Twenty-Six Sermons, Sermon 19
A SERMON of Valediction at my going into Germany, at Loncolns-Inne, April. 18. 1619. SERMON XIX.
Eccleſiaſt. 12.1.
Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth.
WEE may conſider two great virtues, one for the ſociety of this life, Thankfulneſs, and the other for attaining the next life, Repentance; as the two pretious Mettles, Silver and Gold: Of Silver (of the virtue of thankfulneſs) there are whole Mines, books written by Philoſophers, and a man may grow rich in that mettle,Serm. 19. in that virtue, by digging in that Mine, in the Precepts of moral men; of this Gold (this virtue of Repentance) there is no Mine in the Earth; in the books of Philoſophers, no doctrine of Repentance; this Gold is for the moſt part in the waſhes; this Repentance in matters of tribulation; but God directs thee to it in this Text, before thou come to thoſe waters of Tribulation, remember now thy Creator before thoſe evill dayes come, and then thou wilt repent the not remembring him till now.Diviſio. Here then the holy-Ghoſt takes the neereſt way to bring a man to God, by awaking his memory; for, for the underſtanding, that requires long and cleer inſtruction; and the will requires an inſtructed underſtanding before, and is in it ſelf the blindeſt and boldeſt faculty; but if the memory doe but faſten upon any of thoſe things which God hath done for us, it is the neereſt way to him. Remember therefore, and remember now, though the Memory be placed in the hindermaſt part of the brain, defer not thou thy remembring to the hindermoſt part of thy life, but doe that now in die, in the day, whil'ſt thou haſt light, now in diebus, in the days, whilſt God preſents thee many lights, many means; and in diebus juventatis, in the days of thy youth, of ſtrength, whilſt thou art able to doe that which thou purpoſeſt to thy ſelf; And as the word imports, Bechucocheica, in diebus Electionum tuarum, in the dayes of thy choice, whilſt thou art able to make thy choyce, whilſt the Grace of God ſhines ſo brightly upon thee, as that thou maiſt chooſe the way, and ſo powerfully upon thee, as that thou maiſt walke in that way. Now, in this day, and in theſe dayes Remember firſt the Creator, That all theſe things which thou laboreſt for, and delighteſt in, were created, made of nothing; and therfore thy memory looks not far enough back, if it ſtick only upon the Creature, and reach not to the Creator, Remember thy Creator, and remember thy Creator; and in that, firſt that he made thee, and then what he made thee; He made thee of nothing, but of that nothing he hath made thee ſuch a thing as cannot return to nothing, but muſt remain for ever; whether happy or miſerable, that depends upon thy Remembring thy Creator now in the dayes of thy youth.
Momento. Gen. 8.1.Firſt remember; which word is often uſed in the Scripture for conſidering and taking care: for, God remembred Noah and every beaſt with him in the Ark; as the word which is contrary to that, forgetting is alſo for the affection contrary to it,Eſay. 48.15. it is neglecting, Can a woman forget her child, and not have compaſsion on the ſon of her womb? But here we take not remembring ſo largly, but reſtrain it to the exerciſe of that one faculty, the memory; for it is Stomachus animae. The memory, ſayes St. Bernard, is the ſtomach of the ſoul, it receives and digeſts, and turns into good blood, all the benefits formerly exhibited to us in particular, and exhibited to the whole Church of God: preſent that which belongs to the underſtanding, to that faculty, and the underſtanding is not preſently ſetled in it; preſent any of the prophecies made in the captivity, and a Jews underſtanding takes them for deliverances from Babylon, and a Chriſtians underſtanding takes them for deliverances from ſin and death, by the Meſſias Chriſt Jeſus; preſent any of the prophecies of the Revelation concerning Antichriſt, and a Papiſt will underſtand it of a ſingle, and momentane, and tranſitory man, that muſt laſt but three yeer and a half; and a Proteſtant may underſtand it of a ſucceſſion of men, that have laſted ſo 1000. yeers already: preſent but the name of Biſhop or of elder, out of the Acts of the Apoſtle, or their Epiſtles, and other men will take it for a name of equality, and parity, and we for a name and office of diſtinction in the Hierarchy of Gods Church. Thus it is in the underſtanding that's often perplexed; conſider the other faculty, the will of man, by thoſe bitterneſſes which have paſſed between the Jeſuits and the Dominicans, (amongſt other things belonging to the will) whether the ſame proportion of grace, offered to men alike diſpoſed, muſt neceſſarily work alike upon both their wills? And amongſt perſons neerer to us, whether that proportion of grace, which doth convert a man, might not have been reſiſted by perverſneſs of his will? By all theſe difficulties we way ſee, how untractable, and untameable a faculty the wil of man is. But come not with matter of law, but matter of fact, Let God make his wonderful works to be had in remembrance: Pſal. 111.4.preſent the hiſtory of Gods protection of his children, from the beginning, in the ark, in both captivities, in infinite dangers; preſent this to the memory, and howſoever the underſtanding be beclouded, or the will perverted, yet both Jew and Chriſtian, Papiſt and Proteſtant, Puritan and Proteſtant, are affected with a thankfull acknowledgment of his former mercies and benefits, this iſſue of that faculty of their memory is alike in them all: And therefore God in giving the law, works upon no other faculty but this,Exod. 20. I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt; He only preſents to their memory what he had done for them. And ſo in delivering the Goſpel in one principal ſeal thereof, the ſacrament of his body, he recommended it only to their memory, Do this in remembrance of me. This is the faculty that God deſires to work upon; And therefore if thine underſtanding cannot reconcile differences in all Churches, if thy will cannot ſubmit it ſelf to the ordinances of thine own Church, go to thine own memory; for as St. Bernard calls that the ſtomach of the ſoul, we may be bold to call it the Gallery of the ſoul, hang'd with ſo many, and ſo lively pictures of the goodneſs and mercies of thy God to thee, as that every one of them ſhall be a catachiſm to thee, to inſtruct thee in all thy duties to him for thoſe mercies: And as a well made, and well plac'd picture, looks alwayes upon him that looks upon it; ſo ſhall thy God look upon thee, whoſe memory is thus contemplating him, and ſhine upon thine underſtanding, and rectifie thy will too. If thy memory cannot comprehend his mercy at large ſhewed to his whole Church, (as it is almoſt an incomprehenſible thing, that in ſo few yeers he made us of the Reformation, equall even in number to our adverſaries of the Roman Church,) If thy memory have not held that picture of our general deliverance from the Navy; (if that mercy be written in the water and in the ſands, where it was perform'd, and not in thy heart) if thou remember not our deliverance from that artificiall Hell, the Vault, (in which, though his inſtruments failed of their plot, they did not blow us up; yet the Devil goes forward with his plot, if ever he can blow out; if he can get that deliverance to be forgotten.) If theſe be too large pictures for thy gallery, for thy memory, yet every man hath a pocket picture about him, Emanuel, a boſome book, and if he will turn over but one leaf, and remember what God hath done for him even ſince yeſterday, he ſhall find even by that little branch a navigable river, to ſail into that great and endleſs Sea of Gods mercies towards him, from the beginning of his being.
Nunc.Do but remember, but remember now: Of his own wil begat he us with the word of truth,Jam. 1.18. that we ſhould be as the firſt fruits of his creatures: That as we conſecrate all his creatures to him, in a ſober, and religious uſe of them, ſo as the firſt fruits of all, we ſhould principally conſecrate our ſelves to his ſervice betimes. Now there were three payments of firſt fruits appointed by God to the Jews: The firſt was, Primitiae Spicarum, of their Ears of Corn, and this was early about Eaſter; The ſecond was Primitiae panum, of Loaves of Bread, after their corn was converted to that uſe; and this, though it were not ſo ſoon, yet it was early too, about Whitſontide; The third was Primitiae frugum, of all their Fruits and Revenues; but this was very late in Autumn, at the fall of the leaf, in the end of the yeer. The two firſt of theſe, which were offered early, were offered partly to God, and partly to Man, to the Prieſt; but in the laſt, which came late, God had no part: He had his part in the corn, and in the loaves, but none in the latter fruits. Offer thy ſelf to God; firſt, as Primitias ſpicarum, (whether thou glean in the world, or bind up whole ſheaves, whether thy increaſe be by little and little, or apace;) And offer thy ſelf, as primitias panum, when thou haſt kneaded up riches, and honor, and favour in a ſetled and eſtabliſhed fortune) offer at thy Eaſter, whenſoever thou haſt any reſurrection, any ſenſe of raiſing thy ſoul from the ſhadow of death; offer at thy Pentecoſt, when the holy Ghoſt viſits thee, and deſcends upon thee in a fiery tongue, and melts thy bowels by the power of his word; for if thou defer thy offering til thy fal, til thy winter, til thy death, howſoever they may be thy firſt fruits, becauſe they be the firſt that ever thou gaveſt yet they are ſuch, as are not acceptable to God; God hath no portion in them, if they be not offered til then; offer thy ſelf now; for that's an eaſie requeſt; yea offer to thy ſelf now, that's more eaſie; Viximus mundo; vivamus reliquum nobis ipſis; Thus long we have ſerved the world;Baſil. let us ſerve our ſelves the reſt of our time, that is, the beſt part of our ſelves, our ſouls, Expectas ut febris te vocet ad poenitentiam? Hadſt thou rather a ſickneſs ſhould bring thee to God, than a ſermon?Idem. hadſt thou rather be beholden to a Phyſitian for thy ſalvation, than to a Preacher? thy buſineſs is to remember; ſtay not for thy laſt ſickneſs, which may be a Lethargy in which thou mayeſt forget thine own name, and his that gave thee the name of a Chriſtian, Chriſt Jeſus himſelf: thy buſineſs is to remember, and thy time is now; ſtay not till that Angel come which ſhall ſay and ſwear,Apo. 10 6. that time ſhall be no more.
Remember then, and remember now; In Die, in the day;In Die. Pſ. 20.10. The Lord will hear us In die qua invocaverimus, in the day that we ſhall call upon him; and in quacunque dei, in what day ſoever we call,Pſ. 137.4. and in quacunque die velociter exaudiet, as ſoon as we call in any day.Pſa. 101.1 But all this is Opus diei, a work for the day; for in the night, in our laſt night, thoſe thoughts that fall upon us, they are rather dreams, then true remembrings; we do rather dream that we repent, then repent indeed, upon our death-bed. To him that travails by night a buſh ſeems a tree, and a tree ſeems a man, and a man a ſpirit; nothing hath the true ſhape to him; to him that repents by night, on his death-bed, neither his own ſins, nor the mercies of God have their true proportion. Fool, ſaies Chriſt, this night they will fetch away thy ſoul; but he neither tels him, who they be that ſhall fetch it, nor whether they ſhall carry it; he hath no light but lightnings; a ſodain flaſh of horror firſt, and then he goes into fire without light. Numquid Deus nobis ignem pacavit? non, ſed Diabolo, et Angelis: Chryſosto.did God ordain hell fire for us? no, but for the Devil, and his Angels. And yet we that are veſſels ſo broken, as that there is not a ſheard left, to fetch water at the pit, that is, no means in our ſelves,Eſa. 30. to derive one drop of Chriſts blood upon us, nor to wring out one tear of true repentance from us, have plung'd our ſelves into this everlaſting, and this dark fire, which was not prepared for us: A wretched covetouſneſs, to be intruders upon the Devil; a wretched ambition, to be uſurpers upon damnation. God did not make the fire for us; but much leſs did he make us for that fire; that is, make us to damn us. But now the Judgment is given, Ite maledicti, go ye accurſed; but yet this is the way of Gods juſtice, and his proceeding, that his Judgments are not alwaies executed, though they be given. The Judgments and Sentences of Medes and Perſians are irrevocable, but the Judgments and Sentences of God, if they be given, if they be publiſhed, they are not executed. The Ninevites had periſhed, if the ſentence of their deſtruction had not been given; and the ſentence preſerv'd them; ſo even in this cloud of Ite maledicti, go ye accurſed, we may ſee the day break, and diſcern beams of ſaving light, even in this Judgment of eternal darkneſs; if the contemplation of his Judgment brings us to remember him in that day, in the light and apprehenſion of his anger and correction.
In Diebus.For this circumſtance is enlarged; it is not in die, but in diebus, not in one, but in many dayes; for God affords us many dayes, many lights to ſee and remember him by. This remembrance of God is our regeneration, by which we are new creatures; and therefore we may conſider as many dayes in it, as in the firſt creation. The firſt day was the making of light; and our firſt day is the knowledg of him, who ſaies of himſelf, ego ſum lux mundi, I am the light of the world,Joh. 1. and of whom St. John teſtifies, Erat lux vera, he was the true light, that lighteth every man into the world. This is then our firſt day the true paſſion of Chriſt Jeſus. God made light firſt, that the other creatures might be ſeen;Ambro. Fruſtra eſſent ſi non viderentur, It had been to no purpoſe to have made creatures, if there had been no light to manifeſt them. Our firſt day is the light and love of the Goſpel; for the nobleſt creatures of Princes, (that is, the nobleſt actions of Princes, war, and peace, and treaties) fruſtra ſunt, they are good for nothing, they are nothing, if they be not ſhew'd and tried by this light, by the love and preſervation of the Goſpel of Chriſt Jeſus: God made light firſt, that his other works might appear, and he made light firſt, that himſelf (for our example) might do all his other works in the light: that we alſo, as we had that light ſhed upon us in our baptiſm, ſo we might make all our future actions juſtifiable by that light, and not Erubeſcere Evangelium, not be aſhamed of being too jealous in this profeſſion of his truth. Then God ſaw that the light was good: the ſeeing implies a conſideration; that ſo a religion be not accepted blindly, nor implicitly; and the ſeeing it to be good implies an election of that religion, which is ſimply good in it ſelf, and not good by reaſon of advantage, or conveniency, or other collateral and by-reſpects. And when God had ſeen the light, and ſeen that it was good, then he ſevered light from darkneſs; and he ſevered them, non tanquam duo poſitiva, not as as two eſſential, and poſitive, and equal things; not ſo, as that a brighter and a darker religion, (a good and a bad) ſhould both have a beeing together, but tanquam poſitivum et primitivum, light and darkneſs are primitive, and poſitive, and figure this rather, that a true religion ſhould be eſtabliſhed, and continue, and darkneſs utterly removed; and then, and not till then, (till this was done, light ſevered from darkneſs) there was a day; And ſince God hath given us this day, the brightneſs of his Goſpel, that this light is firſt preſented, that is, all great actions begun with this conſideration of the Goſpel; ſince all other things are made by this light, that is, all have relation to the continuance of the Goſpel, ſince God hath given us ſuch a head, as is ſharp-ſighted in ſeeing the ſeveral lights, wiſe in diſcerning the true light, powerful in reſiſting forraign darkneſs; ſince God hath given us this day, qui non humiliabit animam ſuam in die hac, Serm. 20.as Moſes ſpeaks of the dayes of Gods inſtitution, he that will not remember God now in this day, is impious to him; and unthankful to that great inſtrument of his, by whom this day ſpring from an high hath viſited us.
To make ſhorter dayes of the reſt,Levit. 23. (for we muſt paſs through all the ſix dayes in a few minuts) God in the ſecond day made the firmament to divide between the waters above, and the waters below; and this firmament in us, is terminus cognoſcibilium, the limits of thoſe things which God hath given man means and faculties to conceive, and underſtand: he hath limited our eyes with a firmament beſet with ſtars, our eyes can ſee no farther: he hath limited our underſtanding in matters of religion with a ſtarry firmament too; that is, with the knowledg of thoſe things, quae ubique, quae ſemper, which thoſe ſtars which he hath kindled in his Church, the Fathers and Doctors, have ever from the beginning propoſed as things neceſſary to be explicitely believ'd, for the ſalvation of our ſouls; for the eternal decrees of God, and his unreveal'd myſteries, and the inextricable perplexities of the School, they are waters above the firmament: here Paul plants, and here Apollo waters; here God raiſes up men to convey to us the dew of his grace, by waters under the firmament; by viſible ſacraments, and by the word ſo preach'd, and ſo interpreted, as it hath been conſtantly, and unanimouſly from the beginning of the Church. And therefore this ſecond day is perfited in the third, in the congregentur aquae, let the waters be gathered together; God hath gathered all the waters, all the waters of life in one place; that is, all the doctrine neceſſary for the life to come, into his Church: And then producet terra, here in this world are produced to us all herbs and fruits, all that is neceſſary for the ſoul to feed upon. And in this third daies work God repeats here that teſtimony, videt quod bonum, he ſaw that it was good; good, that here ſhould be a gathering of waters in one place, that is, no doctrine receiv'd that had not been taught in the Church; and videt quod bonum, he ſaw it was good, that all herbs and trees ſhould be produced that bore ſeed; all doctrines that were to be proſeminated and propagated, and to be continued to the end, ſhould be taught in the Church: but for doctrines which were but to vent the paſſion of vehement men, or to ſerve the turns of great men for a time, which were not ſeminal doctrines, doctrines that bore ſeed, and were to laſt from the beginning to the end; for theſe interlineary doctrines, and marginal, which were no part of the firſt text, here's no teſtimony that God ſees that they are good. And, In diebus iſtis, if in theſe two daies, the day when God makes thee a firmament, ſhewes thee what thou art, to limit thine underſtanding & thy faith upon, and the day where God makes thee a ſea, a collection of the waters, (ſhowes thee where theſe neceſſary things muſt be taught in the Church) if in thoſe daies thou wilt not remember thy Creator, it is an irrecoverable Lethargy.
In the fourth daies work, let the making of the Sun to rule the day be the teſtimony of Gods love to thee, in the ſun-ſhine of temporal proſperity, and the making of the Moon to ſhine by night, be the refreſhing of his comfortable promiſes in the darkneſs of adverſity; & then remember that he can make thy ſun to ſet at noon, he can blow out thy taper of proſperity when it burns brighteſt,Amos. and he can turn the Moon into blood,Act. 2.20. he can make all the promiſes of the Goſpel, which ſhould comfort thee in adverſity, turn into deſpair and obduration. Let the firſt daies work, which was the creation Omnium reptibilium, and omnium volatilium, of all creeping things, and of all flying things, produc'd out of water, ſignifie and denote to thee, either thy humble devotion, in which thou ſaiſt of thy ſelf to God, vermis ege et non homo, I am a worm and no man; or let it be the raiſing of thy ſoul in that, pennas columbae dediſti, that God hath given thee the wings of a dove to fly to the wilderneſs, in a retiring from, or a reſiſting of tentations of this world; remember ſtill that God can ſuffer even thy humility to ſtray, and degenerate into an uncomly dejection and ſtupidity, and ſenſeleſneſs of the true dignity and true liberty of a Chriſtian: and he can ſuffer this retiring thy ſelf from the world, to degenerate into a contempt and deſpiſing of others, and an overvaluing of thine own perfections. Let the laſt day in which both man and beaſts were made out of the earth, but yet a living ſoul breath'd into man; remember thee that this earth which treads upon thee, muſt return to that earth which thou treadſt upon; thy body, that loads thee, and oppreſſes thee to the grave, and thy ſpirit to him that gave it. And when the Sabbath day hath alſo remembred thee, that God hath given thee a temporal Sabbath, plac'd thee in a land of peace, and an eccleſiaſtical Sabbath, plac'd in a Church of peace, perfect all in a ſpirituall Sabbath, a conſcience of peace, by remembring now thy Creator, at leaſt in one of theſe daies of the week of thy regeneration, either as thou haſt light created in thee, in the firſt day, that is, thy knowledg of Chriſt; or as thou haſt a firmament created in thee the ſecond day, that is, thy knowledg what to ſeek concerning Chriſt, things appertaining to faith and ſalvation; or as thou haſt a ſea created in thee the third day, that is, a Church where all the knowledg is reſerv'd and preſented to thee; or as thou haſt a ſun and moon in the fourth day, thankfulneſs in proſperity, comfort in adverſity, or as thou haſt reptilem humilitatē, or volatilem fiduciam, a humiliation in thy ſelf, or an exaltation in Chriſt in thy fift day, or as thou haſt a contemplation of thy mortality and immortality in the ſixth day, or a deſire of a ſpiritual Sabbath in the ſeaventh, In thoſe daies remember thou thy Creator.
Juventutis.Now all theſe daies are contracted into leſs room in this text, In diebus Bechurotheica, is either, in the daies of thy youth, or electionem tuarum, in the daies of thy hearts deſire, when thou enjoyeſt all that thou couldeſt wiſh. Firſt, therefore if thou wouldeſt be heard in Davids prayer; Delicta juventutis; O Lord remember not the ſins of my youth; remember to come to this prayer, In diebus juventutis, Pſ. 25.7. 29.4.in the dayes of thy youth. Job remembers with much ſorrow, how he was in the dayes of his youth, when Gods providence was upon his Tabernacle: and it is a late, but a ſad conſideration, to remember with what tenderneſs of conſcience, what ſcruples, what remorces we entred into ſins in our youth, how much we were afraid of all degrees and circumſtances of ſin for a little while, and how indifferent things they are grown to us, and how obdurate we are grown in them now. This was Jobs ſorrow, and this was Tobias comfort,1.4. when I was but young, all my Tribes fell away; but I alone went after to Jeruſalem. Though he lacked the counſail, and the example of his Elders, yet he ſerved God; for it is good for a man,Thren. 3.27. that he bear his yoke in his youth: For even when God had delivered over his people purpoſely to be afflicted, yet himſelf complains in their behalf, That the perſecutor laid the very heavieſt yoke upon the ancient: Eſa. 47.6.It is a lamentable thing to fall under a neceſſity of ſuffering in our age,Baſil. Labore fracta inſtrumenta, ad Deum ducis, quorum nullus uſus? wouldeſt thou conſecrate a Chalice to God that is broken? no man would preſent a lame horſe, a diſordered clock, a torn book to the King? Caro jumentum, thy body is thy beaſt;Aug. and wilt thou preſent that to God, when it is lam'd and tir'd with exceſſe of wantonneſs? when thy clock, (the whole courſe of thy time) is diſordered with paſſions, and perturbations; when thy book (the hiſtory of thy life,) is torn, 1000. ſins of thine own torn out of thy memory, wilt thou then preſent thy ſelf thus defac'd and mangled to almighty God?Baſil. Temperantia non eſt temperantia in ſenectute, ſed impotentia incontinentiae, chaſtity is not chaſtity in an old man, but a deſability to be unchaſt; and therefore thou doſt not give God that which thou pretendeſt to give, for thou haſt no chaſtity to give him. Senex bis puer; but it is not bis juvenis, an old man comes to the infirmities of childhood again; but he comes not to the ſtrength of youth again,
Do this then In diebus juventutis, in thy beſt ſtrength,Electionum. and when thy natural facuties are beſt able to concur with grace; but do it; In diebus electionum, in the dayes when thou haſt thy hearts deſire; for if thou have worn out this word, in one ſenſe, that it be too late now, to remember him in the dayes of youth, that's ſpent forgetfully) yet as long as thou art able to make a new choiſe, to chuſe a new ſin, that when thy heats of youth are not overcome, but burnt out, then thy middle age chooſes ambition, and thy old age chooſes covetouſneſs; as long as thou art able to make thy choice thou art able to make a better than this; God teſtifies that power, that he hath given thee; I call heaven and earth to record this day, Deut. 30.19.that I have ſet before you life and death; chooſe life: If this choice like you not,Joſ. 24.15. If it ſeem evil unto you to ſerve the the Lord, ſaith Joſuah then, chooſe ye this day whom ye will ſerve. Here's the election day; bring that which ye would have,Serm. 18. into compariſon with that which ye ſhould have; that is, all that this world keeps from you, with that which God offers to you; and what will ye chooſe to prefer before him? for honor, and favor, and health, and riches, perchance you cannot have them though you chooſe them; but can you have more of them than they have had, to whom thoſe very things have been occaſions of ruin? The Market is open till the bell ring; till thy laſt bell ring the Church is open, grace is to be had there: but truſt not upon that rule, that men buy cheapeſt at the end of the market, that heaven may be had for a breath at laſt, when they that hear it cannot tel whether it be a ſigh or a gaſp, a religious breathing and anhelation after the next life, or natural breathing out, and exhalation of this; but find a ſpiritual good husbandry in that other rule, that the prime of the market is to be had at firſt: for howſoever, in thine age, there may be by Gods ſtrong working, Dies juventutis, A day of youth, in making thee then a new creature; (for as God is antiquiſsimus dierum, ſo in his ſchool no man is ſuper-annated,) yet when age hath made a man impotent to ſin, this is not Dies electionum, it is not a day of choice; but remember God now, when thou haſt a choice, that is, a power to advance thy ſelf, or to oppreſs others by evil means; now in die electionum, in thoſe thy happy and ſun-ſhine dayes, remember him.
Creatorem.This is then the faculty that is excited, the memory; and this is the time, now, now whileſt we have power of election: The object is, the Creator, Remember the Creator: Firſt, becauſe the memory can go no farther then the creation; and therefore we have no means to conceive, or apprehend any thing of God before that. When men therefore ſpeak of decrees of reprobation, decrees of condemnation, before decrees of creation; this is beyond the counſail of the holy Ghoſt here, Memento creatoris, Remember the Creator, for this is to remember God a condemner before he was a creator: This is to put a preface to Moſes his Geneſis, not to be content with his in principio, to know that in the beginning God created heaven and earth, but we muſt remember what he did ante principium, before any ſuch beginning was. Moſes his in principio, that beginning, the creation we can remember; but St. Johns in principio, that beginning, eternity, we cannot; we can remember Gods fiat in Moſes, but not Gods erat in St. John: what God hath done for us, is the object of our memory, not what he did before we were: and thou haſt a good and perfect memory, if it remember all that the holy Ghoſt propoſes in the Bible; and it determines in the memento Creatoris: There begins the Bible, and there begins the Creed, I believe in God the Father, maker of Heaven and Earth; J… 7.39.for when it is ſaid, The holy Ghoſt was not given, becauſe Jeſus was not glorified, it is not truly Non erat datus, but non erat; for, non erat nobis antequam operaretur; It is not ſaid there, the holy Ghoſt was not given, but it is the holy Ghoſt was not: for he is not, that is, he hath no being to us ward, till he works in us which was firſt in the creation: Remember the Creator then, Serm. 19.becauſe thou canſt remember nothing backward beyond him, and remember him ſo too, that thou maiſt ſtick upon nothing on this ſide of him, That ſo neither height, Ro. 8. ult.nor depth, nor any other creature may ſeparate thee from God; not only not ſeparate thee finally, but not ſeparate ſo, as to ſtop upon the creature, but to make the beſt of them, thy way to the Creator; We ſee ſhips in the river; but all their uſe is gone, if they go not to ſea; we ſee men fraighted with honor, and riches, but all their uſe is gone, if their reſpect be not upon the honor and glory of the Creator; and therefore ſayes the Apoſtle, Let them that ſuffer, 1 Pe…. 4. ult.commit their ſouls to God, as to a faithful Creator; that is, He made them, and therefore will have care of them. This is the true contracting, and the true extending of the memory, to Remember the Creator, and ſtay there, becauſe there is no proſpect farther, and to Remember the Creator, and get thither, becauſe there is no ſafe footing upon the creature, til we come ſo far.
Remember then the Creator, and remember thy Creator, for,T…um. Quis magis fidelis Deo? who is ſo faithful a Counſailor as God?Baſil. Quis prudentior Sapiente? who can be wiſer than wiſdome? Quis utilior bono? or better than goodneſs? Quis conjunctior Creatore? or neerer then our Maker? and therefore remember him. What purpoſes ſoever thy parents or thy Prince have to make thee great, how had all thoſe purpoſes been fruſtrated, and evacuated if God had not made thee before? this very being is thy greateſt degree; as in Arithmatick how great a number ſoever a man expreſſe in many figures, yet when we come to number all, the very firſt figure is the greateſt and moſt of all; ſo what degrees or titles ſoever a man have in this world, the greateſt and the foundation of all, is, that he had a being by creation: For the diſtance from nothing to a little, is ten thouſand times more, than from it to the higheſt degree in this life: and therefore remember thy Creator, as by being ſo, he hath done more for thee than all the world beſides; and remember him alſo, with this conſideration, that whatſoever thou art now, yet once thou waſt nothing.
He created thee, ex nihilo, he gave thee a being,Ex nihilo. there's matter of exaltation, & yet all this from nothing; thou waſt worſe then a worm, there's matter of humiliation; but he did not create thee ad nihilum, to return to nothing again, and there's matter for thy conſideration, and ſtudy, how to make thine immortality profitable unto thee; for it is a deadly immortality, if thy immortality muſt ſerve thee for nothing but to hold thee in immortal torment. To end all, that being which we have from God ſhall not return to nothing, nor the being which we have from men neither.Bern. As St. Bernard ſayes of the Image of God in mans ſoul, uti poteſt in gehenna, non exuri, That ſoul that deſcends to hell, carries the Image God in the faculties of that ſoul thither, but there that Image can never be burnt out, ſo thoſe Images & thoſe impreſſions, which we have received from men, from nature, from the world, the image of a Lord, the image of a Counſailor, the image of a Biſhop, ſhall all burn in Hell, and never burn out; not only theſe men, but theſe offices are not to return to nothing; but as their being from God, ſo their being from man, ſhal have an everlaſting being, to the aggravating of their condemnation. And therefore remember thy Creator, who, as he is ſo, by making thee of nothing, ſo he will ever be ſo, by holding thee to his glory, though to thy confuſion, from returning to nothing; for the Court of Heaven is not like other Courts, that after a ſurfet of pleaſure or greatneſs, a man may retire; after a ſurfet of ſin there's no ſuch retiring, as a diſſolving of the ſoul into nothing; but God is from the beginning the Creator, he gave all things their being, and he is ſtill thy Creator, thou ſhalt evermore have that being, to be capable of his Judgments.
Now to make up a circle, by returning to our firſt word, remember: As we remember God, ſo for his ſake, let us remember one another. In my long abſence, and far diſtance from hence, remember me, as I ſhall do you in the ears of that God, to whom the fartheſt Eaſt, and the fartheſt Weſt are but as the right and left ear in one of us; we hear with both at once, and he hears in both at once; remember me, not my abilities; for when I conſider my Apoſtleſhip that I was ſent to you, I am in St. Pauls quorum, quorum ego ſum minimus, 1 Cor. 15.9.the leaſt of them that have been ſent; and when I conſider my infirmities,1 Tim. 1.15. I am in his quorum, in another commiſſion, another way, Quorum ego maximus; the greateſt of them; but remember my labors, and endeavors, at leaſt my deſire, to make ſure your ſalvation. And I ſhall remember your religious cheerfulneſs in hearing the word, and your chriſtianly reſpect towards all them that bring that word unto you, and towards my ſelf in particular far bove my merit. And ſo as your eyes that ſtay here, and mine that muſt be far of, for all that diſtance ſhall meet every morning, in looking upon that ſame Sun, and meet every night, in looking upon the ſame Moon; ſo our hearts may meet morning and evening in that God, which ſees and hears every where; that you may come thither to him with your prayers, that I, (if I may be of uſe for his glory, and your edification in this place) may be reſtored to you again; and may come to him with my prayer, that what Paul ſoever plant amongſt you, or what Apollos ſoever water, God himſelf will give the increaſe: That if I never meet you again till we have all paſſed the gate of death, yet in the gates of heaven, I may meet you all, and there ſay to my Saviour and your Saviour, that which he ſaid to his Father and our Father, Of thoſe whom thou haſt given me, have I not loſt one. Remember me thus, you that ſtay in this Kingdome of peace, where no ſword is drawn, but the ſword of Juſtice, as I ſhal remember you in thoſe Kingdomes, where ambition on one ſide, and a neceſſary defence from unjuſt perſecution on the other ſide hath drawn many ſwords; and Chriſt Jeſus remember us all in his Kingdome, to which,Serm. 20. though we muſt ſail through a ſea, it is the ſea of his blood, where no ſoul ſuffers ſhiprwack; though we muſt be blown with ſtrange winds, with ſighs and groans for our ſins, yet it is the Spirit of God that blows all this wind, and ſhall blow away all contrary winds of diffidence or diſtruſt in Gods mercy; where we ſhall be all Souldiers of one Army, the Lord of Hoſtes, and Children of one Quire, the God of Harmony and conſent: where all Clients ſhall retain but one Counſellor, our Advocate Chriſt Jeſus, nor preſent him any other fee but his own blood, and yet every Client have a Judgment on his ſide, not only in a not guilty, in the remiſſion of his ſins, but in a Venite benedicti, in being called to the participation of an immortal Crown of glory: where there ſhall be no difference in affection, nor in mind, but we ſhall agree as fully & perfectly in our Allelujah, and gloria in exelcis, as God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt agreed in the faciamus hominem at firſt; where we ſhall end, and yet begin but then; where we ſhall have continuall reſt, and yet never grow lazie; where we ſhall be ſtronger to reſiſt, and yet have no enemy; where we ſhall live and never die, where we ſhall meet & never part.