A Century of Sermons, Sermon 11

A Century of Sermons · Sermon 11

p. 992A SERMON UPON

REVEL. vi. 9.

I ſaw under the Altar the Souls of them that were ſlain for the VVord of God, and for the Teſtimony which they held.

INtending to ſpeak ſomewhat, according to the ſubject of the Day, about the Church Triumphant in Heaven, this Book is the moſt proper place to ſeek a Text out for that occaſion; ſurely it is ſo. For that is the reaſon that the Epiſtle for the Day is ſelected out of St. John's Revelation rather than any other Scripture. A door was opened in Heaven, and he was carried thither in Spirit to peep into the Cabinet Counſels of the Moſt High: Concerning therefore the things above, and that little which is revealed to this World beneath, how can we ſatisfie our ſelves better than out of his illumination? As in the Parabolical Story of Lazarus and the Rich man, Chriſt hath, as it were, unlockt Hell to let us ſee what the damned Spirits do; ſo in this Book, and in this Text above all other Sections of this Book, he hath opened the Curtains of Heaven, to let us ſee what the bleſſed Saints do. But to go on ſoft and fair to the matter which I am to handle, I confeſs it is no ſeaſon yet to make haſt, becauſe I am ſtopt with two objections: Firſt, the Contents of this Propheſie have ſuch an abſtruſe and myſtical ſenſe, that the beſt Clerks in all Ages, that have known moſt, are commended for their moderation, that they have ſaid leaſt unto it. Whom would it not deter to meddle with it? If he conſider that the parcels of this Propheſie are all belonging to that Book with the ſeven Seals in the fifth Chapter, And no man in heaven or in earth was able to open the Book; no man able to read in it, or to look into it. There is but one thing that can help me out of the tanglings of this difficulty, and that one thing will do it: Namely, that the whole Loom is not ſpun with one thread. Among the hard and inexplicable paſſages, there are ſome interlinings to refreſh the Reader with facility. In which ſort my Text hath been ranked by the moſt Writers. And reaſon good: For at the opening of the firſt Seal in this Chapter, (will you mark it?) one of the Beaſts invited St. John to the attention of ſome profound matter, ſaying, Come and ſee: At the opening of the Second Seal, becauſe myſtery upon myſtery ſucceeded, another Beaſt gave him warning to be very conſiderative, ſaying, come and ſee. So at the opening of the third and fourth Seal, all alike. But when the Lamb doth open the fifth Seal, in the exordium to my Text, the voice did bid him no longer come and ſee, there needed no ſuch Prologue; for both the Viſion which he ſaw, and the words which he heard, though they deſerve an Interpreter, yet they are much more obvious to the capacity than the Antecedent Predictions. If I had put it into my taſque, to ſpeak of the opening of the fifth Seal, which begins the verſe, then I muſt have embarqued my ſelf in a great controverſie, about the preciſe Age when ſuch things fell out, and what diſtance of Ages the ſeveral Seals do include. But I undertake not to foretell events, that were to Propheſie out of my own brain, I apply nothing which St. John ſaw either to the Empire, or to the Church, below, I deal no further than the proſpective of theſe words doth carry me, that is the Theatre of the Church Triumphant.

p. 993The Church Triumphant? That puts another objection upon me: For who is ſufficient to handle that Subject, Eye hath not ſeen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entred into the heart of man what God hath done for his Saints in thoſe glorious places. I ſubmit unto it, and will not touch their inſcrutable glory with my unwaſhen hands. Upon two things we may taſte, without ſurfeiting of curioſity, and I will ſet no more before you. They are theſe: Let us neither think that the Saints are extinguiſhed in death, for St. John ſaw the Souls under the Altar, of them that were ſlain for the Word of God, and for the Teſtimony which they held. Nor let us think that their enemies are forgotten, for thoſe Souls cry night and day, ſaying, &c. To contract it into ſhort terms, for the more apt diviſion, here are two parts, what the Apoſtle ſaw in the Church Triumphant, and what he heard. But of no more than the firſt of theſe at one time: Wherein firſt I muſt ſpeak a little de modo videndi, after what manner he ſaw this Theory, I ſaw. 2. Quid vidit, what he ſaw, he ſaw Souls. 3. Quales vidit, what kind of Souls they were, Souls of them which were ſlain for the Word of God, and for the Teſtimony which they held. 4. Ʋbi vidit, where and in what place he ſaw them, Ʋnder the Altar.

When St. John relates how he did comprehend this wonderful object, he ſays he ſaw it. With what eye doth he mean? No bodily Inſtrument, you may be ſure; not ſuch an eye as every birds dung can put forth, not theſe foggy lights in our head, that wax dim with Age, and at laſt will ſpend themſelves quite out in their Sockets. theſe cannot attain to behold the Spirits of Saints.Lib. de An. c. 7. Tertullian miſtook a Parabolical paſſage for a real branch of a ſtory, where the Rich man in hell is ſaid to ſee Lazarus in Abrahams boſom, from whence he aſcribed effigiation and colour to a ſoul, and would not endure Critolaus and the Peripateticks, that ſaid it was a quinteſſence and no body; no error more viſible than this, that the Souls in heaven are viſible, and have corporality. The eye of man ſhall be endued with vertue to ſee the Angels, nay, to ſee the very Eſſence of God, when this fleſh ſhall be clarified, and refined in the Reſurrection.Ep 111. In virtutem ipſius mentis quodammodò convertentur oculi, ſays St. Auſtin; This bodily eye ſhall then be transformed into an intellectual Faculty: But as yet it can diſcern nothing but that which is earthy like it ſelf. Search we out therefore for ſome other way how John ſaw the ſouls under the Altar.

It lies in thoſe words which we meet twice before in this Book,c. 1.10. c. 2.2. foreign, it was in the Spirit: That is, as I take it, a Prophetical Revelation was infuſed into him through imaginary forms, joyned with an abſtraction from the ſenſes. Blame me not if this deſription be ſomewhat difficult; for who can tell what a divine Rapture is, unleſs himſelf had been in a rapture? I call it a Revelation (it is the title of the Book) for this reaſ…n; Pharaoh and Nebuchadonoſor had Viſions, and underſtood not what they meant, but when the intelligence of the thing is opened, as it was to Joſeph and Daniel, it became a Revelation. So St. Auſtin obſerves, Maximè propheta eſt qui in utroque excellit, De Con. ad lit. lib. 12.ut videat in ſpiritu corporalium rerum ſimilitudines, & eas vivacitate mentis intelligat; He is an eminent Prophet both ways, who ſees in the Spirit certain Figures and Similitudes of things to come, and knows them by illumination. So did this Apoſtle no queſtion, for all Scripture was opened to the Apoſtles, much more was this Scripture opened to the Apoſtle who wrot it from the mouth of God. 2. I blazon'd it for a Prophetical Revelation; for the Angels have all things revealed unto them in the Viſion of the Divine Eſſence, but that is no Propheſie to them, becauſe, as the Schoolmen ſpeak, it is Sine omnibus creatis adminiculis, they have it put into them neither by word, nor by deed, nor by dream, nor by figurative preſentation, but this being communicated to St. John by imaginary ſpecies; it was no Angelical way of ſeeing, but a Prophetical Revelation. 3. I add, infuſed by the holy Spirit. For when Moſes ſaw the buſh burn, and not conſume, it was a Prophetical Revelatio, yet without inward infuſion, becauſe he beheld it with his eyes. This was not ſo, but he ſaw it through abundant inſpiration. He was in the Spirit, which is in effect to ſay that he became very Scriptural. As Camerarius fits the phraſe out of the Poet Euripides, that foreign, are very learned men moſt intimate with the Muſes; ſo this phraſe denotes, that the Holy Ghoſt had the dominion in John, for the Spirit was not in him, but he was in the Spirit. 4. This muſt go with the reſt, that the Spirit infuſed this Revelation into him through imaginary forms, ſupplying his fancy with the faſhion of an Altar, of a Throne, a Lamb newly ſlain, a Sea of Cryſtal, and a thouſand things more. Many times new ſpecies and forms are created in the fancy of him that is illuminated; many times that p. 994light which God gives doth ſhine upon thoſe notions and conceptions which were in the mind before. So we ſee that Iſaiah and Amos, this Apoſtle, and other Prophets do utter their Propheſies through the ſimilitudes known unto them in their former converſation. 5. The utmoſt of all is, that this Revelation was accompanied in him with a Rapture, or abſtraction from the ſenſes. So Beza interprets that phraſe, he was in the Spirit, Correptus ſpiritu, he was ſwallowed up of the Majeſty of God, ſo that his mind was taken away from the body. Ezekiel ſays in one place, that the Spirit entred into him, Chap. ii. 2. In another place, that he was carried away in the Spirit, Chap. xxxvii. 1. There is great odds between theſe two, the one was by ordinary inſpiration, the other by extaſie, and ſo was this of our Prophet, when he ſaw the ſouls under the Altar, he was ſo enwrapt in Celeſtial Viſions, that he could take no notice for the preſent that he lived, or had a body, but his Spirit was quite abſtracted from the ſenſes, and lifted up to converſe with ſupernatural ſpeculations. Now to ſum up this Point, touching the modus how John ſaw the ſouls of the bleſſed,Ep. 101. you ſhall hear how St. Auſtin made no ſcruple of the like caſe. The Angel appeared to Joſeph in a dream. How did Joſeph ſee an Angel, when his eyes were ſhut? Nay, rather, ſays the Father, how could he have ſeen an Angel if his eyes had been open? So the more the ſenſes of this Prophet were bound up, the leſs communication he had with his mortal nature, the more capable he was to ſee the ſecrets of God.

It were no digreſſion at all to tell you at large in this place, that St. John was not every body when he ſaw the Myſteries of the Ages to come in an holy trance. Examine him from the time that he was the beloved Diſciple, while his Maſter Jeſus Chriſt was upon the earth; behold him in his other cognizances, that he was an unſpotted Virgin, a patient Confeſſor, An Evangeliſt that ſored higher than his fellows, an Eagle in his Goſpel, but a Dove in his Epiſtles, where every line is enchaſed with Jewels of love, the aged Patriarch who had long ſurvived all the Apoſtles, the Oracle that reſolved all the Churches in their Controverſies. Finally, that ſupereminent man that left not his like behind him, and ſince his days his equal did never riſe up after him: Put all this together, and mark what a ſanctified Veſſel this was to ſee the ſouls under the Altar, and all thoſe things which the Angel told him ſhould come to paſs in the days to come. What wretch can think himſelf ſo prepared as he was to receive theſe Prophetical graces of God? With how many favours of God is a Viſion qualified to make it a perfect illumination? Let it deter any one that is not poſſeſſed with the ſpirit of Arrogance, to think that he is poſſeſſed with the ſpirit of Divination.Ep. 112. Quia videre non poſſumus audiamus, ſays St. Auſtin. There is no hope that we vile ſinners ſhould ſee ſuch Viſions, it is our bleſſedneſs that we hear of them. What laughter doth it give our Adverſaries, that this caution is not obſerved among us? we had proof of it lately, and almoſt year by year, every hair-brain'd Schiſmatick, that out of pride thinks himſelf more holy than others, fancies that he is a Prophet. Theſe filthy dreamers preſume they have learnt all that the Scriptures can teach them, and therefore like apt Scholars they muſt be promoted to an higher Form to learn ſupernal Revelations. As the Romaniſts are exceſſive in forging lies for their Saints ſakes, ſo theſe are exceſſive in forging lies for their own ſakes, both are liars, both are Legendaries. It was a gift which St. Auſtin ſays his Mother Monica had,Lib. 6. Conf. c. 13. that ſhe could diſtinguiſh inter Deum revelantem, & animam ſomniantem; ſhe knew when God gave her a ſupernatural inſpiration in her ſleep, and when it was but a common dream; By what mark or token could ſhe do this? Nay, none at all, Neſcio quo ſapore, quem verbis explicare non poterat; ſhe could not expreſs by what reliſh of the ſoul ſhe made a difference between them. Of whom have our modern Wizzards, (it is too good a name if I do not put frentique to it) I ſay, of whom have theſe phrentique perſons learnt the trick of Divination? Since they that were Prophets upon earth could not teach another how to be a Prophet; If St. John knew how he ſaw this Theory in heaven, it was his priviledge alone, or with ſome very few more. But God doth not carve a Prophet out of every Chriſtian. And ſo much de modo videndi, which is the firſt Point.

Take the object now to your attention which he ſaw; an object too ſubtil to be diſcerned by a bodily creature, but diſcloſed to this Apoſtle in his Rapture, in the excellency of Revelation, he ſaw the ſouls of the bleſſed in heaven. It could not out of Tertullians mind, as I told you before, but that he thought the ſoul, when it was ſeparated from the body, had ſome bodily figure and dimenſion in it. Thoſe polite heathen men indeed, whom he had peruſed, did ſpeak groſly in the point, as if p. 995the Soul after it left this world did flit about the Elyſian fields in the form of a thin cloud, witneſs that fancy of the beſt Poets, Infelix ſimulacrum, atque ipſius umbra Creüſae. And it is no injuſtice to excuſe ſuch Authors, for though the ſubſtance of the Soul be incorporeal, yet it is impoſſible for one of us to conceive a Spirit, or an Angel but by the help of ſome corporeal Idea; it is a true Metaphyſical rule, Nihil intelligimus in hôc ſtatu ſine verbo materiali in intellectu; we underſtand every thing in this life by ſome material expreſſion within our ſelves; yet we are able by the undeniable proofs of Art, to tranſcend the narrowneſs of our own fancy, and to affirm, that the ſoul cannot chooſe but be immaterial, that it is not circumſcriptive in any place, though it have a determined and defined ſubſiſtence. But this is no time to Philoſophize; and our Saviours words will carry it clear without the help of Humane Arguments: Handle me and ſee, a Spirit hath not fleſh and bones, as you ſee me have, Luk. xxiv. 39; which is thus in effect, there is no corporeity in a Spirit. And the Sixth general Council held againſt the Monothelites hath theſe weighty words, Naſcitur Deus humano corpore animam rationalem & incorpoream habens; The Son of God had an humane body, with a reaſonable and incorporeal ſoul.

I diſmiſs that Point, it ſhall not hold you longer. There are thoſe that doubt it in their heart, or at leaſt they live as if they doubted it, whether their ſoul hath a ſecond ſtate in reverſion after this life. Can there be any exception againſt ſuch a Witneſs as St. John, that was taken up into heaven, to relate the truth to all Generations upon earth? Why, he ſaw the ſouls of the Saints in a triumphant and immortal condition after they were uncloathed of the body. There cannot be an Apparition of that which had ceaſed to be, that were a deluſion. Not one natural Writer that had a ſound brain, but maintained that the ſoul did ſurvive the body, and that it was at beſt liberty when it was releaſed from the priſon of the fleſh. foreign, ſays Ariſtotle; that the Mind or Spirit can ſubſiſt by it ſelf, not mixt with any compoſition, not affected with paſſions. They could not ſearch far enough why it ſhould be ſo, they never diſcovered that the diſſolution of the ſoul from the body was brought into the world after Adam was created for the puniſhment of ſin, but their dim Candle gave them light to ſee, that the ſoul was apt to be ſeparated. I ſuppoſe an Epicure may loſe his conſcience in a miſt for a little while and diſpute it like a Galeniſt that the ſoul is nothing elſe but the temperature of the firſt qualities, and ſo in death extinguiſhed; but can you imagine that the Spirit it ſelf doth not often give him the lie, and ſay within his breaſt, you do me wrong. I am immortal. Verily I believe, that they that put it off doubtingly, and would be uncontrouled in their voluptuouſneſs, it may be it is not ſo, are often tormented with the other part of the opinion, it may be it is ſo. If you will hear this truth upheld out of holy Scripture there is no reſiſtance, or cavillation againſt it. Becauſe I will not tie my ſelf to every Text which chimes that way, I will chooſe compendiouſly, where others have made choice before me. The Sadduces being ſtiff oppoſers againſt the ſeparated exiſtence of the Spirit, and yet commending themſelves in the Holy Patriarchs from whoſe Loyns they deſcended, our Saviour ſelected that Scripture above all other to convict them which would catch them in their own net, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Iſaac, the God of Jacob, God is not the God of the dead but of the living. How was God the God of Abraham unleſs he lived? And in what did Abraham live but in his ſoul which was divorced from the body? Irenaeus admires that any one ſhould doubt of the ſouls perſeverance after death, ſince the enarration is ſo …lear,Lib. 2. ad. haer. c. 62. that the rich man ſaw Lazarus in joys when himſelf was tormented. St. Hierom ſets his reſt upon thoſe words, Mat. x. 22. Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the ſoul. Ep. 57.St. Auſtin recommends the words of Stephen to nick the Point without all contradiction, Lord Jeſus receive my Spirit. Si animus moriturus eſſet, cauſae nihil foret cur animum potiùs quàm corpus commendaret. Aquinas againſt the Gentiles lays his ſtrength upon that place of St. Paul, 2 Cor. v. 8. We are confident and willing rather to be abſent from the body, and to be preſent with God. One quotation were enough, then how forcible are all theſe together? He muſt be a beaſt in underſtanding, that knows not that the ſouls of good men are Angels in reverſion.

There are others that profeſs ſo much faith, that the ſoul hath a ſtate of happineſs in reverſion, to thoſe that die in the favour of God. But that it comes not to any guſt of this happineſs till the end of the World: For the ſoul, ſay they, falls aſleep when the body periſheth, that is, it dies together with the body, and when the fleſh ſhall be quickned again, and gathered out of the duſt, then the ſoul ſhall live p. 996again, when both it and the body ſhall be exalted in the Reſurrection. I do not create Monſters to fight with all:Hereſ. 83. St. Auſtin found ſuch Hereticks in his days, he calls them Arabians, who taught it every where, that the Soul had no being after death, till in the conſummation of the World they both obtained together a joyful Reſurrection. Nay, theſe Tares were ſown long before St. Auſtin lived. Irenaeus took the pains to root them up in his Age, and he confutes them out of my Text,Loco praed. ſays he, how did St. John ſee the ſouls of the Martyrs, who had been ſlain for the Teſtimony of Chriſt, if the Soul ſhould ceaſe to be till the final Reſurrection? And if a Caviller ſhall ſay, it doth not ceaſe to be, but it lies quiet and ſenſeleſs in a trance; Irenaeus blunts the point of that objection, becauſe in the next verſe, they deſire vengeance for their bloud that was ſhed; but principally becauſe in the eleventh verſe they are clad in white garments, which are cognizances of their joy and glory, and doubtleſs they wear them not ſleeping but waking. And do not think that I rake in the aſhes of ancient Hereſies, that are quite forgotten: For the Anabaptiſts in their Theſes Printed at Cracovia, Anno 1568, have this poſition; We deny that any Soul hath a ſeparated being after death, that was a deviſe invented by the Papiſts to maintain Invocation of Saints and Purgatory; this is Popery trimly reformed, and according to that Proverb of the Jews, they caſt out Devils through Beelzebub the Prince of Devils. And even at this day, a new Generation of Vipers, riſen up at Racovia in Polonia, do pledge the Anabaptiſts in the ſame cup, namely, that there is a futurition of glory for the ſoul, when the whole Fabrick of man ſhall be redintegrated again in the Reſurrection, but they profeſs they cannot tell whether in the mean time there be any ſuch thing extant as a ſeparated ſoul, yet St. Paul ſays, he deſires to be diſſolved and to be with Chriſt: And yet Chriſt told the good Thief, that day he ſhould be with him in Paradiſe. And yet the Souls of juſt men departed do follow the Lamb whitherſoever he goes, Rev. xiv. 4. Theſe inſtances are more perſwaſive, I am ſure, than that which they pretend, that the Juſt do reſt from their labours. What reſt in Gods name do they dream of? They are not in a profound trance without motion or action, as Adam was caſt into a deep ſleep, when Eve was taken out of his ſide, but it is a reſt when the Spirit doth acquieſce in the Viſion of God, as David ſaid, Turn again unto thy reſt O my ſoul, for the Lord hath rewarded thee. There are ſome, that I muſt afford a little Patronage, who are accuſed to lean to the Anabaptiſts in their opinion, that do nothing leſs. It was allowed for 1400 years as a Problem, wherein Chriſtians without breach of charity might have Latitude to diſſent, granting that the ſoul after the diſſolution from the body was received into the joys of heaven, whether it be not ſequeſtred in ſome diſtance from the higheſt heaven, where the inviſible God doth chiefly reign in Power and Majeſty, till the whole Body of the Saints be accompliſhed. It is well known what way St. Bernard took,Serm. 4. in feſt. Om. ſanc. Nec ſancti ſine plebe, nec ſpiritus ſine carne; That ſuch as die before us ſhall not ſee the Beatifical Viſion of the holy Trinity without us, nor without their own body, and that an integral Beatitude is not given but to an integral perſon. And Calvin hath taken his freedom to be of the ſame mind, ſays he,Lib. 3. Iuſt. c. 20. par. 20. Chriſt himſelf only is entred into the ſupreme Sanctuary of Heaven, Et ſolus populi eminus in atrio reſidentis vota ad Deum defert; and he alone commends the Petitions of the Saints to his Father, whoſe Spirits attend in the outward Courts. Thoſe over-awing Fathers of the Florentine and Tridentine Councils have defined it indeed as an irrefragable Article of Faith, that the Saints enjoy the moſt perfect Viſion of God immediately after death. What is that to us, who will not loſe our moderation in indifferent points for their ſakes? But Cornelius à Lapide, the Jeſuit, puts the infamy of an Anabaptiſt upon Calvin, as if he had taught that the ſoul departed had no ſenſe or taſte at all of the glory of God. Why did he not cenſure Ambroſe and Bernard? Why did he not ſpit his venom upon Pope John the XXII. There was good reaſon for that, if we may believe Gerſon, a moſt grave Author of their own part. But Calvin was the firſt that ever I met withall, who writ a voluminous Treatiſe, to prove that the ſouls of good men after this life have their quartering and Manſion in Heaven, that they are not inſenſible of their ſtate, or benummed in ſleep, or fettered with darkneſs, but that they praiſe the Lord continually, and Chriſt that redeemed them, which is conſonant to this Point of my Text, that John ſaw the ſouls under the Altar.

Yet I like not their way, who are ſo careful to teach the people that the ſouls deceaſed do not ſleep, that they keep themſelves waking with a thouſand Fictions and Impoſtures; there is ſcarce one leaf written of any Saint in the Church of Rome, p. 997eſpecially of the modern ones, but you ſhall meet with two or three ſprinklings in it, how his ſoul appeared in this or that manner to his friends upon earth; their poſthumous miracles after their death, exceed the number of thoſe which they did when they were living. And if any thing be out of order, it is ſtraitway rectified with an apparition. And from whence think you the Elf or Goblin comes that appears? From a place where I am ſure this good Apoſtle ſaw no ſouls; from the correction houſe of Purgatory. Their Larvae, or night-walking ſouls are their beſt Doctors for the confirmation of that opinion. Ask Gregory the Great elſe, who could urge little beſide to gain credit to his opinion for the temporary chaſtiſements of the faithful after this life, but as the dead came and made relation to their ſurviving acquaintance. Some ſilly men were firſt affrighted out of their wits with a gaſtly Viſion, and then gueſs you who it was that taught them points of Religion.Baron. in Martyrol. But four ages ran out after Gregories time before this couſenage grew trivial and common. Gregory the Fourth, in the year 835. decreed that a Solemn Feaſt ſhould be held over all the Church to the memory of all the Saints in heaven, that whatſoever was not fully performed in the Feaſts and Vigils of particular Saints, might be conſummated on that day; this was nothing to the puling ſouls detained in the priſon of temporary caſtigation. But almoſt two hundred years after, Odilo the Abot of Cluni, in commiſeration to them that were departed in his own Monaſtery, dedicated a day for the relief of their ſouls not yet admitted into heaven. And Pope Jo. XVIII. anno 1007, taking light from Odilo commanded the Feaſt of all Souls to be general in all places. The Devil wanted nothing but the opening of this door, to beat down all oppoſites with apparitions. And let the Readers mark it, that from that Age not a Book was written, not a Chapter of a Book, but it relates what Nocturnal Mercuries appeared to bring tidings from Purgatory. Some Jangler will catch at this, and ſay, Belike you reject all Apparitions of the dead for lies, or Demoniacal Impoſtures. If I ſhould, I had Tertullian to abet me,Lib. de An. c. 57. Omnem mortuorum exhibitionem incorporalem praeſtigias judices; All incorporeal Phantoſms of the dead are juglings and deluſions. And if any point of doctrine depend upon the ſleeveleſs Errands that the ſouls departed bring, I do renounce them for deluſions. We have Moſes and the Prophets, and we are certain their Spirits are ever to be preferred before any Spirit that comes from the dead. For the living to go to the dead, ſays the Prophet Iſaiah, none of that, but to the Law and to the Teſtimony, Iſa. viii. 19. Rabbi Maimon ſays, that ſome ſuperſtitious Jews would burn Incenſe among the graves, that the dead might come and talk with them. And therefore God ſaid, that man ſhould be cut off from among the people, that ſought the truth among the dead, Deut. xviii. 11. Yet I deny it not, but that the divine power hath ſometimes preſented the Saints departed, to communicate with the living, as they that appeared in the holy City to teſtifie our Saviours Reſurrection, Mat. xxvii. Likewiſe in the 2. of Mach. Chap. ult. Onius, who once had been High Prieſt, he was exhibited being dead to Judas Machabaeus, that is another inſtance, if you have any ſtomack to that Hiſtorian. But the upſhot is, that Souls have been ſeen in heaven, that was the Viſion of St. John; ſo Souls may be ſent from Heaven, but not from Purgatory. Through fire, I confeſs, theſe ſouls had paſſed which the Apoſtle ſaw, yet not through that ſubterraneous fire which they imagine, but through the fire of Martyrdom and perſecution, He ſaw the Souls of them that were ſlain for the Word of God, and for the Teſtimony which they held.

And if it be true, as none of the worſt Expoſitors conjecture, that the computation of the fifth Seal opened immediately before the words of my Text, is rightly calculated at what time Diocleſian did ceaſe to make havock in the Church, it was a very fit time to ſee ſouls in heaven ſlain for the Word of God, it was thwackt with Martyrs like an hive with Bees. For burning of Churches, for maſſacring of Chriſtians, for Proſcription of Innocents, no Perſecution was ever like it. It laſted ten whole years without ceaſing, and in the firſt year of his Reign in Egypt only, an hundred forty and four thouſand Chriſtians were put to death, beſide ſeventy thouſand that were baniſht, inſomuch, ſays Scaliger, that the Epocha of Diocleſian is called the Epocha of the Martyrs in Chronology. Who would have thought that the Poſterity of Cham, a Generation branded with dark and unlovely viſages, ſhould have afforded ſo many ſacrifices to be offered up unto the glory of Jeſus Chriſt? Well might the Church of Aethiopia ſing the Canticle of Solomon, I am black, but comely, Cant. 1.5.Song 1:5O ye Daughters of Jeruſalem. And not only theſe, but exceeding great numbers of Biſhops, p. 998Prieſts, and People in all quarters of the habitable world: a long bedroll of faithful men and women in this Iſland, did taſte of the bitter Cup under the ſame Tyrant. Fathers loſt their Children, Children lack'd their Parents, the Wife miſſed her Husband, and one friend another, whom St. John hath found altogether, making up one Chorus of bleſſed Spirits; and while Rachel, the Church below, mourneth for her Children, Jeruſalem which is above, the Mother of us all, rejoyceth for them. Martyrdom is the way to ſublimate death into a Cordial, which was a poyſon, the means to make that a bleſſing which was a curſe upon our nature. A Traffick proper to none but to the Citizens of the ſupernal City, to ſecure our whole adventure, not by aſſuring, but by loſing their life. It is not only the greateſt probation of faith, but it changeth faith into another ſpecies of Religion than it was before.In Evang. Mat. Ser. 6. St. Auſtin ſpeaks to ſome holy people that were ready to die for the teſtimony which they held, Mox aurei eritis, nunc argentei eſtis. Now you are Silver, that is, you are clean and ſanctified, but if you be tried in the Furnace of Martyrdom, ye ſhall become Gold: And as Gold is depoſited in the beſt place of a mans Treaſury, ſo thoſe golden Saints, I mean thoſe that are ſlain for the Word, they are received into the moſt precious and coſtly Cabinets of the Kingdom of God. Upon thoſe words of the Pſalm xxvii. 5. He ſhall hide me in the ſecret of his Tabernacle, ſays Bernard, Chriſt is a Tabernacle of protection for all his ſervants, but he reſerves the Altar for the Martyrs, which is the principal part of the Tabernacle. In acknowledgment that they had won the chief Garland which was propounded to them that run the race, the bones of the Martyrs anciently were wont to be buried in no common place of the Church, Ep 54 ad Marcel.but under the Altar. So St. Ambroſe of the bones of Protaſius and Gervaſius buried in his Church of Millain under the Altar, ſays he, Let theſe triumphal Sacrifices be brought to that place where Chriſt is ſacrificed. I had deſtined that plot of ground for mine own burial. It is meet that the Prieſt ſhould ſleep in peace, where he was wont to offer up the Peace-offering, Sed cedo ſacris victimis dexteram portionem, locus ille martyribus debebatur; but I reſign the right hand of the Altar to them, it is due to the Martyrs. How their names were read at ſolemn times out of the Diptyches to renoun their paſſions, how their requeſts which they made to the Church before they died were granted for the pardon of any delinquent, how their reliques were held precious, though not expoſed ſuperſtitiouſly to veneration, theſe and much to that effect were too long to recite, it is meaſure heaped and running over; that Stephen the Captain of the bloudy Army ſaw the Heavens opened to immortalize his ſufferings, and that in the firſt File of all that are bleſſed St. John ſaw thoſe that were ſlain for the Word of God.

Yet this ſervice is ſo rough unto our tender nature, to part with life for the cuſtody of the truth, that all men had rather owe it to God, than pay it him. O but it is a good thing to put your ſelf to the queſtion ſecretly between God and your ſelf, and do it not eaſily or hypocritically, admit I had ſupplied the room of Stephen, of James, of Juſtin, Laurence, Cyprian, quanta nomina? Should I have ſtood it out to the ſhedding of my bloud? Or ſhould I have fainted? If you ſtick at it, and cannot make a conſtant reſolution, go to a new ſcrutiny; and that the fleſh may not ſay that you deceive it with a ſuperficial examination, make the moſt that you can of the pains which you ſhall be put to under the hand of the torturer, yet put all things in a right Scale, that the pains to be endured are over in a pair of hours at longeſt, for the moſt part in a pair of minutes, that the truth which you defend is ten thouſand times dearer than a corruptible body; that the paſſions of this life are not worthy of the glory which ſhall be revealed; ſolicite your ſelf often with theſe meditations, till you have concluded with a mature judgment,Act 20.24.Acts 20:24 as St. Paul did, I count not my life dear unto my ſelf, ſo I may finiſh my courſe with joy. And then I will pronounce you a Martyr in extraordinary, for God accepteth the will for the deed. But howſoever the preconſiderations of many be ſtout, I fear they would grow effeminate upon the trial. You cannot diſcharge a ſtrict Lenten Faſt, how would your delicate bodies digeſt the hunger of an Inquiſition? The ground is too hard for your knees to pray upon, what hope is there that you would hold out to lie upon the bare ground of a priſon? A throng in hot weather ſtifles you, that you cannot endure the Church, how would your fleſh endure a flaming fire? I believe you think this deaths-head hath been ſet too long before you. And is there no ſmoother way to be a Martyr than by being ſlain?Serm. 45 de Temp. Yes St. Paul ſays there is a living Sacrifice as well as a dead. And St. Auſtin, Pervenitur non ſolùm occaſu, ſed contemptu p. 999carnis ad coronam. You may receive the Crown prepared for them that fight lawfully, not only by extinguiſhing, but by mortifying the fleſh. Mine eyes do perſecute my chaſtity, ambition doth perſecute my humility, revengeful malice doth perſecute my charity, concupiſcence is always perſecuting my ſoul, which way can I turn my ſelf but that every thing is a Martyrdom to a Religious Chriſtian? But if I mortifie the deeds of the fleſh, if I abandon covetouſneſs, if I repreſs luſt, if I bridle malice, if I trample upon the world, whereas I was a Martyr in affliction before, and ſin did reign over me, I have expulſed it by another Martyrdom, by renovation, and by crucifying the old man.

But alas for pitty how many Martyrs have we, if they may be believed upon their own teſtimony? How many whining paſſages in by-corners, and Satyrical Sermons, touching the perſecution of the Saints? God ſhield, that Saints ſhould ſuffer in ſo Orthodox, and ſo mild a Church. Sure they are miſtaken. Nay, but they exclaim over and over that they ſuffer for their conſcience. For their conſcience? That is another thing. Do they ſuffer for the Word of God, foreign, as the Complutenſian Bibles read my Text? I love not to inſult over miſery with many words, let them ſift their own caſe, and it will prove they are ſuppreſt for contemning Authority. But there are others far more obſtreperous againſt our ſtate. If Pictures, and Almanacks, and Martyrologies, and Beatifications of Traitors will condemn us, we are up to the ears in theſe Certificates, for ſavage cruelty in killing the Saints. Do they not mean Jeſuites and Seminaries, that were forbidden upon forfeiture of their head not to enter into his Majeſties Dominions? It is as clear as the light of the Sun then, that they were executed for breaking the Statute-Law, and not for the Word of God, or for the Teſtimony which they held. Every Malefactor will pretend that he dies in a good cauſe, to make his judgment odious in mens noſtrils. Such as ſerve in the Gallies, will never be known what crimes they are in for, but complain that they wear their Chain for Faith and Religion. Alaſs ſay their Abettors that canonize them, that Statute is violated but by accident, they come to inſtruct their own Proſelytes, and to execute the Function of their Prieſthood, therefore by conſequent they are ſlain for the Word of God. I will match their caſe with a full place of St. Cyprian, and ſo anſwer them. The Proconſul, that ſerved under Decius the Emperour in Affrica, baniſhed hundreds of Chriſtians out of Affrica, threatning death unto them if they returned. Divers of them did creep in ſecretly, giving reaſon that they came to comfort their Brethren, and to ſtrengthen them in the faith. St. Cyprian writes to them out of Priſon,Ep. 7. to exile themſelves again, and to return no more, elſe if they ſuffered, they ſhould be reputed not for Martyrs, but for Malefactors. I will not load them with envy, though it be true, that many of their Tenebrioes crept into England with damnable intentions, make the beſt they can of their own actions. St. Cyprian ſays, if baniſht men will enter into a Realm againſt the Law, they ſhall die as Malefactors. It is the Cauſe and not the Puniſhment that makes a Martyr. What more trivial? If a Virgin chooſe to die rather than to be raviſhed, ſhe is ſlain for the Word of. If a good man be ruined rather than give his aſſiſtance to the ruine of an innocent, it is for the Word of God, &c. But if he be brought to the Stake for confeſſing there are no Gods made with hands, and that Jeſus Chriſt God and man is the Saviour of all that believe, if he ſtand to it, and will not flinch for any terrour, that is foreign, to hold his Teſtimony, then he is ſlain for the Word of God, Rev. 12. ult.Rev 12and for the Teſtimony of the Lamb, as the Dragon fought with them that kept the Commandments of God, and had the Teſtimony of Jeſus Chriſt; meaning ſuch as were holy and faithful, very godly in their works, very Orthodox in their belief. This is that mixture of ſweet Spices, in whoſe exhalation, a Martyr becomes an odour of a ſweet ſavour unto the Lord. They were victimae altaris, and thymiamata altaris, Sacrifices ſlain upon the Altar of burnt-offerings, and therefore became ſweet Spices offered up upon the Altar of Incenſe, which ſhall be the concluſion of this Point, and the beginning of the next, where the Apoſtle did behold thoſe Saints that had exchanged their lives to glorifie God under the Altar.

And where doth St. John mean? Where about is that? Every curious itching ear will be more attentive to it, than to any inſtruction that can be raiſed out of the Text: A Traveller that asks his way, if many of the Country Folk be preſent at his queſtion, it is ten to one but they will diverſifie in their opinions, and ſet him in ſo many ways, that he ſhall never be wiſer for their direction. So I have conſulted p. 1000with more than a few Expoſitors, to learn where I may find this Altar, and not miſs of it; one points this way, another that way, Et incertior ſum multò quàm dudum. Among their variety of directions I know not which way to move. Coſmography is a very eaſie part of learning to deſign the confines or diſtances of City from City, Kingdom from Kingdom. But it is one of the moſt difficult tasks in Divinity to underſtand the ſeveral quarterings, and Manſion-places of heaven. I confeſs I have no skill in Ouranography. But to cut off all Proem, I will be brief in my relation what is ſaid to it, and more brief in my determination. The diſcordious opinions may be drawn to three heads, ſome mean by the Altar an allotted place, ſome relate it to the condition of their body, ſome refer it to the ſtate and condition of their Spirit. Whoſoever give the words a local meaning, that the Souls were under the Altar, they all agree in this, that it imports that the Saints are kept back awhile from the uppermoſt part of Heaven, where the Angels do offer up Praiſes continually upon the Altar of Incenſe, which is next to the Holy of Holies, and they that have not the neareſt acceſs to the Viſion of God, in form of Prophetical ſpeech may be ſaid to be under the Altar. Some who pitcht upon this Interpretation had ſuch fumes in their heads,De An. cap. ult. Lib. 2. Periarchon. that they did not ſee the light. Tertullian conceived that their Manſion was an earthly Paradiſe, whither Enoch and Elias are tranſlated. Origen you may be ſure hath ſome roaving excurſion, it is thus, that the ſouls of the Faithful are put to School in ſome ſecret places, before they go to heaven, where they are purified from ignorance by degrees, and then exalted. Victorinus Afer, a better Rhetorician than a Divine, thinks that to be under the Altar, is as if the ſouls were under the earth in ſome ample and pleaſant regions like the Elyſian Fields. All theſe are humane Phantaſies, and I ſlip them aſide. But the moſt beaten rode to this purpoſe is, that the ſouls of the Martyrs have a remuneration for their labours and ſufferings paſt, but not a conſummation of that glory which ſhall be revealed unto them, a ſhare in Heaven, but not a poſſeſſion in the higheſt Heaven. In atriis non in domo. They are kept a loof off from the perfect Viſion of God, in the fulneſs of time they ſhall ſee him face to face. Which is Bernards meaning, when he ſays, the bleſſed that are under the Altar, becauſe they are admitted to ſee the Humane Nature of Chriſt, and not the Divine. Not ſo as if totally they did ſee nothing of the Divine Nature, but becauſe they ſee it with leſs perſpicacity than they ſhall hereafter, ſo St. Ambroſe and St. Hilary cloſe with him. And St. Chryſoſtom upon the Eleventh to the Hebrews, Praeveniunt nos in certaminibus, non praevenient in coronis; they have fought a good fight before us, but they ſhall not be crowned before us; not becauſe our Reſurrection ſhall be at once, the words will not bear it; and the body is but the Robe which we ſhall put on, the glory with which we ſhall be filled brim full, that is the Crown which we ſhall wear in our Fathers Kingdom. I know this is much diſtaſteful to the Prelates of the Florentine and Tridentine Councils, who have defined, that the pure Souls in heaven enjoy the cleareſt Viſion of God before the day of Judgment, and want nothing to their integral happineſs but the reſuſcitation of their bodies. It may be ſo as they will have it. But I am contented to ſay, their ſtate is Heaven, and will go no further. Neither can I ſee cauſe, why the Churches of Chriſt ſhould diſſent, if one ſay without pervicacious obſtinacy the Spirits of righteous men are in the higheſt Heaven, and another will ſay nothing peremptorily, but that they are in Heaven indeed, and do live with the Lord. Malo timidus eſſe quàm temerarius. The Concluſion now is thus much, That if this be granted for a Local Poſture that the Souls are under the Altar, there is nothing againſt Analogy of Faith to ſay, they are in the outward Rooms of Heaven, and ſtay there in expectation of more abundant glory.

Secondly, Some relate this to the condition of their bodies. And the Jeſuits Ribera and à Lapide will have no denial, but that they have brought the Point to the true Touchſtone. I quoated ſomewhat out of St. Ambroſe before, that the bodies of ſome, who gave up their life for the Faith, were interred in the Church under the Lords Table, which with reference to the repreſentation of the Sacrifice of Chriſt Crucified,Serm. 11. de ſanctis. is figuratively called an Altar. St. Auſtin confirms it, There let their dead corpſes be interred, where the death of our Lord is continually celebrated. And in later years, when they ſtudied for increaſe of Ceremonies, every principal Church under the Pontifician command, hath a Vault under the Altar, where the ſuppoſed Reliques of the Martyrs, or the Reliques of ſuppoſed Martyrs are reſerved. Out of theſe Ritual Forms the Jeſuits interpret St. John, that he ſaw the Souls of them that p. 1001were ſlain for the word, whoſe bodies lay encombed under the Altar, and whoſe Reliques were kept there in cuſtody. They had need of a long Figure to bring theſe ends together. Neither ſhall they ever perſwade me, that St. John bends his aim at a Cuſtom of Sepulture, which began above two hundred years after he wrote his Propheſie. No toleration can be found for the burial of the Martyrs in thoſe holy places, till the Pacificous Reign of Conſtantine the Great. And how did the Church underſtand this Scripture in the mean time? A Modern Writer of our own handles it much more learnedly to the ſame relation. He notes it very acutely, that the Theater, wherein St. John ſaw all his Viſions, hath a reſemblance in every part to the Camp of Iſrael, and to the Tabernacle of Moſes in the Wilderneſs; it is enough to have named it. Now the Apoſtle being acquainted by the Spirit what innumerous Troops of Martyrs ſhould be ſlaughtered, he ſaw as it were the Altar of burnt-offerings belonging to the Tabernacle, and the Saints, that were ſacrificed to God, were under it not as aſhes are underneath, that fall through a grate, but they lay like beaſts newly ſlain at the foot of the Altar, that is, ſprauling upon the ground before the Altar. The Soul then is taken by Synechdoche here for the whole man, or according to the uſual ſtyle of Scripture for the body of the man. The conjecture, I think, may paſs for probable and judicious. There is but one thing to diſparage it, it is but one mans conjecture.

But if you will hear that which hath judgment to commend it, and multitude of Authors, it is likely to be found among them that in the third place refer this figuratively to the condition of their Spirits. Yet I mean not him that ſays, the Ark and the Covering thereof did repreſent Gods Mercy Seat, but the Altar did repreſent his Juſtice, for it was the place of fire and bloudſhed, and that theſe ſouls were under the Altar, that is, under the Juſtice of God to be avenged of their Adverſaries. It is nothing ſo, for as it appears by them that fled unto it for refuge, the Altar was a place of Propitiation. The Altar here, by the greateſt number of votes, is He that mitigates the ſtern Juſtice of his Father, Jeſus Chriſtus Agnus propter mactationem, Altare propter propitiationem. He is all by whatſoever we are reconciled to God, the Altar, the Prieſt, and the Sacrifice. St. Gregory proves it,Lib. 3. Mor. c. 20.24. that the Altars of the Levitical Service were expreſs Types of him, for either they were to be made of rude earth, Temeraria de ſeſpite altaria, in Tertullians words, or of rough and unpoliſht ſtones, Exod. xx. Wherefore of earth, but to betoken the Incarnation of our Lord? Quicquid offerimus Deo in altari terreo, i. e. in fide Dominicae incarnationis ſolidamus; Whatſoever we bring unto God, lay it upon the earthen Altar, upon this faith, that Chriſt was incarnate, to ſave his people from their ſins. When the Altar was made of ſtone, it was rough and unpoliſht, and in thoſe materials likewiſe we ſhall meet with Chriſt. For he was the Living Stone in Daniel, cut out of the Mountain without hands, neither was he poliſht by Art, by Education, or by any thing that man can put into him, as he came from the Quarry, from the Womb of his Mother, he was full of Grace and Truth. This ſtanding is firm, that the term of Altar agrees well with our Saviour, many reaſons may be eaſily rendred, why the ſouls of the Bleſſed were under the Altar: 1. Says Eſtius, a little too ſlightly, They have not yet attained to be like the glorious body of Chriſt, they have not reſumed their Carkaſſes, as He is riſen from the dead; they are yet below His dignity, and ſo under the Altar. 2. The Juſt that died in the Lord in the Old Law, are ſaid to be in Abrahams boſom, becauſe they profeſſed the Faith of Abraham; ſo they that died in the Faith of the Goſpel, that Chriſt is the Altar, upon whom all our works that pleaſe God are to be offered up, their Souls are under that Altar. 3. As Lazarus the poor man full of Piety is ſaid to be in Abrahams boſom; as if he were placed in heaven next to Abraham, ſo the godly Martyrs are next to the Altar, for dignity of glorification next to Chriſt himſelf, and whereſoever the Carkaſs is thither will the Eagles be gathered together, Luk. xvii. Laſtly, Which takes me moſt, the perſecuted Saints had no ſhelter on earth to defend them, now their ſouls are at reſt, diſquieted with no fear, under the protection and cuſtody of Chriſt. Under him we are in ſafety upon earth, and no man can take his ſheep out of his hand, and under his Wings we ſhall be ſafe in Heaven for ever; yea, and though we have the faith of Martyrs, to ſpend our life for the love of God, yet our hope is not in ourſelves, but to be covered with the Altar, to run to Chriſt as to our Shield and Buckler, without his Merits to aſſoil us from our ſins, Martyrs cannot appear before the face of God. O prepare your p. 1002ſelves to come unto this holy Sanctuary: He that comes with an hypocritical Conſcience to partake of the Altar of the Lords Table, he ſhall find no place for his Soul under that Altar which is above. And take heed of high imaginations and exalted thoughts. Our ſtate in Heaven is ſubter, and not ſuper: And all ſubters in this World are not worth a good mans thought to reflect upon them. Let me be an underling, let me be abaſed, let me go down to the loweſt Room, let my Spirit aim at nothing but to be Templum ſub altari, the Temple of God here, that hereafter I may reſt under the Altar in life everlaſting. AMEN.