A Century of Sermons, Sermon 1
THE FIRST SERMON UPON NOAH.
GEN. viii. 20, 21.
And Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean Beaſt, and of every clean Fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the Altar.
And the Lord ſmelled a ſweet ſavour.
IT is impoſſible to chooſe a better method than Elihu did to find out wiſdom: Repetam ſcientiam meam à principio, Job xxxvi. 3. I will fetch my knowledge from far, or from the very beginning. But why do I call it Elihu's method? When behold a greater than Elihu, impugning the frivolous divorcements of marriages among the Jews, which then had common paſſage, doth thus overthrow them, Ab initio non fuit ſic; It was not ſo from the beginning. From which words I am bold to pronounce, that this muſt be the leading rule of Divine Learning, that all Religion muſt be tried and allowed from the firſt, and moſt ancient Ordinations. Now we have four Ages to run through upon that examination. Firſt for the Age before the Floud, whereof Almighty God hath left us a very ſhort and confuſed memorial; I will not ſay, as ſome do, that the Church began when Enos was born to Seth, although we find it written, Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord, Gen. iv. ult. Nor from the Sacrifices of Cain and Abel, for the tradition of the Hebrews hath reaſon in it, that Adam himſelf had often ſacrificed before, but the firſt hint of Religion in that Age is at this mark, where the Lord made woman, and brought her unto man, which was a myſtery of Chriſt and his Church, Eph. v. 12. Secondly, if you will know how the fear of God was firſt profeſſed after the Floud, it is written in my Text. Thirdly, If you will be acquainted with the firſt inſtitution of the Moſaical Law, enquire for it at that time when God appeared in glory at Mount Sinai. And fourthly, If you will ſearch to the bottom, when the Law was quite abrogated, and the Goſpel was purely in force, reckon from the coming down of the Holy Ghoſt, at the Feaſt of Whitſontide.
Among theſe four I have wittingly light upon the ſecond, that I may entreat before you, how Religion was firſt managed preſently after the Deluge under the Law ot Nature. For this ſeems to me to borrow ſomewhat of all the reſt; ſo that ſpeaking of this one they will all be remembred. The Myſtery of Chriſt and his Church knit together is not here forgotten, where the clean Beaſts and the clean Fowls are laid upon the Altar. The Sacrifices of Moſes Law certainly were patterned by this example; and the inſpiration of the holy Spirit muſt needs be in the Sacrifices work, from whence the Lord ſmelt a ſweet ſavour. If your attention be now ready to receive the diſtribution of theſe words into their ſeveral parts, they may thus be divided into two principal branches; here is the material part, and the formal part, the body and the ſoul of that Divine Worſhip which Noah performed unto the Lord. He builded an Altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean Beaſt, and of every clean Fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the Altar; that is the matter, the viſible body of his good work: And the Lord ſmelled a ſweet ſavour, there is the inviſible part, or the Soul. The material outward work contains theſe three things: 1. That he offered burnt offerings. 2. Of every clean Beaſt, and of every clean Fowl. 3. Ʋpon an Altar which he built. And Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings on the Altar. In the formal part there are two things to be ſpoken of, ſenſibile, and ſenſus. The ſenſibile, that this Sacrifice had a ſweet ſavour. 2. There was a quick ſenſe that took it, and that is the Lords, the Lord ſmelled a ſweet ſavour. And Noah builded an Altar, &c.
I take the material part firſt in hand, and this is the principal compoſition in the matter, that Noah offered burnt-offerings to the Lord. This was it, I perceive, why Noah thought it long till the Floud were aſſwaged, and ſent one bird after another to learn if the waters were faln, that he might come forth, and worſhip him with an holy Worſhip that made both the Flouds and the dry Land. As a conſcionable man recovering from a perilous ſickneſs, which brought him even to deaths door, thinks every hour ſeven till he preſent himſelf in the Church before the Lord, that he may praiſe his name in the Congregation: So the heart of this Patriarch had been ſo long full of meditations, all thoſe days that he was ſhut up in the Ark, how he and his Poſterity alone were preſerved from the common Deluge, that his deſires grew reſtleſs, and he ſent forth the Dove three ſeveral times and no leſs, to bring him better news, if he might come forth, and do his homage for the poſſeſſion of the Earth upon an Altar of earth, and that the Incenſe of his devotion might ſmoke up to heaven in Sacrifice. Now I lift up this example before you, to let you behold why we are born, and for what uſe we have our Station in this Globe of Creatures. The Lord hath opened our Mothers Womb, to bring us forth into the light, as he opened the door of the Ark to ſet Noahs feet in a large room: We were ſhut up in a place which God had appointed for us, till our paſſage was made into the world, almoſt as long as he; now we have our egreſs, and the liberty of the Earth and Air. To what end all this? What is appointed for man? Which way ſhould his buſineſs tend? To enjoy the pleaſures of the Age? To extend our appetite over the abundance of all things which the earth affords? To build and plant? To be renowned, and leave a Poſterity behind us? No, that account is ill caſt up: for you may ſee in this condition of Noah, that he, and all that were with him, were let forth of the Ark as a people then born again into a new world, and the end was to offer up ſpiritual Sacrifices with a clean heart, and while we have any being to praiſe the Lord. When the Angel had delivered the Apoſtles out of the common-Priſon into which they were caſt, ſays he, Go, ſtand, and ſpeak to the people in the Temple all the words of this life: So we are ſet at liberty from our Mothers Womb,Acts v. 20. from that Ark to which we were committed for a time, that we may go to the Courts of the houſe of our God, even as Noah came abroad, and took ſeiſin of the earth immediately to make an Altar thereof, and thereon to offer Sacrifice to the ſtrength of his deliverance.
The queſtion will be, what direction the holy man had to worſhip the Lord with this kind of Service? Lay it down for that which muſt be granted. He that makes his own brain the model of his Religion, ſhall have little thanks for his forwardneſs. Aſcribe unto the Lord the honour due unto his name; honour of Duty and Precept is beſt, that which is redundant, and of mans excogitation is frivolous. Indeed, Ceremonies, for the moſt part, are unpreſcribed, that particular Churches may be their own carvers in them; only let them beware that they uſe their liberty diſcreetly: But the offering of burnt Sacrifices is a matter of ſubſtance, how came this into Noahs heart to do it? By divine information certainly. At ſome time, about the beginning of time, God did appoint a form of Religion to Adam and his Poſterity, which in the Breviary of the Book of Geneſis is omitted, which Leſſon was read to Cain and Abel, from whom they undertook the ſolemnity of Sacrifice; and the Candle was lighted from hand to hand till the Tradition came ſafe to Noah: Or thus very briefly, Which God did deliver to Adam, which Adam did commit ro Jared, he to Methuſalem, which Methuſalem did commend to Noah. Never imagine that they were appointed preciſely about the food of their body, that is in the Letter of the Book, and no inſtruction delivered for the food of their Soul. That were ſuch an omiſſion that the worſt Lawgiver would prevent, much more the wiſeſt. The Lord did ſet his holy Patriarchs in order, from ſucceſſion to ſucceſſion (till the Law was written) to communicate true Religion. And it is St. Hieroms rule, Omne verum à quocunque dicitur à ſpiritu ſancto eſt; Every mouth that ſpeaks truth,Heb. 11.4. ſpeaks it from the Holy Ghoſt. From Abel downward all thoſe, whoſe Oblations had a ſweet ſavour, offered by Faith; if by Faith, then by Precept and Inſtruction; for Faith comes by hearing, Rom. x. 17. Sacrifice then was that Divine Worſhip which God revealed did pleaſe him: that was the general approbation. I do not ſay, that every time they kept that duty they had need of a new and a ſpecial Commiſſion. St. Ambroſe ſays, that Noah did this good work of his own genius,Lib. de Noa, & areâ c. 12. and not by any new particular Commandment: Qui debitum gratiae ut à ſe exigatur expectat ingratus eſt; A man muſt not ſtay after he hath received a benefit, till God ſay unto him, thank me now: for ſuch thankfulneſs were ingratitude. Yet St. Ambroſe hath far more voices againſt him than of his part, that this holy Father had ſpecial directions for the ſolemnizing this Sacrifice, and that expreſly it was revealed unto him, upon the taking in of ſeven of the clean beaſts into the Ark, Gen. vii. 2. Of clean beaſts by ſevens, that three Pairs were for propagation, and the ſingle odd one, the ſeventh of clean Beaſts and clean Fowls, the celebs animal, the pure Creature which mixt with no female, was to be dedicated in an whole burnt-offering to the Lord. And then this example will ſo little favour Will-worſhip, that it utterly beats it down, the invention of man had ſo little hand in it, that it was Scientia à Deo indita, an inſpiration immediately put into the Prophet by the will of God.
The reaſon why the bloud of Beaſts was poured out to the Lord, and well accepted of him, will be ripe to be rendred by and by, when I have firſt ſhewn in a word, that Religion did never diſcord from it ſelf by mutation of times. The Saints in all Ages had the ſame Faith, the ſame Worſhip, the ſame Hope and expectation. Pietas ante legem, in lege, poſt legem piiſſime ſibi concordat; Piety in the Law, before the Law, and ſince the Law is conſtantly the ſame, and did never vary. Mark therefore from this Text, that the Levitical Ordinances of Moſes in many things are but a renovation and amplification of Ceremonial Cuſtoms before the Law. I ſaid in many things, that I might not fall into the ſame error with them, who have overlaſht, that all the Ceremonial Law was in uſe and practice with the Patriarchs, and that Moſes did but compile and gather it up into a body. If theſe men had been askt, where they did read of the Levites, and all the ritual Orders of the Prieſthood before Moſes, where concerning the trial of Leproſie, of Jealouſie, and an hundred things more, I know they muſt be gravell'd, and could not anſwer: Nay, in the next Chapter, and the third verſe, ſays the Lord to Noah, Every moving thing that liveth ſhall be meat for you; but many living things were prohibited to the Jews in the Law of Ordinances, that they ſhould not eat them. But this ground, I know, cannot be ſhaken, that many parts of the Ceremonial Law had clear paſſage in the Church preſently after the Floud, long before they came forth in Moſes name. And the whole Moral Law was acknowledged to be juſt and righteous even from the beginning of the world. Sacrifices, Altars, diſtinction of clean from unclean, abſtaining from bloud and things ſtrangled, Vows, the Brother to raiſe up ſeed unto the Brother that died without Iſſue, theſe are all purely Ceremonial, and yet in practice before ever Jacob went down into Egypt, and that was 210 years, before ever the Levitical Inſtitutions were enacted: And that all the Ten Commandments were ingrafted in the good ſeeds of nature, there are ſuch evident examples for them in all the book of Geneſis, that it will be leſs tedious for you to ruminate upon them, than for me to remember them. But as a Book which is ill ſet forth, or rare to be had, is ſometimes reprinted again in a good Edition, by them that are careful to propagate Learning: So thoſe things Moral and Ceremonial which were in uſe before, were revived again when the Law was committed to Writing, and called the Scripture; partly becauſe the Age of man grew ſhort, and the Tradition of Religion through the more hands it went was the more corrupted, and becauſe the Devil did ſuperſeminare in corde, ſcatter ſo many Tares among the Wheat, that the pure Law was ſcarce to be found in mans heart; and partly men were grown ſo guilty of the Law, that they would not look into their own hearts, where they found thoughts accuſing them; Facti ſunt fugitivi à cordibus ſuis, ſays St. Auſtin, they ſhunned to look into their own knowledge and conſcience, which did condemn them, therefore it was neceſſary to have the Law written, that it might come unto men, ſince men did run from it. But the effects and grounds both of Ceremonial Sacrifices, and Moral Precepts were in force from the beginning. And we may ſay with Solomon, There is no new thing under the Sun, that which is called new hath been already of old time, which was before us, Eccleſ. i. 10.
And becauſe all things which are written are written for our inſtruction, I will ſpare ſome time to ſhew, that it concerns us, even after the ceſſation of all Sacrifice, to learn, why the Lord would be honoured with the bloud of beaſts, and with the fat of Sacrifices.Chryſoſt. One of the beſt and choiceſt of the Fathers thought it ſuch a groſs kind of ſerving of God, to kill Oxen and Sheep, and throw their fleſh into the fire, ſuch a tyrannizing over the Creature rather than a worſhiping of the Creator, that he eſteemed it was granted the Ceremonial Church, becauſe it could not be ſhifted. For ſince it was to be feared that the Iſraelites had caſt their eye upon thoſe fond cuſtoms of the Gentiles, and did affect to imitate them, rather than they ſhould ſacrifice to falſe Gods, God did permit they ſhould ſacrifice to his name to prevent Idolatry. But I anſwer, The moſt ancient and primitive uſe of ſacrificing, ſuch as Noahs was in my Text, is not ſo to be ſlighted. For a bad thing by a toleration is not made half a vertue, nay, after toleration it ſtill remains more than half a Vice. Moſes did allow a Bill of divorce for the hardneſs of mens hearts, but that which is allowed for the hardneſs of the heart is yet a ſin after the allowance: the connivance of the Law cannot make any faſhions of pride excuſable: and the farming out of Stews for Penſions cannot make Fornication venial. But I pray you what Idolatry was ſuſpicious in Abels time, or at this time when Noah came new out of the Ark? And yet even then Sacrifice was, and was a ſweet ſavour. And the ground of the objection is miſtaken; for who can ever prove, that the Children of Iſrael had learnt the formes of ſacrificing in the Land of Egypt? It is impoſſible. For the Egyptians hated ſacrificing, and killing of Cattel; wherefore Moſes would not conſent to Pharaoh to ſacrifice to God in that Land: Says he,Exod. 8 26. Shall we ſacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not ſtone us? And the Egyptians continued ſuch long after Chriſt, when the Satyriſt fell thus upon them, Nefas illic foetum jugulare capellae, carnibus humanis veſci licet, &c. This hath declared that the Ordinance of Sacrificing from the beginning was not a bare toleration, to divert men from laying their Offering upon the Altars of their Idols.
But to make all perſpicuous, we are to harken to the judgment of Irenaeus; Iren. lib. 4. Hereſ. Hieron. in 7. cap. Hier.and St. Hierom, that Sacrificing was an holy Worſhip which God did like and allow from the beginning of the world; and for many Ages there was no preſcription for the manner, all holy men had their freedom for quantùm and quomodo, for how much, for when it ſhould be done; but when the ſeed of Abraham proved recreants, and fell in love with the ſuperſtition, and worſe than ſuperſtition, then, and not before, was the Levitical Law drawn out at large, to command all the true Worſhipers of God to follow that written preſcription in all their Sacrifices; That is, when the Molten Calf was ſet up by Aaron and the People to provoke God, when they offered burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings unto it, the Lord ſaw it was time no more to leave them to themſelves to offer indefinitely, and indeterminately how they liſt; but after that he bound them to thoſe Levitical rules, whereof Moſes made an entire book. Says God, ye ſhall break down the Altars and Groves of the Gods of the heathen, but the Lord will chuſe a place for you, and thither ye ſhall bring your burnt-offerings, ye ſhall not do after all things that we do here this day,Deut. 12.8. every man whatſoever is right in his own eyes. That is their ancient liberty in ſacrificing after what manner they pleaſed was reſtrained, after the adoration of the Calf, for fear of further Idolatry.
Sacrifice therefore was not barely a toleration for avoidance of Idolatry in the firſt inſtitution, but properly had many parts of Religious Worſhip in it, which are theſe: Firſt, the mind of him that brought the offering was bent to honour God, that he was the giver of all things, and the end to which all things were to be referred. Which reaſon the Schoolmen very well put into this Propoſition, Emanant ex fide ſacrificia, quae ampliſſimè de Deo ſentit; The Religion of Sacrificing proceeds out of Faith, which eſteems moſt devotionately of Gods excellent greatneſs, and in the act of Sacrificing it is carried up to worſhip God in his inviſible glory. And ſurely ſome Litany or Collects of Prayers were ſaid at the ſame time, with ſuch like Ejaculations in them as theſe: We lay this gift on thy Altar, O Lord, to acknowledge that every living thing is thine; this is a Teſtimony that thine is the Power and the Dominion over all things; let every thing do thee ſervice, for thou art the Saviour both of Man and Beaſt;Pſal. 36 7. the life of every thing upon earth is in thy hand, but thou alone art immortal, thou art the ſame and endureſt for ever: or ſuch a form of ſupplication as came from Davids mouth, when he offered for the building of the Temple,1 Chron. 29.14. Who am I, and what is my people, that we ſhall be able to offer ſo willingly after this ſort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own hand have we given thee.
Now the rudeneſs of the old World, I may ſay, did require theſe leſſons to be taught and repeated often in viſible figures, in leſſons that might be felt as well as heard, which were fit to be written not in ink alone, but even in the bloud of Sheep, and of Goats. A viſible ſign is a fair mark of remembrance for them that are ſlow to learn. They that diſtruſt their memory will wear a gimmal ring, nay a thread or a ruſh about the finger to bring buſineſs into mind, which might have been forgotten. And God diſtruſting mans memory put him into the way of ſacrificing, a good ſhore or ſupport for ſuch a uſe; ſo by that object which did incur into all the ſenſes the Divine honour was kept in an everlaſting remembrance. Well then in this very ſervice wherein they brought ſomewhat unto the Altar, yet it was the Lords purpoſe to give, and not to take. Nothing is left to him in an whole Burnt-offering, no more than a Prince gets when his Subjects make Bonfires at, or upon the memory of his Inauguration. Julian the Emperor ſcoffing at all the Royal Ceſars that had been before him, gives Antoninus Pius the praiſe before them all, for this ſaying. He being askt by Silenus what was the end of his life, and of all his actions, he anſwered to imitate the Gods. And wherein conſiſts that imitation, ſays Silenus. Antoninus rejoyns foreign, to ſtand in need of little, and to be beneficial to many; that's the true blazon indeed of the Divine dignity, to want nothing, and to do good to all. Gods honour was recognized in ſacrifice, that was the end of it; but our Goods and Oblations were nothing to him, and therefore the elementary part of their gratitude was conſum'd to nothing: It was a Law not to be broken for the bloud of every Sacrifice to be ſpilt before the Altar, and the fat to be burnt in the fire; the bloud ſtood for the life which we breath, the fat for the abundance of all increaſe which we enjoy; now we ought to confeſs that we owe both our life and our ſubſtance to the Eternal Majeſty, yet our thankfulneſs could return nothing to him, but it is ſpilt and conſumed to nothing. Unto theſe two bleſſings which the Jews did enjoy by his mercy long life, and rich means to maintain it, ſanguis & adeps, we have received two bleſſings ten thouſand times richer; firſt that the Moſt High did offer up his Son on the Croſs for our ſakes, and then he did as it were ſacrifice the Holy Ghoſt unto Man, ſending him down in cloven tongues as it had been of fire; theſe are ſanguis and adeps, the beſt bloud and the beſt fat or unction in the world. O let us not forget his honour and goodneſs to make continual mention of it, and ſince the Father hath ſacrificed as it were the Son and the Holy Ghoſt to us, let us ſacrifice our ſelves to the holy and individed Trinity both bloud and fat, both life and fortunes, both ſoul and ſubſtance.
Secondly by ſlaying a Beaſt in Sacrifice the humble Penitent did confeſs his unworthineſs, and the guiltineſs of his ſins, which made him deſerve to be quite conſumed by the anger of the Lord, even as the fleſh of a Sheep or Goat was burnt in the fire. As the Ninevites in their humiliation caſt aſhes upon their heads, that ſuch a ſpectacle of deſolation might ſpeak their mind, that they and their City did juſtly deſerve to become aſhes and deſolation. Such a Ceremony in the Injunctions of Penance hath often been impoſed upon infamous Delinquents, to hold a wax Candle lighted in their hand before the people, which was a ſilent confeſſing, that as the Taper waſted away with the flame, ſo their iniquities made them fit to be burnt in Hell fire, but that they hoped the Lord would be merciful. The old Manichaeans therefore, and the modern Anabaptiſts had ſmall reaſon to reject the Books of Moſes, becauſe he delivered a form of Religion, which conſiſted much in the ſlaughter of Birds and Cattle: I am ſure Chriſt allowed that old way, while it was a way, to be very laudable, both by his Precept, Luke v. 14. He bad the Leper whom he had cured, Go thy ſelf to the Prieſt, and offer for thy cleanſing according as Moſes commanded: and by partaking no doubt every year as well as at his laſt Supper of the Paſchal Lamb, a Rememorative according to the preſent point in hand, that the Children of Iſrael ſhould confeſs how their firſt-born deſerved to have been ſlain as well as the firſt of the Egyptians were, and as well as that Lamb was whereof they eat, if juſtice had been ſtrictly executed upon them, as it was upon the Egyptians. Certainly this was no ſmall profit ariſing out of Sacrifice, which made a contrite man diſcern his own ſins and unworthineſs, wherein he compared himſelf with the Beaſt that periſhed; And this was wont to be done in the Law by one annual Ceremony more ſolemn than ordinary, wherefore St. Paul ſays, in thoſe Sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of ſins every year, Heb. x. 3. and in the uſual Sin-offering, which came often to the Altar, according as ſuch as were laden with ſins did unburden their conſcience. And I will interpoſe one thing in a touch and a way, to convince their obſtinacy, that hold it no way material for the peace of their mind, to have the abſolution of their ſins pronounced unto them by the lips of the Prieſt; ſuch a one for ought I can ſee in this opinion, thinks himſelf to make a Church alone, without the Communion of Saints, yet as he is convinced by the power of the Keys committed to the Apoſtles and their Succeſſors under the Goſpel, ſo the Lord did refute him by the Ceremony of the Sin-offering under the Law; for one part of the Sin-offering was burnt to God, an the Prieſt had the other part, ad ſignificandum quod expiatio peccatorum ſit à Deo per miniſterium Sacerdotum, Aquin. prius. 2. qu. 102. ar. 3.to prove ſymbolically, that God did remit ſins by the miniſtry of his Prieſts, and therefore God had the main ſhare, and the Prieſt the remaining portion of the Offering.
But alas, though this ſecond reaſon were very uſeful to the Jews while they were like Elementary Children fed with Signs and Figures, yet now we Chriſtians have other principles, ſtronger meat; for what need we confeſs our unworthineſs, and what puniſhment we deſerve, over the Carkaſs of a Beaſt, when we ſee much better what penalty remains unto us, if God would be extreme to mark what is done amiſs, who ſpared not the life of his only Son when he bore the perſon of our tranſgreſſions. And there's the third reaſon, which is the full and complete uſe of all the ancient Sacrifices, it was to prefigure the immolation, the bloudſhedding, the Sacrifice of Jeſus Chriſt: thoſe were the Parables of the Old Teſtament, as I may call them, and Chriſts Death was the intepretation of them all: Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the ſins of the world, ſays John the Baptiſt, Agnus qui redemit oves, the Lamb that redeemed all the Sheep which hear his voice: Behold the Lamb of God ſlain from the beginning of the world (Revel. xiii. 8.) ſays John the Divine, ſlain perſonally under Pontius Pilate, but ſlain repreſentatively from the beginning of the world, in the immolation of all thoſe beaſts, whoſe blood by faith did embrew the Altar: The bloud of Bulls and of Rams, the ſlaughter of the Morning and Evening Sacrifice did all belong to the acknowledgment of the ſame reckoning, which at laſt was fully diſcharg'd by the bloud of Chriſt: thoſe were but like petty ſums to pay the Intereſt in the mean time, at laſt the Principal, the whole Debt was diſcharg'd by that moſt Royal ranſom of our Saviour. In a word, all thoſe bloody Oblations were like John Baptiſt forerunners of Chriſt, Indentures ſealed with bloud, that the Redeemer would come and die for his People. Not the leaſt Sparrow which was offered for cleanſing, but might move our Saviour to ſay unto the Jews, If yes believed in Moſes, ye would believe alſo in me. Now for as much as the Holy Ghoſt hath made us able to interpret obſcure things ſince the comming of Chriſt, how fluent and facil are theſe meditations to us, to diſcern our Lord in every clean offering which was offered up by Noah? in every Lamb which came to the office of the Sons of Aaron? with great difficulty did the Patriarchs pick out that conſtruction. When we read of a Sacrifice, we ſee as much in it as if Chriſts Paſſion were repreſented on a Stage. Bernard made a pious and an eloquent gradation, how faith gathered ſtrength by degrees, being a little ſpark with thoſe that were ordinary Believers before the Law, then a candle under the Law, lumen in laterna, no more, as David ſaid in his daies, thy word is a Lantern unto my feet, and a light unto my paths; then like a flaming Beacon in the time of the Goſpel, lumen ſuper montem, nay ſuper coelum, more than a candle upon a hill, even as the Sun it ſelf in the firmament, Chriſtus fuit in ſpicâ in fide patrum, in ſimilâ in doctrinâ legis, poſt humanitatem aſſumptum panis formatus. Chriſt was in the faith of the Patriarchs like corn in the ear, in the faith of the Law like corn ground into flower, but ſince the word took fleſh, and dwelt among us, He is in our faith completely, as when corn is made into bread. The Patriarchs in their Burnt-offerings did hope for him, the Levites in their Sacrifices did look for him more near at hand, but we have him really exhibited in our Sacrifice, and if we have a Sacrifice left unto us likewiſe, foreign, according to St. Chryſoſtom, we do commemorate the Sacrifice of the Croſs, where we do not profeſs that then Chriſts Body is ſlain, or then his Bloud is ſhed, but we remember all his ſufferings paſt, we look for his grace at that preſent, and we hope for his coming hereafter in glory. And ſo much upon thoſe three reaſons, why God did inſtitute Religion of old to be diſcharged in ſacrifice.
Noah had all theſe things in his heart, as I will ſhew, when I come to ſpeak of the ſweet ſavour. Now although the value of a gift conſiſts not in the plenitude of the thing given, but in the good affection of the giver, yet the Sacrifice of Noah wanted not fulneſs and weight, it was foreign, as the Septuagint expreſſed, all that he brought to the Altar was burnt, and nothing reſerved, as God bad Abraham offer up Iſaac for an whole burnt-offering. Under the Law of Moſes thoſe kind of Sacrifices were the principal in three regards. 1. It was an Offering completely burnt, and nothing muſt remain of it. 2. It burnt all night upon the Altar until the morning,In Pſal. 75. Levit. vi. 8. 3. As St. Auſtin truly adds, holocauſtum eſt totum incenſum ſed igne divino, at firſt of all that Sacrifice was lighted from heaven with fire that did conſume them, there came a fire out from before the Lord, and conſumed upon the Altar the Burnt-offering. Levit. ix. 24. and when Nadab and Abihu brought other fire in their Cenſers to add it unto the fire of that Altar which came from heaven, a fire went out from the Lord and devoured them. Literally you ſee what an whole Burnt-offering was; myſtically it imported ſuch an exact yielding up of the Soul and Body to the Lord, wherein we dedicate all our faculties unto his ſervice from the bottom of our heart, reſerving nothing unto our ſelves with Ananias and Saphira, but with the commendable Widow, caſting our two mites, even all we have into the Corban, and whatſoever we do to pleaſe the Lord, it muſt be kindled in our breaſt by celeſtial motions, as it were with fire from heaven. A man may give all he hath unto the poor: is that an whole Burnt-offering ſimply by it ſelf? no a man may give his body to be burnt: is not that enough? is not that all he can do? no, St. Paul ſays neither this nor that ſhall profit you, if you have not charity. Be perfect in the ſtudy of all good vertues, but have the fire of divine love with them, do all to the honor of God. The whole Burnt-offering which is firſt mentioned in Noah's piety, is then acceptable, when God doth inflame it with the fire of his holy Spirit from heaven.
I will hold you no longer upon the firſt point, the ſecond conſiſts herein, of what kind and ſpecies Noah did offer unto the Lord of every clean Beaſt, and of every clean Foul. God ſaw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good: it is no variation of ſenſe to ſay, God ſaw every thing that He had made, and behold it was very clean. All creatures are clean to him. Peter learnt it in a trance, that we might not doubt it waking, What God hath cleanſed let no man call it common. Nothing is properly impure in his eyes but ſin, and the works of the Devil. How comes this diſtinction then of clean and unclean Beaſts in the Holy Scripture? two ways, ex Traditione, ex Lege: by Tradition before Moſes, and then more amply and particularly by the Law of Moſes. I will begin a notioribus, from the information of the Law, which will direct us far better than the dark ſteps of Tradition. Twelve chapters, and no leſs, are ſpent in the Book of Leviticus to diſcriminate clean things from unclean, wherein ſome things are called unclean for two uſes, quoad eſum, quoad ſacrificium: ſome things were impure, and not to be eaten; ſome things impure and not to be ſacrificed; the 11. chapter of Leviticus doth enumerate both fouls and Fiſhes, and creeping things which were unhallowed meat: and for the Beaſts which are permitted for food, they are ſumm'd up in two rules, if they divided the hoof and chewed the cud they might be eaten, and all the reſt to be forborn. But God was far more ſtrict in appointing himſelf ſacrifice, than in appointing of us food: for firſt many ſort of Fiſhes were clean food, yet none of them were clean Sacrifice, they are foreign, they have no bloud, or at leaſt abound not with bloud, and ſo not fit for the Altar. 2. Many ſort of Fouls might be ſerv'd up to the Table, yet none but Turtles and Pigeons were fit to be offered in the Temple, and Sparrows in the expiation of leproſie. 3. Among all Beaſts that divided the hoof and chewed the cud none but Beeves, and Sheep, and Goats were to be ſlain in that religious ſervice unto the Lord: the Hart and the Roebuck might be eaten, Levit. iv. ſo you ſee here is a great difference between clean meat in the Law, and clean ſacrifice.
As the wits of men will expatiate upon all things, ſo from hence they take leave to ask, why the Lord did call one thing clean, and another unclean? But firſt I ſhall tell you, all Gods words are undiſputable, and to argue why He did it, is rather to diſhonour than to underſtand his commandment. Humility will ſit down contented with this anſwer: but I will go further to ſatisfie the itching inquiſitions of our heart: And firſt I will joyn another queſtion to elucidate this. Why was Adam reſtrain'd eating of the Tree of knowledg of good and evil; for the ſame reaſon ſome living things were made unclean, and unlawful unto the Jews, to make them know the Earth is the Lords and the ſtore thereof; and He gave Man Dominion over the Creatures, but with exception, that man was ſubject to Authority of touch not, taſte not, where he laid his prohibition. 2. As Images are called by ſome, Laymens Books, ſo the mark of cleanneſs and uncleanneſs ſet upon ſome Creatures made them viſible Sermons, what cleanneſs did become the Saints; a clean hand, that hath not taken reward againſt the innocent, a clean eye, that doth not look ſo far till it make the Soul commit fornication; undefiled lips, which have not defiled the holy name of the Moſt High; and above all an heart, that hath no ſavage inhumane malice in it. Make clean the inſide of the Platter, or the beſt meat that you eat will be ſo unclean unto you, that you will make the Table of the Lord become the Table of Devils. Therefore as great perſons in their Galleries keep the patterns of virtues in colours or in ſculpture, ſo theſe Creatures were forbidden to the Jews, as the patterns and repreſentments of inward uncleanneſs, and ghoſtly pollution. 3. If God can find uncleanneſs in theſe dumb things, which follow their natural inclination, and do not violate it, what filthineſs is in us, in whom the rebellion of concupiſcence is always burning?Iſa. 64 6. We are all as an unclean thing ſays the Prophet, an original leproſie hath overſpread us, but we muſt waſh in the Betheſda of Chriſts bloud, and we ſhall be purified from our ſins.
So I have tried the Law briefly what is clean and unclean both for Meats and Sacrifice. How ſtood it with Tradition before the Law? Now I come cloſe to that. Firſt as for Meats, when fleſh began to be meat, all things were clean before the Law was given without reſtriction. Every moving thing that liveth ſhall be meat for you, even as the green herb have I given you all things, Gen. ix. 3. And for ſacrifice Theodoret and Beda think that all things promiſcuouſly might be ſacrificed before the Law, there was nothing then diſallowed as unclean, and that Moſes wrote the Book of Geneſis ſince the Law, and that ſome things were call'd unclean, foreign by anticipation. But all ancient Expoſitors beſide make a part againſt them, that the Patriarchs received an inſtitution from the beginning, by Divine revelation delivered to Adam of what kind only, and with excluſion of all things elſe they ſhould ſacrifice unto him. And the Lord God cauſed Noah to receive clean Beaſts and clean Fowls by ſevens, that the odd one might be allotted in due time for a Burnt-offering. Therefore Rabbi Eleezar paraphraſeth my Text, that Noah brought out an Heifer, a Sheep and a Goat, a Turtle Dove and a Pigeon, and offered theſe five creatures, of every clean Beaſt, and of every clean foul upon the Altar. And to confirm it the more, thoſe are the very particulars, and none other, which God cauſed Abraham to preſent unto him, Gen. xv. 9.
This Expoſition yet, ſome man will ſay, had been much the clearer, if it had been written that Abel had brought an Offering of clean things unto the Lord. Gen. 4.4.But require it not (beloved) becauſe it needed not. Abel was a Keeper of ſheep, and Abel brought of the firſtlings de grege ſuo, ſays the Text, therefore it is all one to ſay, he preſented a clean Sacrifice. As Noah, by due eſtimation of circumſtances, cannot be ſaid to come ſhort of Abel, in that his Offering is not ſaid to be de primitiis, of the firſt birth of the Flock, for he had no firſtlings perhaps in the Ark: but ſince he had not primitias pecorum, yet he had primitias temporis, he conſecrated the firſt minutes of time unto the Lord, as ſoon as ever he came out of the Ark, and the choiceſt things that were in the Ark, of every clean Beaſt, and of every clean Fowl. For this is a common Law in every thing, if it be for the name of the Good God, let it be of the goodlieſt and beſt. If one build an Houſe of Prayer, let it be fairer than his own Dwelling: if he feed the hungry let it be of the wholſomeſt of the Table: if he ſanctify any thing for the ornament of Gods Houſe, let it be of the coſtlieſt: if he preach Gods Word, let it come from his ſtudied and beſt induſtry, and not with extemporary ſawcineſs, which ſome do, they ſay, for conſcience, I ſay for lazineſs, and therein imitate Gonzaga the Jeſuit, of whom one of his own Fatherhood ſays, he would preach ridiculouſly on purpoſe that he might be ſcorn'd and laught at. Levit. iii. 16. all the fat is the Lords, that is, bring him none but the beſt, the pureſt, and choiceſt Oblations; of clean Beaſts and of clean Fowls; to which I make but this ſhort Appendix, that as there were unclean Cattel, as well as clean in the Ark, ſo the ungodly are mixt in the Church with the righteous, but the faithful only are the ſacrifice of good acceptation, and of ſweet ſavour. Good and bad are in the Ark, but the pure and undefiled are received upon the Altar. Many of the coarſeſt ſort belong to the outward Society of the Church, hypocrites, ſeducers, men empoiſoned and empoiſoning with malice, but they are not of that principal and high degree, that the bleſſings of the Church are made effectual in them, and their ſouls offered up to the Lord on the Golden Altar before the Throne, which is an Allegory of Chriſt, De baptiſ. lib. 7. c. 51.Revel. viii. 3. So St. Auſtin differenceth the two diverſe Tribes of the Church, alii ſunt in domo Dei, ut ipſi etiam ſint domus Dei, &c. Some are in ſuch ſort in the Houſe of God, that they alſo are the Houſe of God: and ſome are ſo in the Houſe of God, that they pertain not to the Frame and Fabrick of it. But here the ſimilitude concurs not between the unclean Beaſts in the Ark, and Hypocrites in the Church, between the clean ones and the elect; for once a clean beaſt and ever clean, once an unclean, and ever ſo accounted by the Law; but How many are there that now wallow in all impurity and filthineſs, that hereafter, we hope, may be converted, prove chaſt and undefiled? How many, that either blaſpheme, or know not Chriſt; who, we truſt and expect, ſhall be illuminated and believe? Theſe are ſheep in Gods preordination, yet for the preſent are unclean, and follow the voice of a ſtranger. On the other ſide, How many have we known that have been chaſt for a while, and afterward plunged themſelves in ſenſuality? How many that have vowed to bear the Croſs of Chriſt, and yet denied him? How many that have eaten of the Lords Table, and yet have reſolv'd in their heart to betray their fellow Diſciples, as Judas did to betray Chriſt. Theſe had the ſeeds of righteouſneſs, and yet proved unclean, which ſays, let him that ſtandeth take heed leſt he fall; and take heed leſt there be in any of you an evil heart to depart from the Living God.
To be brief in the remainder. There is no ſeparation now between clean and unclean things. Rabbi Moſes is quoted by Lyra for this ſaying, nulla animalia erunt immunda tempore Meſſia, when the Meſſias comes no living things ſhall be accounted unclean by any legal imputation. So it is come to paſs indeed, and we have witneſs out of the mouth of an Adverſary. But why ſhould the Meſſias do all the Creatures that honour to be eſteemed clean? Hath God care of Oxen? The Jewiſh Rabbi ventur'd not upon that queſtion:Lib. 7. Hereſ. c. 12. but Irenaeus anſwers it, omnia purificata ſunt per ſanguinem Chriſti. Chriſt hath ſet the Church at liberty to be debarred from nothing which God hath made, and the uncleanneſs of the beaſts is now accounted cleanneſs, becauſe our filthineſs is waſhed away, and made clean in his moſt precious bloud. That which was commonly uſurped among the Gentiles throughout all the world was branded for unclean; and therefore Peter ſaid, Lord I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean: but now the ſtile is chang'd, and that which is moſt common is moſt clean. Our riches are made clean by being ſcattered abroad, and communicated in charity, the Word of God is moſt clean and undefiled, whoſe ſound is gone forth into all Worlds. Prayer and Preaching are beſt when they are performed in the Congregation, and are moſt publick. The holy Euchariſt is cibus communis foreign, the Communion of the body of Chriſt, and yet it is ſo pure a food, that being eaten by faith it purifieth the heart and conſcience above all things. To the clean all things are clean, but becauſe we live in the contagion of the evil World, and he that toucheth pitch ſhall be defiled; and becauſe our own heart is an impure fountain from which the ſtreams of bitterneſs do continually flow, Cleanſe the thoughts of our heart O Lord by the inſpiration of thy holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name by Chriſt our Lord. AMEN.