Sermon Preached 14 February 1607, Sermon
A SERMON PREAched at the Croſſe.
IEREMIAH. 51.
We would hauehave cured Babel, but ſhee would not be healed: let vsus forſake her, and goe eueryevery one into his owne countrey: for her iudgement is come vp into heauen, and lifted vp to the cloudes.
THis is not ſpoken in perſon of the Angelles that were ſet ouer Babylon (as ſome think) aDion. Carthuſ. in hoc cap Hoc ſecundum Gloſsā eſt verbum Angelorum ſanctorū qui ad cuſtodiā Babylonis fuerunt delegati: quaſi dicerent curare voluimus Babylonem, ſed non▪ eſt ſanata &c. Et idem ipſe Carthuſ. tenet in moralitate eiuſdē capitis.; for Angells hauehave no charge of curing mens ſoules: they mourn for mens ſinnes, and reioyce at their conuerſion bLu 15. 7. 10.; they guarde their bodies, cPſal. 34 7and carry their ſoules to heauen dLuke. 16. 22but the curing and conuerting of the ſoule hath God delegated to his Prophets, being men like our ſelues; that ſo he might make man to louelove man, ſeeing he hath made man a ſauer of man.
Neither is it the ſpeech and proteſtation of hypocriticall and fained friends, who ſay thus to Babel, to make a great boaſt of their little louelove (tho ſome hold ſo, whoſe iudgement otherwiſe is of great reſpecte eZuinglius in annot. ſuis …uper complan. in Ierem. ſuper haec verba.for the reaſon heere giuen is too good, and the cauſe too diuine, to proceede from a profane heart. Her iudgement (ſay they) is come vp to heauen, &c.
But rather, it ſeemeth to be the voyce of the trueOecolampadius: Tremel. Iunius Calu. et fere omnes: & ex. Pap. Andr. Capella in ſuis Comment: & pleriſ que ex doctoribus. Church ſhewing their louelove to Babell, and their longing deſire to hauehave done good to their ſoules: Bring balme, (ſayth the former verſe) if ſhe may be healed. Heereunto, the Church aunſwereth: For our parts, Wee woulde hauehave cured Babell, but ſhee could not bee healed: wee did our indeuours, but found her incurable; therefore now, ſeeing we can doe her no good, let vsus looke to our owne ſafetie, let vsus forſake her, & goe eueryevery man to his owne Country. For now wee ſee God will take the matter into his owne hands; ſeeing man cannot heale her, hee will deſtroie her. Her iudgement is come vp into Heauen, and lifted vp to the cloudes.
The particulars, conſiderable in this Text, be 4.
1. The Churches louelove to her very enemies, manifeſted in her deſire to hauehave healed them: We woulde hauehave cured Babylon.
2. The malitious nature and incurable ſtate of Babell, cauſing a comfortleſs iſſue of the Churches labours: Shee cannot be healed.
3. The Churches dutie, vponupon conſideratiō of her obſtinacie and incurableneſſe: namely to loſe no more labour vponupon her, but to abandon her and looke to herſelfe: Forſake her, and let vsus goe eueryevery man to his owne countrie.
4. What becomes of Babylon being incurable, and forſaken of the Church? what further remaines for her? vengeance and deſtruction from God: her iudgement is come vp into Heauen, &c.
All theſe are true in a double ſenſe: namely, both
| in the literall | Babylon. |
| and | |
| in the myſticall |
There is a Babell ſpoken of and literally vnderſtood in the old Teſtament: there is a ſpiritual Babylon, myſtically meant in the Olde, & literally ſpoken of in the New Teſtament. Both are ſpoken of in this place: the one hiſtorically and literally; the other allegorically, and in a myſterie: and this interpretation is not without warrant; for it is ordinarie with the Prophets in the old Teſtament, when they ſpeake of matters literally true at that time, in & vnderunder them to point at further matters, of a more ſpirituall and higher nature. For howſoeuer to deſtroy the literall and hiſtorical ſenſe of the olde Teſtament (with ſome old, and many late writers that be Papiſts) is worthily condemned by the Church as iniurious to Gods word: Yet the literall ſenſe once layd, we may then warrantably extend the text to the allegoricall ſenſe, as far as we ſee the holy Ghoſt in the New Teſtament, to go before vsus, or to giuegive vsus leaue. Thus Peter makes an allegory, of Noahs Ark, and makes that buſineſs a type of Baptiſme fPet. 3. 20. 21: & gGal. 4. 24. &c.Paul of Sarah & Agar, ſaith by them another thing is meant: and …o leſs ſaith S. Iohn, of Babylon, as we ſhall ſee heereafter.
Touching the olde and literall Babylon, all thoſe points hauehave beene long agoe verified vponupon her, ſince the Prophet vttred them: The Church of the old Teſtament 1 would hauehave cured her: But ſhe 2 could not be healed: therefore ſhee 3 forſooke her: and God 4 hath deſtroied her. And touching the myſticall Babylon, the kingdome of Sathan and Anti-chriſt, partlie they are and partly ſhall bee made good vppon her. The Church of the new Teſtament, 1 would hauehave healed her: But 2 ſhe is found incurable: therefore when Chriſtendome 3 forſakes her, God 4 will deſtroy her: the two firſt are already performed: the third is a doing, and the fourth is ſure to be fulfilled in Gods good time.
Of all theſe in their order: