Eighty Sermons, St. Paul · Sermon 47
SERM. XLVII. Preached at S. Pauls, The Sunday after the Converſion of S. PAUL. 27. Ian. 1627.
ACT. 20.25.
And now, Behold, I know, that all yee among whom I have gone preaching the kingdome of God, ſhall ſee my face no more.
WHen S. Chryſoſtome calls Chriſtmas day, Metropolin omnium feſtorum, The Metropolitan Holyday, the principall feſtivall of the Church, he is likely to intend onelyonly thoſe feſtivalls which were of the Churches later inſtitution, and means not to enwrap the Sabbath in that compariſon. As S. Auguſtine ſayes of the Sacrament of Baptiſme, that it is Limen Eccleſiae, The threſhold over which we ſtep into the Church; ſo is Chriſtmas day, Limen feſtorum, The threſhold over which we ſtep into the feſtivall celebration of ſome other of Chriſts actions, and paſſions, and victorious overcommings of all the Acts of his Paſſion, ſuch as his Reſurrection, and Aſcenſion; for, but for Chriſtmas day, we could celebrate none of theſe dayes; And ſo, that day is Limen feſtorum, The threſhold over which we paſſe to the reſt. But the Sabbath is not onelyonly Limen, or Ianua Eccleſiae, The doore by which we enter into the Church, and into the conſideration what the Church hath done, but Limen mundi, The doore by which we enter into the conſideration of the World, how, and when the World was made of nothing, at the Creation, without which, we had been ſo far from knowing that there had been a Church, or that there had been a God, as that we our ſelves had had no being at all. And therefore, as our very being is before all degrees of well-being, ſo is the Sabbath, which remembers us of our being, before all other feſtivalls, that preſent and refreſh to us the memory of our well-being: Eſpecially to us, to whom it is not onelyonly a Sabbath, as the Sabbath is a day of Reſt, in reſpect of the Creation, but Dies Dominicus, The Lords day, in reſpect of the Redemption of the world, becauſe the conſummation of that worke of Redemption, for all that was to be done in this world, which was the Reſurrection of our Lord and Saviour Chriſt Jeſus, was accompliſhed upon that day,Levit. 23. which is our Sabbath. But yet, as it did pleaſe God, to accompany the Great day, the Sabbath, with other ſolemne dayes too, The Paſſeover, and Pentecoſt, Trumpets, and Tabernacles, and others, and to call thoſe other dayes Sabbaths, as well as the Sabbath it ſelfe; ſo, ſince he is pleaſed that in the Chriſtian Church, other dayes of Holy Convocations ſhould alſo be inſtituted, I make account, that in ſome meaſure, I do both offices, both for obſerving thoſe particular feſtivalls that fall in the weeke, and alſo for the making of thoſe particular feſtivalls to ſerve the Sabbath, when upon the Sabbath enſuing, or preceding ſuch or ſuch a feſtivall in the weeke, I take occaſion to ſpeake of that feſtivall, which fell into the compaſſe of that weeke; for, by this courſe, that feſtivall is not pretermitted, nor neglected, the particular feſtivall is remembred: And then, as God receives honour in the honour of his Saints, ſo the Sabbath hath an honour, when the feſtivalls, and commemorations of thoſe Saints, are reſerved to waite upon the Sabbath.
Hence is it, that as elſewhere, I often do ſo, that is, Celebrate ſome feſtivall that fals in the weeke, upon the Sabbath: ſo, in this place, upon this very day, I have done the like, and returne now, to do ſo againe, that is, to celebrate the memory of our Apoſtle S. Paul to day, though there be a day paſt, ſince his day was, in the ordinary courſe, to have been celebrated. The laſt time that I did ſo, I did it in handling thoſe words, And he fell to the earth, and heard a voyce, ſaying, Saul, Saul, why perſecuteſt thou me? which was the very act of his Converſion; A period, and a paſſage, which the Church celebrates in none but in S. Paul; though many others were ſtrangely converted too, ſhe celebrates none but his. In the words choſen for this day, And now behold I know &c. wee ſhall reduce to your memories, firſt, His proceeding in the Church after he was called, (I have gone preaching the kingdome of God among you) And then the eaſe, the repoſednes, the acquieſcence that he had in that knowledge, which God by his Spirit had given him, of the approach of his diſſolution, and departure out of this life; (I know that all you ſhall ſee my face no more.) As thoſe things which we ſee in a glaſſe, for the moſt part, muſt be behinde us, ſo that that makes our tranſmigration in death comfortable unto us, muſt be behinde us, in the teſtimony of a good Conſcience, for things formerly done; Now behold, I know, that all yee, among whom I have gone &c.
In handling of which words, our Method ſhall be this; Our generall parts,Diviſio. being (as we have already intimated) theſe two, His way, and his End, His painfull courſe, and his cheerfull finiſhing of his courſe; His laborious battaile, and his victorious triumph: In the firſt, (I have gone preaching the kingdome of God among you) wee ſhall ſee, firſt, That there is a Tranſivi, as well as a Requievi acceptable to God; A diſcharge of a Duty, as well in going from one place to another, as in a perpetuall Reſidence upon one; Tranſivi, ſayes our Apoſtle, I have gone among you. But then, in a ſecond conſideration, in that firſt part, That that makes his going acceptable to God, is, becauſe he goes to preach, Tranſivi praedicans, I have gone preaching; And then laſtly in that firſt part, That that, that makes his Preaching acceptable, is, that he preached the kingdome of God, Tranſivi praedicans regnum Dei, I have gone amongst you, preaching the kingdome of God. And in theſe three characters of S. Pauls Miniſtery, firſt, Labour and Aſſiduity; And then, Labour beſtowed upon the right means, Preaching; And laſtly, Preaching to the right end, to edification, & advancing the kingdome of God, we ſhall determine our firſt part.
In our ſecond part, we paſſe from his Tranſition, to his Tranſmigration; from his going up and downe in the world, to his departing out of the world, And now, behold, I know, that yee ſhall ſee my face no more. In which, we ſhall look firſt, how S. Paul contracted this knowledge, how he knew it; And ſecondly, that the knowledge of it, did not diſquiet him, not diſorder him; he takes knowledge of it, with a confidence, and a cheerfulneſſe. When he ſayes, I know it, he ſeemes to ſay, I am glad of it, or at leaſt not troubled with it. And laſtly, that S. Paul continues here, that way, and method, which he alwayes uſes; That is, to proceed by the underſtanding, to the affections, and ſo to the conſcience of thoſe that hear him, by ſuch means of perſwaſion, as are moſt appliable to them, to whom he then ſpeaks; And therefore knowing the power and efficacy of a dying, a departing mans words, he makes that impreſſion in them, Obſerve, recollect, remember, practiſe that which I have delivered unto you, for, I know, that all yee ſhall ſee my face no more. And ſo we ſhall bring up that circle, which was begun in heaven, in our laſt exerciſe, upon this occaſion, in this place, when Chriſt ſaid from thence, Saul, Saul, why perſecuteſt thou me? up into heaven againe, in that Euge bone ſerve, which Chriſt hath ſaid ſince unto him, Well done good and faithfull ſervant, enter into thy Maſters joy; And our Apoſtle, whom, in our former Exerciſe, for example of our humiliation, we found faln to the Earth, in this, to the aſſiſtance of our Exaltation, in his, we ſhall find, and leave, upon the laſt ſtep of Iacobs ladder, that is, entring into Heaven, by the gate of death.
Firſt then, in our firſt Part, our firſt Branch is,1 Part. That there is a Tranſivi as acceptable to God, as a Requievi; That God was ſerved in S. Paul, by applying his labours to many places, as well as if he had reſided, and beſtowed himſelfe intirely upon any one. When Chriſt manifeſted himſelfe at firſt unto him, trembling and aſtoniſhed, he ſaid,Act. 9.6. Lord what wilt thou have me to doe? And when Chriſt had told him, That in Damaſcus, from Ananias, he ſhould receive his Inſtructions, which were,Ver. 15. That he ſhould beare his name before the Gentiles, and Kings, and the children of Iſrael, After this commiſſion was exhibited by Ananias, and accepted by S. Paul, that Propheticall Scripture laid hold upon him, by way of acclamation,Pſal. 19.6. Exultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam, He rejoyced as a ſtrong man to run a race,1 Cor. 15.10. Rom. 15.19. He laboured more abundantly then they all, He carried the Goſpel from Ieruſalem to Illyricum, That is, as S. Hierome ſurvayes it, à mari rubro ad oceanum, from the Red Sea (a Sea within land) to the Ocean without, from all within, to all without the Covenant, Gentiles as well as Jews, Deficiente eum prius terra, quàm ſtudio praedicandi, He found an end of the world, but he found no end of his zeale, but preached as long as he found any to preach to. And as he exceeded in Action, ſo did he in Paſſion too; He joynes both together,2 Cor. 11.23. In labours more abundant, (There was his continuall preaching) In ſtripes above meaſure, And then, In priſons more frequent, In deaths often. Who dyes more then once? Yet he dyes often. How often? Death that is every other mans everlaſting faſt, and fils him his mouth with earth, was S. Pauls Panis quotidianus, His daily bread, I proteſt, ſayes he, by your rejoycing, which I have in Chriſt, I die daily.
Though therefore we cannot give S. Paul a greater name then an Apoſtle, (except there be ſome extraordinary height of Apoſtleſhip enwrapped in that which he ſayes of himſelfe,Gal. 1.1. Paul an Apoſtle, not of men, neither by men, but by Ieſus Chriſt, That in that place he glory in a holy exultation, that he was made an Apoſtle by Jeſus Chriſt, then when Jeſus Chriſt was nothing but Jeſus Chriſt, then when he was glorified in heaven, and not a mortall man upon earth, as he was when he made his other Apoſtles; And that in his being an Apoſtle, there entred no ſuch act of men, as did in the election of Matthias to that office, (though Matthias were made after the Aſcenſion as well as he) in whoſe election thoſe men preſented God two names, and God directed that lot upon him, and ſo Matthias was reckoned amongſt the eleven Apoſtles) Though we need not procure to him,Acts 1. ult. nor imagine for him, any other name then an Apoſtle, yet S. Paul was otherwiſe an univerſall ſoule to the whole Church, then many of the other Apoſtles were, and had a larger liberty to communicate himſelfe to all places, then any of them had. That is it which S. Chryſoſtome intends, when he extends S. Pauls dignity, Angelis diverſae Gentes commiſſae, To particular Angels particular Nations are committed; ſed nullus Angelorum, ſayes that Father, No Angel governed his particular Nation better then S. Paul did the whole Church. S. Chryſoſtome carryes it ſo high; Iſidore modifies it thus; He brings it from the Angels of heaven, to the Angels of the Church, Indeed the Archangels of the Church, the Apoſtles themſelves, And he ſayes, Apoſtolorum quiſque regionem nactus unicam, Every Apoſtle was deſigned to ſome particular and certaine compaſſe, and did but that, in that, which S. Paul did in the whole world. But S. Chryſoſtome and Iſidore both take their ground for that which they ſay, from that which S. Paul ſayes of himſelfe, Beſides theſe things which are without, 2 Cor. 11.28.that which commeth upon me daily, The care of all the Churches; for, ſayes he, who is weak, and I am not weak? That is, who lacks any thing, but I am ready to doe it for him? who ſuffers any thing, but I have compaſſion for him? We receive by faire Tradition, and we entertaine with a faire credulity, the other Apoſtles to have been Biſhops, and thereby to have had a more certaine center, to which, naturally, that is, by the nature of their office, they were to encline. Not that nothing may excuſe a Biſhops abſence from his Sea; for naturall things, even naturally, doe depart from thoſe places to which they are naturally deſigned, and naturally affected, for the conſervation of the whole frame and courſe of nature; for, in ſuch caſes, water will aſcend, and ayre will deſcend; which motion is done naturally, though it be a motion from that place, to which they are naturally affected; And ſo may Biſhops from their particular Churches;Cyprian. for, Epiſcopus in Eccleſia, & Eccleſia in Epiſcopo, Every Biſhop hath a ſuperintendency, and a reſidence in the whole Church, and the whole Church a reſidence, and a confidence in him. Therefore it is, that in ſome Decretall, and ſome Synodall Letters, Biſhops are called Monarchae, Monarchs, not onelyonly with relation to one Dioceſſe, but to the whole Church; not onelyonly Regall, but Imperiall Monarchs.
The Church of Rome makes Biſhops every day, of Dioceſſes, to which they know thoſe Biſhops can never come; Not onelyonly in the Dominions of Princes of the Reformed Religion, (which are not likely to admit them) but in the Dominions of the Turk himſelfe. And into the Councel of Trent, they threw and thruſt, they ſhov'd and ſhoveld in ſuch Biſhops in abundance: They created (that their numbers might carry all) new Titular Biſhops of every place, in the Eaſtern, the Greek Church, where there had ever been Biſhops before, though thoſe very places were now no Cities; Not onelyonly not within his Juriſdiction, but not at all, upon the face of the earth. But in better times then theſe, (though times, in which the Church was much afflicted too) S. Cyril of Alexandria mentions ſix thouſand Biſhops at once, againſt Neſtorius. Now if the Church had ſix thouſand Biſhops at once, certainly all of them had not Dioceſſes to reſide upon; ſometimes collaterall neceſſities enforce a departing from exact regularity, in matter of government. So it did, when S. Ambroſe was choſen Biſhop of Milan in the Weſt, and Nectarius Biſhop of Conſtantinople in the Eaſt, when they were both not onelyonly Lay-men, but unbaptized. But yet, though there be divers caſes in which Biſhops may juſtly be excuſed from reſidence, (for they are ſtill reſident upon the Church of God, if not upon the Church of that City) yet naturally, and regularly an obligation falling upon them, of Reſidence, the Apoſtles were more bound to certaine limits, by being Biſhops, then S. Paul was, of whom it does not appeare that he was ever ſo. I know ſome later men have thought S. Paul a Biſhop: And they have found ſome ſatisfaction in that, That Niger, Acts 13.3.and Lucius, and Manaen laid their hands upon Barnabas and Paul; and that Impoſition of hands, ſay they, was a Conſecration; And this reaſon ſupplyes them too, That Paul did conſecrate other Biſhops, as Timothy of Epheſus, and Titus of Crete. But ſince Niger, Tit. 1.5.and Lucius, and Manaen that laid their hands upon Paul, were not Biſhops themſelves, Paul cannot therefore be concluded to be a Biſhop, becauſe he laid his hands upon others. Neither hath any of thoſe few Authors, which have imagined him to be a Biſhop, ever aſſigned or named any place of which he ſhould be Biſhop; So that S. Paul had ſtill another manner of liberty, and univerſality over the Church, then the reſt had, and therefore ſtill avowes his Tranſivi, his peregrination, I have gone among you.
So then our bleſſed Saviour having declared this to be his way for the propagation of the Goſpel, that beſides the men that reſide conſtantly upon certaine places, there ſhould be Biſhops that ſhould ſpread farther then to a Pariſh, and Apoſtles farther then to a Dioceſſe, and a Paul farther then to a Nation; As in the firſt Plantation Chriſt found this neceſſary, ſo may it be ſtill convenient, that in ſome caſes, ſome perſons, at ſome times, may be admitted to forbeare their ſervice, in ſome particular place, ſo they doe not defraud the whole Church of God by that forbearance. For ſo S. Paul, though he accuſe himſelfe, That he robbed other Churches, taking wages of them,2 Cor. 11.11. and yet ſerved the Corinthians, thinks himſelfe excuſable in this, That he did this ſervice in ſome part of the Church of Chriſt, though not alwayes to them in particular, from whom he received that recompence.
Now as this condemnes our Browniſts abroad, that have publiſhed their opinion to be, That no particular Church, given to one mans cure, may conſiſt of more perſons then may alwayes heare that man, all together, ſo neither doth this afford any favour to thoſe men, who abſent themſelves from their charge, unneceſſarily; and every thing is unneceſſary in a Church-man, that is not done for the farther advancement of the Church of God in generall, and doth prejudice, or defraud a particular Church. Therefore is S. Pauls Tranſivi in this Text, accompanied with a Praedicavi, I have not reſided in one place, I have gone among you, but I have gone among you preaching.
Athanaſius in his Epiſtle to Dracontius, who refuſed to be Biſhop, ſayes,Praedicando. If all men had been of your mind, who ſhould have made you a Chriſtian? who ſhould have been enabled to have miniſtred Sacraments unto you, if there had been no Biſhop? But when he ſaw that he refuſed it therefore, becauſe men when they come to that ſtate, give themſelves more liberty then ſuch as laboured in inferiour places did, and Dracontius ſeemed loath to open himſelfe to the danger of that tentation, Athanaſius ſayes, Licebit tibi in Epiſcopatu eſurire, ſitire, Feare not, I warrant you, you may be poore enough in a Biſhoprick; or if you be rich, no man will hinder you from living ſoberly in a plentifull fortune; Novimus Epiſcopos jejunantes, ſayes he, & Monachos comedentes, I have knowne a Biſhop faſt, when a Monke, or an Hermit hath made a good meale; Nec corona pro locis, ſed pro factis redditur, God doth not crowne every man that comes to the place, but him onelyonly that doth the duties of the place, when he is in it. And here one of the Duties that induce our crowne, is Preaching, I have gone among you preaching.
Howſoever it be in practiſe in the Church of Rome, that Church durſt not appeare to the world, but in that Declaration, Praecipuum Epiſcoporum munus eſt praedicatio, Conc. Trid. Seſſ. 5. c. 2.The principall office of the Biſhop is to preach. And as there is no Church in Chriſtendome, (nay, let us magnifie God in the fulneſſe of an evident truth) not all the Churches of God in Chriſtendome, have more, or more uſefull preaching, then ours hath, from thoſe to whom the Cure of Soules belongs: ſo neither were there ever any times, in which more men were preferred for former preaching, nor that continued it more, after their preferments, then in theſe our times. There may bee, there ſhould be a Tranſiverunt, A paſſing from place to place, but ſtill it is as it ſhould bee, Praedicando, A paſſing for Preaching, and a paſſing to Preaching; And then, a Preaching conditioned ſo, as S. Pauls was, I have gone among you, preaching the Kingdome of God.
The Kingdome of God,Regnum Dei. is the Goſpel of God; that Goſpel which the Apoſtle calls the glorious Goſpel of God. A Kingdome conſiſts not of ſlaves; ſlaves that have no will of their owne. The children of the Kingdome have ſo a will of their own, as that no man is damned, but for that, which he would not avoid, nor ſaved againſt his will; So wee preach a Kingdome. A Kingdome acknowledges all their happineſſe from the King; So doe we all the good uſe of all our faculties, will and all from the grace of the King of heaven; ſo we preach a Kingdome. A Kingdome is able to ſubſiſt of it ſelfe, without calling in Forrainers; The Goſpel is ſo too, without calling in Traditions; and ſo we preach a Kingdome. A Kingdome requires, beſides fundamentall ſubſiſtence, grounded eſpecially in offenſive, and defenſive power, a ſupport alſo of honour, and dignity, and outward ſplendor; The Church of God requires alſo, beſides unanimity in fundamentall Doctrines, an equanimity, and a mildneſſe, and a charity, in handling problematicall points, and alſo requires order, and comelineſſe in the outward face, and habit thereof; And ſo we preach a Kingdome. So we preach a Kingdome, as that we baniſh from thence, all imaginary fatality, and all decretory impoſſibility of concurrence, and cooperation to our owne ſalvation, And yet we baniſh all pride, and confidence, that any naturall faculties in us, though quickned by former grace, can lead us to ſalvation, without a continuall ſucceſſion of more and more grace; And ſo we preach a Kingdome; So, as that we baniſh all ſpirituall treaſon, in ſetting up new titles, or making any thing equall to God, or his Word, And we baniſh all ſpirituall felony or robbery, in deſpoyling the Church,Pſal. 45.13. either of Diſcipline, or of Poſſeſſions, either of Order, or of Ornaments. Be the Kings Daughter all glorious within; Yet, all her glory is not within; For, Her cloathing is of wrought gold, ſayes that text. Still may ſhe glory in her internall glory, in the ſincerity, and in the integrity of Doctrinall truths, and glory too in her outward comelineſſe, and beauty. So pray we, and ſo preach we the Kingdome of God. And ſo we have done with our firſt Part.
Our ſecond Part,2 Part. to which in our order we are now come, is a paſſionate valediction, Now I know, that all you ſhall ſee my face no more; where firſt we inquire how he knew it. But why doe we inquire that? They that heard him did not ſo: They heard it, and beleeved it,Acts 17.10. and lamented it. When S. Paul preached at Berea, his ſtory ſayes, that he was better beleeved there, then at Theſſalonica; And the reaſon is given, That there were Nobler perſons there; Perſons of better quality, of better natures, and diſpoſitions, and of more ingenuity; and ſo, as it is added, They received the word with all readineſſe of minde. Prejudices, and diſaffections, and under-valuations of the abilities of the Preacher, in the hearer, diſappoint the purpoſe of the Holy Ghoſt, fruſtrate the labours of the man, and injure and defraud the reſt of the Congregation, who would, and would juſtly, like that which is ſaid, if they were not miſ-led, and ſhaked by thoſe hearers: And ſo worke alſo ſuch jealouſies and ſuſpitions, that though his abilities be good, yet his end upon his Auditory, is not their edification, but to work upon them, to other purpoſes. Though we require not an implicite faith in you, that you beleeve, becauſe we ſay it, yet we require a holy Nobleneſſe in you, A religious good nature, a conſcientious ingenuity, that you remember from whom we come, from the King of heaven, and in what quality, as his Ambaſſadors; And ſo be apt to beleeve, that ſince we muſt returne to him that ſent us, and give him a relation of our negotiation, we dare not tranſgreſſe our Commiſſion. The Bereans are praiſed for this, That they ſearched the Scriptures daily, whether thoſe things that Paul ſaid were ſo; But this begun not at a jealouſie, or ſuſpition in them, that they doubted, that that which he ſaid, was not ſo, nor proceeded not to a gladneſſe, or to a deſire, that they might have taken him in a lie, or might have found, that that which he ſaid, was not ſo; But they ſearched the Scriptures, whether thoſe things were ſo, that ſo, having formerly beleeved him when he preached, they might eſtabliſh that beliefe, which they had received, by that, which was the infallible rocke, and foundation of all, The Scriptures; They ſearched; but they ſearched for confirmation, and not upon ſuſpition.
In our preſent caſe, they to whom S. Paul ſaid this, doe not aske S. Paul how hee knew, that they ſhould ſee his face no more; they beleeved as we doe, that he had it by revelation from God; and ſuch knowledge is faith. Tricubitalis er at, & coelum attingit, ſayes S. Chryſoſtome; S. Paul was a man of low ſtature; but foure foot and a halfe high, ſayes he; and yet his head reached to the higheſt heaven, and his eyes ſaw, and his eares heard the counſels of God. Scarce any Ambaſſadour can ſhew ſo many Letters of his Maſters owne hand, as S. Paul could produce Revelations; His King came to him, as often as other Kings write to their Ambaſſadours.Acts 9.4. Gal. 1.1. Gal. 2. Acts 13. Acts 16. Acts 18. Acts 17. He had his firſt calling by Revelation; He had his Commiſſion, his Apoſtle-ſhip by Revelation; So hee was directed to Jeruſalem, And ſo to Rome; to both by Revelation; and ſo to Macedonia alſo. So hee was confirmed, and comforted in the night, by Viſion, by Revelation; And ſo he was aſſured of the lives of all them, that ſuffered ſhipwrack with him at Malta. All his Cate chiſmes in the beginning, all his Dictats in his proceeding, all his incouragements at his departing, were all Revelation.
Every good man hath his converſation in heaven, and heaven it ſelf had a converſation in S. Paul; And ſo, even the book of the Acts of the Apoſtles, is, as it were, a firſt Part of the book of Revelation; Revelations to S. Paul, as the other was to S. Iohn. This is the way that Chriſt promiſed to take with him, I will ſhew him, Acts 9.16. Acts 20.11.how great things he muſt ſuffer for my ſake. And this way Chriſt purſued, At Caeſarea, Agabus a Prophet came from Iudaea to Paul, and took Pauls girdle, and bound his own hands, and feet, and ſaid, Thus ſaith the Holy Ghoſt, So ſhall the Iews binde the man that owes the girdle, and ſhall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. This then was his caſe in our text, (for, that revelation, by Agabus his Propheſie, of his ſuffering was after this) he had a revelation that he ſhould never be ſeen by them more; but when, or how, or where he ſhould dye, he had not had a particular revelation then. He ſayes, a little before our text,Ver. 12. I goe bound in the Spirit to Ieruſalem: That is, ſo bound by the Spirit, that if I ſhould not goe, I ſhould reſiſt the Spirit; But, ſayes he, I know not the things that ſhall befall me there; not at Jeruſalem; much leſſe the laſt, and bittereſt things, which were farther off; the things that ſhould befall him at Rome, where he died. But from the very firſt, he knew enough of his death, to ſhake any ſoule, that were not ſuſtained by the Spirit of God; which is another Branch in this Part, That no revelations, no apprehenſions of death removed him from his holy intrepidneſſe, and religious conſtancy.
We have a ſtory in an Author of S. Hieromes time, Palladius, Non perterritus.that in a Monaſtery of S. Iſidors, every Monk that dyed in that houſe, was able, and ever did tell all the ſociety, that at ſuch a time he ſhould die. God does extraordinary things, for extraordinary ends; but ſince we ſee no ſuch ends, nor uſe of this, we are at our liberty, to doubt of the thing it ſelfe. God told Simeon, that he ſhould not die, till he had ſeen Chriſt; but he did not tell him, that he ſhould die as ſoone as he had ſeen him; But ſo much as was told him, was enough to make him content to die, when he had ſeen him, and to come to his Nunc dimittis, to that chearfulneſſe, as to ſing his owne Requiem. God accuſtomed S. Paul, no doubt, to ſuch notifications from him, and ſuch apprehenſions in himſelfe of death, as, becauſe it was not new, it could not be terrible. When S. Paul was able to make that proteſtation, I proteſt by your rejoycing, which I have in Chriſt Ieſus our Lord, I die dayly; 1 Cor. 15.31. 2 Cor. 11.23.And againe, I am in priſons oft, and often in deaths, I die often; No Executioner could have told him, you muſt die to morrow, but he could have ſaid, Alas I died yeſterday, and yeſterday was twelve-month, and ſeaven yeare, and every yeare, and month, and weeke, and day, and houre before that. There is nothing ſo neare Immortality, as to die daily; for not to feele death, is Immortality; and onelyonly hee ſhall never feele death, that is exerciſed in the continuall Meditation thereof; Continuall Mortification is Immortality.
As Cordials loſe their vertue and become no Cordials, if they be taken every day, ſo poyſons do their venome too; If a man uſe himſelfe to them, in ſmall proportions at firſt, he may grow to take any quantity: He that takes a dram of Death to day, may take an ounce to morrow, and a pound after; He that begins with that mortification of denying himſelfe his delights, (which is a dram of Death) ſhall be able to ſuffer the tribulations of this world, (which is a greater meaſure of death) and then Death it ſelfe, not onelyonly patiently, but cheerefully; And to ſuch a man, death is not a diſſolution, but a redintegration; not a divorce of body and ſoule, but a ſending of both divers wayes, (the ſoule upward to Heaven, the body downeward to the earth) to an indiſſoluble marriage to him, who, for the ſalvation of both, aſſumed both, our Lord and Saviour Chriſt Jeſus.Pſal. 2.17. Therefore does S. Paul ſay of himſelfe, If I be offered upon the ſacrifice, and ſervice of your faith, I joy, and rejoyce with you all, that is, It is a juſt occaſion of our common joy, on your part, and on mine too; And therefore does S. Auguſtine ſay in his behalfe, whatſoever can be threatned him, Si poteſt vivere, tolerabile eſt, Whatſoever does not take away life, may be endured; for, if it could not be endured, it would take away life; and, Si non poteſt vivere, ſayes he, If it doe take away life, what ſhall he feele, when hee is dead? He adds the reaſon of all, Opus cum fine, merces ſine fine; Death hath an end, but their reward that dye for Chriſt, and their peace, that dye in Chriſt, hath no end. Therefore was not S. Paul afraid of melancholique apprehenſions, by drawing his death into contemplation, and into diſcourſe; he was not afraid to thinke, nor to talke of his death; But then S. Paul had another end in doing ſo here, (which is our laſt conſideration) To make the deeper impreſſion in them, to whom he preached then, by telling them, that he knew they ſhould ſee his face no more.
This that S. Paul ſayes,Moriturus. he ſayes to the Epheſians; but not at Epheſus: He was departed from thence the yeare before: for, upon the newes that Claudius the Emperour, who perſecuted the Chriſtians, was dead, he purpoſed to goe by Jeruſalem to Rome. In that peregrination and viſitation of his, his way fell out after to be by Miletus, a place not far from Epheſus;Ver. 22. He was bound in the Spirit, as he ſayes here, to go to Ieruſalem; and therefore he could not viſit them at Epheſus. A man may have ſuch obligations, even for the ſervice of God upon him, as that it ſhall not be in his power, to doe that ſervice which he may owe, and deſire to pay in ſome particular Church. It was in part S. Pauls caſe:Verſ 17. But yet he did what he could; from Miletus he ſent to Epheſus, to call the Elders of that Church thither; And then he preached this ſhort, but powerfull Sermon. And, as his manner ever was, (though ſtill without prevaricating or forbearing to denounce the judgements of God upon them, in caſes neceſſary) to make thoſe whom he preached or writ to, as benevolent, and well-affected to him as he could, (for he was Omnia omnibus, Made all things to all men) to which purpoſe it is that he ſpeakes, and poures out himſelfe,Gal 4.14. with ſuch a loving thankfulneſſe to the Galatians, Ye received me as an Angel of God, even as Chriſt Ieſus himſelfe; purſuing, I ſay, this manner of a mutuall endearing, and a reciprocall embowelling of himſelfe in the Congregation, and the Congregation in him, (as, certainely, if we conſider all unions, (the naturall union of Parents and children, the matrimoniall union of Husband and Wife) no union is ſo ſpirituall, nor ſo neare to that, by which we are made Idem ſpiritus cum Domino, The ſame Spirit with the Lord, as when a good Paſtor, and a good flock meete, and are united in holy affections to one another) to unite himſelfe to his Epheſians inſeparably, even after his ſeparation, to be ſtill preſent with them, in his everlaſting abſence, and to live with them even after death, to make the deeper impreſſions of all his paſt, and preſent inſtructions, he ſpeaks to them as a dying man, I know you ſhall ſee my face no more.
Why did he ſo? S. Paul did not dye in eleven yeares after this: But he dyed to them, for bodily preſence, now; They were to ſee him no more. As the day of my death is the day of Judgement to me, ſo this day of his departing was the day of his death to them. And for himſelfe, from this time, when he gave this judgement of death upon himſelfe, all the reſt of his life was but a leading far off, to the place of execution. For firſt, very ſoone after this, Agabus gave him notice of manifold afflictions, in that Girdle which we ſpake of before. There he was bound, and empriſoned at Jeruſalem; from thence ſent bound to Caeſarea; practiſed upon to be killed by the way; forced to appeale to Caeſar; upon that Appeale ſent priſoner to Rome; ſhip-wracked upon the way at Malta; Empriſoned under guard, though not cloſe priſoner, two yeares after his comming thither; and, though diſmiſſed, and ſo enabled to viſit ſome Churches, yet laid hold upon againe by Nero, and executed. So that as it was literally true, that the Epheſians never ſaw his face, after this valediction, ſo he may be ſaid to have dyed then, in ſuch a ſenſe, as himſelfe ſayes to the Corinthians,1 Cor. 15. That ſome men were baptized, Pro mortuis, for dead, that is, as good as dead, paſt all hope of recovery. So he dyed then.
Now beloved, who hath ſeene a Father, or a friend, or a neighbour, or a malefactor dye,Luke 16.30. and hath not beene affected with his dying words? Nay Father Abraham, ſayes Dives, that will not ſerve, That they have Moſes and the Prophets; Sermons will not ſerve their turnes; But if one went to them from the Dead, they would repent. And the neareſt to this is, if one ſpeake to them that is going to the dead. If he had beene a minute in Heaven thou wouldſt beleeve him; and wilt thou not beleeve him a minute before? Did not Iacob obſerve the Angels aſcending, as well as deſcending upon that ladder? Truſt a good ſoule going to God, as well as comming from God? And then, as our Caſuiſts ſay, That whatſoever a man is bound to do, In articulo mortis, at the point of death, by way of Confeſſion or otherwiſe, he is bound to doe, when he comes to the Sacrament, or when he undertakes any action of danger, becauſe then he ſhould prepare himſelfe as if he were dying: ſo, when you come to heare us here, who are come from God, heare us with ſuch an affection, as if we were going to God, as if you heard us upon our death-beds. The Pulpit is more then our death-bed; for, we are bound to the ſame truth, and ſincerity here, as if we were upon our death-bed, and then Gods Ordinance is more expreſly executed here, then there. He that mingles falſhood with his laſt dying words, deceives the world inexcuſably, becauſe he ſpeakes in the perſon of an honeſt man, but he that mingles falſe informations in his preaching, does ſo much more, becauſe he ſpeaks in the perſon of God himſelfe.
They to whom S. Paul ſpake there, are ſaid all to have wept, and to have fallen on Pauls necke, and to have kiſſed him; But it is added, they ſorrowed moſt of all for thoſe words, That they ſhould ſee his face no more. When any of thoſe men, to whom for their holy calling, and their religious paines in their calling, you owe and pay a reverence, are taken from you by death, or otherwiſe, there is a godly ſorrow due to that, and in a great proportion. In the death of one Eliſha, King Ioaſh apprehended a ruine of all; He wept over his face, 2 King. 13.14.and ſaid, O my father, my father, the Charet of Iſrael, and the horſemen thereof; He loſt the ſolicitude of a father, he loſt the power and ſtrength of the Kingdome, in the loſſe of one ſuch Prophet. But when you have ſo ſorrowed for men, upon whom your devotion hath put, and juſtly put ſuch a valuation, remember that a greater loſſe, then the loſſe of a thouſand ſuch men may fall upon you. Conſider the difference betweene the Candle and the Candleſtick, betweene the Preacher of the Goſpel, and the Goſpel it ſelfe; betweene a religious man, and Religion it ſelfe: The removing of the Candleſtick, and the withdrawing of the Goſpel, and the prophaning of Religion, is infinitely a greaten loſſe, then if hundreds of the preſent labourers ſhould be taken away from us.Mat. 8.12.21.43. Apoc. 2.5. The children of the kingdome may be caſt into utter darkneſſe; and That kingdome may be given to others which ſhall bring forth the fruits thereof; and, The Lord may come, and come quickly and remove our Candleſtick out of his place; pray we that in our dayes he may not. And truly where God threatens to doe ſo in the Revelation, it is upon a Church, of which God himſelfe gives good teſtimony, The Church of Epheſus; of her Labours, that is, Preaching;Ver. 2. of her Patience, that is, ſuffering; of her Impatience, her not ſuffering the evill, that is, her integrity and impartiality, without connivence or toleration; And of her not fainting, that is, perſeverance; and of her having the Nicolaitans, that is, ſincerity in the truth,Ver. 6. and a holy animoſity againſt all falſe Doctrines: And yet, ſayes he, I have ſomething to ſay againſt thee.
When thou haſt teſtified their aſſiduity in Preaching, their conſtancy in ſuffering, their ſincerity in beleeving, their integrity in profeſſing, their perſeverance in continuing, their zeale in hating of all error in others, when thou thy ſelfe haſt given this evidence in their behalfe, canſt thou Lord Jeſu have any thing to ſay againſt them? what then ſhall we, we that faile in all theſe, look to heare from thee? what was their crime? Becauſe they had left their firſt love; Left the fulneſſe of their former zeale to Gods cauſe. Now, if our caſe be ſo much worſe then theirs, as that we are not onelyonly guilty of all thoſe ſins, of which Chriſt diſcharges them, and have not onelyonly left our firſt love, but in a manner loſt all our love, all our zeale to his glory, and be come to a luke warmneſſe in his ſervice, and a generall neglect of the meanes of grace, how juſtly may we feare, not onelyonly that he will come, and come quickly, but that he may poſſibly be upon his way already, to remove our Candleſtick, and withdraw the Goſpel from us? And if it be a ſad thing to you, to heare a Paul, a holy man ſay, You ſhall ſee my face no more, on this ſide the Ite maledicti, Go ye accurſed into hell fire, there cannot be ſo ſad a voyce, as to heare Chriſt Jeſus ſay, You ſhall ſee my face no more. Facies Dei eſt, qua Deus nobis innoteſcit, ſayes S. Auguſtin, That is the face of God to us, by which God manifeſts himſelfe to us. God manifeſts himſelfe to us in the Word, and in the Sacraments. If we ſee not them in their true lines and colours, (the Word and Sacraments ſincerely and religiouſly preached and adminiſtred) we doe not ſee them, but masks upon them; And, if we do not ſee them, we do not ſee the face of Chriſt; And I could as well ſtand under his Neſcio vos, which he ſaid to the negligent Virgins, I know you not, or his Neſcivi vos, which he ſaid to thoſe that boaſt of their works,Mat. 7.22. I never knew you, as under this fearfull thunder from his mouth, You ſhall ſee my face no more, I will abſolutely withdraw, or I will ſuffer prophaneneſſe to enter into thoſe meanes of your ſalvation, Word, and Sacraments, which I have ſo long continued in their ſincerity towards you, and you have ſo long abuſed.
Bleſſed God ſay not ſo to us yet; yet let the tree grow another yeare, before thou cut it downe; And as thou haſt digged about it, by bringing judgements upon our neighbours, ſo water it with thy former raine, the dew of thy grace, and with thy later raine, the teares of our contrition, that we may ſtill ſeethy face; here and hereafter; here, in thy kingdome of Grace; hereafter in thy kingdome of Glory, which thou haſt purchaſed for us, with the ineſtimable price of thine incorruptible blood. Amen.