A Century of Sermons, Sermon 1
THE FIRST SERMON UPON ENOCH.
GEN. V. 24.
And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
DAys appointed for Repentance and Humiliation (you know theſe to be of that inſtitution) but thoſe are times to do, and not to ſay; therefore I have read a Text unto you rather of Deeds than Sayings; an active Example, and not a verbal Exhortation. And it is an Example of no mean pitch, you will like it the better for that, one Star differs from another in glory, and one Saint differs from another in ſanctity and perfection. There were Pillars in Solomons Temple, and golden Chapiters on the top of the Pillars; ſo the Patriarchs of old, the Apoſtles in the Chriſtian Ages were Pillars of the Church, all of them Pillars: but ſuch as bore the chief praiſe, for uſing the gifts of grace with all advantage to Gods glory, theſe are the golden Chapiters upon the tops of the Pillars. I will promiſe you to make it good by that which I ſhall ſay anon, that I have propounded unto you one of the golden Crowns upon the top of the Pillars, as heavenly and as happy a preſident as can be found out of a meer man; as compleat a Pattern as can be choſen out of all the Sons of Adam; and who would not write by the beſt Copy?
In the moſt ancient Epiſtle of Clemens the Roman, written to the Corinthians, lately made publick to the world out of the Princely ſtore-houſe of this Kingdom, that holy Father moves the Corinthians with this extimulation, foreign,Page 12. Let us look ſtedfaſtly towards them who have perfectly miniſtred in holy ſervice to the excellent glory of God. foreign, not to the Catalogue of Saints in the middle Region, but to them that walked higheſt above this world. And in the very next words following, Ecce homo! behold the man of his choice to whom he gives precedency above all others, foreign, let us take out Enoch for our Leſſon, that is his Text Letter upon which he flouriſheth; Enoch is his Anteſignanus, his Standard-bearer, that leads Noah, and Abraham, and many others after him; and the ſame that he offers to the Corinthians I commend to you. Such a Patriarch that the Holy Ghoſt hath made a great difference between him and other men: For it is the method of the Scripture to record the lives and deaths of the Saints, but upon this Perſon the ſtile alters; he was a priviledged man from death, which is the common condition of all that are born of woman; and Moſes ſpeaks of his double life, he could not ſpeak of his death, his life of grace, and his life of glory. Ambulavit cum Deo, or coram Deo, he walked with God, that is the Summary Collection, how he lived the life of grace: And Non apparuit coram hominibus; He was not, for God took him; there is the Miracle how he was wrapt up into glory. In the dividing of the parts I will put no more upon my text than it was made to bear, and two Points I am ſure, upon which only I will inſiſt, are the very bowels of it; Firſt, the Integrity of Enoch; Secondly, his Immortality. Firſt, how uncorrupt he was in his ways, and Enoch walked with God; Secondly, that he ſuffered no corruption in the body, He was not, for God took him. In the one member is how he uſed this world; the other how he enjoy'd a better: The one of faith, the other of fruition: The one for our imitation, the other for our conſolation. And firſt, your patient attention how uncorrupt he was in his ways, And Enoch walked with God.
In a good Picture every Limb, nay, every ſhadow of it is worthy to be looked upon, and, in the ſtory of ſuch a Patriarch as Enoch was, every word that breaths upon his name is ſweet and memorable. Now in holy Scripture, or in thoſe books which are contiguous to holy Scripture, four things are remembred of him, which will make him better underſtood in both parts of this Verſe. St. Jude in the fourteenth verſe of his Epiſtle ſets two marks upon him, firſt, in his Genealogy, he was the ſeventh from Adam; Secondly, in his divine knowledge, he Propheſied. The Son of Syrach alſo in his rehearſal of famous men hath given him two additions more, the one, that his vertue was moſt communicable, He was an example of repentance to all Generations, Eccl. xliv. 16. The other, that his vertue was moſt unparallel'd, or inimitable, Ʋpon the earth was no man created like Enoch, Chap. xlix. 14. I will diſpatch theſe with a running hand. Firſt, to be the ſeventh from Adam, what if that was no more than to be the fourth, or fifth, or any other number? For it is a general Rule, there is no prerogative to be born after the fleſh; But God reſted on the ſeventh day from all the work which he had made, and God bleſſed the ſeventh day, and ſanctified it, becauſe that in it he had reſted from all his work; therefore ſome Writers muſt needs fall upon this obſervation, as indeed divers have noted it▪ that Enoch the man of the ſeventh Generation was taken away to reſt with God, which bids us labour in the works of mercy and repentance all the ſix days of this life, and after thoſe days, like Enoch the ſeventh from Adam, we ſhall be tranſlated into peace and tranquility for ever. Some others go farther, a little more curiouſly than certainly,Chytreus. the Patriarchs for ſix deſcents all died, and were turned into earth again; Enoch the ſeventh from Adam was carried away from the world, and ſaw not death: So death ſhall reign through ſix Ages of the world, Septimâ immortalitas vigebit, in the ſeventh Age corruption ſhall be done away, and immortality ſhall take place for ever. Such myſteries as theſe are but Speculations that tangle us, but plainly and directly this priviledge came to Enoch, becauſe he was the ſeventh from Adam, that he lived moſt happily in a brave ſociety of wiſe men; it was no rude or barbarous Age, as if he alone had pleaſed God, for five of his Forefathers in a right line were then living, five the brighteſt Lamps of the Church, when the Lord tranſlated him. A happy thing it is to be well taught by any ſingle wiſdom, but there is more affiance in a number of Counſellors; Enoch the ſeventh from Adam had no leſs than ſix renowned Patriarchs to go in and out before him in the fear of the Lord.
2. To be born in ſuch a deſcent is an accidental thing, a contingency. But the next note upon him is that he had a Prophetical illumination, Enoch the ſeventh from Adam Propheſied. All the Sons of Adam in the good Race of Seth, whoſe names are filed in this Chapter, were Heads of the People, Lawgivers, Prieſts of the moſt high God. Noah more eminently than the reſt a Preacher of righteouſneſs in St. Peters phraſe, yet Enoch ſtands by himſelf alone for a Prophet. And no marvel if we hear no tidings of his Propheſie till St. Jude divulged it in the laſt Epiſtle but one of all the Scripture; it ſeems to me that it ſtands there in the fitteſt place, becauſe it is a Propheſie that concerns neither the firſt, nor the middle Age, but the very end of the world, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thouſands of his Saints, to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that were ungodly. The heavens and earth were but in their firſt beginnings, men and women did but begin to multiply, yet that divinity was preached in thoſe early days, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thouſands of Saints to judge the world; the expectation of that coming draws nearer to us than it did to them; how much more ſhould we prepare to ſee that with our eyes, which they did but hear with their ears? And to double our watchfulneſs and attention, as much as the Ages of the world ſince Enochs time have paſſed on and multiplied. Enoch propheſied that which Jude hath made Canonical Scripture; This hath troubled ſome to diſpute it, whether ever he wrote ſuch books as were once in the Canon of the Scripture? I hold the Negative, for though he were a Prophet, and had inſpirations, yet Scripture is not only given by inſpiration of God, but ſuch inſpiration as is profitable for doctrine, 2 Tim. 3.16.for reproof, for correction, for inſtruction of righteouſneſs. Such Oracles were depoſited by God with his Church, and never ſuffered to periſh. How will it appear but St. Jude received thoſe words by tradition? Or quoted them as he found them cited in ſome other Author? It were ſhame ſuch antiquity ſhould ſcape both Joſephus and Philo, who never mention it. But at laſt ſome falſary, no man can gueſs him, authored a moſt vain Book upon Enoch; Origen, who peruſed it, gives us a taſte of it in his laſt Homily upon Numbers, that it was ſtuft with ſecrets of Philoſophy about the motions of the Heavens, and the names of the Stars and Conſtellations, and with flat Romances about the good Angels falling in love with mortal Creatures, things moſt unworthy to be fathered upon Enoch, that walked with God. Therefore St. Jerom moderates the variance, Non probavit librum totum Judas, ſed illud duntaxat teſtimonium. St. Jude did patronize no more of that Book, but that Propheſie which he copied out into his Epiſtle. As St. Paul gave no divine authority to certain heathen Poets, but only to thoſe particular Verſes which he borrowed. To come to a point; It ſounds neareſt to truth, that Enoch was no ſuch Prophet as left Canonical Records, becauſe Chriſt was wont to argue againſt the Jews from Moſes and the Prophets, allowing Moſes for the moſt ancient Prophet that delivered Scripture to the Church by inſpiration. A late Capuchin Frier hath laboured to prove (as he thinks ſolidly, as I think very ſuperficially) that Monkiſh Fraternities and Covents were the firſt invention in the Church, and in his ſenſe to be a Prophet is all one as if Enoch had been of ſome Colledge or religious Order ſeparated from the ordinary Sons of God. Bolduc. lib. 1. de Eccleſ. ante legem.Out of his own conjectures he doth erect two ſtrict ſodalities of Religion in thoſe ancient days: From Enos the Enoſcaei, ſuch as profeſſed ſilence from all talk, and ſequeſtration from all men; And from Cainan the Cinaei, or Kenites, ſuch as lived in a regular, but an active Vocation. More of this in due time, but we read of no vow, or affected inſtitution of life into which the Patriarchs entred, we read of ſome illuminated Prophets, or Prophet among them, and that was Enoch. As he ſpake by the mouth of his holy Prophets, which have been ſince the world began, Luk. i. 70.
3. His next mark of glory follows, That he was an example of repentance to all Generations. They that are careful to expound theſe words in Eccleſiaſticus accurately are divided in the ſenſe. Some have ſearched among the Rabbines for their opinions of this, and one of them ſays, that wickedneſs did abound in the Age of Enoch, the foul crimes of Sorceries and Witchcrafts had begun to ſhew their blade, and Lamech was the ſeventh from Adam in the Race of Cain a Bigamiſt, and a Murderer. His ſins in all likelihood were ſcandalous and contagious at that time over a great part of the earth, and for theſe iniquities the Lord drowned the third part of the habitable world in Enochs time; and Enoch threatned an univerſal Deluge to all fleſh, if they did not repent, which indeed came to paſs; ſo his Doctrine and Propheſies gave notice of Repentance to all Generations. But Procopius ſays upon this Text, and he had it from ſome Jewiſh Scribes, that this holy man had been very incontinent and vicious before he begat Methuſalah,, but after that he proved ſo relenting a Convert, laid hold ſo faſt on God, becauſe he knew what a miſery it was to loſe him; that his few years of repentance did God more faithful ſervice than almoſt a thouſand years of innocence in the beſt of the Patriarchs. Which aſperſion upon this holy Saint, ſince it hath no ground to build upon, it is anſwered well enough by Cajetan; Enoch is twice commended in this Chapter, that he walked with God, in this Text, and within two Verſes before it, the ingemination of that puts it into more probability that he was a conſtant follower of good works from his youth up, till the time that God tranſlated him. Leaving theſe far-fetch'd conjectures, this is the moſt ſutable expoſition to the words, as I apprehend repentance is often taken for all that ſanctification and righteouſneſs which is in man that is born and conceived in ſin, Acts v. 31. God hath exalted Chriſt to give repentance to Iſrael, and forgiveneſs of ſins; but God gives a new heart, and a new ſpirit to Iſrael, and new obedience, when he gives them forgiveneſs of ſins. To repent is properly reverti à peccato, to return from a ſinful life, but ſometimes it is avertere à peccato, to turn a ſide from the broad way which leadeth to perdition, though the Child of God never went aſtray in it. So Enoch having a corruptible body which preſſed down the pious alacrity of the ſoul, and doing thoſe things by frailty ſometimes which he ought not to have done, his innocency and holineſs is called repentance, whereupon the Son of Syrach calls him an example of repentance to all Generations.
4. To be a Prophet, to be an example of repentance; both of theſe gives us an introduction to underſtand this Phraſe, that he walked with God; but the true key that opens it is the fourth thing, Ʋpon the earth was no man created like Enoch, ſays the Son of Syrach. A Cedar among other fair trees, a great Star among other leſſer lights, a moſt ſanctified man among many juſt ones, like the man in the Parable that was the trueſt ſervant to his Maſter, exceeded him that gained but two Talents, exceeded him that gained five Talents, he made return of ten Talents to his Lord, and bore the praiſe away from them all that had done very well before him, upon the earth was no man created like Enoch. We commend thoſe from our lips that are inter non peſſimè malos, not ſo bad as the worſt: But God commends them from his mouth that are inter optimos praecipui, the moſt excellent of them that are the beſt. Reuben was kinder towards Joſeph than the reſt of his Brethren, (ſo Reuben tells them of it, Gen. xlii. 22.) yet he was but unnatural. Jehu was a truer worſhipper of God than the Prieſts of Baal, yet wanted much of ſincerity. Gamaliel was more favourable to the Apoſtles than the reſt of the Judges, yet he did them unjuſtice, and was an unbelieving Phariſee. The Kingdom of heaven is not to be look'd for, upon aſſurance that there are greater ſinners than you: but hereby you ſhall try if the love of God be in you, when you pant and ſtrive with all your ſoul, and with all your might that none may be better. It is a pitiful, and indeed a diſhonourable praiſe to point out a man, and ſay he is religious, devout, or conſcionable as the world goes. Hath God ever promiſed to take meaſure from that form as a bad world goes, how he will give a man an heritage with the Angels in the world to come? To be an Hercules among the Argonautes, I mean the firſt Champion in the Lords cauſe in the firſt file, a Peter among the Diſciples, Loveſt thou me more than theſe? An Elias among Prophets, a Moſes an Aaron among his Prieſts, and Samuel among ſuch as called upon his name, an Enoch among the Patriarchs, upon the earth was no man created like him; this is the pitch we muſt deſire to grow unto, and not to ſay with the Proverb, Occupet extremum ſcabies; All is well if you be not the worſt of a wicked company. Whatſoever you know or hear of, that any Martyr or Confeſſor departed hath done for Chriſts ſake, it is a ſhame for you if you do not covet to do as much, or more than that, at leaſt accuſe your ſelf if you be not ſorry that your frailties make you come ſhort of the beſt. Lay your hand every one upon his own conſcience, and you may well ſay after me, sweet Jeſu, ſhould any of thy Creatures love thee better than I? Should any ſervant be more obedient than I? Any Martyr be willing to ſuffer more than I? Should Enoch that walked with God deſire to pleaſe thee more than I? Never will I give over to try if I can run before them, for none of thine Elect is ſo much endebted to thy bloudy Paſſion as I am, becauſe none of them had ſo many ſins to be forgiven. Preſs on to be the neareſt of them that ſhall ſtand before the preſence of the Lord, and account it among thy great ſins if thy heart do not pant and yearn to be equal with the principal of the Saints. And make not your eſtimation of a good man by this rule, that his vertues are more than his vices. Or as Guicciardine ſays, who had cauſe to know what he wrote, that Popes are praiſed for their goodneſs, when they do not exceed the wickedneſs of other men? and truſt not to that fleſhly ſloth, that a moderate competency of honeſty is well enough; Non omnes poſſunt eſſe Scipiones & Maximi; All men cannot be anointed with the oyl of gladneſs above their fellows. If Noah, and Abraham, and Moſes, had rouſed up their ſpirit no better, what ſhould the Church have done for exquiſite Semplars of Zeal and Faith, but if it had wanted all theſe, an abſolute pattern of holineſs had remained in Enoch, upon the earth was no man created like him, we muſt therefore carry ſome tranſcendent ſanctity in our notions, to know what it is to walk with God.
Firſt, It commends him that he had much converſation, or, as it were, a familiar friendſhip with God. Can two walk together unleſs they be agreed? Amos iii. 3. Agreement is not all, it imports as much as an endearing, and a ſociable benevolence. We took ſweet counſel together, and walked in the houſe of God as friends, Pſal. lv. 14. Let this embolden none to walk and ſtrout it in the body of the Church while others are at their Prayers in the Quire; they are more bold and familiar with God than welcome. I know not what greater contempt could be ſhewn by a civil man if he were preſent at the time of ſacred hours in one of the Moſques of Mahomet. But I will not digreſs; To walk with God is to go hand in hand like a loving Aſſociate, and I need not mince it to ſay, like the friend of God. We are all ſervants properly naturâ & debito, in our Nature, and in our debt to the Law. Neither do we ever ceaſe to be ſervants by the gift of grace, but it is an Evangelical priviledge, that ſome of thoſe that are ſervants, and obey his will in all things, ſhould be called the friends of God. So our Saviour ſays to his Diſciples, after he had given them a taſte of all ſaving knowledge,Joh. 15.15. Henceforth I call you not ſervants, for the ſervant knoweth not what his Lord doth, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Now although the condition that all men lived in before Chriſt came into the world was the ſtate of ſervants, yet ſuch Prophets and Patriarchs as were greatly illuminated with Evangelical faith, praeter rationem ſtatus, notwithſtanding the bondage of Nature, and of the Law, were vouchſafed this Title the friends of God. A thrice bleſſed name, which vindicates us from Captivity, it breaks our bonds aſunder, it makes us partakers of divine acquaintance, it conſigns us an intereſt in the love of Chriſt, more than we dare boaſt of it. And is this the way to procure it, to walk with God? What ſay you to walking through Fire and Sword? What think you of walking through the Valley of the ſhadow of death? Break not hands with ſuch a God, though it ſhould come to a moſt bitter exigent. But in that eaſe and ſafety that we live now, few or none are put to any hardneſs for Chriſts ſake. No League in the world more ſought for, more willingly accepted;Lib. 8. c. 6. no Amity leſs burdenſom, or more beneficial. St. Auſtin in his Confeſſions brings in a couple that ſerved the Roman Emperour, thus debating the matter: What can we look for in this Palace more than to be called the friends of the Emperour? This is no ſure unmovable favour when we have it: and how long muſt we wait and attend before we get it? Amicus Dei ſi eſſe voluero, ecce nunc fio; Let me turn to God to day, and deſire to be his friend, it ſhall be done inſtantly and never delayed. So they reſolved, though their courſes were excentrick to the way of honour and preferment, they would walk in righteouſneſs to be called the friends of Chriſt, and ſo Enoch walked with God.
Vera amicitia eſt idem velle, & idem nolle, ſays the Oratour; A friendſhip will hold faſt between them, that chuſe the ſame things, and refuſe the ſame things, and agree in all things. So that to walk with God ſo far till it grow to the tide of a friendſhip is no more nor no leſs than Fiat voluntas tua, The will of the Lord be done. The fore-cited Clemens in his lately revived Epiſtle, inſtead of ſaying that Enoch walked with God, phraſeth it thus, foreign, God found him to be a juſt man through all obedience, and ſo tranſlated him; and the Chaldee Paraphraſe, He walked in the fear of the Lord, turning neither to the right hand, nor to the left. I know the word being metaphorical may be varied, and followed in many ſenſes, and all according to a godly Canou. Gregory the Great deviſeth this diſtinction of the word out of his own ingenuity. Some walk from God as Apoſtates, and Demas that turned to the world. Some walk againſt God, or ſet their face againſt him, as the proud and rebellious; ſo the ſtiff-necked Iſraelites, Ye walk contrary to me, Lev. xvi. 21. But ſome on the laudable part may be ſaid to walk before God, as the Prophets; ſo John the Baptiſt was a forerunner of Chriſt, He went before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. Some walk after God, as humble Penitents, and thoſe that take up their Croſs and follow him. Finally, A religious Magiſtrate, that is ſolo Deo minor, whoſe power is from God, and uſeth that power as he ought, he walks with God, and he that deſpiſeth him deſpiſeth the Lord. Every whit of this may be maintained with good conſtruction, but leſt the phraſe ſhould be diſſected too much to the loſs of the ſenſe, I will rather be rude in expreſſion than ſubtil, to walk with God is to let him draw us after him, as far as his Commandments reach, and no further.
It is not material that there were neither Scriptures extant, nor the Tables of the Law divulged in the days of Enoch, certainly the Children of God in that Age were not left to themſelves to woſhip in a wild undiſtinct way, without ſome divine preſcription. Some Canon of Faith and good Works they had delivered them; it concerns the Providence of God, and that order which muſt neceſſarily be among them to ſay ſo, and by the extent of that revealed rule Enoch walked with God. Let all things be done according to the pattern which thou ſaweſt in the Mount, ſo the Law-giver himſelf to Moſes. Nothing muſt be changed, though you think for the better, but keep you cloſe to the Pattern in every part and proportion. Honorato jucundiſſimus honor eſt quem ipſe vult, it is St. Chryſoſtome's; The Majeſty of God takes it for an honour to do him honour by his own Commandment. Peter thought he had ſhewed himſelf a moſt obſequious Diſciple, and reverenced his Maſter more than all the reſt, when he would not let him waſh his feet, but Chriſt ſhewed him it muſt be ſo, and that particular recuſancy of his was to diſhonour him above his fellows. If you think that God will bate you one inch of that he hath commanded, you walk by your ſelf without him. Alas for that poor ſoul that is ſo deceived! whither will his feet carry him? Heaven and earth ſhall paſs away before one tittle of the Law doth periſh. Repent and turn to the Lord, and he will run forth to meet you; forgive one another, and Chriſt will forgive you, there he concurs with you; defraud no man and the righteous Lord will give you an inheritance, there he joyns with you. Hold him faſt to you in continual Prayer, and let him not go away till he give you a bleſſing, there he dwels with you. In all things bear in mind the will of the Lord be done, for no man walks with God, unleſs he be a complete obedient.
Above all other aberrations foreign, or will-worſhip is that which ſtrides quite over the way, and walks ſolitary by it ſelf, and not with God. All holy ſervice is fitly called new obedience. But can Will-worſhip, which is a ſtart of a mans own invention be called obedience in any latitude? I think not. For how can a man be ſaid to obey in that which was never enjoyned him? Obedience, and ſomewhat bidden, and impoſed to be done are relatives. His ſervants ye are to whom you obey, ſays St, Paul. Wherefore if you frame a Religion, or a part of Religion after your own fancy, you are your own ſervants and not God's, and you have no reaſon to look for wages from our heavenly Maſter. In vain do they worſhip me, teaching for Doctrines the Traditions of men. Vanum eſt quod fine ſuo deſtituitur; They that ſerve, ſerve for a reward, therefore a rewardleſs ſervice, which is threatned againſt Will-worſhip, is a vanity. But who are compriſed in this crime of Will-worſhip not to walk with God? Such as profeſs a proper, immediate, eſſential Worſhip of God of their own coining; but they want a great meaſure of underſtanding, or charity, that inveigh againſt arbitrary Ceremonies in that name, which are impoſed as mere accidental and circumſtantial parts of Religion, wherein not the proper Worſhip of God, but the manner of uſing the ſame is intended. Proper Worſhip of God is an action done immediatly to the honour of God in the act it ſelf, as Prayer and Preaching: Improper Worſhip is an act done with Gods Service, not directly and by it ſelf, but in conjunction with ſome proper act of Worſhip, as kneeling, holding up the hands and eyes, ſever theſe by themſelves, and they are no ſervice of God at all. David danced before the Ark in a Linnen Ephod. To dance, to wear a Linnen Garment are things of a mixt uſe, and therefore can be no parts of Gods proper immediate Worſhip, neither did David mean them ſo, but they are decencies, and laudable adjuncts of the very true Worſhip, and for their ſakes, far be it from us to think that Enochs example is violated, who walked with God.
You have heard now that there is a familiar heavenly friendſhip, and a complete obedience, without all admixtion of Will-worſhip, in the holy life of this Patriarch, that kept even with God in all his ways. Now thirdly, it makes this ſenſe, that Enoch was a principal upholder of that ſide that did ſincerely profeſs the true faith, he oppoſed himſelf ſtiffly to the Cainites, that is, to the Sinagogue of Satan; and he that condemns the evil world, and defies the faction of it, deſerves this praiſe, that he walks with God. In vitia alter alterum trudimus, ſays the heathen; Sen. Ep 41.Every wicked man draws his next fellow after him, and the moſt live rather by cuſtom than by rule and reaſon, running like thoſe Swine in the Goſpel, into which the Devil had entred, by whole herds into the Sea. But a man that eſteems his ſoul by that price which his dear Redeemer paid for it, will dare to ſet his face in a good cauſe againſt plurality, and multitudes, and fears not to ſtand up alone againſt an hoſt of the Prieſts of Baal, like Elias that walked ſolitary in the wilderneſs with the Lord, when Ahab and Jezabel had won the whole Land of Iſrael to Idolatry. Singularity, when it proceeds from ſelf opinion and pertinacy, it deſerves to be hooted at; but to divorce from men of erroneous minds, of malicious and filthy converſation, to be caſt off from ſuch, like a Pelican in the Wilderneſs, and like an Owl that is in the Deſart, is a ſingularity to be admired. As ſoon as ever the Devil left our Saviour at the end of the three Tentations, the words following are, Behold Angels came and miniſtred unto him. Whereupon one doth thus meditate, Qui expelllit à ſe Satanam allicit ad ſe Angelos; Sort not your ſelf with thoſe that have not the fear of God before their eyes, abandon impious Society, and you ſhall find heavenly comforters in your ſoul: Bid Satan get him hence, and the Angels take it for an invitation to come and walk with you. Lot lived like a ſtranger in his own City, he ſhut himſelf up, and barred his doors againſt thoſe filthy people. What could he do more to keep the ungodly from his vexy ſight? As David ſaid. Thus eſtranging himſelf from the evil doings of thoſe that were round about him, he was thought fit to give hoſpitality to Angels, and walkt out of Sodom with thoſe Angels, and when he lingred in that place, they laid hold of his hand, and pulled him away with ſome violence of love. Thus Enoch could not endure the Cainites, perhaps perſecuted them, perhaps was perſecuted by them, he would not partake of their fellowſhip, but ſhook off their duſt from his feet, and ſo it came to be ſaid that he walked with God.
After this that hath been ſpoken, I ought not to conceal from you any longer how the Septuagint have tranſlated theſe words, upon which I inſiſt, foreign, And Enoch pleaſed God. This muſt not be ſhuffled over without obſervation upon it, not only becauſe St. Chryſoſtome, and ſuch other Greek Fathers as I have peruſed, do ſo read the Text, nor only for the Son of Syrachs ſake, Ecclus. xliv. 16. who conſents with the lxxii. But for St. Pauls ſake, in whom we find the ſame character of him, Heb. xi. 5. Before his tranſlation he had this teſtimony, that he pleaſed God. The wiſdom of God alone beſt knows why there ſhould be ſuch a diverſity of terms, a diverſity I ſay, without any real difference, for it is but a Conſequent put for an Antecedent; he that walks in new obedience, eſchewing the company of the ungodly, and ſetting God always before him, conſequently he ſhall pleaſe the Lord. If we had ſuch a Maſter as Nabal was, ſo crooked and unpropitious that none could ſpeak to him, or pleaſe him: If we ſerved under the Lord as Jacob did under Laban, who had nothing but murmuring and perſecution for all his fidelity, then we might croſs our arms and ſay we had loſt our oyl and our labour. But our ſervice is full of benevolence and encouragement, Euge bone ſerve, Well done good and faithful ſervant, every title chimes Alacrity. And yet it follows, that ſervant was foreign, faithful, what, In all words and works? No, faithful in a little. Enoch pleaſed, becauſe God would be pleaſed with his imperfect righteouſneſs, it is his indulgence to call things that are not, as things that are, he will give a days wages for an hours work in the Parable. If there be a willing mind it ſhall be commended according to that which a man hath, not according to that which he hath not; he that affects the right way, and would not ſwerve from it, ſhall carry this badge upon his name, that he pleaſed, and walked with God, Quamvis claudicet & labatur; though ſometimes he limps, ſometimes he ſtumbles through the infirmity of the fleſh. Our renowned Patriarch in my Text was a ſinner from his mothers womb, for Adam begat a Son in his own likeneſs, after his image, but that likeneſs was the ſimilitude, yea, and the very eſſence, I may ſay, of ſinful fleſh. Yet ſuch a Son of Adam doth pleaſe, being made by adoption and grace the Son of God.
But I have not ſaid all, nay, not a moiety what it is to pleaſe our holy Father. For his love and complacency is not a bare affection like Man's, Amor Dei in effctu, non in affectu ſitus eſt. Where he is pleaſed he doth not affect a thing only Theorically, but will effect ſome good for it, as Aeneas ſaid of his followers, Nemo ex hôc numero mihi non donatus abibit; All that did attend his very games ſhould have ſome reward for their labour. God is not unrighteous to forget your love and your labour which you have ſhewed toward his name, Heb. vi. 10. Pleaſe not your ſelf, even as Chriſt alſo pleaſed not himſelf, ſays St. Paul, Rom. xv. 3. And you ſhall walk before the Lord in the Land of the living, Pſal. cxvi. 9. Placebo Domino, I ſhall pleaſe the Lord in the Land of the living, ſo the Vulgar Latine readeth it. More preciſely to the cauſe. In ſome ſenſe all the Creatures, and their natural operations do pleaſe the Lord, but in a ſupernatural order nothing doth pleaſe him, but that into which he hath put a ſupernatural bonity, and thoſe good effects which are wrought in man by his own grace. He doth not only love and delight in them, but will remunerate them, with this ſober reſtriction, which might pacifie many hot contentions if the Devil were not too ſtrong, Bona opera non habent condignitatem ad praemium coeleſte, ſed quandam ordinabilitatem; that is, good works have no intrinſecal worth or value to claim eternal life,Heb. 11.5. but through the gracious promiſe of God they are ordained unto it. By Faith Enoch was tranſlated that he ſhould not ſee death. Faith indeed is an ambulatory thing, it hath no reſt till it ſee God, and walks from one degree to another, from righteouſneſs to righteouſneſs, and never ſtands ſtill, but in the clear Viſion of the Beatifical Eſſence it walks no more, but ſtands before the face of the Lord for ever.
From thoſe notions which I have paſſed over grounded upon Text and Reaſon, I proceed laſt of all to give them a little room in my diſcourſe, that have made either probable or unprobable divinations upon the word. The Jeruſalem Targum inſtead of Enoch walked, reads it more at large, he ſerved or laboured in the truth before the Lord. Whether he were Ruler or Prieſt that Gloſs decides it not, or both Ruler and Prieſt, as they were coincident in the perſon of Melchiſedech, and I believe long before him, truth is a Princes care as well as a Prophets; he is Cuſtos utrinſque tabulae, and ſhall anſwer to the King of Kings, how his people diſcharged their duty to God, as well as to their Neighbour. But by whomſoever that good work is wrought, that truth ſhall flouriſh upon the earth, by the power and authority of the Scepter, or by the diligence and painfulneſs of the Miter, ſuch a one ſhall have a bleſſed name that he walks with God, that he is legatus à làtere, he ſtirs not from his ſide, he is ſet upon his right hand, and ſhall remain among the bleſſed at that right hand for ever. But howſoever I may be perſwaded that Enoch was a Ruler, and ſome great Government lay upon his ſhoulders, yet his intereſt was more than ſo in labouring for the truth, he was a diligent inſtructor of the people by word and communication, St. Jude hath rehearſed a piece of a Sermon that he made, wherein he preached of a better life to come. Here again I muſt have recourſe to the Idiom of the Scripture, wherein I will ſhew, that the very phraſe to walk with God doth imply a pleaſing or acceptable miniſtration of office before the Lord; as 1 Sam. ii. 30 I ſaid indeed, it is a meſſage to old Eli, that thy houſe, and the houſe of thy father ſhould walk before me for ever; that is, that thou and the houſe of thy Father ſhould execute the office of a Prieſt, and offer ſacrifice before me. And let it imprint this in your mind, what veneration is due to the divine Oracles of truth when they are delivered unto you.Eph. 6.20. We are Embaſſadors for Chriſt, ſays St. Paul, but you muſt abſtract that word from any earthly ſimilitude; we come indeed in the name of the King of heaven, not as from him that is abſent, but inviſible: We do not only come from him to ſpeak to men (priviledge enough to our perſon) but, in the very hour that we deliver the ſacred will unto you with fear and reverence, we walk with God. This will not let me pretermit what Origen ſays, and Irenaeus likewiſe, was contained in the Apocryphal Book of Enoch, Legatione functus eſt ad Angelos, that he was ſent an Embaſſadour from the Sages and Patriarchs of the world unto the Angels. I will not go further in the Fiction. The Hebrews had more leiſure to tell ſtrange ſtories than you have to hear them; I believe the meaning is, he walked to ſeveral places of the world to ſettle things in order in divers Kingdoms; as when Samuel judged Iſrael, he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Iſrael in all thoſe places. 1 Sam. 7.16.A weariſom labour for Governours to make a journey of ſo many days and months, but ſafety and the bleſſing of God certainly is upon it, becauſe they give no reſt to their body till they ſee with their eyes how Religion and Juſtice are managed in the remoteſt places of their dominions, this is to walk with God.
I am now making to the Concluſion for this time, with the improbable, and indeed impoſſible ſuppoſition of thoſe Expoſitors that would make Enoch a Prior or Abbot, or at leaſt a member of ſuch a Society, ſome regular Canon that vowed ſtricter orders in obligation of inter-mutual obedience than all others that were called by the name of the Lord. It ſeems the Monks do greatly want good men of their livery that they would hedge in thoſe into their body that never dreamt of their profeſſion. And I wonder they would accept of Enoch for a Votary, who begat Sons and Daughters (and I hope they will acknowledge in lawful Matrimony) after he walked with God. St. Chryſoſtome draws no other Doctrine from my Text, and this very vehemently, foreign: For Enochs ſake let no man think that a married life is any impediment to pleaſe the Lord, Cornelius à Lapide the Jeſuit could not let this obſervation alone, but tells us that Enoch ſhall live upon the earth again, before the day of judgment, for three years and half, and fight with Antichriſt, and be ſlain, and then he ſhall be unmarried. I think ſo too, for if he ſhould come into the world at this time (as all that tradition is a moſt ſickly dream) but it he ſhould, he muſt bear the age of four thouſand years, and that were too old in conſcience to marry. But put caſe upon his return he would marry again, how would the Jeſuit forbid the Banes? Why he drives it to this caſe: Enoch was the Great-grand-father of Noah; Noah ſince the Floud, the common Progenitor of all fleſh, therefore when Enoch appears again upon earth he ſhall be the Father of all women deſcending from him in a right line, and between ſuch perſons no Matrimony can be contracted. This is a ſubtilty as wiſely laid, as the Sadduces queſtion about the woman that had married ſeven huſbands, Whoſe wiſe ſhall ſhe be in the Reſurrection? But becauſe the Jeſuits do ſo much commend Virginity above all things, I would their fathers in the fleſh could have been perſwaded to have kept it, then the Church had wanted them, who are the only impediment on that part, that probably no peace can be made among our Chriſtian unchriſtian diviſions.
Now they that do invent certain forms of Monaſtical Inſtitutions from the beginning of the world, divide them into two Sects, the one from Cainan in an active life, ſuch as ſung ſweet hymns, or miniſtred in ſacrifices, and converſed with the world, Certainly theſe went the truer way, the active life is moſt charitable, and furtheſt from tentation. For as Daws and Bats will breed about an houſe where there is no inhabitant; ſo many ſins will creep into a ſoul that is not operative. But they of the other order inſtituted by Enos, ſays a late Pariſian Capuchin, lived not with men, but affected ſolitude; ſpake not to men, but affected ſilence. By this Deſcription, it ſeems to me, he makes them abhor the two beſt properties of a man, who is animal ſociabile, ſermocinativum, the only creature on earth fit to unite himſelf in an orderly ſociety, and the only creature on earth to whom God hath given ſpeech to utter the conceptions of his mind. Their purpoſe is, I think, to commend a man dead unto the delights of the world, not taken with the baits of pleaſure like a beaſt, and they make a beaſt of him by renouncing the beſt parts of humanity. To enjoy a mans days with ſome ſweetneſs of delight is far from reprehenſion; pleaſures indeed are to be mitigated, for a little pleaſure is enough to ſeaſon a mans life, as a little ſalt is enough with ones meat, therefore the exceſs is to be reproved as the origen of much iniquity; but this I will ſay in favour of a life that is lead with much alacrity, the moſt horrible ſins that are do uſually come to paſs through ſullen melancholy. Man was firſt put into Paradiſe to ſpend his days in content and joy. Why ſhould he live ſo oppoſite to the ſtate of Paradiſe as to ſpend all his Age in ſowreneſs, and ſad contemplations? Adam was appointed to dreſs the Garden of God, to keep the trees, and herbs, and graſs well pruned, and ſhorn, and even. Is not the whole world now the Garden of God? And ſhall every elegancy, mirth, and pleaſurable recreation in it be checkt for wanton and abominable? Such cenſorious ſowre-looking Phariſees, of all the reſt of the Jews, Ainſworth. Num. 12 8.did leaſt pleaſe our Saviour. The great Rabbi Ben Maimon ſays, that Propheſie comes not upon men either when they are ſorrowful, or when they are ſloathful, but when they are joyful. Therefore the Sons of the Prophets had before them Pſalteries, and Timbrels, and Harps when they came down the Mountains, 1 Sam. x. 5. A good Chriſtian therefore may walk with God with a chearful merry heart, yea, and dance before God as Miriam and David did. Happy are they that can ſuffer tribulations for Gods name without repining; and no leſs happy are they that drink of the brook in the way of comforts and pleaſures without ſurfeiting. The Lord ſanctifie them both unto us through his holy Spirit and grace. AMEN.