having made us Men , and linkt us together as Brethren , cannot but look upon us as the basest and vilest creatures in the world , when being grown savage we hate one another . And further we carry not this consideration , but pass now to view the Galatians as Brethren in that other capacity , as they were Christians , professing the same Faith : Which our Apostle in this place might more particularly and especially mean .

For as they were Brethren by Nature , so were they also by Grace and their coelestial Calling , having one spirit , one hope , one faith , one baptisme ; one calling ; being all brought out of the same womb of common Ignorance , heirs of the same common salvation , partakers of a like precious faith , sealed with the same Sacraments , fed with the same Manna , ransomed with the same price , comforted with the same glorious promises . Et major fraternitas Christi quàm sanguinis , saith the Father ; The Brotherhood we have by Christ is a greater and nearer tie then that we have by bloud or nature . Hereupon Justine Martyr and Optatus have been so far charitable as to call Judaizing Christians and Donatists by the name of Brethren . And we may observe that our Apostle , who in all other his Epistles calleth them he writes to Saints ; To the Saints at Corinth ; To the Saints at Ephesus ; To the Saints at Coloss ; To the Saints at Philippi , Grace be with you , &c. yet in this whole Epistle he never calls the Galatians Saints ; because from being Christs Disciples they had well-neer degenerated to be Moses 's Scholars , and had joyned the Law with the Gospel . Yet nevertheless , though he will not honour them with the name of Saints , yet he is very willing to call them Brethren , as professing the same Christ , though with an unsavory mixture and dangerous addition . This may soon be gathered by any who will but take so much pains as to read this short Epistle . And upon so plain an Observation , as upon a foundation , we shall build this Doctrine , That there is such a relation , such a Brotherhood , betwixt all those who profess the same Faith , that neither Error , nor Sence , nor Injury can break and dissolve it . For if any , or all of these had been of force enough to do it , then certainly our Apostle would never have been so free as to have called the Galatians Brethren .

And first to Error , though it have a foul aspect , and bear a distastful and loathed name , yet it carrieth no such monstrosity , no such terror with it , as to fright Brethren so far asunder as not to behold one another in that relation , not to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace . For if there were any such power about it , the name of Brethren must needs be quite wiped out from amongst the children of men ; there being almost as many several opinions in the world as men ; and most of them erroneous . For Man , being subject to passion , cannot improve his wisdom so far as to preserve it safe and untoucht of all errour . So that no reason can be given , but such as Uncharitableness , or Ambition , or Pride , or Self-conceit use to frame , and throw as fire-balls about the world to consume and devour all Brotherhood ( and these are no reasons , but carnal pretenses ) why men may not be divided in opinion , and yet united in charity ; why they may not draw opposite conclusions , and yet conclude in peace ; why they may not have different conceptions , and yet be of the same mind one towards another ; why they may not erre , and yet be brethren .

For first , Error may be the object of my Dislike , but not of my Anger . For as it is error , and no more , it hath no moral , culpable deformity in it ; as being no way free nor voluntary . And the Civil Law hath laid it down as a rule , Voluntas errantis nulla est ; He that errs hath no will at all . For he doth not erre who knows he is ignorant , but he who thinks he knows what indeed he doth not know . And Error is no sooner discovered but by its very being discovered is avoided . Therefore the greatest punishment an erring person can receive , is , as Plato speaks , to be brought to School , and be taught . Now to keep our Charity alive even toward erring persons ; First , we must consider the great difficulty of finding out truth in all things , and of avoiding error . This consideration made St. Augustine so compassionate and mild even towards the worst of Hereticks , the Manichees , and to think that none could be enraged against them but those who thought it an easie matter to serene the mind against carnal pleasures , and who knew not how hard a thing it is for the eye of the inward man through so many mists of objections to look upon the Sun . He who considereth that himself also may be tempted will use the spirit of meekness towards an erring brother . Gal. 6. 1.

Secondly , we should conceive it more probable that our brother doth erre rather for want of light than out of malice , and wilfully , to his own damnation and others .

Thirdly , we ought to look upon the erring person as one who may possibly be of the number of the elect , whom God in his wisdom may permit to erre and fall , that he may raise him up again to the knowledge and profession of the truth with greater glory to himself . And against those who are destined to a crown of glory , against our Brethren and the members of Christ , how dare we pass a severe sentence ?

Lastly , let us but a while put upon our selves the persons of our adversaries , and put ours upon them ; and let us conceive it possible that our selves may erre as fouly as they . And then let us think within our selves that this deceived brother , whose errour we count so pernitious , may be sent to us from God to be an occasion of finding out some truth the face whereof we have never yet seen , as having been never represented to us . And then to these charitable thoughts , let us joyn also a prudent consideration of those truths wherein we both agree , which peradventure may be more and more weighty then those in which we varie ; that so by the lustre and brightness of these the offense taken by the other may vanish as the mist before the Sun . In all our disputes and debates with our Brethren whom we suppose to erre , let us walk by that rule which the learned have drawn out before us for our direction , That no Text of Scripture in its exposition can retain the sense and meaning of the blessed Spirit which doth not edifie in charity . For that Doctrine cannot be of any use in the Church , saith Bernard , which exasperates one man against another . And this Moderation , this Discretion , is that Salt which Mark 9. 50. Christ requires to be in us , that wise seasoning of our words , that purging of our affections , amongst which Ambition and Envy are the most violent : Have this salt in your selves ; and then , as it follows , you shall have Peace one with another .

Now for application of this ; I might here strike through the loins of those who are enemies to peace , and are so intent against them who are not of the same opinion , that in the prosecution they forget they are Brethren ; who like Hannibal , cannot live without an enemy ; or , like those ancient Spaniards in Trogus , are so out of love with Concord that they dispute and quarrel upon no other reason than this , because they hate it ; who call every Opinion that is not theirs Heresie , and Heresie a crime , accounting nothing sin but Heresie ; not so hot against a foul pollution in the heart as against an error in the understanding ; not so angry with a crying sin as with a petty mistake . But I had rather exhort you to bear the burdens of these contentious men , as St. Paul exhorts in this Epistle ; Not to assault one another with lyes in defense of the Truth ; Not to nourish hatred in honour to Charity ; Not to fly asunder in defense of the Corner-stone ; Not to be shaken a pieces to secure the Rock . If others separate themselves , do not you withdraw your affection from them . Si velint , fratres ; & , si nolint , fratres : If they will , let them be your Brethren ; and if they will not , yet let them be your Brethren . And in these times of hurry and noise , in these so many divisions and sects , look upon every sect with an eye of Charity , or as Erasmus calleth it , with an Evangelical eye : and leaving all bitterness and rancor behind you , walk on in a constant course of piety , and a holy contention with your selves ; not answering reviling with reviling , but beating down every imagination which is contrary to Love ; doing that upon Sin in your selves which you cannot do upon Error in your Brethren ; not shaking off Brotherhood , though the error be as great as this of the Galatians , then which there scarce could be a greater ; that so you may be like the people of Nazianzium , who by their peaceable behaviour in times of great dissention gained a name and title , and were called the Ark of Noah , because by this part of spiritual wisdom they escaped that inundation , that deluge , which had well-neer over-flowed and swallowed up all the Christian world .

But , in the next place , if Error cannot break and dissolve this relation of Brotherhood which is amongst Christians , being of it self venial and easie to be pardoned , especially of those who are subject to error themselves ; yet Sin hath a foul aspect , and is of the most ugly and deformed appearance of any thing in the world ; being compared by one to dung , by another to that which I will not now name ; being a monstrous deviation from that infinite Justice and Purity , that eternal Law of God : so that if we could watch one eye with another , our carnal eye with our spiritual ; if we could see Sin in its impure and horrid shape ; if God would present it to us now in that likeness in which it shall appear in the day of judgment , we should streight be shaken in our minds , our joynts would be loosed , and our very soul , saith St. Chrysostom , would fly out of our bodies . And do we not well then to be angry with this monster , though we meet it in a Brother , or in the person perhaps of our dearest friend ? Should we not hate the garment , much more the person , of him who is bespotted with sins ? This question may be askt : And yet we should never ask this question , if we would distinguish ( which is easie to be done ) between the Nature of our Brother and his Fault ; between that which he received from God , and that evil affection he hath from himself ; between that which is from heaven , heavenly , and that which is from the earth , nay from the lowest pit of hell . If we would consider him in his rational nature , the image of God ; and in that other capacity , as he is one for whom Christ dyed , and so capable of eternal life ; and that though he seem dead , yet his life may nevertheless Col. 3. 3. be hidden with Christ in God . For why judgest thou thy brother ? Judgment is the Lords , who seeth things that are not as if they were . What though he be fallen upon the stone , and be bruised ? Yet he may be built upon that foundation which is sure , and which hath this Seal , THE LORD KNOWETH WHO ARE HIS . This open profaner may become a true professor , this false witness may be a true martyr , this persecutor of the Church may at length prove the most glorious member and bold defender of it , and he that led the Saints bound to Jerusalem may himself afterwards rejoyce in his bonds for the same cause : Paul of the tribe of Benjamin may , as it is said of Benjamin , in the morning raven as a wolf , and at night divide the spoil , and after bow his head to such a Sheep as Ananias . And therefore the Apostle , where he erects a kind of discipline amongst the Thessalonians , thus draws it forth ; If any man obey not our word , that is , be refractory to the Gospel 2 Thess. 3. 14. of Christ , have no company with that man , that he may be ashamed ; that seeing others avoid him , he may be forced to have recourse unto himself , to hold colloquy with his own soul , to find out that plague of his heart which makes him thus like a Pelican in the wilderness , or an Owl in the desert ; like the leper under the Law , which no man must come near . Have no company with him , that is , By thy company give him no encouragement in his sin : And yet , for all this , have company with him ; for count him not as an enemy , but admonish him as a brother ; which we cannot do if we avoid his company . And in this sense also we must take that of the Apostle , where he forbids us to eat with publick and 1 Cor. 5. 10. notorious offenders : For the Apostles mind was not that such men were to be given over for gone ; or , that we should acquaint our selves only with the good , and not with the bad , as Physicians do in time of Pestilence , look only to the found , and shun the diseased . For our Saviour Christ familiarly conversed , ate and drank with publicans and sinners , and gives the reason of it , Because he came to call , not the righteous , but sinners to repentance . And we cannot think that St. Paul is contrary to Christ .

Beloved , the rule of Charity commands us to think every man an heir with Christ ; or at least , if he be not , that he may be so . What though believers be very few , and there be many so like them that we cannot distinguish them ? This is , I confess , an errour of our Charity , but it is a very necessary error . And he that errs not thus , he that thinks not and hopes not the best he can of all he sees , wants something of being a good Christian . And this error of our Charity is not without reason . For we see not where nor how the Grace of God may work . How sinful soever a man be , yet if he be baptized , if he make profession of the name of Christ , if he do but come behind and touch the hemm of Christs Garment , the Grace of God may cure him . Nay , were he dead in sin , who knows what the Grace of God may do ? Peradventure God may call unto him lying and stinking in his sins as in a Grave , Lazarus , come forth . Charity therefore , because she may erre , nay , because she must erre , looks upon every Christian as a Brother . If he erre , she is a guide to him ; if he sin , she is Physician ; if he wander , she recalls him ; if he fall , she strives to lift him up , being a light to the blind , and a staff to the weak ; if he fall into sin , she is ready to restore him in the spirit of meekness ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is the phrase , to be Gal. 6. 1. his Chirurgeon , to handle him with a gentle ( or , as we use to say with a Ladies ) hand , not roughly , but with all tenderness and compassion ; to set every broken joynt , but so as if she toucht it not ; to settle all that is dislocated , that all his parts and joynts may be entire , and aptly knit together , that nothing may be wanting to him of those things which are required to the compleating and constituting of a brother and a Christian . Look upon these Galatians unto whom Paul writes , and then cast your eye upon chap. 5. 19 , 20 , 21. where he draweth out that black catalogue of the works of the flesh , Adultery , Fornication , Uncleanness , and the like , and you will think it more then probable , that these sins even reigned amongst them ; that they had abused their Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh , v. 13. that besides the contagion of a foul Error , they were also polluted with Sins ; yet St. Paul doth rather intimate then impute them . He shews them in their full horror , and deformity , that the Galatians may run from them , and leaves them to accuse and condemn themselves ; and though he strike at their Error and Sin both , yet he makes a fair close with themselves , and calls them Brethren .

And now briefly to make some use of this , it may seem to correct an angry and malignant humor which lurks in the hearts of many men undiscerned , undiscovered , and often breatheth and exhaleth it self forth , not to the saving of the souls , but to the blasting of the good name of their brethren ; not as physick , but as poyson , fatal and deleterial . It is one mark of Antichrist , That he sits as God in the temple of God , 2 Thess. 2. 4. shewing himself that he is God : thundring out his excommunications , canonizing , damning , absolving , condemning whom he pleaseth . Beloved , thus 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to over-look , our brother thus to look down upon our Brethren , and dart a heavy censure on them for that for which we should shed a tear , is so far to follow Antichrist , as to take the seat and place of God ; nay , to put him out of his seat , and do his office ; nay , to do that which he will not do , to sentence him to death when he , for ought we know , hath chosen unto life : Nay , though it doth not make any man Antichrist , yet it makes him so much Antichrist , as to place him in a flat opposition to Christ himself : For we have not such a high Priest as cannot be touched with the feeling of our sins , but being tempted himself is able and willing to compassionate those who are tempted . Did we feel the burden of our Brothers sins , as he did , did we apprehend the wrath of God , as he did , we should rather , as he did , offer up prayers and supplications , with strong crying and tears , unto him , for our Brethren , then smite them with our tongues , then tell of the misery of these wounded ones , ( that is , speak vauntingly , and Psal. 69. 26. preach thereof , as the word signifies ) then thus rain down upon them their own snares , halestones and coals of fire . I confess , prudent and discreet reprehension is as a gracious and seasonable rain , as precious balm ; but rash and inconsiderate censure is as a Tempest or Hurrican , to waste a soul , to carry all before it , and to digg up a good name by the roots . And as it is truly said that most men speak against Riches not out of hatred but love unto them ; so do many declaim against Sin , not out of hatred to sin , but out of love to themselves ; which may be as great a crime as that they speak against . Signum putant bonae conscientiae aliis malè dicere ; They think it a sign of a good conscience in themselves to speak evil of others , and conceit themselves good if they can say others are evil ; For as true Righteousness speaks alwaies in compassion , but that which is false and counterfeit breaths forth nothing but wrath and reviling and indignation . Remember those that are in bonds , as if you were bound with them , and as being your selves in the Hebr. 13. 3. body : as being in the body , obnoxious to the same evils , in a mortal body , Rom. 8. 11. an earthly body , and a corruptible body . And remember those who are 1 Cor. 15. 40. 53. in their sins , which are the bonds , I am sure , and fetters of the soul , as being also in that body of death , as being under that burden that presseth Rom. 7. 24. down , and under sin that hangeth so fast on that we shall never fling it Hebr. 12. 1. off till we cast off our bodies , being in the same polluted garments which will stick close to us till we be uncloathed , and cloathed upon , 2 Cor. 5. 4. and mortality be swallowed up of life . Look not upon thy Brethren as Grashoppers , and upon thy felf as a strong and perfect man in Christ ; as if thou wert spiritual , heavenly , impeccable , and as far removed from Sin as God himself . But rather as St. Paul was made a Jew to the Jew , so be thou as a sick man ministring to the sick , handling another 1 Cor. 9. 20. with the same compassion thou wouldst have extended to thy self , if thou thy self should be in his case . If thou despise and reproach him , I am sure thou art in a far worse . For be he what the frailty of the Flesh , the subtilty of Satan , and the flattery of a vain World can make him , yet he is thy Brother : be he sick well-near unto death , yet he is thy Brother ; be he the lost sheep , yet he is thy Brother ; and Christ may fetch him back again , even upon thy shoulders , that is , by thy compassion and thy care : be he amongst the swine with the Prodigal , yet he is thy Brother ; for within a while he may come back again to his Father and thy Fathers house : If he be to thee as an heathen or publican , yet he must also be Brother . And further we press not this Use .

So then neither Error nor Sin can unty this knot , can dissolve and break this relation of Brethren ; I named a third , but I am well-near ashamed to name it again , or bring it in competition with Error or Sin ; because an offense against God should more provoke us then any injury done to our selves ; Which our Apostle here sets so light by , that although the Galatians had even questioned his Apostleship , and preferred Peter and James and John before him , yet he passeth it by as not worth the taking notice of ; Like Socrates , who being overcome in judgment profest he had no reason to be angry with his enemies , unless it were for this , that they conceived and believed they had hurt him . And here St. Paul saith , Ye have not hurt me at all . And indeed no injury can be done by a brother to a brother . For the injury is properly done to God , who made them Brethren and fellow-servants , and who reserves all power of revenge unto himself , who is their common Master and the God of revenge . If a brother strike us , we should , saith Chrysostom , kiss his hand ; if he would destroy us , our revenge should be to save him . Ignoscat tibi Christus , saith Nazianzene , to a young man that was suborn'd to kill him ; Christ forgive thee , who hath also forgiven me , and dyed to save me . Ille idoneus patientiae sequester ; He is the best Advocate for our patience , the best Decider of all our controversies and debates . If you gage and lay down your injury with him , he is the Revenger ; if your loss , he is the Restorer ; if your grief , he is the Physician ; if your death , he will raise you up again . But we shall no further prosecute this , because it will fall in with our last part . We will rather , having as ye have read , secured and fortified the Brethren , walk about yet a while longer , and tell the towers and bulwarks which the God of Love hath raised and set up to uphold them . And they are 1. Pleasure , excessive Pleasure ; 2. Profit , great Profit ; 3. Necessity , extream Necessity . All these serve to maintain and uphold this Brotherhood . For Brotherly Love is 1. pleasant and delightful ; 2. profitable and advantageous ; 3. so necessary that it had been better for us never to have been then not to love the Brethren .

For the first , hear what the Psalmist saith , Behold how good and joyful Psalm 133. 1. a thing it is , for Brethren to dwell together in unity ! Not only it is so , but it is worth our observing , and we are called to behold and consider it : Which if we did with a serious eye , we should not so slight and undervalue it as we do . For Pleasure is winning and attractive : It is a motive above all eloquence , more persuasive then the words of the wise . Oh that we could be once brought to be well perswaded of this Pleasure , and did not so dote on that which hath no true pleasure at all in it ! The Hills , saith the Prophet David , are girded with gladness . Psalm 65. 12. Things are figuratively said to be glad when they attain unto and abide in their natural perfection . So the Light is said to rejoyce when it shineth clear and continually , because then it is in its highest and fullest splendor . Now there can be no higher perfection for a Christian then to love the Brethren : He that dwelleth in love , dwelleth in God , and God 1 John 4. 16. in him : and , By this men shall know you are my Disciples , if ye have John 13. 35. love one to another ; saith Christ by the same John in his Gospel . What perfection greater then for a man to dwell in God , and to have God dwell in him ? This is to be like unto God , and to be partaker of his spirit . And to be Christs Disciple is to be one with him , and to be ingrafted into him . Here is the Christians highest pitch , his Ascension , his Zenith , his Third heaven . And therefore it is said to be a speech of Christ which the Nazarene Gospel hath recorded , though our Bibles have not , Nunquam loeti sitis nisi cum fratres in charitate videritis . No spectacle of delight , nothing that a Christian can take pleasure in , nothing of virtue and power hath enough to raise a Disciples joy , but to see his fellow-disciples , his Brethren , embracing one another in love . For if the ground of all Pleasure be agreement and proportionableness to the temper and constitution of any thing , then certainly nothing so agreeing , so harmonical , so consonant to our reasonable nature and to the ingenuity of our kind , and consequently so universally delightful to all who have not put off the bowels and the nature of Man , and are by the love of the world swayed and bended to a brutish condition , as that which may as well go for a Reward as for a Duty , the Loving of the Brethren ; that language of Love , which we must practice here , that we may chant it in heaven with the congregation of the first-born , and the spirits of men made perfect by love , eternally . And indeed Charity is the prime ingredient of the glorified Saints . Of whose state we understand no more but that they are in bliss , and love one another , and that they are for ever blessed because they for ever love one another . Their Charity never faileth , saith St. Paul , and then their bliss is everlasting . What is Paradise , saith the Father , but to love God , and serve him ? And the best love we can shew him , the best service we can do him , is to love and serve the Brethren : The end of the Gospel is love ; 1 Tim. 1. 5. that is , other doctrine tendeth to strife and contention ; but the whole doctrine of the Gospel tendeth to love and unity : So that no doctrine that naturally and of it self worketh wrath and uncharitableness can be Evangelical . For the wisdome that is from above is first pure , then peaceable , gentle , easie to be intreated , full of mercy and good fruits , without judging , James 3. 17. and without Hypocrisie . Beloved , Envy , malice , debate , contention , strife , are the delight and joy of them who have tasted of the powers of no other world then of this which shall be consumed ; or rather they are the delight of the infernal spirits , as it is a torment to them to be restrained from doing mischief . Art thou come to destroy us , to torment us before our time ? saith the unclean Spirit . Art thou come to curb and hinder us from vexing and destroying those we hate ? for this is torturing , this is sending them again into the deep , confining them to their Luke 8. 31. Hell . As the lower pit is said to be opened in the Revelation , when they have liberty to vex and torment mankind ; so it is as much Hell to them not to punish others , as it is to be punished . And none but evil spirits , and Men of their constitution and temper , can make a Heaven in Hell it self , by doing mischief . And indeed Delight it is not properly ; but it is called so because it is proportionable and satisfactory to their malice and pernicious nature and disposition . No ; if we hear , LAETENTUR COELI ; Let the Heavens rejoyce , it is because Peace is here on earth . If we hear , LAETENTUR ANGELI , Let the Angels rejoyce ; it is for the tears and repentance of some sinner here below . If we hear , LAETENTUR SANCTI , Let the Saints rejoyce , it is in their union and communion , in those mutual offices of bearing and supporting one another ; and , as so many Angels , by prayers and exhortations , and by the reciprocal activity of their love , lifting and conveighing one another into Abrahams bosome . Thus we see that that love which makes and keeps us Brethren is the pleasantest thing in the world , and that all other joy is no better joy then the Damned have in hell : A Joy I must not call it : A Complacency we may call it : But that is too good a name . It is the feeding , the filling , the satisfying the Malice of an ugly and malicious Fiend .

But , in the next place , we shall the sooner fall in love with this Love , if Profit also be brought-in to commend and enhance the price and value of this Pleasure . And here if we ask with the Apostle , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , What profit is there ? we may answer , Much every manner of way . For from this we have all those helps , those huge advantages , which are as so many heaves and promotions and thrustings forward into Happiness . By my brother I may see that which before I could not discover . He may clear up my Affections from storm and tempest , and my Understanding from darkness and confusion of thoughts . He may cast out infinitatem rei , as the Civilians speak , that variety , that kind of infinity , of appearances in which every thing useth to shew and present it self . He may be , as Moses said to Hobab , to me instead of eyes , to guide and direct Numb. 10. 31. me by his counsel and providence . By him I may hear , as Samuel did for Ely , what the Lord God will say . By him I may feel and taste how gracious the Lord God is . He may do those offices for me which the Angels of God , those ministring Spirits , cannot do , because they have no body . He may be my Servant , and I may wait upon him : He may be my Supporter , and I may uphold him : He may be my Priest , and I may teach him : He may be my Guard , and I may protect him : He may be my Angel , and I may go with him and be his conduct : He may be made all things to me , and I may be made all things to him . Thus we may grow up together in Grace ( for in this Nursery , in this Eden , in this Fraternity , the nearer and closer we grow together , the more we spread and flourish ) COMPLANTATI , grafted together in the similitude of Christs Death ; and Rom. 6. 5. CONSEPULTI , Buried together with him in Baptism ; and CONRESUSCITATI , v. 4. risen together with Christ . No Grafting , no Burying , Col. 3. 1. no Rising , but together ; No profit , no advantage , no encrease , but in love . Speaking the truth in love we grow up into him in all things , Eph. 4. 15 , 16. which is the Head , even Christ : By which the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted , as a House , by that which every joynt supplyes , by that spirit and juyce which every part conveighs , according to the effectual working in the measure of every part , according as it wants sustentation and increase , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that the body , which is the Brotherhood , may be edified , that is , more and more instructed and improved by mutual love and the duty and offices of Charity , which is that increase of the body unto the edifying of it self in love . Oh what a shole of Christians did this Love send forth , when the Heathen could make the observation , and proclaim it , See how these Christians love one another ! Then did they fill their villages , their temples , their armies : And , if we look upon their number , they might , as Tertullian observes , have easily swallowed up their enemies in victory . When St. Peter , that Fisher of men , caught so many together , even three thousand souls , it was Love that gathered them in , and Acts 2. 41. it was Love that kept them in . For 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they continued daily with v. 46. one accord in the temple : They were of one heart and of one soul : And what Acts 4. 32. is it that hath made such a dearth and scarcity of sincere and truly pious Christians , but our Debate and bitter Malice , the greatest enemy Christianity hath . For by biting and devouring one another we have well-near consumed one another , nay , well-near consumed Religion it self . And if a Heathen should stand by , he could not but wonder , and make no other observation then this , See how the Christians hale one another ! The Heathen of old could find out nothing in the Christians but their name to accuse them ; but we of this aged and corrupted world have scarce any thing but the name of Christians to commend us . Hoc Ithacus velit ; This is that which our enemies have long expected , and to effect which they have spent their nights , their dayes ; have laid out their leasure , their business , their watchings , their very sleep ; and now have seen that fire which they did help to kindle , by the light of which they may stretch forth their curtains and enlarge their territories and dominions every day in Christendome . For as the Devil is tormented , as Optatus speaks , with the peace of the Brethren , when they are joyned together vinculo fidei & glutine charitatis , by the bond and cement of Faith and Love , so is he enlivened , and put into hopes of success in his attempts , by the mutual ruptures and jealousies which the Brethren , the members of the Church foment and cherish amongst themselves . When by the defection of Jeroboam , Judah and Israel were rent asunder , then came Shishak and troubled Jerusalem . And 2 Chron. 12. 2. therefore let us love the Brotherhood , as the Apostle exhorts . For an enemy is never more dangerous to an army then when it is disordered by mutiny and division . If it be at peace with it self , it hath half conquered the enemy . When the Church begins to be torn by Schisms , and Contentions , then every blast is ready to shake and shatter it ; but when it is in unity within it self , then it is built up strong and fair , as the tower of David . No Heresie , no Enemy , no Jesuite , no Devil , no , not the Gates of Hell , can prevail against us , whilst we are fast joyned together , rooted and built-up and establisht in love . No principalities nor powers , no height nor depth , no creature , can come near to touch us , whilst we keep within the circle and compass which Love maketh , whilst we continue Brethren .

Thus then we find both Pleasure and Profit in being Brethren . But now , in the third and last place , there is a kind of Necessity to force us : And the Love that keeps us so is necessary not only as a virtue or quality without which we ought not to be , but as a virtue without which we cannot be what we profess . For loose but this bond once , unjoynt this goodly frame , shake but the Brotherhood , and we are fallen from heaven , spoiled of all the riches of the Gospel , deprived of all the priviledges and prerogatives of Christians , defeated of all those glorious promises , shook from the hope of immortality and eternal life , without love , and then without God in this world ; left naked and destitute , stript of our inheritance , having title to no place but that where the revolting Angels and malicious Spirits are shut up . For as that is true which we find in the Gloss on the Canon Law , Habe Charitatem , & fac quod vis ; Do it in love , and do what thou wilt : Thy Zeal shall be as the fire in the bush , burning , but not consuming : thy Reproofs shall be balm ; thy Justice , physick ; thy Wounds , kisses ; thy Tears , as the dew of heaven ; thy Joy , the joy of Angels ; all thy Works , fit to be put in the register of God . But if once thou forsake the Brotherhood , if once thou shake hands with Love , then whatsoever thou doest must needs be ill done because thou doest it . If thou speak with the tongue of Men and Angels , it is but noise : if thou give all thy goods to the poor , it is but loss : and that which with Love is martyrdom , without it may be murder : Thy Zeal will be rage ; thy Reproofs , swords ; thy Justice , gall and wormwood ; thy Wounds , fatal ; thy Tears , the dropping of a crocodile ; thy Joy , madness ; and thy Works , sit for nothing but the fire . The Gospel to thee will be as killing as the Law , and the Bloud of Christ cry as loud for vengeance as that of Abel , or of any Brother whom thou hast persecuted and wounded with injuries and reproach . Let us not deceive our selves with vain pretences and ridiculous excuses , with empty and airy phansies , which can conceive and shape out Love , when it is dead in the heart ; which can revile , and love ; strike , and love ; kill , and love . For a truth it is , and a sad truth , a truth which may bore the ears of many of us Christians , and strike us to the ground , as Peters voice did Ananias . And St. John hath set his seal to it , He that loveth not his Brother , ( and not to 1 John 3. 14. love him with St. John , is to hate him ) abideth in death . And again , He He that hateth his brother is a murderer ; alluding to our Saviours reformation of the Law , which even made Anger murder . What degree of Murder soever he means , such a Murderer he is that hath not eternal life abiding in him ; The want of this Love being a sure mark of a child of wrath , and of one carrying his hell about with him whithersoever he goes , being himself a Tophet burning with fire and brimstone , with Hatred and Malice and Fury ; having nothing between him and that everlasting Hell but a ruinous wall , his body of flesh , which will moulder away and fall down within a span of time . Oh how should this still sound in our ears , as that , Rise , and come unto judgment , did in St. Hieroms , who could not sleep for it ! Oh that the sound of this would make us , not to leave our sleep , but to leave our gall , our venome , our Malice , which may peradventure bite our Brothers heel , wound him in his person , in his estate , or good name , but will most certainly sting us unto death . Let then this sad , nay this behoofful , this glorious , this Necessity prevail with us : and let us not so trifle with God and our own souls , so flatter and smile our selves to death , as to think there is no such Necessity at all , but that we may love God and yet hate and persecute our Brother , nay , love God the more , the more we hate our Brother . For I ask , Is it necessary to love God ? is it necessary to love our selves ? is it necessary to be the children of God ? is it necessary to love Gods image in others , and to repair it in our selves ? is it necessary to be ingrafted into Christ ? is it necessary to believe ? in a word , is it necessary to be saved ? Then is it also necessary to love the Brethren sincerely , cordially , with a single heart . To love our selves , or , as we are commanded , to love our common Father which is in Heaven , and who is the God of Love . Profit and Pleasure may draw and allure us ; But Necessity forces , and chains and links us to the Brethren . Now the God of Love work true Brotherly Love in us all .

A SERMON Preached on Christmass-Day . PSALM LXXII . 6 , 7.

He shall come down like rain upon the mowen Grass ; [ or , into a fleece of wooll ; ] as showers that water the Earth .

In his dayes shall the righteous flourish ; and abundance of peace , so long as the Moon endureth .

THis Psalm conteins a Prayer and a Prophesie : A Prayer for King Solomon , who laid down his Scepter with his Life , and slept with his Fathers ; and a Prophesie of Christ , whose Throne is for ever and ever ; and of whose Kingdom there is no end . Take it as a Prayer , and it was heard . For God gave Solomon Wisdom and Understanding 1 Kings 4. 29. and largeness of heart , to judge his people with Righteousness , and the poor with judgment . Take it as a Prophesie , and it was fulfilled : For God sent his Son , who is Wisdom it self , to be the Shepherd and great Bishop of our Souls , and to be our King to lead us in the waies of Righteousness . Apply it to the Type , and the expressions are hyperbolical . Righteousness in the Text is not compleat , nor abundance full ; Peace not as lasting as the Moon , but as the Moon waxing and waning , and at last eclipsed and turned into bloud . That Dominion from the River unto the ends of the Earth takes in no larger compass 1 Kings 4. 24. than Judaea , or at most the Region from Tiphsah unto Azzah , so narrow a compass of ground that St. Hierom was ashamed to bewray its dimensions . In a word ; interpret it by the inscription , as a Psalm for King Solomon , and all generations make but forty years ; all Kings are but Pharaoh , and Hiram , & some few other that were on this side the River Euphrates . All Nations are not many Nations : and Solomons For ever , we know well , had an end . And as we find it in hyperbolical Speeches , ad verum mendacio pervenitur ; That we come not too short of the truth , the phrase is made to look beyond it . That we may conceive aright of the glory of Solomons Kingdom , David extends it from the River unto the ends of the Earth . That we may conceive some Peace , he tells us of abundance . He multiplies and dilates the bounds of his Empire , makes Judaea as large as the whole world ; an Age , eternity ; and that Scepter which did depart , everlasting . Literally this cannot be true of King Solomon . Hic Psalmus Solomoni canere dicitur quae tamen soli competant Christo ; saith Cyril : This Psalm is sung to King Solomon , but the ditty is of Christ , and of him alone . Behold , a greater then Solomon is here ; He shall have Dominion from sea to sea . This Vers. 8. belongs to Christ alone ; All Kings shall worship him Before whom do all Vers. 11. Kings fall down , but Christ ? And all Nations shall serve him . Whom shall all Nations serve but Christ ? His name shall endure for ever : Whose name but Christs ? All Nations shall be blessed in Christ ; in Solomon , none at all . And here in my Text , He shall descend like the rain , cannot be true of Solomon : For he descended indeed , but not like rain , because he came not down from Heaven . Many things are spoken of the Type which more properly belong to the Antitype . Many things in this Psalm are spoken of Solomon which stretch beyond the line of truth , and for no other reason but this , because they belong to Christ , whose Type he bore , and in whom they were truly to be made good , and without any Hyperbole at all . Solomon did judge the people with righteousness ; but Christ shall judge the whole world , and Solomon himself . Solomon was a King ; but Christ is the King of Kings . Solomon passed all the Kings of the Earth in Wisdom ; but Christ is Wisdom it self . Solomon did break in pieces the Oppressor ; but Christ broke the jawes of the Destroyer of mankind , and took the prey out of his mouth . To him give all the Prophets witness ; To him do all the Fathers apply the words of my Text : The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge him in her Hymns and Service for this great Feast of Christs Nativity , singing praises to the Lord our Strength , who came down like the rain into a fleece of wooll , ( or , the mowen grass ) as showers that water the earth . And we have seen it with our eyes , and fell it in our hearts , and it is the joy and glory of this high Feast , that in his dayes the righteous flourish , and abundance of peace so long as the Moon endureth .

And now I may say of this Prophesie as our Saviour himself did of another , This day was this Scripture fulfilled in Christ who is signaculum omnium Luke 4. 21. Prophetarum , who was the great Prophet who was to come , and the seal of all the rest ; in whom all Prophesies were at an end . And therefore we will but change the Tense , and not read it DESCENDET , he shall come down , ( for the Jew himself will yield us thus much ) but DESCENDIT : The fulness of time is come , and he is come down already . In quo quicquid retro fuit , demutatum est , saith Yertullian ; In whom whatsoever was in times past is either changed , as Circumcision ; or supplied , as the Law ; or fulfilled , as the Prophesies ; or made perfect , as Faith it self . The Subject of the Song is the same . Eaedem voces sonant , eaedem literae notant , idem Spiritus pulsat ; The words that sound , the same ; the letters that character him out , the same ; the same Spirit , which inspires the Prophets , and now speaks to us . Only for the Feasts sake we will but change the time , the Future for the Present , and so express our thanks and joy : Which should as far exceed the joy of the Prophets as Fruition doth Hope , and the present enjoying of the benefit a sad and earnest expectation of it . And then there will naturally arise the handling of these points . 1. We shall consider the Incarnation of the Son of God as a Descent or Comming down ; 2. The Manner of this Descent . It was placidus & insensibilis , saith the Father , sweet and peaceable , without trouble , without noise , scarcely to be perceiv'd ; not in the strong wind , to rend us to pieces ; not in the Earth-quake , to shake us ; not in the fire , to consume us ; but in a still and small voice : not as Thunder , to make a noise ; not as Hayl , to rattle on the house-tops ; not as the Blast and Mildew , to wither us ; but as the Rain falling sweetly on the grass , or on a fleece of wooll , and as the showers which water the earth , and make it fruitful . 3. We shall observe the Effect which this Descent produceth , or the Fruit which springs up upon the fall of this gracious Rain ; First , Righteousness springs up , and spreads her self , Justus florebit ; So some render it ; The righteous shall flourish . Secondly , After Righteousness Peace shews it self , even abundance of peace . And Thirdly , both these are not herbae solstitiales , herbs which spring up and wither in one day , but which will be green and flourish so long as the Moon endureth , which is everlastingly . And therefore we must Fourthly , in the last place observe 1. the Relation which is between these two , Righteousness and Peace ; They are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Where there is Righteousness , there is Peace ; and where there is Peace , there is Righteousness . 2. The Order ; Righteousness first , and then abundance of Peace . Take them all three , and you shall find a kind of subordination betwixt them , for no Peace without Righteousness , no Righteousness without this Rain : But if the Son of God come down like rain , streight Righteousness appears on the earth ; and upon the same watering , and from the same root , shoots forth abundance of Peace , and both so long as the Moon endureth . Of these then in their Order briefly and plainly ; and first of the Descent .

He that ascended is he also that descended first , saith the Apostle . And he Eph. 4. came down very low : He brought himself sub lege , under the Law ; sub cultro , under the Knife , at his Circumeision ; sub maledicto , under the curse ; sub potestate tenebrarum , under the power of darkness ; down into the cratch , down into the world , and down when he was lifted up upon the Cross , ( for that ascension was a great descent , ) and from thence down into the grave , and lower yet , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , into the lowermost parts of the earth : Thus low did he come down . But if we terminate his Descension in his Incarnation , if we interpret his Descent by NATUS EST , that he was born , and say no more , we have brought him very low , even so low that the Angels themselves must 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , stoop to look after him ; that not the clearest Understanding , not the quickest Apprehension , nothing but Faith , can follow after to behold him ; which yet must stand aloof off , and tremble , and wonder at this great sight . Hîc me solus complectitur stupor , saith the Father : In other things my Reason may guide me , Meditation and Study may help me ; and if not give me full resolution , yet some satisfaction at least . But here , O prodigia ! O miracula ! O prodigy , O miracle of mercy ! 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , O the paradox of this strange Descent ! This is a depth which I connot foard , a gulph wherein I am swallowed up , and have no light left me but my Faith and Admiration . Certe mirabilis descensus , saith Leo , a wonderful descent , à coelo ad uterum , from his Throne to the Womb ; from his Palace , to a Dungeon ; from his dwelling place on high , to dwell in our flesh ; from riding on the Cherubin , to hanging on the Teat . A wonderful Descent ! Where is the wise ? Where is the Scribe ? Where is the Disputer of this World ? That God should thus come down ; that he that conteineth all things should be compassed by a Woman ; that he should cry as a child , at whose voice the Angels and Archangels tremble ; that he whose hands meted out the Heavens , and measur'd the waters , should lye in the cratch ; Deus visibilis , & Deus contrectabilis , as Hilary speaks , that God should be seen and touched and handled , no Orator , no Eloquence , the tongues of Men and Angels cannot reach it . O anima , opus est tibi imperitiâ meâ ; O my soul , learn to be ignorant , and not to know what is unsearchable . Abundat sibi locuples fides ; It is enough for me to believe that the Son of God came down . And this coming down we may call his Humiliation , his Exinanition , his Low estate . Not that his Divine nature could descend 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , consider'd in it self ; but God came down 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in respect of that gracious dispensation by which he vouchsafed to dwell amongst us . For he assumed into the unity of his Person that which before he was not , and yet remained that which he was . Ille quod est , semper est ; & sicut est , ita est ; For what he is , he alwaies is ; and as he is , so he is , without any shew or shadow of change . But yet in the great work of our redemption he may seem to have laid his Majesty aside , and not to have exercised that Power which was coeternal with him , as infinite as Himself . And now it is no blasphemy , but salvation , to say , That he who created man was made a Man ; That he who was the God of Mary , was the Son of Mary ; That he that made the world had not a hole to hide his head ; That he who was the Law-giver was made under the Law . And therefore in every action almost , as he did manifest his Power , so he exprest his Humility . A Star stands over him , when he lay in the Manger ; He rebukes the Winds , who was asleep in the Ship : He commands the Sea , and Fishes bring tribute in their mouths ; but at Caesars commands he submits and pays it : He strikes a band of men backward to the Ground , but yields as a man , and is bound , and led away as a sheep to the slaughter . And thus that Love which reconcil'd the World unto God , reconcileth these strange contradictions ; a God , and a Man ; a God that sleeps , that thirsts ; vectigalis Deus , a tributary God ; Deus in vinculis , a God in bonds ; a God crucified , dead and buried . All which Descents he had not in natura , not in his Divine Nature . Neque enim defecit in sese , qui se evacuavit in sese , saith Hilary ; For He who emptied himself in himself did not so descend as to leave or loose himself . But the Descent was in persona , in his Person , in respect of his voluntary Dispensation , by which he willingly yielded to assume and unite the Humane nature to Himself . And thus he was made of that Woman who was made by himself ; and was conteined in her womb , whom the Heavens cannot contein ; and was cut out of the land of the living , who was in truth , what Melchisedec was only in the conceit of men in his time , without father , and without mother , having no beginning of days , nor end of life : He was less then his Father , and yet his Fathers Equal ; the Son of David , and yet Davids Lord ; A case which plunged the great Rabbies among the Pharisees , who had not yet learned this wisdom ; nor known this knowledge of the Holy . But most true it is , Non fallit in vocabulis Deus . God speaks of things as they are ; nor is there any ambiguity in his words . He tells us he is God , and he tells us he is man : He tells us that his dwelling-place is in Heaven , and he tells us that he came down into the world : He tells us he is from everlasting , and he tells us he was born in the fulness of time . Et quod à Deo discitur , totum est ; And what he tells us , is all that can be said . Nor must our Curiosity strive to enter in at the Needles eye , where he hath open'd an effectual Door . Indeed it was the Devils policie , when his Altars were overthrown , when his Oracles were silenced , when he was driven from his Temples , when his God-head was laid in the dust , and when Pagans and Idolaters his subjects and slaves came in willingly in the days of Christs power , to strive dimidiare Christum , to divide Christ into halves ; and when Christ became the language of the whole world , to confound their language , that men might not understand one anothers speech . And like a subtle enemy , when he was beat out of the field , he made it his master-piece to raise a civil dissension in the City of God . Proh ! quanta etiamnum patitur Verbum ! saith the Father ; Good God! how much doth Christ yet suffer in his Church ! He came into the world , and the world knew him not . He came unto his own , and his own received him not : He comes down , but as a Phantasin , as a mear Creature ; so Anius : as an adopted Son , so Phocius : which is in effect to say he came not down at all . For if he be a meer creature , the Descent is not so low . And if he be adopted to this work , it is rather a rise then a Descension . And if he be but the Son of Mary made the Son of God , and not the Son of God made the Son of Mary , it is no Descent at all . I do not love to rake these mis-shapen Monsters out of their dust ; but that I see at this day they walk too boldly upon the face of the earth , and knock , and that with some violence , to have admittance into the Church . And therefore it will behove us to take the whole armour of Faith , and to stand upon our defence ; conservare vocabula in luce proprietatum , to preserve the propriety of words entire , to walk by that light which they cast , and not with those Hereticks 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to make use of those Phrases which speak Christ Man , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to pass by those which magnifie him as God ; but to joyn together 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his good pleasure and his power ; to say that he came into the world , and to say that he created the world ; to say he was the scorn of men , and to say he was the Image of his Father ; in a word , ipsi Deo de se credere , to believe God in that he speaks of himself . And then we may turn aside , and behold this great sight , and make it our glory and crown to say , Descendit Rex , not Solomon , but the King of Kings , the King of Glory , is come down . And so I pass from the Descent , or Coming down , to the Manner of it , Descendit sicut pluvia , &c.

The Manner of his Descent is as wonderfull , as the Descent it self . It is as full of wonder that he thus came down , as that he would come down ; especially if we consider the place to which he came , the World ; a Babylon of confusion , a Sodom , a Land of Philistines , of Giants , who made it as a Law to fight against the God of Heaven . We might have expected rather that he should have come down as a Fire , to consume us ; as a Tempest , to devour us ; as Thunder , to amaze us ; then as Rain , to fall softly upon us , or as a Shower , to water and refresh us : that he should have come down to blast and dig us up by the roots , rather then to yield us juice and life to grow green and flourish . Indeed we could expect no less : But his mercy is above all his works , and then far above our expectation , far above all that we could conceive , far above our sins , which were gone over our heads , and hung there ready to fall in vengeance upon us . And rather then they should fall as hailstones and coals of fire , he himself comes down like rain , and as showers that water the earth . Justice would have stay'd him , and for him sent down a Thunderbolt ; but Mercy prevail'd , and had the better of Justice , and in this manner brings him down himself .

And here to shew you the manner of his coming down , we shall observe a threefold Descent ; in uterum matris , into the Virgins womb ; in mundum , into the World ; and in homines , into the Souls of men . For as the Virgins womb was thalamus Christi , the Bride-chamber of Christ , wherein the Holy Ghost did knit the indissoluble knot between his Humane nature , and his Deity , so the World was the place where he pitcht his Tent , and the John 1. 14. Soul of man is the Temple of the Lord , where the same quickning Spirit by the operation of Faith makes up that eternal union and conjunction between the Members and the Head : And into all these he came down 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith St. Chrysostom : ( and we find the very same words in the sixth Councel of Constantinople ) quietly and without any noise at all ; like Rain , which we may know is fallen by the moistures of the Fleece or Grass , but not hear when it falls .

And first , thus he came down into the Virgins womb as upon the Grass , and made her fruitful to bring forth the Son of God ; and as into a fleece of wooll , out of which he made up tegmen carnis , the vail and garment of his flesh ; and so without noise , so unconceivably , that as it is an Article of our Faith , and the very language of a Christian , to say , He is come down , so it is a question which poseth the whole world , and none but himself can resolve the Quomodo , How he came down . For as he came down , and was made Man , not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not by any alteration or mutation of his Divine Essence ; sine periculo statûs sui , saith Tertullian , without any danger of the least change of his state ; not by converting the Godhead into Flesh , as Cerinthus ; nor the Flesh into the Godhead , as Valentius ; no , nor by compounding and mingling the Natures , so that after the union there should remain one entire Nature of them both ; but by an invisible , inconceivable , ineffable union : So also did the blessed Virgin conceive and bring him forth without any pain of travel , without any breach of nature , without any alteration , and retained gaudium matris cum honore virginitatis , the joy of a Mother , and yet the integrity and honour of a Virgin . We may say , Peperit , non parturivit , She brought Christ forth , but did not travel . And Tertullian , where he conjures down that spectrum and Phantasm of Marcion , borrows his very words , and urgeth this for a truth , Peperit , & non peperit ; virgo , & non virgo ; She brought forth , and did not bring forth ; a Virgin , and not a Virgin . She brought forth , saith he , because Christ did take of her flesh ; and she did not bring forth , because she took nothing from man : A Virgin in respect of her Husband ; and not a Virgin , in respect of her Child . And so being busie in the confutation of one error , he seems to run unadvisedly upon another . But his meaning is more then this ; That she was both a Mother , and yet a Virgin ; and that Christ was born communi lege , as other men are , and not utero clauso , the Womb being shut . Which , whether it be true or false , I leave to those learned Chirurgions and masculine Midwifes , the Schoolmen , to determine . I will say no more , but with the Father , Enormi & otiosae curiositati tantum deerit discere quantum libuerit inquirere , Vain and irregular Curiosity gains no ground in the search of those things which are too hard for it , and of which we have no evidence of Scripture : and all the profit she reaps is but this , to run forward apace , and to be struck blind in the way ; to make great speed , and be further off . It is enough for us to believe and acknowledge that she was a pure and immaculate Virgin , that the Holy Ghost overshadowed her , that she was that Fleece into which this gracious Rain fell sine soni verbere , without any noise or sound : that , as a Fleece , she was made both solid and soft ; softned and made fine by the power of the Most High , to receive this heavenly Shower , to conceive that ; and solid , to conceive him without the division of parts , to receive him into her womb as sheep do the Rain into their Fleece , sine inquietudine , saith Ambrose , without any motion or stirring ; parerc , nec compunè , to bring him forth without any compunction or conquassation of parts : to be soft , and prepared , and become a Mother ; ●nd yet solid and entire still , and remain a Virgin . And further we need not carry the resemblance . And therefore in the next place we will bring Christ from the Womb into the World .

And here though I cannot say the World was all mowen grass , or as a fleece , or as earth , but rather as brass , or as the barren rocks , yet Christ came down into the World . And he came , not jaciens fulmina , saith Chrysostom , in Thunder and Lightning , with a Fire to devoure before him , or a Tempest round about him ; but in great humility , in silence : and , as his Kingdom , so his coming was not with observation . In a word , though he were the Lion of the tribe of Judah , yet he enters the world as a Lamb. For first , nasci se patitur , he condescends and suffers himself to be born , and is content to lye hid in the womb nine months , who might have taken the shape of a man in a moment . He grows up by degrees ; and being grown up , he is not ambitious to be known . He is baptized by his servant ; and being tempted by the Devil , nihil ultra verba conatur , he useth no other weapon then his Words . Was the Reed bruised ? he broke it not . Did the Flax smoke ? he quencht it not . Were Men ingrateful ? he cured them . His hand that betray'd him was in the dish with him . So that as his Flesh was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the vail of his Divinity , so what he did and what he suffer'd were as so many curtains , or rather as a thick cloud , to obscure and darken his Majesty . You will tell me of the new Star ; But whether did it lead the Wise men ? To see a poor Infant in a Manger : And though the sign of the Star were glorious , yet the sign of the Cratch did obscure it . Of the Angels Anthem : But they were but a few Shepherds that heard it . Of the men of the East who came to worship him : But at the same time Herode the King did seek the Child to destroy him . Of his retinue : But they were Fishermen . Of the Angel that comforted him : But it was in his agony . Of the Earth shaking , and the Vail of the Temple rent : But it was at his Death . Certò latuit in infirmitate Majestas ; his Majesty lay hid and was obscured in his Infirmity . And thus he temper'd and qualified his oeconomy amongst us ; cast forth these radiations of Majesty , and yet appeared as but under a cloud ; had these tinctures and rayes of Greatness , and yet dulled and almost lost in Poverty and Ignominy and Scorn , and , in respect of the Many , quencht in the bloud which he shed . But now we need not wonder that he thus came in silence and great humility . For the whole world was an Hospital of diseased men , or rather a Prison of Slaves and Captives fetter'd in the chains and bonds of Iniquity : And should Christ have bow'd the Heavens and come down in glory ? should he have shone in his Majesty ? Should he have come in thunder and blackness of darkness ? Certainly the sight would have been so terrible that Moses himself , even the best men living , would have trembled and shaken . Had all been glory , all with us had been misery . Had Christ come as God alone , we had been worse then the Beasts that perish , even companions of Devils . Nisi iram misericordia finivisset , saith the Father , If his Mercy had not stept in between his Majesty and us , and quencht that fire which was ready to burn , the Prisoners , nay the Prison it self , had long since been consumed and brought to nothing . Therefore Christ came not as a Judge , but as a Physician . For sick men are not cured with noise and ostentation . The Fleece was dry ; and the gentle drops of Rain will wash and cleanse it : but a cataract , a deluge will drown the Sheep it self . The Earth was dry , and the Grass mowen , desecta & detonsa , cut down ; nay , carrosa à locustis , so the Chaldee , bitten and gnawn of Locusts . And no Locusts comparable to Sins , which devour not leaves only , but the very root . Now when Locusts swarm , commonly it is a drought . Therefore Rain and Showers are most seasonable , to make the Grass grow afresh . But Fire would consume all . It is impossible , saith the Father , that our shackles should be knocked off , and we set at liberty , nisi in nostris fieret humilis qui omnipotens permanebat in suis , unless he were made humble in our nature who was Omnipotent in his own ; Impossible , that the mowen grass should grow up without Rain , or those who are dead in sins be received with a consuming fire .

I may add one Reason more , and that taken from the nature of Faith : Which , if the object be plain and manifest and open to the sight , is no more Faith : And therefore that which she looks upon , is seen , but hidden ; hath light , but clouded ; is most probably , but not demonstratively true . For I do not believe that a Man is a living creature , or that the Sun shines ; because the one is evident to my Understanding , the other open to my Sense . Fides non nisi difficultate constat ; Faith cannot subsist unless it finds some difficulty to struggle with . And this is the merit , the dignity of our Faith : Though a cloud come between it and the object , to look through it ; as Abraham , though the body be dead , and the womb dead , yet against hope to believe in hope that he shall become the Father of many Nations ; To believe the Promise of God when he useth those means for the tryal of our Faith , which are most like to extinguish it ; To behold a Saviour through the thick cloud of Ignominy and Scorn ; To see a God in a Cratch , on the Cross , and in the Grave ; To be perswaded that he may be the Son of the Most High , though he come down as Dew , and not as a cataract ; and descend like Rain , and not in Thunder . It was the unhappiness of the Jew to expect 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a most glorious Messias , and to think he should come into the World as Agrippa and Bernice his wife , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with great Acts 25. 23. pomp ; that he should be a great Captain and Warrior , and should take the power of Damascus , and carry away the spoils of Samaria . And this anticipated conceit is that which hath made them siccatum vellus , as Hierom speaks , like Gideons fleece ; dry , when there is dew in all the ground about Judg. 6. 40. them . It is true , saith Tertullian , he shall take the spoils of Samaria ; but it is then , saith the Text , when he is a Child , before he know to refuse the evil , and chuse the good . And if the Jew would have consider'd his age , he might soon have discerned of what nature the War was he was to wage , and what Spoils they were he should bear away . For if he must take them by violence and dint of Sword , how should he bid defiance ? Should he do it with the cry and tears of an Infant ? Signum belli non tubâ sed crepitacillo dabit ? Shall he give signal to Battle , not with a Trumpet but with a Rattle ? Shall he leap from the Teat to his Horse , and point out his Enemy not from the Wall but from his Mothers Breasts ? Observate modum aetatis , & quaerite sensum perdicationis , saith the Father ; Let the Jew remember his age , and then he will not be to seek what manner of War it was . We confess the child Christ was and is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a great Captain , and hath a Trumpet , and a Sword , and Arrows ; and he soundeth his Trumpet , and girds his Sword upon his thigh , and makes his Arrows sharp ; and he strikes with his Sword , and sends forth his Arrows ; but yet he never sheddeth bloud . He rides in Majesty , but it is because of his meekness and gentleness ; which are no Virtues , I think , at the Camp . His Trumpet is the Gospel ; his Sword , the Word , which divideth asunder the soul and the spirit , and the joynts and the marrow ; his Arrows , his Precepts , which fly very swiftly , pearcing every heart , and wounding every conscience . With these he pulleth down strong holds , casteth down imaginations , and fights against principalities and powers . And the people fall under him : What ? to be trod under feet ? No ; but to worship him . He carries away the spoils of Samaria ; and not only of Samaria , but of all the Nations of the Earth : Certè alius est ensis , cujus alius est actus ; Certainly this is another manner of Sword then that which Joshua and David fought with . This is the Sword of the Lord , not of Gideon , and drawn to another end . For our Captain draws his Sword to make his Enemies Kings ; woundeth , that he may heal ; beats us to dust , that we may be exalted for ever ; fights with us , that we may prevail ; and then rides in triumph , when we overcome and are crowned . And to this end he came down , not in majesty , but weakness ; not in thunder , but in rain . He did in a manner divest himself of his honour which he had everlastingly with God ; and he who was a King before all time , became a Preacher , an Instructer , a School-master to lead us to himself , and vouchsafed to interpret his own Imperial command . No Servant so careful to execute the will of his Master as he was to perform the will of his Father . Hoc habet solicitudo ut omnia putet necessaria ; His Care thought nothing too much . And therefore , though for so great a Prince it had been a sufficient discharge to direct or command , yet he will supererogate , and go many degrees above sufficiencie . For what he commands us , he himself is the first man that doth execute it . And though it be ad sanguinem , to suffer unto bloud , primus in agmine Caesar , still he is first . He is not only our Pilot to direct the stern , but also he doth manage the sail , and set his hand to the oar ; yea , he himself is unto us both Sea , and Sun , and Pole , and Wind , and all ; and he wins us more by his Example , then by his Precept . Thus Christ came ; And thus to come down is certainly to come down like rain upon mowen grass . Exasperat homines imperata correctio : blandissimè jubetur exemplis ; There is something of Thunder and Hayl in a command ; and it may make some noise , because it falls not upon a fleece of wooll , but on a stone ; upon Man , who by nature is a stubborn creature : But we may be bold to say , Examples are showers , Guttae stillantes , stillicidia coelestia , drops and dew ; and they fall gently and sweetly and effectually . And in this manner Christ came down into the World like rain upon the mowen grass , ( or , on a fleece of wooll ) as showers that water the earth .

And now we come to the third degree of Christs Descent or Coming down ; He cometh into the Souls of the Sons of men , to be shaped and formed in us , Gal. 4. 19. that we may be Christiformes , made like unto Christ , and bear an uniformity and conformity unto him . And he observes the same SICUT still , and comes down in animam sicut in uterum , into our hearts as he did into the Virgins Womb , gently and insensibly , as the Rain doth into a fleece of wooll ; using indeed his power , but not violence ; working effectually upon our souls per suaviductionem , say the Schools , leading us powerfully , but sweetly , to that end his praedeterminate will hath set down . St. Cyprian well calls it illapsum gratiae maturantis , the fall of Gods ripening Grace , which falls like Dew or Rain upon the grass . Nescio quomodo tangimur , & tangi nos sentimus ; We are water'd with this rain , and we know not how ; We feel the drops are fallen , but how they fell we could not discern . And we are too ready to ask with the Virgin Mary , How cometh this to pass ? But the Angel , nay , God himself , telleth us , The Holy Ghost doth come upon us , and the power of the Most High overshadows us ; and that Holy thing which is born in us shall be called the Son of God . Non deprehendes quemadmodum aut quando tibi prosit ; profuisse deprehendes ; That the power of Gods Grace hath wrought we shall find ; but the retired passages by which it hath wrought are impossible to be reduced to demonstration . Res illic geritur , nec videtur . The Rain is fall'n , and we know not how . We saw not Christ when he came down ; but it is plain that he is come down . And he comes down not into the Phansie alone : That commonly is too washy and fluid of it self , and brings forth no better a Christ then Marcions , a Shadow or Phantasme . Nor into the Understanding alone : For thither he descends rather like Light then Water ; and he may be there , and the grass not grow . He may be there only as an absent Friend , in his picture . But he commeth down in totum vellus , into the whole fleece , into the Heart of man , into the whole man , that so he may at once conceive Christ , and yet be presented a pure and undefiled Virgin unto Christ , and be the purer by this new conception . And he cometh down in totam terram , upon all the ground , upon the whole Little World of Man , that so he may be like a well-water'd Garden , even a Paradise of God . A strange Jer. 31. 12. complaint the world hath taken up , yea rather not a complaint , but a pretense , a very cloak of maliciousness to hide our sins from our eyes ; That Christ doth thus come down but at pleasure , only sometimes , and but upon some men ; some , who , like Mary , are highly favour'd by God , and call'd out of all the world , nay , chosen before the world was made . And if the earth be barren , it is because this Rain doth not fall . As if the Grace of God were not like Rain , but very Rainie indeed , and came down by seasons and fits ; and as if the Souls of men were not like the Grass , but were Grass indeed , not voluntary but natural and necessary Agents . Thus we deceive our selves , but we cannot mock God . His Grace comes not down as a Tempest of Hayl , or as a destroying Storm , or as a Floud of many Waters overflowing , but as Rain or Drops . He poureth it forth every day , and renews it every morning . And he would never question our barrenness and sterility if he did not come down , nor punish our unfruitfulness if he did not send Rains . If before he came into the world this Rain might fall as it were by coasts , in Judaea alone ; yet now by the virtue of his comming down it drops in all places of his Dominion . Omnibus aequalis , omnibus Rex , omnibus Judex , omnibus Deus & Dominus ; As he came to all , so he is equal and indifferent to all , a King to all , a Judge to all , and a God and a Lord to all . And his Grace manat jugiter , exuberat affluenter , flows continually , and falls down abundantly . Nostrum tantùm sitiat pectus & pateat ; Let our hearts lye alwaies open , and the windows of Heaven are alwaies open : let us continually thirst after righteousness , and this Dew will fall continually . Let us prepare our hearts , let us make them soft as the Fleece ; let us be as Grass , not Stubble ; as Earth , not Brass ; and the Son of God will come down into our hearts like rain into the fleece of wooll , ( or , mowen grass ) and like showers that water the earth .

And now we have shewed you this threefold Descent ; We should in the next place contemplate the effect which this great Humility wrought , the Fruit which sprung upon the fall of this gracious Rain upon Gods Inheritance : the Spring of Righteousness , and the Plenty of Peace , and the Aeternity of them both . But I see the time will not permit . For conclusion therefore , and as the present occasion bespeaks me , I will acquaint you with another Descent of Christ ; into the blessed Sacrament ; I mean , into the outward Elements of Bread and Wine . Into these also he comes down insensibly , spiritually , ineffably , yet really , like Rain into a fleece of wooll . Ask me not how he is there ; but there he is . Eia fratres , ubi voluit Dominus agnosci ? In fractione panis , saith St. Augustine : O my brethren , where would our Saviour discover himself , but in the breaking of bread ? In his Word he seems to keep a distance , and to speak to us , saith the Father , by way of Letter or Epistle , but in the Sacrament of his Body and Bloud he communicates himself , that we , who could not see him in his flesh , may yet eat that flesh we cannot see , and be in some kind familiar with him . I need not busie my self in making the resemblance . Theodoret in one of his Dialogues hath made up the parallel between the Incarnation of Christ and the Holy Sacrament . In Christ there are two Natures , the Divine , and the Humane , and in the Sacrament there are two Substances , the heavenly , and the earthly . 2. After the union the two Natures are but one Person ; and after the consecration the two Substances make but one Sacrament . 3. Lastly , as the two Natures are united without confusion or coalition of either in Christ , so in the Sacrament are the Substances , heavenly and earthly , knit so together that each continueth what it was . The Bread is bread still , and the Body of Christ is the body of Christ ; and yet Christ is the Bread of Life , and the Bread is the body , and the Wine the bloud of Christ . It is panis Domini , the Bread of the Lord , and panis Dominus , the Lord himself , who is , that living Bread which came down from Heaven . And to a believing John 6. 51. Virgin soul Christ comes nearer in these outward Elements then Superstition can bring him , beyond the fiction of Transubstantiation : For as he by assuming our Nature was made one with us , made flesh of our flesh , and bone of our bones , so we by worthily receiving his flesh and his bloud in the Sacrament are made one with him , even partakers of the Divine Nature . 2 Pet. 1. 4. Per hunc panem ad Dei consortium preparamur , saith Hilary ; By this Bread we are united to him here , and made fit to be with him for ever . And to drink this Cup , the Bloud of Christ , is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Clemens , to be made partakers of the incorruptibility of God .

And now to conclude ; This quiet and peaceable committing of Christ to us , should teach us the like behaviour one to another . For shall he come down like rain , and shall we fall like Thunder upon our Brethren ? Shall he consider us as a Fleece of woll , or as Grass , and shall we make one another a mark and an anvil for injuries to beat on ? Shall Butter and Honey be his meat , and shall we feed on Gall and Wormwood ? Shall he not break a bruised reed , and shall we make it our glory to break in pieces the Cedars of Libanus ? Shall he come to save , and shall we destroy one another ? Shall he come without noise , and shall we make it our study to fill the world with tumult and confusion ? Shall he give eyes to the blind , and we put them out ? Cloths to the naked , and we strip them ? Leggs to the lame , and we cripple them ? Shall he raise men from the dead , and we kill them ? And if we do it , can we be so bold as to say we are Christians , or that Christ dwelleth in us of a truth ? Will he abide in this region of blackness and darkness ? in this place of noise and thunder and distraction ? No : the humble and contrite , the meek and merciful is the place of his rest . He that came down in humility will not stay with the proud heart ; he that came down in silence will not dwell in a Chaos , in confusion . Therefore put you on the Lord Jesus Christ ; put on his Meekness , his Humility . As children of Christ , put on tender bowels and compassion : And let your bowels yearn over the poor , to relieve him ; over the weak , to strengthen him ; over the injurious , to forgive him . And let us be as Rain , to soften and quicken ; not as Fire , to consume one another . And then He who thus came down into the Womb , thus into the World , thus into our Souls , thus into the Sacrament , in silence , without noise or tumult , like Rain or Dew , having thus watered us , and distilled his graces upon us by virtue of this his first Advent , at his second Advent , when he shall descend with a shout and with the voice of the Archangel , though he come with more terrour , yet shall he let fall his dew as the dew of herbs , and drop upon our rottenness and corruption : And they that dwell in the dust shall awake and sing . And in those his dayes shall the righteous flourish , and abundance of Peace , not only so long as the Moon endureth , but in new Heavens and new Earth shall dwell Righteousness and Peace for evermore .

The First SERMON . PART I. MATTH. V. 5. Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth .

BLessedness is that which all men desire , the Sun which every eye looks upon . And in this Sermon of our Saviour it streams down upon us in several beams and strictures , in Poverty of Spirit , in Mourning , in Meekness ; which seem to us as dark and thick clouds , but are beams by which we have light to see the way to the Kingdom of Heaven , to comfort , and the inheritance of the Earth . Now the two first Virtues , or Beatitudes , ( call them what you please : and if they be Virtues , they are Beatitudes , though not formally , yet by communication : and if Blessedness be the garland to crown them , they must be Virtues . The two first , I say ) Poverty of Spirit , and Mourning , are set in opposition to our Concupiscible appetite : Which , if not checkt and held back by these , stoops at every prey , is ensnar'd with wealth , and crown'd in pleasure , and , like those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , those artificial Engines or Clocks the Philosopher speaketh of , are turned about disorderly , parvâ motione factâ , at the least touch and representation of unlawful and forbidden objects , whether it be a wedge of Gold , or the lips of the Harlot , whither wealth or pleasure . And therefore our best Master hath placed these two , as assistant Angels , to order the motion of that power in the desire of earthly blessings , and continue her motion in the search of those things which are above , even Poverty of Spirit , and a voluntary Abdication of those pleasures which smile upon us as friends at their entrance , but at their Exit , when they turn their backs upon us , are as terrible as Hell it self . He that hath his mind so spiritually steer'd , that it declines not to the wealth and pomp of the world , nor to the delights which it affords , howsoever his way be rugged and uneven , and his passage cloudy and tempestuous , shall notwithstanding at the end thereof find a Kingdom and Consolation . And now to these two in its due place ( and by a kind of nearer method ) is added 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Meekness and Sweetness of Disposition , to restrain the Irascible faculty or appetite , as those did the Concupiscible . Thus they stand in the original and Greek Copy , and the Latine Fathers read them so . Nor could the Jesuite find any reason why they should not be so placed in the vulgar Translation , and he thinks they were misplaced by the error of the Scribe , and put between Poverty and Mourning . Sure I am , there is good reason why Meekness should stand in the place it doth . For from whence come wars and fightings amongst us ? saith St. James ; come they not from hence , even from our lusts , that war in our members . And the Schools teach us that Anger proceeds from the concourse of many passions . We lust , and have not : We hope for wealth , and are poor and destitute ; we would sport away our time in pleasure , but some intervening cross accident casts us down : and for this we are angry . Jacob hath Esau's birth-right ; and Esau will kill him : Naboth denies his Vineyard ; and Ahab is on his bed : Jonathan loves David ; and Saul is ready to nail him to the wall with his Javelin : The Samaritanes deny entertainment ; the Disciples would presently call down fire from Heaven to consume them . Irascibilis , propugnatrix concupiscibilis , saith Gerson : These two seditious Tribunes of the Soul , the Irascible and the Concupiscible faculty , mutually uphold each other . My Desire , my Hope , my Grief are the fewel of my Anger . He that stands in my way to wealth or pleasure is my enemy , and setteth me on fire , which nothing can quench but Poverty of Spirit and Contempt of pleasure . When we are weaned from the world and the vanities thereof ; when we are crucified to the world , and the world unto us , we are then aptinati , fitted for this third Beatitude , and gain strength against Anger , and against all Thirst and Desire of revenge . If I know how to abound , and how to want ; if I can sit down in the House of Mourning , and judge those miserable whom the world calls happy , and pity them whom most men bow to , I am then idoneus auditor , a fit man to hear our Saviour preaching from the Mount , and proclaiming to all the world , Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth . And thus much of the dependence this third Beatitude hath on the former two .

Meekness then , you see , stands in its right place , after Poverty of Spirit and Mourning , which make its way plain , and usher it in . I will not here compare them : For they are all three Beatitudes ; Circumincidunt mutuò , they are involved one within another , and such a connexion and kind of consanguinity there is betwixt them , that one partakes of the denomination of the other ; Poverty is meek , and Meekness is poor ; he that mourns is meek , and he that is meek is ready to mourn : As the Philosopher said of the Will , that it was either appetitus intellectivus , or intellectus appetitivus , either Appetite with Understanding , or Understanding with Appetite . But yet without the least detraction from the former , we may commend Meekness as the virtue which , when our Saviour teacheth , he maketh himself the example . He indeed is Schola virtutum , a Scool and Academy of virtue ; and every action of his was a Sermon . That he was poor , it is plain : For he had not so much as the Foxes had , a hole to hide his head . His Grief we may see run down his cheeks when he weepeth over Ierusalem . But when he commends Meekness , he doth it by the best example , Himself . He stands up , and placeth himself before our eyes , and bids us look on him . All the virtues which make a Christian we must learn from Christ ; but there is never an express Discite à me , for I am meek ; and you shall find rest to your souls . And indeed Meekness , as it is a most necessary virtue for a Christian , so is most hard to learn . It is a hard matter to quench Anger , and to restrain all Desire of Revenge . Plato tells us that Anger is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not easily subdued , almost invincible ; and Aristotle , that it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a vehement and violent passion ; and that it is a far easier thing to be strong against the allurements of pleasure then to prevail against the heat and force of Wrath. I may make a covenant with my eyes , and shut out Lust ; I may put a knife to my Throat , and so keep off Intemperance ; I may sell all that I have , and give to the poor ; I may mourn like a Dove , and chatter like a Crane : but to repress Anger , to take off all Desire of revenge , not to hurt an enemy , to love an enemy , to do good to an enemy , is that which our Saviour here commends , and the hardest Task of a Christian ; Therefore St. Chrysostom is plain , that God doth not look so graciously upon Fasting and Mourning , no not upon Virginity and contempt of the World , as upon this vertue of Meekness , which so sweetly composeth the Mind , and makes one man a God unto another , by covering his sins , bearing his burden , and condemning and burying his malice in patience and forgiveness . We see here in my Text it stands in meer conjunction with Blessedness , and hath the promise both of this life , and also of that which is to come . Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth .

Our method now shall be , First , to shew you 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , very briefly , what this virtue is which bears so goodly an inscription ; and that in respect 1. Of the Nature of it ; 2. Of the Subject of it , in whom it is , and of whom it is required ; 3. Of the Object , on whom it is to be shew'd and exercised . And when we have briefly laid before you this virtue , in its full extent , we shall , in the next place , more easily perswade you , that it is a Virtue , most proper , most necessary for a Christian , without which he cannot live nor move nor have a being . And this will make way for that which sweetneth and gives a relish to all these , the Reason which our Saviour here gives why the Meek are blessed ; For they shall inherit the earth .

To shew you what Meekness is , we must distinguish it from that behaviour which hath nothing of it but a bare and naked representation , and doth then most deceive us when it is most like it . The Father will tell us that Virtues and Vices are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , meer borderers one upon another ; and the Stoick , that Philosophie is so sacred and venerable a thing , ut siquid illi simile est , ipso mendacio placeat , that its very counterfeit doth please us . He that retireth from the world , and betaketh himself to vacancy and idleness , is soon taken for a great Philosopher . Craft goes for Wisdom , Silence and Reservedness for Policy : and as St. Bernard tells us , Diabolus suos habet martyres , that the Devil hath his martyrs , so saith St. Augustine , Diabolus habet suos mansuetos , the Devil also hath his meek ones as well as Christ . Look upon the common deportment of men , and you would think that Meekness were no stranger upon earth , but a virtue common to the children of men . You may see it floating on the tongue , bowing the body , dressing the countenance with a smile , falling down at your very feet , excusing faults , undervaluing injuries , making crimes errors , and errors virtues , by interpretation . Every man almost is mansuetus , quasi ad manum suetus , as Festus gives the Etymon , as mild and gentle as if he were brought up to hand . Nothing more common in the world ; nothing more deceives us . Experience hath taught us that Anger , when it is loud and sudden , breaths it self out like the wind , whilst it strives to overthrow ; and therefore we have learnt , with the Tyrant in Tacitus , Velare odium fallacibus blanditiis , to hide our anger in a complement , to speak quietly to our enemy , that we may smite to the heart ; to kiss him , that we may betray him . We rake up our revengeful thoughts , as we do fire under the ashes , ut non compareat nisi cùm adurat , that it may be felt sooner then seen , and burn and consume our enemy on the sudden . The greatest mischief we do is cum praefatione clementiae , with a preface of mildness , and with a friendly address . I love you , is the word , which being inerpreted is , I will destroy you . Meekness shall we call this ? We may as well call the Devil meek , qui arridet ut saeviat , blanditur ut fallat , who smiles that he may rage , and flatters that he may deceive , and never biteth more deadly then when he fawns . But yet this is Meekness in the worlds account , which goes for no more , with us then a fair spoken man ; meek Joab , and meek Absalom , and meek Judas , courteous Divels , which gain the applause of men , even then when they deceive them ; nor doth Meekness shew it self in the full perfection of beauty otherwise then in a smile , a cringe , a kiss , a complement , when that smile may be a snare , that cringe a stab , that complement a lye , and that kiss treason . For experience hath proved that to be true which St. Augustine hath taught us , Potest odium blandiri , charitas saevire ; Charity may come with a rod , and Malice turn Parasite , the one to better us , the other to deceive us . There is oyl in the reproof of a friend ; but there is wormwood and bitterness and poison in the oyl of an enemy . Now we cannot deny but these may be the outward expressions of Christian Meekness , which is not lockt up and imprisoned in the heart , but manifests its self in the outward gesture ; ( for certainly he is no meek man whose tongue is either a rasour or a sword ) but yet Revenge and Rancor of heart may borrow these expressions , may make its approaches in a pleasing posture , and may break an enemies head with oyl . And indeed Revenge is never more bloudy then when it speaks in a still voice and the dialect of Love . Nemo hostilius vulnerat quàm qui amabili manu ; no wound more deadly then that which is given with a friendly hand . For he strikes home , and without fear , who is not feared when he strikes . That we may therefore take this old Devil off the stage , which makes such desolation in the shape of an Angel of light , we will set before you the common provocations of Anger , in repressing of which our Meekness especially consists . The Philosopher in his Rhetoricks , l. 2. c. 2. hath furnisht us with three . The first is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , contempt of our persons ; which is a sharp provocation . And he is undoubtedly a great Proficient in the School of Meekness who hath learnt to be contemned . Therefore David makes it his Prayer , Remove from me reproach and contempt . Such a temptation he lookt upon with fear and trembling . The second is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an incommodation , or despiteful usage . Which frequently affronts us ; men being many times of that vile disposition as to delight in mischief , and to look upon it as a purchase , though they reap no other fruit then the bare doing of it . The last is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which is injury with grief and loss and disgrace . Our Saviour here points out to it in this Chapter , when he tells us of a Blow on the cheek , of Taking our coat , of Violence . And the second he mentions in express terms , v. 44. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , pray for them who despitefully use you . Now he that hath learnt to be contemned ; he that can drink down injuries , and digest them ; he that is so spiritually poysed and ballasted , that no tempest , no wind of the unrighteous can shake him ; he that is as ready to forgive as wicked persons are to wrong him ; he that so absteins from offense as if he pardon'd no man , and yet so pardon'd others as if himself were an offender , may challenge a title to this Beatitude , and to the inheritance of the earth .

And now further to display the beauty of this Virtue , we will proceed to shew you the extent of it . The Philosophers may seem to have too narrowly confined it : If therefore we will behold Meekness in its full proportion , we must look for it not at Athens , but Jerusalem ; not in the Philosophers Schools , but in porticu Solomonis , in the house of Wisdome , in the Gospel of Christ . Reckon up all the Precepts which Philosophy hath given us , all the examples which have been shewn , and though we shall find enough to shame us Christians , yet we shall not find that degree of Meekness which is required of Christians . We read in Tully , that Justice requires that we endammage none , nisi lacessiti injuriâ , till we are provok't by some injury . And Lactantius well censureth it , Simplicem veràmque sententiam duorum verborum adjectione corripit , he spoiled a good sentence by the addition of two words ; lacessiti injuriâ , provokt by injury . For a Christian hurts no man , though he be provokt . Seneca speaks more like a Christian , Magni animi est , omnium veniam dare , nullius petere ; It proceeds from a great and well-subacted mind to pardon all injuries , but to walk in that simplicity that it needs ask pardon of none . But yet this doth not fully express a Christian ; Who doth not only pardon injuries , but in a manner reward them . It is a great commendation which Tully gives Caesar , that he forgot nothing but injuries , nor ever hurt an enemy , nisi in agris stantem , but fighting in the field . He was one of the stoutest and greatest Champions of the world . He stood the shock of fifty set battles , besides all sieges and outrodes . He took a thousand Cities and walled Towns . He over-run three hundred several Countries . And in his Wars were slain well-near twelve hundred thousand men , besides all those which dyed in the Civil Warrs : And yet he protested of himself , and that most truly , that he never drew bloud but in the field . Here is indeed a pattern of Meekness , and such a pattern , that most Christians are unwilling to take out : yet this doth not reach home . Novam certè mansuetudinem docet Christus ; Certainly Christ hath drawn out Meekness in other colours ; and except our Meekness exceed the Heathens , we shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven . Will you see the full extent of Meekness ? It is hard to shew it . For , as I find it in the Fathers , who walkt by the light of Scripture , it is made almost boundless . Not to be angry , To forgive , Not to revenge ; these yet do not reach it . To suffer with patience and a quiet mind the greatest injuries ; this is not home . To forgive seventy times seven times ; this number is yet short to teach our Meekness to keep time with the Malice and Injustice of men . It must yet press further , and manifest it self not only in suffering , but in doing . Dost thou know , saith St. Chrysostom , that thy brother intends particular mischief against thee , that he would embrue his hand in thy bloud ? 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , yet kiss that hand : For the Lord did not refuse to kiss that mouth which made the bargain for his bloud . Hath he robbed thee of all thy goods ? Be not angry : but if by chance any thing be left , give it willingly to him who hath taken away all . Nay , saith Basil , if thine enemy hunger , though thou hast but one loaf to sustein thy self , yet give it him , and rely upon Gods Providence to feed thee . You will say now perhaps that I have stretched it too far , even beyond its line and compass ; and as Pythagoras instructed his Scholars to do , where there was burthen enough already , laid on more . If I have , yet I have done it magnis autoribus , and have no less then St. Chrysostom and St. Basil for my defence . Indeed Meekness cannot be too far extended , where with evil handling it hath been shrunk up almost to nothing . What ? kiss his hand ? Nay , off with his head . Feed our enemy with bread ? Nay , strike a dagger into his throat . This goes for current Doctrine ; not in the Camp alone , amongst barbarous Souldiers , but in the habitations of peace , amongst Christians . As for true Meekness , we find it in paginis , non in operibus , in our looks perhaps , but not the least syllable or character of it in our manners and deportment . I have often wondred that Christians should make so little esteem of this Virtue , which is theirs alone , and especially directed unto them . The very Pagans by the light of Nature saw the horror of revenge , and abhorr'd it — ferus est , legúmque videtur Vindictam praestare sibi ; — could Claudian say . And the Jew , though many things were by way of indulgence permitted him for the hardness of his heart , yet renounced it utterly . You may hear the Jews of Alexandria speak it plainly in Philo , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Lord , we delight not to take revenge upon an enemy . Only the Christian , who hath received this Precept in that latitude in which neither Nature nor the Law did ever tender it , hath more estranged himself from it then either Jew or Pagan ; no heathen story ever finding out a parallel to the malice of a Christian . I speak this to our shame : But the Philosopher will tell us , Corruptio optimi est pessima , The most pure complexions are most noisome when they putrifie : and of all men a wicked Christian is the worst . And indeed something there is in our very Religion which the Devil makes use of to deceive us : The Gospel is news of Peace , and speaks nothing but forgiveness and salvation : Our Saviour is a meek Saviour , we are sure ; and because he is willing to pardon us when we fall down before him , we nourish a false hope that he will pardon us our malice also , and forgive us our debts , though we take our brother by the throat . Besides , Revenge may be numbred amongst those sins which go down glibly and with delight , because no humane Law doth punish it ; nay , in some case doth seem to countenance it . Adultery , and Drunkenness , and suck like sins carry shame in their very foreheads , and , when they are committed , strike the Soul with some regret and sorrow , which many times begets a repentance not to be repented of ; but Ambition , and Revenge , which is commonly a handmaid to Ambition , these lurk secretly in our heart , and are commonly in men of great wisdom and spirit , who will not have their credit poured out upon the ground as water , but preserve it choicely as a precious ointment . They carry commonly content and honors and riches with them for their reward . And therefore we conceive that these Precepts of Meekness and Forgiveness are spoken rather cohortatoriè quàm verè , rather by way of exhortation , then strictly exacting that we should perform them . And now though the meek be blessed , yet we count it a kind of happiness that we are not meek ; and for the inheritance of the earth , we can never purchase it , we think , with so sheepish a disposition . And therefore what morosity do we put on ? How punctual are we in our behaviour that we be not wanting to our selves where the Law can help us ? We love the Proverb well that tells us that he that makes himself a Sheep , the Wolf will eat him . For Meekness and Forgiveness , you shall hear of it perhaps in our last Will and Testament . We refer that to our Death-bed , when indeed we should have nothing else to do but to dye . And if we give up our last gasp meekly , we are meek enough . And now tell me , Beloved , when Meekness is thus contracted , nay lost , in our manners , can we blame these holy men who have enlarg'd the curtains of her habitation , and required more at the hands of a Christian then perhaps ever any Christian attained to : There is no danger here of excess ; no , there is no fear but that in this we will come short . Meliùs ultrà quàm citra stant mores ; I cannot do too much , I may too little . And as Quintilian speaks , where he gives the rules of a perfect Oratour , omnia sunt praecipienda ut plura fiant ; We command all to be done , that we may do the most . For suppose we observed our Saviours Precepts literally ; Suppose I gave him my cloak that took away my coat , and went two miles with him that compell'd me to go one ; Suppose I kist the hand that strook me , and made my enemy the sole inheritor of all my estate ; what inconvenience would follow hence ? or what danger could it bring unto my soul ? Nay , how like would this make me to the Protomartyr St. Stephen , who pray'd for his enemies ? and to the great Martyr ( as the Fathers call him ) Christ himself , who died for his enemies ? The world perhaps might put upon me a fools coat : but what need I fear this imputation , when Angels clap their hands , and applaud my Meekness , and God himself hath promised a robe of Glory ? That folly is my glory which makes me wise unto salvation . Beloved , the Doctrines which teach Perfection are not dangerous ; nor can they be too often urged in this dull and heavy age , which hath so long talkt of Imperfection , that Imperfection is almost become a duty . We must be no better then we are ; we are Pelagians and proud if we conceive any hope of it . As if our Saviour , when he commands us to be perfect , did speak more than he meant , intending only this , that we should be imperfect . Be not deceived . God requires at our hands Perfection , and the fulfilling of his Law : But indeed it is one thing what God requires , and another what he will accept . He will accept of our endeavours if they be serious , and if we strive forward to perfection : But if our endeavours grow feeble and faint , and fail upon conceit of I know not what weakness , he will not accept them . If we think that any degree of Meekness is enough , we have forfeited our Blessedness , and the Promise is made of none effect . The Oratour in his Institutions speaking of men that were famous for their strength of memory ; of Themistocles , who learnt the Persian tongue in one year ; of Mithrydates , who spake as many several Languages as he govern'd Nations , which were no fewer then two and twenty ; of Cyrus , who could call his Souldiers by name ; tells us the truth of this was uncertain ; habenda tamen fides est , vel in hoc , ut qui crediderit & speret ; Yet , saith he , every man that desires to improve his memory by industry , ought to believe it , that believing it to be so , he may hope also by practice to gain as good a memory as they . Quicquid enim fieri potuit , potest ; For whatsoever hath been once done by any man , may be done again by every man . The same may we apply to our present purpose . Do we read of any that kissed that hand that struck them ? That gave their enemies bread when themselves were like to starve for hunger ? That gave him a Talent who had rob'd them of a Mite ? let us not entertain these stories as fabulous , but believe that it was and should be so , ut qui crediderit & speret ; that Belief may raise our Hope ; and the Hope that so much may be done , may make it easier for us to do the most ; to cool our Anger , to curb our Desire of Revenge , to empty our hearts of all gall and bitterness , to be like unto Moses , who under the Law was the meekest man upon the earth , and to Christ himself , who was brought as a Lamb to the slaughter , and as a Sheep before her shearers is dumb , so open'd be not his mouth .

And now having shewed you the nature of Meekness , in the next place we will seat her in her proper subject , and that is Every man as he is a Private man , not as he bears the Sword of Justice . For our Saviour , when he commends Meekness , doth not strike the Sword out of the hand of the Magistrate . Nullum verbum hîc de magistratu , & ejus officio , saith Luther ; Here is no mention made of the Magistrate and his Office . It is far better , that I loose my coat then revenge my self : for by the Law of equity no man can be Judge in his own cause : But let the Magistrate strike , and the blow is not of Revenge but Justice . Justice , saith Plutarch , accompanies God himself , and breaths revenge against those which break his law ; which Men also by the very light of nature use against all men 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as they are citizens and members of a body politick . Meekness is that virtue which sweetly ordereth , and composes our mind in pardoning those injuries which are done to our private persons ; but it hath no room in the breast of a Judge , who looks upon the Offender vultu legis , with no other countenance then that of the Law . In my own case licet mihi facere quod volo de meo , it is lawful for me to do what I will with my own . I may give it , or I may suffer it to be torn from me : and by this loss I may purchase the inheritance of the earth . But when I sit on the Tribunal as a Judge , the case is not my own . It is Meekness to pardon wrongs done unto our selves ; but to deny the course of Justice to him that calls for it , to sheath the Sword when it should cut off the wicked from the earth , may peradventure commend it self by the name of inconsiderate pity , but meekness it cannot be . For the Magistrate , as he is the Keeper of the Law , so in his proceeding he must be like it . Now the Law is surda res , as the young men in Livy complain'd , deaf and inexorable : Though thou speak it fair , it hears thee not ; and though thou speak in tears , it regards thee not . It is immoveable as a Rock , and it stares the Offender in the face . No complement can shake it , no bribe move it , no riches batter it . If it seem to change countenance and turn face , it is not its own face , but the paint and visard of the Magistrate . When the Magistrate is grown meek on the sudden by the operation of a bribe , when Injustice beats upon this rock of the Law to mollifie and allay its rigor , that falls out which Tertullian observes of Infidelity meeting with a convincing argument , Injustice prevails , and the Law is vanquisht ; and , what is monstrous , the Ship is safe , and the Rock shipwrackt . Therefore the Magistrate , when he is to condemn an Offender , may put on the passion of Anger , and raise it up against his Compassion ; and then strike him , saith Seneca , with the same countenance he would strike a Serpent . Histrionibus , etsi non iratis , tamen iram simulantibus conducit ; The very counterfeiting of this passion helpeth the Tragedian in his action . And the judge may set it against those assaults which may move him to unnecessary compassion , and which may turn him to the right hand or the left . We need not here enlarge our selves in a case so plain . That which the Private man may demand may be now more useful , Whether it be lawful to implead our brother in any Court of Justice . Questionless it is . For to deny it were not only to pluck the Magistrate from the Bench , but to cancel and disanul all the Laws of Christian Common-wealths . Morality teacheth us To do no wrong : That which Religion adds is no more but this , To keep our mind in an habitual preparation of suffering . And so the Casuists and St. Augustine interpret these Precepts of our Saviour , That we must then retain the heart of a friend when we have taken upon us the name of an adversary , and so compose our selves that we should choose rather to loose our right then our charity . But Charity seeketh not her own . A good Argument , not only to keep me from the Tribunal , but to drive me also from the Church . For he that bids me cast my bread upon the waters , hath also prescrib'd that form of Prayer , Give us this day our daily bread . It is true , Regulae charitatis latiùs patent quàm juris , the Rules of Charity are of a larger extent then those of the Law . If thou owe a hundred measures of oyl , Charity takes the Bill , and sits down quickly , and writeth fifty ; and if thy vessels be empty , she cancels the bill , and teareth the Indenture . But it is as true too , that Charity begins at home , and that He that provides not for his family is worse then an Infidel . To conclude this point ; It will concern every man to take heed quo animo , quibus consiliis , with what mind and upon what advise he brings his brother to the Barr. Necessitas humanae fragilitatis patrocinium ; Necessity is a good plea ; but where Necessity inforceth not , I may say of it as St. Paul doth of Marriage , He that impleadeth his brother may do well ; but he that impleadeth him not doth better . And I cannot but commend that resolution of St. Hierom , Mihi etiam vera accusatio adversus fratrem displicet . Nec reprehendo alios , sed dico quid ipse non facerem . And happy is he who can take up this holy Father's Language , It is troublesome to me to bring an accusation , though never so true , against a brother . I censure not those who do it , but only declare what I would not do my self . Indeed our Saviour bids us agree with our adversary , and forgive him ; but we do not read that any where he hath commanded us to implead him . And this should make us suspect our selves in such a case : For here are two parts , Not to implead him , and To implead him . The one is most evidently lawful ; It is in our power . The other doubtful . When our judgment then is at a loss , and cannot resolve on the one side , the best wisdom it will be to cleave unto the side which is evident and plain , unless we please to put it to the venture and harase our souls , and try conclusions with God . But most commonly so it is , Praevalent dubia , Things doubtful in themselves have more power over us then those things which are plain and certain ; and men are easie of belief in those things which they would have done . What is wanting in the evidence , we supply in our will : and although our opinion point to the plainest side as safest , yet we secretly wish that the more doubtful part were true ; and at last , though we have small evidence , yet we adhere and stick close unto it . From hence those stabbings and digladiations amongst Christians . From hence it is that because we may lawfully implead our brother ; we think we may as lawfully undo him ; and because I may redeem my cloak by law , by law I may purchase my brothers cloak also . I conclude this point with that of the Apostle , Prove all things ; hold fast to that which is good . Abstein from all appearance of evil . 1 Thess. 5. 21 , 22.

I should now proceed to lay open the Object of our Meekness : but I see the time hath prevented me . Only give me leave to tell you , It is not enough to lay down our malice for a day , and then to raise it up , and breath it out against our brother upon the next occasion : For this is a strong evidence that our malice was never laid down . For though it must set before the Sun , yet it must not set as the Sun , to appear again and shew it self in our Hemisphere the next morning . The Civilians will tell us , Qui comitiali morbo laborant , nè iis quidem diebus quibus morbo carent sanos rectè dici ; They that are troubled with the Falling-sickness are not to be reckon'd as free from it when the fit is off . If the disease return again , be the term and date of time what it will , it is but the intermitting of the fit , no freedom from the disease . And so Malice and Anger , which is a kind of Falling-sickness , though for some time we are rid of it , yet if it return again , we are still guilty of the sin , though we made some pause , and suffer'd it not for a while to break out . Will you know where you may make use of your Anger ? Make use of it upon your selves . In propriis erratis securissimus hic affectus , This affection doth never good , but when it looks inward , and frowns upon our own misdeeds . For by this turning our Anger upon our selves and our sins , foemininum irae , masculinum facimus , that which is womanish in Anger is made masculine and heroick ; nay , ferinum irae divinum facimus , that which is brutish in Anger is made Divine , and fights the Lords battles , beats down imaginations , destroys principalities and powers , treads down strength , all our pride and animosity , and works a conquest on our sins , the greatest enemies to God and our selves . And thus , if we invert the operation of Anger , and turn its edge upon our selves , if our Meekness and Moderation be shewn unto all men , and our indignation rest upon our sins , it shall prevent that Anger which is as just as terrible , and shall entitle us to this Blessedness here , even all those blessings which are the purchase of the Prince of Peace , and the bloud of that meek Lamb shall cleanse us from all our sins .

The Second SERMON . PART II. MATTH. V. 5. Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth .

IN the morning we laid before your eyes the Virtue of Meekness ; A virtue by which , as St. Chrysostom saith , a man may know a Christian better then by his name . Tertullian telleth us that anciently , among the Heathen , Professors of Christianity were called , not Christiani , but Chrestiani , from 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a word signifying Sweetness and Benignity of disposition . I know not how you were taken with the beauty of this divine and useful Virtue , and with what affections you beheld her in those colors in which the Gospel hath shewed her : Some perhaps heard the report of her as they do news from a far Country , not able to contradict , nor yet willing to believe it . To others her description was but picta nebula , quae non longiùs delectat quàm videtur , as a painted cloud , which is forgot with the removing of our eye , and delights no longer then it is seen . But yet as the Queen of Sheba spake of the wisdom of Solomon , so will I of this excellent virtue ; The one half is not yet told you . We will therefore proceed on , and pass by those lines which we first drew , and having shewed her in her general Description , and confined her to her proper Subject ; we will , according to our method proposed , in the next place present you with the Object of Meekness , by which I mean those persons in respect of whom this Virtue is to be exercised .

We have not so confined Meekness , and shut her up in the breasts of private men , but we shall as far enlarge her in respect of her Object ; which is in compass as large as all the world . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Apostle , Let your softness , ( your moderation , your meekness , your Phil. 4. 5. equity ) be known unto all men . For though Meekness and Equity be not one and the same Virtue , yet every meek man so far participates of Equity that he is not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , too exactly just , but makes himself less then he is ; that he is willing to depart from his own right , and will not do all that strict and rigid Justice warrants as lawful . Nor is this Virtue cloyster'd up to shine in a corner , but , like the Sun it self , non uni aut alteri , sed statim omnibus in commune profertur ; she display's her beams not in good men alone , or Christians alone , but to wicked men , to erring men , to all men , even to the whole world . For this end God doth permit some evil persons in the world . Omnis malus aut ideo vivit ut corrigatur , aut ideo vivit ut per illum bonus exerceatur , Every wicked person doth either prolong his life for his own good and amendment of himself ; or for the good of others , to their tryal . If there were none to injure us , Meekness were but a phansie , or like a Rose in Winter , would have a being , an essence perhaps , but no existence . If there were no evil men , there would not be any good , at least not known to be so . Utrâque turbâ , saith Seneca , opus est , ut Cato possit intelligi , There must be both good and evil men , to make Cato's Virtues known . And Nazianzene , in his Epistles , speaking of the factious behaviour of men , and the troubles of the times , saith , that all those things were to come to pass ut Basilius cognosceretur , that Basil might be known ; that he might manifest that wisdom which long experience had taught him , and so shine forth as a light in the midst of a froward generation . Whilst the heavens are clear and the weather fair , and no wind nor tempest stirs , in glomis subit portum , the Pilot arriveth indeed at the wisht-for haven , but without praise or glory . And were our life becalmed , and if no tempests of injuries beat upon us , what room then had Meekness to shew her self ? Sed cùm stridunt funes , & gemunt gubernacula , when Malice rageth , when wicked men provoke us ; when there are Ismaels to scoff at us , Shimei's to revile us , Zedekiah's to smite us on the cheek ; when injuries , like the billows of the Sea , follow close one on the neck of another ; then is the world a stage for Meekness to act her part on . An easie thing it is to be meek where there is nothing to raise our Anger ; and Revenge hath no place where there is no provocation . The Philosopher in his Rhetorics , giving us the character of Meekness , tells us that most men are gentle and meek to those who never wronged them , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or who did it unwillingly ; to men who confess an injury , and repent of it ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to those who humble themselves at their feet , and beseech them , and who do not contradict them ; to those whom they reverence and fear . For Fear and Anger seldom lodge in the same breast . But Christianity raiseth Meekness to a higher pitch , where no injury can reach it . A studied and plotted injury , an injury made greater by defense , an injury from the meanest , from him that sits with the dogs of our flocks , any injury at any time , from any man , maketh a fit object for Christian Meekness , which in the midst of all contumelies and reproaches , in the midst of all contradictions is still the same . Should we insist upon every particular , our Discourse would be too large . We will therefore fasten our meditations upon those which may seem most pertinent , and so take off all those pretenses which we Christians commonly bring in as Advocates to plead for us when we forget that we are Christians . There be two errors in our life , the one of Opinion , the other in Manners and Behaviour , which is far the worse : and though these of themselves carry no fire with them , yet by our weakness commonly it comes to pass that they are made the only incendiaries of the world , and set both Church and Commonwealth in combustion . If our brothers opinion stand in opposition to ours , if his life and conversation be not drawn out by the same rule , we presently are on fire ; and we number it amongst our virtues , to be angry with those who in their Doctrine are erroneous , or in their lives irregular . Now in this I know not how blessed we think our selves , but I am sure we are not meek . For if we were truly possessed of that Meekness which Christ commends , as we should receive the weak in Faith with all tenderness , so should we be compassionate to the wicked also , and learn that Christian art which would enable us to make good use both of Sin and Error . And first for Error , though many times it be of a monstrous aspect , yet I see nothing in it which of it self hath force to fright a Christian from that temper which should so compose him that he may rather lend an hand to direct him that errs , then cry him down with noise and violence ; seeing it is a thing so general to be deceived , so easie to erre , and so hard to be reduced from our error ; seeing with more facility many times we change an evil custom then a false opinion . For Sin carries with it an argument against it self . Hoc habet quod sibi displicet , saith Seneca : As it fills the heart with delight , so it doth with terror . Like the Viper , mater est funeris sui , it works its own destruction , and helps to dispossess it self . But Errour pleaseth us with the shape of Truth ; nor can any man be deceived in opinion , but as Ixion was by embracing a cloud for Juno , and Falshood for the Truth . He that errs , if he were perswaded he did so , could err no longer . And what guilt he incurs by his error , the most exact and severe inquisition cannot find out ; because this depends on that measure of light which is afforded , and the inward disposition and temper of his soul , which are as hard for a stander-by to dive into as to be the searcher of his heart . The Heresie of the Arians was as dangerous as any that ever did molest the peace of the Church , as being that which strook at the very foundation , and denyed the Divinity of the Son ; yet Salvian passeth this gentle censure on them , Errant , sed bono animo errant ; non odio , sed affectu Dei ; They erred , but out of a good mind ; not out of hatred , but affection to God . And though they were injurious to Christs Divine generation , yet they loved him as a Saviour , and honoured him as a Lord . The Manichees fell upon those gross absurdities that Reason , when her eye is weakest , may easily see through ; yet St. Augustine , who had been one himself , bespeaks them in this courteous language , Illi saeviant in vos qui nesciunt quocum labore verum inveniatur ; Let them be angry with you who know not with what difficulty the truth is found , and how hard a matter it is to gain that serenity of mind which may dispel the mists of carnal phantasmes : Let them be angry with you who were never deceived , and who do not know with what sighs and groans we purchase the smallest measure of knowledge in Divine mysteries . I cannot be angry ; but will so bear with your error now as I did with my own when I was a Manichee . A good pattern to take out , and learn how to demean our selves towards the mistakes of our brethren , and to bear with the infirmities of the weak , and not to please our selves with the pretense of Zeal and Religion , which loose their name and nature , and bring in a world of iniquity , when we use them to fan the fire of contention . I do not see that relation or likeness between Difference of Opinion and contrariety in affections , that one would beget the other , or that it should be impossible or unlawful to be united unto him in love who is divided from me in opinion . No ; Charity is from heaven , heavenly , and may have its influence on minds of divers dispositions , as the Sun hath on bodies of a different temper , and it may knit the hearts of those together in the bond of love whose opinions may be as various as their complexions . But Faction and Schism and Dissention are from the earth , earthly ; and have their beginnings and continuance , not ab extra , from the things themselves which are in controversie , but from within us , from our Self-love and Pride of mind , which condemn the errors of our brethren as heresies , and obtrude our own errors for Oracles . I confess , to contend for the Truth is a most Christian resolution , and in Tertullians esteem a kind of Martyrdom . It is the duty of the meekest man to take courage against Error ; and as Nazianzene speaketh , in a cause that so nearly concerns us as the truth of Christ a Lamb should become a Lion . I cannot but commend that of Calvine , Maledicta pax cujus pignus desertio Dei , That peace deserves a curse which lay's down the Truth and God himself for a gage and pawn ; and benedicta praelia quibus regnum Christi necessitate defenditur , those battels are blessed which we are forced to wage in the name of the Lord of Hosts . And thrice happy he who lays down his life a sacrifice for the Truth . But Religion and Reason will teach us that all this may be done without malice or rancor to their persons , whose error we strive against , and that the Lords battles may be fought without shedding of bloud . Surely Meekness is the best Director in these wars , where he gains the greatest conquest who is overcome . The Physician is not angry with him whom he intends to cure , but he searcheth his books , and useth his art and all diligence , morbum tollere , non hominem , to remove the disease , and not to kill the man : How much more should we be careful how we handle our weak and erring brother , lest we make him weaker by our rough and unskilful usage , and cure him indeed , but in the Tyrant's sense in Suetonius , who boasted he had done a cure , when he cut off a mans head , or otherwise put him to death , who had offended him . We read that Paul and Barnabas were at some difference about the choice of their Acts 15. companion ; the one determined to take Mark with them , the other thought it not good : From whence sprung that paroxysme , as the Evangelist terms it , which divided them the one from the other . Yet St. Hierom will tell us , Quos navigatio separavit , hoc Christi Evangelium copulavit ; Though they sailed to several Coasts , yet they were both bound for the same negotiation , even the preaching of the Gospel . Paul withstood Peter to his face ; yet in Gal. 2. 11. the same Chapter he calls him a Pillar of the Truth . A Father may differ from his Son , and the Wife from the Husband in opinion ; yet this difference breaks not the bond of that relation which is betwixt them ; but the Father may , nay must perform the office of love , and the Son of duty . And why may not Christians be diversly perswaded in some points of Religion in earth , and yet the same Heaven hold them both ? That which deceives us are those glorious things which are spoken of Zeal . We read of Phinehas , who was blest for thrusting his Javelin through the adulterous couple ; of the austerity of Elijah , the zeal of Simon the Canaanite , the severity of Peter , which struck Ananias and Sapphira dead ; the constancy of Paul , who struck Elymas the Sorcerer blind . And we are told , Non est crudelitas pro Deo pietas , That in God's cause the greatest piety is to be cruel . But we willingly mistake our selves : for neither here is the cause alike , nor the person the same . We know not of what Spirit we are . Every man is not a Phinehas , an Elijah , a Paul , a Peter . Nor did Elymas loose his sight , and Ananias his life , for their errors , but for their witchcraft , and grand hypocrisie . Nor are times the same . We cannot but commend Zeal as an excellent quality in man : but as Agarick or Stibium being prepared and castigated are soveraign Physick , but crude and unprepared are dangerous : so Zeal , which so many boast of , seasoned with discretion , is of singular use and profit ; but taken crude and in the Mineral , it oft-times proves deleterial and unfortunate . Zeal is a light , but by occasion it troubles the eye of the understanding ; and being by degrees enraged by our private ends and phansies , at last it puts it quite out , and leaves us fighting in the dark . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an unlearned Zeal and supine Negligence are both so bad that it is not easie to determine which is worst : only Negligence lets inconveniencies slily steal into the Church , but unguided Zeal much plies those errours which Negligence letteth in : and , as if error were indeed a Hydra , it never strikes off the head of one error , but two arise in the place . And therefore St. Bernard , in his forty ninth Sermon on the Canticles , will tell us , Semper zelus absque scientia minùs utilis invenitur , plerumque etiam perniciosus sentitur ; Zeal without knowledge is alwaies unprofitable , many times most dangerous . And therefore the more hot and fervent it is , and the more profuse our Charity , with the more care and diligence should we set our Knowledge and Reason as a Sentinel , quae Zelum supprimat , spiritum temperet , ordinet charitatem , which may abate and cool our Zeal , temper our spirit , and compose and order our Charity . For if we do not keep our souls with diligence , and carry a strict and observant eye upon our Zeal , our Meekness will be consumed in this fire , and with it the whole crop and harvest of spiritual Wisdom lost . We shall be heady and high-minded , lovers of our selves , unwilling to pardon one error to our brethren , and to acknowledge any of our own . This is it which hath been the mother and nurse too of all those outrages in the Church of Christ that Story hath transmitted to Posterity , and those too which later and our present times have been too guilty of , that men will neither subscribe to the opinion of others , lest they may be thought not to have found the Truth , but have borrowed it ; nor will yet retain so much meekness as to give their brother leave to erre , but , when they cannot convince him by Argument , fall heavy upon him with Reproach : A fault sometimes in him that errs , and sometimes in him who holds the truth , the one obstinate , the other indiscreet , both ready to maintain with violence what they cannot perswade by reason . The Arians betook themselves to this guard , and called in the temporal Sword to defend their Cause against the Orthodox ; and when they could not prevail by Argument , they made use of outward force : And so this faction , saith the Father , plainly shewed quàm non sit pia , nec Dei cultrix , how destitute it was of piety and the fear of God . The Donatists stiled themselves filios Martyrum , the off-spring of Martyrs ; and all other Christians , progeniem traditorum , the progeny of those who basely delivered up the sacred things . They broke the Chalices , demolisht the Altars , ravisht Virgins and Matrons , flung the holy Eucharist to the Dogs , slew those who were not of their faction , beat down the Bishop Maximinian with batts and clubs even as he stood at the Altar , and did those outrages on Christians which Christian Meekness would have forbidden them to commit on a Jew or Infidel : the Monks of Aegypt were indeed devout and religious men , but for the most part Anthropomerphites holding that God had hands and feet and all the parts that a Man hath , and was in outward shape and proportion like unto one of us . That having got Theophilus , a learned Bishop of Alexandria , into their hands , so roughly used him that he could not get out of their fingers till he made use of his wits and sophistry , and told them in a kind of complement that he had seen their face as the face of God . Nor did this evil rest here , amongst the vulgar and discontented persons , quibus opus erat bello civili , as Caesar spake , who could not subsist but in times of noise and hurry , but it blasted the fairest plants in all the Church ; Chrysostom would not consent to give his suffrage for the condemnation of Origen's works ; Epiphanius subscribes to it , and makes St. Chrysostom a Patron of those errors which did no doubt deserve a censure : Both forgot that Meekness which they both commended in their Writings . Epiphanius curseth Chrysostom , and Chrysostom Epiphanius ; and both took effect : for the one lost his Bishoprick , and the other his Country , to which he never after returned . An infirmity this is which we cannot be too wary of , since we see the strongest Pillars of the Church thus shaken with it ; An evil which hath alwaies been forbidden and retained in all Ages of the Church ; Zeal being made an apology for Fury , and the Love of Truth a pretense to colour over that behaviour which hath nothing in it to shew of Truth or Christianity . And therefore the Church of Christ , which felt the smart of it , hath alwaies condemn'd it . When Eulalia the Martyr spit in the face of the Tyrant , and broke and scatter'd the Idols before , Prudentius and others were fain to excuse it , that she did it impulsu Divini spiritûs , by special revelation from the Spirit . Which was indeed but an excuse , and a weak one too . For that Spirit which once descended in the shape of a Dove , and is indeed the Spirit of Meekness , cannot be thought to be the Teacher of such a Lesson . But when other Christians in the time of Dioclesian attempted the like , and were slain in the very enterprise , to deter others from such an inconsiderate Zeal ; it was decreed in the Councel of Eliberis , and the 60 Canon , Siquis idola fregerit ; If any hereafter break down the heathen idols , he shall have no room in the Diptychs , nor be registred with the number of the Martyrs , although he be slain in the very fact , quatenus in Evangelio non est scriptum , because we find nothing in the Gospel that casts a favourable countenance upon such a fact . I have brought this instance the rather , to curb those forward spirits now adaies which , did not Fear more restrain them then Discretion , would be as good Martyrs as these , and with the same Engine with which they heave at the outwork , in time would blow up Church , Religion , and all ; who are streight angry with any thing that doth but thwart their private humor , or with any man that by long study and experience and evidence of reason hath gained so much knowledge as not to be of their opinion . What mean else the Unchristian nick-names of Arminians , and Pelagians , and Socinians , and Puritanes , which are the glorious Scutchions the Meekness of these times doth fix in every place , and the very pomp and glory of their triumph , when factious men cry down that truth which they are not willing to understand ? Doth this rancor , think you , proceed from the spirit of Meekness ? or rather from the foul Spirit of Destraction . Little do these men think that the Truth it self suffers by such a Defense , that rash Zeal cannot be excused with intentions and the goodness of the end which is proposed ; that the crown of Martyrdom will sit more gloriously on his head who rather suffers that the Church may have her peace , then on his who dies that he may not offer sacrifice to idols . For in this every man hath been merciful and good to himself ; but in the former he merits for the whole , and is a sacrifice for the publick peace of the Church whereof he is a part . Talk of Martyrdom what we please ; never was there any Martyr , never can there be any Martyr made without Meekness . Though I give all my goods to feed the poor , though I give my body to be burnt in the justest cause for the truth of the Gospel , and have not Meekness , which is a branch of Christian Charity , it profitteth me nothing : For my impatience will rob me of that crown to which my sufferings might otherwise have entitled me . The Canonists speak truly ; Non praesumitur bono exitu perfici quae malo sunt inchoata principio , The event of that action can never be good whose very beginning was unwarrantable . Philosophers have told us that when the Sea rageth , if you throw in oyl upon it , you shall presently calm it . The truth of this I will not now discuss ; but give me leave to commend this precious oyl of Meekness to powre upon your souls , when Zeal or Ignorance shall raise a tempest in your thoughts . Have men of wisdom tender'd to you something which falls cross with your opinion ? If you obey not , yet be not angry ? If your obedience appear not in your practise , yet let it be most visible in your Meekness . Remember that private men , who converse in a narrow Sphere , must needs be ignorant of many things which fall not within their horizon and the compass of their experience ; that they may have knowledge enough perhaps to do their own duty , which will come short in the performance of anothers , especially of a Superiors . If an erroneous Conscience bind thee from the outward performance of what is enjoyned , yet let Truth and Scripture and Meekness seal up thy lips from reviling those qui in hoc somnum , in hoc vigilias reponunt , who do watch for thy good , and spend their dayes and nights too that thou mayest live in all good conscience before God all the dayes of thy life . To conclude this point ; Dost thou know or suppose thy brother to be in an error ? Take not mine , but St. Paul's counsel , and restore such a one in the spirit of Meekness , considering that thou also maist be deceived . And peradventure this may be one error , that thou art perswaded that thy brother errs when Truth and Reason both speak for him : Pride and Self-conceit are of a poysonous quality , and , if not purged out , exhalat opaca mephitia , it sends forth pestiferous vapors , which will choak and stifle all goodness in us . But Meekness qualifies and prepares the mind , and makes it wax for all impressions of spiritual graces ; it doth no evil , it thinketh no evil , it cannot be provokt with errors in opinion , nor with those grosser mistakes and deviations in mens lives and conversation .

We have brought Meekness to its tryal indeed . For sure where Sin once shews its deformity , all meekness in a Christian , whose Religion bindeth him to hate sin must needs be lost . It is true , all created natures we must love , because they have their first foundation in the love and goodness of God ; and he that made them saw that they were good . But Sin is no created entity , but without the compass of Nature , and against her , against that order and harmony which Reason dispenseth . This only hurts us ; this is that smoke which comes from the very pit of Hell , and blasts the soul ; even then when the body is untoucht : This is the fornace in which men are transformed into Devils . We cannot then hate Sin enough . Yet here our Christian skill must shew it self ; and we must be careful that our Anger , which frowns upon Sin , do not rage against the Sinner , and that whilst we strike at one we do not wound both . Our Anger must be , not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not an hatred of the person , but a detestation of the sin . A hard subtlety indeed it is , to distinguish things thus confounded and blended together . Facile est atque proclive , saith St. Augustine , malos odisse , quia mali sunt ; rarum autem & pium , eosdem ipsos diligere , quia homines sunt ; It is an easie thing to hate evil men because they are evil ; but to love them as they are men , this is a rare and pious thing . And therefore we must be wary that our Anger be not too hot and extreme against the actions of others , for fear least at last we transpose it upon the men themselves . Timon , that great hater of mankind , made this his apology , That he hated evil men because they were evil ; and all others , because they did not hate them . He thought it a sin not to be angry with those who did commit sin . But Christianity begets no Timons , but Children like unto the Son of God , who though he knew no sin , yet was content to lay down his life for sinners . There is no man so evil but hath some good thing to commend him , though it break not out , as being clouded and darkned with much corruption . Therefore Christian Meekness is very wary , and doth not think there is nothing else but evil where she often sees it . And though she cannot nourish a good opinion of the man , to think him good ; yet she will a charitable hope , that he may be so . And as those who seek for treasure , give not over by reason of clay and mire , so long as there is any hope to speed ; so doth not Meekness slack her hand and cast off her industry , though it be spent on the most polluted soul , & ad quaedam sana , in quorum delectatione acquiescat , per tolerantiam perducatur . Many for want of this Meekness destroy the work of God , Dum ita objurgant quasi oderint , whilst they reprove their brother as if they hated him , and upbraid rather then reprehend him . They make it their virtue rixari cùm soeculo , to chide the times and manners . They suppose they are bound to hate sinners ; and will be just rather in shewing mercy to their beast then to their brother . Away with him , away with him from the earth , is quickly said ; but is commonly breathed from a soul as much stained and polluted as his is whom we suppose to be sick to death . What Tertullian spake is most true , In Majestatis reos & publicos hostes omnis homo miles est , Against traytors and publick enemies , every man is a Souldier . And it is as true , that every one that is of strength to pull a soul out of the fire , is , when his brother sins , a Priest also , and may , nay is bound to rebuke him : but he must be careful that his counsel and advise be the dictates of his Love , not of his gall and bitterness ; that he take God himself for a patern , qui non homines odit , sed vitia ; who never hated men , whom he made , but Sin , which , being God , he could not make . The Prophet David puts it up in the manner of a question unto God himself , Do not I hate them , O Lord , that hate thee ? and am not I grieved with Psal. 139. 21 , 22. those which rise up against thee ? and presently gives himself the answer , I hate them with a perfect hatred , I count them mine enemies . Quid est illud , PERFECTO ODIO ? saith St. Augustine ; What is that the Prophet means by perfect hatred ? No more then this , He hated the vices in them , not the men ; How then will this perfect Hatred and the Love of our enemies subsist together ? To wit , by this , That we hate this in them , that they are wicked ; and love this in them , that they are men . The 109 Psalm is a Psalm of cursing . There we find such fearful imprecations that a true Christian must needs tremble but to hear them read . St. Chrysostom in his very first words upon that Psalm , saith 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , He that will take this Psalm into his hands had need be discreet . Whether it be a Prophesie or a collection of bitter imprecations , is not much material : In the Gospel there is no such gift of Prophesie , nor liberty of cursing granted . He that foretells his brothers ruine , is a Prophet also of his own : and he that curseth his brother secretly in his heart , though it be for sin , hath committed that sin which will bring a heavy curse upon himself . I know it hath been used in the Church ; and it hath been thought a heavy curse to say DEUS LAUDUM upon any man , which is the very first words and title of that Psalm . A common thing it was in France , saith Calvin , if any man had an enemy that molested him , to hire with a sum of money a Monk or a Franciscane every day to repeat this Psalm . A Gentlewoman of great note procured one of that Fraternity to use that very form of imprecation against her only Son . So dangerous are the examples even of the Saints of God ; which we are too ready to follow when they are ill ; and when they are good and warrantable , as ready to mistake them . Si David , cur non ego ? If David that Saint of God , that man after Gods own heart , did fill his Psalm with Imprecations , why may not we also set our Prayers to the same tune , and curse our enemies with a DEUS LAUDUM ? I will grant we may , when as we find such a roll of curses under the Law ; we find also such another under the Gospel . If the Proverb will suffer the Jew but to creep into Mount Ebal , sure Christianity should be a sense to keep a Christian from coming near it . I cannot conceive but that God doth exact this duty in far greater measure from a Christian then from a Jew . For though this precept in equity bound the Jews as well as us , yet God , who dispensed with them , hath not done that favor unto us , who have received far greater from him , but requires this duty of Meekness from us in the highest degree . If he demanded of the Jew an Omer , he will exact from us Christians an Ephah .

For conclusion then , and to make some use of that which hath been spoken ; Let us not go in the waies of the Gentiles , nor in theirs who are so fully bent against those who are not of the same opinion , that in the prosecution they forget they are men , and that there is any such virtue as Meekness ; that , like Hannibal , cannot live without an enemy ; or , like those ancient Spaniards in Justine , are so out of love with concord that they swell at the very name ; that have no other reason or inducement to quarrel but to quarrel , and think Religion consists in words of gall and acts of vengeance , that Clamor is Zeal , and Fury Piety , and that then they reign as Saints when they wash their feet in the bloud of their brethren ; that call every opinion that is not theirs Blasphemy ; and that are not so hot against a foul pollution in the heart as against an error in the understanding , nor so angry with a crying sin as with a supposed mistake . If these be Saints , then certainly our Saviour is not so meek as he hath told us , or we must believe , what is past understanding , that our meek Saviour , as he once had Judas , so may now have these men of Belial for his Disciples . If these men be Saints , why may not Lucifer recover his place ? What ? a Saint with fire and sword ? with axes and hammers ? with fire devouring before him , and a tempest round about him ? like the bottomless Pit , sending forth smoke as out of a fornace , smoke out of which come Locusts to devoure the earth ? a covetous , malicious , deceitful , treacherous , adulterous , murderous Saint ? Such Saints peradventure may walk on earth , or under that name ; but sure they will never follow the Lamb , nor appear in those new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness . Let us , I say , not be like these . For they say , and do not ; they say , and do the contrary . What profit , what honour will it be to be such an Angel as appears here in light , and is reserv'd to be kept in chains of darkness for ever ? such a Saint as shall be turned into a Feind ? Let us rather take upon us the yoke of Christ , who was meek ; and bear the burdens of these contentious men , as St. Paul exhorts . Let us not assault one another with lyes in the defense of Truth , nor break the bonds of Charity in the behalf of Faith , nor fly asunder in defense of the Corner-stone , nor be shaken in pieces to secure the Rock . If they separate themselves , let not us withdraw our affection from them . Si velint , fratres ; & si nolint , fratres ; If they will , let them be our brethren ; and if they will not , yet let them be our brethren . And in these times of hurry and noise , in the midst of so many divisions and sects , let us look upon every man with an eye of Charity and Meekness , or , as Erasmus speaks , with an Evangelical eye ; and leaving all bitterness and rancor behind us , let us walk on in a constant course of piety and holy contention with our selves , not answering reviling with reviling , but beating down every imagination which is contrary to Meekness ; doing that upon Sin in our selves which we cannot do upon Errour in others . When they spurn at our Meekness , and defie our silence , and rebuke our innocence , let us be meek and silent and innocent still . When they will kill us , be as silent as they who have been dead long ago : that so we may possess our souls when they are ready to take them from us ; and be like the people of Nazianzum , who by their peaceable behaviour in times of great dissention gained a name and title , and were called The Ark of Noah , because by this part of spiritual Wisdom they escaped that deluge and inundation of fury which had wel-near overflowed and swallowed up all the Christian world .

In the last place ; let us level our Wrath and Indignation against Sin , but spare the Sinner , since our selves so often do call upon God to spare us : And if he did not spare us , where should the righteous , where should the best Saints appear . It is one mark of Antichrist , that he sits as God in the 2 Thess. 3. 4. Temple of God , shewing himself that he is God , thundring out his excommunications , canonizing , damning , absolving , condemning whom he please . Thus 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to overlook our brother , thus to look down upon our brethren , and dart a heavy censure at them for that which we should shed a tear , is so far to follow Antichrist as to take the seat and place of God ; nay , to put him out of his seat , and to do his office ; nay , to do that which he will not do , to sentence him to death whom God for ought we know , hath chosen to eternal life . Nay , though it doth not make a man the Antichrist , yet it makes him so much Antichrist as to place him in a flat opposition to Christ himself . For he is not such an angry Bishop , such a proud High Priest , as cannot be touched with the feeling of our sins , but one who being meek and tempted himself , is able and willing to compassionate those that are tempted . Did we feel the burden of our brethrens sins , as he did ; Did we apprehend the wrath of God , as he did ; we should rather offer up prayers and supplications , with Psal. 69. 26. strong cryings and tears for them , then tell of the misery of these wounded ones , ( that is , speak vauntingly and preach thereof , as the word signifieth ) then let our Anger loose against them , and beat upon them with all our storms . I confess , prudent and discreet Reprehension is as a gracious and seasonable rain , but rash and inconsiderate Anger as a tempest , a hurricane , to waste a soul , and carry all before it , and dig up Piety by the root . As it is truly said that most men speak against Riches , not out of hatred but love unto them , so do many against Sin , not out of hatred to sin , but love of themselves , which may be as great a sin as that which they are so loud against . Signum putant bonae conscientiae , aliis maledicere ; They count it a sign of a good conscience in themselves , to be angry with and speak evil of others : They think themselves good if they can say others are evil : Whereas true Righteousness speaks alwaies in meekness and compassion ; but that which is false and counterfeit breaths forth nothing but wrath , reviling and indignation . O beloved ! what soloecismes , what contradictions may we observe in the School and Church of Christ ! men raging against Sin , and yet raising a Kingdom from it in themselves ! loathing it as poyson , and yet drinking it down as water ! angry with it , and loving it ! whipping it with scorpions , and yet binding it about them as a garment ! Jacob's sons declaiming against Uncleanness with the instruments of cruelty in their hands ! Absalom bewailing the Injustice of the times , when himself was a Traytor ! Judas angry with Mary's ointment , when he would have it sold and put into his bag ! What a pageant is it to see Sacriledge beating down Idolatry ? Covetousness whipping of Idleness ? Prophaneness pleading for the Sabbath ? Gluttony belching out its fumes against Drunkenness ? Perjury loud against Swearing ? and Hypocrisie riding in triumph , and casting out its fire and brimstone on all . And what is a groan or a sigh from a Murderer ? What is a Satyre from a Sodomite ? or a Libel from a man of Belial ? If Hell hath any musick , this is it , and the Devil danceth after it , after the groans and sighs and prayers and zeal of a Pharisee . And do they then well to be angry ? Yes , they say , they do well to be angry , even to death ; but not at their sin , of themselves , but their brethren . For Meekness and cruelty cannot harbor in the same breast . Nor will it come near the habitations of Covetousness , Ambition and Hypocrisie : for where these make their entrance , Meekness takes the wing , and flyes away . Therefore , to conclude , let us mark these men , and avoid them , as the Apostle counsels . And though they bring us into bondage , though they smite us on the face , though they take from us all that we have , let us pity them and send after them more then they desire , our prayers , that God will open their eyes , that they may see the snare of the Devil which holds them fast while they defie him and all his works ; and what a poor and narrow space there is betwixt them and Hell , while they think they are in the presence and favour of God . In a word , though they curse , let us bless ; though they rage , let us pray : and , as the Apostle counsels , Let all bitterness , and wrath , and anger , and clamour , and evil speaking be put away from us , with all Eph. 4. 31 , 32. malice . And let us be kind and meek one to another , tender-hearted , forgiving one another , even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven us .

The Third SERMON . PART III. MATTH. V. 5. Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth .

WE cannot insist too long upon this subject , yet we must insist longer then at first we did intend . For this holy oyl , like that of the Widows , increaseth under our hands , and flows more plentifully by being powred out . That which our last reached unto you was the Object of Meekness , which we found to be as large as the whole world . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith St. Paul , Let your moderation be known unto all men . For Meekness is not cloyster'd up within the walls of one Society , nor doth it hide it self behind the curtains of Solomon but looks further , upon the tents of Kedar , upon Bethel and Bethaven . We could not , nor was it necessary to gather and fetch in all particulars ; but we then confined our meditations to those which we thought most pertinent , and within their compass took in the rest ; which were Error in opinion , and ( which is the greater error , nay the greater heresie , saith Erasmus ) Error in life and conversation : Where we took off those common pretenses and excuses which Christians usually bring in as Advocates to plead for them , when they forget that Meekness without which they cannot be Christians . For what is in Error or in Sin which may raise my anger against my brother ? Errantis poena est doceri , saith Plato ; If he erre , his punishment is to be taught : and if he sin , we must molest and pursue him , and beat upon him with line upon line , with reprehension upon reprehension , till we convert him . If he erre , why should I be angry ? and if he sin , why should I hate him ? The way to uphold a falling House is not to demolish it ; nor is it the way to remove Sacriledge to beat the Temple down . When we fight against Sin and Error , we must make Christ our patern , qui vulnus , non hominem secat , qui secat ut sanet ; who levels his hand and knife against the disease , not against the man , and never strikes but where he means to heal . And now to add something which the time would not before permit ; Let us but a while put upon our selves the person of our adversaries , and ours upon them , and conceive it as possible for our selves to erre as for them ; and if we do not thus think , we fall upon an error which will soon multiply , and draw with it many more . For we cannot erre more dangerously then by thinking we cannot erre . And then to this let us joyn a prudent consideration of those truths wherein we both agree , which peradventure may be more and more weighty then those in which we differ , that so by the lustre and brightness of these the offence taken by the other may vanish as the mist before the Sun . For why should they who agree in those truths that may lift them both up together to Heaven , fall asunder and stand at distance as enemies for those which have no such force and activity ? This is to hazard the benefit of the one for the defense of the other , and for the love of a truth not necessary to abate our love of that which should save us ; to forfeit our Charity in a violent contention for Faith ; and so be shut out of Heaven for our wild and impertinent knocking at the gates . Therefore in all our disputes and debates with those whom we are so ready to condemn of error , let us walk by this rule which Reason and Revelation have drawn out to be our guide and direction , That no Text in Scripture can retain the sense and meaning of the blessed Spirit which doth not edifie in Charity . Knowledge puffeth up , swelleth us beyond our sphere and compass , but it is Charity alone that doth edifie , which in all things dictates what is expedient for all , and so builds us up together in a holy Faith . We cannot think that Doctrine can be of any use in the Church which exasperates and envenoms one man against another . It is St. Bernards observation . And therefore Moderation and Meekness is that Salt which Christ requires to be in us ; that wise and prudent seasoning Mark 5. 90. of our words , that purging of our affections , amongst which Ambitions and Envyings are the most violent . Have this salt in your selves , and then , as it follows , you shall have peace one with another ; And this Peace will beget in you a holy emulation to work out your eternal peace together with fear and trembling . Secondly , for Sin why judgest thou thy brother ? or so much forgettest that name as to be enraged against him ? The judgment is the Lord's , who seeth things that are not as if they were . What though he be fallen upon a stone , and sore bruised ? he may be raised again , and be built upon that foundation which is sure , and hath this zeal , The Lord knoweth who are his . This open Profaner may become a zealous Professor ; this false witness may be a true Martyr ; this Persecutor of the Church may at last be a glorious member of it , and a stout Champion for the Truth . He that led the Saints bound to Jerusalem did himself afterwards rejoyce in his bonds , and suffer and dye for that truth which he prosecuted . The Apostle , where he erects a kind of discipline amongst the Thessalonians , thus 2 Thess. 3. 14. draws it forth , If any man obey not our word , that is , be refractory to the Gospel of Christ , have no company with that man , that he may be ashamed ; that seing others avoid him , he may be forced to dwell at home , to have recourse unto himself , to hold colloquy with his own soul , and to find out the plague in his heart which makes him thus like a Pelican in the Wilderness , or an Owl in the Desert , like the Leper under the Law , whom no man must come near . Have no company with him , that is , by thy company and familiarity give him no encouragement in his sin . For good words and courteous behaviour may be taken for applause : a smile is a hug , and too much friendship is a kind of absolution . And yet for all this , have company with him : for it tells us , Count him not as an enemy , but admonish him as a brother ; Deal gently and meekly with him ; but this we cannot do if we wholly separate our selves from him , and avoid his company . The rule of Charity directs us to think every man an heir with Christ ; or , if he be not , at least that he may be so . And this is a kind of priviledge that Charity hath in respect of Faith . Faith sees but a little flock , but few that shall be saved ; makes up a Church as Gedeon did his Army , who took not all that were prest out for the war , but out of many thousands selected a band of three hundred and no more : but Charity taketh in all , and sees not any of that company which she will dismiss , but thinks all , though now their hands be weak and their hearts faint , in time may be sweetly encouraged to fight and conquer . You will say this is an error of our Charity . But it is a very necessary error : for it is my charity thus to erre , and it is not a lye , but vertue in me , in my weak brothers case to nourish a hope of that strength which peradventure he shall never recover . The holy mistakes of Charity shall never be imputed as 〈…〉 s ; no , nor be numbred amongst those of Ignorance . For he that errs not thus , he that hopes not the best of all he sees , though weltring in their bloud , wants something to compleat and perfect him , and make him truly worthy of the name of a good Christian . And this error in Charity is not without good reason . For we see not how nor when the Grace of God may work , how sinful soever a man be . Peradventure , saith St. Hierom , God may call unto him lying and stinking in his sins as in a Grave , Lazarus , come forth . Charity therefore , because she may erre , nay because she must erre , looks upon every man with an eye of Meekness . If he erre , she is Light ; if he sin , she is a Physician , and is ready to restore him with the spirit of Meekness . And thus much for the Object of Meekness : We proceed now to that which was in order next ; and as we have drawn forth Meekness in a compleat piece , in her full extent and latitude , so will we now in the last place propose her to you as a Virtue , 1. most proper , 2. most necessary to a Christian : By which degrees and approaches we shall press forward towards the mark , even the reward of Meekness , the inheritance of the earth . Of these in their order .

Meekness , we told you , is that virtue by which we may better know a Christian than by his name . And this the very enemies of Christianity have acknowledged . Vide ut se invicem diligunt Christiani , was a common speech among the Heathen , See how the Christians love one another ! when they broke the laws of Meekness , and did persecute them . Male velle , malè facere , malè dicere , malè cogitare de quoque ex aequo vetamur ; To wish evil , to do evil , to speak evil , to think evil , are alike forbidden to a Christian ; whose profession restraineth his will , bindeth his hand , tacketh up his tongue to the roof of his mouth , and curbeth and fettereth his very thoughts . For as we are not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , without a Head , so if we will be members , we must be suppled with that oyl of Meekness which distilleth down from our Head Christ Jesus . He came not , saith Tertullian , into the world with Drum and Colours , but with a Rattle rather ; not with a noise , but like the rain into a fleece of wooll ; not destroying his enemies , but making them his friends ; not as a Captain , but as an Angel and Ambassador of peace ; not denouncing war , but proclaiming a Jubilee ; and with no sword , but that of the Spirit . Look upon all the acts of our Saviour , whilst he conversed on earth amongst men and we shall find they were purely the issues of Tenderness and Meekness . He went about doing good : As he cured mens bodies of diseases , so he purg'd their souls of sin . When he met with men possessed , though with a Legion of Devils , he did not revile , but dispossess them ; he rebuked the Devil , but not the man . His mouth was so filled with the words of meekness . Thy sins are forgiven thee , that he seldom spake but the issue was comfort . He pronounced indeed a woe to the Pharisees ; ( and so he doth to all sinners : For Woe will follow the Hypocrite whethersoever he goeth , though it be not denounced a Wce to drive them from sin to repentance ; not a curse , but a precept to fright them from that woe which he denounced . It is but pulling off the visour , casting away their hypocrisie , and the Woe will vanish and end in a blessing . He called Herode a Fox : for , as God , he knew what was in him : and to him every wicked person is worse then a beast . No Fox to Herode ; no Goat to the Wanton , no Tiger to the Murderer , no Wolf to the Oppressour . Obstinate sinners carry their Woe and curse along with them , nor can they fling it off but with their sin . And Christ's profession was to call sinners to repentance . When the Reed was bruised , he broke it not ; and when the flax did smoke , he quench'd it not . As he hath a Rod for the impenitent ( and it is the last thing he useth ) so he cometh in the spirit of Meekness , and openeth his arms to receive and imbrace them that will meekly yield and bow before him , and repent , and be meek a 〈…〉 is meek . Now our Saviviour is disciplina morum , the way and the truth . And that gracious way which it hath pleased him to tread himself before us , the very same he hath left behind to be gone by us , and hath ordered a course of religious and Christian worship , which consisteth in Meekness and sweetness of Disposition . An incongruous thing therefore it is that he having presented to us the Meekness of a Lamb , we should return the rage of a Lyon ; that he should speak in a still voice , and we should thunder .

And this is most proper to Christianity and the Church . For first , what is the Church of Christ but a Congregation of meek ones ? We cannot bring Bears and Lyons and Tigers within that pale . Quomodo colligemus ? as Tertullian speaketh , How shall we gather them together ? — jungantur tigribus ursi . We cannot bring them together into one body and collection ; or , if we do , but , as Sampson did his Foxes , to look several waies . We are told indeed that the Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb , and the Leopard lie down with Isa. 11. 6. the Kid , and the Calf with the young Lyon ; but it is when they are so cicurated and tame that a little Child shall lead them . It is true , the visible Church is made up of both . For not only without , as St. John speaketh , but within , are dogs , and sorcerers , and whoremongers , and murtherers , and idolaters ; Rev. 22. 15. as there were in the Ark of Noah both clean and unclean beasts . In this Church is Cain as well as Abel , Esau as well as Jacob , Judas as well as Peter ; but they are no parts of that general Assembly , no parts of the Church of the first-born which are written in heaven , nor to be numbred amongst the spirits of just men made perfect : That part of the Church which is thus militant in Earth , shall never be triumphant in heaven . Cruel Dives shall never be seen in Abraham's bosom , nor the bloud-thirstie man in his armes who shed no bloud but his own , and that for the sins of the world : The Church which shall be saved was not planted in bloud ; or , if it were , it was in the bloud of a Lamb. It was built upon the Faith of Peter , not upon his Sword : When he used his sword , he was commanded to put it up ; but his Faith was to be published to the whole World . And if he had any grant or title to be the Head of the Church , it was not for cutting off Malchas's ear , but for laying down his own life for the Faith . Many Notes have been given of the true Church by those who acknowledge none but their own , notes which shew her not : Multitude of true believers : Why ? the number is but small . Infallibility : It is an error to think so . Antiquity : The Church , that is now ancient , was once new ; and by this note , when it was so , it was no Church . Continuance to the end of the world : We believe it ; but it is no note ; for we cannot see it . Temporal felicity : This is oftner seen in the Tents of Kedar than at Jerusalem , in a band of Souldiers than in the Church , which winneth more conquests in adversity than in prosperity , and worketh out her way to glory in her own bloud . These are Notes quae nihil indicant , which shew nothing ; Trumpets that give an uncertain sound . But if I should name Meekness as a note of the true Church , I should have a fairer probability to speak for me than they . For meek men , if they be not of the Church , yet are not far from the Kingdom of Heaven . But a meek Christian is entitled not only to the earth , but to heaven also . The Church is a Church , though her Professours be but of yesterday , and though they fall into error . And though it be in tribulation , yet still it is a Church ; yea it is never more glorious then in persecution . But without meekness it cannot be a Christian Church , no more then a man can be a man without a soul . For Meekness , if it be not the essence of the Church , yet is a property which floweth from its very essence . For that Faith is vain which leaveth malice or rancour in the heart . A Christian and a Revenger , if they meet together in the same person , the one is a Box of poyson , the other but a title .

Again , in the second place , our Reason will tell us that Meekness is most proper to Christianity and the Church , because humane Reason was too weak to discover the benefit , the pleasure , the glory of it : Nor was it seen in its full beauty till that Light came into the world which did improve and sublime and perfect our Reason . To humane Reason nothing can seem more unreasonable , more unjust , then To love an enemy , To surrender our coat to him that hath stript us of our cloak , To return a blessing for a reproach , and anoint his head with oyl who hath stricken us to the ground . This is a new Philosophy , not heard of on earth , till she was sent down from heaven . On earth it was A blow for a blow , and a curse for a curse . Dixerit insanum qui me , totidem audiet . If injuries be meted out unto us , we mete them back again in full measure ; pressed down , and running over . Revenge is counted an act of Justice ; the Pythagoreans 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a reciprocation of injuries . And what need any other law then our Grief or our Anger ? or where should Justice dwell but on the point of our Sword ? 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . It was the law of Rhadamanthus , It is equity that he that doth , should suffer what he doth ; and he that suffereth , should return it in the same kind . When those brethren in evil , having slain Hamor and Shechem , and spoiled their City , were rebuked by their Father Jacob , they were ready with this plea , Should he deal with our Sister as with a Harlot ? No sooner is the blow given , Gen. 34. 31. but the first thought is to second and return it ; and Nature looks upon it as upon an act of Justice . In the world it goeth thus : All Power and Dominion and Justice is tyed to the hilts of our Sword ; which if we can wield and manage dextrously , with skill and success , that which otherwise had been an injury , is made a law . The Turk , to settle and establish his Religion , as he first built it in bloud , so giveth way to every thing that best sorteth with humane corruption , to make it easie , that men may not start back for fear of difficulties : and as he wrought it out with his Sword , so his best argument for it ( as it is most times in a bad cause ) is his Sword . The Philosophers cryed down Revenge , yet gave way to it ; chid their Anger , yet gave it line thus far : And both Tully and Aristotle approve it . But Munit nos Christus adversus Diaboli latitudines , saith Tertullian ; Christian discipline is a fense to keep us from these latitudes and exspatiations , and pointeth out to the danger of those sins which the Heathen commended for virtues . Many indeed have dealt with these precepts of our Saviour as skilful cooks do by some kind of meats which of themselves are but harsh and unpleasant , cooked and sawced them , to make them savoury dishes . For when we see our journey long and full of rubs and difficulties , we phansie something that may both shorten and level it , and make it more plain and easie then indeed it is . Christ our Master is so great an enemy to Murder , and would have us so far detest it , that he hath not suffered us to be angry . Now the interpretation is , We must not be angry 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , without a cause . And this emboldneth us to plead for our Wrath , as Jacob's sons did , when it is cruel , and upon this very colour , that there is good reason we should be angry . For be the storm never so high , be our anger never so raging , yet we can pretend a cause , and that cause we pretend as just ; otherwise we would not pretend it : For who would pretend that for a cause which is unjust ? To love our enemies , this is a harsh and an iron speech ; and he must have the stomach of an Ostrich who can digest it : therefore we have dressed and sauced it , to make it palatable and of easie digestion : and some have thought , and been bold to say it , that this is no peremptory Precept , but only a counsel and advice , and left to our choice whether we will keep it or no. If we neglect and pass it by , we hazard only aureolam , not auream ; we hold fast eternal life , but lose some little Coronet and addition which the full performance would have purchased . When Julian the Apostate urged the Christians , and laid it to their charge that their Religion was destructive of all rule and government , because the Precepts which Christ gave forbad them to resist evil , or go to law with their brother ; Nazianzene confesseth that our Saviour did indeed leave behind him these Injunctions , but that he added withal , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that they did not belong to every man , but to those only who could 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by their holy endeavours lift themselves up to the highest pitch of vertue . For those that keep them there was a reward laid up , but no fear of punishment to those whose endeavours fell short . Which answer of his doth not satisfie : For if it be better not to implead my brother then to implead him , the Apostat's argument is still of force , because Christianity commendeth that as best . From this source and fountain sprang that River of Evangelical Counsels that overfloweth in works of Supererogation , which are drawn up by the power of the Keys into the treasury of the Church , and then showred down in Pardons and Indulgences , to water the dry places of the earth , to quench the insatiable thirst of the Court of Rome . Had the Father but distinguished betwixt publick and private revenge , he had peradventure stopped the mouth of the Adversary , and not unhappily occasioned others to open theirs against the truth . Whatsoever his mistake was , it is not so dangerous as theirs who think these Precepts concern Christians not at all , and who conceive that our Saviour was so far from adding any thing unto the Law , that he brought in his hand a dispensation from it , that for us so strictly to observe the Moral Law is not so necessary , that this ease and benefit accrews to Christians by the coming of Christ , that they may be more indulgent to themselves , since they have him for their Advocate who is their Lawgiver , and hath proclaimed a Jubilee rather in sin , yea from it . We will not deal with these men as those hard Task-masters did with the Israelites , because they rest from their burden , withdraw their straw , and yet require the whole tale of Bricks ; but we may make their burden greater because they have more straw . I might here inlarge my self . All that I intend is only this , To shew you how proper this vertue of Meekness is to a Christian ; that God requireth a higher degree of it in Christians then he did formerly in the Jews ; that our Saviour doth now bind our hands and tongues and thoughts in those cases where the Law of Moses did give more line and liberty ; that the name of Brother , which was heard of only in Jewry , is not now shut up in the narrow confines of a House or Family , but must be the Language of the whole world . He that is within the Pale of the Church , and he that is not of the Church ; he that is a Christian , and he that never heard of Christ ; he that is so near me as to be my friend , and he that standeth at the distance of an enemy ; a Christian , a Turk , a Jew , a Friend , a Foe , every man , now is my Neighbour . We who are Disciples of a better Testament , sanctiores incolae , inhabitants of that Jerusalem which is from above , must look up upon that light which our great Master hath held out to us in his Gospel , and not content our selves and sit down as if we were at our journeys end , when we have only walked on along with the Jew a Sabbath-dayes journey , and made no further progress in Meekness then the Dictum ab antiquis , the Law of Moses , pointeth to . For how little of a Christian hath he who dareth foment so much anger as might glow in the heart of a Jew and not consume him ? I love not to rake in the ashes of the blessed Saints of God , whose memory is as sweet as honey in every mans mouth , and as Musick at a Banquet of Wine . Eccl. 49. 1. But an evil custom men have got , to make good mens errours more authentick then their virtues , and for sins against the Gospel suborn apologies out of the Law , and not strive to pass the narrow Gate because the Jew had the favour to find admittance at a wider . David had the praise of ten thousands ; Eccl. 47. 6. God honoured him amongst his Saints , and gave him a Crown of Glory : Yet every action of David is not a rule for a Christian , though never laid to his charge : and David by especial dispensation might do that , and yet not forfeit his soul , which would now sink a Christian's to the lowest Pit . In 2 Sam. 19. 23. he forgiveth Shimei , who had cursed him , and telleth him he shall not dye , and sweareth unto him ; and yet 1 Kings 2. 8 , 9. even with his last breath , he leaveth it in charge with his son Solomon , to bring his hoary head down to the grave with bloud . David no doubt is a glorious Saint in Heaven : but should any Christian follow his example , and make Revenge a part of his last Will and Testament , if our Saviours rule be true , which is most plain , That if we forgive not our enemies , God will not forgive us , that Gate of mercy , which was open to David , will certainly be shut to him . Yet how have men beat their brains to make good this fact of David's , which can find no excuse , for ought we know , but from the times and particular indulgence and dispensation ? Some say he pardoned him only for the time , and retained a power of revenge to be put in execution when he pleased , or when convenience should favour him . But what is this but to make David guilty of a lye , and Jesuitical equivocation ? Some say he sinned not , because he did it not himself , but left it to his Son . And what difference is there whether I kill a man my self , or cause him to be put to death ? Some ; that the Oath was to be taken not as Shimei , but as David himself understood it , because when all is in the power of him that sweareth , the meaning of the words is in his power also . This hath been the absurd impiety of these dayes , and makes an Oath , which is the strongest confirmation , of no use , but as a thred of Tow , which every man may break asunder at his pleasure . Others ; that it was an Oath not upon compact but liberality . As if an Oath which is freely made bindeth not as much as that doth which is upon agreement . Lastly , some ; that he forgave him as he was David , but not as he was King of Israel : which is in effect , As a private man , he swore that he should not dye ; but as a publick person , he commanded his Son to cut off his head . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . These excuses and apologies do not acquit but condemn this blessed Saint of God ; and with the least breath , you see , they are scatter'd as leaves before the Wind. It is not our intent to agravate that fact as a sin in David , which yet in a Christian would be crimen devoratorium salutis , a sin that standeth in adverse aspect to the Spirit of the Gospel , and would deprive of all right to that promise which is here made to the meek , and leave no hope of salvation . For after our Saviour had given that Precept of loving our ememies , he presently backeth it with the strongest reason that can be brought , That yee may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven , who maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and on the good , and sendeth rain on the just and on the Matth. 5. 45. unjust . We conclude this point with that of Tertullian , Novam certè mansuetudinem docet Christus , etiam vicem injuriae prohibens permissam à Creatore ; Christ hath brought in a new kind of meekness into the world , forbidding that liberty of revenge which the Maker of all things had for some reason permitted for a time . But this may seem to be durus sermo , a hard saying ; and the world is not very fruitful of such men as are able to bear it . For if this be true , the language of the Gospel is more harsh then that of the Law , and speaketh in more terror then the Thunder from Mount Sinai : we are come again to blackness , and darkness , and tempest , and to the voice of words , which we intreat may be spoken to us no more . Not to hate an enemy ; To love an enemy ; To do good to an enemy ; Not to be angry ; if this be Gospel , our case is far worse then that of the Jew . Indeed , saith St. Basil , this was the very reason why the Jews would not receive Christ and his Gospel : they said , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , That it was a hard saying . Laboriosa omnia ignavis ; All things are toylsome to the sluggard : A pain it is to him to pull his hand out of his bosome . Continence is a hard lesson to the wanton , Prov. 26. 15. Temperance to the Glutton , and Meekness to a Nabal , ●● a Son of Belial , who will swell and quarrel at a very Look , and though the winds be still about him , and not the least injury so much as breath on him , yet hath wind enough shut up in his heart to raise a tempest . Semper offendunt bona malos , pia impios , sancta profanos ; Good things are alwaies scandalous and offensive to evil men . If you enjoyn Meekness , you put a Thorn in their sides to prick and trouble them . And you may to as much purpose bid a dead man rise and walk , as win him that loveth his passion to lay it down . But yet how hard soever our talk is , we find that the Jews had an expensive and laborious Religion , that they were sub elementis mundi , as children , or rather as slaves , under the Elements of the world , that they had many Ceremonies , many Statutes and Laws , in quibus non vivebant , sed puniebantur , in which they did not so much live as were punished . And now what doth God Mic. 6. 7 , 8. require of thee , O Christian ? Not to circumcise thy foreskin , but thy heart ; not thousands of Rams , but to forgive seventy times seven times ; not ten thousands of rivers of oyl , but only this pretious oyntment , which may fall upon the head of thy brethren , and run down to the skirts of their Garments , to their lowest infirmities ; Not the fruit of thy body for the sin of thy soul , but to forgive , that thou mayst be forgiven . And what is easier then this ? saith Chrysostome . Non opus est peregrinationibus ; Thou needest not go on Pilgrimage , or take any long journey , to atchieve it : It is but going out of thy self , and leaving thy pride and animosities behind thee . Thou needest not sayl for it , thou needest not plow for it : It is but plowing up the fallow ground of thy heart , and then sowing the seed of Meekness . Sufficit ut velis tantùm , & jam virtus illa suum opus implevit : If thou canst fight against thy Flesh , degrade thy Ambition , and shut out the World , if thou canst work in thy self a willingness to forgive , this vertue hath its work and consummation . Habe charitatem , & fac quod vis , as it is in the Gloss of the Canon Law : Have Charity , put on the bowels of Compassion and Meekness , and do what thou wilt . For if thou caust but once love its countenance , thou wilt soon embrace it . Amor , magus ; Love is a kind of Magician , and hath spells and inchantments to charm our passions , and conjure down this Devil . You may now think your selves in a very slippery place , when not a violent tempest , but a gust , a puff of wind will overthrow you ; when not Murder , but Anger ; not a Word , but a Thought ; not Revenge , but Not doing good ; not Rage , but Impatience ; not Noyse , but a Whisper , may endanger your title to this crown of Blessedness . Fear not , only be strong and of good courage . The Stoick looked pale in a Tempest , but he imputed it Subitis motibus officium rationis praevertentibus , to those phantasies and sudden motions which do unawares suppress the Reason , and give her no time to deliberate : So a Christian may be shaken with those assaults which by subreption may steal upon him : he may speak what afterwards he will revile more than his enemy , and do what he will detest more than an injury : cast a look of dislike , and soon distaste that look ; cloud his countenance , and chase it away with a prayer ; be moved , and within a while be more moved for being so , and so remain the same meek man and a Christian still . For God forbid that an injected thought , a sudden motion , a forced frown , a word struck out by some outward and unexpected violence , should shut any man out of the Covenant of Grace , and hope of happiness . If God should thus mark extreamly what is done amiss , no flesh would be saved , but the whole world would be as Sodome and Gomorrah . That which the Gospel requireth at our hands , is , that every man should severely watch over himself , watch and deprehend himself , and then double his watch , suspect a temptation , and fight against it before it come , fight against it though it never come , and not easily entertain any act which standeth in opposition to this virtue , nor any occasion which may draw on that act . For to be bold to think evil , so I vent it not in language ; to imagine I may vent , so I do not strike ; and when I strike , to comfort my self because anothers little finger is greater than my Loyns ; to commend the Rod because it is not a Scorpion ; to say of those sins which surprise me because I do not fear them , as Lot did of Zoar , Are they not little ones ? may I not commit them , and yet my soul live ? to make my Not doing of evil an apology for my Not doing of good , my Not thrusting my Neighbour out of his own doors a sufficient warrant for my Not receiving him into mind ; to think that any degree of Meekness is enough , is to forfeit all , and loose my title to the inheritance of the earth .

It is , I confess , a sad observation , but too manifestly true , that if Meekness be a virtue so proper , so essential to the Church , then the Church is not so visible as we pretend , but we must seek for the Church in the Church it self . For if Meekness have yet a place , it must be ( which is very strange ) in the hearts of men , in the inward man . For to the eye , every hand is lifted up , every mouth open ; and they who call themselves the Members of the Church , are very active to bite and devour one another : And it is not probable that their hearts should melt within them , and their bowels yearn , whose mouths are as open Sepulchres ; and whose feet are swift to shed bloud . Is Meekness a note of the Church ? Certainly we may distinguish Christians from the World by nothing surer then by Malice , in which they surpass both the Turk and the Jew . And where most is required , least is found ODIUM THE OLOGORUM , The Malice of Divines , was in Luther's time a Proverb : but now the Proverb is enlarged , and will take in the greatest part of Christendome . The Papist breatheth nothing but curses and Anathema's , and maketh his way with sire and sword where Reason and Religion shut him out . Others , who are no Papists , yet are as malicious and bloudy as they , and persecute their Brethren under that name , call them Papists , and spoil them as the Heathen did of old , who put Christians into the skins of Beasts , and with Dogs baited them to death . If you think not , if you act not , if you look not , if you move not as they do , you are a child of perdition , devoted to ruine and death . If you preach any other Doctrine then that which they receive then you are accursed , though you were an Angel from Heaven . Forgive you ? that were a sin not to be forgiven . Heaven and Earth shall pass away , rather then one tittle and jot of what they have set up shall fail . I have much wondred with my self how men could so assure themselves of Heaven , and yet kindle such a Hell in their breasts ; how they could appropriate a meek Saviour to themselves , and even claim him as their peculiar , as the Heathen did their Deities , and yet breathe nothing but hailstones and coles of fire ; how they should call themselves Evangelicos , the only Gospellers , and yet be such strangers , such enemies to that virtue which is most commended in the Gospel ; how they should forgive none on earth , and yet so boldly conclude that their pardon is sealed in Heaven ; that they should expect so much mercy from that God whom they proclaim so cruel as to damn men as they destroy their Brethren , for no other reason but because he will . I cannot here but wonder and lament , and pray that this malice of their heart may be forgiven them : for we cannot but perceive that they in the very gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity . And I bespeak you as our Saviour did his Disciples , to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees . For if a little leaven will leaven the whole lump , what will such a lump of malice do ? Even infect the whole body of your Religion . Your Hearing , your Prayers , your Fasts will taste of bloud . Let us then mark and avoid them . Let us devest our selves not of all power , but of all will to hurt . Let that alway sound in our ear , which is as good Gospel as , That Christ died for the World , That , if we forgive not , we are in the number of Unbelievers , and are condemned already . Let us reserve nothing to our selves but that which is ours , Meekness and Patience ; and leave to God that which is his , Judgment and Retribution . Commit all Jovi Vindici , to the God of Revenge . For he is the best Umpire for our patience . If we put our injury into his hands , he is our revenger ; if our loss , he can restore it ; if our grief , he is our Physician ; if our death , he can raise us up again . Quantum mansuetudini licet , ut Deum habeat debitorem . Lord ! what a power hath Meekness , which maketh God our debtour for our losses , for our contumelies , for our reproaches , for our death , for all ! who hath bound himself to repay us with honour , with riches , with advantage , with usury , with the inheritance of the earth , and with everlasting life !

The Fourth SERMON . PART IV. MATTH. V. 5. Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth .

I Have bestowed many words upon this Virtue of Meekness : But I have not yet said enough ; neither indeed can I , licèt toto modio dimensum darem , as he speaketh , though I should give it you out by the bushel , full measure , pressed down , and running over . Nunquam nimis dicitur , quod nunquam satìs discitur ; We cannot repeat that Lesson too often which we can never be so perfect in as we should . And he certainly is no friend to Meekness who is impatient at her name , though it sound never so often in his ear . For can he love Meekness that is afraid of her picture and description ? Or can he stand out the shock of those evils which wait upon and follow every motion of his life , who cannot bring a few hours patience to hear of that virtue which is the only buckler to quench those darts ? I would I could give you her in a full and compleat piece , the whole Signature , every line , all her Dimensions . I would I could present her naked before your eyes , in all her rayes , with all her beauty and glory ; her power in conquering , her wisdom in defeating those injuries which press hard upon , yea overthrow and triumph over all the power and policy of the world , that so you might fall in love with her , and fasten her to your souls , and make her a part of them . For then indeed we should see concurrere bellum atque virum , every man strong against a battaglia , every man chasing his ten thousand : we should see a meek soul in contention with the world , and by doing nothing treading it under foot . And this we have attempted formerly to do , but we have not done it in so full and fair a draugh , as we desired . Yet though you have not had the one half told you , you have heard enough to move you , with the Queen of Sheba , to draw near unto it , and prove it in your selves . And when you shall have practiced it in your selves , you will say it was true indeed that you heard , but you will feel more then you have heard or could hear by report . We will therefore yet awhile longer detain you . You have beheld the face of Meekness in her proper Subject , which is every private man , and in her proper Object , which is as large as the whole world , and takes in not only the Israel of God , but the Amorite , the Hittite , the Amalekite ; not only the Christian , but the Turk , the Jew , and the Pagan ; any man that is subject to the same passions , any man that can suffer , any man that can do an injury : For Meekness runs round the whole circle and compass of mankind , and binds every evil spirit , conjures down every Devil she meets with . Lastly , we presented unto your view the Fitness and the Applicableness of this virtue to the Gospel and Church of Christ , and told you that it is as it were the very breath of the Gospel , the echo of that good news , the best gloss and comment on a silent , weeping , crucified Saviour , the best explanation of his last Prayer , Father , forgive them . For the notes and characters of a Christian , as they are described in the Gospel , are Patience , are easie putting up and digesting of injuries , Humility , a preferring of all before our selves . And St. James tells us , that the wisdom which is from above , is first pure , then peaceable , gentle , easie to be intreated ; where he giveth the first place unto Purity . It would be a sin almost to compare Christian virtues together , and make them strive for precedency and place : yet he that shall mark how every where the Scripture strives to commend unto us Gentleness and Meekness , and that Peace is it quam nobis Apostoli totis viribus Spiritûs Sancti commendant , as Tertullian speaks , which the Apostles endeavour with all the strength and force of the Holy Ghost to plant amongst us , might be bold a little to invert the words of St. James , and read them thus , The wisdom which is from above , is first peaceable , gentle , easie to be intreated , then pure . For the Son of God , who is the Wisdom of the Father , and who for us men came down from above , first and above all other virtues commended this unto the world . At his birth the Song of the Angels was , Peace on earth , and Good-will towards men . All his Doctrine was Peace ; his whole life was Peace , and no man heard his voice in the streets . And as Christ , so Christians . For as in the building of Solomons Temple there was no noise of any hammer , or other instrument of iron , so in the spiritual building and frame of a Christian there is no sound of any iron , no noise of weapons , nothing but Peace and Gentleness and Meekness . Ex praecepto fidei non minùs rea est Ira sine ratione suscepta , quàm in operibus legis Homicidium , saith Augustine ; Unadvised Anger by the law of Faith and the Gospel is as great a sin as Murder was in the Law of Moses . Thus you have seen how proper Meekness is to the Gospel and Church of Christ . Now in the last place we shall draw this Virtue forth to you as most necessary to the well-being not only of a Church , but of every particular member of it ; necessary to lift us up to the Reward , the inheritance of the earth ; Which whither you take for that Earth which is but earth , or that Earth which by interpretation is Heaven , ad omnia occurrit mansuetudo , Meekness reacheth both , both the Footstool and the Throne of God ; it gives us title to the things below , and it makes us heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven . Without this we can have no mansion in Heaven , nor any quiet and peaceable possession of the earth . And thus with our last hand we shall set you up that copy which you may draw out in your selves . For Meekness in character , in leaves of paper , in our books , is rather a shadow than a picture , and soon vanisheth away ; but being drawn out in the soul and practice of a Christian , it is a fair and lasting piece ; even the image of Christ himself , which the Angels and God himself desire to look upon . And with these we shall exercise your Christian Devotion at this time .

And first Meekness may seem most necessary to Christians , if we consider the nature of Christianity it self , which stands in opposition to all other Professions in the world , confutes the Philosopher , silenceth the Scribe , strikes Oracles dumb , cryes to every man in the world to go out of it . Behold , saith our Saviour to his Disciples , I send you forth as sheep in the Matth. 10 16. midst of wolves , which will tear you to pieces for no other reason but because you are sheep . It is a disease very incident to men , to be jealous of every breath which blows in opposition to that which they have already received , to swell against that which is contrary to them ; and though it be true , to suspect it ; to wonder what it should mean ; to be troubled , and affraid of it , as Herode and all Jerusalem were when the new Star appear'd ; and , though it be as visible to any wise man as the Star was in the East , yet to seek to put it out , or , if they cannot , to destroy those over whom it stands . And therefore Tertullian tells us , Cum odio sui coepit , that Christianity was hated as soon as known , and did no sooner shew it self in the world , but it found enemies who were ready to suppress and cast it out ; men that could hate it for no other reason but because it taught to love ; that could be angry with the Christian because he was meek , and destroy him because he made it his profession to forgive ; men who counted Revenge no sin , as the ancient Grecians did sometimes Theevery , because it was so commonly practis'd amongst them . Again , as it was planted in rerum colluvie , in the corruption of men and manners ; so it doth in a manner bid defiance to the whole world . It tells the Jew his Ceremonies are beggerly ; the wise man of this world , that his Philosophy is but deceit , and his wisdom madness . It plucks the Wanton from the harlots lips , tumbles down the Ambitious from his pinacle , disarms the Revenger , strips the Rich. It writes over the Rich mans Gates , Blessed are the poor ; over the Doctor 's Chair , Where is the disputer of this world ? over the Temple , NON LAPIS SUPER LAPIDEM , That not a stone shall be left upon a stone which shall not be thrown down . For a NON OCCIDES it brought down a NE IRASCARIS , and made Anger Murder ; for a NON MAECHABERIS a NON CONCUPISCES , and made Desire adultery . It brought down sin to a look , to a thought : and therefore no marvell if there arose against Christians tot hostes , quot extranei , as many enemies as there were Heathen , or Jews . But besides their open and professed adversaries , they found enemies amongst those who were of their own houshold . What was there which could make men miserable , or move their impatience , which did not break in upon them every day ? Could Contempt ? They were counted the off-scouring of the world . Could Violence ? It was counted Religion to kill them . Could Hatred ? Accusabantur vocabula , the very name of CHRISTIAN was an accusation . If there were any seeds of evil in them , so much fire as is in the Flint , there was outward violence enough to strike it out . So that a Christian may seem to be , as he spake of Palladius , coagulum omnium aerumnarum , the very compound of all calamities , and the Centre wherein all miseries meet . Now it is almost natural to Misery to breath it self out in complaints , as Lovers use to do , to complain to the Day and the Night , to the Sun and the Moon . Flesh and bloud draws it self in at the very sight and approach of any thing that distasts it ; and when it is touched , it swells and evaporateth . A hard thing it is for men in disgrace not to be impatient , and a common thing 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , for men who have struggled long with afflictions , with injustice and injuries , to grow fierce and revengeful ; and because they are contemned of all , to hate all , and to treasure up that wrath which , if ever opportunity breath upon it , will break forth and burn like fire . Whence the Historian observes of Otho , that he was longo exsilio efferatus , grown fierce and cruel upon long exile ; Agrippam ignominiâ accensum , that the disgrace which Agrippa received had much altered his disposition . Therefore our Saviour here to prevent the like in his Disciples , who but for the hope of that which is to come were of all men most miserable , teacheth them a new method of Revenging injuries , by forgiving them ; of Subduing misery , by enduring it ; of Conquering an enemy , by falling down at his feet : to take up no other buckler then Meekness against the worst of those evils which he saw would befall them . And thus he provided that , though the Religion which he did set up might displease , yet those whom he sent forth to publish it should offend no man , and save themselves as it were by the fire of Persecution . This is the Policy which Christ hath established in his Church , and by which he establisheth the pillars of it . For Meekness in the Sepulchre , the Land of Oblivion , in which all injuries are buried , never to rise again , nor see the light ; when I forgive , I do by Injuries as God doth by my Sins , forget them , cast them behind my back , and blot them out , that no tittle of them appear to raise an angry thought . But Anger and Revenge are an irrational and treacherous remedy . They take not away the evil , but double it , invenom and inrage it , make that a Scorpion which was but a whip , and that a monster which to Meekness is nothing ; they perpetuate and transmit it from youth to age , from age to the very hour of death , nay from one generation to another . The sting of an Injury is Impatience , and the strength of Impatience is Revenge ; but to forgive an injury is to swallow it up in victory . I call it therefore the Wisdom and Policy of Christ , though the world call it by another name , and count them but fools that practise it . For lay open all the Books in the world which have been written of Republicks and Government , yet we find not any directions which can propagate a Government , and make it everlasting : But now perhaps we see a State flourish ; but anon it will decline , and at last have its fatal period , and fall to pieces . But this Christian Wisdom makes the Church and every Member of it as immovable as a Rock , more glorious in adversity then in peace , more happy in a tempest then in a calm , victorious when ready to fall , and most safe when forsaken . Besides , the Wisdom of this world how oft doth it meet with a check ! how often is it defeated , and in a while changeth its name , and is turn'd into folly ! How many digg a pit , and fall into it ! How many hath their Wit brought almost home to their intendments , and then left them looking after them with anger and grief ! How many hath it brought to the end of their desires , and ruined them there ! How many have built up their hopes with one hand , and demolished them with the other . The Devil , saith Basil , is the great Politician of the world ; but yet he is deceived with his own Sophistry , and taken in his own craft ; and in setting hard at the Church , he falls himself to the ground ; or , if he destroy a soul , he doth but add torment to himself , and with his own malice enrage the fire of Hell . The Jews , to keep out the Romans , did banish themselves ; and taking counsel together against Christ , they put him to death , at whose death the Veil of the Temple rent in twain . All the imaginations of men have been either faint and feeble at first ; or else , making haste to that which they proposed , they have lost that which they so eagerly pursued ; and overtook nothing but what they look't upon with horror . All the wisdom in the world , if you put it into the balance , will be found but light : but this necessary wisdom , this wisdom which is from above , never fails ; but though it be sowen in dishonour , it riseth again in honour , and through scorn and contempt , through poverty and death it self , it makes its way to that effect which it is as powerful to produce as it is weak in shew . Oh that we were wise , so wise as to rely on the wisdom of God , which through uncouth and desolate paths , through the wilderness , through a sea of bloud , will safely waft us over to the heaven where we would be ; and not trust to our own sensual , vain and uncertain providence , which , though the way be smooth and pleasant , yet reaps nothing but bitterness in the end ; which carries us on in a giddy , staggering , pleasing , displeasing course , but evermore into the pit ; which makes our feet like Hinds feet , lifts us up on the wings of Hope , and at last knocks out our brains against the mark we aimed at ; which brings us to the honey we long for , and smothers us in the Hive . Number up all the fatal miscarriages of the Sons of men , and you shall find they were all from this , and this alone , That they took upon them to be wiser then God . If we were content our wayes should be as Gods wayes , and would walk in those wayes which he hath appointed , and steer our course by his Compass , we should then look upon Revenge as a fury , and cleave to Meekness as our Angel-keeper ; we should soon see the weakness and folly of the one , and the victories and trophies of the other ; we should find the one the most noxious thing in the world , and the other most necessary .

For , in the next place , as the observance of this duty hath promoted the Gospel , so the neglect of it hath hindred the growth of Christianity , and made those rents and schisms in the Church which good men may lament with tears of bloud , but the wisest cannot make up again with all their care and endeavour , which most times we see , in stead of closing and healing such wounds , do make them wider then before . We see the undiscreet and unseasonable defense of the truth doth but call in more company to side with the opposer , draws down even Zelotes themselves to an indifferency , in which they do not long stand wavering , but soon fall into error . It is not noise , but silence that prevaileth . It is not the rough but tender hand that binds up these wounds . It is not power nor subtilty of wit , not disputation nor consultation , not the tongue of the eloquent , nor the pen of the ready writer , which can compose these differences in the Church . We cannot but observe that after all the labour and travel of the learned , there is yet Altar against Altar , Religion against Religion , and Christ against Christ : and the wounds the Church hath received , bleed still afresh , and are every day more inflamed , more incurable . What have all our prisons and whips and fire and sword done ? What one hair have they added to the stature of Christianity ? Is she not rather contracted and shrunk ? Is she now of so large a size and proportion as she was in her infancy and cradle ? Is she as powerful in her Catholick extent and universality as she was in a few Fishermen ? Certainly the best balm is this Wisdom of our Saviour , by which we are directed to forgive injuries and errors , to yield so far to our brethren as not to hate them , not to be angry with them , because they are not of our opinion . The want of this temper , of this softness and sweetness of disposition , was the true Mother of Schisme , which Meekness hath not edge enough to make . It is but taking it up again , and all this business will be at an end , and conclude in peace . Yet do I not here derogate from Counsels or Disputations . These are the means appointed by God himself to settle men who doubt . We must consult before we give sentence , and he that instructs disputes . No ; these are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the pillars and tropheys where all Heresies are hung up , engraven and shewen openly to the Sun and the People . I know they may be Antidotes against the poyson of the Serpent , who is as ready to cast his mist about the Understanding part as to infect the Will : and I may subscribe to that of Isidore , Ideo Christi veritas in diversas haereses est scissa , &c. That Origin . 6. Christianity had formerly been divided into so many Sects , because before the times of Constantine , and those halcyon-dayes , the Bishops durst not meet together to consult . This indeed may be a reason , but not all the reason which may be given . For even in Constantine's time did the Arian Heresie shew and vaunt it self , and after the Council of Nice , so famous over the world , did so prevail that it was a doubt which way the Church did look and incline ; whether to the Arian tenents or the determination of that Councel , because the Arians did almost equal the Orthodox in number , and in eloquence and learning far exceed them . Afterwards this Heresie was revived , though with another name , in the Origenists : and not long after tot erant symbola , quot professores , there were almost as many Creeds as Professors . And one main reason thereof , I suppose , was the want of Meekness and Moderation ; when the noyse and violence of the one party would not give the other so much leasure as to bethink themselves ; when men would raise tempests only for a thought which did not please them , and most men were like Scaurus in the Oratour , qui nullius unquam impunitam stultitiam transire passus est , who would not suffer a soloecisme or any error to pass without a heavy censure ; when , as Luther speaks , for the omission of a syllable or of a letter they would novos infernos cudere , make another Hell , and devote their brethren to the Devil , thundring out Anathema's one against the other , which many times both deserved rather for their heat and bitterness then for their errors . For the Church may erre : but if she drive Charity and Meekness out of her quarters , she is no longer a Church . Ambition and Covetousness , these break down her hedges , and Malice is the wild Boare which destroyeth and eats up her grapes . When this fire is once kindled in her bowels , then ruit Ilium , then her Pillars shake , and she is ready to fall . But , as I remember , I have spoken at large of this heretofore .

You see , Beloved , then that Meekness is necessary to the Church ad bene esse , to keep its parts together from flying asunder ; and so to every Christian , to keep him compact and at unity with himself and others . But now , in the next place , I may say it is necessary to the very being of the Church , as without which no man can be admitted into the Congregation of the first-born which are written in Heaven . With wanton Christians , that trifle away their souls , and would walk to Heaven with earthly members and unwashen feet , there is but unum necessarium , one thing necessary , and that is Faith ; which because it doth alone justifie , we leave it alone , naked and destitute , or take it along with us as a comfort to us whilst we labour and sweat in a world of wickedness . For what title to Heaven can the most Christians shew but this CREDO , I believe ? The rest of the copy is Malice and Envy and Covetousness , the black lines of reprobation : Poverty and Mourning and Meekness are no part of their claim . But let us look upon our Charter again , and we shall find Meekness to be one of those paucissima necessaria , of those few things necessary to give us right to our inheritance , and that Faith is nothing , is dead , and so cannot give life , if it do not work by Love , even work out all our venom and malice , and so leave us liable and open to receive reproaches and blows , but without tongues or hands to return them , as so many dead marks for every dart to stick in , till by the power of Meekness they drop from us , or by the hand of the highest are plucked out , and shot back upon our enemies . A truth so plain that I dare boldly say there is not a plainer in the whole Scripture . For what can a guilty condemned person plead for himself that he should enter into this inheritance , but forgiveness ? For this is the object of our Faith , That God will be reconciled to us in his Son . And then this is plain English , I am sure , That if we forgive , God will also forgive us : But if Mat. 6. 14 , 15. we forgive not men their trespasses , neither will our heavenly Father forgive us ours . Et qui ad tam magnum tonitruum non expergiscitur , non dormit , sed mortuus est , saith St. Augustine ; He that awakes not out of his pleasant dream of Revenge at this thunder , is not asleep , but dead . For , He will not forgive you , is the same with this , He will damn you with those malicious Spirits , the Devil and his Angels ; and , He will forgive you , is equivalent to this , He will receive you into his Kingdom , to his seat of mercy and glory . We may say then that Meekness is necessary , as a cause to this effect , as a virtue destined to this end , at least , causa sine qua non , a cause so far as that without it there is no remission of sins . For though I have faith to remove mountains , and have all Knowledge , yet if I have not Meekness , there is no hope of heaven . Or it is causa removens prohibens , a cause in as much as it removes those hindrances which stand between us and the Mercy of God : For how can I appear before the Father of compassion with a heart spotted and stained with the gall of bitterness ? How can I stand before the Mercy-seat with my hands full of blood ? And thus Meekness is a cause of Forgiveness , and may be said to produce this effect , because though it have no positive causality , yet without it mercy will not be obteined . Blessedness is joyned to Meekness as in a chain which hath more links : and If you shall forgive your enemies , my Father will forgive you , doth not shew what is sufficient , but what is necessarily required to the expiation of sin , and the inheritance of heaven .

Again , by Meekness we resemble him who is a God that blotteth out transgressions . When we are angry , we are like unto the beasts that perish , yea , we are as the raging waves of the Sea , foming out our own shame : But when we yield to our brother's infirmity , and forgive him , we are as Gods .

Thirdly , This virtue is seldom , I may say never , alone ; but it supposeth Faith , which is sigillum bonorum operum , the seal to every good work , to make it current and authentick , yea , and all that fair retinue of Virtues which as Handmaids wait upon Faith , and make her known to the world . For he whose mind is so subact as to bear another mans burthen , and to lift himself up upon the ruins of himself , and create virtue out of injury and contempt , cannot be far from the Kingdom of heaven , nor destitute of those sacrifices wherewith God is well pleased . And this , I say ; though it be not necessary , yet is very probable . For these , to be Covetous , to be Luxurious , to be Wanton , and to be Meek , cannot lodge in the same breast . For we see Prodigality as well as Covetousness is a whetstone to our Anger , and makes it keen and sharp : And the Wanton will as soon quarrel for his Whore as the Miser for his Purse . But Meekness believeth all things , hopeth all things , beareth all things , and doth nothing unseemly . For the mind of the Meek is like the Heavens above : Semper illîc serenum est , there is continual serenity and a perpetual day there . It is as Wax , fit to receive any impression or character of goodness , and retein it ; a fit object for Gods benefits to work upon ; ready to melt at the light of his countenance , and to yield at the lifting up of his hammer . And therefore ;

In the last place , this Meekness and Readiness to forgive maketh us more capable of the Gospel of Christ and those other Precepts which it doth contain , and so fits and prepareth and qualifieth us for this Blessedness , for this great benefit of Remission of sins . For he that is ready to forgive all injuries , will be as ready to be poor , very forward to go to the house of mourning , merciful , a peace-maker , one that may be reviled and persecuted , and so rightly qualified for those Beatitudes . And he who can suffer an injury will hardly do one ; whereas they commonly are most impatient of wrongs who make least conscience of offering them ; qui irascuntur quia irascuntur , who play the wantons , and are angry with their brother for no other reason but because they are pleased to be angry . Now the Oratour will tell us that Nullus rationi magìs obstat affectus , there is no affection which is so great an enemy to Reason as Anger . For Sorrow , and Fear , and Hope , and the rest , make an assault and lay hard at us , but anger as a whirlwind overwhelms us at once . I may be stricken with Fear , and yet hearken to that counsel which will dispel it : I may hang down my head with Sorrow , and yet be capable of those comforts which may lift it up again ; for every one is not as Rahel , that would not be comforted : but we deal with Angry men as we do with men overcome with drink , never give them counsel till the fit be over . For fairly to be speak a man thus transported , is to as much purpose as to bid the Sea go back , or to chide the Winds . And as the Reason and Judgment are dimmed and obscured with that mist which sudden Anger casts , so are they also by that which they call 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a lasting or abiding Anger , which is the forge or alembick of Revenge , and works it by degrees . And till this be dispelled and scattered , there is no room for the Doctrine of the Gospel , which breaths nothing but meekness and forgiveness . Disce , sed ira cadat naso : To be angry and To learn are at as great a distance as To be in motion and To stand still . He that fills his thoughts with Revenge , can leave no room for the Precepts of that Master who was led to the slaughter as a sheep : But the Meek man is like him , is a Sheep , his Sheep , and will soon hear his voice , draw nearer and nearer unto him , and by Meekness learn Purity and those other virtues which will bring him into the arms of his Saviour and the Kingdom of Heaven . And thus you see how necessary a virtue Meekness is for the Church , and for every part of it , for every Christian , to entitle him to the inheritance of the earth ; as the earth is taken for that new earth , Rev. 21. 1. the Earth not of living , dying men , but that Earth where we shall live for ever ; that state of happiness which , like the Earth , shall stand fast for ever . For what is Meekness but a pregustation and fore-taste of that quiet and peaceable estate which is no where to be found but at the right hand and in the presence of God ? That as God , who is slow to anger and full of goodness and mercy , is properly and naturally in a constant and immoveable state of bliss , so Christians , who by divine grace and assistance raise themselves up to this height and pitch as to look down from a quiet mind , as from heaven , upon all the injuries and reproaches which shall be thrown against them , so communicate as it were with God , and are assimilated to him , may also by the grace and favour of God participate with him of the same lasting and unchangeable glory . And now we should descend to shew the title the Meek have to the Earth , as it is in the letter , and signifies temporal happiness , and the quiet possession of the things of this world : but the time is well-near spent ; now therefore we will add but a word or two by way of Application of what hath been already spoken , and so conclude .

And did I say that Meekness was a necessary virtue to the Church of Christ , and that without it we cannot receive the Gospel , nor be our selves received into the Kingdom of Heaven ? Certainly I mistook : at least the greatest part of Christendom will rise up against me , and arraign me as guilty of a dangerous heresie . For in their practice they confute it every day . It was indeed a necessary virtue for the infant , baby Church , when she could not move her arms , nor her tongue but in prayers and blessings ; when Christians were ready to suffer , but knew not what it was to strike ; when they were expeditum morti genus , readier to breath forth their souls in the fire then to kindle one , readier to receive the sword into their bowels then to draw it : But now the Church is aged and forgetful , and men have learnt to dispute and distinguish themselves out of their duty , have found out a new light , by the guidance of which they may walk on securely , and follow their brutish passions and covetous desires to the mark they have set up , and by this light wade on and wash their feet in the bloud of their brethren . It was a virtue ; it is now the mark of a lukewarm Reprobate : It was the beauty and glory of the Church ; but later times have looked upon it as a fowl dishonour : It was the only buckler the former Christian had ; but those of after-times have thrown it away , and for it took up the sword , which they brandish with terror , as that weapon which Christ himself hath put into their hands : It was the proper virtue of Christians and most necessary for them ; it is now an Anathema . Now not to curse , deserves a curse . The Church was a flock , a little flock of sheep ; it is now become as terrible as an army with banners , and Christ is already brought into the world in that posture in which the Jews expect their Messias , with Drum and Colours . Shall I tell you what is counted necessary now ? It is necessary to contend for the Faith , to stand up against Error , to be zealous for the glory of God . And what man of Belial dare be so bold as to stand up and say this is not necessary ? God forbid that Faith should fail ; that Error should take the chair , that the Glory of God should be trod under foot . It is true : but then though this be necessary , it is necessary to do it in that way and order which Christ himself hath prescribed , and not in that which our Malice and Covetousness and Ambition draws out in bloud . And the Sword of the Lord , the Word of God , managed with the Spirit of Meekness is more apt and fit to enter the soul and the spirit then the Sword of Gideon . Religionis non est cogere religionem , saith Tertullian ; Religion cannot be forced , which , if it be not voluntary , is not at all . For there cannot be a grosser soloecism in Divinity then to say a man is good against his will . And sad experience hath taught us that they who thus contend for the Faith with noyse and fury do name Christ indeed , but mean themselves . We may instance in the Church of Rome . They who defend the Truth , non syllogismis , sed fustibus , as St. Hierome speaks , not with Reason and Scripture , but with clubs and swords , do but glance upon the Truth , but press forward to some other mark . And THE GLORY OF GOD is but written in their foreheads , that whilst men look stedfastly upon that , they may with more ease and less discerned lay hold on the prey , and so be Villains with applause . Yee suffer fools gladly , 2 Cor. 11. 19 , 20. saith St. Paul , such as boast , and count themselves the Sages of the Age , because you your selves are wise in your own conceit , though as very fools as they . Yee suffer if a man bring you into bondage , ( what do not the Romish Proselites endure ? ) if a man devour you , if a man take of you , if a man exalt himself , if a man smite you on the face . For how willing have men been to be deceived , and to canonize them for Saints who wrought the cheat , to think them the best Pastors who devour them , and them the humblest men who exalt themselves , and them the most gentle friends who smite them on the face . Such a Deity , such an Idole , such a Nothing is Religion and Christianity made in this world ; cried up with noyse , and beat down with violence ; pretended in every thing , and denied in every thing ; magnified in those actions which destroy her , forced to draw that sword which she commanded her disciples to put up , made a sanguinary and shedder of bloud , of which ( could she prevail , and have that power which God hath given her ) there would not one drop fall to the ground . But the World is the World still , and would make the Church like unto it : And though it be Ambition , or Covetousness , or Malice , yet we call it Religion ; and when that word is once spoken , then down goes all Morality , all Humanity , all Meekness , and Religion it self . Is it not for her cruelty that we make the Church of Rome the seat of Antichrist , and call her the BEAST ? And let it be the mark and character of the Beast still . Let not that which a Turk or Jew would run from with disdain , be fastned as an ornament of glory on the Christian , who is better drawn and expressed in chains and fetters then with his feet on the neck of his enemies . For where should a Christian be seen but under the Cross ? When he flings it upon others , he may call himself by what name he please , but he is not a Christian . Do we not make this our plea against the Church of Rome , That sentence of death was never past upon any of them for Religion ? and therefore let not our words anathematize , and our actions justifie them . Let us not do that which in a Papist we call an abomination . Let us not name the Lord Jesus , and then fall down and worship the Prince of this world , when he lures us to him with the glory of it , and those things which he will give us . A strumpet is not a whit the less a strumpet because she calls her neighbour so ; and the name of Antichrist will belong to us as well as to that Church , if we partake with her in those sins for which we call her so . And it will little avail us to call her Antichrist , whilst our selves are drunk with the bloud of our brethren . But — Dii talem terris avertite pestem ; God banish from the earth this kind of Popery . And let us be able to make that glorious profession which the Christians did to the Heathens in the times of Nazianzene , QUAM LIBERTATEM VOBIS ERIPUIMUS ? When our Emperour was a Christian , and the Church had peace , and flourish'd , what one part of your liberty did we deprive you of ? Did we spoil you of your wealth , or cast you into prison ? Did we raise up the people to rage against you ? Did we call for the sword of the Magistrate , and invite the secular Power to destroy you ? Did we degrade you from your honours , or remove you from your offices ? Did we displace your Praetors ? They are the Fathers own words . What did you hear from us but hearty wishes , earnest exhortations , and vehement prayers for your salvation ? So far were we from shedding your bloud , that we were ready to powre out our own for your souls . This was all our violence : and indeed you esteem'd it so . You imputed to us even our very meekness as a crime , and counted our patience to be violence . This we can , but this you cannot say for your selves . You by most exquisite torments would force us to a false Religion , who by our very Religion are forbid to use any violence to draw you to a true one . It is true , the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be taken but by violence : but it is by violence upon our selves ; upon our Anger , to bridle it ; upon our fleshly Lusts , to controll them ; upon our unruly Affections , to moderate them ; upon the Old man , to crucifie him . We make our addresses unto you in the spirit of meekness , we beseech you to be reconciled unto Christ ; but we were never taught to present our Religion to you on the point of the sword . O that we could make this glorious profession ! This is the Gospel-way , the only way to open the Gates of Heaven to our selves and others : For we wrestle not , saith St. Paul , against flesh and bloud , against the Neros and Nabals of the earth ; against the Jews , who solemnly curse us three times a day , saith St. Hierome ; against the Turk , who delights in our bloud ; against the Papists , who make it a sport to anathematize us ; nor against those who hate them with a perfect hatred , and are worse then they ; not against the Slanderer , whose tongue is a rasour ; nor against the Oppressour , who hath the teeth of a Lion ; nor against the Detractour , whose whisper is as the sting of a Scorpion , and hurts unseen : but we fight against Principalities and Powers , and the Rulers of the darkness of this world . These are a Christian mans enemies , and with these he solemnly wageth war . And his weapons are answerable , the Breastplate of Righteousness , the Shield of Faith , the Helmet of Salvation , and the Sword of the Spirit , which though they are mighty to pull down strong holds , yet will they not touch an enemy that appears in the shape of a man . The Breast-plate of Righteousness will not defend me from them that shoot their arrows in private . The Shield of Faith , though it quench the fiery darts of Satan , yet will not quench that fire , destroy that Tongue , which is a world of iniquities . And the Sword of the Spirit cannot beat back the malice of an inraged enemy , or smite down those that hate us . But if we believe , and trust to this part of providence which the Wisdom of the Father hath taught us , we shall see greater things then these . We shall find our selves disarm'd , with never a hand to strike , with a tongue that cannot curse , with weapons which may resist a Devil , but cannot hurt a man ; which will cast down a sin , but not an enemy : not able to move when the heathen rage , and when the enemy drives towards us , like Jehu , furiously ; making the greatest preparation against our own Impatience ; fighting against our Anger , when we will not hold up a hand against those that hate us ; for the Truths sake Rom. 8. 36 , 37 killed all the day long , and appointed as sheep for the slaughter , yet in all these things more then conquerors . These are the riches of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria . These are the victories and trophees of a Christian , a ploughed back , a face spit upon , hands bound , and feet in fetters , and a heart melting and bleeding for them , that do it , and powring forth supplications and prayers for them , the only coals he heapeth upon their heads . And thus the Christian doth , seculi fluctus calcare , praeeunte Christo ; he treads upon the proud waves of this world , Christ going before him ; he walks in Christ's steps ; he wadeth not in the bloud of his enemies , but in his own , to that inheritance which is laid up for him . He learneth of Christ , who is meek and lowly , and so heals every malidy , binds up every wound , wipeth off all disgrace , triumphs over all the evil in the world , and so finds that rest unto his soul which our Pride , our Animosities , our Rage can never purchase us . To conclude ; Though Meekness do not open the Gates of Heaven , yet it makes our admittance more easie : Though it be not sufficient to save us , yet it is a fair means to make us wise unto salvation : Though it do not merit remission of sins , yet it makes us like to our Father which is in Heaven . And at the great day of retribution this also which we have done shall be mentioned , and our Father shall say unto us , Well done , true and faithful servants : You have bowed down your backs to the smiter , you have loved your enemies , and prayed for your persecutors ; behold , I have loosed you and forgiven you all your debt : enter into your Masters joy . To which He bring us who hath dearly bought us with his bloud , JESUS CHRIST the Righteous .

The Fifth SERMON . PART I. EPHES. V. 1. Be ye therefore followers of God , as dear children .

THE words are plain , and need not the gloss of any learned Interpreter , That God is our Father , and we his children ; That as children we must be followers of him in those wayes which lead us to him . There is no man so much a child in understanding but will understand this without a Philip , without any man to help or guide him . But yet , Beloved , many times the plainest places of Scripture require our pains and labour as much as the obscurest , and are far more useful and necessary then high and deep speculations ; as we find a stone out of the Quarry more fit to build a house with then a Diamond . These words , which I have read , as plain as they are , are as a rich Mine , which being well searcht into , will yield abundance of ore , even the rich treasury of that wisdom which will make us wise unto salvation . If we desire Wealth , the earth is the Lords , and all that therein is ; if Strength , he is the Lord of hosts ; if Wisdom , He created her , and saw her , and numbred her , and powred her out upon all his works ; if Life , he is the living God ; if Immortality , he only is immortal . There is none like unto the Lord our God ; and if we follow him , we shall be rich , and wise , and strong ; we shall live , and live for ever . Let us then look stedfastly upon these plain words : And upon the opening of them we shall behold the Heavens open , and God himself looking down upon the children of men , upon his children , displaying his rays , and manifesting his beauty , to draw them near unto himself , to allure and provoke them to follow after him ; teaching Dust and Ashes to raise it self to the region of Happiness , Mortality to put on Immortality , Death to put on Life , and our Sinful nature to make its approaches nearer and nearer to Purity it self , that where He is , there we may be also .

My Text is a general Proposition depending upon that which our Apostle had told the Ephesians in the former Chapter . And it is an Exhortation to a Duty of a high nature , even reaching to Heaven it self ; a Perswasion to look upon God as an ensample , Be yee followers of God . But what ? must the Ephesians be enjoyned a duty where impossibility stands in the way between them and performance ? Not so . They are Gods children , and they are his dear children . And as he is their Father , so he will be their Patern too . He will draw with his finger as it were the lines by which they must walk : nay , he will go before them in the way , and they shall hear a voice saying , This is the way ; walk in it : I am merciful ; be yee merciful : I am long-suffering ; be yee patient : I forget your transgressions ; do yee forgive your enemies : Be yee followers of me . This is as if the Apostle had thus bespoken the Ephesians , My task is to perswade you to forgive one another : What better argument , what stronger motive can I use then to tell you that you are Gods dear children . If you be Children , it is the glory of a child to resemble his Father : But you are children ; and not that only , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , dear children ; and Children strive to imitate their Parents , to whom they are dear . Nay , farther yet , you are not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 dilecti , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 diligibiles , through Christ , who hath made you worthy to be beloved . And the more you imitate your Father , the more lovely still you appear . Be yee therefore followers of God , &c.

So now you may see here a medicinal water , and not an Angel , as in the pool of Bethesda , but God himself moving of it , and calling us to enter , that we may be healed . Or you may behold that great Penman of the holy Ghost drawing out as it were , and setting the Ephesians , a copie , so legible , that one may run and read it . Briefly , you have a Patern proposed , Be yee followers of God ; and the Persons whose duty it was to be imitators , the Ephesians , who were dear children . Or thus ; Here is a Duty enjoyned , Be yee followers ; the Object of imitation , God ; the Motive , as you are dear children ; or , because you are dear children ; 1. Because you are children ; 2. Because you are dear children . Of these in order .

What the Oratour spake of his Art is most true of ours ; Magna pars artis continetur imitatione . The greatest part of Rhetorick consists in imitation ; So too doth our Christian profession . God hath not only fixed the two Tables for us to look upon , or his Command to be our direction : That indeed is via veritatis , the way by which we are to walk . But there is too lumen vitae : He hath also placed many lights in the way ; the light of spiritual Understanding , that we may see the way ; and the light of Imitation , that seeing others walk in the way we may tread in their steps . So Abraham shall teach his family ; so Solomon shall look upon King David ; and My son , hear my voice , saith Solomon : So the weak Christian , and he that eateth milk , shall walk as it were upon the strength of him that eateth stronger meat . And lest these helps should not be strong enough to uphold our weakness , lest these lesser lights should be too divine to lead us , God himself hath cast his rayes upon us , and hath made even those Virtues which He is , exemplary . And indeed how much we stand in need of this help of Example , in respect of our frailty , our Saviour laid open when he took our nature . He was disciplina morum ; His whole life was so as if he had descended only to be an Ensample . Yea , although he himself were ensample enough to have instructed the whole world , yet he proposeth others . The Samaritane shall instruct the Lawyer : And if the Lawyer approve the Mercy of the Samaritane to the man wounded on the way , our Saviour is ready with his , Do you likewise . If the Apostles grow proud , he will bring a Child in the midst of them ; and if contentious , to wipe out that stain , he will wash their feet . We are not only deprived of our former health in paradise , as the Papists would have it , but we are also wounded and maimed , and stand in need of these crutches , as it were , of Precepts and Ensamples . We are still going on in the paths of death , and thither we would hasten with hinds feet , did not God pull us back again , and sometimes lead us with the cords of men , with the bands of love , and sometimes drive us by his threatnings , and sometimes hearten us with the sight of others labouring on the way . And if the opinion of some were true , that Original sin consisteth most in imitation , here were ample and sufficient remedy , in that God leads us by ensample . To this end he hath placed us in the communion of Saints ; a gift which we either understand not , or undervalue ; and he hath wisely ordein'd that one Christian should be a lesson to another , which he should take out and learn , and teach again , and then strive to improve . For it is here as in Arts and Sciences , Qui agit ut prior sit , forsitan , si non transierit , aequabit ; He who , spurred on with an holy ambition , makes it his industry to exceed his patern , shall no doubt become as glorious a star as he , and by his holy emulation far out-shine him . Only endeavour we must , and not shut our eyes when God hath set his lights in his candlesticks . A shame it is that Lot should be in Sodom , and his Devotion be imprisoned at home with him ; that Davids soul should be where there are haters of peace ; that Peter should pass by , and not so much as his shadow reach us ; that the lesser stars , nay the Sun it self , should shine , and we be in darkness ; that it should be noon-day with us , and we grope as if it were midnight . The Philosopher would not speak it without a Pudet dicere , without a Preface of Shame , Nunquam apertiùs quàm coram Catone peccatum , That for all so great an ensample of severity as Cato was , yet Vice was still impudent . And Pliny speaks it as a commendation of Trajane , That he was good among the worst : For , saith he , when Camillus and Scipio lived , when Virtue had as it were made her self visible in those Worthies , it was a matter of no difficulty to be good : Tunc enim imitationis ardor , & semper melior aliquis accenderet : For then the heat of Imitation inflamed men , and still the life of some better man was a silent call to the weaker to follow after . Beloved in our Lord and Saviour , the time was when this our Land was overcast with as thick a darkness as that of Aegypt , and there was no Goshen for a true Israelite , no light but that of the faggot , no place to profess safely in ; yet they then were followers of Christ , and in the Scriptures diligently searcht out the steps of the Apostles , and in spite of fire and persecution walked in them . And although the Gospel was unto them but as a light in a dark cloud , yet by this light they traced the paths of the primitive Fathers , sub Principe dura , Temporibúsque malis ; and in bad times they durst be good , when the Queen was even as a Lioness amongst the Lions , and Cruelty lurkt no where more then under a Mitre and Rochet . The case , God be thanked , is otherwise with us now ; The bands of our cativitie are snapt asunder ; The cup of God's wrath is taken out of our hands , and God hath made us as it were a strong brasen wall , and his enemies and ours have fought against us , and have not prevailed . Antichrist is revealed , the mystery of iniquity laid open , errors of all kind detected , the Bible unclasped , teachers of truth like stars in the firmament , eminent , Wisdom cryeth out in the streets , and Religion hath as it were placed her tabernacle in the Sun ; and shall we still have a frost at our heart ? shall we have withered hands ? shall we be cold and benumned , and not able to set one foot forward in the steps of our Forefathers ? Beloved , let us look over into the tents of our enemies , into the tabernacles of Wickedness . What doth that Church of Rome more crack of than of Antiquity , how like she is to the Church in former times , how she hath still the same gate , and traceth the same paths ? and that we are but of yesterday , that Luther breathed into us our first breath , that it troubleth us much , saith Gregory of Valence , that we are not able to shew any company of people in times past known to the world , whom we follow in our Doctrine and Religion ? If we would pull down the Images out of their Church , they cry us down with a Populus eruditur , They are the Books of Laymen , by which they are instructed in the Articles of Faith , and have as it were before their eyes laid open the wholesome examples of the faithful , which may move them to compose their lives to the imitation of them . If we would pull off those wings which they have given to Nature to soar up above her power , if we deny their Freewil , if we pull down their Babel of Merits , they then tell us of the ancient Worthies of their Church , and add some Saints that were wicked men ; yea some that never were men . They will shew you what they have layed up for others in the treasury of the Church , to discharge their Debts before they owed them . They say that we walk blindfold in our own waies , and will not open our eyes to see the times of old , that we have run away from the bosome of our Mother , and now suck strange breasts . It is true indeed , that we can both silence them in their boast , and wipe out their accusation ; we can tell them that Rome is unlike her self : Non Roma praestat Romam , as Scaliger speaketh : That the Church began not with Luther , but began then to be les , corrupt : That we left not her , but her Superstition : That we walk in the old way , and are followers of the Professors of the primitive Truth which was then embraced when the Popes kitchin was not yet heated by the fire of Purgatory , when his Exchequer was not fill'd by Indulgences , when there was no corner-Mass , when Transubstantiation was yet unbaked , when all Sins were accounted mortal , when Pardons were sold only for Prayers and Repentance , when there were no Merits heard of but our Saviours , when the people were not cousened of the Cup ; when the Pope was not Jupiter fulminans , when he had no thunderbolt , no power of deposing Kings and Emperours . But , Beloved , our Christian care and industry should be , that we rank not our selves amongst those of whom St. Paul affirms that they Rom. 1. 18. held the truth of God in unrighteousness , that we walk as children of the truth , ne dicta factis deficientibus erubescant , as Tertullian speaketh ; that our life give not our profession the lye ; that we may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men , as St. Peter saith , that when they speak evil of us , they 1 Pet. 3. 16. may be ashamed which blame our good conversation in Christ : For if we follow Christ and his Apostles only in word and shew , if we wear Christs colours , and fight under the Devils banner , the title of CHRISTIAN will no more befit us then that of BONIFACE a hard-visage , or that of URBANUS a cruel Pope . Therefore a Christian is well defined by an ancient Father to be qui Christum verbis & operibus quantum homini possibile est imitari nititur , that striveth , as much as lies in the power of Man , to imitate Christ , by making his Hand as active as his Tongue , to imitate him both in his deeds and in his words .

You see , Beloved , that our Weaknes's stands in need of that which God hath graciously reached out unto us , this help of Example . As he hath made the Ear , so the Eye also , to obtein Learning . And lest we should complain of impossibility to perform what he commands , he hath proposed unto us men of the same mould we are of . This Doctrine then concerns us two ways ; 1. in respect of our selves ; 2. in respect of others . In respect of our selves , 1. to remove the letts and hindrances of Imitation ; 2. to observe the rules of Imitation . Now there are divers hindrances . I will mention but three .

The first is spiritual Pride and Self-conceit . We willingly perswade our selves that we are out of danger , and that we can go upon our own strength ; that we may rather be examples to others than follow them . At a sight only of our Saviour , at the least feeling of the operation of the Spirit , with Peter , we cast our selves into the Sea , we venture upon any temptation , and think we can walk in the most dangerous places without a leader . And this Self-conceit proceedeth from want of grace . Grace teacheth us to remove this hinderance . Non extollit , sed humilitat , saith one : Grace doth not puff up , but humble a man : It shews him unto himself . The more a man tasts of these spiritual vanities , the greater is his hunger , and he will leap for joy to eat them at any table . Therefore it was a good rule of St. Hirome , Omnium simus minimi , ut omnium fiamus maximi , Let us in our own opinion be the least of all , and then we shall strive forward and forward , and by a willingness to follow others example grow up to be the greatest of all . This Self-conceit works in us a Prejudicate opinion , and makes us undervalue and detract from the worth of our brother , Which is the second hinderance . We may see it in the Scribes and Pharisees . They were forsooth Moses disciples , and were swelled up with the thought of that chair : As for Jesus , he was not known unto them from whence he was . And how crafty were they , being cheated themselves , to deceive others . They buzze into the peoples ears that he was but the Carpenters Son , that none of the rulers believed on him . And so daily in themselves they encreased a willing and obstinate ignorance ; and at last , not knowing him , they crucified the Lord of life . Therefore the Apostle , speaking of the diversity of gifts , and offices of the members of Christ , gives this counsel , In Rom. 12. 10. giving honor , go one before another . Our honor , our preferment , our precedencie is to honor our brother . If we honor him for those good gifts which God hath bestowed upon him , we shall strive to benefit our selves by them , lumen de lumine accendere , to light our candle at his , to borrow of his lustre , to sit at that heavenly fire which warms his breast . When Naaman was to be healed of his Leprosie , Elisha bad him wash himself seven times in the River of Jordan : but at this the Syrian was wroth , and his 2 Kings 5. thoughts were at home . Abanah and Pharpar , Rivers of Damascus , were better with him then all the waters of Israel . And if he after had not been better advised , he had still remained and died a Leper . Beloved , if thy brother hath tasted of Gods graces , If the river of God hath made his heart glad , and God hath appointed that thou shouldst wash at this river , that thou shouldst amend by his fruitful example , and thou then esteeming him to be dry and barren , thinkst of a fountain at home , of thine own ability , take heed that thou still retain not thy leprosie of sin ; take heed thou perish not in thy sin , and that it may not truly be said of thee , He that is a scholar to himself hath a fool to his master . To this end let Charity possess thy heart , that excellent gift of Charity , quae se consiliis suis non credit , which trusts not her self to her own counsels , as Ambrose speaks , which envieth not , which thinketh not evil . Whose contemplation blesseth it self with the 1 Cor. 13. Patience of Job , the Sincerity of David , the Courage of Nehemiah , the Industry of Paul : Which writes in our memories these good examples , and teacheth us to turn them over every day : Which will not suffer us to undervalue our brother ; but makes us nourish the least spark of goodness in him , and , if we can , blow it and enliven it into a flame both in his breast and ours .

The third and last hinderance of Christian Imitation is spiritual Drowsiness . The Schoolmen call it Acedia , the Devils dormitory and sleepy potion , by which each faculty of the soul is laid in a deep sleep ; so that though God call never so loud by his cryers , the Preachers of his word , by the open and visible examples of good men , yet we hear not , we stir not , we walk not , or , if we do , it is but like those that walk in their sleep : our phansie is troubled , and we know not whether we do or no. If we stir and move , it is but like the Sluggard in the Proverbs , to fold the hands , to lye down , and sleep again in sin ; like Eulychus in the Acts , whilst Paul is a preaching , whilst the example of good men is vocal , we are fast asleep , in danger to fall down , and break our necks . By this we suffer our souls to gather rust , which should shine and glister with the continual exercise of good works , which should be rub'd and furbished as it were with the frequent meditation of the good life of others . By this we are utterly deprived of that great help in our warfare , the Imitation of others . Rowse then up your selves , Beloved , and remove this hindrance : awake from this sleep , and stand up . Let the quire of Angels and the joyes of Heaven wake you . Let the howling and gnashing of teeth , the noise of the damned , stir you . As ye have heretofore drunk nothing but the top of the cup , the sweet of sin , so now take and drink the dregs of it , that it may be bitter to your soul , and that your spirit may be wounded : and then yee will not be able to bear it , then yee will stir and move and be active , then yee will make use of the examples of good men , and do any thing to be rid of this cup.

Thus we have opened the door , and removed the barr , and are now as it were in the plain field , in our walk : In the second place we must take heed how we walk , and observe the Rules of Imitation .

And first we must not take our patern upon trust ; no , not St. Paul himself . He brings it in indeed as a Duty , Be yee followers of me ; but he adds 1 Cor. 11. 1. this direction , as I am of Christ . For in imitation , besides the persons , there is also to be considered , saith Quintilian , quid sit , ad quod efficiendum nos comparemus , what it is we must imitate in the persons . We must no further follow them than they follow the rules of Art . And he tells us of many in his age who thought themselves perfect Ciceronians if they could shut up a period with esse videatur . Some there were quibus vitium pro exemplo erat , saith Seneca , who imitated nothing but that which was bad in the best . It is so in our Christian profession ; We must view , and try , and understand what we are to imitate . We must not make use of all eyes , but of those only which look upon the Lord . We must not walk as it were upon other mens feet , unless we know what paths they tread . We must not follow all guides : for some may be blind , and lead us into the ditch . To this end God hath bounded and limited us in our walks , and drawn out as it were certain lines . In the Scripture he tells thee , Thus far shalt thou go ; Thus far shalt thou follow , and no further . If any do transilire line as , as Tertullian speaks , leap over the lines , pass the limits , thou must leave him there , and keep within thy bounds . All other waies are dangerous , all others paths slippery , all other imitation damnable . This the Church of Rome is well acquainted with ; and therefore she breaks down the bounds , pulls down the limits , hides the lines , dammeth up the Kings high-way . She pulls out thy eyes , and there she leads thee in a way indeed , but not of Truth , in a by-path , in a way leading out of the way . The way of Truth it cannot be : For veritas nihil erubescit , nisi solummodò abscondi ; Truth blusheth at nothing , but to be hid : But I must walk their way , and not know whether it be a way or no. Though I doubt , yet I must not dare to question it , but must still walk on , and put it to the adventure . If Idolatry and Superstition and blind Obedience will saint a man , then I am sure to be a Saint in heaven . That Church reacheth forth unto thee a cup , and sayes it is of the water of life , when indeed it is but poison . She hath an open breast , and a motherly affection : she shews thee a milky way , but which neither Christ nor his Apostles ever trod in : No tracking of them but by bloud . She shews thee an easie way , a sensual way , made passable by Indulgences , and Pardons , and private Masses , and Supererogation : only thou must walk in it without offense to the Church of Rome . Thus , like those Physicians Sidonius speaks of , officiosè occidit , she will kill thee with good words ; like some kind of Serpents , she will sting thee , and thou shalt dance when thou art stung ; she will flatter thee to thy destruction , and thou shalt perish as it were in a dream . Beloved , what shall we do then ? We will pray to God with Paul , to guide our journey ; with David , to make our way upright . We will say as Israel said to Sihon King of the Amorites , We will neither turn aside into the fields , nor into the vinyards , Numb. 21. 22. neither drink of the waters of the wells . We will neither walk in those specious pleasing wayes , nor taste of the Wine which that Harlot hath mingled , nor draw water out of those Wells which they have digged unto themselves : but we will go in the Kings high-way , even in that way wherein the Apostles , the Prophets , the blessed Martyrs , the holy Saints , all our Forefathers , by the light of Scripture have gone before us .

The second Rule of our Christian Imitation is , That we strive to imitate the best . Stultissimum est , non optimum quemque proponere , saith Pliny ; It is great folly not to propose alwaies the best patern . And , Elige Catonem , saith Seneca ; Chuse a Cato , a prime eminent man , by whose autority thy secret thoughts may be more holy , the very memory of whom may compose thy manners ; whom not only to see , but to think of , will be a help to the reformation of thy life . Dost thou live with any in whom the good gifts and graces of God are shining and resplendent , who are strict and exact , and so retein the precepts of God in memory that they forget them not in their works : Then , as St. James saith , Take the Prophets for example , so I say , Take these for an ensample ; lodge them in the closet of thy heart ; confer with their virtuous actions , and study them : And if at any time the Devil and the World put thee upon those actions which might make thee to forget thy copy , then take it into thy hands , and look it over again ; and as St. Cyprian would often call for Tertullians works , with a Da magistrum , Give me my master ; so do thou , Da praeceptores , Give me the instructing examples of these good men ; let them alwaies be before my eyes , let them be a second rule by which I may correct my life and manners : Let me not loose this help which God hath granted me , of Imitation .

But , Beloved , here beware we must , that we mistake not the Goats for the Sheep , the left hand for the right ; that we weigh not Goodness by the number of Professors . For it is the Devils policie to make us think that the most are the best : and so he shuts us out of the little flock , and thrusts us into the folds of Goats ; and thus we deceive our selves . Plerique ducimur non ad rationem , sed ad similitudinem ; We are not guided by Reason , but let her slip , and so are carried away as it were in a throng , non quà eundum , sed quà itur , not indeed whither we should go , but whither the many-headed multitude lead us . Therefore thou must take this as a Rule , Multitudo , argumentum mali ; No surer argument that men are evil , then that they are many . The City of the Lord is not so peopled as the City of the World , which the Devil hath erected ; neither is Heaven so full as Hell ; nor are there so many Saints as there are Devils , not so many chosen as there are past-by , not somany good examples as there be bad ones . We undervalue true professors , we make their Paucitie a blemish , whereas our Saviour tells us his flock is little , a lily amongst the thorns ; and when God commands us Exod. 23. as in this so in all actions , not to follow a multitude in evil .

And this in our Christian Imitation we must observe in respect of our selves . We must be careful too in respect of others . And since God hath made Imitation such a help to our Salvation , we must strive to be guides and lights unto our weaker brethren , not an ignis fatuus , or lambens , a fat and foggy meteor , to lead them out of the way , but stellae micantes , bright and glistering stars , to lead them to Christ . And this in the first place concerneth the Ministers and Messengers of God . It is St. Paul's charge to Timothy , even before the holy Angels , that he should keep himself unblamable before all men : Valentinian's to his Bishops , that they should vitâ & verbo gubernare , govern the Church both with their life and with their doctrine ; and as Nazianzene spake of Basil , they should have thunder in their words , and lightning in their deeds , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , speaking and doing : Not like Lucian's Apothecary , who sold Medicines for the Cough , when he and all his houshold were infected with it ; nor like those Physicians Nazianzene speaketh of , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , laying their hands to cure the wounds of others , whilst themselves were full of sores : But striving to come forth glorious and wholsome examples , that they humble not those with their life whom they have raised up with their doctrine ; Considering that sin doth not only shew but teach it self . And what a heavy doom will reach them , if they beat down those with a bad , whom they should raise up and set a walking with a good example !

But , Beloved , I here mistake my Auditory , and speak to this Congregation as if I were amongst an assembly of Levites . And yet I know too , and I need not fear to speak it , that it is an argument of a wicked and profane heart , of a sensual love of the world , that no doctrine now-adayes is more acceptable then that by which a Minister may be arraigned ; no Sermons more applauded then those that strike at the Ephod ; nothing that the peoples ears do more itch after , or more greedily suck in , than the Disgrace or Weakness of their leaders . I will speak it , ( and , as Salvian spake in another case , utinam mentirer , I would to God in this I were a liar ; I would you might accuse , I would you might justly reprove me ) no news more welcome , especially to the wicked , then that which carrieth with it the sin of a Teacher . No calling more spurned ( I mean by the wisest ) then that of Priesthood . As Job speaketh , they whose fathers he refused to set with the dogs of his flock mockt him ; so the children of fools , more vile then the earth , make their Pastours their song ; and the greatest sinners , the most debaucht sinners , when they have outcries within them , when they have a tempest within them , when their conscience affrights them with doleful alarums , will still the noise , will becalm the tempest , will drown the cryes with this breath , with this poysonous blast , with a defamation of the Messengers and Ministers of the Lord . But let these men know that a day will come , when no excuse shall lull them asleep , when their conscience shall awake them , when the billows shall rise higher , when the tempest shall be louder , when the cry shall be more hideous , when they shall know that though God will require their bloud at their Pastors hand , yet it is a poor comfort to them to dye in their sin ; whenas he shall be punished for giving , and they for following a bad example .

But as this concerns most especially the Ministers of the Lord , and those that serve at the Altar , so , in the next place , it concerneth the people too , and that nearly , as nearly as the safety of their souls concerns them . For Beloved , the womb of Sin is not barren , but she is very fruitful , and brings forth too without sorrow or travel . The Devil hath his Crescite & multiplicate , Increase and multiply . It is enough for Sin to shew her self , and be delivered . And therefore most true it is , Plus exemplo peccatur quàm scelere , We sin more against God by example then by the sin it self . Adultery , whilst it lyes close in the thought , is only hurtful at home ; but if it break forth into act , it spreads its contagion , and it seizeth upon this Christian and that Christian , and in them it multiplies , and ; like the Pestilence , goeth on insensible , invisible , inavoidable . If the father be given to that great sin of Taking Gods name in vain , it will soon be upon the tongue of the little infant , and he will speak it as his own language ; nay , he will speak it before he can speak his own language , before he knows whether it be a sin or no : he will be , as by birth , so by sin a child . It was held a miracle that Nicippus Sheep did yean a Lion : and almost impossible it is that he should swear that never heard an oath before ; that the child should be like a Lion , greedy of the prey , and the father as innocent as a Lamb ; that so many should trace the paths of Death , the broad way to Destruction , without a leader . Hence it is that in punishing of sin God looks not only with the eye of Justice upon it , as it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a transgression of the law , but as it is exemplary , as it hinders the edification of the body of Christ , and the gathering together of the Saints ; and is the milstone that hangs upon the neck of the sinner , and sinketh him , not only for the particular sin it self , but because he hath been an occasion of his brothers fall . Thus then you see we must be careful in the performance of this duty in respect both of our selves and of others also : of our selves , in removing the lets and observing the rules of Imitation ; of others , in so going before them that we lay not a stumbling-block for them in the way . And thus much the general doctrine of Imitation implyed here hath afforded us . Behold now the love of a good Father , the tender care of our best Master . He will not only set his best Scholars over us , and teach us by others , but he will read the lecture himself , and be a patern for our Imitation . And so I come to the more especial Object of Imitation here proposed , and that is GOD ; Be yee followers of God .

The Soul of man , as it takes not the infection of original sin before its union with the Body , so makes the Body her minister as it were and helper , to abate Corruption , to keep down Concupiscence , to make the shafts of the Devil less mortal . She sees with the eyes , and hears with the ears , and reacheth forth the hands , and walks with the feet . But yet all this is an argument of weakness and imperfection , that we stand in need of these helps ; that I must learn of him whose pedigree is the same with mine , who is an Adamite as well as I , who was conceived in sin as I was ; nay more , that a rational and immortal creature must be sent to School to an Ox and an Ass , nay , to the Pismire . Therefore Isa 1. 3. Prov. 6. 6. the Soul is then most her self , and comes nighest to her former estate , when forgetting the weight and hinderance of the body , she enjoyes her self , and takes wings as it were , and soars up in the contemplation of God and his goodness ; cùm id esse incipit quod se esse credit , as Cyprian speaks , when she begins to be that which she must needs believe her self to be , of a celestial and heavenly beginning . When the inward man lifts it self up with the contempt of the outward , then we are illuminated with blindness , we are cloathed with nakedness , we see without eyes , we walk without feet , we hear without ears , and we encrease our spiritual wealth by not making use of those outward gifts which seem to enrich us . Hence it is that God so often calls upon us to take up our thoughts from the earth , and imploy them above , and to have our conversation in heaven . And to this end he speaks to us in Scripture after the manner of men , and tells us that he is gracious , and merciful , and long-suffering . And when he calls that cruel servant to account for pulling his fellow by the throat , he condemns him by example , O thou wicked servant , I forgave thee all that debt , because Matth. 18. 32 , 33. thou desiredst me . Oughtest not thou also to have had pity on thy fellow-servant , even as I had of thee ? Not that these virtues are in God as accidents . To say this , were to be blasphemous , and to deny him to be God . They are so indeed in Man , and admit degrees of perfection and imperfection : but in God they are essential . He is Justice , he is Mercy , he is Truth , he is Wisdom it self . And therefore the Schoolmen call them , as they are in God , exemplares virtutes , no otherwise Virtues then as they are exemplary , because these Divine virtues , which are essential to him , must be exemplary to us . We must make him the rule of Goodness in all our actions : we must be just , to observe the Law ; valiant , to keep down our passions ; temperate , to conform our wills to the rule of Reason ; and wise , to our salvation . But there is no virtue that makes us more resemble God then this the Apostle here exhorts the Ephesians to ; and that is Mercy . For although all virtues are in the highest degree , nay above all degrees , most perfect , in him , yet in respect of his creatures , none is so resplendent as Mercy . If thou callst him Health , I understand thee , saith St. Augustine , because he gives it thee . If thou call'st him thy Refuge , it is true , because thou fliest unto him . If thou saist he is thy Strength , it is because he makes thee strong . But if thou namest his Mercy , thou hast named all : for whatsoever thou art , thou art by his mercy . His Goodness is infinite , and looks over all ; even his Justice hath a relish of it . It is extended unto the very damned : for their torments are not so great as God could inflict , or as they deserve . And in respect of us it exceeds his Justice : For his Justice hath a proportional object to work upon ; we being children of wrath , and worthy of punishment : but his Mercy hath none at all ; we deserve not to fly to its sanctuary , to be covered under its wings . When we lay weltring in our bloud , there could no reason be given why God should take any of us out : He did it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith S. James , because he would . There were none then that could have interceded and pleaded for us , as the Elders did for the Centurion , They are worthy that thou Luke 7. shouldst do this for them . Mercy is the Queen and Empress of Gods Virtues ; It is the bond and knot which unites Heaven and Earth , that by which we hold all our titles , our title to be Men , our title to the name of Christian , our title to the profession of Christianity , our title to Earth , our title to Heaven . I could loose my self in this Paradise ; I could build a Tabernacle upon this Mount Tabor ; I could still look upon this Mercy-seat : Even to speak of it is great light . But from the contemplation of God's Mercy I must descend lower , and lead you to the imitation of it , and with the Apostle here exhort you to be followers of God , to forgive one another , to walk in love , even as Christ loved us ; and when God reacheth out his hand of mercy to you , not to draw in yours to your brother . And here I see three paths , as it were , to follow God in , three things required to this Imitation : 1. the Act of Imitation it self ; 2. That this Act be performed ex studio imitandi , out of a love of God's Mercy , and a desire to imitate him ; 3. A Conformity of the act of imitation to the patern followed . In the first place then as God forgiveth us , so we must forgive our enemies . It will not be enough to have Gods Mercies on our tongues , or to speak of them with admiration , with joy to go over the bridge , and then pull it up to our brother . We account him not a good Painter who can only commend a Picture , and not use the Pencil himself to draw a line : Neither is he fit to be governour of a ship that having past a tempest doth only praise the Pilate , but scarce knows the Rudder himself . Good God! what a soloecisme in Christianity is it to have a cruel heart , and a tongue speaking nothing but Mercies ? to be in the gall of bitterness , and most devilishly malicious , and yet to cry out , Taste and see how gracious the Lord is ! Hierome censureth Virgil for his Foelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas , for calling him happy that knew the cause of things ; Apparet ipsum ignorâsse quod laudat ; He was ignorant , and knew not that happiness which he commended : So these merciless Patrons of Mercy ignorant quod laudant , they praise they know not what . They talk of Forgiveness , and cloth themselves with malice . Their tongue is smooth , and their heart is rugged . They speak in a still voice , but in their breast is thunder . Their words are more soft then butter , but they think of swords .

In the second place , as we must forgive , so Gods Mercy must be the motive : we must do it ex studio imitandi , out of a desire to imitate God : Not out of propension of nature , out of meekness of disposition . For we cannot say the child doth imitate his father in eating , because eating is natural . Not out of a Stoical affectation , contumeliam contumeliae facere , to think it revenge enough to beat off an injury with a witty jest ; Not out of love of peace , and fear of trouble : Nor , lastly , out of necessity , therefore to forgive because thou canst not revenge ? Quod necessitas facit , depretiat ipsa . For as he told the Emperour that wearied Cruelty is not Clemency , so an inability or an impossibility of revenge is not Mercy . A Lion , though within the grates , is a Lion still , as fierce , as wild , as ravinous as before ; and a Bear is a Bear still , still greedy of blood , though without a tooth , without a paw . Thou sayst thou doest forgive thy enemy with all thy heart ? But O quàm cuperes tibi ungues esse ! thou wantest but fangs , thou wantest but ability to revenge . If the lines were loosed , and thy teeth sharp , thou wouldst grinde thine enemy to powder , thou wouldst triumph in thy revenge , thou wouldst shew what thy Forgiveness was . Though a wall be placed between thee and thy enemy , that thy Artillery cannot reach him , and thou canst not be revenged , yet voto jugulasti , as St. Hierome speaketh , thou hast performed it in thy wish . And thus to forgive , Beloved , is so far from following God , that we run away from him . God forgives not because he is not able to destroy thee . No ; as Caesar once spake , and nobly too , Facilius est facere quàm dicere , It was easier for him to be revenged than to talk of it . So did not Gods Mercy restrain him , he could with a word destroy the whole World . He hath a Sword , and Fire , and a Quiver ; a glittering Sword , a Sword that shall eat flesh ; and a Fire kindled in his wrath , that shall burn unto the bottom of hell ; and a Quiver full of arrowes , of arrowes that shall drink bloud ; yet he will in mercy sheath Deut. 31. his Sword , he will quench his fire , he will hide his arrowes in his Quiver , that when we feel the operation of the sweet influence of his Mercy within our selves , we may also with an upright and sincere heart derive it to our brother . Lastly , we must conform our Imitation to the Patern . He with one act of mercy wipes out all scores ; so must we . When he forgives our sins , he is said to cast them behind him , never to think of them , so to forget them as if they never had been ; so must we . He doth it too without respect of persons ; and so we ought to do . We must forgive all , for ever ; and so far must we be from respect of persons that we must acknowledge no title but that of Christian . To conclude this point ; How slight soever we make of it , there is no surer mark that we are not in the true Faith , than Hatred of our brethren ; no stronger Argument that we are not Members of that Body whereof Christ is the Head , then the ( I will not say Hatred , but ) Not-loving of the weakest Member of it . For he that loveth not his brother , the love of God cannot dwell in him . He may slatter himself with a vain opinion that he loveth God , but the love of God is not really in him ; it abides not , it dwells not , it hath not residence in him . And he that hateth his brother is in 1 John 2. 11. darkness . He may think he enjoyes the light of the Gospel , and that he is under the Covenant of Grace , but there is no such matter . He is Diaboli ludibrium , the Devils laughing-stock ; nay , the very forge of Satan , wherein he hammereth and worketh all iniquity . And he walketh in darkness , saith S. John . His Hatred hath blinded his eyes so that he walks on , and thinks he is in the right way . He labours in his vocation , he goes to Church , he receives the Sacrament of the Body and Bloud of Christ , he can do any Christian office , and so he thinks he is sound and healthful , even when the poyson is at his very heart . And therefore S. John addeth , He knoweth not whither he goeth : He falls into many sins , whilst he thinks he doth well . An opinion he hath he is in the right way to Heaven , but no Christian knowledge thereof , because that darkness hath blinded his eyes , so blinded his eyes that he discerneth not any as he should . If he be a Prophet , he obeys him not ; if a just man , he respects him not ; if otherwise a friend , he knows him not . For Malice hath as it were informed his soul ; and as she makes the Body her instrument , so the Soul the place of her dominion ; and she reigns there as the Devils Tributary , Custos peccatorum , the keeper of the door of the soul , that Sin fly not out . And watchful she is too : for she never sleeps . If but a thought of repentance arise , she will chain it up . So that whilst Hatred possesseth thy heart , thy heart is a stone : Broken it may be ; but softned it cannot be . And though thou flatterest thy self that thou hast repented of thy sins , yet it hath no more reality then thy Eating or Running in a Dream . Oh then , Beloved , let us put on brotherly love , the certain sign and note that God in Christ hath begotten us his children . Let us forgive our enemies , that so we may resemble our Father . Let us root out the bitter weed of Malice ; the strongest Argument of a true and serious Repentance . Let us cloath our selves with Charity , which will make our wayes , otherwise rugged and uneven , to be smooth and passable , being the very barr and petard to break up each door and hinderance in our way . Lastly , in our Apostles words , Let us be followers of God , as dear children .

The Sixth SERMON . PART II. EPHES. V. 1. Be ye therefore followers of God , as dear children .

WHEN my meditations first fastned themselves upon this parcel of Scripture , I then thought that the space of an hour would have both quitted them and me . But this holy Oyl , like that of the Widows in the Book of Kings , encreased under my hands , and I could not then pour it out all unto you . I therefore then became your debtor . And it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a holy and sacred debt : and I am come now to quit my promise , to pour out the remainder of the Oyl , and to pay my debt , even there where I obliged my self , in the holy Sanctuary . I then observed that these words contained in them a Duty , Be yee followers of God , and the Persons enjoyned this Duty , the Ephesians , who are stiled dear children . Which title includes motives to win and enforce them to the Duty , 1. because they were children , a great prerogative ; 2. because dear children , a gracious adjunct . The Duty hath been handled . The Motives remain . Which I say , include a high priviledge or prerogative . For if , as we are men , we esteem it honourable to be of such a race and stock , to be descended from this Potentate or that Prince ; surely then , as we are Christians , when we have put on our better and more heavenly thoughts , we shall account it the greatest honour to derive our pedigree from Heaven , to be called the Sons of God as St. John speaketh , to be filii Divini beneficii , as St. Augustine , children of the Divine kindness , to be children of God , and heirs of a Kingdom , and that a heavenly Kingdom ; to have title to a Crown , and that a Crown of life : But so it is , Beloved , that when we hear of charters and grants , of priviledges and prerogatives , our thoughts go no farther , but stay themselves in the meer grant and priviledge . The Gospel is indeed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , good news ; and we delight to hear of a Saviour , of a Prince of peace , of one that shall make our peace , and take away the sins of the world : But we think not of any allegiance or duty which we owe to this Prince . Glad we are he is victorious , and that he hath the Keyes of Hell and of Death . And wear his colours too we would ; but we would not come under his banner , we would not fight his battels . Children we all would be ; but where is our Duty ? We desire to be endeared ; but where is our gratitude ? Nay further yet , we would be accounted lovely , and yet remain enemies to the Grace of God . Our sins we would have cover'd , but not blotted out : We would have God forget them , and yet still walk in them . And here we mistake the nature of a Priviledge . For the tye thereof is as strong as that of the Law ; and the greatest sins are those against the Gospel . Our own Chronicles will tell us that riots and disorders in Cities in one Kings reign , have weakned and disannulled Charters and Priviledges granted by a former King . Beloved , God is the King of Kings , the same to day , and yesterday , and for ever : and he grants not his priviledges or charters that we should let loose the rains to Impiety , and make our strength the law of unrighteousness . The trumpet of the Gospel sounds not that we should take up the weapons of Sin to prepare our selves to the Devils battel : Neither did that Tree of life grow up that we should sin securely under the bough and shadow of it . And therefore the Apostle here , exhorting the Ephesians to Imitation of God , uses this method . He taketh not his argument ab inutili ; He shews them not Gods quiver , nor points to the arrow which is now set to the very breast of them if they obey not . He tells them not it will be disadvantageous unto them if they follow not God . But he draws his argument à congruo . He layes open and unfolds before them the riches of Gods Mercy : He proposeth God in his full beauty ; his head as the most fine gold , his locks curled , his cheeks as a bed of spices , and as sweet flowers , and his lips like lilies dropping down pure myrrhe . He brings him in as a Father , not dropping only , but ready to pour out his choicest blessings on his children . Or rather he draws his argument à necessario : They must needs be obedient , and imitate their Father , or else they cannot be children . And he rises as it were by a Gradation : 1. They are children ; and Children ought to learn of their Parents . 2. They are dear children ; and here the tye is made stronger . 3. They are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , diligibiles filii . Their sins are wiped out , and they appear lovely through Christ . And here is the fulness of Gods Grace , and it will bring us with David to a Non plus , to a Quid retribuam ? What shall I return to the Lord for this his kindness ? Thus these Waters of comfort issue forth like those in the vision Ezek. 47. and God leads all his through them . 1. They are children : and here the waters are as it were to the ancles . 2. They are dear children : and here they reach up to the loyns . 3. In Christ they are worthy to be beloved : and here the waters are risen , they flow , and cannot be passed over : No line can measure them , no cogitation fathom them , no gratitude reach them ; our thoughts , our words , our actions , all are too weak to express the depth of them . Now each Christian must be as a fruitful tree planted by this river of waters , whose seat faaes not , and whose fruit fails not . If he be a child , he must be obedient ; if he be dear , he must be the more grateful ; if he be made worthy of love , his conversation must be as becometh the Gospel of Christ . So we have heard beneficium and officium , a Benefit , and a Tye ; the Benefit , telling us whose children we are ; the Tye , pointing out to our obedience . We will plainly and briefly view them both .

In the first place , the Ephesians are Children : A great prerogative , if we consider their former estate , what they were before . They were Satani mancipia ; no otherwise : servants , and that servants and slaves to Satan ; under the Law , and that a killing Law ; but now redeemed , that they Gal. 4. 5. may receive the adoption of sons ; and having this adoption sealed too , and that by the Spirit of God ; and their names written in a Book , and that not only in libro vocationis , amongst those who are outwardly called , but in the Book of life , which admits no blot , no blur , no defacing ; in which whosoever is written , is one of Gods Children , and is accounted so , and shall be so to all eternity . Now the Civilians define Adoption to be the Receiving of a stranger in alienam familiam , inque jus familiae , into another family , and to have title and right to be of that family . And strangers the Ephesians were , even aliens from the Covenant of Grace , sine spe , sine operibus , as he told his adopted Jugurtha ; without the least hope , without any spiritual wealth or endowments , naked and languishing , and even panting under the terrors of the law , and ( which was the complement of their misery , and an addition to their contumelius condition ) not deserving a better estate . And this , Beloved , raiseth the worth and dignity of the benefit , and begets in us at once both comfort and wonder , That Children we are , and yet deserve not this adoption , this filiation . Amongst men it is otherwise ; Desert alwaies was the ground of Adoption . The Emperour Nerva adopts Trajane , and takes him to be his son , h. e. unicum auxilium fessis rebus , saith the Orator , as a stay and prop to his declining estate . Temerè fecerat , si non adoptâsset ; He had done very unadvisedly if he had not done it . And Galba adopts Piso , quia eò necessitatis ventum erat , because he was driven unto it by necessity . He had a brother elder then he worthy of that fortune , but that he was more worthy . And Micipsa , after divers attempts to take away Jugurtha's life , at last adopts him , quia gloria invidiam vicit , because his Virtue now in its full splendor shone so bright that Envy could not dimme it . But what worth was there in us below ? what spark , what appearance , what shew of desert in us ? All in us , not extinct , or in the embers , but naturally darkness : a night on our understanding , stone at our hearts , rebellion in our affections ; and we dead , and that not in a dream , ( as the Anabaptists foolishly conceive , calling Originial sin the dream of Augustine ) but truly and really . All in the loins of that one Adam , when that one Adam by his rebellion shew us all , and made us all slaves , not worthy to be Gods hired servants . But see here a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , God hath set forth his love , nay , the exceeding riches of his grace . Rom. 5. 8. Ephes. 2. 7. And it is worth our observing that God is not rich as Man is , to his own good and profit . His Riches serve not himself , but us . And whereas Man gathers not wealth by giving , God calls himself rich by making us so . Man adopts because he is rich ; but God then terms himself rich when he doth adopt . Thus with the eye of favour he looked upon us when we were deeply plunged in our deserved misery . And by this favour navigamus spei velo : In this deluge of Sin we hoyse up the sailes of Hope , and make forward for the high prize and price of our calling . In this great tempest He became our Pilote ; majorque dum exacerbatur , erupit , and even in his anger forgot his anger , slumbered in the tempest , becalmed the storm ; and , when we were in the mouth of Danger , even almost on the rocks of Despair , the light of his countenance shone round about us , and by that light we saw the haven where we would be . So that now our Weakness became a strong argument of Gods Power ; and the seed of Corruption in us brought forth in him the sweet fruit of Forgiveness . None thunder-struck or killed with a curse but the Serpent , the Devil , who was the procurer of it . Though we were enemies , though we were darkness , though we were Rom. 5. 10. Ephes. 5. 8. Tit. 3. 3. disobedient and rebellious in our affections , yet even in this hostility God became our friend ; in this darkness He was our light ; in this rebellion He seal'd our pardon ; in this poverty He was our true wealth ; and of slaves He made us his children , and brought us into the glorious liberty of the sons of God . And Sons only we are not but Heirs ; Heirs of God , and coheirs , joynt-heirs , Rom. 8. with Christ . As he is Son , so we by his right are sons too . All is ours , Paul is ours , and Cephas is ours , because we are Christs , and Christ is Gods . So that St. John might well usher-in this great advancement which an ECCE , Behold , what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us , that we should be called the sons of God . 1 John 3. 1.

But , in the second place , besides this grace of Adoption , we are children too in a manner by Generation . Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth . But not so as he begat his only begotten Son , by an eternal geneneration , James 1. 18. as Fulgentius speaks , but by a voluntary regeneration . In him without any natural beginning there remained an eternal nativity , but Gods Will preceded and went before our new birth . And to this end he placed us in gremio matris Ecclesiae , even in the bosome of the Church our Mother , who conceived us of the incorruptible seed of Gods word , as St. Peter speaketh , the blessed Spirit quickening this seed , till a new creature be brought forth , not into this temporary but into the eternal light ; which she feeds with the bread of life , the word of truth ; which she nourisheth with the milk of faith ; which she strengthneth with the bread of affliction , with the bloud of Martyrs , till growing up from strength to strength , from virtue to virtue , it became at last a perfect man in Christ Jesus . And this may well be called a birth : for indeed it much resembles our natural birth , but especially in two respects . First , here are the two terms of Generation , Non-ens tale , and Ens tale ; the Matter out of which it was produced , and the Substance or Entity which it is now ; Terms truly contradictory , as different as Heaven and Hell , as Light and Darkness : So that here is mira mutatio , the change is wonderful . View Man in his naturals , as not yet regenerate , and he is as the Apostle saith , the child of wrath : candidatus Diaboli , saith Tertullian , one that hath abjured Heaven , and is as it were a competitor , and one that stands for Hell , nay , one that may be imployed as the Devils instrument to bring others thither . As Pliny said of Regulus , Quicquid à Regulo sit necesse est fieri sicut non oportet , so of him , Whatsoever he doth must needs be done amiss , because he doth it . Who would ever look that a sweet stream should flow from this corrupt Fountain ? Who would expect that this Nehustitan , this rude piece of brass , should ever be polisht ? Or is it possible , so far as in our conceit , that out of this Cockatrice-egge there should be hatcht a Dove ? Hence then encrease thy gratitude and obedience , and admire Gods Power . With meer man this is impossible ; but with God all things are possible . And this Change too , as the Introduction of a humane soul , is instantaneous and in a moment , though the growth be by degrees . Non opus est morâ Spiritui Sancto ; The holy Ghost needs not the help of delays . But if even into this dead and corrupt matter he breathe the breath of spiritual life , it shall stand up from the dead , and live , and be a new creature : Which is the terminus ad quem , the second term of this spiritual birth . And here view him , and he is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he is changed , another out of another ; a child of light , candidatus aeternitatis , one that thinks of nothing but Aeternity . Certainly a blessed birth and happy change . A happy day it was when it might be said that such a child was conceived , a child of peace , a child of blessings , a child of God . That day was a day of brightness , a day of rejoycing , a typical day of that eternal day when time shall be no more .

The second resemblance of our spiritual birth to our natural is in respect of the difficulty and pains in bringing forth this child . And here it is but a resemblance : it will not admit a comparison . For though the pains of a woman in travel are great , so that almost they are become proverbial , yet they are but light afflictions , scarce worth note or naming , in respect of the sorrow and pain endured in this delivery , but rods to these scorpions , but as a cramp or convulsion to this rack , as scratches to these wounds , scarce breaking the upper skin , as Seneca speaks , whilst these divide asunder the soul and the spirit , whilst they enter the bowels and the heart ; scarce worth the speaking of in respect of these sighs and groanings ▪ which the Apostle saith Rom. 8. 26. are unspeakable . For indeed the grief of the body is but the body of Grief , but the pain of the soul is the very soul of Pain ; and the Soul it is that is afflicted in this birth ; The sighs are hers , and the groans are hers ; and all is to dead in her self the root of Sin ; non exercere quod nata est , as St. Hierome , not to be what she is ; to be in the body , and yet out of the body ; to tame the wantonness of the flesh ; to empty the whole man of luxury ; to prune the over-spreading passions ; all to be delivered , and to bring forth this New creature . Quantae solicitudines ? quantae contritiones ? saith St. Ambrose ; What solicitude ? what anxiety ? what contrition ? what tye of Continence ? what lashes of Conscience ? what bitterness of soul ? Qualis adversarius ? What an adversary to cope withall and to remove , that would strangle this Infant in the womb , in the conception ; nay , that would destroy it in semine , in principiis , before it were an embryon , that would not suffer it to have power to become a child of God : But yet though there be pain and grief in the travel , there is joy and comfort after the delivery . Quae parturit , quatitur & compungitur ; In the travel there is a conquassation and compunction as it were : but quae peperit , exsultat ; when the woman is delivered , when the little Infant hangs on the teat , there is joy and exsultation ; and the Mother forgets the pain , because a child is born into the world . So Christ is our joy , 〈…〉 he Child to be formed in us , as the Apostle speaketh , at the first is bitter and distastful to us , and we are not willing to conceive him in the womb of our soul , because this new birth cannot be without a funeral . For to be thus born we must dye , we must dye to our selves , to the world , to the flesh : we must hate that which we most love ; we must renounce all that may hinder this birth . But when Christ is fully formed in us , the cloud of sorrow is removed , all is serene and bright , and we forget the pangs and grief and sorrow which before we endured : for the holy Ghost hath come upon the soul , and the most High hath over-shadowed it , and now that holy thing which is born shall be called the Son of God .

And this , Beloved , is the Benefit or Priviledge I told you of . A great priviledge : for remittuntur ei peccata cui filii nomen ascribitur ; His pardon is sealed who hath this title and name given him to be the Child of God . But as it is beneficium , so it is officium , it is obligatory , and hath a duty annexed unto it . If we be Children , we must be Obedient . We have now alter'd our language . Our dialect was a strange dialect ; we spake words clothed with death : but now our language and voice is , Abba , Father . And this first cry , these first words of our nativity , as Cyprian speaks , Our Father , which art in Heaven , are as witnesses to remember us that we have renounced all carnality , and , as Children in Christ , know only our Father which is in heaven . Be yee therefore followers of God , as children ; or , because yee are children . For this very appellation is an admonition ; this title is a remembrancer ; this honor and dignity must either instruct us , or it will condemn us . It was a speech worthy the mouth of an Emperor which Alexander Severus used , Conabor me dignum praestare nomine Alexandri , I will endeavour to be worthy the name of Alexander . And it was a speech worthy the mouth of a Christian which Basilides , a converted Executioner , used to return upon his companions who perswaded him to swear by the name of Caesar , Non licet jurare , quia sum Christianus , It is not lawful for me to swear by him , because I am a Christian . Great honours are contumelies , and upbraid us , if our comportment and behaviour be not answerable . What a ridiculous thing was it to see Nero an Emperour with his Harp or Fidle ; or in his buskins acting on a Stage ; to see Domitian catching of flies , or Hercules at his Distaff ? So what an incongruous thing is a Christian and a Blasphemer , a Disciple and a Traytor ; to be in area Ecclesiae , in the court or floor of the Church , and yet chaff ; to be within the pale , and yet a Devil ; to be a child of God with the teeth of a Lion , ravening for the prey , and ready to devour his brother ? If I am a Father , where is my honor ? saith God . Where is your Understanding captivated , your stubborn Wills conquered , your Passions subdued . And if you were Abrahams seed , you would do Abrahams works , and noth the Devils , saith our John 8. Saviour to the Jews . Good God! a wonder it is to see , a world of Sins , a world of Sinners , and yet all Christians ; a deluge of Iniquity , and yet none drowned , all within the Ark ; so many fighting against God , and yet all his Souldiers ; so many abusing his Name for trifles , for nothing , indeed out of meer custom , and yet this with a Childs mouth ; so many Rebels and Traytors , and yet all Children ! But , Beloved , let us not deceive our selves and our own souls . It is not the name of Children that will entitle us to the Kingdom of Heaven , but the reality , the being so . Without this our Religion which we profess will accuse , and the relation which we boast we have to God will condemn us . For reatus impii , pium nomen , saith Salvian ; A glorious title doth but more lay open our errors ; and it adds to the guilt of a wicked man , that he hath his Christendome , and that his name is amongst the Children of God . But let us walk worthy of the Gospel of Hebr. 3. Christ , and as partakers of the heavenly vocation , consider the High-priest of our profession , Christ Jesus . Let every one that names Christ depart from 2 Tim. 2. iniquity . Let us walk as children of the light : and be followers of God , as v. 8. his children .

But here the weak Christian will reply , like the Sluggard in the Proverbs , that there is a Lion in the way , an impossibility of following God ; that the dignity of the Gospel is so great that neither Man nor Angel are equal to it , or able to do any thing worthy of it . Indeed a weak Christian , and one that would be a child still , but , as the Apostle speaks , in understanding . For see : God desires but a competencie . He likes thee when thou followest him , though it be with a childs pace , with an Infants strength . So that thou follow him , he interprets thy endeavours performance . And though like a Gyant thou rowse not thy self up to run the race , yet if with all thy courage thou follow , he calls thee strong that made thee so , though thou hast but the strength of an Infant . But thou sayest it is impossible : Why , but that which is impossible may be necessary . For thou thy self hast made it so ; The time was in paradise when it was not impossible . The best use thou canst make of it is to do what thou canst , saith St. Augustine , and then petere à Deo quod non possis , to entreat Gods help in that thou canst not performe . And thou needst not fear a denial : for behold , he is thy Father , and thou art his Child , nay 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his dear child . Which is the gracious Adjunct , and comes next to be handled .

Incongruous it is , you see , that a Child , so freely adopted from so base an estate , should prove refractory and disobedient . And pity it were , nay impossible , filium tot lacrymarum , as Augustines mother spake of him , that a child bought and begot with so much grief , with so many tears , should perish at the last in rebellion . This prerogative was not granted in vain : But see here , the waters of comfort rise higher , and the priviledge is enlarged , and the tye made stronger . This Child of God , which was Benoni , a Son of sorrow , is now become Benjamin , a Son of Gods right hand , beloved and dear in his sight . And he will make him even as Joseph , a Son of encreasing , a fruitful bough , even a fruitful bough by the Well side . And here , Beloved , what wings might I wish for to fly a pitch proportionable to the height of Gods Love ? Or what line might I use to sound the depth of Gods Mercy ? Or with what words shall I express how he endears himself to his Children ? Shall I mention the love of Women ? The love of Jonathan 2 Sam. 1. to David was greater . Shall I speak of Jonathans love to David ? It was great indeed , but to a friend : But God embraces first , and loveth first . We love him , because he loved us first . He is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the 1 John 4. 19. Father of love ; and he is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Love it self . And he delights in these titles and attributes , saith Nazianzene , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that he may as it were by proclamation promulge and publish his love . And no carnal friend , though as Chrysostome saith , he be mad in love , can so burn in affection to his friend , as God doth in love to our souls . Now this love of God is first a Preventing Love : It prevents our slowness and backwardness to entertain it . We sacrificed to the Queen of Earth , to Fortune , that she would love us ; to the World , that it would favour us ; and never thought of Gods Love . 2. It is a Purging Love : It washes away our corruption and filth , and sets us upon our leggs , that we may walk in love . 3. It is an Overflowing Love , nimia charitas , as the Apostle speaks , exceeding great , too much Love , larger then our Thoughts , or our Desires , passing our Understanding . Sermo non valet exprimere : experimento opus est ; Speech cannot reach it : Experience must express it . Feel it we may ; discourse of it we cannot . 4. Lastly , it is a Bountiful Love , and it is Perpetual . With an everlasting love have I loved thee , saith God ; and He hath loved us , and Jer. 31. 3. given us everlasting consolation ; and , He hath prepared for his children a crown ; ● Thess. 2. 16 : and they are heads destinated to a diadem , saith Tertullian . His common gifts , his earthly goods , quae nec sola sunt , nec summa sunt , which are neither the greatest goods , nor yet alone , but have alwaies a mixture and taste of evil , he gives unto his bastard children , as Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his Gen. 25. Concubines ; but the heritage to Isaac , the Kingdom and the Crown to the children of promise . Nay further yet ; His Love is there greatest , where it appears least . In our misery and affliction , in the anguish of our soul , when we think he frowns upon us , and is angry , his love attends and waits upon us , his wings are over us , we alwaies carry his protection about us . Suppose it be an Asp , or a Basilisk , we shall walk upon it : a Lion , or a Dragon ; we shall tread it under foot : a Red-sea ; it shall divide it self : a hot fiery furnace ; we shall be bathed in it : a Lions den ; thou shalt be as safe in it as in thy private Chamber : Suppose it poyson ; it shall not hurt thee : a Viper ; thou shalt fling it off : the wittiest and most exquisite torment , thou shalt not feel it . For martyres non eripuit ; sed nunquam deseruit ? he took not the Martyrs from the stake ; but did he forsake them . No ; his love was with them at the stake , and in the fire . And this heat of Love did so enflame them , that the fire burnt not , the rack tormented not , because the pain was swallowed up in Love . Nay , all shall work for the best to the children of God . Be they Afflictions ? We miscall them ; they are but tryals , but lessons and sermons . Be they tears ? he puts them in his bottel . Be they enemies , and that a mighty host ? Behold , they that 2 Kings 6. be with us are mo then they that be with them . The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha . Or , if not , our Patience is revenge ; and our Sufferance heaps coals of fire upon the head of our adversaries . Be it the World ; We so use it , that we may enjoy God , saith St. Augustine . Be it the Flesh ; by Gods power we beat it down . Be it the Devil himself ; In striving to take away , he encreases our glory . Be it Death ; It is but a passage . What though we be here in disgrace , the very off-scouring of the world , the by-word and song of the people , accounted the cause of all evils , as the Christians were in the primitive times , ( no hail , no great thunder , no inundation , but the Christians were accused for it ) what though we be never so vile , never so contemptible in this world ? we are here strangers ; the world knows us not , because it knows not God . No marvel if a 1 John 31. King unknown in another Country , be coursly or injuriously used , because he is unknown , and in another Country . Let then the world esteem of Gods children as it please : They are here in an unknown place , peregrini deorsum , cives sursum ; like mountains or high hills , as Seneca speaks of his Philosopher ; Their growth and tallness appears not to men afar off , but to those who come nigh . At the Day of Judgment there will another account be made . When God appears , we shall be like unto him . Then the note will be changed , and the cry alter'd . We fools thought their life madness , and their end without honour : but now they are counted amongst the children of Wisd. 5. God , and their portion amongst his dear Saints . And are God's children dear unto him ? Sure this benefit hath a tye , and this encrease of God's love calls for an increase of gratitude . He expects that he should be dear to us . For though God's love be not as Man's love , negotiatio , as Seneca speaketh , a kind of a market-love , with which we traffick , and from it expect gain ; yet he expects that we should love him again : Not that our Love can profit him , but for our own sakes . He will not love at randome ; he will not cast away his Love , nor his Mite , but he will have it repayed . But if his ten Talents be laid up in a Napkin , laid aside as not worth the using , then his anger riseth , and his indignation is high and he will not only take away his Talents , but will bind thee hand and foot , and cast thee into Prison , and punish thee as an unprofitable servant . It is so even with us Men. No wound greater to us then that which Ingratitude giveth . If it bad been my enemy , I could have borne it , saith David ; but it was my familiar friend , with whom I took sweet counsel , that did me this wrong . When Cassius and the rest set upon Caesar with their Poniards in the Senate-house , he defended himself with silence : but when Brutus struck , he covered his face with his robe , with his 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; What thou my son Brutus ? That Brutus stab'd him , this was the Steletto at his heart . It is so with God . We cannot offend him more then by unthankfulness . Ingratum si dixeris , omnia dixeris . For in it are all sins . Infidelity begets it : and we cannot name a greater sinner then an Infidel . A sin this is so hateful and detestable to God that we find him complaining to the Heavens and to the Earth of the Jews ingratitude : Hear , O Heavens , and hearken , O Earth : Isa. 1. for I have nourished rebellious children . And he might well complain : The Jews were his peculiar people , culled out of the whole world , graced with the Title of Populus meus . They were his people , his dear people . ; like Gideons fleece , full of the dew of heavenly benediction , when all the earth was dry besides ; a Signet on God's right hand , a Seal on his heart , and as the Apple of his eye ; his Vineyard , which he hedged about , planted with the best plants , built a Tower in the midst of it , and spared no diligence to better it ; a Nation which he raised and increased and defended with wonders . How can he then now bear with their ingratitude ? How can he be pleased with these wild grapes , of Disobedience , and Stubborness , and Rebellion ? Surely , as he hath threatned , he will pluck off this Signet , he will take away this Hedge , he will dry this Fleece , he will pull this Eagle out of her nest . Though she make her nest high , he will pluck her down from Jer. 49. 15 , 16. thence . She shall be small among the heathen . And this Populus meus shall be populus nullus , this his people shall be no people , but a scatter'd nation , the scorn of the world , in quos omnium Caesarum ira detumuit , who have smarted as slaves under each Emperor ; whose very name shall be odious , as it is at this day .

Beloved , to come home to our selves , and to change Jewry into England ; If they then , surely we now are populus Dei , Gods people , as much endeared , as much obliged , as ever the Jews were . When the cloud of Superstition darkned England , God dispersed that cloud , and placed the Candle in the candlestick , the Gospel in the Church : And this Taper hath burnt bright these many years , we may say by miracle ; for our enemies whole industry hath been to extinguish it . We have also seen Gods wonders on the deep : For when we saw no door of hope to pass through , as the Prophet speaks , when our enemies were ready to devour us , as with an East-wind God scattered them : And that Navy which his Holiness had christned , and called Invincible , in a moment was overcome ; and a Coin was stampt with a fitter name , a new inscription , VENIT , IVIT , FUIT , It came , it went away , it came just to nothing . Nay , when Hell it self fought against us , and there lacked nothing but the touch of a match to our destruction , God in an instant blasted and nullified the design of bloudy men . They were in travel with mischief , and were delivered too , but they brought forth a lye . These loving kindnesses , I know , you all will say deserve to be written in a pillar of marble , with a pen of iron and the point of a diamond , and to be shewen to all posterity . But , Beloved , it is not verbal thanks alone that God requires : but we must write these favours in our hearts , and the remembrance of them must drive us to repentance for that great sin of Ingratitude , it must win us to obedience , and inforce us to a more Christian conversation , and that citò , hodiè , without delay , this day ; lest God remove his Providence from our Tabernacle ; lest he blow out our Taper , and remove our Candlestick ; lest he darken our Sun , and turn our Moon into bloud ; lest he furbish that sword which is already drawn against us , to cut us off and destroy us . The Jews were his children , as dear to him as we are ; and now they are cast away , cut off , small and despised amongst men ! Besides this larger Volume of Gods blessing , each Christian hath at least a pocket Manual , in which he may read Gods love unto himself , and tell what he hath done for his soul . If thou be rich , it was God's love that made thee so ; and he looks for some restitution by the hands of the poor . If thou be full of daies , thou hadst them from Gods right hand ; and he gave them not that thou shouldst still be a child in understanding . If thou be an Absolom for beauty , God made not so fair a soul for a bad guest , a foul soul . If thou hast a good thought , it was Gods love that wrought it , and thou must not be so unkind as to stifle it . If thou hast a holy intendment , it was God that raised it , and it is sacriledge to pull it down . If thou hast Perseverance in goodness , it was God that continued it , and thy prayer must be that he will not depart from thee . And then , if out of all these thou findest a full perswasion that thy sins are forgiven , and that thou art lovely in Gods sight , thou must also encrease thy obedience ; and as thou tastest of Gods love in the highest degree , so thou must wind up this obedience to the highest pin ; thou must be a follower of God , as a child worthy to be beloved , worthy to be dear . Which is the last step of this Gradation , and comes now to be handled .

A child of God , and a dear child ; A great priviledge , a great tye . But now not only to be so , but to be made worthy to be so , not only to be endeared , but to be filius diligibilis , a child worthy of love , and of a deformed and defaced person to be made amiable , this is that cord of man , that band of Love that draws us , this is the covering of that Black which the Sun had looked upon : this is the work of our Cant. 1. well-beloved Christ Jesus . And now he calleth , Arise , my love , my fair one , and come away . As when St. Chrysostome makes it an argument of the dignity of the Soul , that whereas a Body naturally deformed cannot by the most skilful Artist be brought to an apt and seemly proportion , yet the soul polluted , crooked and maimed may be cleansed , and set as it were , and made straight again : So must we here , with the Apostle , make it not only an argument of Gods Love , but a great motive to our Obedience , That our sins are forgiven us , That they shall not be imputed unto us , That we shall appear before our Judge not in our own likeness , but in the likeness of our elder Brother Christ Jesus , who is truly 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Gods well-beloved Son , in whom he is well-pleased ; When Joseph , a fair person and well-favoured , was enticed by Potiphars wife to lie with her , his answer was ; My master hath made me ruler over his house , and hath committed all into my hand ; he hath kept nothing from me , but thee : How then shall I do this great wickedness , and sin against God ? Beloved , each Christian should thus dispute with himself ; I was sore wounded , and God hath procured a salve for my sore : and shall I therefore lye still , and bleed my self to death ? He hath for my sake humbled his Son , he hath multiplyed his mercies upon me , and shall I make his Mercy a cause of my obstinacie in sin ? He hath kept nothing from me but his Honor ; and shall I strive to diminish that ? He hath freely forgiven me my sin ; and shall Sin therefore abound ? God forbid . God forbid that our Practice should not as well give Rome the lye as our Doctrine . She imputes it unto us , that we lull men asleep on the Pillow of Security ; that we sing a Requiem to their souls , when the conscience is most clamorous ; that we are meer Solifidians , leaning upon a Reed , relying only upon an empty and hollow Faith ; that we do per contemplationem volare , saith Bellarmine , hover as it were on the wings of Contemplation ; that we hope to go to Heaven with only thinking of it , and never strive for inherent Righteousness ; and that our Assurance that our sins are forgiven us is praesidium peccati , the Devils fense , and a strong bullwark , that the kingdom of Sin cannot be demolisht in us . So charitable is their opinion of us . And although Gods Messengers do lift up their voice like a trumpet against Sin , and whip the vice of Security out of the Temple , although our Pulpits ring and sound again with the Doctrine of Good works , and not one of our Writers that ever I could see ( except some few hare-brained Lutherans ) did ever let fall from their quills one word that might prejudice the necessity thereof , yet they cry out as men at great fires , as yet were the only incendiaries , and Religion were now a laying on the pile , and the whole Christian world by us to be set on combustion . It is true , Beloved ; we could pay them with their own coyn ; we could cast before their eyes their Hay and their Stubble , stuff fit for the fire , their Indulgences and private Masses , their Pardons for sins not yet committed , pillows indeed and true dormitories to lay men asleep on . But Recrimination is no remedy ; and Silence is the best answer to Impudence . Our best way to confute them is by our practice ; as Diogenes confuted Zeno , that believed there was no such thing as Motion , by walking over the room . So if Christ say unto us , Your sins are forgiven you , let us then take up our beds , and walk . Let him that lies on the bed of Security , arise from that bed ; on the bed of Idleness , awake from that sleep , from that slumber , and unfold his hands , and stand up , and walk before God in the land of the living . For , Beloved , what ? are we believers ? are we faithful ? Why , then we must , nay , we cannot chuse but be , obedient . For Faith and Assurance of forgiveness is the ground and foundation , not only of Christian Charity , but also of all other virtues , of all true Obedience ; having its residence not only in the Understanding , but also in the Will ; not floating in the brain , but enflaming the heart , and thereby gaining dominion and a kingdom over the affections . Hence Faith is called obedience 2 Thess. 1. 8. where Paul saith that there is a flaming fire provided for those who obey not the Gospel of Christ . For as he obeys his Physician , not who believes he is skilful , but who observes his prescripts , who takes the Recipe , and is careful of his own health and his Physicians honor ; so he is truly faithful that obeys the Gospel of Christ ; who doth not only believe that Christ is a most able Physician of his soul , and that the Gospel is the best Physick , the best Purgation , but he who takes this Physick , although there be Wormwood or Gall or Aloes in it ; who embraceth and receiveth Christ being offered unto him , although he bring grief and afflictions along with him ; who observes his rules , although he prescribes Diligence and Industry and Carefulness ; who doth therefore the more hate Sin because it is forgiven him ; lastly , who doth the more love God , because through Christ he is made a son worthy to be beloved . For , as Seneca saith well , Non est res delicata Vivere , It is nothing of delicacy and delight to Live , but even in this afflictions and sorrow will make us wish for death : So it is not all pleasure , all content , to be a Christian . There are thorns as well as roses ; there are the waters of Marah as well as those flowing with milk and honey ; there are sorrows within , and fightings without ; there are the marks of Christ Jesus to be born ; there is a book of Lamentations like that of Ezekiels to be devoured Gal. 6. and digested too . In thy way to Heaven there lies a sword , saith Chrysostome , and fire , and contumelies , and disgrace : and thou canst not go about , but this Sword must prick thee , this Fire scorch thee , these Disgraces light on thee . And before thou go thy journey , thy very bosome friends , thy old acquaintance , thy Sins , are to renounced . I have cast away all worldly desires , saith Nazianzene , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , since I came to be of the order of Christ , and to rank my self amongst Christians . And , Pity it is , saith Cyprian , that frons cum Dei signo pura , that forhead which was signed with the sign of the Cross , should ever be compassed about with the Devils Garland . And , The Apostles of Christ , saith he , were tryed by afflictions and torments and the Cross it self , nè de Christo esset delicata confessio , that the tryal might be solid , and the confession then made , not when there was a calm , when the brim of the water was smooth and even ; not in the sun-shine , but in the storm and tempest , when Persecution raged , and the Sword glittered , and the Enemy was terrible . This was the true tryal of a Christian : And indeed , Beloved , the Gospel ( of which when we hear , we think of mercy , not of grace ) is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a bitter-sweet ; a potion indeed , and more cordial then we can imagine , but not without its bitterness . Nay , further yet ; the Gospel holdeth us with a stronger bond then the Law . For although it add nothing to the Law in respect of innovation , as if that were defective , yet it doth in respect of illustration and interpretation . Our Saviour proposed non nova , sed novè , not new commands , but after a new manner . It was said of old , Thou shalt not steal ; but thou mayest do this by denying an almes : for that is furtum interpretativum , theft by way of interpretation , because thou keepest that from the poor man which is due unto him . In the Law it is written , Thou shalt not commit adultery : under the Gospel an Eunuch may commit it : for he may fabulari cum oculis , as St. Augustine speaks : And he who hath looked upon a woman , to lust after her , is guilty of this sin , saith our Saviour . The language of the Law was , An eye for an eye , and a tooth for a tooth : but now it is , Good for evil ; Bless for a curse . And plus lex quàm amisit invenit , the Law was a gainer , not a loser , by this precept of Christ , I say unto you , Love your enemies . Therefore the Schoolmen well call the Gospel onus allevians , a lightning burden , much like the Wing of a bird , which maketh the bird heavier , but yet it is that it flies with . Beloved , to shut up all in a word ; As he spake of Victory , It is not gotten sedendo , & votis , by sitting still , and wishing for it ; so our spiritual Conquest flies not down into our bosome whilst we sit folding of our arms : Nor will Balam's wish be the chariot to carry us to heaven , Let me dye the death of the righteous : Neither will the walls of Sin fall down with good desires , with religious wishes , as the walls of Jericho did with rams horns . No ; the World is deceitful still , and the Devil is a Devil still , and we are yet in the flesh ; and a wonder it were that we alone amongst other Christians should tread the paths of life , and never sweat in them ; that this way should be a way of bloud when the Apostles walkt in it , and strowed with roses now for us . Or can we expect that we should be carried up to heaven in a dream , or that God should draw us thither whether we will or no ; as if he could not reign without us , nor the blessed Angels be happy but in our company . Good God! what a presumption is it to think that the name of Child , the meer opinion of Gods Love , and to talk of forgiveness of sins should help us ! that good wishes will promote us ! that , when we have cast our selves headlong into a sea of misery , into a deluge of sin , it will be enough to say , Master , save us ; we perish . Beloved , be not deceived : God is not mocked . If we will have Christ to be our Priest , to satisfie for our sins , and to intercede for us , he must be our Prophet too , to teach us ; and our King , to govern and rule us . If we will have the meat that perisheth not , we must labour for it ; if eternal life , we must lay hold on it ; if the garland , we must run for it ; if we will enjoy the Benefit , we must perform the Office ; if we will be children of God , we must be followers of God ; if we would be endeared to him , he must be dear to us ; if we would be lovely , we must be loving ; and if God forgive our sins , we must forsake them ; if we will have the crown of life , we must be faithful unto death ; if we will have the victory , we must Rev. 3. ●1 . fight for it . Vincenti dabitur . To him that overcometh will Christ grant to sit upon his throne . He hath a Crown laid up for his Children , and his Children shall have their blessing , and shall know that they were dear unto him ; They shall enter into their inheritance , the Kingdom prepared for them . And now not only Paul is theirs , and Cephas is theirs , but Christ is theirs , and God is theirs , and the Crown is theirs , and Heaven is theirs ; not in hope only , but in reality ; not in apprehension onely , but in fruition also ; not in right and title only , but also in possession . Thither the Lord bring us who purchased it for us with his precious bloud .

The Seventh SERMON . MATTH. XVIII . 1. At the same time came the Disciples unto Jesus , saying , Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heaven ?

HERE is a strange Question put up , and that by Disciples ; and as strange an Answer given , and that by Christ himself . The Question is , Who should be the greatest in the kingdome of heaven . The Answer is , That in that kingdome a Child is the greatest . A Question put up by men prepossessed with hopes of Greatness , ignorant what this Kingdome , and what Greatness was ; and an Answer excellently fitted to that Question , checking at once their ignorance , and removing it . So that here you see Ambition and Ignorance put up the Question ; and Wisdome it self makes the Answer . Ambition and Ignorance swell our thoughts into a huge bulk , and make us Giants ; but Wisdome abates that tumour , contracts and shrinks us up into the stature of a Child . Who is the greatest ? say the Disciples : that is the Question . A Child is the greatest ? saith our Saviour , who was the Wisdome of the Father : That is the Answer .

Indeed a man is known by his speech , and our words commonly are the evaporations of our Hearts . Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts , saith Matth. 15. 19. Christ , and evil questions too . Such as the Heart is , which is the fountain of life , such are the motions of the parts . Such as the Will is , which is the beginning of action , such are the motions and operations of the Soul , which flow from the Will , and are commanded by it . Our Words are the commentaries on our Will : For when we speak , we make as it were a defection of our own Hearts , and read an Anatomy-lecture upon our selves . Our wanton talk discovers a stews in the Heart : When our words are swords , the Heart is a slaughter-house : When we bear false witness , that is the Mint : When we worship Mammon , that is his Temple . The Heart is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the shop and work-house of all evil . In this we set up idols ; in this we work mischief ; in this we heap up riches , build up thrones , raise up Kingdomes . Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heaven ? is the very dialect of Ambition , and shews that the Disciples hearts were so set on Honor that they could not ask a question right .

We read that they had disputed of this before amongst themselves by the Mark 9. 34. way : and then they put up this question to Christ , here in this Chapter . And again , Chap. 20. and again Luke 22. when he had eaten the Passeover with them , when he had foretold his Passion , and preacht unto them the doctrine of the Cross , when his Passion was nigh at hand , even then did these Disciples dream of honors and greatness and a temporal kingdome , and are not ashamed to tell it to Christ himself ; Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heaven ? First they dispute it among themselves in the way , and then they ask Christ the question . This is the method of the world at this day ; First , to dispute every man in the way , in viâ suâ , in his own way ; the Covetous in the way that leads to wealth , the Ambitious in the way that leads to honor , the Sacriligeous person in the way that leads to atheisin and profaneness : and then to ask Christ himself a question , and hope to strengthen their vain imaginations by Scripture , and to have an answer which shall fit their humor , and flatter their ungrounded resolutions , even from the mouth of Christ himself . From him they hear that they must work with their own hands : he then speaks of Riches and Honor. From him they hear that Bell boweth down ; Dagon must fall , and all Superstition must be rooted out . Nullum sine auctoramento malum est . We can now be covetous , be ambitious , be sacrilegious , be what the Flesh and our Lusts will have us , be any thing , by Scripture . Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heaven ? the Disciples would never have askt the question , had not their thoughts run on Greatness , had they not thought that Christ had come to this end , to set up a throne of state for one of them .

I will not make this error of the Disciples greater then it is : and yet I cannot make it less because Disciples fell into it , and , which the Jesuits , for St. Peters sake pronounce it but a small and venial one . St. Chrysostome calls it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a fault . And it concerns us not so much to aggravate as to avoid it . It is sufficient for us that Christ hath resolved this Question , and brought a little Child upon the stage to teach Disciples , and to teach us to avoid that rock which the Disciples themselves had dasht upon .

In the words then we will observe , 1. the Occasion of the Question , pointed out unto us in the first words , At the same time ; 2. The Persons that moved the Question ; which are plainly named , The Disciples came unto Jesus , saying ; 3. The Question it self , Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heaven ? Where we shall take some pains to discover the true nature of this Kingdome , that so we may plainly see the Disciples error and mistake , and carefully avoid it . These are the parts we shall speak of , and out of these draw such inferences as may be useful for our instruction ; that as if by the Disciples doctrine , when they were inspired by the holy Ghost , so by their error , when they were yet novices in the School of Christ , we may learn to guide our steps , and walk more circumspectly in the wayes of truth ; that by their ill putting up the Question We may learn to state it right . Of these in their order .

We are first to speak of the Occasion of this Question . And to discover this , we must look back upon the passage immediately going before , Chapt. 17. and as it were ushering in my Text. There the Occasion privily lurks , as the Devil did in the Occasion . And there we find how our Saviour in a wonderful manner both paid and received tribute , received it of the Sea , and paid it unto Caesar ; in the one professing himself to be Caesars Subject , in the other proving himself to be Caesars Lord . You see , Caesar commands him to pay tribute , and Christ readily obeys ; but withal he commands the Sea , and behold the Fishes hasten to him with tribute in their mouths , Chapt. 17. 27. Now why our Saviour did so strangely mix together his Humility and his Power , in part the reason is given by himself , Lest we should offend them . For having proved himself free , and therefore not subject to tribute , ( for if the Sons of Kings be free , then the Son of the King of Heaven must needs be so ) yet saith he unto Peter , That we give no offence , cast thy angle into the Sea . He is content to do himself wrong , and to loose his profit , to gain his peace . And as he did express his Humility that be might not offend Caesar , so we may be easily perswaded that he did manifest his Glory that he might not offend his Disciples . For lest his Disciples peradventure should begin to doubt whether he was , as he pretended , Lord of heaven and earth , who did so willingly acknowledge a superior , look how much he seem'd to impair his credit by so humbly paying of tribute , so much and more he repaired it by so gloriously receiving it . Now saith the Text , At the same time , when this wonderful thing was acting , then was this Question proposed . But now in all this action let us see what occasion was here given to this Question , what spark to kindle such a thought in the Disciples hearts , what one circumstance which might raise such an ambitious conceit . They might indeed have learnt from hence Humility and Obedience to Princes , though Tyrants , and as Tyrants exacting that which is not due , and a Willingness to part with their right rather then to offend ; That Christ is not offended when thus parting with our goods we offend our selves to please our Superiours . But a corrupt Heart poysons the most wholsome , the most didactical , the most exemplary actions , and then sucks from them that venome which it self first cast . A sick ill-affected stomach makes food it self the cause of a disease , and makes an Antidote poyson . Prejudice and a prepossessed mind , by a strong kind of Alchymie , turns every thing into it self , makes Christs Humility an occasion of pride , his Submission a foot-stool to rise up upon , and upon Subjection it self lays the foundation of a Kingdome .

Some of the Fathers , as Chrysostome , and Hierome , and others , were of opinion that the Disciples , when they saw Peter joyned with Christ in this action , and from those words of our Saviours , Take , and give them for me and thee , did nourish a conceit that Peter in this was preferred before the rest , and that there was some peculiar honor done to him above his fellows : and that this raised in them a disdain against Peter : and that their disdain moved them to propose this Question , not particularly , Whether Peter should be , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in general terms , Who should be , the greatest . And this the Church of Rome lays hold on ; and founding her pretended Supremacy on Peter , wheresoever she finds but the name of Peter , nay , but the shadow of Peter , she seeks a mystery ; and , if she cannot find one , she will make one . The Cardinal is fond of this interpretation , and brings it in as a strong proof of that claim the Bishop of Rome makes of being Prince of all the world . But what is this but interpretationibus ludere de scripturis ? when the Text turns countenance , to put a face and a fair gloss upon it , and make it smile upon that monstrous Error which nothing but their Ambition could give birth and life unto ? For , to speak truth , what honor could this be to Peter ? To pay tribute is a sign of subjection , not of honor . And , if we will judge righteous judgment , nay , if we will judge but according to the appearance , the greatest honor which could here have accrewed to Peter , had been to have been exempted when all the rest had paid . To speak truth then , or at least that which is most probably true , not any honor done to Peter , but the dishonor which was done to Christ himself , may seem to be the true Occasion of this Question . I shall give you my reason for it . We see it a common thing in the world that men who dream of Honors , as the Disciples here did , grow more ambitious by the sense of some disgrace : As in Winter we see the fountains and hollow caverns of the earth are hottest ; and as the Philosophers will tell us that a quality grows stronger and more intense by reason of its contrary . Humility may sometimes blow the bladder of Pride ; Disgrace may be as a wind to whet up our ambitious thoughts to a higher pitch . Or it may be as Water ; some drops of it by a kind of moral Antiperistasis may kindle this fire within us , and enrage it ; and that which was applyed as a remedy to allay the tumour , may by our indisposition and infirmity be made an occasion to encrease it . We trusted that this had been he who should have redeemed Israel , say they Luke 24. 21. Is this he who should come with the Sword and with Power and with Abundance unto them ? that should root up the Nations before them , and re-instate them in the Land of Canaan ? Is this that Messias which , after many years victoriously past on earth , should at last resign up his life , and establish his Kingdome upon his Successors for ever ? A conceit not newly crept in , but which they may seem to have had by a kind of tradition , as appeareth by that of our Saviour Luke 14. 15. Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdome of God : and by the mother of Zebedee's children , who requested that her two sons might sit , one at Christs Matth. 20. 21 : right hand , the other at his left in his kingdome . And can Christ do this , and thus submit himself ? Can he be a King that thus pays tribute ? Some fit and pang of this distemper did no doubt trouble the Disciples minds at this time . They had been often troubled with it , and had sundry times discust amongst themselves , as we have observed , who should be the greatest . And now upon this occasion , seeing Christ bowing to Autority , and submitting to them whom they thought he came to destroy ; the fire burned , and they spake with their tongue . Seeing the Lord of heaven and earth thus challeng'd for tribute , and thus gently yielding to pay it , they lost the sight of his Power in his Humility ; they forgot the miracle of the Money in the fishes mouth , because it was tribute : And being struck with Admiration , they began to enquire what Honors and what degrees of Greatness were in his Kingdome , which is his Church ; and observing the King of Heaven himself thus subject to command , instead of learning Humility , they foment their Pride , they awake their Ambition , and rowse it up to seek the glory of this world ; they are bold to ask him who was the Master and patern of Humility , Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heaven ? This I take to be the Occasion of this Question . And so I pass from it to the Persons who moved it ; The Disciples came unto Jesus .

And the Disciples , we doubt not , had been well and often instructed that the Kingdome of Christ was not of this world , but spiritual ; yet the prejudicate conceit they had of the Messias did shut up their understanding against this truth ; the shape they had drawn in their minds of Christ made Christ less visible in his own shape . So hard it is homini hominem exuere , for a man to put off himself ; for a man that looks for a Pearl , to interpret it Grace ; for a man that is ambitious of Honor on earth , to look for it in heaven . Such a damp and darkness doth Prejudice cast upon the minds and understandings even of the best men , even of Disciples of Christ . For the Devil fits himself to the nature and disposition of every man . What he said of the Jesuite , JESUITA EST OMNIS HOMO , a Jesuite is every man to every man , can apply himself to all humors , all dispositions , is most true of our common enemy , Satan . He is in a manner made all things to all men . If he cannot cast us down into the mire of carnal and bruitish sin , he is very active and cunning to lift us up on the wings of the wind , and to whiff us about with the desire of honor and priority . Etiam in sin● discipulorum ambitio dormit , saith Cyprian ; Ambition finds a pillow to sleep on even in the bosome of Disciples themselves . There she lyes as in a shade , lurks as in a bed-chamber ; and at last she comes forth , and you may behold her raising of palaces , and measuring out kingdomes ; and you may hear her asking of questions , Who shall be the greatest ? Multimoda Satanae ingenia , saith Hierome ; the craft of Satan is various , and his wiles and devises manifold . He knows in what breast to kindle Lust , into which to breathe Ambition . He knows whom to cast down with Sorrow , whom to deceive with Joy , whom to shake with Fear , and whom to mislead with Admiration . He searcheth our affections , he fans and winnows our hearts , and makes that a bait to catch us withal which we most love and most look upon . He fights , as the Father speaks , with our selves against our selves ; he makes snares of our own desires , and binds and fetters us up with our own love . If he overcome us with his more gross tentations , he insults : but if he fail there , he then comes towards us with those tentations which are better clothed and better spoken . He maketh curious nets , entangles our phansie , and we strait dream of Kingdomes . If our weakness overthrow us not , tropheis triumphisque succumbemus , saith the Father , our own tropheys and triumphs shall destroy us . Like a wise Captain , he plants all his force and artillery at that place which is weakest and most attemptable . We see the Disciples hearts were here weakest , and here lay most open : hither therefore the Devil directs his darts , here he placeth his engines , to make a breach . So dangerous a vice is Ambition ; and so hard a thing it is even for good men , for mortified persons , for the Disciples of Christ , to avoid it . Who shall be the greatest ? they are not alwaies the worst men that put up that question . Tully observes of the Philosophers , that though they wrote books of the Contempt of Glory , yet they would set their names to those books , and so seek for Glory by oppugning it , and even woo it in the way of a bold defiance . And Plutarch speaking of the Philosopher whose Dictor it was , LATENTER VIVENDUM , That a concealed life was best , yet adds withal , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , That he would not have it concealed , that this Dictor or speech was his . What speak we of the Heathen Philosophers ? The Philosophers of God , the Prophets of God , have been much infested herewith . Look upon Baruch ; When he thrived not in the King of Judah's Court , he fell into discontent and repining ; so that the Prophet Jeremy is sent unto him with express message , Seekest thou great things for thy self ? seek them not . For I will bring evil upon the whole earth , saith the Lord . Behold Jonah under his gourd ; What Jer. 45. 5. a pett and chafe is he in ? How irreverent to his God ? How doth he tell God even to his face that he did well to be angry even unto death . And all this Anger from what fire was it kindled ? Certainly from no other then an overweaning conceit of his own reputation ; lest the sparing of Niniveh , against which he had denounced ruin and destruction , should disparage him with the people , and lose him the name of a true Prophet .

And this we need not much marvail at if we consider the nature of this vice . For first of all , it is a choice vice , preserved on purpose by the Divel to abuse the best : nor will it grow in every soil . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Great and Noble natures , the best capacities , the most able wits , these are the fat soil in which this weed grows . Base and sordid natures seldom bear it . What cares the Covetous person for Honor , who will bow to durt ? What cares he for rising in repute , who hath buried himself alive in the earth ? What cares he for a name , that had rather see other mens names in his parchments then his own in the Book of Life ? What cares the Wanton for renown , who had rather be crowned with roses then with a Diademe ? or will he desire to rise higher , whose highest step is up to the bed of Lust and the embraces of a Strumpet ? These Swine love not such water as this , nor such an oyntment , as a Good name , but will wallow still in their own mire . And therefore you may observe it Matth. 4. that the Devil sets not upon our Saviour with Lust , or Luxury , or Covetousness , or any such vulgar and inferior vice , but carries him to an exceeding high mountain , and from thence shews him the kingdome of the world , to see whether he will stoop at the prey .

Secondly , It is a vice to which the world is much beholding , and therefore finds more countenance then any . Look upon the works of mens wits , their Books and Writings ; look upon the works of mens hands , their Charity and Alms-deeds and Hospitality ; and we shall quickly discover that Honor and Desire to transmit their names to posterity have been in many ( for to say , in all , were the greatest uncharitableness in the world ; but in many they have been ) the chiefest fires to set these alembicks a work . We will not now dispute the truth of that which the Schools teach , That Evil could not subsist if it were not founded in Good ; but we may be bold to say that this evil of Ambition could hardly subsist if it were not maintained and rooted in Virtue . Other weeds will grow of themselves , finding matter within us to feed and nourish them . Murder is but the ebullition of our Choler ; Luxury ; a very exhalation of our Flesh ; Lust boyles in our very bloud : But this vice , like unto Ivy or Woodbind ; will hardly grow unless it fix it self upon the Oke , upon some strong and profitable matter . If you see Absalom in Hebron paying his vow , it is to gain a kingdome . If 2 Sam 15. 7. the Pharisee fast and pray , it is to be called Rabbi ; if he gives alms , it is with a trumpet ? If Simon Magus desire to turn Apostle , it is to be some great one . If Diotrephes be of the Church , it is to have the praeeminence .

Last of all , it is a vice which amongst many men hath gained the reputation of Virtue . And , if it be not a virtue , saith the Orator , yet it is many times the cause of it . Ambition and Aemulation have ever been accounted the nurses of wit , the kindlers of industry , the life of studies , and the mothers of all famous actions . And this is it which hath raised their price and estimation . But it here falls out as it doth with bodies which are nourisht with unwholsome meats ; They are in a short time corrupted with diseases , and dye by those meats they lived on . Wit and Industry , which are mainteined by these vices , do at last run to ruin by those vices which maintein them . How many an alms is blown away with the breath of the Trumpet ? How many a Prayer is the shorter for its length , is not heard for its noyse , and is lost in the open streets ? How many a Fast is buried in a disfigured face ? How many a Good deed had been registred in heaven , if it had not been first written on the walls ? But , as we read in the Historian , that Thievery and Piracy were so commonly practised amongst the Grecians that men made publick profession of them , neither were they taken to be vices ; so we find it by daily experience that Ambition is so like to Virtue that the world hath even taken her to be one , and made much of her , and extolled her , because she is so common . Disciples themselves will be talking of Kingdomes and Greatness , will be asking the question , Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heaven ? And yet it is as impertinent a question as could have been put to Christ . And of this we are to speak in the next place ; But first we will draw such inferences out of that which hath been spoken as may be useful for our instruction .

And first , if we look back upon the Disciples , we cannot but look into our selves ; and seeing what it was that kept them so long from the true knowledge of the Messias , who had been so long with them , with whom they ate and drank and conversed , and whose miracles they were eye-witnesses of , we cannot but search and ransack our inward man , empty it of all extravagant and heterogeneous matter , dispossess it of every evil spirit , of every carnal conceit , which may shut out Christ , sweep and garnish it , that the Truth may enter and dwell there . Prejudice puts ●ut the eye of our Judgment . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Opinion is a great retarder of proficiency ; it being common to men to be jealous of every word that breaths in opposition to what they have already received , as of an enemy ; and , though it be truth , to suspect it , because it breaths from a contrary coast . Moab is setled on his lees , hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel ; therefore his Jer. 48. 11. taste remained in him , and his sent is not changed . He hath ever the same taste and the same sent : and this makes every thing , promises and threatnings , judgments and blessings , doctrines and miracles , relish and taste and sent as he doth . He is the same under the rod and the same under blessings , the same in a calm and the same when it thunders . He is setled on his lees , and no change can change him . It is a world to see what power Prejudice hath to change the face and countenance of objects , and shape them like unto it self . It makes a shadow a man , and a man a hobgoblin ; it mistakes a friend for an enemy . It puts horror upon Virtue , and makes Vice it self of a ruddy countenance . It makes God the Author of sin , and the Devil a worker of miracles . It makes the Prince of peace a man of war ; beholds a poor Christ , and makes him a King ; receives him in the form of a servant , and builds him a Throne ; dreams of Kingdomes in the house of mourning , and of triumph in persecution ; makes Christs Humility an occasion of pride ; makes a new Religion , a new Christ , a new Gospel ; and thus gropes at noon-day ; is deaf to thunder , is surly against good counsel , and thrusts him away that gives it ; is an enemy to a friend ; is a fiery furnace to devour those that minister unto it . When God opens the gates of heaven , this shuts them ; when he displayes his rayes of mercy , this puts them by ; when he would enter , this shuts the door ; when he is ready to let fall his dew , this will not suffer him to be good unto us , will not suffer him to bless , will not suffer him to teach , will not suffer him to save us . This killed the Prophets , and stoned them that were sent ; This whipped , and spet upon , and crucified the Lord of Life himself . For all mistakes is from the Eye , all error from the Mind , not from the Object . If the Eye be goggle , or mis-set ; if the Mind be dimm'd with Malice or Ambition and Prejudice , it puts upon things what shape it pleaseth , receiveth not the true and natural species they present , but views them at home in it self , as in a false glass , which renders them back again as it were by reflexion ; which is most deceitful . This makes Gods and sets up Idols in it self , and then worships them . And this is the reason why Christ is so much mistaken , why the Gospel of Christ receives such different entertainment . Every man layes hold on it , wrests it to his own purpose , works it on his own anvil , and shapes it to his own phansie and affections ; as out of the same mass Phidias made a Goddess , and Hysippus a Satyr .

Oh beloved ! how many lye buried under Prejudice , corrupt and putrefied and even stinking in the nostrils of God and man , not to be awak'd till the last Trump ! All exhortations , all reproofs , all admonitions , all reason , all truth is to them but as a mess of pottage set upon a dead mans grave ; the tongue of Men and Angels but as sounding brass . How do they rejoyce in iniquity , triumph in evil , confirm themselves in wicked practises ! What a paradise to they plant in Tophet ! what a Heaven do they make in Hell it self ! How busie are they to sanctifie and glorifie their error ! What shift do they make to make themselves the Devils Children seven times more then they are ! How do they argue and dispute themselves into hell ! That which is a reason against them is made a reason for them ; that which strikes at their error is made to uphold it ; that which checketh them spurs them ; that which binds them sets them loose ; that which bids them , Touch not , Taste not , is to them as the voice to Peter , Acts 10. Rise , kill , and eat . Where Prejudice bears rule , every thing must bow ; every sheaf , every occasion , every occurrence must fall down before it . If it be adversity , it is an argument ; if good success , it is an argument . What shall I say ? In the next world it is Holiness , but in this it is Prejudice , it is Covetousness , it is Ambition , that makes Saints . So dangerous was Prejudice and Prae-conceit to the Disciples that no words , no miracles of Christ could root it out , but it grew up in them , and spread it self into Thoughts and Questions , which are as the boughs of it , till a sound from heaven ; till a mighty rushing wind , till fiery tongues beat it down and consum'd it . So dangerous was it to the Jews , that it had been better for them to have been utterly ignorant of their Messias . For this gross Praeconceit of their Messias was yet the main reason that they entertained him not when he came , because he came in a posture so contrary to their expectation , so unlike that Christ which they had set up already in their minds . So dangerous a thing is a Prepossessed mind to it self .

And therefore it well concerns us , as Chrysostome speaks , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to quiet and slumber these imaginations , these absurd reasonings and dialogues which we make within our selves . For why should such thoughts arise in our hearts , such thoughts as will shut out better , such thoughts of a temporal as will deprive us of an eternal Kingdom , such thoughts of goodness as will make us worse then the beasts that perish . And it well concerns us to be jealous and suspicious of our selves . For Jealousie and Suspicion , though in other matters it be a disease that no Physician can cure , yet in respect of our Souls is a seasonable medicine , full of efficacy and virtue . We cannot be too jealous of our own salvation . My jealousie of my Honor may draw on destruction , my jealousie of my Money may invite a thief , my jealousie of my wife may provoke her to folly ; but my jealousie of my Soul doth enoble and enrich it , and present it a pure Virgin unto Christ . Let us then be afraid of our own thoughts , and take heed of all prejudicate conceits .

In the second place , since the Divel made use of this error of the Disciples , and attempted them there where they were most open to him , let us , as wise Captains use to do , double our watch , and be careful to strengthen that part which is weakest and most assaylable ; as Galen counsels , where the Affections are contrary , first wrestle with that which is most prevalent , and overcome it , that we may find our work the easier and less trouble to bring the rest in subjection . For , Beloved , as tentations work by the Sensitive part upon the Rational , so they have a diverse operation according to mens several constitutions and complexions . Every man is not equally prone to every sin . This ravisheth the eye of one which another will not look on : This man liketh that which another abhorreth . He that made the Devil fly at the first encounter , may embrace him at the next . He that stood out with him in Lust , may yield to him in Anger : He that defied his Mammon , may stoop at his Kingdomes : He that would none of his Bread , may feed himself with his Ayre : He that feard not the roaring of the Lion , may be overcome with the subtilty of the Serpent . A man of a heavy and sluggish disposition is seldome ambitious ; a man of lively and nimble spirits is seldome idle . As hard a matter it is for some men to commit some sin as it is for others to avoid it ; as hard for the Fool in the Gospel to have spent his estate as for the Prodigal to have kept it . We see this man wondring at his brother that he should fall into such or such a sin , and the other wondring as much at him how he should fall into the contrary . Therefore the Devil , who observes how we are elemented and composed , hath his 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Macarius , his divers back-doors , out of which he may slip and return at pleasure ; and , if his first bait be distastful , come again and present another which will fit our taste and palate . If the Disciples leave all , and follow Christ , he will try them with Honor , and teach them to dream of a Kingdome even in the School of their Master . It will concern us then to take pains , and go down and meet him at this door , at that door , which he is most likely to enter . If it be the Eye , shut it up by covenant : If it be the Ear , stop it , and be those Addars which will not hear his charmes : If it be our Taste , deny it : If it be our Appetite , be harsh to it : If it be our Phansie , watch it , and bind it up . For if this was done to the green tree , the Disciples of Christ ; if they were endangered where they were weakest ; what may not be done to the dry , which is ready to catch and take fire at every spark of a tentation ? Let us then be ready and prepared , and stand in our complete armour at that door which the Enemy is most like to attempt . Let us put on the whole armour of God , that we may be able to stand against every wile of the Devil , especially against that wile which may soonest Ephes. 6. 11. ensnare us .

Let me give you one Use more , and so conclude this point . Let us not seek the World in the Church , nor Honors and Preferments in the Kingdome of Christ . Let us not fit Religion to our carnal desires , but lay them down at the foot of Religion . Make not Christianity to lacquey it after the World , but let Christianity swallow up the World in victory . Let us clip the wing of our Ambition , and the more beware of it because it carries with it the shape and shew of Virtue . For as we are told in Philosophy , In habentibus symbolum facilior transmutatio , amongst the Elements those two which have a quality common to both , are easiliest changed one into the other ; so above all Vices we are most apt to fall into those which have some symbolizing quality , some face and countenance of Goodness , which are better drest and better clothed , and bespeak us in the name of Virtue it self , like a strumpet in a matrons stool . Let us shun this as a most dangerous rock , against which many a vessel of burden after a prosperous voyage hath dasht and sunk . By Desire of honor and vain glory it comes to pass that many goodly and specious monuments which were dedicated rather to Honor then to God , have destroyed and ruined their Founders , who , like unfortunate mothers , have brought forth beautiful issues , but themselves have dyed in the birth of them . They have proved but like the ropes of silk and daggers of gold which Heliogabalus prepared to stab and strangle himself withall , adding , pretiosiorem mortem suam esse debere , that his death ought to be more costly then other mens ; and they have served to no other end but this , ut cariùs pereant , that the workers of them might dye with greater state then other men , and might fall to the lowest pit , as the sword-players did in the Theater , with noyse and applause . I have spoken of the Occasion of the Question , and of the Persons who put it . Come we now , in the last place , to the Question it self , Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heaven ?

The Disciples here were mistaken in terminis , in the very terms of their Question . For neither is Greatness that which they supposed , nor the Kingdome of heaven of that nature as to admit of that Greatness which their phansie had set up . For by the Kingdome of heaven is meant in Scripture not the Kingdome of Glory , but the Kingdome of Grace , by which Christ sits and rules in the hearts of his Saints . When John the Baptist preacht Repentance , he told the Jews that the Kingdome of heaven is at hand . When our Saviour tells us that it is like seed sowen in good ground , like a net cast into the sea , like a pearl , like a treasure hid in the field , what else can he mean but his Kingdome of Grace on earth ? not his Kingdome of Glory in heaven . So that for the Disciples to ask , Who is greatest in this kingdome ? was to shape out the Church of God by the World ; Much like to that which we read in Lucian of Priams young son , who being taken up into heaven , is brought-in calling for milk and cheese and such country cates as were his wonted food on earth . For in the Kingdome of Grace , that is in the Congregation of Gods Saints and the elect Members of Christ , there is no such difference of degrees as Ambition taught the Disciples to imagine . Not that we deny Order and Government in the Church of God . No ; without these his Church could not subsist , but would be like Aristotles army without discipline , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an unprofitable rout . To this end Christ gave Apostles and Teachers and Pastors , for the perfecting of the Saints , for the work of the Ministry , for the edifying of the body of Christ . His Teachers call us , his Governors direct us to this Kingdome . But the Disciples , being brought up in the world , thought of that Greatness which they saw did bear the sway amongst men ; Much like the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , who thought that God bare the shape of a Man , because they read in Scripture of his Feet , and Hands , and Eyes , and the like . But that it was not so in Christs Kingdome , may appear by our Saviour's Answer to the Question . For he takes a Child , and tells them that if they will be of his Kingdome , they must be like unto it . By which he choaks and kills in them all conceit of Ambition and Greatness . For , as Plato most truly said , that those that dye do find a state of things beyond all expectation , diverse from that which they left behind , so when we are dead to the World , and true Citizens of the Kingdome of Christ , we shall find there is neither Jew nor Greek , neither bond nor free , neither male nor female ; but all are one in Christ Gal. 3. 28. Jesus . God looks not what bloud runs in thy veins , he observes not thy Heraldry . If Greatness could have purchased heaven , Lazarus had been in hell , and Dives in Abrahams bosome . Earl , and Knight and Peasant are tearms of distinction on earth : in the Kingdome of heaven there is no such distinction . Faith makes us all one in Christ ; and the Crown of glory shall be set upon the head of him that grindeth at the mill as well as upon his that sitteth on the throne . Christ requires 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the nobility of the Soul : and he is the greatest in his Kingdome who hath the true and inward worth of Honesty and Sanctity of life , though in this world he lye buried in obscurity and silence . Here Lazarus may be richer then Dives , the beggar higher then the King , and a Child , the least , is greatest in this Kingdome .

A main difference we may see between this Kingdome and the Kingdomes of the world , if we compare them . First , the Subjects of this Kingdome are unknown to any but to God himself . The foundation of the Lord standeth sure , saith the Apostle 2 Tim. 2. 19. having this seal , The Lord knowes who are his . And if they be unknown , who then can range them into orders and degrees . Secondly , of this Kingdome there is no end . Thirdly , the seat of this Kingdome is the hearts of the faithful . Cathedram habet in Coelo qui domat corda ; His chair is in heaven that rules the hearts of the sons of men here on earth . This earth , that is , this body of clay , hath God given to the sons of men , to the Princes of the earth , under whose government we live ; But our Heaven , our better part , our inward and spiritual man , he reserves to himself . Kings and Princes can restrain the outward man and moderate our outward actions by their laws and edicts . Illa se jactat in aulâ Aeolus : Thus far can they go ; They can tye our Hands and Tongues ; and they can go no further . For to set up an imperial throne in our Understandings and our Wills , belongs to Christ alone . He teacheth the lame to go , and the blind to see , and recovers the dry hand ; He makes us active in this Kingdome of Grace . Lastly , as their Subjects and Seat are different , so are their Laws ; In the Common-wealth of Rome the Laws were the works of many hands . Some of them were Plebiscita , the acts of the people ; others Senatus Consulta , the decrees of the Senate ; others , edicta Praetorum , the verdicts of their Judges ; others , Responsa prudentum , the opinions of Wise men in cases of doubt ; others , rescripta Imperatorum , the rescripts and answers of their Emperors when they were consulted with . Christiani habent regulam , saith Tertullian ; Christians have one certain immoveable rule , the Word of God , to guide and rule them in their life and actions . Besides , the Laws of the Kingdome of Christ are eternal , substantial , indispensable : But the laws made by humane autority are many of them light and superficial , all of them temporary and mutable . For all the humane autority in the world can never enact one eternal or fundamental law . Read the Laws that men have made , and lay them together , and we shall observe that they were made upon occasion and circumstance either of Time , or Place , or Persons ; and therefore either by discontinuance have fallen of themselves , or by reason of some urgent occasion have been necessarily revoked : But the Laws of our Great King are like himself , everlasting , never to be revoked or cancelled , but every 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and tittle of them to stand fast , though heaven and earth pass away .

Thus you see the Kingdome of Christ and the Kingdomes of this world have not the same face and countenance ; the Subjects of the one being discernable , of the other unknown ; their seat and place and lawes are different . So that our Saviour , as he answered the sons of Zebedee , Yee know not what yee ask , so he might have replied to his Disciples here , Yee know not what yee speak . My kingdome is not of this world . The kingdome of heaven is within you . Why ask you then , Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heaven ? That you commit no more such soloecisms , behold here a little child ; let him teach you how to speak ; and become like him , and you shall be great in the kingdome of heaven .

We see then that the Disciples of Christ were much mistaken in this question of greatness . And a common error it is amongst men to judge of spiritual things by carnal , of eternal by temporary . When our Saviour preached to Nicodemus the Doctrine of Regeneration and New life , what a gross conceit did he harp upon , of a Re-entry to be made into his mothers womb ? When he told the Samaritane of the water of life , her thoughts ran on her pitcher and on Jacob's well . When Simon Magus saw that by laying on of hands the Apostles gave the holy Ghost , he hopes by money to purchase the like power . For seeing what a kingdome Money had amongst men , he streight conceived Coelum venale , Deumque , that God and Heaven might be bought with a price . Thus wheresoever we walk , our own shadow goes before us , and we use the language and dialect of the World in the School of Christ : we talk of Superiority and Power and Dominion in that Kingdome wherein we must be Priests and Kings too , but by being good , not great .

The sense which the Disciples through error meant , was this , Who should be greatest , Who should have most outward pomp and glory , Who should have precedency above others : But the sense which , as appears by our Saviours answer , they should have meant , was , Who is the greatest ? that is , Who is of the truest and reallest worth in the kingdome of heaven ? This had shewed them Disciples indeed , whose eyes should be the rather on the Duty then on the Reward , and who can have no greater honor then this , that they deserve it . Though there be places of outward government , of praeeminence and dignity in the Church , yet it ill becomes the mouth of a Disciple to ask such a Question . For though they all joyntly ask Who is the greatest ? yet it appears by the very question that every one of them did wish himself the man . An evil of old very dangerous in the Church of Christ , but not purged out in after ages . Per quot pericula , sath St. Augustine , pervenitur ad grandius periculum ? Through how many dangers and difficulties do we strive forward to Honor , which is the greatest danger of all ? Ut dominemur aliis , priùs servimus , saith St. Ambrose ; To gain Dominion over others we become the greatest slaves in the world . What an inundation had this desire of Greatness made in the Church ! how was it ready to overwhelm all Religion and Piety , had there not been banks set up against it to confute it , and Decrees made to restrain it ! The Deacon would have the honor of the Priest ; the Priest , the Consistory of the Bishop . The Bishops seat was not high enough , but he would be a Metropolitane , and to that end procured Letters from the Emperors , which the Greeks called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by which they obteined that , where there was formerly but one , there might now be two Metropolitanes . And all these no doubt were Disciples of Christ , if for no other reason , yet for this QUIS EST MAXIMUS ? for their affectation of Greatness . And now what followed ? As one well observes , Ex religione ars facta ; Religion was made a trade and an art to live by . Till at last it was cried down in divers Councels , at Chalcedon , at Trullum in Constantinople , and others : And in the Councel of Sandis a Bishop is forbidden to leave the government of a small City for a greater . Of all men Ambition least becomes a Disciple of Christ : And therefore Christian Emperors did after count him unworthy of any great place in the Church who did affect it . Quaeratur cogendus , rogatus recedat , invitatus effugiat ; Being sought for , let him be compelled ; being askt , let him withdraw himself ; being invited , let him refuse . Sola illi suffragetur necessitas recusandi ; Let this be the only suffrage to enthrone him , that he refus'd it . Maximè ambiendus , qui non est ambitiosus ; For it is fit that he that doth not seek for should be sought for by preferment . And to this purpose it was that our Saviour answers the Disciples , not to what they meant , but to what they should have meant , to divert them from all thought of dominion . And withal he implyes that that is not Greatness which they imagined , but that Humility and Integrity of life was the truest Greatness and greatest Honor in his Kingdome .

And , to speak the truth , this only deserves the name of Greatness . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . For Goodness is not placed in Greatness , but Greatness in Goodness . To go in costly apparel , to fare deliciously , to have a troup to follow us , perhaps wiser then our selves , this we may call what we please , but Greatness it cannot be . We read in Seneca the Orator of one Senecio an Orator , who affected much grandia dicere , to speak in a lofty stile and great words . Which affectation in his art after turn'd to a disease , so that he would have nothing in his house but what was great , great Servants , and great Vessels of Silver , calceos etiam majores , Shoes also too great for him . And from this fantastick humor he took his name , and was called SENECIO GRANDIO , Senecio the Great . Yet for all this he added not one hairs breadth unto his stature . Beloved , if we would measure our selves aright , we should find that that is not Greatness which the World calls by that name , outward state and pomp and stateliness to cast men on their knees with a frown , or to raise an army with a stamp of the foot . We are the less for these : and to think our selves greater for these , is to run upon the same error which Senecio Grandio did .

Again , it is but a phansie , and a vain one , to think there is most ease and most content in worldly greatness , or that we sleep best when our pillow is highest . Alass , when our affrighted thoughts shall awake each other , and our conscience put forth her sting : when those sins shall rise up against us by which we have climb'd to this pitch , all the honor of the World will not give us ease . Will a legg or a cap , think you , still this noyse : Will the obsequious cringe and loud applause of the multitude drown the clamour of our Conscience , which like an awaked Lion will roar loud against us ? No , Beloved : not all the pomp , not all the pleasure of the world , not the merry Harp and the Lute and the Timbrel , no not a triumph , will be able to slumber the tempest within us , no more then the distressed weather-beaten Mariner can becalm a boysterous Sea with his whistle or a wish . We read of a Souldier who being to sleep upon a hollow piece of steel , complained his pillow was hard , but stuffing it with chaff he thought it much the lighter . Just so it fares with ambitious men : When they have run on in the wayes of Honor , when they have attained their ends , they shall find that their pillow is steel still ; only they filled it with more chaff then other men . Besides , Honor doth not make him greater that hath it , but him that gives it . For if it proceed from virtue , bonum nostrum non est , sed alienum , it is not our virtue , but his that honors us ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a sign , saith the Philosopher , of another mans good esteem and opinion ; which opinion is raised not from the person , but his virtue . And therefore the Apostles counsel is , In giving honor go one before another ; as if he were truly honorable , not who receives honor , but who gives it , and all precedency were in this . And indeed Honor is , if not a virtue , yet a strong argument of it , in him who bowes himself in a just veneration of Goodness . Scias ipsum abundare virtutibus , qui alienas sic amat , saith Pliny ; You may be sure he is full of virtue himself , who loves to see the splendor of it in other men . Lastly , Greatness and Honor adds nothing to Virtue . Nothing accrews to a Good man when he rises and comes on in the world ; nothing is defaulked from him when he falls and decayes . The Steed is not the better for his strappings ; nor doth the Instrument yield sweeter musick for its carved head , or for the ribbon which is tyed unto it . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Virtue in the open ayre , naked , destitute and afflicted , is of as fair a presence as when she sits under a canopy of state ; David in the wilderness as honorable as on his throne , Job on the dunghil as in all his wealth , and Joseph in the stocks as when he was a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house . When God speaks by his Prophet , he tells us that his wayes are not our wayes , nor our wayes his ; and here , where Christ speaketh to his Disciples , by his answer it appears that his judgment and theirs were not the same . When God sent Samuel to anoint David , Jesse brought forth Elias , and Samuel said , Surely this is the Lords annointed . But God corrected his error , and bade him not look upon his countenance , nor the height of his stature : for God seeth not as man seeth . Beloved , if with the Disciples here we have a thought that Christs Kingdome is a temporal Kingdome , God hath not chosen that thought . If we look upon the countenance of men , and think them the greatest who are of highest stature , and in honor and dignities are taller then their fellows by the head and shoulders , we are deceived , and the God of this world hath blinded our eyes , that this Pygmay in Christs Kingdome appears to us as big as a Colossus . But there is a little one , a child , behind , an humble and low Convert : And whosoever shall humble himself as this little child , the same shall be the greatest in the kingdome of heaven .

To conclude all ; Let us seek for Honor ; but seek for it in its own coasts . On earth it is nothing , or it signifieth nothing ; and most commonly it is given to them who signifie as little . Therefore let us look up to the highest Heavens , where the seat of Honor is . Let him who put us into the Vineyard give us our wages ; and let the King of glory bestow honor upon us . Let us make him alone our Spectator , him alone our Judge ; and He will render to every man according to his deeds ; to them who by patient continuance in well-doing Rom. 2. 6 , 7. seek for glory and honor and immortality , eternal life . Which God grant us all through Christ our Saviour .

The Eighth SERMON . 1 COR. XIII . 7. — hopeth all things .

AT the very reading of this Chapter the true Christian cannot but think himself in a kind of Paradise , and conceive he sees Charity growing up like a tree of Life , spreading its branches , full and hanging down the head , inviting him to gather such fruit from every one of them as may be pleasant to his taste , and abound to his account . At this time I have laid hold but on one of them , but such an one as will give you a taste of all the rest . For in true Hope there is Long-suffering and Kindness , there is Patience and Meekness ; there is no Envy , no Malice , no Pride , no Suspition . And if we take down this , and digest it , the rest will be sweet unto our taste , and pleasant as honey to our mouth . The tree is a tree of Life , and every branch of it is beautiful and glorious , and the fruit thereof excellent and comely to them that Isa. 4. 2. are escaped of Israel . It is truly said that Charity doth virtually contein within her self all other Graces . St. Paul calls it the greatest virtue , and the complement and fulfilling of the Law . If there be Liberality , Charity in largeth the heart ; if Temperance , she binds the appetite ; if Chastity , she makes the Eunuch for the kingdome of heaven : if Patience , she works it ; if Resolution , she makes us valiant . Charity , saith one , is as the Philosophers stone , that turns all into Gold . It makes suffering Patience , it makes giving Liberality ; it puts value upon a Mite , or a cup of cold water . Charity baptizeth all the other virtues , and makes them Christian . She stands as a Queen among the Virtues , encircled and compassed about as with a crown . Patience waits on her ; Bounty is as the breath of her nostrils ; Long-suffering is her very spirit . In a word , Faith is the foundation ; Charity the building , which reacheth as high as heaven ; and Hope the pillar or buttress to uphold it .

We shall now find our way easier , and the task not hard , to bring Charity and Hope together . For if Charity comprehend all virtues , I am sure Hope is one . I know that the essences of these virtues are distinct , and their offices divers . Distinct habits have their distinct acts . The act of Faith is to believe ; of Charity , to love and embrace : of Hope , to expect : But yet though their acts and offices be divers and distinct , they may all meet in the same subject . They are distinct , but not separate . Nay , to speak truth , they are inseparable . Faith may be said to love , and Hope to believe , and Charity to hope . For he that doth truly believe , doth love ; and he that doth truly hope , doth believe ; and he that loveth , doth hope : and yet neither is Faith Hope , nor Hope Charity . The abstract doth here stand for the concrete , Charity for the Christian man indued with charity . And the sense is , Charity is the sourse , the original , the immediate cause of Hope , that which alone produceth it . In subjecto , in supposito , in the same subject , in the same person two virtues may meet which notwithstanding in themselves are most distinct .

Besides , in this union of Virtues there is observable 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a kind of communication of idiomes . As it is true to say of Christ , that he who is God is Man , and he who is Man is God , but blasphemy to say that his Deity is Humanity , or his Humanity Deity ; so he errs not who affirms aut sperantem credere , aut amantem sperare , that he who hopes believes , or that he who loves hopes , but he were strangely deceived who should say that either Hope is Faith , or Faith is Charity .

Certainly when our Apostle says that Charity hopeth , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he commits no soloecisme , he speaks no absurdity , nothing which becomes not an Apostle . The most fearful and horrid Soloecisme is in our life and conversation , when we hope in God whom we do not love , and when we expect a reward from him who deserve a stripe . Sperare in Deum propter meipsum , & non amare Deum propter seipsum , To hope in God for my own good and for my self , and not to love him for himself is a dangerous mistake . To divide and separate Hope from Love is as bad as to separate Love from Faith . The Apostle in the next verse tells us that Charity 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 never falleth away . He implyes a falling away of Faith and Hope in the last verse of the former Chapter , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Now , saith he , here in this world , abide Faith , Hope , and Charity , so knit and united and coupled that no divorce shall make a separation . If the hand of Charity wither , my Hope is dead . If I reach not forth drink to the thirsty , and meat to the hungry , and garments to the naked ; if I be so palsie-strucken that I cannot give a cup of cold water , my Hope is sick and feeble and languishing , spes informis , a Hope without shape or form , as withered and hanging down as my Charity , as palsie-strucken as she , not able to reach to a reward , or lay hold on a blessing .

Now we cannot in strictness attribute Hope to the Saints departed ; whose Charity notwithstanding is now perfected . For what should they hope for ? Heaven ? They already reign there . The robe of glory ? They have put it on . The penny ? They have received it . He who was their hope , is now their joy and crown . They are extra statum merendi aut demerendi ; They can neither merit nor offend . They are in termino quiescentiae , in that rest which remains to the Saints of God . That which is perfect is come , and that which was in part is taken away . Those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the ancient Church , their Prayers and Panegyricks and Oblations for the dead did rather testifie their own hope then perswade theirs . Expect they did the full complement of their bliss and beatitude , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , dancing and triumphing before him who taught them to conquer . And being crown'd with victory , what should they hope for ? Spes , quasi pes animae , saith Isidore ; Hope is the foot of the soul . And to move the foot , this progressive motion , this striving forward , belongs to him who is going on his way . Spes absentis est we hope for that we see not : the Saints rest in God . Spes itinerantis est ; Hope is my companion in my journey : at my journeys end Hope leaves me . Where there is Hope , there is motion , and with that motion she ends . In the Saints departed there is Charity , but Hope there is not . And indeed the Charity the Apostle here speaks of is not charit as patriae , but viae . This Charity that hath Hope to wait on her , this expecting Charity , is Charity that hath a hand to give , and a body to suffer , and a tongue to speak ; is the Charity of him who can bestow his goods on the poor , and give his body to be burned , v. 3. is proper to him who walks and rejoyceth and labours in hope , as the Apostle speaketh . Well then , we may settle it as an undenyable conclusion , that Charity may be without Hope ; but , in the next place , it is as true , that Hope cannot be without Charity . In heaven there is no room for Hope , where notwithstanding Charity is ; nor shall there be in hell , where Charity is not ; Infinite joy there , infinite horror here . No addition to that which is infinite , no succession to Aeternity . Here our Arithmetick faileth us : we cannot add one cubit or inch to infinitude ; we cannot multiply Aeternity , nor add one day to Immortality : and can we hope ? The blessed Saints departed rest in God , who is the end of their Hope , do not hope : The Devils and damned reprobates hate God , and cannot hope , non ostiolum spei , not the least wicket , not a crany of Hope is left to them . Behold , the bridegroom is come , and is entred , and the door is shut . Origen , whom Matth. 25. some have placed with a picklock in his hand to open these everlasting doors , and after the revolution of some thousands of years to empty hell , and break the chains of everlasting darkness , hath this censure in Photius , to have delivered 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , many absurd positions and full of impiety . If Charity could be found in hell , I would perhaps look for hope there . But to place Hope there without Charity , is to turn darkness into light , Judas into Peter , Satan into an Angel of light , and Hell it self into Paradise . But I mistake the Father . For the Cardinal will tell us he meant not Hell , but Purgatory , where there is perfect Charity , as intentively hot as the fire there . What ? Charity there , and perfect ? We inferr then , No Hope there . For perfect Love , as it casteth out Fear , so it casteth out Hope too ; Which ebbs and flows , increaseth and decreaseth , waxeth and waneth with Charity , and when it either fails , or hath its perfection , it endeth . We sow in hope ; but when the harvest , the time of gathering and separation comes , Hope vanisheth . For my Charity raises my Hope by the same degrees she receives . But in culmine virtutis she swalloweth it up in victory . On the hills there is salvation , but in the bottome , in the valley of death there is omnimoda desolatio , a strange kind of desolation , not only of the Soul , but of all her comforts , even that last comfort , Hope . She is dead , say they in the Gospel ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Why troublest thou the master any further ?

We find , you see , this Hope neither in heaven , nor in hell : Neither in Abrahams bosom ; there Lazarus is so sure that he may not carry a drop of water to cool a flaming tongue ; nor in the place of torments ; Dives's care , we read , is not for himself , but his brethren . In Hell there is no fire but that sulfureous tormenting fire ; and in Heaven the fire of Charity is in intensis gradibus , clear , and bright , and resined , like the elementary fire , pure and invisible , wheeling and rowling about in an eternal gyre and circle . We must then descend unto earth ; where Charity is visible , where this fire , like to the fire there , is of a grosser and more sensible temper , and , with that too , flameth upward , till it be refined and exalted to a caelestial heat , till its motion be heightned into perfection , and with it our Hope turned into possession .

By this fire we must sit down , nay , we must carry these coals in our bosome , if we will spem accendere , kindle Hope . If this fire be extinguisht , if this heat perish , my Hope will either freeze and congeal and petrifie into a stubborn Despair , or else by a kind of Antiperistasis , being encompassed by excess of cold , beaten upon by the violence of a contrary quality , it will break forth into an unruly flame , and raise it self to a sawcy Presumption . But here it is , and here we find it , even spem in charitate , Hope in Charity . For in amore haec insunt omnia , In Love are all these things which with the eye of Hope we look upon , or with the hand of Hope we lay hold on . First , the Object is the same . For Love is an affection joyning and uniting us to God , Love could not walk in that circle of blessings , both spiritual and temporal , if God were not in the midst . Draw what lines you please ; propose either Competencie of means , or Quiet of Conscience , or the Joys of Heaven , Hope will faint and languish if God be not the center wherein these lines meet . Secondly , the character and mark whereby we may know them both is the same . Love is bold . We commonly say , We will build upon a friend . Put what objections and what scruples you please , of Inopportunity , Inconveniency , Improbability , that he cannot now , that he wants leasure and a convenient time to do me good , Love answers all : And so doth Hope : Place Tribulation , Persecution , Death it self in the way , yet she presseth forward . Though he kill me , yet will I trust in him , saith Job . Thirdly , Love is jealous ; it carrieth and conveyeth the soul to the object not enjoyed . Ubi amor , ibi animus ; Where my love is , there is my mind ; Where my treasure is , there is my soul . Ubi sum , ibi non sum , saith the old Lover in Plautus ; where I am not , there I am ; and where I am , there I am not . I am sure , ubi spes , ibi est animus ; Where my Hope is , there my Soul is ; my Understanding , to apprehend it ; my Care , to procure it . Spe jam sumus in caelo . We aim at heaven ; and Hope puts us there already . And this earnest inclination to the object begets a Jealousie . To Love a glance is a frown , and a frown anger , and anger death ; and yet it is Love still : And Hope hath these abatements , and fits , and shiverings ; and yet it is Hope still . Lastly , Love is querulous and full of complaints ; Why doth he pursue me ? saith Job : Why dost thou set me as a mark ? And , Why art thou angry with thine inheritance ? saith David . How long , Lord ? how long ? Hopes own dialect . For there is a kind of thirst in Hope , more then that of a chased Hart. Festina Charitas , and festina spes ; Love is on the wing and in haste ; and so is Hope . Spes quae differtur affligit ; Hope knows no affliction but delay . While she is , she is in trouble , in pangs , like a man fastened to a cross , who desires nothing more then to expire . The life of Hope is exspectation : answer that , and Hope is not .

And in this Relation stand Hope and Charity : Like Hippocrates's Twins , they are born and grow up together . Their operations , their postures , their gestures , are not unlike . Sic oculos , sic ille manus . As a well made , and well placed picture looks upon him that looks upon it , so doth my Charity eye my Hope , and my Hope looks back upon my Charity . Nay , my Hope is the picture of my Charity , and my Charity is the lively representation of my Hope . Would you see the pourtraiture , and lively view of my Hope ? then behold my Charity . Would you take the lineaments and proportion of my Charity ? look upon my Hope . Charity is a commentary upon my Hope ; and my Hope is an interpretation of my Charity . To love God , and to hope in God , are terms reciprocal . He that loves him , hopes in him , and he that hopes in him loves him . So that take charitatem in via , Charity upon earth , and charitas sperat , is not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a universal proposition , and the terms are aequalis ambitûs , of equal latitude . Where Hope is , there is Charity ; and where Charity is there is Hope .

Thus the terms naturally stand ; and yet a strange paradox is maintained in the world , That Hope may thrive well enough without the warmth and fomentation of Charity . We deny Hope to men already damned in hell : but candidatis diaboli , to men who are confederate with Hell , who call it unto them both with works and words ; to men who are judged already , and Wisd. 1. 16. whose damnation sleepeth not , but is awake and in agitation , we deny it not : They who treasure up wrath against the day of wrath , who know nothing of Faith , Hope and Charity , but their naked names , a faithless generation , without Love in this world , and quite destitute of Hope , desperate sinners , yet notwithstanding hope . After their rebellion for a reward , after their treason for a crown , after all the injuries and slights and denyals and repulses given to the holy Ghost for his loving and familiar parleys , for his kisses and embraces , post laesum Patrem , after they have renounced their Father which is in heaven , and sold their birthright , they howl after the blessing , and cry out with Esau , Bless me , even me also , my Father .

But this is not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to walk in the right way . This is a most methodical impiety . Insanit spes nostra , Our hope is mad and distracted . Nay , it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an expectation without an hope , a maimed , bruised , lame Hope , spes exspes , a hopeless Hope , a Hope without a foot . Good God! should a Traytor on the Gibbet , now ready to be thrown down and quartered , expect to be honoured with rewards ? Should a Ravilliac look to be made one of the Privy Counsel ? Should Catiline demand a civil garland ? or Cethegus , now to be strangled , ask what triumphant arches and statues are set up to honor him ? Thou son of perdition , dost thou expect salvation ? Thou son of Belial , dost thou hope for a crown ? Thou hast flung a stone at Christ ; and dost thou ask him bread ? Thou hast given him a serpent , thy fraud and deceit , thy hypocrisie , thy windings and turnings in the Religion thou professest ; and dost thou crave a fish ? Canst thou hope to be saved by that Gospel thou despisest , and to be washt with that bloud thou tramplest under thy feet ? Filius non es , & ibis ad patrem ? Thou art no son , and dost thou go to the Father ? Thou hast no Charity , and dost thou nourish Hope ? Indeed some comfort it is to a condemned person , when the Sentence is past , to hope for a reprieve . Errare aliquando in via profuit ; We wander sometimes with delight , and our error pleases us well , because we hope it is not an error . But when that day of revelation and manifestation , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that general day of visitation , shall come , when all things shall be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , anatomized and naked , like a beast for sacrifice , cut down the back , whose very entrails are seen ; When both shall meet , on the offenders part Desperation , and on the Judges Desertion ; cùm judex ostendet suam sententiam , & reus suam conscientiam , when the Judge shall read his sentence , and the Offendor open the book of his conscience ; then shall he who welcomed and entertained Hope , and yet shut Charity out of doors , confess not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his want of method , but also 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his dulness and stupidity . He shall then be too sensible what an absurdity and soloecisme it was to make his Hope his familiar and his domestick , and yet turn the key against Charity . Tuas tibi res habe , from Hope to Charity , is a dangerous form , a bill of divorce and separation of the soul from God . There is no way then but to unite and joyn them together . Let Charity and Hope meet , and then that will follow , Righteousness and Peace , and a myriad of blessings , will kiss each other .

We have now made good this proposition , and shewed in what relation the terms stand . Quod speret , That Charity hopeth , we have already proved . Our next task will be to give an answer to the Quid sperat , and point out to the Object of this Hope . And here we find it to be of very large compass , even 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , all things . And if I may hope all things , then is there nothing excepted , a NON LIGET no where engraven to fright away my Hope . I may yield up my Hope to my Ambition , I may prostitute her to Pleasure , I may sell her to Mammon , I may betray her to Revenge , and lend her to my Malice . Quid non speremus ? What is there that comes not within the compass of this omnia ? What is there we may not hope for ?

But we must here take in that rule in Divinity , Verba non sono sapiunt , sed sensu ; nec auribus audienda , sed mentibus : We must not take the sound of the words , but the sense ; and they are presented rather to our understanding then our ears ! St. Pauls Expedit and Licet must come in , all things which are lawful , all things which are expedient . We must tye our hope to Gods promise , and limit one duly by another , our Hope by our Prayers . What God commands me to pray for , what he hath promised to give , may raise my Hope . Some things there are which are not inter omnia , not to be numbred amongst this ALL. Some things are nullius numeri , as good as nothing ; and my estate may be better'd in being without them . Some things are worse then nothing ; and my estate will be far worse if I have them . Some things are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , indifferent , in their own nature neither good nor evil ; and a naked circumstance , a condition , a bare If , may make it either good or evil to hope for them . Some things there be which are evil 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Basil , simply and in their own nature evil , as Sin , and the Occasions of sin , and the Impunity of sin : and a great sin it is to hope for these . Some things are evil 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which appear so to us , sensible evils , such indeed as we are most sensible of ; Affliction , and Poverty , and Sorrow , and Disgrace ; and these I am so far from hoping for that as I may pray against them . A Libera nos , Domine , is set upon them . At the very naming of them we all cry out , Good Lord deliver us . I fear , I avoid , I run away from these . Spero meliora , I hope for better things .

We will then bound and limit this our Hope , and draw those lines which must fill up the circumference ; And thus they lye . Charity hopeth all things ; First , omnia bona , all Good things . For to wait for the twilight with the Adulterer ; to catch at all opportunities which may be as steps to bring to the pinacle of honor ; to have pervigiles occulos , our eyes still watching upon the prey , is not Hope , but Lust , or Ambition , or Covetousness . Etiam speravit , you know was spoken of Faelix Acts 24. 26. He hoped also that money should be given him of Paul ; and what was this Hope but Covetousness . 2. Bona absentia , future , absent goods ; goods at a distance . For when the object is present , Hope is no more . The Apostle before said that Charity is patient , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , elongat animum , draws in its breath as it were , and stayeth , and defers , and prolongs it self . If we hope , we expect in patience , saith the Apostle Rom. 8. 15. Spes omnes res spissas habet , saith he in the Comedy ; All things to Hope are hard and massive , and must be beat out with the hammer . 3. Ardua , matters of difficulty . For Hope loves to struggle with its object , and sometimes is increased by opposition , and made bolder by being frighted . But if the object be ad manum & parabile , at hand and cheap , my Hope is lazy and asleep ; it moves not , it stirs not . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Hope above hope , Hope against hope , that is Hope indeed . For , as Tertullian , asking the question , Why Christ after his resurrection did not manifest and publish himself to the whole world , and so put it out of all question that he was risen indeed , answers well , That this he did not , ut fides , cui magna merces debetur , non nisi difficultate constaret , That our Faith , which hath the promise of a great reward , might be commended by that difficulty which stood in its way ; So may we say of Hope , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The way of Hope is hard and rugged . She passeth by the pomp of the world , and she treadeth dangerous paths ; If a Serpent be in the way , she feareth not ; if a Flower , some pleasing object , she gazeth not , but presseth on forward ; over Riches and Poverty , over Honor and Disgrace , super culcatum patrem , over all relations and dependencies , and in this habit and attire , ruspata sanguine , as Tertullian speaks , torn and weather-beaten , and in her own gore , she striveth forward to her object . Though I see it not , yet I hope : Though it be in heaven , yet I hope : Though I am in chains , even fetter'd retinaculis spei , with those stays and hinderances of Hope which the World or the Devil cast about me , yet I hope still 4. Lastly , Possibilia ; Good things , though hard to obtain , yet possible . For Charity nihil perperam agit , is not foolish and indiscreet ; It plows not the air , nor sows upon the rocks . What is easie and at hand , cannot raise a Hope ; and what is impossible , overwhelms and swallows it . What is ready to fall into my bosome , I need not hope for : and what I cannot have , nec spes , nec votum est , doth scarce produce a wish , much less beget a hope .

These are the bounds , and these make up the object of my Hope , and as Lines drawn to the Circumference , fill up this OMNIA , this all-things , in the Text. Now , St. Basil's rule is most safe , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Not to remove these bounds , nor alter these everlasting limits . We must not take the Compass , and draw new lines , and put out God , and place Our selves in centro , in the midst . We must not build our Hope upon dust and rubbish , upon our own weak and rotten foundation . But we must keep our Hope close to Charity , which looks upon the right object . For Hope , as Fear , is measured by its object . Fear is a base and graveling , a cowardly passion , if either an Enemy or Disgrace or Danger beget it : But pone Deum , place God there , make him the object of thy Fear , and then that of Synesius is most true , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , To faint and be daunted here doth strengthen us , and our greatest security is to fear . And my Hope is as its object is ; If it be placed on Princes or in any Son of man , it is as frail and mortal as they are , and departs with their breath ; It is chased away with a frown , it is blown out of their nostrils , and perisheth as soon as a thought . If I lay it on my own Strength or Wit or Policy ; alass , I have set up a Paper-wall ; nay , I have built my Fort in the air . And you need not plant a Canon against it to make a battery ; it will down of it self , and overthrow and ruin the builder , and leave a mark , an ECCE , upon him , Behold , the man that made the arm of flesh his strength , and put his confidence in himself ! But make God its object , and Hope is a rock , a castle , an impregnable cittadel , canon-proof , as we say ; no assault , no battery shall force it . For the Lord , saith the Prophet Nahum , is good , a strong hold in the day of trouble ; and he knoweth them that trust in him .

And indeed Charity keeps Hope where God would have it placed , at its right object . She is a perfect methodist . She guides hope , and leads her on orderly , draws every line to its true proper center ; they turn it from the creature , and levels it on God . The order of Charity is the order of Unity . The Devil is a great disturber , the author of confusion . Whereas God hath placed Contempt upon the World , Love upon Goodness , and Shame upon Sin , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Devil hath inverted this order , saith Chrysostome , and hath placed Shame upon Repentance , and Security upon Sin ; Distrust upon Gods Providence , and Hope upon the World ; He hath placed Hope upon Fear , and Fear upon Hope , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the most fearful and terrible things in the world , if we rightly understood them , those we hope for ; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the most desirable , the most conducible to our eternal happiness , those we fear . Now the office and work of Charity is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , even an act of Justice , to make every wheel move in its own place , to give every action , every affection , its proper end and work , to place my Hatred on the World , my Love on God ; my Anger on Sin , my Delight on Goodness ; my Fear on God , and my Hope on God . Put CHARITAS to SPERAT , joyn Charity and Hope , and OMNIA , all things , will follow : we cannot hope amiss . Thus doth Charity edifie , even build us up as high as heaven ; and Hope being the supporter , and bringing in with it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , all things , doth establish and strengthen the building .

But , in the last place , as we build up our selves , so must we edifie others also in our most holy faith : and as we hope for all things for our selves , so must we reserve a Hope for those also who are tied in the same link and bond of Love . When we see a house tottering , we must not make our censure a wind to blow it down , but hope that even a broken beam , a loose rafter , nay the very rubbage it self , may in time be made a sound part of the building . When I see my brother fall , I must lend him my Hand to help him up . If my Hand will not help him , I must lend him my Pity and Compassion and Prayer . And when all the rest fail , I must give him my Hope . Charity hath an eye abroad as well as at home ; nor doth she nurse up Hope for her self alone , but makes it as catholick as the Church , nay , as the World . Aegrotis dum anima est , spes esse dicitur , saith Tully ; Hope lasteth as long as life lasteth , nor can it expire but with the soul : And how desperately soever we see our brother plunged in sin , yet we must hope well , that his sickness is not unto death . How did the Church of Christ frown upon the Novatians , who denyed hope of pardon to those who fell away in time of persecution . St. Cyprian calls them pietatis paternae adversarios , enemies to the grace of God . Isidore tells them , they were proud and foolish boasters ; and Nazianzene , that their religion was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , more in their tongue then in their heart . They would be stiled 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the purest Christians , craftily making , as he after observes , the elegancy and beauty of that name a bait to catch the ignorant and unwary multitude . This spiritual pride , saith the Schools , and contempt of our brother springeth from that conceit , that self-flattery we nourish in our breasts , that we have stood strong against the violence of temptations . And then with us he is scare a Christian who is tempted . And so having no leasure to bring our own hypocrisie to the balance , we begin to look bigg and call it Zeal that swells us . We walk upon the pavement of heaven , and from thence behold our poor brother on the ground : and then how vile doth he seem in our eyes , a woman , a wretch , a son of perdition ! Then we can thunder , when God is silent ; we snatch the sword out of his hand , and latch it in his side who doth but shrink at an invasion : Whereas those Christians whom a frequent visitation of their own hearts hath taught to make a virtuous use of their brothers sin , would not only after a fainting , but after a fall ; not only after a fall , but after a bruise ; not only after seven falls , but after seventy times seven falls , at least hope well , reach out the hand of mercy to him , and rather shew him comfort in the Creed than denounce judgment against him out of the Decalogue . This is truly to be followers of him who who will not break a bruised reed . Greatness of autority may make us to be feared , and depth of learning to be admired ; abundance of wealth or honor may gain us a knee or an hat : but that which makes one man a God unto another is Charity ; which , when she hath spent the whole box , doth yet annoint her brother with her Hope , and where she cannot help , yet will hope the best . Therefore Tertullian tells us that anciently among the Heathen the professors of Christianity were called not Christiani , but Chrestiani , from a word signifying sweetness and meekness and benignity of disposition . I cannot but conceive that this was the reason why the ancients , many of them , conversed even with the heathen themselves . No doubt they did it out of hope of their recovery . We find in our Books that they held a friendly intercourse of Epistles ; St. Basil with Libanius the Sophister , Nazianzene and Augustine with others . And Antiquity hath either left us true or forged us false Epistles between St. Paul himself and Seneca the Philosopher , as we find them copied out by Sixtus Senensis .

And indeed why should we not hope well of every man , suppose he were a Judas , and by our Christian industry strive to recover his drooping soul , and to revive the flame of Charity in his breast , which may warm him into a temperate Hope ? How know we but that the word of God through our ministery may of this stone raise up a child unto Abraham ? Debilem facito manu , debilem pede : vita dum superest , bene est , as Maecenas sometimes basely spake in another case : But let our weak brother be lame hand and foot , sick in head and heart , yet as long as there is life in him , our Charity must visit him , and our Hope makes us active to his recovery : Otherwise , like unskilfull Physicians , we shall suffer him to dye under our hands , and then pretend his Disease was incurable . The Priest and the Levite , who saw the man wounded on the way , and passed by on the other side , are Luke 10. not proposed as paterns of our imitation , but the Samaritane who came near to the place , and came and looked on him , and no doubt hoped well : for he bound up his wounds , and poured in wine and oyl ; and brought him to an Inn , and made provision for him . The reason why we reach not out the hand of help unto others is , because we hope well of none but our selves . Nay , we make it a great part of our Christian zeal , to challenge an assurance to our selves , and to entitle our brother to despair ; and so we forfeit our Hope for want of Charity . But our Apostle here brings in Charity in another dress , hoping all things of all men . And indeed this is a kind of priviledge that Charity hath in respect of Faith . To Faith the number of the Elect appears but small ; but to Charity the Church is large and copious . Faith makes up a Church as Gideon did his army , who took not up all he met , but out of a many thousands elected a band of three hundred and no more : But Charity sees not any of that great company which she will dismiss , but thinks that all may fight and conquer . You will say perhaps that this is an error of my Charity . I confess it is , but it is a very necessary error . For it is my Charity thus to erre ; and it is not a lye , but a virtue in me , in my brothers case to hope for that good which he shall never enjoy . The holy mistakes of Charity shall never be imputed , nor be numbred amongst my sins of ignorance . Nay , he that errs not thus , he that hopes not the best he can of all he sees , wanteth something , and comes yet short of a good Christian . Christianum est errare ; It is the part of every Christian thus to erre . And there is good reason for it : For we see not where nor how the grace of God may work . How sinful soever a man be , yet if he come behind , and but touch the hemn of Christs garment , the grace of God may cure him . Nay , were he dead in sin , who knows what God may do ? Forsitan & mihi in sepulcro scelerum jacenti dicat , Hieronyme , veni foras , saith St. Hierome ; Peradventure God may call unto him lying yet stinking in his sin , as in a grave , Lazarus , come forth . The Proverb in nature is , Ex quolibet ligno non fit Mercurius , Every crooked piece of timber is not fit to make a God of . For Nature cannot make what she pleaseth of what she list . But God finds no subject unfit for his skill : but out of the most rotten and crooked piece can make an image and erect a statue of himself . And therefore Charity , because she may , nay because she must , be deceived , is at SPERAT in the thickest cloud , and hopes for day-break in the darkest and longest night . Our Apostle tells us , SPERAT OMNIA , she hopeth all things ; she friendly extends and communicates her Hope to every man .

For conclusion , and to apply all ; Let us lay hold on Charity , and then Hope will follow ; for they are linked together . But if we let Charity loose , Hope will take wing , and leave us nothing but a false perswasion , which Hypocrites call by that name , when it is nothing like it , nothing but a meer thought . And a thought will not give leggs to the lame , nor crown a beggar , nor write his name in the Book of Life who hath made himself to every good work reprobate . It is not a feeble thought , it is an active Charity , that is the foundation of Hope . Run to and fro through Jerusalem , go about the streets thereof , muster up together all that name the Lord Jesus , and you shall find every man is full of Hope ; and then you may conclude that every man is charitable . Whatsoever the premisses be , whatsoever the actions of our life be , most men make this the conclusion , and dye in hope , assure themselves of happiness , by no better experience then that which Flesh and Bloud and the Love of our selves are ready to bring in . They fill themselves with Hope , when they are full of nothing but Malice and Envy and Uncleanness ; of which we are told , that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdome of heaven . And what Hope , what assurance is this ? An assurance without a warrant ; an Hope which only we our selves have subscribed to with hands full of bloud ; a Hope which is no hope , but a cheat , a delusion , presenting us nothing but heaven , when we are condemned already . It is true that Hope is a fair tye and pledge of what we shall enjoy hereafter , but it is not then the work of the Phansie , but of the Heart ; to be wrought out with fear and trembling , and not to be taken up as a thing granted , as the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , we cannot set up a pillar of Hope where there is no basis , no foundation for it , but a weak and feeble thought . I know it is put up by some as a question , Whether we ought to be assured of our salvation ; but it is but an impertinent question , and not well put up . For will any man ask Whether we ought to be in health , and not rather , Whether we ought to feed on wholsome meats , and keep a temperate diet ? Beloved , let us have Charity , and Hope will as certainly follow and as naturally as Growth and Health do a moderate diet . Otherwise to hope is a sin , it is not Hope , but Presumption . For what Hope is that which looks towards Liberty , and leaves us in chains ? that which promiseth life , when we are children appointed to dye ? Let us then possess our hearts with Charity , and Hope will soon enter in ; for they love to dwell and breathe together . But it will not enter a froward and perverse heart ; for that will not receive it : nor the heart of a Nabal ; for that is stone , and will beat it back : nor a heart that is fat as grease ; for it slips through it : nor a Pharisee's heart ; for that is hollow and doth nothing but sound ; every thought is a knell , and proclaimeth the fall of some in Israel . None have less hope of others then they who presume for themselves . None condemn more to hell then they whose feet are swift to shed bloud , and who delight in those wayes which lead unto death . Their very mercies are cruelty . To put on the New man with them is to put off all bowels . Every word they speak is clothed with Death . And if Malice and Deceit and Uncharitableness lead not thither , I may be bold to say , There is no Hell at all . They who make God as cruel as themselves , do destiny men to destruction only because he will , and to build up men on purpose to ruin them for ever , that make the Wickedness of men depend on the antecedent will of God absolutely and irresistibly efficacious ; ( They are their own words ) that say that God doth work all things in all men , even in the reprobate ; that the Induration and Incredulity of men is from the Praedestination of God , as the effect from the cause ; that God calls men to salvation who are condemn'd already ; that though the elect ( which are themselves ) fall into adultery , murder , treason , and other crying sins , yet they fall not from grace , but still remain men after Gods own heart , when they do the works of their father the Devil . These are they whose words are as sharp swords to cut off their brethren from the land of the living . These men breathe forth nothing but hailstones and coals of fire , but death and destruction . These make a bridge for themselves to Happiness , but pluck it up to their brethren . These are in heaven already , and shut it up , that none else may enter . Certainly a new way to heaven , never yet discovered by the King of Heaven , who hath put the keys into the hand of Charity , who may boldly enter her self , and who also is very willing to let in others ; who brings forth a Hope , a Hope for our selves , and a Hope for others . Whoso makes haste to perfection , is very willing to forward others in the way : he calls upon them , he waits on them , he expects when they will move forwards ; and though they move not , yet he hopes still . Charity , which brought down Christ from heaven , lifts us up unto that holy place ; and we are never carried with more delight , then when we go with most company , there to joyn with the quire of Angels , and to sing praises to the God of Love for evermore . We love God , because he loved us first ; and for his loves sake we love every man . And now what is our Hope , but that together with others we may have our perfect consummation and bliss both in body and soul , in his eternal and everlasting glory ?

The Ninth SERMON . PSALM LI. 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation .

IN these words we have 1. an Act , Restore ; 2. an Agent , God , Restore thou ; 3. the Person suing , David , unto me ; 4. the blessing sued for , the joy of God's salvation : Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation . David ( as the Title sheweth us ) being awakened by Nathan out of the slumber wherein he had long layn after his foul fact with Bathsheba , penned this Psalm , and published it ; a truly Penitential Psalm , full of humble and hearty acknowledgments of sin , and of earnest petitions for mercy and for assurance of God's favour . His great fall had so bruised him that he felt no ease or comfort , all was discomposed and out of tune , his soul cast down and disquieted within him , his heart broken , his spirit wounded . And a wounded spirit who can bear ? Hence it is that he prayeth with such vehemence Prov. 18. 14. and fervencie that God would be pleased in great merey to blot out all his transgressions , and to wash and cleanse him from his sins and iniquities ; that he would not cast him away from his presence , nor take his holy spirit from him ; and , here in my Text , that he would restore unto him the joy of his salvation . But however these last expressions may seem to be the breathings of a disconsolate spirit , and of one even out of hope , yet we must not think that this man after God's own heart , this great Saint ; though grievously fallen , was quite fallen from grace , and that his faith had now utterly failed and was extinguished . No ; Faith can never be lost . Or rather , if it be lost , it never was true Faith ; as St. Hierome speaketh of Charity .

Tell me not of Saul's annointing , of Judas's Apostleship , of Balaam's prophetick spirit : Tell me not of those who are in the Church , but not of the Church ; who , like the Pharisees , have the Law written on their freinges , Religion on the outside , when the Devil is in their heart . For Judas was but a traytor lurking under the title of a Disciple . Sub alterius habitu alteri militavit : He wore Christs livery , but was the Devils servant . Saul was amongst the Prophets , but never received a Prophets reward . And Balaam blessed the people from God , but he died not the death of the righteous . There may be some gifts of the Spirit where the Spirit never truly was . There may be a beam of grace , a shew of godliness , where the power thereof is denyed . And Faith in him may seem to be dead where it never had true life or being . So Nazianzene speaking of those who forsook the colours under which they had formerly fought , says they were 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , men which negligently and for fashions sake handled matters of Religion ; having an Hosanna in their mouth when a Crucifige was in their heart ; like Meteors , which either being drawn up by the heat of the Sun , or lifted up by some puff of wind into the air , there for a while they remain , and draw mens eyes to behold them , till at last they go out , and infect it : But true Faith is like the Sun , which is not therefore not at all because a cloud hath overcast it : or like the Moon , it waxeth and waneth , but still receives some light from the Sun . The Papists and Arminians in this point , as Augustine spake of Hereticks of the same stamp , should have rather our prayers then our dispute , and will sooner be recalled by our devotion then yield to the strength of our reason . But if there be any infant in religion , which is not yet grown up to this truth , whose earthly thoughts cannot reach to the height of this heavenly mystery , if he will not believe God in the book of his Words , he may see and read a resemblance of it in the book of his Works . Come , Christian ; look upon the Tree . In the winter it is stripped of its fruit and leaves , nipped by the frost , covered with snow , so that it seems to be withered and dead , and fit only to be cast into the fire . Say then ; May not Faith be where Sin and the filth of the Flesh hath oppressed it ? Can a winter of affliction dead it ? Or shall we think that man whose Works alwaies speak not his Faith , whose light sometimes shines dimly before men , to be in the shadow of death , and only fit fuel for hell-fire ? No : this were to wrong our Charity as well as our Faith , to make the way to hell broader then it is , to enlarge the kingdome of Satan , to undervalue the gift of Grace , to mistrust the promise of God , and to make him a liar like unto our selves . What if we be weak and feeble ? What if the arm of flesh cannot uphold us ? Yet God directeth us in our paths ; and is as tender-hearted to us as a nurse to her child when she teacheth it to go , sometimes leading and guiding us by his mercy , sometimes catching if we slip , and , if we fall , hastily pulling us up again , and snatching us to his embraces .

Hear this , and leap for joy , you who are members of Christs mystical body . You may fall , but you shall rise again . Your names are written in the Book of Life ; and neither the malice nor the policy of Satan can blot them out . God hath made a league with you ; and you may be sure he will be as good as his word . He hath married himself to you for ever ; and then you need not fear a divorce . He hath written his law in the midst of your heart ; and the Devil shall never rase it out . He hath put his fear into you , and such , and so great a fear , as St. Augustine speaks , that you shall alwaies adhere unto him , that shall make you fly Sin as a Serpent ; and , if it chance to bite and sting you , shall make you look up to that brasen Serpent lifted up , and you shall be healed . If you be tempted , he will give the issue : Only thou must so be confident that you presume not ; 1 Cor. 10. so fear , that you despair not . Faith and Fear together make a blessed mixture ; Fear being as the lungs , and Faith as the heart , which will get an heat , and over-heat , as one speaketh , if by Fear , as by cool air , it be not tempered . If then Faith uphold thy Fear , and Fear temper thy Faith , though thou take many a fall by the way , yet at last thou shalt come to thy journeys end . Though the Devil shake thy Faith , yet God will protect it : Though he for a while steal away this precious Jewel , the joy of thy salvation , yet God will restore it . Which is my second part , the Person whose act it is ; Restore thou .

It is not the tongue of an Angel can comfort David . The Prophet might awake him , but raise him up he could not . Nathans Parable had been but as a Proverb of the dust , and his Thou art the man had sooner forced a frown then a tear from a King , had not Gods Spirit fitted his heart , had not the holy Ghost been the Interpreter . For it is not so with the Heart as it is with the Eye . The Eye indeed cannot make light nor colours , yet it can open it self , and receive them , but the Heart neither can produce this Joy , neither can it open it self to receive it : But God must pulsare , & aperire ; knock , and open ; take away the bars , and open the doors of it , and purge and cleanse it . He must write in it the forgiveness of sins , and shine upon it with the light of his countenance , or else the weight of Sin will still oppress it . This Joy ariseth out of the forgiveness of our sins : Now such is the nature of Sin , that though actus transit , yet reatus manet , as Lombard speaks . Sin no longer is , then it is a committing ; but the guilt of Sin still remains ; like a blazing star , which , though it self be extinct , yet leaves its infection behind it . For to rise from sin is not only to cease from the act of sinning , but to repair our former estate ; not only to be rid of the disease , but to enjoy our former health . Now in sin , as Aquinas saith , there are two things , peccati macula , and poenae reatus ; the Blot and Stain of sin , which doth darken the lustre of Grace . And we , who made this stain , can blot it out again . It is lost labour to wash our selves . Can we Leopards lick out our own spots ? Can we purge our selves with hyssope , and be clean ? Can we wash our black and polluted souls , and make them whiter than snow ? And for the Guilt and Punishment due to sin , we all stand quaking at God's Tribunal , we look towards the mercy-seat : and if God extreamly mark what is done amiss , whose joynts of his loins are not loosed ? whose knees smite not one against another ? who is there able to abide it ? God is our Judge , and he alone must quit us . He is offended , and he must forgive us . Come , and let us return unto him : for he hath suffered us to be spoiled , and he will heal us ; to be wounded , and he will bind us up . After two dayes he will revive us , and the third he will raise us up . He is our Creditour , and hath taught us to pray unto him to forgive us our debts . Every sin properly is against him ; either immediately , when we sin against the first Table ; or mediately , when we sin against the second , when we strike God through our neighbour's side , and so by breaking the Law wrong the Law-giver . And therefore he only can forgive our sins , against whom our sins are most properly committed . Nathan indeed pronounced Davids pardon , Deus transtulit peccatum , and so may be said to remit his sin ministerialiter , by way of office and ministery ; but God did it autoritativè , by way of power , right and autority . Nathan had his commission from God : and if comfort had not shined from thence , David had still lain in sorrow , and as yet remained in the dust of Death . Ten moneths were now passed since his sin was committed , and yet we read of no compunction . He lay stupefied in sin , and was like a man sleeping in the midst of his enemies . Oh then whose heart can conceive those thoughts which possessed him when he awaked ? His river of tears could not now express his grief . He saw God , who was wont to guide him in his paths and direct him in his wayes , now withdrawing himself , hiding his face from him , and leaving him under the burden of his sin . And high time it was to call him back again , to seek him by importunity of prayer ; to send after him sighs and groans ; to sow in tears , that he might reap in joy .

Look now upon David , whosoever thou art that carriest Man and Frailty about thee . Behold him lying on the ground , see him pressed down with the burden of his sin ; and then think his case thine . Think the time may come when thou mayest have no feeling of Christ at all , and thy poor soul may be as a man desolate in the night , without comfort ; that it may be beaten down to the dust , and thy belly cleave unto the earth . Tell me , whom then wilt thou fly unto for succour ? what balme wilt thou search out to refresh thee ? The Pope may be liberal , and open his treasuries , and let fly an Indulgence : But it is not a Pardon from him can help thee . Alass ! miserable comfort is this . A merry tale well told is far better . Yet it may be thou hopest to make the law of Unrighteousness thy strength , to drown thy sorrows in a cup of wine ; to leave them behind thee , and lose them amongst merry company . In this thou dost but like the Dog , break the chain , and draw a great part of it after thee : O then , if thou fall with David , with David trust in the Lord . What if his Jealousie burn like fire ? let thy tears quench it . Let thy prayers like pillars of smoke mount upwards , and pierce the clouds , and offer an holy violence to God . Then when Hope is almost changed into Despair , thou shalt find Christ , and feel him coming again ; then Faith shall revive , and lay faster hold on him ; then shall the joy of thy salvation be restored . And when thy soul is heavy , and thy heart is disquieted , and thy bowels vexed within thee , then will he look upon thy misery , and cause his face to shine ; and the peace of conscience , like a sweet sleep , shall fall upon thee .

I come now , in the third place , to speak of the Person , King David : Restore to me . And who can look upon him but thorough tears : Who can behold him , and not look down unto his own steps ? Whose pride can lift him up so high as to make him think the Devil cannot reach him , and pull him down ? Or is not David sent to us as Nathan was to him , to tell us by his example that , unless God put under his hand , he that stands surest may take a fall , and that he who thinks himself like mount Sion may be moved ? Surely if there be such Perfectionists , such proud Pharisees , that dare fling a stone at an adultress , and proclaim themselves without sin ; if there be any whose Purity dare stand out with God , and answer him more then for one of a thousand ; they might well take leave to demand that priviledge which that cursed Sect in Saxony bragged of , of whom Sleidan reporteth : Who boasted that they had private conference with God , and a command from him to kill all the wicked of the earth , and so to make a new world , whose purity should plead for it self , and not need the help of a Mediatour . But these men were possessed with more then a Novation spirit , and in their adventure to hell out-bid the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Which the manners of many turbulent spirits in our Church have long since Englished ; Whose Religion , as Nazianzene speaketh , was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , whose piety was boasting , whose purity was impure ; We craftily made , as he after observes , the elegancy of the name a bait to catch the ignorant and unwary multitude . Cursed and cruel men , who have not so much pity in them as the Levite in the Gospel ! He saw the man wounded , vouchsafed him a look , and then passed by : These by a witty and new kind of cruelty , as Cyprian calls it , till him that is already wounded , take away even the hope of recovery , and oppose the thunder of an excommunication even to the least noise of sin , refusing the penitency and contrition of their brother , and denying the mercy of their Father which is in heaven ; justly deserving a hell , because they threaten it ; and the surest heirs of damnation , because they make all others so . But what ? is this the state of Mankind , that we must either be viler then the worms of the earth , only fuel for hell-fire , or else stand out with God , and contend for purity with the Most High ? No , foolish Sectary , we have better learned Christ . Each Christian , if he look upon David , will quickly see upon what ground he stands ; and that if every fall after Baptism were as far as hell , Gods promise would be suspected , and Repentance , which is offered to the greatest sinner , would be proposed to mock , not to comfort us ; like a staff held out to look on , not to help us ; or like a mess of meat upon a dead mans grave , for which we should be never awhit the better . We behold the Saints throwing down their crowns before the Throne , and can we either , with the Anabaptist , think we can attain to a perfect Rev. 4. degree of regeneration , or , with the supererogating Papist , rob God of his honor , pull heaven unto us , and make it not Gods gift but our own conquest ? What suckling in Religion knows not to distinguish between perfection of Parts and perfection of Degrees ? We know our Sanctification is universal , not total ; in every part , but in part . Our Understanding is enlightned , yet there remains some darkness ; our Will rectified , yet some perversness ; our Affections ordered and subdued , yet prone to disobedience ; our whole man sanctified , but not wholly . We propose to our selves not this or that , but every commandment , to observe . We compose and order our life to the rule , and shun whatsoever is repugnant to it ; but we do but begin , not finish . We make Perfection our prayer , not our boast ; and expect it not here , but in heaven . One while we have need of the cords of love to lead us , another while of the thunderbolts of Gods judgments to terrifie us : One while the thought of hell must beat us from sin , another while the love of heaven must lead us in the paths of righteousness : Now his promises , now his threatnings must excite us . Let Fulgentius conclude this point ; Perfecti sumus spe futurae glorificationis , imperfectionere corruptionis : It is in his Book ad Monimum : We are perfect in respect of the hope of future Glory ; imperfect , if we consider this body of death , this burden of corruption : perfect in expectation of the reward , the crown of glory ; imperfect , as we are in the battel , in the race , fighting and running to obtain this Crown . And this was St. Pauls Perfection , Let as many as be perfect , that is , in some degree , and Phil. 3. 15. in respect of others . For v. 12. he accounts not himself to have obtained , or to be already perfect . And v. 13. he professeth , Brethren , I account not my self that I have attained : one thing I do ; I forget that which is behind , and endeavour my self to that which is before . Now then let not Frailty and Infirmity dispute with its Creator . He that once was taken up into the third heaven , had so much earth about him as to feel the combat between the Flesh and the Spirit . He that was a chosen vessel had some cracks in him , and had fallen to pieces , and lost that heavenly treasure , had not God preserved it . Job's answer best fits a Christian's mouth , Behold , I am vile : what shall I answer thee ? Job 40. 4. I will lay my hand upon my mouth . Yet look up too . Let not Desperation keep thee down ; but let the power of godly Sorrow lift thee up again . Know that to confess thy sin and to repent , is as it were to make the Angels a banquet , and to send more joy to heaven . Let Repentance reconcile thee with God : then though the Devil strive to cover thee over in the grave of sin , yet thou shalt come forth : though thy bones be broken , yet they shall rejoyce ; and to thee now , as to David then , the joy of thy salvation shall be restored ; The last part , the Object , Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation .

Davids request is for Peace of conscience , the joy of Gods salvation ; that which St. Paul calls joy in the holy Ghost . The Septuagint render it by the Rom. 14. 17. Greek word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which signifies more then joy , even exultation , and rejoycing , and triumphing for joy ; like that of the Church Psal. 126. When the Lord brought again the captivity of Sion , we were like them that dream . Then was our mouth filled with laughter , and our tongue with joy . It is the highest degree , almost excess and surfet , of Joy . God may let me feel it , but express it I never can . Tell me , Christian , ( or indeed canst thou tell me ? ) what joy thou conceivest at this spiritual banquet . Doth doubt arise within thee because Christ is not present ? See , here he hath left a pledge and pawn behind him , his blessed Sacrament ; Take , eat ; this is his body : Thou shalt never hunger . Take , drink ; this is his bloud : Thou shalt never thirst . Dost thou believe ? Believe then , he is nearer to thee in these outward elements then the Papists would make him ; beyond the fiction of Transubstantiation . When the Priest delivers to thee the sanctified Bread , let thy meditation lead thy Saviour from his Cradle to his Cross . His whole life was to lead thy captivity captive . And now with the eyes of faith behold him stretcht out upon the Cross , and think thy self unburdened , and that heavy weight laid upon thy Saviours shoulders , and then thou canst not chuse but suppose thou heardst him groan ; It was a heavy burden that fetcht that groan from him . A strange thing ! thy sins , which were not yet committed , pierced him . Yet let not despair take thee . Anon thou shalt hear that triumphant and victorious noise , It is finished ; A voice which rent the vail of the Temple in twain , clove the stones , made the earth to quake , and was able to have changed not that place alone ( to what once it was , if we may believe some Geographers ) but the whole world into a Paradise . When the Priest offers thee the Cup , think then thou seest Christ bleeding , and pouring out non guttam sed undam sanguinis , not drops but streams of bloud . Think thou seest per vulnera viscera , through his wounded side the bowels of Compassion . And then think thou art partaker of his promise already , and that now thou drinkest with him in his Fathers kingdome . Tell me now : Where art thou ? Is not this to be rapt into the third heaven ; Now thou canst call God Father ; now thou art sure of thy perseverance ; now thou canst think of hell without fear and horror . Thou canst make thy bed of sickness look sorrowful only to thy friends : and , whilst they stand weeping and howling by thy bed side ; thou shalt have no other cause of lamentation but that they lament thee . And then in the midst of shreeks and outcryes , when with trembling hands they close up thy eyes as if they close up their hopes , thy soul shall pass away , and settle it self in Abrahams bosome . If this be not joy indeed , and exultation and triumphing for joy , if this be not above an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , tell me , What Paradise shall we search for it ? where shall we find it ? When my cogitations settle upon this blessed object , methinks I see a Christian in his white and triumphant robes , walking upon the pavement of heaven , laughing at and scorning the vanities of the world , looking upon them as an aged man would on childrens toyes , beginning , with Nazianzene , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to be a fellow-citizen with the Angels , and , with Cyprian , miserere saeculi ; to look down upon the world with pity and compassion ; being even now a type of a glorified Saint , and the resemblance of an Angel . I could loose my self in this Paradise ; I could build a Tabernacle upon this Mount Tabor : for even but to speak of it is delight . My Conclusion shall be in Prayer .

O thou who art the Father of this joy , and God of all consolation , whose kingdome consists not in meats and drinks , but in joy unspeakable , even the joy of the holy Ghost ; prevent us with thy mercy , that we fall not . But if , with David , we fall , in mercy restore us . Seal unto us the forgiveness of our sins , and fill our hearts with this joy !

The Tenth SERMON . 2 COR. VI. 1. We then as workers together with him , [ or as helpers ] beseech you also , that you receive not the grace of God in vain .

WE begin as the Church beginneth . And we cannot begin better , nor chuse a more exact method then that we find in domo doctrinae ( as the Chaldee Paraphrase calls the Church , upon the first of the Canticles ) in the house of wisdome and learning . No method to the method of the Church , nor any language so delightful to the child as the language of the Mother . We need say no more . The autority of the Church makes good the choice of my Text. But yet we cannot but observe the wisdome of the Church in fitting the Text to the Time . For as it is one commendation of an Orator apta dicere , to fit his speech to the matter he speaks of , so is it also opportuna dicere , to level and apply it to the time . The Orator will tell us , Non idem signorum concentus procedente ad praelium exercitu , idem receptui carmen , An alarum and a retreat have different notes ; nor is the sound of the Trumpet the same when we bid battel as when we leave it . This time of Lent , these thirty six dayes , which is Quadrage sima propriè dieta , as Bellarmine speaks , the whole time of our clean Lent , the Church of Christ hath cull'd out and set apart as the tith of our dayes , saith St. Bernard , as the tith of the year , saith Aquinas , as the tith of our life , saith Gerson ; wherein she calls upon her children in a more especial manner not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Julian speaks , to wage war with their belly and appetite , by fasting and abstinence , but to fight against themselves , their irregular desires and inordinate lusts , to make a retreat from Sin , and to fight the battels of the Lord of hosts . I confess , as Clemens speaketh of a Christian mans life , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the whole term of it should be a feast , a holy day unto the Lord , wherein he should continually offer up the sweet-smelling sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving : so the Lent of a Christian man should take up not forty dayes only but all the dayes and hours of a Christian man . But since we are so willing to forget our selves , and suffer our souls to gather rust ; since few men would faste at any time if there were not statum jejunium , an allotted time of fasting ; the Church calls upon us in the words of the Apostle , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Behold , now is the accepted time , now an occasion worth the laying hold of , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , now is the day of salvation , a time of fasting , to prepare our selvs for the great Feast ; a time of Lent , to prepare us for Easter . And as it is prescribed the Jews Deut. 20. 2. that when they were come near unto the battel , the Priest should come forth to encourage the people : And in all ages Captains have had their Orations to their Souldiers , quibus animos addant , to make them bold and stout in the battel : So doth the Church bring in St. Paul , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Nazianzene speaks , the Captain and Champion of all the faithful Souldiers of Christ Jesus , bespeaking the Corinthians , and in them the whole Christian world throughout all Generations , now at this time to put on the armor of light ; and , as they have given up their names unto Christ , so to receive regium characterem , the Imperial mark and character of Christ ; to engrave it not on their arm , but on their heart ; non desinere esse quod esse dicuntur , as the Imperial laws require of Governors and Guardians of Cities , not to leave off to be what they are said to be ; to please him who hath chosen them to be 2 Tim. 2. 4. Souldiers , to labor , but as good Souldiers ; and in the words of my Text , To receive the grace of God ; but that is not all ; so to receive it , that they receive it not in vain .

I know this Text by Bellarmine and others is applyed to this time of Lent : And so it may very well . For by this we are taught the right use of Fasting , and how to improve this time , this short time , this fleeting time , these forty dayes to Aeternity it self . But being unwilling to draw the words from their native and primitive sense , and intending to make that the subject and work of the next day , and now only to glance at it by the way ; I will take the words 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as they ly in St. Paul , and in that sense which he first intended . And then I may call my Text St. Pauls fidei-commissum , his Legacy , which he leaves as a feoffment in trust to all posterity ; Breviarium totius Evangelii , a Breviary of the whole Gospel ; a short Catechisme for Christians , which whoso learns by heart is a true Gospeller indeed . Not to receive the grace of God in vain , is signaculum super brachium , a signet upon the arm , and signaculum super cor , a seal upon the heart , the true seal and character of a Christian . Ecce panem ; parate fauces , as St. Bernard saith , Behold , here is the bread of life ! Take it down by attention , and digest it by meditation and practise : And with me consider first the Duty proposed by way of negation , shall I say ? or caution , Receive not the grace of God in vain . For the Civilians will tell us , Vetita quadam exceptione corrigunt quae jubentur ; A negative precept by a kind of cautelous exception doth restrain and correct a positive . To receive the grace of God is a Christians best Recipe : for with it he receiveth all things . It is his Wealth , to supply his poverty ; his Strength , to establish his weakness ; his Happiness , to sweaten all the misery of the world . It is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; a catholick remedy against all evil . But not to receive it in vain , is a restriction , a direction how we should receive it . It is not in the gift , but in the hand ; not in the meat , but in the stomach ; not in the physick , but in the Recipiatis ; not in the grace , but in the receiving of it . Volenti est salus , nolenti supplicium , saith St. Augustine , As I receive it , it may be my physick ; and as I receive it , it may be my poyson . Great care then to be had to the Recipiatis , how we receive it . But then , in the second place , consider St. Paul's Motive or Insinuation . He draws his argument ab officio , from his high calling and dignity ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , We as fellow-workers together with God exhort and beseech you ; We who have obteined a dignity above the very Angels themselves , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , working together with God , as God by us , we from God , and God by us , beseech you . For this end we received our Commission , that you might not receive the grace of God in vain . So the Ne recipiatis is both an Exhortation and a Command . Potestas , cùm rogat , jubet ; The Insinuations of Autority are Commands ; their Intreaties , Precepts . But this circumstance perhaps will be neither seasonable , nor welcome . The dignity and high calling of a Priest is no argument now-adayes , but only then when Malice can draw it close to meet with our infirmities . We are never so high as Angels till we are lower than Men , even like to the Beasts that perish . Then argumentum à persona , an argument from our person , from our office and dignity , is readily taken up ; and we are very skilfull in these Topicks . Humanum aliquid patimur ? Do we betray our selves to be men of the like passions and infirmities with you ? Do we fall like other men ? then , and then only , we are Angels . Then Lucifer is fallen from heaven , the worker hath forgot his rule , and the helper is in the ditch . When we sow our spiritual things , we are not helpers : When we should reap your temporal things , we are not helpers : When we do not help our selves , then we are , and we hear it loud enough . When our mouth is open unto you , and our affections vehement and vocal , then our mouths are open against us , and our titles of honour accuse us : A main reason , I perswade my self , that the Nè recipiatis finds so hard an entrance into your hearts , and that so many receive the grace of God in vain .

But I will wave this circumstance , and in this spare you . And indeed the Duty here , the Nè recipiatis , is of such consequence that it commends its self without a Preface : Nor needs there any motive where the prescript is Salvation . Maltùm valet oratio remedio intenta , saith Seneea ; That speech is powerful which is fixt and intentive and level'd on the good of the hearer . It is easie , one would think , to perswade a sick man to be well , a poor man to be rich , and a wretched man to be happy . Not to receive a gift in vain , what need there any art to commend it ? We will therefore fix our meditations here , and carry them along by these steps or degrees . We will shew you 1. What this Grace of God is ; 2. That received it must be . And these two will serve for an introduction to the last , and bring in the Caution , Nè recipiatis , which casts a kindly reflexion on , and sweetens and seasons both the other ; For what is Grace , if it be not received ? and what is the recipiatis , if it be in vain ? Of these in their order .

There is nothing more talked of then Grace , nothing less understood , nothing more abused . Every man fills his mouth with it , justus ad aequitatem , perjurus ad fraudem ; the upright man for honesty , the perjured man for deceit , the humble for piety , the proud for aemulation , Ebrius ad phialam , mendicus ad januam , the Drunkard at his cups , the Beggar at the gate . The Tradesman in his shop . The Schools are intricate , and the Fathers profuse in this argument . Totius mundi una vox Gratia est , Men mention nothing oftner ; as if they had studied nothing else . By Grace we are good , by Grace we are rich , and by Grace we are honourable : and if we be evil , it is for want of Grace . But bring the greatest sort of men to a tryal , and we shall find them no better proficients in the study of Grace then Boethias's Scholar in Poetry , who having a long time studied Virgil askt at length whether Aeneas was a man or woman . Not to trouble you with curious speculations , which commonly make things more obscure by interpretation , and the Commentary harder then the Text ; the Grace of God is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , hath divers significations . It is taken for the favour of God , inherent in God himself ; and it is taken for sanctifying Grace , inherent in the regenerate person , a gift flowing from the former : It is taken for Habitual Grace , and it is taken for Inherent Grace . In the language of the Schools it is auxilium speciale , that special and immediate furtherance by which God moves us to will and to do ; a supernatural quality , which sweetly and readily directs us in our way unto the end , by illuminating our mind , by enflaming our love , by strengthning our hand , that we see how to work , and are willing and able to work ; the three necessary requisites to the performance of every good action . It works in us , without us ; and it worketh in us , with us ; It prevents , and it follows us . By it we begin , and by it we persevere , and by it we are brought unto glory . By it , saith St. Augustine , we are healed , and by it we are made active , by it we are called , and by it we are crowned . And this is that which St. Paul mentioneth 1 Cor. 15. 10. By the grace of God I am that I am ; and his grace was not in vain . For see the blessed and fruitful effects it wrought , in the next words , I laboured more abundantly then they all . Yet startling as it were , and afraid of the very mention of himself , he corrects himself , yet not I , but the grace of God which was with me . Would you know what materials Grace had to work upon ? He tells you ver. 9. that he was a persecutor of the Church of Christ . Strange materials to square an Apostle out of , and a statue of Christ . Primus pietatis aries Evangelii retusus est mucro , saith St. Hierome ; He who was as a battering Ram or Engine to shake the Gospel , by the grace of God had his edge taken off and his force abated , and was made a pillar of that Truth which he sought to ruin . Thus can the Spirit of God work miraculously where it pleaseth , and , to sow the seed of grace , alter the complexion and nature of the soil . Though the heart be as hard as flint , and barren as the sand , he can make it as soft as wax , and as fertile as Canaan or the Paradise of God . Indeed no man can deny the operation of Grace but he that feels it not : and such a mans denyal can be no argument that there is no Grace : for his very want of Grace confutes it . Noctua non praejudicat aquilae , The Batt doth not prejudice the light which the Eagle sees : Nor would we credit a blind man that should tell us there were no Sun .

This Grace then we must acknowledge : But this is not the Grace meant in the Text ; nor indeed ( as we are made believe by some ) can it be . For this Grace , say they , ideo datur ut non recipiatur in vanum , is therefore given that it may not be received in vain . When it is offered , it is received ; and when it is received , it is received to that end and purpose for which it was offered . No heart is stone enough to beat it back , no soul so stubborn as to resist it : neither height , nor depth , nor the Devil , nor Sin it self can evacuate it . The Recipiatis is unavoidable , and the in vanum impossible . And every man is a St. Paul , a priviledged person , not sweetly water'd with abundance , but violently driven on with a torrent and inundation of Grace . We must therefore find out another sense of the word : Although , for ought that can be said , the Exhortation may concern us in this sense also , and teach us to hear when God speaks , to open when he knocks , not to be deaf to his thunder , nor to hide our selves from his lightning , nor to quench the spirit , nor 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to resist and fall cross with Acts 7. 51. the holy Ghost . But in the Scripture two words we find by which the Graces of God are expressed . There is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , here in the Text ; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , spiritual gifts . Plainly , there are more common and necessary Graces , which 1 Cor. 12. concur to sanctification of life , to uprightness and common honesty : And there are peculiar graces , as Quickness of Will , Depth of Understanding , Skill in languages ; or supernatural , as gifts of Tongues , gifts of Healing , of Miracles , of Prophesie , and the like . These are not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , rather gifts then graces , and are distributed but to certain persons in such measure as seems best to Gods Wisdome . Why men are not as strong as Samson , or as learned as Solomon , why they prophesie not as Jeremy , and work not miracles as Paul , all this is from God . But why men are not righteous as Noah , devout as David , zealous as Elias , we must find the cause in our selves , and not lay the defect on God . Now the Grace in the Text is none of all these , but is that gratia Evangelii , the Grace of reconciliation by Christ , the Doctrine of the Gospel , which Christ commanded to be preached to all Nations . And in this sense it is most frequently used in holy Scripture , in the Epistles of St. Paul , where we so often find it placed in opposition to the Works of the Law . This is it which he so oft commends unto us : This is it which he here exhorts us to receive . This is it for the propagation of which he was in afflictions , necessities , distresses , in stripes , in prisons , in labors , in tumults ; which are a part of the catalogue of his sufferings in this Chapter . And this is not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a grace , and a gift too , without which all other gifts and graces , aut nihil sunt , aut nihil prosunt , deserve not that name : Strength is but weakness , Learning is but folly , Prophesies are but dreams , Miracles are sluggish , all are not worth the receiving , or are received 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in vain . Shall I say it is a greater gift then that robe of Righteousness with which God clothed Adam in Paradise ? It so far exceeds it that we dare not compare them . There is a MULTO MAGIS set upon it by St. Paul Rom. 5. 15. and a NON SIC , Not as the offense , so is the free gift ; The Loss not so great as the Recovery . Nay , cui Angelorum ? What speak we of Adam ? To whom of the Angels did God give such a gift ? What a glory would we count it out of Nothing to be made an Angel , a Seraphim ? By this gift , by the Grace of Christ , we are raised from Sin , above the perfection and beauty of any created substance whatsoever , above the Hierarchy of Angels and Archangels . A Christian , as he is united to Christ , is above the Seraphims . For take the substance of a Seraphim by it self , and compare it to a Man reconciled to God by this Grace , and the difference will be as great as between a Picture and a Man . An Artificer may draw his own Picture : but he can only express his likeness , his color , his lineaments ; he cannot represent his better part , his Soul , which constitutes and makes him what he is : Take all the creatures of the Universe , and they are but weak and faint shadows and adumbrations of Divine perfection . God is not so exprest by an Angel as by a Christian , who is his lively image , as the Son is the image of his Father , by a kind of fellowship and communication of nature . The Creature represents God as a Statue doth the Emperor ; but a Christian , as the Son his Father , between whom there is not only likeness , but identity , and a participation of the same nature . For by this gift , by these promises , we are made partakers of the Divine nature , saith St. Peter . ● Pet. 1. 4. And as a Father takes more delight to look upon his Son then upon his Picture and Figure , so God looks more graciously upon a Christian then upon any created essence , then upon the nature of Angels . He that gave the Gift , he that was the Gift , pray for us John 17. 21 , 22. that we may be all one ; and as his Father is in him , and he in his Father , so we may be one in them , as they are one . This is the Gift by which God did 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Apostle , gather together and re-establish the decay'd nature of Man ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith St. Chrysostome , knit and joyn together , Heaven and Earth . And as Christ spake of John Baptist Matth. 11. 14. Hic est Elias , si vultis recipere ; He shall be Elias to you , if you will receive him ; so , Haec est gratia Dei ; The Gospel , the Reconciliation made by Christ , is the Grace of God , if we will receive it . Which is my next part .

And what is a Gift if it be not received ? Like a mess of pottage on a dead mans grave , like Light to the blind , like musick to the deaf . The dead man feeds not , the blind man sees not , the deaf man hears not . What were all the beauty of the Firmament , if there were no eye to descry it ? What is the Grace of God without Faith ? The Receiving of it is it which makes it a Grace indeed , which makes it Gospel . If it be not received , it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in vain . An unbelieving heart turneth this bread into gravel , this honey into gall ; and , as much as in him lyes , doth not only crucifie but annihilate the Lord of Life . We usually compare Faith to a Hand , which is reached forth to receive this Gift . Without a Hand a Jewel is a trifle , and the treasure of both the Indies is nothing : and without Faith the Gospel is but Christus cum suâ fabulâ , as the Heathen spake in reproach , but a fable or relation . And therefore an absolute necessity there is that we receive it . For without this receipt all other receipts are not worth the casting up . Our Understanding receives light , to mislead her ; our Will power , to overthrow her ; our Afflictions which are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , incorporeal hands , receive nothing but vanity . Our moral goodness makes us not good : our Philosophy is deceit . Our acquisite Habits lift us no further then the place where they grow , that is , Earth and Nature . But with this gift we receive all things ; we receive the favor and gracious countenance of our Creator ; who in Christ is well pleased , and in him looks upon us as the Emperor did behold wars and slaughter and ruine and desolation in a large Emerald , whose color temper'd the object , and made it appear less horrible then it was . Unum est donum , & unius sunt omnia dona ; It is but one gift , but it turns all things into it self , and makes them a gift . All the works of Nature , all the wonders of Grace , all the Saints are shut up in this Receit . All happiness , all misery , that which we long for , that which we run from , that which we roar under , with this Grace is a gift . Nay , our very Sins are made useful and beneficial to us by the light of the Gospel ; as Light cast upon a dark body , which it cannot illuminate , is doubled by reflexion . And therefore every man in respect of Grace should be ad instar materiae , like as the Matter is to the Form , which Plato calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which comes from the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the Text , the receptacle of the Form , should be so inclinable to receive it as if it could have no exsistence without it ; should even labor and travel , as the Apostle speaks , till Christ be fully formed Gal. 4. 19. in him . For what though we receive the good things of this world ? There is a Nuno autem follows them , Now art thou tormented in the end of that receipt . What if we receive Honor ? Shame follows at the very heels of it . What if we receive those ornaments of the mind which Philosophy calls Virtues ? They are but splendida peccata , but glorious sins , like Gloworms , which in the night cast some brightness , but will not warm us . Tell we receive this grace , we are nothing ; we are worse then nothing , but Nehustitan , a lump of brass , tell by this Grace we are reformed and transfigured into a statue of Christ . I need not stand longer on this point ; and I intended it but as an introduction . For I am sure all here have received this Grace , at least profess they have . And there is as great danger in receiving it as in unbelief . For the Philosopher will tell us , Quicquid recipitur , recipitur ad modum recipientis : All is not in the gift ; the greatest matter is in the manner of receiving it . The Gospel is grace indeed ; but it will not save a Devil , nor an obstinate offendor . Stomachus vitiatus , saith Seneca , alimentum in causam doloris trahit , A foul stomach corrupts all that it receives , and turns that meat , which should nourish the body into a disease : and a corrupt heart poysons the very water of life , ut evangelium Christi sit evangelium hominis , saith St. Augustine , it alters the very nature of the Gospel , and makes it not the Gospel of Christ but of Man . Judas receives a sop , and with it the Devil . The grand mistake of the world is in the manner of receiving Christ . For as in the dogmatical part of Christianity we find that in former times they could not agree in the manner of receiving Christ , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but some would receive him after this manner , some after another , they knew not how themselves ; some a created Christ , others a half-Christ , some through a conduit-Pipe , others less visible then in a type , in an aereal phantastical body , a Christ , and not a Christ ; a Christ divided , and a Christ contracted ; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Nazianzene , many Christs , indeed as good none at all : So in the practical part we often erre , and dangerously , in our receiving him . We say Anathema to the Arians , and Manichees , and Anabaptists : and let them pass with the censure of the Church upon them : But how do we receive him ? Our own conscience will tell us ; with his curled locks and spicy cheeks , with his flagons and his apples ; to save sinners , not to instruct them ; with grace as much as he will , but with no command or law ; a Physician , that should heal us , without a prescript ; a King , without a Scepter ; a Son , that would be kistt , ( we like that well ) but not be angry . Nor can we now impute this to the Gospel and the Grace of God : for that is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of but one shape and hiew , and presents salvation to every receiver . The fault is not in the Grace , but in our receiving it : As we do not blame the Table for a rude piece that is drawn upon it , but the Painter , who forgot his art . The Stoicks conceive that every thing hath two handles , and as men take hold either of one or other , so they prove either delightful or irksome . The truth is , the Gospel hath not two handles ; but we rather have two hands , diverse manners of receiving it . To one it is the savor of life unto life ; and to others , the savor of death unto death . Great care then must be taken how we receive it , that we may not receive it in vain . We must receive 2 Cor. ● . 16. this grace of God to that end it was given . I know you will quickly say , that was to save us . For this end Christ came into the world : we have Scripture for it . The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all 2 Tit 2. 11. men . But doth it not follow ; teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts ? and that is Scripture too . We must receive it as Law as well as Physick . His , Do , ut des ; & facio , ut facias : God gives us this gift , that we may give him our obedience ; and he hath done this for us , that we may do something , even work out our salvation with fear and trembling ; This Grace then we must receive both to save us and instruct us ; as a royal Pardon , Jam. 2. 8. and as a royal Law ; To interline the Pardon , and despise the Law , makes a nullity : and this is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to receive in vain .

And in the first place , a Pardon we must not interline . For to mix and blend it with the law of Works , or our own Merits , is to disannul and make it void , and , in St. Paul's phrase , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to cast away the grace of God . By Gal. 2. 21. grace you are saved , and not by works , saith the Apostle . Works , though they be conditio justificandi , a condition required of a justified person , yet Ephes. 2. 8 , 9. are not pars justificationis , cannot be brought in as a part or helping cause of our Justification . Satisfaction and Merits are but false interlineary glosses , and corrupt the Text : and to receive the grace of God with this mixture is in Tertullians phrase Galaticare , to be as foolish as the Galatians . For indeed a great folly it is , when God hath plainly revealed his will , when he hath concluded all under sin , and St. Paul proves both against Jew and Gentile that all have sinned ; when God is pleased to justifie us freely by his Grace , then to bring in our inherent Righteousness to joyn with Grace , as Rom. 3. 24. if we were unwilling to be too far ingaged to God's Mercy . It is true indeed , every good act doth justifie a man so far as it is good , and God so far esteems them holy and good . He taketh notice of his own graces in his children : He registers the Patience of Job , the Zeal of Phinehas , the Devotion of David . A Cup of cold water , a Mite flung into his treasury shall have its reward . But yet all the good works of all the Saints in the world cannot satisfie for the breach of the Law , no more then a Traytor can redeem his Treason against the King by giving an alms , or , which is more , by dying for his Country . The point is plain and easie , delivered in terminis in Scripture , urged , proved , and strongly confirmed by St. Paul almost in every Epistle , that all is from Grace : Et cum de voluntate Dei constat , omnis de merito quaestio vana est ; When we know Gods will , what dispute we any longer of Merit ? But such is our ingratitude and curiosity that we will not take Gods Grace as we find it : we will not take Gods gifts in the building , but we beat and work them out into what form we please : we come and stamp them ; and be the piece what mettal it will , we set our image and superscription upon it . God in Scripture sets these two terms , Grace and Works , at extream opposition ; but by a trick of wit we have learnt to work them into one piece , making a good work meritorious because it is of Grace ; as Pelagius of old confounded Nature and Grace , because even Nature it self is a Grace : A flat contradiction . For if it be of grace , how doth it merit ? unless we will say that the Gift deserves something of the Giver , or that a charitable man is indebted to a beggar for the penny and almes which he gave him . I have said enough to clear the point , which hath been too much obscured with needless disputes . I will not say with Calvine Diabolica illa ars quae Scholasticae nomen obtinet , that devilish art of wrangling , which we call School-Divinity , hath put out the light of this truth ; nor with Martin Luther , Theologia Scholastica est mater ignorantiae , that Scholastical disputations are the mother of ignorance : but , as Pliny spake of the Graecians , Cùm gens ista literas suis dedisset , omnia corrupit , they have corrupted the Truth , and put her in such a dress , that we cannot know her : they have shut up this doctrine in perplexed obscurity , which before was plain and easie to the understanding . For what hath been observed of the study of Philosophy , is true also in the pursuit of Divine knowledge ; When men made Wisdome the only aim and end of their studies , then was Philosophy referred to its proper end : but when they used it only to fill up their time , or satisfie their ambition , or delight their will , then Philosophy lost her complexion and strength , and degenerated into folly : then Diogenes got him a tub , and Epicurus a swarm of Atomes : then the Stoicks brought in their Decrees and Paradoxes : then were there mille familiarum nomina & discrimina , so many sects that it is not easie to name them : and some there were who did shew the diversity of their opinions by outward signs alone , by Weeping and Laughing . So in Divinity we find it , that Truth never suffered tell she was made a matter of wit and ambition , tell out of private respects Policy was made a moderator and stater of questions ; then for one Justification we had two , nay three : then meritum de condigno , and de congruo , Merits of Condignity and Congruity , of Worthiness and Fitness , were brought in to help at a dead lift : And , that they may appear more glorious , tinguntur sanguine Christi , pains have been taken to dye them over with the bloud of Christ : and in these red colours they are presented , which they borrowed from art , and not from Scripture . Sure I am , in St. Pauls phrase this is to cast away the grace of God , and to evacuate the death of Christ ; this is against the nature of Grace , which blended with humane Satisfaction and Merit is no more Grace , this is against the evidence of the Prophet Habakkuk often repeated by St. Paul , The Just shall live by faith , or , as some render it , The Just by faith , shall live . And if their Divinity on their death-bed be not better then that in their Schools , I fear me , there will be a Frustrà . For thus to receive the grace of God , is to deny it , or rather to despise it : and to despise it , I think I may boldly say , is to receive it in vain . Beloved , if it were but for this alone , for this derogation from the Grace of God , yet even for this alone might we justifie our separation from the Church of Rome , and send home the loud imputations of Heresie and Schism to her own gates , where first they were conceived . For where false conclusions are obtruded for truths , or truths corrupted with false additions there to consent were conspiracy ; and open contestation is not faction or schism , but Christian animosity . They rather are guilty of the schism who made it necessary : It was a weak and foolish speech of Bosius in Tully , who professed that , if his friend Gracchus would bid , he would set fire on the Capitol . Christianity admits no such friendship . If that Church will commend to us works of piety , we will hear with reverence ; if enjoyn us to faste on Friday , or observe Lent-fast , we condemn it not ; we will faste with her , we will pray with her , we will be reverent in Gods house with her : but if she bid us set fire on the Capitol , on this main and capital point of Religion , ( for so I may call it , arcem & Capitolium religionis ) here to obey were to be a Schismatick , to separate our selves from the truth and comforts of the Gospel , and from Christ himself . Non tanti est , tibi ut placeam , perire . Better it is that our opposers should be angry then we perish .

But we leave this vain receiving , and proceed to the other no less dangerous then this , when we receive the grace of God only as a Pardon , and not as a Law . For who is not willing to be justified by Christ ? To be freed from the Law , to be delivered from the Law , to be dead to the Law , it is musick to every ear , and a continual feast . Evangelical righteousness we are glad to hear of ; and we could wish perhaps that there were no other mentioned . Lex ligat ; Enact a law , and we are in fetters . Nay , lex occidit ; The Law is a killing letter in this sense also . Who would look to find the Law in the Gospel ? But we must remember that there is Lex evangelica , an evangelical Law ; that the grace of God , as it excludes the Law sub ratione foederis , as it is a covenant , so admits it sub ratione regulae , as it is a rule . The rigor of the covenant is abolisht , but the equity of the rule is as everlasting as the Lawgiver ? It is our happiness by Grace to be freed from the covenant and curse of the Law ; but it is our duty , and a great part of our Christianity , to square our lives by the rule of the Law . Therefore Religion was called in her purer times Christiana lex , the Christian Law ; and the Bishops , Episcopi Christianae legis , Bishops of the Christian Law . Evangelium commentum Divinitatis , saith Tertullian : The Gospel was the invention of the Deity . And God did not set up the Gospel to destroy , but to reform the Law . No , saith Nazianzene , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The Gospel of Christ is more laborious then the Law . Pythagoras is reported to have commanded his Scholars , when they saw a man burdened , not to go about to ease him , but add rather unto his load : So our Saviour was so far from easing our burden , that he seemeth rather to add weight , and make it much heavier then it was before . For whether he did advance and encrease the strictness of the Law , as the Ancients did conceive , or whether he did but only clear the Law from those corrupt glosses with which the Jewish Doctors had infected it , certainly in shew and appearance he leaves it much heavier then it had formerly been understood by the Jew . Innocency and obedience to the Law hath alwaies been the badge of a Christian . Look into our Prisons , saith Tertullian , you find no Christian there . If you find a Christian there , the fault that laid him there is but this , That he is a Christian . We sail with you , we traffick with you , we go to war with you . Plus nostra misericordia insumit vicatìm quam religio vestra templariò ; Our Charity spendeth more on the poor in our streets then your Superstition on your Gods in your Temples ! Nihil Christiano foelicius , nihil laboriosius ; Nothing is more happy then a Christian , nothing more painful . Thus the grace of God presents us with two things quite contrary , with Comfort and Labor ; that Comfort might not puff us up , nor abundance of pain deject and throw us down . For the Grace of God appeared not to enfeeble our hands ; or , with a dispensation from the works of Piety ; nor to make us more indulgent to our selves ; but that we might abound more and more in virtuous actions . I will not say with Socinus , that upon the very receiving of this Grace we receive also afflatum quendum Divinum , a kind of Divine inspiration , which toucheth the heart , and raiseth our hope , and warmeth our affections , and setteth our hands to work . For every one that receives this grace doth not work . Nor can I think that all the world is damned for infidelity . But a strange thing it may seem , that after we have given up our names unto Christ , after this certainty of knowledge and conscience of the truth , our ingratitude should kick with the heel , and despise these promises though an Angel from heaven should perswade them . It is a good saying of St. Augustine's , Nemo sibi permittat quod non permittit Evangelium ; Let no man make the promise larger then the Gospel hath made it , nor presume too much on the Grace of God . For such is the nature of Grace that it will not be fashioned to our actions , but we must proportion our actions to it . It is not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a buskin , to be indifferently drawn on upon any design . It will not fit my Ambition in the eager pursuit of honor , nor my Covetousness in the grasping of wealth , nor my Luxury in doting on pleasures : But if I shape my actions to it , it is my honour , my wealth , my pleasure , my ALL. We are told by those who have written in the praise of Musick , that it holdeth great sympathy with the nature of Man ; that it applies it self to all occasions , of Mirth , of Sorrow , of Company , of Solitude , of Sports , of Devotion . And such is the wonderful harmony of Grace that it fits it self to all estates , all degrees , all sexes , all ages , all actions whatsoever . It will labor with thee at the Plow , trade with thee in the Shop , study with thee in thy closet , fight with thee in the Field : and it keeps every man within the bounds of his calling and honesty . But if I make it a pandar to my Pleasure , a stirrop to my Ambition , a steward to my unbounded Avarice ; if I make it my Parasite to flatter me , and not my Counsellor to lead and direct me , I am injurious to that Grace for the publication of which the Lord of life was crucified , I receive this grace , but in vain , and by my ungrateful receiving turn my antidote into poyson .

We cannot better conclude then with that of St. Hierome in his Epistle to that noble Matron Celantia , Illi terrena sapiant qui coelestia promissa non habent ; Let them grovel on the earth who have not received these exceeding great and precious promises . Let the Epicure be wanton , and the Atheist profane , 2 Pet. 1. 4. and the Philosopher vain glorious . Let them perish to whom the Gospel is hid . But let Christians imitate their Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus ; and as he was crucified for us , so let us crucifie our selves , even our lusts and affections , that we may receive him , and not receive him in vain ; but as we receive him here , and with him his Grace , his Gospel , his glorious Promises , so we may receive him at the last day , when he shall come to judge the quick and the dead according to this Gospel , and with him glory , immortality , and eternal life .

The Eleventh SERMON . LUKE XXI . 28. And when these things begin to come to pass , then look up , and lift up your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh .

IT was my labor the last day to arm you against the glittering sword and terrors of Persecution ; and I have now thought it fit to lead you further in these wayes of Horror , and to raise and build up in you a holy constancy and resolution against those fearful signs and affrightments which shall usher in the end of the world . Then I strengthen and establish you against the Sons of men who are set on mischief , and whose right hand is full of bloud : Now I am to prepare you against the coming of the Son of Man and Son of God to judge both the quick and the dead , to plead the cause of the innocent , but to punish the hypocrite and oppressor with unquenchable fire ; that is , to set the world at rights again , and to bring every man to his own place .

Our Saviour in this Chapter foretelleth the dreadful signs and apparitions that shall go before his second coming , to the end that when they come we may not be dismayed and affrighted at the sight , but may entertain them as Angels which bring us good tidings of good things ; that we may look upon them as Objects of joy , rather then of amazement ; that they may not dead our spirits , or change our countenances , or trouble our joynts , or make us hold down our heads like a bullrush , but rowse up our hearts , and fill us with joy , and make us to say , This is the day which the Lord hath made , a day of exaltation and redemption , a day of jubilee and triumph , and so look up , and lift up our heads .

And here , methinks , I see in my Text a strange conjunction , of Night and Day , of Brightness and Darkness , of Terror and Joy ; or a chain made up as it were of these three links , Terror , Exultation , and Redemption . Yet they will well hang together , if Redemption be the middle link : For in this they meet and are friends : Redemption being that which turns the Night into Day , maketh affliction joyful , and puts a bright and lovely colour upon Horror it self . When these things come to pass . Why ? these things are terrible . It is true ; yet lift up your heads . But how can we lift up our heads in this day of terror , in this day of vengeance , in this day of gloominess and darkness ? Can we behold this sight , and live ? Yes ; we may . The next words are quick and operative , of power to lift up our heads , and to exalt our horn and strength as the horn of an Unicorne , and make us stand strong against all these terrors ; Look up , lift up your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh . Not to detein you longer by way of Preface ; Four things there are which in these words that I have read are most remarkable . 1. The Persons unto whom these words are uttered , in the particle Your ; Lift up your heads . 2. What things they are of which our Saviour here speaks , in the first words of the Text ; Now when these things begin to come to pass . 3. The Behaviour which our Saviour commends unto us , in these words , Look up , lift up your heads . 4. Last of all , the Reason or Encouragement , words of life and power to raise us from all faintness of heart and dullness of spirit ; For your redemption draweth nigh .

I have formerly upon another Text spoken of the two first points , the Persons to whom , and the Things whereof our Saviour here speaketh . Before I come to the third point , the Behaviour prescribed to be observed by them who see the signs foretold in this Chapter come to pass , it will not be amiss a little to consider whence it comes to pass that in the late declining age of the world so great disorder , distemper and confusion have their place : And it shall yield us some lessons for our instruction .

And first of all it may seem to be Natural , and that it cannot be otherwise . For our common experience tells us that all things are apt to breed somewhat by which themselves are ruin'd . How many Plants do we see which breed that worm which eats out their very heart ? We see the body of Man , let it be never so carefully , so precisely ordered , yet at length it grows foul , and every day gathers matter of weakness and disease , which at first occasioning a general disproportion in the parts , must at the last of necessity draw after it the ruin and dissolution of the whole . It may then seem to fall out in this great body of the World as it doth in this lesser body of ours ; By its own distemper it is the cause of its own ruin . For the things here mentioned by our Saviour are nothing else but the diseases of the old decaying World . The failing of light in the Sun and Moon , what is it but the blindness of the World ? an imperfection very incident to Age. Tumults in the Sea and Waters , what are they but the distemper of superfluous humors , which abound in Age ? Wars and rumors of wars are but the falling out of the prime qualities , in the union and harmony of which the very being of the creature did consist . It is observed by the Wise , Libidinosa & intemperans adolescentia effoetum corpus tradit senectuti ; Youth riotously and luxuriously and lewdly spent delivers up to old age an exhaust and juyceless and diseased body . Do we not every day see many strong and able young men fade away upon the sudden , even in the flower of their age , and soon become subject to impotency and diseases and untimely death ? These commonly are the issues of riot , luxury and intemperance : Nor can it be otherwise . Therefore we cannot but expect that the World should be exceedingly diseased in its old decaying age , whose youthful dayes , and not only those , but all other parts of its age , have been spent in so much intemperance and disorder . Scarcely had the World come to any growth and ripeness , but that it grew to that height of distemper that there was no way to purge it but by a general Floud , purgati baptisma mundi , as St. Hierome calls it , in which , as it were in the Baptism , its former sins were done away . And after that , scarcely had three hundred years past , but a general disease of Idolatry over-spread and seized on all well-near , Abraham and his Family excepted . Yet after this once more it pleased God to take the cure into his hands , by sending his Son our Saviour Jesus Christ , the great Physician and Bishop of our souls . But what of all this ? After all this was done tantorum impensis operum , by so much cost and so much care , his Physick did not work as it should , and little in comparison was gained upon the World . For the Many of us , we are still the sons of our fathers . Therefore we have just cause of fear that God will not make many more tryals upon us , or bestow his pains so oft in vain . Christ is the last Priest and the last Physician that did stand upon the earth ; and if we will not hear him , what remains there , or what can remain , but a fearful looking for of judgment , and fiery indignation , which shall devour the world : Ephraim is turned unto Idols ; let him alone . I will spend no more labor in Hos. 4. vain upon him . Thus as Physicians , when they find the disease incurable , let the diseased go on unto his end , so God having now as it were tryed his skill in vain ; having invited all , and seeing so few come ; having spoken to all , and so few hear ; having poured out his Sons bloud to purge the World , and seeing so few cleansed ; for ought we know , and it is very probable , hath now resolv'd the World shall go unto its end ; which in so great a body cannot be without the disorder and confusion our blessed Saviour here speaketh of .

But you may peradventure take this for a speculation , and no more ; and I have urged it no further then as a probable conjecture . And therefore I will give you a second reason . Besides this natural Inclination , God himself hath a further purpose in it . He that observes the wayes of God as far as he hath exprest himself , shall find that he hath a delight to shew unto the world those that are his , to lift them up on high , and mark and character them out by some notable tryal and temptation . Thus he made tryal of Abrahams Faith by such a command as struck at the very foundation of his faith . In Isaac shall thy seed be blessed : and yet , Take thy son , thy only son , thy son Isaac , in whom alone all the Promises made to Abraham were to be made good . Ill signs for Abraham to look upon , signs that with him the world would soon be at an end ; yet God set them up before him to look upon ; but by looking upon them he became the Father of the faithful . Thus God made tryal of Job , by putting all that he had into the power of Satan , who presently sent Sabaeans to fall upon his servants and oxen ; Fire , upon his sheep ; Chaldeans , upon his camels ; and a great wind , to beat down the house upon his sonns : ●ll signs for Job to look upon : but by looking upon them he became operarius victoriae Dei , as Tertullian speaketh , Gods workman , hired as it were and prest by God , to gain a conquest for him , and in him to triumph , and erect a trophee over Satan . To draw this down to our present purpose ; To try the Strength , the Faith , the Love , the Perseverance of those who are his , God is pleased to give way to this tumult and danger in the last dayes . And as the Eagle brings out her young , and then counts them hers , if she can make them look up against the Sun ; so Christ here in my Text brings forth those who are his , and proposeth before them the dreadful spectacles here mentioned , to try whether they can 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Text speaks , whether they can out-look them , and lift up their heads when all the world doth hang down theirs . Or he deals with his as the Jesuites are said to deal with their Novices . They are wont to try of what courage and heart they are by frighting them with feigned apparitions of Hobs and Bug-bears in the night : And if they find them stout and fearless , they entertain them as fit for their use ; if otherwise they dismiss them as not for their turn and purpose . Even thus may God seem to deal with them whom he means to make his , of the order and general assembly and church of the first-born , who are written in heaven , whom he means to place amongst the great and few examples of eternal happiness : he scareth them with dreams , and terrifieth them with visions . He sets before us these terrors and affrightments , to see whether we fear any thing more then him , or whether any thing can shake the alliance and trust which we repose in him ; whether our Faith will be strong when the World is weak ; whether our Light will shine when the Sun is darkned ; whether we can establish our selves in the power of Gods Spirit when the powers of heaven are shaken . And indeed what are all these signs here mentioned but Mormos , meer toyes to fright children with , if we could truly consider that , if the world should sink , and fall upon our heads , it cannot hurt a soul , nor yet so grind the body into dust that God cannot raise it up again ? Can the Heavens , with all their blackness and darkness , have any operation upon a Soul , which is of a more noble essence than they ? Can the Waters drown , or the Plague devour , or Famine starve , or Fire consume and waste a Soul ? Can an immortal Soul be lost in the noise and tumults of the people ? For all these signs and apparitions , if we know whom we have believed , or believe what we have read in St. Paul ; neither life nor death , nor angels , nor Rom. 8. 38 , 39 principalities , nor powers , nor things present , nor things to come , nor height nor depth , nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord .

Now , in the third place , I will adde one reason more , and so make an end of this point . If Fear will give us leave to consult with our Reason and with Scripture , we shall find that all this army of dismal events are nothing else but the effects of that Love which God bears to the World , especially to Man , the creature which he made after his own image , and therefore cannot hate him because he so made him . As men are wont to say of sick persons , that so long as there is breath , be they never so sick , there is hope of their recovery ; for our hope expires not but with our soul : so though we be far gone , though we be dead in sin , though we be sick of a Consumption of grace , yet God lays not down the expectation of our recovery so long as there is breath in us . Many examples we have of Gods long-sufferance in Scripture . Betwixt Niniveh and final Desolation there stood but forty dayes , or , as the Septuagint render it , but three : for whereas we read it , fourty dayes , they render it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Yet three dayes , and Niniveh shall be destroyed : Yet God sent his Prophet unto them , and upon their repentance turned away those evils which he had denounced against them , and which were now in their approach , even at their very doors . Many messages had God sent unto King Ahab to reclaim him ; yet amongst them all none was more signal then that which was sent him immediately before his fall . It should seem that God had already determined with himself the destruction of Ahab , and that he should fight and fall at Ramoth-Gilead ; yet notwithstanding Micaiah the Son of Imlah , a Prophet of God , even against the Kings will , is brought before him , and telleth him to his head that he should go and fall at Ramoth-Gilead : Nor can we now think that this was done by chance : For notwithstanding four hundred Prophets of his own had smooth'd and flatter'd him with hopes of good success , yet Micaiah , one whom the King hated , against the Kings will , is constrained to come ; and when he seemed at first either to mock or fail in the delivery of his message , he is deeply adjured to deliver the truth ; How many times , saith the 1 Kings 22. 16. King , shall I adjure thee , that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord ? Now from whence did all this come but even from this , that God had not laid down the care of Ahabs conversion , but truly desired that he would return and live ?

To apply now all this to our present purpose . From hence , even from Gods love it is , that the last and worst age of the World is attended upon with dreadful signs and wonders . For God , who delights to be called a Preserver of men , will never forsake his creature whilst there is any hope of return . O Ephraim , what shall I do unto thee : O Judah , what shall I do Hos. 6. 4. unto thee ? Canst thou find out any thing ? Alass ! what canst thou find out , who art as a silly dove , without heart ? But whatsoever my Wisdome , my infinite Hos. 7. 11. Wisdome , can find out , whatsoever may forward thy conversion , whatsoever may be done , I will do it . And therefore as Sin and Iniquity have increased , so have the Means to reclaim it . As Wickedness hath broken in as a floud , so hath Judgment been poured forth , and doth swell , wave upon wave , line upon line , judgment upon judgment , to meet it , and purge it , and carry it away with it self , and so run out both together into the boundless ocean of Gods Mercy . This is Gods method ; who knows whereof we are made , and therefore must needs know what is fittest to cure us . For as when our bodies having been long acquainted with some gentle kind of Physick , and the disease at last grows too strong for it , it commends the art of the good Physician to add strength to his potion , that so at last he may conquer the malady : So Mans sinful disease in the last age of the World being much increased , it pleaseth God to use stronger means to cure it . If his little army of Caterpillars , if common calamities , will not purge us , he brings in Sword , and Famine , and Pestilence to make the potion stronger . If the enemies Sword cannot launce our ulcers , he will make us do it with our own . If fightings without cannot move us , he will raise terrors within . He will pour down hailstones and coals of fire , that we may thirst for his dew and gentle rain . He will set us at variance with one another , that we may long to be reconciled to him , and by the troubles of one Kingdome learn to pray , and pray heartily , for that other which is to come ; That so , if possible , he may save some , and pull them as brands out of the fire , singed and scorcht , but not consumed ; That if men will repent them of their evil wayes , he may repent him of the evil he imagined against them , as he sometimes told his people by the mouth of his Prophet Ezekiel .

Our third general part was the consideration of the Behaviour which our Saviour commends unto us in these words , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Look up , and lift up your heads ; words borrowed from the behaviour which men use when all things go as they would have them . When we have what we desire , when success hath fill'd our hopes , and crowned our expectation , then we look up , and lift up our heads . As Herbs , when the Sun comes near them , peep out of the earth , or as Summer-Birds begin to sing when the Spring is entred , so ought it to be with us when these things come to pass . This Winter should make us a Spring ; this noise and tumult should make us sing . Wars , Famines , Plagues , Inundations , Tumults , Confusion of the world , these bring in the Spring of all true Christians ; and by these , as by the coming of Summer-Birds , we are forewarned that our Sun of Righteousness draws near . Indeed unto Nature and the eye of the World such are sad and uncouth spectacles , sights far from yielding comfort , or being taken for authors of welcome news : and therefore our Saviour pointing out to the behaviour , which in this case the world doth use , tells us in the words foregoing my Text , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , men should be ready to sound for fear , ARESCENTIBUS HOMINIBUS , saith the Vulgar , men should dry and wither away for fear ; as Leaves smitten with mildew or blasting , or fading away with unreasonable heat . Lest therefore our hearts should fail us upon the sight of these signs , our Saviour forewarns us that all these ostenta , these apparitions , bode us no harm , nor can bring any evil with them but what we our selves will put upon them ; that for all these signs in the heaven , for all this tumult and confusion upon earth , even then when the foundations are shaken , and the world is ready to sink , we may lift up our heads : When you see these things come to pass , look up , lift up your heads . Let us a little weigh these words . For they are full and expressive , talent-weight . They are a prediction , and they are an admonition : which is , saith Clemens , as the diet of the soul , to keep it in an equal temper and a setled constitution , against those evils and distempers of the mind which , as Tully speaks , do tumultuantem de gradu dejicere , cast it down with some kind of disorder and confusion from that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that quietness and silence which is the best state and condition of the soul ; as Fear and Sorrow , the unhappy parents of Murmuring and Repining ; which press down the soul 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , into the gross and bruitish part , which they call 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the fall of the Soul , the symptomes and indications whereof are a cast-down Look , and a Head bowed down like a bull-rush . For 1. Fear is a burden that maketh us not able to look upwards , towards that which might rid and ease us of it , but towards something that may hide and cover us . When Adam had sinned , God comes toward him in the cool of the day , in a wind , as it is rendred by some , and as the word signifies , in such a sound as he never heard before ; and he presently runs into the thicket , hides himself amongst the trees of the garden . If the King of Jericho pursues Joshua's spies , they run under the stalks of flax ; and if Saul pursues David , he betakes himself to some cave . Fear may make us look distractedly about , with a wandring , inconstant , unsetled eye ; but not to look up : it may make us hide our heads , but not lift them up . If an Evil bite , Fear is the tooth ; and if it press down , Fear is the weight . Behold , here this tooth is broken , and this weight is taken away by Wisdome it self , in these words , Look up , lift up your heads . 2. Grief is another weight , that presseth down . Why art thou cast down , O my Soul ? saith David . And , Psal. 42. Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop , saith Solomon . Sorrow Prov. 12. 2● . kept Aaron from eating the sin-offring , cast Job on the ground , and David on the ground , and Ahab on his bed . An evil disease it is under the Sun : but here you have a medicine for it , a medicine to make a merry heart ; Look up , lift up your heads . 3. These two , Fear and Sorrow , are the mother and the nurse , the beginners and fomenters , of all Murmuring and Repining . For as Fear so Sorrow is nothing else but a kind of distaste and grudge of the mind . Imperari dolori silentium non potest ; The Murmurer cannot be silent : He will complain to any man , to any thing ; to the Night , to the Day ; to the Sun , to the Moon , as he in the Comedy . He will reproach his Head , his Belly , his Stomach , any part that causes grief : as Tragaedians use to chide their Eyes , as if they heard ; as the Poet brings in Ulysses in a dialogue and contention with his own Heart . When he is fed with Manna , he will ask for Garlick and Onyons . When he is in the way to a land flowing with milk and honey , he will return to sit by flesh-pots : he will chide with Moses , and chide with God , and prefer a Calf to them both . He will have this to day , and will not have it to morrow . He will have night when it is day , and day when it is night . He will have miracles , and slight them ; signs , and run from them . He doth palos terminales Deo figere , as Tertullian speaks , bound and circumscribe God , limitate the Holy one of Israel , set up a stake and land-mark to which God must come , and yet not know where to place it . He loaths the meat should feed him , and the physick which should work his health . In a word , Murmuring and Repining is a monster that , as the Proverb is , is never well neither full nor fasting . I call it a Monster : For it is the issue of divers passions , Fear and Sorrow , which meeting in the heart , ingender and bring it forth , to quarrel with the Wisdome and question the Providence of God , to censure his counsels , and to condemn his proceedings ; to approve of that which he complains of , and complain of that which he dispenseth for our Good . Why was I not made impeccable ? saith one : why was not I so made up that I might not sin ? Why do I feel this fight and contention between the Spirit and the Flesh ? Why was I made weak , and commanded to be strong ? Why was I born in these times of hurry and noise , saith another , and not in these halcyon-dayes of peace and plenty ? Why was I reserved to these last dayes , to hear of wars and rumors of wars , of earthquakes , and famine , and plague ? to see the Church broken into Sects , and crumbling away into Conventicles ? to see the world return into a worse Chaos and confusion then that out of which it was made ? that is , Why am I a man ? The language of the Murmurer is , Why hast thou made me thus ? The Power of God , the Wisdome of God , the Goodness and Mercy of God cannot quiet and silence him , who wavering and double-minded , resting only on his own fickle , flitting , abortive thoughts , is never at rest . For he that doth do nothing but what he list , will do nothing what he should . He that will be nothing but what he please , is his own idol , and so is Nothing in this world . Now these words here of our Saviour are like that pitch and fat and hair which Daniel did seeth together : and if we can put them into this Monsters mouth , it will soon burst asunder . If we can take them down and digest them , they will remove our Fear , dry up our Sorrow , and stop the mouth of the Murmurer for ever . For when Christ bids us look up , and lift up our heads , his meaning is , that we should so fit and prepare our selves that we may look up , and lift them up . He would not bid the Covetous man , who is buried alive in the earth , look up : He would not bid the Wanton , who is drowned in lust , look up : He would not bid him who is dead in sin , look up : Or , if he did , his meaning would be , First learn to hate the world , to fight against thy lusts , to arise from the dead ; and then Christ shall give thee light and strength , that thou mayest look up , and lift up thy head . Then thou art his Servant ; and when he says , Go , thou must go , though it be upon the point of the sword ; or else thou art not his servant : Then thou art his Merchant ; and when he holds forth his rich pearl , thou must buy it , though it be with thy bloud ; or else thou art not his Merchant : then thou art his Souldier ; and thou must fight when and where he placeth thee , against all terrors whatsoever ; or else thou art not his Souldier . Lo , I have told you before , saith our Saviour ; see that you be not troubled . If you be not wanting to your Captain , your Captain will not be wanting unto us , he will neither leave us nor forsake us . In this one Look there is more then a look ; there is Charity labouring , Faith quickning , Hope reaching forth her hand . These three will lift up our heads above these terrors , into the highest heavens . We read in the book of Judges , that when Gideon set upon the Midianites , his army had nothing but empty pitchers and trumpets and lamps in their hands , yet was this enough to put to rout the whole army of the Midianites . Even thus doth our Captain Jesus Christ . For this army of Signs in heaven , in the sea , in the earth , Famine , Plague , Persecution , and the like , what are they but trumpets and empty pitchers to them that know them ? And if we fear them , and disorder and rout our selves , and run away , we are not of the army of God and of Gideon ; we are but Midianites .

I know these things may seem somewhat hard , nay peradventure utterly impossible , with men who are but dust and ashes . And I may be thought to speak tanquam in republica Platonis , non tanquam in face Romuli ; as if I were in a congregation of Saints , and not in an assembly of men subject to passions and so to sin ; ready to fear where no fear is , to grieve , for that which is pleasant and behoofful , to murmure where there is no cause , to hang down their heads like a bullrush when they should lift them up . Is my strength the strength of stones , or is my flesh of brass . Illi ferrum & aes triplex Job 6. 12. circa pectus . Is it possible we should see the world fall down about our ears , and not fear ? And in Famine , to hear our children calling for bread , when there is none to give them , and not be disconsolate . In time of Plague , to see our selves forsaken of all , and constrained perhaps to breathe out our last upon no better pillow then a stone or a turf , under no better canopy then the cold air , and be content ? Can we hear the noise of the whip , and the jumping of the chariots , and the prancing of the horses , nay the noyse and groans of dying men , who would but cannot dye , and be unmoved ? Can we see the tears of widows drilling down their cheeks , behold little orphans made miserable before they know what misery is , and deprived of their fathers before they could call them so ; can we see rivers of bloud , and have dry eyes ? Shall a whole Nation totter , and we stand fast ? Shall we have no safe place for our heads , and yet lift them up ? I know Compassion is a virtue ; and to weep with them that weep is a virtue : but then even when we weep , we must also rejoyce in tribulation . Nature may draw tears , but Grace must dry them . And can we do all this ? If we be truly Christians , we can , yea , in all these things 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , be more then conquerers ; not only be undaunted , but even joy in them ; as if now , and never till now , the world went as we would have it . What manner of men , think you , must they be who do thus ? Do not put on wonder : let not your hearts be troubled . For Truth it self will tell you that , if you be the men whose name you bear , if your eyes , your ends , your hopes , be fixed upon Christ alone , then are you all such persons as I have now described . Tantum distat a Christiano : Look how much every man is defective and wants in this kind of constancy and resolution , and so much he comes short and wants of his Christianity . What are all the pleasures , what are all the terrors of the world to him that is made one with Christ , who conquered also ? That therefore this doctrine may pass the better , which at first sight is but harsh and rugged , we will shew you , 1. That it is possible to arm our selves with such courage and resolution in common calamities ; 2. That it is great folly not to do so ; 3. What impediments and hindrances they be which overthrow our courage , and take our hearts from us ; when such things as these come to pass . And first of the Possibility of this doctrine .

And , if we look a little upon the manners of men , we shall find them very apt and ready to plead impossibilities and difficulties where their own practice confutes them . One saith he hath bought five yoke of Oxen , and Luke 14. must go to try them ; another saith he hath married a wife , and therefore he cannot , that is , he will not , come . Haec omnia dura invitis , saith Hierome ; All things seem hard and difficult to them who have no heart , which easily perswade themselves that cannot be done which they will not do . Go to a Rich man , and require him to lay down his wealth at the feet of the poor , or otherwise to sacrifice it to the service of Christ ; how hard a lesson is it ? how ill sounding ? how ridiculous and absurd a proposal ? What a fool will he soon conclude you be , and how prodigal of your good counsel , when you advise him to be wise ? But yet let some flattering Pleasure come in the way , or some spleen against his neighbour , or some suit of Law , or the like , or something that may forfeit his soul , and how easily shall all go to the final hazard and undoing of him and his posterity ? I see , he can do that for his spleen , his humor , his strumpet , which when he is to do for his God , he startles at as a thing impossible . In the one is his desire , in the other death . To gain the earth with him is to enter Paradise : but to knock and strive to enter into heaven is as terrible as hell it self . Go to one of our painted Gallants , and require him to do but what an ethnick man can do by no better help then the light of Nature , even rather to lay down his life then to do any thing that common Reason checketh at , and which a good man thinks a shame to speak of ; rather to leave off to be a man then in that shape and likeness to become a beast ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , how great a request do you move ? Yet how prodigal will he be of his life when his lust or some drunken quarrel shall call for it ? To fetch home a phansie , a fashion , a toy , we will go as far as France , or to the Indies , for a clod of earth , or a piece of glass ; but to visit the fatherless and widows , a Sabbath-days journey is too far . Every thing that may make us happy is hard ; but we never boggle at that which leadeth to destruction . Heaven with all its allurements , with all its beauty and glory , with all its everlastingness cannot win us to that which the glistering of a diamond , which the shadow of a trifle , which the dream of a shadow will do . God with all his beseeching and entreaties and rich promises shall not move us , when the cringe of a flatterer , the only tongue of a parasite , the smile of a courtesan shall carry us about the world . Nor is Glory so eloquent to prevail with us for it self as Shame and Dishonour is to our confusion . Nemo non in causa sua potest , quod in causam Dei dubitat ; Every man can do that in his own cause which he cannot in Christs ; can do that for the Devil which he cannot for himself . So that the reason , why many suppose this behaviour here required by our Saviour to be a matter so hard and difficult , is from the same error . Now to manifest the possibility of this , I think I cannot do it better then by an ensample : and I will give you one , and that too of an Ethnick man , that knew not Christ , nor his rich promises , nor ever heard of the Glory of the Gospel . There is a Hill in Italy , Vesuvius they call it , which is wont sometimes to break out in flames of fire to the terror and amazement of all that dwell nigh unto it . The first time , that in the memory of man it fired , was in the dayes of Vespasian the Emperor ; at which time it break forth with that horrible noise and cry , with that concussion and shaking of the earth near about it , with that darkness and stench , that all within the compass thought of nothing now but aeternam illam & novissimam mundo noctem , that Time was ended , and the World drawing to its dissolution . Pliny the great Philosopher , and the Author of the famous History of Nature , lay then at Misenum , not far off : and out of a desire he had to inform himself , he drew near to the place where he thought the fire begun . And in the midst of that horror and confusion so undaunted and fearless was he that he studied , and wrote , and eat , and slept , and omitted nothing of his usual Course . His Nephew , a great man afterwards with Trajane the Emperor , out of whom I take this history , reports of himself , that being there at that time , notwithstanding all the terrors and affrightments , yet he called for his books , he read , he noted , as if he had not been near the Mountain Vesuvius , but in his study and closet : and yet was at that time but eighteen years of age . I have been somewhat the more large , besides my custome , in opening the particulars of this story , because it is the very embleme , the very picture of the Worlds dissolution , and of the behaviour which is here enjoyned Christians when that time shall come . All these fearful signs which here our Saviour reckons up , if we but follow the ensamples which I have now proposed , ought not so much prevail with us as once to make us break our sleep ; much less to torment and amaze us ; much less to take off our chariot-wheels , to retard and cripple us in the ways of righteousness , and in that course which leads to bliss ; much less to drive us out of the way . What though there be signs in the Sun and Moon and Stars ? must my light therefore be turned into darkness ? must my Sun set at noon , and my Stars , those virtues which should shine in my soul , fall out of their sphere and firmament ? What though the Seas roar and make a noise ? shall my impatience be as loud ? And if they break their bounds , must I forget mine ? What though there be a Famine in the land ? must I make my Soul like unto the season , lean and miserable : What though there be wars and rumors of wars ? must I be at variance with my self , and bid defiance to the Lord of hosts ? What though my friends betray me ? must I deceive my self ? And if the World be ready to sink , must I fall into Hell ? Nay rather , when we see these things come to pass , when these signs come to pass , let it be that we do as occasion serves us : for God is with us in these signs : Let 1 Sam. 10. 7. them be as Signs to us , perswading signs : Let them have the commanding eloquence of Signs . Let them not be as Shadows , which pass by us , and we regard them not : but let them be signa significantia , signs that signifie something , signs to represent something to our Understanding , and so make an impression on our Wills . Let them be as the Voice of God calling us out of Egypt into a land flowing with milk and honey . Let them be as the Finger of God , and let us follow in that way the line is drawn . Let them be as a Hand of God , and let us humble our selves under his mighty hand . Let them be the great Power of God , and let us fall down and worship ; that so we may in his signis signari , with these signs be signed and sealed up to the day of our redemption . When the Sun is darkned , think it is to upbraid thy ignorance , and learn to learn to abound more in knowledge and all Phil. 1. 9. judgment . When the Moon shall be turned into bloud , think it is to chide thy Cruelty , and put on the bowels of mercy and loving kindness . When the Col. 3. 12. Stars fall from heaven , the professors of truth speak lyes , do thou stand fast in the faith . When the powers of heaven are shaken , when there be many sects and divisions , do thou keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace , Ephes. 4. 3. every mans brother , if he will ; and if he will not , every mans brother . If the Plague break in , do thou purge the plague of thine own heart , and keep thy self unspotted of the world . If there be a Famine in the land , do thou fill thy self with the bread of life as with marrow and fatness . If Banners be displaid as signs , as the Psalmist speaks , let them be as signs to thee to fight against thy lusts . When Parents and Brethren and Kinsfolk are false , do thou look up to thy Father in heaven , who is truth it self . When the World is ready to sink , do thou raise thy self with expectation of eternal glory . This constancy , this resolution , this behaviour Christ requires at our hands : and it will be in vain to plead impossibilities . For could these men under Nature go so far ? and cannot we , who are under Grace , do so much ? Could they think that nothing without them could hurt them ? and shall fear nothing more then that which is without ? Good God! how comes it to pass that Nature should bear more sway in a Pagan , then the Grace of the Gospel in a Christian ? Or have we disputed and trifled Grace out of its power ? or hath our abuse of Grace swallowed even Nature and Reason it self up in victory ? Tanti vitrum , quanti margaritum ? Were these men so rich that they could bestow so much upon a trifle , upon a toy of glass ? and cannot we , who are under Grace , give the same price for a rich Jewel . When Themistocles was leading forth his army , by chance he past by where Cocks were fighting , and shewing them to his Souldiers , Lo , saith he , these have neither altars , nor temples , nor children to fight for ; and you see how stoutly they fight for no other end but who shall be the conqueror . And to this end have I shewn unto you the examples of these Heathen men , as Themistocles did the Cocks to his Army . For these men nec aras habebant , neque focos . They were without Christ in the world , received not the promises , neither saw they them so much as afar off ; saw not so much as a glimering of that Light which lightneth every man that commeth into the world . Of immortality and eternal life they knew little : What was their hopes ? what was their end ? As for Heaven and Hell , their knowledge of them was small . Yet their stomach and courage was such that we , who are Christians , hear it only as a tale , and can scarcely believe it . Beloved , I speak this to our shame . For a great shame it is that Nature , defamed Nature , should more prevail with them then God and Grace with us ; that they by the power of their Reason should stand the strongest assault and shock of misery , and we run away affrighted from the very phansie and shadow of it . For to whom more is given , of them more shall be required . And if we Christians cannot look undauntedly when we see these things come to pass , how shall we behold the Heavens gathered together as a Scrowl , the Elements melted , and the Earth burnt up ? how shall we be able to hear the trump and the voice of the Arch-angel ? If we cannot look up , and lift up our heads when we see these things , with what face shall we meet our Saviour in the clouds ? Therefore as our Saviour in this Chapter exhorts , v. 19. let us possess our souls with patience : Let us withdraw our souls from our bodies , our minds from our sensual parts ; that what is terrible to the eye may have no such aspect on the mind , and what is dreadful to the ear may be as musick to the spirit , and what wounds and torments the body may not touch the soul ; that so we may be what we should be , our selves , our own Lords , in our own possession ; that Christ at his coming may find us not let out to Pleasure , not sold to this Vanity , nor in fetters under that fear , nor swallowed up in that Calamity , nor buried in the apprehension of those evils which shall come upon this generation ; but free in Christ , alive in Christ , active , making these our adversaries friends , these terrors blessings , these signs miracles ; by Christs power working light out of darkness , plenty out of famine , peace out of these wars ; that at his second coming he may find us looking up upon him , and lifting up our heads , waiting for the adoption , to wit , the redemption of our body , that so we may be caught up together in the clouds , and be for ever with the Lord in his everlasting Habitations .

I have done with the first Point , the Possibility of the Doctrine , That we must arm our selves with courage and resolution against common calamities . I proceed now to the second , That it is an argument of great folly not to do so . What is Folly but a mistake of things , a mistake of their nature , and of their end ? Not only a privative ignorance , which may be in children and simple men ; but , as the Hebrew Doctors call it , a possessive ignorance , possessing us with false opinions of things ; making us run counter to that light which Wisdome holdeth forth ; placing pleasure upon that which bringeth no delight , and horror upon that which rightly considered hath no terror at all ; transforming a Devil into an Angel of light , and turning Light it self into Darkness ; making the signs of Gods favor arguments of his wrath ; calling Afflictions and Calamities , which are the instructions of a Father , the blows of an Enemy ; and if Calamities be whips , making them Scorpions . An unwise man , saith the Psalmist , knoweth it not , and a fool doth not consider it : He doth not consider either the nature of these signs , or the end for which they are sent ; but is led by likeness and opinion . The natural man perceiveth not the things of Gods spirit , but they 1 Cor. 2. 14. are foolishness unto him ; as the words of fools , which signifie nothing : And therefore he puts what sense and meaning he please upon them , an interpreter the worst of a thousand . And so he finds not evils , but makes them ; makes them the mothers of his sorrow , which might be the helpers of his joy . When Reason and Religion are thrust out of the chair , the Passions full soon take their room , and dictate heavy things . Then either Fear shakes us , or Hope makes us mad ; either Grief pulls us down , or Joy transports us . One is afraid where no fear is , as the Psalmist speaks : another is struck dead at the sight of a statue : and to some even Joy it self hath been as fatal as a thunderbolt . All is from Opinion , the mistress of fools , which makes the shaking of a leaf as terrible as an earth-quake ; makes Poverty more sad , the Plague more infectious , Famine and the Sword more killing then they are . It is not the tooth of Envy , it is my Phansie bows me . It is not the reproach of an Enemy hurts me : It was but a word , and Opinion hath turned it into a stone . It is not an army of Sorrows , it is my own Phansie overthrows me . What St. Ambrose speaks of Poverty , is true of all those evils which are so terrible to flesh and bloud ; Non naturae paupertas , sed opinionis vis est , Poverty , as men call it , is but a phansie ; there is no such thing indeed . It is but a figment , an Idole : Men first framed it , and set it up , and trembled before it . As some Naturalists tell us that the Rainbow is oculi opus , a thing framed only by the eye , because there are no such colours on the cloud as we see ; so this difference of Rich and Poor , of Honorable and Dishonorable , of Wars and Peace , of Sorrow and Joy , is but a creature of the Eye . Did we not think the Souldier tremble , we had disarmed him : Did we not think Calamities grievous , we might rejoyce in them : Did not our Folly make these Signs terrible , we might then look up , and lift up our heads . We read of Smyndenides the Sybanite , that he was so extreamly dainty that he would grow weary at the sight of another mans labour , and therefore , when he sometimes saw a man labouring and painfully digging , he began to faint and pant , and desired to be removed : Quàm inclementer fodicat ! saith he , What a cruel and merciless digger is this ? So it is with us . Our delicate and tender education , our familiarity with the vanities of this world , have betrayed our Reason to our Sensual parts , so that we startle at every unusual object , tremble at every apparition , make War and Famine and Persecution more terrible then they are , sink under those signs and warnings from heaven at which we should look up , and lift up our heads . This our way uttereth our foolishness , as the Psalmist speaks . For is it not a great folly to create evils , to multiply evils ? to discolour that which was sent for our good , and make it evil ? to make that which speaketh peace and comfort unto us a messenger of Death ?

Let us now consider the Lets and Impedimens , or the Reasons why our hearts fail us at such sights as these . I shall at this time only remove a pretended one ; having formerly at large upon another Text , Matth. 24. 25. spoken of Self-love and Want of Faith , which are real and true hindrances of Christian Courage . The main pretense we make for our pusillanimity and cowardise is our natural Weakness , which we derived from our first parents , and brought with us into the world . For thus we lay every burden upon our fore-fathers shoulders , and Adam is arraigned every day as guilty of every defect , of every sin which is committed in the world . HOMOSUM ; I am a man , the child of Adam , born under wrath , is the common apology of the men of this world , when they fall into those sins which by watching over themselves they might , and which in duty they are bound to avoid . As we fell in Adam , so Adam falls in us , falls under fears and sorrows and calamities , unto the end of the world . And , if we observe it , this is so common a plea , and so stoutly and resolvedly stood to , as if men did rather boast of it then bemoan it ; and did rather make use of it as a comfort after sin , then fear it as a burden pressing and inclining to it . For the best excuse they have , the best plea they make , is , that they are the children of Adam . I deny not that we drew this Weakness from our first parents : I leave it not after Baptisme as subsistent by it self , but bound to the center of the earth , with the Manichee ; nor washt to nothing in the Font , with Pelagius : But yet ( and it will be worth your observation ) I take it to be a matter of difficulty to judge of what strength it is . I fear we make it stronger then it is ; and I am sure a Christian is bound by that religion which he professes to encounter and tame and crucifie it . For take us in our infancy , not altered à puris naturalibus , from that which we were made ; and then we do not understand our selves , much less the Weakness of our nature . And then take us in our years of discretion ; before we can come to discover it , Custome and Education , if good , hath much abated ; if evil , hath much improved the force of it , and our Sloth or Cowardise hath made it strong . A strange thing it is to see little children in their tender years prompt and witty to villany , as if they had gone to School to it in their mothers womb : and this we may impute to original Sin . But yet Divines generally consent that this original Sin is alike in all ; only it works more or less according to the diversity of mens tempers , as water runs swifter down a Hill then in a Plain . Again , even in children we see many good and gracious qualities , which by good education come to excellent effect . In pueri elucet spes plurimorum , saith Quintilian , quae cùm emoritur aetate , manifestum est non defecisse naturam , sed curam ; In children many times there is a beam and hope of Goodness , which , if not cherisht by Discipline , is dampt and darkned ; a sign that Nature was not wanting , but our Care . Now from whence this difference should come is not easie to discern : but this we cannot but observe , That be the strength of original Sin what it will , yet there is no man but is more wicked then the strength of any natural Weakness or primitive Corruption can constrain . For when evil Education , bad Enamples , long Custome , and Continuance in sin have bred in us a habit of sinning , cùm per secordiam vires , tempus , ingenium defluxere , naturae infirmitas accusatur , when through sloth and idleness , through luxury and distemper our time is lost , our bodies decayed , our wits dulled , we cast all the fault upon the Weakness of our Nature ; and our full growth in sin we attribute to that Seed of sin which we should have choaked .

Behold , the Signs in the heaven , the Sun darkned , the Moon turned into bloud ; See Poverty coming towards you as an armed man , Famine riding upon a pale horse , killing with Hunger and with Death ; Behold the Plague destroying , Persecution raging . I say , Behold these : for to this thou wert made , for this thou wert sent into the world , to behold and look up upon these ; to look up , and be undaunted ; nay , to look up , and leap and rejoyce . For thy whole life is but a preparation and Eve to this great Holiday of sights . If the eye of Nature be too weak , thou hast an unction from the Holy one , the unction of the blessed Spirit . For this end ● John 2. 20. Christ came into the world , for this end did he pour forth his grace , that he might refresh thy spirits , and clear thy eye-sight , that thou mayest look up , and lift up thy head . For tell me ; Why were we baptized ? why are we Christians ? Is it not to mortifie our earthly members and lusts , to dead in our selves the bitter root of Sin ? Is it not to spiritualize , to angelifie , ( I had almost said to deifie ) our Nature ? For we are no further Christians nisi in quantum caeperimus esse angeli , but so far forth as we are like unto the Angels ; I may add , and St. Peter doth warrant me , so far forth as we are made partakers of the Divine Nature . Were we not baptized into this faith ? I speak to Christians , whose life should be a continual warfare , not against Beasts , but our Passions , which , if they be not tyed up and held in with bitt and bridle , are as fierce and violent as they : And a strange kind of weakness it is to talk of Weakness when we are to fight ; for this is to yield before we strike a stroke ; not to be put to flight , but to run away . Nec mirum , si vincantur , qui jam victi sunt ; and it is no marvail if we fall by conquest , who in our own opinion are already overcome . Beloved , are we weak in Adam ? Yet are we strong in Christ . I can do all things , saith Paul , and suffer all things , through Christ that strengthneth me . Though many blemishes befall us by Adams sin in our understandings and in our wills , yet what we lost in Adam , that with infinite advantage is supplyed in Christ . Are we truly Christians ? Then these things , these fearful sights , cannot hurt us . If they hurt us , it is because we are not Christians . There is a fable that past amongst the Heathen , that Vulcan offended with the men of Athens , told them they should be all fools ; but Pallas , who favoured them , told them they should indeed be fools , but withall that their folly should not hurt them . Our case is not much unlike : For though the Devil hath made us fools and weak , yet Christ the Wisdome of the Father hath given us this gift , that this Weakness shall never hurt us unless we will . Fear not therefore : why should we fear ? Christ hath subdued our enemies , and taken from them every weapon that may hurt us . He hath taken the sting not only from Sin , but from those evils which are the natural issues and products of Sin . He hath made Afflictions joyful , Terrors lovely , that thou mayest look up upon them , and lift up thy head . I have done with this pretense of natural Weakness , and with my second part ; and I come now to the third and last , the encouragement our Saviour giveth ; For your redemption draweth nigh .

And when these things come to pass , when such terrible signs appear , this news is very seasonable . As cold waters to a thirsty soul , so is the promise Prov. 25. 25. of liberty to those who have been in bondage all their life long , under the fear Heb. 2. 15. of those evils which shew themselves unto us , and lead us captive , and keep us in prison , so that we cannot look up . When we are sold under Sin , and by that sold under fears of Calamities , of Death , of Hell ; when the Heaven loures upon us , and Hell opens its mouth ; then a message of Redemption is a word fitly spoken , a word upon its wheels , guided and directed by art , and is as delightful as apples of Gold with pictures of silver . It is that Peny in the evening which makes the Labourer bear the burden all the day . How will that Souldier fight who heareth of a reserve and party at hand to aid him ? How will the Prisoner even sing in his chains , when news is brought that his ransome is paid , and his redemption near at hand ? It is a liberty to be told we shall be free : And it is not easie to determine whither it more affect us when it is come , or when it is but in the approach , drawing nigh ; when we are free , or when we are but told that shortly we shall be so . And indeed our Redemption is actus individuus , one entire act ; and we are redeemed at once from all ; though the full accomplishment of it be by degrees . When we are redeemed from Sin , we are redeemed from the Grave , redeemed from the fear of Death ; redeemed from all fear of these fearful Signs and Apparitions , redeemed by our Captain , who besides the ransome he paid down , hath taught us to handle the weapons of our warfare , hath proposed a crown , hath taught us to shake off our fetters and break our bonds asunder . For to this end , he paid down the ransome : and , if we do it not , we are not redeemed , no not when we are redeemed . It is enough for him to open the prison-doors : Certainly it is our duty to come out , and not still to love our fetters , because our Redeemer hath led Captivity captive . But we may say truly of this first Redemption what some in St. Paul said falsly of the second Resurrection , This Redemption is past already , past on our Redeemers side , nothing left undone by him : only it remains on ours to sue out our pardon , and make our Redemption sure . Nor is it any derogation from our Saviours merit that we have a part in this work . For would we have our Saviour redeem them from prison who will not go out ? free them from sin who are resolved to continue in sin because this grace hath abounded , and will be more slaves because they had leave to be free ? or seal up their Redemption who will not sue it out ? But now this is but redemptio elevans , as the Schools speak , a Redemption which lifts us up from our former low condition , and puts us in a fair possibility of enlargement ; nay in a certainty , if we our selves hinder not . But yet when it hath its proper and natural working , when we do not ponire obicem , when we hinder it not , it works according to the capacity of the subject . It works out Sin , yet leaves us sinners ; it regulates our Passions , let leaves us subject to them ; it works out Fear , yet leaves us fearful . The Old man is crucified , but not yet dead ; the Passions are subdued , but not quite extinguished . The Inward man dare look Death and all the terrors of the world in the face , but the Outward man turns away from such sight . And therefore there is another Redemption that they call praeservantem , which settles and establishes us , preserves us in an Angelical state , free from Sin , from Passions , from Fear . And when this comes , we shall sin no more , hope no more , fear no more : All sins shall be purged out , all hope shall be fulfilled , all tears shall be wiped from our eyes , and all trembling from our hearts . And this is the Redemption here meant , the only trust of the Christian , the expectation of the faithful , the water of life to refresh them in this valley of tears , the only cordial for the passion of the Heart , the only rock for Hope to anchor at , the true fountain from which the waters of Comfort and Salvation are to be drawn . But then I must tell you , this Fountain of comfort is like the pool of Bethesda ; it is not medicinable till an Angel hath stirred it . For our own carnal Imaginations , may be as so many evil Angels to trouble it ; and then we draw bitterness and poyson instead of comfort . For , a little to change St. Paul's words , Why should it be thought a thing incredible , why should it be thought a thing desirable with some men that the world and all that is in the world should have an end ? Why should they desire the coming of Christ ? Should he come to meet the Hypocrite with his form of Religion , his feigned sighs and cheating grones , as he is acting his part , and playing Judas in the shape of Peter ? Should he meet Balaam when he is not so wise as his Ass ? or Jonah , when he runs from Niniveh to Tarsus ? Should he come to us at midnight , when we are in our beds of lust and sensuality ? Can there be any comfort to the wicked in that fire which devours before him , or in that tempest which is round about him ? But if we be qualified as we ought to be , if we repent of our sins , and bring forth fruits worthy of amendment of life ; if we keep our loins girt , and our lamps burning ; if we be doing our Masters will , and waiting for his coming ; then the signs of his coming , that fill the hearts of others with dread , will fill ours with joy . Then when the ungodly shall cry to the mountains to cover them , we shall look up with confidence , and lift up our heads : for our redemption draweth nigh .

The Twelfth SERMON , Preached before the HONORABLE JUDGES AT AN ASSIZES HELD AT Northampton . ROM. XIII . 4. He beareth not the sword in vain .

THE words are St. Pauls . And it sounds well when an Apostle blows the trumpet before the Magistrate , and proclaims his power . But as the sound was good , so was it now high time it should be heard . Christianity was at the bar , and the Gospel arraigned of high Treason . Christ and Caesar were set at odds ; and , as if his Disciples had forsaken him to follow Judas the Acts 5. Galilaean ; and of Christians were turned Gaulenites , the rumor was , that this new doctrine endangered the State , and one Kingdome was set up to ruin another ; and the knitting of a Church was the untying of civil Society . This was one of the Devils first assaults against the Church : And he made it not but upon advantage . For a sect of people there were , who as Josephus saith , would have 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , no Lord but God , no King but the King of Kings ; and all this under the fair pretense of maintaining their priviledge and freedom . They would have heard with delight St. Paul speak of a quiet and peaceable life : but his 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Be subject , was a word which bored their ears , and changed their countenance . What ? sell their freedom to buy their peace , and after an entail of Liberty yield their neck to the yoke of Subjection ? This was not for the honor of a Galilaean , or a Jew , of those who had Abraham to their father . This coat of Disobedience you see was made up by others ; but some said Christianity did wear it . Therefore the Apostle here presents her in an humble posture , upon the knee , bowing to the Sword , and kneeling to Authority . And he proceeds like a perfect Methodist . In the former Chapter he laid open and unfolded 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that large body of Philosophy , those numerous precepts of mutual conversation . He levelled the hills , and raised the valleys ; he disarmed men of all instruments of private revenge ; and he points in this Chapter to the higher Powers , and enjoyeth Loyalty and Obedience . And having laid his ground work , and drawn that first and fundamental axiome , That all Power and Jurisdiction is from God , he brings in the Magistrate 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ●● a souldier , with a Sword in his hand ; and the motto is , NON FRUSTRA : For he beareth not the sword in vain .

We no sooner hear of a Sword , but we think of Power . When the Angel held one at the East-side of Paradise , it was to keep the way of the tree of life . When Abraham drew one for recovery of his Nephew Lot , he had jus gladii , the power of the Sword ; and so had David , when he smote his enemies on the hinder parts : Do we hear the Word called a sword . It is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , mighty in operation . Is the Spirit a sword ? That Sword is power . So saith St. Ambrose , Spiritus , gladius verbi ; verbum , gladius Spiritûs , The Word is the sword of the Spirit , and the Spirit the sword of the Word ; both are Swords , both powerful . The Sword was insigne magistratûs , an ensign and badge of autority , put into the hand of Kings and Emperours when they put on their robes , their purple , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , those Princely and peculiar vestiments , to work obedience in the people , and to win reverence from the subject , nè orederentur esse privati , saith Aquinas , lest the people should mistake them , and esteem them as private men , as fit to feel a sword as to bear one .

Not to be too anxious in cutting out our way and making our passage ; the Civilians will enform us that the word Sword is not taken meerly pro telo , for a material sword , but that it includes merum imperium , the Right of drawing the sword , that vindicative and coactive Power , pressing on , and breaking through the strongest opposition , battering down tumults , sedition , disorders , and making way to the peace of the weal-publick .

Well then , we see , a coercive and restraining power , a Sword there is . For the Almighty teacheth not Man only by his immediate Wisdome , nor guideth him alone by his invisible finger , but with a finger hath drawn out many visible copies of his words and works , that Man may even see and feel and handle those instructions which may make him wise ; so neither doth he govern the world alone by his immediate unapprehensible Power , by that fulness and infiniteness which he is , but he also derives a power , conveys an instrument , le ts fall a Sword , to be employed in the very eyes of men . But , in the next place , a Sword is but a dead instrument , able of it self to produce no effect : all you find in it is an aptness and disposition to obey the force and virtue of the agent . Goliah's sword , if Abimeleck wrap it up in a linnen cloth behind the Ephod , what is it ? what doth it ? But let David take it to pursue the Philistines , there is none to that . Therefore St. Paul not only shews the Sword , but also points out to the hand that bears it ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Prince , the Judge , the Magistrate , he is the Swords-man .

But now the Sword is in the Hand , what must our expectation wait for ? Doth it come forth against an adversary ? or will it strike at randome ? Omne instrumentum disponitur ad virtutem agentis , say the Schoolmen , The instrument obeys the agent . A Sword it is , and there is much in the Hand that bears it . He may latch it in the side of Innocency , and wound Justice her self : Naboth may lose his vineyard , and life too , John Baptists head go off , and St. Paul be smitten against the law . I say , the Sword neither hurts nor helps : It is the Hand that doth it . We must then , in the next place , fix up the Motto , engrave St. Pauls NON FRUSTRA upon the Sword ; and then strike he must , or else he doth but bear ; and in the right place too , and our fear is vanisht .

We may now behold the Magistrate placed as he should be , in his proper place , in the midst between the Offender and the Innocent , looking upon both . To the good the word is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , It is a Sword , but fear not : thy innocency hath made him that beareth it both thy friend and champion : But if thou hast done evil , the dialect is altered , and he speaks in thunder , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Fear , it is a sword , and terrible . So then we have here wrapt up the Power and the Subject ; the Instrument , the Agent , and the End ; Autority granted , confined , and directed ; a Sword committed , born , and used . The parts then are these , and by these lines we are to pass . First , we must place the Sword , and fasten it too , in its proper place , the hand of the Magistrate ; Secondly , we must joyn the NON FRUSTRA to the Sword : and that will bring us in the Third place to the most proper and peculiar work of the Magistrate , to his prime care , That he beareth it not in vain . Of these in their order .

He beareth the sword : That is his Autority , his Commission . For of God it cannot in strict terms and properly be said that He beareth a sword . God is Omnipotency , and Aeternity , and Power ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a sea of essence , saith Nazianzene , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a sea of power ; but the Magistrate is the channel and conveyance of the rivulet . God giveth the Power , the Magistrate hath it ; God lendeth the Sword , the Magistrate bears it . Autoritas dicitur de diplomate principis manu obsignato ; Autority presumes a Commission . And though Ambition ( as one observeth ) hath presented this Power under divers forms and complexions , of Popularity , Aristocrasy and Monarchy , which is the fairest and compleatest piece , yet the Commission and seal is still the same . For behold him who beareth this Sword , and is invested with this power , and you shall see him sealed , and that Divinâ manu , with the very finger of God . The Kings broad Seal , what is it . The matter is wax ; a small piece of money will buy a greater quantity : But having the image and superscription of my Prince , it is either my Pardon , or my Liberty , or my Charter , or my Possessions . So the Magistrate , what is he ? Behold the Man , my fellow , dust and ashes , of as near alliance to the Worm and Corruption as my self : Nay , behold a sinful man , of as near kin to Adam as my self : And yet he awes me , and he bounds me , and he keeps me in on every side . One monosyllable of his turneth me about , and is my motion . If he say , Go , I got If he say , Come , I come : If he say , Do this , I do it . For he is sealed , and hath the image and superscription of the Deity . And as we say that Laws are numismata reipublicae , the Coin , the Money , in which we may behold the face and the livelyhood of a Common-wealth : so is the Magistrate numisma Dei , a piece of Coin taken out of Gods Mint . We need not ask whose image or superscription he hath ; for he hath Gods : And though he bear the Sword , yet he had it from Him who is said to bear all things . And Heb. 1. 3. being thus armed , like to God himself , he keeps every wheel in its due motion , every man in his right place ; the master on horsback , and the servant on the ground : and where Impudence encreaseth , he checks it with a , Friend , sit down lower . He keeps the hands of the ungodly from the white hairs of the aged , and the teeth of the oppressor from the face of the widows . He lays his hand upon the orb of that Common-wealth , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that it move not incomposedly and unsteddily . And in this he doth give unto God those things which are Gods , his own coin , his own image , not clipt , not dasht , not defaced ; a powerful Just man , the fairest picture and representation of his Master .

But though God hath conveyed his Power , and given his Sword , yet he hath not done it to every man upon the same terms ; not to Joab the Captain of the Host as to David the King ; not to Shaphan the Chancellour as to Josiah on the throne ; not to Gallio the Deputy as to Caesar the Emperour ; not to the under Officers as to the lower Justices ; not to the Justices as to the Judge ; not to the Judge as to the King . Non variatur praerogativa autoritatis aut differentiae numero illorum quibus est concredita potestas , That the prerogative of Authority is the same in all , that a Burgomaster of Amsterdam shall stand in competition with the greatest Monarch for Right and Soveraignty , is a doctrine which trips at the very chair of Majesty , and calls for Parity and Popularity . But let it dy , and be buried with the Author , that man of contention ; or if not , let it breathe in its own coast , and be a beyond-sea-doctrine still . Here is no such equalizing of Powers , no print or foot-step thereof in the Apostle . For see here even an order of Order , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . These Powers are ordinatae , not permitted , but ordained ; 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , subordinate , under God ; 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Marshalled , set in order ; constituted , decreed , subordinate , ordained . Here rota in rota , a wheele within a wheele , and a sphere within a sphere . God , the first Orbe , the great compassing Wheele ; the Kings is absolutum Dominium , absolute under God ; yours , concreditum & delegatum , dependant , and by way of delegation . Mutuato splendetis lumine , you spangle in your spheres like stars , but it is with a borrowed light : and he who holds you now in his right hand , may let you fall , and fix up others . For he it is who by you conveyeth and lets forth himself to his subjects , his house is the tribunal while you are sitting . When you bespeak the Jury , the Charge is his ; and when you give sentence , he condemns the guilty . Therefore Nazianzene , where he tells us that Magistrates are the very image of God , thus sorteth he ; the King , a complete peece ; the middle sort , but half-pictures ; the lowest like those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , drawn but to the shoulders .

But yet again , all carry the image of God , and every one beareth the sword , though delivered some at the second or third hand , as they say . And God hath both appropriated and fastned it . No private man may be a swords-man . If Peter will be drawing to lop off an eare , Christi patientia in Malcho vulneratur , Saint Tertullian ; Christs Patience is wounded by Peters impatience , and he must hear , Put up thy sword into its place , for he that draws Matth. 26. the sword shall perish by the sword . God puts the sword out of our reach . For Revenge is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an imbred desire , kindled in the very heart of Man by Nature . And to that lesson and dictate of our first Mother , Vim vi repellere , To defend our selves , and to drive back force by violence , we have added 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Thirst and pursuit of retaliation . And this Lesson the World hath long since taken out and digested , and reads it in its own corrupt edition , and calls it Justice . Esau will kill his brother Jacob ; for should he have my birth-right ? Every male of the Shechemites must fall under the sword ; for should Shechim abuse our sister as a whore ? But our later and more gallant times have commented , and glossed upon this Lesson , have drawn out leges 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a method of Quarrelling , and an art of Murder . And they proceed sub formata , under a set form ; as legally as you use to do in your Courts of Justice . Every hand with them is fit for a sword ; every arm , an arm of Justice ; the right Sword is not thought on , till they feel it . Further yet ; as God hath appropriated the Sword , to make it the Magistrates , so hath he fastend it , to keep it in his hand . No discontent shall move it , no argument stir it , no murmuring sheath it ; no time , no calling , no liberty free or priviledge from the power of it . It may be drawn at Jerusalem as well as at Athens , in the Land of Jewry as well as in streets of Ashkelon , amongst the faithfull as well as amongst unbelievers : Let them accuse one another , may be the voice of a Christian as well as of the Acts 19. Town-Clerk of Ephesus .

A Generation there are that would long since have wrencht the Sword out of the Magistrates hand , and broke it . A Generation that had raised themselves to such a pitch of Perfection that they could be wicked , and not guilty ; to such a health of spiritual goodness , that sickness it self might be their health ; to such a constitution and temper of Holiness , that no airasie , no distemper could alter it : like those Beguniae in the Historian , or those Indian Gymnosophists , who by a few years austerity had purchased an age of licentiousness and luxury . They were now become 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , more regular then the Rule , more exact than the Law , more bright then Light , above the Command . Will you hear them in their own Dialect ? A Hezekias is no better than a Sennacherib ; a Constantine as unsufferable as a Julian ; every Magistrate a tyrant , and every tyrant a Divel . What need of other guide then the Spirit ? of other Court than Heaven ? of other lash than that of Conscience ? Speak we of Tribulation ? It is their portion . Injurie is a benefit . Take away their cloak , they punish it with the gift of a coat ; Meum and Tuum are harsh words in the Church . They are almost of the mind of the Corpocraliars in Clement , who because the Ayre was common , would have their Wives so too . Ridiculous men ! who not onely mistake their God , but would teach him . It is true ; rather than thou shouldst take the Sword into thy own hand , let thy Eye go out , thy Coat be lost , and thy right Hand be cut off : But let the Magistrate strike , and the blow is not a blow of Revenge , but of Justice . Morality teacheth us to do no wrong : That which Religion addeth is no more but this , to keep our mind in an habitual preparation of Suffering it . And thus the Schoolmen and Casuists out of Augustine interpret those precepts of our Saviour , That we ought then to retain the heart of a friend when we have taken upon us the name of an adversary , and so compose our selves that we should chuse rather to loose our Right than our Charity . But Charity seeketh not her own . A good Argument not onely to keep me from the Tribunal , but to drive me also from the Church . And yet he who bid me cast my bread upon the waters , hath prescrib'd me also that form of prayer , Give us this day our dayly bread . It is true ; Regulae Caritatis latiùs patent quàm juris , The rules of Charity are of a larger extent than those of the Law . If thou owest a hundred measures of oyle , Charity takes the bill , and sets down quickly , and writes Fifty : And if thy vessels be quite empty , she cancels the bill , and teareth the Indenture . But it is as true too , that Charity begins at home , and he that provides not for his own family is worse than an Infidel . These precepts of our Saviour non consistunt in puncto , are not to be read in that narrow compass they lye , but have their certain latitude . Let my Charity shine forth like the Day , but not to darken the lustre of Justice . Let her stretch out her hand to the furthest , but not to reach at the Sword of the Magistrate . And as they mistake our Saviour , so would they take upon them to teach him . A trick the world hath long since got , To be angry with Gods Providence , To teach his Wisdom , To guide his Hand , and as he in Photius , To put their own shape upon the Deity , and to confine and limit God to their own phansie . If that be thwarted , the most blessed Peace is but tumult , the most gracious Government tyranny , and Order it self disorderly . Why should Christ become man ? say some . He might have satisfied 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with his bare naked Divinity . If he will take flesh , and redeem , he may do that , and not satisfie , say others . And saith the Cardinal , God had not dealt discreetly , if he had not establish'd a visible and infallible , a universal Catholick , and yet particular , Church . And if God be Judge of all men and Deus ultionum , what need then 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , these counsel-tables and seats of judgment , and the dread and horror of an earthly tribunal ? What use of a Sword in the hand of a Magistrate .

I have grappled , you see , with a mean adversary ; but I found him in my way , and could not well balk him ; I leave him to that censure of the Philosophers on those who should deny either Worship to God or Love to Parents , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , He should smart under the Authority he denies , and be confuted with the edge of that Sword he questions .

But we shall meet with Gyants indeed . Not a Sword you see but they snatch at . If they meet with two at once , Ecce duo gladij , both theirs : And they take them , and put them into the hand of that Man of pride ; and he fights against Authority , Sword and Bearer , King and Caesar , Christ and all . They read these words as we do : And this Sword is secular Power with them too . But then this Power is a subordinate and dependent Power ; this Sword is a sword at will , as we say ; a sword which like Josephs brethrens sheaves to his sheaf , must bow and make obeysance to the high Priests Sword . And the Magistrate is left palsy-strucken , and the Sword tottering in his hand : a breath , a frown of the supreme Head disarms him . But oh the artifice and slight of Satan ! The Conclusion is , He must be disarmed ; but the first Proposition is , He beareth his sword . For by these degrees and approaches they reach at it . The First step is , He beareth the sword ; and therefore he must be able to wield it ; and therefore he must have some Master of defence , the Pope forsooth , to instruct him ; and therefore he must guide his arme by his direction , and strike as he prescribes : If he misplace his blow , he must be corrected ; if he be incorrigible , he must be disarmed . There is the last , Syllogismus verè destructivus , a bloudy destructive Syllogisme . Inauguration is the Medium , & Deposition inferred . This is a Chain to bind Kings in , and the first link is Power . Here is a Building ruin'd by the Foundation which should sustain it , and the Magistrate disabled by his Commission . Thus hath the yielding Devotion and forward Piety of some Christian Emperours warmed and animated the Bishops of Rome , and made them active to question that Power which once did shelter them ; and then the Sword became their port and argument which was before their terror . For look back , and behold them temporibus malis , when persecution raged ; they were no Sword-men then . You might see them in another posture ; a borer in their eyes , a whip on their backs : no Sword , but what was drencht in their own bloud , and their Crown was Martyrdom . Or look and behold S. Paul here pleading the right of this Magistrate , upholding that Sword which he was to feel , adoring that Power he sunk under , and bowing to Majesty when the throne was Nero's . It is the gloss of a Jesuite upon the Apostle ; but he glosseth too upon that Gloss : Ecclesia non subvertit Regna ; The Ephod and the Robe suit well : The Church thwarts not secular Power , nor is one sword drawn to break another ; but both together glitter in the face of Disobedience , to strengthen the pillars of a Kingdom . Let then both swords be drawn together , the one to pierce through the heart , the other , to drink the Luke 35. 2. bloud of the wicked , the one , to cut out those causarias partes animae , those Deut. 32. maims and bruises of the soul ; the other , to cut off the ungodly from the earth : the one , to hang over 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that laboratory and work-house of the soul , that no Babel be erected there , no curious piece of guile shap'd there , no refuse silver come there , no works of iniquity set up there ; but then Vengeance lying at the door , and the other sword ready , if they come forth and appear , to abolish them , to pull down that Babel , to break those carved pieces , to dash those plots , to demolish these works : The one , to guide us 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in things pertaining to God ; the other , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in matters of this present life .

We have now put the Sword into the Magistrates hand . It is now time to proceed , and place the NON FRUSTRA upon the sword . Having setled Authority in its proper subject , our next task must make good , that it is not there in vain . Our second part .

Those actions which are irregular , and swarve from the rule , the Philosopher calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , odious , frivolous actions , to no purpose : Nec quid , nec quare ; No reason can be given why they should be done . Adultery to night is pleasure ; to morrow , my disease . Murder is now my thirst ; anon , my melancholy . Here is a Frustrà indeed : I am more vain than Vanity it self . But the Quare ? the Wherefore ? to me , and you have silenced me . But those things which are laid and driven to a right end will admit a Quare ? Wherefore the sword ? Wherefore Authority ? The Apostle is ready , and meets you with an answer , That we may lead a quiet and 1 Tim. 2. 2. peaceable life in all godliness and honesty ; That every man may sit under his own vine , and under his own fig-tree ; that the poor man may keep his lamb , and the jawbone of the oppressor be broken ; that Peace may shadow the Common-wealth , and Plenty crown it . There is scarce one Quare ? resolved with so many Answers . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Basil , This is not a matter of jest , but earnest . For would you have divers Families drawn into one body politick ? This is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the very bond and tye of Society . Would have the Laws kept ? This is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a watch , a guard set upon the Laws . Nay , would you have any Laws at all ? This is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Law-giver . For , as Julian calls the Law 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Child of Justice , so may we call it the child of Authority . For as Authority nurseth and defendeth and strengthneth it , so it was the Midwife which brought it forth , and the Mother too which conceived it . When it was in semine , in principiis , when it lay hid in the lap of the Law natural , Authority framed and shaped and limb'd it ; gave it voice , and taught it to speak its own language , but more audibly ; declared , expounded , amplified it , and was its interpreter . Will you have a Church ? Authority gathers it . Would you have the Church continue so , a Church still , and not fall asunder into Schisms , nor moulder into Sects , nor crumble into Conventicles ? Authority is the juncture , the cement , the Contignation , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the pale , the fence , the wall of the Church keeping it so , that neither the Wolf break in , nor the Sheep get out ; that neither Heresie undermine the bulwarks without , nor Schisme raise a mutinie within . Such an accord and sympathy there is between the Secular and Spiritual Sword , between the Church and body Politick , that if the one be sick , the other complains 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Socrates , at the same time . If the Common-wealth swell into tumors and seditions , you may see the marks and impressions thereof in the Church : and if the Church be ulcerous and impostumate , you may see the symptomes and indications in the body Politick . So that now we may well render 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , non sine causa : There is good cause , good reason , that a Sword should be held up , that Authority be established . And to this Non frustrà we may add 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Authority is not onely not in vain , but profitable . And we may now ask not onely Quare ; but , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; not onely , Wherefore ? but , What profit is there ? And we can answer and resolve with the Apostle , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Much every manner of way . For let Cities talk of Charters , and Tradesmen of gain ; let Scholars speak of learning , and Noble-men of honour ; let the Church sing of peace to the Common-wealth , and the Common-wealth echo it back again to the Church . Attribute these to what you will ; this is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , this is all . This is Isaiahs nayle in a sure place , on which hand both Laws , and Church , and Common-wealth . If you but stir it , you endanger ; if you pluck it out and remove it , you batter all . And this argument ab utili , quite shuts up Frustrà . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , That which is profitable is good : and that which is good is not in vain . But to step one degree further ; To this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 we may add 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Necessity to Profit . Profit may lead me , Necessity chaineth me . I run and meet with Profit , but I am forced and pluckt by Necessity . And if it be not onely well it should be so , but be so as that it cannot be otherwise , then is it not in vain . It not Profit , yet Necessity excludes Frustrà . And necessary Authority is , not so much on Gods part as on ours . For , as Aquinas speaks of the natural Temple , Propter Deum non oportuit Templum fieri , God had no need of a Temple made with hands , but Man had need that God should have one : so God could have redeemed us by his own immediate absolute Soveraignty ; he could have govern'd us without a Sword ; but it was not good for Man to be so govern'd . We were gone away from God , and set our selves at such a distance that it was not good he should come too nigh us . And therefore St. Basil calls it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his love to Man , that as he had drawn Heaven as a curtain , and made it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the veile of his Divine Majesty , so in all his operations and proceedings upon Man he is still Deus sub velo , God under a veile ; hidden , but yet seen ; in dark characters , but read ; silent , and yet heard ; not toucht , but felt ; still creating the world by conserving it . I say , Necessity hath put the Sword into the hand . For God appears through other veils , by other Mediums , but we hide the face , and will not see that light which flasheth in our eyes . He is first sub velo naturae , under the veile of natural impressions , speaking to us by that Law which Tertullian calls legem naturalem , and naturam legalem , and speaking in us , but at a distance , preventing us with anticipations , dropping on us , and leaving in us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , those common notions , and practick principles . To love God , hate evil , To worship God , and the like , domi nascuntur . To do as I would be done to , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it is my contemporary , my domestick , born and bred with me . I received it with my first breath ; and it will live in me , though I attempt to strangle it ; it will live with me , though I would chase it away . Non iniquitas delebit , saith Augustine : These things are written with the finger of God , and Sin it self cannot blot them out . But though I cannot blot them out , I may enterline them with false glosses , though I cannot race them out , I may deface them . My Envy may drop on them , my Malice blur them , and my Self-love misplace them . On this foundation of Innocence I may build in bloud ; on this ground-work of Justice I may set up Oppression . I may draw false consequences from these true principles : I must do good ; I do so to my self when I wrong my neighbour : I must shun evil ; I think I have done that when I run from goodness . Like those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Aristotle those stiff and stubborn defendants , to what is first proposed , we easily yield assent ; but at last 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , we hunt-out tricks and evasions : We are all Sophisters , but it is to cheat and delude our selves . And now if we read these principles in the worlds corrupt edition , if unjust man may be the Scholiast , thus they lye : see , and read them : INJURIAM FECISSE , VIRTUTIS EST ; to do injury is vertue ; To oppress is power ; Craft is police ; Murder is valour , Theft is frugality ; The greatest Wisdom is , not to be wise to salvation .

And therefore , in the second place , God presents himself again under another Medium , sub velo legis scriptae . He would be read as it were in tables of stone . And in these tables he writes and promulges his Law Moral . Will this prevaile ? No , he must back and strengthen it with the Judicial . Sin must be brought forth , and seen in its own shape , Murder wallowing in the bloud she spilt , Fornication in a whitesheet with shame upon her forehead , Blasphemy with its brains dasht out , Idleness starved , Theft sub hasta , brought to publick sale , and condemned to slavery . But under the Gospel Hell it self is unlockt , her mouth open'd , and all her terrors displaied . Who would now think that this were not enough to stay our fliting humour , to quell our raging temper , to bind our unlimited desires ? Who would not think that this two-edged sword of the Word would frustrate and annihilate all other swords ? If I had set my face to Destruction , this should turn me , if I were rushing forward , this should stay me .

But , alass ! we break through these repagula , we run over these sufflamina . God speaks in us by the Law of Nature , but we hear him not . He writes to us by way of Letter and Epistle in his Divine Law , but we answer him not . Besides this , we too often reject and reverberate his gracious instructions and incitements by the wise counsel and examples of good men . In both God beckneth to us . It is now high time he speak to us through a vaile of Bloud , that he put the bridle into our mouths . If Hell will not fright us , then we must hear those more formidable words , as S. Augustine saith , more formidable to humane ears , Occido , Proscribo , Mitto in exilium , Death , Proscription , Banishment . Tribuno opus , & carcere : Lay the whip upon the fools back . For to be thus question'd many times prevails more then a Catechisme .

Therefore Theodorete calls this Sword , this Power , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a most catholick and soveraign remedy ; and Luther , necessarium corruptae naturae remedium , a necessary remedy for weak decayed nature . When the Fear of God boundeth us not , imponit timorem humanum , saith Irenaeus , he aws us with the Sword and humane Authority . When the destillation of his dew and small rain will not soften us , down came his hailstones and coals of fire to break us . A remedy it is our disposition and temper looks for and requires . For we are led for the most part by the Sense . We love and fear at a distance . And as the object is either nigh or remote , so it either affects or frights us . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The greatest evils , and so the greatest goods too , are least sensible . Villam malumus quam caelum , saith Augustine , We had rather have a Farme , a Cottage , than Paradise , and three lives in that than eternity in Heaven . We had rather be rich than good , mighty then just . Saint Ambrose gives the reason ; For , saith he , quis unquam justitiam contrectavit ? Who ever saw Virtue , or felt and handled Justice ? And as our Love , so stands our Fear : Caesarem magis timemus quam Jovem ; We fear Man more than God , and the shaking of his whip than the scorpions of a Deity , A Dag at hand frights more than great Ordinance from the Mount , and a Squib than a crack of Thunder . He that could jest at a Deity trembled at a Thunder-bolt . The Adulterer saith Job , watcheth for his twilight ; as if God had his night . And , The ungodly lyeth in wait to spoil the poor , saith David . He seeketh a day and an opportunity , as if God had not one every moment ; and he doth it secretly , as if that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that revenging Eye , were put out . And though he stand as a butt for Gods Vengeance , and a mark for his arrow , and fuel for his fire , the very centre wherein all Gods curses may meet ; yet he cleaves to his sin , he hugs and embraces it . Would you have a separation and divorce made ? It is more probable a Whip should do it then a Sermon , an Officer then a Preacher , a Warrant then an Anathema . You must sue for it in the Court of Justice , not in the Church . So sensual , so senseless many are . Therefore the Holy Ghost in Scripture presents and fashions himself to the natural affections of men . And that we may not turn bankrupts , and sport or sell away our livelihood and estate in Heaven , and so come to a spiritual nothing , to bring us to the other world , he tells us of something which we most fear in this . To those who love liberty , he speaks of a prison , a jaylor , an arrest . Those who dare not step into the house of mourning , he tells of weeping and gnashing of teeth ; and to those tender constitutions who can endure no smart , he threatens many stripes . NON SINE CAUSA GLADIUM , is the servants and hirelings argument ; and many times it convinces and confutes him , it dulls and deads the edge of his affection . It destroys Murder in anger , quenches Adultery in the desire , sinks Pride in the rising , binds Theft in the very purpose ; and , ut seta filum , as the bristle draweth the thread , it fits and prepares a way for Charity and Religion it self .

We may now then engrave this NON FRUSTRA upon the Sword , and settle it as an undoubted conclusion , That Autority was not granted in vain . Unless you will say that the Law was in vain , and Reason in vain , and Man in vain : unless you will Put the FRUSTRA upon the Church , the World , Hell , Heaven it self . And if the Sword be not in vain , then in the next place , by an easie illation the Duty of the Magistrate will follow , which is , Operam fortem & diligentem dare , as the form runs , Strenuously to contend 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , nè frustrà , that he bear not the Sword in vain . My third and last part .

There is no danger of a frustrà but here . For potestas habet se indifferenter ad bonum & malum , saith Aquinas ; Autority , though directed and ordained to good alone , yet stands in an even aspect and indifferency to both good and evil . In it is the life of the innocent , and in it is the destruction of the wicked ; and it may be the flourishing of the wicked , and the death of the innocent . The Magistrate may ( as the Devil is said to do ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , invert the order of things , put shame upon Integrity , and security upon Sin . The Sword is an instrument ; and he may use it as he will : and so of a fiery and sharp sword he may make it gladium ficulneum , a wooden and unprofitable sword ; and then the drunkard may reel in the streets , and injury may rage at noon-day for all that ; or pictum gladium , no better then a Sword in a painted cloth , only to be lookt upon . He may use it , not like a Sword , but like David's rasour , to cut deceitfully : or he may let it rust in his hands , that , as that Lawyer complained of the Sword in his time , it may be fit for nothing but to cut a purse , let out a bribe .

Thus it may be . But our task is to keep off this Frustrà from the Magistrate . And see in my Text they are severd and diametrically opposed ; Frustrà is placed è regione , point blanck to the Magistrate . For the Apostle lays it down 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he puts a Non , a negation , between them . He speaks it positively , and he speaks it destructively , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he beareth not the sword in vain . The 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Duty and the Power , the Office and the Definition the same . That which should be so is so , and it is impossible it should be otherwise , say the Civilians . For at this distance these tearms naturally stand . But when we read a corrupt Judge , a perjured Jurer , a false Witness , we have conciliated them , and made up the contradiction .

These terms naturally stand at a distance : we must then find out something to keep them so , to exclude this Frustrà , to safeguard the Magistrate , that he bear not the sword in vain . And we need not look far . For it is the first thing we should look upon ; and the Philosopher pointeth it out to us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to propose an end . Non agitur officium , nisi intendatur finis , say the Schools . I stir not in my duty , if this move me not ; and I faint and sink under my duty , if this Continue not that motion . And down falls the Sword with a Frustrà upon it , if this uphold it not ; I am but Man , and my actions must look out of themselves and beyond themselves . I have not my compleatness , my perfection , my beatitude within my self ; and therefore I must take aim at something without my self to enfeoff and entitle me to it .

Now the Magistrate hath divers ends laid before him ; First , that first and architectonical end , the Glory of God ; and then , that which leads to that , the Peace of the Church ; and that which procures that , the Preservation of Justice ; and that which begins that , the proper work of Justice it self , to stand in the midst between two opposite sides till he have drawn them together and made them one ; to keep an equality even in inequality ; to use the Sword not only rescindendo peccatori , to cut off the wicked , but communi dividundo , to give Mephibosheth his own lands to divide to every man his own possessions . Then the NON FRUSTRA is upon the Magistrate as well as upon the Sword , when the Law is not only the edge of this Sword , but flabellum justitiae , a fan to blow and kindle up Justice in the breast of the Magistrate , that it may warm and comfort the oppressed , but to the wicked become 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a consuming fire : When he layeth not these ends aside , and instead thereof placeth others ; for the Glory of God , some accession and addition of Honor to himself ; for the good of the Commonwealth , the filling of his Coffers ; for the Peace of the Church , the avoiding of a frown : for the right of the oppressed , his own private conveniencies ; and for the Truth , Mammon . There are many ends , you see ; but that is most pertinent to our present purpose which the Apostle sets down in this Chapter ; Terror to the wicked , Security of the good , Justice on both sides .

And first , the Magistrate , like God himself , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , governs us by that which is adverse to us , curbeth the transgressor by the execution of poenal laws ; which St. Basil calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a purging , cleansing , refining fire , even of that other fire , which when it breaks forth is Lust , Adultery , Murder , Sedition , Theft , or what else may set the Church and Commonwealth in a combustion .

And , in the next place , this end hath its end too . For no Magistrate doth simply will the affliction and torture of the offender , or punish only to shew his autority , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . He hath an end for that too . His Power rests not in the evil of punishment , but looks further , to the good of amendment , and to the good of example ; not to the taking off heads , but piercing of hearts ; not to binding of hands , but limiting of wills ; not to the trouble of the sinner , but the peace of the Commonwealth . This is the very end of Punishment , to destroy that proclivity and proneness to sin which every evil action begets in the very committing of it . Lay the whip upon the fools back , and slumber is not so pleasant ; bring him to the post , and he unfolds his arms . Set up the Gibbet , the Gallants sword sticks in his scabberd ; exact the mulct , and he hath lost the grace of his speech and half his Gentility . Let the sword be brandisht , and Sin is not so impudent , but croucheth and mantleth her self , and dares not step forth before the Sun and the people .

Gird then the sword upon the thigh , O most mighty . You who are invested with this power , remember the end . Remember you were placed with a Sword , hostire iniquitatem , in a hostile manner to pursue the wicked ; to run after the oppressor , and break his jaw , and take the prey out of his mouth ; to destroy this Wolf ; to chase away the Asp , the poisonous heretick ; to cut off the hands of Sacriledge ; to pierce through the spotted Leopard . And in doing this you perform the other part ; You defend and safegard the innocent . The death of one murderer may save a thousand lives ; and the destruction of one traiterous Jesuite as many souls . Qui malos punit , bonos laudat ; The Correction of the evil is the Commendation , nay , it is the buckler , the castle , the defense , of the good . And it may prove too the Conversion of the wicked . The bloud of one Wolf may work an alteration and change of another ; the Leopard may come to dwell with the Kid , the Wolf may feed quietly with the Lamb , the Lion may eat straw like an Ox , and the Asp play with a Child . Isa. 11.

The poenal Statutes are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , copies , and samplers : and a Judge must do as a Painter doth , saith Plato , follow and imitate his forms and draughts . Where the Law is drawn in lines of bloud , he must not lay on colours of oyl : Where the Law shews the offender in chains , he must not present him at liberty : Where it frowns , he must not draw a smile , nor , Timanthes like , draw a veil , as not able to express that frown . No ; he must take his proportions and postures from the Law , Oppression must be portrayed with its teeth out ; Murder , pale , and wounded to death ; Idleness , whipt ; the common Barretter , with papers in his hat . He must similem pingere , not a Man for a Beast , not a Dog for a Lion , not a Fox for a Wolf , not Manslaughter for Murder , not Usury for Extorsion , not Deceit for Oppression , not a sum of daily incursion for a devouring one . He must not depose and degrade a gallant boystrous sin , and put it in a lower rank , to escape unpunished with a multitude . The neglect hereof brings in not only a frustrà but a nocivum with it . It is hurtful and injurious . It heaps injury upon injury : And the first lights upon God himself , of whose Divine Power this Power is a very beam ; which falling upon a minister of Justice , falls as the rayes of the Sun upon a still quiet cloud : the reflexion is equal and glorious : But falling upon a corrupt unjust man , it falls as upon St. Jude's cloud without water , or St. James his wave of the sea , tost with the wind , and carried about : the impression is flitting and vanishing , and the reflexion unstedfast and unequal . That this beam from heaven should be cast away upon an empty cloud or a wave , is a piece of injustice . Besides it is contumelious to God . For by injustice men undervalue him , and put him below his vassal , as if his Omnipotency were weaker then Man , his Honor cheaper then a Fee , Heaven at a lower price then a Bribe , and Christ himself not worth forty pieces of silver .

From God the injury descends to the Commonwealth . It brings in that which it should cast out . Sin unpunished makes a greater breach then Sin committed . For Adultery and Murder , Drunkenness and Deceit , may give the blow , but Injustice wounds . They may call for the vials of Gods wrath , but this poureth them forth : They may invite his vengeance , but this pulls it down . Talk of those numerous volumes of Sin , but this is all , this doth all . This dislocates and perverts the course of Nature ; this changeth it , saith Basil , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , into another temper . It puts supernatural aspects upon natural effects . If it be a Comet , it makes it ominous ; if a vapor , it dampeth it with a plague . Will you have no Sword hang over the Common-wealth ? Then use that power which is put into your hand . Would you have her of a healthy constitution and temper ? Then cut off putred and fester'd members . Turpis est pars quae toti suo non convenit : It is an ill member for which the whole body is the worse . Ut in Sermone literae , saith St. Augustine , As Letters in a word or sentence , so Men are Elementa civitatis , the principles , the parts , which concur to make up the Syntaxis of a Commonwealth . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith he in Thucydides , for men are the city . But then each capital and grand offendor is a letter too much , or rather a blur , in the sentence . Blot it out therefore , wipe him off from the face of the earth , and the composition is entire .

Thirdly , many times the injury falls upon the offendor ; Who hath lost his Physick , ( for Punishment is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , medicinable , and doth heal ) whose greatest punishment it is that he is so much wrong'd as to be befriended , and so much favoured as to be unpunished , to have his wounds exulcerate by a gentle hand , to be poysoned with oyl , to be chained with liberty , and being freed from prison to bear about with him the cause of his imprisonment .

But the wrong wrests and dwells in the Magistrate ; Who in a manner abjures his office , degrades himself by his connivence , and makes the Sword less terrible by not using it ; the not executing the Law upon the greatest working a secret , and reserved contempt thereof in the meanest . What speak you of the Law ? I can have it in sudariolo , in the corner of my handkerchief . What though it be vocal against me ? I can silence it . What fright you me with a Sword ? I can play with it . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , That invisible tyrant , Gold , as Nazianzene speaks , dominers and kings it over the Magistrate himself ; and it is the Judge , the Advocate , the Law , the Sentence , and the Magistrate sits guilty on the Bench , and the lesser thief , saith Basil , holds up his hand at the bar .

Here is then the danger of a Frustrà . And this is the authentick and original Frustrà . And from the Magistrate we transcribe this Frustrà , upon the Law and Autority too : For the Law of it self is surda res , as the young men in Livy complain'd , deaf and unexorable , Though thou speak aloud , it hears thee not ; and though thou speak it fair , it regards thee not : It is immovable , like a rock ; and it keeps its countenance , and stares the offender in the face . Thou canst not complement with it . No riches can batter it , no Power move it , no Bribe alter it . If it seem to change countenance , it is not its own face , but the paint and visard of the Magistrate . When Injustice drives and beats upon this rock , that falls out which Tertullian observes of Infidelity meeting with a convincing Argument , Injustice prevaileth , and the Law is vanquisht , and ( which is monstrous ) the Ship is safe , and the Rock shipwrackt . For the Magistrate , as he is the life , so may be too the death of the Laws . In the Law there is vis movens , and vis obligans , say the Jesuites , there is regula and imperium ; and it looks upon two faculties of the soul . It is both directive , and coactive ; it is a rule , and a command ; a rod and a staff . It hath its lightning , and its thunder ; it flashes upon the Understanding , and it thunders upon the Will ; it directs and regulates , it obligeth and constrains . These be its proper and peculiar functions and operations . But then the Magistrate may slumber and benum it in all these ; he may dead its force , and weaken its power , and slug its motions . He may beat back this lightning , and drown the noyse of this thunder ; he may put a Frustrà upon it : that it would be better have no Laws , than to give them life , and then bury them alive ; or , if you suffer them to live , to rack and torture them ; to sell them to those crimes they frown at ; to give them to my wife , my friend , my servant , my lust . Better no Sword , than that a Frustrà should be upon it , then that Injustice should draw it .

Oh then , you that have this Sword put into your hands , as you tender the life of the Laws , the peace of the Common-wealth , the good of your brethren , the glory of God , the dignity of the Sword it self ; bear it not in vain . Sever not the Duty from the Power ; let not the Sword destroy the bearing , nor one Sword be living and eminent in the Text , and the other 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , like a flower in its fading , ready to wither and vanishand steal away . Think of your Power , but think of your Duty too : think of the Sword , but think of the hand that bears it , and think of that hand that put it into the hand , whose every finger is Power . Think then it is a Sword , and draw it against the most gyant like sinner , the most proud and insolent offender , and draw it for those grashoppers , even those who seem little and mean in the eye of the world , and those who perhaps loose in their esteem to preserve their honesty . Draw it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to cut off the hand of Violence , and to guard and shelter the innocent , and revenge his cause . Let Wisdom direct your hand , and courage strengthen it . With the one pierce thorough to the Truth , even through those black mists of Trade and Overture , and false accusations and crafty Undermining , and those mists which either the Lawyer or Witness , or Informer shall cast , and those fogs which the corrupt heart of man may send up of Ambition , Covetousness , Pride , Uxoriousness ; and then , like good archers , having found your mark , be men , and draw up your arrow to the head . End not where you began , with a fair intent and good resolution ; but crown it with performance . March forward to the end ; go on in that strength , O thou man of Power . Let not a gift out of the bosom stay thee , nor a letter divert thee , nor a frown from Greatness tyre thee , till thou come ad terminum , till thou hast taken Justice , and drawn her out of these mists , and dispersed these fogs , and led her thorough those retardations and incumbrances ; till thou hast cloath'd thy self with her , and canst say thou hast finish'd thy course . And to this end give me leave , Right Honourable , by way of conclusion , to be to you à memoria , not à consiliis for this time to be your Register , and to reach into your hands the book of Records . And I find therein a Curse enrol'd for the sowering of Justice , for turning Judgment into wormwood , by corrupting , and into vinegar by delaying it , and I find a Day of Visitation for not executing the judgment of the fatherless . But then in this book too I find as many Blessings in a fair and legible character , for executing of judgment , and destroying the wicked . Take , read them to your Comfort ; For the Non Frustrà of bearing the Sword , many Jer. 5. Non Frustra's ; a Non Frustrà upon the Church ; peace within her walls , and prosperity within her palaces : a Non Frustrà upon the Common-wealth , gold there as silver , and silver as brass : a Non frustrà upon the Laws ; they shall now be seen , and heard ; they shall lighten , and they shall thunder : and a Non frustrà upon your selves . To you that thus bear the Sword , it shall not be in vain : but in life it shall be your crown and garland ? and in death , when the Sword falls out of your hand , no crys of orphans , no tears of the widdow , no groans of the oppressed will disquiet your peace : but having resigned your Power , delivered up your Sword Jovi vindici , to the the God of Revenge ; having , Curtius like , given your selves for your Country , sacrificed your selves , all your selves , your Covetousness , your Ambition , your Self-love , he will receive his own , his Deputy , his representation ; and the Non frustrà shall be seated with an Euge , not only Not in vain , but Well done . And for a tribunal on earth you shall have a mansion in heaven . Your circuit shall be enlarg'd , you shall judge not some Shire or County , but the world : and be arrayed in whole robes of Innocence , even of that Innocency which you have protected . And for Mortality you shall receive Eternity , for Power Glory , for a Sword , a Crown . Which God grant us all for his Son Christ Jesus sake .

The Thirteenth SERMON . 1 Pet. II. 13 , 14 , 15 , 16.

Submit your selves to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake , whither it be to the King , as Supreme .

Or unto Governours , as unto them who are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers , and for the praise of them that do well .

For so is the will of God , that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men .

As free , and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness , but as the servants of God .

LET every soul be subject to the higher Powers , saith St. Paul the Doctor of the Gentiles , Submit your selves Rom. 13. 1. to every ordinance of man , saith St. Peter here , the Apostle of the Circumcision . So this precept of Obedience to Governours reacheth home unto all : There is neither Jew nor Gentile , neither bond nor free , but cometh under this Law . We have two Apostles ( one whereof in another case withstood the other to the face ) Gal. 2. 11. both joyntly standing up for the higher Powers , even for that Authority which struck off the head of the one , and nayl'd the other to the cross . Both deliver what they received from Christ : For what they lay down concerning Authority is but an exposition and Commentary upon Christs , Give unto Caesar those things which are Caesars . Obedience , Submission and Subjection take in all , all even to a penny . Above all we cannot but observe how wisely and fully both the Apostles press this doctrine , how they fight with the same weapons to defend the King on his throne ; how they bring the same Arguments , Arguments as irresistable as that Power which they defend , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith St. Paul ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith St. Peter : to the higher Powers , saith the one ; to Kings and to Governours sent by them , saith the other . And they both walk by the same rule , ground their precepts upon the same reason . All power as from God , saith St. Paul ; and Submit for the Lords sake , saith S. Peter . They both hold up the same Sword , terrible to evil doers , and which shall win praise to them that do well . Again , not for wrath , but for conscience sake , saith the one ; for so is the will of God , saith the other . And the Will of God is in a manner the essence of every Duty ; It brings it home to the inward man , and to the very conscience , and leaves it not as matter meerly arbitrary , but which must be performed upon pain of Death and Damnation . Hitherto both these glorious Apostles , as they minded the same thing , so speak almost the same words ; scarce any difference between them . But St. Peter seems to be more particular , and at large to unfold what is more briefly wrapped up by St. Paul . First he strives to take off a foul imputation which was laid upon Christianity , That it made men disobedient and refractorie to Government , in these words , That by well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men . Secondly , he taketh away all pretence from the Christian , which might shake his Loyalty , or make him cast a favourable eye on that Disobedience which might open the mouth of an Infidel , not onely against the Christian , but even against Christianity it self , in these words , as free , and not using your liberty as a cloak of maliciousness . Take the conclusion of the whole matter ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , We must needs be subject . The King is placed in his throne ; his Governours set abroad by him : and we must submit , 1. propter Dominum , because the Lord hath so commanded it ; 2. propter nos ipsos , for our own sakes , that we may live a Godly and peaceable life , whilst , the wicked are punisht , and the good praised . 3. Propter imprudentes , for those fools sake , qui hominum vitam rebus assignant , who are very ready to draw an Argument from the Person to blemish and deface his Calling and Profession . Nor can our Freedom by Christ priviledge us : for we must submit quasi liberi , as free , and quia liberi , because we are free . For to this end we are made free , that we should work all righteousness , and not make our Freedom 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a cloak of maliciousness ; that by obeying of Kings and Governours we may be the Servants of God .

This is the sum of these words . In them there be divers circumstances observable , which we cannot handle now . We will therefore confine our meditations , and consider the Object , which is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , every humane ordinance ; which hath here its distribution into Superior and Infeferior , first , the King , secondly , those Governours which are sent by him , and are his Vicegerents . 2. What is meant here by Submission . 3. The Motives to win us to the performance of this Duty . One is drawn ab autoritate , from the Authority of God himself , whose Deputys , Kings and Governours are ; We must submit for the Lords sake ; another , ab utili , from the Good and Benefit we receive from them , in the punishment of evil doers , and the praise and encouragement of those that do well . Of these in their order ; and first of the Object , Submit your selves to every ordinance of man .

What this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , this ordinance of man , this humane creature , is , there is some dispute , and by divers hands it hath been fashion'd and shaped as it were into divers forms . Some have tender'd it as a Law , as a Constitution , made by man ; Others have presented it as a Man , though not invested with Authority ; and so have made every man both a King and a Subject ; a King , to receive honour ; and a Subject to give it ; every man being bound by Christianity , as by a Law , to esteem every man his Superior , and better than himself . Some take it for the civil Power it self , which though it be ordained of God , and so is his creature , yet it was first received and approved of men , and so may be said to be a humane constitution : à Deo , saith St. Paul , because all power is derived from God ; humana creatura , saith St. Peter , because even Nature it self hath taught men this lesson , That two are better than one , and that every family and every man , is most safe in a collection and Society , which cannot subsist but by a mutual dependance , Eccles. 4. 9. and a friendly subordination of parts , where some are govern'd , and others bare rule . To reconcile all , we may observe that rule in St. Augustine , Turpe est disputantibus in verborum quaestione immorari , cùm certamen nullum de rebus remanserit , It is a thing not seemly to dwell long upon the words , and to contend and criticize thereupon , when the sense is plain . Though we cannot separate the Power from the Man whose power it is , yet it is plain by the distribution which follows , that it cannot be meant of the Power , but of the Man upon whose shoulders the Government lyeth . For we cannot properly say of Power , that it is either King or his Deputy . It is very probable , what a late writer hath observed , that by this phrase the name of Magistrate is exprest in general ; and that St. Peter calls him 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a creature , as the Latines say , creare consulem , to make or create a Consul ; and that he stiles him a humane creature , not that the Magistrate hath his Authority from men , but because Magistrates themselves , who are endowed with this Authority , are men . So that the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 hath reference , not to the Efficient cause , but to the Subject , to the Man in Authority , who is the creature of God , from heaven , heavenly . Nor indeed is it much material which sence we take , but that the words will bear this last better then the other . For as the man is , such is his strength ; and as the Magistrate is , such is his Power . They are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and bear so near a relation that they cannot subsist but together : And St. Paul joyns them together , and makes them one . For whom he calls Rulers in one place , he calls the higher Powers in another . They are humane creatures , as being men , and formen ; but in respect of their power , neither of men , nor by men , further then their consent . No : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , could the Pythagoreans say , Kings and Governours are creatures of Gods making : And we may say of them as the people spake of Paul and Barnabas , Gods are come down to us in Acts 14. the likeness of men .

Now this humane ordinance or creature , if you take it for the Power it self , is still the same : and though it be conveyed by divers subordinations unto divers , yet it differs no more then Water in the chanel doth from what it was in the fountain . For as the King rules in nomine Dei , in the name and place of God , so doth the lower Magistrate judge the innocent and punish the offendor , but withall in nomine Regis , in the Kings name . But if we take it for the Magistrate himself , then it hath degrees of Sub and Suprà . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the King , is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , supreme and transcendent : The Rulers and Governours , which are sent and appointed by him , move in a lower sphere , and , as the Stars , differ from one another in glory . For , as we say in Logique , that the middle Species is the Genus in respect of a lower , yet but the Species in respect of the Genus , so Magistrates in comparison of Inferiors are publick persons , and yet again but Private men in respect of him who is Supreme . There is indeed a derivation , but no equalizing of power . Regis absolutum Dominium , the Kings Dominion is absolute under God ; theirs who are sent , concreditum & delegatum , dependant , and by way of delegation . For the King is in the Kingdom as the Soul in the Body . And the Philosopher will tell us , Anima est ubi animat , The Soul is wheresoever it hath its operation . And so is the King wheresoever he ruleth : For he sends his Governours , and by them conveigheth and lets forth himself into every corner of his Kingdom . His house is the Tent whilst the Captain is a commanding ; the Province , whilst the Deputy is a governing ; the Tribunal , whilst the Judge is a sitting ; the Consistory , whilst the Bishop is a censuring . And there is no place hid from his power , but his power is every where , where his Laws are in force . For these Governours are taken in in partem curarum , to ease the King of his burden ; not in partem imperij , to share with him in his Supremacy . The King then , or Emperour , is still 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in his sublimity , in the very Zenith of state , and admits none to be above him , or in the same altitude . He is the first compassing wheel ; others are carried about by his motion , moving as the Kings Law moves , and , as he gives charge in the Comedy , ubi hic respicit , illi continuò respiciunt , watching his eye and commanding the execution of his Laws . In a word , the King is sent from God , à quo est secundus , post quem primus , from whom he is the second , and after whom the first : and the lower Governours are sent from the King , who hath power from God thus to send them . Their Sheaves must stand round about and make obeisance to his Sheave ; the Sun , and the Moon , and the Stars must yield submission to him , ut supereminenti , as to one supereminent ; and all men must yield obedience to the Governours and Magistrates , as to God's indeed ( for so they are called ) but missis ab eo , as sent and deriving their power from him who is supreme . And in this eminency the King stands pro omnibus , & supra omnes , for all , and above all . Nor can any hand depose or draw him lower . None can draw him from that pitch and height where God hath placed him : but he is still Supreme , as over the People , so over the Priest . Nor doth the Water of Baptisme wash off his ointment : He is not less a King because he is a Christian ; but then Supreme when he makes himself a Servant to all . The Holy Ghost hath thus stiled him . And it may more truly be said of the words of God then of the words of Consecration . Id operantur quod indicant , They work that which they signifie , and make him Supreme who they stile so : Supreme in temporal things , to appoint Officers , to send out Governours ; and Supreme in spiritual , to punish them that do evil , and encourage them that do well . He is bound indeed sceptra subjicere Christo , to lay down his Scepter at the foot of Christ , to serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of his life , to punish wickedness and vice , and to maintain Gods true Religion and Virtue . But all this , I am sure , cannot amount to this , least he should come down a step lower , and yield to that spiritual power of the Pope , who pretends to direct and guide , but will at last devoure his temporal , and disrobe the King because he is a Christian . This were to make his Supremacie not a priviledge , but a bare title , to be play'd withall , and tossed from Gloss to Gloss , from distinction to distinction ; to call him Supreme as they did that Pope Boniface , who had indeed but a hard and unpleasing countenance . Therefore though the high Priest turn Polititian , and take up two Swords at once , the Spiritual and the Temporal , and by the Word of God will make himself a God , to set up Kings , and depose them at pleasure , yet the King is in his Zenith , in that pitch of Majesty in which the hand of God hath placed him , and the Nobles and Magistrates , which he sends forth , circle and compass him about as a ring ; using his power to defend his Power ; holding up his hands as Aaron and Hur did the hands of Moses ; ruling under him , and for him , and keeping him still 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Supreme above both Priest and People . And to the King , as Supreme , and to the Governours , as sent by him , we stand here commanded to submit our selves . Which is the Duty , and comes next to be considered .

To submit our selves is a hard Duty , from which our very nature is a verse . Not to do what we would , and to be subject to whom we would not , is a hard saying , and few there are can bear it . Such is the perversness of our dispositions that we would do many things which we omit , were they not tendred unto us under the high terms of a command . And this Indisposition of our minds , this Unwillingness to be brought under , though many times it hinders our submission , yet , when we subdue and master it , it crowns our Obedience . We had need therefore of these remembrances , which may kill this humour in us , and make us obey , not grudgingly , but with a willing mind . For this Submission , how harsh soever the name sounds , is that by which we purchase our liberty . And as it is perfect freedom to serve God , so is it no impeachment to our Liberty , to submit our selves to the Magistrate ▪ but we are then most highly exalted when we couch and lye down at his feet . Dementia est potiùs trahi quàm sequi ; It is a kind of madness , when Authority speaks , to hold back and withdraw our selves , to be drawn rather then to follow and to submit rather upon the noyse of the whip than of the Law . We may perhaps think it a gay and pompous thing to sit in the Throne or Seat of Justice , from thence to breath forth words of power , to say to one , Go , and to another , Come , to shew what wonders we can work with a frown , to send forth Edicts , and promulge Laws . This may fill the minds of those whose eyes dazle at the beams of Majesty . But it is no paradox to say that there is as great glory in Obedience . For he who subjugates his Will to the lawfull commands of others , hath set up a throne within himself , and commands that which no King can force ; nay , he sets up a tribunal in his Soul , and passeth sentence upon the Judge himself , and shews that he is as able to obey as the other is to command . He who is thus a servant is the Lords freeman ; and he who can thus obey is his own King and Judge .

Now this Submission consists not in the casting-down of the eye , or in the bend of the Knee onely , but in the yielding up and surrendry of the whole man ; Of the Hand , not to lift it up against that Power which is Gods , and which , if we do not submit , will crush us to pieces . To say , Hayle master , to the Magistrate , and then to oppose him , is but Judas-like to kiss Authority , and betray it . To say with the Church of Rome , O King , live for ever , and yet to strike at his Crown and Dignity , is to leave him a Crown indeed , but made of thornes , and to make his Power more irksome than Subjection . To stand up against those Governours which are sent , and not to give them their due honour because they are not Caesar , is a breach of the same Law , and a flat defiance of the King , onely one removed , and at the second hand .

And as we must submit the Hand , and not lift it up , so must we also the Tongue . This member is very apt to swell , and lift it self up , and speak proud things . It will sooner blaspheme than pray ; because Prayers are troublesome , being to be utter'd with an humble and submissive voice ; but Rayling and Liberty of language seem to place me above my Betters , make me Superior to my Governours , a King of Kings , and a Lord of Lords . Now this liberty of the Tongue is well-near as dangerous as that of the Hand . For no sooner hath Discontent breathed it self forth , but it infects like the Plague , because it commonly meets with those dispositions and tempers which are very apt to take it . No sooner is the word gone out of the mouth , but it enters the heart of the standers by ; who , saith Mr. Hooker , are very attentive and favourable hearers , to suck in any poyson which is breathed forth against the King or the Governour which are sent forth ; and anon it multiplies , and every valley and obscure corner is ready to echo it back again .

Lastly , as we must submit the Tongue and the Hand , so the Thought also . Else the Tongue will be a sharp sword still , and the Hand ready to reach at every weapon and instrument of cruelty it finds . Bene subactum cor , a Heart well subdued and conquer'd , will nayle the Tongue to the roof of the mouth , and make the Hands hang down as not able to strike . But if the Heart be not hammer'd and softned and kept under , then the Tongue will be loose , and run through the earth , and the Hand will be lifted up to pull the King and his Governours on the ground , and lay their honour in the dust . That Disobedience which at last is talkative and proves as violent as a tempest , was at first but a whisper in the heart : and an army drawn out in the field was at first muster'd up in cogitatorio , as Tertullian speaks , in the Phansy , which is the shop and elaboratory of the Thoughts , and sets up a whole family of them in the Soul . Kingdoms have been ruin'd , Magistrates have been slain , States have been distracted , seditions raised ; and all these had no more solid foundation at the first than a Thought ; That we may therefore truly submit to the King and his Governours , we must 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Chrysostom speaketh , Slumber all vain and absurd imaginations , lest that pleasure , which we do not repress in the Phansy , do at last break forth and domineer in action ; lest that which is now but a discontented thought , may gather strength by degrees , and at last break forth into open impatience and disobedience . And if our own Safety and Security , if the Peace of the Common-wealth , if Plenty and Prosperity , be not of force enough to shackle our Hands , to shut up our Lips , and to keep down our Thoughts from rising in our hearts ; if these be weak motives , let him that shakes the heaven and the earth move us , and let us submit to at least Governours for the Lords sake . Which is the first Motive , drawn from the Authority of God himself , and comes now to be handled .

And this is a Motive indeed , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the greatest and most winning Motive . For the Will of God is the rule of all our actions . Man , who is a reasonable creature , made after Gods own image , must hearken to Gods voice , bow down to his Authority , and amongst all his attributes especially look upon his Will. If he had no Eye to see us , no Hand to strike us , no thunder to destroy us , yet what he willeth we must do , because we are his creatures and the work of his hands . Hath Discontent drawn thy Sword ? Let the will of God sheath it . Do thoughts arise in thy heart ? Let the remembrance of this slumber them . Art thou now ready to sinite the Magistrate , and those who are in authority , with the tongue ? Seal up thy lips , for the Lords sake : not for fear of the whip , or the keen edge of Authority , which commonly cuts through the heart of those who rise up ; not because the Magistrates hand is too heavy for thee and keeps thee under ; but submit for the Lords sake . Now we may be sure it is to be done for the Lords sake : For , all power is from God , saith the Apostle ; all Authority is his . Ille regna dispensat cujus est orbis qui regnatur , & homo qui regnat ; He disposeth of Kingdoms who made the world which is govern'd , and the men that govern . Indè Imperator unde homo antequam Imperator . The King receives his power , from that Hand which made him , and his Commission from that mouth which first breath'd into him the breath of life . For the Emperor to say , mihi hoc Imperiumpeperi , This Sword hath gained me the Crown , is foul ingratitude . And for the Pope to say , Mihi data est potestas . All power is given to me to root up and plant as I please , is high treason against the Majesty of Heaven and Earth . Indeed St. Peter calls the King the ordinance , or creature , of man : and so he may be , and yet the creature of God also . For though this power be communicated by the consent of men , yet notwithstanding it is also from God ; as water is from the fountain , in what channel soever it is carried along .

Behold then , It is Gods power ; and if thou look'st upon the Man , who is thy fellow , dust and ashes , if thou look'st upon his Weakness and infirmities , which peradventure thou mayst discover in the midst of all his Glory and Majesty , and thereupon art unwilling to submit for the Mans sake , who is of like frailty and passions with thee ; or for the Kings sake , who is but a man ; or for Authorities sake , which hath no pleasing aspect ; yet do it for the Lords sake , and because the Authority is his . For his sake do it , though it be to a Man ; though it be to a Man of infirmities ; though it be to Authority , which sometimes speaks better things . It may peradventure be a sin for thee to obey ; but it shall never be laid to thy charge , if thou submit . This , I say , is a strong motive . And indeed that is true Submission which draws à Jove principium , its beginning from God , which is from heaven heavenly , which is brought about by Religion and Conscience . That Obedience is a Sacrifice which I offer up for the Lords sake . That Obedience more resembles God and his Eternity , because it is constant and lasting : but that Submission which like Pharaoh's , is driven on with an East-wind , passeth away with that wind , or moves like the wheels in a Clock , no longer then the plummets are on , no longer than Fear or Hope , or other humane considerations stirr it about : When these are taken off , or fall to the ground , PROPTER DOMINUM , for the Lords sake , will little avail : though God speak once and again , yet we lift up our heads , and stand stiff against Authority . And therefore though this be a Motive one of a thousand , one that may stand alone by it self , our Apostle here backs it with another , not so powerfull in it self indeed , but to flesh and bloud , more perswasive which he draws ab utili , from the Good and Benefit we receive from Kings and Governours , in the punishment of evil doers , and praise of them that do well . With which we will conclude .

These two , Reward and Punishment , are as two pillars to uphold the body politique . For though we ought , as the Orator speaks , virtutes propter seipsas gratis deligere , to love every Virtue for it self , and for that native beauty which the eye of reason doth soon discover , and though interest omnium rectè facere , it concerns every man , though there were no cord of Love to draw him , to do that which is right and just ; yet if the Sword be not as ready to protect the innocent as to devoure the wicked , if there be not Praise for the one as well as Punishment for the other , the best will soon fail in their duty , and sink and fall in the performance , wanting that Spirit which should cheer them up , and keep them in life and action . The King and his Governours , as they scatter and fan away evil with their eyes , so do Prov. 20. 8. they derive a kind of influence on Goodness , to make it grow and flourish .

Authority is both a Sword and a Buckler , a Buckler for the innocent , and a Sword to cut off the wicked from the earth . And in this respect Synesius in his 12. Epistle tells us that this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , this publick Sword of Justice , is as necessary for the purging of a City , for the scouring of all mischief out of it , as the great Basons which were wont to be set at the entrance of Temples were for the cleansing of their hands who were to enter . And therefore it is an axiome in Policy subscribed to long since , That it is better to live sub durâ lege quàm sub nullâ , under the hardest Law then under none at all , to live in a State where the least apparency of offence is punisht with rigour , than under such an one where every man may do what is pleasing in his own eyes without restraint . For Severity or Tyranny ( as one observeth ) is but like a Tempest or Whirle-wind , that throweth down here and there a fruitfull tree , and here and there peradventure a tall Cedar ; but Confusion and Anarchie , like a Deluge , sweepeth away all before it , all the fatness of the earth , all the increase of Cattel , beats down Towns and Countrys , and makes of walled Cities a Wilderness . Whilst Justice and Authority prevails , He that soweth , soweth in hope ; and he that Joh. 4. thresheth , thresheth in hope , that he may be partaker of his hope , as the Apostle speaks : but in Confusion , the proverb is fulfilled : One soweth , another reapeth ; and as it is said of that community of the first Christians , No man can say that that which he possesseth is his own .

Now the proper work of the Magistrate is not onely to cut off the wicked from the earth , but to divide to every man his own possessions ; to break the jaw of the ungodly , and to take the prey out of his mouth ; to be a wall of brass to the innocent , and terror to the wicked . And this will usher in a myriad of blessings , and make up that Hymne , that Angelical Antheme , Peace on earth , good will towards men , and glory to God in the highest heaven . For to punish evil persons , is to do a cure upon those who have broke the Laws , and upon others also , that they may not break them . And the Magistrate , like God himself , doth de perverso sanare , govern us by that which is adverse to us ; and in the way of the transgressour he placeth contrarium aliquid & impedicus , sets up something to stop his course , to check his violence , to curb him in his full carreere , to wit , the execution of penal Laws , which is the execution of the very anger of God . Nor doth he 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , simply will , the affliction and torture of the offendor , nor rests in the evil of Punishment ; but he looks forward to the good of Amendment . For this is the very end of Punishment , To destroy that proclivity and proneness which is in evil men to break their bounds , To take off the illecebrae , the inticement and allurement of Sin , To wash off its paint , To pull the hony-comb from the lips of the Harlot , To wipe the oyle from off her mouth , To sowre the sweetness of stoln waters , and by the sharpness of external terror to take away the savour and complacency of some habitual delightfull Sin ; that so every man may sit under his own vine , and under his own fig-tree , and drink waters out of his own cistern ; that Peace may shadow the Common-wealth , and Plenty crown it ; that Oppression grind not the face of the poor ; nor Lust climb up to an unlawfull bed , nor Deceit remove the landmark , nor Sacriledge destroy the Temple ; ut peccare non liceat , that evil-minded men may not be so miserable as to carry a Licence about with them to commit sin , nor a Protection in their bosom from the stroke of punishment .

Thus doth not onely the Hand , but the Eye , the Counsel and Wisdom of the King , who is supreme , and of the Governours , which he sends , scatter away all evil ; fight against corruption in Religion , in Manners , in Doctrine , that Truth and Peace may kiss each other . Thus are they sent out to watch over us for our good . This they do for us : And we cannot do less than submit unto them , if not for the Lords sake , yet for our own , whose affairs they manage , whose estates they secure , whose sleep they make sweet , and labour fruitfull ; by whose means we enjoy much peace . Parce tibi , si non Carthagini ; if we will not submit unto them for the Common-wealths sake , yet let us do it for our own ; if not submit unto them , yet at least to our own Good , to that which is our Wealth , our Safety , our Happiness . And let us not only submit unto them , but bow the knee and fall down before that God by whom Kings reign , and Governours decree justice ; and offer up strong cries & supplications to him , that he would preserve our most pious and religious King Charles , and bind up his Soul in the bundle of life ; that he would give his judgments to the King , and his righteousness to those Governours which are sent by him ; that so the Lord may speak peace unto us , and and to our Land ; that we be not led into captivity , and that the enemy be never able to shoot an arrow amongst us ; that whatsoever the King doth may please the people , and whatsoever the people do may be for the safety of the King ; that God would bless and protect both King and Nobles , and the Governours which are sent , and the People for evermore .

The Fourteenth SERMON . Psalm . LXVIII . 1 , 2.

Let God arise , let his enemies be scattered : let them also that hate him , flee before him :

As smoke is driven away , so drive them away ; as wax melteth before the fire , so let the wicked perish at the presence of God .

I Will not stand to reconcile opinions which may arise concerning the title and occasion of this Psalm ; whither it be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , A Psalm of Davids composing ; or , A Psalm made for him , and delivered per manum David , by the hand of David , to him that excelleth , or the Master of Musick . Whosoever composed it , at the first hearing of the words you cannot but apply it to our present occasion . For enemies God hath who are gather'd together , and our prayer is they may be scattered ; enemies shall hate him , and defie him to his face ; and these who should be glad to see to fly from his face . Our hope is they are but smoke , and may be driven away ; but wax , in appearance a hard and solid body , strongly united and compact together by the devils art , but yet as wax will melt before the fire of his wrath , and when it shall please God to arise , shall perish at the presence of God . You may , if you please , take the words either as a Prayer or as a Prophesy ; as a Prayer , that they may ; or as a Prophesy , that they shall be scatter'd . Or you may read it , SURGENTE DOMINO , As soon as the Lord shall arise , his enemies shall be scatter'd , and so make it a Theological axiome : and so it is a proposition aeternae veritatis , everlastingly true , true in the first age of the world , and true in the last age of the world , and will be true to the worlds end . We may make it our prayer , that they may be destroyed ; and we may prophesy that they shall be destroyed . Summa votorum est , non ex incerto poscentis , sed ex cognitione , scientiâque sperantis , saith Hilary ; It is a prayer , not proceeding from a doubting and wavering heart , as if God did at sometimes deliver his Church , and at others fail and leave her to the will of her enemies ; but grounded upon certain knowledge and infallible assurance that he will arise , and not keep silence , and avenge himself of his enemy . For there is a kind of presage and prophesy in Prayer : If we pray as we should , he hath promised to grant our request : Which is a fairer assurance than any Prophet can give us . Let God arise , and God will arise , is but the difference of a Tense , and the Hebrews commonly use the one for the other .

Whoever compiled this Psalm , most plain it is that he borrowed it from Moses , who when the Ark set forward used this very form , Rise up , O Lord , and let thine enemies be scatter'd ; and let them that hate thee fly before thee ; and , when it rested , Return , O Lord , to the many Thousands of Israel . Now Numb. 10 , 35. 36. the occasion of this Psalm is diversly given . The Jews refer it to the overthrow of the army of Senacherib , when the Angel of the Lord smote in one night a hundred fourscore and five thousand of the Assyrians . Others to Davids victories over his neighbouring enemies , the Ammonites , Moabites , Syrians , and Idumaeans . Others to the pomp and triumph in 2 Kings 19. 35. which the Ark was removed by David from Kiniathaarim to the house of Obed-Edom ; and from thence to Sion its resting-place : The Fathers most of them , apply it unto Christ , who most gloriously triumphed over the Devil and the powers of this world , and shewed them openly , who led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men , as S. Paul himself borroweth the words out of this Psalm . Take the Cliff how you please , the Notes will follow , and we Eph. 4. 8. may take them up . No Assyrian so cruel , no Rabshakeh so loud , no Ammonite , no Moabite , no Philistine so bloudy as a Jesuite , or a Jesuited Papist . Take in the Devil himself , and then you have a parallel , the wicked one indeed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Basil terms him , the wonderfull mischief , who like the Tyrant in the Story , if all men in the world had but one neck , would strike it off at a blow ; as his instruments at this day would ruine three Kingdoms by shaking of one . Or , if you please , suppose now you saw the children of Israel moving their tents , and the Ark , which was the pledge and testimony of Gods presence , on the Levites shoulders ; and the same thought almost will apply it to the Church , where we may be sure God is as present as he was in the Ark. Indeed wicked persons , as wicked as the Amalekites , have a long time endeavoured , and do now strive , to throw it down from the shoulders of those that bear it , and cannot endure to hear that God should be worshipped in spirit and truth . But no Amalekite , no Ammonite , no Jebusite , no Philistine did overthrow the one ; no Jesuite , no Devil shall prevail against the other ; but the Ark shall be brought to its resting-place , and the Church , which is the pillar of truth , shall be upheld by the Truth , and after many removals , after many persecutions , after many oppositions , though the Devil rage , and wicked men take counsel together , shall be brought in triumph to its resting place , and appear before God in Sion . God will never fail his Church , Though his enemies gather themselves together , they shall be scatter'd ; though they fight against him with hatred and malice ; they shall fly before him ; They are but smoke and they shall vanish , they are but wax , and they shall melt away . Upon an Exsurgit follows a dissipabuntur . If God arise , all the plots and machinations of his enemies shall be but as smoke . You may pray for it ; you may conclude upon it . Let God arise , and let his enemies be scatter'd ; or , God will arise , and his enemies shall be scatter'd ; they also that hate him shall fly before him , &c.

In which Prayer , or Prophesy , or Conclusion , you may as in a glass , behold the providence of God over his people , and the destiny and fatal destruction of wicked men . Or you may conceive God sitting in heaven , and looking down upon the children of men , and laughing to scorn all the designs of his enemies , his Exsurgat , his Rising , as a tempest to scatter them , and as a fire to melt them . And these two , Exsurgat , and Dissipabuntur , the Rising of God , and the Destruction of his enemies , divide the Text , and present before our eyes two parties , or sides as it were , in main opposition . Now though the Exsurgat be before the Dissipabuntur , God's Rising before the Scattering , yet there must be some persons to rowse God up and awake him before he will rise to destroy . We will therefore , as the very order of nature requir'd , consider first the persons which are noted out unto us by three several appellations , as by so many marks and brands in their forehead ; They are 1. enemies , 2. haters of God , 3. wicked men . But God Rising in this manner is more especially against the Fact than the Person , and against the Person but for the Fact : We must therefore search and enquire after that ; and we find it wrapt up and secretly lurking in the Dissipabuntur , in their punishment . For Scattering supposeth a gathering together , as Corruption doth Generation . That then which moved God to rise was this ; His enemies , they that hated him , the wicked , were gathered together , and consulted against God and his Church . As we see it this day ; and seeing it , are here meet together to fall down before God in all humility , that he may arise and scatter them . This is Nunc opportunitatis , the very time , and appointed time , for God to arise . In which Phrase is implyed a kind of pause and deliberation , as if God were not alwayes up , and ready to execute judgement . And hereby he manifesteth 1. his Patience to the wicked ; He is not alwayes up , as it were , to destroy his enemies : 2. his Justice , which cometh at length , though it come not so soon as men in misery expect : 3. his Mercy to his children ; Though for a while he seem to sleep , and not to hearken to the voice of their complaints , yet at last he rises up and helps them . Lastly , we shall take notice of the Effect or End of this Rising ; and that is the Destruction of his enemies , here drawn out to our view in four several expressions , as in so many colours . 1. DISSIPABUNTUR , they shall be scatter'd ; 2. FUGIENT , they shall fly ; 3. DEFICIENT , they shall vanish like smoke ; 4. LIQUEFIENT , they shall be melted as wax : Which all meet and are concentred in PERIBUNT , they shall perish at the presence of God . And of these in their order .

We are to find out first the Parties here to be scatter'd ; and they are termed the enemies of God . And we may conceive it a very hard matter to find out any at jar and opposition with God , whose very Essence is Goodness ; whose Power is irresistible , whose Justice is impartial , whose eye is ten thousand times brighter then the Sun , whose Word runneth very swiftly , and whose Word did make , and whose Word can dissolve the world . I know , saith Job , That thou canst do every thing , and that no thought can be Job . 42. 2. with-holden from thee . And from this knowledge of his he draws , this conclusion and resolution , to abhor himself , and repent in dust and ashes . Behold v. 6. the Angels , they are ravisht with his infinite beauty , and fall down at his feet ; the Creature keeps it self in a natural and constant league and friendship with him . He commands the Sea and it obeys ; the Moon knoweth her seasons , and the Sun his going down . All the Creatures observe that course which he hath establisht , not guilty of sacriledge , as Tertullian calls it , or rebellion against the Lord their Maker , which is their concord and sympathie , with his eternal Goodness . Look on the whole Universe , and you find no enemies to God but the Devil and those quos perditus cupit perdere , whom , being destroyed himself , he desires to bring into the same destruction . Here then we may find God's enemies , even amongst those whom he created after his own image , whom he made capable of eternal happiness , whom he was willing to call his friends . The Oxe knoweth his owner , and the Ass his master's crib . Every creature is at his beck , and bows down in an humble submission unto his will : Onely Man doth not consider the wonderfull beauty and love and goodness of his Maker ; but embraceth Vanity , and makes leagues with Death it self , and for the love of every trifle that flatters his phansie is presently at odds and opposition with his Creator .

Amongst Men then are Gods enemies , nay 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as St. Paul calls them , and as they are here termed in the Text , Haters of God ; not onely odio inimicitiae , by being at odds and variance with him , and by the neglect of his commands , but odio abominationis & fugae , by running back from him in all their wayes , being angry with his Providence , ready to teach his Wisdom , controlling his Precepts , loathing his Ordinances , which is in effect to wish there were no God at all . Consider God in himself , as he is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Philosophers call him , the perfection of Goodness ; as he is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that infinit and exemplary Beauty ; as he is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Lover of mankind ( for so he delights to be called ) and in this perfection and beauty and love we cannot more hate him than we can be ignorant of him who filleth all things . But then consider and behold him in those beams & radiations which flow from him , in the effects of his providence and justice , which though they alwayes fall even in a right line where they should , yet many times they thwart and fall cross to our inordinate wills and affections ; and so the world is full of enemies and haters of God ; men who are angry with the commands of Goodness , because they will be evil , men who repine at his instructions , because they will not obey ; men who murmure at his threatnings , because they deserve his judgments ; men who would , if it were in their power , pull him out of Heaven , because he sitteth there to fling them down to Hell . We have a common saying , but it is not so true as common , That all men are naturally enemies to God . This cannot hold of that nature in which we were created . For no man doth or can hate God till he have first given God a just occasion to hate him ; no man can be his enemy till he offend him . For to keep God's commandments is to love him . But then when Lust hath conceived , and hath brought forth Sin , as St. James speaks , and when Sin is finished , and hath brought forth Death ; then when men fear the heat of God's displeasure , and look upon his hailstones and coals of fire now ready to fall upon them , there ariseth that dissonancie and disaffection which is the cause of Hatred between God and Man . Odium timor spirat , saith Tertullian , Hatred is a kind of exhalation , and breatheth from Fear . And as it is amongst Men , so is it here ; Proprium est humanae infirmitatis odisse quem laeseris , It is proper and peculiar unto us to hate those whom we have wrong'd . So here , when we have drawn God's Sword against us , and tremble at the blow which is ready to be given , then we turn countenance against God , and are not onely inimici , enemies , but osores , Haters of God : then the very common notions with which we were born begin to be slurr'd and blemisht in us ; our Envy drops on them , our Malice discolors them , and our Lust polluteth and defaceth them . As for God , the thought of him is not in all our ways . And now when God saith , Thou shalt not commit adultery , no bed is pleasant , but that of the Harlot ; and when he says , Thou shalt not steal , no bread is sweet but the stollen ; and though he say , Thou shalt not lye , yet we make lying as common as our Language ; and we break the two tables of the Law , not in zeal , with Moses , but in opposition , with a heart full of rancor and malice against God himself . And this is it , I conceive , which Aquinas meaneth when he tells us , Prius est odium proximi quàm Dei , We first wrong our neighbour , and then God . First we oppose those decrees which God hath past to bound and limit us in our conversation , and so by consequence bid defiance to the eternal Law-giver . For he that slanders his neighbour , will be as ready to blaspheme God ; nay , in slandring his brother he doth blaspheme his Father which is in Heaven . He that taketh his brother by the throat rather then his humour should be crossed , if God were within reach , would pluck him out of heaven . And thus we grind him in our Oppression , we rob him by our Sacriledge , we wound him by our Cruelty , we pollute him with our Lust . If he make Laws , we make it our strength to break them . If he raise one to the pinnacle of state , and leave us in the dust , we quarrel at his Justice . If he establish Government , we desire change . And though he build his Church and found it upon himself , yet we are ready with axes and hammers , and all the power we have to demolish it . When he hath a controversy with us , we hold a controversy with him , and nothing pleaseth us but the work of our own hands . Men never fight against God till the thunderbolt is in his hand , ready to fall on them .

And now we may descry those peculiar Enemies and Haters of God whom the Prophet here prays against , even those who are enemies to the Truth and the peace of the Church . I told you that this prayer was uttered by Moses at the removing of the Ark. When the Ark was lifted up on the Levites shoulders , the voice and acclamamation was , EXSURGAT DOMINUS , Let the Lord arise . And therefore we may observe , that Moses Num. 10. and David did call the very Ark it self God ; not that they were so idolatrous as to make a wooden God , but that they knew the Ark to be the surest testimony of Gods presence here on earth . So that God's enemies are those who are enemies to the Ark , to the Church of God , and to the peace of the Church . And let men flatter themselves as they please with this or that fair pretence they shall , certainly learn this lesson in the end , That they may as well fight against God himself as against the Church , That neither they nor the gates of Hell can prevail against it . To draw this yet closer to our purpose ; the Ark was a type of the Church ; nay , by the Apostles quotation of this Psalm , the words , though they are verified in both , yet are more applyable to the Church then the Ark. And though we do not call the Church God , yet we shall find that God is married unto her ; that he is ready to hide her under his wing ; that he is jealous of the least touch , the least breath that comes toward her to hurt her ; that he that toucheth her toucheth the apple of his eye . When the Church complains to God of her enemies , God also complains as if he himself suffered persecution . When Saul breathed forth threatnings and slaughters against the Disciples of the Lord , he presently hears a voice , Saul Saul , why persecutest thou me ? And that voice was the voice of God , which struck him to the ground . When Acts 9. and Acts 7. 51. St. Stephen tells the stiff-necked Jews , that they alwayes resisted the Holy Ghost ; he presently in the next verse gives the reason , Which of the Prophets have not your fathers persecuted ? So that to persecute the Prophets , that blessed Protomartyr may make the Commentary , is to resist , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to fall cross with , the Holy Ghost , with God himself . Touch not mine anointed , Psal. 105. 19. saith God , and do my Prophets no harm . Touch them not , for they are mine : And whatsoever you do unto one of them is done unto me , is true in the bad sense as well as in the good . For certainly God cannot be toucht any other way . Our Blasphemys , our Uncleanness , or Rebellions , though they fight against him , yet touch him not : but when wicked men conspire against the Truth and the professors of it ; when their Swords are drawn not onely to touch , but to strike them through ; then up God riseth , and bestirs himself , as if he were in danger to be toucht and hurt . We know all that the Devil worketh against mankind is done out of malice to God himself . Prius votum Daemonis fuit Deum esse ; alterum , nè Deus esset : His first attempt was to be God ; his second , that there should be no God at all , to destroy that Majesty which he could not atchieve . Which since it is impossible for him to compass , all his devises and machinations are , nullum sinere ex portione Dei esse , as the Father speaks , to rob God of his inheritance ; to strike at his heart whose knee bows unto him , to persecute them that sincerely worship him , and to make all men like unto himself , enemies to God . To this end he sets upon the Ark , he levels his forces against the Church of Christ , he sends forth his emissaries , his instruments , his Apostles , as Synesius calls them , to undermine it without , and raises mutinies within . Not a heresie , but he hammers it ; not a schisme , but he raiseth it ; not a sword , but he draws it ; not a rebellion , but he beats up the drum . INIMICI EJUS , Gods enemies , are the Devil and his complices , who say of Jerusalem , the place of his rest and delight , down with it , down with it , even to the very Psal. 137 7. ground .

We know now where to rank his disciples , our enemies this day , who have already shaken the pillars of one Kingdom , and if God , rise not up , will ruine all : Whose religion is rebellion , and whose faith is faction : whom nothing can quiet , but a Desunt vires , a want of strength . Poor souls ! they are willing to suffer for the holy cause ; they are obedient to Government , loyal to their Prince , true to their Country ; that is , They are very willing to suffer any thing when they can do nothing . They will not strike a stroke , not they ; not indeed when Authority is too strong for them , and hath bound them hand and foot : But if some wished opportunity unshackle them , if these cords fall from them , and they are once loose , then these dead men arise , and stand up upon their feet , and make up an exceeding great army . They were before as Ezekiels dry Bones , very dry ; but when some Ezek. 37. 2. fair opportunity , as a gale of wind , hath breathed upon them , behold , they live ; Live ? I , and come to the field , and fight against that Authority under which they lay before as quietly as if they had been dead . And where can we rank these but amongst the enemies of God ? They saw the Ark in its resting place , the Church reformed and flourishing , setled and establisht by the religious care of three glorious Princes ; They beheld their holy Father the Pope every day more and more in disgrace amongst us ; and I am half perswaded , had it not been for the turbulent and irregular zeal of some few amongst us , who think they never love Religion till they toy and play the wantons with it , his Honour had ere this lain in the dust ; For when were the skirts of that Church more discover'd , when was her shame more laid open to the world by many amongst us , who for their great pains have no better reward then to be called his Shavelings ? This they saw , and their heart waxt hot within them , and at last this fire kindled which is now ready to consume us . Before they whisper'd in secret ; now they speak it on the house-top : before they husht up their malice in silence ; now they noise it out by the drum ; Enemies to the Ark , enemies to the Church , enemies to Government and Order , enemies to Peace ; which particulars make up this entire sum , INIMICI DEI , enemies to God .

But now what if we see RELIGIONIS ERGO written upon their designs : and that this Rebellion was raised , and is upheld , for the cause of God and Religion ? shall we then call them Gods enemies , who fight his battels , who venture their lives for the common cause , for Christs Vicar , for Religion , for the Church , for God himself ? 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , All they intend is good . Nihil malè , sed rem sacram facio . So said Cillicon ; I do no evil ; I do but sacrifice , when he betrayed a City . Let us rise up in arms let us cut the heretiques throats , let us destroy them that they be no more a Nation : It is no harm at all , but an acceptable sacrifice to God , Sed quid verba audio , cùm facta videam ? what are words , when we feel the smart of their blows ? All this will not change their title , nor blot their names out of the Devils Kalender , out of the number of those that hate God . For a man may be an enemy to God , and yet do some things for Gods sake . And it is too common a thing in the world sub religionis titulo evertere religionem , to cry up Religion when we beat it down . The Father well said . Many good intentions are burning in Hell , Multa non illicita vitiat animus ; It is true indeed : The mind and intention may make a lawfull action evil , but it cannot make an evil action good . Propose what end you please , set up Religion , the Church and God himself , yet Treason and Rebellion are sins which strike at his Majesty . No enemies to those who stroke us with one hand , and strike us with the other ; who dig down the foundation , and then paint the walls . We may observe , when Reason and Scripture fail them , they bring in the Church at a dead lift ; and when they are put to silence by the evidence of the Truth , then they urge the Authority of the Church , and make this word to be like Anaxagoras his M●ne in Aristotle , to answer all Arguments . The Church is their scarre-sun by which they fright poor silly souls from their faith . The Church must make good Purgatory , Transubstantiation , Invocation of Saints , &c. And indeed this is the best and worst Argument they have . And as they make it an Argument for their grossest errors , so they have learnt to make it an excuse for Treason , for Rebellion , for Murder . And to the Church they are enemies , because they love the Church . Tantum Religio potuit suadere malorum ; Such heart and life and bloud doth the fair pretence of the Church and Religion put into wicked men : so desperately do they fight against God under his own colours ; No sin , I will not say venial , but meritorious , drawn on for the advantage of the Catholick cause .

But for all these glorious pretences , enemies they are , and Haters of God , and , to bring in the third appellation , wicked persons , not sinners of an ordinary rank , but gyant-like sinners , who fight against God with a high hand . Now there is a great difference , saith Hilary , inter impium & peccatorem , betwen a Sinner and a Wicked man : For every wicked man is a sinner , but every sinner is not a wicked man ; Et carent impietate , qui non carent crimine , and they may be guilty of sin who are not guilty of Impiety . The justest man alive falls seven times a day ; but this fall is not a rising against God , not contumelious to his Majesty . But the wicked make sin their trade ; nay , their Religion , Deum non ex Dei ipsius professione , sed ex arbitrij sui voluntate metiuntur , saith the same Father ; They measure God , not by those lines by which he is pleased to manifest himself , but by their own perverse will . They entitle his Wisdom to their fraud , his Justice to their rebellion , his Truth to their treason . He could not have given us a better mark and character of these men . What pretend they the Holy cause , the Honour of God , the Liberty of Conscience , the promoting of Religion ; and these pretences make the fact fouler , and their rebellion more abominable , because they thwart the plain definitions , and the evident commands of God , and break his Law under colour of doing his will . Nec minoris est impietatis , Deum fingere quam negare ; It is as great impiety and wickedness to frame a God unto our selves as to deny him , to feign a God who will applaud sin , countenance murder , reward rebellion , and crown treason . So that , to conclude this , these men may well bear all these titles of Enemies , of Haters of God , of wicked persons ; If there were ever any such in the world , these are they .

But to drive it yet a little more home ; There is not the like danger of enemies when they are sever'd and asunder as when they are collected as it were into one mass and body , not so much danger in a rout as in a well-drawn army . Vis unita fortior . Let them keep at distance one from another , and their malice will not reach to the hurt of any but themselves ; but being gathered and knit together in one band , their malice is strong to do mischief to others . The rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against Psal. ● his anointed . Paquine renders it fundati sunt , were founded : Before they were but as pieces scatter'd here and there , but being gather'd gather'd together they have a foundation to build on . While the vapours are here and there dispersed upon the earth , they present no appearance of evil ; but when they are drawn up into the ayr , and are compact , they become a Comet , and are ominous and portend shipwracks and seditions , and the ruine of Kings and Common-wealths . And such a Comet hangs over us at this day in which we see many thousands are drawn together , not by virtue of the stars or any kindly heat from heaven , but by an irregular zeal and a false perswasion that they can do God no better service than to destroy us . Before they were gathered together in mind and resolution ; but that was but as the gathering together of a heap of stones in a field : now they are knit together as in a building : And now we may cry out with the Prophet : Thou shalt arise , and have mercy upon Sion : for the time to have Psal. 102. 13. mercy upon her , yea , the appointed time , is come . When God's enemies , when they who hate him , when the wicked are gathered together , then is the time for God to arise . And so I pass from their part , which is to gather themselves , to God's , which is to arise and scatter them . EXSURGAT DEUS , Let God arise .

By this Rising of God we may perhaps be induced to conceive that God doth sometimes sit down and sleep , and not regard us ; that he is willing his people should suffer , and that his enemies should wash their feet in their bloud ; that he lets loose the raines to the wicked too long , and maketh not that haste which he promiseth to help the oppressed . But this were to make him like the heathen Gods , who did meridiari , sleep at noon . Which was the reason the Gentiles never enter'd their Temples at that hour of the day , for fear of waking them . No ; He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep , but is awake at all times and hours and moments unto all the world . And the reason is manifest ; Non habet in se diversitatem sui quicquid est simplex , saith Novatian well ; God is a most pure and uncompounded Essence , and therefore not capable of any diversity in himself ; not awake to day and asleep to morrow ; not fitting now , and rising anon ; but everlastingly present to all the world . From him no cloud or darkness can shadow us , no secret grot or cave hide us . He hath 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Greek Father speaks , an eye which cannot sleep . He seeth all things ad nudum & lucidum , naked and plain , even when they are vailed over with the darkest night . Why then is God said to arise ? St. Hilary gives the reason , Per corporalem significationem spiritualis instruitur . We must upon this corporal and sensible expression , build up a Spiritual sense , and not so much consider God as our selves . He doth neither sleep nor arise , nor forget nor remember , nor depart nor draw near , but secundum nostrorum meritorum differentiam , but fits himself to the different quality of our works . When our enemies consult together against us , and are ready to prevail , then to us he is asleep : When he breaks them to pieces like a potters vessel , then he is risen . When we offend him he is absent ; and when we repent , and fulfill his will , he is present with us . Whilst we are his servants , and obey him , his friends and love him , nemo officiosior Deo , none more officious and more active to help us than God ; but when we dissemble with him , and call him Father , but honour him not , non est praevaricator suae perspicaciae ; Though his forbearance makes us believe he sees us not , yet he is no doubter and prevaricator , nor will he betray his omniscience . His sleep is his patience , which he shews both toward the righteous and the wicked . For God is not slack in rising , as some count slackness ; not slack to the wicked , for vengeance hangs over their head ; not slack to the righteous , for salvation is at hand . To the one he is as asleep to heap coals of fire upon his head , to leave him without excuse : to the other he seems not to be risen , that being exercised under the cross they may awake him , and long and cry for deliverance . Hoc est paululum unde pendet aeternitas ; On this little space of his seeming rest depend eternity of punishment to the one , and eternity of peace to the other . God hath these pauses and intervals in all his proceedings , in his punishments , and in his deliverances ; and he useth a kind of deliberation , and works as it were by the rule . When God would build up Jerusalem , he promiseth that a line should be stretched forth upon her : Zech. 1. 16. And when he would destroy the Idumaeans ; he threatens , Extendetur super eam mensura , that he would stretch out upon it the line of confusion . When he Isa. 34. 11. will destroy , and when he will build , he stretcheth out a line . Which is a metaphor taken from Building : And it shews that he doth not suddenly lift up his hand to strike , nor stretch it forth to help , but applys the lines , prepareth his instruments , works by line and measure , and takes as much leasure time in destroying , as artificers do in building ; he waits and expects that his Patience may make way for his Justice on the one , and magnifie his Mercy and Goodness on the other . How long did the Lord endure the old world , even an hundred and twenty years , while the Ark was a preparing . The Amorites ? till their wickedness was full ? How long did ne bear with his own people , first the ten Tribes , then the other two ; even till there was no hope of amendment , till the Prophets cried out , NOAH It is desperate . Now the reason of this his delay , of this his not rising at that instant we expect , is to make it manifest to the world that his wayes are not as our wayes . Therefore many times he presents himself in a shape contrary to our expectation , and doth those things which bear a resemblance of some repudiancie to his known and declared will , as it were on purpose to put our Faith and Constancy to a tryal , whether we will take him to be our God or no , and worship him as well in his thunder as in his still voice ; or else to besiege and compass-in the wicked and obstinate offendors , to shut them up in their own net , to bury them in the pit which they have made , to strike them through with their own sword , and as they have trifled with his judgments , so to deal with them as that they shall not easily know how or when they are led to destruction , or not know it till it be too late . For many times the wrath of God comes upon them , as the Psalmist speaks , when the meat is yet in their mouthes , when they feed sweetly upon their hopes and dream of victory and triumph . Thus he who promises to love and defend his children as with a shield , sometimes he handles them as if he never loved them , or had left off to love them , or would not hear and help them ; and he stands as it were at a distance from them , though even at this distance he is nigh to them that fear him . Again , though he have threatned to raine fire and brimstone upon the wicked , yet many times he delays , and makes as if he would not punish them ; nay , he seems to cast a look of favour upon them , delayes not the blow onely that it may fall the heavier , but many times gives them those rewards which are promised to godliness , fills their garners , makes them mighty in power , crowneth them with happiness ; and gives them their hearts desire ; but then , in this great security : upon the sudden , when their prosperity hath befooled them , when they are ready to conclude they are therefore good because they are temporally happy , he falls upon them , and makes that which was their triumph their ruine : and now he strikes them at once for all ; strikes the tabret out of their hand , infatnates their counsels ; makes them see that they are the poorer for their riches , the weaker for their power , the baser for their honour ; and leaves them to their captain the Devil , who alwayes leads in the forefront of a rebellion ; and then how fearfully and horribly are they consum'd and brought to utter desolation ? Yet a little while , and the wicked Psal. 37 10. shall not be . Nor is this unjust with God . For he doth not tell the wicked that this little while is theirs , and that they may do what they please without fear of punishment . But the wicked abuse this his long-suffering and indulgence , sport in this little while , though the end be death : Which should have been looked upon as an invitation to repentance . Therefore this stay , yet a little while , before God arise , this his Patience ; hath its effect answerable to the disposition and temper of those on whom it is shewed ; a bad on the repentant , and a good on the penitent sinner . For as God is said in Scripture to laugh at the destruction of those who run on in their evil wayes , so he may seem in a manner to mock their security with his proceedings , and to use the same method in punishing which they do in offending . They defer their repentance , and he defers his punishment . He hath them in a line , and when they are run on to the end of it , he pulls them on their backs . It is the nature of Delay in other things to keep back and hinder proceedings which fail many times and sink to the ground in the very pause ; For not to do a thing seasonably is to rob our selves of the faculty and power of doing it at all : But in Gods punishing of the wicked it is otherwise ; Gravitate supplicii moram pensat , He supplies and makes up the delay in punishing with the smart of the blow when it lights . His wrath like wind , shut up long in the caverns of the earth , at last breaks forth in a tempest . His Patience makes way for his Justice . Though he seem to be asleep , and not to see what is done by his enemies , yet at the appointed time he will not fail an inch . Plures idcirco Domino non credunt , quia saeculo iratum tamdiu nesciunt , Many men think that God observes not what they do , because he presently thunders not from heaven , nor sends into the world what the Tyrant wished for in his days , some strange and unheard of calamity . Many men run on in their sin , because God sends not a fire into their bones to make them sensible of his displeasure . But de artifice non nisi artifex . Ignorance of God is the cause why we judge so corruptly of his Providence and Justice . Sometimes he displays it before the sun and the people , in the open destruction of the wicked ; sometimes it works invisibly ; and we can no more find it out then the way of an arrow in the air or of a ship in the sea : And this peradventure we may esteem a sleep : but whether secretly or openly , he doth at last make it evident that he hath set banks and prefixed a time which his enemies shall not pass . Though they work never so secretly , though they make Religion a veil to cover and mantle their designs , yet he will find them out , and strike them to the ground , even in those Meanders and Labyrinths which they made to hide themselves in . And when they are risen , and think they stand strong , and can never be moved , in an hour when they think not on him , nay in an hour when they think he hath been with them in their armies and fought their battels , and been their Lord of Hosts , he will arise as a man out of sleep , and make his sword drunk in the bloud of his enemies . We may pray for it , we may prophesy it ; EXSURGAT DEUS , &c. Let God arise , and his enemies shall be scatter'd , they also that hate him shall flee before him . And so I pass to the effect or end of Gods Arising , DISSIPABUNTUR INIMICI , His enemies shall be scatter'd , &c.

And we need not doubt of event . For when God ariseth , there ariseth Power and Wisdom , in respect of which all the strength in the world is but weakness , and all the wisdom in the world but foolishness . A look of his is able to disperse all the Nations of the earth : What then is his Rising ? In St. Hieromes time the Sun was darkned by a Tempest , and men presently thought the world was at an end ; and so it is with the wicked . When God begins to look up , they dive under water like ducks at every pibble that is thrown . What then will they do when he shall speak in thunders and rain down hailstones and coals of fire upon them ? Look forward , and you shall see their end ; They shall be scatter'd ; They shall flee ; They shall vanish ; They shall melt away . What did Sennacherib get by advancing his banner against the City of the Lord ? Even this , to preach by his statue , Let him that looketh upon me , learn to fear God . What did Acts 12. 23. Herod get by casting Peter into prison ? He was smitten by an Angel , and eaten up of worms . What did Pharaoh gain by flinging the children of Israel into the river ? He brought him into his Court who deprived him of his crown and life . The wicked are insnared in the work of their own Psal. 9. 16. hands , saith David . For this , saith Basil , is not onely inflicted as a punishment , but it is the very nature of Sin , to make a net and dig a pit for it self .

What gained those hellish Traytors in the time of the Virgin Queen , and in the time of that King of peace , King James ? I am almost ashamed in this place to tell you : Nothing but an halter and everlasting ignominy and shame . Let the wicked be never so wise , yet there is a wiser than they ; and let them be never so strong , yet there is a stronger than they . Do you yet doubt whether God's Rising be visible in the execution of his wrath upon his enemies ? Behold then his creature up in arms with him . There is a spiritual writ of outlawry gone out against them ; and every man they meet , every stone in the streets , every beast of the field is ready to become their executioners . When God riseth up , every creature is a souldier ; an Angel overcomes the Assyrians , an army of Frogs and Lice over-run Aegypt , Haylstones from Heaven destroy the Canaanites . The pouder flasheth in the faces of the traiterous pioners . Infelix exitus Haereticorum , The unhappy end of Heretiques is not so good a note of the Church as the Cardinal would make it ; but sure it is an evident mark that God is risen up , and shews the EXSURGAT in Capital letters . Many glorious examples we have of God's Rising of old in Humane and Divine Histories . As the Apostle speaks , the time would fail me to speak of his leading his people out of Aegypt , his bringing them again from captivity , and the like . How many millions of his servants hath he delivered , how many of his enemies hath he destroyed , whose names notwithstanding are no where recorded ? It was an observation of the Junior Pliny , Facta , dictáque illustrium virorum alia majora , alia clariora . All men have not gained credit in the world according to their desert . Some things of no great worth are very famous in the world , when as many things of better worth are less spoken of , and perchance lie altogether buried in obscurity , caruerunt quia vate sacro , because they lighted not on such who would transmit them to posterity . But God is the same yesterday , and to day and for ever ; the same in the preservation of his people Israel then , and the same in the preservation of his servants now ; the same in these his Risings which have left no mark or impression behind them , and the same in those which are writ in the bloud of his enemies ; Adjutor in opportunitatibus , an helper in time of need ; a God who when we are fallen lowest , and when our enemies are even treading us down under their feet , if we trust in him , will up and arise . For , in the next place , if we weigh it well , it cannot be otherwise , the parties being so opposite , God and the wicked , that they cannot both subsist together . Either God must be disarmed ; or his enemies be scatter'd . If then God ariseth , the dispersion of the wicked is a kind of emanation from him . For they cannot stand in his sight . And you may observe it ; They seldom gather together till they are half perswaded there is no God at all . Again , the strength of the whole is not onely from the union , but from the parts , and such parts there may be as you can never collect and draw together so as to make the collection strong , but at last , though it hath been artificially wound together , it will fly to pieces : And therefore , when a greater power appears , it must needs be broken and scatter'd . What parts have smoke ? But thin , and vanishing ones . Vides magnam molem : habes quod videas , non habes quod teneas , saith the Father : We may see as it were a mountain of smoke : we may see it , but we cannot hold it : It may be terrible to the eye , but we cannot grasp it in our hand . And commonly such are the congregations and collections of the wicked . They are but as Wax , hard in shew , but inclinable , in respect of the materials it is made of , to melt : They are like smoke , humidâ , non solidâ magnitudine , of some bulk , but of no solidity , ready to vanish and fly asunder . Their very consultations are but as smoke , the parts of them we see will scarce hang together . Lastly , their very gathering together is one cause of their Scattering ; as plants naturally breed that worm which destroyeth them . Do the wicked gather together against God and his Church ? This collection is one degree and approach to scattering and dissolution . For when their thought is as high as the Crown , their Head deserves to be as high as the Gallows . It is now but a lump of Wax ? anon , having felt the heat , you cannot discern the form that it had . It is but smoke ; and its very elevation is its dissolution : Quantò sit superior , tantò faciliùs disperit ; The higher it is raised , the thinner it grows , and the sooner it vanisheth : You see it lifted up , and anon you see it not at all . So then , to conclude all ; Gods enemies may gather themselves together , but they shall be scattered : they may stand out against him in some shew of opposition , but at last they shall flee : like Wax , their consultations may have some form and shape but at the fire of God's Exsurgat , at his Rising who is a consuming fire , they shall melt and be spread abroad and dilated , amd receive no other Impression but that of God's wrath . And we may make it our Prayer , or we may prophesy ; Thus let God arise ; and so let thine enemies perish , O Lord : but let them that love him , be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might .

That we may prophesy , it is most certain . For Prophetia vox Domini , saith Tertullian , Prophesy is the voice of God . Nay , without any Divine inspiration we may foretell the destruction of the wicked , as a thing as certain as if it were done before our eyes . They have their destiny in their name . If enemies to God , they must be scatter'd and perish . If this counsell or this work be of men , it will surely come to nought , said Gamaliel that great Doctor of the Law . 'T is true , Gods enemies shall perish , but not whilst they are ours , unless we make it a Prayer as well as a Prophesy . For God many times raiseth up those whom himself will at last rise against , to punish their sins who profess his name . O Assyrian , the rod of mine Anger , and the staffe in their hand is mine indignation . I will send him against an Hypocriticall Nation , and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge , to take the spoil , and to take the prey , and to tread them down like the mire of the streets , As if he had said , I will send the Heathen , that know me not , to punish my people in Jewry , who call upon my name . I will send the superstitious Papist to whip the hypocritical Protestant . I will make a rod to whip my people ; and when that is done , I will burn it . And therefore , that God may scatter the wicked whilst they are our enemies , we must not be too bold to prophesie till we have fallen on our faces before God , and tendred these words as a prayer for our selves , and for our distressed bretheren in Ireland . And this is our duty as we are brethren , and members of that body which is one , this God commands , that we do good unto , and pray for all sorts of men , but especially those of the houshold of faith . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , was in the Ancients 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , part of their Letany , as it is of ours . They prayed for men diseased , for prisoners and captives , for men in persecution . And they prayed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with great earnestness and intention . Pete , quaere , insta : petendo & quaerendo crescis ut capias . Let us put up our petitions , let us renew them , and press them again and again , let us multiply them every moment , till we come to the growth to be fit to receive that which till we pray for , till we and our distressed brethren be rid both of our enemies and of our fears . And are our Prayers of such force as to chase away our enemies ? Yes St. James saith they will prevail much , if they be fervent . For as our enemies are only nostris vitiis fortes , made strong by our sins , and arm'd as it were against us with our iniquity ; as they fight against a nation , not so much with their own sword , as with the luxury and pride and wantonness of that nation , ( all which are our sins and our enemies weapons ) so non gladiis pugnamus , sed orationibus ; non telis , sed meritis , saith Ambrose ; we fight against them not with sharp swords , but with strong supplications ; not with weapons , but with alms and fasting , with sighs and groans . And as when we sin we put deadly weapons into their hands , so when we repent we shall disarm them . And indeed it is Repentance which kindles this heat , and makes our prayers fervent : which otherwise will be but so many sins to help our enemies . Without Repentance our Prayers are indeed but the sacrifice of fools . For what more foolish and ridiculous quàm quod voto volumus actu nolle ? then to pray for that which we will not have ? to cry for help against our enemies , by our continuance in sin to increase their number ? cry , Help , Lord ; how long shall the wicked prevail ? and yet to help them more by our transgression , then we do God by our contribution : to call upon God to fight for us , when we fight against him : to desire peace , when we are the only incendiaries ? to fight it out , and pray for a blessed Commonwealth , and yet not be willing to reach forth so much as the little finger to uphold it ? Certainly this noise will never awake God ; nor can we think he will be raised up with words , with empty , flattering , deceitful words ; with words , as Job speaks , without counsel . No : If we will have our prayers make a noise to awake God , we must drop our tears upon our prayers , which we drop out of our own substance , as it were the bloud of Martyrs , saith Anastasius . And Bloud , we know , will cry and be loud . Non sileat pupilla oculi tui . Let not the apple of thine eye cease or be silent . And then we must feed our prayers with fasting . This doth nourish our Devotion , as a woman doth her child with the teat . God hath an ear to harken to our Fasting . Ostendit se Mosi jejunii collegae , saith Tertullian , He shews himself presently to Moses his copartner in fasting . And after this we must adorn them with our Alms , our free-will offering , our Contribution to the work . For can we pray for that which we will not forward ? And then as our prayers are heard , so shall our alms come up before God , and with an holy importunity urge and provoke him to arise ; for in the midst of so many Prayers , of so many Sighs and Groans , of so many Tears , and when our Charity speaks , whose voyce is shriller than the tongues of Men and Angels , God cannot rest , but will hear from the Heavens our prayer and supplication , and maintain our cause . He will cloath us with Salvation , and our enemies with shame ; that we may enter his House with joy , and his Courts with Praise ; that we may sit every man under his own vine and under his own fig-tree , and may make our lives a continual holyday , singing praises to the God of our deliverance . This duty let us so perform here that after we shall have finished our course we may be admitted unto the quire of Angels , with them to praise God for evermore

We will add but one word to bring it home to our present occasion , And it will apply it self . This is a day of Thanksgiving , and here is a feast of Thanksgiving ; A day of Thanksgiving for our deliverance from our outward fraud ; A feast of Thansgiving for our redemption from our spiritual enemies . Let us offer up therefore sacrificium eucharisticum , a pay-offring , or sacrifice of payment ; let us pay to God Confession and Thanks for our deliverance and for his mercies in both . Let us , as Jacob exhorts his Sons Gen. 43. 11. take of the best fruits of the land , of the Musick and Melody of the land , as the word signifieth ; let us bring with us the fruits of the spirit , Gal. 5. 22. Love , Joy , Peace , Long-suffering , Gentleness , Goodness , Faith ; let us bring forth fruits meet for Repentance , meet for these blessed mysteries , which will be as Musicks , even those songs of Sion which God is most delighted with . For if there be a blessing even in a cluster of grapes ; what songs of praise are due to him who is the true Vine , and hath given us Wine to make our hearts glad , pressed bloud out of his very Heart , that we might drink , and be nourisht up unto everlasting Life ? Let us then praise him for our deliverance this day ; praise him , and not be like them out of whose snare we have escaped ; not imitate their actions whose ruine we tremble at ; but praise him by our Meekness and Gentleness , by our Patience and Obedience to lawful Authority . For what praise is that which is breathed out of the mouth of a Traytor ? If we be as ready to spoyl others as our enemies were to devour us , our Harp is but ill strung , and our songs of Thanksgiving will be quite out of tune . Let us double our praises , and magnifie God for that which is presented to us in the Sacrament , our deliverance out of Hell , the destruction of our worst enemy , Sin , and our last enemy , Death . Here is that Red Sea in which that spiritual Pharaoh and his Host were overthrown . And what is our Praise ? To speak good of his name ; This is not enough : we may do this , and crucify him : We must prayse him by obedience , by love , by sincerity , and by a lively faith ; This is indeed to eat of his Body which was broken for us , and to drink of that Bloud which was shed for remission of Sins . For he that truly believes and repents , as he is sick of sin , so he is sick of love , even of that love which in this Sacrament is sealed and confirmed to us . He is ever bowing to Christs sceptre ; he is sincere , and like himself in all his wayes ; he makes his Faith appear in the outward man , in Godly lips and in liberal Hands ; he breaths forth nothing but devotion , but Hallelujahs , Glory and Honour and Prayse for this great love : And so he becoms Peniel , Gen. 32. 30. as the face of God , as the shape of Christ , representing all his Favours and Graces back upon Him , a pillar engraven , with the bowels of Christ a memorial of his love Thankfully set up for ever . It is usual with the Fathers to make the Ark a Type of Christ , his Word as the two Tables , his Discipline as Aarons Rod , and the Sacrament of his Supper as the Pot of Manna . EXSURG AT CHRISTUS , Let Christ arise , who is a brighter image of God then ever the Ark was . Let us take him up , but not upon prophane Shoulders , lest we dy . First , let us be Priests unto the Lord , without blemish , not blinded by the Prince of this world , not halting between God and the World , but perfect men in Christ Jesus , to offer up Sacrifices to the King of Heaven . When we receive him by a lively Faith , we may say he is risen . To this end he lifted up himself upon his cross , that we might lift up our Hearts , and so lift him up again , and present him to his Father : Who for his sake , when he sees him , as the Ark , lifted up , will bring mighty things to pass ; will scatter our Sins , which are our greatest enemies , and separate them from us as far as the East is from the West . And though they be as the Smoke of the bottomless pit he will drive them away ; and though they be complicated and bound together as wax into a kind of body , he will melt them , and deliver us from this body of Death . For what Sin of ours dares shew it self when this Captaine of ours shall arise ? Let God arise ; that is the first verse of this Psalm ; that is our Prayer : And let us conclude with the Psalm ; in Thanksgiving and ascribe the strength unto God , saying , His excellency is over his Israel , to deliver them from their Enemies , and to deliver them from their Sins , and his Strength is in the clouds . O God , thou art terrible in thy holy places . The God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power to his people , against the machinations of Men , and against the wills of the Devil ; against sinful Men , and against Sin it self . Blessed be God . And let all the people say , AMEN .

The Fifteenth SERMON . Gen. III. 12. And the man said , The Woman whom thou gavest to be with me , she gave me of the tree , and I did eat .

WE have here the antiquity of Apologies : we find them almost as ancient as the World it self . For no sooner had Adam sinned , but he runneth behind the bush . No sooner had our first parents broken that primor dial Law , as Tertullian calleth it , which was the womb and matrix of all after-laws , but they hide themselves Vers. 8. amongst the trees of the Garden ; and , as if they had made a covenant and agreement , they joyntly frame excuses . The Man casteth it off upon the Woman , and in effect upon God himself ; The Woman gave it me , and Thou gavest me the Woman ; and thus he lyeth down , and sleepeth , and is at rest . The Woman removeth it from herself upon the Serpent , The Serpent beguiled me , and I did eat . So that now , Vers. 13. God having made inquisition for the fact , neither Adam nor Eve are returned , but the Serpent ; nay indeed God himself , who maketh the Inquiry , is charged as a party and accessory ; The Man did eat because the Woman gave , and God gave the Woman : and Adam thinketh himself safe behind this bush . And therefore as Adam hideth himself from God , so doth God return his folly upon his own head , and seemeth to seek him as if he were hid indeed , Adam where art thou ? in a kind of ironie he acteth the part of an ignorant person , he calleth as at a distance , and seemeth not to know him who was so unwilling to be known . Or , if we take Tertullian's interpretation , Adv. Marcion . l. 2. we must not read it simplici modo , id est , interrogatorio sono , UBI ES , ADAM ? as a plain and easy and kind interrogation , WHERE ART THOU , ADAM ? sed impresso , & incusso , & imputativo , ADAM , UBI ES ? but as a sharp and smart demand , as a demand with an imputation , ADAM , WHERE ART THOU ? that is , jam non hic es , Thou art not here , not where thou wast , not in paradise , not in a state of immortality , but in a state of perdition , in a state of corruption , never more open and naked then in the thicket and behind the bush . This was not quaestio , but vagulatio , as it is called in the XII Tables . All the thick trees in the Garden could not conceal Adam , and keep him from the eyes of his God ; but thus God was pleased to question his folly with some bitterness and scorn . It is the first question that was ever put to Man . And we may be sure all is not well when God asketh questions . His Laws , his Precepts , his Counsels , yea , his Comminations , are all delivered per rectam orationem , by a plain and positive declaration of his mind : HOC FAC , ET VIVES , Do this and live ; Luk. 10. 23 If thou eatest of the forbidden fruit , thou shalt dic the death . What he commandeth Gen. 2. 17. to be done he supposeth will be done ; and never beginneth to ask questions till our Disobedience questioneth his Law : Then he proceedeth against us ex formula , in a kind of legal and judiciarie way . When the Angels fall , he calleth after them , How art thou fallen from heaven , O Lucifer , Isa. 14. 12. son of the morning ? and when Adam is in the thicket , he seeketh him , Adam , where art thou ? A question , one would think , of force to plow up his heart , and to rend it in pieces , that so his sin might evaporate and let it self out by an humble confession ; a question sufficient , one would think , to fill his soul with sorrow , horrour and amazement . But though Adam were now out of the thicket , he was behind the bush still , He striveth to hide himself from God when he is most naked , and speaketh of his Fear , and of his Nakedness , but not at all of his Sin , I heard thy voice , saith he , in the garden , and I was afraid , because I was naked ; and I hid my self . He Gen. 3. 10. was sensible , not of the breach of the Law , but of his nakedness : It was the voice of God that frighted him , not his transgression . We commonly say , Suam quisque homo rem bene meminit , that every man hath a good memorie for that which concerneth him . Only Sin , which is properly ours , and whereof we are the proprietaries , to which we can entitleneither God , nor the Devil , nor any other creature but our selves , we are unwilling to own and to call ours . Ours it is whilst it is in committing ; on it we spend and exhaust ourselves ; we prostitute our wills , we give up our affections , we sell our selves , all the faculties of our souls and all the parts of our bodies ; we woe it , we wait for it , we purchase it : But when it is committed , we cast it from us , we look upon it as upon a bastard issue , we strive to raize it out of our memories ; we are afraid when we are deprehended , we deny when we are accused ; when we are questioned our to answer is an excuse , Nolumns esse nostrum , quia malum agnoscimus , Ours we will not call it because we know it to be evil . One would think that Excuse were the natural offspring of Sin ; or rather , that Sin and Excuse were twins . Omne malum pudore natura suffundit ; No sooner hath Sin stained the soul , but shame dieth the face with a blush . The Philosopher will tell us that , shame is nothing else but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , fear of just reprehension ; which to avoid we seek out many inventions : We run behind the bush ; and when the voice of God calleth us from thence , we make a thicket of our own , a multitude of excuses , where we think our selves more safe then amongst all the trees of the Garden . Behold here the first sin that ever was committed , and behold our first Father Adam ready with an excuse as soon as it was committed . God came unto him , not in a sire devouring before Psai . 51. 3. Gen. 3 8. 1 Cor. 4. 21. him , nor in a mighty tempest round about him , but in the cool of the day he cometh not with a rod , but with meekness : he inviteth him to mercy , and prompteth him to repentance ; he asketh him , Adam , where art thou ? not out of ignorance , as if he saw him not ; but as a remembrance , that he might see himself . And when he cannot extort from him so much as a bare mention of his sin , but only of his fear and his nakedness , which were indeed the bitter effects of it , he cometh nearer to him , and is instant with him , as if he would dictate to him , and bespeak him to confess , and put a form of words into his mouth ; Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded v. 11. thee that thou shouldest not eat ? A question so plain , so keen , of such an edge , that it was able to have cleft his heart in twain , and let his sin out at his mouth by an humble confession . What was it but as the Hand writing upon the wall ? and sure now it cannot be but Adam's countenance is Dau. 5 5. changed , his thoughts troubled , his joynts loosed , and his knees smiting each other . Against this battery what hold can prevail ? But oh the Sinfulness of Sin ! oh the mighty powea of sin ; which so stupifieth the heart , and so filleth it with it self , that it feeleth it not , which transformeth an heart of flesh into brass or marble , that no hammer can malleate it , no sword can pierce it , no influence from God himself can mollifie it ! In ipso peccato impudentiam discimus , & ab ipso , In sin it self we learn a kind of impudent remorselessness , and we learn it from it . These two are contrary , saith St. Chrysostom , Sin and Repentance . In Sin we see shame and confusion ; in Repentance , hope and confidence : but the devil hath changed and inverted this order , and hath placed upon Sin boldness and confidence , and shame upon Repentance . Adam here was not ashamed to commit sin , but he is ashamed to confess it ; and therefore he maketh an apron for his sin , as he had done for his body ; but he was never more naked then in his fig-leaves : And the man said , The Woman whom thou gavest to be with me , she gave me of the tree , and I did eat .

My Text then , ye see , is not an Answer , but an Excuse , and therefore will not so easily admit a methodical division . For in these ambages in the turnings and windings , in the mazes and labyrinths of Excuses , what order can we find ? But though we cannot orderly divide this excuse , we will dissect and anatomize it , and make some use of our Father's sin . God may seem sometimes to have been more ready to discredit his Saints then to honour them , in that he setteth down oftentimes and recordeth their faults , but wrappeth up their repentance in silence . The story of Noah is shut up Gen. 9. with his drunkenness . After the relation of Lots's incest we hear no more Gen. 19. of him . After the storie of Solomon's idolatry , it followeth immediately , And Solomon slept with his Fathers . Adam no doubt did repent ; yet we 1 Kings 11. 43 see his storie concluded with his punishment . Nor may we think that this was done by chance , but , as the Apostle speaketh , all these things are written 1. Cor. 10. 11. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for our admonition , upon whom the ends of the world are come . As therefore they who come to see dead bodies cut up , although they purpose not to learn Anatomie , yet by that sight go away informed , what manner of substance the Heart , the Spleen , the Liver are of ; so by dissection of this Excuse of Adams , and by view and inspection as it were of the very entralls of our Progenitors , we may read our own disease , we may learn to search and examine our own hearts , and find that our 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and constitution is the very same with theirs , that we resemble them not only in their fall , but also in their excuse , and that we are as skilful artificers to few fig-leaves together , to apologize for our sins and to extenuate them , as ever our first father was . The lines then by which we are to pass are these . First we will anatomize and disect this excuse of Adam's : Next , we will look into our selves , take some notice of our own hearts , and of those excuses which we commonly frame ; and then , to make an exact Anatomie-lecture , we will lay open the danger of the disease , that we may learn to avoid what was fatal to our Parents , and though we sin with Adam , yet not with Adam to excuse our sin . Of these in their order .

And the Man said , The Woman , &c. ] I told you this was no Answer , but an Excuse ; For indeed an Excuse is no Answer . An answer must be fitted to the question which is asked ; but this is quite besides it . We find indeed ambages , a circuit of words , which the Philosopher calleth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because they run round as it were in a circle , and never point in a direct line to the matter in hand , never present it with what the Question expecteth ▪ but something else in stead of it . The Question here is , Hast thou eaten of the forbidden tree ? The Answer is wide from the purpose , an accusation of the Woman , yea of God himself ; The Woman whom thou gavesl to be with me , she gave me of the tree , and I did eat . In civil Courts Patronus negat , defendit , transfert , minuit , deprecatur , saith the Orator ; It is usual and commendable for him who taketh upon himself to be an Advocate either to deny the fact , or defend it , or translate it , or extenuate it , or put it off ; and he who falleth short of this act , deserveth not the name of a Patron . But in the court of Conscience there is no room for this act : Here every man must be not his own advocate but accuser and judge . For when God asketh the question , maketh inquisition for bloud or any other sin , to extenuate the offense is to aggravate it , to put it off is to draw it closer on , to defend it is to augment it . There is no answering of God , when he questioneth us , but by acknowledgment .

But to proceed orderly in our Dissection ; We find the Man doth not deny , but in plain terms confess that he did eat . And COMEDI , I have eaten , by it self , had been a wise answer : but it is COMEDI , with ▪ MULIER DEDIT , I did eat it , but the Woman gave it , a confession with an extenuation : And such a confession is far worse than a flat denyal . I did eat were words that might have proved as sweet as the rivers of paradise , had it not been for the poison of the excuse . But Adam's last words Gen. 41. 4. are lost in the former , as the lean and ill-favoured Kine in Pharaoh's dream ate up the fat ones . Deny indeed the fact he could not . For as God had built him up in his own image and likeness , so he had raised up within him 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a natural tribunal , his Conscience , and made him thus far a God unto himself , as not only to discern evil from good , but also to search the very inwards of his own heart , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. saith St. Chrysostome ; all men , of what rank soever , though they sit not in the throne of justice , though they be not Judges and Magistrates , though they have no executioners , nor prisoners , nor gives , nor bolts , yet they judge and condemn Sin in themselves and others , and that by the common principles of Discourse and Reason , and by that secret verdict and sentence which every man carrieth in his own breast . The first man that condemneth a Sinner is a Sinner himself ; Se judice nemo nocens absolvitur ; in himself he beareth about him a Court and Seat of justice from which no appeal lieth . His reason is his judge , his Conscience is his accuser , himself his own prisoner : The terrours of an afflicted Conscience hang him up and crucifie him every day , though no forreign autority arrest him . For as the shadow followeth the body , saith Basil , so doth Sin the Soul ; and whithersoever we go , it presenteth it self before us . No sooner do we reach out our hand to the Apple ; no sooner is our eye full of the adulteress , 2 Pet. 2. 14. Jam. 1. 15. no sooner hath Lust conceived and brought forth Sin , but presently verberamur tacito cogitationis nostrae opprobrio , as St Ambrose speaketh ; our own thoughts are as whips and scorpions to scourge us ; our conscience striketh us with amazement and horrour when no man pursueth us , she plougheth up our soul , and maketh deep furrows there , laniatus & ictus , as the Historian speaketh , stripes and wounds , when no other hand is lift up against us . But as Judges would see more clearly and judge more uprightly if they were not blinded with a bribe , so would the Conscience speak more plainly , if we did not teach her broken and imperfect language , to pronounce Sibboleth for Shibboleth , to leave out some letter , some aspiration , Judg. 12. 6. some cicumstance in sin . But to speak truth , the Conscience cannot but speak out to the offender , and tell him roundly that he hath broken God's law . But as we will not hearken to Reason when she would restrain us from sin , so we slight her when she checketh us for committing it ; we neither give ear to her counsel before we eat , nor to her reproof after we have eaten ; we observe her neither as a friend nor as an enemy . Adam's conscience told him he had broken the command , had eaten of the forbidden fruit and must die ; but the shame of what he had done , and the fear of what would follow , made him as deaf to his conscience after his fall as he was before , as unwilling to acknowledg his sin as to prevent it ; and therefore he seeketh to palliate and colour over what he could not deny , he faltreth in his language , and instead of a confession rendreth nothing but an excuse , an excuse which indeed is nothing .

Now to dissect and examine the Excuse ; We shall find that Adam dealeth like an unskilful Phisitian , qui pro morbo extinguit hominem ; He removeth not the disease , but destroyeth himself , and by applying a remedy worse than the disease maketh the disease incurable . His Apologie upbraideth him , and he condemneth himself with his excuse . For first , MULIER DEDIT , The woman gave it me , weigh it as we please , is an aggravation of his sin . We may measure Sin by the tentation : It is alway the greatest when the tentation is least . A great sin it would have been to have eaten of the forbidden fruit , though an Angel had given it , what is it then when it is the Woman that giveth it ? Why should the Woman prevail over the Man ? the weaker over the stronger vessel ? He was made her head , and was to rule over her . His Duty saith St. Chrysostome , was not only to have refused the woman's offer , but also , to have shewed her the greatness of the sin , and to have kept her from eating ; not only to have saved himself , but to have plucked her also out of the fire . But for Strength to yield to Weakness , for the Head to be directed by the Body , for him to put himself in subjection who ought to command , for him to follow to evil who should lead to good , was to invert the order which God had constituted . What a shame do we count it for a man of perfect limbs to be beaten by a criple ? for a son of Anak to be chased by a grashopper ? for Xerxes 's army which drank up the sea , to be beaten out of Greece by three hundred Spartains ? Certainly he deserveth not power who betrayeth it to Weakness . The Woman gave it me , then , was a deep aggravation of the Man's transgression .

Again , it is but , The Woman gave it . And a gift , as we commonly say , may be either taken or refused ; and so it is in our power whether it shall be a gift or no. Had the man been unwilling to have received , the Woman could have given him nothing . Nunquid obsecravit ? num disseruit ? num decepit ? saith the Father . Did she besiege him with her intreaties ? did she use the battery of discourse ? did she cunningly undermine him with a fallacie ? No , it is but dedit ; she only gave it him . The Orator will tell us , Necessitas est magnum humanae infirmitatis patrocinium , that Necessity is the best Plea that humane weakness hath for the misery that befalleth us : But it is too common a thing , as Tertulian saith , licentiam usurpare praetextu necessitatis , to make Necessity a pretense for our liberty and licentiousness in sinning . At this door enter-in Covetousness , Intemperance , Revenge , Pride , which we might easily keep out , even with one of our fingers . Nusquam est necessitas , nusquam violentia , sed electio & voluntas : Here was no necessity , no violence . It is but DEDIT , she gave it him , and he was willing to receive it . Oh how are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battel ! how is Adam fallen in the midst of his strength ! He who had the Graces of God encompassing him about as a ring , who had his Understanding richly adorn'd , and his Will obedient to his Understanding , who had an harmonie in his Affections , and an Heaven in his Soul , who had the Angels for his guardians , and God for his strength , who was himself a kind of God upon earth , and had dominion over all the creatures surrendreth up all at the sight of a gift , a gift which he might have refused , and which he was bound to refuse . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Plato de Log. proverb , The Gods themselves have not strength enough to strive against Necessity ; but he is weaker than a man who yieldeth where there is no necessity : The Woman gave it me , then , is but a weak apology .

Further yet , What was the gift ? was it of so rich a value as to countervail the loss of Paradise ? No : it was DE FRUCTU ARBORIS , the fruit of the tree . We call it an Apple . Some would have it to be an Indian Fig. The Holy Ghost vouchsafeth not once to name it , or to tell us what it was . Whatsoever it was , it was but fruit , and of that tree of which Man was forbidden to eat upon penalty of death . Quasi vero rationis aliquid Gen. 2. 17. haberet haec defensio , saith a Father ; As if this defense had any shew of reason in it , when he confesseth that he preferred this apple , this slight gift of the Woman , before the command of God , The Woman gave me of the tree , and I did eat . Here are two , God , and the Woman ; the Gift , and the Command ; the Apple , and Obedience . To hearken to the Woman , and to be deaf to God ; to forsake the command for the gift ; to fling off obedience at the sight of an apple , is that which sheweth Adam's sin in its full magnitude , and yet is taken-in here for an apologie . But perhaps this fruit may be of high price , this apple may be an apple of God , with this glorious inscription upon it , ERITIS SICUT DII , if ye eat it , ye shall be as Gods : Who would not venture then to touch upon such hopes ? who would not eat an Apple to become a God ? It is true , if this had not been the Devil's inscription , whose every letter is a lie , and whose greatest gift is not worth an apple , whose kingdoms of the world and glorie of Mat. 4. 8. them are overbought with a thought . Mala emtio , saith the Oratour , semper ingrata est , quia semper exprobrare videtur domino stultitiam ; An evil bargain is an ey-sore , because it alwayes upbraideth him with folly who made it . And such a bargain here had our first father made . He had bought gravel for bread , wind for treasure , spem pretio , hope for a certainty , a lie for truth ; an apple for paradise . The Woman , the Gift , the gift of an Apple , these are brought-in for an excuse , but are indeed a libel .

Further still , to aggrandize Adam's fault , consider how the reason of his excuse doth render it most unreasonable . Why doth he make so buisy a defense ? why doth he shift all the blame from himself upon the woman ? Here was no just detestation of the offence , but only fear of punishment . The fruit of the tree had been pleasant to the eyes and tast , but MORTE MORIERIS , Thou shalt surely die , was bitter as gall . He would offend Gen. 3. 6. Gen. 2. 17. with the woman , but with the woman he would not be punished . For love of her he did eat ; but now he hath eaten , see how he loveth her . Behold , the Lord cometh with a fiery sword to take vengeance for his sin ! Doth he oppose himself to the danger ? doth he stand between the sword and his wife ? doth he urge her weakness ? doth he plead for her ? doth he call for the blow on himself ? No : She gave , and let the blow light upon her . Pernitiosè misericors , & pernitiosiùs crudelis , saith Bernard ; He had been too pliant and kind to sin with his wife , but now most cruel when he should be merciful . It was too much mercy to joyn with her in the sin , but cruelty without mercy to leave her in the Punishment . And here is a sign that Adam is fallen indeed , even fallen from the high degree of a Lord to the low condition of a Servant ; who feareth not to offend , but to be punished ; would break the command at pleasure but that Death is the best reward that followeth . To a good man Punishment appeareth not in so horrid a shape as sin : for punishment is but the evil of passion inflicted for the evil of action , and of the two the evil of action is far the worse . The lips of an harlot are far worse then the biting of a cockatrice : Theft is far worse then the whip : Yea , to sin , as Anselm saith , is far worse then to be damned . For there is a kind of justice in punishment which is not sin . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Neither God nor Man will deny but that it is most just that he who sinneth should suffer for his sin . Omnis pana , si justa est , peccati paena est , saith Augustine . But for sin punishment were not just . We may bespeak Adam in the stile of the imperial Law , ipse te subdedisti paenae ; thou hast brought thy self under punishment , and deservest to have it doubled for shifting it off to thy wife . He had taken possession of Paradise upon condition , and had made a contract with God : And the Scholiast on the fifth of Aristotle's Ethicks will tell us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , There is in punishment a kind of giving and receiving ; in which the nature of all contracts doth consist . He who receiveth by theft , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . The Latine phrase is , dabit paenas , he must give punishment . Adam receiveth an apple , and he must give paradise , yea his life , for it . We have said enough to shew that Adam did but pavementare peccatum , as St. Augustin speaketh , parget and plaister ever his sin , and did 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , alleage that for a cause of his transgression which in truth was none . But ,

In the last place , that which maketh his apologie worse than a lie ; and rendreth his excuse inexcusable , is , that he removeth the fault from the Woman on God himself ; Not the Woman alone is brought in , but MULIER QUAM TU DEDISTI , The Woman whom thou gavest me , she gave me of the tree , and I did eat . Which indeed is a plain sophism non causae pro causa : That is made a cause which is not a cause , but an occasion only . It is a common axiome , Causa causae est causa causati , That which produceth the cause , produceth also the effect of that cause : And it is true in Causes and effects essentially coordinate . But here it is not so , God indeed gave Adam the Woman : but he gave him not the Woman to give him the Apple Dedit sociam , non tentatricem ; He gave her for a companion , not for a tempter : He gave her not to do that which he had so plainly forbidden . The true cause of Adam's sin was in himself and in his own will . It was not the Woman , which God gave him , but the Woman which he gave himself , who gave him the fruit : God gave him a Woman to be obedient to him , not to command him . God gave him a Will to incline to his command , but not to break it . Whatsoever God gave him was good : The Woman was good , the Fruit was good , his Will was good , the Command was good ; but he gave himself a Woman who was a seducer , fruit which was poison , a will which was irregular , and the command he made his ruine . And now he who affected to become like unto God , doth desire also to make God like to himself ; he who would be made a God , maketh God a man , and bringeth him in as guilty of the transgression : And so he added to his guilt by defending it , ut culpa ejus atrocior fieret discussa , quàm fuit perpetrata , saith the Father : His sin was greater being excused than it was when first committed . To exalt it to the highest , we may well call it Blasphemy . For as we may blaspheme by giving that to the Creature which is proper to God , so may we also by attributing that to God which is the Creatures only . To worship an Angel , or a Saint , is contumelious to God ; to make God an Angel is blasphemy ; what is it then to make him a Man ? what is it to make him a Sinner ? I know nothing that Adam could call his own but the transgression . There is some truth in the TU DEDISTI ; for his Wife God had given him : So Paradise was God's gift , and his Body God had created him . But if we bring-in his Sin , then TU DEDISTI is blasphemy : For God gave him not that , nay God could not give it him ; but he must father it who was the father of us all .

To recollect all , and lay before you these bella tectoriola , these excuses , in brief . What if the Woman gave it ? The Man was stronger then the Woman , and Lord over her . What though it were a Gift ? He had will to refuse it , his hands were not bound , nor his feet put into fetters ; there was no chain of necessity to force him . But then it was but an Apple : and what was all the fruit in Paradise to the loss of his obedience ? What was the Devil's promise to God's threatning ? how unjust and cruel was he to his wife , in transferring the fault upon her ? Lastly , how blasphemous was he against God , in imputing his very gift unto him as the only cause of his sin ? If the Woman seduce him , must it be with a Gift ? If a Gift will prevail , must it be no more then an Apple ? Must an Inscription , a Promise , a Lie deceive him ? and must he buy the false hope of eternity with the certain loss of Paradise ? If he sin with Eve , why is he unwilling to be punished with Eve ? And why doth he dispute with God , and darken counsel by words without knowledg ? We may well cry out , Adam , where art thou ? In a thicket Job 38. 2. amongst the trees , nay , amongst the leaves . For all excuses are so , even leaves , nay , not so good shelter as leaves : for they do not cover , but betray us . Adam increaseth his shame by endeavouring to hide it . Mulier quam dedisti , is not an excuse , but an accusation .

And now I wish that the leaves of those trees among which Adam hid himself had cast their shadow only upon him . But we may say as St. Ambrose doth of the storie of Naboth and Ahab , Adami historia tempore vetus est , usu quotidiana ; This historie of Adam is as antient as the World ; but is fresh in practice , and still revived by the sons of Adam . We may therefore be as bold to discover our own nakedness as we have been to pluck our first father from behind the bush . We have all sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression , and we are as ready to excuse sin as to commit it ; that we may seem to take this at least from Adam , as Pelagius thought we do all other defects , only by imitation . Do we only excuse our sin ? No ; Many times we defend it by the Gospel , and even sanctifie it by the doctrine of Christ himself . Superstition we commend for Reverence , prophaneness for Christian liberty , indiscretion for Zeal , will-worship for Obedience : Nay , doth not Rebellion come towards us under the grave habit of Religion , with a Sword in one hand , and a Bible in the other ; as if God himself had decreed to set up these men of Belial against his own ordinance , and the word of God were powerful not to demolish imaginations , but Kingdoms . The Oratour telleth us , that honesta verba moribus perdidimus , by our evil manners we have lost the proper and native signification of many good and honest words , so have we also almost lost the knowledg of our Sins in words , in borrowed titles , and assumptitious names . And hence it cometh to pass that neither our Virtues are as they appear ; nor our Vices appear to us as they are , but we look upon our defects without grief , and applaud our false virtues with joy , our feigned Temperance , our adulterate Charity , our mock-Fasts , our superficial Mortification , our spurious Humility , our irregular Devotion , our Pharisaical Zelé , our Obedience with a sword drawn and ready to strike : Nor are we content alone to be deceived , but we affect it , & sub nomine religionis famulamur errori , we talk of God , but worship our own imaginations , & sub velamento nominis Christi adversus nomen Christi militamus , we fight against Christ even under his own colours . This disease of Adam's runs through each vein and passage of our soul , by which we are still unlike ourselves , like Adam indeed in Paradise , but then when he was in the thicket , and like unto him out of the thicket , but with an excuse in his mouth . We may observe , that many things in themselves not commendable do yet help to make up our defects , and one vice serveth to set out another . Impudence promoteth Ignorance . For do we not see many whose boldness is the greatest part of their learning , and whose confidence is taken for judgment and wisdome ? Good God! what cannot a brow of brass , a sad countenance and a forced deportment do ? This Quintilian maketh one reason why amongst the vulgar sort Ignorance many times beareth the bell , and is more amiable and gratious than Knowledg . And may we not in like manner think that that peace and quietness we have at home in our own breasts , and that approbation we gain abroad , is due ; not alwaies to our virtue , but oft-times to our whorish and impudent looks , not to that constant tenour and equality of life which Reason prescribeth , but to this art of apologizing , to our manifold evasions and excuses ; which , if we look nearer upon them , are of a fouler aspect then those sins they colour and commend .

To come close home therefore , we will stay a little , and draw the parallel , and shew the similitude that is betwixt Adam and his sons . We shall still find a Mulier dedit to be our plea as well as his . Some Woman , something weaker then our selves , overthroweth us , and then is taken-in for an excuse . Omnes homines vitiis nostris favemus ; & quod propriâ facimus voluntate , ad naturae referimus necessitatem . saith Hierom to Amandus , We all favour ourselves , and our vices too ; and what we do willingly , we account as done out of necessity of nature . If we taste the forbidden fruit , we are ready to say , The Woman gave it us . Again , it is some gift , some profer , that prevaileth with us , something pleasant to the eye , something that flattereth the body and tickleth the phansie , something that insinuateth it self through our senses , and so by degrees worketh upward , and at last gaineth power over that which is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and should command , our Reason and Understanding . Whatsoever it is , it is but a Gift , and may be refused . Homo potest peccare ; sed , si nolit , non facit , saith St. Augustine ; Man may fall into sin ; but if he will not , he doth not . What though it be pleasant ? I may distast it . What though it flatter ? I may frown upon it . What though it be Honour ? I may look down upon it . What though it be Wealth ? I may cast it upon the waters , or fling it into the sea . What if Eccles. 11. ● . the Devil say , All these things will I give thee ? If we will not reach out Mat. 4. 9. the hand , they are not a gift . No insinuation , no flattery , no smiling tentation , no argument , no rhetorick is of more power and activity then the Will , which may either take or refuse the gift as it please . Further , as it is something presented in the manner of a gift which overcometh us , so commonly it is but an Apple , something that cannot make us better , but may make us worse ; something offered to our Hope , which we should fear ; something that cannot be a gift till we have sold our selves ; nor be dear to us till we are vile and base to our selves ; at the best but a guilded temptation , an Apple with an Inscription , with an ERITIS SICUT DII , upon it , with some promise , some shew , and but a shew and glimpse , of some great blessing ; but earthy and fading , yet varnished with some resemblance of heaven and eternity . Look upon those gifts which are most welcome unto us , and which we run after as unwilling to stay till they be proferred , and ye shall find an ERITIS SICUT DII upon them . There is upon Honour such an Inscription ; For Honour either maketh us God's , or at least maketh us think we are so . There is the like upon Wealth : for when our chests are full , how do we worship ourselves , and sacrifice to Habac. 1. 16. our own net ! Nay , ye may see it written in the dresses and paint and forehead of the Harlot : for are not the strumpets smiles the wantons paradise ? are not her embraces his heaven ? in a word , it is written upon every thing that is offered as a gift , and being received is a sin : For when we sin , volumus Divinam excellentiam imitari , saith the Father , we emulate the Majesty of the Highest , we acknowledg no superior , but would be as Gods , to do what we please . Lastly , the TU DEDIST I will come in too . For be it the World , God created it ; be it Wealth , he openeth his hand and giveth it ; be it Honour , he raiseth the poor out of the dust ; be it our Flesh , he fashioneth it ; be it our Soul , he breathed it into us ; be it our Understanding , it is a spark of his Divinity ; be it our Will , he gave it us ; be it our affections , they are the impressions of his hand : But be it our Infirmity , we are too ready to say that that is a Woman too of God's making . But God never gave it . For suppose the Flesh be weak , yet the Spirit is strong : & si spiritus carne fortior , nostrâ culpâ infirmiora sectamur , saith Tertullian ; If the Spirit be stronger than the Flesh , it is our fault if the weaker side prevail . And therefore let us not flatter our selves , saith he , because we read in Scripture that the flesh is weak ; for we read also that the Mat. 26. 41. spirit is ready , that we might know that we are to obey , not the flesh , but the spirit . Of all discourses those of our own infirmity prove many times most dangerous . For this indeed is the Woman which giveth us the Apple . If we blaspheme God's name , it is our infirmity ; if we revenge our selves , it is our infirmity ; if we steal , it is our infirmity ; if we taste of forbidden pleasures , it is our infirmity : when our greatest infirmity is to talk so much of infirmity , and still to alledg it as an excuse of our faults . Inevery sin we commit we renew this antient storie , and Eve continually overcometh Adam . Nay further yet , as Adam excused himself by Eve , so do we excuse our selves by Adam ; we lay all our sins on his shoulders , and hide all our actual transgressions within the folds of original corruption . When God cometh to question us , and to ask us , Where and In what state we are , we cannot but be guilty and conscious to ourselves of sin ; we cannot but say that we have eaten , and done that which was forbidden : But then nolumus esse nostrum , quia malum agnoscimus , though the sin be ours , we are unwilling to own it because of its deformity , We carry Sin about us ; Nay , saith Luther , unusquisque infernum in se habet , every man hath an Hell within himself , and therefore he casteth-in this water , these cold excuses , to cool and allay it .

And thus ye see what a near resemblance and likeness there is between Adam and his posterity , that we are so like him in this art of apologizing , Ut sit tam similis sibi nec ipse , that we cannot easily tell whether had most skill to paint Sin with an excuse , the Father , or the Children . Adam behind the bush , Adam with a Mulier dedit , is a fair picture of every sinner ; but it is not easy to say that it doth fully express him . But now , to draw towards a conclusion , that we may learn exuere patrem , to cast off the old man , and to avoid that danger that was fatal to him , we must remember that we are not only of the first Adam , but also of the second ; not only of the earth , earthy , but also 1 Cor. 15. 47. 49. of the Lord from heaven ; and as we have born the image of the earthy , so we must also bear the image of the heavenly : We must remember that we are born with Christ , that we are baptized and buried with Christ , and that we must rise with Christ ; that the Woman was given to be in subjection , the Flesh to be subdued by us , and the World to be troden under our feet ; that we must not count these as enforcements and allurements before sin , lest we take them up as excuses after sin ; that we must not yield to them as stronger than ourselves , that we may not need to run to shelter ourselves under them in time of trouble . A strange weakness it is to talk of Weakness when we are to sight : for this is to yield before we strike a stroke ; and no wonder , si vincantur , qui jam victi sunt , if they fall by conquest who in their own opinions are already overcome . And as great weakness it is when the Woman hath prevailed , and we have given up our strength to infirmity , then , out of that to draw an apologie , from whence by resistance we might have raised that virtue which would have crowned us with honour and glory . It was the Woman , saith Adam : It is my Melancholy , saith the Envious ; it is my Bloud , saith the Wanton ; It is my Appetite , saith the Glutton ; It is my Choler , saith the Murderer . But God gave Adam a wife , not a tempter : and God gave an appetite , not Gluttony ; natural tempers and constitutions , not Envie , not Luxurie , not Revenge . And the Envious should clear-up the cloud of Melancholy with the light of Reason , the furious Gallant purge his Choler , the Wanton quench the fire in his bloud , and make himself an Eunuch for the Kingdom of heaven , and the Glutton 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Mat. 13 12. wage war with his appetite , put a knife to his throat , and beat down Prov. 23. 2. Cor. 9. 27. his body with fasting and abstinence . Beloved , if this care were general and serious , we should not hear Adam complain of Eve , nor should we complain of Adam , nor make our Infirmity an apologie for sin , nor our Weakness to resist temptation a temptation to those sins which encrease our weakness . God sendeth us into the world as the Romans did their armies against Carthage , not to return but with conquest . If we fail and be foiled , it will be in vain to urge and plead our Infirmity . It is the perverseness of the will , saith St. Ambrose that damneth the wicked ; but no necessity of nature nor infirmity of the flesh can excuse them . God indeed gave the Woman to Adam , but dedit in adjutorium , he gave her him to be an helper : So there is not any thing which God hath given us that of it self can hurt us . There is no natural appetite or inclination in man , say the Schools , which may not be drawn up to a virtuous act : There is no fuel , no spark , in our nature which may not be improved and fixed up at last as a star in the firmament of the soul . For every inclination is from God , and therefore is good , and tendeth to good . My inclination to Anger may end in true Christian Fortitude ; my inclination to Sorrow may be perfected in Repentance ; my inclination to meats , in Sobriety and Abstinence . If the Woman had been given to Adam to have given him the Fruit , he might have tasted , and not dyed ; and if our natural inclination did necessitate us to the act , we may say it , and be no lyars , that we have no sin : What pretence then can we find , what excuse can we possibly frame , when we break God's command ? That Sin doth insinuate ? A Christian hath a charm . That it is invisible , and so insensible ? Faith unfoldeth it . That our nature is weak ? Christ doth strengthen us . That there is a Woman with an Apple in her hand , many incitements to sin ? There are more and stronger to goodness . There needeth no instructour to teach us , saith St. Basil , no Oratour to perswade us , to hate a loathsom disease ; and by the common principles of Reason we commend Justice and Temperance , and condemn that which is evil . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , There is , saith he , in the soul of Man an aversness from evil , which he never learned , but brought with him into the world . But then what if Evil look well , and speak well , and appear in some glory ? We have light enough to discover that imposture . For the Fruit with the inscription there is a Morte morieris . If the World flattereth , God threatneth . If Nature incline , grace is a bridle . If the Devil suggest , the Angels are our guardians . If he fetch his circuit and compass to see where he may foil us , they are ready to pitch their Tents round about us . What speak we of Temptations ? They are officina meritorum , a shop to build good works in . If Temptation cloath it self with Lust , I may make it Chastity and Temperance . If it smile in a piece of gold , I may make it poverty of spirit . If it cringe to me in his knee that honoureth me , I may shadow it with humility . Our Passions which have quandam mulieritatem , a kind of womanishness in them , and are many times as froward and perverse as any of that Sex , yet may be made useful and serviceable , cùm illud quod in illis foemininum est , virile facimus , saith the Father , by turning their effeminacy into true manhood ; by making my Fear a Centinel to warn me of danger , my Anger a Magistrate to punish my sin , and my sorrow , a penetentiary to water my couch with tears : nay , cùm illud quod in illis ferinum , est divinum facimus , by making that Divine which was bestial and brutish in them . And indeed , wherein can we more nearly resemble God then in the destruction of sin ? and this we may work by help of our passions . This fleshly part of ours God hath given us ; but dedit sociam , he gave it for a companion , not an enemy . Nyssene will tell us that the Soul may set it in tune , as a Musician doth his Harp and Lute , and make such an harmony as shall be very delightful in the ears of God . And a friend also we may make it to exalt and promote us . It may help us to a Confessors place in Heaven by the confession of the tongue , it may procure us a Virgin 's place by chastity , and crown us with Martyrdome by dying for Christ . Nemo non in cansa Dei facere potest quod in causa sua quotidiè facit . We are prodigal of our blood and of our life , if our Lust or some quarrel call for it ; why should it then be so difficult a matter to employ and spend it in the cause of God ? If we shall search the Scripture to improve our knowledge , if we shall earnestly beg of the God of grace to inflame our Love , let the Woman tempt never so much , we shall not hear her . Let our natural endowments be what they will , he that doth little amongst us shall do much , and he that doth much shall do much more . And for our enemies which we so fear ; and which we bring in as an excuse of our cowardise , one of us ( as Deut. 32. 30. it was said of the Israelites ) shall chase a thousand of them , and if they Deut. 28. 7. come out against in one way , they shall flee before us seven wayes . Nor shall we ever so forget our selves as to palliate our offences , and when God and our Conscience , or our Conscience , which is our God , shall call us to account ; put them off upon Adam , as Adam did here upon Eve : There shall never come a MULIER DEDIT , or a TU DEDISTI , The Woman both done this , or , Our Flesh hath done this , or , God hath done this , into our apology : Nor will we hide our selves under any Tree but that whose leaves are to heal the Nations , nor run unto any Rock but the Rev. ●● . ● . holes and sides of the Rock Christ Jesus .

To shut up all , and conclude ( for I fear I have trespassed ) my advice shall be first that of Arsenius the Eremite , Impera Evae , & cave serpentem , & tutus eris ; tutior autem si arborem non inspexeris : Command Eve , and beware of the Serpent , and thou shalt be safe : but , if thou wilt be out of the reach of danger , do not so much as look towards the forbidden Tree . Let thy Reason take its place , and hold dominion over thy Will : Look not upon the Wine when it is red , nor upon Beauty when it smileth , Prov. ●● . 31. nor upon the Apple when it is pleasant to the eye , but fly all occasion and appearance 1 Thes. 5. ●2 . of evill , and hate Sin even in a Picture : And this , that thou mayst not sin . But in the second place , if thou hast sinned , if thou hast tasted of the forbidden fruit , if thou hast meddled with the accursed thing , then , as Joshua speaketh to Achan , My son , give , I pray thee , glorie to the Lord Joh. 7. 19. God of Israel , and make confession unto him . Run not behind the Bush , studie not apologies : make not the Woman , which should help thee to stand , an excuse of thy fall : nor think that paint , or curtains , can hide thy sin from him whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter than the Sun , and Eccl. 23. 19. in whose besom thou art , even when thou runnest into the thicket of excuses . No : Give glory to God , that God may seal a pardon to thee : Open thy sin by confession to God , and the mercy of God will hide it ; Condemn it , and judg thy self for it , and thy excuse is made , thou shalt never be judged for it by the Lord : Lay it open before the Lord , and he will blot it out for ever . Excuse can make but an imaginarie Saint ; and such Saints shall houl in utter darkness : But Confession maketh us glorious in his sight who cannot be deceived : It maketh our head fit for a Diademe : It lifteth us up when it casteth us down , maketh us appear lovely in out deformity , and by condemning absolveth us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ( as the Greek Fathers were bold to speak ) making the Judg even ashamed of our shame , working in him compassion , that his bowels yern at our sighs and groans , that he maketh haste and falleth upon our necks , and embraceth us , cancelleth Col. 2. 14. the hand-writing that was against us ; and seeing our sins lye open before him , he covereth them with his mercy , forgiveth them , forgetteth them , as if they had never been ; and finding us thus humbled under his hand , with his hand he lifteth up our heads , and crowneth them with glorie and immortality .

The Sixteenth SERMON . PART . I. Luk. X. 5 , 6. And into whatsoever House ye enter , first say , Peace be to this House . And if the Son of peace be there , your Peace shall rest upon it : if not , it shall turn to you again .

IN the first verse of this Chapter we are told that the Lord appointed other seventy also , and sent them two and two into every city and place : Which was their Mission . And he sent them to preach the Gospel of Peace : Which was their Commission . And that they might not start aside or faint in the way , he tells them before-hand of wolves and enemies to peace : Which was their Praemunition against all assaults . 1 He sends them . 2 He endues them with power , 3 He forewarnes them ; Go your wayes : be , ver. 3. hold , I send you forth as Lambs among wolves , Though you be Lambs , innocent and weak , though you meet with wolves , ravening wolves , who will tear you to pieces , yet Go your wayes : though you meet with enemies to peace , yet wish peace unto them . Though you shall meet with some who will not receive you into their House , yet provide neither Gold nor Silver , Mat. 10 9. Let not any cross accident retard you ; Let not the disposition of those you are sent to change and alter yours ; Let not the sight of the Wolf fright you from the innocency of the Lamb , Look not upon the event ; consider your Duty , be the event what it will , either fair welcome , or foul contempt . Be they Sons of peace or enemies to peace , yet say unto them , The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you . And into whatsoever House you enter , first say , Peace be to this house .

In these words we may discover , 1 A fayre intimation , or Prediction rather of what would befall the Disciples in the course of their ministery , That some would receive them and some would not . 2 We may take notice of their Letters of credence , or Commission , in these words , Into whatsoever House you enter , first say , Peace be to this House ; Where two things are observeable ; first the Message , secondly the Order of delivering it . The Message is Peace ; and it must be delivered 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 first ; first say , Peace be to this House . 3 We may find an Encouragement , that they faint not in the way , and upon every rub look back , and take their Hand from the plow if the Harvest , the Event , answer not their expectation : for If the Son of peace be there , it shall rest upon it : If not , if you meet with those who at the very hearing of Peace do bend themselves to war and opposition , your salvation shall not be lost ; but your Peace , your neglected and scorned Peace , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith St. Luke , shall bow it self back and look towards you , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith St. Mathew , it shall return to you again . Or thus ; Here is first a Praediction of what should befall them ; Secondly , an Injunction ; In which we consider , 1 Salvation , Peace be to this House ; 2 The Order of it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , first speak peace ; 3 the Persons whom they were thus to salute ; not only the sons of Peace ; but wheresoever they enter , this must be their form . They must wish Peace to the Sons of Peace , and to the Enemies of Peace , to all they met with . Where two sorts of men are decypherd , the one by the name of the sons of peace , men of a peaceable disposition , fitted and prepared for the message of Peace ; the other placed in opposition to them . And last of all here is a Promise , that their Peace shall rest upon the one , and return from the other . So that he who forbid them to carry a Staff , hath given them a Staff to walk with , which shall uphold them in all their wayes , a Promise full of comfort . For whether their Peace rest or return , the Disciples have encouragement to do their office , to wish Peace to every House whithersoever they come .

First , We must take notice of the Intimation or plain Prediction rather of what would befall the Disciples in their embassage . And this Christ foretelleth them again and again . Ye shall be hated of all men for my names Mat. 10. 22. sake ; Ye shall be hated of all Nations , They shall deliver you up to the Councels , Mat. 24. 9. and scourge you in their Synagogue ; And they shall put you out of their Mark . 13. 23. Synagogue . Behold I have soretold you all things . In the former Chapter , where he sends his twelve Apostles , and in this , where he appoints other seventy also , as he indued them with power to do miracles , and autority over all Devils , so doth he also arm them with the foreknowledg and praemeditation of those evils , which would affront them in the way , and might slacken and retard them in the performance of their Duty , ut eò minùs perturbent venientia , quo magis fuerint praescita , saith Gregorie , In that being Darts foreseen they might lightly pass by , and being shown before they came , they might come wit less pomp and terror ; that by foreknowledg of them , they might have power also over them , to cast them out , as they did the Devils .

And good reason there was that our Saviour , who knew their he 〈…〉 , and what was in man , should prepossess them with the thought of what was likely to ensue . For the Disciples having received Legative autority from Christ , and being armed with the power of working miracles and casting out devils , might well have fed themselves with Hope of fair weather , and of welcome whithersoever they enterd , and with a high conceit that all men must needs vail and submit to them , who had power to subdue even the devils themselves . For can Flesh and Bloud stand out against that name through which Hell it self is made subject ? A conceit than which nothing could have been more pernitious ; it being incident to most men to bury all Thought of their Duty in the remembrance of their power and dignity ; to dream of kingdoms , when they should be up and awake to do their office ; and so at last they strip themselves of all succour and ly naked and open to those injuries and calamities which must needs take off their courage and slug their obedience , because they come unlookt for , and so surprize them in a pleasant dream . What ? Christs embassadours to be sent without purse or script , to speak and wish Peace to that House which will not give them welcome , to tell men of a Kingdom , and be shut out of doors ? to cast out Devils , and find men as malitious as those Devils they cast out ? to cure diseases , and for a reward to receive a wound ? this is Durus sermo , a hard saying , to men in autority , to men who go about doing good , who carry health and blessings along with them whithersoever they go ; I say , a hard saying ; who can bear it ? a saying not well digested , but wondred at to this day . We pray , but thou hearest not : We fast , but thou regardest it not : We give our Bread , and receive a Stone : We pipe , and no man danceth : We mourn and no man lamenteth : Our Patience is derided , our meekness is trod under foot , our humility is scorn'd . Do we not many times say in our hearts with those Mal. 3. 14. It is in vain to serve the Lord : There is no profit in keeping his ordinances : But this is to forget the Things which our eyes have seen . This is to forget God , and what he hath told us . For he hath told Deut. 4. 9. us before , that Prayer and Fasting and Alms have their End , when they have not their end . Prayer may be heard and accepted , and not Granted ; for to obtain is not the only end of Prayer . Fasting may appease God , and yet not remove the plague . Thy Alms may be abused and trod under foot , and yet come up before God . God hath presented his Gifts and Graces as glorious as the Sun and Lights ; but he hath prognosticated and foretold us of cloudy dayes and tempestuous weather , which shall darken and obscure them . He hath promised to hear our prayers ; but that he grants them not alwaies , is for our sakes . He hath promised to crown every good deed , but not in this life . Therefore let us comfort our selves when our expectation is frustrate , seeing nothing befalls us which was not foretold . Let us consider upon what condition and terms we gave up our names unto Christ ; to do what he commands , though we see no fruit at all ; to paint , though there be no increase . There hath no Temptation taken you but such as is common to man , saith St. Paul There hath nothing befallen us , which was not 1 Cor. 10. 13. foretold . Why do we slug and fail in our Duties ? Why do we bow under the very shadow of terrors , and are crest-faln at the sight of that evil which comes towards us , when we are working of wonders , curing diseases and preaching of Peace ? Beloved , Distrust and Impatience will never tread upon Serpents and Scorpions , nor pass through the power of the enemy to the end of the Duty . Hearken not to the found of many waters , but to the voice of the Prophet . Look not on the grim visage of that evil that haunts you in the performance of your Duty , but remember the word that Christ hath said unto you . He told you of Contempt , but which should make you Honourable ; of Persecution , which should make you blessed ; of Serpents , ●ut such as should not hurt you ; of Wolves , but such as you should overcome with the meekness of a Lamb. Remember what he hath told you ; and then into whatsoever House you enter , whether it be the Habitation of Peace ; or House of the wicked ; whether it be a House at unity within it self , or a House divided ; whatsoever it be , deliver you your message : Into whatsoever house you come , say , Peace unto it . Which is the Form prescribed , or the Salutation , Peace be to this House .

And , Paece be to this House , is a fit Salutation for them to use who were Disciples and Embassadours to the Prince of Peace . For , as Tully spake of a certain Embassadour , That he did senatûs faciem secum afferre & autoritatem reipublicae , that he brought with him the countenance and presence of the whole Senate and the autority of the Commonwealth , from whence he was sent , so the Disciples of Christ were to speak in the stead and person 2 Cor. 5. 12 of Christ , and carried about with them his autority ; and therefore they were to use his language , that form of words which they had heard from him , and that Salutation which he had put into their mouths . For 1 This was most proper for him that sent them . Decet largitorem pacis haec Salutatio , sayth Cyril ; from him who gives peace , who is our Peace , who is the Joh. 14. 27. Ephes. 2. 4. Isa. 9. 6. Prince of Peace , no fitter Salutation than Peace . 2 It is most proper for the Gospel which they were to preach , which is a Gospel of Peace . This was Christs first gift when he was born , Peace on Earth , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his last gift , when he was to dy ; Peace I leave with you ; My peace I give Joh. 1● . 2● . unto you . For this he was layd in the Cratch ; for this he Hung on the Cross . This he breathed for , this he laboured for , this he wrought out of his very bowels . And after his resurrection , he comes and stands in the midst of the Disciples and saith unto them , Peace be unto you . And when he had so said , he shewed unto them his hands and his side : As if he had wisht them to Joh. 20. 19 , 20. consider at how dear a price he had bought that Peace which we hate , which we betray to our lust , which we are ready to fell away for a Trifle . That which we desire , and will not have , or , if we have it , are soon weary of it ; that Peace with others , and which we ourselves break every day ; that Peace within our selves , which we do but talk of ; that Peace with God , which we do but phansie , cost our Saviour those marks in his Hands and feet and side , and drew from him his very Hearts bloud .

I know it was a common Salutation amongst the Jews , Go in Peace , or Peace be with you : And under this they comprised all prosperity whatsoever . But we may say of them as Jehu did to Joram's Horsman , What had they to do with Peace ! and turn them behind . But our Saviour takes it up , and doth as it were infranchize it . He sets it as a Jewel in its proper place ; he makes it a Gospel , and puts it into their mouths who were the Embassadours of Peace ; Who came not with blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a Trumpet ; but with an Olive-branch , with Tidings of all good Things whatsoever . A Salutation proper to the Gospel ; Which the Church of Christ hath retain'd in all ages in their Liturgies and forms of publique Service . Peace be with you was pronounced by the Bishop or Priest 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from the highest ascent of his seat or chair ; It was signaculum orationis , as a seal with which they closed up . After the Lords prayer followeth , saith St. Augustine , this Benediction from the Priest to the People , Peace be with you ; and the People echo back again , And with thy Spirit . And as they began , so they ended , with The Peace of God , which passeth all Understanding . PEACE BE TO THIS HOUSE was a fit Salutation then for the Disciples of Christ .

But we must not here imagine that it was a bare complement , a Salutation , and no more , like that in St. James Depart in peace ; a wish and no more ; No , it was a Prayer as well as a Salutation . The Disciples spake it not from the lips outward , but from the very heart , they taught men the ways of Peace , and told them of a Kingdom of Peace which was at hand , ready to offer it self , if they would receive it . to wish Peace when we think of war ; to say , Peace be unto you , when our Sword is as nimble as our tongue ; to speak peaceably to our brother , and smite him under the fifth rib , is not Apostolical , nor the language of the Seventy ; but it is the dialect of many Christians in these later and worst times who lay down all Ceremony in Religion , when all the world sees that all their religion and the piety they have is but a Complement .

Will you then know the meaning of this Salutation ? the words are plain . It is Peace the Disciples are to wish : And who knows not what Peace is ? — Pacem te poscimus omnes We all desire Peace ; We all talk of Peace . In time of trouble we howle For her , as Rachel for her Children , and will not be comforted , because she is not . for her sake , they say , wise men wage war . With her we ly down and sleep and awake again , because she susteins us . And when she is absent , we see a Sword hanging but as upon a hair ; which will not let us sleep , though our head be circled with a Crown . It is our daily bread , and our daily speech . We speak of it , and forget it ; we love it , and neglect it ; we extoll and break it . Peace may seem to be like Psyche in Apuleius , a fair damsel , whom all commended , all admired , yet none would take her to wife . I think I may truly say for the Many , they know not what Peace is . Some will not behold her unless , she come with Plenty in her hand , but are at war with themselves and others if they feel the smart of want . Some , saith St. Hierom call Tyranny Peace , and nothing else ; think all the world is out of order , if all hands subscribe not to their unwarranted demands . Some call Disobedience Peace , and cannot be at peace but with their Quod volumus sanctum est , when they are let loose to do what they please . Omri is not at peace unless his Statutes be kept ; Zimri is not at peace till he kill his master ; Hamon is not at peace for want of a leg ; Absolom is not at peace for want of a crown . Every man desires peace and every man breaks it . Every man calls for it , and every man chaseth it away . Every man would bring her in , and every man proscribeth her . As St. Augustine spake of the Donatists ; They were the greatest peace-breakers in the world , yet talk'd of nothing more than Peace : So that in this noyse and hurry for Peace . Peace is lost , and men seem to deal with her as the African parents did with their children , whom when they sacrificed to Saturn , they stopped their crying with kisses , and smothered their noyse in embraces , and so did at once kiss and kill their infants . It was a grave complaint of St. Hierome , non reddimus unicuique rei suum vocabulum , We are guilty of a strang Misnomer ; we do not give every thing its due name , but call that Peace which is Tyranny , which is Disobedience , which is Faction , which is Senseleseness and Stupidity , because we know not the true nature and property of Peace . I may have Peace when other men are at war amongst themselves , yea , when other men are at war with me , even the Peace of Conscience , the Peace of a reconciled sinner , which makes all quiet and still within me , and will stay with me in the strongest wind , in the Earthquaks , the fire , and will live and dwell within the midst of persecution , In tumultu secretum invenit , It builds us a chappel of ease , draws out a place of retirement and a paradise , when the earth is disquieted ; and in the midst of all the busy noyse the world can make ,

Nor do I here exclude our Peace with men ; for that comes within the compass of this Salutation , because it is a fair branch of the Disciples doctrine ▪ and must be taken in , if it be possible , and as much as in us lyes . If we Rom. 12. 18. be worthy of this Salutation , we may have peace with all the world , though peradventure our opinions be as distant as one end of the world is from the other .

Neither do I exclude the external Peace of the Church : No , Blessed are the peace-makers ; and blessed times they are when the Church sings of peace to the Common-wealth , and the Common-wealth echoeth it back again to the Church . This is Musick , which both Men and Angels are delighted with ; Angels , I say , who being now made one with us , make it part of their joy to see us at unity amongst our selves . Happy , thrice Happy times when the Poets could sing of the Spiders making their webs in the Souldiers Helmets and coats of armour ! These then are not excluded , but wrapt up in this Salutation : For all peace is carried along in this , in the Peace of the Gospel . When the world is out of frame this establisheth the pillars of it , brings every part to its own place , the Sensual parts under the Rational , the Flesh under the Spirit , the Will under the command of the Understanding ; which is the Peace of the Soul . It brings the obedience of Faith under the eternal Law of Christ ; which is our Peace with God . It draws with it the Servant under the Master , the Child under the Parent , the subject under the Magistrate ; which is the Peace of a House , of a Common-wealth , of the World . It makes every part dwell together in unity , it observes a parity in disparity , an equality in an inequality ; it keeps every wheel in its own motion , every man in his right place , the Master on Horseback , and the Servant on the ground ; and where Impudence incroacheth , it checketh it with a Friend , sit down lower . It keepeth the hands of the ungodly from the gray hairs of the aged , and the teeth of the oppressor from the face of the widow . Like an Intelligence , it moves the lesser Sphere of a Family , and the greater Orbe of the Common-wealth composedly and orderly . Peace is the right order and the harmony of things . A Father calls it an Harp ; and it is never well set or tuned but by the hand of Charity . For all the Peace that is in the world is derived from this Salutation , from the Peace of the Gospel , which slacketh and lets down the String of our Self-love even to a Hatred of our selves , and windeth the string of our Love to our brother to an equal proportion with the Love of our selves . We must hate our life in this world , and we must John . 12. 25. Math. 22. 39. love our brother as our selves . Nay , it lets it down lower yet , to our very enemies , the sound must reach even unto them . Talk what we will of peace ; If it be not touched and tuned by Charity , it will be but as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal : or rather , if it take not its rise and spring from this Peace here , from the Peace of the Gospel , it will be but a dreadful sound , as Job 15. 21. Eliphaz speaketh , either in the Soul , or in the Family , or in the Church , or in the Common-wealth .

I am the bolder thus to interpret the Disciples Salutation , because I find it part of their Commission to say , The Kingdome of God is at hand , which was indeed to give notice of the Gospel of Peace . This as it commends unto us all Peace but that which is in evil : ( which indeed is not Peace , but a conspiracy ) so especially it inculcates this , by which Christ hath made both Eph. 2. 14. one , and broken down the partition-wall which was between the Jew and the Gentile , and that partition-wall also which Covetousness and Ambition , Envy and Malice sets up between man and man ; that we may be one in him , as He and the Father are one . It was the prime care of the primitive Joh. 1● . Christians to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace . And to this Eph 4. 3. end they bound themselves by oath , sayth Pliny a heathen witer , nè furta committerent , nè fidem fallerent , not to steal , or lye or deceive , or break their word . This course had the world upheld to this day , we should perhaps have no reason to complain that Peace hath left the earth , or that the Prince of Peace hath not a hole to hide his head in . If men were truly Christians and had not made a sad divorce between Honesty and Religion , the Disciples Salutation would not turn to them again , but rest on every House , and on every Common-wealth , For Christian Religion is the greatest preserver of Peace that ever was , and hath layd a greater horror and a fowler blemish upon Discord and Dissention then Philosophy ever did when she was most rigid and severe . She commands us to pray for peace , She enjoyns us to study to be quiet , and to follow Peace with all men , She enjoyns us to loose 1 Tim. 2. 2. 1 Thes. 4. 11. our right for Peace , and to part with coat and cloak , and all , rather then with Peace , quale regnum , talis pax ; Look upon the Kingdom the Disciples Heb. 12. 14. M● . 4729. speak of , and you shall soon discern what Peace they wish : Peace with God , Peace of Conscience ; there is no doubt of that . But Peace a so with men : For this is truly Evangelical , motus aliena naturae pace nostra cohibere , as Hilary speaketh ; to place a peacable disposition as a bank or bulwark against the violence of anothers rage , by doing nothing to conquer him who is up in arms , and spends himself and laboureth in the mine to ruine me . This is the work of the Gospel , to beat down noyse with silence , and injury with patience ; To overcome evil with good : To keep peace between the rich and the poor , by prescribing mercy to that one , and meekness to the other ; between the high and the low , by prescribing justice to the one , and submission to the other ; between the evil and the good , by threatning the one , and upholding the other . Thus it levelleth the hills , and raiseth the valleys , and casteth an aspect and influence upon all conditions , all qualities , all affections of men , that , as it was prophesyed of the Times of the Gospel , The Wolf may dwell with the Lamb , and the Leopard ly down with the Kid , a little Child lead Isa. 11. 6. the Lion ; that there may be abundance of peace so long as the Moon endureth .

O beloved ! did this Salutation take place , did the Peace of the Gospel rest upon us , our conversation would be more smooth and even , and Salutations not so rugged and churlish as they commonly are . They would not be so supercilious , the dictates of our Pride , Stand thou there ; or , sit thou Jam. 2. 3. here under my footstool ; They would not be so surly , the expressions of our Scorn ; Who made thee a Judg over us ? They would not be so treacherous ; This is he , hold him fast . They would not be so cruel , the messengers of Death ; Smite him , till he dyeth . They would not be so querulous , the breathings of our Envy ; Why is he made rich ? Why is he in honour ? Why hath he , who came in but now , as much as I , that have born the heat and burden of the day ? But every Family and every Common-wealth would be fitly joyned and compacted by that which every joynt , every part , supplies ; every member having its place and subordination and dependance , which to start from is to loose itself ; the rich supplying the poor , and the poor blessing the rich ; the mighty protecting the weak , and the weak observing the mighty ; the wise teaching the ignorant , and the ignorant hearking to the wise ; every man being as an Angel-keeper and a ministring spirit to every other man , ut quod est omnium , sit singulorum , that that which is all mens may be every mans ; and that which is every mans belongs unto the whole . And this order , this Peace , will be , if the Disciples Salutation take place , if the Peace of the Gospel rest upon us . And thus much be spoken of the Salutation , Peace be unto this house .

We pass now from the Message to the Order of delivering it . It must be done 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , first ; First say . Here we may observe the method of our Saviour . He coming to fight against the Pomp , the Covetousness , the Luxury of the world , first offers terms of Peace , and instructs his Disciples as God did Moses : When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it , then proclame Peace unto it . As we read of Tamerlaine , he first hangs out his white flag Deut. 20. 10. of Peace , not his black nor his bloudy colours . He fights not against us to destroy us , till we have wearied his Mercy , and stood out too long , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , first he tenders Peace : but it is the wickedness of the wicked , the obstinacy of the Enemy , that draws his Sword . For God doth not as Nimrod , destroy men for pleasure ; he doth not set them up as a mark , and then shoot deadly arrows at them ; or , as some are pleased to give a bloudy instance , strike them dead with the same liberty that an Huntsman doth his Deer : as if an immortal Soul , which Christ sets at a higher rate than the whole world , were of no more value then a beast . A foul injurie to be layd to His charge who is Goodness it self , and nothing else but Goodness ; a Blasphemy as loud as that which denies him to be God . He seems rather to carry Peace and War in sinu , in his bosom , as Fabius did in the skirt of his Gown , and leaves it to our choice , which we will have . First Peace shews it self , in his love , in his precepts ; nay , in his threatnings and fearful menaces . For ideo denunciat bellum , ne inferat ; He therefore denounceth war that we may chuse peace . He bends his bow and sets his arrow in the string , as the Psalmist speaks , that he may not shoot . He opened the mouth of his servant Noah , a preacher of righteousness , before he opened the windows of Heaven , and broke up the fountains of the great deep . He Gen. 7. opened the mouth of his Servant Moses , before the earth opened her mouth to swallow up Dathan and Abiram , and their complices . He doth not undermine Numb. 16. us with double voices and double counsels and a holy dissimulation , as some call it , crying Peace , when he girds himself with strength , and prepares himself to battel , saying Peace to that House which he meaneth to level with the ground : But he sends his Embassadours , and Peace is the first clause in their Commission ; First they must salute us , before he will strike us ; first wish Peace , before he will furbish his sword . This is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , In the Job . 40. 9. first place . But then , if we will have an arm like God , and think to thunder like him ; if we harden our faces against his profer of Peace ; then , ob certas causas , and ob eam rem , as the form runneth , for these causes and for this thing , for our ingratitude and impenitency and rebellion , he speaks unto us by his Disciples and Ambassadours as the Roman Heralds and Officers at arms did to the enemies of that State when they denounced war . Quòd populus meus nolit auscultare , bellum indico facioque . See it translated , Psal. 81. 1● . 1● Because my people would not hearken to my voice , and Israel would none of me : Therefore I gave them up to their own Hearts-lusts , and they walked in their own counsels . But still Peace is first . First God speaks by his Prophets before he speak by his judgments ; First , as it were , he breaths Peace upon us , before it return and leave us . And the reason of this is undeniable . For Severity in God seems to be a quality not natural , but casual and occasioned . It is in a manner constrained , and besides his Nature . For he hath but one only property or quality , saith Trismegistus , and that is Goodness . Prior Bonitas secundum naturam , posterior Severitas secundum causam ; saith Tertullian against Marcion : The prime quality in him is Goodness : Severity is later , as being occasioned . That is eternal , this is adventitious ; that is proper unto him , this is but borrowed ; that inwardly flows from him , this is forced from him . First he created Man , but left him not as the Ostrich doth her eggs , upon the shore , but he took him to himself , and placed him in a place of pleasure : Which was an Argument of his Goodness . Then he gave him a Law by which to order his steps , by the observance of which , as the Angels by Jacobs Ladder , he might ascend to supernatural and heavenly bliss . Hitherto Gods countenance is fair , as the Sun in its strength . But when Mans folly , by breach of the law , had wrought him against his Nature into another mould , then his Severity shewed it self . And then as Naomi speaks of herself in the book of Ruth ; Call him no more Naomi , that is , pleasant ; but call him Marah , that is , bitter . For he will deal bitterly with us . Fecimus , non accepimus severum : He is no more the God that made us , but he is that God which we have made not a calm and gentle , but a fierce and severe and angry God . God is a Fountain of Peace , and nothing issueth from him naturally but Peace . Nor doth his Jealousy burn like fire till our refusal of peace do kindle it : He speaks to the Husbandmen by his Servants , and he speaks to them by his Son , and till they killed him , till they utterly renounce Peace , he doth not come to destroy . First Peace comes out of his mouth , before his two edged sword . Still the word is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , First say , Peace be unto this House .

I might here enlarge my self ; But I perceive the time is past . Let us then apply this Salutation to our selves . And the best use we can make of it , is , to look both upon the Peace and the Order of delivering it , and to look upon them on the right side . I told you that Peace implyeth Order and Harmony , that it is as a Harp or Lute , which you must be careful to touch with a skilful hand , even with the hand of Charity . Otherwise , this Peace may by our neglect raise a war in our members ; We may continue in Sin because Grace aboundeth , Peace is as the Sun , which with its beams quickneth and Rom. 6. 1. refresheth and enlightneth all Things : But we may play the wantons in this Sun , and turn the Peace of God into wantonness : and this first and free overture of Peace may make us dull and heavy and careless in entertaining it . God's Alpha may be our Omega ; his first may be our last ; his early morning blessings , his day-spring from on high may not win a good look from us , not be thought of till our declining dayes , till our Sun be ready to set . And this will be to look upon Gods offer of Peace ex adverso situ , on the wrong side . Rather let us run and meet and kiss Peace , woo and embrace and marry it at the first displaying of its beauty . Let God's first and our first , his offer and our acceptance , meet in the same moment of time . For why should it , being the first thing that God doeth , be the last thing that we Think of : Let us remember that Mercy rejoyceth and triumpheth over Judgment , but only in this life , when Peace is offered . As Mercy hath her day of Triumph here , so Justice will have her day too , when that Peace which we now refuse will fight against us . To day , if you will hear his voice , to day you may hear it . But if that day be once shut up , God will speak no more . When Jacob awaked out of that pleasant sleep in which he had seen a ladder reaching unto Heaven , and Angels ascending and descending on it ; he cries Gen. 25. 17. out , How terrible is this place ! On which place a Father tells us that he did stupere propter magnam misericordiam Dei , that he was amaz'd and affraid at that great mercy of God which was shewn unto him . And indeed Gods overtures of Mercy and Peace have their terror as well as his Judgments . there is mercy and Peace with God , that he may be feared . In this life of ours Psal. 130. 4. ( which is but as a dream in respect of that beatifical vision we shall have of God hereafter ) we see a Ladder as it were reaching up to Heaven , and all Gods blessings and promises , as so many Angels , ascending and descending upon it : And God is in the midst of them ; for we may find Heaven in these . Et quàm terribìlis ! How terrible is this place ! Here is Templum Spiritûs , the Temple of the Holy Ghost : for by these he instructs us . Here is Ara Misericordiae , an altar of Mercy ; And what doth God require at our hands but to offer up ourselves a living sacrifice , holy and acceptable unto him , even upon this altar of his Mercy ; When he speaks , to say , thy servant heareth ; to follow Peace at the first sight of it , to rise at the first call . We may indeed fly from Gods Justice to his Mercy ; But if we fly from his Mercy , if we reject Peace , what asylum , what sanctuary can we find ? It is Peace : Fly not from it . It is offered first : Make speed , haste , and stay not ; stay not with any fading vanity from that Peace which makes way for Glory and Honour and everlasting Peace .

The Seventeenth SERMON . PART . II. Luk. X. 5 , 6.

And into whatsoever House ye enter , first say , Peace be to this House .

And if the Son of peace be there , your Peace shall rest upon it : if not , it shall turn to you again .

THE Salutation hath already sounded in your ears ; Peace be to this House ; even all manner of Peace ; but especially the Peace of the Gospel , the Peace of the Prince of Peace , that Peace which passeth all understanding . This the Disciples of Christ here do breath forth in every place , to bring along with them to every House . And this is to be done 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in the first place ; it being the method of our Saviour first to offer terms of Peace ; not to question us before he invites us ; not to war against us till we have renounced peace ; not to strike us as enemies , till we cast him from us , and will not be his Friends . This have we dilated upon at large . Now this Peace is a great benefit . This Salutation is worth our best welcome and acceptation . Peace be unto this House , is that which in a manner builds the house ; it is the foundation of the foundation , that which makes it compact and at unity with it self . Yet that befalls this Peace which doth all other benefits of God : Like to the Sum and Rain , it shines and falls both upon good and bad ; sometimes upon unthankful persons , who , when God speaks of Peace , are bent to war , and somettmes upon those who sing prayses to the God of Peace for evermore . Sometimes it falls upon a Son of Peace , whose heart is fitted and prepared , who listneth and harkens after it ; and there it rests and multiplies , and brings forth the fruits of Peace in all righteousness and holiness . The Text sayth , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it shall rest upon him , as upon its proper place . Sometimes it falls upon a stubborn and perverse heart , a heart hardned against Peace ; and then it seems to fall away and be lost , because it finds no entertainment nor rest there : But yet though it fall here , it is not lost . For 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it shall turn back again to those who sent it . And this is the high prerogative of this Peace ; it will either rest , or return . This is the crown and rejoycing of all those who bring glad tidings of Peace ; their PAX DO MUI HUIC , their Salutation , can not be lost . It is but first saying , Peace be to this House : And if the Son of Peace be there , your Peace shall rest upon it : if not , it shall turn to you again .

In these words are discovered to the Disciples , First , two sorts of men they should meet with in the discharge of their duty ; some that were sons of peace , others that were not . Secondly , the nature or property of the Saluation ; On the one sort it will rest , from the other it will return : And that the Publishers may not think it lost , it will return to them again . For , we may consider , 1 a Prediction , that their Salutation , though it be Peace , will not find welcome with all , but only with the sons of Peace ; 2 an Encouragement , that for all this they may not be affraid of their Message , affraid to say , Peace be to this House ; For whither it rest , or not , return it will to them again . Upon the sons of Peace it will rest , and so rest as not to leave them : and if it meet with those on whom it cannot rest , it will look back , and return to the Disciples again . But for our more plain and orderly proceeding , and for your better instruction , we will draw up all , and bound our discourse within the compass of these three positions ; 1 That as at the first preaching of the Gospel , so alwaies there will be this difference , of Good and Evil ; of Sons of Peace , and Enemies to Peace ; of Willing and Obstinate hearers of this Message . 2 That this Peace will rest on none but those who are fit to receive it . 3 That though it do not rest , yet it is not lost but will return to those who publish it . And with these we shall exercise your Devotion at this time .

In the first place , that a difference there will alwaies be , of Good and Evil , not only in the world , but also in the Church , not only amongst those who have not heard of the name of Christ , but among those also who have heard the Salutation of Peace sound in their ears , our Saviour himself hath shewed us in the parable of the Good seed and the Tares , and of the Draw-net ; which being cast into the Sea draweth of every kind , Puto me non timere dicere , sayth St. Augustine , alios sic esse in domo Dei ut sint domus Dei ; Mat. 13 , 47. alios sic esse in domo Dei ut non pertineant ad compaginem domus . It is no rashness to say that some are so in Gods Church that they are Gods Church , and others are so in the Church that they are not so much as a part of the building . Some are sons of peace , and some there are on whom Peace cannot rest : Some there are to be amended and brought to repentance , as Peter ; some to be suffered and born with , as Judas ; and some who lye hid and unknown to the world till that great day of manifestation , till the day of gathering the Corn from the Tares ; till that day of separation , of severing the Goats from the Sheep . Boni nusquam soli sunt nisi in coelo ; & mali nusquam soli sunt nisi in inferno , saith Gregorie ; the good are never alone , but in Heaven , and the bad are never alone , but in that place where they are tormented together . The Earth as it is placed in the midst between Heaven and Hell , so is it a common receptacle both of those who are citizens of Heaven , and of those who are to have their portion with the Devil and his Angels .

Nor doth this proceed from any decree of God , but that of Permission . For nothing is more contrary to the Will of God , than Sin . Yet the Permission of sin is a positive act of his Will : For God decreeth to permit it . For as he made Man upright , so he made him also mutable , so that he might incline to either side , either embrace evil , or resist it . And though we cannot say that by the Providence of God it comes to pass that some men are evil : ( for he speaks peace to every man ) yet the providence of God orders and directs the actions of the wicked . He circumscribes them in their time and duration , that they last no longer than his Wisdom shall think fit . He bounds them in their encrease and greatness : Hitherto they shall go , and no further . He directs and limits them from that object to which they are carried to something else , and makes them serve , not to that end which the Sinner proposes , but to that which he himself hath set up Out of that Sin which the Sinner commits to satisfie his lust , will God manifest his glory : Upon his Unrighteousness he will build up the glory of his Justice . By that sin which was a Tempest to beat down and overthrow , will God establish his Church ; and by those evil men whom the Devil placeth as thorns and pricks in the eyes of the righteous , will God try and purge his chosen ones . In a word , God makes not Sin , but he makes it useful and advantageous . And to this end he suffereth and permitteth this mixture and composition of Good and Evil , he suffers the Tares and the Corn to grow together till the time of the Harvest . Qui semel aeternum judicium destinavit , non praecipitat discretionem , saith Tertullian ; He who hath appointed and ordained a day of separation , doth not make that separation until that day . And this he doth , not only to magnifie his Justice and Wisdom , which out of so great darkness can draw wondrous light , and can ex malis faecundare bona , make use of Sin as the Husbandman doth of Dung to manure and fatten his ground , that it may bring forth a more plentiful harvest ; but for other reasons also , which Christ hath laid open in his Gospel .

I. To shew his patience and longanimity towards sinners , who fight against him , towards those who are offended with his Salutation , that they may yield at last , and become sons of Peace . For the long suffering of God is Salvation , sayth the Apostle . He doth not say it worketh , or 2 Pet. 3. 1● . brinketh forth , but positively , it is Salvation : It is for this end , and if it be not hindred it will produce this effect . That we prolong our dayes on earth , that we number more sins than days , nay then hours , than minutes , is not from any want of knowledg in God , that he sees us not ; or from want of strength , that he cannot put the hook into our nostrils ; but from his patience and longanimity , who gives us many times the longer life , that we may at last recal ourselves , and turn back unto him . Non ille perdidit potentiam , sed malos reservat ad paenitentiam ; He hath not lost his power , but he keeps evil men to the day of repentance . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , He first exhorts , then promises , then threatens , then chides , then prepares his deadly weapons , then puts them up again ; and then again he threatens ; but he never strikes till he hath opened an effectual door , and made a way for us to safety . As he is Lord of hosts in regard of his strength , so he is in this respect also , that as an Host or Army he comes on but slowly , by degrees in his march , and makes a shew before he strikes ; nec accedit ad decretorium stilum nisi plus sit quod timet quàm quod damnat ; He doth not bid battel , till there is no hope of reconcilement . Nor doth he punish , till that be more which he fears than that which he blames . He makes no end of his suffering till he sees there will be no end of Sinning .

II. Gods suffers this mixture of Evil with Good , that the evil may be reformed by the Good . For as he is able out of stones to raise up children unto Abraham , so by the sons of peace he gains more children unto peace , there proceeding a kind of virtue from their good example , as there did from Christs garment to cure those who were diseas'd . Aristotle in his Problemes makes a question , Why Health doth not infect as well as Sickness ; Why men grow sick many times by unwary conversing with the diseases , but no man grows well by accompanying the healthy . And indeed it is so with the healthiness of the Body : It hath no transient force on others . But the strength and healthiness of the Mind carries with it a gracious kind of infection ; and common experience teacheth us that nothing profits evil men more than the company of the good . How many Saints may the holy conversation of one man beget ? How many Martyrs hath the patience and silence of one man brought to the stake ? How many Evil men have lost themselves and their evil in the company of the Good ? We must not therefore make the separation before the time . For we may be in Societate impiorum , in the company of evil men , but in solitudine vitiorum , in respect of their evil be alone . We may be with them in participatione sacramentorum , sayth Augustine , in the participation of the same sacraments , but not in consensione factorum , in our consent to their evil deeds . We may be like the Ark of Noah , in the deluge , yet not drown'd ; like Mose's Bush in the fire , yet not burnt . We may carry about with us 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Plato calls it , a kind of charm and spell , which may slumber our turbulent affections and those motions which are so ready to subvert our Reason , that we may be near enough to them to help them , but yet at such a distance that no poyson which is breathed from them shall hurt us . I Please all men in all things , sayth St. Paul , all men , even evil men , not by fashioning himself to them , 1 Cor. 10. 33. but by reforming them to the copie of his own innocency . For what saith Tertullian ? Numquid Saturnalia celebrans hominibus placebat ? did he please men by celebrating the same heathenish idolatrous Feasts with them ? No ; but by gravity and patience , by modesty and integrity . Again , I was made all things to all men . Numquid idololatris idololatres ? What ? was he 1 Cor. 9. 22. made an idolater to idolaters , a heathen to heathens , and a carnal man to carnal men ? No ; there was no such friendship between St. Paul and evil men . He was not drawn by them , but made it his industry to draw them unto him : He made not himself like unto them , but made them like unto himself : He pleased evil men , but it was to make them good . And in this manner licet convivere , commori non licet ; We may live with evil men but we may not die with them , ; We may possess the world with them , but not their error . And this is it by which we of the reformed Churches justify our separation from the Church of Rome . We do it not as the Donatists did of old , and our Separatists now a dayes , only to avoid the communion of bad men , but to free our selves from a necessity of joyning with bad men in their impieties . We go not from them , but from their dangerous errors . We divide not our selves from them , ( for our hearts desire is that they may repent , and be saved ) but from their superstition . And thus to divide our selves is no Schism , but Christian animosity . And in this case we say with Cyprian , Pereant sibi solis qui perire volunt ; If they will perish , let them perish to themselves alone .

III. God suffers this mixture of Good and Evil men not only for the reformation of the Evil , but also for the benefit of the Good . For mali bonis prosunt , saith the Father ; Evil men may prove advantageons to the good . They may awake many glorious virtues in them which otherwise would be but as the seed in the ground , not yet in the ear and blossome . Plutarch hath written a Book How togather profit from an enemy , How to make our selves better by them who would make us worse . But Christ in the Book of his Gospel hath taught us yet a more excellent way , How to improve our Virtue by other mens sin ; How to increase more and more in good by the very sight of evil ; How to make those sins which press others down to Hell as a Scale and Ladder to lift us up to Heaven ; so that we may make friends not only of the unrighteous Mammon , but even of unrighteous men , to lift us up unto those everlasting habitations . Some men there are who for want of skill in this book and through ignorance of this art put upon themselves a strange behaviour , and at the very thought of wicked men are so troubled and transported that they forget they are men , and subject to the same infirmities ; that they forget they are Christians , who should work a cure upon them , and not murder them . You may behold them angry and fierce , cruel and bloudy , breathing forth nothing but curses and exsecrations . As with a Sword in my bones my enemies reproach me , whilst they daily say unto me , Where is thy God ? saith David , Objurgant Psal. 41. 10. quasi oderint ; their very reprehensions are Swords , and their exhortations the expressions of their hatred . With James and John , those Sons of Thunder , they are ready with their Domine , vis dicamus ut ignis descendat ; If it were in their power , they would call down fire from heaven to destroy them Luk. 9. 54. as Elias did . To put off all bowels of compassion with them is to put off the Old man : So that , if we rightly consider it , they are greater Sinners than those they condemn ; and it may be said to them as the one Thief said to the other , Do you not fear God , seeing you are in the same condemnation ? Thus it is with evil men ; They grow worse and worse , by that which should better them ; and their ungrounded Zeal consumes not them , but their Charity . But he who is a Son of Peace hath learnt that thriving art , to be richer for other mens poverty , to rayse himself higher and higher at the sight of his brothers fall , to make others sin the occasion of many virtues in himself , to say unto himself , There they are fallen , that I may look to my steps . And here his Circumspection shews it self . He had broke the Law ; and my eyes shall gush out with rivers of water . In those tears his Piety is resplendent . He is sore wounded ; but I will powr oyl into his wounds . Here his Charity stretcheth forth her hand , even that Charity which shall hide a multitude of sins . Thus by the Wisdom and providence of God , Sin , which bringeth forth Death , may bring forth life ; and the wicked many times are turned from the error of their way at the sight of those virtues which shine in glory at the sight of their Sin . In a word , the Good are made manifest by the Evil , and the Evil may be converted by the Good . Still this difference there will be in the Church ; and the Salutation here is directed to both , both to the Sons of peace , and to those who will not receive it . Into whatsoever house they goe , the Disciples must say , peace be unto this House . And , so much be spoken concerning the Difference of the Persons .

We come now in the second place , to the Nature and Property of the Salutation , That it will rest on none but those who are prepared to receive it . Peace will rest on none but on a Son of Peace ; on him who is worthy of peace ; who is docile , and not averse from it , who is willing to hear of it . For , as Pothinus the Bishop of Lions , being ask'd by the President of the place , Who was the God of the Christians ? made no other reply but this , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , You shall know , if you be worthy ; so may we say of this Peace , They who are worthy , who are fitted and prepared , shall receive it . And if you ask on whom it will rest , I answer , It will rest on them that love it . Where is the place of my rest , saith God ; The Isa. 66. 1. Heaven is my throne , and the earth is my footstool . All these things hath my hand made . But to this man will I look , even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit , and trembleth at my word . He that created all things , and made the Heaven and the earth , will not chuse out of these his seat , but leaves them all , and will rest no where , but in a contrite and broken heart , which divides and opens it self ; and makes a way to receive him . And certainly , as we see in Nature , we cannot put any thing into that , which is full already , no more will peace enter that heart which is filled with Satan , with malice , and with the very gall of bitterness . The Gospel will find no place in that Soul which is already filled and praepossessed with prejudice against the Gospel . Into a malicious Soul Wisdom shall not enter , saith Wisd. 1. 4. the Wiseman , Or , if it do enter , it shall not dwell there ; not dwell there , as a Lord , to command the Will and Affections ; no not as a friend , to find a welcome for a time ; but be thrust out as a stranger , as an enemy . What is the place for peace to rest in ? Not in a Nabals heart , which is as stone ; Not in the Wantons heart , which is as a troubled Sea ; not on the Fool , who hath no heart , whose conscience is defiled and judgment corrupted by many evil and vitious habits , ubi turpia non solum delectant , sed placent , who doth not only delight in that which is opposite to this Peace , but approves it as that without which he cannot be at Peace . No ; the spirit of Peace and the unclean spirit may seem in this to agree : They will not enter the House before it be swept and garnished . Ill weeds must be rooted out before you can sow good corn . Every valley must be filled , and every mountain and hill must be brought low , all that inequality and repugnancy of our life must be taken away , and all made smooth , and even . For as the Prince of peace , so Peace hath a way to be prepared before it will enter . What is the reason that all the seed which the Sower sowed brought not forth fruit ? Because some fell in stony places , where there was not much Mat. 13. earth , where the Soul did not sympathize and bear a friendly correspondence with the Word , as good ground doth with the seed ; and some fell by the way-side , which was never plowed nor manured , and the fouls of the air , those sly imaginations which formerly prepossessed the Soul , devoured it up . Nothing can be well done when the mind is already taken up with something else . What room for the Gospel in the Jew , who maketh his boast of the Law ? What room for Religion where it is accounted the greatest piety to be prophane ? What room for Righteousness when we rejoyce in impiety ? When the Prince of this world hath blinded our eyes with covetousness , ambition and lust , what room is there for Peace ? Non magìs quàm frugibus , terrâ sentibus & rubis occupatâ , as the Orator speaks ; and they are the very words of our Saviour ; No more than there is for good corn in the ground which is full of bryars and thornes : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Whither dost thou cast thy seed , thy good precepts , saith the Philosopher to one that read a lecture of Philosophy to a scornful person . Thou flingest it into a foul and stinking vessel , which corrupts every thing it receives , and takes no savour from it , but makes it relish of it self . Lord , what a rock is a prepossessed mind ! What an adamant is a Stubborn and perverse heart ! How harsh and unpleasant is this Salutation of Peace to those who are hardned against it ! How Stoical and rigid and peremptory are they against their own Salvation ! Obstrepunt , intercedunt , nè audiant ; They are so far from receiving the Salutation , that they are troubled and unquiet at the very name of Peace , and desire they may not hear that word any more . The complaint in Scripture is , They will not understand , and The waies of Peace they will not know . Experience will teach us , that it is too common in the world to stand stiff upon opinion against all evidence whatsoever , though it be as clear as the Day . And it is the reason which Arnobius gives of the Heathens obstinacy , to whom this Salutation of Peace was , but as a fable , Quid facere possumus considerare nolentibus secumque loqui ; What can we do , or say , or how can we convince them who will not be induced once to deliberate and consider , nor can descend to speak and confer with themselves and their own reason ? A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ; and so doth a prejudicate opinion the whole mind of man : All our actions and resolutions have a kind of taste and relish of it . Whatsoever comes in to strengthen an anticipated conceit , whatsoever walks within the compass of our desires or lustful affections , we readily embrace , and believe it to be true , because we wish it so . But if it thwart our inclination ; if it run counter to our intendments , though it be Reason , though it be Peace , though it be a manifest truth , though it be written with the Sun-beams , we will not once look upon it . It is an easy matter , saith Augustine , to answer a fool ; but it is not so easy to satisfie him . It is easy to confute , but not to reform him . For his Folly barreth him from seeking the meanes of understanding : and when light is offered , it shuts up his eyes , that he cannot receive it . We have many domestick examples of this obstinacy ( and I wish they were not so near us ) of men who may be overcome , but cannot be perswaded ; who will not yield to any strength of reason , nec cùm sciant id quod faciunt non licere , no , not though they cannot be ignorant that the course of their life runs with more violence and noyse than is answerable to the Peace of the Gospel ; who know what they are , and yet will be what they are . And these we meet with quocunque sub axe , in every place , in every corner of the earth . These multiply and increase every day . For it cannot be but the greatest part of men will be the weakest . We have troops and armies of these ; and the regiment consists of boys and girls , and women led away captive by their ignorance and lusts . And if there be aged men amongst them , you may soon discover that their greatest wisdom is their grey hairs . And will Peace rest upon these ? It will rest as soon in a whirlwind , or in St. Judes cloud without Water , or in St James wave of the Sea tossed up and down with every wind . But I forbear , for I list not to be too particular . We read in our Books , of one Timotheus an excellent Musician , that he was wont to require a greater pay from those who had been taught by others before , than from those who came unto him rude and untaught . And his reason was , Dedocendi officium gravius & prius quàm docendi ; That it was a greater task to unteach them what they had already ill learnt , and a necessity to be done before he could teach them his skill . Beloved , it is so with those who are to instruct others in the way of Peace : Geminatur onus ; Whatsoever their reward is , their burden is doubled . It is not only enough to say , Peace be unto this House , but they must cleanse and purge the house , that Peace may enter . It is not enough only to salute , but they must make way for the Salutation . The Jew must be untaught his beggerly elements and rudiments of the world , before he can be taught and instructed for the kingdom of Heaven : His Ceremonies and the Law must be rased out , before he can be the Apostle of Cbrist , before the Gospel of Peace can be written in his heart . The Gentile must be untaught those lessons which even Nature is ashamed of , before he can receive the doctrine of Grace . The Carnal man must learn to crucifie the flesh , before he can become spiritual . False principles must be destroyed , before you can build up true ones in their place . Whilst we please our selves in the errors of our life , whilst we rejoyce in our selves , and , as the Apostle speaks , measure our selves by our selves , we are not fit for this Evangelical Salutation , Grace be to you , and peace , from God our Father , and the Lord Jesus Christ . No , These strong holds must be pulled down , these imaginations cast to the ground , and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God , every thought must be brought into captivity 2 Cor. 10. 5. unto the obedience of Christ . Scio quibus viribus opus sit , saith St. Augustine , I know what power it must be that must perswade proud men that Humility is a virtue . And I know what power it must be that must perswade a carnal man that there is no peace but where the spirit fights and overcomes the Flesh . But non aliter haec sacra constant ; This Salutation will not pass where this preparation is not made . This Peace will not enter into that Soul where there are tumults and thunders , noyse and destruction . Never did any plant grow up and flourish in the field of the Church which was not ramus propendens , as Nazianzene speaketh of his Father , a branch or bough hanging over and looking that way . Nor doth Gods saving Grace bring Peace , till his exciting and preparing Grace hath made a way for it . When we are Sons of Peace , when we have some title to the inheritance of Peace , when our hearts are hammer'd and softned and subjugated , when we are willing hearers , then this Salutation is brought home to our doors , and Peace will enter , and rest upon us . If the son of peace be there , your peace shall rest upon him ; if not , it shall return to you again . And so I pass to my last Position ; That though it do not rest , yet it shall not be lost , but shall return to those that publish it .

The word is spoken , the Salutation past , Peace be to this house ; On the sons of peace it will rest ; but on others it will not . And this is enough to take the word out of the Disciples mouths , and stop the message : for there is in every one of us 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a kind of flitting humour , which will not hold out long , but faints and falls to the ground at the sight of some gross event which may fall out . What ? plow the winds , and sow the rocks ? bring Peace to them who will not receive it ? bring it thither where it will not rest ? Who would willingly be employed in such a Message ? For all this the word must be spoken , and the Salutation given : And that no groundless fear may seal up the Disciples lips , they are told that even there where the Salutation will not rest , it is not lost , but will return again ; as David Psal. 35. 13. spake of his prayer for his malicious enemies , Though peradventure it do not prevail , yet it will return into their bosom . And this is it which stays and upholds us in the performance of all the duties of our life , the Assurance that nothing that we do is lost . Commonly , upon a pretense of doing little Good , we affect a kind of intempestive prudence and unseasonable discretion in performing that little good we do ; which shews it self in us like the Sun in winter , long ere it arise , and quickly gone . We are unwilling to bear the Salutation ; and at the first rub and opposition we are weary of it . If all be not Sons of Peace , we will no longer be preachers of Peace : But this Return of the Salutation adds spirit and courage to us , and makes us venture into every house , even into his who is an enemy to Peace . First then , for our comfort , lost this Salutation cannot be . For every good deed pays it self in the very doing . And therefore saith the Orator , Interest omnium rectè facere ; It concerns every man to do his duty ; and when he can reap no other fruit , to content himself with the very doing of it . Do not say the Word is cast away because it met not with a son of Peace . It cannot be spoken , and cast away : For when it is spoken , all is done . Fac quod debes , & eveniat quod vult ; it is an Arabick Proverb : Do that which thou shouldest , and let the Event be what it will . In the second place , to do our duty is all that is required at our hands . We are but to plant and water : the increase is from another hand . We can but say , Peace be to this House . It is not in our power to make it rest there . Laus imperatori victo ; A skilful and wise Captain may deserve high honour and commendations , though he fall before his enemy , and an Orator may be famous for his eloquence , though his Client be condemned . The Philosopher in his Topicks will tell us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; It is not exacted from an Orator that he perswade , but that he frame those arguments and motives which are perswasive ; nor of a Physitian , to heal those who are ill affected , but to prescribe those medicines which are soveraign . If the earth be brass , we cannot say the dew of Heaven hath no virtue : nor , if we put out our eyes , can we say the Sun doth not shine . Son of man , saith God to his Prophet , if thou warn the wicked , and he turn not from his wicked Ezek. 3. 19. way he shall die in his iniquity , but , thou hast delivered thine own Soul . There is the Return of his Prophecy . Whether the Salutation rest , or not , it doth not vanish , Numquid consecrata perdimus ? For can we think that lost which we consecrate to God ? Still the Apostles incense smells even when it is out . We are unto God , saith St. Paul , a sweet 2 Cor. 2. 15. savour in them that are saved . That we doubt not of . But it follows ; and in them that perish : For neither Death nor Hell can take away the sweet and fragrant smell of this incense . Though many that heard St. Paul , did wax wanton against Christ , though many had their consciences 1 Tim. 5. 11. seared with an hot Iron ; though many made shipwrack of their Faith , 1 Tim. 4. 2. yet St. Paul is bold to proclaim it to the whole world , I have fought 1 Tim. 1. 19. a good fight , I have finisht my course . All that is required at our hands is , that we speak the Word , though we be not heard . For though we speak , and be not heard ; yet no other thing befalls us , than what befalls our Lord and Master , who knows and sees that his Sunshine and Rain is every day abused ; and yet the Sun becomes not as a Sack , nor the earth as brass : Who calls , and calls aloud , and again and again to those deaf Adders which will not hear : Whose providence many times watcheth over those who deny his Providence , and in a manner cast him out of the World . And therefore as he saith , Demus , etiamsi multa in irritum demus , Let us give , though we give many things in vain ; so let us speak the word , let us preach the doctrine of Peace though the event prove not answerable to our hopes .

For , in the third and last place , in vain it cannot be , though it be in vain ; and lost it cannot be , though it be buried . Though it find not the effect to which it was principally ordeined , yet an effect it will have . Aut fiet in illis , aut de illis ; It shall be accomplisht either in those to whom it is spoken , or upon them . For it is not the Disciples word , but the Masters ; and when it is gone forth out of his mouth , it shall not return unto him voyd , it shall not fall to Isa. 55. 11. 1 Sam. ● , 4. 1● . the ground , Quicquid condidit virtus , coelum est , sayth the Poet ; Whatsoever is done by the hand of Virtue , is as lasting as the Heavens . But that which we do at the command of our Master , in the name and person of Christ , is more lasting than the Heavens ; Heaven and Earth shall pass away , but my words shall not pass away : Luk. 21. ●● ▪ The Heavens shall be gathered together as a scrowle , but one iota or title shall in no wise pass from Gods word . That Word which we contemn and tread under our feet , shall rise up again , and rise up against us . That Word which we laught at , is still in being , and shall appear again to make us cry and howl . That Word for which we stoned the Prophets and killed those that brought it , shall be quick and active and vocal to condemn us . That Word for which Micah was smitten on the face , shall make that face as the face of an Angel . That Word which brought St. Paul unto the block , shall return and bring him into Heaven , and put a crown upon his head . Whether it meet with honour or dishonour , with stripes , with imprisonment , with persecution , with death , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it will certainly return again . Cast thy Eccl. 11. 1. bread upon the waters , sayth Solomon ; for thou shalt find it after many dayes , even find it there where it might be thought to perish and be lost . The wiseman seems to allude to the nature and property of some Rivers , which when they have run on sweetly , and watered some few Provinces , hide themselves under the earth , and at last break forth again , and rise and appear in other coasts . Cast thy bread , venture all thy dutys , upon these waters , which though they seem to run out of thy sight , and to bury themselves in the bowels of the earth , though they be covered over with calumnies and disgraces , with misery and affliction , yet will break forth and have their course again , and bear thee before the Sun and the People to the land of the living . To shut up all in a word ; Publish Peace , and whether thy Salutation meet with a son of Peace , or an enemy of Peace ; whether it be entertained with reverence , or rejected with scorn ; whether it meet with a prepared heart , or a heart of stone ; whatsoever the event be , thy labour is not in vain in the Lord . For though it seem to be lost , yet it will return again . It will return to thee in this life with an olive-branch , with peace of Conscience and joy in the holy Ghost . Nor will it leave thee so ; but when thou art dead , it will follow thee to those new heavens , and that new earth , wherein dwelleth righteousness and peace and joy unspeakable for evermore .

The Eighteenth SERMON . Rom. XI . 20. Well : because of unbelief they were broken off , and thou standest by faith . Be not high minded : but fear .

MAN being a reasonable Creature , one would think he should need no other conduct to lead him in his way to bliss than the light of those precepts which are most reasonable . Be not high-minded . Why should we ? but fear . Why should we not ? the one posting us one till we bulg on the rocks , the other warily steering our course till we are brought unto the Haven . What need there any more incitements to the fulfilling of a Law then Knowledg of it that it is just , and faculty and ability to perform it ? Indeed good reason it is that our Reason and Will should incline to that which is reasonable , but , Man as he is endued with Reason so is he also with Passion , by which he becoms 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , various and manifold and mutable in his wayes . Nullum morosius animal , nullum majori arte tractandum , could the Philosopher say ; No creature more froward and headstrong , none more intractable , than Man . And therefore God also condescends in mercy , and is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , various and manifold in his instruction , teaching us to avoid those evils which bring desolation on our Souls , not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by his written word , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by the examples of other men , so visible that we may run and read them . He hath painted out every Sin with the very bloud of the offendor . He hath beat out the teeth of oppression in one , whipt Idleness in another , Stricken Pride in a third : So that Sins are not better known than the Punishment of Sins , nor Gods Precepts more remarkable than his Judgments . Now all these things happen'd unto them for ensamples , and are written for our admonition , on whom the ends of the world are come . And as Clemens speaks of the pillar of salt into which Lots 1 Cor. 10. 11. wife was turned , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that it was not a meer heavy and lumpish Statue , but had life and activity enough to season and preserve us from recidivation ; so may we say , of all the fearful and terrible examples of Gods wrath in Scripture , they are not only the marks of his Justice , but the characters of his Love , silent Sermons , but of more efficacy many times than those that we preach : Our blessed Apostle here presents us 1 Pet. 3. 1. with one , and that the most remarkable we find ; not the cutting off of some wicked person from the city of the Lord , but the casting away of a whole nation , even the Israel of God . The Israelites were Gods peculiar nation , cul●'d out of the whole world , like Gedeon's fleece , full of the dew of heavenly benediction when all the world was dry beside . To them were committed the oracles of God . They had the Law and the Prophets : Rom. 4. 1. Illis apud Deum gratia , saith Tertullian , they were in great favour with God , that God taught them by word of mouth . God taught them by his Wonders , and by his Prophets , and by those many Ceremonies , which were as pictures , saith Melanchthon , and ocular Sermons , praenunciativae observationes , saith St. Augustine , so many prophecies of Christ . By these they might have been prepared and qualified for the receiving of the Messias . But these high Prerogatives , which should have level'd their minds , and carried them on in an even course to the fulness of time when their Redeemer should come , wrought a contrary effect , and swelled and lifted them up to the admiration of themselves , that they could not stoop to entertain 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a Messias so poor and naked and inglorious as Christ . Fiduciâ patrum inflati , sayth Tertullian , they were puft up with the conceit that Abraham was their Father , that God had raised up many famous men , amongst them . Quasi naturalem jactabant se habere justitiam , sayth Augustine . They thought righteousness came to them by kind , and was derived unto them from the loins of their glorious predecessors . Well , saith the Apostle , for all this , for all they were branches of the good Olive-tree , and did partake of the root and juice and fatness thereof , by which they might have grown up , and been transplanted into the Paradise of eternity , yet 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they were broken off , and scattered and dispersed , & coeli & soli extorres , driven about the earth , banished from their own country as well as from Heaven , made the scorn of the world , and the contempt of nations , not suffered to stay so much as in the borders of their own land . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , No man must dwell with them under the same roof , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or in the greatest sickness or extremity take Physick of them . None must wash in the same bath , not talk with them . It is a Canon of a Council in Trull . They are shut out , sayth Crusius , from the City in a place called Pera , by an arm of the Sea , nor are permitted to come to Constantinople to traffick but by ship . In a word , they are become a Proverb of obstinate impiety , so that when we call a man a Jew , we think we have rayled loud enough . Our Apostle comprehends all in this one word , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they were broken off ; or if this will not serve , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 will . They were not only branches lopt off , but cast away . A sad exsample , and now fresh and bleeding in the eyes of V. 15. those primitive Christians in quos gratiam transtulit Deus pleniorem , on whom God had powred forth more plentiful and abundant Grace , who had been cut out off the wild olive , and grafted contrary to nature into the good V. 24. olive-tree . And the most fit and opposite example it was they could look upon . What better spectacle for the Church than the Synagogue , in whose ruines and desolation she may read the dangerous effects of spiritual Pride and Haughtiness of mind , and thence learn not to insult , but tremble . Therefore our Apostle hath drawn the picture of her ruine with this . Impress or Motto , NOLI ALTUM SAPERE , Be not high minded , but fear . In which words you see we have a negative precept , Be not high-minded , and a positive and affirmative , but fear . The first is a Caution , the second a Prescript . The first gives us notice of a dangerous disease , Haughtiness of mind : the second presents us an antidote , Fear . For as spiritual Pride may cut us off , with the Jew , from the favour of God , so Fear is a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a preservative , Be not high-minded ; It cut off the Jew : But Fear , that being grafted into the good Olive thou mayst grow and blossom and bring forth fruit and flourish for ever . Of these in their order .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Noli altum sapere , is good counsel ; and I find it often given in the writings of the learned , to men of lofty eyes , who exercise themselves in great matters and in things too high for them , men of curious speculation , Psal. 131. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Nyssine speaks , who being busy in the pursuit of things out of reach , unhappily pass by and oversee those more necessary things which are at hand ; qui omittunt quod possunt videre , dum quod non possunt intuentur , as Hilary ; who loose the sight of those truths which are visible and easy , whilst they make too steddy a gaze on those which are past finding out ; with the children of Ben●amin , learning to fling stones at a hairs breadth , and yet not able to see 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the wide and open and effectual Door of Faith . A Judg. 20. 16. disease indeed very dangerous , and which strikes and hinders us in our spiritual growth . But this is rather 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 than 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; and not so opposite to our present purpose and the intent of the Apostle . The Malady here aimed at is an overweening conceit of our own worth , whether in respect of the knowledg of divine truths , or the practise of those virtues which are commended to us as the marks and characters of men in the favour and love of God . A disease mortal and fatal to the Jew ; and to which the Christian was most obnoxious . He was newly come out of the valley and shadow of Death into the land of the living , and by the others fall and loss was entitled to great riches , as our Apostle speaks , V. 12. and therefore he was more subject to this Disease of Haughtiness of mind . For the Orator will tell us , Nihil insolentius novitio divite ; Men suddenly graced with favours and prerogatives are most insolent ▪ and proud . And the Philosopher in his Rhetoriques saith , that men raised from the Dunghill to great fortunes and riches have commonly all the vices of rich men , and more .

And now that we may open this malady ; we will search and inquire the cause of it , and see what it is that lifts up the mind to this dangerous pitch ; what it is that swells and puffs us up , and makes us grossos , & grossi cordis , as Parisiensis most properly though barbarously speaketh , that makes the heart of man grosser and greater than it self ; as in Italy they have long time had an art to feed up a foul 'till they make the Liver bigger than the body . What is there in Christianity that naturally can have this operation ? We confess it is from heaven heavenly , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Synesius speaks , deriving its pedegree from God . We read of rich glorious promises ; of royal prerogatives ; of truth and peace and mercy which came by Jesus Christ : But all these are like the Physitians 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to purge and cleanse us from the gross and corrupt humours , rather than full diet , to feed us up to that bulk that we are not able to weild and move ourselves in any order . The Gospel is from heaven ; but we are of the earth , earthy . These Prerogatives are grants , not rewards . And Truth and Mercy are not the work of our hands , but the purchase of our Saviour . Quantò magìs lumen gratiae respicimus , the more stedfastly we look upon the throne of grace , Tantò magìs nos ipsos reprehèndimus ; sayth the devout Schoolman . The more light we have , the more we see our own wants and impotency , and so become the more vile in our own eyes . Let 2 Pet. 1. 5 , 6. us joyn Virtue with Faith , and with Virtue Knowledg , and with Knowledg Temperance , and with Temperance Patience , yet none of these , not all these , of their own nature can produce any such effect as to make us be in love with our selves , or to raise us to that height as to overlook not only our selves , but our brethren . Were these virtues truly ours , or being ours did they appear to us in their own native shapes ; they would discover unto us that the way to happiness is as the eye of a needle through which it is impossible for men of gross and overgrown conceits to enter . The cause then of this disease is not in the Gospel , or in the Riches of the Gospel , but in our selves , who are willing to be deceived ; and in the Devil , who is totius erroris artifex , as Tertullian calls him the forges of all error and deceit . For as God , whose very essenee is Goodness , doth in mercy manifest that Goodness out of Sin it self ; So the Devil who is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that Wicked one , abuseth Good unto evil ; and when he cannot drive us to dispair by reason of our sin , he takes another course , and makes us presume upon conceit of our righteousness . Take Virtue in its own shape , and it seems to call for fear and trembling , and to bespeak us to be careful and watchful that we forfeit not so fair an estate for false riches : But take it as from the Devils forge , and then , contrary to its own nature , it helps to blind and hoodwink us , that we see not the danger we are in , how that not only the way but our feet are slippery . It unfortunately occasions its own ruine , whilst we , with Nero in Tacitus , spend riotously upon presumption of treasure . The Schools teach us that Evil could not subsist if it were not founded in Good : How true this is in general I discuss not ; but experience makes it plain that not only that Good which but appears so , which smiles upon us in an alluring pleasure , or glitters in a piece of Gold , or cringeth to us in his knee , that honours us , but also verum & plenum bonum , as St. Augustine calleth it , that which is fully and truly Good , not only pretious Promises and high Prerogatives , which of themselves cannot make us good , but Piety and Patience and Holiness do swell and puff us up . That Good which makes us good , which names us good , is that by which we are made evil ; And all this proceeds from our own wilful error and mistake : for Pride is the daughter of Ignorance , sayth Theodoret. Were we not deceived , with false visions and apparitions , it were impossible that either our eye should be haughty , or our neck stiff . The Philosopher will tell us that objects present themselves unto us like those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Mathematical bodies which have many sides ; and they who see one side , think all are like it , or the very same . We see the Gospel ex uno situ , but on one side , or , as Seneca speaks , ex adverso , on the wrong side . We see it pictured in glory , but not in vengeance ▪ It appears to us in a shape of mercy , not as it carries fire before it to consume us ▪ We behold Christ as a Saviour , not as a Lords We entertain Prerogatives as prerogatives , and no more , and never look on the other side where the obligation is drawn . We comtemplate Virtues as the work of our own hands , but are blind to those imperfections which they bear in their very forehead . Nay , our Sins present themselves before us , but colour'd and painted over with the prerogatives of mercy and forgiveness . We consider our selves as Branches grafted in , but cannot see the Tu excidêris , that we may be cut off . We consider our strength , not our weakness . But could we totum rerum conceptum exhaurire , take-in the whole conceipt of our wayes , and apprehend our actions in their full being and essence , without those unnatural shadows and glosses , our minds would be as even as the Sea when no wind troubles it , and not raise those bubbles which are lost in the making , nor those raging waves which foam out nothing but our shame . But being thus lightned of our burden by error , every puff of wind lifts us up , above our sins , above the mutability of our nature , above ourselves , and above God himself . A Prerogative , which is but a breath ; an appearance of Virtue , which is but a shadow ; our own conceits , which are vainty , set us in our altitude where the hand of Mercy cannot reach us , but a hand of Vengeance hovers over us , which , when it strikes , tumbles us headlong into an amazing pit of horror , and leaves us strugling with our distracted thoughts under the terrors of the Law , of Death and of Desperation . Will you see then spiritual Pride in its full shape and likeness ? You must then conceive it blind , yet of perfect sight ; deaf , but of a quick ear , deceiving , and being deceived ; happy , and most miserable ; quick to see the least appearance of goodness , but blind to the horror of sin ; a continual listning to the promises and prerogatives of the Gospel , but deaf to the Thunder of the Law it s own parasite , happy in conceit , but indeed most miserable ; entitling us to heaven , when it is but a wind , which at once blows us up , and kindles the fire of Hell . Strange contradictions ! but such are we made up of when we do 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , think highly of our selves ; when we remember what we are , not what we may be ; and not what we are in whole , but in part ; joyning together Weakness and Stability , Sin and Security , Mutability and Assurance , than which nothing is more contrary , more dissonant ; as in a strange dream , where however the parts of it are incohaerent and contrary one to the other , yet the dreamer thinks that all cleaves well enough together .

And now having shewed you the true cause of this disease of Haughtiness of mind , we will in a word point out at one evil effect which naturally issues from it , and but one , because the rest we must necessarily touch upon when we prescribe the Remedie . This is most proper here , because our Apostle most points at this ; and we find it & tu excidêris . This V. 22. Haughtiness of mind doth not only hinder the progress , but even the continuance of Goodness : It doth not only slug and retard us in our course of piety , but it also criples us that we can walk no more : It doth not only wither the branch , but it also cuts it off . St. Paul speaks plainly , The Christian may fall , as the Jew ; and , if he continue not in Gods goodness , he also shall be cut off . When we have gone but a sabbath-days journey with the Jew in the wayes of holiness ; when we have done but quod dictum est antiquis , what was said to them of old ; when we have absteined but from those sins which even a Jew would hate , and performed those duties only which will keep us from the lash of the Tongue , do we not begin to raise and canonize our selves ? But if we forgive an enemie ; if we do good to an enemy ; if we faste a day , and give our provision to the poor ; if we do any thing which Christ commanded with an Ego verò dico , then streight , with Absolom , we raise up a pillar to ourselves , and we write upon it , NUNQUAM MOVEBOR , We shall never be moved . A Cup of cold water shall answer for our Oppression , an Alms at our door for the fraud in our shop , our frequenting of Sermons for our neglect of Prayer , our Liberality to some factious Teacher for our Sacriledg to the Church , an open Ear for a prophane Heart : And all is now quiet within us ; we seem to walk on the pavement of Heaven , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to fly in the air , and from thence to behold our brethren ( who have more piety with less noyse ) as grashoppers , as worms , as wretches , as nothing in respect of our selves . When our Hypocrisie hath edg enough to cut us from the Olive , our spiritual Pride keepeth us in : When the least of our numerous backslidings are a fearful presage of eternal perdition , upon one good deed , upon one good intention , upon one good thought , nay upon a meer mistake of all , we build the Assurance of our Salvation . I deny not but that a good Christian may not only have confidence , but may attein to that perfection as to assure himself that God will so guide and protect him that he shall never fall . Yet this is very rare , and peculiar to those happy Souls who enjoy it . But to make it a question , Whether every man ought to be assured of his Salvation , I think it , at the best , most unnecessary . And this Nature , and common Experience will teach us . Should I ask whether every man ought to grow , to be in health , to digest , I cannot think but that you would judg it a ridiculous question , seeing Nature it self hath secretly taught us to eat and to drink with temperance and sobriety , and then Growth and Health will naturally follow . You cannot but apply it your selves . For Assurance of Salvation is no voluntary thing , to be taken up at will , upon command , but the natural issue of something else , of Faith and Obedience , of Holiness of life and conversation : Let us but believe and keep an upright conscience , let us joyn together Piety towards God , and Honesty towards men , ( which can never be severed ) and Assurance will as certainly follow as Growth and Health upon Diet taken with Sobriety . Talk what we please of Assurance , it is not duty , but the effect of all the performances of life . We are no where comanded to be assured , but we have divers precepts and commands to make our election sure . Yet we see with what eagerness of spirit this question hath been kept afoot , and how ready those are to talk of Assurance of whose Salvation , Statu quo sunt , Charity it self would make a doubt . Tenemur esse certi ; We are bound to be assured ; that is the Doctrine . And the Use is , Many men make it an Article of their Creed , to which they subscribe with hands full of bloud , oppression and fraud . And I am verily perswaded that in those who most boast of it , it has no better ground than this spiritual Pride and Highness of mind . For let them cry it up as long they will for an article of their Creed , their own evil wayes do make it heretical . And one day they will find it true , that that Doubting out of Humility , which is raysed from a diffidence in our selves , may find heaven-geats wide open , when bold Presumption shall be shut out of doors ; that it will concern every Christian not to be too bold and confident , but to search his own heart , and to try and examine his way , to look narrowly into his life and conversation 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Pelus . speaks , with ten thousand eyes , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , clear and free from all perturbation ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , thrice every day to take a survey of his words and actions , as the Pythagoreans used ; when he is in his best estate , compassed about with the graces of God , in this his health and cheerfulness , to take Saint Pauls prescript here , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , TIMERE , to fear , nay , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , SUPERTIMERE , so Clemens renders it , in this depth and uncertainty of Gods judgments , to assume and exact , absolute , perfect fear , a fear beyond all fear : Which is the Remedy here prescribed , and comes next to be handled .

Now to make way to our ensuing discourse , we may guess what the nature of Fear is by Hope . For Fear and Hope are hewed out of the same rock , the common matter out of which they are framed being Expectation . For according as the thing is which we expect , so are we sayd to hope or to fear ; if good , we call it Hope ; if evil , we term it Fear . As Hope is nothing else , but an expectation of some good to come : So Fear hath its beginning from the apprehension of some approaching evil . And as Heat and Cold , though contrary qualities , yet are never solitary without admistion of either with the other ; so is it with Hope and Fear ; they are both mixed and blended together in us . Seldom is any Hope so strong as to be without some tincture of Fear : Seldom any fear so strong as to admit of no mixture of Hope . For if they be alone and in excessu , they loose their names . Hope without Fear is no more Fear , but Confidence ; and Fear without Hope is no more Fear , but Despair . All this we find in natural Fear . But Divines have taught a fourfold Fear , a Civil fear , a Filial fear , a Servile fear , and a fear of Cautelousness and Circumspection ; all which have their several use ; but I take the two last to be most proper to my Text. For what greater enemy to spiritual Pride than Wariness and Circumspection ? And what can make us more watchful to look about us than the Fear of some evil approaching ; which is a Servile fear ? You see in this parable of the Natural and the Wild Olive-tree St. Paul advising the new engrafted Gentile not to wax proud against the Root , makes Fear a remedy ; Be not high-minded , saith he , but fear . And he presently gives the reason ; v. 21. For if God spared not the natural branches , much less will he spare them . Fear then of being cut off , which is a punishment no less than Damnation , if St. Pauls reason be Good , is the best means to repress in us all proud conceit and Highness of mind .

And first , in a matter of so great an alley as is our Union with Christ no care and circumspection can be enough . Here qui cavet nè decipiatur , vix cavet etiam cum cavet , our greatest diligence will fall short , and we are scarce then weary when we are most circumspect . And the reasons are plain ; and , if we will but animos advertere , take the pains to observe it , we need not draw them from any other common place than our selves . The first is an Overeasiness to perswade our selves that we are in account and favour with God . For men , we see , are generally more apt to presume then to despair . Every day yields us examples of the one , few of the other : If Despair hath killed her thousands , Presumption , we may be sure , hath killed her ten thousands . It is the observation of Aristotle in his Rhetoriques , that old men commonly , in regard of their long experience , are very jealous and wary , but young men 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , apt to nourish and to entertain great hopes . And St. Basil , at large expressing the humours of young men , tells us , when they get them alone by themselves , either in the night , or in some solitary place , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they frame unto themselves strange Chimaera's , vainly supposing themselves to live in some glorious fashion , that they are Lords of countryes , yea favorites to Kings , yea , that they are possessed of Kingdoms ; and which is more , they knew these to be but Meteors and vain speculations , yet through extremity of folly they please themselves as if they did really enjoy them . A dangerous humour where it hath footing and very expensive of time , being the issue of nothing but Melancholy and Idleness . Just so it fares with us in our conceits of the things of God as Aristotle sayth it doth with young men in regard of things of this world ; we love our selves well , and therefore in regard of our little experience are very apt to entertain such aery and vain speculations . We are very willing to conceive our selves to be highly beloved of God , to be possest of the Kingdom of Heaven . We hear not of a reward but it s ours , no crown but we lay hold on it . If St. Paul be in the third heaven , we are above . If Mary have an exsultation , we have a Jubilee . And we are fully perswaded that it is so , as if it were so indeed . With this conceit many run on , and think themselves well when they are in the very mouth of dangers , as the Syrians , being blinded , thought they went towards Dothan till they found themselves in the midst of Samaria . 2 King . 16. 20. This is the difference , sayth Theodoret , between the Sickness of the body and the Diseases of the mind ; In the one we are sensible of our grief , we cry out and complain , Ociùs Archigenes ; and in all haste we send for the Physitian ; but in the other we are stupid and senseless , we start back at the mention of a Physitian , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , we are more afraid of Physick than of our disease . We admit of miserable comforters , that will flatter us to Death ; and rather than we will want flatterers , we take the office on ourselves , nec magìs alienâ adulatione perimus quàm nostrâ ; nor could we dy so soon if we were not our own Physitians . Thus having upon Presumption some especial favour with God securely run out the course of our dayes , and mispent that time in vain imagination which might profitably have been spent in the work of our Salvation , we draw near unto our end ; and before our breath departeth , these thoughts perish , and instead thereof we hear nothing but wailing and bitter lamentation .

A second reason to move us to this Fear of Jealousy and Circumspection , is the Uncertain knowledg we have of the quality of our Works . For in our best intentions there may be imperfections which we know not . We may take that to be good which is evil , and mistake on both hands . I may come short or fail in the matter , manner , or some circumstance . My Devotion may be irregular ; my Patience stupidity ; my Zeal , rage . O quàm honestâ voluntate miseri sunt ! sayth Lactantius ; With what good meaning do many poor souls do evil ! When the Ark of God was shaken , Uzzah layd his hand upon it to save it ; and no doubt he thought he did God good service in it : yet we see what reward his unseasonable well-meaning brought him : He was smitten in the place that he died . Who can tell how oft he offendeth ? sayth David , Who can tell how many of these sly insinuating 2 Sam. 6. 7. Psal. 19. 12. Sins creep into his actions ? The best plea we can make in defense of our actions , if we err , is but this , That we have done it honestâ voluntate , with a very good meaning . And therefore the Church of Rome , though she stifly maintains that we are justifyed by works , yet notwithstanding propter incertitudinem , for this uncertainty , confesses we can place no trust or confidence in them . In this present world , though we have the day to walk in , yet we meet with many mists and fogs , through which we cannot perfectly see the danger we are in ; and therefore , like men benighted , we must take the more care to our steps . We must not think that all is safe and well with us , but work out our salvation with fear and trembling .

To this we may add a third ; and that is , The Over-ripe conceit and too speedy apprehension of our sufficiency and growth in the duties of Christianity . We are very apt to flatter our selves , and conceive that , when we are but newly set forth , we are at our journeys end . All excellency and perfection in Christianity we can put off to others that have more time to learn it , & commorari in eo quod novimus quàm discere quod nondum scimus melius putamus , and we had rather dwell upon little than trouble our selves in the obtaining of more . The Jew is content with his Ceremonies , and the Christian with his outward Profession , but less significant than they . And all this proceedeth from a carelessness and indifferency in the wayes of godliness . This is certainly a great hindrance to our studies in Christianity . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Opinion is a great retarder of proficiency . Many had won more ground , had they with Job feared their own works , been jealous of their ways , and circumspect in their walk , had they had that holy Jealousy and Mistrustfulness which is inseparably joyned to this Fear of Covetousness and Circumspection .

But indeed this Fear is most requisite in respect of those enemies of our Souls which are ever in readiness to surprize us ; which being more subtile than strong , could never overcome us but by our own weapons . They are many indeed , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , John . 2. 16. every passion , every vain object : but these could never prevail against us , if this Fear did keep us awake . For let us weigh it well , and we shall find that it is not the strength of our adversaries , nor their multitude , nor yet our own weakness , which strikes us to the ground , but want of that cautelousness and circumspection which we should use : Dyed Abner as a Fool dyeth ? saith David lamenting over Abner , thy hands were not bound , 1 Sam. 3. 33 , 34. nor thy feet put into fetters : but as a man falleth before the wicked , so fallest thou . This is the case of many Christians : Their hands are not bound , nor their feet put into fetters : no outward violence , no strength of the enemy , but only their own unwariness hath overthrown them . I should be loth to make the Devil less devil than he is ; yet I may be bold to say that many men are cut off by themselves and their own folly , when the Devil beareth the blame . And St. Chrysostom gives the reason for me : For if there were any inforcing necessity in the Devils temptations , then in good reason all that are tempted must necessarily yield and miscarry . And in one of his Epistles to Olimpias , considering , how careless Adam was , and open to admit of counsel so weak and forceless , he concludes , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that he would have fallen if the Devil had not been . No marvail if he surprize us when he finds us asleep in our watch . He doth no more than Iphicrates did to his Centinel whom he found fast asleep , Tales relinquit , quales invenit . He striketh us through with his Spear , and wounds us to death , and leaves us but as he found us in a dead sleep , to sleep for ever . Satana nullae feriae : The Devil is ever in arms . But if we stood upon our guard and were ready to resist , he could never hurt us . So necessary a thing is this Fear of Cautelousness and Circumspection , that if we had no other defence or buckler but this , yet we could never be overthrown . Mater timidi rarò flet , A wary and fearful child seldom brings sorrow to his mother ; and a careful and fearful Christian can never be cut off .

And therefore to keep this Jealousy awake in us , the Apostle awakes one Fear with another , the Fear of Circumspection with the fear of Punishment : He sets up a NE EXCID ARIS , a fear of being cut off , to bring on the other . For naturally fear of evil works , a Fear of Jealousy and Circumspection : and this fear of Cautelousness ushers-in that fear by which we may call Abba , Father . For seeing evil before us ready to seize upon us , we begin to advise with our selves how to avoid it . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , sayth Aristotle ; Fear brings us to Consultation . Call the Steward Luk. 16. 3. to an account , and he is straight at his QUID FACIAM ? What shall I do ? When a King goes to war , ( and War is a bloudy and fearful trade ) Luk. 14. 31. Luk. 16. 4. the Text tells us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he first sits down , and takes council . Fear is the mother of Advise : and Consultation dies with Fear . When we presume , Counsel is needless ; and when we despair , it is too late . Alexander was as bold a leader as we read of in any history ; yet the Historian observes , That upon some great hazard his confidence was chang'd to pensiveness and solicitude : Ipsam fortunam verebatur ; He began to mistrust that fortune which had formerly crown'd him with so many conquests . It is even so with Christians : For the most part we boldly venture on in the wayes of dangers : but when the bitterness of Death shews it self , or the fond face of a Nè excidaris is set before us , our courage fayls , and we begin to mistrust that security which thrust us forward in the wayes of evil , and made us bold adventurers for Hell . There be three things , fayth St ▪ Basil , which perfect and consummate every consultation 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , First we consult , then we establish and settle our consultation , and last of all , we gain a constancy and perseverance in those actions which our consultations have engaged us in . And all these three we have from this servile Fear . Did we not fear , we should not consult : Did not Fear urge and prick us forward , we should not determine . And when this breath goeth forth , our counsels fall , and all our thoughts perish . The best preservative of a Branch now grafted is a Nè excidaris , the sight and fear of that knife which may cut him off . For this servile Fear , though it hath got an ill name in the world , yet is of singular use ; and for want of it many branches have been cut off and cast away . How many go to Hell in a pleasant dream ! How many have been cut off because they never feared it ! How many hath a feigned and momentany assurance destroy'd for ever ! Cheerful they are , rejoyce in the Lord alwaies : no Law concerns them ; no curse can reach them ; if it thunder , they melt not ; and if the tempest rise , they are asleep : as for Fear , it is not in all their wayes : And this they make a mark and infallible note of a Child of God . Timor Capitalis & Diabolicus ; Fear is deadly and diabolical . A pleasing errour , this ; but very dangerous . For , alass ! this Joy may be but an abortive , begot by the conquest of some few temptations ; this Cheerfulness may be an incantation ; This Assurance , insensibility ; and this Security , stupefaction . For as the Historian observes of men in place and authority , Cùm se fortunae committunt , etiam naturam dediscunt ; When they rely only upon their greatness and authority , they loose their very nature , and turn savage , and quite forget they are men ; in like manner it befalls these spiritualized men , who build up to themselves a pillar of Assurance , and lean and rest themselves upon it . They loose their very nature and reason ; they forget to fear , and become like those whom the Philosopher calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , madmen , because their boast was they did not fear a thunderbolt .

For conclusion then , Take comfort , thou disconsolate Soul , whosoever thou art that art stricken down into the place of Dragons , and art in terror and anguish of heart . For this Fear of thine is but a cloud , and it will distill and drop down in blessings upon thy head . This Anxiety is a benediction , and will keep thee from falling , when the Presumption of others shall lay them on the ground . Thy cloud is more clear than their Sun , thy Fear better than their Confidence , thy Doubting better security than their Assurance . Timor tuus , securitas tua . Thy Fear of being cut off will keep thee in the olive green and flourishing ; thy Fear of being cut off will end in expectation of eternal life . Though thy ship be rent , thy tackling crackt , and thy mast spent , yet thou shalt at last thrust into shore , when those proud saylers shall shipwrack in a calme . There is no better symptome that thou shalt never be cast away than this Fear that thou must be cut off . For whatsoever the beginning be , this Fear doth commonly end in righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Ghost .

The Nineteenth SERMON . ACTS XII . 5. Peter therefore was kept in prison ; but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him .

WHEN the Devil draws his sword , he flings the scabbard into the fire ; and though he strike not , yet he hath it alwayes ready in his hand . It was already dyed in the bloud of James the brother of John , v. 2. and now he strives to latch it in the sides of St. Peter also . We call this the Book of the Acts , or Doings of the Apostles . But indeed it is a history of their Passions and Sufferings , every page opening almost some new scene , and presenting some part of their Tragedy . Chap. 2. 13. they are markt for Drunkards . Chap. 4. 3. Peter and John are laid hold on and put into prison ; they are threatned and silenced , v. 18. Peter and the rest are beaten , Chap. 5. 40. Stephen is stoned , Chap. 7. Persecution rageth , Chap. 8. 1. Paul is laid wait for , Chap. 9. Then had the Churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galile and Samaria ; and were multiplyed , v. 31. For , as it is reported of the Island of Rhodes , that scarce there is any day so cloudy but at some time or other the Sun shews it self , so it fares with the Church of God . The blackness and darkness of persecution never so obscureth her but at some time or other she shews her self : But it is but as the Sun peeping out of a cloud , ready to be taken in and darkned with another . Let Peter come up to Jerusalem , Chap. 11. and he is accused for being at Caesaria , and they of the Circumcision contend with him for his Sermon to the Gentiles , v. 2. But this was rather an offer then a blow : for all was laid and ended in a Gloria Deo , v. 18. They held their peace , and glorified God . But here in this Chapter he is striken home by the hand of a Politician ; of Herodes Agrippa , who being now restored to his Kingdome by Claudius the Emperor , did strive to establish it with bloud . He vext the Christians , to please the Jews : and had they all had but one neck , he would have cut it off at one blow . James already was sacrificed to their malice : Which bathing it self with pleasure in his bloud , bespake the Tyrant cruelly to offer more . He proceeded farther therefore , and took Peter also , v. 3. But he sacrificed him not , because of the feast : for then were the dayes of unleavened bread , saith the Text. But to make all sure , he puts him in prison ; and to make the prison sure , he delivers him to four quaternions of souldiers to keep him . Where he lyes shackled with two chaines , quasi sepulcro inclusus , saith Calvin , buried before he was slain . Peter therefore was kept in prison , &c.

These words present unto us the true face of the Church militant ; One member suffering , and all the members suffering with it ; St. Peter in chains , and the Church on their knees ; he ready to be bestowed for the Church , and the Church emptying her bowels and compassion on him ; St. Peter suffering , the Church praying . Though they cannot help him , yet they will pray for him ; and they will pray for him , that they may help him . Though they cannot break the prison , they will weary heaven , and pray 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , without ceasing . And this makes up a glorious harmony , the groaning of a prisoner tempered with the prayers of the Church . These ascending together , and coming up to heaven before God , commonly bring down some Angel from thence .

Now these two , St. Peter and the Church , divide the Text into two parts , which we call St. Peters Passion , and the Churches Compassion . In the first we consider Peters Imprisonment , and the Causes of it , or the Motives which induced Herod to shut him up . In the second the Churches Compassion . Observe that it was not only in the inward man , true and hearty , but also expressed outwardly , and made vocal in prayer , which was first publick of the whole Church ; secondly ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , earnest and importunate , and without ceasing . Peter therefore was kept in prison , but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him . Of these in their order .

And a Prison one would think were not a fit place for St. Peter . We should rather look to see him in his Chair . For he had the Keys committed to him , and a Commission to feed Christs sheep . Will God suffer this great Light to be confined , and this Pillar to be shaken with the stormes of persecution ? Shall he who was to teach and govern the Church now stand in need of the prayers of the Church ? Where is the providence of God ? may some say . Why ; certainly even in this , that he many times suffers his best Saints and his selected servants to be beat upon by the waves of affliction , and to feel the lash of persecution . Ordinis haec res est in hâc allegoricâ Aegypto , ut Pharaoh incedat cum diademate , Israel cum cophino , saith Sidonius ; It is a common sight in this Aegypt of the world to see Pharaoh with his diademe , and Israel with a basket ; Herod on his throne , and St. Peter in prison . And all this is , saith St. Basil , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by Gods own ordering and dispensation . For what is a prison to St. Peter , where he had not now been had not the Spirit enter'd with him ? You will say , saith Tertullian , it is domus Diaboli , the Devils house , for Villains and Ruffians . Conculcabit in domo suâ ; He shall trample him under his foot in his own house . The Prison hath darkness , but he is light : the Prison hath chains , but he is free in fetters . Nihil interest ubi sit in soeculo , qui extra soeculum est : In this world it matters not where he is confined who is already out of the world .

We commonly distinguish the ages of the Church into times of Persecution and times of Peace : and indeed in respect of the visible state of the Church such times there are : But the Saints of God , the Kingdom of Christ on earth , never had peace , nor possibly can have . But by the wisdom of God it comes to pass that that which we call Persecution is indeed the peace of the Church ! Fire , and Sword , and Imprisonment , these build up the Church of God . Perversitas , quam putas , ratio est ; quod saevitiam existimas , gratia est , saith Tertullian ; That is good Order which we take to be Confusion ; and that which we call Persecution is Favour and Mercy . Cum Ecclesia in attonito est , Then the Church enjoys her peace when she is astonisht with terrors . We cannot think that St. Peter lost his peace with his liberty , or that he was a Saint less glorious because he was in prison . The Church of Rome hath given us no less then fifteen Notes of the true Church , and one we find to be temporal Felicity ; but most of them are but doctae ineptiae , laborious vanities and learned impertinencies . Had she soberly consulted with this book of Acts , or but with this Text of mine , she would not have found the least appearance of temporal happiness to make up a Note with ; unless we shall call it a temporal happiness to be beaten , to be stoned , to be imprisoned . St. Peter here in prison would be a stronger argument to beat down her State , then the Prayers of the Church to build up St. Peter a regal Throne . Would ever any man once dream that my Text would yield any materials for a chair of Supremacy for St. Peter and his Successor ? but the Jesuit by his cunning hath framed one ; and St. Peter must needs be setled in it , because the Church here prays for St. Peter , and not for St. James . O qualis artifex ? What a skilful artificer hath Ignatius Loyola begot , that would perswade the world the Church prayed not for St. James , or that her prayers to help St. Peter out of prison did lift him up into the Chair ! But what rubbage will not these men make use of , who lay hold on a monosyllable , on the little particle ET , ET PETRUM , he took Peter also ? That also hath an Emphasis , and makes Peter higher then the rest of the Apostles by the head and shoulders . Nay , his very Shadow hath some substance in it , and overshadows not only the sick , but all the world . Thus when TU ES PETRUS will not serve , ET PETRUM is brought in to help a particle , a shadow , nothing . And when they cannot hew him a Chair out of the rock , they build one up of sand ; where they find no Cedar , they are content with straws . Indeed they are so busie in raising Peter to height of State , that they quite forget that he was ever kept in prison , and therefore they phansy to themselves such a flourishing state as may become a universal Monarch , and receive him with both his Swords , of temporal , and spiritual jurisdiction . And now we need not wonder that she brings forth the Church of Christ like Agrippa and Bernice in the Acts , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with great pomp and train , because we see she makes profession of Religion to gain the world . Infelicity and Supremacy will not blend together ; and therefore to hold up her Supremacy , she maintains State : and wheresoever she finds the name of Peter , she seeks a mystery ; and if she cannot find one , she will make one . Thus is Christianity constrained to lacquey it to the World , and become the means of the greatest secular Pomp that the world hath seen . St. Peter , as Erasmus tells us , was lodged in the house of one Simon a Tanner ; at nunc tria regum palatia non sufficiunt , but now , saith he , three Kings palaces are not able to entertain the pomp and state of Peters Successor . When the triple Crown is on his head , what , think you , can he dream of else then outward pomp and temporal felicity ? Tully tells us of a Musician , that , being askt what the Soul was , answered it was Harmony ; Et i● saith he , difficulter à principiis artis suae recessit , he knew not how to leave the principles of his own art . Plato's Scholars had been altogether bred up in Arithmetick and the knowledge of Numbers ; whence deverting their studies to Natural and Moral Philosophy , wheresoever they walkt , they still phansied to themselves something like unto Number . Just so it fares with these men , who fashioned out the Church by the World ; Difficulter à principiis artis suae recedunt ; They cannot leave their old principles . In the World they are bred , the World they study ; and this follows then in the pursuit of the knowledge of Christ and the Church . They still phansie something like unto the World , Riches , and Honour , and a universal Monarchy . What shall we now think of the Church butchered in Abel , floating in the Ark , a pilgrim in the Patriarchs , captive in Aegypt , hiding her self in the time of idolatrous persecutors ? after , of Christ vexed by the Jews , persecuted by Heathen ; and no less by those who professed themselves Christians , by Arian and haeretical Emperors ? What shall we think of St. Peter in prison here ? We shall not see this mark upon him no more then upon Abraham , Moses , David , Hezekiah , and Josiah , whom notwithstanding the Cardinal brings in to make temporal happiness a token and note of true professors : Abraham afflicted with famine in Aegypt . forced to forego his wife , and deny her ; Moses exposed by his parents , put in an ark of bull-rushes into the river , after many difficulties when he came to the very borders of Canaan , forbid to enter in ; David begging his bread , and persecuted by his own son ; Hezekiah mourning like a Dove , and chattering like a Crane ; Josiah slain at Megiddo ; and St. Peter fast in chains . This Note was not de fide then . No ; it was de fide , & seriptum est , it is written , and we must make it an article of our belief , Blessed are you when men persecute you , and revile you . Poverty , and Affliction , Matth. 5. 11. and Imprisonment , and Persecution , are not only bona , but beatitudines ; not only good , but Beatitudes and Blessings . Rubus ardens est sigura ecclesiae , saith St. Hierom ; The Church is like the bush which was all on fire but consumed not . To conclude , we may say of temporal Felicity in respect of the Church as Tertullian speaketh of the unveiling of Virgins in the Church , Id negat quod ostendit , It denyes the Church by shewing it .

And thus much may be spoken by occasion of Peters Imprisonment . In the next place let us take notice of the Motives which induced Agrippa to keep him in prison . You may perhaps imagin that Zeal for religion drew his sword , and hatred of the Gospel . And indeed love of one religion naturally begets hatred of another ; and Love substitutes Hatred as her Captain or Proconsul , to bring on her forces , and fight against every thing that looks a contrary way , and opposeth what we love . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Nazianzene ; It is as a Play or Comedy to a Jew to see a Christians bloody Tragedy . The Philosopher will tell us that Anger is alwayes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in respect of particulars , but Hatred 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , bent against some general thing . Evil men hate Philosophy because it speaketh truth ; but they are angry with Socrates . The Jews were implacable haters of Christianity ; but their Anger stretcheth forth their hand against James and Peter . We read indeed that this Herod Agrippa was Judaeorum studiosissimus , a great lover of the Jews and of their religion ; that he obtained of Caesar for them the freedom of their religion ; that he fenced Jerusalem with new walls higher and larger then before ; that he was very much offended with the Doritae because they had set up Caesars statue in the Synagogue . And we see here what reverence he bare to their feast ; seeing to shew himself a Jew indeed , he would not till the feast was past , shed the bloud no not of a Christian . We cannot now but imagin that it was pure Zeal that whet his sword ; that he loved Moses better then Christ ; that he would not see the Law abrogated , the Ceremonies destroyed , the ancient Religion go to the ground . But there was no such matter . For see the holy Ghost hath made a window in his breast , and tells us that all this was done ut placeret Judaeis , that he might please the people . You would think the Sword he fought with were of God ; but indeed it was of Gideon , his alone . He had been formerly removed out of his Kingdome , and but lately restored , as we find by Josephus . and now finding the Jews a headstrong people , impatient of the yoke , he strives to strengthen his Kingdome by the same art he gained it . And as before he flattered the Emperor with a great feast of amity , so now he pleaseth the people with a feast of bloud . Religion may be the pretense , but the Cause is his Crown and Kingdome . Thus he who is a slave to his Affections is sold to all the world besides : a King becomes his Subjects parasite . And when that Power and Wisdome leave him which should uphold his Kingdome , the strongest pillar for him to lean on is this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , flattery , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . He must flatter those who flatter him . Look now , and see John Baptists head in a Platter , that they that sate at table might not be displeased . Pilate sends Christ to Herode ; Herode mocks him , and sendeth him back again : And the same day Herode and Pilate are made friends together . Pilate proclaimeth Christs Luke 23. 12. innocency ; I have found , saith he , no evil in him : But when he is told that he is not Caesars friend , at this thunder he is astonisht , and gives sentence that it should be as they required . Darius at the instance of his Nobles flings Daniel into the lions den . Flaminius at his table beheads a man , to please his whore , who had never seen that butchery before . Nay , the first sin that ever was committed was from this source and fountain . So that Hierome states the fault of Adam , That he ate the forbidden fruit nè contrà staret delicias suas , lest he should cast her whom he loved so much into an immoderate dejection . He that strives to please another , hath lost himself ; he squares his actions by his eye , not by the rule . Quis placere potest populo , cui placet virtus , saith Seneca : He that strives to please the people , is not well-pleased himself with Virtue . For that art which gains the people , will make the like unto them . If Herode will please the Jews , he must vex the Christians , and be as cruel as a Jew . Non probabant nisi quem agnoverint , They approve none but whom they acknowledge ; nor can any please them who is not wholly theirs . When I see thee famous in the peoples mouth , when the women and the children cry thee up , when thou canst not stir but applause doth follow thee , when the people cry aloud , The voice of a God , and not of a man , dost thou think I count thee happy ? No ; I pity thee , cùm sciam quae via ad istum favorem ferat , because I know the way that bringeth thee to the peoples favour is of their own chalking but. They commend none but they make him their slave . If thou wilt purchase their breath , thou must sell thy ▪ honesty . If thou wilt please them , thou must be factious , or commit a murder . If Herode will make the Jews his friends , he must be an enemy to the Christians ; The head of James must be stricken off , and Peter must be kept in prison .

We have now done with St. Peters part ; and in the next place must take notice of the behaviour of the Christians . And you may know them to be Christians by their devotion and compassion . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . It is a Divine thing to be compassionate , a true badge and mark of those who are commanded to be perfect , as their heavenly Father is perfect . And therefore Tertullian tells us that even amongst the heathen ▪ Professors of Christianity were not called Christiani , but Chrestiani , from a word signifying sweetness and benignity of disposition . Is St. Peter in prison ? they are not free . Is he in fetters ? their Compassion binds them in the same chains : And though he alone be apprehended , yet the whole Church doth suffer persecution . For it is in the Church as in Pythagoras his family which he shaped and framed out unto his Lute : There is 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an integrity of parts , as it were a set number of strings ; 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an apt composition and joyning of them together . The parts are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , coupled and knit together by every joynt , saith the Apostle , even by the bond of Charity , which is copulatrix virtus , as Prispes calleth it , that virtue which couples all together . And then 3. every string being toucht in its right place and order begets a harmony . This was the face of the primitive times , when the very name of Christianity was accounted as a crime ; when the Devil and Judaism and Heathenism strove joyntly to destroy the Gospel in the bud . When cruel Tyran's spake nothing but bonds and torments and imprisonment , then Charity broke out in a pure flame , by which the afflicted receiveth warmth from each other . Seldome but they found comfort assoon as imprisonment And if the Churches keeper forbad a personal visitation , mittcbant libellos consolatorios , saith Rhenanus , upon Tertullian ; their hearts were enflamed with compassion ; and that did soon dictate an epistle of comfort . That too much Chirity , as Eusebius calls it , lib. 7. of the Christians in Alexandria , when the pestilence had spread its contagion in that city , may in these times of ours , which hath fulfilled the Apostles prophesie , 2 Tim. 3. 1. move us to wonder , though not to imitation . The Pagans , saith he , forsook their friends , though of nearest alliance , upon a fit of shivering , or a pale look ; when the Christians did diligently minister to their sick , though they ran into the mouth of danger ; and to save their friends lives endanger'd their own ; yet they presumed their compassion might stile it Martyrdome . If we now cast a look upon these our times , we shall scarce find a spark of that fire which enflamed their breasts , scarce a degree of that heat of Charity . We have strangely degenerated from our forefathers , and retained nothing of them but the name of Christians . We have not compassion enough to follow St. Peter into prison .

But in the next place , to make one step further , Compassion , if it be right , is not an idle but a serious thing , will not rest in the heart , but will publish it self . If you see it not active in the hand , you shall hear it vocal in the tongue . It will open the mouth , and pant , as David speaks , and pour forth it self in prayer and supplications . My Text tells us that prayer was made by the Church . And 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Epiphanius ; The prayers of the Church are the best weapons . The Superstition of the Heathens framed their Auguries , their Expiations , their Sacrifices , their Oracles , their Omens , their Rings , their Inchantments , their Supplications , their Triumphs , to keep off misery , to procure happiness , to begin , to transact , to end publick businesses : Christiani unicum & simplex habent remedium ; Christians have not so many remedies , but one which is more soveraign and powerful then they all . They plyed their superstitions , as they did their Gods : We have but one God , and in all our miseries but one refuge , our recourse by Prayer unto him .

I will not frame a panegyrick on Prayer , but rather commend the Churches prayer here : 1. Because it was of the whole Church , and most likely met together in publick , as many Interpreters collect . For though private prayer be of singular use , yet it cannot be of that force which Prayer hath when made in publick . St. Chrysostome is peremptory , Thou canst not pray so well at home as at Church : There thou findst many fires to kindle thy zeal , the Example of others , the Reverence of ceremony , the presence of God , the Place it self . Coimus quasi manu facta , saith Tertullian ; We meet together as an army , to besiege , compass , and invade the Majesty of heaven . God requires not only private devotion , that thou pray to him in thy closet , but he farther requireth that prayers be made in publick by troops and assemblies of men . Such was the force , saith St. Chrysostome upon this place , of publick prayer that it brought down an Angel from heaven , broke St. Peters chains , opened the prison doors and the city gates , and led the Apostle to the very place where many were praying for him .

That which in the second place commends their Prayer is , that it was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , instant and earnest . For fervent prayer prevaileth much , saith St. James . Otherwise , if it be faint and heartless , it is but breathed out into the ayr , there to vanish ; it is lost in the very making , and like a Glass in the very blowing , falls to nothing , yea ( which is worse ) it is turned into sin . We may think perhaps that it is a great boldness thus to urge the Majesty of heaven : But we much mistake the God we pray to . He thirsts as it were , to be thirsted after , saith Nazianzene ; he loves to be intreated ; he commands us to be urgent : and thus not to be bold , is to be too familiar with him . To think he will hear us at the first , is to set up an Idole , a God of our own making . For what else is Idolatry but a mistake of that God whom we chuse to serve and worship ? God is a God of state and magnificence , qui solet difficilem habere januam , a God whose gates will not open so soon as we suppose . We must knock , and knock again . Though he hear not , we must call till he do hear ; and though he open not , we must knock till he do open . This is that welcome force by which the kingdome of heaven is taken by violence . This is the way by which God delighteth to be wooed and won , to be besieged and conquered ▪ For this very end doth God delay , and doth not presently send his Angel . Commendat dona , non negat , saith St. Augustine : His delay is not a denyal , but a commendation of his gift . Thy hunger will make thy meat the sweeter ; and thy frequent prayer will not only obtain , but enlarge thy soul , and make it more capable of that good which thou dost long for . Deus exercet desiderium , quò poscimus capere quod praeparat dare ; God exercises our desire , not to dead and destroy it , but , as the ayr doth fan a torch , to make it burn the brighter ; so doth he kindle thy desire , not extinguish it ; and so makes thee fit for that which he intends to give . By this we learn more and more to stand in awe of his Majesty , to love his goodness , and our Piety hereby encreaseth , as Heat doth by motion and agitation . We learn to carry God about with us in every contemplation , in all our thoughts ; as he that looks upon the Sun with a steddy eye , though he remove his eye , yet hath the image of the Sun presented in every object he beholds . I might be infinite in this subject : but this one example of the Church is enough to perswade you that God doth not only require modestiam fidei , the modesty of your faith and private devotion , but the urgency of your publique piety , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as St. Luke calls it , an holy impudence , and violent importunity of prayer ; which may look upon the very face of God , and stare upon him , which will take no denyal , but , as the Fathers express it by a strange kind of phrase , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , even make God ashamed , and so yield at last , and grant you your requests . When St. Peter is in prison , when any affliction fetters our brother , we must then pour forth our supplications , and call up all the forces of our souls , and pray not coldly and faintly , as if we cared not whether we were heard or no , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , earnestly and without ceasing , as if we would not be denyed .

For conclusion then ; St. Peter is still in prison . Many a Christian is in misery and irons ; many poor and naked and destitue , quibus causa paupertatis probitas fuit ; the only cause of whose poverty is integrity of life and conversation ; who might have been rich perhaps if they could have been dishonest ; of whom the world is not worthy . Nay , many a soul , and thy own soul too , is shackled and manacled with many sins and perturbations of the mind , wallowing in the filth and mire of lust : which is , not to be in prison only , or to sleep between two souldiers , but in the Platonicks phrase , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to be asleep in hell it self . Here , here is matter for thy Piety to work on ; here pour out thy bowels of compassion ; here drop thy tears , the only aqua fortis to eat these chains asunder : here spend thy devotion , thy intention , thy zeal , that it may increase , like the Widows oyl , in the pouring out , and cast such a savor on thy actions , ut & opera & ipse somnus sit oratio , that every work , nay , thy very sleep , may be a kind of prayer . You have the example of the Church here , and of the Church in following ages . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , was in their 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and part of their Letany : They prayed for men diseased , for prisoners and captives . And they prayed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with great earnestness and intention ; with their eyes lifted up , and their arms spread abroad , not only to express the passion of our Saviour , but to manifest also the heat of their devotion . You have the same incouragement , the same God , much more attentive in hearing then you are intent in praying ; who will hear you when you call ; who will hear you before you call ; and upon your earnest and continued prayers for any St. Peter , for any sick afflicted Saint , for your own souls , will make some light of comfort shine in the very prison ; will call back his destroying Angel , and send a messenger of comfort unto you , who will take thy soul out of prison , and deliver it out of the hand , not of Herode , but of the Devil , and from all the expectation of his evil Angels , and will set thy feet at liberty , to walk before him in the land of the living .

The Twentieth SERMON . Psal. XXXVII . 11 , 12.

For yet a little while , and the wicked shall not be : yea , thou shalt diligently consider his place , and it shall not be .

But the meek shall inherit the earth .

THese words , are like the Pillar of the cloud , a cloud Exod. 14. 19. 20. and darkness to the Wicked , but giving light to the Meek in the night , in the darkest night that Affliction can make . They are words of terror , and they are words of comfort : of terror to the Wicked ; Why boastest thou thy self in mischief , thou mighty man ? The goodness of God endureth Continually . His eye watcheth every thought and imagination ; it follows thee in all thy wayes : and yet a little while , and his hand will tumble thee down into the pit which thou hast made . And they are words of comfort to the Meek , which now sigh and groan and cry unto the Lord : as the Souls under the Altar . How long , Lord ? how long dost thou not avenge our cause ? Rev. 6. 9 , 10 , how long shall the wicked triumph ? Why , wait on the Lord : ADHUC PAULULUM , yet a little while , and this night will pass , and the day will break , and you shall see the Salvation of the Lord . Yet a little while , and the wicked , which flourish like a green bay-tree , shall wither and shrivel and be cut off : He that thought he had built himself up an everlasting habitation , shall have no being ; and he that made the world his own , shall have no place . And yet a little while , and the meek , who have not a foot of ground , shall inherit the earth ; and they whose Sorrows were multiplied every day , shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace . And as these words bring comfort to the one , and terrour to the other , so they plead strongly for the Providence of God against them both : Against the Wicked , who fight against Heaven it self , and strive to put out the eye of Gods Providence , and are as bold and daring in their proceedings , as if God had no eye : And against the Meek ; who when God doth but touch them , as Job speaketh , thinks he will destroy them ; and when he doth but withdraw himself to call them after him , are too ready to forget that even then his wing of protection is spread over them . For behold , the providence of God is awake , , when they both sleep ; is then working to the end , when they see it not ; is then preparing a sword to enter the bowels of the one , and a shield to defend the other , when the one thinketh he can never be moved , and the other is in the dust . And though it move along in hidden and obscure wayes , that we can no more perceive it than the passage of a Ship in the Sea , or of an arrow in the air , yet it alwayes comes home to the mark , and is most evident in the destruction of the one , and the Salvation of the other . For yet a little while , and the wicked shall not be , &c.

We shall not need to stand any longer upon descant , or to use any curiosity in the division of the Text : Which many times is but like the long tuning of an instrument , which diferreth the Musick , and makes it shorter : or as Musick , it is heard , and perhaps delights , and that is all . I never yet loved to put a tune to Divinity . The Notes which my Text doth naturally yield are these three : First , we may observe Gods Patience and Delay both towards the Wicked , and towards the Meek ; ADHUC PAULULUM , yet a little while , he bears with the one , and helps not the other : Secondly , his justice on the Wicked , which strikes at last , though it strike not so soon : For the Wicked himself , NON ERIT , he shall not be ; and for his Place , NON EXSTABIT , it shall not be found . 4. Lastly his Goodness and Mercy to the Meek : Though they be driven from place to place , though they have no place , yet HAEREDITABUNT TERRAM , they shall inherit the Earth . And with these we shall exercise your Christian Patience and Devotion at this time . And first of the first .

ADHUC PAULULUM , Yet a little while . And a little while is too long to men in misery . For who would stay so long as to salute Affliction in the way ? Who can think of it , and not be afflicted with the very thought ? And yet a little while is too long to men who make their Strength the Law of unrighteousness . Their reign is too long , though it be but an hour . But God is not slack concerning his coming , as some count slackness . Not 2 Pet. 3. slack to the Wicked : for vengeance hovers over his head : Not slack to the Meek , : for his Salvation is nearer than he can believe . In this little while coals of fire are kindling , which must fall upon the head of the Wicked , and leave him without excuse ; and in this little while God is hearkning to the cryes and groans of his Meek ones , and even in this stay doth make haste to help them . Upon this little while depends eternity of punishment to the one , and eternity of peace to the other . Nor can we complain of the delay of that which will surely come to pass . Beloved , God hath these pauses and intervals and halts in all his proceedings ; in his punishments , and in his deliverances . He seems to study and meditate and use a kind of deliberation . He works as it were by rule and line . When God would build up Jerusalem , he promiseth that a line should be stretched out upon her . And when he would destroy Zech. 1. 16. the Idumaeans , he threatens , that he would stretch out upon them the line of Esa. 34. 11. confusion . So that when he will destroy , and when he will build ; he stretcheth forth a line . It is a Metaphor taken from Building , which is a work of time and deliberation . God is not sudden to lift up his hand to strike , nor is he sudden to stretch forth his hand to help ; but , as Builders do , he first fits down , and thinks , he takes time as it were , he fits and prepares his instruments , he sets every thing in order , and , as wise artificers do , he works by line and measure ; that he may make good his justice on the Wicked , and magnify his mercy on the Meek . How long did the Lord endure the old world ? even a hundred and twenty years , while the Ark was a preparing : And then there was a new Aera ; the Deluge brake in . How long did he bear with the Amorites ? Even till their Wickedness was full , and ripe for judgment , as corn in harvest is for the sickle ? How long did he forbear his own people , first the ten Tribes , and then the other two ? Even till there was no remedie , no hope of amendment ; till the Prophets cryed out HOASH , It is desperate ; There is no hope ; All is lost . Nor need we wonder at this his delay , since the reason of it is plain and evident . For God to manifest to the world , that this wayes are not as our wayes , but that he walks in a higher sphere , beyond the reach of a carnal eye , presenteth himself sometimes in a shape contrary to our expectation ; nay more , doth those things which bear a resemblance of some opposition and repugnancy to his known and declared will . And this he doth as it were on purpose to put our Faith and Constancy to a tryal ; to ask us the question , ( and his afflictions are but questions ) Whether we will take him to be our God though he change his shape , and worship him as well in his thunder as in his still voyce , and call him Father in as loud an accent when he strikes us as we do when he favours us . Or else , on the other side , he doth it to besiege and compass in obstinate offendors , to shut the wicked up in their own net , to bury them in their own pit , and to strike them thorough with their own sword ; and , as they have sported and trifled with his judgments , so to mock and delude them , that they shall not easily know when or how they are led to destruction , or not know it till it be too late , but run on in a merry dance to their ruine and into Hell at once . God promises to love his Meek ones , and to defend them as with a shield ; yet sometimes he so handles them as if he loved them not , or had left off to love them , or would not hear and help them ; stands as it were at a distance from them ; but even at this distance he is nigh to them that fear him . Again , though he have threatned to rain fire and brimstone upon the wicked , yet many times he stays his Pasal 11. 6. hand , and doth not strike ; he makes as if he would not punish them , so that they walk delicately , like Agag , and say , Surely the bitterness of 1 Sam. 15. 32. Death is past . Nay , often seems to cast an eye of favour upon them , not to delay the blow , it may fall yet heavier , but ( which flesh and bloud too oft kindles at , and frets it self ) to give them those rewards which are promised to Godliness . He fills their Granaries ; he makes them mighty in power , and to reign as Kings ( and would to God they did reign as Kings , and not as Tyrants ) he crowneth them with happiness ; he seems to plead their cause as if it were just , even against his own cause ; he makes them stronger than those whom he commands to oppose them , and as bold and familiar with him as if they had him in a string . But in this pleasant dream , in this great security , upon the sudden , when their prosperity hath befooled them , when they are ready to conclude they are good because they are temporally happy , and that they have as good a title to Heaven as they have to the Earth , ( and I fear indeed they have but as good a claim to the one as they have to the other ) in the midst of these big and triumphant thoughts God falls upon them , and makes that which was their triumph their ruine . He striks them at once for all ; he strikes the timbrel out of their hands , and in the place thereof he leaves the cup of trembling . He makes them see that they were the poorer for their riches , the baser for their honour , the weaker for their power , and most wretched for their happiness ; that their successful proceedings , which they boasted of , were but as a beam darted from the Sun before a Tempest . And now how fearfully and horribly are they consumed , and brought to utter desolation . Nor is this unjust with God : For he comes not in this tempest till their obstinate impiety force him out of the cloud , where he lay as hidden . He doth not tell the Wicked that this PAULULUM , this little while is theirs , and that they may do what they will in it , even beat their fellow-servant without fear of punishment ; that , like Behemoth in the book of Job , they may drink up a river , and make it their sport to draw up Jordan , even a whole Kingdom , into their mouth . I dare say there was never any PAULULUM , never any so little little while , in which God granted such a Commission . But the Wicked abuse his long suffering and Divine indulgence . They sport in this little while , they send forth their edicts and make Orders against Law , and Declarations against the Truth ; they teach God himself how to speak in Scripture , and account that as an applause of their designs which was but an invitation to repentance . And this is a bold Remonstrance against the King of Heaven himself .

And therefore this yet a little while , this Divine Patience , hath an effect answerable to the disposition and temper of those on whom it is shewed . To them that make this PAULULUM God's PAULULUM , that make use of this little while as of a little while , and therefore make haste to be reconciled , it is redemption and deliverance . But to those who will be Domini rerum & temporum will be Lords and commanders of this little while , and so let it out to their own Lusts and ungrounded imaginations , it is but a little while , and soon ends in eternal destruction . God hath them in a chain , and when they have run out their length , he gives them a check , and pulls them on their back .

The long suffering of God is Salvation . But when men value it not at its ● Pet. 3. 15. true rate , nor account it what it is , but make that which is Salvation something else , even turn it into an Apology for sin , count it an applause from God himself , and make it a confirmation of their designs , how illegal and unwarrantable soever ; then it is justice with God to kill up in such men all seeds of Grace , to strike them with the spirit of error and madness , to withhold his Thunder , and in a manner to dissemble with them , and deceive them ; non dignari irasci , not to favour them so much as to be angry with them ; to take off his jealousy from them , as the Prophet saith ; that they shall have eyes , and see not ; ears , and hear not ; that they shall have 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Apostle speak , a reprobate mind , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Theodoret renders it , a reverberating mind , a heart of marble , to beat back all the words of the wise , and the word of God it self ; to open their ears to one fool , who shall perswade them to kick against the pricks , and to stop their ears to seven wise men that can render a reason ; to rejoyce in the error of their wayes ; to think to build up Religion upon the ruines of Christianity , and to purge the Church with bloud ; to count it a savory language and the holy tongue to revile their Prince ; to call Discharging of great Ordinance at him fighting for him , and Murdering of Charles preserving of the King alive ; to call them the only Seers who are blind , and those the truest Prophets , who , like Balaam , will rise up early in the morning to curse Israel for reward or rather such who are more like the Ass than that Prophet , who uttered words indeed , but understood not what she sayd ; or rather indeed not so wise as that beast : for what she spake was sense , and full of reason ; a language which those of them which I have heard speak ( and those were not a few ) I am sure have little skill in ; to think this , and speak this , and do this , and call it the Defense of the Protestant Religion , as if the Papist were to be carried out upon the Atheists Shoulders ; to do this , and more than I could believe from any witness but my Eye : I say , It is justice in God to suffer such Giantlike Sinners to do this , and that for a little while ; and in this little while ( which was time enough for avoyding the blow ) to whet and furbish his sword , and then to make it drunk in the bloud of these his enemies . It is the Nature of Delay in other things to hold back and hinder our proceedings . For not to do a thing betimes and in its proper season is to rob our selves of the faculty of doing it at all . But it holds not true in Gods Punishing of the Wicked . For gravitate supplicii moram pensat , He supplies and makes up the delay in punishing with the smart of the blow when he lights . His wrath , like wind shut up long in the Caverns of the earth , at last breaks forth in a Tempest . For yet a little while , and the wicked shall not be ; thou shalt diligently consider his place , and it shall not be , &c. And so we pass from the Delay to the Certainty of Gods Justice on the Wicked and of his delivery of the Meek : My second Observation .

Let all the earth rejoyce before the Lord : for he cometh , for he cometh to Psal. 96. 13. judge the earth , saith the Prophet David . Flatter not thy self then that he defers his coming . For he cometh , he cometh . He is set out already , and well on in his journey . When this little while is past , at the appointed time you shall see him with his sword and his quiver . Plures idcirco Domino non credunt , quia seculo iratum tamdiu nesciunt ; Many men think that God is like unto themselves , observing their actions no more then they do his commands , because he thunders not from heaven , nor sends into the world what that Tyrant wisht for in his dayes , some strange , unheard-of calamity . Many run away with the burden of their sins , and feel it not , because God sends not a fire into their bones . But the Father will tell us , Malus interpres Divinae providentiae , humana infirmitas : The weak eye of man may read many lines through which the Providence of God doth run : but we commonly do erre in our interpretations : That gloss must needs be accursed which Flesh and Bloud , which our sensual lusts and affections do bring . Divine Providence is most methodical in those actions which perhaps to us appear under no other shape but of confusion and disorder . It consists in the ordering and bringing things to the right end : And be the way what it will , God leads and drives every thing to that end which his Wisdome hath fitted to it . The meek he leads to bliss ; but through many afflictions ; which may form a crooked and uneven , but is the nearest way . The Wicked tend to destruction , as naturally as a Stone doth to the center . Whether the sky be fair or cloudy , be the passage what it will , yet the Wicked in his highest pitch thither falls at last . Sometimes Providence displayes it self openly before the Sun and the people , in the destructions of the wicked ; sometimes it works more invisibly : but whether secretly or openly , day unto day teacheth knowledge , and in the end of their dayes God will write this truth with their bloud . Though they work never so privily , as it were in a vault ; though they make Religion it self a vault to hide their designs in , yet their damnation sleepeth not ; but God at last will find them out , and strike them to the ground , even in those Meanders and Labyrinths which they made to hide themselves in . The Philosopher tells us the greatest tempests are not of long continuance . No whirlwind lasteth a day , no not an hour . And as a whirlwind passeth , so is the wicked no more . Prov. 10. 25. Suppose he here rage , and with his breath kindle those coals which consume a kingdome ; Suppose he dispose of mens goods and lives at pleasure ; yet he passeth away as a whirlwind ; he drives down all before him , and maketh a huge noyse , and presently is not . Suppose he fill up a page in Chronicle ; yet what was before in action , is but now in story . All we can say is , that he was ; At such a time there was a subtle Traytor , a politick Devil . And we may both write and say it , At such a time there was a whirlwind . What did Sennacherib get by advancing his banner against the City of God ? Even this , To preach by his statue , Let him that looketh on me learn to fear God . What did Herod get by casting of Peter into prison ? He was smitten by an Angel , and eaten up of worms . What did Pharaoh get by flinging the children of the Hebrews into the river ? He brought him into his Courts who deprived him of his Crown and life . The wicked is snared in the work Psal. 9. 16. of his own hands . This , saith St. Basil , is not added as a punishment onely ; but it is the very nature of Sin to make a nett and to digg a pitt for it self . The cruel man is his own just executioner ; nor is he taken so much in the hands of God as in his own . What did ever any seditious and turbulent spirits gain in the work which should be as Hell it self ? There is nothing to affright , no grudging of conscience , no fear , no soruple , no sad reluctancy or dejection of spirit ; and this for a little while : But look up anon , and you shall see them lifted up indeed ; their heads lifted up on high , so high , that the ravens of the valley may pluck out their eyes : A woful indeed , but a useful spectacle . It thus bespeaks every passer-by , My son , fear thou God , and the King , and meddle not with those who are given to change . Prov. 24. 21 , 22. For their calamity shall rise suddenly ; and who knoweth the ruin of them both ? Look upon those sons of Belial who are given to change , who , like Cleon in Athens , wish for wars and civil tumults , thereby to advantage themselves , and to sodder up their estates broken by intemperance and prodigious lust ; who are never warm , but when a Kingdom is in combustion . Look upon them , and mark them , how horribly they are consumed and brought to desolation before the Sun and the people . Behold Corah and his mutinous conspirators swallowed up alive of the earth , and going down quick into Hell . Behold Bigthan and Theresh hanging at the Court-gate . Behold Absalom Numb . 16. Est . 2. Sam. 18. hanging on a tree with three darts through him . Behold one in a moment , and in the twinkling of an eye falling down with a shot from a Church , who had devoured all the Churches in the land , in his thoughts : And in that less then a moment he and all his thoughts perisht . Behold another Sheba receiving his death-swound in that very field , where he first blew the trumpet . A Northern army may break in upon the children of Israel ; but God tells them that he will remove this Northern army farr off , and drive them into a land barren and desolate . Nay , but if Religion must whet their sword Joel . 2. 20. ( for how little of the thing it self they have is but too manifest ) if they will by violence enter into a land which is none of theirs , some of them shall possess it indeed , yet but so much of it as shall make them a grave : Others shall be captives in it to those whom they threatned to bring into captivity : And for the rest , no land can be too barren or dissolate for them . I confess it is not safe to make too bold a descant upon those calamities which indifferently befall both good and bad ; but when they are so remarkable and so signal , it is not good to neglect them . This I dare commend unto you . In whose hands soever you see the instruments of injustice and cruelty , think you see that man digging a pit for himself . When his anger is highest , when the tempest is loudest , his PAULULUM , his little while , is drawing to an end : and be sure of it ; it will breath it self out whilst it seeks to destroy . Why art thou then cast down , O my soul ? why art thou so disquieted within me ? Disquieted , to see wicked men in arms ? which being interpreted , is to hasten to their destruction . It is not their power , but our ignorance of Gods wayes , which casts us down , and thus disquieteth us : Nihil imperitiâ impatientius , Nothing is more impatient then Ignorance : To it every breath is a tempest , every cloud an inundation , every frown a desention ; ADHUC PAULULUM , yet a little while , a span of time , is a kind of eternity . Why , hope in God , wait on the Lord , yet a little while , who waiteth upon thee from thy mothers womb to thy gray hairs : Possess thy soul with patience under that hand which in this little while is working thy Salvation . For yet a little while , and the wicked shall not be . It is a sad theme we are faln upon , the Downfall of the wicked . We will therefore withdraw your eyes from Gods Sword to his Mercy-seat , and lead you from the power of his Wrath under the wing of his Protection , while we consider and examine the Priviledge of the Meek ; The wicked shall not be : but they meek shall inherit the Earth . My last is Servation .

And when all is done , when we have wearied our selves and our imaginations in ploting for wealth and honour , we shall find that we are as far to seek as when we first set out ; that we have labour'd for the wind , for that which is not bread ; like those Spirits in Minerals which Cornelius Agrippa speaks of , which dig , and cleanse , and sever metals , but when men come , they find nothing is done . Let us therefore learn to seek the price of the world in our own breasts . And when Policie and Power and all our busy endeavours fail , our very silence and our Meekness shall purchase for us the inheritance of the earth . Nor need we take this earth for that new earth discovered by St. Peter , or with others , for the land of 1 Cor. 4. 3. Caanan , into which the meekest man on the earth was not suffered to enter . But we may take it , for ought I see , ( and I have St. Augustine and St. Chrysostome on my side ) for this habitable earth , which is divided amongst so many nations by the sword and violence . And lend but your Patience , and we shall take some pains to make it good in the very letter .

What is thy Beloved more than other Beloveds ? It is spoken to the Cant. 5. 9● ▪ Spouse . So , what is Meekness more than other virtues ? We may say , Here is Synecdoche speciei ; one particular taken for the General , one Virtue for all the rest . Or the Effect is put for the Cause ; because Meekness is one of the principal and cheifest parts of holiness . But if you will give me leave to conjecture , the holy Ghost may seem in this Promise at once to shew the condition of the Church , and to comfort her ; and because , being layd hard at on every side , she stands in need of this virtue more than any other , to fit and fashion the reward to the virtue , to cherish and exalt it in us with the promise of something beyond our expectation , even the inheritance of the earth . And indeed what fitter reward can there be of Meekness ? What more fit and just , than that they who have been made the anvil for injuries to beat on , who have been viri perpessitii , as Seneca speaks of Socrates , men of great sufferance , who have suffer'd not only their goods to be torn from them by oppression and wrong , but their reputations to be wounded with the sharp rasor of detraction , and have withstood the shock of all , spectantibus similes , with the patience of a looker on , should be raised and comforted with a promise of that which their Meekness gave up to the spoil ; and that by the providence of God , which loves to thwart the practice of the world , they should be made heirs even of those possessions which the hand of Violence hath snatched from them ; It is a common proverb in the world , Cum lupis ululandum , That amongst a company of Wolves we must howl as loud as they ; for he that amongst Wolves will make himself a Sheep shall be sure to be eaten . Vim vi repellere , To arm our selves with force against violence , and with Circumspection against deceit , To be ready to strike with one hand whilst we defend ourselves with the other , are lessons written upon every post , the neglect of which will entitle us to Folly , though in other things we be as wise as Solomon . What though we speak with the tongues of men and angels ? What though we understand all mysteries and all knowledg ; What though we have all faith , even to remove mountains ? yet if we want this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , this quickness and dexterity of wit , in removing those obstacles and retardances which are laid in our way to honour and wealth , we are but as sounding brass or tinckling Cymbals , not to fright our enemies , but to make them sport and melody . But St. Hierome will tell us . Aliud est judicium tribunalis Christi , aliud anguli susurrorum , that there is great difference between the Judgment of the world and the Tribunal-seat of Christ . What a vain fellow was David to day ? sayth Mich. when he danced before the Ark. He did it as a man after my own 2 Sam. 6. 20. heart , saith God . He is a weak man , saith the world , and knows not to tread those paths which lead to honour and preferment ; but , He is my Souldier , sayth Christ , and will take the kingdom of heaven by force . It is a very small thing to be judged of the world , or of mans judgment . O let 1 Cor. 4. 3. me even wear that fools coat which shall be changed for a robe of glory ! The language of the world is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . He that will be rich , must ask council of his wits , must betake himself to violence , must sometimes lurk like a serpent , and at other times roar like a lion . For this sheepish virtue of Meekness is like the equus Sejanus , a certain horse which none could ever thrive that kept him . This Divinity goes for Orthodox in the world . But David , a man of war , of whom it was sung that he killed his ten thousands , tenders us a doctrine of another strain , shews yet a more excellent way , by so ridiculous and contemptible a virtue as Meekness to purchase the inheritance of the Earth .

And indeed if we look nearer upon Meekness , and behold the beauty of her countenance , we shall even fall in love with her , as with the most thriving virtue , as with a virtue which will place us in a more firm and setled possession of that which is ours , then all the Engins of deceit , then all the weapons of the mighty . But because most men are hard of belief when they are told that Godliness is great gain , and that we may encrease our stock by loosing it with Patience , and rely on their own brain and reach , as a surer staff to walk with then the Providence of God , I will make this yet plainer by reason , and lay it open and naked to the very eye .

To this end we may observe two divers and contrary dispositions in the nature of Man , by which we may divide and distinguish almost all the world : The one rough and stern and contentious ; which is most remarkable in evil men . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Demosthenes ; For wickedness is commonly bold and daring and contentious . I never yet saw the Face of brass ; but the Heart was adamant . Take it in St. James expression , The wisdom which descendeth not from above is earthly , sensual , and divilish , full of tumult and confusion . The other , that which the Philosopher calls ●●m. 3. 15. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a soft and sweet and flexible disposition , which is the common character of a good man . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , sayth the same Orator ; For Goodness is peaceable and gentle , easy to be intreated , ready to be diminished and brought low by oppression , evil and sorrow . Now take a survey of them both . The first naturally produceth Fear ; Fear as naturally begetteth Hatred ; which is longer-lived than Fear . Hatred raiseth up Contention , saith Solomon ; which seldom endeth but in the destruction of those we hate ; whom we cease not to hate till they cease to be ; But Meekness is her own safeguard and castle of defense , — Rerum tutela suarum Certa magis , and keeps us in quieter possession of that which is ours then the Law can do . Whoever yet took up arms against the Meek ? Who will pursue a fly , or a dead dog ? Who will strive with him , that will not fight ? I confess , we have of late seen a generation ( I cannot say , of Christians ; I cannot say , of Men ; I know not what to call them ) whose word is , Kill and Slay , not only those who are in arms against us , but those damned Neutrals : ( For so they call them who will not help them kill and slay . ) But this is not natural and common , but monstrous and unusual . All that Meekness probably can expose us to is contempt : Et quot contemptu tuti ? How many have made themselves contemptible to keep themselves safe ? Sure I am , Brutus was never wiser then when he put on the person of a fool . I know it is a very hard matter to perswade the world of the truth of this which I have taught . For as St. Peter tells us , there shall come mockers , who will say , Where are the promises of his comming ? and do not all things continue alike since the creation ? So there may be who will ask , Where is the promise of the possession of the earth made good unto the Meek ? Is it not with them as it is with other men ? Nay , is it not worse with them than with any men ? Is any man poor , and they are not poor ? Is any man weak , and they are not weak ? Is any man persecuted , and they are not persecuted ? Are not the Meek every day driven out of their possessions ? And are they not driven out because they are Meek ? He that shall look into the state and condition of Meek men , will peradventure be fully perswaded there is just cause of these complaints : And therefore to drown and silence them , we must remove some errors which are cast as a cloud before our eyes that we cannot see the truth of this promise , the meek shall inherit the earth .

And first , we must not look for certainty in moralibus , in matters of this nature , as we do in natural Philosophy , and in the Mathematicks . This and the like propositions may be true , although that which they affirm fall not out 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , at all times and in every place . It is a Topick proposition , and shews what ( if we consider the nature of the terms and of the things themselves , ) is likely to be , we have the very same almost , Prov. 2. 21. The just shall live in the land , and the righteous shall remain in it . And yet no doubt there have been just men , who have been driven up and down in the world and not had a hole to hide their heads in . And again , Mercy doth establish the Throne : And yet we have read of Kings who have lost their crowns , and that by being too merciful . And in another place , He that is diligent in his wayes shall stand before Kings : Yet we cannot think but that there have been many industrious men who never saw the inside of a Court. There is a fair applicability and correspondency between these , Mercy in a King , and a long Reign ; Industry , and Honour ; Meekness and the quiet possession of the earth ; but there is not so necessary a connexion as there is between these , a Man , and a living Creature . If the world were dissolved , yet this proposition is everlastingly true , Man is a living Creature . But many cross accidents may intervene to make Mercy malevolent , which of its own nature is a preservative ; to keep industry in a corner , which of it self doth raise the dilligent out of the dust ; and to drive the Meek out of possession , who carry about with them the strongest title to an Inheritance .

A second error there is , and it is this ; We are too prone to mistake the nature and quality of God's Promises ; and when we read that God will preserve and continue the Meek in their estates , we presently conceive that God is oblig'd by this promise to exempt us from common casualties , and to alter the course of things for our sakes . When common calamities like an inundation break in and overflow the world , we expect that God , who fits in Heaven , and looks upon the children of men , should bow the Heavens and come down , and work a miracle for us , even do by us as he did by Noah at the Floud , build us an Ark to float in till the waters abate . Which is no less then to dictate to the Wisdome of God , and to teach him who made the world how to govern it . Beloved , God never promised to exempt the Meek from the common casualties of the world : but he hath promised to uphold them in all , and to take care for them in such a sort as the world never useth to do . Will you take a line and measure out the circuit of the promise and St. Hierome is ashamed to do it , in his Epistle to Dardanus ; Pudet dicere latitudinem terrae promissionis : He was ashamed to draw the map , lest he should give occasion to the Heathen to blaspheme . For from joppa to Bethlehem are but six and forty miles : and yet God made his people there a mighty nation , multiplied them as the stars of Heaven , and made them a fear and terror to the nations round about them . Folow them into captivity and the Psalmist tells us , that he gave them favour in the eyes of their enemies , and made all those who led them away captive to pitty them . And Psal. 1●6 . 46. it is more to find favour from an enemy , than to have no enemy at all ; more to be pittied of our enemies , than to tread them under our feet : for this is to gain a conquest even in our chains . Whether in captivity or liberty , whether in riches or poverty , the Meek person is still in manutenentia Divina , in the hands of a powerful God , who makes good his promise even then when it seems to be broken .

For , in the third place , many times God's promise is made good unto us when we believe it not ; for as the Jews would not receive Christ himself because he came not in that pomp and state in which they lookt for their Messias ; So if God come short of our desires , we are ready to except against and question the truth of his promises . We are at a stand , and begin to think that Meekness is not so thriving a virtue as the Scripture hath made it . Whereas we rather ought to consider that , be it much or little that falls unto us , it is sufficient to make good Gods promises . For that a Meek man thrives at all , is meerly from God ; For consider the malice and craft of the Wicked , how his eyes are privily against the Meek , with what humility and crouching he waits for the prey , and what a Lion he is when he hath caught it ; how he pretendeth that God himself is his Second and a-better , and though the Devil be his leader , yet he falls on in the name of the Lord of Hosts ; consider this , and you cannot but cry out , Digitus Dei est hic ; That what part soever the Meek man hath in the earth , it is measured to him by the finger of God himself , who is miraculous in his preservation .

Again , in the last place , this promise is cum conditione , not absolute , but made over to us upon condition . The Inheritance of the earth is given to us as an handmaid to wait on us to a better Inheritance , even to an abiding city , whose builder and maker is God . This is the full extent of the promise . And therefore if God see that earthly possessions will be as mountains in our way to the heavenly Jerusalem , we have no reason to complain if he romove them . His mercies are renewed every morning , and he remembreth us in our low estate , because his mercy endureth for ever . But if the case so stand , that my portion shall be in this life only , then , Nolo , Domine , hanc miserecordiam , saith St. Bernard , Lord , I will have none of this kind of mercy . If this be the case , I had rather God should frown than smile on me , I had rather he should wound than kiss me , and break me on a wheel than lay me in a bed of roses ; I had rather have no place on earth than loose my mansion in Heaven . If we ask God bread , should he give us a stone ? if we ask him fish , should he give us a Serpent ? This bread we ask may be a stone , this Fish a Serpent , & liberalis est Deus dum negat ; God is very liberal if he deny us what we expect as a promise : for the promise is fulfilled though he deny us ; Still it is true , The meek shall inherit the earth .

To look back , and sum up all , and so conclude . We have first seen the Wicked in his rise , followed him with our eye to his very Zenith , where like a Comet we saw him blaze a little while and after fall . We have taken the extent of the promise made to the Meek , and the full compass of his inheritance . And we may now walk about , and tell the towers , and every part of it ; That commonly he is full ; that God is his supply when he is empty ; that he supplies him by miracle ; that if he do not supply him , it is for his greater gain ; that God is to him both in poverty and riches , both in life and death , advantage . And all this God doth in a very little while , both pull down the mighty from their seat , and exalt the humble and meek . But what shall God , who is the Antient of dayes , only move in this little while ? and shall we whose breath is in our nostrils , sit down and sleep , and hope to purchase this inheritance , in a dream ? to think thus of God , is to loose both the while and the inheritance . For God doth not sow Wheat as the Devil doth Tares , dormientibus hominibus , while men sleep . The time will come , saith our Saviour of his Disciples , that the bridegroom shall be taken from them ; and then shall they fast . Now this PAULULUM , this little while , may seem to be that time , and the Bridegroom to be taken from us . For his bodily presence , his presence by temporal blessings , of peace and Health and Plenty , we enjoy not ; and therefore we fast and pray , to subdue the Flesh to the Spirit , that the Soul may be more free and active in operation . The while is well spent , if we do this . But if we will avoyd the bitter curse of Meroz , there is something else to be done in this while . We must come to help the Lord ; help him , by helping his Anointed ; help him , by opposing the Wicked man ; help him , by promoting the endeavours of loyal Subjects ; help him , by following peace , if so be we can overtake it ; help him , by destroying those Sins which hinder him in his work . For as many times he cannot punish by reason of the importunity of our prayers , so also many times he cannot deliver because of the importunity of our Sins . And he may say to us , let me alone , in the one , as well as in the other . And if we let him but alone , and hinder him not by the noyse of our Sins ; of Sacriledg , for why should we help them , that rob him ? of Oppression , for why should he help them , that grind his face ? of Uncleanness , for why should he help them that make his members the members of an Harlot ? of Revenge , for why should he help them that wound him ? of Hypocrisy , for why should he help them that mock him ? if we silence these , then will he move and work forward , and within a while perfect his work . And though the people imagine a vain thing , though Jesuites , and worse than Jesuites would drive us out of the land , ( for the bottomless pit never sent out worse Locusts than those , that will eat up their own country ) yet wait yet a little while , and keep his way , and he shall exalt us to inherit the land . Our Silence shall drown their Noyse , our Patience shall dull the edg of their Malice , our Simplicity shall be wiser than their Policy , our Weakness stronger than their Power , and our Meekness shall be unto us all in all , even Strength and Policy and Deliverance ; and all this after a little while : And then , where there is no while , when Time shall be no more , he shall lead us into those new heavens , and into that new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness ; where there are no war nor rumors of wars , but joy and peace and immortality and eternal life : Into which he bring us , who is that Prince of Peace , even Jesus Christ the Righteous ; To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost be all honour and glorie now and for ever .

The One and Twentieth SERMON . MATTH. XV. 28. O woman , great is thy faith : be it unto thee even as thou wilt .

THis woman came from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon , saith our Evangelist , v. 21 , 22. was a Greek , a Syrophoenician by nation , saith St. Mark , 7. 26. and so a Gentile by birth . Which when we remember , saith St. Chrysostom , we cannot but consider the virtue of Christs coming , and the power of his most glorious dispensation , which reached from one end of the world unto the other , and took in those who had not only forgot God , but had also overturn'd the laws of Nature , and darkned that light which was kindled in their hearts ; which called sinners to repentance , even gross idolaters , and admitted doggs to eat of the childrens bread . A Greek she was , and in this she bespeaks us Gentiles exire è finibus Tyri & Sidonis , to come out from those coasts which whilst we remain in we are indeed no better then doggs ; to leave our sins , and the occasions of sin ; to leave the coasts where Sin breaths , and to come to Christ , to be dispossessed of those evil spirits which vex our souls , and will destroy them .

The Story of this Cananaean concerns us , you see . But wherefore comes she out of her own coasts ? You shall hear that in her loud cry , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Text , v. 22. she speaks it in a still voice , Her daughter was grievously vexed with a devil . No wind so powerful to drive us from Tyre and Sidon to Christ , from the coasts of Sin to the land of the living , as Calamity . When we are vexed , eximus ; when this wind blows , we presently bethink our selves , and depart out of those coasts .

But better stay at home then not be heard when we cry . She cryes ; but Christ answers her not a word . Yet she cryes still . His Disciples come , and beseech him : and then he answers ; but his answer is rather a reason of his silence then a grant . He answers that to help her was beside his errand , that he was not sent to that purpose , but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel . Non ostiolum spei , not the least wicket of hope is set open to her , not any beam of comfort shines . Lost indeed she was , but not a lost sheep , a dogg rather ; and of Canaan she , not of the house of Israel .

Here is a linguarium , one would think , a muzzel to shut up her mouth in silence for ever , a hedge of thorns to stop up her way : but Faith and the Love of her daughter drive her on even against these pricks , and pull her on her knees ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Text ; Like a Dogg she croucheth before him , she falls down and worships him , saying , Lord help me . And now he who seemed to be deaf to her cry , makes answer to her silence ; and he who regarded not her noyse makes a reply to her reverence and adoration . Not a word from Christ till he sees us upon our knees . Our noyse is not alwayes heard , but he speaks when we worship . But yet his answer carries less fire with it to kindle any hope of comfort then did his Silence . Indeed Menander will tell us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that silence to a wise man is an answer . But a flat denyal must needs come more unwelcome then silence ; and here is not a bare denyal , but a denyal with a reason , with an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , It is not good to take the childrens bread , and to cast it to doggs . What now can this distressed woman reply ? or how will she be able to hold up her side , now she is come ad 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to the hardest part of the Dialogue , which the Orators call Contention ? What can she answer to Reason ? Behold , I will not say a facelious or witty , but a wise answer . Behold an apple of gold in a picture of silver . Here is a cloud drawn over her ; yet her faith sees a star in this cloud : and by a strange kind of Alchimy she draws light out of darkness ; and makes that sharp denyal the foundation of a grant . She answers by way of concession , Truth , Lord : The Jewes are Children ; nay , Masters : let them have the bread . I am a Dogg , and am content with a Doggs reward ; even with the crums that fall from the Table . His silence she answers with her knee , and his bitter answer with humility ; an answer which Wisdome it self doth not only approve but admire ; Then Jesus answered , and said unto her , O woman , great is thy faith : be it unto thee even as thou wilt . Before , silence ; now admiration : before , a reproof ; now , a commendation : before , a dogg , now , a woman : before , not a crum ; now , more bread then the children . She cryed before and Christ answered not ; but now Christ answers , and not only gives her a crum , but the whole table ; answers her with a FIAT TIBI , Be it unto thee even as thou wilt !

The words which I have read are the last part and conclusion of the Dialogue ; a happy conclusion . For where Misery begins well , and holds out and perseveres , Christ alwayes concludes in mercy . Truth , Lord , is answered with O mulier ; and a prayer for a crum is rewarded with a grant of all we can desire . So then the parts are two ; a Commendation of the womans faith , and a Grant of her request . And of these we will speak in their order .

The commendation is not ordinary , nor delivered by way of common expression : but here we have 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an holy exclamation ; O woman , great is thy faith ! This is not Signum perturbati animi , sed docentis Magistri ; We must not conceive this to be the sign of any motion or perturbation in Christ , but the lesson of a good Master , who would move us to admiration , that admiration might win us to faith . Exprimit in se , ut exprimat de te ; In himself he expresseth it , that he may bring it from us . In anger he is , that we may be angry with our sin : In grief he complains , that we may be grieved for our selves : and he is loud in his approbations , to awake our sloth , and to make us active in the pursuit of that which he admires . Per tropum probat , aut miratur ; when he commends , or admires , he doth it by a trope . If his plain instructions will not prevail , he is content to condescend , and bring us to belief by a figure .

But now what is it that Christ commends and admires ? It is the greatness of the womans faith . Now Faith may be said to be great either in respect had to the Understanding , or to the Will. For the act of Faith proceeds from them both : and it may be said to increase and be great , either as the Understanding receives more light , or the Will more warmth ; as the one doth more firmly assent , and the other more readily embrace . In the Understanding it is raised by certainty and assurance , and in the Will by devotion and confidence . This womans faith was great in both respects . She most firmly believed Christ to be the Lord , able to work a miracle on her daughter : and her Devotion and Confidence so strongly built , that neither Silence nor Denyal nor a Reproach could shake it ! And because we are told , Magnitudo virtutis ostenditur in effectu , that the greatness of virtue is best seen in the effects ; as we best judge of a Tree by the spreading of its branches , and of the Whole by the parts ; we will therefore contemplate this womans Faith in those several fruits it brought forth ; in her Patience , in her Humility , in her Perseverance ; Which are those lesser stars that shine in the firmament of our souls , and borrow their light from the lustre of Faith , as from their Sun .

And first , we cannot but admire her Patience ; Which is bona valetudo fidei , the very health of Faith , saith Tertullian , and shews it to be of a good growth . And surely if Socrates was stiled senex perpessitius for his great sufferance , this Canaanitess may well be called mulier perpessitia , a woman which endured much ; in her misery , reproach ; in the bitterness of her soul , a repulse , silence , and denyal , and the name of dogg . Fabius Verrucosus was wont to call that grant which was given with some roughness and asperity , panem lapidosum , stony and gravelly bread , which will sooner break the teeth than nourish the body . What then think you is a denyal with a reproach ? Not bread , but a stone . Yet we see this womans Patience was able to digest this stone , and turn it into bread . And indeed this is one part of a Christians Omnipotency ; his Patience is infinite , and suffereth all things : It swalloweth down stones . Christ himself was a stone of offense , but yet Patience digests this stone with disgraces , with poverty , with afflictions , with martyrdome , with sword and persecution , and makes them beatitudes . Never any contumely , never any loss , never any smart so great , which could weary a true Christian Patience : Talia tantáque documenta , saith Tertullian : Such precepts , such examples have we of Patience , as that with Infidels they seem incredible , and call in question the truth of our profession . But with us they are the very ground and foundation of our Faith . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Gordius the Martyr in St. Basil ; What a loss am I at , that I can dye but once for my Saviour ? No Christian whose Patience hath not met with a stone ; if not Martyrdome , yet Poverty ; if not Poverty , yet Contumely . In labors abundantly , in stripes above measure , in deaths oft . And could St. Paul do no more ? Yes ; he could : Sed ubi historiam perstare non potuit , votum attulit ; when he could not fill up his history ; he brings in a wish , even to endure the pains of hell for the salvation of Israel , his kinsmen according to the flesh ; I cannot now say that this womans Patience was so great ; but she received those darts of denyals , of disgrace , clypeo patientiae , upon the buckler of Patience : and a Denyal with Reproch , is , if not so terrible as Hell , yet many times as bitter as Death . I may be bold to say , A Patience it was that represented to our Saviour ( though a dark , yet ) a picture of his own . Hinc vel maximè , Pharisaei , Dominum agnoscere debuistis . Patientiam hujusmodi nemo hominum perpetraret , saith Tertullian to the Pharisees . If there had been no other argument to prove Christ God , yet his wonderful Patience had been sufficient . So we may truly say , Were there no other argument to prove that this womans Faith was great , yet this great measure of Patience were enough to make it good : For so great a Patience could scarce have subsisted if Christ had not been in her of a truth .

Next follows her Humility , a companion of Patience . Quis humilis , nisi patiens ? saith Tertullian : There cannot be Humility without Patience , nor Patience without Humility . But here we have even 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Father speaks , an extreme humility ; Humility on the ground : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , she worshipt him . Not a humility which stayes at home , but which comes out of her coasts after Christ . She cryes after him ; he answers not . She falls on the ground ; he calls her dogg . A humility that is not silent ; but helps Christ to accuse her . A Humility not at the lower end , but under the table , content with the crums which fall to the doggs . Thus doth the Soul by true Humility go out from God to meet him , and beholding his immense Goodness looks back unto her self , and dwells in the contemplation of her own poverty ; and being conscious of her own emptiness and nihiliety , she stands at gaze , and trembles at that unmeasurable Goodness which filleth all things . Ecce , saith St. Augustine , factus sum mihi regio egestatis . This consideration hath laid me waste ; I am become to my self a wilderness , where I can discover nothing but unruly passions and noysome lusts , ready to take my soul and devoure it . Foelix anima quae taliter exit à Deo ! Happy soul that so departs from God! It is a good flight from him which Humility makes . For thus to go away from God into the valley of our own imperfections is to meet him . We are then most near him when we place our selves at such a distance : As the best way to enjoy the Sun is not to live in his sphere . We must therefore learn by this Woman here to take heed how we grace our selves . When Perseus the Macedonian King had rebelled against the Romans , and was now overthrown by Aemilius , he wrote unto them letters of submission , but dated them with the name of Perseus the King ; and therefore the Consul would not answer them . Sensit Perseus cujus nominis esse obliviscendum , saith Livy ; Perseus quickly perceived what name he was to forget , and therefore leaving out the title of King , he writes the letters again , and so received an answer . What Perseus there did by constraint , this woman here performs in true humility ; forgets the name of child , nay of woman , and to gain but a crum stiles herself a dogg . A pattern for us , to learn to think our selves but Doggs , that we may be Children . For nothing can make the heavens as brass unto us , to deny their influence , but a high conceit of our own worth . If no beam of the Sun touch the in the midst of a field at noon day , thou canst not but think some thick cloud is cast between thee and the light ; and if amongst that myriad of blessings which flow from the Fountain of light , none reach home to thee , it is because thou art too full already , and hast shut out God by the conceit of thy own bulk and greatness . Certainly , nothing can conquer Majesty but Humility , which layeth her foundation low , but raiseth her building to heaven . This Canaanitess is a Dogg ; Christ calls her woman : She deserves not a crum , he grants her the whole loaf , and seals his Grant with a FIAT TIBI : It shall be to Humility even as she will .

And now , in the third place , her Humility Ushers in her Heat and Perseverance in prayer . Pride is as glass : Vitream reddit mentem , saith Damianus ; It makes the mind brittle and frail . Glitter she doth , and make a fair shew ; but upon a touch or fall is broken asunder . Not only a Reproach , which is ictus , a blow , but Silence , which can be but tactus , a touch , dasheth her to pieces . Reproach Pride and she swells into anger , infermento est ; she is ready to return the Dogg upon Christ . But Humility is murus aheneus , a wall of brass , and endureth all the batteries of opposition . Is Christ silent ? she cryes still , she follows after , she falls on her knees . Calls her Dogg ; she confesseth it . She will endure any thing , hear any thing , bear any thing , do any thing ; and all this to gain but a crum : From Humility springs this her Fervor and Perseverance , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from the depth of an humble and low conceit of her self . A common error it is reigning amongst us , and our Pride begets it , when we frame unto our selves a facil and easie God ; a God who will be commanded of us , and led as it were in a string ; a God that will welcome us whensoever we come , and be content with whatsoever little we bring . This is nothing else but to set up a God of our own making , an idole . For what else is Idolatry but the mistake of that God whom we chuse to serve ? But if we knew our selves , if we knew the distance between heaven and earth , the difference between God and a Worm , we should find God to be a God of state and magnificence , qui solet difficilem habere januam , whose gates open not so easily as we suppose ; a God who expects that our addresses unto him should be accurate , and joyn'd with long attendance and expectancy . Did we rightly dread his Majesty , and weigh our own baseness , we should think then with Pythagoras , Deum non esse salutandum in transitu , that God will not be spoken to in the By and passage ; we should fear that by our slight and trivial prayers we were too bold with him , and that in wrath and indignation he should reply as Augustus did to his friend who entertained him coena percâ & quotidianâ , with course and ordinary fare , Non putâramme tibi tam familiarem fuisse , I did not think I had made my self so familiar with my creature . Christ here no doubt knew the Womans faith before he heard it in her cry , but he is silent , but he denyes , but he calls her Dogg ; and all this , to make her importunate ; ut exploret affectum recurrentem , to see whether her desire would recoyl upon the repulse . He withdraws himself , that she may follow closer after . He puts her back , that she may press forward in pursuit , and invade him with violence ; ut excitet affectum languentem , to fet an edge upon her affection , to inflame her love , and to raise her importunity with delay . For the prayer of Faith res est seria & gravis & improba , a serious , a daring , an imperious thing , which will take no denyal ; but looks upon the very face of God , and stares upon him , if he refuse to hear . Which the ancients used to express by a strange kind of phrase : They said this was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an holy importunity to make God ashamed . For certainly even in this sense it is true , Est quaedam prevaricatrix modestia , est quaedam sancta impudentia ; there is a kind of Modesty that betrays us , and there is a holy and sanctified Impudence , when with the Woman here we will not be answered neither with silence , nor with a denyal , nor with a reproch . Though he kill me , saith Job , and , Though he call me Dogg , saith the Woman here , yet will I pray , and double my cry ; I will not leave till a FIAT be spoken , till the devil doth leave my daughter . Haec est illa grata vis Deo ; This is that welcome violence , with which the kingdome of heaven is taken by force ; This is the way by which God delights to be wooed and won . Servat tibi Deus quod non vult citò dare , God lays up that for thee which he will not give thee at the first , ut magna magnè desideres , that what thou accountest great in the possession , thou mayest make also great in the purchase . Thou must hunger for a crum , nè fastidium veniat ad panes , that thou loath not the whole loaf . Our Saviour himself , when he negotiated our reconciliation , continued in sighs and supplications , praying 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with strong crying : and now beholding as it were himself in this Woman , and seeing though not the same yet the like fervor and perseverance in her , he approves it as a piece of his own coin , and sets his impress upon it , O MULIER , MAGNA EST FIDES TUA ; O woman , great is thy faith .

And these three , Patience , Humility , Perseverance and an undaunted Constancy in prayer , measure out her Faith . For Faith is not great but by opposition : Non nisi difficultate constat , It cannot subsist , much less increase , if it find no difficulty to struggle with . If there were nothing to make me doubt , where were my Faith ? What I see I believe not : but when some mountain , some difficulty , comes between my eye and the object , the virtue and crown of Faith is to look through it . The woman cryes ; Christ is silent ; she doubles her cryes ; he denyes ; she cryes still ; he answers with a term of reproach ; she is the more importunate : Quicquid est , id porrò est ; What she was before , she is still .

I might add a fourth , his Prudence , but that I scarce know how to distinguish it from Faith . For Faith indeed is our Christian Prudence : which doth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Philo , inoculate the soul , give her a clear and pearcing eye , by which she discerns great blessings in little ones , a talent in a mite , and a loaf in a crum ; which sets up 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a golden light , by which we spy out all spiritual advantages , and learn to thrive in the merchandize of Truth . We may see a beam of this light in every passage of this Woman ; but it is most resplendent in her art of thrift , by which she can multiply a crum . It is but a crum she demands : For so indeed are not only temporal blessings , Honor , and Riches , and Health , but Miracles also themselves , if compared to that Bread of life , to our spiritual estate . Yet she will make use of this Crum , and dispossess at once both her daughter and her self , her daughter of a devil , and herself of her former impiety . A Crum shall turn this Dogg into a child of Abraham . To our eye a Star appears not much bigger then a candle ; but Reason corrects our Sense , and makes it greater then the globe of the Earth : so Opportunities and Occasions of good , and those many Helps to increase grace in us , are apprehended as atomes by a sensual eye ; but our Christian Prudence beholds them in their just magnitude , and makes more use of a Crum that falls from the table , then Folly doth of a sumptuous feast . A little , saith the Psalmist , which the righteous hath is more then great revenues of the Psal. 37. 16. wicked . A little wealth , a little knowledge , nay a little grace , may be so husbanded and improved that the increase and harvest may be greatest where there is least seed . It is strange , but yet we may observe it , many men walk safer by star-light then others by day . There is , saith St. Hierome , sancta rusticitas : Many times it falls out that Ignorance is more holy then Knowledge : Do any of the Scribes and Pharisees believe in Christ ? What saw they , in Christ ? A carpenters son ; a friend of publicanes , a conjurer . What gain'd they by his miracles but their own obduration , and to be worse than they were ; But this simple Woman saw a Lord , a Divine power in his miracles , and knew how to satisfie her desires and fill herself even with a crum that fell from his table . Where then is the fault ? Not in the light but in him that bears it . For commonly we are more bold in the day when it is clearest : we attribute all to the light , and think not of our feet ; so that peradventure we should see more had we less light . Great wits are commonly ambitious , and loath to yield . What once their error hath set down , they think they are bound for ever to maintain . For a Pharisee to believe in Christ , were to pull off his phylacteries , and banish him the sect ! But this Woman here , though she sate not in Moyses chair , was more skilful then they who did ; saw that in the coasts of Tyre and Sidon which they could not in Jewry , and became there a child , a Daughter of Abraham , whilst they remain'd Doggs at Jerusalem ; a child indeed of Abraham , heir to his Humility , who called himself Dust and ashes ; heir to his Patience , qui tam grave praeceptum quod nec Deo perfici placebat , patienter audivit ; O si Deus voluisset , implesset , saith Tertullian ; who heard patiently that heavy command to sacrifice his son , which God liked not himself ; and had fulfilled it , had God given him leave : heir to his zealous Fervor in prayer , which followed and urged God from Fifty to Ten. Lastly , heir 1 Gen. 18. to his Faith : and for this we need no more proof than our Saviours Elogium , then my Text , O woman , great is thy faith .

Shall we now take the pains to measure our Faith by this Canaanitish womans ? We may as well measure an Inch by a Pole , or an atome by a mountain . Here was a patience that could digest stones ; ours will not digest bread , no not Christs blessings . His Gospel we take down as a pill , and his Precepts as poyson : Do this , and live . We had rather dye then do it . Well said Tertullian , Malùm impatientia boni ; Evil is nothing else but impatience of that which is good . We are not only impatient of Afflictions , of Poverty , of Reproaches , but also impatient of Godliness , of Sobriety , of common Honesty , of the Gospel , of Christ , of Heaven it self upon those terms it is profer'd us . And all that bread which should nourish us up to everlasting life we turn into stones . Blow what wind will , we are still in finibus Tyri & Sidonis , at home in our own coasts .

But next , for Humility , who vouchsafeth once to put on her mantle ? Humility ! it is well we can hear her name with patience : But humi serpere , to creep on the ground , is not our posture . You will say Christ doth not call us Doggs . Yes ; he doth ; For , though he be in heaven , yet he speaketh still , and in his Scripture calleth every sinner a Dogg , a Swine , yea , a Devil . He upbraids us to our faces , as oft as we offend . But we will not own these titles ; but call our selves Priests , when we sacrifice to Baal ; and Kings too , when we are the greatest slaves in the world . If Humility still live in the world , sure it is not the same Humility which breathed here in the coasts of Tyre and Sidon .

Lastly , For our Perseverance and Fervor in devotion , we must not dare once to compare them with this Womans . For , Lord ! how loath are we to begin our prayers , and how willing to make an end ! When God is silent , we think he will not speak : when he answers , we think he is silent : But when we are told that our sins do hinder our prayers , and that Christ cannot help us because we are Doggs , then we desist , and will pray no more , because we will sin more , and rather suffer the Devil to vex our souls , then dipossess him with noyse . Yea , which is ridiculous and monstrous , Quod affectu volumus , actu nolumus ; we pray for that we would not have , and desire help which we would not enjoy . Every day we pray for Grace , and every day we quench and stifle it : Every day we desire Christs help , and every day we refuse it : So that we may well , with a little alteration , use our Saviours words , The woman of Canaan shall rise up in the judgment with this generation , and shall condemn it : for she came from Tyre and Sidon , and would not be denyed ; we live in the Church , and are afraid that Christ should grant our requests . Her devotion was on fire , ours is congealed and bound up with a frost . We talk much of Faith ; but where are its fruits ? Where is our Patience , our Humility , our Perseverance in devotion ? which gave the just proportion to this Womans faith , and commend the greatness of it to all posterity . For these are glorious virtues , and shew the full growth of her Faith . These answer St. James his OSTENDE MIHI , Shew me thy faith by thy works . But yet to come up close to our Text , our Saviour mentions not these , but passeth them by in silence , and commends her Faith : Not but that her patience was great , her Humility great , and her Devotion great : But because all these were seasoned with Faith , and sprung from Faith , and because Faith was it which caused the miracle , he mentions Faith alone , that Faith may have indeed the pre-eminence in all things .

First , Faith was the virtue which Christ came to plant in his Church . Non omnium est credere , quod Christianum est , saith Tertullian ; This vertue belongs not to all , but is peculiar to Christians . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , It is the first inclination to health , and the ground-work of our salvation . Let the Heathen accuse the very title and name of Faith ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Theodoret calls it ; let them object that our Religion brings in meram credulitatem , a meer and foolish credulity , and that we do 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but play the fools , in taking up things upon trust ; yet this Perswasion , this Belief , this Faith is it which draws us from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon , takes us from the number of Doggs , and makes us citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem . When we could not do what we should , not fulfil the Law God taught us to believe : and it was the riches and glory of his Mercy to find out this way , and save us by so weak an instrument as Faith . Besides , Faith was the fountain from whence these rivulets were cut , from whence those virtues did flow . For had she not believed , she had not come , she had not cryed , she had not been patient , she had not humbled herself to obtain her desire , she had not persevered ; But having a firm perswasion that Christ was able to work the miracle , no silence , no denyal , no reproach , no wind could drive her away . A sign that our Faith now-adayes is not so strong ; it falls off so soon , at the least opposition , and fails and falls to the ground with a very breath , a sign that we have paralyticas cogitationes , as one speaks , paralytical thoughts , which cannot reach a hand to our Will , nor guide and govern our desires to the end .

Lastly , Faith is that virtue which seasons all the rest , maketh them useful and profitable , which commends our Patience and Humility and Perseverance , and without which our Patience were but like the Heathens , imaginary , and paper-Patience , begotten by some premeditation , by habit of suffering , by opinion of fatal necessity , or by a Stoical abandoning of all affections . Without Faith our Humility were pride , and our Prayers babling . For whereas in natural men there be many excellent things , yet without Faith they are all nothing worth , and are to them as the Rainbow was before the Flood , the same perhaps in shew , but of no use . It is strange to see what gifts of wisdome and temperance , of moral and natural conscience , of justice and uprightness did remain not only in the books but in the lives of many Heathen men : but this could not further them one foot for the purchase of eternal good , because they wanted the Faith which they derived , which gives the rest 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a loveliness and beauty , and is alone of force to attract and draw the love and favour of God unto us ; These graces otherwise are but as the matter and body of a Christian man , a thing of it self dead , without life ; but the soul , which seems to quicken this body , is Faith . They are indeed of the same brotherhood and kindred , and God is the common Father unto them all ; but without Faith they find no entertainment at his hands . As Joseph said unto his brethren , You shall not see my face except your brother be with you ; So nor shall Patience and Humility and Prayer bring us to the blessed vision of God , unless they take Faith in their company . You see our Saviour passeth by them all ; but at the sight of Faith he cryes out in a kind of astonishment , O woman , great is thy faith ! And for this faith he grants her her request , Be it unto thee even as thou wilt : Which is my next part , and which I will touch but in a word .

FIAT TIBI is a grant ; and it follows close at the heels of the Commendation , and even commends that too . For what are Commendations with ut a Fiat , but as that Faith in St. James which bids the naked and destitute , Be warmed , and filled , but gives them nothing which is needful ? And such are our Commendations for the most part , no more then a sound , verba sine penu & pecunia , as he in Plautus speaks , words without profit or comfort . A miracle it is to hear a charitable panegyrick : But Christs Commendations end here in a miracle . For as St. Augustine speaking of those words of the Gospel , Stulte , hâc nocte , giveth us this descant , STULTE : Tale in quenquam Dei verbum judicium est , Such a word from God as FOOL is a judgment . For when God calls us Fools , he passeth a sentence : So may we say that O mulier , with Christ is a FIAT , his Commendations a Grant . For what he approves he rewards , and what he commends be crowns : And the best approbation is her Reward , the best commendations a Crown .

The FIAT follows close upon the Acclamation . And indeed a large grant it is . Yet some have strived to improve and enlarge it . Origen thinks that Christ did not only heal this womans daughter , but gave her power to do it herself , and was so pleased with her that he was content to give her part of his Power , and a hand in the miracle . But a meer phansie it is , without shew of sense . But even our age hath coined the like ; That Christ did not only merit for us , but by his merit purchast us a patent of meriting our selves . One would think these men had slept upon Origen's pillow , and dreamt the same dream ; these for the soul , as he for the body . For to what purpose is this new invention ? FIAT , Let it be done , let but her daughter be cured , and the womans noyse is laid . Nor can the miracle be less welcome because Christ works it himself . Or ; let her do it , yet she must do it by Christs power ; and so the FIAT is Christs still , and we are where we were before . And why should we affect to merit our selves ? Is it not enough that Christ will bring us to heaven ? Or is the Crownless welcome if our hand do not help to put it on ? And if our merit be not coin'd without the impression of Christ , what then have we gained ! For the payment is his still . This is nothing else but interpretationibus ludere de scripturis , by false glosses to sport with the Truth and the Scripture : And we may say of these additions as the Orator spake of Figures in speech , Possumus sine istis vivere , We can live and be saved without them . Let Christ say , FIAT TIBI , to the Canaanitish woman , and it is enough ; her daughter shall be made whole by that very FIAT , from that very hour . And let him say unto us , FIAT VOBIS , Be unto you as you will ; and we shall be dispossest of our spiritual enemies , of our lusts and foul affections ; and , as his children , we shall not only have the crumbs , but shall sit at his table with Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob , and with this Canaanitish woman ; and shall enjoy not only quicquid volumus , what we will , but more then we can will or desire . Which the Lord for his mercies sake set a FIAT to , and grant unto us all for Christ Jesus sake : To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost be all honour and glory .

The Two and Twentieth SERMON . PROV. XII . 14. A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth ; and the recompense of a mans hands shall be rendred unto him .

IN the morning you beheld David the father rejoycing , and committing his joy to song , LAETATUS SUM , Psal. 122. 1. I rejoyced : In the words which I have read Solomon the son openeth the fountain of joy , and points out unto you the spring from whence it flows , and that is obedience to Gods will , whether seen in the fruit of our Mouth ; we shall be satisfied by the fruit of our mouth ; or manifested in the fruit of our hands ; The recompense of a mans hands shall be rendred unto him . We may add the fruit of our Minds , in our thoughts : for these make a character and impression in the soul , and hang there like pictures , saith Basil , and such pictures as may put on the substance of those actions which they represent , and therefore are to be esteemed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as compleat works already finisht in the soul . For , saith Tertullian , they are wrought in the flesh , and with the flesh , and by the flesh , adeò & sine opere & sine effectu cogitatus est carnis actus ; so that a thought is a work in the flesh , when it produceth no act at all . Wheresoever Goodness is , whether it bridle our Tongue , or guide our Hand , or regulate our Phansie , it carries its satisfaction , its recompense along with it . Our songs of praises echo back again upon us ; the works of our hands follow us , and fill us with joy ; and our thoughts , if Goodness raise them , are comforts . What need we then run to and fro through the earth , and seek for joy and satisfaction , when it is so near us , even in our mouth , and in our Hands , and in our minds . If it may lye wrapt up in a thought , much more will it be loud in our words ; and if our words may carry it along , it will flow and abound in our good works . I may say it is the reflexion of our thoughts , the echo of our words , and the resultance from our works , and musick and melody in all . The sense and sum of all that the Wise-man hath here proposed unto us in these words is this , That Goodness , whether in thought , word or deed , will satisfie us , that is , fill us with joy ; and nothing will satisfie us but goodness . For the argument will hold à contrario , If that which is good satisfie us , then that which is evil cannot . If Goodness have its reward , which is satisfaction , then Evil hath its wages of another nature , which is death . A man shall be satisfied with good , but there can be no satisfaction in evil . The lines then by which we are to pass are but these two ; first , that Goodness doth satisfie ; secondly , that nothing else can satisfie us but Goodness .

And that Goodness doth satisfie we cannot doubt if we know what it is , and consider the nature of it , and the fountain from whence it springs . For it flows from God , as Joy and Satisfaction do from Goodness . It is a beam from that eternal Light , an emanation from God himself , I had almost sayd a portion of the Divinity ; and if I did positively say it , doth not even the Scripture say as much ? That by it we are made partakers of the Divine Nature , by escaping the corruption which is in the world by lust ? For of his John 1. 16. 2 Pet. 1. 4. Ephes. 1. 23. fulness we receive ●t , and Grace for Grace . For the free gift of Grace and Goodness , the free addition of satisfaction from his fulness that filleth all in all , filleth all in every Good man , filleth the Mind with light , the Will with holy affections , and the Body with an obsequious inclinableness and obedience to the Will , and makes the whole man a Temple to himself , full of light , of peace , of glory ; so filleth it that it is satisfied as with marrow and fatness with all satiety of joy . The Chaldee Paraphrase brings it home to my Text ; satisfied with marrow and fatness , that is , with thy Law , that is , with that which is Good . And thus we may draw an argument from the nature of Goodness , which the nearer it carryeth us to the fountain of Goodness , the more satisfaction it brings with it , and the fuller is our Cup. Inebriabuntur ab ubertate domûs tuae , saith the Psalmist , They shall be overcome and even intoxicated with this cup. Without God we cannot be happy in heaven it self , nay without him there could be no heaven ; and with him we shall enjoy what we can desire even in the lowest pit . Nihil illi satis est cui non sufficit Deus : We can never be satisfied till we rest in the greatest Good ; and Goodness lays us in his very bosome , nay in his heart . We never find our selves and all things but in him .

And as we draw an argument from Piety , so may we draw another from the Love of it ; and therefore amamus amorem nostrum , saith Augustine , we do not only love Goodness , but even the Love with which we embrace it , and delight in both : And this satisfaction proceeds not only from that which is good , but from our hearty affection to it . Goodness shines upon us , and kindles our Love ; and as there is a glory in goodness , so there is in our Love . For Joy and Satisfaction is a resultancy from Love , for our delight is to have and do what we love . That which we love is also the joy of our heart . If Love be as the Sun , Joy and Satisfaction are as the beams that stream from it . If Love fill the heart , it will heave and work it self out , and break forth in joy . Gaudium de amore , say the Schools ; our Satisfaction is the off-spring of Love , and issueth from it , and bears its shape and likeness . For as our Love is , such is our Joy . If our Love be kindled from heaven , our Joy will be also from the heaven , heavenly , and resemble that of the Angels : But if it be placed on things below , on that which is transitory , on that which will not satisfie , it will be also transitory and unsatisfying . What is the satisfaction of a Worldling ? a thief may break through and steal it away . What is the satisfaction of the Ambitious ? a frown will chase it away . What is the satisfaction of the Wanton , burnt and consumed in his lust ? The adulterer waiteth for the twilight ; the twilight cometh , and to night sin is as a purchase , but to morrow it is rottenness to his bones , and dulness to his understanding ; to night it is the horn of beauty , and to morrow a fury . Goe , compass about the world , and what satisfaction can you find ? Draw all its beauty and honor and riches together , and all is but ingens fabula & magnum mendacium , a long tale and a huge lye ; and Satisfaction and Joy may seem to be exhaled out of these as noysome vapours are out of the earth , to be seen a while , and then to be nothing ; or , which is worse , to gather into a cloud , and dissolve in tears of sorrow and bitterness . Ever as our Love and Desire is , such is our Satisfaction .

One argument we take more , à minori ad majus , to perswade us to this Truth . If the bare opinion of Piety , in those who are not yet made perfect , satisfie , though it be but for a while , then Piety it self will satisfie much more . If the shadow , if a weak representation of Virtue and Piety will refresh us , what will it do when it shines upon us in perfection of beauty ? If one good act , which is but the shell and outside of Goodness , in them who rather approve than love it ; if one good thought , one good word , one good action lift us up , how will a habit of goodness exalt us ! If , I say , the shadow hath this operation , what hath the substance , the thing it self ? If the giving a Cup of cold water will raise and settle content in us , how will that Heart be filled with joy which is sacrificed to its Maker ? We may , if we please , discover this in our selves . What feel we in our Heart when our Hand hath reached out a peny ? Doth it not make a kind of melody there ; doth it not so fill us that it is ready to break out at the lips ? What hear you when you give good counsil ? doth it not echo back again upon you ? When you have heard two Sermons on the Lords-day , do you not tell your selves you have sanctified the Sabbath ? When you have received a Prophet , though in your own name , do you not look for a Prophets reward ? See what a paradise one leafe of the Tree of life may make ( for all these may be but leaves ) what a glorious structure may be raised upon a Thought . And if Error , if Opinion , may work some satisfaction , then Truth may much more . If a Dream may enlighten us , what will a Revelation from God himself do ? And if the embracing of a cloud do so much please us ? How shall we be transported when we shall find our Juno , even Goodness it self , in our arms ! If a form of Godliness , then much more Godliness in its full power will fill and satisfie us . Run to and fro through Jerusalem , go about the streets thereof ; muster up together all that name the Lord Jesus , and you shall find that every man is full , every man almost is satisfied , few drooping and hanging down the Head . In our Health we comfort our selves , and on our bed of Sickness we send for comforters ; and as miserable comforters as they are , we are willing to hear them , and a little opiate Divinity , a few good words , the name of JESUS doth settle and satisfie us . There be very few Rachels , that will not be comforted . We run from that which is good , and sit down in the shadow of it ; we wound our Conscience , and then stain it over again ; we break the whole Law , and one sigh is satisfaction ; nay we break the Law , and perswade our selves we have kept it ; any perswasion is satisfaction . We break one Law , and satisfie our selves in the misinterpretation of another , and so break it when we think we have kept it . Industry is commanded , and that must countenance our love of the world . Zeal is commended , and that must raise a faction . Truth must be defended , and that must beat up a drum . It is not women only , but men , that are never to seek for an excuse , and that is satisfaction . Every man posts to destruction , yet every man would seem to be on the wing to heaven ; Every man is sick , yet every man is well ; Every man is empty , yet every man is full : We tread the paths that lead to destruction , and yet we are in the way to happiness ? Where is the shaking and the trembling spirit ? where is the broken heart ? where are those prickings at the heart ? or who puts up the question , What shall I do to be Acts. 2. 37. saved ? Every man is satisfied ; and , if it were true , we might conclude every man is good . For whatsoever the promises be , most men are bold to make this the conclusion , and though they have raised a tempest , conclude in peace . And it is a great deal more common to infer what pleaseth us , and what may serve for satisfaction , though it be upon a gross mistake , and oftener , then upon a truth . And thus we assure our selves of happiness upon no better evidence then that which flesh and bloud and the love of our selves are ready to bring in , and satisfie our selves with false hope of life , when we are full of malice , envy , and uncleanness , of which we are told , that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdome of heaven . Gal. 5 21. And what satisfaction is this ? a Satisfaction without a warrant , a Satisfaction which we our selves only have subscribed to with hands full of bloud ; a Satisfaction which is but a cheat , but a delusion , presenting us nothing but a reward , when we are condemned already ; filling us with hopes of bliss , when we are in the mouth of destruction . That which is Satisfaction indeed hath no other basis to stand on then Piety and conformity of our works , words and thoughts to the will of God : And then it is as mount Sion , which cannot be removed : it stands firm , for it is built upon God himself . If thou raise it upon Phansie , thou buildest in the ayr . If thou lay it upon Gods eternal Decree in thy election , that will slide from thee , and let the fall into hell : for that concerns thee not unless thou be good ; but another decree contrary to that , which thy neglect of piety hath drawn thee under , belongs unto thee , because thou wouldst not know what belongs to thy peace , and what might bring Satisfaction . Wilt thou lay it on the infinite Mercy of God , that will cover a multitude of sins , but not those sins which are thy only satisfaction ; that will distill as dew , but not on the hairy scalp of him that goeth on in his sins : And though she triumph over Justice , yet here she yields , and calls it in to double vengeance upon thee , because thou wert an enemy to Mercy , which first shewed thee the way to be satisfied , and now turns from thee , and will not hear when thou callest to her to satisfie thee being out of the way . If thou wilt have Mercy crown thee , thou must be merciful to thy self : If thou wilt make thy election sure , thou must do it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as it is supplyed in some copies , by piety , that is by faith and good works . For Goodness is that , and that alone , which satisfies us , which fills us with joy and peace in the holy Ghost , and for which God will satisfie us with his likeness , and fill us with glory in the life to come . And so we pass to that which we proposed in the second place ; and it was this ,

2. It is the prerogative of Goodness and Piety to be alone in this work . Nothing can satisfie us but Piety and our transforming our selves by the Rom. 12. 2. renewing of our mind , and shaping our thoughts , words and actions to the will of God . For first Satisfaction is but a name on earth ; as St. Paul speaks of Idols , we know it is nothing in the world . The earth and all that therein is cannot yield it ; the round world and they that dwell therein could never find it . And as God spake to Moses , Thou heardst a voice , but sawest no shape ; so Satisfaction , which flows from God alone , in this resembles him : The voice of it hath sounded in our ears , but as for the shape and substance of the thing it self we have seen none . But as the world , having heard of God , but not knowing him aright , sought him in stocks and stones , in birds and creeping things ; so men having heard of Satisfaction , which can be found no where but in God , by a kind of Idolatry against God have sought it in the creature , in Beauty , which fades whilst we look upon it ; in Riches , which have wings , and fly away ; in Honour , which is but a blast , and not in me , but in him that gives it . In these it can no more be found , then the very nature of God himself . These conceits and notions of Satisfaction do universally pass amongst men . Now as that general consent and voice of all nations , That there was a God , though they erre , not knowing where to seek him , yet is a fair proof that there is a God ; and as the same general consent of men , that God is to be worshipt , though they mistook the manner of it , yet proves certainly that there is some form of worship acceptable to Him : so this oecumenical conceit of satisfaction to be had , which hath thus overspread and possest the heads of all men , cannot be in vain , but is an evidence that there is some good that will satisfie , that hath a contenting quality , and in which we may set up our rest . Only vain men , who have their mind in their eyes and not in their hearts , as Augustine speaketh , have been willing to mistake , to tread the waters , and to walk upon the wind , to trust to that , and to make that their mount Sion which slides away from them , and gives no rest to their souls . Rest to our souls we never find till with the Dove we return to the Ark , to the Church of Christ , where our tongues are made God's glory , and our hands the instruments of righteousness wherein that Piety and Goodness dwelleth which alone can satisfie .

For secondly , such is the nature and quality of the soul , that it is not fashioned nor proportioned to the things of this world . What is a wedge of gold , what is beauty , what is a Crown to a soul ? This being an immortal and spiritual substance can be satisfied with nothing but what is wrought in it by the Spirit of God , with Holiness and Piety ; which being as immortal and spiritual as the soul , is most apt to assimilate , and fill and satisfie it . Will I eat , saith God of himself , the flesh of bulls , or drink the bloud of goats ? Can God take any delight therein ? It is not the sacrifice , but the heart which being offered up brings a sweet savor unto him : without this , sacrifice is an abomination . And so , what is a feast , a banquet of wine , the sound of a viol , the whole world , to a soul , which must needs check it self when in condescention to the flesh it takes part in that delight they bring ? Will ye spend these upon it ? as the Babylonians did their sheep and flower upon their Idole Bell ? Behold , the Soul can neither eat nor drink any thing ; and is no more satisfied with these then the Angels , were with Abrahams fine meale and cakes which he bak't upon the hearth . No : the meat which must satisfie the soul is bak't and drest in the mind , and then brought forth by the tongue and hands . It is the flesh and bloud of the Son of man , which is indeed his death , his doctrine , his obedience , humility , righteousness . For we cannot abstract these , and divide Christ from his doctrine : This is the gross error of the world , and fatal to many : but we must joyn together Christ and his precepts ; and these will satisfie a soul .

And to this end , in the next place , God hath imprinted in the soul and in the very nature of Man 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an infinite and insatiable desire , which cannot be satisfied with any thing that the world can present . The Heart is a little , but a vast member : Our desires are as Numbers , you cannot give a last . The Soul , which is made capable of God , can be satisfied with nothing but with God , not with any thing that is to be seen in this shop of vanities . The Covetous is never rich enough , the Ambitious is never high enough , and the Philosopher never knows enough . The Appetite is infinite , and cannot be satisfied with that which is finite . Now we have an axiome in Philosophy , That God and Nature never made any thing in vain . He that made Hunger , hath made bread to stench it ; and he that made Thirst , hath made drink to quench it . And he that hath imprinted this infinite and insatiable desire in man , hath made and prepared something also to satisfie it : Which since we see we cannot find in the world , though we should live Methuselah 's age , nay , though we should live to the end of it ; we must seek for it somewhere else , even above , where Christ sits at the right hand of God ; we must seek it in him who is the fulness of time that filleth all things , and in that Piety and Goodness by which we dwell in him , and he in us ; and so partake of that fulness which will fill us for evermore .

We will draw but one argument more , and that is à contrario , from Wickedness and Impiety , the licentiousness of the Tongue , and the wantonness of the Hands . In these we can find no satisfaction , no more then in Hell it self . Sin delights and torments ●● ▪ gives us a Hail , a flattering salutation , and betrays us ; cryes Hosanna , and crucifies us ; leads us in triumph , but in chaines ; and when our heart is merry , breeds a worm to eat it out ; which gives some satisfaction indeed , but such as the Serpent gave with the Apple , which brought with it shame and pain and sorrow and death . There is no peace , saith my God , to the wicked : and where there is Isa. 57. 20. no peace , there can be no satisfaction : but they are like a troubled sea , which cannot rest , whose waters cast out mire and dirt . No true peace , no true satisfaction can there be , but gaudium quasi , saith St. Augustine , joy and satisfaction in a manner and as if it were , Satisfaction in a picture , in a shadow , in a representation , drawn out in the colours of the rainbow , which appear and are not , as when an hungry man dreameth , and behold , he eateth , and when he awaketh , his soul is empty , as the Prophet expresseth Isa. 29. 8. it ; As if I were a king , might the begger say ; As if I were in health , may the sick man say ; As if I were a Philosopher , may the Idiot say ; As if I were in heaven , may Dives say . As if is but as the bringing in of a picture for a Man , which is but as if it were so . What being hath that which is but as if it were ? not a satisfaction , but a torment . For to be as if it were is not to be . The picture of Heaven is not Heaven , and the picture of Satisfaction and Happiness is no more then a thin and fading representation thereof , no more then a shadow , nay , not so much ; for being sensual , it cannot be the shadow of that which is spiritual . Well said the Father , Gaudium illorum habet QUASI ; Tristitia illorum non habet QUASI ; Their Joy and Satisfaction is but as if it were ; their Misery true and real : their Joy is a picture , their Torment substantial and sensible ; their Satisfaction is a phantasme and an apparition , but their Sin and Sorrow shall be ever before them , ever against them . Nor can we ever be satisfied with good but by the words of our mouth and the works of our hands ; These alone carry Satisfaction as their recompense along with them .

4. Further yet , to shew how unsatisfying a thing Sin is , you may behold it tormenting the wicked man , and that not only after the act , but also before , and in it ; first , forbidding it self , then perplexing him in the act , and after gnawing his heart . For this luctation , this , Shall I , or shall I not ? even a wicked man may have . And then what trouble and business is there ? what waiting for the twilight ? what watching opportunities ? what study , what cost , what defalcations from our selves for that which will undo us ? And after Conscience follows Sin with a whip whither soever the sinner goes . Most sins we commit cost us dear , our wealth , our honour , our health , our reputation . And within a while all our sins are set in order before us ; and then versa est Cithara in luctum , all the musick and melody Sin made , ends in starts and sighs and cast-down looks , in horror and amazement .

To conclude this ; There is no way left us , but to take the wings of a Dove , Piety and Conformity to our Maker , and to fly away from Sin , that we may be at rest . And since nothing can satisfie the mind but that which settles it , and nothing can settle it but Goodness and Holiness , let us earnestly seek after it , as being that which , as we are made after the image of God , makes us also after his likeness ; not indeed so immutable as He is , but yet constant in our obedience , as far as our Humane nature is capable ; not all-sufficient , as he is , yet at peace and rest within our selves , because we rest in him ; not omnipotent , as he is , but by his assistance and grace able to do all things which may work our peace , and satisfie us ; Being filled with the fulness of God ; not with that fulness which God is , ( for Eph. 3. 19. that is impossible ) but with the fulness of that Holiness which he hath ordeined to fill and satisfie us . For when our thoughts are heavenly , he whispers back unto us : when our tongues utter his prayses , he speaks to our hearts , and comforts us ; when our hands are busie in his service , they at once finish a good work , and draw out the recompense of reward ; The end is , They shall be satisfied with good — . Give me leave now but to cast an eye back , and gather something for our use ; and then I shall commend both it and you to the blessing of God .

And first , if the fruit of our Hands and Lips be that alone which can satisfie us , let us then up and be doing , buckle on the armor of light , quench every fiery dart of Satan , fight against principalities and powers , and beat down every strong imagination that opposeth it self to that righteousness which will satisfie us with good , and this imagination especially , That no endeavour of ours , no pressing forward , will bring us to the mark . We need not fear to enter the lists : for there be more with us then against us . To complain of weakness when we are called , to work out our own satisfaction , is not Humility , or , if it be , it is but a voluntary humility , nay but a depression of mind , which hath not so much as the shew of wisdome ; an Humility that will not acknowledge any power willing to do that which we are unwilling to do , and in the contrary of which we place all our delight and satisfaction ; an Humility that pretends darkness of understanding , because it will not see , and perversness of will , because it will not work ; which laments over us , as over the dead , who indeed have no mind nor desire to live , but love darkness more then light , the broad way more then the strait , and death better then life ; an Humility which is not the fruit of the Spirit , but the work of the flesh to hold it up against the Spirit . Be humble and obedient ; that Humility came down from Heaven : But what Humility is that , that is the mother and nurse of Disobedience ? That Humility which is commended to us in Scripture lifts us up to Heaven ; this other , which is the parasite of the flesh , disables us , and sinks us to the lowest pit . That Humility boweth us down with sorrow , this binds our Hands with sloth : That gives us life and activity in the service of God , this buries us alive ; That looks upon imperfections past , this makes way for more to come ; That prepares and makes plain our way to perfection , this makes us more imperfect . I know no better argument to move us then this ; for it is St. Pauls ; Therefore be yee stedfast , unmoveable ; alwayes abounding in the 1 Cor. 15. 58. work of the Lord , singing praises to the Lord , and making him melody with your obedience ; forasmuch as yee know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord : As if this consideration only were enough to strengthen the weak hands , and confirm the feeble knees , to fasten our roots , to build us up in Christ , to stablish us in the faith , and to make us an everlasting foundation . Satisfaction is the end , and you have all the means to attain it , Understandings and Wills , Directions and Precepts , Promises and Rewards , Heaven and Eternity to draw you on and encourage you . And if this Rhetorick have no power on those who are Men and yet will be stones , behold the Angels ministring unto you , and God himself calling , knocking , waiting , intreating ; who will never be wanting to us if we be not wanting to our selves , who must needs do his own will , and his will is our satisfaction .

And therefore , in the next place , let us level our actions and endeavours on this , and not spend and waste our selves upon that which is not bread , and will never fill us . Let us not be so strong to do evil , and so weak to do good ; be lame and impotent , when we should move towards Happiness ; and rush upon Destruction as the Horse doth into the battel ? Let us not seek after Satisfaction in the things of this world , as the sons of the Prophets did after Elijah upon a Peradventure when he was taken away . For it is the greatest folly in the world thus to misplace and mispend our diligence . This is to plow the winds , and to cast our seed upon the rocks , which will yield no incrrease ; This is to work in glass , which will break in our Hand , when with the same labour and art we might cut out a Diamond to adorn us . Beloved , when I see men sending their hopes and thoughts afar off , and then following them with all heat and violence of action ; when I see them stoop to their proposed ends with as swift a wing as the Falcon to her prey , and then miss them ; when I see them climbing to the top of the tree , and then falling back again with nothing but those boughs they laid hold on ; when I see men hastning to their desires , and not obtaining their ends , or , if they do , not those ends which they set up , finding that which they took for bread to be a stone , and that which they called fish a serpent ; gathering riches , and possest with fear ; honor , but trembling at the height ; pleasure , but with repentance : when I see men labor and strive , and war and fight , spoyling and spoiled , con-conquering and overcome , destroying and destroyed ; when I see men working to their ends sometimes by ruine , sometimes by battery , sometimes by craft , and , if that will not serve , by violence , when I see Kings pulling the crowns from one anothers heads ; when I see such hot contentions , such tragoedies raised , for that which is not , which may not be , or , if it be , will not be of that fashion which we gave it in our thoughts ; methinks I see not , as Alexander spake , the battel of Frogs and Mice ( although that was to as much purpose as these ) but the strivings of mad distracted men , whom History ( which is not alwayes the light of truth ) hath shewen to the world as Hero's and generous and great-spirited men . Or if I see Caligula in his march , with his great host and army which he raised not to fight , but to gather cockles on the shore . Or I behold men labouring in the world as Cornelius Agrippa sayes Spirits do in the minerals ; they dig and cleanse and sever metals , and when men come , they find nothing is done . And can there be a greater folly and madness then this ? or shall we call these men wise , politick , magnanimous , high-spirited men ? Give them what name you please , if there be several kinds of madness , as we are told there are , then these will come within the verge and reach of it . I am sure the Prophet David draws them within that compass , and calls them fools : This their way uttereth their foolishness . Psal. 49. 13.

For again , if nothing will satisfie us but Righteousness and Piety , we need not consult what we are to chuse here where the object hath all that goodness which can make it desirable . And therefore God by his Prophet , as if men did not wonder enough , or it were not enough for men to wonder , calls to the Heavens , Be astonisht , O yee heavens , at this : Jer. 2. 12 , 13. for my people have committed two Evils , they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters , and have hewed them out cisterns , broken cisterns , which will hold no water . And may it not seem a strange thing , that men should refuse their meat , which would satisfie them , and so prodigally sell themselves , all themselves , for that which is not bread ? as the Prophet Isa. 55. 2. speaketh . May it not go for a wonder , that men should debauch their Understanding , which should be their counsellor for their advantage and satisfaction , and make it their purveyor for their wealth , their surveyor in the works of the flesh , and no better then a pander to their lusts ; that they should bow their Will to that which it would have even when it doth embrace it , but determines its act , and demolisheth it again in the twinkling of an eye ; that they should make their Memory a Treasury of nothing but that which should be buried in the land of oblivion ; that their Affections , those incorporeal heads , as Basil calls them , should catch and grasp nothing but ayr and emptiness ; and then that they should prostitute all the members of their Body to be instrumental to the Soul in these her excursions and wanton sallies upon vanity , to fetch in that which brings leaness unto it , the snow of Lebanon in stead of waters out of the river of the Lord ? But after all this , when I have so long fed on husks , to deceive my self into a perswasion that I have been all this while at my Fathers house and feasted at his table , to supply my defects and emptiness out of the book of life , and to conclude my name is written amongst the elect , when my tongue is an open sepulchre , and I am to every good work reprobate ; that I should feed my self with a groundless and irregular thought of Gods mercy , which though it be over all his works , yet is not over a stubborn and unrepentant sinner , which is none of his works ; that I should lay me down in peace , and sleep upon this pillow , upon this hope , That a sigh at last will go for mortification , and a prayer at my death for the obedience of my life , and a confession , when I can scarce speak , for that faith which worketh by charity . Hear , O Heavens , and wonder : nay rather , why art not thou troubled , O my Soul , and astonished within me ? For what is this but to sleep at the gates of Hell , and to pass unto torment in a dream of satisfaction ? to build our selves a pillar of assurance to lean upon , and then to fall into pieces with it ? to stuff a hollow and false faith with vain and improfitable imaginations , as the souldier did his head-piece , which he felt hard under him , with chaff , and then thought he had made his pillow easier . In a word , what is it but to feed on poyson instead of meat , to smile and flatter our selves to death , to call in flesh and bloud with these deceitful thoughts to favour us , and to breath nothing but false hopes , till our breath departeth , and these hopes and these thoughts perish with it . O then , as the Wiseman speaks , if we be wise , let us be wise to our selves ; wise to edification , and not to ruine ; wise with that wisdome which is from above , and not with that which is earthly , sensual , devilish , as full of deceit as the Deceiver himself , as full of falshood as the Father of lyes : but let us hearken to the Lord God , who will teach us to profit ; let us be wise unto salvation . And this is our wisdome , to chuse that which will satisfie .

To draw to a conclusion ; If this be the prerogative of Godliness to be alone in this work , so that nothing else can work us satisfaction , let her have prerogative also in our hearts , and exercise full power and autority and dominion over our desires , to chase away from them all heterogenious and deceitful appearances , to banish all that are enemies unto her ; that so we may captivate our Wills unto her , and not bring her into subjection to our Wills ; not first distaste and refuse her , and then make use of her name ; first bid her depart from our coasts , and then in her name not cast out devils , but let them in , or be as malicious and mischievous as they . In the name of Religion and Piety , why should that be Religion to day which in the dayes before us went under the name of Impiety ? Why should Religion pass away with the fashion of the world , and change as often as that ? Why should we take away its prerogative , and give it to the World , to command our desires , and to command Religion to attend and promote them ? in our hastning to wealth , and to turn covetous ? in our grinding the face of the poor , and to turn cruel ? in our pursuit of honor , and so turn ambitious ? as if nothing of Piety and Religion were desirable but the name , and the things of this world were the only object that could not fill our desires and satisfie them . And so we make up a religious Mammonist , a religious Oppressor , a religious Tyrant , a religious Atheist ; we joyn together God and the Devil , the name of God and a Devil incarnate . Thus it falls out when we invert the order of things . It is too frequent and common a thing in the world to cry up Religion and Godliness as the Ephesians did their Diana . Demesnius his Rhetorick , From this craft we have our gain ; is that which moulds and fashions Religion : It shall be no longer Religion then it brings on advantage ; if it prove dangerous , it shall loose both its name and prerogative . Hence it cometh to pass , that , as there are many that are called Gods , and called Lords , so there are many Religions . 1 Cor. 8. 5. The Covetous hath his , the Ambitious hath his , the Wanton hath his , and the Schismatick hath his ; many Religions , and none at all , none that can satisfie us . Thus whilst we seek satisfaction in every object to which our lusts and affections lead us , we find something which we call by that name ; but whilst we look upon it , it slips from us , and we see it no more : it doth but smile upon us , and leaves us . If we seek it in Beauty , that is but colour , and it is changed whilst we look on it . Who saw when that eye sunk which took so many hearts ? who observed when that face wrinkled , which was so gazed on ? All we can say is , this Star is shott , this Heaven is shriveled as a scrowl . If we look for it in Riches , they have wings , and fly away ; Satisfaction dwells not in a misers bagg . Yet we rise up Prov. 23. 5. early and lye down late , we labour and sweat , we cheat and oppress , we venture our bodies and we venture our souls , we venture , nay cast away , that which would satisfie us indeed , only to gain this satisfaction , to dye rich , and we had rather pass with that esteem then with the honor of a Saint . And so we pass away , we dye rich , and our money and this miserable satisfaction perisheth with us . The fool in the Gospel sung a Requiem to his soul at the sight of his barns , and that night there were those that came and took his soul from him . Again , if we seek it in Knowledge , there indeed one would think it might be found , Knowledge being so proportioned to the Soul ; but alass ! there it is not . For what satisfaction is it to attain unto this , to know that I am ignorant ? or what comfort doth that light bring which shews my defects ? The more we know , the more we see we are ignorant ; and the more light we have , the more we discover our wants . We may think at every small distance the heavens close with the earth ; but when we make our approach nearer , a larger space opens then that we have left behind us . Ad immortalium cognitionem nimis mortales sumus , saith Seneca ; We are too mortal to fathom the Ocean of Immortality . Much reading is a weariness of the flesh , and Knowledge , as it Eccl. 12. 12. brings content , so it brings also vexation to the spirit . But then when the times of refreshing , the time of satisfaction , shall come ; that Beauty I doted on will become a fury to whip me ; the rust of my silver and gold will James 5. 8. witness against me , and eat up my flesh as it were fire ; and my Knowledge , if it wait not on Piety , will procure me many stripes . What is Alexander now the greater for his power ? what is Caesar the higher for his honor ? what is Aristotle the wiser for his knowledge ? what delight hath Jezebel in her paint , or Ahab in his vineyard ? what is a delicious banquet to Dives in Hell ? or what satisfaction can the remembrance of these transitory delights bring ? All the beauty , honor , riches , knowledge in the world will not purchase one moment of ease : All the rivers of pleasures , which are now run out and dry , and only flow in our remembrance , will not cool a tongue . The gate is shut against all these ; and we find torment , endless torment , instead of satisfaction . Let us therefore seek for satisfaction , but not there where it cannot be found ; not in the world , whose very figure and fashion passeth away , but in that faith 1 Cor. 7. 31. which overcomes the world , in that faith which worketh by charity , which 1 John 5. 4. doth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Chrysostome speaketh , slumber Gal. 5. 6. all vain and absurd imaginations , that we now hugg and anon are afraid of , and all vain words , that now are musick unto us , and anon return upon us as swords , which doth guide our hands , that they may be reacht out to no forbidden thing . Let us seek satisfaction in the fruit of our lipps , and the work of our hands , in Piety and true Obedience . Lo , there it is found : Where this is in truth and reality there it hold its prerogative : it shapeth our thoughts , formeth our words , and mingles it self with all the works of our hands . Then Peace of conscience , that heaven upon earth , and Satisfaction , that pillow on which we rest in all the storms that beat upon us , shall meet and compass us about on every side ; not a fading false satisfaction , but true , as our Obedience is true ; and solid and weighty , as ●●at is sincere ; a fair pledge and earnest of that fulness of light , joy , peace and glory , of that infinite satisfaction which we shall receive in the highest heavens wherein dwelleth righteousness ; where He that filleth all in all shall satisfie us , that is , crown us with Happiness for evermore .

The Three and Twentieth SERMON . PART I. MATTH. IV. 1. Then was Jesus led-up of the Spirit into the wilderness , to be tempted of the devil .

CHrist is the Captain of our salvation , as the Apostle stiles him Hebr. 2. 10. And no sooner is he baptized , no sooner is he come out of the river , but he enters the field against the enemy of mankind , & omnia salutis nostrae sacramenta veluti juratus absolvit , as Hilary speaks ; He performs all the Offices of a Saviour as fully and exactly as if he had taken a military oath to glorifie Gods name , and to finish the work which he gave him to do , of our Redemption . His Care of our welfare did not omit any tittle , any Iota . He lookt not only ad ultimum , to the end , but usque ad ultimum , to all those means and to all those particular acts which led him to it , that so he might 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , bring his work to perfection , and himself be made perfect by sufferings . It was not enough for him to be born , but he will condescend to be baptized by his servant . It was not enough for him to fulfill the Law , but he suffers himself to be tempted to break it . It was not enough to suffer for sin , but he will suffer himself to be tempted to sin . He was content not only to be sent into the world , but to be led into the wilderness ; and , that the Devil may assault him , to present himself in the shape of a weak hungry man ; to follow him to the pinacle , to the mountain , to any place from whence the Devil may hope to tumble him down . He would be any thing but a Sinner , that he might save sinners .

We will not so much as doubt whether this were a real Combat , or only performed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in imagination , and in a vision , as some of the Ancients thought . For this were to question his Baptism also , and the Descending of the holy Ghost like a Dove ; Which was so really done that Tertullian peremptorily concludes , that when the Spirit took this shape , there was as truly a Dove there as there was the Spirit ; although St. Augustine and Chrysostome are of the contrary opinion . The Text here is plain , he was led 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of the Spirit , which is as much as , by the hand of the Spirit . And that of the Father is most true , Nimis disputando fidei autoritas elevatur ; We derogate from that autority and power which our Faith should have over us , by raising controversies where we need not : And whilst we start up doubts and questions , and then run after to catch them , we commonly lose the Truth . It is part of a continued History of the Acts of our Saviour : and there is no shew of reason which may perswade us that , when all is said to be done by Christ , one part of it should be done really , and the other but in a vision ; especially here being so many reasons to evince the contrary . For neither was it any honor for the Devil to cope with our Saviour , who for Man in the nature of man fought against him , and overcame him ; nor any greater dishonour to Christ to be tempted , then to be a Man . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; as Nazianzene spake of his being born , so may I of his being tempted ; Why should we fear where no fear is ? 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Shall we honor him the less , because he hath humbled himself so far as to enter the lists with our enemy ? No : His Circumcision , his Tentation , his Fasting , his Hunger , his Sweating , his Dying are the glorious and honorable marks of a victorious Captain . And as Souldiers use to shew their wounds and skarrs as the badges of honor , and to publish and make it known ; Haec vulnera , has cicatrices pro patria ; These wounds we have received , these skarrs we bear about us , for the defense of our country ; so may we magnifie our Saviour in that he fought and dyed for us men and for our salvation . Timeamus nobis de reverentiâ istâ , Let us be very wary that we offend not Christ out of too much reverence .

May it therefore please you to fix your eyes , and duly consider this Duel or single Combate between Christ and the Devil , our Captain and our Enemy . In this Text we have the Preparation to it , and therein these circumstances remarkable ; 1. the Persons , Jesus , a Saviour ; and the Devil , a Destroyer : Jesus , an Advocate ; and the Devil , an Accuser of the Brethren and a Calumniator : The Lyon who fights for us , and the Lyon who seeks to devour us . 2. The manner how Christ was brought into the field , He was led by the Spirit . 3. The Time when ; Then : After he was baptized , and had the holy Ghost descend upon him in the shape of a Dove , and had heard a voice from heaven saying , This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased , then he was led forth . 4. The Place where he fought it out , the Wilderness . This was campus certaminis , the field where this hardiment was to be tryed , this battel fought . 5. His preparation to it , he fasted forty dayes and forty nights . 6. And lastly , the Opportunity which the Devil took to set upon him ; He set upon him when he was a hungry . and this we find in the Preparation ; The Battel or Contention is spiritual ; and it is called Tentation . And in all battels the tryal is who shall be the strongest . The Tentation is threefold , I. to Distrust ; from the consideration of want ; II. to Presumption , from the providence and praedestination of God ; III. to flat and gross Idolatry , from hope of the pomp and glory of this world . First , if we want , the Devil concludes God cares not for us . Secondly , if he care for us , we may do what we please . Thirdly , we may have what we please , if we will but fall down and worship him . The price of the whole world is but a bow or prostration of the body . These are the three darts which are thrown at Christ by an enemy of craft and advantage : And Christ puts forth his buckler , and quencheth them : and the Devil being disarmed runs out of the field , or at least makes a retreat . The Text says , The devil left him ; and behold , Angels came and ministred unto him . I have presented you with a short view of the whole . Come we now to the particulars . First , I shall speak of the Persons .

In every action that passeth in the world the circumstance of the person carries it weight , and leaves a kind of impression upon it , and maketh it more or less remarkable to our view . Rei pondus etiam persona consummat , saith the Orator ; That which makes up the full value of an action , that which consummates and seals it up , is the Person . It was not so much for the Levites to bear the Ark , as for David to dance before it . It was not so remarkable for a Publicane to invite Christ to his house , as for Christ to dine with him . It was not so much that the first Adam should fall , as it was that the second should be tempted . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Nazianzene ; It is more for him to be pursued then it is for us to be taken . A strange thing it may seem that he who had the Devil fast in a chain should let him loose to assault him . Sed nihil imperiosius charitate ; Nothing is so imperious , nothing hath so commanding a power , as Love . It makes us forget our selves , put off our selves , lose our selves . And it made the Word flesh ; It brought down Christ from Heaven , from amongst thoose troops of Angels and Arch-angels , into the wilderness , amongst the wild beasts ; It brought him to hunger who feedeth the young Ravens which call upon him : It offered up him to the Tempter who knew no sin . The Schools conclude that Christ was obedient not according to his Divine will , but humane ; and therefore that he was tempted as Man , it was no derogation from the Majesty of his Godhead . And therefore he presents himself as a Man , in the form of a servant , that he might be a mark for the Devil to shoot at : He hungers , that he might tempt him to distrust : He stands upon the pinacle , to make it appear possible that he might throw himself down : He follows him to the mountain , and beholds what the Devil did shew him . And it is very probable that had the Devil been fully perswaded he was God , he would never have cast away his darts . Having Scripture , as you see , at his fingers ends , he knew well enough that God could not sin , and that Wisdom it self could not be deceived . For all Deceit proceeds , sayes Clemens , as well from the Ignorance of the party deceived as from the Crafts of the deceiver ; as an overthrow doth from the Weakness of him that falls as much as from the Strength of the conquerer . Hoc unum non nisi duo faciunt . To be tempted and to sin are two distinct things , and cannot be done but by two . When we fall , the Devil and Our selves fling us down : And therefore Nazianzene , Orat. 46. layes it down as a positive truth , that the Devil did attempt Christ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because covered with the veil of Flesh . And 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because of his Humanity , which was visible . And in another place he tells us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that the Devil was entrapped with Christs Humanity . Or suppose he knew him to be God , yet it might fall out with him as it doth with us when we are his captives ; What we know we know not ; and those conclusions which before we were able to make good by demonstration , in the heat of some passion we forget as if we never had heard them . St. Gregory , I am sure , thought so ; as he declares himself , 2. Moral . Antiquus hostis Christum in mundum venisse cognovit ; Our old enemy knew well enough that Christ was come into the world , when he cryed out in the persons possessed , What have we to do with thee , Jesus thou Son of God ? But when he saw he was passible , and did suffer those things which were common to mortal men , when he saw he was a hungry , and when he saw him disgraced , he was in doubt as men are who halt between two opinions , and know not which to subscribe to . Omne quod de ejus Divinitate suspicatus est , fastu superbiae suae rei in dubium venit : By his pride and disdain he began to be jealous and suspicious even of that suspicion he formerly had of his Godhead . For , as St. Paul speaks of the Jews , Had they known it they had not crucified the Lord of glory ; so may we of the Devil , Had he known Christ to be God and Man , and the Saviour of the world , he would never have put into the heart of Judas to betray him , nor have moved the Jews to put him to death , by which the determinate counsel of God was brought to pass , and by which himself was trod under-foot , and his kingdom overthrown . But such a Captain it behoved us to have , who could be tempted , but could not sin ; who might be set hard at , but could not be overthrown ; who could discover the falacies of that subtle Sophister ; who could subsist , and not turn stones into bread ; who could go up to the pinacle of the Temple , and come down from it ; who could see the world and the glory of it , and contemn it . The Schoolmen , where they speak of this Tentation of Christ , tell us of a double tentation , an inward , and an outward ; and rank our Saviour with our first Parents in the state of innocency , who , as they imagine , could have no inward tentation at all , because the Flesh was then in full and perfect subjection to Reason , and their Reason in due obedience to God ; whose Phansie could receive no species or phantasms but upon deliberate counsel , whose Understanding had no cloud to obscure it , and whose Will waited as an handmaid on the Understanding , and followed as that led . All this may be true , and yet might our first Parents be tempted inwardly . For Tentation , if it go no further , is no sin . We are then tempted when objects are proposed to the Eye , and then pass to the Phansie , and from thence are tendred to the Understanding . I may see an object , ( suppose the forbidden fruit ) and think of it , and know it , and yet not sin . It is beauty in the Eye , and so in the Phansie , and it may be so in the Understanding , and yet the Will may not incline to it , because Reason may judge it , though fair to the eye , yet dangerous to the touch . Scire malum non facit scientem malum ; To know evil cannot denominate us evil . For God , who is a pure essence and Purity it self , knows Evil more exactly then we , and therefore hates it with a perfecter hatred then we can . I may know the Apple to be fair to look to and pleasant of taste , and yet not taste it . I may know that Bread is the staff of our life , and yet rely more upon the providence of God then on bread . I may know that the nearest way down from the pinacle is to fling my self off , and yet chuse the safer , and go down by the stairs . I may see Riches to be the God of this world , and yet count them as dung . For I cannot see but the tentation may be inward , and yet no sin . Nay ; if it be but a tentation , it is not sin ; and if it be sin , the tentation is at an end . And if the tentation had not its operation upon the will and inward man as well as upon the outward and sensitive part , let them tell me how Adam fell . Besides , there is a great disproportion between the state of the first Adam and the state of the second , between our first Parents and Christ . For although they were created upright and in a state of innocency ( for indeed they could not be created otherwise by God , who is Goodness it self ) yet we do not read that they were conceived by the holy Ghost . In Christ there was no sin , nor could there be . He had not only Nolle peccare , but Non posse peccare , not only a Will not to sin , but an Impossibility of sinning ; although Durand , upon I know not what grounds , phansieth the contrary . The Prince of this world comes , and hath nothing in me , saith our John 14 30. Saviour , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , nothing in him which he might accuse , not only no sin , but no fuel for his scintillations , his sparkles , his tentations ; no fuel for his sullen tentations to fall upon , and smoke up in distrust ; no combustible matter for his glorious tentations to settle upon , and flame up in ambition . There was nothing in Christ which the Devil had or could make his , no Ignorance of what he should do , no Dulness of Mind , no Difficulty in resisting tentations . The second Adam was like unto the first in all things , not only in his state of innocency , but in his fall , sin only excepted . But in Adam though there was no fomes peccati , no fuel , yet there was a possibility of sinning , which was ad instar fomitis , and which the Devil made use of as of fuel , in which he raised that fire that consumed him to dust and ashes , brought death and the condition of mortality both upon him and his progeny . We will not here make any curious search to find out the degrees of this Tentation of our Saviour , or what operation it had upon him . Scrutari hoc temeritas est , credere pietas est , nosse vita est & vita aeterna ; To dive too far into this , into the manner how the tentation wrought , would be rashness ; to believe that Christ was tempted , is an act of piety ; and to know it , and make use of it , is life , and life eternal . And I know that discourses of this nature are not welcome in this age , where not Schoolmen but dunces are most in request , where men are afraid to hear of any truth that is new to them , and disdain to know more then they know already , although , if they were diligent , they might learn more in their Catechisme . And indeed in this point we can walk no further then we have light from the Scripture . And there we find that Christ did suffer something when he was tempted , that he did 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that he was touched Hebr. 2. 18. with the feeling of our infirmities , like unto us in all things , sin only excepted . And 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that he learnt something , that is , obedience , Hebr. 4. 15. by the things which he suffered . This we may receive simplici & notâ fide , by a plain and common faith : And we dare not stretch further for fear we stretch beyond the line . Tempted he was ; but temptations did fall upon him as waves upon a rock , which dashed them into ayr , into nothing ; or as hailstones upon marble , erepitant & solvuntur ; They made some noyse , but no impression ; they did no sooner fall , but were dissolved . And this is enough for any to know , but those quibus nihil est satis , who will know more then they can know .

It is sufficient for us to know that our Saviour was tempted : and it will be very necessary for us to know the end why he was tempted . For as he was made Man , so also was he tempted , for our sakes . First , as he was made a sacrifice for sin , so here he made himself an ensample which we should follow when the enemy assaults us . For , as Commentators on Aristotle observe that his rule many times lyes hid and is wrapt up in the example which he gives , so we need scarce any other rules for behaviour when we are tempted , then those which we may find in this story of our Saviours combat with our enemy . And our Saviour may seem to bespeak his brethren , even all Christians , as Ablimelech doth his Souldiers , Judg. 9. 48. What you have seen me do , make haste , and do likewise . It had been enough for our Saviour to have promulged his law and given us warning and direction , and never have entred the lists himself ; to have said as his servant doth Eph. 6. If the Tempter come , take the shield of faith , take the helmet of salvation , and the sword of the spirit ; and not have taken up the sword himself . For what needed he a sword , who needed no defense ? what needed he a buckler , who was invulnerable , and who with one word , with a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , could have made the Devil fly away and leave him ? But he was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a great lover of mankind ; and , as a good Master , he would not only teach them , but make himself a copie ; not only give them rules , but totas dictare materias , make a form for them ; dictate by action as well as by words , and in his own tentation shew them a plain way , as the Apostle speaks , to escape in theirs . Habes auctorem quo facias hoc ; Be the tentation what it will , if you look upon Christ , you may learn to overcome it . Lo , saith our Saviour , I have given you an ensample . And certainly , as John 13. 15. the Apostle counsels us , to look upon Jesus the author and finisher of our faith , Hebr. 12. 2. that is , look earnestly upon him with an intentive and inquisitive look ; so must we also look upon his Tentation , and consider it not as his tryal , but as our instruction . Sic oculos , sic ille manus , sic ora ferebat : These were his postures ; Thus he did . Thus he quencht the Devils fiery darts ; Thus he answered his falacies ; Thus he broke the enemies thrust by shewing it was not home , and answered Scripture with Scripture , and beat the Devil at that weapon which himself had chosen . And as the more we look upon the Sun , the more we admire it ; so the more we consider our Captain , the stronger and skilfuller we shall be . A very look on Christ our Champion if it be serious , will make us wise unto salvation , and stronger then the strong man that comes to bind us and rob us of our goods . For though the lesson be hard to Flesh and Bloud , yet when he who is Flesh and Bloud hath as it were con'd it himself and repeated it over unto us , it will be easie and plain .

Secondly , as Christ was tempted for an ensample to us , so in his tentation there is a kind of law and decree that we must fight . For jubetur exemplis , in the examples of great and eminent persons there is a command , and they bind in manner of a Statute-law . We may conclude here à majori ad minus , If Christ be tempted , we cannot be exempt . And as the Apostle tells us , The less is blessed by the better , so here , the less is taught by Hebr. 11. 7. the greater . If this be done to the green tree , what will be done to the dry ? If the Devil set upon him who knew no sin , certainly he will not be afraid to assault us who are a● ready to sin as to breathe . For this end did Christ come into the world ; and for this end did we come into this world . For this end were we created ; nay , for this end were all things created . Fecit omnia Deus ad instruendum certamen rerum duarum ; God made all things , saith Lactantius , to set two armies in array ; the Flesh , and the Spirit ; Sense , and Reason ; Man , whom he made after his own image , and the Prince of this world . And therefore he hath mixt , as it were , an appearance of Good with that which is evil , various and delectable pleasantness in the things of this world , that by those fair allurements in shew there may be a possibility of inducement into that evil which is not seen : and he hath blended an apparancy of Evil with that which is Good , that by those sorrows and labors which are distastful to the eye , there may be a possibility in us of refusing that good which is covered with such horrour . But the present pleasure he checketh with fear of punishment , and the present horror and sharpness he sweatens with hope of reward : that we may see more with our mind then with our eye ; that when our Sense would joyn with Evil because of its coulour , our Reason may fly from it because of its smart ; and when the Flesh declines Goodness because it is irksome ; the Spirit may embrace it because it hath the promise of a reward : that when the Devil speaketh fair , we may shut our ears , because we know his words are as swords ; and when God nayls us to the cross , we may bless his name , because he means to crown us . Thus indeed our Saviour did not stand in the middle betwixt these , in a possibility of falling from one to the other , ( for then he could not have been a Saviour ) but yet for to shew that he was Man , and to let us know the condition of Man , he put on a person , as it were , and was tempted as if he had . For we must not think of Christ as Alexander did of Philip his father , who every day added victory to victory , that in his tentations and victorious sufferings he did all himself , and left us nothing to conquer . No ; as he is the first-fruits of our resurrection to glory , so he is the first-fruits of our sufferings and tentations , and in that he was tempted , did but praeludere ; take up the weapons and fight , that he might put them into our hands ; walk upon the waters , that we might soeculi fluctus praeeunte Domino calcare , tread the proud waves of tentations under our feet , since he is gone over them before . Some men there be indeed that phansie to themselves an easie passage into heaven , and a victory over the Enemy sine sudore & sanguine , without any sweat or shedding a drop of bloud ; and think they may wanton it on the way , and sport themselves into happiness ; and because they have heard of some few , of the thief on the cross , and some others , who have been changed in their mind , as some shall be in their bodies at the general resurrection , in a moment , in the twinkling of an eye , think this favour may reach to all ; because Christian virtues are called gifts , will stay till they are given ; and when they read that our Saviour hath overcome the World and the Devil , think all is done ; no passion for them to subdue , no tentation to wrestle with , no Devil that can hurt them . A gross error , which strikes at the very life and soul of Christianity . For neither did the Thief nor any other enter into paradise but through tentations , and though there were a new and unusual power which wrought upon him as it did upon others in the first ages of the Church , yet he had the same tentations to revile Christ which the other had who hung with him ; and one great tentation he overcame , when he askt help of him who in all appearance could not help himself . And certain it is that as the Devil fought against Christ , so he fights against all mankind , and some he overcomes with more ease , others with more difficulty . But it never fares worse with us then when we look so long on priviledges till we make them rules ; till what was but for term of life , for some time , for some men , we draw down an entail upon all posterity . What if some men have their peny who are called into the vineyard in the evening and cool of the day ? what is this to thee , who art called at noon and in the heat of the day ? What if some have breathed forth their souls from their bed ? what is it to thee who art called to the stake ? It is true , Christian virtues are Gifts ; but yet they are seldome obtained but by labour and sweat . Seldome any temperate , who set not a knife to their throat ; seldome any chast , who make not a covenant with their eyes . In a word , nisi vim inferas , regnum coelorum non intrabis , unless you labor and sweat , unless you first subdue and subjugate your selves , you can never conquer the Devil . Christ indeed conquered him , but it is for those who will fight . To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life . Rev. 2. 7. Now the reason of this is most plain ; For though our Saviour , when he coped with Satan , could have beat him as small as the dust before the wind , have put him in fetters , and chained him up for ever ; yet was this neither expedient for Us , nor agreeable with the infinite Wisdom of our Saviour : Not for Us ; For , si defit hostis & pugna , nulla est victoria ; If there be no enemy , if there be no striving , there can be no victory . Tolle certamen , nè virtus quidem quicquam ; Take away this combate with our spiritual enemy , and Virtue is but a bare naked name , is nothing . If there were no possibility of being evil , we could not be good . What were my Faith , if there were no doubt to assault it ? What were my Hope , if there were no scruple to stagger it ? What were my Charity , if there were no injuries to dull it ? Laetius est quoties magno sibi constat honestum ; Then Goodness is fairest when it shines through a cloud ; and it is difficulty which sets the crown upon Virtues head . Our Saviour was made glorious by his tentations and sufferings ; So must we by ours . And therefore God hath placed us in the midst of tentations , that we may in vitâ vitam acquirere , in this painful and short time , in this course of tentations , purchase everlasting life . Nor can it consist with the Wisdome of Christ to overcome the Devil for those who will readily yield to him , to foil him in his proud tentation for those who will not be humble , and to beat off his sullen tentation for those who will distrust and murmure ; nay , for such as make this his victory commeatum delinquendi , a licence and charter for all generations to fling away their weapons , and not strike a stroke , but stand still , as if they were a praedestinate mark set up on purpose for the Devil to shoot at . If he should have done thus , we could not take him for our Captain : and if we do thus , he will not take us for his souldiers . Non novimus Christum , si non credimus ; We do not know Christ , if we believe him not to be such a one as he is . Therefore as God dealt with the Israelites , so doth Christ with us . God rooted out the inhabitants of Canaan , Judg. 3. and made room for his people ; yet he left some of them to prove Israel , even as many of them as had not known the wars of Canaan , namely , the Caananites and Sidonians , &c. And this for two reasons ; 1. to teach them war ; 2. to prove Israel , whether they would hearken to the commandments of the Lord . Even thus hath our Saviour disposed of our great Enemy : He hath abated his strength in the way , but hath not utterly rooted him out ; though he hath spoiled his principality , yet he hath left him a Devil , an enemy to mankind still , for a purpose of his own , to prove us whether we will be his souldiers or no , and to teach us war , which we could not learn without an enemy .

Nor needs this be grievous unto us . For as he hath caught us both by his Word and Ensample to prepare our selves to the battle , and bestir our selves like those who fight under his colours ; so , in the next place , there is a kind of influence and virtue derived from his Combate , which falls as oyl upon us , to supple our joynts , and strengthen our sinews , and make each faculty of our souls active and chearful in this exercise . Multum nobis dedisset , si nihil nobis dedisset praeter exemplum ; Certainly he had given us much , if he had afforded us no more then his ensample . But to this he hath added his Precept , and set before us 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the garland : And we could never fail , Si tanta in terris moraretur fides , quanta merces ejus exspectatur in coelis , if we could draw up our faith , and make it proportionable to the reward . But to this , as there is gratia jubens , a commanding grace , so there is gratia juvans , a helping grace ; to help us in our melancholy , that we do not despair ; to help us in loathsome tentations , that we be not swallowed up . Per Christum , & in Christo , by Christ , and in the power of Christ , we shall beat down all our enemies . This Man , whose will is mutable , shall vanquish that Devil whose malice is obdurate : This poor Beggar shall beat that Prince : This worm , this dust and ashes , shall disarm that Goliah , that Leviathan . For as Christ tells us that he will be with us , so doth he also fight with us , to the end of the world , setting us on by his precepts , urging us forward by his ensample , quickning us by his spirit : And if we fail , having the stronger on our side , it is manifest that we have prefer'd Satan our enemy before Christ the Captain of our salvation . Our life is hid with Christ Col. 3. 3. in God , and whilst we there leave it by continual meditation of his meritorious sufferings , by working and forming Christ in our souls , no dart of Satan can reach us : But when we hide it in the minerals of the earth , in the riches of this world , the Devil is there , he is there to seize on it : When we hide it in malicious and wanton thoughts , they are his baits to catch it : When we hide it in sloth and idleness , we hide it in a grave which he digged to bury it : When we think to save it , we loose it : But when we hide it in Christ , when we do Deum per Christum colere , worship God through Jesus Christ our Lord , when we rely on his power in Christ , which is the foundation of all Christian Religion ; then our life , having put off the old Adam , is clothed with righteousness , and is in a manner divine ; our mortal hath put on immortality ; and having hid our sins and weakness in Christ , the image of God brightly shines forth in every action , and the life of Jesus is made manifest in our mortal flesh ; so that our life with 2 Cor. 1. 11. him , and his life in our mortal flesh , in our weekness , in our infirmities , arms us against all assaults , and makes us more then conquerors .

Now , in the last place , Christ 's help we need not doubt of if we be not wanting unto our selves . For we have not such an high Priest who will not help us . But ( which is one and the chief end of his Tentation ) who is merciful and faithful , and was tempted that he might succour them which are tempted . He hath not only Power ( for so he may have , and not shew it ) but also Will and Propension , Desire and diligent Care to hold them up that are set upon for the tryal of their faith . Indeed Mercy without Power can beget a good wish , but no more ; and Power without Mercy will neither strengthen a weak knee , nor heal a broken heart : But Mercy and Power together will work a miracle ; will hold us up when we are ready to fall ; will give legs to the lame , and eyes to the blind , and strength to the weak ; will make a fiery fornace a bath , make a rack a bed ; will keep us the same men amidst the changes and armies of sorrows ; will moderate our sorrows when they are great , that they be not long ; and when they are of continuance , will call the evils that are as if they were not ; will uphold us against the terrors of Death ; and when he soundeth his retreat , and takes us off from the field by Death , will receive us to glory . And this Compassion and Mercy , though it were coeternal with Christ as God , yet as Man he learnt it by his sufferings , saith the Apostle , Hebr. 5. 8. For the way indeed to know anothers misery is to be first sensible of our own . For we commonly see that men who are softly and delicately brought up , have hearts of flint . If Dives be clothed in purple . , and fare deliciously every day , it is no marvail to see him less merciful then his Doggs when Lazarus was at his door . But you may say , Could Christ , who was the Son of God , forget to be merciful ? or was he now to learn it as a new lesson , who by his wisdome made the heavens , because his mercy endureth for ever ? No : He saw Joseph in the stocks , Job on the dung-hill , and the Mariners in the tempest : He heard the sighs and complaints of the poor , he numbred all their tears , and had compassion on his afflicted ones , even as a father hath on his only child . But then , before he emptied himself , and took upon him the form of a servant ; sicut miseriam expertus Phil. 2. 7. non erat , ita nec misericordiam experimento novit , as he had no acquaintance with sorrow , so neither had he any experimental knowledge of mercy and compassion . In his sufferings he had tryal of misery , and learn't to be merciful . His own Hunger moved him to work that miracle of the Loaves : For it is said in the Text , He had compassion on the multitude . His Poverty made him an Orator for the poor , and he beggs with them : and his Compassion melted him into tears at the sight of Jerusalem . When he became a man of sorrows , he became also a man of compassion . And yet his experience of sorrow added in truth nothing to his knowledge ; But it rowseth our confidence to approach with boldness near unto him who by his miserable experience is brought nearer to us , and hath thus reconciled us in the body 1 Cor. 21. 12. of his flesh . For he that suffered for us hath compassion on us , and suffers and is tempted with us , even to the end of the world . He was on the cross with St. Peter , on the block with St. Paul , in the fire with the Martyrs ; He in his members is still destitute , afflicted , tormented . Would you take a view of Christ ? You may look upon him in your own souls ; take him in a groan , mark him in a sigh , behold him bleeding in the gashes of a wounded spirit . Or , to make him an object more sensible , you may see him every day begging at your doors . Christ learnt this Compassion in our flesh , saith the Apostle ; Inasmuch , as the children are partakers of flesh and bloud , he also himself Hebr. 2. 14. likewise took part of the same ; and in our Flesh he was hungry , was spit upon , was whipped , was nayled to the cross . And all these were as it were so many parts of that discipline which taught him to be merciful ; to be merciful to them who are tempted by famine , in that he was hungry ; to be merciful to them who are tempted by riches , because he was poor ; to be merciful to them who tremble at disgrace , because he was whipt ; and to be merciful to them who will not , yet will , suffer for him ; who refuse , and yet chuse ; tremble , and venture ; are afraid , and yet dye for him ; because , as Man , he found Death a bitter cup , and would have had it pass from him : Who in the dayes of his flesh offered up prayers and supplications , with strong crying and tears , for mortal men , for weak men , for sinners , for those whose life is a warfare . Pertinacissimè durant quae discimus experientiâ ; This experimental knowledge is rooted in Christ , is sixt and cannot now be removed , no more then his natural knowledge . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Philosopher ; Experience is a kind of collection and multiplication of remembrances , the issue and child of memory . Usus me genuit , mater peperit Memoria . It proceedeth from the memory of many particulars . And this experience Christ had . And as the Apostle tells us he learnt , so the Prophet tell us he was acquainted with our griefs , and carried our sorrowes about with him , even from his birth , from his cradle to his cross . By his fasting and tentation , by his agony and bloudy sweat , by his precious death and burial , He remembers us in famine and tentation , in our agony and bloudy sweat , and all the penance we do upon our selves for sin . He remembers us in the hour of death and in our grave , and will remember us at the day of Judgment . As a father pitieth his children , so he pities us , Psal. 103. 13. and the reason is given verse 14. For he knoweth our frame ; he remembreth we are but dust : He knows our frame ; he remembreth we are built up of flesh , as he was : And he knoweth what impressions Sorrow can make in flesh . He remembers that Man in the best estate is but vanity : that when he is strongest he is ready to fall . And then if he falls as a Man , out of frailty , and not as an Angel , as Lucifer 's presumtuously , his Compassion is ready to lift him out of the dust . And this is a part of Christ's Priestly office , which he begun on earth , and in heaven performs for us even to the end of the world . This lasts even after the Consummatum est ; when all was finished . Christ Jesus is an Intercessor yesterday , to day , and for ever . Behold , saith Saint Stephen , Acts 7. 56. I see the heavens open , and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God . And every Christian by the eye of faith may see him there also , even at the right hand of God interceding for us : Father , behold , here I am : and for my sake behold the children which thou hast given me . It is true , they have sinned ; for even I was tempted . They have fallen , but by my help are risen again . They have received many spots from the world , but they have been willing to wash them off with their tears , that I might wash them with my bloud . They have profaned thy name , but they have called on thy name . Oh give ear unto their cry ; hold not thy peace at their tears . Or , if thou wilt not hearken to the tears of a sinner , yet behold the sighs , the tears , the bloudy wounds of a man that did never sin . And now , Father , forgive them as men , forgive them as my brethren . To these sinners I have given the glory which thou gavest me , that they may be one , even as we are one . And the Father of Mercy receives us , and embraceth us in his arms ; puts upon us the best robe , puts immortality upon our mortality , impeccability upon our peccancie , and all at the intercession of his Son , who being himself tempted , learnt to succour them who are tempted .

The Four and Twentieth SERMON . PART II. MATTH. IV. 1. Then was Jesus led-up of the Spirit into the wilderness , &c.

HEre we have the Field where our Saviour coped with our adversary the Devil , and the Manner how he was brought thither : He was led-up of the Spirit . Which motion excludeth both all violence in the person leading , and all rashness and inconsiderateness in the person lead . The Spirit leads gently : and the quiet and gentle leading of the Spirit is as a document to us not to follow unadvisedly , or indeed rather not to out-run the Spirit . For when we run thus in haste , we commonly run our selves out of breath . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Nazianzene ; Every man is commonly very hot in the beginning ; but the nearer and nearer he comes to the object , the fainter and fainter he grows ; and when he meets it , he falls down for want of spirit ; now a zelote , anon a Laodicean ; now consumed with zeal , anon chill and cold ; now a Seraphim , but by and by a stone . The reason hereof is from the Will of man , which may easily be inclined and carried to any object , though never so terrible , whilst there is nothing to move the Sense , and by the Sense 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the irrational part of the soul ; because there the Reason doth but fight with a shadow and representation of evil , but here with the evil it self full of horror and affrightment , naked as it is : Which now hath a double force , both upon the Sense and Apprehension , and by its operation on the one multiplies its terror on the other ; and the more it is felt , the more it is understood ; far more terrible in its approach then in our books or contemplation . And therefore it will not be safe for us to challenge and provoke a temptation , but to arm and prepare our selves against it ; to stand upon our guard , and neither to offer battel , nor yet refuse it . Sapiens feret ista , non eliget ; It is the part of a wise man not to seek for evil , but to endure it . And to this end it concerneth every man to exercise 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his spiritual wisdome , that he may discover Spiritûs ductiones , & diaboli seductiones , the Spirit 's leadings , and the Devil's seducements ; lest he do not only seek tentations , but create them ; and make that a provocation to evil , which bespeaketh only his obedience or patience ; lest I conceive that the Spirit sendeth me when I resist him , when I do 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , fall cross with him , and run violently against him . And this we have gained by the Spirit 's Leading .

We descend now in campum certaminis , into the place of tryal , the Wilderness : For thither Jesus was led ; amongst the wild beasts , saith St. Mark ; into the most forsaken and solitary desart , as some have made the discovery ; a mountainous place between Jerusalem and Jericho , not far from Galgala , the place where he that fell amongst thieves was wounded , where Luke 10. 20. John Baptist was before he baptized . And their conjecture is probable , because that desart is neer unto Jordan : So that the journey was not long from Jordan , where Christ was baptized , to this desart , where he was tempted . We will not stand much upon the place , or curiously search whether it were this or any other ; but rather modestly inquire the reasons why our Saviour would withdraw himself into a solitary place , there to be tempted . And here , as we cannot be so unreasonable as to think that Christ had no reason to induce him to withdraw himself for a while , ( for this were to conceive that he was led thither by chance , and not by the Spirit ) so we must not coin reasons of our own , and then set his image and superscription upon them ; not frame conclusions , and then make his actions , which are nothing like them , the premisses out of which they are naturally drawn . For this hath been the mother of all Error and Superstition : And , as Martin Luther says , Nihil periculosius Sanctorum gestis , Nothing is more dangerous then the actions of the Saints when they are mistaken ; so may we of Christs . For whilst we dote upon our own phansies , and then gaze and look to find them in the action of this Saint or that , or of Christ himself , by a kind of justice it falls out that we lose our sight , and walk in the dark , and think , when we have buried our selves alive in idleness , and a fruitless solitude , that even then we are with John Baptist , or with our Saviour , in the Wilderness . The resolution of Tertullian is most safe , malo minùs sapere , quàm contra ; It is better a great deal to know less , then amiss ; And not to know every reason which moved our Saviour to this retiredness , then for some ends of our own peremptorily to conclude this or that was the reason , which is none at all . Divers conjectures are given by the learned : I. That he wes led into the Wilderness to find that Sheep which was lost in Paradise , in the desart of the world . II. To provoke the Enemy , and conquer him in his own place : for he is said to walk through dry places . III. To draw the picture , as it were , and propose to Matth. 1● . 13. us the true patern of a Poenitentiary , who must learn to go out of the world by contemning it , as those did whose faith is commended Hebr. 11. Of whom the world was not worthy , who wandred in desarts and in mountains , and in dens and caves of the earth . IV. To be free from importunity and trouble , that he might fast without interruption his full forty dayes . V. For prayer ; which requires the collection and retirement of the whole man . VI. To add autority to his preaching and doctrine , that by his secession he might be thought to be sent from God , as Elijah and John Baptist were . VII . Some have been so bold as to conclude , that here he laid the foundation of a Monastical and Eremitical life ; as if , because Christ went aside for forty dayes , they were most like unto Christ who did seclude themselves in desarts , in caves , in cells , or shut up themselves between two walls all the dayes of their life . Many other reasons have been framed , according to the several constitutions and tempers of mens minds , and a● every man hath been willing to find himself in Christ . We shall make choice of some few , not censuring any but the last ; and draw up all within the compass of these three : 1. That he was led into the wilderness to prepare himself for his great work and office ; or rather , to teach us so to do , and not to venture upon any high employment without due preparation . 2. To sequester himself for prayer ; to teach us to be alone , to take our selves from the world , when we pray . 3. Lastly , by this his retirement to draw to us a resemblance of a Christian mans life , which is nothing else but a secession and a holy pilgrimage out of the world . And having past over these , we shall in the close remove the pretended reason which draws down this action of Christ to countenance and confirm that high and ungrounded estimation which many have of a solitary life , placing perfection in that alone , as if a Christian never appeared in his full beauty but when he comes forth in a Monks cowle or in the habit of a Pilgrime and Eremite . Of these in their order .

And first , our blessed Saviour , before he puts his hand to that great work which was enjoyned him by his Father , withdraws himself from the society of men , and from the sight of his parents , afflicts his body with fasting , and fills his mind with holy and divine meditations . And this he did , as for us men and our salvation , so for our instruction also , teaching us not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by his precepts , but also 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by his example , to fit and prepare our selves for our office , and not to attempt any work of his 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with unwashed hands . Thus did Moses and Elijah , and Jeremiah , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , separate themselves for a while to God alone , saith Nazianzene ; then to receive 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a divine initiation ; and then to give precepts , to work miracles , and prophesie . Thus did Basil and Nazianzene and Augustine and other holy men of God withdraw themselves , and laying aside all other cares , were intent on themselvs alone and on God : And in this solitude , as in a heavenly shop , as the Father speaks , they did shape and form Christ in themselves , that from thence they might come forth more able servants of their Master , and more learned teachers to the people , and might present Christ unto them as they by long study had formed him in themselves ; present him as a meek Saviour to the Angry , as a liberal Redeemer to the Covetous , as a Patient Master to the Froward ; that they might present him in such a shape as that the beauty of it might transform others into the likeness of him . Thus did they go as it were with Moses into the Sanctuary , and seek for light and counsel from God , that they might after break forth into action , and shine as bright in the world . It is reported of Augustine , and he writes of it himself , that being urged by Valerian the Bishop to take the common care and government of the people upon him , he earnestly withstood him , and with many intreaties besought him that in the time of Lent he might cease from that labor , and prepare himself for that office legendo , orando , plangendo , by reading and prayer and mourning , and thus become acquainted with those wayes and means whereby which he might labor with more happiness in his work . Many like examples might be brought . But this hath been the practice not only of holy men , but of heathen men . Thus did Tully and Antony and Crassus make way to that honor and renown which they afterward purchased in eloquence ; Thus did they pass à solitudine in scholas , à scholis in forum , from their secret retirements into the schools , and from the schools into the pleading-place . Thus did Demosthenes by his looking-glass in his chamber learn that gesture which might take the eye of the spectator , and by the noise of the sea learnt to bear the tumult of the auditory : So that Valerius Maximus says wittily of him , Alterum Demosthenem mater , alterum industria enixa est ; His Mother brought forth one Demosthenes , and his Industry another . And this even Nature it self teacheth : Nihil magnum citò vult effici : Nature hath so ordered it , that nothing of any great moment can be suddenly brought forth . Every work must find us fitted and prepared for it , or else , when we set about it , we shall find it will fly out of our reach , For every great work is res difficilis & morosa , coy and hard to be woed . Hence the Philosopher gives it as a reason that there be so few wise men , Quia sapientiam pa●●i dignam putant quam nisi in transitu cognoscant , Because most men have so low an opinion of Wisdom that they think her not worth the saluting but by the by . Let us look into our selves , and we shall find the reason why we are no better then we are , is , Because we do not reverence our selves , but think that any thing will become us , that we may retain the honor of a Man , and yet stoop down to those actions which make us worse then the beasts that perish . And this befalls us in the performance of any great work ; The reason why we do not perfect it as we should is , Because we do not reverence it as we should . We think to give an Almes is but to fling a mite into the treasury ; to Fast , but to abstein for a day ; to Pray , but to say , Lord , hear me , or ( which is worse ) to multiply words without sense ; to Preach , but to speak an hour ; to be a Hearer , but to come to Church ; to be a Bishop , but to put on a mitre ; to be a King , but to wear a crown ; And this is to disesteem and undervalew these duties : This is to be officiperdae in this sense also , to destroy our work before we begin it . For what place can our work have amongst those thoughts which stifle it ? and where the birth is so sudden and immature , how can it chuse but prove an abortive ? I cannot conceive but that our Saviour could have performed the work he came about without this preamble or preparation : but yet in honor to this great work he would first step aside , and not suddenly enter upon it , but by degrees ; first retire , and fast , and pray , and then work miracles ; To teach us that a Christian is not made up in haste , that no good work will beget it self between our fingers , nor come towards us unless we fit and prepare our selves to meet it . And yet some there be who are willing to think that this is more then needs ; that it is in the greatest profession that is as it was in the Cirque-shews amongst the Romans , Odiosa circensibus pompa , that as there , so in this , all pomp and shew and preparation is in vain ; that the sooner they enter upon it , the more dextrous they shall be in the performance ; Divines , as Nazianzene terms them , of a day old , made up ut è luto statua , assoon as you can make a statue of clay . No desart that they will go to , no cell that they will retire to , no secession that they will make ; but presently upon the work they enter , leap into the Pulpit ; and there they stir and make a noyse , semper agentibus similes , like unto those who are alwaies busie ; or indeed rather like unto those spirits in minerals that Cornelius Agrippa speaks of , which digg and cleanse and sever the metals , but when men come to view their work , they find nothing is done . With these men there are no 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , no prefaces , no 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , nothing to be learnt first . All with them is the Work , no study or preparations : All is working of miracles : And indeed one great miracle they work ; Docent antequam discunt , They teach that which they never learnt ; and their skill and art is so teach men that they shall be more ignorant then before . Our Saviour here is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to prepare him for his work ; but these will not prepare themselves because they pretend they are led by the Spirit . Nor is this evil of yesterday , or which befalls the weakest only : but the Devil hath used it in all ages as an engine to undermine this good work ; What men are not able to manage for want of due consideration , to bring in the Spirit as a supply . Tertullian was as wise a man as the Church had any , but being not able to prove the corporeity of the Soul , he flyeth to Revelation in his book De Anima ; Non per ●stimationem , sed revelationem ; We cannot make this good by judgment , but by revelation : Post Joannem quoque prophetiam meruimus consequi ; We have our Revelations as well as St. John . Our sister Priscilla hath plenty of them ; she hath her traunces in the Church , and converseth with Angels , and with God himself , and can discern the hearts and inward thoughts of man . St. Hierom speaking of a Monk in his time , thus describes him ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , There is start up a man who hath exactly learnt all knowledge without a teacher , full of the spirit , his own master ; who like a Carneades can dispute both for and against the truth ; who needs no preparation , but can do what he will , and when he will . But this is not the Spirits manner of Leading : for he leads us by degrees and by a certain method . For even so he led our Saviour , first into the wilderness , and then to his work . And though his leading of the Apostles were extraordinary , yet even them he commands to stay at Jerusalem , and to expect his coming . And although their determinations were subscribed to with a VISUM EST SPIRITUI SANCTO , It seemeth Good to the holy Ghost , yet they conferred one with another , met together in councel , and did deliberate before they did determine . Nor did they once imagine that they had the Spirit in a string , or could command him when they pleased , or call him down to help them in their work sedendo & votis , by sitting still and doing nothing ; that he would fly down unto them , and sit upon them , though they slept . Much less can we imagine that he will wait upon our spirit and humor , and when we have cripled and disenabled our selves for any service of his , in a moment anoint and supple our joynts , and make us active for the highest calling ; when we have put our selves into prison , even thrown our selves into the dark and loathsome dungeon of Ignorance , that he will come to us as the Angel did to Peter , Acts 12. and smite us on the side , and raise us up , and bid us arise up quickly , and go on an ambassage which we do not know ; go set our hands to his plough , which are a great deal fitter for another . Certainly to be a Disciple of Christ is a greater work then to cast our garment about us , to take up the habit of a Minister . No : we must be led into some secret and solitary place , there to fast and pray , to fit and prepare our selves for the work which we have to do , there to taste how sweet the word of God is , to ruminate and chaw upon it as it were and digest it , to fasten it to our very soul and make it a part of us , and by daily meditation so to profit that all the mysteries of Faith and precepts of Holiness may be as vessels are in a well-ordered family , ready at hand to be used upon any occasion . Now this we may imagine to be the work of the Spirit alone : and so it is ; but of the Spirit leading us into the desart , placing us on the mount of Contemplation , there by long study and industry to learn confusa disterminare , hiantia cogere , sparsu colligere ; to separare those things which are confused and mixt together ; to separate Fear from Despair , and Confidence from Presumption ; to draw and unite those things together which are severed , as Faith and good Works , Knowledge and Practice ; and to joyn together those Texts which bid us rejoyce with them which bid us mourn , those which command our Zeal with those which exact our Meekness . Et diligentia & pietas adhibenda est , saith St. Augustine ; alterâ fiat ut quaerentes inveniamus , alterâ ut scire mereamur : We must make use both of our Diligence and Piety ; by the one we find when we seek , by the other we are filled both to seek and find . Unless we follow the Spirit in this his Leading , we have no reason to expect he should lead us further . Aliud est esse vatem , aliud esse interpretem , saith St. Hierome ; It is one thing to be a prophet , another to be an interpreter of Scripture . There the Spirit foretels things to come ; here by our industry and skill in language we give that sense which the words will best bear : Those interpretations now-adayes which are entitled to the Spirit are so dark and obscure , ut interpretes interprete indigeant , that we must take the pains to interpret the interpreters , and find greater difficulty in their explanations then in the Text it self . It will be good therefore first to prepare our selves in private before we lift up our voice like a trumpet ; and , if we will be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , workers together , with the Spirit , to work as he directs us . It is a rule in Quintillian , Ut praeceptorum est docere , ità discipulorum est praebere se dociles : As it is the office of the Master to teach , so is it of the Scholar to be attentive and apt to learn . And it holds true in Divinity also ; As the Spirit is our teacher , so are we bound to observe those rules which he hath drawn out for all those who will be his followers . Res enim aliter coalescere nequit sine discentis docentísque concordia ; For this business will not close and be brought together without an agreement on both sides . If the Spirit will first lead me into the wilderness , and I will presently to the streets of Jerusalem , it is not likely my message should be from the Spirit , whom I have left behind me in the desart . And therefore to prepare our selves to this work , we must observe those rules which a learned Physician gives for the finding out of the truth ; There must be 1. Amor operis , a Love of the work ; 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a love of industry , and earnest study in our preparation ; 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a methodical proceeding and progress ; 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , practice , and exercitation , and a conformity of our operations to the work . And this gold , though it be brought from Ophir , yet may be useful for those who are the living temples of the holy Ghost . My Love kindles a fire in me , and makes me active ; my Industry is ruled by method , that it be not fruitless ; and all is confirmed by Practice : and then the Spirit 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , sets his seal and impression and character , and makes it a good work .

And first , if we ask the question , What moved Christ to make this preparation ? we cannot better answer then by saying it was his Love unto the work ; That he , having loved us first , might provoke us to love him again , and prepare our selves to our work . And to this end Love is a passion imprinted in us , saith Gregory Nyssene , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to this good end , to be leveled and fixed on the work of our Salvation ; Where when it is once fastned , it is restless and unquiet . It will into the wilderness , though it meet with the Devil himself . It passeth all difficulties whatsoever ; & nihil erubescit nisi nomen difficultatis , and is not ashamed of any thing , but that any thing should be too hard and heavy for it . Heat and Light are the two ornaments of the Sun , joyned and united together ; & quò calidior radius , est lucidior ; the hotter the beams are the more light there is . So the Love of a good work and the good Work which we love are as neerly united together as Heat and Light ; and the more Heat in my Love , the more Light in my Work ; and the more my Light shines forth , the more my Love encreaseth . They both are one to another , both mother and daughter , both begotten and begetting .

For again , the love of knowledge , which fits and prepares us to the work of the Gospel , brings in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a love of labor and industry ; Which will not do things by halves , nor bring us to the chair till we have sate at the feet of Gameliel . Thus it is in all the passages of our life . We propose nothing to our selves of any great moment , which we can presently conquer . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Basil ; Even the things of the Devil are not attained without labor and sweat . How laborious is thy Revenge ? how busie thy Cruelty ? how watchful and studious thy Lust ? What penance doth thy Covetousness put thee to ? Vitia magno coluntur , saith Seneca ; Even our vices cost us dear , and stand us at a high rate . And can we expect such an easie and quick dispatch of those things which bring along with them an eternal weight of glory ? Can a negligent and careless glance upon the Bible , can our aery and empty speculations , can our confidence and ignorance streight make us Evangelists ? Or is it probable that Truth should come up è profundo putei , from the bottom of the well , and offer it self to them who stand idle at the mouth and top of it , and will let down no bucket to draw it up ? This indeed is now-adayes conceived to be the Spirits manner of Leading , not about by the Wilderness , by a sequestred life , but streight to Jerusalem , to the holy City ; where there is little enquiry màde whether they have been at Jacobs well , and let down their bucket ; where by many God is served in spirit , but not in truth : And so they be born again of the Spirit , no matter for this water . Who glory in their ignorance , & amant ignorare , cùm alii gaudeant cognovisse , as Tertullian speaks ; Whereas others can receive no satisfaction or content but in knowledge , their great joy it is to be ignorant . Some truth there is in what they say , that the Spirit is an omnipotent agent , but ill applyed by them , That since he can do all things , he will also teach those who will be ignorant , and who do him this great honor to call him Master , when there are no greater non-proficients in the world , ever learning of this good Master , and yet never coming to the knowledge of the truth . It is true , the Spirit is a powerful agent ; but it is as true that he is a free agent , and will not teach them who will not learn ; will not bring us to Jerusalem unless we will first follow him into the desart ; qui pulcherrimo cuique operi proposuit difficultatem , who on purpose hath placed some rubs and difficulties between us and Knowledge , that we may with labor and anxiety work out a way unto it . He hath cast some darkness upon Scripture , that our Industry may strive to dispel it : and in some places , as Heraclitus speaks of the Oracle of Delphos , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he doth neither plainly manifest , nor yet hide the truth , but leaves some glimpse and intimation , that we may search and find it out . It was the saying of Scaevo●a the Lawyer , Jus vigilantibus scriptum , That the Civil Law was written to men awake , who could look about them , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Cujacius adds out out of the Basilicae , not to men asleep . And can we then think that that Knowledge which is saving , which must make us happy , is of so easie purchase that it will be sown in every ground , or , as the Devils Tares , will grow up whilst we sleep ? There is indeed that relation , that sympathy , betwixt the Soul of man and the Truth that there is between the Seed and the Ground : but if it be not tilled and manured , if not cultivated and prepared , it will yield never an ear of corn , but bring forth bryars and thorns .

But we leave this , and pass to the third , which is , Method and orderly proceeding in the wayes of our calling . As in all Sciences , so in the businesses of Christianity , we must not think to huddle up matters hand over head , as we please . Nemo vellus portat ad fullonem ; no man carries his fleece to the Fuller first , before it be spun out and woven : Si te titillat clericatûs desiderium , saith St. Hierome ; If thou hast a kind of spiritual itch , and be tickled with a desire of being a Preacher , if thou thinkest the nearest way to heaven is to go up into the Pulpit , yet at least discas quod possis docere , learn that first which thou mayest after teach , and think there is a pair of stairs unto Knowledge as well as into the Pulpit , and that thither thou must ascend by steps and by degrees . Learn it by thy Sermon ; if any thing may be learnt out of it ; that as thou dividest thy Text , and thou handlest each part in its order , so thou must divide the parts of thy life , and spend them upon those particulars which will promote thy knowledge . Sunt gradus multi per quos ad domum Veritatis ascenditur , saith Lactantius ; There be certain steps and degrees by which we ascend into the house of Truth , and we must pass step by step unto it . For she will admit of no guests who will leap over the wall , but of those onely who come orderly and mannerly in . She looks down as it were upon us , and observes how we come towards her . If we are upon the wing , or leap up two or three steps at once , she shuts her door and turns her back upon us . To see him a Master of a Ship in the Adriatick Sea , who could never rule a cock-boat in a fish-pond , him a Captain who was never yet a Souldier , and him a teacher who is to learn , is a strange kind of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an immethodical disorderly proceeding , which is used in the world : and what can the issue be but a Shipwrack , a Defeat , gross Ignorance and Confusion ?

The last is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , exercise and practice of truths in that order in which we learnt there . This is of singular use to drive them home , as a nayl is by the masters of the assemblies , to make them enter the soul and the spirit , the joynts and the marrow ; to do something by way of preparation which may bear some affinity and correspondence with the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the chief work , we have to do . Our preparations must not be like to those prefaces and proems which the old Orators used to frame and lay by them to serve for any tract or oration : but it must be such as will fit and joyn it self to the work , and be one entire piece . You see our Saviour here makes use of Solitude and Fasting and Prayer : and what more agreeable then these to the work which he had to do , which was indeed to go about doing good , and then to suffer death for the sin of the world , which was now no paradise but a wilderness ? It is a sign of a happy progress when our preparation is a kind of type and presage of our work ; when our rising is fair ; when the beholder may say , He is much given to meditation ; it is like he will be a Divine ; He is gone into the wilderness , he hath retired himself ; sure he hath some great work in hand . But the event is most unprosperous when Idleness and Ignorance are made the key of the Scripture , when Darkness must usher in the Light , and Belial be a fore-runner to God . No work ends well which begins not well , which is taken in hand without due preparation . When we have taken any great work upon us , it will be good for us to follow our Saviours method , first retire from the world , and go out into the wilderness ; first fast and pray , and then work miracles . And so much be spoken of the first reason of our Saviours Secession , his Preparation to his work .

The second is , That he might be fitter for Prayer . In monte orationi adhaeret ; miracula in urbibus exercet ; For Prayer he chuseth the mountain , for his Works the city . He prayed all night , saith the Father , and wrought his miracles in the day . Our Saviour often retired , as we find in Scripture , and for this end . And when he gives us directions for Prayer , one is , Enter into thy chamber , into thy closet ; Shut thy door ; Hide thy self for a little Isa. 26. 20. time . Which are works pointing out to those things which must be done without noise . Every good work requires the whole man , a soul divided and taken from the world ; but especially Prayer , which is ascensus mentis in Deum , a kind of an ascent of the mind unto God . SURSUM CORDA , Lift up your hearts ; They are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , mystical words : But how can we lift up a heart of flesh . It is much it should ascend , having such a weight upon it as the Body , having an Eve which cannot alwaies be closed , an Ear which cannot ever be shut ; but when the weight of Sin hangs upon it , when it is clog'd with impertinent thoughts , how should it ascend ? Nunc creberrimè in oratione mea aut per porticus deambulo , aut de faenore computo , saith St. Hierome ; Now many times it falls out in my prayer that I do nothing less then pray : I cry for Mercy , but the thought of Judgment is loud ; I pray for chastity , when lustful thoughts sport in my heart . I walk , I talk , I fight , I dispute , I tell money in my prayer ; and indeed I do but say my prayers . Therefore intention of mind is most necessary to Prayer ; which is torn and distracted if it be not fastned on God alone . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is thought to be an Apostolical Constitution ; Be thou not double-minded in thy prayer . Let not one thought stifle another , the thought of the world quench the desire of a blessing . Let not thy wandring imaginations contradict thy Prayers . Let not thy Devotion be stained with bloud , or polluted with lust , or spotted with the world . Quomodo te à Deo audiri postulas , saith Cyprian , cùm teipsum non audis ? How canst thou hope to be heard of God , when thou dost not hear thy self ; how canst thou expect that he should understand thee , when thou canst not tell thy self what thou meanst ? when thou art to thy self a barbarian ? How can thy soul parley with thy God in such a Fayre and concourse of evil thoughts ? How canst thou ask a blessing from the Father which is now in heaven , when thou hast so many companions about thee from the earth earthly ? Thou askest for bread , but thou desirest a stone : Thou askest for grace , but thy mind is on riches : Thou askest fish , but thy hand is reached out to that Serpent which will sting thee to death . It might be said unto thee as St. Hierome once said to his Friend when he found him in ill company , What make you in such a troop ? What dost thou on thy knees , when so many loose thoughts round thee about ? What should a beadsman do in such a throng ? But this , miserable men that we are ! many times befalls us , because we do not retire , and call our thoughts out of the world . It is true that Devotion may mingle it self with the common actions of our life . Arator ad stivam HALLELUIAH cantat , The plowman may sing an Halleluiah at the plow-tail . He may collect some sacred colloquie . SERERE NE METUAS ; If I miss this season , I shall have no harvest : If I remember not God in my youth , he will forsake me in my age . And God hears from heaven that prayer of his which he makes with his bow or hammer in his hand . But yet many times in the affairs of our life there is a kind of dust gathered , which soyls and darkens the brightness of our Devotion ; Which when we have brushed off by sequestring our thoughts from the world , it will be more cleer . Sometimes we must , as St. Hierome speaks , Intrinsecùs esse cum Deo , be within in our hearts with God alone , so busie in our colloquie with him , so amazed at his Majesty , so trembling at his Justice , so ravisht at his Mercy , so swallowed up in the contemplation of him , that we even forget our selves , that we lose our selves , that we annihilate our selves ; that we have eyes , and see not ; ears , and hear not : that when a covetous thought would steal in at the windows of our eyes , we may be blind ; and if musick be loud , we may not hear it . Some have so wrought upon themselves that they have forgot to eat , to taste , to speak . The Legend tells us of St. Agnes , as I remember , that in her devotion she was lifted three foot above the ground . And he that wrote the life of St. Bernard reports it of him , that he was so given to prayer and meditation , that living a whole year in his cell or chamber in a Monastery , when he came forth , he knew not whether it were cieled or no ; and when there were several windows in it obvious to the eye , he thought there had been but one . In these , whether fables or truths , this truth is pointed to , That when we tender our prayers to God , we should abstract our selves from our selves and from the things of the world ; That we should not come to him till we have cast our cares & our thoughts behind us . The Beads-mans Motto is , NON ALIUD NUNC CURO QUAM NE CUREM ; I have but one care in this world , and that is , that I may never have more . When I call upon God , God doth as it were put forth his hand and beckon to me to escape from the world , not to be multiplex & varium animal , not to divide and distract my self , and part my self out to variety of objects ; but be one in my self , that I may be one with him . The Psalmist prays unto God , Psal. 86. 11. Unite my heart to fear thy name . The Vulgar rendereth it , LAETETUR COR MEUM , Let my heart rejoyce . Hierome out of the Hebrew , UNICUM FAC COR MEUM , Make my heart one and alone . And so Symmachus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which is the same . Aquila ; SIT COR MEUM 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Let my heart be alone ; Let it be more retired and secluded from the world then any Monk , that it may be free from the thought of things below , that it may behold nothing but thee , that it may be all thine ; that in respect of the world it may be like unto those who have been dead long ago . Thus when the Mind is taken from the Sensual part , it begins to reflect upon it self , and then beholds its own wants , its want of piety , its want of sincerity ; then it beholds ictus & laniatus , those gashes and wounds which Sin hath made in it ; then it sees clearly to behold that receptacle , which should have been a temple of the holy Ghost , turned into a stews , a place for Ohini and Ziim to dance in , for the Devil to sport in . And after this sad survey of it self , it is restless and unquiet ; it strives to empty it self of sin , to vent it self out in sighs and groans unspeakable , to send it self gushing out of the eyes in rivers of tears , and to breath it self forth at the mouth by an humble confession . And now , whether in the body or out of the body we cannot well tell , but it makes haste to be at rest , it presseth forward towards the Mercy-seat , and is as restless in her importunity as she was in her sin ; never gives over till those wounds and gashes be cured by the bloud of her Saviour , till his sighs and groans speak for ours ; never rests till the hand of Mercy wipe all tears from our eyes , and treasure them up in a bottle . This is the work of a devout soul . And he that will be such a Beads-man , must make his Senses follow his Mind , and not his Mind his Senses ; which may be brought , saith Pliny , to have no other object then that which the Mind hath ; when they are taken from their own . And thus I learn to be blind , though I have light ; to be deaf , though I have my hearing ; with our Saviour to go out of the world into the wilderness , or by my Christian art make the world it self a desart .

And here to shut up what hath been said with a short application to our selves ; We of this Nation , in the first place , have great reason to be jealous over our selves with a godly jealousie , and just cause to fear that we have not come so prepared to duty as we ought . For what hath been the fruit and effect of these our many Fasts , of these our many Prayers ? Certainly , the cloud which hung over our heads is more thick and dark then before . And , as the Prophet speaks , The Syrians before , and the Philistines behind , Isa. 9. 12. and they both devour Israel with open mouth . For all this his anger is not turned away , but his hand is stretched out still . What shall we say ? Hath God forgotten to be merciful ? or is that inexhausted fountain of Goodness drawn dry ? Or can the God of peace delight in those civil or uncivil broyls ? Can he that shed his bloud for us delight to see ours spilt as water on the ground ? No : We must seek for the reason at home in our own breasts ; and St. James hath shewn us how we should find it , chap. 4. 2 , 3. Ye lust , and have not : ye kill , and desire to have , and cannot obtain : ye fight and war , yet ye have not , because ye ask not . Ye ask , and receive not , because ye ask amiss . We pray for Peace , and lift up hands full of bloud and oppression . We pray to God to settle the pillars of the Kingdome , when our study is to shake them ; to be favourable to Sion , when we fight against it . And therefore saith God , When you spread your hands , I will hide mine eyes from you , and when you make many prayers , I will not hear : for your hearts are full Isa. 1. 15. of bloud . Will we have our prayers effectual ? We must take the Prophets counsel in the next verse , Wash you , make you clean from oppression , cruelty and deceit . This is the best preparation to Prayer . If we will hearken unto God , he will incline his ear to us ; and if we love Peace , and pursue it , the God of peace will give it . Thus if we we call upon him , he will hear ; and thus if we cry unto him , he will answer , here I am . Here I am , as ready to crown you with blessings as you are to ask them , as ready to send peace within your walls as you are to desire it , ready to crown you with external peace here , and with eternal hereafter .

Again , when we pray we must follow our Saviours example , and withdraw our selves and retire . When he had sent the multitude away , he went Matth. 14. 23. up into a mountain apart to pray . And he went forward a little , and fell Mark 14. 35. on the ground , and prayed . In Gethsemane he withdrew himself from his Disciples , that he might more freely pour forth his soul unto God . Retiredness is most fit for passionate and affectionate prayers . Then our passions may best vent themselves : Then our Indignation , our Fear , our vehement Desire , our Zeal , our Revenge , may work freely upon the whole man ; 2 Cor. 7. 11. may force tears from our eyes , and sobs from our tongues ; may beat our breasts , and cast our bodies on the ground . Then Ingeminations and Reiterations and Expostulations are more seasonable . That which peradventure Modesty would stifle in company , in our secret retirements is the true eloquence of a wounded soul . There God will hear us when we speak , and he will hear us when we do not speak . He will understand us when we express our selves ; and he will understand us when our sorrows and tears are so great that we cannot express our selves . There every sigh is a prayer , every groan a loud cry : and though our language be imperfect , and come short of our wants , yet is it easie and plain to him , because it comes from a broken heart . And therefore what here by ensample Christ teacheth us , he giveth us a rule , To pray in private , To pray in our closet , and he promiseth Matth. 6. 5 , 6. that our Father that seeth , that heareth in secret , wil● reward us openly . He will lead us through the wilderness of this world into a paradise of pleasure , where all tears shall be wiped from our eyes ; where there shall be no more sorrow , no more travel , no more fighting ; but peace , and rest , and joy and glory for evermore .

We have done now with the two first reasons , or conjectures rather , why our blessed Lord and Master went into the wilderness . We come now to the third ; which was , That by this his Retirement he might draw out to us the resemblance of a Christian mans life , which is nothing else but a Secession and holy Pilgrimage out of the world . For as the Wilderness is indeed a part of the world , and yet in a manner out of the world , so is Christ in the wilderness a fair representation of a Christian , who lives in the world yet is not of the world , who is a part of the world , yet separate from it ; who is no sooner born into the world , but is taught to renounce it . As Joseph is called a Nazarite in the Latin Translation ; not that he was of Gen. 49. 26. that order , or observed their Law , which was made many ages after ; but that by his strictness and severity of life , by his piety and innocency , he was severed and removed from others , whose lives were irregular ; and therefore he is said to be separate from his brethren . Or as Macarius calls a virtuous man 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a stranger , a barbarian to the World , in St. Pauls sense , because he understands not the World , nor the World him . The 1 Cor. 14. 11. Apostle repeats it again and again , that the Patriarchs were but strangers Heb. 11. in the land which was given them ; in their own land , yet strangers . Howsoever God had promised them an inheritance in Canaan , yet they took his word in another and higher sense , of the spiritual Canaan . They abode in the land of promise as in a strange country , looking for a city having a foundation , whose builder and maker is God : Which was to make a wilderness ; in Canaan ; nay , to make the land of Promise it self a Wilderness . Hence St. Hierome is positive and peremptory , That the Saints in Scripture are no where called inhabitatores terrae , the Inhabitants of the Earth , or of the World ; but that it is a name alwayes given to sinners and wicked persons , to those of whom it is written , Wo to the inhabitants of the earth . St. Augustine Rev. 8. 13. saith , the wicked do only habitare in mundo , dwell and have their residence in this world , and may pass into a worse , but never into a better place ; but the righteous can only be said esse , to be there , to have a being and existence there ; to be there as the Angels are said by the Schoolmen to be in uno loco quod non sint in alio , to be in one place , not circumscriptively , but because they are not in another ; to be in the world , but not of the world ; to be in this world , because they are not yet in the other ; to be on earth , because they are not yet in heaven . It is a hard saying this , and an unwelcome doctrine to flesh and bloud , to the children of this world ; That we should be sent into the world ideo ut exeamus , to this end that we should go out of it ; be placed in Jerusalem , and then bid to go out into the wilderness ; be seated in such a paradise , and then driven out of it , even whilst we are in it ; be set to till the ground from whence we are taken , to digg and labor as in a mine , and then be taught to be afraid and run from the works of our own hands : to see Beauty , which we must not touch ; Fruit , which we must not taste ; Riches and Treasure , which we must tread under foot . It is indeed a hard saying ; but even Scripture and Reason have made it good , and seal'd and ratifi●d it for a truth . They are not of the world , even as I am not of the world , saith Christ John 17. 16. of his Disciples . A Christian is no more of the world then Christ himself . I have chosen you out of the world : which is in a manner a drawing them John 15. 19. out into the Wilderness . I have chosen you out of the world , to hate and contemn it , to renew and reform it ; to fight against the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , which is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , all that is in the world . 1 John 2. 16. St. John the beloved Disciple , who leaned on Christs breast , was nearest to him , and learned this doctrine from him , exhorts us not to love the 1 John 2. 15. world , nor the things of this world . And not to love it here is to hate it ; and Hatred is as a wing to carry us away in haste into some wilderness from that thing we hate . If we hate the world , we shall not endure to look upon it , much less to stay and dwell in it , or build a tabernacle here . Love not the world . Fly afar off , and retire not only from those sins and vices which all men know and confess to be so , which are branded with a mark , and carry their shame in their forhead , but even from those deviations and enormities which by the profit and advantage they bring have gained some credit and repute amongst men , have not only scaped the stroke of reprehension , but are crowned with praise ; and because they thwart not the statutes of Omri , and may consist with the laws of men , are new Christians as it were , and have the names of those virtues given them which are perfect and consummate in that obedience alone which is due to the Gospel of Christ and to the Law of God . Love not the world , is a sequestring , a kind of deportation , a banishment of us not only out of the world , but out of the confines and borders of it , even from that which weak Christians , and not yet perfect men in Christ , judge to be no part of the World . Love it not ; look down upon it , crucifie it , as St. Paul did . By the virtue of Christs cross I am crucified to the world . The World looks Gal. 6. 14. down upon me with scorn and contempt and indignation . And the world is crucified unto me ; I look down upon it with the like scorn and contempt . I pass by it , and revile it , and wag my head ; I look upon it as upon a dead corpse , which I must not touch ; as upon a crucified thief , who is expos'd to shame . To conclude this ; As Christ withdrew himself from the City and multitude into the Wilderness , so doth the Christian withdraw himself from the World : He is not of the World , he is chosen out of it ; he loves it not , but looks upon it as upon a dead carrion , and crucified carkase , a loathed object , an abomination , which threatens not only the ruin of the Temple , but even of Christianity it self .

And this will be more evident , if we consider the nature either of Man , that is led , or of the Spirit , that leadeth us ; Man being elemented and made up in this world to look towards another , and the Spirit of God being a lover of Man , a lover of the image of God , and ready to lead him out . For first as Man , when he builds a house , first sits down , and consults what use he shall put it to ; so God , the Creator of the world , who made the world for mans sake , made up Man also to be made an ensample of his Wisdome and Goodness , made him to worship him , chalked out his way , beckon'd and called lowd after him to follow him in that way , that so at last , as it were by so many steps and degrees , by the example of his Son and the conduct of his Spirit he might bring him out of the world unto himself . I have made thee , I have created thee , I have formed thee for my Isa. 43. 7. glory , saith God by his Prophet ; to communicate my goodness and wisdome , to make thee partaker of the Divine nature , to make thee a kind of God upon earth , by which according to thy measure and capacity thou mayest represent and express God . In homine quicquid est sibi proficit ; There is nothing in Man which is not advantageous to him , which may not help to carry him through this world to the region of Happiness . We cannot doubt of his better part , his Soul : for that being heavenly and a spark , as it were , of the Divine nature , cannot but look upward and look forward too upon its original ; must needs be ashamed and weary of its house of clay , and be very jealous of the World , which is but a prison , and hath greater darkness and heavier chains to bind and fetter the Soul it self . And therefore when it looks on the World , and reflects and takes a full view of it self , and considers that huge disproportion that is between the World and an immortal Soul , you may find it panting to get out . As the hart panteth after the rivers of water , so panteth my soul after thee , O God , saith David ; and , When shall I appear before the living Lord ? Now was David recollected and retired into himself ; now was he in his wilderness , communing with his own heart . We cannot doubt of the Soul , whilst it is a soul , and not made fleshy , immersed and drowned in sensuality . If it be not led by the Flesh , but lead it self , out of the world it will , and return to its rest , to its retirement . But then even the body being thus animated with such a soul , may help forward the work . Glorifie God in your 1 Cor. 6. ●0 . body , saith St. Paul . Not only withdraw your Souls , but your Bodies also , out of the world . For as God breathed in the Soul , so his hands have made and fashioned the Body , and in his book are all our members written . He made Psal. 139. 16. the whole man , both Soul and Body , and built it up as a Temple of his blessed Spirit . And if the Soul be the Sanctuary , the Body is the Porch : and his hand moves from the inward parts to the outward , from the Sanctum sanctorum to the very door and entrance . What is there almost in this our retirement from the World which is not done by the ministry of the body ? Our Fasting , our Prayers , our Alms , haec de carnis substantia immolantur Deo , these are all sacrificed to God of the substance of the flesh . What is Martyrdome ? That certainly is a going out of the world . And this advantage we have above the Angels themselves : We can dye for Christ , which the Angels cannot do , because they have no bodies . So that you see the end for which Man was made and sent into the world , was to be ever going out of it . His natural motion , and that which becomes him as Man , is to move forwards : Which motion is made easier every day by the word of the Spirit , by the Gospel of Christ , by the power of which the Eye that was open to vanity is pluckt out , the Hand that was reaching at forbidden things is cut off , the Ear which was open to Every Sirens song is stopped , the Phansie checked , the Appetite dulled , the Affections bridled , and the whole man sequestred and abstracted out of the world .

And now , in the second place , if we consider the nature of the Spirit , what should he inspire Man with but with that which fits him and his condition ? Whither can he , who made him , lead him but to himself , to his original ? To all that are in the world the voice of the Spirit is , Come out of it ; escape for your lives ; Look not behind you ; neither stay in it . Fly into the wilderness ; Rest your selves in the contemplation of the Goodness and Mercy of God . This is the dialect of the Spirit : nor can he speak otherwise . For Heaven and Earth are not so opposite as the Prince of this world and the Spirit of God ; Who hates Mammon , till we make it our friend ; reviles the things of this world , till they help to promote us to things above ; forbids those things which are without , till we make them useful to those things which are within : Who convinceth , reproveth , condemneth , and will judge the world . If you are so greedy of the things of this world that you would have stones made bread , if you go into the City and climb the pinacle of the Temple , if from the mountain you take a survey of the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them , you may know who hath you by the hand . The Text doth intimate that the Devil doth then take us up . The Spirit of God leads us in the wayes of Gods Providence , unknown to the world ; he takes us into the wilderness , far from the noyse and business of this world ; he leads us not to the mountain to view kingdoms , but draws us down into the valley , there by an humble dependance on God to learn to contemn the world . The Flesh fighteth against the Spirit ; and so doth the world ; and these are contrary . And as many as are led by the Spirit , are the sons of God , saith St. Paul : Which they cannot be till they renounce the World . For what is our Filiation , our Adoption , but a receiving us out of the world into his family ? We must leave the world behind us before we can say , Abba , Father . In a word , the Spirit of God doth in a manner destroy the World before its dissolution ; makes that which men so run after , so wooe , so fight for , as dung : or at best , it makes the world but a Prison , which we must struggle to get out of ; but a Sodom , out of the which we must haste to escape to the holy Hill , to the mountain , lest we be consumed ; or but a Stage to act our parts on , where when we have reviled , disgraced , and trod it under foot , we must take our Exit , and go out .

Let us now draw down all this to our selves by use and application . Here we may easily see what it is to which the Spirit leads us . It leads us out of the world into the wilderness , from the busie noyse and tumults there to the quiet and sweet repose we may find in the contemplation and working of a future estate : He leads the carnal man to make him spiritual . For what Ezek. 2. 6. is a Christian mans life but a going out of a world full of Scorpions , a leaving it behind him by the Conduct of the Spirit ? The Spirit leads us not , cannot lead us , to the Flesh , nor to the World , which spreads a bed of roses for the Flesh to lye down and sport in . For this is against the very nature of the Spirit , as much as it is for light bodies to descend or heavy ones to move upwards . Fire may descend ; the Earth may be removed out of its place ; the Sun may stand still , or go back ; the sweet influences of the Pleiades may be bound , and the bonds of Orion may be loosed ; Nature may change its course , at the word and beck of the God of Nature : But this is one thing which God cannot do , He cannot change himself . The Spirit of God is a lover of Man , a hater of the World ; and from the World he leads Man to himself . He led not Cain into the field ; it was a field of bloud . He led not Dinah to see the daughters of the land ; she went out , and was defiled . He led not David to the roof of his house ; it was a fatal prospect , it was but a look , and it let in the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , even all that is in the world , at once into his heart . But he leads thee to thy chamber , there to commune with thy own heart : He leads thee to the house of mourning , to learn the end of all men . He leads thee to the Temple , to behold the beauty of the Lord . He leads thee from Bethaven to Bethel ; from the world , to the place where his honor dwelleth . These are the Spirits leadings . His Dictons are , Blessed are the poor ; Blessed are the meek ; Blessed are they that mourn . This is no part of the musick of this World . We find in our books of that Semiramis that famous Queen of Babylon caused this inscription to be written on her Tomb , THAT HE THAT OPENED IT SHOULD FIND IN IT GREAT TREASURE ; which when Darius had read , allured by this fair and promising inscription , he brake it up , but within found no treasure , but a writing that told him that , if he had not been a notorius wicked person , he would not have broken-up the sepulchres of the dead to look for treasure . We may indeed when we read of Riches and Pleasure and Glory in the Word , of great Riches , lasting Pleasures , infinite Joy , feed our selves with false hopes here : but these are but as a fair inscription upon a Tomb , when we have broken them up , read them uncovered , in their proper sense , we shall find nothing but Poverty and Sorrow and Dishonor within , and withal a sharp reproof for those who search the Gospel to find the World there ; or walk to Ophir , to the hills of the robbers , to a Mahumetical Paradise , a Kingdome of Saints upon earth , a Thousand years pleasure , and perswade themselves the Spirit hath them by the hand , and leads them to it . Beloved , Sensuality and Ambition are two the greatest enemies the Spirit hath , and the Spirit fights against them . If Diotrephes will have the highest seat , the Spirit leads him not . If the ground of our Religion be , From hence have we our gain , it is the Prince of this world and not the Spirit who leads us . If we make Religion to Lackey it after us , and accomplish our lusts , we have left the Spirit behind us , & Mammon is our guide . If the Bishop of Rome dream of Kingdoms , of Universal power and Infallibile judgment , it can be no other Spirit that guideth him but such a one as was sent from Rome in a cloak-bag . If we cry down Idolatry and commit Sacriledge , we mistake the Spirit ; Nor can he lead us to both : for he that pulls down Idols , will not also beat down his own Temple to the ground . If we receive the Sacrament , and make it a seal to shut-up Treason , we have prophaned the Spirits seal , and made , as St. Augustine speaks , that which was a sacrament of piety , a bond of iniquity . If we look and fix our eyes upon the earth , and , like that bad Actor , cry , Oh Heavens ! if we run to Honor and Riches , and whatsoever our boundless lusts have set up , with a GLORIA PATRI , Glory to God , in our mouth , it is not the Spirit , but a Legion of Devils , that speaks in us ; for both acknowledge Jesus , but withal ask , What have we to do with thee ? If the World be the hinge we move upon , the Spirit is not in our company . If the Wheel be not lift up from the earth , you may be sure no Cherubin moveth with it . Therefore , to conclude , let us , as Job speaks , be afraid of all our works and actions : and if we find the impress of the World or Flesh upon them , cast them from us as refuse silver and adulterate coyn . Never think that when our walk is toward the Tents of Kedar , the Spirit will bring us within the Curtains of Solomon . Never think that a pretense will make him our Companion , when in our walk we grieve , resist and quench him ; or when we are the Devils Captives , that the Spirit of God leads us . He loaths Uncleanness ; but he did not lead those brethren in evil to the murther of the Shechemites . He looks for the performance of a Vow ; but he did not lead Absalom to Hebron . He will take a gift in his Temple ; but not to enrich a Pharisee . He accepts what is given to the poor ; but not that Judas should put it in his purse ! O what an easie matter is it for flesh and bloud to call-in the Spirit to countenance it , and when it follows its own natural swinge , to draw it along with it , to carry it with more ease and applause to its end ? How soon can we perswade our selves that is lawful which we would have done ? Let us not deceive our selves : Let not Honor , or Riches , or Pleasure , or Power deceive us . For be the pretense what it will , if our eye be on the World , the Spirit leads us not ; for he leads us out of the World , even into the wilderness , to be sequestred from the World , to be alone from the World , by abstinence and meditation and denyal of our selves to fight against it . And this is the victory which overcometh the world , even our Faith , Which is the substance , the expectation , not of Riches , or Honor , or Pleasure , but of things hoped for , the evidence of things which are not seen , nor can be seen in this world , but shall be seen and enjoyed in the world to come .

The Five and Twentieth SERMON . PART III. MATTH. IV. 1. Then was Jesus led-up of the Spirit into the wilderness , to be tempted of the devil .

WE pass from the circumstance of Place to that of Time , Then was Jesus led to be tempted ; Then , when Jesus was baptized ; Then , when the heavens were opened unto him , and when the Spirit had descended like a Dove , and lighted upon him ; Then , when his Commission was sealed as it were by a voice from heaven , This is my beloved Son , in whom I am well pleased : Then , when he enters upon his office , he enters upon temptation . Then , when he was washed , did the Devil attempt to soyl him . Then , when the heavens were opened unto him , was hell opened against him , when the good Spirit descended , was the evil spirit at hand ; and in whom God was well pleased , in him was the Devil ill pleased , and so made forward against him . By this we may learn that , as God hath his time , so hath the Devil his : As God hath his NUNC , his Now , of showring down graces from above , so hath the Devil his TUNC , his Then , of drying them up . NUNC TEMPUS ACCEPTABILE , Now is the acceptable time ; Now is the day of salvation , saith God ; and NUNC TEMPUS DESTRUCTIONIS , Now is the expected time ; Now is the day of destruction , saith the Devil . Time in it self is nothing : Per se non intelligitur , nisi per actus humanos : All the knowledge we have of it is by those acts which are done in it . When we say , This was now done ; this then ; this will be done , we have exprest as much as we can of Time . God works in time : and the Devil hath his time . Then when God hath wrought upon his creature , the Devil , who is a great observer of Time , takes that TUNC , that Then , to destroy his work . You see our Saviour comes no sooner out of the river , but the Devil sets upon him And as he used the Lord , so will he the Servant . Christus speculum Christiani ; Christ is as a Looking-glass , in which every Christian may view himself ; behold himself in his altitudes , and in his depressions ; in the favour of God , and in the danger of the enemy : take notice how God opens heaven upon him , and how the Devil even then opens his mouth to destroy him ; consider that when God is most loving , the enemy is most raging ; that he is never more in danger then when he is most safe ; that he shall find his adversary most fierce when God is his strength : Nunc animis opus est : Now we have most need of courage and resolution , of care and circumspection , when the Devil comes and finds nothing in us , but all that was his washed off by Repentance and Baptism . When we wallow in our own bloud , when we are taken in the Devils snare , circumspection is too late : for we cannot properly be said to be in danger of the enemy when we are taken , but when we have openly renounced him and bid defiance to him by the profession of a new life , then we stand as it were upon the top and brink of the pit , a mark for the Devil to shoot at , that so our spirits may fail us , and we fall back again into the bottom of it . When the danger is past , then is it nearest ; and when we are out of the pit , then are we most ready to fall back again . No wise Captain is ever so confident of peace , so emboldened with the flight of his enemy , as not to prepare for war , which is at his doors when it makes no noyse . Here we may discover the enemies policy ; Primordia boni pulsat , tentat rudimenta virtutum , sancta in ipso ortu festinat exstinguere ; He beats upon the very beginning of Goodness , he assayes the very rudiments and principles of Piety , and makes it his master-piece then to extinguish the light of Grace when it is first kindled in our hearts . This he practised upon Christ : And in the same manner he ventures upon Christians , in their childhood , in their spring , in their new birth ; that they may never grow up to the stature of men ; be seen in their blossom , but not in their blade or ear ; that they may never be perfect men in Christ Jesus . Thus he set upon the first Adam , and thus he set upon the second : and thus he sets upon the sons of Adam . We shall briefly lay before you both the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , both the Doctrine and the Reason ; and shew you both that it is so , and why it is so ; That the Devil takes his time and opportunity , and the reason Why he takes this as his time . And with these we shall exercise your Christian Devotion at this time .

Then was Jesus led forth . By this example of our Captain we his Souldiers may learn what to expect , and draw that lesson for our direction which the Wise-man gave his son , My son , if thou come to serve the Lord , Ecclus. 2. 1. prepare thy soul for tentation . No Moses , but meets with a James and Jambres to withstand him : no Samson but shall meet with the Philistines . If Nehemiah will build up Jerusalem , there will be Samballats and Tobiahs to weaken his hand from the work , that it be not done . If Jeremiah prophesie , the Princes will put him in prison . If there be a great door and effectually opened to St. Paul , there will be many enemies . If we run not on to the same riot with the world , the world will run against us to overthrow us . If we turn our face from the Devil , he will after us to give us a fall . Still the better the work is the more resistance and opposition it shall find . We read that the children of Israel gathered together to Mispeh , and drew water , and poured it out before the Lord , and fasted that day , and 1 Sam. 7. 6. said there , We have sinned against the Lord : that is , They abjured their sins ; they washed them with their tears ; they macerated their bodies with fasting , they put on a strong resolution to serve the Lord . And see , The Philistines no sooner heard of it but suddenly , upon the very report , the Lords of the Philistines went up against them . Now they had cast away from them their false Gods , and had solemnly kept the Fast , not a few souldiers , but the Princes and Lords of the Philistines , are up in arms : And Gregory gives the reason , Quia cum altiori vitâ proficimus , maligni spiritus , qui semper benè agentibus invident , nobis infestiores sunt ; Because the evil Spirits are most enraged when we are least like them , and the Devil is never more a Devil then when we have renounced him . For he deals with us as Laban did with Jacob. For twenty years together , whilst he served Gen. 31. 23. him , Jacob led a quiet and peaceable life : but when he left his service and fled from him , then Laban pursues him as an enemy . So whilst we do the Devil service , and are led by him according to his will , we find not those fightings without and terrors within ; we are not sensible of molestation , but run on with ease in those wayes which lead unto death : but when upon better deliberation we resolve with our selves to shake off his yoke ; and to fling his bonds from us , then he prepares his deadly weapons ; he smites us with the hand , and smites us with the tongue ; he disgraces our endeavours , and disgraces the work it self ; he pursues us , as Laban did Jacob , flings his darts thick after us , and every day multiplies his tentations . When Jacob had sent all he had over the brook Jabboh , and was left alone , Gen. 32. 24. the Text says , a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day . I cannot but reject the phansie of Procopius out of the Rabines , That this Man was no other but the Devil : yet the reason upon which they grounded their opinion is it self grounded upon a truth : That the Devil did now invade and set upon him because he was now slipt out of his hands , and had withdrawn himself out of that place where Idolatry breathed , that he might worship God in sincerity and truth . For thus doth the Devil present himself unto us in a shape of beauty and delight , like an Angel of light , whilst we sleep in darkness , but when we are awake and bestir our selves to fly from that wrath which is now visible to our eye , he sets upon us , and wrestles with us , toucheth the hollow of our thigh , puts it out of joynt , that we may faint and sink under our resolution . Non obsidet mortuos , sed impugnat viventes , he fights not against the dead , but the living . Non impugnat adversarius nisi milites Christi , saith Cyprian ; Christs Adversary strikes at none but Christs souldiers . Those who are down already he passeth by ; but his malice heaves at them that stand , that they may fall . He will not bestow a dart upon thee while thou art dead in sin : but when thou beginnest to breathe in the land of the living , then his fiery weapons fly about . He sets not upon thee in the stews , or in the tavern , or in a seditious rout ; for this is his own work , and he fights not against himself : but he sets upon thee in the holy City , in the Temple , in the congregation of Saints . If thou hast a good thought , he will strive to strangle it in the birth : If thou speakest a good word , he will silence thee : If thou hast built up a strong resolution to defie him , his deadly weapons are up to beat it down and demolish it : But if thou strive forward to the top of Sion , to the top of perfection , then to stagger thee and tumble thee down , is his master-piece . He deals with us as the Aegyptians did with the Hebrews : For two hundred years they were in slavery indeed , but their burdens were not so great . When they spoke of sacrificing to the Lord , the Aegyptians upbraid them with idleness ; Vacant , idcirco vociferantur , Exod. 5. 8. They are idle ; and therefore they say , Let us go and sacrifice . But when they thought of flight , and desired to depart out of those coasts ; when Moses and Aaron cry , Let the people go ; then Pharaoh cryes , Get ye to your burdens . OPPRIMANTUR OPERIBUS ; Let there more work be laid upon them , and let them labor therein . In this manner doth our enemy deal with us . When we willingly serve him , when we are as ready to take a bate as he is to offer it , when we are pleased with his flattery , and fall down to those Idols which he sets up , he is not rough and fierce , but a gentle Devil : but when we bid him go , when we shake off his fetters , then he is a tyrant . The application is St. Bernards , That he layes a greater task of brick upon those who are going out of Aegypt . St. Chrysostom Hom. 31. in Gen. compares him to a Pirate , who hoiseth up sails , and follows those ships which are fullest laden . Whilst we are no better then dung-boats , and carry about with us nothing but the filth and corruption of the wo●ld , he never makes after us : But when we are Merchants ships , well fraughted with gold and precious jewels , when we carry about with us the rich Pearl in the Gospel , when he sees us full of Righteousness and Holiness , well ballasted with cheerful Devotion , with watchful Circumspection , with regular Zeal , with that inestimable wealth which makes us rich unto God ; then his envy is on the rack , then his hell is increascd , then he winds about and seeks opportunities to grapple with and boord this elected vessel , this vessel of such a burden . This indeed is a prize . When the people of Israel were now gone out of Aegypt , God gave them a Law , and , he gave unto Moses two tables of testimony , tables of stone , which he had Exod. 20. Exod. 31. 18. written with his own finger , that so they might be taught to renounce the rites and ceremonies of the Aegyptians , and be rightly instructed in the worship of the true God . This was an object the Devil could not look on : For it presented that Law to the eye of the people which led them to true religion , to the detestation of the superstition of the Aegyptians , to the abolishing of all evil customes , to the exstirpation of Idolatry , to the reformation of their manners , to the worship of the true God . And therefore he works upon the people to work upon Aaron , to make them Gods , as if he who had delivered them so often were none . Up , say they , make us Gods which shall go before us . At which sight Moses was angry , and brake Exod. 32. the tables beneath the mount . And so for a God they had a Calf , and for a Divine Law they had their own Invention . So busie is this enemy to digg at the very first foundations of Religion , or upon them to raise his own work : And wheresoever the finger of God is , there doth he lay his claw . If God make Tables of stone , he will set up a Calf . And this our great Captain hath taught us both by his example here , and by his parable Matth. 13. 24. The sower sowed good seed in his ground : but while men slept , his enemy came , and sowed tares amongst the wheat ; SUPERSEMINAVIT ; So the Vulgar renders it . Super seminavit , non seminavit , saith Chrysostome : He did not sow it , as the Wheat , but sowed it upon . Praecedunt Creatoris bona , mala Diaboli post sequuntur ; The good things of God are first ; the Devils work is after . Malum non est natura , sed accidens ; The growth of evil is not natural , but accidental . When the good seed is in the ground , then comes the Devil with his supersemination : and he flings his Tares not in the midst of the Thorns , but in the midst of the Wheat . He strives to choke the best fruit : he strives to sow sin amongst the Saints , contentions amongst the Peaceable , craft amongst the Simple , wickedness amongst Innocents . His sowing is not amongst the Thorns , but the Wheat , not so much to have any fruitful increase of his Tares , as to destroy the Wheat ; not to take the guilty , but to slay the innocent . Of this practice of his we have a fair resemblance Judg. 6. 3. When Israel had sown , the Midianites came up , and the Amalekites , and the children of the east , even they came up against them , and encamped against them , and destroyed the encrease of the earth , so that they were greatly impoverished . Even thus it comes to pass , saith the Father , that when by our spiritual industry and influence from above we have brought forth much fruit , filled our garners with the fruits of holiness , and laid up many rich ears in the closet of our conscience , then by negligence and improvidence these seeds corrupt , and our whole crop and harvest is lost . But indeed the Midianites here and the Amalekites came upon the men of Israel when they had sowen , made haste to their seed-time rather than their harvest : And this more fully expresseth the malice of our Enemy , whose craft and policy it is rather to stay our beginnings , which are but weak , then to slay till we are built up as a temple of the holy Ghost . For then his work will be harder , and he will have less hope to prevail . Cùm Divina lux in mentes humanas spargitur , saith Gregory , mox ab occulto adversario contra fulgentem mentem tentamenta succrescunt ; When God spreads the beams of Divine illumination , then the Devil comes with his mist . When God renews us every day , the Devil winnows us every day . When God commands , the Devil tempts . As God hath his promises , so hath the Devil his . As God threatens , so the Devil threatens . As God inspires us , so the Devil insinuates , and is never more busie about us then when God dwelleth in us and we in him . Then he raiseth up Midianites and Amalekites , then he brings up his troops against us ; then he plyes our Sense and our Phansie ; puts sharpness upon that Goodness which we delight in , and gives a pleasant relish to that Sin which we detest ; makes our friends our enemies , to drive us from piety , and our enemies our friends , to allure us to sin . When David desired to learn Gods statutes , presently it follows , The proud have Psal. 119 68 , v. 69. forged a lye against me : Quantò magìs Deo servis , tantò magìs in te excitas adversarios ; The more thou servest God , the more rubs thou shalt meet with , saith St. Ambrose . The stronger thy resolution is to that which is good , the more violent will be the temptation to that which is evil . In a word ; Thou shalt never find more enemies then when God is thy friend . We see our Saviour did no sooner prepare himself to his office , but presently the Tempter comes to him , even Lucifer himself , saith St. Augustine , that arch-devil , saith Chrysostome , who as he exeeeded other spirits in the excellency of his nature , so he was more subtle and working in his tentations . Nor doth he set upon Christ once , but often . Tentabatur à Satana , saith St. Mark , he was tempted ; Which doth not only signifie the act , but import the frequencie of tentations . And this he suffered not from one Devil alone , but from many , as Eusebius thinks , Lib. 9. De Demonstr. Evang . even then when the holy Ghost had descended upon him : that as God had approved him by his voice , so the Devil might try him by his ; that as he had been baptized with water and the holy Ghost , so he might baptize him with fire ; that as God did crown him with joy , so he might crown him with thorns . Agnosce in Christo haereditatem tuam . We may see in part the lot of our inheritance . Born we are to glory , but born withall to temptations ; in greatest danger , when we are walking out of it ; then most violently assaulted , when we begin to overcome ; when we are fallen , not able to rise ; and when we are risen up , most ready to fall .

We might here enlarge our Discourse : but I had rather tender you the reasons Why it is so . And we draw the first from the Envy of the Devil , who cannot behold God , nor any thing that is like unto him , but is troubled with his beauty , and is troubled with the least reflexion of his beauty ; is troubled with his infinite goodness , and is troubled with his created goodness ; is troubled with his nature , and is troubled with his name . Who if he could , would rob God of his purchase , and would overthrow the heavens , and all that ever God made , all the created substances in the world . Pervicacissimus hostis , nunquam otium sui patitur , saith Tertullian ; His malice is so great that he is never at rest . He watcheth every good thing in its bud to nip it , in its blossom to blast it , in its fruit to spoil it . And then he rageth most when man is delivered from his rage . Tunc accenditur cùm exstinguitur ; Then is he most enflamed when his darts are quencht . And indeed this is the nature of Envy , to be restless , never to sleep . The Hebrews express Envy by the Eye ; Why is thy eye evil ? that is , Why art thou envious ? The Devil hath an eye which is alwayes open , observing not only the fruits of Holiness , but the very seeds . The Poor that is envious looks with an evil eye upon the peny that another hath : He that is illiterate is angry with a letter : he that is weak wisheth all were cripples . This torments the Devil as much as Hell it self . Invidia primùm mordax suis ; Envy hath a venomous tooth , but it is first fastned in it self . It is the pain and death of our Enemy not only to be punished with his own sin , but with our goodness ; not only to be grieved at his own overthrow , but at our hope of victory : and therefore he kindles and is on fire at the sight not only of the Sun , but of a Star , yea at the least scintillation and glimpse of Goodness . A good thought is a look towards heaven ; and this he strives to divert : A good profession is a profer ; and he abates our strength in the way : An Abba , Father , is a call to Love ; and he strives to disinherit us . Ever as we make forward , he is ready to assault us , placing horror in our way , that we may fear to proceed . And like a cunning enemy he sets upon us at our first onset , lest we gather strength . He is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Cyril speaks , fierce and violent in his opposition . A wise-man being askt how a man might preserve himself from the evil eye of Envy , well replyed , Si nihil feliciter gesseris , If thou delight not in the practice of that which is good , and beest not happy in thy undertakings . Extreme Misery hath this priviledge , that it stands out of the ken and reach of Envy . Therefore as St. Augustine tells us , Non invident archangelis angeli , the Angels do not envy the Arch-angels , because they are both eminently good . So we cannot think that the evil spirits do envy one another , because they are eminently evil and equally miserable . It is therefore the duty of a Christian to make himself an object from the envy of Satan , to shew forth those good works which may provoke him , to build up that resolution which may anger him , to make that glorious profession which may torment him . For from his envy we cannot be free till we are like him , till we are Diaboli , ( so his children are called in Scripture ) Devils , as miserable as he . Whilst we lye , like dry bones , at the graves Ezek. 37. mouth , he is quiet and still ; he doth not admoenire , nor legiones adducere , he doth not besiege us , nor draw forth his troops and legions against us ; nec vult artem consumi ubi non potest ostendi , nor will he spend his art and cunning there where he cannot shew it : But when these dry bones hear the word of the Lord , when the spirit breatheth into them , and they live ; when we stand up upon our feet , and make an exceeding great army ; when we make our members the weapons of righteousness to fight against him ; when he hears our songs of praise , when he sees our alms , when our tears drop upon his fire to quench it ; then the Worm begins to knaw ; then he walks about us , and observes in what part we are weakest ; then he is a Serpent , a Lyon , a Devil . Timagenes was well content that Rome should be set on fire ; but it troubled him much that it should rise higher , and be more glorious then before : So it troubleth the Devil to see him who took a fall and a bruise , to be built up stronger then he was ; to see him who was dead in sin become a new creature , and a child of wrath become the son of God . And therefore hither he brings his forces , that if he cannot hinder those beginnings , yet he may stay them there , and stop them at the first , that they may be no more then beginnings ; that a Jew may be circumcised , and no more ; a Christian baptised , and no more ; that Judas may be an Apostle , and no more ; and a Christian have that name , and no more . Well , you may bring out the corner-stone , and cry , Grace , grace unto it ; Well , you may please your selves with the profession of Christianity ; you may lay your foundation than which no other can be laid , a JESUS CHRIST ; but you shall build upon it , not gold and silver and precious stones , but wood and hay and stubble . Satan will suffer thee to contend for that faith which was once delivered to the Saints , to be zealous for the Lord of hosts . This man shall stand up for his Christ ; another shall bring him forth in another shape . Thou shalt dispute for the Truth , thou shalt fight for the Truth ; The world shall be on fire for the Truth : For all this is but noyse : and he is very well-pleased with any noyse but that of Good works : for that comes up into the presence of God . In all other contentions , though the cry be for Religion , he is commonly one . In these out-cryes and exclamations Christ indeed is named , but it so falls out that every man is for him , and every man against him ; every man speaks for him , and every man contradicteth him ; every man cryes Hosanna , Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord , and every man drives him out of their coasts . Religion is the badge , and Religion is the word ; and indeed it is but a badge and a word ; you see and hear all : The rest is Fraud , and Malice , and Uncleanness , a wandring Eye , a wanton Ear , a hollow Heart , a rough Hand : and the name of Christian is taken in by the by to countenance these ; to put a gloss upon our Fraud , that it may be holy ; to colour our Malice with zeal ; to make our Uncleanness the infirmity of a Saint ; as if you drew out the picture of a Devil in every part , and then write underneath , THIS IS A CHRISTIAN . Hitherto the Devil will suffer us to name Christ , if we will but name him . For by this he hath advantage , and our guilt is encreased . Reatus impii , pium nomen , saith Salvian ; Nothing condemns an evil man more then a good name . A common thing it is in the world to prefix a fair and promising title to books of no worth : And this art the Devil is busie to teach us , to put a trick upon God , and deceive him with a fair title page . He cares not how glorious the frontespiece be , so the work be course . Look into the book of a formal Christians life , and you shall find many leaves but blanks , a great part of his life lost in sleep , some blurred and blotted with the Love of this world , some leaves polluted with Uncleanness , others stained with Bloud : You shall see it full of Soloecisius , of gain-sayings and contradictions of Christ . Only there is a fair title page , and the name of this Book is , THE CHRISTIAN SOULDIER . And therefore one rule of our Enemy is , to begin with us , to entangle us at our first setting out . He deals with us as we are commanded to deal with him . As we are to break his head , to suppress the beginnings of Sin , so doth he break ours , and suppress the beginnings of Goodness . For , in the second place , the one will encrease as well as the other . Festucam si nutrias , trabs erit ; si evellas & projicias , nihil erit ; If you nourish a mote , it may become a beam ; but if you pluck it out presently and cast it from you , it will be nothing . This evil thought may grow up to Murder ; but if you check it , it is nothing : So this good thought may be Religion , but if the Devil stifle it , it will be nothing : These beginnings may bring-on perfection ; but if you stop them , they are nothing : This grain of mustard-seed , this little grain , this least of seeds , if you suffer it to grow , may become a tree ; but if you choak it at first , it is nothing . Nihil est fertilius sanctitate ; Nothing is more fruitful and generative then Goodness . For God doth not set us upon vain and fruitless designs : he sets us not to plow the winds , or cast our seed upon the barren rocks ; he doth not tie us by a blind obedience to water a dry stick : but as the Prophet David speaks , our line is fallen unto us in a pleasant place , and we have a goodly heritage , a fruitful soyl , where every seed may increase into many ears of corn , and every eare multiply into a harvest ; where increase makes us more fruitful ; where the liberal soul is made fat , and Prov. 11. 25. he that waters is watered again . Every good thought may beget a good Intention , every good Intention may raise it self up to the strength of a Resolution , every Resolution may bring on Perseverance , every good Action looks forward to another , and that to a third : Patience begets experience ; Experience , Hope ; Hope , Confidence . As it was said of Alexander , Quaelibet victoria instrumentum sequentis , that every conquest he made , made way to a second : So every step we make , makes the way more easie ; every conquest we gain over Satan enables us to chase him again . If we overcome him in our Creed , and believe against all temptations to Infidelity , we may overcome him also in our Decalogue , and bring forth fruits worthy amendment of life against all temptations to Profaneness . He that names Christ , may believe in him ; and he that believes in him , may dye for him . He that gives a peny to the poor , may in time sell all that he hath , and at last lay down his life for the Gospel .

And therefore , in the last place , timet nè virtus convalescat , the Devil is unwilling to suffer Goodness to gather any strength , lest when it is grown up and settled and establisht in the heart , it may prove too hard a matter for him to remove it ; lest what he might at first have stoln away as a Serpent , he shall not be able to take from us though he come like a Lyon . For as it is in Sin , so is it also in Goodness ; It grows up by degrees : Our first onset is with some difficulty ; we are almost perswaded to be Christians ; After some bruises and some recoveries , some slips and some risings , some struglings and some victories , the way is more pleasant ; and at last we run the way of Gods commandments , and make haste to Happiness as to our center . That Fasting which was my melancholy , is now my joy ; that Reproof which was a whip , is now as oyl ; that Prophet whom I persecuted , is now an Angel . What doth God exact at our hand , saith Salvian , but Faith and Chastity and Humility and Mercy and Holiness , quae utique omnia non onerant nos , sed ornant , all which are not as burdens to oppress us , but as rich jewels to adorn us ? What doth Christ require but those things which are convenient and agreeable with our nature , the love of God , and the Love of men ? And certainly the custom of doing good , if it be equal to the custom in evil , is far more pleasant . Far more content is to be found in virtue then in vice , more pleasure in temperance then in surfetting , more complacencie in justice then in Partiality , more delight in piety then in lust . When I have raised my self so high as to delight in the dictates of Nature and in the precepts of the God of Nature , then I may look into my heart , reflect upon my self with joy , and say , I am a man ; and , I perswade my self that neither death nor life , nor Angels , nor principalities nor powers , nor things present nor things to come , nor heighth nor depth , nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord . Now I can labor in his hard work , and my labor is my joy : Those virtues which seem to run from me , are my familiars , my friends , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Basil , my possessions , which none can take from me . Non videtur perfectè cujusquam id esse quod casu auferri potest , say the Civilians ; We cannot be said to have sure possession of that which may be taken away by some chance . What we are surely possessed of we can hardly lose . And such a possession , such an inheritance is true Piety , when we are once rooted and built up and establisht in it . It is a treasure which no chance can rob us of , no thief take from us . A habit well confirmed is an object the Devil is afraid of . O the power of an uninterrupted obedience , of a continued course in the duties of holiness , it is able to puzzle the great Sophister , the great God of this world ! Deorum virtus naturâ excellit ; saith Tully , hominum industriâ ; Nature confirms virtue to the Gods , but Industry to Men. The Gods cannot possibly be otherwise then good ; and by care and serious endeavours Man may bring himself nearer and nearer to Immutability , and be so good that he can hardly be otherwise ther good . This our Arch-enemy well knows , and therefore doth ipsis repugnare seminibus , fight against our beginnings . He is that fowl of the ayr which picks up our seed : He is that enemy which sets upon us in primis finibus , when we first set footing in the holy land . He will divert our look , stop our profer ; nè sit inceptio vehemens , that there may be no strength , no activity , in our first endeavors , no heat , no solidity ; but that they may melt before his tentations , as Snow doth before the fire ; that we may think that Christianity is a beginning , a profession , and no more ; that if we name Christ , it is enough , though we do not love him ; if we call upon God , it is sufficient , though we do not worship him ; if a voice hath come down from heaven , if God hath shewn us any grace and favor , we shall do well enough , though we blaspheme him every day . To conclude therefore ; As our care must be obstare principiis , to stay the Devils beginnings , so it will concern us firmare principia , to confirm our own . Fides , ut nativitas , non accepta sed custodita vivificat ; Faith , as our Nativity , doth quicken and enliven us , not by being received , but by being kept . We believe , as we are born : We grow up from age to age , from virtue to virtue , unto a perfect man , unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ . Therefore as our profession must be sincere , so it must be resolute against this Enemy , to comfort and fence and strengthen our beginnings . Vera virginitas nihil magìs timet quàm semeteipsam , saith Tertullian ; Pure and undefiled Virginity is afraid of nothing more then of it self : So say I of our Christian Profession ; If it be true and sincere , it will fear nothing so much as it self , and is therefore watchful to observe the wiles and enterprises of that cunning enemy whose pride it is to take us in our altitudes , to meet us coming out of the Font , to be near us when we publickly defie him , to take of our chariot wheels , to slug and weaken our resolutions , that we , who talk so big against him , when the time of encounter comes , may not be willing to strike a stroke . For he never fears when our best weapons against him are words . O what a sad and uncouth sight it is to see the name of Christian lead in the Front , and a legion of sins follow after ! to see a Christian come out of the Font , and then take the weapons of Righteousness , and fill the world with violence and iniquity ! to see a man begin in the Spirit , and end in the Flesh ; prest out to fight against the Devil and the World , and yet a slave to the Devil and the World all his life ; to see Christianity made a pillow to sleep on in the midst of a tempest , in the midst of those sins which crucifie Christ ! to see Christs name never made use of but against himself ! so many not casting out Devils in that name , but in that name silling the world with subtilty and deceit ! A good profession and a profane Conversation is the greatest contradiction in the world . Let us be sure then to strengthen our beginnings , that they may beget a continued uninterrupted course of piety , like unto themselves ; that all the parts of our life may resemble each other ; that beginning well , nothing may hinder us but that we may continue so unto the end ; that a good beginning may not accuse our bad ending , nor a bad end disgrace a good beginning ; that Christ may be Alpha and Omega , the first and the last , in all our actions ; that he may lead us forth , and that in his name we may tread down all our Enemies under our feet ; that Christ may be both in the beginning and end of our life , advantage ; that the Spirit which first taught us to cry , Abba , Father , may seal us up to the day of our Redemption .

The Six and Twentieth SERMON . PART IV. MATTH. IV. 1. — to be tempted of the Devil .

IN all combates the first thing we inquire after is , Who are the Parties that fight . One of the Combatants here we find to be JESUS , a Saviour , our Advocate , our Captain , cujus auspiciis bellum geretur , by whose conduct and advise we must enter the lists . The Person who assaulted him is in the Text termed the Devil . An Accuser stands up against an Advocate , a Destroyer against a Saviour , and he that is called the God of this world , because he corrupted it , against him who is truly the God of this world , because he made it .

Nor can we doubt whether there be such a person or no as the Devil , unless we will also doubt whether there be such a person or no as Jesus , and so derogate from the truth of the story , and make it less then a phantasine , less then it had been done it a vision . Nobis curiositate non opus est post lesum Christum ; When the words of Scripture are plain and positive , Curiosity and Infidelity , though they differ in name , yet are but one and the same thing . And when Phansie drawes Doctrines out of Scripture , instead of visions it presents us with dreams . Nor hath the Devil a more poysonous tentation then that which pours into our hearts a perswasion that there is no Devil at all . Yet there have been found , and now are , those who profess Christian religion , and yet are of opinion that what is delivered of the Devil in Scripture , and of his tentations , is not to be understood as if there were any such spiritual substance to which we truly attribute these , but that it is a figurative kind of speech fitted to that which the vulgar or common people believe , that there is nothing which solicitates us to sin , but our own Lusts and Concupiscence , which by them by a wonderful kind of Prosopopoeia or feigning of the person is called the Devil , as St. James teacheth us , where laying down the manner how we are tempted , he makes no mention of a person , but attributes all to our Concupiscence , which is called in other places the Devil , the adversary which accuseth us before God ; that Sin alone is the Serpent which deceives us , the Lyon that roars against us , and the Dragon which devours us , that only Sin is an Accuser . And this St. Bernard seems to lay to the charge of Petrus Adailardus , Epist. 190. where he calls him Quintum Evangelistam , the fifth Evangelist , that saw more then any of the four . But this is but commentum humani ingenii , a fiction of fancyful men , the work of the brain , and may be well entitled to the Devil himself , who is the Father of lyes . By the same art and skill they may , if they please , make the whole Scripture an allegory , since we find nothing more historically and plainly delivered then this , That there is a Devil . But if I forget not , I have spoken of this heretofore , and chased it away as a phansie of the Devils creating , and the invention of a sick distempered brain . All that we will now say to those who doubt whether there be such a person or no , which set upon our Saviour in the wilderness , and every day renews his assaults against us , is , that his conceit can proceed from no other cause then a strong delusion of the Devil , who they conceive to be nothing , but like Aesops Fox , and Lyon , and Wolf , which carry their Moral along with them , and , till that be made , are nothing but tales : And whilst they say there is no Devil , it may be truly said to them , that they have a Devil . That there is such a person , we may draw an argument from his name here , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . For what is a name but a signification of the nature of that thing which it doth express . And he is called here not a Spirit , or the Tempter , as he is verse 3. but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Devil , from 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which signifies to Accuse , to Defame , to Publish infamous reports , to Be the mint where slanders are coyned , or else Credulously to receive them , and pass them from hand to hand as current coyn , to Please himself at the fall of another , as the people of Rome used to delight and clap their hands at the fall of a Sword-player in the Theater . He hath other names , as the Evil spirit , the Wicked one , the Prince that rules in the ayr , the God of this world . But , as Quintilian speaks , Omnia verba alicubi sunt optima : Words have their weight as they are placed . And here , when he was to tempt our Saviour , DIABOLUS , the Devil , was the fittest name for him . For indeed every tentation is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a kind of accusation : and the Devil tempts us that he may accuse us , and accuses us when he tempts us . He is , saith Augustine , the accuser of the Saints ; and knowing what Judge he is to appear before , into what Court he is to bring his bills of accusation , even into the Court of that God who cannot be deceived , though he be the father of lyes , yet he strives to make his bills true , by making us sin . Quia falsa contra nos non potest dicere , quaerit vera quae dicat & ideo tentat ut habeat quae dicat ; Because he cannot lay to our charge those sins which we did not commit , he incites us to sin , that he may lay it to our charge . He accuseth God to us ; which is his Tentation : and then he accuseth us unto God ; which makes him a compleat Devil . And as St. Hierome shuts up his whole discourse against Jovinian with a Caveat ; Cave JOVINIANI nomen , quod ab idolo derivatum est , Beware of the name of Jovinian , which is derived from an Idole , from Jupiter ; so will I begin mine , Cave DIABOLI nomen ; Beware of the Devils name ; Beware of accusing and defaming thy brethren . Remember the Devils name , that thou be not like him . Remember that when thou hast drawn a false accusation against thy brother , thou hast drawn out a true one against thy self , which the Devil will be ready to take up , and present before the Tribunal of God . And now , that we may make some use of his name , we will shew you 1. that he is an Accuser , 2. the Motives or Causes which move him to be so ; and 3. lastly , we will apply all to our selves , and parallel our defamations with his , as proceeding from the same root of bitterness , and so learn to detest them .

For the first , as Christ is an Advocate pleading for Man , so the Devil is an Accuser pleading against him ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , first walking with us that we may sin , and then accusing us for sinning : First accusing God to us ; which is the cause of all sin ; and then accusing us to God , which is the cause of all punishment : Omnia agens accusatorio spiritu , as Livy speaks of Appius ; in all his proceedings breathing forth malice and railing accusations . And first , because all sin proceeds from error in judgment , at least in the practick faculty of the soul , ( Nam si homo poterit intelligere Divina , potest & facere , saith Lactantius ; for if man could rightly understand the things of God , he might easily do them . But our practick determinations are sooner vitiated and corrupted then our speculative conclusions , because those present Truth and Goodness , these Truth alone ) the Devil instills his poyson , and infects the Understanding with an evil report of God . And though we cannot deny God or his attributes , yet we seldome sin but we say in our hearts , There is no God . Here in this Chapter the Devil doth excaecare providentiam Dei , strive to put out the very eye of Gods Providence , that he might shake Christs Faith , as it were , and drive him to distrust . He accuseth his Wisdome in our retirement and secret sins , and that with some scorn ; Tush , God doth not see it ; nor is there knowledge in the most High . He accuseth his Justice , and puts stout words into our mouths when we deny our obedience ; It is in vain to serve the Lord : and what profit is there that we have kept his ordinances ? He defames his Mercy , when remembring our sins we fall under them , as a burden too heavy for us , and as if God had forgotten to be merciful . He roars loud against his very Power in the mouth of a Rabshakeh , and would perswade the Israelites that to say God should deliver them was nothing else but to deliver themselves up to famine and thirst . He casts his venome upon all the Divine Attributes , and makes them the inducements to sin , which are the strongest motives to goodness . He never presents God to us as he is , but in several forms , and all such as may drive us from one attribute to run us on another . He presents him without an eye , that we may do what we list ; without a hand , that we may trust in a hand of flesh ; without an Ear , that our blasphemies may be loud . He makes us favorable interpreters of him before we sin , and unjust judges of him when we have sinned . He makes him a Libertine to the presumptuous , and a Novatian to the despairing sinner ; being a lyar in all , whose every breath is a defamation . Nulla apud eum turpis ratio vincendi , as was said of King Philip ; He is not ashamed of any lye that may lead us from the truth . And as he defameth God unto us , so in every sin almost he accuses us unto our selves . In the heat of our Zeal he accuseth us of Madness , that we may be remiss ; and in our Meekness he chargeth us with Folly , that we may learn to be angry . In our Justice he calls us tyrants , that we may yield it up unto unnecessary Pity ; and in our Compassion he urgeth the want of Justice , that to put on the New man , we may put of all bowels of mercy . He accuseth our Faith to our Charity , and perswades us that for all our good works we are none of the faithful ; and our Charity to our Hope , as if it were so cold it could kindle no such virtue within us . From Religion he drives us on to Superstition , and from the fear of Superstition into that gulf of Profaneness which will swallow us up . And then , when he hath us in his nets , when he hath by accusing us unto our selves made us guilty indeed , when by accusing our virtues he hath brought to sin , he draws his bill of accusation , and for one sin writes down an hundred . He makes every sin of Infirmity a monster ; writes down sudden Anger in letters of bloud ; makes a Word in our haste , a resolution in earnest ; Confidence , Presumption ; and Doubting , Infidelity . He writes down evil for good , but not good for evil ; for that is his work before , not after , our sins . And these his accusations he tenders to the Judge of all the world , and is more importunate with him then the Widdow with the Judge in the Gospel , Luke 18. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , troubles and buffets him , as it were , with his loud cryes , and will not give over , interitûs nostri avarus exactor , being a rigid and covetous exactor of our destruction . This he doth , thus he accuseth . But the manner how he tenders his accusations is not easily exprest . We may safely say that as he is a Spirit , so the manner of his accusing us is spiritual . We , when we accuse one another , must do it by voice or writing . For when we condemn or censure others but in our heart , we are but as men that stand behind a wall , and must come forth per linguae januam , as Gregory speaks , through the gate of the Tongue and door of the Mouth , and outwardly manifest what we are within . But Spirits are of another nature , not compounded , as we are , of two divers parts , Body and Soul . And , as their Nature is , such is their Speech . Sublimes & incogniti modi locutionis intimae ; Their speech is inward and within them , and the manner of it sublime and unknown . Animarum verba sunt desideria , saith the Father ; The words of our souls are our Desires , and by them we cry and call unto the Lord , and he hears us . And if we should say that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , those malicious desires of Satan to devour our Souls were his accusations , we speak not much amiss . For God sees what the Devil hath treasured up against us as plainly as he doth our thoughts , and understands them more fully then we do a Bill which we hear read in any Court of Justice . Dicere Diaboli est contra bonos intrà cogitationum suarum latibula conqueri ; The Devils speech is that inward grudging he hath against those which are good . And of that nature is his accusation of the wicked . Dicere Diaboli est omnipotenti majestati Dei posse nihil celare . He watcheth our steps , and ponders our goings . He is with us when we sin , and he registers our sins down in his malicious thought . And his speech is , Not to be able to hide it from the eyes of God , which at one view seeth both our sins and his malice . Howsoever he accuseth us , the manner is unknown unto us : and if it be more then that I have shewed , I am sure it stands out of sight : and amplius quaerere non licet quàm quod inveniri licet , It is not lawful to seek after that which before we set forth we know we shall not find . That which neerly concerns us is , so to look to our wayes as that we help not the Devil to accuse us , that he may come and find nothing in us , no sin not washt away with the tears of repentance and the bloud of the Lamb. For as God bids us to thirst after the joyes of heaven , but doth not tell us what they are , but only by telling us they are unspeakable ; so he bids us take heed that this Jaylor take not hold of us , and hale us and accuse us before the Judge , but doth not set down the manner how he will tender his Bill ; that so we may lose no time in seeking the one , and avoiding the other . For who will not hasten to joyes unspeakable ? or who will not fear to have his name in that Bill which he is sure will be heard ? I will conclude all with that excellent consideration of Hilary , Stultum est calumniam in eo inquisitionis intendere in quo comprehendi id unde quaeritur per naturam suam non potest ; It is but a piece of vanity to strive and contend about the searching of that which cannot be comprehended , or to look after that which hath no light to discover it .

It is enough for us to know that the Devil is an Accuser , and in his best shape , in his Angelical habit , but a Promooter to catch us , and that all his tentations to sin , though they be fair to the eye , and pleasant to the taste , and musick to the ear , are nothing else but so many means to procure so many sins to fill up this Bill . And so I descend to that which I proposed in the next place to lay before you the Causes or Motives which makes the Devil our accuser .

And first , we cannot imagine that it proceeds from any delight or ease he can take in our bloud . For this were to seek Joy in Hell , where there can be none at all . The number of the damned are so far from diminishing the Devils pain that they increase it ; but yet in the Devil , though there be no true joy , yet there is something like our joy in evil , which is in him not in the nature of a passion ; but as an act of his will , as Aquinas saith . When we sin not , he is grieved , because it is against his will ; and when we yield to his tentations ; he is said to be delighted , because his will is fulfilled . For something he would have which is not ; and this is his grief : and something he would have which is ; and this is his joy . In him , as in us , Joy is nothing else but the perfection and complement of those actions which are natural unto him . And because he is naturally a hater of God and Men , he is said to take delight when God is blasphemed , or Man made guilty of death . Quantus Diabolo luctus inest ? saith the Father ; How is the Devil grieved when the Prodigal returns , because his desire was to have had him choakt with his husks . And quantum Diabolo gaudium ? What joy is it to him to see a child turn Prodigal ! for this is natural unto him , even the work of his hands . Such is his malice unto us that mavult perire quàm non perdere , he had rather be destroyed himself , then that we should not perish , and had rather Hell were hotter then we not come there . And this his obstinate Malice proceeded from his pain , from the sad apprehension of an angry Power and an offended Majesty . Inviderat , quia doluerat , saith Tertullian ; He did envy us because he was grieved ; and his Pain increaseth with his Malice : The first desire which threw him down was , That he might be God ; and the next , when he was fallen , That there should be no God at all . And being now in chains of everlasting darkness , he hates that light which he cannot see : And since God himself is at that infinite distance from him , so full of power and majesty that his Malice cannot reach him , he opposeth himself to the works of his hands , and seeks to destroy him in his image ; as the poor man , when he could not get his enemy into his hands , whipt his statue . Being much troubled , saith Tertullian , that God had given Man dominion over the works of his hands , in Dei imagine quo sit in Deum odio ostendit , he manifests his hatred to God in his image , which he strives to deface . Some think he envied the Hypostatical Union : but this conjecture is not probable . Most certain it is , his extreme Misery enrageth his Malice , and his Malice whets his Will and endeavors , and maketh him very subtle to invent strange stratagems ; by which , if we be not very wary , he will steal our names from Christ , to whom we have given them up , and put them in his roll . Nor is the working of his Malice hindred by the bad effect it produceth . For the more he suffers , the more malicious he is ; and the more malicious he is , the more he suffers . He grieves and is troubled that Men , built up of flesh and bloud , should keep the love of God on earth , which he , being a glorious Spirit , lost in heaven ; that mortal Man should ascend to that pitch of happiness from whence he being an immortal Angel was flung down . And though he know that his pains are increased by the condemnation of those whom he hath prevailed with to sin , yet he strives to increase the number , though with the increase of his pains ; and is content to suffer more so that more may suffer with him . Nor need we wonder that the Devil , who is so subtle a Serpent , fails in such a point of wisdome . For as his Subtlety and Wisdome is great , so is his Malice , which even in Man doth darken the eye of Reason , and makes the Devil every day more a Devil to himself : so that though he be very cunning to bring souls unto punishment , yet he hath no wisdome to keep off the increase of it from himself . Very busie he is to frame his accusations , though , when we come to the barr , he must also be condemned as accessory .

Now as these two , Malice and Envy ( which we have joyntly handled and together , because they are so like ) are as inward incitements unto the Devil to accuse us , so also is his Pride . For he is king over all the children of pride , as Job speaketh . And this may be one cause , though not the chief why he cannot repent . Hoc vitio misericordiae medicina respuitur ; This is the sin which shuts down the portcullis to Mercy : So that if God should have provided a plaster for his Malice , his Pride would have refused it . Infelix superbia dedignatur sub praeceptis coelestibus vivere ; Such is the infelicity of Pride that it can never be induced to be brought unto obedience of the heavenly commandments . This was the sin which pluckt off his Angels wings , and flung him down from heaven . For not content to be no greater then he was , he was made less then he was . Ob hoc minus est quàm fuit , quòd eo quod minus erat frui noluit , saith Augustine ; Being not content to be an Angel of light , he became a Devil ; and when heaven would not hold him unless he might be a God , he was thrown into hell . Nor is his Pride the less because his Malice is great . For the Schools conclude that he preserved his naturals entire , as his subtilty and agility . He was a Spirit still ; and Pride , as Malice , proceeds from infirmity , from decay . And though we say that Pride , as a moth , will breed even in Humilities mantle , yet it rather proceeds from our unnecessary gazing on it and misconstruing it , then from the virtue it self . The Devil is a spirit , of an excellent essence ; and it cannot be said unto him , saith the Father , as it may be to Man , Why art thou proud , Dust and Ashes ? Again , there be many sins which Men are subject to , of which he cannot be actually guilty , as Adultery , Luxury , Covetousness , and the like , therefore he is the bolder to accuse us . And to this he incites us , thinking his sin more hurtful to us then his punishment . And this he is ready to lay to our charge , that we , as he , have an ambition to be like unto the Highest , and in every sin affect a kind of equality with God . Still he would be as God , our ruler and king , the God of this world , to lead or drive us at his pleasure . And as God commands obedience , that it may be well with us ; so doth he proclaim us rebels , and since he cannot be our judge , takes a pride in being our accuser . Here his Art and Skill magnifieth it self , that he can destroy what God was willing to save , that he can make him hate what naturally he loved . Here his Will and Eloquence is seen , in drawing out arguments to which Man cannot answer ; in making our Sins , our unrepented Sins , cry louder then the Bloud of Christ ; in laying before Gods eyes those wounds which his mercy cannot heal . Here he striveth to pluck God out of his throne , by telling him he cannot be God and pardon such offenders : Here he is wise and just , still that Angel which would be equal with God . Variis quisque causis ad accusandum compellitur ; There be divers causes , saith Seneca , which move men to accuse one another : Some are spur'd on by Ambition , others by Hatred , some by Hope of reward . But the Devils motives are his Malice and Envy to mankind , and that which made him a Devil , his Pride . And now having shewed you the Devil as an Accuser , we pass to the Application , That we may learn to hate and detest that sin of Defamation , lest if we leave our Brotherhood with our Advocate , we get no better a Father then the Father of lies .

For we must not think the Devil is an Accuser only in defaming of us , but also in teaching us to defame and accuse one another ; in speaking by us as he did by the Priests of his Temples , and through our mouths breathing forth slanders as oracles . He was an Accuser in the Jews , and taught them to call Christ a wine-bibber , a companion of publicanes and sinners ; to disgrace his Miracles , and call them the works of Beelzebub . He taught Elymas , his own child , as St. Paul calls him , to pervert Acts 13. 10. the right wayes of the Lord . He taught the Heathen to call the first Christians Impostors , and Traytors , and Atheists ; to lay to their charge the Murder of Infants , Incest , and those crimes which were not only false but incredible ; accusare vocabulae , to accuse the very name of Christian . And , which is most to be lamented , he hath taught Christians to perform this vile office one against another . For no sooner had God freed them from the terror of Persecution , but they raised a worse amongst themselves , one Christian placing a great part of his Religion in laying some foul imputation upon another ; and finding Heresie in the roll of carnal sins Gal. 5. 20. calling them Hereticks whom they could not otherwise defame ; pronouncing Anathema's one against another ; as if all who would be Christs Disciples were not to be sons of Consolation , but of Thunder . I may be bold to say , Scarce any Father or holy man which past without his mark . Augustine was defamed by the Donatists and Manichees ; Hierome called a Magician , a Seducer , as himself complaineth . Chrisostome had no less then nine and twenty accusations tenderd against him , as we find it recorded in Photius . Cyprianus was turned into Coprianus , as one who in his tracts of Christianity had applyed his elagant wit to womens tales . And this before Superstition had gained much footing in the Church . But when the Pope did once rerum potiri , when he had gained a Kingdom in the Church , and was acknowledged the Primate of the Christian world , then not to receive his determinations as Oracles , not to fall down and worship him , not to obey him in all things , was to be an Heretick .

In the year 713. Philippicus the Emperor was branded with the name of Heretick , because he had removed Images out of the Church . Leo the third was condemned of the same crime , and had a nick-name , and was called Iconomachus . Henry the Fourth Emperor was no less , because he would not grant the Pope the investure of Bishopricks . Frederick the Second was a Heretick , for that he held the Popes stirrop on the wrong side , and withstood the tyranny of that See . Philip the Fourth King of France was condemned to the same crime , because he would not go to war when Pope Boniface did beat up his Drumm . Charles the Sixth had the same doom , because he would not suffer the Churches of France to pay tribute to Martin the Fifth . Lewis the Twelfth , who was called Pater populi , the Father of his people , was stiled a Heretick , because he would not yield to Julius the Second , that Sword-man , who flung St. Peters Keys into the River of Tiber , and took up St. Pauls Sword . Heresie is a sin ; and indeed in their account there was no other sin but Heresie , no sin of so foul an aspect : And therefore whatsoever was the offense , that was the sin . And though a man were no-whit guilty , yet was it in the Popes power to make him so : As it is haereticare propositiones , to make those propositions false which are true . Nor is the Devil a Devil at Rome only , or in the streets of Babylon ; but he hath shewed himself in Jerusalem , even in the Reformed Churches . For what have the Writings of the Lutherans and the Calvinists been but bitter satyres of one side against the other , where , like Aeschines and Demosthenes , they reciprocally lay open each others filthiness to the eyes and scorn of the world ; where they fight not with the tongue of Men and Angels , but of Devils . The Calvinist says to the Lutheran that he is Diabolificatus , Diabolified ; and the Lutheran replys to the Calvinist that he is Superdiabolificatus , more then diabolified . And thus their contention was not so much for the truth , as who should be most diabolified . For sure the Devil cannot have worse language , though he speak by the whore . This in these latter dayes hath been the method of finding out the Truth , to accuse one another of error . And hence finding out a strange Beast in the Apocalypse , we are ready , if any offend us , or will not be of our opinion , to say he is that Beast . What mutual stabbings , what digladiations amongst Christians , not who shall be best , but who shall be loudest ! Par pari refertur , & invicem nobis videmur insanire ; We give scorn for scorn , and reproach for reproach , and each side and faction seems mad to the other ; and to a discreet good Christian indeed they are both so . For in this eager pursuit and inquiry after the Truth , Christianity is quite lost ; and we leave the cause , and fall upon the person ; like cholerick men , who in the fierce and hot persecution of a quarrel at last forget the beginnings and ground from whence it arose . So that as Petrarch once spoke of Rome , Nusquam magìs Roma ignoratur quàm Romae , That Rome was no where less known then at Rome , so may we of Christianity , That it is no where less preached then amongst Christians , who have a name that they live , but are dead , are but statues and representations of Christians ; so that what was written by Cato of Brutus may be fasten'd upon many Christians , CHRISTIANE , MORTUUS ES , O Christian , thou art dead . All the members he hath are the members of a carnal man , Lips invenomed with the poyson of Asps , his Tongue a sharp Sword , his Mouth an open Sepulchre : Such a creature is many a Christian to another , ridente Turcâ , nec dolente Judaeo ; Which makes the Turk laugh , and prefer his Mahomet before Christ , and the Jew to pluck the vail closer to his face . Ac nunc miseram licet aetatis nostrae laborem , & praesentium temporum stultas opiniones congemiscere ; And here give me leave to lament the business of this our age , and so bewail the ungrounded opinions of the men of these present times ; as Hilarius once spake in a case somewhat like . What wantonness in Religion ! what religion in rayling ! what disgrace flung on Learning ! what honor to Ignorance ! what hardness of heart and contempt of Gods word and commandments ! How many scurrilous , witless , unsavory , unchristian Libels ! more , I believe , within the compass of one year then have been publisht before in three times the age of a man . So that we may say of the common people of this our Nation as Seneca speaks of Aegypt when it was a Province under the dominion of the Romans , Loquax & ingeniosa ad contumelias provincia , in qua qui vitaverunt culpam , non effugerunt calumniam ; They are become talkative and witty in telling of lyes , and filling one another with reproach : and he that lives amongst them may peradventure keep himself free from fault , but he can hardly be exempt from infamy . Hoc Ithacus velit ; This is it which the Devil would have . If he were to be incarnate , and live amongst them , he would know his own dialect , and speak as they do . Amongst the rest , the Ministers of the Church , who might well challenge their prayers , have felt the lash of their tongues , and for a , Lord bless them , have heard , Down with them , Down with them , even to the ground . Some there are who complain that their souls are starved for want of good preaching : And I can hardly see how it should be otherwise , since their Pastours feed them with nothing but their own idle phansies , which are no better then the husks which the Swine and the Prodigal fed on . Others , who can but make eight of the Hundred of their moneys , can make Two hundred drunkards of less then Eight , peradventure of none : And though they are in Porters frocks , they are willing to believe that they are Priests : Not but that their Covetousness may be as great as their Malice ; but they find it easier to multiply Faults then their Money . In a word , some condemn their Pride , others , their Idleness ; and many , their Covetousness : Which were it true of them all : yet they were but like many of them , and especially those that accuse them . Et certè magìs nos amarent si tales essemus : essemus enim de armento suo : And certainly if they were all such as they say , they would love them more then they do : for they might well meet and go together as beasts of the same herd . Amongst the Romans they used to brand all calumniators and false accusers , and mark them with the letter K , to make them infamous for defaming of others , that so they might find no man to accuse but their own fortunes alone . I will never wish any infamy to these men who thus delight in the infamy of others : For then I should be like unto them , and triumph in that which I should lament . But I perswade my self that if this Roman Law should be put in execution amongst us , we should see plures literatas frontes , many a head letter'd without which hath little wit and less learning within . I had rather they would remember whose profession it is to accuse , and for his sake learn to detest it ; or if they will accuse their brethren , let them accuse them as God doth them , not till they are forc't to it . In omnibus accusationibus hoc agendum est , nè ad e●s lubenter descendisse videamur ; All accusations must be put up with an unwilling hand , and we must make it appear that we were forc't to enter our action . Therefore that of Cassius Severus , Dii boni , vivo , & quo me vivere juvat , Asprenatem reum video ; Oh you Gods , I live : and my life is more pleasant unto me because I see Asprenas arraigned , was a speech which did much offend Quintilian , a good Orator and a judicious Advocate . But so it is many times , defamers have this advantage of their fulfilling a malicious will , they find some ease and delight in it . For as it is in other passions , so is it in Malice ; it brings ease in the vent . It is a flame in our bones ; but when we have breathed it forth at our mouth , it is light . A strange thing it is to observe what content some men receive in the sharp and severe censuring of their brethren , how they lay their hand to their mouth , and wipe it , when they lay the whip on their back , and lash them ; how it is health unto them to say their brother is sick . Maledicere omnibus signum bonae conscientiae arbitrantur , saith St. Hierome of some of his time ; They count it a sign of a good conscience to speak against all men : Remedium poenae putant , si nemo sit sanctus ; and they esteem it as a remedy of their smart , if no man be holy , and hope to escape punishment by anothers sin . He that wears the patrimony of the poor on his back , will forget the sin quickly after a volley of curses discharged against the Clergy . He that walks and talks away his life , may be very confident that he is Gods child , because a great part of that talk was against lazy Ministers . He that prodigiously spends more at a supper then will keep a Colledge a moneth , yet thinks himself a very pious man because he hates drones , and therefore is well minded to pull them all down ; and , if any will joyn with him , he is ready with a Petition against them . Oh what a garment of righteousness would these men think they had put on , if they could take from Paul both his cloak and his parchments ! How do many sit down together , and sigh , and cry down the sins of the times , and then say in their hearts , O how holy are we ! Oh what a rare art hath the Devil taught us , to extract a cordial out of our brothers disease ! How have we learnt to stuff a pillow with other mens sins , and sleep upon it , and dream of the Kingdom of Heaven ! How doth this man hide his Covetousness with that mans Pride ! How is the Profaneness of the Atheist lost in the Superstition of the Idolater , and the Luxury of the Lay-man forgot in the Idleness of the Clergy ! But let men flatter themselves as they please ; By this we know whose Disciples they are , and whose side they take : Imitando eum siunt ex parte ipsius , saith St. Augustine ; even his whom they imitate . They may call themselves what they please , the Elect , the Saints of God ; But if they delight in the defamation of others , and build up their faith upon the ruins of their brethren , and think themselves holy because they can call their brother Ungodly , the Scripture hath given them a mark , which is as the letter K in their forehead ; FILII DIABOLI SUNT , They are the children of that great Adversary , that Accuser , the Devil . Unusquisque cujus opera exercet in hoc seculo , illius erit in altero ; Every man shall be his in the next world , whose works he doth in this . He that will be his brothers Advocate , will plead for him , will pardon , will forgive him , will make his compassion as a mantle to cover him , shall follow Christ , shall follow that meek Lamb whithersoever he goes . But he that delights in the ripping up of the bowels of his brother , in mangling his name , and murdring him alive ; he that measureth his Piety by the curiosity of his Malice , and makes it his Religion to say such a one hath none ; he that is a false accuser , and a calumniator of his brethren , shall follow — but I tremble to speak it ; and had rather beseech God for his infinite mercies sake to give them grace that they may search their own hearts diligently ; that they may learn to be judges of themselves , and advocates for others : that they may lash their own sins , and weep for others : that they may accuse themselves : which brings on absolution ; and not slander others ; which hastens condemnation , and we conclude this point with that which hath been the prayer of the Church , From all blindness of heart , from pride , vain glory , and hypocrisie , from envy , hatred , and malice , and all uncharitablebleness , Good Lord , deliver us . And let all the people say , AMEN .

Now to make some application of what hath been delivered : Since this desire to accuse and defame others is a property so natural to the Devil that from it he hath his name , so that the Accuser and the Devil are the very same , it will concern us to be very wary that we calumniate not our brethren , lest we resemble him our Enemy , rather then Jesus our Advocate . When Michael the Arch-angel contended with this Devil , and disputed with him about the body of Moses , he brought no rayling accusation . And why should one Jude 19. Christian do that to another which an Arch-angel would not do to the Devil himself ? Why should not our words rather kindle at the fire of Heaven then of Hell ?

In the second place , let us take heed to our own wayes , that this Enemy throw us not down , and then accuse us for falling . Let us watch over our own steps , that when he makes his approach , he may find nothing in us , no malice , no bitterness , nothing which he may put into his Bill . Let us say within our selves when he comes to tempt us , This language is fair ; but if we hearken to it , he will change his dialect , and be that Lyon which shall roar against us . He smileth in this Beauty ; but this Beauty will be a snare . He courts us in this Honor ; but , if we go up with him to the pinacle , he will tumble us down . He shines in these Riches ; but , if we come near , we shall find him a consuming fire . The fairest speech he gives is but a kind of prologue or preface to an Accusation : and when he speaks friendly to us , we may be sure he will strike us through the fifth ribb . Let us then say with Joseph , How can I commit this wickedness , and sin against God , who would save me ? and how can I commit this , and help the Devil my enemy to accuse me ? In the affairs of this world we are very sly and cautelous , and will not give any advantage to those whom we suppose to be no well-willers unto us . Nay , many times we abstein from things not unlawful in the presence of those we do not love , because we fear whatsoever we do will be misinterpreted , and can expect no better gloss then that which Malice will make . And shall we be so confident on the greatest enemy of mankind as to help his Malice , and to further and promote the desire which he hath of our ruines . Shall I fill this Accusers mouth with arguments against my self , and even furbish and whet the sword of my Executioner . This is a folly which we cannot but be ashamed of ; and yet in every sin we commit , we commit this folly .

But yet , in the last place , as St. John saith , If we sin , we have an Advocate ; so say I , If we sin , and the Devil put up his bill of Accusation against us , ( as most certainly he will ) let us learn to accuse our selves , and that will make his Accusation void , and cancel his Bill . From a broken and a contrite heart let us say , We have sinned , and he hath nothing to say . Let us confess our sins , and we have put the Adversary to silence . Let us plead Guilty , and Christ is ready to blot out the hand-writing which is against us , and to take it away , and nayl it to his cross . When I slander my brother , I do the Devils office : When I yield to him , I help him : When I sin , I do but prompt him what he should say against me , and as much as in me is , make the Devil no lyar . But when I rip up my heart , and lay it open to God , when I breathe forth my sins and my sorrows before him , when I tender up a Bill against my self , a Bill of my sins bedewed with my own tears , and coloured with my Saviviours bloud , the Devil may roar , but not prevail ; he may accuse me , but not be heard , because I am quit already by proclamation , They that believe and repent shall be saved . Confessio poenarum compendium . Our serious acknowledgment makes a short work , prevents our Enemy , sets a period to Sin and Punishment . If we accuse our selves , no accusation shall hurt us ; and if we judge our selves , no sentence shall pass upon us ; and whatsoever libel this Accuser shall put up against us , JESUS shall cancel , who is our Advocate . To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost be all honour and glory for evermore .

The Seventh and Twentieth SERMON . PART I. MATTH. XXII . 11 , 12.

And when the King came in to see the guests , he saw there a man which had not on a wedding-garment :

And he saith unto him , Friend , how camest thou in hither , not having a wedding garment ? And he was speechless .

GReat Feasts have their solemnities great . Not such attendance at the marriage of a Peasant as of a Prince ; not such noyse and pomp at Nabal 's sheep-shearing as when Ahasuerus feasted his Nobles in his palace at Shushan . Ever as the person is , such is the state of celebration and ceremony . We have here the Feast of a King at the marriage of his son , the dinner prepared , the fatlings killed , the viands and dainties on the table , all things ready ; A royal Feast , not to some few provinces , but to every nation and to all people ; not to the Nobles and Princes and Captains alone , to honorable men of high place and employment , but to the Farmer and the Merchant , men taken up and drowned in worldly affairs ; to those in the broad streets and high-wayes , men that walk and talk away their life , men that have little to do ; and to those in the by-lanes of the city , men that can do little ; to the halt , the maimed , the blind , to men knit and revitted to the world , and to men little better than cast out of the world ; to all sorts , to as many as could be found , both bad and good . The King invites all , because the Feast concerns all . And that the house may be filled , and the wedding furnisht with guests , he takes the cup of blessings , the cup of salvation , and drinks a Health to all the world . A royal Feast indeed , where the gates lye open to all commers . And as it is a royal Feast , so it is a lasting , a standing Feast , perpetuae incorruptibilitatis , saith Fulgentius ; not , as the King of Persia 's , for a hundred and fourscore dayes , but , as the Marriage is , for ever . As Desponsabo Hos. 2. 19. te mihi in aeternum , so Feriabitur in aeternum . The Marriage is not to be cut off by a divorce , nor the Feast by time : It is an everlasting Marriage , and an eternal Holiday . IN PRINCIPIO , In the beginning , there it begun , and , if we take in the purpose of the King , ANTE PRINCIPIUM , before the beginning , before there was a Before , before the foundations of the Eph. 1. 4. world were laid . But take the calculations we hear of it In Paradise the symbolum is cast in , and notice given ; The Seed of the woman shall break the Serpents head . After , Abraham is plainly invited to this Feast ; I will be Gen. 17 7. thy God , and the God of thy seed . To this give all the Prophets witness . Acts 10. 43. Isaiah composeth the Epithalamium or Marriage-song , I will sing to my Beloved Isa. 5. 1. a song of my Beloved . And indeed almost his whole Prophesie is but a descant on that Song . In Jeremie we find the Bridegrooms name , THE Jer. 23. 6. LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS . In Ezekiel He is a Ezek. 34. 24. Prince : in Daniel , a great Prince . Hosea tells of his Espousals , Dan. 12. 1. Hosea 2. 19. Mic. 5. 2. Micah of his Birth . At last , in the fulness of time , the Wedding is chaunted forth by a full quire of Angels ; Behold , now all things are ready : come unto the marriage . Of all these things we are witnesses , say the Apostles . Take the Morning of the world , and take the Evening of the world ; take them of the first age , and take them of the ast ; Fides utrósque conjungit , saith St. Augustine , Faith draweth and linketh both together , and presents them all at this great Feast .

I have told you before I was aware what this Marriage-feast is , and who the guests . Saint Paul delivers himself plainly , where speaking Ephes. 5. 32. of that indossoluble tye of Marriage , he calls it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a great mystery ; but then adds , but I speak concerning Christ and the Church . Now Nazianzene happily joyneth together 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the name CHRIST and the substance and reality of that name : For as Christs name is not a bare and naked name , but there ●ie wrapt up in it Grace and Peace and Salvation ; so Christs Marriage is no● a bare marriage : No ; he hath left dotem Ecclesiae , he hath plenteously endowed his Spouse with graces from above , he hath articled and covenanted with her : Nor is his feast a common feast : No ; he hath prepared his table , and set on it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the bread of Angels , bread to nourish and strengthen us till we grow up to an angelical estate ; and castas delicias , those chast delicates , his Word and Sacraments ; a Cup running over , calicem inebriantem , an intoxicating Cup , that overcomes us , and transports us beyond our selves ; ( Ebrietas ista magìs sobrium facit , saith Cyprian . Let us therefore drink of this Cup , no● guttatim , by drops , but as we do our Sin , or as an Ox doth water : for Intemperance here is the best sobriety . ) And the Kings Son , Christ himself , Legis & gratia molâ aptatum in farinam , ground between the Law and his Grace and tender Mercies into fine flowre , and kneaded into good Bread . In a word , he sets before us not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , strong meat , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , cakes and dainties ; meats to nourish us , and meats to delight us ; cordials and antidotes , and pleasant wine ; the bread of life , and the rivers of his pleasures .

So this is the Feast , and we are invited to it . Now all the King desires of us is , as the Apostle speaks , that we would keep the feast , keep it as such a feast should be kept ; no● 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , according to the letter ; that is Jewish : no● 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , according to our sensual affections ; that is heathenish : but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , spiritually , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Spirit would have it kept . Now the Spirit and the Bride say , Come ; Come unto the marriage . But come not naked , but come prepared , but come with a wedding-garment ; not with our clouted shooes and old garments , as if we were on a journey , or going into the field or vineyard to labour for the meat that perisheth : But observe 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a decorum : Yeild an awful reverence to the Person , the Master of the Feast , a King ; to the Place , the Princes Bride-chamber ; to the Feast , a royal lasting feast . At least for his loves sake that invites us , come like guests , not spies ; like friends , not traytours : come as to a wedding , not a market : come vestiti apparell'd , that we be not naked ; and , that we be not unmannerly , veste nuptiali , with a vesture sutable , with a wedding-garment .

Indeed a great pity it is , nay a great sin it is , that so high a Feast should be slighted , that we should come ragged into the Kings Court , or like Ruffians into the Presence-chamber . But in the parable we read it , and in the moral and practick exposition of the parable we find it , that slighted it was ; that some were angry that they were invited , angry there was any such feast at all ; that they intreated the servants spitefully , and slew them . And we know what became of them ; Armies were sent forth to destroy those murderers , v. 7. But in my Text we find one that dealt not so roughly , drew not his sword : at the invitation , gave good words yet , and came ; but so unprepared , so ill qualified , that being ask'd why he came so , his tongue would not serve him to give an answer , but he was struck silent and dead with a question ; And he said unto him , Friend , &c.

This is the sum of these words . But we can hardly divide them . For here is a Question without an Answer , Quaestio ducens ad absurdum , a Question that draws & binds either to silence or to an absurdity . Answer what he will it was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , absurdly done , so to come . And Quaestio ducens ad impossibile , a Question that shuts up his mouth in silence , or drives him to a flat contradiction . He is come , and he is not come ; invited , and not a guest ; in the Church , and not of the Church . We see the King asks the question , How he came thither ? 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , capistratus est , he was muzzled . It was a question that muzzled , that thrott●ed him ; in a word , a question unanswerable .

But for our more orderly proceeding we will first take the words in that form and habitude they lye , as they are a Question . Then we will resolve the Question ; for so a question may be resolved into a Syllogism . And there we shall fill our mouth with arguments against him that came so unprepared . But before we can ask the Question , or reason against him , we must lay down certain 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , positions eminent in the Text , and send them before to make way to the right understanding of the Question . And then the points will be these : 1. That clothed we must be if we come to this marriage-feast ; 2. What this wedding-garment is ; 3. That one of the guests had it not ; 4. That he was questioned for it ; together with the Compellation , Friend : And then 5. in the last place , we will look upon the party questioned , not able to reply , amazed , muzzled , silent ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but he was speechless . Of these in their order .

The Marriage is of Christ and his Church . And he that will be partaker of the Feast must be clothed . In Christ all fülness dwelleth , and he Col. 1. 19. and 2. 9. loves not emptiness and vacuity . He is clothed with righteousness ; and he would not have us come naked to him . The holy Ghost seems to delight himself with this Metaphor . He apparels God as it were ; He puts on Righteousness as a breast-plate , and a helmet of Salvation on his head : he puts on the garments of Vengeance as a garment , and was clad with Zeal as a cloak . Isa. 59. 17. Nuditas notat Diabolum , saith the Father ; Nakedness is a mark of the Devil . We never read of his cloathing . Stript he was of his Angels wings , of his eminent Perfection : And our first parents , he stripped in Paradise of that rich robe of original Justice , and left them so naked that they were even ashamed of themselves , and sewed fig-leaves together to make them aprons : And us he strippeth every day , and leaves us nothing but fair pretences and false excuses to shelter u● , scarce so good a covert as their fig-leaves . We read of Belshazzar , that he was weighed in the balance , and Dan. 5. 27. was found minus habens , too light , wanting something : And in the next verse , PERES , his kingdom is divided from him . At the entrance of the King here , the guest that was found to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not having somthing that he should have , was thrust out of doors , and cast into utter darkness . Christ gives not to wilfull bankrupts : No ; HABENTI DADITUR , To him Matth. 25 29. that hath it shall be given , and he shall have abundance ; and vestitus supervestietur , he that is clothed already shall be clothed-upon with a robe or immortality . 2 Cor. 5. 4. But every garment fits not a Christian . Every garment is not worth the keeping . There is strange apparel , and the Prophet tells us Zeph. 1. 8. who they were that wore it , v. 5. even they that worshipt the host of heaven on the house-tops , and swore by Malcham ; that leaped on the threshold , and filled their masters houses with violence and deceit . A garment fitter for Micah in his house of gods , fitter for Judas , or Barabbas , at a plot of treason , or an insurrection , than for a true Disciple of Christ . This is not the wedding-garment . We must then take a true pattern to make it by , or else fitted we shall not be . And where can we take it better than from Christ himself ? Summa religionis est imitari quem colis , saith the Father ; It is the sum of Religion , all the piety we have , to imitate him whom we worship , to be Christiformes , to keep our selves in a uniformity and conformity to Christ ; Sic oculos , sic ille manus , sic ora ferebat ; Thus He lookt , thus He did , thus was He apparrelled ? Now what was Christs apparrel ? The Prophet will tell us that it was glorious ; that he was Isa. 63. 1. formosus in stola , very richly arrayed ; and St. Mark , that he had a white garment , Chap 9. 3. whiter than any Fuller could make it . And St. John tells us of his retinue , that they were clothed in white linnen , white and clean . Look into Rev. 19. 8. Christs wardrobe , and you find no torn or ragged apparel . No : old things are done away . The robe of Righteousness , the garment of Innocency , 2 Cor. 5. 17. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the spotless coat of Temperance and Chastity , these Christ had , and with these he went about doing good . Out of this wardrobe must we make up our wedding-garment . We must , saith the Apostle , put on the Lord Jesus Christ ; put him on all , his Righteousness , his Obedience , Rom. 13. 14. his Love , his Patience . We must be conformable to Christ , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , according to proportion . In the Rule of our Obedience ; we must not wear a garment of our own phansying , an irregular unprescribed devotion : In the Ends of it , to glorifie God on the earth : and in the Parts of it ; not John 17. 4. a parcel garment : It must fit every part ; it must be universal . The Schoolman must be speculum Christi , a Looking-glass reflecting Christ's graces upon himself , presenting to him his own image in all righteousness and holiness . We will not say , with Fastus Socinus , that Christ was married to his Church only to this end ; that Christ came into the world non ad satisfactionem , sed exemplum ; not to be the way to life , but to cut one out ; not to pay down our accounts , but to teach us an art of thrift to be able to pay them our selves ; not to be a sacrifice for sin , but an ensample of godly life : A most horrid blasphemy ! But this we may say , That Christs fulfilling the Law was not to that end that we should break it ; That he satisfied not by death but for those who would be conformable to his death . Phil. 3. 10. That he dyed not for Traytours and Rebels ; That he marryed not to the Church , sealing it with his bloud , to let in Ruffians and Fools and men of Belial to the wedding ; to let in those that will rip up his wounds , and cast his bloud in the dust , and trample it under their feet . No : he that cometh to him must know that he is , and that he is a lover of righteousness . He that cometh to him , must come , not with spotted garments ; his Soul defiled with luxury : not with torn garments ; his Soul divided and pulled in pieces by Envy and Malice ; his Reason distracted , and his Affections scattered and blown abroad ; his Love on the World , his Hatred on Goodness , his Anger on good Counsel , and his Desires on Vanity : but with a garment of the Bridegrooms spinning , even Righteousness , Obedience , and Sanctity of conversation . And thus the Fathers make it up : Charitas est vestis nuptialis , saith Gregory ; and so saith Augustine . Hierome composeth it of Christ's Precepts . Others bring in gratiam Spiritûs Sancti , the gracious effects of the Spirit . Basil , on Psal. 9. tells us it is Faith ; Vestiri in Christo est fidem habere . In this variety there is no difference . He that taketh in Charity , leaves not out Faith as a ragg fit to be flung to the dung-hill : and he that entertains Faith , shuts not Charity out of doors . Methinks the disputation held up this day in the world with that eagerness and heat is uncharitable , Whether should have the precedency , Faith , or Good works ; Whether is the better piece to put into a Garment ; and as uncharitable , so unnecessary . Why should I question which is the best piece , when the want of either spoils the garment ? When both reflect upon each other by a mutual dependance , what talk we then of priority ? Heat furthers Motion ; and Motion encreaseth Heat . Faith begins Good Works ; Good works elevate and quicken and exalt our Faith , give it growth as it were , promote and further it , not in the act of Justification , but in the Knowledge of God , in the Contemplation of his Majesty and Goodness , in the dilating and enlargement of our Love and Devotion . Faith is the mother of Good works ; and Good works the nurse of Faith . Can you separate Light from a burning Taper ? or Brightness from the Flame ? Then may you divide Faith and Charity . A good Work without Faith is but a worthless action , and Faith 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , without works is dead . Non James 2. negant poenitentiam & bona opera , saith Bellarmine ; The Protestants deny not Repentance and Good works . And our Charity will say , Non negat fidem , The Papists do not casheer Faith . Let us take them both , and make them up , like Christs garment , in tunicam inconsutilem , into a seamless coat , and the question is stated , the controversie at an end .

But may we not seem here to spin a thred of our own , to make an intertexture , and weave-in between our own inherent Righteousness ; and then the Apostle comes in with a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not having the righteousness by the Law ; Phil. 3. 9. And he will not be found in that apparrel . Put in our Passions to our Actions , our Afflictions to our Alms , our Martyrdom to our Prayers , and it will not be worth the while to put them on . Our best Righteousness is but of a course rotten thread . Stillamus in patinam bonorum operum saniem concupiscentiae , Our natural Corruption drops upon the webb of our Good works ; and that rots them . Our Chastity ; a wanton thought defloureth it : our Prayers ; a wandring imagination scatters them : our Liberality ; a grudging mind , vain-glory and the noise of a trumpet drowns it . Our best Righteousness is but pannus menstruatus : ( It is the holy Ghost's phrase ) but as menstruous rags : ill materials to make up a wedding garment . Isa. 64. 6. They that talk so much of JUSTITIA PROPRIA , of their own Righteousness , when they see how ill it becomes them , put it off , and are ashamed of it . In the day time they wear it for fashion : but at night , when they are about to ly down in the grave , then , JUSTITIA NOSTRA EST INJUSTITIA : then away with it ; it is not worth the wearing . Before it was the more honorable wear ; but now , propter incertitudinem propriae justitiae , because there is no sure harbour under the covert of our Good works , Christs Righteousness is called-in with a TUTISSIMUM EST , as the far safer ware : And here they will abide till the storm be overpast .

All this is true : Yet we must remember that Christs Righteousness , though it be a large cloak , as St. Bernard calls it , yet it covereth no unrighteous person . His Feast is not for every rude unmannerly guest , malè cinctis , malè Sanctis , for men that little set-by what habit , what garments they come in . Imputative Justice , our Elder Brothers robe , is our own shelter ; but inherent Righteousness is a decent wear . Christs Righteousness without a lively Faith , like a garment in the press , neither covers nor adorns us . It is like a Pardon about the neck of an executed traitor : He is condemned already , saith Christ . He is under the power of darkness ; and the brightness John 3. 18. of Christs Righteousness cannot shadow him . St. Jude tells us he is twice dead ; and it is to small purpose to cloath a dead man : He receives neither warmth nor life ; but rot he will and stinck in the richest vestment , in cloth of wrought gold . But then our Righteousness without Christs is but a thin wear : mox perpluet ; it will keep out neither wind , God-wot , nor weather ; not irae stillicidia , not the droppings of Gods wrath ; What say we then to his hail stones and coals of fire ? It is a moth-eaten garment ; nay it is but a moth ; levi tactu teritur , a ●ight touch dashes it to nothing : Or , if it be a garment , it is a garment rent and torn to pieces with the riots of our youth , with the frowardness of our age ; with the intemperance of our first age , and the covetousness of our last : and the least breath of Gods displeasure blows it asunder , and scatters it before the wind , and leaves us naked to the great day of wrath and retribution .

Men and brethren , what shall we do ? Why surely seeing we cannot be as the Sun in the firmament , and shine with our own light , let us strive to be stars , and be resplendent with a borrowed one , and in Christs ●ight see light . Let his Day complete our twilight , his absolute Perfection our weak endeavours , his Fasting our feeble abstinence , his earnest Supplications our faint devotion , his Death our mortification . And seeing the sheep of a thousand mountains cannot cloth us , seeing , nothing we can do nothing we can suffer , can shelter us , let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ and offer up himself to himself , that our Faith may be enricht with his merits , our Hope dilated by his promises , and our Charity resplendent in his excessive love ; and that so we may make up this glorious vestiment , this wedding garment , and with boldness inter into the Kings Court , and sit down at his table .

And now we may freely speak that Faith and Good works , or Faith working by Love , make up this wedding-garment . These are traduces capessendae aeternitatis , derive and deliver to us a capability of eternity , yea eternity it self . They present Christ to us comfortable in his Sacraments , faithful in his Promises , bountiful in his Rewards ; and they present us back again to Christ , reverent at his Table , waiting on his Word , filled with his abundance , and running-over and diffusing our selves by an overflowing gratitude . O vestem auro contra non charam ! O garment inestimable above pearl and precious stones ! I am sure David would not have left it for the richest robe in Sauls wardrobe . It was better to him than Psal. 119. 72. thousands of gold and sylver . St. Paul speaking to Women , who , as Hierome saith , are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 genus , much affect trimness in apparrel , and are glad of a Holiday to be seen in their best cloaths , tells them plainly that broydered hair , and gold , and pearls , and costly array are not so becoming a 1 Tim. 2. 9 , 10. wear as good works . These we are bidden to be very charie of , to keep Rev. 16. 15. them as our best apparrel ; lest Christ steal in upon us at unawares , and find us naked , and discover our shame . Garments then these are . But we shall better understand the Metaphor , if we stay a while , and take notice of the ends and uses of Apparrel . And first , Clothes are for covert . Vestis , quasi domus corporis , saith Tertullian ; A garment is as a house ; the body dwells in it . So are Faith and Sanctity of life unto us . The rain descends , the winds blow , and beat upon the house ; but we are safe , safe from those winds which blow out of the Devils treasury , from all his insinuations , suggestions , and strong temptations . But alass when we are without this house , we are tectum jugiter perstillans , a house with the roof open , dropping thorough , wherein we can neither eat nor sleep quietly , but are driven from one corner to another . Every step is a snare , every drop a tempest ; every assault , an overthrow . But put this garment on , and we have shelter .

And as Clothes are for covert , so are they also for warmth . And so is Faith , not only like Fire , purifying the heart ; but like Clothes , warming Acts 15. 9. the affections to a temperate and active heat . An unbeliever , Lord ! what a frost there is at his heart ! how cold and chill and denumn'd he stands , not able to pull his hand out of his bosom , as Solomon speaketh ! Lay the whip upon the fools back , yet he moves not , in better case to suffer than to be up and doing ▪ But Faith strikes a heat through us . It is active in the Hand , vocal in the Tongue , compassionate in the Heart ; It sets the brain a working , seeking and pursuing opportunities of doing good ; It makes our Feet like hinds feet , and enlargeth the soul , that we may run the way of Gods commandments .

Again , Garments , as they are indumenta , for covert and warmth , so are ornamenta too , for decencie and ornament . And sure Faith and Holiness of life are a comely wear . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Nazianzene , Goodness is equally venerable to all men . It is not so much that good men hold her in esteem : Her very enemies praise her in the gate . Qui tot argumentis scripserunt ; They who by their black deeds have prescribed her , and sent her a bill of divorce , will be ready enough to tell you that she is the horn of beauty , fairer than the children of men : Judge of her by her contrary . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Sin is shy of the light , and keeps least in sight . She hath a foul face , and her best friends fling durt at her . Hoc habet ; sibi displicet , saith Seneca ; They that put her on are ashamed to walk abroad with her , but fling her off in the streets , as ready to disgrace Sin as to commit it . The Profane gallant thunders out an oath , and the next breath is a prayer that God would forgive the villanie . The Superstitious wanton watche● her sins as she doth her beads ; but drops them faster . Her first care is , an opportunity to commit sin ; and then to deliver up the full tale to her ghostly Father . The Adulterer and the Priest , like the Sun and the Moon , have their seasons ; in the night , Uncleanness ; and when the Sun is up , Confession . Ashamed she is of this loose garment but unwilling to put it off : nay , put it off she does , but not to fling it away . An argument of some dislike ; she so often changes . Tertullian saith well , Omne malum aut timore aut pudore natura perfudit ; Nature hath either struck Vice pale , or dyed it in a blush . When we sin , we either fear , or are ashamed . But Righteousness and Charity are of a good complexion , and , like a healthful body , inde colorem sumunt unde vires , from thence have their beauty from whence their strength . Righteousness is amiable in her going : The young men see her , and hide themselves ; and the aged arise , and stand up . Job 29. 8. 11. The ear that hears her , blesseth her ; and the eye that sees her , gives witness to her . If the whole world were a Sun , and all the men in it one eye , yet she dares come forth at noon-day , before the sun and the people : Ad medium properat , lucémque nitescere poscit . We see then , this is not only a Garment to cover us , but also an Ornament to deck us ; not for necessity alone , but for decency also . St. Paul goes further , and tells us it is an Armour to defend us , a complete armour , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Eph. 6. 11. Take the whole armour of God . And he furnisheth the spiritual Souldier with Shooes , Girdle , Breast-plate , Helmets and all necessary accoutrements from top to toe . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Take it , non ad pompam , sed ad pugnam ; not to make a glittering shew , like Darius , but to fight like Alexander ; to demolish strong holds , to cast down imaginations , and every high thing that exalteth it self against us in our way : non ad resistendum , sed ad proficiendum , saith Augustine ; not only to beat back the enemies darts , but to gain ground of him ; to take-in those places , those corners of our souls , which he hath beleaguerd ; to enlarge in us the kingdom of grace , that so our passage may be free to the kingdom of Glory .

To these we may add a fourth . Garments are not only for Necessity , Decency , and Security , but also for Distinction . So saith St. Augustine , Charitas dividit inter filios regni & filios perditionis ; Charity puts a distinction between true heirs and sons of perdition . The character and mark of a Christian , saith Nazianzene , is the letter Tau in his forehead , by which God doth know his , and is known of his . Bellarmine hath no less than fifteen marks of the true Church : but this one here is worth them all . We talk much of the book of life , but we never read it , and whose names are written therein we cannot tell . All the light we have is from this fire of Charity . He that hath her hath , if not written his name in that book , yet subscribed to it : he that casts her off , hath drawn out to himself those black lines of reprobation . All the mark we know good Christians by here , all the marks we shall know Saints by hereafter , is Charity : Rank and order Gods Decrees how we will , and tell them at our fingers ends , all the light our Saviour gives us is this , They that have done well , that have this mark , shall enter into everlasting life ; and they that have done evil , that have it not , John 5. 29. into everlasting fire .

So then this is a Garment , and doth cover us ; and not only cover , but adorn ; not only adorn , but defend ; not only defend , but distinguish . Take them together , they are an antidote against Fear , which doth so often stagger the best of us . They wipe-out 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the phansie and conceit of some evil drawing near ; whether it be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a destructive evil , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a troublesome evil . Fear ? what should we fear ? A storm ? Here is a Covert . Shame and contempt , which David so feared , and would Psal. 119. 22. have removed . Here is a rich Robe to adorn us . The chill cold of Temptations ? This is the endromis , the Winter-garment . The violence of the Enemy ? Here is Armor of proof to defend us . To be numbred with the transgressours ? Here is a Mantle with a badge upon it , to distinguish us . No : Fear not , saith the Angel , when he delivered the Gospel . And Faith makes it Gospel unto us . We need not fear in the evil day , in our worst dayes : not let go our hold-fast , not cast away our confidence . Here is that Hebr. 10. 35. that confirms and radicates and establishes us , and sets us , not only upon , but ( as the Wiseman speaketh ) makes us an everlasting foundation . Or , Prov. 10. 25. to keep us to the Metaphor , a Garment it is for all uses . If we have this on , neither storm , nor cold , nor disgrace , nor the enemy , nor ill company shall hurt us .

But , in the next place , it may be for all these uses , yet not a wedding-garment . Every garment is not for a feast . There are sack-cloth , and sables and blacks ; but for mourners : not for guests . These are not for our turn : We are going to a wedding , not to a funeral . Now we go to a wedding with joy : And this is a garment of joy . It maketh the face to shine , and the heart to leap , and the tongue to glory . He that invites us , joyes that we come , and we come with joy . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Rejoyce with Luke 15. 6 , 9. me , say they . Let us eat , and be merry , saith he : and he taketh in the Luke 15. 23. Angels to bear a part in that mirth . And , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Apostle , Rejoyce in the Lord alwayes . And lest we should forget it , he addeth , And again I say , Rejoyce ; O aureas vices ! O happy interchange , Phil. 4. 4. when the Bride-grooms voice is Joy , and the guests Joy the eccho of that voice ; when he delights to call , and we are forward to come , when the feast is a feast of joy , and we are merry at the feast . To enter a triumph in blacks , to come to a feast as if we were going to a charnel-house , to sit down at table as if we were in gives , to loath the bread of life , to be afraid of the Sacraments , to have our stomach turn at Christs Dinner as if we were to take down gall and aloes , is but an ill sign , a sign of one ill affected . Vestis affectum indicat ; The Garment , as it covereth the body , so discovers the mind and affections . He that hath a wedding-garment on , goes with joy and triumph to the wedding .

Again , as by our attire we express our Joy , so do we our Gratitude . The best thanks we can give the King , the best amends we can make him , is to come in our best clothes . Gratè ad nos pervenisse indicamus effusis affectibus , saith Seneca ; Then a benefit meets with a grateful heart , when it is ready to pour forth it self in joy and respect ; when the affections cannot contain themselves , but are dilated and break forth ; when they are visible in our eyes , our hands , our tongues , our gesture , our garments . Will you think him grateful that takes a fish with the same countenance he would take a serpent ? that is no more affected with the gift of a pearl , than of a peblestone ? What is his estimate of the feast , think you , that comes thither as if he cared not whither he came thither or no , as if it were not worth the coming to ? that hears the Preacher as he would hear a song ? reads the Gospel , and is no more affected than with Aesops Fables ? we receive the bread in the Sacrament as if it were no more but , as the Papists scoff is , Calvins loaf ? in a word , counts the bloud of the Covenant a common , an unholy thing . Hebr. 10. 29. Away with such bold neglect . A garment we must come in , and in a wedding-garment . Sanctity of life is our best retribution . The best payment is when we pay God out of his own mint , with his own coyn , when we shew him his own image and superscription : the price he values himself at is a QUOTQUOT RECEPERUNT , only to receive him . The price he puts upon Aeternity is but to prefer it before a span of time . His blessings , do but think them so , you have purchased them . All the thanks he expects for his great dinner is but a short grace , a few dayes drawn out and spent in a thankful acknowledgment , an open hand for a gift , a minute for eternity , a desire for a blessing , a heart for himself . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Clemens . Fear not upbraiding . He thinks his great cost well spent , if thou come but mannerly , if thou bring with thee 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a wedding-garment . For by our having this garment on we are not only grateful , but we also publish our gratitude . We do it not in a corner , remotis arbitris , as if we were afraid or ashamed to be seen and to have some witness nigh . Upon the sight of our garment all the country can tell we are going to a feast . And this is it the King expects . Gaudet beneficium suum latiùs patere ; His Benefits he would have as large as all the world , his Graces increased in thee , and diffused and spread abroad upon others ; thy Grain of mustard-seed grow up into a tree as high as heaven , thy Talent become ten , that thy growth , thy thrift may be seen and taken notice of . God hath not made us only vessels , to contain water , but conduits , to convey it ; no brokers of his blessings , to improve them for our selves , but stewards , to distribute them to others ; like beacons , not only burning our selves , but giving notice to the whole country ; one example of goodness being kindled by another , and a third by that , and so multiplying everlastingly . Thy habit and attire may draw others to the feast ; and then thy welcome is doubled , because thou bringest in company . Good examples bear with them a command : Therefore Philo the Jew , in his Book which he writ De Abrahamo , calls the lives and acts of the Patriarchs Leges & jura Patriarcharum non scripta , The unwritten Ordinances and Laws of the Patriarchs ; as if they had 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a compulsive power , and were as forcible in their command as statute-law . God loves these ocular Sermons , and would have the Eye catechized as well as the Ear. Look upon the high Priest under the Law ; his gesture , his motion , his garments , all were vocal . Quicquid agebat , quicquid loquebatur , doctrina erat populi , saith Hierom ; His Actions were didactical as well as his Doctrine , his very Garments were instructions , and the Priest himself was a Sermon . Goodness is neither Anchorite nor Hermite , neither for the closet nor the wilderness ; but she expoundeth and publisheth her self , she cryeth in the streets ; so that he that hath ears to hear may hear her , and he that hath eyes to see may see her ; the hungry taste her , the naked feel her , and the smell of her is like the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed . If thou art not a very Idol , thou must needs be the better for her . To conclude ; She is a garment for use to our selves , and a wedding-garment to be looked on by others : The fashion and beauty of the work may chance to take a stander-by , and win him to a liking . She is a garment to defend us from fear ; and she is a wedding-garment to cloth us with joy ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a wrought garment : a Covert , a Wear , a Defence ; these are in the cloth : to Become , to Separate and Distinguish ; these are in the making and the fashion : Joy , and Gratitude , and Respect , and the Reflexion of its glory and brightness upon others ; these are the colours and embroidery .

We have now made-up this wedding-garments ; and should proceed to the Party questioned for his not having it on . But I fear I have been too troublesom : I will leave him therefore at the bar to be examined the next opportunity .

The Eight and Twentieth SERMON . PART II. MATTH. XXII . 11 , 12.

And when the King came in to see the guests , he saw there a man which had not on a wedding-garment :

And he saith unto him , Friend , how camest thou in hither , not having a wedding garment ? And he was speechless .

THE wedding-garment we made up as you have heard , out of our Saviours wardrobe , of Innocency and Sanctity , of Faith and Charity , and whatsoever else was praise-worthy . The glory of it struck our eyes , the beauty of it awak't our affections , the necessity of it rowsed our desires . We may now proceed , and see , in the next place , Though it were a rich robe and glorious ; a comely wear , to adorn us ; a coat of mail , to defend us ; though it were better stay at home than appear before the King without it ; yet one there was that thought it not worth the putting on . To the feast he goes , in he rushes , and down he sits , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in outward appearance , a guest as well disposed as any of the company ; but what he was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the heart , as the Apostle speaks , and within , no discovery was made till the King came in ; and then there was . Then discalceatur , he is stripped , and flung off the stage . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his visour and mask of godliness , as St. Paul calls it , falls off ; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as St. Peter calls it , the cloak of his evil intents , is pluckt off . He is made a spectacle to men and Angels ; who cannot but confess that tenebrae exteriores , a dark dungeon , is a fitter place for such a guest than a Kings table . The King with but one cast of his eye marks him out , and singles him from the rest : And , for his welcom thither , he hears , Quomodo intrasti huc ? is strictly questioned how he came there .

But we may say , It was well yet the King spyed but one , amongst such a multitude but one to be thrust out of doors , the rest to sit down , and taste of his dainties . ONE is no number : and that the streets and high-wayes and hedges should yield so many good guests , and send but one who might justly be questioned , but one who might be excepted against , certainly it cannot but stagger our belief , and question not only the story of the Parable , but the mythologie . But one naked guest in the Princes bride-chamber ? that is , ( will you have it plainly ? ) but one bad Christian in the Church ? The Moral is of less probability than the Parable .

Sure more than one there was . Unus dicitur , plures intelliguntur , saith Augustine , contra Donat , but one mentioned ; yet more implyed . This UNUS here is nomen multitudinis ; This One is a name of Multitude ; This One , for ought we know , is GAD , an host , more than all the company besides . The Epiphonema , the last clause and shutting up of the Parable warrants as much ; MULTI VOCATI , Many invited to the feast , but few found worthy , few accepted . Origen helps us out : Omnes mali sunt unius generis , saith he : All the wicked in the Church are of one kind , a generation of vipers , vipers all . What the Apostle speaks of Christs members , is true of the Devils limbs ; They are many , and yet but one . To the same place they tend , though they take divers paths . Though they look several wayes , like Samsons foxes , yet tyed they are fast to the same fire-brands , which will burn-up the whole harvest . As the Congregation of the first born , which are written in heaven , have the bond of peace to collect and tye them all in one , to make them populum adunatum , as Cyprian speaketh , an united people ; so the first-born of Satan have catenam peccati , the Devils chain , to link them together . Though Pride swell one , and Despair contract another ; though Ambition lift-up one , and Anger fling-down another , yet in malo they agree , in evil they are brethren . There is a communion of Saints ; and Why not a communion of Devils ?

Now out of this thus much we learn , That all that come to the Kings feast are not welcome guests : Some may be askt how they came in thither ? All that give-up their names to Christ are not true Christians : some are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but ill-lovers of Christ . They love him rather for the loaves then the miracle ; love him not as Christ , but for some by-end or respect , for their credit , or conveniencie . Like the guest here , they will not stay behind , but be as forward as the best . To the Feast they will , though by their rude behaviour it appears how little they set by either the Feast or the King himself . I say , Amongst the company of guests some are to be questioned : In the Church of God some there are who are no true members of Christ . St. Augustine , when he had divided all the world into two Cities , of Good , and of Bad , saith , Perplexae sunt admodum istae duae civitates in hoc soeculo : These two Cities are much entangled and perplexed , that in this world we can hardly distinguish them , or their citizens . But ultimo judicio dirimentur , at the day of judgment , at the entrance of the King , they shall both have their proper Arms and Scutcheons . We judge , but according to the appearance , and our eyes pierce no further . But the Kings eyes are ten Eccl. 23. 19. thousand times brighter than the Sun : and uno intuitu , at one view , he discerns in this medly and mixture , and makes a separation between those who must sit down at his Table , and those who must be cast-out into utter darkness . Here , as it is in the Gospel , a multitude throng Christ , and press upon him ; and there seems to be a kind of competition and holy emulation who shall be neerest to him . Every man is a true member of the Church , and thinks no less : We defie him who doth but doubt of it . And this we see ; we see every man in post , and hastning to the Kings Court. But tangentem quaerit Rex , non prementem ; Christ liketh better of our touch than our assault . Faith comes behind , and keeps a distance , and doth but touch : and upon the very touch Christ himself turns round , and demands , not who throng'd him , but who touched him : This touch behind , this fearful touch of Faith , is more available than the sawcy forwardness , than the noyse and stir of the multitude who are ready to over-whelm him . What talk we of our care and haste in coming ? of our courteous entertainment of his messengers ? of our attendance in the Princes bride-chamber ? Blandimenta sunt ista , non officia : These are but complements , and fair language . Nudo nihil prosunt : These fig-leaves will not cover us . If the wedding-garment be not on , better stay at home than come : Better not come than be thrust out . Better a great deal dwell at Tyre and Sidon , than be Infidels at Chorazin . What ? come we to a marriage-feast without a wedding-garment ? Yet we see many so come , with their old cloaths ; and torn apparrel , with the works of darkness not cast off , but hanging still fast about them : so that though they be there , we may make a stand , and doubt whether they be guests or no. We may doubt whether all be Christians in Christendome , whether all in the Church be parts and members of the Church . Did I say we might doubt Ecclesiam in Ecclesia quaerere ? Why ? no doubt Guests they are . They were invited to the wedding , and so guests ; They are in the company of those who were called to the feast , and so of that Church and Congregation . All this they may be , even guests cum privilegio ; they may partake of all Church-prerogatives , be washed in Christs laver , frequent his house , sit-down at his table , and yet for all this be questioned , nay be thrust out of doors , and cast into utter darkness .

The Cardinal maketh it a controversie , and methinks a needless one , Whether magni & manifesti peccatores , great and open sinners , and reprobates , be not members of the true Church . And it is the Heresie forsooth of Wickliff , Hus and Calvin to deny it . Novum crimen , Cai Caesar ! Shall I say , a new heresie , and till of late unheard of ? No ; a plain truth it is , and St. Augustine long since cryed it up with an Absit ; Absit ut monstra illa in membris illius Columbae computentur ; Lib. 2. contra Crescon . Don. God forbid that these monsters should be reputed members of that innocent Dove ? Can we conceive Christs body with dry arms and dead parts ? and the City of God to be inhabited by devils ? Or is it possible Christs members should be thrown into hell ? Indeed let the Church be , as he makes and presents it , visibilis & palpabilis , a Church that may be seen and felt . Let her have a body , as well as a soul , as St. Augustine gives her : And then members they are , but not intrinsecùs , and in occulto intus , as St. Augustine speaks , not intrinsecally , in that Collection of Saints ; not veritate finis , as himself confesseth , to that end and purpose they are called ; Nominals , not Reals ; numero , non merito ; in number , not in weight ; equivocal members ; as we call a painted hand a Hand , and a dead man a Man . But we had rather let the Cardinal tell us what members they are . Capilli sunt , ungues , mali humores ; they are his own words . The true Christian is placed in the body as an Eye , or an Ear , or a Hand , or a Foot : But the wicked , what are they ? Even as the Hair , or Nayls , or bad Humors in the body : Cives non cives , such members of Christs Church as Traitours are of a Common-wealth , as Cataline and Cethegus were at Rome ; members that would eat-out the very bowels of their body , and subvert Church and Christ and all .

But we will not funem contentionis ducere , as Tertullian speaks , teaseout the controversie too far . Upon the upshot we shall find that we are fallen upon that fallacy which by the Logicians is called Ignoratio elenchi . We fight in a mist , and mistake the question quite . Let us joyn issue , agree upon the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the matter in hand , let the face of the Church be the same , and not vary and change colour in our alteration , and the question is stated , the controversie at an end . For it is agreed upon on all hands , That Christ hath a Floor to be purged ; That there are Tares amongst his Wheat ; That at the marriage of the Kings Sons , though the guests perceive it not , the King when he comes will spy some one or other that hath not on his wedding-garment ; That in the Church of God mali miscentur bonis , the Evil are mingled with the Good , to file them to an edge and brightness , saith Gregory . Call them Guests , Friends , Christians , Members of the Church ; give them what titles you please : syllabae non salvant ; Heaven we may gain by violence , but not by spells and inchantment . Names and titles will not save us . Write the Devil , saith Bede , calculo candido , in a fair character , in white silver letters , yet he is a Devil still , and his signification is Darkness . Write out an Aegyptians name with chalk , yet who will say an Aethiopian is white ? Paint Thersites in Achilles 's armor , will it stile him valiant ? A lame commendation it is to be a Christian in a picture ; to have a name only that we live , to give-up no more than our names to Christ , and take no more from him than his ; to come into the Church by the water of Baptism , and to go-out by a deluge of sin . A poor comfort , to be the Kings guest , and be questioned ; intrare ut exeamus , to enter into his courts , and then be turned out of doors . This is the case of the Guest here , who in a throng was as good as the best , as well apparelled , as well prepared as any ; but coram Deo , in the Kings eyes , naked and miserable ; and is therefore questioned , Quomodo HUC INTRASTI ? How camest thou in hither ? Which is our next Part.

The King is moved at the sight of the guests ; and one of them he questions . Affections are commotions , saith the Philosopher . They make an earth-quake in us : they move us to speak oftentimes what otherwise we would not . Commonly then the language is violent and peremptory ; not in cold terms , and by way of a plain declaration of our mind , but by a sudden and abrupt interrogation . Thus in Fear , What shall I do ? saith the Steward , in Love ; How fair art thou , oh my beloved ? saith Christ to Luke 16. his Church : in Anger ; Who made thee a judge ? say the to Moses ; in Acts 6. Admiration ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Apostles of the Temple , Mark 13. 1. What stones , and what buildings are these . And here the King comes-in , one would think , to welcome his guests ; but upon the sight of an unpleasing object he is moved ; spying one there who had not on a wedding-garment , he is quick and round with him . He says not , It is not well done to come naked : If you will taste of my dainties , you must bring your garment with you : but , How cam'st thou in hither ?

But what moved the King ? What raised the storm ? May we not set up a Quare against the Kings Quomodo ? May we not ask why the King asketh how he came thither : How came he thither ? Why ? he was invited to come , he was sent for , and intreated kindly to come ; and he had been very unadvised if he had stayed behind . We know it cost some their lives ; slain they were that refused . Quomodo in the dining-room is a strange question : v. 7. but a cold welcome , to invite a guest , and then ask him how he came thither .

But this King we know is never angry without cause : He is not as Man , Numb. 23. 19. that he should lye ; is not as some men are , qui irascuntur quia irascuntur , who are angry because they are angry , whose Anger runneth round in a circle , and begins and ends in it self . Much less is God angry to shew his power , and to make his Anger the herald of his Autoritie ; as it is observable in some men who have crept into some place and power , more than they merited ; Angry they will be , angry they must be , if it be but to shew what mischief they can do , what wonders they can work with a frown . No ; this King non nisi laesus irascitur ; If he be angry , he is provoked : If he be moved , there is cause for it . And here is good cause indeed ; we have toucht upon it before . It is not in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his being there ; it is in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his not having on a wedding-garment . This moved the King ; this forced him to his 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to his harsh interrogation ; this call'd up the tempest , the wind , a wind that blows out of the Divels treasury . O quale spectaculum malus in Ecclesia ! Oh what a horrid spectacle is an ill-apparelled , an unprepared at a wedding in the bride-chamber , a bad Christian in the Church of God . God cannot come near him , but a tempest is moved round about him . At the very sight of him he begins to ask questions , he is at QUOMODO streight . And we cannot easily say whether it be QUOMODO exprobrantis , or indignantis , or dolentis , or admirantis , or accusantis . Indeed it includes all : For by way of upbraiding , in grief and anger , full of admiration at so strange neglect , the King proceeds against the Guest ex formula , formally and legally , as we use in our Courts of Justice . Quomodo huc intrasti ? it is stilus curiae , the set-form he useth at that great day of Judicature , at that day of wrath and retribution . It is a plain inditement : Quomodo huc intrasti ? is the bill of accusation ; and non habens vestem nuptialem , the main article .

We have now brought this Guest to his tryal , and must plead against him . Therefore we will resolve this Question ( for so a Question may be resolved ) into a Syllogisme . And here the conclusion is primae veritatis , very evident , No man ought to come thus torn and ragged into the Kings court ; No man to come to this marriage-feast without a wedding-garment ; No execrable thing to be in Israel , no wicked profane person in the Church . A very principle in Divinity , one would think , undenyable , unquestionable , and which needs no demonstration . Saul amongst the Prophets is not so absur'd and strange a sight as Judas amongst the Disciples of Christ , or an Infidel amongst Christians . I say , a principle it is in Divinity , No coming to Christ without Faith and Charity . But 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Such is the unreasonableness of Sin and Impiety , that it denyeth principles , corrups and perverts the Gospel , rejects the truth , gives the lye to Scripture , contradicts Christ , and would overthrow the whole body of Christian policie . The guest here no doubt knew the Kings coat and colours , what garments he was to come in : But in an obstinate rudeness he thinks them not worth the wearing . To the King he goes in his old rags , to the feast with his rebellion and ingratitude about him . How camest thou in hither ? Why ask we him the question : He is condemned already . Let the next Verse take hold of him , TOLLE , ET LIGA , Take him away , bind him hand and foot , cast him into utter darkness .

But we must follow the Kings method here . The King , we see , doth not punish before he questions ; nor doth he question without reason . There is a QUARE to this QUOMODO , a Why to this How , Why he came thither , and , How he came thither . Upon just calculation we shall find there be many arguments and unavoidable reasons against him , why he should not thus have come . And we draw them first from the Persons ; the Person inviting , a King ; and the Persons invited , no Kings , I am sure , but beggars rather , poor and maimed , taken out of the high-wayes and streets , places of no refuge or shelter . And these lead us to the rest ; the invitation , gracious , and by an honorable way , his servants ; the Feast , a royal feast ; the Place , the Bridegroom's chamber ; lastly , the Garment , an honorable wear taken out of the Kings own wardrobe .

The King came-in : That is the first . A working word , full of efficacy , able to becalm a storm , to allay a tumult , to quench rebellion . It is the KING . The very word strikes revenge thorough us , and remembers us of our duty and allegiance . The Stoick tells us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , All duties are measured by relations . And of all relations the first and highest is that of a Subject to a King . If I be a King , where is my honour ? saith God And if God saith it , who is King of Kings , not to fall down is Treason ; to neglect him , Rebellion ; and Rebellion is Witchcraft ; and Witchcraft implies a compact with the Devil , the enemy of God and all Goodness : And such a league is Treason . Where Nazianzene tells us that Christ is a King ; he adds withall , Ecquis hoc nomen incassum audierit ? Shall any hear or take this name in vain ? Is God our King ? Then every word of his must be our motion , and drive us about . If he say , Come , we must come ; and if he say , Go , we must go ; and if he say , Do this , we must do it . Now his word is CUSTODI VESTIMENTA , That we should keep our garments , and look what apparel we come in . If when the Devil hath stript us , or hath put upon us strange apparel , upon I know Zeph. 1. 8. not what presumption we approach God's courts , it is a slight ; and a Slight is Treason . It is a plain NOLUMUS HUNC REGNARE , We will not that this King should raign over us . We will not admit of his absolute power , that he shall enjoyn us what apparel he please , and entertain us upon conditions . If we may not break our fast with God , and surfet at the Devils Table ; if we may not come to his feast with the Devils livery ; then nolumus hunc regnare , we groan under him as under a cruel Tyrant , we cast-off our allegiance , and un-king him ; his requests and his commands , his letters and his proclamations , his counsels and his precepts , all are hard and harsh sayings ; who can bear them ? And now tell me , Is not this to decree for Satan , to prefer Sin before Grace , and the Devil before God , and in a strange contempt to declare the precedencie for our adversary ? Is not this , in Clemen 's phrase , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; to make God contemptible ? Sure this argument à personâ will reach home , and warrant us to meet the Guest with a Quomodo , and ask him the question , How he dareth thus come to a King ? It makes up the Imprimis against him , and brings him in guilty of no less crime then Treason and Rebellion .

But we may exalt this consideration , and re-inforce the argument , by transferring the QUOMODO from the person of the King to the Guest , QUOMODO TU ? how camest Thou in hither ? Thou my liege-servant and sworn subject ? For we know , though Gods kingdome be as large as the whole Universe , though God be King of all the Earth , yet his name is great in Israel . His throne is in the Church . In our PATER NOSTER we begin as Sons , and call God Father ; but we end as Subjects , and acknowledge the kingdome to be His. Again , QUOMODO TU ? How camest Thou in hither ? Thou , who hast given thy name to Christ , and wast a Christian , when thou couldst not name Christ : Thou , who shouldst shed thy bloud for him , yet trampled on his , and , as much as in thee lyeth , crucifie him afresh ? This is circumstantia aggravans , a circumstance that hath weight in it , talent-weight . For the Grammarian will tell us , Plus est prodere quàm oppugnare , to Betray is more than to defie , and a Traytor worse than an open Enemy . That Malice which whispers in a corner , or worketh in a vault , is more dangerous than that which is proclaimed by the drum . Judas was worse than the Jews , his Kiss more piercing than the Spear , and this Guest here more bloudy than those Murderers . It was v. 7. a charitable wariness and a wary charity in that holy Father St. Augustine to suspend his censure , and not suddenly to give sentence against a Heretick whose conversation was pious . Whether were more damnable , a bad Catholick or a just Heretick , he would not by any means determine . But Aquinas layeth it down for a positive truth , Graviùs peccat fidelis quàm infidelis propter Sacramenta fidei , quibus contumeliam facit . The same sin makes a deeper dye in a Christian then in an Infidel , and leaves a stain not only on the person , but also on his Profession , and flings contumely on the very Sacraments of Faith ; whereas in an Infidel it hath not so deadly an effect , but is veiled and shadowed by Ignorance , and borrows an excuse from Infidelity it self . For Ignorance is circumstantia allevians , a lessning circumstance , and doth abate and take off from the sinfulness of Sin . Which maketh our Saviour give sentence against Capernaum even for Matth. 11. 23. Sodom it self . Though Sin be Sin in all , yet the person doth aggravate , and extend , and multiply it . Oh the paradox of our misery ! Our Christianity shall accuse us , and our Happiness undo us . At the day of judgment it shall be easier for a miscreant Turk , than for a bad Christian , and the King be more terrible to this Guest here , than to a stranger .

The Person , ye see , is a main circumstance ; a King to be slighted , and his Guest to slight him , his Subject to contemn him : A high contempt . But , in the next place , the Invitation will heighten it . Tantus tanti tantillum ; That a King should invite a Beggar , send his servants to intreat him to a feast , and that at the marriage of his son , makes the benefit a wonder , and the neglect as strange , and that all should be thought but a parable , no history ; no history ever yielding the like example . For what is this Man , that he should thus be honor'd ? or what is this King , that he should invite him ? Was he bound by any prae-contract or prae-obligation ? Did his justice or his honor lye upon it ? or could he not feast without him ? We cannot conceive thus of the King . No ; He might have left this man in the streets and high-wayes , amongst the poor , the blind , and the maimed , naked to every storm and tempest , open to the violence and shock of every temptation , amongst men as impotent as himself , not able to succour him , not able to succour themselves . But 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith St. James , of his own will , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , James 1. 18. according to the good pleasure of his will , he sends for Ephes. 1. 5. him ; messengers are dispatcht ; and they bespeak him in the same form they do the rest , Come unto the marriage . But this may be but a complement , and no more . And there are that make little more of it . What say we then to Go , compell them to come in . This , I hope , is in earnest : And this Luke 14. 23. he did . His invitation was so hearty , his beseechings so vehement , his request so serious , that it might seem to be violence , and did bear the shew of a compulsion . Not that God compels any , or necessitates them to that end he intends , as some conceive ; Who , because all power is his , will needs have him shew it all in every purpose , so irresistibly , as if that of the Baptist were true in the letter that God out of stones did raise up children unto Abraham . For as he is powerful , and can do all things , so he is wise too , and sweetly disposeth all things , accomplishing his will by those means he in his eternal wisdom knows best ; using indeed his power , but not violence ; working effectually upon our souls , that we do not actually resist ; per suaviductionem , say the Schools , leading us powerfully , but sweetly , to that end his prae-determinate will hath set down . When he invites us to his Church militant , mittit servos , he sends his servants : and when he establisheth and buildeth us up for his Church triumphant , mittit servos , he useth that means also : He instructs , he corrects , he exhorts , he commands , he threatens , and he promiseth : He is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Clemens , various and manifold in his operation . There is lightning with his thunder , counsel in his threats , light with his fire , discipline in his tryals , hony with his gall , and his most bitter prescripts are not only sweet , but cordials . Now all these will make it an invitation at least ; and if we rightly weigh them , lay them in the ballance , and they will put it out of all doubt that this Invitation was serious ; that the King sent for the man ad convivium , non ad notam ; not to commit him , as some phansie , but to entertain him ; not to a censure , but to a banquet ; to have made him a guest , not a spectacle . We cannot then ( to press this argument ) but lay the blame on the Guest , and implead him of perverse obstinacy . His neck was stiff ; no perswasions could bow him : his heart was adamant ; no love , no fear could soften it . And withal we must acknowledge that Faith and Charity are a useful wear , without which Gods purpose to us is frustrate , and his love lost ; without which we come to his table , and are not fed ; without which his earnest beseechings , his bowels , his compassion , his promises , his threatnings , all are in vain . And further we carry not this consideration .

The Invitation leads us to the Feast . ( And that is our next point . ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Father calls it , a splendid and magnificent feast ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a delicious banquet ; COENA MAGNA , that great Supper , with an emphasis ; in which the bread is Manna , and the Manna everlasting ; the water Wine , and the wine Nectar ; in which the cates are Antidotes , and the Antidotes pleasant ; the Food is Physick , and the Physick restorative ; where He that makes the feast is the Feast , and he that feeds thee is thy Bread . This is the Feast . And the King hath spread and prepared his table , that we should taste and see how gracious he is . For , as God made Light first , that he might make his other creatures in the light ; so St. Augustine : and he made that first , ut cernerentur quae fecerat , so St. Ambrose ; that the creatures might see one another : for frustrà essent si non viderentur , saith the Father , they had been to no purpose if there had not been light to discover them : Even so the King here hath made ready his dinner , prepared his viands , that we should taste how sweet they are . If they be not tasted , they are not dainties ; and if it be not digested , it is not a Feast . And as by Light we see God in his creatures , so by Faith we taste him in his benefits . If there be no Light , his creatures are in vain : and if no Faith , his Feast is lost ; Is the King deluded , who is the very formal object of our Faith . Facit multorum insidelitas ut non omnibus nascatur qui omnibus natus est , saith St. Ambrose . Christ is born to all , is a true proposition . Infidelity only makes it heretical . Joy to all people , the Angels song , a true ditty ; Infidelity drops on it , and so it is false prickt . The Feast here is a publick feast ; the want of a Garment only , Nakedness and Unbelief , thrust the guest out of doors ; and so to him the feast is no feast , the meat is no food , the wine is no drink , and heaven is no paradise . Now to be a guest , and spoil the feast ; to have leave to sit down , and not be prepared to eat ; to make Manna unpleasant , and Christ himself unsavory ; is a foul rudeness and a rude ingratitude : But then if to take away the relish from a feast be so , what is it to poyson it ? If this Manna by the Guests negligence breed worms , and stink ; if he make his Physick his bane , and Life it self deadly ; what thunder will be loud enough ? what QUOMODO , what Interrogation will serve to accuse him ? QUOMODO HUC , How came he hither , ad coenam Agni , Leoninis dentibus ? to the Supper of the Lamb , with Lyons teeth ? nay , viperinis dentibus , with viperous Ingratitude and Infidelity , to poyson the very fountain of life ? Oh the want of a Garment , Nakedness , and Disobedience to the Gospel , what mischief it works ! It not only depriveth of a benefit , but makes a benefit a punishment . It turns my bread into stone , and my wine into wormwood , and this wormwood into poyson ; It makes the Gospel as killing as the Law , Christ an adversary , and Jesus a destroyer . And further we need not press this argument , but carry our meditations to the next , the circumstance of the Place . It was Sponsi thalamus , the Bridegrooms Bed-chamber .

QUOMODO HUC , How he came hither thus ill apparalled , he may well be askt the question . The Orator tells us , magna vis loci , That the circumstance of Place carries with it a command , and forbids rudeness and uncivility . To dance in the market-place , to sport it in a charnel-house , to wanton it at the altar , is a soloecisme in behaviour : To do a thing 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Basil , without respect to the place it is done in , is a great absurdity . DE NON TEMERANDIS ECCLESIIS , That holy places should not be profaned , is a good Title , a whip to drive profaneness out of the Temple . Now this place here is holy , the Princes Bride-chamber , the Church of God . What should any do here then without a Garment ? To come to the Lords Feast , and behave our selves as if we were at the Devils table ; To be profane in Bethel , and Devils in the House of God ; To be in the light , and walk as children of darkness ; I know not what to stile it : But certainly we may set a QUOMODO upon it , and ask this Guest how he came hither ? For as this place is sanctus , holy , so is it terribilis also , a dreadful place , as Jacob speaketh . The presence of God , of his Angels , Gen. 28. 17. of his elect , maketh the Church , as Solomon speaks , terrible as an armie Cant. 6 4. 10. with banners . Now in this army not to sight ; in this order to break rank ; where I should be terrible , to be afraid ; where I should conquer , to run away ; is a strange forgetfulness , a forgetfulness of the ground whereon I stand : St. Paul calls it a walking disorderly , and a plain despising of 2 Thess. 3. 6 , 11. 1 Cor. 11. 22. the Church of God . Such a place should have such apparel ; a Bride-chamber , a wedding-garment . For without this garment no staying in the chamber . Want of Faith bringeth an Anathema with it , and shuts out of the Church without an excommunication . And so the Guest here doth not only depretiare ecclesiam , as Tertullian speaketh , slight the Bride-chamber , undervalue the Church , but may be further challenged for letting slip the opportunity of his own welfare . Not cloathing of the poor is one of the articles against them on the left hand : And being in the room , and not tasting of the feast , will thrust this Guest out of doors into utter darkness . Good God! what an incongruous thing is it to be made a prisoner in the Princes Bride-chamber ? to be clog'd with fetters in a place of liberty ? to gather stones where we might take-up Diamonds ? to be drowned in the Ark ? to dye in our Physicians arms , with our cordials about us ? to go per portam coeli in gehennam , through the gates of paradise into hell-fire ? The very Place , the Church , is a great motive , a remembrance unto us that we put on our best apparel . But if we come thither , naked and unprepared , then it will be a terrible argument against us .

We pass from the Place , to our last circumstance , the Garment it self , taken out I told you , of the Kings own wardrobe . For as God presents unto us our happiness under most sweet allurements , and calls it a Feast , so he tenders unto us the means of our happiness in the name of a Garment ; a garment , not of Sack-cloth , but a wedding-garment ; not tunica molesta , a garment to torture us , a garment of shame , but an honorable wear , that we should be as willing to put it on as our own cloths . Let us view the materials of it , and we shall find it worth our wearing . Made-up it is not of the hairs of Beasts , or the labour of the Silk-worm , but è visceribus Jesu Christi , out of the very bowels of the Kings Son . His bowels were torn , his flesh harrowed , his bloud shed . What ? to make us a Feast to sit down at . It is true : But withal to weave us a garment to wear . Clavus penetrans factus est mihi clavus reserans , saith St. Bernard ; The Spear that opened his side is made a Key to open his bowels and compassion , the materials of this Garment ; a Key to open his Wardrobe , as well as his Bed-chamber . Wilt thou make a Feast of Christ ? Thou must make a Garment of him too . Wilt thou feed on him ? Thou must put him on also as the Apostle speaks . For we cannot imagine that our Salvation is finis adaequatus , the Rom. 13. 14. sole end of Christs sufferings . That we should be partakers of his glory , 1 Pet. 5. 1. that is one end indeed , the very Feast : but there is another , that we should 2 Pet. 1. 4. be partakers of his divine nature , that is the Garment . Called to glory and 2 Pet. 1. 3. vertue . Not to vertue without glory : that were against the Goodness of the King : Nor to Glory without virtue : that were against his Justice . Take our Election : We are chosen to obedience through sanctification of the Spirit . 1 Pet. 1. 2. Take our Redemption : We are delivered , that we might serve him without Luke 1. 74. fear . Take our Calling : We are called unto holiness . In all our passages , 1 Thes. 4. 7. in all our approaches to happiness , an eye is to be had to the Garment as well as to the Feast : For though every step to heaven be a type of our eternal station there , and our Garment of Grace a fair representation of our robe of Glory ; yet is not every step Heaven , nor Grace Glory . Christ , as he is the Foundation to build upon , so is the Way to walk in . As he is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the price of our redemption , so he became so 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that he might be a patern of sanctity for us to take-out and follow , that we may be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , holy and unblamable . The Garment is the condition , and certainly no hard one . For it is facilis & parabilis , easie to be procured . Difficultatis patrocinium praeteximus segnitiei : If thou think it hard to work or wear it , it is because the fashion likes thee not . We may boldly say , Nothing makes Christianity more difficult than the conceit that it is difficult . We should more freely run the ways of Gods commandments , if we did not laborem singere in praecepto , too oft imagine a Lyon in the way . What need we any further witness ? The guests that came with this man shall rise-up in judgment against him . It was as hard for them to procure or wear the Garment , and yet they did not complain of the condition .

Thus have we pleaded against this unprovident Guest , drawn articles out of this Interrogation , and set a QUOMODO upon each several circumstance : QUOMODO , How , to a King ? How , a Subject , a Beggar to a King ? How , being so graciously invited ? How , to such a Feast ? How , to such Place ? Lastly , QUOMODO INVESTIS , How , without a garment , so fit a garment , so glorious a garment ? How camest thou in hither , not having on this wedding-garment ? All these Motives , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the greatest and most winning , able to rowse up Stupidity it self , able to awake our most dull and dead affections ; the Majesty of a King to awe him , his Invitation to win him , the Feast to delight him , the Place to entice him , the Garment to affect him ; a King to awake his Fear , the Invitation to kindle his Love , the Feast to raise his Desire , the Place his Admiration , and the Garment his Diligence : And yet see , not any of these , not all these , could move him ; but to the King he is irreverent , to the Invitation stubborn , to the Feast contumelious , at the Place prophane , and the Garment he esteemed not . All these , Irreverence , Ingratitude , Stubbornness , Profaneness , Neglect , Contempt , Rebellion , meeting and concentring themselves in a disobedient and unbelieving heart , are represented unto us under Nakedness and the Want of a Garment . And indeed this is all . Peccatum infidelitatis , quae tenentur omnia peccata , saith Aquinas : Infidelity is the abridgment and summary of all . For if the Gospel be hid to me , I am in darkness , and cannot discern the King from a common person , nor his Invitation from a complement , nor his Feast from husks , nor his Table from the table of Devils , nor Bethel from Bethaven . And therefore our Saviour sayes , If I had not come and spoken to them , they should have had no sin . John 15. 22. St. Augustines gloss is , Magnum aliquod peccatum sub generali nomine vult intelligi , That this general name of Sin did include some great sin , some sin paramount : And that sin is Infidelity . This makes the Gospel as killing as the Law , and the bloud of Christ as vocal and loud for vengeance as that of Abel . The Infidelity of the guest was far worse than that of a stranger .

We see here it brought the King to his QUOMODO , to question the Guest , and to silence him with a question , so to question him that he was to seek for an answer . Of whose Silence we shall say no more at this time but what St. Ambrose spake of AMA ; It was negotiosum silentium , a busie , vocal silence . Conscientia loquebatur , ubi vox non audiebatur ; His Conscience cryed aloud against him , when Shame and Sorrow had shut up his lips . But he is placed here in this parable for an ensample to us on whom the ends of the world are come ; that , if we will not be muzzled and tongue-tyed , if we will have no 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , no linguarium , no muzzle to shut up our lips and stop our mouths at the coming of this great King , at that great day of Judicature , we be careful now to keep our garments , to reverence the King , to run when he calls , to make haste when he invites , to delight in the Feast , to fall down in his Courts , and to worship in the beauty of holiness .

To this end let us consider , that God , who made us after his own image , cannot endure to see our souls naked , or clad with rags : and to be clothed with rags is Nakedness . Disobedience is Nakedness : by this our first parents were bereaved of the image of God , deprived of their glory , and made subject to shame . Idolatry is Nakedness . Moses saw that the people were Gen. 3. 7. Exod. 32. 25. Ezek. 16. 8. Hos. 2. 3. Rev. 3. 17. naked after they had worshipped the molten calf . So Hypocrisie , which is a mask and disguise , is Nakedness : Thou sayest thou art rich ; but art poor and naked . There is no shame in the world but this , to be found naked . Let us therefore cast off the cloke of Hypocrisie and Dissimulation , and put-on the robe of Sincerity . God desireth truth in the inward parts , in the hidden parts , Psal. 51. 6. at the heart-root , in the secret and closed parts . And then if it do eructare se in superficiem , as Tertullian speaketh , evaporate and breath it self forth in the outward man , and make every part and member of us a weapon and instrument of righteousness , then it doth adorn and beautifie us indeed , and God looks upon it as a glorious ornament , and upon us as guest , whose praise is not of men , but of God . Without this , though we enlarge our phylacteries never so much , though we have HOLINESS written in our foreheads , all will be but like Bellerophon's letters ; We may take them for a pass-port or letters of commendation , but in them our doom and our condemnation is written . We are condemned by our wilfull neglect and contempt of the marriage-feast as by our own confession , so condemned as that nothing remaineth but sentence and execution . If it had been mine enemy , saith David , Psal. 55. 12 , ●3 I could have born it : But it was thou my familiar friend . If it were one who never had heard of the Feast ; one of the Heathen , who knew not the name of the King ; the neglect would not have been so foul . The times of their Acts 17. 30. ignorance God wincked at , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saw as if he saw not ; he did not threaten eternal death , as he doth now under the Gospel : but now he commandeth every man every where to repent , to fit and prepare himself for this great Feast . And if we do not so , we are the worse Christians by being so much Christians , more guilty for our profession , in more danger then Infidels in that we are not so , and more unpardonable for our belief . Irascitur Deus contumeliis misericordiae suae ; God is never more angry then when his Mercy is abused , and his Grace turned into wantonness . Let us then look-up to the Author Heb. 12. 2. and Finisher of our faith ; Hear his voice , follow his direction : I counsel Rev. 3. 18. thee , saith he , to buy of me white rayment , that thou mayest be clothed , and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear . And we may buy of him without Isa. 55. 1. Heb. 2. 11. money or money-worth . The Apostle saith , Both he who sanctifieth , and they who are sanctified are all of one . Now Christ sanctifieth us by his doctrine and example . And as he was conceived by the holy Ghost , so are we made new creatures and clothed with the wedding garment by the vertue and power of the same Spirit . And then Christ will not be ashamed of us , not ashamed to call us Brethren , when , as brethren , we wear the same apparel . When he seeth our garment entire , the same in every part , universal , uniform , like it self throughout , the whole of the same thread ; not here a piece of silk , and there a menstruous rag ; not obedience to this command , because it fitteth our humour , and disobedience to another , because it sitteth too close , and is troublesome to flesh and bloud ; When he seeth us not bow in the house of Rimmon , because our master doth so ; not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , beat and wound our conscience , for fear of those higher Powers who else will beat us with many stripes ; When he seeth not our Faith enfeebled by our Trust in uncertain Riches , nor our Charity cooled by those tentations that blow from that treasury , nor our Hope swallowed-up in victory by our Ambition ; When he seeth our Garment made by that patern which himself shewed , shining , not like the Pharisees fringed garments , but like the pure fine linnen of the Saints , well woven with spiritual wisdom , and well worn with care and diligence ; When he seeth us , according to the Greek proverb , yea according to his own charge , Quem mater amictum dedit solicitè custodire , to Rev. 16. 15. keep that garment with which God our Father and the Church our Mother hath clothed us in the day of our mariage , that garment for the making whereof He himself afforded materials , and that è visceribus suis , out of his own bowels ; When he seeth this , I say , he will change our wedding-garment , into a robe of glory . Coming thus apparalled like guests , we may have 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , confidence and boldness towards God . Then shall our mouths be filled with laughter , and our tongues with joy . Then shall we not , as he here , be speachless , but speak unto the King , and the King will speak unto us . We shall speak to him as Children , Abba , Father ; as Subjects , Let thy Kingdom come ; as Servants , Master , it is good for us to be here . And the King's Son shall speak for us , Behold I , and the children which thou hast given me . The Feast shall speak for us ; even the Bloud of Jesus shall speak good things for us . And Hebr. 2. 13. the Garment shall speak for us ; our plea of Faith shall be more eloquent and powerful then the tongues of Men and of Angels . And our plea shall be answered , not with a QUOMODO , but with an EUGE , Well done , my good and faithful guests . Your wedding-garment is on : Sit-down at my table , sit-down with Abraham , Isaac and Jacob , with all the Patriarchs , and with all the Apostles , and with the whole Church , in the kingdom of heaven . Which happiness God grant unto us through Christ Jesus our Lord .

The Nine and Twentieth SERMON . PART I. MATTH. VI. 9. After this manner therefore pray ye ; Our Father which art in heaven , &c. A Preface concerning Catechizing and Prayer .

BEfore I come to the plain and familiar explication of these words , which I intend , it may be expected perhaps that I should speak somthing by way of Preface . For we live in that age , wherein every man almost is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Sophister speaks , malevolous and jealous , making his surmise a formal endictment and sufficient testimony against Superiors , whilst himself alone stands guilty ; and there can be no crime found but this , that he is suspicious . Nihil tam sacrum quod non inveniat sacrilegum . What good order can there be ( I will not say , establisht , but ) revived , which is not straight markt out as a novelty ? No sooner can it receive influence from Authority to grow up and shew it self in the Church , but Malice layes its axe at the very root of it : And where Power is wanting to digg it up by the roots , there Ignorance and Clamor shall shake it , as a plant that will not grow in any Christian ground , because they suppose it was brought from Rome . We cannot be so blind , we cannot be so charitable , as not to observe this in those things which the wisest in the Church have thought to be of great importance . And it were to be wisht that it would rest there , and rather spend it self upon some one particular , then multiply it self by degrees , and gather strength to quarrel and endanger all ; But as fire seizeth on all matters that are combustible without respect , whither it be a palace or a cottage , a stately oak or a neglected straw ; so this Jealousie , which not Conscience but Self-will and wilfull Disobedience hath kindled in the Church , feeds it self not only with mountains , with matters of greater moment , but atomos numerat , takes-in even atomes themselves , things which can have no shew of offense but what mens prejudice shall cast upon them . I will yet increase upon you , and grow a little bolder , and so draw all this to our present purpose . You who come hither to receive that food which must nourish you up to eternal life , and in the strength of which you must walk forward to perfection , ought not , so you have the food you come for , to stand too much upon circumstance , or the manner how it is divided to you . St. Paul tells us that some preach Christ out of envy , some of good will ; some not sincerely , others Phil. 1. 15-18 . of love What then ? Notwithstanding every way , whether in pretense , or in truth , Christ is preached , and I therein , saith he , do rejoyce , yea , and will rejoyce . Beloved , whether Christ be preached by publick reading or by Sermons , whether in the Pulpit or at the Desk , whether with eloquence or plainness of speech , are things in themselves almost not considerable . So the truth be preached , we may say with the Apostle , Herein we do rejoyce , yea , and will rejoyce . My brethren , saith St. James , have not the faith of Jesus with respect of persons ; I may add , not in respect of place , or any other circumstance . Lactantius will tell us , that this was the main cause that the Gospel of Christ found not that entertainment amongst the Philosophers and wise men of this world which otherwise it would have found : Nemo rem veritate ponderabat , sed ornatu ; No man weighed the Gospel by the truth which it carried with it , but by those complements and ornaments of speech which it wanted . Many now-adayes Wonder and complain that so much preaching hath begot so little knowledge , so little amendment ; and , though Doctrine drop as the rain , and wholsom instruction distill as the dew , yet many who profess Christianity remain , like Gedeons fleece , dry , when there is dew on all the ground besides them . Many reasons may be given , but I perswade my self the chief is this ; We come to hear the word of God as men come to fairs , not to buy , but to look about us , to see fashions , to hear some novelty or some curious discourse . Some come indeed to buy , to profit ; but they find not the ware they look for , they hear not that Doctrine they come to be informed in , and so return home empty , with no other purchase then the loss of time , and , I fear , of their souls . St. Hilary in one of his books de Trinitate reports of some so obstinate and so obdurate in errour that they would not so much as hear any reasons which might be brought against it , for fear of being convinced . And St. Hierome complains of the hereticks of his time , Quis haereticorum non despicit ecclesiasticos ? Who is there amongst the hereticks that doth not slight the instructions of the orthodox ? St. Basil calls them 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , men who could sit down and deliberate , and build up some new opinion , which by no care of the Church could be afterwards demolished . We are not now , beloved , to deal with Hereticks , but with some men even as perverse and obstinate as they , whose mark also it is dogmata patrum contemnere , to despise the instructions of their Governors ; who will give ear to no truth but out of the Pulpit ; nor out of that holy place neither unless some Prophet of their own cry aloud from thence , and lift up his voice like a trumpet . Why this Exercise ( if you so please to call it ) is changed both in respect of the place and of the manner , from the Pulpit to the Desk , from a popular Sermon to a Catechistical Lecture , I need yield no other reason but the command of those whom it especially concerns . It is enough for me ex praescripto agere , as near as I can to observe what they enjoyn , and , as it is in the proverb , quem mater amictum dedit , solicitè custodire , to keep my self to that form which the Church hath prescribed . And yet I see no reason that any should complain of change . For what difference between this place and the other ? I know they who deny it to the Altar , can attribute no holiness to the Pulpit . And I am sure every Sermon is or should be a Catechism ; Which is nothing else but institutio vivâ voce , an instruction by word of mouth . Yet though I can give you no reason for this so scarce markable change , yet I will crave leave of them to give you my conjecture . Perhaps they have just cause to stand in some jealousie and fear lest the overvaluing of Sermons , hath brought the price and estimation of Scripture , so often read in this place , to fall ; that there is a conceit too much taken up , That Faith doth so naturally grow from Sermons that it cannot possibly be the effect of any other teaching ; That the doctrine which conveys this saving knowledge never breaths so comfortably as from that place ; That it cannot have its true stamp and character but at this mint ; If it be tendred in any other place , Truth it self doth either want of its weight , or is but counterfeit . Now by this , what gold , what pearls , what treasure , what riches of knowledge are we deprived of ? How do we tye-up and confine the blessed Spirit , who is as various in his wayes of entrance as in his operation , sometimes passing through the Ear , sometimes piercing the Eye , nay , sometimes felt and tasted ; who breaths in any ayr , in any coast ? He that never heard Aristotle , may yet , we see , by reading of his books gain that knowledge which may stile him a Philosopher : And why do we search the Scriptures and read them in our closets , if Sermons only be the means of our Salvation ? Faith is nothing else but a voluntary assent to any truth for the authority of him who speaks it : And in sacris , in this our holy Faith , though we acknowledge no Author but God himself , yet there be many motives and inducements which may strengthen us in the apprehension of that truth which we believe , and to which we have given up our assent . Now why this may not be done by disputations , by friendly intercourse , by letters , by familiar conversation , by instruction at any time , in any place , as well as by Sermons , and in the Pulpit , is so far beyond the conceit of any reasonable man , that it may justly be thought a wonder that any man can be so unreasonable as to think the contrary . I do not prejudice this holy custome of speaking out of the Pulpit to the people ; but yet I think it will be a hard task for any man that shall take it upon him , to prove by Scripture that teaching is confined to that place . For as it is plain that our Saviour and the Apostles went into the Synagogues , and there expounded Moses and the Prophets ; so it is as plain that wheresoever our Saviour and the Apostles opened the will of God , whither it were in the Temple , or in Synagogues , or in private houses , or by the way-side , whither to one or many , upon what time soever , in what place soever , upon what occasion soever , they did truly and properly preach . When our Saviour conferred with Nicodemus by night , with the woman of Samaria at the well , with his Disciples on the way , when he reproved the Pharisee at his table , when he spake to the people out of the ship , when Philip taught the Eunuch in the chariot , when Paul went teaching from house to house , what did they then but preach , and discharge their Ministerial Duty ? Not the Pulpit , not the Synagogue alone , but the House , the Well , the Table , the Ship , the Chariot , every place was a Pulpit , every occasion a Text , and every good lesson a Sermon . Nay further yet , if I should say this teaching by private and single conference were the more useful of the two , I perswade my self I have reason ready to come in and second me . This indeed is more solemn , and it costs us many times more pains and labor than you are easily sensible of : But how oft do we cast our seed upon the rocks ! how oft do our words perish in the ayr wherein they were sown ! How little of that we speak is understood ! How unwilling are men to conceive further of things than they do already ! Or can we here in general so effectually urge and press things home as we may in private conference ? Who hath so learned that which the Orator commends , temperare vires suas , & ad intellectum audientis descendere , so to temper himself , and take from his own strength , and descend to the capacity of the meanest , as that he can assure himself that he is understood throughly of his Auditory , though his discourse be never so plain ? It fares with many hearers of Sermons as it doth with small and narrow-mouth'd vessels ; either we pour too fast , and so much runs by ; or else too much , and so much runs over . This we may deplore , but cannot so easily help , when every man takes upon him to be as skilfull as his teacher ; it being the common disease of all mankind , malle dedicisse quàm discere , rather to pretend to skill already purchased than to be willing to learn any thing at all . Now this may be one reason why men are still left in darkness and ignorance in the midst of so much light and so frequent instructions . For here we speak to you from above indeed , but so that you that sit under can raise your thoughts and censures above us ; can erect a tribunal , and arraign and condemn every word we speak : But in private conference we may chance to urge your modesty , and plainly shew you that absurdity which you must needs run upon unless you yield . Here you give us the hearing ; but there we may be bold to demand satisfaction . Many other reasons may be given why men do not rightly judge of things . Isidore hath given us three : The first is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because of the narrow compass of mens capacities ; which cannot be enlarged by our general and popular discourses ; which , unless they please the ears , like those sports which children make in the water with square stones , are drowned in the very making . There needeth much time and many attempts and particular administrations to redeem men from such an infirmity : and we shall find it a harder matter to strive with men of weak abilities than with seven wise men who can render a reason . Unto these we must rather be as Nurses than Physicians : We must submittere nos ad mensuram discentium , manum dando , & gradum minuendo , submit our selves to their capacities , by lending our hand , by lessning our steps , to keep them in equipage with us till they come to fuller growth . The second is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because of our sloth and neglect . Venit ignavia , & ea mihi tempestas fuit , saith he in the Poet ; Sloth came upon me , and that was the tempest . which spoiled me of all my crop . And Sloth , as it hath been an enemy to all the humane Arts and Sciences , so hath it been to the knowledge of Divine truth , and left it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Aelian speaks of painting , in its cradle and swathing-bands . For what other cause can there be of mens weakness in these dayes , when so frequent teaching takes from men all pretense of weakness and ignorance ? Num aliud agimus docendo vos quàm nè semper docendi sitis ? For what is the end of all this labour and pain in teaching you but that you might at length not need a teacher ? You will say all men have not the same readiness of apprehension , nor can every man make a Divine , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , It is not for the vulgar to propose their opinion and defend it . It is true : but yet St. Peter requires thus much at every Christians hands , When he is askt , to be able to give a reason of the faith that is in him . And if men were half so diligent in pursuit of the truth as they are in managing their own affairs , if men would try as many conclusions for knowledge as they do to atchieve riches and honor , we should have small reason to complain of the ignorance of the times . Quisque in Dei causa facere potest quod in sua facit ; Every man may do that for his soul which he doth for his body . And I see no reason but he that can learn to drive a bargain for his advantage , may as well learn both to know and defend the truth . The last reason Isidore gives is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Because our minds are prae-occupated and taken-up before with such opinions which we have taken-up upon trust , and have given sudden credence to , because they sort well and comply with our particular humour . Not that Opinion can arise from our natural constitutions , but because we are ready judicium tradere affectibus , to forfeit our Judgments , and deliver up our Reason and Belief captive to our own Affections . The Schools tell us , Affectiones facilè faciunt opiniones , that our Affections will easily draw on our Opinion to close with that which presents a pleasing shape and outside to them . And hence it comes many times that a man may have strong evidence for one opinion , and yet for some ends he hath secretly adhered to another . Desire of pomp and glory will build up that Monarchy in the Church which the evidence of Scripture lays level with the ground ; and Love of freedom and to be uncontroull'd will help the factious to set up an Anarchy . Every man almost makes his Opinion follow his Passion against that proof and evidence which should correct and settle both . Now these , and whatsoever other hinderances there can be named which stand in our light that we cannot behold objects in their own likeness as they are , are more likely to be removed by Reading , or private Conference , or plain Catechistical instruction ( which comes nearest to them ) than by those general Discourses which in respect of the most find both their birth and death at once ; which are seldom entertained but when they please , and when they please do as seldom profit . I speak not this to disparage Preaching . I know Faith comes by hearing , and hearing by the word of God . I confess with the Fathers , Principale munus est aedificare ecclesiam & docere populum ; That it is the greatest office upon earth to edifie the Church of Christ and teach the people ; an office which the Angels themselves do reverence . But all that is spoken is to no other intent but to root-out opinionem tam insitam , tam inveteratam , so setled , so inveterate an opinion , which hath gained place and power in mens hearts , That Preaching is nothing else but ad clepsydram perorare , to speak an hour out of the Pulpit . Look into the primitive times , and there you shall see a particular office and calling in the Church , of Catechizers . And these were then the two solemn wayes of teaching the people , per catechesin , & conciones , by Catechism , and Preaching . Of the which that of Catechizing seemeth to be the more ancient . Not children and infants , but men of ripe understanding and perfect use of reason , together with grave and ancient matrons , were brought unto the sacred Lavatory to be baptized into that Faith which they had already entertained , but were not yet perfectly instructed in : Who being yet but strangers in religion , and not well skil'd in those sacred mysteries which Christianity is enriched with , were sent in cryptas & solitudinem , into the wilderness , unto caves and dens , to those whose office it was to instruct them , whom the fear of cruel and bloudy tyrants and of the sword of persecution had confined to those grots . But when this tempest was over , and peace did shine upon the Church , when Religion began to spread it self through the Kingdomes of the world , then every Church almost had one allotted for this office , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by chawing as it were and breaking to pieces by exposition to give light to the tenents and doctrine of the Church . A laborious and troublesome calling in those times being performed every day , and the same or like things being to be inculcated and urg'd so often in that variety of men and manners , whereof some were rude , some perverse , some proud in their opinion , to teach whom many times was but to loose labor ; and all the fruit , the doing of it : Which did weaken and infeeble that glorious contention and ambition of teaching which before was strong amongst them . A Deacon of Carthage put up his complaint to St. Augustine , That in those large and cold expressions in which he was forced to instruct the Catechumeni , he many times grew not only tedious to others , who thought themselves ripe for more accurate discourses , but to himself . And this occasioned that tract of his De Catechizandis rudibus , Of the manner of instructing the simple and ignorant ; where he tells him that there is not so great difference between a weak expression and a quick and lively apprehension as there is between a mortal Man and God ; and yet Christ , who was equal to God , took upon him the form of a servant , that he might become weak to them who are weak , and so gain the weak . Why then should men of deeper reach think it tedious to descend to low expressions , quum charitas , quantò officiosiùs descendit in infima , tantò robustiùs recurrit ad intima ; whenas true Charity , the more officious it is to condescend to the lowest , the more strongly it reflects with comfort upon the inward man , through a good conscience , which seeketh nothing from them to whom it doth descend but their salvation . Nor did this office confine it self within their Temples , but was brought into their Schools : Amongst which that of Alexandria was most famous , where Origen at eighteen years of age , took upon him that office ; ( Who was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Eunapius speaks of Socrates , a living and a walking statue of spiritual wisdome . ) Where Pantaenas , Heractas , Dionysius , and Clemens Alexandrinus were glorious in this respect . And indeed what else is Clemens his Paedagogus but a Catechisme ? For we must not think that it is only to Catechise , when we instruct by way of question and answer , because our common Catechisins are shaped out unto us in the form of Dialogues . No ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is no more then 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to be catechized no more than to be instructed . In which acception we find the word used in Scripture : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , whereof thou hast been instructed , saith St. Luke to Theophilus . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Luke 1. 4. Gal. 6. 6. Let him that is taught in the word make him that hath taught him partaker in all his goods . When St. Augustine took the Epistle and Gospel and Psalm for the day for his subject for one Sermon , he did then Catechize . When Athanasius made one Sermon , and that a very short one , contra omnes haereses , against all heresies , he did then Catechize . St. Chrysostome hath divers Orations catechistical . When Chrysologus makes six or seven several Sermons upon the whole Creed , and not one of them a quarter of an hour long , what doth he then but Catechize ? What need I tell you of the several constitutions of Councels and provincial Synods decreed for the institution of the Catechumeni ? The state and face now of Christendom is altered ; nor have we Converts of the Jews and Gentiles , on whom to bestow this necessary labour : but yet , I fear , we have many as weak and ignorant as they , and here is as much need of this kind of instruction as then . I will no longer insist upon this argument ; nor did I think so much as once to have toucht upon it , but to have begun without a preface : Only I was willing to remove all jealousie out of such mens minds as are ready to believe that there is a snake under every leaf , and who from the most happy conjunction can presage some dangerous effect ; and withall , to take off all expectation of any curious discourse . My discourse shall be like my subject , Prayer ; which , as Quintilian spake of Grammar , Plus operis habet quàm ostentationis , is a painful work indeed , but is then most truly performed when it hath nothing of ostentation . It hath alwayes been my aim and labor that what I delivered from the Pulpit should be catechetical ; but I will now affect it . Nor will I strive to help my speech by art or phansie , but there where it may perhaps be needful . Abundè dixit bene quisquis rei satisfecit ; In these kind of discourses the language must be equally proportioned to the matter in hand ; and he hath spoken well , that hath fully spoken all . And to this end I have chosen the Lord's Prayer for my subject , which conteins whatsoever we should request and desire ; as the Creed doth whatsoever we must believe ; and the Decalogue , whatsoever we ought to do . And yet in this short Prayer upon due observation we shall find both the Creed and the Decalogue . Tertullian , I am sure , calls it Breviarium totius Evangelii , the Compendium of the whole Gospel ; and St. Cyprian , Praeceptorum Christi grande compendium , a Collection of all Christs precepts . Some prejudice it may be perhaps that it is common in every mans , nay , in every childs , mouth . For things common and ordinary do lose their credit and price amongst men for no other reason but because they are common and ordinary ; like the Jews Manna , which their souls abhorred because it was so common , and they could gather it every day . Indeed this is no prejudice at all to this Prayer , but serves rather to commend it . Quid non commune est quod natura optimum fecit ? saith that witty but lascivious Author ; Those things which Nature hath made most useful are most common , yea therefore are common because they are useful . The holy Father Nazianzene applies it to Divine mysteries ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Christ is our King , and he hath made his Law , his Grace , his Gospel , his Miracles , his Sufferings as common as the Sun : Faith , Hope , and Charity are for every heart that will entertain them . Only those things which are valid and secret are least necessary ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith he , they are to be placed in the second rank , because least useful . Were not our Pater noster of such use , it had not been so common as it is ; but now it is made common because it is of weightiest and greatest price . I will not urge the superstitious numbring of Pater Nosters by tale , as if our Prayers were to be muster'd up like Xerxes 's army , ut numero vincetur , to prevail rather by number than by weight . I need not tell you out of Rupertus and Amalarius Fortunatus , that this Prayer was alwayes uttered in the Church 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with a loud voice , when others were pronounced 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with more secrecie and silence ; nor trouble you with the reasons they alledge . I need not commend the laudable practise of our Church , which hath often inserted it in her Liturgy , and hath placed it at the beginning both of first and second Service . Animata suo privilegio ascendit coelum , commendans Patri quae Filius docuit ; The greatest priviledge it hath is , That it had Christ himself for its Author ; and being quickened and enlivened with this prerogative , it ascends the heavens , and commences those petitions to God the Father which the Son himself hath taught ; SIC ERGOO RATE , After this manner therefore pray ye . Which words are taken as they lye for a plain precept , not to pray , which is implyed , but to pray after this manner . For though it be in St. Luke , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , When you pray , say ; yet here in St. Matthew we read it in the Imperative mood , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , pray ye thus For although Christ may seem only to prescribe what we must desire of God when we pray , and not command that we should thus pray ; yet the very subject of this prayer , and the nature of the things we are to pray for are such , that we cannot but conceive that Christ did enjoyn both ; Prayer is implyed in Religion , whether true or false , grounded by the very Heathen on Gods Care and Providence by which he governs all things . The Stoicks appropriated it to their sect ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . As they thought that none but a wise man could be a Priest , so they imagined that none but a wise man could pray . And indeed all Philosophers accounted it their proper praise to know how to pray . None ever denyed that God was to be prayed unto but the Cyrenaeans , as Clemens tells us , and the Epicureans , who acknowledged no Divine Providence at all . Indeed all Religions agree in this , That we must pray . But to pray amiss hath been the error not only of Pagans , but of many also who called upon the name of the living God . Bene orare , gratia spiritalis ; To pray well we can learn from none but from Christ alone . We may find perhaps the truth which teacheth some other virtue , if not entire in one Philosopher , yet diffused and scattered throughout their several sects and writings : but Christ alone , as he is the author and the finisher of our Faith , so is he also of all true Devotion . Laertius tells us that Aristotle wrote 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , concerning Prayer ; and one of Plato's Diologues is extant upon that subject . And the very light of Nature directed them so far that they did acknowledge Reverence a companion of Prayer ; that they esteemed and judged of men by the manner of their Devotion ; that they accounted them profane who desired things unlawful of the Gods , and them foolish whose prayers were for trifles ; that they could deride the superstitious rites and ceremonies which they used in their devotion : But to pray for those things which will procure eternal happiness , to pray for a Kingdom , he alone can teach us whose most precious bloud hath purchast it for us . I cannot now proceed to the further handling of these words ; for time will prevent me . I intended to make this Lecture only an Introduction . For the main I must remain your debter till this day seven-night , because I have already ingagements lye upon me for the next Sunday ; and then , in this place we shall , Godwilling , meet again . In the mean time I commend you all to the Grace of our Lord Jesus .

The Thirtieth SERMON . PART II. MATTH. VI. 9. After this manner therefore pray ye ; Our Father which art in heaven , &c.

THose things which degenerate are so much the worse , by how much the better they had been , had they retained that primitive rectitude which God and Nature put into them ; they being withered and deformed by that irregularity and unnatural motion which swayes and wrests them from the rule , as Beauty is with Age and Violence , which write deformity deeper in that countenance whose composition and native complexion was most exact and elegant . In this very Chapter here we find mention of three principal virtues , which are as wings to lift a Christian up to heaven , giving of Alms , Fasting and Prayer ; All which have a CAVE , a Take-heed placed in the very front of them ; as if there were as great danger in them , as in their contraries , which are cloathed with Death . By our Alms and Liberality we do , as the Apostle speaks , sow in blessings , in a fertile place , 2 Cor. 9. 6. where for one we receive a thousand , or , as Nazianzene , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , sow our piety , which will bring in increase a hundred-fold . But yet we see Vain-glory and the sound of a trumpet will blast all our crop , and rob us of our harvest . Castigation and beating-down of the body by Fasting is that which g●ves life and growth unto our Devotion , and by which we do humilitatem animae Deo immolare , make our Humility an holy and acceptable sacrifice to God : But when it appears only in a sad disfigured face , it brings no reward with it but that of the Hypocrite . To instance in our present theme of Prayer . It is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the head and fountain of all the good which is derived upon us , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Chrysostome saith , the end and complement of all blessings : Yet when Hypocrisie tenders it in the open streets and synagogues , it hath no such force , and finding better reward then such acts do as abuse and violate good Duties . Two faults there are which our Saviour reprov'd here in Prayer , vain Ostentation , which made it open ; and Superstition , which made it long : the one of the Hypocrite , the other of the Ethnick and Heathen . The former we will pass by as not so pertinent to our purpose . The latter is that which our Saviour corrects in these words , and in the form prescribed . For it is in Prayer as it is in artificial employments ; It consists not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in the outward performance , in breathing out it self by words and vocal expressions , but also 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in contemplation of those rules and directions by which we must make our Prayer regular . To pray , is the duty of a Christian : but we must have an eye upon the manner how we pray . For that of Tertullian is most safe , si quid determinandum est , ad Dei regulas dirigatur ; In all our actions of piety we must have recourse to those rules which God hath prescribed . Reason indeed is the light of the soul , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Nazianzene speaks , the first law which is written in our hearts . But our Reason is not a rule , no not when she is unclouded of all encumbrances of passions and opinions , but the eye of the soul , which directs us by that rule which is set down to regulate our Reason . The whole power of man is in his Reason ; and the whole force and vigor of Reason in Judgment , by which we weigh and examine every thing . But experience tells us that mens judgments are as various as their complexions , which though they look upon the same end , yet find out divers means and wayes . Whence it comes to pass that this man makes more haste , another is more slow ; this mans way is more plain , anothers more rugged : and therefore a rule is necessary , which must reconcile all , and make the way as manifest as the end . The Hypocrite prays , the Heathen pray , all pray : sed literata devotio praestat devotae rusticitati ; Learned and regulated devotion is far more powerful than devout ignorance . Therefore he who hath taught us to pray , hath also taught us how to pray ; After this manner therefore pray ye . In the handling of which words we will observe this plain method . First , by way of introduction we will enquire what Prayer is ; Secondly , what those Battologies , those repititions , are , to which our Saviour hath set this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , this Form of his , in opposition ; Lastly , to whom this Form was prescribed . Of these in their order .

What Prayer is no man can be ignorant who knows his own wants . For our wants do dictate to us , and teach us both to pray , and what to pray for . Postulare inferioris est , say the Schools ; Prayer is an argument of want and inferiority . For though we cannot but grant that Prayer may be made sometime to an equal , yet the very nature of Prayer is such that it cannot be directed to any but by that very act of praying to him we make him our Superiour and more powerful than our selves . We confess our selves unable to perform that for which we entreat anothers help . Now Prayer is never so right as when it is directed to God , and turneth the point of the Compass unto him : for there is none higher than he . And this is set out unto us diversly . It is called the Ascent of our mind unto God ; a Petition of those things which we want put up to God ; an Elevation of the mind unto God , by the Pythagoreans ; Pius animi affectus , a pious and religious affection of the soul to God : It is called the Calves of our lips ; and , a rich Present , which carried up to heaven doth testifie our dutiful affection , and the undoubted means to purchase all fame at Gods hands . All these are rather laudes Orationis quam definitiones ; rather the commendations of Prayer , by which we manifest her effects , than proper definitions to shew what it is . Some difference we find in the Schools , whether Prayer be an act of the Understanding or of the Will ; but indeed it is but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a question of words . Some will have it to be of the Will alone . But they too narrowly confine it : For my Will may incline to those things which I never seek by Prayer . Volumus impossibilia , saith the Philosopher ; Our Will is carried to impossibilities . But yet no man prays for those things which are impossible . Others make it an act of the Practick Understanding , which doth not apprehend things alone , as the Speculative doth , but hath some force and causality in it , and hath the act of willing joyned with it : which both must joyntly concur in Prayer . For if I desire a thing and do not request it , or request it when I do not desire it , it is no Prayer . So that Prayer is nothing else but an act of the Understanding manifesting and expressing the will and desire we have to something which we want . And here the Understanding both beginneth and ends , hath the first and last part . For till our wants present themselves to our Understanding , we can have no will to have them supplyed : and when our Will is moved , our Prayer is not yet compleat till we make our Reason and Understanding the interpreter of our Will. For Desire is not Prayer , but the cause of it . Sighs and Groans and Desires are great furtherances and helps of Prayer ; but every sigh and groan is not properly a prayer , but gives live and activity to our prayers . And in this sense we must take that saying of St. Hierome , that truly and effectually to pray is not verba composita resonare , to utter a certain composition of words , sed amaros in compunctione gemitus edere , to send forth the bitter groans of compunction . So that as in other virtues there is a double act , one of the Will , by which we will give an alms , or do some act of justice ; another of that power and faculty which perfects and consummates the act : so in Prayer there is one act of the Will and Affections ; but that is not enough till by another act of the Understanding this Will is manifested . So that with some change of that of the Apostle , we may say that we pray with the Will , and we pray with the Understanding also . Whether 1 Cor. 14. 15 this be done by voice or no is not much material to the definition and nature of Prayer , but in respect only of time and place and some such circumstances . For though Voice and Speech be given us to this end , to conveigh our minds to one another , and to communicate our selves ; yet in respect of God there is no necessity of Speech , to whom our most secret thoughts are open , and who knows the language of our minds , qui mutum intelligit & non loquentem exaudit , who understands the dumb and hears him that speaketh not . The Pythagoreans thought it necessary to use the voice in Prayer ; but their reason was , saith Clemens Alexandrinus , not that they thought God could not hear us unless we speak , but that our prayers should be just and free and ingenuous , and such as we need not fear to pour forth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , though all the world did hear us . But though Speech be not necessary in respect of God , yet many times it is in respect of our selves . Private prayer indeed may sometimes be more available when the vehemency of our desires binds the organ of speech , when no language is equal or carries a just proportion to our Devotion , when those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , those unspeakable groans , will not suffer us to speak . Here Rom. 8. 26. God respects modstiaum fidei , the modesty of our faith , and will more graciously attend to that prayer which comes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from the very center of the heart , then that which is made and proceeds from the mouth . For by this we do not only confess that unspeakable desire which we cannot express , but also that God is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and reads and understands our very thoughts ▪ We do not only tremble at his Majestie , but acknowledge his Omniscience . But yet we do not exclude the Voice , lest we should make Man 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , dissonant from himself . God , who made the Heart and Soul for his temple , did also fashion the Tongue for his glory . And this member may not only help , but conveigh our devotion . By our voice , saith St. Augustine , acriùs excitamus desiderium , we rowse and exalt our desire ; we do not only pierce the heavens , but our own hearts also , and make a deeper impression into our souls , which gain heat by these outward signs , as bodies do by motion . Therefore Athanasius , in one of his Epistles , where he gives reasons why Musick was brought into the Church , makes this his first , Because we are commanded from God to serve him and pray unto him 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with might and main . In publick prayer none can so forget reason as to forbid Speech : for without Voice how can prayer be publick ? Publick prayers are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the strong weapons of the Church , and cannot be brandisht with power unless ; the Voice doth help to manage them . They are made in persona ecclesiae , in the person of all the faithful people of God gathered together , and therefore must be uttered and heard of all them for whom joyntly they are made . Here we invade God as it were in whole troops and armies ; and haec vis grata Deo est , this violence finds a gracious welcome at Gods hands . He hearkens to the cryes of our hearts , and bows his ear to the voice of our prayers . In the primitive times St. Hierome will tell us that their Hallelujah was like the noise of many waters , and their Amen like a clap of thunder . Oh when shall we hear this noise , this thunder ? As God hath made the Body and the Soul , so he requires the tribute of them both ; a Soul , saith Isidore , which can 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by its operative devotion call down God from heaven , and frame to her self a representation of his presence ; and a Body which by voice and gesture may lay open the characters of the souls devotion . As he requires the sacrifice of our hearts , so he doth the Psal. 51. 16 , 17 calves of our lips also . Besides , even in private prayer we adde the Voice Hos. 14. 2. ex quadam redundantia ab anima in corpus ex vehementi affectione , saith Aquinas , as a resultance of that harmonious devotion which hath fill'd the soul . For when the Heart is glad , it is fit the Tongue , which is our glory , should rejoyce . To conclude this point then ; That Prayer may be full Psal. 16. 9. and compleat , we must keep our Reason awake , and not suffer it to be charmed by the incantations of vain and wandring imaginations . We must not be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as St. James speaks , men of double minds , which look divers wayes , upon God , and upon the World . Quomodo te audiri à Deo desideras , cùm teipsum non audias ? How canst thou hope that God should hear thee , when thou givest no attention to thy self ? Whilst thou dost thus 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , wander from thy self , and follow thy flying thoughts , whatsoever part thy Devotion hath of thy Will , it hath more of thy Understanding . Galen reports of a Physician , one Theophilus , who was otherwise a prudent than , that when he was sick thought he heard musick in his chamber night and day : And this he calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a continual infirmity and distemper . Now such a distemper in a Christian scatters his prayers before the wind . For how can our Understanding at once be taken up with such contrary and opposite objects as are God and the World . The counsel of the Wise-man is good , Compose and settle thy mind before thou pray , and be not as a man Eccl. 18. 23. that tempeth God . Again , when thou prayest for those graces which may make thee wise unto salvation , do not contradict thy self . Inconsultissimum est ut quod affectu & voto volumus , id ipsum re & actu nolle videamur , saith Salvian ; It is the unadvisedst thing in the world to beg that at Gods hands which by thy life and conversation thou shewest plainly thou wouldst not have . Such a prayer may perhaps take-up some corner of the Understanding ; but cannot be an act of thy Will. Velle non dicitur qui quod potuit non fecit ; He was never willing to have a blessing who did not strive to procure that blessing which he desired to have . Many properties there are of Prayer delivered to our hands from the learned out of Scripture ; but they are all wrapt up in this one definition of Prayer . For if the Will be serious and the Understanding intent ; if the Object be right , the Will truly affected , and the Understanding elevated to its due pitch , there may be perhaps some difference in degrees , but not in the thing it self ; but he truly prays whose mind and affections are carried level to obtain the thing he prays for . I might here enlarge my self , but I have said enough by way of introduction .

Our next enquirie must be , What those Repetitions are to which our Saviour hath opposed this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , this Form here , which he hath purposely drawn that we the more easily may discern what he dislikes in our prayers . Rectum est index sui & obliqui ; That which is streight doth manifest not it self only , but that also which is irregular . After this manner pray ye denyes and forbids any other manner which is opposite to it .

Here by the way give me leave to tell you that Christ gives no direction for our Gesture . He teacheth us not in what posture we should pray , but what the subject of our prayer must be . Religion and Reason both teach us that Prayer is an act of adoration , and must be done with reverence . Where these fail , Profaneness and Self-will soon rise up against Religion and Reason , & quarrel with those things which no Wiseman would ever call into dispute . The manner of gesture hath been various in all ages ; yet all ages have acknowledged Reverence an inseparable companion of Prayer . When the Christians prayed toward the East , the Heathens said that they worshipped the Sun . But the Fathers reasons were these ; ( which are not indeed reasons of a necessitating force , but only motives and inducements . ) In honour to our Saviour they look that way , because when He was on the Cross his face was turned toward the West , saith Justin Martyr . Divinis rebus operantes in eam coeli plagam convertimus à qua lucis exordium ; saith Ambrose , In our Devotions we turn our eyes to that part of the heavens from whence we have the beginning of light . Lastly , they prayed that way , not to adore the Eucharist , but Christ himself . These reasons , although not convincing to demonstrate that it must be thus , yet to quiet and devout minds , are sufficient motives to perswade that God will rather approve than dislike it if it be thus . We may use any lawful means to express our affection to God and to our blessed Saviour ; and these things can trouble none but those qui erubescunt Deum revereri , who are ashamed and afraid to do too much reverence to God . I need not mention the Elevation of their eyes to heaven ; which the Heathen derided also , and said they did but number the clouds ; nor the Expansion and Spreading abroad of their hands ; for which they give no other reason but this , They did it that by this gesture they might confess the passion of Christ , who was stretched upon the Cross ; a reason of no more force than the former , which yet prevailed with the blessed Saints and Martyrs and the wisest of the Church . The Ethnicks prayed with their heads covered , as Plutarch observes : The Christians uncovered theirs , because they were not ashamed to pray unto God . The most common gesture amongst Christians was projici in genua , to fall upon their knees . And this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from the very Apostles times , saith Justine , and memoris ecclesiastici , saith Hierome , the perpetual practice of the Church . To this they added 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to cast themselves upon their face : and this was used in rebus attonitis , saith Tertullian , when the Church was astonisht with the rage of persecutions , and to shew how unworthy they were to appear before the great Majesty of heaven and earth . These and what other gestures soever which Reason or Reverence commend we may safely use : and it will prove but a weak Apology for our neglect , to say they are superstitious . Suppose the very Pagans used the same , yet this will be no good argument to make us abhor them . For if they thought that by these they did best express their reverence , why may not we civitate , nay ecclesià , donare , admit them into the Church , and exhibit as great reverence to the true God as they did to the false ? If our Saviour , when he bids us not be like the Gentiles , had meant Matth. 6. 8. we should not be like them in any thing , he had also excluded Prayer it self . I will insist no longer upon this , but conclude with him in Plantus , qui nihil facit nisi quod sibi placet , nugas agit ; He is a very trifler which will do nothing but what pleaseth himself at the very first sight ; or rather with St. Paul , If any man mind to be contentious , we have no such custome , neither 1 Cor. 11. 16. the Churches of God . After this manner pray ye , was not spoken to teach us what gesture we should use . For he that knows what Prayer is , unless he mind to be perverse and obstinate , cannot be in this to seek . But it is opposed to the vain babling and multiplicity of words which the Heathen used , as if God could not hear them nisi centies idem sit dictum , unless they spake the same thing an hundred times . Which Cyprian most properly says is not to pray , but ventilare preces & tumultuosâ loquacitate jactare , to toss up and down our prayers , and cast them as those that winnow use to do from one hand into another ; and Cyril , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , nothing but to make a noyse and babble . The word in the Text is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , taken as it may seem , from Battus the herdsman in the Poet , who took delight in such vain repetitions ; — Sub illis Montibus , inquit erant , & erant sub montibus illis ? 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or , as Prodicus in Aristotles Topicks : divided Pleasure 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which three signifie one and the same thing . This the Greek hath a proper word for , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from one Dates a Persian , who being in Greece , and affecting the Greek tongue , was wont to heap up Synonymas , as , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which words are all one . Two Interpretations we find of Christs words ; one , That by this he forbids all vain repetition of the same words ; another , That he cuts off all multiplying of words . Which both may be well confest if we rightly consider our Saviours words , where he gives the reason why we should not in this be like the Heathen ; For they think they shall be heard for v. 7. their much babling . Now to have affected 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Theophylact speaketh , long and inconsiderate expressions of their mind , or vain iterations of the same words , as if God were taken with such babling , had been to be like the Heathen indeed . For this Elijah mocked Baals Priests , Cry aloud ; for he is a God : Either he is talking ; or he is pursuing ; 1 Kings 18. 27 or he is in his journey ; or peradventure he sleepeth , and must be awaked . To this doth our Saviour oppose the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and commands us not to pray so , but after this manner . And this exposition is grounded upon the cause which our Saviour gives why we should not use such repetitions ; For your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask . And if our heavenly Father can prevent our desires , what need we speak so often , when he can hear us before we speak ? This precept then non consistit in puncto , is not to be strictly urged as opposed to all repetitions of the same words ; but we must weigh and rightly ponder our Saviours intent . For as he sins not against the former precept , who , as occasion shall offer it self , and for the glory of God and the edification of his brother , shall pour forth his prayers in publick , before the Sun and the People ; so neither is he guilty of Battology or vain repetition , who out of a vehement and ardent affection of obteining what he desires shall use many words , or the same words often . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Periander in Clemens ; Meditation purgeth and refineth all things . Nay , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Philosopher ; Meditation is all . Now this , as it is ready to frame our petitions , so is it increased by them ; and being frequent , though the same it presents us with occasions of more neerly contemplating the Wisdome , the Goodness , and the Power of God , with whom he that prays , speaks ; and the oftner he speaketh with him , the neerer is he drawn , and even transformed into his image . There is no difference in this respect between the Old Testament and the New : yet in the Old Testament , especially in the Psalms , we find many examples of repetitions : yet Christ doth noth not impute this Battologie to the Law of Moses , or to any custome of the Jewish Nation ; no , not to the Hippocrites amongst them ; but only to the Heathen , who measured God by themselves , and thought he would be won with words and speaking one thing often . Omne multiloquum à gentibus , saith St. Augustine ; All affectation of words come from the Heathen : Who because they saw the constancie of Wise-men often shaken by no other art or violence but that of the tongue , profanely thought that the same art might prevail with God , who is in ultimitate stabilitatis , who is immoveable , and hath commanded us to pray rather to fit and qualifie us for his blessings , than to inform him that we stand in need of that without which we cannot subsist . Christ hath commanded us to pray continually without intermission : Which St. Augustine interprets thus , ut nullo tempore intermittantur certa tempora orandi , that we ought to observe certain times of the day to pray in . As he that eats but one meal a day is said to fast the whole day , so he that prays at appointed hours may as truly be said to pray alwayes . Neque enim deficit à quocunque opere , qui id suo tempore & loco exercet , saith the devout Schoolman Guilielmus Paerisiensis ; For he is not said to leave his trade who follows it in due time and place . What though our prayers be solemn or set ? yet this doth not bring them within the compass of Battologie . For it is impossible we should pray often , and not repeat . Nay , Repetition may improve our devotion , and drive it home , as a nayl fastned by the masters of the assembly . Cassian speaking of that Prayer , O God , make speed to save us , tells us it is well seconded with it self in the next words , O Lord , make haste to help us ; and that it is impossible to speak it too often . I know no hour in which we may not pray and use the same words . Astronomers have told us of some fatal dayes and hours ; but they could never point out to an hour so unfortunate or unlucky in which we may not pray . The ancients set themselves a certain task of praying : and being either weary of the world , or not willing any longer versari in rebus , to entertain the affairs of the times , they betook themselves to Deserts , and allotted to themselves certain hours for prayer , which they constantly observed . From them this manner of praying was brought into the Cloysters . From hence those Preces horariae , as Cassian calls them , or Horae canonicae , those Prayers at certain hours , which we call Canonical hours ; which are cryed down with a great deal of noyse , and termed Battologies ; which have been too much esteemed , and are too much slighted . It is time to observe days and hours , to attribute virtue and power to the times when we pray , or to the number of our prayers , or to the bare repetition of them , hath some neer affinity with that superstition of the Heathen which our Saviour here forbids . But to set-by certain hours to pray in , ( suppose it be in remembrance of those passages of our Saviours Passion , and with some conformity to the very times , as near as we can collect ) is so far from comming under this heavy censure , that I may call it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a reasonable service of God . We must not be superstitious , but we cannot be too canonical in our devotion . That the same prayers are repeated often is not there censured by our Saviour , but the placing of our devotion in the bare repetition . Otherwise we cannot be too instant . Have mercy upon me , O God ; for I am weak : O Lord , hear me ; for my bones are vexed : and again , O Lord , I pray thee , now save : O Lord , I pray thee , now send prosperity . These and such like are the monuments of piety and devotion ; and not only put us in mind what those blessed Saints did , but what we ought to do by their example . I appeal to your very souls and consciences : How do these reiterations many times ravish you and transport you beyond your selves , O thou Son of David , Have mercy upon us . Thou that takest away the sins of the world , have mercy upon us . Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father , receive our prayer ! How do these ingeminations warm your piety and devotion , and make it active ! Tell me , are they not like Elijahs fiery chariot to carry-up your thoughts to heaven ? When we would speak , and cannot ; when our heart is larger then our tongue , and we think more than we can speak ; when we begin to speak to God , and a pang doth silence us ; and then we begin again , and a deep sigh interrupts us ; and then we cry out again , and our tears drown our language ; with such Soloecisms God is delighted . When we cry , and cry again , and multiply our prayer , as the Sun doth its Species ; when we use the same words instanter , instantiùs , instantissime , as the Lawyers speak , with all instancy of reiteration ; with such Importunity God is pleased . When we call , and are not answered ; and then call again till we are answered ; and when we are answered , call again ; when we pray that we may obtain ; and when we have obtained , pray again : when we love to petition him who loves our petitions , and though he is more willing to give than we are to pray , yet withdraws his hand that we might multiply our prayers : when we call for mercy , and never think we can call oft enought for it : with such Tautologies God is won . And this is it which St. Paul , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Rom. 15. 30. Col. 4. 2. to strive and contend and fight in prayers , as a Souldier , who being earnest for victory lays on his blows thick ; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to labor and sweat , and even thresh in prayer . If the Spring be clean , let the waters flow : If thy Heart be prepared , pour forth thy supplications as frequently as thou mayest ; thou needest not stand in fear of making Soloecisms and Tautologies . Christianorum soloecismi , turpe quid dicere vel facere , saith Hierome ; The worst Tautology of a Christian is continuance in Sin ; and the greatest Soloecisme , to speak or do what is not warrantable . Those frequent iterations in our devotions are not Battologies , but like those studs in little buildings which , though they be not continuae , all one , yet are contiguae , and are joyned in the same frame , and do uphold the building . When we call , and call again , and never think we can call enough , when our prayers and devotion fall like the flakes of Snow in winter ( as Homer commends Ulysses 's eloquence ) or rather like the Rain , which though it fall in many streams , yet is but one showr , with such Babling , with such Battology God is wrought upon . Muta cantus simulacrum repraesentat ingrati , saith Ennodius : Depretiat genium suum quae in vocem non erumpit amicitia , We must not so be afraid of babling as to neglect prayer , nor be so unlike the Heathen as not to be Christians . Where our Love is dumb and silent , there our Devotion must needs be but a statue ; for that friendship is of no value which cannot speak . Dicuntur fratres in Aegypto breves habere orationes , sed creberrimas , saith St. Augustine ; The Monks in Aegypt are said to have very frequent , but short prayers . And Cassian gives the reason , That by often praying they may the more firmly knit their souls to God ; and again , That that attention which is required in prayer abate not by being prolonged ; nè calor cogitationis nimiâ intentione pereat , lest that heat of devotion vanish by intending and stretching it too much . It is never dulled sooner than when the edge of it is most keen . David sends up his prayer as Incense , Let my prayer , saith he , be set before Psal. 141. 2. thee as incense ; whose fragrant smoke still ascends upwards . But many times in the very ascent , whilst it strives up higher and higher , infimo phantasmate verberatur , saith Gregory , it is beat back again by earthly imaginations which intervene , and then is extenuated by degrees , and vanisheth to nothing . Therefore the Prophet prays ut dingatur oratis , that his Prayer may be set before God , ut stabiliatur , so some render it out of the Hebrew , that it may be establisht , that it neither evaporate it self nor be whift about with the wind of vain and contrary imaginations , which come ab extrinseco , and may corrupt it . Reason and Devotion are in this alike , that they are as tender as the Eye , which by too earnest looking upon the object grows weary , and loseth the object whilst it looks upon it . Saepe vehementiùs tentata succedunt segniùs , & nimia voluntas effectum negat : We see it comes many times to pass that when we press forward with too much haste , we miss our mark ; and we come sooner to our journeys end when we make not too much speed . Reason may eclipse it self : and Devotion , like that meteor which Philosophers call stellam cadentem , may be lifted up on high , and represent the shape and brightness of a Star , but , being not fixt in the firmament , suddenly shoot and fall to the ground , and turn to a gelly and slime . And therefore these two , saith St. Chrysostome , not to speak much and to pray oft , are not contrary , but may well consist together . Our Prayers may be short and often ; which if we too far extend , we give the Devil leisure and boldness to set upon us , and to supplant our Devotion when we think it most invincible . Saepe homo , cùm est in se , non est secum , saith the Father ; A man may be in himself even then when he is not with himself . To help this , Nazianzene Orat. 21. hath found out 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a golden chain ; and hath taught us to joyn together 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to make our actions devout , and our devotions practick . For Prayer is of that nature that it will mix it self and comply with every action . Ipsa sibi templum facit quo Deum adoret ; She can make every place a temple for the worship of God . Other actions hinder one another : I cannot walk and sit down ; I cannot build , and write ; I cannot travel , and sleep : but Prayer , as Logicians say of Substance , nihil habet contrarium , hath nothing contrary to it , but applies it self to every thing . I may walk and pray , I may build and pray , I may write and pray . And St. Hierome will tell us , Sanctis etiam ipse somnus est oratio , that holy men do pray even when they sleep . Those Monks of Aegypt we before mentioned , did work incessantly in their private cells , saith Cassian ; but yet they omitted not Prayer , per singula momenta orationes miscentes , making their Devotion keep time with their Work ; The Fathers had their prayers which they called Jaculatorias , sudden and often Ejaculations , Deus meus , & omnia ; Amor meus , crucifixus , and the like . Which were like that golden Dart of Abaris in Jamblichus , with which he used to fly aloft , and so got the name of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; a Climber of the heavens ; or rather like Pythagoras 's short symbolical sayings , which he calleth sparkles of fire , sent up by Devotion , and falling down back upon it to encrease it . Of this nature are those short Prayers and Collects which the Church hath framed , not shreds and short cuts , but coelestial sparkles , which both kindle Devotion and nourish it ; which are built upon the true foundation , this Form which Christ hath given ; which help our weekness , that we may pray ; and being short and many , strengthen our Devotion , that it never fail . To conclude this point then ; Not often praying , not repeating of the same words , not heat of devotion , not fervency , not frequent ejaculations fall under the censure of our Saviour here , nor are to be accounted babling ; but garrulous and talkative zeal , tumultuous impudence , which speak to God as if he were ignorant , and make a noyse as if he were asleep . These are but squibs to make a noyse : But those other are radiations and glorious illustrations , which may every where present themselves , quae inter medios rerum actus inveniunt aliquid vacui , nec otium patiuntur , which find a room in the very throng of our actions , and are never idle . Post magnum sonitum tinnitus quidam ; When the Clock hath stricken we hear after a glowing and a quivering sound : The actions of the day are presented and repeated in the dreams of the night ; which are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the echo and reverberations of our customary behaviour . So when we have begun in prayer , and lodged our petitions in the bosome of our gracious Father , they are presently poured back upon us in the midst of our common actions , and we resume them again , and one prayer is made the resultancie of another , and this musick is like that of the Spheres , perpetual and everlasting .

But when our Saviour prescribeth this manner , doth he not exclude all other forms ? No ; but he requires rather that our prayers be succinct and short ; opposing this Form to the Heathens vain babling , and leaving it as a patern for us to pray by . Jus est superstruendi extrinsecus orationes ; We may build other prayers by this model , those which are extrà , which have not the same words , but not contrà , none that ask any thing which is contrary to the Petitions this Form containeth . Our Saviour , the Apostles , and the whole Church ever practised it . And it plainly appears that it was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , our Saviours chief aim and intent to exclude vain repetitions ; but that he had any second intent and scope to shut out all other it doth not appear . It hath befallen the Church of Christ what is observed of Drusus in Paterculus , In iis ipsis quae pro senatu moliebatur , senatum habuit adversarium ; He never attempted any thing for the honor of the Senate , but the Senate withstood him . So though there be nothing more useful to the Church than the framing of Liturgies and common Forms of Prayer , yet is there nothing censured with more bitterness and scorn then these , especially by those for whose use and benefit they are framed . To insist upon particulars were but , with Ruth to glean after their sheaves who in this argument have made a plentiful harvest . The Christian desire of those good men who by evidence of argument have endeavoured to reclaim them , hath but more provoked them . And I may say with Cyprian , lacrymis magìs opus quàm verbis , We shall more profitably bestow our tears and our prayers than our arguments on such men , with whom to dispute is but to strengthen them in their errour , and to whom though seven wise men render a reason , yet their most evident reasons serve only to make them yet more unreasonable .

We proceed now to enquire To whom this Form of prayer was prescribed , and Upon what occasion it was instituted . And here there seems to be some difference between the two Evangelists , Luke and Matthew . For we read that one of his Disciples came unto him as he was praying Luke 11. 1. in a certain place , and said unto him , Lord , teach us to pray , as John also taught his Disciples : But here , without any intreaty , in the midst of his Sermon , which he made not to the Disciples alone , but to the multitude , he prescribes this Form . Some say he prescribed this Form at two several times . But this occasions another scruple . For it is not probable that after he had openly taught this Form to his Disciples and the whole multitude , that any , of his Disciples especially , being present at his Sermon , should ask him to teach them that again which he had taught already : Which had been to deny what was most manifest . And Christ himself is silent , nor makes any mention that the Desciple demanded that which was done already . A doubt this is of after-ages , which none of the Ancients fell upon . And we cannot better clear it than by that which is most probably true , That St. Luke is not so exact in the history of Christ as is this our Evangelist St. Matthew , but , without any strict observing of the order and series of the times , thought it sufficient that what he wrote of Christ was true . Matthew was present with Christ , and wrote what he saw : But Luke , who by some was thought to be one of the Seventy Disciples , confesses in the very beginning of his Gospel , that he wrote as they deliverd it who were from the beginning , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , eye-witnesses and ministers , of the word . Nor can we blame him , whilst he delivers the truth , though he do not alwayes punctually set down the time ; or tell us that Christ did institute this Form after those things which he before declared . To say no more is enough to satisfie any mind that is not over-curious . There may be in Scripture many appearing Achronismes , nay 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , seeming contrarieties : But this is not enough to argue the Scripture of Imperfection , because we cannot reconcile them . The treasures of the written Word of God are rich Minerals , quae assiduè pleniùs respondent fodienti , which the more they are dig'd the more plentifully evermore do they offer themselves , so as that if all the wits of Men and Angels should combine themselves , yet should they never be able to draw neer the bottom , or follow to an end the smallest vein . Tanta est profunditas Christianarum literarum , saith St. Augustine , Such is the depth and variety of Christian learning contained in the Scriptures , that I could every day profit in them , if I should endeavour to study them alone with all my leasure , with all my pains , with all my wits , from my childhood to my last gasp . Not because of any strange difficulty in attaining to such things as are necessary to salvation : but because after that is gotten which concerns Faith , there remain so many things that even to the eldest and acutest and most earnest in the study of them , it happens when he hath done then he beginneth . Besides , as Gregory Nyssen says , that Christ spake in parables and in obscure and cover'd narrations , that he might exercise 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the wit and understanding , of his Disciples ; so may we safely think that , having placed that truth which bringeth salvation in a tabernacle , as the Sun , that all eyes might behold it , some things and some circumstances he left obscure , ut in eorum discussione & intellectu immensum nobis exercitii ac solicitudinis campum reservaret ; as Cassian speaks , as a large field for our industry and care to shew it self in ; ut difficultas intellectûs gratiam Dei quaereret , as Gregory speaks , that the difficulty of apprehending it might force us on our knees to begg further illumination from the Father of lights . Ipsa natura , saith the Orator , proposuit pulcherimo cuique operi difficultatem ; Nature it self , as she hath with a free and open hand dispensed things necessary , so hath she withdrawn the best things that we might sweat for them . So God hath left some mists , some darkness , in Scripture , that our Industry might strive to dispel it ; and , as Heraclitus speaks of the Oracle of Delphos , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he doth not plainly relate , nor yet hide the truth , that we may search and find it out . In this difference we find it so : The Truth , like the Bee in the Gumm , & latet , & lucet , appears , but hidden ; is seen , but with some obscurity ; that we may neither despair of finding it , nor be over-confident . Prayer is a principal part of our service of God , a tribute which we must give him , a sacrifice which we must offer , an acknowledgment that he is the Fountain of good , and that all blessings are but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , defluxions , from him ; And all men , of what rank and condition soever , are bound to perform it ; all are bound to pray . This Form of prayer therefore was prescribed both to the Disciples and to the Multitude . None so wise who must not , none so ignorant who may not learn this Form . Blanditur nostrae infirmitati ; It is fitted to the capacity of the weak . Being a short form , it is no burden to the Memory ; and being a plain form , it brings no trouble to the Understanding . He that cannot walk upon the pavement of heaven , amongst the mysteries of his Faith , may yet walk upon this earth , this plain model of Devotion . He that knows but little of the Trinity , may yet cry , Abba , Father . He that cannot dispute of God , may yet sanctifie his Name . He who is no Politician , may have his Kingdom within him : And he who cannot find out his wayes , may yet do his Will. Fastidiosior est scientia quàm virtus : Paucorum est ut literati sint ; omnium , ut pii : Knowledge is more coy and hardly to be wooed than Devotion ; it makes its mansion but in a few : But Piety forsakes no soul that will entertain her . Every man cannot be a Scholar ; but every man may be devout . Every man cannot preach ; but every man may pray . Nemo ob imperitiam literarum à perfectione cordis excluditur , saith John Cassian . Antiquity confined Perfection to a Contemplative life , to men of some eminence in the Church : but a vain thing it is to imagine that none can reach perfection but the Learned . Surgunt indocti , & rapiunt regnum coelorum , saith Augustine ; Devout Ignorance many times taketh heaven by violence , when our sluggish and unprofitable knowledge cannot lift up our hands by Devotion so much as to knock at the door . Take then the Disciples and the Multitude together , men of knowledge , and men of no great reach , and the Sic orate , concerns them all , and to them it is our Saviour gives this Command , After this manner pray yee .

But now , in the last place , what shall we say to Sinners ? May they use this Form : or can they pray without offense , whose very prayer is an offense ? I should hardly have proposed so vain a question , but that I find it made a question in the Schools , and amongst the Casuists a Case of Conscience . Indeed , who can pray but Sinners ? Our very Pater Noster is a strong argument that every man is a sinner . But yet some sins do not exclude the grace and favor of God , as those of daily incursion : Others of a higher nature may , and so make us uncapable of this holy Duty . This Doctrine like the Popes Interdict , shuts-up the Church-doors , and shutteth up our lips for ever , that we may not open them ; no , not to shew forth the praises of the Lord . A doctrine as full of danger as that from whence it sprung . For do we not read it in terminis , That the best actions of the unregenerate are sins ? We know who tells that opera bona optimè facta sunt venialia peccata , That the best works of Saints are so also in some degree . Which opinions , though they have some truth , if rightly understood , yet so crudely proposed as many times they are , are full of danger . Who would not tremble to hear what I am sure hath been preached , That the wicked are damned for eating , and damned for drinking , damned for labouring in their calling , and damned for going to Church , and damned for praying ? whereas all things work for the best to the godly , even Sin it self . But it is worth our observing , that men of this opinion have a trick to shift themselves out of the tempest , and to make themselves of the Elect. They deal as the Romans did ; who , when two Cities contending for a piece of ground had taken them for their judge , wisely gave sentence on their own behalf , and took it from them both unto themselves . But the truth is , to say that the Alms and Prayers of wicked men are sin is a harsh saying ; and we must , as Chrysostom speaks , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , mollifie it . Shall I call the Temperance and Patience and Chastity of the Heathen sins ? That is too foul a reproach . I will rather say that they were as the Rain-bow was before the Floud , the same virtues with those which commend Christians , but of no use , because they were not seasoned with Faith , which commends all virtues whatsoever , and without which they cannot appear before the presence of the Lord . But to give instance to our purpose ; Cornelius was a Gentile , and knew not Christ : yet we read that his prayers came up for a memorial before God . Simon Magus was in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity ; yea , primogenitus Satanae , as Ignatius calls him , the first-born of Satan : yet even in this bitterness , even in this bond of sin , St. Peters counsel is , to pray God , if perhaps the thoughts of his heart may be forgiven him , Acts 8. 22. which , after the thunder of his curse , cleareth the air , that he may see some hope of escaping destruction . To make it a sin to pray in the state of sin , is to deny physick to the sick and to destroy my Brother for whom Christ dyed . I know the Schools determine the point thus , That both these are false , either that a sinner is alwayes heard of God , or that he is never heard ; That God loves his nature , but hates his fault ; That out of his exceeding mercy he will grant his request , if his prayer be pious . To those who walk 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by that light they have , God is ready to send an Angel or an Apostle , or to come himself . When the Prodigal was yet a great way off , his Father saw him , and ran , and fell on his Luke 15. 20. neck , and kissed him . The Return of the sinner is expressed by the word Going ; but God's Coming to the sinner , by Running . God maketh greater haste to the sinner then the sinner doth to God . God maketh much of our first inclination , and would not have it fall to the ground . We need say no more to clear this point then what Gregory hath taught , Fac boni quicquid potes ; In what state soever thou art , whether in Gods favour or under his frown , yet do all the good thou canst . In puncto reversionis , in the very point of thy turning to God , God runneth to meet thee ; he watches each sigh , and hearkens to each groan : and thy Prayer is so far from being a sin , that it shall wipe-out thy sin for ever : And therefore Christ hath put this Form in thy mouth : Which he hath prescribed to the learned and to the ignorant , to Disciples and to the Multitude , to perfect men and to sinners , laying this command upon them all , After this manner therefore pray ye , Our Father , &c.

This Form of Prayer is prescribed to all : yet all will not receive it ; but many look upon it with scorn , as if they thought themselves too wise to be taught by our Saviour . What Seneca spake of Philosophy is as true of Religion and Devotion , Fuit aliquando simplicior inter minora peccantes . When men were truly devout , there was no contention but this one , Who should be most devour . All the noise was in their Temples , little in their Schools . All men then did joyn together with one heart and mind in prayer , and not , as now , fly asunder and stand at distance ; and then give laws to one another ; or ( which is worse ) in their hearts denounce a curse against those who will not follow their example , that is , set the countenance , tune the voice , roll the eye , pray at adventure , and in all things do as they do ; or ( which is equivalent to a curse ) esteem them at best but meer moral men ( would they were so good ) but unsanctified men , and void of saving Grace ; and so nourish that venome and malice in their hearts against their Brethren which certainly cannot lodge in the same room with true Devotion , and leave them only fit to act a prayer . And then what a Roscius is a Pharisee ! Beloved , Prayer was a Duty , but is become a Probleme ; and men who cannot gain the reputation of Wise but by doing that for which they deserve another name and title , have been bold to put it to the question , When , and How , and In what manner we may pray ; as if this Form came short which our Saviour hath prescribed ; have lookt upon all other Forms , and this of Christs , ( by which they were made ) as upon a stone of offense , and out of it have struck the fire of Contention . Nihil tam sanctum quod non inveniat sacrilegum ; There is nothing so sacred , so set apart , which a profane hand dare not touch and violate ; no Manna , which may not be loathed ; nothing so profitable to advance piety , which may not be trod under foot . If you cast a pearl to a Swine , he will turn upon you and rent you , if he can . A set-Form ! That is a chain , and binds the holy Ghost to an Ink-horn . Meditation ! ( without which we will not speak to our fellow mortal ) That stints the blessed Spirit . It is their own language . They bring Sermons and Prayers of Gods own making , because they themselves takes no pains in framing them . Multa sunt sic digna revinci , nè gravitate adorentur , saith Tertullian ; Many exceptions may be taken which are not worth the excepting against ; and many are so ridiculous , that to be serious and earnest in confuting of them were to honour them too much . We cannot but pity the men , because we are Christians ; otherwise we could not but make them the object of our laughter . We have probability enough to induce us to believe that some of those who have so startled at a Form , would for the very same reason have complained had there been none at all . For he that looks for a fault , will be sure to find one ; or , if he do not find , will make one . They would have been as hot and angry had the Church been naked , as they are now they see her glorious in all her embroydery . Ceremony , or no Ceremony ; Form , or no Form ; all is one to him whose custome , whose nature , whose advantage it is to be contentious . What ? no reverence in the Church of Christ ? as lyable to exceptions as , What ? too much ? What ? turn the cock , and let it run ? one would think more obnoxious to censure then by meditation to draw waters out of the fountain , the Word of God . What ? speak we know not what ? Such an accusation in all reason should sooner raise a tempest then to pray after that manner which our best Master hath taught us . When it concerns us to be angry , every shadow is a monster , every thing is out of order , every thing , nothing is a fault . I have not been so particular as I should , because we live among fanatick spirits , with men who , as David speaketh , are soon set on fire ; who can themselves at pleasure libel the whole world , yet put on the malice of a Fiend , and clothe themselves with vengeance , at the sound of the most gentle reprehension . Imbecilla loedi se putant si tangantur ; You must not lay a finger upon that which is weak ; If you but touch them , they are inraged , and will pursue you as a murderer . Yet we may take leave to consider what degrees and approaches the Arch-Enemy of the Church and Religion hath made to overthrow all Devotion and to digg up Christianity by the roots . First , men are offended with Ceremony , though as ancient as the Church it self , and at last cry down Duty . First , no Kneeling at the Sacrament , and then no Sacrament at all . First , no Witnesses at the Font , and then no Baptism . First , no Ordination , and then no Minister : and he is the best Preacher who hath no calling , though he be fitter to handle the Flayl then the Bible . First , no Adorning of Churches ; and presently they speak it plainly , A Barn , a Stable is as good as a Church . And so it may be for such cattle as they . First , no set-Form of Prayer ; and within a while they will teach Christ himself how to pray . Thus Error multiplyes it self , and striking over-hastily at that which is deemed Superstition , leaves that untoucht , and wounds Religion it self , and swallows up the Truth in victory in the unadvised and heedless pursuit of an error . This is an evil humor , and works upon every matter it meets with : and when it hath laid all desolate before it , it will at last gnaw upon it self ; as in the bag of Snakes in Epiphanius the greatest Snake eat up the lesser , and at last half of himself . For we commonly see that they that strike at whatsoever other men set up , are at last as active to destroy the work of their own hands ; and they who quarrel with every thing , do at last fall out with themselves . Oh what pity is it that Religion and Piety should be thus toyed withal ! that men should play the wanton with those heavenly advantages which should be as staves to uphold them here on earth , and as wings to carry them up to heaven ! that there should be so much noise and business about that Duty which requireth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the quietness , the tranquility , the stillness of the soul ! that Praying should become begging indeed , I mean , as Begging is now-a-dayes , an art and trade ! that all Devotion should be lost in shews ! that men should hate Ceremony , and yet be so much Papists as they are ! that they should cry Down with Babylon even to the ground , and yet build up a Babel in themselves ! But , beloved , we have not so learned Christ : Therefore , let us lay hold on better things , and such as accompany Piety , that Piety which brings with it salvation : Let us not be afraid of a good duty because it hath fallen into evil hands ; Let us not leave off to pray in that Form which our Saviour hath taught us , or in any other Form which is conformable to that , because some men love to play the wantons , and will call us superstitious for doing what Christ commanded us ; Let us not be ashamed of the name of this Form of Christ , because by some it hath been evil spoken of ; but let us pray , and after this manner , and pray that this their sin may be forgiven them . Let us not affect long prayers , but pray so that we may be heard . Let our Prayers be the effects and results , not of Vain-glory , but of Devotion . Let us know both what and to whom we speak ; and then let us speak , and God will answer . He will look down upon us , whilst we thus look up upon him : And for his sake who taught us thus to pray , he will pour down blessings upon our heads ; he will give us our daily bread in this life , and in the life to come feed us with the blessed vision of Himself , and with those pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore .

The One and Thirtieth SERMON . PART III. MATTH. VI. 9. Our Father which art in Heaven :

NOT to mis-spend our time by way of Preface , we may briefly divide this whole Prayer into three parts ; a Preface , or Exordium , OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN ; the Prayer it self , consisting of six Petitions , as some , or seven , as others ; the Conclusion , FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOME , THE POWER , AND THE GLORY , FOR EVER . AMEN . In which are contained a kind of method of Prayer . For God , who is a God of order , and hath placed in all things 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a kind of harmony and elegant composition , and hath his Name 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Clemens speaks , from the ordering and disposing of all things , hath also observed a kind of art and method in that form of prayer which he hath prescribed unto us . Statua non fit , quanquam fusi omnibus membris , nisi collocetur ; Though you have melted and fashioned every point and member of a statue , yet the statue is not finisht and compleat until you have orderly placed each part thereof : Nor do we pray 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , after that manner which Christ hath taught , unless our Devotion begin , and press forward , and conclude ex praescripto , in that order which is prescribed . Method commends all things , even Prayer it self , which without it were indeed Battologie and nothing but noise . But being turned as it were and well set by that rule which we have learned à magistro symphoniae , from the chief Master of this heavenly melody , Christ himself , it is the best musick we can make in the ears of the Almighty , and doth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , even joyn us to the quire of Angels . We cannot better begin , continue and end our prayers then with Christ .

These words , Our Father which art in heaven , are the Preface and Proem , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and make way to bring-in the Petitions themselves ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a fair frontis-piece set over the whole work , as Pindarus speaks . No art can reach it , no oratory can equal it . It is not long , nor doth it in caput excrescere , grow up into a bulk : But three words , PATER NOSTER COELESTIS , Our heavenly Father . But , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , These three are all , and in this narrow compass comprise a world of matter . For first , they are fitted and proportioned to the Petitions , and bear a resemblance to every part ; as Light doth to the colour of that glass through which it shines . Whose Name should be more holy to us than our Fathers ? Non est cui magìs velle me melius aequum siet , saith he in the Poet. Nature and Equity consecrate his Name . Who should be my King , and reign within me , but he whom I know tam pro me esse quàm suprà me , to be as much for me as he is above me ? Whom should I obey more than my Father ? Let his Wisdome , whose Will is my salvation . Whom should I ask my bread of ? of whom should I ask forgiveness ? of whom should I crave succour when evil assaults me , but of my Father ? who being our Father will , and being in heaven can , give us whatsoever we want . So these words are not only a Preface , but also a ground-work and foundation on which every Petition is built-up and stands firm like mount Sion which cannot be moved .

Secondly , These words are a grateful acknowledgment of his Power and Goodness and Providence to whom we commence our suit : and hereby we do captare benevolentiam , we begg , nay , we obtain , Gods favour . For that Preface must needs be powerful which Gratitude pens . Oratores hanc habent disciplinam ut incipiant à laudibus , saith St. Ambrose ; It is the art of the best Orators to begin with the praises of them to whom they speak , and then exprimere quod petant , fully to expres , what they do desire . Tully begins his Oration for Milo with the commendations of Pompey ; St. Paul , his Defense with the praise of Agrippa ; Aristotle commends that custome Acts 26. Ethec . 5. of building 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a temple of Gratitude , in the midst of the City , that men might learn to acknowledge benefits as well as begg them ; or rather , first to acknowledge , and then begg them . In feudis si feudatarius abscondit , neque recogniscit à domino feudi totum feudum , jure illud amittit , saith the Civil Law ; In Fee-farms if the Farmer conceal any part of the fee , and do not homage for it , and make acknowledgment to the Lord , he forfeiteth all . It is so between the Lord of heaven and earth , and us his poor vassals . We hold all we have and all we are from him alone . And if his blessings make us wanton , if Ingratitude seal up our lips that we do not shew forth his praise , we lose all , and are not sit to pray for more . If we will not call him Father , why should we ask his blessing ? Every moment is a monument of his Goodness ; nor do we more draw-in the air then his Goodness In him we live and move and have our being . Therefore , Whatsoever good thou doest , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , could the very Heathen say , confess it to be from God . And Plato gives the reason , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , From one Good are all Goods : and more divinely St. James , Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above , and cometh down from the Father of lights . Ingratitude , when she cryes loudest , is not heard : but Thankfulness and Singing of praises are the true 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the best flourish and preface to our Prayers !

Lastly , this Preface presents us in the true posture of Supplicants . It pulls us on our knees : It lifts up our hands and eyes to him that dwelleth in the heavens ; which is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the true habit of a beades-man , as Eusebius speaks in the Life of Constantine : It makes a glorious mixture of Fear and Love , of Amazement and Boldness , of Confusion and Confidence . FATHER is a word full of allurement , and makes us look up ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to lift up our eyes , and stretch forth our hands , as if we were to meet the blessing and lay hold on it . But when we remember the Majesty of Heaven , we are struck with reverence , we begin to fall back , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Justine Martyr speaks , casting our selves upon our faces on the ground . The Philosopher will tell us in his Ethicks , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that those men many times are esteemed valiant whom the ignorance of danger makes audacious . It fareth so with Christians : They would not be so bold with God , did they rightly conceive of his Majesty ; did they consider that as he is a Father , ready to open his hand in bounty to his children , so he is in heaven , as ready to lift it up against those that are too familiar with him . Volo illum qui sit dicturus solliciter surgere , & periculum intelligere , saith Quintilian ; In our exordiums and beginnings we must put-on some sollicitude , and understand the danger we are in ; not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , tremble and look pale , as Tully himself once did , that we cannot speak ; but so to behave our selves as that Fear may not shut-up our speech , but commend it . With the same care and reverence must we begin our Prayers . We must , with Demosthenes , be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , modest and fearful , but not discouraged to tender our petitions . The Love of a Father may fill us with confidence , but the Majesty of God must strike us with fear . I dare speak to God , because he is my Father ; but I speak in trembling , because he is in heaven . If we do not thus begin , we lose our petitions before we utter them ; as the Mariner which unskilfully thrusts forth his ship from shore shipwracks in the very haven .

Biel , upon the Canon of the Mass , divides this Exordium into four parts , which are as so many wayes by which we do captare benevolentiam Dei , insinuate our selves into the favour of God . First we do it à dilectionis magnitudine , by the greatness of his Love , by which he vouchsafes to be our Father ; Secondly , à liberali Bonitatis diffusione , from the free communication of his Goodness , in that he is Our Father ; Thirdly , ab immutabili perpetuitate , from the immutability of his Essence , which he gathers out of these words , QUI ES , which art ; Lastly , à sublimitate Potentiae , from the sublimitie and eminencie of his Power , which is exprest in those words , IN COELIS , in heaven . We have here our method drawn to our hand . But in our discourse we shall omit the third , and rather take the words in sensu quo fiunt , in that sense in which they were made to be understood , then in sensu quem faciunt , in that sense which they will bear without any prejudice to the truth . God said unto Moses , I AM THAT I AM : Exod. 3. 14. and there cannot be a better expression of the Immutability of his Essence than to say , HE IS : But to say , He is in heaven , doth not more naturally enforce than to say , He is Good , and he is Merciful , and he is Just . The lines then by which we will bound our discourse are these , and by these we will pass : We will enquire I. How God is our Father : II. Wherefore we call him ours : III. How he is in heaven . Of these in their order .

And first , the word FATHER is not taken here , as it is in our Creed , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , personally . ; for so God is the Father of Christ alone ; but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , essentially , for the whole Trinity ; and so he is the Father of all Christians . For the Persons of the Trinity are inseparable : nor doth every Person take a several possession of us : But the Father as Goodness , the Son as Wisdom , the holy Ghost as Power do all concur ad extra , in every particular which doth issue outwardly from that one glorious Deity , which they all are : And he that is not partaker of all , can have fellowship with none . The whole Trinity is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Nazianzene speaks , a Sea , an Ocean of Essence , and a Sea , an Ocean of Goodness , which hath overflowed all Mankind . Whatsoever God did , whatsoever God determined , he determined as a Father , out of his Goodness . The very name of FATHER breaths Love and Power . Appellatio ista & pietatis & potestatis est , saith Tertullian . But Gods Power is not more wonderful than his Goodness is eminent . Therefore Synesius in his Oration De Regno , tells us that when we call God our FATHER , non tam potentiam glorificamus quam adoramus providentiam , we do not so much magnifie his Power as adore his Goodness and Providence . And here what wings might I wish for to fly a pitch proportionable to the height of Gods Goodness ! or what line might I use to sound the depth of his Care ! The World , all that is in the wo●●d , all that we are , all that we desire , all that we hope for , all that we believe are the arguments of his Goodness . Verba amoris opera sunt ; His Works are the language of his Love , and his Hand the tongue of his Goodness . Whom doth not the eloquence of the Universe amaze ? What Rhetorick is so furnisht with figures as we see natures ? What Goodness is that which so overflows that we can neither receive nor understand it ? FATHER is the best expression we have , but it doth not express that Love which makes him more then a Father . First he exprest himself a Father in our creation . For what other motive had he than his Goodness to create the World and Men and Angels in so wonderful a manner . Who counselled him , who moved him to do it ? He was of himself all-sufficient ; and needed nothing . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , There can be no accession to God , could the Philosopher say . Why then did he thus break out into action ? We can give no reason but his Goodness , which is a restless thing , alwaies in doing , and , like a Fountain , cannot stay it self within it self , but must find vent to disperse it self . By his Goodness , I say , we were at first created his children : and by his Goodness we were redeemed when we had forfeited our filiation . When we had forgot to be Children , He did not forget to be a Father , but provided that his own Son should die that his adopted sons might live for ever . And so he hath made us his by a double right , 1. of Creation , 2. of Redemption . And lastly he doth not suffer us to fall to the ground , but in all miseries and afflictions , yea in death it self , he lifteth and raiseth us up with the hope of immortality and eternal life . O what room have we here to expatiate ! Further , we might shew you how God is our Father by Adoption , taking us in familiam , injúsque familiae , into the family and church of the first-born , and giving us right and title to be of that family . We might lay open his Goodness in our Regeneration . For of his own will he begat us with the word of truth . I might set forth James 1. 18. his Goodness in the Opening of his hand , and feeding us with all things necessary both for this life and that which is to come , both to make us Men and Saints . This word FATHER is proprium Evangelii , most proper to the Gospel . A name which God did not reveal to Moses , saith Tertullian . And had not he commanded it , thus to pray , no man should have been so bold as to have called him Father . Now as God hath most plainly declared in his Gospel that he is our Father ; so he hath most expresly promised that he will make us his children , like unto him , immortal . His grace , saith St. 2 Tim. 1. 10. Paul , is now made manifest by the appearing of Jesus Christ , who hath abolisht death , and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel . But what ? was not that brought to light before ? No : the Heathen , who granted the Immortality of the Soul , denyed the Resurrection of the Body . De Caio Caium reduces ? He that will say that Caius shall rise again , the same Caius he was , shall be thought by Philosophers 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to play the fool , as it is in Athenagoras . Nor was this truth so well known to the Jews . Chrysostom in divers places tells us that the common sort knew it not . And in his second Epistle to Olympias , speaking of Jobs Patience ; doth thus exalt and amplifie it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Job was a just man , and knew nothing of the resurrection . And Mercer , who was well seen in the Jews language , interprets those words of Job , ch. 19. 25. I know that my Redeemer liveth , of his redemption from the dunghil and misery . I will not be too peremptory to subscribe : But I will say with Epiphanius , that God dealt like a true Father , and applyed himself to the several ages of his children , speaking to them in a diverse dialect , more obscurely under the Law , more expresly under the Gospel . Omnis nostra natura in Christi hypostasi revixit ; Our nature as man united in Christs Person , and in him revived , and receiveth immortality . And we are told that as Christ is risen , even so we also by the same power ●●all rise again ; and that as God hath been a Father to us in making us after his own image , so he will be a Father to us in restoring us . He is a Father of the world , a Father of our bodies , a Father of our souls ; and he will be a Father of our ashes : He will favor them , and love them , and recollect them , and bring us his children to immortality and eternal life . I said this word FATHER is most proper to the Gospel . Now I say more , Vox haec Evangelium est , This word FATHER is the Gospel . For in it all the riches of the Gospel and the treasures of Wisdom lye hid . Doth Gods Countenance shine upon us ? is he a Father ? Doth he frown upon us ? yet he is a Father . Doth his hand uphold us ? he is a Father . Is it heavy upon us ? he is a Father still . He is a Father , when he reacheth out his hand to help us ; and a Father , when he stretcheth it forth to strike us . For even in his anger there is love , and his very blows are helps : his disgraces are honors ; his corrections , Sermons : and when he casts us down , then he lifts us up . Howsoever he handles us , whilst we are in his hands , we are in the hands of a Father . Upon these points we might make large discourses . And as Cato said , De morte usque ad mortem , that he could speak of Death even until Death , so might we speak of this one word FATHER till that this our Father bring us into heaven . But we will say with Ausonius , Non oblita haec , sed praeterita , We do not omit these because we forgot them , but only pass them by as unwilling to prolong our discourse , and speaks all . In Christ are hidden all Col. 2. 3. the treasures of wisdome and knowledge . And he that says , We are redeemed , hath said all . That which makes God a Father is his Providence : and his Providence is most eminent in the Redemption of mankind . But it is over all our actions , over all our wayes , sweetly ordering and composing all things , so that necessary events fall out necessarily , and contingent contingently : and those things which are carryed about motu tumultuario , with a tumultuary and uncertain motion , yet are regulated and governed certâ lege , by a kind of law . When we behold the Heavens , even the work of Gods fingers , we cannot but acknowledge our Father which is in heaven . When we consider the World , we see 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Chrysostom , a large book wherein both the wise and unlearned may read the Providence of God . Every Creature is a leaf , every Action a Sermon , every Thought a character . Wisdome cryeth out in the streets , in every place , that God is a Father . Every thing is placed in its proper place ; the least Herb on the ground , the least Gnat in the air , as fairly seated as the Stars in heaven : Non pulchriùs Angelus in coelo quàm Diabolus in inferno , the Devil in hell as an Angel in heaven . That which most amazeth us is Gods judicial Providence , which is that special branch that calls men to account for their lives . This is operosa cognitio , hard to find out . For as He comes sometimes like an epidemical disease , and singles out one here , and another there , on whom he makes his anger fall , striking the sinner in his very sin ; so sometimes he comes like unto a deluge and floud ; incestum addens integro , without any respect or distinction carrying all before him , even good and bad . Sometimes we see the wicked flourish , and the righteous miserable ; sometimes we see them both falling under the same calamity . And this makes some to think that God is either not a Father at all , or a Father of both . To root-up this seed of Atheism , we may say with the Father , Malus interpres Divinae providentiae , humana infirmitas ; Humane infirmity is but a bad interpreter of Gods Providence . Nor can he find out Gods wayes who is ignorant of his own . Art hath no enemy but Ignorance . An unskilful man may think a well-filed army to be but a rout ; method , disorder ; and care neglect . Indeed were there no reason of Gods proceeding , yet cannot this prejudice or call in question the Providence and Goodness of our Father ; Who maketh Poverty a blessing , and Riches a curse ; Qui ex malis foecundat bona , Who can raise up a plentiful harvest of good upon no better ground-plot then Evil it self ; Who as he hath made the Heavens 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as a vail of his Divine Majesty , so in all his operations and proceedings upon Man is still Deus sub velo , a God under a vail ; hidden , but yet seen ; in a dark character , but read ; silent , and yet heard ; not toucht , but felt ; then saving his children when he is thought to destroy them . We are dull and slow of Understanding . When we have spent our selves in study and searching of natural things , yet with all this sweat , with all this oyl , we purchase not so much knowledge as to tell why the Grass which grows under our feet is rather green than purple ; and can we then hope to dive into supernaturals , and find out those causes which God hath lockt-up in his secret treasures ? It ought to be betwixt God and us as it was between St. Augustine and his Scholar ; Who having opened many points unto him , tells him that , if he had given him no reason at all of such things as he had written , yet the authority and credit which he ought to have with him should so far prevail with him as to make him take them upon his word without any further question . It was a wise saying of Terentius in Tacitus to the Emperor , and it saved him both his life and goods ; Non est nostrum aestimare quem supra caetera , aut quibus de causis locaveris : tibi summum rerum judicium , nobis obsequii gloria relicta est ; It is not for subjects to examine whom thou hast raised , or for what causes : the judgment of things belongs unto Majesty , but duty and obedience commend a Liege-man . The same consideration must poise and ballance a Christian , that he totter not in the doubtful and uncertain circumvolution of things . It is sufficient for us that we know God hath made Wisd. 11. 20. all things in number , weight and measure ; and whatsoever he saith or doth must be taken for true and just , although we can assign no reason nor probability why he doth it . The whole Book of Job doth drive at this very Doctrine . For when Job was on the dunghil full of sores and botches , his friends , instead of bringing comfort , put-up a question ; and instead of helping him , ask the question , Why he should be thus handled as to stand in need of their help . His friends through ignorance of the Providence of God lay folly and iniquity to his charge . Job stoutly defends his innocencie , and is as far to seek as his friends why Gods hand should be so heavy on him . At last 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , God himself comes down from heaven , and puts an end to the question . He condemns both Job and his friends of ignorance and imbecility , and tells him that it was not for them to seek a cause , or call his judgments in question . For this were to darken counsel by words without judgment . Canst thou , saith God , bind the sweet influences of the Pleides , or loose the bands of Orion ? Canst thou send lightnings , Job 38. 2. that they may go , and say , Here we are ? If the Emperor will be higher than God , saith Tertullian , coelum debellet , captivum ducat , vectigalia imponat , let him conquer heaven , lead it captive , and put a tribute upon it . If any man will trace out those wayes which are past finding out , let him also command God himself , and teach him to govern the world ; if not , let him lay his hand on his mouth , and proceed no further . It concerns not us to know how Gods Providence worketh : It is enough that we know he is our Father , although he discover not his love by any outward token of distinction . When he heals his children , he is a Father ; when he wounds them , he is a Father ; and when he kills them , he is a Father . Manet dissimilitudo passorum etiam in similitudine passionum , saith St. Augustine ; Where the penalties are alike , the patients are not . God sees a difference , though the world do not distinguish them . The Gold and the Dross lye both in one fire , yet the Artist puts the one into his treasury , and flings the other on the dunghil . The Wheat and the Chafs are both under one Flayl , yet the one is for the granary , the other for the fire . It is the wisdome and providence of our heavenly Father not to manifest his love by these outward tokens of distinction , nor , as Jacob , to give that son which he loves best a gayer coat then the rest . It is his property , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to find means when all mens inventions do fail , and to bring great things to effect by those wayes which flesh and bloud may think would hinder them ; to bring light out of darkness , and good out of evil ; to take his children out of that mass of evil where they seemed to be wrapt up eternally . A day will come quae malè judicata rejudicabit , wherein a● crooked judgments shall have justice against them ; when secret things shall be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as naked and open as an Ox , which is cut down the back , when we shall plainly see , what we are bound to believe , That in this confusion God can distinguish , That in misery and affliction , and in death it self , he is our Father . In most things the consideration of a fatal Necessity brought the very Heathen to this moderation , that they either did lay-down the opinion of evil , or else put-on a patience which was equal to it : but Christians have a better help to remove Opinion , not Necessity , but the Will of their Father . What cup can be bitter which he drinks to us ? What can be Evil which his Goodness consecrates ? What matter is it what labyrinths and windings we find in the course of our life , when God doth lead us ? Do we ask whether he leads his children ? He leads them unto himself . Do we ask by what wayes ? Why should we ask the question ? The traveller is not bound to one path , nor the mariner to one point . Salebrosa est via , sed vector Deus ; The way perhaps is rough and uneven , but God is our guide , and wheresoever we are , we are still in the hand of our Father . I have dwelt too long upon this one word : But I could not but somewhat enlarge my discourse upon the Providence of God , because I see a secret kind of Atheism lurks in the world ; that many men call God their Father , but prefer their low and sordid cares before his Providence ; as if ●e were a Father indeed , but such a one as doth not provide for his children . The rich man thinks none miserable but the poor ; and the poor meets with his humor , and thinks none happy but the rich . Riches is become the God of this world , and hath so blinded mens eyes that they cannot look up unto their Father which is in heaven . I will give you a plain demonstration , That for which any thing is esteemed must needs be of an higher estimation it self : Now experience will teach us , Caelum venale , Deúmque , that men daily venture their souls , and God himself , for riches and plenty ; that Virtue is not lookt upon in raggs , and that Vice is even adored in purple ; that the one is placed in a good place , at the upper end of the table , when the other must stoop and sit down under the foot-stool . I will not conclude with St. James , Are you not partial in your selves ? but rather , That he who thus loveth riches may cry as loud as he will , but cannot call God his Father .

Ye have heard of the Goodness and Love of God , a Love infinite , as Himself . It is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a perpetual circle , beginning , proceeding from and ending in himself . All which is wrapt up and comprehended in this one word Father . This is Gods peculiar title : and all other fathers in comparison are not fathers . Hence Christ saith , Call no man your father upon the earth : for one is your Father , which is in heaven . Yet some there have been found who have made God not a Father , but a Tyrant , a mighty Nimrod , to destroy men for delight and pleasure ; perinde atque injuriam facere id demum esset imperio uti , as if to set-up his children for a mark , and to kill them with the same liberty a hunter doth a Deer ; were to be a Father . What is become of Gods Goodness now ? Or shall we call him Father whose hands do reek in the bloud of his own children ? Or is it possible that his Goodness should make them to destroy them ? We should call it cruelty in Man , whose Goodness is nothing , and can we imagine it in God , whose Goodness is infinite ? Doth a fountain send-forth at the same place sweet water and bitter ? saith St. James . What can this James 3. 11. argue but a dissolution of that internal harmony which should be in Nature ? All men are made after Gods own image : Now to hate some , and love others , of his best creatures , would infer as great a distraction in the Indivisible Divine Essence , as to have a Fig-tree bear olive berries , or a Vine figs , and imputes a main contradiction to his infinite Goodness . All things were made out of meer love : and to love the work of his hands is more essential to God , then for Fire to burn . And Gods Love being infinite extends to all ; for even All are less then Infinite . God cannot hate any man till he hate him ; nor indeed can any man hate God till he hate himself . God is a Fountain of Love ; he cannot hate us : and he is a Sea of Goodness ; we cannot hate him . Tam Pater nemo , tam pius nemo ; No such Father , none so loving , none so good . He that calls him Father hath answered all arguments that can call his Goodness into question . But yet there is a devise found out , and we are taught to believe , that God is a Father though he damn us ; that the reprobate must think he hath done them a kind of favor in condemning them ; that they are greatly indebted to him , and bound very much to thank him ; for appointing them to death , and for casting them into hell-fire for ever with the Devil and his Angels . Imò neque reprobi , saith one , habent cur de Deo conquerantur , sed potiùs cur ei gratias agant ; The Reprobate have no cause to complain , but rather heartily to give God thanks . A bloudy position ; and which these men would not run away with such ease , but that they have made a shift to perswade themselves that they are none of the number of those on whom God hath past such a sentence : For should God reveal it to them that he had past such a decree upon them to damn them to hell , and withal that he did it to manifest his power and glory , I much doubt whether they would for their own particular in judgment and resolution be well-pleased , or be so grateful as to thank him , or so submissive as to call him Father . Melius est matulam esse quàm simplex lutum ; It is better to be a vessel of dishonor than bare clay ; It is better to be miserable eternally than not to be ; are thoughts which they only can entertain who are too secure of their honorable estate here and of their eternal happiness hereafter . Our Saviour , who knew better than these men , spake it of such a one 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , simply , and without such qualification by distinction , that it had been good for that man that he had never been born . I will not build a controversie upon such a word of Love as FATHER , but rather admire and adore Gods Love , which he hath pledged and pawned bonis suis & malis suis , not only doing us good , but suffering evil for us , buying us with his bloud , his labor , his death ; not that we were of any worth , but that we might be so , even worthy of the Gospel of Christ , worthy of immortality and eternal life .

We proceed now from the contemptation of Gods Goodness and Providence to that which we proposed in the next place , the Liberal diffusion of it on all his children , by which we are enjoyned to call him ours . God is Christs Father peculiariter , saith St. Ambrose , and there is no Pater noster for him ; but Ours communiter , by a full communion of himself unto all : and therefore we are taught to pray , Our Father . For by the same Goodness by which he hath united us unto himself , by the same hath he linkt us together amongst our selves 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Nazianzene , with spiritual ligaments . From the same fountain issue our Union with Christ and our Communion with one another . Therefore if we diligently observe Christs institution , as we are bound , then as often as we pray so often must we exercise this act of Charity towards our brethren , and that in gradu supremo , in the highest and greatest extent , as far as concerns their good . And we must do it often , because every good man , every disciple of Christ , must make it his delight , and practise to speak to the Father in the language of his Son . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; saith Nazianzene ; How long do we hear of Mine and Thine in the Church ? It is not , Paul is mine , and , Gospel is mine , and , Christ is mine ; but , Paul is ours , and , The Gospel is ours , and , Christ is ours , and Christ Gods . Where there is Charity , there MEUM and TUUM are verba frigida , but icy words , which melt at the very heat of that celestial fire . If the Church be a Body , then must every Rom. 12. 5. member supply . The Foot must walk for the Eye and for the Ear , and the Eye must see and the Ear hear for the Foot , saith Chrysostom . If a House , then must every part , every beam and rafter , help to uphold the building . If she be the Spouse of Christ , then is she the mother of us all . The Philosopher , building up his Commonwealth , tells us , Civis non est suus , sed civitatis . Sure I am , Christianus non est suus , sed ecclesiae . As a Citizen is not a Citizen for himself , but for the whole Commonwealth , so each action of a Christian in respect of its diffusive operation should be as catholick as the Church . Without this friendly communication the Christian world would be as Caligula spake of Seneca , commissiones merae , & arena sine calce , stones heapt together without morter , or as pieces of boards without any thing to tye and knit them together . But Christ there teacheth us to call God our Father ; and by Gods Providence and fatherly Goodness we are incorporated as it were and kneaded together , that by softness of disposition , by friendly communication , by mutual praying , we may transfuse our selves one into another , and receive from others into our selves . And in this we place the Communion of Saints . Secondly , in the participation of those Priviledges and Charters which Christ hath granted and the Spirit sealed , calling us to the same faith , baptizing us in the same laver , leading us by the same rule , filling us with the same grace , sealing to us the same pardon , upholding us with the same hope . Lastly , in those Offices and Duties which Christ hath made common , which God requires of his Church . Ubi communis metus , gaudium , labor ; Where my Fear watcheth not only for my self , but stands centinel for others ; my Sorrow drops not down for my own sins alone , but for the sins of my brethren ; my Joy is full with others joy , and my Devotion is importunate and restless for the whole Church . I cry aloud for my brother , and his prayers are the echo of my cry . We are all joyned together in this word NOSTER , when we call God Our Father . Nazianzene recording the Martyrdome of Cyprian , not the Bishop but Deacon of Antioch , crys out as in an ecstasie , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , I am with him in the martyrdome ; I triumph in his bloud , which was shed for Christ ; I am carried to heaven in the same fiery chariot . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Let others fight and overcome , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , I am one of the same body , of the same family , of the same Church ; and the victory and crown is mine . This is it which Tertullian may perhaps mean when he saith , Non praeteritur ecclesia , In our prayers we do not pass-by the Church of Christ . Nay , every man ; when he prays , when he says his Pater noster , is , as it is said of general Counsels , a kind of representative Church : for he prays in personâ ecclesiae , in the person of the whole Church : Nor can one pray for himself but he must pray for others also . Though the Church be scattered in its members throughout all the parts of the world , yet as our eyes meet every day in looking upon the same Sun ; and every night upon the same Moon and Stars ; so our hearts meet in the same God , even in our Father , and our prayers are sent up for the Church , and the Church for every man . If I shut my brother out of my prayers , I do as bad as excommunicate him , nay worse : For this private excommunication is more terrible then the Church hath any . For though she shut-out the notorious sinner from the Church , yet she leaves him a room in her devotions , and poureth forth prayers for the most despicable member she hath , even for that member which she hath cut off . When the sinner contemns admonition , she strikes him virga pastorali , with her Pastoral rod , rather to direct than destroy him : But to deny our prayers to our brother , is to strike him virgâ ferreâ , with a rod of iron , and as much as in us lyes to break him to pieces . How were it to be wisht that we rightly understood this one article of our Faith , The Communion of Saints , or but the very first words of our Pater noster ! But it fares with us in our devotion as it did with Euphrainor the Painter in his art , who when he had spent his best skill on Neptune , came short and failed in the drawing of Jupiter . Our Love is so chain'd to our selves that she cannot reach forth a hand to others . She is active and vocal at home , but hath the cramp and cannot breathe for the welfare of our brethren , impetu cogitationis in nobis ipsis consumpto , having consumed and spent her self at home . To speak truth ; our Creed hath devoured our Pater noster , and Faith hath shut Charity out of doors . As we believe for our selves , so we pray for our selves . It is my Christ , and My virtue , and My kingdom , My riches , and My eloquent man , and My preacher , and My Father too . Our Father is a word of compass and latitude , and cannot find room in our narrow breasts . But we little remember that if it be not Ours , it cannot be Mine . For by appropriating the graces of God we lose all right and title to them . Wo be to him who is alone , saith the Wise-man , for when he falls , he Eccl. 4. 10. cannot help himself , and hath neither God nor Man to help him . We may say perhaps , that we know well enough that God is our Father , and we would not meet in publick but to pray for the whole world . Indeed there is nothing sooner said : we may do it in a Pater-noster-while . But tell me , Canst thou pray for him whom thy Malice hath set up as a mark ? Canst thou include his name in thy prayers , which thou makest thy daily bread at thy table , and whose disgrace thou feedest on more than thy meat ? Can prayers and curses and reviling proceed out of the same mouth ; St. James asks the James 3. 10. question ; and doth not answer it , only concludes , My brethren , these things ought not to be . Ought not so to be ? Nay , cannot so be . For he that prays without Charity doth but intreat God to deny him , yea , doth force him to punish him . Our union to the Father is shewn by our communion with one another : And when I see this backwardness in communion , I must needs doubt of the union , which requires not only a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that we be of the same mind with Christ ; but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 also , that we have the same will . They who are in charity imitate Christ , and bare one anothers burdens as feelingly as their own . A great priviledge it is to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a child of the Church , as Justine Martyr speaks ; to have the Church for our Mother , and God for our Father ; a great prerogative , if we were willing to conceive it , to be of the Communion of Saints . But I know not how on one side it is scarce thought upon , and on the other made advantage of for politick ends . Some shrink it up into too narrow a room : and others wire-draw it , to make it plyable to fit well to their Ambition and Pride . So that as the Oratour spake of the word Tyrannus , and the like , Malis moribus henesta nomina perdidimus , so may we of the Church , and Catholick , and communion of Saints ; We have spoiled good words with our bad manners , and rob them of their proper signification , to make them lackey it to our private humors . What the Church is , and what the Communion of Saints , is open to every eye , even of the dullest understanding . But instead of practising what we know , we love aetatem in tyllubis ferere , to spend our time in nothing but words , to cast a mist where there is light , and to make that obscure which is plain and easie of it self . That hath befallen Divinity which the Stoick complained of in Philosophy , Fuit aliquando simplicior inter minora peccantes ; Divinity was not so perplext and sullen a thing till Ambition and Faction made her so . The very Hereticks and Schismaticks saith St. Augustine , Catholicam nihil aliud quàm Catholicam vocant ; When they speak with Pagans , they call the Catholick Church that Society of men which are divided from all the world besides by the profession of Christ . This very word Our Father is enough to express it . But by contentious spirits it hath been made a matter of business , and the business of the Will. And in these times , if we will follow private humors in those Meanders and Labyrinths which they make , we may sooner go to heaven then find the Church ; Which , like the Cameleon , is drawn and shaped out by every phansie like unto it self . Sometimes it is a Body , but nec caput , nec pedes , it must have neither head nor feet . Sometimes it is a Spirit rather than a Body , so invisible we cannot see it . Sometimes it is visible alone , and sometimes invisible . And so we may ecclesiam in ecclesia quaerere , seek for the Church even in the Church it self . Who knows not what the Church is ? The subject is plain and easie . But where men walk several wayes , the discourse must need be rugged and uneven . They who would bring in an Anarchy , and make all the members equal , are droven to this shift also , to keep the Church out of sight : And they who would raise a Monarchy , are forced to set it upon a hill . So that in talking so much of that company of children which make the Church , we have almost lost the Father , nay , the Pater Noster , and can but hardly consent that God should be a Father to us both . For to say so is an error and mistake of charity . No : how can God be our Father , when the Church is not our Mother ? How can Schismaticks and Rebels against the Church have their fellowship and communion with the Saints ? How can he be a Christian who is not a Catholick ? 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Poet ; Mothers were wont to call up Hobgoblings and Cyclops to still and silence their children . And what is all this but powder without shot . What are these terms of Church and Catholick , and Communion , as the Church of Rome urgeth them , but words and noyse ? We can say Our Father for all this , and joyn with them in prayer too if they will pray as Christ taught . We communicate with them whether they will or no as far as they communicate in the truth . But if the Church of Rome tender us errors for truth , if she obtrude upon us a multitude of things for fundamentals which are only the inventions of men and no way concern our Faith , here non fugamur , sed fugimus ; we did not stay till she thrust us out , but we were bound to separate our selves from partaking of those gross impieties , which proceeded from the Father of lyes , and not from our Father which is in heaven . That she sent thunder after us , and drove us out by excommunication when we were gone , may argue want of charity in her , but makes no impression of hurt upon us . For what prejudice can come unto us by her excommunicating us , whose duty it was to make haste and leave her , unless you will say that that souldier did a doughty deed who cut off the legg of a man who was dead before . I am sure we are the children of God by the surer side : for we lay claim by the Father , when they so much talk of their Mother the Church that they have forgotten their Father , who alone begets us with the word of truth . Quot palestrae opinionum ? quot propagines quaestionum ? Hence what a wrestling in opinions hath there been ? what propagations and succession of quaestions ? Where our Church was when we separated ? We need answer but this , That it was there where it was : For they who have God to their Father may be sure they have the Church to their Mother : Nor can any who find the truth and embrace it , miss of the Church . This is one devise ready at hand to fright and amaze those who have not maturity of understanding to take heed of their deceit . The other is like unto it , and a most the same , the Communion of Saints , which is here implyed in these first words of our Pater Noster . In both which vacua causarum implent ineptiis ; When their cause is so hollow and empty that it sounds and betrayes it self at the very first touch , they fill it up with chaff . They make it fuel for Purgatory ; They draw it to the Invocation of Saints ; They make it as a Patent for their sale of Pardons ; They give it strength to carry up our Prayers to the Saints , and to conveigh their Merits to us on earth ; They temper it to that heat to draw up the bloud of Martyrs and the Works of Supererogating Christians into the treasury of the Church , and then shower them down in Pardons and Indulgences . So that he that reads them , and weighs their proofs , would wonder that men of great name for learning should publish such trash , and make it saleable ; and more , that any man should be so simple as to buy at their market . It is , say they , the general property of the Church that one member must be helped by another ; Therefore one member may suffer punishment for another . Again ; One man may bear anothers burden ; Therefore he may bear his brothers sin . It were even as good an argument to say , He is my Brother ; Therefore he is my Mediatour . Nobis non licet esse tam disertis . We Schismaticks dare not pretend to such subtilty and wit . We are taught to distinguish between the duties of Charity and the office of Mediation . The unction we have from the Head alone ; but the Members may anoint one another with that oyl of Charity . Though I cannot suffer for my brother , yet I may bear for him , even bear his burden . Though I cannot merit for him , I may work for him . Though I cannot satisfie for him , I may pray for him . Though there be no profit in my dust , yet there may be in my memory , in the memory of my conversation , my counsel , my example . In this duty high and low , rich and poor , learned and ignorant , all are equal . All have one Father , who hears the low as well as the high , the poor as well as the rich , and the ideot as well as the great clerk . Nihil iniquius fide , si tantùm in eruditos caderet ; Faith and Religion were the unjustest things in the world , if no place were a fit habitation for them but the breast of a Rabbi or a Potentate . No ; God is our Father ; and every man claims an equal title to him . Licet parva rati portum subire ; In the smallest bark and weakest vessel we may sail to the haven where we would be : And we have winds from every point , the prayers of the whole Church , to drive us .

We have already shewed you what may raise our hope and confidence when we pray , even the name of Father ▪ For what will not a father give to his children ? But we must now present God in his Majesty , to strike us with fear : that so our Fear may temper our Hope , that it be not too saucy and familiar ; and our Hope may warm and comfort our Fear , that it be not too chill and cold , and end in Despair . I dare speak to God , because he is our Father ; but I speak in trembling , because of his Majesty , because he is in heaven . And these two make a glorious mixture . There be many things which in themselves may be hurtful ; yet being tempered and mixt together are very cordial and wholesome . Fear and Hope , which in their excess are as deleterial as poyson , being compounded and mingled may be an antidote . Fear bridles my Hope , that I do not presume ; and Hope upholds my Fear , that I do not despair . Fear qualifies my Hope , and Hope my Fear . Hope encourageth us to speak , Fear composeth our language . Hope runs to God as a Father ; Fear moderateth her pace , because he is in heaven . We are too ready to call him Father , to frame unto our selves a facile and easie God , a God that will welcome us upon any terms : but we must remember also that he is in heaven , a God of state and magnificence , qui solet difficilem habere januam , whose gates open not streight at the sound of Pater noster , Deum non esse perfunctoriè salutandum , as Pythagoras speaks , that God will not be spoken to in the by and passage , but requires that our addresses unto him be accurate with fear and reverence . Hope and Fear , Love and Reverence , Boldness and Amazement , Confusion and Confidence , these are the wings on which our Devotion is carried and towres up a loft , till it rest in the bosome of our Father which is in heaven .

And now let us lift-up our eyes to the hills from whence cometh our salvation , even to the throne of God and seat of his Majesty ; but not to make too curious a search how God is in heaven , but with reverence rather to stand at distance , and put-on humility equal to our administration ; not to come near and touch this mount , for fear we be struck through with a dart . Nunquam verecundiores esse debemus quam cùm de Diis agitur , saith Aristotle in Seneca ; Modesty never better becomes us then when we speak of God . We enter Temples with a composed countenance ; vultum submittimus , togam adducimus , we cast down our looks , we gather our garments together , and every gesture is an argument of our reverence . Where the object is so glorious , our eyes must needs dazle . Gods Essence and Perfection is higher then heaven ; what canst thou do deeper than hell ; what canst thou know ; The measure thereof is longer than the earth , and broader than the Sea : Job 11. 8 , 9. What line wilt thou use ? De Deo vel verum dicere , periculum ; We dangerously mistake our selves even when we speak the truth of God . That God is , that he is infinite and imcomprehensible , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , even our Fye will teach us , and the very law of Nature manifest : But how he is in heaven , he is on the earth , how every-where , no mortal Eye can discern , no Reason demonstrate . If we could perchance utter it , yet we could not understand it , saith Nazianzene , Crat. 34. if we had been ravisht with St. Paul into the Third heaven , yet we could not utter it . Indeed it is most true what Tertullian urgeth against Hermogenes , Alium Deum facit , quem aliter cognoscit ; He maketh another God who conceives of him otherwise then as he is : But no river can rise higher than its spring and fountain ; nor can we raise our knowledge above that light which is afforded us . God is infinite ; and the most certain kdowledge we have is , that he i● infinite . The light which we have is but lightning , which is sudden and not permanent ; enough to draw us after him , because we conceive something of him ; and enough to strike us with admiration , because we conceive so little . It fares with us in the pursuit of these profound mysteries as with those who labor in rich mines : When we digg too deep , we meet with poysonous damps and foggs instead of treasure ; when we labor above , we find less metal , but more safety . Dangerous it is for a weak brain to wade too far into the doings of the Most high : We are most safely eloquent concerning his secrets when we are silent . How great God is , What is his measure and essence , and How it is in any place , or every place , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Basile ; as it is not safe to ask , so it is impossible to answer : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . My sheep hear my voice , saith Christ : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , THEY HEAR , saith he , not , DISPUTE . Yet how have men attempted to fly without wings , and wade in those depths which are unfordable ! to dispute of Gods Essense his Immensity , his Ubiquity ; of the Nature of Angels , of their Motion , of their Locality ; nay , de loquutione Angelorum , of their Language , and how that they communicate their minds one to another . When we ask them how the Body of Christ is seated in the Eucharist , they will tell us that it ●s there as the Spirits and glorified Bodies are in the place which they possess . Tertius è caelo cecidit Cato . Have these men lately descended , like a second Paul , out of the third heaven , and from thence made this discovery ? By what means could they attain to this knowledge . What light have they in Scripture to direct them to the knowledge of the manner of location and site which Spirits and glorified Bodies have ? St Paul hath long since past his censure upon them ; They thrust themselves into things they have not seen , and upon a false shew of knowledge abuse easie hearers ; and of things they know not adventure to speak they care not what . The Philosopher will tell us that men who neglect their private affairs , are commonly over-busie in the examining of publick proceedings . They will teach Kings how to rule , and Judges how to determine , and are well skilled in every mans duty but their own . The same befalls us in our pursuit of divine knowledge : Did every man walk according to that measure of knowledge he hath , we should not be so busily to find out more light to walk by . Did we adde to our faith virtue , and to our knowledge temperance , we should not multiply questions so fast , which vanish into nothing , and when they make most noyse do nothing but sound , quae animum non faciunt , quià non habent , which can give us no light and spirit , because they have it not . Did we enter that effectual door which lyeth open unto us , our Curiosity would not venture so often at the needless eye . A strange thing it is that men should be so bold to attempt that which before they attempt they know impossible . We will struggle no longer with these practises . The Stoick said well , Non debet excusationes vitio philosophia suggerere ; It is never worse with Philosophy then when she is made in suggest excuses for Sin . And it hath been alwayes the bane of Divinity to make Reverence and Respect a pretense for Blasphemy . Those Arians did less hurt , saith St. Ambrose , who denyed the Divinity of the Son , because they would not believe it , than those who in civility denyed it , because they would not make him subject to concupiscence , as Man . For these men colendo Deum violant , violate the honor of God which they pretend they tender , and never wrong him more than with reverence and a complement . Impossible it is that God should withdraw his presence from any thing , because the very substance of God is infinite . He filleth heaven and earth , and yet he takes up no room in either . His Substance is immaterial , pure , and so incomprehensible in this world , that although no part of us be ever absent from him , who is present to every particular thing , yet his presence we discern no further than only that he is present : which partly by reason , but most perfectly by faith , we know to be most certain . He is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , open to our sight , that we may see him , and yet 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , lyeth hid in darkness as in a Pavilion , that we may believe more than we see . He doth not fill the world as Water , or Ayr , or the very Light ; that he should fill the lesser part of the world with the lesser part of himself , and the greater part with a greater proportion . Novit ubique totus esse , & nullo contineri loco : He is every where , yet included in no place . He comes to us , but not recedes from where he is ; nor when he with-draws , doth he forsake the place to which he came , saith St. Augustine . Deus est intra omnia , non tamen inclusus ; extrà omnia , sed non exclusus ; infra omnia , sed non depressus ; supra omnia , sed non elevatus : God is within all things , yet not shut-up ; he is without all things , yet not excluded ; he is above all things , yet not exalted ; and he is below all things , yet not depressed . From the Infinity of his Substance , follows necessarily the Immensity ; I fill heaven and earth , saith God . St. Augustine in his Confessions considered the World as a Sponge which the Jer. 23. 24 infinite sea of Gods Essence did compass and fill . Trismegistus conceived that God was a Sphere or Circle cujus centrum est ubique circumferentia nusquam , whose Center is every where , and Circumference no where : which doth most fitly express it . For there is not the least particle of this sphaerical world but it is supported by the unity of Gods Essence , as by an internal Center ; and yet neither the circumference of this world , nor any circumference which we can conceive , can circumscribe his essential Presence , so as we may say , Thus far it reacheth , and no further . And this is it which the Schools do mean when they say , that as Gods Essence susteins and upholds all things , so it doth also contein and compass all things which either are or may be , not corporally , but spiritually , as Eternity doth all times . There is no part of the Heaven , there is no part of the Earth , in which God is not according to his Essence , and out of which he is not according to his essence ; in qua non est totus , & extra quam non est totus , as they speak . Cùm dicitur totus esse in mundo denotatur non aggregatio partium , sed privatio diminutionis , saith Parisientis ; When God is said to be all in every place , we understand not any aggregation of parts , but privation of diminution ; so that his Essence without any diminution or division is in every place : The Angels are not circumscribed , yet being finite treasures , they are said to be in uno loco , quod non sint in alio , saith Aquinas ; no otherwise in one place , but in that they are not in another , and cannot be every where . Homo , cum alicubi est , tum alibi non erit , saith Hilary , lib. 8. De Trin. When a man is in this place , he cannot be in that . Infirma ad id natura ejus ut ubique sit , qui insistens alicubi sit ; For his nature is uncapable of being every where who is conteined any where . Deus autem immensae virtutis vivens potestas , quae nusquam non adsit , nec desit usquam ; But God , who is a living Power of immense virtue , is so present to every place that he is absent from no place . Who insinuates himself by those things which he hath made , ut ubi sua insint , ipse esse intelligatur , that where the works of his hands are he may be understood to be there also . Therefore as he hath 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an Infinity exceeding all essence , so he hath also 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an Essence present every where , and yet in no place . As he is eternal , so he is omni-present . As Seneca saith excellently , Nulla immortalitas cum exceptione est , nec quicquam noxium aeterno , Immortality is not with exception , nor can any thing destroy that which is eternal ; so may we , Nulla infinitas cum exceptione , No Infinity admits of exception . For that which is infinite must needs be immense ; nor is it so in one place that any other place is excepted : but it is so within all things that it conteins them ; and so without , that it concludeth and compasseth them ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Athanasius speaks , within all things , yet not included in any thing . God then is in heaven ; but not so that his Majesty is confined to that place . For the heaven , even the 1 Kings 8. 27. heaven of heavens , cannot contain him . The subject is of a high nature , and the way rough and rugged ; but we have paced it over with what smoothness and plainness we could . You may perhaps bespeak me , as Alexander did his Master Aristotle , Doce nos facilia , teach us those things which are easie . Multa inutilia & inefficacia sola subtilitas facit , The subtilty of the matter and the obscurity of the delivery make many things want their efficacy : It is so in Divinity as well as Philosophy . I confess it : But yet our discourse cannot be plainer than the subject will permit . And I am sure no auditory should be unfit for such a lesson , because I know this lesson is not unfit for any auditory . Aristotle was wont to divide his lectures into Acroamatical and Exoterical ; Some of them conteined choice matter , which he privately read to a select auditory ; others of them but ordinary stuff , and were promiscuously exposed to the hearing of all that would come . But it is not so in our Christian Philosophy : We read no Acroamatical lectures , but open all truths as far as it hath pleased the King of heaven to reveal them : Nor must any man take them as things out of his sphere , and above his reach . Besides , it is our duty to take from you all gross and carnal conceits of God . And we have just cause to fear that some are little better perswaded of God than the ancient Anthropomorphites , who thought that God hath hands and feet , and is in outward shape proportioned unto us . If you yet doubt of the use of this , the Prophet David shall most pathetically apply it for me ; Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? or whither Psal. 139. 7. shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven : if I make my bed in hell , behold , thou art there . If I take the wings of the morning , and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea , even there shall thy hand lead me , and thy right hand shall hold me . Now nothing can be of greater force to restrain us from sin then a strong perswasion and assurance that whatsoever we do or think lyeth open to the view and survey of some Eye that is over us . Secrecy is much desired amongst men : and there is no such fomenter of evil actions as it is : For what no man knows is accounted as not done . But magna necessitas indicta probitatis , saith Boetius ; There is a kind of necessity of doing well laid upon us when we know that God is a witness and observer of our actions . What rocks canst thou call to cover thee ? what hills to hide thee from his eyes ? What night can veil thee ? Propè est à te Deus , tecum est , intus est , saith Seneca ; God is near thee , is with thee , is within thee : Cui obscura lucent , muta respondent , silentium confitetur , saith Leo ; To him Darkness is as light as the Day , the Dumb speak , and Silence shriveth it self . Think not because God is in heaven , he cannot see thee at such a distance : For he fills both the heaven and the earth : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , He beholds all things , and heareth all things , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Basil calls him . From heaven he beholds the children of men , and considereth all Psal. 33. 13 , 14 , 15. their wayes . To him thy Complement is a lye , thy Dissimulation open , thy Hypocrisie unmaskt , thy Thoughts as vocal as thy Words , thy Whisper as loud as Thunder , and thy Secresie as open as the Day . All things are written 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in Gods Book . Nay , he keeps a Book in the very closet of thy soul , the only Book of all thy Library , saith Bernard , which goes along with thee into the world to come . He sees the Title of the Book , SINS ; and the Dedication of it , To the Prince of Sin ; The several Chapters , so many several Sins ; and every Letter , a character of Sin . Quid prodest inclusam habere conscientiam ? patemus Deo , saith Lactantius ; Why do we shut-up this Book ? God can read it when it is shut-up . Why do we bribe our Conscience to be quiet ? God understands her language when she faulters . Why do we lay these pillows to rest on ? We are awake to God when we are fast asleep . The very strumpets of Rome , who were wont to dance naked upon the stage to make the people sport , yet would not do it whilst Cato was present . Behold , not Cato , but God himself is in presence , qui omnia novit , omnia notat , who knows all things , and marks and observes all things ; Which are the two acts of his Providence . We have still over us 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Basil speaks , a super-intending Eye , which tryeth the sons of men , and pondereth all their thoughts . Therefore the Father said well , Ubi est Dei memoria , ibt peccatorum oblivium & malorum interitus ; the very memory of God is an antidote against sin : For the most secret Sin we commit is as open to him as that which is committed before the Sun and the People . We read in Velleius Paterculus of Livius Drusus a great Gentleman of Rome , who being about to build him an house , his work-man told him that he could so cunningly contrive the windows , the lights , the doors of it , that no man should be able to look in and see what he was a doing . But Drusus answered him , If you desire to give me content , then so contrive the lights of my house that all may look in and see what I do . St. Hilary doth make the application for me ; In omnibus vitae nostrae operibus circumspecti & ad Deum patentes esse debemus : This is the right fabrick of a Christian mans soul , which , being innocent , still opens and unfolds it self unto God , and is so much the better contrived by how much the more liberally it admits of light , ut liberis & per innocentiam patulis cordibus Deus dignetur lumen suum infundere , that innocencie having broken down all the strong holds and fenses of Sin , and laid open the gates of the Heart , the King of glory may enter in , and fill it with the light of his countenance . Oh what a preservative against Sin is it to think that all that we do we do in Divinitatis sinu , as the Father speaks , in the bosome of the Divinity ! When I fast , and when I surfet ; when I bless , and when I curse ; when I praise God , and when I blaspheme him , I am still even in his very bosome . When we behave our selves as in the bosome of our Father , God handles us then as a Father , as if we were in his bosome ; He gives us an EUGE , Well done , good children : But when our behaviour is as if we were in a Wilderness , or Grot , or Cave , or Theater , rather rhen in the bosome of God , majori contumelià ejus intra quem haec agimus peccamus , we are most contumelious to him in whose bosome we are .

We have seen now some light in this cloud , and have gained this observation , That Gods all-seeing Eye will find us out when our curtains are drawn ; That what we dare not let others behold , he looks upon ; That what we dare not behold our selves , he sees ad nudum , as the Schools speak , naked as it is . You will ask now , Is not God in every place ? and if he be in the earth , in hell , beyond the seas , why then are we bound to say , Our Father which art in heaven ? Not because heaven doth contein him , but because his Majesty and Glory is there most apparent . God calls heaven his seat , his holy habitation , and he is every where in Scripture stiled 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Psal. 66. 1. Deut. 26. 15. heavenly . We will not here spin-out any curious discourse concerning Heaven , as those did in St. Augustine , who did so intently dispute of the caelestial Globe , ut in coelo habitare se crederent de quo disputabant , that to themselves they seemed to dwell there , and to have made Heaven their Kingdome as well as their argument . It is plain we must not understand here Moses 's Heaven , the Ayr for the Firmament , but St. Pauls third Heaven . This is the City of the great King , the City of the living God , the Psal. 48. 2. Hebr. 12. 22. Hebr 1 10. 1 Tim. 6 16. Psal. 103. 19. heavenly Jerusalem , a City which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is God . Here our Father dwelleth in light inaccessible , unconceivable : Here he keepeth his glorious residence , and here he hath prepared his throne ; Here he keepeth his glorious residence , and here he hath prepared his throne ; Here thousand thousands , minister unto him , and ten thousand times ten thousand stand Dan. 7. 9. before him : Here he still sheweth the brightness of his countenance , and to all eternity communicateth himself to all his blessed Angels and Saints . Beloved ; the consideration of this stately Palace of the King of Kings should fill our hearts with humility and devotion , and make us put-up our petitions at the throne of Grace with all reverence and adoration . Is our Father Psal. 104. 1. Gen. 18. 27. in heaven , clothed with honor and majesty ? Then let us who are but dust and ashes , vile earth , and miserable sinners , when we make our approaches to this great and dreadful God , not be rude , and rash , and inconsiderate , vainly multiplying Dan. 9 4. words before him without knowledge , and using empty and heartless repetitions ; but let us first recollect our thoughts , compose our affections , bring our minds into a heavenly frame , take to our selves words fit to Hos. 14. 2. express the desires of our souls , and then let us worship , and bow down , and Psal. 95. 6. kneel before the Lord our Maker , and let us pour forth our prayers into the bosome of our heavenly Father , our Tongue all the whi●e speaking nothing but what the Heart enditeth . This counsel the Preacher giveth us ; Be not rash with thy mouth , and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before Eccl. 5. 2. God : For God is in heaven , and thou upon earth : therefore let thy words be few . Again , is our Father in heaven ? Then our heart may be glad , and our Psal. 16. 9 , 10. glory rejoyce , and our flesh also rest in hope . God will not leave us in the grave , nor suffer us to live for ever under corruption ; but in due time we shall be brought out of that bonaage into a glorious liberty , and be admitted into those Rom. 8. 21 : happy mansions in our Fathers house . He will have his children like unto John 14. 2 , 3. himself : Therefore we may be assured that as now he guideth us with his counsel , Psal. 73. 25. so he will afterwards receive us into glory . Our elder Brother , who is gone before , and hath by his ascension opened the gate of Heaven , and prepared a place for us , will come again at the end of the world , and awake us John 14. 3. Psal. 17. 15. Mat. 25. 21 , 23. 1 John 3. 2. 1 Cor. 15. 49. out of our beds of d●st , and receive us unto himself , that we may enter into the joy of our Lord , for ever behold his face , see him as he is , be satisfied with his likeness , and , as we have born the image of the earthy , so bear the image of the heavenly And now , Beloved , having this hope in us , let us purifie our 1 John 3. 3. selves , even as our Father which is in heaven is pure . While we remain here below , and pass through this valley of Tears , let us ever and anon lift up our Psal. 84. 6. Psal. 121. 1. Isa. 57. 15. eyes unto the hills , even to that high and holy place wherein dwelleth that high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity ; yet not boldly to gaze and busily to pry within the veil : For Heaven is too high and bright an object for our Eye to discern and discover , for our Tongue to discourse and dispute of . But SURSUM CORDA ; Let us look up to heaven that we may learn not to mind earthly things , but to set our affections on those things which are above , to Col. 3. 2. have our conversation in heaven , and our heart there where our everlasting Phil. 3. 20. Matth. 6. 21. treasure is . Let us still wish and long and breathe and pant to mount that holy hill , and often with the Spirit and the Bride say , Come ; Come Lord Rev. 22. 17 , 20 Jesus , come quickly , and sigh devoutly with the Psalmist , When shall we come Psal. 42. 2. and appear before God ? And in the mean time let us sweeten and lighten those many tribulations we must pass through with the sober and holy contemplation Acts 14. 22. of that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory , of the fulness of joy 2 Cor. 4. 17. that is in Gods presence , and of those pleasures for evermore that are at the Psal. 16. 11. right hand of OUR FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN . To whom with the Son and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory now and ever .

Amen .

The Two and Thirtieth SERMON . PART IV. MATTH. VI. 9. Hallowed be thy Name :

WE have past the Preface or Frontis-piece , and must now take a view of the Building , the Petitions themselves . We find a needless difference raised concerning the number of them . Some have made seven Petitions ; and have compared them to the seven Stars in heaven ; to the seven golden Candlesticks ; to the seven Planets ; to the river Nilus , which , as Seneca tells us , per septena ostia in mare effunditur , ex his quodcunque elegeris mare est , is divided into seven streams , and every stream is an Ocean . Others have fitted them to the seven Gifts of the Spirit . Those we will not call , with A. Gellius , nugalia , or with Seneca , ineptias , toyes and trifles : but we may truly say , Aliquid habent ingenii , nihil cordis ; Some shew of wit we may perhaps descry in them , but not any great savor or relish of sense and judgment . What perfection there can be in one number more than in another ; or what mystery in the number of seven , I leave it to their inquiry who have time and leasure perscrutari & interrogare latebras numerorum , as the Father speaks , to search and dive into the secrets of Numbers ; who by their art and skill can digg the ayr , and find precious metal there , where we of duller apprehension can find no such treasure . I confess men of great wits have thus delighted themselves numeros ad unquem excutere , to sift and winnow Numbers : but all the memorial of their labor was but chaff . The number of Fourty ( for Christ after his Resurrection staid so long upon earth ) they have divided into four Denaries , and those four they have paralleld with the four parts of the World , into which the sound of the Gospel should go . The number of Ten they have consecrated in the Law , and the number of Seven in the holy Ghost : Perfecta lex in Denario numero ; commendatur Septenarius numerus propter Spiritum Sanctum , saith St. Augustine . I could present you with some which , I fear , would move you to laughter ; as it seems it did some of St. Augustines auditory who heard them . For the Father suddenly breaks forth into those words in one of his Sermons upon St. John ; Gratulor vobis hanc spiritualem hilaritatem , I am very glad to see you so spiritually pleasant . Nobis . non licet esse tam disertis . It is not for us to be so witty ; nor can we commend wit there , ubi nihil est praeter ingenium , where there is nothing but wit . We will give them leave oblectare ingenia , thus to please their phansie : but we must not think as Tully spake in another case , siquid Socrates aut Aristippus contra morem civilem loquuti sint , idem nobis licere ; that if Socrates or Aristippus , if Augustine , or other of the Worthies of the Church , have taken this liberty , that it is lawful for us thus to give our Phansie line , and let her loose at shadows , and to commend our selves by their example . For this were truly Theologiam oblectamentum facere , non remedium , to make Divinity a sport , which is a remedy . We will therefore , with Calvine and some others , make but six Petitions . And in these six all other prayer is contained . Magnae ac beatae interpretationis substantiâ fulta est haec oratio ; & quantum substringitur verbis , tantum diffunditur sensibus , as Tertullian speaks ; The words are but few , but the sense is large . For when we have reckoned up all particulars which our phansies can suggest ; when all our wants present themselves naked to us to be offered up to that hand of Majesty which can supply them ; these six will comprehend them all . All that Reason leads us to is something that may profit us : All it withdraws us from , is something that may hurt us . The four first Petitions contein all the first ; and in the two last we pray that neither Sin nor the Devil nor Tentations nor any Evil may hurt us . We cannot ask more than all . If Gods name be sanctified , we are holy : If his Kingdome come , we reign as Kings : If his Will be done , we are saved ; for his Will is our salvation . If he give us our daily bread , our souls do live to praise him : If he forgive us our sins , no evil past ; if he lead us not into temptation , but deliver us from evil , no evil to come can hurt us . So that those six Petitions are like those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or Common places , in Logick , which are , saith the Philosopher , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , common to every Art and Science , which the Geometrician and Arithmetician and Philosopher may use in their several Arts , as heads and principles to draw conclusions from . There is no prayer which may not be reduced to these . Do we desire 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 good things , which bring honor to ourselves or God ? We may run and read them in the three first Petitions . For Gods Honor is ours ; his Sanctification , our holiness ; his Kingdome , our happiness ; the fulfilling of his Will , the rectitude of our own . Do we affect 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , good things which commend themselves by profit , or some greater good , which they bring ? What more commendable , what more profitable , then to hallow Gods Name , to advance his Kingdom , to do his Will ? Do wee seek after those which are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which in themselves are neither good nor evil , but are made so by their use , as Riches , and Food , and Raiment ? He that gives us Bread , gives us all these . Do we run from the face of evil , when it is either 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , terrible , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , troublesome ? What more terrible than Sin , which we are here taught to ask Forgiveness of ? What more troublesome than Tentations and the Devil ? We pray , not to be lead into the one , and to be delivered from the other . Quae cupimus , quae fugimus , whatsoever we do desire , whatsoever we fly from , is here comprised . Universa quae à Domino licitè desiderari possunt , his petitionibus continentur , saith Biel. Run through all the Prayers of the Prophets , of the Apostles , of the Martyrs , of Christ himself ; upon these they are built . All those silver streams , which make glad the city of God ; are from this fountain . Husbandmen observe that in the growth of corn there is great difference ; Some in the springing up is very full and luxuriant , other is more spare , and in shew poorer ; yet many times the fruit of that which seems thinner is as much or more than that which was so full and abundant in the grass . So it is in our Prayers : They who are long and copious and abundant in devotion , do but foeliciter luxuriari , present us a kind of spiritual luxury , fair and goodly to the eye , but the fruit and effect of it is no more than of that which is not so full and so luxuriant in word and phrase . If our whole life were Prayer ; as in some sense it should be : if we did prolong our prayer , not till midnight , as St. Paul did his Sermon , but till our Acts 20. 7. last night , death it self : Yet he that shall say his Pater Noster , maketh his request as large as ours . Did we multiply millions of prayers , these six Petitions are as many as they . All our Petitions are but the echo of these , or rather these in other words : So that Tertullian well calls them a Foundation of all requests whatsoever . And all petitions which will not lye upon these , nor head-well nor bed-well , as they say , upon this foundation , are but extravagancies and rubbage . We will say no more of the number of these Petitions ; although perhaps we might find as great a mystery in the number of Six as others have in that of Seven . But this would be exercere ingenium inter inita , & nihil profuturis otium terere , to catch at atomes , and spend our time to no purpose . I am sure the Petitions borrow no virtue from the number ; nor do I see how the Number should borrow any mystery from the Petitions . Be they six or seven , it is not much material : but , when we pray , we must pray after this manner .

But before we come to the handling of these Petitions in particular , we must speak something of the Order and Method which Christ observes in this form . For that God who doth in all his wayes and proceedings 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Stoicks speak , observe a certain and regular course , hath also taught us a method of Prayer . There is a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , something which we must pray for in the first place : and there be other which are but as corollaries . Our Saviour here teacheth us to pray for our daily bread ; yet v. 3. he bids us take no thought for it ; but he interprets himself v. 33. by shewing us a method ; But seek ye first the Kingdom of God , and his righteousness , and all these things shall be added unto you . We may divide this Prayer as Moses divided the Law , into two Tables : In the first were written officia pietatis , duty of Piety towards God ; In the second , officia charitatis , duties which Love requires we perform to our selves and others . We see the three first Petitions breathe forth the glory of God ; the last three draw their breath as it were inwards , and reflect upon our selves . In the three first we strive to enlarge the glory and honor and majesty of God : In the first we sanctifie his Name , in the second we call him , in the third we make him a King . But in the last three we begg our Bread , our Salvation , our Security : We desire him to give us a Staff to uphold us , to remove a Thorn that pricks us , and to spread his Providence like a rich canopy over our tabernacle to protect us : But yet so as that God is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , all in all ; not only Holy in his Name , and mighty in his Kingdom , and Powerful in his Will ; but also glorious in giving us Bread , glorious in forgiving our sins , and glorious in our victory over Satan . And as God hath a share in the three last , so are we not excluded the three first . For when we pray that his Name may be hallowed , we do not put up a bare wish and desire that it may be so , sed ut sanctum habeatur à nobis , saith Augustine , that we may sanctifie it . For whether we pray or no , Gods Name is holy , his Kingdom is everlasting , and he doth whatsoever he will in heaven and in earth . Nor do we pray that he will do all this without us , but that he will supply us with those means and helps by which we may do it our selves . So that when we pray that his Name may be hallowed , our desire is , that we may hallow it .

I will therefore draw and confine my Discourse within the bounds of these three propositions : I. That in all our petitions we must propose the Glory of God as our chiefest end . II. That we must prefer Spiritual things before Temporal . III. That it is not enough to pray for blessings , and against evils , unless we be careful and industrious to procure the one , and to avoid the other . For if we pray that Gods Name may be hallowed , and do not seriously strive to sanctifie it our selves , we put up rather a faint wish than a devout prayer , and rather mock God than worship him . Of these plainly and briefly .

What the Philospher requires of his Moral man is most necessary in the works of Piety and Religion , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . We must propose a right End . Non agitur officium nisi intendatur finis . I stir not in my Duty , if this move me no● ▪ and I faint and sink under my Duty , if this confirm not the motion . Gemina virtus in Christiano , intentio & actio , saith St. Ambrose : There is a double virtue in a very Christian , to intend a right end , and to do what he intends . The Eye cannot say to the Hand I have no need of thee ; nor the Hand to the Eye , I have no need of thee : but the Eye directs the Hand , and the Hand followeth the Eye . Intention regulates the whole work of my Devotion . Most certain it is , Every man when he prays , proposes some end ; for his end is that he may obtain . We desire that Gods Name may be sanctified , that we may be holy : We desire Holiness , that we may see God : We desire to see God , that we may be happy . Sanctity it self is an end , and the Reward is an end . Nor do we exclude these ends as unfit to be lookt upon . It is lawful for us to make the Reward as a Napkin to wipe off the sweat of our brows , and to comfort our Devotion with Hope . But the finis architectonicus , the principal end must be the glory of God . All other ends are wrapt within this , as a wheel within a wheel , and a sphere within a sphere , but the Glory of God is the first compassing wheel , prima sphera , still on the top , and setteth all on moving . And here our Devotion is in its regular motion , when it moves about , not by the sight of some good on our selves , or the expectation of reward , but propter Deum ex charitate , & propter se amatum , as the Schools speak , by the contemplation of God , whom we love for himself ; and when it proceeds from a Love like to the Love of God ; Whose actions are right in themselves , although he propose no other end but the Actions ; Whose very Glory is the good of his creature . We read in our books of a woman who went about the City Prolamais with a vessel of water in one hand , and fire in the other , sometimes looking up to heaven , and anon casting her eyes upon the ground . And being askt by a Dominican what she did with those two so contrary elements in her hands , she replyed streight , Cuperem hoc foco Paradisum incendere , & hac undâ restinguere flammas gehennae ; I would , saith she , if I could , with this fire burn down the celestial Paradise , and with this water quench the fire of Hell , that neither might be . I cannot but rank this action of hers , if it be true , amongst those which phrensie produces . But the reason which she gave is a measured and positive truth in Divinity , That we must cheerfully endeavor to hallow Gods Name , and advance his Kingdom , and fulfill his Will , if there were neither heaven nor hell , neither reward to allure us to holiness , nor punishment to fright us from impiety . All we do should be the issue of our Love to God , who loved us so that for no hope of reward or addition of glory he was even turned into love , and gave us himself . He that loves God perfectly , cannot but neglect himself , and perish and be Lost to himself ; but he riseth again , and is found , first in God , whilst he thinks nothing but of him ; and then , whilst he thinks that he is loved of him , and lives in him whilst he is thus lost . Could we raise our Devotion to this pitch , it were indeed in its proper Zenith . But our Prayers for the most part are blemisht with some partialities and by-respects , and our selves are more respected in them than God . If they be petitory , we request some good for our selves ; if eucharistical , we give thanks for some good we have received ; if deprecatory , we request to be preserved from some evil . Still our selves have the chiefest part ; and our Prayers are like the Parthean horsemen , which ride one way , but look another ; They seem to go towards God , but indeed reflect upon our selves . And how many of us would fall down before God if we did not stand in need of him ? And this may be the reason why many times our Prayers are sent forth like the Raven out of Noahs Ark , and never return . But when we make the Glory of God the chief end of our Devotion , they go forth like the Dove , and return to us again with an Olive-branch . It is a nice observation of Quadrigarius in Gellius , that darts and arrows which are shot upward do fly more level , and more surely hit the mark , then those which are shot downwards . But it is most true in our Prayers , which are called Ejaculations , because they are darted from us as shafts out of a bow ; Those that fly upward to God , and aim at his glory , do more fix upon and take him than those other which fly downward upon our selves . For God and Man are in respect of one another as the species of Quantity , Continua , and Discreta ; as a Body , and Number . Number admits of infinite additions ; Nullus est post quem non sit alter ; You can give no number to which you may not add another . And a Corporeal substance may be diminished in unitate . You cannot so divide a piece of wood but you may divide it again : The more you diminish and cut from the wood , the more you increase the number of parts . So is it between God and our selves . The more we take from our selves , the more we add to God ; the more vile we think our selves , the more glorious he appears . The knowledge of Gods infinite Majesty may receive infinite additions ; and so may the knowledge of our own unworthiness . When we are busie in the contemplation of our own vileness , then do we most cleerly see the Glory of God , for which we were made . The tree that sends his root downwards , sends his boughs upwards ; and the deeper his root , the higher his boughs : so the more we are deprest and cast-down in our selves , the nearer are we raised to the throne of God . The Glory of God was that for which we were created : Now the Philosophers will tell us , Unumquodque est propter suam operationem ; Every thing is and hath its being for the work it hath to do . I do not warm my self with a Plainer , nor smooth a table with Fire . This were not only vain , but would destroy any work . All things , even Arts and Sciences , beyond or besides their end are unuseful . Seneca tells his friend that the Arts were then liberal cùm homines liberos facerent , when they made men free and ingenuous . And censuring the vices of the time , he saith that Arithmetick and Geometry were of no use if they taught only metiri latifundia , & digitos accommodare avaritiae , to measure Lordships , and tell money . And certainly Man is the most unprofitable creature in the world , if he dedicate not himself and his devotions to the glory of that God who made him for that end . For the Love of God is an undefiled love , and if it be perfect , will admit of no mixture . For to love God for any other respect than God himself , whether it be for Health or Wealth or Honors , be it for fear of hell , or be it for hope of heaven it self , is at the least an imperfection in us . Now the reason of this is plain ; That for which any thing is loved is of it self more beloved . When David dealt kindly with Mephibosheth for Jonathan his fathers sake , it is a certain argument that he loved Jonathan better than Mephibosheth . He that loves a man for mony or meat , loves mony and meat more than the man , because these are the causes and ends why he loves the man . It will follow then , that he that loves God for himself , or for any other end than God , loves that more then God . But God is principally and solely to be loved ; all other things , even our own salvation , are to be loved for him , but he for himself . Should we now take the dimensions of our Devotion by this rule , I fear it will not reach home . Would we down on our knees , but for a blessing ? Would we be so earnest to hallow Gods Name , but that in his name we shall cast out devils , some evil that may hurt us ? Would we advance his Kingdom , but to crown ourselves ? Would we be desirous his Will should be done , if his will were to damn us ? Is there an Anselme now alive , that , if Hell and Sin were proposed to his choice , would be damned to torments for ever rather than once by sin dishonor God ? No : Our PATER NOSTER for the most part begins at PANEM NOSTRUM , Give us this day our daily bread . And our Prayers are much like Jacobs Vow , If God will give us bread to eat , and raiment to put on , then the Lord shall be our God . Indeed it should Gen. 28. 20. not be thus . If our Love were perfect , our Devotion would be so also , and kindle at no other fire than the Love of Gods Glory . For perfect Love doth not only cast-out all fear , but all other respects whatsoever . And God would be loved by us as David loved Jonathan ; but the Creature , as Mephibosheth , but in a second place , for Jonathans sake , but we are Men , not Angels : and God , who is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Clemens speaks , who studies wayes to save us , and is even witty in inventing of means to bring us unto him , doth so far condescend as to be content we have an eye to our own Good , so we prefer his Glory ; to propose other ends , so we make that the first ; and to pray for our selves , so we begin with him : Although we cannot begin with him but we pray for our selves . Tolle luctatori praemium , & lentus jacebit in stadio ; Take away the garland , and the Souldier will not strike a stroke . Our Devotion would be frost-bound , nor would we fill heaven with our prayers , but that we hope they will bring down some blessing from thence . Therefore God deals with us as a skilfull Artist doth that works upon an evil matter ; If he cannot make what he would , yet makes that which the matter gives him leave : And like the Husbandman in the Gospel , he doth not pluck up the Tares , these imperfections of ours , for fear that the Wheat , even the whole harvest of our Devotion , should come up with them . Hence it is that he proposes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , reward and punishment , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his manifold benefits , to incite us to call upon him . And he that is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the worker both of our Fight and Reward , hath made it as a Law , and promulged it to all his followers , HE THAT ASKETH , SHALL RECEIVE . And this is the reason why in the primitive times they anointed Christians at their initiation and reception into the Church , to remember them that they were brought into the banners , and to encourage them with hope of reward if they overcame . If we pray that Gods Name be hallowed , we may pray also that he write our names in the book of life : If we advance his Kingdom , he will crown us : Only his Glory in all things must have the praeeminence .

But you will say that it is a hard thing to keep this intention alive when we pray , and that these two , the Glory of God and our Good , non sunt unius animi , cannot harbor in the same heart at once . Nor doth God require of them an actual and perpetual intention of his Glory , but , as the Schools speak , an habitual . Thou mayest pray to his glory when thy thoughts are busie and reflect upon thy own want . We see an arrow flyes to the mark by the force of that hand out of which it was sent : and he that travels on the way may go forward in his journey though he divert his thoughts sometimes upon some occurences in the way , and do not alwayes fix them on the place to which he is going : So when thy Will and Affections are quickned and enlivened with the love of Gods Glory , every action and prayer will carry with it a savor , and relish of that fountain from whence they spring . An Artificer doth not alwayes think of the end why he builds a house , but his intention on his work sometimes comes in between , and makes him forget his end . And though he make a thousand pieces , yet he still retains his Art , saith Basil . So though thou canst not make this main Intention of Gods Glory keep time with thy Devotion , nor send up every thought thus incenst and perfumed , yet the smell of thy sacrifice shall come before God , because it is breathed forth of that heart which is Gloriae ara , an Altar dedicated wholly to the glory of God . Thy ear must be to keep it , as thy Heart , with all diligence ; to nourish and strengthen it , that , if it seem to sleep , yet it may not dy in thee ; to barricado thy heart against all contrary and heterogeneous imaginations , all wandring cogitations , which , as Jacob , may take his first-born by the heel , and afterwards supplant and robb it of its birth-right . For these thoughts will borrow no life from thy first intention of Gods Glory , but the intention of Gods Glory will be lost and dye in these thoughts .

We pass forward to that which we proposed in the second place . That spiritual blessings must have the first place in our prayers . Holiness and Obedience must go before our daily bread ; the spiritual Manna , which nourisheth us up unto eternal life , before 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the things of this present life , or that bread which upholds us but for a span of time . A doctrine as most plain , so most necessary for these times , in which mens hearts are so set on gain and temporal respects that heaven finds but little room in their thoughts , and so care for the Body as if they knew not whether they had any Soul or no : Of his mind in Plautus , who professed , if he were to sacrifice to Jupiter , yet , si quid lucri esset , if gain and filthy lucre presented it self before him ; he would rem divinam deserere , instantly run from the Altar and leave his sacrifice . Epictetus the Stoick observed that there were daily sacrifices brought to the Temples of the Gods for wealth , for honors , for victory , but none ever offered up for a good mind . And Seneca tells us , Turpissima vota diis insusurrant , that men were wont to whisper dishonest desires into the ears of the Gods ; si quis autem admoverit aurem , conticescunt , but if any stood near them to hearken , they were presently silent . Were the hearts of many men anatomized and opened , we should find Riches and Content deeply rooted in the very center , but Holiness and Obedience and Honesty of conversation written in faint and fading characters in superficie , in the very surface and outside of the heart . Villam malumus quàm coelum , We had rather have a Farm , a Cottage , than Paradise , and three lives in that than eternity in heaven . We had rather be rich than good , mighty than just . And talk what you will of sanctifying Gods Name , we had rather make our selves one ; of advancing his Kingdom , we had rather reign as Kings ; of fulfilling Gods Will , we will do our own ; of the Bread of life , Give us this day our daily Bread . But thus to pray is not to pray 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , after that manner which Christ here taught , but a strange 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , want of method , in our Devotion . Our Love is seen in our language . For those things which most affect us , we love to talk of , we use to dream of , and our thoughts are restless in the pursuit of them . It was observed in Alexander as a kind of prophesie and presage of his many conquests , quòd nihil humile aut puerile sciscitaretur , that he speaking with the Persian Ambassadors askt no childish or vain question , sed aut viarum longitudinem , aut itinerum modos , but of the length of the wayes , and the distance of places , of the Persian King , and of his Court . A man , saith the Wise-man , is known by his speech , and a Christian by his prayers .

I could be copious in this argument , but purposely forbear , because it is so common a place . Only to set your Devotion on fire , and raise it to things above , may you please to consider Temporal goods 1. not satisfactory ; 2. as an hindrance to the improvement of Spiritual . Do but consult your own Reason , and that will tell you , that the Mind of man is unsatiable in this life . Who ever yet brought all his ends and purposes about , and rested there ? Possideas quantum rapuit Hero ; Let a man possess what Craft and unlawful Policy can entitle him to ; Let him be Lord of all that lyes in the bosome of the earth , and in the bosome of the Sea ; Let him , as Solomon did , even study how to give himself all delight imaginable ; yet with all this cost , with all this pains and travel , he is as far from what he lookt for as when he first set out . Now as God having made the Understanding an eye , hath made the whole Universe for its object , so having placed a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an infinite desire in the soul , hath proportioned something to allay it . Which since these temporal things cannot do , it is evident that heaven and spiritual blessings are those things which alone can satisfie this infinite appetite . Put them both in the Scales , and there is no comparison . You may as well measure Time by Aeternity , and weigh a little sand on the shore with the whole Ocean .

Again , as they do not satisfie , so are they an hinderance to our improvement in spiritual wealth . Alter de lucro cogitat , alter de honore , & putat quòd eum Deus possit audire ? One thinks of Gain when he prays for Godliness . another of Honor when he talks of Heaven . We may call this Prayer , if we will ; but most certain it is that God never hears it , nor any prayer which is not made 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Isidore speaks , with diligence . Which leads us to that which we proposed in the third place , That when we pray , Hallowed be thy Name , we do not simply pray that God will do it without us , but that he will supply us with those means and helps by which we may do it our selves ; That it is not enough to pray for blessings , or against evils , unless we be careful and industrious to procure the one , and avoid the other .

HALLOWED BE THY NAME , is soon said . But every man that says it , doth not hallow Gods Name . Else what a sanctified world should we have ! We should hear no blasphemy , see no uncleanness , meet with no profaneness : but every man would be holy as our heavenly Father is holy ; and the earth , which is over-run with weeds , would become a Paradise of perfection . The reason of this may be , that , when we pray for these graces , we imagine that so soon as we kneel God will come down from heaven and sow this seed of holiness in our hearts whilst we are asleep ; that though we every day corrupt our selves , he will purge and refine them ; though we breathe out blasphemies against him , he will take us at a time when he will strike us to the ground , as he did St. Paul , and make us holy on the sudden . And this is an epidemical error , which hath long possest the hearts of men , mentis gratissimus error , an error with which we are much taken and delighted . Our beloved bosome error , which whoso strives to remove shall have no better reward than St. Paul had of the Athenians when he preacht of the Resurrection of the dead ; He shall be accounted a setter-forth of strange Doctrines . But the weak conceit of our hearers must not make us leave off to call upon them , and put them in mind of the danger they are in , and remember them in the words of the Father , Deum orare ut nobis prestet quod nos facere recusamus , ridiculum est , imò ludibriosum in Deum ; To pray to God that he will do that for us which we refuse to do our selves , is a great folly in respect of our selves , and contumelious to God . We mistake our selves , if we think Holiness and Obedience are such tares as will grow up in our hearts whilst we sleep . They are indeed the gifts of God ; but they are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Clemens speaks , not so easily atchieved as we suppose . For howsoever the things of this world are then best purchast when they cost least , yet these gifts of God are taken up upon the best terms when we do pay most for them . Laetiùs est magno quoties sibi constat honestum : They are cheapest when they are dearest . For in this our labor we never fail , God alwayes working with us , and blessing the work of our hands . Indeed to think our Prayers are but matter of complement or to deny the assistance of God in every good work , were not only to be Pelagians , but worse then the Heathen . Nulla bona mens sinè Deo , saith Seneca : No man is good but with the help of God . Ille dat consilia magnifica & recta ; All good counsels and heroick thoughts are from him . When Pliny had the day against Regulus , he professeth openly , Sentio mihi Deos affuisse ; I perceive the Gods were present to help me . And it was a common Proverb amongst them , VIRTUTE DEORUM ET NOSTRA ; What they did they did by the help of the Gods . The Greek Fathers , who did so highly extoll the Martyrs and other Saints , and it may be elevated the power of Nature beyond the sphere of its activity , yet referred all these 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , these powers , unto God as the first fountain , and did acknowledge every where 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that the grace of God did all ; and whatsoever the best of men did 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to be the gift of God , that no man might boast . All this is true : and it is impossible we should attribute too much to God . Our fault is , that we shrink and contract his Grace , and shorten his hand where he hath stretched it forth . We pray for Grace , and can we think that God , who is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Goodness it self , who is emissivus , as the Schools speak , liberal and free of himself , and doth naturally send forth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the beams of his goodness every where ; will deny us that which he commands us to ask , nay , which he gives us that we may ask ? We are dead ; and Grace is the breath by which we live : We are blind ; and Grace is the eye by which we see : We are lame , and Grace is the staff by which we walk . God knows that without his grace our hearts are but styes of sin and pollution ; It is likely then he will take his Grace from Man , and so make himself , if not the author , yet the occasioner , of sin ? Is it justice with God to put out our eyes , and then punish us for stumbling . Or is God delighted to try conclusions , to see what Men will do if Grace be not with them ? God doth not take our souls , as Chirurgeons do dead bodies , to practise on . No : when we pray , he hears us : nay , he hears us before we pray . And if we do not hallow his Name , it is not for want of grace , but of Will. You will say perhaps that God is an omnipotent Agent , can unty our tongues to speak his praise , and lead us on in the wayes of holiness , though our feet be shackled , though we have no feet to go . But the Proverb will answer you . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , If God will , you may sail over the Sea in a sive . But we must remember that God , as he is a powerful Agent , so is a free Agent , and works and dispenseth all things according to the pleasure of his will . He will not lead thee , if thou wilt not go . He will not whisper Holiness into thee whilst thou sleepest , nor enlighten thee when thou shuttest thine eyes . Proposuit pulcherrimo cuique operi difficultatem : He that placed some rubs and difficulties in that way between us and Holiness , that we should digg out our way with the sweat of our brows to find this rich treasure . Frequent and hearty Prayers , daily Exercise of virtuous actions , a kind of Violence offered to our selves ; these are a sign that Grace worketh kindly , and hath its natural operation in us . Holiness is a treasure : but we do not find it as we may find some kind of treasure . It may be we read the examples of some who have not paid so dear for it , but without any great labor have attained to those virtues which they afterwards constantly improved to their own end . Pontius the Deacon tells us of St. Cyprian , Praeproperâ velocitate pietatis penè antè caepit perfectus esse quàm disceret ; At his first setting-out for piety and Christianity he used such incredible speed that he was almost perfect before he began . Tam maturâ coepit fide quàm pauci perfecerunt , Few men ended in that perfection in which he began . Be it so : But this is no good argument for me to put my hands into my bosome , and sit still , and expect the good hower . Christian virtues are gifts but are not usually obtained sine pulvere & sole , without labor and difficulty . There is nothing in the world that hath any esteem amongst men , but will cost some pains to attain , to atchieve , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Father . All things , both good and bad , in this are alike , that they are procured with difficulty . Errors , and the things of the Devil , are difficult , that we may be frighted from desiring them : Holiness , and the things of God , are more difficult , to try our Obedience . If it were no more than , as the Psalmist speaks , to speak well of his Name , it were not so easie . For they that talk most of Grace , we see , have not learn't this lesson yet , To speak well of their brother . But it is , to purge the Heart , which is a custom-house for all wares ; to tye up the tongue , an unruly member ; to check every inclination of our minds and motion of our bodies : Which though it be the work of Grace , yet is not done in a moment , nor without care and watchfulness . Difficulty by the Providence of God is annexed to all things of worth , not to deter or extinguish but to kindle mens industry , and to put a difference between one and another . When men sale in a calm Sea , there is no difference between a skilfull Pilot and an ignorant : sed cùm stridunt funes , & gemunt gubernacula , when the tempest rages , and the Sea works , then there is a difference discovered . Dulciùs munera gratiae proveniunt quoties non sine magnis sudoribus acquiruntur , saith Leo ; the gifts of Grace then bring forth most sweet fruits when they are watered with the sweat of our brows . When we lye on the dunghill , when the waves of affliction beat upon us , when he kills us , then to sanctifie his Name , this is the task of a Christian . Yet all this we will do if Gods Grace be sufficiently vouchsafed us . Why so ; is it not vouchsafed to his whole Church ? Officiosissima res gratia , & veluti in hominum jurata salutem , Grace is the most officious thing in the world . Nor have I attained to that proficiency in knowledge as to understand how it can stand with the Justice of God unprovoked to withdraw his grace from any Man . But thus we must needs charge him , and lay all our numerous , or rather innumerable defects upon him , if we think the only cause why we commit them is because God doth not give us grace . Multos inveni aequos adversus homines , adversus Deos neminem , saith Seneca ; I have observed many just in their censure of other men , but none that have held that equity towards the Gods . And it is the common fault of Christians to lay all upon God . Why else do we talk so oft of our natural Infirmities , of a Necessity of sinning , as if we would have it so ? De carnis infirmitate causantur , de Spiritus autem firmitate dissimulant , saith Tertullian ; The flesh is weak ; we are ready at that : but , the Spirit is quick and ready , we never observe it . Infirmity is made , not a witness to plead against us , but a friend to comfort us . A dangerous errour it is , and sinks many a soul to Hell . The defect cannot be in the conduct and conveyance , but in the vessel that should receive : Nor do we sin so much for want as for neglect of Grace . When we pray , Hallowed be thy Name , do we think God withdraws his Grace , that we may not hallow it ? Is he willing to be blasphemed ? Or can we imagine that he exposeth his Name to our profaneness , that he may glorifie it upon us in our destruction ? We may say of this as Tertullian spake of Idolatry , Principale crimen humani generis , summus saeculi reatus , tota causa judicii ; This is not only the supream and greatest , but the sole crime of all mankind , to do more than ever the Pope could do , to grant an indulgence unto our selves . We make it either impossible to go to heaven , or else very easie . To say , SANCTIFICETUR NOMEN TUUM , Hallowed be thy Name , is to purchase Holiness . So that it should seem there is , as Basil speaks , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a spell in the words , and a sanctifying power in the very syllables . If this will not prevail , and break open heaven gates , it is in vain to knock any longer . Certainly , Beloved , it is a gross error for us thus to think , that God will be held upon such easie and cheap terms , or else be lost without possibility of recovery . For if it be so easie to hold-in with God , then were the greatest Saints of God of all men most miserable , who made no end of cleansing their hearts , and washing their hands in innocency . St. Paul , the greatest and worthiest servant of Christ that ever was on earth , found it a thing not so easie . It is true , he saith , By the grace of God I am that I 1 Cor. 15. 10. am : but that it might not be in vain , he laboured more abundantly than they all . Why did he give himself to watching , to fasting , to prayers , to that exact discipline of taming his body , if he knew Obedience and Sanctity might stand him at a cheaper rate ? We conclude then ; It is not enough to breathe these words into the ayr , Hallowed be thy Name , but we must re & actis velle quod affectu & voto volumus , really and in act will that sanctity which we desire in our prayers . We must put in practice what we pray for , and with all our might and strength , with our best endeavours strive to do that which we earnestly begg we may be able to perform . Otherwise , to pray , and sit still ; to pray , and sleep ; to pray for holyness , and run on in the wayes of profaneness ; to pray that Gods Name may be hallowed , and not strive to sanctifie it , is rather a faint wish than a devout prayer , and makes us guilty of a kind of blasphemy , even when we pray , HALLOWED BE THY NAME .

Though all persons , without exception of quality , age , time , or sex , say this Petition , though every man with Angels and Arch-angels cry aloud , Holy , Holy , Holy Lord God of Sabbaoth , yet few there be who truly sanctifie Gods Name . We may be bold to fear that they speak it best who can scarcely speak it ; that their Devotion is greatest whose understanding is least ; that to our heavenly Father it is a more pleasing thing to hear parvulorum adhuc linguas balbutientes Christo Hallelujah resonare , as St. Hierome speaks , little children in their imperfect language to sing their Saviours praise , than all the busie noise and babble of a Hypocrite ; that their broken prattle is more pleasant in the ears of the Almighty , who speak and do it as they can , than their full language who can both speak and do it , yet express it only with their tongue . There is more in this Petition than a weak eye at first can pierce into . That we may take a full view of it , and behold it in its proper shape , we must first distinguish and sever it from the two next Petitions , which bear that nearness and affinity to it that for ought I can perceive , most men in their discourses have made them the very same . The Sanctifying of Gods Name is annexed to his Kingdom ; and the fairest part of his Kingdom is the fulfilling of his Will. He that halloweth Gods Name doth advance his Kingdom ; and he that advanceth his Kingdom , doth his Will : And this last includeth and comprehends both the former : so that Bradwartine will tell us that a Christian man needs no other prayer but this , FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA , Thy will be done , which in force and virtue conteins all other prayers whatsoever . And this is true in sensu quem faciunt , in that sense which every one of them will bear ; but in sensu quo fiunt , in that sense in which our Saviour spake and taught them , it is most probable they have their proper bounds and limits . And for our more plain and orderly proceeding we will confine this first Petition to our Words and outward Gesture , by which we do expresly honour God , and hallow him as it were before the Sun and the People : the second to our Hearts , which are , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the house of God , in which he delights to dwell ; his very throne , wherein he sits : It is our Saviours speech , The Kingdom of God is within you , the last to our Actions Luke 17. 21. and Works of Piety , which are the proper language of the Heart . Haec tria sunt omnia ; These three are all , the whole body of our Devotion , To hallow God with our tongue and outward deportment , To yield him the subjection and true allegiance of our hearts , and To be ready and active to execute his will . These take up all that we have , all that we are , the inward and the outward , and the outward man . We are taught to sanctifie the Lord God : which at the first 1 Pet. 3. 15. we may easily be perswaded to be the very same with this Petition : But the addition , in your hearts , pointeth out some difference . It is not there in terms , that we should sanctifie and honor God with our deeds and words and writing , and the like , but with that which is proper to the Heart : Which indeed doth necessarily shew it self in outward action . For presently the Apostle adds , as an effect of this sanctifying of God , being ready alwayes to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope which is in you . So that this place of Peter may seem rather to belong to the next Petition , Thy Kingdom come . But to close in a little nearer with these words ; we will first ask , What is meant here by the Name of God ; and then , What it is to sanctifie it . For the first , We are informed by those who have skill in that language , that by the propriety of the Hebrew the Name of God is God himself . So to call upon his Name is to call upon him , to speak good of his Name is to speak good of him , to magnifie his Name is to magnifie him . And it is most usual to take the Name for the person : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Chrysostome in his Preface to the Romans . The Apostles had the whole world committed to their charge ; I am not sufficient for twenty names , that is , for twenty men . Indeed God is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , hidden , saith Justine Martyr ; we cannot see him : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Damascene , incomprehensible ; we cannot lay hold on him . Nec nomen Dei quaeras . DEUS nomen est illi , saith Minutius ; Do not ask what is Gods Name . His Name is GOD. There is need of words and names where diversity of things are to be distinguished by several appellations : Deo , qui solus est , DEUS vocabulum totum est . God is most One , nay , Unity it self ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , most alone , nay Aloneness it self : All that you can say of him is , That he is GOD. The heathen Gods , saith Theodoret , had many names : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Indeed they were nothing else but names . But the true God , who is of infinite essence , can have no name at all . Dei nomen semper fuit apud semetipsum , & in semetipso , saith Tertullian against Hermogenes ; Gods Name was alwayes with himself , and in himself . DEUS , nomen Divinitatis ; DOMINUS , Potestatis ; GOD signifies his Divinity ; and LORD , his Power . But yet as the Creature doth but faintly represent God , so there are names which do but weakly and imperfectly express him . For as Names import composition of substance and quality , so they cannot sute with the Simplicity of Gods Essence , but as they signifie notitiam , something by which he is notified . So we say , God is just , wise , true , eternal , and the like . Now to acknowledge these is to hallow his Name . We hallow him as Wise , when we count Honesty the best policy ; as Just , when the put the Sword into his hand , and leave all Vengeance to him ; as Omniscient , when we are as much afraid of the twilight as of the noon-day ; as True , when in all our miseries we distrust him not ; as Aeternal , when we seek for an abiding City , whose builder is God . But we will confine our selves , and take the Name of God for God himself , and in the next place enquire What it is to sanctifie him . Now SANCTUM , quod separatum ; that is Holy which is separated from common use . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 —

The Three and Thirtieth SERMON . MATTH. VI. 10. Thy Kingdome come :

IN this Petition we have three words , and all very observable ; a Noun , Kingdome ; a Pronoun , Thy ; and a Verb , Come . The Kingdome which here we are commanded to pray for is not that which the Chiliasts or Millenaries fondly dream of , the enjoyment of pomp and pleasure and all temporal happiness upon earth for a thousand years together after the resurrection . This phansie they fetch from Revel. 20. and other places . And this error , as gross as it is , spread so far in the very infancie and best times of the Church as to find entertainment with many , with Papias St. Johns Scholar , as Hierome tells us in his Book De viris illustribus ; with Iraeneus , Apollinarius ; Tertullian , as some think ; Victorius Pectaviensis ; Lactantius , as appears in his seventh Book of Institutions . Nay , it was of so great account , that St. Augustine himself did once embrace it , as himself confesses in his twentieth Book De Civit. Dei . and St. Hierome dared not to condemn it , as he records it himself in his Commentaries upon Jeremie . A wonder this is ; when St. John there plainly mentions the first Resurrection , which is of the Soul alone . But men easily perswade themselves they see the image of their own conceits in those parts of Scripture where they walk , as Antipheron in Aristotle thought he saw his own shape and picture wheresoever he went . Men take the Kingdome of Christ to be like unto the Kingdome of the World . Avaritia nostra nobis non sufficit , nisi avarum quoque Christum facimus , saith Petrarch in another case : It is not enough for us to set our hearts upon riches , unless we make Christ himself Covetous also . It is not enough for us to pursue honors and dignities , unless we make Christ ambitious , and so set up a temporal Monarchy in the Church . We crown Christ , but it is not with the crown wherewith his Father crowned him in the day of his espousals , when he made him the Head of the Church . In the world we are born , in the world we are bread ; and hence it comes to pass , that when we divert our industry unto Christian study , to the knowledge of Christ and his Kingdome , we still phansie something like unto the World , Riches , and Honor , and a universal Monarchy . But suppose that Christ had the politick government of the world given him as man , yet he never exercised his Regal power in this kind : He built no castles , raised no armies , trod not upon the necks of Emperors . Suppose he had exercised his Regal power , yet all this would hardly fasten the triple Crown on the high Priests head . But we see himself renounce all such claim . He complains he hath not what the Foxes have , a hole to hide his head . Being desired to divide the inheritance between two brothers , he answers sharply , Man , who made Luke 9. 56. me a judge or a divider over you ? When Pilate asketh him , Art thou the King Luke 12. 14. of the Jews ? Christ answereth ; Sayest thou this of thy self ? or did others tell it thee of me ? Dost thou object this crime ? or is it feigned to thy hands by others ? And at last he makes this plain confession before Pontius Pilate , My kingdome is not of this world . Which words , like the Parthian horseman , John 18. ride one way , but look another ; are spoken to an Infidel , to Pilate , but are a lesson directed to the subjects of his spiritual Kingdome ; a Lesson teaching us not to dream of any honor in his kingdome but salvation , nor any crown but the crown of life . And therefore as Aristotle tells us of his moral Happiness , that it is the chiefest good ; but not that which the Voluptuary phansieth , the Epicures Good ; nor that which the Ambitious adoreth , the Politicians Good ; nor that which the Contemplative man abstracteth , a Universal notion and Idea of Good : so may we say of this Kingdome , that in respect of it all the Kingdoms of the earth are not worth a thought ; but it is not such a Kingdome as the Jews expect , or the Chiliasts phansie , or the Church of Rome dreams of . And though commonly Negatives make nothing known , yet we shall find that the nature of Christs Kingdome could not have been more lively and effectually exprest than by this plain negation , My Kingdome is not of this world . To come yet a little nearer to the light by which we may discover this Kingdome ; The School-men have raised up divers Kingdoms , and built them all upon the same foundation , the Word of God ; First , his absolute Dominion over the creature ; in respect of which Christ is called King of Kings , and Lord of Lords . To this they have added Regnum Scripturae , and Regnum Ecclesiae ; They call the Scripture and the Church Kingdoms . Then they make Regnum Gratiae , a Kingdom of Grace ; and Regnum Gloriae , a Kingdome of Glory . And by a figure they make the King , Christ himself , a Kingdome . All these may be true , and these appellations may have some warrant from Scripture it self , and may have an ADVENIAT set to them . When we rest upon that law of Providence by which , in a wonderful manner God governeth the world , we say , ADVENIAT , Let his absolute Kingdome come ; Let him dispose and order the actions of men and the events of things as he pleaseth . When we make our selves Saints , and strive to bring others into that fellowship and communion , there is an ADVENIAT ; for we pray for the increase of the Church , and the enlarging of her territories . When we hunger and thirst after the water of life , when we desire that wholsome doctrine may drop as the rain , and saving truth distil as the dew , there is an ADVENIAT , a prayer which will open the windows of heaven . Some are of opinion that by Kingdom come here Christ did mean the Gospel . And this carries some probability in it . For the Disciples and Apostles of Christ , whose business it was to propagate the Gospel , had this petition , Thy Kingdom come , so often in their mouths , that they were accused affectati regni , as Enemies to the State , who did secretly undermine one Empire to set up another . We cannot deny but that not only the manifestation of Gods will , but the confirmation of it , either by preaching , or by miracle , or by those gifts and effects which can proceed from no other cause but the power and efficacy of the Spirit , are truly called the kingdome of Christ , because they are instrumenta regni , instruments and helps to advance his throne or Kingdome in our very hearts ; that as true Subjects we may obey his commands , as true Souldiers fight under his banner , that so we may suffer with him here and reign with him hereafter . And in this sense we may call the Scripture a Kingdome ; and the Preaching of the Word , the Administration of the Sacraments , and the outward Government of the Church , whether Political by the Magistrate , or Ecclesiastical by the Bishops and Priests , a Kingdome ; because both Powers , both Ecclesiastical and Civil , are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , great helps and furtherances , to advance Gods Kingdome . But Aquinas shall give you a full resolution , 1a a . 2 ae . Qu. 104. Regnum Dei in interioribus consistit principaliter : sed ex consequenti ad regnum Dei pertinent omnia illa sine quibus interiores actus esse non possunt ; The Kingdome of God is within us , and principally consists in the subduing of the inward man , in taking the citadel of the Heart : but by a plain and easie consequence all those things without which these inward acts are not ordinarily performed , may be taken in within its verge and compass : And when we pray for the supply and continuance of these helps , we truly say , Thy Kingdome come . For Christ is not truly and properly said to reign , till we have surrendered up unto him our very souls and hearts , and laid them at his feet . For , as Cassian saith of Fasting and Watching and Nakedness , that they are not perfection it self , but the instruments to work it ; So may we say of these outward helps , the Preaching of the Word , the Administration of the Sacraments , and the Watchfulness of Kings and Prelates , and the like , They are not the Kingdome of God , but helps and instruments to set us up . And his reason will hold here also , In ipsis enim non consistit disciplinae finis , sed per illa pervenitur ad finem ; For these are not the end , but by these we are brought to the end , to the Kingdome of Grace , which will bring us to the Kingdome of Glory . In fine non est modus , saith the Philosopher in his Politicks ; When we look on the end , our desires are vehement , our thoughts restless ; no ADVENIAT is loud enough till we have attained it . And for this alone we are as eager for the means , because they conduce and help forward to the end . What wrong then is done to the Framer and Fashioner of the Heart , when we make that , which should be the palace of the great King , a den of thieves and rebels and traytors ! How do we despite the spirit of grace , and , as much as in us lyes , unking him , and thrust him out of his Dominions ! When his word goeth out very swiftly , and flyeth from one end of the world to the other ; when he sendeth Ambassadours of peace to all the world ; when he destroys his enemies , and worketh wonders ; when he hath drawn out a form of government , promulged his laws , and backt them with promises and threatnings ; when he hath mightily shewed himself to be our King by great signs and miracles ; he doth not yet account himself to reign : But when thou openest thy heart , and givest him possession of every corner of thy soul , then he sits as King in his holy place . For as the Philosopher tells us that the confirmation of Laws consisteth not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in the wise and discreet framing of them ; but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in the right and due observance of them : So though Christ be King from all eternity , and cannot be devested of his Kingly office , yet then only he calls his Kingdome compleat when we are subject and obedient to him ; when he hath gotten possession of the Heart , where he may walk , not as he did in Paradise , terrible to Adam , who had forfeited his allegiance , but as in a garden of pleasures , to delight himself with the sons of men . For here , in the Heart of man , sitteth Reason as chief : here is the counsel-table , here is polity , here are decrees , here are good purposes and resolutions ; hither resort those nuntii , those messengers , which convey those auxiliary forces which either our Senses , or the blessed Angels , or the Spirit of God provide and send unto it . So many Virtues and Vices as there are , so many castles and towers are set up , where so many battles are fought , so many conquests made . Here Holiness is besieged , Religion shaken , here it is either betrayed or defended . Here if the Fear of this great King stand not as sentinel , the strong tower of our constancies falls to the ground , the Scepter and Crown is broken , and Reason is thrust out of the throne , whilst the enemy regeth . Our Affections , as in a popular sedition , rush in with violence , and Christ standeth as secluded , and only as looker on . Reign he may 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Lord of all the world , omnipotent , as Nazianzene saith , and will rule over all , whether they will or no ; but not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as one who hath brought us under his command to obey his laws and ordinances . Both Christs Kingdoms we pray for here , for that of Grace , for that of Glory , the one being the end of our prayers and of our hopes , the other a most necessary means to attain it . No reigning as Kings in the one unless we serve as Subjects in the other ; no crown there without allegiance here ; no glory without grace . But because it is impossible for the most piercing eye to discover the rules and laws and order of the Kingdome of Glory , we will stay our meditations upon the way which leadeth to it , and shew wherein the Kingdome of Grace consists . We told you the seat and place of this Kingdome is the Heart of men . For who can meddle with ordering mens hearts but Christ alone ? Princes Laws may sound in the Ears , may bind the Tongues , may manacle the Hands , may command our Goods ; farther they cannot go . Illâ se jactet in aulà Aeolus . But to set up an imperial throne and reign in the Heart , this none but Christ can do . Now by the Heart we do not mean that fleshy part which , as the Father speaks , is as the center in the body ; which , saith St. Basil , was first created , first received life , and then conveys and derives it to every part . Nor do we mean , with some , the Will ; nor , with others , the Affections . But by the Heart we understand all the powers and faculties of the soul , the Understanding , Will , and Affections , which when they move in an obedient course , by the rules and laws of any Kingdome , yield us the surest sign and token 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of a divine conversation , conformable to Christ himself . The Kingdome of Christ , saith Nazianzene , consists in the obteining of that which is most perfect . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , But the most perfect thing in the world is the knowledge of God . By which he doth not mean a bare knowledge of the King and of his Laws , but a submission of our Will , and a captivating of our Affections , that we may walk in obedience and newness of life , according to these laws . Aristotle tells us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , He that will erect a Commonwealth must also frame laws , and fit them to that form of commonwealth which he intends . We cannot make the same laws sit a Popular estate and a Monarchy . The different complexions of States and Republicks you may see in their Laws , as the faces of Princes in their coyns . Now as Christ is the wonderful Counsellor , so He came out of the loins of Judah , and is a Lawgiver too , and hath drawn out Laws like unto his Kingdome . As his Isa. 9. 6. Gen. 49. 10. Psal. 60. 7. & 108. 8. Scepter is a Scepter of righteousness , so are his Laws just : No man , no devil can question them . Socrates and Plato and the wisest of the Philosophers , though strangers to him and aliants from his Kingdome , yet would no doubt have subscribed to his Laws . As his Kingdome is heavenly , so are his Laws from heaven , heavenly , written by the finger of Wisdome it self . As he is an everlasting Prince , so are his Laws eternal . But I will not now stand to shew the difference between these Laws and the Laws by which the Kingdome of the world be governed . For what will fall-in more fitly with the TUUM , the Pronoun possessive , which points out a Kingdom by it self , and with which other Kingdoms cannot be compared . The Kingdome of God Luke 17. 21. is then within us , when the Understanding maketh haste to the object thereof , the Truth of God , to apprehend it ; and the Will is ready to meet the object thereof , our soveraign Good , to embrace it ; and the Affections wait and give attention upon the will , to further our possession of it ; when we have such wisdom , such holiness , such courage and desires as are fit for a subject of Christ to bring him unto and keep him in true fidelity and obedience for ever . For Christs Laws do not pass only to restrain the Will , but to bound the Understanding also , to regulate our Affections , to set limits to our very Thoughts , which flow from the heart ; to keep us from Error as well as from Sin . For as the Will must turn it self from all evil , ut non consentiat ; that it no way incline to consent unto it , so is there a tye upon the Understanding to avoid error , ut non assentiat , that it yield not assent to it . As the Will is bound to perform its act , so is the Understanding also . The Will is bound to will that which is good ; the Understanding , to know and believe those things which are the objects of our Faith and Knowledge : so that it is as well a sin to believe a lye in matters of Faith as to break a commandment . If there were no law to the Understanding , then were it lawful for every man to believe and think as he please : and that opinion would pass for current , That every man may be saved in that Religion and Sect which he believes to be good and true : And then how hath the Church of Christ been mistaken in passing such heavy censures upon Hereticks and Infidels ? We have a saying indeed in St. Bernard , Nihil ardet in inferno praeter propriam voluntatem , That nothing of us makes fuel for the fire of hell but our Will , and that men are punisht only for the stubbornness and disobedience of their Will : and if we examine it , we shall find it true enough , though at the first appearance it beareth some shew of opposition to the truth . For the Will receives the first wound and maim . And it is most certain , we could never erre dangerously , if we were not willing to be deceived . The complaint is put-up in Scripture , They will not understand . Not that the acts of the Understanding depend on the Will , which are rather natural than arbitrary ( for it is not in our power not to apprehend things in those shapes in which they present themselves ) but because we wilfully refuse the means to clear doubts , we will not see that which is most naked and visible , we seek no guide , we follow no direction , nay , perhaps against our own consciences we dissent from that which inwardly , will we , nill we , we do acknowledge . And as the errors of the Understanding , so all the extravagancies of the Affections are originally from the Will. It was the Stoicks error to disgrace the Affections as evil . Christianity hath made the weapons of righteousness to fight the battels of this great King . My Anger may be a sword , my Love a banner , my Hope a staff , my Fear a buckler . All the weaknesses of our Soul , the errors of our Understanding , and the rebellions of our Affections , are from the Will. From hence are wars and fightings . Is the Understanding dark ? The cloud is from the Will. That my Anger rageth , my Love burneth , my Fear despaireth , my Grief is impatient , my Joy mad , is from the Will. From this treasury blows the wind which makes the wicked like the Isa. 57. 20. troubled sea which cannot rest , whose waters cast up mire and dirt . And now you see that the Kingdom of Christ consists principally in subduing of the will . When that yields , the Understanding is straight as wax to receive the impressions of Truth , and the Affections as so many gentle gales to carry us to the haven where we would be . This is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Chrysostom calls it , principale animae , as St. Ambrose , the commanding , leading , and principal part of the Heart . If Christ hath taken possession of this , he hath taken the whole heart , and is Lord of all . Fight , saith the 1 King . 22. 31 King of Syria , neither with small nor great , save only with the King of Israel . If he fa●l in battel , the whole army is overthrown . Will you have it plainly thus ? There be these three parts as it were in the Heart or Soul of man , Reason , Will , and Appetite . Reason necessarily inclines to things , reasonable ; and the Sensitive appetite follows the conduct of Sense . For it is an axiome in the Schools , Unaquaeque virtus expeditior est ad proprium actum , Every power of the soul tends naturally to its proper act and operation . Our Reason is quick to discourse , and our Sense carries us to sensual objects : And these two are at a kind of war and variance in man , and strive which shall have the supremacy : They are as two extreams , and the Will in the midst , as it were , to decide the controversie . When Sense hath over whelmed Reason , then Sin begins to reign , and the Devil to triumph : But when through Christ , that strenghtheneth us , our Will takes Reason's part , and treads the Appetite under her feet ; then the adverse faction is swallowed up in victory , Christ is all in all , and VENIT REGNUM DEI , the Kingdome of God is within us .

I now proceed further , to unfold the nature of the Kingdome of God . It is REGNUM TUUM , thy Kingdome . Which puts a difference betwixt this and other Kingdoms . Christ rules and reigneth as a King in his Church : But as his Kingdome is not of this world , so is it of a divers form and complexion from the Kingdoms of the world . We pray , Let thy Kingdome come : Which points out a peculiar Kingdome , a Kingdome by it self . And if we put it in the Scales with the Kingdoms of the earth , and weigh them together , they will be all found too light ; whether we respect the Laws by which this Kingdome is governed , or the Virtue and Power it hath , or its large Compass , or the Riches it abounds with , or its Duration ; the Laws unquestionable , indispensable : the Power universal ; the Circuit as large as the world ; the Riches everlasting ; and its Continuance for ever . To speak something of these in their order .

First , in the Kingdome of Christ and his Laws neither People , nor Senate , nor Wise-men , nor Judges , has any hand . They were made in Senatu & Soliloquio , as Rupertus speaks , in that Senate and Solitariness where there are divers , yet but one ; Three Persons , and but one God . Secondly , there is a difference in the Laws themselves . These are pure and undefiled , exact and perfect , and such as tend to perfection ; and so were none that ever the heathen Legislatours enacted . What speak we of the Laws of heathen men and strangers from the Commonwealth of Israel ? The Law of Moses , though it had nothing unlawful or dishonest , yet conteined many precepts concerning things which in themselves were neither good nor evil ; as Sacrificing of beasts , Circumcision , exact Rest on their Sabboath , forbidding of divers meats . But the Laws of the Gospel and of the Kingdome of Christ command those duties which , had they not been tendred in that high commanding form , yet in their own nature were most just and fit to be done ; Not to circumcise the flesh , but the heart ; Not to cease from labor , but from that which is unlawful ; Not to sacrifice the bloud and fat of beasts , but our selves ; Not to abstein from certain meats , but to beat down our body , and wage war with our appetite . We may say of the Law of Moses as St. Paul speaks of the yearly sacrifices , It did not make the commers thereunto Hebr. 10. 8. perfect , but left behind it still 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a conscience of sins ; not only ex parte reatûs , a conscience which did testifie that they had sinned , and affright them with the guilt , but ex parte vindictae , a conscience which not only questioned their sins , but there attonement also . Therefore Chrysostome on that place will tell us , In that the Jews did offer sacrifice , it seemeth they had a conscience that accused them of sin ; but that they did it continually , argued they had a conscience which accused their sacrifice of Imperfection . The Law of Faith , which is the fundamental Law of the Gospel ; is expunctor legis & totius retro vetustatis . blots out these Laws , and whatever Antiquity did write down as a Law in her tables . Quicquid retrò fuit , aut demutatum est , ut circumcisio ; aut suppletum , ut lex reliqua ; aut impletum , ut prophetia ; aut perfectum , ut fides ipsa ; Whatsoever was in times past was either changed , as Circumcision ; or supplyed , as the rest of the Law ; or fulfilled , as Prophesies ; or made perfect , as Faith it self . I should detein you too long in this argument , should I draw a comparison between each particular constitution . By the very nature and quality of the Laws you may easily descry a main difference between these Kingdoms . The Laws of Christ are unchangeable and eternal , but all humane constitutions are temporary and mutable . Those which are written in the Body of the Law by the Civilians are called LEGES PERPETUAE , Laws unchangeable : but after Ages have seen the countenance of some altered , and others quite rased out . Legum medelae pro temporum moribus & pro rerumpubl . generibus & pro utilitatum presentium rationibus mutari solent & flecti , nec uno statu consistere , sed , ut coeli facies & maris , ita rerum & fortunae tempestatibus variari ; But the Laws of the heavenly Kingdome are eternal , written in our souls by the King of Souls from the beginning .

The second head wherein the difference of this Kingdome from others is seen , is the Power of it , which is extended not to the body alone but to the soul also . Other Kings may lay the whip on the back , but this rips-up the very bowels : other Kings may kill the body , but this can cast both body and soul into hell . Many times it is wisdom in Kings not to punish , because of the multitude or power of offenders . Nescio , saith an heathen man in the Historian , an suasurus fuerim omittere potiùs praevalida & adulta vitia , quam hoc assequi ut palam fiat quibus vitiis impares simus . Sins many times do reign amongst men , and spread themselves so far and wide , that no strength of the Magistrate is able to supress them : and therefore many times it is our best wisdom to let such sins alone , lest by going about to amend them , we betray our weakness , and shew that the Law it self may have a bridle put into her mouth , that offenders may ride her as they please . It is not so in this Kingdom . God can never be out-braved by any sin , be it never so universal . Be the offenders never such Giants , never so many , he is able to chain and fetter them even with a word . He that sits on the throne and he that grinds at the mill to him are all one . And as a thousand years with him are but as one day , so a thousand , a million , a whole world of men with him are but as one man . And when he shall sit to do judgment upon sinners , all the world shall have before him but one neck , and he can strike it off at a blow . When I mentioned the power and virtue of this Kingdome , you might expect perhaps that I should have said something of the power and efficacy of Grace , because this Kingdome is called the Kingdome of Grace . And indeed herein is a difference between this Kingdome and others . Magistrates promulge laws , threaten , bind the tongue and hand ; but have no influence nor operation on the hearts and wills of men : But in this our spiritual Kingdome the King doth not only command , but gives us his helping hand that we may perform his command . Et quomodo fulgur nubes disrumpit , as Cyprian speaketh , as lightning suddenly breaketh through the cloud , and at once enlightens and amazes the world ; so the coruscation and splendor of Gods Grace doth at once illuminate and dull the eye of our understanding . Nescio quomodo tangimur , & tangi nos sentimus ; we are toucht with this sudden flash we know not how , and we feel that we are toucht ; but it is not easie to discern how . Non deprehendes quemadmodum aut quando tibi prosit , profuisse deprehendes . That the power of Gods Grace hath wrought you shall find ; but the secret and retired passages by which it wrought are impossible to be reduced to demonstration . We must confess that by nature we are blind , and Grace is the eye by which we see ; we are lame , and Grace is the staff by which we walk ; we are dead , and Grace is the breath by which we live . As man upon earth is composed of Body and Soul , so in respect of this Kingdome he admits of a new composition , of Man and the Spirit of Grace : But we must remember it is a Kingdome we speak of ; and Christ is a King , not a Tyrant . Now the Philosopher will tell us , Rex imperat volentibus ; tyrannus , nolentibus ; That in this a King and a Tyrant differ , that the one ruleth his subjects with that wisdom and temper that they are willing to obey , the other makes them obey whether they will or no. Beloved , Christ is a King in this respect : He will not rule us against our will . Nemo se ab invito coli vult . No man will take a gift from an unwilling hand . And dost thou look that the King of heaven and earth should force thee to allegiance ? Some have made it an observation , That before Christs resurrection he was obeyed by those that served him against their will , and so was served but to halves ; but under the Gospel he gathers unto him populum spontaneum , a willing people , that still be ready to do his will . All this is from Grace , thou wilt say . It is true ; But not of Grace so working as to force the Will. For as God is powerful , and can do all things ; so is he wise too , and sweetly disposes all things , accomplishing his will by those means he in his eternal wisdom knoweth to be best ; using his power as a King , but not violence as a Tyrant . Wilt thou then sit still , and not set thy hand to work , upon a phansie that God doth not send thee grace ? Wilt thou not hearken to the voice of thy King speaking within God , unless he knock , as Fortune is said to have done at Galba's gates , till he be weary ? Wilt thou not move unless with the hand of violence he drive thee before him ? Wilt thou still be evil , and pretend he will not make thee good ? What a dishonor is this to thy King , to entitle him to thy disobedience , and make him guilty of that treason which is committed against himself ? Beloved , this is to be ignorant of the nature of this Kingdome , and injurious to the King himself , and the highest pitch of rebellion , to make him , if not the author , yet the occasioner of it . No ; he helps us , he doth not force us . He leads , not drives us . He works in us , but not without us . For these two , Grace and Free-will are not co-ordinate , but subordinate . Non partim gratia , partim liberum arbitrium , saith St. Bernard ; Grace and Free-will do not share our obedience between them : sed totum singula peragunt , but each of them doth perform the whole work : Grace doth it wholly , and Free-will doth it wholly : sed ut totum in illo , sic totum ex illa ; as it is wholly wrought by the Free-will of man , so is the Free-will of man wholly enabled thereunto by the Grace of God , which helps to determine the Will. Attribute what you will to Gods Grace , every good work , and word , and thought : You cannot attribute too much , you cannot attribute enough : But when you have set God at this height , in that proper Zenith where his natural Goodness hath placed him , oh then draw him not down again to the mire where you ly wallowing , to be partaker with your filth . Do not weaken him by giving him an attribute of Power . Say not when he doth not reign in your hearts , that it is because he will not . The voice of his Psal. 77. 18. thunder is in the heaven ; The Vulgar renders it , VOX TONITRUI IN ROTA , The voice of his thunder is in the wheel . It is heard of men who are willing to walk in the wheel and circle of Discipline and Virtue , which have their thoughts collected and raised from the sensual vanities of this word . And then by the power of this voice , by the Power of Gods Grace , like a wheel , they are rowled about , and are lifted up , and do touch the earth but in puncto , as it were but in a point , having not the least relish of the world . And this is the power and virtue of the Kingdome of Grace .

We pass now to the third head of difference , which consists in the Compass and Circuit of this Kingdome , which is as large as all the world . In this respect all Kingdomes come short of it , every one having its bounds which it cannot pass without violence . A foolish title it is which some give the Emperor of Rome , as if he had power over the most remote and unknown people of the world . Bartolus counts him no less than an he etick who denies it . But his arguments are no better than the Emperors Title , which is but nominal . They tell us that he calls himself MUNDI DOMINUM , The Lord of all the world , and that Rome hath the appellation 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of the whole world , given it by Writers of latter times . So the Poet , Orbem jam totum victor Romanus habebat . But these are but hyperboles , spoken by way of excess and excellency . So Jewry is also called in Scripture : For Jerusalem is said to be placed in the midst of the earth , that is , in the midst of Judaea : as the City Delphi is called orbis umbilicus , the Navel of the world , because it is scituate in the midst of Greece . But without hyperbole Christ is the Catholick and universal Monarch of the whole world . He seeth and ruleth all places . All places are to him alike . We need not vow a pilgrimage to Rome or to Jerusalem : we need not take our scrip and staff to go thither . De Britannia & de Hierosolymis aequaliter patet aura coelestis ; The way to this Kingdome is as near out of Britanny as out of Hierusalem , saith St. Hierome to Paulinus . Totius mundi vox una , CHRISTUS ; Christ is become the language of the whole world . The Prophets are plain , the Psalms full of testimonies . In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed , saith God to Abraham . Ask of me , and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance , Psal. 2. 8. and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession , saith God to Christ . The Gospel must be preached to all nations , saith our Saviour . But as the Sun hath its race through all the world , but yet doth not shine in every part at once , but beginneth in the East , and passeth to the South , and so to the West ; and as it passeth forward , it bringeth light to one place , and withdraweth it from another : so is it with the Sun of righteousness ; he spreads his beams on those who were in darkness and the shadow of death , and makes it night to them who had the clearest noon . Not that his race is confined , as is the Suns , but because of the interposition of mens sins , who exclude themselves from his beams .

And now to proceed to our fourth head of difference ; As this is the largest of all Kingdomes , so it is the most lasting . Other Kingdomes last not ; Quibus evertendis una dies , hora , momentum sufficit . Though they have been many years a raising to their height , yet a day , an hour , a moment is enough to blow them down , and lay them level with the ground . And while they last , they continue not uniform , but have their climacterical years and fatal periods . Though they grow up like the tree , and be Dan. 4. strong , and their height reach unto heaven ; yet there may come an Angel , some messenger , from heaven , and hew down the tree , and cut off his branches , and scatter his fruit , and not leave so much as the stump of its root in the earth . Justine hath calculated the three first Monarchies , and Sleidan all four : and we have seen their beginning , and their end . But the God of heaven hath set up a Kingdome which shall never be destroyed : and it shall break to pieces , and consume all those Kingdoms , but it self shall stand fast Dan. 2. 44. for ever .

We will conclude with the Riches of this Kingdome . If Money were virtue , and earthly Honor salvation ; if the Jasper were holiness , and the Sapphire obedience ; if those Pearls in the Revelation were virtues , then that of our Saviour would be true in this sense also , The Kingdome of heaven would be taken by violence : The Covetous , the Ambitious , the Publicanes and Sinners , would all be candidati angelorum , joynt-suiters and competitors for an angels place . Behold then in this Kingdome are Riches which never fail , not Money , but Virtue ; not Honor , but Salvation ; not the Jasper and the Sapphire , but that Pearl which is better than all our estate . For God and the Saints when they speak of Profit and Gain , take it not in that sense which men use to take it : As the Poet tells us when he speaks of Rivers and Mountains , that men called them thus or thus , but the Gods had other names for them . The Gold of this Kingdome is the Religiousness and Obedience of the Saints ; the precious Stones are Truth and Sanctity . In mundo tantò quisque melior , quantò pecuniosior ; In the world every man is esteemed so good as he is rich ; Like a fruitless tree , tanti est in pretio , quantum lignum ejus in trunco ; he is valued only by his bulk and trunk . But in this Kingdome the only Riches is Obedience . Men may have the riches of the world , and yet be poor : But this Kingdome makes Poverty it self riches ; Disgrace , honor ; Death , life . Here we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ; here we are begotten to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled , that fadeth not away , but is reserved in the heavens for us , till that time that we shall receive the end of our faith , the salvation of our souls .

Having now made the comparison , the choice is easie . And a great folly it were to prefer the World to the Church . In the world the Laws are mutable , here everlasting ; In the world they have tongues many times to speak , but not hands to strike ; here they both thunder and lighten : there Power beats the ear , here it pierceth the very heart . The Kingdoms of the world are bounded by place and time ; this is unconfinable : More scope in the Church than in the world . The Riches of the one are fading and transitory , of the other everlasting . And of this just and mighty and large and rich and everlasting Kingdome we cannot but say ADVENIAT , Let it come .

I need make no further discovery of this Kingdome . For who knows not what that Kingdome is where the King is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , both God and Man ? Where the Subjects are of the earth , earthy , and yet born to an Angelical estate , and having their conversation in heaven , perigrini deorsum , cives sursum , strangers where they live , and fellow-citizens with the Saints ? Phil. 3. 10. Where the King speaks to the eye by his wonders , and to the ear by his word , and yet leads and guides his people like sheep by a powerful but invisible hand ? A Kingdome which is not of this world , but yet in this world ; raised up and built upon flesh and bloud , upon frail and mortal men ; begun John 18. 36. here , but to be made perfect and consummate in the world to come ? In a word , where the King shall deliver up his kingdome , and yet remain 1 Cor. 15. 34. still a King ? Take the Mapp of the whole world , and if you find no such Kingdome , no such parts , no such subjects , no such government , then look up and lift up your heads : let not your contemplations grovel on the earth ; for the Kingdome of heaven is at hand . This is the sum of that we formerly delivered concerning the Object of this Petition . We pass now to the Petition it self , to the Verb ADVENIAT , Let it come . Which breaths it self forth in an earnest desire to draw this Kingdome nearer . Whether you take it for the Gospel , which is the manifestation of Gods will ; or for the receiving of the Gospel , which is the performing of his will : Whether you take it for the Kingdome of Grace here , or for the Kingdome of Glory hereafter ; ADVENIAT , Let it come . That is the language of every true Christian . Where it is not yet come , let it come ; it cannot come soon enough . And when it is come , let it come nearer . When it is within us , let it be establisht there ; and when it is establisht , let it be eternized there . Remove all obstacles , supply all helps , ut adveniat , that it may come ; that thy Kingdome of Grace may entitle us to thy Kingdome of Glory . A Petition fitted indeed to the times wherein it was first prescribed , but most necessary for all Christians to the worlds end when time shall be no more . Though the Angels had sounded forth their GLORIA IN EXCELSIS , Glory to God in the highest , good will towards men , though Christ were come in the flesh , yet this Kingdome of the Gospel was not yet come , but was rather in voto than in ministerio , rather desired than known by its several offices and ministeries . The Law and the Prophets , saith our Saviour , were until John ; since that time the Kingdome of Luke 16. 16. God is preached , and every man presseth unto it . By this preaching cannot be meant the kingdome present : first , because when Christ sends his Disciples Matth. 10. forth , he commands them to preach , The kingdome of heaven is at hand . Secondly , he tells us that , From the time of John the Baptist the kingdome Matth. 11. of heaven suffereth violence ; not that the Kingdome of heaven was then invaded and taken , but because from that time men did burn with ardent affection and desires to have it come , not able to bear the burthen of expectation ; beholding it at hand , yet thinking it not near enough . As in those good things we desire , omnia solemus faciliùs perpeti quàm moram , we can endure any thing better than delay . And that this is the true meaning of those words may appear by our Saviours elogie of John the Baptist , That among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John Matth. 11. 11. the Baptist , notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdome of heaven is greater than he : MINOR , the least , not Angel in heaven , as St. Augustine ; nor LEAST , that is , of fewer years , to wit , Christ himself , as Rupertus ; nor LEAST , that is , he that is most humble , as others will have it ; but the least in the Church of Christ , the least and meanest subject in the Kingdome of the Gospel , is greater than John . Where Christ puts a manifest Antithesis and opposition between the Law and the Gospel , and between those persons which are under the Law and those which obey the Gospel ; which had it been then in force , our Saviour had made John Baptist greater than himself . Most plain it is , the Law was yet in force , the Ceremonies not disannulled ; Christ himself observed them . The old Tabernacle was yet standing , because our high Priest was not yet entered into the true Sanctuary . And therefore in crepusculo Evangelii , in this dawning of the Gospel , when the Sun of righteousness had not yet climb'd up to the proper Horizon of the Church , in this interstitium , this interposition of Jesus preaching , who was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Nazianzene calls him , placed in the middle between the Law and the Gospel , this Petition was most fit and opportune , fitting the time , and opportune for the persons who would be disciples of this Kingdome , ADVENIAT REGNUM TUUM , Thy Kingdome is at hand , and let it come . And as it fits the time , so is it necessary in respect of the Gospel it self ; which though it be commentum Divinitatis , as Tertullian calls it , the very work and invention of the Deity ; though it breathe nothing but peace and joy , though it have not only authority but reason to plead for it , yet the sound of it was no sooner heard , but the world was in a tumult : The heathen did rage , and the people imagine a vain thing : The Kings of the earth did set themselves against the Lord and against his Anointed . Do the Angels proclaim it ? Men oppose it . Doth Psalm 2. Christ preach it and confirm it by wonders ? Let him be crucified , say the Jews : Ecquis Christus cum sua fabula ? say the Gentiles after ; Away with Christ and his Legend . Whilst it was yet in its swathing-bands , it was brought to the barr ; the professors of it are punished and tortured , non ut dicant quae faciunt , sed ut negent quod sunt , not to reveal what they do , but to deny what they are . For this the most chast wife is devorced from her husband , the most obedient son disinherited by his father , the most trusty and faithful servant shut out of doors by his master ; even for the Religion of the Gospel , which made the Wife chast , the Son obedient , and Servant faithful . Ex aemulatione Judaei , ex natura domestici nostri ; The Jew is spurred on by his envy ; nay , she finds enemies in her own house , the Church of God ; and even Christians oppose her because of the truth it self , whose nature it is to offend . It is a just complaint , that our Saviour came into the world , and the world received him not , would not receive him as a King , but groaned under him as a cruel Tyrant . His edicts , his commands , his proclamations , his precepts were hard and harsh sayings , none could bear them . So it stands with Christian Religion : Cum odio sui caepit , It was hated as soon as it was . Nor indeed can it be otherwise . For it offends the whole world . It stands between the Wanton and his lust , the Ambitious and his pomp , the Covetous and his mammon . Christ is truth , and his Kingdome is a Kingdome of righteousness and truth ; no● is there any thing in the world more scandalous and offensive than the Truth . Old Simeon tells Mary of Christ , This child is set for the falling and rising again Luke 2. 34. of many in Israel . Not that Christ , saith St. 〈◊〉 is contrary ●● himself , a Saviour and a Destroyer , a Friend and an Enemy . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but for the divers opinions and affections of men , which abusing his love make him an enemy , and the Saviour of the world a Destroyer : I might name here many hinderances of the growth of ●he Gospel ; as Heresie , which is a most poysonous viper biting not the heel but the very heart of it ; Infidelity , which robs Christ of his subjects , contracts his Kingdome into a narrow room and into a small number ; Disorder , which rents it , which works confusion there . All these are impedimenta , lets and hinderances , to the propagation of the Gospel ; not like those impedimenta militiae , the luggage and carriage of an army , without which it cannot subsist , but obicem ponentia , fences and bulwarks and barricadoes against the King of Heaven , if it were possible , to stay him in his victorious march , and to damm up that light which must shine from one end of the earth unto the other . But this perhaps might fill up our discourse , and make it swell beyond its bounds . The greatest hinderance which we must pray against is an evil thought which flyes about the world , That there is no Hinderance but these ; no opposition to the truth but Heresie , no sin but Infidelity , no breaking of order but in a Schism . This , it is to be feared , not only hinders the propagation of the Gospel in credendis , in respect of outward profession , but blasts and shrinks it up in agendis , in respect of outward practice and of that obedience without which we are meer aliens and strangers from this Kingdome . This doth veritatem defendendo concutere , this shakes that truth which should make us fruitful to every good work by being so loud in the defense of it . It is a truth , I think , confest by all , That the errors of our Understanding for the most part are not of so great alloy as those of the Will , That it is not so dangerous to be ignorant of some truth as it is to be guilty of any evil : yet all the heat of contention is spent here ; all our quarrels and digladiations are about these ; nay , all our Religion is this , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , earnestly to contend , not who shall be the truest subjects in Christs Kingdome , but who shall be most loud to cry down Heresie and Schism . And this phansie I take to be as great a viper as Heresie , as poysonous as Infidelity , and the first ground and original of all Schisms in the world . Whose zeal is so hot against an Oath as against an Error ! Who says Anathema to the Wanton ? What curse upon the Oppressor but of the Orphan and the Widow ? And from whence come wars , from whence come fightings amongst us , but from this corrupt imagination , That we do better service in the Church of Christ , which is the Kingdome of God , by the loud defence than by the serious practice of the truth . And all this while we mistake this Kingdome and the Religion which we profess , which is absoluta & simplex , a Religion of great perfection and simplicity , non quaerens strophas verborum , and needs not the help of wit and sophistry . God leads us not unto his Kingdome by knotty and intricate Disputes . In absoluto nobis & facili aeternitas , saith Hilary ; Our journey to it is most easie . It will come unto us sine pompa & apparatu , without pomp or observation . It was Erasmus his complaint in the dayes of our Fore-fathers , Ecclesiam sustineri syllogismis , That this Kingdome was upheld , not by piety and obedience , but by syllogistical disputes , as the surest props . I could be infinite in this argument ; but I am unwilling to loose my way whilst I pursue a thief . The sum of all is , That this ADVENIAT is not only an invitation to draw this Kingdome nearer , but an antidote against Heresie , Infidelity and Schism , and also against this corrupt conceit , That Religion doth in labris natare , is most powerful when it floats upon the tongue . And we must raise it up as an engine , to bruise the head of these vipers , to cast down imaginations and every thing that exalteth it self against the Kingdome of Christ .

Again , as this ADVENIAT fits all ages of the Church , and was the language which Christ taught his Disciples when the Church was yet an Embrio , in semine & principiis , not yet brought forth in perfect shape ; so is it a most proper and significant word , verbum rei accommodatum , a word fitted to the matter in hand , the Kingdome here mentioned , which must come to us before we can come to it . Nothing more free and voluntary , more spontaneous , than the dispensation of the Gospel . It came to us when we were shackled with sin that we could not stir a foot ; when we were a sleep , and did not so much as dream of it ; nay , when we were dead in sin to quicken us that we might come . For though our life be a warfare , and we make our way to this Kingdome with our sword , and with danger of our lives ; though our life be a walk , and we pace it along with weary steps ; though it be a peregrination and travel , and we are absent from our home till we meet it ; yet this Kingdome doth come unto us , not by works , saith St. Paul , which are as so many motions or approaches , but according to Gods infinite mercy , which brings it home , and lays it at our doors . And in this respect that is most true , Gratia nullo modo est gratia si non omnimodo sit gratuita , Grace , if it be not every way free and coming , as we say , is not Grace at all . Other benefits God puts out to sale ; and , if we will have them , we must give as & libram , we must pay down ready money for them . He holds them in his hand ; nor will they move towards us . Oportet figere scopum , We must set them up as our end , and then move towards them . Arts and Sciences lie lapped up and hidden in things themselves . The Aegyptians found out Astronomy ; the Caldaeans , Southsaying ; the Phaenicians , Letters ; Lycurgus and Solon , Laws ; but not as things framed to their hands and laid in their way , but by much swet and labor , with much thoughtfulness and care . But the Gospel , which brings eternal life , is the gift of God , sent down Rom. 6. 23. to us by the ministery of Angels , preacht unto us out of heaven by way of letter and epistle , saith St. Augustine , conveyed unto us by those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Epiphanius calls them , by the Apostles , which did 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , brought it out upon the open stage , and presented it to all the world . And therefore ADVENIAT , Let it come , to lift us up , who are pressed down with the weight of sin ; to make us active , who are cripples ; to heal us , who are wounded ; and to make our feet like Hinds feet , that we may run the way of Gods commandments . But are not we commanded to come ? Doth not the Bride say , Come ? and the Spirit say , Come ? And may not whosoever will come unto this Kingdome ? Yes : but this Kingdome must first come , and then we may . The Gospel must first be publisht , the Grace of God appear , and then we must draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith . And then the comming of this Kingdome to us and of us to it are but as one motion , so that we can hardly distinguish them . When we are on the way , that is comming ; and when that is comming , we are ready to meet it : and it is hard to say whether it comes when we meet it , or we meet it when it comes . The blessedness which it brings along with it could not be finis naturalis , an end or mark which the eye of nature could descry , but finis supernaturalis , a supernatural end , which the hand of Mercy hath set up and presented to all mankind . And our comming to it is nothing else , saith St. Bernard , but cogitare de hoc regno , & de rebus omnibus habito respectu ad hoc regnum , to think of it now it is offered , and of all other things in the world in no other relation then unto it ; to think of Poverty , as of that which may purchase a Kingdome ; of Wealth , by distributing of which I may be rich in works ; of Sickness , which by patience may be better than health ; of Health , which may make me active in the religious duties of my calling ; of Life , as it is a walk ; and of Death , as it is a passage to bliss : that so as the Kingdome is prepared for me , I may be prepared for it , and it may come to me in my high estate and in my low condition , in my sickness and in my health , and Christ may be to me both in life and in death advantage .

Further , this ADVENIAT reacheth to the second advent of Christ , even to the end of all things . For of his Kingdome of Glory we say , Let it come . And it is a word of Desire , not of Impatience . For though we cry out , How long , Lord ! how long ! yet we are willing to stay his leasure . For it is also a word expressing our hope . And Hope as it doth stir and quicken our desire , so doth it also temper it , that it be not irregular . Spes supra desiderium addit conatum quendam & elevationem animi , saith Aquinas ; Hope adds no more to Desire but a kind of activity and elevation of the mind . For where our Desire would flagg and fall to the ground , there Hope feathers it , and sets it on the wing , that it may fly to the mark . But it puts no malignity in it . For if we hope , saith St. Paul , for that which is not seen , then do we with patience Rom. 8. 25. wait for it . And this Hope is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , laid up for us in heaven , where Col. 1. 5. hope is taken for the thing hoped for . SEPOSITA , laid up , not put into our hands , that our desires might be eager ; and SEPOSITA NOBIS , laid up for us , that we might not faint , but press on to the mark ; and SEPOSITA IN COELO , laid up in heaven , the surest treasurie in the world . Spes res spissas facit , saith he in Plautus : Indeed Hope commonly makes every thing which we desire appear slow in its approach . But when that which we hope for is sure in heaven , though we would fain run and meet the Object , yet we are content to stay the time : Nec ullae longae morae ejus quod certò eveniet ; Nor can the deferring of that be long which will surely come .

Secondly , ADVENIAT is a word expressing our Faith . Though Hope takes a long day , yet Faith lays hold on the promises as if they were present , being the substance , the evidence , the presence , of Hebr. 11. things to come . Faith is the life of Hope , without which it cannot have existence . Hope doth suppose Faith ; but Faith may be where there is no hope at all . How many be there who believe that there is a Kingdome of Glory , that verily there is a reward for the righteous , and yet have their chariot-wheels struck off that they drive but heavily towards it , have their Hope fastned to earth by their many sins , that it cannot look up ? The second Comming of Christ is an article of our Creed ; and we may do well to make it the object of our Hope also . That he will come with troops of Angels and Arch-angels is most certain ; but the time is not known but to the Father alone , that by the doubtful expectation of the very hour God might make a tryal of the watchfulness of their faith quos in magnis aeternae beatitudinis constituet exemplis , whom he means to place amongst the few but great examples of eternal happiness . Semper diem observant , cum semper ignorant : quotidie timeant quod quotidie sperant , saith Tertullian in that excellent Book of his De Anima . For whilst men are alwayes ignorant they are also alwayes observant , and fear that may come this minute which they hope and are assured will come at last .

Lastly , this ADVENIAT , as it is the language of our Hope and Faith , so is it the dialect olso of our Charity and Love both to God and our Brethren . Thy Kingdome come . Why certainly it will come . Certus esto , veniet . Nec solum veniet , sed , etsi nolis , veniet , saith St. Augustine . You may be sure it will come : nay , it will come , whether we will or no Our prayers perchance may hasten it , but no power in heaven or in earth or in hell can keep it back : But this ADVENIAT , this prayer of ours that it may come , is a kind of subscription to the eternal decree of God that it should come . By this we testifie our consent , shew our agreement , and make it appear that we are truly his subjects ; since we would have that which our King would have , and are of the same mind with him . We usually say that they who are true friends have idem Velle & idem Nolle , will and nill the self-same things . It is said of Abraham that he was the friend of God . And not only Abraham , 2 Chron. 20. 7. Isa. 41. 8. James 2. 23. but every true son of Abraham , that feareth the Lord , doth also inherit Abrahams title , and is the friend of God . If therefore we will be counted Abrahams Children and the Friends of God , we must will and nill the same things with God , or else we shall not continue long friends . Non pareo Deo , sed assentior ; & ex animo illum , non quia necesse est , sequor , saith the heathen Seneca : We do not so much obey God , because he hath authority to command , as because we acknowledge that what he will have is just and good ; and we assent to him not of necessity , but of a willing mind . We intreat him to do his will , and begg it at his hand as a great favour . We cry unto him , ADVENIAT , Thy Kingdome come , though we know that he is already resolved that it shall come . And so in this one word ADVENIAT we may see the motion of our Faith , the activity of our Hope , and the humble plyability of our Love . And thus we may totâ fidei substantiâ incidere , as Tertullian speaketh , we may with these three go forth to meet the King as with the wh●le armour and substance of our faith . Now our Desire must needs be carried on ●n a swift and eager course where these three do fill the sails , where Faith awakes it , Hope spurs it on , and Love upholds and countenances it . It must needs be more than an ordinary heat of affection which is kindled by all these . These three will set ADVENIAT to the highest pinn , to the highest elevation of our thoughts . Let thy Kingdome come ; yet not till the appointed time , yet let it come : Though many thousands of years are to pass over before it come , yet let it come ; not now , but when thou wilt ; and when thou wilt , yet now . It cannot come soon enough , if thou wilt ; and if thou wilt not now , it cannot come too late . It was a famous saying of Martyn Luther , Homo perfectè credens se esse haeredem & filium Dei non diu superstes maneret ; Did a man perfectly believe that he were a child of God & heir of this Kingdome of Glory , he would be transported beyond himself , and dye of immoderate joy . We read EXSPECTATIO MEA APUD Psal. 39. 7. TE , My hope is even in thee ; but the Vulgar renders it , SUBSTANTIA MEA APUD TE , My substance , my being , is in thee ; as if David were composed and made up and elemented of his Hope ; as if all that he had , all that he was , were only in expectation . And indeed they who affect a future life , and look forward towards eternity , are truly said nè tunc quidem tùm vivunt vivere , not to be where they are , not to live when they are alive .

To conclude ; No wonder to hear an ADVENIAT for a Christians mouth , who lives so as if he thought of nothing else but the Comming of this Kingdome . For this ADVENIAT is as a spark from that fire , as a beam of that Glory which shall be hereafter . Nor can he ever with a perfect desire sound an ADVENIAT who hath not some imperfect knowledge of the melody of the Angels and the musick of the Cherubims . He cannot say , Thy Kingdome come , who hath not a glimpse of that glory which is to come . The Philosophers tell us that there is nothing which can be nourishing to our bodies , but we have a kind of fore-taste and assay of it in our very tempers and constitutions . The Child , when he is hungry , desires milk , because he hath a kind of praegustation of milk in his very nature . Nihil penitus incongruum appetitur ; Nothing is desired by us which disagrees with our 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and disposition .

The wickedst Christian living may say his PATER NOSTER ; but he cannot pronounce the ADVENIAT with that accent and emphasis and heartiness that he should . Thy Kingdome come ! Nay , rather let mountains fall on me , and hills cover me . And all this , because the Glory of Gods Kingdome is against his very nature . What taste can he have of the Water of life who is in the gall of bitterness ? What relish can he have of the Bread of life who surfets on the world ? Or can he have any praegustation of Heaven whose very soul by covetousness is become as earthy as his body ? Can he desire eternal Glory whose glory is in his shame ? No : Vita Christiani sanctum desiderium ; The life of a true Christian is nothing else but a holy desire , and an expectation of the comming of this Kingdome of Christ : Which he hath a taste and relish of even in his very temper and constitution ; which he received at his regeneration . For so St. Paul calleth our regeneration and amendment of life a taste of the heavenly gift of the good word of God , and of the Hebr. 6. 4 , 5. powers of the world to come . For as God commanded Moses , before he dyed , to ascend up into the mountain , that he might see afar off and discover that good land which he had promised : So it is his pleasure that through holy conversation and newness of life we should raise our selves above the rest of the world , and even in this life time , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Nazianzene speaks , as from an exceeding high mountain , discover and have some sight of that good Land , of that Crown of glory , which is laid up for all those who watch and wait for the Comming of this Kingdome .

The Four and Thirtieth SERMON . PART I. MATTH. VI. 10. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven .

THIS is the last Petition of those three which look up directly unto heaven , upon the very face of God , without any reflexion upon the earth or the temporary blessings of this present life : Which as they are terminated in the glory of God and our spiritual good , so they carry with them that nearness and affinity to each other that it is not easie to distinguish them : And most men in their discourses , although they tell us that they are three , as they are indeed , yet in their illustrations and amplifications , before they wind up their discourse , in effect do make them but one and the very same . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Aristotle ; Some things there are of that nature , and which bear such resemblance one to the other , that it is not easie to distinguish them , especially Moral and Theological Duties , as they are level'd to one end , so are they linkt as it were in one and the same chain , that you cannot touch upon one , but you must also glance upon the rest , and move them all . The Sanctification of Gods Name is annexed to his Kingdome : and the fairest part of his Kingdome ( as it is said to come to us ) is the fulfilling of his Will. He that hallows Gods Name doth advance his Kingdome : and he that advanceth his Kingdome doth fulfill his Will : and this last seems to conclude and comprehend both the other . And this we heretofore told you was true in sensu quem faciunt , in that sense which every one of these Petitions will bear ; but in sensu quem fiunt , in that sense in which our Saviour spake and taught them , they must necessarily have their proper bounds and limits . And thus you may remember we did confine the first Petition , Hallowed be thy Name , to our words and writings and outward gestures and deportment , by which we do most expresly and visibly honor God , and hallow his Name , as it were before the Sun and the People ; The second , Thy Kingdome come , to the preaching and promulgation of the Gospel , of which when himself speaks he tells us , The kingdome of heaven is at hand ; as also to the Heart of man , which is to receive it when it is promulged , which is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the House of God , in which he delights to dwell , and his Throne , in which he sits . And take this interpretation from Christs own blessed lips , The Kingdome of God Luke 17. 21. is within you : The last , of which we are now to speak , not only to our outward Obedience , to our actions and works of Piety , by which we do facere voluntatem Dei , do what God would have us , but also to a general Submission and conformity of our wills to his in all things , by doing what he commands , and by suffering with all humility what he doth . Whither his countenance shine , or he clothe himself with judgment ; whether he speaks peace , or thunder from heaven ; whether he lift us up , or cast us down , the language of every Christian must be , Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven . This Petition points out to us , Rem & Modum ; first , the Thing it self we must pray for ; and that is , That Gods will may be fulfilled by us in all things : and secondly , the Manner how this must be accomplisht , in earth as it is in heaven : We begin with the Petition : In the unfolding of which we shall pass by these lines : First , we will consider the Petition in a generality , and therein the weight and energy of the words : Secondly , we will lay open the sense of the words , by shewing what is meant by the Will of God : Lastly , we will draw forth some few conclusions which naturally issue from the consideration of the Will of God as from a rich fountain , and may lead us at once to the full understanding of the Petition , and be useful for our instruction . Of these in their order .

And first of all this Petition follows the other in a right order and method . For he that desires that the Kingdome of heaven should come must make it his petition also that he may lay hold on the means which must draw it near unto him . Qui vult finem , vult media ad finem , saith the Philosopher . Naturally our desires are thus carried : First we behold the mark , the Kingdome of heaven ; and then we press forward and reach forth unto it by doing the Will of God . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Aristotle ; The end in this respect is the beginning , and as the first wheel , which sets all the rest a going . As we can never set our hands to work and do Gods will , unless we have some sight of a Kingdome that is comming ; so this Kingdome will never come unless we do his Will. I will not stand to determine on which our affections should be carried with most eager violence , whether on the Means or on the End , whether on the Kingdome or fulfilling of Gods will . For I take it to be a question not so necessary , because we know not how to divide the Desire where it must be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , wound up to the highest pinn . And God , out of the love he hath unto our good , is willing to apply himself to our infirmity , and , so that we do his will , accepts of our conformity , though it be wrought out of us by a greater love we have unto the End , which is full of beauty and glory to allure , then to the Means , which carry with them pain and difficulty , to dull and slugg the affection . Only we must be careful to avoid that strange 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that want of method and order , which is common in the world , to be ravisht with the beauty of Gods Kingdome , and never busie our thoughts , with the performance of his will ; that we do not dimidiare Christum , receive Christ by halves , receive him with a reward , but not with precepts ; cry out , Thy Kingdome come , with a loud voice and a fervent affection , clarè , & ut audiat hospes , that all the world may hear us , but , Thy will be done , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , between the teeth , burying it in such a lazy silence that none can take notice of us that we look with any great affection towards it . We may desire Glory , but not without Grace ; and Gods Kingdome , but not without a FIAT , not unless we do his will . Simplicius in his Comments upon Aristotle moves a question , Whether youth in reading of Aristotles Book● should begin with his Logick where he teacheth to dispute and reason , or with his Morals , where he teacheth to live honestly . If they begin with Logick without Morals , they will prove but wrangling Sophisters ; and if they begin with Morals without Logick , they will prove but confused . The question may be soon resolved in that particular . But in the study of Christianity there can no such doubt be raised . Our method is plain and easie , drawn out before our eyes by the hand of Christ himself . Thy Kingdome come , is the very language and dialect of a Christian : But if his FIAT be not as loud and vocal as his ADVENIAT ; if we are as high as Gods closet when we should be busie at his foot-stool ; if we have Predestination at heart , but will not learn that conformity to Gods Will which should write our names in the book of life , we are not perfect methodists in Christs School , and leave the best part of our Pater Noster unlearnt . And though we cry aloud , he will not hear us in the one , who are unwilling to be heard in the other . An ADVENIAT with a FIAT is the greatest soloecisme in Christianity .

And herein consists the excellency of this Form : It points out unto us the best and the hardest part of Christianity . We may well call it Summam summarum , the very Sum and Abridgment of all Divinity . Magnae & beatae interpretationis est , saith Tertullian , & quantum substringitur verbis , tantum diffunditur sensibus ; When we have made our prayers as long as that of Solomon at the dedication of the Temple , when we have reckoned up all particulars which our phansies can suggest ; the sum of all is or must be this , Lord , grant us these things , if it be thy will ; if not , thy will be done . Again , when we have spent our age in controversie ; when we have tyred our selves in spinetis scholasticorum , in the intricate discourses of the Schools , when we have searcht the Counsels , turned over the Fathers ; after much study and weariness of the flesh , the conclusion of the whole matter , saith Solomon , is this , To fear God , and keep his commandments : which in brief is but this , To do his will .

I call it the hardest part of Christianity , but do not make the Difficulty an argument of its Excellency as Bellarmine doth of the necessity of Confession : but rather in respect of that other part , the Knowledge of his Will. It passeth as a common proverb , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , That those things which are excellent in their use are hard in the atchievement : but it holds in Evil things also . Covetousness is not therefore a virtue because it sorts not with the humor of the Prodigal ; nor is Prodigality to be commended because the Miser hates it . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Basil . All things , both good and bad , in this do pariate , that they are not bought but with difficulty and danger . And therefore though Confession be of singular use in the Church of Christ , yet this argument doth not make it good that it is so . Nor will I here make it mine . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as St. Basil spake in the point of Repentance : I speak with some fear , when I call this the hardest part of Christianity , although it is most manifest that it is so . For this name of Difficulty in the duties of our life is a very monster , a Medusa , that turns us into stones , leaves us without life or action . But though I do not make the Difficulty of the duty an argument of the Excellency of the prayer , yet I do account it a strong incitement to us , not to spend all our dayes in that part which is so easie , the Knowledge of Gods will , and reserve no other time for the doing of his will ( which is far more difficult ) but that in which we can do nothing . Non per difficiles nos Deus ad beatam vitam quaestiones vocat ; God doth not lead us to this Kingdome by knotty disputations , or by questions which are hard to be resolved , but by the doing of his will . He hath shewed thee , O man , what is good : and what doth the Lord require of thee , but to do justly , and to love mercy , and to walk humbly with thy God ? He hath shewed it ; and who is there Mic. 6. 8. that cannot run and read it ? How easie is it to believe ? The world we see , talks of nothing else but Faith . Who knows not the commandments ? The very heathen Orator will tell us , Brevis est institutio vitae honestae beataeque , That we may quickly learn those precepts which will lead us to that integrity which will make us happy . And this consideration struck him with amazement , Mirum est malos esse tam multos , that there were so many evil men in the world . Nam at aqua piscibus , circumfusus nobis spiritus volucribus convenit , saith he ; For Goodness is as natural to Man , as the Water to Fishes , and the Ayr to Birds . And more easily it is certainly for Man secundam naturam quàm contrà eam vivere , to live according to the dictates of Nature than against them . You will think perhaps you hear Pelagius speak : but it is Quintilian , an Heathen ; and so the speech concerns not us , who are Christians . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Justin Martyr ; To live according to the direction of Nature belongs to them who do not yet believe in Christ . Our task is greater , though for the m●st part we fall short of this . And the reason is given by the Stoick , Scholae , non vitae discimus : Our ambition is to know rather than to do . We have turned the FIAT into COGNOSCATUR , as if our duty were rather to conform our selves to Gods Omniscience than to his Will. Now one question is on foot , anon another is startled , and we fight it out with great heat of contention . Par pari refertur , & invicem nobis videmur insanire ; We are froward with the froward , and answer reproach with reproach . And ask both their opinions of one another , and both are mad . I do not speak this as if it were an offense to defend the truth . No ; I rather count it a part of our conformity to Gods Will . But I am jealous of the FIAT . And we may justly fear that when men spend so many hours in the discussion of that which is not absolutely necessary , they steal some few from the practice of that truth which is essential . Whilst they stay so long upon the COGNOSCATUR , they faint and weary in the FIAT ; As the Painter who having spent his best skill on Neptune , failed in setting forth the majesty of Jupiter . I am willing to attribute what I can to Knowledge , but methinks I see an Emphasis in the FIAT . We may pray that we may know , but above all that we may do Gods Will .

And now , in the second place , we may conceive the weight of this Petition , in that it suits best with the Majesty and Greatness of God . We have indeed many words and forms of speech by which we express his Majesty , as when we say he is above all , and through all , and in us all ; that of him , and Ephes. 4. 6. Rom. 11. 36. Jer. 23. 24. through him , and to him are all things ; that he filleth heaven and earth , and the like ; But there is none that doth more effectually open it then when we attribute most unto his Will. For as it is in the soul of man , though there be many admirable parts , Understanding , Sense , Life , and the like , yet the commanding power of our soul , which gives laws as it were to all the other faculties , and which makes us Lords of our actions , is the Will ; So it is also with God . We see some parts of his glory by the light of Nature , but we have a fairer radiation by the light of Scripture . Ut res in literis , sic literas in rebus : We read him in the Book of his Word , and in the Book of his Works : But we never so fully express him as when we give him a Will which makes him Lord paramount and commander of all things . Dei posse est velle , saith Tertullian against Draxeas ; His Will is his Power , and his Power is his Will. For whatsoever he can do , yet he doth no more than he willeth . Quis potest eloqui potentias Domini ? Who can speak of the Power and Omnipotency of God ? Yet his Omnipotency seems to vail to his Will , and in a manner to be commanded by it . For he is therefore said to be omnipotent because he can do all things that he will . He is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an infinite sea of Essence , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an infinite ocean of Power : And did not his Will bound his Omnipotencie , all things would have been as infinite as he himself is . Wherefore did he create us ? wherefore did he redeem-us ? He himself gives the answer , QUI A VOLUIT , Because he would . Whence comes it to pass that the world is contained within these limits ? whence is it that it is no greater , nor less than it is ? Whence have living things their limits of growth , their measure of power , their date of time and durance ? The best reason we can give is Gods Will , which bounds that infinite Ocean of his Power , which otherwise must needs have had a larger flow . In the former Petition we give God a Kingdome , but we give him more when we give him an absolute and uncontroulable Will. For what is a Kingdome but a meer name if it have any other Law than the Will of the King ? Some Kings there are which are so nomine , not re , rather by title than indeed , as we find in Livy and Plutarch the Kings of the Lacedemonians were . Others are more absolute : Of which we read in the Historian , Liberi sunt , suique ac legum potentes , ut et quod volunt faciant , et quod nolunt non faciant ; They are free and powerful in themselves and their laws , to do what they would , and not to do what they would not ; unà regentes cuncta arbitrio , governing all by their will . And this giving them an illimited Will is an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Nazianzene speaks , to make them Gods indeed . Howsoever then in that Petition , Thy Kingdome come , we stile him ; in this , Thy Will be done , we make God a King . Behold these who call themselves Gods and Lords here on earth : They then think themselves tantum nomen implere , best to answer the name they bear , when they can plead exemption from all Law but their own Will. Antonine , one of the Roman Emperors , speaks it plainly , Legibus soluti , legibus vivimus ; Kings , howsoever they are pleased to condescend and submit themselves to Law , yet in their own nature are free from the Law , and have no other Law to bound them besides their Will. Yet this is but a weak resemblance . For take the highest pitch of Regality that our imagination can reach , yet it falls short of His to whom all earthly Majesty must vail , and at whose feet Princes lay down their crowns and scepters . Therefore Dionysius Longinus , in his Book 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Of the sublimity of speech , makes that expression of Moses 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , God spake , Let there be light , & immediately there was light . Let there be earth ; and there was earth , the highest and most sublime that could be given , and doth much commend his art that he so spake of God as well befitted the person of whom he spake : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Thus the Power of God is best exprest ; No sooner to speak , but it is done . To conclude this ; If Moses 's art , speaking of Gods Power , did seem so wonderful to this heathen Orator , what art then may a Christian observe in these words of our Saviour , Thy Will be done ! which to speak to any thus but unto God were utterly unlawful .

We will give you one taste more of the excellency of this Prayer . As it best suits with Gods Majesty , so it is the fairest expression of our humility . For greater Humility than this hath no man than absolutely to resign all disposition of our selves , and wholly to cast our selves upon Gods Will whatsoever it be . We are told by some that Pride was the first sin ; that it threw Lucifer down from heaven , and drove Adam out of Paradise . And Basil on Isa. 13. tells us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that the whole nature and species of all sin , is derived from this , from an unwillingness to submit our selves to the will of God . Deum inter damna sua avarus accusat , saith Hilary ; The covetous person , when he hath lost his money , accuses God himself . He that is tryed by persecutions thinketh God unjust . Rachel weepeth for her children , and will not be comforted , because they are not . All our repinings and murmurings and discontents are from this , that we cannot say , Thy will be done . But he that resigns his will into the hands of God , I do not see how it is possible for him to offend him ; but he stands like Scaeva in the Poet , strong before an army : Párque novum fortuna videt concurrere , bellum Atque virum . — There are but these two in this glorious contention , thou , O Man , and all the evils and calamities in the world , and all the devils in hell . Doth the world frown ? Doth persecution rage ? Doth Sickness seize upon ? Let God touch , let him kill , all that you hear from Humility is , Let his will be done . In this form you may behold the full and perfect shape of Humility drawn to the life . Other forms may seem to set us above our sphere . When we call God Father it is too high and honorable a term for such miscreants as we are . For though it do imply Subjection , yet it doth imply the subjection of a Child rather than of a Servant . And therefore we must joyn this FIAT to PATER , submit our selves as children , but submit our selves as servants too . And there is great reason for it . For many so rely upon the name of Father that they forget the FIAT quite . Therefore in this Petition we may learn to preserve our selves from extreams ; neither so to presume upon Gods Love as to forget his Power , nor so to think upon his Power , as to despair of his Love . A Father he is ; but if he give us blows , we must remember the FIAT , and fall down before him , saying , Thy will be done . God will have us to wait upon him at distance . When he teacheth us to call him FATHER , he seems to call us too near to him , that we go not too far : but when he commands us to say , Thy will be done , he teacheth us , like Servants , to know our place , that we come not too near , nor be too familiar with him .

I will yet add one reason more , and that from Christ himself , who was now come into the world , not to do his own will , but the will of him that sent him . This will be now declares to all the world . Which was but darkly seen before , wrapt up in types , hid in visions , vailed in the ceremonies of the Law ; but now it is made manifest to all the world . So that we may find a kind of triumph , in this Form , the acclamations of Love and Joy , FIAT , Thy will be done . For , as Job said , Shall we receive good things at the hands of God , and not evil ? so , on the contrary , shall we set a FIAT , set our seal , to the evils which God sends , and not to the good news ? to the voice of his thunder , when he scatters his enemies , and not to the voice of his Angel which proclaims peace ? The Redemption of mankind by the comming of Christ was praecipua pars providentiae , the fairest piece in which the Providence of God shewed it self , decreed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , before the foundations of the world were laid . This FIAT then , Thy will be done , is : he voice of Faith and Obedience and Gratitude . The Grammarians tell us there be some words which will not fit a Tragedy ; and Donatus had a conceit , Si ferrum nominetur in comaedia , transit in tragoediam , That but to name a Sword in a Comedy were enough to fright it into a Tragedy . But these words will serve and fit both , fit us on our good dayes , and fit us on our bad ; fit us in our sorrow , and in our joy ; in the house of mourning , and at a triumph ; as fit for us the first comming of Christ as for the second .

But this is not all : For this flows but from a decree of God ; what he would do on the earth and what he would do for us . And this might awake the most sullen Ingratitude . We are all willing to set a FIAT to those decrees which are made for our good . Will God send his Son ? His will be done . Here a FIAT hath not enough of the wing ; and therefore the gloss which our Heart gives is , Oh Lord , make no long tarrying . But besides this , as Christ came to do his Fathers will , so he came to teach us his will also . Certainly to think otherwise is a most dangerous error . For what is it but to make the Gospel of Christ to be the Gospel of sinful man , nay the Gospel of the Devil ? What is it but to poyson the many wholsome precepts we find there ? This shuts up the FIAT within the compass of the absolute Decree ; and our Petition is no more then this , That God would be as good as his word , and fulfill those promises on us which he made before the foundations of the world were laid . Gods Promises are , like his Threats , conditional : If thou believe , I will give unto thee eternal life ; If thou overcome , thou shalt be crowned . Is it not good news to the heavy-laden that by comming to Christ he may be eased ? to the rich , that he may make such friends of Mammon as may at last receive him into everlasting habitations ; to the captive , that he may shake his shackles off ? and to every Christian , that , if he will but fight he shall purchase a Kingdome ? The Gospel is not the less Gospel because it conteins precepts and laws . Evangelical Laws , is no contradiction at all . Will you hear our Saviour speak like a Law-giver ? This is my commandment . And , You shall be my Disciples if you do what I command you . Will you see him in his robes as a Judge ? Behold him in flaming fire , taking vengeance on them 2 Thess. 1. 8. that know not God . And who are they ? Even those that obey not the Gospel of Christ ? And how shall they be judged ? According to my Gospel , Rom. 2. 16. saith St. Paul . We need not stand longer on this point . But if they will not grant us this , we will yet increase further upon them , and shew this Petition to be most proper to the Gospel : For it is not only , This is my commandment , but , A new commandment give I unto you . For though at sundry John 13. 34. times and in divers manners God had revealed his Will to our Fathers by the Prophets , yet in these last dayes he hath spoken by his Son , more plainly and more fully expressing his will then ever heretofore ; and after which he will never speak again . For the Grace of God is made manifest by the 2 Tim. 1. 10. appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ , who hath abolisht death , and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel . And as it is his last Will , so it removes those indulgences and dispensations which were granted under the Law , and which stood as a thick cloud before the eyes of the Jews , that they could not fully and clearly discern the full purport of his Will. Hac ratione munit nos Christus adversus Diaboli latitudines , saith Tertullian ; The opening of Gods Will by Christ is as a fense to keep us from those latitudes and exspatiations and extravagancies , and shews us yet a more excellent way , discovering unto us the danger of those sins which heretofore , under the Law , went under that name . The Jews were Gods peculiar people , and to them he gave his statutes and his testimonies ; but yet he did not expect that perfection from a Jew which he doth from a Christian . Our Saviour doth not only clear the Law from those corrupt glosses with which the Jewish Doctors had infected it , but also ampliavit & expanxit legem & totam retro vetustatem , as Tertullian speaketh . Who hath believed our report ? and to whom is the arm of the Lord Isa. 53. 1. revealed ? saith the Prophet . Some report the Prophets made , but not all ; nor were they fully heard . It is the Will of God that we deny our selves , that we take up our cross , that we use this world as if we used it not ; living in the world , but out of the world ; non exercentes quod nati sumus , not being what indeed we are . Where find we these lessons , this his Will , but in the Gospel ? A vain attempt it is to draw them into the Decalogue by force , by I know not what Analogie , by long and far-fetcht deductions . For by the same art I may contract all the ten Commandments into one . No man commits a sin but ipso facto , in some proportioned sense , he hath set up another God , which is only forbid in the first Commandment . We use not to commit those secrets to every messenger which we do to our son ; Nor did the Prophets , the Messengers of Christ , know all his will . This was an office for the Son , for Christ himself ●●lly to declare and publish his last Will , and to teach us to subscribe to it with our bloud , with a FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA . If I must deny my self , if I must be torn on the rack , if I must through many afflictions enter into thy Kingdome , FIAT , Thy will be done .

The Five and Thirtieth SERMON . PART II. MATTH. VI. 10. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven .

IT may be perhaps expected that I should frame some Apologie this day for my absence the last . But indeed I was never over-much in love with Apologies in this kind ; and therefore , first , I may say with Seneca , Si noluero , quis coacturus est ? If I will not , who can compel me ? Secondly , I have already rendred my reason , and it was accepted there where it was especially due . From others , who love ire in opus alienum , to be over-busie in other mens matters , and who are least pleased with the greatest diligence , I expect but thus much , that they will give me leave not to be troubled much with what they think or say , who give them full liberty to think and say what they please . Abundat sibi locuples testis conscientia , saith St. Ambrose ; It is not much material what foul weather is abroad , when all is quiet at home : and when the Conscience hath received no wound , all the censures of the world are but noise , which can shake none but those who are vilissima popularis aurae mancipia , who walk along in the strength of that applause which Ignorance breaths forth , and , when that wind ceaseth , are on the ground ! I will mis-spend therefore no more time in an unnecessary Apologie for that fault of omission which borrowed nothing from my will ; but I proceed to shew what conformity we owe to Gods Will in its several kinds , either as Absolute , or as Natural and Antecedent , or as Consequent and Occasioned , or as barely Permissive , or lastly to that Will of his which we call voluntatem praecepti , his Law and Command ; And so having said something of them in several , we will draw up all at last in this one conclusion , That every Christian who will truly say this petition , Thy will be done , must bring with him an heart that will yield ready obedience to do whatsoever God commands , and a chearful patience to suffer what his hand shall lay upon him .

And first , for Gods Absolute Will , by which he created the world , and doth what he pleaseth both in heaven and earth , common Reason will teach us that this Will of his will be fulfilled whether we pray or no. For who hath resisted his will ? And if he shut up , or cut off , or gather together , who Job 11. 10. can hinder him ? saith Zophar . Prayer and intreaty are then used when without prayer and intreaty we cannot prevail . But this Will of God shall take effect whether we set-to our FIAT , or no. He giveth snow like wooll , and scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes : He casteth forth his ice like morsels . He causeth his wind to blow , and the waters flow . And what he Psal. 46. will do , he doth : Nor can all the prayers of the world draw him from action , or help him in his work . Yet notwithstanding we may say FIAT , Thy will be done , to testifie our consent and conformity to his Will. We must idem velle , et idem nolle , will and nill the self-same things with God , that so we may be his friends , Non pareo Deo , sed assentior , & ex animo illum , non quia necesse est , sequor , saith Seneca . Obedience may be constrained : and therefore we must not only obey God because Necessity forceth us ; but we must with joy and readiness intreat him to do his will , and even begg it at his hand as a favour . Now this our conformity to Gods Absolute will , quot ramos porrigit , quot venas diffundit ! it hath many branches and veins by which it spreads and conveighs and manifests it self . It is seen in our Admiration of his infinite power , and of those his works which no hand but that of Omnipotencie could produce . For though Augustine somewhere calls Admiration a vice , yet he retracts it , lib. 1. Retract . c. 3. And certainly it is a good argument of our assent unto Gods Will , when the contemplation of his works transports us beyond our selves , strikes us into a kind of silence , and leaves that deep impression in our souls , that no finite power could compass them ; and forceth us to subscribe after the ancient form , Donum factum , That whatsoever God doth is well done ; and withal to confess that he is ita magnus in magnis ut minor non sit in minimis , that as his hand is great in the greatest works , so is it no less great and mighty in the least ; and that his Power , which hath made so many things unlike one to the other , yet in all these is still like it self , and perfect and absolute in every one . To question , with Hermogenes and the Materiarii , Whether the world were made of praeexistent matter ; with others , Whether it were coaeternal with God ; with the Gnosticks , Whether it were made by God , or by his Angels ; to quarrel with the Creation , with Alfonsus King of Arragon , who was perswaded he could have made and ordered the world better than it is ; to ask whether God might not have made more worlds , are bad symptomes and prognosticks of a profane heart , evaporations of sick and loathsome brains , doubts of men unwilling to subscribe , and who have not wrought their will to that conformity which they owe to the Absolute Will of God . Secondly , this our assent is seen in our songs of Thanksgiving . Great is the Lord , and most worthy to be praised ; and again , Who can speak the greatness of the Lord , or shew forth all his praises ? are fair commentaries upon this Petition . He that magnifieth Gods name for that which he hath done , he which rejoyceth and triumpheth in every work of God , who can find matter for a Jubilee not only in the Sun and Moon and Stars , but in the Lilies of the field , and in every herb that groweth there ; hath set-to his seal and approbation , and saith his PATER NOSTER not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from the lips outward , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from his very soul . God 's works are made whether we will or no , whether we pray or no : And for us they were thus made . And our Magnificats , our Jubilees and our Gratitude are our FIAT , and plainly speak our conformity to Gods Will . A sullen silence and a lazy ingratitude : scatter our prayers before the wind , and make it too plain and evident that we are not willing that God should do what he will . Again , our conformity to this his Absolute Will dwells as it were and takes up its residence in a heart which frequently meditates in the works of God . For Meditation is that hand-maid which follows God at a distance in all his works , which beholds Omnipotencie in the creation of the world ; which sees a world of miracles in Man , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a great world in a little one ; which hears God in his thunder , considers who is Father of the Rain , and who begets the drops of the Dew , out Job 38. of whose womb the Ice came . Meditation is that spiritual rumination , that chewing of the cudd , which brings and calls back all the works of God ab intestino memoriae ad os cogitationis , from the bowels and stomach of the Memory , as St. Augustine speaks , to the mouth of the Thoughts , that there we may feed upon them with fresh delight , and make them comfortable and wholsome to our souls ; which prepareth us contrà omnia fidei excidia , as Hilary speaketh , against all those temptations which are dangerous and deleterial to our Faith . We cannot doubt but that he who delights in what God hath done hath also surrendred his will to God , and said from his very heart , Let the will of God be done . Nazianzene in Orat. 39. yet adds another , and that is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an holy emulation to work great works , to be Gods unto our selves ; Not to create a new world , but the help of Gods grace to create new hearts in our selves ; to bind and fetter the common enemy of mankind ; to open the windows of goals , and wash our sins with the tears of our repentance , to strike those rocks , our stony hearts , that the waters of contrition may gush forth : in a holy consideration of Gods Immensity and Power to gain to our selves , with St. Paul , a kind of Omnisciency , to have all knowledge , and a kind of Omnipotency 1 Cor. 13. 2. through Christ , who strengthneth us , to be able to do all things . And by Phil. 4. 13. these , by falling down in a reverent Admiration of what God hath wrought , by our continual Praises and Gratulations and Hallelujahs , by walking every day about the gallery of our souls , and viewing with delight those many pictures and various representations of his wonderful works , by a holy Aemulation to work something in our own souls which may resemble what he hath wrought in the world , by recounting with our selves that that great God did not make us thus wonderfully , to be his miracles , and to do trifles , by these , as by so many faithful interpreters , we best acknowledge and express our conformity to Gods Absolute Will.

We pass now to shew what conformity we owe to the Natural Will of God ; which we call voluntatem desiderii & inclinationis , his Will of Desire and Inclination , his Prime and Antecedent Will , by which he desires the happiness of all mankind , and administers all the means to bring them to it . And here I can conceive no difficulty at all , but if Gods Natural Will be to have all men saved , then certainly the same mind should be in us 1 Tim. 2. 4. which is in God , and we should pray that all men may be saved . Shall God will it , and we not pray for it ? Shall the cataracts of Gods Mercy and Goodness stand wide open , and we quite shut up the passage of our Devotion ? Is it impossible that God naturally should will the damnation of any man , and is it possible that we should think there be some men for whom we ought not to pray ? I have read the Catalogues of old Heresies written by St. Augustine and Philastrius ; and I find some of them to be such ridiculous phansies , such intellectual meteors , that I have much wondred those Worthies would once stain their papers with them , or take such pains to deliver them to posterity : Methinks they should have destroyed those monsters in their birth , and not have graced them so much as to have told after-ages that they ever were , or had so much as being in the Church . But I do not remember that there is any one of them of so monstrous a shape as this , That it is not lawful to pray for the salvation of all men : This sure was reserved for these after-ages , to attend upon its mis-shapen damm , that ill-begotten phansie of the absolute Decree of Reprobation . I could not once conceive that any should delight in so killing a phansie , which quite cutteth off all hope of salvation from some men , and leaves them in a far worse case than the Gadarenes Hoggs : For the Devils entring into Luke 8. them presently carried them into the sea and drowned them , and so left them ; but according to this doctrine some men are prepared on purpose by God to be an habitation of devils , and to dwell with devils for ever . But these severe men , who cut off all hope of life from some , and with it the prayers of the Church , are all Sheep themselves , pure and innocent , so sure of their salvation that I can find small reason they have to pray for it ; but that they may neglect this duty , as well as they do others as necessary , upon this presumptuous ground . But why may not we pray for all 1 Tim. 2. 6. men , as well as Christ give himself a price for all ? And is it not commanded that prayers and intercessions should be made for all men : Which if we 1 Tim. 2. 1. neglect , that judgment which we have laid at other mens doors will be brought home at last unto our own . Besides , Gods Will , they say , of damning men is secret ; and if it be unlawful to pray for that which he is resolved not to do , a great part of our devotion must needs expire , and the incense of those many prayers of the Saints cannot send up any pleasant savour , who begg those things at his hands which his will was never to reach forth and give . To Faith the number of the elect appears but small ; but to Charity the Church is large and copious , and she sees none which is not or may not be a member thereof . It may be said perhaps that I erre when I pray that all may be saved ; Be it so : but it is an error of my Charity , and therefore a most necessary error . For it is the very property of Charity thus to erre . And it is not a lye , but a commendable office , and acceptable in Gods sight , in my prayers to wish the eternal happiness of him who perhaps shall be for ever miserable . These holy mistakes of Charity shall never be imputed , nor be numbred amongst my sins of Ignorance . For he that errs not thus , he that hopes not the best he can of every man he sees , wants something yet , and comes short of a good Christian . Christianum est errare ; It is the part of every Christian , and a singular duty , thus to erre . The reason is manifest : For there is no heart so much stone which God cannot malleate , and out of which he cannot raise a child unto Abraham ; Sin may reign in our mortal bodies ad mortem , to make us lyable to death ; and it may reign ad difficultatem , that it will be very difficult to shake off that yoke which Custome hath put on : but I cannot conceive how it should reign ad necessitatem , so to necessitate our damnation as to take off that last comfort we are capable of , which is hope . The Church when she strikes the sinner with the spiritual sword of Excommunication , doth not with that blow cut off Hope . Vulnus , non hominem secat ; secat ut sanet ; She strikes rather at the wound which is already made , than at the man , to wound him deeper : She strikes him to heal him . Delivers him to Satan , to deliver him from Satan : She shuts him out , to keep him in . Abstention , Pulsion , Exclusion , Exauctoration , Ejection , Ejeration , all these phansies we find in the ancients for Excommunication ; yet all these are not of so malignant power as to shrivel up all our Hope , but rather they beget a hope that the excommunicated person will run back to the bosome of that Church which did therefore cast him out that she might receive him again more fair and healthful than before . Did Love dwell in us continually , we should not be so willing to hear nor so ready to talk of the everlasting destruction of our brethren . Malo non credere ; sit falsum omne quod sanguinis est , as St. Hierome spake in another case ; We should rather not believe that it were so , and wish it false , though it were most probably true . It hath been therefore the practise of the ancient Church , and it is in present use with our own , to pray for all Jews , Turks , Infidels , and Hereticks , for all those to whose blindness the light of the Gospel is not yet known , that they may be drawn out of the darkness of ignorance , and be converted , and see the beauty of that truth which may save them ; even to those whose damnation sleepeth not . For this is most agreeable to that Will of God which is known , and which is therefore known that it may be the rule of our actions . Nor do we herein offend against that secret Will of his . For most true it is , that we may bonâ voluntate velle quae Deus non vult , saith St. Augustine ; will , and with a very good will , those things which God will not . And our prayers thus sent up , though they prevail not in that against which God hath secretly determined , yet shall prevail to draw down a blessing upon our heads for thus conforming our selves to Gods Natural and Known Will.

And this leads us one step further , to the consideration of God's Occasioned and Consequent Will , by which he punisheth those that obstinately continue in sin . And to this Will of his we are bound to conform , although for the reasons but now alledged we are not bound to pray that all unrepentant sinners may be damned ; but rather , that they may repent : God will proceed to punishment : He hath whet his sword , and he will make it drunk in the bloud of his enemies , whether we pray that he will do it , or not . To this Will of his they who have made themselves the children of perdition must conform even against their will . And our conformity consists but in this , to rest contented herewithal , and to admire Gods uncontroulable Justice , which no Covetousness can bribe , no Power affright , no Riches corrupt , no Fear bend ; and to cry out with the Father , O quanta est subtilitas judiciorum Dei ! O quàm districtè agitur bonorum malorumque retributio ! O the infinite wisdome of the judgments of the Lord ! O how exactly and precisely will he reward the good and punish the impenitent sinner ! Every thing that God will do is not a fit object for our devotion , nor are we bound to pray for every thing that he will do . Nay , in some cases , as it hath been shewed , we may pray against it . God may perhaps purpose the death of my father : For me to will the same is no less sin than Parracide . God upon fore-knowledge of Judas his transgression did determine that Judas should go to his own place : but Judas was not bound to will the same . No , his greatest sin was that he so behaved himself as if he had willed it indeed . In a word , I am not bound to say , FIAT , to all that God will do ; but , when he hath done it , to sit down and build my patience upon this consideration , That whatsoever he will do , or hath done , must needs be just : Absolutio difficultatum in his ipsis requirenda est è quibus videtur exsistere , saith Hilary ; We must see the resolution of doubts which may hence arise , even from that which raised them , or from whence they were occasioned . And we cannot be at any loss in our conformity , if we do not first mistake that Will of God to which we should conform . The Schoolmen , who are very apt 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to make ropes of sand , or rather , with little children , to blow-up those bubbles which are lost in the making , amongst many other empty and unnecessary questions , have started up this as of some bulk and substance , when indeed it is but very airy . They ask , Whether , if God should reveal to a particular person that he should be damned , he were bound to conform his will and give assent , and not pray against it . A vain speculation , like that of Buridans Ass , which stood between two bottles of hey , and starved , because he knew not which to chuse . Men may suppose what they please , the Heavens to stand still , and the Earth to move and wheel about , as Copernicus did . They may suppose that God will send his Angel with a revelation , who would not send Lazarus with a message to Dives his brethren . But let me also suppose that men are wise unto sobriety , and then I will move one question more , and that is , What reason possibly they can imagine to move this doubt . God doth not send any such revelation : We have Moses and the Prophets ; we have the Gospel of Christ : If we look for any revelation , we must find it there . There , as in a glass , we may see either the regularity or deformity of our wills . There we may hear that voice which speaks comfort to the penitent , and denounceth vengeance on obstinate offenders . Nolo ut mihi Deus mittat Angelos , saith Martin Luther ; I would not that God should send down his Angel with a revelation : For he that brings any revelation to me which is not in Scripture shall find no more credit than the Puck in the Church-yard : And if it be in Scripture , the message , though of an Angel , is but superfluous . Suppose God will do that which he never will , and you may raise as many doubts and questions as you please . Again , if God did reveal it , yet it might be lawful , nay , thou art commanded , to pray against it . God revealed to David that the child which was born to him in adultery should surely dye ; yet David besought God for the child , and fasted , and lay all night upon the earth . And his reason is , Who can tell whether God will be 2 Sam. 12. gracious to me that the child may live ? But when the child was dead , he arose from the earth , and washed , and anointed himself . Which was a lively expression of his submission to the will of God . God revealed the destruction of Niniveh ; the Ninivites repent , and he destroyed it not . A sure rule it is , Promissa obligant , minae non obligant . God binds himself more by his promises than by his threatnings . In what he promises he never fails , but what he threatens doth not alwayes come to pass . But they tell us there be some persons whom God will not suffer us to pray for ; as he forbad Samuel to mourn and pray for Saul ; and the Prophet Jeremiah , Pray not for this people . To which it might easily be replyed , that the case is not the same , but differs as much as a temporal loss from a spiritual , and the loss of a kingdome , and captivity , from the loss of a soul , and eternal separation from God . But I will rather make use of that excellent passage of Tertullian in his book De Idololatria , who being urged with the example of Moses lifting up the Serpent in the wilderness , maketh answer that it was an extraordinary precept , and a type of the Cross , and therefore stood in no opposition with that command , Thou shalt not make any graven image ; nor did God forbid what he commands , nor command what he did forbid . Well saith the Father , Si eundem Deum observes , habes legem ejus ; If thou serve the same God which Moses did , thou hast his law that Thou shalt not make a graven image ; but if thou look upon the precept in obedience to which the Serpent was set up , & tu imitare Mosem , nec facias adversùs legem simulacrum aliquod , nisi & tibi Deus jusserit , do then also imitate Moses , and set no image up till God commands thee . In like manner , if thy error lead thee to this perswasion , That there be some for whom thou oughtest not to pray , because Samuel and Jeremy were forbid to pray for the King and People of the Jews , look not upon the two Prophets , but upon the Law and the Rule , which makes our prayers oecumenical , and our Devotion as large as the whole world . But if their example still run in thy eyes , then stay the doing of it till thou mayest do it as they did it ; Do it by command . These are indeed but scruples , and they weigh no more . And we may say of these and many the like doubts , raised by the Schools , as Tully did of the Latine tongue in his time , Non tam praeclarum scire Latinè loqui quàm turpe nescire ; It advantageth not us at all to know these doubts and questions , but perhaps it may be some disparagement not to know and assoil them .

We therefore leave this point , and proceed to God's Permissive Will , by which he is resolved not to intercede by his Omnipotencie , and hinder those sins which , if he permitted not could not once have being . And to this Will of his we cannot but yield conformity , unless we forget that we are Men , and Christians , and destined to a crown of happiness . For if Sin were not permitted , what use were there of our Passions and Reason ? or why hath Man a Will ? Christianity were indeed but fabula , as the Heathens terms it , a very sigment ; and Obedience , nothing . For it is impossible that he should be obedient who cannot possibly disobey . And what reward is due to him whose actions are meerly natural , who doth what he doth , and cannot do otherwise . Permission of Sin is that which makes a way to virtue . The Devil and outward Temptations and the World we count enemies : but they are such enemies as the unrighteous Mammon in the Gospel ; we may make friends of them . Chrysostome hath a tract upon this subject , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Why God doth not take the Devil out of the world , but suffers him to walk about ; and he resolves the question thus , That it is for our good . For we who perhaps would be evil if there were no Devil at all , have now opportunity to resist and vanquish him , and so to gain an everlasting crown of glory . So for the World ; I may so use it that I may enjoy God : the Flesh ; I may 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Father speaks , fight against it , and make it my slave and captive : Temptations ; They are materiam virtutum , the very matter out of which we shape those works which we call Virtues : The Devil ; He is indeed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the wickedest and most malitious enemy we have ; but we may make him as profitable and useful to us as any friend . And if all these dangers , and this opposition from the World , the Flesh , and the Devil be of purpose placed in our way that we may struggle with them , and conquer , and be crowned ; he that is a Man , a Christian candidatus aeternitatis , who sues for any place in heaven , will readily say , FIAT VOLUNTAS DEI , Let the will of God be done in this respect , and conform himself to this his Permissive Will . For by yielding our assent to this Will of God , we assent only to this , that it is necessary that Sin should be permitted . But we do not therefore pray that wicked men may take their swinge , and run-on in the wayes of wickedness without controul . No : our Devotion is set to a contrary key . We pray , and we are bound to pray ; that God will put a bit into the mouth of every wicked person ; that he will rule the raging of the sea , and the madness of the people ; that he will put a hook into the nostrils of that great Leviathan . For as there is permissio , so there is rectio and moderatio . As God permits Sin , so by his wisdome and moderation it comes to pass that all the intents of wicked men do not take effect . Scelera semper festinant , quasi contra innocentiam ipsam festinatione praevaleant , saith Gregory ; Wickedness is ever on the wing ; but it doth not alwayes fly to the mark : It makes haste , as if haste would prevail against Innocency ; but God , that God who rideth upon the cherubim , and flyeth upon the wings of the wind , overtakes it , and sets up a bulwark against it to stop it in its course . Pharaoh i● in his chariot , and drives furiously after the Israelites , but God takes off his chariot-wheels , and drowns him in the sea . Haman procures a decree against all the Jews , the Posts to go out , and are hastned by the King : But God by his over-ruling Providence crosseth the bloudy design ; the Kings heart is turned , Haman is hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai , and a gracious Edict issueth out in favour of Gods people . The Scripture is full of instances of this kind . All which may teach us to yield our assent that it is convenient and necessary that sin should be permitted , and to interceed by our frequent prayers and devotion that , although God in his wisdome hath left every man in manu consilii sui , in his own hands and disposing , yet in his goodness and mercy to his chosen ones he would set bounds to wicked persons ; that he would shackle , though not their wills , yet their hands ; that he would cut off the designs , infatuate the counsels , scatter the imaginations of all those who like serpents were only born to do mischief , and to sin against heaven and earth . So much of this point .

Now that we may say something of that which we call voluntatem praecepti , of God's Law and Precept and Command , which every where in Scripture is called his Will , and indeed doth most of all concern us , we will draw and wind up all in this main conclusion , That every Christian who will truly say this Petition , Thy will be done , must bring with him a heart prepared to yield ready obedience to do whatsoever God commands , and a chearful patience to suffer what his hand shall lay upon him .

THY WILL BE DONE , is the thing we pray for . And that we may do his will ▪ God hath opened and revealed his will , and made it as manifest as the day . Jam autem praecipitur , quià non rectè curritur , si quò currendum sit nescitur , saith St. Augustine ; He hath taught us before-hand , because he runs not well that knows neither his way nor journeys end . Therefore God did as it were evaporate and open his will , writ his eternal law in our hearts , engraved it in tables of stone , publisht it by the voice of Angels , by the sound of that trumpet which the Evangelists and Apostles did blow , declared it fully and plainly , that we may run and read it , and not turn aside to seek any other rule , but conform our selves unto it ; by a voluntary Obedience , which like an hand-maid may wait upon his Will , and by an humble and obedient Patience , which alwayes hath an eye not upon the blow but the hand that gives it , and bows under it ; when he speaks , or when he strikes , returns no answer but this , FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA , Thy will be done . This is the sum of this Petition , and indeed of all Religion . For if we level our actions by that rule which is naturally right , we can do no evil : and whatsoever befalls us , judicio bonitatis ejus accidit , saith Hilary , befalls us not by chance , but by the judicious Providence of Gods goodness , and therefore we can suffer no evil . And this , one would think , were enough . What can God teach us more than to pray that we may do his will ?

We might now well pass to the next Petition , and not once glance upon these words , In earth as it is in heaven . But the word of God , as it is no way defective , so hath nothing redundant and superfluous : not a versicle , not a clause , which doth not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Chrysostome , which carries not its weight with it , and presents us with plenty and riches of wisdome . If we do Gods will , we can do no more , the Angels can do no more . Yet if we look upon our selves , and reflect a while upon our own tempers and dispositions , we shall find that what is in it self enough and sufficient , is not enough and sufficient for us ; and that this clause , In earth as it is in heaven , was a necessary addition , put in by our Saviour by way of caution and prevention . It is not enough for us to be taught to pray that we may do God's will : we shall fall short in our obedience if we be not taught also the manner how this must be accomplished . For we are naturally prone jussa magìs interpretari quàm exsequi , to boggle at every duty that is enjoyned ; and , if we be left at loose , instead of executing what is commanded , to sit down and seek out shifts and evasions and inventions of our own , and so to do it by halves ; to do it , as St. Basil saith , either 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , unseasonably , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , disorderly , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , scantly , and not in that measure which is required ; to content our selves with Agrippa's modicum ; When indeed we are subjects to every duty , we become Justitiaries , and set it bounds , and limit and restrain it . Do his will : As Men , made up and composed of weakness and infirmities ; as Men , bruised and maimed with the fall of our first parents ; as Men in terris , dust and ashes : But sicut in coelis , to do the will of God as it is done in heaven , our contemplation would never have set it at this altitude . Nullum morosius animal est , nec majore arte tractandum , quam homo , saith Seneca ; There is not a more waiward and curious creature than Man , nor to be handled with more art . He must be taught not only what to do , but how and how far to do it . He must be instructed in each circumstance , he must have a pattern as well as a duty ; otherwise he will start and slip aside ; he will neither do it constantly , nor equally ; he will do it , and omit it : Were he not taught to do it as it is done in heaven , he would not do it at all . Were he not commanded to be like the Angels in heaven , he would degenerate from himself , and become worse than the beasts that perish . You see then this clause was not added in vain , but is operatoria , as the Civilians speak , carries with it great force and efficacy . And whether we interpret it of the material Spheres , quae iterum eunt per quae venerant , as Seneca speaks , which are alwayes in motion , yet never alter their course ; or of those super-coelestial Powers , the Angels , those mystical wheels , as Dionysius calls them , turning themselves about in an everlasting gyre of obedience ; it must needs lift up our thoughts to this consideration , That the performance of Gods will by us must be most exact and perfect , heavenly and angelical ; That we must make it our endeavour to be like them as Angels here on earth , who make it our ambition to be equal to them in heaven . I will not take those several interpretations I find , although I censure none of them , especially since none of them swerve from the analogy of faith , nor from that doctrine which was delivered to the Saints ; and all of them are profitable to instruction . You may take earth and heaven for the Flesh and the Spirit , with St. Cyprian ; or for Men , which are of the earth earthy , and those coelestial Orbs : for the Just and Wicked , with others , and thence extract this Christian duty ; To pray for your enemies . All these may be useful : and with St. Augustine , I condemn no sense upon which any good duty may be raised and built . But I rather understand , with the same Father , by heaven the Angels , and by earth Men , because the words do best bear it , and we cannot take a better pattern than the Angels . And in this sense we pray ut sint homines similes Angelis , That Men may be as obedient to Gods will here in earth as those blessed Spirits are in heaven , who readily fulfill all his commands . And this is an holy ambition , in the performance of our duty to look upon the best , Ambitio non respicit , saith the Philosopher ; True Ambition and Christian Aemulation never look down upon those who are in the valley below , but on those who are in culmine Sion , in the top of perfection . Optimi mortalium altissima sapiunt , The best men look highest . Go to School to the Pismire , is a reproach , as well as a precept . To learn of the Lilies of the field , is a task for those who will not take notice of Gods providence at home in themselves . The examples of good men are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , helps and supplies to us in our way , and it is good to have them continually before our eyes : But yet the best men being full of imperfections . Luther tells us , Nihil est periculosius gestis Sanctorum , That there is nothing more dangerous than the deeds and actions of the Saints , because we are so prone to mistake them . Safer it is to take those actions of theirs which were done beyond and without the authority of Scripture for faults , than to set them up for examples . We may learn of Beasts , of the Ox and of the Ass ; we may learn of Men of the same mould with our selves : but the safest and most excellent pattern we can take is from Heaven , the blessed Angels , whose elogium it is , that they do God's commandments , and hearken unto the voice of his word ; that they Psal. 103. are his hosts , and ministers of his to do his pleasure . I will not trouble you with any of those nice speculations of the Schools concerning the Nature , Motion , Locality , Speech of Angels . For I alwayes accounted it a grave and judicious censure of Hilary , Stultum est calumniam in eo disputationis intendere , in quo comprehendi id unde quaeritur per naturam suam non potest , Lib. 3. de Trin. It is a great folly to make any anxious inquisition after that which before we set out we know cannot be found . Of the Nature and Motion and Locality of those blessed Spirits we have no light in Scripture : And if we carry not this light along with us , we do but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , make search for that which is past finding out : We win no ground at all , but tantum deerit discere , quantum libuerit in quirere , the more we search , the more we are at loss . But because the Philosopher and common Reason teach us that he who will compare two things together must necessarily know them both , and since we are in this Petition taught to level our Obedience by this heavenly form , by the obedience of Angels , though we cannot gain any certain knowledge of their Nature , Motion , Locality , and Manner of conveighing their minds one to another ( which notwithstanding the Schools with more boldness than warrant have defined ) yet we shall find light enough to walk by and to direct our obedience , that it may be like theirs , that we may strive forward to perfection , and do Gods will in earth as it is in heaven .

First , we are taught that the word Angel is a name of office , not of nature . Spirits they are alwayes , but they cannot alwayes be called Angels , but then only when they are sent , saith Gregory . And this office of theirs they execute speedily and without delay . We will not positively say , with Parisiensis , that their motion from place to place upon command is instantaneous , as sudden as their Will , by which alone they move . But many expressions of their Swiftness we have in Scripture . Zech. 1. 10. they are said to stand , as ready to hear and dispatch Gods will ; Isa. 6. to have wings and to fly . They are said to go forth like lighning . Which note their prompt alacrity in executing all Gods commands . Unum corum solidúmque officium est servire nutibus Dei , their office is ever to be ready at Gods beck . This is a true and perfect pattern of a Christians obedience . Festina fides , festina charitas , saith Ambrose ; Faith and Charity are on the wing , Devotion is active , Obedience is ever ready to run the way of Gods commandments . Though advice and deliberation commend other actions , yet in this of Obedience , counsel is unreasonable , neither can there be any reason of delay : Delicata est obedientia , quae transit in causae genus deliberativum , saith Petrus Blesensis , It is a nice obedience which takes time of deliberation . For when the command is past , every moment after the first is too late : nor can there be any need of deliberation in that action wherein all the danger is not to do it . Fac quod tibi praeceptum est , saith St. Cyprian to the magistrate now ready to pass sentence of death upon him , but counselling him to advise better ; Do , saith he , what you have commission to do ; In so just an action as this there is no need of consultation . Those that write of Husbandry have a common precept , and Pliny calls it an oracle , SERRERE NE METUAS , Be not afraid to cast thy seed into the ground ; Delay not time . And their reason is full of wisdome , Villicùs , si unam rem serò fecerit , nihil proficit , The Husbandman , if he do but one thing too late , hath endangered the expectation of the whole year , nor can he recover that loss . Negligentia enim multò operosior diligentia ; For neglect makes more business and trouble than Diligence ; and that which in time might have been done with ease and a quick hand , being put off to a longer time , will either not be done at all , or require treble diligence . It is so in our spiritual Husbandry ; If our Obedience had wings or feet , readily to put in execution what is commanded , we should find that of St. John to be most true , His commands are not grievous . But Procrastination and Delay doth bemire and clog us , makes the command more horrid than that Death which is threatned to disobedience ; and we are ready to cry out it is impossible . He who defers to do Gods will till death would not do it , saith Basil , if he were made immortal . But this is not to do his will here in earth as it is in heaven .

Further , the obedience of the heavenly host is orderly . Qui minima nuntiant , Angeli ; qui summam annuntiant , Archangeli vocantur : There be Angels , which are sent on messages of lesser moment ; and there be Archangels , which declare greater things , as Gabriel to the blessed Virgin . Nec tamen invident Angeli Archangelis , saith Augustine in his last book De Civitate Dei ; yet no Angel doth envy an Archangel , nor an Archangel a Cherubim or Seraphim ; nor desire they to change offices , no more than my Finger desires to be an Eye . In respect of the diversity of their ministery , saith Hilary , the Angels and Archangels and Thrones and Dominations have the observances of divers precepts laid upon them . And they differ not only in name , but in office . The Angel intrudes not into the office of an Archangel , nor doth an Archangel usurp the place of a Cherubin or Throne , but every one is perpetually constant in his office , and never fails . We cannot say our Pater noster , but we must needs conceive that these blessed Spirits do their duties orderly : For there can be no confusion in heaven . Nor indeed should there be any disorder in the Church of Christ ; whose government by Bishops , Priests and Deacons St. Maximus calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an imitation and fair resemblance of the coelestial Hierarchy . As it is in the Church triumphant in heaven , so should it be in the Church militant here on earth . Order doth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , preserve and keep together both heaven and earth , saith Nazianzene . And therefore we may observe that all duties do not concern all men . Some duties there are which are as oecumenical as the whole world ; others , more personal ; Some , which if Corah attempt to do , he shall be buried alive ; if Uzzah , he shall be struck dead . Why should Sheba blow a trumpet , or Absalom pull at his Fathers crown ? Why should every artisan meddle in matters of Divinity ? every Mechanick teach Bishops how to govern , and Divines how to preach ? Why should he that handles the awl or the shuttle stand up and controul the Miter ? Private persons who converse within a narrow sphere , must needs be unskilfull in things which fall not within the compass of their experience . Men that meddle but with few things must needs be ignorant of much , and therefore can never frame canons and rules . Paucorum est ut literati sint ; omnium , ut boni ; Few men are fit for government ; but there is scarce any of so shallow conceit but he may be an honest man . Doth any man go to a Physician to ask advise in a point of Law ? or to a Lawyer , when he is sick ? Episcopus episcopum non conculcet , That one Bishop should not usurp or meddle in another Bishops Diocess , was one of the ancient Canon of the Church , and ought never to be antiquated . Than Peace will crown the Church , and Plenty the Commonwealth , when every man understands what is his place and station , and is not ready to leap over it , and start into anothers function ; when every Star knows his own magnitude and sphere . This indeed were sicut in coelo , a heaven upon earth . For the least place in the Church of Christ is a high preferment . Nor is there any so low who may not be an Angel in his place to do Gods will ; an Angel , though not for power and dominion , yet an Angel for obedience . And it is not much material , if I do the will of God , whether I do it as a Lay-man or as a Clergy-man ; as poor Lazarus , or as rich Abraham ; as a Peasant , or as a Prince ; at the Mill , or in the Throne . Only here is the difference ; That duty which concerns the Clergy-man , the Lay-man must not tamper with ; nor must the Peasant teach the King to reign and govern . Remember what I told you out of St. Augustine ; Angelus non invidet Archangelo , The Angel doth not envy to see another Angel more glorious ; nor doth he desire a higher place . No : Superné omnia serena sunt ; in inferioribus fulminatur ; All is serene and quiet above ; Thunders and disorders are in the lower region , here , in terrâ , on the earth . And we have too much reason in the last and worst dayes to pray and pray again , Fiat volunt as tua sicut in coelis , That God's will may be done on earth in that peaceable order and quietness as it is in heaven . Will you know the reason of these tumults and disorders ? The reason is evident and plain . No man is content with an Angels place , but would be an Archangel , a Throne , a Cherubim ; and yet neither Angel , nor Throne , nor Cherubim for their obedience , but only for their power . Men desire , saith Austine , to imitate those deeds of Angels which beget wonder , but not that piety which gains eternal rest . Malunt enim superbè hoc posse quod Angelus quàm devotè hoc esse quod Angelus , Lib. 8. De Trinit. c. 7. Their Pride affects to do that which Angels do ; but their Devotion hath not strength enough to beget any desire in them to be what the Angels are , humble , reverent , obedient . Such Angels they would be as may be Devils , but not such Angels as stand about Gods throne to praise him for evermore . We conclude , and contract all in one word ; If we bring weak desires of doing Gods will , and think he will be well content with them , we have as good reason to think that all the reward which we shall have from God will be only a desire to do us good . If we be not active and speedy in the performance of his will , why should he make haste to help us ? Our Inconstancie is his repentance : and when we fall from him , he is forced to break his word . If we do it by halves , we have no reason to look for a full reward . If our obedience be disorderly , we cannot hope to be companions of those Angels who do hate confusion . But if we be chearful and constant and perfect in our obedience , if we abide in our own callings , and do the will of God orderly in that place where he hath ranked us , the Lord will come , and make no long tarrying ; he hath sworn , nor will he go from it ; and he will bring his reward with him , MERCEDEM NIMIS MAGNAM , an exceeding great reward ; and at last translate us from earth to heaven , where we shall be made 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , equal to the Angels , in equality of grace , though not of nature . I might have drawn-in many more particulars concerning the Angels by which to direct our Obedience . But I never loved to lease out a discourse , malens totum dicere quam omnia , desiring rather to speak that which is most fit and pertinent than to take in all that might be said . I shall now pass to the next Petition , Give us this day our daily bread .

The Six and Thirtieth SERMON . PART . I. MATTH. VI. 11. Give us this day our daily Bread .

WE pass now from the three first Petitions , which looked up directly into heaven upon the face of God , unto the three last , which look up indeed to heaven also , upon the Giver of all things , but withal reflect upon our selves , and on our present necessities . The first whereof is that I have read unto you , GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD . Before we come to handle which words , be pleased to take notice of the method here laid down by our Saviour for us to regulate our Devotion by . Order and Method , as it makes the way easie and plain to every design we take in hand , so it poises our Devotion . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Historian , There is nothing so fair , nothing so commodious for use , as Order . This is it which hath given praeeminence to Aristotle above all the Writers before him , that he brought Nature it self , and all Arts and Sciences , into a certain order and method . Though men pursue knowledge with all eagerness and heat of inquisition , yet , if they begin where they should end , they will be alwaies beginning , and never end ; they will but operose nihil agere , take a great deal of pains to be no wiser than they were : And though they strive forwards , and pace over much ground , yet will they be farther off from their wished end then when they made the first onset . Therefore what Vitruvius requireth in Architecture , is necessary in every work we undertake , especially in our Prayers , that there be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , order and disposition . There must be nothing in our Devotion 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ill disposed , or ill placed . For , as the devout Schoolman telleth us , that to incline too much to the sway of Sensuality and neglect the direction of Reason , tam sensualitatem quàm rationem extinguit , so also in our Devotion and Orizons , if we place them on temporal things and not spiritual ; or on temporal before spiritual ; they never reach the mark , but fall short of both ; they neither fill our hands with plenty , nor our souls with that spiritual Manna . If we prefer Mammon before God , we may expect to have leanness enter into our very souls , and to be punisht not only with a famine of bread , but of the Word of God also . The excellency of this method appeareth from the vast distance not only between the Body and the Soul , but also between that bread that perisheth and that which nourisheth us unto everlasting life . This latter is that which alone can satisfie that infinite appetite which God hath placed in the soul of man . This is favourable to us and benevolent ; this admitteth at once satiety and desire ; this worketh no loathing . For here is the difference between temporal and spiritual blessings : The one , when we have them not , kindle a desire in us ; and being enjoyed , quench that desire with loathsomness : But the other are never loath'd but when we have them not : when we have them , we more desire them . The more we feed , the more we are a hungry : and yet , when we are most hungry , we are full and satisfied . In illis appetitus placet , experientia displicet ; in istis appetitus vilis est , experientia magìs placet , saith Gregory . In temporal matters our appetite pleaseth us , but experience is distastful : They are hony in the desire , but in the tast gravel . But unto spiritual things our appetite commonly is sick and queasy ; but when we chew upon them , they are sweeter then the Honey and the Honey-comb . They are gall to the appetite , but to the tast Manna . Much more might be said on this subject , but let this suffice at present .

We proceed now to a particular application of the words of this Petition . And every one of them is verbum operativum , ful of force and efficacy , and hath its weight . We ask first for Bread ; secondly for our bread ; thirdly our daily bread : fourthly we ask it not as a debt , but as a gift : fifthly and lastly , we set a date as it were upon the petition , which putteth a period to our care and sollicitude , and binds our desires within the narrow compass of a day , give it us to day .

We begin with that which is the subject of our petition , Bread : which however placed , yet in nature is first to be Handled . For we must first propose the object and set it up as a mark , before we can carry our desires to it . First we must know what is meant by Bread , or else for bread we may ask a stone .

And here I find this Bread multiplied , not by any miracle , but by the activity of mens phansies , who have broke it out , and distributed it unto us : And if we take it from their hands , we may fit down and eat , and of the very fragments gather more then seven baskets full . Some take the word metaphorically , others properly . Some take Bread in a spiritual sense , and that either first for the bread of Righteousness , which Christians are to hunger and thirst after ; or secondly for the bread of the Word , which is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the bread of Angels , by virtue of which we walk in the ways of righteousness all the days of our life , and are nourisht up to an Angelical estate : or thirdly for that Bread which is the WORD , even Christ himself , which whosoever eateth shall never hunger ; or fourthly for Sacramental bread , which is consecrated and received in the holy Communion , which the Fathers call 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the holy and hallowed Bread ; and Ignatius , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the bread of God ; and Eusebius , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the holy nutriment ; or fifthly and lastly , for that bread of eternal Life which we shall then eat when we sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the blessed Saints , in the Kingdom of Heaven . Quinque panes sunt necessarii , quatuor in via , quintus in patria ; There be five manner of loaves very necessary Matth. 8. 11. for us ; four , whilest we travel here in our way ; and the fifth at our journeys end , in our country : four in this wilderness of the world , and the last in that celestial Canaan : our corporal bread , to sustein us ; our Spiritual , to inform us ; our Doctrinal , to instruct us ; our Sacramental , to purge and cleanse us ; and the eternal bread of life , which the Father will give us , to make us happy . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as St. Chrysostome used to speak , I embrace all Senses . For why should not Righteousness be as our daily bread , to feed us ? why should not we , with Job , put it on , to clothe us and make it as a Robe and Diadem ? Why should not we thirst , as the Hart , after those waters which are drawn out of the Wells of Salvation ? Why should we not long for our 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Fathers call the holy Eucharist , for that holy Bread which is our provision and supply in our way ? And eternal Life is Hominis optimum , saith St. Augustine , the best thing that can befall man , the very consummation and crown of our desires . For every one of these we may solicite the Majesty of heaven and earth , and press upon God with a pious impudence and holy importunity ; DANOBIS , PANEM HUNC DOMINE , Lord , evermore give us of this bread , of the Bread of Righteousness , of the Bread which thou breakest , of the Bread which thou art , of the Bread of thy Word , and of the Bread of thy Sacrament , which are primitiae futuri panis , the first-fruits of the Bread of eternal Life , which God the Father shall distribute with a full and bountiful hand to all his children in the world to come . We reject none of these senses . Whether we take it in the metaphor , or take it in the letter , we do not erre , nor will our prayers return empty . For if we regulate our devotion by the will of God , whatsoever we ask we shall receive . Nor doth the Goodness of God consider so much the gloss and interpretation which we make as the affection which we bring . Yet I rather admit of that signification which the word BREAD doth first propose unto us . Our discourse would be too much enlarged if we should follow and examine metaphors , which are feracissimae controversiarum , very fruitful to engender both discourse and controversie . Chrysostome doth very seldom refer the word Bread to the Sacrament : But in his Homily upon the Lords Prayer , deriving the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he calls it our daily bread , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that BREAD which is turned into the very substance of our bodies . And Abulensis , upon Matth. 6. hath proved by many reasons that that interpretation by which the Fathers referred it to the Sacrament is far fetched and forced , and not so solid . And it is most probable that our Saviour by Bread in this Petition meaneth both food and ravment , and all other things whatsoever that tend to the sustentation and support of this temporal life : Both Food and Rayment , I say . For though Bread be a staff , yet without Clothes it will not uphold us : and though Lev. 26. 26. Isa. 3. 1. Clothes be domus corporis , as Tertullian calleth them , the house wherein the Body dwells , yet without Bread the Body will sink to the ground , and pull the house down with it . If we be either naked or hungry long , we know Psal. 107. 5. what follows , our soul will faint within us . The end therefore which moves us to pray for Bread must be as a light to shew us what that Bread is : Nec verba tantùm defendenda , sed ratio verborum constituenda ; Nor must we so cleave to the letter as to admit of no sense of larger compass than it is , but look forward upon the end , which we may make gubernaculum interpretationis , as it were a rudder to guide us , and to carry our interpretation streight and even . The end of Bread is to nourish us and preserve life ; but without Apparel it will not have this operation ; therefore we must necessarily here understand both . With Bread our Garments are a shelter , and with Raiment Bread is a staff .

But this Bread here is not of compass large enough to take in the riotous fare of the glutton , and the full cups of the drunkard , and it is much too narrow to admit of excess and pride in apparel . Primùm tegendo homini necessitas praecessit , dehinc & ornando , imò & inflando ambitio successit , &c. saith the Father . If the Fathers lived now , how would they declaim against the luxury of these our dayes ! Shall I invite your eyes to look back upon the face of Antiquity , and shew you what commentary their Practice made upon their Pater Noster , and what they esteemed Bread ? And behold , instead of our soft beds , they had only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and usually lodged themselves upon the cold earth . Instead of our full tables , they had 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and ate dry'd and parcht meats . Shall I set before you a Monks feast out of Cassian ? It is quictly done . The cates were , Liquamen cum oleo , some Lard with Oyl ; Olives , every one three ; Cicer frictum , partch-Pease , every one five ; and dried Figs , every one one . And these they called trogalia , Junkets . All which might keep their stomach a work , but sure not over-cloy the body . Vesci cocto , erat luxuria , saith St. Hierom ; To tast of any thing that was boyled , was accounted great luxury . This was to them for Bread . And for that other help of Garments , instead of our Silks and Gold and fine Linnens , they had melôtas & cilicia , their sheep-skins and hair-cloth , in which they wandred in Dens and Caverns of the earth ; Tertullian went so far , and it may be too far , that he thought it was not fit to supplicate God for our sins in costly apparel ; Num ergò in coccino & tyrio supplicare nos condecet ? saith he ; Is it fitting , think you , to pray to God in silk and scarlet ? Cedo acum crinibus distinguendis ; Why then bring your crisping-pins , and your pomanders ; wash your bodies in costly baths , fill your selves with pleasant meats and luscious Wines ; and if any man ask you why you do so , Deliqui , dicito , in Deum ; You must needs make this answer , I have offended God , and am in danger of eternal death ; and therefore I thus afflict and torment my self , that I may be reconciled to that God whom I have thus offended . Thus did that holy Father whip the Luxurie and Looseness of his time . For my self , I have no power to enact leges sumptuarias , laws to restrain any either in their meat or apparel . But methinks we cannot take our pattern better than from the purest times , from the primitive Christians ; who contented themselves with those meats quae mortem arcerent , & delicias non ministrarent , which were antidotes against death , but no philtra , no inticements to wantonness ; Whose feasts were not only chast , but sober ; Who received their bread with that modesty ut non tam coenam coenarent quàm disciplinam , that they seemed rather to have exercised a part of their Christian discipline than to have met together at their refection . And as I do not exact from every Christian that Monkish strictness and severity , which notwithstanding I am not overhasty to condemn , yet the least I can require at your hands is Nyssen's 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , frugality and moderation , both in meats and apparel . And 1. bespeak you in St. Paul's words , that having food and raiment , you will be therewith content , and 1 Tim. 6. 8. count these as your daily bread . For , if we regard our bodies and the sustentation of life , Bread is enough : and to repair this our tabernacle , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Basil , a very small care , is sufficient . Our Bread is a kind of debt we owe it ; but we must not pay more then the creditor will take : and when we owe it but Bread , we must not take our Debt-book , and set down Superfluities ; when we owe it but one measure of wheat , take the bill , and set down fifty . If we would abate our Superfluities in diet and apparel , we might have enough for our selves , and something to spare for others ; after we have fed and clad our own bodies sufficiently , we might fill the bellies , and clothe the backs of our poor brethren , and so relieve Christ our Head by supplying the wants of our fellow-members . Yea , by our sobriety and moderation in the use of these things we shall keep both soul and body in good plight , free from those distempers that naturally flow from Excess and Luxurie . Munditia vestitûs , animae immunditia , saith Hierome ; They who are all for a gay out-side must needs be all foul and nastie within . For Nimia corporis cura , nimia animi incuria , saith another Father : Such as care for nothing but to make provision for the flesh , to fulfil the lusts thereof , cannot put on the Lord Jesus Christ , as the Apostle biddeth Rom. 13. 14. us . They who will still go brave , and drink deep , and feed high , and fare deliciously every day , with the Glutton in the Gospel , are likely not only Luke 16. to suffer Lazarus to starve at their doors , but also to pine and begger their own souls to eternity . It may seem somewhat strange that St. Paul calls Esau 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a fornicator and a profane person , since Moses no Hebr. 12. 16. no where recordeth it : And Thalassius the Monk moves the doubt to Isidore Pelusiote , lib. 1. Epist. who returneth a ready answer , That it was no marvel at all that he should sell his chastity , who first had sold his birthright for a mess of pottage . For this Bread of Luxurie doth not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Aristotle speaks , corrupt our health , but doth aggravare animam , layeth a burden upon the soul , that she can neither take the wing , and raise her self in the contemplation of God and his goodness , nor yet prompt the Eye or Hand or Tongue to do those offices for which they were created . It makes her 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , weaker , saith Clemens , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , slower , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , weak , sensless , stupid . For quorum corpora saginata , eorum animi in maciè , When the body is too full , streight leanness enters into the soul .

I may seem perhaps to have divided this Bread with too sparing a hand . I will therefore give you the whole Loaf ; and more I cannot give you . And by Bread here we will understand that provision , that wealth , those necessaries which every particular mans calling requires , or which may fit that place which he bears either in Church or Common-wealth . For I am not so strait-laced as to imagine that every Artificer should be furnisht as richly as a Noble-man , or that every Nabal should make a feast like a King . Not the same measure and proportion for Joab the Captain of the Hoast and for David the King , for Shaphan the Chancellour and for Josiah , for Gellio the Deputy and for Caesar the Emperour . It is true , in many respects there is no difference between man and man , but all are equal . We have all one Father , who hath made of one bloud all nations of men . And as we Matth. 2. 10. Acts 17. 26. are all made of one mold , so are we all bought with the same price . The soul of him that sitteth on the throne cost Christ no more then did the soul of him that grindeth at the mill . All are one in Christ Jesus . All true Gal. 3. 28. Christians have the same holy Spirit to sanctifie and guide them , all have an army of holy Angels to pitch their tents about them ; all are spiritual Kings and Priests ; all are now vessels of grace , and shall hereafter be vessels of glory . And at the day of doom the great Judge will not look who lieth in a winding-sheet , and who in a sheet of lead ; nor will he pardon this man because he was a King , and condemn that other because he was a Begger . Yet for all this , he hath made up his Church here not of Angels but of Men , who live in the world , and therefore must live under Government . Ecclesia non subvertit regna . The Church and Secular powers stand not in opposition , but so well sute and sort together that God hath left this as a blessing unto his Church , and part of her dowry , That Kings should be her nursing fathers , and Queens her nursing mothers . Now Kingdoms and Common-wealths Isa. 49. 23. cannot be governed and maintained unless there be a disparity of persons and places . It hath pleased God therefore to dispense his gifts in a wonderful variety amongst the children of men , that so they might be fitted for several professions and callings ; men of ordinary fashion and parts for lower and meaner vocations , to handle the Plough , or the Spade , or the Flail , or the Sheep-hook , to trade in the Shop , or to traffick by Sea , or to serve in the Wars : but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Philosopher calleth men of more then ordinary endowments , choice , active persons , picked out of thousands , these deserve to become famous in their generations , to attend on Princes , to bear office in Court , or Camp , or Church , or Common-wealth . Sic opus est mundo : There is a necessity of disproportion between men and men . Nihil enim aequalitate ipsâ inaequalius ; For there is no greater disproportion in the world then in a body politick to have all the parts equal . Being so , it cannot long subsist . Indeed some fantastick persons have long talkt of a Parity and Community : but it is to make themselves supream , and the greatest Impropriators in the world . For were the world so weak as to yield to their holy counsel and advice , you should then see these ravenous Wolfes strip themselves of their lambs-skins , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , openly , before the Sun and the People , invest themselves with that power which they cry down for Antichristian . Sint pares , protinus erunt superiores ; Let them part stakes , and they will have all : Let them be your equals , they will soon be your superiors : and give them but leave to stand on even ground with you , and they will before you can be aware of them lay you level with the ground . Now a Hezekiah is no better than a Senacherib , a Constantine than a Julian : every King is a Tyrant ; every Bishop , Antichrist ; no Guide , but the Spirit ; no Court , but Heaven ; no lash , but that of Conscience : Meum and Tuum are harsh words in the Church . Almost of the mind of the Carpocratians in Clemens , who , because the Air was common , would have their Wives so too . Quid verba audio : These words are most notoriously false and deceitful . For did they once rerum potiri , could they but shift the scene , and return back cloath'd with that power and jurisdiction which they libel , their own writings , which most barbarously call for the bloud and lives of men for no other reason , but because they cannot be fools enough to be of their opinion , shew what meek and gentle spirits we should find them . Now , No King , No Bishop , No Government ; But then they will reign as Kings : Their little fingers would be bigger then the most cruel Tyrants loyns ; and we , who before did not feel so much as a scourge , by these unhallowed Saints should be whipped with Scorpions .

But I must not stray too far out of my way to follow Thieves . I leave them to the mercy and justice of God , who in his due time will either work their conversion , or confound their devilish practices and machinations . To proceed then : God doth give every man his portion of bread . He did so in the beginning of the world , before the Floud ; he did so in the restitution of the world , after the Floud ; when that which every man first laid hold on was made his possession , which none could wrest from him , but by tort and violence and wrong . Had men indeed retain'd that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that simplicity and planeness , which they had at first , they had contented themselves with the water of the springs and those fruits which the earth did naturally bring forth : But when this failed from the sons of men ( as it was not of long continuance ) then there was a necessity — signare & partiri limite campum , for every man to become a proprietary of that which fell unto him either by express covenant , and by division , or in a more silent manner by occupation . And this though God did not command , yet he hath set his seal to it , and made it authentick . He gives the land of Canaan to the Israelites . He calls upon them to make their Hin and Ephah right . He calls false ballances an abomination . He pronounceth many woes against that Oppression which grinds the face of our neighbour . He sends his Prophet to meet Ahab as he was going to take possession of Naboth's vineyard , and to tell him that in the place where dogs did lick the bloud of Naboth , dogs 1 Kings 21. should lick his bloud also . And as it was then , so is it now , even in Christianity . Every man hath his Bread , those possessions which fall unto him either by inheritance , or gift , or purchase , or corporal labor and industry : Nor can any thing divide them from him but the hand of Violence , or his own hand , when Compassion and Charity stretch it forth to help his brother in distress . And therefore St. Augustine tells us that the Church of God is formed ex divitum pauperúmque concordiâ , of the concord of these two , the Rich and the Poor ; as Plato saith that Love had its being by the marriage of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Abundance and Want . We read indeed Acts 2. 44. that the first Christians had all things common : But this , though it were most laudable in them , doth no more bind us than the command Christ gave his Apostles doth , to have no shooes , to be content with one coat , &c. I will not press this further . For I do not love to quarrel for my Bread , and had rather want it then be too careful for it . But this Bread , as it is ours , so is it PANIS CHRISTI , Christs Bread and patrimony . Panis Christi est perdulcis panis , could that Atheistical Norman say , The Bread of Christ is very sweet bread , when he sold the Bishopricks and Dignities of his Church . All that I intend is this , to shew that we may ask for all those necessaries which belong to our place and calling , and that that wealth and provision which fits every mans person , either in Church or Common-wealth , is his Bread . The Kings Dominions , the Noble-mans Lordships , the Trades-mans wealth , and the Church-mans Tenth , Abrahams Jewels , Josephs ring and fine linnen , Davids changes of apparel , Jonathans purple , the Princes royal robes , the Nobles mantle , the Churches vestments , may all go under this name . A rich estate may be my Bread , and a mean estate may be my Bread : The one Contempt turns ino a stone ; the other , Envy . Tolle jactantiam , & quid sunt omnes homines nisi homines ? Take away boasting and vain-glory , and what are all men but Men ? Take away Envy , and the richest man is as low as the poor ; take away Pride , and the poorest man is as high as the rich . We know some disgrace in all ages hath been thrown on Wealth , as if it were more than Bread . But for the most part we may observe this hath rather proceeded from love than hatred of riches . Many men have fallen upon the distast of them as Lovers upon dislike of their Mistresses , when they cannot fill and satisfie their desire ; they change it into deadly hatred , and think it revenge enough to execrate that which at first they doted on . For certainly the Rich man may dispense his Bread as well as the Poor . Christ is poor in the begger , but the rich man relieveth him : he is cold in the naked , but the rich man clothes him : he lies wounded by the way side , but the rich man hath oyl and wine to pour into his wounds , and a piece of money to pay for his cure : he is imprisoned in the poor , but the rich man sets him at liberty . We know men have feared Poverty more than Death ; and yet there is indeed no such horror in it . It was happy to Tellus , affected of Diogenes , sought for by Crates , glorious to Epaminondas , just to Aristides . It is that wealth which Christ entitled to happiness . It is a vain thing , and savours of great ingratitude , but a common errour in the world , for men to think themselves contemptible in low places , to struggle and strive as if they were in fetters , and to complain as if they had not their Bread . Art thou called being a Servant ? care not for it , saith St. Paul : For he that is a servant , may be the Lords free-man . And he that is poor , may be the Lords rich man , and confer that on Christ which the rich man cannot , his Patience and Contentation . Perdidit paupertatem , qui nondum hoc didicit . He hath made no use of his Poverty who hath not learnt to be poor : And he is bankrupt of his Riches who knows not how to abound . He hath lost his Poverty who cannot make it Bread ; and he hath cankred and corrupted his Wealth who makes it more . Thus may Poverty become riches ; and the rich poor . Thus may we hold a community even in a propriety , and observe a just proportion in an equality . Some may have more Bread , but every man enough . Thus may our Bread be turned into Manna . For as the Israelites gathered the Manna , so do we our daily Exod. 16. 16. bread : We gather it every man according to his eating ; every man according to the number of our persons , and dignity of our places ; every man for them which are in his tents . The King hath his Omer and Measure ; the Nobleman , his ; the Priest , his ; the Trades-man , his ; the Landlord , his ; and the Farmer , his : But when we mete it out , when we make use of that Bread which we pray for , he that gathereth much hath nothing over , and he that gathereth little hath no lack ; but every man gathers according to his eating , prays for that proportion which his place in Church or Common-wealth exacteth . And thus much be spoken concerning the nature and extent of that which we are taught here in this Petition to pray for . We should now pass along to that which follows , and more particularly enquire why it is called Ours , and why our daily bread . But this we shall begin with the next Term.

The Seven and Thirtieth SERMON . PART . II. MATTH. VI. 11. Give us this day our daily Bread .

WE have heretofore shewed you what is meant by Bread in this Petition . We proceed now to enquire in the next place why we are taught to begg our bread , and to shew how it is ours . And we shall find it to be a question most necessary . For , Possidentis melior est conditio in causa impari , is the worlds axiome ; He that possesses any thing makes it his , though he have least right to it . And though we call them Impropriators who detain the Church-patrimony in their Sacrilegious hands , yet most men are guilty of this crime , though their hands were never defiled with that pitch . Paul is ours , and Cephas is ours , and Christ is ours , and all is ours . 1 Cor. 3. 22. Christ is ours , when we crucifie him : The Prophets are ours , when we persecute them : The Apostles and Messengers of Christ are ours , when we rob and spoil them : The bread of Deceit , the bread of Oppression , the bread of Idleness is ours : And , as Macrobius speaks of his book , Omne nostrum , & nihil nostrum ; All is ours , when nothing is ours .

This word then , NOSTER , Our bread , is verbum vigilans , a word awake , full of fruitful admonitions , full of efficacy , to pull our hands out of our bosome to labour for our bread ; to keep our hands from robbery and oppression from picking and stealing , from fraud and deceit , to stretch forth our hands to cast our bread upon the waters ; to work in us those three Christian vertues , Industry , Honesty , and Liberality ; that so our Bread may be indeed ours ; Ours , though Gods gift , even the work of our hands ; Ours , by lawful purchase and possession ; and Ours , that is , not Mine or Thine , but in commune , for the common good , the good of our brethren . Otherwise , though the windows of heaven open and showre it down , though the Sword and the Bow bring it in as a prey , though our Policy and Craft beat it upon any anvil , it is not ours : But the faster we hold it , the less it is ours . That Bread which we knead with the sweat of our brows ; that which we gain sinè fuco & fallaciis , more majorum , without fraud and cousenage , according to the simplicity of the antients and better times ; that which we give and distribute to our brethren , that is truly our Bread .

And first , we must not think , as he said of Victory , that this Bread will fall into our bosom , sedendo & votis , by sitting still , and wishing for it ? We are wont to feed our selves with this vain conceit both in spiritual and temporal matters . When we read of the sudden and strange conversion of Paul and some others , and how Solomons great wisdom cost him but the price of his prayers , we are too apt to think that it may be so with us , that we may be happy and virtuous sine pulvere & sole , without enduring either wind or weather ; that though we strive not at all , yet the Grace of God will be sufficient for us . And this conceit hath brought that poverty and leanness into many mens souls , which we may bewail with tears of bloud , but not remove with a floud of eloquence ; it having taken so deep root , that when we cry it down , we are counted bringers in of new Doctrine , and are rather wondred at than believed . The same conceit is alike dangerous in the things of this life , which are Gods blessings as well as the other , though but of his left hand . Metellus in Gellius speaks indeed but like an heathen man , who knew not God : but we may gather instruction from his words : Dii immortales plurimum possunt ; sed non plus velle nobis debent quàm parentes ; The Gods , saith he , can do all things for us ; but there is no reason they should wish more good to us than our parents do . Now parents , if their children persevere stubbornly in evil courses , in idleness and prodigality , do not still supply them , but disinherit them of all . So saith he . Iisdem Deos propitios esse aequum est , qui sibi adversarii non sunt ; We cannot in common equity expect that God should be propitious and favourable to those who are enemies to themselves ; that he should make him sober who in the very act of drunkenness makes a godly prayer ; that he should make him just , who doth but desire it ; or him honest , who resolves to be a knave . To apply it to our present purpose ; We cannot expect that God should give him a plenteous harvest who will not plow for cold , that he should reach him food who will not pluck his hand out of his bosome to receive it , or give him bread who will not labor for it , qui neque pluviam neque solis aestum sentit , who neither feels the rain nor the heat of the sun . Nunquid ideo non debet homo facere quod debet , quia Deus facit quod vult ? Those fruits of the earth , which as the Civilians speak , are not industriales , but naturales , which Nature brings forth out of the womb of the earth without the midwifery of mans Industry , even those come not forth so kindly and plentifully without our labur . We dress and prune and dung our plants , or else our Autumn will not answer our hopes . Look upon the vineyard of the slothful ; It is all grown over with thorns , and nettles cover Pro. 24. 30 , 31. the face of it . The worm doth eat their Plants , and the locust consume them . Therefore Labor comes sub necessitate praecepti , saith Aquinas , under the binding necessity of a law ; It is not only a bare and naked condition without which we shall not have our food and raiment ; but is enjoyned as a duty , that we may have them . And he giveth the reason ; Quod ordinatur ad finem , à fine necessitatem habet ; That which is ordained to an end , hath a necessity from that end to which it is ordained . And if that be necessary , it is also necessary . If we will live , we must eat ; and if we will eat , we must labor . He that will not labor , let him not eat , saith the 2 Thess. 3. 10. Apostle . It is true , Man liveth not by bread only , but by the word of his mouth , by his blessing , that strengthneth it . The blessing of the Lord , that is it which maketh rich . But he that blesseth thy basket and thy bread , requires Prov. 10. 22. thy labor : And he will first bless thy labor , that it shall bring thee in plenty of Bread ; and thy Bread , that it may nourish thee . He will make thy labor fruitful , and thy Bread a staff . All Christian Common-wealths should be the Israels of God : and in his Israel as he promised there should be some poor on whom to exercise charity , so he ordained there should be Deut. 15. 11. no lazy idle begger , as some understand that Deut. 15. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Let there be no begger in the Common-wealth , saith Plato in his Book De Legibus , where he gives the most exact Idea of a Republick . The Civil Laws have flat constitutions against Idleness , in the Titles DE MENDICANTIBUS NON INVALIDIS , Of strong and sturdy Vagabonds . The Athenians punisht Sloth in publick , ut facinorosae ità erubescendae ream culpae , as a most odious and shameful crime . And amongst the Romans , siquis agrum indiligenter curabat , non sine poena fuit ; He that did not manure his ground , or not dress his vineyard , came under the authority of the Censors . Nay , siquis equum habuit gracilentum , saith Gellius , if any man had but a lean horse , he was streight noted and censured for negligence . In the art of Tillage and Husbandry not only private men , but those also who had born office in the Common-wealth of Rome did exercise themselves . The Curii , the Coruncani , the Fabricii , after conquests and triumphs , inter aratra vivebant ; & nè virtus quiete languesceret , triumphales senes rusticabantur , as Latinus Pacatus speaks ; They went to the plough ; and , that their virtue might not faint and languish through idleness and luxury , they left the City , and betook themselves to their Country-labors , more happy and glorious at their Farms than in the Capitol . Hence old Cato in the beginning of his Book De re rusticâ tells us , Virum bonum cùm laudabant , ità laudabant , BONUM AGRICOLAM , BONUM COLONUM ; When they commended a good man , they would say he was a good husband-man . We read of the Indian Gymnosophists in Apuleius ; that when for dinner the table was spread , the Masters called the younger men , and askt them what good they had done à lucis ortu ad illud diei , from the rising of the Sun to that time of the day . One replies that he had been an umpire or arbitratour between two that had fallen out , and had made them friends ; another , that he had obeyed the command of his parents , and been busie in what they imployed him ; a third , that he had gained some new conclusion . Qui nihil affert cur prandeat , extruditur impransus ; He that could bring nothing why he should sit down , was thrust out without a dinner . Behold here a plain interpretation of St. Pauls words made by those who never heard of Christ . For if Scripture were silent , Reason it self will suggest thus much , that it is fit that Drowsiness should be clothed with raggs , and that the idle soul should suffer hunger . He that will not work in his youth , suae senectuti acriorem hiemem parat , could the Comedian say , must needs expect a most sharp winter in his age .

If I thought the Sluggard would hear me , I would tell him that his laziness dulls and slugs his prayers , that they cannot mount to heaven to bring down any blessing ; that he gives himself the lye whilst he prays , Give us our bread ; that though he have bread , and more than enough , yet his idleness turns it into stones and gravel , and fills him with the gall of asps ; that he eateth not his own bread , because that he eateth was not gotten with the work of his own hands and the sweat of his own face ; that , though he spoil not those who pass by , and take their purse by force and violence , yet he is a thief and a robber . He is a Thief , say the Civilians , qui rem contractat alienam , who handleth that which is none of his . Nay , the Antients were so strict as to reckon him in the number qui mutuo ad aliam rem atque accepit usus est , who useth that which he borrows to another purpose then for which it is lent him . Certainly then the Sluggard may be arraigned and condemned as guilty of Robbery : For he rosteth that which he never took in hunting , and eateth that bread which cost him no labor . He is Felo de se , and robbeth himself . For though he be rich and have store of bread , yet his Laziness will moulder it to nothing , will shake the very foundation of his estate , and undoubtedly bring him to beggery . He robs also the Common-wealth : For a most true axiome it is , Interest reipublicae ut quis re suâ bene utatur , every mans careful husbanding of his private estate is advantageous to the whole body publick . Yea , the Sluggard robbeth his own soul . For Slothfulness casts him into so deep a sleep , that it may be said of him as St. Paul saith of the wanton widow , He is dead while he liveth . 1 Tim. 5. 6. Eph. 4. 28. Men and brethren are these things so ? Must we labour with our hands the thing that is good ? Must our Hand be busie as well as our Tongue ? If we work not , are we guilty of theft & rapine ? How many then are there in the world who have food enough , & yet eat not their own bread ? First , those cloistred Monks and Friars who have left the World , but it is as many men leave Virtue and Learning , not that they hate and loath either , but because 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the way that leads to them is hard and rough , because they cannot be obtained without sweat and industry . We may truly say with Luther , Monachos igna via fecit . I speak not of those antient Monks who lived upon the labor of their hands , such as St. Augustine describes Lib. 1. De moribus Ecclesiae , who had so far estranged themselves from the world that to some they seemed res humanas plùs quàm oportet deseruisse , to have exceeded and done more than they ought . Yet notwithstanding they laboured hard in manual trades , brought what they had wrought to those whom they called their Deans , that that which before had cost them so much labor , might not now put them to the business of a thought . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by spinning and making of cloth , they provided for themselves and for the poor , usquè adeò ut onerarias etiam naves in ea loca mitterent quae inopes incolunt , insomuch that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , bringing their works to perfection , they laded whole ships with the works of their hands , and conveyed them to those places where the needy did inhabit . No : I am so far from censuring these that I wish every rich mans house were such a Monastery . But those who came after bore the name of Monks , but indeed had nothing but the name ; umbraculo malae disciplinae se contegentes , saith Augustine , Lib. De opere Monachorum ; covering their idleness and luxury under the shadow and covert of a Monastical life and solitary devotion ; under pretence of poverty seizing into their hands the wealth and riches of the world ; removing themselves from barren places into the fattest places of the Land , from solitary Desarts into most frequented Cities ; turning their poor Cottages into stately Palaces , their true fasting into formalizing and partial abstinence : So that they left not the world for Christ , but under pretense of Christ they gained the world , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Nazianzene speaks . Therefore they were justly misliked both by St. Hierome , in his Epistle to Rusticus , and by St. Augustine in his work before mentioned . And this their lazy Devotion they maintained by Scripture . They had read that the fowls of the air neither sow nor reap , and thence Mat. 6. 26. they defended not only their Sloth but also their Pride and Arrogance . It is true , saith the Father , the fowls of the ayr neither sow nor reap : but why do they not read forward , nec congregant in apothecas , nor carry into the barn ? Will they be like the fowls ? Why then do they fill their garners with other mens labors ? Hoc aves non faciunt ; The birds do not thus , cur molunt & coquunt ? Why do they grind and boyl their corn ? This the birds do not do . Why do they lay up for the morrow ? why do they invent delicate dishes ? This the birds do not do . In Idleness they will be Birds , or Lilies , or any thing ; but in luxury and gluttony 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , beasts , yea , worse than any beast . They pretend they imploy their time in reading of Scripture ; and do they not find in the Scripture that he that will not labor shall not eat ? What folly and perversity is this , under pretense to have time to read , to take no time to obey any truth that they do read ?

But to let these pass , as out of our Horizon ; another sort of Christians there are who , though they labour for their Bread , because they love it well , though they rise up early , and lye down late , and eat the bread of sorrow , to gain that bread which perisheth , yet do not think that God is thereby served , but conceive that he rewards our labour only with Bread . They cannot thrive , they think , unless twice or thrice in the week they leave their Shop and go up to the Temple ; what ? with the Pharisee , to pray ? No ; but with the Hypocrite to hear a Sermon . Without this ear-devotion they cannot thrive . And indeed many , we see , thrive not because of this ; and so starve the whole body to feed and delight the ear . They call it Devotion , but it is the wantonness and luxury of the Ear , which wasts their Devotion , and at last their Wealth , and many times makes them sell their Bibles to buy their Bread . So that Demosthenes counsel may seem here very seasonable , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to do the first cure upon the ear ; where this disease may dwell which is so dangerous both to our present and future estate . I speak not this to disharten or discountenance any who are frequent hearers of the Word , who thirst and hunger after this spiritual food ; I know , as the Wise-man speaks , that God hath given us eyes , and Eccl. 17. 6. ears , and a heart to understand . And I approve that of Tertullian , Vera ornamenta aurium , voces Dei , that the best Jewels we can hang in our ears are the words and oracles of God . And we are so far from condemning of frequent hearing , that when you fill the Church , though we cannot see your hearts , yet we make it a great part of our glory and joy . But give me leave to tell you ; Religion is not confined to the Ear , nor is it a prisoner to so narrow compass as to be shut up in the Temple . If you will entertain her , she will come and dwell with you in your private houses and shops ; She will walk with you in the streets and fields , sit down with you at your meals , lye down with you in your beds , and rise up with you in the morning . The Husband-man , whilst he holds his plow , may chant forth a Hallelujah : They they work with their hands may sing the songs of Sion , & ipsum laborem tanquam divino celeusmate consolari , and ease their labors and rowse up their spirits with this heavenly noyse , as the mariners do when they draw up the anchor . Religion will sit with the King in his throne , and with the Judge on the bench : It will accompany the Preacher as well in his Study as in the Pulpit , and the Trades-man as well in his Shop as in the Church . It is a dangerous error to think that when we sweat in our trade and calling we do not serve God , and that we are not holy but in the Church . Nothing can defile and pollute the inward man but an impure and impious life and conversation . To take off this imputation : As the Devil culls out his disciples when they are idle , so our Saviour chose his when they were busie at their trade , either casting or else mending their nets . Nay , he himself stooped to a trade , and was a Carpenter , or , as Justin Martyr tells us , a Plough ▪ wright : He made 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ploughs and yokes . When the Heathen laid it as an imputation on Christianity that they were infructuosi in negotiis , idle and unprofitable to the Common-wealth , Tertullian replies that it was an injurious and forged accusation . Look , saith he , into your prisons : You see no Christian there . And if you do find a Christian there , the fact that laid him there could be none but this , That he was a Christian : NON SINE FORO , NON SINE MAGELLO ; We have our Market-place ; we have our Shambles ; we have our Shops ; we have our Fairs . NAVIGAMUS VOBISCUM , ET MILITAMUS , ET MERCAMUR ; We sail with you , we traffick with you , we go to war with you . SI CEREMONIAS VESTRAS NON FREQUENTO , ATTAMEN ET ILLA DIE HOMO SUM ; If we do not frequent your costly and superstitious ceremonies , yet even then are we men . Nor are we less Christians because we work for our bread , and labor to supply our selves with food and raiment . Christian Religion , like Manna in Wisd. 16 21. the desart , complyeth with every taste , with every trade and occupation . Art thou called to be an Husbandman , and to till the earth ? She will help thee to fill thy barn , and granaries . Dost thou follow Merchandize ? She will travel with thee , and , like the Merchants ships , she will bring thee food from afar . Art thou a Souldier ? She will fight with thee . It is a part of our Religion to pray for our bread ; and it is a part of our Religion to make it ours by labor . It is an old fallacie of that great Sophister the Devil ; Salvation is the gift of God ; which is most sure : Therefore we need not work it out ; which is most false . And , God opens his hand , and gives us bread : This we may build upon : But , Therefore we need never sweat for it to make it our own . This if we trust upon , we may be starved to death .

It is high time to leave the devout Sluggard . Give me leave now to salute the idle Gallant and the swaggering Ruffian , men who are inter pectinem speculúmque occupati , taken up between the comb and the g●ass , qui malunt rempublicam turbari quàm comam , who had rather the whole Common-wealth should be distracted than one hair of theirs stand out of its place ; who spend their whole time aut aliud , aut nihil , aut malè agendo ; men of no calling , no profession at all . They walk and talk away their time . They plow not , they spin not , yet they fare deliciously , and are gorgeously apparelled , as trim as Solomon on the throne , or as the Lilies in the field . How can one chuse , when he meeteth these silken things , but fall down and worship them ? Nay , rather we will be bold to tell these painted Sepulchres , these unprofitable burdens of the earth , who have nothing generous in themselves but their Names , nothing noble in their houses but the Pictures of their Ancestours , That their bread is not their own ; That the vilest servant they keep , even he that sitteth with the dogs of their flocks , deserveth his food and rayment better than they ; That the Ox may lawfully feed , when they should be muzzled . I know they will reply , That they are born to lands and riches ; that what they have is their own by inheritance ; that they abound with bread , and therefore need not labor for it . I do not bid them take a Sheep-hook in their hands , yet Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob were Shepherds ; nor the Ax and the Saw , yet Joseph , yea Christ himself , was a Carpenter ; nor the Awl and the Last , yet some Philosophers , saith Augustine , have done the office of a Cobler : but yet I cannot think that God gave them so much Bread to make them idle , did so much for them that they themselves should do just nothing , or , which is worse then nothing , make themselves gallant and boysterous fools . Cain and Abel were better born then they ; heirs apparent of the whole earth , yet both of them had their employment in their several vocations . Why should any then , because of Gentile or Noble extraction , count himself priviledged and exempt from labor , and to have licence to do nothing , but eat and drink and snort and sport ? There be other Arts besides mechanical , as the art of Living well , the art of Hospitality , that oeconomical art of Well-ordering ones houshold . These the greatest ought to learn and follow : And thus doing they will shew themselves thankful to God for his great bounty , and they will not eat the bread of Idleness , but their own Bread .

Now in the next place , though Labour fill our basket , yet Honesty and Integrity of conversation is that which gives us firm possession , and makes us Lords and Proprietaries of that Bread we gather . Many labour , and rise up early , and lye down late , and eat the bread of sorrow , yet eat not their own bread . There is nothing that hath esteem amongst men , whether good or bad , but is sold for Labour and Industry . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith St. Basil . All things in this are alike . Even those things which make us slaves to the Devil are bought with difficulty and vexation of spirit : And many times laboriosior est hujus mundi amor , saith Gregory , men are more busie to destroy themselves than others are to work out their salvation . The Adulterer waits and watches for the twilight , studies to find out occasions and opportunities to satisfie his inordinate lust . The Thief breaketh his sleep , and lurks in the dark . Quibusdam somnum rixa facit , saith the Poet : and Solomon interprets it Prov. 4. 16. Some there be that cannot sleep unless they have done mischief ; and their sleep is taken away , unless they cause some to fall . Tertullian limits and restrains that of the Apostle , Let every man work with his own hands , that he may eat his own bread : For if every one who laboureth with his own hands may be defended by this , credo & ipsos latrones manibus agere quo vivant , Certainly even thieves , saith he , do labor with their hands for their bread ; Falsarios utique non pedibus , sed manibus operari ; They who forge writings , and falsifie evidences , do it not with their feet , but with their hands : Histriones verò non manibus solis , sed totis membris , victum elaborant : Stage-players themselves may go for Apostolical , who labor for their bread not with their hands alone , but with their tongues and every member of their body . It were even a labor to shew the divers arts and inventions men have found out to work out their way to meet the wealth and riches of the world , and that even amongst those who go under the name of Christians . For , if we please to observe it , we shall easily find that there are not any two things of more different and unlike countenance and complexion than that Christianity which is commended to us in the writings of the Apostles and Evangelists , and that which goes for current in use and practise of the times . He that shall behold the true face of a Christian as it is decipher'd and painted out unto us in the Books of the New Testament , and unpartially compare it with that copy and counterfeit which is exprest in the life and demeanour of common Christians , will think them no more like than those shields of Gold which Solomon made were unto those of brass which Rehoboam placed in their stead ; and may think perhaps that the writers of those Books had brought vota magis quàm praecepta , had rather phansied to themselves some admirable pattern of a Christian , such as they could wish , than delivered rules and laws which seriously and truly ought to be practized in common life and conversation .

To walk honestly is that which must regulate our Devotion , must give us right and title to that we possess , must make our wealth , our possessions , our lands PANEM NOSTRUM , our bread . This is commended to us by Nature it self , and by the Religion which we profess : And yet , I know not how , though we cannot quite banish Nature , though we cannot utterly blot out those principles of Honesty , yet many times we interline them with false glosses , though we cannot race them out , yet we blurr and deface them . We draw false consequences from true principles ; we hunt out tricks and evasions , but it is to cheat and delude our own souls . And now what talk we of the Law of Nature ? If you read it in the Worlds corrupt edition , if unjust man may be the Scholiast , thus it runs , INJURIAM FEGISSE , VIRTUTIS EST , To do injury , is virtue ; To oppress , is power ; Craft is policy , Theft frugality ; and the greatest wisdom , not to be wise unto salvation . And as we slip off the bridle of Nature , and as much as we can unlearn that law which is written in our hearts , so we are as willing to pull our necks out of the easie yoke of the Gospel . For a strange conceit is at this day crept into the world , and it receives warmth in the bosom of the Church , That how regardless soever we be of those seeds of goodness , how forgetful soever of common honesty , yet for all that we may be Christians good enough . But as Tertullian speaks of the heathen Gods , Quot potiores viri apud inferos ? certainly there is many an honester man in Hell than they . They talk big against the world , which is the worse for them : and out of Sodom they will go , though they have no other Angel to hasten them than an idle phansie and the spirit of a sick and loathsome brain , nor have any thing of Lot unless it be his incest . It is a wonder to see what gifts of temperance , of natural conscience , of justice and moral uprightness , did remain not only in the books but in the lives and conversation of many heathen men . I know not how they had Honesty without Faith , but we have Faith enough ( we talk of nothing else ) but little Honesty . And indeed as many ungoverned men are the worse for the many helps they have , and would love themselves better had they not so many friends , so we Christians prodimur auxiliis , are betrayed by our prerogatives , and are sick of our own strength , of Faith , and the Hope of mercy in Christ . This is , I presume , the cause why so many Christians out-go Barbarians , Turks and Infidels in fraud and villany . And therefore as the Honesty of the Heathen without Faith , so our Faith without Honesty shall be but as the Rain-bow was to them before the Floud , for shew , but no use at all . And indeed this is but to deceive our selves . For neither Faith nor Hope , especially as they are opera intellectûs , phansied in the brain , but Honesty and Integrity entitles us to the promises of this life , and of that which is to come , and maketh the good things we enjoy to be our Bread . Though we mourn like doves , and wash our beds with our tears , though we wish our head a fountain of tears to bewail the sins of the people ; though we tread the courts of the Lord , and nail our ears to the Pulpit ; yet after all this ceremonious piety a false measure at home , a false weight in our bagg , a deceitful heart , and a heavy hand will wipe off our title to our Bread , and our names too , if we repent not , out of the Book of Life . It is a plain and undeniable proposition ( yet some venture on the contrary affirmative part ) He that lyes to his brother , He that defrauds his brother , is so far from being religious , that he deserves not so much as the name of a Christian : But we love to be deceived , and deceive our selves . We fall commonly into one of these two Fallacies : Either A malè divisis : We divide and sunder those things which are everlastingly united , not only Profit and Honesty ( which Tullie abhorred ) but Honesty and Religion , Truth and Faith ; and , when both are commanded , we rest in one : Or else into A dicto secundum quid ad dictum simpliciter : We take any part , any duty of Religion to be the sum and conclusion of the whole matter , and comfort our selves with one seeming virtue ( if you will , frequenting of Sermons ) against a world of vice , and that detestable Injustice and Oppression , which in this triumph of Godliness , in this spiritual Jubilee , will insensibly , but certainly sink our souls to Hell .

To draw then towards a conclusion of this point ; All fraud , all injustice and oppression proceed from infinite and importunate Ambition . From this riot hath sprung forth both that huge mass of wealth which private men , and that boundless compass of government which greatest Princes have attained to . Nothing was ever more unjust than the raising of those great Kingdoms : and , if the Laws of common Equity had taken place , they had never been . St. Augustine , I am sure , saw no difference between the Roman Empire and Spartacus his conspiracy but only this , that the one lasted a little longer : Which indeed puts no difference at all in the thing it self . And if we should look into some rich mens coffers , we should find that this rust , this canker of Oppression and Fraud hath so corrupted their treasure that they can hardly know it to be theirs .

To conclude , Plots and tricks and devises many times thrive in the world ; But when God maketh inquisition for bloud , when he riseth up to set at liberty those who are oppressed , he will take a candle , and find them out , and singe them . With us it is wisdom and discretion sometimes to play least in sight : But when Gods Justice pursues and overtakes us , we perish in those Meanders and Labyrinths which we made to hide our selves in . All our reaches and tricks will prove but like Heliogabalus his ropes of silk to strangle us , and as his daggers of gold to stab us . Then shall we find that we have but fed and prankt up our selves with that Bread which was not ours , ut cariùs pereamus , only that our destruction might be more costly than others . Et sola in rusticulis suis facunda justitia ; Then the best eloquence will be Innocence ; and they will plead best for themselves , and make good their title , quibus integritas solida & tota , as Tertullian speaketh , whose solid integrity and entire simplicity , whose rusticity and plainness hath brought a blessing both on their labour and basket , even this blessing , That what Bread their Industry hath brought in may truly and properly be called their own : For these two , Labor and Honesty , do indeed make it PANEM NO STRUM , our bread .

Now being entitled to the goods of this life by these two , Labour and Honesty , we presently account our selves possessores bonae fidei , true and lawful possessors : And our inward thought is , as the Prophet David speaks , Psal. 49. 11. that they will continue for ever , and that we may call our lands by our own names . It is true , what falls unto us by express covenant or by division , what we gain by Honesty and Industry is wholly and entirely ours . But NOSTER PANIS , our Bread , implies more : and as it taketh not away the first , so it addeth a second : It taketh not away the Propriety of our Bread from us , but it addeth a Readiness to distribute it , and cast it upon the waters . When we make it as an Evidence and Assurance , we look upon it but upon one side , and many times ex adverso situ , on the wrong side , and by too much gazing loose our sight : but when we take the perspective of the Gospel , and behold it with the eye of Faith and Christian Charity , on the other side , we shall find our poor distressed Brethrens title so legible , that we may run and read it . NOSTER gives us livery and seisin , makes our Bread OURS jure Quiritium , by the Law of man , and jure Divino , by the Law of God . Nor doth the Evangelical Law come in to weaken our title , or disinherit us , or force us out of possession . But , as St. Hierom tells us , aliud est judicium tribunalis Christi , aliud anguli susurronum , there is great difference in pleading before the Roman Rostra , and the Tribunal Seat of Christ . Nor must Christians make good their title only by the Common Law or Book of Statutes , but by the Gospel and their PATER NOSTER . Who ever brought an action against others for want of compassion ? But we find a sentence past upon them , These shall go away into everlasting punishment . Matth. 25. The Philosopher by the light of Reason could say , Man by nature is a sociable creature : and , Civis non est suus , sed civitatis ; A Citizen is not to consider himself a citizen only in that capacity as able to do well for himself , and to fill his own coffers , but in the latitude , to be useful to the whole Body politick , and to every part and member of it ; and , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , When thou seest another thou seest thy self . Shall not the light of the Gospel then shew us that Christianus non est suus , sed Ecclesiae ? that a Christians Charity , in respect of its diffusive operation , must be as Catholick as the Church . For it is in the Church as in Pythagoras his family , which he shaped and framed out to his Lute . There is first 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the integrity of the parts , as it were a set number of strings ; 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an apt composition and joyning them together . For the members of the Church are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , joyned and coupled together by every joynt , saith the Apostle , even by that bond of Charity , which is copulatrix virtus , as the Father calls it , that virtue which couples all together . And then follows 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and every string being toucht in its right place and order begets a harmony . And this word NOSTER , our Bread , comprehends all these . For thus not only that bread which we buy with our labor , but all the bread in the world is ours , all the riches of the world are ours , and withal all the miseries , all the afflictions , all the necessities of our brethren , are ours . Oh how heavenly an harmony is heard from that charity which joyneth high and low , rich and poor in a sweet concord and concent ! This must needs delight the ears of the holy Angels , and of God himself . Caesarius in one of his Homilies giveth this reason why God made one rich , and another poor , That the poor might prove the rich mans faith and charity , and the rich be enriched by the poor mans poverty , and that when to prove the rich by the poor , all the wealth in the world cannot purchase him that hath it one quiet thought , his compassion and bounty to the poor might entitle him to the joyes of heaven . Care and Industry , without this Fellow-feeling , bring in the things of the world upon us : but the true profit of them is in enjoying , using and bestowing them . Those may be as servants to bring them in , but Charity is as an instructer to teach us how to lay them out , and makes them profitable . It is a greater part of wisdom wisely to dispend them when we have them , than to get them at first . Many there are in the world , like Lollius in Paterculus , pecuniae quàm benefaciendi cupidiones ; many that know how to gather , but few that know how to use ; many that make no end of heaping up wealth , but never bethink themselves how to employ it : As one told Annibal , that he knew how to conquer , but not how to use the victory . Gold and silver by lying idly by us gather rust , as St. James tells us , chap. 5. 3. which rust eats out our soul : But Charity , abditae terris inimica lamnae , washes off the rust of it , and rubbeth it bright by using it . The world , I know , makes it profit enough to have wealth ; but that other profit , which comes by expense and laying out , it can hardly be brought to learn . Ours it is if we have it : and like the Grave , or the barren Womb , we never say , It is enough : but , when we have it , we know no other language than this , saith Basil , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , I have it not , I will not give it . We can be content to hear that Christianity shall be profitable to us ; but that Christianity should make us profitable to others , that it should cost us any thing , to this we are as deaf as the Adder . It was the same Fathers observation , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , I know many , saith he , that can with some ease be brought to fast , to pray , to lament and mourn for their sins , to perform all parts of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of that piety which will cost them nothing : but hardly shall you draw them to that part of piety which doth require but the cost of a half-peny . And this is a● epidemical disease at this day . We who have the oversight of you in Christ are witnesses of your labour of frequenting of prayers , of hearing , nay of thirsting after Sermons . All this is but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . You are very free of it because it costs you nothing . But how would you be our glory and joy and crown of rejoycing , if we might a little more understand that part of piety which holds all in capite , and makes it yours by anointing the Head in his Members . I know not how we keep our accounts : but it is easie to observe , that the Scripture seldom speaks of laying up : For this is a thing which of our selves we are too ready to practise . Dimittas licet paedagogum : There needs no pains to teach where Scholars are so willing to learn . But Scripture oft-times and earnestly deals with us concerning the laying our riches out , as being a hard lesson ; and long we are a learning it . Did I call it a hard lesson ? Nay , it seems a Paradox to the most , a meer speculation . The Philosopher , where he shews us the wayes of Alienation , brings in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 as well as 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , giving as well as selling . Not only when we make sale of our goods , but traditione dominium rerum amittimus , saith the Lawyer , when we give them , we lose all right and title to them . As that which we sell , so that which we give is not ours . But Christs Law teacheth us that not Keeping so much as Giving maketh our goods ours . And not only To take away but Not to give is furtum interpretativum , saith Alexander of Hales : When God comes to be the Interpreter , it will be plain theft . For 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Every covetous person is a thief ; because he lays up that which was given him 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to dispense and scatter abroad . This is the end why Bread , why Riches are given us , that we may give to them that are in need . And this is the way to make most of them . For as Tertullian saith , Christian Charity minuendo res auget , recondit erogando , dum amittit acquirit ; it lays up by laying out , and gaineth by loosing . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Who ever became poor by giving ? saith the Apostate . St. Ambrose Offic. Lib. 2. parallels that of Julian , Scio plerosque sacerdotes , quò plus obtulerunt , plus abundasse ; I have known many Bishops who the more they did offer , the more they did abound . And if we read their Books who have written the Lives of the Fathers , they will furnish us with many particulars , and some perhaps which will not easily gain our belief . No doubt God often rewardeth Charity with temporal blessings ; but what are these to its reward in the next life ? Weigh them together , and they will prove very light . What is a pebble to a diamond ? the transitory wealth of this world to the treasures of heaven ? long life to eternity ? And these we shall have for what we give to the poor by way of exchange . And what greater increase can our money bring us in : Fac cùm tuis opibus ut unam nubeculam excites , saith the Father ; Try , if with all thy wealth thou canst raise a cloud as big as a mans hand : but by giving it away thou mayest do greater works than that ; Thou mayst open the windows of heaven . It cannot turn the night into day : but being cast away it will be thy harbinger to prepare a place for thee there where there is no night at all .

I have fallen , you see , upon a common subject , and did intend once to have balked it , or but to have toucht upon it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by the way . For things common and ordinary do lose their price and credit amongst men ; and the palate of many hearers is grown so dainty that to speak to them of so common and vulgar a lesson as this seems to be , is as if you should set before them cramben bis coctam , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , some cold , course , or ordinary diet , the Gibeonites mouldy bread ; like she Jews Manna , which their souls abhorred because it was so common . But , to take away this error , I have learnt to call no useful doctrine common or trivial ; and that things common and plain are most excellent ; yea , therefore most common and plain because they are most excellent . The Jews were wont to give out the books of holy Scripture respectively to the abilities of men . Some few were permitted to the vulgar ; the rest were lockt up , to be read only by the learned . But this lesson admits no such restraint , but lyes equally open to the use of both ! Besides , methinketh the Church of Christ is much degenerated from what it was in ancient times , and this word NOSTER generally now-a-dayes mistaken , as if it only gave us entry and possession , and then stood as a fense about our wealth to keep our brethren off . The primitive Christians I am sure , did never so understand it ; and therefore to feed others who were in want was their daily Bread . If I should relate unto you the stories of some ancient Saints , I fear their Charity and Bounty to the poor , though wondred at by all , would be followed by none : Some , it may be , would not spare to censure and condemn it as excessive . But is it not safer in performing of duties to exceed then to come short ? Is it not strange that some of them should be more willing to give all they had to the poor , then we are to part with our superfluities ? that they should be so compassionate and liberal in times of tryal and persecution , and we so hard-hearted and close-handed in dayes of peace and plenty ? that Charity , which was so hot and active in winter , should grow so cold in summer ? Their alms were hearty and real ; ours are good words without deeds : Depart in peace ; Be ye warmed , and filled ; or we say , Satis est James 2. 16. si corde Deus suspiciatur , as the Gnosticks in Tertullian ; If Religion and Charity be shut up in the heart , it is enough : outward expressions and ceremonies are needless . We read Scriptures for no other purpose but to cull out certain thrifty Texts to pretend unto our Covetousness and Distrust ; as that Charity begins from it self ; that He is worse than an Infidel that provides not for his family . But as for those other Scriptures that perswade us to be open-handed ; To lend , looking for nothing again ; Having two coats , to part with him that hath none ; these we can gently pass by as Meteors and airy Speculations , and with some shuffling and shifting interpretations remove them out of the way . We read that when Amasa , wounded 2 Sam. 20. 12 , 13. by Joab , lay in the way wallowing in his bloud , the people that followed Joab , stood still as they came to Amasa , till he was removed out of the way . It falls out so with men willing to be Christians , and yet unwilling to leave the thriving courses which are common in the world . When in their pursuit of gain they meet with these places of Scripture , Go sell all thou hast , and give to the poor ; Cast thy bread upon the waters ; He that forsaketh not all he hath cannot be my Disciple ; and the like ; cannot but be much amused ; start , and stand still , as it were at Amasa's body . Now they who have been the authors of certain mollifying paraphrases and distinctions and restrictions , have removed these harsher places of Scripture , as it were Amasa's body ; shut up the fountain of Liberality , and made the way clear and open to all our covetous desires . We have lately a learned Discourse put into our hands , written by Salmasius in defense of Usury . But for all I can perceive , the best argument he brings is ab incommodo , drawn from those inconveniences which will necessarily follow if Usury be not admitted . But for my self , I confess , I have not as yet attain'd to that skill to know how to ground a Truth upon Conveniencie . For it is natural to Truth to meet with inconvenience ; And Martin Luther will tell us , Allegatio inconvenientis non tollit argumenta , That to alledge inconveniences is not the way to answer arguments , nor to build up a conclusion . But the reason why I mention Salmasius's book , is a strong position I find there , and one ground of his Discourse is this , Alii mores , alia vita esse debuit ecclesiae liberae & oppressae ; That it is not necessary that the practice and piety of the Church then in persecution , and now at this day flourishing , should be the same ; That then it was in vain to be careful in gathering of wealth , when the enemy stood before their eyes ready to rob and spoil them ; That our Saviour then especially commended Poverty and Contempt of riches , as that which would best consist and comply with the Gospel and Christianity . Willing I am to yield him thus much , That in respect of outward Government to bring our Church , now flourishing in peace , back to the same state she was in under persecution , is neither necessary nor possible . It is as vain an attempt , saith Castellio , as to bring the Autumn back to the Spring , or to make the Spring in Autumn ; at all times to sow , and at all times to reap . But in respect of inward Sanctity , Piety , and Contempt of the world , it is the duty of every Christian in this latter age not only to resemble our Fore-fathers , and to be like the first Christians , but , if it be possible , to exceed them . Lay not up treasures here on earth ; Care not for the morrow ; Sell all that you have , and give to the poor ; and many other precepts of the like leaven , hath our Saviour delivered us in the Gospel , all which are as sowre and unpleasant meats : And our glosses and interpretations of them , what are they for the most part but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , delightful sawces , to make them more easie and pleasant to the palate ? Sell all that thou hast , and give to the Matth. 19. 21. poor , the Church of Rome calleth a Counsel of perfection . And we might well enough admit of it , if she made it medium , not finem , a means , a way , and not the term and end of perfection . We make it praeceptum singulare , a particular precept to the youngman in the Gospel ; Who , like the sheep , though his fleece was fair and white , deceived not Christ the great Shepheard of the flock , but he quickly espied the rottenness of his heart , and with this command made a window in his breast , that all might see it . He that had kept all the Commandments from his youth , could not hear with patience this one Commandment , Go , sell all that thou hast , and give to the poor . This was a dagger at his heart . For when he heard that saying , his colour changed , he went away , saith the Text , very sorrowful . It was indeed an error in Pelagius , grounded upon a mistaken part of Scripture , That no rich man could be saved . But it falls out many times that there is less danger in maintaining some errors then in pressing some truths . And what inconvenience can attend this error ? What if every rich man should suddenly become liberal , and disburse his money ? What if Dives had sold all , and laid it down at Lazarus his feet ? What if every Gallant did turn his Peacocks feathers into Sackcloth ? What inconvenience could follow ? Or can this Devil be cast out without fasting and prayer ? Utinam sic semper errarent avari . We may make it our wish , that covetous persons did alwayes so err . For this no-great-error in their faith would defend them from a greater sin in their actions , would pluck that beam out of their eyes with which the God of this world hath blinded them . Better it is a great deal that they should thus erre than that on the other hand they should effeminare disciplinam Christi , weaken and effeminate the strictness of Christian discipline with these sprinklings and limitations ; That it is true indeed , I must give to the poor ; but it is as true , I must care for my family . That a cup of cold water is enough for the poor ; whilst I drink up a river , and , like Behemoth in Job , draw up the world into my mouth ; take possession of all the riches I can grasp . For these truths , which sort and seem to comply with this malady , captivam animam , dum delectant , exulcerant ; do delight indeed and please the captive soul , but withal do pierce her through , and exasperate the humor which was too malignant before . For when our love is fixt upon the world , the God of the world , the Devil , will soon teach us his art , veritatem veritate concutere , to demolish one truth with another ; to drown our Bounty to the poor in our care for our family . To send the covetous person to the Pismire to School , to commend Frugality to a Miser , is nequitiam praeceptis adjuvare , nothing else but to whet and quicken that appetite which is too sharp already , to put wings to that desire which is too fleet and eager . He that will not labor , let him not eat , is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a principle , a fundamental axiome , with the Miser , a faithful saying , and worthy of all acceptation , and which he hugs and adores as he doth his gold . And therefore this gentle course of Physick will never cure him . Si prodesse vis , doce quod doleat ; If you will do him good , and work a cure indeed , you must disturb and trouble him . Go , sell all thou hast , and give to the poor , is a bitter pill ; and it will so work with him , that it will make him very pensive and sorrowful . Again , Go , sell , and give to the poor , is by some made praeceptum generale , a general command , like the Parthian horsmen , looking one way , and shooting another ; directed upon occasion to this young man , but striking at all the world . But then they level it by that plain position of our Saviours , Whosoever he be that forsaketh not Luke 14. 33. all that he hath , cannot be my Disciple ; which cannot be understood of forsaking in act and execution , but in will and affection , at some time and upon some occasions . Habet & pax suos martyres ; There is even a martyrdome in time of peace : Habent divitiae suos pauperes ; Men may be poor in spirit , though their corn and their wine and riches increase : We may say of this precept as Tertullian speaks of some other places of Scripture , Expetit sensus interpretationis gubernaculum ; To find the sense we must steer along by a wary interpretation . For literally this precept cannot be general ; it being impossible that all should be sellers . If all were sellers , where would be the buyers ? and if all were givers , where would be the receivers ? But in respect of that due preparation which every Christian ought to have for the Truth and the Gospels sake , for their Brethrens sake , to offer up all their possessions as a Holocaust , in this respect it finds no restraint or limitation , but is of as large compass as Christendom . Non audomus dicere ut omnia relinquatis : tamen , si vultis , omnia etiam retinendo relinquitis , saith Gregorie ; I dare not be so bold as to press upon you to forsake all that you have : but yet , if you please to learn this Christian art , you may forsake , and retain ; you may sell and give , and yet keep . You may so use the world , that you may enjoy God ; still be proprietaries of them as of yours , but so esteem of them as if they were not yours but your brethrens ; still place our thoughts , not upon PANIS , Bread , but upon NOSTER , Ours ; still consider that it is not Mine , or Thine , but Ours . This NOSTER is a kind of circle of compass large enough to take in thy self and all thy poor brethren , to comprehend all the Christians in the world . How scrupulous our Fore-fathers were in expounding this and the like Texts of Scripture , themselves have left us notable monuments . St. Basil maketh a strange supposition , and in my opinion he gives as strange an answer to it . Wert thou brought , saith he , into those streights that thou hadst but one loaf left , and that thou knewest no means to provide other when that is spent ; yet if there should come some poor and needy man , and ask thee for food , what thinkst thou would be thy duty to do ? Even to take that one loaf , and put it into his hand that begs his food ; and looking up into heaven , to say , Lord , thou seest this one loaf : thou knowest the streights in which I am ; yet have I performed the keeping of thy commandments before supplying my own necessities . This indeed is a point of piety cujus non audeo dicere nomen : and had I not the warrant of so grave and judicious a Divine , I should scarcely have dar'd to have taught it in this age of the world , where we are taught that we must begin from our selves , that we must not tempt God by making our selves destitute of means ; or other such thriving Doctrines , which strongly savour of Love to the World and Distrust in Gods Providence . I deny not but that there may be many reasons of mollifying and restraining some Texts ; but amongst these that must be the least which is drawn from our Commodity . For thus to tamper with those Texts which seem to stand in our light , and cross us in our way to Riches and Honors , gives just cause of suspicion that our hearts are set upon them , and that if no hard and fearful command came between , we would be nailed to them . In respect of our Persons or our Purses to restrain any part of Scripture from that latitude of sense whereof it is naturally capable , makes it manifest that we are willing magìs emendare Deos quàm nosipsos , rather to correct the Gods , nay , to conform the word of the true and everliving God to our own humor , than to subdue our humor to the word of God ; and that we are well content to deal with our souls as the Athenians sometimes dealt with their ground ; When they will not bear good corn , to sow leeks and onions there . When the Gospel and Christs precepts thwart our corrupt dispositions , we learn to make them void with our traditions , with our Pharisaical limitations and restrictions . And thus much be spoken concerning this word NOSTER , and the reasons why this Bread is called Our Bread .

The Eight and Thirtieth SERMON . PART . III. MATTH. VI. 11. Give us this day our daily Bread .

WHat is meant by Bread , and why it is called Our Bread , we have already shewn at large . And in this word NOSTER we found a Goad , to put in the sides of the Sluggard , to awaken him out of his slumber and lethargie ; and a Chain , to fetter the hands of the Deceitful , to keep them from picking and stealing , from fraud and cousenage ; and a Spur to our Charity , to make us cast our bread upon the waters . NOSTER is verbum operativum , a word full of efficacie , to open the fountain of our Liberality , and to set up banks to regulate our desires in the pursuit of wealth .

We proceed now to enquire , in the next place , why we are taught to pray for our daily Bread , or what is meant by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : And here , as the streams in which Interpreters run are divers , so the fountain is hard to find out . Some take the word properly , some metaphorically . Some render it Supersubstantialem , as the Vulgar ; and so with Tertullian and Cyprian take in Christ , who is the Bread of life : So that to pray for Bread is perpetuitatem postulare in Christo , & individuitatem à corpore ejus , to desire a perpetuity in Christ , and to be united to him for ever . Others make it Sacramental Bread . Castellio expounds 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and then it is supercaelestial or heavenly Bread , by which the Soul is sustein'd ; to wit , the Grace of God , by which we overcome and remove all difficulties which stand in our way between us and that happiness which is the mark and the price of the high calling in Jesus Christ . Others , by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , eximium ; and call it that bread which is singular and peculiar to us . Others interpret 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that which is profitable and fit to nourish us ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Chrysostom , that bread which is turned into the very substance of our bodies . Others , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And the Vulgar , which in St. Matthew renders it super substantial , in St. Luke calls it QUOTIDI ANUM , our daily Bread . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as St. Chrysostom used to speak : We may embrace all senses . For why should not Righteousness be as our daily Bread , to feed us ? Why should we not with joy put it on to clothe us , and make it as a robe or a diadem ? Why should we not thirst for that water which is drawn out of the wells of salvation . Why should we not long for our 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Fathers call the Eucharist ; For that holy Bread which is our provision and supply in our way ? For every one of these we may solicit the Majesty of heaven and earth , and press upon God with an holy opportunity , Lord , evermore give us of this bread , of the Bread of Righteousness , of the Bread which thou breakest , and of the Bread which thou art , of the Bread of thy Word , and of the Bread of thy Sacrament ; Which are primitiae futuri panis , the first-fruits of the Bread of eternal Life . We may embrace all senses . For superflua non nocent , or , as the Civilians speak , non solent quae abundant vitiare scripturas , these superfluities and superabundancies are not dangerous , where every exposition is true , though non ad textum , not truly fitted to the Text. But that Christ meant not Sacramental Bread , is more than evident : 1. Because the Sacrament was not yet instituted : And it is not probable that our Saviour , when he taught his Disciples to pray , would speak in parables . 2. We do not every day receive the Sacrament , but we are taught thus every day to pray . Quia quotidiana est oratio , quotidiè quoque videtur dici oportere : It was so determined in the Fourth Councel of Toledo ; It is our daily prayer , and to be said every day ; against some Priests in Spain who would say the Lords Prayer only upon the Lords day , as we find it in the Ninth Canon of that Councel . And as it may be said every day , so every hour of the day : Which we cannot apply to the Eucharist . 3. If we will lay upon the word all senses it will bear without injurie to the truth , we need no other form than that one Petition , Thy will be done . For in that , as in a Breviary , all that we can pray for is comprised . Indeed , as Seneca in his Natural Questions speaks of the river Nilus , Nilus per septena ostia in mare emittitur ; quodcunque ex his elegeris , mare est ; Nilus is emptied into the Sea by seven chanels , and every one of these is a Sea : So here we see this word conveyed unto us by divers interpretations as by so many chanels , and every one of these is a sea , yielding us abundance of matter . And as it is said of that river , Ortus mirari , non nosse licuit , that men with wonder and admiration might search but not find out the fountain-head from whence it sprang ; So this word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is not found in any Ethnick writer whatsoever . And the formation and etymon is as hard and full of difficulty to find out . From 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , whence it is commonly derived , it cannot come . For if we derive it from 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , sum , it must be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Therefore we rather draw it from 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , eo : and the participle from 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from whence most probably comes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by which we note SUPERVENIENTEM , SUCCEDANEUM , SEQUENTEM PANEM , our following , our succeeding , our next Bread . So 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Synesius is taken for the morrow , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Demosthenes , for the next hour . And this takes in the Syriack interpretation , where it is called PANIS NECESSITATIS NOSTRAE , the Bread which we have need of . And this interpretation is most probable . 1. Because we are too ready to favour our selves , and under the name of Bread to understand all superfluities whatsoever . Therefore 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , our next bread , is a word which boundeth our desires , Hitherto shall you go , and no further . 2. It is drawn by that rule of Hilarie , Dictorum intelligentia ex praepositis aut consequentibus exspectatur , We best understand the Scripture by that which goes before and that which follows after . Now under the name of Bread without this epithite we may comprehend the Bread of Life , Super-substantial , Coelestial , Sacramental bread , or any Bread whatsoever : And that which follows is indeed nothing else but an interpretation of this form of Prayer : and the latter part of this Chapter is a full exposition of this word , and shews what it is we ask when we begg our daily bread ; when we are forbidden 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and as St. Luke hath it chap. 12. 29. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , spes nostras & cogitationes in longinquum mittere , as Seneca speaks , to let our thoughts and hopes loose , and send them after uncertainties ; to extend them farther than a day and our present necessities . Therefore our Saviour here adds 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Give us our daily Bread this day . This I take to be the meaning of this word . And though we cannot give exactly the etymon of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , yet with Tertullian , Malo in scripturis minùs quàm contra sapere , I had rather understand less , than fix any sense against the Scripture ; and where we cannot reach the fountain-head , let us keep the chanel as clear and unmudded as we can .

Our daily Bread then is our next Bread , or that Bread which is needful and sufficient for us , which takes off our care and solicitude for the morrow . And this best fits a Christians mouth , who is not made for a day , or a year , or an age , sed in magnis aeternae beatitudinis exemplis constitutus , as Hilarie speaks , built up for eternity and everlasting bliss , peregrinus deorsum , civis sursum , as Augustine speaks , a stranger on earth , and a citizen of that Hierusalem which is above . What should he be solicitous for to morrow , whose aim is Eternity ? What should he think of the next day , who consisiders every moment as his last ? Semper ad mortem omnia disponere Christianum oportet ; A Christian mans care and study must be not how to live , but how to dye . Therefore Tertullian amongst other characters of Christian men gives this for one , That they are morti expeditum genus , a kind of men who are alwayes ready and prepared to dye . And Petrarch tells us of an holy and religious man , who being invited to come the next day to a feast , made this reply , That if they had any request for the present , he was ready ; but what should be done to morrow , he left to them to think of who had leasure : Nam ego à multis annis crastinum non habeo : for I for these many years have had no morrow , but made every day my last . O felix , si vera memorasti ! saith my Author : How happy a man was this , if he spake the truth ! And Seneca gives the reason , Cui vita sua quotidie fuit tota , securus est ; He may breathe securely who counts every breath his last . And in this appears the provident mercy of God , who would not let us know how long we have to live , that we may not busie our selves about what we may do to morrow , who may dye to day ; that we may check our wandring thoughts with the sight of Death . Latet ultimus dies , ut observentur omnes , saith St. Augustine ; Our last day is hid from our eyes , that we may be more intentive to observe all our dayes . That wealth , that abundance , those honours , those delights which we hugg and embrace as friends , are but thieves which rob us of that rich treasure of Time which we might more wisely lay out in the purchase of Eternity . What should Poverty fright me ? my journey is to Paradise , where the poor more often enter then the rich . What should Hunger afflict mee ? I may feed on the Bread of Life when I have not one morsel to eat . Fides famem non timet , saith Tertullian ; Faith fears not famine , fears not poverty , fears not disgrace , thinks them not worth a thought , and the time but lost in which we strive against them . In what weakness is not a Christian man strong ? In what solitude hath not he troops to guard him ? Or indeed when is he poor , who possesseth all things ? when is he alone , who hath Piety and Christ himself for his companions ? when is he cast out , whose conversation is in heaven ? when is not he beautiful , who frames himself to the similitude of Christ ? Let the morrow care for it self : His care is for Eternity .

But this may seem an uncouth speculation ; as indeed all discourses which fall cross with our covetous desires , are taken for no other , and we are ready to oppose Scripture to Scripture . Care not for to morrow . True : But , He that laboureth not , must not eat ; and , He that provideth not for his family , is worse than an Infidel . This we may use to mollifie the former ; but not to abolish it ; to beat down Sloth , but not to build up Covetousness : as the former doth not take off all Care , but bound and limit it . Our daily bread we ask ; but we must not lengthen this Day into an Age. He that bids us Care not for the morrow , forbids not all Care : for he commands us to pray for it . And he that enjoyns to labor for our Bread , forbids us to love it . So that , Care not for to morrow , slays the Covetous , that he sweat not too much : and the other pulls the Sluggards hand out of his bosome . Dividat haec siquis , faciunt discreta venenum : Antidotum sumit , qui sociata bibit . Take them asunder and naked , as they lye , and they are poyson . The one strikes the Sluggard with a Lethargy ; the other , the Covetous with a Dropsie . But take them mitigated , take them together , Care not for the morrow , but yet labour ; Labour , but care not ; thus mixt and blended together , they make a precious antidote against these two dangerous evils , Sloth and Covetousness .

But because it is a matter of some difficulty 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to keep in an even and streight line between them both , and not to swerve to the right or to the left ; and because men are too ready to devour and swallow up one duty in another , and to forget the one by too often remembring of the other ; we will determine all ad Christi regulas , by those rules which Christ hath set down in this Chapter to poyse and direct us , that our paths may be equal and streight . And they are two ; 1. the consideration of the Providence of God ; 2. of our Duty , and that bond which Christianity layes upon us . We must desire but our next Bread , or that Bread which is necessary for our sustentation , that we seem not to distrust Gods Providence : And our care must be but for the day , lest we fall short in our duty . Victûs exemplum habemus aves ; & vestitûs , lilia , saith Tertullian ; We need not be solicitous for our food ; for God feedeth the Fowls of the air ; nor for our raiment ; for he clotheth the Lilies : And for the second ; as we depend upon Gods Providence , so must our care be no hindrance to us in our obedience to the Gospel of Christ . Non exiguâ mercede sumus Christiani , The reward is great which is proposed to Christians : and we must not forfeit this Pearl for false riches , nor surrender Christ for Mammon .

And first , the consideration of Gods Providence is enough to pull in the rains , and to curb our immoderate desire of the things of this world . Therefore , saith Hilarie , Fidei nostrae inviolabilem confidentiam exemplorum autoritate confirmat , ut tantò majoris periculi res sic ambigere , quantò impensiore curâ omnem occasionem infidelitatis abstulerit ; Christ himself useth this method , and builds up a strong bulwark for our faith by the authority of so many examples ; that the danger of distrust may be there the greater , where the wayes of his Providence are so manifest . And that we may not be so diffident on God as to sacrifice to our own nets , he hath set us to school to the Fowls of the air , to the Grass and the Lilies of the Field , that unreasonable creatures , yea , insensible creatures , which we tread under our feet , might teach us to look up upon him who is the giver of all things . Our Saviour tells us , v. 32. that the Gentiles seek after all these things ; that they are on the wing for honour , that they make haste to be rich , that they bath themselves in the pleasures of this world . And how could it be otherwise ? For these were they who did excaecare Dei providentiam , as Tertullian speaks , put out the eye of Gods Providence ; either plainly holding , with the Epicureans , Deos neque propitios cuiquam esse solere , nec iratos , denying that the Gods did either favour or were angry with any , and instead of Providence bringing in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , fatal Necessity ; or else confining and limiting Providence , making it fall no lower than the sphere of the Moon , as Aristotle in Epiphanius ; or else tying it to two or three Favorites alone , as some are of opinion in Isidore Pelusiote ; or else , beholding fools on horsback , whilst themselves are on the ground , thinking that God seeth not , and that he hath no bridle of Providence , as Nazianzene speaketh , to guide and govern the world ; as Diogenes in Tully said of Harpalus , a wicked but happy man , that he did contra Deos testimonium dicere , that he was a strong argument against the Gods , in that he lived so long . All these things do the Gentiles seek , who denyed the Providence of God . And is there not a tincture of this poyson yet runing in the veins and lurking in the hearts of Christians ? For from whence is that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that insatiable desire , of wealth ? From whence are those ambitious thoughts , those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , incorporeal hands , with which we catch at honours ? From whence hath Covetousness gain'd the name of Thrift , and Fraud of Wisdom ? From whence are those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , sensual and sensless lusts ? From whence comes it that to be Rich carries with it a greater splendor and beauty than to be Good ? Is it not even from this , that either we think there is no eye of Providence watcheth over us , or that we are willing to forget it , which is in effect to deny there is any at all ? For who else would struggle for that which he knows will be put into his mouth ? Who would send his thoughts so far for that which is at hand ? Or would we be so active in the world , did we not think that the hand of God were shortned ? PANIS QUOTIDIANUS , Daily Bread , might well satisfie him who knows that God is all-sufficient , the same to day and to morrow and for ever . Therefore Covetousness hath this brand and mark set upon it by the Apostle , That it is Idolatry ; That she denyeth the true God , who watcheth over all , and sets up Mammon , not secundum speciem , saith Aquinas , not accounting Gold as God , but secundum similitudinem , yielding all obedience to it , and trusting on that which is but as a reed , before Gods Providence , which is a sure and everlasting foundation . To remove this seed of Gentilism , we may say with the Father , Humane Weakness is a bad interpreter of the Providence of God . That must needs be a cursed gloss with Flesh and Bloud , which our sensual lusts and affections do make . No man can judge of Art but he that is a skilful Artificer . Besides , as we find it in Common-wealths , that there are none more ready to complain of the times , or to think they are not so well governed as they ought to be , then those who by their own negligence and default have brought themselves upon some hard distress , and , because they cannot thrive in peace , will blow the coals of Sedition , that they may sit down at that fire , and warm themselves : So we may observe in the world , that none more murmur against the Providence of God than they who are most improvident themselves . For when they miss of their hopes , because they have stretcht them beyond measure ( their seed yields them but seventy-fold where they did expect a hundred ) they begin to say in their hearts , There is no God , and at last , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to sight against Heaven it self . But let us rest assured that nothing can come amiss to us which Gods hand consecrateth ; that whether in wealth or in poverty , with him we have enough : that wheresoever we are , we are still in the hands of God . To conclude this point ; Thus if we judge of Gods Providence ; if we lift up our eyes to him that dwelleth in the heavens , and like servants look upon the hands of our great Master , and wait patiently upon him ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , we shall cast out all that insatiable appetite of the wealth and pomp of the world ; our desires will not be so eager ; but a dish of herbs will be as a stalled Oxe , and we shall be content with our daily Bread which the hand of Providence puts into our mouths .

Again , in the second place , as we are taught in this Petition to rely upon the Providence of God , so are we also put in mind to take heed that , whilst we make haste to be rich , we slack not in our duty to God ; that that which is ordein'd but as a pillar to uphold our bodies , be not made a stumbling-block and an occasion of that disaffection to piety and holiness which will destroy both body and soul . Grave and wise Philosophers have very highly extolled Poverty , which is so loathed of the world . Enimvero paupertas philosophiae vernacula , frugi , sobriae , parvo potens ; For Poverty was born and bred with Philosophy , as it were in the same house , frugal and sober , powerful to do much with a little . It was she that raised Common-wealths and built Cities , and was the mother and nurse of all the Arts and Sciences ; we may add , the mother of that Religion which will bring us into everlasting habitations . That we may learn to bear Poverty with patience , and escape that great snare of the Devil , the love of riches , our Saviour hath here appointed us our Dimensum , commanded us to pray for our daily Bread ; and in taking away all care for the morrow , hath taught us obstare principiis , to be so far from caring for the riches of this world as not to think of them ; to beware of Covetousness , and the very beginnings of it ; not to be familiar with them , not to look upon them . Nemo diu tutus , periculo proximus . That which was but a suggestion at first , may become a fierce and violent desire . That which was but a pleasing sight , may be a raging thought . The sight of the wedge of Gold may ingender that evil which will trouble all Israel , and make us fly before our enemies . At first we desire 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , faith Aristotle , but two half-pence ; and when we have handled them , they multiply in our imagination , and in our desire are as bigg as talents . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Our sinful desires , if we cut them not off , are infinite ; like Numbers , nullum est post quod non sit aliud , there is none which is last , but still one follows another ; and when one is full , another opens to be filled ; And are , as the Oratour speaks , pleni spei , vacui commodorum ; when our garners are stored and our purse full , yet are we empty still , and possess nothing but new hopes . Irritat se saevitia ; As Cruelty doth chafe and enrage it self , and as Beasts grow more fierce after they have tasted bloud , so Covetousness doth whet it self , and grows more keen and eager at the sight of those heaps which she hath raised . Where St. John tells us , 1 Epist. 2. 16. that all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life . A judicious and learned Writer interprets the lust of the eyes to be Covetousness , because covetous persons love to handle and see their wealth , nummos contemplari , to behold their money , and feed their eye with that of which they will not take one part to feed or cloth the body . And therefore , when riches increase , we must not joyn our selves to them as to friends , but fear and suspect them as enemies ; in fidem cum armis venire ; trust our selves with them , but with weapons in our hand : When they glitter , we must turn away our eye ; when they flatter , not be attentive ; when they gain us the cringe and applause of the common rout , not listen or hearken to it . We must account them enemies , and thus make them friends : and , as Nazianzene speaks of his brother Caesarius , we must sub larva servire mundo , act our part as upon a stage , seem to be what we are not ; and , as the Apostle speaks , buy as if we possessed not , and use the world as if we used it not : we must run , and press forward to the mark ; and as for the world , we must in transitu nosse , know it only as we pass , and in the by . For conclusion then ; It will be good for us timere actus nostros , to be afraid of our own actions , to be jealous of our wishes , ever to suspect the worst ; not to make the fear of Poverty an excuse for Covetousness ; not to cry out , We must live , when we eat and build and purchase as if we were to live for ever . Quid tibi cum Deo est , si tuis legibus ? It is not for us , who are to be ruled by the Law of God , to determine what is our daily Bread , and what not ; or to call those things necessaries which are superfluous ; but rather to fit our selves for those lessons which we tremble to hear of , as Fel●● did at the mention of judgment ; to learn to gain riches without care , and leave them without sorrow , that they may not cost us our sweat when they come , nor put us to the charge of a tear when they depart ; nay further , to hate and contemn them ; to sell and give them to the poor ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to bring our bodies in subjection to our souls , and our temporalities to our spiritual estate ; sic uti mundo ut fruamur Deo , so to use the world as that we may enjoy Christ . And all these , To hate and contemn riches , To sell and fling them away , To cast them on the waters , are not paradoxes , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the inventions of Faith , the endeavours of true Zeal and Devotion ; nay , they are the commands of Jesus Christ ; Who did willingly part with his life for us who count it death to part but with a mite for him . We who are to present our selves as pure virgins unto Christ ; must keep 2 Cor. 11. 2. our selves undefiled and unspotted from the world , we must not delight to look James 1. 27. upon the beauty , nor tast the pleasures , nor handle the riches of this world , for fear we forsake our first love , and make his jealousie burn like fire . Omnia Psal. 79. 5. virginis , virgo ; Every part and faculty of a Virgin is so , a virgin ; her Eye shut up by covenant , her Ear deaf to profane babling , her Hand not defiled with pitch , and her Soul an elaboratory of pure and holy thoughts : And so are a Christian mans affections , pure and untouched ; He hopes not for wealth , but for the reward of justice : He fears not poverty , but the flames of Hell : He desires no honor , but to be like unto the Angels : When he dwells in the midst of Canaan , in a land flowing with milk and honey , his conversation is in heaven ; his Love , his Hope , his Joy , his Delight , his Contentation , all are levelled on Eternity , and concentred in Christ alone . And being thus qualified , not only Sufficiency , but Abundance ; not onely that which is necessary , but great riches ; not that alone which is enough for a day , but that which may suffice for many generations , may be PANIS QUOTIDIANUS , our daily Bread . And so at last we have presented you with all that is material in this Petition .

The Nine and Thirtieth SERMON . PART . I. MATTH. VI. 12. And forgive us our debts , as we forgive our debtors . Or , as LUKE XI . 4 : And forgive us our sins : for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us .

HAving lifted up our eyes to him that filleth all things living of his good pleasure , we here fall down on our knees for mercy and forgiveness before the Father of mercies , who is as ready to forgive as to open his hand , and as willing to receive us into his bosome and favour as to give us our meat in due season on the earth , which is but his foot-stool . Having adored his Liberality , we beseech his Clemencie . And , as Tertullian well observes , it was most necessary that we should observe this methode : For first , unless we be heard in this Petition , we have no reason to be confident in commencing the other , nor to expect that God should feed us as a Father , till we be reconciled unto him , and called his Sons . What man is there which , if his son ask him bread , will give him a stone ? saith our Saviour : Which implies we must be sons before we put up our petitions . For God never denies us without a cause ; and the cause many times is no other but this , that we deny him . Was the Lord angry against the Rivers ? saith the Prophet Habakkuk , when he sent a tempest ; or is he angry with the earth , when he sends barrenness ? Is he angry with our Basket , when he fills it not ? No : Peccatum homicida est ; Sin is the murderer and the thief , to spoil and rob us . Sin makes the beasts of the field and the stones of the street at enmity with us ; terram eunucham , the heavens as brass , and the earth as iron , not able to bring forth in due season . Sin dislocates and perverts the course of Nature , and changeth it , saith Basil , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , into contrary tempers . This puts supernatural aspects upon events which have natural causes . If it be a comet , it makes it ominous ; if a cloud , that is the cataclysm ; if a vapor , that damps it into a plague . This sets up all the creatures in arms against us , and makes us , like Cain , no better then Vagabonds and Runnagates upon the earth . REMITTE NOBIS must be put up ; else DA NOBIS will return empty . We must sue out our pardon , or else the windows of heaven will not open to rain down Manna upon us . Again , though our corn and our wine abound ( for we cannot entail these temporal blessings on the righteous alone ) yet our Bread will be turn'd into a stone , and our Wine will be as bitter as gall ; nor can they feed our hungry souls , sed ipsam esuriem animarum pascere , as St. Bernard speaks , bring that Leanness into them which is the forerunner of death . Blessings we may call them ; and so they are : but till we be reconciled to God , they are such blessings as will stop up our way to true happiness , and stand as a barricado between us and those everlasting habitations . Laqueus in auro , viscum in argento , saith St. Ambrose ; There will be a snare in our Gold to entrap us , and aviscosity in our Silver to retard us . The rust of them shall be as a witness against James 5. 3. us , and eat our flesh as it were fire ; Et quid alimenta proderunt , si illis reputamur quasi taurus ad victimam ? What is Gold to Piety ? What is Wealth to Grace ? What is a Palace to Heaven ? What is our Food and Nourishment , if we be fed and fatted only as the Oxe is , to be sacrificed ? What are all the Riches of the world but as the Tyrants ropes of silk and daggers of gold ? or what use do they serve to but this , ut cariùs pereamus , that we may tread those paths which lead unto death with more state and pomp than other men do ? I would have spared this observation , although it be a Fathers , and one as learned as the best , but that the general love to Riches and the things of this Life , which now reigns and rageth in the world , may raise a jealousie and just suspition that some there are , who as they have excluded others , and made themselves proprietaries of all , and that by no other title than this , That they are the children of God ; so again , when they have , with Ahab , killed and taken possession , when they have by unjust means filled their coffers , they begin to clap their hands and applaud themselves , and to make their being rich an argument that they are good and the beloved of God : And though with great zeal they dare call the Pope Antichrist , yet they joyn hands with the Papists in this , in making Temporal happiness a true note of the Church , and counting Poverty a curse and the just punishment of a wicked conversation . Indeed , ask them their opinion , and they will deny it as heretical , we may be sure , because it hath no shew of reason to commend it : But surely even theirs it is : For their speech and behaviour bewrayeth them . For do they not lye down and sleep on their heaps ? Do they not batten in their wealth ? Do they not flatter themselves when such a golden showre falls into their laps , and think that it cannot be but God himself is in it ? And do they not flourish like green olive-trees in the house of the Lord , when they have nothing but this dung about them ? Do they not count them as smitten of God who stay below in the valley , and are there content to dwell with Poverty rather than to climb up that ladder , and with these seeming Angels , to aspire to that height from whence they are in danger to break their necks ? And this is a dangerous error . But there is nothing more easie than thus to erre , than to say , nay , than to think , that we are in the favour of God when his Sun doth shine upon our tabernacle , to say , AVE , Hayl to our selves , as highly favoured , when the world smiles upon us and flatters us ; and to draw this conclusion from no other premisses than a full Purse and large Possessions . So that the Apostles axiome is inverted quite : For to these men Godliness is not great Gain , but Great Gain is Godliness . And therefore that we dash not against this rock , let us put up this Petition also in Gods Court of Requests . Let us be diligent to make our election sure , and not only , with Esau , lift up our voyce and howl after our Bread , after plenty of wheat and wine ; but , with the Publican , lift up our hearts and smite them , that the sound of a broken heart may go up into the ears of the Almighty , and return with this delightful echo , REMITTUNTUR PECCATA , That our sins are forgiven us . For being thus reconciled , we who could not conclude we were reconciled by our being rich , may certainly conclude we are rich by our being reconciled . For with Remission of sins we have that Peace which is better than Gold and Silver , and which makes Lazarus richer than Dives . If we have not , yet we want not . If we do not possidere , yet we do nolle . If we possess not any thing , yet we lack nothing which we would have . And this is for a man to be Lord of all the world . Credenti totus mundus divitiarum est , infidelis etiam obolo caret , saith St. Hierome , He that is at peace with God possesseth all things ; when the wilfull offender , who is careless to sue out his pardon , though he measure money by the Bushel , yet stands in need of a single half-peny . DA NOBIS without REMITTE NOBIS , Give us without Forgive us makes no purchase at all , or but such a one as will make us worse than Bankrupts . And so I descend to the exposition of the words themselves , Forgive us our debts , or trespasses , as we forgive our debtours , or them that trespass against us .

In this Petition we observe 1. the Form of it ; 2. the Clause of modification : first , the Thing which we desire , Remission of sins ; secondly , the Manner , or the Condition , or , as St. Cyprian calleth it , the Law , by which we put up this Petition . For we do not commence it in an absolute and positive form , as we do the others , but conditionally . When we begg the remission of our sins , we bind our selves by promise , we make the condition our selves , and in a manner enact a law by which we are obliged to forgive them that trespass against us ; so that if we fail in the condition , if we forget our promise , if we break this law , if we make not good our covenant , we make our Father a Judge , and prompt him to the severity of a denyal : If our bowels yern not , his tender mercies will be shut up : and ex ore nostro , we are condemned already out of our own mouth . Si hoc posterius aut non dicimus , aut dicimus fallaciter , illud certè quòd prius est dicimus inaniter , saith St. Augustine ; If this latter part be not pronounced , or be pronounced from a heart full of deceit and hypocrisie ; the former , though we cry , and cry aloud , will not be heard , nor be of any force at all , unless it be in stead of mercy to pull down vengeance upon our heads . These be the parts of this Petition . In the former part we make an open confession 1. of our Misery by sin ; 2. of Gods Mercy and willingness to forgive and put away our sin . For confessio non semper ad peccata referenda est , verùm etiam in Dei laudibus intelligitur , saith Hilary ; Confession is as well of Gods Goodness as of our own Sin . And here they both meet and are concentred in this Petition , which as it implies a want in us , so it supposeth an ability and readiness to supply our want in him to whom it is directed . In general then we have these two things implyed , an humble acknowledgment that we are sinners , and a joyful recognition that God is merciful . In the first we look upon our sins as upon so many festered and loathsome sores , with an eye of sorrow ; in the second with the eye of Faith we behold the balm of Gilead which alone can heal us .

And first , he that beggs pardon doth certainly acknowledge a fault . REMITTE NOBIS ; Vox hominem sonat ; It can be the voice of none but of Man alone . Now that we may shew what Confession and Acknowledgment of sin is requisite , we will follow the Philosophers method , and begin 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with redargution , and lay open those errors which do effeminare disciplinam , corrupt and effeminate this Christian discipline , and make our Acknowledgment so weak that it cannot raise it self so high as to joyn and close with Remission of sins . And first this is one , an humble conceit , as we call it , that we cannot but sin . Thus we love dolosè versari in universalibus , to loyter and dwell in generalities , and so deceive our selves ; but not without great reluctancie do we descend unto particulars . The total sum , men confess , is great , more then the sand of the Sea , and the hairs of their head : but bring them to a just calculation and to a particular account , and we find nothing but ciphers ; some sins of daily Incursion , some sins of Subreption , some minute , scarce visible sins ; but not the figure of any sin which will make up a number . They talk much of their Weakness , as if they did nothing but sin ; but yet their Strength upon the tryal is so great as if they did not sin at all . For this conceit follows them in all their wayes , and stands between them and those sins which they have left behind them . And if at any time they cast a look back upon them , they behold them through this imagination of Weakness as through a pane of painted glass , which discolours all , and makes the greatest sin appear in the hue and shape of a sin of Infirmity . To them whose furiae libidinum , those Furies of Lust , are not so terrible , those monsters of sin are not so deformed , those sins which devour have not a tooth . For why should they complain of a bruise who are so just as to fall and rise seven times a day ? And this is it which they call Humility . But if it be Humility , it is but that which the Apostle calls a voluntary humility . That Humility which God commends lifts us up as high as heaven when it lays us on the ground , but this Humility buries us alive . That Humility bows us down with sorrow ; this binds our hands with sloth . That looks upon our imperfections past ; this makes way for more to come . That helps us forward to perfection ; this makes us more imperfect : That seals our pardon , but this blots and cancels it . It is not good to presume of our own strength ; but it is as dangerous to be so humble as to wallow in the mire , to be humble to our own damnation . Humility after sin is a medicine ; but this which stalketh before sin and unavoidable dangers , is not Humility , but Impotencie ; not Humility , but Cowardise and Pusillanimity , which presents her self under this name and in this humble posture ; not Humility , but Negligence , which is still afraid of a lion in the way , and stands still at the shew of difficulty ; not Humility , but Fear , which betrays all our succours . Nec mirum si vincamur , qui jam victi sumus ; And no marvel if we fail in the battel , who are already overcome . If we sin , our duty is to call upon our Advocate ; but not to suborn the Peccability of our nature , or rather a Necessity of sinning , as an Advocate for Sin .

Again , in the second place , there be some who make this Acknowledgment of their sin but a ceremony or piece of formality , and think that these very words , Forgive us our trespasses , are a spell against Sin , an antidote , which if we carry about us , no contagion can hurt us ; as if REMITTE NOBIS were verba privilegiata , as Gerson speaks , words that have a peculiar priviledge and prerogative , and do purge a sinner ex opere operato , assoon as they are pronounced , or , like Bells after their superstitious baptism or consecration , drive away the Devil with the very sound . The prophane Gallant thunders out an oath , and the next prayer is that God would forgive the villain . The superstitious Wanton watcheth his sins as he doth his beads , but drops them faster , and is as oft with the Priest as with the Adultress , as greedy to confess his sin as of the twilight and opportunity to sin : So that Sin and Confession of sin make up the wheel in which he is circled and turned about , till he fall to the ground , and can neither sin nor acknowledge it . And this hath brought a scandal upon the practise of the Church , as if it rather brought a cordial to cheer and comfort the sinner than a purge to remove the sin ; and as if Confession did but ease the stomach to make us more greedy and hungry after our husks than before . But let every man examine himself , whether he pray with the spirit , and pray with the understanding also ; whether , when he cryes Remitte , he be not as a Barbarian unto himself , and one that speaketh in an unknown language ; whether his mind be not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , divided in his prayer . St. Augustine saith , Avarus de pecunia cogitat ; The covetous asks forgiveness of his sins when his thoughts are a forging a sin which needs another forgiveness . Anothers mind is on revenge , when he beggs a pardon , Et , quod inconsultissimum est , id agunt multi ut quod affectu & voto volunt , id ipsum re & actu nolle videantur ; And , which is the greatest folly in the world , many speak with a great earnestness for that which they would not obtain , and pray for forgiveness of sins , which they labor to multiply . And so pour forth nutabundam & ebriam orationem , as Cassian speaks , a staggering and a doubtful request , begging for mercy , but being afraid to be heard ; and making the hope of a pardon the intercessor and harbinger for Sin , which would hardly enter without such an encouragement .

Thirdly , others there are whose thoughts are at home , and who with grief and sorrow acknowledge their sin , but yet repent not . A man may water his couch with his tears , and lye down in sackcloth and ashes , and yet fall short of true repentance , and of that acknowledgment of sin that is a forerunner of mercy . A man may lacrymis orare & ingemiscere , as Hilary speaks , weep and grone for sin , and yet all may be vox & praeterea nihil . Those tears and that grief for sin may flow not from the Love of God , but from the very gall of bitterness , the Love of Sin it self . A man may be sorry , not that he hath sinned , but that it is not lawful to sin . A man may be afraid of his sin , and yet not willing to part company , frown , and smite on it all at once ; depart , and return ; go from it , and look back ; and at last confess it , and yet plead for it ; and so be benignissimus Dei interpres , a most favourable and gracious interpreter of Gods threatnings , and a merciful expounder of his judgments : And such a man will make up but a faint and feeble and imperfect acknowledgment .

Lastly , we may know and acknowledge our sins , and repent , but relapse : Which makes our acknowledgment and repentance void . Vera peccati confessio est sine intermissione poenitere , saith Hilary ; True repentance is a constant forsaking of sin . And unless we forsake our sin , without doubt our repentance is not true . Omne malum aut pudore aut timore natura suffudit , Sin hath naturally Shame and Fear to attend it : And this may shut up our eyes and seal up our lips and shackle our hands for awhile . Stomachum nobis facit citò redituris in gratiam , It hath turned our stomach a little ; but when the pang is off , when we have some ease , our appetite will come again , and we shall return with the dogg to our vomit . And thus petita relinquimus , relicta repetimus ; We ebb and flow , we rise and fall , and never remain at one stay . In gradu toti sumus . We are in a perpetual recidivation . To conclude ; This is not an acknowledgment , but rather a contradiction infinitely multiplyed , and will never be heard in the Court of Mercy , but rather censured as a foul absurdity and gross soloecism in Christian behaviour . No , saith Tertullian , Cessatio delicti radix est veniae ; The root from whence pardon and forgiveness springs is a cessation of sinning and total forsaking of sin : And from this it will receive juyce and nourishment , and grow up and flourish , and be as the Tree of Life in the Revelation , which will shadow and cover our sins , and whose leaves are to heal the nations . In a word , to acknowledge our sins is not to count it a part of our religion to cry out , We are weak , and cannot do that which we should . It is not a complement or ceremony , a Father , forgive us ; a REMITTE NOBIS , and no more . It is not found in a breath alone , nor in a tear alone , nor in a faint resolution , nor in a short repentance . To Acknowledge our sin is not to profess our inability to avoid it ; is not to say our Pater noster ; is not , to lye down in sorrow , and rise up again in rebellion ; is not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to fall and rise ; to repent , and relapse ; It consists not in these qualms and fits and pauses and intervals of piety . But , as St. Augustine speaks , to Acknowledge our sin , is perseverantissimè & invictissimè nolle ; is to confess them , and constantly to hate them . And this perseverant and invincible renouncing of our sins doth eructare se in superficiem , breathe it self forth outward , and is vocal in our confession , floats upon our tears , is visible in the outward man , and so fits and qualifies us for Gods mercy and compassion : Who as he loves his creature , and hates sin , so he hath in his infinite goodness and wisdome ordained a means to destroy sin , and to reconcile his creature at once to himself and to everlasting happiness . Which is the second general observation which we draw out of this Petition , and to the handling of which we now proceed .

The Goodness and Mercy of God , though infinite and eternal , as Himself , yet in respect of its operation ad extra it supposeth some object to work on . By his wisdome he made the heavens : for his mercy endureth for ever . He redeemeth us from our enemies : for his mercy endureth for ever . He forgiveth us our sins : for his mercy endureth for ever . So that his Mercy and Goodness , which are primariae proprietates , prime qualities , in him , appear and shew themselves even in his Wisdom , Power and Majesty . For why did he create the Universe ? What moved him to make those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , those two lights , as Nazianzene calls Angels and Man , after his own image ? It was not that he needed the company of Cherubim and Seraphim , or had any addition of joy by hearing of their 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , It was not that he needed the ministery of Angels , or the obedience of Men. But in mercy hath he made them all : and his Goodness it was which did communicate it self to his creature , to make him capable of happiness , and in some degree a partaker of those glories and graces which are essential to him . For having made Man , he could not but love and favour the work of his own hands . Therefore as in mercy he made him , so in mercy he made him a Law , the observation of which would have assimilated and drawn him neer unto God , and at last have brought him to his presence , there to live and reign with him for ever . And when Man had broken this Law , and so forfeited his title to bliss , God calls after him , not simplici modo & interrogatorio sono , as Tertullian speaks , not in a soft and regardless way , or by a gentle and drowsie interrogation , Where art thou , Adam ? but impresso & incusso & imputativo , he presseth it home , and drives it to the quick , not by way of doubt , but imputation and commination , Adam , where art thou ? that he might know where he was , in what state and danger , and so confess his sin , and make himself capable of Gods mercy , which presented and offer'd it self in this imputation and commination , and was ready to embrace him . Thus his Mercy prevents us . It is first , as being , saith Nazianzene , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , natural to him ; whereas Anger and Hostility to his creature are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , quite besides his nature . Prior , bonitas Dei , secundum naturam ; posterior , severitas , secundum causam : illa , edita ; haec , adhibita , saith Tertullian , Lib. 2. adv. Marcion . Goodness and Mercy are natural to him ; Severity , forced . That is momentany and essential ; this , accidental . Mercy follows after us , and is more willing to lift us up than we were to fall , more willing to destroy Sin than we to commit it , more forward to forgive us our sins than we are to put up the Petition . REMITTUNTUR TIBI PECCATA , Thy sins are forgiven thee , is a standing sentence , a general proclamation , saith Father Latimer , to all that will believe and repent . The Scripture gives us the dimensions of this Mercy , sometimes pointing out to the height of it ; It reacheth unto heaven : sometimes to the depth of it ; It fetcheth men from the grave and hell it self : sometimes to the length of it ; It hath been ever of old : and sometimes to the breadth of it ; All the ends of the world have seen the salvation of God . And all these meet and are at home in this act of Remission of sins ; Which makes us to understand with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of God , which passeth knowledge , and fills Eph. 3. 18 , 19 us with the fulness of God .

But though the Lord's Mercy be infinite , and he be most ready to forgive , yet he will not remit our sins unless we repent . A lesson never taught in the School of Nature or in the books of the Heathen . Quid Cicero , quid Seneca de poenitentia ? What have Tully or Seneca , who have written most divinely of other duties and offices of life , written of the duty of Repentance ? Non negamus philosophos juxta nostra sensisse , saith Tertullian ; Many truths Philosophers have delivered of near alliance to those which God himself hath commended to us ; and in many vertues they may seem to have out-stript the most of Christians . But of Repentance they knew no more than this , that it was passio quaedam animi veniens de offensa sententiae prioris , a certain passion of the mind which checkt men for that which was done amiss , and caused them to alter their mind . Here all reason and discourse is posed . But when the earth was barren , and could not yield this seed of Repentance , Deus eam sevit , God himself sowed it in the world , & aperuit salutis portam , open'd an effectual door of salvation , and made it known to all mankind , That if men would leave off their sins , he would forgive them , and accept of true repentance as the only means to wash away the guilt of sin , and reconcile the creature to his Maker . Now joyn these two together , the Mercy of God and his Readiness to forgive , and our Repentance , which he hath chalkt out unto us as a way to his Mercy , and they are a pretious antidote against Despair , which so daunts us many times that we are afraid to put up this Petition . For Despair is not begot by those sins we have committed , but by those which we daily fall into ; nor so much from want of Faith that God is merciful and true and faithful in all his promises , as for want of Hope , which hangs down the head when Repentance and Amendment of life yield no juyce nor moisture to nourish it . Ask Judas himself , and he will tell you there is a God ; or else he could not despair : Ask him again , and he will tell you he is true ; or else he denies him to be God : He will tell you of the riches of the glorious mystery of our Redemption , and that in Christ remission of sins is promised to all mankind : But his perseverance in sin and the horror of his new offences hath weakned and infeebled his hope , and forceth him to conclude against himself . Ubi emendatio nulla , poenitentia nulla ; Where there is no amendment , there is no repentance . And though Mercy stand at the door , and knock , yet if I leave not my sins , there must needs follow a weakness and disability , so that I shall not be able to let her in . But if I forsake my sins , the wing of Mercy is ready to shadow me from Despair . Et si nudus rediero , recipiet Deus , quia redii , Though I return naked to God , he will receive me , because I return . And if I leave the swine and the husks , he will meet me as a Father , and bring forth his robe of Mercy to cover me . And so I pass from the consideration of Gods Mercies in the Forgiveness of sin , to the first particular enquiry , What sins they are which we desire may be forgiven .

And this may seem to be but a needless enquiry . For even Nature it self will suggest an answer . Men in wants desire a full supply : And they who are sick of many diseases do not make it their end to be cured of one malady , but to be restored to perfect health . In corporibus aegris nihil quod nociturum est medici relinquunt ; Physicians purge out all ill humors from those bodies which are distemper'd . For when one disease is spent , another may kill me ; and when I have recovered one malady , I may be thrown down by another . Habet hoc solicitudo , quòd omnia necessaria putet ; True Care and Solicitude thinks nothing done till all be done , and is afraid that the least distemper may be as dangerous as a disease . FORGIVE US OUR SINS ] Who knows the danger of the least sin , and will not make the gloss himself , Forgive us them all , and make his Repentance hold analogy with the Mercy of God , which doth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , make a perfect and universal cure . In medicines for the body that may be good for the Head which is not for the Heart ; and that may be soveraign for the Stone which hath no virtue in easing the Gout : But the Mercy of God is like his Power in this , ita magna in magnis ut non sit minor in minimis , equal and like it self in the purging and remission of the greatest and smallest sins . Upon our repentance he blotteth out all our sins and transgressions ; whether they be devoratoriae salutis , those which , till they be forgiven , take away all hope of salvation ; or quotidianae incursionis , those which every day by subreption steal upon us ; or modica & media delicta , as Tertullian , those sins of a middle nature , which are not to be reckoned amongst those of daily incursion , nec tamen culmen tenent , and yet do not reach the highest pitch of impiety : I cannot but acknowledge that it is necessary to distinguish of sins : And it is no Logical deduction which the Church of Rome hath made , That because we make all sins in their own nature mortal , we therefore make them all equal : Yet in our repentance and devotion it will be one part of our spiritual wisdom minima pro maximis cavere , to consider our least sins as if they were of the greatest magnitude ; to think there is danger not only in Murder , but in an angry thought ; that not only our burning Lusts , but a very spark may consume us ; & vel atomos numerare , and to number up the very atomes of sins . For though those ordinary sins which steal upon us unseen , and slip by us insensibly , do not digg up Charity by the very root , yet certainly they proceed from no other fountain than a defect and want of Charity , which if it were as perfect and consummate as it ought to be , would arm us against the assault of these thieves which steal in by night . And more wisdom it is etiam quae tuta sunt pertimescere , to be jealous of that which will not hurt us , and to think that a fault which is none , than to say of these sins as Lot did of Zoar , Are they not little ones ? and my soul shall live ; or to sit down with the resolution of the Casuists in almost the same case , Modicum pro nihilo est , A small sin is in esteem as good as none at all . For by thus slighting them sins multiply and gather strength , & numero vincunt , what they want in bulk , they supply in number , and overwhelm thee , if not as great , yet as many . Small expenses , saith Aristotle , if frequent , overthrow a family . And it is but a fallacie to think , if the particulars be small , the sum will be so . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Great is not therefore small because it consists of many littles . And the great Oratour will tell us that that neglect which endangers a Common-wealth is not streight seen in particular actions and miscarriages , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in the conclusion and event at last . And St. Augustine hath observed of these small sins , Quantò minora , tantò crebriora ; Because they be less , we presume the oftner to commit them . I know there is no man , when he puts up this Petition , doth except any the least sin , but would have them all buried in the bottom of the Sea : Yet we must not think it is enough to ask forgiveness ; but we must be also watchful to observe them , and take these brats and dash them against the stones . For even these brats , if we play and sport with them , will prove at last mighty Gyants , sons of Anak , which will fight against us to keep us out of Canaan . St. Augustine , lib. 2. De Civit. Dei , tells us that this is a daily prayer , and that it will blot out quotidiana peccata , our ordinary and daily sins , sine quibus in hac vita non vivitur , as he speaks in his Enchiridion , without which the severest man doth not pass his life : and for common steps DIMITTE NOBIS PECCATA , this common prayer , Forgive us our trespasses , may suffice . But yet he tells us withal , Quia fiunt peccata , ideo dicitur ; non ut ideo fiant , quia dicitur ; That this is said , and we are taught thus to pray , because we through infirmity fall into these sins ; but we must not fall into these sins because we are taught thus to pray . For as there were some in his time who , mistaking this very Petition , thought that they might persist in any sin , so they forgave their brother , and were bountiful to the poor and needy , that with a piece of money they might redeem their adulteries and uncleanness , and satisfie for the sins of the greatest magnitude : So if it went once for true , that to breathe out these words would scatter our daily sins , before the wind , and quite abolish them , men would be very apt at last to be too favourable interpreters of God , and to think he takes no notice of those idle words for which he hath threatned to bring us into judgment ; and we should sin , and pray ; and pray , and sin ; and carry this Petition with us to ease us of these sins , as some foolish women in Chrysostoms time did certain pieces of gold of Alexander the Great to cure the head-ach . And this is non tam morbo laborare quàm remedio , to be sick not so much of our disease as of the remedy ; which being skilfully applyed is indeed an antidote , but taken as a charm or spell proves as dangerous as the disease which it was to remove , and makes that mortal which of it self might have been purged out with ease . I will say no more but with the Father , Objurgemus nostra phantasmata , & tam nugatorios ludos de spectaculo mentis ejiciamus ; Let us check and chide our phansies when they catch at such shadows as these , and cast out such trifling slights out of our minds ; and learn to pray for the forgiveness of these sins , and also to strive against them ; to watch our hands , and set a seal to our lips , to observe each thought as it enters , lest when we have purged the hand and the tongue and all the members of our body , by delighting in thoughts , because they are but thoughts , we do at last lupanar in palatio constituere , erect a stews in the very palace of the soul . Let us remember that we pray for the forgiveness of these sins , as we do of all the rest , with a resolution to extirpate them by degrees . For , as the Schoolmen tell of the Sacraments , that they are protestationes fidei , certain protestations of the Faith which we profess , so is Prayer for remission of sins protestatio poenitentiae , an open protestation and promise of repentance . And we pray for the forgiveness of all our sins ; but it is of those which we have already committed , and which are past . To put up a petition for future sins , or those which may be committed hereafter , were rather to threaten God than to pray to him , and not so much a prayer as a further resolution to sin again , or at least a betraying of a very weak resolution against it . Common sense will instruct us in many duties which we owe unto God . Would any man who had forfeited his life begg a pardon of his Prince for that fault and the next he commits ? Nemo sic rogat ut minetur , saith Hierom. This were a strange way of petitioning , a strange method of praying , to back it with threats : A strange method of praying , to say , Forgive my sins , even those which as yet are neither obnoxious to punishment nor capable of pardon . Forgive me that which is not , but may be ; that which with my tears I now wash out , and that which may again pollute my soul ; that which I now strive to mortifie and kill in me , and that which my lust will no doubt conceive and bring forth . This were not so much a prayer against sin past as an encouragement to offend again ; a prayer for a pardon of that sin which , when it appears , will disannul and nullifie that which is already seal'd ; or rather a petition which denies it self , because it puts together two things so contrary and opposite , as the Forgiveness of sin past and a plain Supposal of future transgressions . For this Petition for Forgiveness of sins , though it be no manifest proof that we shall not , yet is a strong argument that we should not sin again . I am no Novatian , no enemie of Gods Goodness and Mercy , nor interfector poenitentiae , a suppressour of frequent repentance . I know Repentance is not , as Baptism , but once to be had , and never reiterated . I know we ought to repent toties quoties , as oft as we offend , and daily to pray that God will pardon the sins we daily commit . But we cannot expect that God should accept our prayers and our repentance , and vouchsafe to pardon us , unless we stedfastly resolve to strive against all sin for the future , and to serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life .

The Fourtieth SERMON . PART . II. MATTH. VI. 12. And forgive us our debts , as we forgive our debtors . Or , as LUKE XI . 4 : And forgive us our sins : for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us .

HAving led you through the land of the Philistines to the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey ; from the mount which burned with fire , to mount Sion , to the city of the living God ; from the acknowledgment of our Sins to the sight of Gods Mercy , which , as St. Bernard calls it , is a large cloak to cover all our sins of what magnitude soever . Having spoken in general of the Mercy of God and his readiness to forgive , before we shew the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the effect and fruit which it brings forth , and what Remission of sins is , we must make a pause and stand , and a while take off our eyes from the Mercy-seat , and direct them to the further consideration of our Sins , 1. as they are debts , 2. as they are ours ; and enquire 1. why they are called debts , 2. why we are taught to appropriate them to our selves , and call them ours : And then we shall bring you to the full taste of that pleasant fruit which grows up and hath its bud and blossom and full beauty and perfection from this dew of heaven , the rich influence of Mercy . And in this pause or parenthesis we do but follow the method of Nature it self , which doth not present all her creatures at once , but by degrees ; or of the Eleusinian Priests , qui servabant quod ostenderent revisentibus , who did not open all their secrets and mysteries at first , but fed the expectation of their novices with the hope of something which they reserved for a second view . First then , what S. Matth. here calleth debts , St. Luke calleth sins 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . As in Debts it is between the creditor and the debtor , so is it in Sins between God and Man . Now the Philosopher , nay common reason , will teach us that he that will compare two things one with the other , must know them both . And we need not make any anxious search in these matters : For who knows not what Debt is ? and who knows not what Sin is ? Utinam tam solicitus affectus de fugiendo peccato , quàm facilis sermo . It were to bè wished that we were as solicitous to shun them both as we are ready and active to speak of the horror and affliction they bring ; that it were as easie to avoid as to know them . Thus hath it pleased our great Master , who hath taught us here to pray for the forgiveness of sins , to teach us also to know the nature and quality of our Sins by that which is most familiar to our very sense . I might here lay down before your eyes the several respects in which our Sins and pecuniary Debts bear analogy and likeness ; and I might also point out certain like effects and operations which they both produce in their several subjects , and which are common both to men far indebted in the world and to those who are bankrupts in the house of God : But having handled both those points at large in another place , I shall at this time pass them over , and only observe the wisdom of the holy Ghost in this expression , and that very briefly .

The words of God , the more we view them , the more plentifully do they evermore offer themselves , and , like rich minerals , assiduè pleniùs respondent fodienti , the more they are dig'd , the more treasure do they yield , even 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , manifold and various Doctrines . Therefore St. Chrysostome tells us that in reading of the Scriptures 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , we ought to weigh every particle and syllable : For though they seem to be but like unto rivulets , yet , if a man follow them with a diligent and observant eye , they will lead him into a Sea and Ocean of matter . And this hath befallen me in the survey of this Petition . At the first view we conceived this word debts to be a fit metaphor fully expressing the nature of our Sins ; but having staid longer and dwelt upon it , a bright beam of light shewed it self by which we could descry the wisdom of our Saviour in making choice of this resemblance which presenteth the deformity and danger of Sin as it were to our very eye . Habemus alium sensum interioris hominis isto praestantiorem , saith St. Augustine ; Indeed God hath given us another sense of the inward man , far exceeding the outward , by which we may plainly discern Good from Evil by those species and appearances in which they represent themselves . And this may do its office , and exercise its act sine acie pupillae , sine foramine auriculae , without the help of the apple of the eye or the hollow of the ear or any other sense . For quis unquam contrectavit justitiam ? Who ever handled Justice ? who ever saw Vice ? But Man being 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Chrysostome calls him , a creature composed as it were of a double nature , made up of a Sensitive and Intellectual part , and being 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the bond and knot , in which both are united , makes use of both , and many times apprehends things not so lively by their proper species , which they present , as from those which are forinsecal , but from some outward object more visible and familiar to him ; understands things not so well by Definitions as Comparisons ; as what Sins are , by Debts ; what the Devil is , by a Jaylor ; what Hell is , by a Prison . We do not know things our selves , unless our Understanding do convertere se ad phantasmata , unless we frame unto our selves certain phantasmes , per modum exemplorum , in which we may behold the things in their true shape . And when we would teach others what we already know , we do it by examples and comparisons . So the Philosopher not only in his Logicks , but also in his Physicks and Metaphysicks , proveth his rules by Letters , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and his instances are out of Arithmetick , or Geometry , or Musick , which they first learnt , and which every one had skill in . In Definitions , we see , it falls out that both Virtues and Vices either appear in different shapes , or else slide away , and pass by us in silence ; but being thus charactered and drawn out to the very eye by art and fit similitudes they gain more force and efficacie ; they press upon our phansie and busie our understanding part 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and are more visible in outward things than inwords . When we hear Sin called a transgression of the Law , a prevarication , an offense against God , we are not so sensible as when we hear Sins called Debts . And therefore our blessed Saviour in this doth ancillari infirmitati , condescend to our infirmity , & rem invisibilem per rei visibilis formam describit , by telling us that our sins are Debts , he sheweth us the danger and the misery they plunge us into , and the deep and heavy engagements they make us liable to .

Our next enquiry is , How these Debts are ours , and why we are taught to call them so . And this is no vain unnecessary inquiry . For if they be not ours , why do we put up this Petition ? or what need have we of mercy and forgiveness ? And if we put up our Petition in that form and stile which Christ hath prescribed , and then please our selves with I know not what extenuations and reservations , as , That they are ours indeed , but not onely ours , not fully and wholly ours ; the work of our fingers , but so that there were other hands which did help to forge and shape them ; OURS , but so that Fate had a share , and Adam a share , and the Devil a share , and God himself a share ; that is , NOSTRA , NON NOSTRA ; ours , and not ours ; we do but ludere interpretationibus de peccatis nostris , delude our selves with false glosses and interpretations ; and we do not breathe forth a prayer , but a complement , and teach God not to hear us , who are so unwilling to understand our selves , and dare equivocate with the Truth it self . And this may serve to wipe off the paint that men use to lay upon their sins ; that they may not appear so ugly and deformed as they are . The World hath long since learnt this art of jugling with themselves , and been very expert and cunning , pavimentare peccata , as St. Augustine speaks , to plaister and parget their sins over . Not my sin , saith the Man , but the Womans ; Not my sin , saith the Woman , but the Serpents . Oh my Fate , saith one ; Oh my Infirmity , saith another ; Oh the Devil , saith a third . Either they are not sins , or else sins which the Devil must father ; or else compensativa peccata , sins to a good end which will recompense the sin . Neque quisquam tam malus ut malus videri velit ; Nor is any one so desperately evil that he is willing to be thought so , or will own that brat which his Lust hath conceived and brought forth . Omnes peccata dissimulant , & quamvìs feliciter cesserint , fructu illorum utuntur , ipsa subducunt , saith Seneca ; All are apt to dissemble their faults , being content , when they are crowned with fortunate success , to reap the fruit and pleasure of them , whilst they subduct the faults themselves , and remove them out of the way . So that Sin , which is bred out of the corruption of every mans heart , is exposed and cast-out ; and though it have many foster-fathers , yet it finds none that will acknowledge it : That , as Tiberius spake of Rufus in Tacitus , a man of obscure birth and parentage , and that could not well tell from what stock or family he descended , Videri potest Rufus ex se genitus , Rufus may seem to have been his own Father ; So may we say of sin , Videri potest ex se natum ; Since all disclaim it in its own shape and likeness , it may be thought also that it is grown up of it self . In other things we are not content with our own , but are ready to claim a title to that which is properly anothers . How many plagiaries have we not only of Learning , but of Virtue ? how many pretenders to Integrity ? What altercation hath there been which were the first inventors of the Arts ? And what an Euge do we give our selves , what a triumph doth it beget , when a man can say , Ego primus inveni , I was the first author and finder out of this conclusion ? What would we not have ours ? What is not ours ? Paul is ours , and Cephas is ours , and Christ is ours , and Heaven is ours ; Only Sin , which we labor for , which we sweat for , which we are ambitious of , is not ours . That Adultery which I waited for till the twilight , that Murder which I thirsted for till a fit opportunity , that Deceit which I forged with that difficulty , that Iniquity which was the study of my whole life , is none of mine . Of these we love to deonerate our selves , to rid our hands of them ; Et nolumus esse nostra quia mala agnoscimus , and ours we are unwilling to call them , because our Conscience is convinced , and Reason doth plainly tell us to our faces , that they are evil . Now this is a great evil under the Sun , and there is a soveraign remedy for it shut up in this one word OURS ; in which our Saviour doth not only teach us to pray against it , but doth give us catharticum , a receit to purge out this noxious and malignant humor . It is but a word , but a syllable , but as the cloud in the Book of Kings , as big as a mans hand ; but as that anon covered all the heavens over , and yielded great store of rain , so may this word , this syllable , yield us plenty of instruction . But we will confine and limit our discourse , and draw those lines which we will pass by , and which we will not exceed . We shall shew 1. how Sin is ours , 2. That all sins are ours ; 3. That they are only ours ; and lastly , That they are wholly and totally ours : that so we may agere poenitentìam plenam , as the Ancients used to speak , that our exomologesis may be open and sincere , and our repentance full and compleat . And of these in their order .

There is nothing more properly ours than Sin . Not our Bodies : For God formed Man of the dust of the ground ; de limo terrae , quasi ex utero matris , Gen. 2 7. saith Tertullian , shaped him out of the earth , as out of his mothers womb . Not our Souls : For he breathed into us the breath of life . Not our Understandings : For he kindled this great light in our souls . Not our Affections : For he imprinted them in our nature . Not the Law : For it is but a beam and a radiation from that eternal Law which was alwayes with him . Quòd lex bona est , nostrum non est : quòd malè vivimus , nostrum : That the Law is just and holy and true , is not from us : but that we break this law , this we can attribute to none but our selves . Nec nobis quicquam infoelicius in peccato habemus , quàm nos auctores ; And this may seem our greatest infelicity that when Sin lyes at our doors , we can find no father for it but our selves , and that we are the authors of that evil which destroys us . Now this propriety which we have to Sin ariseth from the very nature of Man , who was not made only Lord of the world , but had free possession given him of himself , and that freedom and power of Will which was libripens emancipati à Deo boni , which doth hold the balance , and weigh and poise both Good and Evil , and may touch and strike either skale as he pleaseth . For Man is not good or evil by necessity or chance , but by the freedom of his Will , quod à Deo rationaliter attributum , ab homine verò quà voluit agitatum , which was wisely given him of God , but is managed by man at pleasure , and levelled and directed to either object , either good or evil , either life or death . So that it is not my Knowledge of evil , it is not my Remembrance of evil , it is not my Contemplation of sin , nay , it is not my Acting of sin ( I mean the producing of the outward act ) which makes Sin mine , but my Will. Voluntas mali malos efficit , sed scientia mali non facit scientes malos , saith Parisiensis ; Sin may be in the understanding and in the Memory , and yet not mine : I may know it , and loath it ; I may remember , and abhor it . I may do some act which the Law forbids , and yet not break that Law . But when my Will , which doth reign as an Empress over every faculty of the soul , and over every part of the body , which saith unto this part , Go , and it goes ; and to another , Do this , and it doth it ; when this commanding faculty doth once yield and give her assent against that Law which is just , fit jam proprietas mali in homine , & quodammodo natura , saith Tertullian ; then Sin is our choice , our purchase , our possession ; and there ariseth a kind of propriety , and it is made in a manner natural unto us , because we receive and admit it into our very nature at that gate which we might have shut against it . The Adulterer may think that he is not guilty of sin till he have taken his fill of lust : but that sin was his when his will first yielded . An putas tunc primùm te intrare meritorium cùm fornicem meretricis ingrederis ? saith St. Ambrose ; Dost thou think thou then first entredst the stews when thou didst first set foot in the harlots house ? Intrasti jam cùm cogitationes tuas meretrix intravit , Thou wert in already , when the strange woman entred thy thoughts . And when thy will had determined its act , thou wert an adulterer , though thou knewest no woman . And St. Augustine gives the reason , Nihil enim aliud , quàm ipsum velle est habere quod volumus , For to have that which I will it is enough to will it . Villicus , si velit , nihil peccat , saith Columella ; The Steward or Farmer doth nothing amiss unless he will . Homo potest peccare ; sed , si nolit , non facit , saith the Father : Man may sin ; but , if he sin , there can be no other reason given but his Will. For the Will is of that power as to entitle me to sin , though I break not forth into action : and when I am forced to the outward act , to quit me from the guilt of sin ; to denominate me either evil or good , when I do neither evil nor good , and when my hands are shackled and bound . Lucrece was ravisht by Tarquin , and yet was as chast as before : and the Oratour said well , Duo fuerunt , & adulterium unus admisit ; There were two in the fact , and but one committed adultery . For natural Reason did suggest this , Mentem peccare , non corpus , That it is the Mind and Will , and not the Body , which sins ; and where there is a strong resolution not to offend , there can be no offense at all . For it is not in my power , what to do , or not to do ; but it is in my power to will , or not to will ; to make choice , or refuse . And therefore there is no such danger in the doctrine of Freewill as some have phansied to themselves , and brought it in as an argument against it that it is dangerous : For though my Will be free , my Power is restrained , and hath bounds set it ; Thus far shall I go , and no farther . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Hierocles , Those things which are before me , I may choose ; but those I cannot , which are out of my reach . I may will the ruin of a Kingdom , when I am not able to destroy a cottage : I may will the death of my brother , and yet not be able to lift up my finger against him . My Will is illimited , but my Power hath bounds . And indeed it was not an argument against Freewill , but a Rhetorical flourish and empty boast , which we find in Martin Luther , Veniant magnifici illi liberi arbitrii ostentatores , saith he ; Let those loud and glorious upholders of Freewill come , and shew this freedom but in the killing of a flea . For he mistook , and made our Power and Will to an act all one ; when it is plain and manifest , that he who cannot challenge a power to kill a flea , yet may put on a will and resolution to murder a Prince . Thus in all our actions the Will is all in all ; in those which we perfect , and in those which take no effect ; in good , and in evil ; in virtue , and in sin . For as in our diary and register of Gods deeds we may reckon not onely those which we have done , but those which we would have done ; and put in not only those alms which our hands did distribute , but those which we were willing to give , and could not : Plus enim metit conscientia quàm gesta , saith Hilary ; for our Conscience may reap the fruit of more than it actually sows , and applaud us for actions which were not in the compass of our power to perform : So in the catalogue of our Sins we must place not only evil Actions , but evil Resolutions ; not only Adultery , but Lust ; not Murder alone , but the Thirst of revenge ; not only that sin which I have committed , but those which I would but could not . For potest aliquis nocens esse , quamvis non nocuerit ; Though I hurt no body , yet am I not hereby justified . And though the Will be frustrate , yet it is a Will still ; & ipsa sibi imputatur , saith Tertullian : nec excusari potest per illam perficiendi infoelicitatem , operata quod suum est ; and having determined its act , it is not excused by any intervening impediment which comes in between the outward act and the Will. And being Mistress of all our actions , of all our faculties , she it is alone when we sin , which denominates us evil . In a word , Though Sin gather strength from Custome , yet it hath its beginning and being from the Will , which doth most unhappily appropriate Sins unto us , and makes them our sins . And so I leave this enquiry , How Sins are ours , and pass to our second consideration , That all sins are ours .

It is a frequent saying in St. Augustine , and most commonly taken up by all that came after him , Adeò voluntarium est peccatum , ut si non sit voluntarium , non sit peccatum ; Sin is a thing so voluntary , that if it be not voluntary , it is not Sin . And it is true , not in this or that , but in all sins , of what degree or size soever ; in sins of Malice , and sins of Infirmity ; in sins of Ignorance , and those of Subreption , which steal upon us and surprize us unawares . For first , in sins of Malice , which have neither Ignorance nor Infirmity to mitigate or allay them , but are done out of knowledge and custome , and proceed from a Will depraved with Hatred and Envy and Pride , or some such malignant and vitious habit ; we may seem to have made a whole surrendry of our Will to study and contrive sin , to call it unto us , as the Wiseman speaks , with our words and works , & bellum legibus Wisd. 1. 16. inferre , to wage war with the Law and God himself . For at the first entrance of Sin we may seem to yield , as some besieged Towns which are well victualled and stored , upon tearms and composition . Some wedge of gold , some smiling pleasure , some flattering honor , some hopes or other , we entertain before we let the enemy enter . But in a while we make captivity a sport , & servitutem nostram quotidiè emimus , quotidiè pascimus , and buy our slavery at a price . We become devils to our selves , and fall when no enemy pursues . We count liberty as bondage , and , like those who live in perpetual night , think there is no day at all . We sin , and multiply our sin . And what Pliny spake of Regulus is most true here , Quicquid à Regulo fit , necesse est fieri sicut non oportet ; Whatsoever we do , will be done amiss , because we do it . Now in these sins of Malice we cannot once doubt that the Will is wanting . In hac passivitate vitae , in hac diligentia delictorum , in this pascivity and licentiousness of life , in this study and affectation of sins , when we have incorporated and as it were consubstantiated them with us , we may well call them ours : For we have risen up early and lain down late to purchase and accomplish them . And yet the Will may seem to be more strongly besieged here , than when we fall by infirmity . For there it was but a proffer , a shew , that made her yield ; but now she is held under by custome : there the enemy put up conditions ; here it is , Vae victis , and the Will is led captive in chains . Notwithstanding the sins which we now commit are most voluntary . And the Philosopher gives the reason in his Ethicks , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And Seneca renders it , Principia habuimus in nostra potestate ; pòst ablati impetu : Indeed , now we are hurried about with a kind of violence ; but the beginning of all was in our power , and we might at first have kept off that habit which now lyes so heavy upon us , and in a manner necessitateth us to evil . He that flings a stone hath no power to recall it ; but he needed not to have flung it at all . He who hath contracted a disease by intemperance , though he groan in his sickness , yet may truly be said to be wilfully sick , because his Will did embrace that which he knew was the mother of diseases . And he who pretends he would leave his sin , and cannot , doth at once deceive and accuse himself : For neither is he willing to leave his sin who continues in it ; and if it were true that he could not , yet he must find the cause in himself , which brought him under these hard terms of necessity . Besides , even his continuance in sin is voluntary . For though it be hard to redeem himself , yet it is not impossible . For I cannot see how the resistance of any habit can be stronger then the Will , especially , when it meeteth with Gods favour and assistance to succour it . Non est fortior nequitia virtute , saith Seneca ; No habit of Vice is stronger than Virtue . Quod quasi naturaliter inolevit , poni potest , si annitaris ; That which is made a kind of second nature in us , may be cast off , if we seriously strive . So that not only these sins of Malice , but even our continuance in them is free and voluntary , and plainly ours . If we commit them , if we do not leave them because of some difficulty , we cannot impute it to any but our selves . The same may be said of our sins of Infirmity , when not Habit or Custome , not the Love of sin , but Fear , or Anger , or some tentation of the Flesh prevails against us . For the Will hath power over all these . There is no Anger which it may not quench , no Fear which it cannot dispel , no Tentation which it may not tread under foot . And to him that shall ask how he may withstand these we will give no other answer than Aquinas gave his sister when she askt him how she might be saved , SI VELIT , He may , if he will . And therefore though I call these sins of Infirmity , yet I do it not upon those reasons and grounds which the Schools give , but only in comparison of those sins which are committed with a high hand . For , first , I cannot conceive how these Passions of the mind and tentations of the Flesh do minuere voluntarium , make our sins less ours , or less voluntary . For the Will must have some object proposed , or else it cannot exercise its act : and neither hath the beauty or horror of the object any force to determine the Will. Do I less will Adultery because Beauty enticeth me ? or Theft , because Money flatters me ? The Will stands as umpire between the Reason and the Sense : And , if our Sins be less voluntary because Sense prevails , our Virtues also must be the less voluntary because Reason then hath the better . Secondly , that conclusion of Aquinas , That we never betake our selves to action but we follow the dictate of the practick Understanding , and that the Will cannot will evil unless the Understanding be darkned , if it be brought to the balance of the Sanctuary , it will prove too light . Did not Achan know that all Jericho and all that was in it was devoted to Jos. 7. the Lord , when he took the wedge of gold . Did not David know Adultery was a sin , when he sent for Uriahs wife ? And did not Peter know that he sinned when he denyed his Master ? In sins of Infirmity , as they call them , Passion doth not so fully possess the soul of man as to shut out his Reason , and so blind him , that , though both these principles and premisses , Nothing is to be done against the law of God , and , That Adultery is against the law of God , be visible and plain , yet he cannot see how to draw this conclusion , That he ought not to commit this fact . You may as well say I may see your finger which you hold up , but not the Sun which you point to . These then which we commonly call sins of Infirmity are voluntary and ours . For we cannot be said properly not to know they are sins , but not well to weigh and consider it as we should ; not dare operam rationi , not so seriously to attend those dictates of Reason which give the check to our Passions : Which certainly is a Sin too , and ours . And to think to alleviate our sins , or make them less ours , because of inadvertency , is as if we should incendium ignibus extinguere , strive to quench a common fire with coals .

We pass now to our sins of Ignorance , and those of Subreption . And these may seem to bring an excuse along with them . Petere veniam solemus cum imprudentes erravimus , saith he in Gellius ; Pardon is easy where Imprudency and Error plead . And that which we did not know we cannot properly will . But even these sins , although we stand at distance , and look upon them as strangers , yet are the issues of our Wills , and we must own them as ours . For I do not mean ignorantiam Facti , the ignorance of the Fact , as if I should shoot at a beast , and kill a man : For this is no sin at all , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but rather my misfortune than my fault . Nor do I mean that affected Ignorance on which the Will is directly carried ; when I chuse to be ignorant that I may the more freely sin . For this Nolle intelligere , as the Psalmist speaks , to leave off to be wise , and to do good ; Not to be willing to hear of that physick which may purge me ; this maketh my way to destruction more easie , but withal more praecipitious ; this lays me asleep in sin , and so tumbles me down into hell in a dream . But I mean those sins of Ignorance which St. Augustine speaks of Epist. 154. quando quisque benè fieri putat quod malè fit , when a man out of error thinks that to be regular which is ill done . For even these are voluntary , and ours . When I think I do that which is right , I may stand guilty nevertheless as a wilful offender . Ignorance will not excuse us ; nor is any act less our sin because we think and call it our virtue . Indeed Error , as it is meerly error , cannot be a sin : For it hath no moral or culpable deformity in it ; nor can it have , but in that respect alone as it is free and voluntary . A simple man may be ignorant in many points of Divinity : & licet nescire quod nescit . It is no sin to be ignorant in that which we cannot know . But as Martin Luther well spake , Non potes dicere , Volo piè errare ; No man can say , I will be piously ignorant : For this VOLO , I will , blots-out PIE , piously , and makes Ignorance a sin . And of all ignorance the ignorance of Gods will is most inexcusable , because it lies so open to our view . How can the Idolater plead ignorance , where the command is so plain ? Thou shalt not bow down . How can the devout Rebel stand upright , when he hears that thunder : They that resist shall receive damnation . Or what apology can the contentious Wrangler find , when there is a plain Text against him : If you forgive not men their trespasses , neither will your heavenly Father forgive you . For these are as so many lights to shew us our way ; these are cryes and loud calls to keep us out of the by-paths of Error , and to redeem us from carnal conceits . And if I still will erre , they will make my Ignorance a circumstance almost as full of aggravation as my Knowledge . For Nolle scire and Nescire , To sin because I know it to be a sin , and To sin because I will not know it , are both of so foul an appearance , that it may be a question which is the wors● For the one commits that sin which he knows to be a sin ; and the other 〈…〉 l not know it to be a sin , that he may commit it : The one kisseth the l 〈…〉 s of the harlot , though he know they will bite like a cockatrice ; the ot 〈…〉 will not be perswaded that they yield any thing but honey and sweet 〈…〉 s : The one will be a Papist because his Father or Grandfather was so 〈…〉 the other will be of the same Religion for no other reason but because 〈…〉 is resolved to hearken to no reason against it . And it is not easy to de 〈…〉 ne whether of the two fools deserveth the most stripes . The one h〈…〉 a Phrensie ; the other , a Lethargy : the one sins with his eyes open ; 〈…〉 e other hath cast himself into a deep sleep ; and , if you come neer to 〈…〉 ake him , he will thus bespeak you , saith St. Augustine , Recede à me 〈…〉 cro , recede à me : dormire volo ; Depart , and leave me , I would slee 〈…〉 nor will I be awaked till I please . Onely more hope there is of the 〈…〉 er . For that Knowledge against which he sins may at last stand up agai 〈…〉 in it self ; and the Will , which would not use it as light to keep out 〈…〉 may use it as a weapon to drive it out of its hold : And he that did 〈…〉 Sin , and embrace it , may at a second or third view see it again , and defie it . But he that will erre because he will erre , he that so dotes on his error as wantons do on their strumpets , and will more firmly cleave to it because it is exploded , is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , incurable . And you may be sure his Ignorance is his : for he took it up as a jewel , and will not let it go , or part with it upon any perswasion . For let us conceive as favourably as we please of our ignorances and errors , there are none which in respect of our particular duties might not have bin Ours , but ours they are ; none which were in my power to withstand , but are mine . If Negligence and Carelesness let them in , and a slothful Indifferency to examine them give them a fair welcome , if we make room for them when we might with ease exclude them , we cannot be ignorant to whom they belong . Ex toto enim noluisse debet qui imprudentiâ defenditur , saith the Orator ; For Ignorance is no excuse if it be not alone , and where the Will is not firmly planted against it . If we either will them , or embrace what may promote them or not make use of all the helps to oppose them ; if we will , or reject not , or be indifferent , we must own not onely our Sins of Ignorance , but our Ignorances as Sins : For both are voluntary , and ours .

But now , in the last place , if our sins of Infirmity , if our sins of Ignorance be voluntary , and ours , yet our sins of Subreption , which steal upon us at unawares , may seem to be wholy ab extrâ , from without , and not to have had principium in nobis , their beginning from us ; as sudden Anger , sudden Dejection of mind , sudden Murmuring , and the like , wrought in us by the sudden assault of some evil which is distastful and contrary to our nature . For here there is no truce given to Reason , no time for consulation . As when a spark of fire falls into gunpowder , you cannot tell which was first , the touch of the fire , or the flash ; so here Temptation and Sin may seem to be both at once . In other sins I have some space and time to deliberate , and I may make a pause and stand , & rerum expendere causas , and weigh each scruple and circumstance . The Murderer hath time to consider that that bloud which is shed cannot be purged but by the bloud of him that shed it . The Adulterer hath space enough to see death in a kiss ; and that to commit that loathsome fact , is to take the members of Christ , and to make them the members of an harlot . Such kind of sins admit of parley , and do not prevail but by degrees . But these sins of Subreption and Inadvertency lie in ambush , and strike before they are seen , and may seem rather to be certain recoylments and resultances from the Sense than any acts of the Will. Yet even these sins , sudden Anger , sud●●n Dejection of the mind , an Oath upon a blow , or a Curse upon a sudden an 〈…〉 violent injury , are voluntary and ours : For they had not bin if the Wil 〈…〉 d stood up in any resistance or opposition : It being not necessary that a 〈…〉 ow should beget a Curse , or that these so sudden surprizals should force th 〈…〉 onsent of the Will. To a Christian Souldier every day is dies praeliaris , 〈…〉 day of battel ; or rather in every moment of his life he must either fight 〈…〉 repare himself to fight . For even in our spiritual warfare there is not al 〈…〉 es 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a just battel drawn out , not alwaies signa obvia signis , but so 〈…〉 mes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , furta belli , sudden eruptions , thefts and advantages of wa 〈…〉 nd the Souldier of Christ must not onely be ready to resist in the full shew 〈…〉 march of the enemy , but expect and wait for him , that when he comes , 〈…〉 her he come in pomp and with troops of temptations , whether he fig 〈…〉 ●gainst us in open field , or whether he come by night and steal upon us una 〈…〉 , he may find us as ready for defense as he is to strike . And let us arm o 〈…〉 lves with this consideration , That as he comes forward sometimes an 〈…〉 ws himself in Pleasures and Beauty and Wealth and the Vanities of this 〈…〉 d , so he may come behind us in a sudden Injury , in the deceitful Ingratitude of a friend , in the Treachery of a neer acquaintance ; That every moment he may come , and that this may be the moment . And so by this providence and preparation we shall defeat him , so that whensoever he comes , he shall come too late . We read in Gellius of Aristippus , who being askt by a luxurious wanton , who was in the same ship with him , Why he being a Philosopher lookt pale and discovered some tokens of fear in the Tempest , when himself was not afraid , reply'd , That indeed there was not the same reason to both : for he needed not be sollicitous for the life of a wicked knave , but there was great reason there should be care taken for the life of Aristippus that excellent Philosopher : But the other Stoick's answer there is more full , and comes home to our purpose . For he tells us out of Epictetus , That there be certain apparitions and Visions of the mind which the Philosophers call phantasias , Phansies , by which the mind of man at the first face and shew of an evil is touched and moved : and these are not within the power of the Will , but press-in by a kind of violence : And there are certain 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , condescensions , or approbations of these phansies , which are voluntary , and can have no existence but by the Will. So that the mind of the wisest man may be stirred and moved at a crack of thunder , at the fall of an house , at some sudden and unexpected message ; because these quick and violent motions do officium mentis , & rationis praevertere , prevent and hinder the office of the mind , and step in between Reason and the Man . But yet notwithstanding 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he doth not consent , he doth not approve , these visions and phansies : and though his colour Change , yet there is no alteration in his mind , no mutation of his Counsels , but he is constant to himself , and holds fast his resolution , That these things are not to be fear'd . Now if the Philosopher could gain such stability and equality of mind as not to condescend and yield to these sudden surprisals , onely by the light and direction of Nature ; the Christian no doubt may be as well prepared as he , yea , make a fairer progress in the arts of living in the waies of prudence and circumspection ; may not onely learn to be angry and sin not , but not to be angry at all ; to have a buckler ready to hold up against sudden strokes , as well as a sword to chase away an open enemy , to stand in proctnctu , upon his guard , and to be ever in a readiness ; that no temptation may be sudden with him , nothing come upon him unawares . For if we slight these sins which beset us in silence , if we have not benè praeparatum pectus , a mind well prepared against them , not onely our sins of Malice , of Infirmity , and of Ignorance , but even these also of Subreption are voluntary , and ours . To conclude this point ; As St. Augustine , asking the question Quid bonum ? replies himself , Quod nemo invitus amittit . What is Good ? It is that which no man looseth against his will . So will I say , What is Evil ? It is that which no man commits against his will . If it be Sin , it is Voluntary , and ours . I now proceed to shew you first , that Sin is Onely ours , and that we cannot ease our selves of any part of our burden by complaining either of Original corruption , or the Devil , or want of Grace ; and , in the next place , That Sin is Wholy and Totally ours ; That the Will cannot be divided , and that renisus conscientiae , the reluctancy and resistance of Conscience , in which respect some are perswaded they sin but semi-plenâ voluntate , with but half a will , doth much aggravate the Sin , and make it more Voluntary , and more ours . And first , of them that shift the guilt of their Sins upon Adam , and alledge Original corruption for an excuse of their transgressions .

I deny not that we have derived weakness and corruption from our first Parents . But do not we to extenuate our actual sins , make Original sin more contagious and infectious , more dangerous and deadly than it is ? We bankrupt , we criple our selves , and then cry out we were born poor and lame . We put out our own eyes , and then complain we are in the dark . We make original Weakness a pretence to cloak and cover our actual wickedness ; and entitle Adam to all our sins and defects . But let us , with Aquinas , admit of that double process or derivation of Original sin , from the Flesh into the Soul , and from the essence of the Soul into every power of it ; let us take it in its proper subject , the Soul , or in the Flesh , which is vehiculum , the instrument and conduit to convey it , and we shall quickly find that we may not onely subdue and overcome it , but turn it to our benefit and behoof ; that though , with Sampsons Lion , it comes with open mouth to devour us , yet we may kill it by degrees , and find honey in the belly of it ; that we may destroy this Viper , and like skilful Apothecaries make a precious Antidote of it . This Flesh of ours is much blamed , as being a Prison of our soul , and a Weight to press it down , and the Manichee , observing that war which is betwixt the Soul and it , allowed it no better maker than the Devil , and is solidly confuted by St. Augustine : and Gregory Nyssen calls it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a fuliginous ill-favour'd shop : But all this will not minuere voluntarium , or make our Sin less ours . For the Father will tell us that the Angels had no bodyes , and yet they sinned , and fell . Nec suo nomine Caro infamis , saith Tertullian ; Nor is the Flesh , ill-spoken of for it self : Neque enim de proprio sapit aliquid , aut sentit ; for it doth neither understand , nor will , but it is of another substance , of another nature added and joyned to the Soul as an instrument in the shop of life . Therefore the Flesh is blamed in Scripture , because the Soul doth nothing without it . And it was made , not to press us down to hell , but by the Soul to be lifted up into heaven . Animus imperator est corporis , The Soul hath supream power , and is enthroned there . The Body is to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , obedient and tractable , to be reined and checke and guided , by the Reason . Hence Athanasius compares the Soul to a Musician , and the Body to a Harp or Lute , which he may tune and touch as he please , till it yield a pleasant and delightful Harmony : Nunc pietatis carmen , nunc temperantiae modulos ; now a song of Sion , a psalm of piety , a coelestial Hymne , and anon the composed measure of temperance and chastity : St. Ambrose saith , the Body was made for the Soul , as Eve was for Adam , in adjutorium , not to tempt and seduce it , but to be a helper . And what part is there of Christianity which is not performed by the ministery of the Body ? Hast thou a Hand to take thy brother by the throat ? Thou hast a Hand also to lift him up out of the dust . Hast thou an Ey to take in the adulteress ? Thou hast no less an Ey to pity the poor . Hast thou a Tongue which is a sword to wound thy brothers reputation ? Thou mayst , if thou wilt , make it thy glory , and sing praises to the God of heaven . Domus animae caro est ; & inquilinus carnis , anima ; The Body is the house of the Soul ; and the Soul , the tenant and inmate of the Body : Desiderabit igitur inquilinus ex causa hujus nominis profutura domui ; Therefore the Soul is obliged by this very name , as she is an inmate , to watch over the Body , and carefully to provide those things which may uphold and sustain it , and not to put it to slavish and servile offices , to let and hire it out to sin and uncleanness , which will bring a fearful name both upon the house and tenant , and cast both Body and Soul into hell . But what is the Instrument , you will say , if the Arts-man hath lost his skill and all his cunning be gone ? If the Tenant cannot uphold it self , how shall it be able to provide for the House ? If the Soul it self be poyson'd with this infection , what can follow but a jarring discord and disorder both in Soul and Body ? What is my Understanding without knowledge , but an ey in the dark ? What is my Will without love , but like a pilote strong and able , but deaf , and therefore unfit for the practice of his place ? Neither can Reason command what it knows not , nor the Will act what it doth not love . It is true ; two main blemishes we receiv'd in our fall , in our Understandings and in our Wills : But what we lost in Adam , we recovered again with infinite advantage in Christ . The loss of that portion of strength with which our nature was originally endued ; is made up with the fullness of power in Christ . So that as St. Ambrose spake of Peters fall , Non mihi obfuit quod negavit Petrus , imò profuit quòd emendavit , so may we speak of the fall of our first parents ; It hurts us not that Adam fell , for in Christ we rise again , and have power enough to avoid sin ; Which if we betray , Sin is voluntary , and ours . And this divides the Orthodox Christian from the Manichee and Pelagian , and placeth him in aequilibrio , in the midst between them both . Evil , saith the Manichee , is à malo principio , from a bad original ; therefore Gods help alone is required to take it away ; shutting out Freewill quite . Again , Evil , saith the Pelagian , comes from the freedom of the Will , and may be removed by natural force ; excluding Grace quite . The Orthodox agrees that Evil is from Freewill , but that this Freedome was impaired , and is now set at liberty by the Grace of God ; and so gives to Freewill that which belongs to Freewill , and that to Grace which pertains unto Grace . In Adam we were all lost ; but in Christ we are restored . Talk of what blemishes we please , the water of Baptisme is of virtue sufficient to wash them away . Do we talk of Darkness in the Understanding ? This is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an illumination . Do we complain of the perversness of our Will ? This is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the perfection of the mind , as Nazianzene calls it . Doth our Flesh molest us ? Baptisme is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a pulling off the filth of the flesh , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a correction of that copy which was blurred and defaced . For tell me ; Why were we Baptized ? Why were we made Christians ? Was it not to mortifie our earthly members and lusts , to dead in our selves this bitter root of sin , to cast-down strong holds , and every imagination which riseth against God ? I speak to Christians who have solemnly renounced the World , the Flesh , and the Devil ; whose whole life should be a continual warfare and victory over Sin . The Schools tell us that Original sin is the same and equal in all ; but that , as a Fever , it is more or less malignant according to the several complexions of men ; or as Water , which is the same wheresoever it flows , but doth not run with that force or violence in a plain or even-ground as down a hill : And according to these several operations we make our complaints . It is my Melancholy , may the Envious ; It is my Choler , may the Murderer ; It is my Bloud , may the Wanton ; It is my Appetite , may the Glutton say . But this is not to make the right use of Original corruption , which remains in intimis naturae , in our very nature ; not to make us think we are weaker than we are , but to make us rouse-up our selves and do all we can against this domestick enemy . The Envious hath power left to purge his Melancholy , and to rejoyce at the prosperity of his brother ; the Murderer , to suppress his Choler ; the Wanton , to quench that fire in his bloud ; the Glutton , to beat down his body by fasting and abstinence . To conclude ; If after our ingrafting into Christ we still complain of our Original weakness , we do but take that doctrine with the left hand which is reached out unto us with the right , or , rather we chop off our right hand with our left , and by a sinister and needless conceit of our own weakness , deprive our selves of that strength which might have freed us from those sins which now are truly ours , because we cannot derive them from any other fountain than our Wills .

But now , in the next place , if we cannot shift our sins upon Adam and that Original weakness which we derived from his loyns , we may perhaps upon the Serpent , upon the Devil , upon that Behemoth , who can take-in a Christian with his mouth , upon that Leviathan , into whose nostrils we cannot put a hook . Here we cannot but remember the battel , and not venture our selves upon his great strength . But let us but weigh his strength , and consider the weapons which he fights withal , and we shall find that though they be fiery darts , yet we may quench them , that he hath more will than power to hurt us , and that his iron is but as straw to a stout resolved Christian . To ask why God did create the Devil , and left him still to be a tempter , is a question full not onely of weakness , saith St. Chrysostom , but of ingratitude . For God spared the utter confusion of Satan as men use to spare the lives of their slaves , that they may put them in chains to do such service as may be beneficial to them . And he hath lengthened Satans chain a little , which he might have took-up shorter , for a purpose of his own , to do him service in the tryal and exercise of his children , to try their constancy , and to bring them to the glory of that victory which they could not obtain without an enemy . From hence there ariseth glory to God , and profit to us , who are taught and enabled to make use of the Devil himself . Our comfort and encouragement is , that though he fight against us with malice and craft , yet he is destitute of all strength and power to second and back them . And as his craft is defeated by the discovery , so is his Malice made frustrate by opposition . And when both these fail by resistance , he cannot shew any Sword or Power , as Julius Caesar did when he was denyed the Consulship , and say , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , This shall give it me . He is termed indeed a Lion ; but it is not for his strength , but his fiercness and malice . Non tantas vires habet , quantos conatus ; He is more eager than strong . There may be as much malice in a Waspe as in a Lion . And he is called a roaring lion , for his greediness of the prey . But to open the mouth , to be greedy of the prey , to seek to devour , argue no strength at all . If he prevail when he cometh , it is because we will be overcome with noise . All the weapons St. Paul gives them are but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , devises and enterprises , 2 Cor. 2. 11. Eph. 6. 11. and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , wiles and circumventions . Now the Glossators tell us that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 are all one . And then all his power is but to come about us , to use a kind of art to deceive us . And noscere inimici artes magna pars victoriae , to know his arts and wiles and devises is to overcome him . Though his infinite malice searcheth and sifteth us , and winds it self , and runneth round in a circle , yet we may find him out at every point , at every turn ; and then God will save us out of the mouth of this Lion . The truth is , our fear and cowardise , and our negligence in buckling on our armour of defense , that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the whole armour of God , as the Apostle calls it , hath made him more Devil than he is , made him that Dragon in the Revelation , and that wild Boar of the forrest , whom none can meet without destruction ; hath given him more teeth and more sting than he hath , to devour those whom he could but bite , and to break their heads whose heels he could but bruise . Satis enim clarus apud timentem quisquis timetur , saith he in the Historian : Fear makes a child a giant to him that fears him . This conceit of the Devils great power brought a sort of Hereticks into the world which were therefore by Epiphanius called Sataniani , because they worshipt and adored Satan himself , as the Romans did their Goddess Febris , nè noceret , that he might not hurt or molest them . It is a true saying , Primi in praeliis vincuntur oculi , that the first thing in a souldier that is overcome is his Ey : And that which foyls a Christian is a conceit that the Devil is stronger than he is . For wherein lyeth his great strength ? Not in any force , but in perswasion ; not in violence , but in fraud ; in proposing objects , and laying snares ; in suggestions and temptations . He laies a wedge of gold in thy way , presents a Bathsheba to thy eye , shews thee the glory of the world : And what are all these to the wisdom of a Christian , Cuires sapiunt ut sunt , who judges of things , not by the appearance , but as they are ? That I stumble at a cold of earth , that I am bound with a kiss , that I put-on these golden fetters , is not from any force of Satans , but from my self . For as Hannibal first overthrew the Romans , and then fought against them with their own weapons ; or as the Romans used the Carthaginian Ramme to beat down the walls of Carthage ; so the Devil seizes upon our Sense , our Will , our Appetites , which God had ordained to be weapons of righteousness , to fight against principalities and powers , and with these weapons he fights against us ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Nazianzene speaks , He makes use of our selves to fight against our selves , and fights not so much with his Temptations as with our Desires ; not so much with Beauty as with our Lust ; not so much with his Suggestions as with our Affections ; not so much with his Insinuations and Wiles and Enterprises as with our own Wills . The Devil is that Wicked one , totius crroris artifex , the worker of all Evil in us ; but yet he is bound and in chains , and cannot 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , pass those bounds and limits which are set him . And his bounds are a Snare , a Complement , an Allurement , a Suggestion : Hitherto he can go and no further . He comes not to compulsion , necessitation or violence . For if this were permitted , actum esset de humano genere , Men were far worse than the Beasts that perish . Quantumcunque ignavis & timidis videri potest , unum animal est , as Darius spoke of Alexander : How great soever our Sloth and Fear doth make him , yet he is but a Serpent to insinuate , or a Lion to roar ; and his noyse may serve as a warning-peece against his secret approach , his Malice may teach us that providence which may arm us against his Craft : that when he fawns upon us in a pleasing temptation , we may remember he hath teeth ; and when we have beat him off as a Lion , we may provide against him as a Serpent . For whether he roar or ly in ambush ; whether he open his mouth wide in a tempest of persecution , or whisper to us friendly in prosperity , he cannot conquer us but with our own strength : and , si non adjuvamus , vincimus , if we do not help him , he is overcome . The very manner of his working is an argument that he hath no power to force us unto sin : For , if he had , he would never 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , come about us , hunt and seek out opportunities and occasions to overthrow us ; but would 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , openly fight against us , make his sword drunk in our bloud , and devour us at once . He would presently besot our Understanding , and put-out the ey of our Reason , and not circuire terram , make his perambulations and circuits about us . He would not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , be at that pains to make a net to catch us . But now finding himself in a chain , and his power none at all , he deals with us as those do who surprise cities , or through crooked and by-waies usurpe a Tyranny which they cannot purchase with their sword . And as their course and practice is , to get a party of faction in that place , and those commonly of the meaner and baser sort , people easier to be deceived and corrupted by some present gratuity to set their country to sale , so doth the Devil insinuate with that common people of Man , the Senses and Affections , sets upon the weaker and womanish parts of Man , those parts which are more easie to be invaded and more seduceable than our Reason or Understanding . And these receive his grosser temptations , and send them up refined and drest to the nobler faculties . Therefore we must learn wisdom from our enemies craft , milites in eo loco collocare quo hostis insidiatur , to plant our forces there where the Devil strives to make an entry , raise up bulwarks against him to keep him out ; and that we may retein the innocency of the Dove , be as wise as Serpents . And if we neglect that art and those means which will defeat him ; if we suffer him to work in the mine , and look on and tremble , dally till he hath blown us up ; we have not lost our fort , but betrayed it . And talk what we will of his great strength ; though he flattered as a Serpent , or roared like a Lion , though he brought all his fiery darts along with him , yet he did rather steal a victory than win it . In a word , his insinuations , his suggestions , his strong temptations could not force our Will ; but the Will yielded without resistance , and our fall is voluntary . If we would not , we had not sinned : but because we would , our sins , for all these outward incitements and allurements , are ours .

We come now to the last complaint ; which is most unjust of all , as being put up against the Justice and Goodness of God , who giveth to all men liberally , and upbraideth not . St. Hilary passeth this heavy censure upon it , Impiae est voluntatis existimare idcircò se ea quae sunt credentium propria non habere quòd sibi à Deo indulta non fuerint ; It is a sign of a wicked heart , when we are destitute of those riches which are proper to believers , to pretend we therefore want them because they were not given us of God . One would think indeed that M●● , being a reasonable creature , capable of Gods law and precepts , having both Understanding to assent and Will to embrace them , there needed no other helps than the light of the Law , the beauty of the Reward , and the terrour of the Punishment which disobedience incurs ; that there needed only the hopes of life , and the thunderbolts of Gods judgments : But God is not gratiae angustus , as Ambrose speaks , sparing of his favours , no niggard of his grace ; but seeing the many snares in the midst of which we are placed , the many temptations which we are to cope withal , is rich unto all that call upon him , and hath not only set up the law against Sin , and the eternal anguish of punishment against the pleasure which is but for a season , and the eternity of the reward against the bitterness of those momentany afflictions which may tempt us to evil ; but hath also afforded us his grace and assistance , as a staff by which we may walk . And as when the children of Israel were in the wilderness , he rained down Manna upon them , and led them as it were by the hand , till they came into the land of promise , and tasted of the milk and honey there ; so God deals with all that call upon his name , whilst they are in via , in this their peregrination , ever and anon beset with Philistines and Amalekites , with those temptations which may deter them in their journey , he rains down abundance of his Grace , and is ready at hand to assist them against the violence of temptations , till he have brought them to the celestial Canaan , where is fulness of joy for evermore . And therefore , as he hath given us a command to try our obedience , so he hath commanded us also to call upon him for assistance that we may obey . Et scimus quià petentes libenter exaudit , quando hoc petitur largiri quod jubet ; And we know it is impossible he should deny us our request , when we desire him to grant us that which he commands . We beg his assistance against the lusts of the flesh ; he commands us to mortifie them : against the pollutions of the world ; his will is our sanctification : against the Devil ; he bids us tread him under foot . And can we once doubt of his help and assistance to the performance of that which he exacts at our hands as service due and pleasing to his Majesty ? The defect of Grace cannot be in the conduit , in the conveyance , but in the vessel which should receive it : Which if it be vas obturatum , a vessel shut up or closed , or full already of filth and uncleanness ; or if it do 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , leak , or let Grace slip ; no marvel then if the dew of heaven fall beside , and we remain dry and empty . And what greater folly then to complain of the Want of that Grace which we might have had , nay , which we had neglected , and fell with our staff in our hand ? were evil , when we had helps enough to be good ? when we shut our eyes , to cry out there is no light ? like the foolish old woman in Seneca who was blind through age , yet could not be perswaded but that the room was dark . Our error and grand mistake is , that whereas God is bountiful of his Grace to assist us , we phansie to our selves an irresistible and necessitating Grace , as if God did raise up children unto Abraham out of very stones . And therefore we conceive , that when we rusht upon sin as the horse doth into the battle , God might have restrained us and kept us back ; when we were adulterers , he might have made us chast : And when we sin , we wipe our mouths , and comfort our selves , that , if God give us grace , we will not sin again . And what is this but to turn the Grace of God into wantonness , and magnifying his Grace , to entitle him to our sins ? It is not here , The Lord shall fight for thee , and thou shalt sit still ; but thou must buckle on thy armor , and make use of his assistance when it offers it self ; thou must be as officious to wait on that as that is on thee . If thou hast a good thought , by his Grace thou hast it ; and thou must not be so unkind as to stifle it : If a holy intention , it is his Grace that raised it ; and it is a kind of sacriledge to pull it down : If a strong resolution , it is Grace that built it ; and thy care must be that it fall not to the ground . To attribute all unto God , is both very safe and very dangerous ; safe , in our thanks and acknowledgments ; dangerous , in the performance of our duty : safe , when we work our selves ; but dangerous , when we put our hands into our bosome . For he that will not rowse himself up and make haste to fly from Sin upon a phansie that he wants Grace , hath already despised the Grace of God , and cannot plead for an excuse the Want of that which he might have had ; nay , which he had , and chased from him . And in this respect , when we have light , and will not work in the light ; when we have Gods Grace assisting us , and will not make use of it ; when we have determents from Sin , and yet will embrace it , we must need stand guilty as wilfull offenders , and confess that it was neither Adam , nor the Devil , nor the shortness of Gods hand did betray us , but our own will ; that though we were weak in the first Adam , yet we recovered our strength in the second ; that the Devil would have fled if we had resisted ; and that Grace was not wanting unto us , but we were wanting unto Grace ; and therefore stand no more to deny or interpret this conclusion , but subscribe to it with tears of bloud , and make an unfeigned and sincere confession , That the sins which we have committed are OURS , and only OURS .

And now , in the last place , as they are only Ours , so they are fully and totally Ours : And if we strive to make a defalcation , we add unto their bulk , and make them more mountainous than before . And as we do minuendo numerum augere , by seeking to make our sins fewer then they are , sin more , and so increase their number ; so by attempting to make them less we make them greater . Excusando exprobramus ; Our Apology upbraids us , and we condemn our selves with an excuse . Some perswade themselves their sin is much less because they sinned not ( as they say ) with full consent , but renitente & reluctante conscientia : Their mind was long pausing and fluctuating before they did it . But this is so far from extenuating the fault , that it doth much aggravate it : For a sin it is in the avoiding of Sin to make any stand or deliberation at all . Deliberanda enim omnino non sunt in quibus est turpis ipsa deliberatio , saith Tully ; There is no room for doubt and consultation where the consultation it self is foul and blameable . Why should I halt so between these two , the Committing or not committing of sin ? Why should I doubt , when I know it to be sin ? Why should I ask my self that foolish question , Shall I , or shall I not ? when the sin is so manifest , and death so visible in the sin : These pawses and reluctations , which we make our 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which we subborn as comforts and excuses of sin , are nothing else but certain presages and forerunners of wilfull transgression . How readest thou ? What are the Commandments ? Thou shalt not commit adultery ; Thou shalt not steal : Never stand inaking demurs , nor asking of questions , but resolve not to do them . For as Mucianus in Tacitus well observeth of the common souldiers in time of faction ; so is it here , Qui deliberant , desciverunt ; They who deliberate , and are uncertain which side to cleave to ; have in effect revolted already . We take notice of that in our sins which Seneca says is observable between the wanton and his paramour , Grata sunt , si impulerunt ; gratiora , si essregerunt ; They are admitted friendly when they knock , or flatter , or steal ; but have double welcome when they break in upon us ; when they enter , though we struggle and strive with them . For then we think we may say , We have sinned indeed , but against our will . But this is nothing else but , as Tertullian says , gaudere de contumeliâ nostrâ , to boast and triumph in our reproach ; or , as the Apostle speaks , to rejoyce in our shame ; and we know all such rejoycing is evil . A man that sinneth at this rate , against the dictates and checks of his Conscience , is carried as it were by a mighty torrent , which , as the Orator describes it , doth Saxa divolvere , pontes dedignari , tumbles stones before it , breaks down bridges , and makes a way where it finds none : So the Will here , being vehement and stubborn , maketh haste to sin , and breaketh through all obstacles that stand in its way : And though Sin appear not in its best dress , vestitior & ornatior , gay and trim , but clothed about with Death , yet she runneth to embrace and hug it : Though she hear the Law thundring out dreadful curses , though she have a voice behind her and a voice within her , saying , Touch not , Taste not ; this pleasant cup will be bitterness in the latter end ; yet she readily taketh it from the Tempters hand , and drinketh it off with greediness , as if it were pure honey , without any mixture of gall and poyson . Surely this is to commit sin with an high hand and with a stiff neck . This maketh Sin exceeding sinful . Thus Murder and Adultery were greater crimes in David then in an uncircumcised Philistine ; and Treason was of a fowler aspect in Judas an Apostle than it would have been in Barabbas a murderer . Hence our Saviour denounceth a heavy woe against Chorazim and Bethsaida , because they did per tantorum operum detrimenta Christum contemnere , multiply their sins when he multiplyed his mighty works and the means and helps by which they might have avoided them ; and were very evil , when each miracle bespake them to be very good .

To conclude this point ; As the Orator tells us , Honesta verba moribus perdidimus , that by our evil manners we have lost the proper signification of many good and honest words ; so , on the other side , we have almost lost the knowledge of our evil manners and sins in words , in deputativis & assumptivis , in those borrowed appellations and assumptitious names which we have given them ; calling them sins of Infirmity , when we have strength enough to avoid them ; sins of Ignorance , when we dammed up our own lights ; sins not fully voluntary , when we are worse then horse and mule , and will take neither bit nor bridle ; sins committed with half awill , when our Conscience checks our Will , and cannot prevail . But names cannot change things . Men are the same , though they have new names given them . My servant is not a Gentleman , though I call him master . Neither are our sins less sinful for all the excuses wherewith we disguise them : The Poet telleth us that men indeed call things thus or thus , but that the Gods have other names for them : So let us give what titles we please to our sins , and pretend what we will of them , as that they were done out of Infirmity , or Ignorance , not with a full consent , with half a will , yet 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the sentence and judgment is Gods , and he hath other names for them . And our best way and safest course were , in rebus Dei uti sermone Dei , to use Gods own language , and call them as he doth ; to hate them , as he doth ; to judge our selves , that he may not judge us ; to punish sin our selves , that he may not punish us for it ; and , as it is enjoyned in Auricular confession , to lay open and naked , as near as we can , every circumstance before him . For this is the true method of reckoning with God , and casting up our accounts , the true valuation of our debts . Thus we may hide our sins by revealing them ; we may diminish them by addition ; by making them great we may make them little , and by making them many make them none at all ; and so fit and prepare our selves to receive illapsum misericordiae , the sweet dew and influence of Gods Mercy in a plenary absolution , in the forgiveness and remission of our sins . And so I pass to that which , when we first enter'd upon this Petition , we reserved for the clause and shutting up of all , and for the last thing to be consider'd , to wit , What is meant by Remission and Forgiveness of sins .

When we say , Forgive us our trespasses , we beg of God , that although he may most justly , yet he will not punish us for our sins , but so remit them , as to free us from that death which is the only wages due unto sin ; in a word , that he will justifie us freely by Faith in Christ , and impute to us , as he did to Abraham , faith for righteousness . The people of Israel when they saw that Moses delaid to come down out of the mount , began to murmur against God , and to refuse him for their leader , calling unto Aaron , Up , make us Gods which shall go before us . And they had a God fit for them . Nam processit eis bubulum caput , saith Tertullian , For they had an oxe ( or rather a calves ) head to lead them . So when men will not follow that way which God and Religion leads them , nor rest satisfied with the SIC SCRIPTUM EST , Thus it is written , commonly they make them Gods of their own , and have some such idol as the Israelites had , some phansie of their own , to go before them . Est haec perversitas hominum , salutaria excutere ; Such is the folly and perversity of men , to examine those things which are tender'd to them for their health ; to question their physick , not to take it down ; and when a pearl is laid open before them , not to buy it , but ask what it is . There is no point more plain , and yet none hath been more stumbled at then the doctrine of Justification and Remission of sins . No sooner was this seed sown by the Author and Finisher of our Faith , but the Devil mingled his tares with it , which were ready to choak it . Ebion and Cerinthus , denying the Divinity of Christ , and conceiving that it dwelt in him indeed , but so as in one of the Prophets , though in a more eminent manner , conceived also that we had not remission of sins by Christ alone , but by the observation of the Law . The Manichees thought cujusvis esse credere , that it was a matter of no great difficulty to believe , and that faith was as easie as a thought ; and therefore that severity of life , contempt of the world , and to sell and forsake all that we have , were wrought out with care and solicitude ; were that which would make us acceptable before God , and make us stand upright at the great day of tryal . Neither did these monsters only blemish this doctrine , but it received some stain also from their hands who were its stoutest champions . Not to mention Clemens Alexandrinus , Theophilus , Cyprian , Hilary , and others , St. Augustine , that great pillar of the truth , and whose memory will be ever pretious in the Church , though he often interpret the word Justification for Remission of sins , yet being deceived by the likeness of sound in these two words JUSTIFICARE and SANCTIFICARE , doth in many places confound them both , and make Justification to be nothing else but the making of a man just . So in his Book De Spiritu & Litera , c. 26. interpreting that of the Apostle , Being justified freely by his grace , he makes this discant . Non ait PER LEGEM , sed PER GRATIAM ; He doth not say by the Law , but by Grace . And he gives his reason , Ut sanet gratia voluntatem , ut sanata voluntas impleat legem , That Grace might cure the Will , and the Will being freed might fulfill the Law . And in his Book De Spiritu & Gratia , he saith , Spiritus Sanctus diffundit charitatem , quâ unâ justi sunt quicunque justi sunt ; The holy Spirit powers out his love into our hearts , by which Love alone they are just whosoever are just . And whosoever is but little conversant in that Father shall soon observe that where he deals with the Pelagian he makes the grace of Justification and of Sanctification all one . Now that which the Father says is true , but ill placed . For in every Christian there is required Newness of life and Sanctity of conversation : but what is this to Justification and Remission of sins , which is no quality inherent in us , but the act of God alone ? As therefore Tully speaks of Romulus , who kill'd his brother , Peccavit ; pace vel Quirini vel Romuli dixerim ; By Romulus his good leave , though he were the founder of our Common-wealth , he did amiss : So with reverence to so worthy and so pious a Saint we may be bold to say of great St. Augustine , that , if he did not erre , yet he hath left those ill weighed speeches behind him which give countenance to those foul mishapen errours which blur and deface that mercy which wipes away our sins . For Aquinas , in his 1 a 2 ae q. 113. though he grant what he cannot deny , because it is a plain Text , That Remission of sins is the Not-imputation of sins ; yet he adds , That Gods wrath will not be appeased till Sin be purged out , and a new habit of Grace infused into the soul ; which God doth look upon and respect , when he forgives our sins . Hence those unsavory tenets of the Romish Church , That Justification is not a pronouncing but a making one righteous , That inherent holiness is the formal cause of Justification , That we may redeem our sins and puchase forgiveness by Fasting , Almes-deeds , and other good works . All which if she do not expose to the world in this very garb and shape , yet she so presents them that they seem to speak no less ; so that her followers are very apt and prompt to come towards them and embrace them even in this shape . And although Bellarmine by confounding the term of Justification , and distinguishing of a Faith informed with Charity and a Faith which is not , and by putting a difference between the works of the Law and those which are done by the power and virtue of the holy Spirit , and by allotting no reward but that which is freely promised , and promised to those who are in the state of grace and adoption , though by granting that the Reward doth far exceed the dignity of our Works , he striveth to bring the Church of Rome as near to St. Paul as he can , and lays all the colours he hath to make her opinion resemble his , yet when he tells us that the Good works of the Saints may truly satisfie the Law of God , and merit eternal life , when he makes our Satisfaction go hand in hand with Christs , and that Fasting and Prayer and Alms are satisfactory not only for punishment , but for all punishment , and , which is more , for the guilt it self , he hath in effect unsaid what formerly he had laid down concerning the free Remission of our sins , and made so wide a breach between St. Paul and their Church , as neither St. Peter nor all the Saints they invocate are able to close ; In a word , he speaks as good sense as Theodorus Antiochenus doth in Photius his Bibliotheca , who makes a twofold Forgiveness of sins ; the one , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of those things which we have done ; the other , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an Impeccancie , or Leaving off to Sin . So that we may say with Photius , What this Forgiveness is , or from whence it is , is impossible to find out . No doubt , God taketh notice of the graces he hath bestowed on his children , and registreth every good work they do , and will give an eternal reward not only to the Faith of Abraham , the Chastity of Joseph , the Patience of Job , the Meekness of Moses , the Zeal of Phinehas , the Devotion of David , but even to the Widows two mites cast into the treasury , to a cup of cold water given to a thirsty Disciple . Yet most true it is , that all the righteousness of all the Saints cannot merit forgiveness . And we will take no other reason or proof for this position but that of Bellarmins , Non acceptat Deus in veram satisfactionem pro peccato nisi justitiam infinitam : God must have an infinite satisfaction , because the sin is infinite . Shall I give my first-born for my transgression , the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? Shall I bring the merits of one Saint , and the supererogations of another , and add to these the treasury of the Church ? All these are but as an atome to the infinite mass of our Sin . Shall I yet add my Fasting , my Alms , my Tears , my Devotion ? All these will vanish at the guilt of Sin , and melt before it as wax before the Sun : We must therefore disclaim all hope of help from our selves , or any or all creatures in earth or in heaven . It is only the Lamb of God who taketh John 1. 29. away the sins of the world ; the Man Christ Jesus is the only Mediatour between 1 Tim. 2. 5. God and Man ; He alone is our Advocate with the Father , and the 1 John 2. 1 , 2. propitiation for our sins ; His bloud cleanseth us from all sin ; In him we have 1 John 1. 7. Eph. 1. 7. Eph. 3. 12. redemption through his bloud , the forgiveness of sins ; In him we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him . In his name therefore who taught us thus to pray , let us put up this Petition , Forgive us our debts ; and our prayer will be graciously heard , and we shall be accepted in the Beloved ; Eph. 1. 6. all our Debt will be remitted through the merits of our Surety , who hath made full satisfaction to the Justice of God for us , and hath cancelled our Bond , and blotted out the hand-writing that was against us , and taken it Col. 2. 14. away , nailing it to his cross , and so obteined eternal redemption for us . I have Hebr. 9. 12. done with the Petition , Forgive us our debts ; and proceed to the Condition , As we forgive our debtours . Of which I shall now treat very briefly , because I have spoken fully of it heretofore .

This Petition hath this peculiar and proper to it self , which none of the rest have , that it is put up with a Condition , Forgive us , as we ( or as it is in St. Luke , for we also ) forgive . And this Condition is taken up by our Saviour , who in his wisdom thought it not enough to joyn it to the Petition which conteins all the hope and expectation and happiness of a Christian , to make it a condition without which there can be no Remission of sins ; but saepius retractare , to reinforce it again and again , as here at the end of this Prayer , and again in the eighteenth Chapter of this Gospel . Which is as a seal to make the Condition authentick . Therefore as we use to take more notice of those speeches which men of great place and wisdom have often in their mouths than of those which fall from them by chance ; so we may register this REMITTE DEBITORIBUS , Forgive those that trespass against you , in the leaves of Eternity , as the Apothegm and sentence of our blessed Lord and Saviour , who is yesterday and to day and the same for ever , and which he commends to his Disciples as a lasting and standing duty to the worlds end , to go hand in hand with Remission of sins , to keep time with it , and to be in date till Time shall be no more , till Christs enemies and ours , till the last enemy , Death , shall be destroyed , when neither Christ nor we his brethren shall have an enemy to forgive . And because our Saviour hath made this Condition so remarkable and considerable by joyning it to that Petition which so nearly concerns us , and in a manner consecrated it for ever by so many reinforcements , set it apart as an Anathema , not to be toucht or dallyed with , but to be preserved for ever in the living Temple of the holy Ghost , we will briefly lay down a few reasons why our Saviour may be thought thus to have annext and reinforced it , why he did thus press and urge it . We may conceive them to have been these . 1. To forgive our enemies is a duty full of difficulty , hard and irksome to flesh and bloud , and therefore had need to be set out and commended by that neerness and affinity it hath to so great a benefit , and by a kind of amiable reflexion from that which is most welcome unto us . 2. This duty of Forgiving our brethren is most proper to the Gospel : and was therefore there set-down in a more plain and lively character than formerly it had bin either in the Law of Moses or in the book of Nature , extended and stretched-out beyond those bounds and limits in which the Jew and Heathen did understand it , enlarged and perfected by him who fought not whilst he lived , but triumphed being dead ; whose every word and work was the issue of his Tenderness and Compassion . 3. It is a duty most necessary to Christians , whom that Religion which they profess doth expose to all the affronts and injuries of wicked men , and point-out as a mark for the world to shoot at ; because no power and resistance is so available against these as Meekness and Patience . For a Christian overcomes not by noise and violence , but by being silent and still . By the strict observance of this Condition the number of Christians hath been enlarged , and by the neglect of it many inconveniencies broken into the Church , which have not only spoiled her tender grapes , but brought-in bryars and thorns ; not only hindred the growth of Christianity , but made it a reproach to them which are with-out .

First , this condition stands in its proper place , joyned with Remission of sins , the hope of which benefit may encourage us to make the Condition good , or the fear of losing it fright us from all thought of revenge . For as Captains upon any dangerous adventure use to tell their Souldiers , de summa rerum certari , that they are to try out the main matter , and to fight for all , either to fall as slaves , or to be victorious with liberty and renown : So our Saviour , to enforce this duty , and to strengthen us against those affections which may bare down our patience , and make way to the desire of revenge , hath placed these two , our everlasting Happiness or Misery , before our eyes ; hath set before us both Life and Death ; and told us that by the performance or neglect of this duty we purchase or forfeit all . For both these must go together , Gods Forgiveness of us , and our Forgiveness of our brother ; or else both these will meet , our Revenge and Gods severe and heaviest Judgment . Indeed the Condition is very hard ; To forgive an injury , Not to seek revenge , To forgive seventy times seven times , that is , To forgive all injuries at all times , To teach our Charity to keep time with all the Disgraces which men can fling upon us , grande , durum , difficile ; sed magna sunt praemia : This is a hard matter , full of difficulty ; but then look back upon Remission of sins , and that will make Disgrace honourable , an Injury a benefit , and Oppression advantageous . And now , though it be difficult , yet we may pace through it with ease . Nec est vir fortis cui non crescit animus in ipsâ rerum difficultate ; He is but faint-hearted who doth not gather strength by the sight of difficulty , especially when he may look beyond it , and at the end of all see Mercy ready to embrace him , and Heaven open to receive him . It is an observation of St. Augustines , Magna pars legis Divinae hominibus à Deo propter homines data est , That a great part of the Divine law was given to men for the behoof and good of every man . God is easie to be appeased , if we were so : but he first provides for the weaker part , for Man . If we read our Saviours Sermon on the mount , we shall find that the greatest part of the precepts it contains , concerns the mutual conversation of men amongst themselves . We stand in need of our brothers reconcilement ; but God doth not stand in need of ours . Therefore it hath been the wisdom of those who made laws , to curbe and restrain this desire of revenge , because by the light of nature they saw it was very dangerous to all Societies , and that it would in time destroy the greatest kingdoms , and lay their honour in the dust . But yet no policy did ever tye it up so short , and give it so little line , as our Saviour hath done , who hath threatned to punish a revengful thought , which is but a thought , and hath but the endurance of a thought , with everlasting fire ; and hath promised eternal life to none but those who possess their souls in patience , and are ready to kiss that hand that strook them . And in this he lays his axe to the very root of the tree , to that which is most radicated and grows closest to the very nature of man . Habet enim mens nostra sublimè quiddam & erectum , & impatiens superioris , saith the Orator ; For the mind of Man is very lofty , and loves to advance it self ; and therefore is most impatient of injuries : because whosoever doth them , doth them as a superiour , and though he sit at our footstool , yet seems to usurp a kind of power over us . Not only the rich man , when he takes the poor mans lamb , but the poor man , if he doe not bow , doth seem to arrogate to himself what indeed he hath not . And all desire of revenge proceeds from Pride , quae ultima exuitur , which sticks close unto us , and is the last garment we put off . It is , saith St. Basil , to the soul as an inflammation to the body , and makes us swell and wax hot against our brother . Now by no better rule than this do we judge of injuries . If our Pride be built up from Money , then he that takes from me my coat , nay , he that will not give me his , is an enemy : if from Power ; then not to go when I am bid go , and come when I am called , though perhaps it be to do that which is not right , is an injury : if from Beauty ; then not to commend or dote , is a disparagement : if from an Opinion of wisdom and learning ; then not to clap my hands and applaud each word as an Oracle , is detraction . He that will not subscribe to our opinion , though it bear falshood in the very face of it , hath contemned our persons . And here to revenge seems an act of justice , and therefore we draw our sword with a kind of majesty , and wade towards it with delight and great contentment , & dolore nostro utimur pro lege publica , and use our distast as a kind of law , as those who do but exact and fetch back their own . Tanto proclivius est , saith the Historian , injuriae quam beneficio vicem exsolvere ; quià gratia oneri , ultio in quaestu habetur ; So bent and ready we are rather to repay injuries than good turns , because Gratitude is a burden , Revenge is sweet , and counted as a gain . With what formality and method have men studied it ? What preparations have they made ? What stratagems have they invented ? How witty and sportful are they when they have washt their feet in the bloud of their enemies ? Vitellius , when he had poyson'd Blaesus , made it his boast , pavisse se oculos spectatâ inimici morte , that he fed his eyes with the sight of his dead enemy ; and professed it optimè olere occisum hostem , meliùs civem , that his enemy smelt best when dead . Quoties caedes & fugas jusserat princeps , toties grates diis actae : It was common with Tyrants , in times of publick execution , when they had commanded the lives or liberties of their subjects , solemnly to offer sacrifice unto the Gods . Nor hath Christianity so prevailed with men as quite to extinguish this Desire . We have just reason to suspect that the SICUT , the Condition here , is performed by very few ; As if with those in Cassian we had quite left it out of our PATER NOSTER , and , because we will not forgive , blotted-out the SICUT quite , and concluded the petition with Our selves . This Forgiveness of others we may find in paginis , non in operibus , in our books perhaps in a fair character , but not so legible in our lives and conversation . Besides , humane Laws seem to countenance Revenge . Yet the very Heathen will tell us , Multa injustè fieri possunt quae nemo potest reprehendere , Many actions may be unjust which are not blameable : and I must not flatter my self that I have done that which is right because no man can reprehend me . Some there are who think that to put-on Christ , and to put-on that Tenderness and Mercy which he pours forth in abundance , is exuere hominem ; To be a Christian is quite to leave off to be a Man . Therefore I told you this is a hard Condition , a duty which we do not easily digest . Though Charity hath many glorious acts which make it visible to the eye , as to Feed the hungry , Cloath the naked , Redeem those who are in misery and iron , yet to Forgive them that trespas against us is the hardest task of all . And alterutra diligentia charitatis , the diligence of our mutual Love one to another , is most eminent in this ; it being far more difficult to forgive where an injury beats upon us than to open our hands and give where misery falls down at our feet ; harder to suppress my anger than to cast my bread upon the waters ; harder to command my passions than my purse . We willingly help those who bow and submit themselves , quia hoc facere tanquam majores videmur , because this is no disparagement but an honour to us , and we do it as superiours : But in pardoning an injury we seem to loose our right , to lay our hand under our brothers foot , and to confess a kind of soveraignty of his over us . And in this respect it is that Christ placeth this Condition here , and joyneth it with Remission of sins , proposeth his Mercy to challenge and encourage ours ; promiseth Forgiveness , but upon condition of Forgiveness . Indeed in the midst of all contumelies and reproaches , in the midst of all contradiction , to be still and quiet , to requite an injury with a benefit , to sendup prayers as fast as others breath-forth curses , and to kiss our enemy when he is angry , haec omnia dura videntur , sed ei qui non amat Christum , these things are harsh and unpleasant , but it is to those who love not Christ , and who little set-by this crown of blessings , Remission of sins . And so I pass to a second reason why this SICUT , this Condition was annext to this Petition , to wit , Because Forgiving one another is a duty most proper to the Gospel .

And you may judge of the Gospel by him who came down from heaven to promulge it , by the Author and finisher of our faith ; Qui non fulminans & tonans , sed vagiens & tacens in praesepi , homines salvavit in cruce , as St. Hierome speaks ; Who came not down in thunder and with a noise , but with the voice of an infant ; Who fought not whilst he lived , but triumphed being dead ; Whose every word and work was purely the issue of his tenderness and compassion . Tertullian observes that the Apostles of Christ after his ascension did practice that severity which Christ himself never made shew of whilst he converst upon the earth : Plagas inflixerunt Apostoli ; quod noluit Christus : The Apostles pronounced sentence of death , struck men blind , deliver'd them to Satan to be tormented : Which power though they had from Christ , yet Christ would never exercise it himself , but was as patient as a Lamb , though he had the strength and power of a Lion . And as his comming was in great humility , so hath he left it as a charge to those who will be his disciples , to follow him in that way which himself was pleased to tread before us . He hath set-up Remission of sins , but with a SICUT , upon condition that we will be as patient and humble and as ready to forgive as he ; that Humility , which brought him down to earth to suffer for us , may lift us up to heaven to reign with him for ever . Therefore this doctrine of Forgiveness è coelo descendit , came down from heaven with Christ , and is most proper to the Gospel ; For reckon-up all the precepts which the Heathen Sages have given , all the examples which they have shewn , and we may find enough perhaps to shame us , but not that measure of goodness which is required of a Christian . As Aristides was led to punishment , one spat in his face ; but this disgrace could move him no further than contumeliam contumeliae facere , to revenge this contumely with a jest . Socrates rails not at Anytus in prison ; but , being to die , discourseth of the Immortality of the Soul . Magna certè exempla , & grande testimonium . These are great examples , and bear witness to the doctrine of Christ . But Tertullian , at the beginning of his book De Anima , hath past a judicious censure on them , That the Heathen did and suffer'd many things , non de siduciâ compertae veritatis , not from any confidence that this virtue would make them everlastingly happy , sed ex industria consultae aequanimitatis , but from a setled and strong resolution that nothing should drive them to discontent . And this proceeded rather from affectation than from a disposition raised by the celestial discipline and that doctrine which came down from heaven . Munit nos Christus adversùs diaboli latitudines ; The Gospel of Christ is a fense to keep us from these latitudes and expatiations and extravagancies , and discovers the danger of those actions which the Heathen approved for virtuous . But what talk we of the Heathen , quorum religio pro certo non est , cùm Dei eorum non sint pro certo , who , being not well assured of their Gods , must needs also be as uncertain and unstable in their religion ? This doctrine of Forgiveness of sins was not understood of those who were domestica Dei gens , the peculiar and familiar people of God , to whom he gave his statutes and testimonies , and who were entrusted with his Oracles . The Jews indeed do challenge the commandments of God tanquam propria & haereditaria , saith Hilary , as proper to them , and their peculiar inheritance ; but yet they never understood this command of Christ , To forgive an enemy . Whatsoever Moses required of the Jew that doth Christ exact of the Christian , and more , more Patience , more Compassion , more Tenderness to our enemy , because the heavenly promises are more clearly proposed in the Gospel than they were under the Law . Multa sunt facienda , non jubente lege , sed liberâ charitate , saith St. Augustine ; Many things are to be done , not because the Law commands , but because Charity perswades them ; quae cùm liceret non impendere , tamen dilectionis causâ impendimus ; Many offices are done , which we do out of love , not upon command ; when as Love it self is a command . Behold , saith our Saviour , I give unto you a new command , that you love one another . When Volusian urgeth the objection of Julian , That Christianity stands in opposition to polity and government , the Father replyeth by parallelling of a sentence of Salust with those precepts of our Saviour . Romanos Remp. ex parva magnam fecisse , quòd acceptâ injuriâ ignoscere quàm prosequi maluerint , That the Romans had raised themselves to that greatness , not by revenge , but by forgiving injuries . We know there is a righteousness most proper to the Gospel , which the Jew for the most part saw but darkly and in a cloud , even that righteousness of Faith which justifies an unrighteous person . And indeed in this very respect , as the Christian hath more day and light , more helps , than the Jew , so his task should be greater . Our Saviour hath told us , Of him that hath much much shall be required . To forgive our enemies is a Condition and a Law , and lies heavier upon us than it did upon the Jew . Lex ligat , a Law is an obligation : and therefore , where it binds not , it is not a Law , but where it is proposed as a Law , it binds . When God saw the Jews would not be kept within those bounds in which his wisdom first had set them , he was pleased so far to condescend as to give them line , least too strict a curb and charge might have enraged them . Yet in all those tolerations his will did shew it self , and did shine forth . Even the very Permission was a commentary upon it self . In that he did forbid them to practice Usury upon their brethren , he gave them a fair intimation that it was far better not to practice it on strangers . When he gave them leave upon slight occasions to put-away their wives , he made a kind of exposition upon that Law , saith St. Augustine , in that he commanded them also first to give them a bill of divorce . For he doth not say , Let whosoever will put away his wife , but in a manner tells them he would not have them do it , though it were permitted , cùm hanc interposuerit moram , when by making this delay he gave them time of deliberation , that so their wrath might be appeased before the bill was writ . Besides , they were first to go unto the Scribes ; to whom alone it was lawful to write the Hebrew letters , as St. Augustine tells us ; who were men of great wisdom , and interpreters of the Law , men famous for their piety and justice ; that they might dissuade them . Lastly , for that law of Retaliation , it was permitted , not as if it were good , but for avoiding of greater evil , ut furoris non fomes , sed limes , saith St. Augustine ; not to excite and provoke but to bound their malice . Nor did they , saith Josephus , receive an eye for an eye , or a tooth for a tooth ; but for it took a pecuniary mulct : Which was also practiced amongst the Romans , as Favorinus observes in Gellius . For God did not approve of these as commendable to be done , but permitted them as lawful for them who would not endure a sharper bit to be put into their mouths . For even this law of Forgiving every man his trespasses in equity concerned them as well as us ; but the permission and dispensation doth not concern us , as it did them . Between the Precepts of Christ and these Permissions there is no repugnancy , but a diversity only . For he that shall not put away his wife , he that shall remit a private injury , is so far from doing any thing against the Law , that he doth that which the Law especially intends . The very Heathen could tell us , aliqua esse quae non oportet fieri , etiamsi licet , that there be some things which indeed may lawfully be done , but it is far better and more praise-worthy not to do them . And therefore God often chargeth the Jews with the hardness of their hearts , calls them a stubborn and stiffnecked people , and by many tokens made it evident that he did not approve of that which he did permit . He forbids them to hate their brother in their heart . He commands them to do many common offices to their enemy , Lev. 19. 17. to bring back his oxe that went astray , to help him whose asselyeth under his burden , and the like . He permits Revenge , but of lighter injuries ; and of greater , only by the hand of the Magistrate . And , had they been capable , he would have yet shewed them a more excellent way . I leave this point , and come to speak of our third and last reason why our Saviour annexed this Condition to this Petition , and enforced it afterwards .

It is indeed the nature of Flesh and Bloud , to be exasperated and enraged by injuries , and to thirst after revenge . But Christians have learnt a quite contrary lesson in the School of their Master , To put-up injuries with patience , and to requite them with courtesies ; To love their greatest enemies , and to pray for them who make it their business to seek and to work their destruction . This our Saviour hath taught his followers both by his precept and example ; this we oblige our selves to perform as oft as in this Prayer we beg forgiveness of our sins . This lesson the primitive Christians had well learnt , and still observed . And nothing was of greater avail both to themselves , and to their profession , than this . Hereby they overcame their enemies , and possessed their own souls ; in prison they found liberty ; in the greatest storms , a clam ; in torments and death , hope and joy . Meekness and Patience made them in all their trials , and sufferings more than conquerers . Neither was the observation of this rule advantageous to Christians alone , but also to Christianity it self , which got ground by this means , took root , and spread exceedingly . Crudelitas vestra illecebra est magis , saith a Father ; your cruelty , whereby you seek to destroy us , is a kind of invitation to draw-on more company , and to make us more numerous . The more you cut us down , we grow-up the faster ; and the more you lop-off our branches , the more they multiply ; and by driving us out of the world , you plant new colonies of Christians : For our Bloud is as seed which will bring-forth an hundred-fold . The blessed Martyrs knowing this , when they were led to death , did not onely forgive their enemies , but pray for them ; not onely pray for them , but give them thanks . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Justine Martyr ; Lucius replied not , but thanked them . And thus those torments which were invented to restore Paganisme , did much weaken it , and strengthen Christianity , every martyr , like Samson , killing more Idolaters at his death than he did in his life . VIDE UT SE INVICEM DILIGUNT , See how they love one another , was a strong motive , but , See how they forgive their enemies , and pray for their persecutors , was a stronger , a plain convincement , which prevailed with the wisest men , with great men , and sometimes with the executioners themselves . Non omnia potest potentia ; potentior est patientia ; What Power cannot do , that Patience absolves . And this is the onely strength and power that a Christian hath , with which he subdues his enemies , and makes a way to victory by death it self , and gains a crown against all opposition . We might expect perhaps that God should break the jaws of the ungodly , and rise-up against those who rise-up against us ; that he should send divers sorts of flies to devour them , and frogs to destroy them ; that he should knock-off their chariot-wheels , that they might drive but heavily after us , and at last put them to utter confusion . But there needs no miracle where our Saviour hath let down this Ancile , this buckler from heaven ; nor extraordinary help , where the ordinary means will suffice . For Patience , if we will take it up and use it , will be our Angelus custos ; our Angel to protect us , and lead us through the enemies land to that city which we would come to . If we observe the condition here , there be more with us than against us . And by yielding we may overcome ; by forgiving an enemy , not only conquer him , but make him ours , that he may praise God in the day of visitation .

I have in another place spoken at large upon these three Questions ; 1. What Debts we must forgive our brother ; 2. How we must forgive them ; 3. What dependance there is between Gods Forgiving of us and our Forgiving one another . I shall forbear to repeat ; but will only add a word or two , and conclude .

You will say perhaps , This is durus sermo , a very hard Condition , That no Forgiveness of sins is to be expected unless we forgive all debts . It is true , it is so ; but to such only who so dote on the world that they grow vile to themselves ; not to them whose conversation is not in earth , but in heaven . Totum durum est quicquid imperatur invitis , saith Salvian ; Every thing is hard and difficult to an unwilling mind . Covetous and Ambitious men had rather mend the Law than their lives , and hate the precepts rather than their sins . But what if the Condition were in it self hard , and did not onely appear so to flesh and bloud ? What though I did loose by it my good name , my peace , my possessions ? Yet minora incommoda praemiis ; the Condition is not so hard as the reward is great . These incommodations are nothing in respect of that peace and plenty which they purchase . Durum , grande , difficile ; sed magna sunt praemia ; It is hard to forgive all debts ; but without this no cancelling of our own . It is a sad and heavy Condition laid upon sinful man ; but without this , without shedding of our bloud , without emptying our selves of all rancour and desire of revenge , there is no Remission of sins .

To stir us up to the performance of this Condition , let us consider that this virtue of Forgiving others is never alone . It supposeth Faith , which is sigillum bonorum operum , as Chrysologus calls it , the seal to every good work , to make it current and authentick . He whose mind is thus subact as to bear another mans burden , to raise up virtue out of the ruines of himself , and create out of injury and contempt , cannot be far from the kingdom of heaven , nor destitute of those sacrifices wherewith God is well pleased . Not that we affirm or absolutely determine that there is nothing more required than a mind thus tender , soft , and equally poysed : But we rather suppose that all other virtues are joyned with it . Which though it be not necessary , yet is it very probable . For these two , To be covetous , or luxurious , or wanton , and To be ready to forgive , Cannot lodge in the same breast . For we see Prodigality as well as Covetousness , is the whetstone to our Anger , and makes it keen and sharp . The wisdom which is from above is first pure , then peacable , gentle , easie to be entreated , full of good fruits , saith St. James . And the Charity which forgiveth trespasses , beareth all things , believeth all things , hopeth all things , and doth nothing unseemly : For the mind of the compassionate is like the Heavens : Semper illic serenum est ; There is continual serenity , and a perpetual day there . He is as Wax , fit to receive any character or impression of Goodness , and retain it . He is a fit object for Gods benefits to work upon . He is melted at the light of Gods countenance , and yields at the very sight of his hammer : And if the beams of that light , his sweet insinuations and instructions , fall upon him , they fall not as upon a wave of the Sea , tost with the wind and carried about , where the impression must needs be flitting and vanishing , and the reflexion wavering and unequal ; but , as upon a still and quiet cloud , the reflexion is equal and glorious . And this reflexion is nothing else but the image of God , according to which we are renewed . In our Compassion and Long-suffering , in our Forgiveness of our brethren , we present unto God his own image ; monetam ipsius inscriptam nomine , hominem misericordem , a merciful man , a piece of mony taken out of his own mint , stampt with his own mark and character , with his own image and superscription . And when he makes-up his jewels , his special treasure , as the Prophet Malachy speaks , he will acknowledge them for his own , and will spare them as a man spareth his own son which serveth him . Then Mercy shall rejoice and triumph against Justice , and open the gates of heaven to those who opened the bowels of Compassion to their brethren . Then for that Charity which covered our brothers trespasses , we shall have a robe of righteousness to cover ours ; for curses we shall have blessing ; for a prison , heaven ; and for disgrace , a crown . Then we shall feel the power of this virtue , and how prevalent it is with God . Then as we have manifested our selves to be his children by performance of this Condition , so will he manifest himself a Father in removing our transgressions from us as far as the East is from the West . And as a father pitieth his children , So will the Lord pity those who have been pitiful and merciful to their brethren . Now to this Father of mercies , the God of all comfort , be all honour and glory for ever .

The One and Fourtieth SERMON . PART . I. MATTH. VI. 13. And lead us not into tentation ; but deliver us from evil .

BEfore we make a full discovery , or enter upon a just exposition of this Petition , we shall first observe the order and connexion which is between these two , between REMITTE , Forgive us our trespasses , and NE INDUCAS , Lead us not into tentation ; as Travellers , which hasten to their journeys end , yet take notice of every remarkable object in their way . After we have deprecated the greatest evil , that evil of Sin , which entitleth us to an everlasting curse , we here deprecate the least evil , even the occasion of evil , which may lead unto it . And being unfettered by a plenary indulgence from a merciful Father , we are afraid of those shackles with which we were formerly bound . FORGIVE US OUR SINS : Hoc omnia optanda complectitur ; This comprehends all the happiness of a Christian . This is the centre wherein all our hopes and desires are at rest . What can a Christian desire more ? Yes ; unum adhuc superest ; there is one thing more ; Not to sin any more , to abstein from all appearance of sin , and , as good Captains use , not to be so confident of a truce , of that peace of conscience which is sealed unto us by Remission of sins , as not to prepare our selves for war , quod , etiamsi non geritur , indictum est , which , though battle be not offered , is denounced against us . And this is the condition of every Christian . He must leave off sin before he can be forgiven ; and when he is forgiven , he must fly from it as from a Serpent which hath stung him ; startle at the very sight and thought of it ; prepare and arm himself against those tentations which may engage him , and make him stand in need of a second Forgiveness ; which may wheel and circle him about from the love of Sin to the desire of Pardon , and from Pardon to Sin again , till he can neither ask pardon nor sin any more . In this order these two Petitions stand . Remission of sins goes before ; but is not alone . It is first REMITTE , Forgive us , and then NE INDUCAS , Lead us not into tentation . REMITTE is not all ; all is not Forgiveness : We must pray also to be strengthned against tentations ; plead at the barr for this consequent Mercy , that takes away sin ; and co-operate with preventing Mercy , which may quite abolish it . And with these we shall exercise your Devotion at this time .

First , before Remission , before we are reconciled to God , we are no better then the Devils mark , at which he shoots his fiery darts : We are a prey for this Fox and this Lion , who will first deceive , and then devour us . Though we avoid divers tentations , though we yield not when he flatters in some pleasing allurement , though we tremble not when he roars in the terrours of some biting affliction , though we stand strong against all his assaults , yet those sins which we have already committed will sink us . Not that I think that all the actions of a person not justified are sins ; or that in this state he can do nothing which can please God or be accepted with him ; or that his best works are venial sins , as Luther , or an abomination unto God , as Calvin hath taught ; that his Prayers , his Alms , his Patience , his Meekness , his moral Honesty , are mortal sins , as the Schools too boldly have determined ; that whilst he remains unreconciled , he offends God not only by his sins , but by his virtues , by Temperance as well as by Riot , by Hearing the Word as well as by Contemning it , by doing Good as well as by doing Evil. For he who hath publisht the rule , and as it were imprinted his will in his Law , cannot be offended with that action which is answerable to that rule . He who hath endued us with Reason , cannot be displeased with his creature when he doth operam dare rationi , as Augustine speaks , make use of that talent which he hath given , and walk by that light which he hath kindled in his soul . For what is our Reason but a portion from Gods Divine Wisdom , a beam from his infinite Light , which he hath given us not only to procure those things which are necessary for the uses of this life , but for those actions which may 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Plato speaks , make us in some degree like unto God . Therefore even Heathens themselves have acknowledged that Life and Reason are given to Men to this end , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that we may follow God . Now so far as we follow him , so near are we to him . And though he be angry with that person who hath not sued out his pardon , yet he loveth his virtues . Though he will not know him , not acknowledge him to be his , yet he doth not frown upon those actions in which he resembles him . He is not angry with his Patience , his Fidelity , his Truth , but with those his sins which make him guilty of eternal death . For suppose a Christian that believes be of a wicked , and an Infidel of an honest conversation , certainly of the two the Infidel is nearest to the kingdom of heaven . No : These actions of piety are not sins , but they are not conducible to eternal life . They have their reward , but not that reward which is laid up for the righteous . The Law is broken : and all the works , I do not say , of all the virtuous Heathens , but of all the Saints , of all the Martyrs , that have ever been , cannot satisfie for the least breach of the Law , no more than a Traytor can redeem his treason against the King by giving of alms , or , which is more , by dying for his country . For whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin , to bear not only its heavy burden , but the whip ; not only to be at its beck , and when it says , Do this , to do it ; but to be punisht for sin , to be lyable to those lashes of conscience and to be reserved in everlasting chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day . He is captive , sold under sin , driven out from the face of God , under the power of that Law which is a killing letter , obnoxious to all the Woes which are denounced against sinners . And thus he stands till he doth postliminio recipere , recover and receive his liberty , till he be redeemed and brought back again : And by justification and free pardon quasi jure postliminii , as by a law of recovery , he is reinstaled into that liberty which he lost , and doth omnia sua recipere , receive all that might be his , his Filiation , his Adoption , his Title to a Kingdome ; & putatur semper fuisse in civitate , he is graciously accepted as if he had never been lost , as if he had alwayes been a free denizon of the City of God , and never fled from thence , as if he had never forfeited his right . His sins are wiped out as if they had never been .

This we beg in the first place , That we may be reconciled unto God ; That being justified we may have peace . But then , in the next place , our Petition is , NE INDUCAT , That he will not lead us into temptation , That we may sin no more . Not that we approve of that error of Jovinian , That after we are baptized , after we are reconciled unto God , we cannot be tempted by Satan ; and That those who sin were never truly baptized , were baptizati aquâ , non spiritu , baptized with water only , and not with the holy Ghost ; or That this Petition did belong only to the Catechument , those novices in Christianity which were not yet admitted into the Church , and not to believing Christians . This error is at large confuted by St. Hierom. For why else those warnings , those preparations , those warlike oppositions against Satan ? Why should we say this Prayer at all , if after reconcilement there were an impossibility of sinning ? But it is impossible only impossibilitate juris , as the Civilians speak ; not that it cannot be done , but that it should not be done . For thus the Law supposeth obligations to be performances , and that necessarily done which we are bound to do . What should be done is done ; and it is impossible to be otherwise . When we are iustified , there is mors criminum , and vita virtutum , as St. Cyprian speaks , or as the Apostle , we are dead to sin , and alive to righteousness . Indeed Justification is nothing else but an action of God , or a certain respect and relation ▪ by which we are acquitted of our sins . And although it be done without any respect had to good works , yet it is not done without them . Although it be not a change from one term to another , from Sin to Holiness , yet is no man justified without this change . Therefore not only Faith but Charity also is required as a condition at their hands who will be saved . But it hath pleased God to justifie us freely by his grace , and to impute , Rom. 3. 24. not our Goodness , but Faith , to us for righteousness . Christus justificat , Rom. 4. 22. sed justificabiles ; Christ indeed justifies , but not those who make themselves uncapable of his Grace : As Fire burns , but such matter as is combustible ; and the Soul animates a sick or crasie body perhaps , but not a carkass . So That Faith justifies a sinner , and That Charity doth not justifie , are both true : but it is as true , Faith cannot justifie him who loveth not the Eph. 6. 24. Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity : Christus justificat impium , sed poenitentem , Christ justifies a sinner , but a sinner that repents . It is true that the Schools tell us , Justificatio non fit sine interna renovatione ; We cannot be justified without renewing and inward change : But this change doth not justifie us . Therefore where they enhaunce Good works , and give them a share in our Justification , they do veritatem tenere , non per vera , as Hilary speaks , speak some truth , but not truly apply it , or rather , as Tertullian speaks , veritatem veritate concutere , shake and overthrow one truth with another . Good works are necessary ; they must abound in us ; God delights in them , and rewards them : But what concurrence have these with Remission of sins , which is the free gift of God , and proceeds from no other fountain but his own Will and infinite Mercy ? To bring this home to our present purpose ; Our victory over tentations is neither the cause of Remission of sins , nor yet the necessary effect : Not the cause ; For what power have the acts of Holiness to abolish the act of one sin which is past , and for which we are condemned already ? Nor the necessary effect ; For then , when Sin is once forgiven , we could sin no more , nor be lead into tentation . Therefore when we read that the justified person is freed from sin , we must understand that he is free from the guilt of former sins , not from the danger of future ; and in the Fathers , fides est genitrix bonae voluntatis , that Faith is the mother of a good will , we find not what Faith alwayes doth , but what it should do , and what it is ordeined for , what it would produce if no cross action of ours did intervene to hinder it . In a word , let us not only in our Pater Noster , but in the whole course of our lives , joyn these two Petitions together : When our sins are forgiven , Let us pray , and labor too , that we be not led into tentation ; And that for many reasons , which we must duly weigh and consider , as we tender the welfare and salvation of our souls .

First , Remission and Forgiveness , as it nullifies former sins , so doth it multiply those that follow : as it takes away the guilt from the one , so it adds unto the guilt of the other , and makes Sin over-sinful . We are now Children , and must not speak our former dialect , words cloathed about with Death ; but our language and voice must be Abba , Father ; and every action such a one as a Father may look upon and be well pleased . And this first word of our Nativity , as Cyprian speaks , Our Father which art in heaven , is as a remembrance to put us in mind that we have renounced all carnality , and know only our Father which is in heaven . Reatus impii , pium nomen , saith Salvian ; A good name is part of the guilt of a wicked man . Our Religion which we profess will accuse us ; and that relation which we have to God will condemn us . Plutarch said well , I had rather a great deal men should say there were no such man as Plutarch , than that they should say there was one Plutarch that would eat up his children as soon as they were born , as the Poets speak of Saturn : And better it were that it should be said we were no Christians , than that we were Christians ready to devour one another , Christians , but adulterers : Christians , but malitious : the children of God with the teeth of a Lion ; delighting in those sins which we abjure , and every day committing that for which we beg pardon every day . This consideration was it , I suppose , that caused divers Christians to do what some of the Fathers have condemned , defer their Baptism . And when they were baptized , what a multitude of ceremonies did they use ? what prayers ? what geniculations ? what fastings ? what watchings ? First they breathed upon them thrice , and thrice bad Satan avoid , that Christ might enter . Secondly , they exorcised them , that the evil Spirit might depart and give place . Then they gave them salt , that their putrid sins might be cleansed . Then they touched their nostrils , and their ears ; They anointed their breasts and their shoulders ; They anointed their head , and covered it ; They put upon them white apparel ; They laid their hands upon them , that they might receive the grace of the Spirit . Of all which we may say as Hilary doth of Types , Plus significant quàm agunt , They had more signification than virtue or power , and were intimations , what piety is required of them , who have given up their names unto Christ , how foul Sin appears in him that is washed , and how dangerous it is after reconcilement . Now as in the conversation of men we cannot easily judge where Love is true and where it is feigned by a smile , or by fair language , or by the complement of the tongue or hand ; and therefore some opportunity , some danger , must offer it self , by the undertaking of which our friendship is tryed , as Gold is in the fire ; so we cannot judge of Repentance , that it is true , by an exterminated countenance , by the beating of the breast , by the hanging down of the head ; no , not by our sighs and groans , by our tears and prayers , by our ingemination of DIMITTE NOBIS , Lord , Forgive us ; which many times are no better than so many complements with God , than the flattery of our lips and hands . But when temptations rush-in upon us , when they threaten in afflictions , when they smile upon us in the pleasures of the world ; then it will appear whether that which was in voto , in our desires , were also in affectu , in our resolution . And if we bear not this tryal , we have no reason to be too confident of our Pardon . Again , if we sue for pardon of sin , and then sin afresh , we become more inclinable to sin then we were before . It is more easie to abstein from the pleasures of Sin before we have tasted them then it will be afterwards , as its harder to remain a widow then to continue a virgin , harder not to look back toward Sodom after one hath left it , then it would have been to have kept out of it at first . That which is once done hath some affinity with that which is done often , and that which is done often is near to that which is done alwayes . God indeed in Scripture is said to harden mens hearts , and some be very forward to urge those Texts ; yet Induration is the proper and natural effect of continuance in sin . For every man , saith Basil , is shaped and formed and configured as it were to the common actions of his life , whether they be good or evil . Long continuance in sin causeth that which Theodoret calleth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a reverberating heart , an heart which is as marble to all the threatnings and promises of God ; it worketh in the sinner that difficulty and inability of resisting tentations that he becomes even a devil to himself , and will fall without them . And this may seem to fall as a just judgment of God on those who fix their eyes so steddily upon the Mercy-seat that they quite forget the two Tables ; who are all for the REMITTE , but not at all for the NE INDUCAS ; very earnest for Remission of sins , but faint and backward in resisting Tentations ; I will not deliver it as a positive truth , but it is good for us to cast an eye of jealousie upon it as if it were so , That there may be a measure of sins which being once full God will expect no longer ; a certain period of time , when he will neither comfort us with his Mercy , nor assist us with his Grace , but deliver us up to Satan , to his buffetings and siftings , to his craft and malice ; deliver us up to Sin and to the Occasions of Sin ; that having held-out his hand all the day , as the Prophet speaks , he will now call them in again , and , as we mockt his patience , laugh at our calamity . Prov. 1. It is a sign of a pious mind to fear sometimes where no fear is , and even in plano , in the plainest way , to suppose there may be a block to stumble at . If it be not true it is a wholsome meditation to think the measure of our sin is so near full that the next sin we commit may fill it ; that there is a Rubicon set , as to Caesar , which if thou pass thou art proclaimed a Traitor ; a river Kidron , as to Shimei , which if thou go over , thou shalt dye , thy bloud shall 2 Kings 2. 37. be upon thine own head . Now is the acceptable hour , now is the day of salvation ; 2 Cor. 6. 2. and if thou art so dazled with the beauty of Mercy that thou canst not see death in a Tentation , horror upon Sin to morrow will be too late . And here in the last place , as the case stands with us , we have as much reason to be afraid of Mercy as of a Tentation , and to beg it at the hands of God that it do not prove so , even a temptation and occasion of sin . For at the very name of Mercy , we lye down and rest in peace . This is the pillow on which we can sleep in the midst of a tempest , and dream of heaven when we are entring the very gates of hell . We make the Pardon of sin commeatum delinquendi , but a kind of faculty or safe-conduct that we may sin the more boldly . A heavy speculation it is , but Experience hath made it good ; We have learnt a cursed art how to change and transelement the Mercy of God . We make our selves worse for the Goodness of God , and continue in sin because he is long-suffering . Forgiveness blots-out sin , and Forgiveness revives it . We will not be rich in Good works , because God is bountiful of his merits ; and we are many times most sinful upon no other inducement then a faith unhappy and ill applyed , That God is most merciful . Deus , inquiunt , bonus , & optimus , salutificator omnium , saith Tertullian ; This is the plea of most men , GOD IS GOOD , AND MERCIFUL , AND THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD . Haec sunt sparfilia eorum ; These are those sprinklings of comfort with which they abate the rage of that hell which Sin hath already kindled in their breast . And as it fares with us in respect of temporal life , so doth it also in respect of spiritual life . We lay-up for many years , when we cannot promise to our selves a night ; and we talk of to morrow , when the next word may be our last : and though the keepers of the house tremble , and the strong men bow themselves , and the grinders cease , yet we nourish a hope of life , even then when our voice fails us , and we have not strength enough to publish our hope : So when we lye bedrid in sin , almost at the last gasp ; when our members are withered , when our understandings are darkned , and our memories fail us , when we are nothing else but the carkass and shadow of a Christian , we talk of the glories and riches of the Gospel , hope to be saved by that Grace which we have slighted , and by that Mercy which we have trampled under our feet . We force Mercy to these low offices in our health and jollity , to sit with us in the seat of the scornful , to walk with us in our inordinate courses , and to make the way smooth and pleasant which leadeth unto death ; and at last when we lye on our death-beds , we get it to perswade us that we who have believed , and no more , who all our life long had no other virtue than Faith , may now dye in hope ; that we may dye the death of the righteous , who have made our members the weapons of unrighteousness . Thus we pray , That Gods will may be done , That we may overcome Tentations ; but we live as if there were no other Petition but this , Forgive us our Trespasses . Tertullian saith , Solenne est perversis idiotis , It is a common thing with ignorant and foolish men , with men of perverse hearts , to lay hold upon some one fair promising Text , and to set it up adversus exercitum sententiarum instrumenti totius , against a whole army of those sad and ill-boding sayings which qualifie it . HABEMUS ADVOCATUM , If we sin , we have an Advocate with the Father ; This is a fundamental truth , and to this we stand , and never heed those passionate Texts in Scripture , those expostulating Texts , Why will you dye ? Oh fools , Ezek. 33. 11. Psal. 94. 8. Psal. 81. 13. when will you be wise ? those wishing Texts , Oh that my people would understand ! that Israel would hear my voice ! those forewarning Texts , Tribulation and anguish on every soul that doth evil ; and , They that do these things Rom. 2. 9. Gal. 5. 21. cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven : and those begging and beseeching Texts , I beseech you , brethren , be reconciled ; I beseech you , abstain from carnal lusts . 2 Cor. 5. 20. 2 Pet. 2. 11. I have often wondred within my self how it should come to pass that so many Heathen have surpassed most Christians , in the commendable duties of this life , that even Turks and Pagans do loath those sins which Christians swallow-down with ease and digest with all their horror and turpitude ; why the light of Reason should discover to them the foul aspect of Sin , which the Christian many times doth not discern with that light and with another to boot , the light of Scripture ; why the secret whisper of Nature should more prevail with them , then doth with many of us the voice of God himself and the open declaration of his will in Scripture . But it is too true , They are not alwayes best who have most motives to be so . For as it falls-out sometimes in men of great learning and subtilty , though they are able to resolve every doubt , untie every knot , and answer the strongest objections , yet many times they are puzzled with a meer fallacy and piece of sophistry : So the formal Christian can stand strong against all motives , all beseechings , all the batteries of God , against the terrour of hell , and allurements of promises ; but he is puzzled with a piece of sophistry , and cannot extricate and unwind himself ; with the Devils fallacy à dicto secundum quid ad dictum simpliciter , That Mercy doth save sinners which are penitent , and therefore it saves all : And upon this ground the Pleasures which are but for a season shall win upon us , when Heaven with its eternity cannot move us ; and the supposed Tediousness and Trouble which is in Goodness shall affright us from Good works more than the Torments which are eternal can from Sin . So that that Mercy which the unbelieving Heathen wanted to make them happy , the Christian hath but ad poenam , to make him miserable , being made by him the savour of death unto death : And that which is his priviledge here , shall be to his greater condemnation , and urged as a reason why the Christian shall have more stripes than the Infidel . To restrain this evil , which is the cause of all evil , and the abuse of Mercy , which envenomes it and makes it malignant , and leaves us so incurable that infinite Mercy cannot restore us , that ipsa Salus , Salvation it self , cannot help us , the primitive Christians admitted publick penance in the Church but once after Baptism . They had 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Clemens speaks ; primam & unam poenitentiam , as Tertullian , but one repentance , but one , which was first and last , fearing lest if they did laxare fraenos disciplinae , slacken the reins of discipline , and admit of notorious sinners toties quoties , though they laid-down and took-up their sins at pleasure , they might make that a fomenter of Sin which was ordeined to kill it . The Novatian was yet stricter , and would not admit it once , and therefore underwent the Churches heaviest censure , as an enemy to God and to his infinite Goodness , and one who shut-up the bowels of that Compassion which is open unto all . The Fathers would have it once , Novatus not once ; and , for ought appears , both upon the same ground and reason , To teach men that after Remission once obtained , their work is to subdue Tentations , and to fight against the Devil , whom they have so solemnly renounced . It is true , Novatus was in the error : But against a wilfull offender his error is as useful as their truth : and though it be no cordial for a broken and contrite heart , yet is it a good antidote against Sin . For how wary would men be in ordering their steps , if they could perswade themselves that every fall were irrecoverable , and that God is as jealous of his Mercy as of his Truth , and will not afford too frequent a view and sight of her to those who every day prostitute her to their lusts . I am sure the Fathers , even where they oppose Novatus , deliver the doctrine of Repentance with great wariness . Invitè loquor , saith Tertullian ; I am unwilling to publish this free mercy of God . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Basil , I speak in fear . when I speak of Mercy . For my desire is that after Baptism you would sin no more , and my fear is that you will sin more and more upon presumption of mercy . Upon presumption of Mercy it is that we do return with the dog to our vomit , that we have alternas inter cupiditatem & poenitentiam vices , those courses and that interchange between our lusts and repentance , that we are whirled about like the Spheres , which reiterate their motion , and return to the point which they passed . Our whole life is a motion and circumvolution from Sin to Repentance , and from Repentance to Sin again ; from Want to Mercy , and from Mercy to the Need of it . And thus we turn and return , till at last we all burn in the common conflagration , and our souls shall shrivel up as a scroul . We woo sin and embrace it , but upon some pang that we feel we begin to distast it . When it flatters , we are even sick with love ; but when it after chides us , we are weary of it , and would fain shake it off . Our soul cleaveth to it , and our soul loatheth it . We send it a bill of divorce , and after marry and joyn with it . And all this ariseth from our Presumption of Mercy . I should be loth to confine the Mercy and Goodness of God , which is infinite . I know Repentance is not as Baptism , but once to be had , and never reiterated ; that he who was overcome at first may 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , secundo certamine superare , recover the field , and at a second onset gain the conquest over that enemy who before had foiled him . But it concerns us Christians to be very wary that our best remedy turn not into a disease , nè nobis subsidia poenitentiae blandiantur , that these succors and supplies do not flatter us so long till we grow at last enamored with their very shadows and names . Let us beg Remission upon our knees , but then stand-up against Tentations . Our first care should be nè peccemus , that as far as is possible we do not sin at all : but then , si peccemus , if we sin , we have an Advocate , unto whom we may lift-up our eyes , till he have mercy upon us ; And if we obtain favour at his hands , we must sin no more , lest a worst thing fall unto us ; lest that sin which did but prick us to some sense of it ; at last sting us to death : In a word , we must watch and pray , lest we enter into temptation , and so bring a nullity on our Pardon . And this we learn from the order and connexion of these two Petitions . NE INDUCAS , Lead us not into tentation immediately followeth after REMITTAS , Forgive us our trespasses , that we may learn not to pardon that sin which God hath pardoned . We should now unfold the Petition it self . But so much at this time .

The Two and Fourtieth SERMON . PART . II. MATTH. VI. 13. And lead us not into tentation ; but deliver us from evil .

THIS is the sixth and last Petition . And I make it but one , although some there be who have divided it , and made it two , that so they might make up the full number of Seven , and so compare them to the seven Stars , to the seven golden Candlesticks , and the like . But , for ought I know , we may find as great a mystery in the number of Six as others have in that of Seven . But this were exercere ingenium inter irrita , & nihil profuturis otium terere , to catch at atoms or shadows , and spend our time to no purpose . I am sure the Petitions can borrow no virtue from the number ; nor do I see how the number should derive any mystery from the Petitions . Be they six , or seven , it is not much material . But most plain it is , in the Vulgar Latine edition in St. Luke this latter particle , SED LIBERA NOS A MALO , but deliver us from evil , is wanting ; Which at this day is extant in all the Greek copies , and in the Syriack edition . Although it is more than probable that in the time of the Old Interpreter there were some Greek copies which had it not . And therefore the diverse reading , and the defect of this part in St. Luke , is a probable confirmation that there is nothing contained in this last part of the Petition which was not virtually in the former , and that it is no distinct petition from it , but rather an explication of it , affording us light more exactly to discover what it is we desire when we pray NOT TO BE LED INTO TENTATION . Eò respondet clausula interpretans quid sit , NE NOS INDUCAS IN TENTATIONEM , saith Tertullian . For we then are victorious , and overcome tentations , when we are freed not only from them , but from the power of that Evil one who multiplieth them , and with them works upon the soul with an intent to ruine and overthrow it .

And here , before we descend to particular enquiries concerning the Nature , the Power , the Variety and the Ends of Tentations , and the Manner of their working , together with the Remedies or Means by which we may overcome them , we must stay a while upon the words here Tentation , and to be led into temptation . For the word ; Tentation in Scripture hath divers significations , all drawn from one and the same Etymon of the word , which is , To assay or make tryal what another will do , To attempt to work some new and unusual thing . And so God is said to tempt , and the Devil to tempt : and God doth make tryal , and the Devil makes tryal ; although God doth it only to make tryal of our obedience , the Devil doth it with a further purpose , to destroy us . So God is said to tempt Abraham , when Gen. 22. 1. he commanded him to sacrifice his Son ; which was rather a Probation than a Tentation ; ut per eum faceret exemplum praecepto suo , saith Tertullian , that upon this command he might build up a glorious ensample for us , and teach us to esteem our Children , the fruit of our body , our best hopes and expectation , as nothing in respect of God . And the Devil is said to tempt Job , but to another end , to make him curse God to his face . In both under the name of temptation those adverse and contrary things are comprehended , by which we may be withdrawn and hindred in the race which we run . For the command to Abraham was a grievous command , grievous to flesh and bloud , for a father to slay his son , and might have shook his faith : And the Devils tentation was such a touch of Job as might have overthrown him . Only here is the difference ; There was love in Gods tryal , which made it a tryal of a Father , and no more ; but there was malice in the Devils , which made it the tryal of an Enemy , a bloudy tryal , to undermine and overthrow . Gods tryal did bespeak obedience ; but the Devils tryal breathed-forth nothing but destruction . But here the word INDUCAS , or INFERAS , Lead us not into tentation , may seem to imply that God sometime not only brings us but leads us into tentations , there to be as it were shut-up and detained . For that may be the force of the word , as if we were so cast upon tentations that they might lay-hold and take possession of us . And if it would not bear this sense , yet even the word Tentation may signifie no less than a Withdrawing us from God . And so it is taken 1 Cor. 7. 5. where Paul admonishing the married couple to separate themselves but for a season , adds the reason , Lest Satan tempt you for your incontinency ; Which is nothing else than , Lest Satan make you sin through incontinency . And Gal. 6. 1. he bespeaks them , brethren , If any man be overtaken in a fault , restore him in the spirit of meekness , lest thou also be tempted ; which must needs be the very same with that before , Lest thou also be overtaken with a fault . And 1 Thes. 3. 5. Lest the tempter have tempted you , and our labour be in vain . For though by adversity or some other temptation they were solicited to sin , yet it doth not follow that their labour should be in vain : but it was then in vain when they yielded unto the temptation , and did actually sin . Now it cannot be attributed to God that he thus tempts us . God is a Tempter of no man . We Jam. 1. 13. will therefore , before we descend to particulars , lay-down these two positions , 1. God doth permit us to be led into tentations ; 2. God doth but permit us . That we are led unto tentations is by the permission of God ; and this permission is not efficacious , for , if we will , we may overcome them .

Nothing more contrary and abhorrent to the will of God than Sin , and yet the Permission of Sin is a positive act of his will : for he will permit it . For though God made Man upright , yet he made him also mutable : the root of which mutability was the freedom of his Will , by which Man might incline to either side , and either embrace tentations , or resist them . Man being thus built-up did owe unto his Maker absolute and constant obedience : and obedient he could not be if he had not been thus built-up . Therefore his Understanding and Will were to be exercised , the one with Arguments , the other with Occasions ; the one of which might discover the Resolution , the other the Election of Man , which way he would take , whether to the right hand , or to the left . These arguments and occasions are that which we call Temptations : Which , though they naturally light upon the outward man , yet do formally aime at the inward . For Obedience hath reference to some law by which it must be squared and directed : and therefore God hath made Man capable of one , made him Dominum rerum temporumque , Master and Lord of his own actions ; and imprinted in him a Will , which may either joyn with the Sensitive part against Reason , which make us to every good work reprobate : or else with Reason against the Sensual appetite ; which works in us a conformity to Gods will . He that is capable of this Law must have some power and faculty left to break it : Otherwise , it were a vanity to enact a Law . Who would speak to the Grass to grow , or to the Fire to burn , or to a Stone to lye still and move no more ? Quis unquam lapidem coronavit quod virgo permanserit ? saith St. Hierome ; Who ever put the crown of virginity upon a Stone , upon his head who could not possibly defile himself ? There is a nullity in every Law if the persons to whom it is given be necessitated to either part of the contradiction , to keep , or not to keep it . Obedience is nothing else but a bowing of the Will and conforming it to the Law of God against all those assaults which , like so many winds , beat upon the Will , which is a free faculty , to drive it from that object to which the will of God confines it , to that which indeed it may choose , but for the VETO , the prohibition , written upon it , to dull and take off that inclination . Now the Will of man , having this natural propriety to be libripens emancipati à Deo boni ; to weigh that good which is proposed as it were in the scales , and to chuse and refuse it , is that which turns Tentations from that end for which they were permitted and ordained , makes Satans darts more fiery , his enterprises more subtle , his arguments more strong , his occasions more powerful , and his tentations more perswasive , than indeed they are ; so that what God ordained for our tryal and crown , is made a means of our downfal and condemnation . All the weakness of our soul , all those sad symptoms and prognosticks of death , all the sins of the world , though permitted by God and suggested by Satan , are properly and principally from the Will. Suppose a darkness on the Understanding , the cloud is from the Will : and therefore God often complaineth , not that we do not , but that we will not understand . That , my Anger rageth , my Love burneth , my Grief is impatient , and my Joy is mad , all is from the Will. All arguments , all occasions , all tentations , all provocations supposed , no outward force , no flattery , no violence , not all the power of Hell , can determine our Will , or force us unto action . NULLUM MALUM EST NATURALE , That no evil is natural , is the substance of that great dispute of St. Augustine against the Manichee . And then certainly nullum malum est supernaturale , no evil is or can be supernatural . The highest Heaven is not the coast from whence this pestilential wind doth blow . And therefore the Father laies it down as a fundamental principle , MALUM NON EXORTUM NISI EX LIBERO ARBITRIO , Sin could have no beginning or being but from the Will of man . God permits ; the Devil tempts ; outward objects are busie in our eyes ; every place is full of snares , full of dangers : but , as Palladius speaks of the Husbandman , Villicus , si nolit peccare , non facit , the spiritual husbandman doth nothing disorderly unless he will . No man sinneth , or can sin against his will . If Sin were not permitted , why have we a Will ? Cur permiserat , si intercedat ? cur intercedat , si permiserit ? saith Tertullian . And if there were no tentations to sin , how weak would our Obedience be ? how easie to obey , where there is nothing to hinder or retard us ? The things which are in this world are the good creatures of God , and by their first institution served to shew the bounty of God , and to provoke Man to thankfulness , and to the contemplation and exspectations of those better things which shall never perish . Nae Mundus schola magna patet , saith the Poet ; The World is a great School , in which we may spend our time with profit , and by visible things grow up to the knowledge of those things which are invisible . The heavens declare the glory of God , and the firmament sheweth his mighty Power . Day unto day teacheth knowledge . And by these Heavens I may be brought to a view of those new heavens wherein dwelleth righteousness . By this temporary Light , which when time comes I shall see no more , I may learn how to value that light which is everlasting ; by the Riches of this world , what to think of the riches and glory of the Gospel ; by a span of Time , to conceive more rightly of Eternity . But then it is as true , that this world as it is a School to teach us , so is it officina tentationum , a Shop full of tentations : And we may make it so . We may turn these good creatures of God , and make the Beauty of the world a snare ; the Riches and Glory of the world , as prickles and thorns ; and that which is very good a provocation to induce and intice to that which is very evil . One said of Rome , Talis est qualem quisque velit , It is such a place as we will make it . And as it is the commendation of our Obedience to stand out against those assaults , against the Wine when it is red , against Beauty when it smiles , against the Pomp of the world when it glitters in our eyes : so doth it aggravate our Disobedience if we entertain that as an occasion of sin which indeed in it self is an inducement to virtue ; if we chuse Gold before the Maker of it , a Pearl before the Kingdom it represents , and had rather have villam quàm coelum , a farm here than a mansion in Heaven . There is nothing in the world , nothing in our selves , which we may not make either good or bad use of , a means to avoid and prevent sin , or an occasion to commit it . That by which we dishonour God , by the very same we may glorifie him . The Understanding may be as the Sun in the firmament , to lead us in our way , that we hurt not our foot against a stone ; and it may be as a Meteor , to lead us into by-paths and dangerous precipices , till we fall headlong into hell it self . The Will may be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a shop and workhouse of virtuous actions ; and it may be a forge of all iniquity . The Memory may be a book fairly written with all the characters of goodness ; and it may be a roul blotted and blurred with lust and uncleanness . So then if we seek the true immediate and proper cause of Sin , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , we must not turn our eyes outward , to look abroad , either on the Will of God ; for it is against his will : nor on the Devils malice ; for he can but occasion and promote it : nor on those many Tentations which daily assault us ; for to a resolved Christian they are but as so many atoms , and cannot hurt him unless he drink them down : But let us search the closet of our hearts , and look upon our own Will. This is the very womb which conceives that viper that eats it out and destroies it . God hath no interest in our sins : All he doth is , that he permits them . And as he permits us to commit them , so he permits , nay he commands , us not to do them . Et quid velit Deus , non quid permitmittat , considerandum , saith Cyprian : The rule of our Obedience must be this in all the course of our life , To consider , not what God doth suffer to be done , but what he would have us do . For as Augustine saith , Deus bonitatem suam aliâ voluntate non praevaricatur ; God doth not prevaricate ; nor doth he bring in one will to destroy another : his will to permit Sin doth not cross that will of his which doth forbid it . Let us give God no further interest in our sins than this , That as a just and wise Lawgiver he doth barely permit us to fall into those tentations to which when we yield we break that Law , and become obnoxious to punishment , who by a constant resisistance and withstanding of it . Nay , he may suffer us to be led into tentations , though he call to us to avoid them . And this leads me to that which I proposed in the next place , That this Permission is not efficacious ; That it is not necessary for any man to be taken in the snare , and to fall into tentation . If it were not possible he might fall , he could not merit , he could do no good ; and if it were necessary he should fall , he could do no evil . And yet such an ungrounded position there is , and it passeth current amongst many , That upon the Permission of Sin it must necessarily follow that sin must be committed ; For indeed I find they make great use of this word Permission . If we read their tractates , we shall find that under this one word they cunningly wrap-up Excitation , Compulsion , and what not ? Nay , they speak it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , before the Sun and the people ; Deus vult fieri , quod facere vetat . Deus non semper vult quod se velle significat . And again , Ab aeterno reprobantur , ut indurarentur , Some , they say , there are who are reprobated and cast-away from all eternity , that they may be led and shutup into temptation , and be hardened . And this with them is nothing but Permission . We cannot be too wary in our approaches to God and his Majesty , nor in our discourses of him . De Deo vel seriò loqui periculosum . It is dangerous after mature deliberation to speak of him , saith the Philosopher . But either directly or by way of deduction or consequence to entitle him to our Sins is blasphemy against his infinite Goodness . To think that he leads any into tentation is to fashion him out to be like to our own Lusts , and to our Adversary , who , though he be not alone in the work , yet alone hath the name of Tempter .

But now some places of Scripture there are brought-forth which seem to favour this efficacious Permission , and to speak no less than that God doth not only permit tentations , but lead us into them ; not only shews us that which may hurt us , but betrays us to it . And no doubt such there are . But here we must be wary that we raise not arguments from meer sound of the words . Expetit sensus interpretationis gubernaculum , saith Tertullian : We must make use of the light which a just interpretation may bring . Universa Scriptura quasi una propositio copulativa , saith Gerson ; there is such a sympathy , such an analogy between one part and another that the whole Scripture may seem to be but one entire copulative proposition . Therefore where two places seem to look divers waies , we must not be too forward to adhere or fasten to either , but ex praepositis & consequentibus , as Hilary teacheth us , by comparing that which goes before with that which follows after , by help of plain and open places , bring them together , and make them one in understanding , which cannot possibly be opposite in sense . It cannot be that that should be the sense of any part of Scripture which contradicts any principle of truth , or violates any attribute of God , as his Goodness , his Wisdom , his Justice . I will not say as the Father upon occasion doth , Talia si dicunt Prophetae , non erunt mei ; If the Prophets or Apostles speak any such words , they shall be none of mine ; but rather be confident that whatsoever at first to an indiligent Reader the words may sound , the Prophets and Apostles could not mean . And in common reason , that which is plain and acknowledged on all sides to be true should give light to that which is obscure , and be , as an Oath , for confirmation to set an end to all strife and controversie . To examine some places of this nature ; In 2 Sam. 24. 1. after we are told that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel , it presently follows , and he moved David against them , to say , Go number Israel and Judah . And some have been too ready to lay hold on this , and urge it as a plain testimony that God many times makes Satan his instrument , and by him inciteth and moveth men to sin . Which notwithstanding the gross absurdity of the thing it self , and a plain testimony of Scripture , That God tempteth no man , that is , incites or solicites Jam. 1. 13. none to sin , doth evidently demonstrate to be most false . And this He in Samuel is pointed-out by name , and is no other than Satan himself . Now the 1 Chron. 21. 1. reason of this grand mistake and blasphemy was no other than this , that this , He moved David , is brought-in close to that , That God was angry ; so that it might seem to be referred unto Him , because there is no mention there of any other . But yet they might have observed that it is a common thing with the Hebrews to bring-in their Verbs many times without the Person who is the agent ; so that these words , ET INSTIGAVIT DAVIDEM , he moved David , by the common opinion of Grammarians may be thus supplyed , ET INSTIGAVIT IS QUI INSTIGAVIT , He moved him that moved him , that is , the Devil .

But that 1 Kings 22. is more plain . There comes-forth an evil Spirit , and offers as it were himself to assist and help God to destroy Ahab . For when God asks , Who shall perswade Ahab to fall at Ramoth-Gilead ? the evil Spirit answers him , That will I : How ? saith God . I will go forth , saith he , and be a lying Spirit in the mouth of all his prophets . Go , saith God , and prevail . If we take the words as they sound , here was more than Permission : Here was a Command ; and God may seem to have given the Spirit a Commission , and deputed him as an instrument to destroy Ahab . But if we rightly weigh each circumstance , all will amount to no more than Permission . For though God gave-way to the evil Spirit , yet was it not infallibly necessary that Ahab should be deceived . If he would , he might have hearkened to Micaiah the true Prophet , and cast the lying Prophets into prison , there to eat the bread of sorrow , and drink the water of affliction . GO , AND DO SO , are the words of an offended God , who , when he found an instrument , ready to his hands , would not hinder that voluntary profer of the evil Spirit , which he knew how to use to execute his vengeance upon that wicked King . Occulta justitiae licentia malignis spiritibus datur , saith Gregory , ut quos volentes in peccati laqueo strangulant , in peccati poenam etiam nolentes trahant : Even the evil Spirits have a kind of licence , a Writ De puniendo peccatore , given them , that they who are so gentle and willing to be led into the snare of the Devil , may be dragged by them to punishment against their will .

Again , God indeed is said in Scripture to have hardened Pharaoh's heart , to give-up men to their own lust , to vile affections , and to a reprobate mind , &c. But all this in effect is no more , ( as I have elsewhere shewn at large ) than that God hath so ordained , hath set things in such a course , that , if men continue in sin , they shall be hardned ; if they love temptations , they shall be led into them ; and if they will needs play and sport with these Serpents they shall at last be stung to death . To conclude then ; God tempteth no man , God solicites no man to sin , much less doth he lead or force men into this snare . No : God is faithful , and will not suffer us to be tempted above our strength . He doth not bid us fight when he hath disarmed us , nor assist that enemy which he bids us resist , nor lead us into those tentations which we are sure to fall under . But 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , God is true and faithful : and to expose us a prey to a merciless and invincible enemy is prejudicial to the Faith and Truth and Sincerity of God . He leaves Tentations as they are , allurements and terrors , and no more : And he leaves us as we are ; with Understanding , to discern what is true , and what is counterfeit ; and with a Will of greater activity than the Rhetorick of a pleasing or the terror of a fearful tentation . As he leaves us Sense to receive objects , so he leaves us Reason to weigh and ponder them , to consider what deceit may be in Beauty , and what danger in Honour ; to consider that a light affliction may bring a great weight of glory ; that though Pleasure flatter , yet I may run from it ; and though Affliction threaten , yet I may embrace it , and count the strokes of the one better than the kisses of the other . God is faithful , and will with the tentation also make a way to escape . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Apostle ; not make a way with the breath of his Omnipotency , but make a way so plain and easie and passable that , if thou wilt , thou maist escape , flee from the noise of the fear , and yet not fall into the pit , and come out of the midst of the pit , and yet not be taken in the snare ; flee one tentation , and yet not be driven upon another . So that though the word INDUCAS doth seem to import that God doth sometimes lead us into tentations , and give them a kind of possession of us , yet we must conceive no such thing of God . Therefore St. Augustine explains NE INDUCAS by NE PATIARIS INDUCI , Lead us not , that is , Suffer us not to be led into tentations . Which makes God not a party in Tentations , but a Deliverer out of them , and forbids all jealousie of God , and teacheth us to call upon him as upon our Buckler , our Strength , our Salvation . For conclusion ; We may thus paraphrase this Petition ; Heavenly Father , if it be thy will that , whilst we strive to serve and please thee , the World and the Devil fight against us , and even for this cause , because we strive to serve and please thee ; If pleasures shew themselves to delay us , and Afflictions beat upon us to drive us back from the prize and price of the high calling , we murmur not , we repine not : But we beg this favour of a just and gracious God , That thou wilt not in a manner throw us into tentations , or cast us upon them , so that we be held or detain'd by them ; but rather grant thy help and assistance , that we may make an escape ; that leaving these pleasures behind us , and bearing these afflictions about us , and even trampling upon the necks of our enemies , and treading them down under our feet , we may run with joy the race which is set before us , and pass from one degree of perfection to another , and so fit our Heads for that crown which thou wilt give to all those who overcome . And this I conceive is the sense of these words ; Of which we shall speak now at large .

The Five and Fourtieth SERMON . PART . V. MATTH. VI. 13. And lead us not into tentation ; but deliver us from evil .

WE have already shewed you how Tentations work upon the soul , and when they prevail . The Devil doth make use of our own strength to overthrow us ; and seeing the greatest force he hath limited and bounded by an eternal and indissoluble law , that he cannot ruine all mankind at once , he attempteth to do that by our own folly and improvidence which is above the power either of his subtlety or malice . He makes use of our Eye , to blind us ; of our Ear , to make us deaf to the voice of God ; of our Touch and Tast , to make us sensless and stupid , that we may not savour and relish the things which are of God ; of our Phansie , to work upon our Affections ; and of our Affections , to perswade and over-rule our Will. And here hostis habet muros : When the Will is once brought to yield , the Tentation , which smiled as a friend , is enterd as an enemy , and hath prevailed against us , and brings in that ataxie and distemper into the parts and faculties of the soul which is fatal to it : although peradventure it declares not its infection and malignity by any outward symptoms and indications , by the violence of the Hand , or the pride of the Tongue , or by breathing forth its venom in the outward act . It is now high time upon the discovery of the disease to prescribe the remedies . And this is so much the more necessary , because we are not more inclinable and obnoxious to the disease than we are apt to mistake the remedy , and to draw divers medicines , but not è vero Narthecio , out of the right box . To the tentations of the left hand we many times apply those of the right . We sweeten Afflictions with Jollity , and cure carnal Sorrow with carnal Pleasure . To drive away the fear of smart we take something which may raise a hope of delight , we blot-out the remembrance of our sins with the pleasures which are but for a season , and strive to keep off the disease with ●hat which makes it more malignant . We know no remedy for Poverty ●ut Riches ; no release from Imprisonment , but Liberty ; no help for Grief , but impatience . And with Ahab King of Judah , we seek not to the Lord but some physician of our own . Nec tam morbis laboramus quod remediis . Nor is there so much danger in our disease as there is in those remedies we use . As for the Tentations of the right hand , those smiling and flattering tentations , we soon give them the right hand of fellowship ; we woo , we embrace , we study them ; we kiss them when they wound us , and rejoice when they are enterd even into our very Soul ; and are so far from thinking them to be a disease that we are scarce well without them . We will therefore take those remedies which are most soveraign è communi medicinae officina , as the Father calls it , out of that common shop of Physick , the Word of God , where are remedies against all diseases of the mind ; where are corrosives and cordials , cordials for a drooping spirit , and corrosives to work-out the corruption of our flesh : Where the Wanton may find what will cure his itch of lust ; the Covetous , what will take-away the lust of his eyes ; and the Ambitious , what will abate his pride of life ; that which will tame the Wanton , and make the Covetous go upright , and the Ambitious stoop : Remedies which will not deceive us , if we do not deceive our selves : Scriptura hominem non fallit , si se homo non fallit ; The Scripture never faileth us , till we be wanting to our selves . And there we are taught To resist Tentations . Which we may do 1. by not giving our consent , or yielding to them ; 2. by flying from them ; 3. by beating them back by the discovery of something in them which we may take-up and use against them , as David found a sword in the hand of Goliath to cut-off his head withal . And this that we may the more easily do , we have many helps proferd and presented to us , many means prescribed ; 1. the knowledge of Our selves ; 2. the knowledge of the Temptations ; 3. the knowledge of God , to whom we are as a spectacle in this fight : Who looks down upon the children of men , and beholds them in all their waies . And these , if they have their natural operation , and be not dulled and hindred in their working will raise us up to a healthful estate , and beget in us 1. Watchfulness , against Security , 2. spiritual Valour , against Distrust and Cowardise , by presenting to us both the horror of that punishment which will follow us if we fail , and the glory of the reward which will crown us if we overcome .

And first , that we be not led into Tentations , we must resist them . For , as the Apostle speaks , Brethren , you know your calling , that you are called unto a warfare . When you gave-up your names to Christ , you made your 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , your solemn abrenunciation of all his enemies , and prest your selves as Souldiers under the King of heaven . And as in war nullae feriae , nullae vacationes admittuntur , there are no holy-daies , no times of vocation , so in this your exercise nunquam quies , nunquam otium , there is no rest , no cessation , but you must alwaies be in arms , ready to resist . And indeed this is the difference between Gods commands and the tentations of the Devil , the World and the Flesh , That his commands are quoddam dilectionis pignus , a kind of pledge and assurance of his love , but Tentations are promises of that which they cannot yield . God commands , that he may reward us ; but the Devil profers , that he may deceive us . The one is harsh and irksome to flesh and bloud ; the other is opposite to the spirit . And as it is truly said , Obsequio mitigantur imperia , That Obedience makes the hardest Command easie ; so is it as true , that Resistance maketh the strongest temptation weak . Now to resist Tentations there is no more requisite than this , Not to consent unto them when they press upon us ; When they plead vehemently for admittance , when they are importunate ( as Tertullian calls the Forbidden tree importunam arborem , the importuning tree ) to give them a check , and say , I know you not : You shall have no place in me , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Clemens speaks , to block-up the ears , and shut-up the eyes against them ; and though they come cloathed in all their beauty and royalty , to resolve not to entertain them , but to repel them quantum possumus , imò plusquàm possumus , as far as we can , nay , if it were possible , more than we can . For we may resist tentations , and yet consent unto them . We may resist them at the first knock , but , when they make a second or third adventure , open unto them and consent . These elevations of the mind , these theorici conatus , as the Schools call them , these airy speculations , these faint endeavours of the thoughts will not make it up . These are strivings , rather than resistings , similes conatibus expergisci volentium , as Augustine speaketh , like to the turnings and liftings of men who would awake , but that sleep is so heavy on them that they cannot . They resist , and fall off , awake and fall down again upon their pillow fast asleep ; some sparkles , some scintillations , and the business of the mind . We may consent for all these , and joyn with them after we have bid so many defiances to them . That which makes up our consent is a strong and undaunted Resolution upon no parley , upon no terms to admit them ; though they flatter , yet to stand out ; though they threaten , yet to stand out ; though they come in a low voice or though they come in the whirlwind and earthquake , though they promise kingdoms or threaten death , not to consent . In this case what is fully resolved is done already . Quicquid imperavit sibi animus obtinuit : The mind of man is of that power as to create that which it commands it self . If it lay upon it self the strictness of Temperance , it hath set-up that virtue in it self . If it command Chastity , it is an Eunuch for the kingdom of heaven . Whatsoever it will , it doth ; whatsoever it purposeth it hath . In a word ; if we truly resolve , we shall never give consent : and if we give consent , we may be sure that we did never truly resolve . For to speak truth , the reason why tentations are so importunate can be no other but this , That we make them so , and by our indifferency and irresolution prepare a way for them , and even invite them to come on , and do , as the Aequi told the Romans , ostentare bellum , non gerere , rather denounce war against them than wage it , vow against them , profess against them , bid them open defiance , but never resolve to keep them out . And this is the great error of our lives , this is the shame of a Christian Souldier , to beat his brains and exercise his thoughts in these vain ventilations and flourishes ; in big words and loud defiances , in promises and vows , as the children of Ephraim , to be ready harnessed , to talk of the Sword of the spirit and the Shield of faith , and the Helmet of salvation , and then turn Psal. 78. 9. back in the day of battel . Nihil indignius quàm consumi virtutem ubi non potest ostendi , saith the Historian ; There is nothing more unworthy a souldier than to wast and spend his strength in those low imployments where it cannot be shewn . The strength and virtue of a Christian is most seen in a firm resolution , which makes quick dispatch , and at once puts the enemy to flight . It is no more but Nolle , Not to be willing to consent , and the victory is ours , and the Temptation overcome , . nay , put to confusion and annihilated , is no more a tentation . There is no delight in Pleasure , no beauty in Riches , no loveliness in Honour , no horror on Afflictions , no terror on Death . If you ask how you may conquer them , I will give no other answer than Aquinas did to his sister , SI NOLIS , You have done it already if you will not consent .

But yet , in the next place , though the Will be of greater activity than all the Temptations of the world , yet it is a faculty seducible , and which may be swayed and bowed to incline to that object which it loathed . Nor is there any clock which is carelesly lookt unto so loose and disordered in its wheels and parts and indication of the hour , as is the Will , if it be not carefully watched , sometimes pointing to this , and sometimes to that , and then running back again to that point where it was before . Therefore our safest course is to be indeed alwaies ready prepared to the battel , but not to provoke the enemy to fight , fugiendo pugnare , to fight flying , and by removing our selves at such a distance that no dart of Satan may reach us ; to fly from Tentation as from a Serpent , tanquam à facie aspidis , as from his gaping mouth and deadly poyson ; & tanquam à facie , to fly not only from its poyson and sting , but from the very face and sight of it , and , as St. Paul exhorts , to abstain from all appearance of evil , not only from 1 Thess. 5. 22. those gross and palpable tentations , but from the very phantasmes and apparitions , the very image of them ; non à vero tantùm sed & à picto malo , to detest Sin not onely in the deformity of it , but in the very representation , and to hate it even in a picture . Therefore St. Hierome counsels Eustochium that she should not have access into Noble-mens houses , nor often see that by the contemning of which she was a virgin ; Disce , saith he , in hac parte superbiam Sanctam ; Learn in this respect a holy pride , and vouchsafe not to converse with them whose pomp and glory may bewitch thee to a liking . Scito te illis esse meliorem , Know thou art far better than these . Nazianzene tells us of his mother Nonna that she would not give her hand to a heathen woman , though she were of alliance to her , not salute her , non commune saledere , not eat , or sit at table with her . Cyprian Epist. 77. laies it down as his opinion , That we ought not to feast or talk with Schismaticks , but be separate as far from them as they are from the Church . Tertullian , though he permits Christians to live with the Heathen , yet he would not have them die with them ; licet convivere , commori non licet . And therefore he interdicts them the feasts of shews of the Ethnicks . Nay , so scrupulous is he in removing the occasions of sin and every thing that may prove a tentation , that he doth blame not onely the making of Idols , but the very art of the Statuary , as unlawful ; and proceeds yet further , to inhibite Christians from being Schoolmasters , because they must be forct to mention the names of the heathen Gods ; although indeed this they must have done if they had preached against them ; and scarce any makes more frequent mention of them than himself . I do not propose these as patterns or ensamples for us to follow ; nor do I know any warrant to do it : but only I commend unto you the reason which made the Fathers so scrupulous ; Which was nothing else but the danger they conceived to be in the very representation of Sin . For it is not safe to give place to the devil , but to keep him off at such a distance that , as Eph. 4. 27. far as we can , he may not tempt us ; not to retreat , or shun the combat when he assaults us , but yet not to call for it . Equàm parvis veniunt summa mala principiis ! How great a matter doth a little fire , a very spark , kindle ! What great evils have been raised from very small beginnings ! What danger in a look , in a glaunce of the eye , in colour ! Quàm alter , alteri est periculo ! How dangerous are we one to another ! It is a friend , & factus est gladius , and he is become a sword to me to wound me to death ! It will therefore concern us to be shy and wary even of the least occasion : for what know we what great evil may lurk in the least ! And , be it never so little , it is too great if the matter near it be catching . To the Eye of man a Star seems no bigger than it self : but Reason corrects the error of our Eye , and teacheth us that it may be greater than the Globe of the Earth . So that which at first we do not discern to be so much as an occasion of sin , at last proveth so , and hath the more leisure to work upon our nature , because we perceive not when it entred , is more operative , because we neglected it , nay , perhaps overprized it , and esteemed that as a duty of our life and a point of civility which is made an occasion of sin . Who would think there were any danger in conversing with a friend ? yet it may so fall out , that we may loose by a friend , when we benefit by an enemy . For his sake we may begin to excuse and pardon that sin which before we did loath ; to make glosses and fair interpretations , and by degrees love it , and make much of it , and at last swallow it down . Before it was a great and heavy sin , within a while not so great ; paulò pòst & leve senties ; paulò pòst nec senties ; paulò pòst & delectabit : Presently thou shalt feel it light ; anon thou shalt not feel it at all ; not long after it shall be thy delight , and thou shalt take pleasure in it as in a friend . We must not then upon confidence of our own strength be so bold as to walk amongst snares , or be too familiar with any thing that may prove a tentation : Much less may we desire or pray for tentations . You see we are here commanded to pray against them ; against that Beauty which may deceive us ; against that Poverty which may make us steal ; against those Riches which may make us so full that we shall deny God ; against that Affliction which may swallow us up . For though Tentations occasion that which is good , yet naturally they tend to that which is evil : and though without them we cannot be victorious , yet by them we are too often overthrown . Brethren , saith St. James , count it all joy when you fall into divers Jam. 1. 2. tentations : But this upon this supposition , in the next verse , that the tryal of our faith worketh patience , and patience , when it perfecteth its work , maketh us perfect and entire . Otherwise all this joy were none at all . For the victory proceeds not from the Tentation as from the efficient , but from the wisdom of him that is tempted . And if it be desirable because it may be an occasion of good , then , Sin may be desired also , which occasions that Sorrow which brings forth repentance not to be repented of ; and where it abounds makes Grace abound much more . It is indeed the glory of a Christian to wrestle against principalities and powers , and against the rulers of the darkness of this world ; to be near to danger , and avoid it ; to parley with a Tentation , and silence it ; to dispute Afflictions out of their smart , and carnal Pleasures out of their allurement ; to touch pitch , and not be defiled : nay , it is his portion all the daies of his life . Agnosco haereditatem meam in cruce Christi , saith Bernard ; I acknowledge my inheritance is in the cross of Christ . But when we see so many shipwrackt before our eyes ; him that was constant in torment , overthrown by pleasure ; him that defied the World , overcome by the Flesh ( as Macarius tells us of one that after torment and imprisonment for the truth in the very prison defiled a virgin ) it will concern us not to be too bold to put forth . Nihil in bello oportet contemni ; It is here as in war , nothing must be esteemed slight and not worth the regarding : nor must we offer our selves to those tentations which may be too hard for us . Malo cautior esse quàm fortior . Fortis saepe captus est , cautus rarissimè ; It is better a great deal be timorous and wary than presumptuously bold and fool-hardy . The strong man hath oft been led into captivity , but the wary man seldom , but overcomes the enemy by withdrawing himself from the danger of the fight .

But , in the third place , though we be never so wary , never so abstemious , yet tentations will offer themselves , and come so neer unto us that we shall be forct to cope with them . We must here learn some wisdom from our adversary the Serpent ; and as he makes use of our members to make them instruments of sin , so must we of his Tentations , and turn them from that end they are driven to , and make them occasions of virtue . And this is contundere viperam in theriacam , to beat and bring these vipers into an antidote , into precious treacle ; like a subtle Logician , to draw the answer out of the very argument ; like a skilful Chymist , to extract gold out of baser mettals ; or like a wise and experienced Captain , to turn the enemies ordinance upon the face of the enemy . For as it is one part of wisdome futura ex praeteritis providere , to see future things in things that are past , so is it no less to know how to manage things present , and to make an advantage for good out of that which was placed before us and intended for evil , to force light out of darkness , and virtue out of that tentation which was a strong invitation to vice . And therefore since the Tempter doth suggest vice by the shew and appearance of some desirable good , by counterfeit pleasure , and false riches , and imaginary content , by something which even Reason it self may perswade us is convenient to our nature , let us not presently abhor all Riches , all Pleasure , all Content , because he miscalls his tentations by that name ; but turn our thoughts , and enquire where these are to be had . Doth he tempt us by Pleasure ? Let us seek that which is constant and everlasting . Doth he tempt us by Riches ? Let us seek them where no rust can corrupt them . Doth he propose Content ? Let us expect it there where we may be satisfied . Nay , we may make use not only of his tentations but of those sins they would bring in . Et quid est unde homo commoveri non potest ad virtutes capescendas , quando de ipsis vitiis potest ? saith St. Augustine , What is there that may not be a motive to Virtue , if Vice it self may be one ? Curiosity affects knowledge , and the certainest knowledge is of eternal things , which never alter , but alwaies keep at the same stay . Pride seeks for power ; and the soul which is perfect and subject to God hath a kind of omnipotency , and may do all things . Pleasure promises the rest and quiet of the body ; which cannot be but there where there is no want , no corruption . Non ex eo quod est fallimur , sed ex eo quod non est ; we are not deceived with that which is and hath a reality and being , but with that which is not but only in shew and appearance . And the curiosity of fools , which catch after shades and apparitions , may put me in mind of that knowledge which will make me wise to salvation . Their affectation of power may provoke in me a desire of an everlasting kingdom ; and their love of pleasure , a love of that joy which is spiritual and heavenly . I may learn skill ab adversario artifice , from my adversary ; observe and watch him , and blow him up in his own mine . And this is not only to resist him , but to lead him in triumph and shew him openly ; to shew how we have taken his weapons out of his hands , and made them instruments of righteousness ; how his provocation to lust hath holpen to beget a greater hunger and thirst after righteousness ; his tentations to covetousness have expelled all covetous desires , but those of eternity ; and his pleasing tentations whet and encrease our appetite to those pleasures which are at the right hand of God for evermore . This is , not to fight with him in his visible shape , to try it out at blows with him , as some foolish Monks in St. Hieromes time would boast they had done , to make themselves a wonder to the people ; but to fight against him invisible , hid and obscured in all his wiles and cunning enterprises ; to discover what is not seen , his craft and malice , and make use of what is seen , his paint and colours , his glorious shews and presentments , to kindle our love to that which is really and substantially good . This is truly to resist and conquer and tread him under foot .

This is our glory , and this is our duty . For indeed our Duty is our glory ; and that which we call service is the glorious liberty of the sons of God . And we shall be the more ready and active to perform it , if we duly and exactly enter into consideration of Our selves , who are to fight ; of the temptations , which assault us ; and of God , who is a pure and simple Essence , and therefore cannot but be sore displeased to see Man , so noble a creature , thus mingle himself every day with the vanities and trash of this world , and sell himself for that which is not bread . And first , the Knowledge of Our selves is of great force to redeem us from the vanities of the World . NOSCE TE IPSUM ; Hujus praecepti tanta vis , tanta sententia est , ut ea non cuiquam homini , sed Delphico Deo tribueretur , saith Tully ; KNOW THY SELF , is a praecept in which is conteined so much virtue and high wisdome , that men dare not entitle any man to it , but the Delphick God Apollo , and make him the author of it . For he that knows himself shall soon perceive that he hath something in himself Divine , that his Will and Understanding are as an image dedicated and consecrated in him ; and he will alwaies be doing or thinking something which may be worthy of so great a gift of the Gods . And when he hath well viewed and surveyed himself in every part , he will quickly observe how richly furnisht Nature hath sent him into the world , with what helps and instruments to procure that wisdom which must stile and denominate him a Man , which may help him deligere bona , reijcere contraria , to know and choose that which is good , and to reject the contrary , though it borrow the same shape and countenance . Quam pro nihilo putabit ea quae vulgo ducuntur amplissima ! How will he slight and look down upon those things which the vulgar admire and have in high estimation ! 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Simplicius ; KNOW THY SELF ; it is the command of God , that wherein all Philosophy and Goodness begins and ends . And so it is the beginning of all Divinity , saith Basil , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Ask your self the question Who and What you are ; and search and know your nature and composition . Know that thou art 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Soul and Understanding ; that thou art made after the image of God ; that thou art not the Body , but the Body is thine ; and Money and Arts , and all that provision for life , are not in thee , but about thee ; that thy body is mortal , thy soul immortal ; that there is a double life proposed , this life , which is a dying life , and ends sooner than a tale , and that life which is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of some affinity to thy soul , immortal , and not confined and circumscribed by time . And if thou attain to this knowledge , thou wilt not fix thy mind upon these transitory things as if they were eternal , nor despise those everlasting blessings as if they were fading and transitory , but give unto thy Flesh that which is due unto thy Flesh , dust to dust and ashes to ashes ; meat to thy belly , and cloth to thy back , both which shall be destroyed by God ; but to thy Soul and immortal part , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the precepts of piety , the exercise of virtue , the moderation of thy unruly affections ; Nor be so over-careful to cloth thy body that the while thou letst thy soul go naked and bare , nor provide for the one to destroy the other . Advertamus qui simus ipsi , ut nos quales oportet esse servemus , It concerns us to remember what we are , that we may still keep our selves the same which we ought to be . If thou beest never so learned , never so wise , yet thou still wantest something , nay the greatest point of wisdome , if thou be not wise for thy self . For what commendation is it to know all things which are in heaven and earth , to be well seen abroad , and yet be a meer stranger at home ? to have an insight in all things but himself ? Certainly nothing lays us more open and naked to tentations and the vanities of the world than the low esteem we have of our selves . For we live as if these vanities were made for us , and we for these vanities ; as if our Eye were made to no other end but to behold vanity , our Ear to hearken after it , and all our Senses were ordained as so many inlets of Sin , as if we were made for nothing else but Sin , and were all Flesh , and had no Soul at all . And what a dishonour is this to the dignity of our nature ! How doth this irreverence to our selves make us like unto the Beasts that perish , nay , far worse then they ! For proprietas ei nominis , ubi de innocentia exciderit , aufertur , saith Hilary ; Man looseth the propriety of his name when he divides himself from innocency : Aut Serpens , aut Equus , aut Mulus ei nomen est ; and you may call him Serpent or Horse or Mule ; Quot peccata , tot personarum similitudines , saith Hierom ; As many sins as we commit , so many persons and resemblances we put-on ; sometimes of a Fox , sometimes of a Wolf , sometimes of a Lion . The holy Father layes it as an imputation upon Man , Solum hoc animal jura naturae transgreditur , Of all the creatures Man alone breaks those bounds which are set him , that law of Nature which was written in his heart , and makes Reason , which should fence and secure him from these dangers , an agent for the Flesh , to promote that which it opposeth . And we are so much worse than the Beasts by how much the better we might have been . No Fox to Herode , no Wolf to the Oppressor , no Horsleech to the Miser . When Man hath thus renounced his Reason , he is worse than a Beast , that never had any . Tertullian gives it as a rule in his Book De anima , Naturalium scientia nè in bestiis quidem deficit ; The knowledge of that which is natural to them is never lost in any creature , no not in Beasts . The Lion , saith he , may forget his ferity and fierceness , and in time be tamed , and brought to that meekness that he may be made the delight of some Bernice , some wanton Queen , and innocently lick her cheek with his tongue : Mores bestiam relinquent , scientia naturalium permanebit ; His manners may leave him , but not his apprehension of things natural to him . Si de piscibus , si de placentis regina ei obtulerit , carnem desiderabit : si languenti theriacam composuerit , simiam requiret ; & si nullum illi venabulum obfirmabit , gallum tamen formidabit : If the Queen offer him a fish , or some junket , he will leave it for flesh : if she make an antidote for him when he is sick , nothing will cure him but an ape : and though he fear not the dart or hunting-pole , yet he is afraid of the crowing of a Cock . Every Creature follows on in that way which Nature hath chalked out , and doth seldome or never turn aside or look back . The Sun knoweth his setting , and the Moon her seasons . Onely Man , when he sins , setteth where he should rise , and riseth where he should set ; begins his time in pleasure , where he should but end ; and ends in sorrow , where he should but begin ; riseth in the spirit , and setteth in the flesh ; forgets his very naturals . For to avoid the infections of the world , to shake off all these tentations of the flesh , which we Christians call the effect of Grace , with the Philosophers is nothing else but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to live according to the dictate and prescript of Nature . For even Nature , and the very structure and composition of Man , teacheth us that we are ad majora nati , born to greater matters then these ; born , not to be so familiar with that which perisheth , not to be ready to give every vanity a meeting at a call , to converse and trade with it ; not to complement with Beauty when it smiles , or bow down to Gold when it shines : no , nor to be afraid of the smart of that sorrow which doth but afflict that part of us which must be turned to dust and ashes . I cannot but think there is as great an antipathy between Sin and the nature of Man , especially renewed in Christ , as there is between the Lion and the crowing of a Cock . If I mistake , St. Basil hath deceived me , who in in his Hexameron tells us that there needs no instructer to teach us , no orator to perswade us , to hate a loathsome disease . For by the common principles of Reason we commend Justice and Temperance , and condemn that which is evil . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , There is , saith he , in the soul of man an aversness from evil , which he never learnt , but brought with him into the world . Therefore , when we yield to tentations , we forget from whence we are sprung , that we are made according to the image of God . For can this image be seen in a Wolf , or a Fox , or a Lion ? Can we say we are made after his image , who have transformed our selves into the similitude of so many beasts ? who have in a manner forgotten our naturals , and are afraid of that which Reason teacheth us to desire , and desire that which we have reason to fear ? who , when Honor is set-up , are upon the wing , but , when Heaven is proposed , flag and fall down to the ground ? who will run to hear the melody and jollity of the world , and are afraid at the voice of the living God . Nor can we give any reason why we should thus debase and vilifie our selves , thus bespot and defile our selves , thus put our selves under the yoke and harrow ; sell our selves out to such base and loathsome imployments , to follow and wait upon every tentation that offereth it self , to be servants to sin and slaves to Satan , and help them to destroy us . Oh that we did know our selves , what we are , and to what end made and created ; made , not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in diem vivere , to extend our thoughts no further than the present , to our next food , the next delight and the next pleasure ; not to trade on earth , but to have 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Apostle speaks Phil. 3. 20. our conversation in heaven ; not to be made like unto the beasts that perish , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , like unto the Angels in heaven ; not to converse with those delights which as Scorpions will sting us to death , but with holy thoughts and divine contemplations , which are the best companions we can have ; not to labour for the meat that perisheth , but through delights and terrors , through good report and ill report ; through all the tentations and retardations of the world strive forward to eternity of bliss !

We may now exalt this consideration a little higher , and out of this commend unto you the knowledge 1. of your own Strength , 2. of your own Weakness . By which later I understand that particular inclination which ariseth from the temper of every particular man , by which one is more inclinable and obnoxious to this or that sin than another , by which one man is easily seduced by a temptation which another doth withstand with ease . And first , the reason why we fall into so many tentations is this , That we know not our own strength , that we are very willing to entertain a conceit that every tentation is too hard for us : Nec mirum si vincamur , qui jam victi sumus , No marvel if we fail in the day of tryal , who in our own opinion are already overcome . We lay all the blame upon Original sin and the weakness of our nature , and attribute our full growth in sin to that seed of sin which we should have choaked . For let us , with Aquinas admit of that double process and derivation of Original sin , from the Flesh into the Soul , and from the essence of the Soul into every power of it , let us take it in the Body , which they call vehiculum , the instrument and conduit to convey it , and we shall quickly find that we may not only subdue and overcome it , but turn it to our benefit and behoof ; that though with Samsons Lion it comes with open mouth to devour us , yet we may kill it by degrees , and find honey and sweetness in the belly of it . This Flesh of ours is much blamed , as being a prison of the Soul , and a weight to press it down . The Manichee , observing that war which is betwixt it and the soul , allowed it no better maker than the Devil ; but is solidly confuted by St. Augustine . Gregory Nyssen calleth it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a fuliginous ill-savoured shop . But all this will not make Tentations unavoidable , or bring-in an Impossibility of prevailing against them . Non enim caro suo nomine infamis , saith Tertullian ; The Flesh is not ill-spoken of for it self : Neque enim de proprio sapit aliquid aut sentit ; for it doth neither understand nor will ; but is of another substance , another nature added and joyned to the Soul as an instrument in the shop of life . Therefore the Flesh is blamed in Scripture , because the Soul doth nothing without it . Nor was it made to press us down to Hell , but by the power of the soul to be lifted up into heaven . Animus , Imperator corporis ; The Mind hath supream power over the Body , and is inthroned there ; the Body is made to be obedient and tractable , to be reined and checked and guided by the Mind . Whence Athanasius compares the Soul to a Musician , and the Body to a Harp or Lute , which she may tune and touch with that art and skill as that it may yield a pleasant and delightful harmony , nunc pietatis carmen nunc temperantiae modulos , as St. Ambrose speaks ; now a song of Sion , a Psalm of Piety , a coelestial Hymn ; and again , the composed measures of temperance and chastity . It was made for the Soul as Eve was for Adam , in adjutorium , not to tempt and seduce it , but to be a helper . What part almost is there of Christianity which is not performed by the ministry of the Body ? Hast thou a hand to take thy brother by the throat ? thou hast a Hand also to lift him out of the dust . Hast thou an Eye to take in the adulteress ? thou hast an Eye also to pity the poor . Hast thou a Tongue which is a sword to wound thy brothers reputation ? thou mayest , if thou wilt , make it thy glory , and minister a word of comfort in due season . Domus animae caro est ; & inquilinus carnis anima ; The Body is the House of the Soul , and the Soul the tenant and inmate of the Body : Desiderabit ergò inquilinus ex causa hujus nominis profutura domui , therefore the Soul is obliged by this very name , as she is an inmate , to watch over the Body , and carefully to provide those things which may uphold and sustein it , and not to put it to slavish and servile offices , to let and hire it out to Sin and Uncleanness , which will bring a fearful ruin both upon the house and the tenant , cast both Body and Soul into hell . Nè nobis ergò blandiamur quia Dominus consensit carnem esse infirmam ; nam & praedixit spiritum esse promptum ; ut ostenderet quid cui esse debeat subjectum : Let us not therefore , saith Tertullian , flatter our selves in sin because Christ hath told us that the Flesh is weak : for he hath told us also that the Spirit is strong , and thereby made it plain unto us which part should be subject to the other , that we may not excuse our selves by the infirmity of our Flesh , but uphold and establish our selves by the strength of the Spirit . For tell me , Why were we baptized ? why were we made Christians ? Was it not to mortifie our earthly members and lusts ? non exercere quod nati sumus ; to be in the body , and out of the body ; to tame the wantonness of the flesh ; to make it our greatest care that the Flesh , which is weak , prevail not against the Spirit , which is strong ; to fight against temptations , and especially against the most dangerous tentation , which perswade us that we are weaker than we are . For I cannot see of what use this unseasonable consideration of our own weakness should be , when the Lord of hosts is with us , when he hath girded us with strength and power , when he hath fitted us with all habiliments of war , the Helmet of Salvation , the Sword of the Spirit , and the Shield of Faith ; when they that are with us are more and stronger than they which are against us . You will say perhaps , To humble us . Indeed we cannot be too humble under the mighty hand of God ; but that is not Humility , but baseness , which humbles us under tentation . This is the best use we commonly make of it ; We remember our weakness ; and that thought leads us captive , makes us so humble as to crouch and fall at the foot of the enemy which will devour us . This low conceit of our selves is the cause of all the errors of our life . Desperatione debilitati experiri id nolunt quod assequi posse diffidunt , saith Tullie . As it is in Arts and Sciences , so is it in our Christian warfare ; Nothing more weakens and disinables us than our Distrust and Diffidence in our selves ; and we never make a proffer or motion to do that which we presume we cannot do : when as they who affect any great matter must try every way , break through all opposition , do what they can , nay , do more than they imagine they can do . And as David went up against Goliath , and ask'd , Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defie the armies of the living God ; so should we buckle on our armor , and draw near to the strongest tentation , and defie it ; For what is this Tentation , that it should stand up against the whole armour of God , against those armies of the living God , his many Precepts , his many Promises , the Examples of good men , the Prayers of the Saints ? What are these Tentations , that they should gain the victory over our Faith ? Are they principalities or powers , or things present or things to come ? are they life or death ? they shall not be able to separate us from the love of God . Thus may we overthrow them in the name of the Lord . We read in the Historian of Caligula the Emperour , Nihil tam efficere concupiscebat quàm quod posse effici negaretur , that he was most eager in attempting that which he knew before-hand could not be done : And this no doubt was a great argument not only of pride but of folly in him . But certainly it is a far more dangerous folly , in a matter that so nearly concerns us as our everlasting welfare , to frame to our selves an impossibility of doing that which we are bound to do , which not to do is to undo and destroy our selves ; to think we are too weak to fight , who have vowed to overcome . To attempt that which I cannot do is but to lose my labor ; but not to do what I can , is to be unwilling to labour . And in this case my greatest weakness is that I think I have no strength at all . For indeed this our cowardise in not opposing our selves proceeds not out of want of strength but want of will . Therefore as Petrarch tell his Friend , so may we the diffident Christians : Verba quibus se uti velim , sunt , ut ubi te non posse dixisti , ultra te nolle fatearis ; When you say you cannot wrestle with this or that tentation , I would have you change your language , and speak the truth , which is that you will not . Difficultatis patrocinium fegnitiae percepimus ; Ever when we are unwilling to set forward , we complain of some Difficulty , some strange Impossibility , some Lion in the way ; and when we betray our strength , we lay the fault here , that the difficulty was greater than our strength ; and thus , saith St. Hierome , Domino reclamamus , & dicimus nos vel difficultate mandatorum vel impossibilitate premi : nec sufficit quòd jussa non facimus , nisi etiam jubenter injustum pronunciemus ; It is in his Epistle to Celantia . God calls upon us to resist tentations , and we answer , We cannot ; and groan as under the burden of the hardness and impossibility of the command . Nor are we content not to do what he commands , but in a manner we pronounce what he commands to be unjust . And this conceit we have of the command is that which makes it hard , which makes that yoke heavy which Christ hath made light , by his rich and glorious promises , and by his gracious assistance when we refuse it not . Totum durum est quicquid imperatur invitis , saith Salvian ; To an unwilling mind every command carries with it the amazing shew of Impossibility . And a wicked man had rather condemn the Law than reform his life , rather hate the precept than his sin . We read that Mynderidos the Sybarite was weary at the very sight of another mans labor , and when he saw a man a digging wisht him to forbear , as if he had done him an injury . Laboriosa omnia ignavis ; All things are toylsome to the Sluggard : a pain it is to him to pull his hand out of his bosome . Continence is a hard lesson , but to the Wanton ; Temperance , but to the Glutton ; and Liberality , but to a Miser . Omnia haec dura videbuntur ei qui non amat Christum ; All these things are hard to him that loves not Christ . But where there is a will , there is strength enough . Love and Cheerfulfulness of mind make all things easie . What was sweeter then the Manna in the wilderness ? what sooner gathered , yet the people of Israel murmured . What more bitter than Hunger and Imprisonment ? yet St. Paul rejoyced in this . Non est opus peregrinationibus ; To conquer a tentation thou needst not go on pilgrimage , or take any long journey . Thou needst not be at any expense about it : It will not cost thee thy money , nor engage thee to thy friend . Thou needst not sail for it , thou needst not plow for it : thou needst not rise up early and lye down late . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Chrysostome ; If thou beest willing virtue hath its work and consummation . To conclude ; Nothing is more powerful against tentation than the Knowledge of our selves , and of our strength in Christ . This will make a Christian like Aristotles Magnanimous man , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to conceive of nothing as difficult and impossible .

But in the next place , though a Christian hath strength enough against all temptations , yet he is more subduable by some then by others . Some men by their very temper and constitution with ease withstand Lust , but must struggle and take pains to keep down their Anger . Some can stand upright in poverty , but fall in wealth . Some can resist this tentation by slighting , but must beat down and macerate , must offer a kind of violence to themselves before they can overcome another , which is more sutable and more correspondent to their constitution . Therefore , as Quintilian gives it as a rule to Schoolmasters , To observe the several dispositions of their Scholars , and so accordingly to apply themselves unto them , so must we observe our own inclination , and be most instant and diligent against that tentation which it looks towards . Animadvertenda ea peccata maximè quae difficilè praecaventur , as Tully speaks ; We must keep a strict eye and watch over those tentations which we are most like to fall into , and to which the bent of our complexion swayes us . Let the Melancholick beware of Envy , the Cholerick prepare himself against injuries , the Glutton set a knife unto his throat , and the wanton beat-down and chastise his body . The Enemy taketh advantage of our complexion and temperature , tempting the Sanguine to pleasure and lust , the Phlegmatick to idleness and sloth , the Melancholick to envy and malice , the Cholerick to brawls and contentions , driving us forward to that which our own lusts lead us to , and changing his tentations as we change our affection . He walks about us , and findeth out where we are most open , and assaults us there were he knows the Flesh will further him . And though we be Achillean Christians , and have but one place , but our Heel , vulnerable , he will smite and wound us there . Therefore as wise Captains plant their greatest forces where the city is weakest , and as it is the wisdome of Governours iis malis maximè mederi quibus respublica maximè laborat , to be most diligent to cure those evils with which the Commonwealth is most molested ; so must we take a strict survey of our selves , and set the strongest guard there where we are most attemptable : And if it be Anger that we lye most open to ; tye it up ; if Lust , quench it ; if Sloth , chase it away . Non emendabis te , nisi deprehendas , saith the Philosopher ; If you do not deprehend and find out , you can never correct your self . If you do not enter into your own soul , and commune with your own heart , and find out what passage is most open to the enemy , you can never block it up and shut him out . Ante omnia necesse est teipsum aestimare ; It is the chief and principal work of a Christian to weigh and ponder himself . For as it is good to know our own strength , so is it also to take notice of our own weakness , that we may make use of our strength to defend us where we are weakest , and to quench the fire of that dart which is most likely to enter . In a word , By thus looking into our selves we provide against danger which threatens abroad ; and by often ripping up our hearts we purge and cleanse our leprous souls , as Moses did his hand by putting it again into his bosome .

Thus we have shewed you of what use the Knowledge of Our selves is in this our spiritual combat . Now for our further advantage we must duly consider the Tentations themselves . Humanae mentis natura est , saith Hilary , ut si cogitatione aliquid contemplemur , talem se nobis unaquaeque species exhibeat qualem eam & cogitando formemus ; It is natural to the mind of man to put shapes and forms upon things , which exhibit that species and representation to it which it self hath already made . It may conceive of Gold as of earth ; and it may conceive of it as of a God . It may look upon Beauty as upon a flower that fades ; and it may consider it as a lasting heaven upon earth . It may think of Honour as of that which makes us Gods ; and it may esteem it but as a bubble , which is lost in the making . And as we transform things , so do they transform us . For talis quisque est , qualibus delectatur , & inter artificem & artificium mira cognatio ; Our minds are even fashioned like unto those things which we most delight to converse with : and a great correspondence there is between the Work and the Artificer . Wheresoever the Workman goes , he carries about with him the Idea and Representation of his work along with him . Where St. Peter gives us a character of prophane and unclean persons , amongst other marks he sets this as one , that they have eyes full of adultery ; but in the Greek it is more significant , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , full of the Adulteress ; as if the Wanton carried her about in his very eyes , and had alwaies her image before him . The Covetous person converses with his Gold as with a God ; he speaks of it , he dreams of it , he commits Idolatry with it ; Si tacet , hoc loquitur , and when he is silent he talks of it within himself . And in this very shape which we have given them , in this dress which we have put upon them , they deceive us . But if we do search into their nature , and study them throughly , we shall not be deceived by their outward appearance : We shall find there is truly and indeed no content from Riches , no pleasure from Beauty , no horrour from Affliction . If we ask them for themselves , our Saviour may well return us that answer which once he gave to his disciples , Ye know not what you ask . The Beauty of women ; what is it ? It is but colour and proportion , which a light Agne will soon wipe out , and which Age will so dissolve that we cannot believe there was ever any . What is Honour but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a sign and signification of mans good esteem , and many times but a bare sign , and no more ; a leg to Haman , when we wish him on the gallows ; a cabinet of air , to which every man , even the worst man , hath a key , to open and shut it as he pleases . What are the Pleasures of the world ? Neither true , nor lasting ; and like painted Curtesans , as Hierome speaks , id solum oftendunt quod placere potest , they only lay that open to the eye which may please it . We read in St. Hierom of an Heathen who was wont to say to Pope Damasus , Facito me Romana urbis Episcopum , & protinus ero Christianus , Make me but Bishop of Rome , and I will presently be a Christian . We may be sure he knew not well what the Christian was , and saw no more of the Bishop than his pomp and outside ; otherwise , he would rather have given a Bishoprick , nay , sold all that he had , that he might have been a Christian . What do we undergo , what do we attempt at the sight of a temptation ? What Rhetorick is there in a piece of Gold , or in Beauty , or in Honour ? What do they not force us to , because we will not look neerere unto them , but are so amazed at their first apparition that we can look no further ? But how vast a difference is there between these things and spiritual and heavenly blessings ! What is Beauty to Virtue , Gold to Grace , Honour to Glory . Spiritual things in the mouth are bitter , but in the belly as sweet as honey . They are favourable to us and benevolent , and admit at once satiety and desire : But earthly things , when we have them not , kindle in us a desire ; and being enjoyed , quench that desire with loathsomness : But the other are never loathed but when we have them not : for when we have them , we ever desire them more . The more we feed , the more we are hungry ; and yet when we are most hungry , we are full and satisfied . In illis appetitus placet , experientia displicet : in istis appetitus vilis est , experientia magìs placet , saith Gregory : In the one our Appetite pleaseth us , but Experience is distastful : They are honey in the desire , but in the tast gravel . But to the other the Appetite is commonly sick and queasie ; but when we have chewed them , they are sweeter than the honey or the honey-comb : they are Gall to the appetite , but to the tast Manna . The one brings a shew of pleasure , but ends in grief : the other brings a seeming distast , but ends , nay never ends , but is immortal . Et quis tam parvis oblectare animum in vitâ possit , si vera cognoverit ? And who will ever delight himself in those vain and transitory things ; who hath had a full view of those which are real and eternal ? Nonne melius est brevi tempore dimicare , ferre vallum , arma sumere , & posteà gaudere viotorem , quàm impatientiâ unius horae servire perpetuos saith St. Hierome . Better fight a while and get a glorious victory , than be slaves to sin and Satan for ever . Did we thus compare the Devils offers with Gods , we should quickly pull-off the visour from Tentations , and discover their deformity ; we should be full of shame and grief for having so long vouchsafed familiarity to such loathsom solicitors . Then we should be able to call them all by their names , and to say , This Beauty is a deceiver , This Wine is a mocker , This Strumpet is a deep ditch , These Riches have wings , and will fly away . Non obvia occupant . Videt aurum ; scit hoc terrae limum esse : videt gemmas ; meminit esse aut montium aut niaris calculos : videt illicem ad lasciviam vultum ; scit tanquam avibuc coeli ex his sibi laqueis evàdendum , saith Hilary : A good man is not taken with obvious and ordinary objects . He sees gold , and know it is but the slime of the earth : He beholds pearls and diamonds , and knows they are but stones taken from the rocks or sea : He sees the bewitching countenance of the wanton , and on chast desires and resolutions , as on the wings of a Dove , he fleeth swiftly away from the snares . And thus , as I said before , Not to yield to Tentations , is to overcome them , so I say now , To know Tentations , and to strip them of their disguise and false appearance , is the ready way to victory .

We have prescribed unto you two remedies against Tentations , the Knowledge of Our selves , and the Knowledge of the Tentation . If we knew our selves , we would not converse and trade and be so familiar with Tentations as we are . And if we knew Tentations in intimis essentiae , naked as they are in themselves , not drest-up and coloured-over and refined by the Senses , we would loath these smiling enemies , and the more because they smile . Ipsum vocabulum nos admonere potest ; The very word TENTATION may admonish us to be shy and wary of them . For what is a Tentation but a heave , a tryal , an experiment to overthrow us ? But so it is that we are commonly the greatest strangers at home , that we are willing to believe that we are of the earth earthly , and like the Horse and Mule , which have no understanding , lower and viler than those Tentations which do but knock , nay but shew themselves , and are welcomed as friends . Rarum est ut satìs se quisque vereatur ; It is a very rare thing for men to fear and reverence themselves , 〈◊〉 give that honour to themselves which they do to the whip , nay to the frown , of a Superiour . These many times curb and restrain us when we are making forward to unlawful pleasures : they seal-up our lips , they bind our hands , they put-in their Veto , and we dare not touch or tast , or handle . But 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , our Reason which should be as an Emperour , and commander over us , is slighted and neglected , and esteemed not worth the harkning-to : To which if we gave that due reverence which we owe , dimittamus licet paedagogum , there were no need at all of any outward restraint . And as we take no great pains in the study of Our selves , so do we as little trouble our selves to sift and examine those Tentations which make towards us , but judge of them by their outside ; look upon them , and are taken with a look . And as the Romans observed of the barbarous Nations , that being utterly ignorant of the art of Engining , when they were besieged and shut-up , they would stand still and look upon the enemy working in the mine , not understanding quò illa pertinerent quae ex longinquo instruebantur , what it meant , or wherefore those things were prepared which they saw afar off at distance , till the enemy came so near as to blow them up and destroy them : So do we behold Tentations with a careless and regardless eye , as if we knew not what they meant , and so suffer them to work-on , to steal nearer and nearer upon us , till they enter our souls , and dwell there , and take full possession of us . That we may therefore be the more ready and skilful to apply these two Remedies , we will add a third , which we at first also proposed , the Knowledge and serious Consideration of God himself . For quantò magìs appropinquat Deo cogitatio nostra , tantò praecellentior ejus nobis videtur majestas , the nearer we draw unto God , and the greater our knowledge is of him , the more are we taken and amazed with his beauty , and the glorious raies of his Majesty ; in comparison of which all the Beauty in the world is but deformity ; all the Pleasure of the world , loathsomness ; all the Glory of the world , but as vanity , as nothing . Now by the knowledge of God I do not understand that imperfect and weak apprehension of him which even they may have who understand his precepts , and give assent unto them that they are just and holy , but yet through their corrupt and wicked conversation cannot be induced to believe his promises , and by virtue and force obey his commands : as the Apostle speaks of the Heathen , that they knew God but did not glorifie him as God . For as Ignorance of God brought-forth Rom. 1. 21. those Lusts of concupiscence in the Heathen , so the like Lusts as greedily affected by Christians breed not Ignorance onely , but also a Denial of God , and of Holiness , without which no man can ever see God . But a sad and serious Consideration of Gods Majesty and Goodness may transform the Soul into the similitude and likeness of God . For true Knowledge is a kind of assimilation of the mind to that which it apprehends . And as there is imprinted in the organ of every Sense a likeness of that object which it doth receive , so is there also in the Understanding an impression made which , if it be not wiped out and defaced by impertinent deviations and wandrings , by the frequent admittance of contrary objects , will work in us a conformity to the nature and purity of that God which we behold with wonder ; that we may converse here on earth as so many mortal Gods ; that , as God is present every where , and yet receiveth no contagion from any place ; present with the wicked , yet is Justice it self ; present with the adulterer , yet is Purity it self ; tunc maximè magnus , cùm homini pusillus ; tunc maximè optimus , cùm homini non bonus ; tunc maximè unus , cùm homini duo aut plures ; then most eminently great , when he seems least unto man ; then especially best , when we least feel him so ; then most one , when we conceive of him as of two or more ; in his anger and in his mercy , ●● his blessings and in his curses 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , unchangeably one and the same : So we may learn to be in the world and yet be no more spotted of the world than if we were out of the world ; to hear its musick , yet not hearken ; to see its allurements , and not be allured ; to walk in the midst of its tentations , yet remain untoucht ; whether it fawn or frown , smile or threaten , amidst all its changes and varieties , to abide still the same . This is indeed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to be made like unto God . Every article of our faith leads us to some operative virtue ; and by the Knowledge of God we grow-up to be like him . If I believe he is GOD , I must fall down and worship him ; What he commands must be my law , and I must fulfil it . His Omnipotency both comforts and affrights me . His Justice drives me from Presumption , and his Mercy from Despair . If I do not make use of him as far as he is pleased to open and reveal himself , though I fall down before him and worship him , yet I deny him , or at best mistake him . Alium enim Deum facit , quem aliter cognoscit , saith Tertullian ; He makes him another God who conceives of him otherwise than he is ; who calls him Just , yet so live ●s if he were not so ; who acknowledgeth him to be the Holy one of Israel , and yet leaves him for Uncleanness ; to be the Fountain of all blessings , and yet heweth to himself broken cisterns , and trusteth in the Creature . *** Certainly the greater Gods Love , the hotter his Anger . Etiam Amor laesus irasci solet ; For even Love it self , if you chafe and provoke it too much , will wax angry . And he that is jealous over us for o●● good , if we offend him and charge him , will be jealous against us to our destruction .

To conclude then ; The consideration of these three , the All-sufficiency and Providence of God , his Omniscience , and his Jealousie , if it be serious , as it should , may bring-in universitatem donorum , as Tertullian calls it , that Academy , that world of spiritual gifts and endowments , which may be as a court of guard about us , to defend and protect us in all our waies , against the craft and malice of our enemies ; may awake our Security , which arms our Enemy ; and remove our Distrust , which disarms us ; ut non metuamus quicquam , & cavèamus omnia , as Tully speaks ; that we may not neglect our foe , nor yet be afraid to meet him ; that we may fear nothing , but yet be shy and suspicious of every thing ; not fear the approach of a Tentation , yet be as cautelous and wary as if it were now at hand . Gods All-sufficiency may take my eye from the World , and make me look-up upon Him who is the giver of all things : His Omniscience may make me not to dare to look toward a Tentation , no not in the twilight , nor when it comes with the advantage of Secresie : And His Jealousie may make me jealous over my self with a godly jealousie , that I may present my self as a chast virgin unto God . In a word ; The Knowledge of Our se●●es , that we are made according to the image of God ; of Tentations , that they are the base●● and vilest things in the world , and , like the Painters shop , have veri nihil , omnia falsa , nothing true in them , nothing but colour and shew ; and lastly , of God , who is an infinite and glorious Essence , who so provides for us that we need not Tentations ; who looks down upon us , that we may not dare to touch them ; and who is jealous over us , and will severely punish us , if we cast Him off , who onely can truly be said TO BE , for Shews , for Promises , for Nothing , for Sin , which will make us worse than Nothing ; These , I say , driven home and fastned in our hearts by due and frequent meditation , may circle us round about , and so keep us in on every side , so check and restrain us , that we may not be led into tentation . We have now done with the first part of this Petition .

The Six and Fourtieth SERMON . PART . VI. MATTH. VI. 13. — But deliver us from evil .

AS we pray not to be led into tentation , so we further pray to be delivered from evil . For Tentations , as they are tentations , and no more , are not evil to those who are tempted , but they are evils inherent and proper to the tempter himself . Till they prevail , they are the matter and occasion of virtue as well as of vice , and alwayes work for the best to those who are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might . Non laetatur Daemon cùm affligimur , sed cùm succu●●imus ; The Enemy takes no delight to see us beat upon by Afflictions , or woo'd by Pleasures , or conversing in the World : for here he stands as one doubtful of the victory , in a possibility to receive a ●●il as well as to give one . Then he triumphs , when Afflictions have driven us from our hold ; when Pleasures have detain'd us in the way which we walk , and are become so gracious unto us as to command our will and affections ; when we love the world and the things of the world : Then he rejoyceth as a conqueror doth when the day is won . And this may be the reason why this particle and clause is added , not as another Petition different from the former , but as an illustration and explication of it . For to be delivered from evil takes off all fear , and secures us from the force and violence of Tentations . Indeed Evil is that which we all naturally shun , and to be delivered from it is a part of every mans Litany . In the first of Jonah , when the storm was high , the mariners cryed every man unto his God , and awaked Jonah to call upon his . The very Heathen sacrificed Diis depellentibus , to those Gods whom they thought to have power to drive away the evil which they feared , and to free them from danger . They had their Goddess Pellonia , and their Deos Averruncos , therefore so called for turning away evils from them . Evil hath but a sad aspect , and at the first shew and appearance makes us look about us for succour . It is terrible afar off , in the very story and picture and representation , and moves our affections when it nothing concerns us . Augustine tells us that he wept at the very reading of the story of Dido in Virgil. And it is common unto us so to be affected with those evils which others have long since undergone , as if they were now in the approach toward us , and we our selves in present danger . But when Evil comes near us indeed , and is ready to seize upon us , then it shaketh the whole course of our nature , it changeth the countenance , it calls-up all the powers of the soul , and drives us to consultation . When the stormy wind is raised , then we cry unto the Lord in our trouble , that he may deliver us out of our distress . For the very fear of Evil is a kind of distress . Satìs malum est apud timentes quicquid timetur ; Whatsoever is feared is evil enough to them that fear it . And in this respect we may admit of St. Basils nice distinction between 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , between Saving and Delivering : For we desire not only to be saved and preserved , as men weak and impotent and obnoxious to a fall ; but to be freed and delivered , as men walking in the midst of snares , as men already in a kind of captivity . And certainly it will be good for us often to represent Evil unto our selves , and place it in its full horror before our eyes , that having a foretast as it were of it , our prayer may be the more hearty and earnest against it ; to consider what a wound and bruise such a one received , how one hath been slain with Luxury , and another with Pride , how Beauty hath deceived one , and Wine mocked another ; to behold the Devil in his true shape ; that we may call upon our Father which is in heaven , not only to save us in this present life , but to deliver us for ever from the Enemy , that he devour not our souls as a Lion . We have then , you see , two terms in this clause , Evil , and Deliverance . And if it be evil , what can we more properly pray for then for deliverance . To draw then the lines by which we are to pass , we must consider . 1. What is here meant by Evil. 2. What it is we desire when we pray for deliverance .

And , in the first place St. Augustine will tell us that Evil is of no essence at all ; and Nyssen , that it is not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by any proper subsistence it hath , that it is nothing else , but a kind of corruption and perversion of that manner and order which Nature hath set down and prescribed . It was the great business of many years in the times of our fore-fathers to find-out the original fountain from whence it springs . The Manichees made some of the creatures , which in themselves are very good , evil by nature , and therefore were forced to invent two causes and beginnings of things , the one good , the other evil . With them it was a kind of murder to pluck up a Plant , and sacriledge to taste of the Vine . Therefore they called Wine fel potestatum tenebrarum , the very Gall of the Devil and the powers of Darkness . But the Father makes it plain , prodesse singula per convenientiam , that every creature is good and useful by a kind of conveniency and to that end to which Nature hath ordained it . For if the Scorpion were in it self evil , it would then certainly soonest kill and destroy it self . We will not here engage our selves in a needless dispute . What say we to Diseases , and Calamities , and Destruction of Cities , and War , and Pestilence , and the like ? These indeed are Evils , and we may pray against them . For the Wise man will tell us , Fortis est perpeti , at non est prudentis optare periculum ; There may be Valour shown in induring of these evils , but it is no Wisdome to wish for them . For Virtue is opposed to these , not because she chuseth them , but because through the inevitable Laws of Necessity she cannot avoid them . And therefore , when the Christians professed a willingness to suffer persecution , and the Heathen upbraided them , Cur ergo querimini ? Why then do you complain of us for afflicting you ? Tertullian replyes , Planè pati volumus , verum eo modo quo & bellum miles , Truly we are willing to suffer , but with the same mind with which the Souldier doth enter the battle , in which he is glad to overcome , though before he complained that he was forced to fight . Thefe are evil , saith Basil , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to our sense , sensible evils : And we may , nay we must , pray against them , because we are uncertain to which hand they may incline us , whether they may drive us to the right hand or to the left . And indeed all those deliverances we pray for in our common Litany are but as so many branches from this root , LIBER A NOS A MALO , Deliver us from evil . But those Evils which are truly so and in their own nature proceed , as our Saviour speaks , from within us ; not Thunder , and Persecution , and War , and Pestilence , but Injustice , and Wantormess , and Luxury , and Envy , and Malice , and Deceit , and the rest of those hellish Evils which do pollute the soul and deface the image of God in us . Haec sunt verè mala quae faciunt malos : Those evils are truly and really evil which make us evil . Indeed when we speak of evil , every man streight phansieth to himself that Evil which he is most afraid of ; the Covetous , Poverty ; the Ambitious , Disgrace ; the Voluptuous , the bitter cup of Afflictions : although these , as they may be applied , are rather remedies than evils . For Poverty may teach the Covetous the uncertainty of Riches ; and Disgrace , the Ambitious what a bubble Honor is , and how soon turned into air ; and Misery , the Voluptuous what a sad aspect Pleasure hath when it turns its back and goes from us . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith the Father ; For those things which we suffer are not evil , but those things which we do . But we our selves create evils , draw them out unto our selves in the form of evil things , and then name them so . So the superstitious Papist brings every rotten stick he meets with to kindle a fire , and then trembles at it ; and , to be freed from this cryes out , Domine , hîc ure , hîc seca , Lord , let the fire be in this world , let us feel the lash of temporal affliction , let any evil fall upon us here , so we fall not into the fire of Purgatory . But the best of it is , that this may be perhaps in the Trent , but is neither in our Creed nor Pater Noster : and the Cardinal tells us that , if we believe it not , we shall never feel it : and we are willing to take the condition ; for we neither believe it , nor can we fear or hope to come there . But every man cryes out for deliverance at the sight of that evil which is a meer creature of the Phansie , and hath no being and subsistence but in the mind , which many times is more busie to make evils than to overcome them : — nullóque autore malorum , Quae finxere timent ; — and men fear where no fear is , fear that to which themselves have given both a being and horror , which themselves have made , and made formidable . But it is no supposed , no feigned Evil which we here pray against . It is a real and substantial Evil. And if we can find out the next and immediate cause of Evil whose work it is to make Prosperity a snare , and Adversity a wind to drive us from the fountain of Goodness to the waters of bitterness ; by whose art and skill a tempest in the air shall beget another in the mind , and the diseases of the body the plague of the heart ; by whose machinations and subtilty it many times comes to pass that plenty brings forth Wantonness and Luxury , and Poverty Repining and Murmuring ; that can so work with these things which are not in their own nature Evil , that they shall make us evil ; with these sensible Evils , that they shall produce those Evils which are so 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in their own nature , truly and properly Evils , as Sin and everlasting Death , then we need make no further search , but conclude that this is it . And indeed , if we look nearer to the word in the Text , and compare it with other places of Scripture , and with the former part , Lead us not into tentation , we shall easily be induced to believe that the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 here , which signifies evil , is not of the neuter but the masculine gender , and rather points out to some evil Person then some evil Thing . For so we find it taken in the chapter before , v. 37. Let your communication be Yea , Yea ; Nay , Nay : for whatsoever is more then these is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of evil . And chapter 13. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the wicked One , is twice mentioned . And , as our Saviour , so the Apostles after use it . St. Paul Ephes. 6. 16. Take the shield of faith , that you may be able to quench all the fiery darts 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of the Wicked One. And 1 John 2. 13 , 14. I have written unto you , yong men , because ye have overcome 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Wicked one . And chap. 5. he tells us of him who is born of God , that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that Wicked one toucheth him not : Which is no other than the Devil , who is MALUS per antonomasiam , so evil , that his name is so : so that as Evil is placed for the Devil , so is the Devil for evil : The Evil one toucheth him not , that is , the Devil . Est unus ex vobis Diabolus , saith our Saviour to his Disciples ; One of you is a Devil , that is , in the highest degree evil . For he is the first and principal cause of evil , totius erroris artifex , multiformis lues mentis humanae , salutis pariter animaeque vastator , totius seculi interpolator , saith Tertullian , the great Artificer and forger of all error , the very Plague and Bane of the mind of man , the Destroyer of both our health and our souls , and the great Fashioner of this present world , which he doth so dress up and paint that it may the sooner deceive us . These testimonies are so many and so clear that it may almost seem a wonder that there have been , and still are , found those who profess Christian Religion , and yet are of opinion that what is delivered of Satan and the Devil , of his wiles and enterprises and snares , is not so to be understood as if there were any such spiritual substance to which we may truly attribute these , but that it is a figurative kind of speech fitted to that which the vulgar and common people believe ; that there is nothing which solicits us to sin but our own Lust and Concupiscence , as St. James teacheth us , ch. 1. 14. where laying down the manner how we are tempted , he makes no mention of any person , but attributeth all to our Lust and Concupiscence , which with them by a wonderful Prosopopaeia or Feigning of a person , is called Satan , or the Devil , or the Adversary which accuseth us before God ; that Sin alone is the Serpent which deceives us , and the Lion which roars against us , and the Dragon which devours us ; that only Sin is that Destroyer . And this St. Bernard seems to lay to the charge of Petrus Abailardus , Epist. 190. But we may truly say that this is but commentum humani ingenii , an invention and fiction of phansiful men , and may well be entitled on the Devil himself the Father of lyes . For by the same art and skill they may , if they please , make the whole Scripture an allegory , since we find nothing more historically and plainly delivered there then this of the craft and subtilty and malice of the Devil . Indeed we do not make the Devil the author of every sin ; nor can we think that whensoever we do that which is evil , we do it by the instigation of the Devil . For many times we are the only divels to our selves , and have no tempter but within us , besides the outward object . And Chrysostome , considering the careless and negligent behaviour of our first parents in Paradise , concludes that they would have fallen though there had been no Devil , no Serpent to tempt them . Sometimes the Devil provokes us ; and sometimes we provoke the Devil : We may sin without the help of the Devil ; and most times we help the Devil in his work . We begin of our selves ; and this is a time of invitation to the Devil to step in and drive us forward when we are fairly running on of our selves in those wayes which lead to death . But that any should deny that there is any such person which at any time makes any such attempt upon us , or studieth to hurt and destroy us , proceeds from no other cause than a strong illusion of that Devil which they conceived to be nothing but like Aesops Fox and Lion and Wolf , which carry their Moral with them , and till that be made are but tales and idle Fables . And we may say of these Mythologists , who think there is no such person as the Devil who seeks to devour us , Daemonium habent , that they have a Devil . For who would ever deny it who is in his right mind , and hath read the writings of the Old and New Testament , or but the beginning of the history of Job , which plainly shew that the Devil is a person which studies the molestation of mankind , and especially of those who truly serve God ; and that he is a spiritual substance , which upon Gods permission hath power and force to bring-in upon us great and manifold evils , as plagues and famine and inundations ; and is therefore stiled the author of all those grievous evils which Job suffered , and is said to have smitten Job with sore biles from the sole of his foot unto his crown . We Job 2. 7. cannot say that all these his touches and his blows , his perambulations ; his instigations , his cribrations and winnowings , his wiles , his roaring , his calumniations and accusations are all performed in an allegory . We may say with Tertullian , De conscientia hominum notus ; That there is such an enemy , we have domestick and familiar testimony from our own consciences : For we see that even the rude and unlearned multitude make use of his name to make up a curse . But we will rather take that of Martin Luther , That we must believe the Scriptures , licèt totus mundus & omnes Angeli vel perirent , vel aliter docerent , although the whole world and all the Angels should perish , or teach the contrary . Or indeed rather , with the same Father , Revocandae quaestiones ad Dei literas ; This question , if it were worth the proposing , is to be resolved by the word of God . And if there we find the Devil painted and charactered-out in his full horror , if there we find him deciphered as a person crafty and malicious to mankind , seeking whom he may devour , we need not make a stand , or doubt but that he is that Evil , that Wicked one , from whom if we be delivered , we may promise to our selves victory , walk securely , and serve God without fear of being lead into tentation . And therefore Christ did not without cause place this among those things which we must request at the hand of our heavenly Father , that we may not yield to tentations , but be delivered from evil , from Satan , who is Evil 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in the most eminent and highest degree , and the first original and immediate cause of all those temptations which either by flattery or terror are ready to overwhelm us . This our Saviour reserves , as a matter of greatest consequence , to the last place ; as skilful Orators use to set open the very flood-gates of eloquence , to spread their sayls to the furthest , and double their files , and bring argument upon argument , and those arguments which are most persuasive , when they draw towards a conclusion . Tunc commovendum est theatrum cùm ventum est ad illud quo veteres comaediae tragoediaeque clauduntur , PLAUDITE , as Quintilian . In the ast place commonly they bring that which is most remarkable , ( and which should strike and make a deeper impression into the minds of the auditory . If we be delivered 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from the Evil one , we shall hallow Gods Name , and advance his Kingdome , and fulfill his Will , and be content with Food and Raiment , have our Pardon sealed , and with the Temptation , whatsoever it be , make a way to escape , that we may be able to bear it . So that we may take this interpretation as most probable and pertinent ; Although the others ( as that of Cyprian , who by Evil understands Sin it self , or whatsoever may be disadvantageous unto us ; or that of St. Augustine , who , forgetting that he had made seven Petitions in his second Book upon the Sermon on the Mount , makes this clause the same with the former ) bring nothing contrary to truth , or indeed to this interpretation . Having therefore shut-up and concluded all evil in him who is the Father of Evil , we will 1. consider him first as an enemy to Mankind ; 2. lay-down reasons why he is so , and why we should make preparation against him ; and 3. discover some Stratagems which he useth to bring his enterprises to pass .

And first , that the Devil is our enemy , we need not doubt . For the Apostle hath openly proclaimed him so ; We wrestle not with flesh and Ephes. 6. 12. bloud , against Men as weak and mortal as our selves , but against principalities , against powers , against the rulers of the darkness of this world , that is , against the Devil and his Angels , against spiritual wickedness in high places , that is , as himself speaks in the second Chapter , against those spirits which rule in the air . And therefore St. Basil gives us 1. his Name , which is SATANAS , an adversary , and DIABOLUS , a Devil , because he is both 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a fellow-worker with us in sin , and , when it is committed , an accuser : 2. his Nature ; He is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , incorporeal : 3. his Dignity ; It is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a principality : 4. the Place of his principality ; He is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in the air ; and is therefore called the Prince of this world . His Anger is implacable , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as immortal as himself : not as Mans , who is never angry but with particulars , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as with Cleon and Socrates , but not with man . Satans Anger and Hatred is bent against the whole nature of Man . Cùm sit ipse poenalis , quaerit ad poenam comites ; Being even a punishment unto himself , he would have all men with him come under the same lash . And if he cannot win a Soul by invasion , he attempts it by stratagem . To this end , as he makes use of Pleasure and Content , so he doth of Affliction and Sorrow . Operatio ejus est hominum eversio ; His very working and operation is nothing else but for the eversion and ruine of mankind : Nec definit perditus perdere ; being fallen himself he would draw all men after him . The bodies of men he plagueth with diseases , and their souls with sudden and unusual distractions ; being able through the subtility and spirituality of his nature to work-upon both ; invisibilis in actu , in effectu apparens , invisible and insensible in the act , but manifestly seen in the effect . He cheated men with oracles , struck them with diseases , and pretended a cure ; desinens laedere , curasse credebatur , when he did not hurt them , he was thought to have healed them . By these arts he insinuated him self into the minds of ignorant men , and at last was honoured with Temples and Altars and Sacrifices , and gained a Principality and kind of Godhead in the world . But now his Oracles are stilled , his Altars beat down , and he is driven out of his Temples . But yet he is a Devil still , and an Enemy , and rules in the air , and upon permission may make use of one creature to destroy another . And his Power is just , though his Will be malicious . Quod ipse facere iniquè appetit , hoc Deus fieri non nisi justè permittit . What he wickedly desires to do , that God may suffer justly to be done . We will not not say that the evil Spirits visibly fight against us , and try it out with fists , as those foolish Monks in St. Hierom boasted of themselves that they had often tried this kind of hardiment with them , to make themselves a miracle to the ignorant rout , who are more taken with lies than with truth . We are not apt to believe that story , or rather fable , in St. Hierome , of Paul the Hermite , who met the Devil first as a Hippocentaur , next as a Satyr , and last of all as a Shee-wolf ; or that of Hilarion , to whom were presented many fearful things , the roaring of Lions , the noise of an Army , and a chariot of fire coming upon him , and Wolves , and Foxes , and Sword-players , and wicked Women , and I cannot tell what . For it is scarce expressable what a creating faculty Melancholy and Solitariness and Phansie have , ut non videant quae sunt , & videre se putent quae non sunt , that when we do not see those things which are , yet they make us believe we see those things which are not . We will not speak of Spirits possessing the bodies of men ; Which power we cannot deny but they have . Yet I am perswaded these after-ages have not frequently seen any such dismal effects . The world hath been too much troubled with lies , and many counterfeits have been discovered even in our times . And for us Protestants , we see no such signs , no such wonders . But these Devils are as common as Flies in Summer amongst them who boast of an art and skill they have in casting them out . You would think they enterd men on purpose that these men might shew their activity in driving them away , and so confirm and make good their Religion , make themselves equal to those primitive Christians , quorum verbis tanquam flagris verberati nomina aedebant , who with their very words would make them roar as if they had been beaten with whips , till they confest they were devils , and did tell their names . We may say of these in our daies as he doth of superstitious Dreams , Ipsâ jam facilitate auctoritatem perdiderunt , They are too common to be true . And because so many of these strange relations have been manifestly false , we may be pardoned if we detrect a little , and believe not those few which are true . For the mixture of fictions in many a good history hath many times made even Truth it self seem fabulous . But yet though we suspend our belief , and do not suddenly and hand over head subscribe unto these , we are not like those Philosophers in Tully qui omnia ad sensus referebant , who referred all to their senses , and would believe no more than what they did see . For these evil Spirits may be near us , and we see them not ; they may be about our paths , and we discern them not . Many effects of theirs no doubt we may see , and yet can have no assurance that they were theirs . For that light of their intellectual nature is not put-out , but they know how to apply active qualities to passive , and diversly upon occasion to temper natural causes , being well seen and versed in the book of Nature . And this knowledge of theirs is enlarged and advanced by the experience of so many thousand years , and their experience promoted and confirmed by an indefatigable and uncessant survey of the things of this world ; which is not stayed and held back by any pause or interval , nor needs any repair or help by rest and sleep , as ours , quasi per quasdam ferias , as the Father speaks , as by so many daies of vocation and rest ; but every moment they observe things , and every moment draw new conclusions , and every moment collect and infer one thing out of another . Besides , as Tertullian tells us , momento ubique sunt , their motion and apprehension is swift and sudden . Totus mundus illis locus unus est ; The whole world is to them but as one place ; and what is done in every place , they soon know in any place . We do not meet them as Hippocentaurs , but we meet them as Tyrants : We cannot say we have seen the Devil in the shape of a Fox , but yet we are not ignorant of his wiles and crafty enterprises . And though his hand be invisible when he smites us ( for he is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an incorporeal hangman , as Chrysostom calls him ) yet we may feel him in our impatience and falling from God . What speak we of the possession of our body , when it is too manifest that he possesses our soul ? For do we see a man with a mouth like a sepulchre , and a tongue like a rasor , with a talking eye , and a restless hand , starting at the motion of every leaf , drooping at the least breath of affliction , amazed at the sight of white and red colour , stooping at every clod of earth , transported at every turn of his eye , afraid where no fear is , mourning for the absence of that which will hurt him , and rejoycing at that stoln bread which will be as gravel between his teeth ? Do we see him sometimes fall into the water and sometimes into the fire , sometimes cold and stupid , and anon active and furious ? we may well conclude and account him as one 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of those who are possest with a Devil . That he insinuates himself into the Soul of Man ; that being of so subtile an essence , he works upon the Spirits , by inflaming or cooling ; upon the Phansie , by strange representations making it a wanton ; and on the Understanding by presenting of false light , and sending-in strong illusions ; it is plain and evident , and we need not doubt : But the manner how he worketh is even as invisible as himself ; and therefore it were a great vanity to enquire after it . Stultum est calumniam in eo inquisitionis intendere , in quo comprehendi quod quaeritur per naturam suam non potest , saith Hilary ; It is a great folly to run-on in the pursuit of the knowledge of that which before we set forth we know we cannot attain . And therefore saith the Father , Nemo ex me scire quaerat quod me nescire scio , nisi fortè ut nescire discat quod sciri non posse sciendum est ; Let no man desire to know of me that which I know I cannot know , unless peradventure he would learn to be ignorant of that which he must know he cannot but be ignorant . Let others define and determine and set-down what manner they please ; we may rest upon that of St. Augustine , Facilius est in alterius definitione videre quod non probem , quàm quicquam bene definiendo explicare ; In this point it is easier to refute anothers opinion than to establish our own ; and to shew that the Devil doth not work thus , than plainly to set-down and say , Thus he works . It is enough for us to know that as God is a friend , so the Devil is an enemy ; as God inspires good thoughts , so the Devil inspireth evil ; that he can both smite the body , and wound the soul ; that he hath 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Basil speaks , divers and various operations , and can alter with the occasion ; that he knows in what breast to kindle Lust , into what heart to pour the venom of Envy , whom to cast-down with Sorrow , and whom to deceive with Joy ; that his snares are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of many shapes and forms , which he useth to draw-on that sin to which he sees man 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , most inclinable and prone ; and gives every man poyson in that which he best loves , as Agrippina did to Claudius her husband in Mushromes .

Now to proceed ; The Reasons why the Devil thus greedily thirsts after the ruine and destruction of Mankind , are derived from his Hatred to God and his Envy to Man . His first wish , which threw him down from heaven , was , To be a God ; and being fallen , he wished in the next place that there should be no God at all , willing to abolish that Majesty which he could not attain . Odium timor spirat , saith Tertullian , Hatred is the very breath of Fear . We never begin to hate God till we ha●e committed something for which we have reason to fear him . And the Devil being now in chains of everlasting darkness ; doth hate that Light which he cannot see . And because God himself is at that infinite distance from him that his Malice cannot reach him , he is at enmity with whatsoever hath being and essence and conservation from God , or is answerable and agreeable to his will ; but especially with Man , because God hath past a gracious decree to save him , and put him in a fair possibility of the inheri●●nce of that heaven from whence he was thrown down . He manifests his h●●●ed to God in hating his Image , which he doth labour to deface , now blurring it with Luxury , anon with Pride , and every day bespotting it with the world , striving to destroy that new-creature which Christ hath purchast with his bloud ; just as some Traitours have used to stab their Prince in his picture ; or as the poor man in Quintilian , who not able to wreak his anger on the person of his rich and powerful enemy did solace himself in whipping his statue . And as the Devils Hatred to God , so his Envy to Man enrageth him . For through envy of the Devil came sin into the world . It is Bernards opinion that Man was created to supply the defect of Angels in heaven , and to repair that breach which their fall had made in the celestial Jerusalem . But most probable , nay without question it is , that the Devil with his hellish troop are therefore so fiery and hot against us , because they see and are verily perswaded , that those men whom they cannot withdraw from obedience to God , shall by the power of Christ be raised to that height of glory from which he and his Angels were cast-down , and shall in a manner supply their place in heaven , whilst they lay bound in chains of everlasting darkness . And therefore though he gave Man a fall in Paradise , yet he still envieth his hope , as Timagenes was grieved when he saw Rome on fire , because he knew it would be built-up fairer than it was before it was burnt . Quoniam emulari non licet , nunc invidet , as he speaks in Plautus ; Because he cannot emulate us in our rise , he envies us ; and that happiness which he cannot make the object of his Hope , he makes the object of his Malice : as they who are tumbled from some high place , catch at all they meet by the way , not for help , but to pull it after them . For that is true which the Oratour hath observed , Naturali quodam deploratae mentis affectu monentibus gratissimum est commori , It is incident to men of deplored and desperate minds , if they see they must perish , to desire to fall with company . This makes the Devil so raging an enemy , and is not more his sin than his punishment : Invidiâ enim magis ac●●nditur quàm Gehennâ , saith Cyprian ; For he is more tormented with this envy than with the fire of Hell . For Envy and Malice , though their eye be outward , yet their sting is inward . And as it was said of Tarquine in Livy , That it was no wonder , si qualis in cives , qualis in socios , talis in ultimum in liberos esset : In seipsum postremò saeviturum , si alia desint , that that cruelty he shewed to his citizens , and to his allies and confederates , he did at last exercise upon his own children : For where matter should be wanting for his Malice to work upon , he would be cruel to himself . So though the Malice of the Devil setteth it self against God first , and then against his creature , though he wish there were no God , and would destroy Mankind ; though his Malice walk along with him , and compass the whole earth , yet it resteth in himself , and is a great part of that torment which he endureth . St. Jude v. 6. tells us that the Angels which kept not their first estate , but left their own habitation , were reserved in everlasting chains under darkness , unto the judgment of the great day . Which Angels are no other than those which are afterwards called the devil and his Angels : Who , though they have a Kind of principality of power in the air , and do abide there ( for so we must understand those celestial high places ) yet Ephes. 6. notwithstanding are reserved under darkness , if we compare it with that light from which they are fallen . And although they run to and fro● in this inferiour and sublunary world , yet they may be said to be reserved in chains , because they can never be admitted to that highest heaven from whence they were driven . St. Bernard conceives that the Devil hangs in the air , and to his grief and torture observes the Angels descending and ascending by him , and seeing what gifts descend from above from the Father of lights on ●●e children of men , and what incense smoaks upwards , what prayers every day beat at the gates of heaven , is torn and tormented with envy and malice , which make him fierce and cruel against us . For that of the Stoick is most true , Omnis ex infirmitate feritas est , All malice and cruelty , and all violent proceedings proceed from want and infirmity , from fear , or some such low passion in us . Non jam Lucifer , sed Tenebrifer , saith Bernard ; He is not now a son of light , but of darkness . The Angels which fell not are loving , ready to minister and do many good offices to us : but he that is fallen into the lake of Brimstone goes about seeking to devour us : & quorum obtinere non potest mortes , impetit mores , saith Leo ; and if he cannot kill our bodies , he makes it his study to destroy our souls . Est insita malevolentia quaedam & facultas nocendi istis malis spiritibus : Gaudent de malo hominum ; & de fallacia nostra , si nos sefellerint , pascuntur , saith Augustine ; There is a kind of inbred malevolence and activity in hurting in these evil Spirits . They rejoice when men suffer ; and if they can put a cheat upon us , they are fed as at a feast . From hence those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , cogitations of Satan , those treble doors , those inventions and engines of his , those wiles and crafty enterprises . For ingenium de malitia sumit , saith Tertullian ; his malice makes him witty and subtle . For without Malice his Subtlety were not hurtful , and without Subtlety his Malice would have no edge . For Malice is an active and consultative thing , busie and industrious to compass its end . It looketh about the object , it searcheth out means , it knows both quid faciat , and quando faciat ; it knoweth the thing to be done , and the opportunity of doing . Daily experience may teach us what mighty things it brings to pass , and how often it frustrates the greatest providence . A malicious enemy is the more dangerous , and makes his way with more ease , because he useth to gild it over and commend it with a shew of love , and is like fire coverd over with ashes , which is not seen till it burns us . The Devil , like Caligula in the story , could wish that all Mankind had but one neck , that he might cut it off at a blow . But being not able to destroy all at once , he steals the victory by degrees , as men covetous of other mens possessions , and not able to gain them by open violence , are fain to call their wits to counsel , and forced to use tricks of legerdemain . And these qualities of the Devil , his Malice , and Envy , and Subtlety , we have plainly exprest in those names which are given him by the holy Ghost in Scripture ; Where he is stiled an Adversary , alwaies resisting the will of the Lord ; an Accuser , leading us to those Sins which will cry aloud against us ; a Serpent , because he is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , full of turnings and windings , various and manifold in his operations , and full of deceit ; a Lion , because as a hungry Lion he walks up and down to find out his prey which he may devour , and roars against us , to fright us from that course of sanctity which leads unto happiness : In a word , that we may invert St. Pauls words , he is made all unto all , that he may destroy all . Nomina mille , mille nocendi artes ; He hath a thousand names , and a thousand waies to hurt us : and to express these many waies , he hath his diversity of names ; and all this for our sakes , that we may make due preparation against so cunning and potent an enemy ; that , though he accuse us , we may stand upright ; though he be an Adversary , he may not prevail ; though he roar like a Lion , he may not be heard ; though he flatter as the Serpent , he may not deceive . But then these are but expressions , and cannot character him out in his full horrour . Semper citra veritatem est similitudo , saith Tertullian ; The image and representation alwaies comes short of the truth . The Devil may be an Adversary , but in the highest degree ; an Accuser , but one who is instant and urgent and will not be answered ; like a Serpent , but more crafty than the Serpent ; like a Lion , but more fierce a great deal and devouring than the beast . In omnibus veritas imaginem antecedit ; The Truth is alwaies before and beyond the image which shews it . All which may teach us to stand upon our guard , to look about us , as the Father speaks , mille oculis , with a thousand eyes ; to be strong in the faith , that we may contemn this Adversary ; to keep the innocency of the Dove ; to shut-up the mouth of this Calumniator ; and to have the wisdom of the Serpent , that we may be wise unto salvation , and defeat all his plots and enterprises ; and to put-on that Christian fortitude and resolution which may deliver us out of the mouth of this Lion : that though he be a Serpent , he may but flatter ; and though he be a Lion , he may but roar ; that so at last we may triumph over this Evil , this Wicked one , this malicious Enemy , and tread him under our feet .

We shave shut up and concluded all evil in him who is the Father of Evil . We have considered him as an Enemy to mankind , and Why he is so . We descend now to discover some Stratagems of his , which he useth to bring his enterprises to pass , by which he leads us through the wayes of Truth into error , and by Virtue it self to those vices which will make us like unto him . And here we have a large field to walk in : And should we follow those who have gone before us in this way we might run our selves out of breath . Gerson hath writ a Tract of purpose De diversis Diaboli Tentationibus , Of divers Tentations of the Devil , by which he instills his poyson into our hearts . Many he hath numbred-up to our hands ; and he might have brought us twice as many more . We shall make choice of those which most commonly abuse us , because they are less observable . For what the Orator speaks of Tempests may be truly said of the Devils Tentations ; Saepe certo aliquo coeli signo ; saepe ex improviso , nulla ex certâ ratione , obscurâ aliquâ causâ commoventur ; Sometimes we have some certain indications of them from certain signs in the heavens , sometimes they are raised on a sudden from some obscure and hidden cause , nor can we give any reason of them . So some tentations are gross and palpable , some more secret and invisible . But as the Magicians , when they saw the Lice , presently cryed out , This is the finger of God : so when we see the effects of Exod. 8. 19. these Tentations , that swarm of sins which they produce , we cannot be so blind as not to discover and confess that the finger , or rather the claw , of the Devil is in them . For let him put-on what shape he please , let him begin how he will , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Nazianzene , he alwayes ends in evil . Two evils he strives to sow in the heart of Man , Error and Sin ; and being 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Basil calls him , that great and invisible Sophister of the world , he makes use of those means to bring them in which are in their own nature preservatives against them , turneth our antidote into poyson , and our very light into darkness , and so cunningly leads us on in the way to destruction as withal to perswade us that we are making haste to meet with Truth and Happiness . Nor can we think that this proceeds meerly from the corruption of our nature or from some predominant humor in us , which may sway and bow us down from the check and command of Reason . For to a reasonable man it is a kind of tentation not to believe that any should be forc't thus far from themselves , as to forget their Reason . But admiscet se malitiae Angelus , & totius erroris artifex ; that evil and malitious Angel , that forger of all error , joyns and mingleth himself with our temper and inclination . Fallitur , & fallit , & depravatus errorem pravitatis infundit . His Pride deceived him , and his Malice makes him the father of lyes , and so he transforms himself into an Angel of light , to make us like unto himself , the children of darkness and error . St. Paul calls these his tentations 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Which St. Ambrose interprets ASTUTIAS , deceits ; Sedulius , VERSUTIAS , wiles and shiftings ; Tertullian , INJECTIONES , injections , or casting of snares ; and Erasmus , COGITATIONES , crafty thoughts , by which he pretends one thing , and intends another : as we commonly say of a subtile and deceitful man that he is full of thoughts , thinking to please , and thinking to hurt ; and studying so to please that he may hurt . You may take St. Pauls instance , 2 Cor. 2. where the Corinthians , to uphold the severity of their Discipline , had almost forgot their Christianity , Charity , and Compassion ; and to defend one good duty , had endangered another ; and were so severe to the incestuous excommunicate person that they had almost swallowed him up , the Apostle tells them that , if they thus proceeded , Satan would gain an advantage over them . For most plain it was that this was one of his devices . Tertullian will tell us , Invenit quomodo nos boni sectationibus perdat ; & nihil apud eum refert alios luxuriâ , alios continentiâ occidere ; The Devil knows how to throw us on the ground even in our hottest pursuit of that which is good : He destroys some with luxury and wantonness , others with continence ; some with too much remissness and flackness in discipline , others with too much severity : And when we follow close and run after one virtue , he so works it many times that we leave another behind us as saving and necessary as that . Thus doth he 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , come about us , hunt and search-out the occasions and opportunities to draw us to evil from goodness it self . Omnia obumbrat lenociniis ; He shadows over evil with some colourable good . When he sells his wares and commodities , he doth not disclose what vice and imperfection they have : he doth not proclaim , as there was a law in Rome , Pestilentem domum vendo , I sell an infectious house . He doth not let us know that this our Thrift is Covetousness ; this our irregular Zeal , Madness ; this our Assurance , Presumption ; but with the beauty of the one covers over the deformity of the other , and makes Thrift a provocation to covetousness ; Zeal , an abettor and patron of faction ; and our duty to make our election sure , a kind of motive and inducement to perswade us it is so . And this his art and method is observable both in the errors of our Understanding and in those of our Will , both in our Doctrine and Conversation . And first , what monstrous errors have been embraced in the Christian Church ? what ground have they got ? how many ages have they passed as current coin , which , if you look nearer upon them , have no other image nor superscription but his who is the Father of lyes ? who is well skill'd veritatem veritate concutere , to shake and abolish one truth with another . I will not urge the proposing doubtful things as certain , and building up those opinions for articles of Faith which have no basis or foundation in Scripture . I will not speak of adding to the rule either by way of gloss or supply . I will not complain with the Father , Latè quaeruntur incarta , latius disputantur obscura , that those things which are uncertain are with great curiosity searcht into , and those which are dark and obscure , for any light we have past finding out , are the subject of every discourse , and have set mens pens and tongues a working : Although even this Curiosity is from the Evil one , which is alwayes as far from Knowledge as it is eager to enquire , and seeks for that which cannot be sound , and so passeth by those certa in paucis , as Tertullian saith , that which lyes naked and open in our way ; seeks for many things , and so neglects those few which are necessary . For the Devil in this is like the Lapwing , which flutters and is most busie and hovers over that place which is most remote from its nest . He cryes , Here is Christ , and , there is Christ ; Here the truth is to be found , and , There it is to be found , where no sign of footstep , not the least shadow of it appears . I will not mention these . That which hath made Error a God , to reign and rule amongst men , by the Devils chymistry hath been attracted and wrought out of the Truth it self . That worship is due unto God is not only a fundamental truth in Divinity , but a principle in Nature : and here it should rest . But by the policie of Satan it hath been drawn to his Saints , to Pictures , to Statues , to the Cross of Christ , nay , to the very Representation of it : And men have learnt sub nomine religionis famulari errori , as the Fathers in the third Councel of Toledo speak of the people of Spain , to submit and wait upon Error under the habit of Religion and the name of Catholick and Orthodox . Again , if we look into the world , we shall find that nothing deceives men more , nothing doth more mischief amongst men then the thought that those things must needs please God which we do with a good mind , and with an ardent affection and zeal and love to Religion . This guilds over Murder and Covertousness and Idolatry and Sedition , and all those evils which rent and wound the Church of Christ , and many times pull Common-wealths in pieces . Murder hath no voice , Covetousness is no sin , Faction is zeal for the Lord of Hosts . If we can comfort our selues that we mean well , and have set up the glory of God in our phansie only as a mark , and when we cast an eye upon that , with Jehu we drive on furiously . We steal an ox to make a sacrifice ; we grind the face of the poor , that we may afterwards build an Hospital ; and are very wicked all the dayes of our life , that we may leave some sign of our good meaning when we are dead . And this is but a sophisme , a cheat put upon us by the Deceiver . For though an evil intention will make an action evil , yet a good one will not make an evil action good . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Bonum ex causâ integra . There must be a concurrence of all requisites to render an action or a person good , but the absence of any one serveth to denominate them evil . A bad action then and a good intention cannot well be joyned together . And as ill will the Profession of Christ and a profane life ; the Christian and the Knave , sort together ; the one commanding as a Law and prohibition against the other , and the Christian being as a judge to condemn the Knave : And yet the Devils art it is to make them friends , and bring them together . Though we do those things which strike at the very life and soul of Christianity , yet we perswade our selves we are good Christians . Though we thirst after bloud , and suck-in the world ; though we cheat our neighbour as cunningly as the Devil doth us ; though we breath nothing but revenge , and speak nothing but swords ; though we know no language but that of the Horsleach , Give , Give ; though , as Tertullian spake of the heathen Gods , there be many honester men in hell than our selves ; yet we are Saints , and we alone . We have made Grace , not the helper , but the abolisher of Nature , and placed it not above Reason , but against it ; we are so full of Grace that we have lost our Honesty ; our tongues are set on fire by hell ; and yet Anathema to that Angel who shall speak against us . And this is our composition and medley ; as if you should bind a Sermon and a Play-book together .

There is another fallacie of Satan yet , fallacia Divisionis , by which we divide and separate those things which should be joyned together , as Faith and Good works , Hearing and Doing , Knowledge and Practice . And these two , though they seem to stand at distance , and be opposite one to the other , yet they alwayes meet . For he that is ready to joyn those things which he should separate and keep asunder , will be as active to separate those things which God hath put together . We are hearers of the word , but hearers only ; the only , that makes a division . We have faith , that we have , by which we are able to remove mountains , even all our sins , out of our way : but where is that Meekness , that Humility , that Piety , which should demonstrate our Faith , and conclude that we are Christians ? Certainty of salvation we all challenge , but we give little diligence to make our election sure . Faith may seem to be as easie a duty as Hearing , which begets it ; and to apply the merits of our Saviour and the promises of the Gospel , as easie as a Thought , the work of the brain and phansie : for who may not conceive and say to himself that Christ is his God and his Lord ? Even this is one of Satans tentations , to bring in the Application of Christs merits before Repentance from dead works . By this craft and subtilty it is that we thus hover aloft on the wing of contemplation , that we so lose our selves in one duty that we do not appear in the other , not descend to work-out our salvation , and busie our selves in those actions upon the performance of which the Promises will apply themselves , and Christ present himself unto us in his full beauty , that we may taste how gracious he is , and with comfort feel him to be our Lord and our God . And therefore , to resolve this fallacy , we must be solicitous to preserve these duties in integrita●e totâ & solida , solid and entire . For he that hath one without the other hath in effect neither . Valde singula virtus destituitur , si non una alii virtus virtuti suffragetur ; Every virtue is naked and desolate , if it have not the company and aid of all . What is my Hearing , if I be dead to Good works ? What is my Faith , if Malice make me worse then an Infidel ? What is my Assurance , if Unrepentance cancel it ? Therefore those things which God hath joyned together , let no man put asunder .

I will but mention one Stratagem more , and so conclude . It is the Devils policy , when he cannot throw us into Hell at once , to bring us on by degrees , and by lesser sins to make way and passage for those of the greatest magnitude . This is a fallacy , saith Aristotle in his Politicks , to think that , if the particulars be small , the sum will be so : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Great is not small , because it consists of many littles . The Philosopher tells us , Small expenses , if frequent , overthrow a family . And Demosthenes , in his fourth Philippick , saith that that neglect which endangers a Common-wealth is not seen in particular actions and miscarriages , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in the conclusion and event at last . Qui legem in minimis contemserit , quomodo in magnis tenebit ? He that contemns the Law in matters of less , how will he observe it in matters of greater moment and difficulty ? He that cannot check a thought , how will he bridle his tongue ? He that will transgress for a morsel of bread , what a villain would he be to purchase a Lordship ? It will be good wisdom therefore , as we behold the finger of God and his Omnipotency not only in the heavens , the Sun and the Moon and the Stars , but in the lesser creatures , in the Emmet , and in the Plants of the earth , so also to discover the Devils craft and policy not only in Murder and Adultery , and the like , but in an idle Word and a wandring Thought ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to punish the very beginnings of Sin , and to be afraid of the cloud when it is no bigger than a mans hand . These are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Devils machinations , his treble false doors , by which he may slip-out and return again unseen . These are devises by which that great Architect of fraud and deceit doth ensnare our souls and lead us captive under Sin . These we have made choice of and cull'd out of his quiver , not but that he hath many more darts , but because these are they which he casts every day against the professors of Christianity , and which in these later times have wounded thousands of souls to death . And if we can take the whole armor of God , and be strong against these , we need not fear his other artillery . If these snares hold us not , it will be easie to keep our feet out of the rest .

The Seven and Fourtieth SERMON . PART . VII . MATTH. VI. 13. — But deliver us from evil .

EVIL our very nature startles at , which is of its self inclinable to that which is good , and tends to it as to its center and place of rest . Therefore these two words Evil and Deliver , look mutually one upon the other . The glory of our Deliverance layes open to the view the terror of Evil , and the smart of Evil makes Deliverance pleasant and delightful . Malum nihil aliud est quàm Boni interpretatio , saith Lactantius ; Evil is nothing else but a fair interpretation and a kind of commentary on that which is Good . The very words speak as much . For EVIL is a word quod cum ictu audimus , which we hear with a kind of smart ; but DELIVERANCE we hear as good news . The voice of joy and deliverance are Psal. 118. joyned together , and are the same . This Petition then for Deliverance is legatio ad supernum Regem , as the Father speaks , a kind of embassage sent to the high and mighty King of heaven from weak and frail and impotent Man , who is to live on the earth as in a strange land , in the midst of many enemies , which will be as pricks in his eyes and thorns in his sides ; who must converse as a companion with them , and every day meet and cope with that which may every day overthrow him ; to desire aid and succour from Him that is mightier than they , that he will send-in his auxiliary troops and forces , his Angels , to pitch their tents round about him , and his Mercies , to compass him in on every side ; that he will abate their forces , and arm him with strength , that he may stand up against them , and not fall , or , if he fall , he may rise again , and so through many afflictions , through many temptations , pass to the Land of Promise , and to that City whose maker and builder is God .

We have spoken at large of Evil , which is the object of our Fear : We pass now to shew you what is meant by Deliverance , which is the object of our Faith . For this Prayer , or Deprecation , is clamor mentis ; the cry of our Mind trembling at the apprehension of evil ; and clamor fidei , the language of our Faith , nothing wavering , but confident of His power and wisdome to whom we pray for Deliverance . We look-down upon the evil , and are afraid : we look-up upon God , and are comforted . The cup of Affliction is bitter ; but God can sweeten it , and make it a cup of Salvation . The Devil is strong ; but there is a stronger than he , who can bind him . And as it was sung to Maximinus the Tyrant , ELEPHAS GRANDIS EST , ET OCCIDITUR ; LEO FORTIS EST , ET OCCIDITUR ; The Elephant is a great beast , yet he is slain ; the Lion a stout beast , yet he is slain too . So be the Evil what it will , God can and will deliver us . And these two , Fear of the Evil , and Confidence in God , do make it orationem alatam , add wings to our prayer : and by it we place our selves in the presence , nay under the wing of God , and fly from the evil to come . Every prayer is so , ascensus mentis ad Deum , an ascent of the mind unto God , to contemplate his Majesty and those glorious attributes which he is ; His Wisdom , which runneth swiftly throughout the earth , and sees things that are not as if they were , beholds Evils present , and in their approach ; sees not only in longum , afar off , but in finem , to the very end of every action , of every intent ; and at once considers not only the parts , but the whole course of our life : His Power , to which nothing is difficult , by which he doth what he will in heaven and in earth ; which can raise the poor out of the dust , and make the dunghill better than a throne : and His Mercy , which is over all his works , but especially over Man the Master-piece of his works , ready at all times to shelter him when he complains . In this Petition we make an acknowledgment of these three Divine Attributes especially ; We profess that we are assured God seeth all our paths ; such is his Wisdom : that he ordereth all our goings ; such is his power : and that he will deliver us from our cruel enemy ; such is his infinite Mercy . We shall pass then by these steps and degrees : We will shew 1. What it is to be delivered from evil ; 2. That it is the work of God alone ; and 3. That being delivered we must offer-up the Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving JOVI LIBERATORI , to God our Deliverer , and give all the glory of the victory to him alone .

When we hear of Deliverance from evil , we may conceive perhaps such a Deliverance as may set us at such a distance from it that it may not come near us . And of such a torpid and tender constitution many of us are that we wish it were so . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , We would neither have it rain upon us , nor would we feel the heat of the Sun . To struggle with Affliction , and to stand the snock of a Temptation is a thing tedious and irksome to our nature . NE NOCEAT , That it may not hurt us , is not enough ; NE TANGAT is our prayer , we desire it shall not touch us . What Antony imputed to Augustus may pass as a just censure upon us in this our warfare , Rectis oculis nè aspicere potuisse rectam aciem : We cannot look upon these armies of sorrows and temptations with a stedfast and settled eye . When they appear before us in their full shew and march , we are ready to hide our selves ; as it was said of him . We only look up unto heaven , vota solùm Diis fundentes , pouring forth our fears and desires before God ; praying not for victory , but for the removal of these sad spectacles ; not to be delivered in battel , but not to fight . The reason of this is from hence , That we do judicium tradere affectibus , submit our judgments to our Affections , nay to our Sense , so that the same horror which the Sense apprehends affects the Rational part , and a stripe on the Body leaveth a mark on the Understanding . We are ignorant of the nature and quality , or rather of the operation and end of these things which we call evil ; we make not a true and just estimate of them ; but , like bad artificers , we look upon the matter so much that we quite forget what it may make . To us a knotty piece of wood is so , and no more ; a viper is a viper ; and the Devil a Serpent and a Lion , and no more : But a skilful artificer out of this piece of wood will make a God ; the Apothecary can find treacle in this viper : And if we stand upon our guard , the Devil , saith Chrysostom , would be evil to himself , and not to us . But this is not the true meaning . To be delivered from evils , is not so to be delivered as by a kind of priviledge to be quite exempt from the least touch of them . This were too high a pitch for our mortal nature to reach unto . This were not to be delivered , but to be as God . To be delivered here supposeth a possibility , nay a necessity of sufferance . For necesse est ut veniant , it is necessary , that some of these evils should befall us , or else we cannot properly be said to be delivered from evil . Huic nimis boni est cui nihil est mali ; He hath too much good who was never acquainted with evil . Indeed Tertullian renders it , EVEHE NOS A MALO , Lift and carry us up out of the sight of evil ; But then he seems in the word evil to allude to a snare : And then it is no more then this , Lift us aloft above evil , that it prove not a snare unto us : If we be poor and miserable , let not our poverty or misery ensnare us . In Acts 2. 24. Christ is said to have loosed the sorrows of hell : And St. Augustine gives this gloss , Non illos quibus nexus est , sed nè necteretur ; Not those sorrows wherewith he was bound , but that he might not be bound at all with them . But such a Deliverance as this , from all kind of evil , cannot be lookt for on earth . For Man is born to labour and sorrow as the sparks fly upwards , saith Eliphas . And these may seem to proceed from his Job 5. 7. very nature , as the Sparks do from Fire . Now as soon as any Evils seize on us , we are in chains , and as willing to shake them off as any prisoner his gieves . Here is the difference : No prisoner can be said to be at liberty till his fetters be off ; but we may be delivered when these evils hang on us , and these chains be made ornaments of Grace . The Civilians will tell us , Auxilium venit cùm cessat periculum , that we may then be said to have received aid , when the danger is past : So may we be said to have deliverance , when the noxious quality of the evil is spent ; when God hath placed us over it , as he did Moses over Pharaoh , to rule and govern it ; given us a divine power over it , that though it rise up against us again and again , and will not let us go , yet we shall at last overthrow it . So then we shall lie-down in sorrow and misery , as Christ did in his grave ; and yet , as he was free amongst the dead ; though dead yet to rise again , and triumph over Death ; so shall we be free even in this our bondage ; as weak , and yet strong ; as dying , and behold we live ; as sorrowful , yet alway rejoycing ; as chastized , and yet not killed . And as He by dying overcame Death , so we by suffering evil shall gain a conquest over Evil ; that we may now rejoyce and sing , Where is thy sting ? The sting of these sensible Evils is Sin ; But thanks be to God , who hath given us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord . And thus are we delivered from Evil , NE NOCEAT , that it do not hurt us . But there is a further Deliverance , UT PROSIT , that it may help us , that out of this Eater may come meat , even sweeter than hony or the hony-comb . Indeed these two are never asunder : If it do not hurt us , it will help us : If it do not weary our Patience , it confirms it : If our Faith fal not , it strengthens it . There is no medium here ; but this operation or that it will have ; either it will make us better , or it will make us worse . In a word ; Every Evil that befalls us is either our physick or our poyson ; either the savour of life unto life , or the savour of death unto death . Now God is said to deliver us from evil when he drives it home to that end which he intends , when he deads that operation which the Devil hath put in it , and maketh it work-on in a contrary course . For as it is the work of the Devil to raise evil out of good , so is it the very nature and property of God to force good out of evil ; nay , many times out of Sin it self . The Devil thrusts hard against us that we may fall : not a dart he throws but with a full intent to wound us unto death : But God shortens his strength in the way , that many times it falls short , and reacheth not home ; or if it do reach home and stick in our sides , our faith shall quench it ; and the wound he gives us shall cure us , and make us more healthful . He maketh Affliction more bitter than it is , that we may murmure and complain , and run from our station ; and he makes Riches and Pleasures far more sweet than they are , that we may taste them often , and surfet on them , and for love of them loath the water of life : But God changeth the complexion of Evil ; and , though it be gall in the mouth , he makes it become a cordial in the stomach ; that so we may say with David , It is good for me that I have been afflicted . And he puts gall and wormwood on Pleasure , that we may seek it where it is , in his Law and Testimonies ; that neither Sorrow dismay , nor Pleasure deceive us . We may truly say , The very finger of God is here . For it is the work of God to create Good out of Evil , and Light out of Darkness , which are heterogeneous and of a quite contrary nature . For , as the Apostle tells us that every creature of God is good , being sanctified by the word of God , so when God speaks the word , even the worst Evil is Good , and not to be refused , because by this word it is sanctified , and set apart and consecrated as a holy thing to holy uses . The word of God is as the words of consecration : And when he speaks the word , then the things of this world receive another nature and new names , and have their denomination not from what they appear , but from what they do ; not from their smart , but from their end . Then that which I call Poverty shall make me rich , and that which I esteem Disgrace shall stile me honourable . Then the reproach of Christ is greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt . Then this Affliction , this light and momentany affliction shall bring with it an eternal weight of glory . And therefore we may behold the blessed Saints of God triumphing in their misery , and counting those blows which the wicked roar under as favours and expressions of Gods love . John and Peter esteemed it an honour and high preferment , and rejoyced as they who are raised from the dunghil to the throne , that they were thought worthy to suffer shame . And so doth Paul : For after he had Act. 5. 41. besought the Lord thrice to be freed from that buffeting of Satan , and had 2 Cor. 12. recoverd that answer , My grace is sufficient for thee : for my strength is perfected , is made open and manifest , in weakness , he presently breaksforth into these high triumphant expressions , Most gladly will I glory in my infirmities , that the power of Christ may rest upon me ; So rest upon me that no evil may rest upon me to hurt me , that I may have a feeling and a comfortable experimental knowledge of it . For this I take pleasure in infirmities , in reproaches , in necessities , in persecutions , in distresses for Christs sake : for when I am weak , then am I strong . My opinion is alterd , my thoughts are not the same , my judgment is divers from what it was . That which was terrible to my Sense is pleasing to my Reason . That which was Persecution is a Blessing . That which was a Serpent is a Rod , to work wonders and forward my deliverance . Nova rerum facies ; There appears a new face and shape of things , as there doth to a man who is removed out of a dungeon into the light . And as Plato tells us that when the Soul is delivered from the Body ( for we may call even Death it self a deliverance ) it doth find a strange alteration , and things in the next world divers from what they were in this ; so when the Soul is delivered from Sin , every thing appears to us in another shape ; Pleasure without its paint , and Sorrow without its smart . The Devil is not an Angel of light , but a Devil , a Lion , a Serpent , a Destroyer , in what shape soever he puts-on . Oppidum mihi carcer , & solitudo paradisus , saith St. Hierom ; A City is a prison , and the Wilderness a paradise . The waters of Affliction break-in ; but the bloud of Christ is mingled with them : Here is the gall of bitterness , but the power of Christ works with it , and it is sweeter than hony or the hony-comb . For this cause I am wel pleased in infirmities ; I am , saith St. Paul , so far from desiring to be freed from them , that I take Christs word as a kiss , and think it best with me when it is worst . Let him handle me how he will , so he fling me not out of his hands . For if I be in his hands , though the World frown , and the Devil rage , yet his hand will be exalted , and his mighty power will be eminent in my weakness . If God be with us , no Evil can be against us . Therefore the Apostle calleth Affliction a gift : To you , saith he , it is given not onely to believe on him , but also to suffer for his Phil. 1. 29. sake ; not forced upon you as a punishment , but vouchsafed you as a gift . We mistake when we call it evil . It is a donative and a largess from a royal Prince to his Souldiers who have stood it out manfully , and quit themselves well in the day of battel . When men have been careful in their waies , and have been upright and sincere towards God in all their conversation , then God doth grace and honour them by making them champions for his truth , and putting them upon the brunt . He doth not lend or sell them to calamities , but appoints it to them as an office , as a high place of dignity , as a Captains place , a Witnesses place , a Helpers place . And how great an honour is it to fight and die for the Truth ? How great an honour is it to be a Witness for God , and to help the Lord ? First God crowneth us with his grace and favour ; and then by the Grace of God we are what we are , holy and just and innocent before him : and then he crowns our Innocency with another crown , the crown of Martyrdom . — Quarta perennis erit . And at last he crowns us with that everlasting crown of Glory . This is truly to be delivered from all evil , to be delivered that it may not hurt us , and to be delivered that it may help us . But we have run too long in generalities ; we must be more particular . For I fear we do not thus understand it , nor pray to be delivered in this manner ; or , if we do , quod voto volumus , affectu nolumus , our affections do not follow our prayers . When we think of Smart and Sorrow , we are all for Gods Preventing grace , to step in between us and the Evil , that it come not near us ; not for his Assisting grace , by which we may change its nature , and make it good unto us : for his Effective providence , which may remove it out of sight ; not for his Permissive , by which he suffers it to approach near unto us , to set upon us , and fight against us , and put us to the tryal of our strength : But , beloved , we must joyn them both together , or else we do not put up our petitions aright . We must desire Health for it self , but be content with Physick for Healths sake . We must look upon Evil , and present it before our eyes as our Saviour in that fearful hour did Gods Wrath towards mankind not yet appeased , and Death in its full strength , and Hell not yet mastered by any ; and then , on the other side , a World to be saved , and a Conquest to be gotten ; troubled at the one , and yet upon the sight of the other concluding , Not my will , but thine be done : And though the powers of our soul be shaken at the sight of these dreadful objects , yet submit we our Desires and Fears to Gods most holy Will ; that , as Christ , so we may have some Angel , some message of joy , to comfort us in this our Agony .

But to descend to particulars ; First , when we pray to be delivered from evil , we acknowledge that God hath jus pleni dominii , such a full power over us , that he may , if he please , without any injustice deliver us up unto Satan , as he did Job , to be smitten from the sole of the foot unto the crown ; that he may withdraw his blessings , and make us smart under the cross . Peradventure we cannot see any thing in our selves to raise this storm . For Affliction is not alwayes poena criminis , a punishment for sin , but sometimes examen virtutis , a tryal of our virtue and patience . I must not take every Calamity that comes towards me as a Sergeant to arrest me , or as an Executioner to torment me ; but sometimes as a Schoolmaster to teach me , as a Friend to admonish me ; as an Adversary indeed , but sent only to me to try my skill . Therefore , as St. Augustine tells us , that we do not pray NE TENTEMUR , That we may not be tempted , but NE INDUCAMUR , that we be not led into tentation , so led that we be shut up in it , and swallowed up in victory ; so neither do we pray that no evil may befall us , but that nothing may befall us which may make us evil ; which being evil to our Sense , may be evil to our Souls ; that God would deliver us from them that they prove not unto us occasions of our destruction . We are all to pray to God that he would take from us the occasion of Sin , whether it be convenient or repugnant to our nature and constitution , whether it be that which our Sense esteemeth good or evil . For the Devil lurketh in both ; and he works upon us according to our tempers and complexions . Some he overthrows with Sickness , others with Health ; some with Liberty , others with Imprisonment ; some with Honour , others with Disgrace ; some with Pleasure , others with Grief . And that may be poyson to one which is physick to another . That may distract the Melancholick man which may instruct the Wanton ; that Musick may bring an evil spirit on the one , which may make it depart from the other . He that is the worse for Health , may be the better for Sickness . For the Devil makes all of these occasions of sin , and sends them forth as the Historian sayes your Mariners do their Scaphae or ship-boats , to view the strength of the enemy , or as Moses did the Spies into the land of Canaan ; and where he finds us weakest , there he goes-up at once to possess and overcome it . In us are the seeds of Good and Evil : and he strives to choke-up the one , that they shoot not up into the blade and ear ; and he waters the other with these occasions ; that they may grow-up and multiply . He presents sad and lothsome objects to the Melancholick , to make him mad ; and every day he renews his pleasures to the Wanton , to make him licentious . Miserable men that we are ! who shall deliver us from this body of death ? Certainly the best means of deliverance is to be restrained from that which will hurt us , to be placed in such a station and state of life as is best for us , to have those objects presented oftnest unto our eyes which are contrary not so much to our disease as to the cause of it . That the Wanton may be delivered , he must have his Eye put-out : And to scatter that darkness which hath clouded the Melancholick person , there must be light . The Licentious person must be put in chains , and the Covetous person must be robbed of his wealth . Turn away my eyes , saith the Prophet Psal. 119. 37. David , that they behold not vanity . And why from beholding it ? Doth the very sight of Vanity make us guilty of it ? Or am I strait an adulterer but for a sight of a strumpet ? or an Achan , if I but see a wedge of Gold ? Not so ; but yet turn away mine eyes , for Vanity may pass from the Eye into the Heart : I may look , and like , and at last be in love with Vanity . For the Eye is as a burning-glass : and if you hold it stedy betwixt the splendor of Beauty , or any other shining temptation , and the combustible matter of your Heart , the rayes will unite and grow strong , and a fire will be struck into your soul which will not so easily be quencht as it might have been avoided . The same operation hath every occasion to that Sense it works upon . An evil Word is first heard , and then clothed , and warmed in our thoughts , and then it spreads its poyson , and corrupts our manners . The lip of the Harlot pleases at first , but being tasted bites like a cockatrice . Nay , further yet , the frequent presentment of objects may work upon those natures which are not as yet inclinable to them . Tully tells us that the many spectacles of cruelty which every day shewed themselves did work upon the dispositions of the meekest men , and made them cruel . So increase of Riches may make a prodigal man covetous . Too much Sorrow may distract a Philosopher . The sight of Pleasure may corrupt a Saint . Liberty may undo us , and a power to do what we list may make us do what otherwise we had never thought on . When Locusta at the command of Nero had tempered poyson , and it had not wrought so suddenly as he expected upon Britannicus , the Emperour beat her with his own hand . And when she told him it was her art to conceal it , and take off the envy from the fact , he scornfully replyes , SANE LEGEM JULIAM TIMEO ; What do you think I am afraid of the Julian Law against murderers ? Certainly Nero had not been such a miscreant had he feared that Law , and would have been a better Subject than he was a King . How happy had it been for the rich man in the Gospel had he been a begger ! How many might have been beholding to a Fever , to Poverty , to Disgrace , who lost themselves in their health , in plenty , in honor ? Therefore St. Augustine commends that saying of Tully concerning Cinna , O miserum , cui peccare licebat ! Unhappy man , who had a protection from punishment , and a licence to do what he list ! Here then there is need of Gods Restraining Grace : and we have reason to pray that God would remove from us whatsoever may prove an occasion of evil , whether it flatter in a pleasant , or threaten in a dreadful object .

But in the next place , because we are Men , not Angels , and converse on earth , where is officina tentationum , a shop where the Devil forgeth his terrors and his allurements , his fearful and his pleasing tentations , we send out prayers as in an humble embassage to crave Gods aid and auxiliary forces . For as God hath his army to fight against his enemies , his Locust , his Caterpillar , and his Palmer-worme , so hath he his army to defend those Joel 2. who are under his protection , his Angels and Archangels , who are all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation . Hebr. 1. 14. Nor can we think but that this army is stronger than all the troops of the Prince of darkness , and that God by these is able to curb and restrain the violence and fury of Satan . Nor could we hope to resist our spiritual Enemy sine naturae potioris auxilio , but by the aid and assistance of those creatures which are of a more excellent being . Therefore Justin Martyr tells us that God hath given the Angels 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a care and providence over us . Tertullian , that they do universam paraturam hominis modulari , elegantly and aptly and harmoniously order and govern the whole course of our life . And no question , though we perceive it not , they do many good offices for mankind , they rowse up the Melancholick , comfort the Poor , chide the Wanton , moderate the Chollerick . They are very ready to defend us there where we are the weakest , and to dull the force of every dart which is thrown at us . We will not now question , Whether every man hath his Angel-keeper : Which Basil so often , and other of the Fathers affirm ; or , Whether children in age have their tutelary Angels , which our Saviour seems to intimate ; or children in understanding , men of weaker capacities , in this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , this doubtful and uncertain combat , where there is so little light and so much danger , have their Angels to defend them from the sleights and enterprises of Satan ; or , How the blessed Angels minister for us : We are sure they pitch their tents about us , and do many offices for us , though we perceive it not . We have an author who writes of the Meteors ; it is Garcaeus I mean ; who was of opinion that whereas many times before great tempests there is wont to be heard in the air above us a great noise and rushing , the cause of this was the bandying of good and evil angels , the one striving to annoy us with tempests , the other to preserve us from danger . The truth of this I know not . But as about Moses 's body , so about every faithful person , these do contend , the one to hazard , the other to deliver . Therefore we may well pray that , as the Devil inspires us with evil thoughts , so the good Angels may inspire us with good ; and that if Hell open her mouth to devour us , Heaven would open its gate that from thence there may descend the influence of Grace to save us . And nemo officiosior Deo , there is none more officious than God ; Who is not afar off from our tears , but listens when we call , is with us in all our wayes , waits on us , ponders our steps and our goings , and when we are ready to fall , nay , inter pontem & fontem , in our fall , is ready to help and save us . And officiocissima res est gratia , his Grace is the most diligent and officious thing in the world , quasi in nostram jurata salutem , as if it were our sworn friend , and were bound by solemn oath to attend and guard us . When doth the Devil roar , and we hear not a kind of watch-word within us , NO LITE TIMERE , Fear it not ; all this is but noise ? And when doth he flatter , and we hear not a voice behind us , NO LITE PRAESUMERE , Be not too bold ; it is the Devil , it is thy utter Enemy ? And in all time of tribulation , in all time of our wealth this Grace is sufficient for us .

But further yet , in the last place , we beg Gods immediate Assistance , his Efficacious and Saving Grace , that he will not only send his Angels , but make us Angels to our selves . For no man can be delivered from evil , nisi in quantum angelus esse coepit , but so far forth as he is become an Angel , yea , nisi in quantum Deus esse coepit , but so far forth as he is become a God , partaker , saith St. Peter , of the divine nature , and endued with wisdom from above . Therefore we must pray with Solomon for an understanding heart , for the spirit of wisdom and the spirit of counsel , for the assistance of Gods holy Spirit , which is Christs Vicar here on earth ; for that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , spiritual wisdome , which may make us wise unto salvation ; that we may have eye-sight and fore-sight and over-sight , that we may see and fore-see and over-see that evil which is near at hand and about us in all our paths ; that we be not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as St. Peter speaks , purblind , stricken with gross darkness , like the Sodomites , to stumble at the threshold , nay , in montes impingere , as St. Augustine speaks , run upon evils never so palpable , visible , mountainous evils , and see them not ; enter the gates of our enemies as friends , and think our selves at Dothan when we are in the midst of Samaria . We read that the men of the first age knew not what Death meant , or what it was to dye ; but fell to the ground as men ly-down upon their beds when they are weary , or rather fell to the ground like Beasts , not thinking of Death , or what might follow . And indeed the reason why we fall so often into Evil , is because we see it not , know not what it is , not what it means , as if to sin were nothing else but to lye down and rest , nothing else but to satisfie the Sense and to please the Appetite , as if Sin were as natural as to eat . Therefore we pray , Lord , open our eyes , that we may see it , and so fly away and escape . And as we pray for Sight , so we do for Foresight . For 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Clemens Alexandrinus ; The Understanding is the Eye and the Far ; the Eye , to see afar off ; and the Ear , to listen , and give notice of danger yet at some distance ; to know the signs of Sin , as we do of the heavens ; to say , This Bread may ●e gravel , this Beauty deceitful , and this Wine a mocker ; This rage of Satan may praise the Lord , and this his fawning may make me dishonor him ; This his war may work my peace , and his truce may be but a borrowed space of time to undermine me . Magna tentatio est tentatione carere ; It may be a great tentation to be without one , and a great evil , not sometimes to taste of evil . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Understanding and a good mind and much forecast lead us to a paradise of bliss . Scelera consilia non habent : It is easie to rush upon evil , but we cannot avoid it without forecast and counsel . And therefore , in the third place , we desire not only an Eye which may see and foresee , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Basil speaks , an episcopal , an overseeing Eye , an Eye watchful and careful to keep evil at a distance , or else to order and master it , to summon a Synod in our soul , to raise up all the forces and faculties we have to make canons and constitutions against it , and to say unto it as God doth to the Sea , Thus far shalt thou go , and no further : to say unto Poverty comming towards us like an armed man ; It may strip us naked , but it shall not make us desolate ; It may thrust us into prison , but it shall not shut us in hell : It may drive us about the world , but it shall not banish us from God : This Beauty which flourisheth in my eye , shall wither in my heart , and for flattering my Sense shall be disgraced by my Reason . These Riches shall buy me but food and rayment : They shall not be employed by my Phansie to attend upon Gluttony or Wantonness or Revenge . Nor will I lay them out upon that purchase whose appurtenance is Damnation . And this is our humane Providence , which in some degree is proportioned to the Providence of God ; Which consists of these two parts , his Wisdom , and his Power . His Wisdom runneth very swiftly through the world , and sees what is to be done ; and his Power at his word is ready to do it . Thus is our spiritual Providence made up of these two , Wisdom to see and foresee evil , and a firm resolution to avoid it . If you ask me , What is the light of the body ? It is the Eye . What is the Eye of the Soul ? It is this Wisdom . And if you ask me , Wherein our great strength lyeth ; I cannot shape you a fairer answer then to tell you , In Resolution . Quicquid volui , illico potui ; What I will do , what I resolve to do , is done already . These two , our Wisdom to discern , and our Resolution to chuse or reject , make us wise as Serpents , and bold as Lions ; as Serpents , against the old Serpent the Devil ; and as Lions , against that roaring Lion that seeks to devour us . By our Wisdom we defeat his craft ; by our Resolution we abate his strength . And greater is he that is in us then he that is in the world . But now because our Eye-sight is dim , and our Fore-sight not great , and our Oversight slender and imperfect , and all our strength but Resolution , and our Resolutions many times but faint , we look-up unto him who dwelleth with Wisdom , who is Wisdom it self , and knoweth all things ; and to that God of Hosts who doth whatsoever he will in heaven and in earth ; who telleth the number of the stars , and calleth them all by their names ; who telleth the number of our hairs , so that not one of them can fall without his will ; who telleth the number of our tears , and lets not one fall beside his bottle ; who calleth things that are not as if they were ; who when there is plenty , bringeth-in a famine , and when famine hath broken the staff of bread , as he goes drops fatness ; who sees every thing in its causes , operations , effects , ends , what it is , what it may be , what it doth , what it may do ; the works of all flesh , saith the Son of Sirach , the intents of all men , the thoughts of all hearts , the motions and inclinations of all creatures , nay , that which we call Chance and Fortune , is before him . He can deliver us with means , and he can deliver us without means . Our trust only is in him . For without him alass our Knowledge is full of ignorance . We cannot tell what will be the next day , the next hour , the next moment . We know not how to propose any thing to our selves , and when we have proposed it , we are to seek how to execute it ; because there are many impediments , divers changes and chances of this mortal life , the knowledge and disposing of which comes not within the reach of humane Providence . And as men in the bottom of a Well are able to see no greater space of the heavens then the compass of the well , so neither can we see more then the bounds which are set us will give leave . The Eye sees to such a distance , but then it fails : And we see no further then our humane frailty will permit ; we see something near us , something about us , yet many times we stumble even at noon-day at that which was visible enough . I am but Man , not God , and have not the perfect knowledge of Good and Evil. And my Power is not great . The largest power that is , is sub regno , under a greater power . For have I an arm like God ? or can I thunder with a voice like him ? And then my Patience , which is the best fense I have against evil , is but froward . For is my strength the strength of stones ? or is my flesh of brass ? And therefore we look-up unto the hills , from whence cometh our salvation , upon God himself , who sees all actions , all casualties , all events ; to whom things past and things to come are present , who seeth all things ad nudum , as the Schools speak , naked , as they are ; and can set-up this , to pull-down that ; cross this intent , that it never come into action , or cross the intent in the action , by driving it to a contrary end to that which was proposed : Who , when we offend , can hiss for the fly , for forreign incumbrances ; and when we repent , can make our very enemies our friends : Who is wonderful in all his works , and whose wayes are exalted above ours as far as the heaven is above the earth . But this doth not sufficiently express it : Isa. 55. For they are infinitely exalted , farther then the Heaven is above the Earth . But the Prophet could not better express it then by such a distance then which we know no greater : That we may not rob God of his honour , nor sacrifice to our own nets , or clap our hands , and applaud our selves in our imaginations , and say , Is not this Babel , which I have built ? It is my right hand that hath done it . That I was not taken in a snare , it was my Will. That I beat my enemies as small as the dust before the wind , it was my Valour . That every sensible evil made me not truly evil , it was my Free-will . This is a greater evil , and more dangerous then all those which we avoided . This is a glance of the Devils dart in his flight , to overthrow us with our victory . Therefore as we confess our selves to be under Gods Dominion , and commit our selves to his Protection , so must we attribute all JOVI LIBERATORI , to Him who is the great Deliverer from evil ; not give him part , but all ; not make him our Partner , but our Lord . Nemo , saith the Father , à Deo se adjuvari vult , sed salvum fieri ; We do not desire help only at Gods hand , but we desire to be saved by him . That which is the subject of our Prayer must be the burden of our Song . If we pray for Salvation , we must imitate those who stood before the Throne , who though they had Palms in their hands in token of victory , yet cryed with Rev. 7. a loud voice , saying , Salvation to our God who sitteth on the Throne , and to the Lamb. I have now passed through all the Petitions , and brought you to the Conclusion of your PATER NOSTER , For thine is the kingdom , and the power , and the glory for ever . Amen .

But here at present let us conclude , and beseech God graciously to hear us , that those evils which the craft and subtlety of the Devil or Man worketh against us be brought to nought , and by the Providence of his goodness they may be dispersed ; that we his servants being hurt by no persecutions may evermore give thanks unto him in his holy Church through Jesus Christ our Lord .

The Eight and Fourtieth SERMON . MATTH. VI. 13. For thine is the kingdome , and the power , and the glory for ever . Amen .

THIS is the Conclusion of the whole matter , even of these six Petitions . In which we looked 1. upon the principal end of our life and actions , the Glory of Gods great and glorious Name ; 2. upon the secondary and subordinate end , which is our Salvation , Which we have under God being our King to govern , and our King to command , and our King to crown us ; 3. upon those things which lead unto both these ends , both to the Hallowing of Gods Name , and the Saving of our Souls , to wit first , the procurement and use of these means , as principally Piety , by which we fulfill Gods Will ; and secondly , our corporal Sustentation , by which we are more chearful and active in the duties of piety ; and lastly , the Removing of those lets and impediments which may keep us from these ends , to wit , our Sins ; Which are either past already , or may be ; which we have already run into , or to which we are obnoxious . For the one we beg Forgiveness , from the other Protection ; that God would remit the one , and not lead us into tentation , that we may be delivered from the other . And these six make up this legitimate and ordinary and fundamental Prayer , as Tertullian calls it : Upon which we must build whatsoever we desire . For whatsoever is not proportioned in reference to one of these is but the dross of our own invention , but hay and stubble , fit for the fire . Now as we level our petitions to these ends , so there must be some forcible motive to raise our hope , and settle and establish such a confidence as may drive them home , and may feather our Devotion , that it wax not saint and feeble , and fall to the ground . Therefore to these Petitions this Clause or Conclusion is added , For thine is the kingdom , and the power , and the glory for ever . Amen . Amen . As if we should say , We therefore beg these blessings at thy hands , because thou alone reignest and governest and dispensest all things according to thy will , and dost what thou wilt in heaven and in earth : and thou hast power to supply us : and from hence all glory shall , as it ought , return unto thee . This clause indeed is not in the Vulgar edition , nor in St. Luke in any edition , either Greek , or Latine , or Syriack . And therefore those of the Church of Rome , attributing more to the Vulgar edition than to the Greek copies themselves , commonly count it as an addition , and a Gloss crept into the Text , because it was a custome , especially with the Greeks , to conclude their Prayers to God with some Doxologie ; as also thinking it very improbable that there should be such a remarkable difference between the two Evangelists Matthew and Luke . But these probabilities cannot carry it ; because it is as probable that Christ did at two several times deliver this form of prayer , and that Matthew wrote of one , and Luke of another . Nor doth there any absurdity follow that they vary in this , when whatsoever is conteined in this clause comes not within the compass of the six Petitions , nor pertains to the substance of this prayer . And , for ought we find , the Greek Fathers might as well borrow it from the Text as thrust it in . And , if it were added here , we may suspect it was added also in divers places of St. Paul , and one of St. Peter . Sure I am , we find it in all the Greek copies , and in the Syriack , which otherwise agrees very often with the Vulgar , even there where it differs from the Greek : Only , in the Greek it is IN SECULA , for ever , and in the Syriack IN SECULA SECULORUM , for ever and ever : and in the Syriack the word Amen is not , which the Greek copies have . We may add to this , that the Hebrew edition of the Gospel of Matthew set out by Munster , and revised by Quinquarboreus , although it very much accords with the Vulgar , as he tells us in his Preface , yet retains this Clause . And therefore we must not too rashly yield and subscribe to the conjecture of the Pontificians , though perhaps it hath some probability to countenance it , but read it as we find it in those Copies which with joynt consent we do allow . For that of St. Hierom also is true , Periculosae sunt multae quaestiones ; & nihil tutius quàm tacere ; It is dangerous to multiply questions about that which is so generally received : and it is safer to be silent then to frame scruples for the unlearned and unstable , who , if one Text be called into question , will be soon induced to doubt of all . Especially , since we find it taken-up by the Apostles , and so necessarily implyed in the very essence of Prayer , that if we found it not in terminis , in the very words , yet we must understand it . And we may truly say , Nihil nobis magìs deest quàm de quo contendimus , Nothing is more necessary for us when we put-up our petitions then that which we so much contend about whether it be or no. I called it the Conclusion . And indeed , as a Conclusion in an Oration , it gathers together and presents all those motives and arguments why we should obtain what we desire : Or indeed rather these Attributes of God are the Premisses , or so many several Reasons , and our Prayer the Conclusion . The kingdom is the Lords , and therefore shall all nations worship before him , saith Psal. 22. 28. David . And Thou savest by thy right hand : therefore shew thy wonderful Psal. 17. 7. loving kindness . Thou art our King , O God : The Conclusion follows , Send help unto Jacob. And whatsoever we desire , we desire for his own sake , for his Dan 9. names sake , for his glories sake . Thus it is when we call upon God ; and thus it is when God calls upon us to call upon him . Thus we conclude ; and thus God teacheth us to conclude . Look unto me , and be ye saved : For Isa. 45. 22. I am a Saviour ; and there is none besides me : I am God ; and there is none else . And this the particle 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , FOR , doth intimate ; Which hath this force , that it renders a reason why we put-up our petitions . For although many times , even in the New Nestament , it is placed only for the elegancy of the speech , yet it will be better in this place not to recede from the proper signification of the word , since there can no inconvenience follow . And from thence we may gather a useful conclusion which would not so naturally follow if we took these words for a plain and naked Doxologie , which will be better fitted to that which we receive then that which we expect , and make up a close to a Song of thanksgiving rather than to a Prayer . We will retain therefore the primary and native signification of the word ; and then we find an excellent reason why we should fall down at Gods feet to beg so many and so great blessings as are comprised and comprehended in this absolute form of prayer : 1. Because the Kingdom is his , and so he hath dominion and power over all things : And 2. because all power is his ; and so nothing so hard which he cannot bring to pass : and therefore , there is good cause not only why we are bold , but why we ought to seek the supply of all our wants at his hands . For the Pronoun Thine hath the force of an exclusive ; Thine is the kingdome , and thine alone : And this doth improve and exalt the reason , because we acknowledge that there is none besides him , who either de jure or de facto , either ought or can grant us these things , and give us what we would have . 3. The last motive is the Glory of God : For even of this there is mention as of a reason of our petitions . For he that calleth upon God honoureth him ; and whatsoever we desire or obtain must end in his glory . So that the Glory of God may seem to be mentioned here both as a cause to move us to pray , and as a motive to make God to grant . Take it either as a plain Doxologie , or as a Conclusion conteining these arguments or motives that we put up our petitions in his Court of Requests , Christ no question did leave us this lesson , That , when we make our prayer to God , we must not forget to land and magnifie his Name . We shall bound our discourse at this time within these three considerations : 1. That we stand in need of these helps to devotion which God is pleased to afford us de proprio , even from his very nature and essence . 2. That these are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the greatest and most proper motives . 3. That God is glorified in our prayers , and glorified in granting the request of our lips , that the kingdome and the power and the glory may be his .

The consideration of the Kingdom and Power of God is the nurse of all Devotion , to foment and cherish it ; which would otherwise grow chill and cold , and dye , and in ipso conatu elabi , be of such lubricity as to slip away from that which it seems to makes haste to lay hold on . Diffidence is a great enemy to Prayer , takes off its edge , abates it heat , plucks off its wings , that it cannot strive forward , and fly to the presence of God . He that doubteth and wavereth , is like a wave of the Sea driven of the wind , and tossed up and down , from what he desires , to what he fears ; James 1. 6. from his wants , to a desire of a supply ; and from a desire of a supply , back again to his wants ; nor can he find rest . He knows not how to pray ; He seeks to God for help , but then doubts of his Providence and Power , and so denies him to be God ; which is to deny his own request . And , as one said of Tully , habet quem fugiat , quem sequatur non habet . In other things Doubting may be very useful and advantageous . Rectè dubitare viam aperit sapientiae ; To be able to propose our doubt aright is the next way to knowledge . For he that doubts is like a man who hath life in him , though the operation of it be staid and hindered by some stoppage and obstruction ; which being purged away and removed , he is full of cheerfulness and activity . Or we may say he woes the Truth , and for a while stands at some distance ; but anon , after some attempts and some denyals , meets and embraces , and grows familiar with her . Therefore Plutarch noteth it as a great sign of towardliness in young Cato , that he doubted of many things , and of every thing would ask a reason of his Master . And Plato requires of his ingenuous Scholar that he should be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , full of doubting and ever asking questions . But the Philosopher will tell us that every thing is and hath its being for the work it hath to do ; which is not one and the same in every thing , but hath its diverse and several effects according to the different qualities of those actions to which it is applyed . In one this may be the savour of life unto life , and in another the savour of death unto death . In the way to Knowledge it is a key to open a door to let us in ; But when we tender our petitions to God , it is a barr to keep them out . To Doubt and Obtain cannot consist . Unum arbustum non alit duos erithacos ; They are birds too quarrelsome to live in one bush . If any man lack any thing , let him ask it of God : but let him ask in faith , nothing wavering , saith St. James . For let not him that doubteth think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord . And he gives the reason : Because such a one is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a man of a double mind , halting between two opinions , inconstant in all his actions ; praying to God , but not trusting in him ; breathing-out his petition , O Lord , help , O Lord , consider , and at the same time exhaling-out a lothsome doubt from his heart whether God can help or consider : Which mixt and blended together make-up a dangerous contradiction , whereas God requires Simplicity and Constancy at our hands , which is virtus sine varietate , a virtue looking alwayes one way ; by which the petitioner in some degree resembles that God to whom he prays , and is made one in himself , as God is one . Now there may be a double doubting in us , either of the Will of God , or of his Power . Of his Will ; when looking upon our own unworthiness , and the incomprehensible Purity and Majesty of God , we begin to doubt whether such a pure God will hear the prayers of such a lothsome creature . Which thought many times may be nothing else but the issue of our Modesty and Fear of God , and may well consist with this Confidence , That , if he will , our request is granted . Or we doubt of Gods Power , whether , if he will , he can help us . Which we may do , though we acknowledge his Omnipotencie , by seeking other means without him , or such means as he forbids ; by going to the witch of Endor , with Saul ; by seeking not to the Lord , but the Physicians , with Asa ; or by seeking to the Gods of Damascus , with Ahaz , who said Because the Gods of the Kings of Syria help them , 2 Chr. 28. 23. therefore will I sacrifice to them , that they may help me , by setting-up other Gods , other helps , and saying , These be our Gods . And this last is of so malignant an aspect that it makes the heavens of brass , and that God to turn away his ears who is alwayes ready to hear , and that which we call a prayer to be registred for a sin . For by this we violate that Majesty before which we fall down ; we mock God , and beseech him to do that which we are not perswaded he can do . Which is to make him no better than an Idol , which hath ears , but hears not ; eyes , but sees not ; hands , but can do nothing . And this is not to pray to God , but to libel him ; to make him like unto our selves , that there can be no trusting in him . So that that of the Historian is here true , Plura peccamus dum demoremur , quàm dum offendimus , Our Prayers are turned into sin ; and we never wrong God more then when we thus worship him . Majestas injurias graviùs intelligit ; Kings are never more angry then when their Majesty is toucht : then their wrath is as the roaring of a Lion . Nor do we offend God so much , when we doubt of his Will as when we distrust his Providence and his Power , which are the parts of his Royalty . And in this respect it is most true , Magna est praesumptio , de Deo quam non presumere ; It is a great presumption , not to presume upon his Power , & non putare illum posse quod non putamus , and not to think he can do what we cannot think . And therefore that our prayers may ascend to that pitch we level them to , even to the Throne of God : We must consider him seated there as a King , and as Omnipotent . Which consists not in a bare apprehension or sense of the mind that there is a Divine Power greater and mightier than all , nor in those common senses and notions , as Tertullian calleth them ; which even the Heathen had . They could say , Deus videt omnia ; Deo me commendo ; God seeth all things ; and I commend my self to his protection . Nay , the Devils believe , saith St. James , and tremble . They have a kind of belief , and therefore have knowledge . But here is requisite a full consent , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh , a settled and full perswasion of heart , touching the Providence and Power of God . Upon this foundation we may build and settle our Devotion , and raise it as high as heaven . This makes our Prayer a Sacrifice : this sets it on fire , that the flame goes upward from off the altar of our hearts ; nay , the Angel of the Lord ascends up with this flame , and commonly returns back and descends with a message of comfort . And although there may come upon us a fit of trembling when we look upon our selves , yet if our prayer be formed according to Gods will , we may draw near unto the throne of Grace in full assurance of faith that he will hear our prayers , even then when he granteth not our requests ; and that he can do more for us than we can know how to desire . Amongst other properties of Place the Philosopher requires Immobility : If it be a Place , it must be immoveable . For if the body on which you place your self flit and glide away from under you , you can never well rest and move upon it . And certainly to go about to rest or settle our confidence on any other grounds but these , is as if we should attempt 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to walk on the air , or tread the waters , or build without foundation . Put not your trust in Princes , nor in the son of man : for their breath goeth from them . There the ground glideth away from under us . Trust not on your own Wisdom and Power . Your turning of devices shall be as the potters clay , and shall break and crumble between your fingers : There it flits away . How can he help who hath no power ? how can he save who hath no arm or strength ? Nay , we can find no stability in the Angels . They are ministring spirits ; and their Elogium is , They do Gods will . But if he command not , they have no sword to strike , no buckler to defend . And in Men we find less . Vain is the help of Man . Stas & non stas , cum in teipso stas . For one man to put confidence in another , is as if one begger should ask an alms of another , or one cripple should carry another , or the blind lead the blind . It is very incident unto men in want not only to desire help , but to doubt of the means which should help them . A disease rising from their very want . For it is natural to Desire to beget Fear and Doubting , whilst the Phansie sets up morinos to fright us . In us there is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a flitting and unsatiable humor . We cannot endure the deferring of our hopes . But when God answereth us not neither by Urim nor by Prophets , brings not in that aid we beg of him , we presently droop and let go our confidence . And if we speed not according to our desires , we set-up some golden Calf straight . Nor can we settle our Devotion till we have built and establisht our Confidence upon these two , the Kingdom and the Power of God . These are munimenta humanae imbecillitatis inexpugnabilia , as Tertullian speaks , impregnable fortresses of our humane weakness , to keep us from that which we cannot withstand . If God be with us , who can be against us ? What is it we can desire which we may not find in the Fountain of Goodness ? What is there to be done which God cannot do ? There is no word , no thing , which shall be impossible unto him . What thing soever we would have is but his Word . If he speak the word , it is done . Art thou in darkness ? If he say , Let there be light , there shall be light . Art thou in poverty ? If he say thy poverty shall be riches , it shall be wealth . Are thy sins more than the hairs of thy head ? If he say , Thy sins are forgiven thee , they are forgiven . Here is the Power of God , no sooner to speak but it is done . His Power flows from his very Essence ; and whatsoever is done in heaven or in earth , is done by his voice . The voice of the Lord is upon the waters : The voice of the Lord is powerful : The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars ; yea , the Lord breaketh the cedars Psal. 29. of Lebanon .

I will not now speak any thing in particular of Gods Providence and Power , by which he reigneth as King , and governeth the world and every thing therein , and doth whatsoever he will in heaven and in earth : for of these I have spoken heretofore at large . We will only at this time , to remove our diffidence and distrust , dig at the very root and cause of it , and that is no less than a vile branch of Atheism , by which we doubt of Gods approach , because we cannot find-out his wayes ; and rely not upon his Power , because we see not how it works , but is many times as invisible as himself ; because this omnipotent and wise King never presents himself to the eye of mortal men , nor doth so evidently manifest his power as to leave no place for doubting ; because he suffers fools to ride on horsback , and wisemen to lacquey it by their sides , because he thunders not upon the wicked , but lets them rain-down hailstones and coals of fire upon the just . And these are the complaints of weak and ignorant men , who , though they see miracles every day , will not believe , nor are content with those evident marks and impressions of Gods Power which are as legible in his works as if they had been written with the Sun-beams , but must have him in a manner condescend to be incarnate again , to become like unto themselves , and perform his actions as a Man . Now to these men , qui contra se ingenio suo utuntur , who use their wit and reason against themselves , to destroy in themselves that Confidence without which they are worse than the beasts that perish , we need say no more than this , That in this dispute they do betray their ignorance of the nature of Faith , upon which true Religion is builded . For the force & efficacie of Faith is seen where there be sufficient reasons to move us to believe , but not such which will leave no room for doubting , if men of a wicked & stiff-neck do violently oppose the truth . For that is true Religion which is freely and willingly enterteined by us ; not that which is forced upon us , or extorted from us . Therfore God doth not make himself visible to man : For Majesty is no fit object for a mortal eye . Nor doth he always follow the wicked with his rod , that every man may see him strike ; nor fills he the righteous with good things before the Sun & the people . For thus to take away all occasion of doubting were in effect to take away Faith it self , quae non nisi difficultate constat , whose merit it is to believe more then can be seen or known by evidence of demonstration ; and by leaving no place for Infidelity , leave no matter for our Faith . Since God hath taught us more then the beasts of the field ; since that which may be known of God is manifest in the Creature ; since he hath made the World a book and each Creature a leaf , wherein are written the lively characters of a Deity ; since he hath even shapen himself unto us as a God of mercy in his manifold blessings ; since many times he comes with a tempest and a fire before him , that we may even see him in that tempest and that fire ; since he hath shewn himself in those effects of which we can give no reason , but must cry out , DIGITUS DEI EST HIC , the finger of God is here ; since he hath given us so many strange deliverances from sins which we might have committed , and from punishments which we might have suffered , that we cannot but say , MANUS DEI EST HIC , the hand of God is here ; his right hand , his powerful hand ; since he inspires us with so many good thoughts that enter into our souls invisibly , insensibly , that we must needs confess , EST DEUS IN NOBIS , God is even in us ; let us not make it a reason to doubt of his Power , when our Reason is at a stand and cannot resolve every doubt ; or conceive he is not a powerful King , because we do not touch and feel and handle him . He is near unto us , though we see him not ; he is about our paths when we perceive it not ; when we rove about the world , he is our King ; and when we are in the dust , he is as powerful as when he lifts us up into a throne . It concerns not us to know how his Providence worketh : It is enough for us to know that he is our King , and our powerful God . Which , if we weigh it as we should , will work in us that Assurance which is the stay and prop of our devotions . Here we may rest , and need seek no further . This knowledge is sufficient for me , when I know not the manner how he works , to know that he worketh all in all ; and that wheresoever I am , I am still under the protection of that King who governs the world 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by the law of his Providence , and of that God who is omnipotent . Hence we may conclude with the Prophet , Whatsoever we desire or request , if it be marvellous in the eyes Zech. 8. 6. of the people , yet there is no reason it should be marvellous in the eyes of the Lord of hosts . And if those cursed Hereticks which Epiphanius calls the Satanicans , who were almost the same with the Massalians , were forward to worship the Devil upon no other motive than this , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because they conceived he was great and powerful ; and the Romans did worship their Goddess Febris , ut minùs noceret , because they thought she had power to hurt them ; then much rather let us make our address to the God of heaven , who hath the Devil in a chain , and hath beat down his temples , and destroyed his altars , and laid his honor in the dust ; and let us commence our suits unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly Eph. 3. 20. above all we can ask or think , and in full assurance present our wants unto him who is our King and powerful God ; that as the kingdom and power is his , so he may have the glory .

And having thus acknowledged the Kingdom and Power to be his , we cannot but end in GLORIA ALTISSIMO , Glory be to God on high , and take them all three together , and make up the-Doxologie : Thus we must conclude . But I told you that this Conclusion was but the collection of so many reasons or motives to make Prayer it self a conclusion . The Glory of God is Alpha and Omega , the Beginning and the End . This is it which makes us cry , ABBA Father . And when He hears us and grants us our requests , this is the end ; this is the first wheel , and this is the last . So that take the whole subsistence of a Christian , in the state of Grace , and the state of Glory , and it is but one continued and constant motion of Glorifying God . GLORIA DEO : Glory , and God , these two , you cannot separate them , because He is our King and our Lord . If we take Glory to our selves , we loose it , and our glory is our shame . And this is a lesson which we learn from God himself , and the first lesson that ever he taught . For no sooner had he made the Creatures , but he says of them that they were good , that is , he saw his own glory in them . And if we pray as he commands , our Prayers are his creatures , and he will say of them that they are good , and behold his glory in them . For we must not think that all is done in a Gloria Deo ; or that there is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a kind of spell in the very words . For what is more easie than a song of praise ? what is sooner said then a Doxologie ? If to draw near to God with the mouth and the lips be to honor him , we are Angels all . No : as St. Paul tells us that the Woman is the glory of the Man when she is subject to him ; so are we the glory of God , when we are obedient to his will . And if our Prayers and our Praises flow from a grateful heart , which is truly his , fashioned and prepared as he would have it , then are they sacrifices of a sweet smelling favour unto God . Not that from hence there accrues to him any thing by way of access or addition : For no quire of Angels can improve , no roaring Devil can diminish his glory . Ille quod est , semper est ; & sicut est , ita est ; What he is , he alwayes is ; and as he is , so he is , in the midst of the noyse of Seraphim and Cherubim , of Men or Devils : But because it cannot but be well pleasing unto him to see his creature answer to that pattern which himself hath set , to be what it should be and what he intended . For as every Artificer is delighted in his work when he sees it finished according to the rule he wrought by , and as we use to look upon the works of our hands or wits with favour and complacencie , as we do upon our children when they are like us ; so doth God look upon his creature , especially upon Man , when he appears in that shape and form of obedience which he prescribed , when he is what God would have him be ; when he doth not change the glory of God into an image made like unto corruptible man , and to birds , and four-footed beasts , and creeping things ; when he doth not take the member of Christ , and make it the member of an harlot ; not prostitute that Understanding to folly which should know him ; nor that Will to vanity , which should seek him ; nor fasten those Affections to the earth , which should seek the things which are above ; when he falls not from his state and condition , but is holy as God is holy ; merciful as he is merciful ; perfect , as he is perfect : Then God doth rejoyce over him , as over the work of his hands , as over his image and likeness not corrupted nor defaced : Then is the Man nothing else but the glory and praise of his Maker : Then the bowing of his Knee is worship , the lifting up of his hands is prayer , and his prayers and his praises are musick in the ears of God , like unto that which the Angels and Archangels , the Cherubim and Seraphim do make . And to this end God hath done these great things for us to the praise of his glory , as St. Paul repeats it again and again ; and that we may shew forth Ephes. 1. 1 Pet. 2. 9. his praises , that the Soul , as Athanasius gives the resemblance , may be as a skilful Musitian , and the Body as a Harp or Lute , which she may tune and touch till it yield a celestial harmony ; that the whole man may be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and make up a GLORIA DEO , in a compleat and perfect harmony ; that the love of Gods Glory may be so intensive and hot within us , ut emanet in habitum , & eructet à conscientia in superficiem , ut & forìs inspiciat quasi supellectilem suam ; that the Soul may not be able to contein her self within the compass of the heart , but evaporate from the mind into the outward gesture , and break forth out of the conscience into the voice , open her shop and wares , and behold her own provision and furniture abroad ; that so she may make-up that circular motion which the Father speaks of , first look upon God , then draw back into her self , then after some reverent pause collect her self , then call all her faculties together , and at last take-in and command all the members of the body , and make her Doxologie perfect and compleat : This must be our constant practice here on earth , that our praise may continually ascend for us into heaven . If we leave-out Gods Glory , we lose the benefit of assurance we might have of the other two . God will be our King indeed , but not protect us ; and we shall feel his power , but to our destruction . We deceive our selves if we think there is no Anthem to be sung but in heaven , nor Hallelu-jah to be chanted-out but by the Angels , or that we cannot glorifie God till he hath glorified us . It is indeed the Angels work : But candidati Angelorum nos ediscimus canticum laudis ; when we learn and study this , we stand in competition for an Angels place . And our Glorifying God here in our earthly members is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a prologue and preface to that which we shall be and act hereafter . It was a phansie which possessed many of the Heathen , That men after death should much desire and often handle those things which did most take and affect them in their life-time . So Lucian brings in Priams young son in heaven calling for milk and cheese and such country-cates as he most delighted in on earth . Even now , saith Maximus Tyrius , Aesculapius ministreth Physick , Hercules tryes the strength of his arm , Castor and Pollux are under sail , Minos is on the bench , and Achilles in arms . And this indeed is but a phansie : for when our breath departeth , these our thoughts perish , and all things shall end with the world , War , and Navigation , and Physick . Yet it is a fair resemblance of a Christian in this respect , whose life is Grace , and eternity Glory ; Which is nothing else , saith Gerson , but gratia consummata , nullatenus impedita , Grace made perfect and consummate , finding no opposition , no temptation to fight with . For though there will be no place for Alms , where there is no poverty ; no use of Prayers , where there is no want ; no need of Meekness , where there can be no injury ; yet to Praise and Glorifie and Worship God are everlasting offices , to be performed here by us on earth , and to be continued by us in heaven , when we shall be made equal to the Angels . This is a duty without which Prayer cannot subsist , but breaths it self into the air and vanisheth , or rather ascends to pull-down a curse for a blessing . Therefore it is fitted to all sorts of men : As indeed the best and most excellent parts of Religion are common to all , without exception of Quality , Age , Time , Place , or Sex , as a Hymn set to every voice . The Jews were wont to give out the books of holy Scripture to be read respectively to the abilities of men . Some were permitted to the Vulgar ; the rest were lockt-up , and permitted only to be read by the Learned . This Doxologie admits no such restraint . Arator ad stivam , The plowman at the plow may sing Hallelujah as well as the greatest Clerk and profoundest Doctor . Again , when the Athenians met together in their Senate , it was not lawful for men of all ages to speak ; therefore it was proclaimed by a publick cryer , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Is there any above fity years of age ? let him speak . But here it is , Young men and maids , old men and children ; all must praise the name of the Lord . Young , or old ; it skils not in our sacred Senate and holy Assemblies . Yea , children adhuc dimidiata verba tentantes , as yet scarsly able to apply their tongue to the roof of their mouth , must practise this duty . For as earthly Fathers think loquelam liberorum ipso offensantis linguae fragmine dulciorem , as Minutius speaks , their little childrens first broken and imperfect prattle pleasantest , so to our heavenly Father , who opens the mouths of babes and sucklings , it is a thing very pleasant to hear parvulorum adhuc linguas balbutientes Christo Hallelujah resonare , as St. Hierom speaks , to hear even children in their imperfect language sing his praise . Thirdly , amongst the superstitious ceremonies of the Heathen there were many things which might not be said or done but in their Temples and at solemn Meetings , and therefore Alcibiades was called in question at Athens for no less then his life because he did 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , utter amongst his companions such things as he had seen in their sacred mysteries falsly so called . But this duty is not restrained to any place . The Church , or our private house , or whatsoever place else , are all alike . Ecce Rhodus , ecce saltus . Every place we stand in is holy ground . Again , some Nations have shewed themselves so superstitious that , as if Words were like Garments , some peculiar to Men , some to Women , they ordained that some things ought not to be spoken by Men , some by Women . So amongst the Romans it was not lawful for Men to swear by their Goddess Ceres , nor for Women by their God Hercules . But as this Doxologie admits of no difference of Place or Person , so neither of Sex , but is a duty which concerns all Kings of the earth and all people , young and old , rich and poor . And it is very meet , right , and our bounden duty , that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee , O Lord , holy Father , eternal King , almighty and everlasting ; that thy praise should be in our mouth continually , even IN SECULA SECULORUM , for ever and ever . AMEN . And with this we end and shut-up all our Meditations upon this excellent Form of Prayer , ascribing to this our King , even to the King of Kings , God the Father , God the Son , and God the holy Ghost , all honour and majesty and power and dominion and glory now and for evermore .