Works of Joseph Hall, Part 1 – Title page 26
THE IMPRESE OF GOD. THE FJRST PART.
ZACHAR. 14.20.
In that day ſhall be written vponupon the bridles (or, bels) of the Horſes, Holineſſe vntounto the Lord: and the pots of the Lords houſe ſhall be like the bowles before the Altar.
IF any man wonder whither this diſcourſe can tend, of horſes, and bels, and pots, and bowles for the Altar; Let him conſider that of Tertullian, Ratio diuina in medulla eſt, non in ſuperficie: Theſe Horſes, if they be well menaged, will proue like thoſe fiery horſes of Elias, to carry vsus vp to our heauen, 2 King. 2.11. Theſe Bels, like thoſe golden bels of Aarons robe, Exod. 39.25. Theſe Pots, like that Olla pulmenti of the Prophets, after Eliſha's meale, 2 King. 4. and theſe Bowles, like that bleſſed and fruitfull nauell of the CHVRCH, Cant. 7.2.
S. Paul askes, Doth God take care for oxen? ſo may I here, Doth God take care for horſes? Surely, to prouide for them, not to propheſie of them; much leſſe of their bels, the vnneceſſarie ornaments of a neceſſary creature; But, hee that forbids vsus to learne of the horſe that leſſon of ſtubbornneſſe, by the PSALMIST, and checks vsus oft by the oxe and aſſe, for their good nature, would hauehave vsus learne here, vnderunder this parable of the horſe, and the bels of the horſe, and the writing on thoſe bels, the eſtate of our owne peace, and ſanctification. God doth both ſpeake, and worke in Parables, as that Father ſaith well: Of this then I may truly ſay, as Hierome ſaid of the Booke of IOB, Singula verba plena ſunt ſenſibus: Suffer your ſelues with Abrahams Ram to bee perplexed a while in theſe bryars, that you may be prepared for a fit ſacrifice to God.
In that day:] What day is that? All dayes are his, who is the Ancient of dayes; and yet he ſayes, Abraham ſaw my day, and reioyced. Hee that made all dayes, ſayes yet againe, This is the day which the Lord hath made: There is one day of the weeke, Gods; foreign, Reuel. 1. and yet I would it were his; Gods day by creation, by ordination; I would it were his by obſeruation too: There is one day in an Age his; While it is called to day, Heb. 3. The day of viſitation; and yet this thy day, Luke 19.42. One day in a world his, Matth. 7.22. In that day: A day beyond the world, his. To day hauehave I begotten thee, Hodie, i. ab Eterno, which is a nunc ſtans, as Aquinas defines it. The Heathens hauehave fiue famous periods of computations, Ninus Monarchie, Ogyges Flood, Troian Warre, Olympiads, Vrbs condita; All ours is ab illo die, which S. Paul cals, the fulneſſe of Time; But Chriſt hath two dayes, as two commings: His firſt, In die illa radix Ieſſe, ſaith Eſay 11.10. The day of his comming to ſoiourne in the world; His ſecond, 1 Cor. 1.8. The day of his returne, which S. Paul cals foreign, Epheſ. 4.30. when he comes to ranſome vsus, and to iudge the world: Both are dayes indeed; In the firſt, there is no night of his abſence, tho to our ſenſe there be ſome little darkneſſe of our miſery: In the ſecond, no abſence, nor no miſery; A day without night, Reuel. 21.25. This propheſie is true of both; Partially, and inchoatly of the firſt; totally and abſolutely of the ſecond: Of the firſt ſo far as it makes way for, and reſembles the ſecond: and this as it is here principally intended, ſo ſhall it be the drift of our diſcourſe.
This is the day: Now what of this day? There ſhall be a Motto written: An honourable Motto; ſuch as was written vponupon the foreign the Turbaut of the High Prieſt, Holineſſe to the Lord: And where ſhall it be written? An honourable Motto in an ignoble place; foreign; Not as Aquila and Theodotian, vnderunder the belly of the horſe, ſuper profundum; Nor as Symmachus, vnderunder his feet, ſuper inceſſum vmbroſum; Theſe ſenſes are ſenſleſſe (tho you take them cum grano ſalis, as the Lawyers admoniſh) they ſauour neither the ſenſe, nor word; Not as Ierome, the Septuagint and Geneue, ſuper froenum; Tho this hath the ſenſe well, not the word; Hieroms maſter came a little neerer (ſuper phaleras;) Thoſe of the Rabbins yet light righteſt both on the word, and ſenſe, which turne ſuper Tintinnabula; For ten times at leaſt in the Chronicles and Ezra, is the ſame word dually vſed; for Cymbals; and the Verbe of this root, is the ſame, whereby God would expreſſe the tingling of the eares; foreign Tinnient aures audientium, Ier. 19. To adorne their horſes with bels, was not onelyonly a faſhion in thoſe South-Eaſt Countries, but in our fore-fathers dayes in this Land: as it were eaſie to ſhew you, but out of Chancers Antiquity; and ſome of vsus hauehave ſeene it ſtill in vſe elſe-where. What bels then were theſe? Not of the Prieſt; It had beene eaſie to transferre his Embleme from his forehead, to his skirts; but of the horſes: The horſe an vncleane beaſt, Leuit. 11. A warlike beaſt, Equus paratur in diem belli, Prou. 21, 31. Whence ſtill ſhall you finde Horſes and Chariots put together; and In bello & equis, Oſe. 1.7. Behold this Motto had wont to be written vponupon a man, now vponupon a beaſt; had wont vponupon an holy man, The High Prieſt: now vponupon an vncleane beaſt; before, vponupon a man of peace, now on a beaſt of warre; Before, vponupon the forehead of the High Prieſt, now (as Rab. Eliezer) inter oculos, betwixt the eyes of the horſe. But what? not to continue there; as ſome Rabbins and good Interpreters; but ſo that of theſe very Bels ſhall be made Pots for the vſe of ſacrifice; Like as of the glaſſes of the Iewiſh women was made a Lauer; and of the iewels of the Midianitiſh Camels, a rich Ephod. This is well, to come thus neere; yet they ſhall bee promoted higher: They ſhall be Bowles for the Altar: The Pots might be greater, for there was Olla grandis, 2 King. 4. But the bowles were more noble, and more peculiarly deuoted to Gods ſeruice: Moſes ſhall comment vponupon Zacharie: Num. 7. Twelue ſeuerall times you hauehave the matter of theſe bowles (ſiluer) the weight, 70. ſhekels; The vſe, for floure and oyle for the meat-offering, beſides that following imployment for the incenſe. But I hold not this dependance neceſſary: Here are rather two diſtinct propheſies, tho to one purpoſe, as we ſhall ſee in the proceſſe.
You ſee now Zacharies holy riddle read; That God, vnderunder the Goſpell will effect a gratious ſanctification both of things, and perſons; and by thoſe things which in their vſe hauehave beene altogether profane, will indifferently glorifie himſelfe, and worke them both to peace, and holineſſe: And as Cyprian ſaith, Fidem rerum curſus impleuit.
What now is more fit for Courtiers to heare of, than an Impreſe of Honour? What more fit for Kings and Princes than the Impreſe of the God of heauen? And as in all Impreſes, there is a body, and a ſoule, as they are termed; ſo are both here without any affectation: the ſoule of it is the Motto, or Word, Holineſſe to the Lord: The body, is the ſubiect it ſelfe; As oft-times the very ſhield is the deuiſe: The ſubiect, Bells of the horſes.
In the Word, firſt ſee the ancient vſe of Heraldry in the Scriptures; That part eſpecially which concernes Inſcriptions; as on Coynes, Shields, Enſignes: If the Teſtament of the Patriarcks had as much credit, as antiquitie, all the Patriarcks had their Armes aſſign'd them by IACOB; Iudah a Lion, Dan a Serpent, Nepthali an Hinde, Beniamin a Wolfe, Ioſeph a bough, and ſo the reſt. The coyne which Iacob paid to the Shechemites, was ſtamped with a Lambe, Gen. 32. And, if Iudahs ring that hee left with Thamar, had not had an inſcription, it could not ſo certainely hauehave deſcryed his maſter. Theſe coynes had a figure without a word; The frontall of the High Prieſt had a word, without a figure; The ſheckel of the Sanctuarie (whoſe character wee hauehave oft ſeene) had both a word and a figure: the word, Holy Ieruſalem; the figure, A pot of Manna, like a large chalice, and Aarons rod, not budding but branching out. Salomon compares the Church; to an Armie with Banners; there could be no vſe, no diſtinction of Banners, without inſcriptions. The Maccabees had foure Hebrew letters in their Enſigne, for both their word, and deuiſe; whence they had their name: Yea, this is not in via onelyonly, but in patriâ: They ſhall hauehave a white ſtone, and a new name written in it: The field and the armes, both named, and vnknowne: The vſe therefore of inſcriptions and armes muſt needs be very laudable, as ancient; ſince God himſelfe was the firſt Herald, and ſhall be the laſt. Yea the very Anabaptiſts, that ſhake off all the yoke of Magiſtracie, yet when they had ripened their fanaticall proiects, and had raiſed their King Becold, from the ſhop-bord to the Throne, would not want this point of honour: And therefore, he muſt hauehave one henchman on the right hand, to carry a Crowne, and a Bible, with an inſcription; On the left, another, that carried a ſword naked, and a ball of Gold: Himſelfe in great ſtate carries a globe of Gold, with two ſwords a croſſe. His preſſing yron and ſheeres would hauehave become him better.
And if I ſhould looke to heatheniſh Antiquitie, I ſhould need to ſay no more, than that the Aegyptian Hieroglyphicks, whereof they ſay Horus Apollo was the inventor, were nothing elſe, but Emblems, and Impreſes: among the reſt, it is memorable that Ruffinus reports, that the ſigne of the Croſſe was one of their foreign, their antient figures long before CHRIST: which (ſaith he) ſignified to them, eternall life: and Socrates adds, that when they found the ſigne of the Croſſe (in templo Serapidis) the Heathen and Chriſtians contended for it, each challenged it for theirs; and when the Heathen knowing the ſignification of it, ſaw it thus fulfilled to the Chriſtians, many of them converted to Chriſtianitie. Be it farre from vsus, to put any ſuperſtition in this; I thinke it done, by the ſame inſtinct whereby the Sybils propheſied of Chriſt. And as Armes, and Embleticall deuices are thus ancient, and commendable; ſo more directly Poſyes and words, whether for inſtruction, or diſtinction, are here warranted. So the word of a faithfull King, is Dominus mihi adiutor; or when hee would thankfully aſcribe his peace to God; Exurgat Deus, diſsipentur inimici: ſo of a good Prince, either, I ſerue, to expreſſe his officious care, Or One of your owne, to ſignifie his reſpectiue louelove. So the good Stateſman's ſhould be giuen him by Salomon, Non eſt conſilium contra Dominū, No police againſt the Lord: A good Courtier's, by Samuel, Honorantes me honorabo: A good Biſhop's, by Paul, foreign; in ſeaſon, out of ſeaſon. A good Subiect's Not for feare but Conſcience. A good Chriſtians, Chriſtus mihi viuere eſt. So the Iſraelites were charged to make their Embleme the Law of God; for their poſts, for their garments. But theſe things may not be written vponupon our walls, or ſhields onelyonly; They muſt be written vponupon our hearts; elſe wee are as very painted walls, as our walls themſelues: Elſe we ſhall be like ſome Inne, that hath a Crowne for the ſigne without, and within there is none but peſants; or a Roſe vponupon the poſt without, and nothing but ſluttiſhneſſe and filth within: Or an Angell without, and nothing within, but lewd drunkards. As it is ſaid of God, Dixit, & factum eſt; So alſo, ſcripſit, & factum eſt; They ſhall be written holy, that is, they ſhall bee made holy: Happy is it for vsus, tho wee write no new Emblems of our owne, if wee can hauehave this holy Impreſe of God, written not in foreheads, but in our hearts, Holineſſe to the Lord. Thus much of the Embleme, or word. Now for the ſubiect and circumſtances: In that day, aboue this; there is the proficiencie of the Church: Holineſſe ſhall bee written vponupon the Bells; prophane things ſhall bee holy, There is the ſanctification of the Church: The Bells of warlike horſes ſhall bee turned to the quiet vſe of Religion; There is the religious peace of the Church. Thirdly, the pots to ſeeth in, ſhall bee as Bowles to offer vp incenſe in; There is the degrees of the Churches perfection: ſo that heere ariſe foure heads of our ſpeech; The proficiencie, Sanctification, Peace, Perfection of the Church. All which craue your gracious and Chriſtian attention; or leſt I be too long, two of them onelyonly.
When therefore ſhall this be fulfilled? Not vnderunder the Law; It had beene a great profanation: For none but the High-Prieſt might weare this Poſie: The place ofttimes diſparages; As to put the Arke of God into a Cart, or to ſet it by Dagon.
It is vnderunder the Goſpell, that this poſie of Holineſſe ſhall be ſo common; In ille die; and this is that day: How great is this proficiencie of the Church? Looke how much difference there is betweene one and many, betweene the holieſt of men, and an ordinary beaſt, betweene the frontall of the High-Prieſt, and the Bells of horſes, ſo much there muſt be betwixt the Church in that day, and in this. It is the faſhion of the true Church, to grow vp ſtill, from worſe to better, as it is ſaid of the head of the Church, Creſcebat & corroborabatur. As it is compared to ſtones for firmneſſe, ſo to grifts for growth: Yea the Kingdome of heauen is like a graine of muſtard-ſeed, that of the leaſt ſeed, proues the greateſt plant, in his kinde: the riuer of God flowes firſt vp to the ankles, then to the knees, and at laſt to the chin.
The Church was an Embryo till Abrahams time; In ſwathing-bands till Moſes, In child-hood till Chriſt; A man in Chriſt, A man full-growne in glory. As man is an Epitome of the World, ſo is eueryevery Chriſtian an abridgement of the Church; Beſt at laſt; In illa die. Hee is like to the feaſt of Cana, where the beſt wine was brought in laſt: not naturally, but by tranſmutation. It was a blaſphemous, and (mee thinkes) a Vorſtian reaſon, that Toſtatus brings, why God did not create the voyces out of the Propitiatorie, Quia Deus non poteſt agere per ſuccceſsionem: Surelie in vsus hee doth; and as wee can doe nothing, in inſtante, no more doth God in vsus. As in the Creation hee could hauehave made all at once, but hee would take dayes for it, ſo in our re-creation by grace: As naturall, ſo ſpirituall agents, doe agere per moram. That rule of Aquinas is ſure, Succeſsiuorum non ſimul eſt eſſe & perfectio: to which that accords of Tertullian, Perfectio ordine poſt-humat. There muſt be an illa dies, for our full ſtature; till which, if we be true Chriſtians, we muſt grow from ſtrength to ſtrength: herein grace is contrary to nature, ſtrongeſt at laſt. Wee muſt change till then, but in melius; till we come to our beſt; and then, we muſt be like him, in whom is no ſhadow by turning.
But, where wee ſhould be like the Sunne till noone, euer riſing; there bee many like Ezekiaes Sunne, that goe backe many degrees in the diall: whoſe beginnings are like Neroes firſt fiue yeares, full of hope, and peace. Or, like the firſt monethmonth of a new ſeruant; or like vntounto the foure Ages, whoſe firſt was gold, the laſt iron: Or to Nebuchadnezzars image, which had a precious head, but baſe feet. Looke to your ſelues, this is a fearefull ſigne, a fearefull condition: Can hee euer bee rich, that growes eueryevery day poorer? Can he euer reach the goale that goes eueryevery day a ſtep backe from it? Alas then, how ſhall he euer reach the goale of glory, that goes eueryevery day a ſtep backward in grace? He that is worſe eueryevery day, can neuer be at his beſt, In illa die, In that day.
Hitherto the proficiencie; The ſanctification followes. The Moſaicall Law was ſcrupulous: There were vnholy places, vnholy garments, perſons, beaſts, fowles, veſſels, touches, taſtes: VnderUnder the Goſpell all is holy. All was made vnholy, when the firſt Adam ſinned; when the ſecond Adam ſatisfied for ſinne, all was made holy: Moſes the ſeruant built his houſe, with a foreign, Epheſ. 2.14. A partition wall in the midſt: Chriſt the Sonne pulled downe that ſcreene, and caſt all into one foreign: Iewes and Gentiles; whole hoofes and clonen, dwell now both vnderunder a roofe. Moſes branded ſome creatures with vncleanneſſe; he that redeemed his children from morall impuritie, redeemed his creatures from legall; What ſhould S. Peters great ſhe… let downe by foure corners teach us, but that all creatures through the foure corners of the world, are cleane and holy; S. Paul proclaimes the ſumme of Peters viſion; Omnia munda mundis: It is an iniurious ſcrupulouſneſſe, to make differences of creatures; iniurious to God, to the creature, to our ſelues: To God, while we will not let him ſerue himſelfe of his owne: To the creature, while wee powre that ſhame vponupon it, which God neuer did: To our ſelues, while wee bring our ſelues into bondage, where God hath inlarged vsus. When Iulian had poyſoned the wells, and ſhambles, and fields, with his heatheniſh Luſtrations; the Chriſtians (ſaith Theodores) are freely of all, by vertue of PAVLS, Quicquid in macell…: To let paſſe the idle curiouſneſſe of our Semi-Anabaptiſts, of the feparation, at whoſe folly, if any man bee diſpoſed to make himſelfe ſport, let him reade the Tragicomicall relation of the Troubles & Excommunication of the Engliſh at Amſterdam; There ſhall hee ſee ſuch warres waged betwixt brothers, for but a buske, or whale-bone, or lace, or cork-ſhooe, as if all Law and Goſpell ſtood vponupon this point; as if heauen and earth were little enough to be mingled in this quarrell; Nec gemina bellum Troianum. To paſſe ouer all other lighter niceneſſe of this kinde: Who can chooſe but be aſhamed of the Church of Rome; which is here in a double extremitie, both groſſe: In denying, wiping out holineſſe, where God hath written it: and in writing it, where God hath not written it: In the firſt, how doe they driue out Deuils out of good creatures, by fooliſh exorciſmes? I would hee were no more in themſelues. How doe they forbid meats, drinks, dayes, mariage which God hath written holy? Hee that reades Nau…rs Manuall, ſhall finde cholericke blaſphemie a veniall ſinne, pag. 91. ſome theft veniall, p. 140. Common lying, veniall, p. 191. Curſing of parents if not malicious, veniall, p. 100. and yet the ſame Author, chap. 21. nu. 11. p. 209. to eat of a forbidden diſh, or an allowed diſh more than once on a forbidden day, is a mortall ſinne: And now theſe venials (ſaith Francis a Victoria) by a Pater-noſter, or ſprinkling of holy water, or knocke of the breaſt are cleared; but that mortall eater is foreign, guiltie of iudgement, yea, of hell it ſelfe: Scribes, Phariſies, Hypocrites, which prate of Peters chaire, but will neuer take out Peters leſſon, That which God hath ſanctified, pollute thou not. In the other: What Holineſſe doe they write in religious Cowles, Altars, Reliques, Aſhes, Candles, Oyles, Salts, Waters, Enſignes, Roſes, Words, Graines, Agnus Dei, Medalls, and a world of ſuch traſh: So much, that they hauehave left none in themſelues. Let mee hauehave no faith, if euer play-booke were more ridiculous, than their Pontificall, and booke of holy Ceremonies. It is well that Ierome reads theſe words, ſuper froenum, not ſuper Tintinnabulum; Elſe, what a rule ſhould wee hauehave had; tho hee had ſaid, Equorum, not Templorum: What compariſons would hauehave beene; If Holineſſe to the Lord muſt bee written on the bells of Horſes, much more on the bells of Churches. What a colour would this hauehave beene for the waſhing, anointing, bleſſing, chriſtening of them? What a warrant for driuing away Deuils, chaſing of ghoſts, ſtilling of tempeſts, ſtaying of thunders, yea deliuering from Tentations, which the Pontificall aſcribes to them? By whoſe account, there ſhould be more vertue in this peece of metall, than in their holy Father himſelfe, yea than in any Angell of heauen: But their vulgar bridles them in this, which reads it, ſuper froenum, which ſome ſuperſtitious man would ſay were fulfilled in Conſtantines ſnaffle made of the nailes that pierced Chriſt. How worthie are they in the meane time of the whip, not of men onelyonly, but of God, which thus in a ridiculous preſumption write Holineſſe, where God would hauehave a blanke; and wipe out Holineſſe, where God hath written it.
For vsus, there is a double holineſſe; for vſe, for vertue: All things are holy to vsus for vſe; nothing is holy for vertue of ſanctification, but thoſe things which God hath ſanctified to this vertue; his Word, his Sacraments: We may vſe the other, and put no holineſſe in them; we muſt vſe theſe, and expect holineſſe from them: foreign, Nothing vncleane, is Peters rule, but with Pauls explication, Munda mundis: All things are cleane in themſelues; to thee they are not cleane, vnleſſe thou be cleane. Mine owne clothes ſhall make me filthy, ſaith Iob. 9.31. Many a one may ſay ſo, more iuſtly. The proud mans gay coat, the wanton womans beaſtly faſhions, both ſhew them to be vncleane, and make them ſo. But the lewd man makes his owne clothes filthy; his meats, drinks, ſports, garments, are vncleane to him, becauſe he is vncleane to God; they are curſed to him, becauſe he is curſed of God: God hath written on the outſide of his creatures, Holy to the Lord; wee write on the inſide, Vnholy to men; becauſe our outſide and inſide is vnholy to God: yea, we doe not onelyonly deface this inſcription of holineſſe in other creatures to… but wee will not let God write it vponupon vsus, for himſelfe. O our miſerie and ſhame: All things elſe are holy; Men, Chriſtians, are vnholy. There is no impuritie, but where is Reaſon, and Faith, the grounds of Holineſſe. How oft would God hauehave written this title vponupon our foreheads? and ere he can hauehave written one full word we blot out all: One ſweares it away, another drinks it away, a third ſcoffs it away, a fourth riots it away, a fift ſwaggers it away; and I would to God it were vncharitable to ſay, that there is as much holineſſe in the Bridles of the Horſes, as in ſome of their Riders. Oh holineſſe, the riches of the Saints, the beautie of Angels, the delight of God, whither haſt thou withdrawne thy ſelfe? where ſhould we finde thee if not among Chriſtians? and yet how can we be, or be named Chriſtians without thee? I ſee ſome that are afraid to be too holy: and I ſee but ſome that feare to be too prophane. We are all Saints, foreign, 1 Cor. 1.2. All by calling; and ſome but by calling: By calling of men, not of God: As the Church of Rome hath ſome Saints which are queſtioned whether euer they were in nature; others, whether they be not in Hell; burning Tapers to them on earth, to whom perhaps the fiends light firebrands below. As Caeſarius the Monke brings in Petrus Cantor, and Roger the Norman diſputing the caſe of Becket; ſo wee hauehave many titular Saints, few reall; many which are written in red Letters in the Calendar of the world, Holy to the Lord, whom God neuer canonizes in heauen, and ſhall once entertaine with a Neſcio, I know you not. Theſe men yet hauehave Holineſſe written vponupon them, and are like, as Lucian compares his Grecians, to a faire gilt boſſed booke: looke within, there is the Tragedie of Thyestes, or perhaps Arrius his Thalia; the name of a Muſe, the matter hereſie; or Conradus Vorſtius his late monſter, that hath De Dev in the front, and Atheiſme and Blaſphemie in the text. As S. Paul ſaies to his Corinths, Would God yee could ſuffer me a little: Yee cannot want praiſers, yee may want reprouers; and yet you hauehave not ſo much need of Panegyricks, as of reprehenſions. Theſe by how much more rare they are, by ſo much more neceſſarie. Nec-cenſura deest quae increpet, nec medicina quae ſa…et, ſaith Cyprian. A falſe praiſe grieues; and a true praiſe ſhames, ſaith Anaſtaſius. As Kings are by God himſelfe called Gods (for there are Dij nuncupatiuè, and not eſſentialiter, as Gregorie diſtinguiſhes) becauſe of their reſemblance of God, ſo their Courts ſhould be like to heauen, and their attendants like Saints and Angels: Decet domum tuam ſanctitudo, agrees to both. Thus you ſhould be: But alas, I ſee ſome care to be gallant, others care to be great, few care to be holy. Yea I know not what Deuill hath poſſeſſed the hearts of many great ones of our time in both ſexes, with this conceit, that they cannot be gallant enough, vnleſſe they be godleſſe. Holineſſe is for Diuines, or men of meane ſpirits, for graue, ſubdued, mortified, retired mindes; not for them that ſtand vponupon the tearmes of honour, height of place and ſpirit, noble humours: hence are our oaths, duels, profaneſſes. Alas, that wee ſhould be ſo beſotted, as to thinke that our ſhame, which is our onelyonly glory: It is reaſon that makes vsus men, but it is holineſſe that makes vsus Chriſtians. And woe to vsus that wee are men, if wee be not Chriſtians. Thinke as baſely of it as yee will; you ſhall one day finde, that one dram of holineſſe is worth a whole world of greatneſſe; yea, that there is no greatneſſe, but in holineſſe. For Gods ſake therefore doe not ſend holineſſe to Colledges or Hoſpitals for her lodging, but entertaine her willingly into the Court, as a moſt happy gueſt. Thinke it a ſhame, and danger, to goe in fine clothes, while you hauehave foule hearts; and know, that in vaine ſhall you bee honour'd of men, if you bee not holy to the Lord. Your goodly outſides may admit you into the Courts on earth; but you ſhall neuer looke within the gates of the Court of heauen without holineſſe: Without holineſſe no man ſhall ſee God. O God, without holineſſe we ſhall neuer ſee thee; and without thee we ſhall neuer ſee holineſſe: write thou vponupon theſe flinty hearts of ours, Holineſſe to thy ſelfe: Make vsus holy to thee, that wee may bee glorious with thee and all thy Saints and Angels.
All this onelyonly for thy Chriſts ſake, and to whom, &c.
THE IMPRESE OF GOD.
THE SECOND PART.
By IOS. HALL.
SIC ELEVABITVR FILIVS HOMINIS
Io 3.
ANCHORA FIDEI:
LONDON, Printed for THOMAS PAVIER, MILES FLESHER, and John Haviland. 1624.