A Century of Sermons, Sermon 8

A Century of Sermons · Sermon 8

p. 873A SERMON UPON THE RECHABITES.

JEREM. xxxv. 6.

But they ſaid we will drink no Wine.

AT the firſt hearing of theſe words I may conjecture that ſome men thought of no ſuch Scripture, and that moſt men look for a ſtrange conſtruction: and you ſhall have a conſtruction to mollify the Paradox, ſince it was ever ſafe to decline extremes in all opinions: for they are like Jehu in his furious march, what have they to do with peace? Indeed if you will recount among many who they were that have profeſſed ſo much auſterity, as thoſe that ſay in my Text, We will drink no wine, you will neither commend them for wiſdom, nor for piety. Lycurgus in the Luxury of his Country cut up every Vine by the roots, and deſtroyed the Vineyards; like thoſe inconſiderate men in our dayes, ſuperexceſſive Reformers of Religion, who think there is no way to amend that which is abuſed, but with Hezekias Juſtice againſt the Brazen Serpent, utterly to conſume it. The Manichees would not endure to taſte the Cup at the holy Communion, as if Chriſt had been too prodigal to beſtow Wine at his laſt Supper upon his Diſciples: And you know who they are that want not much to be Manichees. Tertullian mentions a moſt harſh Diſcipline among the Romans, that no Woman might know the taſte of Wine, ſed ſub Romulo quae vinum tetigerat impunè à marito trucidata eſt; that it was lawful for the Husband to ſhed his own Wifes bloud, if ſhe taſted of the bloud of the Grape. So likewiſe there were certain Chriſtians, called Severiani by a nick name, that grudged the whole World St. Pauls allowance, that Modicum which he granted unto Timothy; and Pharaohs Butler with theſe men had been kept for ever in priſon, had he preſſed a few Grapes into the Kings own Cup. But for all theſe men, who grudg Cato his draught of wine, when he is wearied with the affairs of the Common-wealth, I ſay their abſtemious life is perverſeneſs, and ſuch were not the Rechabites, that ſay in my Text, We will drink no wine.

In which Text, barren as it may ſeem, there are many things very Religious and profitable, to make up my Treatiſe at this time. And as boldly as Prudentius ſaid by a Catachreſis, that there were jejuniorum victimae, many Sacrifices offered up to God by faſting, and abſtaining from meats; ſo ſay I, that this Text is abſtemiorum racematio, there is a fruitful Vintage to be gathered out of non bibemus, We will drink no wine.

This whole Chapter is but of one entire piece, like the ſilver Trumpets of Moſes, Numb. 10. ſo is the diſcourſe thereof without interruption, or almoſt without full point from the beginning to the end. Firſt God is provoked to wrath by the rebellions of Judah: Falſe Prophets were crept in that had taught ſtrange Doctrin, and the People had itching ears, and were worſe Diſciples. Now what inſtrument ſhould the Lord chooſe to lay open his indignation? whom but Jeremy the Propher, p. 874and him God knew to be fit for the Errand, not as he knew Nathaniel under the ſhade of his Fig-leaves, ſed ſub carnis umbraculo, in his Mothers Womb. Jeremy ſets himſelf to the Task, and lays open their ſins; not by revilings, by menacies, by zeal as hot as fire (and who could do leſs? they made Moſes, the meekeſt Soul alive, throw ſtones at them, and break the Tables) but ſetting before them the Example of the Rechabites, promiſing their obedience ſhould be had in an everlaſting remembrance, and Judah his ſtubborn Son ſhould ſee their happineſs and want it. Et ſpectet noſtros jam plebs Romana triumphos: Will it not grieve them to ſee Strangers and Aliens bear the Bell away, and themſelves look on, and be quite neglected? Laſtly, what was the Obligation that kept the Rechabites under ſuch aw and duty? for Jeremy ſpread a Table, entreated them courteouſly, and ſet Flagons of wine before them: Why nothing but this, their Father Jonadab had made them proteſt to take this auſtere life upon them, that they would drink no wine.

A hard caſe between God and Iſrael, if you mark it. What was Jonadab? or who was it that gave him wiſdom? no ſtedfaſt faith could be put in his Laws, nor certainty in his Statutes: nay upon this Text it is Calvins opinion, laudatur obſequium filiorum, non legi approbatum fuiſſe conſilium paternum: 'tis true that Jeremy commends the Sons of Jonadab for their obedience, but the Holy Ghoſt did no where commend Jonadab for making ſuch an Ordinance: but the Laws of the Lord are pure and juſt, like Silver purged ſeven times in the fire without droſs or corruption; yet Jonadab is obeyed, and God deſpiſed. 2. Where was Jonadab now? compoſed in the Grave of ſilence, duſt to duſt, the end of all men. The Lord liveth for ever, and there is no end of his dayes. Yet Jonadab preacheth being buried, and the words of the Lord are like a Dream, which he that waketh hath forgotten. 3. Jonadab was auſtere, and his yoke exceeding heavy, to dwell in no Houſes but Shades and Tents, not to till the ground, the happineſs of Cain above his younger Brother. To live in poverty in Canaan, where it was eaſie for all to be rich: but Iſrael, that I may not run into many particulars, had but ten Commandments to keep, and ten thouſand Bleſſings for their Guerdon. Et merces ab eo, qui jubere poteſt, vim neceſſitatis affert, ſayes Tacitus: the days work may be well done, when the Bondman is made an hired Servant. Yet Jonadab finds duty in his Children, and God finds rebellion in Iſrael. Laſtly, was there any thing to give advantage to the Rechabites in the way of godlineſs more than Iſrael had? did they want the ſnare of a delicious Table to make them wanton? read what a Banquet Jeremy ſpread before them in the former verſes, But they ſaid, &c.

St. Auſtin ſays of the Syrophaenecian Woman, who was both hardly ſpoken of by out Saviour at firſt, and anon commended highly before her face; quae contumeliam maximam ſine dolore pertulit, etiam & laudationem perferret ſine ſuperbiâ; ſhe that took not her reproach in ſcorn, would not wax arrogant upon her commendation; ſo theſe Rechabites who lived with good content in a life full of neglect, may the better endure to have their good deeds ſcanned, without fear of begetting oſtentation. And therefore I will branch out my Text into theſe four parts, in every of which they will juſtly deſerve our praiſe, and in ſome our imitation. Firſt, when the Prophet Jeremy did try them with this tentation, whether they would feaſt it and drink wine, they make him a reſolute denial, a Prophet could draw them to no inconvenient act, nolumus we will not. 2. Very dutiful and religious was their obedience to the Orders of their Father Jonadab; ask them if they will rebel and tranſgreſs: no, for obedience ſake, nolumus, we will not do it. 3. Junquets and banquetting were provided for them, but they had weaned their Bodies from the Paps of luxury; and thus ſays Temperance, nolumus, we will drink no wine. 4. Here is ſtedfaſtneſs in their Vow made unto God: For this is more than a frugal Diet, it is the Vow of Sobriety, nolumus in aeternum, ſay the laſt words of this verſe, We have ſaid for ever, &c.

Some are good men of themſelves, but eaſily drawn aſide by allurements, ſuch are not the Rechabites. Some will lead well, but they cannot follow: good Maſters but bad Servants; all for freedom, and nothing for obedience: So are not the Rechabites. Some are ſober in their Diet, but will not endure the Laws to interdict meats for a ſeaſon, and enjoyn Faſts and Abſtinence; ſuch were not the Rechabites. Some will proteſt unto God, and oblige themſelves to many performances, which are inſtantly diſſolved into wind and air, ſuch were not the Rechabites. Reſiſt Enticements, love Obedience, follow Temperance, promiſe unto God, and perform p. 875your Vows. Theſe are the praiſes of the Rechabites, theſe are the four Diſtributions of my Text, and of theſe in order.

I begin with Nolumus. Jeremy hath no anſwer but they will not. It is a hard caſe in earneſt, and the World will never run otherwiſe, a Prophet muſt be acquainted with nolumus, and look to be denied. Do you ſpeak for God and for his Altar? Practiſe patience with that old Philoſopher, that ſolemnly begged alms among the Statues and Images in Athens; and thus he tried how to bear with hard fortune, when living men ſhould refuſe him. Nolumus, we will not. Is this all the account, may ſome man ſay, of a Prophets words? Our Saviour might excuſe the Woman of Samaria, a weak Veſſel, like the Pitcher wherewith ſhe drew her water. Hadſt thou known who it is that asked of thee, then thou wouldeſt have granted it: but the Rechabites could not plead ignorance, that they knew not Jeremy, who was ſet up for a Sign againſt Judah and Benjamin. Again our Saviour did commend St. Peters judgment, that there might be many worſe men than the churliſh Son, that ſaid He would not to his Father, yet he turned his mind, and did as he would have him. But with theſe men non is as much as nunquam, they will never do it, repentance is hid from their eyes.

Reſolve we therefore, that this is ſuch a requeſt, where the Petitioner ſued for nolumus, and to be ſaid nay is the faireſt courteſie. For that which Jeremy propounded, it was not petitio beneficii, but probatio fidei. So Chriſt asked Philip for bread to feed the Multitude; in Philippo non deſideravit panem, ſed fidem; he did it to prove his faith. This is the Doctrin. Let not thy Soul conſent to be enticed unto folly, When Syrens and Allurers come with honey in their mouths, be you as wiſe as they were, that had wax in their ears. Like a ſure Muſician, maintain your part, and though ſome be out of tune, be not carried away with their diſcords, to offend againſt good harmony; Ʋt rupes immota, &c. ſays the Poet; let a wave daſh againſt you, and a billow break it ſelf in twain and fome, but for thy part give no ground unto the Tempter.

Jeremy nor any man alive muſt look to obtein more than the Servants of Naaman thought fit to be granted; ſi magnum, if the Prophet ask a great thing it muſt be done for the Prophets ſake; ſi malum, if it be an unlawful thing, ſi per amicitiam patris atque ſuam, the higheſt Power upon earth hath not power to command it. O what an excellent Court did King Saul keep? not one of his Servants, no not one about him would ſlay the Prieſts of God for the Kings Command. Turn and ſlay the Prieſts of God, ſays Saul unto his Guard, 1 Sam. xxii. they durſt not do it, thoſe mighty men of volour durſt not draw a ſword in a bad Cauſe, becauſe they feared the Lord. Then Doeg is called for from among the Beaſts, a Herdſman more brutiſh than the Flocks he kept; and he ſlew that day 85 perſons that did wear a Linnen Ephod. Such another was that Tribune of the Roman Army, that had rather worſhip Idols with Gallienus the Emperor, than ſerve the true God with Fructuoſus the Martyr; Juſſum eſt Caeſaris ore Gallieni, quod princeps colit haec colamus omnes. But Amram the Father of Moſes is recounted among St. Pauls Saints, Heb. 11. becauſe he hid the Child three months, and would not conſent to Pharaoh's tyranny.

He that will ſin to pleaſe another, makes his Friend either to be a God that ſhall rule him, or a Devil that ſhall tempt him. Three things, ſays Ariſtotle, Eth. 8. c. 10.do preſerve the life of friendſhip. 1. foreign to anſwer love with like affection. 2. foreign, ſome ſimilitude and likeneſs of condition. 3. But above either, foreign, neither to ſin our ſelves, nor for our ſakes to lay the charge of ſin upon our familiars. No he is too prodigal of his kindneſs, that giveth his Friend both his heart and his conſcience. I may not forget how Ageſilaus his Son behaved himſelf in this point toward his own Father: the cauſe was corrupt wherein his Father did ſollicit; the Son anſwers him with this modeſty, Your Education taught me from a Child to keep the Laws, and my youth is ſo inured to your former Diſcipline, that I cannot skill the latter. Here let Rhetoricians declaim whether this were duty, or diſobedience. But let us examin the caſe by Philoſophy. I am ſure that no mans reaſon is ſo nearly conjoyned to my ſoul, as my own appetite, although my appetite be meerly ſenſitive. And muſt I oftentimes reſiſt my own appetite, and enthral it as a civil Rebel? and have I not power much more to oppoſe any mans reaſon that perſwades me unto evil, his reaſon being but a ſtranger unto me, and not of the ſecret Council of my Soul? Yes out of queſtion. Remember what Herodias asked, when the Kings oath was paſſed to deny her nothing. St. Paul put in a caution that his Galatians ſhould beware of them that p. 876came to pervert their faith in the ſhape of Angels. Licet Angelus. What could he ſay more? for it is not the Angel of Smirna and Thiatira, they had their faults: not the Angel of Millain and Hippona, the noble Army of the Church, they might have their faults. But if an Angel from Heaven preach another Goſpel unto you than we have preached; what then? dare we ſay nolumus? nay, but anathema, let him be accurſed.

How it pitties me to hear ſome men ſay, that they could live as ſoberly, as chaſtly, as Saintlike as the beſt, if it were not for Company? Fie upon ſuch weakneſs: what Simeon and Levy Brethren in iniquity? let ſuch a one be a Proverb and a By-word, like Milo the Wreſtler, whoſe ſtrength was ſo great, that no Champion in Greece could wring a Pomegranet out of his hand, but ſome laſcivious Miſtreſs, ſome painted Harlot, could make him let go his hold with a kiſs. Quid refert utrum in matre an in uxore dummodo Eva in omni muliere caveatur, ſays St. Auſtin; If thy Mother ſpeak thee fair, if the Wife of thy Boſom tempt thy heart, beware of Eve, and think of Adam. The Serpent was a wiſe creature, Gen. iii. and Eve could not but take his word in good manners. Fond Mother of Mankind, ſo ready to believe the Devil, that her poſterity ever ſince have been ſlow to believe God. This is the weakneſs of our Times; and to uſe holy Nazianzens words, foreign, to overwhelm ſobriety with Wine in ſweet courteſie and Healths, as if every tipſie Friend were a Phyſician. I doubt not but the men of Sodom, that periſhed with fulneſs of bread, even they, how uncivil ſoever, would have ſhewn enough of this kindneſs unto Lot and the Angels. But is not this againſt nature, ſays St. Baſil, to invite Acquaintants to a Feaſt for the ſuſtenance of their lives, and to endeavour to carry them out of doors like dead men. Do you not pity the old Prophet, that threatned Jeroboams Altar, and made the aſhes to tremble by the mighty power of his Meſſage, but yet was allured fooliſhly to turn in and eat when God forbad him. He could not ſay non bibam, and ſtand to it; but a Lion out of the Foreſt did rend the morſels out of his belly before they were digeſted. Beloved, never can there be a better ſeaſon for nolumus, for every Chriſtian to be a Rechabite, then when any man reacheth out a Cup of intemperance unto us, to ſay boldly, we will not drink it.

And what if I ſhould put you in mind of a more pernicious Cup, than that which begets the ſurfeit of drunkenneſs? it is called the Golden Cup of abominations, and the Jeſuits are the Cupbearers. God give you grace to refuſe it when it is reached out unto you: and theſe are the days of trial, when ſwarms of Romaniſts buz about to pervert the innocent. What can they ſay unto you, Beloved? are they ſo meek and humble as we are, who built their Popedom above Kings, and made their Cardinals the Princes of the Earth? Is their life more holy than ours? tell me why Stews are maintained; why they do ſell Indulgences for ſins: Are they ſo merciful? Who knows not Duke d'Alva's bloudy days? Queen Maries Bonfires? and the torments of Inquiſitions? Are they ſo loyal-hearted? alaſs, woe for the loſs of ſo many Princes by their Treaſons and Conſpiracies. But is Chriſt more magnified by them? Why do they interfere upon his Interceſſion by praying to Saints, upon his Mediation by their own Merits? Is their Worſhip of God more ſpiritual? wherefore do I ſee their Images? Are Gods Ordinances ſo ſtrictly obſerved in Rome? why do ſome marry inceſtuouſly? why are ſome forbidden Marriage? Can they prove their Doctrin by ſo good a foundation as we do? wherefore do they urge Traditions? Finally, Is their Religion more ancient? no more than Abrahams Idolatry at Ʋr in Chaldaea was ancienter than the Worſhip of the living God. Wherefore, as our Saviour ſaid to Peter, Thou art Simon Bar Jona, but thou ſhalt be called Peter. Jonah ſignifies a Pigeon, and Peter an hard Stone; as who ſhould ſay, quem inveni timidum ut columbam, efficiam lapidem. So God confirm the feeble, ſuch as tremble on both ſides, and are fearful as Doves, that they may be as the Rock, againſt which the Gates of Hell cannot prevail, that you may hold faſt your Profeſſion, and ſay againſt that Cup as the Rechabites did to this, non bibemus, we will drink no poiſon.

Now I proceed to the ſecond part of my Text, which hath a ſtrong connexion with the former; for why did they reſiſt theſe enticements, and diſavow the Prophet Jeremy? becauſe ſays the eighth verſe of this Chapter, They will obey the voice of Jonadab the Son of Rechab in all things that he hath charged them all the days of their life. Their obedience is the ſecond part of their Encomium, They will obey the voice of Jonadab their Father. The name of Father was that wherewith God was pleaſed to mollify our ſtony hearts, and bring them into the ſubjection of the fifth Commandment. Illa enim ſuperioritas maximé amabilis eſt, & minimè invidioſa, ſays Calvin: we p. 877cannot envy the ſuperiority of a Father, every man being likely to ſucceed in the ſame dignity. Feſtus reports it of the Gauliſh Prieſts among the Romans, that at firſt they were made Eunuchs only to puniſh their ſtubbornneſs againſt their Parents, that they being a generation of diſobedient Children, might never beget Children that ſhould obey them. And therefore it is pitty, that the ſame juſtice was not executed upon Pope Gregory the VII. to caſt him out for ever being called a Father of the Church, who made the Emperor Henry the Fourth take arms againſt his own Father, and depoſe him. And that proud title of Rabbi ſhould never have been given to the Phariſees, rather to the vileſt Begger in the Street, becauſe it was their Tradition to ſwear by the Gift upon the Altar, never to relieve the wants of their diſtreſſed Parents. Surely as a Parricide, that killed his Father, was to have no burial upon the Earth, but ſewed in an Ox Hide and caſt headlong into the Sea; ſo he that deſpiſeth his Father deſerves not to hold any place of dignity above others, but to be a Slave to all men. For what are we but Coin that hath our Fathers Image ſtampt upon it? and we receive our current value from them to be called Sons of Men.

And yet the more commendable was the obedience of the Rechabites, that their Father Jonadab being dead, his Law was in as good force as if he had been living. It was a great mourning which Joſeph and his Brethren did celebrate for their Father Jacob, Gen. the laſt. But that was the leaſt honour done unto him. When his Sons did carry his Body, as he commanded them, to be buried in Canaan, in the Field of Mamre, which Abraham bought for a Poſſeſſion, that was the beſt Solemnity in the Funerals of Jacob. It is an effeminate tenderneſs of heart, ſays Tacitus, proſequi defunctum ignavo fletu, to weep and lament over the dead; obſequi verò in iis quae juſſerit, to execute the will of the Dead, that is the trueſt honour we can do them, and a faithful expreſſion that we reverence their memory. Licurgus knew right well, what great benefit Lacedaemon received by his Laws; yet doubting the peoples inconſtancy, and foreſeeing that when he was dead, good Laws might be cancelled, and bad Manners ſurvive: He took a long Journey, and ſwore the Citizens to the obſervation of his Laws, until he returned in ſafety: but that was never: And ſome ſhort time they remembred their own Oath, who on a ſudden would have forgot his Laws and his Memory. Very often is it ſeen in this diſſolute Age of ours, that which old Mitio ſaid, Dum id reſcitum iri credunt, tantiſper cavent; young Heirs forget their godly Education, as ſoon as their Parents have breathed their laſt: then they run riot, and morgage their Temperance to Taverns, their Chaſtity to Dens of uncleanneſs, and their Lands to the Uſurer. What a rare example now is this of the Rechabites, cuſtode remoto, being now in their own power and government, to remember the Life and Doctrin of their Father Jonadab, and to profeſs his auſterity, Non bibemus, &c.

Concerning this Virtue of Obedience, let us extend our diſcourſe a little further, and yet tread upon our own ground. Obedience is uſed in a large ſenſe, for a Condition, or Modus, as the School calls it, annexed unto all Vertues. As the Magiſtrate may execute juſtice dutifully under his Prince, the Souldier may perform a valiant exploit dutifully under his Captain; but ſtrictly, and according to the pattern of the Rechabites: Obedientia eſt ſola virtus per ſe, cum res jubentur adiaphorae ad praeſtandum, ſays Aquinas; It is one peculiar and entire virtue, whereby we oblige our ſelves, for Authorities ſake, to do things indifferent to be done, or omitted: for ſometimes that which is evil may be hurtful prohibito to the party forbidden: as the Laws forbid a man to murder himſelf: ſometimes a thing is evil prohiben…i, ſo Treaſons, Adulteries, and Thefts are interdicted: but ſometimes the thing is no way in it ſelf pernicious to any, but only propounded to make trial of our duty and allegeance, as when Adam was forbid to eat the Apple, and this is true obedience, not to obey for the neceſſity of the thing commanded, but out of conſcience and ſubjection to juſt Authority.

Such obedience, and nothing elſe is that which hath made the little Common-wealth of Bees ſo famous: for are they not at appointment who ſhould diſpoſe the work at home, and who ſhould gather honey in the fields? they flinch not from their Task, and no Creature under the Sun hath ſo brave an inſtinct of ſagacity. Wherefore Epiphanius was wont to compare the godly Monks, that undertook their Office by the appointment of their Superior, ſome to labour with their hands, ſome to pray and meditate; I ſay he likened them to Bees, that hum about and make honey together. So ſome of theſe toil for the uſe of men, ſome ſing Pſalms unto God, thymum & hymnum proferunt. You ſhall hear an hundred boaſt of their great p. 878ſtomach, and of a ſpirit that could not be kept under. Brethren, as St. Paul ſaid, your boaſting is not good. But almoſt I never heard of any that profeſſed themſelves of a ſpirit which was ſubject to all obedience. One indeed I have read of, Nicolaus of Crete, how well it did become him, who was ſubject to Theodorus his Prelate, foreign, as if he had no will of his own; full of reaſon and underſtanding, but utterly void of will and wilfulneſs. What a pleaſure was this, both to him and his Diſciple? what a ſight was this worth the ſeeing? as the Angels, ſays Ariſtotle, are never weary of moving the Heavens, and the Heavens are never weary of turning round. Such is the harmony between the Prelate and the demure Obedient: where Wiſdom is the Sun, and Duty is the Dial upon which it ſhines. How near came this mans Soul to Adams in the ſtate of Innocency? whoſe original purity the Shoolmen call by an elegant Title aureum froenum, a golden Bridle. For the Appetite had a Bridle to be checkt under Reaſon; Reaſon had a Bridle to make it follow the ſupreme Will of the Creator: the very Beaſts had a Bridle caſt into their jaws to make them Homagers unto Man, which now would raven upon our Carkaſſes. Now there is nothing abroad or at home but bellum ſervile, Zimri riſeth up againſt his Maſter.

Nothing hath more carried the World aſide than thoſe glorious words of Liberty, Power, and Prerogative. Among the Romans oppreſſion and cruelty did not make a Tyrant, but the very name of Soveraignty. Nec clementes Dominos ferre poterant, ſays Tacitus, Maſters, though they were meek, did offend as long as they were called Maſters. Anguſtum annulum ne geſta, ſays Pythagoras, as if all ſubjection unto Diſcipline were like a ſtrait Ring that pincht the finger. Plutarch coins a Fable, that the Tail of the Serpent grudged at the Head, becauſe it went always foremoſt: The Head indeed had the right to go firſt, and the Tail to come after; but Officers were changed upon importunity, the Body was ſcratcht, the Head was bruiſed, every thing was out of order, and by conſent of all parts the Head was reſtored to that dignity for ever after, to lead the Body: And when diſobedience hath disjoynted the frame of any Polity, it is obedience muſt ſet all together, and unite the Fabrick.

Obſervation of Ceremonies, and petty duties may ſeem perhaps to be maintained too ſeverely, and the peremptory keeping of Circumſtances, to be rather Rigour than Diſcipline. But it was the anſwer of a wiſe Magiſtrate to this complaint, that aſſault would quickly be made againſt greater matters, if the leſſer were deſpiſed. For obſerve it in a Wine-veſſel, the ſmall twigs bind about the hoops, the hoops bind about the planchers, the planchers alone ſeem to contein the liquor, you would think; yet cut the ſmall twigs, and the hoops fly aſunder, the planchers ſtart, and the wine is ſpilt. So is it with Ceremonies; to deſpiſe our Garments, our Geſtures, our Canonical Ordinances may ſeem no damage to Religion, but the very ſubſtance of our Chriſtianity would lie open to the wild Boar out of the Wood to root it up, if the Hedg were broken. In ſome caſes I will grant it to be very true, that the Orator ſays, generoſus eſt animus hominis magiſque ducitur quàm trahitur; our mind is free and noble, and would rather go alone than be forced to duty; but what duty can be expected from them in greater caſes, who are headſtrong againſt Eccleſiaſtical Government in the ſmalleſt Ceremonies?

They that zealouſly wiſh abundance of happineſs in the Church, will be ſo far from complaining that Ceremonies are a burden to their Liberty, that they would wiſh, I think, that Canonical obedience did lie more ſtrictly upon the Clergie, in the whole courſe of their Profeſſion: Which if it did, I am perſwaded that the ſtudies of the Learned, and the painful induſtry of Scholars had been more renowned in this Iſland, than over all the World. It is the ſweet lenity of our Pilots to give us ſea room to ſail at random, foreign, if we were compelled to knit our ſtrength in cluſters, our proweſs would be better tried in Gods Cauſe, than when we come ſingle and ſcattered one from another to write a Controverſie. For when every man follows the genius of his own diſpoſition, licence cannot chooſe but bring in confuſion: for though every one ſhould do well for his own part, yet the work muſt be out of order.

Some Monk will ſay perchance, this is our Religion, and juſt as we would have it. Immane quantum, &c. great is the difference between my Doctrin and theirs, and, I fear, we ſhall not part friends thus. Firſt, I commend obedience, where the thing commanded is feizable, and may be done; as to build no houſes, to drink no wine: they call for obedience in things impoſſible, as to water a dead ſtick and make it p. 879grow, to pour water into a Siev, and the like: This is not obedience, but pertinax inertia, loſs of good hours, waſting of time, and fruitleſs negotiation. I commend obedience which turned the heart of the Children toward their Fathers, and gives this praiſe to the Rechabites, that they would not be enticed by Prieſt or Prophet, but in all things hearkned to the voice of Jonadab: they commend thoſe unnatural Monks, that take a Cloiſter over their heads to ſleep and fatten, though their Parents be moſt unwilling, and curſe them for it. I commend the Rechabites obedience which is grounded upon the Scripture, approved by the Spirit of God, and his Prophet Jeremy: they have no ground for their Canonical Orders, but mans inſtitution. Votum obedientiae non directè colligitur è ſcripturâ, ſays Gregory of Valentia: nay, temporibus Apoſtolicis non inſtitutae ſunt religiones, ſays Aquinas, our Religious Orders are later than the times of the Apoſtles. Laſtly the obedience which I praiſe is ſuch, where the things commanded are lawful and juſt. Wine in thoſe hot Countries might well be forborn, and temperance the better mainteined: in Tents they might dwell, and ſhades of Tabernacles, to acknowledg themſelves but Strangers and Pilgrims in this World, and Heaven to be their Country: ſome ſay it was to forewarn the Iſraelites, that the Captivity of Babylon was hard at hand, and it was in vain to build Cities for a long habitation. Finally, having neither Barns nor Storehouſes, their Herds and their Flocks were their riches, and they forbore to ſow the ground, and to gather in the fruits of the Harveſt; theſe things are lawful and honeſt, and in them it was expedient to hearken to the voice of Jonadab. But the Romaniſts commend obedience wherein fas and nefas are alike: to complot Treaſons and Maſſacres, to diſſemble and lie; for Prieſts to leave off their Weed, and ruffle it in other Countries like Gentlemen, all this is obedience: yea Maffaeus commends a Novice of the Jeſuits Order, who was conſecrating the Hoſt at the Communion, his Superior Liola call'd him away for no other end but to try his duty, he left his God Almighty half made, and half unmade in the midſt of Conſecration, and haſted to his Superior. This is ſweet obedience.

Men that have reaſon and will, ſubject themſelves to the power and dominion of their Rulers by the inclination of their own will: natural agents are compelled to yield to forcible agents, becauſe the weaker qualities cannot reſiſt the ſtronger. Now the Underling that obeys his Praelate is exempted two ways from his Authority, as natural things two ways do controul the vertue of a ſuperior agent. 1. Propter impedimentum ex virtute ſuperioris moventis, if a greater force oppoſe a leſſer, the greater muſt carry the ſway. Green wood reſiſts the flame of a little fuel, becauſe the mixture of the wood is too hard for ſo ſmall a fire: ſo the ſupreme dominion and power belongeth unto God, and that obedience which is performed to Man againſt God, it is ſacrificium de rapinâ, not Obedience but Atheiſm, not Obedience but Sacrilege, not Obedience but Flattery. The ſecond reſiſtance is when a natural body is ſubject in ſome qualities, and in ſome free from ſubjection; as wax ſubject to the fire to ſoften, to the Seal to ſet a ſtamp upon it. So an Handmaid is to yield all bodily ſervice of labour to her Lord, but quoad prolis generationem aut corporis ſuſtentationem non ligatur: To ſurfeit her body by exceſs of meats, or to pine it away with faſting; to commit uncleanneſs, or to enthral her ſelf to Virginity, this is beyond the Sphear of Authority, and ſhe is not bound unto it.

Let us gather up this ſecond part of my Text into one cloſure; we commend the Rechabites for their Obedience, and by their example we owe duty to our Parents, natural and civil, thoſe that begot us, thoſe that govern us. We owe duty to the dead, after our Rulers have left us in the way of a good life, and changed their own for a better: We owe duty to our Rulers in all things honeſt and lawful; in obeying Rites and Ceremonies indifferent, in Laws Civil and Eccleſiaſtical. Illis imperii jus conceſſum eſt, nobis relicta eſt obſequii gloria. But where God controuls, or wherein our liberty cannot be enthralled, we are bound ad patiendum, and happy if we ſuffer for righteouſneſs ſake. Now that the obedience of the Rechabites was lawful and religious, and a thing wherein they might profitably diſpence with freedom and liberty, the third part of my Text, that is their Temperance, will make it manifeſt, for in this they obeyed Jonadab, non bibemus, &c.

To ſpare ſomewhat which God hath given us for our ſuſtenance, is to reſtore a part of the plenty back again; if we lay hands upon all that is ſet before us, it is ſuſpicious that we expected more, and accuſed nature of frugality. And though the Vine did boaſt in Jothams Parable, that it cheared up the heart of God and Man, though it be ſo uſeful a Creature for our preſervation, that no Carthuſian or Coeleſtine p. 880Monk of the ſtricteſt Order did put this into their Vow to drink no Wine, yet the Rechabites are contented to be more ſober than any, and lap the water of the Brook, like Gideons Souldiers. Which moderation of diet (though, as I ſaid in the beginning, as it is an extreme, and as it is a Vow for ever to drink no Wine, I do not urge it to your imitation) yet it did enable them to avoid Luxury, and ſwiniſh drunkenneſs, into which ſin whoſoever falls makes himſelf ſubject to a fourfold puniſhment.

Firſt, The heat of too liberal a proportion kindles the luſt of the fleſh; foreign, as the Poet calls it elegantly, Wine is the milk of Venus. Lot who was not conſumed in Sodom with the fire of Brimſtone, drunkenneſs ſet him on fire with inceſtuous luſt in Zoar. The Brimſtone trickled down like rain, but Luxury broke in upon him like a breach of the Sea. And as Epaminondas ſaid, Modicum prandium non capit proditionem; Treaſons were never plotted at a frugal Table, ſo Fornications and Adulteries were never hatcht in Cups of water, but then they ſteal upon us where our Bowls are crowned with ſuperfluity. In jejuniis, in caſtitate, 2 Cor. vi. What St. Paul hath coupled, let us not divide, faſtings go firſt, then follows pureneſs and chaſtity.

Secondly, How many brawls and unmanly combates have we ſeen? Nay, how much bloud ſpilt under the Enſign of a Tavern Ivy buſh? Memento te ſanguinem terrae bibere, ſays Androcides in Pliny; Wine is but the bloud of the earth, and bloud toucheth bloud, ſays the Prophet Hoſea. Antonius vino gravis ſitiebat ſanguinem, ſays Seneca; When Antonius his head turned round with drink, he thirſted for the bloud of his enemies. After Riot follows ſtrife, ſays St. Paul, Rom. xiii. I will fill them with wine, and daſh them one againſt another, ſays the Prophet Jeremy, Chap. xiii. It is a ſweet thing that men muſt fall at odds, and ſtand nicely upon their terms of Honour in their drink, when no man can diſgrace them ſo much as their own intemperance, which hath made them beaſts: Is that a time to ſtrive for Maſtery when they are the vileſt ſervants upon earth to their own brutiſh appetite?

Thirdly, Superfluity of drink it is foreign, the draught of fooliſhneſs. Such a miſery, in my opinion, that I would think men had rather loſe their right arm than the government of their reaſon, if they knew the Royalty thereof. Wine and the fooliſhneſs of Idolatry were in the Feaſts of Belſhazzar. And let St. Auſtin in his Epiſt. 64. be well diſcuſſed, and it will be found, that quaffing, which was uſed to be celebrated every year at the Tombs of the Martyrs, was the firſt thing that brought in Offerings and Prayers for the dead, a moſt erroneous Doctrine. St. Baſil calls Wine-bibbers, foreign, the Idols of the Gentiles; for as David deſcribes Idols in the Pſalms, ſo they have eyes and ſee not, ears and hear not, hearts and underſtand not.

Laſtly, Whereas foreign, ſobriety is the ſuſtentation of that which decays in man, drunkenneſs is the utter decay of the body. It was all the excuſe that Calliſthenes had for himſelf, when he refuſed Alexanders drinking Feaſt, foreign, I had rather want your Feaſt than ſtand in need of Aeſculapius. And when I ſee new Taverns multiply, the next thing I look to ſee, is to have more Apothecaries ſet up, and more Phyſicians practiſe among us. That then which bereaves our bodies of health, and our minds of reaſon: that which puts fury into our hands, and fire into our breaſts; is that it which is grown the mean mans Recreation, and the great mans Solemnity? O ye Galatians, who hath bewitched you? Satisfie me in one queſtion, and I will ask no more: To rob a man of his Garment, or his Purſe, would you not think it diſhonourable for you to do? And Theft to be puniſhed by the Kings Laws? But, I pray you, which is the greater robbery, to force or flatter your Friend to kindneſs, whereby he loſeth his reaſon, which is the Veſſel of Gods grace, or to bereave him of a little money, which is the inſtrument of fortune? Whoſoever hath been guilty of this crime, to ſeduce another into weakneſs, if his heart do not burn within him for ſhame, know that Foelix, the corrupt Governour, was more conſcionable, for Foelix trembled when Paul did preach of temperance.

Of all other ſins ſurfeiting of meats and drinks is a tranſgreſſion of private flattery: for every coſtly junquet is to content nature, to perfect nature, to ſtrengthen nature; and poor nature is as innocent of theſe things as the Idol Bel, that had the name indeed, but taſted not the Kings Proviſion. Cum corpus impinguo, hoſtem adverſus meipſum nutrio, ſays St. Bernard; To cram up our body too much, is to maintain a civil Rebel within our own skin and bone. Si contenti erimus naturâ, tam ſupervacuus p. 881eſt coquus quàm miles, ſays Seneca. In Peace what uſe have we of Souldiers? God forbid but their ſervice ſhould be rewarded nobly; but then we have no imployment for their ſervice: So if we go no further than the ſuſtenance of mere Nature we ſhall have no uſe of Cookery. Beaſts, and Fiſhes, and the Fowls of the Air find that at hand which is fit for their ſuſtenance, Non fuit noverca natura, ut homo ſine tot artibus non poſſit vivere; was Nature a Stepdame to man only, that no leſs than two hundred Arts and Trades may be reckoned before his Table can be furniſhed?

Adam went out of Paradiſe with a full ſtomach, he ſunk like a Ship over-laden with Traffick, but Lazarus went faſting to heaven, ſcarce fraught with the crums of Dives Table. Moſes did faſt upon Mount Sinai when he talked with God, but in the Valley beneath the people ſate down to eat and to drink, and roſe up to play. Elias did not drink for forty days, at length he did pray for rain, and had drink from heaven. But Luxury corrupts the Air, and breeds ſterility. Tot curiis & decuriis ructantibus aceſcit coelum, ſays Tertullian by an excellent Hyperbole. Daniel by his ſlender food of pulſe and water, foreign, ſays St. Baſil, taught the Lions to hunger and want their prey all night when he was caſt into their Den. Therefore foul ſhame it was for the Phariſees, ſays the ſame Father, to look ſowerly and ſickly when they wanted their repaſt, foreign. Why did they not rejoyce rather for the healthfulneſs of their ſoul? Wherefore when thou faſteſt, anoint thy head, and waſh thy face, ſays our Saviour. You would think by this, that a Faſt were the celebration of ſome Bridal. He was no Benefactor in Greece that did not foreign, mend their diet. No Emperour for the people of Rome that did not enter into his Kingdom with a Congiary, or Banquet. But the Saints of God will not let us know when, or what day they went to heaven without a Faſt before it.

Let not this Doctrine give occaſion to the Wealthy of this Kingdom to leſſen their Magnificence, and pinch their Table: Charitable houſe-keeping hath been always the honour of this Realm, and a bleſſing deſtined for the poor. But whatſoever your eye beholds when you ſet before you plenteous proviſion, will you think, as the Epicure of Rome did, that the Table is furniſhed for your own throat, and boaſt that Lucullus ſups with Lucullus? No Beloved, look upon it as the Father of a Family, whoſe eyes wait upon your benevolence; look upon it as the Steward of the poor, whoſe mouths ſhall bleſs God that hath enlarged your heart to do good unto them. And be not like the larded Epicure that eateth like Behemoth, Job xl.16. whoſe force is in the navel of his belly. What unfitneſs is in ſuch a corps for ſpeculation of knowledge? What dulneſs to Prayer and Devotion? Had we not need of a long Lent between our Shroving and our Eaſter?

And beſides the ſin of the gurmundizing Glutton, I muſt not ſpare to tell you, that there is luxuria in modico, a riotous diet which longs after nothing but dainties and delicates. As to be wanton ſtomacht after Mandrakes with Rachel; to long after the fruits of Pontus and Aſia, with Lucullus. To affect ſtrange Cookery of France and Italy. Why ſhould you make more of your corruptible bodies than our Saviour did of his glorified body? Ecquid habetis filioli? Children, have you any thing to eat? Do but obſerve the prohibition of meats in the old Law; neither herbs, nor roots, nor any homely food were forbidden, but the curioſity of ſome delicious fleſh was denied to the children of Iſrael. They had their Quails indeed in the Wilderneſs, when they luſted; and they that faſted three days in the Deſart with our Saviour, had nothing but two fiſhes and five barly loaves among two thouſand. Chuſe you with whether of theſe you would make your Table: They with the Quails had the curſe of God, and theſe had the bleſſing of our Saviour. It is a myſtery, methinks, that Father Jacob ſent away his Honey and Spices, Nuts and Almonds for a Preſent unto Joſeph, to buy him coarſer food, I mean, the Corn of Egypt. Nos oleris coma, nos ſiliqua foeta legumine paverit innocuis Epulis, ſays the ſweet Prudentius. In Ethnick Rome a Senator was charged to keep ſo mean a Table, by the Law called Centuſſis, that a Meſs of Friers now adays would riſe an hungry from it. Ignorance it is, wilful ignorance that hath made the world ſo riotous both in Gluttony and Drunkenneſs, becauſe forſooth theſe are ſuch ſins as are not forbidden in the Ten Commandments. Not to trouble you with many conjectures why God did ſo, I will give you this anſwer for your utmoſt ſatisfaction. Nothing is forbidden in the Ten Commandments, Niſi directè deordinet hominem ad Deum aut ad proximum, ſays Hales; except it be a tranſgreſſion directly againſt God or our Neighbour: Gluttony p. 882and drunkenneſs are principally inordinate paſſions, not againſt God and our Neighbour, but againſt our own body. But doth this diminiſh the guilt of theſe ſins? No Beloved, but rather they do many ways diſpoſe a man to diſorder himſelf both to God and his Neighbour. God is often blaſphemed, bloud ſpilt, luſt provoked, the Lords day violated, the Magiſtrate diſobeyed, and next to the pronity of original ſin, intemperance of meats and drinks is the fuel of all ſins: Wherefore be a Rechabite, or the next to a Rechabite, in ſurfeit and immoderation to drink no Wine.

There is but one thing remains to diſpatch our exerciſe for this time. I have made a large diſcourſe how Faſting and Temperance are the third Encomium or praiſe of the Rechabites. Indeed David doth wiſh it above all curſes to the enemies of the Lord, that their Table may be made a ſnare. But for menſa laqueus, that a prodigal Table is a ſnare to a good conſcience, it is no ſtrange thing; What ſay you to inedia laqueus? To faſt and ſubdue the body is made a greater ſnare, as the Devil hath contrived it among our Romiſh Adverſaries. I knew the Devil could tempt an innocent to offend with eating, but would you think he could take advantage upon an empty ſtomach? Would you think that Lent, and a few Ember Weeks ſhould be called Lutrum peccatorum; A ſatisfaction for ſin? To croſs this error, that it was not abſtinence from meats and drinks ſimply taken which did commend us unto God, therefore as we loſt the knowledge of God by Gluttony and eating, Gen. iii. So the Second Adam was known to his Diſciples and Cleophas thrice after his Reſurrection as they were at meat, to ſhew that the Table of ſobriety was ſanctified in the Lord. Wherefore let the boaſt of the proud Phariſee, I faſt twice a week, be made a Collect in the Roman Prayer-book: We are tied to ſay grace unto God when we receive our meat, but theſe men expect moſt impiouſly that God ſhould ſay grace, and give them thanks for faſting, eſpecially if it were a Vow, as this was of the Rechabites, Nunquam bibemus, for ever we will drink no wine.

It is a bleſſed conſpiracy when ſundry ſouls confederate themſelves together to ſerve the Lord. Glad was Davids heart to have company to go to the Altar; I was glad when they ſaid unto me we will go into the houſe of the Lord. Indeed, the Spouſe of Chriſt is not one ſtick of Juniper, or a ſingle lump of Frankincenſe though never ſo ſweet, but Faſciculus Myrrhae, a bundle of Myrrh, Cant. i. Faith in unity it is the glory of Chriſtianity. I know not what delight Owls may take to ſeparate themſelves and ſit alone, but Ʋbi cadaver, ibi aquilae, where the body is, there will the Eagles be gathered. This is the fourth Pillar upon which the praiſe of the Rechabites is erected, they were Votaries in one Vow, they were joyned in an order and confederacy to ſerve the Lord, When all other Relations will be out of date in heaven, perchance quite forgotten, the Title of Brotherhood among the Saints ſhall continue for ever. Thus the Rechabites are combined; Et illi dixerunt, and they all ſaid with one acclamation, We will drink no Wine.

But ſince I have ſpoken to the allowance and good liking of ſuch as put themſelves into one link and brotherhood of Religion, a thing unuſual in our ears, a word will not be unfitting, before I proceed any farther, to explain my ſelf, and let you know both whom I caſt off, and whom I would entertain and juſtifie in this Doctrine. Firſt, God forbid I ſhould allow any factious conjuration, like the deſperate Campe of Abſolon, like Theudas and his Banditi, like Judas of Galilee and his Swordmen; no, nor every fooliſh Rabble that meets at Tavern muſt be called an Order. We had of late times ſuch as bound themſelves in a League as if they had been Rechabites, and they choſe a name for themſelves as if they had been Sheperds, I will not ſay they did drink no wine: But this I dare ſay, if they had run riot as they began, they would have left themſelves as little Land to plow as the Rechabites had, neither field nor vineyard.

The Friers and Monks of Rome, they are Orders that ſeem devoted to the Church, and ſo were the Phariſees. Verily ſome were anciently allowed in the Church to profeſs ſuch auſterity as needed not to counterpoiſe the Philoſophical ſtrict life of many Heathen. And as their original was not allowed from God, but mans inſtitution, ſo in a little ſpace they grew ſo bad that almoſt no zealous Spirit in any Age but did defie the Monaſteries. In our time their profeſſion of poverty is but lazy beggary, their obedience is to gain liberty againſt them who were made to command them, and to profeſs thraldom to one who uſurps authority; their Vow of Chaſtity is to deſpiſe the Ordinance of Marriage, and to enjoy fleſhly liberty; their practice is ſo profane that Boccace an Italian thought they ſpent all their ſtudy to find out this one concluſion, that there was no God.

p. 883But the Rechabites fixed themſelves ſo curiouſly upon the true Worſhip of God, as the Star pointed in a right line to the Manger where Chriſt was repoſed. For there is but this double error in enjoying the world: Firſt, To think through infidelity Deum defuturum ubi promiſit, that God will fail to provide for us notwithſtanding his Promiſes. So runs the Devils Tentation againſt our Saviour, Mat. iv. He muſt command ſtones to be made bread, or he muſt ſtarve for ever. Secondly, To run into preſumption, Deum adfuturum ubi non promiſit, that God would ſuccour us in thoſe caſes where he never paſſed his word to do it. Behold it again in the Sophiſtry of Satan, Caſt thy ſelf down, for he will give his Angels charge over thee; to decline Infidelity the Rechabites commit their bodies to Tabernacles inſtead of houſes. They live among ſtrangers inſtead of their own people. Their Subſtance is the poor increaſe of their Flocks, inſtead of Lands and Revenues; their Diet is Parſimonious, they will drink no Wine. Yet to decline preſumption, they exerciſe a Calling, they fill up a good employment in the Commonwealth, they have Children and Families to inſtruct in the Lord.

Theſe are the Confederates and Votaries in whoſe holy life I found but three things before for your imitation: 1. Their conſtancy againſt enticements. 2. Their obedience and awful reſpects to the Laws of Jonadab. 3. Their temperance, and religious weaning of their bodies from the ſurfeited breaſts of Drunkenneſs and Luxury; now your patience may expect, as it is my duty to perform the laſt task concerning the Vow of the Rechabites. The Fountain is but one, but the Head is parted into theſe four ſtreams: 1. What inducements they had to make this Vow. 2. That their Vow being made ſtood upon juſt and lawful conditions. 3. That the greater defenders of Vows the Roman Monks do not imitate the Rechabites. 4. That Vows being juſtly made, they are ſolemnly to be performed, and then the Lord is pleaſed. Every part ſhall be offered again to your remembrance as it is handled.

In the firſt place, they had encouragement to take this Vow upon them for three reaſons: 1. As being but ſtrangers to the true Commonwealth of Iſrael. 2. To make the better preparation for the Captivity of Babylon. 3. To draw their affections to the content of a little, and the contempt of the world. We love for the moſt part to gaze at ſtrangers, and curioſity will ask, as if it were in Office, about their birth and condition. Their Genealogy briefly (and under correction of better skill) is on this wiſe. Midian was born unto Abraham of Ketura, Gen. xxv. Jethro the Father of Zipporah the Wife of Moſes came of that ſtock, being Prieſt and Son of Midian, Exod. ii. Hemath is the next in knowledge of that Race, and of Hemath came the Kenites, 1 Chron. ii. 55. Now the Kenites were the Children of Moſes's Father-in-Law, this is the very Text. Judg. i. 16. They went up out of the City of Palm trees with the Iſraelites, and dwelt among them in the Wilderneſs, and feared the Lord. But the Kenites were voluntary adjoyners, not of the Covenant, and Inheritance they had none in Canaan, no not a foot of ground. God having mightily bleſſed them with a little, only by keeping Sheep, as their Father Jethro and his Daughters did. Rechab and Jonadab provided aſſurance for their Children among the Iſraelites for ever. And whereas ſtrangers ſhould caſt about for two things eſpecially, that is, neither to be burdenſom to the place they live in, and eat out the Inhabitants, nor to be unprofitable as ſuperfluous parts of the Kingdom. So did theſe men, they were bound to plant no Vineyards, to till no ground, or build houſes; and who could ſay they robbed the Country of any Commodity. But they fed Flocks, and attended their charge in the field, leaſt Iſrael ſhould ſay, we have no need of you.

Happy men, who left the pleaſant Country where they were born, and followed the Tabernacle into a ſtrange Land, where they might be born again by the grace of God. As Tully ſaid when he fled from Rome to Pompey, Exilium in Pompeii cauſâ eſt tanquam patria; he that was baniſhed for ſo good a man was better than at home: So reſolve we every one to follow the true Church whereſoever it is toſſed about in the World; there is no baniſhment to a Chriſtian but to be far from God, Earth is our Pilgrimage, and Heaven our Country. Chriſtus non in domo ſed in viâ naſcitur. Our Saviour himſelf was born but in an Inn, as if he took up his lodging for a night in this world, and were but a Paſſenger. They that were foreign, ſine aris fociſque, without an hearth to kindle a fire, ſays Ariſtotle, of all men they were the moſt poor and wretched. That is no good Divinity, ſays St. Auſtin, writing concerning the tears of Judah by the waters of Babylon, Mirum hoc eſſet ſi aliquò duci poterant ubi Deus eorum non eſſet; If they that were hurried into Babylon could be carried away where p. 884God was not with them, then, and not till then, their tranſlation were a miſery. But as the Iſraelites removed from one journey to another, according as the Pillar of ſmoke did remove by day, and the Pillar of fire by night, ſo I tell you of ſuch men in my Text that turned their ſtation every where as Gods Glory and his Worſhip did direct them. Whether it be affliction, or whether it be fear to give offence when we are in a ſtrange Land, ſure I am ſomewhat is in it, that makes ſuch men moſt careful of their Religious Converſation. Deborah found the Kenites thoſe ſojourners moſt ready to purſue that Tyrant Siſera. Jehu could find no man to cleave unto him againſt the Idolatry of Baal but even this Jonadab, the Founder of this order of the Rechabites, who renounce all Manſion dwelling, and vow for ever to live in Tents.

And as Abigail ſaid to David, Let thine Handmaid be a ſervant to waſh the feet of the Servants of my Lord the King. So Jonadab puts his Children in a way to think themſelves not worthy of Cities and Poſſeſſions among the Royal Nation whom God had choſen, but Shepherds they muſt be, and underlings to tend the Flocks of the Servants of the Lord. Foelix illud ſaeculum fuit ante architectonas, ſays one. Fair buildings and curious houſes had they been unreared, the Kitchins had not been plied ſo much to provide Banqueting and Luxury. It was a ſcoff caſt upon the Rhodians, that they built as if they would live three Ages, and they fed as if they would die in three days: As if their fair Palaces moved them to make Feaſts, and their Feaſts were occaſions to make them ſurfeit, and to ſleep out their days in a Lethargy. You ſhall not wag your heads another day at theſe mens Tenements, and cry woe unto the houſes that were built by Extortion. The ſtone out of the Wall, and the Beam of the Roof cannot condemn the Maſter. You ſhall not cenſure them as Seneca did his own Country-men the Romans, Ʋnicuique ſuum ſi reſtituerent ad caſas reducerentur; If every Nation whom they have robb'd and ſpoiled had their own, they would have nothing left them, but, that which they began with, their Shepherds Cottages: And when you have erected ſuch a place, that you may ſet your name upon it, ſays the Pſalmiſt; yet what have you done, but pay'd Tribute where ye needed not, ſays Plutarch? Quare homines in auratis lectis dormiant, &c. Why ſhould men put themſelves to ſuch coſt to pay for their ſleep, when if they will chuſe the open fields with Ʋriah, or chuſe a Tent with the Rechabites, it will coſt them little or nothing. Nay, ſome are ſo curious, that they will not only have their houſes for their lives, but ſet up Tombs for their dead Carkaſſes before they die. Nay, they dare endite Hic jacet upon their Monument when they are yet alive, when God knows whether their duſt ſhall be ſcattered into all the quarters of the earth.

This that hath been ſpoken may ſerve to let you know how plauſible it did ſeem to Jonadab to inſtitute ſuch a Vow, becauſe his Brethren were ſtrangers in the Land of Jury. And ſecondly, it was well conſidered, becauſe their fortune might turn worſe and worſe; they might be greater ſtrangers. For who is he that had not heard the threatning of the Babyloniſh Captivity? Nay, There are Pſalms of Thankſgiving for their joyful return in the Prophet David. Did not Solomons heart miſgive him in this matter? Obſerve but one paſſage in his heavenly Prayer at the Dedication of the Temple, 1 Kings ix. 46. If they carry us away captive into the Land of the enemies far or near, and thy people repent, then hear our ſupplication in heaven, and maintain our cauſe. The time drew ſo near, that Jeremy and many Prophets ſpoke of it, as if the Calamity were already begun in the borders of the Country. Now when Captivity did ring in their ears, who would only live as if one day would be every day, and never provide for the Evening ſorrow which might fall upon them? Who would not exerciſe his mind to know what it was to loſe? Who would not caſt away his burden againſt the flight of perſecution? So did the Rechabites. For when the Chaldaeans ſhould ſweep away the people, as an Ox licketh the graſs, they were foreign, one Wain could carry them, their Tent, and their Family, Tectumque, laremque, armaque, it was but a progreſs to paſs over Euphrates; but great was the ſorrow of all the Tribes leaving their Houſes and Vineyards; it made Jeremy endite a book of Lamentation. Noah left all he had unto the world ſeven days before the Floud began; and what got they who thought him fooliſh, and themſelves happy to divide the ſpoils. Lot forſook his houſe, and the Sodomites did not enjoy it an hour who ſucceeded him.

A good Chriſtian is indifferent to be caſt into any mould by the hand of God. He that is prepared to die but one kind of death, is not yet fit to be a Martyr: And he that is prepared to live but one kind of life, is not yet fit to be a Confeſſor for the p. 885name of Chriſt. A good Actor, ſays Syneſius, can repreſent either Creon or Telephus, and all is one in his skil to play the Prince, or the Bondſlave. Hence ariſeth all the miſery of mankind, ſays Athenagoras in Plutarch, Quod quippiam nobis inexpectato accidit; That ſomething befals us which we did not expect, nor were provided for it. Fooliſh men, who love nothing but their preſent life, are like bad roots that grow ſullen if you remove them from the earth that feeds them. There is no life to Shemei if he may not run at random, and rail, and backbite in every corner. As good it were to hang him out of the way as to confine him to one City, though it were Jeruſalem. Such as can look no further into the world, than that they may retire to their own home if need be, are comprized under the Emblem of the Snail, that goes a very little ſpace from her Shell with this word, Si pluit ingrediar, a daſh of rain drives them back again. Your conſtant ſetled man is made for every fortune that is caſt upon him, his Emblem is, Corpus quadratum, a ſquare body; throw it as you will it lies flat and firm, every way it keeps the ſame decent poſture. And ſo much for the ſecond inducement which Jonadab had to ordain this Vow of Tabernacles and abſtemiouſneſs, it was for the better preparation againſt Captivity. In communi fame atque obſidione quàm utilis fuit frugalitas, &c. When Famine and Wars were in the City, great advantage had the Rechabites above other men, by their temperance, and hard lodging in Tents, ſays Calvin upon this place.

Laſtly, Jonadabs counſel was as an Oracle of God to frame ſuch a Vow at this ſeaſon: Becauſe the riches of the Land did exceedingly multiply above all Nations from the Reign of Solomon, and to profeſs ſo much contempt of the world when all Jury was like a rich Exchequer full of Silver and Gold, what an honour was this to the Rechabites that they durſt be poor when all the Kingdom ſurfeited of plenty? Quid habere nobis turpe ſit, quaeris? Nihil, ſays the Poet. Nothing was ſhameworthy in that place but to be poor and have nothing: Yet nothing they poſſeſs but ſuch a quantity of ſubſtance as might beſt ſerve them to praiſe the Lord. Cattel they had, and Lambs they had wherewith the Prieſts might make attonement for their ſins, and the ſins of Judah: Goods and ſubſtance which was not uſeful to the Temple of God, to them ſuch Riches were Apocryphal. Some bring Cenſors of Gold, ſome ſweet Odours to the Altar. They have no ſuch Offerings. But as it was ſaid of Epictetus, foreign. None ſo poor in the riches of this world, none ſo rich in the expectation of the next world.

The children of the true Church are compared to ſheep coming from the ſhearer, Cant. i. Whereupon ſays one, Chriſtianus eſt ovis detonſa, hoc eſt, omnibus mundanis ſpoliata; A Chriſtian is a ſheep that ſtands dumb, and is willing to part with all his Fleece, and to lay it at the feet of the Shearer. The Lord is merciful calcantibus terram, ſays the Prophet Iſaiah, to them that ſpurn the earth. From whence St. Auſtin raiſed this Meditation, Eſt iis miſericors qui amore coeleſtium terrena contemnunt, He is merciful to men who trample the riches of the earth under feet, and meditate upon the Kingdom of Heaven. For as the Fathers obſerve upon St. Peters words, Depart from me for I am a ſinful man, that ſuch a depart was a Fiſhers hook to draw Chriſt nearer unto him: So for theſe men to plant neither Vine, nor Olive, nor to ſo Seed in the Canaan beneath, was to purchaſe the holy Paradiſe of happineſs which remains for ever. O let me oppoſe the life of theſe men to the covetous death of many in our Age, that put out money upon Uſury after they are buried, like him in the Poet having his deaths wound, Terram ore momordit, he would carry his mouth full of earth away with him, as if he ſhould not have enough in his grave.

Had not the Iſraelites been too richly furniſhed with golden Ear-rings, they had never had ſtuff to make an Idol, there had been no Calf in Horeb. Had not Hezekiah been exalted with the pomp of ſo great a Treaſury, the Meſſengers of the King of Babylon had not known the riches of the Kings Palace, an Army had not been brought againſt the Kingdom. Methinks, ſays Seneca, the Romans ſhould tremble at nothing more than to ſee Plate in their Streets, and Jewels in their Chains, and Gold upon the Poſts of their doors. Cogitet Romanus has apud victos ſe reperiſſe; When they were firſt Conquerours they had none of theſe, but they found them among their vanquiſhed Captives. So let Judah remember that they found their Gold and Silver among the Canaanites who were ſlain and rooted out. And are they not fair baits to fall again into the hands of Conquerours? Now alas, ſays Syneſius, no man can think he is enthralled in the Fetters of Captivity as long as his Fetters be of Gold, foreign, we are not wary of miſchief being in a p. 886glorious misfortune. Had they been all as wiſe as the Rechabites, their abundance had not dazled the eyes of their enemies: but now like Fowls which ſhed their feathers about their Neſt, they betray themſelves by their own ſuperfluity. I have read of an Advocate of Rome, that profeſſed himſelf to be able to teach any man the Law to ſave his Lands from all queſtion, that he might be diſquieted by no impleadment. I do not value that cunning, ſays Seneca, but teach me to loſe all I have, and not to be moved with the misfortune, and then I will pay you for my learning. In like manner had Jonadab left a great volume of Precepts behind him how to teach his Kindred thrift and husbandry, had he bequeathed to them the magiſterium of the Philoſophers Stone, why all this labour had only made them worldly and avaritious. But to inſtitute a courſe, and to put them in practiſe how to want and ſuffer ſcarcity, as many as walk in that rule may have bodies that can live without this world, as they have ſouls that can live without theſe bodies.

And ſo much for the three laudable inducements unto which Jonadab did reſpect, when he made his Children vow a Vow unto the Lord. 1. It was expedient for ſtrangers. 2 It was a Cordial to comfort them in the Captivity of Babylon. 3. It was an occaſion both to withdraw the fuel which kindled the love of the world in their ſouls, and it extinguiſhed the envy of their Adverſaries who were about to ſubdue their Country. Now I follow my own method to handle the ſecond conſideration of this Vow, that theſe circumſtances were not only well foreſeen, but that the conditions of the thing vowed are juſt and lawful.

Not to tumble over all the diſtinctions of the Schoolmen, which are as multiplicious in this cauſe as in any; of Vows, ſome are ſingular in uno individuo, which concern one man and no more, as when David vowed to build an houſe unto the Lord, this was not a Vow of many aſſociated in that pious work, but of David only. Some are publick when there is an unity of conſent in divers perſons to obteſt the ſame thing before the preſence of God. And ſuch was this Vow in my Text, it concerned the whole Family of the Rechabites. Again, ſome Vows are private, not in regard of the perſons which may be numerous, but in reſpect of the place; ſome Vows are ſolemn when the proteſtation is made unto the Church. So was not this Vow, it was not ſolemn, it was no Church matter. To ſay that the Rechabites lived about the Temple, and were a kind of Monks, I know not what could be ſpoken more ignorantly by our Adverſaries, and yet it hath been written in defiance of our Religion. None lived about the Temple but Prieſts and Levites, except ſome great Prophetical Spirit was diſcerned in them. That the Nazarites had any dwelling in the Temple Maldonat is miſtaken, no more had theſe Shepherds who lived in Tabernacles. Again, ſome conſtrain themſelves to the obſervation of a Vow but for a time; for never any but Samſon, that we read of, was a perpetual Nazarite; ſome oblige the Votary for ever, ſuch was this which I treat of, in Tabernacles they muſt live for ever. Fourthly, Some ſtand upon conditions, like that of Anna, if ſhe had a Son ſhe would give him to the Lord. Some are abſolute, like the Vow of Baptiſm, wherein there is no capitulation. But were it a Vow in any rank of theſe which I have named, yet the complexion of the matter muſt have theſe four conditions according to the Schoolmen. We will take that which is ſound, and refuſe that which is corrupt. Eſto, ſay they, res adiaphora, poſſibilis, licita, faciens ad cultum Dei. 1. The thing vowed muſt be indifferent and free from neceſſity. 2. An atchievment poſſible, and not out of the reach of humane frailty. 3. Unleſs it be lawful we offer our ſervice unto Devils. 4. That which we vow unto God muſt not be every idle fancy of our own brain, it muſt bear weight and moment if we promiſe it unto the Lord.

To begin with the firſt: A thing not commanded, but indifferent to be done or not done is the firſt condition of a Vow, ſays Aquinas. Stay there a while. Shall I believe Aquinas or the Patriarch Jacob? For I learn that the firſt ground of making a Vow is in Jacobs example, Gen. xxviii. by the light of nature before the Law: and he vows both res praeceptas, that God ſhould be his God, and res adiaphoras, where the Stone was ſet to build up an houſe to God. Beloved, be not deceived with the leaven of the Jeſuits, this is Diana of the Epheſians, and their credit lies upon it. Indeed ſuch Commandments as literally forbid ſin are negative, and obligant ad ſemper, the yoke of them is never off from our conſcience, and ſo it is eaſie to acknowledge that they are Commandments; But whereas incluſively there are duties to be done quae non obligant ad ſemper, which bind us but at times and ſeaſons, therein we may p. 887meet with many parts of Divine Worſhip which ſeem ſuperfluous, and as it were, given into the bargain: Eſpecially we want a good inſpection to make a difference between theſe three things. 1. There is the end of a Chriſtian life. 2. The next and immediate means to that end. 3. The remoter means, and further off. The end is Gods glory, and we cannot overſee that point, but that it is the firſt injunction which lies upon our Soul. The next and the proper end to that means are the ſtrict words of the Commandments, and thoſe, we cannot gainſay it, are a neceſſary part of Chriſtianity: But as for the remote means, which are further of, there we boaſt that we do pay that which we did never owe, but ſupererogate with God.

O deluded Conſcience! hearken and conſider; purity of body and ſoul is the ſcope of the ſeventh Commandment. The next means to avoid Adultery is in ſome men Marriage, in ſome the ſhunning of laſcivious talk and lewd Company: there are means more diſtant to ſubdue the wantonneſs of the body, by ſtrict Faſtings, by Canonical hours of Prayer, to ſhun the very Country where bewitching Beauties tempt our affections. Should you tell me in this caſe that your Prayers, your Faſtings, your Pilgrimages were more than meaſure, and above the Commandment I would tell you, you did lie againſt God and your Conſcience; againſt God who hath commanded all that you can perform by might and ſtrength; and againſt Conſcience; for whatſoever my heart tells me will give me advantage to ſerve the Lord, conſcientia in iis eſt regula faciendorum, and it is ſin to omit it.

I appeal to a Jury of the Schoolmen: Why did Chriſt and his Angels vow no vow? becauſe they are the moſt perfect Creatures of reaſonable eſſence, full of the nobleſt ſpeculation: yet they keep the Law of God and obſerve it. Down then with that blaſphemy, that the obſervation of the Law is but Milk for Babes, and Vows are left to try the vertues of an excellent and heroick ſpirits, greater Tasks for the Champions of the Militant Church. The Law is like the Paſſover which muſt be eaten; Devotions of indifferency, when conſcience doth preſcribe them, are like the ſower herbs to be eaten with it. If you think the Sawce better than the Meat, the Herbs more coſtly than the Lamb, they are fermentum in Paſchate, and beware of the leaven of the Phariſees. You will ſay, was not this res adiaphora? was it not in the power of the Rechabites to drink wine or refrain? yes; but when conſcience had ſet it down before them as an excellent diſpoſition to ſerve the Lord, conſcience hath made that which was indifferent in it ſelf neceſſary unto them, and their Task in this very thing to pleaſe the Lord. If this Chapter be not ſtrong enough to convince our Adverſaries, though they glory in the Example of the Rechabites, let them take the Cauſe. For although they reſtrained themſelves to the pooreſt life of keeping ſheep, and dwelt in Pavillions and drank no wine, yet it came not from theſe obſervations that they were acceptable to God; no, God himſelf reduceth their good ſervice to the fifth Commandment in the laſt verſes of this Chapter; becauſe they have obeyed their Father Jonadab in all things, therefore there ſhall not want a man of that Race to ſtand before him for ever. And ſo much for the firſt condition of this Vow; the obſervations in themſelves are of indifferency and liberty, but yet media remota ad praeceptum, they are reducible to the fifth Commandment.

In the ſecond condition I concur with the Schoolmen, that a Vow muſt be poſſible to accompaſs, leſt they that paſs by ſhake their heads and ſay, this man laid a foundation and was not able to build it up: non eſt votum ſed oſtentatio, it is no Vow, but plain boaſting and oſtentation. They deal as certain of the Sect called Druides among the Gauls, that took much upon truſt in this life, to pay their Creditors in the Reſurrection. When St. Peter would truſt his feet to walk upon the Seas to Chriſt, the waves ſurged, and had well nigh drowned an Apoſtle. A good Emblem for thoſe who finding their affections calm and even, ſay to morrow will be as yeſterday, and vow for the years to come; but in time our heart loatheth this Manna, and what are we but Bankrupts unto God, and Peter ſinketh. A true Votary, ſays Anſelm, gives unto God the whole tree with the fruit, root, and branches; the works of the will, and the power of the will for ever. But if the Thiſtle ſhould vow, and threaten to bring forth grapes, would it not be trodden down by the Beaſts of the field? as it is in the Parable? But this Vow of the Rechabites may be diſcharged with facility. Of their Paſtoral life they had many examples in other Countries of men living in Woods, as if they had been born of Trees: and of their temperate life they had an inſtance in the Nazarites.

p. 888But nothing is more feizable in the World than evil; therefore in the third place it concerns a Vow to be lawful. To reſolve upon evil is a defiance againſt God; C. 28. v. 15.omnis promiſſio mali eſt comminatio: Iſaiah calls it an agreement with Hell, and a Covenant with Death. Lamech that ſwore in his wrath to kill a man: the Mother of Michah who did ſolemnly dedicate her Silver for a molten Image; the Swordmen that vowed the death of Paul, theſe gave their faith in hoſtage to the Devil to work iniquity. Put to theſe the revengeful Romaniſt, that is ſent to ſea by his Ghoſtly Father, with a worſe Devil in him than was in the Gergaſens Swine, to ſet Kingdoms in combuſtion, and to deſtroy the Lords Anointed. There are alſo unlawful Votaries, but not ſo bad as the former, whoſe heart was right with the Lord in their Vow, but being raſh and ſudden, never conſidered that the iſſue might be dangerous. Thus Jepthab returning from the ſlaughter of the Ammonites brought a deliberate curſe upon his own Daughter. And what juſtice was in the Oath of Saul, that ſwore every man ſhould die that taſted food that day, as well he that heard the Law as Jonathan that did not. Theſe are Vows like ſharp arrows ſhot up into Heaven, ſoft enough while they are in the air, but the danger is whoſe head they light upon when they return again.

Well, I acquit the Vow of the Rechabites from any harm; to drink or ſpare is lawful; it is our freedom making no conſcience. Not one Expoſitor of many but conceive that Jonadab and his Children took this penance upon them, becauſe it grieved them to hear that Sion ſhould be deſolate, and Jeruſalem an heap of ſtones. Let others feaſt it while deſtruction comes upon them unawares. There are ſuch lovers of themſelves, qui mallent ſtellam de coelo perire quàm vaccam de armento, who had rather Heaven ſhould loſe a Star than himſelf be endamaged a Sheep, the Vine will not leave his ſweetneſs, nor the Olive his fatneſs, neither would put away private content for the publick good: but a zealous Rechabite is foreign, and leaves both the ſweetneſs of the Wine, and all power for ever to plant Vineyards, the better to be prepared to pray for Jeruſalem.

Laſtly, multa licent quae non expediunt: May it be done ſafely? that is ſome content: but is it fit to be done? faciens ad cultum Dei? is it profitable for holineſs? that is the fourth Condition. Every act of Divine Worſhip well placed raiſeth up our melody unto God in a higher note: the noiſe of every idle ſuperſtition drowns the Muſick. When David vowed an Habitation for the mighty God of Jacob, Ariſe O Lord into thy reſting place, thou and the ark of thy ſtrength, then he fill'd Heaven and Earth with his Melody: We heard of the ſame at Ephrata, and found it in the woods. But that rude noiſe, Templum Domini, Templum Domini, to vow Pilgrimages, and gadding about to I know not what, it breeds no incenſement of devotion: a meer foreign, like an Artiſt more buſie than well occupied, that made a Charriot for a Fly to draw it.

But that this Vow was of ſome moment in the practice of piety, it appears by Gods benediction upon them in the laſt verſe of this Chapter. For as it was ſaid of Socrates his goodneſs, that it ſtood the Commonwealth of Athens in more ſtead than all their warlike Proweſs by Sea and Land, ſo that Religious life of the Rechabites was the beſt Wall and Fortreſs to keep Judah in peace and ſafety. Thoſe that like Thomas the Apoſtle would put their finger into the world, and thruſt their hand into riches, and ſee the print of their nails, or elſe they will not believe; theſe would make you think that they were Diſciples of Chriſt, and yet indent to receive Tribute from him, as if he were their Servant: And almoſt who doth not follow Chriſt rather to be a gainer by him than a loſer. Ecce nos reliquimus omnia, Behold we have left all and followed thee; that was the perfection of the Apoſtles, that was the ſtate of the Rechabites; not ſimply all, every thing that belonged to the maintenance of a man, and ſo to live upon beggery, ſed quid velle debeant didicerunt, they have learned to ask nothing but a Gourd to cover their head, a few Flocks of Sheep to imploy their hands, the Spring water to quench their thirſt. They that muſt have no more, have cut off ſuperfluous deſires, that they can never ask more. And ſo I have declared that piety and a godly life were chiefly aimed at in the Vow of the Rechabites.

But admit it had all in one Vow which could be good in any; will it avail to licenſe a Profeſſion of Votaries in our Reformed Church; my Text caſts this Queſtion in the way, and I will remove it in a word. If any man would make a ſingle Vow for his own perſon by this Example, let him go on and proſper. Advice is neceſſary in ſo great a buſineſs, and in the multitude of Counſellors there is ſafety. A p. 889Vow of Private Devotion hath always been allowed in theſe caſes following. Firſt, when the heart of any humble Supplicant did earn to obtein ſome great mercy from God. 2. When a terror of ſome imminent judgment did hang over the head of ſinners, and threaten deſtruction not to be fourty dayes diſtance off, as in the caſe of the Ninevites. 3. It may be a caveat to check concupiſcence, leſt we ſin over our enormous ſins, not once, but often. Laſtly, it kindles a frozen and benummed zeal, and puts a flame into it as if it had been ſet afire by a Seraphin with a Coal from the Altar.

Now for publick Confederacy of many perſons in one Order, it is as lawful, being well managed, as it is full of exceptions before the inſtitution. Why may there not be holy Combinations to praiſe the Lord, as there are Orders for Chivalry and Honour in divers Countries? as the moſt noble Order of the Garter in our own Kingdom, the Knights of the Golden Fleece, and the like. I know not any well adviſed man that can take exceptions at the Knights of the Sepulcher inſtituted in a ſtrict Collegiate life, covenanting to fight againſt Pagans for the Chriſtian Faith upon their own charges, and bearing Croſſes about their neck in remembrance of our Saviours five wounds: but if any other condition ſhall intervene to the affronting of Religion, quae dederam ſupra repeto funemque reduco, I will no more approve ſuch knots of ſuperſtition, than I would allow of Sheba the Son of Bichri, and his Conſpiracy againſt King David. And ſo much hath been ſpoken for the four juſt Conditions of the Vow of the Rechabites. 1. It was a thing indifferent, but reducible to the fulfilling of the Law. 2. Let it be poſſible in the Sphere of our own ability. 3. Let it be juſt and lawful. 4. Let it be full of weight and moment, to draw us to the fear of the Lord.

The third part of my Text I have deſtined out to ſhew unto you, that the Romiſh Monks whoſe ſtrictneſs and devotion is ſo famous among our Adverſaries, that their Canons are not built upon the imitation of the Rechabites. That any particular Church may have Religious Orders and Votaries. I grant it, That point ſhall break no peace between us. In points not fundamental our Saviours rule muſt hold, He that is not againſt us is with us: But Vows undertaken, wherein they do neither conſult with the ſtrength of man if they can be done, nor with conſcience if they may be profitably done, nor with the Text of Scripture if they may be lawfully done; this cannot but break out into a quarrel. And in Eſſential points it is alſo a Maxim from our Saviours mouth; He that is not with us is againſt us. Whatſoever is in the world, ſays St. John, it is either the concupiſcence of the fleſh, the concupiſcence of the eye, or the pride of life. For the correcting of theſe three Tentations the Friers have propounded three Vows: The Concupiſcence of the Eye is remedied by Monaſtical Poverty, ſay they; and why not as well by a contented mind? The Concupiſcence of the Fleſh is remedied by the Vow of Chaſtity, ſays the Romaniſt; I am ſure experience doth tell us that Gods Remedy is the ſureſt, the Bed of Marriage. The Pride of Life is remedied by Blind Obedience, ſays the Papiſt; and why not as well by humility and acknowledgment of our own unworthineſs?

Wonder you ſo much that ſo many ſhould retire themſelves into Voluntary Poverty? is this ſuch news abroad? when you cannot walk the Streets at home but ſwarms of Canters meet you, who will not live by the hope of their labour, but by alms and charity. The poor Artiſan, the painful Plowman who cannot make his long days labour feed him and refreſh him at night, doth this man I pray you look like one who deſerves relief, or an obſtinat Mendicant? a Rechabite that watcheth night and day to feed his Flock? or a Capuchin that trudgeth night and noon about the City to feed his belly? Did Chriſt deſcend of the ſeed of Jonadab and Lazarus? no but of Abraham, a mighty Prince. Crates and Antiſthenes may caſt their Silver from them, and retain their vices, true Chriſtians give up themſelves to God, and with themſelves they give up all things. Coſmus and Damianus who grudged a Monk his Chriſtian Burial, becauſe he had laid up a little Silver in his Study, were too prodigal of their zeal, and miſt our Saviours meaning. To leave Lands and Houſes for his Names ſame, was to beget an exerciſed mind for patience; to prepare Worldlings to be ready to caſt away their Burdens for the flight of perſecution. It is good for a man in ſome ſort to depend upon Gods temporal bleſſings, leſt we grow careleſs of Prayer. In Egypt where the River Nilus waters the earth, and fats the ground without rain, nemo oratorum coelos aſpicit. Pray who will, they truſt in Nilus. Then I may conteſt againſt the Sectaries of St. Francis and the like, that Voluntary Poverty is not built upon the foundation of the Rechabites, and thoſe idle ſwarms of the Cloiſters have not left the World but civility.

p. 890But for the Covenant of perpetual Virginity, there they think to bear the Bell away, and that they only ſhall be the men who carry Palm Branches before the Lamb among the Virgins, Rev. 7. It is in weak man to afford God as much chaſtity as he pleaſeth? Can our frail will caſt anchor in the depth of concupiſcence? and ſay unto the ſurging waves of luſt as Chriſt did to the Sea, Peace, be ſtill. So Xerxes threw chains into the Ocean to bind it; but trow you the Tide was the calmer? St. Paul durſt not do ſo. He would admit no Widows into the ſtrict Orders of the Primitive Church under ſixty years of age. Yea, ſays Leo, the firſt of that name, rather than want a College full I will entertain them at fourty: nay, ſays Pius the firſt, what if they profeſs Virginity at five and twenty? And now the Canons have opened the Market a little more, every Girl may enter into a Cloyſter at fifteen if ſhe like them. As Elias ſet the Sacrifice on fire when the Trenches were filled with cold water round about; ſo unchaſt acts may get predominance of the will, notwithſtanding all the ſpiritual Scleragogie, and exerciſe to tame the body. Faſting humbleth; Prayer is powerful; honeſt Communication apparelleth the mind with good thoughts; Watching tameth the fleſh. All this is ſpiritual, but I am carnal. Quoque magis premitur tanto magis aeſtuat ignis.

Is it not uſual in the Court of Rome to grant Diſpenſations to ſupply the decay of Noble Families: but they are never granted to entangle an enſnared conſcience.Can. 16. And do they love Virginity? In the Council of Chalcedon it was decreed, that there ſhould be reſerved for the Biſhop foreign. the abſolute authority of Indulgence to pardon a diſtreſſed Maid, who diſaccording to her Vow had married. But ſuch a Marriage by the Romiſh Doctrin now adays is eſteemed worſe than Adultery, and do they love Chaſtity? Finally, it was the Diſcipline of Numa againſt a Veſtal Virgin, who had committed folly, to bury her alive. Such a fault in the Roman Monaſteries is paſſed by, either with a full connivance, or with the ſmalleſt penance. For wot you why? it may be every mans caſe: and do they love Virginity? I am ſure the Rechabites did honour Marriage, and propagated a good Generation to the World: They knew that the gift of perpetual continence is not a Grace of common courſe: and extraordinary Diſpenſations are not preſumptuouſly to be arrogated to the uſe of every regenerate Chriſtian, no nor for the command of any Prophet. Why ſhould St. Paul leave Trophimus ſick at Miletum? Why was Biſhop Timothy his ſtomach weak? Paul could not help it. Grace allotted for extraordinary operations is not every mans portion; nor always at hand for them who at ſome ſeaſons have a taſte of it: and ſuch is the Roſe of the Garland, the gift of Chaſtity.

Finally, Obedience, which in our Voyage in this World, is like a ſweet gale that fills the ſails, and makes our Veſſel fly ſwift upon the wings of the wind, yet as it is blind and Monaſtical, it is like a Serena, ſuch a calm whereby the Bark can go neither backward nor forward, and it is not built upon the foundation of the Rechabites: not upon obedience to their own Father, but upon the ſands of bondage and ſlavery. Ʋbi deſinit Phariſaeus ibi incipit Monachus; the Phariſees if they took an oath upon the Altar not to relieve their Parents, thought it enough to ſay I know you not, to the Grey head which gave them education, and to the paps which gave them ſuck. Philo the Jew had it from hence when he concluded doctrinally, that a man was bound to provide ſuſtenance for his Parents unleſs he had vowed the contrary. Not one jot more charitable are thoſe ſhaven Crowns who afford their Parents no remembrance of their Birth, but to repent that they bore Children. Moreover what obligements did lie upon the Rechabites, but ſuch as were calculated for common frailty. A Shepherds life, the drink of an abſtemious man, the Eſtate of a Foreiner, to have neither Lands nor Poſſeſſion, this doth neither preſs nor overload Obedience. But Sulpitius tells another tale for Monaſtical duty, nullum unquam recuſaturus quamvis indignum toleratu imperium; to be commanded to ſow the wind, and to reap folly, this is to abuſe our Creation, which gave us bodies to do ſomething; not to be ſet on work to loſe good hours, and do nothing, to pleaſe a Superior. Beſides, thus the Rechabites continued their life to follow the Statutes of Jonadab, that they might be accepted for their harmleſneſs and innocency as Strangers and Pilgrims in Iſrael. Are the Jeſuits ſo? thoſe undertakers of State affairs, who endeniſon themſelves in every Kingdom, whoſe eyes, as one ſaid very well, are like Burning-glaſſes, which fire all things upon which they look.

But this is their practice, to entitle the Worthies of the Scripture by the name of their own Orders, to whoſe converſation their life was nothing agreeable. Baronius p. 891makes the Mother of our Lord to live a cloiſtred Virgin in the Sanctum Sanctorum until ſhe was betrothed to Joſeph, and there was fed familiarly with Angels: Do you not believe it? when ſhe trembled to hear one bring that good ſalutation, Ave Maria. In Nyſſens time this was foreign, a report that knew not the Author, and out of doubt a Fable. John the Baptiſt is toſſed about in the Schools for the example of a contemplative Anchorite, becauſe he lived in the Wilderneſs: But to be abroad in the Deſert did no more make him an Hermite, than it made Nebuchadonoſor who was mad ſeven years among the wild beaſts. They preſume alſo that Philip the Evangeliſts Daughters were Nuns, and had entred into ſome Covenant of Virginity, whereas in the third Book of Euſebius's Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory, and the thirtieth chapter, the ſtory is upon record that they were all happily married.

St. Chryſoſtom conjoyns an Eremite and Elias in ſome ſimilitude, but to what purpoſe? I would our Adverſaries would heed it better: that although an Eremite were as devout as Elias in the Wilderneſs, yet he would prefer a Biſhop before him, who in the Cities of God taught the Word, and diſpenſed the Sacraments, St. Hierom I find calls the Rechabites Monks in the 13. Epiſt. ad Paulinum; not as if the cauſes or inſtitution of both their lives were alike, but becauſe they concurred in ſome points of auſterity. If there be ſuch ſutableneſs between our Predeceſſors in the Law, and the Religious Orders of Rome now adayes, methinks Balaam ſhould carry theſe marks of a Jeſuit. Firſt Balaam died in Arms, Joſ. 13. and Loiola was a Souldier in the Field. Balaam was a great complotter with the King of Moab, they are buſy and factious in all Kingdoms of Europe. Balaam was ready to curſe Gods Inheritance for a reward; this pernicious Fatherhood have laid their heads together to root out our reformed Iſrael. Balaam had the good gifts of Propheſie, but wanted grace; and ſo confer the Writings of the Jeſuits and their practice, and you will ſay as Iſaac did to his Father, Here's a pile of wood, but where is the Sacrifice? In like manner we may ſay here's a Volume of Divinity in our works, learned Fathers, but in your lives not an ABC of Religion. To conclude this point; Howſoever they bear the World in hand, that Vows of Monaſtical perfection are expreſſed in the Word of God; yet the alleged Examples are either ſuch as never did vow, I mean the Virgin Mary, John Baptiſt, Elias, and Ananias ſays Cardinal Cajetan: or ſuch as vowed raſhly out of precipitant zeal like Saul and Jephta: or ſuch as made no ſuch Vow as they contrive by the Pattern, I mean the Nazarites, the Rechabites, and St. Pauls Widows. Who kept a College to entertain Diſciples, and to tend the Funeral of Chriſtians, like thoſe Widows who waſht the Body of Tabatha, Acts 9. If you will needs know from what Quiver they draw their Shafts, ſift the Pythagoraeans, and their captive obedience; ſift the Veſtal Maids and their Devoted Virginity; ſift the Pagan Philoſophers and their Obſtinate Poverty: is not the very Name to be found, that Cloiſter Lubbers were called foreign and foreign by Heathen appellations. Search the Scriptures, and ſearch Pagan Education, and the caſe will appear on our ſide, that the Romiſh Votaries enter into Orders, not by the Door of the good Shepherd, but by the dark Entry of Philoſophers. And ſo much I have ſpoken to ſhew that the Patrons of Monaſtical Perfection are much miſtaken, though we praiſe the Rechabites.

The end and laſt part of all is this; That foraſmuch as God was well pleaſed with theſe abſtemious People that would drink no Wine, therefore promiſe unto the Lord, and do the deed; for that is my final concluſion, that a Vow juſtly conceived is to be ſolemnly performed. When we have breathed out nunquam bibemus, a reſolved Proteſtation before God, it is like the hour we ſpake it in, paſt and gone, and can never be recalled. Effudi animam, ſays David, I have poured out my ſoul in prayer, as if upon his ſupplication it were no longer his, but Gods for ever. Surely if our Soul be gone from us in our Prayers, then much more in our Vows they are flown up to Heaven, like Lazarus to the Boſom of Abraham, they cannot, they ſhould not return to earth again. He that changed his Sex in the Fable is not ſo great a wonder, as he that changeth any Covenant which is drawn between God and his Conſcience: He that hath conſecrated himſelf to God, doth, as it were, carry Heaven upon his ſhoulders. Support your burdens in Gods name, leſt if you ſhrink the wrath of God preſs you down to the nethermoſt pit.

I admoniſh the Friers of Italy to look to this, they caſt a colour upon their Vow of Lenten faſting, but they lie unto the Holy Ghoſt; whereas their Vow is not to eat bread till toward the Evening, as if God knew not how the day went but by the Church Saints-Bell, they read Even-ſong before twelve a clock at Noon, that the Clergie may go to Supper. Right Judas; quicquid facis fac citò; he had his ſop before his fellows, and p. 892ſo was ſent of his Errand. An old Wife in Greece was as crafty in this forgery as any Monk of them all: She vowed to drink nothing but water until ſhe ſaw an hundred Suns; Centum ſoles de puro non niſi fonte bibam. Well the reſervation was that ſhe lookt through the holes of a Sieve, and therein ſaw a thouſand repreſentations of the body of the Sun. Per crebra foramina cribrum inſpicit, & ſoles callida mille videt. But will couſenage and equivocation ſerve to excuſe a Votary, abſit, God is not mocked.

I will ſpend no more of your leiſure but to give a brief anſwer to one queſtion. Is Chriſt ſo auſtere that he doth reclaim againſt all diſpenſation? no, ſays Aquinas, you are looſe again, if the thing in vow be either ſimpliciter malum, inutile, aut majoris boni impeditivum; if it be ſinful, nay if it be unuſeful, nay if it croſs the accompliſhment of a greater good. This is good allowance, and well ſpoken. Hear then what another ſays. There is no diſpenſation for any Vow as it is a Vow, ſays Scotus: but take him right, and he means well. For as it ſtands not with civil peace, that any Law, as it is a Law, ſhould be broken; but it ſtands with wiſdom to diſannul pernicious Laws; now, no man ever after breaks the Law becauſe it is a Law no longer when it is diſannulled. So the matter of an unlawful Vow being ſcanned, it is held fit by prudent Governors and Teachers that it ſhould be a Vow no longer: then that which remains a Vow is always obligatory, that which is pronounced no Vow is not violated, but quite extinguiſhed. Whatſoever Covenant Bondmen or Idiots, Children or Madmen caſt themſelves into, it skills not what they ſay, both for want of liberty to do what they would, and for want of reaſon to know what they ſhould. But in a perſon both of liberty and reaſon, if that which was undertaken to give advantage to Devotion turn to be a ſnare rather than an help, magis eſt corrigenda temeritas quàm ſolvenda promiſſio, ſays St. Auſtin.

For herein the things vary, and not the will of the Votary; and ſo ipſo facto he is free before God. The careful Pilot ſets his Adventure to a certain Haven, and would turn neither to the right hand, nor to the left, if the winds were as conſtant as the Loadſtone, but they blow contrary to his expectation. Suppoſe ye how a Rechabite proteſting non bibam è fructu geniminis, to drink no wine, had lived after the Inſtitution of our Saviours Supper when He conſecrated the fruit of the Grape, and ſaid, drink ye all of this, would it paſs for an anſwer at the Holy Communion to ſay we will drink no wine? No more than if he had ſworn before not to eat a Paſchal Lamb, or any ſower Herbs, quite againſt the Inſtitution of the Paſſover. A moſt learned Biſhop of our own Church reſolves this Controverſie thus, potentius eſt Chriſti ſacramentum quàm votum hominis. There is enough in this Chapter to ſtride over this doubt if you mark it. Jonadab indented with God, that He and his Seed ſhould live in Tabernacles for ever; and in Tabernacles they did live for three hundred years. Then comes the King of Babylon with an Army into the Country to invade the Land. It was dangerous now to live in Tabernacles; there was no High-Prieſt, I aſſure you, to abſolve them; no money given to the Publicans of the Church for a Diſpenſation: but we ſaid, Come and let us go to Jeruſalem for fear of the Army of the Chaldaeans and Syrians, and let us dwell at Jeruſalem. The Vow was unprofitable, Tabernacles dangerous, and ſo the Bond is cancelled.

Yet, Beloved, do not take all the liberty due unto you, if I may adviſe you: there are two things which you may chuſe to unty the knot of a Vow, diſpenſationem aut voti commutationem. The peremptory rejecting of a bad Vow, and that is lawful, and the changing thereof into ſome other Vow, and that is more expedient, that God may have ſome ſervice done unto him in eodem genere, by way of a vow. It is a ſatisfaction which is uſed in Civil Commerce between man and man. Praeceptum non habeo, conſilium autem do: I think it is the fitteſt to do ſo unto God. And ſo much for the Obligation of Vows, and the Diſpenſation, both proved by the example of the Rechabites, which by method propounded is the concluſion of this Text.