Six Sermons Upon Several Occasions, Sermon 3 – Title page 4

Six Sermons Upon Several Occasions · Sermon 3 – Title page 4

p. 1Hoſea 2. 19.

And I will marrie thee unto me for ever.

THe word which is the hinge upon which all this text turns, is Eraſh: and Eraſh ſignifies not onelyonly a betrothing, as our later tranſlation hath it, but a marrying; and ſo it is uſed by David, Deliver me my wife Michal, whom I 2. Sam. 3. 142 Sam 3:14married: and ſo our former tranſlation had it, and ſo we accept it, and ſo ſhall handle it. I will marrie thee unto me for ever.

The firſt marriage that was made, God made; and he made it in Paradiſe: and of that marriage, I have had the like occaſion as this, to ſpeak before, in the preſence of many honourable perſons in this companie. The laſt marriage which ſhall be made, God ſhall make too, and in Paradiſe too, in the kingdome of heaven: and at that marriage, I hope in him that ſhall make it, to meet, not ſome, but all this companie. The marriage in this text hath relation to both thoſe marriages. p. 2It is it ſelf the ſpirituall and myſticall marriage of Chriſt Jeſus to the Church, and to every marriageable ſoul in the Church: and it hath a retroſpect, it looks back to the firſt marriage; for to that the firſt word carries us, becauſe from thence God takes his metaphor and compariſon, Sponſabo, I will marrie: and then it hath a proſpect to the laſt marriage; for to that we are carried in the laſt word, In aeternum, I will marrie thee unto me for ever. Be pleaſed therefore to give me leave in this exerciſe, to ſhift the Scene thrice, and to preſent to your religious conſiderations three objects, three ſubjects: firſt, a ſecular marriage, in Paradiſe; ſecondly, a ſpirituall marriage, in the Church; and thirdly, an eternall marriage, in Heaven: And in each of theſe three, we ſhall preſent three circumſtances; firſt, the perſons, Me and Tibi, I will marrie thee; and then the action, Sponſabo, I will marrie thee; and laſtly, the term, In aeternum, I will marrie thee to me for ever.

In the firſt acceptation then, in the firſt, the ſecular Part. I marriage in Paradiſe, the perſons were Adam and Eve: ever ſince, they are He and She, man and woman: at firſt, by reaſon of neceſſitie, without any ſuch limitation as now; and now without any other limitations, then ſuch as are expreſſed in the law of God. As the Apoſtles ſay, in the firſt generall Councel, We lay nothing upon you but things Act. 15. 28.Acts 15:28neceſſarie; ſo we call nothing neceſſarie, but that which is commanded by God. If in heaven I may have the place of a man that hath performed the p. 3commandments of God, I will not change with him, that thinks he hath done more then the commandments of God enjoyned him. The rule of marriage for degrees and diſtance in bloud, is the law of God; but for conditions of men, there is no rule at all given. When God had made Adam and Eve in Paradiſe, though there were foure rivers in Paradiſe, God did not place Adam in a Monaſterie on one ſide, and Eve in a Nunnerie on the other, and ſo a river between them. They that build walls and cloyſters to fruſtrate Gods inſtitution of marriage, advance the doctrine of devils, in forbidding of marriage. The devil hath advantages enow againſt us, in bringing men and women together: it was a ſtrange and ſuperdeviliſh invention, to give him a new advantage againſt us, by keeping men and women aſunder, by forbidding marriage. Between the hereſie of the Nicolaitans, that induced a communitie of women (any might take any) and the hereſie of the Tatians, that forbad all (none might take any) was a fair latitude. Between the opinion of the Manichaean hereticks, that thought women to be made by the devil; and the Colliridian hereticks, that ſacrificed to a woman, as to God, there is a fair diſtance. Between the denying of them ſouls, which S. Ambroſe is charged to have done; and giving them ſuch ſouls, as that they may be prieſts, as the Peputian hereticks did, is a fair way for a moderate man to walk in. To make them gods, is ungodly; and to make them devils, is deviliſh: p. 4to make them miſtreſſes, is unmanly; and to make them ſervants, is unnoble: to make them, as God made them, wives, is godly, and manly too. When in the Romane church they diſſolve marriages in naturall kindred, in degrees where God forbids it not; when they diſſolve marriage upon ſpirituall kindred, becauſe my grandfather chriſtened that womans father; when they diſſolve marriage upon legall kindred, becauſe my grandfather adopted that womans father, they ſeparate thoſe whom God hath joyned ſo farre, as to give them leave to joyn in lawfull marriage. When men have made vows to abſtain from marriage, I would they would be content to trie a little longer then they do, whether they could keep that vow or no: And when men have conſecrated themſelves to the ſervice of God in his Church, I would they would be content to trie a little further then they do, whether they could abſtain or no: But to diſſolve marriages made after ſuch a vow, or after orders, is ſtill to ſeparate thoſe whom God hath not ſeparated. The perſons are He and She, man and woman: they muſt be ſo much; he muſt be a man, ſhe muſt be a woman: and they muſt be no more; not a brother and a ſiſter, not an uncle and a neece. Adduxit ad eum, was the caſe between Adam & Eve; God brought them together: God will not bring me a precontracted perſon; he will not have me defraud another: God will not bring me a misbeleeving, a ſuperſtitious perſon; he will not have me drawn p. 5from himſelf: But let them be perſons that God hath made, man and woman; and perſons that God hath brought together, that is, not put aſunder by any law of his; and all ſuch are perſons capable of this firſt, this ſecular marriage.

In which our ſecond conſideration is the action, Sponſabo; where the active is a kinde of paſſive: I will marrie thee, is, I will be married to thee; for we marrie not our ſelves. They are ſomewhat hard driven in the Romane church, when, making marriage a ſacrament, and being preſſed by us with this queſtion, If it be a ſacrament, who adminiſters it? who is the Prieſt? they are fain to anſwer, The Bridegroom and the Bride, he and ſhe are the Prieſt in that ſacrament. As marriage is a civil contract, it muſt be done ſo in publick, as that it may have the teſtimonie of men: as marriage is a religious contract, it muſt be ſo done, as that it may have the benediction of the Prieſt. In a marriage without teſtimonie of men, they cannot claim any benefit by the Law; in a marriage without the benediction of the Prieſt, they cannot claim any benefit of the Church: for how matrimonially ſoever, ſuch perſons as have married themſelves, may pretend to love and live together; yet all that love and all that life is but a regulated adulterie, it is not marriage.

Now this Inſtitution of marriage had 3 objects: Firſt, In uſtionem, it was given for a remedie againſt burning; and then, In prolem, for propagation, for children; and laſtly, In adjutorium, for mutuall p. 6help. As we conſider it the firſt way, In uſtionem, every heating is not a burning; every naturall concupiſcence does not require a marriage: nay, every flaming is not a burning; though a man continue under the flame of carnall temptation, as long as S. Paul did, yet it needs not come preſently to a Sponſabo, I will marry. God gave S. Paul other phyſick, Gratia mea ſufficit, grace to ſtand under that temptation: and S. Paul gave himſelf other phyſick, Contundo corpus, convenient diſciplines to tame his bodie. Theſe will keep a man from burning; for, Ʋri, eſt deſideriis vinci; deſideria pati, illuſtris eſt & perfecti: To be overcome by our concupiſcencies, that is to burn; but to quench that fire by religious wayes, that is a noble, that is a perfect work. When God, at the firſt inſtitution of marriage, had this firſt uſe of marriage in his contemplation, that it ſhould be a remedie againſt burning, God gave man the remedie, before he had the diſeaſe: for marriage was inſtituted in the ſtate of innocencie, when there was no inordinateneſſe in the affections of man, and ſo no burning. But as God created Rheubarb in the world, whoſe qualitie is to purge choler, before there was any choler to purge: ſo God, according to his abundant forwardneſſe to do us good, created a remedie before the diſeaſe, which he foreſaw coming, was come upon us. Let him then, that takes his wife in this firſt and loweſt ſenſe, In medicinam, but as his phyſick, yet make her his cordiall phyſick, take her to his heart, and fill his heart with her; let her p. 7dwell there, and dwell there alone: and ſo they will be mutuall antidotes and preſervatives to one another, againſt all forrain temptations. And with this bleſſing bleſſe thou, O Lord, theſe whom thou haſt brought hither for this bleſſing: make all the dayes of their life, like this day unto them: and as thy mercies are new every morning, make them ſo to one another: and if they may not die together, ſuſtain thou the ſurviver of them in that ſad houre, with this comfort, that he that died for them both, will bring them together again in his everlaſtingneſſe.

The ſecond uſe of marriage was, In prolificationem, For children: And therefore (as S. Auguſtine puts the caſe) to contract before, that they will have no children, makes it no marriage, but an adultery. To deny themſelves to one another, is as much againſt marriage, as to give themſelves to another. To hinder that by phyſick, or any other practiſe; nay, to hinder that ſo farre, as by a deliberate wiſh or prayer againſt children, conſiſts not well with this ſecond uſe of marriage. And yet in this ſecond uſe we do not ſo much conſider generation, as regeneration; not ſo much procreation, as education; nor propagation, as tranſplantation of children: for this world might be filled full enough of children, though there were no marriage; but heaven could not be filled, nor the places of the fallen angels ſupplied, without that care of childrens religious education, which from parents in lawfull marriage they are likelieſt to receive. p. 8How infinite and how miſerable a circle of ſinne do we make, if, as we ſinned in our parents loyns before we were born, ſo we ſinne in our childrens actions when we are dead, by having given them either example or libertie of ſinning! We have a fearfull commination from God, upon a good man, upon Eli, for his not reſtraining the licentiouſneſſe of his ſonnes: I will do a thing in Iſrael, 1. Sam. 3. 111 Sam 3:11ſayes God there, at which both the eares of every one that heareth it ſhall tingle: and it was executed; Eli fell down, and broke his neck. We have alſo 1. Sam. 4. 181 Sam 4:18a promiſe of conſolation to women, for children: She ſhall be ſaved in childe-bearing, ſayes the Apoſtle: 1. Tim. 2. 151 Tim 2:15but, as Chryſoſtome and others of the ancients obſerve and interpret that place (which interpretation ariſes out of the very letter) it is, Si permanſerint; not, If ſhe, but, If they, if the children continue in faith, and charitie, and holineſſe, with ſobrietie. The ſalvation of the parents hath ſo much relation to the childrens goodneſſe, as that, if they be ill by the parents example or indulgence, the parents are as guiltie as the children. Art thou afraid thy childe ſhould be ſtung with a ſnake, and wilt thou let him play with the old ſerpent, in opening himſelf to all temptations? Art thou afraid to let him walk in an ill aire, and art thou content to let him ſtand in that peſtilent aire, that is made of nothing but oathes and execrations of blaſphemous mouthes round about him? It is S. Chryſoſtomes complaint, Perditionem magno pretio emunt, ſalutem nec dono accipere volunt: we pay deere for p. 9our childrens damnation, by paying at firſt for all their childiſh vanities, and then for their ſinfull inſolencies at any rate; and we might have them ſaved, and our ſelves to the bargain (which were a frugall way, and a debt well hedged in) for much leſſe then ours and their damnation ſtands us in. If you have a deſire, ſayes that bleſſed Father, to leave them certainly rich, Deum iis relinque debitorem; Do ſome ſuch thing for Gods ſervice, as you may leave God in their debt. He cannot break; his eſtate is inexhauſtible: He will not break promiſe, nor break day; He will ſhew merciemercy unto thouſands, in them that love him, and keep his commandments. And here alſo may another ſhower of his benedictions fall upon them, whom he hath prepared and preſented here; Let the wife be as a fruitfull Pſ. 128. 3.Ps 128:3vine, and their children like olive-plants. To thy glorie, let the parents expreſſe the love of parents, and the children, to thy glorie, the obedience of children, till they both loſe that ſecular name of parents and children, and meet all alike, in one new name, all ſaints in thy kingdome, and fellowſervants there.

The third and laſt uſe in this inſtitution of ſecular marriage, was, In adjutorium, For mutuall help. There is no ſtate, no man in any ſtate, that needs not the help of others. Subjects need Kings; and if Kings do not need their ſubjects, they need alliances abroad, and they need counſel at home. Even in paradiſe, where the earth produced all things for life, without labour, and the beaſts p. 10ſubmitted themſelves to man, ſo that he had no outward enemie; and in the ſtate of innocencie in paradiſe, where, in man, all the affections ſubmitted themſelves to reaſon, ſo that he had no inward enemie; yet God, in this abundant paradiſe, and in this ſecure innocencie of paradiſe, even in the ſurvey of his own works, ſaw, that though all that he had made, was good, yet he had not made all good; he found thus much defect in his own work, that man lacked an helper. Every bodie needs the help of others; and every good bodie does give ſome kinde of help to others. Even into the ark it ſelf, where God bleſſed them all with a powerfull and an immediate protection, God admitted onelyonly ſuch, as were fitted to help one another, couples. In the ark, which was the type of our beſt condition in this life, there was not a ſingle perſon. Chriſt ſaved once one thief at the laſt gaſp, to ſhow that there may be late repentances: but in the ark he ſaved none but married perſons, to ſhow, that he eaſes himſelf in making them helpers to one another. And therefore when we come to the Poſui Deum adjutorium meum, to relie upon God primarily for our helper; God comes to the Faciam tibi adjutorium, I will make thee a help like thy ſelf: not alwayes like in complexion, nor like in yeares, nor like in fortune, nor like in birth; but like in minde, like in diſpoſition, like in the love of God and of one another, or elſe there is no helper. It was no kinde of help, that Davids wife gave him, when ſhe p. 11ſpoke by way of counſel, but in truth in ſcorn and deriſion, to draw him from a religious act, as the dancing before the ark at that time was. It is no help, for any reſpect, to ſlacken the husband in his religion. It was but a poore help that Nabals wife was fain to give him, by telling David, Alas, my husband is but a fool, like his name; and what will you look for at a fools hand? It is the worſt help of all, to raiſe a husband by dejecting her ſelf; to help her husband forward in this world, by forfeiting ſinfully and diſhonourably her own intereſt in the next. The husband is the helper in the nature of a foundation, to ſuſtain and uphold all; the wife in the nature of the roof, to cover imperfections and weakneſſes: the husband in the nature of the head, from whence all the ſinews flow; the wife in the nature of the hands, into which thoſe ſinews flow, and enable them to do their offices: the husband helps as legs to her; ſhe moves by his motion: the wife helps as a ſtaffe to him; he moves the better by her aſſiſtance. And let this mutuall help be a part of our preſent benediction too: In all the wayes of fortune, let his induſtrie help her; and in all the croſſes of fortune, let her patience help him; and in all emergent occaſions and dangers, ſpirituall or temporall, O God, make ſpeed to ſave them; O Lord, make haſte to help them.

We have ſpoken of the perſons, Man and Woman, Him and Her; and of the action, firſt, as it is phyſick, but cordiall phyſick; and then for children, p. 12but children to be made the children of God; and laſtly for help, but true help, and mutuall help: there remains yet in this ſecular marriage, the term how long, for ever; I will marrie thee for ever. Now though there be properly no eternitie in this ſecular marriage, nor in any thing in this world, (for eternitie is onelyonly that which never had beginning, nor ever ſhall have end) yet we may conſider a kinde of eternitie, a kinde of circle, without beginning, without end, even in this ſecular marriage: for firſt, marriage ſhould have no beginning before marriage; no half marriages, no lending away of the minde in conditionall precontracts before, no lending away of the bodie in unchaſte wantonneſſe before. The bodie is the temple of the holy Ghoſt; and when two bodies by marriage are to be made one temple, the wife is not as the chancell, reſerved and ſhut up, and the man as the walks below, indifferent and at libertie for every paſſenger. God in his temple looks for firſt-fruits from both; that ſo, on both ſides, marriage ſhould have ſuch a degree of eternitie, as to have had no beginning of marriage before marriage. It ſhould have this degree of eternitie too, this qualitie of a circle, to have no interruption, no breaking in the way, by unjuſt ſuſpicions and jealouſies. Where there is ſpiritus immunditiei, as S. Paul calls it, A ſpirit of uncleanneſſe, there will neceſſarily be ſpiritus zelotypiae, as Moſes calls it, A ſpirit of jealouſie. But to raiſe the devil in the power of the devil, to call up one p. 13ſpirit by another ſpirit, by the ſpirit of jealouſie and ſuſpicion, to induce the ſpirit of uncleanneſſe where it was not, if a man conjure up a devil ſo, God knows who ſhall conjure it down again. As jealouſie is a care, and not a ſuſpicion, God is not aſhamed to proteſt of himſelf, that he is a jealous God. God commands that no idolatrie be committed, Thou ſhalt not bowe down to a graven image; Exod. 20. 5Exod 20:5and before he accuſes any man to have bowed down to a graven image, before any idolatrie was committed, he tells them that he is a jealous God; God is jealous before there be any harm done. And God preſents it as a curſe, when he ſayes, My jealouſie ſhall depart from thee, and I will be Eze. 16. 42.Ezek 16:42quiet, and no more angrie; that is, I will leave thee to thy ſelf, and take no more care of thee. Jealouſie that implies care, and honour, and counſel, and tenderneſſe, is rooted in God; for God is a jealous God, and his ſervants are jealous ſervants, as S. Paul profeſſes of himſelf, I am jealous over 2. Cor. 11. 22 Cor 11:2you with a godly jealouſie. But jealouſie that implies diffidence, and ſuſpicion, and accuſation, is rooted in the devil; for he is The accuſer of the brethren.

So then this ſecular marriage ſhould be In aeternum, eternall, for ever, as to have no beginning before, and ſo too, as to have no jealous interruption by the way; for it is ſo eternall, as that it can have no end in this life. Thoſe whom God hath joyned, no man, no devil can ſeparate ſo, as that it ſhall not remain a marriage ſo farre, as that, p. 14if thoſe ſeparated perſons will live together again, yet they ſhall not be new married; ſo farre, certainly, the band of marriage continues ſtill. The devil makes no marriages: he may have a hand in drawing conveyances; in the temporall conditions there may be practiſe; but the marriage is made by God in heaven. The devil can break no marriages neither, though he can by ſinne break off all the good uſes, and take away all the comforts of marriage. I pronounce not now, whether adulterie diſſolve marriage or no: It is S. Auguſtines wiſdome to ſay, When the Scripture is ſilent, let me be ſilent too: and I may go lower then he, and ſay, Where the Church is ſilent, let me be ſilent too; and our Church is ſo farre ſilent in this, as that it hath not ſaid, that adulterie diſſolves marriage. Perchance then it is not the death of marriage; but ſurely it is a deadly wound. We have authours in the Romane church, that think Fornicationem non vagam, that ſuch an incontinent life, as is limited to one certain perſon, is no deadly ſinne: but there are none, even amongſt them, that diminiſh the crime of adulterie. Habere quaſi non haberes, is Chriſts counſel; to have a wife, as though thou hadſt none, that is, for continencie and temperance, and forbearance, and abſtinence upon ſome occaſions. But, Non habere quaſi haberes, is not ſo: not to have a wife, and yet have her; to have her that is anothers, this is the devils counſel. Of that ſalutation of the Angel to the bleſſed Virgin Mary, Bleſſed art thou amongſt women, we may p. 15make ever this interpretation, not onelyonly that ſhe was bleſſed amongst women, that is, above women; but that ſhe was Benedicta, Bleſſed amongſt women, that all women bleſt her, that no woman had occaſion to curſe her. And this is the eternitie of this ſecular marriage, as farre as this world admits any eternitie, that it ſhould have no beginning before, no interruption of jealouſie in the way, no ſuch approach towards diſſolution, as that incontinencie, in all opinions, and in all Churches, is agreed to be. And here alſo, without any ſcruple of fear, or of ſuſpicion of the contrarie, there is place for this benediction upon this couple: Build, O Lord, upon thine own foundations, in theſe two, and eſtabliſh thy former graces with future; that no perſon ever complain of either of them, nor either of them of one another; and ſo he and ſhe are married in aeternum, for ever.

We are come now, in our order propoſed at Part. II firſt, to our ſecond part; for all is ſaid that I intended of the ſecular marriage. And of this ſecond, the ſpirituall marriage, much needs not to be ſaid: there is another prieſt that contracts that, another preacher that celebrates that, the Spirit of God, to our ſpirit. And for the third marriage, the eternall marriage, it is a boldneſſe to offer to ſay any thing of a thing ſo inexpreſſible as the joyes of heaven; it is a diminution of them, to go about to heighten them; it is a ſhadowing of them, to go about to lay any colours or lights upon p. 16them. But yet your patience may perchance laſt to a word of each of theſe three circumſtances, the perſons, the action, the term, both in this ſpirituall and in the eternall marriage.

Firſt then, as in the former part, the ſecular marriage, for the perſons there, we conſidered firſt Adam and Eve; and after, every man and woman, and this couple in particular: ſo in this ſpirituall marriage, we conſider firſt Chriſt and his Church, for the perſons; but more particularly, Chriſt and my ſoul. And can theſe perſons meet? In ſuch a diſtance, and in ſuch a diſparagement, can perſons meet? The Sonne of God, and the ſonne of man? When I conſider Chriſt to be Germen Jehovae, the bud and bloſſome, the fruit & off-ſpring of Jehovah, Jehovah himſelf; and my ſelf, before he took me in hand, to be, not a potters veſſel of earth, but that earth of which the potter might make a veſſel if he would, and break it if he would, when he had made it: when I conſider Chriſt to have been from before all beginnings, and to be ſtill the image of the Father, the ſame ſtamp upon the ſame metall; and my ſelf a piece of ruſty copper, in which thoſe lines of the image of God, which were imprinted in me, in my creation, are defaced, and worn, and waſhed, and burnt, and ground away by my many, and many, and many ſinnes: when I conſider Chriſt in his circle, in glorie with his Father, before he came into this world, eſtabliſhing a glorious Church when he was in this world, and glorifying that Church, with that glorie p. 17which himſelf had before, when he went out of this world; and then conſider my ſelf in my circle, I came into this world waſhed in mine own tears, and either out of compunction for my ſelf, or compaſſion for others, I paſſe through this world, as through a valley of tears, where tears ſettle and ſwell; and when I paſſe out of this world, I have their eyes, whoſe hands cloſe mine, full of tears too: Can theſe perſons, this image of God, this God himſelf, this glorious God, and this veſſel of earth, this earth it ſelf, this inglorious worm of the earth, meet without diſparagement?

They do meet, and make a marriage: becauſe I am not a bodie onelyonly, but a bodie and ſoul; there is a marriage, and Chriſt marries me. As by the Law a man might marrie a captive woman in the Deut. 21. 12Deut 21:12warres, if he ſhaved her head, and pared her nails, and changed her clothes: ſo my Saviour having fought for my ſoul, fought to bloud, to death, to the death of the croſſe for her; having ſtudied my ſoul ſo much, as to write all thoſe epiſtles, which are in the New Teſtament, to my ſoul; having preſented my ſoul with his own picture, that I can ſee his face in all his temporall bleſſings; having ſhaved her head, in abating her pride; and pared her nails, in contracting her greedie deſires; and changed her clothes, not to faſhion her ſelf after this world; my ſoul being thus fitted by himſelf, Chriſt Jeſus hath married my ſoul; married her to all the three intendments mentioned in the ſecular marriage: Firſt, In uſtionem, Againſt p. 18burning; that, whether I burn my ſelf in the fire of temptation, by expoſing my ſelf to occaſions of temptation; or be reſerved to be burnt by others in the fires of perſecution and martyrdome; whether the fires of ambition, or envie, or luſt, or the everlaſting fires of hell offer at me, in an apprehenſion of the judgements of God; yet, as the Spirit of God ſhall wipe all teares from mine eyes, ſo the teares of Chriſt Jeſus ſhall extinguiſh all fires in my heart: and ſo it is a marriage, In uſtionem, a remedie againſt burning. It is ſo too, In prolificationem, For children. Firſt, Vae ſoli, Wo unto that ſingle ſoul that is not married to Chriſt, that is not come into the way of having iſſue by him, that is not incorporated in the Chriſtian Church, and in the true Church; but is yet either in the wilderneſſe of idolatrie amongſt the Gentiles, or in the labyrinth of ſuperſtition amongſt the Papiſts. Vae ſoli, Wo unto that ſingle man, that is not married to Chriſt in the ſacraments of the Church; and, Vae ſterili, Wo unto them that are barren after this ſpirituall marriage: for that is a great curſe in the Prophet Jeremie, Scribe virum iſtum ſterilem, Jer. 22. 30.Jer 22:30Write this man childleſſe; that implied all calamities upon him. And aſſoon as Chriſt had laid that curſe upon the fig-tree, Let no fruit grow on thee Matt. 21. 19Matt 21:19henceforward for ever, preſently the whole tree withered: if no fruit, no leaves neither, nor bodie left. To be incorporated in the bodie of Chriſt Jeſus, and bring forth no fruits worthy of that profeſſion, is a wofull ſtate too. Vae ſoli: Firſt, Wo p. 19unto the Gentiles not married to Chriſt: and, Vae ſterili, Wo unto inconſiderate Chriſtians, that think not upon their calling, that conceive not by Chriſt: but there is a Vae pregnanti too, Wo unto Matt. 24. 19Matt 24:19them that are with childe, and are never delivered; that have ſometimes good conceptions, religious diſpoſitions, holy deſires to the advancement of Gods truth; but, for ſome collaterall reſpects, dare not utter them, nor bring them to their birth, to any effect. The purpoſe of his marriage to us, is, to have children by us: and this is his abundant and his preſent fecunditie, that working now by me in you, in one inſtant he hath children in me, and grand-children by me. He hath married me In uſtionem, and In prolem; Againſt burning, and for children: but can he have any uſe of me, In adjutorium, For a helper? Surely, if I be able to feed him, and clothe him, and harbour him (and Chriſt would not condemne men at the laſt day for not doing theſe, if man could not do them) I am able to help him too. Great perſons can help him over ſea, convey the name of Chriſt, where it hath not been preached yet: and they can help him home again, reſtore his name and his truth, where ſuperſtition with violence hath diſſeized him: and they can help him at home, defend his truth there, againſt all machinations to diſplant and diſpoſſeſſe him. Great men can help him thus: and every man can help him to a better place in his own heart, and his own actions, then he hath had there; and to be ſo helped in me, and p. 20helped by me, to have his glorie thereby advanced, Chriſt hath married my ſoul. And he hath married it In aeternum, For ever; which is the third and laſt circumſtance in this ſpirituall, as it was in the ſecular marriage. And here the Aeternum is enlarged. In the ſecular marriage it was an eternitie conſidered onelyonly in this life; but this eternitie is not begun in this world, but from all eternitie, in the book of life, in Gods eternall decree for my election; there Chriſt was married to my ſoul. Chriſt was never in minoritie, never under yeares; there was never any time, when he was not as ancient as the Ancient of dayes, as old as his Father. But when my ſoul was in a ſtrange minoritie, infinite millions of millions of generations before my ſoul was a ſoul, did Chriſt marrie my ſoul in his eternall decree: ſo it was eternall, it had no beginning. Neither doth he interrupt this, by giving me any occaſion of jealouſie by the way, but loves my ſoul as though there were no other ſoul, and would have done and ſuffered all that he did for me alone, if there had been no name but mine in the book of life. And as he hath married me to him In aeternum, For ever, before all beginning; and In aeternum, For ever, without any interruptions: ſo I know, that whom he loves, he loves to the end; and that he hath given me, not a preſumptuous impoſsibilitie, but a modeſt infallibilitie, that no ſinne of mine ſhall divorce or ſeparate me from him: for that which ends the ſecular marriage, doth not end the ſpirituall; not death: for my death p. 21doth not take me from that husband; but that huſband being by his Father preferred to higher titles and greater glorie in another ſtate, I do but go by death, where he is become a King, to have my part in that glorie, & in thoſe additions, which he hath received there. And this hath led us to our third and laſt marriage, our eternall marriage, in the triumphant Church.

And in this third marriage, the perſons are the Part. III Lambe and my Soul. The marriage of the Lambe Apoc. 19. 7, 9.Rev 19:7Rev 19:9is come, and bleſſed are they that are called to the marriage ſupper of the Lambe, ſayes S. John, ſpeaking of our ſtate in the generall reſurrection. That Lambe who was brought to the ſlaughter, and Iſa. 53. 7.Isa 53:7opened not his mouth, and I, who have opened my mouth, and poured out imprecations and curſes upon men, and execrations and blaſphemies againſt God, upon every occaſion; that Lambe which was ſlain from the beginning, and I, who was ſlain by him who was a murderer from the beginning; that Lambe which took away the ſinnes of the world, and I, who brought more ſinnes into the world, then any ſacrifice but the bloud of this Lambe could take away; this Lambe and I (theſe are the perſons) ſhall meet and marrie, there is the action.

This is not a clandeſtine marriage, not the private ſeal of Chriſt in the obſignation of his Spirit; and yet ſuch a clandeſtine marriage is a good marriage: nor is it ſuch a pariſh-marriage, as when Chriſt married me to himſelf at my baptiſme, in a p. 22Church here; and yet that marriage of a Chriſtian ſoul to Chriſt in that ſacrament, is a bleſſed marriage: But this is a marriage in that great and glorious congregation, where all my ſinnes ſhall be laid open to the eyes of all the world; where all the bleſſed Virgins ſhall ſee all my uncleanneſſes, and all the Martyrs ſee all my tergiverſations, and all the Confeſſours ſee all my double dealings in Gods cauſe; where Abraham ſhall ſee my faithleſneſſe in Gods promiſes, and Job my impatience in Gods corrections, and Lazarus my hardneſſe of heart in diſtributing Gods bleſſings to the poore: and thoſe Virgins, and Martyrs, and Confeſſours, and Abraham, and Job, and Lazarus, and all that congregation, ſhall look upon the Lambe, and upon me, and upon one another, as though they would all forbid thoſe banes, and ſay to one another, Will this Lambe have any thing to do with this ſoul? And yet there and then this Lambe ſhall marrie me, and marrie me In aeternum, For ever; which is our laſt circumſtance.

It is not well done to call it a circumſtance; for the eternitie is a great part of the eſſence of that marriage. Conſider then how poore and needie a thing all the riches of this world, how flat and taſtleſſe a thing all the pleaſures of this world, how pallid, and faint, and dilute a thing all the honours of this world are, when the very treaſure, and joy, and glorie of heaven it ſelf were unperfect, if it were not eternall: and my marriage ſhall be ſo, In aeternum, For ever. The Angels p. 23were not married ſo; they incurred an irreparable divorce from God, and are ſeparated for ever; and I ſhall be married to him In aeternum, For ever. The Angels fell in love, when there was no object preſented, before any thing was created; when there was nothing but God and themſelves, they fell in love with themſelves, and neglected God, and ſo fell In aeternum, For ever. I ſhall ſee all the beautie and all the glorie of all the Saints of God, and love them all, and know that the Lambe loves them too, without jealouſie on his part, or theirs, or mine; and ſo be married In aeternum, For ever, without interruption, or diminution, or change of affections. I ſhall ſee the ſunne black as ſackcloth Reve. 6. 12, 13, 14.Rev 6:12Rev 6:13Rev 6:14of hair, and the moon become as bloud, and the ſtarres fall, as a fig-tree caſts her untimely figs, and the heavens rolled up together as a ſcrowl: I ſhall ſee a divorce between princes and their prerogatives, between nature and all her elements, between the ſpheres and all their intelligences, between matter it ſelf and all her forms, and my marriage ſhall be In aeternum, For ever. I ſhall ſee an end of faith, nothing to be beleeved that I do not know; and an end of hope, nothing to be wiſhed that I do not enjoy; but no end of that love, in which I am married to that Lambe for ever: yea, I ſhall ſee an end of ſome of the offices of the Lambe himſelf: Chriſt himſelf ſhall be no longer a Mediatour, an Interceſſour, an Advocate, and yet ſhall continue a Husband to my ſoul for ever: where I ſhall be rich enough without joynture, for my Husband p. 24cannot die; and wiſe enough without experience, for no new thing can happen there; and healthy enough without phyſick, for no ſickneſſe can enter; and (which is by much the higheſt of all) ſafe enough without grace, for no temptation that needs particular grace can attempt me. There, where the Angels, which cannot die, could not live, this very bodie, which cannot chooſe but die, ſhall live, and live as long as that God of life that made it. Lighten our darkneſſe, we beſeech thee, O Lord, that in thy light we may ſee light: illuſtrate our underſtandings, kindle our affections, poure oyl to our zeal, that we may come to the marriage of this Lambe, and that this Lambe may come quickly to this marriage: and in the mean time bleſſe theſe thy ſervants, with making this ſecular marriage a type of the ſpirituall, and the ſpirituall an earneſt of that eternall, which they and we by thy merciemercy ſhall have in that kingdome, which thy Sonne our Saviour hath purchaſed with the ineſtimable price of his incorruptible bloud. To whom, &c.

FINIS.

A SERMON Upon the xliiii verſe of the xxi Chapter of MATTHEW.

By D^r. DONNE DEAN OF PAƲLS.

¶ Printed by the Printers to the Ʋniverſitie of CAMBRIDGE.

MDCXXXIIII.