Five Sermons 1, Sermon 3 – Title page 3

Five Sermons 1 · Sermon 3 – Title page 3

p. 1IOHN 10.22.

And it was at Ieruſalem, the Feaſt of the Dedication; and it was Winter; and Ieſus walked in the Temple in Salomons Porch.

SAint Baſill in a Sermon vponupon the 114.Baſill. Pſalme; vponupon the like occaſion as drawes vsus together now, The conſecration of a Church, makes this the reaſon and the excuſe of his late comming thither to doe that Seruice, that he ſtayd by the way, to conſecrate another Church: I hope eueryevery perſon heere hath done ſo; conſecrated himſelfe, who is a p. 2Temple of the Holy Ghoſt; before hee came to aſſiſt, or to teſtifie the conſecration of this place of the Seruice of God. Bern. Ser. 1.Noſtra feſtiuitas haec est, quia de Eccleſia noſtra; ſayes Saint Bernard. This Feſtiuall belongs to vsus, becauſe it is the conſecration of that place, which is ours, Magis autem noſtr…, quia de nobis ipſis: But it is more properly our Feſtiuall, becauſe it is the conſecration of our ſelues to Gods ſeruice. For, Sanctae Animae propter inhabitantem Spiritum; your Soules are holy, by the inhabitation of Gods holy ſpirit, who dwells in them. Sancta corpora propter inhabitantem animam; Your Bodies are holy, by the inhabitation of thoſe ſanctified Soules. Sancti parietes, propter Corpora Sanctorum. Theſe walles are holy, becauſe the Saints of God meet here within theſe walls to glorifie him. But yet theſe places are not onelyonly conſecrated & ſanctified by your comming; but to bee ſanctified alſo for your comming; p. 3that ſo, as the Congregation ſanctifies the place, the place may ſanctifie the Congregation too. They muſt accompany one another; holy perſons and holy places; If men would waſh ſheep in the Baptiſterie, in the Font, thoſe ſheep were not chriſtned. If prophane men, or idolatrous men, pray here after their way, their prayers are not ſanctified by the place. Neither if it be after polluted, doth the place retain that ſanctitie, which is this day to be deriued vponupon it, and to bee imprinted in it.

Diuiſio.Our Text ſettles vsus vponupon both theſe conſiderations, The holy place, and the holy perſon. It was the Feaſt of the Dedication: there's the holineſſe of the place; And the holy perſon, was holineſſe it ſelfe in the perſon of Christ Ieſus, who walked in the Temple in Salomons Porch. Theſe two will bee our two parts: And the firſt of theſe wee ſhall make vp of theſe pieces. Firſt, we ſhall ſee a lawfull vſe of Feaſts, of Feſtiuall p. 4dayes. And then of other Feaſts, then were inſtituted by God himſelfe; diuers were ſo; this was not. And thirdly, not only a feſtiuall ſolemnizing of ſome one thing, at ſome one time, for the preſent, but an Anniuerſary returning to that ſolemnitie eueryevery yeare; And laſtly, in that firſt part, this Feſtiuall in particular, The Feaſt of the Dedication of the Temple: that ſanctified the place, that ſhall determine that part. In the ſecond part, The holineſſe of the perſon, we ſhall carry your thoughts no farther, but vponupon this, That euen this holy perſon Ieſus himſelfe, would hauehave recourſe to this place, thus dedicated, thus ſanctified: And vponupon this, that hee would doe that eſpecially at ſuch times, as hee might countenance and authoriſe the Ordinances and Inſtitutions of the Church, which had appointed this Feſtiuall. And this, ſayes the Text, he did in the Winter: Firſt, Etſi Hiems, though it were Winter, hee p. 5came, and walked in the Porch, a little inconuenience kept him not off: And, Quia Hiems, becauſe it was Winter, he walked in the Porch which was couered, not in the Temple which was open. So that heere with modeſtie, and without ſcandall he condemned not the fauouring of a mans health, euen in the Temple, And it was at Ieruſalem, the Feaſt of the Dedication; and it was Winter; and Ieſus walked in the Temple in Salomons Porch.

In our firſt part, Holy places, 1. Part. Feſta.wee looke firſt vponupon the times of our meeting there, Holy dayes. The root of all thoſe is the Sabboth, that God planted himſelfe, euen in himſelfe, in his owne reſt, from the Creation. But the root, and thoſe branches which grow from that root, are of the ſame nature, and the ſame name: And therefore as well of the flower, as of the root of a Roſe, or of a Violet, we would ſay, This is a Violet, this is a Roſe: ſo as well to other p. 6Feaſts of Gods inſtitution, as to the firſt Sabboth, God giues that name; hee cals thoſe ſeuerall Feaſts which he inſtituted, Sabboths; enioynes the ſame things to be done vponupon them, inflicts the ſame puniſhments vponupon them that breake them.Leuit. 23.Lev 23 So that there is one Moralitie, that is the ſoule of all Sabboths, of all Feſtiualls; howſoeuer all Sabboths hauehave a ceremoniall part in them, yet there is a Morall part that inanimates them all; they are elemented of Ceremonie, but they animated with Moralitie. And that Moralitie is in them all, Reſt: for if Adam could name creatures according to their nature, God could name his Sabboth according to the nature of it, and Sabboth is Reſt. It is a Reſt of two kindes; our reſt, and Gods reſt. Our reſt is the ceſſation from labour on thoſe dayes; Gods reſt, is our ſanctifying of the day: for ſo in the religious ſacrifice of Noah, when hee was come out of the Arke, Geneſ. 8.Gen 8God is ſaid p. 7to hauehave ſmelt, Odorem quietis, the ſauour of reſt: vponupon thoſe dayes we reſt from ſeruing the world, and God reſts in our ſeruing of him. And as God takes a tenth part of our goods, in Tythes, but yet he takes more too, he takes Sacrifices, ſo though he take a ſeuenth part of our time in the Sabboth, yet he takes more too, he appoints other Sabboths, other Feſtiualls, that he may hauehave more glory, and we more Reſt: for all wherin thoſe two concurre, are Sabboths. Vacate & videte quoniam ego ſum Dominus ſayes God. Firſt vacate, Pſal. 46.10Ps 46:10reſt from your bodily labours, diſtinguiſh the day, and then videte, come hither into the Lords preſence, and worſhip the Lord your God, ſanctifie the day: And in all the Sabboths there is ſtill a Ceſſate, Leuit. 23.Lev 23and a Humiliate animas, bodily reſt, and ſpirituall ſanctifying of the day. Holy dayes then, that is, dayes ſepoſed for holy vſes, and for the outward & publike ſeruice of God, are in Nature, and p. 8in that Morall Law which is written in the heart of man. That ſuch dayes there muſt be is Morall; and this is Morall too, that all things in the ſeruice of God bee done in order; and this alſo, that obedience be giuen to Superiours, in thoſe things wherein they are Superiors. And therfore it was to the Iewes, as well Morall, to obſerue the certaine dayes which God had determined, as to obſerue any at all. Not that Gods commandement limitting the dayes, infuſed a Moralitie into thoſe particular dayes: for Moralitie is perpetuall; and if that had been Morall, it muſt hauehave been ſo before, and it muſt bee ſo ſtill; Gods determining the dayes did not infuſe, not induce a Moralitie there, but it awakened a former Moralitie, that is, an obedience to the commandement, for that time, which God had appoynted that for them; for this Obedience, and Order is perpetuall, and ſo, Morall. We depart therfore from that error, which p. 9thoſe ancient Heretiques, the Ebionites begun, and ſome laboured to refreſh in Saint Gregories time, and which continues in practiſe in ſome places of the world ſtill; To obſerue both the Iewes Sabbath, and the Chriſtians, Satterday, and Sunday too; becauſe the Sabboth is called Pactum ſempiternum: Exod. 31.Exod 31for to that any of Saint Auguſtines Anſweres will ſerue; either that it is called euerlaſting, becauſe it ſignified an euerlaſting reſt; (where be pleaſed to note by the way, that Holy dayes, Sabbaths, are not onelyonly inſtituted for Order, but they hauehave their Myſtery, and their Signification; for Holy dayes, Col. 2.16.Col 2:16(as the Text calls them there) and New Moones, and the Sabboth, were but ſhadowes of things to come:) or elſe the Sabboth was called euerlaſting to them, becauſe it bound them euerlaſtingly, and they might neuer intermit it, as ſome other ceremonies they might. But their Sabboths bind not vsus; we depart from them who thinke ſo; p. 10and ſo we doe from them, who think we are bound to no Feſtiualls at all, or at leaſt to none but the Sabboth. For God requires as much ſeruice from vsus, as from the Iewes, and to them hee enlarged his Sabboths, and made them diuers. But thoſe were of Gods immediat inſtitution: but all that the Iewes obſerued were not ſo; and thats our next conſideration, Feſtiualls inſtituted by the Church.

Sine Mandato.At firſt, when God was alone, it is but Faciamus, let vsus, vsus the Trinity make man. This was, when God was, as we may ſay, in Coelibatu. But after God hath taken his ſpouſe, maried the Church, then it is Capite nobis vulpes, Cant. 2.15.Song 2:15doe you take the little Foxes, you the Church; for our vines hauehave grapes; the vines are ours; yours and mine ſayes Chriſt to the Church: and therfore do you looke to them, as well as I. The Tables of the law God himſelfe writ, and gaue them written to Moſes: he left none of that to him; not p. 11a power to make other Lawes like thoſe lawes: but for the Tabernacle, which concern'd the outward worſhip of God, that was to be made by Moſes, Exod. 25.9.Exod 25:9Iuxta ſimilitudinem, according to the paterne which God had ſhewed him. God hath giuen the Church a paterne of Holy dayes, in thoſe Sabboths which hee himſelfe inſtituted, and according to the paterne, the Church hath inſtituted more: and Recte feſta Eccleſiae colunt, Aug.qui ſe Eccleſiae filios recognoſcunt: They who diſdaine not the name of ſonnes of the Church, refuſe not to celebrate the daies which are of the Churches inſtitution. There was no immediate commandement of God for that Holy day, which Mordechai, by his letters eſtabliſh'd;Eſter 9.23 but yet the Iewes vndertooke to do as Mordechai had written to them. There was no ſuch commandement for this Holy day, in the Text; and yet that was obſerued, as long as they had any beeing. And where the reaſon remaines, the p. 12practiſe may; The Iewes did, we may inſtitute new Holy dayes. And not onelyonly tranſitory daies, for a preſent thanks giuing for a preſent benefit, but Anniuerſaries, perpetuall memorials of Gods deliuerances. And thats our next ſtep.

Anniuerſaria.Both the Holy dayes, which we named before, which were inſtituted with out ſpeciall Commaundement from God, were ſo. That of Mordechai, he commanded to be kept eueryevery yeare for two dayes, and this in the Text, Iudas Maccabeus commanded to be kept yearely for eight dayes, which was more then was appoynted to any of the Holy dayes, inſtituted by God himſelfe, for the Feſtiuall alone. According to which paterne,Felix. one Biſhop of Rome, ordained that the Feſtiuals of the Dedication of Churches ſhould bee yearely celebrated in thoſe places;Greg. and another extended the Feſtiuall to eight dayes; at leaſt at the firſt dedication thereof, if not eueryevery yeare: that God p. 13might not onelyonly be put into the poſſeſſion of the place, but ſetled in it. God by Moſes made the children of Iſrael a Song, becauſe, as hee ſayes,Deut. 31.19Deut 31:19 howſoeuer they did by the Law, they would neuer forget that Song, & that Song ſhould be his witneſſe againſt them. Therefore would God hauehave vsus inſtitute ſolemne memorialls of his great deliuerances, that if when thoſe dayes come about, we doe not glorifie him, that might aggrauate our condemnation. EueryEvery fift of Auguſt, the Lord riſes vp, to hearken whether we meet to glorifie him, for his great deliuerance of his Maieſty, before he bleſt vsus with his preſence in this Kingdome: and when he finds vsus zealous in our thankes for that, he giues vsus farther bleſsings. Certainly he is vp as early eueryevery fift of Nouember, to hearken if we meet to glorifie him for that deliuerance ſtill; and if hee ſhould finde our zeale leſſe then heretofore, hee would wonder why. p. 14Gods principall, his radicall Holy day, the Sabboth, had a weekly returne; his other Sabbaths, inſtituted by himſelfe, and thoſe which were inſtituted by thoſe paternes, that of Mordechai, that of the Maccabees, & thoſe of the Chriſtian Church, They all return once a yeare. God would keepe his Courts once a yeare, and ſee whether wee make our apparances as heeretofore; that if not, hee may know it. Feaſtes in generall, Feaſtes inſtituted by the Church alone, Feaſts in their yearely returne and obſeruation, hauehave their vſe, and particularly thoſe Feaſts of the Dedication of Churches, which was properly and literally the Feaſt of this Text. It was the Feaſt of Dedication.

Encania.As it diminiſhes not, preiudices not Gods Eternitie, that wee giuegive him his Quando, certaine times of Inuocation, God is not the leſſe yeſterday, Temple.and to day, and the ſame for euer, becauſe wee meet here to day, and not yeſterday, ſo it diminiſhes p. 15not, preiudices not Gods Vliquitie and Omnipreſence, that wee giuegive him his Vbi, certaine places for Inuocation. Thats not the leſſe true, that the moſt High dwells not in Temples made with handes, Acts 7.48.Acts 7:48though God accept at our hands our dedication of certaine places to his ſeruice, & manifeſt his working more effectually, more energetically in thoſe places, then in any other. for when we pray, Our Father which art in Heauen, Chryſoſtome.It is not (ſayes Saint Chryſoſtome) that wee deny him to bee heere, where wee kneele when we ſay that Prayer, but it is that we acknowledge him to be there, where he can graunt, and accompliſh our prayer. It is as Origen hath very well expreſſed it,Origen. Vt in melioribus mundi requiramus Deum: That ſtill wee looke for God in the beſt places; looke for him, as he heares our petitions, here, in the beſt places of this world, in his Houſe, in the Church; looke for him as he graunts our petition, p. 16in the beſt place of the next world, at the right hand, and in the boſome of the Father. Deut. 30.13Deut 30:13When Moſes ſayes that the word of God is not beyond Sea, he addes, It is not ſo beyond Sea, as that thou muſt not hauehave it without ſending thither. When he ſayes there, it is not in heauen, he adds, not ſo in heauen, as that one must goe vp, before hee can hauehave it. The word of God, is beyond Sea, the true word, truly preached in many true Churches there, but yet we hauehave it here, within theſe Seas too; God is in Heauen, but yet hee is here, within theſe walles too. And therefore the impietie of the Manicheans exceeded all the Gentiles, who concluded the God of the Old Teſtament to be an impotent, an vnperfect God, becauſe hee commaunded Moſes firſt to make him a Tabernacle, and then Salomon to make him a Temple, as though he needed a Houſe. God does not need a houſe, but man does need, that God ſhould hauehave a Houſe. And therefore p. 17the firſt queſtion, that Chriſts firſt Diſciples asked of him, was Magiſter, vbi habitas, they would know his ſtanding houſe, where he hath promiſed to bee alwaies within, and where at the ringing of the Bell, ſome body comes to anſwere you, to take your errand, to offer your Prayers to God, to returne his pleaſure in the preaching of his Word to you. The many and heauy Lawes, with which ſacred and ſecular ſtories abound, againſt the prophanation of places, appropriated to Gods ſeruice, and that religious cuſtome, that paſſed almoſt through all ciuill Nations, that an oath, which was the bond between man, and man, had the ſtronger Obligation, if that were taken in the Church, in the preſence of God, (for ſuch was the practiſe of Rome towards her enemies, Tango aras medioſ que ignes, to make their vowes of hoſtility in the Church, and at time of diuine Seruice, (and ſuch is their practiſe ſtill, they p. 18ſeale their Treaſons in the Sacrament) ſuch was Romes practiſe towards others, and ſuch was the practiſe of others towards Rome, (for ſo Anniball ſayes, that his father Amilcar ſwore him at the Altar, that he ſhould neuer bee reconciled to Rome, (And ſuch is your practiſe ſtill, as often as you meet here, you renew your band to God, that you will neuer bee reconciled to the Superſtitions of Rome) all theſe, and all ſuch as theſe, and ſuch as theſe are infinite, heap vp teſtimonies, that euen in Nature there is a diſpoſition to apply, and appropriate certaine places to Gods ſeruice. And this impreſſion in nature is illuſtrated in the Law, as the time, ſo the place is diſtinguiſhed, Yee ſhall keepe my Sabboths, Leui. 19.30there is the time, and you ſhall reuerence my Sanctuary, there is the place. But that they may be reuerenced, that they may bee Sanctuaries, they are to be ſanctified; and thats the Encaenia, the Dedication.

p. 19Encania.Euen in thoſe things which a…e vntounto God, and become his, by another title, then as he is Lord of all, by Creation, that is, by appropriation, by dedication to his vſe and Seruice, There is a Lay Dedication, and an Eccleſiaſticall Dedication. I hope the diſtinction of Laytie, and Clergie, the words, ſcandalize no man. Luther, and Caluin too might hauehave iuſt cauſe to decline the words, as they did; when ſo much was ouer-attributed to that Clergie which they intend, as that they were ſo Sors Domini, the Lords portion, as that the world had no portion in them, and yet they had the greateſt portion of the world; and howe little ſoeuer they had to doe with God, yet no State, no King might hauehave any thing to doe with them. But, as long as we declare, that by the Layetie we intend the people glorifying God in their ſecular callings, and by the Clergie, perſons ſepoſed by his ordinance, for ſpiritual p. 20functions, The Layetie no farther remoou'd then the Clergie, The Clergie no farther entitled then the Layetie, in the blood of Chriſt Ieſus, neither in the effuſion of that blood vponupon the Croſſe, nor in the participation of that blood in the Sacrament, and that an equall care in Clergie, and Layetie, of doing the duties of their ſeuerall callings, giues them an equall intereſt in the ioyes, and glory of heauen, I hope no man is ſcandaliz'd with the names. The Lay Dedication then is, the voluntary ſurrendring of this piece of ground thus built, to God. For we muſt ſay, as Saint Peter ſaid to Ananias, Acts 5.4.Acts 5:4Whiles it remain'd, was that not your owne? and now, when that is raiſed (ſauing that there was Dedicatio Intentionalis, a purpoſe from the beginning to appropriate it, to this holy vſe) might you not, till this houre, hauehave made this roome your Hall, if you would? But this is your Dedication, that you hauehave cheerfully purſued p. 21your firſt holy purpoſes, and deliuer now into the hands of this ſeruant of God, the Right Reuerend Father the Biſhop of this See, a place to be preſented to God for you, by him, not misbecomming the Maieſtie of the great God, who is pleaſed to dwell thus amongſt vsus. What was ſpent in Salomons Temple is not told vsus. What was prepared, before it was begun, is ſuch a ſumme, as certainly, if all the Chriſtian Kings that are, would ſend in all that they hauehave, at once, to any one ſeruice, all would not equall that ſumme. They gaue there, till they who had the ouerſeeing therof, complain'd of the abundance, and proclaim'd an abſtinence. Yet there was one, who gaue more then all they; for Chriſt ſayes the poore widdow gaue more then all the reſt, becauſe ſhe gaue all ſhe had. There is a way of giuing more then ſhe gaue; & I, who by your fauours was no ſtrāger to the beginning of this work, and p. 22an often refreſher of it to your memories, and a poore aſsiſtant in laying the firſt ſtone, the materiall ſtone, as I am now, a poore aſsiſtant again in this laying of this firſt formall Stone, the Word & Sacrament, and ſhall euer deſire to be ſo in the ſeruice of this place, I, I ſay, can truly teſtifie, that you (ſpeaking of the whole Societie together of the publike ſtock, the publike treaſury, the publike reuenue) you gaue more then the widow, who gaue all, for you gaue more then all. A ſtranger ſhall not entermeddle with our ioy, as Salomon ſaies: ſtrangers ſhall not know, how ill we were prouided for ſuch a work, when we begun it, nor with what difficulties we hauehave wraſtled in the way; but ſtrangers ſhall know to Gods glory, that you hauehave perfected a work of full three times as much charge, as you propoſed for it at beginning: ſo bountifully doth God bleſſe, and proſper intentions to his glory, with enlarging p. 23your hearts within, and opening the hearts of others, abroad. And this is your Dedication, and that which without preiudice, and for diſtinction, wee call a Lay Dedication, though from religious hearts, and hands.

There is another Dedication; Eccleſiaſticathat we hauehave call'd Eccleſiaſticall, appointed by God, ſo as God ſpeaks in the ordinances, and in the practiſe of his Church. Haereditary Kings are begotten & conceiu'd the naturall way; but that body which is ſo begotten of the blood of Kings, is not a King, no nor a man, till there bee a Soule infuſed by God. Here is a Houſe, a Child conceiu'd (wee may ſay borne) of Chriſtian parents, of perſons religiouſly diſpoſed to Gods glory; but yet, that was to receiue another influence, an inanimation, a quickening, by another Conſecration. Oportet denuo naſci, holds euen in the children of Chriſtian parents; when they are borne, they muſt be borne again by Baptiſme: when this p. 24place is thus giuen by you, for God, oportet denuo dari, it muſt be giuen againe to God, by him, who receiues it of you. It muſt; there ſeems a neceſsitie to be implied, becauſe euen in Nature, there was a conſecration of holy places; Iacob in his iourney,Gen. 28.20.Gen 28:20 before the Law, conſecrated euen that ſtone, which he ſet vp, in intention to build God a Houſe there. In the time of the Law, Num. 7.1.Num 7:1this Feaſt of Dedication, was in practiſe; firſt in the Tabernacle; that and all that appertain'd to it, was annointed, and ſanctified: So was Salomons Temple after; ſo was that which was reedified after their return from Babylon, and ſo was this in the Text, after the Heathen had defiled and profan'd the Altar thereof, and a new one was erected by Iudas Maccabeus. Thus in Nature, thus in Law, and thus far thus in the Gospell too: that as ſure as wee are that the people of God had materiall Churches in the Apoſtles firſt times, ſo ſure we are, that thoſe places p. 25had a Sanctitie in them. If that place of Saint Paul, 1 Cor. 11.221 Cor 11:22Despiſe yee the Church of God? be to be vnderſtood of the locall, of the materiall Church, and not of the Congregation, you ſee there is a rebuke for the prophanation of the place, and conſequently a ſanctity in the place. But aſſoone as the Church came euidently by the fauour of Princes, to hauehave liberty to make lawes, and power to ſee them practiſed, it was neuer pretermitted to conſecrate the places. Before that, we find an ordinance by Pope Hyginus (he was within 150. after Chriſt, and the eighth Biſhop of that See after Saint Peter) euen of particulars in the Conſecrations. But after,Athanaſ. Athanaſius in his Apologie to Conſtantius, makes that proteſtation for all Chriſtians, That they neuer meet in any Church, till it bee conſecrated: And Conſtantine the Emperour leaſt hee ſhould be at any time vnprouided of ſuch a place, (as we read in the Eccleſiaſticall ſtory) in all his warres, carried about p. 26with him a Tabernacle which was conſecrated: In Nature, in the Law, in the Goſpell, in Precept, in Practiſe, theſe Conſecrations are eſtabliſhed.

Ʋſus.This they did. But to what vſe did they conſecrate them? not to one vſe only; and therfore it is a friuolous contention, whether Churches be for preaching, or for praying. But if Conſecration be a kind of Chriſtning of the Church, & that at the Chriſtning it hauehave a name, wee know what name God hath appoynted for his Houſe, Domus mea, Domus orationis vocabitur. My Houſe ſhall bee called the Houſe of Prayer. And how impudent and inexcuſable a falſhood is that in Bellarmine, That the Lutherans and Caluiniſtes doe admit Churches for Sermons and Sacraments, Sed reprehendunt quod fiant ad orandum, They diſlike that they ſhould be for Prayer: when as Caluin himſelfe, (who may ſeeme to bee more ſubiect to this reprehenſion then Luther) (for there is no ſuch Liturgie p. 27in the Caluiniſts Churches, as in the Lutheran) yet in that very place which Bellarmine cites, ſayes Conceptae preces in Eccleſia Deo gratae; and for ſinging in Churches, (which in that place of Caluin cannot be only meant of Pſalmes, for it was of that manner of ſinging, which being formerly in vſe in the Eaſterne churches, S. Ambroſe, in his time, brought into the Church of Millan, and ſo it was deriud ouer the Weſtern churches, which was the modulation and ſinging of Verſicles and Antiphons and the like) this ſinging, ſayes Caluin, was in vſe amongſt the Apoſtles themſelues, Et ſanctiſsimum & ſaluberimum eſt inſtitutum. l. 3.20. § 32.It was a most holy and moſt profitable Inſtitution. Still conſider Conſecration to be a Chriſtning of the place; and though we find them often called Templa propter Sacrificia, for our ſacrifices of praier, and of praiſe, & of the merits of Chriſt, and often called Eccleſiae ad conciones, Churches, in reſpect of congregations, p. 28for preaching, and often call'd Martyria, for preſeruing with reſpect, and honor the bodies of Martyrs, and other Saints of God, there buried, & often, often, by other names, Dominica, Baſilica, and the like, yet the name that God gaue to his houſe, is not Concionatorium, nor Sacramentarium, but Oratorium, the Houſe of Prayer. And therefore without preiudice to the other functions too, (for as there is a vae vponupon me, Si non Euangelizauero, If I preach not my ſelfe, ſo may that vae be multiplied vponupon any, who would draw that holy ordinance of God into a diſ-eſtimatiō, or into a ſlackneſſe,) let vsus neuer intermit that dutie, to preſent our ſelues to God in theſe places, though in theſe places there bee then, no other Seruice, but Common prayer. For then doth the Houſe anſwere to that name, which God hath giuen it, if it be a houſe of Prayer.

Modus.Thus then were theſe places to receiue a double Dedication; a Dedication, p. 29which was a Donation from the Patron, a Dedication which was a conſecration from the Biſhop, for to his perſon, and to that ranke in the Hierarchy of the Church, the moſt ancient Canons limited it; and to thoſe purpoſes, which wee hauehave ſpoken of; of which, Prayer is ſo farre from being none, as that there is none aboue it. A little ſhould be ſaid, (before wee ſhut vp this part) of the manner, the forme of Conſecrations. In which, in the Primitiue Church, aſſoone as Conſecrations came into free vſe, they were full of Ceremonies. And many of thoſe Ceremonies deriu'd from the Iewes: and not vnlawfull, for that. The Ceremonies of the Iewes, which had their foundation in the prefiguration of Chriſt, and were types of him, were vnlawfull after Christ was come; becauſe the vſe of them, then, implyed a deniall or a doubt of his being come. But thoſe Ceremonies, which, though the Iewes p. 30vſed them, had their foundation in Nature, as bowing of the knee, lifting vp the eyes, and hands, and many, very many others, which either teſtified their deuotion that did them, or exalted their deuotion that ſawe them done, are not therefore excluded the Church, becauſe they were in vſe amongſt the Iewes. That Pope whom we named before, Hyginus, the eighth after Saint Peter, he inſtituted, Ne Baſilica ſine Miſſa conſecretur. That no Church bee conſecrated without a Maſſe. If this muſt binde vsus, to a Maſſe of the preſent Romane Church, it were hard; and yet not very hard truely; for they are eaſily had. But that word, Maſſe, is in Saint Ambroſe, in Saint Auguſtine in ſome very ancient Councels; and ſurely intends nothing, to this purpoſe, but the Seruice, the Common Prayer of the Church, then in vſe, there. And when the Biſhop Panigarola ſayes in his Sermon vponupon Whitſunday, that the p. 31Holy Ghoſt found the bleſſed Virgin and the Apoſtles at Maſſe, I preſume hee meanes no more, then that they were mett at ſuch publique Prayer, as at thoſe times they might make. Sure Pope Clemens, and Pope Hyginus meane the ſame thing, when one ſayes Miſſa conſecretur, and the other Diuinis Precibus: One ſayes, Let the Conſecration bee with a Maſſe, the other, with Diuine Seruice; the Liturgie, the Diuine Seruice was then the Maſſe. In a word, a conſtant forme of Conſecrations, wee finde none that goes through our Ritualls: the Ceremonies were ſtill more or leſſe, as they were more or leſſe obnoxious, or might bee ſubiect to ſcandalize, or to be miſ-interpreted. And therefore I am not heere either to direct, or ſo much as to remember, that which appertaines to the manner of theſe Conſecrations; onelyonly in concurring in that, which is the Soule of all, humble and heartie prayer, that God p. 32will heare his Seruants in this place, I ſhall not offend to ſay, that I am ſure my zeale is inferiour to none. And more I ſay not of the firſt Part, The Holy place; and but a little more, of the other; though at firſt it were propoſed for an equall part, The Holy Perſon, That at the Feaſt of the Dedication, Ieſus walked in the Temple in Salomons Porch.

2. Part.In this ſecond part, wee did not ſpread the words, nor ſhed our conſiderations vponupon many particulars: the firſt was,Jeſus in Temple. that euen Ieſus himſelfe had recourſe to this Holy place. In the new Ieruſalem, in Heauen, there is no Temple. Apo. 21.22I ſaw no Temple there ſayes Saint Iohn: for the Lord God Almightie, and the Lambe are the Temple of it. In Heauen, where there is no danger of falling, there is no need of aſſiſtance. Heere the Temple is called Gnazar, 2. Paral. 4.92 Chr 4:9that is Auxilium: A Helper: the ſtrongeſt that is, needs the helpe of the Church: And p. 33it is called Sanctificium, by Saint Hierom, Pſal. 78.69.Ps 78:69a place that is not onelyonly made holy by Conſecration, but that makes others holy by GOD in it. And therefore Chriſt himſelfe, whoſe perſon and preſence might conſecrate the Sanctum Sanctorum, would yet make his often repayre to this Holy place; not that hee needed this ſubſidie of Locall holineſſe in himſelfe, but that his example might bring others who did neede it; and thoſe who did not; and, that euen his owne Preaching might hauehave the benefite and the bleſsing of Gods Ordinance in that place, hee ſayes of himſelfe,Math. 26.Matt 26 Quotidie apud vos ſedebam docens in Templo, and Semper docui in Synagoga, & in Templo; as in the Actes, the Angell that had deliuered the Apoſtles out of priſon, ſends them to Church, Actes 5.Acts 5Stantes in Templo loquimini plebi. The Apoſtles were ſent to preach, but to preach in the Temple, in the place appropriated and conſecrated for that p. 34holy vſe and employment.

Tempus.He came to this place, and he came at thoſe times, which no immediate command of God, but the Church had inſtituted. Facta ſunt Encaenia, ſayes the Text; It was the Feaſt of the Dedication. Wee know what Dedication this was; That of Salomon was much greater; A Temple built where none was before; That of Eſdras at the returne was much greater then this, An intire reedification of that demoliſhed Temple, where it was before. This was but a zealous reſtoring of an Altar in the Temple: which hauing beene prophaned by the Gentiles, the Iewes themſelues threw downe, and erected a new, and dedicated that. Salomons Dedication is called a Feaſt, 2 Chr. 5.3.2 Chr 5:3a Holy day: by the very ſame name that the Feaſt of vnleauened bread, and the Feaſt of the Tabernacle is called ſo often in Scripture, which is Kag. The Dedication of Ezra Ezra 6.16.Ezra 6:16is ſufficiently declared p. 35to bee a ſolemne Feaſt too. But neither of theſe Feaſtes, though of farre greater Dedications, were Anniuerſarie; neither commanded to be kept eueryevery yeare; and yet this, which was ſo much leſſer then the others, the Church had put vnderunder that Obligation, to bee kept eueryevery yeare; and Chriſt himſelfe contemnes not, condemnes not, diſputes not the inſtitution of the Church. But as for matter of doctrine hee ſends euen his owne Diſciples, to them who ſate in Moſes Chayre, ſo for matter of Ceremony, he brings euen his owne perſon, to the celebrating, to the authorizing, to the countenancing of the Inſtitutions of the Church, and reſts in that.

Now it was Winter, ſayes the Text: Etſi HyemsChriſt came etſi Hyems, though it were Winter; ſo ſmall an inconuenience kept him not off. Beloued, it is not alway colder vponupon Sunday, then vponupon Satterday; nor at any time colder in p. 36the Chappell; then in Weſtminſter Hall. A thruſt keepes ſome off in Summer; and colde in Winter: and there are more of both theſe in other places, where for all that, they are more content to be. Remember that Peter was warming himſelfe, and hee denyed Chriſt. They who louelove a warme bed, let it bee a warme Studie, let it bee a warme profit, better then this place, they deny CHRIST in his Inſtitution. That therefore which CHRIST ſayes, Pray that your flight bee not in the Winter, Mat. 24.20.Matt 24:20nor vponupon the Sabboth; we may apply thus, Pray that vponupon the Sabboth (I tolde you at firſt, what were Sabboths,) the Winter make you not flie, not abſtaine from this place. Put off thy ſhooes, Exod. 35.Exod 35ſayes God to Moſes, for the place is holy ground. When Gods ordinance by his Church call you to this holy place, put off thoſe ſhoes, all thoſe earthly reſpects, of eaſe or profit, Chriſt came, Etſi Hyems.

p. 37But then, Quia Hyems, Quia HyemsBecauſe it was Winter, Hee did walke in Salomons Porch, which was couered, not in Atrio, in that part of the Temple, which was open, and expos'd to the weather. We doe not ſay, that infirme and weak men, may not fauour themſelues, in a due care of their health, in theſe places. That he who is not able to raiſe himſelfe, muſt alwayes ſtand at the Goſpell, or bow the knee at the name of Ieſus, or ſtay ſome whole houres, altogether vncouered heere, if that increaſe infirmities of that kinde. And yet Courts of Princes, are ſtrange Betheſdaes; how quickly they recouer any man that is brought into that Poole? How much a little change of ayre does? and how well they can ſtand, and ſtand bare many houres, in the Priuy Chamber, that would melt and flowe out into Rhumes, and Catarrs, in a long Goſpell heere? But, Citra Scandalum, a man may fauour himſelfe in theſe places: p. 38but yet this excuſes not the irreuerent manner which hath ouertaken vsus in all theſe places; That any Maſter may thinke himſelfe to hauehave the ſame libertie heere, as in his owne houſe, or that that Seruant, that neuer puts on his hat in his Maſters preſence all the weeke, on Sunday, when hee and his Maſter are in Gods preſence, ſhould hauehave his hat on perchance before his Masters. Chriſt ſhall make Maſter and Seruant equall; but not yet; not heere; nor euer, equall to himſelfe, how euer they become equall to one another. Gods ſeruice is not a continuall Martyrdome, that a man muſt bee heere, and here in ſuch a poſture, and ſuch a manner, though hee dye for it; but Gods Houſe is no Ordinary neither; where any man may pretend to doe what he will, and eueryevery man may doe, what any man does. Christ ſlept in a ſtorme; I dare not make that generall; let all doe ſo. Chriſt fauoured himſelfe in p. 39the Church; I dare not make that generall neither: to make all places equall, or all perſons equall in any place.

Tis time to end.Baſil. Saint Baſill himſelfe, as acceptable as hee was to his Auditory, in his ſecond Sermon vponupon the 14. Pſalme, takes knowledge that hee had preached an houre, and therefore broke off: I ſee it is a Compaſſe, that all Ages hauehave thought ſufficient. But as we hauehave contracted the conſideration of great Temples, to this leſſer Chappell, ſo let vsus contract the Chappell to our ſelues: Et facta ſint Encaenia noſtra, let this be the Feaſt of the Dedication of our ſelues to God. Chriſt calls himſelfe a Temple, Soluite templum hoc: Iohn 2.19.John 2:19Deſtroy this Temple. 1 Cor. 3.16. & 6.19.1 Cor 3:161 Cor 6:19And Saint Paul calls vsus ſo twice; Know ye not that ye are the Temples of the Holy Ghoſt? Facta ſint Encaenia noſtra: Encaenia ſignifies Renouationem, a renewing:Aug. and Saint Auguſtine ſayes that in his time, Si quis noua p. 40tunica indueretur, Encaeniare diceretur. If any man put on a new garment, hee called it by that name, Encaenia ſua. Much more is it ſo, if wee renew in our ſelues the Image of God, and put off the Olde man, and put on the Lord Ieſus Chriſt. This is truly Encaeniare, to dedicate, to renew our ſelues:Nazian. and ſo Nazian. in a Sermon, or Oration, vponupon the like occaſion as this, calls, Conuerſionem noſtram, Encaenia, our turning to God, in a true repentance, or renewing, our dedication. Let mee charge your memories, but with this note more, That when God forbad Dauid the building of an Houſe, Becauſe hee was a man of blood, at that time Dauid had not embrued his hands in Vriahs blood; nor ſhed any blood, but lawfully in iuſt warres; yet euen that made him vncapable of this fauour to prouide God a houſe. Some callings are in their nature more obnoxious, and more expoſed to ſinne, then others are: accompanied with more tentations; & p. 41ſo retard vsus more in holy duties. And therefore as there are particular ſinnes that attend certaine places, certaine ages, certaine complexions, and certaine vocations, let vsus watch our ſelues in all thoſe, and remember that not only the higheſt degrees of thoſe ſinns, but any thing that conduces therunto, prophanes the Conſecration, and Dedication of this Temple, our ſelues, to the ſeruice of God; it annihilates our repentance, and fruſtrates our former reconciliations to him. Almighty God worke in you a perfit dedication of your ſelues at this time; that ſo, receiuing it from hands dedicated to God, hee whoſe holy Office this is, may preſent acceptably this Houſe to God in your behalfes, and eſtabliſh an aſſurance to you, that God will be alwayes preſent with you and your Succeſsion in this place. Amen.

THE FIRST SERMON PREACHED TO KING CHARLES, At Saint IAMES: 3^o. April. 1625.

By IOHN DONNE, Deane of Saint Pauls, London.

LONDON, Printed by A. M. for THOMAS IONES, and are to bee ſold at his Shop at the Signe of the Blacke Rauen in the Strand. 1625.