Twenty-Six Sermons, Sermon 18
A SERMON Preached to Queen Anne, at Denmarke-houſe. Serm. 18.December. 14. 1617. SERMON XVIII.
Proverbs 8.17.
I love them that love me, and they that ſeek me early ſhall find me.
AS the Prophets, and the other Secretaries of the holy Ghoſt in penning the books of Scriptures, do for the moſt part retain, and expreſs in their writings ſome impreſſions, and ſome air of their former profeſſions; thoſe that had been bred in Courts and Cities, thoſe that had been Shepheards and Heardſmen, thoſe that had been Fiſhers, and ſo of the reſt; ever inſerting into their writings ſome phraſes, ſome metaphors, ſome alluſions, taken from that profeſſion which they had exerciſed before; ſo that ſoul, that hath been tranſported upon any particular worldly pleaſure, when it is intirely turn'd upon God, and the contemplation of his all-ſufficiency and abundance, doth find in God fit ſubject, and juſt occaſion to exerciſe the ſame affection piouſly, and religiouſly, which had before ſo ſinfully tranſported, and poſſeſt it.
A covetous perſon, who is now truly converted to God, he will exerciſe a ſpiritual covetouſneſs ſtill, he will deſire to have him all, he will have good ſecurity, the ſeal and aſſurance of the holy Ghoſt; and he will have his ſecurity often renewed by new teſtimonies, and increaſes of thoſe graces in him; he will have witneſſes enough; he will have the teſtimonie of all the world, by his good life and converſation; he will gain every way at Gods hand, he will have wages of God, for he will be his ſervant; he will have a portion from God, for he will be his Son; he will have a reverſion, he will be ſure that his name is in the book of life; he will have pawns, the ſeals of the Sacraments, nay, he will have a preſent poſſeſſion; all that God hath promiſed, all that Chriſt hath purchaſed, all that the holy Ghoſt hath the ſtewardſhip and diſpenſation of, he will have all in preſent, by the appropriation and inveſtiture of an actual and applying faith; a covetous perſon converted will be ſpiritually covetous ſtill.
So will a voluptuous man, who is turned to God, find plenty and deliciouſnes enough in him, to feed his ſoul, as with marrow, and with fatneſs, as David expreſſes it; and ſo an angry and paſſionate man, will find zeal enough in the houſe of God to eat him up.
All affections which are common to all men, and thoſe to which in particular, particular men have been adicted to, ſhall not only be juſtly employed upon God, but alſo ſecurely employed, becauſe we cannot exceed, nor go too far in imploying them upon him. According to this Rule,Col. 1. St. Paul, who had been ſo vehement a perſecutor, had ever his thoughts exerciſed upon that; and thereupon after his converſion, he fulfils the reſt of the ſufferings of Chriſt in his fleſh, he ſuffers moſt, he makes moſt mention of his ſuffering of any of the Apoſtles.
And according to this Rule too, Salomon, whoſe diſpoſition was amorous, and exceſſive in the love of women, when he turn'd to God, he departed not utterly from his old phraſe and language, but having put a new, and a ſpiritual tincture, and form and habit in all his thoughts, and words, he conveyes all his loving approaches and applications to God, and all Gods gracious anſwers to his amorous ſoul, into ſongs, and Epithalamians, and meditations upon contracts, and marriages between God and his Church, and between God and his ſoul; as we ſee ſo evidently in all his other writings, and particularly in this text, I love them, &c.
Auguſt.In which words is expreſſed all that belongs to love, all which, is to deſire, and to enjoy; for to deſire without fruition, is a rage, and to enjoy without deſire is a ſtupidity: In the firſt alone we think of nothing, but that which we then would have; and in the ſecond alone, we are not for that, when we have it; in the firſt, we are without it; in the ſecond, we were as good we were, for we have no pleaſure in it; nothing then can give us ſatisfaction, but where thoſe two concurr, amare and frui, to love and to enjoy.
In ſenſual love it is ſo; Quid erat quod me delectabat niſi amare et amari? I take no joy in this world, but in loving, and in being beloved; in ſenſual love it is ſo, but in ſenſual love, when we are come ſo far; there is no ſatisfaction in that; the ſame Father confeſſeth more of himſelf, then any Commiſſion, any oath would have put him to, Amatus ſum, et perveni occulte ad fruendum, I had all I deſir'd, and I had it with that advantage of having it ſecretly; but what got I by all that, Ut caederer virgis ardentibus ferreis, zeli ſuſpicionis et rixarum; nothing but to be ſcourg'd with burning iron rods, rods of jealouſie, of ſuſpition, and of quarrels; but in the love and enjoying of this text, there is no room for Jealouſie, nor ſuſpition, nor quarrelſome complaining.
Deviſio.In this text then you may be pleaſed to conſider theſe two things, Quid amare, quid frui, what the affection of this love is, what is the bleſſedneſs of this enjoying; but in the firſt of theſe, we muſt firſt conſider the perſons, who are the lovers in this text; for there are perſons that are incredible, though they ſay they love, becauſe they are accuſtomed to falſhood; and there are perſons which are unrequitable, though they be believed to love, becauſe they love not where, & as they ſhould. When we have found the perſons, in a ſecond conſideration we ſhall look upon the affection it ſelf, what is the love in this text; and then after that, upon the bond, and union and condition of this love, that it is mutual, I love them that love me; and having paſſed thoſe three branches of the firſt part, we ſhall in the ſecond, which is enjoying, conſider firſt, that this enjoying, is expreſſed in the word finding; and then that this finding requires two conditions, a ſeeking, and an early ſeeking, And they that ſeek me early ſhall find me.
The Perſon that profeſſes love in this place is wiſdom her ſelf,Firſt part. The Perſon. as appears at the beginning of the Chapter; ſo that ſapere et amare, to be wiſe & to love, which perchance never met before nor ſince, are met in this text: but whether this wiſdom, ſo frequently mentioned in this book of Proverbs, be ſapientia creata or increat, whether it be the wiſdom, or the root of wiſdom, Chriſt Jeſus, hath been diverſly debated: the occaſion grew in that great Councel of Nice, where the Catholick Fathers underſtood this wiſdom, to be intended of Chriſt himſelf, and then the Arrian hereticks preſſed ſome places of this book, where ſuch things ſeemed to them to be ſpoken of wiſdom, as could not be applyable to any but to a Creature; and that therefore if Chriſt were this wiſdom, Chriſt muſt neceſſarily be a Creature, and not God.
We will not diſpute thoſe things over again now, they are clearly enough, & largely enough ſet down in that Councel; but ſince there is nothing ſaid of wiſdom in all this book, which hath not been by good expoſitors applied to Chriſt, much more may we preſume the lover in this text, (though preſented in the name of wiſdom) to be Chriſt himſelf, and ſo we do.
To ſhew the conſtancy and durableneſs of this love, the lover is a he, that is Chriſt; to ſhew the vehemency and earneſtneſs of it, the lover is a ſhee, that is wiſdom, as it is often expreſſed in this Chapter, ſhe crieth, ſhe uttereth her voice; yea in one place of the Bible (and only in that one place I think) where Moſes would expreſs an extraordinary, and vehement and paſſionate indignation in God againſt his people, when as it is in that text, his wrath was kindled, and grievouſly kindled,Num. 11.15. there and only their doth Moſes attribute even to God himſelf the feminine ſex, and ſpeaks to God in the original language, as if he ſhould have call'd him Deam Iratam, an angry ſhe God; all that is good then, either in the love of man or woman is in this love; for he is expreſſed in both ſexes, man and woman; and all that can be ill in the love of either ſex, is purged away, for the man is no other man then Chriſt Jeſus, and the woman no other woman, then wiſdom her ſelf, even the uncreated wiſdom of God himſelf.
Now all this is but one perſon, the perſon that profeſſes love; who is the other, who is the beloved of Chriſt, is not ſo eaſily diſcern'd: in the love between perſons in this world, and of this world, we are often deceived with outward ſigns; we often miſ-call and miſ-judg civil reſpects, and mutual courteſies; and a delight in one anothers converſation, and ſuch other indifferent things, as only malignity, and curioſity, and ſelf-guiltineſs, makes to be miſinterpretable, we often call theſe love; but neither amongſt our ſelves, much leſs between Chriſt and our ſelves, are theſe outward appearances alwaies ſigns of love.
This perſon then, this beloved ſoul, is not every one, to whom Chriſt ſends a loving meſſage, or writs too; for his letters his Scriptures are directed to all; not every one he wiſhes well to and ſwears that he does ſo, for ſo he doth to all; As I live (ſaith the Lord) I would not the death of a Sinner; not every one that he ſends jewels, and preſents to; for they are often ſnares to corrupt, as well as arguments of love; not though he admit them to his table and ſupper, for even there the Devil entred into Judas with a ſop; not though he receive them to a kiſs, for even with that familarity Judas betrayed him; not though he betroth himſelf as he did to the Jews,Oſc. 2.14. ſponſabo te mihi in aeternum; not though he make jointures, in pacto ſalis, in a covenant of ſalt, an everlaſting covenant; not though he have communicated his name to them, which is an act of marriage; for to how many hath he ſaid: ego dixit Dii eſtis, I have ſaid you are Gods; and yet they have been reprobates; not all theſe outward things amount ſo far, as to make us diſcern who is this beloved perſon; for himſelf ſaies of the Iſraelites, to whom he had made all theſe demonſtrations of love, yet after, for their abominations, devorc'd himſelf from them, I have forſaken mine houſe, Jer. 12.7.I have left mine own heritage, I have given the dearly beloved of my ſoul into the hands of her enemies. To conclude this perſon beloved of Chriſt, is only that ſoul, that loves Chriſt; but that belongs to the third branch of this firſt part, which is the mutual love:The Affection. but firſt having found the perſon, we are to conſider the affection it ſelf, the love of this text; it is an obſervation of Origens, that though theſe three words, Amor, Dilectio, and Charitas, love, and affection, and good will, be all of one ſignification in the ſctiptures, yet ſaies he, whereſoever there is danger of repreſenting to the fancy a laſcivious and carnal love, the ſcripture forbears the word love, and uſes either affection, or good will; and where there is no ſuch danger, the ſcripture comes directly to this word love, of which Origens examples are, that when Iſaac bent his affections upon Rebecca, and Jacob upon Rachel, in both places it is dilexit, and not amavit; Cant 5.8.and when it is ſaid in the Cant. I charge you Daughters of Jeruſalem to tell my well-beloved, it is not to tel him that ſhe was in love, but to tell him, quod vulneratae charitatis ſum; that I am wounded with an affection & good will towards him; but in this book of Pro. in all the paſſages between Chriſt and the beloved ſoul, there is evermore a free uſe of this word, Amor, love; becauſe it is even in the firſt apprehenſion, a pure, a chaſt, and an undefiled love, Eloquia Dominis caſta, ſayes David, All the words of the Lord, and all their words that love the Lord, all diſcourſes, all that is ſpoken to or from the ſoul, is all full of chaſt love, and of the love of chaſtity.
Now though this love of Chriſt to our ſouls be too large to ſhut up or comprehend in any definition, yet if we content our ſelves with the definition of the Schools, Amare eſt velle alicui quod bonum eſt, love is nothing but a deſire, that they whom we love ſhould be happy: we may eaſily diſcern the advantage and profit which we have by this love in the Text, when he that wiſhes us this good, by loving us, is author of all good himſelf, and may give us as much as pleaſes him, without impairing his own infinite treaſure; He loves us as his ancient inheritance, as the firſt amongſt his creatures in the creation of the world, which he created for us: He loves us more as his purchaſe, whom he hath bought with his blood; for even man takes moſt pleaſure in things of his own getting; But he loves us moſt for our improvement, when by his ploughing up of our hearts, and the dew of his grace, and the ſeed of his word, we come to give grea…r cent, in the fruit of ſanctification than before. And ſince he loves …s thus, and that in him, this love is velle bonum, a deſire that his beloved ſhould be happy, what ſoul amongſt us ſhall doubt, that when God hath ſuch an abundant, and infinite treaſure, as the merit and paſſion of Chriſt Jeſus, ſufficient to ſave millions of worlds, and yet, many millions in this world (all the heathen excluded from any intereſt therein) when God hath a kingdome ſo large, as that nothing limits it, and yet he hath baniſhed many natural ſubjects thereof, even thoſe legions of Angels which were created in it, and are fallen from it; what ſoul amongſt us ſhall doubt, but that he that hath thus much, and loves thus much, will not deny her a portion in the blood of Chriſt or a room in the kingdome of heaven? No ſoul can doubt it except it have been a witneſs to it ſelf, and be ſo ſtill, that it love not Chriſt Jeſus, for that's a condition neceſſary: And that is the third branch to which we are come now in our order; that this love be mutuall, I love them, &c.
If any man loves not our Lord Jeſus, let him be accurſed, Mutual.ſaies the Apoſtle; Now the firſt part of this curſe is upon the indiſpoſition to love; he that loves not at all is firſt accurſed. That ſtupid inconſideration, which paſſes on drowſilie, and negligently upon Gods creatures, that ſullen indifferency in ones diſpoſition, to love one thing no more than another, not to value, not to chuſe, not to prefer, that ſtonineſs, that in humanity, not to be affected, not to be entendred, to wear thoſe things which God hath made objects and ſubjects of affections; that which St. Paul places in the bottome, and lees,Rom. 1.30. and dregs of all the ſins of the Jews, to be without natural affections, this diſtemper, this ill complexion, this ill nature of the ſoul, is under the firſt part of this curſe, if any man love not; for he that loves not, knows not God, for God is love.
But this curſe determins not upon that, neither is it principally directed upon that, not loving; for as we ſay in the ſchools, Amor eſt primus actus voluntatis, the firſt thing that the will of man does, is to affect, to chooſe, to love ſomething; and it is ſcarce poſſible to find any mans will ſo idle, ſo barren, as that it hath produced no act at all; and therefore the firſt act being love, ſcarce any man can be found, that doth not love ſomething: But the curſes extends, yea is principally intended upon him that loves not Chriſt Jeſus; though he love the creature, and orderly enough yea; though he love God, as a great and incomprehenſible power, yet if he love not Chriſt Jeſus, if he acknowledg not, that all that paſſes between God and him, is in, and for Chriſt Jeſus, let him be accurſed, for all his love.
Now there are but two that can be loved, God and the Creature: and of the creatures, that muſt neceſſarily be beſt loved, which is neereſt us, which we underſtand beſt and reflect moſt upon, and that's our ſelves; for, for the love of other creatures, it is but a ſecondary love; if we l…e God, we love them for his ſake; if we love our ſelves, we love them for our ſakes: Now to love our ſelves is only allowable, only proper to God himſelf; for this love is a deſire, that all honor, and praiſe, and glory ſhould be attributed to ones ſelf, and it can be only proper to God to deſire that: To love our ſelves then, is the greateſt treaſon we can commit againſt God; and all love of the creatures, determines in the love of our ſelves: for though ſometimes we may ſay, that we love them better than our ſelves; and though we give ſo good (that is indeed, ſo ill teſtimony) that we do ſo, that we neglect our ſelves, both our religion and our diſcretion for their ſakes, whom we pretend to love, yet all this is but a ſecondary love, and with relation ſtill to our ſelves and our own contentments: for is this love which we bear to other creatures, within that definition of love, Velle bonum amato, to wiſh that which we love happy; doth any ambitious man love honor or office therefore, becauſe he thinks that title, or that place ſhould receive a dignity by his having it, or an excellency by his executing it? doth any covetous man love a houſe or horſe therefore, becauſe he thinks that houſe or horſe ſhould be happy in ſuch a Maſter or ſuch Rider? doth any licentious man covet or ſolicite a woman therefore, becauſe he thinks it a happineſs to her, to have ſuch a ſervant? No, it is only himſelf that is within the difinition, vult bonum ſibi, he wiſhes well (as he miſtakes it) to himſelf, and he is content, that the ſlavery, and diſhonor, and ruin of others ſhould contribute to make up his imaginary happineſs.
Auguſt.O dementiam neſcientem amare homines humaniter! what a perverſe madneſs is it, to love a creature and not as a creature, that is, with all the adjuncts, and circumſtances, and qualities of a creature, of which the principal is that, that love raiſe us to the contemplation of the Creator; for if it be ſo, we may love our ſelves, as we are the Images of God; and ſo we may love other men, as they are the Images of us, and our nature; yea, as they are members of the ſame body; for omnes homines una humanitas, all men make up but one mankind, and ſo we love other creatures, as we all meet in our Creator, in whom Princes and Subjects, Angels and men, and wormes are fellow ſervants.
Si malè amaveris tunc odiſti? If thou haſt lov'd thy ſelf,August. or any body elſe principally? or ſo, that when thou doſt any act of love, thou canſt not ſay to thine own conſcience, I do this for Gods ſake, and for his glory; if thou haſt loved ſo, thou haſt hated thy ſelf, and him whom thou haſt loved, and God whom thou ſhouldeſt love.
Si bonè oderis, ſaies the ſame Father, If thou haſt hated as thou ſhouldſt hate, if thou haſt hated thine own internal tentations, and the outward ſolicitations of others, Amaſti, then thou haſt expreſſed a manifold act of love, of love to thy God, and love to his Image, thy ſelf, and love to thine Image, that man whom thy virtue and thy example hath declined, and kept from offending his, and thy God.
And as this affection, love, doth belong to God principally, that is, rather then to any thing elſe, ſo doth it alſo principally, another way, that is, rather then any affection elſe; for, the fear of God is the beginning of wiſdom, but the love of God is the conſummation, that is, the marriage, and union of thy ſoul, and thy Saviour.
But can we love God when we will? do we not find, that in the love of ſome other things, or ſome courſes of life, of ſome waies in our actions, and of ſome particular perſons, that we would fain love them, & cannot? when we can object nothing againſt it, when we can multiply arguments, why we ſhould love them, yet we cannot: but it is not ſo towards God; every man may love him, that will; but can every man have this will, this deſire? certainly we cannot begin this love; except God love us firſt, we cannot love him; but God doth love us all ſo well, from the beginning, as that every man may ſee the fault was in the perverſneſs of his own will, that he did not love God better. If we look for the root of this love, it is in the Father; for, though the death of Chriſt be towards us, as a root, as a cauſe of our love, and of the acceptableneſs of it, yet,Augſt. Meritum Chriſti eſt affectum amoris Dei erga nos, the death of Chriſt was but an effect of the love of God towards us, So God loved the world that he gave his Son: if he had not lov'd us firſt, we had never had his Son; here is the root then, the love of the Father, and the tree, the merit of the Son; except there be fruit too, love in us, to them again, both root and tree will wither in us, howſoever they grew in God. I have loved thee with an everlaſting love, Jer. 31.3.(ſaies God) therfore with mercy I have drawn thee, if therefore we do not perceive, that we are drawn to lov again by this lov, 'tis not an everlaſting lov, that ſhines upon us
All the ſunſhine, all the glory of this life, though all theſe be teſtimonies of Gods love to us, yet all theſe bring but a winters day, a ſhort day, and a cold day, and a dark day, for except we love too, God doth not love with an everlaſting love: God will not ſuffer his love to be idle, and ſince it profits him nothing, if it profits us nothing neither,Ambroſe. he will withdraw it; Amor Dei ut lumen ignis, ut ſplendor ſolis, ut odor lucis, non praebenti proficit, ſed utenti, The ſun hath no benefit by his own light, nor the fire by his own heat, nor a perfume by the ſweetneſs thereof, but only they who make their uſe, and enjoy this heat and fragrancy; And this brings us to our other part, to paſs from loving to enjoying.
2 Part.Tulerunt Dominum meum, They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him; this was one ſtrain of Mary Magdalens lamentation, when ſhe found not her Saviour in the monument: It is a lamentable caſe to be fain to cry ſo, Tulerunt, They have taken, other men have taken away Chriſt, by a dark and corrupt education, which was the ſtate of our Fathers to the Roman captivity. But when the abjecerunt Dominum, which is ſo often complained of by God in the Prophets, is pronounced againſt thee, when thou haſt had Chriſt offered to thee, by the motions of his grace, and ſeal'd to thee by his Sacraments, and yet wilt caſt him ſo far from thee, that thou knoweſt not where to find him, when thou haſt poured him out at thine eyes in prophane and counterfeit tears, which ſhould be thy ſouls rebaptization for thy ſins, when thou haſt blown him away in corrupt and ill intended ſighs, which ſhould be gemitus columbae, the voice of the Turtle, to ſound thy peace and reconciliation with thy God; yea when thou haſt ſpit him out of thy mouth in execrable and blaphemous oathes; when thou haſt not only caſt him ſo far, as that thou knoweſt not where to find him, but haſt made ſo ordinary and ſo indifferent a thing of ſin, as thou knoweſt not when thou didſt loſe him, no nor doſt not remember that ever thou hadſt him; no, nor doſt not know that there is any ſuch man, as Dominus tuus, a Jeſus, that is, thy Lord. The Tulerunt is dangerous, when others hide Chriſt from thee; but the abjecerunt is deſperate, when thou thy ſelf doeſt caſt him away.
To loſe Chriſt may befall the moſt righteous man that is; but then he knows where he left him; he knows at what ſin he loſt his way, and where to ſeek it again; even Chriſts imagin'd Father and his true mother, Joſeph and Mary, loſt him, and loſt him in the holy City, at Jeruſalem; they loſt him and knew it not, they loſt him and went a dayes journy without him, and thought him to be in the company; but as ſoon as they deprehended their error, they ſought and they found him, when as his mother told him, his father and ſhe had ſought with a heavy heart: Alas we may loſe him at Jeruſalem, even in his own houſe, even at this preſent, whilſt we pretend to doe him ſervice; we may loſe him, by ſuffering our though …s to look back with pleaſure upon the ſins which we have committed, or to look forward with greedines upon ſome ſin that is now in our purpoſe & proſecution; we may loſe him at Jeruſalem, how much more, if our dwelling be a Rome of Superſtition and Idolatry, or if it be a Babylon in confuſion, and mingling God and the world together, or if it be a Sodome, a wanton and intemperate miſuſe of Gods benefits to us, we may think him in the company when he is not, we may miſtake his houſe, we may take a Conventicle for a Church; we may miſtake his apparrel, that is, the outward form of his worſhip; we may miſtake the perſon, that is, aſſociate our ſelves to ſuch as are no members of his body: But if we doe not return to our diligence to ſeek him, and ſeek him, and ſeek him with a heavy heart, though we begun with a Tulerunt, other men, other tentations took him away, yet we end in an abjecerunt, we our ſelves caſt him away, ſince we have been told where to find him, and have not ſought him: And let no man be afraid to ſeek or find him for fear of the loſs of good company; Religion is no ſullen thing, it is not a melancholly, there is not ſo ſociable a thing as the love of Chriſt Jeſus.
It was the firſt word which he who firſt found Chriſt of all the Apoſtles, Saint Andrew, is noted to have ſaid, Invenimus Meſsiam, we have found the Meſſias, and it is the firſt act that he is noted to have done, after he had found him, to ſeek his brother Peter, Jo. 1.34.& duxit ad Jeſum, ſo communicable a thing is the love of Jeſus, when we have found him.
But when are we likelieſt to find him? It is ſaid by Moſes, Deut. 30.11.of the words and precepts of God. They are not hid from thee, neither are far off, Not in heaven that thou ſhouldſt ſay; Who ſhall goe up to heaven for us to bring them down? nor beyond the Seas, that thou ſhouldſt go over the Sea for them; but the word is very neer thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; and ſo neer thee is Chriſt Jeſus, or thou ſhalt never find him; Thou muſt not ſo think him in heaven, as that thou canſt not have immediate acceſſe to him without interceſſion of others, nor ſo beyond Sea, as to ſeek him in a forrein Church, either where the Church is but an Antiquaries Cabinet, full of rags and fragments of antiquity, but nothing fit for that uſe for which it was firſt made, or where it is ſo new a built houſe with bare walls, that it is yet unfurniſhed of ſuch Ceremonies as ſhould make it comly and reverend; Chriſt is at home with thee, he is at home within thee, and there is the neereſt way to find him.
It is true, that Chriſt in the beginning of this chapter, ſhadow'd under the name of wiſdom, when he diſcovers where he may be found, ſpeaks in the perſon of humane wiſdom as well as divine, Doth not wiſdome cry, and underſtanding utter her voice? wher- thoſe two words, Wiſdom and Underſtanding, ſignifie Sapientiam, and Prudentiam; That wiſdom whoſe object is God, and that which concerns our converſation in this world; for Chriſt hath not taken ſo narrow a dwelling, as that he may be found but one way, or in one profeſſion; for in all profeſſions, in all Nations, in all vocations, when all our actions in our ſeverall courſes are directed principally upon his glory, Chriſt is eminent, and may eaſily be found. To that purpoſe in that place, Chriſt, in the perſon of wiſdom, offers himſelfe to be found in the tops of high places, and in the gates of Cities; to ſhew that this Chriſt, and this wiſdom which muſt ſave our Soules, is not confined to Cloyſters and Monaſteries, and ſpeculative men only, but is all ſo evidently and eminently to be found in the Courts of religious Princes, in the tops of high places, and in the Courts of Juſtice (in the gates of the City) Both theſe kinds of Courts may have more directions from him then other places; but yet in theſe places hee is alſo gloriouſly and conſpicuouſly to be found; for whereſoever he is, he cries aloud, as the Text ſaies there, and he utters his voyce. Now Temptations to ſin, are all but whiſperings, & we are afraid that a husband, that a father, that a competitor, that a rivall, a pretender, at leaſt the Magiſtrate may heare of it: Tentations to ſin are all but whiſperings; private Conventicles and clandeſtine worſhipping of God in a forbidden manner, in corners, are all but whiſperings; It is not the voice of Chriſt, except thou hear him cry aloud, and utter his voice, ſo as thou maiſt confidently doe whatſoever he commands thee, in the eye of all the world; he is every where to be found, he calls upon thee every where, but yet there belongs a diligence on thy part, thou muſt ſeek him.
Quaerere.Eſaias is hold (ſaith St. Paul) and ſaies, I was found of them that ſought me not, when that Prophet derives the love of God to …he Gentiles, who could ſeeke God no where but in the booke of Creatures, and were deſtitute of all other lights to ſeek him by, and yet God was found by them; Eſaias is bold (cries the Apoſtle) that is, It was a great degree of confidence in Eſaias, to ſay; That God was found of them that ſought him not: Rom. 10.20.It was a boldneſs and confidence, which no particular man may have; that Chriſt will be found, except he be ſought; he gives us light to ſeek him by, but he is not found till we have ſought him; It is true that in that Commandement of his, Primum quaerite Regnum Dei; Firſt ſeek the Kingdom of God; the primum is not to prevent God, that we ſhould ſeek it before he ſhewes it, that's impoſſible; without the light of Grace we dwell in darkneſſe, and in the ſhadow of death; but the primum is; That we ſhould ſeek it before we ſeek any thing elſe, that when the Sun of Grace is riſen to us, the firſt thing that we do be to ſeek Chriſt Jeſus:Amos 5.4. Querite me & vivetis, Seek me and ye ſhall live, why? we were alive before, elſe we could not ſeek him, but it is a promiſe of another life, of an eternall life, if we ſeek him, and ſeek him early, which is our laſt conſideration.
The word there uſed for early, ſignifies properly Auroram, Early.the Morning, and is uſually transfer'd in Scriptures to any beginning of any action; ſo in particular, Evill ſhall come upon thee, Eſay 47.11.and thou ſhalt not know, Shakrah, the morning, the beginning of it; And therefore this Text is elegantly tranſlated by one, Aurorantes ad me, They that have their break of day towards me, they that ſend forth their firſt morning beames towards me, their firſt thoughts they ſhall be ſure to find me. St. Hierom expreſſes this early diligence, required in us, well in his tranſlation, qui mane vigilaverint; They that wake betimes in the morning ſhall finde me; but the Chaldee Paraphraſe better, qui mane conſurgunt, they that riſe betimes in the morning ſhall finde me; for which of us doth not know that we wak'd long agoe, that we ſaw day and had heretofore ſome motions to find Chriſt Jeſus: But though we were awake, wee have kept our bed ſtill, we have continued ſtill in our former ſins; ſo that there is more to be done then waking: we ſee the Spouſe her ſelf ſaies, In my bed, by night, Cant. 3.1.I ſought him whom my Soule lov'd, but I found him not; Chriſt may be ſought in the bed, and miſſed; other thoughts may exclude him; and he may bee ſought there and found, we may have good meditations there; and Chriſt may be neerer us when we are aſleep in our beds, then when when we are awake; But howſoever the bed is not his ordinary ſtation; he may be, and he ſaies he will be, at the making of the bed of the ſick, but not at the marriage of the bed of the wanton, and licentious.
To make haſte, the circumſtance only requir'd here, is that he be ſought early; and to invite thee to it, conſider how early he ſought thee; It is a great mercy that he ſtaies ſo long for thee; It was more to ſeek thee ſo early: Doſt thou not feele that he ſeeks thee now, in offering his love and deſiring thine? Canſt not thou remember that he ſought thee yeſterday, that is, that ſome tentations beſieged thee then, and he ſought thee out by his Grace, and preſerved thee? and hath he not ſought thee ſo, ſo early, as from the beginning of thy life? nay, doſt thou not remember that after thou hadſt committed that ſin, he ſought thee by imprinting ſome remorſe, ſome apprehenſion of his judgments, and ſo miro & divino modo, & quando te oderat diligebat, Grego.by a miraculous and powerful working of his Spirit, he threatned thee, when he comforted thee, he lov'd thee when he chid thee, he ſought thee wen he drove thee from him; He hath ſought thee amongſt the infinite numbers of falſe and faſhionall Chriſtians, that he might bring thee out from the hypocrite, to ſerve him in earneſt, and in holyneſs, and in righteousneſs; he ſought thee before that amongſt the Herd of the nations & Gentiles, who had no Church to bring thee into his incloſures and paſtures, his viſible Church, and to feed thee with his word and ſacraments; he ſought thee before that, in the catalogue of all his Creatures, where he might have left thee a ſtone, or a plant, or a beaſt; and then he gave thee an immortal Soul, capable of all his future bleſſings; yea, before this he ſought thee, when thou waſt no where, nothing, he brought thee then, the greateſt ſtep of all, from being nothing, to be a Creature; how early did he ſeek thee, when he ſought thee in Adam's confuſed loynes, & out of that leavened and ſowre loaf in which we were all kneaded up, out of that maſſa damnata, that refuſe & condemnable lump of dough, he ſought and ſever'd out that grain which thou ſhouldſt be; yea millions of millions of generations before al this he ſought thee in his own eternal Decree; And in that firſt Scripture of his, which is as old as himſelf, in the book of life he wrote thy name in the blood of that Lamb which was ſlain for thee, not only from the beginning of this world, but from the writing of that eternal Decree of thy Salvation. Thus early had he ſought thee in the Church amongſt hypocrites; out of the Church amongſt the Heathen; In his Creatures amongſt creatures of an ignoble nature, and in the firſt vacuity, when thou waſt nothing he ſought thee ſo early as in Adam, ſo early as in the book of life, and when wilt thou think it a fit time to ſeek him.
Prov. 1.28.There is an earlineſs which will not ſerve thy turn, when afflictions, and anguiſh, ſhall come upon thee; they ſhall ſeek me early and ſhall not find me, early in reſpect of the puniſhment, at the beginning of that; but this is late in reſpect of thy fault, or of thine age, when thou art grown old, in the cuſtome of ſin; for thus we may miſuſe this early, and make it ſerve all ill uſes, if we will ſay we will leave Covetouſneſs early, that is, as ſoon as we are rich enough; Incontinence early, that is, as ſoon as we are old or ſick; Ambition early, that is, as ſoon as we have overthrown and cruſhed our enemies irrecoverably; for thus, we ſhall by this habit carry on this early to our late and laſt houre, and ſay we wil repent early, that is, as ſoone as the bell begins to toll for us.
It is good for a man that he beare his yoke in his youth, that he ſeek Chriſt early, for even God himſelf, when he had given over his People to be afflicted by the Chaldeans, yet complains of the Chaldeans,Eſay 46.6. that they laid heavy loads upon old men; though this yoke of this amorous ſeeking of Chriſt be a light yoke, yet it is too heavy for an old man, that hath never us'd himſelf in all his life to beare it; even this ſpirituall love will not ſute well with an old man, if he never began before, if he never lov'd Chriſt in his youth, even this love will be an unweildy thing in his age.
Yet if we have omitted our firſt early, our youth, there is one early left for us; this minute; ſeek Chriſt early, now, now, as ſoon as his Spirit begins to ſhine upon your hearts. Now as ſoon as you begin your day of Regeneration, ſeek him the firſt minute of this day, for you know not whether this day ſhall have two minutes or no, that is, whether his Spirit, that deſcends upon you now, will tarry and reſt upon you or not, as it did upon Chriſt at his baptiſme.
Therefore ſhall every one that is godlie make his Prayer unto thee O God, in a time when thou may'ſt be found:Pſal. 32.6. we acknowledg this to be that time, and we come to thee now early, with the confeſſion of thy ſervant Auguſtine, ſero te amavi pulchritudo tam antiqua, tam nova; O glorious beauty, infinitely reverend, infinitely freſh and young, we come late to thy love, if we conſider the paſt daies of our lives, but early if thou beeſt pleaſed to reckon with us from this houre of the ſhining of thy grace upon us; and therefore O God, as thou haſt brought us ſafely to the beginning of this day, as thou haſt not given us over to a finall periſhing in the works of night and darkneſs, as thou …aſt brought us to the beginning of this day of grace, ſo defend us in the ſame with thy mighty power, and grant that this day, this day of thy viſitation, we fall into no ſin, neither run into any kind of danger, no ſuch ſinne, no ſuch danger as may ſeparate us from thee, or fruſtrate us of our hopes in that eternall kingdom which thy Sonne our Saviour Chriſt Jeſus hath purchaſed for us, with the ineſtimable price of his incorruptible blood. To whom with the Father, &c.