A Key Opening Mysterious Texts of Scripture, Collection of sermons 4 · Sermon 35 · Part 3
THE THIRD ROW.
And in the third row a Turkeys, an Agate, and an Amethyſt.
FEw there are but know the Turkeys, tanquam ungues digitoſque ſuos, wearing it uſually in the pale of their rings. An excellent property it is ſaid to have of changing colour with the ſick party that weareth it, and thereby expreſſing a kinde of ſympathy. Rueus a great Lapidary averres upon his owne knowledge as much: I was acquainted (ſaith hee) with a man whoſe Turkeys ſuddenly upon his death changed colour, Rueus de gem. Ego novi quendam quo mortuo Turcois apparuit obſcurior.and fell in the price. The Agate is a gemme of divers colours, ſpots and lines, the concurſe whereof is ſometimes ſo happy, that it repreſenteth the lineaments of men, beaſts, and other naturall bodies: Nunc formas rerum dans, nunc ſimulachra deorum. Of all, that of Pyrrhus was held by him in greateſt eſtimation, of others in admiration, wherein the lines and ſpots were ſo drawne by nature, Plin. l. 37. c. 1. In Pyrrhi Achate novem Muſae & Apollo citharam tenens ſpectabantur, non arte, ſed ſponte naturae ita diſcurrentibus maculis, ut Mulis quoque ſingulis ſua redderentur inſignia.that Apollo with the nine Muſes and their ſeverall inſtruments were conſpicuous in it. As for the Amethyſt, it is a gemme of a middle colour, between wine and violets, ſo named either becauſe applyed to the navell it is a remedy againſt drunkenneſſe, ab foreign ſteretico & foreign, or (as ſaith Pliny) quod ad vini colorem accedens priuſquam deguſtet in violam deſinat. Of this third ranke of ſtones this may ſuffice for the application to the third Speaker, and his doctrine: himſelf, touching the infirmities of the Clergy & Laity, ſo feelingly reſembled the Turkeys, which the Jeweliſts make the emblem of compaſſion. His Sermon, for the variety of good learning in it, was a curious Agat, & moſt like that of Pyrrhus above mentioned, wherein the nine Muſes were pourtrayed: the parts thereof were like the Amethyſt, parti-coloured, partly like wine, partly like violets: like wine in his matter of confutation, ſtrong and ſearching; like violets in his exhortation, ſweet and comfortable. His deſcription of Chriſts bloudy death was like wine, the bloud of the grape; but of the reſurrection like violets, the firſt-fruits of the Spring.
The emboſſment of gold, wherein theſe gemmes of divine doctrine were ſet, was his Text taken out of
A Sermon preached on Eaſter Monday by Maſter Dunſter, fellow of Magdalen Colledge, and Proctor of the Univerſity of Oxford.APOC. 1.18.
I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, Amen, and have the keyes of hell and of death.
THeſe words are a parcell of that booke, the reading whereof the ancient Church eſteemed ſo profitable and needfull, that they enjoyned all upon paine of excommunication to reade it once a yeere, between Eaſter and Whitſontide: Qui eam à Paſchate ad Pentecoſten non legerit, excommunicationis ſententiam habeat. The words of my Text in ſpeciall are verba pronuntiata verbi annuntiati, the words ſpoken of the word fore-ſpoken, the Sonne of God, who is ſo carefull not to breake the bruiſed reed, that hee ſeeketh to expectorate all feare out of the mindes of all true beleevers by the force of many arguments.
The firſt is drawne à potentiâ Dei, I am the Creatour and Judge of your perſecuters; therefore feare them not.
The ſecond à praerogativâ Chriſti, I am the firſt and the laſt, and will take notice of every one that hath been unjuſtly put to death, and make inquiſition of bloud, from the bloud of the righteous Abel, to the bloud of the laſt Martyr that ſhall bee ſhed upon the earth, and will require it of them that have ſpilt it. I am the firſt: for, in principio erat Verbum; and I am the laſt, noviſſimus Adam, manifeſted in noviſſimis diebus, to come in noviſſimâ tubâ, and take account of noviſſimus quadrans; I am hee that liveth, &c.
Here omitting the vaine gloſſes and collections of ſome, who turne an hiſtory into a myſtery, and apply ridiculouſly S. Johns falling before Chriſts feet, mentioned Ver. 17. to the kiſsing of the Popes Pantofle; and the deſcription Primus & noviſſimus, the firſt and the laſt, to a Prelate or Paſtour, who ought to be primus ad laborem, noviſſimus ad requiem, firſt at his labour, and laſt at his eaſe; I take theſe words with Saint Auſtine to bee Symbolum abbreviatum, wherein wee are to obſerve,
1. The death:
2. The reſurrection of Chriſt,
1. Prefaced with a note of attention, Behold.
2. Sealed with a note of certainty, Amen.
3. The fruits and iſſue of both,
1. In us,
1. Freedome from death.
2. Aſſurance of life.
2. In him, the power of the keyes,
1. Authoritativè.
2. Poſſeſſivè, I have.
I am alive, and I was dead. Et quando vixiſti, bone Jeſu? when didſt thou live, ſweet Jeſu? from the time thou leftest thy Fathers boſome, and ſateſt on thy mothers knee, jam extunc dura pati coepiſti, ſaith Saint Bernard. Many a time have they fought againſt mee from my youth up may Iſrael, nay, the God of Iſrael ſay. And this ſome will have to be ſignified in the phraſe, foreign, I was made dead, not ſtrucke downe at one blow; that might have beene a favour: Quid dabis ut uno ictu mortem afferam filio? but hee was put to a tedious and lingring death: Doctr. 1 Nay, Saint Gregory ſaith, Tota vita Chriſti crux fuit. The Sonne of God humbled himſelfe; that is not enough, foreign, hee emptied himſelfe, made himſelfe of no reputation, and became Homo, & in homine infra hominem: nam flagellari ingenui non eſt, to bee ſcourged is no ingenuous puniſhment. But it may bee the ſhame was leſſened, becauſe of his Crowne: What Crowne, I pray you? thornes platted upon his temples? O Regem, O Diadema, O King, O Crowne, ſaith Bernard: See, O yee daughters of Jeruſalem, behold King Solomon with the Crowne wherewith his mother the Synagogue crowned him. But the worst is behinde, hee is condemned to dye: Why, what hath hee done? Is hee a diſturber of the peace, who being ſcarce borne gave peace to all the world, who himſelfe is the Prince of peace, and his word the Goſpel of peace, and his meſſengers the Angels of peace, and his mandate the ſame with that of Theodoſius to Demophilus: Si tu pacem fugis, ego te ab Eccleſiâ meâ fugere mando, If thou flyeſt peace, I command thee to get thee packing out of my Kingdome? Did hee blaſpheme, becauſe hee ſaid, I am the Sonne of God? Si opera Dei facit, quid prohibet Filium Dei appellari? Was hee against the tradition of the Elders? onelyonly againſt ſuch as annihilated the Law of God, against ſuch upon whom the name of blaſphemy is written: ſuch as are thoſe of the Church of Rome. Traditio multis partibus ſuperat Scripturas, ſaith Coſterus: and Salvâ Eccleſiae traditione, non multùm refert etiamſi Scripturae aboleantur. Was hee a malefactour, of whom all the people witneſſed, Rectè omnia fecit? All this notwithſtanding hee is condemned to dye, and to that death which the Holy Ghost ſpeakes not of without a gradation; Mortem autem crucis: nor the Heathen Oratour without a Quid dicam in crucem tollere? Yet all this is but Joſeph his coate torne with the teeth of wilde beaſts: Vaſculum Anaxarchi, non Anaxarchus. Wee heare of the outward man in agone, not the inward man in agoniâ. I dare not ſet the paines of the damned, Gods wrath, and Christs body in a ballance; Crux Chriſti ſtatera eſt, ſaith Saint Bernard. I like in ſuch points rather a Divine of the temper of the Lacedaemonians, In ea quibus fidit vix ingredientem, than an Athenian, Supra vires audacem, liable to Archidamus his checke, foreign, Aut adde viribus, aut adime animo.
Uſe 1 Is it ſo (Beloved?) was Christ dead indeed? here ſeemeth to be matter for them that are without, to ſcoffe at Chriſtian Religion: Hominem colitis, hominem Palaeſtinum & crucifixum adoratis pro Deo: and, Deus veſter patibulo affixus eſt, ſay the Heathen, Yee worſhip a God who was put to death and crucified. Wee doe ſo, foreign, nay, foreign, it was neceſſary and expedient that hee ſhould ſo dye: If the wheat corne dye not in the earth, it abideth alone; but if it dye, it bringeth forth much fruit: Gratias ago tritico quòd ſic mori voluit & multiplicari. Wee ſay with Tertullian, Quòd Deo indignum eſt, nobis expedit: with Saint Jerome, Injuria Domini noſtra gloria: and conclude with Saint Ambroſe, Quanto major injuria, tanto major ei debetur gratia.
Uſe 2 Was Christ dead? then was our old man crucified in him, and wee are dead to ſinne: how then ſhall wee live therein? I have put off my clothes, ſaith the Spouſe, how ſhould I put them on? I have waſhed my feet, how ſhould I defile them? To lay downe our ſinnes, or put them off is not ſufficient, foreign, they must bee mortified: and this is that death which Saint Leo ſaith is precious in the ſight of God, cùm occiditur homo non terminatione ſenſuum, ſed fine vitiorum.
Behold, I am alive for evermore. Of the divers ſignifications of Ecce two ſerve for our purpoſe; Ecce inſultationis, and Ecce conſolationis: Ecce inſultationis, as behold hee commeth with the clouds, &c. Ecce conſolationis, as behold the ſtone that the builders refuſed is become the head of the corner. So here for the terrour of Infidels and Perſecuters of Chriſts Church, and for the comfort of the faithfull an Ecce is prefixed: Behold, hee that was dead is alive. Behold the ſweet flower of Jeſſe withered and defaced in his Paſsion, but re-flouriſhing againe in his reſurrection, and in him is the blooming and ſpringing of all that love his Name.
I am alive. Other doctrine, ſaith Tertullian, Chriſt preached per ſemetipſum; but this of the reſurrection in ſemetipſo. Alive for ever. The Scripture ſpeaketh of ſome that roſe mortui, ſed morituri. Chriſt ſo roſe, ut nunquam cadere adjiciat, being riſen from the dead hee dyeth no more, death hath no more power over him. Amen is a note of certainty, like Selah in the Pſalmes, which (as a ſeale) is put by the finger of the Holy Ghoſt to the words of that God, who is Deus Amen, and whoſe promiſes are Yea and Amen.
Doctr. 2 From this Amen and the former Ecce wee are taught, That the Holy Ghoſt laboureth to ſecure us and confirme us in the certainty of the doctrine of the reſurrection, knowing it to be the faith and patience of the Saints: Fiducia Chriſtianorum reſurrectio mortuorum, ſaith Tertullian. If our hope were in this life onelyonly, wee were of all men moſt miſerable, ſaith Saint Paul. And the rather doth the Spirit aſcertaine this doctrine, becauſe it hath many enemies, Atheists, Libertines, and ſundry ſorts of Heretickes beſides. The Atheiſt thinketh there is no reſurrection, becauſe hee ſeeth no reaſon for it: to whom, though it were ſufficient to anſwer with Gregory, Fides non habet meritum, ubi ratio humana praebet experimentum; and with Saint Ambroſe, Credimus piſcatoribus, non dialecticis: yet to reaſon a little with theſe unreaſonable men in the words of Saint Paul, Acts 26.8.Why ſeemeth it incredible unto you, that Chriſt ſhould raiſe the dead? Is it not as eaſie to restore life, as to give it at the firſt? to raiſe man out of aſhes, as to create him at firſt out of the dust? Conſidera autorem, & tolle dubitationem, ſaith Saint Auſtine. The Libertine would have no reſurrection, that hee might ſtill enjoy the pleaſures of ſinne, and ſacrifice to his belly: but for him there is firſt a Text of counſell,1 Cor. 15.34. Awake to live righteouſly; and if that will not ſerve, a Text of judgement,Phil. 3.19. Whoſe end is damnation, whoſe god is their belly. Of Heretickes that profeſſedly oppugned the doctrine of the reſurrection, ſome taught that there is no reſurrection at all, as the Saduces; ſome that the reſurrection was already past, as Hymineus and Philetus. Satan is a ſubtle Serpent, and turneth divers wayes to get in his head. Before Chriſts death hee worked powerfully in the children of diſobedience; in Judas to betray him, in the Phariſees to accuſe him, in Pilate to condemne him: but after knowing that the time was come, that the Prince of the world was to bee cast out by the death of Christ, hee was much troubled, and laboured by all meanes to hinder Christs Paſsion: Utinam ne in nemore Pelio, hee wiſheth there were no wood in all the world to make a Croſſe of: hee workes remorſe in Judas, giveth him a halter to hang himſelfe: hee employes Pilates wife to ſend to her husband, to have nothing to doe with him. When hee was faſt nailed to the Croſſe, hee ſetteth the Jewes upon him, to ſee whether they could perſwade him to deſcend from thence. After this hee ſpreads abroad a rumour, that Simon Cyreneus was crucified for him, or if hee were crucified, that it was but in appearance onelyonly, and that hee was falsâ pendens in cruce Laureolus: and when his reſurrection was ſo palpable, that it needed no other argument than the amazement of the watch, and Pilates letter to the Emperour, hee ſuborned a deſperate rout to ſweare, that his Diſciples ſtole him away by night. After all this hee ſtirred up certaine Heretickes, who taught, that albeit Chriſt were indeed riſen, yet that wee were not to expect any future reſurrection, becauſe the reſurrection was paſt already. But all theſe ſhall find, that there is a reſurrection for them, to wit, Reſurrectio ad condemnationem.John 5.29.
Uſe 1 Is it ſo, that Chriſt our head is riſen? then ſhall wee his members riſe alſo. For hee is primogenitus mortuorum, & primitiae dormientium: the firſt fruits are carried already into the celestiall barne, and the whole crop ſhall follow. And this may bee a ſtaffe of comfort to all drouping and fainting ſoules, ut tali exemplo animati, ſub ictu paſſionis, as Cyprian ſpeaketh, non retrahant pedem, that they draw not backe, but courageouſly goe on forward to make a good profeſsion, as being ſecure, Chriſti milites, non perimi ſed coronari, & bonam mortem eſſe quae vitam non perimit, ſed adimit ad tempus, reſtituendam in tempore, duraturam ſine tempore. This was Jobs comfort, I know my Redeemer liveth: and of other distreſſed ones, who would not bee delivered that they might bee partakers of a better reſurrection. An ancient father giveth theſe words for a Chriſtians Motto: Fero, taceo, ſpero; Fero meam crucem, ut ille ſuam: taceo, quia tu, Domine, feciſti: ſpero, quia utique fructus erit juſto.
Uſe 2 Is Chriſt riſen from the dead? then wee that are his, are riſen with him, at leaſt in the firſt reſurrection: if therefore yee are riſen with Chriſt, ſeeke the things that are above, where Chriſt ſitteth at the right hand of his Father.
This indeed ought to bee ſo, but wee finde it otherwiſe; never more preaching of the reſurrection, and never leſſe fruit. For all ſeeke their owne, and none the things that are Jeſus Chriſts. So that Bernards obſervation fitteth our time: Vides omnem Eccleſiaſticum zelum fervere pro ſolâ dignitate tuendâ, honori totum datur, ſanctitati nihil: and againe, all men learned and unlearned preſſe to Eccleſiaſticall cures, Tanquam ſine curis quique victuri ſint, cùm ad curas pervenerint. The Apostle telleth us, Qui Epiſcopatum deſiderat, bonum opus deſiderat: non dignitatem, ſaith Saint Jerome, ſed laborem: non delicias, ſed ſolicitudinem: non creſcere faſtidiis, ſed decreſcere humilitate: Nay, not onelyonly opus, but onus alſo in Saint Bernards judgement, though perhaps ſome Atlas's may thinke they never have load enough. But are the Laity more excuſable, who buy and ſell the poore for ſhooes and gay apparrell, and ſtrong drinke? to whom (mee thinkes) I heare the poore cry, Et vos vanitate peritis, & nos ſpoliis perimitis. How many are there of them, who ingroſſe the Lords portion, and bestow hallowed things upon worſe than vanity? Wee have a ſaying againſt them alſo out of the ſame Saint Bernard: De patrimonio crucis Chriſti non facitis codices in Eccleſiâ, ſed paſcitis pellices in thalamis; adornatis equos, phalerantes pectora, capita deaurantes. Is this our reſurrection from ſinne? Saint Paul giveth this leſſon with a memento, Remember, ſaith hee, O Timothy, that Chriſt is raiſed from the dead. It is a truth as ſtable as the poles of Heaven, that wee ſhall have no part of the ſecond reſurrection to the life of glory, if wee have not a good part in the first to the life of grace.
And I have the keyes of Death and of Hell. They are well called keyes of Hell, becauſe there are Inferorum portae mentioned in the ſixteenth chapter of Saint Matthew: Matth. 16.18.foreign. There are many opinions about theſe keyes; ſome will have them to bee two, Clavis cognitionis, and Clavis authoritatis: but Allenſis and the Schoolemen denie knowledge to bee a key, except in an improper ſpeech, Quia requiritur ad uſum clavis; and they doe well to denie it: for what key of knowledge had that Prieſt, of whom the Master of the Sentences maketh mention, who baptized in nomine Patria, Filia, & Spiritua ſancta? Bonaventure ingenuouſly confeſſeth, Quidam in Eccleſiâ habent clavem, quidam claviculam, quidam nullam. Neither doe they ſtand much upon it; for another of them ſaith, Dicit Doctor meus, & citat divum Thomam, quòd quando Apoſtoli erant ordinati, Sacerdotes erant ſine ſcientiâ. Yet Bernard in his Epistle ad Eugenium maketh knowledge one of the keyes, Claves veſtras qui ſanùm ſapiunt, alteram in diſcretione, alteram in poteſtate collocant. Doctr. 3 The most received opinion of the reformed Churches is, That there is but one key in eſſence, and that is Miniſterium Verbi. The Kingdome of God is compared to a houſe, the doore of this houſe is Chriſt, John 10.7.the key to open and ſhut this doore is the preaching of the Word: Wee are the ſavour of death unto death unto ſome, there is the power of binding; to others of life unto life, there is the power of looſing. Hee that refuſeth mee, the word which I have ſpoken ſhall judge him, there is the power of binding; againe, The truth ſhall make you free, there is looſing. But how many ſoever the keyes bee, Christ hath them, Non ſolùm authoritativè, ſed etiam poſſeſſivè. What meaneth then Bellarmine in his bookes de Romano Pontifice to imply, that the keyes remaine in Christs hands onelyonly at the vacancy of the Popedome? What a blaſphemy is that of Cuſanus, who ſaith, that poteſtas ligandi & ſolvendi non minor eſt in Eccleſiâ, quàm fuit in Chriſto? and that of Maldonatus, Chriſtus Petro vices ſuas tradidit, ipſamque clavem excellentiae, that key of David, which openeth, and no man ſhutteth? Or if hee have not this key ſo abſolutely as Chriſt, yet beyond all compariſon above other Biſhops; they have the keyes of Heaven, ſed quodam modo, and with an huc uſque licet. Whereupon Petrus de palude obſerveth, that it was ſaid of them, Quaecunque ſolveritis in terrâ, erunt ſoluta in coelo: but of Saint Peter, Brunt ſoluta in coelis. Pardon, I beſeech you, the enlargement of this point; Blaſphemiae dies haec eſt, Rabſakeh hath blaſphemed the living God. The Phariſees and Scribes accounted it blaſphemy to attribute forgiveneſſe of ſinnes to any but God. I am hee that blotteth out thine iniquity, ſaith God by the Prophet Eſay: Whereupon Saint Jerome commenting, ſaith, Solus peccata dimittit, qui pro peccatis mortuus eſt: and Saint Auſtine accordeth with him, Nemo tollit peccata, niſi ſolus Deus; tollit autem dimittendo quae facta ſunt, adjuvando ne fiant, & perducendo ad locum ubi fieri non poſſunt. What then doth the Miniſter upon confeſsion and contrition? Hee pronounceth the penitent abſolved; or to attribute the moſt unto him, hee abſolveth the perſon in facie Eccleſiae, remitteth not the ſinne abſolutely before God. Saint Ambroſe ſhall make up the reckoning: Verbum Dei dimittit peccata: Sacerdos eſt Judex, Sacerdos officium exhibet, ſed nullius poteſtatis jura exercet.
Uſe 1 1. Hath Christ the keyes of death and hell? O then let us kiſſe the Sonne, leſt hee bee angry, and ſo wee periſh out of the right way.
2. Hath Christ the keyes of hell and death? if then wee belong to Chriſt, and follow his banner, let us not care what death or hell, man or divell can doe against us:
Tranſvectus vada Tartari,
Pacatis redit inferis.
Jam nullus ſupereſt timor,
Nil ultrà jacet inferos.
Jeſus of Nazareth is returned from hell, not as Theſeus and Hercules, with a Croſſe and a Flagge; but with principalities and powers chained before his triumphant chariot: he doth not now threaten death, as before, O mors, ero tua mors; but inſulteth over it: O death, where is thy ſting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thankes bee unto God, who hath given us victory, through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord. Cui, &c.