Eighty Sermons, Lent · Sermon 14
SERMON XIV. Preached at VVhite-hall, March 3. 1619.
AMOS 5.18.
Woe unto you, that deſire the day of the Lord: what have yee to doe with it? the day of the Lord is darkneſſe and not light.
FOr the preſenting of the woes and judgements of God, denounced by the Prophets againſt Judah and Iſrael, and the extending and applying them to others, involved in the ſame ſins as Judah and Iſrael were, Solomon ſeemes to have given us ſomewhat a cleare direction;Prov. 9.8. Reprove not a ſcorner leſt he hate thee, Rebuke a wiſe man and he will love thee. But how if the wiſeman and this ſcorner bee all in one man, all one perſon? If the wiſeman of this world bee come to take S. Paul ſo literally at his word, as to thinke ſcornefully that preaching is indeed but the fooliſhneſſe of preaching, and that as the Church is within the State, ſo preaching is a part of State government, flexible to the preſent occaſions of time, appliable to the preſent diſpoſitions of men; This fell upon this Prophet in this prophecie,Amos 7.10. Amaſias the Prieſt of Bethel informed the King that Amos medled with matters of State, and that the Land was not able to beare his words, and to Amos himſelfe he ſaies, Eate thy bread in ſomeother place, but prophecy here no more, for this is the Kings Chappell, Amos 23.and the Kings Court; Amos replies, I was no Prophet nor the ſon of a Prophet, but in an other courſe, and the Lord tooke me and ſaid unto me, Goe and Prophecie to my People. Though we finde no Amaſiah no miſ-interpreting Prieſt here, (wee are farre from that, becauſe we are far from having a Ieroboam to our King as he had, eaſie to give eare, eaſie to give credit to falſe informations) yet every man that comes with Gods Meſſage hither, brings a little Amaſiah of his owne, in his owne boſome, a little wiſperer in his owne heart, that tels him, This is the Kings Chappell, and it is the Kings Court, and theſe woes and judgements, and the denouncers and proclaimers of them are not ſo acceptable here. But we muſt have our owne Amos, aſwell as our Amaſias, this anſwer to this ſuggeſtion, I was no Prophet, and the Lord tooke me and bad me prophecy. What ſhall I doe?
And beſides, ſince the woe in this Text is not S. Iohns wo? his iterated, his multiplied wo, Vae, vae, vae habitantibus terram, Apoc. 8.13.a woe of deſolation upon the whole world (for God loves this world, as the worke of his owne hands, as the ſubject of his providence, as the Scene of his glory, as the Garden-plot that is watered by the Blood of his Son:) Since the Woe in this Text is not Eſaies wo, Vae genti peccatrici, Eſay 1.4.an increpation and commination upon our whole Nation (for God hath not come ſo neare to any Nation, and dealt ſo well with any Nation as with ours:) Since the Woe in this Text is not Ezekiels Woe, Ezek. 24….Vae Civitati ſanguinum, an imputation of injuſtice or oppreſſion, and conſequently of a malediction laid upon the whole City (for God hath carried his woes upon other Cities, Vae Choraſin, vae Bethſaida; God hath laid his heavy hand of warre and other calamities upon other Cities, that this City might ſee her ſelfe and her calamities long before in that glaſſe, and ſo avoid them:) Since the Woe in this Text, is not the Prophets other woe, Ezek. 44.6. Ioſ. 24.15.Vae domui, not a woe upon any family (for when any man in his family comes to Ioſhua's proteſtation, Ego & domus mea, As for me and my houſe we will ſerve the Lord, the Lord comes to his proteſtation, In mille generationes, Eſay 28.1.I will ſhew mercy to thee and thy houſe for a thouſand generations:) Since the Woe in this Text, is not Eſaies woe againe, Vae Coronae, (for, the ſame Prophet tels us of what affection they are, that they are Idolaters, perſons inclin'd to an idolatrous and ſuperſtitious Religion, and fret themſelves,Eſay 8.2…. and curſe the King and their God; we know that the Prophets Vae Coronae in that place is Vae Coronae ſuperbiae, and the crowne and heighth of Pride is in him, who hath ſet himſelfe above all that is called God. Chriſtian Princes know that if their Crownes were but ſo as they ſeeme (all gold) they ſhould bee but ſo much the heavier for being all gold; but they are but Crownes of thornes gilded, ſpecious cares, glorious troubles, and therefore no ſubject of pride:) To contract this, ſince the Woe in this Text, is no State woe, nor Church woe, for it is not Ezechiels Vae Paſtoribus inſipientibus, which cannot feed their flock,Ezek. 23.3. Ier. 23.1. nor Ieremies Vae Paſtoribus diſperdentibus, Woe unto thoſe lazie Shepheards, which doe not feed their flock but ſuffer them to ſcatter: Snce the Woe in this Text is not a woe upon the whole World, nor upon the whole Nation, nor upon the whole City, nor upon any whole Family, nor upon any whole ranke or calling of men, when I have asked with Solomon, Cui vae? to whom belongs this woe? I muſt anſwer with S. Paul, Vae mihi, Prov. 23.19. 1 Cor. 9.16.woe unto me if I doe not tell them to whom it belongs. And therefore ſince in ſpirituall things eſpecially charity begins with it ſelfe, I ſhall transferre this Vae from my ſelfe, by laying it upon them, whom your owne conſcience ſhall find it to belong unto; Vae deſiderantibus diem Domini; Woe be unto them that deſire the day of the Lord, &c.
But yet if theſe words can be narrow in reſpect of perſons, it is ſtrange, for in reſpect of the ſins that they are directed upon, they have a great compaſſe; they reach from that high fin of Preſumption, and contempt, and deriding the day of the Lord, the judgements of God, and they paſſe through the ſin of Hypocriſie, when we make ſhift to make the world, and to make our ſelves beleeve that we are in good caſe towards God, and would be glad that the day of the Lord, the day of judgement would come now; and then they come downe to the deepeſt ſin, the ſin of Deſperation, of an unnaturall valuing of this life, when overwhelmed with the burden of other ſins, or with Gods puniſhment for them; men grow to a murmuring wearineſſe of this life, and to an impatient deſire, and perchance to a practiſe of their owne ends: In the firſt acceptation, the day of the Lord is the day of his Judgements and afflictions in this life; In the ſecond, the day of the Lord is the day of the generall judgement; And in the third, the day of the Lord, is that Crepuſculum that twilight betweene the two lives, or rather that Meridies noctis, as the Poet cals it, that noone of night, the houre of our death and tranſmigration out of this world. And if any deſire any of theſe daies of the Lord, out of any of theſe indiſpoſitions, out of preſumption, out of hypocriſie, out of deſperation, he fals within the compaſſe of this Text, and from him we cannot take off this Vae deſiderantibus.
Firſt then the Prophet directs himſelf moſt literally upon the firſt ſin of Preſumption. They were come to ſay,1 Part. that in truth whatſoever the Prophet declaimed in the ſtreets, there was no ſuch thing as Dies Domini, any purpoſe in God to bring ſuch heavy judgements upon them; to the Prophets themſelves they were come to ſay, You your ſelves live parched and macerated in a ſtarved and penurious fortune, and therefore you cry out that all we muſt die of famine too, you your ſelves have not a foot of land a mong all the Tribes, & therfore you cry out that all the Tribes muſt be carried into another Land in Captivity. That which you call the Day of the Lord is come upon you, beggery, and nakedneſſe, and hunger, contempt, and affliction, and impriſonment is come upon you, and therefore you will needs extend this day upon the whole State, but deſideramus, we would fain ſee any ſuch thing come to paſſe, we would fain ſee God goe about to do any ſuch thing, as that the State ſhould not be wiſe enough to prevent him. To ſee a Prophet neglected, becauſe he will not flatter, to ſee him deſpiſed below, becauſe he is neglected above, to ſee him injured, inſulted upon, and really damnified, becauſe he is deſpiſed, All this is dies mundi, and not dies Domini, it is the ordinary courſe of the world, and no extraordinary day of the Lord, but that there ſhould be ſuch a ſtupor and conſternation of minde and conſcience as you talk of, and that that ſhould be ſo expreſſed in the countenance,Lam. 4.7. that they which had been purer then ſnow, whiter then milk, redder then Rubies, ſmoother then Saphirs, ſhould not only be, as in other caſes, pale with a ſudden feare, but blacker in face then a coale, as the Prophet ſayes there, that they ſhould not be able to ſet a good face upon their miſeries, nor diſguiſe them with a confident countenance, that there ſhould be ſuch a conſternation of countenance and conſcience, and then ſuch an excommunication of Church and State, as that the whole body of the children of Iſrael ſhould be without King, Hoſ. 3.4.without Sacrifice, without Ephod, without Terafim, Deſideramus, We would fain ſee ſuch a time, we would fain ſee ſuch a God as were ſo much too hard for us.
They had ſeen ſuch a God before, they had known that that God had formerly brought all the people upon the face of the earth ſo neare to an annihilation, ſo neare to a new creation, as to be but eight perſons in the generall flood, they had ſeen that God to have brought their own numerous, and multitudinous Nation, their 600000. men that came out of Aegypt to that paucity, as that but two of them are recorded to enter into the land of promiſe, And could they doubt what that God could do, or would do upon them? Or as Ieremy ſaith,Jer. 12. Could they belie the Lord, and ſay it is not he? neither ſhall evill come upon us, or ſhall we ſee ſword and famine? God expreſſed his anger thrice upon this people, in their State, in their form of government, Firſt he expreſt it in giving them a King, for though that be the beſt form of government in it ſelf, yet for that people at that time, God ſaw it not to be the fitteſt, and ſo it was extorted from him, and he gave them their King in anger. Secondly, he expreſſed his anger in giving them two Kings in the deſection of the ten Tribes, and diviſion of the two Kingdomes. Thirdly, he expreſt his anger in leaving them without any King after this Captivity which was propheſied here.
Now of thoſe 6000. yeares, which are vulgarly eſteemed to be the age and terme of this world, 3000. were paſt before the diviſion of the Kingdome, and preſently upon the diviſion, they argued à diviſibili ad corruptibile, whatſoever may be broken and divided may come to nothing. It is the devils way to come to deſtruction by breaking of unions. There was a contract between God and Iob, becauſe Iob loved and feared him, and there the devill attempts to draw away the head from the union, God from Iob, with that ſuggeſtion, Doth Iob ſerve thee for nothing? Doeſt thou get any thing by this union? or doth not Iob ſerve himſelf upon thee? There was a naturall, an eſſentiall, an eternall union between the Father and the Son in the Trinity, and the devill ſought to break that. If he could break the union in the Godhead, he ſaw not why he might not deſtroy the Godhead. The devill was Logician good enough, Omne diviſibile corruptibile, whatſoever may be broken, may be annihilated. And the devill was Papiſt good enough, Schiſma aequipollet haereſi, Whoſoever is a Schiſmatick, departed from the obedience of the Romane Church, is eaſily brought within compaſſe of hereſie too, becauſe it is a matter of faith to affirm a neceſſity of ſuch an obedience. And therefore the devil attempts to make that Schiſme in the Trinity, with that, Si filius Deies, Make theſe ſtones bread, If thou beeſt the Son of God, caſt thy ſelf down from this Pinnacle, that is, do ſomething of thy ſelf, exceed thy commiſſion, and never attend ſo punctually all thy directions from thy Father. In Iobs caſe he would draw the head from the union; In Chriſts caſe he would alienate the Son from the Father, becauſe diviſion is the fore runner (and alas, but a little way the fore-runner) of deſtruction. And therefore aſſoon as that Kingdome was come to a diviſion between ten and two Tribes, between a King of Judah, and a King of Iſrael, preſently upon it, and in the compaſſe of a very ſhort time aroſe all thoſe Prophets that propheſied of a deſtruction; aſſoon as they ſaw a diviſion, they foreſaw a deſtruction. And therefore when God had ſhewed before what he could doe, and declared by his Prophets then what he would doe, Vae deſiderantibus, Woe unto them that ſay, Eſay 5.18.Let him make ſpeed and haſten his work, that we may ſee it: That is, that are yet confident that no ſuch thing ſhall fall upon us, and confident with a ſcorn,2 Pet. 3.4. and fulfill that which the Apoſtle ſaith, There ſhall come in the latter daies ſcoffers, ſaying, Where is the promiſe of his comming? for ſince the fathers fell aſleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning at the Creation. But God ſhall anſwer their ſcorn with ſcorn, as in Ezekiel, Son of man, Ezek. 12.22.What is that Proverb which you have in the Land of Iſrael, ſaying, The dayes are prolonged, and every viſion failes? That is, the Prophets talk of great calamities, but we are ſafe enough, Tell them (ſayes the Lord) I will make their proverb to ceaſe, I will ſpeak and it ſhall come to paſſe; in your dayes, O rebellious houſe, will I ſay the word, and per-form it.
And therefore ut quid vobis? what ſhould you pretend to deſire that day? what can ye get by that day? Becauſe you have made a covenant with death, and are at an agreement with hell, when that Invadens flagellum, (as the Prophet with an elegant horror, if they can conſiſt, expreſſes it) when that over-flowing ſcourge ſhall paſſe through, ſhall it not come to you? Why?Eſay 20.15. who are you? have you thought of it before hand, conſidered it, digeſted it, and reſolved, that in the worſt that can fall, your vocall conſtancy, and your humane valour ſhall ſuſtaine you from all dejection of ſpirit? what judgement of God ſoever ſhall fall upon you, whenſoever this dies Domini ſhall break out upon you, you have light in your ſelves, and by that light you ſhall ſee light, and paſſe through all incommodities. Be not deceived, this day of the Lord is darkneſſe and not light, the firſt blaſt, the firſt breath of his indignation blowes out thy candle, extinguiſhes all thy Wiſedome, all thy Counſells, all thy Philoſophicall ſentences, diſorders thy Seneca, thy Plutarch, thy Tacitus, and all thy premeditations; for the ſword of the Lord is a two-edged ſword, it cuts bodily, and it cuts ghoſtly, it cuts temporally, and it cuts ſpiritually, it cuts off all worldly reliefe from others, and it cuts off all Chriſtian patience, and good interpretation of Gods correction in thine owne heart.
Vt quid vobis? what can you get by that day? can you imagine that though you have beene benighted under your owne obduration and ſecurity before, yet when this day of the Lord, the day of affliction ſhall come, afflictio dabit intellectum, the day will bring light of it ſelfe, the affliction will give underſtanding, and it will be time enough to ſee the danger and the remedy both at once, and to turne to God by that light, which that affliction ſhall give? Be not deceived, dies Domini tenebrae, this day of the Lord will be darkneſſe and not light. God hath made two great lights for man, the Sun, and the Moone; God doth manifeſt himſelfe two waies to man, by proſperity, and adverſity; but if there were no Sun, there would be no light in the Moone neither; If there be no ſenſe of God in thy greatneſſe, in thy abundance, it is a dark time to ſeek him in the clouds of affliction, and heavineſſe of heart. Experience teacheth us, that if we be reading any book in the evening, if the twilight ſurpriſe us, and it growes dark, yet we can reade longer in that book which we were in before, then if we took a new book of another ſubject into our hands: If we have been accuſtomed to the contemplation of God in the Sunſhine of proſperity, we ſhall ſee him better in the night of miſery, then if we began but then, Vae deſiderantibus. If you ſeem to deſire that day of the Lord, becauſe you doe not beleeve that that day will come, or becauſe you beleeve that when that day comes, it will be time enough to rectifie your ſelves, then, Vi quod vobis? this day ſhall be good for nothing to either of you, for to both you it ſhall be darkneſſe, and not light.
The dayes which God made for man were darkneſſe, and then light, ſtill the evening and the morning made up the day. The day which the Lord ſhall bring upon ſecure and carnall men, is darkneſſe without light, judgements without any beames of mercy ſhine through them, ſuch judgements, as if we will conſider the vehemency of them, we ſhall finde them expreſſed in ſuch an extraordinary heighth, as ſcarce anywhere elſe in Iercmy, Men ſhall ask one of another if they be in labour, whether they travell with childe. Ier. 3….7.Wherefore do I ſee every man with his hands on his loines, as a woman in travell? Alas, becauſe that day is great, and none is like it. This is the unexpected and unconſidered ſtrangeneſſe of that day, if we conſider the vehemency, and if we conſider the ſuddenneſſe, the ſpeed of bringing that day upon ſecure man. That is intimated very ſufficiently in another ſtory of the ſame Prophet, that when he had ſaid to the Prophet Hananiah, Jer 28.16.That he ſhould die within a year, when God ſaith, his judgements ſhall come ſhortly, if then we conſider the vehemency, or the nearneſſe of the day of the Lord, the day of his viſitation, we ſhall be glad to ſay with that Prophet,Ier. 17.16. As for me I have not deſired that wofull day thou knoweſt, that is, I have neither doubted but that there ſhall be ſuch a day, nor I have not put off my repentance to that day, for what can that do good to either of thoſe diſpoſitions, when to them it ſhall be darkneſſe, and not light?
Now this Woe of this Prophet thus denounced againſt contemptuous ſcorners of the day of the Lord, 2 Part.as that day ſignifies afflictions in this life, have had no ſubject to work upon this congregation (as by Gods grace there is none of that diſtemper here) it is a piece of a Sermon well loſt; and God be bleſſed that it hath had no uſe, that no body needed it. But as the Woe is denounced in the ſecond acceptation againſt Hypocrites, ſo it is a chain-ſhot, and in every congregation takes whole rankes, and here Dies Domini is the laſt day of Judgement, and the deſire in the Text is not, as before, a denying that any ſuch day ſhould be, but it is an hypocriticall pretence, that we have ſo well performed our duties, as that we ſhould be glad if that day would come, and then the darkneſſe of the Text is everlaſting condemnation.
For this day of the Lord then, the laſt day of judgement, conſider only, or reflect only upon theſe three circumſtances: Firſt, there is Lex violata, a law given to thee and broken by thee. Secondly, there is Teſtis prolatus, Evidence produced againſt thee, and confeſſed by thee. And then there is Sententia lata, A judgement given againſt thee, and executed upon thee.
For the Law firſt, when that Law is To love God with all thy power, not to ſcatter thy love upon any other creature, when the Law is not to do, not to covet any ill, wilt thou ſay this Law doth not concern me, becauſe it is impoſſible in it ſelf, for this coveting, this firſt concupiſcence is not in a mans own power? Why, this Law was poſſible to man, when it was given to man, for it was naturally imprinted in the heart of man, when man was in his ſtate of innocency, and then it was poſſible, and the impoſſibility that is grown into it ſince, is by mans own fault. Man by breaking the Law, hath made the Law impoſſible, and himſelf inexcuſable; wilt thou ſay with that man in the Goſpell, Omnia haec à juventute, I have kept all this Law from my youth? From thy youth? remember thy youth well, and what Law thou keptſt then, and thou wilt finde it to be another Law, Lex in membris, A Law of the fleſh warring againſt the Law of the minde, nay thou wilt finde that thou didſt never maintain a war againſt that Law of the fleſh, but waſt glad that thou cameſt to the obedience of that Law ſo ſoon, and art ſorry thou canſt follow that Law no longer.
This is the Law, and wilt thou put this to triall? Wilt thou ſay who can prove it? Who comes in to give evidence againſt me? All thoſe whom thy ſollicitations have overcome, and who have overcome thy ſollicitations, good and bad, friends and enemies, Wives and Miſtreſſes, perſons moſt incompatible, and contrary, here ſhall joyne together, and be of the Jury. If S. Pauls caſe were ſo far thy caſe, as that thou wert in righteouſneſſe unblameable, no man, no woman able to teſtifie againſt thee, yet when the records of all thoughts ſhall be laid open, and a retired and obſcure man ſhall appeare to have been as ambitious in his Cloiſter, as a pretending man at the Court, and a retired woman in her chamber, appeare to be as licentious as a proſtitute woman in the Stews, when the heart ſhall be laid open, and this laid open too, that ſome ſins of the heart are the greateſt ſins of all (as Infidelity, the greateſt ſin of all, is rooted in the heart) and ſin produced to action, is but a dilatation of that ſin, and all dilatation is ſome degree of extenuation, (The body ſometimes grows weary of acting ſome ſin, but the heart never grows weary of contriving of ſin.)
When this ſhall be that Law, and this the Evidence, what can be the Sentence, but that, Itemaledicti, Go ye accurſed into ever laſting fire? where it is not as in the form of our judgement here, You ſhall be carried to the place of execution, but Ite, Goe, our own conſciences ſhall be our executioners, and precipitate us into that condemnation. It is not a Captivity of Babylon for 70. yeares, (and yet 70. yeares is the time of mans life, and why might not ſo many yeares puniſhment, expiate ſo many yeares ſinfull pleaſure?) but it is 70. millions of millions of generations, for they ſhall live ſo long in hell, as God himſelf in heaven; It is not an impriſonment during the Kings pleaſure, but during the Kings diſpleaſure, whom nothing can pleaſe nor reconcile, after he ſhall have made up that account with his Son, and told him, Theſe be all you dyed for, theſe be all you purchaſed, theſe be all whom I am bound to ſave for your ſake, for the reſt, their portion is everlaſting deſtruction.
Under this law, under this evidence, under this ſentence, vae deſiderantibus, woe to them that pretend to deſire this day of the Lord, as though by their owne outward righteouſneſſe, they could ſtand upright in this judgement. Woe to them that ſay, Let God come when he will, it ſhall goe hard, but he ſhall finde me at Church, I heare three or foure Sermons a week; he ſhall finde me in my Diſcipline and Mortification, I faſt twice a week; he ſhall finde me in my Stewardſhip and Diſpenſation, I give tithes of all that I poſſeſſe. When Ezechias ſhewed the Ambaſſadors of Babylon all his Treaſure and his Armour, the malediction of the Prophet fell upon it, that all that Treaſure and Armour which he had ſo gloriouſly ſhewed, ſhould be tranſported to them, to whom he had ſhewed it, into Babylon. He that publiſhes his good works to the world, they are carried into the world, and that is his reward. Not that there is not a good uſe of letting our light ſhine before men too; for when S. Paul ſayes, If I yet pleaſe men, Gal. 1.10.I ſhould not be the ſervant of Chriſt; and when he ſaith, I doe pleaſe all men in all things: S. Auſtine found no difficulty in reconciling thoſe two; Navem quaero, ſayes he, ſed & patriam, When I goe to the Haven to hire a Ship, it is for the love I have to my Country; When I declare my faith by my works to men, it is for the love I beare to the glory of God; but if I deſire the Lords day upon confidence in theſe works, vae ſcirpo, as Iob expreſſes it, woe unto me poore ruſh, Job 8.16.for (ſayes he) the ruſh is greene till the Sun come, that is, ſayes Gregory upon that place, donec divina diſtrictio in judicio candeat, till the fire of the judgement examine our works, they may have ſome verdure, ſome colour, but vae deſiderantibus, wo unto them that put themſelves unto that judgement for their works ſake.
For ut quid vobis? to what end is it for you? If your hypocriticall ſecurity could hold out to the laſt, if you could delude the world at the laſt gaſp, if thoſe that ſtand about you then could be brought to ſay, he went away like a Lambe, alas the Lambe of God went not away ſo, the Lamb of God had his colluctations, diſputations, expoſtulations, apprehenſions of Gods indignation upon him then: This ſecurity, call it by a worſe name, ſtupidity, is not a lying down like a Lamb, but a lying down like Iſſachers Aſſe between two burdens, for two greater burdens cannot be, then ſin, and the ſenſleſneſſe of ſin. Vt quid vobis? what will ye doe at that day, which ſhall be darkneſſe and not light? God dwels in luce inacceſsibili, 1 Tim. 6.16.in ſuch light as no man by the light of nature can comprehend here, but when that light of grace which was ſhed upon thee here, ſhould have brought thee at laſt to that inacceſſible light, then thou muſt be caſt in tenebras exteriores, Mat. 8.12.into darkneſſe, and darkneſſe without the Kingdome of heaven. And if the darkneſſe of this world, which was but a darkneſſe of our making, could not comprehend the light, when Chriſt in his perſon, brought the light and offered repentance, certainly in that outward darkneſſe of the next world, the darkneſſe which God hath made for puniſhment, they ſhall ſee nothing, neither intramittendo, nor extramittendo, neither by receiving offer of grace from heaven, nor in the diſpoſition to pray for grace in hell. For as at our inanimation in our Mothers womb, our immortall ſoule when it comes, ſwallowes up the other ſoules of vegetation, and of ſenſe, which were in us before; ſo at this our regeneration in the next world, the light of glory ſhall ſwallow up the light of grace. To as many as ſhall be within, there will need no grace to ſupply defects, nor eſchew dangers, becauſe there we ſhall have neither defects nor dangers. There ſhall be no night, no need of candle, Apoc. 22.5.nor of Sun, for the Lord ſhall give them light, and they ſhall raigne for ever and ever. There ſhall be no ſuch light of grace, as ſhall work repentance to them that are in the light of glory; neither could they that are in outward darkneſſe, comprehend the light of grace, if it could flow out upon them. Firſt, you did the works of darkneſſe, ſayes the Apoſtle,Rom. 13.12. and then that cuſtome, that practice brought you to love darkneſſe better then light; and then as the Prince of darkneſſe delights to transforme himſelfe into an Angell of light; Iohn 3.ſo by your hypocriſie you pretend a light of grace, when you are darkneſſe it ſelfe, and therefore, at quid vobis? what will you get by that day which is darkneſſe and not light?
Now as this Woe and commination of our Prophet had one aime,3. Part. to beat down their ſcorne which derided the judgements of God in this world, and a ſecond aime to beat downe their confidence, that thought themſelves of themſelves able to ſtand in Gods judgements in the next world; ſo it hath a third mark better then theſe two, it hath an aime upon them in whom a wearineſſe of this life, when Gods corrections are upon them, or ſome other miſtaking of their owne eſtate and caſe, works an over-haſty and impatient deſire of death, and in this ſenſe and acceptation, the day of the Lord is the day of our death and tranſmigration out of this world, and the darkneſſe is ſtill everlaſting darkneſſe. Now for this we take our leſſon in Iob, Iob. 7.1.Vita militia, mans life is a warfare; man might have lived at peace,Greg. he himſelfe choſe a rebellious warre, and now quod volens expetiit nolens portat, that warre which he willingly embarked himſelfe in at firſt, though it be againſt his will now, he muſt goe through with. In Iob we have our leſſon, and in S. Paul we have our Law,Eph 63. Take ye the whole armour of God, that ye may be able having done all to ſtand; that is, that having overcome one temptation, you may ſtand in battle againſt the next, for it is not adoloſcentia militia, but vita; that we ſhould think to triumph if we had overcome the heat and intemperance of youth, but we muſt fight it out to our lives end. And then we have the reward of this leſſon, and of this law limited, nemo coronatur, no man is crowned, except he fight according to this law that is,2 Tim. 2.5. he perſever to the end. And as we have our leſſon in Iob, our rule and reward in the Apoſtle, who were both great Commanders in the warfare;Mat. 26.38. ſo we have our example in our great Generall, Chriſt Jeſus, Who though his ſoul were heavy, and heavy unto death, though he had a baptiſme to be baptiſed with, & coarctabatur, he was ſtraightned, and in paine till it were accompliſhed, and though he had power to lay down his ſoul, Iohn 10.18.and take it up againe, and no man elſe could take it from him, yet he ſought it out to the laſt houre, and till his houre came, he would not prevent it, nor lay downe his ſoule. Vae deſiderantibus, woe unto them that deſire any other end of Gods correction, but what he hath ordained and appointed, for ut quid vobis? what ſhall you get by chooſing your owne wayes? Tenebrae & non lux; They ſhall paſſe out of this world, in this inward darkneſſe of melancholy, and dejection of ſpirit, into the outward darkneſſe, which is an everlaſting excluſion from the Father of lights, and from the Kingdome of joy; their caſe is well expreſſed in the next verſe to our Text, they ſhall flie from a Lyon, and a Beare ſhall meet them, they ſhall leane on a wall, and a Serpent ſhall bite them; they ſhall end this life by a miſerable and haſty death, and out of that death ſhall grow an immortall life in torments, which no wearineſſe, nor deſire, nor practice can ever bring to an end.
And here in this acceptation of theſe words, this vae falls directly upon them who colouring and apparelling treaſon in martyrdome, expoſe their lives to the danger of the Law,Scribanius. & embrace death; theſe of whom one of their own ſociety ſaith, that the Scevolaes, the Caves, the Porciaes, the Cleopatraes of the old time, were nothing to the Jeſuites, for ſaith he, they could dye once, but they lacked courage ad multas mortes; perchance hee meanes, that after thoſe men were once in danger of the Law, and forfeited their lives by one comming, they could come again and again, as often as the plentifull mercy of their King would ſend them away, Rapiunt mortem ſpontanea irruptione, ſayes he to their glory, they are voluntary and violent purſuers of their own death, and as he expreſſes it, Crederes morbo adeſos, Baron. Martyr…. 29. Decemb.you would think that the deſire of death is a diſeaſe in them; A graver man then he miſtakes their caſe and cauſe of death as much, you are (ſaith he, incouraging thoſe of our Nation to the purſuit of death) in ſacris ſeptis ad martyrium ſaginati, fed up and fatned here for martyrdome, & Sacramento ſanguinem ſpoſpondiſtis, they have taken an oath that they will be hanged, but that he in whom (as his great patterne God himſelfe) mercy is above all his works, out of his abundant ſweetneſſe makes them perjured when they have ſo Tworne and vowed their owne ruine. But thoſe that ſend them, give not the lives of theſe men ſo freely, ſo cheaply as they pretend. But as in dry Pumps, men poure in a little water, that they may pump up more; ſo they are content to drop in a little blood of imaginary, but traiterous Martyrs, that, by that at laſt they may draw up at laſt the royall blood of Princes, and the loyall blood of Subjects; vae deſiderantibus, woe to them that are made thus ambitious of their owne ruine, ut quid vobis? Tenebrae & non lux, you are kept in darkneſſe in this world, and ſent into darkneſſe from heaven into the next, and ſo your ambition, ad multas mortes, ſhall be ſatisfied, you dye more then one death, morte moriemini, this death delivers you to another, from which you ſhall never be delivered.
We have now paſt through theſe three acceptations of theſe words,Concluſion. which have falne into the contemplation, and meditation of the Ancients in their Expoſitions of this Text; as this dark day of the Lord, ſignifies his judgements upon Atheiſticall ſcorners in this world, as it ſignifies his laſt irrevocable, and irremediable judgements upon hypocriticall relyers upon their own righteouſneſſe in the next world, and between both, as it ſignifies their uncomfortable paſſage out of this life, who bring their death inordinately upon themſelves; and we ſhall ſhut up all with one ſignification more of the Lords day, That, that is the Lords day, of which the whole Lent is the Vigil, and the Eve. All this time of mortification; and our often meeting in this place to heare of our mortality, and our immortality, which are the two reall Texts, and Subjects of all our Sermons; All this time is the Eve of the Reſurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt. That is the Lords day, when all our mortification, and dejection of ſpirit, and humbling of our ſoules, ſhall be abundantly exalted in his reſurrection, and when all our faſts and abſtinence ſhall be abundantly recompenced in the participation of his body & his bloud in the Sacrament; Gods Chancery is alwayes open, and his ſeale works alwaies; at all times remiſſion of ſins may be ſealed to a penitent ſoule in the Sacrament. That clauſe which the Chancellors had in their Patents under the Romane Emperours, Vt praerogativamgerat conſcientiae noſtrae, is in our commiſſion too, for God hath put his conſcience into his Church, & whoſe ſins are remitted there, are remitted in heaven at all times; but yet dies Domini, the Lords reſurrection is as the full Terme, a more generall application of this ſeale of reconciliation: But vae deſiderantibus, woe unto them that deſire that day, only becauſe they would have theſe dayes of preaching, and prayer, and faſting, and trouble ſome preparation paſt and gone. Vae deſiderantibus, woe unto them who deſire that day, onelyonly, that by rece… …ing the Sacrament day, that they might delude the world, as though they were not of a contrary religion in their heart; vae deſiderantibus, woe unto them who preſent themſelves that day without ſuch a preparation as becomes ſo fearful and myſteſious an action, upon any carnall or collaterall reſpects. Before that day of the Lord comes, comes the day of his crucifying; before you come to that day, if you come not to a crucifying of your ſelves to the world, and the world to you, ut quid vobis? what ſhall you get by that day? you ſhall prophane that day, and the Author of it, as to make that day of Chriſts triumph, the triumph of Satan, and to make even that body and bloud of Chriſt Jeſus, Vehiculum Satanae, his Chariot to enter into you, as he did into Iudas. That day of the Lord will be darkneſſe and not light, and that darkneſſe will be, that you ſhall not diſcerne the Lords body, you ſhall ſcatter all your thoughts upon wrangling and controverſies, de modo, how the Lords body can be there, and you ſhall not diſcerne by the effects, nor in your owne conſcience, that the Lords body is there at all. But you ſhall take it to be onelyonly an obedience to civill or Eccleſiaſticall conſtitutions, or onelyonly a teſtimony of outward conformity, which ſhould be ſignaculum & viaticum, a ſeale of pardon for paſt ſins, and a proviſion of grace againſt future. But he that is well prepared for this, ſtrips himſelfe of all theſe vae deſiderantibus, of all theſe comminations that belong to carnall deſires, and he ſhall be as Daniel was, vir deſideriorum, a man of chaſt and heavenly deſires onelyonly; hee ſhall deſire that day of the Lord, as that day ſignifies affliction here, with David, Pſal. 119.17.Bonum eſt mihi quòd humiliaſti me, I am mended by my ſickneſſe, enriched by my poverty; and ſtrengthened by my weakneſſe; and with S. Bern. deſire, Iraſcar is mihi Domine, O Lord be angry with me, for if thou chideſt me not, thou conſidereſt me not, if I taſte no bitterneſſe, I have no Phyſick; If thou correct me not, I am not thy ſon: And he ſhall deſire that day of the Lord, as that day ſignifies, the laſt judgement, with the deſire of the Martyrs under the Altar, Vſquequo Domine? How long, O Lord, ere thou execute judgement? And he ſhall deſire this day of the Lord, as this day is the day of his own death, with S. Pauls deſire, Cupio diſſolvi, I deſire to be diſſolved, and to be with Chriſt. And when this day of the Lord, as it is the day of the Lords reſurrection ſhall come, his ſoule ſhall be ſatified as with marrow, and with fatneſſe, in the body and bloud of his Saviour, and in the participation of all his merits, as intirely, as if all that Chriſt Jeſus hath ſaid, and done, and ſuffered, had beene ſaid, and done, and ſuffered for his ſoule alone. Enlarge our daies, O Lord, to that bleſſed day, prepare us before that day, ſeale to us at that day, ratifie to us after that day, all the daies of our life, an aſſurance in that Kingdome, which thy Son our Saviour hath purchaſed for us, with the ineſtimable price of his incorruptible bloud, To which glorious Son of God, &c.