Eleven Choice Sermons, Part 1 · Sermon 4
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.
IT is a maxime in Divinitie received by generall conſent of all, Cathedram habet in coelo qui corda docet: and therefore I ſee no reaſon, why that which hath beene ſaid ſhould not bee a ſufficient argument to prove, that thoſe that ſit in Moſes chaire are ſent from Heaven, except it be to thoſe that from walking in the way of the ungodly, and ſtanding in the way of ſinners, are come to ſit in the chaire of the ſcornfull. Yet I will adde a ſecond degree, to put it out of queſtion: for they doe not only worke upon the heart in generall, but in a ſpeciall and ſtrange manner, as might be ſhewen many wayes, I will but touch the principall. It is our Saviours promiſe to his Diſciples, Verily, verily, I ſay unto you, he that believeth on me, Ioh. 14. 12.the workes that I doe, ſhall he doe alſo, and greater workes then theſe ſhall he doe: greater workes then theſe, O bleſſed Saviour, (might the Diſciples ſay) how can that be? Thy name is Wonderfull, the great Counſellor, and thou doſt wonders alone; and is not this one of thy great wonders, how we ſhould conceive the wonder of this ſpeech, greater workes then theſe, O bleſſed Saviour! The Schooles of men have an Axiom among them indeed,*foreign. Many Schollers are better than their Maſters, but we have learned another leſſon in thy Schoole, The Diſciple is not above the Master, and it is enough, the Diſciple be as the Maſter is, it is enough: O humble Saviour, among proud ſinners, it is too much! greater workes then thou O Lord! didſt not thou cure all diſeaſes, caſt out Divels, didſt not thou rebuke the Feaver, and it durſt not ſtay, chide the winds, not as he in the Poet, expoſtulate with them, but chids them with authority,*foreign. rebuk't the winds, and they were ſilent, calmed the Sea, and walked upon the ſwelling waves, as it were upon ſome Marble pavement? and can there be greater works then theſe? But who was that O Lord, was it not thou, that diddeſt raiſe the dead, that Rulers daughter at the houſe, the Widows ſonne at the Hearſe, the two ſiſters brother (I meane Lazarus) in the grave, when he that ſtunk was revived with thy ſweet voyce, and he that was bound hand and foot with linnen cloaths (which was*foreign. a miracle in a miracle, as a Father ſpeakes) came forth and walked: and can we do greater works then theſe? Now we have begun to ſpeak unto our Lord, ſuffer us to ſpeake once more, though we be but duſt and aſhes. Dideſt not thou feed five thouſand men with five loaves, five loaves, which by a ſtrange Arithmetick were ſo multiplied by Diviſion, and ſo augmented by Subſtraction, that five loaves ſufficed five thouſand gueſts, and yet twelve baskets full were gathered up, for thy twelve Apoſtles. Dideſt not thou cure the poore woman of her incurable iſſue of blood with a touch of the hemme of thy garment only: it was her contactus, but thy vertue O bleſſed Lord that did it, and ſhall we doe greater workes than theſe? Yes, they doe greater miracles, ſaith Augustine, Majus enim est quod ſanet vmbra, quàm quod ſanet fimbria, comparing the laſt I mentioned, with that which is recorded of Peter in the Acts, that thoſe which had diſeaſes were healed by his ſhadow as he paſſed by: and they did greater workes that were no miracles, then all the miracles that Chriſt wrought, and they were the converſion of many ſoules to God by their miniſtery: and good reaſon it ſhould bee thought ſo, for if a ſhadow, a privation, a nullity may produce ſuch a reall effect, then what ſhall we think of the light of the Goſpell, the moſt beautifull, the warmth, the moſt active, the truth of the Goſpell, the moſt powerfull quality in the world, if we believe the Wiſeman? and two of which are ſo tranſcendently excellent, that it hath beene ſaid, that if God himſelfe would take a viſible ſhape, he would make a body of light which ſhould be acted and animated by truth as by a ſoule: Thou haſt made light thy garment, and thou loveſt truth in the inward parts. Yea, and that ſame Father affirmeth, that the juſtification of a ſinner, is a greater worke then the creation of a World. Aut ſi aequalis ſit utrumque potentiae, certè hoc eſt majoris miſericordiae, as he concludeth it. The Schoole follow him in this, and diſpute whether it be not ſimply the greateſt worke that ever was; and determine that it is ex parte effectus, averring that the leaſt worke of grace is greater then the greateſt in nature: they doubt alſo whether it be miraculous, and leave it doubtfull. Our moderne Divines give a reaſon of it, becauſe in creation there is only a negative indiſpoſition of nothing, to being: but in regeneration, there is beſides a poſitive oppoſition of ſinne, to grace. I will not now diſcuſſe whether this be preciſely true, or no: but a great work it is without queſtion, as may appeare by the act which is called in Scripture a riſing from the dead, Bleſſed are they that have their part in the first reſurrection, Rev. 20. 6.ſaith the Spirit, in the Revelation: †foreign.a generation, except a man be borne againe he can never ſee the kingdome of God, ſaith Chriſt to Nicodemus: aforeign. Ioh 3. 3.a new creation, ſaith Paul to the Corinthians: it appeares likewiſe by thebforeign. Gal. 6. 15. effect, the which is called the new heart, Create in me O Lord a new heart: A new man, That the new man may be renewed daily: A new creature, Neither circumciſion, nor uncircumciſion availeth any thing, but a new creature: It appeares laſtly by the terms, between which there is as much difference, as betweene light and darknes, death and life, Heaven and Hell, the Divell and God, immane quantum! for theſe are the termes betweene which this mutation runnes, as the Scripture teaches us. Who can bring to paſſe this truecforeign tranſmigration, (Pythagoras dreamed of another) but he that is the Father of Spirits, and th… Word that doth it, muſt needs be the breath of his mouth: This divinedforeign. Converſion (as Plato calls it, ſpeaking admirably of it, though he knew it not) but he to whom the Prophet goeth in this caſe, turne us O Lord, and we ſhall be turned: this wondrouseforeign change, as Clemens cals it, as I noted, but he that formed the mountaines, and of whom the Pſalmiſt, Manus tuae plaſmaverunt me, he that formed man after his owne image: Dii coeptis, nam vos mutâstis & illas, aſpiratemeis: figmentum cordis, ſaith Moſes, The imagination of mans heart is only evill and that continually: but as for the heavenly work of grace, of holineſſe, of a new man, is as the Heaven is ſaid to be, and as the Protoplaſt was, figmentum manuum tuarum, the workmanſhip of thy hands O Lord. In a word, none can reſtore or vindicate a man from the ſervitude of ſinne, into the libertie of Gods children, and of a miſerable bond-ſlave make one a*foreign. royall man, (as Clemens cals his Gnoſtick) but the great King, of whom it is ſaid, if his Spirit make us free, then are we free indeed: the knot in which we were tyed is dignus vindice nodus, and our deſperate caſe doth require a†foreign. ſtrong helpe, according to the uſe and phraſe of Tragedies. I could be infinite in this theme, if I would tell you all the wonders that they worke in the heart of man, the terrours of the Law, which make a man think that he is in Hell, more truly and more profitably, then the Jeſuites doe their Clients in their chamber of meditation: by the conſolations of the Goſpell, which gives a man wings to flie into Heaven, and take ſanctuary there from all afflictions, from whence he lookes downe upon this lower world with heroicall contempt and ſcorne, wondring at the vanitie of men, that are ſo greedy of vanities, whereas the whole World appeares to him (as the territory of Athens to Alcibiades in Lucian) but a ſpot of earth; he ſcornes the beſt Orators to perſwade him (as Nazianzene ſaith of Cyprian that he did in his Letters exhortatory to Martyrdome) to think that ſwords have not met all in them to do him hurt, that fire is cold, that wild beaſts are gentle, that famine is dainties, that the hotteſt flames that ever Martyrs were burned in for Chrict's ſake were but like Eliahs fiery Chariot, wherein he rode in triumph into Heaven; and which is more, that theſe are are not Paradoxes in Chriſtianity.
I can remember but one that gave ſuch teſtimony of the power of any humane writing: and that was Cleombrotus, I thinke of Platoes booke, of the immortality of the Soule, which when he had read, he was ſo afflicted, that hee killed himſelfe, to learne that without booke in the Elyſian fields that he had read there, and injoy that good that he imagined out of it. But how many thouſand Martyrs, have ſet a feale of blood to Gods booke, and tooke it upon their death, that it was the moſt powerfull of all other.
But to bound my ſelfe: I purpoſed only to treat of the firſt worke, which I have already done: Yet I will adde one thing more, and but one thing. The untamed horſes of diſtempered paſſions (as Plato cals them) which many times ſo hurry and wheele about the crazie chariot of reaſon, that they ſet the wheeles of judgement (upon which it ſhould runne ſteadily) cleane beſides the ſocket, even theſe are charmed and tempered by this heavenly muſick, as the evill ſpirit in Saul was by the Harpe and hand of David. Excellently Lactantius, Da mihi iracundum, da libidinoſum, da avarum, &c. and I will ſo inchant him with a few ſyllables, (he ſayes no more, but paucis ſyllabis) out of Gods word, that I will make him meeke, chaſte, liberall, and concludes this confident aſſertion with this Epiphonema, Tanta divine ſapientiae vis est, ut in hominis pestus infuſa, matrem delictorum ſtultitiam uno ſemel impetu expellat. It is more then time to ſhut up this point: briefly therefore, it is abſurd to ſay of naturall generation, Sol & homo generant hominem, and yet to thinke of ſpirituall regeneration, that the ſonne of man can doe it without the ſonne of righteouſneſſe. And if the principles be true that the maſters of that art have delivered in conveyance of water, Aqua tantum aſcendit, quantum deſcendit: then this water of life, which makes a man aſcend to God, muſt needs have deſcended from God firſt, and the Conduitpipes, the Miniſters of God, muſt needs be Organicall, not Authenticall agents, in the cures they worke with it, they muſt be the inſtruments of God, Gods Ambaſſadors. The third degree followes, which is, the heart of man conferres nothing to this worke, to this great worke, not ſo much as a naturall receptivitie: if there were apprehenſion in nature, the difficultie would not be ſuch as to prove a Divinitie, but to make Adamants receive impreſſions like waxe, to teach a ſtone to fly like a bird, to ſwimme againſt the ſtreame, to croud againſt the multitude, to ſaile againſt the windes, to make a man againſt the corruption of his nature, againſt the nature of his corruption, a man of the World, to ſavour and reliſh the things of God: I know not what ſtrength in nature can make it good, what authority can warrant it:Rom 8. 7. The best wiſdome of the fleſh is (ſaith the Apoſtle)*foreign. enmitie with God: moſt ſignificantly †foreign.the moſt refined wiſdome is not only an enemy, but even enmity to God:
Non vitioſus homo es Zoile, ſed vitium, ſaid the*Martial. Poet, with ſome affinity to this phraſe. I will illuſtrate this but with a word or two out of Nazianzen, and ſo leave it, becauſe I perceive the time paſſes, and the thing hath beene touched in part already. Such is the corruption of man, that propound any divine good to it (ſaith he) it is entertained,*foreign. as fire by water, or wet wood with hiſſing: So grace is almoſt hiſſed off the ſtage with ſcoffs and taunts: I cannot tell, but me thinks I could bid the ſecure and carnall men, if there were any ſuch among us, beware leaſt it prove that they have learned that hiſſing facultie from the hiſſing ſerpent: but to goe on, propound any evill,*foreign. like fire to ſtraw, as he ſhewes elegantly, like the fooliſh Satyre that made haſte to kiſſe the fire, like that unctuous matter; which the naturaliſts ſay that it ſucks and ſnatches the fire to it, with which it is conſumed. Nay, this is the great difficultie of a Paſtorall cure, ſaith the ſame Father, that whereas in other medicinall, the diſeaſed party is termed a patient, and may be ſo, becauſe hee is willing to ſubſcribe to that which his Phyſitian ſhall preſcribe him: In this theologicall, it is cleane contrary, a mans ſelfe is his greateſt ſickneſſe,*foreign. like a franticke perſon that fals foule with his beſt friends, †foreign.we are valiant againſt our ſelves, and we defend what we affect: like corrupt Lawyers, to plead an ill cauſe; and they which*foreign. are more generous without all colouring or cloaking the matter, runne bare-headed as we ſay, runne on ſhameleſſe to all wickedneſſe: who ſhall helpe poore man in this miſerable condition, nam quid miſerius eſt miſero non miſerante ſeipſum; ſaith Auſtin in his Confeſſions: even thou O God who art Pater miſerationum, which workeſt mightily with thine owne word in the mouth of thy Miniſters, thy Ambaſſadors. The fourth and laſt degree will make this proofe ſquare and ſure, a good proofe; like Ariſtotles good man,†foreign. quadrangular, and therfore we muſt not omit it. This worke of the Miniſters upon the heart, which is ſo effectuall, and yet ſo much againſt the haire, againſt the bent of the heart, beſides all theſe, it is done with ſilly inſtruments. The Philoſophers and Rhetoricians make a Goddeſſe of their eloquence, and by the power of her divinity, thinke to bewitch and inchant their auditors as they pleaſe, and to ſcrue themſelves into the moſt retired parts, to take the heart*foreign. the chiefe City or Metropolis of mans affections: they admire her, they ſtudie her, they pray her †foreign.charme this man: yea, and to ſay the truth, who is ſuch an infant that hath not heard of the power of eloquence? And yet it is not this that doth this great worke, it is another*foreign. perſwaſive goddeſſe, that breeds this ſetled†foreign. confidence, this grounded*foreign. perſwaſion of a Chriſtian, it is humilitie, and ſimplicitie, and plainneſſe of ſpeech that doth it, as the Apoſtle declares to the Corinthians: ſuch is the Scripture language, ſuch the Miniſters. And as Plutarch obſerved out of the naturaliſts, that the ſeed of thoſe that are laſcivious and incontinent is not fruitfull, and applies it to the great talkers: ſo I make no queſtion, but wanton and laſcivious Rhetorick, makes the immortall ſeed of Gods Word more unfruitfull; like a ſword wrapped in wooll, that cannot cut; like an Oke embraced with the flattering Ivie, that will not thrive and proſper. I doe not condemne Rhetorick: the genuine tropes and figures in a ſolid ſpeech are like arrowes in the hand of a mighty man, as the Pſalmist ſaith in another caſe, bleſsed is the man that hath his quiver full of them. And as the Philoſopher ſaid of Oyle, obſerving the uſe to be good, but the abuſe to be great, Male ſit illis cinaedis (ſaid he) qui rem optimam peſsime infamârunt: ſo may I ſay, the uſe is good but the abuſe is great of eloquence: and therefore away with theſe effeminate, and unmanly Orators, that have caſt a ſhrewd aſperſion upon a noble profeſſion: As for the modeſt and ſober uſe, that is true of Divinitie which Seneca ſaid of Philoſophy, that is true of eloquence which he ſaid of wit, Philoſophia non renunciat ingenio; Theologianon renunciat eloquentiae, for there is an eloquence in the Scripture, which is more then eloquence: the Rhetoricians may call theirs an*foreign. Allurement of the ſoule, but this is a†foreign. tranſmigration as I told you: theirs may perfundere animum, but this doth perfringere: they may delight, but this doth raviſh with a divine Enthyſiaſme: theirs is properly oratory, but this is, to ſpeake more properly, Imperatory, which is then moſt full of Affection, when it is moſt free from affectation: theirs is more Scholaſticall, but this is more majeſticall, as beſt becomes the mouth of Princes, as the noble Lord of Pleſis hath well noted of the ſtile of the Scripture.
But the beſt of their nervi and t…ri, the beſt ſinewes and ſtrength, is but as Longinus obſervs of ſome childiſh Orators,*foreign. their ſchoole wit through curioſity ends in folly, or frigidity and chilneſſe, in compariſon of this.
To end this, I can beare well that they brag of their Arculae, Myrotheſia, and Lecythi, like ſome deformed woemen of their boxes, out of which they draw a painted and greaſie beautie. But I cannot brook that they ſhould ſpeake of thunder and lightning in their Orators, ignorant and ſilly men, as though theſe fiery Meteors were bred, or did appeare in this lower Region, ſo far from Heaven. No, no, as they ſaid once of Chriſtian Souldiers, that they were Fulminatrix Legio, ſo I may ſay of the celeſtial Hierarchie of the Angels of the Churches, the Lords Miniſters, that is Fulminatrix Regio: and if I be not deceived, he ſhould not be much amiſſe, that ſhould call the Pulpit the ſhop of thunder: all other Pericles have but brutum fulmem, in compariſon of that, as you may conceive out of that which hath beene ſpoken: and that which is the wonder in this, all this is without any pomp or ſhew, not*foreign. with great pompe, but†foreign. with great weakneſſe and infirmity rather, which argues the evidence of the Spirit and the power of God the more ſtrongly. I conclude therefore. As one ſaid of Demetrius Pompeii libertus, who ſpake much, but had nothing to doe, when Pompey himſelfe who did all, but ſaid but little, I regard not (ſaid he) *foreign.what thou ſayeſt, but what he doth ſilently: ſo may we ſay, it skils not ſo much what the Miniſter ſaid outwardly, as what the Spirit workes inwardly: ſince the efficacie of their words depend not ſo much upon themſelves, becauſe they are good orators, as upon the Spirit of God, becauſe they are Gods Orators, Gods Ambaſſadors. I have finiſhed now the explication of the intenſive efficacie. I muſt adde a word of their extenſive, for ſo I was conſtrained to call them for diſtinction ſake. I meane it thus: If you take a view of the whole world you ſhall ſcarce find a region, of which the Miniſters of the Goſpell may not ſay as he in the Poet, Quae Regio in terris noſtri non plena laboris?
The Sects of Philoſophers were diſtinguiſhed by the names of*foreign. Italick, and†foreign. Ionick, as Laertius tels us, but Religion is characterized and known by the name of*foreign. Catholike. Now wee know there is nothing commonly received, but either by the law of nature in morall, or by the law of nations in politicall affaires: Now the faith of Chriſt preached by the Miniſters being diſperſed over all, and not imprinted in all, by either of thoſe it cannot be but probable, that it proceeds from the grace of God, who is the God of nature. Againe, as the great Mathematician ſaid once to the King,†foreign. let me have a place to ſtand on, and I will move the earth, implying that the moving of this earth could not be ſuppoſed without a firme ſtanding on ſome other earth granted: ſo the moving of the whole earth by the Miniſters, to the embracing of the faith, muſt needs evince a fixing of them in Heaven, from whence they are ſent, and the rather becauſe of that great oppoſition, which they find every where, which will compell us to grant the former ſuppoſition. You have ſeene the Embleme of an earth beſeiged round with many windes, the Devill on the one ſide blowing, and the Pope the Divels inſtrument on the oppoſite ſide blowing, and the Cardinals the Popes agents on each ſide betweene them blowing, and the Turke at another corner blowing, and all to ſhake this earth: and yet notwithſtanding all theſe, the word is written in it immobilis, the word is written in indeleble characters, and it is unmoovable: and it may well be ſaid of all theſe blowers, as the Orator ſaid of the Athenians, comparing them to men running up an Hill, *foreign.they blow hard, but runne ſlow. The Earth is the Miniſters of the Goſpell, and that Word which they preach, all thoſe and many other lay their heads together, to blow it away, but all in vaine, for the finger of God hath written immobilis upon them, and his decree is like the Medes and Perſians, that cannot be changed, but what he hath written he hath written: Nulla litura in Decretis ſapientum, tis true of God: and good reaſon, the Spirit, as the wind, bloweth where it liſteth, as Chriſt ſaith, and it is folly at leaſt, if not madneſſe, as Pythagoras ſpeaks,*foreign. to blow againſt the winds.
The Word is like the†foreign. Lampe that is unquenchable, in the ſtorie which laughs at the winds (ridebis ventos, ſaith he) that ſwell, and puffe, and blow againſt it, but it cannot blow it out: and they that carry it are like the Perſian Souldiers, which they call*foreign. immortall, of whom the world may ſay, as they did once of the Grecians in that Epigramme, whom they thought invulnerable;†foreign. we ſhoot at them, but they fall not downe, we wound them, and not kill them.
In a word: as Gamaliel ſaid of the Apoſtles preaching, if it be of God it will prevaile, we may invert it and ſay moſt truly, if it prevaile thus againſt all oppoſition, ſurely, it is of God, they are men of his right hand, men of God, Gods Ambaſſadors.
There is no gainſayingbforeign. Demoſthenes words: tis true of the power of the Spirit, in the word of the Miniſters: as it was ſaid of Steven, his enemies could not ſo much as*foreign. ſtand againſt the wiſdome of the Spirit of God that was in him, but fell downe, as Dagon did before the Arke.
The tale of the Dragon and his traine (the falſe Prophet is the taile, ſaith Iſaiah, and the Pope is the falſe Prophet, as may appeare out of the Revelation) the taile of the Dragon, the Pope, may draw the third part of the ſtars out of heaven, but the gates of Hell cannot prevail gainſt any part of a ſtarre in the right hand of Christ: O thence it is that they are ſo invincible.