The Heavenly Academy, Chapter 9
CHAP. IX.
A fourth step: Conversing with God, and diligent comming to his Schoole.
HEE that will bee taught of God, must comeaDeus Trinitas, Pater, & Filius, & Spiritus sanctus veniunt ad nos, dum venimus ad eos. Veniunt subveniendo, venimus obediendo; veniunt illuminando, venimus in…uendo; veniunt implendo, venimus capiendo, ut sit nobis non extraria visio sed interna: & in nobis eorum non transitoria mansio, sed aeterna. Aug. in Ioan. Tract. 76. diligently to his Teacher, and meet him, where & when he useth to teach. Now he teacheth both publikely in the great Assemblies, and privately in the little Temples and Sanctuaries. In the great Congregation his Spirit meets thee in the ministerie of the Word, and in the seales of that Word, and offers to write that Word in thy heart; so that thou mayst see it plainly to be the wisedome of God, and mayst see in it the wonderfull things of God. Thou shalt see in the Word,Gal. 3. 1. the mysteries which hee teacheth thee; yea, thine eyes in it shall seebSermonem constituens vivificatorem, quia spiritus & vita sermo, eundem etiam carnem suam dixit; quia & sermo caro erat factus; proinde in causam vitae appetendus, & devorandus auditur, & ruminandus intellectu, & side digerendus. Tertull. de Resurrect. carn. cap. 37. Quibus tantum manifesta facta est passio ejus me praedicante, ut eum ante oculos vestros pendere putaretis. Primas. in Gal. 3. Hoc quod modo loquimur carnes sunt verbi Dei, &c. Ubi enim mysticus Sermo, ubi dogmaticus & Trinitatis side repletus profertur ac solidus, &c. haec omnia carnes sunt verbi Dei. Origen. Homil. in Num. 23. Illuxit ergo in cordibus nostris, ut & nos luceamus vobis, ad hoc ut percipiatis illuminationem scientiae claritatis Dei, in facie, id est, cognitione Jesu Christi; quia per faciem unusquisque cognoscitur. Anselm. in 2 Cor. 4. the Teacher himselfe; for therein shalt thou see Christ lively set forth, and offering his flesh, his humanitie, yea himselfe, both God and man, unto thee. Such sights mayst thou see in this great Schoole of God, being enlightened and taught by his Spirit, which Spirit is a companion of the Word, by the vertue of the New Covenant; and by this Covenant we may claime and expect it from God. Therefore is the New Covenant called, The Ministerie of the Spirit, in an excellencie above the Law, which was called, The Ministerie of the Letter. And it is such indeed as it is called: for while St. Peter taught the word to Cornelius and his friends, the Spirit accompanied the Word, and fell on them that heard it. St. Paul also calls up the experience of the Galatians for a witnesse of this truth;Gal. 3. Received yee the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of Faith preached? And indeed if this truth thus covenanted by God, and actually made good by him, were accordingly beleeved, rested on, thirsted after, and expected, God should bee more often heard speaking spirit and life with his Word, in the inward eare; and the Word should not dye so often in the outward eare, or carnall heart for want of this Spirit. It is an unvaluable losse, that men doe so much divide the outward Teacher from the inward, & rest on the former, without respect to the latter. Whereas when wee goe to the outward Teacher, which is man, wee should set our eyes and hearts chiefly on the inward Teacher, which is God: wee should challenge him upon his covenant and promise, saying and praying; Remember thy promise to thy servant, wherein thou hast made him to hope. And therefore speake Lord, that thy servant may heare; for without thy speaking, thy servant cannot heare. Hee may heare the outwardcPossunt quidem verba sonare, sed spiritum non conferunt: pulcherrimè dicunt, sed te tacente cor non accendunt. Literas tradunt, sed tu sensum aperis. Mysteria proferunt, sed tureseras intellectum signatorum. Mandata edicunt, sed tu juvas ad persiciendum. Thom. Camp. De lmit. Christ. lib. 3. cap. 2. sound of the Word in his eare: but he cannot heare the inward sense and power in his heart. The outward Israel had seene the great wonders of God upon Aegypt, they heard the thunders on mount Sinai;Deut. 29. 1, 2, 3. yet neither did they see those wonders, nor heare those thunders. And Moses tells them how it came to passe, when hee saith; The Lord hath not given you eyes to see, and eares to heare untill this day. They thought their own eyes sufficient to see,Esa. 42. 19, 20. and their own eares to heare; and resting in this insufficient sufficiencie, God left them to it; and so they did neither see nor heare: for Gods works, wonders, and voyce, can onelyonly kindly and truely bee seene and heard, by eyes and eares given of God from Heaven.
Know therefore thy owne insufficiencie, yea, the insufficiencie of the best Teacher in the world (for who is sufficient for these things?) to teach thee inwardly, what hee teacheth thee outwardly;2 Cor. 2. 16. and know that the sufficiencie2 Cor. 3. 5, 6. of inward teaching comes onelyonly from God.
Therefore while thy outward eare expects the outward word of the outward Teacher, let thy inward eare expect the inward teaching of the inward and highest Teacher.1 Cor. 3. 6, 7. FordIntuere quam cautè illum de se humilia sentire moneat. Non ait, Ne fortè possis: sed quid? Ne fortè det illi Deus resipiscere; ut si quid fiat, ad Dominum cuncta referantur. Tu plantas, tu rigas, Ille seminat, & fructus parere facit, atque ad Incrementum perducit: Nunquam igitur ita simus affecti, ac si ipsi cuiquam persuaserimus, etiamsi ille nobis obaudiat; sed ad Deum referamus omnia. Chrysost. in 2 Tim. 2. thus only may the planting, though of Paul himselfe; and the watering, though of Apollos, be made something, even when God gives an increase, which otherwise are nothing. And being thus inwardly taught to profit and increase, thou art taught according to the New Covenant; for thou art taught of God. Come therefore diligently to this schoole of his, where hee useth thus to teach, beleeve his Covenant, and take it by beleeving.
And secondly, That thou mayest the better beleeve and take it, hee hath given thee seales of the New Covenant, by which the New Covenant is presented unto thy faith, sealed and confirmed. By this confirmation and sealing, thy faith should be increased, and by the increase of thy faith, thy union with Christ Jesus, the Mediatour of the New Covenant, will bee increased; and by the increase of this Union there will bee an increase of the Spirit (the promise of the New Covenant) which knoweth the things of God, and which will shew them more unto thee, the more it is in thee. When thou wast baptized into Christ, thou didst put on Christ; and when thou eatest the spirituall meat, and drinkest the spirituall drinke in the Eucharist, thou doest put him on more and more. Thy being in Christ, even thy new being, which thou receivedst before, thou doest now feed and nourish, and bring forth into manhood. And as thou growest into manhood, thou knowest by the Apostles reason,Heb. 5. 12, &c. thou art enabled to grow in knowledge, to be more skilfull in the word of righteousnesse, better to discerne good & evill, & to digest the stronger meat of divine mysteries. As wee grow up in our stature in Christ Jesus toward a perfect man, we leave our childish knowledge behind,Ephes. 4. 14. and grow up to him in all things (& therefore in knowledge) which is the head, even Christ. The head is Wisedome it selfe, and they that grow in him growe …n wisdome, and still take higher degrees in the heavenly Schoole, under this highest and most heavenly Teacher.
Thirdly, seeing God teacheth thee by his Spirit, and he is the Giver of the Spirit, by which hee teacheth thee; goe to the Giver himselfe for this gift. Goe to him by prayer, and goe to him publikely in the house of prayer, and there joyne with the Church in prayer, for the Spirit which hee hath promised to his Church. The uniting of many hearts and voyces in one petition, makes it the stronger and more powerfull with God. And it may well be, that when thou joynest with the Congregation in prayer, thou mayst joyne with some, who shall not only double the strength of thy prayer, by an equall strength of Spirit added to thine, but by a double portion of Spirit, exceeding thine. And so by this joyning of stocks in publike prayer, thou mayest bee a double gainer, both while thou art a partaker of many prayers, and while thou art partaker of some more powerful than thine own. And indeed Christ would not have spoken of two or three gathered together in his Name, except there had beene some benefit and advantage in this gathering together, and in two or three above one. Therefore let us especially expect him as hee hath promised, to be present where two or three are gathered together. Now wee know that Christ is present with his Church by his Spirit, even that Comforter which leadeth into all truth.Acts 4. 31. And accordingly wee find, that when the Church was united in prayer, they were filled with the Holy Ghost. And because Christ is present with his Church by this Spirit, to the end of the world, illuminating and teaching both Pastours and people; our Church prayeth for the Pastours, That God would illuminate them with true understanding and knowledge of his Word: and for the people, That God, who taught the hearts of faithfull people, by the light of the Holy Spirit, may give us by the same Spirit, to have a right judgement in all things. Joyne then with the Church, in the offering up, and receiving downe of such petitions; and doe not by dividing thy selfe from the offering, divide thy selfe also from the receiving. But for so precious a gift as the Spirit, make thy prayer as powerfull as thou canst; and more powerfull mayst thou make it, if thou get more power joyned together by a Communion of Saints.
Seeke God also by private prayer for this gift of the Spirit, which Christ himselfe hath taught, yea proved by undeniable arguments,Luk. 11. 13. that God will give to them that aske it. And the experimentall truth of this saying of our Saviour, many excellent Saints have found and acknowledged, professing that they received sometimes by prayer more light for the clearing of darke places, than by study and reading.eOremus Dominū,—ut in Spiritu Sancto considerantes quae per Spiritum scripta sunt, & spiritalibus spiritalia comparantes, dignè Deo, & Sancto Spiritui qui haec inspiravit quae scripta sunt, explicemus. Orig. sup. Numer. Homil. 16. Et nunc & semper adhibendus sit Spiritus, per quem solum Deus & intelligitur, & exponitur, & auditur. Greg Naz. Orat. 21. Assit Dominus; assit & viribus & mentibus nostris. Aug. in Psal. 147. At tu votis & precibus tibi ante omnia lucis portas aperiri opta. Neque enim ab aliquibus perspiciuntur atque intelliguntur, praeterquam si cui Deus & Christus ejus concesserint intelligentiam. Iustin. Mart. Dial. cum Tryph. And therefore wee shall find that the Fathers in their Homilies and Expositions, doe often interrupt their preaching with praying; and in prayer seeke to bee enabled by the Spirit for preaching.Matth. 22. 22. But come to God with faith; for the promise runs thus, That whatsoever we aske beleeving, we shall receive: Come also with fervencie; for Christ hath taught us,Luk. 11. 8. That what friendship cannot doe, yet importunitie may obtaine: And it hath beene tried by the Canaanitish woman, and many others since her time, That where a denial will not be taken for an answer, there the answer hath been turned into grant. And the more to encourage us to importunitie, for the obtaining of this grant of the Spirit, let us take notice first, That God doth chiefly like those prayers that are made for the Spirit. God is a Spirit, and as, because hee is a Spirit, hee likes best that worship, and those prayers, which are made by the Spirit, so doth he highly love those Prayers which pray for the Spirit, by which such agreeable and acceptable prayers are made. Secondly, God hath abundance of Spirit, and this abundance and fulnesse of Spirit hath he delivered over to his son Christ Jesus, whose humanitie is Uber Deitatis, The Brest of the Deitie. And as wee all must receive from the fulnesse of this Brest, so this Brest being full, is most apt to give, and therefore most willing to meet with those, that are most desirous, and thirstie to receive. It delights to bee drawne, yea, to be pressed by importunitie, and is not onelyonly pleased, but (as it were) eased, when hee meets with an hungrie soule, and a mouth opened wide, that hee may fill it.
Lastly, joynefLegendo & ruminando, si etiam purè Dominū largitorem bonorum omnium depreceris, omnia quae cognitione digna sunt, aut certè plurima, ipso magis inspirante, quam hominum aliquo commonente, perdisces. Aug. Ep. 120. meditations with thy prayers. As prayers sometimes do kindle thy meditations, so sometimes meditations may kindle thy prayers. While I mused (saith the Psalmist) my heart waxed hot: For meditation doth stir, and blow away the ashes, even earthly and carnall thoughts, and kindles the fire of the Spirit. The soule of a Saint is a little Sanctuarie, or Temple, where God dwells by his Spirit; and this Spirit being sought to in this Temple by the servants of God, hath given them many times divine answers and resolutions. So hath this little Temple beene turned into a Schoole, where the soules of men enlightened have seen more than seven men upon the Watch-Tower of humane speculation. And when thou goest to this Schoole, let meditation purge thy soule from carnall drossinesse, and fire it into a spirituall puritie. Let this spirituall fire burne away that corporeall grossenesse, which entertaines and makesgBeata anima, quae est instar domus Jacobi, in quâ nulla simulachra, nulla effigies vanitatis. Ambr. de Fuga Seculi, cap. 5. Quante fois qu'il se resouviendra de Dieu autant de fois estant libre & deschargé de formes de toutes creatures, il pourra legerement monter, au Coeur Haut, comme la Meiche d'une chandelle encores fumante, quand elle est presentee au dessous de celle qui est allumee, la flamme descendant incontinent au long de la fumee, s'attache a la Meiche encores tiede, & l'allume. Harph. Theol. Myst. lib. 3. part. 2. chap. 9. Sentio per occultas gratiae rimulas, quia talis, & talis est anima tibi intimè unita; & sie ei locutus es. Illa tacer ab omnibus sensibilibus, & tu loqueris ei in Spiritu de invisibilibus. T. Camp. Solil cap. 10. Eripe distractum & captivum animum ab omnibꝰ concupiscentiis & corporalibus imaginibus, ut teipsum in meipso illuminata ratione inveniam, qui me ad tuam pretiosam & incorruptibilem fecisti imaginem. Idem de Discip. Claustr. l. 4. c. 3. carnall and bodily images. Let the glasse of thy soule bee cleansed, and made spiritually pure, that it may be fit to entertaine a pure spirit, and those spirituall sights, which the Spirit shall present unto it. And being thus pure in heart, thou shalt see God in thy soule. Hee who is light shall shine into thy soule, and by this light the face of thy soule shall shine, as the face of Moses on the mount. In his light thou shalt see light, and by this light shalt thou see that which all the naturall light in the world cannot shew thee. God who commanded light to shine out of darknesse, will give thee the light of the knowledge of the glorie of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And when the light of this knowledge doth appeare, then know that thy Teacher is neare. Then stand on thy Watch-Tower, and heare what hee teacheth thee, and see what hee sheweth thee. A lesson of thishSi tam magnum est, tam que jucundum (ut experta loqua…) spiritales viros audire, & doctos adeo Doctores Veritatis habere, quantò majus, quantóque jucundius ab ipso Deo quotidie discere, quotidie didicisse? Beatus homo quem tu erudieris, Domine, & de Lege tua docueris eum. Rich. de Sanct. Vict. Serm. de Spiritu Sancto. Teacher, and of this teaching is the best learning, and makes the best Schollers, because taught in Gods, that is, in the best Academie. Yea, sometimes in a minute thou shalt see that by this teaching, which thou canst not attaine in many yeares by humane teaching, or thy owne study, labour, and industrie. Therefore whatsoever time thou bestowest in study, be sure to set apart some time, wherein to study the Holy Ghost, who sitting in his chaire of grace, teacheth his Schollers inwardly to see those divine and heavenly truths, which may advance thee in the way to heavenly glorie.