Twenty-Six Sermons, Sermon 2
A Lent-SERMON Preached at WHITE-HALL, February 12. 1618. SERMON II.Serm. 2.
Ezek. 33.32.
And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely Song, of one that hath a pleaſant voyce, and can play well on an Inſtrument; for they hear thy words, but they doe them not.
AS there lies alwayes upon Gods Miniſter, a vae ſi non, Wo be unto me, if I preach not the Goſpel, if I apply not the comfortable promiſes of the Goſpel, to all that grone under the burden of their ſins; ſo there is Onus viſionis, (which we finde mentioned in the Prophets) it was a pain, a burden to them, to be put to the denunciation of Gods heavy judgements upon the people: but yet thoſe judgements, they muſt denounce, as well as propoſe thoſe mercies: wo be unto us, if we bind not up the broken hearted; but wo be unto us too, if we break not that heart that is ſtubborn: wo be unto us, if we ſettle not, eſtabliſh not the timorous and trembling, the ſcattered, and fluid, and diſtracted ſoul, that cannot yet attain, intirely and intenſely, and confidently and conſtantly, to fix it ſelf upon the Merits and Mercies of Chriſt Jeſus; but wo be unto us much more, if we do not ſhake, and ſhiver, and throw down the refractory and rebellious ſoul, whoſe incredulity will not admit the Hiſtory, and whoſe ſecurity in preſumptuous ſins will not admit the working and application of thoſe Merits and Mercies which are propoſed to him. To this purpoſe, therefore, God makes his Miniſters ſpeculatores; I have ſet thee for their watchman, ſaies God to this Prophet; that ſo they might ſee and diſcern the higheſt ſins of the higheſt perſons, in the higheſt places: they are not onelyonly to look down towards the ſtreets, & lanes, and alleys, and cellears, and reprehend the abuſes and exceſſes of perſons of lower quality there; all their ſervice lies not below ſtaires, nor onelyonly to look into the chamber, and reprehend the wantonneſſes and licentiouſneſſe of both ſexes there; nor onelyonly unto the houſe top and tarras, and reprehend the ambitious machinations and practiſes to get thither; but ſtill they are ſpeculatores, men placed upon a watch-tower, to look higher then all this, to look upon ſins of a higher nature then theſe, to note and reprehend thoſe ſins, which are done ſo much more immediately towards God, as they are done upon colour and pretence of Religion: and upon that ſtation, upon the Execution of that Commiſſion, is our Prophet in this Text, Thou art unto them a very lovely ſong, &c. for they ſhall heare thy words, but they do them not. Through this whole chapter, he preſents matter of that nature, either of too confident, or too diffident a behaviour towards God. In the tenth verſe, he reprehends their diffidence and diſtruſt in God: This they ſay (ſayes the Prophet) If our tranſgreſsions and our ſins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how ſhould we live? How ſhould you live? ſayes the Prophet: thus you ſhould live, by hearing what the Lord of Life hath ſaid, As I live, ſaith the Lord God, I have no pleaſure in the death of the wicked. In the 25 verſe he reprehends their confidence; they ſay, Abraham was one, and he inherited this land; we are many, this land is given us for our inheritance: but ſay unto them, ſayes God to the Prophet there, You lift up your eyes to Idols, and you ſhed blood, and ſhall you poſſeſs the land? Ye defile one anothers wife, and ye ſtand upon the ſword, and ſhall ye poſſeſs the land? We were but one, and are many; 'tis true: God hath teſtified his love, in multiplying Inhabitants, and in uniting Kingdomes; but if there be a lifting up of eyes towards Idols, a declination towards an Idolatrous Religion; if there be a defiling of one anothers wife, and then ſtanding upon the ſword, that it muſt be matter of diſpleaſure, or of quarrel, if one will not betray his wife, or ſiſter, to the luſt of the greateſt perſon; ſhall we poſſeſs the land? ſhall we have a continuance of Gods bleſſing upon us? we ſhall not. And as he thus repreſents their over-confident behaviour towards God; God is bound by his promiſe, and therefore we may be ſecure: And their over-diffident behaviour; God hath begun to ſhew his anger upon us, & therefore there is no recovery: he reprehends alſo that diſtemper, which ordinarily accompanies this behaviour towards God, that is, an Expoſtulation, and a Diſputing with God, and a cenſuring of his actions: in the 20 ver. they come to ſay, The way of the Lord is not equal; that is, we know not how to deal with him, we know not where to find him; he promiſes Mercies, and layes Afflictions upon us; he threatens judgements upon the wicked, and yet the wicked proſper moſt of all; The ways of the Lord are equal. But, to this alſo God ſays by the Prophet, I will judge every one of you after his own ways. The ways of the Lord are unſearchable; look ye to your own ways, for according to them, ſhall God judge you. And then after theſe ſeveral reprehenſions, this watchman raiſes himſelf to the higheſt pinacle of all, to diſcover the greateſt ſin of all, treaſon within doors, contemning of God in his own houſe, and in his preſence; that is, a coming to Church to hear the word of God preached, a pretence of cheerfulneſs and alacrity, in the outward ſervice of God, yea a true ſenſe and feeling of a delight in hearing of the word; and yet for all this, an unprofitable barrenneſs, and (upon the whole matter) a deſpiteful and a contumelious neglecting of Gods purpoſe and intention, in his Ordinance: for, Our voice is unto them but as a ſong to an inſtrument; they hear our words, but they do them not.
Though then ſome Expoſitors take theſe words to be an increpation upon the people, that they eſteemed Gods ableſt Miniſters, indued with the beſt parts, to be but as muſique, as a jeſt, as a ſong, as an entertainment; that they under-valued and diſeſteemed the whole ſervice of God in the function of the Miniſtery, and thought it either nothing, or but matter of State and Government, as a civil ordinance for civil order, and no more: yet I take this increpation to reach to a ſin of another nature; that the people ſhould attribute reverence enough, attention enough, credit enough to the preacher, and to his preachings, but yet when all that is done, nothing is done: they ſhould hear willingly, but they do nothing of that which they had heard.
Firſt then, God for his own glory promiſes here,Diviſio. that his Prophet, his Miniſter ſhall be Tuba, as is ſaid in the beginning of this Chapter, a Trumpet, to awaken with terror. But then, he ſhall become Carmen muſicum, a muſical and harmonious charmer, to ſettle and compoſe the ſoul again in a repoſed confidence, and in a delight in God: he ſhall be muſicum carmen, muſick, harmony to the ſoul in his matter; he ſhall preach harmonious peace to the conſcience: and he ſhall be muſicum carmen, muſick and harmony in his manner; he ſhall not preſent the meſſages of God rudely, barbarouſly, extemporally; but with ſuch meditation and preparation as appertains to ſo great an imployment, from ſuch a King as God, to ſuch a State as his Church: ſo he ſhall be muſicum carmen, muſicke, harmony, in re & modo, in matter and in manner: And then muſicum ſo much farther (as the text adds) as that he ſhall have a pleaſant voice, that is, to preach firſt ſincerely (for a preaching to ſerve turns and humors, cannot, at leaſt ſhould not pleaſe any) but then it is to preach acceptably, ſeaſonably, with a ſpiritual delight, to a diſcreet and rectified congregation, that by the way of ſuch a holy delight, they may receive the more profit. And then he ſhall play well on an inſtrument; which we do not take here to be the working upon the underſtanding and affections of the Auditory, that the congregation ſhall be his inſtrument; but as S. Baſil ſays, Corpus hominis, Organum Dei, when the perſon acts that which the ſong ſays; when the words become works, this is a ſong to an inſtrument: for, as S. Auguſt. purſues the ſame purpoſe, Pſallere eſt ex preceptis Dei agere; to ſing, and to ſing to an inſtrument, is to perform that holy duty in action, which we ſpeak of in diſcourſe: And God ſhall ſend his people preachers furniſhed with all theſe abilities, to be Tubae, Trumpets to awaken them; and then to be carmen muſicum, to ſing Gods mercies in their ears, in reverent, but yet in a diligent, and thereby a delightful manner; and ſo to be muſick in their preaching, and muſick in their example, in a holy converſation: Eris, ſays God to this prophet, ſuch a one thou ſhalt be, thou ſhalt be ſuch a one in thy ſelf; and then eris illis, thou ſhalt be ſo to them, to the people: To them thou ſhalt be Tuba, a Trumpet, Thy preaching ſhall awaken them, and ſo bring them to ſome ſence of their ſins: To them thou ſhalt be carmen muſicum, muſick and harmony; both in re, in thy matter, they ſhall conceive an apprehenſion or an offer of Gods mercy through thee; and in modo, in the manner; they ſhall confeſs, that thy labors work upon them, and move them, and affect them, and that that unpremeditated, and drowſie, and cold manner of preaching, agrees not with the dignity of Gods ſervice: they ſhall acknowledge (ſays God to this Prophet) thy pleaſant voice; confeſſe thy doctrine to be good, and confeſſe thy playing upon an Inſtrument, acknowledge thy life to be good too; for, in teſtimony of all this, Audient (ſaies the text) They ſhall hear this. Now, every one that might come, does not ſo; buſineſſes, nay leſs then buſineſſes, vanities, keep many from hence; leſs then vanities, nothing; many, that have nothing to do, yet are not here: All are not come that might come; nor are all that are here, come hither; penalty of law, obſervation of abſences, invitation of company, affection to a particular preacher, collateral reſpects, draw men; and they that are drawn ſo, do not come; neither do all that are come, hear; they ſleep, or they talk: but Audient, ſays our text, They ſhall be here, they ſhall come, they ſhall hear; they ſhall preſs to hear: every one that would come, if he might ſit at eaſe, will not be troubled for a Sermon: but our caſe is better, Audient, they ſhall riſe earlier then their fellows, come hither ſooner, indure more pains, hearken more diligently, and conceive more delight then their fellows: Audient, they will hear: but then, after all (which is the height of the malediction, or increpation, Non facient, they will not do it; Non facient quae dixeris, They will do nothing of that which thou haſt ſaid to them; nay, non facient quae dixerunt, they will do nothing of that, which during the time of the Sermons, they had ſaid to their own ſouls, they would do; ſo little hold ſhall Gods beſt means, and by his beſt inſtruments, take of them; They ſhall hear thy words, and ſhall not do them.
Theſe then are our parts that make up this increpation: Firſt, the Prophet ſhall do his part fully: Secondly, the people ſhall do ſome of theirs: But then laſtly, they ſhall fail in the principal, and ſo make all uneffectual. Firſt, God will ſend them Prophets that ſhall be Tubae, Trumpets; and not onelyonly that, but ſpeculatores; not onelyonly Trumpets which ſound according to the meaſure of breath that is blown into them, but they themſelves are the watchmen that are to ſound them: not Trumpets to ſound out what airs the occaſion of the preſent time, or what airs the affections of great perſons infuſe into them; for ſo they are only Trumpets, and not Trumpetors; but God hath made them both: And, as in civil matters, Anguſta innocentia eſt, ad legem bonum eſſe, Seneca.That's but a narrow, but a faint honeſty, to be no honeſter then a man muſt needs be, no honeſter then the law, or then his bodily ſickneſs conſtrains him to be; ſo are theſe Trumpets ſhort-winded Trumpets, if they ſound no oftner then the Canons enjoyn them to ſound; for, they muſt preach in ſeaſon and out of ſeaſon: If the Canonical ſeaſon be but once a month, the preaching between, is not ſo unſeaſonable, but that it is within the Apoſtles precept too. If that be done, if the watchman ſound the Trumpet, ſays the beginning of this Chapter (when you ſee it is the watchman himſelf that ſounds, and not another to ſound him; he is neither to be an inſtrument of others, nor is he to ſound always by others, and ſpare his own breath) but if the watchman do duly ſound, then there is an Euge bone ſerve, belongs to him; Well done good and faithful ſervant, enter into thy Maſters joy: And if he be not heard, or be not followed, then there is a vae Betſaida, a wo belonging to that City, and to that houſe; for, if thoſe works had been done in Sodom, if all this preaching had been at Rome, Rome would have repented in ſackcloth and aſhes.Jer. 6.17. I ſet watchmen over you, ſays God in another Prophet, Et dixi, Audite, I ſaid unto you, Hearken to them: ſo far God addreſſes himſelf to them, ſpeaks perſonally to them, ſuper vos, and Audite vos; I ſent to you, and hear you: but when they would not hear, then he changes the perſon, Et dixerunt, ſays that text, And they ſaid, We will not hear: after this ſtubbornneſs, God does not ſo much as ſpeak to them: it is not Dixiſtis, you ſaid it; God will have no more to do with them; but it is Dixerunt, they ſaid it; God ſpeaks of them as of ſtrangers. But this is not altogether the caſe in our text: God ſhall ſend Prophets, Trumpets, and Trumpetors, that is, preachers of his word, and not the word of men; and they ſhall be heard willingly too; for as they are Tubae, Trumpets, ſo they ſhall be muſicum carmen, acceptable muſick to them that hear them.
They ſhall be ſo, firſt In re, in their matter, in the doctrine which they preach.In Re. The ſame trumpets that ſound the alarm (that is, that awakens us from our ſecurity) and that ſounds the Battail (that is, that puts us into a colluctation with our ſelves, with this world, with powers and principalities, yea into a wraſtling with God himſelf and his Juſtice) the ſame trumpet ſounds the Parle too, calls us to hearken to God in his word, and to ſpeak to God in our prayers, and ſo to come to treaties and capitulations for peace; and the ſame trumpet ſounds a retreat too, that is, a ſafe repoſing of our ſouls in the merit, and in the wounds of our Saviour Chriſt Jeſus. And in this voice they are muſicum carmen, a love-ſong (as the text ſpeaks) in propoſing the love of God to man, wherein he loved him ſo, as that he gave his onelyonly begotten Son for him. God made this whole world in ſuch an uniformity, ſuch a correſpondency, ſuch a concinnity of parts, as that it was an Inſtrument, perfectly in tune: we may ſay, the trebles, the higheſt ſtrings were diſordered firſt; the beſt underſtandings, Angels and Men, put this inſtrument out of tune. God rectified all again, by putting in a new ſtring, ſemen mulieris, the ſeed of the woman, the Meſsias: And onelyonly by ſounding that ſtring in your ears, become we muſicum carmen, true muſick, true harmony, true peace to you. If we ſhall ſay, that Gods firſt ſtring in this inſtrument, was Reprobation, that Gods firſt intention, was, for his glory to damn man; and that then he put in another ſtring, of creating Man, that ſo he might have ſome body to damn; and then another of enforcing him to ſin, that ſo he might have a juſt cauſe to damne him; and then another, of diſabling him to lay hold upon any means of recovery: there's no muſick in all this, no harmony, no peace in ſuch preaching. But if we take this inſtrument, when Gods hand tun'd it the ſecond time, in the promiſe of a Meſsias, and offer of the love & mercy of God to all that will receive it in him; then we are truely muſicum carmen, as a love-ſong, when we preſent the love of God to you, and raiſe you to the love of God in Chriſt Jeſus: for, for the muſick of the Sphears, whatſoever it be, we cannot hear it; for the decrees of God in heaven, we cannot ſay we have ſeen them; our muſick is onelyonly that ſalvation which is declared in the Goſpel to all them, and to them onelyonly, who take God by the right hand, as he delivers himſelf in Chriſt.
So they ſhall be muſick in re, in their matter, in their doctrine; and they ſhall be alſo in modo, In modo.in their manner of preſenting that doctrine. Religion is a ſerious thing, but not a ſullen; Religious preaching is a grave exerciſe, but not a ſordid, not a barbarous, not a negligent. There are not ſo eloquent books in the world, as the Scriptures: Accept thoſe names of Tropes and Figures, which the Grammarians and Rhetoricians put upon us, and we may be bold to ſay, that in all their Authors, Greek and Latin, we cannot finde ſo high, and ſo lively examples, of thoſe Tropes, and thoſe Figures, as we may in the Scriptures: whatſoever hath juſtly delighted any man in any mans writings, is exceeded in the Scriptures. The ſtyle of the Scriptures is a diligent, and an artificial ſtyle; and a great part thereof in a muſical, in a metrical, in a meaſured compoſition, in verſe. The greateſt myſtery of our Religion, indeed the whole body of our Religion, the coming, and the Kingdome of a Meſsias, of a Saviour, of Chriſt, is conveyed in a Song, in the third chapt. of Habakkuk: and therefore the Jews ſay, that that Song cannot yet be underſtood, becauſe they ſay the Meſsiah is not yet come. His greateſt work, when he was come, which was his union and marriage with the Church, and with our ſouls, he hath alſo delivered in a piece of a curious frame, Solomons Song of Songs. And ſo likewiſe, long before, when God had given all the Law, he provided, as himſelf ſayes, a ſafer way, which was to give them a heavenly Song of his owne making: for that Song, he ſayes there, he was ſure they would remember.Deut. 31. So the Holy Ghoſt hath ſpoken in thoſe Inſtruments, whom he choſe for the penning of the Scriptures, and ſo he would in thoſe whom he ſends for the preaching thereof: he would put in them a care of delivering God meſſages, with conſideration, with meditation, with preparation; and not barbarouſly, not ſuddenly, not occaſionally, not extemporarily, which might derogate from the dignity of ſo great a ſervice. That Ambaſſadour ſhould open himſelf to a ſhrewd danger and ſurpriſall, that ſhould defer the thinking upon his Oration, till the Prince, to whom he was ſent, were reading his letters of Credit: And it is a late time of meditation for a Sermon, when the Pſalm is ſinging. Loquere Domine, ſayes the Prophet; ſpeak, O Lord: But it was when he was able to ſay, Ecce paratus, Behold I am prepared for thee to ſpeak in me: If God ſhall be believed, to ſpeak in us, in our ordinary Miniſtry, it muſt be, when we have, ſo as we can, fitted our ſelves, for his preſence. To end this, then are we Muſicum carmen in modo, muſick to the ſoul, in the manner of our preaching, when in delivering points of Divinity, we content our ſelves with that language, and that phraſe of ſpeech, which the Holy Ghoſt hath expreſſed himſelf in, in the Scriptures: for to delight in the new and bold termes of Hereticks, furthers the Doctrine of Hereticks too. And then alſo, are we Muſicum carmen, when, according to the example of men inſpired by the Holy Ghoſt, in writing the Scriptures, we deliver the meſſages of God, with ſuch diligence, and ſuch preparation, as appertains to the dignity of that employment.
Now theſe two, to be Muſick both theſe wayes,Vox ſuavis. in matter and in manner, concur and meet in the next, which is, to have a pleaſant voyce: Thou art a lovely ſong of one that hath a pleaſant voyce. Firſt, A Voyce they muſt have, they muſt be heard: if they ſilence themſelves, by their ignorance, or by their lazineſs; if they occaſion themſelves to be ſilenced, by their contempt and contumacy, both wayes they are inexcuſable; for a voyce is eſſentiall to them, that denominates them: John Baptiſt hath other great names; even the name of Baptiſt, is a great name, when we conſider whom he baptized; him, who baptized the Baptiſt himſelf, and all us, in his own blood. So is his name of Preacher, the fore-runner of Chriſt (for in that name he came before him, who was before the world;) ſo is his Propheta, that he was a Prophet, and then, more then a Prophet; and then, the greateſt among the ſons of women; theſe were great names, but yet the name that he choſe, is Vox clamantis, The voyce of him that cryes in the wilderneſs. What names and titles ſoever we receive in the School, or in the Church, or in the State; if we loſe our voice, we loſe our proper name, our Chriſtian name. But then, John Baptiſts name is not A voyce, Any voyce, but The voyce: in the Propheſie of Eſay, in all the four Evangeliſts, conſtantly, The voyce. Chriſt is verbum, The word; not A word, but The word: the Miniſter is Vox, voyce; not A voyce, but The voyce, the voyce of that word, and no other; and ſo, he is a pleaſing voyce, becauſe he pleaſes him that ſent him, in a faithfull executing of his Commiſſion, and ſpeaking according to his dictate; and pleaſing to them to whom he is ſent, by bringing the Goſpel of Peace and Reparation to all wounded, and ſcattered, and contrite Spirits.
Inſtrumentum.They ſhall be Muſick both wayes, in matter, and in manner; and pleaſing both wayes, to God, and to men: but yet to none of theſe, except the Muſick be perfect, except it be to an Inſtrument, that is, as we ſaid at firſt, out of S. Baſil, and S. Auguſtine, except the Doctrine be expreſs'd in the life too: Who will believe me when I ſpeak, if by my life they ſee I do not believe my ſelf? how ſhall I be believed to ſpeak heartily againſt Ambition and Bribery in temporall and civil places, if one in the Congregation be able to jogge him that ſits next him, and tell him, That man offered me money for ſpirituall preferment? To what a dangerous ſcorn ſhall I open my ſelfe, and the ſervice of God, if I ſhall declaime againſt Uſury, and look him in the face that hath my money at uſe? One ſuch witneſs in the Congregation, ſhall out-preach the Preacher: and God ſhall uſe his tongue (perchance his malice) to make the ſervice of that Preacher uneffectual. Quam ſpecioſi pedes Evangelicantium! ſayes S. Paul, Rom. 10.(and he ſayes that out of Eſay, and out of Nahum too, as though the Holy Ghoſt had delighted himſelf with that phraſe in expreſſing it) How beautifull are the feet of them that preach the Goſpel! Men look moſt to our feet, to our wayes: the power that makes men admire, may lie in our tongues; but the beauty that makes men love, lies in our feet, in our actions. And ſo we have done with all the pieces that conſtitute our firſt part: God, in his promiſe to that Nation, propheſied upon us, that which he hath abundantly performed, a Miniſtry, that ſhould firſt be Trumpets, and then Muſick: Muſick, in fitting a reverent manner, to religious matter; and Muſick, in fitting an inſtrument to the voyce, that is, their Lives to their Doctrine. Eris, ſaid God here, to this Prophet, All this thou ſhalt be: and that leads us into our ſecond part.
Now, in this ſecond part, there is more; for it is not onelyonly Eris, Part. II. Eris illis.thou ſhalt be ſo in thy ſelf, and as thou art employed by me; but Eris illis, thou ſhalt be ſo unto them, they ſhall receive thee for ſuch, acknowledge thee to be ſuch: God provides a great meaſure of ability in the Prophet, and ſome meaſure of good inclination in the people. Eris illis Tuba, thou ſhalt be to them, they ſhall feel thee to be a Trumpet: they ſhall not ſay in their hearts, There is no God; they ſhall not ſay, Tuſh, the Lord ſees us not, or he is a blind, or an indifferent God, or, the Lord is like one of us, he loves peace, and will be at quiet; but they ſhall acknowledge, that he is Dominus Exercituum, the Lord of Hoſts, and that the Prophet is his Trumpet, to raiſe them up to a ſpiritual battel. Eris illis Tuba, thou ſhalt be to them a Trumpet, they ſhall not be ſecure in their ſins; and Eris illis carmen muſicum, by thy preaching they ſhall come to confeſs, That God is a God of harmony, and not of diſcord; of order, and not of confuſion; and that, as he made, ſo he governs all things, in weight, and number, and meaſure; that he hath a Succeſſion, and a Hierarchy in his Church; that it is a houſehold of the Faithfull, and a Kingdome of Saints, and therefore regularly governed, and by order, and that in this government no man can give himſelf Orders, no man can baptize himſelfe, nor give himſelf the Body and Blood of Chriſt Jeſus, nor preach to himſelf, nor abſolve himſelf; and therefore they ſhall come to thee, whom they ſhall confeſs to be appointed by God, to convey theſe graces unto them: Eris illis carmen muſicum: from thee they ſhall accept that muſick, the orderly application of Gods mercies, by viſible and outward meanes in thy Miniſtry in the Church. Eris illis vox ſuavis, they ſhall confeſs thou preacheſt true Doctrine, and applieſt it powerfully to their conſciences; and Eris illis vox ad Citharam, thou ſhalt be a voyce to an Inſtrument; they ſhall acknowledge thy life to be agreeable to thy Doctrine; they ſhall quarrel thee, challenge thee in neither, not in Doctrine, not in Manners.
Such as God appoints thee to be, Eris, thou ſhalt be; and Eris illis, they ſhall reſpect thee as ſuch, and reward thee as ſuch: and they ſhall expreſs that, in that which followes, Audient, Audient.they ſhall hear thy word. The worldly man, though it trouble him to hear thee, though it put thorns and brambles into his conſcience, yet though it be but to beget an opinion of holineſs in others, Audiet, he will hear thee. The faſhionall man, that will do as he ſees great men do, if their devotion, or their curioſity, or their ſervice and attendance, draw him hither, Audiet, he will come with them, and he will hear. He that is diſaffected in his heart, to the Doctrine of our Church, rather then incur penalties of Statutes and Canons, Audiet, he will come, and hear: yea, there is more then that, intended, Audient, they ſhall hear willingly; and more then that too, Audient, they ſhall hear cheerfully, deſirouſly. Here is none of that action which was in S. Stephens perſecutors,Act. 7.57. Continuerunt aures, they withheld their eares, they withdrew themſelves from hearing, they kept themſelves out of diſtance; here is no ſuch Recuſancy intended;Pſal. 58. neither is there any of their actions, Qui obturant aures, as the Pſalmiſt ſayes, the Serpent does, who (as the Fathers note often) ſtops one ear with laying it cloſe to the ground, and the other with covering it with his tail: here is none of their action,Jer. 7.26. Prov. 28.9. Qui in durant, nor qui declinant; none that turneth away his ear (for even his prayer ſhall be an abomination, ſayes Solomon; his very being here is a ſin) here, in our caſe, in our Text, is none of theſe indiſpoſitions; but here is a ready, a willing, and (in appearance) a religious coming to hear: Expectation, Acceptation, Acclamation, Congratulation, Remuneration, in a fair proportion; we complain of no want in any of theſe now. Sumus, God hath authoriz'd us, and God hath exalted us, in ſome meaſure, to deliver his meſſages; and Sumus vobis, you do not deny us to be ſuch; you do not refuſe, but you receive us, and his meſſages by us; you do hear our words. And that's all that belonged to our ſecond part.
Part III.Now in both theſe former parts, who can diſcern, who would ſuſpect any foundation to be laid for an Increpation,Non facient. any preparation for a Malediction or Curſe? God will ſend good Preachers to the people, and the people ſhall love their preaching; and yet,1 Sam. 3.11. as he ſaid to Samuel, he will do a thing, at which, both the ears of him that hears it ſhall tingle. Now, what is that in our caſe? This; he will aggravate their condemnation, therefore, becauſe they have been ſo diligent herein, Et non fecerunt, they have done nothing of that which they have heard. As our very Repentance contracts the nature of ſin, if we perſevere not in that holy purpoſe; but, as though we had then made even with God, ſin on again upon a new ſcore: ſo this hearing it ſelf is a ſin, that is, ſuch an aggravating circumſtance, as changes the very nature of the ſin, to them that hear ſo much, and doe nothing. This is not a preparation of that curſe in Ezekiel; 2.5.whether they will hear or forbear, yet they ſhall know, that a Prophet hath been among them; that is, heare, or heare not, ſubſequent judgements ſhall bring them to ſee, that they might have heard: but here God accompanies them with a ſtronger grace, then ſo; Audient, they will hear.58. There are Vipers in the Pſalm that will not hear, how wiſely ſoever the charmers charm;Mat. 3.7. But there is a Generation of Vipers which do hear, and yet depart with none of their viperous nature: O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come! ſayes John Baptist, there to the Phariſees and Sadduces, that came to his baptiſm. They had apprehended Tubam, a warning, and they did come; but when they were come, he found them in their Non faciunt, without any purpoſe of bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance.Ver. 8.
Here then is S. Paul's Judaeus in abſcondito, a Jew inwardly.Quae dixeris. Rom. 2.29. Here is the true Recuſant, and the true Non-conformitan; Audiunt, ſed non faciunt: he comes to hear, but never comes to doe; there's Recuſancy: he confeſſes that he hath received good inſtruction, but he refufes to conform himſelf unto it; there's Non-conformity. Firſt, Non facient quae dixeris, they will not doe thoſe things which thou haſt ſaid; and yet, that's ſtrange, ſince they confeſs thou ſaiſt true: but yet that's not ſo ſtrange; for they may be Duri ſermones; though it be true that we ſay, it may be hard, and it may trouble them, and perchance damnifie them in their Profit, or mortifie them in their Pleaſures. It may be we may ſay, that thy relapſing into a ſin formerly repented, ſubmits thee again to all the puniſhment due to the former ſin; and that's Durus ſermo, a hard ſaying: It may be we may ſay, that a repentance which hath all other formall parts of a true repentance, if it reach not to all the branches, and to all the ſpecifying differences and circumſtance of thy ſins, ſo far as a diligent examination of thy conſcience can carry thee, is a voyd repentance; and that's Durus ſermo, a hard ſaying. It may be we may ſay, That though thou haſt truly & intirely repented, though thou do leave the practice of the ſin, yet if thou doe not alſo leave that which thou haſt corruptly got by the wayes of that ſin, the ſin it ſelfe lies upon thee ſtill; and that's Durus ſermo, a hard ſaying: And Chriſts own Diſciples forſook him, and forſook him for ever,John 6.60. Quia durus ſermo, becauſe that which Chriſt ſaid, ſeemed to them a hard ſaying. This we may ſay; and they may come to hear, and come to ſay we ſay true, and yet Non facient quae dixeris, never do any of that which we ſay, Quia duri ſermones, becauſe we preſſe things hardly upon them.
But yet that's not ſo ſtrange, as Non facere quae dixerint, Qud dixerint.not to do thoſe things which they have ſaid themſelves. That when, as the Apoſtle ſayes of the Corinthians, Vos eſtis, you are our Epiſtle, not written with ink, but with the ſpirit of the living God: ſo a man, by hearing, is become Evangelium ſibi, a Goſpel to himſelf; and by the preaching of the Goſpel,Serm. 3. is come to ſay, Non amplius, I will go, and ſin no more, left a worſe thing fall unto me: yet he goes and ſins again, fall what will, or can fall; and Non facit quae dixerit, he does not perform his own promiſe to himſelf. He is affected with ſome particular paſſage in a Sermon, and then he comes to David's Secundum innocentiam; O Lord, deale with me according to my future innocence; ſhew thy mercy to me, as I keep my ſelfe from that ſin hereafter; Job 9.31.and then, abominantur eum veſtimenta ejus, his old clothes defile him again, his old rags caſt vermin upon him, his old habits of ſin threw new dirt upon him. He goes out of the Church as that mans ſon went from his father, who ſent him to work in the Vineyard,Matth. 21.28. with that word in his mouth, Eo Domine, Sir, I go; but he never went, he turns another way, Non facit quae dixerat, he keeps not his own word, with his own ſoul: when he is gone out of his right way, a Sickneſs, a Diſgrace, a Loſs, overtakes him, the arrowes of the Almighty ſtick in him, and the venome thereof drinks up his ſpirit; temporal afflictions, and ſpirituall afflictions meet in him, like two clouds, and beat out a thunder upon him, like two currents, and ſwallow him like two milſtones, and grinde him, and then he comes to his Domine quid retribuam? Lord, what ſhall I give thee, to deliver me now? & non facit quae dixerat, he payes none of thoſe vowes, performes no part of that which he promiſed then. Chriſt had his Conſummatum eſt, and this ſinner hath his: Chriſt ends his paſſion, and he ends his action; Chriſt ends his affliction, and he ends his affection: Diſtulit ſecurim, attulit ſecuritatem, ſayes S. Auguſtine of this caſe; as ſoon as the Danger is removed, his Devotion is removed too. The end of all is, that what puniſhment ſoever God reſerves for them, who never heard of the Name of his Son Chriſt Jeſus at all, or for them who have pretended to receive him, but have done it Idolatrouſly, ſuperſtitiouſly; we that have heard him, we that have had the Scriptures preached and applied to us ſincerely, ſhall certainly have the heavier condemnation, for having had that which they wanted: Our multiplicity of Preachers, and their aſſiduity in preaching; our true interpretation of their labours, when we doe heare, and our diligent coming, that we may hear, ſhall leave us in worſe ſtate then they found us, ſi non fecerimus, If we doe not doe that which we heare. And to doe the Goſpel, is to doe what we can for the preſervation of the Goſpel. I know what I can do, as a Miniſter of the Goſpel, and of Gods Word; out of his Word I can preach againſt Linſey-woolſey garments; out of his Word I can preach againſt plowing with an Oxe, and with an Aſſe, againſt mingling of Religions. I know what I can do, as a Father, as a Maſter; I can preſerve my Family from attempts of Jeſuits. Thoſe that are of higher place, Magiſtrates, know what they can do too: They know they can execute lawes; if not to the taking of Life, yet to the reſtraining of Liberty:Serm. 2. And it is no ſeditious ſaying, it is no ſaucineſſe, it is no bitterneſſe, it is no boldneſſe, to ſay, that the ſpirituall death of thoſe ſoules, who periſh by the practiſe of thoſe ſeducers, whom they might have ſtopp'd, lies upon them. And how knowes he, who lets a Jeſuit ſcape, whether he let go but a Fox, that will deceive ſome ſimple ſoule in matter of Religion; or a Wolfe, who, but the protection of the Almighty, would adventure upon the perſon of the higheſt of all? Non facient quae dixeris, is as far as the Text goes; they will not do that we ſay: but Quae dixerint, is more; they will not do that which themſelves have ſaid: But, Quae juraverint, is moſt of all; If they will not do that, which for the preſervation of the Goſpel, they have taken an Oath to do, The Increpation, the Malediction, intended by God, in this Text, that all our preaching, and all our hearing ſhall aggravate our condemnation, will fall upon us: And therefore, this being the ſeaſon, in which, eſpecially, God affords you the performance of that part of this Prophecy, aſſiduous, and laborious, and acceptable, and uſefull preaching; where all you, of all ſorts, are likely to hear the Duties of Adminiſtration towards others, and of Mortification in your ſelves, powerfully repreſented unto you, this may have been ſomewhat neceſſarily ſaid by me now, for the removing of ſome ſtones out of their way, and the chafing of that wax, in which they may thereby make the deeper and clearer impreſſions; that ſo, we may not onelyonly be to you, as a lovely ſong, ſung to an Inſtrument; nor you onelyonly heare our words, but doe them.
AMEN.