The True Evangelical Temper, Sermon

The True Evangelical Temper · Sermon

THE TRUE EUANGELICAL TEMPER.

WHEREIN Divinity, and Ecclesiasticall History, are interwoven, and mixed, both to the profit and delight of the Christian Reader, and modestly, and soberly fitted to the present grand Concernments of this State, and Church.

Preached in three Sermons, at S. Martins in the Strand, upon that luculent Prophecie of Peace, and Union, Esay chap. 11. v. 6.7. & 8.

BY JO: JACKSON.

Cornelius à Lapide in Isaiae cap. 2. v. 4.

Christus per logē euangelicā charitatis, modestiae, justitiae, mansuetudinis, et patientiae, omnes gentiū rixas, et dissidia componet, odia, et antipathias evellet, rixosos, et feroces compescet, faciet que ut in eâdē Ecclesia amicè versentur, quasi fratres Romani, et Graeci, &c. ANGLI et SCOTI, secundum illud Isaiae cap. 11. v. 6, 7, 8. habitabit Lupus cum Agno, pardus cū hoedo accubabit, &c.

London printed by M. Flesh…r, for R. Milbourne, and are to be sold in Little Brittaine at the Signe of the Holy Lamb. 1641.

TO THE MOST NOBLE, MOST CHRISTIAN, and grand Audience, of S. MARTINS.

Be these three following Sermons presented now unto their Eyes, which have been lately unto their Eares:

Together with all possible apprecations unto them, of what they mostly purport, to wit, Reconciliation, and PEACE:

From their most faithfull, and Affectionate Servant, in the things of JESUS CHRIST, I. I.

p. 1THE TRUE Euangelicall Temper, And Disposition.

Esay 11.6, 7, 8.

6. The Wolfe shall dwell with the Lamb, and the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid; and the Calfe and the young Lyon and the Fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

7. And the Cow and the Bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie downe together, and the Lyon shall eat straw like the Oxe.

8. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the Aspe, and the weane… child shall put his hand on the den of the **Adder.Cockatrice.

foreign.

LEt this one thing declare how famous and notorious this Text is; that two p. 2of the Sibyls, in their Oracles, have not onelyonly pointed at it, but even translated it aaDel Rio in loc. tantum non verbo tenus.almost word for word. The one is alledged by bbLactant. Institut. lib. 7. foreign.Lactantius, that Christian Cicero; and the other by him who hath obtained to be called the ccSibylla Cumana apud Virgil. —Nec magnos metuent armenta Leones, Occidet & Serpe…s, & fallax herba ven…i.Prince of Latine Poets. So as this Prophecy hath been contained neither within the limits of Jury nor Christendome, but hath been dispersed even among the Gentiles which knew not Christ, and among the p. 3Heathen which have not called upon his name; in so much as a Commentator unto the Text, askes the question ddGabriel Alvarez in locum., Who now can deny unto the Sibyls a spirit of Prophecy? I for my part doe not; neither will I grant it them. That excellent spirit of Prophecy might perhaps seaze upon them, as it did upon Balaam: But I rather thinke they borrowed these Prophecies out of the Scripture, as the Israelites did jewels of the Egyptians, and that they onelyonly did the office of Mid-wives, to translate them and bring them to light; or because the term of borrowing is too gentle p. 4and modified, because they neither acknowledge it, nor pay it again, in giving the glory to God: Therefore, I say, they stole them out of holy Writ, and pride themselves in the plumes of a Prophet indeed; in which regard, Iustin Martyr, with great wit and eloquence calls them and such like, Fures Mosis & Prophetarum, the theeves, and free-booters of Moses and the Prophets.

Both circumcision and uncircumcision, the Jewish Rabbins, and Christian Doctors take this Text to be meant of Christ, but with this vast difference, that the Jews construe p. 5it, of Christ still to come, and of his temporall Monarchy; The Christians of him already exhibited, and of his spirituall Kingdome.

It is rich as the high Priests pectorall, both for words and matter; In words, for the whole sentence is sweetned with a continued allegory. There are almost as many metaphors as words. In matter, for it speaketh all love, and peace, and reconciliation, and meeknesse, and the like. Let eeforeign. Euseb. lib. 2.Eusebius be the Expositor: It purporteth, saith he, the turning of fierce and p. 6brutall men, and people, who in regard of their savage and cruell nature, differ nothing from beasts, unto sweet and calme and sociable manners and conversation. So he. aaforeign.Procopius concurres: It signifies, saith he, that men who before were ravenous and belluine, to change their course of living, and to apply themselves to quite contrary studies, and in the same Church, to participate of the same spirituall meat. So he. And in a word, there is scarce one Classick Author to be found, in best furnished Libraries, that glosseth otherwise.

I have prefaced and p. 7scholied sufficiently unto the Text, I come now to seek out first the parts, and then the points of it: we must bbforeign. 2 Tim. 2.15.2 Tim 2:15rightly divide, that we may ccforeign. Gal. 2.14.Gal 2:14rightly proceed.

And for the parts thereof, they may be lessened, or multiplied, or varied, according to the conceit and apprehension of the Preacher; but it is a safe rule in the partition of holy Scripture, not to churne the sincere milk thereof till butter come, nor to wring the nose of it till bloud come, Prov. 30.33. Bread must be distributed, not crumbled. Scripture must be dissected into parts, not beaten p. 8into pouder. I have therefore notioned and cast the Text according to the number of the verses, into three plain and conspicuous members, which have as naturall a fluxe and emanation forth of it, as the light in the ayre hath from that which is seated in the body of the Sun, or as the water in the rivelet hath from the fount: They are these.

The first is the nocent, and inimicitious creatures, which are here enumerated to be seven; first the Wolfe, secondly the Leopard, thirdly the yong Lyon, fourthly the Beare, fiftly the Lyon, sixtly the Aspe, seventhly p. 9the Cockatrice.

The second is, the innocent and harmlesse creatures, which hold proportion of number with the former, being seven also. The first is the Lamb, the second the Kid, the third the Calfe, the fourth the Fatling, the fift the Cow, the sixt the Oxe, the seventh the Childe.

The third, and last is, the reconciliation, and conjunction of the two diverse, nay adverse parties, expressed in an elegant gradation of foure ascents; first they shall dwell together, secondly lie down together, thirdly eate and feed together, p. 10lastly, play and sport together. These are the parts. The points or conclusions resulting out of these parts are likewise three; out of each, one, which shall be the demensum, or proportion of three severall Sermons, every one of them being capable to be spread out so as to theame the Preachers speech, and the Auditors attention, for an houres discourse.

Begin we then with the first of these three parts: The seven injurious creatures; and there handle this Conclusion, for the first point,1. Conclusion. viz.

Man in his condition of nature and corruption, and p. 11even converted man, so far as he is unregenerate, is a fierce and savage creature, yea even unto man.

Homo homini lupus, One man is a Wolf to another, hath been so truly said of old, that it hath obtained the authority of an adage; and well may it, when you see by this Text, it is Scripture-proofe. And would that were all; but man to man is both a Wolf and a Cockatrice, fulfilling the Text from the Alpha to the Omega of it; I, and all that is in the belly of it too; a Leopard, a young Lyon, &c. Yea, and more then is in the Text by farre, He is p. 12an Asse for sloth; Issacar is a strong asse, couching down between two burdens, Gen. 49.14. He is a Stallion for lust; They are as fed horses, neighing after their neighbours wife, Ier. 5.8. He is a Fox for craft, Goe tell that Fox, meaning Herod, Luke 13.32. What not? he will piece the Lyons skin with the Foxes taile; that is, adde craft to strength, subtilty to violence, to bring his ends, and designes about.

But I must not range as in a Forrest, when I am impaled with a Text. It will be sufficient to make good, that man is what this Text puts upon him; and that we shall p. 13easily doe by other Texts of Scripture, which answer this, as face answereth face, Prov. 17.19. As iron sharpeneth iron, Proverbs 17.17.

First then, man to man is a ravenous Wolf. Benjamin is a rapacious Wolfe, Gen. 49.27. Inwardly they are ravening Wolves, Mat. 7.15. I send you as sheepe among Wolves, Mat. 10.16.

Secondly, man is a Leopard. I saw a beast like unto a Leopard, saith S. Iohn in his Revelation 13.2. So have I ten thousand; for man is a beast. Wicked men are plain beasts; I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, after the manner p. 14of men, complaineth S. Paul, 1 Cor. 15.32. Good men are too like unto beasts; So foolish was I and ignorant, even as it were a beast before thee, complaineth David, Psal. 73.22. Surely, I am more brutish then a man, complaineth Agur, Prov. 30.2. And also man is like unto a Leopard, in two things; a Leopard is a swift creature; Swifter then Leopards; the Prophet Habbakkuks phrase, Chap. 1. ver. 8. So is man, His feet are swift to shed blood, Rom. 3.15. A Leopard is a spotted creature: so is man; spotted in himselfe, and coinquinating others, with his vicious p. 15and infectious habits and customes; therefore the Prophet Ieremy meaneth the man-Leopard, not the beast-Leopard, when he asketh, Can the Leopard change his spots? Chap. 13. ver. 23.

Thirdly, man is a yong Lyon, or a Lyons whelp, lurking and sculking to doe mischiefe. A wicked man is by David, Psal. 17.12. assimilated to a Lyons whelp lurking in secret places. Iudah is a Lyons whelp, Gen. 49.9, lurking one while for a prey to his lust, I pray thee let me come in unto thee, said he to Thamar, before he lay with her; and again for a prey to his cruelty; p. 16Bring her forth and let her be burned, said he, after he had laine with her: in both a lurking young Lyon.

Fourthly, man is a Beare; as very a Beare as either of those two which came out of the wood and devoured the forty two children: As a roaring Lyon and a ranging Beare, &c. Prov. 28.15. Nay worse then a Beare: for better meet a Beare robbed of her whelps, then some sort of wicked persons, Pro. 17.12.

Fiftly, man is a Lyon; Lest he devoure my soule, as a Lyon, speaks David, Psa. 7.3. And S. Paul in expresse termes calleth Nero p. 17a Lyon, 2 Tim. 4.17. The Lord delivered mee out of the mouth of the Lyon.

Sixtly, man to man is an Aspe also; one while a deafe Adder, stopping his eare to the sweet voice of the Charmer; and another while an hissing one, having the poyson of Aspes under his lips, Psal. 13.3.

Lastly, man is a Cockatrice, a Serpent, a Basilisk, biting the heele, and stinging the face, and fascinating with an envious eye the prosperity of his neighbour: Man, like the cup of wine in the hand of Solomons drunkard, Prov. 23.32. bites like a Serpent, and stings like an p. 18Adder; he is ever either weaving the spiders webs of vain and idle actions, or hatching the Cockatrice egs of wicked & sinful actions, Es. 59.4. Pope Alexander the third was so, while he went about to make another so; when at Venice he insulted over the Emperour Frederick Barbarossa, and setting his foot upon his neck, recited the thirteenth verse of the ninety first Psalme, Thou shalt tread upon the Lyon and Adder, &c.

Thus we see man to man, is 1. a ravenous Wolfe: 2. a swift and spotted Leopard: 3. a lurking Lyons whelp: 4. a cruell and ranging Beare: 5. … p. 19roaring Lyon: 6. a poysonous Aspe: 7. a stinging Cockatrice. Thus man degrades himselfe, and (according to the phrase, Ap…c. 19.20.) receives characterē bestiae, the mark of the beast; receives it, I say, upon both the faculties of his soule, and the members of his body. Upon his understanding the character of the horse and mule, which have no understanding: upon his will, of the untamed Heifer: upon his eie, of the fascinating Basilisk: upon his ear, of the deaf Adder: upon his lips, of the poysonous Asp: upon his tongue, of the subtile Serpent: upon his reines, of the lascivious p. 20Goat: upon his knees, of the stiffe Camel: upon his feet, of the swift Leopard, &c. all of them evill beasts, as S. Paul speaks out of the Cretian Poet, Tit. 1.12.

The further enlargement, and filling up of this point, cannot better be done, then out of Church-story, which is the true Aretine, and scourge of all these Wolves & Leopards, &c. and hath written their lives with the same liberty, that aaEâdem libertate scripsit vitas Caesarum, quâ illi vixerunt.they led them, as Erasmus ingeniously said of Suetonius his history of the twelve Caesars; and in all Ecclesiasticall Annals none fitteth this purpose so well, p. 21as the history of the ten Persecutions of the Primitive Church, well known by that name; wherein, because profitablenesse is interwoven with a great deale of delight and variety, I will carry you along to wade through that Acheldama, or field of blood, when bbCanicula Persecutionis.the Dogge-starre, yea (to hold to the strict termes of my Text) the Wolfe-starre, the Leopard-starre, &c. of Persecution so raged. OnelyOnly first let this be annoted, that it will be hard to reconcile Authors in the order of their enumeration, for that which one reckons to be the sixt, another calls the p. 22fift, and that which to one is the seventh, to another is the sixt: which small difference I suppose to have been chiefly occasioned from the short respite the Church had between the second and third Persecution, even onelyonly one yeare, during the Caesarship of Nerv… ; but to fall on the thing.

The first Persecution.

NEro was the aaOrientem fidem primus Nero cruentavit. Tertul.first incendiary, that made the bush burn; not smoak, or sparkle, but flame so high, that he was beleeved by some to be that Antichrist; and hither is referred the bbBuron. ad an. 12. Neronis.Abomination p. 23of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, and mentioned by Christ. Two great and signall Historians give in evidence against him, how infest an enemy he was to Christians, though the ccExi…iabilem superstitionem. Tacitus.one of them call Christianity an exitiall superstition, and ddGenus hominum novae & maleficae superstitionis. Sueton. in Nerone c. 16.the other call Christians, A sort of people of a new and bewitching superstition. But though the testimony of them, being our enemies, be good touching the fact, yet Tacitus must be Tacite, and Suetonius, Tranquill, touching the Religion; After the way that they (poore pur-blinde, pure blinde Pagans) call superstition, so p. 24worship we the God of our Fathers. In ppNeroni Cl. Caes. Aug. Pont. Max. Ob Provinciam latronibus, & his qui novam generi humano superstitionem inculcar. purgatam.Spaine, also was found a Trophy erected to his honour for purging that Province of theeves and Christians. What a Lyon was he (as S. Paul cals him) to devoure such Lambes as Iames the lesse, our Lords brother, S. Mark the Euangelist, S. Peter and S. Paul, Apostles, &c? He put Christians to divers sorts of most exquisite torments, burned some, crucified others, covered others with the skins of wilde beasts, and baited them to death with dogs; others he staked through, rosined and waxened over their bodies, and so p. 25set them lighted up, as torches and lanthornes to passengers. About the fourteenth yeare of his raigne, he published this Edict, That qqQuisquis Christianum se profitetur, tanquam humani generis convictus hostis, sine ulteriori sui defensione, capite plectitor. Vide Corn. Tacitum. lib. 15. Annal. & Suetonium in Ner. c. 16.if any professed himselfe a Christian, he should not be admitted to any defence of himselfe, but be put to death as a convict enemy of mankinde. Lastly, what an Asp and Cockatrice was he when partly disliking the old buildings of Rome, and partly out of vain glory to get himself a name by a new structure, he set on fire the Edifices, Temples, and houses of the City, and when he had done, clapt the wicked fact upon the p. 26backs of Christians?

The second Persecution.

ANd there was a transmigration of the same Wolvish, Leopardine, Leonine spirit into Domitian the Emperour, who was the rrSecundus nempe erat qui contra nos Christianos persecut…onis incendium ex…i…avi…. Euseb. hist. lib. 3. c. 13.second Phaeton that set the Christian world on fire. He was the true heire of Neroes cruelty, saith ssI… scel…ratam Ner… niani in Deum …di…, & impietatis successit. Euseb. ib.Eusebius: yea, more cruell then Nero in this regard, that he fed his eyes by being a spectator of those wickednesses, which Nero onelyonly commanded to be done: So ttIussit s…eler a …antum N…ro, non spectavit. Vid. Tacit. in vita Julii Ag…icolae.Tacitus of him, and Iustin Martyr in his second Apology p. 27for Christians, hath the expresse forme of his inquisition, viz. that they should sweare to declare the truth, whether they were Christians, and if they confessed, then by the Law the sentence of death passed on them. What a proud stately Lyon was he, to command himself to be worshipped as God? What a Wolfe was he, to hunt S. Iohn to the Isle Patmos, after he had caused him to be thrown into a Caldron of scalding oyle, out of which he came onelyonly anointed? What a Beare was he, to devoure Antipas that faithfull witnesse, Apoc. 2. Cletus Bishop p. 28of Rome, &c? What a Leopard was he in being swift to shed blood, when he fell upon the whole family of David, in hatred to Christ, who was of that stock and linage? Lastly, nothing can be said more to declare what a ravenous beast he was, within the Sept of Christ, then that now it was that there was erected an office of seven Scribes, or publique Notaries, who had the City of Rome divided among them into so many severall Wards, and had enough to doe to take exact notice, and keep Registers of the Martyrs that were put to death in the p. 29severall streets, and places of the City.

The third Persecution.

ANd Trajan, the Author of the third Persecution, though by nature he was one of the most faire and debonaire men that ever lived, and was also so good a Prince for the republike, that it is remembred of him, before his Peeres and Nobles, he delivered a sword to the Prefect of the Pretorship, bidding him, uuCape hunc ensem, & si bonus fuero, pro me; sin malus, contra me, eo utitor.if he were good, to use it for him; if evill, against him: yet was he metamorphosed into a Wolfe, a Leopard, &c. against p. 30the Lambs, and Kids of Christs fold. I cannot now give you a nomenclature or list of the particulars. Search and consult the Martyrologies, and you shall finde the names of those, who under this Persecution were red in their apparell, and their garments like him that treadeth the wine-presse, Esay 63.2. who were cloathed with a vesture dipt in blood, Apoc. 19.13. OnelyOnly in generall let it be noted that wwSuidas in verbo Trajan.Tiberianus his Prefect in Palestina enformed him that there could not be found Magistrates and Officers enow to take punishment on the Christians; p. 31and in the Epistles of Plinius secundus, his Vice-Roy, there are extant to this day, two famous and known Epistles xxPlin. Epist lib. 10. Epist. 97. & 98., the one of Pliny to Trajan, to enform him of the innocent manners of Christians, and of their great sufferings, and to enquire what course he should further take with them. Whereupon Trajan wrote back to Pliny, that henceforth the Christians should not be sought for, nor hunted to judgement seats, but if they were brought, and convict, and persevered, they should be punished.

p. 32The fourth Persecution.

THe fourth Persecution was a sore and long brunt, when the Wolves and Leopards &c. were those three Emperours, Elius Adrianus, Marcus Antonius Pius, and Marcus Aurelius Verus; wherein the Church had no breathing for whole twenty yeares together; and now all went to the pot without respect of Sex, dignity, or number; not of Sex; for the tender woman was no more favoured then stout-hearted men: Felicitas with her seven Sons, were all at once fellowes in p. 33martyrdome; not of dignity; for now suffered such eminent and vertuous persons, as Photinus Bishop of Lions, Irenaeus, venerable Polycarpus Bishop of Smyrna, Iustin Martyr that great and noble Philosopher, and divers Bishops of Rome: these were ecclesiasticks; and amongst the laicks, Hermes Prefect of the City, with his Wife, Children, and whole family; which amounted to the number of 1250. persons, who were all fagotted together, to make one great bone-fire: Lastly, not of number; for Granianus Proconsull of Asia, wrote to Adrian the Emperour, p. 34that hee would give over his place, and leave the government, for that so great multitudes of innocent persons were daylie drawne to the stake, through the clamours and envy of the vulgar, being yySine ullo discrimine, nominis tantum, et sectae rei.guilty of nothing but a meere name and sect.

The fift Persecution.

ANd after a long peace of above sixty yeares, began the fift Persecution. The Wolfe and Leopard &c. now was Severus the Emperour; zzVerè Imperator sui nominis.an Emperour of his own name, as they jested upon him, Severe was his name, and severe his nature. The p. 35Gentiles now envying the long Summer of the Christians peace, began to accuse them as close enemies of the Empire, and secret beutefeaus of rebellion, that they refused to adorne, and add pompe to the Emperours Victories, with flowers, carpets, lawrels, Incense; that they refused to swear by the fortune of Caesar; that they were still talking of a King and Kingdome to come: whereupon in the tenth yeare of his raigne, he sent forth a generall Edict that none should be Christians; and withall a speciall Edict was sent to Rome, to the Prefect of the City, to enquire p. 36into the Colledges and assemblies for them. But nothing that can bee produced here, but is lesse then the testimony of the noble and learned Tertullian, who now wrote that famous Apologie of his to Scapula, in the behalfe of Christians. aaExistimāt omnis publicae …ladis, omnis popularis incō m…di, Christianos esse causam. Si Tiberi… ascendit in moenia, si Nilus non ascendi… in arva, si Coelū stetit, si t…rra movit, si fames, si tues, Christianos ad …ones, acclamatur.They esteeme us Christians, saith he, to be the cause of all publique misery, or epidemicall incommodity; if Tiber swell up unto the walls, if Nilus water not the Corne fields, if Heaven stand, or earth move, if there be famine, or pestilence, &c. presently they cry out, Throw the Christians to the Lions.

p. 37The sixt Persecution.

ANd as if Severus had transpired his soule into Maximinus, the stirrer up of the sixt Persecution, he now became the Wolfe, and Leopard, &c. a man of both barbarous body, and mind: that is declared by those titles, which even his own gave him, calling him Cyclops, Busyris, Phalaris, Sciro, Trypho, Gyges; it was occasioned from certaine grievous earth-quakes, which (according to the usuall scandall) was ascribed as a punishment to the Christians, because they would not doe worship p. 38to the Heathen gods: and though it were limited both to a short time, (for it was precinct with a trienniall girdle) and only to the Clergy, as the fomenters and nourishers of the Religion, yet did it so scorch within the Tropicks of the Church, that many thousands suffered, and that by divers and sundry kinds of death, in so much as now Orige… wrote a notable booke de Martyrio, to comfort the afflicted state of Christians.

The seventh Persecution.

ANd now Decius took place upon the Stage p. 39to play the beast, in the seventh Persecution, w^ch hitherto is judged to bee the most cruell of all by farre, insomuch as many lapsed and apostatized from the faith, to the great both dishonour and disadvantage of the Religion: which occasioned Cyprians notable Booke de Lapsis. Hee acted a double part, first using the violence and force of the Wolfe, Leopard, Lion, and Beare; for when hee saw Christ served in every place, and the fanes of the Heathen Gods to lye forlorne and neglected, hee threatned and menaced bitterly his Prefects, and Presidents, with p. 40all kindes of ignominies and tortures, if they did not forthwith compell the Christians to worship the Gods, whereupon they vyed cruelties, and strove who should overcome each other therein: So did hee vexe the Church bbVarius apparatus suppliciora. Gr. Nys. in vita S. Greg. tha…mat.with various & interchangeable pomp of sufferances as Gregorie Nyssen speakes. Secondly, hee made use also of the Serpentine craft of the Aspe and Cockatrice. For his torments were so lengthened, and wire-drawne, to the end Christians might feele themselves dye, and tast of the sorrowes of the grave to the utmost; that S. Cyprian p. 41called them, ccTormenta sine solatio mo…tis. Cypr. Ep. 8.torments without the hope or comfort of death; and S. Hierome complaines, that hee was the Christians ddHostis call…dus, tarda ad mortē supplicia conq…irēs, animas cupiebat Christianorū jugulare, non corpora.crafty and subtile enemie, so wearying out their patience by tedious sufferances, that hee sought rather to kill their soules, then their bodies.

The eighth Persecution.

THe eighth Persecution lies more blinde in Church-story then the other, and the lines of it are drawne more darke and uncertaine; who was the chiefe Wolfe, Valerian, or Aurelian, or Gaellus and Volusianus, remaines in some difference: some of p. 42the chiefe Lambes and Kids that were devoured, were Cornelius Bishop of Rome, and Cyprian Bishop of Carthage, &c. in it many were flead alive, and many for feare fled into desarts and caves, witnesseth S. Ierome in the life of Paul the Eremite.

The ninth Persecution.

THen arose the ninth Persecution, when Dioclesian was the Wolfe for ten whole yeares together, without any intermission, when (saith the eePlebs Dei depopulata est, et omnis ferè orbis sacro cruore Martyrum infectus est. Severus Sulp…tius lib. 2. Sacr. hist.Historian) the people of God was depopulated, and almost the whole world besmeared with the sacred p. 43blood of the Martyrs: it was occasioned by a Prophecy or Oracle spread abroad, that if all the Christians were but once slain, the Romane Empire should notably flourish: whereupon the tyrant raged without all mercy, in so much as in one monethmonth above 17000. suffered. Eusebius was an eye-witnesse of these things, who tels a most tragicall story hereof, how some were shaven, some racked, some whiped, some burned, some drowned, some beheaded, some hanged, some crucified, some famished, some pulled in pieces, without all respect of modesty, p. 44women were exposed naked to torture: it was free for every one to bastinado a Christian where he met him, with staves, stickes, clubs, bridles, rods, whips, ropes. Many had their thighs broken, others inverted with feet upward, and head downward, and a fire being underneath; were so smoaked and suffocated to death; others anointed with scalding lead, others with hot water, others given for meat to the beasts of the field, others to fish of the Sea, others had sharp needles thrust under their nailes, others tyed to stakes and trees, and famished, till p. 45they did gnaw the flesh off their owne armes and feete. In a word, this Beast did boast of two things, of the ffDe aucto imperio, & delet… nomine Christian….increase of the Empire, and of the blotting out of the very name of a Christian.

The tenth Persecution.

LAstly, Iulian that Apostate and Renegado from the Christian faith, played both the strong and subtle Beast, whilst he shut up the schooles of the Christians, that so he might introduce ignorance and barbarisme, whilst he prohibited them of bearing any publique office, inflicted both corporall p. 46smart and pecuniary mulcts upon them, called them himselfe, and commanded others to nick-name them Galileans, restored the Temple to the Jewes to despight the Christians, appointed some to be torne in pieces with horses, caused the bellies of Women and Virgins to bee ript up, filled with oates and barly, and set as troughs to the swine, &c.

I have, mee thinkes, beene telling a long and a sad story, and Lupus in f… bula, still a Wolfe, and a Leopard, and a Lion, and a Beare, and an Adder is in one end of it. And, if enquiry were made lower, p. 47have there not beene, are there not now, as very Wolves and Leopards as these? what was Bonner and Gardiner in Queene Maries dayes? what was H. 8. of whom a Cabala or tradition goes, that on his death-bed, he confessed, hee had never spared man in his wrath, nor woman in his lust? what was Charles the fift, ggImmanuel Meteranus lib. 2. descriptione bel. Belgici.who was guilty of the blood of 50000. Protestants whilst he was in the low Countries? what was the Duke of hhMeteran. lib. 4.Alva, who destroyed 18000. Protestants in Belgia, in sixe yeares time only? what was the incendiary of the Massacre in France, August p. 48the sixt, Anno 1572. when in one night there were ten thousand Protestants butchered with wicked and cruell hands? what a kennell of these Wolves, Leopards, &c. was there in France, where one hundred and forty thousand were thus served, in the space of two and twenty yeares iiDietericus post. in festum S. Steph., beginning the accompt at the yeare of the last patience of the Saints, 1564? And lastly, that it may appeare indeed, what bloud-hounds the Papists are, what a Shamble their Church is, consult… grand Witnesse of their own, greater then exception, Antonius Ciccarell… ▪ p. 49who continueth on the history of Platina; he in the life of Pope Gregory the thirteenth of that name, relateth that the Embassador of the King of France, in an Embassy to the said Pope, the better to ingratiate his Master with his holinesse, told him, that from the death of the Admirall, in fourteen yeares, there had been put to death in France, for the Religion, seventy thousand Hereticks, as he called them. So true is that of kkIn Psal. 118. T…ta terra purpurata est sanguine Martyrum.Ps 118Saint Augustine, The whole earth is almost a purple Island, scarleted and redded with the bloud of Martyrs. And, all doubt removed, p. 50if we had but Stephens eyes to see heaven open, and behold first all the Martyrs of the old Testament, from the blood of Abel, to the blood of Zacharias; and then all the Martyrs of the new Testament, from the blood of the Proto-Martyr Stephen, to the blood of him or her, who lastly suffered, it may be yesterday, or to day, under the Popish Inquisition, or Turkish slavery, or elsewhere: And lastly, if we withall take the word Martyr in the fullest importance, and significancy of the word, for those who have suffered for a good cause, in their good p. 51names, in their estates, in imprisonment and restraint, as well as in life or limme, (for it is a ruled case, llPossumus, & nos sine ferro, & flamma esse Martyres.that a man may be a Martyr without sword or fire) then, I say, what a goodly troop of red-coated Souldiers would they be? how infinitely beyond the stupendious Armies of Xerxes or Semiramis? Who would not ask after them, Who are these that come out of Edom with their garments red? But it may be thought, I follow the chase after these beasts too hot, and too farre; but I wish both Magistrates and Ministers would joyne together to hunt these Wolves, &c. to p. 52their holes, and to their dennes, and there keep them from ranging abroad, to prejudice the flock of Christ. It is now high time to fall upon Application.

The Application.

THe clew or thred to guide the Application of this point, must be that Text of S. Paul to Timothy, 2 Ep. Chap. 3. ver. 16. All Scripture is profitable for ¹ Doctrine, for ² Reproof, for ³ Correction, for ⁴ Instruction, together with that other, Rom. 15.4. Whatsoever is written, is written for our learning, that we through p. 53patience, and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. So as right Application of Scripture is the bending of it to a fivefold Use; First, Doctrinall against ignorance; Secondly, Elenchicall, or Confutative against error; Thirdly, Corrective, against vice; Fourthly, Instructive, or Directory, how to walk exactly, and circumspectly, in reference to that particular truth: And lastly, Consolatory, against feare or despaire. A method (certainly) very Scripturall, and Authentick, but of more frequent use with the Divines of other Countries, then with our p. 54English Divines. They may be resembled unto the five stones that David gathered up, when he went with his sling against Goliah. And if a Preacher could but sling them with that vigour and strength that he did, (for it was not Davids sling, but his arme, nor Scanderbegs sword, but his force▪ which were so considerable) and then with the dexterity of the men of Gibeah, who threw stones at an haires-breadth, Iudges 20.16. surely he would make the greatest opposite either to the Theory, or Practick of Divinity, to stagger and fall down; onelyonly here is p. 55the discrepance, those five stones were all smooth ones, but these three of them onelyonly, that is, Doctrine, Instruction, and Consolation, are smooth, two of them, that is, Reproofe, and Correction, are sharp and rugged, as that wherewith Zippora cut off her sonnes foreskin. llAmant homines verita…em luc…ntem, non redarguentem.Men love truth when it shines, but not when it redargues.

1 mmforeign.The Doctrinall use.

THe Doctrine whereunto this point is profitable, is this; to justifie, and propugne Gods manner of dealing with his Church; that he should p. 56allow such Nimrods, mighty hunters in the Forrest of his Carmel, such Boares in his Vineyard, such Wolves, Beares, Leopards, and Lyons, in his holy Mountain, as the Church is here styled verse 9. such Adders, and Snakes in his bush; that mans malice should execute, what Gods grace decrees; that the blood of Martyrs should be the seed of the Church; that Religion should batten with blood; that God should tye the childe to both breasts, of milke and blood; that the bush should burne and not consume; that while wicked p. 57men goe about to crosse Gods decree, they bring it on, and while they rush against his will they fulfill it; that Christ should both be as loving an husband to his Spouse, as Elkanah was to Hanna, and yet Vir sanguinum, a bloody husband too, as Zippora called Moses; that it should be asked of Gods deerest servants, Who are these who come out of Edom with their garments red? Lastly, that he whose wayes are alwaies equall, whose actions are exactly commensurate with equity and justice, who laies judgmēt to the line, and righteousnesse to the plumb-line, should p. 58thus let loose the chaine, and turne such Wolves upon his Lambes, such Leopards upon his Kids, &c. as if his Church were rather a kennell, then a fold.

Which because it is one of the grand tentations, therefore both to cleere Gods justice, and to prepare our soules against whatsoever the day may bring forth, I will make the more exact disquisition and inquiry into the reasons and grounds hereof.

And first, let it be considered, that it is none other thing then Christ hath foretold and forewarned his Church of, p. 59that they must be as sheep among wolves, that they must bee as sheepe to the slaughter, that they must bee hated of all men for his names sake, that in the world they should have tribulation, that the time should come, that in killing them men should thinke they did God good service, and the like: So as no man can say, there is any breach of Covenant, or non-performance on Gods part, or that, as it is in the Proverbe, he holdeth in the one hand a piece of bread, and in the other a stone.

Secondly, no tentation tooke hold of them in this kind, but what very many p. 60of them desired; and longed for more then for their appointed food. Many of the militant Saints have longed for the death of martyrdome, and digged for it more then for hid treasures, and rejoyced exceedingly to finde the grave, Iob 3.21, 22. nnMelchior Adamus in vita Lutheri.Luther desired it, and prayed all his life, that by this death he might glorifie God. In the third Persecution, under Trajane, the Christians, quasi manu facta, gathered together like a band of Souldiers, and appeared in whole troupes in Asia, and Bythinia, offering themselves to martyrdome, so that the Proconsull cryed p. 61out, ooO miseri, si cupitis mori, non habetis praecipitia & restes? Tertul. ad Scapul. cap. ult.Oh miserable wretches, if you desire to dye, are there not precipices and halters enow? ppOmnes ad martyrium quasi aves ad alveariū cōvolantes. Baron. ex D. Chrys.all did take wings and flye to martyrdome, as Bees to the hive. In Edessa, women ran with their children in their armes, ready with haste, to let them fall forth, as Mephibosheths Nurse did him, striving which should first lay downe their lives for Christs sake. In the ninth Persecution under Dioclesian, they sought it as eagerly as ambitious Prelates did Bishopricks.

Thirdly, hereby they lose nothing: nay were they not infinite gainers? the Martyrs themselves, p. 62who went the farthest in suffering, and were not rent and torne only, but devoured of these Wolves and Lions, would not (some of them, not then; not one of them now) have saved one drop of that blood, which they sold at so brave a rate: have they not now for a short paine, got a durable pleasure; for a sinfull miserable and transitory life, acquired to themselves an holy and happy eternity?

Objection. And so might they have done too, if their candle had burned to within the Socket, and they gone to their graves like a rick of Corne, p. 63which is white unto the harvest?

Answ. Perhaps so indeed, and perhaps otherwise, but by that path, their Crowne of glory had neither beene so ¹ certaine, nor so ² soone, nor so ³ waighty; not so certaine; for (alas!) how many are so far from suffering any thing for Christ, by way of passive obedience, as they will do nothing, by way of active? how many have out-lived their piety, forsaken their righteousness, and in the hot sun-shine of prosperity have ungirt and cast off that cloake which the winde of adversity would have caused p. 64them gather close unto their breast? Not so soone neither; and that is to be accompted for some losse, when as one day in Gods Courts, is better then a thousand elsewhere; Not so massy; for if any shall sit on Christs right hand and on his left; if any shall shine as the Sun in the kingdome of the Father; if any shall sit upon twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel; if any shall have palmes in their hands and crownes on their heads, it shall be the slaine witnesses: and therefore qqMartyri… coronari.to be crowned with Martyrdome, is the ecclesiasticall forme of speaking, and p. 65S. Steven the Protomartyre of the New Testament had to his name, as by divine dispensation, a Crowne, and hence blessed rrforeign. Ign. Ep. 11 ad Rom.Ignatius, in his Epistle to the Romans, professeth He had rather dye for Christ, then raigne over all the ends of the earth.

Fourthly, Is there any way so much to glorifie God and Christ? can the members doe more honour to the head then in suffering for it, or with it? hath any man greater love then this, to deny himselfe, and lay downe his fame, his riches, his life for his friend? Oh how doth it cry up Christ, in the world, that he hath p. 66such servants, as can drink of the cup that he dranke of; such followers, as can dye for the faith of him, who dyed for the love of them.

Fiftly and lastly, there is no way, or meanes, whereby to make the condemnation of these ravenous Wolves, and Lion rampants, more just, nor their doome more heavy, then by suffering them to bring on their owne heads, the blood of Martyrs; Right precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints, and especially such a death, and of such Saints. How bitter a curse that was, when the Jewes imprecated p. 67themselves with His blood bee on us, and on our children; the event hath declared, when full 1600. yeares fluxe of time now already past, hath obtained no relaxation thereof, and his blood is upon those, upon whom his servants blood is upon. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? When Zacharias, the last Martyr of the Old Testament, was slaine betweene the Temple and the Altar, he dying said, The Lord shall looke upon it, and require it, 2 Chron. 24.22.

p. 682 The ssforeign.elench or use of redargution.

THe error which this point is profitable to confute and redargue, is twofold; First of the Jews,Contra 1 Iudaos. and secondly of certaine Christians Judaizing. The error of the Iews is, that they stick in the barke, and expound the text to be fulfilled to the very letter of it, that the Wolfe, and the Lamb shall (indeed) without any trope, or metaphor at all, dwell together, and the Leopard and Kid lye downe together, &c. Whence they then infer that fundamentall, and p. 69soule-splitting venome of doctrine, which is directly antipodes to Christian Religion, That the Messias is not yet come, because these antipathies, and jarres do still remaine amongst the creatures as fresh, as if Adam had but faine yesterday or to day.

The erring and Judaizing Christians here are the Millenaries,2 Iudaiza… tes. a sect of learned, and criticall Christians, who expect in the last thousand yeares of the Church, the cream of all militant perfection, and excellency of manners; and that all sowernesse amongst Christians shall be absorpt of Charity, p. 70and the discords of their dispositions shall be tuned up to so sweet an unison, and harmony of love and sympathy, as Wolves and Leopards shal cohabit with Lambs, and Kids; feroce and belluine men, with the meek and placable. Lactantius was slipt unawares into this opinion, and S. Ierome doth (not lightly) stigmatize, and animadvert him for it, and not Lactantius onelyonly, but very many of good name, in divers ages of the Church, being taken (it seemes) partly with the probabilitie of the text, Apoc. 20.2. Satan was to bee bound up a thousand yeeres, and partly p. 71with the authority and magistrality of the first assertor of it, ttBaron. ad an. 118.Papias Bishop of Hierapolis, a man of that sanctity, and esteeme, that hee drew no meaner adherents to him, thē Iustin Martyr, Irenaeus, &c. but it is sufficient to note these things with an obeliske; They are dead tenets, and opinions, and we will not do with them, as Saul, and the Witch with Samuel, call them up from their dorters againe.

3. uuforeign.The use of Correction.

NOw the vice or fault which this point is profitable to correct, is p. 72that froward, morose, churlish, rugged; nay far more, that cruell, fierce, inhumane, belluine disposition, which is not onelyonly in naturall and wicked men, but even in such as are in part regenerate, and sanctified. Better be beasts then like beasts: and yet such are the blots and spots of our semi-conversions, so great is the imperfection of our regeneration, as after grace hath blunted the point, and rebated the edge of our corruption, yet is there still too much of the jaw of the Lyon, and of the paw of the Beare in us, too little of the man, too much of the beast, so as p. 73we may abhorre our selves in dust and ashes, and cry out with Agur, and David, (as before was mentioned) Surely I am more brutish then any man, and have not the understanding of a man in me. So foolish was I, and ignorant, even as it were a beast before thee. To give a touch upon each particular again: there is too much of the greedinesse of the Wolfe still remaining, as appeares by our rapacity, by our snatching, and catching, at far more then is our own, or can justly call us Master. Too much of the Leopard, both in our swiftnesse to evill, and in our p. 74spots, and streaks, with sinfull customes, and habits. Too much of the Lyons whelp, in hunting after an unlawfull prey. Too much of the Beare in cruelty, oppression, and fiercenesse. Too much of the Lyon too; we would roare, and have all the beasts in the forrest tremble: if we say the Asses eares are horns, we would have none dare gainsay it. He is militantly triumphant in these dayes, that would not be foreign, some great one. Too much of the Aspe i… our venomous and scalding words, which burne like coals of Juniper. And lastly, too much of the p. 75Cockatrice, or Basilisk in our envious and evill eyes. Alas, that we should thus defile that humane nature of ours, which God vouchsafed to take into union with his Godhead. That Primitive love and gentlenesse, which did so much of old adorn the manners of Christians, is now onelyonly not utterly lost; we goe not only to law one with another, (which S. Paul so decryed) but to revilings, contestations, fightings, combats. Raca and Foole are now tempers and modifications of speech. Where is there a a Bonaventure that I may worship **In fra…re Bonaventura Adam peccasse non videtur., in whom Adams p. 76fall could scarce be seene. Well, it becomes us to be humbled under the apprehensions hereof, and to bewail and lament this taint and irregeneracy of our natures, and to fall upon the practise of thorough-mortification, not giving over till we be gentle, and innocent as Lambes, Kiddes, Children, &c.

4. xxforeign.The use of Instruction.

ANd the practise▪ or piety that this point puts us upon, is a fourfold Instruction.

First, we must not vexe our selves, or take scandall at Gods providence, p. 77and dispensation towards his Church, nor distresse our selves with bootlesse problemes, Why God should let loose Wolves, and Lyons, and Beares into the very fold of his Church, among his Lambs and Kids; That we shall tread upon the Adder and Basilisk, Psal. 91.13. That he will make a covenant betwixt us and the beasts of the field, Iob 5.23. That we shall stop the mouthes of Lyons, Heb. 11.33. These and the like are temporall promises; and the grand rule, or Canon of them is, That they must be understood, Cum exceptione crucis, & castigationis. These p. 78Nimrodians are but what they are, and what they will be unlesse God change them, that is, Wolves and Beares, &c. and for the Church it is profitable to melt away her drosse, and purge away her tin; and therefore Cyprian in his Book De lapsis, observes that the seventh Persecution, under Decius, was justly inflicted by God, to reforme the depraved manners of the Christians.

Secondly, we must carefully shun such beasts, as we would not stand too neare the grate at the Tower: it is not alwayes the voyce of the sluggard to say, There is a Lyon in p. 79the way. It is folly, without a warrant in our hand to take the Beare by the tooth, or the Lyon by the paw: just the spirit of the sprighty Ascanius in yyOp…at aprum, aut fulvum descendere monte Leonem.Virgil, to wish a Lyon to come out of the forrest and meet him. Such usually trace their owne ruine, whilest they turning againe, all to rent them.

Thirdly, if Gods providence have cast thee with Daniel into a denne of Lyons, so as thou maiest take into thy mouth Davids complaint, My soule is among Lyons; then doe as men in woods and forrests, when they spie the wild beast comming, p. 80climbe a tree? what tree? even the tree whereon our Lord hung. Climb it, how? By faith, & meditation, & prayer, stretch thy selfe upon his Crosse, Tell him, if thou perish, thou dost perish, but it shall be at the foot of him that was crucified. Cry, O Iesu, Iesu, Iesu, be thou my Iesus. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous shall run unto it and be safe, Prov. 18.10. zzDiogenes in vit.A Sparrow pursued by an Hawk, fled into the bosome of Xenocrates, which he refused to put out againe, saying, It was a dishonest thing to betray a guest. The morall, or rather the theology p. 81of it, is easie:

Fourthly, suppose the worst; that it be the will of God, thou suffer from these beasts, be lacerated and torn with these Bears and Wolves, devoured by these Lyons, poysoned by these Aspes, stung by these Cockatrices; Lay thine hand upon thy mouth, possesse thy soule in patience; the Lord will look upon it, and require it; it will, assuredly, make for thine advantage, and their smart. When the Tyrant Phocas had betrayed Maurice the Emperour, his Master, had slaine his wife and children, and was ready to bereave himself at once, p. 82both of life and diademe, yet did he not blaspheme through griefe of heart, but put to silence the voyce of murmuring, with that versicle of Psal. 119. Righteous art thou, O Lord, and right are thy judgements. But that which falls most fit and opposite here, is the last words of Ignatius, who when he was throwne to the wilde beasts to be devoured, (for that was his kind of Martyrdome) meekly concluded thus: aaFrumentum Dei sum, & molor dentibus ferarum, ut purus Dei panis sim. Surius in vita B. Ign.I am Gods grain, or corne, and must be grinded betweene the teeth of these beasts, that I may so make pure bread to my God.

p. 835. bbforeign.The use of Consolation.

LAstly, even out of this strong, comes sweet; out of this Lyon, and Wolf, &c. comes an hony-comb of comfort; better be the Martyr, then the Tyrant, better be the Lamb then the Wolf, the Kid then the Leopard. If we suffer with him, we shall raigne with him. A venerable old man, walking the streets of Alexandria, in time of Persecution, upon notice given that he was a Christian, is suddenly enclosed by an unruly company of Idolaters, who after all manner of despightfull usage, p. 84both in words and deeds, began joyntly with much scorn, to demand of him, what great miracles hath this Christ of thine done, whom thou makest to be God? To whom the blessed Saint made ready and chearfull answer; I can quietly and patiently endure all these wrongs which you doe me, and more & greater, if need be, without disquiet to my self, or trouble to you. But yet, more fit & concenter, is that aculeate speech of Chrys. when Eudoxia the Empresse raged against him, like a Lyonesse, ccforeign, &c. Chrys. Epist. ad Cyriacum.I passe not for all the threatnings of the Empresse. If she will banish p. 85me, The earth is the Lords, and the fulnesse thereof: If she will saw me asunder, let her, I have Esay for an ensample: If she will throw me into the Sea, I remember Ionas: If she will cast me into the fornace, I remember the three Children: If she will stone me, I remember Stephen: If she will take mine head, I remember Iohn Baptist: If she will throw me to the Lyons, I remember Daniel: If she will take my goods, let her take them; Naked came I out of my Mothers wombe. Thus the horse in Iob neighs at the trumpet, the Leviathan p. 86laughes at the Speare. Faith sucks comfort even out of the most adverse estate that can befall a Christian.

The end of the first Sermon.