A Century of Sermons, Sermon 1
THE FIRST SERMON UPON
GAL. iv. 26.
But Jeruſalem which is above is free, which is the Mother of us all.
AN odd conceit that came into the head of the Coſmographer, who ſaid, that if two Eagles equally ſtrong in flight ſhould be choſen out, the one being ſet at the furtheſt part of the Eaſt in Aſia, the other at the furtheſt part of the Weſt in Europe; if theſe two ſhould take the wing juſt in the ſame moment, and not reſt till they came together, they would meet both at Jeruſalem, as if it were the Navel of the habitable World. I rehearſe it as a Dream, and I give it this Interpretation. The Synagogue under the Law of Moſes was the Occidental Eagle; the Goſpel of Grace the Oriental Eagle, which did riſe with Salvation in its wings; why theſe two holy Profeſſions which ſoared aloft, when all other Religions crept upon the ground, I ſay theſe two, when St. Paul wrote this Epiſtle to the Churches of Galatia, did conſpicuouſly meet in Jeruſalem, as in that Theater whereon they did act their moſt principal part. There was the Chair of the Scribes and Phariſees advanced, that taught the exacteſt way of the Law: there was the Temple, wherein the Rites and Ceremonies were performed daily, which Moſes commanded. And likewiſe from thence began the Goſpel to go forth into all the Earth, and had gained more ground there than in any other place. You have filled Jeruſalem with your Doctrin, ſay the High Prieſts. Lo this is the Rendezvouz of the Coſmographers two Eagles, and this is the Explication of his Fable. You know they continued there a ſhort while, for about the ſpace of forty years, like Twins ſtrugling in one Womb. And though at firſt the Propugners of the Law would in no wiſe conſent that the College of the Apoſtles, the Preachers of the new Covenant of Grace, ſhould have any room in their Principality; yet in a ſhort time the Devil ſaw it beſt for his purpoſe to let them ſhare together: Nec meum, nec tuum, ſed dividatur, let it neither be Moſes alone, nor Chriſt alone, but let them mix together. This was the bane of ſincere truth: for every Metal that is mixed with gold embaſeth it. And yet it was entertain'd as a motion ſent from Heaven to make peace and amity, in all the Churches of Galatia, till the Lord ſtirred up the ſpirit of St. Paul to diſſolve this Combination, which he performs with moſt approved ſucceſs in this Chapter. And becauſe Similitudes and Figures will hold faſter in the memory of the unlearned, who are the greater number, than powerful Arguments; after weighty Reaſons premiſed, the Apoſtle concludes, with an Allegory at the end of his Diſputation, foreign as a Banquet after a Meal of ſolid meat. And thus it runs, that they who ſought righteouſneſs by the Law were no better than Iſmael the Son of Hagar, they that ſought righteouſneſs by Faith were as Iſaac, the Heir of his Father. That the Law came from Sinah, which was ſeated in Arabia, a Mountain quite out of the Confines of the Land of Promiſe; the Goſpel began at Sion, or Jeruſalem, which was the heart of the Holy Land. Or let Jeruſalem be compared with it ſelf, and it was under ſervitude and malection by the Profeſſion of the Law, but it gained honour and a beautiful Portion by the Profeſſion of the Goſpel. Jeruſalem which now is in bondage with her Children, but Jeruſalem which is above is free, which is the Mother of us all.
Out of this contention between St. Paul and the Galatians, thoſe ſuſpenſive men, thoſe neutrals, that would be half Jew, half Chriſtian, and ſo were rightly neither Jews nor Chriſtians, I ſay from hence the legitimate Church, which is the undefiled Spouſe of Chriſt, hath purchaſed this deſcription, which I have read unto you, wherein divers of her Privileges are collected together: I do not ſay all; for under the Title of the Kings Daughter, ſhe is deſcribed circumamicta varietate, Pſal. xlv. clothed with as much embroidering and varieties as could be rehearſed in a long Pſalm. In this little Abſtract of the excellency thereof, ſix Portions of its glory are conteined in ſix words. foreign. 1. She is a Jeruſalem, a viſible fair City, that's her external Communion. 2. A Jeruſalem above, that's her internal Sanctity. 3. A Jeruſalem that is free, which is her ſupernal Redemption. 4. A Mother, that's her Fruitfulneſs. 5. The Mother of us, which comprehends her Unity. 6. The Mother of us all, which expreſſeth the Univerſality. Somewhat upon each of theſe, as God ſhall aſſiſt me, that the hour may be profitable to the hearers.
Jeruſalem is the Subſtantive or fundamental word that bears up the whole Text, and it is as muſical a word as moſt that run upon ſyllables; but it offers more pleaſantneſs to the underſtanding than to the ear; full of happy ſignification; a name given foreign, as the Philoſopher Plato was wont to ſay, to accommodate to the Church Apoſtolical, that unleſs God had foreſeen that his ſaving truth ſhould firſt grow up within the walls thereof, it had never been called Jeruſalem. The firſt mention of it is to be required from Joſh. x. i. where we read that Adonizedek, King of Jeruſalem, was afraid of Joſhua, when he had taken the ſtrong City of Ai: Yet I will not ſay that it was called Jeruſalem in thoſe dayes when Adoni-zedek lived. It had two names before; and the beſt Antiquaries of the Jews confeſs, it is not ſpoken of by their Wiſe-men which name preceded. The Rulers thereof, whoſe mention is of the oldeſt time, are Melchi-zedek, and Adoni-zedek, that is the King of Juſtice, and the Lord of Juſtice: ſo that the City was formerly called Zedek, or Juſtice, that without controverſy: but becauſe, through the corruption of our manners, Juſtice may ſet mens teeth on edg, when it is too ſevere and inflexible; therefore it was alſo called Salem, or the Border of Peace: Melchiſedech kept his chief Court there, and he was King of Salem, and Prieſt of the moſt high God. And thus in the times fore-gone auguſto augurio, for a more fortunate Auſpice, it was known by the names of Zedek and Salem, Juſtice and Peace, both which were fulfilled in Chriſt our Lord, who ſuffered there to ſatisfie his Fathers Juſtice, and made our peace by the Propitiation in his bloud. Things by-paſt ſo long agoe, for the moſt part are all uncertain, and it is not known whether it were David, the renowned Conqueror of that City, or ſome other holy Prophet, that enlarged the ſhort word Salem, and made it Jeruſalem: Whoſoever it was, if our Doctors hit him right, he had an excellent reaſon for it. In this place the mighty Hill was called Mount Moriah in the dayes of Abraham. Gen. 22.14.Thither he brought his onelyonly Son Iſaac to ſacrifice him as the Lord commanded; but when the Ram caught by the horns did excuſe his Son, he called that high place Jehovah Jireth, the Lord will be ſeen in the Mount. This Jireth prefixt before Salem makes it Jeruſalem, as who ſhould ſay this City, the Church, will bring you to the viſion of peace: Or thus, let her be comforted in her perſecutions. Deus providebit pacem, God will provide peace. So that Juſtice, Peace, and Providence are the flowers that ſpring out of her names, a ſign that ſome great Bleſſing was hatching within her Circuit, which was brought forth, when the firſt Flock of Chriſt the great Shepherd, was folded there, who were ſent from thence to baptize all Nations.
Neither have we of the New Teſtament encroached upon this Name without leave: the Pſalms the Prophets, all that went before have given us authority for it. To cite one for all, thoſe words of Jeremy come next to my mind;Ch. 3. v. 17. At that time they ſhall call Jeruſalem the Throne of the Lord, and all the Nations ſhall be gathered unto it. We are the Parties ſpoken of, and we are that Jeruſalem the Throne of the Lord. Not to rob them of it, that firſt poſſeſſed the Name, but that both of us might be marked with one ſtamp, as with a Seal of Unity. It was Jeruſalem before unto them of the Circumciſion, and ſtill it is Jeruſalem unto us of the Uncircumciſion. The Law and the Goſpel are at no diſcord, unleſs they be perverſly miſtaken: the one was Chriſt veiled, the other is Chriſt reveiled; they make not two Churches, no more than an Infant, and one of full age make two diverſe men: it is the ſame bough that bears the flower and the fruit, they are both Jeruſalem. No conjunction in the World was intended by God to be more amicable, than between us two, that we ſhould be one People, one Body, one Sheepfold, one City, one Jeruſalem, any thing what you will which was of multitude, and will hold faſt together, and become the ſame. How often is our Peace-maker called a Corner-ſtone, that he might grow with us both into one frame of building, he ſtretched him to both Walls, that both might reſt in him?In Pſal. 44. Yet for all this none under Heaven are worſe agreed than we, through the envy of the Devil. Socrus Synagoga diviſa eſt contra nurum Eccleſiam, ſays St. Auſtin. It is as our Saviour foretold, the Mother-in-law the Synagogue is divided againſt the Daughter-in-law the Church, and the Daughter-in-law the Church is divided againſt the Mother-in-law the Synagogue. But the ſcandal of the rupture is theirs, and the curſe of it is upon them, which will never eſcape them that affect ſchiſmatical ſeparations, and to be holy after their own cut. It were lamentable to tell you what the Polity of the Jews is at this time, a ſpiritual Sodom is an harſh word, but we that march after the Standard of Chriſt are an holy Jeruſalem.
Which word muſt needs gather up our mind into many notions, wherein Jeruſalem of old, and the Catholick Church do ſymbolize; both of them the Seats of the Oracles of God, both of them the Thrones of the Prieſthood, both of them ſown with the bloud of Martyrs, both of them illuminated by Prophets immediately ſent from God: there the Lepers that were cleanſed, after due Rites performed, were received into the Congregation; here contrite ſinners, after due penance performed, receive their abſolution: to that Kings brought Preſents, and Proſelytes came from far; to this the moſt glorious Monarchs have afforded their bounty and protection. In the one Chriſt was ſacrificed for the ſins of the World, but the new Jeruſalem, and none but it, doth partake the merit of his Sacrifice. If fancy will take ſcope theſe Analogies are without number, therefore I paſs them by. And I refer my ſelf to two things eſpecially, how the Name deſcended upon the Church. Firſt, While the old Tabernacle ſtood, Jeruſalem was the chief place wherein men called upon the Name of the Lord. Secondly, Out of the ſame Sion went forth the New Law, and Jeruſalem was the Mother of the firſt born in Chriſt. For the firſt, as you would call a School of good letters Athens, a place of good Military Education Lacedaemon, and a Country of intemperance and luxury Babylon; ſo becauſe the Worſhip of God was performed after the beſt form and exactneſs within the Precincts of this City; therefore thoſe that emulate the Jews in an holy way, to magnify the Lord Jeſus, and to advance his Name in their reaſonable ſervice, they carry this good report to be called the Jeruſalem of God. Obadiah's Cave conteined moſt Orthodox Prophets, Capernaum had a Synagogue to preach in, perhaps as good Sermons delivered there as in all Judea; Joppa had many devout people in it; Bethany afforded a Family which exceeded all others in love to our Saviour; but if you will ſhape unto your ſelves the beautiful Churches of Chriſt, you muſt paſs by theſe, reſerving much praiſe unto them all for that wherein they did very well, and you muſt extend your thoughts to the flouriſhing Profeſſion of Gods Name at Jeruſalem. Thither the Tribes went up, that they might worſhip together in their moſt populous Aſſemblies: not like ſome in our days, that keep at home when the Convocations of the Lord require their preſence, and flatter themſelves with their own ſufficiency, as if they needed no Prayers to commend them to Heaven but their own. But one Simon Stylita, mounted up in his Pillar by himſelf, is not an whole Jeruſalem. To keep Religion in life there is nothing more needful, than that ſuch as are of the Viſible Church have communion and ſociety one with another. Beſide, in this Metropolis of the Land of Canaan the degrees of the holy Prieſthood were conſpicuous from the chief Pontif to the meaneſt Levite: Not all fellows, as Core would have it: And why not every one as good as Aaron? This would make Babel and not Salem; Demetrius his concourſe for all the World, Act. xxix. no man was tied to ſay by your leave to his Companion; for every man was a Maſter of the Mutiny. Let not the pride of them that cannot get preeminence cry down the Authority of them, who have commanded from the Apoſtles to this Age: And remember that St. Jude hath pointed out ſome who were Spots in the Church, ver. 11.not in the Synagogue, that periſhed in the gainſaying of Core? Now Core's gainſaying, if you will expound it to the Letter, can be nothing elſe but a ſeditious attempt againſt Eccleſiaſtical Dignity. Beſide, the ſound of Jeruſalem brings to our remembrance all Divine Offices that were done in the Temple, to celebrate his glory, who is wonderful above all, wherein we ſucceed them either in the ſame, or by clothing their Figures with a Subſtance.Acts 3.1. They had appointed hours of Prayer day by day in the Publick Congregation, for their ſakes that will find out a little time between Morning and Evening to ſtep out of the affairs of the World into the Courts of Heaven; they had the Law preached and expounded with unceſſant diligence: there were no leſs than 460 Synagogues within the Circuit of that City in the days of Joſephus: ſo many Pulpits to inculcate Doctrin into the People. It ſeems they had a form of Catechizing by that Conference which was held between our Saviour and the Doctors; they had Pſalmody according to the moſt skilful Muſick of David and Aſaph; they had Incenſe to learn us devotion; they had Sacrifices to teach us mortification. The exerciſe of all which indeed was much kept down under captivity, and during Antiochus his Perſecution: But in the days of peace and liberty it had this external face of holineſs. And that our ſolemn and outward Profeſſion of Gods worſhip ſhould be ſuitable to this decency and ſplendor, and not ſhuffled up as if we took our Platform from ſuch an obſcure Village as Bethphage or Emmaus, it is incited to do all things after a ſacred comelineſs and magnificence by the name of Jeruſalem.
So it is: and yet theſe Moſaical faſhions are paſſed away. But it is an indelible Character belonging to that place, from whence the Church rejoyceth to take its name, that the firſt foundations of Chriſtianity were laid in Jeruſalem: for as Seneca ſaid of the Heavens, dignum & idoneum ſpectaculum ſi tantum praeteriret, it was a gay and a goodly ſight, though it did no more but move above our head and paſs away; how much better was it to us by the virtue of its light and influence! So Jeruſalem is famous for that Levitical Worſhip of God which is paſſed away and vaniſhed, but much more glorious for the influence diſperſed from thence over all the World by the Apoſtolical preaching; for out of Sion went the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jeruſalem, Iſa. ii. 3. Let us do it all favour, ſays the Emperour Juſtin the Elder, to Pope Hormiſda, for it is Mater Chriſtiani nominis, the Mother, the Foundreſs of our Chriſtian Profeſſion. We may take leave I think, to diſcourſe a little upon the wiſdom of Gods good pleaſure, why this was the Brood-neſt wherein the firſt Aſſembly was hatched that taught the Goſpel. Firſt, ſays Leo, Ʋt ubi paſſus eſt Chriſtus ignominiam, ibi ſubiret gloriam, Chriſt choſe Bethlem for his Nativity, but populous Jeruſalem for his Paſſion, where many might behold his opprobrious Death. Lo in that ſoil where he became a ſcorn and diriſion to them that were round about him, he aſcended into Heaven (for Mount Olivet browed upon Jeruſalem) there he ſent down the Holy Ghoſt, there Faith and Repentance began to be preached in his Name, there St. Peter made his firſt Sermon among devout men that were gathered together of every Nation under Heaven. As there had been the Golgotha of his Humility, ſo there he advanced the Standard of his Glory. 2. Since our Saviour began to take his Kingdom upon him, where ſhould he proclaim himſelf firſt but in his Royal City? there was the Court of David and of Solomon, and meet it was that His Court ſhould be there who was to ſit upon the Seat of his Father David. And it jumps well, that he did not take poſſeſſion of Jeruſalem preſently after he was baptized, no not till he was crucified: He did not actually reign in full Majeſty till he triumphed over Death in his Reſurrection. From thenceforth the Royal Robe of Immortality was upon him, and his Scepter in his hand to cruſh his Enemies, and this was made known in the chief place of Gods Worſhip, in the Gates of Jeruſalem. 3. Had the Goſpel been preached in the beginning near about us in Europe, or in Affrica, or elſewhere far from that Country where Chriſt preached, and ſuffered, and roſe again, the news would have been ſtrange, and Unbelievers would have replied, who are your Witneſſes of theſe things? But, in the firſt utterance of Chriſtian Faith, to preach of his Paſſion within ſight of Calvary, of his Doctrin within the Temple, of his Reſurrection hard by Joſeph of Arimathaea's Garden. This was a demonſtration of truth, that it vented it ſelf where it was beſt known. Much unlike unto them who tell us in theſe parts what Miracles their Diſciples do in India, and tell them in India what Miracles they produce in Europe. When their Wonders are done ſo far from home, it is a ſign they would be truſted, but not hazard examination. 4. Where the Holy Ghoſt came down from Heaven, it was fit that the Soil juſt under that Zenith ſhould be the Cradle of the Church to receive its infancy. Chriſt commanded his Diſciples to tarry at Jeruſalem till they were endued with power from above, Act. i. 4. He would not ſend his Souldiers abroad unarm'd to fight his Battels, the Spirit of Grace is medulla Eccleſiae, the Pith the Marrow of it: Our ſtrength without it is but like that of dead bones, where it deſcends plentifully there riſeth up a Church to Chriſt. And here the Apoſtles had it not inchoativè, but cumulativè, they were abundantly filled with it becauſe they were to empty it out to all Nations.
Out of theſe Premiſes I proceed to the Concluſion. Jeruſalem was Eccleſia Primitivorum, The Church of the Firſt-born, the Apoſtles, the eldeſt Sons of their Mother, did teach the firſt Alphabet of Chriſtianity there, and therefore by way of gratitude to ſo great a Benefactreſs the Catholick Church by way of Metonymy, Cauſa pro cauſato will never be aſhamed to be called Jeruſalem. Every Kingdom upon due right muſt bear a reverend reſpect to them from whom they received their happy converſion. Some had the firſt knowledge of Salvation from Rome, ſome from Conſtantinople, ſome from Antioch, ſome from France, ſome from England, but all from Jeruſalem. And yet none of theſe are to domineer over the faith of their Brethren. They that have begotten us in Chriſt may teach another Goſpel in the revolution of Ages than the Goſpel of Chriſt, and then are we bound, foreign, to labour to reduce them into the right way above all others, who were the Parents of Religion. It is a bleſſing ſorted out to ſome whereof David ſpeaks, Thou haſt made me wiſer than my Teachers, Jeruſalem that drank the luke-warm bloud from Chriſts ſide, and had the Prerogative of pure Doctrine without all mixture of inſincerity, it had a Biſhop in the whirl of times, John the Predeceſſor of Prailius, who was an Origeniſt, and a ſuſpected Pelagian; another of its Paſtors was Gerontius, a confeſſed Eutychian, and divers others it had, that were leavened with heretical contagion. None would concur with theſe unleſs they would put out their eyes to wander for company, becauſe they were the chief Fathers of the City of God. Imagine therefore that Alcaſar the Jeſuit had all t…at he could ask,Rev. 21. that the new Jeruſalem that came from heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband was the Church of Rome (yet his Reader muſt be very courteous that will admit that Expoſition) give them this moreover that Iſaiah meant it, Chap. lx. 3. The Gentiles ſhall come to thy light, and Kings to the brightneſs of thy riſing. No proper name is ſpecified there. But what if it were Rome? Although the ſeventy two, and their own Vulgar Latine have added the word Jeruſalem unto it. Above all, ſuppoſe it were poſſible to conſiſt with my Text, that it were the Roman Church which was oppoſed to Hagar the Bond-woman, that theſe were her Epithets, to be above, and free, and the Mother of us all, (which had it been, Tu es Petrus had never been planted in the fore-front of their argument, nor had it been their Dromedary ridden and jaded upon all Controverſies) this had been their Achilles, in which they had boaſted themſelves invincible. But if all this garniſh had been the true beauty of that Church, it would afford us no more than to meditate upon the Prophets queſtion with wonder and commiſeration,Iſa. 1.21. How is the faithful City become an harlot? The true Church upon earth is a Tabernacle, portable hither and thither, eaſily devolved from place to place. When Abraham looked for a City that had foundations, he expected it in heaven and not in earth, Heb. xi.
I know what is ready to be caught hold of from hence by ſome, and much good do them with it, that the Church is compared here to no ignoble handful of people, which a man muſt grope for in the dark, but to an illuſtrious Commonweal, famouſly known, and conſpicuous in a glorious manner to all the world. Yet, with their leave, this Jeruſalem which St. Paul prefers, was in thoſe days like a Pearl in the ſhell, orient in it ſelf, but hidden from the world, overſpread with a multitude of gainſayers, ten thouſand Adverſaries, and ten thouſand more to one Orthodox believer. As the Hiſtorian ſays of C. Marius, brought ſo low in his fortune, that he hid himſelf from purſuers of Sylla in the flags of a fenny ditch, Quis eum fuiſſe tum conſulem aut futurum credere? Who would have thought he had been Conſul, or ſhould ever live to be Conſul again? So when the Apoſtles, and a few perſons more, met in an upper Chamber at the feaſt of Pentecoſt, who would have took them to be the Kingdom of God upon earth, and none but they? Or who would have divined, that ſuch as they begot in the truth ſhould ſpread into all quarters as the Stars for multitude? It is the Lords doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The Mountain of the Lord hath been notorious, and a clear object unto innumerous eyes upon the top of the Mountains. But is there any ſuch promiſe, that her outward ſplendour ſhould be conſtant, and her felicity perpetual? Nay, rather are we not threatned with ſuch times, when it ſhall be rare to find faith upon the earth, with large Apoſtacies, with flying away into the Wilderneſs, with the Saints diſperſed into private Corners? Grant that this ſhould be for one hard brunt and no more (Dato non conceſſo,)) yet if the ſmall number of right Believers may be compelled at any time to exerciſe their Religion in private, the reaſon falls which ſome do pertinaciouſly allege, that the Church muſt be always well known over the greateſt part of the Earth, becauſe her Doctrines and Traditions muſt be fair and open to all them that will come unto her to ſeek ſalvation, or elſe ſuch as continue in ignorance are excuſable: if ſometimes it may be obſcured by miſery, their mouth is ſtopt for making that objection; and we are aſſured that the converſion of Unbelievers is not ſo plentifully brought to paſs, by the populous aſſociation of men profeſſing faith and godlineſs, as by the inward impulſion of the ſpirit, where the Labourers pains do hit ſucceſsfully by the hidden will of God. But if the quarrel went no further, than that the Church is a Jeruſalem always well known and viſible in ſome meaſure of manifeſtation, it might quickly be compounded; a Congregation there hath been ever ſince the Apoſtles, whoſe report might come to the ears of natural men, though their profeſſion of ſupernatural verities was known only to ſpiritual men; in this latitude we may believe upon hiſtorical faith, that the City upon an hill was never hid, but ſhewed its manifeſt luſtre, I ſay was never hid, yet nothing repugns to the nature of a true Church, but it might diſappear and be enclouded from the ſight of moſt men in miſts and ſtorms of Hereſies and Perſecutions. Let not the Antagoniſts diſſemble, and they know the diſcord is at another point, namely, whether the main Principles of ſaving truth, being reteined and taught famouſly in a Church, which is otherwiſe very corrupt in divers Doctrins, whether thoſe that diſtaſte, and in heart renounce ſuch over-added Superſtitions, are always diſtinct and culled out from the reſt, ſo that nominately they may be diſcerned from the more potent Faction? We affirm, and are ſure of what we affirm by uncontroleable experience, that the Iſrael of God do not always profeſs their Faith and Religion in Congregations apart, but many times they continue in the external Fellowſhip and common Society of corrupt Believers: and theſe have been ſo ſuppreſſed by the tyranny and ſubtlety of great ones, who have laboured to obſcure them, that as for the preſent they have been little ſet by, ſo they have had ſmall or no reputation in Hiſtory, to commend their name to after Ages. Much might be ſaid, and invincibly formed for this out of Eccleſiaſtical Annals. I appeal to one Inſtance above their Monuments (which beget nothing but humane faith.) The Maſter Builders of Jeruſalem, about the time of our Saviour's Incarnation, reteined the ſum of the Law, but admixt with it moſt impure Divinity, and partly by their cunning, and partly by their ſupercilious Authority, there was no open diſtinct Aſſembly of the People, which concurred not with them. Joſeph, and Simeon, and Zachary, men not carried away with their fraud, were but here a berry and there a berry upon the top of a bough: and if it hapned thus to Jeruſalem below; where lies the odds? who can tell, that it may not ſometimes be the condition of the Chriſtian Church, which is Jeruſalem from above?
Now, far be it from this Remonſtrance of the paucity and obſcurity of the ſincere Church, as if it inclined to a ſchiſmatical disjunction: Nay Simeon and Zachary had rather hold communion with the Synagogue of their times, which was much departed from the Truth: but then they were not compelled to ſubſcribe to the prevailing errors of the Scribes and Phariſees. Jeruſalem is not Jeruſalem if it be not a building well compacted together of them that hold ſociety, as much as in them lies, with all thoſe that have received the Mark of Chriſt in their forehead. We are called a ſpiritual Building, and living Stones, 1 Pet. ii. 5. Stones that lie ſcattered are troubleſome to the Paſſenger, and dangerous to ſtumble at; joyn them to others for the erection of a Building, and then you have employed them to their moſt phyſical property: As in a Wall one ſtone ſupports another, ſo when we cleave faſt together, and bear one anothers burdens, God will dwell within us. Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midſt of them. Says Ignatius in his Epiſtle to the Epheſians, we are Stones ſquared by the Line of the Holy Ghoſt, and raiſed up by Charity from Earth to Heaven: And when the Holy Ghoſt doth diſpoſe us to ſupply our fit place in the Structure, then we are living ſtones; Lapides mortui nihil poſſunt per ſe niſi cadere, ſays Hierom to that of St. Peter, a dead ſtone hath no motion of it ſelf but to drop out of the Wall of the Houſe, and to fall down, as who ſhould ſay, there is nothing but decay and death in diviſion; as on the contrary, there is proſperity and life in unity. But as Pliny tells of Theophraſtus, that he taught in his Philoſophy, that there were ſome ſtones, that by nature brought forth other ſtones, as it is in Plants and Trees; ſo the ſtones that build the Walls of this Jeruſalem muſt bring forth that which is fit for the ornament of the Building, but if they do very wicked things, fitter for the Tower of Babel than for the Temple of Chriſt, they they ſhall be plucked out of the Building like accurſed ſtones upon which the ſpot of leproſie appeared, and the Prieſt ſhall caſt them into an unclean place without the City, Levit. xiv. 40. Jeruſalem conſiſts in external communion, but they are not worthy of it. And ſo ends the firſt point.
It was not enough in St. Pauls Judgment to denominate the Spouſe of Chriſt from the beſt Habitation (for earth is but earth be it never ſo much a ſelected portion) therefore he carries her aloft in his praiſe, and adds, that it is Jeruſalem which is above, an heavenly City, Heb. xii. 22. foreign, as if it had not its original here, but fell down from the ſtarry Firmament. A notion fit for the moſt oratorious ſtyle of the Prophet Iſaiah; Iſa. 2.2.ſays he, It ſhall come to paſs in the laſt dayes, that the mountain of the Lords Houſe ſhall be eſtabliſhed on the top of the Mountains. To which the Rabbins give a childiſh interpretation, that toward the time when God ſhall finiſh all things Mountains ſhall be piled upon Mountains, Thabor upon Sinah, Sinah upon Carmel, and Sion upon them all: as the Poets feign that the Giants threw Pindus and Pelion on the top of Oſſa: how low they creep in their underſtanding, that do not ſtretch that deſcription to Heaven! Let ſuch Blind-worms lick the duſt, as the Pſalmiſt ſays: but we muſt find out certain Raptures rather than Expoſitions, how the Seat of Chriſt's Kingdom, where his Servants do him homage in praiſe and holineſs, is not beneath, but above. Firſt, becauſe Chriſt our Head is aſcended into Heaven, and governs all things beneath from thence, ſitting at the right hand of his Father. As a King, upon whoſe ſafety the weal of the Kingdom depends, is ſaid to carry the lives of his people with him, when he adventures his perſon into danger; ſo our Souls do hang upon Chriſt our Redeemer, in him we live and move, whereſoever he goes he draws us after him; if he be lifted up on high, ſo are we alſo by vertue of concommitancy, it is his will, and we have his word for it, that where he is, there ſhould we be alſo. When we pray unto him, if our ſpirit do not iſſue out from us, and proſtrate it ſelf before him in Heaven, that Petition ſollicits faintly, and is not like to ſpeed, becauſe it comes not nearer to him who is our Advocate with the Father. When we come to his holy Supper, unleſs we carry up our heart unto him by ſtrong devotion, and preſume that we ſee that very Body which was crucified for us before our eyes, we pollute the Sacrament for want of faith. There are ſuch joints and bands which knit the body unto the head, as mortal reaſon cannot expreſs: but through faith and love we are often with him by inviſible aſcenſions: but moſt aſſured be we that there he intercedes for us, from thence he aſſiſts his Sacraments,Heb. 12.25. ſanctifieth his Miniſtry, gives grace unto his Word: And if they did not eſcape, who refuſed him that ſpake on Earth, much more ſhall not we eſcape, if we turn from him that ſpeaketh from Heaven.
Secondly, Our Jeruſalem is above not only in the Head, but in the Members. I do not ſay in all the Members: for the Church is that great Houſe in which are Veſſels of honour and diſhonour. Terms of Excellency though indiſtinctly attributed to the whole, are agreeing oftentimes only to the chiefer or more refined part. Some there are in this Body, whom though we ſalute not by the proud word of their Sublimity, yet in true poſſeſſion, which ſhall never be taken from them, they are foreign, thoſe that are above. Witneſs that the Angels make up one Church with us, being the chief Citizens that are reckoned in the triumphant part: fellow Servants with us under one Lord; adopted Sons under one Father; Elect under one Chriſt. This is the language of the Scripture, and ſurely Members of one Myſtical Body, for the ſame Jeſus is the Head of all Principality and Power, Coloſ. ii. 10. Of this Family alſo are the Saints departed, even all thoſe holy Spirits that obey God in heavenly places, and do not imitate the Devil and his Angels. This is that Church which hath neither ſpot nor wrinkle; for when I ſpeak of ſuch a Church, ſays St. Auſtin in his retractations, I mean none but thoſe in Heaven. After theſe that make the front and firſt File of our March, there are many among us, I truſt, who have their part in this deſcription, Jeruſalem which is above, the Elect of God, the Church inviſible; inviſible, I ſay, not for their perſons, but for their qualites; for who can ſee who hath an internal union with Chriſt the Head? Who can tell whether this or that may be filled with his Grace, and quickned with his Spirit? Cuſanus ſays very well, that there is no certain judgment to be made by the outward fruits, who are living Members of the Church, but in Infants that are newly baptized. With the mouth we confeſs the truth, but with the heart man believes unto righteouſneſs; and only God can ſee the heart. But theſe, whoſe integrity their Maſter knows and loves, no matter in what baſe condition they wander here, they are greater by far than the ungodly that over-peer them in promotion, they are above indeed, for they are as high as the pinacle of bleſſedneſs, and their names are written in the Book of Life: for their ſakes God hath dropt down the beautiful ſtyle of Jeruſalem upon the Houſhold of Chriſt; but without theſe no name were ſo fit for it as Sodom or Samaria. Such as will wrangle where no occaſion is offered, have carped at this, as if we removed all from the Church, but ſuch as are Iſrael in occulto, and have their ſins forgiven in Chriſt: It was never our meaning, neither can we help it, but that we muſt keep communion with all thoſe that profeſs the common Faith. But if the Church had known Hypocrites it had not admitted them into the Portion of the Lord, or elſe it had excluded them. Et quid prodeſt non ejici coetu piorum ſi mereris ejici, De Dup. Martyr.ſays St. Cyprian; What the better is it for an Hypocrite that he is not caſt out of the Congregation, ſince he deſerves to be caſt out? he may abide with us in the outward Society of them that call upon Chriſt, praeſumptivè non veraciter, as Spalatenſis ſays, becauſe we preſume he is faithful, though indeed he is the Child of the Devil: numero, non merito, he makes up one of the Multitude that go in the broad way, he is none of the few that ſtrive to enter in at the ſteight gate; he keeps the formality of a Chriſtian with others beneath, he perteins not to Jeruſalem which is above.
Thirdly, We have obtained this dignity, to be ranked as them that are above, becauſe our calling is very holy: He hath ſaved us, and called us with an holy calling, 2 Tim. i. 9. called to Doctrin which is above, which fleſh and bloud did not reveal, but the Father that giveth wiſdom plentifully: foreign, ſays Theophilact upon my Text, God did preach the Goſpel from on high with his own voice; for take a Breviary of it, and it is no more but that which he ſaid from Heaven, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleaſed. We are called to obey the truth by illumination from above, from thence is ſent the ſpirit of them that are baptized, the ſpirit of the Apoſtles and Martyrs, the ſpirit of Biſhops and Doctors, the ſpirit of all thoſe that have lived in the Truth, and ſhed their bloud for the Truth's ſake. We are called to that Religion which conſiſts in celeſtial Functions; in Faith and Hope, in Prayer and Charity; not in a Religion which preſſeth them down that obſerve it with an inſupportable weight of Shadows and Ceremonies;Jo. 4.23. but the hour is come when the true Worſhippers ſhall worſhip the Father in ſpirit and truth. Beware of thoſe of the Conciſion, ſays St. Paul, and among bad marks which they carry,Philip. 3.19. this is the concluſion, foreign, they mind earthly things, that is, they are pleaſed with carnal Ordinances, with theſe low and beggerly Obſervations of the Levitical Prieſthood, but immediately turning himſelf to the Fundamentals of the Goſpel, and the practice thereof, ſays he noſtra politeia, our way of ſerving God, our manner of worſhip is in Heaven. So Bernard ſays, that the Synagogue moved in a low Orb. But Solomon, ſpeaking of the New Teſtament, ſays, Quae eſt iſta quae aſcendit? Cant. iii. 3. Who is ſhe that cometh up from the Wilderneſs, perfumed with mirrh and frankincenſe, with all the powders of the Merchant? Above all, we are called to holy actions, which ſavour not of mans paſſions and purpoſes, but are qualified from above. Our fortitude is heavenly fortitude, our temperance heavenly temperance, our liberality to the poor heavenly liberality; but the moral deeds of the Heathen, living out of the Church, that had the beſt gloſs upon them, were ſmutcht with ſome bad vapour below, and every grane of vertue that grew out of their ſtalks did abound with the chaff of vanity. And what exceeds all that I have ſaid, beſide to make our calling heavenly and holy, God is ſo gracious to thoſe things which are done in the Church in the name of his Son, that where an unfit inſtrument may ſeem to marr all by his extravagant profaneneſs, by his impenitent conſcience, nay by his heretical pravity, yet Chriſts preſence and aſſiſtance are not wanting to his Word and Sacraments, but their efficacy is free and current to the people, though they be performed by a crooked and an adulterous Generation. As the Poſterity of Jacobs Handmaid had a Princedom among their Brethren in the Land of Canaan, though they came of Bond-women, Bildah and Zilpah, Non illis obfuerunt natales ancillarum, ſed praevaluit ſemen paternum, ſays St. Auſtin, it did predominate in the advancement of their fortune, that ſuch a Father did beget them, though their Mothers were Servants. So it prevails in the holy things of the Goſpel, that the Father of Grace is above that bleſſeth them, though they be delivered to you immediately by him that is a bond-man to iniquity: the impediments that are under foot here be no impediments, becauſe our Jeruſalem is from above.
Fourthly, This holy City of God is above, becauſe it purſues not the things beneath, but it ſeeks thoſe things above, where Chriſt ſitteth at the right hand of God, it is above in its affections. The delights of the Synagogue were victory over their Enemies, length of days, a Land of Wine and Olives, and flowing with Milk and Honey, poor acceſſories of a tranſitory happineſs. This was tolerated unto them, when the firſt Rudiments of the fear of God were taught; but grandeſcenti puerilia excutiuntur, theſe are too childiſh for us to look after. In as much as long continuance of time hath taught us to chooſe the better part. Jeruſalem facit amor Dei, Babyloniam facit amor ſeculi, ſays St. Auſtin, he refers all the World to belong to two Cities, which he calls Jeruſalem for the ſound part, Babylon for the wicked. The whoriſh Babylon is built up with the love of tranſitory things, the Virgin the Daughter of Sion is built upon the love of God. Our Predeceſſors that lived near to the Apoſtles days, did give ſuch reputation to the Chriſtian Name in the holineſs of their converſation, that all that they did or deſir'd, ſavour'd, even in the noſtrils of their Enemies, of that which was above: ask them what they would have? The Kingdom of Glory; And why they ſpent the day and night in faſting and weeping? For the Kingdom of Glory; And why they expoſed their lives to ovethrow the Idols of the Heathen? To get the Kingdom of Glory. What need we more witneſſes ſaid the Judges that examin'd them, their heads are forfeit, for by their own confeſſion they ſeek the Kingdom. Alas poor ſouls trained up by Fiſhermen, who had learn'd that one leſſon from the mouth of their Teacher, Behold we have left all. No delights under the sky which they forſook not, that they might not be forſaken of God; took no more but bare neceſſaries for life out of all the ſtore which the Earth afforded, but fill'd up the wide chinks of their heart with the contemplation of that which is above. In the antienteſt Iriſh Synod, held under St. Petricius, there is a polite paſſage for thoſe Times and that Climate: Uſe theſe outward things moderately, non ſumit lucerna niſi quo alitur, all is ſuperfluous in a candle but that which the ſnuff ſucks up to maintain the light. Some came after theſe that were renowned for the contempt of tranſitory things, and the ſweet elevation of their ſpirit, among whom was Gregory the Great, ſays our Bede, praiſing him for our ſakes, animo illius labentia cuncta ſubter eſſe, as water runs under a Bridg, ſo all the fluxive things of fortune flowed beneath his mind. But all latter Ages have juſtly deplored the decay of ſanctity of manners; as the vertues of Miracles were withdrawn, ſo that admirable ſanctity in the Church which bred both envy and amazement in the Heathen, came to a much meaner perfection. I know not how the baits of honours and voluptuouſneſs are grown to be ſtronger tentations now than in thoſe days, when our Progenitors were ſqueaz'd between perſecution and poverty; for where is he that doth his duty now-a-dayes, and looks not for ſome part of his payment in hand, and to reap a crop out of theſe tranſitory poſſeſſions? As Manna deſiſted to fall when the people eat of the fruits of the land, ſo the ſweetneſs of heavenly joy is not perceived any longer, when our appetite rageth for theſe vile things, for a dividend of duſt and clay. Recall your Soul, and lure it higher, when it ſtoops to this bait below; when it extends its deſires to things that are worſe than its own ſubſtance (ſo is every thing that we behold with our bodily eye) it muſt needs return home leſs unto it ſelf, and be juſtly deſpiſed of God, whom we talk to in our Prayer, as if we were perſwaded he was in Heaven, and yet ſo buſie we are in action beneath, as if we ſought our God upon Earth. In a word, by penetrating ſo far into theſe corruptible objects you have excommunicated your own Soul from the Church of Saints, for that Jeruſalem is above.
Fifthly, The Church Evangelical is Jeruſalem above in reſpect of the Jewiſh Hagar, propter ſublime pactum, the Covenant that is made with us is ſublime and magnificent; not the dreadful Law of Works, but the mild and gentle Covenant of Faith in the bloud of Chriſt. Now this is nothing elſe but the very next point in effect, the freedom or eternal redemption of Jeruſalem, which requiring a more ſpacious part of time to handle it, I conclude all that hath been ſpoken for the preſent in the name of the Lord. AMEN.