Eleven Choice Sermons, Part 1 · Sermon 2
2. CORINTH. 5. 20.
Now then we are Ambaſſadors for Chriſt, as though God did beſeech you by us, we pray you in Christs ſtead, be ye reconciled to God.
YOU may remember, that I proceeded thus farre the laſt time, to lay downe the coherence of theſe words, with the former, and to lay open the particulars in them contained. The firſt point of Doctrine, that we ſtarted then, was, That Miniſters of the Word, are Gods Ambaſſadors. I touched lightly both the circumſtantiall differences, which might be objected; and the ſubſtantiall agreement, which muſt be obſerved, as it was intended, in this metaphoricall ſpeech; and there we coupled up. And though I determined then, to have gone overthem more fully, yet becauſe I foreſee many things to be delivered, I will rather paſſe them over; contenting my ſelfe, with that which hath beene ſpoken, and deſcend to the confirmation of the truth propounded. But there is one thing croſſes the way, and comes betweene me and my purpoſe: For, perhaps there are ſome here, who conſidering the name and nature of this exerciſe, will demand, or rather, command and challenge the reſolution of a queſtion, before I goe any farther. For what neceſſity can be imagined, that God ſhould ſend his Ambaſſadors to us; or, if that be ſuppoſed, what conveniency may be conceived, that men, and meane men ſhould be imployed in ſo honourable a ſervice? To the firſt part of the queſtion, I ſhall ſhape an anſwer briefly. Looke as ſome royall King, when his naturall ſubjects, have unnaturally rebelled, and taken up armes againſt him; (like the churliſh Iſraelites, We have no portion in David, no inheritance in the ſonne of Iſhai, every man to his tents O Iſrael.) that he may curb their inſolencie, with the bridle of Soveraigne authority; is ready to ſend forth a decree of wrath, by the hand of the meſſengers of death: But the young Prince, out of his ſpeciall grace and princely compaſſion, ſtepping betweene them and the blow, and interceeding for them, is intreated to reverſe the ſentence, and diſpatch a Proclamation of pardon, to all ſuch of them as within the prefixed period ſhall return to their obedience: So we having committed high treaſon, againſt the moſt High, in moſt ungracious manner, and lifted up the hand againſt our Maker (like the proud tyrant that belched forththis, Who is God, that we ſhould obey him? or who is the Lord, that we ſhould ſerve him?) whoſe hands had but even then faſhioned us; and the decree of death being gone forth againſt us, Thou ſhalt dye the death; Chriſt Ieſus the eternall Sonne of God, the Prince of peace, hath interpoſed himſelfe for us, and latched the blow (that would have ſunk us to Hell) upon his owne body, which he gave for us on the Croſſe; that ſo reconciliation being made in his blood, the Father might be well pleaſed in him, to ſpeake peace unto us, and proclaime a free pardon to all that ſhould believe, by the ſilver Trumpet of the Goſpell: Returne, returne, for why will ye die ô houſe of Iſrael? This is the neceſſity: wherein you may obſerve on mans part, no meritorious excellencies, but miſerable extremity: On Gods part, no forcible compulſion, but a moſt feeling and free compaſſion, that cauſed him to viſite us, with theſe comfortable meſſengers. And this I might exemplifie in all, if I would run through all kinde of Ambaſſages. As, ſome are to moove, and make marriages: So is this, to eſpouſe the Soule to a noble Bridegroome, even Ieſus Chriſt. Some are for commerce and traffick; and ſo is this: that we might have a ſecure and ſweet entercourſe with the Lord, as once we had, before the league was broken in Paradiſe, in integrity: that the Lord might tranſport us to that aureum vellus, the robe of Christs righteouſneſſe, who was the Lambſtain from the beginning of the world; that Pearle of price, that rich Margarite, the Kingdome of Heaven; and might receive againe of us, by way of exchange, (a poore exchange, but very precious in his ſight) our humble and thankfull obedience. But which way ſoever you pleaſe to patterne the materials of the ſimilitude, you ſhall find no other motive but what I ſaid before, Gods incomparable mercy, beholding with a tender and compaſſionate eye, mans irrecoverable miſery. This may ſuffice for a taſte of a farther anſwer, to the firſt point in the queſtion, concerning the neceſſity why God ſends Ambaſſadors; for I ſhould but anticipate my following diſcourſe, if I ſhould labour to give the full ſatisfaction. The ſecond point comes now to be conſidered. For if there muſt needs be Ambaſſadors, why are not ſome of thoſe glorious Cherubims, and Seraphims, that ſhine with knowledge, and burne with zeale, that cry, holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabbath; that like courtiers of the King of Heaven, attend upon his Royall perſon, and behold the face of their heavenly Father, continually ready to execute his will and pleaſure; why are not ſome of theſe preferred to this honour? I am ſure ſuch a liturgie, might well beſeeme the higheſt Hierarchie; ſuch a meſſage, the tongue of Angels; ſuch ſupernaturall truths, ſuch Angelicall and Seraphicall Doctors. And who more fit to diſpence the Word of God, the heavenly Mannah, the food of Angels, then the ſonnes of God, then Angels? Who can tell me the miſtery of this ſtrange proceeding, that they ſhould be neglected, and man exalted to this dignity? May not every one preſume to refuſe this office without preſumption, and diſobey ſuch a command, without diſobedience; or will not ſuch preſumption, be counted humility; and ſuch diſobedience, modeſtie? As Moſes when he ſhould have gone in Gods errand, What am I, that I ſhould goe to Pharaoh, or deliver the children of Iſrael out of Egypt? Exod. 3. 11. 12.though the Lord removed the ſcruple, when he anſwered, I am with thee; as if he ſhould have ſaid, count not only the multitude of enemies, and the likelyhoods of oppoſition, as Antigonus his Admirall did, when he told him, that the enemies number farre exceeded his; but how many do ye ſet me againſt, ſaid the King? but looke about you and ſee who is with you, Behold I am with thee, Cap. … 10.yet Moſes was not ſatisfied, but replyed the ſecond time, O my Lord I am not eloquent, nor ever was, but a man of a heavie mouth and a ſlow tongue, the Lord ſatisfieth him againe, but he is not ſatisfied; for after he had bid him conſider, who gives the tongue to man? or, who makes the dumbe and deafe, as it not I the Lord? As if he ſhould have ſaid, it is the grace of God, by which we are that which we are, and I am able to do all things by the grace of God, which enableth me: And we may ſay of grace in this kinde, as the Poet doth,
O mutis quoque piſcibus
Donatur a Cygni, ſi libeat, ſonum.
Totum muneris hoc tui eſt,
Quod ſpiro, & placeo, ſi placeo tuum eſt.
Yet Moſes could not reſt but he leaves objecting,Verſ. 13. and fals intreating; O my Lord, I pray thee ſend by the hand of him, whom thou ſhouldeſt ſend. And who is ſo highly priviledged above Moſes, that might not ſhrinke as Moſes did, when hee ſhould conſider with himſelf the weightineſſe of the worke, and the weakneſſe of his owne perſon,2 Cor. 2. 16. and ſay as Paul did, who is ſufficient for theſe things? But it is time to frame an anſwer: Though neither our ſhallow capacitie can ſound the depth of Gods counſels, nor he be bound to render a reaſon of his proceedings, yet he gives us both liberty to enquire with ſobriety, and light to finde out ſo much that we may go away with reaſonable ſatisfaction. And therefore I pray obſerve with me three principall Reaſons, why the Lord who wants neither wiſdome, or power, to contrive it otherwiſe, either by immediate irradiation, upon the underſtanding, and influence into the will, or by the miniſterie of the bleſſed Angels, yet thought good rather to make uſe of the helpe of man, for the bringing of man to himſelfe, and working that mighty worke of converſion, which our Divines have thought, and taught not without ſome probabilitie of reaſon, to be greater than the great worke of the firſt creation. The firſt, I take to be from the nature of the thing, wherewith this order ſtands in greater congruity divers wayes: For firſt of all, ſuppoſing things in ſtatu quo, that God will have men deſcend by naturall propagation, and divide themſelves into politicall ſocieties; of which, and out of which, he will call ſome to grace, which ſhall come by degrees, not powred in all at once, but dropped in, by little and little, here a line, and there a line. It ſures not with the nature of Angels, to have ſuch ordinary, and viſible commerce with men, as is neceſſary to accompliſh this: for men in this caſe, muſt be alwaies feeding, as children uſe, and muſt have continuall hand and tending: well indeed they may be dry nurſes, to watch, and preſerve, and protect the children of God; but to be fathers to beget them by the immortall ſeed of the Word, to be wet nurſes, to ſuccle them with the ſyncere pure milke of the Word, they cannot be. So that, unleſſe we would imagine the whole face of nature changed, and all moulded into a new frame, this peece would not hold proportion with the reſt. Nay, it were a thing irregular, and a kinde of violence to the Angelicall nature, to converſe with men in this kinde, whereas we all know, nullum violentum eſt perpetuum, there be few Analogies, but there be none Anomalies that are perpetuall: Indeed the Lord uſes them for the good of man many times, but their part is not to be alwayes on the Stage. 2. By this meanes, man is drawne to God in ſuch a manner, as is moſt convenient for his nature, not only in regard of his compoſition (for by preaching of the Word, his ſenſible part is wrought upon, and affected) but alſo in regard of his freedome, for as in the free motions of nature, there is (that I may uſe a diſtinction ſomething nice for the termes, but neceſſary for the thing) I ſay, a cooperation, without any coaction: ſo in the firſt motion of grace, though the Lord worke with a certaine infallibility, and as I may ſay, a ſweet neceſſity, yet he doth not offer violence to any principle of nature, which hath ſome evidence, ever from this, that God▪ workes it by man; ſo that if you looke to both the cauſes, the principall, and inſtrumentall, you may ſay it is the work of God, therefore there is no poſſibilitie of reſiſtance; it is the work of man, therefore there is no ſhew nor ſhadowes of violence: and theſe two muſt goe together, for as the King in Plutarch ſaid of a groat,*foreign. it is no kingly gift; and of a talent,†foreign. it is no baſe bribe: So may we ſay in this caſe, to worke with danger of failing, agrees not with the power of God, whoſe will is not will, if not omnipotent, except it can worke what it will. Againe, to worke by way of forcing, agrees not with the nature of man, whoſe will is not will, except it will what it workes. I ſhould enterpret my ſelfe more fully, for feare of unkind conſtructions, but that I muſt make haſte. 3. There is a decency, that ſeeing the Sonne of God became the ſonne of man, that the ſons of men might become the ſonnes of God; and we having all received of his fulneſſe grace for grace, his gifts of grace ſhould be conveighed as by a conduit pipe by the ſame nature: and therefore the Apoſtle, painting forth unto us that goodly body of the Church, of which, Christ is the head, makes Apostles, Evangelists, Paſtors, all men, &c. the organicall parts of that body, which receive ſenſe, and motion, and direction from the head: and for this purpoſe, he is (as the head) annointed with the oyle of gladneſſe above his fellowes, that is, in greater meaſure, and above, that from him it may diſtil by the higher to the loweſt members. Now the Angels are not univocall members with us, under the ſame head, though for the efficacie of Chriſts merit, whether it may any way redound to thoſe bleſſed Spirits, I will neither peremptorily deny, nor diſpute for the preſent: and therefore it is more meet, the Word ſhould be committed to men than Angels, or any other creatures. The ſecond principall reaſon may be this, becauſe it is moſt profitable for man, that men ſhould be Gods Ambaſſadors, and that in three reſpects. 1. Becauſe this honour is both a fruit of Chriſts exaltation, Who aſcended on high and led captivitie captive, and gave gifts unto men; and thoſe gifts, are the miniſteriall gifts, as you may ſee in the place: and beſides it is a reall pledge of Gods *foreign.affection to man, not only to the perſons ſo dignified, but alſo in them to all mankinde, even as great offices in the Court beſtowed on any, are ordinarily arguments of great grace with the King. 2. Becauſe it is a moſt probable and likely way to bring men to God, for many reaſons, which I will but propound, and ſo proceed. 1. In that God deales familiarly with us, which is a wondrous art to win affection. You know the Fable of the Theban Dame, that was miſperſwaded to intreat lupiter to company with her in all his majeſtie, to which when he condeſcended, ſhe was ſo farre from taking that pleaſure ſhe promiſed her ſelfe from her goodly Bridegroome, that ſhe loſt her life: So could not our feeble ſpirits brooke the preſence of the Divine glory, if he ſhould vouchſafe to come unto us in all his Royaltie. I will not tell you any Poeticall Fable, but the truth of God. The Iſraelites tryed this, for when the Lord appeared to them in Mount Sinai with thunder and lightning, they preſently found their owne weakneſſe, and made ſuit to Moſes, Let not the Lord ſpeake unto us, Exod. 20 18, 19leſt we die, but ſpeake thou unto us, and we will heare thee. And therefore Iob wiſhes that God would lay aſide his terrour, and reaſon with him familiarly, to which when the Lord graciouſly condeſcended, what was the iſſue? inſtead of his former diſputation, he grew to this concluſion,Iob. 42. 6. Deut. 18. 15. I abhorre my ſelfe in dust and aſhes. And God promiſes this as a bleſſing, I will raiſe you up a Prophet from among your brethren, he ſhall teach you. And therefore the Lord ſtooping to our capacitie, gives us ſo as we may receive, and ſpeakes to us men by the mouth of men, as the moſt proportionable inſtrument to worke upon us. Not much unlike Aſtyanax, in the Poet, who when his father being armed came to embrace him,*foreign. the child forthwith hid his face in his nurſes boſome, cryed, and being afraid at the ſight of his father, when he ſaw his hairy Plume upon his Headpeece bending towards him. Like as the Sunne when he liſts to be ſeene, delayes his beames in ſome thicker cloud, that the edge of his brightneſſe being abated, our dim eyes may not be too much offended. Againe, thus the troubled ſoule, may have free acceſſe to the Miniſter, which comfort could hardly be conveighed another way: eſpecially, conſidering whom the Lord makes choice of, to beſtow the riches of his grace upon, not the great ones of the world ſo much, but the mean ones. Now as you have ſeene in a Faire, the Countrey people will not venture into the rich Shops, among the fine Citizens, but had rather beſtow their money on ſome countrey Chapman: ſo it may bee in this caſe: and therefore the Lord appoints men, and meane men, that even the meaneſt Chriſtians may more freely repaire unto them. 2. Secondly, the miniſtery of Men, is more credible then Angels, or any other could be; for though their teſtimony be of more weight in it ſelfe, by reaſon of their acurate knowledge, and entire fidelity; yet I know not how a man may have more advantages to deale with us: for to let paſſe the irrefragable authority of the word of God, upon which all divine truths muſt ſtand, which would be needleſſe, if it pleaſed God to take any other courſe than this; and to omit that it is hard to give ſuch infallible characters, wherby divine illuminations, might be diſtinguiſhed from diabolicall illuſions, that all ambignity might be taken away; I ſay, 1. Firſt, men converſe with us, are knowne, they are our brethren, fleſh of our fleſh, and bone of our bone, and therefore what ſuſpicion can ariſe, that they, who are otherwiſe approved, ſhould goe about to deceive us, in a thing that is as much worth as our ſoule is. 2. They cannot deceive others, but they muſt deceive their owne ſoule, being they are in eâdem navi, in the ſame condition. 3. They confirme their owne words, and adde a commentary of practice to the text of preaching, with their workes; and by taſting themſelves of what they preſcribe to us, ſecuring us of all feare of poyſon. 4. Laſtly, they may, and doe ſometimes ſet a ſeale of ſuffering to their ſaying: but I paſſe to the third. Thirdly, the miniſtery of men is moſt effectuall, as for thoſe reſpects touched before, and becauſe they ſymbolize in qualities; whereas Philoſophy teacheth, that there is eaſieſt tranſmutation, where there is a Symbolicall quality betweene the agent and the patient: and becauſe they ſympathize in nature, ſo that there may be a ſecret attractive power, as we ſee in the Loadſtone to the Iron, or rather a mutuall conſpiring to embrace one another: So even by the very art of perſwading: I know not what the tongue-eloquence of Angels is, and the Apoſtle ſeems to mention them with intimation of excellency, neither will I maintaine againſt all commers that a man may be a better Orator than an Angell: but I know the Lord is, and he hath put his Word into the mouth of man, he that made the heart and tryes the reines, he knowes how to frame words that will affect the heart, and ſo they doe inſinuate themſelves into the darkeſt corners of it with wondrous power and efficacie. And this I know and dare avouch, that the higheſt myſterie in the Divine Rhetorick is to feele what a man ſpeakes, and then ſpeak what a man feeles.foreign. * Praxiteles exquiſitely drew love, taking the patterne from that paſſion which he felt in his owne heart. And therefore this advantage a man hath, that he having a portion in the worke of Christs redemption, hath himſelfe taſted, how ſweet the blood of Chriſt is, how ſoveraigne to a ſinfull ſoule, by experimentall, as well as contemplative Divinitie. The heart beſt underſtands the language of the heart. But as this ordinance is profitable to men, becauſe it is honourable to the Miniſter, and beneficiall to the people, ſo there is a common utility redounds to both. For thirdly, it is one of the ſtrongeſt bonds of love betweene Chriſtians, who are hereby made givers and receivers in the moſt precious things, it is a knot to tie man and God together, God ſpeaking to man by the Miniſter, and man ſpeaking to God, it is the mid way as it were, in which they meet, and though there be more ſubtile bonds of faith, and Gods Spirit, whereby we are immediately united to Chriſt, and made members of his myſticall body: yet for our viſible communion with him in his politicall body, the Miniſters are as it were the ligaments. There remains yet one of the three principall reaſons, Why the Lord makes men his Ambaſſadors, and it muſt not be omitted, becauſe it is the moſt principall among the three: and this it is. 3. He gaines moſt glory this way, for, the weaker the inſtrument is for outward pomp, or appearance, the greater had need to be the power, and ſo the praiſe of the artificer;Eccl. 10. 10. If the Iron be blunt, you muſt put the more ſtrength to it, ſaith Salomon in Eccleſiaſtes: Now you know how much the Lord eſteemes of his honour: I am the Lord, (ſaith he by the Prophet) And my glory I will not give to another. And as Xenocrates ſaid once to the children of one that had beene liberall to him, I have required your father, (ſaid he) for all men commend him for his kindneſſe to me. And as Themiſtocles, when he entred into the Olympick games, and all the Grecians caſt their eyes upon him, and pointed at him, and whiſpered one to another, This is Themistocles that delivered Greece from Xerxes, and the barbarous Perſians, This is Themiſtocles, This day (ſaid Themiſtocles) I confeſſe I am abundantly recompenced, for all the paines that ever I tooke for Greece: So the Lord lookes for no other reward but this: And therefore the Pſalmiſt repeates it very often, and very pathetically, O that men would therefore praiſe the Lord for his goodneſſe, and for his wondrous workes that he doth for the children of men, Pſalme 107. He gives all the commodity of the world to the ſonnes of men, receiving only this Royaltie to himſelfe; he cals for no other tribute, but that we attribute all to him. Now when he workes by ſimple meanes, all the glory comes entirely to him, there is none to ſhare with him, none to cry halfes with him, mens mindes cannot reſt in the inferiour cauſes, they muſt needs looke higher and ſay, This is the Lords doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes: whereas if the meanes had many faire probabilities in them, God muſt needs be robbed of a great part of his honour: both becauſe men are ready to thinke highly of themſelves, and magnifie their owne actions, and alſo becauſe others are ready to aſcribe much to the immediate agent, who is intituled to the honour by the ſuffrage of the ſenſes too, Is not this great Babell that I have built for my owne magnificence (ſaid Nebuchadnezzer) ſtrouting in his Palace: and the proud Phyſitian wrote thus to King Philip, *foreign.Menecrates a god, to Philip a King: what title then might the ſpirituall Phyſitian challenge, that revives ſoules? either arrogating all to themſelves, or elſe dividing (as the Aſſe in the Fable did to the Lion) an equall portion to God and themſelves; and as the Jeſuites now doe, Laus Deo & virgini Marieae, and then they would fall ſoone into the Cardinals method, Ego & Rex meus. Beſides you ſee how fond men are of the inſtruments of their good, how ready they are to deifie them: moſt of the Heathen gods have beene dubbed ſo, becauſe they have been beneficiall to men. Communicative bonitie (which we call bountie) hath ſuch a lively reſemblance of the Divinitie, that weake eyes can hardly know them aſunder: it was once Dionyſius his ſophiſtry, Dii boni ſunt, eorum ergo bonitate utendum; but it is almoſt all mens naturall Logick, Boni ſunt, ergo dii ſunt, according to that in the Poet,
—Deus nobis haec otia fecit,
Nam que erit ille mihi ſemper Deus.—
And therefore the Lord to prevent all ſuch injurious uſurpation, and vindicate his owne title, effects great things ſometimes without meanes, ſometimes with very ſmall meanes, that in all matter of praiſe, the image and ſuperſcription may be his only. And therefore as when Caeſar and Bibulus were Conſuls together, and Bibulus did nothing, being over-awed by Caeſar, they were wont to write in jeſting manner, Iulio & Caeſare Conſulibus: So if it pleaſe God at any time to aſſume man to be his colleague, in any great action, we muſt not ſay God and man did ſuch a thing, but God and his grace, did ſuch a thing. And it may be ſaid well enough of him, as it was of Caeſar in in another cauſe, Socium habet neminem, he may have a companion, but he muſt not have a competitor. Perhaps indeed, the fooliſh Epicure, that couſened himſelfe with a ſilly Paralogiſme, and concluded, that God did not create the world, becauſe he had nothing to create it withall: Quae ferramenta, quae machinae, qui vectes, qui miniſtri tanti operis fuerunt? perhaps, I ſay, he, when he heard of Ambaſſadors from a God, and a new creation, and ſaw nothing but men, and weak men, Gods Miniſters, would make a ſcoffe againe, at qui Miniſtri? and would either denie the thing, becauſe he did not like the meanes, or would hardly be perſwaded, that ſuch Atomes could do ſuch great wonders. But God ſees not as man ſees: he in his wiſdome uſes this courſe, for the cauſe alledged. It is time to conclude, but yet give me leave to confirme this with two places of Scripture, and two examples: The firſt is the 2 Corinth 4. 7. But we have this treaſure in earthen veſsels, that the excellencie of the power may be of God and not of us: I will not urge it becauſe I have uſed it before, ſince I entred into this argument. The ſecond is, the 1 Corinth. 1. from 17. to the end of the Chapter, a known Text, where as Apoſtle diſcourſes this at large, The ſumme is this: It pleaſed God by the fooliſhneſſe of Preaching to ſave them that believe. And againe, Brethren, you ſee your calling, how not many wiſe men after the fleſh, not many mighty, not many noble that are called: And wherefore is this? God hath choſen the fooliſh things of this world, to confound the wiſe, and God hath choſen the weake things of the world, to confound the things that are mighty, and baſe things of the world, and things that are deſpiſed, hath God choſen; yea, and things that are not, to bring to nought, things that are: and what of this? That no fleſh ſhould glory in his preſence: and the concluſion of all is according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The words need no Commentary, and therefore I paſſe to the examples. The firſt you ſhall finde in the 7. of Iudges, There the Lord overthrowes the Midianites by Gideon, who at firſt had gathered thirty two thouſand men, but theſe were too many for the Lord to worke with, therefore he will have them as it were boyled by two decoctions, till they ſunke firſt to ten thouſand, but there were yet too many, then to three hundred, and then they march againſt the enemy, who were more then one hundred and thirty thouſand, and covered the land like Graſhoppers: but I pray, how were theſe three hundred appointed? we doe not read ſo much as of a ſword they had, but they carried a Trumpet in their right hand, and emptie Pitchers, with a Lampe in their Pitchers in their left hand: and what did they? we cannot find a ſtroke they ſtrooke, but only they blew their Trumpets, and brake their Pitchers, and cryed, The ſword of the Lord, and of Gide on, and their enemies fell downe dead, or fled before them: and the end of all is couched in the beginning of the Chapter, Leſt Iſrael ſhould vaunt himſelfe againſt nee, and ſay, mine owne hand hath ſaved me. The ſecond, is the 6. of Ioſhua, where the Iſraelites beſeiged Iericho, and won it, a ſtrange ſeige, and a ſtrange victory: the Prieſts carried the Arke of God about the Citie, and blew with Rams-hornes, they compaſſed it about ſix dayes, and ſeven times the ſeventh day, and this was all: there was no other*foreign. ſeige laid, but the Arke of God; no other Arietes to batter the wals, but the Ramshornes; no Ordnance, but the ordinance of God that commanded this; they did not lift up an hand againſt it, only they lifted up their voyces; they did not ſhoot once, but only ſhout, and the wals of Iericho, as it were willing to doe ſome holy ſervice, on Gods holy Sabboth, did obeyſance to the Arke of God, (as Dagon did) they fell downe flat, as it were, and worſhipped the God of Iſrael. I made choiſe of theſe the rather, among infinite examples, becauſe I may paralell both with the thing in hand, for the Preaching of the Word is but like the ſounding of Rams-hornes (in the judgement of carnall men) towards the ſhaking of the wals of Iericho, towards the caſting downe the ſtrong holds of ſinne. And the former would make a ſweet Embleme of it. A Souldier with a Trumpet in the right hand, and an earthen Pitcher with a Lamp in the left hand, lively repreſenting the Miniſter, who doth both in his miniſtery ſound the Trumpet of the Goſpell, and in his martyrdome, break his body, like ſome earthen pitcher, that the glory of God might breake forth, through the humane frailtie, like a Lamp, and ſhine more bright and cleare. But I muſt paſſe over theſe, I will touch but one thing, and ſo conclude: for there is yet another reſpect in which God gets glory by this order, and that is, becauſe by this meanes, he takes try all of the obedience of his children, whether they will entertaine ſuch homely meſſengers for his ſake, who ſends them, and yeeld obedience to him, whoſe will they publiſh. But too much of this argument, which I am affraid ſome may think needleſſe, or fruitleſſe: and the truth is, I ſhould not have gone ſo farre in this path, if I had not obſerved ſome worthies of Iſrael all the way before me.