A Century of Sermons, Sermon 3
THE THIRD SERMON UPON
GAL. iv. 26.
Jeruſalem which is above is free, which is the Mother of us all.
HAving drawn out the deſcription of the Church in ſundry lines of beauty, that it is a Jeruſalem, a viſible and glorious City for the external Communion, a Jeruſalem from above, for her internal Graces, a Jeruſalem that is free, for her Redemption through the bloud of Chriſt: every man I ſuppoſe will atteſt thus unto it, nihil addi poteſt huic bono niſi ut ſit perpetuum; O that it would laſt thus unto the worlds end by continual propagation, for nothing can be added unto that which is ſo completely good, but that it ſhould be perpetual. Lo I ſhall land you now upon that Shore, and repreſent the Church unto you as a Mother that brings forth, and is never barren, whoſe fruitfulneſs continues her praiſe and happineſs for ever: ſhe is the Mother of us all, and of all thoſe Generations after us, that live by the faith of the Son of God, as long as the World endures. We are not in the condition of Xerxes, who had as goodly a Train of Souldiers as ever marched into the Field, but it drew tears from his eyes, to think that in leſs than the ſpace of an hundred years not one of all thoſe thouſands ſhould remain alive: They had not a Mother which brought forth unceſſantly to repair their mortality. That good which will not continue breeds great diſcomfort upon certain expectation of mutability. But our Jeruſalem ſhall never wain nor conſume, it is ſown with the ſeeds of immortality. If we were all included in one Iſaac, and he were ſlain upon the Altar for a Sacrifice, yet Abraham were ſure that God would reſtore him again being dead. Jacob might faint and fear leſt his Sons ſhould miſcarry one after another, and he remain childleſs; his deſpair was grounded upon the ſadneſs of humane events, if I be bereaved of my Children I am bereaved, Gen. xliii. 14. But the Church ſhall ſee her Childrens Children grow up by ſucceſſion without end of dayes. Chriſt ſhould be put to death again, and riſe no more (which is moſt impoſſible) if ſhe ſhould quite diſappear. The root of the Tree of Life ſhould die (which cannot be imagined) if her branches ſhould all wither. But this is a Lamp which is nouriſhed with freſh oil from Heaven, and ſhall never be put out; it is the chiefeſt of all that is called good upon Earth, and a conſtant perpetual good. Therefore let the Children riſe up and call this Mother bleſſed.
And as the Church hath taken upon it the proper name of Jeruſalem, yet without any Contract to the local and material building of Jeruſalem, ſo ſhe hath taken up the appellation of a Mother, yet without any reſpect to nature, no way bending to natural cauſes, or natural affections. For not only our Parents in the fleſh, but the whole World hath quite loſt us in this word. As Moſes remembred the great devotion of Levi, that he ſaid of his Father and Mother, I have not ſeen them, or I reſpect them not, and of his Brethren, I do not acknowledg them, Deut. xxxiii. 9. So by deriving our ſelves from this Mother, we caſt our fleſhly Parentage aſide, and we ſay to her, who did give us to ſuck from her Breaſts, as our Saviour did to the Bleſſed Virgin; Mulier, quid mihi tecum? Woman, what have I to do with thee? Jeruſalem is ours, and we are hers. Jeruſalem which is above is free, &c. This remainder of the verſe, which is the diſpatch of the whole Text, requires our inſpection into three particulars. Firſt, To know our Mother, that we may not be ignorant either of her fruitfulneſs, or our own obedience. He is a wiſe Son, ſays Telemachus in Homer that knows his Father, but he is a fooliſh Son that doth not know his Mother. Secondly, Note the unity and indiviſion of the Children of this Mother, They are a cluſter of Grapes hanging upon one Stalk, a Brood of Chickens clockt under the wings of one Hen, there is but one Ste… and one Progeny, one Noſtrum in relation to this Parent, Mater noſtrum the Mother of us. The third and laſt part puts us to obſerve, that the note of Univerſality was large in Pauls days, but now much more amplified than in thoſe times, mater noſtrum omnium, the Mother of us all.
Firſt, A Mother gives a being to thoſe whom ſhe brings forth, and that which is brought forth owes a great duty to the Mother, upon theſe two hinges this main part of the Text is turned: the one is the Fruitfulneſs of the Mother, the other is the Obedience of the Children. And what being is that which Jeruſalem above doth contribute unto us, that ſhe is called our Mother? It challengeth no part in our ſpecifical eſſence, or the being of our nature▪ and yet I will tell you, a vitious filthy ſinner doth ſo ill become the name of a man, that there is far more congruity between him and a Beaſt; he is more Swine, or Tyger, or Fox, or locuſt than man: he is not four-footed, but he is bruitiſh hearted: in his inward parts he hath put off humanity. But if repentance ſhall reſtore him out of this beſtial converſation, if God ſhall ſet good men at his right hand, that by ſtrength of reaſon, force of perſwaſion, timelineſs of admonition, yea or by ſharpneſs of correction, ſhall make him feel and know the beauty of an honeſt life, he is redintegrated in the powers and faculties of a man, which he had quite loſt: So that our being in the auſterity of Philoſophy is connexed with our well-being. No good man, and by conſequent no not a man, till he be governed by the Principality of reaſon, civil Education, and the conditement of Vertue is ſuch a Parent as repoſeth a vile perſon, a transformed Monſter into the proper line of his own Praedicament, it makes him Man.
Not to flutter in the air, as it were, any longer with Paradoxes, impious Catives I confeſs, ſhall ſtand for men, for they ſhall ſuffer the curſes and puniſhment of men in Hell-fire. What is it therefore which Jeruſalem adds unto us, that ſhe is called our Mother? why, the renovation of the mind, or the new man, created after God in righteouſneſs and true holineſs. And as the Birthright which Jacob obteined from Eſau was inſtead of another birth unto Jacob, ſo when ſuch as were veſſels of wrath became Heirs of the Promiſe by Baptiſm and the Miniſtry of the Church, is not this a Mother that gives them a better life than they had before? The Love of God is our life, Faith conceives us, Hope brings us forth, Charity feeds us with her breaſts, Obedience wraps us in ſwadling bands, and knowledg brings us up. God doth inhabit our mind and underſtanding as the Soul doth inſpire the Body. As Abram was turned into Abraham, and Simon into Peter, when they pleaſed the Lord; ſo take any one that is regenerate and chang'd from his vain converſation, though his ſhape and ſubſtance continue as it was before, yet the Angels that rejoyce at the converſion of a ſinner, behold him with their celeſtial eyes not as the ſame, but as another Creature. And no wonder if he become another object in the ſight of Heaven: the reaſonable Soul is that which conſtitutes the natural man, but Faith being ſuperadded a better ſpirit poſſeſſeth him, and Chriſt is the form of a Chriſtian. It is St. Paul's Phraſe, ver. 19. of this Chapter, My little children of whom I travel in birth again till Chriſt be formed in you. As Ananias travel'd, and earned for a Child, till Chriſt was formed in Paul, ſo Paul travel'd, and had the ſorrows of a Mother when …he brings forth in the anxiouſneſs of his heart till Chriſt was formed in the Galatians. Firſt the Church brought him forth, then he laboured abundantly, and aſſiſted the Church to bring forth others. The true ſolution of the old Riddle, Mater me genuit, eadem mox gignitur ex me, the Son of Grace is begotten of this Mother, and afterward filling up a place in the Communion of Saints, he is reckoned into the collective Body, which is called Jeruſalem our Mother.
But a late Writer puts in his judgment very well, I think, how far the Motherhood of the Church intends to make us Children of Adoption, it travels in birth, that by her work Chriſt may be formed in us.Juſtinianus. The Members of our fleſhly body are formed in our Mothers Womb by her natural faculties, ſhe can go further for the abſolution of the work, that is, the inhabitation of the Soul is the act of God: ſo the Church doth the part of a Mother, it propounds repentance, diſcloſeth the myſteries of faith, perſwades us with the expectation of a great reward in Heaven, offers us the uſe of both the ſalutiferous Sacraments; thus a new faſhion, a new Creature, even the form of Chriſt doth creep upon us, but the life by which we live it is foreign it comes from without, from above, from the inſpiration of the ſpirit of Chriſt. But without that efformation, or effigeation in the Womb of the Mother, never expect the vivification or information of the Holy Ghoſt: a Doctrin beſt known in thoſe trivial words of St. Auſtin, he cannot have God for his Father, that will not have the Church for his Mother. Aſcribe the top of the bleſſing to him, from whom every good gift, eſpecially thoſe which are ſupernatural, deſcends. Of his own good will He begat us with the word of truth, Jam. 1.18. His good will moved him to pity us: his vertue and power went out from him to beget us; and his truth, which ſhined in our hearts, was the inſtrumental cauſe to convert us. Carry it along with you therefore, that the inviſible Father that is in Heaven works by the viſible Mother the Church that is on Earth. As Eve was the Mother of all living, ſo ſhe is the Mother of all believing; Creſcite & multiplicamini is ſpoken to one as well as to the other, both were ordeined in their ſeveral ſorts for that bleſſing increaſe and multiply. Therefore St. James hath conjoyned the Word of Truth to the Will of God, both are mixed together to regenerate a pious people. And although ſome have been too nice in expounding the Phraſe, Of his own will he begat us with the word of truth, not with the words of truth in the plural, as if our ſalvation were effected by pronouncing one word, as when firſt we were made Members of Chriſt by ſaying I baptize thee, and when we have ſinned and return again to the Lord by ſaying I abſolve thee; yet be it briefly or largely, it is the word ſpoken and preached by the Church, which gives us this heavenly feature to be the holy ones of God: Briefly, the Mother that doth beget us is the Church Militant, but the Mother to whoſe filiation and inheritance we aſpire is the Church Triumphant.
It is true, that in relation to Chriſt the Church is his Body, and all we are his Members; and in that reference it doth not make the Elect Servants of God, but rather it is compounded of thoſe Servants: for properly the Body is not the Mother of the Members, the Members are not the effect of the Body, but they conſtitute the Body as integral parts. And ſo Solomon hath more aptly given it honour in thoſe delicious Metaphors of a Bundle of Myrrh, a Cluſter of Grapes, and a Pomegranat, which I think is the beſt reſemblance: a Pomgranat contains many kernels under one Coat, ſo, many thouſands of Diſciples are under the covering of Chriſt. 2. As many kernels are in the ſmall Pomegranat as in the great; ſo the Graces of Chriſt are in the little Churches as in the more ſpacious. 3. As the old Greek Proverb goes, foreign, as in every Pomgranat there are ſome corrupt kernels, ſo there are ſome wicked ones in every Church. 4. As the ſeeds of the Pomegranat are of a bloudy colour, ſo the Robes of the Apoſtles and others, the beſt kernels of the Church, were red in the bloud of Martyrdom, but made white in the bloud of the Lamb. The ſum is in the whole Pomgranat, in the lump we are the Body of Chriſt; but take us one by one, and conſider us as ſometimes we were darkneſs, and now light in the Lord: and that this fire was kindled in us all from the Altar of Chriſt Jeſus, and by them that miniſter at it; ſo Jeruſalem which is above is the Mother of us all. For the moſt proper work of a Mother is to bring forth Children, and the moſt proper work of a good Mother is to bring them up. And becauſe of theſe two Solomon in the ſame Canticle hath uſed this appellation which my Text doth, I will bring thee into the Houſe of my Mother, that is the Church.Cant. 3.4.
And though he were the greateſt King one of them that ever the Earth ſaw, yet it is no diſparagement to him to call that his Mother, which God calls his Spouſe. I will betroth thee unto me for ever, yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteouſneſs and faithfulneſs, Hoſ. ii. 19. The Bridegroom hath taken this Bride unto him, and their Offspring are multiplied; and happy are thoſe, and none but they, who are the legitimate Children of this ſacred Marriage. The Font of Baptiſm is the Womb of the Church, the Spirit that moves upon the waters to ſanctify them is the Father, and from theſe two are brought forth the Sons of the Moſt High, that ſhall dwell in glory for evermore. And becauſe of this indiſſoluble connexion between the Holy Ghoſt and this Spouſe▪ who is always preſent with it▪ St. Auſtin notes that ſhe muſt not only be a fruitful Mother in abundance of iſſue, but alſo a pure Virgin, becauſe ſhe knows none other Husband. Eccleſia virgo eſt, & parit, De Temp. Serm. 119.Mariam imitatur quae Dominum peperit; the Church is both a Virgin and a Mother, like the Mother of our Lord, although a Mother, yet of unqueſtioned virginity. St. Ambroſe runs more diviſion upon the ſame ſtring on this ſort, Sancta Eccleſia immaculata coit…, foecunda part…, virgo eſt caſtitate, mater prole; the holy Catholick Church keeps her Bed immaculate, and yet her Offſpring is innumerous: a Mother by perpetual propagation, and yet a Virgin by perpetual chaſtity: Parit nos non dolore membrorum, ſed gaudio Angelorum: nutrit nos non corporis lacte ſed Apoſtolorum; ſhe is delivered of us with no pain or ſorrow, but with the joy of the Angels in Heaven: ſhe feeds us not with the breaſts of a woman, but the Milk of the Apoſtles, which is better than Nectar to the Soul, and the Manna that comes down from Heaven. It is yet more admirable, what God hath wrought upon this Jeruſalem by demonſtration of the Spirit and of power. We are the diſperſions of the Gentiles that are now the People of the Lord, we were as a Strumpet that went a whoring after Idols, and God hath betrothed this Church unto him, and made it an unpolluted Virgin; I deny not, but lament it, that there are ſome Chriſtian ſtations affected towards Idolatry, which renews the infamy of our ancient whoredoms. But whatſoever our Mother is now, our Grandmother was chaſte and pure in Hegeſippus dayes. Take it in that ſincerity of practice and Doctrin, and then you may ſee the mighty works of Chriſt to turn an Harlot into a Virgin, and a Virgin into a Mother. Magna eſt ſponſae, & ſingularis dignitas, meretricem invenit, De Temp. Ser. 119.virginem fecit, ſays St. Auſtin, this is the great and ſingular dignity of the Bride, which hath prepared her ſelf to meet the Bridegroom that comes from Heaven, he hath changed her whoredom into virginity, and multiplied her virginity into foecundity, that ſhe is the Mother of us all.
You ſee the Mother through whoſe Miniſtery every Chriſtian is born again of water, and of the Holy Spirt; neque parcit unigenito pro ſic genito? the Father did not ſpare his only begotten Son, that we might be thus begotten. But is there no more that belongs to a Mother than to bring forth?Lib. 1. Pedag. c. 6. yes, ſays Clemens Alexandrinus, and I quote him becauſe he ſpeaks of the Church, every thing that brings forth is obliged by nature to ſupply nouriſhment unto that which it brings forth. I am not ſo rigid, but I will grant that in caſes of weakneſs, and divers accidental indiſpoſitions, that which nature doth ordinarily urge and provide for may be diſpenſed; but this rule is born with every Female, that which is ſo fruitful as to be a Mother ſhould be ſo careful as to be a Nurſe. And ſo is the Church. Not only Moſes the Law-giver carried the People of Promiſe as a nurſing Father carrieth his Child, Num. xi. 12. by tenderneſs, by ordering their ſteps, by breeding them in good Precepts and Laws: but the Apoſtles were much more laborious to feed the Chriſtian Proſelytes with the Word of life, that they might grow up from grace to grace unto the ſtature of perfect righteouſneſs. I have fed you with Milk ſays St. Paul to the newly converted Corinthians, 1 Cor. iii. 2. and he ſuppeditated ſtronger meat to them that could digeſt it. And for all manner of ſweetneſs and forbearance, he behaved himſelf gently among the Theſſalonians, as a Nurſe cheriſheth her Children, 1 Theſ. ii. 7. Every Rule and Doctrin which is delivered ſincerely and in truth is Milk to thoſe that thirſt to drink of the Well of ſalvation. Honey and Milk are under thy tongue, ſays Solomon, ſpeaking of this Mother and Nurſe. Cant. iv. xi. Milk is a pleaſant food ſo is the Goſpel to them that have a ſpiritual taſte: there is no Aloes or bitterneſs in it,Lacon. Apoph. but to them that have a carnal palat. It is Antalcidas his anſwer in Plutarch, to one that asked, how he might ſpeak that which might be accepted, ſays he, Si loquaris jucundiſſima, praeſtes utiliſſima, if you will deliver that which is moſt pleaſant, and ſeaſon it with that which is moſt profitable: ſo that which is ſucked from the Breaſts of this Parent arrides the taſte with ſweetneſs, and it is as profitable as ſweet, and called Milk, becauſe it is a moſt growing nouriſhment; foreign among the Naturaliſts, as they were accounted plain and innocent above all other People, ſo they did excel for health and magnitude of body. Be admoniſhed therefore, that ſuch Chriſtians as wax not better and better, take ſome other thing for their nouriſhment than the Milk of the Church, which doth not proſper in them. If you do not grow, and add virtue to virtue, you have choſen a Nurſe with dry breaſts, and whoſe complexion is diverſe from your holy Mothers. Lacte gypſum miſcet, as the old Proverb is, the World is a Stepmother whoſe Milk is infected with poiſon: no redreſs for ſuch, but as it was ſaid of the Shunamites Child, when he complained of his head,1 Pet. 2.2. Take the Child unto his Mother; as St. Peter exhorts, deſire the ſincere Milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby: the end of it is to grow and encreaſe, not to ſtand at a ſtay: true Piety never thinks ſo well of it ſelf as if it needed no augmentation; that's Phariſaical hypocriſie. He that gets nothing loſeth much,Eph. 253. he that doth not add to his talent will forfeit it and loſe it. Says Bernard, did not all the Angels which Jacob ſaw upon the Ladder that reached up to Heaven either aſcend or deſcend? Inter aſcenſum & deſcenſum, inter profectum & defectum nullum eſt medium; There is no medium between proficiency & deficiency, between going backward or forward. Either you are continually mending in all parts of Religion by the fatneſs of this milk: or you will conſume away like a ſhriveled Changeling. But the Nurſe will not be wanting in ſuppeditating milk, if you are not wanting to your ſelf in the wholſom concoction. And now to end this Point, I pronounce unto you, that you can expect no greater miricle from God than to have ſuch a Mother, and ſuch a Nurſe. Firſt, Were you not dead in Adam, and then this Mother took you into her womb, and brought you forth alive moſt ſtupendious? Nay, muſt you not die unto ſin, and be crucified to the world, before you could be born again? Quid difficilius cognitione quàm ut homo naſcatur moriendo, ſays St. Auſtin. In Pſal 97.And what is the effect of her nouriſhment but continually to draw you from death to life? Et amplius eſt ſuſcitare ſemper victurum, quàm ſuſcitare iterum moriturum, ſays he; Was it miraculous in Elias, or in the Apoſtles to raiſe the dead unto life that ſhould die again? How much greater is it to raiſe them unto life that ſhall never? This benefit begins with the Church as our Mother, and continues with us through her Miniſtry as our Nurſe. This is that Jeruſalem whis is the Mother of us all.
Thus far I have drawn out before you the bleſſing of the Mother upon thoſe whom ſhe brings forth; now while this benefit is freſh in our memory, it is good time to ſhew what obedience the Children do owe to this Mother: That is, to her Laws, to her Cenſures, to her Determinations. To her Laws of outward Order, to her Cenſures of Diſcipline, to her Determinations of Faith. For the firſt, to tread lightly in their ſteps that have gone before me, Prudence and Reaſon find out what is fit for the well reigling and comly demeanour of them that are knit together in any body. And when authority is joyned unto it, and impoſeth it, it is a Law. There muſt be an Order agreed upon touching our manner of union and living together in Commonwealths. And grave and well-governed men are moſt nice to ſee thoſe faſhions of order inviolably obſerved. And is not this equally to be heeded, nay, much more in our Eccleſiaſtical Oeconomy? For the perſons to whom we aſſociate our ſelves in the Church are not only holy men, but God and Angels. Shall we not have Laws of agreement to go all one way, and to do the ſame thing in Rites and Ceremonies? Can there be ſuch that would not be aſhamed to ſee diſtraction and confuſion in the holy Sanctuary? Is there any poſſibility of drawing a Congregation together without Rules and Advertiſements to proceed thus and thus in the adminiſtration of the Lords Service? And for thoſe Rites which are in force among us, hath not this Church proceeded with moſt ſanctified moderation, to eaſe Chriſtian people of that ſuperfluity, whereof they complained at the extirpation of Popery, and to retain ſuch only as were moſt expedient, and carry no ſhadow of ſcandal, but to them that are hot and contentious. Since we muſt have Orders of Decency, (his wits are broken that thinks otherwiſe) why not theſe which are eſtabliſhed, and to which your conſent is included by reaſon of them that were Agents in your behalf, and preſent at their confirmation, for we were alive in our Predeceſſors, and our Succeſſors ſhall live in us. It skills not what Ʋtopia ſome have framed in their own heads. In poſitive Laws mens private fancies muſt give way to the higher judgment of the Church, which is in authority a Mother over them. And do not ſay you are an obedient Child, ſince you do that which your heavenly Father requires, why not alſo what your ſpiritual Mother requires? Since the one bids nothing repugnant to the other. I hope there is none in this Climate but explodes the Anabaptiſts opinion, that all Chriſtian Liberty is loſt, if any Laws be impoſed upon the people, but the Goſpel of Jeſus Chriſt. Beſide, what is required for order and good carriage in the Church, God hath given the power to ſettle it. What is done is done by his leave, and by that light of Nature and Reaſon given to frame ſuch Conſtitutions, and therefore do not prevaricate, as if God were not diſobeyed in that obſtinacy which conforms not. It is commendable and neceſſary for every man ſingle to profeſs the ſubſtance of true Religion contained in the Scriptures: But it is alſo required at their hands to obſerve the Circumſtances and Decencies of it comprehended in poſitive Laws, when they are in ſociety with others. It was in a Circumſtance and a Ceremony that St. Paul checks the Corinthians; What, deſpiſe ye the Church of God? 1 Cor. xi. 22. You cannot call Jeruſalem your Mother with a ſober reverence if you decline her Piety and Authority in Conſtitutions indifferent.
Secondly, The power and the wiſdom of the Church meeting together muſt uſe the rod, though unwillingly, towards them that muſt be made examples to others by ſhame and puniſhment: For ſuch as will not be ſoftned with love, and the Spirit of meekneſs,1 Cor. 4. Shall I come to you with a rod, ſays the Apoſtle? Dread the anger of your Mother, provoke not her diſpleaſure to ſmite you with Abſtentions, Anathemaes, Excommunications. Remember how the inceſtuous perſon was ſwallowed up with deſperation when her Cenſure was upon him. If Eſau lift up his voice and wept when he had not the bleſſing of his Father, what ſorrow will it beget in a Child, that is not paſt feeling or leadenly ſtupid to have the curſe of his Mother? The ancient forms of humble Penants uſed by the foreign and foreign are ſo diſuſed, that their cuſtom will ſeem ſtrange to be repeated. When they were ſequeſtred from the Prayers and Sacraments of the holy Church, for ſcandalous and flagitious actions, they caſt themſelves down before the entrance of the Church, groveled upon the ground full of tears and lamentations, and beſought every Chriſtian that paſſed by upon their bare knees, to procure them that happineſs to be readmitted into the union of the body of Chriſt. Rowl thoſe words in your conſcience which Chriſt ſpake to the Apoſtles, Whatſoever ye bind on Earth ſhall be bound in Heaven, and it would gripe you, as if the knot were tied about your Heart, to be ſhut out of the Fold of Chriſts Flock by the Sentence Eccleſiaſtical. They that are ſet over your ſoul have not the uſe of the material Sword, but the words of Diſcipline that proceed out of their mouth are ſharper than any two-edged Sword. Having in readineſs to revenge all diſobedience, ſays St. Paul, 2 Cor. x. 13. In promptu habentes. What ſo ready upon all occaſions as the Tongue? If this Mother be offended by the impenitency and contumacy of her degenerous Sons, ſhe will ſuddenly ſmite them with ſuch a wound as nothing can heal but her own forgiveneſs and the grace of God. But a Mother is ſoon intreated, if the Child ſeek her with tears and lowlineſs. It is a gentle caution which Bernard gives to them that ſway the authority in ſpiritual cenſures,Serm. 25. in Cant. Diſcite ſubditorum matres vos eſſe non Dominos, ſtudete magis amari quàm metui, & ſi interdum ſeveritate opus ſit, materna ſit non tyrannica; Let not your ſeverity be tyrannical, but with the compaſſion of a Mother.
Thirdly, Foraſmuch as the Church is our Mother, we muſt carry that venerable duty towards her, that great heed muſt be had to her determinations of Faith, not as if it were the rule of truth, that is the prerogative of Sacred Scripture, but becauſe it holds out the rule of truth, and the Miniſtry thereof is the condition ſubordinate under God to find out truth. My Son forſake not the teaching of thy Mother, ſays Solomon, Prov. vi. 10. Means he our natural Parent only? Nay, ſays Mercer, Potes ad Eccleſiam ſi velis referre; You may refer it to the Church if you will. And a good reaſon why, that not only it may be, but moſt aptly it ſhould be applied to our myſtical or ſpiritual Mother; for the bleſſings reckoned up in that place, to thoſe that will be taught by the wiſdom of their Mother, are ſo many, as they are not like to be the fruits of obedience to a natural mother only. To make my ſelf way the ſooner out of this vaſt Point by diſtinctive concluſions.
Firſt, If we call that Jeruſalem, that Church our Mother which St. Paul doth here, the moſt Primitive Church which includes the Apoſtles, Evangeliſts, it is bootleſs to diſpute in a thing ſo evident, that it is to explain the ſenſe, and decide the meaning of all Articles of Faith, for the Apoſtles ſpake as God did give them utterance, who is the Author of all hidden and heavenly truths, and we are to reſt in him as the fountain of all illumination. Secondly, Excluding the Apoſtles, Evangeliſts, and others converſant with them who were immediately inſpired to know all truth, which makes a perfect Chriſtian, in their own perſon, take the Ʋniverſal Church from their days unto this time, and I conceive that the uniform practice and general judgment of all Gods ſervants that went before us, is a certain and undoubted explication of all thoſe Points contained in Scripture, that concern our ſalvation. We are taught in the Articles of our Creed, that this Church is a witneſs which we ought to liſten unto, I believe the holy Catholick Church. It hath the promiſe, that the Gates of Hell ſhall not prevail againſt it. Alſo Iſa. lix. 21. This is my Covenant with them, ſaith the Lord, my Spirit which is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, ſhall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy Seed, nor out of the mouth of thy Seeds Seed, from henceforth and for ever. This is a Promiſe that the Church diſperſed in all places, and continued in all times ſhall keep the truſt of ſaving truth inviolably. So Tertullian, ſo Vincentius Lir. upon this ſubject, Quod apud multos unum eſt, non eſt erratum ſed traditum, ſays the former. That which is uniformly taught by many, (much more by all) is no lie, but a truth delivered by that Church, to which God hath entailed his bleſſing, that it ſhall not forſake it. I do not ſay yet that this Ʋniverſal Church is abſolutely free from error, but from ſuch error only as would ſhake the ſtability of faith. Some things that may be unknown without prejudice were ever concealed. But the whole Church, that is, and was, is ſo free from error and ignorance, that it knows and poſſeſſeth all the truth which Chriſt hath revealed. The Churches are the Golden Candleſticks in the midſt whereof the Son of God did walk, Rev. i. 12.
Thirdly, take the Church for all thoſe Chriſtians that are now preſently living in the world, and among thoſe there will ever be ſome whom God will preſerve from pernicious Error, yet thoſe ſome are not neceſſarily and always ſuch as are in place of Authority, or palpably notorious that we may have recourſe unto them. In a populous Congregation I have heard a Pſalm ſung quite out of tune by the greater part, and thoſe few that ſung tunably could not be heard for a long time, till at laſt their good harmony gained a conſiderable number to liſten unto them, and to imitate them. So falſe Doctrine may ſpread far, and the ſoundeſt judgments be ſilenced in the Plurality of oppoſition. If their tunable Notes beget good Muſick in others, it is the working of God which is ſtronger than the violence of men. But from hence I collect, that there is no man living, nor any Society of men living which hath ſuch indubitable authority from God, that they may pronounce a judicial definitive Sentence to oblige and convince the Conſciences of others in Controverſies of Religion. To relie upon one mans Oracle, it were a ready way indeed if it were a certain. But that man whom we mean, is of ſuch little credit with thoſe that cry him up, that he cannot make his Partiſans ſubmit unanimouſly to him in his own cauſe. And for general Councils, the great Army of Jeſus Chriſt, his pitch'd battel, ſince the former may be corrected by the later, and have been corrected, their judgment is ſo awful as may quel the reſiſtance of private men, but not ſo irrefragable upon their deciſion as to tie their Conſcience. You will ſay then, hath God provided no certain and external judicial authority to Umpire differences of Religion in this or that preſent Age? I anſwer, Firſt, he hath given the complete and perfect Rule of Faith in holy Scripture, which hath ſpoken ſo plainly in things neceſſary to be believed, that it needs no Gloſs to make it plainer. As Ariſtotle ſays,1 Rhet. c. 3. That Laws which are penn'd with the beſt wiſdom do leave but little to the will of the Expounder. Secondly, We are not Brutes that know not our right hand from our left, but God hath given the judgment of diſcretion to all Chriſtians of mature age, let them mark what the Scriptures ſay in clear and literal Poſitions. Thirdly, The judgment of direction is committed to Paſtors and Teachers that are ſet over your ſouls, And judge ye what we ſay, ſays the Apoſtle, and the Lord give you underſtanding. Fourthly, There is the judgment of Juriſdiction proper to them who are in places of pre-eminency, and theſe may determine Controverſies of Faith according to plain and evident Scripture; but becauſe they may exceed the bounds of truth, it is pernicious to ſay, that men are bound to obey thoſe determinations with as great affections of Piety as the inerrable Word of God. That place ſo much debated, that the Church is the Houſe of God, 1 Tim. 3. ult.the ground and Pillar of Truth, will bear no more, but that it is ſo by Office and Calling, as every King is the Miniſter of Juſtice, though ſome have failed in the execution of it. And the Note of Cameron upon it is very witty and learned, that the Jews were wont to prefix theſe words, foreign, he proves it out of Maimonides, before the grand Points of Religion, and ſo may make a Preface to the ſucceeding Verſe, The pillar and ground of truth, great is the myſtery of Godlineſs, &c. It is an Interpretation to better Analogie of Faith, than that which his Adverſaries preſs out of the words. The ſum is, our Faith is not built upon the Authority and Infallibility of the preſent Church, if it controul an higher authority than it ſelf, the holy Scripture, what remains but declines her judgment, as our Saviour did his Parents, Wiſt you not that I muſt go about my Fathers buſineſs. And as Aſa did depoſe his Mother Maacha, 2 Chro. 15.16.though ſhe were his Mother for erecting an Idol: So we may reject the Mother which ſhould command a relative adoration of Images, of Stocks and Stones, and appeal to our Grandmother which was free from ſuch ſcandals. Judicate matrem veſtram, ſays Hoſeah to the Jews, Cha. 3.2.when the Synagogue was corrupt, Plead againſt your Mother. Yet ſo ſays Waldenſis moſt prudently, that the humble and obedient Children of the Church may not inſolently inſult upon them, from whom they are forced to diſſent but with a reverent, childlike, and reſpectful ſhamefac'dneſs. Eſpecially, it is a naughty inference to argue, the Church may err, and doth trip in ſome errors, therefore it is not to be obeyed. You will not deal ſo I hope with your fleſhly Parents, avoid their errors, but conſerve the bond of obedience entire in all things; the name of Mother charms us not to deride her nakedneſs, and to conform to her prudent opinions with all ſubmiſſive willingneſs. I draw up the Point to this Brief. Hearken to the Laws of the Church in things indifferent, wherein ſhe muſt not be burdenſom. Submit unto her Cenſures, wherein ſhe muſt not be tyrannous. Hearken to her determinations of faith, wherein ſhe muſt not be peremptory, Non dominantes fidei. It hath no dominion over our faith. This is the reciprocal League between the Mother and the Children: between that Jeruſalem and us, which is the Mother of us all.
And as this obedience may challenge a bleſſing, as confidently as Nazianzen is ſaid to claim it of his Father, Habes obedientem, benedictionem repende; I have been obedient, I claim a benediction from you: ſo the next thing to be conſidered, our unity ſhall bring us bleſſing upon bleſſing. Our Mother is one, and though we are many, yet in a ſpiritual Connexion we all make but one. All the faithful in the world are drawn up into one Pronoun, the Mother of Ʋs. As Jacob did divide his company and ſubſtance when he came from Padan Aram into Canaan: One Band of men, and one Flock of Cattel was with Leah, another with the Handmaids, a third with Rachel, but all were Jacobs. So God hath ſcattered his Churches, ſome in Europe, ſome in Aſia, ſome in Affrica, &c. but all are Chriſts. And theſe are all united to him in his Spirit, in his Word, and in his Sacraments, as Wax that is melted incorporates it ſelf with Wax. My Dove, my undefiled is but one, Cant. vi. 9. Therefore let us preſerve one bond of Peace, and one Charity, even as hereafter we look for one glory, and one felicity. Says St. Chryſoſtom, The Ceremony of old was to eat the Paſchal Lamb in one houſe, and to carry nothing out, Significans unam eſſe domum quae in Chriſto ſalutem conſequitur; Portending that they ſhall have no part in the Sacrifice of Chriſt, who are divided by contentious ſeparation from that one Family of Chriſt, wherein only the Lamb of Salvation is made ready to be eaten. There is nothing that our Saviour did ſooner ſuppreſs than the leaſt emergent diviſion that did ariſe among the Apoſtles: The Apoſtles themſelves did condeſcend in many things, which might bear an harſh conſtruction with a raſh Judge, to prevent a rupture, as if, when they were put to that Dilemma, better that Truth ſhould ſuffer a little than Unity. O it is the ground of all other myſteries, the Son of God, who is one with his Father, is made one with us, that we might be one as he is one, both with him, and among our ſelves. As Chriſt hath but one truth, ſo he can have but one Society, one Communion of Saints to profeſs it; as there is but one Shepherd, ſo there can be but one Sheepfold, Joh. x. 16. Nay, to ſtraiten it yet more, in the phraſe of the Holy Ghoſt, the whole body of the Faithful is, as it were, no more than one man. So we read, Epheſ. ii. 15. He aboliſhed in himſelf the enmity, meaning that which was between the Jews and Gentiles, for to make in himſelf of twain one new man, ſo making peace. As who ſhould ſay, They of the old Leaven make a great number in their diſcords and diverſities, but they that ſpring from one root of Faith, from Hope, from one Baptiſm in Chriſt Jeſus they make but one new man. But what if Hereticks and Schiſmaticks will not ſuffer this unity entire and unviolated? The iſſue is quickly caſt up, the unity of Jeruſalem is the greater for their departure. The ſcandal, I confeſs, is contagious to thoſe that are without, but the ſounder part is the more ſound for the evacuation of thoſe bad humours. Avolet quantùm volet palea levis fidei, eò purior maſſa frumenti in horreum Domini reponetur. Yet let her that calls her ſelf the Mother take heed that ſhe put not her Children from her for every jar and error, nay, nor for a Capital error, unleſs it be joyned with an irrecoverable pertinacy. Who were worſe than the Galatians at the time when St. Paul wrote this Epiſtle? What a venomous corruption was in their Churches, mingling the Ceremonies of the Old Law and faith in Chriſt Jeſus together, which could never be compounded, and yet the Apoſtle accounts theſe Galatians in the common Brotherhood, mater noſtrum, the Mother of us? Bad Chriſtians, and weak Chriſtians, and Chriſtians miſ-led into Errors are ſtill Chriſtians retaining to the common Mother, till they loſe their legitimation by damnable Hereſies accompanied with obſtinacy. But there muſt be a forbearing one another in love, if we endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, Eph. iv. 3.
Now here I might end, having no further to go in the Text, if I did follow the Vulgar Latine Tranſlation, whoſe reading is, Jeruſalem quae ſurſum, eſt libera, quae eſt mater noſtra; Being content to ſay that Jeruſalem is our Mother, and not annexing that it is the Mother of us all. But the Ʋniverſality of the Church muſt not ſo ſlip from us. It is the reading of the Greek Copies, of the Syriack, of St. Hierom, and therefore to be preferred before the Vulgar Latine, which hath curtail'd the verſe. Nay, in reference to this omnium, that Jeruſalem is the Mother of ſuch a multitude, of us all, it follows in the next words, Rejoyce thou barren that beareſt not, the deſolate hath many more Children than ſhe that hath an husband. A moſt remarkable thing in the power of God, to fill the world with ſuch an omnium in a ſhort ſpace out of Twelve Apoſtles. It is all one to Chriſt to be glorified in many, or in few;Edit Crab. and truth muſt not be carried by the number, but by the dignity and weight of witneſſes. It is no ill paſſage in Pope Nicholas I. his Epiſtle to Michael the Emperour, Numerus puſillus nec obeſt ubi abundat pietas, nec multiplex prodeſt ubi regnat impietas. But let the World chooſe whether they like a cauſe which is countenanced by many, or by few, we can refer our ſelves to either, I mean to the greater, or to the leſſer number. Says St. Auſtin, we are a little flock, as Lambs in the midſt of Wolves, and yet again it is true, many ſhall come from the Eaſt and Weſt, and ſit down with Abraham and Iſaac in the Kingdom of God. Multi & pauci: pauci in comparatione perditorum, multi in ſocietate Angelorum. We are few, and we are many. We are few in proportion to them that are rejected, and yet we ſhall make a mighty train to follow the Lamb, being joyned to innumerous Societies of Angels.Aug. de Cat. rud. cap. 20. The Citizens of this Jeruſalem are all the Saints that have been, and are now, and ſhall be hereafter, and ſurely theſe ſurpaſs the Stars of heaven for multitude. We admire nothing more for multiplicity than the drops of rain, or the drops of dew, and therefore David propheſied that the Children of the Church ſhould exceed by Millions and Thouſands like the dew that overſpreads the earth. From the womb of the morning is the dew of thy youth, Pſal. cx. That is the ſenſe of the Learned, take Cajetan for all the reſt, the Generation of the faithful ſhall not be as a Mother brings forth two or three children, but as the Morning that yields innumerous drops of dew. Bucanan turn'd his moſt elegant verſe to this ſtrain, Non roris imber ante lucem argenteis tot veſtit arva gemmulis; And he is imitated and emulated in our Engliſh by a Poet of our own, he ſays, the Servants of Chriſt ſhall be arayed in Ephods, not ſo few as the pearls of morning dew hanging on the herbs and flowers. And if the family of Chriſt hath not many names added daily unto it, the ſin lies at our own doors. Jeruſalem is the Mother of all, and it is her part to invite all to take their ſhare in the coeleſtial inheritance, and to apply the Promiſe to every man, as far as the ſound of the Goſpel can reach, Chriſt died to redeem thy ſoul if thou wilt repent and believe. I end with Solomons Prayer,Cant. 8.1. O that thou wert my brother that ſucked the breaſt of my Mother! O that ye were all ſuch as I am, ſays St. Paul, except theſe bonds! O that all and every perſon on earth would learn the way of eternal life! Jeruſalem hath amplitude to receive them, ſhe is the Mother of us all. And heaven hath amplitude to receive them, which is the City to which we tend, for ever. AMEN.