Eighty Sermons, Trinity Sunday · Sermon 39
SERM. XXXIX. Preached upon Trinity-Sunday.
1 PET. 1.17.
And if ye call on the Father, who without reſpect of perſons judgeth according to every mans works, paſſe the time of your ſojourning here in feare.
YOu may remember, that I propoſed to exerciſe your devotions and religious meditations in theſe exerciſes, with words which might preſent to you, firſt the ſeverall perſons in the Trinity, and the benefits which we receive, in receiving God in thoſe diſtinct notions of Father, Son, and holy Ghoſt; And then with other words which might preſent thoſe ſins, and the danger of thoſe ſins which are moſt particularly oppoſed againſt thoſe ſeverall perſons. Of the firſt, concerning the perſon of the Father, we ſpoke laſt, and of the other, concerning ſins againſt the Father, theſe words will occaſion us to ſpeak now.
It is well noted upon thoſe words of David, Pſal. 51.1.Have mercy upon me, O God, that the word is Elohim, which is Gods in the plurall, Have mercy upon me, O Gods: for David, though he conceived not divers Gods, yet he knew three divers perſons in that one God, and he knew that by that ſin which he lamented in that Pſalme, that peccatum complicatum, that manifold ſin, that ſin that enwrapped ſo many ſins, he had offended all thoſe three perſons. For whereas we conſider principally in the Father, Poteſtatem, Power, and in the Son Sapientiam, Wiſdome, and in the holy Ghoſt Bonitatem, Goodneſſe, David had ſinned againſt the Father, in his notion, In poteſtate, in abuſing his power, and kingly authority, to a miſchievous and bloody end in the murder of Vriah: And he had ſinned againſt the Son, in his notion, In ſapientia, in depraving and detorting true wiſdome into craft and treachery: And he had ſinned againſt the holy Ghoſt in his notion, In bonitate, when he would not be content with the goodneſſe and piety of Vriah, who refuſed to take the eaſes of his owne houſe, and the pleaſure of his wifes boſome, as long as God himſelfe in his army lodged in Tents, and ſtood in the face of the Enemy. Sins againſt the Father then, we conſider eſpecially to be ſuch as are In poteſtate, Either in a neglect of Gods Power over us, or in an abuſe of that power which we have from God over others; and of one branch of that power, particularly of Judgement, is this Text principally intended, If ye call on the Father, who without reſpect of perſons judgeth, &c.
In the words we ſhall inſiſt but upon two parts,Diviſio. Firſt, A Counſaile, which in the Apoſtles mouth is a commandement; And then a Reaſon, an inducement, which in the Apoſtles mouth is a forcible, an unreſiſtible argument. The Counſell, that is, The commandement, is, If ye call on the Father, feare him, ſtand in feare of him; And the reaſon, that is, the Argument, is, The name of Father implyes a great power over you, therefore feare him; And amongſt other powers, a power of judging you, of calling you to an account, therefore feare him: In which Judgement, this Judge accepts no perſons, but judges his ſons as his ſervants, and therefore feare him: And then, he judges, not upon words, outward profeſſions, but upon works, actions, according to every mans works, and therefore feare him: And then as on his part he ſhall certainly call you to judgement when you goe hence, ſo on your part, certainly it cannot be long before you goe hence, for your time is but a ſojourning here, it is not a dwelling, And yet it is a ſojourning here, it is not a poſting, a gliding through the world, but ſuch a ſtay, as upon it our everlaſting dwelling depends; And therefore that we may make up this circle, and end as we begun, with the feare of God, paſſe that time, that is, all that time, in fear; In fear of neglecting and undervaluing, or of over-tempting that great power which is in the Father, And in feare of abuſing thoſe limnes, and branches, and beames of that power which he hath communicated to thee, in giving thee power and authority any way over others; for theſe, To neglect the power of the Father, or To abuſe that power which the Father hath given thee over others, are ſinnes againſt the Father, who is power. If ye call on the Father, &c.
Firſt then, for the firſt part, the Counſell, Si invocatis, If ye call on the Father, In timore, 1. Part.Doe it in feare, The Counſell hath not a voluntary Condition, and arbitrary in our ſelves annexed to it; If you call, then feare, does not import, If you doe not call, you need not feare; It does not import, That if you profeſſe a particular forme of Religion, you are bound to obey that Church, but if you doe not, but have fancied a religion to your ſelfe without precedent, Or a way to ſalvation without any particular religion, Or a way out of the world without any ſalvation or damnation, but a going out like a candle, if you can think thus you need not feare, This is not the meaning of this If in this place, If you call on the Father, &c. But this If implyes a wonder, an impoſſibility, that any man ſhould deny God to be the Father: If the author, the inventer of any thing uſefull for this life be called the father of that invention, by the holy Ghoſt himſelfe,Gen. 4.20. Iabal was the father of ſuch as dwell in Tents, and Tubal his brother the father of Muſique, And ſo Horace calls Ennius the father of one kind of Poeme: how abſolutely is God our Father, who (may I ſay?) invented us, made us, found us out in the depth, and darkneſſe of nothing at all? He is Pater, and Pater luminum, Father, and Father of lights, of all kinds of lights. Lux lucifica, Iam. 1.17.as S. Auguſtine expreſſes it, The light from which all the lights which we have, whether of nature, or grace, or glory, have their emanation. Take theſe Lights of which God is ſaid to be the Father, to be the Angels, (ſo ſome of the Fathers take it, and ſo S. Paul calls them Angels of light; And ſo Nazianzen calls them Secundos ſplendores primi ſplendoris adminiſtros, 2 Cor. 11.14.ſecond lights that ſerve the firſt light) Or take theſe Lights of which God is ſaid to be the Father to be the Miniſters of the Goſpel, the Angels of the Church, (ſo ſome Fathers take them too, and ſo Chriſt ſayes to them, in the Apoſtles,Mat. 5.14. You are the light of the world) Or take theſe Lights to be thoſe faithfull ſervants of God, who have received an illuſtration in themſelves, and a coruſcation towards others, who by having lived in the preſence of God, in the houſhold of his faithfull, in the true Church, are become, as Iohn Baptiſt was, burning and ſhining lamps, (as S. Paul ſayes of the faithfull,Phil. 2.15. You ſhine as lights in this world, And as Moſes had contracted a glorious ſhining in his face, by his converſation with God) Or take this light to be a fainter light then that, (and yet that which S. Iames doth moſt literally intend in that place) The light of naturall underſtanding, That which Plinie calls ſerenitatem animi, when the mind of man, diſ-encumbred of all Eclipſes, and all clouds of paſſion, or inordinate love of earthly things, is enlightned ſo far, as to diſcerne God in nature; Or take this light to be but the light of a ſhadow, (for umbrae non ſunt tenebrae, ſed denſior lux, ſhadows are not darkneſſes, ſhadows are but a groſſer kind of light) Take it to be that ſhadow, that deſigne, that delineation, that obumbration of God, which the creatures of God exhibit to us, that which Plinie calls Coelilaetitiam, when the heavens, and all that they imbrace, in an openneſſe and cheerefulneſſe of countenance, manifeſt God unto us; Take theſe Lights of which S. Iames ſpeaks, in any apprehenſion, any way, Angels of heaven who are miniſtring ſpirits, Angels of the Church, who are ſpirituall Miniſters, Take it for the light of faith from hearing, the light of reaſon from diſcourſing, or the light flowing from the creature to us, by contemplation, and obſervation of nature, Every way, by every light we ſee, that he is Pater luminum, the Father of lights; all theſe lights are from him, and by all theſe lights we ſee that he is A Father, and Our Father.
So that as the Apoſtle uſes this phraſe in another place, Si opertum Euangelium, 2 Cor. 4.3.If the Goſpel be hid, with wonder and admiration, Is it poſſible, can it be that this Goſpel ſhould be hid? So it is here, Si invocatis, If ye call God Father, that is, as it is certaine you doe, as it is impoſſible but you ſhould, becauſe you cannot aſcribe to any but him, your Being, your preſervation in that Being, your exaltation in that Being to a well-Being, in the poſſeſſion of all temporall, and ſpirituall conveniencies, And then there is thus much more force in this particle Si, If, which is (as you have ſeene) Si conceſsionis, non dubitationis, an If that implyes a confeſſion and acknowledgement, not a heſitation or a doubt, That it is alſo Si progreſsionis, Si concluſionis, an If that carryes you farther, and that concludes you at laſt, If you doe it, that is, Since you do it, Since you do call God Father, ſince you have paſſed that act of Recognition, ſince not onelyonly by having been produced by nature, but by having beene regenerated by the Goſpel, you confeſſe God to bee your Father, and your Father in his Son, in Chriſt Jeſus: Since you make that profeſſion, Of his owne will begate he us, Iames 1.18.with the word of Truth, If you call him Father, ſince you call him Father, thus, goe on farther, Timete, Feare him; If yee call him Father, feare him, &c.
Now,Timete. for this feare of God, which is the beginning of wiſedome, and the end of wiſedome too, we are a little too wiſe, at leaſt, too ſubtile, ſometimes in diſtinguiſhing too narrowly between a filiall feare, and a ſervile feare, as though this filiall feare were nothing but a reverend love of God, as he is good, and not a doubt and ſuſpition of incurring thoſe evils,Prov. 8.13. that are puniſhments, or that produce puniſhments. The feare of the Lord is to hate evill, It is a holy deteſtation of that evill which is Malum culpae, The evill of ſin, and it is a holy trembling under a tender apprehenſion of that other evill, which we call Malum poenae, The evill of puniſhment for ſin. God preſents to us the joyes of heaven often to draw us,Origen. and as often the torments of hell to avert us. Origen ſayes aright, As Abraham had two ſons, one of a Bond-woman, another of a Free, but yet both ſons of Abraham; ſo God is ſerved by two feares, and the later feare, the feare of future torment, is not the perfect feare, but yet even that feare is the ſervant, and inſtrument of God too. Quis tam inſenſatus; Chryſoſt.Who can ſo abſolutely deveſt all ſenſe, Qui non fluctuante Civitate, imminente naufragio, But that when the whole City is in a combuſtion and commotion, or when the Ship that he is in, ſtrikes deſperately and irrecoverably upon a rock, hee is otherwiſe affected toward God then, then when every day, in a quietneſſe and calme of holy affections, he heares a Sermon? Gehennae timor (ſayes the ſame Father) regni nos affert coronam, Gen. 15.12. Exod. 3.6.Even the feare of hell gets us heaven. Upon Abraham there fell A horrour of great darkneſſe, And Moſes hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And that way, towards that dejected look, does God bend his countenance; VponUpon this man will I look, Eſay 66.12.even to him that is poore, and of a contrite ſpirit, and trembleth at my word. As there are both impreſſions in ſecurity, vitious and vertuous, good and bad, ſo there are both in feare alſo. There is a wicked ſecurity in the wicked, by which they make ſhift to put off all Providence in God, and to think God like themſelves, indifferent what becomes of this world; There is an ill ſecurity in the godly, when for the time, in their proſperity, they grow ill husbands of Gods graces, and negligent of his mercies; In my proſperity (ſayes David himſelf,Pſal. 30.6. of himſelf) I ſaid, I ſhall not be moved. And there is a ſecurity of the faithfull, a conſtant perſwaſion, grounded upon thoſe marks, which God, in his Word, hath ſet upon that ſtate, That neither height, nor depth, nor any creature ſhall ſeparate us from God: But yet this ſecurity is never diſcharged of that feare, which he that ſaid that,1 Cor. 9.27. Phil. 2.12. 1 Cor. 10.12. had in himſelf, I keep under my body, leſt when I have preached to others, I my ſelf ſhould be a caſt-away; And which he perſwades other, how ſafe ſoever they were, Work out your ſalvation with feare and trembling, And Let him that thinketh he ſtandeth, take heed leſt he fall.
As then there is a vitious, an evill ſecurity; and that holy ſecurity which is good, is not without feare: ſo there is no feare of God, though it have ſome ſervility, (ſo farre, as ſervility imports but a feare of puniſhment) but it is good.Auguſt. For, Timor eſt amor inchoativus, The love of God begins in feare, and then Amor eſt timor conſummatus, The feare of God ends in love;1 ſ…l. 2.11. which David intends when he ſayes, Rejoyce with trembling; Conceive no ſuch feare as excludes ſpirituall joy, conceive no ſuch aſſurance, as excludes an humble and reverentiall feare. There is feare of God too narrow, when we thinke every naturall croſſe, every worldly accident to be a judgement of God, and a teſtimony of his indignation, which the Poet (not altogether in an ill ſenſe) calls a diſeaſe of the ſoule, Quo morbo mentem concuſſe? timore deorum; He imagines a man may be ſick of the feare of God, that is, not diſtinguiſh between naturall accidents, and immediate judgements of God; between ordinary declarations of his power, and extraordinary declarations of his anger. There is alſo a feare of God too large, too farre extended, when for a falſe feare of offending God, I dare not offend thoſe men, who pretend to come in his name, and ſo captivate my conſcience to the traditions and inventions of men, as to the word, and law of God. And there is a feare of God conceived, which never quickens, but putrifies in the womb before inanimation; the feare and trembling of the Devill, and men whom he poſſeſſes, deſperate of the mercies of God. But there is a feare acceptable to God, and yet hath in it, a trembling, a horrour, a conſternation, an aſtoniſhment, an apprehenſion of Gods dereliction for a time. The Law was given in thundring,Exod. 20.20. and lightning, and the people were afraid. How proceeds Moſes with them? Feare not, ſaies he, for God is come to prove you, that his feare might be before your faces. Here is a feare not, that is, feare not with deſpaire, nor with diffidence, but yet therefore, That you may feare the Law; for, in this place, the very Law it ſelfe (which is given to direct them) is called feare; As in another place, God himſelfe is called feare, (as he is in other places called love too) Iacob ſwore by the Feare of his Father Iſaac; that is,Gen. 32.53. by him whom his Father Iſaac feared, as the Chalde Paraphraſe rightly expreſſes it.
Briefly, this is the difference between Fearfulneſſe, and Feare, (for ſowe are fain to call Timiditatem and Timorem) Timidity, Fearfulneſſe, is a fear, where no cauſe of fear is; and there is no cauſe of feare, where man and man onelyonly threatens on one ſide, and God commands on the other: Feare not, thou worme of Iacob, I will help thee, Eſ…y 41.14. Heb. 11.23.ſaith the Lord thy redeemer, the Holy one of Iſrael. Moſes Parents had overcome this fearfulneſſe: They hid him, ſayes the Text, Et non metucrunt Edictum Regis, They feared not the Proclamation of the King, Becauſe it was directly, and evidently, and undiſputably againſt the manifeſt will of God. Queen Eſther had overcome this fearfulneſſe; ſhe had faſted, and prayed, and uſed all preſcribed and all poſſible meanes, and then ſhe entred the Kings Chamber, againſt the Proclamation, with that neceſſary reſolution, Si peream, peream, If I periſh, Eſther 4.16.I periſh; Not upon a diſobedient, not upon a deſperate undertaking, but in a rectified conſcience, and well eſtabliſhed opinion, that either that Law was not intended to forbid her, who was his Wife, or that the King was not rightly informed, in that bloody command, which he had given for the execution of all her Countrymen. And for thoſe who doe not overcome this fearfulneſſe, that is, that feare where no cauſe of feare is, (and there is no cauſe of feare, where Gods cauſe is by godly wayes promoved, though we doe not alwayes diſcern the wayes, by which this is done) for thoſe men that frame imaginary feares to themſelves, to the with-drawing or diſcouraging of other in the ſervice of God, we ſee where ſuch men are ranked by the Holy Ghoſt, when S. Iohn ſayes, The unbeleeving, the murderer, the whore-monger, the ſorcerer, the idolater, Apoc. 21.8;ſhall have their portion in the lake of brimſtone, which is the ſecond death: We fee who leads them all into this irrecoverable precipitation, The fearfull, that is, he that beleeves not God in his promiſes, that diſtruſts God in his owne cauſe, as ſoone as he ſeemes to open us to any danger; or diſtruſts Gods inſtruments, as ſoone as they goe another way, then he would have them goe. To end this, there is no love of God without feare, no Law of God, no God himſelfe without feare; And here, as in very many other places of Scripture, the feare of God is our whole Religion, the whole ſervice of God; for here, Feare him, includes Worſhip him, reverence him, obey him. Which Counſell or Commandement, though it need no reaſon, no argument, yet the Apoſtle does purſue with an argument, and that conſtitutes our ſecond Part.
Now the Apoſtles arguments grow out of a double root;2 Part. One argument is drawne from God, another from man. From God, thus implied, If God be a Father, feare him, for naturally we acknowledge the power of a Father to be great over his children, and conſequently the reverent feare of the children great towards him. The Father had Poteſtatem vitae & necis, A power over the life of his child, he might have killed his childe; but that the child ſhould kill his Father, it never entred into the proviſion of any Law, and it was long before it fell into the ſuſpition of any Law-maker. Romulus in his Laws, called every man-ſlaughter Parricidium, becauſe it was Paris occiſio, He had killed a man, a Peere, a creature equall to himſelfe; but for Parricide in the later ſenſe, when Parricide is Patricide, the killing of a Father, it came not into the jealouſie of Romulus Law, nor into the heart or hand of any man there, in ſixe hundred yeares after: Cum lege coeperunt, Seneca.& facinus poena monſtravit, ſayes their Morall man: That ſin began not, till the Law forbad it, and only the puniſhment ordained for it, ſhewed that there might be ſuch a thing. He that curſeth Father or Mother, ſhall ſurely dye, ſayes Moſes; Exod. 21.17. Deut. 21.18.And he that is but ſtubborne towards them, ſhall dye too. The dutifull love of children to Parents is ſo rooted in nature, that Demoſthenes ſayes, it is againſt the impreſſions and againſt the Law of nature, for any child ever to love that man, that hath done execution upon his Father, though by way of Juſtice: And this naturall Obligation is not conditioned with the limitations of a good or a bad Father, Natura te non bono patri, ſed patri conciliavit, Epictetus.ſayes that little great Philoſopher, Nature hath not bound thee to thy father, as hee is a good Father, but meerely as he is thy Father.
Now for the power of Fathers over their children, by the Law of Nations, that is, the generall practiſe of Civill States, the Father had power upon the life of his child; It fell away by diſcontinuance, in a great part, and after was abrogated by particular Laws, but yet, by a connivence admitted in ſome caſes too. For, as in Nature man is Microcoſmus, a little World, ſo in nature, a family is a little State, a little Commonwealth, and what power the Magiſtrate hath in that,Ariſtor. the Father hath in this. Ipſum regnū ſuaptenatura imperium eſt paternum, The power of a King, if it be kept within the bounds of the nature of that Office,Tertul. is onelyonly to be a Father to his people: And, Gratius eſt nomen pietatis, quam poteſtatis, Authority is preſented in a more acceptable name, when I am called a Father, then when I am called a Maſter; and therefore, ſayes Seneca, our Anceſtors mollified it thus, Vt invidiam Dominis, contumcliam ſervis detraherent, That there might accrue no envy to the Maſter for ſo great a title, nor contempt upon the ſervant for ſo low a title, they called the Maſter Patremfamilias, The Father of a houſhould, and they called the ſervants, familiares, parts and pieces of the family. So that in the name of Father they underſtand all power; and the firſt Law that paſſed amongſt the Romans againſt Parricides,L. Pompeia. was Contra interfectores Patrum & Dominorum; They were made equall, Fathers and Soveraignes: And in the Law of God it ſelfe, Honour thy Father, wee ſee all the honour, and feare, and reverence that belongs to the Magiſtrate, is conveyed in that name, in that perſon, the Father is all; as in the State of that people, before they came to be ſettled, both the Civill part of the Government, and the Spirituall part, was all in the Father, that Father was King and Prieſt over all that family.
Preſent God to thy ſelf then as a Father, and thou wilt feare him; and take knowledg, that the Son might not ſue the Father; Enter no actiō againſt God why he made thee not richer, nor wiſer, nor fairer; no nor why he elects, or refuſes, without reſpect of good or bad works; But take knowledge too, that when by the Law, the Father might puniſh the Son with death, he might not kill his Son before he was paſſed three yeares in age, before hee was come to ſome demonſtration of an ill, and rebellious nature, and diſpoſition: Whatſoever God may doe of his abſolute Power, beleeve that he will not execute that power upon thee to thy condemnation, till thine actuall ſins have made thee incapable of his love: What he may do, diſpute not, but be ſure he will do thee no harme if thou feare him, as a Father.
Now to bring that nearer to you,Sacerdotalis. which principally we intended, which is, the conſideration and precaution of thoſe ſins, which violate this Power of God, notified in this name of Father, we conſider a threefold emanation or exerciſe of Power in this Father, by occaſion of a threefold repeating of this part of the Text, in the Scripture. The words are waighty, alwayes at the bottome; for we have theſe words in the laſt of the Prophets, in Malachie, and in the laſt of the Euangeliſts, in Iohn, And here in this Apoſtle, we have them of the laſt Judgement.Mal. 1.6. In Malachi he ſayes, A Son honoureth his Father, if then I be a Father, where is my honour? This God ſpeaks there to the Prieſt, to the Levite;Exod. 32.29. for, the Tribe of Levi, had before, (as Moſes bade them) conſecrated their hands to God, and puniſhed by a zealous execution, the Idolatry of the golden Calfe; and for this ſervice, God faſtned the Prieſthood upon them. But when they came in Malachies time, to connive at Idolatry it ſelfe, God, who was himſelfe the roote of the Prieſthood, and had truſted them with it, and they had abuſed that truſt, and the Prieſthood, Then when the Prophet was become a foole, Hoſe. 9.7.and the ſpirituall Man, mad, or (as S. Hierom reads it) Arreptitius, that is, poſſeſſed by others, God firſt of all turnes upon the Prieſt himſelfe, rebukes the Prieſt, interminates his judgement upon the Prieſt, for God is our high Prieſt. And therefore feare this Father in that notion, in that apprehenſion, as a Prieſt, as thy high Prieſt, that refuſes or receives thy ſacrifices, as he finds them conditioned; and if he looke narrowly, is able to finde ſome ſpot in thy pureſt Lambe, ſome ſin in thy holieſt action, ſome deviation in thy prayer, ſome oſtentation in thine almes, ſome vaine glory in thy Preaching, ſome hypocriſie in thy hearing, ſome concealing in thy confeſſions, ſome reſervation in thy reſtitutions, ſome relapſes in thy reconciliations: ſince thou calleſt him Father, feare him as thy high Prieſt: So the words have their force in Malachie, and they appertaine Ad poteſtatem Sacerdotalem, To the power of the Prieſt, deſpiſe not that.
And then,Civilis. Iohn 8.42. in the ſecond place, which is in S. Iohn, Chriſt ſayes, If God were your Father, you would love me: And this Chriſt ſpeakes to the Phariſees, and to them, not as Sectaries in Religion, but as to perſons in Authority, and command in the State, as to Rulers, to Governours, to Magiſtrates: So Chriſt ſayes to Pilate, Iohn 19.11. Rom. 13.11.Thou couldſt have no power at all againſt me, except it were given thee from above: And ſo S. Paul, There is no power but of God, The powers that be, be ordained of God. Chriſt then charges the Phariſees, that they having the ſecular Power in their hands, they went about to kill him, when he was doing the will of his Father, who is the roote, as of Prieſthood, ſo of all Civill power, and Magiſtracy alſo. Feare this Father then, as the Civill Sword, the Sword of Juſtice is in his hand. He can open thee to the malicious proſecutions of adverſaries, and ſubmit thee to the penalties of thoſe Lawes, which, in truth, thou haſt never tranſgreſſed: Thy Fathers, thy Grandfathers have ſinned againſt him, and thou haſt been but reprieved for two ſeſſions, for two generations, and now maieſt come to execution. Thou haſt ſinned thy ſelfe, and haſt repented, and haſt had thy pardon ſealed in the Sacrament; but thy pardon was clogged with an Ita quòd ſe bene gerat, Thou waſt bound to the peace by that pardon, and haſt broken that peace ſince, in a relapſe, and ſo falleſt under execution for thine old ſins: God cuts off men by unſearchable wayes and meanes; and therefore feare this Father as a Soveraigne, as a Magiſtrate, for that uſe this word in S. Iohn may have.
In Malachie we conſider him in his ſupreme ſpirituall power,Iudiciaria. and in S. Iohn in his ſupreme temporall power; And in this Text, this Father is preſented in a power, which includes both, in a judiciary power, as a Judge, as our Judge, our Judge at the laſt day, beyond all Appeale; And (as this Apoſtle S. Peter, is ſaid by Clement, who is ſaid to have beene his ſucceſſor at Rome, to have ſaid) Quis peccare poterit, &c. Who could commit any ſin at any time, if at all times he had his eye fixed upon this laſt Judgement? We have ſeene purſes cut at the Seſſions, and at Executions, but the Cutpurſe did not ſee the Judge looke upon him: we ſee men ſin over thoſe ſins to day, for which Judgement was inflicted but yeſterday, but ſurely they doe not ſee then that the Judge ſees them.Rom. 2.5. Thou treaſureſt up wrath, ſayes the Apoſtle, againſt the day of wrath, and revelation of the judgement of God: There is no Revelation of the day of Judgement, no ſenſe of any ſuch day, till the very day it ſelfe overtake him, and ſwallow him. Repreſent God to thy ſelfe as ſuch a Judge, as S. Chryſoſtome ſayes, That whoſoever conſiders him ſo, as that Judge, and that day, as a day of irrevocable judgement, Gehennae poenam tolerare malit, quàm adverſo Deo ſtare, He will even think it an eaſe to be thrown down into hell out of the preſence of God, rather then to ſtand long in the preſence, and ſtand under the indignation of that incenſed Judge: The Ite maledicti will be leſſe then the Surgite qui dormitis. And there is the miſerable perplexity, Latere impoſsibils, Apparere intolerabile, Bernard.To be hid from this Judge is impoſſible, and to appeare before him, intolerable: for he comes inveſted with thoſe two flames of confuſion, (which are our two next branches in the Text) firſt, He reſpects no perſons, Then, He judges according to workes: Without reſpect of perſons, &c.
Nine or ten ſeverall times it is repeated in the Scriptures, and, I thinke,Acceptor perſonarum. no one intire propoſition ſo often, That God is no accepter of perſons. It is ſpoken by Moſes, that they who are converſant in the Law might ſee it, and ſpoken in the Chronicles, that they might ſee it who are converſant in State-affaires, and ſpoken in Iob, that men in afflictions might not miſ-imagine a partiality in God: It is ſpoken to the Gentiles, by the Apoſtle of the Gentiles, S. Paul, ſeverally; To the Romanes, to the Galatians, to the Epheſians, to the Coloſſians: And ſpoken by the chiefe Apoſtle, S. Peter, both in a private Sermon in Cornelius his houſe, and now in this Catholique Epiſtle written to all the world, that all the world, and all the inhabitants thereof might know, That God is no accepter of perſons: And leſt all this ſhould not be all, it is ſpoken twice in the Apocryphall books; and though we know not aſſuredly by whom, yet we know to whom, To all that exerciſe any judiciary power under God, it belongs to know, That God is no accepter of perſons. In divers of thoſe places, this alſo is added, Nor receiver of Rewards; whether that be added as an equall thing, That it is as great a ſin to accept perſons, as to accept rewards, Or as a concomitancy, they goe together, He that will accept perſons, will accept rewards, Or as an Identity, It is the ſame thing to accept perſons, and to accept rewards, becauſe the preferment which I looke for from a perſon in place, is as much a reward, as money from a perſon rich in treaſure; whether of theſe it be, I diſpute not: Clearly there is a Bribery in my love to another, and in my feare of another there is a Bribery too: There is a bribery in a poore mans teares, if that decline me from juſtice, as well as in the rich mans Plate, and Hangings, and Coach, and Horſes.
Let no man therefore think to preſent his complexion to God for an excuſe, and ſay, My choler with which my conſtitution abounded, and which I could not remedy, enclined me to wrath, and ſo to bloud; My Melancholy enclined me to ſadneſſe, and ſo to Deſperation, as though thy ſins were medicinall ſins, ſins to vent humors. Let no man ſay, I am continent enough all the yeare, but the ſpring works upon me, and inflames my concupiſcencies, as though thy ſins were ſeaſonable and anniverſary ſins. Make not thy Calling the occaſion of thy ſin, as though thy ſin were a Myſterie, and an Occupation; Nor thy place, thy ſtation, thy office the occaſion of thy ſin, as though thy ſin were an Heir-loome, or furniture, or fixed to the freehold of that place: for this one propoſition, God is no accepter of perſons, is ſo often repeated, that all circumſtances of Diſpoſitions, and Callings,Ambroſ. and time, and place might be involved in it. Nulla deſcretio perſonarum, ſed morum; God diſcernes not, that is, diſtinguiſhes not Perſons, but Actions, for, He judgeth according to every mans works, which is our next Branch.
Now this judging according to works,Opera. excludes not the heart, nor the heart of the heart, the ſoule of the ſoule, Faith. God requires the heart, My ſonne give me thy heart; He will have it, but he will have it by gift; and thoſe Deeds of Gift muſt be teſtified; and the teſtimony of the heart is in the hand, the teſtimony of faith is in works. If one give me a timber tree for my houſe, I know not whether the root be mine or no, whether I may ſtub it by that gift: but if he give me a fruit tree for mine Orchard, he intends me the root too; for elſe I cannot tranſplant it, nor receive fruit by it: God judges according to the worke, that is, Root and fruit, faith and worke; That is the worke; And then he judges according unto Thy worke; The works of Other men, the Actions and the Paſſions of the bleſſed Martyrs, and Saints in the Primitive Church, works of Supererogation are not thy works. It were a ſtrange pretence to health, that when thy Phyſitian had preſcribed thee a bitter potion, and came for an account how it had wrought upon thee, thou ſhouldſt ſay, My brother hath taken twice as much as you preſcribed for me, but I tooke none, Or if he ordained ſixe ounces of bloud to be taken from thee, to ſay, My Grandfather bled twelve. God ſhall judge according to The worke, that is, The nature of the worke, and according to Thy worke, The propriety of the worke: Thee, who art a Proteſtant, he ſhall judge by thine owne worke, and not by S. Stephens, or S. Peters; and thee, who art a Papiſt, he ſhall judge by thine owne worke, and not by S. Campians, or S. Garnets, as meritorious as thou thinkeſt them. And therefore if God be thy Father, and in that title have ſoveraigne power over thee, A power ſpirituall, as High-prieſt of thy ſoule, that diſcernes thy ſacrifices; A power Civill, and drawes the ſword of Juſtice againſt thee, when he will; A power judiciary, and judges without accepting perſons, and without error in apprehending thy works, If he be a Father thus, feare him, for theſe are the reaſons of feare, on his part, and then feare him, for this reaſon on thy part, That this time which thou art to ſtay here, firſt, is But a ſojourning, it is no more, but yet it is a ſojourning, it is no leſſe, Paſſe the time of your ſojourning here, &c.
When there is a long time to the Aſſiſes,Incolatus. there may be ſome hope of taking off, or of ſmothering Evidence, or working upon the Judge, or preparing for a pardon: Or if it were a great booty, a great poſſeſſion which we had gotten, even that might buy out our peace. But this world is no ſuch thing, neither for the extent that we have in it, It is but little that the greateſt hath, nor for the time that we have in it; In both reſpects it is but a ſojourning, Gen. 47.6. Heb. 13.14.it is but a pilgrimage, ſayes Iacob, And But the dayes of my pilgrimage; Every one of them quickly at an end, and all of them quickly reckoned. Here we have no continuing City; firſt, no City, no ſuch large being, and then no continuing at all, it is but a ſojourning. The word in the Text is foreign, we have but a pariſh, we are but pariſhioners in this world, and they that labour to purchaſe whole ſhires, uſurp more then their portion; and yet what is a great Shire in a little Map? Here we are but Viatores, Paſſengers, way-faring men; This life is but the high-way, and thou canſt not build thy hopes here; Nay, to be buried in the high way is no good marke; and therefore bury not thy ſelfe, thy labours, thy affections upon this world. What the Prophet ſayes to thy Saviour, (O the hope of Iſrael, …. 14.7.the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, why ſhouldeſt thou be a ſtranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man, that turnes aſide to tarry for a night?) ſay thou to thy ſoule, Sincethou art a ſtranger in the land, a wayfaring man, turned aſide to tarry for a night, ſince the night is paſt, Ariſe and depart, for here is not thy reſt; Mic. 2.10.prepare for another place, and feare him whom thou calleſt Father, and who is ſhortly to be thy Iudge; for here thou art no more then a ſojourner; but yet remember withall that thou art ſo much, Thou art a ſojourner.
This life is not a Parentheſis, a Parentheſis that belongs not to the ſenſe,Incolatus. a Parentheſis that might be left out, as well as put in. More depends upon this life then ſo: upon every minute of this life, depend millions of yeares in the next, and I ſhall be glorified eternally, or eternally loſt, for my good or ill uſe of Gods grace offered to me this houre. Therefore where the Apoſtle ſayes of this life, Peregrinamur à Domino, 2 Cor. 5.6.We are abſent from the Lord, yet he ſayes, We are at home in the body: This world is ſo much our home, as that he that is not at home now, he that hath not his converſation in heaven here, ſhall never get home. And therefore even in this Text, our former Tranſlation calls it Dwelling; That which we reade now, paſſe the time of your ſojourning, we did reade then, paſſe the time of your dwelling; for this, where we are now, is the ſuburb of the great City, the porch of the triumphant Church, and the Grange, or Country houſe of the ſame Landlord, belonging to his heavenly Palace, in the heavenly Jeruſalem. Be it but a ſojourning, yet thou muſt pay God ſomething for thy ſojourning, pay God his rent of praiſe and prayer; And be it but a ſojourning, yet thou art bound to it for a time; Though thou ſigh with David, Heu mihi, quia prolongatus incolatus, Pſal. 120.5.woe is me that I ſojourne ſo long here, Though the miſeries of thy life make thy life ſeeme long, yet thou muſt ſtay out that time, which he, who tooke thee in, appointed, and by no practice, no not ſo much as by a deliberate wiſh, or unconditioned prayer, ſeeke to be delivered of it: Becauſe thy time here is ſuch a ſojourning as is quickly atan end, and yet ſuch a ſojourning as is never at an end, (for our endleſſe ſtate depends upon this) fear him, who ſhall ſo certainly, and ſo ſoone be a juſt Judge of it; feare him, in abſtaining from thoſe ſinnes which are directed upon his power; which are, principally, (as we intimated at the beginning, and with which we ſhall make an end) firſt, The negligence of his power upon thee, And then, the abuſe of his power communicated to thee over others.
Firſt then, the ſin directed againſt the Father,Negligentia. whom wee conſider to be the roote and center of all power, is, when as ſome men have thought the ſoule of man to be nothing but a reſultance of the temperament and conſtitution of the body of man, and no infuſion from God, ſo they thinke that power, by which the world is governed, is but a reſultance of the conſent, and the tacite voice of the people, who are content, for their eaſe to bee ſo governed, and no particular Ordinance of God: It is an undervaluing, a falſe conception, a miſ-apprehenſion of thoſe beames of power, which God from himſelf ſheds upon thoſe, whom himſelfe cals Gods in this World. We ſin then againſt the Father, when we undervalue God in his Prieſt. God hath made no ſtep in that perverſe way of the Roman Church, to prefer, ſo as they doe, the Prieſt before the King; yet, ſpeaking in two ſeverall places, of the dignity of his people, firſt, as Jews, then as Chriſtians, he ſayes in one place, They ſhall be a Kingdome, and a Kingdome of Prieſts; and he ſayes in the other,Eſay 19.6. 1 Pet. 2.9. They ſhall be Sacerdotium, and Regale Sacerdotium, Prieſts, and royall Prieſts: In one place, the King, in the other, the Prieſt mentioned firſt, and in both places, both involved in one another: The bleſſings from both are ſo great, as that the Holy Ghoſt expreſſes them by one another mutually.Num. 1. Oleaſter. When God commands his people to bee numbred in every Tribe, one moves this queſtion, Why in all other Tribes he numbred but from twenty yeares upward, and in the Tribe of Levi from a monethmonth upward? Agnoſce ſacerdos, ſayes he, quanti te Deus tuus fecerit, Take knowledge, thou who art the Prieſt of the high God, what a value God hath ſet upon thee, that whereas he takes other ſervants for other affaires, when they are men, fit to doe him ſervice, he took thee to the Prieſthood in thy cradle, in thine infancie. How much more then, when the Prieſt is not Sacerdos infans, A Prieſt that cannot or does not ſpeake; but continues watchfull in meditating, and aſſiduous in uttering, powerfully, and yet modeſtly, the things that concerne your ſalvation, ought you to abſtaine from violating the power of God the Father, in diſ-eſteeming his power thus planted in the Prieſt?
So alſo doe we ſin againſt the Father, the roote of power,Civilis. in conceiving amiſſe of the power of the Civill Magiſtrate: Whether where God is pleaſed to repreſent his unity, in one Perſon, in a King; or to expreſſe it in a plurality of perſons, in divers Governours, When God ſayes, Per me Reges regnant, By me Kings raigne; There the Per, is not a Permiſſion, but a Commiſſion, It is not, That they raigne by my Sufferance, but they raigne by mine Ordinance. A King is not a King, becauſe he is a good King, nor leaves being a King,Rom. 13.5. as ſoone as he leaves being good. All is well ſummed by the Apoſtle, You muſt needs be ſubject, not only for wrath, but alſo for conſcience ſake.
But then the greateſt danger of ſinning againſt the Father,Iudiciaria. in this notion of power, is, if you conceive not aright of his Judiciary power, of that judgement, which he executes, not by Prieſts, nor by Kings upon earth, but by his owne Son Chriſt Jeſus in heaven. For, not to be aſtoniſhed at the Contemplation of that judgement, where there ſhall be Information, Examination, Publication, Hearing, Judgement, and Execution in a minute; where they that never beleeved, till they heard me, may be taken in, and I that Preached and wrought their ſalvation, may be left out; where thoſe wounds which my Saviour received upon earth, for me, ſhall be ſhut up againſt me, and thoſe wounds which my blaſphemies have made in his glorified body, ſhall bleed out indignation, upon ſight of me, the murtherer, not to think upon, not to tremble at this judgement, is the higheſt ſin againſt the Father, and his power, in the undervaluing of it.
But there is a ſin againſt this power too,Abuſus. in abuſing that portion of that power, which God hath depoſited in thee. Art thou a Prieſt, and expecteſt the reverence due to that holy calling?Ambr Ep. 6. ad Iren. Be holy in in that calling. Quomodo poteſt obſervari à populo, qui nihil habet ſecretum à populo? How can the people reverence him, whom they ſee to be but juſt one of them? Quid in te miretur, ſi ſua in te recognoſcit? If they finde no more in thee, then in one another, what ſhould they admire in thee? Si quae in ſe erubeſcit, in te, quem reverendum arbitratur, offendit? If they diſcerne thoſe infirmities in thee, which they are aſhamed of in themſelves, where is there any object, any ſubject, any exerciſe of their reverence?pſal. 52.1. Art thou great in Civill Power? Quid gloriaris in malo, quiae potens es? Why boaſteſt thou thy ſelfe in miſchiefe, O mighty man? Haſt thou a great body therefore, becauſe thou ſhouldeſt ſtand heavy upon thine own feet, and make them ake? Or a great power therefore, becauſe thou ſhouldeſt oppreſſe them that are under thee? uſe thy power juſtly,Jeſ. 1.…. and call it the voyce of allegeance when the people ſay to thee, as to Ioſua, All that thou commandeſt us, we will doc, and whither ſoever thou ſendeſt us, we will goe: Abuſe that power to oppreſſion, and thou canſt not call that the voyce of ſedition, in which, Peter and the other Apoſtles joyned together,Acts 5.29. We ought to obey God rather then man. Haſt thou any judiciall place in this world? here there belongs more feare then in the reſt: Some things God hath done in Chriſt as a Prieſt in this world, ſome things as a King, But when Chriſt ſhould have been a Judge in civill cauſes, he declined that, he would not divide the Inheritance, and in criminall cauſes he did ſo too, he would not condemne the Adultereſſe. So that for thy example in judgement, thou art referred to that which is not come yet, to that, to which thou muſt come, The laſt, the everlaſting judgement. Waigh thine affections there, and then, and think there ſtands before thee now, a priſoner ſo affected, as thou ſhalt be then. Waigh the mercy of thy Judge then, and think there is ſuch mercy required in thy judgement now. Be but able to ſay, God be ſuch to me at the laſt day, as I am to his people this day, and for that dayes juſtice in thy publique calling, God may be pleaſed to cover many ſins of infirmity. And ſo you have all that we intended in this exerciſe to preſent unto you, The firſt perſon of the Trinity, God the Father, in his Attribute of power, Almighty, and thoſe ſins, which, as farre as this Text leads us, are directed upon him in that notion of Father. The next day the Son will riſe.