A Century of Sermons, Sermon 14
THE FOURTEENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation.
MAT. iv. 8.
Again the Devil taketh him up into an exceeding high Mountain, and ſheweth him all the Kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.
THe Scripture makes mention that there is a ſeaſon at the return of the year when Kings go forth to battel. This is not the time,2 Sam. xi. 1… all men know it well enough; quite contrary, now it is uſual that the wearied Souldier ſhould draw himſelf out of the Field into Garriſon. But all times and ſeaſons are alike unto our Adverſary the Devil, all the changes and quarters of the year will ſerve his turn to fight againſt us, who walks about continually ſeeking whom he may devour. Wherefore I bring him out before you, to let you ſee how he laid about him in his laſt skirmiſh, for this third is his laſt tentation. As the Carthaginians in their third Punick War loſt their City and Kingdom to the Romans, and never bore Arms more; ſo you ſhall ſee Satan ſo repulſed at this onſet, that he left the Field to the Conquerour, and never after propounded any blaſphemous tentation in a viſible ſhape to the Son of God. David was much imboldned to fight with Goliah, and aſſured himſelf of Victory, becauſe he had grappled with two ſavage beaſts, and ſlain them both, and thus ſpake chearfully to Saul, Thy ſervant ſlew both the Lion and the Bear, and this uncircumciſed Philiſtin ſhall be as one of them: So the firſt tentation was unto our Saviour like a ravenous gluttonous Bear, Command that theſe ſtones be made bread. The ſecond was like a ramping and a roaring Lion, all boldneſs and preſumption, Caſt thy ſelf down from a Pinacle of the Temple; Now he that eſcaped both theſe, out of the paw of the Lion, and out of the paw of the Bear, ſhall triumph moſt victoriouſly over this great Goliah in the laſt and moſt bewitching tentation, which begins in this form, Again the Devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and ſheweth him, &c.
How divers is Satan from himſelf? How unlike is this courſe to that which he took before? Since Chriſt was ſo tender of his ſafety, that he would not fall head-long, the Tempter caſts his Net on the other ſide of the Ship, and promiſeth as much as any man can wiſh in this world that loves himſelf. The odds therefore are very great between the former motion, Caſt thy ſelf down from a Pinacle of the Temple, and between this motion, Behold all the Kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, &c. The one is Paſſio corruptiva, make away your ſelf, utter ruine and corruption: This is Paſſio perfectiva, the perfection and ſolace both of the eye and the heart to ſee the pride of the earth, and all the excellency of it as upon a Theater. The ways indeed are divers, but the malicious intention is the ſame, or rather far greater in this, which I will demonſtrate piecemeal as I handle the ſeveral particulars, of which theſe are to be conſidered in this preſent Verſe: 1. The importunity of Satan, he is upon our Saviour again, Again the Devil taketh him up. 2. The variety of his ſhifts, from the Pinacle of the Temple he taketh him up to an exceeding high Mountain. 3. Note by what gate or paſſage he would enter his tentation, by the eye, Oſtendit illi, he ſhews a goodly object unto him. 4. The dignity of the Object, he ſhews him Kingdoms. 5. For the amplitude and generality, All the Kingdoms of the world. 6. In their moſt amiable and deſirable ſhape he ſhewed them in their glory, All the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. 7. Satan ſhewed himſelf to be an arch Juggler, or Praeſtigiator, as Artiſts call it, for St Luke adds, that he ſhew'd all this in a moment of time; theſe are all diſtinctly to be handled; and firſt of his importunity, Again the Devil taketh him up, &c.
A cloſe Solicitor, and a diligence worthy to be commended, if it had been in a good cauſe: But they that are in a wrong way are moſt zealous in their courſe, and negotiate for hell more urgently than we do for heaven. Many a ſoul is loſt for want of teaching and inſtruction, it is very dreadful to remember how God will require it at our hands; but in this Satan triumphs, that never any ſoul eſcap'd him for want of inſtance and proſecution. And I hold it for a true Poſition, that many times he is aſſiduous to ſubvert good men, where there is no hope of ſpeeding, to provoke God to be angry with our lazy negligence, upon the compariſon. I believe the Devil never thought to proceed ſo far as to a ſecond tentation with our Saviour, much leſs to a third, but to get what he lookt for at the firſt motion, yet ſince he found an hard match of it, and was twice repulſed with ſuch evidences of Scripture as could not be anſwered, he redoubles his boldneſs, and thinks in the end to weary out our Saviour, as Dalilah did Samſon, with importunity. St. Paul beſought the Lord thrice that the Meſſenger of Satan might depart from him: The one prayed often, the other prick'd him often. The evil Spirit vied it with the good Apoſtle; the one exceeded in the number of devout Prayers, the other was not one whit behind in the number of fleſhly tentations. St. Auſtin compared the Devil to a Maſtive Dog, Qui nec percuſſus ab hominis laceratione ſeparatur; Beat him, thruſt him away, ſtave him off, break his teeth in his head, yet he flies upon you, till he have torn and devoured you: So this incenſed Adverſary, never to be reconciled, will not be quite driven from you with Vows, with Faſtings, with Supplications, but liſtens to hear you ſay, as one diſcouraged with perplexity, I am weary of my groaning, untill this tyranny be overpaſs'd.
But that tyranny is unceſſant, the hatred of the Devil hath no ſtint; expect it, be ready for it, and let it not ſting your conſcience with horrour, if you find ſomewhat within you always warring againſt the Spirit; tentations are not like ſome diſeaſes, which are not incident to a man above once in his life, ſcape once and ſecure for ever, but like hereditary infirmities which are ever recurring to torment the fleſh. A quotidian is more like to be cured, if it be well look'd to, than an Ague whoſe Paroxyſms keep longer diſtance. Nor ſhall the Tempter again, or his importunities bow down our neck under the yoke of ſin, theſe quotidian fits ſhall not weaken the inward man if the fear of the Lord be ever in our heart, and his name often between our lips to conjure down the Regiment of the Prince of darkneſs.Apologet. Invidiâ coelum tundimus, non ſolùm voluit orari, verùm etiam pulſari, ſays Tertullian. God would not only be called upon, but bids us beat at door, knock and ceaſe not, till we overcome him with importunity. Make this Collection moreover from the Point; none ſo good but by continual aſſault Satan thinks he may pervert them; ſo none ſo bad but by continual inſtruction we may reclaim them. The Converſion of the very Mahumetans is to be hoped for; for if your Doctrine fall drop by drop upon their ſtony hearts, why may not thoſe Flints be worn in pieces? Even the Calling of the Jews is to be laboured for, though they be dry ſticks cut off from the tree, from the natural Olive, yet being perpetually watered with inſtruction they may live again.2 Tim. iv. 2. Preach the Word, be inſtant in ſeaſon, out of ſeaſon, ſo Paul wrote to his Timothy. Which Text is an Hyperbole; for as Gregory ſays, the Word would hurt it ſelf, Si habere importunitas opportunitatem neſcit; If that which is preached out of ſeaſon were not fitted to be ſeaſonable, if importunity did not watch an opportunity. But the Greek Fathers do generally follow St. Chryſoſtomes qualification, Opportunum eſt libenter audienti, importunum invito; The Word is ever in ſeaſon to him that is willing to learn, but always out of ſeaſon to him that hateth to be reformed. Yet he that thinks Reformation an untunable Song, may be brought about with continual inſtancing, and inculcation. Shall the good Shepherds be weary to ſeek that which is loſt, and gone aſtray? When the Devil will have no nay, but tumbles out tentation upon tentation to deſtroy ſouls? And ſo far upon his importunity, again he taketh him up, &c.
His variety of ſhifts is the next thing conſiderable, that he removed from a Pinacle of the Temple to an exceeding high Mountain. Hereupon ſome have taken needleſs pains to commit a great errour; I mean thoſe that have ſearch'd out Geographically for the higheſt hill upon earth, as if the Devil had taken up Chriſt to that Altitude from whence he might behold the furtheſt proſpect. Some conceiting the Mountains of Ararat to be the neareſt to the Firmament, becauſe the Ark reſted upon them when the waters were aſſwaged: Some contending for the Mountains of Teneriffa to exceed them, for they are higher, ſays Ariſtotle, than all that part of the air, which hath either clouds, or winds, or vapours, or any diſturbance in it: Others pleading for the Riphaean hills, whoſe Promontory to the Baſis caſts a ſhadow of thirty miles and more, which exceeds all other parts of the earth in height, by that meaſure and proportion. But if theſe were ten times higher than they are, they ſhould no whit neceſſarily concern my Text, for they are all of a vaſt diſtance from Jeruſalem, and are quite out of the Land of Canaan; but we have no warrant to ſay that Chriſt in his bodily preſence did remove farther upon earth than the Land of Judea but when his mother fled with him into Egypt. Neither was it the advantage of the hill altogether whereby Satan ſhewed all the Kingdoms of the world unto our Saviour, as I will explain by and by.
Not to inſiſt much upon Topography, but thus in brief, Jeruſalem it ſelf was environ'd with many delicate hills, Her foundations are upon the holy hills, ſays David, ſome of thoſe excelled in bigneſs; ſome of a lower ſcantling; Sion and Hermon were but little, Libanus did over-peer theſe two, and ſo did Baſan, Even an high hill as the hill of Baſan, Pſal. lxviii. 15. It is not evident which of thoſe higher Satan made his choice, but without contradiction it was an high hill, as the hill of Baſan. A ſpire or Pinacle of the Temple was a lofty eminence, what did drive him to leave it for the top of a Mountain? Why is it not ſo with all Projectors to ſhift inventions, and try new concluſions, as faſt as the old couzenages are detected? and there is a ſuperſtition in ſome, weakly grounded, God knows, to change the place which hath not been lucky unto them. Balaac the King of Moab was a great practiſer in this kind; when Balaam had rather bleſſed Iſrael than curſed them, upon the high places of Baal, ſays Balaac, Num. xxiii. 13. Come I pray thee with me unto another place, and curſe me them from thence; and when Balaam had no power to ſpeak evil againſt Iſrael there, but ſaid there was no inchantment againſt Jacob, nor divination againſt Iſrael, Balaac chang'd again, ver. 27. I will bring thee to another place, to the top of Peor, peradventure it will pleaſe God that thou mayſt curſe me them from thence. But it is not the ſhifting to this place or that place that breeds contrary affections in a good man: Coelum non Animum mutant; Gen. xlix. 4.Where there is an inward principle of goodneſs firm and ſure under every cope of heaven the mind is unalterable; Such as are like Ruben, unſtable as water, and therefore ſhould not excel, as his dying Father told him, ſuch let them but croſs the Seas, and change air, and they change their Religion: For ſuch ungrounded reſolutions the beſt counſel is, to keep quiet at home, where they may ſerve God with an upright heart, and not be carried away with Satan from the true Temple of Chriſt to thoſe high Mountains, or cities of ſeaven hills, where they ſhall be tempted to Idolatry.
Now what if this mountain, which Satan took up like the throne whereon he would reign, what if it had been devoted to moſt groſs Idolatry before? Would it not be thought the fitter place for ſuch wicked ſervice now? For that black helliſh motion which follows, All theſe will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worſhip me: Nay further, what if the wiſeſt, and one of the moſt illuminate Servants of God, did miſcarry upon that Mountain? Had not Satan ſome hopes then to pervert Chriſt? Whom he took to be a Son of God, not the eternal and only begotten Son. I dare propound my conjecture, I call it no more, that Solomon did commit Idolatry upon this very Mountain, 1 Kings xi. 7. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemoſh the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jeruſalem, and for Molech the abomination of the Children of Ammon; aſſent unto this as you like it. I will only add to this Point, that the place was choſen to raiſe a great expectation upon that which ſhould be propounded. Parturiunt montes, if it were divine doctrine; a Mountain was thought a fit place to deliver it to call up the attention of the Auditors. So that excellent Sermon was delivered to the Apoſtles on the Mount, Mat. v. Docturus Apoſtolos culmen perfectionis montem conſcendit, ſays St. Auſtin; Chriſt taught them from on high, becauſe he exhorted them to the top of perfection. Or if they were Prophetical Viſions, ſo God did uſe; one of the Angels carried John in the Spirit to a great and an high Mountain, and ſhewed him the New Jeruſalem, deſcending out of heaven from God, Rev. xxi. 10. So the hand of the Lord brought Ezekiel, and ſet him upon a very high Mountain to ſee the new City, and the new Temple, Ezek. xl. 2. Yet theſe were but raptures or illuminations of the fancy after a divine manner, and no more. But if Satan plaid the Mimick to imitate God ſpecially in this action, there is much likeneſs in a caſe which I have not yet remembred; But thus: The Lord ſpake unto Moſes, Deut. xxxiv. to go up to the top of Mount Nebo before he died, and from thence he ſhewed him all the goodly Land of Promiſe, from Dan even to the Land of Jericho, which the Children of Iſrael ſhould poſſeſs, whom he had brought out of Egypt: This is it certainly which the Tempter imitated, and, like a preſumptuous fiend, placeth, not Moſes a ſervant of the Family, but Chriſt more excellent by far than Moſes; not upon Mount Nebo without the Land of Canaan, but upon an hill near unto Jeruſalem: not to ſee one Territory, and there to die and not enjoy it, but to ſee all the Kingdoms of the world, and to take them in poſſeſſion. A man may ſee with half an eye, this was to vilifie Gods Miracles and Promiſes, and to extol his own. But that muſt be more copiouſly touch'd in the ſequel. Enough of the ſecond Point, the third is to this purpoſe, by what gate or paſſage the Devil would bring in his Tentation, and that is by the eye, Oſtendit illi, He ſhews him all the Kingdoms of the World.
There is nothing ſo ſoon enticed, and led away as the eye; We are almoſt all like Labans Sheep, every mans heart conceives as the delight of his eye doth impreſs upon his fancy. O theſe fair Orbs, which the Workman made to be the caſements of light, but they open to let in death into the ſoul. There it began to ſhew it ſelf to be an Inſtrument that had loſt all purity when Adam and his Wife were called, and hid themſelves from the preſence of the Lord among the Trees of the Garden. Whereupon,De Verb. Dom. Scr. 18. ſays St. Auſtin, when Adam had a pure conſcience he had a ſingle eye, and loved to ſtand before the Lord, Poſtquam peccato ſauciatus eſt oculus caepit lucem formidare divinam; But when his eye grew ſin-ſore, his guiltineſs would not let him look upon the divine ſplendour, Refugit in tenebras, veritatem fugiens, umbras appetens; Now it had rather ſeek out ſecret places, and dark empty ſhadows than the eternal truth. Here the eye began to fall from its primitive honour, and ever ſince it became pernicious. Says the Son of Sirach, What is created more wicked than an eye? wherefore it weepeth upon every occaſion, Eccleſ. xxxi. 3. St. John reduceth the whole brood of ſin to theſe three Seed-plots,Joh. ii. 16. all that is in the world is the luſt of the fleſh, the luſt of the eye, and the pride of life. Firſt, there is Achans eye, that luſteth after Silver and Gold, and coſtly Babyloniſh Garments; ſuch eyes commit thievery upon all coſtly things that they behold: Some would have all as far as they can look. Hell and deſtruction are never full, ſo the eyes of man are never ſatisfied, ſays Solomon, Prov. xvii.
But this is not all, there is Shechems eye that luſteth after the beauty of Dinah, Nay, leſs than the lively Perſon, a very Picture is able to ſtrike the eye, and dead colours can inflame it with laſciviouſneſs. Ask Ezekiel if it be not thus, Cha. xxiii. 16. Aholibah ſaw men pourtrayed upon the Wall, the Images of the Chaldaeans, as ſoon as ſhe ſaw them ſhe doated upon them, and ſent Meſſengers unto them into Chaldaea. And not unuſually this malignity hath extended to ſpiritual fornication; for it is often alledged, that the workmans cunning, and beauty of the Image hath bewitch'd the eye, and drawn the vain beholders to commit Idolatrie; and theſe fair lights thus degenerating to be the brokers of wanton ſins are called by Plato, foreign, Panders and Bawds to corrupt the Soul. And yet there is another capitol miſchief imputed to the eye by St. Auſtin, Lib. 3. de Symb. cap. 1.Ad concupiſcentiam oculorum pertinet nugacitas ſpectaculorum; Gazing after all manner of vanities and ſpectacles of bravery, filling the mind with rank effeminateneſs and idleneſs, caſting away moſt unthriftily the good hours of our life to ſee, and to be ſeen. The Theaters are not large enough now adays to receive our looſe Gallants Male and Female, but whole Fields and Parks are thronged with their concourſe, where they make a muſter of their gay cloaths, acd that day is counted the luckieſt of the Week, not wherein they have done God moſt faithful ſervice, but wherein they have glutted their eyes abroad with gaudy Gallantry. Did Solomon mean ſuch as theſe (can you tell?) when he ſaid, The eyes of a fool are in every corner of the earth? But I am ſure they are of a condition much better than theſe whom Chriſt meant, Bleſſed are the pure in heart, for they ſhall ſee God. Mat. v. 8.
Such as are not of a very ſtrict conſcience to look to their integrity think they may eaſiy defend themſelves againſt this charge; for is not every thing which is viſible made to be ſeen? And more fit to be ſeen, if it be a comly piece of Art or Nature. St. Bernard brings in Eve excuſing her ſelf for looking upon the forbidden fruit, Oculos tendo non manum, non eſt interdictum ne videam, ſed ne comedam; That is,De grad. humilitat. 1. May I not caſt mine eye toward the Tree? I do not reach out my hand to it. The Tree is pleaſant to the eye, and though I am forbidden to eat, yet I am not denied to look at it. The Father takes upon him to anſwer, as if he had been by to talk with her, Hoc etſi culpa non eſt, culpae tamen indicium eſt. The darting of the eye formally is not the tranſgreſſion of the Commandment, but it begets the tranſgreſſion of the Commandment. Behold the heaven, and the earth, and all the works of the Lord which he hath made in ſuch manifold wiſdom, the inviſible things may be underſtood by things which are ſeen, and the well-governed eye ſhall teach the heart to glorifie God. Wherefore mark the conſequent, what paſſions your eyes beget in your ſoul, examine your own frailties, prove your ſtrength and your weakneſs, keep your innocency, and look your fill, but turn away your eyes when you perceive that the devil ſhews the Object. Job ſaid, his heart ſhould not walk after his eye, that his eye ſhould not ſtray from reaſon. But what if the heart chance to wander after the eye? What remedy then? Chriſt never gave a more angry Precept in all the Goſpel than upon this occoſion, If thy right eye offend thee, Mat. v.pull it out and caſt it from thee. 'Tis an Hyperbole, ſo all conclude: For the world in a ſhort time would be left as blind, as ever Bartimaeus was, if it were a litteral Leſſon. It is not the defacing of the body, but the bridling and killing of concupiſcence which the Precept commands. The body muſt not be defaced, becauſe of the quarrel which we have againſt the Law in our members, and the ſting that is in our fleſh: That was the barbarous Religion of the Prieſts of Baal to cut and mangle themſelves with knives. St. Paul teſtifies for the Galathians how obedient and reſpectful they were unto him, and that if it had been poſſible they would have pluckt out their own eyes and have given them unto him, Gal. iv. 15. There is no doubt of the natural poſſibility, but they could have pluckt out their eyes, poſſible therefore is as much as lawful; it was not poſſible to do it with a ſafe conſcience, and with the fear of God: Therefore Chriſt bad no more but cut out the concupiſcence, and vanity of the eye and caſt it from thee, but preſerve the Inſtrument. We meet with that Adverb of Admiration (Ecce, behold) in above an hundred Verſes of the Goſpel to command our eyes from tranſitory things, and to bring them to thoſe ſpectacles of grace and happineſs. He that meditates ſeriouſly upon ſome inward thoughts takes no notice of that object for the preſent upon which he faſtens his eye; ſo a mortified man, that is dead to the traſh of this world, and alive to God, ſhall ſee all theſe Kingdoms, and the glory of them which Satan preſented to our Saviour, and never be dazled with the Object. All theſe enticing baits ſhall ſtand before him, and be neglected as if he never beheld them. Non refert quid, ſed qualis: All things in the world are fit to be ſeen, but every one hath not the Poets ſullen eye, Oculo irretorio ſpectat acervos; every one hath not fitneſs to ſee them.Horat. lib. 2. Odar. For example, Lots Wife was forbidden to look towards Sodom, for the compaſſion towards her native dwelling would make her murmur at the Lord who rained fire and brimſtone from heaven upon it: But Abraham was a ſure man, he roſe up early in the morning, and looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and ſaw the ſmoke of the Country go up as a furnace. It is manifeſt by this, that unſtaid, and ungoverned eyes muſt not take that liberty to wander abroad which Abraham may, whoſe heart is ſtedfaſt with the Lord. Learn to know how far you may uſe all your bodily ſenſes, and your eye eſpecially, without prejudice to Juſtice, Temperance, Chaſtity, Modeſty, and venture no further. And though it be not in man to guide himſelf, yet it is in man to direct his prayers to God for aſſiſtance, as David did, Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way, Pſal. cxix. 37. Here I ſhut up the third Point, that the Devil would bring his great Tentation through the paſſage of the eye. Oſtendit illi, he repreſented a gaudy ſhew, he ſhewed him, &c.
The next thing to be conſidered is, that Satan would put no ſmall mote in our Saviours eye, but the greateſt beam he could find out, the faireſt Commonwealths and Dominions of the world, Oſtendit illi regna, he ſhewed him Kingdoms. One large delightful Lawn hedg'd with even rows of trees, one flowry Meadow with a purling ſtream running by it, one beautiful Garden, a Belvidere with rare figures of compoſures; any one of theſe is a Feaſt for the eye to glut it ſelf upon; but the variety of all theſe over the face of the whole earth to be preſented in one Landskip, had been able to have ſtruck any mortal man with ſenſuality: nor were theſe things offered to be viewed as parcels of private Inheritances, but as the annexes of Empires and Kingdoms, rebounding names to rattle in the ears of ambition. How many appetites have been even ſick of longing to ſee ſome one Monarchy in the very height of the victory; the Hiſtorian himſelf was ſtruck with paſſion when he wrote of Alexander's Conqueſts in the Eaſt, and bemoans all Graecians not born in thoſe dayes, who were not ſo happy as to ſee that Monarch ſet in the Throne of Darius, for then was Greece at the top of her glory. The Roman Empire was no leſs goodly ſight at this ſeaſon in the daies of our Saviour, having left but few Kingdoms beſide it ſelf to be ſeen in the known and habitable world. I ſpeak of theſe things now only as they were ſet forth to be ſeen, and not as they were offered to be given, till I come to the next verſe.
And medling with it no further, it will admit theſe brief deductions: Firſt, that it is more advantage to the Devil to make us partakers of the ſight of theſe things, than to make us Maſters of the actual poſſeſſion: hold the cherry bobbing at our lips, and we are eager to catch it; when 'tis taſted 'tis gone, and no more regarded: let us be placed where we may ſee the dignities and Kingdoms of the world like pictures in a Gallery, and our covetous affections will be raviſht with the deſire; and the way to keep us in love of thoſe things, is to keep us in longing: but when we enjoy them, our appetite will be turn'd into diſdain, becauſe they do not anſwer our expectation. St. Ambroſe cut this path into my Text, for our meditations to walk in. Saith he, there are treacheries, diſturbance of reſt, violence, injuſtice, a thouſand angariations in the Kingdoms of the world, none of theſe are perceiv'd while you ſtand off, and look upon them: all's well while you gaze on theſe tranſitory things from the top of the Mountain, bona terrena pluris ſunt cum non habentur, & deſiderantur, quàm cum poſſidentur: they are more worth upon the ſeeing, than upon the poſſeſſing; therefore he ſhewed him all the Kingdoms of the world.
Secondly, though Satan did not perfectly know Chriſt, yet he ſaw him compoſed to a moſt ſanctified way; therefore he ſets before him his great glaſs of vanities to fill his fancy with muddy cogitations; Kingdoms, and Dominions, and glory are not a ſpiritual mans Element; ſecularia negotia vehementer à ſpiritualibus avocant, theſe ſecular objects do entice the mind from heavenly muſings. Chriſt preached in the Temple, in the Synagogues, in the Streets, in a Ship, in a Mountain, in the Wilderneſs; but in the Court of Herod, and in the Judgment Hall of Pilate he held his peace: he was Maſter of his eloquence, as well as of ſilence, and could have ſpoken there: but it was to ſhew that in the midſt of Princely pomp and ſecular negotiations you may ſpeak heavenly things, but you ſhall be heard at leiſure. Let Satan be a Statiſt, and a medler with Kingdoms, as this Text ſhews he is, that's a pattern for none, who are altogether ſet apart for religious ſervice, but for the Order of the Jeſuits, who wriggle themſelves in to be the Cabinet Counſellors both to great and petty Princes, not only in Europe, but beyond the Line in Peru and Goa, in more Kingdoms than I think verily the Devil ſhew'd our Saviour. The general Conſtitutions of their Order, as we may read them in print, do ſtrictly command them in ſevereſt manner no way to meddle in State matters, or in Kings affairs. But verte folium, I would we could ſee the other leaf of ſpecial inſtructions; for in their practice the world never ſaw the like Corporation for ſtickling in all Kingdoms and Civil Governments, but I leave them with him that uſeth to ſhew all the Kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them upon the top of a Mountain.
Thirdly, this is the Tempters way, if not to ſhew to the eye, yet to buz into mens thoughts, and to poſſeſs them with ſtrong apprehenſions that they are not unlikely to get Kingdoms, and Glory, and Exaltation; fools men with imaginations of ſtrange fortunes and advancements: as the Bramble in Jothams Parable thought it ſelf fit to be a King over the Trees of the Wood; and the Thiſtle in another Parable would have the Cedars Daughter married to his Son. The Holy Ghoſt thought it fitter to deliver theſe ſenſeleſs, impoſſible, ambitious projects of men in Parables, than to ſpeak plainly, how folly and melancholy make ſome men ſuck at the Dugs of hope, and fill themſelves with wind and vanity. Luther expreſſeth this madneſs in this phraſe, that every man hath a Pope in his belly. It ſeems the truth of his ſaying may go far, if ſuch mean perſons as the Mother of Zebedees Children, the Wife of a ſilly drudging Fiſherman, could make ſuch a Petition, that one of her Sons might ſit at the right hand of our Saviour in his Kingdom, the other at his left. Who had greater fortunes than David? and who did expect leſs? Pſal. 131. I do not exerciſe my ſelf in great matters, which are too high for me, but I refrain my ſoul, and keep it low, like as a Child that is weaned from his Mother: he reſtrained his ſoul, and would not let it wander in ambitious ſpeculations; he weaned it as a Child from his Mother; from the Earth, which is the Mother of us all, and from her tranſitory abundance.
But though all which Satan did ſhew could not move Chriſt one jot, yet in the next point the amplitude and generality of the object I am ſure is worth our admiration, he ſheweth him all the Kingdoms of the World: and St. Luke adds, that he did not carry him about in any long travail, but ſo ſuddenly, that it is expreſt in a momentary motion, in the twinkling of an eye. There hath been ſome ſhame and diſorder, ſome ſoul blur upon every Realm and Territory in the earth, therefore the Devil durſt ſhew all, and every parcel without any prejudice to his own proceedings. The deſcription of a Platonique Common-wealth, an Ʋtopia, or new Atlantis is to be found in ink and paper, but never among men. There have been treacheries, tyrannical intruſions, diſinheriting the true and lawful Succeſſors, depoſing of anointed Princes in every Government of the world; ſuch horrid things have paſſed every where to get Kingdoms by blood and violences, and all kind of cruelties; that Kingdoms ſo ſet forth are fit only for the Devil to ſhew, 'tis pity any Hiſtory ſhould record them, qua terra patet fera regnat Erinnys, as David ſaid, the whole earth is full of darkneſs and cruel habitation. Satan hath quite marr'd this world, and made it fit for himſelf, and for his own children to look upon. Omnis ſeculi honor eſt diaboli negotium, ſays St. Hilarie; that is, all kind of honor is ſo degenerated and ſtained, that the wicked Fiend makes it his buſineſs to repreſent it all unto our Saviour. Nay but Satan ſhewed all the Kingdoms and the glory of them, therefore none of their ſoils and deformities. Very right indeed, as St. Ambroſe catcheth at that word, oſtendit regna & gloriam, celavit taedia & labores, he ſhewed the beſt outſide of Kingdoms, the pomp, power, attendance, and riches; but he did not repreſent within this pleaſing object the multitudes of cares, the diſtractions, the fears and jealouſies, all thoſe reſtleſs vexations that dance within the circle of a Crown, and cannot be ſeparated from Soveraignty: well be it granted that theſe were kept out of ſight: I concur with St. Ambroſe that they were, yet I deny that he was able to ſhew the true and eſſential glory of the Kingdoms of the world, for the firſt original beauty and integrity which they had is quite gone, irreparably loſt, and never to be recalled. All the foundations of the earth are out of frame, ſaies the Pſalmiſt; the ancient Land-marks are removed, all Nations have been invaders, have been invaded, every man means for his own ends, and not for the publick: peace is loathed if it be long kept: Princes would over-rule, and Subjects would but half obey; how can the glory of Kingdoms be ſhewn, when almoſt nothing is in that faſhion wherein God ordein'd it. Do you think a large Territory of Land, a fruitful Soil, a rich People, a ruffling Gentry, a war-like Nation, terra potens armis atque ubere glebâ; do you think, I ſay, that theſe are the original and eſſential glory of a Kingdom: belike Satan would have ye believe ſo, and ſince he could ſhew no more, my Text ſpeaks after his meaning and purpoſe, He ſhewed him all the Kingdoms, &c.
But admit he had not preſumed to medle with the glory of the Earth, it is enough to take up our admiration that he ſhewed every quarter and parcel of it, yea, and that in the twinkling of an eye: and upon this, whether miracle or deluſion, I will ſpend the time, arguing two wayes, in what manner this could not be done, in what manner poſſiby it was done; but ſince the Scripture is ſilent concerning the modus, no man muſt define reſolutely thus it muſt be done.
Firſt then it muſt not be conceiv'd, as if Satan did, or could ſhew any thing which was not manifeſt to Chriſt before. Oſtenſio fit quaſi ignoranti, to take upon him to ſhew the world unto Chriſt, was to ſuppoſe there was ignorance in him, before whom all things lye naked, and unto whom all the foundations of the world are diſcovered, the attempt comes to one paſs, as if a mortal man would teach an immortal Angel what incomprehenſible glory is laid up in heaven; nay the odds are far greater, if I would go about to amplifie it. The metaphyſical Maxim is, duo accidentia ejuſdem ſpeciei non poſſunt eſſe in eodem ſubjecto; as two ſweetneſſes cannot be in the ſame lump of ſugar, nor two hardneſſes in the ſame piece of ſteel; ſo the knowledg of all the Kingdoms of the world was in Chriſts mind before, in him were all the treaſures of wiſdom, therefore the Devil could not cauſe any knowledge there; for two knowledges of the ſame thing cannot be in the ſame underſtanding.
Secondly, neither did the evil ſpirit fortifie the ſight of Chriſt, or put virtue into his eye to make it ſee more than the organ did ſee before, non quod viſum ejus qui omnia videt, amplificaverit, the Lord of Heaven and Earth indeed is able to put ſtrange perſpicacie into the eye of man, if he pleaſe, to make him ſee things clearly and diſtinctly at a mighty diſtance: ſo he cauſed Moſes at 120 years of age to go up to mount Nebo to look upon the land before him, and to die there. Firſt God put courage into his heart to go thither to die, with as much chearfulneſs as if he had been invited to ſome Feſtival entertainment; ſecondly he put virtue into his aged eye to ſee all the remote Regions as perfectly as if they had been Valleys cloſe by, and all lying under mount Nebo, on which he ſtood. Now as for the eye of Chriſts body, ſurely it needed no ſuch amplification of viſual virtue; for aſſume it for granted, that all parts of his humane nature were ſo perfect, that his eye could clearly behold any thing though at never ſo far diſtance, I mean how far ſoever the viſible object could caſt a ſpecies, no groſs opacous body caſting it ſelf between: for Chriſt being made like unto us in all things, ſin onelyonly excepted, I allow no poſſibility to any created one to ſee through the thick interpoſition of earth and ſtones, that Lynceus was able to do ſo, Poets did invent in in a Midſummer Moon: But I reſume no ſpecies could multiply to our Saviours ſight, and fall upon it with never ſo acute angles, though the diſtance as long as between a ſtar in the higheſt Region, and this earth, but he could clearly receive the object, as preſent at hand before him. Having ſuch virtue in his eye, he could receive no amplification, neither could any viſual virtue upon the higheſt Mountain on earth make him to ſee all the Kingdoms of the World ot once; for Philoſophers grant enough, that an object may appear in one Horizon to an excellent ſighted eye three hundred miles off, and more they think impoſſible.
Nor thirdly did Satan work any perturbation in Chriſts phanſie, to make him imagine he ſaw that, which indeed he did not. To be conceited that things are preſent, and before a man, which indeed are not, if it fall out in ones ſleep it is no more than a dream: if it come to paſs by Gods working ſupernaturally, it is a prophetical illumination; ſo God wrought ſuch wonderful paſſions upon the fancies of Ezekiel and St. John; and the Monks ſay that it pleaſed the Lord to ſhew unto St. Bennet in a trance, a little before he died, all the Kingdoms and Empires upon the face of the earth: but if ſuch a thing come to paſs by the Devils miſts and devices, then it is praeſtigiation or deluſion; but Satan had no ſuch power to abuſe the ſenſes or the ſpirits of our bleſſed Lord, moving diſorder in his body, or in his head, by which courſe only he can procure fanciful and vain imaginations of things that are not. Beſides if this ſhew had been no more but deluding the fancie, to make it credulous he ſaw the whole world when he did not, what needed he make choice of an exceeding high mountain to go up to that? That might be done every where: and he might as eaſily work it into his fancy, that he was upon a mountain when he was not, as to ſee a moſt raviſhing object of all the earth when he did not. But that which I ſaid before is moſt convincing; that Satan had no power to diſturb our Saviours fancy inwardly; neither is He that is above the wiſdom of men and Angels ſubject to deluſion.
As it was impoſſible to be brought to paſs after theſe wayes that I have toucht upon, to repreſent all the Kingdoms of the World before our Saviour, ſo there are other wayes how this might be done, without any flat contradiction or abſurdity.
As Firſt, Satan is able, if God permit him, to compoſe certain ſpecies or models of all the Kingdoms of the world, bubbles as I may call them in the air, to laſt for a little while, for the twinkling of an eye, and ſo to vaniſh; and for the better colour of his jugling, that they were the real Kingdoms of the World, and not their counterfeits; he aſſumed Chriſt up into a moſt lofty proſpect. Theſe are deluſions not in Chriſts fancy, which I diſclaimed before, but without him. Nor were they any deluſions unto Chriſt at all, becauſe he knew them what they were, that they were not true, but feigned images. The moſt piercing objection that can be made, is, then he did not ſhew any Kingdom unto Chriſt, but only the glaſſes and models of them all. So it muſt be indeed by this deſcription; yet they are called the Kingdoms of the World per modum ſigni, becauſe the glory of the World was cunningly diſplay'd in thoſe counterfeits.
Secondly, though it be paſt the skil of man to perform (for I am no Roſicrucian) yet it is not paſt the capacity of man to imagine it poſſible, how Satan might make the ſpecies of all the Kingdoms of the World conjoyntly be ſeen before Chriſts eye by refractions, (per artem ſpeculorum poſitorum in commodâ habitudine,) one terſe clear body, like a Glaſs receiving the ſhadows or ſpecies of things from one to another, and in a very quick inſtant all diſplay'd in the air round about that Mountain, being fitly prepared to receive ſuch fractions. But I will not trouble you nor my ſelf with ſuch intricate optical Philoſophy as muſt make this good.
But thirdly, I am moſt ſtrongly poſſeſſed with that way which is moſt eaſie and obvious; though it be pelted with objections, that Satan ſhewed our Saviour all that pleaſant Country that might be ſeen from the top of the Mountain, and did indigitare or monſtrare, ſhew the reſt by pointing to the flouriſhing Monarchies of the World, which way they lay, as in a Coſmographical Sphere. But this expoſition will be cavill'd with, that he could not be ſaid properly to ſhew all Kingdoms. Not ſo properly, indeed, as He that travails through every Region, but ſecundum ultimum poſſe, he ſhew'd him all as far forth as his skil and power would permit him. Neither is it neceſſary to hold ſo hard to the Text, that every angle of the world was made apparent, and nothing unſhewn. The note of univerſality ſtands oftentimes for multitude: He ſhew'd him the moſt part of the Kingdoms of the world, or perhaps all that had glory in them, that is Victory, Peace, Civility; not barbarous ſavage Nations, who had neither Cities of munificence, nor Laws of good government, nor wealth, nor honor, nor any thing deſirable.
Others that can oppoſe this opinion, and yet give no ſenſible reaſon of their own to expound this Text; but theſe object, that diſcourſe muſt take up ſome time, if Satan ſpake upon all the Kingdoms of the World, this could not be done in the twinkling of an eye. But no man can read an Author, but he will find many ſuch hyperbolical ſpeeches. The Syrian Paraphraſt tranſlates St. Luke in breviſſimo tempore, Satan did it in a trice, in a very ſhort time, beyond the imagination of man to think how it ſhould be done ſo quickly; that's the meaning of the Holy Ghoſt. It was his ſubtilty to hurry over things, that Chriſt might have no time of deliberation, but be ſurprized of a ſudden, before He could give a well meditated anſwer. I know it may be deſcanted upon likewiſe, that ſuch things told upon relation could not move any mans appetite ſo well as to muſter them before the eye. Segnius irritant animos dimiſſa per aures, &c. therefore I ſay, this was a mingle of tentation, all that could be was ſhewed unto the eye, and the reſt was ſupplyed by narration. Uſe which of theſe laſt opinions you will, or if none do ſatisfie, yet believe the Text to be true, for that muſt be believ'd, though the manner be unſearchable. The Lord will come at the blaſt of a Trumpet, and all fleſh ſhall be gathered together in the twinkling of an eye, and then all myſteries ſhall be opened to us; among other things that are not yet diſcover'd, how the Devil took our Saviour up into an exceeding high Mountain, and ſhew'd him all the Kingdoms of the World, and the glory of them in the twinkling of an eye.