GOD made man, placed him in E­den, spake to him, in the second of Genesis, and man was not afraide. God came in a walking voice, Votem itan­tem Iun. & Trem. in the third of Genesis, and man was afraid: because he had not sinned in the second chapter, and had sinned in the third. For where no sinne is, there is no feare: perfect loue, saith S. Iohn, casteth out feare, which therefore is not fit company for hea­ven, because loue is perfect there. The happinesse of that place consists in the vision of God, in whose presence is the fulnesse of ioy, saith David: which therefore the soules vnder the Altar, as S. Iohn; or in their chambers, as Esdras speakes, long to see, [Page 2] saying, when cometh the fruit of our reward? in the second of that story, the fourth chapter, at the fiue and thirtieth verse? And who desires what hee trembles at, or joyes in that hee feares? But tis otherwise here. In Heaven wee shall bee ravished with God, not afraid of him; in earth, wee are afraid of any messenger from hea­ven. An Angell appeared toIud. 6.22. Gedeon, and hee was afraid; an Angell appeared toC. 13.22. Manoah, and he was afraid; an Angell appeared to theLuc. 2.10. Sheapheards, & these were afraid; an Angell appeared to theMat. 28.5. Ma­ries, and they were afraid. Afraid all of those An­gells, which brought the message of joy. For, be­cause, ever since an Angell guarded Paradice with a drawn sword, we haue deserved no good news from aboue, we conceiue no other designe of such Messengers, but to strike. And what shall Israel feare from God himselfe, if these imagined no lesse then death from the sight of an Angell? That glo­rious just Lord, cannot bespeake my damnable vilenesse but in thunder; and therefore, if Moses in­tend they shall liue to keepe the Law, Moses him­selfe must deliver the Law: God must speake no more least they dye, v. 19 He comforted thē indeed, and said feare not, v. 20. which is all one, as if hee should say, sinne not: for while they were guilty of sinne, they must be subiect to feare. Bounds were defined, vnto which they came not, and yet they came too neere. Gods command remoues them [Page 3] farre, and their owne feare remoues them farther; And the people stood a farre.

The words represent the duty of the Laity in Is­rael the people, and the priviledge of the Clergy in Moses their Priest. So the holy Ghost esteemed him Moses and Aron among the Priests, Psal. 99.6. so those Apostolicall constitutions esteemed him,L. 6. c. 3. [...], L. 2. c. 29. so hee esteemed himselfe; sanctifying the assembly,Exod. 19.14. dedicating the Tabernacles, hallowing the vessells, offering sacri­fice, consecrating Aron with his Sonnes, and offi­ciating both for the Scepter and the Mitre too, the Prince and the Priest; to shew that there is no natu­rall repugnancie, betwixt the Ephod and the Maze, the Tribunall and the Altar, but that both thriue the better for the vicinity of each other, as the Vine helpes the Elme, and by this neighbourhood climbes the higher.

The duty of the Laity requires,

• 1 An obsequious attention to God; the people stood.
• 2 An humble distance from God; The people stood a farre off.

The priviledge of the Clergy discovers,

• 1 The approximation, or immediatnesse of their accesse, Moses drew neere.
• 2 The limitation of this approximation; Moses drew neere vnto the thicke darknesse.
• 3 The condition of this limitation, Moses drew [Page 4] neere vnto the thicke darknesse, where God was.

1 Vox vagina sensus, Language is the sheath of sense,Bel. de not. Ecc. l. 4. c. 12. saith the Cardinall; and words are the attire of the minde, saith the Oratour, he therefore (whose tongue is too big for his heart, that speakes more then he thinkes) cases a needle in a scabberd, and presents little David in great Goliahs armour, or rather araies a child with the clothes of a gyant, and so invests him not with a suit but enstates in a house. God is no friend to the hypocrisy of complement, and therefore in Scripture ever meanes more then he speakes:Psal. 12.6. the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried seaven times in the fire, saith the Psal­mist, calcined and sublimated from this drosse: for he is a God of truths, not of varnishes; of rea­lities not of shadowes. He hates that mouth which belies the minde, and likes men on earth best, when they resemble, the Saints in Heaven; where soules commerce per verbum mentis, without tongues; and thoughts are seene without the mediation of words; tis so in my Text, where a syllable of Gods signifies more then a volume of mans; a word of His then a Library of mine; and the peoples stand­ing here comprehends as much as the people should doe, and much more indeede then they would.

First standing is a posture of respect; wee kneele and stand to our superiours: Kneele to shew our subiection, and stand to shew our obedience: that [Page 9] we are ready to execute, what these are to com­mand. Seest thou a man diligent in his businesse, hee shall stand before Kings, Prov. 22.29. and although the Angells turned their faces to Sodome, Abraham stood yet before the Lord, Gen. 18.22. Standing and Kneeling then become inferiours, sitting doth not, the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand: ther's an equality of nature betwixt the Father and the Sonne, and therefore one sits by the other, Psal. 110.11. and when the sonne of man shall sit on the Throne of his glory, then shall yee also sit vpon twelue Thrones, Iudging the twelue Tribes of Israel: there's an equality of grace or favour, betwixt the Iudge and his Assessors, & therefore these haue Thrones together, Mat. 19.18. so that those Antipodes which tread crosse to the World, which fast at the birth of our Saviour, and feast at his passion, which will not say Christmas, and yet will call a Christi­an Demas, which sit at the Altar, because we kneele; say not with the Syrophaenician, Lord I am not wor­thy to eate the crummes vnder thy table; but Lord I am worthy to sit at thy table, I am as good as thy selfe.

Standing then is a posture of respect, and respect is, a preparatiue to attention, for no man listens to what he scornes. Lydias affection must be warmed, before she can attend; regard S. Paul shee must, be­fore she can heare him; when God shall open her heart, then will she open her eares, Act. 16.14. nor won­der [Page 6] I, the conversions of this Apostle were so many, seeing his honours were so great;Veni, vidi, vi­ci. like that Romane commander he conquered as many Nations as hee saw, wheresoever he came, his Saviour followed him: and therefore his stay was not so long any where, his travailes more frequent and farther then those of others: in labours more abundant he was, and in iourneying often, 2. Cor. 11.23.26. For God blest him with such as would pull out their owne eyes in his behalfe: their owne eyes, not his such as had humility enough to learne, had not pride e­nough to teach the Apostle: such as believed his eyes so much, that they thought they had no vse of their owne, Galat. 4.15. heare therefore the word of the Lord, yee that tremble at his word, Esa. 66.3. as if none were fit to heare but such, the rest not worth the looking after, as indeede they are not: for to him will I looke that trembleth at my word: such I will looke after, and I will not looke after those, that are not such; in the second verse of that chap­ter.

2 Paral. 6.3.2 Standing is a posture of attention, the posture of hearers; when Ezra opened the Law, all the people stood vp, Nehem. 8.5. there is no duty oftner en­ioyned then this: Foure times in two chapters, the second and the third of the Apocalypse; nay foure times in one chapter, the fiue and fiftieth of Esaiah: more, three times in one line, giue eare, and come vnto mee, hearken, and your soule shall liue. Heauen [Page 7] is the reward of your attention, hell of your scorne, in the third verse of that chapter: behold I stand at the doore and knocke, if any man heare my voice, and open the doore, I will come in: behold, because hee knocks not often, for hee that stands is going away: especially if he stand at the doore without a shelter; if he stand only to knocke, and not to knocke nei­ther, after he is sleighted; this were to awake the deafe, or speake to the dumbe, Apocal. 3.20.

But Lord, who hath believed our report, or to whom hath the arme of the Lord beene revealed? Where are those throngs now, and presses vpon Christ? Where is that early comming in the Gospell? how soone are wee vp to sport, and how late to pray?Luke. 21.38. Io. 8.2. how small in many places, is the gleaning of their Churches to the vintage of their Citties? how low is the ebbe in those courts of the Lord, when tis full sea in their Streets?Psal. 50.17. how doe we looke the Priest in the face, and cast his words behind our backs, as David complaines? his ordinary entertainement resembling that of Musique,Ezek. 33.32. which serues only to fill our eares, when discourse is done. Good women there were, which consecrated their looking glasses to the tabernacle, Exod. 38.8. and will yee know, how ye may doe so now? By vsing [...]ther [...] Bible on the Sunday, and comming hither with halfe a dresse, then losing halfe a prayer. Wherefore li­bera ab homine malo, saith David, that is à meipso saith S. Aug. deliver me from my selfe ô God, that [Page 8] I may come hither, and from my selfe, while I am here; from my covetous selfe, least the thought of my purchase shut out my Lord; & from my proud selfe, when he honours, or worships me; from my malitious selfe, when an injury heates my bloud; and from my wanton selfe, when the assembly dis­closes a beauty, a well attired piece of hansome clay; from my intemperate selfe, when the thought of Aegypt brings on mee a lothing of Canaan; and from my prophane selfe, when some incarnate Sa­tan assailes my attention, by whispering in his vani­ties at my eares, and clothing his Atheisme with the Scripture.

3 Standing is a posture of action, the posture of servants: GehaZi went in, and stood before his Ma­ster; the readier therefore to come, or goe at his command, 2. Reg. 5.25. Practice is the life of atten­tion, and he that heares, but does not, is a monster in religion, that hath two eares, and no hands. The Iews were taught this by their meates, and the Ce­remoniall law was but a shadow of the Morall. What poysonous temper in the hare? What dan­gerous nourishment in the swine? Why might they not as freely feede on the rabbet, as the sheepe? Or what Philosophy makes the goate more whol­some then the crab or the swan? he shewed by this, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of thee: thy effeminatenesse is forbidden in the hare; which changeth his sexe, as Gesner writes, and is, [Page 9] at severall times, both hee and shee: and thy lazi­nesse in the downe of theLevit. 11.18 Deut. 14.16. Cygnum se­cundum Vulg. Sept Vatabl. Ariam. Mont. Anglican. no­vissimam: alij aliter reddunt vt Tremel. Leo Iudas, Munster, Ca­stal. Swan. Thy oppression is interdicted in the Eagle, and thy drunkennesse in the Swine. Thy gluttons prey on Cormorants, and thy night-walkers on owles: for God instructed them what they should doe, by what they might eate, and every prohibited meate was a menace a­gainst sinne; Or least this light should seeme too dimme, he describes the same with the raies of the Sunne: hee that lifteth not his eyes to idolls, defileth not his neighbours wife, spoileth none by violence, giues not vpon vsury, restoreth the pledge, bestowes his bread on the hungry, walketh in my statutes, hee shall surely liue: he is not just that hath faith, vnlesse he haue workes too, nor doth the Gospell saue without the law, Ezek. 18.6.7.8. 'tis S. Aug: Cont. Faust. l. 22. c. 24. speech of the ancient Prophets, illorum non tantum lin­guam, sed vitam fuisse Propheticam: that they pro­phecied as well by their liues as their writings, and their sixe daies contain'd a commentary on the seaventh. For if I cry the Temple of the Lord, but obey not the Lord of the Temple, and am like that Idoll in Daniel, that had his head of gold, and his feete of clay; If I runne vpon a precipice, while my eyes are open, and the light of my profession se [...] me not to keepe mee vp, but to shew how dangerous I fell; if I am only Sermon-sicke, while I am rockt in a Church-tempest abroad, and presently recouer a­gaine, as soone as Hye at hull at home; If my voice [Page 10] be Iacobs, but my hands Esau's, and I weare Elias mantle without his spirit; if I acknowledge God with my tongue, but deny him in my life, professe a Christian, and liue a Pagan, goe from Church to a brothelhouse, joyne the spirit of Chastity and the spirit of whoredomes together, the holy, and vnholy Ghost, Christ and Belial, the Temple of God, and the Temple of Divells; if I runne to Heauen one day, to hell sixe, and contradict the truth of my Sermons by the errour of my life, what the Pro­phet said to Amaziah, the Priest may say to mee: I know that the Lord hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not heark­ned to my counsell, 2. Chron. 25.16.

Neverthelesse, when the Sonne of man shall come, will he find faith on earth, saith our Saviour, Luc. 18.8?C. 2.18. qui­dam discipuli cuiusdam Al­marici nomine studentes Pa­rifiis dixerunt quod illud quod alias est peccatum mortale, vt stuprum, fa­ctum in chari­tate non est peccatum condemnati & combusti: ad sin. Lomb. c. 29. yes: faith enough, but no workes. Faith that remoues mountaines, that pulls downe Churches, and clothes not the poore: faith that hates Idolls, and loues Sacriledge, a tunne of faith for a dramme of charity, shew me thy faith by thy workes, saith S. Iames, not so, my workes must be judged by my faith: to the pure all things are pure; and if God see my faith, he is not angry with my sinnes; my tree must be esteemed by the leaues, not by the fruit; and my watch must rule the Sunne: heretiques there were, stiled by the Church praedestinati, which presumed vpon a fatallity of their election, and would needs haue Heauen promised, without the [Page 11] condition of workes: for they dreamt of a convey­ance without a proviso, and thought themselues a­ble to ascend Iacobs Ladder, without climbing by the rounds. But such as make themselues of Gods counsell, are vsually none of his friends: hee will professe himselfe a stranger to these intruders, and a friend to those which observed their distance: to those that said we haue eaten with thee, I know you not: but such as said, when saw wee thee hungry, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gaue thee drinke? Come yee blessed of my Father, inherit a Kingdome; these which pretended least acquaintance, were those onely which observed him, Math. 25.34. where is the Wise? Where is the Scribe? Where is the dispu­ter of this World, 1. Cor. 1.20.? surely neither in Heauen, nor here. The feare of God was amongst these, this feare wrought respect; this respect atten­tion, this attention obedience: and all this, because they more observed what God said, then searched what he was: they were neere enough to receiue his command, but not neere enough to pry into his na­ture: neere enough to obey, but not neere enough to see him. God commanded them to stand off, and therefore they stood a farre off; their humble di­stance from God, and my second generall.

2 God was vnwilling the people should forget themselues, and therefore shadowed forth this du­ty so often, in Paradice; by permitting Adam, the tree of life, and interdicting the tree of know­ledge, [Page 12] to shew hee rather desires to make vs Saints, then Rabbies, or Doctors. In the wildernesse, Moses was hardly permitted a glimpse, or dawning of his glory, & what red sea hast thou diuided, what Mul­titudes hast thou fed from heauē, or water'd out of a rocke, that thou shouldste looke as high as he? At the giuing of the law, that King-priest only entred the clouds, Aron came almost to it; the Elders far­ther of; and at a remoter site the people: Limits are defined, and if they transgresse these; if they breake through to gaze on God, they must die, in the nine­teenth of this story, at the one and twentieth verse. In the seruice of the Tabernacle, who were conuer­sant but the Leuites? who carried, who kept, who couered, who vncouered but these? in the disposall of the Tabernacle, the Laity had a distinct court from the Priests, as anciently in the Church, the chancell as appropriated to the Clergy; the rest to the people.Hence com­munio Laica, from the place, vid. So­zomen. l. 7. c. 24. Theodoret. l. 5. c. 16.17. 1. Reg. 6.31.33. In the building of the temple, the doore into the oracle, was but a fifth part of the wall, in the Kings, that into the Sanctum a fourth; to shew, that more come into the Church, then vn­to the Arohe many tread the Courts of the Lord, that were never admitted to his counsell. In the waters of the Sanctuary, that rose to the ankles for the people, and when they were swollen aboue the loynes, became too deepe for the Priests. In the law, communicated to all; the Cabala, as the Rab­bies say, or traditionall exposition, from God to [Page 13] Moses onely, and from Moses onely to the seuen­ty: for although Mirandula tell vs,Apology for his 900 con­clusions. that Sixtus the fourth procured the translation of this, and call God to witnesse, that he read there the Misteryes of our faith, as clearely vnfolded, as if S. Matthew, or S. Luke had deliuered it, not as a paraphrase on the law, but a commentary on the Gospell: yet we know, from Esdras, 2 Esd. 14.45.46. what a concealement this Ca­bala was vnder what Hierogliphicks the Trinity, and the resurrection, and the life, to come; and the Messiah lay buried vnder the law: how generall and implicite the faith of S. Peter, and Martha, and the Eunuch, and those worthies to the Hebrewes was: which occasioned that hesitancy at Ephesus, Math. 16.16.17. Io. 11.27. Act. 8.37. c. 11. Act. 19. Act. 15.21.20. Mar. 6.11.13. c. 9.10. c. 8.31.32. Luc. 24.11. c. 9.44.45. Ioh. 10.9. Mat. 16.10.17.22. concerning the reality of the Holy Ghost: that consistency for a time of the law, and the Gospell together, Moses and Christ: that irresolution of the Apostles, about the passion, and the resurrection, and the ascention of our Lord: that designe of all vpon the externall glory of a temporall Dominion, admitting no Soueraignty of God, vnles he change his crosse into a throne, his reede into a scepter. In the glory of our Sauiour on the mount, where Mo­ses and Elias attended him: in his bloudy sweate in the garden, where an Angell comforted him, be­yond the ken of the multitude, with the priuity only of Peter, Iames, and Iohn. In their diet, Milke, 1. Cor. 3.2. 1. Pet. 2.2. Ioh. 21.15.16.17. and not meate, easy positiue divinity: in their appel­lations, lambes and sheepe; the in apprehensiuest crea­tures [Page 14] of any: Children and Babes, which moue not a foote, but by the direction of a hand; and sooner cry for what offends, then what profits them; for poyson, then an Antidote. In the essentiall measure of faith:Rom. 12.9. Ioh. 17.3. no larger then a verse in ^s S. Pauls Creede: if thou confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus, and belieue with thy heart, that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt bee saved: no larger then a verse in ^t S. Iohns;Ioh. 4.13.2. c. 5.15. this is life eternall, that they might know thee, the only true God, and whom thou hast sent, Iesus Christ: nor much larger in that of all the A­postles, being dilated thus in that [...]. Catech. 4. [...]. Epiphan. in exp. fid. ca­tech. n. 19. ed. Petau. regula fidei. Aug. ser. 181. de temp. clauis caelorū. Amb. Ser. 38. de Ieiun. & quadrag. sin. foundation of faith, as Cyrill of Ierusalem, Epiphanius, and S. Ambrose call it; in futurae praedicationis normam, saith S. Aug. as the compasse and square of their Sermons, that all might beate those paths to Heaven easier, by tracing the same steps; and teach but one, though they went severall waies: for the Apostles is but an exposition of S. Pauls; and S. Iohns Creed, the Nicene, and Athanasian, but a paraphrase on this, saith [...]. Catech. 4. [...]. Epiphan. in exp. fid. ca­tech. n. 19. ed. Petau. regula fidei. Aug. ser. 181. de temp. clauis caelorū. Amb. Ser. 38. de Ieiun. & quadrag. sin. AZor: the same faith in weight, and sub­stance, though not in bulke or size: as 'tis the same piece in a bullet and a sheete of gold; that being throng'd into a mould, which beaten and expan­ded by an Artificer, may anon cover and gild all the leaues of my Bible.

But ô the vnnaturall Chimistry of this age! how infinite are the extractions from this simple, this single breviary? What seas are derived from this [Page 15] drop? Into how generall a flame haue those fiery breathes blowne this sparke? How soone hath a­vapour, when once it came to a hand, like that in the Kings, raged into a cloud, and this cloud grown too big for Heaven? How haue some resolved all the heresies S. Aug. or Epiphanius, or Philastrius mentions, all those disputes, which disquiet the World, into this quintessence, this spirit of faith: and thence as if that Catechisme in our Liturgy were not long enough to reach from Earth to Hea­ven, haue cast into the mint of the Church the drosse of their owne phansies, and lead their Cate­chumeni through all the Romane, and the Belgicke controversies, as disquisition of necessary beliefe,De vit. Const. or at. et he warnes them, [...]. giuing way to the saucy liberty of their tongues and pens, against all our Ecclesiasticall Hierarchies, for interdicting such Polemicall discourses in po­pular assemblies (which yet is no more then Con­stantine in Eusebius did) with those Mutiners inNum. 16.3.14. Numbers, yee put out the eyes of the assembly, yee take too much vpon you Moses and Aron, and forsaking the waters of Siloe, that mildly and ge­nerally flowe in the radicall Doctrines of our Church, reioyce only in Rezin and Remaliahs sonne, which alwaies angle in the troubled waters of Iury, and would faine translate the Throne of Israel to Damascus from Samaria? Nay haue they not char­ged her wisdome with sloth and Apostasie too, be­cause shee will not impose an absolute faith vpon [Page 16] the aiery proiections of their distempered braines: because themselues cannot bee believed in as well as God: because she thinkes heaven was made for some besides; because shee feares their clamo­rous zeale might at length importune such assem­blies for the anathematization of ego currit, and tu currit, like those at the end of Lombard, if a Sy­nod should be called for such: but I must tell them, that as S. Paul saith,Ephes. 4.4.5. there is but one God; so hee saith there is but one faith too: and Physitians tell vs, Pa­racelsus administred as much in a drop, as Galen in a pottle: nor can there be any other way to Heaven, then what hath beene troden from the Apostles: neither circumcision, Gal. 6.15. nor vncircumcision, but a new creature, saith the Doctor of the Gentiles: neither Controversie, nor Schoole-Divinity, but a new life, say I. God intends not to lay traps for my soule in such nicities as these: nor will I make that yoke hea­vy, which himselfe made easie & light. It will not be said,Mat. 11.30. at the last assise, come ye blessed, for ye haue dis­puted, for ye haue preacht, for yee haue vnderstood well: but I was naked, & ye clothed me, I was hungry and yee fed me, I was sicke and yee visited me, in the Gospell of S. Matthew. I shall not bee iudged by my writings,C. 25.34. but by my workes: deuotion will then turne the scale against learning; an ounce of goodnesse out-weighe [...] a pound of talke. And I must tell them againe, if they direct to those hap­py regions, they haue discouered a north-west pas­sage [Page 17] thither; a passage concealed from the ancient; a passage our Sauiour, and S. Paul knew not. When S. Peter enquires, Lord what shall this man doe? The Lords reply is only a reproofe, What is that to thee, Ioh. 21.22. And when the twelue demaunde, Lord wilt thou at this time restore the kingdome to Israel? Hee returnes no resolution, but a checke: come you may to that kingdome aboue, and yet neuer come to such curiositie belowe: a sauing voy­age may bee made by the Merchandize of iuory and gold, without fraiting your vessells thus with Apes and Peacocks: I will not tell you, because it is not for you to know, Act. 1.7. but when the young man enquired. What shall I doe, that I may haue E­ternall life, when he seekes for nothing but this, how plaine then, how gently doth he runne? noe clouds, nor ecclipse there, but he writes his minde with the light of the Heavens; if thou wilt enter in­to life keepe the commandements; hee saith vnto him, which? Iesus said vnto him, these: he answeres to ne­cessary queries, to impertinent hee answeres not: speakes nothing but mysts and stormes, when their demaunds are curious; nothing but light & smiles, when their demands are requisite: hee that would not shew his disciples, when they should be delive­red, will shew this stranger how he may bee saved Mat. 19.17.18. And when the Apostle is prest with some cobweb divinity, the Holy Ghosts stubble and straw, that fuell for the last fire in the first Epi­stle [Page 18] to the Corinthians; the frothy agitations of vn­quiet heads, materialls vile in themselues, costly a­lone in the texture, but strawn hats, where the la­bour may be worth a pound, the stuffe not worth a farthing: he only controles their folly: ô man, who art thou that repliest against God? Rom. 9.20. bids them be amazed and wounder, ô the depth of the wisdome and knowledge of God: in the eleaventh of that Epistle, at the three and thirtieth verse! but when the foundations are destroyed, what should the righteous doe but lighten and thunder? as he doth e­very very where against the drunkard, the murderer; the fornicator, and tells them, that whatsoever their pleasure, or content may be on earth, they can ex­pect no inheritance in Heaven. God requires more practice then most men haue, lesse knowledge then most men brag of. Tis but a confessing with the mouth the Lord Iesus, and a believing in the heart, in the tenth of the same Epistle at the ninth verse: nay 'tis but a calling on the name of the Lord, at the 13. verse. For his part therefore hee'le not distract them with any needlesse speculations, his intent be­ing not to puzle, but to saue them, in the first verse of that chapter: and ô that there were such a heart in this people, saith God, that they would endure sa­pientius stulte scere, as S. Greg. speakes, this foolish­nesse of preaching, this knowing nothing saue Iesus Christ, and him crucified, watring themselues with the streames of Nile, without searching after the [Page 19] head. For it is vsually seene when a man runnes on the discovery of some newer, some neater way then the ordinary rode, he meetes with briars & ditches, and so falls short of his journey. Wherefore I ra­ther like that Mercury, which directs me the strait­est, the neerest cut, then the other which leades mee about through Gardens, & Meadowes, and had ra­ther meete with durt in the way, then out of it with violets and roses. I am content to be saved, and de­sire others should be so too: and therefore I say to my hearers, turne from your evill waies, for why will ye dye, ô ye house of Isarel? To my selfe, ô wret­ched man that I am, who shall deliver mee from this body of sinne? To Priest and People, come let vs walke, not let vs discourse in the light of the Lord: to God for all, turne vs o Lord, so shall wee bee tur­ned, thou wilt turne vs so, that we shall neede turn­ing no more: or, least we should, when we are tur­ned, draw vs too, so shall we runne after thee; doe not leade vs, doe not follow our humors; bring vs not that easy speculatiue way wee like, (for then we shall never come to thee) but draw vs that hard, that nar­row way, the way of obedience and practice: Who is sufficient for these things, saith S. Paul? the Apo­stle was not, how then am I? Why should my ig­norance presume farther then Aron did, or thinke to view the face of God, when Moses saw onely his hinder parts; to gaze on this sunne, when he saw nothing but a cloud? And Moses drew neere vnto the thicke darknesse where God was.

[Page 20]3 Moses as an extraordinary Priest (for the hereditary succession resided in the posterity of A­ron) discharged the parts of an agent, and did both carry and recarry betwixt Earth and Heaven: a Master of Requests he was to God, the peoples pe­titions were his lading vp an Embassadour he was from God, the Lords commands were his carriage downe, as our Saviour prayed on the Mount, and preacht in the villages of Iury.

1 The approximation therefore, or immediate­nesse of the Priests accesse,Exod. 4.16. depends in the first place vpon their employment vpwards: they haue his eares before the rest, because they are the mouthes of the rest; and designed from God to commence the suites of the people. For, although the eyes of the Lord are ouer the righteous, whatsoeuer those righteous are: and his cares are open to their prayers, Psal. 34.14. wheresouer those prayers are made: euery faithfull soule in the world, being a Priest; euery angle of the world a Temple & an Altar; yet are his eares more open,2. Chron. 6.20. his eyes more attent to the pray­ers here, & a Collect from the Priests mouth goes further, then a Liturgie from the peoples: as the blessing of any is good, but the blessing of my pa­rents is better,Psal. 110.4. and when that Priest after the order of Melchizedech had sanctified the diet, euery crumme was augmented into a batch; euery fish multiplied into a shole; nor was the assembly fed, but feasted. His presence is indeede euery where, [Page 21] but his residence especially there, and though his essence be diffused through Heauen and Earth in Ie­remy; his glory, in Exodus, C. 23.24. is peculiar to the Ta­bernacle; the ladder which Iacob saw,C. 40.34. that ascent & descent of Angels, that thorough-fare betwixt earth and heauen, was at Bethel, the house of God;Gen. 28.12. and in Iury, the propitiatory or mercy-seate was onely in the Temple: which occasiond that generall con­course thither, vnder any pressure or calamity,Exod. 9.18. men vsing vs, as fruit-trees are vsed by vs, which wee cudgell in the sunne, and runne to for shelter, in a storme: pray for me, saith Pharaoh to Moses: Act. 8.24. Pray for me, saith Simon Magus to the Apostles: Let thē pray ouer him, saith S. Iames: though I may,C. 5.14.15. and must come by my selfe, my comming by these is more effectuall, as my suite is lesse gratious to my Prince from ordinary hands, then his Secretaries; because the way is by such Mediators, as best know how to bespeake the King, and when.

2 And, as the approximation or immediate­nes of the Priests accesse depends, in the first place, vpon their employment vpwards, so doth it in the second vpon their employment downwards, ac­cording to their double aspect, on God and the people. They are his Stewards: So S. Paul calls them in one place,1. Cor. 4.1. Stewards to discharge vs of our seruice to locke heauen against vs; and Stewards to admitt vs into seruice againe, to vnlocke heauen for vs: The gates of hell shall not prevaile against such as [Page 22] keepe these keyes of heauen, in the 16 of S. Mat­thew: and, what neede I a safer conduct, a surer warrant then this? they are his Embassadours, so S. Paul calls them in a second;2. Cor. 5.20. and with Moses in this story, must deliuer man in the Tabernacle, what on Sina they receiue from God; and by whom may we expect the Kings minde, if not by the Kings Em­bassadour? Act. 20.27. they are his Counsellours, so S. Paul calls them in a third; and, as they are designed to Thrones hereafter, in the Euangelist; so are they, in the A­postle,Math. 19.28. 1. Cor. 6.1.2. to Tribunalls here: They are his Friends, so our Sauiour calles them in a fourth; the Lord doth nothing which he reueales not to such, saith the Ho­ly Ghost; that is, nothing which concernes them, or others to know: Seruants are strangers to their Lords actions, friends are not: Seruants must not interpret their counsells, friends may, Iohn. 15.15. I wish from my heart, as Moses did, That all the Lords people were Prophets, and that the Lord would powre out his spirit vpon them: But I wish, they would forbeare prying into the Arke, with the Be­thshemites, till then:1 Cor. 16.19. that all would not preach, which can speake: and, because S. Paul calls euery family a Church, would not turne euery tables end, into a Pulpit: That the feet in this body would not presume to see, nor the hands to speake: that the clew of predestination might not be reel'd vp at the spindle, nor the decrees of God vnraualled at the lome: That our Lay-divines would see themselues, [Page 23] as well as the Clergy; leauing with Iehosaphat, and Valentinian, and Constantine, and Martian, and Iu­stinian, the disputes of religion to the decision of the Church: that the people would not presume be­yond their bounds, least the Lord breake forth vpon them, as he threatens in the former chapter; nor, with VZZa, sustaine the Arke with vnlawfull hands, though to the diffidence of their indiscreti­on, it seeme in danger of falling: this is the employ­ment of Moses and Aron, nor is the whole congrega­tion so holy, as it seemes: ye take too much vpon you yee sonnes of Reuben: wherefore get yee out of the San­ctuary, for ye haue trespassed; neither shall it bee for your honour from the Lord, 2. Chron. 26.18.

And if any now say of Ierusalem,Psal. 137.7. as formerly Edom did, downe with it, downe with it, even to the ground; I must pray against this Atheisme, as Mo­ses did, arise ô Lord; into thy resting place, thou, and the arke of thy strength: thou hast said, this shall bee thy rest for ever, and, ô Lord, let it ever be so. Twas the Sacrilegious zeale of those times, What vse haue wee of Churchmen now? Who ever wore a Cope for armour, or in a pitcht-field exchanged a head-peece for a Miter? And my reply shall be that of Moses to the Rebells, seemeth it a small thing vn­to you, that the God of Israel hath separated these from the congregation of Israel, to bring them neere to himselfe, to doe the service of the Tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to mini­ster [Page 24] vnto them? Num. 16.9. there is vse of these, while there are prayers to be heard, or sinnes to bee pardon'd, or God to be served, or men to be saved. Those onely haue no vse of these Liegers, that de­sire no correspondency, or intercourse with Hea­ven: fewer victories haue beene won by swords then by prayers; and therefore in most of Iuries warres, the Arke followed the Campe, the ensigne was attended with the Ephod: my Father, my Fa­ther, 2. Reg. 2.12. the Chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof, saith Elisha to Eliah: Lay-devotions are the infan­tery, the foote; but the strength of the battell, the Chariots & the horse are the oraisons of the Cler­gy: the land was better secured by this man of peace, then those men of warre; nor was it Ioshuahs hand overcame Amalek,Nah. 1.15. Am. 5.18. but Moses prayer: the day of the Lord, saith the Prophet, is darknesse; all wee see of him being evening and night, a perception onely that wee cannot see him; and who walkes safely in the darke, without the guidance of a light? For how gloomy a midnight is this to thee, that was a thicke darknesse to Moses? the limitation of his accesse, and my fourth generall.

4 The Lord concealed not himselfe only from Moses in thicke darknesse, but threatned also in lightning and thunder; and although he climb'd the Mount by especiall command; and that to receiue the Law by his appointment, and the Cabala or ex­position, as the Rabbies say, to dispense such funda­mentall [Page 25] truths on earth, which might conveigh them to Heaven being entertained as an Embassa­dour extraordinary by the joynt-commission of God, and the people, rated him yet out of a ^a tem­pest too: Moses being rapt out of himselfe,So doth [...] signify the word of the 70, & the A­postle. Heb. 12.18. [...]. Arist. by the assault of a suddaine, and impetuous winde; for no­thing so much hinders the sight, and apprehension as this: The Lord admits him not into his presence, while he is himselfe, least hee should fall a longing for his glory, as once he did; nor must he discourse with God, while he is Moses.

And all this to shew, what Cato afterwards said, rebus divinis magnam inesse caliginem; that the na­ture & counsells of God are not only a great depth, as David calls them, but a thicke darknesse besides; deepe and darke too: so to the best eyes: his foot-steps vnknowne to the Psalmist, that continually traced them; his wayes vnsearchable to S. Paul, that was rapt into the third Heaven, and to Moses, that talkt with God: so in one aspect, and yet not so in another: for religion is meate and milke, 1. Cor. 3.12.3 saith the Apostle; and hath provision both for men and babes: there are arcana Dei, secret things, that be­long vnto the Lord; and there are revelata Dei, 1. Tim. 3.15.9. Heb. 3.3.5.6.1.2.5. c. 4.17. Ephes. 2.21. re­vealed things, that belong to vs. Every faithfull soule is a building, and every true Church a house, saith the holy Ghost: Wherefore as in a house, so in the Church, like the foundation and the pillars, some are necessary or essentiall parts and some are [Page 26] like the imagery or sculpture, vnnecessary and ac­cidentall: there ensues no ruine of the pile vpon the absence of those; no hazard to the soule on the igno­rance of these.Quid opus est vt vel affir­mentur, vel negentur vel definiantur cum discrimi­ne, quae sine discrimine nesciuntur. Aug Ench. ad Laur. c. 59. Psal. 119.105 2. Pet. 1.19. Every man hath eyes for one, but every man hath not eyes for the other; and what an Artizan values at a talent, I may not prize at a Crowne: thy word is a light vnto my feete saith Da­vid; and a light shining in a darke place, saith S. Peter; it discovers essentiall, radicall truths to my faith; as this doth present greater obiects to my sight, a bed, or a table, a cubbord, or a stoole: but it disco­vers not metaphysicall, accidentall truths, as this shewes not the lesse, a cobweb, an atome, a gnat, or a pin. I vse a light to search for bookes, or mony; I vse not a light to search for a haire, or fly. God being to vs in our journey to heaven, as he was to Is­rael, in their journey to Canaan: where we need di­rection, a fire; where wee need no direction a cloud; a fire by night, and a cloud by day.

And as according to that modesty of the Hebrew prouerbe, the expectation of Elias must adiourne our longings in accessories, or superstructions; so must it after some circumstantiall respects, in sub­stantialls and fundamentalls too: for although we know as much as wee must, because it were vnrea­sonable to inuite vs to heauen, without shewing the way; wee know not as much as wee may; because God is a voluntary glasse, and discloses him­selfe no further then he will: some he brings by [Page 27] the Peripherie, or bowe; others by the Diameter, or string: as the same Period was but a few weekes iourney, when Israel went for the necessary proui­sion of bread; many yeeres pilgrimage, when Israell lusted for the vnnecessary curiosity of flesh, being led thus from Marah to Rephidim, from Rephidim, to Meribah, from thence to Taberah, from the heate & bitternesse of one contention to another, till at length, after many discontented and wrangling steppes, the children grew wiser by the misery of their Fathers; and, with the price of their bloud purchased the inheritance of Canaan. For as euery profession is a mistery, so is religion too;Rom. 16.25. nor am I commanded to beleiue, what I am able to know: the birth of God is a mystery, saith S. Paul here;1. Cor. 2.7. and the death of God a mystery, saith the same Apo­stle there; the Sacrament a mystery, in a third place;C. 4.1. C. 15.51. and the resurrection a mystery, in a fourth; our ele­ction in Christ a mystery, now, & our vnion with Christ a mystery then; God the Father a mystery, Ephes. 3.9. C. 5.32. in this place; and God the sonne a mystery in another. And yet I am the bright morning Starre, Colos. 2.2. C. 4.3. saith our Sauiour, which all see, but such as are asleepe: and his comming brought the day with it, in S. Luke. C. 1.28. Exposed to all eyes, but such as are shut. Behold I shew you a mystery, 1. Cor. 15.51. saith S. Paul to the Corinthi­ans; A mystery, and yet shewen. Great is the my­stery of godlinesse, God was manifested in the flesh, 1. Tim. 3.16. saith S. Paul to Timothy. A mystery, and yet ma­nifest [Page 28] too. The [...] is plaine, that they are so; but the [...] is not, why they are so; the [...] is not, how they are so; nor the [...] what they are: mysteries all, in respect of the manner; &, yet no mysteries in respect of the matter; how they were done, is a my­stery; that they were done, is none. For example I beleiue the generation of the Sonne, without the Father; the continuation of a virgin, with the con­ception of a mother: I beleiue the procession of the Holy Ghost from God, which is yet but one es­sence with God; that he came forth, and yet is all­wayes there: I beleiue two natures in one hyposta­sis; one, and yet another: I beleiue the Omnipoten­cy of God created all out of nothing, and that the same can resolue all into nothing againe: I beleiue all receiued beginning from that God which is without beginning; to whom the infinite vastnesse of heauen and earth is but a point; those euerlasting successions of ages but an instant; that was not ye­sterday, nor shall not be to morrow; but yesterday and to morrow, before the world and after the world eternally I am. In aeternum & vltra. Vulg. Exod. 15.18. a day of eternity, which God enioyes. 2. Pet. 3.18. I beleiue this body shall liue, after it is dead, and laugh at Plato for defending a reuolution, and yet not seeing a resurrection. I be­leiue, though I barre my dores I locke not my God in: though I close my windowes, I shut not my God out. If I seeke to lose him in a Labyrinth by vnchast embraces, hee wants no clew to finde mee there: if I flee into the wildernesse by a solitary sin, [Page 29] he needes no perspectiue to discouer me here: that he is in my closet, when I exchange him for a bribe; and in my bed, when I wish him out. That he is as essentially in that place, where I provoke him by my drunkennesse, as I that am drunke; & the onely reason, why my surfets bespatter him not, is not because this wants pollution, but because he wants dimension: not because this falls where hee is not, but because it falls, where he is without a body. But how aLicet scire quod natus sit non licet dis­cutere quomo­do natus sit. ex Ambros. Lomb. sent. l. 1. d. 9. a. 7. Pater de seip­so genuit illud quod ipse est. Lomb. Sent. 1. d. 5. a. 4. Deus pater genuit deū, quà non Pater, est d. 4. a. 2. c. d. 19. a. 9. Son without a Father, how a virgin, & yet a mother; how the Creatour of all was borne, or God should die. How the Holy Ghost came from the Father, and yet may not be called the Sonne of the Father; how he descended thence, and yet is all­wayes there: What the Diuine essence is, how it is communicated, the formall cause by which one re­ceiues from another: How the Father himselfe begat that which is himselfe; & yet God the father begat God which is not the Father: How the Persons are the Tri­nity, and yet no Person is a part of the Trinity: How there is one essence of Vna essentia trium perso­narum, & tres personae vnius essen­tiae non Deus triùm perso­narum, vel tres personae vnius Dei. d. 34. a. 5. three Persons, & three Persons of one essence; and yet not one God of three Persons, or three Persons of one God. 3. Sent. d. 21. a. 1. d. 22. a. 4. How the Deity was vnited to the flesh by the mediation of the soule: & yet was not divided from the flesh, by the separation of the soul: how all the world together can but make some thing of some thing, & yet God made all the world of nothing: How this body of mine shall first be earth, & thē grasse; then digested by wormes, & then [Page 30] incorporated into man: how I shall haue my owne flesh, & he that eates me, shall haue it too at the last day. How the Lord can be [...], & yet not [...] or [...]: How he was not, and yet is eternall, is e­verlasting, and yet shall not be. How euery where, and yet without expansion; of an infinite presence, without an infinite place. Here I say with Lombard out of Hilarie,Lomb. 1. sent. d. 12. a. 5. D. 32. a. 2.9. d. 33. a. 5. Et si sensu non percipiam teneo consci­entiâ; I beleiue though I cannot see, and there, that they are, Nimiae profunditatis altitudines, & insolu­biles, sensumquè superantes humanum; beyond my reason,Sent. 4. d. 22. a. 2. Sent. 3. d. 2. a. 2. Sent. 1. d. 4. a. 2. d. 2. a. 1. d. 31. a. 4. D. 19. a. 14. d. 40. a. 3. lib. 4. d. 43. a. 5. Sent. 4. d. 48. a. 5. though not against it. Tis enough for mee, Micas edere sub mensa domini, & indignum soluere corrigiam; in one place. And I call them Garrulos ra­tiocinatores, which forfeit thus their interest in the tree of life, by this sinfull affectation of the tree of knowledge, in another, now I tell them, I had ra­ther heare others, then my selfe; and Fateor me ig­norare, I know that I know not, anon. Say I am that I am hath sent me, saith God to Moses; or, if thy curiosity desire more, know tis beyond thy reach, doe not venture thy wings about this flame; as my name is secret, so is my nature infinite, thou canst not know, that thou canst not; for I am that I am, no matter to thee, Exod. 3.14. Credo quia impossi­bile, saith Tertull. I beleiue it is so, because it is im­possible it should bee so; and learne by reading to speake more timerously, but not more vnderstand­ingly of God. For the Lutheran Churches haue [Page 31] better preserued the honour of the Altar by the generality of their Con, then the Romane by the particularity of their Trans; Kech. syst. Theolog. although ile iustify nei­ther; and that Systematist, in his demonstration of the Trinity, by making it so easy, hath made some of his country perchance beleiue there is none: nor is it alike profitable to the Church to deliuer a Ra­tionale in matters of faith, as in matters of fact;Mat. 7.29. to teach with authority, as our Sauiour did, is safest here; for he that speakes thus, giues commands, but giues no reason of his commands, sayes tis so, but sayes not why. This labour might be spared by such as write the truth of religion, it being not the way to Christen infidells, out to make infidells of Chri­stians: for in things of this nature, Piscatoribus credo, non dialecticis, they are the obiect of my faith, be­cause incompetible with my reason. I was not won by the sages of Athens, but by the refuse of Iury, not convinced by a Phylosopher, but caught by a Fisher.

Nor is this for want of light in God, but for want of sight in vs; and therefore as he is called the Father of lights in one Apostle; so is hee say'd to dwell in that light, which no man can approache vnto in another. The darknesse is vnder his feete belowe,Ia. 1.17. Io. 1.5. 1. Tim. 6.16. 2. Esd. 4. Io. 6.46. not about his throne aboue; when tis midnight in respect of vs, tis no one in respect of him▪ while that gloominesse is about him, brightnesse at the same time is before him, Psal. 18.9.11.12. So that as the Sunne is neuer the lesse visible, though my weake­nesse [Page 32] dare not looke on it; for though I cannot, the Eagle can. Or as the earth is naturally moueable, al­though it neuer moued yet. God laid not the foun­dations thereof that it should not be moueable, but that it should not moue, sayth the Psalmist: and ther­fore Archimedes thought he had Art enough to doe it, could he finde a place for his Engine: that wan­ted not possibility to suffer, but he wanted ability to act it. So are these mysteries visible, though not seene, comprehensible though not vnderstood. The default is not in the obiect, but in the intellect, nor for want of light, but of eyes. For, as it is impossi­ble to sound the sea with my bandstring, or mea­sure the world with an Ell; because whatsoeuer measures, must bee equall to that which is measu­red; or, to come neerer, as my eye hath a spheare of actiuity, sees at once, but thus farre, and no far­ther: and my eare hath a spheare of actiuity, heares some founds at once, and no more: and my touch hath a spheare of actiuity, feeles some obiects now, and no other; and my tast hath a spheare of actiui­ty, can distinguish this, at this time, and not that: and my smell hath a spheare of actiuity, receiues but single odours at this instant, cannot (with di­stinction) receiue seuerall; there being limits defi­ned, to euery sense, beyond which they cannot worke: euery one receiuing obiects, and species, according to the proportion of their nature and condition. In like manner, my vnderstanding being [Page 33] of a finite, and determinate capacity, can receiue no imagination or idea but what is finite and determi­nate, and therefore is of too narrow a size, or bore to comprehend the secrets, and infinitude of God. I am the Sunne of righteousnesse, sayth God;Mat. 4.2. and our God is a consuming fire, sayth the Apostle.Heb. 12.29. I am per­mitted to know [...], the hinder parts of God, in the heauen and earth, the volumes of his creatures; which therefore, at the last day, shall bee gathered together as a scrowle, because I shall then see him as he is, face to face. I may enioy the light, while I looke obliquely on the Sunne, and secure­ly become warme, at a competent distance from the fire; but if I pry into the mysteries of the Trinity, if I fathome the abysse of his judgements, if I thrust away the hand that covers my eyes, if I desire to out face the one, or enter into the other, I am instantly blinde, or burnt, because it is too vehement an in­telligible for my vnderstanding: I can see some­thing, when I looke on inferiour obiects, where is nothing but darknesse, but when I looke on this, where is nothing but light, I see nothing: there be­ing a greater luster in God, then can, without death, be comprehended by man;Exod. 33.20.21. as the eye of a needle ad­mits a thread, but is splitten with a wyar.

O the height, and the depth; the maze, and rid­dle of this ineffable God! What Vatican, what Li­brary of the world hath a key for this lock? This in­comprehensible infinitude is aboue the pitch of my [Page 34] flesh, because this incomprehensible infinitude is my incomprehensible God; for whatsoever is his, is he: and what respect then is great enough for him, that is greater then I can thinke? Or why should I repine to seeke God here, whom I can ne­ver sufficiently finde, or vilify that glory with my tongue, which is too large for my vnderstanding? their zeale was too impudent that said, shew vs the Father, and it sufficeth vs; and therefore I onely say, shew me but a glimpse, but a twilight of the Father, and it sufficeth mee: the least dawning of that vision is as much as I am capable of, and infi­nitely enough to blesse and ravish mee; a minute of thee is worth a million of ages in all the Courtship, and bravery of the World.

Againe, thou wast, ô Lord, in nubibus, vnder the Law;Exod. 14.24. c. 19.16. c. 33.10. c. 4.33. c. 16.2.13. Num. 4.19.20. c. 9.16. c. 11.25. c. 16.43. Deut. 31.15. and appearedst oftner in dreames then visi­ons, and why should I then dreame of visions, vn­der the Gospell? Where thou intendest night, why should I looke for noone? Why should I long to see, what the Cherubins saw not, which covered their faces, and opened their mouthes at once; were hoodwinkt, while they honoured thee, Esa. 6.1.2.3. Thou hast told me by Arnobius, vt intelligaris, tacendum est, L. 1. p. 28. that the greatest knowledge of thee is a confession. I cannot know thee: as he commends a beauty more, that saith he cannot, then hee that labours to expresse it, because this thinkes hee can: and thou hast told me by S. Hilarie: non tam veni­am [Page 35] habet quàm praemium ignorare quod credas, De Trin. l. 8. quia maximum stipendium fidei est, sperare quae nescias: my bodily eyes shall hereafter see those ioyes, that eye hath not seene, because my spirituall eyes per­ceiue those mysteries here, they cannot see: and thou hast told me, by S. Aug. non negandum est, quod apertū est quia cōprehendi non potest, quod occultū est, De bon. per­seu: c. 14. know this, corruptible shall put on incorruption, though ô Lord God thou know'st, I know not how: & thou hast told mee by S. Greg. ibi praecipuè fides habet meritum, vbi humana ratio non praebet expe­rimentum, that the Laver of Regeneration makes me not a Rationall man, but a faithfull for thou art a God as well of the valleyes, as of the hills,Confidera quod voceris fidelis, non ra­tionalis: deni­que accepto baptismo hoc dicimus, fide­lis factus sum, credo quod ne­scio Aug. Ser. 189. de temp. Esa. 7.9. and en­tertainedst the Sheapheards as kindly as the Magi, of the East: & thou hast told me this by Esaiah, nisi credideritis, nō intelligetis: that I must belieue, before I vnderstand, though I vnderstand that I cānot know thee, & thou, hast told me this by the meanest of thy creatures, by the spider: I see this screw himselfe vp by a thread which I cannot see; & I wonder how so many ells of bread, so much tiffany should bee pi­led vp in so little a shop, that this miracle of nature should spin courtaines for a large window, out of a bottome no bigger then a pins head: and thou hast told me this by the vilest of thy creatures, by my selfe: 'tis beyond my guesse to say, how joy di­lates my heart, how sorrow contracts it: how pride swels, and envy wasts mee; by what way I remem­ber [Page 34] [...] [Page 35] [...] [Page 36] or dreame; how feare should infect my cheekes with palenesse, and shame should dye them with red: and seeing I vnderstand not what I see, how shall I thinke to see, what I cannot vnderstand? Thou art, ô God, a center without a circumference, and a line without an extremity, and a breadth without bounds, and a depth without bottome, and an originall which cannot be coppied, and a beau­ty which cannot be drawn, and a way which is not known, and a light which is not seene. He that sets me vpō a farther discovery, may as well advise me to ramme the earth into a musket, or empt the sea into a violl, or weight he fire, or measure the winde, or recall a day that's gone as the Angell bad Esdras; to inclose the world in my hand, or comprehend the Heavens with my span. It may suffice that this God is a light, and because so great a light, there­fore of vs not seene: that this darknesse is no dark­nesse to him, because he vnderstands, what we can­not: that he hates not the modesty of ignorance, but the tympany of knowledge; and, although there be no darknesse in him, he may bee in it; the condition of this limitation, and my last generall.

5 God was especially with Moses, here which is essentially every where, as my soule is diffused through every fraction of my body, which yet prin­cipally resides in my heart: and what an honour was it for the Priest to be company for God? That presence consecrated this cloud, and this consecra­tion [Page 37] caused that reverentiall distance, that supple a­doration of the people: for as the chaire of State, and court is, where is the King; so where God is, there is a Propitiatory, and an Altar. Wee are there­fore no more idolatrous by our prostration to­wards the table of the Lord, then the Iewes were by theirs towards the Tabernacle of the Lord; to­wards the cloud in the desert here, or the mercy seate in the Temple, because wee doe it [...]; not [...], as that Constantinopolitane Councell speakes vpon another occasion, to God, which is there, not to a similitude of God, which is not there; and our faith points at Heaven, while our eyes are fixt on the Altar: nor know I any which applaude that base, damnable metaphor, that resemblance of this to a dresser, but such as stumble in a levell, not because the rode of the Church is vneven,I. P. but be­cause their discretion is lame; such as would feigne slay their beasts, and set on their crocks againe, in the courts of the Lord, as the Iewes once did; or lay their Saviour in a cratch, by translating his Chap­pels into stables.

2 God was in a cloud and in a showre; mists and thunderings and tempests there were,Heb. 12.18. c. 19.16. and seldome these without raine▪ for ever since the spirit of God moued on those waters, the spirit of God hath beene moved by these waters. because the Lord forgives my transgressions, by blotting them out, saith the Prophet; what my impenitency [Page 38] hath written being wiped out by my teares: and is then most affected with the wounds of my soule, when they bleede at my eyes: but Lord, what Li­bertines are wee growne to the severity of elder times? fiue yeeres pennance for consulting witches; seaven yeeres for adultery; ten yeeres for voluntary abortion; twenty yeeres for some offences, in the Ancyrane counsell,c. 19.20.23. con. Nic. c. 12. during life for others: and 'tis to be feared, we are out, if they were in; for why should it be thought such a prodigie to see man in a dew, when God was so often in a cloud?

c. 19.9.18. Heb. 12.18.3. God was in a showre, and in a fire: in a fire, to shew he can be enflamed; & in a showre to shew this flame may be quenched; in a fire against presump­tion, and in a showre against despaire: for hee never inflicts a wound, before hee provides a remedy; draws not a sword, which he rebates not first; pro­claimes not war, before he profers conditions of peace: and is therefore vsually deciphered in Scrip­ture by his justice and his mercy together; nor meane I to divorce those attributes the Holy Ghost hath married, by making him all mercy to my selfe,1. Cor. 3.9. Rom. 15.26. all justice to others: every hearer is a building, and every teacher is a builder, saith the Holy Ghost: and he shall meddle with no house of mine, that throwes downe my walls because they want point­ing; that cannot repaire,Exod. 4.3.4. and mend, vnlesse he ru­ine, and destroy: for I can with Moses endure a rod, though I flee from a Serpent. God was in a [Page 39] fire and in a darknesse; to shew,c. 19.18. c. 20.18. Heb. 12.18. Dan. 3.49. Secund. vulg. ed Io. 10.22. that as there was a fire without heate, so there may bee a fire without light: and such is the fire of that Land of darknesse, ignis sine luce fluvius, a darknesse wherein they shall see nothing that can comfort; and yet wherein they shall see any thing that may torment them: God comming here at the giuing of the Law, as he will come against the transgressors of the Law, in flames to punish, but no light to refresh them, so that visi­on in Bede, so our Saviour shewes:§ L. 3. c. 19. goe yee cursed in­to outer darknesse, Math. 8.12. and yet goe yee cursed into everlasting fire too, in the fiue and twentieth of that Gospell, at the one and fortieth verse.

5 God was in a darknesse and a thicke darknesse too: demaunding thereby what a madnesse it is, from that omniscient God, which is in the thickest dark­nesse to hide in the darke; or present this sinfull flesh in the arreare of plushes, and tishues; for impo­tent man to embroider, and bespangle himselfe with the orient brightnesse of firmament, and starres, whereas that omnipotent God was apparelled with the gloominesse of a cloud. Shall the creature arro­gate more glory then the Creator; or this shadow, then that Sunne? Must I that am all vilenesse expose the luxury of my pride to the ostentation of a pub­lique view, and my God, that is all glory, hide in a shade? Must the Lord of light bury himselfe in darknesse? And these sonnes of darknesse sparkle in the light? shall earth be so high, and Heauen so [Page 40] low? Let me rather be like my God that comman­ded out of darknesse, on mount Sina here: and my Saviour, that concealed his glory vnder darknesse, on mount Olivet there:Mat. 16.6. the higher I am, the lesse may my shadow be. Let me never confute my hum­ble penitentiall Sermon by my prowd vaineglori­ous Cassocke, nor attend my Lord, by being dis­like my God: let my oraisons be without noise in the darke; and my dominion without imperious­nesse, in the darke: and my goodnesse without pro­clamation in the darke; and my charity without vaineglory, in the darke: and my honour, without bravery, in the darke; and my retinue, without pro­digality in the darke; let this darknesse disguise my light here, as it did his; that this darknesse may raise me to light hereafter, as it did him (for a cloud, saith the Evangelist,Act. 1.9. received him out of their sight) let me creepe on earth, that I may clime to Heaven. Whether the Father of Mercies bring vs all, for the merits of his Sonne: to whom with the blessed spirit, be ascribed all honour, and prayse, dominion, and power, for ever and ever. Amen.

HOW little haue the best to glory in, which are bad enough to abuse the chiefest blessings? or what confidence is it, to purchase heauen by our selues, which are hardly drawne thi­ther by the labours of others; which make the rea­diest meanes of our salvation, the greatest hinde­rance from it, & pretend such as exhort vs to peace, for the authors of a schisme? 'Tis the disease of our times, and it was Corinths too, an inveterate malady, and therefore the more incurable. Shee fell asunder into as many divisions as her Church had teachers (happy lights in coniunction, but in opposition most dangerous) wherein euery faction sailes by a severall card, and is carried by a peculiar [Page 2] bias.Praefat. de gubern. This side admires Pauls plaines, and mistrusts Apollos structures for the gaudy varnish, non leno­cinia volumus, sed remedia, as Salvian speakes; they desire the cure, nothing to sweeten their physicke: and could wish Apollo were confined to the deske, Paul to the temple. Another magnifies the power­full eloquence of Apollo, sleighting S^t Paul, as too flat and heauy,Caiet. & Mus­culus thinke these intitled C^t. to their faction. nor can any thing charme this evill spirit, but the spells of Apolloes rhetorique, a third is taken with S. Peters keyes, and because hee is called a rocke, supposeth all the rest laid their foundation on the Sand: & a fourth likes none, their sublimated iudgement thinkes meanely of Paul, be­cause he persecuted Christ; and of Peter, because he denied him, their faith shall not shipwracke on that rocke, nor their soules bee committed to Cephas keyes. The cunning disputes of Gamaliels scholler shall not sway them, nor the commanding straines of the Alexandrian oratour; Christ only redeemed, and therefore no reason, any else should dispose them. May others miscall themselues, as they list, these will bee nothing but christians. Well resol­ved, were yee as charitable as wise; did yee loue your brother with your Saviour, did yee not intitle Christ to your faction, and hazard your interest in the head, by disioynting your selues from the mem­bers. Tis well ye thinke Christ your owne, but ill yee thinke, he belongs to none besides you: for hee that saies, I am of Christ, divides himselfe, as well [Page 3] as he that saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollo, in the next verse of this chapter. This was Corinths di­stemper, and vntill it bee cured, the Apostle can proceede no farther: greater misteries were to bee imparted, had not these divisions disabled them to heare. For then the contentious man none saies more or vnderstands lesse: and contentious they were, their businesse and employment now being little else. 'Tis no private jealousie of his owne, Chloes family saies so, nay themselues say so, and therefore he saies so too. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, &c. My Apostle chargeth Co­rinth with a schisme, wherein he discovers.

1 The pretended leaders. Paul, Apollo, Cephas, and Christ.

2 The parties, some Pauls disciples, others Apol­loes: a third multitude appropriated to Cephas, and a fourth to Christ.

3 The cause, this was the issue of contention v. 11. and contention the spawne of the flesh. Gal. 5.20. for while they are so, they are nothing but carnall: in the third of this epistle, at the fourth verse am­bition, or gaine, or pride, or envy overruled their wills, and misguided them into factions: sensuall they are and such are their actions.

1 I beginne with the pretended leaders of this Schisme; Paul, Apollo, Cephas, and Christ.

It hath ever bin the policy of Satan to gild schismes, and heresies with the names of specious [Page 4] leaders, intressing the learnedest and best of the Church, in the worst opinions, and desperatest fa­ctions; as men doe great persons in broken titles, that being vnable to beare a triall in themselues, they might receiue esteeme, from the credit of their Patrons, this was the cheat which gull'd Corinth: a Church enriched with the grace and knowledge of Christ, setled and confirmed in the same. v. 4.5.6. vnlikely to miscarry, vnlesse by that fondnesse and dotage on her Pastors. Men they were of extraor­dinary worth, & greatest eminency in the Church. Paul for his learning, his zeale, the multitude of his sufferings, his miraculous conversion, his hea­venly rapture, where hee saw that hee could not speake. Hee, out of an humble modesty, acknow­ledgeth himselfe the least of the Apostles, and yet, beleeue but his owne relation, and you must con­fesse him the greatest Apollo for his sanctified rhe­torique, eloquent, mighty in the Scriptures: for his fiery devotion, fervent in spirit: for his vnwearied industry, he taught the way of the Lord diligently: for his powerfull disputations, he mightily convin­ced the Iewes. Act. 18.24.25.28. Cephat deservedly stiled princeps Apostolorum, asCatalog. Script. Saint Ierome, or [...], as Saint Chrysost. calls him; the primate and chiefe of the Apostles: either for the priviledge of his age, or the liberty of his speech, or the honours conferred vpon him by our Saviour, his individu­all companion in raising the dead, his transfigura­tion [Page 5] on the mount, his last vigils in the garden; his speeches ever directed to him, as a person repre­senting the rest, his favorite, and darling. So that, if the Divell intitle these to a division, hee cannot want proselites: the grossest errour will passe, if their seale be on it, for it is impossible hypocrisy should lodge with so much zeale, or deceipt with such knowledge & illumination. Each man thinkes his owne opinions canonicall, because his suppo­sed leader is so, nor can he endanger his faith, while he steeres by such a starre: he is first perswaded of the truth of his leader, then of his owne vnder­standing, and lastly his respect to this makes him vndervalue the rest, because hee thinkes none can speake so truly, or so powerfully, or so profound­ly, or so eloquently as the other. For faction dis­orders a man as loue doth, where affection is not ruled by iudgement, but iudgement by affection, nor is the person lou'd because worthy, but seemes worthy because beloued: the eye is iealous of one only, and therefore the man esteemes none faire besides. There had then beene danger enough, had the Schisme beene led by Paul, Apollo, and Cephas: but if Christ himselfe be made a party, if the sonne of God seeme a patrone to either, What frozen heart will not thaw at this Sun? What patient cowardise can moderate the tongue, or the hand? no marvaile Corinth is divided, 'twere apostasy to be otherwise; for how should I forsake Christ, and [Page 6] not renounce my Saviour? Nor hath this proiect beene confined to S. Pauls time, or to Corinth, but hath gained abetters in all ages: some divisions in the Church laying claime to Cephas, others to Paul, a third sort dispersing their errors vnder Apolloes name, all vnder Christ. [...] as Naz. Orat. 14. p. 221. Paris 1609. speakes of the Novatians: en­snaring their auditors by the fame of their patrons, and venting their ridiculous fansies as Presses doe their pamphlets, vnder the counterfeit name of some reverenced author, or by a leafe of title to scarce a line of sense. Thus did Novatus cover his ambition by the repute of his followers, and ob­tain'd credit to his owne dreames from their piety and learning. He knew his poysonous errours could not purchase admission, while they appeared in their naturall attire, and therefore it was his subtlety to present them to the world,Hist eccles. l. 6. c. 43. graec. ed. Paris? 1544. not as his owne inven­tions, but clothed with the names, and patronage of his associates: for, if it be thought to come from thence, an English blade may sell as deare, as ano­ther of spaine: he had in his retinue, as Eusebius re­lates, Maximus a learned and religious Presbyter: hee had vrbanus, [...]: one that twice grew into the esteeme of the Church by a free confession of his faith, and bad faire for martyrdome: hee had Sidonius, and Celeri­nus: both of especiall note, but the last of the grea­test: a man [...] [Page 7] [...]: that fulfilled in his body the passions of his Saviour; and to obtaine the mercy of God, shewed no mercy on himselfe: that wore in his flesh the markes of the Lord Iesus, and might count his yeeres by his martyrdomes. [...], as the same author goes on: that strengthned the weaknesse of his flesh, by the valour of his faith, and endured torments with such scornefull patience, [...]: as if hee had no body at all, or none of his owne. Naz. orat. cont. Iul. p. 36. ed. Eton. of the primitiue, martyrs. Novatus therefore may disguise the most divelish proiect vnder such seraphicall doctors as those. For 'tis vnlikely God would reforme the will, and leaue the intellect irregular, that hee would loose their fetters and not open their eyes; that those which suf­ferd so much for the truth should perish in an error, or could walke so well, without the benefit of light?The rebells Num. 16.2. the Arrians sozom. l. 3. c. 18. graec. Par. 1544. it would be easy to deduce this truth through eve­ry age of the Church, were it not so visible in our owne. For Novatus is yet aliue, and although hee hath no confessors in his retinue, professors hee hath many; men of meane parts, and yet of mighty guifts, such as are not watered by the foote as E­gypt was, but as Canaan with a dew from Heaven. no Schismaticall fancy shall want a S. Peter, or a S. Iohn to owne it, nor can you dissent from this, but you erre from the holy Ghost, which spake by S. Paul or Esaiah. They hate those Micaiahs of elder times, because they speake no good of them, but evill, [Page 8] nor can you heare a discourse, but you may know who ownes it, by the rebaptization of Cyp. or the Montanisme of Tertullian. Scripture shall bee the rule, and only they interpreters: for 'tis not cano­nicall, though it hath the stampe of the Church, vnlesse it hath theirs besides; and so become them­selues that infallible Antichrist they declaime so much against, & are, vpon the point, both the old Testament, & the new: thus doe they expose their fondnesse vnder a counterfeit vaile of the spirit, as courser beauties draw the beholders from their deformities, by the sumptuous art of their dressing, that the face might be lost by gazing on the cloths: [...].Naz. orat. 14. p. 216. They paint out their ignorance with a tedious cata­logue of abused authorities, and cover mischiefes with religion: the wolfe must be concealed vnder a Lambs fleece, and their foule errors perfumed with the Myrrhe, and cassia of holy writ no [...]ios suc­cos medicaminum vocabulis praecolorant: as Lirinen­sis speakes, they disperse their poysons vnder the name of medicines, for who can thinke that a drug­gist would write conserues over a box of ratsbane, or rosewater over Mercury? opinions vsually gain­ing credit, according to the esteeme of such, as countenance or deliuer them: as a man receiues gold without enquiry from his acquaintance, but hath weights and a touchstone for a stranger, you see how the worst of the Church, haue strength­ned [Page 9] themselues by pretending to the best; doe thus, and thou shalt encourage truth, yet giue no advan­tage to errour.

Let thy industry and care enable thee to giue ex­ample, and credit thy profession: leaue no doubt vnassailed; and, as Iacob, wrestle with God in thy prayers, that thou maist vnderstand him in his Scriptures. Feare not those sonnes of Anak, those Giganticke writers of elder and later times; nor bee content with learning, which only supplies for ser­mons: like wilde oates, the fruit whereof serues on­ly for the next yeeres seeds, falling into the earth, before the corne is brought into the barne: thus saith the Lord, stand in the waies, and see and aske for the old paths, & walke therein, & yee shall finde rest for your soules: so that as it was once an omen, or signe of victory in the * Chronicles when ye heare a noise in the tops of the trees, 1 Paralip. 14.15. 2 Sam. 5.24. goe on with confi­dence, for God is gone before you: in like manner here, the voice of God must be our compasse, and the voice of God in the tops of the trees too, in the heavenlier, & higher, and purer ages of the Church. Because to say I say so, every heretique ever did; but to say the Church ever said so, so did every true member of the Church. Scripture must be the rule, but antiquity the applyer of this rule; Scrip­ture the Law, but antiquity the expositor; hee that goes another way, goes out of the way: cite the words of God he may, the word of God he can­not; [Page 10] finde mazes he shall, truths he shall not: there is no rest to him that followes his owne phansies in expounding this; there is rest to those, which fol­low the traces of the Church; with the Church there is, against the Church there is not Ier. 6.16.

Againe, let thy life keepe pace with thy industry, and shew thou enioynest not impossibilities, by a­cting what thou commandest. Doe not prostitute the Church by thy lewd example, which should be presented as a pure virgin to Christ, thy life being a contradiction of thy doctrine, and the whole weeke a confutation of the Sunday. Tis one of the reasons Lactantius giues,De ver. sap. l. 4. c. 24. why Christ assumed hu­mane flesh; and it may be the reason too, why, in the government of his Church, he rather vsed the ministery of men then of Angells; that they might perfect their doctrine by their practice, that all might know their precepts were feasable, by see­ing them done, and they intended obedience, since they taught it by their owne examples: for who will thinke, that Physitian can cure a disease in ano­ther, which is alwaies sicke of the same?

Lastly, carry thy selfe so warily, that no side may claime thee but thy owne; or, if any shall, thou maist free thy conscience, by the blamelesnesse of thy conversation, thanking God with S. Paul at the fourteenth verse of this chapter, that, although some of Corinth pretend thee for their leader, thou [Page 11] hast given them no occasion. Leaue Novatus to the censure of the world, with Vrbanus and Celerinus, as soone as thou perceivest the Church misguided by thy example, redeeming with them thy former in­jury, by thy future repentance and carefulnesse. Doe not enhance the repute of a faction, by setting on it the price of thy owne worth, nor encourage a peevish Schismatique by christning his babe with­out the crosse or the Surplesse: if they say lo here is Christ, in the plausible disputes of one division; or lo there, in the zealous phrensy of another: behold he is in the secret chambers, in the vncharitable Con­venticles of the Puritane; or behold in the desert, in the wilde multitudes of Separatists; belieue it not: for hee is the God of peace; and, as his garment was, one, and vndivided. Let them honour God with the rest, or honour him alone without thy prote­ction: marke such as make contentions, and avoide them: beseech them, with S. Paul, that they nourish them not; or, if they doe, protest against them: tell them how heinous they are in themselues; of what dangerous consequence; how neere that Church is to ruine; vpon how weake grounds that common­wealth relies, in which every one saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollo, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ: the parties in this Schisme, and my second generall.

The Church of Corinth lately but one,II. is mul­tiplied now into severall factions, as formerly the west, some adhering to his holinesse at Rome, and [Page 12] others to a second at Avignion. Iudge of the dan­ger by the Apostles gradation, in the third chapter, at the third verse [...]: this dissention about their pastors hatcht contentions in secular af­faires: their contentions setled into malice, and their malice is dissolved againe by a devout and im­petuous envy; this envy makes them impatient one of the other, driuing every side vpon a peculiar bottome; they all fight for the truth, and yet one against the other. Nor is this division private, but profest, and that with a contempt of the adverse parties, they liue no longer in common, but in se­verall, every one saith I am of Paul, and I of Apollo, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ: a monstrous distem­per any where, especially at Corinth, sanctified shee was v. 2. confirmed in Christ, v. 6. called into the fel­lowship of his sonne, v. 9. what, sanctified, and yet prophane? partaker of the holy and the vnholy Ghost? in, and against Christ? together, and asun­der? in a communion, and a division? you that are thus, to be so? yes, for tis the nature of Schisme to make a discontinuation of parts, to cause a resoluti­on in the body of the Church, and therefore the nature of Schisme is contrary to the nature of God.

1 As he is the measure of perfection, which con­sists in vnity; and therefore those creatures which come nearest to him, are more changed into his na­ture, more simple, and one; and on the contrary, [Page 13] then are they at greatest opposition with this essen­tiall vnity, and life, when they become lesse one, and tend to privation: for this reason are the An­gells of a neerer alliance with God, because more simple and one, not onely in their particular na­tures; but in the generall agreement of their wills: and man, because of a grosser composition, of dis­senting affections, lesse resembles God though hee be stiled his image; and therefore is of lesser per­fection. The militant Church then is most pleasing to God, when it most resembles the triumphant,1. Ioh. 4.8.16. when it is perfect as this is perfect; that it is, when it is most vnited: for therefore is hee in Scriptures vsually called peace and loue, to shew that the spee­diest way to set thee at opposition with God, is to divide thee from thy brother: this may be seene by a similitude; consider some rare piece of extraordi­nary beauty, how leades it every beholder, while the parts are fitly vnited? How doth it command a generall loue? But mangled by some ruder hand, and sliced into severall pieces, how soone be­comes it the obiect of our scorne and pitty? Every part mutually graceth each other, while they are louingly married, and pleaseth not more by his owne goodnesse, then what it borroweth. The head is more comely for the silky fleece it beares; & the forehead honoured for the maiesty of the brow. The brawny armes are adorned by well propor­tion'd hands, and the leggs decently joyned to [Page 14] suiteable feete: let the Levites sword divorce these limbes, and divide the body but into twelue parts, which is capable of as many hundreds: and where is the beauty which but now enflamed so many Beniamites, the common ambition, and quarell of a whole citty? Nor is it otherwise in the body my­sticall, and therefore S. Paul vsually expresseth this by the other, as the Levites wife was, so is the Church vnited, the fairest amongst women: as the Levites wife is, so is the Church divided; and eve­ry part in a Schisme rents a limbe from this body: this division is more vgly in the Allmighties sight, then the other is in thine; nor is it vnseene of thee for want of truth, but of eyes: the body is really mangled, and if thou feelest it not, thou art not of it, hee that dwells in the beauty of holinesse, loathes this deformity, he detests a Church so vnlike him­selfe; and Christ is departing, though blinde Bar­timeus cannot see it.

2 As he is the measure of goodnesse, which is as diffusiue as his presence, not vertually only, as Vorstius blasphemes,Declar. Fran. Lond. 1622. Spec. contr. Belg. Lugd. Bat. 1618. art. 1. prop. 4. but essentially every where: and his mercy not confined to the best creatures, but extended to the worst, even his enemies. Tis his precept to vs, loue your enemies; and the reason followes, that ye may be the children of your father which is in heauen, Mat. 5.44.45. For this cause hath he made every part of the habitable world accessible: the Scythian may embrace the tawny [Page 15] Moores; and Persia ioyne hands with the westerne Indian: And hath planted in the heart of man a na­turall desire of cōmunion, he is [...], as Aristotle speakes; of a more sociable nature then the Ant or the Bee: and a reason is there giuen by the Philosopher, [...], God only enioyes all, and his desire is, that wee, by this com­merce, might be like him. Wherefore he there op­poseth [...], the man alone to the man perfected: vnderstanding by the first, him that is di­vided from, by the second him that is joyned in a communion. While then thou nursest hatred and envy in thy bosome, thou sweruest from his mer­cy and compassion. While with Donatus, thou ap­propriatest him to some Africa of thine, thou swer­vest from his diffusiue goodnesse, which shines eve­ry where: being besides, injurious to thy selfe, and thy neighbour: to thy selfe, by refusing their good­nesse; to thy neighbour, by not communicating thy owne. He is perchance a great Linguist, & hath erected a Babel of languages, and then thou wan­test a tongue; or well seene in the Fathers and con­troversies, and then thou wantest an eye. He is a va­liant Ioshuah, and then thou wantest a hand; or a wise Solomon, and then thou wantest a braine: please thy selfe therefore as thou wilt, as long as thou wantest so many limbes, thou art no better then a cripple.

3 As he is the measure of truth, which is essen­tiall [Page 16] to him, and is not his, but hee. An enemy this God is to falshood, and errour: nor to this only, but even to that which occasions it, and this is Schisme, envy, or faction interposing, and by ad­vantage of some dislike in the person, hindring the intellect from assenting to the thing. S. Paul implies as much, I heare there are dissentions amongst you, and I partly beleeue it, but why so credulous, hap­py Apostle? For there must be heresies, c. 11.18.19. he knew there must be heresies, and therefore be­lieved, there might bee Schismes. Those vsually making way for these, and these attending vpon those, and hee assumes the same in the third chap­ter: told they are, the fault was theirs, why hee taught them not deeper mysteries: I have fed you with milke, and not with meate, because yee were not able to beare it, v. 2. not able because carnall, and carnall because contentious in the third verse of that chapter. So true is that of S. Iohn, hee that hateth his brother, walketh in darknesse, in the second of the first Epistle; a darknesse, that occasions stumbling v. 10. the disordred intellectualls stumbling on the affections; A darknesse, that leads vs in a maze (as willing to runne any severall way from our adver­saries, but finding no way) and a darknesse that blindes the eyes, vers. 11. a mist comming betwixt the vnderstanding, and the obiect which keepes it out of sight. I would this truth wanted examples, or that the needle in this compasse alwaies pointed [Page 17] right: but, Lord, what variations are there, ac­cording to the severall climats wee passe? How doe wee fall off, or gaine the hill, according to a grea­ter or a lesser bias? [...]:Naz. orat. 14. p. 216. into what contradictions doe our affections engage vs? after a severall sway of loue or hatred, how doe the poorest toyes oppresse vs? how heauy are motes? And presently anon, how light are beames? how is the same fact compared to HeZechias or Nehemiahs repaire of the Temple, if this man doth it: to Ieroboams golden calues, or Ahaz brazen Al­tar, if enterprised by another? Thus doth the di­stance or neerenesse of our affections occasion the same in the judgement, which the remotenes or ap­proximation of an obiect doth in the sense: when this is within a convenient proportion, 'tis seene in its iust magnitude, as it is: when farther of, in a les­ser, as it is not; the distance of place deluding our sight: So are we cheated by our passions, and iudge not alike of the same, when wee are enemies and friends.

Nor is this only in opposition to God, because contrary to his nature, but because it hinders the progresse of his Church. The best way to choake the corne, being with the enemy in the Gospell, to sever it by dispersing such tares. It hath ever beene the wilinesse of Satan, first to divide the Church, and then to assault her single, as the last of the Ho­ratij dealt with the two Curatij in theAddito ad virtutem dolo vt distraheret hostē, simulat fugam, singu­los (que) (prout sequi pote­rant) adortus exuperat, Flor. l. 1. c. 3. Romane sto­ry: [Page 18] because, if the adversary be opposed by some, the conquest is easier against a hundred, then against a thousand: and vsually in such divisions, the com­mon enimy is neglected, our tongues and pens being worse bestowed at home: S. Pauls metaphor well expresseth as much, I beseech you brethren, [...], that ye be set againe, in the tenth verse of this chapter; for [...] signifies properly to set a bone that is out of joynt, reducing the same to its naturall place. Factions and Schismes dis­joynting the parts of the mysticall body, and as luxation doth in the naturall, disabling them from other actions, then such as wrong and grieue it. The Apostle calles these Corinthians the temple of God; one, not many: and [...] too, not [...], no Church but a Temple; shewing what this must be, by what the other was, that being built without noise, to teach what most furthers the edification of this; neither the hammer of one faction, nor the axe and blocke of another, but the spirit of meeknes in the bond of peace: shee is terrible to her opposers, but while she is like an army with banners, in the Canticles; if rou [...]d once by Schismes, if distracted into factions, if the enemy hath seized on her en­signes and colours, how soone is the glory departed from Israel, and the Arke of God taken? For you know how slowly the building went on, when those poore remaines of the captivity were forced to build with one hand, and defend with the other.

[Page 19]And as it hinders the progresse of his Church by dividing her forces, so by laying a scandall vp­on her professors. For either such as are without, are indifferent; and then they are deterd from our communion by our dissentions. For why should I belieue the direction of either, seeing they point se­verall waies, the surest course to detect a falshood, being to discouer a contradiction in the relators: and if the peacefull be only the children of God, what madnesse is it to ioyne hands with such sonnes of Belial? Or else they are resolued of a different re­ligion, and then [...], they excuse a calenture by an ague;Naz. orat. 13. p. 206. nor are they encouraged so much by their owne strengths, as the weaknesse of their adversaries: their hands seldome ioyning, whose hearts are di­vided, and ruine being the issue of Schisme. Tis so in other bodies [...],Naz. orat. 12. p. 198. every part of the world subsisting by a peaceable temper, and dissoluing by the contrary. Nay far­ther; [...],Ibid. the Deity is therefore eternall, because subiect to no division; and the ambition of those apostate Angels no soo­ner distinguisht them from the rest, but it excluded them from heauen: as long as the humors in our body are at a faire agreement, choler being propor­tionably allaid with fleame, and the sprightfull bloud ballast with melancholy, the whole is pre­served by the harmony of its parts. Straine this to [Page 20] a higher, or set it to a lower key; adde more weights to the scale; and the foote of the ballance goes vp, the tongue goes downe: the strong men bow them selues, and the grinders cease: either it is parched by the raging fire of a tormenting fever, or shiverd and torne by the violent winde of an insufferable cho­lique; or mishapen and rackt by the earthquake of a prodigious convulsion: and anon the Lord comes in a still voice, what dost thou here Eliah? Set thy house in order for thou must dye and not liue. Tis so in the Church, for yea are the body of Christ and members in particular, in the twelfe of this epistle, at the 27. verse. Know therefore that Satan assaults not this body, while it is healthy and strong, [...],Naz. orat. 14. p. 218. as long as the parts are neerely compa­cted and condensated by charity: but like a wily e­nemy, takes advantage by some dangerous breach, & enters through the disbanded troupes of our ar­mies: nor staies this evill here, but ascends from a neglect of the rochet, to a contempt of the Scepter; and a Schisme against the Church,Math. 12.25. leads vsually to a disturbance of the state. Such popular tribunitiall Midianites hauing their swords oftner drawne a­gainst themselues, then a publique enemy: because they thinke their soules engaged in one quarrell, onely their fortunes in the other: here they fight in Gods cause, there in their owne: and he that drawes for religion, strikes with a rasor, the other thrusts with a foile: nor doth the battell ever proceede with [Page 21] greater cruelty, then when 'tis fought by the sword of the Lord, and of Gedeon.

That therefore this may ever stand may it never be divided. Let the Priests mouth never want a prayer for the safety of the King,This conside­ration made Constantine so carefull to compose dif­ferences in the Church, as himselfe wit­nesseth, in his letter to A­lexander and Arrius; [...]. Euseb. de vit. Constant. fol. 134. See how hee laboured for peace by the conclusion of that Epistle. [...]. nor the Kings hand a sword for the defence of the Priest. When David sends an embassy, with peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou hast; let no churlish discontented Nabal requite him with a scorne, who is David, and who is the sonne of Iesse? Let the meanest enrich the Kingdomes treasury by a mite, and the rest weary the receiuers with these sacred iewels devoted to the maintenance of Church and state. Let them consecrate to the build­ing of the Tabernacle, vntill the Magistrates com­mand restraine them; and before Moses proclaime, let not Israel leaue offring. If any vnquiet Sheba tempt thee to a Schisme, ere thou consentest, weigh what it is; thinke how it deformes the Church; how it sterues the members by hindering their com­merce; how it clouds the vnderstanding, in the dis­quisition of the truth: and what likelihood is there, that the Sonne of God will espouse such deformity, that the God of mercy will lodge with envy, or es­sentiall truth with errour? Thinke againe how hee detests Schisme by his longing for peace. God the [Page 22] Father will haue but one Altar at Ierusalem, to shew that such as sacrificed there, must be of one minde: and our Saviour shewes himselfe the Sonne of God the Father, it was the Herald of his birth, and the blessed antheme of that quire of Angells Luc. 2.14. his baptisme was a doctrine of this, when the holy Ghost descended on him in the forme of a Doue, an embleme of mildnesse and peace: his carriage to the Apostles taught them to be one, speaking vsu­ally to one for the rest, and singling forth Peter, when his message concerned the twelue. It was his affectionate prayer for them: holy Father keepe through thy owne name, those whom thou hast given mee, that they may be one as wee are one, Ioh. 17.11. but how is the Trinity one?Orat. 12. pag. 198. [...], as Naz. explaines it, as well in respect of agreement as essence: it was the legacy he bequeathed them in the fourteenth of S. Iohn. v. 27. his salutation after his resurrection, in the twentieth of that Gospell, v. 21.26. and S. Pauls in the begin­ing of most his Epistles: as if this were the badge of his inspiration, and none were Canonicall, but such as contained a prayer for peace. Thinke againe that thy goodnesse is sinfull, if sowred with this leaven, and thy praiers turned into sinne: thy sighs, nor thy teares regarded; thy oraisons must not pro­fane his temple, nor his Altar be guilty of thy sacri­fice, Math. 5.23. though thou hast tired thy ene­mies cruelty with thy patience and sealed thy pro­fession [Page 23] with thy bloud: though thou hast giuen thy body to be burnt as S. Paul speakes,1 Cor. 13.3. and each ele­ment hath shared in thy ashes: occidi potes, De simpile. praelat. coronari non potes, saith Cyp. die thou maist, thou canst not be crowned, for thy death is an execution, no Martyr­dome. Thinke againe how he lothes, what hee so severely punished; and because it suffered a greater vengeance, whether it may not bee a greater sinne, then Idolatry, or sacriledge. The greatest idolatry of Israell was rewarded but with the sword, Exod. 32. and Achans sacriledge but with stoning, Ios. 7. and yet mandata est terrae fames in populi divisores, L. 1. p. 26. ed. Lugd. Bat. 1613. Numb. 16.30. saith Optatus; the Lord made a new thing, as Mo­ses speakes, and the earth, which fed the peacefull, devoured the factious Israelites: They went downe quicke into the graue, buried before dead, for be­ing so vnworthy to liue, they were hardly permit­ted to die. Thinke againe what a scandall it is to those without, what a hindrance to those within, how it keepes many from vs, opens the mouthes of many against vs, weakens the hands of such as remaine with vs, encourageth some to leaue vs, and woe to the man by whom offences come, Mat. 11.7. neither the strictnesse of his fasts, nor the example of his actions, nor the ardor of his prayers, his con­tinuall labours in the Gospell, his sufferings for the same, his whole lifes pennance cannot satisfy the Church for an houres stay in a Schisme. Thinke againe, that those thou hatest as enimies to God, are [Page 24] still his children; that all are thy brethren which can say our Father: that both point to Heauen; though a severall way: that the difference of many is not in the foundation, but some subtleties of the Schooles, some vnnecessary superstructions; nay not so much perchance, but a meere [...], con­trariorum verborum non discors sententia, as1. Sent. d. 11. q. 1. Sco­tus censures the difference betwixt the Easterne and the Westerne Churches, a concent of opinions in contrary tearmes; [...], as Constantine speakes in Eusebius, Of the Ar­rians de vit. Const. 2. fol. 134. ed. citat. [...], the dissensi­on being [...]. ib. [...]. Fol. 135. [...]. ib. an idle wrang­ling, and a controversie in words: or, if of greater danger, though thou onely truly honourest God, because thou truly believest, the other thinkes hee doth so. Tis errour in him, no irreligion; and an er­rour too, non odio Dei, sed affectu, asDe Guber. l. 5. p. 162. 163. ed. Actorfii 1611 Salvians cha­rity pittieth the Arrians: hee loues God, though he misbelieues, and erres, least he should dishonour him. Leaue him not therefore, vntill God hath left him; and this thou canst not know vntill the day of judgement, the event whereof none knowes besides the Iudge. While the Church is calme, dis­quiet her not; when it is tempestuous, awake thy Saviour, that his power may appease those windes which trouble her: As long as Ierusalem is at peace in her selfe, may every hand brandish a sword, eve­ry heart sigh out a prayer to maintaine it! may peace be the study, which in our Liturgy is the pe­tition of all! Though factions disvnite other Chur­ches, [Page 25] may this be [...], as Naz. speakes of his, without the least seame of division, as Noahs arke, safe in a generall deluge. May that peacefull wisdome, which S. Iames saith, is from heaven, possesse the brestplate and the Ephod, no seditious Corah invade those sacred ornaments, that seckes them only for the Bells, and the Pomegra­nats, to satiate his ambition and avarice. When the Church is divided, and the worship of God distra­cted betwixt Ierusalem and Bethel; sell all thou hast to buy this pearle, with that Merchant in the Gospell; thou canst not purchase it at too high a rate, nor pursue it with heare enough:Part. 1. tanto zelo quaerenda est, vt vix possit esse sobria, as Gerson speakes. Thou art not zealous in the prosecution of peace, while thou art sober. If some violence hath severed thee from the body, as plants wrested from their naturall place, returne with greater violence, and, because vnity hath beene once lost, preserue it so, that it be lost no more.Naz. orat. 14. p. 215. What a shame is it [...], that theeues and murderers should goe more friendly to hell, then Christians doe to Heaven? Let it be the glory of others [...] to divide themselues from their Saviour, by their dissension from his Church, & to bely each other in defence of the truth: but vpon David, and vpon his seede, and vpon his house, and vpon his Throne, and vpon his Church, may there be peace for ever from the Lord: may [Page 26] righteousnesse and peace kisse each other, in Church and State, all rowing the same, though they looke severall waies. If any had rather be out of Charity with a whole Kingdome, then seene in a Cap or a Surplesse; may the mildnesse of one side cure the madnesse of the other; and though the Donatist will to Heauen alone, may euery one pitty, and say with Optatus, that 'tis my brother Parmenian. Medle not with such as are given to change; for the Kings rode is the surest way: whereas other sneak­ing passages are accustomed only to the feete of theeues, and murderers. Beleeue not rashly, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, or of man, refined, or debased still: Whether those which boast so much of the spirit, haue not continually some alloy of the flesh, wholly or parcell sanctifi­ed: Whether they belieue in God, or themselues; are regenerate fully or carnall: the cause of this Schisme and my last generall.

Schismes are so farre from God, that they haue nothing of God in them; and if the induction were not beyond an Auditories patience, 'twere easy to deriue all, from the concupiscible or irascible ap­petite, and resolue them either into ambition, or a­varice, or envy, or pride. Leane therefore to none, vntill thou hast examined their tempers, and consi­der what they are, before thou dotest on what they say.

Io. 3.9.1 For perchance first they loue to be honoured before [Page 27] the people, as Diotrephes did; and like the Pharises, measure their worth by their seate of praeeminence, as fooles doe their bodies by their shadowes: rapere malunt quàm expectare, Flor. l. 1. c. 7. as the Historian speakes of the worst Tarquinius; they waite not the Angells comming to stirre the waters, but prevent it, and with Ahimaaz 2. Sam. 18. will needs be sent, though they know not what to say. 'Tis not the cleanest way they seeke but the neerest, which therefore they maintaine by worse courses then they found it, men, seldome building well on such bad founda­tions, or improuing ill purchased honours to the Churches good. And if ambition bee their aime, why may they not vse this with Corah, Num. 16. as a meanes to gaine a Diocesse, if not a Prelacy; and make them Superintendents, though not Bishops: Or if not so, to requite the losse of that which they were not to haue, with Aerius in S. Aug. [...], as Euseb. speakes of Montanus, Ad quod vult. haer. 53. Hist. eclest. l. 5. c. 16. out of an ex­cessiue ambition to disturbe the peace of the Church, for missing an honour in it, and because he cannot be a Prelate he will be an Arrian.

2 If not thus, possibly they are of a baser con­dition, and desire not honours for their glory but their gaine: 'Tis the wedge of Gold they long for, more then the Babylonish garment, and so they en­joy the golden crowne of the Priesthood, could wish another had the Mitre. If this be their temper, thou maist justly distrust their Tenents: for what a [Page 28] servant will he be to another, that is a slaue to him­selfe: [...],To. 6. orat. 105. p. 906. as Chrys. speakes; a captiue to his riches, and a prisoner to what he keepes. there is no temptation more powerfull then this, and therefore 'twas the Divells last assault: for, if any promise can seduce our Saviour, 'tis that of the earths king­dome and glory: hee is the sonne of God indeed, which for such a gaine will not cast himselfe, from the pinnacles of the Temple.

3 Perhaps they are sicke of an envious [...], nor can their eyes beare any lustre in another: 'tis not so much the opinion they oppose, as their cor­rivall: and because Alexander prevented him in a Bishopricke,L. 1. c. 2. [...], as Theo­doret speakes, Arrius cannot stifle his envy, but will shew how weak his Lordship is by opposing his te­nents; [...]. Bas. Append. orat. 18. Paris 1618. venting his fury against the Bishop by ac­cusing his innocent truths of absurdity, and errour; by calumniating his writings, as the Leopard shews his naturall hatred to man, by rending his image in paper. If so, suspend thy judgement, for such en­vious malignants as these, square not their Creede by their conscience, but their malice.

4 If none of the former, they may be of a too high spirited, and stately a temper; and then, hauing possest the world, with the conceit of their abilities, they afterwards study to defend, what formerly they delivered,Ad Quod vult haer. 33. and reade not to maintaine the truth, but their reputation. This was the cause of Theodo­tio's [Page 29] heresy, as S. August. relates: for, by the heat of persecution, being driven to a deniall of his Sa­viour, he thought it a disparagement to confesse his fault, and therefore laboured to defend it, main­taining one deniall by another. It had beene a strange sinne to deny a God, none to deny a man, and therefore this was an argument of Theodotio's judgement, no proofe of his Apostasy: hee is wise and innocent too, si non Deum negâsse sed hominem videretur; if he deny not the sonne of God, but the sonne of Mary. Follow not easily men of this na­ture, for such Achabs as these, desire Micaiah to prophesy good, though never so false: nor doe they, when their religion and credit lye in the scale, in­cline ever to what weighs most, but what advan­tageth.

5 Lastly, if free from the rest, they are not vn­likely [...],Naz. orat. 26. p. 444. great fiery spirits, and then if their heat be joyned with ignorance, their zeale is wildfire, and like mettle in an vnway'd horse, serues only to tire and endanger the rider. Or, if with learning, this makes not their errours lesse, but more dangerous: for then you shall haue [...]:Ib. p. 458. charmes of elo­quence, and curious agitations, though vnusuall: because they are not sworne to any mans expressi­on; keepe they must that good thing committed to their trust; 2 Tim. 1.14. and the same faith may bee preseru'd in different tearmes; for so they meane well, it matters [Page 30] not what they speake; the trodden way is too easy for them; these must goe where other cannot, and S. Paules forme of sound words, was not prescribed to the strong,2 Tim. 1.13. but the crazy. If the Church haue modestly deliuered her selfe at large, these will vn­dertake to misinterpret her meaning by their owne; and force her to speake for their particular phansies, which studied to expresse her selfe in generall. Where there is such presumption on our owne strength, the field is maintained to the last man: for like illiterate Advocates, when their arguments are spent, these Rabshakehs beginne to raile, and that in the Iewish language, to the shame and weakning of such, as stand on the walls; betaking themselues ad argutam malitiam, Inst. l. 1. c. 1. as Lactantius speakes, to the saucy liberty of a scolding pen; as if they wrote by the Churne or the Distaffe;Polla argen­taria Luc. vit. ex claris. au­ctor. Bersm. or that Lucans wife corrected Lucans Pharsalia. When thou hast thus examined their temper, suspect their disease, and feare their infection: or least thy selfe should be­ginne a Schisme, avoide the occasions. Thinke god­linesse the greatest gaine, and let it be thy ambition to be Orthodoxe: know that the safest treasure is in Heaven, and the surest honour: thinke how short thy life is; how neere thy sun is to the West; and be not so childish to cry for thy best clothes when thou art going to bed. Doe not make thy envy a meanes of thy errour, nor trip thy brothers heeles, when he is running to preferment: for every man [Page 31] may haue entrance, if one giue way to another; whereas in a throng all sticke at the doore. If through weaknesse thou hast erred, bee willing to retract it; be not alwaies mad, because thou wast once blinde: allay thy choler with the mildnesse of the spirit, and though thou writest and speakest for the truth, forbeare thy brother. Leaue that woma­nish eloquence to such as haue nothing to defend them but invectiues: for know, there is a murder without bloudshed; Iugulast is non membra, L. 2. p. 69. sed no­mina, saith Optatus, yee slay not their bodies but their names; and what credit or ioy is it to outline the decease of their honour, and reputation? Be­sides, this is not the way to cure a patient, but to distemper him; the meanes to calme these stormes, being for the strong to beare the infirmities of the weake:Rom. 15.1. So haue I seene a lesser fire (by reason of a too violent suppression) breake forth into vnquen­chable flames; whiles a greater not stirred, nor medled with, though it threatned for a while, ere long sunke into ashes. If thou art a hearer, long not for meates aboue thy digestion: if a teacher, learne [...], rightly to divide the word, and to suit thy discourse to thy auditory. Corinth can informe vs, that, as a disproportionate diet causeth a mutiny in the body; so doth it in the Church, the vsuall fruit of such Schoole discourses, in popular auditories, either for thy deficiency in expression, or theirs in apprehension, being Schisme or blasphemy; as Con­stantine [Page 32] observes in his letter toDe vit. Con­stant. Orat. 2. [...]. The cause of most schismes being [...]. Alexander and Arrius Naz. orat. 26. p. 416. [...], keepe thy selfe to those ancient hereditary expressions, & remoue not those Landmarkes thy Fathers haue set: for what likelyhood is there one man should be wiser then so many thousands? Thinke meanely of thy owne wit, and mistrust even what thou knowest: for, how hardly can man wade into those inscrutable miste­ries, which is ignorant of those motions hee every day feeles, which is a stranger to himselfe? if [...] be in thy Creede, admit not the change of a letter with Athanasius inL. 3. c. 4. Sozomene, this strange attire of faith, or asEuseb. de vit. Const. orat. 2. Constantine stiles it, [...], this [...]oyish idle curiosity, this patching an old garment with a new piece hath ever beene the cog­nisance of heresy, and such contentious Ephramites may still be discerned by their lisping Sibboleth. Againe, [...]. When the Church hath spoken in generall, make her modesty an example for thine: bee not wiser then her Canons, nor streighter then her rules. Tis enough for thee to hold the foundation: or, if thou buildest thereon, take heede thou preparest nor fu­ell for the last fire. The Apostle assures thee, that, if thou shalt confesse Iesus Christ, and belieue that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt haue eternall life, Naz. orat. 26. p. 446. Naz. ib. p. 438. [Page 33] and what wouldest thou more then this? [...], there is no­thing more vniust, more dangerous then thy faith, if thou measurest it by the daring subtleties of refined witts, by the cleanely conveyance of some cheat­ing distinctions: though in the modus thy owne rea­son sway thee another way, keepe it to thy selfe; better an vnnecessary truth should be lost, then the vnity of the Church: deliver not a novity, though in the reservedst tearmes; for what can wee expect but a Babell, when one vnderstands not anothers Language? Belieue only what the Lord requires, and his Church: consider what the rest, for to fol­low mans direction is [...], in S. Pauls phrase,1. Cor. 3.3. to walke in a circle, to goe about, not to goe forward, and in matters of this nature, the safest way is to be a scepticke;Naz. 16. p. 446. if some turbulent zelots [...], through a fiery precipitation run out of themselues first, and then out of the Church: beseech them, with S. Paul, that they bee perfectly ioyned together in the same minde, and the same iudgement, that all speake the same things, v. 10. if thy prayers are sleighted, coniure them with the same Apostle, if there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of loue, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowells and mercy, bee like minded, hauing the same loue, being of one accord, and of one minde, Philip. 2.1.2. if they yet persist, threaten, and let them know, that we haue no such custome, neither the Churches of [Page 34] God, c. 11.16. & if after all this, they resolue to leaue thee, leaue them not without S. Paules Prayer, Rom. 15.5.6. the God of patience, and consolation grant vn­to them to be like minded one towards another, accord­ing to Christ Iesus; that they may with one minde & one mouth, glorify God, even the father of our Lord Iesus Christ: to whom with the blessed Spirit, bee ascribed all honour & glory, dominion and power, now and for ever. Amen.