A Key Opening Mysterious Texts of Scripture

The spiritual and moral interpretation of the Rehearsers text, with a conclusion of the whole.

THus have I now at length presented to your spiritual view the breast-plate of Aaron, decked richly with four rouse of precious stones, set in bosses of gold. To the four rouse I have compared the four methodical Sermons which ye have heard; the Jewels in the rouse both to the parts of the Speakers, and to their precious doctrine, the embossement of gold to their texts: now because as Cepasius in Tully, postquam diu ex intimo artificio dixisset respicite, respicite, tandem respexit ipse: so it hath been the manner of the Rehearsers, after they had fitly resembled the Preachers, to make some resemblance of themselves and their office.

I entreat you, right worshipful, men, fathers, and brethren, not to think that I have so far forgotten modesty, as to rank myself with the meanest of the Jewels in these rouse, nor the texture of my discourse to the embossements of gold wherein they were set: yet not quite to change the allegory, I find among the Lapidaries a stone which seems to me a fit emblem of a Rehearser; it is no precious stone, though it be reckoned with them by Pliny and others, because at sometimes it representeth the colors of the rainebow, non ut in se habeat colores arcus coelestis, sed ut repercussu parietum illidat: the name of the stone is Iris: whereunto I may make bold to compare myself, because in some sort I have represented unto you the beautiful colors of these twelve precious stones, as the Iris doth the colors of the Rainbow; non per inhaerentiam, sed per referentiam: and therefore I reflect all the luster, splendor, and glory of them, first, upon Almighty God, next upon the Jewels (the Preachers) themselves. Pliny maketh mention of a strange River in Spain, wherein all the fish while they swim in it have a golden color, but if you take them out of it, nothing at all differ in color from other: in like manner, I doubt not but that many things seemed excellent and truly golden in the torrent of the Preachers eloquence, which, taken out thence, and exhibited to you in my rehearsal, seem but ordinary. Howbeit, the whole blame hereof lieth not upon me, but a great part of it upon the very nature of this exercise, to which it is essential to be defective. The Preachers were voices like St. John the Baptist, the Rehearser is but the Echo. Who ever expected of an Echo to repeat the whole voice, or entire speech? sufficient it is that it resound some of the last words, and them imperfectly: it implieth a contradiction, that a fair and goodly picture should be drawn at length in a short table: The shadow always comes short of the body, the image of the face, imitation of nature. If I should have given due accents to each of their words and sentences, I should long ago have lost my spirits; and I may truly say with St. Paul, though in another sense, What I have spared herein, for your sake have I spared as well as for mine own, to ease you of much trouble; and now, after a very short explication and application of mine own text, I will ease you of all.

Josephus worketh with his wit a glorious allegory upon Aaron's garments: The Miter (saith he) represented the Heaven, the two Onyxes the Sun and Moon, the four colors in the embroidered Ephod the four Elements, the Girdle the Ocean, the Bells and Pomegranates thundering and lightening in the air, the four rouse of stones the four parts of the year, the twelve stones the twelve signs in the Zodiac, or the twelve months in the year. St. Jerome taketh the four rouse for the four cardinal virtues, which, subdivided into their several species, make up the full number of twelve. Although I dare not with Origen run riot in allegories, yet I make no question but that we ought to conceive of the Ephod, not as of a vestment only covering the Priests breast, but as of a holy type or figure vailing under it many celestial mysteries; and esteem the stones set in these rouse upon the Ephod as precious, or rather more in their signification than they are in their nature. In which respect they may be termed, after a sort, so many glorious Sacraments, since they are visible signs of invisible mysteries, which I am now to declare unto you. St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews proveth manifestly Aaron to be a type of Christ, his actions of Christ's passion; whereunto we may add his ornaments of Christ's offices, Kingly, Priestly, and Prophetical. For he is our Hermes Trismegistus; Hermes, because he is the Interpreter and Declarer of God's will; and Trismegistus, that is, thrice greatest, because he is the greatest King, the greatest Priest, and the greatest Prophet that ever came into the world. The Mitre, Diadem-like, compassed, as Josephus writeth, with three circles like a triple Crown, apparently seemeth to me to prefigure the Kingly office of our Savior, whereby he sitteth gloriously in the heart of all the Elect, ruling them by the golden Scepter of his word; As evidently the front-plate of pure gold, engraven with holiness to the Lord, and breast-plate with Urim and Thummim, representeth Christ's Priestly function; according to which he beareth the twelve Tribes, representing all his Elect before God for a remembrance, and presenteth their prayers, and them, and himself for them, to his Father. For, that Thummim, that is, perfections, is an empresse becoming none but our Savior's breast, all Christians will easily grant; and that Urim, that is, lights, are an Emblem of the divine nature, Plato professeth, saying, Lumen est umbra Dei, & Deus est lumen luminis, Light is the shadow of God, and God is the light of light it self. For, Christ his third office we need not go far to seek it; for the Bells of Aaron sound out the preaching of the word, and the Pomegranates set before us the fruits thereof, and both his entire Propheticke function. If there lie any mystery hid in the numbers, we may conceive the four rouse of shining stones answerable to the four Beasts in the Revelation, full of eyes, either prefigured by four Evangelists, or the four orders in the Church Hierarchy, Apostles, Evangelists, Doctors, and Pastors: as for the twelve stones, doubtless they had some reference to the twelve Apostles; for in the 21. chapter of the Revelation, where these twelve precious stones are mentioned, it is said expressly, that in the wall there were twelve foundations garnished with all manner of precious stones, and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

You have heard the mystical interpretation; lend I beseech you an ear to the moral.

1. First, these glorious vestments and ornaments of Aaron set forth unto us the dignity of the Priests office: and if the ministration of the letter were glorious, shall not the ministration of the Spirit be much more? Yes, how dark and vile soever our calling seemeth to the eyes of the world, it shall one day appear most glorious, when they that turn many unto righteousness shall shine as stars in the firmament for evermore.

Here I cannot conceal from you, that Cappo one of the Popes Botchers taketh measure of Aaron's garments, to make massing vestments by: as before him Durand hath done in his book entitled rationale divinorum, where he saith, Noster Pontifex habet pro feminalibus sandalia, pro lineâ albam, pro balieo cingulum, pro podere tunicam, pro Ephod stolam, pro rationali pallium, pro cidari mitram, pro lamina crucem: just; but where is the causible? in Latin casula, sic dicta, quasi parva casa, saith he, because it closeth the Priest round as it were with a wall, having a hole for him to put out his head, like a Lover, to let out smoke, signifying, that the Priest ought to be like a little cottage with a chimney in it, heated with the fire of zeal, sending up hot fumes of devotion, and letting them out with his breath at the LOVER of his mouth. But I will not put them to so hard a task, as to parallel each of their vestments with Aaron's: all that I shall say to them for the present is this, That the nearer they prove their vestments to come to Aaron's ornaments, the more ceremonial and typical they prove them; and consequently, more unfit to be retained now by Christians, if the Apostles argument drawn from the vanishing of the shadow at the presence of the body be of any force: therefore let the observation of Cappo pass with a note of plumbea falsitas, not aurea veritas, wherewith he graceth it.

2. My second observation is, that God both first beginneth with the breast, and appointeth also the most glorious and precious ornaments for it: The garments shall be these; thou shalt make a breast-plate, an Ephod, &c. after followeth the mitre, to the making whereof blew silk only and fine twined linen is required, with a plate of gold on it; but for the breast-plate, cloth of gold wrought about with divers colors, plates of gold, and four ranks of the richest jewels in all the treasury of nature are appointed: all this, as we may piously conceive, to signify, that God best esteemeth the breast and heart, and not the head: My son, give me thy heart. Our heavenly Father preferreth enflamed affections above enlightened thoughts: he cannot be received or entertained in our narrow understanding, yet will he dwell in our hearts by faith, if we enlarge them by love. Cecidit Lucifer, Seraphim stant aeternâ incommutabilitate, & incommutabili aeternitate, the Angels which had their names from light fell like lightening from heaven; but the ministering spirits, which are by interpretation burning fire, hold yet their place and rank in the Court of God. Let ambitious spirits seek to shine in Aaron's mitre, or at least to be caracter'd in the Onyx stones on his shoulders: my hearts desire was, and ever shall be to be engraven in one of the jewels upon the breast-plate, to hang with the beloved Disciple upon the bosom of my Savior.

3. Thirdly, I observe yet again, that the names of the twelve tribes, which were before written in the Onyx stones upon the shoulders of Aaron, are here engraven again in the rouse of jewels hanging near his heart: which, as it representeth Christ his both supporting and affecting his chosen; supporting them on his shoulders, & affecting them in his heart: so it teacheth all the Ministers of the Gospel to bear the names of God's people committed to their charge, not only upon their shoulders, by supporting their infirmity; but also upon their hearts, Ver. 29. by entirely affecting them above others; and above all things God's glory in the salvation of their souls. If thou love me, saith Christ, feed my sheep; if you desire that Christ should bear you on his heart before his Father, bear you the names of his Tribes (his chosen) on your hearts before him.

4. Fourthly, you may easily discern, that the stones, as they are of sundry kinds, and of different value, so they are set in divers rouse, 1. 2. 3. 4. which illustrateth unto us the divers measures of grace given to believers in this life, and their different degrees of glory in the life to come. All the stones that were placed on Aaron's breast-plate were Urim and Thummim, that is, resplendent and perfect jewels; yet all were not equal: some were richer and above others in value, as those in the second row; even so all the elect are dear to our Savior, yet some are dearer than others: he entirely affected all the Apostles, yet Saint John, who leaned upon his breast, was nearer to him than any of the other: all the Jewels were set in gold in their embossements, yet one was set above another; in like manner all the faithful shall shine as stars in the firmament, yet some shall be set in a higher sphere than others: for as the Apostle teacheth us, there is one glory of the Sun, and another of the Moon, and another of the Stars; for one Star differeth from another in glory, and so shall be the resurrection of the dead.

5. Fifthly, look ye yet nearer upon these shining stones, and ye shall find, that they will not only delight and lighten the eyes of your understanding; but also heat and enflame your devout affections. They are as twelve precious books, wherein you may read many excellent lessons printed with indelible characters. You see clearly here the names of each of the Tribes in several engraven; let your marginal note be, God hath from all eternity decreed a certain number of Elect to be saved, and he hath written their names in several in the book of life.

6. Sixthly, observe that the names of the Tribes are not written in paper, nor carved in wood, but engraven in solid and precious stones with the point of a Diamond, never to be razed out: let your interlineary gloss be, None of those whose names are written in the book of life can be stricken out. For there is no blotting, interlining, nor variae lections in that book; stars there are, but no obeliskes: the Elect therefore though they may fall grievously and dangerously, yet not totally nor finally.

Were you, beloved, but embossed or enammeled in the ring upon our Savior's finger, you were safe enough; for no man can pluck anything out of our Savior's hand: but now that you are engraven as signets on our Savior's heart, what can be your fear? what may be your joy?

Is it so? doth our high Priest set us on his heart? and shall not we set our heart on him? shall we esteem anything too dear for him, who esteemeth us so dear unto him? He who once upon the Cross shed his heart blood for us, still beareth us upon his heart, and esteemeth of us as Cornelia did of her Gracchi, and presenteth us as it were in her words to his Father, Haec sunt ornamenta mea, these be my jewels.

Doth he make such reckoning of us? and is it our desire he should do so? then for the love of our Redeemer let us not so dishonor him, as to fill the rouse of his breast-plate with glass instead of jewels; let us not make him present to his Father either counterfeit stones through our hypocrisy, or dusky through earthliness and worldly corruption; let us rub, scour, and brighten the good graces of God in us, that they may shine in us, & we may be such as our Savior esteemeth us to be, that is, orient and glorious jewels.

The sum of all is this: Ye have heard of four rouse of precious stones set in bosses of gold upon Aaron's breast-plate; and by the four rouse you understand the four well ordered & methodical Sermons by me rehearsed: by the jewels, either the eminent parts of the Preachers, or their precious doctrines: by the embossments of gold, in which these precious gems of divine doctrine were set, their texts: nothing remaineth but that the breast-plate being made, you put it on; and as Aaron did, bear it on your hearts. By wearing & bearing it there, you shall receive virtue from it, and in some sort participate of the nature of these jewels; in modesty of the Ruby, in chastity of the Emrald, in purity of the Onyx, in temperance of the Amethyst, in ardent love of the Carbuncle, in invincible constancy of the Adamant, in sacrificing your dearest hearts blood and affections to Christ, & in passion for him (if you be called thereunto) of the Hematite. You shall gloriously beautify the breast-plate of our Aaron, who hath put on his glorious apparel, and sacred robes, and is entered into the Sanctum Sanctorum in heaven, and at this time beareth our names on his breast for a remembrance before God his father; and long it shall not be ere he come from thence, and all eyes shall see him, and all kindreds of the earth shall mourn before him: then shall he say to us, Lift up your heads, look upon my breast, read everyone your name engraven in a rich jewel. You were faithful unto death: therefore see here now I give you a crown of life; behold in it for every Christian virtue a jewel, for every penitent tear Crystal & Pearl, for every green & blew wound or stripe endured for me an Emrald and a Sapphire, for every drop of blood shed for the Gospel a Ruby and an Hematite: wear this for my sake, and reign with me for evermore, Cui, &c.

THE DEVOUT SOULES MOTTO, A Sermon preached in Saint Peters Church in Lent; Anno 1613. THE XXXVI. SERMON.

THe words which our Savior spake concerning the issue and success of his preaching, may serve fitly for a preface to my intended discourse upon this Text: Ignem veni missurus inter vos▪ & quid volo nisi ut accendatur? I come to put fire among you, or rather in you: and what is my desire, but that by the blasts and motions of God's Spirit, and the breath of my mouth it may presently be kindled, and burn in your hearts? Burn it will not without fuel; take heed therefore, saith Bonaventure, what you cast into this fire to feed the flame: for if it be gross, impure, and earthy matter, the flame will be obscure, and the fume unsavory; but if it be refined, pure, and celestial, the flame will be clear, and the fume a sweet perfume in the nostrils of Almighty God. Nadab and Abihu smoaked themselves for offering strange fire upon God's Altar: but we are like to burn in unquenchable fire, if we offer not continually the fire I am now to treat of, upon the Altar of our hearts: and yet it is a strange fire too; for it giveth light, yet burneth not; or rather it burns, yet consumeth not; or rather it consumes, yet impaires not, but dilateth and enlargeth the heart. Other fire burns black, and marreth the beauty of the body; but this contrariwise giveth beauty to the soul. for as Saint Gregory rightly observeth, the soul shineth not with the brightness of everlasting beauty, that burneth not in the forge of charity. With this beauty God is so enamored, that Saint Bernard's observation is true, that he is greatest in favor, and in the love of God, who draweth most to the love of God. If we desire to know, saith Saint Augustine, what a man is, we inquire not what he believeth, or what he hopeth for, but what he loveth. A man may believe the truth, and be a false man: he may hope for good things, and yet be exceeding bad himself; but he cannot love the best things, but he must needs be good: he cannot affect grace, if he have not received some measure thereof; he cannot highly esteem of God, and not be high in God's esteem. As the love of the world maketh a man worldly, and the love of the flesh fleshly; so the love of the Spirit makes the children of God spiritual, and the love of God partaker of the divine nature: for God is love. Now, saith Saint Paul, that is, in this life, abideth faith, hope, and charity; but after this life, of these three charity only remaineth. For when we have received the end of our faith, which is the salvation of our souls, and taken possession of the inheritance which we have so long expected by hope, faith shall be swallowed up in vision, and hope in fruition; but then love shall be in greatest perfection. Our trust is, that we shall not always walk by faith, and our hope is, that we shall one day hope no more; we believe the end of faith, and hope for the end of hope; but love no end of our love: but contrariwise desire, that it may be like the sovereign object thereof, that is, eternal and infinite. To leap over this large field at once, and comprise all in one sentence concerning this virtue, of which never enough can be said: Love brought God from heaven to earth; love bringeth men from earth to heaven. In which regard it may not be unfitly compared to the ladder, at the foot whereof Jacob slept sweetly, and in his dream saw Angels climbing up by it to heaven. For upon it the religious soul of a devout Christian resteth and reposeth her self; and by it in her thoughts and desires she ascendeth up to heaven, as it were by four steps or rounds, which are the four degrees of divine love.

• 1. To love God for ourselves.
• 2. To love God for himself.
• 3. To love God above all things.
• 4. To love nothing but God, or in a reference to him.

First, to love God for ourselves or our own respect, whereunto we are induced by the consideration of his benefits and blessings bestowed upon us, and continued unto us.

The second is to love God for himself, whereunto we are moved by the contemplation of the divine essence, and his most amiable nature.

The third is to love God above all things, whereunto we are inclined by observation of the difference between God and all things else.

The fourth is to love nothing but God, that is, to settle our affections, and repose our desires, and place our felicity wholly and solely in him. To which highest round or step of divine love and top of Christian perfection we aspire, by fixing our thoughts upon the all-sufficiency of God, who hath in him infinite delights and contentments to satisfy all the appetites of the soul; whereof the Kingly Prophet David was fully persuaded, when lifting up his heart to God, and his eyes to heaven, he calleth God himself to witness, that he desired no other happiness than what he enjoyed in him, saying,

Whom have I in heaven but thee? These words may admit • f a double construction:

• 1 Either that David maketh God his sole refuge and trust:
• 2 Or that he maketh him his chief joy and whole hearts delight.

For the first sense, viz. Whom have I in heaven but thee for my refuge, and strength of my confidence? we are to know that in heaven and in earth there are other besides God; in heaven the elect Angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect; in earth there are men and the creatures: yet a religious soul reposeth no confidence in any of these. First, not in the creature in general, for it is subject to vanity: not in riches, for they are uncertain; Charge the rich in this world that they trust not in uncertain riches: not in wisdom, or strength, or power; nor in the favor of Princes, nor any child of man, for there is no help in them. I will yet ascend higher, even to heaven, and to the Angels and souls there. For whatsoever power, or strength, or help may be in them, we may not put our trust in them. 1 Not in the souls of Saints departed; for they take no notice of our affairs here, neither have we any order to address ourselves to them: Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledgeth us not: Good Josiah seeth not the evil which befell his subjects after his death. 2 Not in Angels; for though they excel in strength, and are ministering Spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation, yet we have no charge to worship them, or rely upon them for our salvation. Nay, we are charged to the contrary, both from God and from themselves; from God, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve: and, Let no man beguile you in voluntary humility, and worshipping of Angels: and from themselves also, And I fell down at the feet of the Angel that shown me these things, and he said unto me, See thou do it not, I am thy fellow servant, worship God.

For the second sense, viz. Whom have I in heaven but thee for my chief joy and sole hearts delight? we are to know that the faithful soul is wedded to God, and like a loyal Spouse casteth no part of her conjugal affection upon any but him. Love she may whom he loveth, and what he commandeth her to love, for him, and in him, but not as him: if she doth so, she becometh Adultera Christo, as St. Cyprian speaketh, and may not be admitted to sing in David's quire, or at least not to bear a part in this Anthem, Whom have I in heaven but thee, O Lord?

No more than the life of the body can be maintained without natural heat and moisture, can the life of grace be preserved in the soul without continual supply of the moisture of penitent tears, and a great measure of the heat of divine love, wherewith we are to consume those spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praises, which we are now and at all times to offer, lifting up pure hands and hearts unto God. To kindle this sacred fire, I have brought you a live coal from the Altar of incense, David's heart, sending up sweetest perfumes of most fragrant and savory meditations.

This coal the best Interpreters ancient and later, conspiring in their expositions blow after this manner: St. Jerome thus, I have sought none in heaven or earth beside thee. Calvin, I desire nothing in heaven or earth but thee. Cajetan, Thee alone I affect in heaven and in earth. Marlorat, I love nothing with thee. And most effectually Mollerus, I esteem thee instead of and above all treasures: as if he should say in more words;

Here I cannot hold on my Paraphrase, but must needs break off with that passionate exclamation of St. Bernard, O thrice happy soul which by God and his grace art so affected with God and his love, that in God, in whom all things are to be had, thou desirest nothing but God himself.

By this bright blaze of the words you may easily discern the parts; which are two,

• 1 A higher strain of notes ascending, Quis mihi, &c.
• 2 A lower of notes descending, & tecum non optavi, &c.

Or if you like better to change the terms of music, which is the rhetoric of sounds, into the terms of rhetoric, which is the music of words; this sentence consisteth of

• 1 A passionate interrogation, Whom have I in, &c.
• 2 A confident asseveration, And I desire none, &c.

In both I observe,

• 1 The convenience of the order, Whom have I in heaven, and then, I desire, &c.
• 2 The propriety of the phrases have and desire; have in heaven, desire on earth: nothing to be desired, but to be had in heaven; nothing to be had, but to be desired on earth.
• 3 The variety of the Prepositions praeter and cum, I have nothing but thee: I desire nothing with thee, for the reason assigned by Paulinus; God, who made none of his creatures in any degree equal to himself, will have none made of like unto himself.

Whereupon it ensueth, that there is fullness of delight and contentment in God, and that there is no solid delight and contentment for the immortal soul of man but in him; and consequently, that we are to set our heart, and settle our love, and ground our repose, and repose our felicity wholly and solely in him, with whom only, and in whom only, and through whom only the understanding soul of man findeth and everlastingly enjoyeth true blessedness. Of which use of the doctrine, and doctrine of the notes, and notes of my Text, whilst I treat briefly, I humbly entreat Almighty God to assist me with his Spirit, and you to support me with your patience.

First, of the order. As God first created the heaven, and all the host thereof, and after the earth and earthly creatures; so in our desires we ought first to aim at heaven and heavenly objects, and after we have fixed our thoughts, and settled our affections upon them, to have an eye to the earth, and take order for the things of this life. God hath placed the heaven above the earth, and shall we by our inordinate desires set the earth above the heaven, advancing things temporal above those that are eternal? this were to overthrow the order of nature, and break the golden rule laid down by our Savior, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be ministered unto you. First, lift up your eyes and your hearts to heaven, and say with David, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and then tell us what or whom you desire, or desire not upon earth.

Have I in heaven, or desire on earth. The Translators might have retained the verb have in both members: but in regard of the deceivableness and uncertainty of earthly goods and possessions, they change the verb have in the first member into desire in the second, have in heaven and desire on earth, not desire in heaven and have on earth: for in precise truth there is nothing which a religious soul can desire, but she hath it in heaven: and on the contrary, nothing to be had that is firmly possessed and enjoyed, which she desireth on earth; Heaven is the place of having, the earth of desiring or craving. When an old man being asked of his age, answered in the Latin phrase, Octoginta annos habeo, that is, I have or reckon upon fourscore years: a Philosopher standing by took him up, saying, Imo tot annos non habes, what sayest thou, I have or reckon upon fourscore years? just so many years thou hast not; for in numbering the days and years of our life, whose parts are never all come till they are all gone, we usually count upon those years only that are fully past, which we therefore have not, because they are past and gone; even as he that taketh a lease for term of years, after he hath worn them out, hath no more term in his lease, or estate in his living; no more may any man be said to have those years good, which he hath spent in the lease of his life. Much less may he be said to have those that are to come, because they are not yet, and he is altogether uncertain whether they are to come or no. For all that he knoweth, this day the lease of his life may expire, this hour his last glass may be running, at this very moment and point of time the thread of his life may be cut off. Now if we cannot be said truly to have any part of our time, how can we have any part in things temporal? if the lease of our lives, by which we hold all our earthly goods and possessions, be of so uncertain a date, let our common Lawyers talk never so much of possessions and estates, and firm conveighances and perpetuities, and several kinds of tenures, they shall never persuade me, that there is any sure hold or good tenure of anything save God and his promises: it is impossible that we should have any estate in things that are altogether unstable. Hereof it seemeth Abraham was well advised; for though he were an exceeding rich man, yet we read of no purchase made by him, save only of a cave in Machpelah, for him and his heirs to hold, or rather to hold him and his heirs forever. If any man ever knew the just value of all earthly commodities, it was King Solomon, the mirror of wisdom, and yet he, after he had weighed them all in the scales of the Sanctuary, found them as light as vanity it self. Omnia sub sole vanitas; ergo supra solemn veritas, as rightly inferreth Paulinus: If all things under the sun are vanity; therefore the verity of all things is above the sun, viz.

In heaven. Whom have I in heaven but thee? that is, thee I have, and none but thee in heaven. I deny not that which Saint Augustine affirmeth in express terms, that we have God many ways with us in this life; for we see him in his works, we hear him in his word, we taste him in the Sacrament, we feel him by the motions of the Spirit within us, we touch him by faith, we embrace him by love, we rely upon him by hope, we have private conference with him by prayer: yet all this is nothing to our modus habendi, our manner of having him in heaven. Then a man may be truly said to have a lordship, mannour, benefice, or living, when he entereth upon the fruits thereof, and receiveth the crop. The Lord is indeed our lot and portion even in this life; but we cannot reap the thousanth part of the profits and delights he hath in himself, and will afford us hereafter. They to whom he most imparteth himself, and communicateth his goodness here, have but a taste only of the tree of life, a weak sent of the flowers of Paradise, a confused noise of heavenly music as it were afar off, no more than a glimpse of the sun of righteousness, but a blast of the Spirit only, an earnest-penny of their wages; yet such a taste as more satisfieth them than a royal banquet furnished with all the delicacies the sea or land can yield: such a sent as they will not leave for all the sweet odors of Arabia: such a noise as they would not miss the hearing thereof, for all the consorts in the world: such a glimpse, as is to be preferred before the full view of all the Kingdoms of the earth, and the glory of them: such a blast, as more refresheth the soul, than a constant gale of prosperous fortune: such an earnest-penny, as they would not lose for the treasures of Solomon. This taste, this sent, this glimpse, this blast, this earnest-penny, the Kingly Prophet David so exceedingly desired, that he compareth the ardency of his affection to the thirst of a Hart, either long chased, or after he is stung with the serpent Dipsas, that sets all his throat on fire. As the Hart brayeth and panteth in this case for the rivers of waters to cool his heat, and quench his thirst, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? Of this thirst of the soul they only can speak feelingly, who have been long sick with the Spouse in the Canticles, who feeling her heart faint, and all her vital faculties fail, crieth out, Stay me, &c. that is, hold life in me with cordial waters and sovereign smells; for I languish, I swoon, my soul is running out of the doors of my lips after him, whom she incomparably loveth above all things in heaven and in earth; yet she seeth here nothing but his back parts, that is, obscure shadows and resemblances of him. And if she be so enamored with these, how will she be ravished at the sight of his countenance? if she take such contentment in the contemplation of his image in a mirror, how will she be transported, when she shall see him face to face, and be united to him spirit to spirit? if she take such pleasure in pledging him in the bitter cup of his passion, what will she take in drinking of the rivers of pleasures, that run at his right hand for evermore? To borrow a strain of the Schools, for the closing up of this sweet note, Hic Deum amamus amore desiderii, at in coelo amore amicitiae, Here we love God with a love of desire, there with a love of friendship; here we desire to have God, there we have our full desire: and so I fall into the main doctrine of the Text, That there is fullness of delight and content in God. Quid eo avarius est, cui Deus non sufficit, in quo sunt omnia? Can we desire larger possessions than immensity? a surer estate than immutability? a longer term of years than eternity? Let Saint Prosper speak, Who so fortunate, as he whose Maker is his fortune? who so rich, as he who possesseth him that possesseth all things, whose lord is his lot, and his owner part of his goods? Howbeit, because we cannot perfectly survey, much less take full possession of this our large or rather infinite inheritance, in this life, Mollerus conceiveth these words not to be uttered in an exultation of spirit, ravished with the contemplation of God; but rather as a prayer to this effect: O that I had thee in heaven; as when the Prophet demandeth, Who will show us any good? we take the meaning to be, O that any would show us some good: & in like manner, in the second of Samuel, Who will bring me water out of the fountain? that is, O that some would give me a draught of it. Notwithstanding I see no reason why we should vary from the most general interpretation of these words, which is, that they contain a protestation, not a prayer, and carry this sense: O Lord, I am so ravished with thy beauty, and satisfied with thy love, that I desire nothing like unto thee, nay, nothing but for thee, nay, nothing but thee. With which exposition that strain of Paulinus perfectly accordeth, though set in a more doleful key, when the barbarous and savage Goths had invaded the City of Nola, ransacked his house, rifled his coffers, and took away all that he had; he yielded not to the stream of sorrow, which might have carried him into the gulf of despair, but striving against it, he lifteth up his hands and head above water, praying to God after this manner: Lord, let not the loss of these things vex me, or disquiet my soul: for thou knowest where I have laid up all my treasures, to wit, in thee: for, whom have I in heaven

But thee? These words are not expressed in the original, yet by comparing this with the latter clause, And in earth I desire nothing with thee, are necessarily added to supply the sense.

Yea, but you will say, how might David truly demand, Whom have I in heaven but thee? Is there none to be had in heaven but God? are there none that walk in the streets of the celestial Jerusalem paved with gold? do none dwell in those glorious tabernacles that are not made with hands? do those twelve precious gates serve only to beautify the holy City? do none enter in at them? surely, if these dark & low rooms are so well filled, it is not like those large, fair, & lightsome upper rooms are void? the sky is not more richly decked with glistering stars, than the throne of God with celestial lights: out of question there are innumerable regiments, bands, & royal armies of Cherubims & Seraphim, Archangels & Angels, Saints & Martyrs; yet the faithful soul hath none of these, or rather none of these hath her, but he whom they all serve, who hath vouchsafed to make her his Spouse, & marry her to himself in righteousness: in none but him she hath affiance, to none but him she addresseth her prayers, for none but him she keepeth her heart; him she serveth as her lord, obeyeth as her king, honoreth as her father, & loveth as her husband; and in this respect may truly say, Whom have I in heaven but thee? When Cyrus took the king of Armenia & his son Tigranes, & their wives & children prisoners, & upon their humble submission, beyond all hope, gave them their liberty & their lives; in their return home, as they all fell on commending Cyrus, some for his personage, some for his puissance, some for his clemency; Tigranes asked his wife, What thinkest thou of Cyrus? is he not a comely & a proper man, of a majestical presence? Truly, saith she, I know not what manner of man he is, I never looked on him. Why (quoth he) where were thine eyes all the while? upon whom didst thou then look? I fixed mine eyes (saith she) all the while upon him (meaning her husband) who in my hearing offered to Cyrus to lay down his life for my ransom: In like manner, if any question the devout soul, whether she be not enamored with the beauty of Cherubims & Seraphim, Angels or Saints: her answer will be the same with that of Tigranes his wife, that she never cast a look on them, because her eyes were never off him, who not only offered to lay, but laid down his life for her, & ransomed her with his own blood. Whom should she have in heaven but him, who hath none on earth but her? Intus apparens prohibit extraneum, the vessel that is full of balsamum excludeth all other oils or liquors: the soul that is full of God, and full with God, excludeth the love of all creatures, and accounteth them as nothing in comparison, as we may see in S. Paul, What things were gain to me, those I account loss for Christ, yea, doubtless I account all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And in holy Ignatius the ancient Bishop of Antioch, who when he was ready to be stripped and thrown naked to the Lions, brake out into this passionate speech, Take away all from me, and come what can come upon me, fire, cross, beasts tearing my flesh, parting of my members, breaking of my bones, and contrition of my whole body, and all the torments that man or devil can devise, only that I may enjoy Christ. That which Origen delivereth concerning the nature of Manna, that it answered to every man's several taste, we have good warrant of Scripture to affirm of God, who satisfieth with infinite delicacies all their appetites who long for him. Do they thirst for grace? he is so full of grace, that of his fullness we all receive. For glory? he is the King of glory. For wisdom? in him are all the treasures of wisdom & knowledge hid. For peace? he is the Prince of peace. For beauty? he is fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured into his lips. For life? with him is the Well of life, and in his light shall we see light. For joy and pleasures? in his presence is fullness of joy, and at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore, wherewith he quencheth all the thirsty appetites of the soul. Philosophy teacheth, that the understanding naturally thirsteth for truth; the will for that which the understanding apprehendeth to be good, the affections for glory and felicity, the senses for pleasure, the eye for beauty, the ear for harmony, the smell for sweet odors, the taste for delicious meats, the touch for amorous embracings: all these thirsts God doth satisfy and quench after this manner, viz. the thirst of the understanding with his wisdom, of the will with his goodness, of the affections with his glory and blessedness, of the senses with his nature, which containeth in it the quintessence and perfection of all delectable objects. For as God is in all things, so all things are in him after a more excellent manner than they are in themselves: in themselves they never were without imperfection, nor are since the fall of Adam without impurity and corruption; but in him they are perfect without defect, pure without pollution, permanent and stable without any shadow of change; in regard of which their eminent manner of subsistence in him, they change their names and appellations: and as that which in earthly bodies is matter, the Philosophers call form, or materia formalis in heaven, and parts degrees, and beauty light or clarity, and qualities influences; so that which is accident in the creature, is substance in the Creator: and that which is called beauty in us, is majesty in him; life is immortality, strength omnipotency, wealth all-sufficiency, delight felicity, affection virtue, virtue nature, nature all things: For of him, and through him, and in him are all things, as the grand master of Philosophy discerned by the glimmering light of reason, saying, that it is manifest, that the Deity is in all things, and all things in it: in him the understanding apprehendeth all truth, the will all good, the affections all virtue and glory, the senses all pleasure, the desires all contentments; and therefore it followeth,

And I desire nothing in the earth with thee. The heart resembleth a perfect triangle, but the figure of the world is circular, and no more can it satisfy the heart of man, than a circle can fill a triangle. God only, who is a trinity in unity, can fill all the corners of this triangle of his own making. For nothing can delight the spiritual nature of the soul, but a pure spirit: nothing can content the sovereign faculty of the understanding, but a sovereign object: nothing can satisfy the infinite desires of the will, but infinitum bonum; which must be infinite four ways:

1. In power, to remove all things that may be offensive or hurtful to us.

2. In bounty, to supply all those good things that may be delightful or useful to us.

3. In essence, to furnish us with infinite variety of delights.

4. In continuance, to perpetuate unto us the infinite variety of continual delights and contentments.

Now, what is there in heaven or in earth thus spiritual in substance, sovereign in place, infinite in power, goodness and essence, everlasting in continuance, but thou, O Lord, whom, because we have in heaven, we desire nothing on earth? What should we desire there, where we find nothing to fixe our thoughts, or afford us any solid comfort or contentment? Who can aim steadily at a moving mark? or build firmly upon sinking sand? or hold fast a vanishing shadow? or rest himself upon the wings of the wind? as impossible is it to lay any sure ground of contentment, or foundation of happiness in the unstable vanities and uncertain comforts of this life. How can they fulfill our desires, or satisfy our appetites, which are not only empty, but emptiness it self? How can they establish our hearts, since they are altogether unstable themselves? How can they yield us any true delight or contentment, which have no verity in them, but are shadows and painted shows, like the carved dishes Caligula set before his flatterers; or the grapes drawn by Zeuxis, wherewith he deceived the birds? The best of them are no better than the apples of Sodom, of which Pliny and Solinus write, that they are apples whilst you behold them, but ashes when you touch them: or like the herb Sardoa in Sardinia, upon which if a man feed, it so worketh upon his spleen, that he never leaveth laughing, till he dieth through immoderate mirth. Honors, riches, pleasures are but glorious titles written in golden characters; under them we find nothing but vanity: under the title of nobility nothing but a brag of our parents virtue, and that is vanity; under honor nothing but the opinion of other men, and this can be but vanity; under glory but breath and wind, and this is certainly vanity; under pleasure but repentance & folly, and is not this vanity? under sumptuous buildings, rich hangings, & gorgeous apparel, but ostentation of wealth and outward pomp, & this is vanity of vanity. Nobility in the original of it is but the infamy of Adam: (for it knew not Hevah till after his fall & grievous prevarication) beauty the daughter of corruption, apparel the cover of shame, gold & silver the dregs of the earth, oils & costly ointments the sweat of trees, silks & velvets the excrements of worms; and shall our immortal spirit, nobly descended from the sacred Trinity, match so low with this nether world, and take these toys and trifles for a competent dowry?

And let this suffice to be spoken to the words for their full explication; let us now hear what they speak to us for our further use and instruction.

• 1. They speak to our faith, that it be resolved upon God only.
• 2. To our devotion, that it be directed to God only.
• 3. To our love, that it be entirely fixed on God only.
  • 1. True faith saith, Whom have I in heaven but thee to rely upon?
  • 2. True religion saith, Whom have I but thee to call upon?
  • 3. True love saith, Whom have I but thee to settle upon?

No Papist can bear a part with David in this song, saying, Whom have I in heaven but thee, O Lord? for they have many in heaven, to whom they address their prayers in general, & often solicit them upon special occasions: as for rain, for fair weather, in a common plague, in danger of child-birth, in perils by sea, in perils by land, for their own health and recovery, and for the safety of their beasts & cattle; as appears by the forms of prayers yet extant in their Liturgies, Offices, Manuels, & Service books. Doubtless these monopolies were not granted to Saints in David's time; for he had recourse every-where to God immediately for anything he stood in need of: neither had the ancient Fathers any knowledge of so many new masters of requests in heaven, to prefer their petitions to God: for they addressed themselves all to one Mediator betwixt God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who sitteth at the right hand of his Father, to take all our petitions, & to recommend them unto him. I can make no other construction of the words of Origen, We must religiously worship or invocate none but God and his only begotten Son. We must call upon none but God, saith Jerome. Tertullian goeth farther on our way, We can pray to none other but God: whatsoever is to be wished for Caesar, as he is a man or a Prince, I cannot beg it of any other than of him from whom I know I shall receive what I ask, because he alone can perform it, and I his servant depend upon none but him. But what stand I upon the testimonies of two or three Fathers? the whole Synod of Laodicea condemneth the superstitious error of some, who taught, that we ought to use Angels as mediators between God and us, and to pray unto them. And for Saints, who have no more commission to solicit our business in heaven than Angels, howsoever it pleased the ancient Church to make honorable mention of them in their public Service, as we do of the blessed Virgin, the Archangel, the Apostles & Evangelists; yet S. Austin cleareth the Christians of those times from any kind of invocation: The Martyrs, saith he, in their place and rank are named, yet not called upon by the Priest, who offereth the sacrifice. Invocation is the highest branch of divine worship, and they who bow down to, and call upon Saints, consequently put Saints in God's room; & believe in them: Quomodo enim invocabunt, in quos non credunt? How shall they call on them, on whom they have not believed? They who call upon Saints deceased, & hope for any benefit by such prayers, must be persuaded that the Saints are present in all places, to hear their prayers, and receive their petitions, and that they understand particularly all their affairs, and are privy to the very secrets of their hearts; and is not this to make gods of Saints?

Yea, but say our Romish adversaries, had you a suit to the King, you would make a friend at Court, & employ some in favor with his Majesty to solicit your affairs; why take ye not the like course in your business of greater importance in the Court of Heaven? We answer:

First, because God himself checketh such carnal imaginations, and overthroweth the ground of all such arguments by his holy Prophet, saying, My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. Therefore we are brought to the presence of kings (saith S. Ambrose) by lords & officers, because the king is a man; & all cannot have immediate access unto him, neither will he take it well, that all sorts of people at all times should press upon him: but it is not so with God: he calleth all unto him, calls upon all to call upon him, & promiseth help & salvation to all that shall so do: neither need we any spokes-man (saith he) to him, save a devout and religious mind.

Secondly, admit the proportion to hold between the King of Heaven and earthly Princes, yet the reason holdeth not: for if the King appoint a certain officer to take all supplications, and exhibit all petitions unto him, he will not take it well, if we use any other; but so it is in our present case, God hath appointed us a Mediator not only of redemption, but also of incercession, who is not only able, but most willing to prefer all our suits, & procure a gracious answer for us: for we have not an high Priest, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin: let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. We know not whether Saints hear us, or rather we know they hear us not: Isaiah 63.16. Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledgeth us not. If they hear us, we know not whether God will hear them for us; but we know that our Savior heareth us, and that God always heareth him when he prayeth for us: John 11.42. I know that thou hearest me always.

Yet our Saint-invocators have one refuge to fly unto, and they hold it a very safe one: We call upon the living, say they, to pray for us; why may we not be so far indebted to the Saints departed, who the further they are from us, the nearer they are to God? If it be no wrong to Christ's intercession to desire the prayers of our friends in this life, neither can it be any derogation to his Mediatorship to call upon Saints deceased Of this argument Bellarmine as much braggeth, as Peleus of his sword, Profecto istud argumentum haeretici nunquam solvere potuerunt, the heretics, saith he, were never able to untie this argument. I believe him, because there is no knot at all in it. For,

First, we do not properly invocate any man living, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , we call to them to assist us with their prayers, we call not upon them, as putting any confidence in them. When at parting we usually commend ourselves to our friends, and desire them to commend us to God in their prayers, we require of them a duty of Christian charity; we do them therein no honor, much less perform any religious service to them, as the Church of Rome doth to Saints deceased.

Secondly, when we pray them to pray for us, we make this request to them, as co-adjutors, to join with us in the duty of prayer, not as mediators, to use their favor with God, or plead their merits, as Papists do in their Litanies, adjuring God (as it were) by the faith of Confessors, & constancy of Martyrs, & chastity of virgins, & abstinence of monks, & merits of all Saints.

Thirdly, God commandeth the living to have a fellow-feeling of one another's miseries, and to pray one for another; but he nowhere layeth such an injunction upon the dead to pray for us, or upon us to pray to them:

Fourthly, we have many presidents in Scripture of the faithful, who have earnestly besought their brethren to remember them in their prayers; but among all the songs of Moses, psalms of David, complaints of Jeremy, and prayers of Prophets and Apostles, you shall not find any one directed to any Saint departed; from the first of Genesis to the last Verse of the Apocalypse, there is no precept for the invocation of Saints, no example of it, no promise unto it.

Fifthly & lastly, we entreat not any man living to pray for us, but either by word of mouth when he is present with us, or by some friend, who we know will acquaint him with our desire, or by letters, when we have sure means to convey them to him, whereby he may understand how the case standeth with us, & what that is in particular for which we desire his prayers. All which reasons fail in the invocation of Saints deceased: for we have no messengers to send to them, nor means to convey letters to the place where they are, neither are they within hearing, neither can we be any way assured that they either know our necessities, or are privy to the secrets of our heart. For the Mathematical glass, w ^ch some of the Schoolmen have set in heaven, wherein (they say) the Saints in heaven see all things done upon earth, to wit, in God, who seeth all things; it hath been long since beat into pieces: for I demand, Is this essence of God a necessary glass, or a voluntary? that is, Do they see all things in it, or such things only as it pleaseth him to present to their view? if they see all things, their knowledge must needs be infinite as God's is, they must needs comprehend in it all things past, present & future; yea, the thoughts of the heart, w ^ch God peculiarly assumeth to himself: yea, the day of Judgment, which our Savior assureth us no man knoweth, not the Angels in heaven, nor the son of man, as man. If they see only such things as God is pleased to reveal unto them, how may he that prayeth unto them be assured, that God will reveal unto them either his wants in particular, or his prayers? how can he pray unto them in faith, who hath no word of faith, whereby he may be assured either that God revealeth his prayers to them, or that God will accept their prayers for him? Certainly, there was no such crystal instrument as Papists dream of, to discover unto Saints departed the whole earth, & all things that are in it in the time of Abraham, Isaac, or Josiah: for St. Austin in his book de curâ pro mortuis, out of the second book of Kings, & the 63. of Isaiah concludeth, that since kings see not the evils which befall their people after their death; & since parents are ignorant of their children, without doubt the Saints departed have no intelligence how things pass after their death here upon earth. So far is it frō being a branch of their happiness, to know the passages of human affairs here, that S. Jerome maketh it a part of their happiness, that they are altogether ignorant of them: happy Nepotian, who neither heareth nor seeth any of those things, w ^ch would vex his righteous soul, & do cause us who see & hear them, often to water our plants.

By this which hath been said, any whose judgments are not fore-stalled, may perceive the impiety of that part of Romish piety which concerneth invocation of Saints; it is not only needless & fruitless, but also superstitious, & most sacrilegious: for it robbeth God of a special part of his honor, and wrongeth Christ in his office of mediator. When he holdeth out his golden scepter unto us, & calleth to us, saying, Come unto me, come by me, I am the way, shall we run to any other to bring us to him? shall we seek a way to the way? shall we use mediators to our mediator? this were to lay a like imputation upon our Redeemer, to that which S. Austin casteth upon the heathen Apollo, the interpreter of the gods needeth an interpreter, & we are to cast lots upon the lot it self. Let it not seem burthensome unto you, my dear brethren, that I speak much in behalf of him, who alone speaketh in behalf of us all: we cannot do our Redeemer a worser affront, we cannot offer our mediator a greater wrong, than to go from him whom God hath appointed our perpetual advocate & intercessor, & employ Saints in our suites to God, as if they were in greater grace with the Father, or they were better affected to us than he. Have we the like experience of their love as we have of his? did they pawn their lives for us? have they ransomed us with their blood? will he refuse us, who gave us himself? will he not pour out hearty prayers for us, who poured out his heart blood for us? will he spare breath in our cause, who breathed out his soul for us? shall we forsake the fountain of living water, and draw out of broken cisterns that can hold no water? shall we run from the source to the conduit for the water of life? from the sun to the beam for light of knowledge? from the head to the members for the life of grace? from the king to the vassal for a crown of glory?

But I made choice of this Scripture rather to stir up your devotion, than to beat down Popish superstition; therefore I leave arguments of confutation, & set to motives of persuasion. Look how the Opal presenteth to the eye the beautiful colors of almost all precious stones; so the graces, virtues, & perfections of all natures shine in the face of God to draw our love to him: among which, two most kindle our affection, virtue and beauty; nothing so lovely as virtue, which is the beauty of the mind: & beauty, which is the chief grace and virtue of the body. To give virtue her due, w ^ch is the first place, we speak not so properly, when we say that God hath any virtue, as when we attribute to him all virtue in the abstract, all wisdom, all justice, all holiness, all goodness. Goodness is the rule of our will, but God's will is the rule of goodness it self: we are to do things because they are just & good; but contrariwise things are just & good because God doth them; therefore if virtue be the load-stone of our love, it will first draw it to God, whose nature is the perfection of all virtue. As for beauty, what is it but proportion & color? the beauty of color itself is light, & light is but a shadow or obscure delineation of God, whose face darkeneth the sun, & dazleth the eyes of the Cherubims, who to save them, hold their wings before them like a plume of feathers. A glimpse whereof when the Prophet David saw, he was so ravished with it, that as if there were nothing else worthy the seeing, & it were impossible to have enough of so admirable an object, he crieth out, seek his face evermore; not so much for the delight he took in beholding it, as for the light he received from it. For beholding the glory of God as in a mirror with open face, we are changed into his image, & after a sort made partakers of the divine nature. ô my soul, saith a Saint of God, mark what thou lovest; for thou becomest like to that w ^ch thou likest, Si coelum diligis, coelum es, si terram diligis, terra es, audeo dicere, si Deum diligis, Deus es; if thou sincerely & perfectly lovest heavenly objects, thou becomest heavenly, if carnal, thou becomest sensual, if spiritual, thou becomest ghostly, if God, thou becomest divine. Let us stay a while, & consider what a wonderful change is wrought in the soul of man by the power of divine love; surely though a deformed Black-a-moor look his eyes out upon the fairest beauty the world can present, he getteth no beauty by it, but seems the more ugly by standing in sight of so beautiful a creature: the sun burns them black, & darkeneth their sight, who long gaze upon his beams; but contrarily, the Sun of righteousness the more we look upon him, the more he enlighteneth the eyes, & maketh them fair, & their faces shine who behold him, as Moses his did, after he came down from the Mount where he had parley with God. O then let us love to behold him, the sight of whose countenance will make us fair & lovely to behold: let us conform our selves to him, who will transform us into himself: let us reflect the beams of our affection upon the father of lights: let us knit our hearts to him, whom freely to love is our bounden duty, to embrace is chastity, to marry is virginity, to serve is liberty, to desire is contentment, to imitate is perfection, to enjoy is everlasting happiness. To whom, &c.

THE ROYALL PRIEST. A Sermon preached in Saint Mary's Church in Oxford; Anno 1613. THE XXXVII. SERMON.

THere are three principal attributes of God,

• Wisdom,
• Goodness,
• Power.

Wisdom to comprehend all the good that can be, Goodness to will all that which in wisdom he comprehendeth, Power to effect all that in goodness he willeth and decreeth for the manifestation of his justice and mercy to his creatures.

These three attributes of God shine most clearly in the three offices of Christ,

• 1 Kingly.
• 2 Priestly.
• 3 Prophetical.

Power in his Kingly, Wisdom in his Prophetical, Goodness in his 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 Priestly function. For Christ by his Princely authority declareth especially the power, by his Prophetical he revealeth the wisdom, and by his Priesthood he manifesteth the goodness of God to all mankind. Christ as a Prophet in wisdom teacheth us what in his goodness he hath merited for us as a Priest, and by his power he will bestow upon us as a King, freedom from all misery in the Kingdom of glory. And on these three offices of Christ the three divine graces

• 1 Faith,
• 2 Hope,
• 3 Charity,

have a kind of dependence:

• 1 Faith holdeth on him as a Prophet.
• 2 Hope as a King.
• 3 Charity as a Priest.

For Faith buildeth upon the truth of his Prophesy, Hope relieth upon the power of his Kingdom, Charity embraceth the functions of his Priesthood, whereby he washeth us from our sins in his own blood, and maketh us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father.

In this Psalm David, as Christ's Herald, proclaimeth these his titles: First, his Kingly; Sit thou on my right hand, ver. 1. Be thou ruler in the midst of thine enemies, ver. 2. Secondly, his Prophetical; The people shall come willingly in the beauty of holiness, ver. 3. Thirdly, his Priestly; The Lord sware, thou art a Priest, ver. 4. To obscure which most clear and evident interpretation of this Prophetical Psalm, although some mists of doubts have been cast in former times; yet now after the Sun of righteousness is risen, and hath dispelled them by his own beams, nothing without impiety can be opposed to it: for there he whom David meaneth, openeth David's meaning; he whom this Prophesy discovereth, discovereth this Prophesy; he to whom this Scripture pointeth, pointeth to this Scripture, and interpreting it of the Son of man, showeth most evidently that he is the King who reigneth so victoriously, ver. 1. the Prophet that preacheth so effectually, ver. 3. and the Priest that abideth continually, according to the words of my text; which offer to our religious thoughts three points of special observation:

• 1 The ceremony used at the consecration of our Lord, The Lord sware.
• 2 The office conferred upon him by this rite or ceremony, Thou art a Priest.
• 3 The prerogatives of this his office; which is here declared to be
  • 1 Perpetual, forever,
  • 2 Regular, after the order,
  • 3 Royal, of Melchizedek.

First, the form and manner of our Savior's investiture or consecration was most honorable and glorious, God the Father performing the rites; which were not imposition of hands, and breathing on him the holy Ghost, but a solemn deposition of his Father, with a protestation, Thou art a Priest: ceremonies never used by any but God, nor in the investiture of any but Christ, nor his investiture into any office but his Priesthood. At his coronation we hear nothing, but the Lord said, Sit thou on my right hand. The rule of the whole world is imposed upon our Savior by command; and even in this did Christ show his obedience to his Father, that he took upon him the government of his Church. But at the consecration of Christ we have a great deal more of ceremony and solemnity, God his Father taketh an oath, and particularly expresseth the nature and condition of his office, a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek: and he confirmeth it unto him forever, saying, Thou art a Priest forever. Of all which circumstances the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews taketh special notice, and maketh singular use to advance the Priesthood of Christ above that of Aaron: Inasmuch as Christ was made a Priest, not without an oath, by so much he was made a surety of a better Testament. For those Priests were made without an oath, but he with an oath, by him that said unto him,

The Lord, &c. Jehovah is the proper and essential name of God, never in the Scriptures attributed to any creature, as most of the learned Rabbins and Christian Interpreters observe: a name in such sort adored by the Jews, that, in a superstitious reverence unto it, wheresoever they meet with it in the text, they either over-skip it, or in place thereof read Adonai, or Lord: a name also so much admired by the Gentiles, that they called their chief God Jove, which is but a contraction of the Hebrew Jehovah. And as they glanced at the very name, so they had a glimpse of the reason thereof, as may appear by Plutarch his exposition of the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or, Thou art, engraven in golden characters upon the gate of the Temple of Apollo, whereby (saith he) they who came to worship God, acknowledged that Being properly belonged to him. Him whom St. John calleth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Parmenides and Melissus term 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , I am (saith God to Moses) hath sent thee: and again, I am that I am. Of all things else we may say truly that they are not that they are, because they are not of themselves, nor are their own essence, nor continue what they are. God properly is that he is, because himself is his own being, and because he is that he was, and was that he is, and shall be what he was, and is, the same, yesterday, and today, and forever.

Besides this reason of the name 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , derived from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , God himself intimateth another, taken from his faithfulness and truth in performing his promises: I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God all-sufficient: but by my name Jehovah was I not known unto them; that is, I had not made good my promise unto them, I had not given being to my words; that is, I had not performed and accomplished them. According to which etymology of the word Jehovah, the first strain of this verse soundeth to this tune; Jehovah sware, that is, he that giveth continuance to all things by his word, he giveth his word for the continuance of this thy sacred office: he who is always as good as his word, nay, who is his word, hath said, nay, hath sworn, Thou art a Priest forever. The Lord

Sware. As we honor God in swearing by him, so the Father honoreth the Son in swearing to him, or taking a solemn oath at his investiture. An oath is a sacred form of speech, in which, for the confirmation of a truth, or assurance of faith, supreme majesty is called upon as a witness or surety: this, if it be done by any creature whomsoever, implieth a kind of adoration of him by whom they swear; who by this manner of appealing to him, is tacitly acknowledged to be the Discerner of our thoughts, and supreme Judge of all our actions: and therefore Aquinas defineth juramentum, adorationis speciem, a kind of adoration. But if supreme Majesty himself vouchsafe to use the like form, he doth not thereby adore himself, but most surely binds himself to the performance of that, for which he pawneth as it were his glory and life. Thus St. Augustine briefly resolveth the point; What is God's oath? (saith he) a solemn kind of attestation to his promise for our greater assurance.

As for the manner and form of this oath, though it be not here set down, yet it may be easily gathered out of other texts of Scripture. For God always sweareth either by his essence, or by his attributes; by his essence, As I live, saith the Lord; or by his attributes, either of power, as Isaiah 62.8. He hath sworn by his strong arm; or by his holiness, Psal. 89.35 or the like. Whence we may take up this observation by the way, That God's attributes are his essence, and his essence himself. For since God cannot acknowledge any greater unless he should deny himself, it followeth, that he cannot swear by anything that is not himself. If Princes have this privilege, to confirm all their Proclamations and Patents with Teste meipso, Witness ourselves, shall we require farther security from God? Not to believe him upon his word, which is all that heaven and earth have to show for their continuance, were incredulous impiety: to expect or demand further an oath of him by whom we all swear, were presumptuous insolency. Yet see how the goodness of God overcometh the distrustfulness of man; he giveth us more security than we could have had the face to ask, or hope to obtain; he vouchsafeth not only a bill of his hand, his written word, but also entereth into bands for the performance of all covenants and grants made to us in the name of our elder brother Christ Jesus. As often as I endeavor to stay my thoughts upon this point, they break out into that exclamation of Tertullian, O thrice happy we, for whose sake God taketh an oath; but most wretched we, if we believe not God, no not upon his oath. Or the like of Pliny upon occasion of the Emperors deposing before the Consul, O strange thing, and before this time unheard of, he sweareth by whom we all swear, he confirmeth the Priesthood of his son by an oath, by whom all oaths are confirmed. In which consideration I marvel not that Martin Luther was wont to say, he tasted more sweetness, and received greater comfort in his meditation upon this parcel of Scripture than any other. For what doctrine doth the whole Scripture afford so comfortable to a drooping conscience, charged with many foul and grievous sins, as this, that God hath sworn his only begotten Son a Priest forever, to sanctify our persons, and purge our sins, and tender all our petitions to his Father? What sin so heinous, what abomination so grievous, for which such a Priest cannot satisfy by the oblation of himself? What cause so desperate, in which such an Advocate, if he plead, will not prevail? What suit so difficult, which such a Mediator will not carry? We may be sure God will not be hard to be entreated of us, who himself hath appointed us such an Intercessor, to whom he can deny nothing. Therefore surely if there be any Balm in Gilead, it may be found on, or gathered from the branches of this text, The Lord sware,

And will not repent. Is not this addition needless and superfluous? Doth God ever repent him of anything? May we be bold to use any such speech concerning God, that he repented or retracted anything? We may, the Scripture will bear us out in it, which in many places warranteth the phrase; as, Then it repented the Lord that he had made man upon the earth, and he was sorry in his heart: and, It repenteth me that I have made Saul King; for he is turned from me, and hath not performed my commandments: and, He remembered his covenant, and repented, according to the multitude of his mercies: and, If this Nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their wickedness, I will repent of the plagues that I thought to bring upon them; but if they do evil in my sight, I will repent of the good that I thought to do unto them: therefore now amend your ways and your works, and hear the word of the Lord God, that the Lord may repent him of the plagues that he hath pronounced against you: and, God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways, and God repented of all the evil that he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not. All which passages I have entirely related, quia de Deo etiam vera dicere periculosum est, as the heathen Sage wisely observeth, It is dangerous to speak even true things of God; for we may speak nothing safely of him which is not spoken by him in holy Scriptures. And above others the Ministers of the Gospel have a special charge given them, not only to look to their matter, but to have a care also, retinere sanam formam verborum, to keep unto a wholesome platform of words and phrases, such as all those are which the holy Ghost hath sanctified unto us, whereof this is one, God repented, &c. which may be safely uttered, if it be rightly understood. Certain it is, and a most undoubted truth, that the nature of God is free from passion, his actions from exception, his will from control, his purpose from casualty, his sentence from revocation; and therefore when God is said in holy Scripture to repent of any good by him promised, or actually conferred upon any, or any evil inflicted or menaced, we are not from thence to infer, that there are any after-thoughts in God, but only some alteration in the things themselves. As Parents and Nurses, that they may be the better understood of their Infants, clip their words, or speak in a like tone to them; so also our heavenly Father, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , that we may the better understand him, speaketh to us in our own language, and expresseth himself in such terms as best sort with our conceits and apprehensions. When we condemn the courses which we have formerly taken, or undo anything which we have done, our after-thoughts check our former, and we retract our error; and this retraction of our opinions, and change in our mind, we call repentance: which, though it be far from the nature of God, yet is it by a figure attributed unto him, the more significantly to express his infinite hatred and detestation of sin, in regard whereof he cast man out of his favor, as if he had repented that he had made him: he cast Saul out of his throne, as if he had repented that he had set him in it: as also to represent his compassionate love towards penitent sinners, which prevaileth so far with him, that upon the least relenting and humiliation on our parts, he reverseth the fearful sentence he passed upon us, as if it repented him that he ever had pronounced it. We repeal some act or constitution of ours, or cancel some deed, because we repent of that which formerly we had done: but God is said to repent, not because his mind or affection is changed, but because his actions are such, as when the like are done by men they truly repent. Thus St. Augustine resolveth the case, Some such effects, which in men proceed from repentance, descried in the Actions of God, have occasioned these and the like phrases, God repented, and was sorry in his heart.

Yea, but what effects are these? Hath he ever reversed any sentence, repealed any act, nay, recalled so much as any word passed from him? Is the strength of Israel as man that he should lie, or as the son of man that he should repent? Is not he the same yesterday, and today, and forever? Are not all his menaces and promises, all his mercies and judgments, all his words and works Yea and Amen? Doubtless it shall stand for an immovable truth, when heaven and earth shall pass away, Mal. 3.6. Ego Deus, non mutor, I am the Lord, I change not: therefore we are yet in the suds, there appeareth no ground to fasten repentance upon God, either quoad affectum, or quoad effectum. But here the Schoolmen reach us a distinction to take hold on, whereby we may get out of the mire: It is one thing to change the will, and another thing to will a change. God willeth a change in some things at sometimes, but he never changeth his will. Some things God appointeth to continue forever, as the dictates of the law of nature, and the Priesthood of Christ: some things for a time only, as the Legal Ceremonies, and the Aaronicall Priesthood. Again, some things he promiseth absolutely, as all spiritual graces necessary to the salvation of the Elect: some things conditionally, as the blessings of this life, so far as they tend to the attaining of a better hereafter. In like manner, some judgments he denounceth absolutely, as the destruction of the kingdom of Satan and Antichrist; others upon condition expressed or understood, as the subversion of Nineveh, the present death of Hezekiah.

To apply these distinctions to our purpose, and close upon the very point in question: when any order, set down by God for a time, altereth at the time, the date being expired, or any Prophesy depending upon a condition, falleth with it, God is said to repent, though he indeed do nothing less; the change that appears in the things themselves being nothing else but the execution of an unchangeable decree of God for their change. The meaning then of this phrase, will not repent, is, that the Priesthood of Christ is not like that of Aaron, which was after a time to expire, and is now actually with all the ceremonial law abolished, but a Priesthood never to be altered or changed. The Lord sware, and will not repent,

Thou art a Priest. There are three things that especially appertained to the office of Aaron and his Successors:

1 To keep the original and authentical copy of the law, together with the golden pot of Manna, and the two tables written with the finger of God, and the Rod that budded.

2. To offer sacrifices both ordinary every day, and upon their set feasts and sabbaths, and extraordinary upon special occasions.

• 1. Either to profess their thankfulness to God, and magnify his goodness; which may be called gratulatory, or eucharistical.
• 2. Or to confess their sins and appease his wrath; which are called expiatory, or propitiatory.

3. To present themselves before God for the people, to assure on their part obedience to God, by way of promise or stipulation, and procure God's favor to them by way of mediation.

All which parts of their Priestly function they performed but typically and imperfectly: for neither did they keep the Law entirely, nor so much as the copy of it in later times, neither did their sacrifices purge thoroughly, neither did their prayers prevail effectually: but our high Priest hath fulfilled all righteousness, and by one oblation of himself hath made a perfect satisfaction for the sins of the whole world: and he is in that grace and favor with God, that he putteth up no petition on our behalf, but he getteth it signed by his Father. The Levitical Priests laid up the true original of the Law, both written in the books of Moses, and engraven in the two Tables, in the Ark, as a jewel in a sacred casket: but our high Priest both kept the Law it self, and perfectly fulfilled it, and writeth it also in the tables of our hearts: they presented offerings for the sin of the soul, but he made his soul an offering for sin: they appeared but once a year in the Holy of holies for the people, but he being entered into the Sanctum sanctorum, the Heaven of heavens, sits at the right hand of his Father, and perpetually by the merits of his passion intercedeth for us.

Now the reasons which moved him to take upon him this office of a Priest, are conceived to be these:

1. Because the salvation and redemption of mankind, wrought by the sacrifice of his Priesthood, being a most noble work, and not inferior to the creation, it was not fit that any should have the honor of it but the Son of God.

2. Neither was it agreeable that any should offer him, who was the only sacrifice that could expiate the sins of the whole world, but himself: therefore by offering himself, he added infinite worth to the sacrifice, and great honor to the Priesthood of the Gospel. For, as the gold sanctified not the altar, but the altar the gold; so it may be truly said without impeachment to the dignity of that calling, that Christ was rather an honor to the Priesthood, than the Priesthood an addition unto him. For what got he by the Priesthood, which cost him his life? what preferment could it be to him, to take upon him an office, whereby he was to abase himself below himself, and be put to an ignominious and accursed death? What were we vile miscreants, conceived and borne in original sin, and soyled with the filth of numberless actual transgressions, that to purge and cleanse our polluted souls and defiled consciences, the second person in Trinity should be made a Priest? It was wonderful humility in him to wash his Disciples feet, but in his divine person to wash our unclean souls, is as far above human conceit, as it seemeth below divine majesty. There is nothing so impure as a fowl conscience, no matter so filthy, no corruption so rotten and unsavory as is found in the sores of an exulcerated mind; yet the Son of God vouchsafed to wash and bathe them in his own blood. O bottomless depth of humility and mercy! other Priests were appointed by men for the service of God, but he was appointed by God for the service and salvation of men: other Priests spilled the blood of beasts to save men, but he shed his own blood to save us, more like beasts than men: other Priests offered sacrifice for themselves, he offered himself for a sacrifice: other Priests were fed by the sacrifices which the people brought, but he feeds us with the sacrifice of his own body and blood: Lastly, others were appointed Priests but for a time, he was ordained a Priest

For ever. The rod of Aaron was a type of the Priesthood of Christ, which shooteth forth three buds or blossoms:

• 1. Obedience, the fruit whereof is our righteousness.
• 2. Sacrifice, the fruit whereof is our satisfaction.
• 3. Intercession, the fruit whereof is our confidence and bold access to the throne of grace.

The two first buds seemed to wither at our Savior's death, though the fruit thereof be still preserved, but the third, though it put it self forth in his life time, yet it more flourished after his ascension. For although our blessed Redeemer now no more observe the ceremonial Law, to which he gave a period at his consummatum est, nor offer anymore sacrifice of his own, yet he still offereth up our sacrifices of praises and thanksgiving, he still presenteth us unto God, and laboreth to reconcile God unto us; he lays open before his Father his bloody wounds and stripes, and by them beseecheth him to have mercy upon us; and in this respect, as well because the dignity of his Priesthood still remains in himself, and the effect in us, as because continually he blesseth us, and mediateth for us, he is styled a Priest forever: not such a Priest as the Levites were, who held their office for their life, and after left it to their successors, who were in the end to resign it into the hands of a Mediator; but such a Priest as Melchizedek was, a singular Priest, an everlasting Priest, a royal Priest, a Priest who neither succeeded any, nor any him, a Priest forever

After the order of Melchizedek. For the opening of this passage three points are to be cleared:

• 1. The name.
• 2. The person.
• 3. The order or office of this singular and extraordinary type of Christ.

1. Touching the name, though it be one word in the Greek and Latin, and carry the form of a proper name, yet in the original it is two; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and seemeth rather to be an appellative, signifying my righteous Lord, or the righteous Lord of my appointment: as Psal. 2.6. I have set my King, &c. Howbeit, as the name of Augustus was the common style of all the Roman Emperors, yet 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the surname of Octavius, from whom the rest received it; so it is not unlikely, that the style of Melchizedek was at the first attributed to this famous King of Salem, who met Abraham with a present as he returned from the slaughter of the Kings; yet afterwards, either by adulation, or for other reasons, it might be given to his successors.

Of the interpretation of this name we can make no doubt, since the Apostle hath construed it unto us (viz.) King of righteousness, and after that, King of Salem, which is King of peace; whence some gather consequently, that the most righteous Kings are most peaceable, and that he can be no King of peace, who is not a King of righteousness. Where righteousness doth flourish, there shall be abundance of peace. As in the name of Melchizedek King of Salem, so in the heart of every good King righteousness and peace ought to kiss each other. Now Christ is a King of righteousness in three respects:

• 1. Administrando, because he administereth.
• 2. Operando, because he wrought and still worketh.
• 3. Imputando, because he imputeth righteousness.

He administereth righteousness, because he ruleth his Church with a scepter of righteousness: he wrought righteousness in fulfilling the Law, which is called righteousness, and by his grace also he enableth us to work righteousness, and in some good measure to fulfill his commandments: he imputeth righteousness, when he justifieth the ungodly, and accounteth faith for righteousness to him that worketh not, but believeth: for God made him that knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, that no flesh should glory in his presence: for of him are we in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

2. Tovching the person of Melchizedek, there are six opinions: the first,

1. Of certain Heretics, called the Melchizedekians, who taught, that Melchizedek was a power of God greater than Christ, and that he was the Mediator and Advocate of Angels, as Christ is of men.

2. Of Hierax the Egyptian and his followers, who taught, that Melchizedek was Christ himself, who before his incarnation appeared in a human shape to Abraham.

3. Of the author of the book, q. Vet. & N. Test. who writeth, that Melchizedek is the Holy Ghost.

4. Of Origen and Didymus, who thought Melchizedek to be an Angel.

5. Of Ibn Ezra, Bagud Haturim, Levi Benyerson, David Chimki, and of the Samaritans and Hebrews generally, who confidently affirm, that Melchizedek was Shem the son of Noah.

6. Of Dionysius Areopagita, Epiphanius, Theodoret, Hippolytus, Procopius, Eusebius, Eustathius, Calvin, Junius, Musculus, Mercerus, Pererius, Pareus, and divers others, who hold it most probable that this Melchizedek was one of the Kings of Canaan.

In this variety of opinions, backed with manifold authorities, as Tully spake of the soul, that it was less difficult to resolve what she is not, than what she is; so we may say of Melchizedek, that it is a far easier matter to determine who he was not, than who he was.

[Refut. 1] 1. He was not any power of God greater than our Savior, or the Angels Advocate: for neither is there any inequality between the divine persons, neither have the evil Angels any Advocate to plead for them, who are condemned already, and reserved in chains of darkness till the great day. The text of Scripture which they wrested to their fancy, no way advantageth them. For Christ is said, a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, not because he was inferior to him in person or office, but because he succeeded him in time, and bare an office framed after a sort according to the pattern of his.

[Refut. 2] 2. He was not the Son of God, the second person in Trinity: for the type must needs be distinguished from the truth; but Melchizedek was a glorious type of Christ, and is said assimilari, to be likened to the Son of God: he was not therefore the Son of God, but his fore-runner in the office of Priesthood.

[Refut. 3] 3. He was not the Holy Ghost; for Moses describeth him to be a man that ruled in Salem, and executed also the office of a Priest to God: which cannot be affirmed of the Holy Ghost, who never took our nature upon him, nor is anywhere in holy Scripture termed a Priest of the most high God. The only footing which this opinion hath, is upon that ground, that Melchizedek is said to be without father; which ground no way supporteth this opinion. For we cannot argue from one attribute of Melchizedek affirmatively, though we may negatively. This argument is good, He that hath a father reckoned among men, is not Melchizedek; but this is not so, The Holy Ghost is without father, therefore he is Melchizedek. For God the Father, the first person in Trinity is, as also Adam the first man was, without father or mother, yet neither of them Melchizedek.

[Refut. 4] 4. He was not an Angel: for it is a thing unheard of in the Church of God, that the angels of heaven should sway earthly scepters, or discharge the function of Priests. What have Angels of heaven to do with feasting armies, or receiving tithes of spoils, as Melchizedek did from the hands of Abraham? These four opinions have been long ago exploded, the two remaining stand still in competition for the truth.

5. The advocates for Sem plead hard: Sem (say they) as appeareth in the story of Genesis, lived to the time of Abraham's victory, & to him it was promised, that the Canaanites should be his servants, and consequently that Salem their Metropolis should be his seat, where Melchizedek was King. Neither was there any greater man than Abraham, to whom that great Patriarch should do homage, and pay tithes, save Sem. Lastly, those prerogatives of Melchizedek (without father, without mother, without beginning of days, or end of life) agree best to Sem, who might be said to be without these, either in the notice of the text, or in the speech of men: because he was now so aged, and had lived so long after the Flood, that no man then living remembered his Parents. He might likewise be said to be without beginning of days in respect of the new world after the Flood, and without end of life in respect of the old world before the Flood.

[Refut. 5] Notwithstanding all these allegations in the behalf of Sem, the truth goeth not so clear for him, but that it is encountered with many and great difficulties. For there is no ground to believe that Sem left the East, and set up his rest in Judea: neither is it likely that the Spirit would have described a man worth eternal memory in such an obscure manner, and under such a new name, that he remains yet unknown. Were he Sem, why should Moses conceal his name? Moreover, the Apostle in the seventh of the Hebrews saith in express words, that the pedigree of Melchizedek is not accounted among men; but Shem is, as we read in Genesis: neither is it a solid answer, which yet is given by many learned men, to say that Shem genealogy is not accounted by the name of Melchizedek. For no more is Jacob's accounted by the name of Israel, yet none thereupon would say that Jacob's genealogy is not set down by Moses. The Apostles comparison standeth not in the bare name, but in the person of Melchizedek: whether by the name of Melchizedek, or by the name of Sem his pedigree be set down, it is certain he cannot be that man whom St. Paul in this resembleth to Christ, that he was without father or mother accounted among men, for his Parents are upon record.

6 What then shall we conclude? Either that he was a Ruler of Canaan, whose genealogy is nowhere set down, nor the day of his birth nor death; or that he was a man immediately sent from God, and shown only to the earth, and afterwards taken away after the manner of Enoch, or Elias, that he might be likened in all things to the Son of God; or that the Apostle hath an eye only to Moses his relation, in that place where Melchizedek is brought in by him, blessing Abraham, and receiving tithes from him, without any mention there of his Parents in the flesh, or successor in his office, or day of his birth or death. So are we to conceive of our high Priest, who was without father according to his manhood, without mother touching his Godhead, and in his person, which was merely divine, without beginning of days, or end of years.

3 Touching his order or offices, it is certain that he was both King and Priest. For he was King of Salem, and Priest of the most high God: the conjunction of which two offices was not unusual in those elder times among the heathen: for by the light of nature they saw such majesty in the person of a King, and eminency in the office of a Priest, that they judged none so worthy of the Priesthood as their Kings, nor any so capable of the Kingdom as their Priests: and therefore in most places they either crowned their Priests and gave them power; or sacred their Kings, and gave them orders. Right so doth Virgil describe Anius, as Moses doth Melchizedek, invested with both dignities:

At this day the Kings of the East Indians are styled Brameres, that is, Priests, and by the law are to die in a holy place, as persons sacred to God. Aristotle remembereth such an ancient custom among the Grecians, Res divinae committebantur Regibus; and Tully among the Romans: and Stobeus setteth a fair color upon it, The best of all, that is, God, ought to be honored and served by the best, that is, the Prince; and the service of God, which is or should be, in all well ordered States, the chiefest of all cares, ought to be the care of the chiefest, that is, the King: which made Lycurgus, the Law-giver of the Lacedaemonians, ambitious of the title of the Priest of Apollo, and Solon of Priest of Minerva, and induced Mercurius Trismegistus, Augustus, Titus, and Trajan, to assume this sacred title into their style, and annex the Priesthood to the Crown.

Wherein they may all seem to have taken Melchizedek for their pattern, who the first of all that ever we read, mingled both oils, and compassed the Mitre with a Crown; bearing a Scepter in one hand, and a Crozure in the other, more fully to represent the Son of God, who remaineth a Priest, and reigneth a King forever.

This resemblance between them satisfieth not our Adversaries, they strain this text hard to draw blood from it, even the blood of Christ sacrificed in the Mass. If (say they) Christ be a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, then he must daily offer a sacrifice unto God under the forms of bread and wine, as also did Melchizedek. And this is the fairest evidence they bring out of Scripture for the sacrifice of the Mass. Against which we object,

1 That neither the Hebrew letter, nor the vulgar Latin, the authority whereof no Papist dare impeach, importeth that Melchizedek offered bread and wine, but brought forth; protulit, non obtulit.

2 Admit of the word offered; what say they to Rabbi Solomon, Tertullian, Ambrose, yea, Andradius also, and other Papists of note, who refer this offering to Abraham, not to God? the bread and wine he offered was a present to Abraham, not a sacrifice to God. Obtulit (say they) Abrahamo panem & vinum; and will they make no difference between an office of civility and a sacrifice of religion?

3 Admit Melchizedek offered this bread and wine, or some part of it, to God, yet doth not the Spirit of God recommend his Priesthood, as being any way remarkable for the sacrifice he offered, but for the blessing wherewith he blessed Abraham. For so it followeth in the text, ver. 19, 20. And he was the Priest of the most high God, and he blessed him, and said, &c. And from this act of his office the Apostle inferreth, that Melchizedek was a Priest of a higher order and rank than Levi, who blessed him in the loins of Abraham, and received tithes from him: Without contradiction, saith the Apostle, the less is blessed of the greater.

4 Admit that his Priesthood were as remarkable for his offering, as for his blessing, yet all this comes short of the point in question, to prove that Christ is said to be a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, in regard of his sacrifice of bread and wine. For Christ never offered a sacrifice of bread and wine, as we are all upon an accord, the sacrifice which he offered was his body and blood.

5. Had he offered at his last Supper a sacrifice of bread and wine, and not instituted a Sacrament in bread and wine, yet that offering would not entitle him to the Priesthood of Melchizedek, more than to the Priesthood of Levi. For the Priests of the Law also offered bread and wine. Doubtless there must be something eminent and extraordinary in the Priesthood of Melchizedek, in regard whereof Christ is said to be a Priest after his order: and we need not seek far for singular resemblances between them, the Apostle hath excellently paralleled them in the seventh of the Hebrews.

• 1
  • Melchizedek, by interpretation King of righteousness:
  • Christ, The Lord our righteousness.
• 2
  • Melchizedek, King of Salem:
  • Christ, the Prince of peace.
• 3
  • Melchizedek, without genealogy reckoned among men:
  • Christ, without Father touching his manhood, without mother touching his Godhead.
• 4
  • Melchizedek blesseth Abraham:
  • Christ blesseth all the seed of the faithful Abraham.
• 5
  • Melchizedek, a pattern without pattern, and president without any former president:
  • Christ made after an order, after which there was no order.

To contract all in brief: Melchizedek was a Priest,

• 1 Singular in his person: for he neither succeeded any, nor any him.
• 2 Royal in his place: for his Kingdom was his Diocese.
• 3 Perpetual in his office: for his Priesthood was never abrogated.

And in these respects chiefly Christ is styled a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, that is to say, a

• Singular
• Everlasting
• Royal

Priest

Had there been yet a more special and remarkable agreement between Christ and Melchizedek in regard of the sacrifice of bread and wine, how cometh it to pass that the Apostle omitteth it, where professedly he compareth them, and maketh use even of nominal conveniences between them? He who presseth verbal congruities, would he have pretermitted any real, especially such an one, as, if it were true, were more remarkable than all the rest? viz. that as Melchizedek offered no flesh of beasts to God, or bloody sacrifice, but bread and wine; so Christ at his last Supper offered himself, and hath commanded the Priests of the Gospel to the end of the world to offer a daily unbloudie sacrifice, under the forms of bread and wine.

They will peradventure reply, that though the Apostle for some special reason pretermitted this resemblance between them, yet the ancient Fathers have not baulked it. For St. Cyprian saith in express terms, that Christ offered a sacrifice to God his Father, and he offered the same which Melchizedek had done, to wit, bread and wine. And St. Jeromes words are as direct, Melchizedek in a figure offered bread and wine, and dedicated the mystery of Christians in the body and blood of our Savior. And Eusebius Emissenus speaketh as fully as either St. Cyprian or St. Jerome; Melchizedek in offering bread and wine prefigured Christ's sacrifice. This I confess is the language of some of the Ancients, whose words notwithstanding, though put upon the tentors of a Jesuitical interpretation, and stretched to the utmost, will not reach home to their purpose. For they pass not beyond one of these points, either that Christ resembleth Melchizedek in this, that as Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine to refresh Abraham and his army; so he at his last Supper brought forth bread and wine before his Disciples, and instituted a Sacrament by them to refresh their souls: or that Christ offered that in substance and verity which Melchizedek offered in type and figure, to wit, his body and blood. Thus St. Cyprian expresseth himself in the same sentence, saying, He offered the same which Merchizedek did, bread and wine, suum scilicet corpus & sanguinem, to wit, his body and blood. And the Author of the Treatise De coena Domini, who carrieth the name of St. Cyprian, very well cleareth the matter, saying, Christ at his last Supper delivered with his own hands bread and wine to his Disciples, but on the Cross rendered his body into the hands of the Soldiers, to be wounded and crucified, to verify the type, and accomplish the figure, and fully resemble the pattern of Melchizedek. And this may serve for the sense and construction of this text of Scripture: let us now see how it may serve for our use and instruction.

First, it instructeth us in the lawful use of an oath, which is here warranted by the practice of God himself, Juravit Jehovah, The Lord sware.

Secondly, in the certainty of our salvation, grounded upon the immutability of God's purpose, He will not repent.

Thirdly, in the dignity of the Priesthood of the Gospel, which was the calling of our blessed Lord and Savior, Thou art a Priest.

Fourthly, in the abrogation of all legal rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices, by the perpetual Priesthood of Christ. But because these are paths trod by everyone, I will proceed to the three last observations.

Fifthly, in the necessity of order in the Church, Sacerdos secundum ordinem. Though Christ were a singular and extraordinary Priest, yet he had a president, and was made after an order: he who ordaineth all, would be ordained himself, to establish order in the Ministry. As Christ himself, so all Ministers of holy things, must be secundum ordinem, after some order. I demand then after what order our Popist Priests are made? whether after the order of Aaron or Melchizedek? If after the order of Aaron, then are they to offer bloody sacrifices, and perform other carnal rites, long ago abrogated: if after the order of Melchizedek, then they are very happy. For then they are to be Kings and Priests, then they are not to succeed any other, nor any other them: then, as hath been shown, they are singular, everlasting, and royal Priests. We may put a like interrogatorie to many of our Brownists or Anabaptistical Teachers, who run before they are sent, and answer before they are called; being like wandering stars, fixed in no certain course; or wild corn, growing where they were not sown; or like unserviceable pieces of Ordnance, which fly off before they are discharged. If men, though endowed with gifts, might discharge a Pastoral function, or do the work of an Evangelist, without a lawful mission, St. Paul's question had been to little purpose, How shall they preach unless they be sent? What calling have these men? ordinary or extraordinary? If ordinary, where are their orders? if extraordinary, where are their miracles? If Christ himself would not take upon him the Priesthood till he was called thereunto, as Aaron, what intolerable presumption is it in these, not to take, but to make their own commission, and to call men by the Gospel without a calling according to the Gospel. It is not more unnatural for a man to beget himself, than to ordain himself a Priest. But because these men will not be ordered by reason, I leave them to authority, and come to the

Sixth observation, which is the Prerogative of Christ, who was ordained a Priest of Melchizedeks order, whereby he was qualified to bear both offices, Kingly and Priestly. For that Christ alone may execute both charges, besides the fair evidence of this Scripture, Uzziahs judgment maketh it a ruled case, who presuming to burn incense to the Lord, incensed the wrath of God against himself. A rare and singular judgment, and worthy perpetual memory; he who, not content to sway the royal Scepter, would lay hold on the Censer, and discharge both offices, was forever discharged of both: and even then when he took upon him to cleanse the people, was smitten with a foul and unclean disease. So dangerous a thing is it, even for Sovereign Princes, the Lord's Anointed, to encroach upon the Church, and assume unto themselves and usurp Christ's prerogative. Whereof the Bishops of Roane and Reims were bold to bid their Sovereigne Lewis, the then French King, beware, informing him, Quod solus Christus fieri potuit Rex & Sacerdos, that it was the prerogative of Christ alone to bear both offices. And Pope Nicolas himself concurreth with them in judgment; When the truth, that was Christ, saith he, was once come, after that neither did the Emperor take upon him the Bishops right, nor the Bishop usurp the Emperors, because the same Mediator of God and man, the man Christ Jesus, distinguisheth the offices of each power, assigning unto them proper actions, to the end that the Bishop, which is a soldier of Christ, should not wholly entangle himself in worldly affairs: and again, the Prince, which is occupied in earthly matters, should not be ruler of divine things, viz. the preaching of the Word, and administration of the Sacraments. To make a medley (saith Synesius ) of spiritual and temporal power, is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . There is great difference between the Scepter and the Censer; the Chair of Moses, and the Throne of David; the tongue of the Minister, and the hand of the Magistrate; the material sword that killeth, and the spiritual that quickeneth. To the King (saith St. Chrysostom) are the bodies of men committed, to the Priest their souls: the King pardoneth civil offenses and crimes, the Priest remitteth the guilt of sin in the conscience: the King compelleth, the Priest exhorteth: the Kings weapons are outward and material, the Priests inward and spiritual. A like distinction St. Jerome maketh between them; The King ruleth men, though unwilling, the Bishop can do good upon none but those that are willing: the King holdeth his subjects in awe with fear and terror, the Priest is appointed for the service of his flock: the King mastereth their bodies with death, the Priest preserveth their souls to life. But the farthest of any St. Bernard presseth this point, and toucheth Pope Eugenius to the quick: It is the voice of the Lord, Kings of the Nations rule over them, &c. But it shall not be so with you; go to then, usurp if thou dare, either an Apostleship, if thou art a Lord; or Lordlike dominion, if thou art an Apostle: thou art expressly forbid both: if thou wilt have both, thou shalt lose both.

But why do I prosecute this point? Doth it concern any nowadays? Doth any one man bear both these offices? I answer affirmatively, the High-priest at Rome doth. For he compasseth his Mitre with a triple Crown: and, as if he bare this name written upon his thigh, King of Kings, and Lord of Lord's, challengeth to himself a power to depose Kings, and dispose of their Kingdoms. Doth any one desire to know who is that man of sin, spoken of by the Apostle, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God? Let him learn of the Prophet who are called gods, (Dixi dii estis, I have said ye are gods ) and it will be no matter of great difficulty to point at him who accounteth that he doth Kings a great honor when he admitteth them to kiss his feet, hold his stirrup, serve him at table, and perform other baser offices, prescribed in their book of ceremonies. I can tell you who it was that made the Emperor Henry the fourth, with his Queen and young Prince, in extreme frost and snow, to wait his leisure three days, barefooted and in woollen apparel, at the gates of Canusium: it was Gregory the seventh, otherwise called Hildebrand. I can show you who set the Imperial Crown upon the head of Henry the sixth, not with his hand, but with his foot, and with the same foot kicked it off again, saying, I have power to make Emperors, and unmake them at my pleasure: it was Pope Coelestine. I can bring good proof who it was that would not make peace with Frederick the first, till in the presence of all the people, at the door of St. Markes Church in Venice, the Prince had cast his body fl • t on the ground, and the Pope setting his foot on his neck, advanced himself, blasphemously wresting the Scripture, and applying those words of the Psalmist to himself, Thou shalt tread upon the Lion and the Basilisk: it was Pope Adrian, who was afterwards choked with a fly. I could relate unto you in what Council divine majesty is ascribed to the Pope, and a power above all powers: in the Council of Lateran, under Leo the tenth. But I tremble at such horrible blasphemies, and leave the Authors and maintainers of them to the censure of the true Melchizedek; who, as he is a Prince of peace, so he is also Rex justitiae, King of righteousness, and will one day right himself, and all his servants, and destroy the man of sin with the breath of his mouth, and brightness of his presence.

7. The next point in which this Text instructeth us, is the strength and validity of an oath. God, when he would show unto us the immutability of his decree concerning Christ's Priesthood, confirmeth it unto him by an oath, thereby declaring, that the greatest evidence of truth, and strongest assurance of faith between man and man, nay between God and man, is an oath. It is the sovereign instrument of justice, the indissoluble bond of amity, the safest refuge of innocence, the surest warrant of fidelity, the strongest sinew of all human society. Detestable therefore and • amnable is their doctrine and practice, who strain and weaken the sinew which holdeth the members of all politic bodies together: who cancel that bond, which being made on earth, is registered in the high Court of heaven, and the three persons in the blessed Trinity are witnesses thereunto: who either untie this everlasting knot by cunning equivocation; or cut it asunder by Papal dispensation. O my dear brethren, hold not with them who break with God, swear not to their doctrine, who maintain forswearing, take not part with that religion which taketh away all religious obligation. Is that (think you) the Orthodox faith, which alloweth, and in some case commendeth perfidiousness and treachery? Is their doctrine truth, Qui dogmatizant mendacium? who doctrinally teach the lawfulness of an equivocating lie; an • that they may verify their doctrine of lies, bely the Truth himself, and endeavor to make that which I tremble to utter, Jesum ipsum Jesuitam, Jesus himself in this point a Jesuit? O ubi estis fontes lachrymarum! Of all beasts, we have those in greatest detestation which devour their own young. What are our words and promises, our vows and oaths, but the issue of our own mouth? which they, who resume and recall, what do they other than eat and devour their own offspring? The first that brake his allegiance in heaven was the Devil, and thereby became a Devil: and the first that brake promise on the earth was likewise the Devil to Adam and Eve, whose scholars they show themselves, who teach that the Pope can dispense with the oath of allegiance, that oaths are better broken than kept with Heretics. Such was Julius the second, who (if we may believe Bodin ) was not ashamed openly to profess, Fidem dandam omnibus, servandam nemini. Such was Alexander the sixth, who when his son Borgias had drawn in the ring-leaders of the contrary faction by fair promises, and deepest protestations and oaths of pardon and reconciliation, and as soon as he had them all in his power, put them to the sword; his father applauded this his perfidious and barbarous act, and cried out, O factum been, O well done, and according to my hearts desire. Such was Martin the fifth, who when Alexander Duke of Licuania had sworn to protect the Hussites, wrote to him in these words, Know that thou couldest not, nor mightest not give faith to Heretics; and that thou sinnest mortally, if thou keepest thy word and oath with them. Such was Hambertus the Ambassador of Charles the fifth, who when the Lady Katherine, the youngest sister of that Emperor, was espoused to John Frederick. Duke of Saxony, & the instruments were drawn and sealed, as soon as ever there was a change of Religion in Saxony, he persuaded the young Lady to break off the match, affirming openly, that faith was not to be kept with Heretics. Such were the Popish Divines of Paris, who both in their Sermons and printed books taught openly, that the Prince was not bound to keep faith with Sectaries: and to that purpose alleged a decree of the Council of Constance. Such was Clemens the seventh, who when Charles the fifth had resolved upon an expedition against the Moors, to which he had formerly bound himself by oath, sendeth unto him a Bull, whereby he releaseth him of all oaths that he had taken for the expulsing those Infidels, notwithstanding any constitution Apostolical, statute, ordinance, or oath to the contrary; yea, though ratified by the See of Rome with an express clause of excluding any dispensation or relaxation whatsoever. Such was Julian the Popes Legate, who persuaded Uladislaus King of Hungary & Bohemia, to undertake a wicked war against Amurath the Turk, contrary to oath, assuring him that the Pope allowed of it; and there is no doubt he did so: but (as Bodin observeth religiously) Pontifex probavit, Deus immortalis non probavit, Almighty God allowed not of it: for Uladislaus the King was slain in the battle, his whole army put to flight, & Julian the Popes Legate mortally wounded; to whom, as he was now breathing out his last perjured breath, Gregory Sarmosa exprobated his wicked counsel and pestilent doctrine, saying, Go to, Julian, and tell the King now in the other world (or in hell) that faith is not to be kept with Heretics and Infidels.

You have heard how this Text thundereth against the Fathers of the Roman Church, & all who embrace or practice their perfidious tenets: mark, I beseech you, now a while how it lighteneth upon the children of our Church, and all who defend the certainty as well of moral as theological faith. As when there came a voice from heaven, Jesus said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes; so we may truly say of the oath in my Text, God took not it so much because of Christ, to secure him in his office, as for our sakes, to assure us of the remission of our sins, purchased by the blood which Christ as a Priest offered upon the Cross▪ How are we assured hereof? what security doth he give us? The greatest that ever was taken or given, the oath of Almighty God. If the bare word of God is able to sustain this whole frame of nature, shall not his oath be able to support a weak Christian in the hottest skirmish with Satan, and most dreadful conflict with despair? What though our consciences be so polluted, that we abhor ourselves? yet let us not languish in despair; for we have a Priest that can cleanse them: there is no stain so fowl, which the blood of Christ will not fetch out. If we have but so much faith as a grain of mustard seed, we may say with Bernard in his divine rapture: The death of Christ is the death of my death, because he died that I might live: for how should he not live, for whom life died? O then in a spiritual dereliction, when our heart is as cold as a stone, and we are at the very brink of despair, apprehending the full wrath of God against us for all our sins, let us not say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us; but fly to the rock in Horeb, Christ Jesus, and hide ourselves in the holes thereof: Foramina petrae sunt vulnera Christi, The holes of this rock are the wounds of our Savior: let us by faith run into the holes of this rock, and fear nothing. Yea, but even there we hear the cry of our sins like the cry of Sodom; and therefore how can we be safe? Listen we but a while, and we shall hear another cry far louder, the cry of Christ's blood, which speaketh better things for us than the blood of Abel. Yea, but how may we be assured that his blood speaketh for us, and maketh continual intercession to his Father to be reconciled unto us? By his own promise and his Fathers oath. If he should neglect to solicit for them, who truly repenting of their sins by faith rely upon him, he should break his own word; and neglect the office, to the discharge whereof his Father hath sworn him, saying, Thou art a Priest forever. How can we ever think, that he will refuse us, who gave us himself? Will he spare breath for us, who breathed out his soul for us? Yea, but we sin continually; and he intercedeth perpetually: he is a Priest forever. Yea, but we are weak, and our enemies strong, what can a Priest stead us? he may purge our sins, but can he save our persons? he may appease the wrath of God, but can he rescue us from the violence of man? he may stand in the gap between God and us, but can he stand in the field for our defense against our enemies? That he can: for he is a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, a Kingly Priest; a Priest to instruct us, and a King to protect us: a Priest to reconcile us to God, and a King to subdue our enemies unto us: a Priest to cloth us with his righteousness, and a King to arm us with his power: a Priest to consecrate us Priests, and a King to crown us Kings. To whom King and Priest, and to the Father who ordained him, not by imposition of hands, but by deposition of oath, and to the holy Spirit who made the instrument and sealed it, three persons, and one everliving and everloving God, let us as Kings command the utmost service of our bodies and souls, and as Priests offer them both entirely for living sacrifices, most agreeable and acceptable to him. Amen.

THE ARKE UNDER THE CURTAINES. A Sermon preached in Oxford at the Act, July 12. Anno 1613. THE XXXVIII. SERMON.

WEe read of small or no rain that falls at any time on divers parts of Africa; and the cause is supposed to be the sandy nature of the soil, from whence the Sun can draw no vapors or exhalations, which ascending from other parts in great abundance, resolve themselves into kind showers refreshing the earth: This, beloved, is the true reason why God poureth not down his benefits in such plentiful manner as he was wont upon us, because our hearts, like the dry and barren sands of Africa, send up no vapors of divine meditations, melting into tears, no exhalation or breath of praise or thanksgiving back to heaven. Undoubtedly, if we were thankful to God for his benefits, he would be always beneficial to us for our thankfulness, and account himself indebted unto us for such acknowledgement of our debt. For there is nothing that obtaineth more of him, or deserveth better of men, than a thankful agnition of favors received, and a present commemoration of benefits past. It is the easy task and imposition which the supreme Lord of all layeth upon all the goods we possess, & blessings of this life, which we receive from his bountiful hands; and if we be not behind with him in this tribute of our lips, he will see that all creatures in heaven and earth shall pay their several tributes unto us: the sun of his heat, the moon of her light, the stars of their influence, the clouds of their moisture, the sea and rivers of their fish, the land of her fruits, the mynes of their treasure, and all things living of their homage and service. But if we keep back this duty from him, which the poorest may pay as well as the rich out of the treasuries of their own heart, no marvel if he sometimes make fast the windows of heaven, and lock up the treasures of his bounty, to make us cry to him in our wants and necessities, who would not sing to him in our wealth and prosperity. Upon this or the like consideration good King David, as soon as God had given him rest from all his enemies, thought presently of preparing a resting place for the Ark. Having therefore a holy purpose to consecrate the spoils he took from his enemies, to him that gave him victory over them, and to build a stately and magnificent Temple to the honor of the God of his salvation, and desirous to receive some encouragement from him, to set to so noble a work, he calleth for Nathan the Prophet, and breaketh his mind unto him in the words whereof I have made choice for my Text: which contain in them,

• 1. A godly resolution.
• 2. A forcible motive.

The resolution is implied, viz. to build God an house; the reason is expressed, the consideration of his own royal palace. A reason drawn à dissentaneis, I dwell in a house of Cedar, but the Ark of the Lord within curtains. Is this decent or fitting, that the King should be better housed than his maker and advancer to his royal throne? Ye would expect, that hereupon he should have concluded upon building God an house; but he proposeth only the major, his own house; the minor the Ark, and leaveth the Prophet to infer the conclusion, because in a matter that so nearly concerned the honor and service of God, he would not seem to lead the Prophet, but rather be led by him: from whence we may gather three special observations, not unworthy our most serious thoughts.

1. That in matters immediately appertaining to the service of God and advancement of religion, the Prophets of God are to be called, and their advice to be asked and taken, even by Kings themselves.

2. That it is a noble and princely work to build Temples or Churches.

3. That we are to set more by the glory of God, than our own ease and safety, and rather to desire the erecting of his house, than the raising our own fortunes. After we have gathered these, there be other which will fall of themselves from the branches of the Text as we lightly pass over them.

And it came to pass, when the King sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies, that the King said unto Nathan, Behold now, &c. The circumstance of time challengeth our due consideration in the first place. It is not usual for men sitting at ease and at rest to entertain godly motions, and resolve upon works of pious bounty: Otium pulvinar Satanae, rest is oftentimes the Devils cushion; but here it was not so, but rather a chair of state for God himself to rest in. After David had been for a long time pursued by his enemies, and driven from place to place, as it were poured out of vessel into vessel, when he now stood still, he settled not upon his lees with Moab; but breathed out these sweet and heavenly meditations and vows:

Such holy vows and religious oaths and protestations many of God's children make in the depth of their misery; but few (as here David doth) in the height of their prosperity, and the midst of their triumphs. The zeal of most men lieth in their heart like fire in a flint, it must be struck out with some violence; their prayers and fervent meditations like hot spices are then most fragrant, when their hearts are bruised in God's mortar, and broken with afflictions and troubles. Some such thing befalleth the soul in prosperity, as the husbandmen observe in a fat soil and plentiful year: Prosperity breedeth a ranknesse in the desires and a dangerous riot of sin: whereof Moses maketh great complaint in his song; But Jesurun waxed fat and kicked (thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness) then he forsook God that made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation: and God by the Prophet Hosea, According to their pastures so were they filled: they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me. O how great is our ingratitude? when God most remembereth us, we most forget him, drinking our fill of the rivers of his pleasures, and never thinking of the spring; devouring greedily the good blessings of God, as Swine do acorns upon the ground, never looking up to the tree from whence they fall. David was far from this brutish vice; for as soon as God had destroyed his enemies round about him, he thought of building a magnificent Temple. When other Kings after so good success and glorious victories obtained in war would have cast away all care or thought of Religion, at least for the present, to give the more scope to their licentious desires and lusts; David confineth himself to his closet, there recounteth the innumerable benefits God had heaped upon him, and studieth how to express his gratefulness to him: in fine, he resolveth with himself to build a stately palace for the King of heaven, and sendeth for the Prophet Nathan to advise with him about it.

The King said to Nathan the Prophet. David a Prophet himself conferreth with the Prophet Nathan. Saint Peter a prime Apostle is reproved by the Apostle Saint Paul. John the elder is instructed by an Elder. Whence we learn, That Prophets need Prophets advice, Apostles need Apostles admonitions, Elders need Elders instructions. As two tools whet one the other, and two Diamonds point each the other, and two Torches mutually light one the other; so it pleaseth the wisdom of God to divide the gifts of his Spirit severally among the Pastors of the Church in different kinds and degrees, that they might be one bettered by the other. In which consideration, among many others not less important, the Founders and Benefactors of Collegiate Churches and Universities have built so many houses for Prophets and Prophets children as you see, to live together, and by lectures, conferences and disputations, to whet and sharpen one the other. And if one star, one eminent Doctor in the Church give so great a light in the dark of ignorance, what a luster, what an ornament must a College of such Doctors, an University of such Colleges, as it were a conjunction of many stars, or rather a heaven of many such conjunctions and constellations uniting their light be? If one aromatical tree send forth such a savor of life, as we smell in every particular congregation, what shall we judge of a grove of such trees? surely it can be no other than the Paradise of God upon earth. But because David is not here styled the Prophet, but the King (The King said to Nathan the Prophet, ) I rather gather from these words the great honor which Nathan the Prophet received from David the King, than the direction or advice that David the King received from Nathan the Prophet.

The King said. Though Kings are supreme Commanders for the truth, yet they are not the supreme or sole directers unto truth: for in scruples of conscience and perplexed controversies of Religion, they are to require the law from the mouth of the Priest, to ask counsel of the Prophets, and generally in all matters appertaining to God to hear the Ministers of God declaring to them the will of God out of his Word: Symmachus was bold to tell Anastasius the Emperor, that as Bishops owe subjection to God's Sword in Princes hands, so Princes owe obedience to God's Word in Bishops mouths; Defer Deo in nobis, nos deferemus Deo in te, O Emperor, hear God speaking by us, and we will fear God ruling by thee. The same God, who hath put a material sword in thy hands, to smite malefactors in their body, hath put a spiritual sword in our mouth, to slay sin in the soul. The Magistrate is the hand of God, but the Preacher is his mouth. And for this cause all wise and religious Kings have given them their ears, and taken some of them into their bosom, as David doth here Nathan, to receive instruction and direction from them how to sway the royal scepter within the walls of the Church.

Let it not seem burthensome unto you, my dearest brethren, upon so just occasion as is offered me in my Text, to speak somewhat of the honor of that calling which calleth you all to God. From whose mouth do ye hear the glad tidings of salvation? From whose hands do ye receive the seals of grace? Who have the oversight and charge of your souls? Who are the means under God to reconcile God unto you by their prayers, and bring you unto God by their powerful ministry, but your faithful and painful Pastors, who in performing these holy duties of their calling, are termed coadjutores Dei, as it were fellow-laborers with God? Per istos Deus placatur populo, per istos populus instruitur Deo. All other lawful callings are from God, but this was the calling of God himself: other offices he appointed, this he executed: others he commends, this he discharged. When he took our flesh upon him, and lived upon earth, he would not be made a King, nor sit as a Judge upon a Nisi prius of inheritance; yet performed he the office of a Preacher through his whole life, and of a Priest at his death; offering himself by the eternal Spirit upon the high Altar of the Cross, where he was both Victor and Victima, & ideo Victor quia Victima, as St. Augustine playeth sweetly in a rhetorical key. May the civil Magistrates glory in this, that God calleth them gods? and may not they that serve at Christ's Altar take as great comfort, in that God himself calleth his Son a Priest, saying, Thou art a Priest forever? Wherefore, if the glorious titles wherewith God himself graceth the Ministry, of Stewards of his house, Dispensers of his mysteries, Lights of the world, Angels of the Church: if the noble presidents in Scripture of Melchizedek King and Priest, David King and Prophet, Solomon King and Preacher, suffice not to redeem the sacred order from the scandal of profane men, and contempt of the world; yet, methinks, since the Son of God, and King of glory hath taken upon him the office, and executed the function of a Priest, all men should entertain a reverend opinion of the Priesthood of the Gospel, and not to use the word Priest as a reproach to man, which was one of the three dignities of God himself, much less seek to disgrace their persons, who are God's Instruments to convey grace into their souls. What shall I say more? Nay, what can I say less? He that honoreth not the name of Christ, which signifieth Anointed to preach the Gospel, is no Christian: he that conceiveth basely, or speaketh contumeliously of the sacred order of Priests, is worse than an Infidel. For the heathen French and English, in Julius Caesar's time, placed their Priests, which they called Druids, above their Gentry, yea, and most of the Nobility; appointing the chief of them to bear on his breast the Image of Truth, engraven in a rich Jewell. The Turks, Moors, and Arabians, have their Priests, which they call Mophtae, in highest estimation, and devolve the most important matters of State, and doubts of their law, to their definitive sentence and order. The Syrians adorn their Priests with a Crown of gold: the Brachmans with a Scepter of gold, and Mitre beset with precious stones. The Romans styled their chief Flamen, Regem sacrorum; adoring that name in their Priests which they abhorred in their Princes and Consuls. Lastly, the Egyptians, Athenians, Lacedaemonians, and almost all the Heathen, who either had Kingly Priests, or sacrificing Kings, shall condemn such Christians at the day of Christ: then they shall see of that calling which seemed so vile, dark, and obscure in their eyes, some glistering as Pearls in the gates, others sparkling as Diamonds in the foundation, and no small number shining as Stars in the arch of the heavenly Jerusalem, and amidst them the Sun of righteousness Christ Jesus, exercising his royal Priesthood, and making intercession to his Father for all those, and those only, who honor his Priestly function here upon earth in his Ministers, by maintaining and countenancing them; and in themselves, by sacrificing their dearest affections to him.

But I list not to dwell on this argument, but rather with the Kingly Prophet in his house of Cedars.

I dwell in an house of Cedars. In these words David findeth not fault with the beautiful roof of his Princely Palace, but the mean and vile covering of the Ark: it troubled him not that he was so well provided for, but that the Ark was so ill. Princes may dwell in houses of Cedars, stately built, and richly furnished with all the rarities which nature or art affords. Why were Jewels, and precious Stones, and rich metals created, but for man's use? And what better use can be made of them, than to show forth the glory of God, and the splendor and magnificence of his Vicegerents on earth? Certainly they were never made to maintain the luxury of private men, which is now grown to that excess, especially at Court, that the Ambassadors of foreign Princes speak as loud of it abroad, as the poor cry and wring for it at home. Where shall we find a Paula, deserving the commendation which St. Jerome giveth her for laying out her money, not upon marble or free-stone, but upon those living stones which she knew one day should be turned into gems, and laid in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem? Doth not the liberality of most of the wealthy of this age resemble their heart, which is hard, cold, and stony? The greatest expense they are at is in building houses of Cedar for themselves, by which they are better known, than their houses by them. As the world, so the Proverb is turned upside down: it stood thus, Non domus Dominum, sed Dominus domum: but now it is thus overturned, Non Dominus domum, sed domus Dominum: the house gets no credit by the owner, but the owner, if he have any, by the house. Ye will think, when ye come into many of them, that ye are fallen into an Egyptian Temple, most glorious without, but within nothing to be seen but the picture of a Jack an Ape, or a Cat, or some such contemptible creature as that superstitious Nation worshipped. I sharpen my style the more against this abuse of our age, because it is well known that the superfluous expense upon the Sepulchers of the dead, and the erecting of houses of Cedars for the living, far above, I will not say the wealth, but above the rank and worth of those that dwell in them, is the cause why the Ark of the Lord lieth yet in many places under the curtains; nay, not so well, but under the open air, without cover or roof to keep out rain and weather. If that which hath been luxuriously cast away in building houses of pleasure, and ambitiously, if not superstitiously, consumed in erecting Statues, Obelisques, Tombes, or Monuments for the dead, had been employed in rearing up houses for Prophets, and erecting Temples to the living God, the Prophets of God should not need to complain, as now they are constrained, against the men of this age, in the words of the Prophet Haggai, c. 1. ver. 4. Ye dwell in ceiled houses, and the house of the Lord lieth waste: or in the like in my text, Behold, now ye dwell in houses of Cedars, and

The Ark of the Lord within the Curtaines. Before the Sun rise you see no light, but through mists, and vapors, and shadows on the earth: even so before the Sun of righteousness Christ Jesus arose in the Firmament of his Church, there was no light of the Gospel to be seen, but through mists and obscure shadows; so the Apostle termeth the types and figures of the old Law: among which the Tabernacle, and in it the Ark, and therein especially the Tables, Rod, and Pots of Manna, shadowed the state of the Christian Church, and presented to the eye of faith the principal means of salvation under the Gospel, which are three:

• 1 The preaching of the Word, summarily contained in the two Tables.
• 2 The Sacrament of Christ's body and blood, figured by the Manna.
• 3 The exercise of Ecclesiastical discipline, lively set forth by the budding of Aaron's rod.

As for Baptism, which is the Sacrament of entrance into the Church, the type thereof was set at the entry into the Tabernacle, where stood a great Laver, in which those that came to worship God, after they had put off their clothes, bathed themselves, as we Christians put off the old man, and wash away the corruption of original sin in the Font of Baptism, before we are admitted as members into the Christian Church; whereunto three sorts of men belong:

• 1 Some that are to be called.
• 2 Others that are already called into it.
• 3 Such as are called out of it into Heaven.
  • 1 The first are in the state of nature.
  • 2 The second in the state of grace.
  • 3 The third in the state of glory.

Answerable whereunto God commandeth three spaces or partitions to be made:

• 1 Atrium, the outward Court, for the people.
• 2 Sanctum, the holy place, for the ordinary Priests.
• 3 Sanctum sanctorum, the most holy place, for the High Priest to enter once a year, and show himself to God for the people.

Which are similitudes of true things. For as by the outward Court the Priest went into the holy place, and from the holy place into the most holy; so from the state of nature the children of God are brought into the state of grace, and from the state of grace into the state of glory. If any question these mystical expositions, for the first I refer them to St. John, who saith expressly, that the Court was given to the Gentiles, and was not therefore to be mete with a golden reed: for the second, to St. Peter, who calleth all Christians Priests, for whom the holy place was appointed: for the third to St. Paul, who openeth the veil of that figure, and showeth how Christ our High Priest, after his death, entered into the holy of holies, and there appeared before God for us. To these observations of the Tabernacle may be added many the like resemblances between the Ark and the Church. In the fore-front of the Tabernacle there was the Altar of burnt-offerings, and a place of refuge for malefactors, who, if they could take hold of the horns of the Altar, were safe. Christ's Cross is this Altar, the horns whereof whosoever take hold by faith, be they never so great malefactors, escape God's vengeance. In the Sanctuary was the mercy seat, towards which the Cherubims faces looked, to teach us, that the Angels of heaven desire to look into the mysteries of the Gospel. The dimensions of the Ark were small, and the limits of the militant Church in comparison of the malignant are narrow. The outside of the Ark was covered with skins, but the inside was overlaid with gold: in like manner, the Church hath for the most part no great outward appearance, pomp, or splendor; but yet is always most glorious within. The ark when it was taken by the Philistines conquered Dagon, and cast him down on his face: even so the Church of Christ, when she is in captivity and greatest weakness in the eye of the world, getteth the better of her enemies; and is so far from being diminished by persecution, that she is rather increased by it. For the ashes of Martyrs in this exceed the ashes of the Phoenix; out of her ashes riseth but one Phoenix, but out of the ashes of one Martyr many hundreds. The Ark at the first was carried on the shoulders of the Levites, but in later times was put in a Cart, and drawn by beasts, who shook it, and were like quite to have overturned it. I need not make the Antapodosis, ye shall find it in the Writers of the Ecclesiastical story: at the first the Church was governed for near six hundred years by worthy Prelates and Pastors; but afterwards, especially in some parts, by such as deserved rather the name of beasts than men, and some of them of monsters than beasts. The ark removed still from place to place, till Solomon brought it with joy and triumph into the Temple which he had built for it: even so the militant Church is tumbled and tossed from one country to another, and shall find no resting place till the true Solomon Christ Jesus carry her in triumph into the Temple which he hath built for her in heaven; mean while she still remaineth under the Curtaines.

Under the Curtaines. The Curtaines under which the Ark remained (saith an ancient Father) prefigured the Bishops and Governors of the Church, who are set in high and eminent places above their brethren, as the Curtaines made of Camels hair and badgers skins were spread over the Ark to cover it, and save the precious stuff within it from wet and soyling. Which interpretation if we allow, certainly they who live in Colleges and private Cures, under the government of Bishops and Prelates, have no cause to envy at their eminent dignity, but all reason to pray for their safety. For if any storm of persecution arise and beat upon the Church, the curtains that are uppermost must bear it off: and while they hold out, the inferior Clergy, who resemble the inward linings of blew silk, are safe. There are many fruits that are set in sunny places to ripen them, but as good are scorched and dried up with the heat of the Sun beams, which would have thrived in the shade. As the corall branch is fresh and green under the water, but as soon as it appeareth above it turneth red, according to the motto of the Poets emblem:

so have we seen many that prospered under the government of others, and flourished as it were in the shade, who after they came into the Sun, that is, into the eye of the world, being advanced to great dignities and preferments, have turned red with the corall, blushed with shame enough, having too narrow minds for such ample dignities and estates.

Thus I might enlarge and spread my meditations to the full length of the curtains in my Text; but because I see the time will out-strip me, if I make not the more haste, and because I see many composing themselves to their rest, and some fast already, I will begin to draw the curtains, and shut up all that hath been delivered with a brief application to ourselves.

Behold now I dwell in an house of Cedars, and the Ark of the Lord within the curtains. If ever God affected any King above others, David was he, a man after God's own heart. If ever David affected any work above others, it was the building of God's House, which he solemnly vowed, and largely contributed of his own to it, as we may read in the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Yet David, who dedicated himself wholly to God, was not permitted to dedicate a Temple unto him. David, whose heart so boiled with the zeal of God's house, that it consumed away in sighs and tears, and these and the like meditations and exclamations: Whom have I in heaven, but thee, O Lord? and, O how amiable are thy dwellings, thou Lord of hosts? My soul is athirst for God, even for the living God. When shall I come and appear in the presence of God? David, whose ambition was to be a door keeper in the house of God, and his greatest envy against the birds that built upon God's Altars, where he desired to repose his soul, yet could not obtain the honor to begin, much less to finish the holy work of building the Temple. What may we conceive to be the reason hereof? God forbad him. Why did God forbid so good a King to undertake so good a work? God himself yieldeth a reason, Because his hand had shed much blood. Yet it may be truly alleged in David's defense, that his wars were just, and that it was his infelicity, not his fault, that his sword had been so often drawn against his enemies. Howsoever, because he had embrued his hands in blood, God would not suffer him to lay a stone in the foundation of the Temple, to teach us, that the foundation of the Church is not to be laid in blood. Speares and Swords are not fit to build withal, Phyfes and Drums are no proper instruments to sound out the Gospel of peace. Religion is such a professed friend to peace, and a sworn enemy to bloody wars, that she suffereth not willingly a sword to be drawn in her own defense: How then doth she make her part good against her mortal enemies & cruel persecutors? not by the Sword, but by the Word; not by violence, but by patience; not by resisting, but by submitting; not by killing, but by dying. The best armor of a Christian is his proof of patience, and his only lawful weapons against his lawful Sovereign are prayers & tears, wherewith S. Ambrose fought against the Arian Emperor: Rogamus, Auguste, non pugnamus, we fall down before thee, O Emperor, we rise not up against thee; we beset thee with petitions, not with arms. And when the Emperor commanded him peremptorily to give up a Church to the Arians, he useth no other violence in withstanding the command of the Heretical Prince, than of passionate affection; no troupes, but tropes: I can sorrow, saith he, I can sigh, I can weep, these are my weapons, by other means I neither may nor can make resistance: If you seek for my goods, take them: if you desire my life, I lay it at your feet, I will not stand upon my guard, I will not fly to Sanctuary to save my life, I will most gladly be sacrified for the Altars of my God, if it so please you, upon them. This was the ancient carriage of Christian subjects towards their Sovereign, though infected with heresy, & enraged against the true professors, not to take arms against them, but to lift up their hands to heaven for them; not to contest, but to obtest; not to attempt anything against them, but cedendo vincere, to conquer them by yielding. But the General of the Roman military forces hath quite altered the ancient discipline, by turning prayers into threats, supplications into excommunications, cries into alarums, tears into bullets, and words into swords: and which is to be bewailed with bloody tears, the Garland of red Roses (as Saint Cyprian sweetly termeth the Crown of Martyrdom) is put upon their heads, not who die for the faith, but who kill; not who shed their own blood, but who draw the blood not of Infidels, but of Christians; not of private persons, but public; not of subjects, but of Sovereigns. The detestable oration of Pius made in the Conclave upon the news of the murder of the French King, and the damnable Legend of Jaques Clement should not have moved me to have laid so fowl an aspersion upon any Romish Priests or Jesuits, if I had not seen with my eyes at Paris the names of Old corn & Garnet executed for the Powder Treason, inserted into their Catalogue of Martyrs; and heard also of certain English Priests sharply censured for offering to pray for their souls, because thereby they made scruple of their crown of Martyrdom, which (according to their doctrine) dischargeth all that are called unto it from Purgatory flames, and giveth them present entrance into heaven.

No fish will be caught in a bloody net: if they see but a drop spilled upon it, they will swim another way. Therefore let all the fishers of men, that cast the net of the Gospel into the sea of the world to take up souls, look henceforward that they blood not their net with cruel persecutions and slaughter of God's servants. In the building of the material Temple there was heard no noise of any iron tool, to show, that in stirs and broils there is no building of God's house. As King-fishers breed in a calm sea, so the Church exceedingly multiplieth in the days of peace, which long may we enjoy under our Solomon, who deserveth as well the title of Preserver of the Peace, as Defender of the Faith of the Church. For what doth he not, to take up quarrels, and compose differences in all reformed Churches? wherein God hath so blessed his zealous endeavors, that as he hath hindered the growth of much cockle sown by Vorstius and Bertius in the Low-countries, so he hath clean cut off two heads of controversies lately arising one in the place of the other in France, the former concerning the imputation of Christ's active obedience; the latter concerning his immunity from the Law. As for his love to his Nathan's, and infinite desire of repairing the Temple, I cannot speak more than you all conceive. What then is the cause that so good a work goeth on so slowly? How cometh it to pass, that in so many places of this Land the Spouse of Christ lieth sick of a consumption, crying pitifully, Stay me with flagons, and comfort me with apples: for I faint, I swoon, I die? Whose fault is it, that many hundreds of souls, for whom Christ shed his precious blood, are like to famish & perish for the want of the bread of life, and there is none to break it unto them? It seemeth strange to me, that in France and other countries, where the poor flock of Christ Jesus is miserably fleeced and flayed by the Romish Clergy, yet they find means to maintain a Preacher in every congregation, and that in divers places of this Kingdom, where neither the wild Bore of the forest digges at the root of ou • Vine, nor the wild Beast of the field browseth upon the branches thereof, there should not be sufficient allowance no not for an insufficient Curate. Eli's zeal was none of the hottest, yet he made no reckoning of his private loss in comparison of the public: when he heard the messenger relate the fl • ght of Israel, and the death of his two sons, Hophni and Phineas, he was mentis compos, and fate quietly in his chair: but as soon as mention was made of the taking of the Ark, he presently fell down backward, and gave up the Ghost. Deare Christians, many living Temples of the Holy Ghost have been lately surprised by Papists, & yet no man taketh it to heart. The Jews, as Josephus reporteth in the siege of Jerusalem, though they were constrained themselves to eat Mice, Rats, and worse Vermin, yet always brought fair and fat beasts to the Temple for sacrifices. And Livy testifieth, that when the Tribunes complained of want of gold in the treasury to offer to Apollo, the Mations of Rome plucked off their chains, bracelets, and rings, and freely offered them to the Priests, to supply that defect in the service of their gods. I pray God these Painims and Infidels be not brought in at the day of Judgment to condemn many of our great professors, who care not how the Temple falls to decay, so their houses stand; have no regard how God is served, so they be well attended; take no thought though the Ark be under the curtains, so they be under a rich canopy, or at least a sure roof: who are so far from offering to God things before abused to pride and luxury, that they abuse to pride and luxury things by their religious ancestors offered unto God: who with Zebah and Zalmunna having taken the houses of God into their possession, lay out the price of blood, the price of souls upon riotous feasting, gorgeous apparel, vain shows, Hawkes, Hounds, and worse. What sin may be compared to this, that turneth those things to maintain sin, that should convert many unto righteousness? How is it possible that they should escape God's vengeance, who nourish pride with sacrilege, maintain luxury with murder, not of bodies, but of souls, whom they and their heirs starve, by keeping back the Ministers maintenance, who should feed them with the bread of life? What boldness is it? nay, what presumption? what contempt of divine majesty? what abominable profaneness and impiety to break open the doors of the Tabernacle, and rifle the Ark of the Covenant, and rob God himself? No marvel therefore if he have shown extraordinary judgments upon such felons, as he did upon Achan, who paid dear for his Babylonish raiment: for it cost him all his goods, and his life too, and the life of his sons and daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had. As he did upon Belshazzar, who as he held the plate of the Temple in his hand, quaffing and carowsing, saw a handwriting on the wall before him; Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: Mene, God hath numbered thy Kingdom, and finished it: Tekel, Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting: Peres, Thy Kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. As he did upon Ananias and Sapphira, who were struck with sudden death for saving but part of that for themselves, which they had before consecrated to God. As he did upon Pyrrhus his soldiers, who after they had robbed the Temple of Proserpina, and sailed away joyfully with the rich prize, were driven back again with a violent tempest, and suffered shipwreck at the shore in sight of the Temple which they spoiled: The Mariners were all cast away, and nothing was saved but the gold and silver which they stole out of the Temple. As he did upon Herod's servants, who entering into the Temple of Jerusalem, and opening the sepulcher of David, to filch away the great mass of treasure that was laid up there, were all burnt with a fire that suddenly brake out of the chest or coffin in which the Kings bones were enclosed. As he did upon Leo Copronimus, who entering into a Church endowed by Constantine the great with a precious crown of gold beset with Carbuncles, had no sooner taken the crown out of the place, and put it upon his sacrilegious head, but there arose a Carbuncle in his temples, of which he died, as the Historians of that age report; verifying the Proverb of Syracides, Quo quis peccat, eo punietur: a Carbuncle was his sin, and a Carbuncle was his end: Capus sacrilegio pollutum Carbunculo aduritur.

To make towards the shore, and leaving this salt discourse, to give you a taste of sweet water in the haven. As I have made it good unto you by many arguments and instances, that nothing is worse taken than by sacrilege from God, so nothing is better given than by pious bounty unto God. Obed-Edom found it in his house, the widow of Sarepta in her cruce, the Samaritan in her child, David in his race, and Mary Magdalene in her soul. And here that observation of Pliny taketh place; Many things have been highly esteemed only for this reason, because they have been dedicated to God's service. The giving of anything to God addeth worth to the gift. We offer things to great personages, because they are rare and precious; on the contrary, things are precious and sacred, because they are given to God: not only the giver, but the gift also gaineth by being given unto God. The cruce that ministered nourishment to the Prophet, became an everlasting spring of oil: the water that cleansed the sacrifices after the Angel troubled it, received a medicinal virtue to cure all diseases: the Manna that was kept in a golden pot in the Ark never corrupted: the box of ointment which Mary brake upon our Savior's head, yieldeth yet a fragrant smell in the Church. Alexander the Great, by burning frankincense frankly and liberally in the service of God, gained by conquest the Kingdom of Arabia, where all sweet trees grow. David's vow of building God an house, and desire to perform it, though he accomplished not his desire, yet so endeared him to God, that he and his sons after him to many generations fared the better for it. How much more shall the performance of so noble a work obtain of God the performance of his gracious promise, to build their houses, and establish their private estates, who out of love of his ordinance, and zeal of his worship contribute liberally to the maintenance of his service, and beautifying of his Sanctuary? Who would not willingly fill his hand to God, who filleth all things living with plenteousness? Who would not willingly by pious bounty bind the Lord of the whole world in an obligation to him, who is so good a pay-master, that he will make allowance for a cup of cold water given to a Prophet, and keep a register of two mites that are cast into his treasury?

Howbeit I must inform you from the Apostle, that God dwelleth not in Temples made with hands, but in the hearts and minds of the faithful, who (as living stones) being built upon the corner-stone Christ Jesus by faith, and coupled fast together by unity and Christian charity, rise up by elevated desires and affections to a holy and spiritual temple of the living God; and this spiritual and inward temple far surpasseth in the beauty of holiness the outward or material. For that is holy only by denomination and relation, this by inhesion and infusion of the graces of sanctification: that is adorned with lights and tapers, this with the Word of God: that with rich vestments and ornaments, this with heavenly habits and divine virtues: that when it is once built needs only to be repaired, and when it is sufficiently repaired, needs no more cost or labor to be bestowed upon it for a good space; this needeth continually to be built, repaired, enlarged and adorned: for to build it in the ignorant, to repair it in the relapsed, to enlarge it in the proficient, and beautify and adorn it in those that are perfect, is the end of our mission, and tenor of our commission, and in a word, the whole duty of the man of God. Wherefore, I beseech you (beloved brethren) suffer yourselves to be hewn and fitted for this building, and set in order by the line of God's Word. Now, that stones orderly set may make a sure building, three things are requisite:

• 1. Ut inhaereant fundamento.
• 2. Cohaereant inter se.
• 3. Adhaereant tecto.
  • First, that they be built upon a firm foundation.
  • Secondly, that they stick and hold fast together.
  • Thirdly, that they join unto, and bear up the roof.

First, you must be built and lie upon a sure foundation: no other sure foundation can be laid, than that which is already laid, even Christ Jesus; cleave fast to him, rely only upon him, build upon his Gospel for your instruction, his grace for your conversion, his blood for your redemption, his prayer for your intercession.

Secondly, Cohaerete invicem, stick fast together, be firmly united in Christian charity, keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Unities severed or divided make no number, letters divided make no syllable, syllables divided make no word, words divided make no speech, members divided make nobody, stones divided make no wall. The Ark of the Church is like the ship in controversy of law, in which two owners claimed right, of which it was said, Si dividas, perdis, if you cut it in two parts to satisfy both parties, you destroy the whole.

Thirdly, Adhaerete tecto, be pinned fast unto, and support the roof. What is the roof, but the higher powers ordained of God? As the roof must bear off storms from the walls, so the walls must bear up the roof; if the roof decay, the walls will soon feel it. The Athenians in their greatest dangers were wont 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , to cast out the great ancher, which they called the holy ancher: the chiefest Pilots and Steresmen in our State discover so great dangers, that they command the holy ancher to be cast out; and if this ancher fasten not on your golden sands, the great vessel, in whose bottom lieth not only the safety of the Prince, the honor of the Kingdom, but the state of sincere Religion throughout the Christian world, is in peril of drowning; and if the great vessel miscarry, what will become of the skiphs of every ones private estate?

Ye have heard (beloved Christians) of the material Temple to be erected and kept in repair by you that are wealthy; and the spiritual to be built, repaired, and adorned in you all: ye have learned how ye (as living stones) are to be drawn to this building, fitted for it, and placed in it; yet when we have done what we can to build you in your most holy faith, and ye have helped & furthered the work what ye are able, except the Lord build the house, their labor is but in vain that go about to build it.

PEDUM PASTORALE, SEU CONCIO AD CLERUM: HABITA OXONIAE, OCTAVO CAL. APRILIS AERAE CHRISTIANAE 1615. CONC▪ XXXIX.