A Century of Sermons, Sermon 2
THE SECOND SERMON UPON THE Fifth of November.
ACTS xxviii. 5.
And he ſhook the beaſt into the fire, and felt no harm.
IT comes to paſs from our deſire to ſee mankind multiplied, that almoſt no Infant is born into the world without the eyes of many to behold it; but if any one have eſcaped a jeopardy with the hazard of his life, as he is a creature new-born again from danger, ſo we caſt our eyes more wiſhly upon the perſon. As many as the houſe could hold reſorted to ſee Lazarus revived, John ii. Solomon's Porch full met at once to ſee the Cripple uſe his Legs, Acts iii. All the Iſland ran together to behold St. Paul who had ſhook a Viper into the fire and felt no harm; and that ſelf-ſame Miracle is the employment which your patience doth now attend upon. And though we regard the deliverance of others at the pleaſure of our curioſity, as we uſe to ſay at our idle time, yet to ſee St. Paul preſerved, it is as Socrates ſpake of Lyſias his Oration, foreign, ſomewhat more than buſineſs. For that you may know him to be ſet up as a ſpectacle to look upon, how many petty deaths were round about our Apoſtle in the former Chapter? As if he ſhould have gone out of the world, like Hermaphroditus, many ways at once: In a mighty Tempeſt, in a Famine of fourteen days, in the hands of violent Souldiers, ſurely his life had ended here but that God had determined he ſhould die honourably by Caeſars Sword. Having ſatisfied the Sea, a little beaſt aſſaileth him on the ſhore: But excuſſit, all is well both here and there, and he is delivered.
And beſides this, we may very well make it not St. Pauls caſe alone, it is like pure Gold which may be malleated, and drawn out a great deal larger, even to the entire profeſſion of the whole Goſpel. 1. Vipera, that there is a danger; and then 2. Excuſſit, both an eaſie and a joyful deliverance. Eccleſia in illo patiebatur, quando pro Eccleſiâ patiebatur, Ep. 120. c 6.as St. Auguſtin ſaid of our Saviour; The Church was wounded in him when he was wounded for the Church. So St. Paul was an Embaſſadour to Caeſar for the whole Church of God, and therefore the ignominy and comfort redounded to the whole Church both of his great perplexity, and likewiſe of his preſervation.
To knit all this together, a Serpent was a very fit inſtrument if you will regard the nature of man in theſe four degrees: Firſt, Adam was ſet upon by a Serpent in the Garden of Eden, and was ſtung to the quick, and corrupt nature afforded him no deliverance. Secondly, The Iſraelites under Moſes Law were aſſaulted and ſtung, but found a remedy. 3. St. Paul in the New Teſtament is aſſaulted but felt no harm. Laſtly, The Saints in glory ſhall not ſo much as be aſſaulted. To be vanquiſht in our conflicts is the miſery of our poor nature, to be chaſtiſed by puniſhment is the rigour of the Law, to be threatned by affliction is the life of the Goſpel, to be out of ſuſpicion and fear of harm is the ſtate of heaven. The times of Nature and Law are paſt, the days of Glory are not yet revealed, my Text therefore not unfitly is a repreſentation only of the third, that is of the ſeaſon of the Goſpel. This is the ſum of all. If neither life nor death, height nor depth, Viper nor any other creature can ſeperate us from the love of Chriſt, then we boldly ſay without an error, Ego ſum Paulus, thus was Paul, and thus am I delivered. Beloved, from this one venimous Serpent take notice of the whole brood of the Viper. Every torment is de crinibus anguis in the Poet, a kind of Serpent greater or leſs. If we complain, like Jonas, far more of a little worm that offends us, than of a great Whale that devours us, then affliction is Venenum patientiae, it feſters and leaves a wound behind it: But if we be ſhod with the preparation of the Goſpel, Super aſpidem & baſiliſcum ambulare; Not to fly from harm as faſt as our feet can carry us, but to walk at leiſure upon the Lion and the Aſpe, then we bring the Text home to our ſelves, then we ſhake beaſts into the fire and feel no harm.
In which words may it pleaſe you to attend to theſe four parts: 1. Here is a perilous Adverſary, known in this verſe to be foreign, ſavage and hurtful, but better known in the former to be a Viper faſtned on St. Pauls hand. 2. His ſafe deliverance in excuſſit, he ſhook off the worm. 3. Vengeance is ſhown upon this fatal creature, Excuſſit in ignem, he caſt it off for deſtruction into the fire. Laſtly, The barbarous people who beheld all this, they put us in mind of a fourth part, they thought that God was in the work, but miſtook Paul for Pauls Creator; therefore for a concluſion, here is mirabile ſalutare, a plain Miracle from heaven. More likelihood for Paul to be kild there could not be, and yet he felt no harm.
So danger is the firſt thing in order in my Text, but ſcarce in time, deliverance the next part was not one whit behind it, in which there is Digitus Pauli, the ſinger of Paul to requite the Viper with the flames of fire; and Digitus Dei, ſtrange help from God alone. I ſay the Barbarians did confeſs it. The corps of the Text it is a deliverance, now on the left hand behold peril and hazard of life, on the right hand juſtice and vengeance, and above head he that walked on the tops of the Mulberry trees, foreign, God a mechanick and workman of our ſalvation. The firſt part of the Text the Beaſt is like a place profaned, but excuſſit, he ſhook it off is like a Sanctuary. And as the Rooms of the Temple were one within another, and the inmoſt was the beſt, ſo I may proceed in the degrees of this preſervation. Bare deliverance is but Atrium miſericordiae, the outward Porch of Solomon the Prince of peace, but then we go on to the confuſion of our enemies, to excuſſit, as unto the Altar whereon the beaſts were ſlain, but the holy of holies, and the very Oracle of mercy, is to eſcape the breaking of a bone with our Saviour, not to loſe the lap of our Garment with Saul, or with our Apoſtle to feel no harm, Upon theſe three let us divide St. Ambroſe his Hymn, Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabbath, and meditate with St. Auſtin, Quid non miſericorditer à Deo hominibus praeſtatur a quo etiam tribulatio eſt beneficium? Ep. 87.Wherein is not our God a merciful Father if our chaſtiſement be our glory, if with St. Paul we ſhake beaſts into the fire and feel no harm?
I muſt not ſeparate the bark from the tree, the bark is the danger of the Apoſtle, and the firſt part of my Text; and there want not cauſes to wonder at the ſtrangeneſs of the enemy. For though Adam gave names unto the Creatures, and Noah lent them a place of reſt to be ſaved from the waters, yet the beaſts are at enmity with Paul. Alas our Warfare is not honourable, but bellum ſervile, Zimri riſeth up againſt his Maſter. We no longer Gods Servants, the Creatures no longer ours. And what Creature is it but a Serpent? Haſt thou found me out O mine enemy? Yes, from the Garden of trees wherin Eve was tempted to a handful of ſticks which St. Paul gathered, here and every where upon an old quarrel we are ſure to find the Serpent an adverſary. While we live Wiſdom is our glory, and ſo the Serpent is wiſe. When we die Reſurrection is our glory, and you know the Serpent renews his youth. When we are buried our Tomb is our glory, and even there, ſay Philoſophers, Serpents are begotten of the marrow of our bones. But if any venom be more hateful than other it is the Vipers; it was company fit for none in the Roman Laws but murderers of Fathers and Mothers, becauſe, ſays Ariſtotle, when the brood is great,Hiſt. An. li. 5. cap. ult. and the Viper every day brings forth but one at once, the latter of the brood eat through the womb of the Dam to be born the ſooner. Well, to ſuffer theſe things it was no news to Paul, and why ſhould it ſeem ſtrange to us? All his Pilgrimage in this world was either fighting with men at Epheſus after the manner of beaſts, or with beaſts in my Text after the manner of men. As Cato being vanquiſhed by Caeſar, and flying into Africa was troubled with noiſom Vermine. Pro Caeſare pugnant dipſades, & peragunt civilia bella Ceraſtae; That the Snakes fought out the Civil Wars on Caeſars ſide: So the Vipers take part with the Phariſees againſt St. Paul, thoſe Phariſees whom our Saviour called in his Goſpel, Generations of Vipers.
Pythagoras compared our life to the combats of the Olympick Games, and ſo did our Apoſtle, both met in the Compariſon, but not in the Application; to the Olympick Games, ſays Pythagoras, ſome men come to wreſtle, ſome to make merry with their friends, but for his part he was among thoſe who did but gaze upon the Wreſtlers. O no, ſays St. Paul, only God and Angels are the lookers on, that do not ſweat and fight to win the maſtery. foreign ſays Plato in Phaedon; which is all one with that of St. Paul, Nos ſpectaculum facti ſumus; we are all combatants, and made a ſpectacle for the eyes of heaven. As Pelopidas ſaid in Plutarch, Tantum duces in bello laudantur qui ſunt ſinc cicatrice non milites; A ſcar was a comly ſight in an ordinary Souldier, but not in a General: So it agrees well with the bleſſed ſouls to be in peace, but for us to be in warfare. And happy are they, thrice happy who make the bitterneſs of this life but a gaine of Wreſtling, and though a ſevere ſport, yet but a ſport and recreation. A moſt reverend Biſhop of our own Church, the firſt who ſaw ſome reformation of Religion, altered the ancient Arms of his Family from three Cranes to three Pelicans, his righteous ſoul divining before his Martyrdom, that he ſhould feed the Church with his bloud as a loving Pelican, and ſo contentedly he died, making his Coat of honour an Emblem of perſecution.
If we will be any thing, if we will be born at all it muſt be, in tears, and to be honeſtly born is to be a Son and not a baſtard, that is to be chaſtened and not neglected. And to be nobly born is to give Arms ſuch as Conſtantine and Theodoſius did in their Military Enſigns the mourning Croſs of Chriſt. Quis enarrabit generationem? Will you know how a Chriſtian is begotten? St. Matthew makes a Pedigree, and fourteen Generations reach to King David, David is zeal and devotion. The next fourteen Generations reach to Captivity, and the waters of Babilon, and after Captivity the next fourteen Generations reach to Chriſt our Lord. It was a daſtard mind not befitting Auguſtus of all things elſe to deſire foreign that he might ſteal out of the world, and not feel the leaſt gripe of a diſeaſe; it did rather become the beaſtly Epicurus, who when he felt his ſickneſs deſperate, drowned his ſtomach with immoderate Wine, and ſo knew not what it was to dye, but went drunk to Hell. If we Chriſtians were only anointed with oyl, Oleo laetitiae ſupra ſocios, with the oyl of gladneſs above our fellows, Satan might ſpeak home to our ſhame, Doth Job ſerve God for nought? But we are firſt anointed with the Baptiſm of water unto the death of Chriſt; foreign ſays Nazianzen. We are dipt like Iron into the water that our edge may be ſetled againſt all injuries. And we are ready to be anointed with bloud, every day is the eighth day with us to be wounded and circumciſed. Nay, if it be our deſtiny to be anointed with Pitch and Tar, In morem nocturni luminis, to waſte away like a Taper, welcom glory. Or if it be our danger to be lick'd with the poyſonous tongue of the Viper, Son of man, ſays Ezekiel, be not afraid though thorns and briers be with thee, nay, though thou live among Scorpions. For who would not venture with ſuch a Charm as this is againſt any Serpent? Excuſſit, ho ſhook off the beaſt into the fire, it is the ſecond part of my Text, and St. Pauls deliverance.
The Apoſtle indeed did ſhake his hand when ſo malicious a burden hung upon it, yet I do not ſee how he ſhook off the Viper, but I believe and know that it was the voice of the Lord which ſhaketh the wilderneſs, yea, the Lord that ſhaketh the wilderneſs of Cades. Excuſſit. What, no more words concerning this great deliverance? So great a work contracted into ſo ſmall an Epitome? If the Children of men work deliverances, and ſtrange ones too, the relation will ask a Book, perchance a Volume or a Legend to record it, but it is a bleſſing ſo frequent with God, that the world would not hold the Books of his preſervations if it were not for excuſſit, and tetigit he touch'd the ſore, and dixit he ſaid the word as ſhort as may be.
And yet to ſhake off a beaſt is ſuch a ſudden reſcue, in the turning of an hand, that it is a moſt complete and more comfortable ſalvation. Monſtra ſuperavit priùs quàm noſſe poſſit, Hercul. fu.as Seneca ſaid of Hercules; that he ſlew a Serpent before he knew what a Serpent was. What a gentle cure it is? As eaſie as a ſlumber. For the moſt part it is ſickneſs enough to be diſeaſed with remedies. Like as a Philoſopher ſaid, being made whole after much Phyſick, that it was with him as with a peſtilent air cleanſed by a clap of thunder. And I make a doubt whoſe fortune was the worſe, whether the poor womans that took Phyſick but twelve years together for an iſſue of bloud, or the ſick man's that in thirty eight years ſought after no help but from the Pool of Betheſda. Wherefore this is the ſweeteſt mercy, not to caſt off the Viper by loathſom Potions, but with no more hurt than Aaron caſt forth his rod before Pharaoh from his hand which became a Serpent. Gen. vii. 10.
This deliverance from a Viper makes good the Promiſe of the Lord, Mar. xvi. If you take up Serpents they ſhall not hurt you. But as God was the chief Author, ſo Paul had the glory of the execution. What, Paul himſelf and no other? Indeed there was ſcarce a friend by to do it for him. Haſty Souldiers that even now would have killed him, and pitileſs Barbarians, and Malefactors his fellow Priſoners, none of theſe were likely to relieve him, the honour was his own to ſhake off the beaſt; and yet enquire among all the other Apoſtles, and you ſhall not find that any one was made an inſtrument to preſerve himſelf. St. Peter could not enter into the High Prieſts Hall but by a Damoſel, nor get out of Priſon but by an Angel. The ignominy was caſt upon our Saviours ſelf, He ſaved others, himſelf he cannot ſave. He ſaved others, bear with him in that I pray you, though he did not ſave himſelf, and perchance could not St. Peter. As it was ſaid of Mucianus the Roman, Tac. hiſt. li. 4.Facilius erat ei dare imperium quàm accipere; it was eaſier for him to advance another man to the Empire than to exalt himſelf; ſo God hath ordained, to the end that Charity might abound in all things, even in the gift of Miracles, to give the Apoſtles the power of healing, not to cure themſelves, but to cure their Brethren. No man muſt buy long life at ſo baſe a rate as Herodicus did, of whom Ariſtotle reports, that he rended nothing all his days but his own health. Of many examples we have but this one in holy Scripture where the Phyſician did cure himſelf.
Paul then did heal himſelf. But adviſe we well with every circumſtance about the Text, and then I ask, did he not heal the infirmities of many more? Yes, and there were more Vipers than one in Melita, ſo many Barbarians as thought in their heart, but they were cruel thoughts, that Paul was a murderer; ſo many Vipers, every evil cenſure againſt our neighbour, it is Venenum charitatis, the poyſon of our charity, ſhake it off a Gods name before it faſten. Qui iſtoc credis de homine potes & facere; even for this hard opinion of Paul I doubt Melita had many murderers. Yea, I am perſwaded that this their uncharicableneſs did more afflict St. Paul than any evil Serpent could; as a more tender affection touch'd the heart of Romanus the Martyr, to ſee the cruelty of Heathen Tyrants than to feel his own pain. Quod lancinamur non dolet, dolet quod error pectori inſedit ſuo. Thus the ſin of the Barbarians hung upon the heart of the Apoſtle, the Viper only upon his hand, but one excuſſit did ſerve for both, the beaſt was caſt into the fire, and then the uncharitable thoughts did vaniſh.
Well, I ſee there was ſome divinity in thoſe hands which were ſo often lifted up to God in Prayer, thoſe hands which wrote ſuch divine Epiſtles to ſo many Churches: thoſe hands which conſecrated the two famous Biſhops Titus and Timothy: thoſe hands which gathered Alms for the poor Saints at Jeruſalem, O thoſe hands were bleſſed, no Serpent could envenom them. The firſt office that the courteous fire did afford to Fructuoſus the Martyr, was to burn the cords which bound up his zealous arms, which fain he would lift up to heaven. Non auſa eſt cohibere paena palmas, in morem crucis ad patrem levandas, ſolvit brachia q…a Deum precentur, ſo ſung Prudentius. And St. Hierom writes that Julian the wicked took up the body of John the Baptiſt, and burnt it to aſhes, but his Head, wherein the voice of a Crier ſpake, and the Finger wherewith he pointed out, Ecce agnus Dei, Behold the Lamb of God, thoſe could not be conſumed. And I dare report it after ſo many Writers, that the heart of our moſt reverend Cranmer was preſerved by Gods Providence from the fire, in honour of his integrity, like the three Children in the Furnace. O why ſhould we doubt, when God doth thus miraculouſly ſave the particular member of our body from harm, but that the whole man, in the whole entire body, our corruptible ſhall put on incorruption.
If ſome ſhould anſwer to theſe examples as Diagoras in Tully ſaid to one that preſented many Pictures before him of thoſe who had eſcaped Sea-danger by calling upon Neptune, Nuſquam eſſe pictos qui in mari perierant & naufragium fecerant; There were more examples of them if they could be ſeen who were drowned in the Sea and yet called upon Neptune: So perhaps many faithful men may be named who were not always fortunate in their deliverance. Beloved, what deliverance do you mean? All this while you do not reckon how many miſeries they prevent who are diſpatch'd by one; is it no excuſſit? Do we ſhake off no ſmall ſtore of miſchief when the ſoul doth uncaſe it ſelf of this body of ſin, that, with good King Joſiah, we may not ſee the evil to come? Death is like the Angel ſet before the Garden of Eden, which with one blow lets him that paſſeth by into Paradiſe. When ſinners and uncircumciſed feel the wrath of God, their puniſhment, ſays Nazianzen, is foreign, a Pillar of Salt erected up like a Trophy of his vengeance and their impiety. Not ſo the righteous, foreign, it is enough to chaſtiſe them to be wiſe and wary. St. Auſtin compares a regenerate man with Adam in innocency by an excellent parallel.10. Civ. Dei. c. 5. Adam was priviledged to be ſecure in all preſent delights and comfort while he was in Paradiſe, and ſo the faithful are not; but every regenerate man is ſure of heaven in his greateſt Agony, and ſo Adam in his pleaſant Garden was not. O could an heathen man preach ſo much Goſpel as this? Vere magnum habere fragilitatem hominis ſecuritatem Dei. O what a royal thing it was to be corruptible as man, and yet to be ſecure as God! Expect not then from the Lord, that he ſhould always turn aſide his hand, as Ʋlyſſes did from his Son Telemachus. What if he make his furrow upon the back of his own Children if they lie in the way? Is there no time but the inſtant to be ſaved? Yes, St. Paul hath declined deliverance through all Tenſes, 2 Cor. i. Who hath delivered us. Have you forgotten it? And doth deliver us. Perhaps you do not feel it. And will deliver us. I ſpeak not I hope to ſuch as do diſtruſt it. Wherefore let this ſuffice for excuſſit, the deliverance of Paul. The third thing follows, which makes it mel in cuſpide, honey on the point of Jonathans Spear, and pleaſant to be in jeopardy, his eye ſaw his deſire upon his enemy, excuſſit in ig nem, he ſhook the beaſt into the fire, &c.
If there be Songs of deliverance, as David ſays there are, and that he was compaſſed about with ſongs of deliverance, then this is Canticum ſalutis; The Viper did not only loſe her ſting like the angry Bee that loſeth her weapon when ſhe pricks her Adverſary, and lives a Drone ever after; but Paul warms his hands at the fire whoſe fuel was the Viper, which even now would have ſlain him. Fire indeed by the judgment of our own Laws is a death appointed for Poyſoners: and it is but one fire for another, only dry for moiſt. Paul was ready to be inflamed, ſo we read in the next verſe, foreign, it was that the Iſlanders look'd for, and therefore good reaſon the beaſt ſhould fall into the fire. Who doth not count it a monument worth the ſeeing to read his jacet, an Epitaph upon his Enemies Tomb? The ſubtil Graecians would not live in fear to ſee the Infants of Troy ſurvive their Father, they would ſee every thing in aſhes, Et nunquam ſatis Trojam jacentem; it is ſafety to eſcape, but ſecurity to want an adverſary. Break their teeth, O Lord, in their mouths, ſaith the Pſalmiſt, but leſt new ones come up in their room, ſmite the jaw bones of the Lions, and when they ſhoot out their arrows let them be rooted out. If Shemei had lived, happily he might have curſed Solomon as well as David, and if Judas had not come quickly to his end, he might have betrayed St. Peter as well as Jeſus.
Pri. ſecund. q. 87. ar. 3.Iniquity of it ſelf is infinite, ſays Job xxii. 5. Wherefore ſays Aquinas, Homo peccat in ſuo aeterno quia voluntatem habet in infinitum peccandi; Every ſinner hath a good will to ſin for ever. In circuitu ambulat, ſays David; and the way of him that goes in a circle is as new to begin to morrow as it was to day, Qui vitio modum ponit, idem facit ac qui è Leucade ſe praecipitans velit ſiſtere, ſays the Stoick. A ſinner falls down headlong, and Hell hath no bottom. Then God puts in his Sickle, and cuts down the Tares, that they may not overgrow the Wheat. Be of courage then O little Flock that flies away into the Wilderneſs, and think that the voice of the Angel unto Joſeph is ſtill in your ears, Return for they are dead that ſought the life of Jeſus.
And reaſon good that inquiſitors after the bloud of Chriſt, wilful ſinners ſhould be cut off, or elſe the dumb beaſts were hardly dealt with; the Viper knew not Paul, nor the mark of God upon him, ſhe did but her kind, and yet ſhe is conſumed. The Lion knew not Samſon, nor the Judge of Iſrael, hunger made him roar after his prey, and yet he died for it. Why ſhould David wiſh revenge upon the pleaſant graſs for his beloved Jonathan? How could a Figtree treſpaſs when it bore not plenty of fruit for Chriſt and his diſciples, that it withered and deflouriſhed utterly? All theſe died to make up one leſſon for us that nothing can offend the Saints of God without an evil recompence.
Some revengeful Spirit perchance would ask here, whether this be an Emblem for every man to endeavour to be as fortunate as Paul was, and to make away his enemy with his own hand? No, Beloved, there is no ſuch moral in this Text, and it were unchriſtian to attempt it. Wrath is as a Serpent, revenge is like a Viper, ſhake them off a Gods name, and then if Pauls hand were not moved, the finger of God will deliver us from our enemies. There is great difference in this point between heathen moral men, and praiſe-worthy Chriſtians. Junius Brutus, the darling of the Romans, fained himſelf mad before, but then he was mad indeed, Quando expiravit ſuper Tarquinii filium quaſi ad inſeros ſequeretur; when he bore malice unto death againſt his enemy, and died upon him, as if he would follow him to Hell. Like the young Son of Thyeſtes, wounded by his unnatural Uncle, caſt the trunk of his body upon the murderer, as if he would have preſſed him down like a Mountain. Cumque dubitaſſet dia, hâc parte, an illâ caderet in patruum cadit, ſays the Tragedian. So did not Zacharias the Son of Barachias, that fell between the Temple and the Altar. It may ſeem there rather than in another place for a Peace-offering to be reconciled to his adverſary. So did not Stephen, who kneeled among the ſtones which were caſt at his head like a Statue in a Monument, and prayed with more devotion for his enemies than for his own ſpirit. We muſt feed them that hate us, I keep open hoſpitality for ſuch according to our Saviours conſtruction. Si inimicus, if thou have an enemy feed him whoſoever he be if he hunger, then wretched are they who feed themſelves rather with the hunger of their enemy. As Vitellius boaſted in Tacitus, Inimici morte ſpectatâ ſe paviſſe oculos; Hiſt. lib. 5.that it glutted his eyes with delight to ſee his enemy tormented. They that feed ſo ſhall digeſt Gods anger, till it come like water into our bowels, and like oyl into our bones. We muſt not call for fire from heaven if we love not the Samaritans, but forgive them, and thou ſhalt heap coales of fire upon their head.
Chiefly let my ſpeech drop as the ſoft dew upon the head of Aaron, and the Biſhops of the Church that ſucceed St. Paul. Let them know that it is not in their hand to be avenged of the life of their Adverſaries. The ſecular Sword in the Prieſts arm did never turn to the benefit of juſtice, but to ſcandal.Civ. Dei. li. 4. And as St. Auſtin ſpeaks of Sylla revenging the tyranny of Marius with greater cruelty, Vindicta, pernicioſior fuit quam ſi ſcelera impunita relinquerentur; that it had been better the faults had been unchaſtiſed than ſo revenged; ſo ſay I to them, better vindicative juſtice ſhould ſleep than be awaked by the Clergy. Let the Prieſts of Baal be armed with Knives and Lancers to fill the ditches with bloud as Elias did with water, let the Sacrificers of Bacchus give wounds to every one that paſſeth by inſtead of bleſſing. But Chriſts Diſciples are ſent about even without the protection of a little ſtaff in their hand. If David would have a Sword in the Church, Ahimelech muſt anſwer, Non eſt hic, here is none ſave the Sword of Golias, which was kept there, not for any uſe of it, but for the memory. Our weapons are Prayers and Tears, and if we ſtrike it is but vulnus calami, the ſtroke of our Pen, and that ſhould always be Penna columbina; I would it were ſo, taken from the Doves wing, not unſavory reproaches, and Satyrical tants, as if our Writings were ſtuck with the quils of Porcupines. Angels were wont to fight againſt Jeruſalem, and againſt Senacharib, but did you ever hear in our days of a fighting Angel? The Shepherds when they ſaw an heavenly Hoſt, Luk. ii. and pitch'd in the field, and coming ſuddenly upon them looked for no other but a battel, but quite beſide the old manner they ſung Praiſes to the Lord. Beloved, the Miniſtry of our Goſpel it ſucceeds the Miniſtry of Angels. It is to be marked that St. Paul ſalutes the Corinthians, Epheſians, and the reſt, with grace and peace only, but to Timothy and Titus, his two Biſhops, he ſends grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jeſus Chriſt.
The Popes Paraſites never lin putting of him in mind, Girt thy Sword upon thy thigh O thou moſt mighty, good luck have thou with thy battels and renown, and ſhake the Vipers into the fire. And who ſhall determine who be Vipers? Who but the Pope? Who then kindle the fire to burn them? Who but the Jeſuits? Gladiatores potiùs quàm clerici, Fencers rather than Prieſts of God. Rome while the Gentiles lived in it had for the Enſigns of their honour duos pugiones & pileum, two Daggers and a Cap, Junius Brutus was the Author. But ſee what time can do, and to what encreaſe it brings every thing, the two Daggers are become two Swords, and the Cap is turned into a Triple Diadem. Well, Ahimelech gave up his Sword to David the King. Peter and the Apoſtles are the ſalt of the earth, and have nothing to do with ſuch inſtruments. Me thinks the Pope in this point had a very good anſwer from the Emperour, when expoſtulating why one of his Sons the Cardinals was ſlain in battel, the Emperour returned unto him the Cardinals Harneſs, and this word, Haec eſt tunica filii tui? Is this your Son Joſephs Coat?
But I warrant you the Church is in a ſtrange caſe if ſhe may not ſight her own battels. Truly no. St. Bernard thought it ſafe enough in the protection of the King. Ʋterque gladius, he ſpeaks it to the Pope, non tuâ manu, ſed tuo nutu eſt evaginandus. And tuo natu was too much, and ſmelt of the Age he lived in. But the interceſſion of the Church may obtain the Sword from the Defender of the Faith to maintain the Goſpel. It cannot be ſo in Julians Reign, and in the time of wicked Princes, I grant it, why then let us forbiſh up our own Armory, Faith, and Prayers, and Tears. So did Nazianzen in the Churches diſtreſs, foreign, we entreat thy flaming ſword O Lord to cut down thine enemies, foreign, we demand thy Plagues to light upon them, and is not this good ſecurity, God and the King?
Only one thing muſt be interpoſed for ſatisfaction in this point. Why ſhould Nazianzen, or why ſhould the Church curſe her enemies with ſuch a bitter curſe? Is not that breach of charity? The Schoolmen very well, have collected their anſwers into five heads: 1. When you think the Prophets and holy Fathers curs'd they did not curſe but propheſie. It was St. Auſtins Collection long ago, Solent figurâ imprecantis futura praedicere. So David prayed that another might take the Biſhoprick of Judas, which needs muſt be a Propheſie. 2. Their end is good and holy, that the heathen may know themſelves to be but men, and in the bitterneſs of affliction ſeek the Lord. 3. Ad conformitatem divini judicii, in all things to ſay the will of the Lord be done. God hath ſpoken it in his holineſs that he will cut off the wicked, and we muſt ſay Amen in obedience. 4. Ad regnum peccati deſtruendum, not ſo much to deſtroy ſinners as to deſtroy the kingdom of ſin. Curſe your Meros, curſe it bitterly, that the power of ſin may fall with the fall of Kingdoms. Laſtly, Ad conſolationem infirmorum, for the comfort of weak ones, that they may know how the Church is the true Paradiſe by the flaming Sword which did defend it.Tacit Annal. 13. As Nero ſpake excellently when he entred into the Empire, Nec odium, nec injurias, nec cupidinem ultion is ad regnum ferebat; There was no hatred in his mind, no revenge in his ſoul, no injury in his memory; ſo muſt we take the Kingdom of Heaven with the violence of love and not of hatred. Better might Moths, and Ruſt, and Canker be ſuffered to be in Heaven than Malice, and Revenge, and Envy.
Then hear you godly to diſcern Gods finger from the hand of Paul. He did not caſt the Viper into the fire, to ſhew us a way to be avenged of our enemies. And hearken you ungodly, for in this Text is the very ſimilitude of your condemnation, which ſhall appear by theſe circumſtances: 1. St. Paul gathered the ſticks for fuel, and ſo the good Angels ſhall gather the Tares in bundels for the fire. 2. The barbarous people kindled the fire, ſo ſhall the Devil and his Angels be your executioners. 3. The Viper drops into the flame, but we do not read it was conſumed, I ſay it is not expreſſed in the Text, ſo tedious and everlaſting is your miſery.
In this world we mourn at every burial of our friends, becauſe death hath entred in by ſin into the world,Civ. Dei. li. 22. Ʋbi mors nolentem animam pellit è corpore; where death caſhiers the ſoul unwillingly out of the body, but in Hell-fire ſinners ſhall bewail that there is no death; Ʋbi mors nolentem animam tenet in corpore; where death ſhall impriſon the ſoul unwillingly in the body, ſays St. Auſtin. Did you think to burn like chaff and thorns, to be out with a blaze? The Scripture never meant it. Your torments ſhall belike a firy Oven, Pſal. xxi. where heat is furious without the bleſſing of light. You ſhall be like the burning of Lime, Iſa. xii. where the fire encreaſeth when you think to extinguiſh it. Nay, you ſhall be as Wax before the fire, Mic. i. melted and heated, but not conſumed. Aetna was never cold, yet as if it were the ſtomach of the world, Montes uruntur & durant quid improbi & hoſtes Domini, ſays Tertullian. Yea, ſays the Atheiſt, Hills are but dirt and droſs without life, they may laſt and burn. Then ſay we, the Salamander hath life, and yet is not conſumed in the fire: So ſhall it be with the wicked. True, ſays the Atheiſt, ſuch Creatures may play in the flames becauſe it is their nature and delight, but can the wicked abide in pains unſufferable and not be conſumed? St. Auſtin in this point hath outgone their Logick; ſays he, Mirabile eſt dolere in ignibus, & tamen vivere, ſed mirabilius vivere in ignibus nec dolere. That is the miracle above the other, for the little beaſt to live unſcorched without any pain among the burning coals, rather then as the damned to continue ſo in torment. Do you believe a vain ſtory for the one, then believe the Scriptures for the other. But I leave thoſe and many more the like Problems for the Schoolmen whoſe ſubtil heads have extracted ſuch queſtions by diſtillation from Hell Furnace, as if they did not diſpute but conjure. And I paſs from this Song of deliverance how miſchief lighted upon the Viper to Canticum Canticorum, the Song of Songs, even Deborahs ſong in this happy preſervation, He ſhook the beaſt into the fire and felt no harm.
This was not a brand ſnatcht out of the fire half ſaved half conſumed. Not like your bloudy Victories wherein the Conquerours may ſit down and count their loſſes as well as the Conquered. As Pyrrhus ſaid very well when twice he vanquiſhed the Romans, but loſt the flower of his own Army in the Victories, Si tertio vicerimus, if we overcome the third time we are undone for ever. But it is Dalmaticus triumphus ſine ſudore & ſanguine. The Viper left not ſo much ſmart behind it as the prick of a thorn or thiſtle.
He felt no harm! How would a Stoick interpret this now? Forſooth to be an obſtinate contempt of grief, I will not call it patience: as if Paul were toucht to the quick but would not feel it. So Taurus, the Philoſopher in Gellius excuſed a ſick perſon of his Sect that ſeemed to groan in his diſeaſe, Non eſt gemitus alicujus victi à dolore, ſed anhelitus viri enitentis vincere; That is, pain and diſeaſe did not make him groan, as if it troubled him, but he fetcht his wind ſhort to over-maſter his ſickneſs; this is robuſta ſtultitia, madneſs, not manhood and Philoſophy, to affect ſuch ſtubborneſs. Nature cannot but love it ſelf, and retire from pain, and Reaſon will follow Nature. And this is enough to ſatisfie the moſt curious that trouble their heads why our Saviour caſt out thoſe ſtrong ejaculations of grief againſt the bitter cup, Mat. xxvi. Cum natura cogit etiam ratio data à naturâ cogitur. As I ſaid before, Reaſon will follow Nature.
Wherefore to ſay that Paul felt no harm is foreign, he did not ſuffer any. He had been in the third heavens, and in this one act God gave his body incorruption upon earth. For ſo ſays Aquinas, that many worthy Saints have had a taſte of heaven upon earth, not only by grace in their ſoul, but by ſome other excellent quality ſhining in theſe vile bodies. The properties of a glorified body are thus reckoned up by the ſame Author, firſt, that the Juſt ſhall ſhine like the Sun in the Firmament, that is Claritas in corpore. So the face of Stephen ſtanding before the Council was bright as the face of an Angel. The ſecond ornament is agilitas in motu, to be able to fly upon the wings of the wind, thus Philip was carried by the Spirit from Gaza in the Deſart to Azotus ſuddenly, Thirdly, our corruption ſhall put on incorruption, as in this one act Paul ſuffered on his hand and felt no harm, for the laſt attribute of a glorified body which is called ſpiritualitas I do not recknon it, for according to the Schoolmens interpretation it doth quite deſtroy the nature of a body. But let us remember to keep our bodies pure and undefiled, ſince God hath given us a taſte in this life, that hereafter they ſhall be refined in greater glory.
O we doubt it not but we ſhould all prove as holy as Paul himſelf, if we were ſo dear to God as to feel no harm. Our luxurious Courtiers would ſing Songs unto the Lord with Shadrach, Meſech, and Abednego if the Son of God would walk with them in the firy Furnace, and in the ſhadow of death that they might fear none ill. Our wanton Ladies, yea, and their Handmaids alſo would play upon Timbrels unto God as well as Miriam, if they might tread as ſafe upon the ground as ſhe did and all Iſrael to fear none evil in the midſt of the Sea. No, but if our danger did not come to be felt, to tangit & angit, I fear we would be impudent, and ſay there was no danger. Like ignorant people who preſume when beaſts are tamed by diſcipline that they have no teeth becauſe they bite not. Jonah muſt be wakened to ſee the Tempeſt leſt he ſleep it out and deny it. And if Saul miſs nothing elſe, yet he muſt loſe his pot of water, that he might acknowledge his own preſervation, and Davids fidelity. As the Shepherd in Virgil was bitten by a Gnat to eſpy the hiſſing of a Serpent; and we our ſelves try the edge of a Razor upon the nail of our finger, and ſo come to know that if it ſhould miſcarry it would cut our throat. And this is one cauſe why Paul did feel no harm, becauſe we are chaſtened with ſome feeling, for they that be evil and feel no harm, would be too too evil and feel no benefit.
But let my ſecond reaſon be the anſwer, and with your patience the concluſion for this time. Such Miracles and ſuch deliverances were required in the days of St. Paul the Apoſtle which are not now to be expected in theſe our days. I call it a Miracle, and ſo it is, and in the nature of the greateſt Miracles. Small ones are but ſuch as either ſeldom be ſeen, and ſo come by their name, ſo our Saviour wondred at the Centurions faith: Or thoſe which it is no news to ſee, nor very hard to bring about, but only it is above our reaſon perchance to know the cauſe, as the turning of the point of the Loadſtone to the North. But this is a more noble work, and therefore to be ſought out in a higher rank. Great aſtoniſhments are quite above our nature, Aquinas hath contrived them into three ſorts: Firſt, The wonder lies in ſubſtantiâ facti, in the very thing done, as when the Sun went backward. Secondly, The thing may be natural in it ſelf, but admirable and paſt our power if we conſider the ſubject upon which it is wrought, as for the blind to ſee, for the dead to be raiſed up to life. Thirdly and laſtly, Both the thing performed is ordinary, and done with eaſe upon the ſubject, but the manner of doing it makes the wonder, as for a Fever to be cured in a moment. Of all theſe three the firſt in order is the greateſt in ſubſtantiâ facti, ſuch was this in my Text, and no meaner, that it ſhould not kill and empoyſon. Aeſculapius among the heathen the very deity of Phyſick his Emblem was a Serpent, as the glory of his Cures, and the very utmoſt of his Art.
Now when Miracles have but two ends, ſay the Schoolmen, to do honour to the Word of God, and to confirm it, that is the firſt; or to honour the life of him that works in the Miniſtry; in the juſtice of both cauſes never was there more need than at this time of a Miracle. Here was the poor Iſland of Melita which Publius and the Roman Army had found out long ago to deſtroy it, but the Goſpel was not heard of before this day to ſave it. St. Paul that ſhould plant the faith was caſt aſhore by ſhipwrack as one neglected of God, bound over a cloſe Priſoner as one hated of his Countrymen, ſuſpected by the Barbarians to be a Murderer, then his cauſe was tried by the word of the Lord, it was time to ſhake Vipers into the fire and feel no harm.
Thus Chriſtianity began by a Miracle in the Iſland of Melita, and perchance long ago ſo it began with us, but now we do not ſo learn Chriſt when the boughs of the Church are grown and ſpread like the goodly Cedar trees. Nehemiah and all the People ſhouted for joy when the Foundation of the Temple was laid, but from thenceforth they built with ſilence, no exclamations were heard. When faith had ſcarce made entrance into Jeruſalem our Saviour came in ſtrangely when the doors were ſhut, but being once in, he went plainly to work with Thomas, Put thy finger into my ſide, and be not faitleſs, but faithful.
This is foreign a fit wedge to drive out the jugling Divinity of the Papiſts, What do you tell us of your Legend of wonders in Compoſtella? Thouſand Miracles and more thouſand Murders in India? Images that turn their eyes about, and Statues that weep and ſweat? Saints limb'd out in bloudy ſtraws? Strange Exorciſms of Devils? When the worſt was but the Toothach or a Fever? As Apelles ſaid to another Painter, none of the beſt workmen, but one of the quickeſt, that bragg'd he made twenty Pictures every day, and ſhewed the Patterns. I wonder, ſays Apelles, you do not make twice twenty of this ſort. So the Miracle that I take hold of is this, why the learned Fatherhood invent no louder or more unlikely miracles. But take it to you, work Signs and Wonders, perchance by the ſecret operation of Satan, Et eorum ſpirituum operatione videbantur admirandi à quibus ſunt damnandi, ſays their own Maſter Lombard. And they lookt for admiration by the power of thoſe Spirits by whom they ſhall receive damnation.
As the Rivers of Paradiſe are without Paradiſe, and run into divers parts of the world, ſo the gifts of Miracles, and the gifts of Tongues are like thoſe Rivers which run both within and without the Church; foreign ſays St. Chryſoſtome. Signs and Wonders are not ſo near to Gods Houſe, as the Porch is unto the Temple, except there be holineſs to the Lord in Aarons Breaſt, as well as Buds of Almonds in his Rod. Remember Jannes and Jambres, remember Simon the Sorcerer, yea, the very Divels do Miracles, ſays Lombard, Ne tale aliquid facere fideles pro magno deſiderent; leſt the Faithful ſhould ſeem to deſire to do the like, as if it were ſome great matter. If not Magnum, then ſurely not Maximum, the greateſt note of a Church. Eſpecially if it be true which St. Auſtin ſays, Omni miraculo quod fit per hominem majus miraculum eſt homo; If man be a greater wonder than can paſs through the hands of man, then certainly a regenerate man is the greateſt power of God, his Prayers, and Charity, and Faith are more excellent than to ſhake a Viper into the fire and feel no harm. Grant O Lord ſuch Wonders unto thy Church whereby thy name may be glorified in true holineſs, and cloath thy Prieſts with health as thou didſt thy Servant Paul; and becauſe we look for a greater deliverance, Quis me liberabit? Who ſhall deliver me from the body of this death▪ Let us ſay aſſuredly as he did, even Jeſus Chriſt our Lord. AMEN.