A Century of Sermons, Sermon 2

A Century of Sermons · Sermon 2

p. 711THE SECOND SERMON UPON THE CORONATION.

1 SAM. ii. 30.

Them that honour me I will honour, and they that deſpiſe me ſhall be lightly eſteemed.

THis ſolemn Feſtival which you keep this day (Right Honourable, Right Worſhipful, &c.) ſhall give you I truſt, among other good works, that plentiful reward, which is in the firſt part of my Text, God will honour you becauſe you honour the Reſurrection of his Son Jeſus Chriſt. Our Saviour was contented to take three Diſciples into Mount Tabor, and no more, that they might view the glory of his Transfiguration; but behold a greater Myſtery than that, Chriſt is riſen from the dead, and therefore all your Tribes and Companies are gathered together, not for once and no more, but three days in their order, for the more ſolemn conſummation of that great Feaſt, which indeed is the chief Pillar and the ſtrength of our Faith. Beloved, ſince this day, as you all know, is but one of the followers of the principal Feaſt, what could I chooſe to ſpeak of more fitly than that which ſhall inſtantly follow upon the grand Reſurrection, when all that are dead ſhall ariſe out of their Graves, and appear in Judgment, and that is no other than this Sentence pronounced from the mouth of Gods Meſſenger. Them that honour me, &c.

For as Empedocles ſaid that two things made this world at the firſt, Lis & amicitia, that is to ſay, Union, and Separation; So when we ſhall all appear before the face of the terrible Judge; Union and Separation ſhall make two great parts of the next world, ſome ſet on the right hand, ſome caſt off unto the left; them that honour me I will honour, there is the union of the bleſſed with Chriſt, as he reigns in glory: And they that deſpiſe me ſhall be lightly eſteemed, there is the ſeparation of the Chaff from the Wheat, they ſhall be made a ſcorn, and a reproach, and the Lord ſhall have them in deriſion. You ſee then, and every ordinary capacity may diſcern that I muſt not caſt my Text into one mould, as Moſes made two Trumpets of Silver of one whole piece, Num. x. For in this portion of Scripture, as ſometimes in the womb of Rebekah, Jacob and Eſau, two Nations,Gen. 25.23.Gen 25:23 are divided, and the one people ſhall be mightier than the other. Of them therefore that honour God, and ſhall be honoured, let us ſpeak diſtinctly by themſelves, and in the firſt place their pre-eminence deſerves it, and two things will fall naturally into that diſcourſe, which chiefly augment the celebrity of this day. 1. The happy Inauguration of a moſt illuſtrious and a gracious King. 2. Theſe Penons and Triumphs of your charity, which are placed before mine eyes. God maintain the Kings honour, and give him the necks of his Enemies under his feet; God maintain the proſperity of your famous City under his juſt and careful Government, and God comfort the Widow, the Diſeaſed, and the Fatherleſs under the refreſhing of your p. 712charity. Salus Regis Salus Populi; as we truly ſay, that the ſafety of the King is the ſafety of the People: So I may as truly ſay, Salus Civitatis Salus Pauperum; the ſafety this City is the comfort and refuge of the poor and needy. To knit all theſe together. Salvation to the King, the Kings bleſſed Government to the State, the charity of the State to the afflicted, and thoſe that are in want. I ſay, to bind all theſe faſt in one, I have choſen this Text to compaſs them about, Honorantes Honorabo. Them, &c.

Which words that they were ſpoken to Eli the High Prieſt, a perſon of quality and eſteem is not to be doubted; and that the Meſſage was ſent from God is as clear, and never controverted; but by whom the Meſſage was brought I do not read in the Text, and therefore it was never reſolved. Yet, among many reaſonable conjectures, I am not againſt theirs that think an Angel was ſent on purpoſe to give the charge: for Angels (let us ſpeak after the manner of men) are Faeciales Coeli, the Heralds of Heaven, and can beſt skill of dignities and promotions in heavenly places. The bleſſed Virgin Mary her ſelf was to learn of them that ſhe was highly favoured of God, and therefore Honorantes Honorabo deſerves to be an Angels Meſſage. Beſides, Eli the High Prieſt was the firſt and chief Maſter in Iſrael. Then God might pick out ſuch an Inſtrument, why not? Who was above Eli in wiſdom, and might be able to teach all the Prieſts in the world, and that was an Angel. But it skills not who did utter it ſince the Spirit of God did endite it, not for Eli alone, no Scripture was written for one mans ſake, it ſerves the turn moſt fitly to all them that are mighty in Dignity, or mighty in Subſtance. And as Pyrrhus ſpake of the Senate of Rome, that it was Senatus regum, every man in it looked like a Prince and a Commander; and as Zeba and Zalmunna ſaid of the Sons of Gideon, that every one look'd like the Son of a King: So there is an Excellency, nay, ſome divine Majeſty in every of theſe words, and ſo I will divide them. Firſt, Here is Honor in Deo, an Honour reſiding in God. Secondly, Honorabo, I will Honour; that is, Honor à Deo, Honour communicated and diffuſed from God. Thirdly, Honor propter Deum; Honour for Honour, a Covenant eſtabliſhed to the advancement of our glory, if we glorifie God.

To begin with theſe parts in order; and leaſt we ſhould ſtrain courteſie, and expect at Gods hands, whether He ſhould honour us firſt, or we do Honour unto Him: Let Honor in Deo, the Honour due unto God, have the firſt place, and before all other in this diſcourſe. If we were enjoyned to magnifie and worſhip that which was baſe and deſpicable, like Gods of Silver, and Gold, then cauſe might be ſhewn why fleſh and bloud ſhould diſdain it. O Beloved, it is the King of Kings, and the excellency of Jacob; He ſits upon a Throne that is circled about with a Rainbow, Rev. 4. A Rainbow was his firſt Covenant, which He made to ſpare the World, and reaſon good that his Throne ſhould be compaſſed about with Mercy. Next unto the Rainbow ſate Twenty four Elders, that had Crowns of Gold upon their heads, ſuppoſed to be Twelve Patriarchs, and Twelve Apoſtles, that propagated his glory unto all Nations, both Jews and Gentiles, as who ſhould ſay, All Kings ſhall fall down before him, all Nations ſhall do him ſervice. To ſhut out all objections: It is certain that Majeſty and Dominion loſe the hearts of men that ſhould obey, and purchaſe Envy, and Hatred, which cannot ſhift it ſelf ſometimes into Lowlineſs, and Humility. O ſee and be aſtoniſhed at it, if God have not ſubmitted himſelf to the faſhion of man: For as the Ark of God, when it was in the Wilderneſs, had Pelles caprinas ſupra byſſinum, a Covering of Goats hair, upon the ſilken Curtains which were coſtly and precious; So the Lord Almighty, who moſt properly is cloathed with light, as with a garment, hath alſo put on fleſh of our fleſh, and bone of our bones, that by all means He might allure us unto his Love, ſometime adoring him in Honour, ſometime admiring his Humility. And I give them over, as paſt all good, that are as ſtubborn as Cato, of whom it is ſaid, Dictatorem odit, nec minùs Caeſurem; He neither lov'd the Dictator in his great Office, nor Caeſar in his private Calling; that are not affected with the poor Nativity of the Son of man, nor with the excellency of God in the higheſt heavens; Love Jeſus that was made man, or where is thy thankfulneſs? Honour and praiſe his name that ruleth over all, or where is thy devotion?

I know it will be more profitable to my Hearers, to inſtance in thoſe particulars of Honour and Worſhip, wherein God eſpecially is delighted, and I propound theſe four to your Chriſtian practice: 1. We muſt magnifie his Name. 2. Obey his Word and Commandments; and thus far the Angels go with Man, and no farther; but it p. 713is not enough for us. Angelis dimidium mundi factum eſt, ſed nobis totum; Heaven is but half the World, which is made for Angels, but Heaven and Earth, the whole compaſs of the World, is made for Man; Therefore 3. in the third place we muſt give reverence to his Sacraments, as to the Seals of his Love and Mercy. And 4. obey his Magiſtrates. Let us draw this diviſion to ſome rule, that you may be ſure it is full and complete. Firſt, you know God is to be conſidered in his own Eſſence, bare, and naked by it ſelf; next theſe three Attributes and properties are moſt inward unto it, his Wiſdom, his Goodneſs, and his Power. Now the Eſſence of God is declared by his Names, his Wiſdom is revealed in his Word, his Sacraments convey his goodneſs unto us, and Kings and Princes bear the Image of his Power and Authority. If any man can find out more ways to honour the Lord, let him go on and proſper. I had rather praiſe his name upon a ten-ſtringed Lute with David, than with St. Peter ſet up three Tabernacles, and no more, and come ſhort of one of thoſe which I have propounded.

But firſt of the honour due unto his Name. As the Sun is the cauſe of our knowledge to diſtinguiſh the hours of the day upon the Dial, and yet we know not our time by the Sun it ſelf immediately, but by the ſhadow it caſteth: So the Eſſence of God is the cauſe of all things, and yet we have not his Eſſence, but his Name revealed unto us, this is the Oracle of the inward Temple, and the Star that leads unto holy Bethlem where Chriſt is laid. Unto this Name we ſhould lift up our hands in Prayer, and for this Names ſake ſtretch them out in Alms unto the poor. And as David ask'd if there were any of the Race of Jonathan left, to whom he might ſhew mercy, and Mephiboſheth was brought unto him, an impotent Cripple, but the Son of Jonathan: So let us enquire if there be any thing of the Lord remaining among us, if all be not loſt by the Fall of Adam, that we may do honour unto it; alas it is but a ſmall thing, it is but the Name of our God, but let us make much of it, as he did of Mephiboſheth, let it be in great eſteem and veneration. When I ſpeak of the honour due unto his Name, I mean the honouring of God himſelf at the mention of his Name. Our Mother-Church of England as careful, that I may not enter into compariſons, as any Church in the world, to take away the yoke of ſuperfluous Ceremonies, and yet very provident to make the body of man ſubmit it ſelf to a decent outward worſhip of holineſs, hath preſcribed unto us, by a Canon, that while we are in Gods Houſe at the mention of the Name of Jeſus we ſhould do reverence with the Knee, and uncover the Head. I know not by what peeviſhneſs of ſome, or by what preſumption of others, it is more neglected in many Congregations of this City than elſewhere throughout all the Realm. Doth that Name which imports Salvation and Redemption from your ſins no more affect you? Or do you give no more obedience to the Church-Authority? Are you not Fidelis in minimo, faithful in a ſmall matter? How do you look that your heavenly Father ſhould appoint you to be faithful over much?

I am not ignorant that ſome have made Sorcery rather than Religion, and Blaſphemy than Devotion of the holy Name of Jeſus, as among others, that Frier that ſaid when our Saviour did bend his head upon the Croſs, it was not as the Scripture ſays, to give up the Ghoſt, but he did bow it unto the Title, Jeſus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. And Pope John the Twentieth gave an Indulgence to any body, for the pardon of one enormous ſin, that ſhould do reverence at the hearing of that Name: yet on the other ſide me thinks, they ſet light by their Salvation, that neither will do reverence themſelves, nor love to ſee if in another, at the mentioning of that holy name. To make a difference between the names of God, that one is more holy than another, it is not my opinion, and I think, is ſcarce honeſty in the Schoolmen, to diſtinguiſh as they have done, that when we call God, the Juſt one, Omnipotent, Wiſe, and the like, they are Attributes belonging to the Divine Nature from everlaſting, and therefore to be reſpected with the higheſt Adoration, but when we call him Lord, Creator, and Redeemer (what's that but Jeſus) they are Nomina in tempore à Deo ſumpta, relative names aſſumed ſince the beginning of the world, and therefore Dulia, a petty Worſhip will ſerve for them; to croſs this abſurdity I confeſs, that God is honourable alike, as in one Appellation, ſo in another, but our eternal happineſs is granted unto us by this Appellation more than any other. But when as Samuel came to anoint one of the Sons of Jeſſai for a King, Eliab was beautiful in his eyes, and ſo was Abinadab, and ſo was Shammah, but God would have the Horn of Oyl poured only upon the head of David: So let every tongue confeſs, that the names of Jehovah, Elohim, Immanuel, and Chriſt, are reverend, and glorious, and worthy p. 714that our knees ſhould ſtoop unto them as low as Earth, and our lips carry them as high as Heaven. But Peter hath wrought Miracles by the Name of Jeſus, and Paul hath preach'd glorious things of the Name of Jeſus, therefore my Soul and Body ſhall be proſtrate to that Name eſpecially which is wonderful and holy. The neglect of this is an undutiful omiſſion, yet I reckon it not in the place of the greateſt ſins.

But the greateſt reproach and diſhonour which the Name of God doth ſuffer is in the mouth of the Swearer and Blaſphemer; that is the Tongue whereof St. James ſpeaks, that is ſet on fire from Hell. Yea and Nay, the trial of all truth, is accounted in this diſſolute Age preciſe and ſimple communication. What God is he that you ſwear by ſo often? Is it not he that gave you breath, and can ſtop your breath at a moment? Whoſe Bloud is that you ſwear by? Even that Bloud which ſhould waſh away your ſins is unto you an occaſion of more pollution. Whoſe Wounds are theſe you ſwear by? Even thoſe Wounds wherein you ſhould bury your ſins make them live unto condemnation; as St. Hierom ſaid, Ipſe aer conſtupratur ſceleſtis vocibus; that ribald obſcene talk did adulterate the air: So I may ſay of Oaths that are vomited up from the ſuperfluity of ſin, Ipſe aer profanatur ſceleſtis vocibus; the Air is prophaned and unhallowed by abuſing the Name of God. Lord to what an exceſs this windy airy ſin of Swearing is come to? I think for one reaſon the Devil may be called the Prince of the Air, becauſe he is the Prince of ſuch blaſphemous language. And ſo much for the Honour due to the Name of God.

But ſecondly, to Honour his Name, and to diſobey his Word, is to imitate thoſe diſloyal Subjects of the Emperour Maximilian, they called Maximilian ſcornfully Regem Regum, a King of Kings; it was becauſe the Nobles that were under him lived like Kings, without ſubjection or obedience. Or it is to make ſuch a God to our ſelves, as the Church of Rome makes Biſhops in the Eaſt, the one is called Biſhop of Antioch, another called Biſhop of Jeruſalem, and Title enough they have, if that would maintain them, but nothing elſe. Keep your Maſters Commandments, and love his Ordinances, to do them, and then God is Honoured. Concerning Obedience, read and obſerve the life and death of Saul, he would ſacrifice to God, and that of the fatteſt Cattel among all the Flocks of the Amalekites. Why, this was Honour one would think: No, it was not juxta Verbum Domini; according to the word which was brought unto him by the mouth of Samuel, and God prefers Obedience before Sacrifice. This is the reaſon, ſays Aquine, in Sacrifice we offer up the fleſh of a beaſt, but in Obedience we offer up our own will unto God. The Jews did ſo much eſteem the killing Letter of the Law, that they wore it as the chief ornament of their Veſture, in the Fringe of their Garments, as Frontlets before their eyes, and about the wriſts of their hands; mark but that, before their eyes for meditation, about their arms for practiſe and execution. There is a rule in Phyſick, ſays a learned Biſhop, Per brachium fit judicium de corde; The Veins come from the heart to the hand, and there Phyſicians take their Criſis by their Pulſe and motion: So it is in Divinity, you muſt make conſcience of your knowledge by your practice, and obey the word. David held the word of God, ſuper mille pondo auri & argenti, above thouſands of Gold and Silver. Solomon eſteemed the Law to be as bright as the Sun in the Firmament, Praeceptum Domini lucidum illuminans oculos. You have heard of Idolaters that have worſhipped the Sun and Moon: Much more let true Believers reverence the Law of God, which is brighter than the Sun in the Firmament, for ſo Elias thought, and he covered his face with a Mantle as ſoon as ever the Lord ſpake, as if the voice of the Lord were eyes ſufficient to ſee by, and he needed not the eyes of this body. But far above Kings, and Prophets, and all the Sons of men, the holy Angels are ſo ready to do Gods will, that you ſhall ſcarce once read in Scripture that they were bid to go of Gods Errand, but before you could ſay, Do this, they were gone to diſpatch the Lords Employment. Surely, as it was a great abaſement for the Word, which was God, to be united to the fleſh of man, ſo it is a great Honour for man, who is but fleſh, to be united in obedience to the Word of God. To contract my ſelf in this Point. Remember what manner of Law it is that we ſhould obey, St. Paul ſays, it is ſancta, juſta, bona; holy in reſpect of God that gave it, juſt toward all men in civil commerce, good for our ſelves to live in peace and ſafety. What yoke then is more eaſie than the yoke of that Law which is holy, and juſt, and good?

Now in the third place, as the Air which we hear ſounding in our ears, by concretion ſays Philoſophy, becomes clear water, and may be ſeen, ſo the Word of God, which we hear preached unto the Ear in the holy Sacraments of Baptiſm and the Lords p. 715Supper, becomes verbum viſibile, a viſible word in wine and water. Honour one and honour the other, for though they be twain in the adminiſtration, yet in effect they are but one and the ſame, one in application of our Saviours merits, and the mercies of God; one in fruit and efficacy to waſh away our ſins, and to cleanſe our Soul. For as the bright Conſtellation which we call the Morning and Evening Star is one and the ſame: So Chriſt in Baptiſm is the Morning light which illuminates Infants anon after they peep into the world; and Chriſt in his Laſt Supper is the Evening Star, Ʋltimum viaticum, a light to ſhew every man the right way out of the world that is going to Heaven. As one ſaid of Prayer, that it was due unto God when we riſe, and when we go to bed, as a Morning and an Evening Sacrifice, and therefore it might be called, Clavis diei, & ſera noctis, the Key to open the day, and the Bolt to lock in the night: So I may ſay of the two Sacraments, that they are Clavis Eccleſiae, & ſera Coeli, Baptiſm the Key to open a door, and give us admittance into the Church of Chriſt, and the Euchariſt is ſuch a confirmation of grace, that it is like a bolt that ſhuts us up into Heaven. What reverence, what devotion can be too much for ſuch bleſſed myſteries?

Miſtake me not, when I ſpeak of Reverence and Devotion, I mean nothing leſs than Adoration and Worſhip to the Elements. I allow not, nay, I abhor Popiſh Elevation and Proceſſion. I fear this lifting up of the Hoſt ever ſince the Devil took up Chriſt to a Pinacle of the Temple. I deteſt their gamiſh and gaudy Proceſſion, as if our Saviour did think it an Honour to ride upon the Popes Palfrey, as Haman did upon King Ahaſuerus Horſe, away with ſuch ridiculous geſticulations: But I am aſhamed on the other ſide, that there ſhould be ſuch froward Perſons, ſuch unthankful Receivers of the Sacrament of thankfulneſs in our Church, that deny the duty of their knee to the Supper of the Lord, their feet ſtand ſtiff like the two Pillars which upheld the Theatre of the Philiſtines, and Samſon can ſcarce pluck them to the ground. The very Devil durſt not deny the truth in this Point. Ask him what it is to honour, Mat. 4. to fall down and worſhip. As Maecoenas ſpake of a Roman, that being amazed forgot to kneel unto Caeſar when he came in his preſence, Hic homo timet timere Caeſarem; ſo theſe men are afraid leſt they ſhould over-reach themſelves, and give God more honour than his due. It was an excellent ſpeech of Scipio Africanus, who being to ride in honour, refuſed to ſit in an Arch Triumphal, Quia ſeni praetereunti non potuit aſſurgere; if an old man paſſed by he could not riſe up and do him reverence. Beloved the Table of the Lord is a time of great triumph and ſolemnity, and God is not paſſing from us, but coming to us, and is this all the honour that we will do him to ſtand upon ſtilts rather than kneel? Will neither the apprehenſion of Chriſts Paſſion move us at that time? Nor that Prayer which is uſed, that body and ſoul may be preſerved unto everlaſting life, will not that make us fall down? Nor the conſideration how Chriſt did humble himſelf for us unto the death of the Croſs, will not that make us humble? Let it be the reproach of ſuch profane men, that Manna is faln down from Heaven round about our Tents, and they will not ſtoop to gather it.

The fourth and laſt Honour which redounds to God, is to obey the powers which are ordained of God. It is good Divinity every day, it is the proper Theam of this day; O Lord make it a victorious and joyful day to thine Anointed Servant, and our moſt gacious Soveraign, many and many years, and make it an happy and a triumphant day to his People that are under him, and to their Children that are yet unborn. Nazianzen, ſpeaking of Kings and Rulers to be the Images of God, ſays, that Monarchs and Kings in reſpect of God were like Pictures drawn clean throughout to the Feet; the middle ſort of Governours, to Pictures drawn to the Girdle; the third rank, and loweſt in authority, to Pictures drawn but to the neck and ſhoulders; but all in ſome ſort are the Images of God, (only Chriſt is the expreſs Image of his Perſon that ſate down at the right hand of his Majeſty, Heb. i.) O let Man, who is made according to the ſimilitude and likeneſs of Gods own goodneſs, be faithful and Loyal to obey Kings and Princes, in whom he hath imprinted the Image of his power and authority. Mary Magdalen ſate at our Saviours feet, his Diſciple John came nearer to his head, and leaned upon his breaſt; ſo God hath put all the world under his feet, but Kings and Rulers lean as it were upon his breaſt, as coming nearer to his love. Now as the Altar was a refuge for them that fled unto it, ſo Kings being as it were united unto God by an inviſible copulation, they are like priviledged perſons always next unto the Altar, and the hand of violence muſt not hurt them. He that deſpiſeth you deſpiſeth me, and he that honoureth you honoureth me.

p. 716But the Jeſuit is more ſubtle than any beaſt of the field, and he puts in a quarrel againſt Gods Anointed, that if any prove an Heretick or a ſcandalous perſon to the Church, nolumus hunc regnare, then he hath loſt the privilege of his Unction, and his Scepter ſhall be broken by the Popes effulminating Authority. I cannot anſwer this traiterous oppoſition better than by an Embleme of a Diamond with this word, dum formas minuis. He that pares a Diamond to make it give a better luſtre, and to point it artificially, impairs the worth and value of the Diamond, ſo to cut ſuch large allowance from the due which God hath granted without that qualification to his Vice-gerents, under pretence to make their Kingdom more beautiful and religious, is the next way to break the neck of all Soveraignty; it were well we had leſs of their art, and more of their honeſty. As Ageſilaus wrote to the Judges in the behalf of Nicias, if Nicias his Cauſe be good, let juſtice prevail, if his Cauſe be wrong, let favour prevail, but be ſure that Nicias prevail. So ſay I, if the Scepter of the King be a Scepter of mercy and righteouſneſs (God be bleſſed it is) then we will honour it for righteouſneſs ſake, if it ſhould go wrong, and not as we would have it (ſo it hath far'd with other Common-wealths) the Throne of the King is eſtabliſhed in heaven, and we muſt honour it for Gods ſake, but be ſure the King be honour'd and obeyed. There is a Fable which Plutarch hath to this purpoſe; the Tail of the Snake began to cavil with the Head, becauſe the Head did always lead the way, and direct the Body which way it liſt. The Tail would not be contented unleſs it might go formoſt by courſe and the Head come ſometimes behind; but what followed upon this new contrivance; the Tail prickt it ſelf in thorns, the Body was bruiſed, every part offended, and at laſt the Head was intreated to take upon him to lead, and then the whole body was contented. Beloved, our part is to pray to God that the Head may run on in the right way, like the matchleſs Pair that went before, the mirrour of women, pious Queen Elizabeth, and the moſt excellent and learned of all wiſe Princes that ever were, or ſhall be, bleſſed King James. Our part is to ſubmit our wiſdom to the ſecret counſels of the King, and to demonſtrate our faithfulneſs and love more amply, by how much the times are like to be dangerous and troubleſome; but for the Tail to go formoſt it is a diſhonour to God who hath given the Crown and Scepter to the King, and it can breed nothing but diſorder and confuſion. To ſum up theſe four things now whereof I have ſpoken, when we have magnified the holy name of God, and kept his Laws, and duly reverenced his Sacraments, and obeyed his Magiſtrates, then are we mounted in Quadriga Domini, in the Charriot of the Lord as Elias was, to fly up to heaven.

But alas, what are we when all this is done, that we ſhould be ſaid to honour God? When Homer deſcribed the Feaſts of his petty Gods, and what they did eat, ſays an Heathen upon it, Miſellos Deos quando illis dimenſum homines ſuppeditant, the Gods were in a pittiful caſe, if they had nothing to eat but what men afforded them; ſo it were a diſloyal opinion to think ſo of God, that we could give him any honour which he had not before. Manu tuâ tibi damus Domine, ſays St. Auſtin, We give thee O Lord, but we took it from thine own hand to give thee. All our reaſonable ſervice which we do to God, is like an whole Burnt-offering, which is quite conſum'd, and nothing of it remaining, to feed the Lord. Rivers and Fountains innumerable run into the Mediterranean Sea, Nec putant ſaporem maris nec remittunt quidem, ſays Seneca, they make not the Sea ſweet, nor one whit leſs brackiſh than it was before. So it is with the ſervice which we pay to God, He was as glorious before Man was made, as ever He was ſince ſo many Kings were created to praiſe him. It is an argument of Excellency to have honour, and our God is excellent above all things; but it is an argument of ſome defect in nature to grow greater by receiving honour: doth the Sun grow clearer? or the Moon brighter? or the World larger than it hath been? Extollere ſe quae juſtam magnitudinem implere non poſſunt: Whatſoever is come to its full growth cares not for more, nor cannot enlarge it ſelf: So God receives no encreaſe of glory by all the piety of Prophets, Martyrs, and Apoſtles, either in the Militant, or the Triumphant Church, but we ſhall receive a true increaſe of happineſs by the honour which God hath promiſed in the ſecond member of the Diviſion propounded. Honor à Deo, all honour is from God: wherefore He ſaith, honorantes honorabo.

Honorabo, I will honour; I need not crave your attention to this Doctrine, it is a word that will make more men caſt up their eyes to heaven, than all the ten Commandements, the converſation of the whole world aſpires upward, and we are all p. 717like men clambring up an hill, ſome are helpt up by their friends hands, ſome by a proſperous wind; ſome catch hold of the boughs and buſhes; no man deſpiſeth himſelf to ſtay beneath. The Bramble thought it ſelf fit to make a King, Judg. 9. The Thiſtle would have the Cedars Daughter married to his Son, 2 King. xiv. The little Spider ſays Solomon would be in Kings Palaces, and the proud Eagle builds his Neſt in the Stars, Obad. ver. 4. Vain Aſtrologers that meddle with Heaven no further I am afraid but by ſtar-light, range among the Planets to find out honorabo, what preferment themſelves ſhall come to, or thoſe wiſe men that ſent them to look. It was an excellent anſwer of Cardinal Pool to this purpoſe, and well known to many. One skilful in Aſtrologie told him that he had calculated his Nativity, and great things were portended him: It may be ſo ſays the Cardinal, but I was born again by Baptiſm, and ſo you muſt calculate my Nativity from that day, and then tell me if you can what honours ſhall redound unto me, as who ſhould ſay, it is neither Nature, nor Planets, nor good luck, but God alone that brings to advancement. Ego honorabo, I will honour. Promotion, ſays the Pſalmiſt, cometh neither from the Eaſt, nor from the Weſt, that is, ſays the Gloſs, neither from this Houſe of Heaven, nor that corner of the Planets; or as another commenteth, neither by the fall of one man, nor by the riſing of another, but ego honorabo, I will honour.

Let me declare this Bleſſing of God in particulars. The Life of man is divided into three Ages. Firſt here is our Converſation upon earth, whoſe Honours we call Political Promotions and Advancements, but the days of this life are few and evil, and the Honours are as ſhort. The ſecond Life is the voice of Fame when we are dead, according as we live in the good report of men, or be quite forgotten. And the laſt Life is the Life of Glory. Tendimus huc omnes, haec eſt domus ultima; the firſt Life may be Obſcurity, and the ſecond Infamy; but our Soul ſhall be ſatisfied abundantly, if the laſt Life be Glory. Thus you ſee God hath diſperſed his bleſſing of Honours: 1. In Title and Preeminence; 2. In a Bleſſed memory; 3. In a Crown of glory.

Obſerve it in the firſt, that there is a two-fold end why God gives honours to ſome peculiar perſons in this life; in utilitatem, & humilitatem; firſt to derive ſome publick benefit from one man, and ſecondly to work humility from a worthy ſpirit. He that will be the greateſt among you, ſaith our Saviour, Mark viii. let him be as the leaſt of all, that's for humility, and as Servant unto all, that's for uſe and miniſtry.

The firſt end of every mans high calling is to be a helper unto many. When God gave Moſes and Daniel, and David to the world, he gave it a mighty gift, but when he ſet theſe men with the Princes of his people, it was as great a miracle in his love, as with a few loavs to feed thouſands in the Wilderneſs. foreign, ſays Syneſius, and to place a good King in a Kingdom is the ſhorteſt and moſt compendious way in Gods providence to amend all men. See what a wild fancy Plato had in this point, but fit for the purpoſe: He taught that the moſt pure and active Souls deſcended from Heaven, and of their own accord took upon them the ſhape of humane Bodies upon earth only to make good Law-givers and Magiſtrates, and having eſtabliſhed a prudent Common-wealth, return'd to God from whence they came: there was honour undergone for the profit of others. I would you did reign, ſays the Apoſtle to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. iv. 8.1 Cor. 4.8.1 Cor 4:8 that we might reign with you. I hope no man thinks that Paul was ambitious, all his aim was for the propagation of the Goſpel. Here was honour deſir'd to do good to the Church. Olim officium erat imperare non regnum, ſays Seneca: once it was a place of ſome employment, not a bare Title to be honourable. And in that one action for my part I did like Cato more than in any other, when he ſued to be Tribune of the People: He was ever backward in ſeeking preferment, but at that time the Common-wealth was in great diſtreſs, and had need of an honeſt Magiſtrate. A good man ſeeks for Honours for the good of others, as the Moon gets nothing for her ſelf, but new labours and new travails by borrowing light of the Sun, and thus much the poor Friars beat out by their own brains, that never came near the Court nor Promotion, Appetere gloriam propter proximum, charitatis eſt, propter ſeipſum, inanis gloriae. Charity incites us to get honours for the good of others and vain oſtentation to have it for our ſelves. So did Mordecai preach unto Queen Eſther, or rather propheſie that God meant well to the whole Nation of the Jews in her Royalty: What knoweſt thou whether thou art come unto the Kingdom for ſuch a time as this? that is to prevent Haman and his conſpiracy againſt the people.

p. 718O Says wild Eſau what is this Birthright to me? He knew not how to uſe the honour that God had given him; indeed what is Promotion to them that ſtain it? it belongs as well to the Lion and the Leopard, to the Image of the Beaſt in their Coat of Arms, as well as unto them that do not fear the Lord. You Great ones of the Earth ſays Syneſius, fortune hath befriended you, ſuppoſe that I ſpeak it to the beſt dignified, and the moſt wealthy of this Aſſembly: Now the World is envious and calls her blind, unreaſonable Goddeſs, that none but fortune would have beſtowed her Larges ſo untowardly, foreign, let her not be reviled for your ſakes, let her not be aſhamed of what ſhe hath done in heaping up ſuch ſtore upon you. Let your deſerts, your liberality, and your charity be her defence.

I hope there is not one among you that is ſo well conceited of his own righteouſneſs, not ſuch a Phariſee in the Tribe, that thinks God gave him ten thouſands and more for his ſake, and for his Poſterity; alas, no: what is there more in him for religion and holineſs, than in a meaner man; no, beloved, give them their natural paſſage, derive them to the common uſe, and do not appropriate ſo great an encreaſe.

Omnes ſlavii decurrunt in mare, ſays Solomon, all Rivers run into the Sea. 1. There is Mare aquarum, the Sea of waters, into which all Rivers caſt themſelves, ſo it is true in Philoſophy. 2. There is Mare politicum, and ſo we pay tribute to the King, that's the Sea which the Rivers ſometime repleniſh as need requires. 3. There is Mare divinum: Gods Glory is a Sea into which all praiſe and devotion muſt flow. 4. There is Mare pauperum, a turbulent Sea indeed, the great wants of the poor, into which charity muſt not fall like a drop from a Penthouſe, but it muſt empty it ſelf from all hands as Rivers guſh into the main Sea. The wealth of this City is not ſo great, but the indigency and diſtreſs of the poor is as great. The Rivers may be very full and ſwell, but the Ocean cannot be too full. And I pray learn this one leſſon; the Poor are not ſuperfluous helps of the State, they are not ſuch as can be wanted and ſpared. The honourable perſon ſtands as much in need of the drudgery of the labouring man, as the labouring man ſtands in need of the reward of the rich. The ſtate of him that ſits upon the Bench is maintained by his own abundance, but his neceſſities to which he muſt ſet his own finger without the ſervitude of Vaſſals is ſupplyed by the hard bondage of the poor. As for ſimilitude; The Elm-tree is green at the top with the beauty of his own boughs and leaves, but it is green at the bottom by the Ivy that claſps and leans upon it. I give the top and chief beauty in this ſimilitude to your own abundance, but then there is beauty in it indeed, when it is a ſhadow to refreſh the low Shrubs beneath it; the Blew Coat wherewith you cloath the fatherleſs is more precious in Gods ſight than your own Scarlet. Your Halls for ſeveral Companies ſet out with all magnificence and coſt, are not ſuch ſtately buildings in Gods eyes as are your Hoſpitals and Bethlems, and ſuch pious Houſes for the craſie and diſeaſed. Bleſſed are thoſe Benefactors before God, and their names ſhall be honourable on earth that have enlarged the Revenues of thoſe charitable places, and their faithfulneſs likewiſe ſhall be rewarded into their boſom that are put in truſt with the cuſtody of that portion, and diſcharge it with a good conſcience, which will not be afraid to give an account to God. For this cauſe God hath put you in authority, in utilitatem publicam, for the publick good.

I have inſiſted long upon this, the next end why God gives honour in this life, is not only to return benefit unto others, but to reflect humility upon their own Soul. A thing which the Princes of the Earth are not aware of, but we ſhould appear the more vile in our own eyes as God exalteth us: alas what are Titles? what's Birth and Nobility? Natalibus diſtinguimur, dum ſumus, noble bloud runs in mens veins no longer than they run the ſhort race of their life. When death picks us out, vale inquit ambitio, it caſhiers that ambition, and in the next world we ſhall all meet, as if we were letters in the Alphabet; A. ante B. without diſtinction of pomp and greatneſs. The figure of a Pyramid is a fit ſimilitude before his eyes, that is riſing higher and higher in the advancements of the world, for the bottom is broad and ſpacious, but as you rear it up more and more, ſo it grows leſs towards the top, to teach earthly Potentates to think more humbly of their own greatneſs, as they thrive in exaltation. It was Pompey his fault to burſt at the laſt; Quia ſibi uni parum magnus videbatur, he was Pompey the Great in other mens eyes, but never great enough in his own. He that riſeth ſo high in the fancy of p. 719his own pride, is like a man that climbs up upon the great boughs of a tree without danger, but aſpiring to reſt upon the ſmalleſt boughs above his head, they would not bear him, and ſo he tumbled to the ground: Honour and Dominion is never ſafe, but when the foundation is humility. There is a memorable ſtory of a Cardinal of Sicily a good man (as it happens ſometimes) he was called to the Election of a new Pope, and eſteeming it a moſt divine honour, lookt for nothing but Prayers and Devotions, yea and Revelations from Heaven to pick out a man for ſo great a place. He found it quite otherwiſe: ambition managed the buſineſs: there were nothing but threatnings and banding, and baſe offers; Sic fiunt Pontifices Romani, ſays this Cardinal of Sicily? Do you make Popes on this ſort? and ſo took his leave of Rome for ever. O when I call to mind Ezekiels Viſion, that the further he lookt into the Temple, the greater abominations were to be ſeen, then I think if this good man had caſt his eyes from the making of Popes by faction to the unmaking them again by treachery and poiſon, it would have made him cry out, Theſe men came not in by Gods honorabo, and therefore they went out with a miſchief: infelicity was the end of that honour which was not begun in humility.

Let my ſpeech ſink into the heart of all thoſe whom God hath advanced to the rule of his People, let the meaneſt find favour in their eyes as well as the greateſt; mercy and juſtice, love and charity you owe them alike to all the world, to Caius and Titius alike, to Neighbour and Stranger. An elegant Minſtril if his Muſick be delicious, a ſporting Stage-player and the like ſhall be admitted into the nobleſt Aſſemblies, and I am ſure it is better than ſport and muſick to a worthy Magiſtrate to hear a man oppreſſed with wrong relate his grievances, and redreſs them. Pudeat aſpernari fratrem quem Deus non aſpernatur filium, ſays St. Auſtin; Do not deſpiſe him for thy Brother whom God hath accepted for his Son. This I have ſpoken for the firſt ſhare of honour which God giveth in this life, and that for theſe two ends; in utilitatem, & humilitatem; Firſt to promote the publick good; Secondly to be depreſſ'd in humility.

But alas! what do we ſpeak of Promotions in great places, this is ſmall comfort to the poor man although it came from God. A poor Philoſopher told a rich man that invited him He was ſet at the lower end of the Table, ut ultimum locum cohoneſtaret, to bring the loweſt room in credit: So divers and very rare Perſonages are but underlings in this life, ut ultimum locum cohoneſtarent, but theſe may partake of honours in the ſecond life, from the voice of fame, for the memorial of the juſt ſhall be bleſſed ſaith the Lord. Very briefly of this. You have known loving Fathers bequeath ſomewhat to their Poſthumi, to their Babes which ſhould be born after their deceaſe, in whom they could never take joy nor comfort; ſo divers at the laſt gaſp of their life have bequeathed Monuments and places of liberality to charitable uſes, to reap that glory after their deceaſe which they ſhould never hear of. A queſtion may be asked in this place, if it be lawful to call Colleges, or Free-Schools, or Hoſpitals after the Founders names, that poſterity may know them, and teſtifie their pious affection. I muſt mollify the anſwer propter duritiam cordis veſtri, becauſe of the hardneſs of mens hearts, for I had rather allow it as good, and give ſome indulgence to human infirmity which itcheth after praiſe, than Structures of Charity ſhould fail, and the hands of the liberal ſhould quite be dried up. But this is truth, without yielding one whit to mans frailty, good works offend not, becauſe they are ſeen, but when their upſhot and ſcope is to be ſeen, that their praiſe may be divulged. Si times ſpectatores, non habebis imitatores, ſays Gregory; as who ſhould ſay, it is good to have our light ſhine, that men may behold and imitate it, not that they may behold and applaud it, as the Schoolmen expreſs it, ad profectum aliorum, non ad oſtentationem ſui, not for our own reputation, but for our Brothers edification. 'Tis a ſign of a generous and noble ſpirit to do good things among other ſcopes and intentions to purchaſe a good name, contemptu famae contemnuntur virtutes. Certainly the propagation of a good name, when it is not ambitiouſly coveted and affected, it is a leaf of Gods own Chronicle, and a bleſſing of many days wrought by his power who is the Ancient of days.

He that compared glory unto vertue, as the ſhadow unto the body, hit of a good ſimilitude, ſometimes the ſhadow is caſt before the body, as when our glory is reported in our own ears: Sometimes the ſhadow is caſt behind the body, as when the memory of our good deeds remains after us, and this is from the Lord. Oblivion caſt upon ſome is like the Plague of darkneſs caſt upon Egypt. Jehoaſh. Amaziah. Azariah.Three Kings of Judah ſprung from a wicked Race, (of whom our Saviour came touching the p. 720fleſh) are quite omitted in his Pedigree, Mat. i. as if they had never been, and who they were it ſhall not be named for me ſince the Holy Ghoſt deſpiſed to reckon them. Tola judged Iſrael twenty three years, and all that he did is not ſo much remembred as that Paul left his Cloak at Troas. Joabs valour is forgotten among the Worthies of David becauſe of his cruelty. It is Alexander Hales his obſervation, that the Scripture doth ſpend ſome Chapters to relate the Fall of Adam, becauſe Man recovered himſelf by the Promiſe made in Chriſt: But not a word is ſpoken concerning the Fall of Lucifer, and the Evil Angels, neither in Moſes nor the Prophets, except it be under Parables; and ſince it was their ſin to riſe againſt God, they could not procure ſuch an inſtance of their memory in Gods Books as to have the ſtory of their Fall. But a good name is a precious ointment, an Ointment which is conſecrated and made holy by the bleſſing of God.

Well, let us proceed to the third and laſt portion of Gods Honour in tertio ſeculo & aeterno, in the life everlaſting, and here is comfort in the end. For let the worſt be made of the good mans fortune, his calling is not honourable but private, and his infamy perchance not private but publick. Naboth dies for Curſing, and Stephen for Blaſpheming, and both were innocent. Now where is Honorabo? What is become of the Honour that God promiſed? And yet who deſerved it better than ſuch a man? Nemo virtutem Sanctius coluit, quam qui boni viri famam perdidit, ne conſcientiam perderet; No man loves Vertue more than he, that had rather die with an ill name than with an ill conſcience; Where is ſuch a mans Honour? Where the Philoſophers Country was when he pointed up to heaven. Bleſſed are you, ſays our Saviour when men revile you, and ſpeak all manner of evil falſly on you for my Names ſake, rejoyce and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in Heaven. There no Julian is an Emperour, no Sanballat a Magiſtrate, nor Caiphas an High Prieſt. Si Honor diligitur illic quaeratur, ubi nemo indignus honoratur, ſays St. Auſtin; Double my portion there, O Lord, and as Mephiboſheth ſaid, Let Ziba take all; and ſurely this Honour is beſt agreeable to the Text, Honorabo, I will honour him. It is a bleſſing in future, at ſuch a time I may ſay, when time ſhall be no more. Not as the Gloſs hath it, Qui benè utitur dignitate conſervabo eum in ſtatu dignitatis ſuae; He that manageth any promotion of Honour juſtly and faithfully I will keep him in it, and not caſt him down. Nay, admit that faithfulneſs and juſt dealing be an occaſion to caſt him down the ſooner, as it befel Ariſtides, ſtill Honorabo is a good promiſe; when greatneſs is eclipſed upon Earth heaven ſtands ſure, and there the condition of this promiſe is beſt fulfilled. O could we but ſee the revelation of that glory with Stephen the Martyr, though every Devil in hell ſtood round about, threatning a Milſtone to caſt at your head, you would not ſo much as turn your eyes for a moment from that heavenly Viſion to ſave your life. It were endleſs to fall upon this diſcourſe. As a ſtone caſt into a fountain multiplies Circles in the water, and the laſt is the greateſt: So every Circle of Heaven would give a new Apparition of glory, but the laſt is greater than my tongue can utter. Let it ſuffice us to know, that in the greateſt ſcorn of the faithful, and when envy reproacheth their good name, that there is a bleſſing laid up that we may believe againſt hope, this Promiſe in my Text, Them that Honour me I will Honour.

And now I am come to the third general Member, which is the Covenant or Compoſition. God muſt be Honoured, I began there; man would be Honoured, I ended there; but reaſon good if Man would have a free gift, that God ſhould have his due. Honor propter Deum, Honour for honour, it is the higheſt ſtep in my Text, and an eternal Covenant. Now you ſhall ſee every bone come to his bone, every part of my Text come to his part, which will in ſome ſort revive that which hath been ſpoken. Firſt, I told you God had a Name to be ſanctified, and ſo the Children of Men deſire the bleſſing of a good name in their memory, there is one pair to kiſs each other. Secondly, God hath his Magiſtrates and Vicegerents to be obeyed, and ſuch Honour as they have it is foreign, the end of a civil life, ſays Ariſtotle; there is another couple, if ye can joyn them luckily. Thirdly, God hath inſtituted holy and religious Sacraments the Seals of his Kingdom of grace, and uſe them well, for the Seales of the Kingdom of Grace are our Patents for the Kingdom of Glory. Thus you ſee in every point the glory of God doth reflect glory upon Man; Let them meet and clap their hands together.

There are ſome that would part ſtakes, and give God ſome Honour, but keep back a portion to themſelves. So the Phariſees were as cleanly in committing ſin as in waſhing their hands often; and God ſhould have long Prayers ſo themſelves might p. 721be praiſed for praying; this is to divide with Ananias and Saphira, but beware of the portion of Hypocrites. Some are ſo intent to their own Honour that they quite forget God, Let us get us a name ſay they that builded Babel; Nobis non Domino, a name for our ſelves, and not for God; and then we ſee what follows, their Language was ſo confounded, that no man could call another by his name, and ſo they parted. Thus it was Herods death to be foreign. eaten up of Worms; but his firſt ruine was to be foreign, eaten up of Flatterers, thoſe that ſhouted in applauſe of his Eloquence, when he made his own funeral Oration, and gave not God the glory. Bernard ſays, that glory in this life is like the word of Chriſt ſpoke to Mary Magdalen, Noli me tangere, Touch me not as yet, I am not aſcended to my Father; when I am tranſlated into that Kingdom to ſee my Father, then ſhall I alſo abound with Glory. But Glory, what art thou to me in this life? Touch me not, I am not aſcended to my Father. If the Devil tempt us to uſurp upon that Honour which is due unto God, anſwer as Joſeph did to the Tentation of his Miſtris, Gen. 39. Behold my Maſter, my good God hath put all things into my hand, there is nothing that he hath not committed and delivered unto me beſide thee that art his glory. How ſhall I do this evil then to take thee unto my ſelf, I mean his glory, which art, as it were, the Wife in his boſom. When David in Pſalm cxiv. had deſcribed the manner of Gods deliverance of the Children of Iſrael from Captivity, that the Mountains skipt like Rams, and the little Hills like young Sheep. In the beginning of Pſalm cxv. he ſings this Song, Non nobis Domine, non nobis; Not unto us Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the glory. Not unto us, not unto us; Why is it twice repeated? That is, ſays one, neither to Jew nor Gentile; neither to the Jew that obſerves the Law, nor to the Gentile that believes the Goſpel. Whether you be a doer of the Law, or a repentant ſinner, Not unto us Lord, not unto us. Nay, it is ſtrange which follows, but unto thy name give the glory. What, ſhould he give glory unto himſelf? Or ſhould we do it? No, he did not ſay I will give glory unto thy Name, that had been an arrogancy, as if his free will could have done it, but unto thy name give the glory. Da Domine quod jubes & jube quod vis; Give me grace to glorifie thee, and then unto thy name I will give the glory.

Now then if Gods grace do enable us to give him Honour, the Honour which he repaies again, is a reward of mercy, and not of juſtice, Propter promiſſum, non propter debitum; out of the promiſe of his goodneſs, not out of the valour and merit of our goodneſs. You know in temporal eſtates, every man that Honours the King muſt not expect honour again, but peace and juſtice under his protection. It is true. But this is the royalty of our Chriſtian calling Honour is requited with Honour. Ask and it ſhall be given you ſays Chriſt; It? What ſhall be given you? Says St. Auſtin, Non dicit quid dabitur, quia eſt nomen ſuper omne nomen, deſiderare noſtrum non eſt terminus bonitatis Dei. It is a gift far greater than we can ask or think, and yet ſhall we have Honour for Honour? But ſuppoſe we could pick out in all our life a deed of Charity, a penitent Tear, or a Prayer which we could call good, Recte facti feciſſe merces eſt. A good deed is rewarded in that our conſcience can ſay we did it, and yet ſhall we have Honour for Honour? But alas what is our righteouſneſs? As vile as the moſt polluted cloath that is dipt in bloud. One ſaid of the Infants of Bethlem, that Martyrdom was a great Crown to be put upon ſo ſmall an head as an Infants was, Remondus ridet & in parvâ magna corona comâ. But if the malice and treachery of our heads were conſidered, they are more unfit to were the Crown of life than the head of an Infant, and yet to doubt it no more we ſhall have Honour for Honour.

But you will ſay, wherewith ſhall we honour God? With the heart, by deſiring him; with the mouth, by confeſſing him; with the hand, with the plenty of your Subſtance by enriching Gods portion. You are faln upon an Age, where there is more large occaſion to Honour God with your ability than in many Ages that went before you. I ſee a ſpectacle to be commiſerated in this old Fabrick before mine eyes. O that God would ſtir up many Nehemiahs among you to re-edifie his Temples, and Churches, which are decaied and impoveriſhed. Hearken to another Propoſition: In the Republick of the Jews, in the Fiftieth year, the year of Jubilee, the Land, which was ſold away from any Tribe, returned again to the Tribe, and to his Family that ſold it. You ſee, and I hope do pity it at leaſt, into how many Tribes the portion of the Church is divided, how many Impropriations have almoſt laid waſte the dwelling places of God, God ſtir up a religious heart in many of you to imitate thoſe Worthies, who have bequeathed of their Wealth to regain unto p. 722the Tribe of Levi that which was ſo ſinfully alienated from them. Fifty, and fifty years and more to them are run out, and ſtill our Inheritance is in the hand of Srangers, and there will remain, unleſs by your bounty you will repoſſeſs the Church again in thoſe holy demeans which by divine right belong unto it. It is worth your knowledge to give you notice how riches came firſt into the world, ſays Abulenſis in his queſtion upon Geneſis. Cain, and Abel, and Seth burnt whole burnt-offerings in the open field upon the floor of the earth unto the Lord; the great fire of thoſe Sacrifices melted Gold and Silver in the veines of the earth, lying near unto the Superficies, and purged it from droſs, as in a refining Furnace, which being congealed men found out the uſe of it, and how precious it was, and ſo by this mans conjecture Riches were firſt found out by doing Honour unto God; and is it not moſt natural to repay them back again, for Gods honour, and to expect a better recompence?

The Text, I confeſs, doth moſt properly touch upon the Cleargy themſelves, upon the Prieſts of God, Honorantes Honorabo, they may claim it eſpecially as their due; for I told you the Meſſage was delivered by an Angel to Eli the High Prieſt, and to his Sons, who had ſucceeded him in the Prieſthood if they had been righteous. Let the Sons of Aaron eſpecially praiſe the Lord with the two Silver Trumpets, Verbo & vita, their painful doctrine, and their pious and peaceable life; and then if all other honour fail they ſhall be thrice honoured when the Archangel ſhall call them out of the Grave with his Trumpet to the Reſurrection of the Juſt. If you will ſee an honourable Prieſt indeed, read the Ninth Chapter of Eccleſiaſticus. It is the praiſe of Simon the Son of Onias. Eccluſ 50.Sir 50What a declaration is there? What a Deſcription of his glory? Beyond all the Eloquence, that ever I met with in humane Oratory, if the delight of the Subject do not deceive my judgment: Such Honour in his Robes when he was cloathed with the perfection of Glory; ſuch Majeſty in the manner of his Sacrificing; ſuch ſhouting with the Muſick of the Temple; how the High Prieſt ſtretcht his hands over the Congregation, and gave them the bleſſing of the Lord with his lips; then how the People bowed their face to the ground, and worſhipped the Lord; laſtly, how Simon himſelf was honoured in the Congregation, ſhining like a Rainbow in a cloud of dew. They that will pleaſe themſelves let them read it, and learn both, what it is for the Biſhop to raviſh the People with devotion, and for the people to return all reverence and honour to the Biſhop. I know this Doctrine is againſt the ſtomach of a troubleſom Faction in the Church. If God and the King ſhould give Honour unto his Prieſts every day, they would grudge againſt it every hour. No Honour or Lordſhip for that Coat ſay they, as if becauſe our Saviour called the Diſciples the Salt of the earth, we muſt be all ſet, like the Salt, at the lower end of the Table. If Joſeph were honoured in the ſight of all the Egyptians that laid up food in Pharaohs Granary, ſhall no honourable place belong unto them that lay up ſpiritual food in the Temple for the people of the Lord? Can you turn this Text, and ſay it was not preach'd to Eli, Them that Honour me I will Honour?

Let me anſwer one Objection, and ſo I will end this firſt part, What is this that God ſaith, Honorantes Honorabo, he will Honour his Saints, when ſuch as have filled the Commonwealth with outcries, and the Church with abominations, are Rulers and Potentates in every Age? When the rich Glutton is cloathed with Purple and fine Linnen every day; they that make this complaint, let them turn about and look where they are, in Earth, or in Heaven. One asked Aeſop why the Weeds grew faſter than the Flowers in his Garden; ſays the wiſe man, Quia terra eſt horum Noverca,& illorum Mater; The Earth is own-Mother to my Weeds, and Stepmother to my Flowers: So ſays Chriſt to his Diſciples, Doth the World hate you? And no marvel, you are not of the World, your Converſation is in Heaven. But will you have a Paradox indeed? God never gave honours to a wicked and peſtilent perſon, Why, but how came he to have them? Is not all Honour from God? Yes, but they were not given to him. Dati ſunt Avo Proavoque, dati ſeris nepotibus, ſays Seneca, they were given to the good Grandfathers, or Forefathers that uſed them well, or they are prepared for the Sons or Nephews who will uſe them better hereafter. Mamercus Scaurus was a known Adulterer, and yet the Romans choſe him Conſul, not intending to give him Honour, but forſooth his Father had been an excellent Senator, Et indigne fert populus Romanus ſobolem ejus jacere, they were loth to diſgrace his diſſolute Son: And ſurely God will much more reſpect the thouſand Generations of them that love him, and keep his Commandments; for the honours p. 723which a dangerous perſon hath are not his own, they are hatcht for the Children yet unborn, that the promiſe may coextend only to the juſt. Them that honour me I will honour.

All this while we have been in the firſt part of Pharaohs Dream among the goodly Kine, and in a golden Harveſt, now we come to the ſecond, to the lank ears of Corn, to the ill-favoured Cattle, to thoſe that caſt Gods honour behind their backs, till he caſt them away into utter darkneſs, for ſo ſays the other member of the Text; They that deſpiſe me ſhall be lightly eſteemed. Lib. 3. c. ….Theodoret in his Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory having diſcourſed briefly upon the life of Julian the Apoſtate, brake off abruptly and would not ſpeak of his Succeſſor the Chriſtian Emperour Jovinian, till he had begun a new Book, and a new Treatiſe: it were a great Treſpaſs ſays he to write their Acts and Monuments upon the ſame Paper. So I affected this method I confeſs to ſpin a new Web, as it were, and to frame a new diſcourſe, when I came to them, who are the contemners of Gods glory. The former Promiſe, honorantes honorabo was fit I told you for the day, this latter minacy of Gods anger is rather fit for our Age, and for the lamentable profanation of our times; They that deſpiſe me ſhall be lightly eſteemed. Which words, as it ſeems to me, will beſt bear this diviſion of two parts, 1. Here is ignominia indigna a diſdain much undeſerved that God ſhould be deſpiſed in the opinion of man. 2. Here is ignominia digniſſima, a ſcorn and diſdain juſtly deſerved, ſuch a man ſet at nought in the eyes of God. Firſt, I note that here is a diſdain much undeſerved, that God ſhould be deſpiſed in the eyes of man. As one ſaid that there were no Adulterers in Lacaedemon, and as Solon thought that there could be no Parricides in Athens; ſo I ask,Plut. Vit. Ly…. are there any in the world guilty of this blemiſh to deſpiſe God? There have been ſome men ſo compleatly furniſht with Heroical virtues, that they were eſteemed to be foreign, men above the reach of obtrectation and envy; ſurely then the mighty God, whoſe glory is incomprehenſible, whoſe power is infinite, his Majeſty is far above contempt and diſdain. Beloved the enormity of this evil act to deſpiſe is not groſly againſt the Eſſence of God, as if that could be contemned, but by reducement it is a ſin of ſo great extenſion and compaſs, that it will be moſt neceſſary for your uſe, and my orderly proceeding, to confine our ſelves to a rule that hath certainty in it. The properties of foreign, or contempt are moſt diſtinctly ſet down in the 2. of the Philoſophers Rhetor. as Artiſts know, and them I will lay down before you, by which, when you examine your own practice, you will know whether you be among thoſe that deſpiſe God.

The firſt ſign of deſpiſing is foreign. we contemn that which we neglect to underſtand, as when a prudent man will not beat his brains to ſtudy curious and unlawful Arts, it is manifeſt he doth deſpiſe them; ſo whomſoever thou art, that art not painful to underſtand the Sum of thy faith, and the myſtery of thy ſalvation, it muſt be granted, that thou ſetſt it at no price and eſtimation. I do not ſay that every mans capacity will ſerve him to be a skilful Divine, labour for ſo much knowledg, as is referr…d to Gods Worſhip, whatſoever the beſt enquire after beyond that Solomon calls it ſorrow, Eccl. i. I call it curioſity. Brethren, I beſeech you be perſwaded that ignorance is a fault, for there is a Sacrifice appointed to make an attonement for it in the Old Law; beſides, David had been uncharitable to pray to God to pour out his indignation upon the Heathen that do not know him, unleſs their ſlothfulneſs not to know him did deſerve it. For your better ſatisfaction, there is a threefold ignorance; the firſt is called invincible ignorance that could not be helpt, I call it the ignorance of the Woman of Samaria, how could ſhe tell that Chriſt was the Meſſias, until he revealed it unto her; this was not to be blamed. The ſecond is called affectata, ignorance that is wilful and affected. I call it the ignorance of Pharaoh; Who is the Lord that I ſhould let the people go? He could not away with it to hear of the name of the Lord, and therefore his opinion was, that Religion was an idle mans exerciſe: You are idle ſays he to Moſes, and therefore you ſay, Let us go worſhip in the Wilderneſs. A practiſed liar will not underſtand, that every word of diſſimulation in buying and ſelling is coſenage and hypocriſie. A man that loves increaſe of wealth will not conceive that any uſury is a groſs ſin, and the bane of charity. He that thinks a little is too much for the Church will not be informed that Sacrilege authorized by cuſtom can be Sacrilege; theſe proceed from ſtubborn and affected ignorance. The third is called ſupina, ignorance growing upon us by ſloth and careleſsneſs, this I call the ignorance of Nicodemus, he knew not the myſtery of regeneration, and what it was to be p. 724born again of the ſpirit; ſimple education God knows for a Maſter in Iſrael. I fear to ſpeak it, but it is moſt true, there are many that know as little now adays with their Bibles open as our Forefathers knew in the time of Popery with their Bibles ſhut. How many are there that paſs for Believers like the men of Epheſus, Act. xix. and yet know not whether there be an Holy Ghoſt or no? how many Anthropomorphites, God help them, that know not that God is an infinite Eſſence, comprehended in no place, but think he hath eyes and hands and feet according to the bare letter of the Scripture, as whole Covents of Monks fell into that illiterate opinion ſays Socrates. Your own regardleſneſs, that you do not ſearch into the ordinary diſcourſes of Divinity, it is the cauſe that moſt Sermons are obſcure and fruitleſs to the hearers, and that which we think is as eaſie as milk unto your Palats, it is ſtrong meat which cannot be digeſted, becauſe of your ignorance. Thus when you ſet it ſo light, whether you know the myſtery of godlineſs or no, is it not to deſpiſe the Lord?

Secondly, foreign: thoſe things which we deſpiſe we put out of mind and eaſily forget, forgetfulneſs is a ſign of contempt: How many preſervations, how many ſtrange deliverances have befaln us? ſo apparently miraculous that our enemies were compell'd to ſay this was the finger of God, and yet I am afraid moſt of us would ſeldom remember them, if they were not printed in the Rubrick of our Almanack: how much ſooner is a ſenſleſs Winter tale remembred than a ſacred ſtory? how new is that unto your ears this day in many things which perhaps you have heard from the Pulpit twenty times before; that which we hear once a week concerning faith and good works, is ſooner out of our head than that which we hear but once in an age from a Proclamation: as Tully ſaid of old mens memories, Nunquam quemquam audivi oblitum quo loco Theſaurum obruiſſet, he never read of one that forgot where he had laid his treaſure. So thoſe things only fix themſelves in our head which are ſet in our heart, and that only ſlides away like water which we regard not. The firſt thing which the Devil ſtole from Eve was her memory, God ſaid in the day you eat you ſhall ſurely die, ſhe ſaid ſhe muſt not eat leſt peradventure ſhe ſhould die: Thus we forget inſtantly what God ſays, like Eve; nay we forget what our ſelves ſaid, like Peter: he would not forſake his Maſter, but hold out when all fail'd, and alas he was the firſt that denied him; how often is the next thing that follows our repentance, freſh iniquity? how often is the next thing after our prayers, profaneneſs? and then do we not forget what we ſaid our ſelves? Orlandine in his Story of the Jeſuits affairs makes his Protoplaſt Ignatius Loiola to be ſo fortunate in carrying all the ſubſtance of the Scripture in his mind, that had the Scriptures been utterly loſt (a thing perchance which he wiſht for) Ignatius could have delivered all points of faith without book. I would you were all as truly ſuch as Orlandine fain'd and imagin'd him to be. I would you were ſuch as that Antonius of Padua, who by thoſe that admired his cunning in the Scriptures was called Arca Teſtamenti, the Ark wherein the Law of God was laid up to be kept. I would you would make them your inheritance as David did, Thy teſtimonies have I claimed as mine inheritance for ever. Like righteous Naboth, though Ahab and Jezebel, the Devil and the fleſh would extort that Inheritance from you, ſooner die than part with it: but when you are ſo oblivious and forgetful of all holy things, Gods bleſſings, your own repentance, and the ſweet reliſh of the Scriptures, is it not a ſign that you deſpiſe the Lord?

Thirdly, contempt is ſeen in this foreign, not to take it to heart, not to be wounded with compaſſion when Sion is waſted, and Gods honour is trampled under feet. Like Gallio the Deputy in the 18. of the Acts, that profeſſed he ſat in judgment to take up diſcords of civil peace, but if a controverſie come before him about the Law of God, let it be right or wrong he would not meddle with it. But Lot was grieved and afflicted with the filthy converſation of the Sodomites, 2 Pet. ii. 7. though Perſecutions of bloud be not upon our land (and O Lord be gracious ſtill and for ever to keep them from us) yet a righteous man ſuffers ſome perſecution in his ſoul, when filthy converſation jets about before his eyes. Phineas was inflam'd with zeal to ſee Adultery in the Congregation, and ſlew both Zimri and the Moabiteſs, Num. 25. Ezekias rent his Garments, and put on ſackcloth when he heard the blaſphemy of Rabſhekah againſt the living God. Horror hath taken hold on me, ſays David, becauſe of the wicked that forſake thy Law, Pſal. cxix. 53. there is not ſuch a Sacrifice offered up unto God ſays St.Super Pſal. 118.Ps 118 Ambroſe, as a zealous conſcience that is eaten up as it were and conſumed becauſe the fear of God is imminiſh'd among p. 725the Sons of men: nay, ſays he, take away zeal for Gods honour, and you take away the office, the excellency, nay the very nature and ſubſtance of an Angel. Old Polycarpus went always right with the true Doctrine of the Church, but becauſe Hereticks grated his ears with their unſavoury opinions, he cries out,Euſeb. lib. 5. c. 20. Deus bone in quae tempora me reſervaſti at haec audiam? Good Lord, why do I live to hear ſuch peſtilent ſpeeches againſt thy glory. Beloved upon theſe your Feſtival days of pomp and oſtentation, give ear a little to the calamities which the Proteſtant Church doth ſuffer at this day under the hands of Tirants that do not love the purity of our Goſpel. Our Brethren that ſuffer the leaſt ſhare of their fury are threatned, and beſieged; a moſt Valiant and Illuſtrious King through the covetouſneſs and mutiny of his own Forces much weakned and dejected, the floriſhing Inheritance of the Rhene quite rent away from the true and ancient Poſſeſſors. Can, O can you forget when the Tribe of Benjamin was as it were quite cut off with the edg of the ſword,J…d. 21.1. that the Eleven Tribes remaining came to the Houſe of the Lord, and abode there till Evening, and lift up their voices and wept ſore, and ſaid, O Lord God of Iſrael, why is this come to paſs in Iſrael, that there ſhould be to day one Tribe lacking in Iſrael. The Country Palatine was a ſtrong Pillar to uphold the happy proceedings of the Reformed Churches; our Confederacy is now much weakned in that damage; Away with Sports and Revels, and gaudy Paſtimes, a Tribe it wanting this day in Iſrael; let us mourn for it in our Prayers, and engage our fortunes for it in the field; He that doth not condole for the great blow given to the Church, doth he not ſlight the miſeries of Sion and depiſe the Lord?

Hearken now to the fourth ſign of ſcorn and contempt, which conſiſts in this, to ſpeak ill of thoſe things foreign. who are precious to God, and of high eſteem, as when Hezekiah called the braſen Serpent Nehuſhtan, a lump of Braſs which the people did ſuperſtitiouſly adore, it is manifeſt that Hezekiah did deſpiſe the vanity of the people foreign, as the ſaying is, ſpeak that which may be lucky and fortunate, both to your ſelves and others; let the Praiſes of God and his Saints be in your mouths, the Lord delights to have their names exalted and magnified. See what a commemoration S. Paul hath made of the faithful departed, Heb. xi. he paſſeth not over one without ſome Encomium of his zeal and piety; nay our Saviour gave Mary Magdalen his bleſſing, that whereſoever the Goſpel was preached in all the world, it ſhould be reported to her honour, what coſtly ointment ſhe had poured upon his head, and ſhould we be ſo froward as ſome are, to put down the ſolemn Holy-daies which are allotted to the memory of the Evangeliſts and Apoſtles, upon whoſe foundation I mean their doctrin, and not their perſon, the Church is built throughout the world, I fear that God would be offended at us, and impute it to our diſdain, that we deſpiſed him, becauſe we grew weary to revive the memory of his Saints. Many are willing that Bartholomew or any other Apoſtle ſhould hold a Fair in the City, for the quick uttering of Wares and Merchandize, but they would not have the Church opened upon a ſolemn day for St. Bartholomews. My Brethren both may be well done, but the laſt of the two much better than the other, for I hope you will know St. Bartholomew was a Churchman, and not a Merchant. Another fault there is, let it lye upon the ſcore of private perſons, and not upon the whole Church. The adoration which the Church of Rome aſcribes to the Bleſſed Virgin Mary, the Invocation of Saints which they maintain, St. Peters Supremacy, and the Popes Succeſſion in his perſon which they defend as their life, theſe opinions are falſe and ſuperſtitious: but none of thoſe noble perſons have therefore deſerved ill at your hands, that in the heat of the controverſy we ſhould inſult over St. Peters faults, or make havock of the Reliques of the Saints, or ſpeak ſlightly of that incomparable veſſel the Virgin Mary, and mince her title of Bleſſed, Lori. Act. 1.14.Acts 1:14when the ſacred Hymn ſays, that all generations ſhall call her bleſſed, leave this to the railing Jew, who in diſdain calls our Saviour not Ben Mariam, the Son of Mary, but Ben Aariam, the Son of her that is vile as ſmoak. As for ſuch backbiters of the glorious Children of God, like as the ſmoak vaniſheth, ſo ſhall they be driven from the preſence of God. And I pray you what credit is it to our Church to make ſuch a buſtle, as ſome private men have done about ſcandalous Miniſters, as if the Clergy were grown ſo diſordered, that the moſt neceſſary thing to be provided for in the Weal Publick were new Laws for the rectifying and deprivation of ſcandalous Miniſtry. When ſundry Petitions were put into the hand of Conſtantine the Great at the famous Council of Nice againſt ſome Biſhops and Prieſts and Deacons, he threw them all into the fire with this anſwer, He would not have complaints in that kind ſo publick, but if he knew how to cover their treſpaſſes, he would caſt his own royal Robe p. 726upon them. As you wiſh that God might not be deſpiſed, as you wiſh the Jeſuits might not triumph at your Miniſters, beware to make ſuch a mountain of that which private advertiſement might better rectifie. Many of my Brethren of good parts are unfurniſh with means, and where poverty and wit meet together, I confeſs they ſeldom make an honeſt man between them; God give them grace to bear their wants more religiouſly, and with leſs ſcandal; but I hope you will not think the whole Loom is bad, becauſe the Liſt is coarſe: But for thoſe that are ſo ready to blur their reputation, whom God hath appointed to burn Incenſe before his name, that is, to pray for his people, is it not a ſign that God is deſpiſed by them?

Fifthly, To ſtep into the obſervation of a judicious Commentator, it is an apparent diſguſt of contempt, Minimè ad minas contremiſcere; not to tremble at his anger that threatens. Primos in orbe Deos fecit timor, ſays Statius, not ſo ſoundly: that fear was the firſt thing that made a God, Calvin.but I am ſure that want of fear is the firſt thing that will make an Atheiſt, and perſwade a man there is no God. The Prophet Iſaiah could ſay no worſe of the Idols made of ſtocks and ſtones, but that they could do no evil that we ſhould be diſmaid at them, Iſa. xli. 23. Every part of our Saviours Paſſion was undergone to ſatisfie in the kind wherein we had moſt prevaricated. Our Extortion wounded his hands, our Gluttony gave him Gall to drink, our want of fear put him into the ſtrongeſt part of his Paſſion, that Agony full of great fear in the Garden when he ſweat drops of bloud; as for them that hear lamentations read unto them, that have heard the vengeance of Captivity, and the Sword threatned to a wicked Land, and yet their heart is not quail'd, their courage is undaunted, it ſhall fall out unto them, as it did unto the Philiſtines, they brought out Samſon to play before them, and made a mocking-ſtock ſo long of his Arms of Steel, that at length he plucked down their Temple about their ears, and brained them. A filial fear, that loves God for his goodneſs, is like a bright day that hath not a cloud to disfigure it: a ſervile fear, that loves God for fear of the wrath to come, is like a day that is overcaſt with clouds, but it is clearer than the faireſt Moonſhine night. It is good to have the Spirit of Adoption, but it is better to have the Spirit of bondage than the Spirit of ſlumber. It is good to be in Canaan, but it is better to be in the Wilderneſs than in Egypt: It is good to be a Child, but it is better to be a Servant than a Stranger to the Lord. The Lions roar, and the Beaſts of the Foreſt are moved at his mighty voice, the winds ariſe, and the ſowls of the air flutter and lay them down in their Neſts, the thunder-claps rend the air, and the Spirits of Princes are diſmaid and troubled; but if the God of the Winds, and of the Seas, and of the Thunder threaten and menace us for our ſins, ſhall we not much more dread his fury, and look pale at his indignation? But when we bear all prodigious ſigns and wonders without crouching; when we eſteem not the terrours (God help us) that are now round about us, is it not a ſign that God is deſpiſed?

Sixthly, To take another Arrow out of the ſame Quiver, it is a ſign we under-value the power of another, Minimè ad opem ejus conſugere, not to fly to his help when we had need of relief; ſo when the Iſraelites blurted at Saul as if he did not look like the man that could lead out their Armies againſt the Philiſtines, Nunquid iſte ſalvare poteſt Iſraelem? Can ſuch a man as this ſave Iſrael? It is a manifeſt token that they did deſpiſe him. God is much offended when we neglect him in proſperity, and he is no leſs diſpleaſed when we do not fly to him in miſery. You are for the God of Ekron in your ſickneſs, ſays the Prophet to King Ahaziah, when he ſent thither for remedy, is it becauſe there is no God in Iſrael? A word, if you mark it, that reliſheth of moſt ſharp indignation, it is becauſe there is no God in Iſrael. Invoca me. Greg. lib. 21. Ep. 2.Pſal. …. Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will hear thee. Invocantibus miſeteri deſiderat qui monet ut invocetur, ſays Gregory; God hath a great good affection to be gracious unto them that invoke him, when he puts us in mind to be invoked. The Children of Iſrael were miſerably oppreſſed with bondage under Pharaoh, yet their curs'd hearts had rather put up their wrongs, and ſuffer them, than be beholding to the Lord for their delivery. Trajan had rather pine away with Leproſie than call upon the name of Chriſt, whoſe Servants he had perſecuted. Wizzards and cunning Soothſayers, ſo called, ſome run to theſe for relief. Tutelary Angels that have the Patronage over ſeveral Kingdoms (ſo well do they know what God hath appointed in Heaven,) imaginary Saints, that are fortunate in expelling ſome particular diſeaſe (as it is thought,) ſome run to theſe for protection. Non defenſoribus iſtis, our hope is not in ſuch miſerable comforters as theſe, but the Lord is our refuge in the day of trouble. If we ſay unto the needy that God is his portion, and he muſt not ſteal; if we ſay unto the ſick, that the Prayer of the Faithful availeth much, he muſt not fret and be diſquiet, and yet he rageth, and curſeth at his afflictions; if we ſay to the opppreſſed that God will judge their cauſe, and yet they deſire to break the net that held them in by violence, and to take private vengeance into their hand; Where is their patience? Where is the teſtimony that they fly to the Almighty in the evil days? Is it not a ſign that God is deſpiſed?

Seventhly and laſtly, to end this Point, let me borrow but the ſpeech of the angry Goddeſs, when ſhe thought ſhe ſhould be contemned, Et quiſquam numen Junonu adoret? Praeterea aut ſupplex aris imponat honorem; that is, when Sacrifice comes not in plentifully to the Altar, it is an indignity ſecond to none, and God doth greatly diſdain at it; if his Churches beg your liberality for their reparation (beg they muſt by a Brief, and that impudently, or elſe they ſhall lie in the duſt) but when they do crave your help, pour in plentifully into the Corban: He that ſoweth ſparingly ſhall reap ſparingly. If his Prieſts plead for the due, and true portion that belongs unto the Altar, do not conſtrue Divinity ſo much amiſs, as if the Doctrine concerned their profit only, but did nothing pertain to inform your juſt dealing. Your voluntary benevolences, though they be large and bountiful, ſhall excuſe no man of Sacriledge where that which is due is pinch'd and impaired: He that wrongs the Altar, I mean the Church, in Shillings, nay, in Pence, that are due to it, they are not his Pounds of benevolence ſhall make him an honeſt man in the ſight of God. Do not flatter your ſelves in what you are not, and let me tell you the truth, one of your poor Farmers, that occupies under you but one hundred pound Land by year in the Country pays as much to the Church Demeans by due as five, nay, as ten wealthy Landlords in the City: And yet you think your ſelves the beſt pay maſters to the Church, but no man of underſtanding believes you. He is called a wiſe Steward in the Goſpel, but his deeds were the actions of a Reprobate that bad his Maſters Debtors ſet down fifty for one hundred, and fourſcore for another: I ſhould be this unjuſt Steward my ſelf if I ſhould not tell you juſtly and faithfully what you owe to my Maſter in Heaven; they have more cunning than faithfulneſs that teach you how to ſtrike off part of the Sum. And yet I beſeech you mark one paſſage in the unjuſt Steward: He doth not come with Quid dabis? How doth your mind ſtand for a benevolence? What are you pleaſed to give my Maſter? But, Quid debes? What do you owe my Maſter? Pay your Debts firſt, and talk of your Supererogation afterwards; as if you ſhould ſtop the free paſſage of a Spring, and then think to recompence the Owner with a Glaſs of Roſe-water: Such a kindneſs it is to ſtop the rights of Gods Miniſters, and then think to make them amends with ſome contribution of courteſie. O let not this fair object of your manifold charity before mine eyes be blemiſh'd with Sacriledge, for when the Sacrifice is withdrawn from the Altar, is it not a great ſign that God is deſpiſed?

So much of that general Point drawn out into the ſeveral branches, Ignominia indigna, a diſdain much undeſerved, that God ſhould be deſpiſed in the opinion of Man. The upſhot of all that I have to ſay is in that which follows, ignominia digniſſima, a ſcorn and diſdain juſtly deſerved, that the abuſers of Gods Glory ſhall be ſet at naught in his eyes: They that deſpiſe me ſhall be lightly eſteemed. Mercy and Juſtice are in all the works of the Lord. Behold the ſweetneſs of Mercy in two things, gathered out of that which is before us: 1. The order of theſe parts will inſinuate it unto us; for promiſe doth go before minacie, the affection of love before the deſtruction of anger. Them that Honour me I will Honour. God begins at that end where there is a reward in the right hand. They that deſpiſe me ſhall be lightly eſteemed, that is the concluſion, the laſt refuge upon which he is thruſt with vengeance in the left. Mount Gerizim is the firſt hill that God mentions, Deu. xxvii. the Mountain upon which Levi and his fellow Tribes ſhould bleſs Iſrael. Mount Ebal is prepared in the next place, the Mountain upon which Dan and his fellow Tribes ſhould curſe the People. Behold I ſet before you this day life and death, bleſſing and curſing, Deut. xxx. 19. As Medicine is the firſt offer of Chyrurgery, Amputation of the putrified part is the laſt and deſperate help that Art doth adminiſter. 2. God will Honour the Good, he takes it upon him, that benediction is his proper act. It is ſet down paſſively, and no otherwiſe, that the wicked ſhall be lightly eſteemed. Come you bleſſed p. 728of my Father, Mat. xxv. Benediction is from God. Go ye curſed, ſays Chriſt in his anger, curſed by your own ſins, curſed by the malice of the Devil; he doth not ſay, curſed of my Father. Surely ſomewhat is in it that God will never take the act of Malediction upon himſelf, Iſa. xxviii. 21. The fury of his wrath he calls alienum opus, his ſtrange work, his ſtrange act that he will perform. Non eſt opus Dei perdere quos creavit, ſays Lyra. It is a ſtrange work, and comes as it were unwillingly unto God, to deſtroy thoſe whom he hath made. And therefore we have it in a Prayer of our Liturgy, eſpecially againſt the viſitation of the woful Peſtilence, God whoſe nature and property is …ver to have mercy and forgive. Peregrinum opus eſt, ut puniat qui Salvator eſt, ſays St. Hierom upon the forenamed place; it is an improper work for him to curſe, who is the Author of bleſſing; for him to deſtroy, who is the Saviour of the world; for him to put any man to light eſtimation, from whom proceedeth all honour and glory.

And as Mercy gives a ſweet reliſh to this Text, ſo Juſtice is no leſs conſpicuous, for here is a puniſhment ſo proportioned to the fault committed, as if God had ſtudied to retaliate, may I expreſs it as we do barbarouſly in a Vulgar Proverb, Qui meccat mockabitur; he that deſpiſeth me ſhall be deſpiſed. You do well know Adonibezecks confeſſion, his Thumbs and Toes were cut off, as ſeventy Kings having their Thumbs and Toes cut off,Judg 1.7.Judg 1:7 gathered meat under his Table as I have done, ſo God hath requited me, ſays the Tyrant. So might Pharaoh and Egypt have confeſſed, that as they did exerciſe cruelty upon the Infants of Iſrael, ſo the Angel ſlew all their Firſt-born in a night. As the Seed of the Righteous was caſt into the water to be drowned, ſo Pharaoh and all his Heſt were drowned in the Red Sea. So Charles the Ninth of France, who publiſh'd himſelf to be the Author of that bloudy Maſſacre committed upon many thouſand innocent Proteſtants in the Streets of Paris, bloud was his end in great quantity,Cam. Eliz. anno 1573. ſays the famous Annaliſt of our Iſland, sanguinis profluvio inter longos & graves dolores expiravit; the bloud could not be ſtanched, which guſhed out from many parts of his body, and ſo after long and grievous torments he gave up the Ghoſt. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; bloud for bloud, Children for Children, drowning for drowning, ignominy for ignominy, this is the retaliation of true Juſtice, They that deſpiſe me ſhall be lightly eſteemed.

Where is the advancement of the Proud? Where is their honour that would be noble, and yet tuſh at the true nobility of Vertue and Religion? Like as I have ſeen in the Emblem of a Fool, that thought to fly aloft, and had a Plume of Feathers in one hand, to carry him up like a birds wing, but there was a ſtone in the other hand. The word was, Non tam pluma vehit quam grave mergit onus; So, vain oſtentation is but a Feather to lift a man on high, Gods wrath is like a Milſtone to weigh him down, and to lay his honour in the duſt. In a corrupt Age he may perhaps be advanced that had rather be great than good, but becauſe much of greatneſs conſiſts in the opinion that men have of them as well as in the title: Honor in honorante, Ariſt Eth. Lib. 1.the world was never ſo bad yet, to hold him great in the common eſtimation that had no conſcience to be good. Want of Piety, want of the fear of God, doth eclipſe the moſt generous qualities of Nature and Morality, and make them contemptible. Solomon wrote moſt choice Philoſophy upon the Plants of the earth, from the Hyſſop on the Wall to the Cedar in Lebanon; yet Poſterity neglected to preſerve thoſe Monuments of his wiſdom, though they were the Labours of a King, becauſe Luſt and ſtrange fleſh made his wiſdom deſpicable. Julian, a man of rare moral qualities for an Emperour; Ʋlpian, the greateſt Lawyer. Galen, the greateſt Phyſician; Plotinus, the greateſt Platoniſt, Porphyrie, the greateſt Ariſtotelian; to deſcend lower, Aretine, the quainteſt wit of Italy; we vilifie the men, and ſet a mask upon their good parts, as God did upon Jeroboam, that he made Iſrael to ſin, becauſe their Religion was Atheiſm, and Profanation.

I have told you before that Eli the High Prieſt was the man ſhot at in this Text, not for any perſonal crime of commiſſion in himſelf, but for a ſin of omiſſion, becauſe he did not reform, or elſe ſeverely puniſh, the unprieſtly behaviour of his two Sons Hophni and Phineas. One part of diſgrace that fell upon him is in the third Chapter following my Text,Abule…. 1 Sam. 3.1 Sam 3 and the firſt Verſe; Sermo domini erat pretioſus in diebus iſtis; the word of the Lord was precious in thoſe days, there was no open Viſion; that is, Ceſſaverunt reſponſiones divinae & Propheticae in illo tempore; Propheſie and Divine Revelations were well nigh deceaſed in thoſe times for the wickedneſs of the Sons, and the indulgence of the Father. Moreover, in the next verſe to my Text, God ſays p. 729he will cut off his arm, and the arms of his Fathers houſe; that is, the Succeſſion of the Prieſthood ſhould be removed from that naughty Generation. Afterward it is denounced, that there ſhall not be an old man in his houſe. Alas, Counſel muſt needs periſh when Age and Experience doth not govern. Thus you ſee that for want of bridling, nay, for want of depoſing, and not utterly cutting off of ſcandalous Sons of his own body, Eli the High Prieſt ſhould be ſo deſpiſed, that is, his Succeſſion ſhould fail, the wiſdom of old men ſhould not ſupport him, and divine Revelations had utterly forſaken him. Tell this to the Biſhop of Rome, to him that would be the ſole High Prieſt of the Church of Chriſt. Are there any Chriſtians in the world more riotous, more laſcivious, than his Sons the Cardinals? And by your leave it is often ſeen that ſome of them are his Natural Sons. Is there any Father more facile and connivent than he? That it ſeems will ever hearken to the counſel which Nicholas Archbiſhop of Capua gave to Pope Leo the Tenth, Ne quid omnino reformantur, Sleid in. lib. 12. Com.at any hand, whatever the Lutherans ſaid, to mend nothing; How can we then refrain to deſpiſe them, as the Lord ſaid the houſe of Eli ſhould be deſpiſed? Can we believe that Succeſſion hath not been long ago cut off from the chair of the Scorners? Shall we delude our ſelves that the Revelation of Truth is among them? Or that the Oracles of infallible illumination are not more precious among them than they were in the days of Eli's declination? They take upon them the Honour of Eli, I know they are guilty of the faults of Eli, and of crimes much more flagitious; was the Scripture written for any one mans ſake? Shall not the infamy alſo of Eli be inflicted upon them? As my Text ſays. They that deſpiſe me ſhall be lightly eſt…med.

Yet it were happy, for the deſpiſers of God, if this were only their doom, to be inglorious in this life, and a ſcorn of men, as I ſaid before, that the beſt Saints of God had marks of ignominy branded upon them:2 Cor. 6.8.2 Cor 6:8 Stephen died in the name of a Blaſphemer; Naboth died in the name of a Traitor; St. Paul, who was entertained by the Corinthians inſtar Angeli, as an Angel of God, Lib. 2. Noct. Attic. c. 6.paſſed among the Jews and Tertullus for a peſtilent fellow; but as Aulus Gellius ſaid of the Epithete illaudatus, that more was meant by it than not to be worthy of praiſe, it was as much in true ſenſe as innominandus, Neque unquam nominandus, one that ſhould never be named or mentioned; ſo to be lightly eſteemed in this place is to be put out of Gods Check, to have their names raced out of the book of life, when the Saints carry Palms in their hands, and Crowns upon their heads, who have made their red Robes white in the bloud of the Lamb, they ſhall be caſt out of doors among the fooliſh Virgins, with a Non novi vos, Depart from me for I know y…u not. Can any thing be made more vile and abject than not to know it? Others will ſay perchance, Lord thy hands have made us, and faſhioned us, by thee have we been upholden ever ſince we were born, how can it be that thou that knoweſt all things ſhouldſt not know what we are? In Mat. xxv. when Chriſt ſpake in the perſon of a Judge, how he would challenge the uncharitable for not refreſhing him in Hunger, nor in Priſon, nor in Nakedneſs; they make anſwer, as if God either knew not their thoughts, or knew not them throughly, or knew not what he ſaid, Domine quando te vidimus eſurientem? Lord, when did we ſee thee in hunger? Therefore God puts this deriſion upon them at the judgment, ſince you think I am miſtaken in you, Non novi vos; be it ſo as you would have it, I know you not.

Which interpretation puts me in mind of the laſt Point, and the very height of theſe mens miſeries, for to be caſt aſide as an igno…e perſon, is a moſt light eſteem, but being utterly forlorn and miſerable, then to be made a …lout and deriſion, it paſſeth all other ſcorn and contumely. Says the Lord, Prov. i. 26. I will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh. So he ſeems to triumph and inſult over the Devil and his Angels, Iſa. xiii. How art thou faln from Heaven O Lucifer, thou ſon of the Morn? In the Second Pſalm there is mention of as great a Faction, banding againſt the Lord, as could cluſter together, the Heathen rage, the People tumult, the Kings and Rulers of the Earth take counſel. God is deſpiſed, and beſet round as it were with the Bulls of Baſan. How ſhall this ſtrong conſpiracy be broken? Why, in the fourth verſe the Lord laughs and hath them in deriſion. Do you make a queſtion how all theſe ſhall be oppreſſed? Non eſt res difficilis, In Pſal. 2.Ps 2aut laborioſa, ludendo facturus eſt quoties libuerit, ſays Calvin; It is no hard matter to bring to paſs, the Lord will do it at leiſure, nay, as it were with ſport and paſtime. The wicked can look for no other but to be put to ſhame hereafter, and lightly eſteemed: p. 730For as they that honour God are called Oves à dextra, Sheep on the right hand; oves propter fructum & naturae manſuetudinem; Sheep, for that they yield fruit to the Shepherd, and becauſe of the innocency and patience of their nature: So the deſpiſers have their Name,Homil. in Mat. 34. Haedi à ſiniſtrâ, Goats on the left hand. Quia salaces & per praecipitia incedunt, ſays Origen. Becauſe of their petulancy, and that they walk in ſlippery places, ready to break their necks. Finally, ſays St. Paul foreign God is not mocked, that is, not without retorting ſcorn for ſcorn, for they that deſpiſe him ſhall be lightly eſteemed. Now from all contempt of his glory, from all contempt of his Word and Commandment, Good Lord deliver us. AMEN.