Fifty Sermons, Sermons · Sermon 10
SERMON X.
Preached at the Churching of the Countesse of Bridgewater.
MICAH 2… 10. [second Sermon.]
THus far we have proceeded in the first acceptation of these words, according to their principall, and literall sense, as they appertain'd to the Iewes, and their sta…e; so they were a Commination; As they appertain to all succeeding Ages, and to us, so they are a Commonition, an alarm, to raise us from the sleep, and death of sin: And then in a third acceptation, they are a Consolation, that at last we shall have a rising, and a departing into such a state, in the Resurrection, as we shall no more need this voice, Arise, and depart, because we shall be no more in danger of falling, no more in danger of departing from the presence, and contemplation; and service, and fruition of God; And in both these latter senses, the words admit a just accommodation to this present occasion, God having rais'd his honorable servant, and hand-maid here present, to a sense of the Curse, that lyes upon women, for the transgression of the first woman, which is painfull, and dangerous Child-birth; and given her also, a sense of the last glorious resurrection, in having rais'd her, from that Bed of weaknesse, to the ability of coming into his presence, here in his house.
First then to consider them, in the first of these two latter senses,Divisio. as a Commonition to them, that are in the state of sin, first there is an increpation implied in this word Arise; when we are bid arise, we are told, that we are faln: sin is an unworthy descent, and an ignoble fall; Secondly, we are bid to doe something, and therefore we are able to doe something, God commands nothing impossible so, as that that degree of performance, which he will accept, should be impossible, to the man, whom his grace hath affected; That which God will accept, is possible to the godly; And thirdly, that which he commands here, is deriv'd into two branches; We are bidden to rise… that is, to leave our bed, our habit of sin; and then not to be idle, when we are up, but to depart; not onelyonly to depart from the Custom…, but from tentations of Recidi…ation; and not onelyonly that but to depart into another way, a habit of Actions, contrary to our former Sins. And then, all this is press'd, and urged upon us, by a Reason; The Holy Ghost appears not like a ghost in one sodain glance, or glimmering, but he testifies his presence, and he presses the businesse, that he comes for; And the reason that he uses here, is, Quia non requies, because otherwise we lose the Pondus animae, the weight, the ballast of our soule, rest, and peace of Conscience: for how…ever there may be some rest, some such shew of Rest, as may serve a carnall man a little while, yet, sayes our Text, it is not your Rest, it conduces not to that Rest, which God hath ordained for you, whom he would direct to a better Rest. That Rest, (your Rest) is not here; not in that, which is spoken of here; not in your lying still, you must rise from it; not in your standing still, you must depart from it; your Rest is not here: but yet, since God sends us away, because our Rest is not here, he does tacitly direct …s thereby, where there is Rest; And that will be the third acceptation of these words; to which we shall come anone.
For that then, which rises first; the increpation of our fall implied in the word, Arise, Increpatio.there is nothing,Bernard. in which, that which is the mother of all vertues, discretion, is more tryed, then in the conveying, and imprinting profitably a rebuke, an increpation, a knowledge, and sense of sinne, in the conscience of another. The rebuke of sin, is like the fishing of Whales; the Marke is great enough; one can scarse misse hitting; but if there be not sea room and line enough, & a dexterity in letting out that line, he that hath fixed his harping Iron, in the Whale, endangers himselfe, and his boate; God hath made us fishers of Men; and when we have struck a Whale, touch'd the conscience of any person, which thought himselfe above rebuke, and increpation, it struggles, and strives, and as much as it can, endevours to draw fishers, and boate, the Man and his fortune into contempt, and danger. But if God tye a sicknesse, or any other calamity, to the end of the line, that will winde up this Whale againe, to the boate, bring back this rebellious sinner better advised, to the mouth of the Minister, for more counsaile, and to a better souplenesse, and inclinablenesse to conforme himselfe, to that which he shall after receive from him; onelyonly calamity makes way for a rebuke to enter. There was such a tendernesse, amongst the orators, which were used to speake in the presence of the people, to the Romane Emperors, (which was a way of Civill preaching) that they durst not tell them then their duties, nor instruct them, what they should doe, any other way then by saying, that they had done so before; They had no way to make the Prince wise, and just, and temperate, but by a false praising him, for his former acts of wisedome, and justice, and temperance, which he had never done; and that served to make the people beleeve, that the Princes were so; and it served to teach the Prince, that he ought to be so. And so, though this were an expresse, and a direct flattery, yet it was a collaterall increpation too; And on the other side, our later times have seen, another art, another invention, another workmanship, that when a great person hath so abused the favour of his Prince, that he hath growne subject to great, and weighty increpations, his owne friends have made Libells against him, thereby to lay some light aspersions upon him, that the Prince might thinke, that this comming with the malice of a Libell, was the worst that could be said of him: and so, as the first way to the Emperors, though it were a direct flattery, yet it was a collater all Increpation too, so this way, though it were a direct increpation, yet it was a collater all flattery too. If I should say of such a congregation as this, with acclamations and showes of much joy, Blessed company, holy congregation, in which there is no pride at all, no vanity at all, no prevarication at all, I could be thought in that, but to convey an increpation, and a rebuke mannerly, in a wish that it were so altogether. If I should say of such a congregation as this, with exclamations and show of much bitternesse, that they were sometimes somewhat too worldly in their owne businesse, sometimes somewhat too remisse, in the businesses of the next world, and adde no more to it, this were but as a plot, and a faint libelling, a publishing of small sinnes to keep greater from being talk'd of: slight increpations are but as whisperings, and work no farther, but to bring men to say, Tush, no body hears it, no body heeds it, we are never the worse, nor never the worse thought of for all that he says. And loud and bitter increpations, are as a trumpet, and work no otherwise, but to bring them to say, Since he hath published all to the world already, since all the world knowes of it, the shame is past, and we may goe forward in our ways againe: Is there then no way to convey an increpation profitably? David could find no way; Vidi praevaricatores & tabescebam, says he, I saw the transgressors,Psal. 119. 158. but I languished and consumed away with griefe, because they would not keep the law; he could not mend them, and so impaired himselfe with his compassion: but God hath provided a way here, to convey, to imprint this increpation, this rebuke, sweetly, and succesfully; that is, by way of counsaile: by bidding them arise, he chides them them for falling, by presenting the exaltation and exultation of a peacefull conscience, he brings them to a foresight, to what miserable distractions, and distortions of the soule, a habite of sinne will bring them to. If you will take knowledge of Gods fearfull judgements no other way, but by hearing his mercies preached, his MercieMercy is new every morning, and his dew falls every evening; and morning, and evening we will preach his mercies unto you. If you will beleeve a hell no other way, but by hearing the joyes of heaven presented to you, you shall heare enough of that; we will receive you in the morning, and dismisse you in the evening, in a religious assurance, in a present inchoation of the joyes of heaven. It is Gods way, and we are willing to pursue it; to shew you that you are Enemies to Christ, we pray you in Christs stead, that you would be reconciled to him: to shew you, that you are faln, we pray you to arise, and si audieritis, if you hear us so, if any way, any means, convey this rebuke,Mat. 18. 15. this sense into you, Si audieritis, lucrati sumus fratrem, If you hear, we have gain'd a brother; and that's the richest gain, that we can get, if you may get salvation by us.
Gods rebukes and increpations then are sweet, and gentle, to the binding up, not to the scattering of a Conscience; And the particular Rebuke in this place, conveyed by way of counsail, is, That they were faln; and worse could not be said, how mild,Dejectio. and easie soever the word be. The ruin of the Angels in heaven, the ruin of Adam in Paradise, is still call'd by that word, it is but the fall of Angels, and the fall of Adam; and yet this fall of Adam cost the bloud of Christ, and this bloud of Christ, did not rectifie the Angels after their fall. Inter objectos, objectissimus peccator; Chrysost.amongst them that are faln, he fals lowest, that continues in sin: for (sayes the same Father,) Man is a king in his Creation; he hath that Commission, Subjicite, & dominamini; Idem.the world, and himselfe, (which is a lesse world, but a greater dominion) are within his Jurisdiction; and then servilly, he submits himselfe, and all, to that, Qua nihil magis barbarum, then which nothing is more tyrannous, more barbarous. All persons have naturally, all Nations ever had, a detestation of falling into their hands who were more barbarous, more uncivill then themselves, & peccato nihil magis barbarum; (sayes that Father) sin doth not govern us by a rule, by a Law, but tyrannically, impetuously, and tempestuously; It hath been said of Rome, Romae regulariter malè agitur; There a man may know the price of a sin, before he doe it; and he knowes what his dispensation will cost; whether he be able to sin at that rate, whether he have wherewithall, that if not, he may take a cheap sin. Thou canst never say that of thy soule, Intus regulariter malè agitur; Thou canst never promise thy selfe to sin safely, and so to elude the Law, for the Law is in thy heart; nor to sin wisely, and so to escape witnesses, for the testimony is in thy Conscience; nor to sin providently, and thriftily, and cheaply, and compound for the penalty, and stall the fine, for thy soule, that is the price, is indivisible, and perishes entirely, and eternally at one payment, and yet ten thousand thousand times over and over. Thou canst not say: Thou wilt sin, that sin, and no more; or so far in that sin, and no farther; If thou fall from an high place, thou maist fall through thick clouds, and through moist clouds, but yet through nothing that can sustain thee, but thou fall'st to the earth; If thou fall from the grace of God, thou maist passe through dark Clouds, oppression of heart, and through moist Clouds, some compunction, some remorsefull tears; but yet, (of thy selfe) thou hast nothing to take hold of, till thou come to that bottome, which will embrace thee cruelly, to the bottomlesse bottome of Hell it selfe. Our dignity, and our greatest height, is in our interest in God, and in the world, and in our selves; and we fall from all, either non utend…, or abutendo; either by neglecting God, or by over-valuing the world; our greatest …all of all is, into Idolatry; and yet Idolatry is an ordinary fall;Hieron: for tot habemus Deas recentes, quot habemus vitia, As many habituall sins as we embrace, so many Idols we worship; If all sins could not be call'd so, Idols, yet for those sins, which possesse us most ordinarily, and most strongly, we have good warrant to call them so; which sins are Licentiousnesse in our youth, and Cov…tousnesse in our age, and voluptuousnesse in our middle time. For, for Licentiousnesse, Idolatry, and that, are so often call'd by one anothers names in the Scriptures, as many times we cannot tell, when the Propehts mean spirituall Adultery, and when Carnall; when they mean Idolatry, and when Fornication. For Covetousnesse, that is expresly called Idolatry by the Apostle: and so is voluptuousnesse too, in those men, whose belly is their God. We fall then into that desperate precipitation of Idolatry, by …, when by fornication, we profane the temple of the Holy Ghost, and make even his temple, our bodies, a Stewes: And we fall into Idolatry by Covetousnesse, when we come to be, tam putidi minutíque animi, Basil.of so narrow, and contracted a soule; and of so sick, and dead, and buried, and putrefied a soule, as to lock up our soule, in a Cabinet where we lock up our money, to ty our soul in the corner of a handkerchiefe, where we ty our money, to imprison our soule, in the imprisonment of those things, Quae te ad gloriam …bvectur…e, the dispensation,Idem. and distribution whereof, would carry thy soul to eternall glory. And when by our voluptuousnesse, we raise the prices of necessary things, Et eorum vulnera, qui à Deo flagris caeduntur, adangemus; and thereby scourge them with deeper lashes of famine, whom God hath scourged with poverty before, we fall into Idolatry by voluptuousnesse; Numismatis inscriptiones inspicuis, & non Christi in sratre, thou takest a pleasure,Idem. to look upon the figures, and Images of Kings in their severall coyns; and thou despisest thine own Image in thy poore brother, and Gods Image in thy ruinous, and defaced soule, and in his Temple, thy body, demolished by thy Licentiousnesse, and by all these Idolatries. This is the fall, when we fall so farre into those sins, which have naturally a tyranny in them, and that that sinne becomes an Idoll to us; which fall of ours, God intimates unto us, and rebukes us for, by so mild a way, as to bid us rise from it.
Now when God bids us rise, as the Apostle sayes, Be not deceived, Gal. 6. 7.Non irridetur Deus, God cannot be mocked by any man, so we may boldly say, Be not afraid, Non irridet Deus; God mocks no man; God comes not to a miserable bedrid man, as a man would come in scorn to a prisoner, and bid him shake off his fetters, or to a man in a Consumption, and bid him grow strong; when God bids us arise, he tels us, we are able to rise; God bad Moses goe to Pharaoh; Moses said he was Incircumcisus labiis, Exod. 4. 10.heavy, and slow of tongue; but he did not deny, but he had a tongue: God bade him goe, and I will be with thy mouth, sayes he; He does not say, I will be thy mouth; but, thou hast a mouth, and I will be with thy Mouth. It was Gods presence, that made that mouth serviceable, and usefull, but it was Moses mouth; Moses had a mouth of his own; we have faculties, and powers of our own, to be employed in Gods service. So when God employed Ieremy, the Prophet sayes, O Lord God, behold, Ier. 1. 6.I cannot speak, for I am a child; but God replies, say not thou, I am a child; for whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speake: When God bids thee rise from thy sin, say not thou it is too late, or that thou art bedrid in the custome of thy sin, and so canst not rise; when he bids thee rise, he enables thee to rise; and thou maist rise, by the power of that will which onelyonly his mercy, and his grace, hath created in thee; for as God conveyes a rebuke in that counsaile, Surgite, arise, so he conveyes a power in it too; when he bids thee rise, he enables thee to rise.
That which we are to doe then, is to rise; to leave our bed, our sleep of Sin.Surgite. Saint Augustine takes knowledge of three wayes,Aug. by which he escaped sins; first, occasionis substractione; and that's the safest way, not to come within distance of a tentation; secondly, resistendi data virtute, That the love, and the fear of God, imprinted in him, made him strong enough for the sin; Can I love God, and love this person thus? thus, that my love to it, should draw away my love from God? Can I feare God, and fear any Man, (who can have power but over my body) so, as for feare of him, to renounce my God, or the truth, or my Religion? Or affectionis sanitate, that his affections, had, by a good diet, by a continuall feeding upon the Contemplation of God, such a degree of health, and good temper, as that some sins he did naturally detest, and, though he had not wanted opportunity, and had wanted particular grace, yet he had been safe enough from them. But, for this help, this detestation, of some particular sins, that will not hold out; We have seen men infinitely prodigall grow infinitely Covetous at last. For the other way, (the assistance of particular grace) that we must not presume upon; for, he that opens himselfe to a tentation, upon presumption of grace to preserve him, forfaits by that, even that grace, which he had. And therefore there is no safe way, but occasionis substractio, the forbearing of those places, and that Conversation, which ministers occasion of tentation to us. First therefore, let us find, that we are in our bed, that we are naturally unable to rise; We are not born Noble: 2 Tim. 1. 3.Saint Paul considers himselfe, and his birth, and his Title to grace, at best; That he was a Iew, and of the Tribe of Benjamin, and of holy parents, and within the Covenant; yet all this rais'd him not out of his bed, for, sayes he,Ephes. 2. 3. we were by nature the Children of wrath, as well as others. But where then was the rising? that is, in the true receiving of Christ. To as many as received him, he gave, Potestatem praerogativae,Ioh. 1. 12. to be the sons of God; yea, power to become the sons of God, as it is in our last Translation. Christianus non de Christiano nascitur, nec facit generatio, sed regeneratio Christianum; Tertullian.A Christian Mother does not conceive a Christian; onelyonly the Christian Church conceives Christian Children. Iudaeus circumcisus generat filium incircumcisum, Aug.A Jew is circumcised, but his child is born uncircumcised: The Parents may be up, and ready, but their issue abed, and in their bloud, till Baptisme have wash'd them, and till the spirit of Regeneration have rais'd them, from that bed, which the sins of their first Parents have laid them in, and their own continuing sins continued them in. This rising is first, from Originall sin, by baptism, and then from actuall sin, best, by withdrawing from the occasions of tentation to future sins, after repentance of former.
But it is not, Arise, and stand still: But Surgite, & ite, arise, and depart;Ite. But whither? Into actions, contrary to those sinfull actions, and habits contrary to those habits. Let him that is righteous, be righteous still, and him that is holy, be holy still; Apoc. 22. 11, 12and that cannot be, without this; for it is but a small degree of Convalescence, and reparation of health, to be able to rise out of our bed, to be able to forbear sin: Qui febri laborat, post morbum infirmior est; though the fever be off, we are weake after it; though we have left a sinne, there is a weaknesse upon us, that makes us reel, and leane towards that bed, at every turne; decline towards that sinne, upon every occasion. And therefore according to that example, and pattern, of Gods proceeding at the creation, who first made all, and then digested, and then perfected them;Ambros. Primò faciamus, deinde venustemus, says Saint Ambrose; first let us make us up a good body, a good habitude, a good constitution, by leaving our beds, our occasions of tentations; and then venustemus, let us dresse our selves, adorne our selves, yea, arme our selves, with the whole armour of God, which is faith in Christ Jesus, and a holy and sanctified conversation. Memento peregisse te aliquid, restare aliquid: Remember,Augusti. (and do not deceive thy selfe, to remember that, which was never done) but remember truely, that thou hast done something, towards making sure thy salvation already, and that thou hast much more to doe; Divertisse te ad Refectionem, non ad defectionem, that God hath given thee a bayting place, a resting place; peace in conscience, for all thy past sinnes, in thy present repentance; but it is, to refresh thy selfe with that peace; it is not to take new courage, and strength to sinne againe. Let not the ease which thou hast found in the remission of sinnes now embolden thee to commit them againe; not to trust to that strength which thou hast already recovered; but arise and depart; avoid old tentations, and apply thy selfe to a new course in the world, and in a calling; for there may be as much sinne, to leave the world, as to cleave to the world: and he may be as inexcusable at the last day, that hath done Nothing in the world, as hee that hath done some ill.
Now, we noted it to be a particular degree of Gods mercy, that he insisted upon it,Quia. that he pressed it, that he urged it with a reason; doe thus, says God, for, it stands thus with you. It is always a boldnesse, to aske a reason of those decrees of God, which were founded, and established onelyonly in his owne gratious will, and pleasure; In those cases, Exitiales vaculae, our & quomodo; to aske, why God elected some,Luther. and how it can consist with his goodnesse, to leave out others there the how, and why are dangerous, and deadly Monosyllables. But of Gods particular purposes upon us, and revealed to us, which are so to be wrought and executed upon us, as that we our selves have a fellow-working, and co-operation with God, of those, it becomes us to aske, and to know the reason. When the Angell Gabriel promised such unexpected blessings to Zachary, Zachary askes, whereby shall I know this? Luke 1. 18.and the Angel does not leave him unsatisfied. When that Angel promises a greater miracle to the blessed Virgin Mary, she says also, Quomodo, how shall this be? and the Angel settles, and establishes the assurance in her: Whatsoever we are bid to beleeve, whatsoever we are bid to doe, God affords us a reason for it, and we may try it by reason, but because that sinner, whom in this text, he speakes to, to arise and depart, is likely to stand upon false reasons, against his rising, to murmur, and ask Cur or quomodo, why should I arise, since me thinkes I lye at my ease, how shall I arise, that am already at the top of my wishes? God who is loath to lose any soule, that he undertakes, followes him with this reason. Quia non requies, Arise, and depart, for here is not your rest.
Now this rest, is in it selfe, so gratefull, so acceptable a thing,Requies. as all the service, which David, and Solomon, could expresse towards God, in the dedication of the Temple, (which was then in intention, and project) is described in that phrase,Psal. 132. 8. Arise O Lord, and come into thy rest, thou and the Arke of thy strength; God himselfe hath a Sabbath, in our Sabbaths; It is welcome to God, and it is so welcome to Man, as that Saint Augustine preaching upon those words,Augusti. Qui posuit fines tuos pacem, He maneth peace in thy borders, Psal. 147. 14.(as we translate it) he observed such a passion, such an alteration in his auditory, as that he tooke knowledge of it in his Sermon; Nihil dixeram, nihil exposuerans, verbum pronunciavi & exclamastis, says he; I have entred into no part of my text; I have scarce read my text; I did but name the word, Rest, and Peace of conscience, and you are all transported, affected, with an exultation, with an acclamation, in the hunger, and ambition of it; That, that the naturall, that, that the supernaturall Man affects, is Rest; Inquire pacem, & persequere eam; Psal. 36.it is not onelyonly seque…t, but persequere; seek peace & ensue it; follow this rest, this peace so, as if it fly from you, if any interruption, any heavinesse of heart, any warfare of this world, come between you, and it, yet you never give over the pursuite of it, till you overtake it. Persquere, follow it, but first Inquire, says David, seek after it, find where it is, for here is not your rest.
Vnaqu…que res in sua patria fortior; If a Starre were upon the Earth,Non hic. it would give no light; If a tree were in the Sea,Chrys. it would give no fruit; every tree is fastest rooted, and produces the best fruit, in the soile, that is proper for it.Heb. 13. 14. Now, here we have no continuing City, but we seek one; when we finde that, we shall finde rest. Here how shall we hope for it? for our selves, Intus pugnae, foris timores; 2 cor. 7. 5.we feel a warre of concupiscencies within, aand we feare a battery of tentations without: Si dissentiunt in domo uxor & maritus: pericul…sa molestia, says Saint Augustine; If the Husband, and wife agree not at home, it is a troublesome danger; and that's every mans case;Augusti. for Care conjux, our flesh is the wife, and the spirit is the husband, and they two will never agree. But si dominetur uxor, perversa pax, says he, and that's a more ordinary case, then we are aware of, that the wife hath got the Mastery, that the weaker vessell, the flesh, hath got the victory; and then, there is a show of peace, but it is a stupidity, a security, it is not peace. Let us depart out of our selves, and looke upon that, in which most ordinarily we place an opinion of rest, upon worldly riches; They that will be rich, fall into tentations, and snares, and into many foolish, and noysome lusts, 1 Tim. 6. 9.which drowne Men in perdition, and in destruction, for the desire of money is the root of evill; Not the having of Money, but the desire of it; for it is Theophylacts observation,Theophyl. that the Apostle does not say this, of them that are rich, but of them, that will be made rich; that set their heart upon the desire of riches, and will be rich, what way soever. As the Partridge gathereth the young, which she hath not brought forth, Ier. 17. 11.so he that gathereth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his dayes, and at his end shall be a foole; (he shall not make a wise will) But shall his folly end, at his end, or the punishment of his folly? We see what a restlesse fool he is, all the way; first, because he wants roome, he says, he will pull downe his barnes, and build new; Luke 12. 10.(thus farre there's no rest; in the Diruit, and adificat, in pulling downe, and building up;) Then he says to his soule, live at ease; he says it, but he gives no ease; he says it as he shall say to the Hills, fall downe, and cover us… but they shall stand still; and his soule shall heare God say, whilest he promises himselfe this case, O foole, this night, they shall fetch away thy soule; God does not onelyonly not tell him, who shall have his riches, but he does not tell him, who shall have his soule. He leaves him no affurance, no ease, no peace, no rest, Here.
This rest is not then in these things; not in their use; Vestra.for they are got with labor, and held with feare; and these, labour and feare, admit no rest; not in their nature; for they are fluid, and transitory, and moveable, and these are not attributes of rest. If that word doe not reach to Land, (the land is not movable,) yet it reaches to thee; when thou makest thine Inventory, put thy selfe amongst the moveables, for thou must remove from it, though it remove not from thee. So that, what rest foever may be imagined in these things, it is not your rest, for howsoever the things may seem to rest, yet you doe not. It is not here at all: not in that Here, which is intimated in this Text; not in the falling, that is Here; for sinne is a stupidity, it is not a rest; not in the rising that is Here, for this remorse, this repentance, is but as a surveying of a convenient ground, or an emptying of an inconvenient ground, to erect a building upon; not in the departing that is here, for in that, is intimated a building of new habits, upon the ground so prepared, and so a continuall, and laborious travaile, no rest; falling, and rising, and departing, and surveying, and building, are no words of rest, for give these words their spirituall sense, that this sense of our fall, (which is remorse after sinne) this rising from it, (which is repentance after sinne) this departing into a safer station, (which is the building of habits contrary to the former) doe bring an ease to the conscience, (as it doth that powerfully, and plentifully) yet, as when we journey by Coach, we have an ease in the way, but yet our rest is at home, so in the ways of a regenerate Man, there is an unexpressible ease, and consolation here, but yet even this is not your rest; for, as the Apostle says, If I be not an Apostle unto others, yet doubtlesse I am unto you, so what rest soever others may propose unto themseleves, for you, whose conver sation is in heaven, (for this world to the righteous is Atrium templi, and heaven is that Temple it selfe, the Militant Church, is the porch, the Triumphant, is the Sanctum Sanctorum, this Church and that Church are all under one roofe, Christ Jesus) for you, who appertaine to this Church, your rests is in heaven; And that consideration brings us to the last of the three interpretations of these words.
The first was a Commination, a departing without any Rest, propos'd to the Jewes:3. Part. The second was a Commonition, a departing into the way towards Rest, proposed to repentant sinners; And this third is a Consolation, a departing into Rest it selfe, propos'd to us, that beleeve a Resurrection. It is a consolation, and yet it is a funerall; for to present this eternall Rest, we must a little invert the words, to the departing out of this world, by death, and so to arise to Judgement; Depart, and arise; for, &c.
This departing then, is our last Exodus, our last passeover, our last transmigration,Depart. our departing out of this life. And then, the Consolation is placed in this, that we are willing, and ready for this departing;Chrysost. Qua gratia breve nobis tempus praescripsit Deus? How mercifully hath God proceeded with Man, in making his life short? for by that means he murmurs the lesse at the miseries of this life, and he is the lesse transported upon the pleasures of this life, because the end of both is short. It is a weaknesse, sayes Saint Ambrose, to complain, De immaturitate mortis, of dying before our time;Ambr. for we were ripe for death at our birth; we were born mellow:Idem. Secundum aliquem modum, immortalis dici posset homo, si esset tempus intra quod mori non posset, is excellently said by the same Father; If there were any one minute in a mans life, in which he were safe from death, a man might in some sort be said to be immortall, for that minute; but Man is never so; Nunquam ei vicinius est, posse vivere, quàm posse mori: Idem.That proposition is never truer, This man may live to morrow, then this proposition is, This man may dy this minute. Though then shortnesse of life be a malediction to the wicked, (The bloudy and deceitfull men shall not live halfe their dayes) there's the sentence,Psal. 55. 23. the Judgement,Iob 22. 16. the Rule, (And they were cut down before their time) there's the execution, the example, God hath threatned, God hath inflicted, shortnesse of dayes to the wicked, yet the Curse consists in their indisposition, in their over-loving of this world, in their terrors concerning the next world, and not meerly in the shortnesse of life; for this Ite, depart out of this world, is part of the Consolation. I have a Reversion upon my friend, and (though I wish it not) yet I am glad, if he die; Men that have inheritances after their fathers, are glad when they dye; though not glad that they die, yet glad when they die: I have a greater, after the death of this body, and shall I be loath to come to that? Yet, it is not so a Consolation, as that we should by any means, be occasions to hasten our own death;Aug. Multi Innocentes ab aliis occiduntur, à seipso nemo; Many men get by the malice of others, if thereby, they dy the sooner; for they are the sooner at home, and dy innocently: but no man dies innocently, that dies by his own hand, or by his own hast. We may not doe it, never; we may not wish it, alwayes, nor easily. Before a perfect Reconciliation with God, it is dangerous to wish death. David apprehended it so,Psal. 102. 24. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my dayes. In an over tender sense, and impatience of our own Calamities, it is dangerous to desire death too. Very holy men have transgressed on that hand: Elias in his persecution came inconsiderately to desire that he might die;1 Reg. 14. 4. It is enough, ô Lord, take away my soule; He would tell God how much was enough.Iob 7. 15. And so sayes Iob, My soule chuseth rather to be strangled and to die, then to be in my bones; He must have that that his soule chuses. But to omit many cases wherein it is not good, nor safe to wish Death, certainly, when it is done primarily in respect of God, for his glory, and then, for the respect which is of our selves, it is onelyonly to enjoy the sight, and union of God, and that also with a Conditionall submission to his will, and a tacite, and humble reservation of all his purposes, we may think David's thought, and speak David's words, Psal. 42. 2.My soule thirsteth for God, even for the living God,Phil. 1. when shall I come, and appeare before the presence of my Living God? Saint Paul had David's example for it, when he comes to his Cupio dissolvi, Aug.to desire to be dissolved; And Saint Augustine had both their examples, when he sayes so affectionately, Eia Domine videam, ut hîc moriar, O my God, let me see thee in this life, that I may die the death of the Righteous, dy to sin; & moriar ut te videam, let me dy absolutely, that I may see thee essentially. Here we may be in his Presence, we see his state; there we are in his Bedchamber,Idem. and see his eternall and glorious Rest. The Rule is good, given by the same Father, Non injustum est justo optare mortem, A righteous man, may righteously desire death… Si Deus non dederit, injustum erit, non tolerare vitam amarissimam, but if God affords not that ease, he must not refuse a laborious life; So that, this departing, is not a going before we be call'd: Christ himselfe stay'd for his ascension, till he was taken up. But when these comes a Lazare veni foras, that God calls us, from this putrefaction, which we think life, let us be not onelyonly obedient, but glad to depart.
For without such an Ite, there is no such Surgite, as is intended here;Surgite. without this departing there is no good rising, without a joyfull Transmigration, no joyfull Resurrection; He that is loth to depart, is afraid to rise againe; and he that is afraid of the Resurrection, had rather there were none; and he that had rather there were none, a…t …aecitate, aut animos…tate, says S. Augustine, either he will make himselfe beleeve, that there is none, or if he cannot overcome his Conscience so absolutely, he will make the world beleeve, that he beleeves there is none: and truly to lose our sense of the Resurrection, is as heavy a losse, as of any one point of Religion; It is the knot of all, and hath this priviledge, above all, that though those Joyes of heaven, which we shall possesse immediately after our death, be infinite, yet even to these infinite Joyes, the Resurrection given an addition, and enlarges even that which was infinite. And therefore is Iob so passionately desirous, that this doctrine of the Resurrection, might be imparted to all, imprinted in all;19. 13. Oh that my words more now written, Oh that they were written in a book; and graven with an Iron pen in lead, and stone, for ever: what is all this, that Iob recommends with so much devotion to all? I am sure that my Redeemer liveth, and be shall stand the last on Earth, and though after my skin, wormes destroy this body, yet I shall see God in my flesh; whom I my selfe shall see; and mine eyes shall behold, and none either for me. This doctrine of the Resurrection, had Iob, so vehement, and so early a care of. Neither could the malicious, and pestilent inventions of man, no not of Satan himselfe, abolish this doctrine of the Resurrection:Hiero. Ep. 13. ad Paulinum. for, as Saint Hierome observes, from Adrian's time, to Constantin's, for 180 yeares, in the place of Christs birth, they had set up an Idoll, a statue of Adonis: In the place of his Crucifying, they had set up an Idoll of Venus; and in the place of his Resurrection, they had erected a I…p…ter: in opinion, that these Idolatrous provisions of theirs, would have abolish'd the Mysteries of our Religion; but they have outliv'd all them, and shall outlive all the world, eternally beyond all Generations.Ambros. And therefore doth Saint Ambrose apply well, and usefully to our Death, and Resurrection, to our departing, and rising, these words,Esa. 26. 20. Come my people, enter then into thy Chambers, and shut thy dores after thee; Hide thy selfe for a very little while, untill the Indignation passeover thee; that is, Goe quietly, to your graves, attend your Resurrection, till God have executed his purpose upon the wicked of this world; Murmur not to admit the dissolution of body, and soul, upon your death-beds, nor the resolution, and putrefaction of the body alone in your graves, till God be pleased to repaire all, in a full consummation, and reuniting of body and soule, in a blessed Resurrection. Ite & Surgite, depart so, as you may desire to rise; Depart with an In manus tuas, and with a Veni Domi…e Iesu; with a willing surrendring of your soules, and a cheerfull meeting of the Lord Jesus.
For else, all hope of profit, and permanent Rest is lost:Requies. for, as Saint Hierome interprets these very words; Here we are taught that there is no rest, in this life, Sed quasi… … mortuis resurgentes; ad sublime tendere, & ambulare post Daminum Iesum; we departHier. when we depart from sin, and we rise, when we raise our selves to a conformity with Christ: And not onelyonly after his example, but after his person, that is, to hasten thither, whither he is gone to prepare us a Room. For, this Rest, in the Text, though it may be understood of the Land of Promise; and of the Church, and of the Arke, and of the Sabbath, (for, if we had time to pursue them, we might make good use of all these acceptations) yet we accept Chrysost…me's acceptation best,Chrys. Requies est ipse Christus, our rest is Christ himselfe. Not onelyonly that rest that is in Christ, (peace of conscience in him) but that Rest, that Christ is in; eternall rest in his kingdome,Heb. 4. 7. There remaineth a Rest, to the people of God; besides that inchoation of Rest, which the godly have here, there remains a fuller Rest. Iesus is entred into his Rest, 10.sayes the Apostle there; his Rest was not here, in this world; and,11. Let us study to enter into that… Rest, sayes he; for no other can accomplish our peace.1 Thes. 1. 6 It is righteousnesse with God, is recompence tribulation to them, that trouble you, and, to you, which are troubled, Rest; but, when? in this world? no: when the Lord Iesus shall she… himselfe from heaven, with his mighty Angels, then comes your Rest; for, for the grave, the body lies still, but it is not a Rest, because it is not sensible of that lying still; In heaven the body shall rest, rest in the sense of that glory.
This Rest then is not here, Not onelyonly not Here, Non hîc.at this Here was taken in the first interpretation, Here in the Earth; but not Here in the second interpretation, not in Repentance it selfe; for all the Rest of this life, even the spirituall Rest, is rather a Truce, then a peace, rather a Cessation, then an end of the war. For when these words, (I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians, Every one shall fight against his brother, Esa. 19. 2.and every one against his neighbour, City against City, and Kingdome against Kingdome) may be interpreted, and are so interpreted of the time of the Gospell of Christ Jesus, when Christ himselfe says, Nolite putare quod venerim mittere pacem in terrâ, Mat. 10. 34.Never think that I came to settle peace, or Rest in this world; Nay, when Christ sayes, None of them that were bidden shall come to his supper, Luke 14. 34.and that may be verified of any Congregation, none of us that are call'd now, shall come to that Rest, a Man may be at a security in an opinion of Rest, and be far from it; A man may be neerer Rest in a troubled Conscience, then in a secure.
Here we have often Resurrections, that is, purposes to depart from sin: but they are such Resurrections, as were at the time of Christs Resurrection: when (as the strongest opinion is) Resurrexerunt iterum morituri, Many of the dead rose, but they died again; we rise from our sins here, but here we fall again; Monumenta aperta sunt; (it is Saint Hierome's note,) The graves were opened, presently upon Christs death;Hier. but yet the bodies did not arise,Mat. 27. till Christs Resurrection: The godly have an opening of their graves, they see some light, some of their weight, some of their Earth is taken from them, but a Resurrection to enter into the City, to follow the Lamb, to come into an established security, that they have not, till they be united to Christ in heaven. Here we are still subject to relapses, and to looking back;Aug. Memento uxoris L…t, Ipsa in loco manet, transeuntes monet, Shee is fixed to a place, that she might settle those, that are not fix'd; Vt quid in statuam salis conversa, si non homines, ut sapiant, condiat? to teach us the danger of looking back, till we be fix'd, she is fix'd. When the Prophet… Eliah… was at the dore of Desperation, an Angell touch'd him, and said,1 Reg. 19. 5. Vp, and eat: and there was bread, and water provided, and he did eat; but he slept again; and we have some of these excitations, and we come, and eat, and drink, even the body, and bloud of Christ, but we sleep again, we doe not perfect the work. Our Rest Here then, is never without a fear of losing it: This is our best state,Hebr. 4. 1 To fear le…t at any time, by forsaking the promise of entring into his rest, we should seem to be depriv'd. The Apostle disputes not, (neither doe I) whether we can be depriv'd or no; but he assures us, that we may fall back so far, as that to the Church, and to our own Consciences we may seem to be depriv'd; and that's argument enough, that here is no Rest. To end all,Alicubi. though there be no Rest in all this world, no not in our sanctification here, yet this being a Consolation, there must be rest some where; And it is,Aug. In superna Civitate, unde amicus non exit, quâ inimicus non intrat, In that City, in that Hierusalem, where there shall never enter any man, whom we doe not love, nor any goe from us, whom we doe love. Which, though we have not yet, yet we shall have: for upon those words, (because I live, ye shall live also) Saint Augustine sayes,Iohn 14. 19. that because his Resurrection was to follow so soon,Aug. Christ takes the present word, because I doe live. But because their life was not to be had here, he says, Vivetis, you shall live, in heaven; not Vivitis; for here, we doe not live. So,1 Cor. 35. 22. as in Adam we all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive; says the Apostle: All our deaths are here, present now; now we dy; our quickning is reserv'd for heaven, that's future. And therefore let us attend that Rest, as patiently as we doe the things of this world, and not doubt of it therefore, because we see it not yet: even in this world we consider invisible things, more then visible; Vidimus pelagus, non autem mercedem, ChrysostThe Merchant sees the tempestuous Sea, when he does not see the commodities, which he goes for: Videmus terram, non autem messem, The Husbandman sees the Earth, and his labour, when he sees no harvest; and for these hopes, that there will be a gain to the Merchant, and a harvest to the Labourer, Naturae fidimus, we rely upon Creatures; for our Resurrection, fide us…orem habemus Coranatum; Not Nature, not Sea, nor Land, is our surety, but our surety is one, who is already crown'd, with that Resurrection. Num in hominibus terrae legenera…, quae omnia regenerat, sayes Saint Ambrose, will the earth,Ambr. that gives a new life to all Creatures, faile in us, and hold us in an everlasting winter, without a spring, and a Resurrection? Certainly no; but if we be content so to depart into the wombe of the Earth, our grave, as that we know that, to be but the Entry into glory, as we depart contentedly, so we shall arise gloriously, to that place, where our eternall Rest shall be, though here there be not our Rest; for he that shoots an arrow at a mark, yet means to put that arrow into his Quiver again; and God that glorifies himselfe, in laying down our bodies in the grave, means also to glorifie them, in reaffirming them to himselfe, at the last day.