Fifty Sermons, Sermons · Sermon 44
SERMON XLIV.
Preached at St. Pauls Crosse, Novemb. 22. 1629.
MAT. 11. 6.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
THese are words spoken by our Blessed Saviour, to two Disciples, sent by Iohn Baptist, then a prisoner, to inform themselves of some particulars concerning Christ. Christ, who read Hearts, better then we doe faces, and heard Thoughts clearer then we doe words, saw in the thoughts, and hearts of these men, a certain perversenesse, an obliquity, an irregularity towards him, a jealousie and suspicion of him, and according to that indisposition of theirs he speaks to them, and tels them, This, and This onelyonly is true Blessednesse, not to be scandalized in me, not to be offended in me; I see you are; but, as you love Blessednesse, (and there is no other object of true love, but Blessednesse) establish your selves in mee, maintain in your selves a submission, and an acquiescence to me, in my Gospel, suspect not me, be not jealous of me, nor presse farther upon me, then I open and declare my self unto you, for, Blessed is he, whosoever is not scandalized, not offended in me.
The words have in them an Injunction,Divisio. and a Remuneration; A Precept, and a Promise; The Way, and the End of a Christian. The Injunction, The Precept, The way is, As you love blessedness, be not offended in me, Be satisfied with mee, and mine Ordinances; It is an Acquiescence in the Gospel of Christ Jesus: And the Remuneration, the Promise, the End, is Blessedness; That, which, in it self, hath no end, That, in respect of which, all other things are to no end, Blessedness, everlasting Blessedness, Blessed is he, whosoever is not scandalized, not offended in me. In the first, Christ gives them first, if not an Increpation, yet an Intimation of our facility in falling into the Passive scandall, the mis-interpreting of the words or actions of other men, which is that which our Saviour intends, by being offended in another; And Blessed are they, in generall, who are not apt to fall into this Passive scandall, not subject to this facility of mis-interpreting other men. In a second branch in this first part, Christ appropriates this to himself, Blessed is he, whosoever is not scandalized, not offended in me; In which branch, we shall see, that the generall scandall, and offence that the world took at Christ, and his Gospel, was, that he induced a Religion that opposed the Honours, and the Pleasures, and the Profit of this world: And these three being the Triangle within our circle, the three corners, into which Satan, that compasses the world, leads us, (all is Honour, or Pleasure, or Profit) because the Christian Religion seemed to the world to withdraw mens affections from these, the world was scandalized, offended in Christ. But then, in a third consideration, wee shall see, that Christ discerned in these two persons, these Disciples of Iohn, a Passive scandall of another kinde; Not that Christs Gospel, and the Religion that he induced, was too low, too base, too contemptible, as the world thought, but that it was not low enough, not humble enough, and therefore Iohns Disciples would doe more then Christs Disciples, and bind themselves to a greater strictness and austerity of life, then Christ in his Gospel required. In which third branch, wee shall take knowledge of some Disciples of Iohns Disciples, in the world yet; and, (as for the most part it fals out in Sectaries) of divers kinds and ways; for, wee shall finde some, who in an over-valuation of their owne purity, condemne, and contemne other men, as unpardonable Reprobates; And these are scandalized, and offended in Christ, that is, not satisfied with his Gospel, in that they will not see, that it is as well a part of the Gospel of Christ, to rely upon his Mercy, if I have departed from that purity, which his Gospel enjoyned mee, as it is, to have endevoured to have preserved that purity; And a part of his Gospel, as well to assist with my prayers, and my counsell, and with all mildeness, that poore soul that hath strayed from that purity, as it is to love the Communion of those Saints, that have in a better measure preserved it; Not to beleeve the Mercy of God in Christ, after a sinne, to be a part of the Gospel, as well as the Grace of God for prevention before, not to give favourable constructions, and conceive charitable hopes of him, who is falne into some sinne, which I may have escaped, this is to bee scandalized, to bee offended in Christ, not to bee satisfied with his Gospel; And this is one Sect of the off-spring of Iohns Disciples. And the other is this, that other men thinking the Gospel of Christ to be too large a Gospel, a Religion of too much liberty, will needs undertake to doe more, then Christ, or his Disciples practised, or his Gospel prescribed: for, this is to be offended in Christ, not to beleeve the meanes of salvation ordained by him, to bee sufficient for that end, which they were ordained to, that is, salvation. And then, after all this, in a fourth branch we shall see, the way, which our Saviour takes to reclaime them, and to devest them of this Passive scandall, which hindred their Blessednesse, which was, to call them to the contemplation of his good works, and of good works in the highest kind, his Miracles; for in the verse immediately before the text, (which verse induces the Text) hee sayes to them, you see the blinde receive their sight, the lame goe, the leapers are cleansed, the deafe heare, the dead are raised to life. Christ does not propose, at least, hee does not put all, upon that externall purity, and a…sterity of life, in which, these Disciples of Iohn pretended to exceed all others, but upon doing good to others; the blinde see, the deaf heare, the lame walk. Which miracles, and great works of his, our blessed Saviour summes up with that, which therefore seemes the greatest of all, Pauperes Evangelizantur, The poore have the Gospell preached unto them. Beloved, the greatest good that we, (we to whom the dispensation of the word of reconciliation is committed) can do, is, to preach the Gospell to the poore, to assist the poore, to apply our selves by all wayes, to them, whether they be poore in estate, and fortune, or poore in understanding and capacity, or poore in their accounts and dis-estimation of themselves, poore and dejected in spirit. And all these considerations, which, as you see, are many, and important, (first our generall easinesse to fall into the passive scandall, to be offended in others, to mis-interpret others; And then the generall passive scandall and offence that the world took at Christ, That he induced a Religion incapable of the honours, or the pleasures, or profits of this world; And thirdly, the particular passive scandall that dis-affected these Disciples of Iohn towards Christ, which was, That his Gospell enjoyned not enough, and therefore they would do more, in which kinde, we finde two sects in the world yet, the offspring, and Disciples of those Disciples; And then lastly, the way that Christ tooke to reclaime and satisfie them, which was, by good works, and the best works that they that did them, could do, (for in himself it was by doing miracles, for the good of others) and preferring in his good and great works, the assisting of the poor) All these considerations, I say, will fall into our first part, As you love blessednesse, be not scandalized, be not offended in me, which is the injunction, the precept, the way. And, when in our due order, we shall come to our second part, The remuneration, the promise, the end, Blessednesse, everlasting blessednesse, I may be glad, that the time will give me some colour, some excuse of saying little of that, as I can foresee already, by this distribution, that we shall be forced to thrust that part into a narrow conclusion. For, if I had Methusalems yeers, and his yeers multiplyed by the minutes of his yeers, (which were a faire terme) if I could speak till the Angels Trumpets blew, and you had the patience of Martyrs, and could be content to heare me, till you heard the Surgite M…rtui, till you were called to meet the Lord Iesus in the clouds, all that time would not make up one minute, all those words would not make up one syllable, towards this Eternity, the period of this blessednesse. Reserving our selves therefore for that, to those few minutes which may be left, or borrowed, when we come to the handling thereof, pursue we first, those con…iderations which fall more naturally into our comprehension, the severall branches of our first part; As you love blessednesse, Be not scandalized, be not offended in me.
First then our Saviours answer to these Disciples of Iohn, 1. Part.gives us occasion to consider our inclination,Scandalum Passivum. our propensenesse to the passive scandall, to be offended in others, to mis-interpret the words and actions of others, and to lament that our infirmity, or perversenesse, in the words of our Saviour,Mat 18. 7. Vae Mundo à scandalis, Wo to the world by reason of scandals, of offences: For, that is both a Vae Dolentis, The voyce of our Saviour lamenting that perversenesse of ours, and Vae Minantis, his voyce threatning punishments for that perversenesse. For, Parum distat scandalizare, & scandalizari, sayes St. Hierome excellently; It is almost all one to be scandalized by another, as to scandalize another; almost as great a sin, to be shaked in our constancy, in our selves, or in our charity towards others, as to offer a scandall to others. For, this Vae, this intermination of wo from our Saviour,Mat. 24. 32. is bent upon us, from three batteries; for, it is Vae quia Illusiones fortes, wo, because scandals are so strong in their nature, as that they shall seduce, if it be possible, the Elect; And then, Vae quia infirmi vos, Woe because you are so weak in your nature, as that,Mat. 13. 21. though you receive the word, and receive it with joy, yet Temporales estis, you may be but Time servers for all that, for, as soon as persecution comes, ilico, continuò, scandalizamini, Instantly, presently, you are scandalized, offended; But especially Vae quia Praevaricatores, Woe be unto you, not because the scandals are so strong, not because you are so weake, but because you prevaricate against your own souls, because you betray your selves, and make your selves weaker than you are, you open your selves too easily to a scandall, you assist a scandall, create a scandall, by your aptnesse to mis-interpret other mens proceedings. Great peace have they that love thy Law, Psal. 119. 165.sayes David: Wherein consists this great peace? In this, Non est illis scandalum, nothing scandalises, nothing offends them, nothing puts them off from their Kings, their Constancy in themselves, their Charity towards others. And therefore upon that prayer of David, Liberet te Deus ab Homine malo, The Lord deliver thee from the evill man, Saint Augustin retires himselfe into himselfe, he sends every man home into himselfe, and says, Liberette Deus à te, ne sis tibi homo malus, the Lord deliver thee from thy selfe, that thou be not that evill man to thy selfe; God blesse me from my selfe, that I lead not my selfe into tentation, by a wilfull misinterpreting of other men, especially my superiours; that I cast not aspersions or imputations upon the Church, or the State, by my mistakings. And thus much being said of this generall facility of falling into the Passive scandall, and being offended in others, (which is a great interruption of blessednesse, for Blessed is he, and he onelyonly, that is not so scandalised, offended so) passe we now to the second branch of this first part, our Saviours, appropriating of this more particularly to himselfe, Blessed is he, whosoever is not scandalised, not offended in me.
Christ Crucified, In me.that is, the Gospell of Christ, is said by the Apostle, to be scandalum Iudaeis,1 cor. 1. 23. a scandal, a stumbling block to the Iews, but Graecis stultitia, to the Grecians, to the Gentiles, meer foolishness. So that one scandall & offence that was taken at Christ, & his Gospel, was by the wisemen, the learned, the Philosophers of the world; they thoght that Christ induced a religion improbable to Reason, a silly and a foolish religion. But these learned men, these Philosophers, were sooner convinced & satisfied, then others. For, when we have considered Iustin Martyr, and Minutius Felix, and Arnobius, and Origen, and Lactantius, and some things of Theodoret, & perchance one or two more, we have done with those Fathers,1 Cor. 1. 20. that did any thing against the Gentiles, and their Philosophers, and may soon come to that question of the Apostle, Vbi sapiens, where is the wiseman, where is the Philosopher, where is the disputer of the world? Indeed, al that the Fathers writ against thē, would not amount to so much, as may be found at one mart, of papists against Protestants, or of Protestants, Lutherans and Calvinists, against one another. The reason is, Reason will be satisfied, Passion will not. And therefore, when it came to that issue between the Christian and the Naturall man, which Religion was most comfortable to Reason, it soon resolved into these two, whether it were more conformable to Reason to beleeve One God, as the Christian does, or many, as the Gentiles; and then, being brought to the beliefe of one God, whether it were more conformable to reason, to beleeve three Persons in that one God, as we, or but one, as they doe. Now, for the first of these, the Multiplicity of Gods, it involved so many, so evident, so ridiculous absurdities, as not onelyonly those few Fathers soon disputed them, but some of themselves, such as Lucian, soon laughed them, out of it; and so reason prevailed soon for the unity of the Godhead, that there is but one God, and that question was not long in suspence, nor agitation. And for the other, three persons in this one God, the Trinity, though we cannot so immediately prove that by Reason, nor so intirely, altogether, yet, by these steppes we can: first, that there is nothing in the doctrine of the Trinity against Reason; the doctrine of the Trinity implies no contradiction; It may be so; and then, that it is so, if we have the word of God, for it, Reason it selfe will conclude, that we have Reason on our side; And that we have the word of God for it, we proceed thus, that for this Book, which we call the Bible, which book delivers us the Doctrine of the Trinity, we have far better reasons, and stronger arguments to satisfie any naturall man, that this book is the word of God, then the Turke, or any professors of any other Religion have, that those books which they pretend to be so, are so. So that positively for the first, that there is but one God, & Comparatively for the other, that there are three persons, Reason it selfe, (if we were bound to submit all Religion to Reason) may receive a satisfaction, a calme, and peaceable acquiescence. And so, the scandall that the Philosophers took, was, with no great difficulty, overcome. But then the scandals that worldly and carnall men tooke, lasted longer. They were offended in Christ, that he induced an inglorious, a contemptible Religion, a Religion that opposed the Honours of this world; and a sooty, and Melancholique Religion, a Religion that opposed the Pleasures, and delights of this world; and a fordid, and beggerly Religion, a Religion that opposed the Gaine, and the Profit of this world. But were this enough to condemne the Christian Religion, if it did oppose worldly honour, or pleasure, or profit? Or does our Religion doe that? Be pleased to stop a little upon both these Problems; whether that were enough to their ends, if it were so, and then, whether there be any such thing in our Religion; and begin wee with their first offence at Christ, The point of Honour.
The Apostle speaks of an Eternall weight of Glory;Honor. Glory, A weight of Glory, An eternall weight of Glory;2 Cor. 1. 17. But where? In heaven, not in this world. The Honours of this world, are farre from being weights, or fraights, or ballast to carry us steady; they are but light froths, but leaven, but fermentation, that puffes and swells us up. And they are as farre from being eternall; for, in every family, we know, in which father, or grandfather the Honour began, and wee know not how soon, or how ignominiously it may end; but such ends of worldly Honours, we see every day. When a Lord meets a man that honours him, makes him curtesie, and curses him withall, what hath his Lordship got by that Honour? when popular acclamations cast him into insolent actions, and into the net of the Law, where is the ease, the benefit, the consolation of his Honour? But especially, if worldly Honour must be had upon those conditions here, as shall hinder my eternall weight of Glory hereafter, I should honour any dishonour, glorifie any inglorious state, embrace any Dunghill, call any poverty Treasure, rather then bring the Honours of this world into the Balance, into competition, into comparison with that eternall weight of Glory in heaven. So that if the Christian Religion did oppose worldly Honour, it were not to be opposed for that: But it is farre from that; for, as no Religion imprints more honour, more reverence, more subjection in the hearts of men, towards their Superiours of all sorts, Naturall, or Civill, or Ecclesiasticall, Parents, or Magistrates, or Prelates, then the Christian Religion does (for, we binde even the conscience it self) so never was there any form of Religion upon the face of the earth, in which persons were capable of greater Titles, and styles of dignity, then in the Christian Church. Never any Moscovite, any Turk, received such titles, as the world hath, and does give to the Bishop of Rome; so great, as that some of the greatest later Emperours, have had an ambition of that dignity, and endevoured to have been elected Popes too, being Emperors. If Religion opposed Honour, that should not diminish it; but it does not that, nor Pleasure neither, which was another thing, in which, the world was offended in Christ.
As when we compared the Honour of this world,Voluptas. with the Glory of Heaven, we found it nothing, so should we doe the Pleasures of this world, if we compared them with the Joys of heaven. And therefore if my religion did enwrap me in a continuall cloud, damp me in a continuall vapour, smoke me in a continuall sourenesse, and joylesnesse in this life, yet I have an abundant recompense in that Reversion, which the Lord,Ps. 36. 28. the righteous Judge hath laid up for me, That I shall drink è torrente valuptatis, of the Rivers of his pleasures; pleasures, His pleasures, Rivers, ever-flowing, overflowing Rivers of his pleasures. So that if my Religion denied me pleasure here, I would not deny my Religion, nor be displeased with my Religion for that; But it does not that; for what Christian is denied a care of his health, or of a good habitude of body, or the use of those things, which may give a chearfulnesse to his heart, or a chearfulnesse to his co…ntenance? What Christian is denied such Garments, or such Ornaments, as his own rank, and condition, in particular requires, or as the Nationall and generall custome of his times hath induced and authorised? What Christian is denied Conversation, or Recreation, or honest Relaxation of Body or Spirit? Excesse of these pleasures, as well in the Heathen, as in the Christian, fals under Solomons Vanity, and Vexation of spirit. But with the right use of these pleasures, the Christian hath that, which none but hee, hath,Psal. 4. 8. That the Lord puts gladnesse into my heart, That the Lord enables me to lay mee downe in peace, and sleepe, That the Lord assures mee that he will keep mee in safety. If Religion excluded worldly pleasure, that were no cause of scandall or offence; but it does not that; no nor Profit neither, which is a third consideration.
What is a man profited, Lucrum.says our Saviour, (he saw all the world was carried upon profit, and he goes along with them, that way) What is a man profited, Mat. 16. 26.if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soule? If a man have an answer to that question, that question of Confusion,Luc. 12. 10. and Consternation, that Christ asks, Cujue erunt, foole this night they shall fetch away thy soule, and then, Cuju… erunt, whose shall all those things be, that thou hast provided? if a man can answer, Haeredis erunt, They shall be mine heires, mine heire shall have them; Besides that, though thy bell toll first, his may ring out first; though thou beest old, and crasie, and sickly, Though they doe fetch away thy soule this night, they may fetch away his before thine, thine heir may die before thee, and there's that assurance disappointed; If thine heir doe enjoy all this, will all that distill one drop of cold water upon thy tongue in hell? And so is he, (sayes Christ, in the conclusion of that parable) that layeth up riches for himself, and is not rich towards God. So that if Riches might not consist with Religion, it would not hurt our cause; but they may, they doe. Godliness hath the promise of this life,1 Tim. 4. 8. and of the next; of both, but of this first. The seed of the righteous, Ps. 112. 3.shall be mighty upon earth, and wealth and riches shall be in his house. Many places of Scripture tell us that the wicked may be rich, and that they are rich; but in no place does God promise that they shall be rich. So says Davids sonne, Solomon, too,Prov. 14. 24. The Crown of the wise is their riches; we all know what men Solomon means by wise men; Godly men, Religious men; And their Crown is Riches. Beloved, there is an inward Ioy, there is an outward dignity and reverence, that accompanies Riches, and the Godly, the righteous man is not incapable of these; Nay, they belong rather to him, then to the ungodly:Prov. 19. 10. Non decent stultum divitiae, (as the Vulgat reades that place) Riches doe not become a fool. But because, for all that, though Riches doe not become a fool, yet fools doe become rich; our Translations read that place thus: joy, pleasure, delight, is not seemly for a fool; Though the fool, the ungodly man, may bee rich, yet a right joy, a holy delight in riches, belongs onelyonly to the wise, to the righteous. The Patriarchs in the Old Testament, many examples in the New, are testimonies to us of the compatibility of riches, and righteousnesse; that they may, that they have often met in one person. For, is fraud, and circumvention so sure a way, of attaining Gods blessings, as industry, and conscientiousnesse is? Or is God so likely to concurre with the fraudulent, the deceitfull man, as with the laborious, and religious? Was not Ananias, with his disguises, more suddenly destroyed, then Iob, and more irrecoverably? And cannot a Star-chamber, or an Exchequer, leave an ungodly man as poor, as a storm at sea, in a ship-wracke, or a fire at land, in a lightning, can doe the godly? Murmure not, be not scandalized, nor offended in him, if God, for reasons reserved to himselfe, keep thee in poverty; but know, that God hath exposed the riches of this world, as well, rather to the godly, then the wicked. And so have you the second branch of this first part, The scandals which, for the most part, were taken at Christ, and his Gospel, by the Philosophers, that it was a Religion contrary to Reason, by worldly, and carnall men, that it was a Religion contrary to the honours, to the pleasures, to the profits of this world; which, if it were so, were no impeachment to it, but it is not: And so wee are come to the third branch, The particular passive scandall, which our Saviour deprehended in these two Disciples of Iohn, diverse from the rest.
That,Discipuli Ioannis. which mis-affected them towards Christ, was not that he induced a Religion too low, too sordid, too humble, but not low enough, not humble enough; and therefore they would out-bid Christ, and undertake more, then his Disciples practised, or himselfe prescribed. Their Master, Iohn Baptist, discerned this distemper in them, then when they said to him,Io…. 3. 26. 30. Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Iordan, baptizes as fast as thou, and all the world comes to him. Iohn Baptist deals plainly with them, and he tels them, that they must not be offended in that, for so it must be, He must increase, and I must decrease. This troubled them; and because it did so, Iohn sends them personally to Christ, to receive farther satisfaction. When they come at first to him, they say, Sir,Mat. 9. 14. we fast, and, even the Pharisees fast, why doe not you, and your Disciples fast too? And then our blessed Saviour enlarges himselfe to them, in that point of fasting, and they goe home satisfied. Now they returne againe, and they continue their wonder, that Christ should continue his greatnesse, and his estimation in the world, they exceeding him so far in this outward austority of life, which was so specious, and so winning a thing amongst the Jews.Ambr. But duo Discipuli fortasse duo populi, These two Disciples of Iohn may have their Disciples in the world to this day; And therefore forbearing their persons, we shall consider their off-spring; Those men, who in an over-valuation of their own purity, despise others, as men whom nothing can save; & those men, who in an over-valuation of their own merits, think to save themselves and others too, by their supererogations.
Begin we with the first,C…ari. The over-pure despisers of others; Men that will abridge, and contract the large mercies of God in Christ, and elude, and frustrate, in a great part, the generall promises of God. Men that are loth, that God should speak so loud, as to say, He would have all men saved, And loth that Christ should spread his armes, or shed his bloud in such a compasse, as might fall upon all. Men that think no sinne can hurt them, because they are elect, and that every sin makes every other man a Reprobate. But with the Lord there is Copiosa redemptio… Ps. 130. 7.plentifull redemption, and an overflowing cup of mercy. Aquae quae non mentiuntur, As the holy Ghost sayes more then once, more then many times, in the Prophets, Waters that will not lye, that will not dry,Iames 3. 17. not deceive, not disappoint any man. The wisdome that is from above, is first pure, & then peaceable. Purity, Sincerity, Integrity, Holinesse, is a skirt of Christs garment; It is the very livery that he puts upon us; wee cannot serve him without it, (we must serve him in holiness and purenesse) we cannot see him without it, without holinesse no man shall see God. But then to be pure, and not peaceable, to determine this purity in our selves, and condemne others, this is but an imaginary, but an illusory purity Not to have relieved that poor wretch, that lay wounded, and weltring in his bloud in the way to Iericho, Luc. 10. 30.was the uncharitablenesse of the Levite, and the Priest, in that parable. But that parable presents no man so uncharitable, as would have hindred the Samaritan, from pouring his …yle, and his Wine into the wounds of that distressed wretch. To hinder the bloud of Christ Jesus, not to suffer that bloud to flow as far, as it will, to deny the mercy of God in Christ, to any sinner, whatsoever, upon any pretence, whatsoever, this is to be offended in Christ, to be scandalized with his Gospel; for, that's his own precept, Have sa… in your selves, (bee it, purity, the best preservative of the soul) And then,Mar. 9. 50. Have peace with one another, Deny no man the benefit of Christ; Blesse thou the Lord, praise him, and magnifie him, for that which hoe hath done for thee, and beleeve, that he means as well to others, as to thee. And these are one Sect of the Disciples of Iohns Disciples, That think there are men, whom Christ cannot save, And the other is of men that think they can save other men.
Ignatius, Papiste.who is so ancient, as that wee have letters from him to S. Iohn, and from him to the Blessed Virgin, and if the copies be true) from her to him, as ancient as hee is, says, Monet quisquam antiquorum, One of the Ancients hath given us this caution, Vt nemo bonus dicatur qui malum bono permiscuerit, That we call no man good, that is good to ill ends, nor beleeve any man to speak truth, that speaks truth at some times, to make his future lies the more credible. And much this way does the Romane Church proceed with us, in this behalf. They magnifie sanctification, and holinesse of life well; well doe they propose many good means, for the advancement, and ex…ltation thereof; fasting, and prayer, and almes, and other Medicinall Disciplines, and Mortifications. But all this to a wrong end; Not to make them the more acceptable to God, but to make God the more beholden to them; To merit, and over-merit; To satisfie, and super-satisfie the justice of God for their own, and for others sins. Now, God will be served with all our power; But, say they, wee may serve God, with more then all our power. How? Because I may have more power, more grace, more help, to day, then I had yesterday? But does not the same Commandement, of serving God, with all my power, lye upon mee, to day, as did yesterday? If yesterday, when I had lesse power, lesse grace, lesse help, all was but Duty and service that could be done, is it the lesse a service and a duty now, because God hath enlarged my capacity with more grace, and more helps then before? Doe I owe God the lesse, because hee hath given me more? All that my Saviour hath taught me, in this, to pray for, is but this, Dimitte debita, Lord forgive mee the not-endevouring to keep thy Commandements: But for not doing more then thy Commandements, I ask no forgiveness, by any prayer, or precept recommended to mee by him. Ad Evangelii impletionem conscendat nostra religio, nec transcendats sayes the learnedest Nun, and the best Matriarch, and Mother of that Church, I think, that ever writ, Heloyssa; I pray God, our Order may get so far, as the Gospel enjoyns, and not press beyond that; Nec quid amplius, quàm ut Christianae simus, appetamus, That wee desire to bee no more, then good Christians. And farther wee extend not this third consideration, The particular passive scandall, which Christ found in these Disciples of Iohn, and which wee have noted in their progeny, and off-spring but goe on to the fourth, The way that Christ took to devest them thereof, by calling them to the contemplation of his works, Consider what you have seen done, The blinde see, The lame goe, The deafe hear, and then you will not endanger your blessednesse, by being offended in me.
The evidence that Christ produces,Opera. and presses, is good works; for, if a man offer me the roote of a tree to taste, I cannot say this is such a Pear, or Apple, or Plum; but if I see the fruit, I can. If a man pretend Faith to me, I must say to him, with Saint Iames, Can his Faith save him? 2. 14.such a Faith, as that the Apostle declares himself to mean, A dead Faith, 17.as all Faith is that is inoperative, and workes not. But if I see his workes, I proceed the right way in Judicature, I judge secundum allegata & probata, according to my evidence: And if any man will say, those workes may be hypocriticall, I may say of any witnesse, He may be perjured; but as long as I have no particular cause to think so, it is good evidence to me,Hilar. as to hear that mans Oath, so to see this mans workes. Cum in Coelis sedentem in Crucem agere non possum, Though I cannot crucifie Christ, being now set at the right hand of his Father in Heaven, yet there is Odium impietatis, saith that Father, A crucifying by ungodlinesse; An ungodly life in them that professe Christ, is a daily crucifying of Christ. Therefore here Christ refers to good works; And there is more in this then so: It is not onelyonly good works, but good works in the highest proportion, The best works, that he that doth them, can doe: Therefore, in his own case he appeals to Miracles. For if fasting were all, or wearing of Camells haire, all, or to have done some good to some men, by Baptizing them, were all, these Disciples and their Master might have had as much to plead as Christ. Therefore he calls them to the consideration of works of a higher nature, of Miracles; for, God never subscribes nor testifies a forged Deed; God never seals a falshood with a Miracle. Therefore, when the Jewes say of Christ,Io…. 10. 20. He hath a Devill, and is mad, why heare ye him? some of the other Jewes said, These are not the words of one that hath a Devil: But though by that it appear, that some evidence, some argument may be raised in a mans behalfe, from his words, from that he saith, from his Preaching, yet Christs friends who spoke in his favour, doe not rest in that, That those are not the words of one that hath a Devill, but proceed to that, Can the Devill open the eyes of the blinde? He doth more then the Devill can doe; They appeal to his works, to his good workes, to his great works, to his Miracles. But doth he put us to doe miracles? no; Though, in truth those sumptuous and magnificent buildings, and endowments, which some have given for the sustentation of the poore, are almost Miracles, half Miracles, in respect of those penurious proportions, that Myut and Cumin, and those half-ounces of broken bread, which some as rich as they, have dropped, and crumbled out; Truely, he that doth as much as he can, is almost a Miracle; And when Christ appeals to his Miracles he calls us therein, to the best works we can doe. God will be loved with the whole heart, and God will have that love declared with our whole substance. I must not thinke I have done enough, if I have built an Almes-house; As long as I am able to doe more, I have done nothing. This Christ intimates in producing his greatest works, Miracles; which Miracles he closeth up with that, as with the greatest, Pauperes evangelizantur, The poore have the Gospell preached unto them.
In this our Blessed Saviour doth not onelyonly give an instruction to Iohns Disciples, Paupores.but therein also derives and conveyes a precept upon us, upon us, who as we have received mercy,1 Pet. 2. 5. have received the Ministery, and indeed, upon all you, whom he hath made Regale Sacerdotium, A royall Priesthood, and Reges & Sacerdotes, Kings and Priests unto your God,Apoc. 5. 10. and bound you therby, as well as us to preach the Gospell to the poore, you, by an exemplar life, and a Catechizing conversation, as well as us, by our words and meditations. Now beloved, there are Poore, that are literally poore, poore in estate and fortune; and poore, that are naturally poore, poore in capacity, and understanding; and poore, that are spiritually poore, dejected in spirit, and insensible of the comforts, which the Holy Ghost offers unto them; and to all these poore, are we all bound to preach the Gospell. First then for them which are literally poore, poore in estate, how much doe they want of this means of salvation, Preaching, which the rich have? They cannot maintain Chaplains in their houses; They cannot forbear the necessary labours of their calling, to hear extraordinary Sermons; They cannot have seats in Churches, whensoever they come; They must stay, they must stand, they must thrust, they must overcome that difficulty, which Saint Augustine makes an impossibility, that is, for any man to receive benefit by that Sermon, that he hears with pain: They must take pains to hear. To these poore therefore, the Lord and his Spirit hath sent me to preach the Gospell; That Gospell, The Lord knoweth thy povertie,Rev. 2. 9. but thou art rich; That Gospell, Be content with such things as thou hast,Hob. 13. 5. for the Lord hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee; And that Gospell, God hath chosen the poore of this world, rich in faith, heires of that Kingdome, which he hath promised to them that love him; I. vnes 2. 5.And this is the Gospell of those poore, literally poore, poore in estate. To those that are naturally poore, poore in understanding, the Lord and his Spirit hath sent me to preach the Gospell too; That Gospell, If any man lacke wisedome,Iames 1. 5. let him aske it of God; Solomon himselfe had none, till he asked it there.Apoc. 5. 1. And that Gospell where Iohn went bitterly, because there was a Booke preseated, but no man could open it, It were a sad consideration, if now, when the Booke of God, the Scripture is afforded to us, we could not open that Booke, not understand those Scriptures. But there is the Gospell of those poore; That Lambe, which is spoken of there, That Lambe, which in the same place is called a Lion too, That Lambe-Lion hath opened the Booke for us. The humility of the Lambe gathereth the strength of the Lion; come humbly to the reading and hearing of the Scriptures, and thou shalt have strength of understanding. The Scriptures were not written for a few, nor are to be reserved for a few; All they that were present at this LambLions opening of the Book, that is, All they that come with modesty and humility, to the search of the Scriptures, All they, (and they are no small number, for there they are said to be ten thousand times ten thousand, verse 11.and thousands of thousands) All they say there, We are all made Kings and Priests unto our God. Begin a Lambe, and thou will become a Lion; Reade the Scriptures modestly, humbly, and thou shalt understand them strongly,Homil. 2. in Gen. & 3. in 2 Thess. powerfully; for hence is it that Saint Chrys…stome, more then once, and Saint Gregory after him, meet in that expression, That the Scriptures are a Sea, in which a Lambe may wade, and an Elephant may swimme. And this is the Gospell of those poore, poore in understanding. To those that are spiritually poore, wrung in their souls, stung in their Consciences, fretted, galled, exulcerated viscerally, even in the bowells of their Spirit, insensible, inapprehensive of the mercies of God in Christ, the Lord and his Spirit hath sent me to preach the Gospell also,Matt. 5. That Gospell, Blessed are the poore in Spirit, for theirs it the Kingdome of Heaven; and to recollect, and redintegrate that broken and scattered heart, by enabling him to expostulate, and chide his owne soule, with those words of comfort, which the Holy Ghost offereth him, once, and again, and again, Why art thou cast downe, O my soule, and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God;Psal 42. 5. 11. and, yet praise him for the light of his countenance. Psal. 43. 5.Words of inexpresible comfort, yet praise him for the light of his countenance; Though thou sit in darknesse, and in the shadow of death, yet praise him for the light of his Countenance. Whatsoever thy darknesse be, put not out that candle, The light of his Countenance. Maintain that light, discerne that light, and whatsoever thy darknesse seemed, it shall prove to be but an over shadowing of the Holy Ghost. And so beloved, if you have sufficiently considered, first, our generall easinesse of falling into the Passive scandall, of being offended in others, by misinterpreting their proceedings, and then the generall scandals which the world tooke at Christ, and his Gospell, The Philosophers, that it was an ignorant religion, (where you saw, That the learneder the adversary is, the sooner he is satisfied) And the worldly and carnall man, that it was a dishonourable, an unpleasurable, an unprofitable Religion, (where you saw, that it were no Diminution to our Religion, if it were all that, but it is none of it) If you have also considered the particular passive scandall that Christ deprehended in those two Disciples of Iohn, That they would doe more then Christ practised or prescribed, (where you saw also the distemper of those, that are derived from them, both those that thinke there are some sinners whom Christ cannot save, and those who thinke there are no sinners whom they cannot save, by their Supererogations) And considered lastly, the way that Christ tooke, to devest these men of this offence, and passive scandall, which was to call them to the consideration of good workes, and of the best workes, which he that doth them, can doe, (where you have also seen, that Christ makes that our best work, To preach the Gospell to the poore, both because the poore are destitute of other comforts, and because their very poverty hath soupled them, and mellowed them, and macerated, and matured, and disposed them, by corrections to instructions) If you have received all this, you have received all that we proposed for the first part the injunction, the precept, the way, Be not sandalized, be not offended in me. And now, that which I suspected at first, is faln upon me, that is to thrust our other part into a narrow conclusiō, though it be blessednesse it selfe, everlasting blessednesse; so we must; so we shall; blessed is he, (there's the remuneration, the promise, the end) whosoever is not offended in me. Blessed.
The Heathen,2. Part, Blessed. who saw by the light of nature, that they could have no Beeing, if there were no God, (for it is from one of themselves, that Saint Paul says, in him we live,Act. 17. 28. and move, and have our Beeing, and Genus cjus su…us, we are the off-spring of God) saw also by the same light of nature, that they could have no well-being, if there were no Blessednesse. And therefore, as the Heathen multiplied Gods to themselves, so did they also multiply blessednesse. They brought their Iupiters to three hundred, says Varro; And from the same author, from Varro, does Saint Augustin collect almost three hundred severall opinions of Blessednesse. But, In multitudine nullitas, says Tertullian excellently; as where there are many Gods, there is no God, so where there are many blessednesses imagined, there is no blessednesse possessed. Not but that, as the Sunne which moves onelyonly in his owne Spheare in heaven, does yet cast downe beames and influences into this world, so that blessednesse which is truly, onelyonly in heaven, does also cast downe beames and influences hither, and gild, and enamell, yea inanimate the blessings of God here, with the true name, the true nature of blessednesse.Psal.144.15. For, though the vulgat edition doe read that place, thus, Beatum dixerant populum, the world thought that people blessed that were so, that is, Temporally blessed, as though that were but an imaginary, and not a true blessednesse; and howsoever it have seemed good to our Translators, to insert into that verse a discretive particle, a particle of difference, Yea, (Blessed are the people that are so,) that is, Temporally blessed, Yea, blessed are the people whose God is the Lord, yet in truth, in the Originall, there is no such discretive particle, no word of difference, no yea, in the text, but both the clauses of that verse are carried in one and the same tenor, Blessed are the people that are so, Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord; that is, that people whom the Lord hath blessed so, with Temporall blessings, is bound to beleeve those temporall blessings, to be seales and evidences to them that the Lord is their God. So then there is a Viatory, a preparatory, an initiatory, an inchoative blessednesse in this life. What is that? All agree in this definition, that blessednesse is that in quo quiescit animus, in which the minde, the heart, the desire of man hath settled, and rested, in which it found a Centricall reposednesse, an acquiescence, a contentment. Not that which might satisfie any particular man; for, so the object would be infinitely various; but that, beyond which no man could propose any thing;August. And is there such ablessednesse in this life? There is. Fecisti nos Domine ad te, & inquietum est Cor nostrum, donec quiescat in te; Lord thou hast made us for thy selfe, and our heart cannot rest, till it get to thee. But can we come to God here? We cannot. Where's then our viatory, our preparatory, our initiatory, our in choative blessednesse. Beloved, though we cannot come to God here, here God comes to us; Here, in the prayers of the Congregation God comes to us; here, in his Ordinance of Preaching, God delivers himselfe to us; here in the administration of his Sacraments, he seals, ratifies, confirmes all unto us; And to rest in these his seals and means of reconciliation to him, this is not to be scandalised, not to be offended in him; and, not to be offended in him, not to suspect him or these meanes which he hath ordained, this is our viatory, our preparatory, our initiatory and inchoative Blessednesse, beyond which, nothing can be proposed in this life. And therefore, as the Needle of a Sea-compasse, though it shake long, yet will rest at last, and though it do not look directly, exactly to the North Pole, but have some variation, yet, for all that variation, will rest, so, though thy heart have some variations, some deviations, some aberrations from that direct point, upon which it should be bent, which is an absolute conformity of thy will to the will of God, yet, though thou lack something of that, afford thy soule rest: settle thy soule in such an infallibility, as this present condition can admit, and beleeve, that God receives glory as well in thy Repentance, as in thine Innocence, and that the mercy of God in Christ, is as good a pillow to rest thy soule upon after a sinne, as the grace of God in Christ is a shield, and protection for thy soule, before. In a word, this is our viatory, our preparatory, our initiatory, and inchoative blessedness, beyond which there can bee no blessedness proposed here, first to receive a satisfaction, an acquiescence, that there are certaine and constant meanes ordained by Christ, for our reconciliation to God in him, in all cases, in which a Christian soule can bee distressed, that such a treasure there is deposited by him, in the Church, And then, the testimony of a rectified Conscience, that thou hast sincerely applied those generall helpes to thy particular soule. Come so farre, and then, as the Suburbs touch the City, and the Porch the Church, and deliver thee into it, so shall this Viatory, this preparatory, this initiatory and inchoative blessednesse deliver thee over to the everlasting blessednesse of the Kingdome of heaven. Of which everlasting blessednesse, I would ask leave, not so much of you; (yet of you too, for with you, I would not be over-bold) but I would aske leave of the Angels of heaven, leave of the holy Ghost himself, to venture to say a little, of this everlasting blessednesse: The tongues of Angels cannot, the tongues of the holy Ghost, the Authors of the books of Scripture have not told us, what this blessednesse is; And what then shall we say, but this?
Blessednesse it self,In Caelis. is God himselfe; our blessednesse is our possession; our union with God. In what consists this? A great limbe of the Schoole with their Thomas, place this blessednesse, this union with God, In visione, in this, That in heaven I shall see God, see God essentially, God face to face, God as he is. We do not see one another so, in this world; In this world we see but outsides; In heaven I shall see God, and God essentially. But then another great branch of the Schoole, with their Scotus, place this blessednesse, this union with God, in Amore, in this, that in heaven, I shall love God.August. Now love presumes knowledge; for, Amari nisi nota new possunt, we can love nothing, but that which we do, or think we do understand. There, in heaven, I shall know God, so, as that I shall be admitted, not onelyonly to an Adoration of God, to an admiration of God, to a prosternation, and reverence before God, but to an affection, to an office, of more familiarity towards God, of more equality with God, I shall love God. But even love it selfe, as noble a passion as it is, is but a paine, except we enjoy that we love; and therefore another branch of the Schoole, with their Aureolus, place this blessednesse, this union of our souls with God, in Gaudio, in our joy, that is, in our enjoying of God. In this world we enjoy nothing; enjoying presumes perpetuity; and here, all things are fluid, transitory: There I shall enjoy, and possesse for ever, God himself. But yet, every one of these, to see God, or to love God, or to enjoy God, have seemed to some too narrow to comprehend this blessednesse, beyond which, nothing can be proposed; and therefore another limbe of the Schoole, with their Bonaventure, place this blessednesse in all these together. And truly, if any of those did exclude any of these, so, as that I might see God, and not love him, or love God, and not enjoy him, it could not well be called blessednesse; but he that hath any one of these, hath every one, all: And therefore the greatest part concurre, and safely, In visione, That vision is beatification, to see God, as he is, is that blessednesse.
There then, in heaven, I shall have continuitatem Intuendi; It is not onelyonly vision, but Intuition, not onelyonly a seeing, but a beholding, a contemplating of God, and that in Continuitate, I shall have an un-interrupted, an un-intermitted, an un-discontinued sight of God, I shall looke, and never looke off; not looke, and looke againe, as here, but looke, and looke still, for that is, Continuitas intuendi. There my soule shall have Inconcussam qu…etem; we need owe Plato nothing; but we may thank Plato for this expression, if he meant so much by this Inconcussa quies, That in heaven my soule shall sleep, not onelyonly without trouble, and startling, but without rocking, without any other help, then that peace, which is in it selfe; My soule shall be thoroughly awake, and thoroughly asleep too; still busie, active, diligent, and yet still at rest. But the Apostle will exceed the Philosopher, St. Paul will exceed Plato, as he does when he sayes, I shall be unus spiritus cum Deo, 1 cor. 6. 17.I shall be still but the servant of my God, and yet I shall be the same spirit with that God. When? Dies quem tanquam supremum reformidas, aterni natalis est, sayes the Morall mans Oracle, Seneca. Our last day is our first day, our Saturday is our Sunday, our Eve is our Holyday, our sun-setting is our morning, the day of our death, is the first day of our eternall life. The next day after that, which is the day of judgement, Veniet dies, quae me mihi revelabit; comes that day that shall show me to my selfe; here I never saw my selfe, but in disguises: There, Then, I shall see my selfe, and see God too. Totam lucem, & Totus lux aspiciam; I shall see the whole light; Here I see some parts of the ayre enlightned by the Sunne, but I do not see the whole light of the Sunne; There I shal see God intirely, all God, totam lutem, and totus lax, I my self shal be al light to see that light by. Here, I have one faculty enlightned, and another left in darknesse: mine uuderstanding sometimes cleared, my will, at the same time perverted. There, I shall be all light, no shadow upon me; my soule invested in the light of joy, and my body in the light of glory. How glorious is God, as he looks down upon us, through the Sunne? How glorious in that glasse of his? How glorious is God, as he looks out amongst us through the king? How glorious in that Image of his? How glorious is God, as he calls up our eyes to him, in the beauty, and splendor, and service of the Church? How glorious in that spoufe of his? But how glorious shall I conceive this light to be, cum sub loco viderim, when I shall see it, in his owne place. In that Spheare, which though a Spheare, is a Center too; In that place, which, though a place, is all, and every where. I shall see it, in the face of that God, who is all face, all manifestration,August. all all Innotescence to me, (for, facies Deiest, qua Deus nobis innotescit, that's Gods face to us, by which God manifests himselfe to us) I shall see this light in his face, who is all face, and yet all hand, all application, and communication, and delivery of all himselfe to all his Saints. This is Beatitudo in Auge, blessednesse in the Meridionall height, blessednesse in the South point, in a perpetuall Sommer solstice, beyond which nothing can be proposed, to see God so, Then, There. And yet the farmers of heaven and hell, the merchants of soules, the Romane Church, make this blessednesse, but an under degree, but a kinde of apprentiship; after they have beatified, declared a man to be blessed in the fruition of God in heaven, if that man, in that inferiour state doe good service to that Church, that they see much profit will rise, by the devotion, and concurrence of men, to the worship; of that person, then they will proceed to a Canonization; and so, he that in his Novitiat, and years of probation was but blessed Ignatius, and blessed Xavier, is lately become Saint Xavier, aud Saint Ignatius. And so they pervert the right order, and method, which is first to come to Sanctification, and then to Beatification, first to holinesse, and then to blessednesse. And in this method, our blessed God bee pleased to proceed with us, by the operation of his holy Spirit, to bring us to Sanctification here, and by the merits and intercession of his glorious Sonne, to Beatification hereafter. That so not being offended in him, but resting in those meanes and seales, of reconciliation, which thou hast instituted in thy Church, wee may have life, and life more abundantly, life of grace here, and life of glory there, in that kingdome, which thy Sonne, our Saviour Christ Jesus hath purchased for us, with the inestimable price of his incorruptible bloud. Amen.