Eighty Sermons, miscellaneous · Sermon 70
SERM. LXX. Preached at VVhite-hall, April 8. 1621.
PROV. 25.16.
Haſt thou found honey? eat ſo much as is ſufficient for thee, leſt thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
THere is a temporall unſatiableneſſe of riches, and there is a ſpirituall unſatiableneſſe of ſin. The firſt Covetouſneſſe, that of riches, the Apoſtle cals The roote of all evill, but the ſecond Covetouſneſſe, that of ſin, is the fruit of all evill, for that is The treaſure of Gods wrath, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, when he makes our former ſins, the mother of future ſins, and then our future ſins the puniſhments of former. As though this World were too little to ſatisfie man, men are come to diſcover or imagine new worlds, ſeverall worlds in every Planet; and as though our Fathers heretofore, and we our ſelves too, had beene but dull and ignorant ſinners, we thinke it belongs to us to perfect old inventions, and to ſin in another height and excellency, then former times did, as though ſin had had but a minority, and an infancy till now. Though the pride of the Prince of Tyrus were ever in ſome Tyrans, who ſayes there, I am a god, and ſit in the ſeat of God, in the midſt of the Seas, Ezek. 28.2.and am wiſer then Daniel; Yet there is a Sea above theſe ſeas, a power above this power, a ſpirituall pride above this temporall pride, one ſo much wiſer then Daniel, as that he is as wiſe as the Holy Ghoſt. The world hath ever had levities and inconſtancies,Ecclus. 27.11. and the foole hath changed as the Moone; the ſame men that have cryed Hoſanna, are ready to cry Crucifige; but, as in Iobs Wife, in the ſame mouth, the ſame word was ambiguous, (whether it were bleſſe God, or curſe God, out of the word we cannot tell) ſo are the actions of men ſo ambiguous, as that we cannot conclude upon them; men come to our Prayers here, and pray in their hearts here in this place, that God would induce another manner of Prayer into this place; and ſo pray in the Congregation, that God would not heare the prayers of the Congregation; There hath alwaies beene ambiguity and equivocation in words, but now in actions, and almoſt every action will admit a diverſe ſenſe. And it was the Prophets complaint of old, You have multiplied your fornications, Ezek. 16.and yet are not ſatisfied; but we wonder why the Prophet ſhould wonder at that, for the more we multiplie temporally or ſpiritually, the leſſe we are ſatisfied. Others have thought, that our ſoules ſinned before they came into the world, and that therefore they are here as in a priſon; but they are rather here, as in a Schoole; for, if they had ſtudied ſin in another world before, they practiſe it here, If they have practiſed it before, they teach it now, they lead and induce others into ſin.
But this conſideration of our inſatiableneſſe in ſin, in my purpoſe I ſepoſed for the end of this houre; But who knowes whether your patience, that you will heare, or who knowes whether yours, or my life, that you can heare, ſhall laſt to the end of this houre? and therefore it is an excuſable anticipation, to have begun with this ſpirituall covetouſneſſe of ſin, though our firſt paiment be to be made in the literall ſenſe of the text, A reprehenſion, and in it, a Counſaile, againſt our generall inſatiableneſſe of the temporall things of this world. Haſt thou found honey? eat ſo much as is ſufficient for thee, leſt thou bee filled therewith, and vomit it.
In which words,Diviſio. there being firſt a particular Compellation, Tu, haſt thou found it? it remembers thee, that there be a great many, that have not found it, but lack that which thou aboundeſt in; And Inveniſti, thou haſt not inherited it, nor merited it, thou haſt but found it; and for that which thou haſt found, it is Honey, ſweetneſs, but it is but Honey, which eaſily becomes choler, and gall, and bitterneſſe. Such as it is, Comede, thou maiſt eat it, and eat it ſafely, it is not unwholeſome; but Comede ſufficientiam, eat no more then is ſufficient; And in that, let not the ſervant meaſure himſelfe by his Maſter, nor the ſubject by the King, nor the private man by the Magiſtrate, but Comede ſufficientiam tuam, eat that which is ſufficient for thee, for more then that will fill thee, over-fill thee; perchance not ſo full as thou wouldſt bee, yet certainly ſo full, as that there will bee no roome in thee for better things; and then thou wilt vomit, nay perchance thou muſt vomit, the malice and plots of others ſhall give thee a vomit, And ſuch a vomit ſhall bee Evacuans, an exinanition, leave thee empty; and Immundum, an uncleanneſſe, leave thee in ſcorne and contempt; and Periculoſum, a danger, breake a veine, a veine at the heart, breake thy heart it ſelfe, that thou ſhalt never recover it. Haſt thou found honey? eat ſo much as is ſufficient for thee, leſt thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
Firſt then,Tu. for that Compellation Tu, haſt thou found it? It is a word firſt of familiarity, and then a word of particularity. It is a degree of familiarity, that God hath notified himſelfe to us in ſeverall Perſons; that hee hath come ſo neere to our comprehenſion, as to be conſidered not onelyonly as an univerſall, and infinite God, but as a Father, and as a Sonne, and opened himſelfe unto us in theſe Notions, Tu Pater, Tu Fili, Thou O Father, and Thou O Sonne, have mercy upon us. A Conſtable, or Beadle will not bee ſpoke to ſo, to be thou'd, and any Perſon in the Trinity, the whole Trinity together is content with it;Pſal. 92.8. Take God altogether, and at higheſt, Tu altiſsimus, Thou Lord art moſt high for evermore; Pſal. 93.2.Take him from before any beginning, Tu à ſeculo, Thy throue is eſtabliſhed of old, and thou art from everlaſting; Take him from beyond all ending, Tu autem permanes, Pſal. 102.27.Thou art the ſame, and thy yeares ſhall have no end.
In which, we goe not about to condemne, or correct the civill manner of giving different titles, to different ranks of men; but to note the ſlipperineſs of our times, where titles flow into one another, and loſe their diſtinctions; when as the Elements are condenſed into one another, ayre condenſed into water, and that into earth, ſo an obſequious flatterer, ſhall condenſe a yeoman into a Worſhipfull perſon, and the Worſhipfull into Honorable, and ſo that which duly was intended for diſtinction, ſhall occaſion confuſion. But that which we purpoſe, in noting this Tu, is rather the ſingularity, the particularity, then the familiarity; That the Holy Ghoſt in this collects Man, abridges Man, ſummes up Man in an unity,Clem Alex. in the conſideration of one, of himſelfe. Oportet hominem fieri unum, Man muſt grow in his conſideration, till he be but one man, one individuall man. If he conſider himſelfe in Humanitate, in the whole mankinde, a glorious creature, an immortall ſoule, he ſhall ſee this immortall ſoule, as well in Goats at the left hand, as in Sheepe at the right hand of Chriſt, at the Reſurrection; Men on both ſides: If he conſider himſelfe in Qualitate, Mat. 7.22.in his quality, in his calling, he ſhall heare many then plead their Prophetavimus, we have prophecied, and their Ejecimus, we have exerciſed, and their Virtutes ſecimus, we have done wonders, and all in thy Name, and yet receive that anſwer, Nunquam cognovi, I doe not know you now, I never did know you. Oportet unum fieri, he muſt conſider himſelfe in individuo, that one man, not that man in nature, not that man in calling,Origen Homil. unica in lib. r…g. but that man in actions. Origen makes this uſe of thoſe words, as he found them, Erat vir unus, There was one man; (which was Elkanah) He addes, Nomen ejus poſſeſsio Dei, this one man, ſayes he, was, in his Name, Gods poſſeſſion; Nam quem Daemones poſsident, non unus ſed mulii, for he whom the Devill poſſeſſes, is not one. The ſame ſinner is not the ſame thing; ſtill he clambers in his ambitious purpoſes, there he is an Eagle; & yet lies ſtill groveling, and trodden upon at any greater mans threſhold, there he is a worme. He ſwells to all that are under him, there he is a full Sea; and his dog that is above him, may wade over him, there he is a ſhallow, an empty River. In the compaſſe of a few dayes, he neighes like a horſe in the rage of his luſt over all the City, and groanes in a corner of the City, in an hoſpitall. A ſinner is as many men, as he hath vices; he that is Elkanah, Poſſeſsio Dei, poſſeſſed by God, and in poſſeſſion of God, he is unus homo, one and the ſame man. And when God calls upon man ſo particularly, he intends him ſome particular good. It is S. Hieromes note,Hieron. That when God in the Scriptures ſpeakes of divers things in the ſingular number, it is ever in things of grace; And it is S. Auguſtins note, that when he ſpeaks of any one thing in the plurall Number, it is of heavy and ſorrowfull things; as Ieptha was buryed In civitatibus Gilead, Judg. 12.7.in the Cities, but he had but one grave; And ſo that is, they made Aureos vitulos, Golden Calves, when it was but one Calfe.
When Gods voyce comes to thee in this Text, in particular, Tu, Haſt thou found, he would have thee remember, how many ſeeke and have ſought, with teares, with ſweat, with blood, and lacke that, that thou aboundeſt in. That whereas his Evidence to them whom he loves not, in the next world ſhall be, Eſurivi, I was hungry, Mat. 25.42.and yee gave me no meate; And his proceeding with them whom he loves not in this world, is, Si eſuriero, If I be hungry, I will not tell thee, I will not awaken thee, not remember thy conſcience,Pſal. 50.12. wherein thou mayeſt doe me a ſervice; He does call upon thee in particular, and ask thee, Nonne tu, Haſt thou not fortune enough, to let fall ſome crums upon him that ſtarves? and, Nonne tu, haſt not thou favour enough, to ſhed ſome beams upon him that is frozen in diſgrace? There is a ſquint eye, that lookes ſide-long; to looke upon riches, and honor, on the left hand, and long life here, on the right, is a ſquint eye. There is a ſquint eye, that lookes upwards and downwards; to looke after God and Mammon, is a ſquint eye. There are ſquint eyes, that looke upon one another; to looke upon ones own beauty, or wiſedome, or power, is a ſquint eye. The direct looke is to looke inward upon thine own Conſcience; Not with Nabuchadnezzar, Is not this great Babylon, Dan. 4.30.which I have built by the might of my power, and for the honor of my Majeſty? But with David, Quid retribuam? for if thou looke upon them with a cleare eye, thou wilt ſee, that though thou haſt them, thou haſt but found them, which is our next ſtep.
Now, if you have but found them, thou haſt them but by chance, by contingency,Inveniſti. Co. l. 10. Pand. by fortune. The Emperour Leo, he calls money found, Dei beneficium, It is a benefit derived from God; but the great Lawyer; Triphonius, calls it, Donum fortunae too, An immediate gift of fortune. They conſiſt well enough together, God and fortune. S. Auguſtine in his Retract: makes a conſcience of having named her too oft, leſt other men ſhould be ſcandalized; and ſo the Prophet complaines of that,Eſa. 65.11. (as the Vulgat reads it) Ponitis menſam fortunae, You ſacrifice to fortune, you make fortune a god; that you ſhould not doe; but yet you ſhould acknowledge that God hath ſuch a ſervant, ſuch an inſtrument, as fortune too. Gods ordinary working is by Nature, theſe cauſes muſt produce theſe effects; and that is his common Law; He goes ſometimes above that, by Prerogative, and that is by miracle, and ſometimes below that, as by cuſtome, and that is fortune, that is contingency; Fortune is as far out of the ordinary way, as miracle; no man knows in Nature, in reaſon, why ſuch, or ſuch perſons grow great; but it falls out ſo often, as we do not call it miracle, and therefore reſt in the Name of Fortune. We need not quarrell the words of the Poet, Tu quamcun que Deus tibi fortunaverit horam, Grata ſume manu, Thanke God for any good fortune, ſince the Apoſtle ſayes too, that Godlineſſe hath the promiſe of this life; The godly man ſhall be fortunate, God will bleſſe him with good fortune here; but ſtill it is fortune, and chance, in the ſight and reaſon of man, and therefore he hath but found, whatſoever he hath in that kinde. It is intimated in the very word which we uſe for all worldly things; It is Inventarium, an Inventory; we found them here, and here our ſucceſſors finde them, when we are gone from hence.2 King. 9.30. Iezabel had an eſtimation of beauty, and ſhe thought to have drawne the King with that beauty, but ſhe found it, ſhe found it in her box, and in her wardrope, ſhe was not truly fayre. Achitophel had an eſtimation of wiſedome in Counſell, I know not how he found it; he counſelled by an example, which no man would follow, he hanged himſelfe. Thou wilt not be drawne to confeſſe, that a Man that hath an office, is preſently wiſer then thou, or a man that is Knighted, preſently valianter then thou. Men have preferment for thoſe parts, which other men, equall to them in the ſame things, have not, and therefore they doe but finde them; And to things that are but found, what is our title? Niſi reddantur, rapina eſt, ſayes the Law, If we reſtore not that which we finde, it is robbery. S. Auguſtine hath brought it nearer, Qui alienum negat, ſi poſſet, tolleret, He that confeſſeth not that which he hath found of another mans, if he durſt, he would have taken it by force. For that which we have found in this world, our ealling is the owner, our debts are the owner, our children are the owner; our luſts, our ſuperfluities are no owners: of all the reſt, God is the owner, and to this purpoſe, the poore is God.
S. Auguſtine puts a caſe to the point:Aug. Serm. 19. de verb. Apoſt. He ſayes when he was at Milan, a poore Uſher of a Grammar Schoole found a bag of money, 200 Solidorum; let it be but one hundreth pounds; he ſet up bills; the owner came, offered him his tithe, ten pounds; he would none; he preſſed him to five, to three, to two; he would none: and then he that had loſt it, in an honorable indignation, diſclaimed it all; Nihil perdidi, ſayes he, it is all your own, I loſt nothing: Quale certamen! Theatrum mundus, ſpectator Deus, Out of importunity, he that found it, tooke it all, and out of conſcience, that it was not his, gave it all to the poore.
The things of this world we doe but finde, and of the things which we finde, we are but Stewards for others. This finding is not ſo meerly caſuall, as that it implies no manner of ſeeking;Matzah Exuxit, vel expreſſit. We muſt put our ſelves into the way, into a calling. The word is Matza, and that word is allowed us; but a word like it, is not allowed us; Matza is, but Matzah is not; if there be an H added, an H, as it is an aſpiration, a breathing, a panting after the things of this world, or an Ache, as it is a paine, that it make our bones ake, or our hearts ake, or our conſcience ake, it is a ſeeking, and a finding, not intended in this word. Our proſecution and ſeeking muſt be moderate, our title and intereſt is but a finding; and what hath the moſt fortunate found? Hony; it is true, but yet but Hony.
That which Solomon may juſtly ſeeme to intend,Mel. eſpecially by Hony in this Text, is that which the Poets, and other Maſters of language, have called Magnas amicitias, and Magnas Clientelas, dependance, and intereſt, and favour in great perſons. It appeares by the next verſe, which depends upon this, and paraphraſes it; Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbours houſe. Where that which we reade, Withdraw, is in the Originall Hokar, which is Fac pretioſum, make not thy ſelfe cheape, not vulgar, have ſome reſpect to thy ſelfe, to thine own ingenuity, but principally to the other, to thy great friend: be not importune and troubleſome by any indiſcreet aſſiduity, to them who are poſſeſſed with buſineſſe, though at ſometimes they deſcend to thee; This is this Hony, where thou haſt acceſſe, yet doe not puſh open every doore, fling up every hanging, but uſe thy favour modeſtly.
But in this Hony is wrapped up alſo all that is delightfull in this life; and Solomon carries us often to that Compariſon;Ver. 13. In the Chapter before this, for Wiſedome; My Sonne, eat thou Hony, becauſe it is good; ſo ſhall the knowledge of wiſedome be to thy ſoule; and in the ſeaven and twentieth verſe of this Chapter,27. he uſes it for Glory; It is not good to eat much hony; ſo for men to ſearch their own glory, is not glory. In the ſixt Chapter of this booke, when Solomon had ſent us to the Ant, Prov. 6.to learne wiſedome, betweene the eight verſe and the ninth, he ſends us to another ſchoole, to the Bee: Vade ad Apem & diſce quomodo operationem vener abilem facit, Goe to the Bee, and learne how reverend and myſterious a worke ſhe works.Hieron. For, though S. Hierome acknowledge, that in his time, this verſe was not in the Hebrew Text, yet it hath ever been in many Copies of the Septuagint, and though it be now left out in the Complutenſe Bible, and that which they call the Kings,In Ezek. 3.3. yet it is in that ſtill, which they value above all, the Vatican. S. Hierome himſelfe takes it into his expoſition, and other Fathers into theirs. So far therefore we may hearken to that voyce, as to goe to the Bee, and learne to worke by that Creature.
Both S. Baſil, Baſil. Hom. 8. in Hexa. Chryſoſt. in Pſal. 110.and S. Chryſoſtome put this difference in that place, between the labour of the Ant, and the Bee, That the Ants worke but for themſelves, the Bee for others: Though the Ants have a Common-wealth of their own, yet thoſe Fathers call their labour, but private labour; becauſe no other Common-wealths have benefit by their labour, but their own. Direct thy labours in thy calling to the good of the publique, and then thou art a civill, a morall Ant; but conſider alſo, That all that are of the houſhold of the faithfull, and profeſſe the ſame truth of Religion, are part of this publique, and direct thy labours, for the glory of Chriſt Jeſus, amongſt them too, and then thou art a religious and a Chriſtian Bee, and the fruit of thy labour ſhall be Hony. The labour of the Ant is ſub Dio, open, evident, manifeſt; The labour of the Bee is ſub Tecto, in a houſe, in a hive; They will doe good, and yet they will not be ſeene to doe it; they affect not glory, nay, they avoyd it. For in experience, when ſome men curious of naturall knowledge, have made their Hives of glaſſe, that by that tranſparency, they might ſee the Bees manner of working, the Bees have made it their firſt work to line that Glaſſe-hive, with a cruſt of Wax, that they might work and not be diſcerned. It is a bleſſed ſincerity, to work as the Ant, profeſſedly, openly; but becauſe there may be caſes, when to doe ſo, would deſtroy the whole worke, though there be a cloud and a curtaine betweene thee, and the eyes of men, yet if thou doe them clearely in the ſight of God, that he ſee his glory advanced by thee, the fruit of thy labour ſhall be Honey.
Pliny names one Ariſtomachum Solenſem, Plin.that ſpent threeſcore yeares in the contemplation of Bees; our whole time for this exerciſe is but threeſcore minutes; and therefore wee ſay no more of this, but Vade ad Apem, practife the ſedulity of the Bee, labour in thy calling, And the community of the Bee, beleeve that thou art called to aſſiſt others, And the ſecreſie of the Bee, that the greateſt, and moſt authorized ſpie ſee it not, to ſupplant it, And the purity of the Bee, that never ſettles upon any foule thing, that thou never take a foule way to a faire end, and the fruit of thy labour ſhall bee Hony; God ſhall give thee the ſweetneſſe of this world, honour, and eaſe, and plenty, and hee ſhall give thee thy honey-combe, with thy honey, that which preſerves thy honey to thee, that is, a religious knowledge, that all this is but hony; And honey in the dew of the flowres,Plin. whence it is drawne, is but Coeli ſudor, a ſweaty excrement of the heavens, and Siderum ſaliva, the ſpettle, the fleame of the ſtarres, and Apum vomitus, the caſting, the vomit of the Bee. And though honey be the ſweeteſt thing that wee doe take into the body, yet there it degenerates into gall, and proves the bittereſt; And all this is honey in the Anti-type, in that which it ſignifies, in the temporall things of this world; In the temporall things of this world there is a bitterneſſe, in our uſe of them; But in his hand, and his purpoſe that gives them, they have impreſſions of ſweetneſſe; and ſo Comede, Eat thy honey, which is alſo a ſtep farther.
Here is libery for any man to eat Honey, if hee have found it,Comede. and Ionathan the Kings ſonne found honey upon the ground, and did but dip his ſtaffe in it,1 Sam. 14 24. and put it to his mouth, and hee muſt die for it. Of forbidden honey the leaſt dramme is poyſon, how ſweet ſoever any collaterall reſpect make it. But Ionathan knew not that it was forbidken by the King: Ignorance is no plea in any ſubject againſt the Kings lawes; and there is a King, in breach of whoſe lawes, no King, no Kings ſonne can excuſe themſelves by ignorance, if they doe but dip their Scepter in forbidden honey, in any unlawfull delight in this world; For they doe, or they may know the unlawfulneſſe of it. But for the honey which God allowes us, whether God give it in that plenty, Terram fluentem, Exod. 3.8.that the land flow with milke and honey, nay Torrentes mellis, rivers and ſtreames of honey,Iob 20.17. that great fortunes flow into men, in this world; or whether God put us to ſuck honey out of the Rock, that that which we have, we digge, and plough, and threſh for,Deut. 32.13. yet when thou haſt found that, Comede, uſe it, enjoy it, eat it; Hee that will not work, ſhall not eat; 2 Theſ. 3.10.He that ſhuts himſelfe up in a Cloyſter, till the honey finde him, till meat bee brought to him, ſhould not eat.
Chriſt himſelfe are Honey, but after his Reſurrection;Luk. 24.41. when his body needed not refection; when our principall end in worldly things, is not for the body, nor for the world, but that we have had a ſpirituall reſurrection, that we can ſee Gods love in them, and ſhew Gods glory by them, then Inveniſti, thou haſt found; (for Invenire, Feſtus.eſt in rem venire, id eſt in uſum) to find a thing is to make the right uſe of it, and Inveniſti mel, thou haſt found Honey, that which God intends for ſweetneſſe, for neceſſities, conveniences, abundances, recreations, and delights; and therefore Comede, eat it, enjoy it; but to thee alſo belongs that Caveat, Comede ad ſufficientiam, Eat but enough.
That great Morall man Seneca, could ſee, that Nihil agere, to paſſe this life,Sufficientiam and intend no Vocation, was very ill; and that Aliud agere, to profeſſe a Vocation, and be buſier in other mens callings, then his owne, was worſe; but the Super-agere, to over-doe, to doe more then was required at his hands, he never brought into compariſon, hee never ſuſpected; and yet that is our moſt ordinary fault. That which hath been ordinarily given by our Phyſitians, by way of counſell, That we ſhould riſe with an appetite, hath been enough followed by worldly men; They alwayes lie downe, and alwayes riſe up with an appetite to more, and more in this world. An Office is but an Anti-paſt, it gets them an appetite to another Office; and a title of Honour, but an Anti-paſt, a new ſtomach to a new Title. The danger is, that we cannot goe upward directly; If wee have a ſtaire, to goe any height, it muſt be a winding ſtaire; It is a compaſſing, a circumventing, to riſe: A Ladder is a ſtraight Engin of it ſelfe, yet if we will riſe by that, it muſt be ſet a ſlope; Though our meanes be direct in their owne nature, yet wee put them upon crooked wayes; It is but a poore riſing, that any man can make in a direct line, and yet it is, Ad ſufficientiam, high enough, for it is to heaven. Have yee ſeene a glaſſe blowne to a handſome competency, and with one breath more, broke? I will not ask you, whether you hauehave ſeene a competent beauty made worſe, by an artificiall addition, becauſe they have not thought it well enough before; you ſee it every day, and every where. If Paul himſelfe were here,Act. 14.12. whom for his Eloquence the Lyſtrians called Mercury, hee could not perſwade them to leave their Mercury; It will not eaſily be left; for how many of them that take it outwardly at firſt, come at laſt to take it inwardly? Since the ſaying of Solomon, Eccleſ. 7.17.Be not over righteous, admits many good ſenſes, even in Morall vertues, and in religious duties too, which are naturally good, it is much more appliable in temporall things, which are naturally indifferent; Bee not over faire, over witty, over ſociable, over rich, over glorious; but let the meaſure be Sufficientia tua, So much as is ſufficient for thee.
But where ſhall a man take meaſure of himſelfe?Tuam. At what age, or in what calling ſhall he ſay, This is ſufficient for me? Ieremy ſayes, Puer ſum, I am a child, and cannot ſpeake at all; S. Paul ſayes, Quando puer, When I was a child, no bigger, I ſpake like a child; this was not ſufficientia ſua, ſufficienr for him; for ſince he was to be a man, he was to ſpeak like a man: The ſame clothes doe not ſerve us throughout our lives, nay not the ſame bodies, nay not the ſame vertues, ſo there is no certaine Gomer, no fixed Meaſure for worldly things,Clem. Alex. for every one to have. As Clemens Alexandrinus ſaith, Eadem Drachma data Nauclero, eſt Naulum, The ſame piece of Money given to a Water-man, is his Fare; Publicano Vectigal, given to a Farmer of Cuſtome, it is Impoſt; Mercatori pretium, to a Merchant it is the price of his Ware; Operario Merces, Mendico Eleemoſyna, To a Labourer it is Wages, to a Begger it is Almes; So on the other ſide, this which we call ſufficiency, as it hath relation to divers ſtates, hath a different meaſure. I think the rule will not be inconveniently given, if we ſay, That whatſoever the world doth juſtly looke for at our hands, wee may juſtly look for at Gods hands: Thoſe outward meanes, which are requiſite for the performance of the duties of your calling to the world, ariſing from your birth, or ariſing from your place, you are to pray for, you are to labour for; For that is Sufficientia tua, ſo much is ſufficient for you, and ſo much Honey you may eat; but eat no more, ſayes the Text, Ne ſatieris, Leſt you be filled.
Hee doth not ſay yet,Ne ſatieris. leſt thou bee ſatisfied; there is no great feare, nay there is no hope of that, that he will be ſatisfied. We know the receipt, the capacity of the ventricle, the ſtomach of man, how much it can hold; and wee know the receipt of all the receptacles of blood, how much blood the body can have; ſo wee doe of all the other conduits and ciſterns of the body; But this infinite Hive of honey, this inſatiable whirlpoole of the covetous mind, no Anatomy, no diſſection hath diſcovered to us. When I looke into the larders, and cellars, and vaults, into the veſſels of our body for drink, for blood, for urine, they are pottles, and gallons; when I looke into the furnaces of our ſpirits, the ventricles of the heart and of the braine, they are not thimbles; for ſpirituall things, the things of the next world, we have no roome; for temporall things, the things of this world, we have no bounds. How then ſhall this over-eater bee filled with his honey? So filled, as that he can receive nothing elſe. More of the ſame honey hee can; Another Mannor, and another Church, is but another bit of meat, with another ſauce to him; Another Office, and another way of Extortion, is but another garment, and another lace to him. But he is too full to receive any thing elſe; Chriſt comes to this Bethlem, (Bethlem which is Domus panis) this houſe of abundance, and there is no roome for Chriſt in this Inne; there are no crums for Chriſt under this table; There comes Boanerges, (Boanerges, that is, filius Tonitrui, the ſonne of Thunder) and he thunders out the Vae's, the Comminations, the Judgements of God upon ſuch as hee; but if the Thunder ſpoile not his drink, he ſees no harme in Thunder; As long as a Sermon is not a Sentence in the Starre-chamber, that a Sermon cannot fine and impriſon him, hee hath no roome for any good effect of a Sermon. The Holy Ghoſt, the Spirit of Comfort comes to him, and offers him the conſolation of the Goſpel; but hee will die in his old religion, which is to ſacrifice to his owne Nets, by which his portion is plenteous; he had rather have the God of the Old Teſtament, that payes in this world with milke and honey, then the God of the New Teſtament, that cals him into his Vineyard in this World, and payes him no wages till the next: one Iupiter is worth all the three Elohims, or the three Iehovahs (if we may ſpeake ſo) to him. Iupiter that can come in a ſhowre of gold, out waighs Iehova, that comes but in a ſhowre of water, but in a ſprinkling of water in Baptiſme, and ſels that water ſo deare, as that he will have ſhowres of teares for it, nay ſhowres of blood for it, when any Perſecutor hath a mind to call for it. The voyce of God whom he hath contemned, and wounded, The voyce of the Preacher whom he hath derided, and impoveriſhed, The voyce of the poore, of the Widow, of the Orphans, of the priſoner, whom he hath oppreſſed, knocke at his doore, and would enter, but there is no roome for them, he is ſo full. This is the great danger indeed that accompanies this fulneſſe, but the danger that affects him more is that which is more literally in the text, Evomet, he ſhall be ſo filled as that he ſhall vomit; even that fulneſſe, thoſe temporall things which he had, he ſhall caſt up.
It is not a vomiting for his eaſe, that he would vomit; but he ſhall vomit;Evomas. he ſhall bee forced to vomit. He hath ſwallowed downe riches, and he ſhall vomit them up againe; Iob 20.15.God ſhall caſt them out of his belly; But by what hand? whether by his right hand, by the true way of juſtice, or his left hand, by malice, under colour of juſtice, his money ſhall be his Antimony, his own riches ſhall be his vomit. Solomon ſayes, he ſaw a ſore evill under the Sun; Eccleſ. 5.22.but if he had lived as long as the Sun, he might have ſeen it every courſe of the Sun, Riches reſerved to their owners for their own hurt; Richmen periſh, that ſhould not have periſhed, or not ſo ſoone, or not ſo abſolutely, if they had not beene rich. Their confidence in their riches provokes them to ſome unjuſtifiable actions, and their riches provoke others to a vehement perſecution. And in this vomit of theirs, if we had time to doe ſo, we would conſider firſt, The ſordidneſſe, and the contempt and ſcorne that this evacuated Man comes to in the world, when he hath had this vomit of all his honey; That becauſe there can be no vacuity, he ſhall be filled againe, but Saturabitur ignominia, Habak. 2.16.He ſhall be filled with ſhame for glory, and ſhamefull ſpuing ſhall be upon his glory. Ier. 48.26.He magnified himſelfe againſt the Lord, and therefore was made drunk, and ſhall wallow in his vomit, and be had in deriſion. His honey was his ſoule, and that being vomited, he is now but a rotten and abhorred carkaſs; At beſt he was but a bag of money, and now he is but the bag it ſelfe, which ſcarce any man will ſtoop to take up: And as in a vomit in a baſon, the Phyſitian is able to ſhew the world, what cold meat, and what raw meat, and what hard and indigeſtible meat he had eaten; So when ſuch a perſon comes by juſtice, or malice to this vomit, every man becomes a Phyſitian, every man brings Inditements, and evidence againſt him, and can ſhew all his falſhoods, and all his extortions in particular.
In theſe particulars we would conſider the ſcorne upon this vomit; and then the danger of it in theſe, That nothing weakens the eyes more then vomiting; when this worldly man hath loſt his honey, he hath loſt his ſight; he was dimme ſighted at beginning, when he could ſee nothing but worldly things, things neareſt to him, but when he hath vomited thē, he hath loſt his ſpectacles; through his riches he ſaw ſome glimmering, ſome colour of comfort, now he ſees no comfort at all: And a greater danger in vomiting is, that often times it breakes a veine within, and that is moſt commonly incurable; This man that vomits without, bleeds within; his fortune is broke, and his heart is broke; and he bleeds better blood then his owne, he bleeds out the blood of Chriſt Jeſus himſelfe; the blood of Chriſt Jeſus poured into him heretofore in the conſolation of the Goſpel, and in the Cup of Salvation in the Sacrament (for ſo much as concernes him) is but ſpilt upon the ground; as though his honey, his worldly greameſſe, were his Father, and Mother, and Wife, and Children, and Prince, and friends, and all, when that is loſt by this vomit, he mournes for all, in a ſad and everlaſting mourning, in ſuch a diſconſolate dejection of ſpirit as ends either in an utter inconſideration of God, or in a deſperation of his mercies. This is that Incipiamte evomere (as the Vulgat reads it) in this vomit of worldly things,Revel. 3.16. God does begin to vomit him out of his mouth; and then God does not returne to his vomit, but leaves this impatient patient to his impenitibleneſſe. But we muſt not lanch into theſe wide Seas now, to conſider the ſcorne, or the danger of this vomit, but rather draw into the harbor, and but repeat the text, transferred from this world to the text, from temporall to ſpirituall things.
Thus far we have beene In melle, In honey, upon honey; but now Super mel, Concluſio.above honey.Pſal. 19.10. The judgements of the Lord are Dulcia prae melle, Sweeter then honey, and the honey combe; And the judgements of the Lord are that, by which the Lord will judge us, and this world; it is his word. His word, the ſincerity of the Goſpel, the truth of his Religion is our honey and honey combe; our honey, and our waxe, our Covenant, and our Seale; we have him not, if we have not his truth, if we require other honey; and wee truſt him not, if we require any other Seale, if we thinke the word of God needs the traditions of men. And Inveniſti tu, Hath God manifeſted to thee the truth of his Goſpell? Bleſſe thou the Lord, praiſe him and magnifie him for ever, whoſe day-ſpring from an high hath viſited thee, and left ſo many Nations in darkneſſe, who ſhall never heare of Chriſt, till they heare himſelfe, nor heare other voyce from him then, then the Ite maledicti; Pity them that have not this honey, and confeſſe for thy ſelfe, that though thou have it, thou haſt but found it; couldſt thou beſpeake Chriſtian Parents beforehand, and ſay, I will be borne of ſuch Parents as ſhall give me a title to the Covenant, to Baptiſme? or couldſt thou procure Sureties, that ſhould bind themſelves for thee, at the entring into the Covenant in Baptiſme? Thou foundeſt thy ſelfe in the Chriſtian Church, and thou foundeſt meanes of ſalvation there; thou broughteſt none hither, thou boughteſt none here; the Title of S. Andrew, the firſt of the Apoſtles that came to Chriſt, was but that, Invenimus Meſiam, We have found the Meſias. It is onelyonly Chriſt himſelfe that ſayes of himſelfe,Cant. 5.1. Comedi mel meum, I have eat my honey, his owne honey. We have no grace, no Goſpel of our owne, we find it here.
But ſince thou haſt found it, Comede, Eat it; do not drinke the cup of Babylon, leſt thou drink the cup of Gods wrath too: but make this Honey (Chriſts true Religion) thy meate; digeſt that, aſſimilate that, incorporate that: and let Chriſt himſelf, and his merit, be as thy ſoul; & let the cleere and outward profeſſion of his truth, Religion, be as thy body: If thou give away that body, (be flattered out of thy Religion, or threatned out of thy Religion) If thou ſell this body, (be bought and bribed out of thy Religion) If thou lend this body, (diſcontinue thy Religion for a yeare or two, to ſee how things will fall out) if thou have no body, thou ſhalt have no Reſurrection, and the cleere and undiſguiſed profeſſion of the truth, is the body.
Eat therefore this honey Ad ſufficientiam; ſo much as is enough. To beleeve implicitly as the Church beleeves, and know nothing, is not enough; know thy foundations, and who laid them; Other foundations can no man lay, then are laid, Chriſt Jeſus; neither can other men lay thoſe foundations otherwiſe then they are laid by the Apoſtles, but eat Ad ſufficientiam tuam, that which is enough for thee, for ſo much knowledge is not required in thee in thoſe things, as in them, whoſe profeſſion it is to teach them; be content to leave a roome ſtil for the Apoſtles, Aemulamini chariſmata meliora, deſire better gifts; and ever think it a title of dignity which the Angel gave Daniel, to be Vir deſideriorum; To have ſtill ſome farther object of thy deſires. Do not thinke thou wanteſt all, becauſe thou haſt not all; for at the great laſt day, we ſhall ſee more plead Catechiſmes for their ſalvation, then the great volumes of Controverſies, more plead their pockets, then their Libraries. If S. Paul ſo great an Argoſie held no more, but Chriſtum crucifixum, what can thy Pinnace hold? Let humility be thy ballaſt, and neceſſary knowledge thy fraight: for there is an over-fulneſſe of knowledge, which forces a vomit; a vomit of opprobrious and contumelious ſpeeches, a belching and ſpitting of the name of Heretique and Schiſmatique, and a loſſe of charity for matters that are not of faith; and from this vomiting comes emptineſs, The more diſputing,Pſal. 90.14. the leſſe beleeving: but Saturaſti nos benignitate tua, Domine, Thou haſt ſatisfied us early with thy mercy, Thou gaveſt us Chriſtianity early, and thou gaveſt us the Reformation early: and therefore ſince in thee we have found this honey, let us ſo eat it,Levit. 18.25. and ſo hold it, That the land do not vomit her Inhabitants, nor ſpew us out, as it ſpewed out the Nations that were before us,Levit. 18.29. but that our dayes may be long in this land, which the Lord our God hath given us, and that with the Ancient of dayes, we may have a day without any night in that land, which his Son our Saviour hath purchaſed for us with the ineſtimable price of his incorruptible blood. To which glorious Son of God, &c.