Gods New-yeeres gift, sent vnto England: Or, The summe of the Gospell, contayned in these words: GOD so loued the world, that he hath giuen his onely begotten Sonne, that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but should haue life euerlasting, Iohn 3.16.
HE that writes himselfe, Alpha & Omega: the first and the last, signified thereby, y t he is not onely the eternall Word, but also, the beginning, middle, and end of the written word, yea, the scope of al the Scriptures. Search the Scriptures (sayth Christ:) for it is they that witnesse of me. Euery line in them cryes out like Iohn Baptist, Behold the Lambe of God. The Scriptures are a Circle, and Christ the Center, wherein all their prophecies méete. They are like the Image of Ianus, which looked forward & backward. So the old Testament beheld Christ [Page]to comes as Abraham saw his day, and reioyced. The new sées him already come, as saith good father Simeon, For mine eyes haue seene thy saluation.
And as Christ is the contents of the scripture: so the whole scripture séemes to be contained in this verse of my text. As all Iosephs brethren were feasted with variety, but Beniamins messe excéeded them all: so al scripture is profitable; but this most precious: all scripture is tryed gold; but this is orient pearle: so that heere the Euangelist séemes to propound all the word in a word. If thy memory be short, here is a lesson as short as sweet: so that it is doubtful, whether the quantity of the words, or their quality and worth, be more admirable.
These words are like precious Iewels, containing great riches in a little roome. Before we vnlock the casket wherein this treasure is cōtained, let vs looke back to the happy occasion y e cast this wealth on our shores.
The occasion of this comfortable scripture, was a conflict betwéene Verity and Vanity, light and darknesse, Christ and Nicodemus: for our Sauiour being that summum bonum, that loues to communicate his goodnesse with his creature; that Light that would [Page]lighten euery man that comes into y e world; that Sunne that makes all things increase & multiply; the Physicion that séekes out them that are sicke; the Shepheard sent to the lost shéepe of Israel: his meate & drinke was, to infuse grace into men, and reduce soules vnto God. Whē did he eate, but he brake the bread of Life? Whē did he drinke, but he opened the fountaynes of Grace? Whē did he walk, but he taught the wayes of GOD? When did he rest, but he preached an euerlasting Sabboth, and happy Iubilee to the penitent? Witnesse so many Iourneyes, so many Sermone, so many Miracles: and witnesse this present conserence with Nicodemus.
This Nicodemus being a better Lawper thē a Gospeller, one y e with Paul was brought vp at Gamaliels feet, but neuer sate al Christs féete with Marie, seeking for light in darkenesse, comes vnto Christ by night.
What might induce this great Doctour to come vnto Christ, is as full of supposes, as far from certaynty. Some thinke, Nicodemus came to tempt Christ, and therefore cunningly extols him, as the Wrestler lifts vp his aduersary, that hee may cast him downe: Or as the Hyaena, who counterfayting a mans voyce, seekes to destroy him. [Page]Some thinke it was a sinister influence of [...] glory, that drewe this fantasticke to Christ, as the Athenians into their exchāge, only to heare newes. Some thinke Derision came to catch our Sauiour in a trap, that so rash iudgement might condēne him. Others presume, that being affected with Christes doctrine, hee came to gratulate our Sauiour, as the best sort of our bad hearers, turne their owne profiting, into the praise of y e teacher. But I thinke, this luke-warme louer cōming so by night, was more afraid of the world, then affected with the Word, which he so praised: for Verus admirator virtutis, non borret Aristidis exilium, non Socratis condemnationem. &c. Howsoeuer, this Spider cōming to suck poyson from Christs wholesome doctrine, was at the length catcht in his owne net: for this plausible Doctor, as if he had y e Art of flattery, tips his insinuating tongue with a triple praise, whose Syrē-voyce, aboue aboue al pernicious swéets in the world, tickles the very heart-strings of man: therefore S. Ierome cries out, Happy is that soule, which is neither subiect to flatteries nor flatterings. And in Epist. ad Greg he saies, Nos ad patriam festinantes, mortiferos Syrenaris cantus surda aure transire debemꝰ. And Alanus [Page]saith, Quid ergo Adulationis vnctio, nisi domerum emunctio? quid commendationis allusio, [...] Prelatorum delusio? What is the oyle of Flattery, but the foyle of families? what the poyson of praise, but the infection of Prelates? But our Sauiour being thus assaulted by this Syren, shewes himselfe like the Psylli in Affrick, or the Marsij in Italy; who are not only themselues safe from all venemous serpents, but haue alse power to suck the poyson from others infected. So Christ, who knew, that Laudari a laudato, was vera laus, would not applaud his vaine praise: for our Sauiour hauing got the substance, scorned the shadow; hauing in perfect action the possession of all vertues, refused the imperfect affection of vaine glory. Therefore Nicodemus was a foole, to buckle the light bladder of idle praise on his back, which was ordaind to beare the Crosse of humility: he that loues vertue for praise, his mind is mercenary. We neuer read, that Christ euer admitted in him selfe this poyson of humane praise, though she often offred him her painted garland to adorne his vertues: whose perfection gaue a tongue of prayses to his very foes; and out of the mouth of enuy, haue haled his commendations: but finding in this blind Doctor, fit [Page]matter for his mercy to worke vpon, like a [...] Musician, he casts not away this iarring Iustrument; but after the correction of his folly, giues him instruction in the fayth: as the Physicion first lets out the hurtfull blood, and then ministreth wholesome sood. For though the Bull be offended with red, and the best sometimes are not mended with roughnesse: yet Christ knew, a sharpe rebuke was a soueraigne remedy for Nicodemus. A child will easily grow with cherishing: but an old trée transplanted, will hardly prosper without pruning. Hony is stréet, yet it is sharp where it findes a sore. Though the budding Rose perish with a mans breath, yet the Camomile must be trod on, to make it grow. He that is stung of the Aspe, must haue the infected mē ber cut off. The Ape killeth her young ones with too much cherishing: and the Iuie choketh her supporter with too much imbracing. If Apelles should sée his Venus blemished, or Protogenes his Hialysus broken, surely the one would turne away his eyes, and the other throw away his Pensill. Then, shall we not allow Christ to be sory, séeing his owne Image so defaced through ignorance, & so spotted with errour? Yet Christ in his correction is like a kinde Nurse, that whippes her crying [Page]Babe on the coate, not on the carkasse: [...] though he knittes his brow, he knittes in it a blessing: as the father holds an Apple in one hand, and a rodde in the other. But let vs first heare how Christ shakes his rodde at Nicodemus, roundly rebuking him for his blindnesse in a chiefe poynt of Religion, the mystery of Regeneration.
O Nicodemus, art thou a Doctour in Israel, and knowest not these things? Art thou a Teacher in Christs schoole, and hast not yet learned Christs-Crosse? How art thou accounted a wise man in Israel, being a foole in Religion? There is no Wisedome but the Trueth, in qua tenetur & cernitur summum bonum. Salomon my seruant, in stead of riches, desired of GOD the Spirit of Rule. If this was his prayer, much more should it be thy wish, since hee was but King of their bodies, but thou art a corrector of soules. How canst thou teach men to shun the second death, which art so ignorant of y e second birth? A teacher should be Organō veritatis, the right hand of Truth, to minister to euery one, their food in due season. Thou art an ouerséer in Israel, & art shamefully ouerséene thy selfe. Now age hath snown down Winter on thy head, those haires, which should be Heraulds of wisdom, [Page]shew thée to be twice a child. I would haue thée as a new borne babe, & thou art a babe, not knowing newe birth. I would haue my Disciples to shine as lights, but thou art a counterfeit Diamond, made precious by y e foyle of Moyses chaire, where thou art falsely set. O Nicodemus, he must néeds be the deuils Doctor, that was neuer yet Gods Disciple. I appeale to thy selfe, Is not a small blemish in the face, more vgly then a great blot in the rest of the body? He that combes himself, where should he looke but in a glasse? And he that corrects himselfe, on whō should he looke but on his elders? Though the Moone be dark, it shewes no great danger: but whē the Sun is eclipsed, it signifieth death. If the blinde lead the blinde, how can they but fall? Where the ship-master sléepeth, who feares not sinking? And where the shepheard watcheth not, the shéep go round to the shambles. Thou being a Doctor in Israel, thy lippes should preserue knowledge, & thy life should be the Lay-mans booke. If thy salt be vnsanory, how wilt thou season the simple? If thy rule be crooked, how canst thou eyther direct the weak, or correct the wicked? Finally, if thy light be darknesse, how great is that darknesse it selfe? Thou resemblest the heard [Page] Empetron, which the néerer it growes to the sea, the lesse salt it is: so thou, being a teacher in Israel, art a stranger in Israel. But why doe I reproue thy folly, and not rehearse thy fault? Doest thou not know, Ad veram sapientiam peruenire non possunt, qui falsae suae sapientiae fiducia desipiunt. They shall neuer attaine heauenly wisdome, which hunt after it with humane wit. The Hart brags in vaine of his brāched hornes, because he wants courage: and in vaine doest thou vaunt of Templum Domini, because thou wātst knowledge. They which would see perfectly, winke on one eye. So, if thou wilt see the mysteries of God, thou must shut the eye of naturall reason. But no maruell thou art so dull: for as Cyclops exoculatus, manus quoque ver sum porrigebat nullo certo scopo: so thy eye of faith being out, thy blinde reason gropes in the dark, being too shallow a Pilote to guide thée into the mistery of Regeneration. I commend thee for thy skill in the lawe, but condemne thee for thy blindnesse in the Gospel. The seaman that escapes all syrtes and shelues, yet in the sight of y e Hauen suffers ship wrack, is counted no lesse foolish, then vnfortunate: and thou passing all the Labyrinthes of humane learning, yet comming short of the knowledge [Page]of New birth, art to be pittied for thy fortune, & derided for thy folly. Thou knowest I neuer alowed him that had all maner of knowledge, yet had not the meane of knowing. He that seekes knowledge, must note three things, Quo ordine, quo studio, quo fine quaeque nosseoporteat. The order of knowledge is to know that first, which brings soonest to the way of saluation: the desire in knowledge must be to loue that knowledge chiefly, which most enforceth vs to loue: and the end of our knowledge, is not to win the praise of thy selfe, but to worke the profit of others. But alas, that which should be y e first in thy conscience, is the farthest from thy care: that which should haue possessed thy loue, is diuorst from thy liking: & that which should haue bene the end of thy knowledge, is the beginning of thy shame. Qui Episcopatum desiderat, bonum opus desider at. It seemes thou defirest bonum, not opus; the worship, not the work: the goods of the fleece, not the good of the flock: else wouldst thou not be ignorant in the very rudiments of Religion, & foolishly build without a foundation. Thy comming to me, shewes in part thy loue; yet thy comming in the night sayes thy loue is but little: but I know, the flame when it kindleth, is [Page]mixed with smoke: and so is thy little knowledge with the smoke of ignorance: yet I will not quench this smoking flaxe, nor break this brused reed: though y u camest to me without busines, thou shalt not depart without a blessing. As Abraham sent his seruant with gifts in his hand, so I wil send thée hence with grace in thy heart: & for thy 3. idle prayses, I will repay thée 3. endles profits: heare therefore the nature of Faith, the depth of Gods loue, & the mystery of Regeneration.
Thus did our Sauior shake vp this foolish shadow of a Prophet, this idle eccho of his prayses, this empty vessell contayning nothing but the bare name of a Doctor in Israel: whose example if we moralize, it teacheth vs, That (in Gods matters) the greatest Clarks are not y e wisest men. Philosophers haue great wittes, but they are enemies to Grace. and the world hath her wisdome, but it is enmity with God. Learning is a Loadstarre, & the knowledge of tongues is the key of truth: but if prophane learning turne Lucifer, and think to vsurpe Moses chaire, shee must be thrust (with the Parret) out of Iupiters Parliament. If Ismael mocke Isaac, though he be the sonne of Abraham, he must be bauished: And if Learning marre Religion, [Page]though it be the gift of God, it must be abandoned. The Starres giue some light, but the Moone must be mistris of the night. As the poore Israelites borrowed of the Egyptians all their iewels, but to adorne themselues: so we must borrow from profane Arts all their ornaments, & with their spoyles adorne the Temple of God. So doing, Learning & Religion, like two twinnes, will liue and loue together. And thus much touching the occasion of these words.
Hauing found out y e Hiue, let vs search for the hony, contayned in this heauenly verse: ‘GOD so loued the world, that he hath giuen his onely begotten Sonne, that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but should haue life euerlasting, Iohn 3.16.’
THese words contayne a Déede of gist: which, for our better light, I branch into these sixe parts. First, the giuer, GOD. Second, the cause mouing him to this excéeding hounty, which is héere sayd to bée Loue. Third, the gift: his onely begotten Sonne. Fourth, the party to whom this Legacie or gift is bequeathed: the World. Fifth, the fruite following this Gift, which is two-fold: first, a ransome, in these words, should not perish: Secondly, a reward, in these words, [Page] should haue life euerlasting. Sixth, the hand where with we receyue this Gift, (namely Fayth) whosoeuer beleeueth in him.
CHAP. I. Of GOD, the giuer.
FIrst, The giuer, GOD. The wealth of a Gift appeares in the worth of the giuer: and if the giuer be base, the Gift is contemned: but if the giuer be gracious in our heart, the Gift is as precious in our eye. While our ships ride in our harbours, We regard them not: but when they returne from the farthest Ocean, we looke for great riches. If a Messenger come to vs from a meane person, we giue him meane entertaynement: but if a Prince send his worst seruant vnto vs, we giue him princely regard. Well, God is richer then the Ocean, his bosome is full of blessings: God is greater then a Prince, his kingdom is euerlasting: And as his thoughts are not as mās thoughts, so his Gifts are not as mans gifts: for as he giues without merit, so he giues without measure: he is excellēt in all his works. If he loue, it's without repentance: if he hate, his anger endures foreuer: if he giue, he powres down his blessings: if he take, non habenti, etiam quod habet, auferetur, [Page]he takes away al: He loues a cheareful giuer, & shal we thinke him a fearfull giuer? A poore man on a time begging a groate of a King, y e King snipt him with this answere, Non est Regium. If an earthly Prince thus stood on his gift, shall not the heauenly King regard what hee giueth? Christ telieth vs, that Beatius est dare, quàm accipere: it's a part of his Fathers blessednesse to giue. And S. Augustine saies, Beneficium est beneuola actio tribuens, captans (que) gaudium tribuendo, A benefit or gift, is a worke of good will, that pleasures as much in the giuing, as the receyuer doth in the gift. So then, if Gods gift bee a worke of good will towards man, wee may measure out his bene ficence by his beneuolence, his worke by his wil, and his gift by y e ioy that hee taketh in giuing. When Gods loue intends a largesse, the gift must needs be great. The lower the vale, the more raine it receyueth: and the vnworthyer man is, the greater Gods loue is, and the richer his gift, In a word, the excellency of this gift appeares in the excellency of the giuer, whose persection is such, as onely silence must shew it, while cencept and reason lie in a traunce through endlesse admiration. A Philosopher being commaunded to tell the King what [Page]God was, he asked a dayes respit: and when the day was done, and the King expected his promise, he asked two dayes: which being ended, he asked foure daies, and after, eight. The King admiring his slacknesse, demaūded why he so abiourned his promise? Because (quoth he) the more I think of him, the lesse I know of him. S. Bernard saith, Quid est Deus? Longitudo, Latitudo, sublimitas, profundum: longitudo, propter aeternitatem: latitudo, propter charitatem: sublimitas, propter maiestatem: profundum, propter sapientiam: and therefore as God is wonderfull, so are his gifts,
Amongst men indéede, the giuer may hee wicked, and the gift too. In the 22. of Numb. Balak was a wicked giuer, and so was his gift which he offced to curse y e Israelites. So in Acts 8. Simon Magus is a giuer, but a cursed giuer: for he thought with gifts, to buy the gifts of Gods spirit. And such giuers were the Pharisies: for they gaue 30. pence to betray the Lord of life. But as Iudas receyued the earnest peny of his perditiō, so they betrayed their owne posterity to endlesse misery. In a word, the Deuil himselfe is a giuer, but a wicked giuer: for he offred Christ all y e world for an houres worship: as the Pope gaue all the New-found world to the Spaniards, because [Page]they should worship him. But Dauid tels vs, Domini est terra. How shall the Deuill giue the world to Christ, that cannot giue himselfe an houres respit from tormēt? His thorne yéelds no such Grapes; his thistle beares no such Figges, howsoeuer, like a bragging suitor, he boasts of his riches: Though he promise an Angell of Light, hee payes with light Angels, and shall haue his portion with lewd Angels in hell fire.
But God, as he made all things good, so doeth he giue all things that are good. Iames sayth, Omne bonum est Dei donum: Euery good gift, is Gods Gift. In Ieremie GOD sayes, There is not an euill in the Citie, which I haue not created. If God create Euill for a correction, much more doeth he create Good for our comfort. He is like the good father, that spends himselfe in prouiding for his sonne: or the kinde mother, which no sooner hath a sweet thing, but she giues it her child: or y e cunning Artificer, who cares not what cost he bestows on his worke, to make it more beautifull. So God is affected towards his creature: as he made all exceeding good, so he desires y e good of all, especially mā, whom he made for y e glasse of his glory, & the Image of himselfe, to be his Sonne on earth, & his Heire in heauen: and [Page]though here man is but tenant at will, yet he sits at an easy rent, y e bare debt of thākfulnes.
The summe of this discourse is, seeing God is the giuer of all good, we must look for all good things at his hands, & desire nothing that is good, farther then it is Gods gift: for y e which is snatcht from others, is the diuels bayte, not Gods blessing. The world is full of such snatching Nimrods, mighty hunters: for some hunt after Honour, some after Pleasure, and some after profit: And these thrée Hunters haue almost hunted all Religion and Vertue out of our borders. But let them know, that, Quaedam dat Deus misericorditer, quaedam finit habere iratus: Whatsoeuer comes by oppression, tyranny, bribery, simony, or vsury, is not Gods gift, & therefore no good gift, but a pledge of his anger. Therefore whatsoeuer thou possessest or desirest, let conscience be thy Cater, and the word thy warrant: so shall the transitories of this life, be vnto thée a handsel of heauen, and an earnest penny of that blisse, which y e world neuer dreames of.
CHAP. II. Of GODS Loue.
THus hauing brought thée to the waters of life, namely, GOD the giuer, I will [Page]shew thée the Welspring of all blessings, his loue to the world, &c.
The perswading cause of this gift, is here sayd to be Loue: God so loued. Quid est Amor (saith Aug.) nisi quaedam vita duo aliqua copulans, vel copulare appetens, Amantem & amatū? What is Loue, but as it were one life in two heartes, one soule in two bodies? the Fire which blesseth where it burneth, the Soather which no arte can sunder, the Knot which no time can vntye, the Hand which descāts swéet musike on the heart-strings, the Cause which made God become man, & the Vertue which makes man like vnto God: (I speake not of that hellish fire which makes men slaues, but of that heauenly Flame which makes them Saints.) As Christ was anoynted with the oyle of gladnes aboue his fellows; so this vertue is adorned with the crowne of eternity aboue all her fellowes: for Paul saith, y t Fayth brings vs but to the Coffin, & Hope watcheth the coarse till the Resurrectiō. These two vertues are confined with our life, but our loue is refined by our death, and dwels with vs after our glorification.
But this our loue is but a shadow of Gods Loue, an Arme of his sea, a drop of his fountaine, a little flame of his liuing Fire; neither [Page]in quality so precious, nor in quantity so sp [...] cious by infinite degrées. God loues without cause; our loue is our duty: God loues vs his enemies; we loue him our friend: God loues without reward; our loue inherits heauen: God loues vs first; our loue payes him backe his owne: Gods loue is feruent; our loue is luke-warme: Gods loue is infinite; our loue is little, like our knowledge, & low of stature like Zacheus. Christ must dine in our house, his loue must shine in our hearts, before we can reflect our borrowed heames, & loue him againe. The excellency of this Gods loue can neither be expressed by our tongue, nor impressed in our hearts: as it made the world of nothing: so the world is nothing to it: for it cō prehendeth all, & is not comprehended of any. Our Sauiour heere thought best to expresse this Loue with a sic dilexit, to shew vs, that his Father is euē sick of loue: his description is indefinite, because his loue is infinite. Either Gods loue is so déepe y e Christ could not sound it, or our reason so shallow that we cannot see it. As the Paynter that drew Agamemnon, sorrowing for y e death of his daughter, knew not how to figure his griefe in his face, and therefore drew a Vayle ouer it, thinking it impossible the gazers idle eye should beholde [Page]what the fathers grieued heart could not hold: [...] Christ leaues that to our admiratiō, which understāding cannot attayne. A holy Father would faine ayme at the dimensions of this Loue, saying, Dilèxit Tantus tantillos: He a God of infinite maiestie, loued vs men of infinite misery. But this is obscurum per obscurius: for we know neyther quantus Deus, the greatnes of his Maiestie, nor yet quantuli nos: our grieuous misery. In a word, as we cannot sée the Sunne but by his own light: so we cannot learne this Loue, but by Gods owne words. The Starre alone must lead y e Wisemen to Christ, and Christ alone must lead vs to his Loue. Now whereas he expresseth it with a Sic: So GOD loued the world, &c. a Father sayth, This Aduerbe Sic, containes in it all Aduerbes of Loue: as if Christ had sayd, My Father loued the world so dearely, so vehemently, so fatherly, so feruently, &c. And Bernard on the Canticles sayth, Deus ex se miserandi sumit materiem: Gods owne nacure is the motiue of his mercie. Then he that can explaine Gods Nature, may expresse his Loue. Whereof to affirme the one, is impious, and to performe the other, impossible.
This is that Loue, (Christian Reader) which in the zeale of God I commēd to thine [Page]endlesse admiration: this is the riches of his Grace, the chiefe of his Works, the summe df his Word, the shaddow of himselfe, the perfection of his Glory. This teacheth our Fayth to stand, and our Hope to climbe, and our loue to burne: This cheereth our labors, and beareth our losses, and teacheth our sorrow to smile. In a word, to this excéeding Loue alone, we owe our saluation. Therefore damnable is the doctrine of the Church of Rome, that teacheth vs to erre both in y e maner and matter of our Fayth: First, in the maner, they teach vs to doubt of our saluation. O iniurie intolerable, to doubt of the Promise, where such a Loue is our warrant! What more frée then gift? or who more faithfull then God the Giuer? Shall his Loue giue Christ vnto me, and my vnbeliefe thrust him from me? Is the Trueth like vnto man, y e he should lye? or is his arme shortened, that he cannot saue? God forbid. This Gift is sealed with the bloud of his Sonne, registred in the sight of heauē, witnessed by y e holy Angels, passed with an othe to y e world. O incredulity, y e wit of fooles, how many blessings doost y u bar vs from! Christ could not work his miracles, God cānot shew his mercy, where this mōste lurketh. Againe, in the matter of our faith [Page]they soyst in most dangerously a lump of their owne Leauen: for God requires a Wedding garment to couer sinne; they bring in a menstruous cloth: hee will haue vs build on his Loue; they would haue vs iustified by our own Labour: he will haue vs trust to his Mercy; they would haue vs trust in our merits. Pauls whole Epistle to the Romanes shoots only at this marke, to beat downe the pride of man, who would fayne be his owne saiour, to depresse Nature, and extoll Grace: therefore in the end he addes this vpshot, So then, wee are saued, not of works, but of grace. And August, sayth, Gratia est nullo modo, quae non est gratuita emni modo: Grace is all grace, or no grace at all. Againe be saith, Quisquis tibi enumerat meritasua, quid tibi enumerat, msi munera tua? Againe, Vis excidere gratta? Iacta merita tua, Our very Faith, as it's a grace in vs, is beholding to Grace: it saues, as it's a hand to lay hold on Christ, not, as it's a vertue & a worke: for all works must humbly be cast at Christs séete with Marie, & there meitate on his mercy: they must not be busy with Martha in the matter of our iustification. As God sayd to Paul, My Grace is sufficient for thee, so I say to all, Gods Loue is sufficient for you: this loue made you, when you were nothing; and [Page]this Loue must saue you, now your are worse then nothing. Let the Papists clothe themselues in the ragges of their owne righteousnesse, and the Iewes trust to their Templum Domini, and the Heathen bragge of their paynted vertues, (which Augustine calles splendida peccata) but let vs onely tryumph in this loue of God, and estéeme it the strength of our saluation.
Thus hauing discouered the rich treasure of Gods loue, let vs know our duety, that we may bee accounted worthy to winne and to weare it. S. August. Lib. de Anima & Spiritu, séemes to study for this duty, saying, Miser ego, quantum deberem diligere Deum meum, qui me fecit cum non erā, redemit, cum perieram, &c. O sinfull wretch, how shall I requite the rare loue of God, who created me of nothing, and redéemed mee being worse then nothing, &c. And after, hauing found this duty out, he teacheth it to the world, Si non impendere, at rependere debemus, If we will bestow no loue vpon God, yet let vs repay his loue which hee hath shewed first. The world cries shame vpon an vngratefull person. If thou shouldest trauell into a strange Countrey, and there fall into the hands of théeues, and in méere compassion of thy misery, the King of [Page]that Countrey should set thée frée againe, giuing thee life & liberty, what would the world thinke? yea, what then wouldst thou estéeme of thy selfe, if thou shouldst prooue vnthankfull to so good a Prince? We are all strangers in the world, and passengers from earth to heauen: now in our iourny we méet with the world and the deuill, and these rob vs of all grace, these wound vs and leaue vs for dead: now God of his excéeding mercy findes vs out, & sends his Sonne that good Samaritan, to powre the oyle of Grace into our wounds, & to mount vs on the back of his merit, and so carry vs to the Inne of our rest, the ioyes of heauen, O Loue, beyond all loue, how much thou art! O blessed God, teach vs the depth of thy Loue, that we may know the debt of our thankfulnesse. Thine endlesse blessing hath made vs bankrupts, for we are not able to repay the interest of thy loue. If we proffer our goods, alas, we receyued them of thée: If we offer our liues, they are redéemed by thée. Surely this shall bee our thankes, the remembrance of thy mercy: and since thy blessed Sonne hath taught vs, that the louing of thee, is the keeping of thy Commaundements, wee will labour to be all keepers: as we haue spent our time in the seruice of the [Page]world, the flesh, and the deuill, so will wee spend the remnant of our dayes in the rebuke of sinne, and the recording of thy Loue. And since the loue of so worthy a creature as man, is too costly a cyment to ioyne earth to earth, wee abandon all earthly desires, and freely giue thee our hearts, and betroth our loue to thine.
Deare God, by the fire of thy spirit, draw vp our affections to thée, diuorce vs from the liking of the world, and marry vs to the loue of thy sonne: Let vs light our candle at thy Loue, & learne by thy endlesse mercy, neuer to end our thankfulnesse, till death translate vs from this vale of teares to Mount Sion, where our loue shal ioyne vs to thée eternally.
CHAP. III. Of the Gift, CHRIST.
NOw are we come to the Gift it selfe, the greatest that euer was, whether we respect y e bounty of God, or the blessing of man: for what could God giue greater then himselfe? or what could man receiue better then his saluation? He hath giuen his onely begotten Sonne. This blessed Gift is it that made Abraham reioyce, and the Angels sing, and Iohn Baptist daunce in his mothers belly: [Page]this is able to make the World waxe young agayns, if Grace would open her eyes, and Wisedome teach her to sée her owne nakednes, and the riches of this Garment sent vnto her. As the Saints in heauen follow y e Lambe wheresoeuer he goeth: so all the blessings of the earth follow Christ this Gift, wheresoeuer he goeth: for Habenti dabitur: He that hath this Gift, shall haue all other gifts, yea, he shall haue the Giuer too: for Christ sayth, He that receyueth me, receyueth him that sent me. And Ambrose sayth, Omnia habemus in Christo: si a vulnere curari desideras, Medicus est: si febribus aestuas, fons est: si grauaris imquitate, Iustitia est: si indiges auxilio, virtus est: simortem times, vita est: si tenebras fugis, lux est: si coelum desideras, via est: si cibū quęris, alimentū est, &c.
(He hath giuen.) God did not lend his Sonne, nor sell him, but he gaue him to vs. Herein appeares the riches of his mercie, and the greatnesse of our pouerty: he did not sell him; we were not able to buy him; but he gaue him: which shewes vs to be beggers & bankrupts, and that God must for pitty giue vs a Sauiour scanke & frée, when we had neyther meanes to deserue, nor grace to desire him.
( His onely begotten Sonne. He gaue vs not an Angell, nor a seruant, nor a creature, [Page]but his Sonne. The name of a sonne is musike in the eare of a father: & the life of a child is more precious in the parents eye, thē their owne salety. Many parents, to saue their sonnes life, haue willingly spilt their owns. Examples hereof we haue in profane & sacred Scriptures: we will take an handfull from a heape. In Gen. 37. when good father Iacob heard of the supposed death of his sonne, (his wicked childrē giuing a false fire to his feare) he was smitten with sorrow, riuers of teares gushed out, and his heart bled at his eyes, for the supposed slaughter of Ioseph: his affection to his sonne was too hot, to admit the cold cōfort of his other children: he that had wrestled with an Angell, could not wrestle with this affection; and therefore in the griefe of a father, he sets downe this resolution: Ioseph my sonne is surely torne in pieces, and in my sonne my selfe was torne: the claw of that beast hath rent my bléeding heart, & his cruelty hath killed two in one. O my sonne, my life was shut in thy lookes, which now is shaken in thy losse: I made thée a coate of many colours, to shew, y e thou wast the Raynebow pledge of my peace: but loe, the beauty of my Raynebow is rent, and in stead thereof, this bloudy Meteor appeares, shewing the death [Page]of my ioy, y e deuouring of my sonne. The earth is made to couer the roote, not to containe the branch: I am the withered roote, my sonne, & thou the branch, whom vntimely death hath cropt. Why should the graue bee deckt with gréene boughes, y t was made for gray haires? If children predecease their parents, we are their of spring, & they none of ours. Wel, since comfort wil not be my gheft, griefe shalbe my companion: & séeing my sonne forsakes me in my life, I will ouertake him in my death; for nothing but sorrow shall bring my gray head to y t graue. Thus a good father mourned for a gracious sonne: but will you heare a louing parents moane for a lewd child? In y e 2. Sam. 18. when God purposed to chastice Dauid, he made y e sonne to whip the father: for Absolō, that by name should haue bin his fathers ioy, by nature proued a Parricide, & sought to depose his owne syre: but God hauing sufficiētly humbled Dauid his child, threw the rod in the fire, and brought a iudgement vpon Absolom which cost him his life. Notwithstanding, Dauid being mooued with the good affection of a father, more then the bad condition of his sonne, was so far frō reioycing in Absoloms death, y t it almost cost him his own life. O Absolom my sonne (quoth he) would God [Page]I had dyed for thee; O Absolom, my sonne, my sonne. But God héere is neither like Iacob lamēting a good sonne, nor Dauid bewayling a wicked child: he resembles good Abrahā, who willingly sacrificed his sonne Isaak.
This was much, to giue a sonne: yet as if this were not enough to expresse Gods loue, the holy Ghost addeth, his only begottē sonne: he gaue not an adopted sonne, as Abraham offred a Rāme in stead of Isaac: but his owne sonne. And herein appeares his perfect iustice, a blessed president to all Iusticiaries. In all Gods actions this vertue swayes: though his mercy be aboue all his works, yet mercy and iustice must kisse together. The dearest drop of Christs blood must be shed, before GODS instice be left vnsatisfied.
Nay, this was not enough to satissy Gods mercy; his loue mounts a degrée higher, and further it cannot ascend. He gaue his only begottē Sonne. When y e world could not yéeld the price of our redemption, he searched his owne bosome for a Sauiour, & gaue vs his only sonne. If God had many sōnes, his mercy had bene meaner, & his loue had séemed lesse: but he gaue vs not one son of many, but one & all, his only Sonne (for whose sake, he spared not his Angels) his delight, his bosome friēd, [Page]the image of himselfe, for the ransome of the world.
O loue beyond all loue, how much thou art! A holy father in admiratiō of this loue, cries, Quàm diues es in misericordia, quàm magnificus in iusticia, quàm munificus in gratia, Domine Deus noster! Againe, Passio tua, Domine Iesu, vltimū est refugium, singulare remediū: deficiente sapientia, Iustitia non sufficiente, sanctiatis succumbentibus meritis, illa succurrit: cum enim defecerit virtus mea, non conturbor: scio quid faciam, poculum salutaris accipiam, &c.
The instruction that we must learne from the consideration of this vnspeakeable Gift Christ, is two-fold: First, wee are taught to returne our loue againe, as Aug. sayes, Sinon am are, saltem redam are debemus: As GOD hath giuen vs his onely Sonne, so we must show our reciprocall loue to God, and for his Sonne, giue him our selues: as he hath giuen vs wealth, we must bestowe our wealth on him agayne: as he hath giuen vs liberty, honour, children, long life, knowledge, wisdom, courage, &c. these must all wayte on him, and doe him honour and seruice: Thus we must giue him loue for loue, agayne.
The second vse of Gods vnspeakable boū ty, is, to teach vs to loue our brethren. [Page]Christ teacheth vs this lesson for his Loue, saying, I haue giuen you an example how to loue one another. Brethren must be vnited in the bond of mutuall loue, like Cyrus the Sythians Fagot: for the vnity of brothers is, Ecce quàm iucundā, excéeding ioy to all y e Saints. But alas, let vs see what Louers, and what Giuers our wicked age doth afford. When I study vpon this duty, I find foure sorts of Giuers: The first & the worst sort, haue the hand to giue, but not y e heart to graunt: of whom I may say as Christ sayd, Better this hand were cut off, & they were as poore as Irus, then with their rusting riches to be cast into Hell. These are the Mammonists of our age, whose soule lies treasured w e their rusting pence, who are more vnmercyful thē the deuill, for he would haue Christ turne stones into bread: but these men turne bread into stones, euē the bread of the poore, into stone walles, or else spend it on their accursed lusts, forgetting mercy: therefore damnation attends thē. The second fore haue the heart, but not the hand; whose myts God accepts aboue all y e Mines of the wealthy, & takes their loue for their largesse. The third sort, are such as haue neither heart nor hand in this duty; & these are poore men euery way: for he that can bring forth neither good [Page]work, nor good wil, is a dead mēber in Christs Body, & shall be cut off. The fourth sort, haue both hand & heart; & these walke in brotherly loue; these are they y e walk worthy of this Gift Christ, & shal haue their déeds of mercy, crowned with y t swéete haruest song, Come ye blessed of my Father, possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gaue me meate, &c.
CHAP. IIII. Of the world.
NOwe it remaynes, that we consider, to whom this great Legacie is bequeathed. The world. What, is the world some friend of Gods? No. What, is God indebted to the world? No. What is the world? The world is named and taken diuers wayes: first, pro soto creato, Iohn. 1.10. Heb. 11.3. secondly, pro mundo damnato. Ioh. 17.9. thirdly, pro homine mundato, Rom. 5.10. Col. 1.20.2. Cor. 5.19. and so it is taken in this place: for the world here meant, is a certaine small number of the sonnes of Adam, which God, of his vnspeakable clemency, hath set apart, to exercise his mercy vpon thē; and hath chosen them out of the same lumpe & masse that the damned world is of, euen all alike firebrands of hell, [Page]fellowes with the falling Angels; all alike Traytours, Rebels, incarnate Deuils: for Augustine sayth, Quod tuum est, Sathanas est: Euery man is of himselfe a deuill. Will you heare what Gods iudgement & opinion is of the world, as men are in themselues? In the 145. Psalme, God takes a view of man, and then sayes, Homo vanitati similis factus est: Mā is become like vanity. As if he had said, Whē I made man, I made him to mine owne likenesse, I had a pleasure to looke on him againe and againe; I held my workmanship excéeding good, Gen. 1: But lo, man hath mard what I haue made, he hath befaeed mine Image, & hath made himselfe like vnto vanity: nay, he hath so lōg delighted in vantly, y e now he is vanity it self, Psal, 39.5. In Iob 1. It is writtē, Naked I came out of my mothers wob: yea (saith a holy Father) naked of all grace & vertne. In 1. Cor. 3. it's said, The wisdom of the world is foolishnes with God. How is it then y e God bestowes this great Legacy vpon sooles? we know, no mā willingly leaues his land to a foole. I answere, This amplifyes y e mercy of God, who hath chosen y e foolish things of the world, &c. Again, 1. Cor. 2. Paul sayes, The carnal man vnderstands not the things of [...]od. How then? Why surely, Ignoti nulla cupido: [Page]what a man vnderstands not he neyther destres, nor delites in. Therfore y e world was as worthy of this great present, as swine are of pearles; or the swinish Gergesenes were of Christs cōpany, when they willed him to depart out of their coasts. Againe, Iob. 15.16. it's sayd, The heauens are vncleane in Gods sight, how much more is man abominable & filthy, which drinketh iniquity like vnto water? Le here, fiesh & blood, y u wretched offpring of Adam, consider here, thou vnworthy world, & tell me what thou wast, when Gods mercy found thée out. O Loue, beyond all loue, how much y u art! Man, abominable and filthy man, is fit matter for Gods mercy to worke on: Man y t drinketh iniquity like vnto water, is thought worthy to drink of y e waters of Life. In this saying, Iob doth anatomize y e world, calling it abominable & filthy. But will you sée a more exact Anatomy of y e world, lym me by lymme? Paul, to the Gal. 5. rips vp the hody of the world, & there finds in it a whole den of deuils: the works of y e world (saith he) are, Adultery, fornication, vncleannes, wantonnes, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, debate, emulatiōs, wrath, contētions, seditions, heresies, enuy, murthers, drunkennes, gluttony, &c Here are y e deuils which God must cast out [Page]the world, as he did the buyers & sellers out of his Temple, if he will reconcile the world to himself. The Apostle brings thē in by ranks, as if hel were broke loose, or as if this later world were so wicked, y t eyther deuils séemed to be turned into men, or men into deuils. And this signifies S. Iohns saying, Totus mundus in maligno positus: the whole world is set on mischiefe.
To conclude this 4. poynt of the vnworthines of the world, to whom God hath giuen this Legacy. This Vnworthynes shall appeare most excellently, if we consider the Iewes, a chosē part of the world, or rather, a people chosen from the world; let vs, I say, consider in thē, what y e world is, & how vnworthy of such a present. Whē God had sent this vnspeakeable Gift of his onely begotten Sonne to the Iewes, by the hands of his seruants, the Prophets, they tooke his seruants, & beat some, and kild some, and stoned others. God sent againe his Prophets, & they vsed them likewise. The louing mercy of God looke no vnkindnes at this; but at last, sent to thē this Gift by the hand of his only Sonne, thinking surely, Though they regard not my Gift, yet they will reuerence my Sonne. But how did they reuerence him? This is the heire (say they) come, let vs kil him, & the inheritance shall be ours. Christ was no soo [...] [...] [...]orne, but they sought his life: how was hee [Page]entertained, reuiled, blasphemed, persecuted, contemned, hunted too & fro, haled before the Magistrate, accused in 2. Consistories, & there reuiled, smitten, condemned, & at last most cruelly done to death? Behold here the desert of y e world, behold here to whom God hath sent his Sonne: consider this vprightly, & thou will cry out with Dauid, Lord, what is man, that thou regardest him? what is eyther Iewe or Gentile, y e thou respectest him? If thou wilt néeds shew such Loue, thē shew it to thy holy Angels, who honour thée; to thy goodly creatures, the Sunne, the Moone, & starres, who neuer did offend thée: onely man is the sinner in this world, and he alone tastes of thy goodnesse. I. this is mercy, Lord, to saue, where y u mightest destroy; to salue, where thou findest sicke; to helpe, where y u findest néed; to forgiue our sinnes, while we forget our thanks; & to giue vs heauen, who haue deserued hell. As the starres shine clearest in y e darkest night, so thy mercy appeares whitest being cōpared with the blacknes of our deserts. Thou didst visit vs, when we were nothing but banity: thou didst clothe vs in the righteousnes of thy Sonne, whē we were al naked of grace, thou didst instruct vs whē we were fooles, and heaie vs when we were abominable & filthy: thou didst séeke vs when we knew thée not, & find vs when we had lost our selues: thou didst set thy hear [...] [...] [Page]vs, when our hearts were set on mischiese: thou didst pray for vs, whē we persscuted thée; & dyed for vs, when we hated thée; & thirst our saluation, when we thirsted thy hlood: thou hast ransomed vs from hell, & rewarded vs with heauen. Therefore to thée Lord, to thée, will we sing a new song, and reioyce in the strength of our saluation.
We are taught frō this 4. poynt, the excéeding riches of Gods mercy. And to come home to our selues; what were we before this Gift was sent to vs by the most happy reigne of our dreas Soueraigne? As Abraham sent not his seruāt without gifts, when he went to take a wife for Isaac; so God sent not Religion empty-handed into our Land, but accompanied with a vertuous Prince, and gracious Mother of this our Israel; and all, to woo and winne vs an vnspotted Spouse to our Isaac, Christ. But what were we, I say, to whom God hath shewed such mercy, y e this Text séemes to be spoken of vs, So God loued England, that he hath giuen, &c? What were we, when his Loue sought vs, & his mercy found vs out? Were we not blinde Idolaters, horrible back-sliders, & cruell murtherers of his Saintes? For these sinnes he cast off his people the Iewes; and yet, with these sinnes hath he chosen vs. As a man taketh his wife with all her infirmities: so y e Lord [...] taken vs with all our faults: our blind Idolatry [Page]and horrible rebellion; our wilfull ignorante and wicked resistance; our prophane liues & polinted consciences; our hate of the fruth, & loue vnto lyes; our following y e Pope, & forsaking of Christ; all this was but matter for Gods mercy to work on. So that we may say with Dauid, Lord, what is man, that thou regardest him? Lord, what is England, that thou respectest it? this poore frozen corner of the North, that thou art mindful of vs? We are frost-bitten Snakes, wormes, & no men, whom thou hast so pittifully cherished in thy bosome. If hate deserue loue, if cruelty merit kindnes, if finne purchase pardon, if murther require mercy: thē Christ is our due, then God is our debtor, then heauen is our owne. But, Lord, our hearts tels vs, that we are this vn worthy world; our liues witnesse, that hell is our portion, damnation is our due: but eternall Life is the Gift of GOD in Christ: To whom with thee, and the holy Chost, hee all prayse, honour, and glorie, for euer and euer.
Amen.