Eleven Choice Sermons, Part 2 · Sermon 6
1 Corinth. 2. 2.
For I determined to know nothing among you, but Chriſt Ieſus, and him Crucified.
BEfore I proceed any further, I muſt beſeech you all to heare with wiſdome and love. Let no man thinke theſe fowle Idolatries either leſse abominable, becauſe they are ſo ridiculous; or more …amiable, becauſe the phraſe of my ſpeech hath ſeemed hitherto to ſmile upon them. I thought I muſt confeſſe the Nature of this exerciſe, eſpecially in a controverſie, admitted of ſome libertie, and I wiſh I have not taken too much, and beſeech you ſo to interpret me.
But as the picture of a Goddeſſe in a certaine Temple was ſo contrived, that ſhe fround on men as they went in, and ſmiled as they came out, as though they had wonn her good wil with gifts and offerings: the Prieſts they did indeed, whoſe deviſe it was: and therefore I think the men, clean contrary to their Goddeſſe, ſmiled when they came in, as knowing nothing; but fround, when they went out ſo cheated: ſo, though yet my entrance hath ſeemed to ſmile, yet I meane to learne to frown, before I go out of this Temple of Idols: I meane to whip out theſe cheaters, though I came in like a Lamb (as they ſay of Moneths) I will endeavour to goe out like a Lion: I meane to walk with a fiery tongue among this ſtubble: and if this fat ſuperſtition begin as Agag did, to walk delicately, and ſay with her ſelfe, ſurely the bitterneſſe of death is paſt: let her know, I owe a ſacrifice to the God of Iſrael, and that muſt and ſhall be paid with her blood, gratior nullus liquor tinxiſſet aras, as hee ſaid.
Now I proceed: I had brought you to the gates of this Babel: we muſt caſt a mount againſt, and plant our batterie: I will tell you before hand, what you ſhall ſee afterward, that when you ſee it, you may obſerve all things more exactly.
1. You ſhall ſee the Armie: then,
2. The ſucceſſe.
The Armie ſhall be diſtinguiſhed into Captaine and Soldiers.
The Captaine ſhall be the Word of God, even God the Word, Ioſ. 5. 15.who is the Captaine of the Lords Hoſts, (ſo ſtiled in Ioſua) and the Lord of Hoſts: whoſe name is written in his thigh, Revel. 19. The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. The Souldiers ſhall be valiant reaſons that have ſworne fealtie to him, and put their neck under his yoke, that will fight manfully under his banner. The Succeſſe I need not tell you, you know alreadie by the Armie: yet I will tell you, that you may know the better.
1. Victorie: Not a blow ſhall be given, not a ſtroke ſtruck, but the Prieſts ſhall march before the Arke of God round about the Citie: they ſhall blow their Trumpets, at the command of their great Commander, at whoſe ſhrill voice the tender women ſhall teare their haire, and howle, as you have heard paltrie curs when a bell rings: feare ſhall come upon the inhabitants of the land: their hearts within them ſhall melt like water, and their feeble knees ſhall knock together, the foundations of the City ſhall ſhake, and the whole frame tremble: yea, their mightie champions ſhall fall low, and like the duſt that is under his feet: their paper wals and painted caſtles ſhall fall low, and kiſſe the ground on which he treads.
2. We will erect a ſtately Trophee for a monument, wherein ſhall be ingraven in indeleble Characters for all eternity, the true ſtorie of their pride, the juſt cauſe of their fall, the true ſtorie of their ſin, the juſt cauſe of their ſhame.
3. We will ſack the houſes, and ranſack the ſtorehouſes, and ſee what treaſures we may cary away for our owne uſe, to enrich our ſelves withall. Briefly and plainly I will,
1. Confute this their opinion by Scripture, and reaſon out of Scripture.
2. Refute their weake arguments.
3. Obſerve the cauſes of this groſſe ſuperſtition.
4. Collect ſome uſes: This is the ſumme of all that followes.
The firſt place of Scripture ſhall be againſt the mediation and invocation of Saints, Iohn 2. 4. Ieſus ſaid unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? &c. You may read the Story at large, I will run over my meditations. Obſerve with me.
1. Out of the Story, Mary was not ſent here to Chriſt by any, to mediate for them; but ſhe went of her owne accord.
2. Out of the words.
1. Severally, Woman, not Queene of Heaven, not Mother of Grace, nor Mother by nature, (though that were by grace too, for the Angell ſtiles her*foreign. as one that had received grace) not ſo much as Mother, but plaine Woman: What have I to doe with thee? or what haſt thou to do with me? according to the ſenſe: as if he ſhould have ſaid, as he did,
†foreign.This my command from me receive,
Thine own work do, thine own web weave.
Meddle with that you have to doe, you have nothing to do with me.
2. Joyntly out of the connexion, Woman, what have I? &c. as if he had ſaid, Thou art a woman, therefore thou haſt nothing to doe with me: thou haſt nothing to doe with me, becauſe thou art a woman: or, thou haſt nothing to do with me, why? becauſe thou art a woman. Thou art a woman, what then? Thou haſt nothing to do with me.
But imagine a Jeſuite had ſtood behinde her when ſhe heard this: no doubt but he would have prompted her thus: What be thus taken up? Woman: it might have beene Mother: What have I to doe with thee? then tell him, thou haſt ſomething to doe with him: uncover thy breaſts, Mary, (they be their phraſes) and conjure him, by the Roſes of thy cheekes, and the Lilies of thy hands, by the wombe that bare him, and the paps that gave him ſuck, by the ſacred name of a mother, to give thee better reſpect: nay, (they be their owne words) Imper a redemptori, jure matris impera: thus the Jeſuite would have tutor'd her.
But you muſt know, ſhe had a better maſter, even the Spirit of God within her, that taught her a better leſſon: and therefore ſhee ſtands not to contend or conteſt with him; ſhe makes no replys; ſhe knowes what the Pſalmiſt ſaid,Pſa. 45 11 He is thy Lord, and thou must worſhip him: and ſhee thinkes with her ſelfe, I was rightly called woman, for I have ſpoken once like a fooliſh woman, but I will make a covenant with my lips, that I offend no more with my tongue: and then as though ſhee did remember her ſelfe, that ſhe had forgotten her ſelfe, when ſhe attempted to preſcribe to him that is above preſcription, ſhe turnes to the ſervants, and commands them to do whatſoever he ſhould command them.
But O Bleſſed Saviour, ſuffer the ſonne of thine handmaid to ſpeake a word unto my Lord, in the behalfe of thine handmaid: Thou bidſt us Learne of me, that I am humble and meeke, and why art thou ſo cruel to thy Mother? thou waſt as a ſheepe that is dumbe and openeth not his mouth before the ſhearer▪ and why art thou ſo harſh to her that bare thee? How many, Lord, how many meaner ſutors have requeſted greater matters at thy hand and obtained, and why muſt a Mother only go away with a denyall? or if ſhe muſt needs have a denyall, why was not the bitterneſse of the thing, ſugred with the ſweetneſſe of words, or why muſt that denyall bee embittered with a check? but ſuppoſe her raſhneſſe deſerved, might not her relation deſerve a mitigation? why then was that check whetted and ſharpned with a queſtion the ſervant of war and wrath? Thy words, ô thou faireſt among the children of men, thy words were wont to diſtill like the honey, and thy lips to drop like the honey combe, and yet thou hadſt not taſted that potion of gall and vinegar, and whence then is this tang of tartneſſe?
But vaine man that I am? foreign, why doe I diſeaſe my maſter? why do I ſay, who ſhall aſcend into heaven to bring a reſolution of this difficultie from him? behold the meaning is neare, and the word is in thy mouth, and if you will give mee leave, I will tell you. She preſumed becauſe ſhee was his mother, and therefore he thinkes it fitteſt not to call her mother: ſhe knew too well he was her ſonne, but ſhe did not thinke that hee was the ſonne of God, and therefore he thinkes it fitteſt to call her Woman.
O the ſweetneſſe of the wiſdome and providence of our Lord: he gives a preſervative long before hand, againſt that poyſon which he foreſaw the Italian Divell would temper long after, to the perdition of many poore Chriſtian ſoules, if it ſhould not have beene prevented with a preſervative: He cals her but woman, that was his Mother; that we might not call her Goddeſſe, that was but a woman: he vilifies her, that we might not deiſie her: he tels her that ſhe had nothing to doe with him, that we might have nothing to doe with her: And as Paul writes, Be angry and ſinne not: ſo he who was the patterne of meekeneſſe was angry, that we who are the Embleme of weaknes might not ſinne: he was angry and denyed her petition, that we might not ſinn and dote on her interceſsion: he denyed her to her rebuke, that wee might not dote on her to his diſhonour: he rebuked her ſharply in a question, that he might teach us ſweetly that it was out of queſtion, that ſhe can have no ſtroke, no hand, not ſo much as a little finger in the divine worke of mediation.
To wind up all that hath beene ſpunne out of this Context of Scripture. Maries acceſse to Chriſt, was ſuch, and ſuch was her ſucceſſe with Ghriſt, that if I would goe to her, I thinke ſhe dare not goe to him: or if ſhe would goe to him, I knowe I dare not goe to her, except I longd to ſpeed as ſhee did.
This is the firſt teſtimonie which I truſſe up thus: Mary is a woman, and therefore ſhe hath nothing to doe with Chriſt: ſhe hath nothing to doe with Chriſt, therefore we have nothing to do with her, therefore ſhe is no Saviour, therefore no Saints are Saviours, therefore no Saints are to be invocated as Saviours.
The ſecond place ſhall be 1 Epistle of Iohn 2. 2. If any man ſinne, we have an advocate with the Father, even Ieſus Chriſt the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our ſinnes: here you ſee, that the beloved Diſciple tels us, that Chriſt is the only Advocate: that lay in the boſome of Chriſt, tell us, that Christ who came out of the boſome of the Father, is our only Advocate, not Saints, nor Angels: for here be many things to enable Chriſt for that office, that diſable all Saints.
1. The ſecret oppoſition of Client and Patron, of ſinner and righteous, if that any ſin, we have an Advocate, Ieſus Chriſt the righteous.
2. The ſweet agreement of the Patron and Judge, the Father and the Son, we have an Advocate with the Father, Chriſt Ieſus.
3. The neceſsary condition of him that muſt be an Advocate, intimated in the conjunction of theſe words, with thoſe that follow, we have an Advocate, Chriſt, who is the propitiation for our ſinnes: As if all were ſaid thus: We are all ſinners, for hee had ſaid before, that he that ſaith he hath no ſinne, is a lyar, and the truth of God is not in him: and therefore we ſtand in need of an Advocate: and that Advocate muſt needs be righteous, if he would doe any good for ſinners: and we have ſinned againſt the Father, therefore our Advocate muſt be one that is neare the Father: and becauſe our ſinnes cry lowd for vengeance, he muſt ſatisfie for our ſinnes, that will be heard for mercy: there is no mediation for ſinners, but by him who is the propitiation for ſinnes: none can plead for us, but he that bled for us. All theſe leade us by the hand to Chriſt: He is the righteous, the Lamb, the true Iſraelite without guile, the Sunne of righteouſneſſe, he is neare the Father, he ſits at the right hand of God, he is the only begotten and beloved ſonne of the Father, in whom he is well pleaſed: he made ſatisfaction for us, and therefore hee knowes beſt how to make interceſſion for us: therefore he is our only Advocate. Not Saints,
1. They are not the righteous, not*foreign but foreign. righteous, but made righteous, or if righteous, not the righteous.
2. They are not the only ſonnes of God, not †foreign but foreign.ſonnes, but made ſonnes, or if ſonnes, as they are ſonnes indeed, yet not by*foreign but foreign. nature, but by adoption: by adoption, therefore by†foreign making of ſonnes, not by nature; by Regeneration, not by Generation.
3. They are not our propitiation: they did not undergo the wrath of God, for our ſinnes: therefore they cannot undertake to procure the favour of God to our prayers: in a word, Saints are not Advocates, they are not Mediators, and therefore not to be invocated as Mediators.
The third place ſhall be Revelation 19. 10. And I fell downe at his feet to worſhip him, but the Angell ſaid, take heed thou doe it not, for I am thy fellow-ſervant, and worſhip God: I bring this place, becauſe as you know, the invocation of Angels is a part of this controverſie.
1. You have in this verſe, the errour of Iohn: and I fell downe, &c. out of which I obſerve, as Salomon writ his Eccleſiastes after his Vanities, to teſtifie his reconciliation to the Church: ſo Iohn reports his errour to ſhew that hee did repent of it. Againe, as Thomas doubted of the reſurrection, that we might be aſſured, as Divines obſerve: ſo Iohn was ſuffered to fall, that we might be admoniſhed to ſtand.
2. You have the correction of the Angel, which conſiſts,
1. In a Prohibition.
2. In a Reaſon.
The Prohibition is, See thou doe it not: which is much more emphaticall in the Originall,*foreign. ſee not, there is an Ellipſis of the word†foreign. doe, or ſome ſuch like: out of which obſerve,
1. The zeale of the Angell: for that word that is wanting may ſay as Chriſt did, the zeale of thine houſe hath eaten me up: zeale makes haſte, it ſtands not upon complement of words: it hath no ſpare time to ſpend ſo idly: and therefore the Angell ſaith abruptly foreign: as if he ſhould ſay, I cannot ſpeake till you ſtand up.
2. The deteſtation of the fact: for you muſt imagine that what was defective in ſpeech, was ſupplyed by action: and therefore thinke you ſee the Angell either turning away from Iohn, as offended; or raiſing up with his hand: he thought it not enough to expreſſe his diſlike in words, but hee ſpeakes more effectuall with his hands, and he will have him read his diſlike in his countenance. This I obſerve out of the paſſionate prohibition, foreign.
2. Now when he hath raiſed, he vouchſafes to conferre with him, and gives him a double reaſon of his refuſall.
1. I am thy fellow ſervant, therefore worſhip not me: Where by the way note the vanitie of the Popiſh diſtinction betweene*foreign civil and religious, the glorious triumphant Angels are†foreign fellow-ſervants to the Militant Saints, therefore they cannot challenge ſo much as*foreign. civill-worſhip from them.
2. God is only to be worſhipped, as it is written in the Law of Moſes, and therefore the Angell ſaith, worſhip God: and ſo you have this Law of Moſes in deed and litterally†foreign given by an Angell, as Paul ſpeakes to the Galatians.
And we may well ſay, this is a bleſsed Angell, he ſpeakes the word of God in truth, without reſpect of perſons; as they ſaid of Chriſt: yea, without reſpect of his owne perſon. And as David ſaid of Ahimaaz, he is a worthie man, and brings good tydings: ſo this is a worthy Angell, and let us believe him, and if any man or Angell from God, teach any other Doctrine, let him be accurſed: and though he refuſe his worſhip, yet he is no looſer by the bargaine: For as it was ſaid of Caeſar, that while he reſtored the ſtatutes of Pompey, he eſtabliſhed his owne: ſo while he reſerves to God the propriety of his honour, he preſerves to himſelfe the perpetuitie of his owne: for the Lord will honour them, that honour him. To point this Argument: Angels are not to be adored: therefore much leſſe invocated: Angels are not to be adored, therefore much leſſe Saints: to make a compound of the double Emphaſis: Angels are not to be adored, therefore much more Saints are not to be invocated.
The fourth place is, 1 Timoth. 2. 5. For there is one God, and one Mediator betweene God and Men, the man Chriſt Ieſus, who gave himſelfe a ranſome for all. We have three things in this Text worth obſervation, for the truth in hand.
1. The knitting together of thoſe words, one God, one Mediator; that is, as there is but one God, ſo there is but one Mediator: and therefore it were Atheiſme to ſet up more then one Mediator, as it is to ſet up more then one God.
2. The ſecret deſcription of a Mediator, he muſt be one betweene God and Man, that is, both God and Man: he muſt participate of both natures, that muſt reconcile both natures, which agrees to Chriſt only, who is*foreign. God-man, Immanuel, and therefore the true†foreign. Mediator, the true Ieſus, that can ſave his people from all their ſinnes: and though hee bee called Man-Chriſt, yet it is the Man that was the ſonne of God, as well as the ſonne of Man.
3. It followes, who gave himſelfe a ranſome for all, which is like that which I noted before in Iohn.
I might adde a fourth out of the Context: that Paul ſpeakes of a Mediator of interceſsion only, for hee had before recited, that prayers ſhould bee made for all men, and now he directs to the Mediator, in whoſe name theſe prayers muſt be offered, that they may be acceptable to God, and ſayes plainly, there is but one Mediator, and that one is Chriſt.
Which may ſerve to ſtop the mouth of Papiſts, which think to elude all with a diſtinction of Mediators of Redemption and Interceſsion, and ſay, that Chriſt is the Mediator of Redemption, Saints may be of interceſſion: if theſe men did ſpeake ſo warily as they might, and think ſo truly as they ought, yet we might ſay to them, as the Artificer did, that wrought finely, but ſpake meanely, when hee contended with another, that ſpake finely, and wrought meanly,*foreign. as he ſpake, I will doe: we might ſay of them, they ſpeak well with their tongue, but they make a noiſe with their feet that drownes the good words:†foreign. their deeds ſpeak more then their words: their pronunciation is good, but their action is naught: Soloeciſmum manu faciunt, as he ſaid.
But they do not ſpeake well, and yet they mean worſe: therefore I will endeavour to anſwer them.
1. Populus non diſtinguit, is an Axiom in Politicks: the peoples gowtie fingers, cannot handle the ſlender threads of theſe daintie diſtinctions, (which theſe ſubtile ſpinners make) ſo tenderly, but they will be in great danger of breaking: and ſo while theſe ſupplanting Jeſuites are counterfeiting Iacobs ſmooth voice (that I may alter the ſtorie a little) the poore peoples hands are rough and horrid with ſuperſtition, as Eſaus were: and it were hard to ſay which are in the better caſe: The people draw in iniquitie with cart-ropes of vanitie, (as the fooliſh Trojans did the fatall Horſe into their Citie) and ſo go down to the pit directly: The Jeſuites ſpin a fine thread out of their brain (as the Spiders do, out of their bellie) and upon that they thinke to climb to Heaven as wiſely: Or like two Buckets at a Well, the people are like to that which goes down in a rope directly; the Jeſuite as the other, ſeems to be comming up (not upon that thick rope, for he ſees the other go down in it) but he thinks to winch himſelfe up upon a ſilly thread.
I think the people in the better caſe, for though they go down in the rope, yet they go emptie, and the rope (as it were) moderates the violence of the fall, ſo that they are not like to ſinck ſo deep: but the Jeſuite comming up full upon his ſlender thread (ſuppoſe hee ſhould wind himſelfe a little way, by his Mathematicall Magicks) the thread cannot chooſe but breake, and then hee cannot chooſe but fall into the bottome of hell: and good reaſon, as he hath better known*foreign. the depths of Satan, ſo he ſhould better feele†foreign. the depths of hell: as he hath made the depths of Satan, ſo he ſhould meaſure the depths of hell: The Summe of this anſwer is, the thread of this diſtinction is too ſlight to beare ſuch a weight: and beſide, Populus non diſtinguit, while they diſtinguiſh, the people periſh.
2. Principes non diſtinguunt, is true in Politicks, though it be no Axiom. It is but an hard bargaine for a King to exchang a Crown for a craftie diſtinction The poore King of the Indians, when he heard that the Pope had given away his Kingdome to the King of Spaine, asked what the Pope was, that gave away that which was none of his owne: but let him claime the right of diſpoſſeſſing Princes, when he pleaſes, and diſpoſing Scepters, where he pleaſes: let him publiſh his pictures and repreſent Turks Turbants, and Imperiall and royall Crowns with Dukes Coronets hanging downe like labels from his loftie Miter, as hee hath done: let him pronounce them Maniches, holding two Principia, that hold any power equall to his Soveraigntie: let him enjoy all, perhaps at his donation, who ſaid of Kingdomes, all theſe are mine, which I will give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worſhip: though it be much, yet let him take all, becauſe he is the Vicar of Chriſt: now me thinks he hath ſo large a pariſh, and ſo rich tithes, he might at leaſt have remembred that he was but Chriſts Vicar: why then doth he wound the honour of Chriſt, and (as it were) cleave his Sacred in twaine, and thinke to bring this foreign; and think to heale it with theſe figg-leaves? why doth he rend the ſeameles coate of Chriſt, and then make up the matter with a ſleeveleſſe diſtinction of Interceſſion and Redemption?
The Whore of Rome hath learn'd of that Harlot that was judged before Salomon, to ſay Dividatur; but Chriſt will not part with his honour ſo: he likes no ſuch halving: he will have all or none: Divide and Regna, is a Machiavilian rule, and true: give the Saints halfe, and (it is no great difference) let them take all as well. The ſumme of this anſwer is: When they rob Chriſt of his honour, he cannot take ſuch a diſtinction for ſatisfaction; Principes non diſtinguunt.
3. Scriptura non diſtinguit. This proud diſtinction ſtands ſtrouting, like the Angell in the Revelation, with one foot upon the Land, and the other upon the Sea: ſo this hath one part that hath ground in Scripture, namely, that Chriſt alone is the Mediator of Redemption; but the other part, that Saints may be Mediators of Interceſsion, floates upon their reſtleſſe brain, as it were upon the Sea: ſo that if it have any weight in it, it muſt needs ſinke with his own weight. Again, the Scripture tels us, that the Saints have long white robes: but theſe robes are given them, they are intire the gift of Chriſt: the wool is Chriſts, who is the Lamb ſlain before the begining of the world: the dye is Chriſts, they are waſhed white in the blood of the Lamb: the work is Christs, as they ſhewed the garments that Lydia wrought with her owne hands, ſo theſe are wrought with Chriſts own hands: and they are ſent to us, as David ſent his ſervants to Hanun, Embaſſadors of peace and comfort: and therefore it is barbarous and brutiſh inhumanitie, to cut theſe coats of Chriſt ſhort, where with our nakedneſſe is covered: and it is divelliſh impietie, to take that which remains and make broad Phylacteries, and large fringes with it for the Saints, and ſo to make proud Phariſees, which were indeed penitent Publicans. Briefly, the Scripture joyns both together, Redemption and Interceſſion, to make Chriſt a perfect Saviour: Scriptura a non diſtinguit: and therefore what God hath joyned together, let no man ſeparate.
4. Pontificii non diſtinguunt: Bellarmine himſelf that objects this riven ſhield of this diſtinction, as a ſufficient bulwarke for defence of this impietie, rejects it elſewhere: not becauſe he had forgotten what he wrote here, but becauſe he remembred what he thought here: and therefore in his booke De Indulgentiis, he caſts off this mask of modeſtie, and puts on (as he ſpeaks)*foreign. a viz or of impudencie: or rather,†foreign. with a bare head, as the Greeks ſpeake, without all circumſtances: or rather more, for he doth*foreign. ſteele his forehead againſt bluſhing, and ſayes plainly, that Saints are Mediators of Redemption alſo; which overthrowes that forged diſtinction: Pontificii non distinguunt: and now you ſee no more Myſterie, but Blaſphemy written in the whores forehead: ſo that there needs no other Confutation but to have read it.
I have beene large in this, becauſe it is the only ſtarting hole they have: and therfore I will name but one place more, and that briefly.
The fifth. Eph. 3. 12. In whom we have acceſſe and boldneſſe, with confidence by the faith in him: in him, that is, in Chriſt: we have acceſſe, that is, to the Father: I will obſerve but two words here more ſpecially: 1. Acceſſe in Greeke foreign: (ſo that according to our tranſlation, we have not ſo much as any acceſſe to God the Father, but by Chriſt, who is the way and the doore: I think the word may be rendred Preſentation, I am ſure, the thing is ſaid elſewhere, and is true: Heaven is a royall Benefice, there is none that hath the right of preſentation, but the Kings ſonne. I think we may find an Embleme of it at home: the Saints are indeed Citizens of the new Ieruſalem, free Deniſons of Heaven, ſuppoſe them of the Parliament, yet they are but of the lower houſe, they are Prieſts, but not High Prieſts; they have no acceſſe into this Sanctum Sanctorum: they are incorporated into the moſt renowned Univerſitie, the Celeſtiall Syon, which I may well call the mountaine of viſion, as the lower was called the valley of viſion: for there they ſee no more by faith, but by viſion, as the Schoole ſpeakes: In the mount will the Lord be ſeene, as Abraham ſaid: nay, ſuppoſe them of the houſe too, it is but of the non Regent houſe, Chriſt alone is the only King, the only Regent: he that hath not h's Scio, he that is not preſented by him to his Father, ſhall never be admitted to any degree in the Univerſity of glory.
The ſecond word that I obſerve is foreign or foreign for there are two for failing: ſuppoſe there be acceſſe, yet without Chriſt there is no boldnes, no confidence: if our heart like a wiſe Mercha…t would ſend a ſhip of prayer to the coaſt of Heaven that ſhould returne richly laden, with the treaſures of that good land, it muſt firſt command the gracious dew to diſtill abundantly from the windows of the eyes, for this ſhip muſt ſwimme thorough a Sea of ſalt teares: and then to omit all other tackling, it muſt provide a Card and a Compaſſe which muſt agree with the points, with the will of Heaven, and the Needle of it muſt bee touched with the Loadeſtone: and if it be touched with the true Loadeſtone, it will have a fit of ſhaking, a palſie of feare, it will turne and turne, and tremble and tremble, till it come to Chriſt; who will rebuke the Fever, and heale the Palſie: and then it will ſtand ſtill, and ſtand with confidence: for Chriſt is a Magneticall rock whoſe attractive grace it is that drives it thither: and the houſe of faith is builded upon that rocke: let the raine fall, and the Windes riſe, and the Sea rage, it ſtands unmovable, like to Mount Sion that cannot be removed: and why, becauſe it is builded on a Rock.
The Papiſts then that goe without this faith in Chriſt, may come with a ſhivering of feare, but they cannot come with boldneſse: or, that we may be liberall to them, they may come with impudence, but they cannot come with boldneſse: for in Chriſt wee have acceſse with boldneſſe, faith the Apostle.
And thus farre have I exerciſed my ſelfe in the Scripture: if any ſay, I might have made choiſe of more and more pregnant places. I anſwer: that I thinke theſe pregnant enough, and I know this truth impregnable, and therefore I need not be very ſcrupulous.
You have heard how the Papiſts diſhonour Chriſt crucified, by the honour that they give to Saints canonized: the Saints that have gone before us, are indeed a cloud of glorious witneſſes, as the Apoſtle ſpeakes to the Hebrewes, wherewith we, who are the ſonnes of promiſe, are encompaſſed in our journey: but they comming after them, have made them a cloud of groſſe idolatry, wherewith Chriſt, who is the Sun of Righteouſneſſe, is eclipſed in his glory: You have heard in particular how they commit folly with the Virgin Mary.
I touched that point but ſparingly: but if a man would take the paines to turne over their ſtinking Roſaries, but halfe ſo much as they do their beads in a day, he ſhould ſoone perceive that the name of Chriſt is out of faſhion, out of date, and the name of the Virgin in the freſheſt honour: the withered lawrels of Chriſt are faine to vaile the bonnet, and give place to the flouriſhing, prime, and greene garlands of the Virgin, as Lucullus did once to Pompeyes.
And if there be any that make ſhew to kiſſe the Sonne, as the Pſalmiſt ſpeaks, it is to be feared, that it is not becauſe they are afraid leaſt he, but leaſt ſhe be angry: or, according to our common ſpeech, Many kiſſe the child for the mothers ſake: they kiſſe the child, but their mouth waters at the mothers lips: they make much of the child, and dandle it in their armes, but it is but to inſinuate themſelves into the ſweet imbraces of the mother.
And yet theſe filthy monſters, of luſt (for they are no better than monſters, bewitched out of the ſhape of men by the powerfull charmes of the Romiſh Circe, and her golden cup of fornication) theſe filthy monſters do ſo pleaſe themſelves in their filthineſſe, that, as S. Peter ſpeakes, they ſpeak evill of us, as of thoſe that doe evill, and thinke it ſtrange that we do not run with them into the ſame exceſse of riot. Like ſome fond and amarous bridegroome newly wedded, that dotes, may chance, upon an homely ſpouſe, and wonders that all his neighbours do not meet him with their mouthes full of wonder and gratulation: that they do not worſhip her whom he adores: becauſe, forſooth, ſhe is written for a Saint in the Calender of his heart, he thinks ſhe ſhould be received for a Queen in the Charter of their Pariſh: becauſe ſhe is the idoll of his fancy, he thinks ſhe ſhould be the Goddeſſe of their faith: he is ſo well acquainted with the zeale of his owne private devotion, that he cannot but admire what cold blaſt of ſtupid ignorance or envie (for he hath not the power to think it any other) hath ſo frozen and congeal'd their dull ſpirits, that his Sun doth not melt them into his mold, that they will not be reduced to his temperature.
But the truth is, as I ſaid before, we give more unto the Virgin, that they do: they would have her worſhipfull, we would have her honourable: an eaſie Herald would decide the controverſie, which were the better title: and an eaſie Divine, which were the Antidicomarianitae, they or we: but it is a fit of frenzie, not of love, that tranſporteth them: the untamed horſes of diſtempered paſſion, as Plato cals them, have ſo hurried and whirled about the crazie chariot of their reaſon, that they have frighted them out of their little wits, and ſet the wheeles of judgement (upon which they ſhould have run ſteadily) quite beſide the ſocket.
And therefore we have taken ſuch a courſe with them, as, you know, 1. We have cal'd upon them by a generall diſcourſe, as faithfull friends, to reclaime them from this folly. 2. We have ſet the Scripture, as a grave over-ſeer, to frowne upon them, and chide them into their wits againe: this hath done little good yet; and therefore we muſt now try the laſt remedy: if they will not learne of the word at Ieruſalem, we muſt ſend them to ſchoole to Bethlehem, (a place appointed for men in their caſe) and there ſet Reaſon, like a ſevere maſter, to diſple them every day, and whip their wandring wits from place to place, (as they do vagabonds) till they returne to the place from whence they came, and regaine the ſeat of their Nativity, together with the Scepter of their Regencie.
FINIS.
End of the text · John Stoughton, Eleven Choice Sermons (1640)