Eighty Sermons, prebend · Sermon 68
SERM. LXVIII. The fourth of my Prebend Sermons upon my five Pſalmes: Preached at S. Pauls, 28. Ianuary, 1626.
PSAL. 65.5.
By terrible things in righteouſneſſe wilt thou anſwer us, O God of our ſalvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are a far off, upon the Sea.
GOd makes nothing of nothing now; God eaſed himſelfe of that incomprehenſible worke, and ended it in the firſt Sabbath. But God makes great things of little ſtill; And in that kinde hee works moſt upon the Sabbath;1 Cor. 1.21. when by the fooliſhneſſe of Preaching hee infatuates the wiſedome of the world, and by the word, in the mouth of a weake man, he enfeebles the power of ſinne, and Satan in the world, and by but ſo much breath as blows out an houreglaſſe, gathers three thouſand ſoules at a Sermon, and five thouſand ſoules at a Sermon, as upon Peters preaching, in the ſecond, and in the fourth of the Acts. And this worke of his, to make much of little, and to doe much by little, is moſt properly a Miracle. For, the Creation, (which was a production of all out of nothing) was not properly a miracle: A miracle is a thing done againſt nature; when ſomething in the courſe of nature reſiſts that worke, then that worke is a miracle; But in the Creation, there was no reluctation, no reſiſtance, no nature, nothing to reſiſt. But to doe great works by ſmall meanes, to bring men to heaven by Preaching in the Church, this is a miracle. When Chriſt intended a miraculous feeding of a great multitude, he askt, Quot panes habetis? Mark 6.38.Firſt hee would know, how many loaves they had; and when hee found that they had ſome, though they were but five, he multiplied them, to a ſufficiency for five thouſand perſons. This Pſalme is one of my five loaves, which I bring; One of thoſe five Pſalms, which by the Inſtitution of our Anceſtors in this Church, are made mine, appropriated eſpecially to my daily meditation, as there are five other Pſalmes to every other perſon of our Church. And, by ſo poore meanes as this, (my ſpeaking) his Bleſſing upon his Ordinance may multiply to the advancement, and furtherance of all your ſalvations. He multiplies now, farther then in thoſe loaves; not onelyonly to feed you all, (as he did all that multitude) but to feed you all three meales.
In this Pſalme (and eſpecially in this Text) God ſatisfies you with this threefold knowledge: Firſt, what he hath done for man, in the light and law of nature; Then, how much more he had done for his choſen people, the Jewes, in affording them a law; And laſtly, what he had reſerved for man after, in the eſtabliſhing of the Chriſtian Church. The firſt, (in this Metaphore, and miracle of feeding) works as a break-faſt; for though there bee not a full meale, there is ſomething to ſtay the ſtomach, in the light of nature. The ſecond, that which God did for the Jewes in their Law, and Sacrifices, and Types, and Ceremonies, is as that Dinner, which was ſpoken of in the Goſpel, which was plentifully prepared, but prepared for ſome certaine gueſts, that were bidden, and no more; Better meanes then were in nature, they had in the law, but yet onelyonly appropriated to them that were bidden, to that Nation, and no more. But in the third meale, Gods plentifull refection in the Chriſtian Church, and meanes of ſalvation there; firſt, Chriſt comes in the viſitation of his Spirit,Revel. 3.20. (Behold I come, and knock, and will ſup with him) (Hee ſups with us, in the private viſitation of his Spirit) And then, (as it is added there) hee invites us to ſup with him, hee calls us home to his houſe, and there makes us partakers of his bleſſed Sacraments; And by thoſe meanes we are brought at laſt to that bleſſedneſſe,Revel. 19.9. which he proclaimes, (Bleſſed are all they which are called to the marriage Supper of the Lambe) in the Kingdome of heaven. For all theſe three meales, wee ſay Grace in this Text, (By terrible things, in righteouſneſſe, wilt thou anſwer us, O God of our ſalvation) for all theſe wayes of comming to the knowledge and worſhip of God, we bleſſe God in this Text, (Thou art the confidence of all the ends of the Earth, and of them that are a farre off, upon the Sea.
The conſideration of the meanes of ſalvation, afforded by God to the Jewes in their law, inanimates the whole Pſalme, and is transfuſed thorow every part thereof; and ſo, it falls upon this Verſe too, as it doth upon all the reſt; And then, for that, that God had done before in nature, and for all, is in the later part of this Verſe, (Who art the confidence of all the ends of the Earth, and of them that are a farre off, upon the Sea) And laſtly, that that hee hath reſerved for the Chriſtian Church, God hath centred, and embowelled in the wombe and boſome of the Text, in that compellation, (O God of our ſalvation) for there the word ſalvation, is rooted in Iaſhang, which Iaſhang is the very Name of Ieſus, the foundation, and the whole building of the Chriſtian Church. So then our three parts will bee theſe; What God hath done in Nature, what in the Law, what in the Goſpel. And, when in our Order wee ſhall come to that laſt part, which is that, that we drive all to, (The advantage which wee have in the Goſpel, above Nature, and the Law) wee ſhall then propoſe, and ſtop upon the Holy Ghoſts manner of expreſſing it in this place, (By terrible things in righteouſneſſe wilt thou anſwer us, O God of our ſalvation) But firſt, look we a little into the other two, Nature, and Law.
Firſt then,1 Part. Natura. the laſt words ſettle us upon our firſt conſideration, What God hath done for man in Nature, Hee is the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are a far off, upon the Sea, that is, of all the world, all places, all perſons in the world; All, at all times, every where, have Declarations enow of his power, Demonſtrations enow of his Goodneſſe, to confide in him, to rely upon him. The Holy Ghoſt ſeemes to have delighted in the Metaphore of Building. I know no figurative ſpeech ſo often iterated in the Scriptures,Phil. 3.20. Heb. 3.6. Pſal. 147.2. as the name of a Houſe; Heaven and Earth are called by that name, and wee, who being upon earth, have our converſation in heaven, are called ſo too, (Chriſt hath a Houſe, which Houſe wee are) And as God builds his Houſe, (The Lord builds up leruſalem, ſaith David) ſo hee furniſhes it, he plants Vineyards, Gardens, and Orchards about it,Ioh. 14.6. Matt. 7.13. Ioh. 10.7. He layes out a way to it, (Chriſt is the way) He opens a gate into it, (Chriſt is the gate) And when hee hath done all this, (built his houſe, furniſhed it, planted about it, made it acceſſible, and opened the gate) then hee keepes houſe, as well as builds a houſe, he feeds us, and feaſts us in his houſe, as well as he lodges us, and places us in it. And as Chriſt profeſſes what his owne Diet was,Ioh. 4.34. what he fed upon, (My meat is to doe the will of my Father) ſo our meat is to know the will of the Father; Every man, even in nature, hath that appetite, that deſire, to know God. And therefore if God have made any man, and not given him meanes to know him,Pſal. 145.15. he is but a good Builder, he is no good Houſekeeper, He gives him lodging, but he gives him no meat; But the eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou giveſt them their meat in due ſeaſon. All, (not onelyonly we) wait upon God; and he gives them Their meat, though not our meat, (The Word and the Sacramenss) yet Their meat, ſuch as they are able to digeſt and endue. Even in nature, He is the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are a far off, upon the Sea. That is his daily bread, which even the naturall man begs at Gods hand, and God affords it him.
The moſt precious and coſtly diſhes are alwaies reſerved for the laſt ſervices, but yet there is wholeſome meat before too. The cleare light is in the Goſpel, but there is light in Nature too.Revel. 19.9. At the laſt Supper, (the Supper of the Lambe in Heaven) there is no bill of fare, there are no particular diſhes named there. It is impoſſible to tell us what we ſhall feed upon, what we ſhall be feaſted with, at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb; Our way of knowing God there cannot be expreſſed. At that Supper of the Lambe, which is here, here in our way homewards, that is, in the Sacramentall Supper of the Lambe, it is very hard to tell, what we feed upon; How that meat is dreſſed, how the Body and Blood of Chriſt is received by us, at that Supper, in that Sacrament, is hard to be expreſſed, hard to be conceived, for the way and manner thereof. So alſo in the former meale, that which we have called the Dinner, which is The knowledge which the Jews had in the Law, it was not eaſie to diſtinguiſh the taſte, and the nature of every diſh, and to finde the ſignification in every Type, and in every Ceremony. There are ſome difficulties (if curious men take the matter in hand, and be too inquiſitive) even in the Goſpel; more in the Law; moſt of all in Nature. But yet, even in this firſt refection, this firſt meale, that God ſets before man, (which is our knowledge of God in Nature) becauſe wee are then in Gods Houſe, (all this World, and the next make God but one Houſe) though God doe not give Marrow and fatneſſe, Pſal. 63.6. 81.16.(as David ſpeaks) though he doe not feed them with the fat of the wheat, nor ſatisfie them with honey out of the Rock, (for the Goſpel is the honey, and Chriſt is the Rock) yet, even in Nature, hee gives ſufficient meanes to know him, though they come to neither of the other Meales, neither to the Jews Dinner, The benefit of the Law, nor to the Chriſtians Supper, either when they feed upon the Lamb in the Sacrament, or when they feed with the Lamb in the poſſeſſion and fruition of Heaven.
Though therefore the Septuagint, in their Tranſlation of the Pſalms, have, in the Title of this Pſalme, added this, A Pſalme of Ieremy and Ezekiel, when they were departing out of the Captivity of Babylon, intimating therein, that it is a Pſalme made in contemplation of that bleſſed place which we are to go to, (as, literally, it was of their happie ſtate in their reſtitution from Babylon to Jeruſalem) And though the ancient Church, by appropriating this Pſalme to the office of the dead, to the ſervice at Burials, intimate alſo, that this Pſalme is intended of that fulneſſe of knowledge, and Joy, and Glory, which they have that are departed in the Lord, yet the Holy Ghoſt ſtops, as upon the way, before we come thither, and, ſince we muſt lie in an Inne, that is, Lodge in this World, he enables the World to entertaine us, as well as to lodge us, and hath provided, that the World, the very world it ſelfe, (before wee conſider the Law in the World, or the Church in the World, or Glory in the next World) This very World, that is, Nature, and no more, ſhould give ſuch an univerſall light of the knowledge of God, as that he ſhould bee The confidence of all the ends of the Earth, and of them that are a farre off upon the Sea.
And therefore as men that come to great places, and preferments, when they have entred by a faire and wide gate of Honour, but yet are laid downe upon hard beds of trouble and anxiety in thoſe places, (for, when the body ſeemes in the ſight of men, to go on in an eaſie amble, the minde is every day (if not all day) in a ſhrewd and diſeaſefull trot) As thoſe men will ſometimes ſay, It was better with me, when I was in a lower place, and fortune, and will remember, being Biſhops, the pleaſures they had when they were Schoole-boyes, and yet, for all this, intermit not their thankfulneſſe to God, who hath raiſed them to that height, and thoſe meanes of glorifying him: ſo, howſoever we abound with joy and thankfulneſſe, for theſe gracious and glorious Illuſtrations of the Law, and the Goſpel, and beames of future Glory, which we have in the Chriſtian Church, Let us reflect often upon our beginning, upon the conſideration of Gods firſt benefits, which he hath given to us all in Nature, That light, Iohn 1.9.by which he enlighteneth every man that commeth into the World, That he hath given us a reaſonable ſoule capable of grace, here, (that, he hath denied no man, and no other creature hath that) That he hath given us an immortal ſoul capable of glory hereafter, (and that, that immortality he hath denied no man, and no other creature hath that.) Conſider we alwaies the grace of God, to be the Sun it ſelfe, but the nature of man, and his naturall faculties to be the Sphear, in which that Sun, that Grace moves. Conſider we the Grace of God to be the ſoule it ſelf, but the naturall faculties of man, to be as a body, which miniſters Organs for that ſoule, that Grace to worke by. That ſo, as how much ſoever I feare the hand of a mighty man, that ſtrikes, yet I have a more immediate feare of the ſword he ſtrikes with; So, though I impute juſtly my ſins, and my feares of judgements for them, to Gods withdrawing, or to my neglecting his grace, yet I looke alſo upon that which is next me, Nature, and naturall light, and naturall faculties, and that I conſider how I uſe to uſe them; whether I be as watchfull upon my tongue, that that miniſter no tentation to others, and upon mine eye, that that receive no tentation from others, as by the light of Nature, I might, and as ſome morall Men, without addition of particular Grace, have done. That ſo, firſt for my ſelfe, I be not apt to lay any thing upon God, and to ſay, that hee ſtarved me, though he ſhould not bid me to the Jews dinner, in giving me the light of the Law, nor bid me to the Chriſtians Supper, in giving me the light of the Goſpell, becauſe he hath given me a competent refection even in Nature. And then, that for others, I may firſt ſay with the Apoſtle,Rom. 1.20. 11.33. That they are without excuſe, who doe not ſee the inviſible God, in the viſible Creature, and may ſay alſo with him, O altitudo! The wayes of the Lord are paſt my finding out; And therefore to thoſe, who doe open their eyes to that light of Nature, in the beſt exaltation thereof, God does not hide himſelfe, though he have not manifeſted to me, by what way he manifeſts himſelfe to them. For, God diſappoints none, and he is The confidence of all the ends of the Earth, and of them who are a farre off upon the Sea.
Commit thy way unto the Lord, Pſal. 37.5.ſayes David; And he ſayes more, then our Tranſlation ſeemes to expreſſe; The Margin hath expreſſed it; for, according to the Originall word, Galal, it is in the Margin, not Commit, but Roll thy way upon the Lord; which may very well imply, and intend this precept, Carry thy Rolling trench up to God, and gather upon him;Gen. 18.23. As Abraham, when he beat the price with God for Sodom, from fifty, to ten, rolled his Petition upon God, fo roll thy wayes upon him, come up to him in a thankfull acknowledgement, what he hath done for thee, in the Goſpel, in the Law, and in Nature; And then, as Tertullian ſayes of publique Prayers, Obſidemus Deum, In the Prayers of the Congregation wee beſiege God, So this way wee entrench our ſelves before God, ſo, as that nothing can beat us out of our trenches; for, if all the Canons of the Church beat upon me, ſo that I be by Excommunication removed from the aſſiſtances of the Church, (though I be inexcuſable, if I labour not my Reconciliation, and my Abſolution) yet, before that be effected, I am ſtill in my firſt trench, ſtill I am a man, ſtill I have a ſoule capable of Grace, ſtill I have the light of Nature, and ſome preſence of God in that; though I be attenuated, I am not annihilated, though by my former abuſes of Gods graces, and my contumacy, I be caſt back to the ends of the earth, and a far off upon the Sea, yet even there, God is the confidence of all them; As long as I conſider that I have ſuch a ſoule, capable of Grace and Glory, I cannot deſpaire.
Thus Nature makes Pearls, Thus Grace makes Saints. A drop of dew hardens, and then another drop fals, and ſpreads it ſelfe, and cloathes that former drop, and then another, and another, and become ſo many ſhels and films that inveſt that firſt feminall drop, and ſo (they ſay) there is a pearle in Nature. A good foule takes firſt Gods firſt drop into his conſideration, what he hath ſhed upon him in Nature, and then his ſecond coate, what in the Law, and ſucceſſively his other manifold graces, as ſo many ſhels, and films, in the Chriſtian Church, and ſo we are ſure, there is a Saint.
Roll thy wayes upon God; And (as it followes in the ſame verſe) Spera in eo, & ipſe faciet; we tranſlate it, Truſt in him, and he ſhall bring it to paſſe; Begin at Alpha, and hee ſhall bring it to Omega: Conſider thy ſelfe but in the ſtate of Hope, (for the ſtate of Nature is but a ſtate of Hope, a ſtate of Capableneſſe; In Nature wee have the capacity of Grace, but not Grace in poſſeſſion, in Nature) Et ipſe faciet, ſayes that Text, God ſhall doe, God ſhall work; There is no more in the Originall but ſo, Ipſe faciet; Not God ſhall doe it, or doe this, or doe that, but doe all; doe but conſider that God hath done ſomething for thee, and he ſhall doe all, for, He is the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are a farre off upon the Sea. Here is a new Mathematiques; without change of Elevation, or parallax, I that live in this Climate, and ſtand under this Meridian, looke up and fixe my ſelf upon God, And they that are under my feete, looke up to that place, which is above them, And as divers, as contrary as our places are, we all fixe at once upon one God, and meet in one Center; but we doe not ſo upon one Sunne, nor upon one conſtellation, or configuration in the Heavens; when we ſee it, thoſe Antipodes doe not; but they, and we ſee God at once. How various formes of Religion ſoever paſſe us through divers wayes, yet by the very light and power of Nature, we meet in one God; and for ſo much, as may make God acceſſible to us, and make us inexcuſable towards him, there is light enough in this dawning of the day, refection enough in this firſt meale, The knowledge of God, which we have in Nature; That alone diſcharges God, and condemns us; for, by that, He is, that is, He offers himſelfe to be, The confidence of all the ends of the Earth, and of them who are a far of upon the Sea; that is, of all mankinde.
But then, Lunae radiis non matureſeit botrus, fruits may be ſeene by the Mooneſhine, but the Mooneſhine will not ripen them. Therefore a Sunne riſes unto us, in the law, and in the Prophets, and gives us another manner of light, then we had in nature.Prov. 4.19. The way of the wicked is as Darkneſſe, ſayes Solomon; Wherein? It follows, They know not at what they ſtumble. A man that calls himſelfe to no kinde of account, that takes no candle into his hand, never knowes at what he ſtumbles, not what occaſions his ſin. But by the light of nature, if he will looke upon his owne infirmities, his own deformities, his own inclinations, he may know at what he ſtumbles, what that is that leads him into tentation. For, though S. Paul ſay, That by the law is the knowledge of ſin, And,Rom. 3.20. Rom. 5.13. Rom. 7.7. Sin is not imputed when there is no law; And againe, I had not knowne ſin, but by the law; in ſome of theſe places, the law is not intended onelyonly of the law of the Jews, but of the law of nature in our hearts, (for, by that law, every man knows that he ſins) And then, ſin is not onelyonly intended of ſin produced into act, but ſin in the heart; as the Apoſtle inſtances there, I had not knowne luſt, except the law had ſaid, Thou ſhalt not covet. Of ſome ſinnes, there is no cleare evidence given by the light of nature: That the law ſupplied; and more then that. The law did not onelyonly ſhew, what was ſin, but gave ſome light of remedy againſt ſin, and reſtitution after ſin, by thoſe ſacrifices, which, though they were ineffectuall in themſelves, yet involved, and repreſented Chriſt, who was their ſalvation. So then, God was to the Jews, in generall, as he was to his principall ſervant amongſt them, Moſes; He ſaw the land of promiſe, but he entred not into it; The Jews ſaw Chriſt,Deut. 34.1. but embraced him not. Abraham ſaw his day, and rejoyced; They ſaw it, that is, they might have ſeen it, but winked at it. Luther ſayes well, Iudaei habuere jus mendicandi, The Jews had a licence to beg, They had a Breve, and might gather, They had a Covenant, and might plead with God; But they did not; and therefore, though they were inexcuſable for their neglect of the light of Nature, and more inexcuſable for reſiſting the light of the law, That they and we might be abſolutely inexcuſable, if we continued in darkneſſe after that, God ſet up another light, the light of the Goſpel, which is our third and laſt part, wrapped up in thoſe firſt words of our Text, By terrible things, in righteouſneſſe, wilt thou anſwer us, O God of our ſalvation.
This word, Salvation, Iaſhang, is the roote of the name of Ieſus. 3 Part. Eccleſia Chriſtiana.In the beginning of the Primitive Church, when the followers of Chriſt left or diſcontinued their being called the Diſciples, and the Faithfull, and the Brethren, and the Profeſſors, as they had been called before, and would bring the Name of their founder, Chriſt Jeſus, into more evidence and manifeſtation, yet they were not called by the Name of Ieſus, but from Chriſt; at Antioch firſt they were called Chriſtians. For, it is well diſtinguiſhed,Acts 11.26. That the Name of Ieſus, as it ſignifies a Saviour, firſt contemplates God, and the Divine nature,Bonavent. (which onelyonly could ſave us) And then hath relation to Man, and the Humane nature, without aſſuming of which, the Sonne of God could not have ſaved us that way, that God had propoſed, The ſatisfaction of his Juſtice; And then, the Name of Chriſt, (as it ſignifies Anointed, and appointed to a certaine purpoſe, as to die for us) firſt contemplates Man, and the Humane nature, which onelyonly could die, And then hath relation to God, and the Divine nature. So that Jeſus is God, and Man in Him; And Chriſt is Man, and God in Him. So the Name Ieſus ſeemes to taſte of more Myſtery, and more Incomprehenſibleneſſe; And the Name of Chriſt, of more Humility, and Appliableneſſe.
And with this lower Name, to be called Chriſtians from Chriſt, was the Church of God contented; Whereas a later race of men in the Romane Church, will needs take their Denomination from Ieſus himſelfe; But I know not whether they meane our Ieſus or no. Ioſephus remembers two (at leaſt) of that name, Ieſus, Joſephus.that were infamous malefactors, and men of blood; and they may deduce themſelves from ſuch a Ieſus. And a Jeſuit teaches us, that it is the common opinion, that Barrabas the murderer,Lorinus. Act. 13.6. was by his proper Name called Ieſus; that his name was Ieſus Barrabas; and that therefore Pilate made that difference upon our Saviour, Ieſus Nazarenus, This is Ieſus of Nazareth, and not Ieſus Barrabas; and from that Ieſus, Ieſus Barrabas they may deduce themſelves. And we know alſo, that that miſchievous ſorcerer, was called by that Name, Bar-jeſu, Ibid.The Sonne of Jeſus. From which Ieſus amongſt theſe, they will make their extraction, let them chuſe. As amongſt the Jeſuits, the bloodieſt of them all, (even to the drawing of the ſacred blood of Kings) is, by his name, Mariana; So all the reſt of them, both in that reſpect, of ſucking blood, and occaſioning maſſacres, and other reſpects too, are rather Marianits then Jeſuits, Idolaters of the bleſſed Virgin Mary, then worſhippers of Jeſus.
We conſiſt in the Humility of the Ancients; we are Chriſtians, Ieſus is meerly a Saviour, A name of Myſtery, Chriſt is Anointed, A name of Communication, of Accommodation, of Imitation;Cant. 1.3. And ſo this name, the name of Chriſt, is Oleum effuſum, (as the Spouſe ſpeaks) An oyntment, a perfume powred out upon us, and we are Chriſtians. In the name of Ieſus, Corn. Lap. Eph. 1.10.S. Paul abounded, but in the Name of Chriſt more; for, (as a Jeſuit gives us the account) he repeats the name of Ieſus almoſt three hundred times, but the name of Chriſt more then foure hundred, in his Epiſtles. In this Church then, which is gathered in the Name of Chriſt, (though in the power and merit of Ieſus) This light which we ſpeake of, This knowledge of God, and means of ſalvation, is in the higheſt exaltation. In the ſtate of nature, we conſider this light, as the Sunne, to be riſen at the Moluccae, in the fartheſt Eaſt; In the ſtate of the law, we conſider it, as the Sunne come to Ormus, the firſt Quadrant; But in the Goſpel, to be come to the Canaries, the fortunate Ilands, the firſt Meridian. Now, whatſoever is beyond this, is Weſtward, towards a Declination. If we will goe farther then to be Chriſtians, and thoſe doctrines, which the whole Chriſtian Church hath ever beleeved,1 Cor. 1.12. if we will be of Cephas, and of Apollos, if we will call our ſelves, or endanger, and give occaſion to others, to call us from the Names of men, Papiſts, or Lutherans, or Calviniſts, we depart from the true glory and ſerenity, from the luſtre and ſplendor of this Sunne; This is Tabernaculum Solis, Here in the Chriſtian Church,Pſal. 19.5. God hath ſet a Tabernacle for the Sunne; And, as in nature, Man hath light enough to diſcerne the principles of Reaſon; So in the Chriſtian Church, (conſidered without ſubdiviſions of Names, and Sects) a Chriſtian hath light enough of all things neceſſary to ſalvation.
So then, ſtill roll thy wayes upon God, Gather upon him nearer and nearer; for, all theſe are emanations of lights from him, that he might be found, and ſeen, and knowne by thee. The looking upon God, by the firſt light of Nature, is, to catechize, and examine thy ſelfe, whether thou doe governe, and employ thy naturall faculties to his glory; whether thou doe ſhut thine eyes at a tentation, ſtop thine eares at a blaſphemy upon God, or a defamation upon thy neighbour; and withhold thy hand from blood and bribes, and thy feet from fellowſhip in ſin. The looking upon God, by the ſecond light, the light of the law, is, to diſcerne by that, that God hath alwayes had a peculiar people of his own, and gathered them, and contained them in his worſhip, by certaine viſible, ſenſible Ordinances and Inſtitutions, Sacraments, and Sacrifices, and rituall Ceremonies, and to argue and conclude out of Gods former proceedings with them, his greatneſſe and his goodneſſe towards the preſent world. And then, to ſee God by that laſt and beſt light, the light of the Chriſtian Church, is, to be content with ſo much of God, as God hath revealed of himſelfe to his Church; And (as it is expreſſed here) to heare him anſwer thee, By terrible things in righteouſneſſe; for, that he does as he is the God of our ſalvation, that is, as he works in the Chriſtian Church; which is our laſt Conſideration; By terrible, &c.
In this Conſideration,Reſpondet, ergo Orandum. (Gods proceeding with us in the Chriſtian Church) this obſervation meets us firſt, That Gods converſation with us there, is called an Anſwering; (He ſhall anſwer us) Now if we looke that God ſhould anſwer us, we muſt ſay ſomething to God; and our way of ſpeaking to God, is by petition, by prayer. If we preſent no petition,Rom. 10.20. if we pray not, we can looke for no anſwer, for we aske none. Eſaias is very bold, (ſaith S. Paul) when he ſayes, That God was found of them that ſought him not, and made manifeſt to them that asked not after him; Yet though it were boldly ſaid, it was truly ſaid; ſo early, and ſo powerfull is Gods preventing grace towards us. So it is a very ordinary phraſe amongſt the Prophets, God anſwered, and ſaid thus, and thus, when the Prophet had asked nothing of God. But here we are upon Gods proceeding with man in the Chriſtian Church; and ſo, God anſwers not, but to our petitions, to our prayers. In a Sermon, God ſpeaks to the Congregation, but he anſwers onelyonly that ſoule, that hath been with him at Prayers before. A man may pray in the ſtreet, in the fields, in a fayre; but it is a more acceptable and more effectuall prayer, when we ſhut our doores, and obſerve our ſtationary houſes for private prayer in our Chamber; and in our Chamber, when we pray upon our knees, then in our beds. But the greateſt power of all, is in the publique prayer of the Congregation.
It is a good remembrance that Damaſcene gives, Non quia gentes quaedam faciunt, Damaſe.à nobis linquenda; We muſt not forbeare things onelyonly therefore, becauſe the Gentiles, or the Jewes uſed them. The Gentiles, particularly the Romans, (before they were Chriſtians) had a ſet Service, a preſcribed forme of Common prayer in their Temples; and they had a particular Officer in that State, who was Conditor precum, that made their Collects, and Prayers upon emergent occaſions; And Omni luſtro, every five yeares there was a review, and an alteration in their Prayers, and the ſtate of things was preſumed to have received ſo much change in that time, as that it was fit to change ſome of their Prayers and Collects. It muſt not therefore ſeeme ſtrange, that at the firſt, there were certaine Collects appointed in our Church; nor that others, upon juſt occaſion, be added.
Gods bleſſing here, in the Chriſtian Church, (for, to that we limit this conſideration) is, that here He will anſwer us; Therefore, here we muſt ask; Here, our asking is our communion at Prayer: And therefore they that undervalue, or neglect the prayers of the Church, have not that title to the benefit of the Sermon; for though God doe ſpeake in the Sermon, yet hee anſwers, that is, applies himſelfe, by his Spirit, onelyonly to them, who have prayed to him before. If they have joyned in prayer, they have their intereſt, and ſhall feele their Conſolation in all the promiſes of the Goſpel, ſhed upon the Congregation, in the Sermon. Have you asked by prayer, Is there no Balme in Gilead? He anſwers you by me, Yes, there is Blame;Eſay 53.5. Hee was wounded for your tranſgreſsions, and with his ſtripes you are healed; His Blood is your Balme, his Sacrament is your Gilead. Have you asked by prayer, Is there no Smith in Iſrael? 1 Sam. 13.18.No meanes to diſcharge my ſelfe of my fetters, and chaines, of my temporall, and ſpirituall Encumbrances? God anſwers thee, Yes, there is; He bids you but looke about, and you ſhall finde your ſelfe in Peter caſe; The Angel of the Lord preſent, A light ſhining, Act. 12.7.and his chaines falling off: All your manacles locked upon the hands, All your chaines loaded upon the legges, All your ſtripes numbred upon the back of Chriſt Jeſus. You have ſaid in your prayers here, (Lord, from whom all good counſails doe proceed) And God anſwers you from hence, The Angel of the great Counſell ſhall dwell with you, and direct you. You have ſaid in your prayers, Lighten our darkneſſe, and God anſwers you by mee,Eſay 60.19. (as he did his former people by Eſay) The Lord ſhall be unto thee an everlaſting light, and thy God thy glory. Petition God at prayers, and God ſhall anſwer all your petitions at the Sermon. There we begin, (if wee will make profit of a Sermon) at Prayers; And thither wee returne againe, (if we have made profit by a Sermon) in due time, to prayers. For,Confeſ. l. 1. c. 1. that is S. Auguſtines holy Circle, in which hee walkes from Prayers to the Sermon, and from the Sermon, next day to Prayers againe. Invocat te fides mea, ſayes he to God; Here I ſtand or kneele in thy preſence, and in the power of faith, to pray to thee. But where had I this faith, that makes my prayer acceptable? Dediſti mihi per miniſterium Praedicatoris; I had it at the Sermon, I had it, ſaith he, by the miniſtery of the Preacher; but I had it therefore, becauſe thy Spirit prepared me by prayer before; And I have it therefore, that is, to that end, that I might returne faithfully to prayers againe. As hee is The God of our ſalvation, (that is, As he works in the Chriſtian Church) he anſwers us: If we aske by prayer, he applies the Sermon; And, He anſwers by terrible things, in righteouſneſſe.
Theſe two words, (Terribilia per Iuſtitiam) By Terrible things in Righteouſneſſe, Terribilia per Iuſtitiamare ordinarily by our Expoſitors taken, to intimate a confidence, that God imprints by the Ordinance of his Church, that by this right uſe of Prayer and Preaching, they ſhall alwayes be delivered from their enemies, or from what may bee moſt terrible unto them. In which expoſition, Righteouſneſſe ſignifies faithfulneſſe, and Terrible things ſignifie miraculous deliverances from, and terrible Judgements upon his, and our enemies. Therefore is God called, Deus fidelis, The faithfull God; for,Deut. 7.9. that faithfulneſſe implies a Covenant, made before, (and there entred his Mercy, that hee would make that Covenant) and it implies alſo the aſſurance of the performance thereof, for there enters his faithfulneſſe. So he is called, Fidelis Creator, (We commit our ſoules to God, 1 Pet. 4.19.as to a faithfull Creator) He had an eternall gracious purpoſe upon us, to create us, and he hath faithfully accompliſhed it. So, Fidelis quia vocavit, Hee is faithfull in having called us; 1 Theſ. 5.24.That he had decreed, and that he hath done. So Chriſt is called, Fidelis Pontifex, Heb. 2.17.A mercifull and a faithfull high Prieſt; Mercifull in offering himſelfe for us, faithfull in applying himſelfe to us. So Gods whole word is called ſo often, ſo very often Teſtimonium fidele, A faithfull witneſſe, an evidence that cannot deceive, nor miſlead us.Pſal. 19.8. Therefore we may be ſure, that whatſoever God hath promiſed to his Church, (And whatſoever God hath done upon the enemies of his Church heretofore, thoſe very performances to them, are promiſes to us, of the like ſuccours in the like diſtreſſes) he will performe, re-performe, multiply performances thereof upon us.Eſay 25.1. Thy counſails of old are faithfulneſſe and truth; That is, whatſoever thou didſt decree, was done even then, in the infallibility of that Decree; And when that Decree came to be executed, and actually done, in that very execution of that former Decree was enwrapped a new Decree, That the ſame ſhould be done over and over againe for us, when ſoever wee needed it. So that then, caſting up our account, from the deſtruction of Babel, by all the plagues of Egypt, through the depopulation of Canaan, and the maſſacre in Sennacheribs Army, to the ſwallowing of the Invincible Navy upon our Seas, and the bringing to light that Infernall, that ſubterranean Treaſon in our Land, we may argue, and aſſume, That the God of our ſalvation will anſwer us by terrible things, by multiplying of miracles, and miniſtring ſupplies, to the confuſion of his, and our enemies, for, By terrible things in righteouſneſſe, will the God of our ſalvation anſwer us.
So then,Per Iuſtitiam. his Judgements are theſe Terribilia, Terrible, fearefull things; And hee is faithfull in his Covenant, and by terrible Judgements he will anſwer, that is, ſatisfie our expectation. And that is a convenient ſenſe of theſe words. But, the word, which we tranſlate Righteouſneſſe here, is Tzadok, and Tzadok is not faithfulneſſe, but holineſſe; And theſe Terrible things are Reverend things; and ſo Tremellius tranſlates it, and well; Per res Reverendas, By Reverend things, things to which there belongs a Reverence, thou ſhalt anſwer us. And thus, the ſenſe of this place will be, That the God of our ſalvation, (that is, God working in the Chriſtian Church) calls us to Holineſſe, to Righteouſneſſe, by Terrible things; not Terrible, in the way and nature of revenge; but Terrible, that is, ſtupendious, reverend, myſterious: That ſo we ſhould not make Religion too homely a thing, but come alwayes to all Acts, and Exerciſes of Religion, with reverence, with feare, and trembling, and make a difference, between Religious, and Civill Actions.
In the frame and conſtitution of al Religions, theſe Materials, theſe Elements have ever entred; Some words of a remote ſignification, not vulgarly underſtood, ſome actions of a kinde of halfe-horror and amazement, ſome places of reſervation and retiredneſſe, and appropriation to ſome ſacred perſons, and inacceſſible to all others. Not to ſpeake of the ſervices, and ſacrifices of the Gentiles, and thoſe ſelfe-manglings and lacerations of the Prieſts of Iſis, and of the Prieſts of Baal, (faintly counterfaited in the ſcourgings and flagellations in the Roman Church) In that very diſcipline which was delivered from God, by Moſes, the ſervice was full of myſterie, and horror, and reſervation, By terrible things, (Sacrifices of blood in manifold effuſions) God anſwered them, then. So, the matter of Doctrine was delivered myſteriouſly, and with much reſervation, and in-intelligibleneſſe, as Tertullian ſpeaks. The Joy and Glory of Heaven was not eaſily underſtood by their temporall abundances of Milke, and Honey, and Oyle, and Wine; and yet, in theſe (and ſcarce any other way) was Heaven preſented, and notified to that people by Moſes. Chriſt, a Meſſias, a Saviour of the World, by ſhedding his blood for it, was not eaſily diſcerned in their Types and Sacrifices; And yet ſo, and ſcarce any other way was Chriſt revealed unto them.Hoſ. 12.10. God ſayes, I have multiplied viſions, and uſed ſimilitudes, by the miniſtery of the Prophets. They were Viſions, they were Similitudes, nor plaine and evident things, obvious to every underſtanding, that God led his people by. And there was an Order of Doctors amongſt the Jews that profeſſed that way, To teach the People by Parables and darke ſayings;Sandaei ſymbulica fol. 108. and theſe were the powerfulleſt Teachers amongſt them, for they had their very name (Moſſelim) from power and dominion; They had a power, a dominion over the affections of their Diſciples, becauſe teaching them by an obſcure way, they created an admiration, and a reverence in their hearers, and laid a neceſſity upon them, of returning againe to them, for the interpretation and ſignification of thoſe darke Parables. Many thinke that Moſes cites theſe obſcure Doctors, theſe Moſſelim, in that place,Num. 21.7. in the booke of Numbers, when he ſayes, Wherefore they that ſpeake in Proverbs, ſay thus, and thus, And ſo he proceeds in a way and words, as hard to be underſtood,Pſal. 49.4. as any place in all his Books. David profeſſes this of himſelfe often; I will open darke ſayings upon my Harpe, Pſal. 77.2.And, I will open my mouth in a Parable. And this was the way of Solomon; for that very word is the Title of his booke of Proverbs. And in this way of teaching,Matt. 7.19. our Saviour abounded, and excelled; for when it is ſaid, He taught them as one having authority, And when it is ſaid, They were aſtoniſhed at his Doctrine, Luke 4.32.for his word was with Power, they refer that to this manner of teaching, that hee aſtoniſhed them with theſe reſerved and darke ſayings, and by the ſubſequent interpretation thereof, gained a reverend eſtimation amongſt them, that he onelyonly could lead them to a deſire to know, (that darke way encreaſed their deſire) and then he onelyonly ſatisfie them with the knowledge of thoſe things which concerned their ſalvation. For theſe Parables, and compariſons of a remote ſignification, were called by the Jews, Poteſtates, Powers, Powerfull inſinuations, as, amongſt the Grecians, the ſame things were called Axiomata, Dignities; And of Chriſt it is ſaid, Without a Parable ſpake he not.Mat. 13.34.
So that God in the Old, and Chriſt in the New Teſtament, hath conditioned his Doctrine, and his Religion (that is, his outward worſhip) ſo, as that evermore there ſhould be preſerved a Majeſty, and a reverentiall feare, and an awfull diſcrimination of Divine things from Civill, and evermore ſomething reſerved to be inquired after, and laid up in the mouth of the Prieſt, that the People might acknowledge an obligation from him, in the expoſition, and application thereof. Nay, this way of anſwering us by terrible things, (that is, by things that imprint a holy horror, and a Religious reverence) is much more in the Chriſtian Church, then it can have beene in any other Religion; Becauſe, if wee conſider the Jews, (which is the onelyonly Religion, that can enter into any compariſon with the Chriſtian, in this kinde) yet, we looke more directly and more immediately upon God in Chriſt, then they could, who ſaw him but by way of Prophecie, a future thing that ſhould be done after; we looke upon God, in Hiſtory, in matter of fact, upon things done, and ſet before our eyes; and ſo that Majeſty, and that holy amazement, is more to us then ever it was to any other Religion, becauſe we have a nearer approximation, and vicinity to God in Chriſt, then any others had, in any repreſentions of their Gods; and it is a more dazeling thing to looke upon the Sun, in a direct, then in an oblique or ſide line. And therefore, the love of God, which is ſo often propoſed unto us, is as often ſeaſoned with the feare of God; nay, all our Religious affections are reduced to that one, To a reverentiall feare; If he be a Maſter, he cals for feare, and,Mal. 1.6. If he be a Father, he calls for honor; And honour implies a reverentiall feare. And that is the Art that David profeſſes to teach, Artem timendi, Come ye children, and hearken unto me, Pſal. 34.12.and I will teach you the feare of the Lord. That you thinke not Divinity an Occupation, nor Church-Service a recreation; but ſtill remember, That the God of our Salvation (God working in the Chriſtian Church) will anſwer you; but yet, by terrible things; that is, by not being over-fellowly with God, nor over-homely with places, and acts of Religion; which, it may be an advancement to your Devotion and edification, to conſider, in ſome particulars in the Chriſtian Church.
And firſt, conſider we it, in our manners, and converſation. Chriſt ſayes,In moribus. Iohn 15.14. Mat. 22.12. Henceforth I call you not ſervants, but friends. But, howſoever Chriſt called him friend, that was come to the feaſt without the wedding garment, he caſt him out, becauſe he made no difference of that place from another. Firſt then, remember by what terrible things God anſwers thee in the Chriſtian Church, when he comes to that round and peremptory iſſue,Marke 16.16. Qui non credider it, damnabitur, He that beleeves not every Article of the Chriſtian faith, & with ſo ſtedfaſt a belief, as that he would dye for it, Damnabitur, (no modification, no mollification, no going leſſe) He ſhal be damned. Conſider too the nature of Excōmunication, That it teares a man from the body of Chriſt Jeſus; That that man withers that is torne off, and Chriſt himſelfe is wounded in it. Conſider the inſupportable penances that were laid upon ſinners, by thoſe penitentiall Canons, that went through the Church in thoſe Primitive times; when, for many ſins which we paſſe through now, without ſo much as taking knowledge that they are ſins, men were not admitted to the Communion all their lives, no, nor eaſily upon their death-beds. Conſider how dangerouſly an abuſe of that great doctrine of Predeſtination may bring thee to thinke, that God is bound to thee, and thou not bound to him, That thou maieſt renounce him, and he muſt embrace thee, and ſo make thee too familiar with God, and too homely with Religion, upon preſumption of a Decree. Conſider that when thou prepareſt any uncleane action, in any ſinfull nakedneſſe, God is not onelyonly preſent with thee in that roome then, but then tels thee, That at the day of Judgement thou muſt ſtand in his preſence, and in the preſence of all the World, not onelyonly naked, but in that foule, and ſinfull, and uncleane action of nakedneſſe, which thou committedſt then; Conſider all this and confeſſe, that for matter of manners, and converſation, The God of thy Salvation anſwers thee by terrible things. And ſo it is alſo, if we conſider Prayer in the Church.
God Houſe is the houſe of Prayer; In oratione.It is his Court of Requeſts; There he receives petitions, there he gives Order upon them. And you come to God in his Houſe, as though you came to keepe him company, to ſit downe, and talke with him halfe an houre; or you come as Ambaſſadors, covered in his preſence, as though ye came from as great a Prince as he. You meet below, and there make your bargaines, for biting, for devouring Uſury, and then you come up hither to prayers, and ſo make God your Broker. You rob, and ſpoile, and eat his people as bread, by Extortion, and bribery, and deceitfull waights and meaſures, and deluding oathes in buying and ſelling, and then come hither, and ſo make God your Receiver, and his houſe a den of Thieves. His houſe is Sanctum Sanctorum, The holieſt of holies, and you make it onelyonly Sanctuarium; It ſhould be a place ſanctified by your devotions, and you make it onelyonly a Sanctuary to priviledge Malefactors, A place that may redeeme you from the ill opinion of men, who muſt in charity be bound to thinke well of you, becauſe they ſee you here. Offer this to one of your Princes, (as God argues in the Prophet) and ſee, if he will ſuffer his houſe to be prophaned by ſuch uncivill abuſes;Pſal. 47.3. And, Terribilis Rex, The Lord moſt high is terrible, and a great King over all the earth; Pſal. 96.4.and, Terribilis ſuper omnes Deos, More terrible then all other Gods. Let thy Maſter be thy god, or thy Miſtreſſe thy god, thy Belly be thy god, or thy Back be thy god, thy fields be thy god, or thy cheſts be thy god, Terribilis ſuper omnes Deos, The Lord is terrible above all gods,Pſal. 95.3. Deut. 28.58. A great God, and a great King above all gods. You come, and call upon him by his name here, But Magnū & terribile, Glorious and fearefull is the name of the Lord thy God. And, as if the Son of God were but the Son of ſome Lord, that had beene your Schoole-fellow in your youth, and ſo you continued a boldneſſe to him ever after, ſo, becauſe you have beene brought up with Chriſt from your cradle, and catechized in his name,Pſal. 111.4. his name becomes leſſe reverend unto you, And Sanctum & terribile, Holy, and reverend, Holy and terrible ſhould his name be.
Conſider the reſolution that God hath taken upon the Hypocrite, and his prayer; What is the hope of the Hypocrite, Iob 27.8. Hoſ 7.14.when God taketh away his ſoule? Will God heare his cry? They have not cryed unto me with their hearts, when they have howled upon their beds. Conſider, that error in the matter of our prayer fruſtrates the prayer and makes it ineffectuall. Zebedees Sons would have beene placed at the right hand,Mat. 20.21. and at the left hand of Chriſt, and were not heard. Error in the manner may fruſtrate our prayer, and make it ineffectuall too.Iam. 4.3. Ye ask, and are not heard, becauſe ye ask amiſſe. It is amiſſe, if it be not referred to his will,Luke 5.12. Iam. 1.6. (Lord if thou wilt, thou canſt make me clean.) It is amiſſe, if it be not asked in faith, (Let not him that wavereth, thinke he ſhall receive any thing of the Lord.) It is amiſſe, if prayer be diſcontinued,1 Theſ. 5.17. Luke 22.44. Eſay 1.15. intermitted, done by fits, (Pray inceſſantly) And it is ſo too, if it be not vehement; for Chriſt was in an Agony in his prayer, and his ſweat was as great drops of blood. Of prayers without theſe conditions, God ſayes, When you ſpread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes, & when you make many prayers, I will not heare you. Their prayer ſhall not only be ineffectuall,Prov. 28.9. Pſal. 129.7. but even their prayer ſhall be an abomination; And not only an abomination to God, but deſtruction upon themſelves; for, Their prayer ſhall be turned to ſin. And, when they ſhall not be heard for themſelves, no body elſe ſhall be heard for them; (Though theſe three men, Ezek. 14.14.Noah, Iob, & Daniel, ſtood for them, they ſhould not deliver thē; Though the whole Congregation conſiſted of Saints, they ſhall not be heard for him, nay, they ſhall be forbidden to pray for him, forbidden to mentiō, or mean him in their prayers, as Ieremy was. When God leaves you no way of reconciliation but prayer, and then layes theſe heavy and terrible conditions upon prayer; Confeſſe that though he be the God of your ſalvation, and do anſwer you, yet By terrible things doth the God of your ſalvation anſwer you. And conſider this againe, as in manners, and in prayer, ſo in his other Ordinance of Preaching.
Thinke with your ſelves what God lookes for from you,In concionibus. 1 Cor. 1.21. and what you give him, in that Exerciſe. Becauſe God cals Preaching fooliſhneſſe, you take God at his word, and you thinke Preaching a thing under you. Hence is it, that you take ſo much liberty in cenſuring and comparing Preacher and Preacher, nay Sermon and Sermon from the ſame Preacher; as though we preached for wagers, and as though coine were to be valued from the inſcription meerely, and the image, and the perſon, and not for the metall. You meaſure all by perſons;1 … 4.…. and yet, Non erubeſcit is faciem Sacerdotis, You reſpect not the perſon of the Prieſt, you give not ſo much reverence to Gods Ordinance, as he does. In no Church of Chriſtendome but ours, doth the Preacher preach uncovered. And for all this good, and humble, and reverend example, (fit to be continued by us) cannot we keepe you uncovered till the Text be read. All the Sermon is not Gods word, but all the Sermon is Gods Ordinance, and the Text is certainely his word. There is no ſalvation but by faith, nor faith but by hearing, nor bearing but by preaching; and they that thinke meanlieſt of the Keyes of the Church, and ſpeake faintlieſt of the Abſolution of the Church, will yet allow, That thoſe Keyes lock, and unlock in Preaching; That Abſolution is conferred, or with held in Preaching, That the propoſing of the promiſes of the Goſpel in preaching, is that binding and looſing on earth, which bindes and looſes in heaven. And then, though Chriſt have bid us, Preach the Goſpel to every creature, Mar. 16.15.yet, in his own great Sermon in the Mount, he hath forbidden us, to give holy things to dogs, Mat. 7.6.or to caſt pearle before ſwine, leſt they trample them, and turne and rend us. So that if all thoſe manifold and fearfull judgements, which ſwell in every Chapter and blow in every verſe, and thunder in every line of every Booke of the Bible, fall upon all them that come hither, as well, if they turne, and rend, that is, Calumniate us, the perſon of the Preacher, as if they trample upon the pearles, that is, undervalue the Doctrine, and the Ordinance it ſelfe; If his terrible Judgements fall upon every uncharitable miſ-interpretation of that which is ſaid here, and upon every irreverence in this place, and in this action; Confeſſe, that though he be the God of your ſalvation, and doe anſwer you, yet, by terrible things doth the God of your ſalvation anſwer you. And confeſſe it alſo, as in manners, and in prayers, and in preaching, ſo in the holy and bleſſed Sacrament.
This Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour, Luther calls ſafely,In Sacramento. Venerabile & adorabile; for certainly, whatſoever that is which we ſee, that which we receive, is to be adored; for, we receive Chriſt. He is Res Sacramenti, The forme, the Eſſence, the ſubſtance, the ſoule of the Sacrament; And Sacramentum ſine re Sacramenti, mors oſt, Bernar.To take the body, and not the ſoule, the bread, and not Chriſt, is death. But he that feels Chriſt, in the receiving of the Sacrament, and will not bend his knee, would ſcarce bend his knee, if he ſaw him. The firſt of that royall Family,Alvarez de Auxil. Epiſt. ad Phil. 3. which thinks it ſelfe the greateſt in Chriſtendome at this day, The Houſe of Auſtrich, had the firſt marks of their Greatneſſe, The Empire, brought into that Houſe, for a particular reverence done to the holy and bleſſed Sacrament. What the bread and wine is, or what becomes of it,Damaſc. Damaſcen thinks impertinent to be inquired. He thinks he hath ſaid enough; (and ſo may we doe) Migrat in ſubſtantiam animae; There is the true Tranſubſtantiation, that when I have received it worthily, it becomes my very ſoule; that is, My ſoule growes up into a better ſtate, and habitude by it, and I have the more ſoule for it, the more ſanctified, the more deified ſoule by that Sacrament.
Now this Sacrament, which as it is miniſtred to us, is but a Sacrament, but as it is offered to God, is a Sacrifice too, is a fearfull, a terrible thing: If the ſacrifices of the Law, the blood of Goats and Rammes, were ſo, how fearfull, how terrible, how reverentiall a thing is the blood of this immaculate Lambe, the Sonne of God? And though God doe ſo abound in goodneſſe towards us, Vt poſsint injuriata Sacramenta prodeſſe reverſis, Cyprian.(as S. Cyprian excellently expreſſes it) That that Sacrament which we have injured and abuſed, received unworthily, or irreverently, at one time, may yet benefit us, and be the ſavour and ſeale of life unto us, at another, yet when you heare that terrible Thunder break upon you, That the unworthy receiver eats and drinks his own damnation, 1 Cor. 11.27.That he makes Chriſt Jeſus, who is the propitiation of all the world, his damnation; And then, That not to have come to a ſevere examination of the Conſcience before, and to a ſincere deteſtation of the ſin, and to a formed, and fixed, and deliberate, and determinate reſolution againſt that ſin, at the receiving of the Sacrament, (which, alas, how few doe? Is there one that does it? There is ſcorce one) That this makes a man an unworthy receiver of the Sacrament, That thus we make a mock of the Sonne of God, Heb. 10.29.thus we tread the blood of the Covenant under foot, and deſpite the Spirit of grace; And that for this, at the laſt day, we ſhall be ranked with Iudas, and not onelyonly with Iudas, as a negligent deſpiſer, but with Iudas, as an actuall betrayer of the blood of Chriſt Jeſus. Conſider well, with what fearfull Conditions even this ſcale of your reconciliation is accompanied, and though you may not doubt, but that God, the God of your ſalvation does anſwer you, yet you muſt confeſſe too, That it is by terrible things, that he does it. And, as it is ſo in matter of manners, and ſo in our prayers, and ſo in our preaching, and ſo in the Sacrament, ſo is it alſo at the houre of our Death, which is as far as we can purſue this Meditation, (for, after Death we can aske nothing at Gods hands, and therefore God makes us no anſwer) And therefore with that Concluſion of all, we ſhall conclude all, That by terrible things, the God of our ſalvation anſwers us, at the houre of our death.
Though death be but a ſleepe,In morte. yet it is a ſleepe that an Earth-quake cannot wake; And yet there is a Trumpet that will, when that hand of God, that gathered duſt to make theſe bodies, ſhall crumble theſe bodies into duſt againe, when that ſoule that evaporated it ſelfe in unneceſſary diſputations in this world, ſhall make ſuch fearfull and diſtempered concluſions, as to ſee God onelyonly by abſence, (never to ſee him face to face) And to know God onelyonly by ignorance, (never to know him ſicuti eſt, as he is) (for he is All mercy) And to poſſeſſe immortality, and impoſſibility of dying onelyonly in a continuall dying; when, as a Cabinet whoſe key were loſt, muſt be broken up, and torne in pieces, before the Jewell that was laid up in it, can be taken out; ſo thy body, (the Cabinet of thy ſoule) muſt be ſhaked and ſhivered by violent ſickneſſe, before that ſoule can goe out, And when it is thus gone out, muſt anſwer for all the imperfections of that body, which body polluted it, And yet, though this ſoule be ſuch a loſer by that body, it is not perfectly well, nor fully ſatisfied, till it be reunited to that body againe; when thou remembreſt,Mat. 26.36. (and, oh, never forget it) that Chriſt himſelfe was heavy in his ſoule unto Death, Mat. 26.39.That Chriſt himſelfe came to a Si poſsibile, If it be poſsible, let this Cup paſſe; That he came to a Quare dereliquiſti, Mat. 27.46.a bitter ſenſe of Gods dereliction, and forſaking of him, when thou conſidereſt all this, compoſe thy ſelfe for death, but thinke it not a light matter to dye. Death made the Lyon of Judah to roare; and doe not thou thinke, that that which we call going away like a Lambe, doth more teſtifie a conformity with Chriſt, then a ſtrong ſenſe, and bitter agony, and colluctation with death, doth. Chriſt gave us the Rule, in the Example; He taught us what we ſhould doe, by his doing it; And he pre-admitted a fearfull apprehenſion of death. A Lambe is a Hieroglyphique of Patience, but not of ſtupidity. And death was Chriſts Conſummatum eſt, All ended in death; yet he had ſenſe of death; How much more doth a ſad ſenſe of our tranſmigration belong to us, to whom death is no Conſummatum eſt, but an In principio; our account, and our everlaſting ſtate begins but then.
Apud te propitiatio, Pſal. 130.4.ut timearis; In this knot we tie up all; With thee there is mercy, that thou mighteſt be feared. There is a holy feare, that does not onelyonly conſiſt with an aſſurance of mercy,Pro. 21.15. but induces, conſtitutes that aſſurance. Pavor operantibus iniquitatem, ſayes Solomon; Pavor, horror, and ſervile feare, jealouſie and ſuſpition of God, diffidence, and diſtruſt in his mercy, and a boſome-prophecy of ſelf-deſtruction; Deſtruction it ſelfe, (ſo we tranſlate it) be upon the workers of iniquity; Pavor operantibus iniquitatem; And yet ſayes that wiſe King,Pro. 28.14. Beatus qui ſemper Pavidus; Bleſſed is that man that alwayes fears; who, though he alwayes hope, and beleeve the good that God will ſhew him, yet alſo feares the evills, that God might juſtly multiply upon him; Bleſſed is he that looks upon God with aſſurance, but upon himſelfe with feare. For, though God have given us light, by which we may ſee him, even in Nature, (for, He is the confidence of all the ends of the Earth, and of them that are a far of upon the Sea) Though God have given us a clearer light in the Law, and experience of his providence upon his people throughout the Old Teſtament, Though God have abundantly, infinitely multiplied theſe lights and theſe helpes to us in the Chriſtian Church, where he is the God of ſalvation, yet, as he anſwers us by terrible things, (in that firſt acceptation of the words which I propoſed to you) that is, Gives us aſſurances, by miraculous teſtimonies in our behalfe, that he will anſwer our patient expectation, by terrible Judgements and Revenges upon our enemies, In his Righteouſneſſe, that is, In his faithfulneſſe, according to his Promiſes, and according to his performances of thoſe Promiſes, to his former people; So in the words, conſidered the other way, In his Holineſſe, that is, in his wayes of imprinting Holineſſe in us, He anſwers us by terrible things, in all thoſe particulars, which we have preſented unto you; By infuſing faith; but with that terrible addition, Damnabitur, He that beleeveth not, ſhall be damned; He anſwers us, by compoſing our manners, and rectifying our life and converſation; but with terrible additions of cenſures, and Excommunications, and tearings off from his own body, which is a death to us, and a wound to him; He anſwers us by enabling us to ſpeake to him in Prayer; but with terrible additions, for the matter, for the manner, for the meaſure of our Prayer, which being neglected, our very Prayer is turned to ſin. He anſwers us in Preaching; but with that terrible commination, that even his word may be the ſavor of death unto death. He anſwers us in the Sacrament; but with that terrible perplexity and diſtraction, that he that ſeemes to be a Iohn, or a Peter, a Loving, or a Beloved Diſciple, may be a Iudas, and he that ſeems to have received the ſeale of his reconciliation, may have eat and drunke his own Damnation. And he anſwers us at the houre of death; but with this terrible obligation, That even then I make ſure my ſalvation with feare and trembling. That ſo we imagine not a God of wax, whom we can melt, and mold, when, and how we will; That we make not the Church a Market, That an over-homelines and familiarity with God in the acts of Religion, bring us not to an irreverence, nor indifferency of places; But that, as the Militant Church is the porch of the Triumphant, ſo our reverence here, may have ſome proportion to that reverence which is exhibited there,Revel. 4.10. where the Elders caſt their Crownes before the Throne, and continue in that holy and reverend acclamation, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive Glory, and Honor, and Power; for, (as we may adde from this Text) By terrible things, O God of our ſalvation, doeſt thou anſwer us in righteouſneſſe.