A Century of Sermons, Sermon 3
THE THIRD SERMON UPON NOAH.
GEN. viii. 21.
And the Lord ſmelled a ſweet ſavour.
THe former Verſe brings in this Text, Noah builded an Altar to the Lord, and took of every clean Beaſt, and of every clean Fowl, and offered Burnt-offerings on the Altar, And the Lord ſmelled a ſweet ſavour. A work well managed, and the end was happy. We compoſe our ſelves, in this devout time of Lent eſpecially, to be very converſant in the ſervice of the Lord: Prayer, Preaching, Faſting, Alms come into practice, or ſhould do, more than at other times. It were pitty ſo much labour ſhould be ſpent to little profit, ſo much buſineſs be driven to Gods glory, and to his ſmall content, ſo much doing, rather to our undoing than to our ſalvation. I have choſen this Text therefore for a ſeaſonable ſubject to be inſiſted upon, how this frequent Worſhip, and all the fruits of our Religion may be an odour of a ſweet ſmell, a Sacrifice acceptable, well pleaſing to God. Whom if we do not ſerve, the omiſſion will make him puniſh us: and if he be ill ſerved, the neglect will make him puniſh us. All the works of Piety which the Church of Iſrael brought forth, were quarrelled by the Prophets as much as the worſt Profanations. They faſted, but for ſtrife and debate: They repented, but with ſullenneſs, hanging down their heads like a Bullruſh: They gave Alms, ſounding them abroad to be popular: They Prayed, but honoured God with their lips, and their heart was far from him: They chanted ſweet Muſick, but with no devotion, Amos v. 23. Take away from me the noiſe of thy Songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy Viols: And they ſacrificed, but with ſo much ill reliſh, as he that killed an Oxe was as if he had killed a man, he that burnt Incenſe, as if he had bleſſed an Idol. The courſe of godly Service is eaſily miſtaken. It is poſſible for a man to do good, and to mar it in the doing: it is poſſible for a man to wander in the right way: It is poſſible for a man to bring a Sacrifice to God, and to give high offence, becauſe it hath not a ſweet ſavour.
I regard your ſpiritual profit, that you may have a reward for your work in the Lord, for which I refer you to the record of old Father Noah, when he began a new World (and how far are we from that? Not four years) in whoſe Piety the Lord delighted, and therefore called it a ſweet ſavour. And what ſweetneſs was this, that exhaled up to heaven? The reſolution of that queſtion ſhall make up my whole Sermon, and divide the parts. And I anſwer to the Queſtion Negatively, and Affirmatively. Negatively in two Points: Firſt, That the integrity, or well-meaning of Noah is not ſaid to give a ſweet ſavour till he added a Sacrifice. Secondly, That a bare Sacrifice cannot be commended for a ſweet ſavour. Affirmatively, The compoſition of the ſweetneſs conſiſts in five particulars: Firſt, In the devotion of Noah. Secondly, In the inſtauration of true Religion. Thirdly, In his thankfulneſs for his preſervation. Fourthly, In his endeavour to procure God to be gracious to all ſucceeding Generations. Fifthly, In his faith, that had an eye unto a better Sacrifice. Here are many granes of Incenſe in this ſweet ſavour, which ſhall not trouble you with length, though they do with multitude.
What the ſweet ſavour in my Text doth mean, I like the method beſt to aſſign what it is not, before I reſolve what it is. Firſt, It will be allowed, that there were Faith, Piety, Sincerity in Noahs heart, all the while he was ſhut up in the Ark, yet they are not commended for ſending up a delightful fragrancy to God till he brought his gift unto the Altar. The reaſon is, that God uſeth to prove the integrity of the heart by ſome outward ſign before he commends it. Abraham ſought the Lord with all his ſoul, ſince he came out of Ʋr of the Chaldaeans; yet his faith was not extolled till he was ready to offer up his only Son: then he received the Promiſe, that the bleſſing ſhould abide upon him, and upon his Seed for ever. The life of a Slip is in the root, but the ſweetneſs is in the Flower, when it opens: So the Juſt doth live by faith, but he ſhall be loved for the fruits of holineſs. Adam was created after Gods Image, yet he required cloaths to cover him, that he might not be aſhamed of his nakedneſs: So a good Conſcience is an heavenly thing, the likeneſs of the Holy Ghoſt, yet unleſs it be cloathed with outward effects of obedience it may be aſhamed of its nakedneſs. Faith ſhould ſay to God, as Achſah did to her Father Caleb, Judg. i. 15. Thou haſt given me a South Land, give me alſo ſprings of water. Let me not lie concealed, leſt I be out of remembrance, and thou forget me: Let me do good and communicate, leſt I prove but an imaginary Notion: Let me offer ſome dutiful Sacrifice, leſt I loſe my Saviour. Noahs internal Sanctity was not honoured with this praiſe, that it exhaled ſweetneſs, before it proved it ſelf by a moſt religious action. For ought we know, Hell may be full of them, who had many good purpoſes, but did never execute them.
Yet again, put a bare Sacrifice into the Balance, and it weighs as little. I think none will conceive my Text in a literal ſenſe, that the fleſh of a Beaſt burnt upon the coales did ſend a ſweet ſavour, but an offenſive ſmell. Some are at a wonder, when many Cattel were burnt together, how the noſtrils of the Prieſts and People could endure it. And yet there was no miracle in it, as Abulenſis ſuppoſeth, as if God did always by omnipotent power draw a ſweet ſteame from the Altar, and the fleſh that was burnt upon it. What, every day Miracles, and yet this never revealed to us by any Prophet in all the Scriptures? The reſolution is eaſie: The Altar of Burnt-offerings was in the open Court, the air carried away the ſtench that would offend under a covered Seiling: Some excellent Perfumes were caſt into the fire at the ſame time. I have Plutarchs teſtimony touching the noiſom vapour of heathen Sacrifices, that all manner of ſweet Gums were thrown together into the flame to overcome the ſtrong Odour: eſpecially the Prieſt was clad in perfumed Robes, which made the worſt ſmell tolerable to him. But none can be deceived with the bare Letter of the Text, as if God did ſmell any ſavour. It is a Figure tranſlating the affections of a man to the divine Eſſence: And a ſecond Figure upon that, calling delight and complacency by the name of ſmelling a ſweet Odour. And the words lying ſo naked to be underſtood, I ſay the Lord took no pleaſure in a bare Sacrifice. For what is it to him to have the beaſts ſlain, and their ſubſtance conſumed? Or, how is a wicked man made more innocent by executing vengeance upon an harmleſs Sheep? Gifts and Sacrifices could not make him that did the Service perfect as pertaining to the Conſcience, Heb. ix. 9. When the Magi came to Bethlem, and found the Babe, whom they had ſought, they fell down and offered up their body: they worſhiped and offered up their Soul, they were liberal of their Subſtance, and preſented their gifts. But what? Not Sheep and Oxen, not work to imploy the Levites, the Sons of Aaron, Loe, ſays St. Chryſoſtome, in the beginning of the Goſpel we find the turn of thoſe ancient Rites, whoſe place was ſupplied with Gold, Mirrh, and Frankincenſe, foreign, they were not fat and fulſom, like the Jewiſh Ordinances, but pure and Intellectual, Adoration, Faith, Obedience, Charity. We learn out of it that the vertue of the mind conſecrates the Gift. There is not any thing which St. Paul hath omitted, 1 Cor. xiii. but ſays, that without the love of God all will come to nothing. The opus operatum, the material ſubſtance of any good work, no more conſidered with it, is a vapour that vaniſheth. Prayers, Preaching, the Sacraments in the more tranſitory work, iſſuing not out of our Spirit, are Conſonants without Vowels, it is paſt all skill to utter them. And who would compare the beſt Statue with a living man? Works of beneficence muſt be done, and liberally: He that hath much owes much; he that hath but little ought not altogether to ſhut his hand. Yet the richeſt endowment that ever was made in a pious way, is a Sacrifice but of a dull ſmoak, unleſs it be ſpiced with thoſe good Odours, of which I will now ſpeak in the Affirmative, how the Lord ſmelled a ſweet ſavour.
Firſt, His devotion was very fragrant; I begin with it, becauſe I would revive it, I ſay revive it: For it is much laid aſide, and takes as little with ſome as Jewiſh Sacrifice. You ſhall not be much edified in it by our Siſter Churches beyond Seas, and their imitators: and little will you learn of it without a Liturgy of Prayer, comprized in a ſolemn order. The Seraphical acclamations of ſuch a pious model may carry up an Elias in its Chariot far above the clouds. Humility is a great ingredient in it: A devout ſoul the more it preſſeth to come near to God, it keeps the greater diſtance from the glory of his Majeſty: Like a flame of a great Candle, it mounts with heat, but the more it aſcends, the more it trembles. Holy Vows are inſeparable from it, a Vow is in the name of Devotion, to bind us the faſter to God: Therefore it is a Bow that is ſtrongly bent, when the ſtring is ſlack it is an uſeleſs Inſtrument. Alſo, without any force, this is in the Word, that a Devotee devoves his life, and all he hath, to maintain the honour of God, after that exceſs of St. Pauls courage, Acts xxi. 13. I am ready, not to be bound only, but to die at Jeruſalem for the name of the Lord Jeſus. This is devotion, which counts not its life dear, but doth devove it ſelf for the Goſpel of Chriſt. St. Auſtin deſcribes it with much plainneſs. Devotio eſt pius & humilis affectus ad Deum; It is a compound of the beſt internal Piety, and the moſt lowly and proſtrate humility of the body: More loftily in another place, Carbo ignitus flammâ divini amoris accenſus; A firy coal waſting away all earthy dull affections with the flame of divine love. I cannot mend it. In brief, it is the exceſs of a religious fear in the heart, which doth all things outwardly with moſt becoming reverence. Apply this to the example of Noah. As ſoon as ever he came out of the Ark he made ready ſome ſolemn Worſhip: and none ſo ſolemn in thoſe days as Sacrifice; and none could be more bountiful at that time than one of every clean Beaſt, and of every clean Fowl. Seven of all clean Creatures were taken into the Ark, three Couples to multiply, and the odd one to be offered up, it was Caelebs animal, it lived ſingle, not coupled with any Female, to be the purer Oblation: And theſe were not offered on the ground, but to ſhew the elevation of his heart, he built an Altar for it, which you never read of before. Laſtly, It was foreign, an whole burnt offering. Holocauſta ſunt perfecta ſtudia virtutum. Origen began the Allegory, and all have followed him, they are whole Burnt-offerings that conſume the old man, and all the members of their concupiſcence, as much as they are able.
I ſcore not out this Line to move you to the like in fleſhly Sacrifices, which are long ſince ſuperannuated. I will put the iſſue, for your inſtruction, upon that which the brevity of the Book of Geneſis hath omitted, but is neceſſarily underſtood, that Noah ſent up clean Prayers to God with the Oblation of every clean Beaſt, and of every clean Fowl. For while Zachary burnt Incenſe in the Temple, the whole multitude were Praying without at the time of Incenſe, Luk. i. 8. And Solomon gives us light what was done at Sacrifice, he ſpread out his hands to heaven in Prayer, and dedicated the fat of the Peace-offerings to the Lord. Nay more, the Evening Sacrifice burnt all night upon the Altar, and the Prieſts continued in the Temple till morning at Prayer. You that by night ſtand in the houſe of the Lord, lift up your hands in the Sanctuary, and bleſs the Lord, Pſal. cxxxiv. 2. I know not what company they had at the Prayers of the Sacrifice by night or day; very little, if their devotion were no greater than ours. I read in the Ages upward, what a thruſt there was in their Churches at the daily ſervice of Prayer; which concourſe is quite diſuſed in our days: and unleſs the office of Prayer be pieced out with a Sermon, in all places you ſhall find a moſt contemptible paucity; and yet we ſhould know that in a Sermon God ſacrificeth to us, not we to him. Let me be bolder with you, they are ſcarce worthy to be called Prayers, as they are moſt negligently handled. The Prieſt reads, I will not ſay how dreamingly ſometimes; the People gape about, and have other buſineſs in their heads: Some chop in at the latter end, cannot ſpare leiſure to all: Some anſwer to one line, and hold their peace at ten: Some ſtand more upon their eaſe, than to ſtand up, or bow down when they ſhould with reverend geſture. What can there be in ſuch Prayers as theſe to call them a ſweet ſavour? Our ſins ſtink in the noſtrils of God, and are odious: you confeſs that; and miſerable man have you no better than ſuch careleſs ſhuffling Supplications to ſweeten them? They were Wiſemen that took out Myrrh and Frankincenſe when they came to Chriſt, Ad faetorem ſtabuli excludendum, to correct the ill ſavour of the Stable where he lay: but contrary to all reaſon, when our heart is dung, and our ways more filthy than Augias Stable, we yawn out heedleſs, heartleſs, undevotioned Prayers to mend the matter. O is it not to us that he ſpeaks by the Prophet? Amos v. 21. I deſpiſe your Feaſts, I will not ſmell in your holy Aſſemblies. I will borrow a piece of a Sermon from St. Bernard to make up this Point, Stand before the Lord chearfully, reverently, devoutly, Non pigri, non oſcitantes, non parcentes vocibus, non praecidentes verba dimidia; Be not drowſie, let not your attention ſlip from you when God is praiſed, leave not all the Prayers to the Prieſts care, but every one make up his part; do not mangle and chop Gods Service, let your Spirits go with every word; when you hear an Hymn or Pſalmodie, think of nothing elſe but that which is ſung. You are not allowed a good thought at that time, if it be extravagant, much leſs a worldly, a malicious, a wanton cogitation. Pare away theſe ſuperfluities, that you may ſay, My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed, I will ſing and give praiſe. Thus far that the devotion of Noah was very Aromatical in the ſweet ſavour of his Sacrifice.
Secondly, the care that this Patriarch had for the inſtauration of Religion above all things, is like Mary's ſweet Ointment, which ſhe poured upon our Saviour, it ſhall be ſpoken of ſo far as the Word is Preaced in all the world. Bethink you, as well you may, when Noah put forth his head out of the Ark to tread upon the earth, which could afford him nothing but room to walk upon, with how many thoughts he was diſtracted. What houſe to put his head in, where to be provided of Food and Raiment; where were all the neceſſaries and comforts of life to be had? How ſhould he rake up a New World out of the Ruines of the Old? All theſe inſtances, and more than theſe, were thoughts to take up a wiſe man, and yet he laid all theſe under his feet, and built an Altar upon them, to inſtitute a true form of Divine Worſhip in the firſt place, that all the World might follow it, Why, it is evident that his heart gave him in charge to look to Religion above all the neceſſaries of life, and to forget all things, even himſelf, till he had remembred God. Abraham was a Pilgrim, and it is ever obſerved in this Book of Geneſis, or with little exception, that he never removed to any new place, but firſt he built an Altar to the Lord. At the firſt quiet Station, which the Children of Iſrael had vvhen they came out of Egypt, Moſes ſanctified the firſt-born to God. David was no ſooner confirmed a King, but he brought the Ark into its reſting place. We ſtand before a great God, that will not be ſerved with the ſecond or third part of our care. The Jews were rebuked that built houſes for themſelves, when they were returned from Captivity, and let the Houſe of the Lord lie waſte. Chriſt did reprove it, that the young man that was called to follow him ſhould put in another thing between, Firſt let me go and bury my Father. Can you find out any firſt before God, that is the firſt and the Laſt? Piety and Sacred Offices are ſweetly managed when you give them the flower of your care, and the pre-eminence before all things. The day will ſhine proſperouſly on you if you give the firſt hour after you riſe from your bed to Prayer. The whole Week is bleſſed, becauſe the firſt day is the Lords-day to call holy Aſſemblies together. The Heathen Romans began the Laws of the twelve Tables with a ſanction of Religion, Deos caſtè adeunto. In all Commerce, Confederacies, Treaties, let the honour of God be the prime and Maſter reſpect. And all other fine devices will prove but counterfeits of wit to ſuch ſacred Policy.
Another thing makes this repair and ſettlement of Religion precious and highly valued, for the unity and conformity of all parties preſent at it. It was the firſt ſolemnity performed to God after the Floud, that the Company, before they diſperſed, might agree in one outward form of Divine Worſhip. I do not know whether ſuch a complete conſent of all perſons in the Earth was ever ſeen before, or ſince the days of Noah. Therefore it muſt needs afford an excellent ſavour. There was no Idolatry in the world, no different ways, no diviſions, I am for this, and I am for that: This little Flock was at unity in it ſelf: the old Patriarch, his Sons and Daughters agreeing in one Prayer, and in one Sacrifice. O rare and heavenly! One Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hoſts in the tongues of all the Angels, is the moſt Angelical part of the Angels Miniſtry. That is in heaven, but the ſacred Concord that I preach of was on earth: An obedience running all one way, no ſeparations, no Conventicles, which are the obſtructions of Ʋnity, and the decay of Allegeance and Loyalty. They that live far from Court may perhaps ſee their danger ſooner than the wiſeſt that hear it, and ſcarce hear all reports which threaten danger. It is eaſie to ſpit out a ſpark, but not a flame. When Pliny in his Proconſulate in Aſia wrote to Trajan, that he found the Chriſtians meeting in ſecret corners before day, (then they had no Churches) and to be a harmleſs people, that ſung Pſalms to Chriſt, that confederated not to kill, not to commit Adultery, and the like. Budaeus upon the Pandects is my Author, that Trajan wrote to Pliny that he did not like to have them gather together in that privy ſort, for it might tend to conſpiracy. That thereupon the Chriſtians certified of the Emperours jealouſie, refrained their meetings, though as yet they had no publick places to aſſemble in for the Worſhip of Chriſt. But try our Chriſtians that meet in hugger mugger in houſhold Congregations, I doubt you will not find that inoffenſiveneſs and modeſty among them, which was in our Primitive Brethren, who would ſooner obſerve the Edict of a Pagan Prince than theſe will the Defenders of the Faith.
Look upon this Point once more. Noah called all that were about him together to the ſolemn Worſhip of God. A good Spring ſets all the Wheels a going with a true and an equal motion; and it was fit this good work ſhould be carried on in his perſon. The Father of the Family, the Maſter of the Houſhold, the chief Prieſt of the Church in Sacred cauſes, the Supreme Magiſtrate in Civil cauſes, in any of theſe reſpects, but much more in all together, he was to give a good example to his Relatives. A good example, let us look to it to whom it moſt belongs, is a ſweet ſavour to many, far and wide, to the whole World in the Twelve Apoſtles. Upon which Gregory runs out in this exuberant eloquence: The Apoſtles were flowers of all ſweet ſmels, as the flower of the Grape, Doctrina praedicatorum inebriat mentes audientium; their Doctrine did inebriate their Auditors with the Cup of Salvation: there was in them the flower of the Olive in the ſweet works of mercy, the flower of the Roſe in the crimſon bloud of their Martyrdom, the flower of the white Lilly, in ſome by Virginity, in all by pureneſs and chaſtity, and the flower of the Violet in lowly growth or humility. Holy conſpicuous men are flowers of Paradiſe, whoſe odours and colours are delectable: an orient colour in their own conſcience within, a fragrant odour in their good name to thoſe that are without. Juſtus lilium eſt in ſe candidum, ſed proximo odoratum; A juſt man is a Lilly, that hath inherent whiteneſs to himſelf, but ſweet as a Roſe to his neighbour by the edifying of his example, that others may ſee his good works, and glorifie your Father which is in heaven. It is happy to live well, thrice happy to lead well; like Ceſars Souldiers, that were called an Army of Commanders. St. Baſil ſays, that ſome in his time did ſprinkle ſweet Ointment upon the Wings of tame Pigeons, and ſent them abroad, like our coy Ducks, to fetch in the wild Flocks that they might take delight in them, and follow them home: So, as he applies it, the good Odour, which may be ſented from them that are exemplarily vertuous, attracts the wild and diſſolute to the Dove Coats, or the Collections of the Saints of God. All that have done eminently to abandon Profaneneſs, ſuppreſs Superſtition, revoke Sacriledge, diſcourage the Factious, ſuppreſs Hereticks and Contentious, Kings, Potentates, Prelates ſhall be renowned, as Joſias was, that famous reſtorer of Religion, there remembrance ſhall be ſweet as honey in all mouths, and as Muſick at a banquet of wine, Ecclus. xlix. 1. Enough now of this Point, that Noah before all neceſſaries of life and nature took care for the inſtauration of true Religion, begun in a moſt divine unity, and ſetled it by his great example, Therefore the Lord ſmelled a ſweet ſavour.
The third thing which in the Affirmative interprets the phraſe of my Text is, That God is mightily delighted with Oblations of thankfulneſs. Noah had a very ſmall ſtock of Creatures with him to begin a new Generation, and when they came forth of the Ark, none were appointed to be ſlain, but had their Exeatis with this bleſſing, Be fruitful and multiply on the earth. Yet the Patriarch knew by faith, how he that had preſerved them ſo miraculouſly could multiply their paucity, and the ſooner if ſomewhat were gratefully repayed to God. Let Elias have a little of a little, and the Widow ſhall have the more. Theſe few Beaſts and Fowls I ſpeak of were the Reliques of the Old World, and the Seminary of the New. Now how well did a Sacrifice come in to divide between theſe two Points of Religion? To give thanks for the remainder preſerved, and to beſpeak their increaſe for the time to come. So God is juſtly acknowledged in both his titles, Servator reliquiarum, & multiplicator ſeminarii; the conſerver of the little remainder, the multiplier of the total Seminary. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious. The moſt material exception that a good man can make againſt the ſhortneſs of life is, that we want ſpace to run over all the benefits we have received. Woe be to them that have time, and ſpare little for ſuch Meditations.
Some man, who is not very practical in this duty, will ſay, queſtion me not whether I praiſe the Lord for his great mercies, for my Redemption, for my Salvation: How can I forget it? Or had I been in Noahs caſe, eſcaped a common Deluge, I would have offered a Sacrifice. I ſee God muſt buy our gratitude dear if he will have it; and many times when he pays well for it he goes without it. For ſome do premeditately except againſt the Publick Thankſgiving of women delivered from the peril of Childbirth, as if it ſavoured of Jewiſh Purification. The time is to come when ſuch ſhall know, that it is better to be a thankful Jew than an unthankful Chriſtian. This was St. Auſtins Divinity, Liberata eſt uxor tua à periculo partus, benedicis Dominum; When thy Wife is delivered, and well recovered, thou wilt ſay, The name of the Lord be praiſed. The like will any man almoſt do that is come off from a bloudy Battel, a raging Tempeſt, a burning Feaver, a malicious Conſpiracy, that he may not appear a rank Atheiſt. But the Lord, as I ſaid, buys ſuch thanks at a great rate. Do you think he gives common bleſſings like a vantage above the dozen, which you ſhall not pay for? Is it nothing that the Sun doth ſhine upon us, and not burn us? That the Seas flow, and ebb again, and not overwhelm us? That the Cattel of the field feed us, and not devour us? Nothing ſhould befal us without a retribution of praiſe, In every thing give thanks, for this is the will of the Lord, 1 Theſ. v. 18. If the Scripture had not ſaid it, natural ingenuity would lead you to the duty. St. Ambroſe ſays, that Noahs Sacrifice was a free-will offering, it was not commanded. Qui debitum gratiae ut à ſe exigatur expectat ingratus eſt. If you expect a Proceſs to be ſerved upon you to be thankful, it is a kind of ingratitude, for it wants the ſweet ſavour.
But I will degree it to the higheſt, to make my Doctrine uſeful. As one Wave of the Sea drives on another, and the latter puts on the next in a continual flux, ſo the ſouls yearnings to thankſgiving take hand in hand, and that which goes before plucks on that which follows after it. A conſultation muſt be called about it, as David did, What ſhall I render to the Lord? The Soul asks it ſelf the queſtion, and needs no Monitor, as Eliſha made it his own motion to the Shunamite, in requital of her hoſpitality, Behold thou haſt been careful for us, what ſhall be done for thee? Proceed now; What doth conſultation produce? Why, the voice of joy and melody, I will ſing and give praiſe. O but lip labour may be fruitleſs, a Phariſee can ſay, Lord I thank thee. Prove it more than by ſome bountiful retribution, bring preſents unto the Lord, that ought to be feared: Let them be many and liberal, ſuch as God doth expect, who gave us all, and looks for no nigardly proportion in return. O but again, a Phariſee will give as well as pray. Yes, but he will boaſt, and pride himſelf in it: then wrap your thankful preſent in lowly confeſſion, O my God my goods are nothing to thee. For what is the light beholding to them that look upon it? Or what doth a Fountain get of a thirſty man that drinks of it? Then that which brings up the rear, and puts on the reſt before it, is a heart big with holy thoughts, thankful for the grace of the holy Spirit above all things, that ſtirs it up to be thankful, and is aſhamed of its own impotency, that it is able to make no better retribution. Therefore David changeth giving into taking: What ſhall I give? I will take the Cup of ſalvation. As who ſhould ſay, fain I would render unto the Lord, fain I would be thankful: but that's impoſſible on even terms, all the Cattel are his upon a thouſand hills. If I can give nothing, I will take ſomewhat for his ſake, I will take any thing in good part, I will ſuffer any thing that the Lord doth lay upon me ſo you may compound theſe many things into a redolency to make a ſweet ſavour to the Lord.
This generous and well bred quality of gratitude is ever in good men, where thoſe few are to be found. Few alas; for God knows, and benefactors find it, that mercy and bounty are Pearles caſt before Swine, and that they are requited with malice, revilings, treachery from thoſe, whom they have bribed enough, and eſtated in all they have. No Rogues mark, burnt upon the ſhoulder or face, are ſo infamous as this character upon ſome, that no benefits will win them, no good turns will purchaſe them. The Parable of the ten Lepers bids you expect nine bad for one good, ſo it was among them that Chriſt healed. Mundita cute, leproſi corde, healed of their Leproſie, ſtill ſick of unthankfulneſs, cured in the outward skin, corrupted in their heart. Where are the other nine, ſays our Saviour? Are they loſt that they returned not to give thanks? Yes, certainly, quite loſt. De ingratis quaſi ignotis loquitur; Chriſt makes as if he did not know them. That is the fatall doom to have it pronounced by him, Depart from me I know you not. The next thing that follows is to be caſt into the ſtinking Dungeon becauſe the Lord did ſmell an ill ſavour from an unthankful Generation.
Hear now the fourth principal anſwer, what the ſweetneſs of this ſavour was, it was Noahs charity, that he deſired to appeaſe Gods wrath toward all fleſh then living, and to beſeech his mercy to all Generations that ſhould ſucceed. Joſephus, the beſt reporter of the Jewiſh Traditions, ſays, it was the end of this Sacrifice to be a ſolemn Litany for the reparation of the drowned world, and that it might no more be deſtroyed with an univerſal deluge. My Text doth much concur, if you read it word for word after the original, that God did ſmell an odour of reſt, Quia fecit Deum quietum ab indignatione, ſays the Gloſs, by this propitiatory offering he made the divine juſtice quiet, or ceaſe from indignation. And mark what mercy in this Verſe immediately follows the ſweet ſavour, I will not again curſe the ground any more for mans ſake: and in the next Chapter the Rainbow is inſtituted for a promiſe and Sacrament of future ſafety. I will confirm it with apt words out of Luther, Delectatus eſt Deus perdendo genus humanum, & nunc iterum delectatus eſt augendo. God was delighted in his juſtice before to deſtroy all people, and now his mercy will be delighted to increaſe mankind again.
It is fairly ſeen now as the light, that Noah entreated God by Sacrifice to be favourable to his Sons and Daughters, to their off-ſpring, to the whole increaſe of the New World, and this was part of the ſweet ſavour. For God commends this zelum protenſum, zealous love that extends it ſelf to all its neighbours round about, to the whole body of Chriſts Church, to all men living, to all Generations to come, as Tully in his Lelius writes like an honeſt man, Non minoris mihi curae eſt, &c. I have as much care that this Commonwealth ſhould flouriſh when I am dead, as while I am alive. Hezekiah's affections were too much contracted to himſelf, when he ſaid, Is it not good if peace and truth be in my days? 2 Kings xx. 20. Moſes is called Gods Elect, his choſen Servant for ſtanding in the gap to ſave all the people. Nehemiah is very famous, for he raiſed up the ruines of his Nation, Ecclus. xlix. 13. If forraign wits do not miſtake us Engliſh, they defame us ſharply, that we want publick ſpirits, and are commonly careleſs of the common good. But I doubt we are worſe than they make us. For it is not as they have heard, that we intend our private wealths before the general wealth of the Kingdom: no, it is our private pleaſure, our private luxury, that we project at, rather than the honour of our Nation and Country. This is a ſtrong Garlick ſmell, fit to be looked to, and to be turn'd into a better ſavour with a great deal of redreſs and reformation. It is an unnatural baſeneſs, to prefer our ſelves before the proſperity of the Land that bore us. The ſeat of our Anceſtors, the receptacle of our Children and Progeny to come, where we breathed the firſt breath of life, whoſe duſt, which the wind blows about, is the Carkaſſes of our Fore-fathers rotten long ago in their Graves. But Noahs charity was wider than one Country, ſaving that the whole world was but one Country at that time: and he included all Ages to come in the intention of his Burnt-offering and Prayers. So Patrial, ſo publick, ſo univerſal are the endeavours and ſupplications of all good men. I will cite you a piece of a Prayer out of St. Ambroſe, Vouchſafe to hear me, O Lord, for the tribulations of all people, for the groanings of them that are in Captivity, the miſeries of Widows and Orphans, the relief of Strangers, the languor of the Sick, the impotency of the Aged, for the diſtractions of every troubled Conſcience, for the Woes of all that are deſolate, and that the whole World may be in peace and ſafety; the very Cream of our own Litany. This is a full ſong of all parts, whoſe loud volley muſt needs pierce the Heavens. He that prays for the thouſand thouſands of all that are in diſtreſs, will be heard as if he prayed with ten thouſand voices. Noahs Sacrifice was an interceſſion for all mankind, and it was ſweet, as Chriſt died for the ſins of the whole World, to whoſe example St. Paul bids us frame our charity, Walk in love, as Chriſt alſo hath loved us, and given himſelf for an Offering, and a Sacrifice to God for a ſweet ſmelling ſavour, Eph. v. 2.
Which brings in the laſt grain of Incenſe in this ſweet ſavour, God looked on his own Son, appointed to be ſlain on the Croſs, it was Noahs Faith in that Sacrifice which found ſuch gracious favour, more precious than all the Powders of Arabia. God will be pleaſed with righteous men, ſuch as this Patriarch was, though in many things they ſin: he could not but be well pleaſed in Chriſt, becauſe in all things he was obedient. Which well-pleaſing in him redounds to all that are his true members: Who are an holy Prieſthood, to offer up ſpiritual Sacrifice, acceptable to God by Jeſus Chriſt, 1 Pet. ii. 5. Let us put our Prayers, our Thankſgiving, our Repentance, our Alms, our Sufferings in his hand, or they will never be well taken. The Interceſſion of Chriſt ſhould be continually in our remembrance. He is the Angel, Rev. viii. 3. with the golden Cenſor, to whom much Incenſe was given, that he ſhould offer it with the Prayers of all the Saints upon the Golden Altar, which was before the Throne. For take us in our ſelves, without him, and we are noyſom, ulcerous, Swine wallowing in the mire: but we are unto God a ſweet ſavour of Chriſt, 2 Cor. ii. 15. They that verſe continually with, or near to carrion ſmells, loſe their ſent, and never ſtop their noſe at them: So the fetor of our ſins is not ſo well diſcerned as it ſhould be, becauſe we carry their contagion always about us. The implacable Spirit thinks that revenge is ſweet: he that lives by wrong and robbery ſays, Stoln waters are ſweet: It was the ancient word of the covetous, Dulcis odor lucri ex re quâlibet, any thing is ſweet that brings in gain: the Wanton doats of his unlawful pleaſure, and is ſo far from perceiving it to be obſcene, that he is catcht with the Harlots enticement, Prov. vii. 17. I have perfumed my bed with Myrrh, Aloes, and Cinnamon. Alas, theſe are the ſavour of death unto death, and in St. Pauls Phraſe they offer up the Sacrifice of Devils. But put the trial upon our good actions, good according to the perfection of parts, though not of degrees, all is unprofitable, all ſhort of Legal exactneſs, and of Evangelical too, unleſs our Father will ſay to us for Chriſts ſake, Well done good ſervant, thou haſt been faithful in a little. The comfort which old Iſaac took in the fragrancy of his Sons Rayment, may be better applied to the ſweet ſavour which is never ſeparable from our gracious Redeemer, The ſmell of my Son is as the ſmell of a field, which the Lord hath bleſſed, Gen. xxvii. 27.
The great zeal of ſome, and no mean ones, to prove that every thing without Faith is fulſom, and odious, and that nothing is ſweet but that which is waſhed in the bloud of Chriſt, hath made them raiſe a report, upon the incredulous Jews (how true I know not, but not eaſily laid) that a corrupt rankneſs ſteams from their bodies, ever ſince they crucified our Saviour. Marcus the Emperour, and Ammianus Marcell. and other Heathen called them of old faetentes Judaeos, naſty ſmelling Jews. The Chriſtian reporters add, when any of them are converted and baptized, that loathſom ſmell is never more perceived in them. This record likewiſe is of good antiquity in Baronius, That under Lucas Biſhop of Conſtantinople a Synod was held in Trullo, to which the Hagarens were ſummoned, and warned to receive Baptiſm, they, and their Children. They anſwered, their Children were baptized. What, ſays the Biſhop, in the name of Chriſt? No. Why then are they baptized? The Hagarens reply, that their children, till they received that Sacrament, were vexed with Devils, and ſtunk worſe than Dogs. For my part I lend no ear to theſe relations, becauſe they of the Roman Profeſſion, that make them, report no better of us Proteſtants than they do of the Jews. One of them thought to diſcredit the Reformed Religion with this tale, That the next day after Luther was laid in his Grave, ſome came near to it, and his body not to be found, but ſuch a peſtilent evaporation of ſtink as offended all that were preſent. All this while Luther was alive, received this lying Pamphlet, and read it, and gave it ſuch an anſwer as a ſlanderous Libel deſerved. I doubt not but the Lord ſmelt a ſweet ſavour in that zealous Servant of his, becauſe he put his truſt in Chriſt, and believed that in the mercy of the moſt higheſt he ſhould not miſcarry: And a better ſavour was in him, I may reſolutely ſay, than in thoſe his Adverſaries, who think they find much Nard and Caſſia in the Condignity of their own merits. By Faith Abel offered up a more excellent Sacrifice than Cain. By Faith Noah being warned, Heb. xi. 7. prepared the Ark, and became heir of the righteouſneſs, which is by Faith. By Faith we muſt offer up our ſelves holy, unblameable, living Sacrifices, that we which know Chriſt now by Faith may ſee him hereafter in perfect Glory. AMEN.