Eighty Sermons, penitential psalms · Sermon 59
SERM. LIX. Preached upon the Penitentiall Pſalmes.
PSAL. 32.6.
For this ſhall every one that is godly pray unto thee, in a time when thou mayeſt be found; ſurely in the floods of great waters they ſhall not come nigh unto him.
YOu would not bee weary of reading a long conveiance,Diviſio. in which the land were given to your ſelves; nor of a long Will, in which the body of the ſtate were bequeathed to you. Be not weary, if at any time your patience be exerciſed ſome minutes beyond the threeſcore, ſometime beyond the houre in theſe exerciſes, for we exhibit the conveiance, in which the land, the land of Promiſe is made yours, and the Teſtament, in which even the Teſtator himſelfe is bequeathed to you. But Legacies muſt be demanded, and oftentimes ſued for; and in this text you are directed how to come by it, by prayer, (For this ſhall every one, &c.) And you are encouraged in the ſuit by the value of that you are to recover, by the effect of prayer, Surely in the floods of great waters they ſhall not come nigh to him: and theſe two, the way and the end, the manner and the matter, prayer and the benefit thereof, will be our two parts. And in the firſt of theſe, The duty of prayer, though wee be elſewhere commanded To pray continually, 1 Theſſ. 5.17.yet for all that continuall diſpoſition, we have here certaine limitations, or rather indeed preparations, leſt that which we call Prayer ſhould not be ſo, and theſe are foure: For firſt, it is but omnis ſanctus, every godly man ſhall pray, for the prayer of the wicked turns to ſinne; And then the object of prayer, to whom it muſt be directed, is limited, it is but ad te, unto thee hee ſhall pray, beyond him wee cannot goe, and he that prayes ſhort of him, to any on this ſide of God, falls ſhort in his prayer; And in a third conſideration, the ſubject, the matter of his prayer is limited too, It is but propter hoc, for this ſhall hee pray, that is, for that which hath beene formerly expreſſed, not whatſoever our deſires, or our anguiſh, and vexation, and impatience preſents or ſuggeſts to us; And laſtly, the time is limited too, In tempore opportuno, In a time when thou mayeſt be found. In theſe foure, we ſhall determine that firſt part, the duty; and in the ſecond the reward, the benefit, which is deliverance, (Surely in the floods of great waters they ſhall not come nigh him) wee ſhall ſee firſt, that the world is diluvium aquarum, a deluge of water floods that threaten all; But yet though worldly calamities bee of that ſpreading, and diffuſive, and overflowing nature, non approximabit, there are places that it cannot come to, rocks that it cannot ſhake, hills that it cannot overflow; God hath ſo erected the godly man, that hee is a non ultra, a banke to this ſea; It ſhall not come neere him; and this David eſtabliſhes with that ſeale of infallibility, Surely, Surely in the floods of great waters they ſhall not come nigh him. And theſe be the ſteps by which we ſhall leade you to the greateſt happineſſe, that is, deliverance from all afflictions, and that by the nobleſt meanes, and the faireſt way, that is, familiar converſation with God by prayer.
Into our firſt part,1 Part. The duty of prayer, wee ſhall make our entry with this conſideration, That our religious Duties, in their precepts, are for the moſt part accompanied with reaſons to induce us to the performance thereof: Hoc fac & vives; Doe this, ſayes God; doe it, becauſe I command it, at leaſt doe it, becauſe if thou do it, thou ſhalt live for ever. And ſo, Bee not forgetfull to entertaine ſtrangers, Heb. 13.2.for thereby ſome have entertained Angels unawares; Here the reaſon of the precept is example; others have proſpered that way, therefore walke thou in it. God illuſtrates his precepts, comments upon his owne Text much by examples. Firſt, to raiſe us to the beſt height, God makes himſelfe our example, Sicut Pater, Be holy as your Father in heaven is holy: Then, becauſe we cannot reach to that, he makes men like our ſelves (at leaſt, ſuch as we ſhould be) our example, Sicut Elias, Elias was a man ſubject to like paſsions as wee are, Iam. 5.27.and hee prayed that it might not raine, and it rained not, and that it might, and it did. If wee be not able to conforme our ſelves to the ſingularity of one particular and tranſcendent man, hee ſends as to the whole body of good men, his ſervants, Sicut Prophetae, Take, my brethren, the Prophets, ver. 10.for an example of long patience. And becauſe he knowes our inclination, to be a declination, and that we caſt thoſe lookes, which hee made upward towards him, downward towards the creature, he ſends us to creatures of an ignobler nature, Vade ad formicam, Goe to the Ant, doe as ſhee doth, be as induſtrious in thy buſineſſe, as ſhe is in hers. And then, as in inclining us to good, ſo alſo for avoiding of ſinfull courſes, he leades us by example too, Non ſicut quidam eorum, Bee not idolaters as ſome of them, nor fornicators, 1 Cor. 10.nor tempters of Chriſt, nor murmurers, as ſome of them. And as that Apoſtle begins that catalogue there, ſo, Theſe are examples to us, ſo hee ends it thus alſo,ver. 6. ver. 11. Theſe things came unto them for examples: God ſuffers the wicked to proceed in their ſin, and he powres downe his judgements upon them for their ſins, not onelyonly for their puniſhment, but therefore, that they might be examples to us. Now if God raiſe a glory to himſelfe in the deſtruction of the wicked, if he make the wicked in their ruine, even Miniſters in his Church, that is, edifiers, and inſtructers of others, by their owne ruine, if their ruine bee a ſenſible Catechiſme, and a viſible Sermon for the edifying of others, how much more doth it conduce to his glory, that the righteouſneſſe, and holy converſation of his Miniſters, and Prophets ſhould bee a lanterne to the feet of his people? This is all that David promiſes in thankfulneſſe for that mercy which he asks of God, This is that that hee asks;Pſal. 51.2. Reſtore me to the joy of thy ſalvation, Et confirma me ſpiritu principali, Eſtabliſh mee with thy free ſpirit, Spiritu muniſico, ſayes S. Hierom, with thy liberall, thy bountifull Spirit; This is much that David asks; and what will David doe for God? This; I will teach thy wayes unto the wicked, and ſinners ſhall be converted unto thee. And this is that which S. Paul apprehended to have moved God, to uſe his ſervice in the Church;1 Tim. 1.16. For this cauſe was I received to mercy, that Ieſus Chriſt ſhould firſt ſhew unto me all long ſuffering; but that was not all; But as it followes there, VntoUnto the example of them, which ſhall in time to come beleeve in him unto eternall life. It is an unexpreſſible comfort to have beene Gods inſtrument, for the converſion of others, by the power of Preaching, or by a holy and exemplar life in any calling. And with this comfort David proceeds in the recommendation of this duty of Prayer, Day and night I have felt thy hand upon me, ver. 4.I have acknowledged my ſinne unto thee, and thou forgaveſt the iniquity of my ſin; thus it ſtood with me, and by my example,ver. 5. For this ſhall every one that is godly pray unto thee, in a time when thou maieſt be found.
Firſt then, the perſon that hath any acceſſe allowed him, any title to pray,Omnis ſanctus. is he that is Godly, holy. Now, Omnis Sanctus, eſt omnis Baptiſmate ſanctificatus: Thoſe are the holy ones whom God will heare, who are of the houſhold of the faithfull, of the Communion of Saints, matriculated, engraffed, enrolled in the Church,Hierom. by that initiatory Sacrament of Baptiſme; for, the houſe of God, into which we enter by Baptiſme, is the houſe of Prayer; And, as out of the Arke, whoſoever ſwam beſt, was not ſaved by his ſwimming, no more is any morall man, out of the Church, by his praying: He that ſwomme in the flood, ſwomme but into more and more water; he that prayes out of the Church, prayes but into more and more ſin, becauſe he doth not eſtabliſh his prayer in that, Grant this for our Lord and Saviour Chriſt Jeſus ſake. It is true then, that theſe holy ones, whoſe prayer is acceptable, are thoſe of the Chriſtian Church; OnelyOnly they; but is it all they? are all their prayers acceptable? There is a ſecond concoction neceſſary too: Not onelyonly to have beene ſanctified by the Church in Baptiſme, but a ſanctification in a worthy receiving of the other Sacrament too; A life that pleads the firſt ſeale, Baptiſme, and claimes the other ſeale, The body and blood of Chriſt Jeſus: We know the Wiſe mans counſaile,Ecclus. 5.5. concerning propitiation, Be not without feare. Though thou have received the propitiatory Sacrament of Baptiſme, be afraid that thou haſt not all. Will the milke that thou ſuckedſt from a wholeſome Nurſe, keepe thee alive now? Or canſt thou dine upon laſt yeares meat to day? Hee that hath that firſt holineſſe, The holineſſe of the Covenant, the holineſſe of Baptiſme, let him pray for more. For Omnis Sanctus, is Quantumcumque Sanctus, How holy ſoever he be, that holineſſe will not defray him all the way, but that holineſſe is a faire letter of credit, and a bill of exchange for more. When canſt thou thinke thy ſelfe holy enough? when thou haſt waſhed thy ſelfe in ſnow water? In penitent teares?Iob 9.30. (as the beſt purity of this life is expreſſed) why, even then, Abominabuntur te veſtimenta tua, Thine owne cloathes ſhall make thee abominable. Is all well, when thou thinkeſt all well?Prov. 16.2. why, All the wayes of a man are cleane in his owne eyes, but the Lord weigheth the ſpirit. If thine owne ſpirit, thine owne conſcience accuſe thee of nothing,1 Cor. 3.4. Iob 4.18. nothing unrepented, is all well? why, I know nothing by my ſelfe, yet am I not thereby juſtified. It is God onelyonly that is Surveyor of thy holineſſe, And, Behold, he found no ſtedfaſtneſſe in his Servants, and laid folly upon his Angels; how much more in them, that dwell in houſes of clay, Gregor.whoſe foundation is in the duſt? Sordet in conſpectu aeterni Iudieis, When that eternall Judge comes to value our tranſitory, or imaginary, our hollow, and ruſty, and rotten holineſſe, Sordet quod in intentione fulget operantis, Even that which had a good luſtre, a good ſpeciouſneſſe, not onelyonly in the eyes of men that ſaw it, who might be deceived by my hypocriſie, but in the purpoſe of him that did it, becomes baſe, more allay then pure metall, more corruption then devotion.
Though Iacob, Gen. 31.31.when he fled from his Father in law, Laban, were free enough himſelfe, from the theft of Labans Idols, yet it was dangerouſly pronounced of him, With whomſoever thou findeſt thy gods, let him not live: For, his owne Wife, Rachel had ſtollen them:Auguſt. And Caro conjux; Thy Wife, thy fleſh, thy weaker part, may inſinuate much ſin into thine actions, even when thy ſpirit is at ſtrongeſt, and thou in thy beſt confidence. OnelyOnly thus theſe two caſes may differ; Rachel was able to cover thoſe ſtollen Idols from her Fathers finding, with that excuſe, The cuſtome of Women is come upon me; But thou ſhalt not be able to cover thy ſtollen ſins, with ſaying, The infirmity of man is come upon me, I do but as other men do; Though thou have that degree towards ſanctification, that thou ſin not out of preſumption, but out of infirmity, though thou mayeſt in a modified ſenſe fall within Davids word, Omnis ſanctus, A holy man, yet every holy and godly man muſt pray, that even thoſe infirmities may be removed too. Qui ſanctificatur, ſanctificetur adhuc: Apo… 22.11.He that is holy, let him be holy ſtill; not onelyonly ſo holy ſtill, but ſtill more and more holy. For, beloved, As in the firmament, of thoſe ſtars which are reduced into Conſtellations, and into a certainty of ſhapes, of figures, and images, we obſerve ſome to be of one greatneſſe, ſome of another, wee obſerve divers magnitudes in all them, but to all thoſe other Stars, which are not reduced into thoſe formes, and figures, we allow no magnitude at all, no proportion at all, no name, no conſideration: So for thoſe bleſſed ſoules which are collected into their eternall dwelling in Heaven, which have their immoveable poſſeſſion, poſition at the right hand of God, as one Star differs from another in glory, ſo do theſe Saints which are in Heaven; But whilſt men are upon this earth, though they be ſtars, (Saints of God) though they be in the firmament, eſtabliſhed in the true Church of God, yet they have no magnitude, no proportion, no certainty, no holineſſe in themſelves, nor in any thing formerly done by God in their behalfe, and declared to us; but their preſent degrees of godlineſſe give them but that qualification, that they may pray acceptably for more; He muſt be ſo godly before he pray, and his prayer muſt be for more godlineſſe; and all directed to the right object of prayer, To God, VntoUnto Thee ſhall every one that is godly pray, which is our next, the ſecond of our foure Conſiderations in this firſt part.
Ad Te, Ad Te.To God, becauſe he can heare; And then Ad te, to God, becauſe he can give. Certainely it were a ſtrange diſtemper, a ſtrange ſingularity, a ſtrange circularity, in a man that dwelt at Windſor, to fetch all his water at London Bridge: So is it in him, that lives in Gods preſence, (as he does, that lives religiouſly in his Church) to goe for all his neceſſities, by Invocation to Saints. David was willing bee our example for Prayer, but he gives no example of ſcattering our prayers upon any other then God. Chriſt Jeſus was willing to give us a Rule for Prayer: but if hee had intended that his Rule ſhould have beene deflected and declined to Saints, he would have taught us to ſay, Frater noſter qui es in Coelis, and not only Pater noſter; to pray to our Brethren which are there too, and not onelyonly to our Father which is in Heaven. If any man have taſted at Court, what it is to be ever welcome to the King himſelfe, and what it is to ſpeake to another to ſpeake for him, he will bleſſe that happineſſe, of having an immediate acceſſe to God himſelfe in his prayers. They that come ſo low downe the ſtreame, as wee ſaid before, to London Bridge, they will go lower, and lower, to Graveſend too; They that come to Saints, they will come to the Images, and Reliques of Saints too; They come to a brackiſh water, betweene ſalt and freſh, and they come at laſt, to be ſwallowed up in that ſea which hath no limit, no bottome, that is, to direct all their devotions to ſuch Saints, as have no certainty, not onelyonly not in their ability, we know not what thoſe Saints can doe, but not in their hiſtory, we know not that ſuch as they pray to, are Saints; nay, we know not whether they ever were at all. So that this may be Idolatry, in the ſtricteſt acceptation of the word, Idol; Idolum nihil eſt; let that be true, which they ſay, and in their ſenſe, Our Images are not Idols, for an Idol is nothing, repreſents nothing, but our Images are the Images of Men that once were upon the earth. But that is not throughout true; for they worſhip Images of thoſe who never were; Chriſtophers, and other ſymbolicall, and emblematicall Saints, which never lived here, but were, and are yet nothing. But let them be true Saints, how will they make it appeare to us, that thoſe Saints can heare us? What ſurety can we have of it? Let us rather pray to him, who we are ſure can heare, that is firſt, and then ſure he can give that we pray for, that is next.
The prayer here, is forgiveneſſe of ſins; And can Saints give that? The Hoſannaes,Qui dant. and the Allelujahs, and the Gloria in Excelſis, Glory in heaven, peace upon earth, good will amongst men, theſe are good and cheerfull Notes, in which the Quire of heaven are exerciſed; Cherubims and Seraphims, Prophets and Apoſtles, Saints and Angels, bleſſe God and benefit men by theſe: But the Remittuntur peccata, Thy ſinnes are forgiven thee, is too high a note for any creature in earth or heaven, to reach to, except where it is ſet by Gods own hand, as it is by his Commiſſion to his Miniſter, in his Church, and there onelyonly, in the abſolution given by his Ordinance to every penitent ſinner. We ſee that phraſe, Dimittuntur peccata, Thy ſinnes are forgiven thee, was a ſuſpicious word, even in the mouth of Chriſt himſelfe, amongſt the Scribes that would not beleeve his Divinity; when Chriſt ſaid to him that had the Palſie, My ſonne be of good cheare, thy ſinnes are forgiven thee; the Scribes cryed out, he blaſphemed: It ſtrikes any man, to heare of forgiveneſſe of ſins, from any but God. It was not a harder thing to ſay, Fiat lux, then to ſay, Dimittuntur peccata: Not harder to bring light out of darkneſſe by Creation, then to bring a cleane thing out of uncleanneſſe by Converſion; for, who can doe that?Iob 14. And therefore when the King of Aram ſent Naaman to the King of Iſrael, to take order for the curing of his bodily Leproſie, the King of Iſrael rent his Clothes, and ſaid, Am I a God, 2 King. 5.7.to kill and to give life? The power even of temporall life and death, is proper to God; for, as Witches thinke ſometimes that they kill, when they doe not, and are therefore as culpable, as if they did; So a tyrannous perſecutor, ſo a paſſionate Judge, ſo a perjured witneſſe, ſo a revengefull quarreller, thinks he takes away the life of his enemy, and is guilty of that murder in the eye of God, though the blow be truly from God, whoſe judgements are ever juſt, though not ever declared. Let them never ſay, that they aske not theſe things, temporall or ſpirituall, at the hands of thoſe Saints; for, expreſly, literally, as the words ſtand, and ſound, they do aske even thoſe very things; and if the Church have any other meaning in thoſe prayers, the miſchiefe is, that they never teach the people, by Preaching, what that their reſerved meaning is, but leave them to the very letter of the prayer, to aske thoſe things, which, if they could heare, yet the Saints could not give. And when the prayer is made aright, directed to God himſelfe, yet here in our Text it is limited, Propter hoc, For this, this that was ſpoken of before, every one that is godly ſhall pray unto thee. Now what is this This? for that is our third Conſideration.
Si à quo petenda, ſed non quae petenda petis, If thou come to the right Market,Propter boc. Auguſt. but buy unwholeſome hearbs there, If thou come to the Apothecaries ſhop, and aske for nothing but poyſons, If thou come to God in thy prayer, and aske onelyonly temporall bleſſings, which are bleſſings onelyonly in their uſe, and may be, and are ordinarily ſnares and encumbrances, then is this direction of Davids, Propter hoc, for this ſhall he pray, tranſgreſſed. For, This, as appeares in the words immediately before the Text, is, The forgiveneſſe of the puniſhment, and of the iniquity of our ſinne; which is ſo inexpreſſible a comfort, to that ſoule that hath wraſtled with the indignation of God, and is now refreſhed and releaſed, as whoſoever ſhould goe about to deſcribe it, ſhould diminiſh it; He hath it not that thinks he can utter it. It is a bleſſed comfort to find my ſoule in that ſtate, as when I laſt received the Sacrament with a good conſcience: If I enjoy that peace now, that is, the peace of a religious, and of a wiſe conſcience; for there is a wiſedome of the conſcience, not to run into infinite ſcruples and doubts, but Imponere finem litibus, to levy a fine in bar of all ſcruples, and diffidences, and to reſt in the peace and aſſuredneſſe of remiſſion of ſinnes, after due means for the obtaining thereof; and therefore if. I be as well now, as when I received, this is a bleſſed degree of bleſſedneſſe. But yet there is one cloud in this caſe, Ab occultis, my ſecret ſins, which even mine own narroweſt inquiſition extends not to. If I conſider my ſelfe to be as well as I was at my Baptiſme, when I brought no actuall ſin, and had the hand of Chriſt to waſh away the foulneſſe of Originall ſin, can I pray for a better ſtate then that? Even in that there was a cloud too, and a cloud that hath thunder and lightning in it, that Fomes peccati, that fuell and thoſe embers of ſin, that are but raked up, and not trod out, and doe breake forth upon every tentation that is preſented, and if they be not effectually oppoſed, ſhall aggravate my condemnation, more then if I had never been baptized. But David conceives ſuch a forgiveneſſe here, as carries up the ſoule to the contemplation of that ſtate, which it had before the fall of Adam. It is not this preſent ſin of a cold delivering, and a drowſie hearing of the meſſages of God; It is not my yeſterdayes ſin, nor my ſins ſince my laſt repentance, that are forgiven me, but my ſin committed ſix thouſand yeares before I was borne, my ſin in Adam, before any promiſe, nay, before any apprehenſion of any need of a Meſſias; I am ſo reſtored, that now by the application of the merits of my Redeemer, I am as well as I ſhould have been, though there had never been any uſe of a Redeemer, no occaſion given by me in Adam, of the incarnation and paſſion of Chriſt Jeſus. The comfort of being preſented to God as innocent as Adam, then when God breathed a ſoule into him, yea as innocent as Chriſt Jeſus himſelfe, when he breathed out his ſoule to God; oh how bleſſed is that ſoule that enjoyes it, and how bold that tongue that goes about to expreſſe it! This is the bleſſedneſſe which the godly attaine to by prayer, but not by every ſudden Lord, Lord, or every occaſionall holy interjection, but by ſerious prayer, inveſted, as with the former, ſo with that other circumſtance that remains, In tempore opportuno, In a time when thou mayeſt be found.
This time is not thoſe Horae ſtativae, Horae canonicae, In tempore.thoſe ſixed houres in the Romane Church, where men are bound to certaine prayers at certaine houres. Not that it is inconvenient for men to binde themſelves to certaine fixed times of prayer in their private Exerciſes; and though not by ſuch a vow, as that it ſhall be an impiety, yet by ſo ſolemne a purpoſe, as that it ſhall be a levity to breake it. I have known the greateſt Chriſtian Prince, (in Style and Title) even at the Audience of an Ambaſſador, at the ſound of a Bell, kneele downe in our preſence and pray; and God forbid, he ſhould be blamed for doing ſo; But to place a merit in obſerving thoſe times, as they doe, is not a right underſtanding of this time of finding. Nor is it thoſe tranſitory and interlocutory prayers, which out of cuſtome and faſhion we make, and ſtill proceed in our ſin; when we pretend to ſpeake to God, but like Comedians upon a ſtage, turne over our ſhoulder, and whiſper to the Devill.Eſay. 1.15. When you ſtretch out your hands, I will hide mine eyes; when you make many prayers, I will not heare; for your hands are full of blood. And if they be full of blood, they can take in no more; If they be full of the blood of oppreſſion, they can lay no hold upon the blood of propitiation.Iſ…. Irriſor eſt, non poenitens, qui adhuc agit quod poeniter, He mocks God, that repents and ſins over thoſe ſins every night, that every day he repents. The Apoſtle ſayes ſo too, He makes a mock of the Sonne of God, and crucifies him againe. This onelyonly is true Repentance,Ambro. He makes a mock of the Sonne of God, and crucifies him againe. This onelyonly is true Repentance, Plangere & plangenda non committere, To bewayle our ſins, and forbeare the ſins we have bewayled. Neither alone will ſerve; which deludes many. Many thinke they doe enough if they repent, and yet proceed in their ſin; and many thinke they doe enough, if they forbeare their ſin now, though they never repent that which is paſt;Auguſt. both are illuſory, both deceitfull diſtempers. Laoeſsit Iudicem, qui poſt-poſita ſatisfactione quaerit praemiis honorari, He doth but provoke and exaſperate the Judge, that ſolicites him for heaven, before he hath appeaſed his anger by repentance for former ſins; for this is to call for coſts before he be diſcharged.
Theſe then are not the times of finding God; but what are?Goſpel. Auguſt. Generally it is Manifeſtatio Euangelii, The time of the Goſpel is the time of finding God; now when God hath vouchſafed Induere hominem, to put on us in his Incarnation, and enabled us Induere Deum, to put on him in the Sacraments; to ſtay with us here upon Earth, and to carry us up with him in his Aſcenſion to Heaven; when he is made one body with us, and hath made us one Spirit with him, how can we doubt of a fit time to finde him? Chriſts time was alwayes; for even under the law, God ſayes,Eſay 49.8. I have heard thee in an accepted time, and in the day of Salvation have I ſuccoured thee; But this doth the Holy Ghoſt apply to the time of the Goſpel, Behold now the accepted time, behold now the day of ſalvation.2 Cor. 2.6. Calamitie. Pſal. 116.4.
The time then of the Goſpel is the time of finding; But now, all times are not alike. Calamities are a good time. When I found trouble, and ſorrow, then I called upon the name of the Lord, ſaying, I beſeech thee O Lord, deliver my ſoule. This is a good time, but it is ſomewhat a darke time; the withdrawing of Gods countenance from us;Exod. 14.25. The Egyptians when they deprehended their danger, ſaid, We will fly from the face of Iſrael; But whither? The Seareturned, and the Egyptians fled againſt it, and periſhed. We may be benighted, benummed by calamities, and they may as well deject us as raiſe us. Ioab purſued Abner hotly, vehemently; Abner asks, What, Vſque ad internecionem, 2 Sam. 2.25.Shall the ſword devoure for ever? Ioab anſwered, (as the Vulgat reads thoſe words) Vivit dominus, ſi locutus fuiſſes mane, As the Lord liveth, if thou hadſt ſpoken in the morning, in the morning every man had departed. If we turne to the Lord in the morning, in the beginning of an affliction, the Lord turnes his fierce wrath from us; but if we ſtand out long, and bend not under his corrections, he purſues Ad internecionem, even to deſtruction by obduration.
So then the manifeſtation of the Goſpel, that is, the helpes which God offers us,Proſperitus. more then Jews, or Gentils, in the Miniſtery of the Goſpel, and the Ordinances of his Church, is the time of finding God; And woe unto us, if we ſeeke him not whileſt he affords us theſe helpes; And then the time of affliction, when God threatens to hide his face, but hath not yet hidden it, but awakens us by a calamity, is a time of finding God. But the beſt and the cleareſt time is in the Sun-ſhine, then when he appeares to us in the warme and chearefull ſplendor of temporall bleſſings upon us; Then when thou haſt a good eſtate, and good children to let it deſcend upon; Then when thou haſt good health, and a good profeſſion to exerciſe thy ſtrength, and thy labors in; Then when the diſhes upon thy table are doubled, and thy cup overflows, and the hungry and thirſty ſoules of the poore doe not onelyonly feed upon the crums under thy table, and lick up the overflowings of thy cup, but divide diſhes with thee, and enter into the midſt of thy Bolls; Then when thou haſt temporall bleſſings, (that is Gods ſilver) and his grace to uſe thoſe bleſſings well, (that is Gods gold) then is the beſt time of finding the Lord, for then he looks upon thee in the Sun-ſhine, and then thy thankfull acknowledgement of former bleſſings is the moſt effectuall prayer thou canſt make, for the continuance, and enlargement of them.
In a word, then is a fit time of finding God,Nunc. whenſoever thy conſcience tells thee he calls to thee; for, a rectified conſcience is the word of God; If that ſpeake to thee now this minute, now is thy time of finding God. That Now, that I named then, that minute is paſt; but God affords thee another Now; he ſpeaks againe, he ſpeaks ſtill, and if thy conſcience tell thee that he ſpeaks to thee, now is that time. This word of God, thy conſcience will preſent unto thee, but that one condition, which Moſes preſented to Gods people, and that is, That thou ſeeke the Lordwith all thy heart, and all thy ſoule. It is a kinde of denying the Infiniteneſſe of God, to ſerve him by pieces, and ragges; God is not Infinite to me, if I thinke a diſcontinued ſervice will ſerve him. It is a kinde of denying the Unity of God, to joyne other gods, Pleaſure, or Profit with him; He is not One God to me, if I joyne other Aſſociates, and Aſſiſtants to him, Saints or Angels. It is a kinde of diffidence in Chriſt, as though I were not ſure that he would ſtand in the favour of God ſtill, as though I were afraid that there might riſe a new favorite in heaven, to whom it might concerne me to apply me ſelfe, If I make the balance ſo eaven, as to ſerve God and Mammon; if I make a complementall viſit of God at his houſe upon Sunday, and then plot with the other faction, the World, the Fleſh, and the Devill, all the weeke after.Jor. 9.13. The Lord promiſed a power of ſeeking, and an infallibility of finding; but ſtill with this totall condition, Ye ſhall ſeeke mee, and ye ſhall finde me, becauſe ye ſhall ſeek mee with all your heart. This he promiſed for the future, that he would doe; This he teſtified for the houſe of Iudah, 2 Chro. 15.15.that he had done, Iudah ſought him with a whole deſire, and he was found of them, and the Lord gave them reſt round about: And the Lord ſhall give you reſt round about; reſt in your bodies, and reſt in your eſtates; reſt in your good name with others, and reſt in your conſciences in your ſelves; reſt in your getting, and reſt in your injoying that you have got, if you ſeeke him with a whole heart; and to ſeek him with a whole heart, is not by honeſt induſtry to ſeeke nothing elſe, (for God weares good cloathes, ſilk, and ſoft raiment, in his religious ſervants in Courts, as well as Cammels haire, in Iohn Baptiſt in the Wilderneſſe; and God manifeſts himſelfe to man, as well in the ſplendor of Princes in Courts, as in the auſterity of Iohn Baptiſt in the Wilderneſſe) but to ſeeke God with the whole heart, is to ſeeke nothing with that Primary, and Radicall, and Fundamentall affection, as God; To ſeek nothing for it ſelfe, but God: not to ſeeke world things in exceſſe, becauſe I hope, if I had them, I ſhould glorifie God in them; but firſt to finde eſtabliſhed in my ſelfe a zealous deſire to glorifie God, and then a modeſt deſire of meanes to be able to doe it. And for this, every one that is holy ſhall pray unto thee, in a time when thou maiſt be found.
And ſo we have done with our firſt Part, and the foure pieces that conſtitute that, The Perſon, Omnis ſanctus, Every godly man; that is, Sanctificatus, and Sanctificandus, Hee that is godly enough to pray, and prayes that he may be more godly: And the Object of prayer, Ad te, God alone, for God alone can heare, and God alone can give; And then the Subject of prayer, Hoc, This, this which David expreſſes, forgiveneſſe of the puniſhment, and of the iniquity of fin, In which reſpect, (that David propoſes and ſpecificates the ſubject of prayer) wee are fairely directed rather to accuſtome our ſelves to thoſe prayers, which are recommended to us by the Church, then to extemporall prayers of others, or of our owne effuſion; And laſtly, the Time of finding God, that is, Then when we ſeeke him with a whole heart, ſeeke him as Principal, and then receive temporall things, as acceſſory, and conducible to his glory. Thus much hath fallen into the firſt Part, the duty of Prayer; A little remaines to be ſaid of the benefit here aſſured, Surely, in the floods of great waters they ſhall not come nigh unto him.
Taking theſe waters, 2. Part. H…r. Aquae.either Diſtributively, to every one that is godly, or Collectively, as S. Hierome does to the whole Church, the uſe will be all one. The Holy Ghoſt who is a direct worker upon the ſoule and conſcience of man, but a Metaphoricall, and Figurative expreſſer on himſelfe, to the reaſon, and underſtanding of man, abounds in no Metophor more, then in calling Tribulations, Waters: particularly, He would bring in waters upon Tyrus, E…k. 26.3. Hoſ… 5.And, He would poure out his wrath upon his enemies, like waters. Neither doth he onelyonly intimate temporall, but ſpirituall afflictions too, in the name of Waters. And as S. Hierome underſtands this whole place of the Church,Hieron. Auguſt. collectively, ſo S. Auguſtine underſtands theſe waters, to be Varia Doctrinae, thoſe diverſe opinions, that diſquiet and trouble the Church. And though the Church of God were built upon a hill, and compaſſed, and environed, and fenced with the blood of him that built it, and defended and guarded by the vigilancy of the Apoſtles; yet into this Jeruſalem did theſe waters breake, even in the Apoſtles time, as we ſee by thoſe ſeverall, thoſe manifold, thoſe contradictory Hereſies, that ſprung up them. Chriſt and his Apoſtles had carried two Waters about his Church: The water of Baptiſme, that is Limen Eccleſiae, and Ianua Sacramentorum, Arguſt.The firſt Ferry, by which we paſſe into the Church; and by this Water came three thouſand, and five thouſand at once to the Church, upon particular Sermons of S. Peter. And then Chriſt gave another Water, by which, they came to another Ablution, to Abſolution from actuall fins, the water of contrite teares, and repentance, which he had promiſed before,E…k. 24.35. I will poure cleane water upon you, and you ſhall be cleane, And by this water came Peter himſelfe, when his faith had failed, And by this water came Mary Magdalen, when her life had been defiled. But yet for all theſe Waters, other Waters ſoaked in, and corrupted them earely; for, for Baptiſme, the Diſciples of Simon Magus annulled Chriſts Baptiſme, and baptized in Simons name; and his Diſciple Menander annulled the Baptiſme of Chriſt, and Simon, and baptized in his owne name. And then, for the other Water, Repentance, the Heretiques drained up that ſhrewdly, when they took away all benefit of repentance for ſins committed after Baptiſme. David denies not, nay David aſſures us, that collectively, the whole Church ſhall be beaten upon with waters.
Water multiplied; Aquae multae, Many waters; ſo the vulgat reades this,Multae. that wee Tranſlate here, Great waters. So multiplied Hereſies. The excellency of the Chriſtian Religion is, that it is Verbum abbreviatum, A contracted Religion; All the Credenda, all that is to be beleeved, reduced to twelve Articles of the Creed; All the Speranda, all that is to be hoped for, prayed for, expreſſed in ſeaven Petitions, in the Lords Prayer; All the Agenda, all that is to be done in it, compriſed in ten Commandements, in the Decalogue. And then our bleſſed Saviour, though he would take away none of the burden, (for it is an eaſie yoke, and a light burden) yet he was pleaſed to binde it in a leſſe roome, and a more portable forme, when he re-abridged that Abridgement, and recontracts this contracted Doctrine, in thoſe two, Love God, and Love thy Neighbour. And then the Devill hath oppoſed this Abridgement by Multiplication, by many waters, many hereſies: for, it is eaſie to obſerve, that in every Article of the Creed, there have been at leaſt a dozen Hereſies. And in thoſe Articles, which were moſt credible, moſt evident, moſt ſenſible, moſt of all; Many more Hereſies upon the Humanity of Chriſt, then about his Divinity: And then, as in matters of Faith, ſo for matter of Manners, there was ſcarce any thing ſo foule and ſo obſcene, which was not taught by ſome Heretiques, to be religious and neceſſary; Things which cannot be excuſed, things which may not be named, made by the Gnoſtiques, eſſentiall and neceſſary in the Conſecration of the Sacrament. And then, when theſe waters of death were in a good part dryed up, theſe groſſe errors in Faith and Manners were reaſonably well overcome, Then came in thoſe waters of Traditional Doctrines in the Romane Church, which are ſo many, as that they overflow even the water of life, the Scriptures themſelves, and ſuppreſſe, and ſurround them.
Therefore does David, in this text, call theſe many waters, Diluvium, Diluvium.A flood of great waters; many and violent. For this word Shatach, Inundans, ſignifies Vehemence, Eagerneſſe, and is elegantly applied to the fierceneſſe of a horſe in Battel, Equus inundans in Bellum, A horſe that overflowes the Battell, that ruſhes into the Battell.Jer. 8.6. Eſay 15.9. Therefore ſpeaks the Prophet of waters full of blood; What Seas of blood did the old Perſecutions, what Seas have later times poured out, when in the Romane Church, their owne Authors will boaſt of ſixty thouſand ſlaine in a day, of them that attempted a Reformation in the times of the Waldenſes!
Surely, ſayes our Prophet, Theſe waters ſhall be, Hereſies there ſhall be.Omnis ſanctus. And no man may look for ſuch a Church, as ſhall have no water; Evermore there will be ſome things raw, and unconcocted in every Church ; Evermore ſome waters of trouble and diſſention, and a man is not to forſake a Church, in which he hath received his Baptiſme for that. But waiving this generall, and collective application of theſe waters to the Church, and to take it as the letter of the Text invites us, Omnis ſanctus, ſurely every godly man ſhall finde theſe waters, many waters, floods of many waters; for affliction is our daily bread; for, we cannot live in this world a ſpirituall life, without ſome kinde of affliction: for, as with long faſting we loſe our ſtomachs, ſo by being long unexerciſed in tribulation, we come to loſe our patience, and to a murmuring when it falls upon us. For that laſt Petition of the Lords Prayer, Liberanos à malo, Deliver us from evill, may as ſome interpret it, ſuppoſe that this Evill, that is Malum poenae, Affliction, will certainly fall upon us; and then we doe not ſo much pray to be delivered from it, as to be delivered in it, not that afflictions may not come, but that they may not overcome, when they come, that they may not be ineffectuall upon us. For, it was Durus ſermo, A harder and an angryer ſpeech then it ſeemes, when God ſaid to his people,Eſay 1.4. Why ſhould yee bee ſmitten any more? Why ſhould I keep you at Schoole any longer? Why ſhould I prepare Phyſick, or ſtudy your recovery by corrections any farther? When God was wearied with their afflictions, and they were not, this was a heavy caſe; He afflicted them forty yeares together in the Wilderneſſe, and yet he ſaies, Forty yeares long was I grieved with this generation: He never ſaies, They were grieved, but he was with their ſtupidity; They murmured, but they ſorrowed not to any amendment. So they perverted this word, Non approximabunt, They ſhall not come nigh thee, they ſhall not affect thee; That they muſt doe; we muſt be ſenſible of Gods corrections; but yet there is a good ſenſe, and a plentifull comfort, in this word of our Text. To the godly man, non approximabunt, the floods of great waters, though waters, though floods, though great floods, they ſhall not come nigh him; and that is our laſt word, and finall concluſion.
Conſider the Church of God collectively,Non approximabunt. and the Saints of God diſtributively, in which Babylon you will, in the Chaldean Babylon, or in the Italian Babylon, and theſe waters doe come nigh us, touch, and touch to the quicke, to the heart. But yet as David intends here,2 Cor. 4.7. they touch not us, they come not nigh us; for wee have treaſures in earth-then veſſels; They may touch the veſſels, but not the Treaſure. And this is literally expreſſed in the Text it ſelfe, non approximabunt, eum; not that they ſhall not come neare his houſe, or his lands, or his children, or his friends, or his body, but non eum, they ſhall not come nigh him. For, for the Church, the peace of the Church, the plenty of the Church, the ceremonies of the Church, they are ſua, but not illa, they are hers, but they are not ſhe. And theſe things, riches & ceremonies, they may be waſhed off with onetide, and caſt on with another, diſcontinued in one Age, and re-aſſumed in another, deveſted in one Church, and inveſted in another, and yet the Churches, ſhe in her fundamentall Doctrines never touched. And ſo for us, a wave may waſh away as much as Iob loſt, and yet not come nigh us; for if a Heathen could ſay, Vix ea noſtra voco, That outward things were ſcarce worthy to bee called Ours, ſhall a Chriſtian call them not onelyonly His, but Himſelfe, ſo as if they be loſt, he is loſt? How long will a Medall, a piece of Coine lie in the water, before the ſtampe be waſhed off? and yet how ſoone is the Image of God, of his patience, his longanimity defaced in us by every billow, every affliction? But for the Saints of God it ſhall not be ſo; Surely it ſhall not. They ſhall ſtand againſt the waters,Pſal. 11 43. And the Sea ſhall ſee it, and fly, and Iordan ſhall be turned backe: And the world ſhall ſay, What ayled thee O Sea, that thou fleddeſt, O Iordan that thou turnedſt back? For they that know not the power of the Almighty, though they envy, yet ſhall wonder, and ſtand amazed at the deliverance of the righteous. Sto, & pulſo, ſayes God of himſelfe, I ſtand at the doore and knocke; Rev. 3.22.God will not breake open doores to give thee a bleſſing, as well as he loves thee, and as well as he loves it, but will have thee open to him: much more will he keepe Tentations at the doore; They ſhall not breake in upon thee, except thou open. This then was that, which David elſewhere apprehended with feare, The ſorrowes of the grave compaſſed me about, Pſal. 1… 5.and the ſnares of death overtooke mee; Here they were neare him, but no worſe.Pſal. 69 15. This is that that hee prayes deliverance from, Let not the water flood drowne mee, neither let the deepe ſwallow me up. And this is that God aſſures us all that are his,Iſ…y 43.2. When thou paſſeſt through the waters, I will bee with thee, and through the floods that they doe not overflow thee. Maintaine therefore a holy patience in all Gods viſitations: Accept your waters, though they come in teares; for hee that ſends them, Chriſt Jeſus, had his flood, his inundation in Blood; and whatſoever thou ſuffereſt from him, thou ſuffereſt for him, and glorifieſt him in that conſtancy. Upon thoſe words, Tres ſunt, There are three that beare witneſſe, That Spirit, and water, and blood, Bernard.S. Bernard taking water there, (by way of alluſion) for affliction, ſaith, Though the Spirit were witneſſe enough, without water, or blood, yet Vix aut nunquam inveniri arbitror Spiritum ſine aqua, & ſanguine; we lack one of the ſeales of the Spirit, if we lack Gods corrections. We conſider three waters in our bleſſed Saviour; He wept over Jeruſalem; Doe thou ſo over thy finfull ſoule. He ſweat in the garden; Doe thou ſo too, in eating thy bread in the ſweat of thy browes, in labouring fincerely in thy Calling. And then hee ſent water and blood out of his ſide,Arguſt. being dead, which was, fons utriuſque Sacramenti, the ſpring head of both Sacraments; Doe thou alſo refreſh in thy ſoule, the dignity which thou receivedſt in the firſt Sacrament of Baptiſme, and thereby come worthily to the participation of the ſecond, and therein the holy Ghoſt ſhall give thee, the ſeale of that ſecurity, which he tenders to thee in this Text, Non approximabunt, How great water floods ſoever come, they ſhall not come nigh thee, not nigh that, which is Thou, that is, thy faith, thy ſoule, and though it may ſwallow that, by which thou art a man, thy life, it ſhall not ſhake that, by which thou art a Chriſtian, thy Religion. Amen.