A Century of Sermons, Sermon 9
THE NINTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation.
MAT. iv. 4.
But he anſwered and ſaid, it is written, Man ſhall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
WHatſoever Satan ſaid before was not worthy of an anſwer, and if our Saviour had held his peace, as once he did, when he was examined before Herod, that wicked motion had deſerved it, Command that theſe ſtones be made bread. But an anſwer is given in theſe words which are my preſent Tractate, partly to wrack the Tempter with ſuſpicion, partly to demonſtrate how weak all our objections are when God comes to anſwer them, and partly to make the Church partaker of his wiſdom, that his ſayings may be our Meditations from day to day, and from hour to hour, when we are met together in theſe holy Aſſemblies.
Firſt, The anſwer left the Tempter moſt irreſolute, and without all ſatisfaction. Satan was loath to ſeem to doubt of Chriſt, and would not ask, Art thou the Son of God? And yet he laboured with all cunning to diſcover it. Therefore Chriſt keeps him off that he was never the nearer to find him out by this anſwer. Dominus ſic fallit ut vincat, ſic vincit ut fallat, ſays St. Ambroſe; the Lord deluded his enemy that he might overcome him, and overcomes him by ſtrength of Scripture, that he may ſtill delude him. He could have cut him off with a word, ſaying, As the Father hath life in himſelf, ſo the Son hath life in himſelf, what need this tranſmutation then of ſtones into bread to ſatisfie my hunger? but he would not rejoyn explicitely one way or other, either I am the eternal Son of God that want not bread, or I am a man of much infirmity, but indefinitely thus, pick what he could out of it, Man ſhall not live, &c.
Secondly, This anſwer declares how eaſily Gods wiſdom will overmatch the ſubtilties of men, ſince Satan himſelf could not maintain his own objections. So the Phariſees, the Herodians, the Sadduces, all were put to ſilence in the Goſpel, that they durſt ask him no more queſtions, and yet many men flatter themſelves that although they have been revengeful, malicious, unjuſt, extortioners, yet let them have a fair, and a juſt hearing at Gods Tribunal, and they would be able to juſtifie their own Integrity; according to the like which Job ſaid, Chap. xxiii. 3. O that I might come even to his Seat, I would order my cauſe before him, and fill my mouth with arguments, I would know the words which he would anſwer me, and underſtand what he would ſay unto me. Beloved, let ſuch conceits fall off and vaniſh, God is not mocked, his wiſdom is not dazled with inventions and excuſes; entruſt your cauſe with Chriſt to plead it for you, and be ſure, for your own part, you are not able to anſwer one for a thouſand. One queſtion, and almoſt one word made him ſpeechleſs that came to the Marriage not having on a wedding garment. Chriſt anſwers to the Tempter in this place to inſtruct us that all his ſayings are ſolid, irrefragable, and unanſwerable.
Thirdly, This anſwer, which confounds Satan, confirms the Church with manifold knowledge, as namely, in theſe ſeveral Points into which I will diſtribute the Text, and they are three: Sedes argumenti, applicatio, argumentum ipſum. 1. The ſeat of the Argument, or the place from whence it is taken, It is written, written in the holy Scripture, written in the Law of Moſes, and particularly written in a certain place of Deuteronomy, which entreats of Manna that came down from heaven. 2. The Application of it is to Chriſt our Lord, man ſhall not live by bread, and therefore this is appliable to him as touching his humanity. 3. The Argument or Text it ſelf hath theſe four Doctrines, three directly, the laſt by inference. 1. That man is not neceſſarily bound to ordinary ſuſtinance, man ſhall not live by bread alone. 2. God can nouriſh man by every word that proceedeth out of his mouth, that is every way that it liketh and pleaſeth him. 3. Nothing can nouriſh unleſs God bleſs it, for man liveth by the word that proceedeth out of Gods mouth, that is by the will of God. 4. There is another life for man to look to beſide this life which is ſuſtained with bread; ſo St. Cyprian and others collect upon the words put together, Man ſhall not live by bread alone, but by every word, &c.
But he anſwered and ſaid, it is written. So his reſponſion was not the invention of man, but the very Oracle of God. This was Romphea in ore, out of his mouth went a ſharp two edged ſword, Rev. i. 16. This is the Sickle which cuts down all the Tares which Satan ſows among the good Wheat; this is the Ark of God before which all the Idols of the Philiſtines fall flat to the ground; this is the Trumpet of Joſhuah whoſe noiſe overturneth the Walls of Jerico. How can our tongues ſufficiently praiſe the holy Scripture, which teacheth us to ſpeak not with the eloquence of man, but with the tongues of Angels? Take it from us, and we may ſay as Samſon did, if his Locks were ſhaved away we ſhall be weak as other men, nay, quite unable to open our lips againſt the Philoſophy of the world; but give us that weapon of the Spirit in our hand, and we ſhall tread down our foes as the dung under our feet. Satan himſelf cannot ſtand before this charge, Scriptum eſt, it is written, Dimittit aures bellua centiceps; Such Charms, ſuch Muſick is able to make the Serpent burſt in pieces. We are penn'd up into the Scriptures as into our ſheepfolds, while we contain our ſelves within them there we are ſafe, the Wolf may howl, but he cannot bite us: There we are in the Tower of David, where we cannot be aſſaulted; but as David acknowledgeth, If my delight had not been in thy Law, I ſhould utterly have periſhed in my trouble. Wherefore, my Beloved,Pſa. cxix 92. make the holy Scriptures ſome part of every days buſineſs, read them, and as you read pray to God to interpret them, read them with humility, that when God ſends an Interpreter you may not cavil, and be wiſe in your own conceit, but underſtand them; read them with continual diligence, that one day may teach another, and your elder years may be wiſer than your younger. Finally, read them with patience, that ſuch things as are obſcure may not deter you, but hold on and proceed, and you ſhall find ſomewhat clear, that it will diſpel the miſts of obſcurity. Conſilio ſpiritus ſancti factum eſt ut quae obſcura ſunt in Scripturis per apertiora poſſunt illuſtrari, ſays St. Auſtin. De Doctrin. Chriſt. lib. 2. cap. 6.God hath compounded eaſie places with difficile, that you may have ſome fruit ready to reap, and ſome to be gathered and expected hereafter unto the ends of the world.
As we read of Manna that it was ſaporous to all Palates, and every man might taſte in Manna whatſoever he loved to taſte; ſo the Scripture hath all good reliſhes in it, taſte and try, and it wants nothing which is delightful for the ſoul unto ſalvation. No Book in the world hath ſo many rewards for vertue, no Edicts ſet forrh by all the Princes of the world ſo many puniſhments for iniquity; no ſtore-houſe among all the Papers in the world ſo full of conſolation; ſuch lofty wiſdom delivered in all ſimplicity, ſuch fortitude commanded with ſo much ſufferance and patience, ſuch ſtrict juſtice obſerved with ſo much equity and forgiveneſs is not to be found elſewhere beneath the Sun, ſave in thoſe Volumes of the Holy Ghoſt. Let your eyes love to gaze upon this Fountain, as the Doves in the Canticles are ſaid to gaze upon the waters; and if you will gaze upon them with a Dove-like innocency, you will read them for theſe five ends.
Firſt, You ſee in my Text that Chriſt quotes them to repel the Devil. He fought againſt the Fleſh by faſting, againſt the wicked World by retiring into the ſolitary Wilderneſs, but againſt the Devil with the authority of the Word of God. You ſhall ſeldom meet with an Apollos that is mighty in the Scripture, with ſuch a one as Antonius of Padua, who was called Arca Teſtamenti by them that admired his cunning in the Scripture, his memory was like the Ark wherein the Law of God was laid up, ſeldom ſhall you find ſuch a man but he will over-maſter at leaſt the very criminal, and notorious ſuggeſtions of the Devil.
Secondly, Read them to learn Chriſt and his glory in them, for this end our Saviour directed the Phariſees to Moſes and the Prophets, and the Beraeans are ſtiled more noble than thoſe of Theſſalonica, becauſe when Paul preached Jeſus, they ſearched the Scriptures whether thoſe things were ſo, Acts xvii. 11.
Thirdly, Read them for the conſolation of that glory which is laid up for you. Theſe things were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope, Rom. xv. 4. All the Traditions in the world beſide leave the mind fluctuating, and miſerably uncertain into what ſtate hereafter the ſoul ſhall be received.
Fourthly, Read them to be inſtructed in the ſtudy of Piety and good Works to the glory of God. Thou haſt known the Scriptures from a child, to make thee wiſe unto Salvation, ſays Paul to his Timothy, in that 2 Epiſt. iii. 15. In all the exhortatives, and Pandects of Laws which the Heathen made, there was not only the omiſſion of ſome excellent vertues, but the permiſſion, the very inſtitution of ſome notorious vices.
Fifthly, Read the Scriptures, not to engender queſtions, as very many do, but to produce Peace, and to be the end of all Controverſies. To keep up Diſcords when the Law and Goſpel is in our hand to decide them, nay, to enflame the more becauſe we have waters from the Well of life to quench them is Satans imperial device; he is now grown ſo cunning to wring what he liſt out of the ſacred Text, that he preſumes Scriptum eſt ſhall little hurt him. And to the end the Scripture may be more unapt to cut off Controverſies, the ſharpeſt Controverſies in the Church are raiſed upon the very Scripture. As 1. upon the incorruption of the ſacred Text. 2. Upon the validity of Tranſlations. 3. By augmenting them with Apocryphal Books that are not inſpired by the Holy Ghoſt. 4. By interpoſing they are an incomplete rule without unwritten traditions. 5. That they prove nothing indubitably without the unanimous conſent of pure antiquity. 6. That all the Lay part, or at leaſt the unlearned are to be interdicted the reading and poſſeſſing them, as well becauſe of their obſcure ſenſe, as becauſe the ignorant may ſuck out of them the venom of Hereſie. 7. They joſſle the Church and Scripture together which ſhould be ſuperiour. 8. They have wrangled themſelves almoſt into Atheiſm, that they know no way but by an hiſtorical faith or mans teſtimony that this is the Writ of God. Thus becauſe the Scriptures are given to overthrow the Kingdom of Satan, Satan hath done his endeavour by theſe bad inſtruments to overthrow the Scriptures. But I ſay again, Beloved, let us read them not to increaſe the rent of the Church, but to moderate contentions,In Pſa. xxii. and to ſtop the gap. Thus St. Auſtin in a ſweet ſtrain of concord to pleaſe both God and man. Fratres ſumus, quare litigamus? Non inteſtatus mortuus eſt pater, &c. We are brethren, and therefore ſhould not ſtrive, eſpecially ſince the Will and Teſtament of our Father is before us to end all branglings. Men fall out ſometimes about the goods and inheritance of the dead, but if a Will be found, the quarrel is quickly taken up; read how your Father hath bequeathed all things and you can ask no more. Brethren, we have the firſt and later Teſtament of our Father, open them, peruſe them; How do you read there? Will you not ſtand to his Will and Ordination? Why, the Law will compel you. As for a Father upon earth, Jacet in monumento, & valent verba ipſius, ſedet Chriſtus in coelo, & contradicitur teſtamento ejus. He is rotten in his grave, and yet his will given under the teſtimony of man quiets all ſuits; Chriſt ſits in heaven for ever, and ſhall not his Teſtament, confirmed by the Teſtimony of the Holy Ghoſt, be an end of all Controverſie?
So far I have pointed at the utility in reading, and well uſing the holy Scripture, becauſe the Scripture is the ſeat of Chriſts Argument, as I called it. And more particularly he doth honour the Law ſo far, as thrice together to quote none other but the words of Moſes. Moſes, whom above all the men in the world Satan hated, as appears by his ſtriving with the Angel about the body of Moſes; to advance the Text of Moſes againſt Satan, was lapides loqui, not to turn ſtones into bread, but to turn his words into ſtones and to caſt them at him. Moſes is truly called Oceanus Theologiae, the Ocean from whence all the Prophets ſince his time did borrow their divinity. Aquo, ſeu fonte perenni, vatum divinis ora rigantur aquis. Moſes his Pen was the firſt that ever drew Hiſtory. For when Alexander the Great took Babylon, his Preceptor Ariſtotle was moſt diligent to preſerve and examine the moſt ancient Hiſtories in the Babylonian Libraries, and their Computations come ſhort of Moſes above two thouſand years. Moſes his ſubject ſo admirable as none to be compared. The Creation of the world, the firſt foundations of the Church. The firſt inſtitution of Marriage, the Fall of man, and the Promiſe of Chriſt. And God choſe him above all men to receive his Commandments out of the dark Cloud, for which his excellency hath been renowned above all men in all Generations. But as the chief Leſſon in all the Prophets is the coming of Chriſt in the fleſh, ſo none more expreſs for that than Moſes. If you believed Moſes, you would believe in me, ſays our Saviour. In every of his Five Books he hath left ſome notable inſtance for this, a Beacon upon an hill; The Seed of the woman ſhall bruiſe the Serpents head, Gen. iii. Chriſt our Paſſeover is ſacrificed for us in the Paſchal Lamb, Exod. xii. The Serpent lifted up in the Wilderneſs, even ſo the Son of man was lifted up, Num. xxi. In Leviticus all the Ceremonial Sacrifices were Types of him, eſpecially the Scape-goat. But above all, Deut. xviii. A Prophet will the Lord your God raiſe up unto you like unto me, hear him. This is that Prophet who is the choſen quiver out of which Chriſt takes his ſhafts,Ferus. Mallens doctrinâ Moſes quàm miraculis pugnare. Our Saviour had rather convince the Devil with Moſes than with Miracles.
And above all the Scripture, or above all other works of Moſes, Chriſt hath refuted the Devil only out of the Book of Deuteronomy, at every turn that he ſpake unto him. Whether Moſes were anciently divided into a Pentateuch, or five ſeveral Books, whereof this is the laſt, I concur with them that doubt it. This is certain, the ſeventy Interpreters were the firſt that called it Deuteronomy, for the Jews gave the Five Books no other names but the firſt words of the Book. A ſingular, and moſt ſelect piece of Scripture it is, containing the whole body of godly practice and true Religion, for the King, for all Magiſtrates, for the Prieſts, and for the People. It is Moſes his Cygnaea cantio, the laſt exhortation which he made before he took his leave of the world. And it is ſuppoſed there is more Divination in the Spirit in the neareſt enlightnings before death than at other times, as if the ſoul were almoſt out of the earth, and a little in heaven. The great Prophet took ſuch abundant care to preſerve it, and to put it into the hands of all men, that it was wrote in ſtone for an eternal memorial, Deut. xxvii. 3. Every ſeventh year it was to be read to all the people at the ſolemn Feaſt of Tabernacles, Deut. xxxi. 10. The King was enjoyn'd to keep a Copy of it, and read it all his days, Deut. xvii. 18. And after he had ſpoke it, he wrote it, and delivered it to the Prieſts. Ruminate upon this, that you ſhall not find ſuch inſtances for the memorial of any other ſacred Book, and that Chriſt drew only out of this fountain to quench the fiery darts of the Devil; and although compariſons, I know, are odious between one book of Gods Word and another; yet ſome excellency will redound out of the premiſes to this Scripture in every mans imagination. It took the name of Deuteronomy becauſe when the Law had been delivered before, this is a repetition of the Law again; Nunquam nimis dicitur, quod nunquam ſatis dicitur. Moſes was not aſhamed to preach the ſame things over again, no more was Paul, To me, ſays he, it will not be irkſome, to you it will be profitable. The Law had need to be repeated often for our rebellion and depravation; and perhaps becauſe the oldeſt men of Iſrael were all dead in the Wilderneſs for the ſin of murmuring, who had firſt heard the Law, it was fit to propound it again to the new Generations. That I may not be too tedious in this I will only add what St. Hierom ſays, Deuteronomy or the ſecond Law is a prefiguration of the Goſpel or Evangelical Law, Sic habet quae priora ſunt, In Prolog. Galeat.& tamen novae ſunt omnia de veteribus. So the Goſpel doth antiquate no moral thing which is old, and yet old things in the Law become new in Chriſt by the faith of the Goſpel. Heaps of Expoſitors follow this hint, that Chriſt retorted Texts of Deuteronomy upon Satan for this reaſon, becauſe it affords a kind of ſhadow of the Goſpel. A weak reaſon for ſo many to be in love with ſince it was not God that impoſed the name of Deuteronomy on that Book, but men that did interpret it. Why that Book was only in Chriſts mouth upon this occaſion let no man take upon him to determine, but it will teach us to ſearch diligently for ſome excellent Treaſure in thoſe Lines, which were thought worthy to be applied, and them only by the wiſdom of the Son of God. And thus much for the ſeat of the Argument, and for theſe words, It is written.
Before I come to the words themſelves we muſt paſs over the ſecond Point, that the application of them is drawn to Chriſt. The place originally is to be read thus, Deut. viii. 3. He humbled thee, and ſuffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with Manna which thou kneweſt not, neither did thy Fathers know, that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. It was Chriſts pleaſure to have himſelf comprehended in this rule, our caſe is his caſe, he will fare as we fare, he truſts in Gods bleſſing as we ought to truſt in it; in a word, he anſwers altogether as man, and not as God. As the Iſraelites had no Corn or Harveſt in the Wilderneſs to make bread, yet they had ſuſtenance equivalent or better which fell from above round about their Tents; ſo Chriſt intimates, the ſame providence could help him, though he wanted bread which ſupplied the Iraelites, of whoſe ſtock he was deſcended. He could have confounded Satan with his Majeſty and power, but it was more tormentuous to the Adverſary to be thrown off as with the weakneſs of mere man and his humility. This is not it which Satan look'd for, to hear Chriſt anſwer him by the title of man, and far leſs did he look for it, that he ſhould get the upper hand of him in that title, a triumph which is moſt moleſtious to his pride above all other puniſhments. Here it began that he ſhould be ſubject to mans nature, yet it was that nature co-united in one perſon with God, but hereafter all the band of Hell ſhall be turned over to the children of men, who have been the children of God, that they may inſult over them. Do ye not know that the Saints ſhall judge the world, ſays St. Paul? 1 Cor. vi. 2. Nay, know ye not that we ſhall judge Angels? Not only comparatively, becauſe our works are better than theirs, as the Ninivites and the Queen of the South ſhall riſe up in judgment againſt the unbelieving Jews, Mat. xii. But directly our ſuffrage ſhall go to their eternal condemnation, becauſe they have rebelled againſt God, and hated his Church. What an honour, what a prerogative is this, not only to eſcape condemnation, which our ſins deſerved, but to have judgment committed to our power againſt our enemies, and yet for all this promiſe how diſſolutely, how prophanely ſome live, as if they would rather juſtifie than judge the wicked world, and the evil Angels? I cannot hold from interſerting one thing what Lapide the Jeſuite ſays upon that place of St. Paul, that the righteous ſhall be Aſſeſſors with Chriſt, and ſit next him in judgment, Ʋt Cardinales cum Papâ, juſt as the Cardinals aſſiſt the Pope to judge all men, ſo he marring a true Doctrine with a moſt vile Similitude.
I forget not that I am like to digreſs, therefore I return, that you may obſerve with me, how nothing would choak Satan more than to baffle him with the infirmity of man, and put this to it, no Text more unwelcom to him than this to hear of Manna in the Wilderneſs. 1. This was it which cheriſhed their whole Hoſt, whom the Devil thought irrecoverably undone for want of ſuſtenance. 2. It ſtopt the mouth of diſcontent, that there was no more murmuring. 3. The ceaſing of it on the Sabbath day was a moſt effectual motive that they ſhould ſanctifie that day unto the Lord. 4. It did not ſerve the body only, but it was a ſpiritual refection likewiſe, and a repreſentation of the holy Communion of the Lords Table. So St. Paul, the old Fathers did all eat of the ſame ſpiritual meat, and drank of the ſame ſpiritual drink. 5. Manna was laid up in the Ark, with the two Tables, and the rod of Aaron, that the Lord might be thanked for it by a perpetual Commemoration. All theſe rubs were in Satans way, when Chriſt cited this Text to expunge his tentation. What ſhould this Sophiſter do now? The words of the Scripture are evident, and unanſwerable. Why, it is worth the while to mark it, he had nothing to retort for the preſent, but paſt on to another allurement; but after a a while he provokes the Phariſees to make an objection againſt our Saviour upon the very ſame inſtance, Joh. vi. 31. What Sign ſheweſt thou that we may ſee and believe? What doſt thou work? Our Fathers did eat Manna in the Deſart, &c. This was to turn Chriſts own weapon, as he thought, againſt himſelf; but in that demand of the Phariſees, and in this tentation of Satans there is the ſame ſin of preſumption, who would dare to preſcribe God; the Jews would have had bread miraculouſly after the ſame way that their fore-fathers had, when now there was no lack; the Devil would have bread made after a new way, which never was before, as if Gods Providence were drawn dry unleſs the ſtones were mollified into loaves to be eaten. No, ſays out Saviour, and now I come to the verybody of his anſwer, man ſhall not live, &c.
Which being divided into many Propoſitions this, was the firſt, that man is not neceſſarily bound to ordinary ſuſtenance, man ſhall not live by bread alone. And that will bear a double conſtruction: Firſt, That God is able to preſerve life in whom he pleaſeth without all material Aliments. So Calvin on this place, Ʋt deſint omnes cibi, ſolam ejus benedictionem ad nos alendos ſufficere; His benediction is alimony enough though there were no meat in the world. For he can preſerve the body of man in ſuch an orderly mixture of all parts, that the elements ſhall be at peace in our body, no quality ſhall feed upon another, heat ſhall not dry up the moiſture, parch the juyce of the veins, the pangs and girds of hunger and thirſt ſhall not moleſt us: But as the fire was inhibited that it ſhould not burn the three Children that were caſt into the Furnace, ſo natural heat within us may be inhibited by Gods command that it ſhall waſte nothing away in all our compoſition. So St. Hierom, Spiritus ſanctus aliquando ſupplet locum cibi & potus in corpore; The Holy Ghoſt is called our food in the Book of God, not only in a myſtical ſenſe, but ſometime the vertue of the Spirit ſupplies the place of bodily refection, that we ſhall not need to ask for it. Thus it muſt be, if the ſtories of good Authors have not exceeded the truth, that the devouteſt Chriſtians of the Greek Churches could hold out healthfully with ſuch often, and ſuch long continued faſts, that now adays I could promiſe them but ſhort life that ſhould follow their ſteps. Moſes was fed forty days with nothing but the Law; Elias fed as long, or rather faſted as long upon that zeal which he had for Gods glory. Satan could not deny this, for as we are created by a word which was Almighty, ſo we may be kept alive by a word which is Almighty, made of nothing, and preſerved out of nothing. This is not to be reſiſted. The Doctrine is as clear as day, according to the Analogy of faith. But if Chriſts anſwer had carried this ſenſe, I believe the Tempter would have cavill'd thus. Right as you ſay, bread is not abſolutely neceſſary for life, no nor any other victual; God can ſuſtain you as he hath done hitherto by his power, but you ſee you are hungry and muſt have bread, he hath forſaken you.
Beloved, the moſt eaſie and literal ſenſe of Scripture for the moſt part is the trueſt; and ſurely becauſe our Saviour likened his own caſe to the Iſraelites, who though they had no bread wade of corn, had Manna inſtead of it which came from heaven. Therefore the anſwer is this plain paſſage, what compels me to turn ſtones into bread? There are innumerable helps beſide to keep me from famiſhing. Is there no way, ſay you, but this to do me good? Yes, God hath ſpread a Table in the Wilderneſs for Moſes and all Iſrael; and more inſtances might be added even as thick as ſtones; The Widow of Sarepta kept houſe for her ſelf, her Son, and the Prophet Elias a long time with a little meal in a barrel, and a ſpoonful of oyl. All the Markets in Samaria were ſuddenly ſtored with that which the Aramites their enemies had left behind them. It was not yet revealed to Satan, how many thouſands were fed in a deſart place with five loaves and two fiſhes, and the fragments which remained did much exceed the quantity of the meat that was whole. It is ancient ſtory, though it be not Canonical Scripture, how the Angel took up Habakkuk by the hair of the head, and carried him and the meat which he had in his hand for the Reapers to Daniel in Babylon. I fear it will not deſerve a memorial among theſe honeſt Records what ſome relate in the lives of the Eremites, that Paul the Anchorite, being ſolitary in the vaſt Sands of Egypt, which yield not a morſel for the belly, every day an Angel of heaven ſet half a loaf of bread before him, and made it up an whole loaf every day when Anthony the Eremite came to keep him company. If this were alledged, as ſome ſtick not to do it, to illuſtrate the Verſe which Chriſt quoated, I think Satan would rejoyn, Where had you this tale? This is a Legend of mine own fiction. There are other examples which I rank'd in order before, like a file of Souldiers to conquer the Devil, and the richeſt and neweſt which was at our Saviours hand was that of John the Baptiſt, who found a good diet in the Wilderneſs to make him temperate, and ſerve God out of Locuſts and wild honey.
The motion which the Tempter made, being thus examined in the true Explication of Chriſts anſwer proves to be as unreaſonably ſenſual as Eſaus urging for Jacobs Pottage, he would ſeek no further for any meat, that he muſt have though it coſt him dear, like Philoxenus in Aelian, that could not paſs by the ſteam of a Cooks ſhop but he muſt take a bait where his ſent did lead him. So Satan to our Lord, go not into the Towns or Villages near at hand, ſatiate your appetite juſt at this preſent, and without delay, even where you ſtand, Command that theſe ſtones be made bread. And ſhould not man wait Gods leiſure and time when he wants bread, ſince the beaſts of the Forreſt, when hunger rouzeth them out of their Dens, know not readily where to get their meat, and yet are content to ſeek it of God; the Fowls of the air have no barns to lay up ſtore, not a grain of Corn before hand, yet they flutter out, and pick up and down, and at laſt return home contented. Not unuſefully therefore doth one change the words of this firſt Propoſition into this Paraphraſe, Man lives not by bread alone, Non cibo parato vivit homo, ſed qui ſponte ſe offert; Man ſhall not live alone by that which is artificially cook'd and provided, but even by that which nature ſuppeditates, as John Baptiſt lived by Locuſts and wild honey; and ſo the Patriarchs before the floud lived altogether upon fruits and herbage, and upon the voluntary offrings of the Springs and Mountains. Si ad naturam vivitur tam ſuperfluus eſt coquus quàm miles, ſays Seneca, If Nation would not riſe up againſt Nation what uſe were there of Souldiers, and if men would give their body but juſt as much as would content nature there were no uſe of Cookery. Yet God doth ſuffer our nature to exceed in the uſe of his bleſſings, that we may abound with thankfulneſs; but if the Patriarchs did praiſe and bleſs Gods name more for a few Sallets than we do for all the luxuriant ſtore that the Fields and the Sea afford, then their Temperance ſhould judge our Gluttony, and their Thankſgiving ſhall condemn our Unthankfulneſs. But ſo far of the firſt Propoſition, Man ſhall not live by bread alone, that is, man is not neceſſarily bound to ordinary ſuſtenance. The ſecond follows in this ſenſe and interpretation.
God can nouriſh man by every word that proceedeth out of his mouth, every way that it liketh, and pleaſeth him. Whatſoever the Conſtitution and Decree of the Lord is, that is called his Word. Verbum appellat, quia verbo omnia creavit, dixit & facta ſunt. He that ſpake the word and all things were made, a word and a deed to him is all one. And therefore the Shepherds in the Eclogue which they had together about going to Bethlem to find Chriſt,Luk. ii. 15. uſe this ſpeech, Let us go ſee, foreign, This thing which is come to paſs is very right ſenſe, but in the Greek it is, this word which is come to paſs. Gods words are not faithleſs, nor full of vain oſtentation as mens are, his words were as thoſe were which Daniel ſays were written with a hand upon the wall; for his hand doth hold his word to execute and bring it to paſs. To make you a little further acquainted with the Phraſe of Scripture, Egreſſus eſt ſermo ex ore, is an Hebraiſm to ſignifie the reſolute pleaſure both of God and man. The thing proceedeth from the Lord, ſays Laban, We cannot ſpeak unto thee bad or good, Gen. xxiv. 50. A Domino egreſſus eſt ſermo; the word proceedeth from the Lord, that is, he hath decreed it, and we cannot withſtand it. In like manner the Idolaters conteſt with Jeremy, Chap. xliv. 17. We will certainly do whatſoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth to burn Incenſe to the Queen of heaven, that is, after the ſwing of deſperate ſinners they would do what they liſt. The inſiſting upon this Phraſe is not in vain, but the very key to open the plain effect of Chriſts anſwer, which very profitably leaves us to make uſe of it in a double conſtruction.
Firſt, ſays Tolet, Verbum quod procedit ex ore Dei eſt res quam Deus in victum hominis deſtinavit; Man ſhall live by every word that goes out of the mouth of the Lord, that is, by every thing that he will bleſs and appoint for the uſe of ſuſtenance unto him. And ſo Abulenſis doth inſtance and exaggerate it;In Deut viii. the Lord is not that Father, who if his Child ſhould ask him bread would give him a ſtone, but if he would infuſe the vertue of nouriſhment into boards, into ſtones, yea, into the fleſh of Serpents, we ſhould proſper with them better than with all the Culleſſes and Electuaries in the world. How unſearchable are the ways of the Almighty, how the Infant from the firſt conception is nouriſht in the Mothers Womb? When Philoſophy hath ſpoken what it can, the chief part muſt be left to Divinity to ſay, it is fed by the word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God, ſuch things as would poyſon one Creature are delicate dainties to fatten another; It is as God hath allowed every thing for man and beaſt in their own kind, that we might allow him his glory.
Secondly, Man ſhall live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, that is, by all his Promiſes, and by every Vocation which he hath ſanctified to relieve us. And this agrees moſt aptly with Chriſt himſelf in the diſpenſation of his Mediatorſhip, and with the inſtance of the Children of Iſrael who were fed with Manna in the Wilderneſs. This is the prime rule which leads every man into ſome hope of proſperity that manageth an honeſt Calling. That every one ſhall live and thrive who holds him to that way which God hath appointed him. The Iſraelites journeyed from Egypt into the Wilderneſs, not of their own head and will, but by Gods Ordinance; why, it was impoſſible they ſhould famiſh doing as he commanded them: So Chriſt went not raſhly into the Deſart, but he was led by the Spirit, he did as the Lord would have him do; this was his Vocation, therefore though he could not make ſtones become bread, God would find him ſuſtenance ſome other way. No conſcionable man will ſet his ſervants to labour and not provide them honeſt fare to ſtrengthen them when they follow their Maſters negotiations. Says Chriſt to the Seventy Diſciples, When I ſent you forth without Scrip, or Shooes, or Money, did you want any thing? They anſwered, not any thing; for they went upon their Maſters Meſſage, and they liv'd upon that word which proceeded out of the mouth of God. The Prieſts indeed that ſerve at the Altar are to live by the Altar; in their caſe it will be granted, that they ſhall live by that word which proceedeth out of the mouth of Chriſt; but it ſorts as well to thoſe that ſupply any other honeſt Vocation which God hath allotted if they will bound their deſires to moderate ſufficiency, and not to ſuperſluity. Socrates an Heathen could cry out, foreign, that he ſuffered extreme poverty for defending the Worſhip of God as well as he could againſt the Idolatry of the Heathen; ſo much more the true Champions of Chriſts honour may take up the ſame complaint; yet the Lord is innocent of the bloud of thoſe juſt men, he never failed to afford them a ſufficient vital proportion if their enemies would let them enjoy it.
The Heathen Morals are like the baſe Court, by which we have the next entrance to the glorious Courts of God, and thoſe Heathen conject their ſhot to the uſe of this Point in a Story, or a Fable, which you will.Theocr. eidul. 7. Comates a young Shepherd tended the Flocks of a hard Maſter, but the Stock increaſed exceedingly under his hand; for Comates ſacrificed one Ram every month to his God to preſerve the Cattel, which damage being known to the Owner, the churliſh man impriſoned him in a hollow tree with intention to ſtarve him: But his God provided for him, that the weeping of the tree ſhould quench his thirſt, and that Bees ſhould ſwarm in the hollow trunk; with the help of the Honey-Combs Comates kept life, which being perceived the anger of his Maſter relented. Godlineſs hath the promiſe of this life, and of a better, ſays St. Paul. And this tradition of the Jews, to which I am credulous doth confirm it. You know in 2 King. iv. there is a Widow much in debt, whoſe Sons ſhould have been ſold for bondmen; but Eliſha multiplied her Pot of Oyl into many Veſſels, which yielded ſufficient moneys to ſatisfie her Creditors. This woman, ſays the Text, ver. 1. was a Wife to one of the Prophets, and ſhe tells Eliſha he knew that her husband feared the Lord. The Jews ſay, this woman was the Wife of Obadiah, who at his own coſt and peril kept the Prophets of the Lord in Caves, and fed them at his own charge ſo long that all his means were waſted. This may be, for Obadiah could not chooſe but be at great expence, and was not only a keeper of the Prophets, but a Prophet himſelf: and ſee how the Lord did ranſom his Sons from ſlavery by a mighty Miracle; it was Gods pleaſure Obadiah ſhould cheriſh his Servants, and he would not ſuffer him or his Poſterity to be loſers by their Piety. There are ſuch that do not ſet themſelves on work according to the word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, and as for them need and wretchedneſs ſhall vex their ſouls. There are runnagates, ſays David, that ſhall continue in ſcarceneſs. Let me put you in mind of a runnagate bred in our Kingdom, one upon whom God did let his anger fall for a thouſand Lies, Forgeries, Rebellions, Calumnies, it was the Romiſh Prieſt Sanders, Camden. Elizab. p. 1583.whoſe brains beat at nothing but to diſhonour a Royal Queen, a true Religion, and to ſet the whole Realm of Ireland in combuſtion. This Cative, ſays the moſt learned Hiſtoriographer of this Kingdom, being diſapointed and forſaken ran mad and wild into the faſtneſſes of the woods, and there ended his life in moſt miſerable famine. So, ſays he, that Divine Juſtice cloſed up that mouth with Famine which was ever open to ſlanders and rebellions, for Letters and Orations were found about him, being dead, to ſtir up treaſons and ſeditions. God can nouriſh by every word that proceedeth out of his mouth, and they that walk not after his word, but would root it out, ſhall periſh in their ſcarcity.
The hour paſſing away calls for the third Propoſition, which is, Nothing can nouriſh unleſs God bleſs it, for man liveth not by the bread only which he cheweth in his mouth, but by that word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God to bleſs it, and give it the vertue of ſuſtenance. As if Chriſt had ſaid, Though theſe ſtones miraculouſly be made bread, yet hunger would continue if God were diſpleaſed at it. All the ſuſtenance in the world ſhall not nouriſh if he curſe it. When a fruitful Land becomes barren, and a fat ſoyl well tilled and ſowed doth not yield increaſe, every man will be ready to take up Davids Pſalm, It is for the wickedneſs of them that dwell therein. Like Sodom and Gomorrah, like Abnah and Zeboim, where not any graſs groweth, but the whole Land is Brimſtone, and Salt, and Burning, Deut. xxix. 23. And why will you not mark as well how God chaſtiſeth ſome for their ſecret ſins, ſo that their food gives them no ſtrength, but they pine away in the midſt of plenty? God gave bread to the Iſraelites, but ſent leanneſs withal into their ſoul. So Haggai upbraided the people, Ye eat, but ye have not enough, ye drink, but ye are not filled. It is the grace of God which gives meat in due ſeaſon ſo that health and comfort go together with it. And heretofore I have uſed this ſimilitude to give it light. Sometimes when we apply Phyſick for any diſeaſe, we are bid to ſeeth ſuch and ſuch herbs in running water, and then to drink the water. If this help us, we all know it was not the water which did the ſick man good, but the decoction of the infuſion: So it is not bread or drink, conſidered barely in it ſelf, which doth nouriſh the body, but the bleſſing of God infuſed into it. Daniel, and the three Children of the Captivity that were with him, proſpered better with Pulſe and water than any of the Babylonians with the continual portion of the Kings meat. What was Adam the better for eating the forbidden fruit? Or were the Jews one whit the worſe in health and good plight, becauſe many ſorts of meats were interdicted them? As the Land of Canaan was made double fruitful every ſixth year, and brought forth a double proportion by the bleſſing of heaven, becauſe in the ſeventh year it lay fallow: So where Gods benediction is upon you, though the poor have but a little yet every morſel ſhall have a double benediction. The hungry ſhall be filled with good things, and the rich ſhall be ſent empty away.
Therefore look up to heaven and give thanks, as the little birds do when they ſip a drop of water. If thou obeyeſt the Lord, thou ſhalt be bleſſed in the City, and bleſſed in the Field. As the Fable is, that the Ʋnicorn dips his horn into the River, and makes it wholſom for all the beaſts to drink, ſo the mercy of the Lord ſhall breath upon all thy ſuſtenance, and ſanctifie it for chearfulneſs and health, and thy bones ſhall be filled with marrow and fatneſs. But though we take our meat from God, yet through infidelity it ſeems to me we will not take his word, that he will concoct it to vivificate and ſtrengthen us: For if you do truſt to that ſecret infuſion that he gives unto his gifts, why are you ſo ſollicitous what you ſhall eat, and what you ſhall drink? Why do you confect every thing you take with ſuch licious coſt? Why do you ingurgitate your ſelves with ſuperfluity? I am ſure this makes it evident, that you will neither truſt God nor nature, unleſs all the Art which Luxury and Wantonneſs can excogitate be added unto it. As Elkanah ſaid to Hannah his Wife, Am not I better to thee than ten Sons? So let it run in your mind, as if the Lord ſpake it to you in your ear, Am not I better unto thee than all the Corn in the Fields? Than all the Cattel upon a thouſand hills? Than all the Cookery in the world that can be ſweet upon the Palate? What is bread? What is a plentiful Table without my benediction? Man ſhall not live by bread alone, &c.
The laſt Propoſition ſhall be the more ſuccintly handled, as it is leaſt of all the meaning of the Text. That there is another life for man to look to beſide this which is ſuſtained with bread, the inward man, the ſpiritual man, which lives upon the firſt word which I handled in my Text, Scriptum eſt, it is written. Non in ſolo pane, vivet homo, non potior pars hominis, quae eſt anima, as St. Ambroſe; The better half of man, which is the Soul and Spirit, lives not by material bread, but by the Word of God. A heavenly Doctrine, and is not minded; yet not the proper and native conſtruction of the verſe I confeſs. Yet the reaſon why ſome Fathers inclined to that meaning in their Commentaries was, foraſmuch as Chriſt mentioned the Word which proceeded out of the mouth of God; now indeed that particle (Word) is not in the Hebrew Text, which goes no further than thus, Man liveth not by bread alone, but by every (thing ſuppoſe) that cometh out of the mouth of God. The 72 Tranſlators made it up, by every word; and ſo St. Cyprian and others made this plauſible ſenſe, that bread indeed ſtrengthens mans heart, but the ſoul liveth by the Law of God. Yet in this meaning the Devil had had room to proſecute his Argument, and would have ſaid, Give your ſoul ſuch comfort as befits the ſoul, yet that is no impediment but the body alſo muſt have his neceſſary refection. Satan dares not be ſo impudent to deny, but there is ſomewhat in man, which is to be cared for more than the fleſh; for he himſelf is a Spirit, which will make him confeſs, that a ſpiritual ſubſtance deſerves our ſollicitous love before a body which is made of dirt. Therefore the banquet for the ſoul is like Benjamins Meſs five times, yea, five hundred times as good as the victuals of this Carkaſs. Martha was careful to provide meat for the families, her Siſter Mary ſate at our Saviours feet, and fed upon the Manna of thoſe divine words which fell from him. You know who made the compariſon, Mary hath choſen the better part. A Philoſopher, that preferred ſolid knowledge before the beſt diet, could ſay, He had rather be invited by Plato than by any Nobleman in Athens, for he that ſupp'd with him might be the better for his diſcourſe the morrow after. O how much better is it then to ſup with Chriſt? Sometimes taſting of his Sacrament, ſometime hearing his Prieſts deliver the Myſteries of Faith, ſometime reading the mellifluous ſtory of his Goſpel, ſometime meditating, often praying that we may not ſuffer a famine of the Word, which we juſtly deſerve for our ſins, but that his ſayings may ſink into our hearts, and nouriſh us, that we may grow up from grace to grace, from vertue to vertue, that we may eat the bread of life in the Kingdom of Heaven, and never hunger again. AMEN.