ALl the words of God are alwayes ſweete in themſelues, ſayes Dauid; but ſweeter in the mouth, and in the pen of ſome of the Prophets, and ſome of the Apoſtles, then of others, as they differed in their naturall gifts, or in their education: but ſweeteſt of all, where the Holy Ghoſt hath beene pleaſed to ſet the word of God to Muſique, and to conuay it into a Song; and this Text is of that kind: part of the Song which Deborah & Barak ſung after their great victory vpon Siſera; Siſera who was Iabin the King of Canaans Generall againſt Iſrael, God himſelfe made Moſes a Song, Deut. 31.19. and expreſſed his reaſon why; The children of Iſrael, ſayes God, will forget my Law; but this ſong they will not forget; and whenſoeuer they ſing this ſong, this ſong ſhall teſtifie againſt them, what I haue done for them, how they haue forſaken me. And to ſuch a purpoſe hath God left this Song of Deborah and Barak in the Scriptures, that all Murmurers, and all that ſtray into a diffidence of Gods power, or of his purpoſe to ſuſtaine his owne cauſe, and deſtroy his owne Enemies, might run and read, might read and ſing, the wonderfull deliuerances that God hath giuen to his people, by weake and vnexpected meanes. This world begun with a Song, if the Chalde Paraphrasts, vpon Salomons Song of Songs haue taken a true tradition, That aſſoone as Adams ſinne was forgiuen him, he expreſſed (as he cals it in that Song) Sabbatum ſuum, his Sabboth, his peace of conſcience, in a Song; of which, we haue the entrance in that Paraphraſe. This world begun ſo; and ſo did the next world too, if wee count the beginning of that (as it is a good computation to doe ſo) from the comming of Chriſt Ieſus: for that was expreſſed on Earth, in diuers Songs; in the bleſſed Ʋirgins Magnificat; My ſoule doth magnifie the Lord: In Zacharies Benedictus; Bleſſed be the Lord God of Iſrael; and in Simeons, Nunc dimittis, Lord, now letteſt thou thy ſeruant depart in peace. This world began ſo, and the other; and when both ſhall ioyne, and make vp one world without end, it ſhall continue ſo in heauen, in that Song of the Lamb, Great and marueilous are thy workes, Lord God Almighty, Apoc. 3. iuſt and true are thy wayes, thou King of Saints. And, to Tune vs, to Compoſe and giue vs a Harmonie and Concord of affections, in all perturbations and paſsions, and diſcords in the paſſages of this life, if we had no more of the ſame Muſique in the Scriptures (as we haue the Song of Moſes at the Red Sea, and many Pſalmes of Dauid to the ſame purpoſe) this Song of Deborah were enough, abundantly enough, to ſlumber any ſtorme, to becalme any tempeſt, to rectifie any ſcruple of Gods ſlackneſſe in the defence of his cauſe, when in the Hiſtory and occaſion of this Song, expreſſed in the Chapter before this, we ſee, That Iſrael had done euill in the ſight of the Lord againe, and yet againe, God came to them: That God himſelfe had ſold Iſrael into the hands of Iabin King of Canaan, and yet he repented the bargaine, and came to them; That in twenty yeeres oppreſsion he came not, and yet he came. That when Siſera came againſt them, with nine hundred Chariots of Iron, and all preparations, proportionable to that, and God cald vp a woman, a Propheteſſe, a Deborah againſt him, becauſe Deborah had a zeale to the cauſe, and conſequently an enmity to the enemie, God would effect his purpoſe by ſo weake an inſtrument, by a woman, but by a woman, which had no ſuch intereſt, nor zeale to the cauſe; by Jael: And in Iaels hand, by ſuch an inſtrument, as with that, ſcarce any man could doe it, if it were to be done againe, with a hammer ſhe driues a nayle through his temples, and nayles him to the ground, as he lay ſleeping in her tent: And then the end of all, was the end of all, not one man of his army left aliue. O my Soule, why art thou ſo ſad, why art thou ſo diſquieted within me? Sing vnto the Lord an old ſong, the ſong of Deborah and Barak, That God by weake meanes doth mighty workes, That all Gods creatures fight in his behalfe, They fought from heauen, the ſtarres in their Order, fought againſt Siſera.

You ſhal haue but two parts out of theſe words; And to make theſe two parts,Diuiſion. I conſider the Text, as the two Hemiſpheres of the world, laid open in a flat, in a plaine Map. All thoſe parts of the world, which the Ancients haue vſed to conſider, are in one of thoſe Hemiſpheres; All Europe is in that, and in that is all Aſia, and Afrike too: So that when we haue ſeene that Hemiſphere, done with that, we might ſeeme to haue ſeene all, done with all the world; but yet the other Hemiſphere, that of America is as big as it; though, but by occaſion of new, and late diſcoueries, we had had nothing to ſay of America. So the firſt part of our Text, will bee as that firſt Hemiſphere; all which the ancient Expoſitors found occaſion to note out of theſe words, will be in that: but by the new diſcoueries of ſome humors of men, and rumors of men, we ſhall haue occaſion to ſay ſomewhat of a ſecond part to. The parts are, firſt, the Literall, the Hiſtoricall ſenſe of the words; And then an emergent, a collaterall, an occaſionall ſenſe of them. The explication of the wordes, and the Application, Quid tunc, Quid nunc, How the words were ſpoken then, How they may be applied now, will be our two parts. And, in paſſing through our firſt, wee ſhall make theſe ſteps. Firſt, God can, and ſometimes doth effect his purpoſes by himſelfe; intirely, immediatly, extraordinarily, miraculouſly by himſelfe: But yet, in a ſecond place, we ſhall ſee, by this ſtory, That he lookes for aſſiſtance, for concurrence of ſecond cauſes, and ſubordinate meanes: And that therefore, God in this Song of Deborah, hath prouided an honourable commemoration of them, who did aſſiſt his cauſe; for, the Princes haue their place, Verſe 15, The Princes of Iſſachar were with her: And then, the Gouernours, The great Perſons, the great Officers of the State, haue their place in this honour, That they offered themſelues willingly to that ſeruice; And after them, the Merchants, Verſe 9. for thoſe who are ſaid there, Verſe 10, to ride vpon white Aſſes, to be well mounted, according to the manner of thoſe Nations, are, by Peter Martyr, amongſt our Expoſitors, and by Serarius the Ieſuite, amongſt the others, fitly vnderſtood, to be intended of Merchants; And in the ſame verſe, the Iudges are honorably remembred, Thoſe that ſit in Iudgement; And a farre vnlikelier ſort of people, then any of theſe, in the ſame verſe too, Thoſe that walked by the way; Idle, and diſcourſing men, that were not much affected, how buſineſſe went, ſo they might talke of them: And laſtly, the whole people in generall, Verſe 2. how poore ſoeuer, they haue euidence from this record, That they offered themſelues (and what will they denie, that offer themſelues) and willingly, to this imploiment. And then, God hauing here afforded this honourable mention of them, who did aſſiſt him, he layes alſo a heauy note vpon ſuch, who for collaterall reſpects preuaricated, or withdraw themſelues from his ſeruice: Verſe 16. perticularly vpon Ruben, who was diuided by greatneſſe of heart, And vpon Dan, Verſe 17. who remained in his ſhips. And therefore to the encouragement of thoſe who did aſſiſt him, in any proportion, though their aſſiſtance were no wayes competent againſt ſo potent an enemy, God fought for himſelfe too, They fought from Heauen, The ſtarres in their order fought againſt Siſera. And theſe will be the branches, or circumſtances of our firſt part: for the particulars of the ſecond, we ſhall open them more commodiouſly for your memory and vſe, then, when we come to handle them, then now. Now we proceed to thoſe of the firſt part.

Part 1.And into thoſe I paſſe with this proteſtation, That in all which I ſhall ſay this day, beeing to ſpeake often of God, in that Notion, as he is Lord of Hostes, and fights his owne battailes, I am farre from giuing fire to them that deſire warre. Peace in this world, is a pretious Earneſt, and a faire and louely Type of the euerlaſting peace of the world to come: And warre in this world, is a ſhrewd and fearefull Embleme of the euerlaſting diſcord and tumult, and torment of the world to come: And therefore, our Bleſſed God, bleſſe vs with this externall, and this internall, and make that lead vs to an eternall peace. But I ſpeake of this ſubiect, eſpecially to eſtabliſh and ſettle them, that ſuſpect Gods power, or Gods purpoſe, to ſuccour thoſe, who in forraine parts, grone vnder heauie preſſures in matter of Religion, or to reſtore thoſe, who in forraine parts, are deueſted of their lawfull poſſeſſions, and inheritance; and becauſe God hath not done theſe great workes yet, nor yet raiſed vp meanes, in apparance, and in their apprehenſion, likely to effect it, That therefore God likes not the cauſe; and therefore they begin to bee ſhaked in their owne Religion at home, ſince they thinke that God neglects it abroad. But, beloued, ſince God made all this world of nothing, cannot hee recouer any one peece thereof, or reſtore any one peece, with a little? In the Creation, his production of ſpecifique formes, and ſeuerall Creatures in the ſeuerall dayes, was much, very much; but not very much, compared with that, which he had done immediatly before, when he made Heauen and Earth of nothing. For, for the particular Creatures, God had then Praeiacentem Materiam, he had ſtuffe before him; enough to cut out Creatures of the largeſt ſiſe, his Elephants of the Earth, his Whales and Leuiathans in the Sea. In that matter there was Semen Creaturarum, The Seed of all Creatures in that ſtuffe. But for the ſtuffe it ſelfe, the Heauen and Earth, God had not Semen Coeli, any ſuch ſeed of Heauen as that he could ſay to it, doe thou hatch a Heauen; he had not any ſuch Semen terrae, as that hee could bid that grow vp into an Earth: There was nothing at all, and all, that is, was produced from that; and then who ſhall doubt of his proceeding, if by a little he will doe much? He ſuffered his greater works to be paraleld, or to be counterfeit by Pharaohs Magicians; but in his leaſt, in the making of Lice, hee brought them to confeſſe Digitum Dei, the finger of God; and that was enough; The arme of God, the hand of God needs not; where he will worke, his finger is enough, It was not that imagination, that dreame of the Rabbins, that hindered the Magicians, who ſay, that the Deuill cannot make any Creature, leſſe then a Barley corne; As it is with men, they miſconceiue it to be with the Deuill too; harder to make a little clocke, a little picture, any thing in a little, then in a larger forme. That was no part of the reaſon in that caſe: but ſince man ordinarily eſteemes it ſo, and ordinarily admires great workes in little forme, why will he not be content to glorifie God that way, in a faithfull confidence, that hee can and will doe great workes by weake meanes. Should God haue ſtayd to leuie, and arme, and traine, and muſter, and preſent men enow to diſcomfit Sennacherib? Hee tooke a neerer way; he ſlew almoſt two hundreth thouſand of them, in one night by an Angell. Eſa. 37.36. Should God haue troubled an Angell to ſatisfie Eliſha his ſeruant? Onely by apparition in the cloudes,2. Reg. 5.16. he brought him to acknowledge, that there were more with them, then with the Enemy, when there was none. He troubled not ſo much as a cloud, he imployed no Creature at all, againſt the Philiſtines, when they came vp with thirty thouſand Chariots; 1. Sam. 23 5 but hee breathed a dampe, an aſtoniſhment into them, he imprinted a diuine terror in their hearts, and they fought againſt one another. God foreſaw a diminution of his honour, Iud. 6. in the augmentation of Iſraels forces, and therfore he reduced Gideons thirty two thouſand to three hundred perſons. It was ſo in perſons, God does much with few, and it was ſo in time, God does much, though late; though God ſeeme a long time to haue forgot his people, yet in due time, that is, in his time, he returnes to them againe. S. Auguſtine makes a vſefull Hiſtoricall note, That that land to which God brought the Children of Iſrael, was their owne land before; they were the right heires to it, lineally deſcended from him, who was the firſt poſſeſſor of it, after the floud: but they were ſo long out of poſſeſſion of it, as that they were neuer able to ſet their title on foot; nay, they did ſcarce know their own title, and yet God repoſſeſſed them of it, reinueſted them in it. It is ſo for perſons, and times in his wayes in this world, Much with few, much though late, and it is ſo in his wayes to the next world too: for perſons, Elias knew of no more but himſelfe, that ſerued the right God aright: God makes him know that there were ſeuen thouſand more; ſeuen thouſand was much to one, but it was little to all the world: and yet theſe ſeuen thouſand haue peopled heauen, and ſent vp all thoſe Colonies thither; all thoſe Armies of Martyrs, thoſe flockes of Lambes, innocent children, thoſe Fathers, the Fathers of the Church, and Mothers, holy Matrons, and daughters, bleſſed Virgines, and learned and laborious Doctors; theſe ſeuen thouſand haue filled vp the places of the fallen Angels, and repeopled that Kingdome: And whereſoeuer we thinke them moſt worne out, God at this time hath his remnant (as the Apoſtle ſayes) and God is able to make vp the whole garment of that remnant. Rom. 11.5. So h • does much with few, in the wayes to heauen; and that he does much though late, in that way too, thou mayeſt diſcerne in his working vpon thy ſelfe. How often haſt thou ſuffered thy Soule, to grow cleane out of all reparations into ruine, by thine inconſiderate and habituall courſe of ſinne, and neuer repaired it by any good vſe of hearing the word, or receiuing the Sacrament in a long time, and when thou haſt at any time, come to a ſuruey of thy conſcience, how haſt thou beene affected with an inordinate apprehenſion of Gods anger, and his inacceſſibleneſſe, his inexorableneſſe towards thee, and ſunke euen into the iawes of deſperation; And yet, Quia manet ſemen dei, becauſe the ſeed of God hath remained in thee,1. Io. 3.4. Incubat Spiritus, the Holy Ghoſt hath ſat vpon that ſeed, and hatched a new Creature in thee, a modeſt, but yet infallible aſſurance of the Mercy of thy God. Recollect all; in rayſing of ſieges, and diſcomfiting of Armies, in reſtoring poſſeſſions, and reinueſting right heires, in repairing the ruines of the Kingdome of heauen, depopulated in the fall of Angels, in reeſtabliſhing peace of conſcience; in a preſumptuous confidence, or ouer-timorous diffidence in God, God glorifies himſelfe that way, to doe much with little.

He does ſo; but yet hee will haue ſomething. God is a good Husband, a good Steward of Mans contributions, but contributions he will haue: hee will haue a concurrence, a cooperation of perſons. Euen in that great worke, which wee ſpake of at firſt, the firſt creation, which was ſo abſolutely of Nothing, yet there was a Faciamus, let vs, vs, make Man; though but one God, yet more Perſons in that worke. Chriſt had been able to haue done as the Deuill would haue had him doe, to haue made bread of ſtones, Matt. 4.3. when hee had ſo great a number to feed in the Wilderneſſe; but hee does not ſo: Hee askes his Diſciples, Quot panes habetis; How many loafes haue you? and though they were but fiue, yet ſince they were ſome, he multiplies them, and feeds aboue fiue thouſand with thoſe fiue. Hee would haue a remnant of Gedeons Armie to fight his battailes: A remnant of Iſraels beleeuers to make vp his Kingdome; A remnant of thy Soule, his ſeed wrapd vp ſomewhere, to ſaue thy Soule; And a remnant of thy ſelfe, of thy Mind, of thy Purſe, of thy Perſon, for thy temporall deliuerance. God goes lowe, and accepts ſmall Sacrifices; a Pigeon, a handfull of Flower, a few eares of Corne; but a Sacrifice he will haue. The Chriſtian Church implies a ſhrewd diſtreſſe, when ſhee prouides that reaſon, that clauſe in her prayer, Quia non est alius, Giue Peace in our time, O Lord, becauſe there is no other that fighteth for vs: If the bowels of compaſſion bee eaten out, if the band of the Communion of Saints be diſſolued, we fight for none, none fights for vs, at laſt neyther we nor they ſhall fight for Christ, nor Chriſt for them nor vs, but all become a prey to the generall enemie of the name of Chriſt; for God requires ſomething, ſome aſſiſtance, ſome concurrence, ſome cooperation, though he can fight from heauen, and the Starres, in their order, can fight againſt Siſera.

And therefore, though God giue his glorie to none, his glorie, that is to doe all with Nothing, yet he giues them their glorie, that doe any thing for him, or for themſelues. And as hee hath laid vp a record, for their glorie and Memoriall, who were remarkeable for Faith (for the eleuenth Chapter to the Hebrewes, is a Catalogue of them.) So in this Song of Deborah and Barake, hee hath laide vp a Record for their glorie, who expreſſed their faith in Workes, and aſſiſted his ſeruice. That which is ſaid in generall, The Memorie of the iuſt is bleſſed, Prou. 13.7. but the name of the wicked ſhall rot, That is applied and promiſed in particular, by him, who can performe it, by Chriſt, to that woman, who anointed him, That wherſoeuer his Goſpell ſhould be Preached in the whole world, Mat. 26.13 ther ſhould alſo this that this woman had done, be told for a memoriall of her. Shee aſſiſted at his Funerall (as Chriſt himſelfe interprets her action, That ſhee did it to burie him) and hath her glorie: how ſhall he glorifie them, that aduance his glorie? Shee hath her reward in his death; what ſhall they haue, that keepe him, and his Goſpell aliue? Not a verſe in Deborah and Baraks ſong, and yet that is honourable euidence: Not a commemoration at the Preaching of the Goſpell; and yet that is the honourable teſtimonie in this place, and at theſe Exerciſes, of ſuch as haue contributed to the conueniencies of theſe Exerciſes, but they ſhall haue a place in the Booke of life; indelibly in the Booke of life, if they proceede in that deuotion of aſſiſting Gods cauſe, and doe not thinke, that they haue done all, or done enough, if they haue done ſomething ſome one time. The Morall man hath ſaid well, and well applied it;Plutar. A Ship is a Ship for euer, if you repaire it. So, ſayes hee, Honour is Honour, and ſo ſay wee, A good Conſcience is a good Conſcience for euer, if you repaire it: But, ſayes he well, Aliquid famae addendum, ne putreſcat. Honour will putrifie, and ſo will a good Conſcience too, if it be not repaired. He that hath done Nothing muſt begin, and hee that hath done ſomething for Gods cauſe, muſt doe more, if hee will continue his name in the Booke of Life; though God leaue no one particular action, done for his glorie, without glorie; as thoſe who aſſiſted his glorie heere, haue a glorious Commemoration in this Song.

In the fifteenth verſe, Princes haue their place; The Princes of Iſſachar, were with Deborah. when the King goes to the field, Many, who are in other caſes Priuiledged, are by their Tenures bound to goe. It is a high Tenure to hold by a Crowne; And when God, of whome, and whome onely they hold, that hold ſo, goes into the field, it becomes them to goe with him. But as God ſits in Heauen, and yet goes into the field, ſo they of whome God hath ſaid, Yee are Gods, the Kings of the Earth, may ſtay at home, and yet goe too. They goe in their aſsiſtance to the Warre; They goe in their Mediation for Peace; They goe in their Example, when from their ſweetneſſe, and moderation in their Gouernement at home, their flowes out an inſtruction, a perſwaſion to Princes abroad. Kings goe many times, and are not thanked, becauſe their wayes are not ſeene: and Chriſt himſelfe would not alwayes bee ſeene; In the eight of Iohn, he would not be ſeene. When they tooke vp ſtones to ſtone him, he withdrew himſelfe inuiſibly, hee would not be ſeene: When Princes find that open actions exaſperate, they doe beſt, if they be not ſeene. In the ſixth of Iohn, Chriſt would not bee ſeene. When they would haue put vpon him, that which was not fit for him to take, when they would haue made him King, he withdrew himſelfe, and was not ſeene. When Princes are tempted to take Territories, or poſſeſsions in to their hands, to which other Princes haue iuſt pretences, they doe beſt, if they withdrawe themſelues from engagements in vnneceſſarie Warres, for that,2. Reg. 23.29. that onely was Ioſiahs ruine. Kings cannot alwayes goe in the ſight of Men, and ſo they loſe their thankes; but they cannot goe out of the ſight of God, and there they neuer loſe their reward: For the Lord that ſees them in ſecret, ſhall reward them openly, with peace in their owne States, and Honour in their owne Chronicles, as here, for aſsiſting his cauſe, hee gaue the Princes of Iſſachar a roome, a ſtraine in Deborah and Barakes Song.

And in the ninth verſe, the Gouernors, the great Officers, haue their place, in this praiſe, My heart is towards the Gouernors of Iſrael that offered themſelues willingly. It is not themſelues in perſon; Great Officers cannot doe ſo; They are Intelligences that moue great Spheares, but they muſt not bee mou'd out of them. But their glorie here is their willingneſſe. That before they were inquired into, how they carried themſelues in their Offices, before they were intimidated, or ſoupled with fines and ranſomes, voluntarily they aſſiſted the cauſe of God. Some in the Romane Church write, that the Cardinalls of that Church, are ſo incorporated into the Pope, ſo much of his body, and ſo bloud of his bloud, that in a feuer they may not let bloud without his leaue. Truly, the great Perſons and Gouernors in any ſtate, are ſo noble and neere parts of the King, as that they may not bleed out in any ſubuentions and aſſiſtances of ſuch cauſes vnder-hand, as are not auowd by the King; for, it is not euident that that cauſe is Gods cauſe; at leaſt not euident that that way is an aſſiſtance of Gods cauſe. But a good, and tractable, and ductile diſpoſition, in all courſes which ſhall lawfully bee declared to bee for Gods glorie, then, not Contra, but Praeter, not againſt, but beſides, not in oppoſing, but in preuenting the Kings will, before hee vrge, before he preſſe, to be willing and forward in ſuch aſſiſtances, this giues great Perſons, Gouernors, and Officers, a verſe in Baraks and Deborahs Song, and Deborah and Baraks Song is the Word of God.

The Merchants haue their place in that verſe too. For, (as wee ſaid before) thoſe who ride vpon white Aſſes, (which was as honorable a tranſportation, as Coaches are now) are by Peter Martyr amongſt ours, and by Serarius the Jeſuit amongſt others, well vnderſtood to be the Merchants. The greatneſſe and the dignitie of the Merchants of the Eaſt is ſufficiently expreſſed in thoſe of Babylon, Thy Merchants were the great Men of the Earth. Apoc. 18.23 And for the Merchants of the Weſt, we know that in diuers forraine parts, their Nobilitie is in their Merchants, their Merchants are their Gentlemen. And certainly, no place of the world, for Commodities and Situation, better diſpoſed then this Kingdome, to make Merchants great. You cannot ſhew your greatneſſe more, then in ſeruing God, with part of it; you did ſerue before you were free; but here you do both at once, for his ſeruice is perfect freedome. I am not here to day, to beg a Beneuolence for any particular cauſe on foot now: there is none; but my Errand in this firſt part is, firſt to remoue iealouſies and ſuſpitions of Gods neglecting his buſineſſe, becauſe he does it not at our appointment, and then to promoue and aduance a diſpoſition, to aſſiſt his cauſe and his glory, in all wayes, which ſhall bee declar'd to conduce thereunto, whether in his body, by relieuing the poore, or in his houſe by repairing theſe walls, or in his honour in employments more publique: And to aſſure you that you cannot haue a better debter, a better pay-maſter then Chriſt Ieſus: for all your Entayles, and all your perpetuities doe not ſo nayle, ſo hoope in, ſo riuet an eſtate in your poſteritie, as to make the Sonne of God your Sonne too, and to giue Chriſt Ieſus a Childes part, with the reſt of your Children. It is noted (perchaunce but out of leuity) that your Children doe not keepe that which you get: It is but a calumny, or but a faſcination of ill wiſhers. We haue many happy inſtances to the contrarie, many noble families deriued from you; One, enough to enoble a World; Queene ELIZABETH was the great granchild of a Lord Maior of London. Our bleſſed God bleſſe all your Eſtates, and bleſſe your poſteritie in a bleſſed enioying therof; But truly it is a good way to that, amongſt all your purchaſes, to purchaſe a place in Barak and Deborahs Song, a teſtimonie of the Holy Ghoſt, that you were forward in all due times in the aſſiſtance of Gods cauſe.

That teſtimonie, in this Seruice in our Text, haue the Iudges of the Land, in the ſame verſe too, ye that ſit in Iudgement. Certainly, Men exerciſed in Judgement, are likelieſt to thinke of the laſt Iudgement. Men accuſtomed to giue Iudgement, likelieſt to thinke of the Iudgement they are to receiue. And at that laſt Iudgement the Malediction of the left hand falls vpon them that haue not harbored Chriſt, not fed him, not clothed him, And when Chriſt comes to want thoſe things in that degree, that his Kingdome, his Goſpell, himſelfe cannot ſubſiſt, where it did, without ſuch a ſuſtentation, an omiſſion in ſuch an aſſiſtance, is much more heauie. All Iudgements end in this, Suum cui que , to giue euery one his owne. Giue God his owne, and hee hath enough; giue him his owne, in his owne place, and his cauſe will be preferred before any Ciuill or Naturall obligation. But God requires not that: pay euery other Man firſt, owe nothing to any Man; pay your Children, apportion them conuenient portions. Pay your eſtimation, your reputation, liue in that good faſhion which your ranke and calling calls for: when all this is done, of your ſuperfluities beginne to pay God, and euen for that you ſhall haue your roome in Deborah, and Baraks Song, for Aſſiſtants, and Coadiutors to him.

For a farre vnlikelier ſort of people, then any of theſe, haue that in the ſame verſe alſo, Ambulantes ſuper viam, They that walke vp and downe idle, diſcourcing Men, Men of no Calling, of no Profeſſion, of no ſenſe of other Mens miſeries, and yet they aſſiſt this cauſe. Men that ſucke the ſweet of the Earth, and the ſweat of other Men: Men that pay the State nothing in doing the offices of mutuall ſocietie, and embracing particular vocations; Men that make themſelues but pipes to receiue and conuay, and vent rumors, but ſpunges to ſucke in, and powre out foule water; Men that doe not ſpend time, but weare time, they trade not, they plough not, they preach not, they plead not, but walke, and walke vpon the way, till they haue walked out their ſixe moneths for the renuing of bands, euen theſe had ſome remorſe in Gods cauſe, euen theſe got into Deborah and Baraks Song for aſſiſting there.

And leſſe; that is, Poorer then theſe: for in the Second verſe, the people are as forward as the Gouernors, in the Ninth, They offered themſelues willingly. They might offer themſelues, their perſons. It is likely they did; and likely that many of them had nothing to offer but themſelues. And when Men of that pouertie offer, part eaſily with that which was hardly got, how acceptable to God, that Sacrifice is, we ſee in Chriſts teſtimonie of that Widdow, who amongſt many great giuers gaue her Mite, That ſhee gaue more then all they, becauſe ſhee gaue all: which teſtified not onely her Liberalitie to God, but her Confidence in God, that though ſhee left nothing, ſhee ſhould not lacke: for that right vſe doth Saint Auguſtine make of that example, Diuites largiuntur ſecuri de diuitijs, pauper ſecurus de Domino: A rich man giues, and feeles it not, feares no want, becauſe hee is ſure of a full Cheſt at home; A poore man giues, and feeles it as little, becauſe hee is ſure of a bountifull God in Heauen.

God then can worke alone; there wee ſet out: yet he does require aſſiſtance; that way wee went: And to thoſe that doe aſſiſt, hee giues glory here; ſo farre we are gone: but yet this remaynes, that hee layes notes of blame, and reproach vpon them, whom collaterall reſpects withdrew from this aſſiſtance. For there is a kind of reproach and increpation laide vpon Reuben in that queſtion, Why abodeſt thou amongst the ſheep-folds? The diuiſions of REVBEN were great thoughts of heart. Verſe 16. Ambition of precedencie in places of employment, greatnes of heart, and a lothneſſe to be vnder the commaund of any other, and ſo an incoherence, not concurring in Counſailes and Executions, retard oftentimes euen the cauſe of God. So is there alſo a reproach and increpation vpon Dan, in that queſtion, Verſe 17. why did Dan remaine in his ſhips; A confidence in their owne ſtrength, a ſacrificing to their owne Nets, an attributing of their ſecuritie to their owne wiſedome or power, may alſo retard the cauſe of God; that ſtayed Dan behinde.

Thus then they haue their thankes that doe, thus their markes that doe not aſſiſt in Gods cauſe: though God to encourage them that doe, accompliſh his worke himſelfe; They fought from heauen, The Starres in their order fought againſt Siſera. They fought, ſayes the Text, but does not tell vs who; leaſt men ſhould direct their thankes for that which is paſt, or their prayers for future benefits, to any other, euen in heauen, then to God himſelfe. The ſtars are nam'd; It could not be feared that Men would pray to them, ſacrifice to them, Angels & Saints are not named; Men might come to aſcribe to them, that which appertained to God onely. Now theſe Stars, ſayes the text, fought in their courſes, Manentes in Ordine, they fought not diſorderly. It was no Enchantment, no Sorcery, no diſordring of the frame, or the powers, or the influence of theſe heauenly bodies, in fauor of the Iſraelites; God would not be beholden to the Deuill, or to Witches, for his beſt friends. It was no diſorderly Enchantment, nor it was no Miracle, that diſordered theſe Starres; as in Ioſuahs time, the Sunne and Moone were diſordred in their Motions; But as Ioſephus, who relates this battaile more particularly, ſayes, with whom all agree, The naturall Influence of theſe heauenly bodies, at this time, had created and gathered ſuch ſtormes and bayles, as blowing vehemently in the Enemies face, was the cauſe of this defeate: for ſo wee might haue ſaid, in that deliuerance, which God gaue vs at Sea, They fought from heauen, The Starres in their order fought againſt the Enemie. Without coniuring, without Miracle, from heauen, but yet by naturall meanes, God preſerued vs. For that is the force of that phraſe, and of that maner of expreſsing it, Manentes in Ordine, The Starres, containing themſelues in their Order, fought. And that phraſe induces our ſecond part, the accommodation, the occaſionall application of theſe words: God will not fight, nor be fought for diſorderly; And therefore in illuſtration, and confirmation of thoſe words of the Apoſtle, Let all things be done decently, and in order, Aquinas, in his Commentaries vpon that place, cites, and applies this Text, as words to the ſame purpoſe, and of the ſame ſignification. You, ſayes Saint Paul, you who are Stars in the Church, muſt proceede in your warfare, decently, and in order, for the ſtars of heauen, when they fight for the Lord, they doe their ſeruice, Manentes in Ordine, containing themſelues in their Order. A • d ſo in our order, we are come to our ſecond part. In which, we owe you by promiſe made at firſt, an Analyſis, a diſtribution of the ſteps and branches of this part, now when wee are come to the handling thereof: And thus wee ſhall proceede; firſt, the Warre, which wee are to ſpeake of here, is not as before, a Worldly warre, it is a Spirituall War: And then the Munition, the prouiſion for this warre, is not as before, temporall aſſiſtance of Princes, Officers, Iudges, Merchants, all ſorts of People, but it is the Goſpell of Chriſt Ieſus, and the preaching thereof. Preaching is Gods ordinance, with that Ordinance hee fights from heauen, and batters downe all errors. And thirdly, to maintain this War, he hath made Preachers Stars; and vae ſi non, woe be vnto them, if they doe not fight, if they doe not preach: But yet in the laſt place, they muſt fight, as the Stars in heauen doe, In their order, in that Order, and according to thoſe directions, which, they, to whom it appertaines, ſhall giue them: for that is to fight in Order. And in theſe foure branches, wee ſhall determine this ſecond part.

Firſt then we are in Contemplation of a Spirituall warre; now, though there be a Beatie Pacifici, a bleſſing reſerued to Peace-makers, to the Peace-maker, our Peace-maker, who hath ſometimes effected it in ſome places, and alwayes ſeriouſly and chargeably, and honourably endeuoured it in all places, yet there is a ſpirituall Warre, in which, Maledicti Pacifici; Curſed bee they that goe about to make Peace, and to make all one, The warres betweene Christ and Beliall. Let no man ſeuer thoſe whom God hath ioyned, but let no Man ioyne thoſe whom God hath ſeuered neyther, and God hath ſeuered Chriſt and Belial: and that was Gods action, Ponam inimicitias; The Seed of the woman, and the Seed of the Serpent, wee and the Deuill, ſhould neuer haue fallen out; wee agree but too well; but God hath put an enmity betweene vs. God hath put Truth and Falſhood, Jdolatrie and Sinceritie ſo farre aſunder, and infuſed ſuch an incompatibilitie, and imprinted ſuch an implacabilitie betweene them, as that they cannot flow into one another: And therefore, there, Maledicti Pacifici, It is an oppoſition againſt God, by any colourable Modifications, to reconcile opinions diametrally contrary to one another, in fundamentall things. Day and Night may ioyne and meet. In Diluculis and in Crepuſculis, The dawning of the day, in the Morning, and the ſhutting in of the day in the Euening, make day and night ſo much one, as ſometimes you cannot tell which to call them: but Lux & tenebrae, light and darknes, Midnight and Noone neuer met, neuer ioynd. There are points, which paſſions of men, and vehemence of diſputation, haue carried farther a ſunder then needed: and theſe indeed haue made the greateſt noyſe; becauſe vpon theſe, for the moſt part, depends the matter of profit: and Beati pacifici, bleſſed were that labour, and that labourer, that could reconcile thoſe things; and of that there might bee hope, becauſe it is often but the Perſons that fight, it is not the thing, the matters are not ſo different. But then there are matters ſo different, as that a Man may ſit at home, and weepe, and wiſh, prayſe God that hee is in the right, and pray to God for them that are in the wrong, but to thinke that they are indifferent, and all one, Maledicti Pacifici, hee that hath brought ſuch a Peace, hath brought a curſe vpon his owne Conſcience, and laid, not a Satisfastion, but a Stupefaction vpon it. A Turke might perchance ſay, in ſcorne of vs both, They call you Heretiques, you call them Idolaters, why might not Idolaters, and Heretiques agree well enough together? But a true Chriſtian will neuer make Contrarieties in fundamentall things indifferent, neuer make foundations, and ſuperedifications, the Word of God, and the Traditions of men, all one. Euery man is a little world, ſayes the Philoſopher; Euery man is a little Church too; and in euery man there are two ſides, two armies: the fleſh fights againſt the Spirit. This is but a Ciuill warre, nay it is but a Rebellion indeed; and yet it can neuer be abſolutely quenched. So euery man is alſo a Souldier in that great and generall warre, betweene Chriſt, and Beliall, the Word of God, and the will of man. Euery man is bound to hearken to a peace, in ſuch things as may admit peace, in differences, where men differ from men; but bound alſo to ſhut himſelfe vp againſt all ouertures of peace, in ſuch things, as are in their Nature irreconcileable, in differences where men differ from God. That warre God hath kindled, and that warre muſt bee maintain'd, and maintain'd by his way; and his way, and his Ordinance in this warre, is Preaching.

If God had not ſaid to Noah, Fac tibi Arcam; and when he had ſaid ſo, if he had not giuen him a Deſeigne, a Modell, a Platforme of that Arke, we may doubt credibly, whether euer man would haue thought of a Ship, or of any ſuch way of trade & Commerce. Shipping was Gods owne Inuention, and therein Laetentur Inſulae, as Dauid ſayes, Let the Ilands reioyce. So alſo, if Chriſt had not ſaid to his Apostles, Ite praedicate, Goe and preach: And when he had ſaid ſo, ſaid thus much more, Qui non crediderit damnabitur, Hee that beleeues not your Preaching, ſhall be damned: certainly man would neuer haue thought of ſuch a way of eſtabliſhing a kingdome, as by Preaching. No other Nation had any ſuch Inſtitution, as Preaching. In the Romane State, there was a publique Officer, Conditor Precum, who vpon great emergent occaſions, deprecations of imminent dangers, or Gratulations for euident benefites, did make particular Collects anſwerable to thoſe occaſions: And ſome ſuch occaſionall Panegyriques, and gratulatory Orations for temporall benefites, they had in that State. But a fixt and conſtant courſe of conteining Subiects in their Religious and Ciuill duties, by preaching, onely God ordain'd, onely his Children enioy'd. Chriſt when he ſent his Apostles, did not giue them a particular command, Ite orate, goe and pray in the publique Congregation; All Nations were accuſtomed to that; Chriſt made no doubt of any mans oppoſing, or queſtioning Publique Prayer; and therefore for that, he onely ſaid, Sic orabitis, Not goe, and pray, but, when you pray, pray thus, hee inſtructed them in the forme; the dutie was well knowne to all before. But, for Preaching, He himſelfe was anointed for that, The Spirit of the Lord is vpon me, Eſa. 61.1 becauſe the Lord hath anoynted mee to preach: His vnction was his function. He was anoynted with that power, and hee hath anoynted vs with part of his owne vnction: All power is giuen vnto mee, ſayes hee, in Heauen and in Earth; and therefore (as he addes there) Goe yee, Math. 28 19. and preach: Becauſe I haue all power, for preaching, take yee part of my power, and preach too. For, Preaching is the power of God vnto Saluation, and the ſauour of life vnto life When therefore the Apoſtle ſayes,1 Theſ. 5.19. Quench not the Spirit, Nec in te, nec in alio, ſayes Aquinas; Quench it not in your ſelfe, by forbearing to heare the Word preached; quench it not in others, by diſcouraging them that doe preach. For ſo Saint Chryſoſtome, (and not hee alone) vnderſtood that place, That they quench the ſpirit, who diſcountenance preaching, and diſhearten Preachers. Saint Chryſoſtome took his example from the lampe that burnt by him, when he was preaching; (It ſeemes therefore hee did preach in the afternoone) and he ſayes, You may quench this Lampe, by putting in water, and you may quench it by taking out the oyle. So a man may quench the ſpirit in himſelfe, if he ſmoother it, ſuffocate it with worldly pleaſures, or profits, and he may quench it in others, if he withdraw that fauour, or that help, which keeps that Man, who hath the ſpirit of Propheſie, the Vnction of Preaching, in a cheerefull diſcharge of his dutie. Preaching then being Gods Ordinance to beget Faith, to take away preaching, were to diſarme God, and to quench the ſpirit; for by that Ordinance he fights from heauen.

And to maintaine that fight, he hath made his Miniſters Starres; as they are called in the firſt of the Reuelation. And they fight againſt Siſera, that is, they preach againſt Error. They preach out of Neceſsitie; Neceſſitie is laid vpon me to preach, ſayes the Apoſtle, 1 Cor. 9.16. and vpon a heauy penaltie, if they doe not; Vae mihi ſi non, Woe bee vnto me if I doe not preach the Gospell. Neither is that ſpoke there with the caſe of a future, as the Roman Tranſlation hath it, Si non Eliuangelizauero, If I doe not hereafter preach; If I preach not at one time or other; If I preach not when I ſee how things wil go, what kind of preaching will be moſt acceptable: But it is, Si non Euangelizem, If I preach not now; now, though I had preached yeſterday; for ſo Saint Ambroſe preached his Sermon de ſancto Latrone, of the good Thiefe, Heſterno die, Yeſterday I told you &c. So Saint Auguſtin preached his Sermon vpon All Saints day: And ſo did Saint Bernard his twelfth Sermon vpon the Pſalm: Qui habitat. Now, though I preached but lately before; and now, though I had but late warning to preach now; So St. Baſil preached his 2. Sermon vpon the Hexameron, the ſixe dayes worke, when hee had but that Morning for Meditation: and more then ſo, in his 2. Sermon de Baptiſsimo; for, it ſeemes he preached that without any premeditation, Prout ſuggerit Spiritus ſanctus. Now, though I had not time to labour a Sermon; and now, though I preach in anothers mans place; for ſo Saint Auguſtine preached his Sermon vpon the 95. Pſalme: where he ſaies, Frater noſter Seuerus, Our brother Seuerus ſhould by promiſe haue preached heere, but ſince he comes not, I will. Now, that is, whenſoeuer Gods good people may be edified by my preaching: Vae ſi non, woe be vnto me, if I doe not preach. The Dragon drew a third part of the Stars from heauen. Apoc. 12.3. Antichriſt by his Perſecutions, and Excommunications ſilenced many; all that would not magnifie him. And many amongſt vs, haue ſilenced themſelues: Abundance ſilences ſome, & Lazineſſe, and Ignorance ſome, and ſome their owne Indiſcretion, and then they lay that vpon the Magiſtrate. But God hath plac'd vs in a Church, and vnder a Head of the Church, where none are ſilenced, nor dicountenan'cd, if being Stars, called to the Miniſtery of the Goſpel, & appointed to fight, to preach there, they fight within the diſcipline and limits of this Text, Manentes in ordine, conteining themſelues in Order.

In this phraſe, as we told you before, out of Aquinas, the ſame thing is intended, as in that place of Saint Paul, Let all things bee done decently, and in Order. That the Vulgat Edition reades, Fiant honeste; and then ſayes Saint Ambroſe, Honeſte fit, quod cum pace fit, That is done honeſtly, and decently, which is done quietly, and peaceably. Not with a peace, and indifferencie to contrary Opinions in fundamentall Doctrines, not to ſhuffle Religions together, and make it all one which you chuſe, but a peace with perſons, an abſtinence from contumelies, and reuilings. It is true that wee muſt hate Gods enemies with a perfect hatred, and it is true that Saint Chryſostome ſayes, Odium perfectum eſt, odium conſummatiſsimum, that is not a perfect hatred, that leaues out any of their Errors vnhated. But yet a perfect hatred is that too, which may conſiſt with perfection, and Charitie is perfection: a perfect hatred is that which a perfect, that is, a charitable man may beare, which is ſtill to hate Errors, not Perſons. When their inſolencies prouoke vs to ſpeake of them, we ſhall doe no good therein, if therein we proceed not decently, and in order. Christ ſayes of his Church: Cant. 6.3 Terribilis vt Caſtrorum acies, It is powerfull as an Armie; but it is vt acies ordinata, as an armie diſciplin'd, and in order: for without order, an Army is but a great Ryot; and without this decencie, this peaceableneſſe, this diſcretion, this Order, zeale is but fury, and ſuch preaching is but to the obduration of ill, not to the edification of good Chriſtians. Saint Paul in his abſence from the Coloſsians, Col. 2.5. reioyces as much in beholding their Order, as in their ſtedfaſtneſſe in the faith of Chriſt Ieſus: Nay, if wee conſider the words well, as Saint Chryſoſtome hath done, we ſhall ſee that it is only their Order that he reioyces in: for Non dixit fidem, ſed firmamentum fidei, ſayes that Father, It was not their faith, but that which eſtabliſhed their faith, that was their order, that occaſioned his ioy. For when there is not an vniforme, a comely, an orderly preſenting of matters of faith, faith it ſelfe growes looſe, and loſes her eſtimation; and preaching in the Church comes to bee as pleading at the Barre, and not ſo well: there the Counſell ſpeakes not himſelfe, but him that ſent him, here wee ſhall preach not him who ſent vs, Chriſt Ieſus, but our ſelues. Study to be quiet, and to doe your owne buſines, 1 Theſ 4.11. is the Apoſtles commandement to euery particular man amongſt the Theſſalonians. It ſeemes ſome amongſt them diſobeyed that: and therefore hee writes no more to particular perſons, but to the whol Church, in his other Epiſtle, and with more vehemence, then a ſmal matter would haue required: Wee command you in the name of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt, 2 Theſ. 3.6. that yee withdraw your ſelfe from all that walke Inordinate, as the vulgat reads that in one place, and Inquietè, as they tranſlate the ſame word, in another, diſorderly, vnquietly: from all ſuch as preach ſuſpiciouſly, and iealouſly; and be the garden neuer ſo faire, wil make the world beleeue, there is a Snake vnder euery leafe, be the intention neuer ſo ſincere, will preſage, and prognoſticate, and prediuine ſiniſter and miſchieuous effects from it. A troubled ſpirit is a ſacrifice to God, Pſal. 51.7 but a trouble ſome ſpirit is farre from it. I am glad that our Ministerie is called Orders; that when wee take this calling, wee are ſaid to take Orders. Yours are called Trades, and Occupations, and Myſteries: Law and Phiſicke are called Sciences, and Profeſsions: many others haue many other names, ours is Orders. When by his Maieſties leaue we meet in our Conuocations, and being met, haue his further leaue, to treat of remedies for any diſorders in the Church, our Conſtitutions are Canons, Canons are Rules, Rules are Orders: Parliaments determine in Lawes, Iudges in Decrees, wee in Orders. And by our Seruice in this Mother Church, we are Canonici, Canons, Regular, Orderly men; not Canoniſtae, men that know Orders, but Canonici, men that keepe them: where wee are alſo called Prebendaries, rather à Praebendo, then à Praebenda, rather for giuing example of obedience to Orders, then for any other reſpect. In the Romane Church the moſt diſorderly men, are their men in Orders. I ſpeake not of the viciouſneſſe of their life, I am no Iudge of that, I know not that: but they are ſo out of all Order, that they are within rule of no temporall Law, within iuriſdiction of no Ciuill Magiſtrate, no ſecular Iudge. They may kill Kings, and yet can be no Traytors, they aſsigne their reaſon, Becauſe they are no Subiects. He that kils one of them, ſhall be really hang'd; and if one of them kill, hee ſhall be Metaphorically hang'd, hee ſhall bee ſuſpended. Wee enioy gratefully, and wee vſe modeſtly the Priuiledges which godly Princes, out of their pietie haue affoorded vs, and which their godly Succeſſours haue giuen vs againe by their gracious continuing of them to vs; but our Profeſsion of it ſelfe, naturally (though the very nature of it diſpoſe Princes to a gracious diſpoſition to vs) exempts vs not from the tye of their Lawes. All men are in deed, we are in Deed and in name too, Men of Orders; and therefore ought to be moſt ready of all others to obey.

Now, beloued,Aquin. Ordo ſemper dicitur ratione principij: Order alwayes preſumes a head, it alwayes implyes ſome by whom wee are to be ordered, and it implyes our conformitie to him. Who is that? God certainly, without all queſtion, God. But betweene God, & Man, we conſider a two-fold Order. One, as all creatures depend vpon God, as vpon their beginning, for their very Being; and ſo euery creature is wrought vpon immediately by God, and whether hee diſcerne it or no, does obey Gods order, that is, that which God hath ordained, his purpoſe, his prouidence is executed vpon him, & accompliſhd in him. But then the other Order is, not as man depends vpon God, as vpon his beginning, but as he is to be reduced and brought back to God, as to his end: & that is done by meanes in this world. What is that meanes? for thoſe things which wee haue now in conſideration, the Church. But the body ſpeaks not, the head does. It is the Head of the Church that declares to vs thoſe things whereby we are to be ordered.

This the Royall and religious Head of theſe Churches within his Dominions hath lately had occaſion to do. And in doing this, doth he innouate any thing, offer to doe any new thing? Do we repent that Canon, & Conſtitution, in which at his Maieſties firſt comming we declar'd with ſo much alacrity, as that it was the ſecond Canō we made, That the King had the ſame authoritie in cauſes Eccleſiaſticall, that the godly Kings of Iudah, and the Chriſtian Emperors in the primatiue Church had? Or are we ignorant what thoſe Kings of Iudah, and thoſe Emperors did? We are not, wee know them well. Take it where the power of the Empire may ſeem ſomwhat declind in Charls the great; we ſee by thoſe Capitularies of his, that remain yet, what orders he gaue in ſuch cauſes; there he ſaies in his entrance to them, Nemo preſumptuoſum dicat; Let no man call this that I doe an vſurpation, to preſcribe Orders in theſe caſes, Nam legimus quid Ioſias fecerit, We haue red what Ioſiah did, and we know that wee haue the ſame Authoritie that Ioſiah had. But, that Emperor conſulted with his Clergie, before he publiſhed thoſe Orders. It is true, he ſayes he did. But he, from whom we haue receiued theſe Orders, did more then ſo; His Maieſty forbore, til a repreſentation of ſome inconueniēces by diſorderly preaching, was made to him, by thoſe in the higheſt place in our Clergie, and other graue and reuerend Prelates of this Church; they preſented it to him, and thereupon hee entred into the remedie. But that Emperour did but declare things conſtituted by other Councells before: but yet the giuing the life of execution to thoſe Conſtitutions in his Dominions, was introductorie, and many of the things themſelues were ſo. Amongſt them, his 70. Capitularie is appliable to our preſent caſe; there hee ſayes, Epiſcopi videant, That the Biſhops take care, that all Preachers preach to the people the Expoſition of the Lordes Prayer: and he enioynes them too, Ne quid nouum, ne quid non Canonicum, That no man preach any new opinion of his owne; nay, though it bee the opinion of other learned men in other places, yet if it be Non Canonicum, not declared in the vniuerſall Church, not declared in that Church, in which he hath his ſtation, he may not preach it to the people: And ſo he proceeds there to Catechiſtical Doctrine.

That is not new then, which the Kings of Iudah did, and which the Chriſtian Emperours did. But it is new to vs, if the Kings of this kingdome haue not done it. Haue they not done it? How little the Kings of this kingdome did in Eccleſiaſticall cauſes then, when by their conniuence that power was deuold into a forraine Prelates hand, it is pitie to conſider, pitie to remember, pitie to bring into Contemplation; And yet truly euen then our Kings did exerciſe more of that power, then our aduerſaries who oppoſe it, will confeſſe. But, ſince the true iuriſdiction was vindicated, and reapplyed to the Crowne, in what iuſt height Henrie the eight, and thoſe who gouerned his Sonnes minoritie, Edward the ſixt, exerciſed that iuriſdiction in Eccleſiasticall cauſes, none, that knowes their Story, knowes not. And, becauſe ordinarily, wee ſettle our ſelues beſt in the Actions, and Precedents of the late Queene of bleſſed and euerlaſting memory, I may haue leaue to remember them that know, and to tell them that know not, one act of her power and her wiſedome, to this purpoſe. When ſome Articles concerning the falling away from iuſtifying grace, and other poynts that beat vpon that haunt, had been ventilated, in Conuenticle, and in Pulpits too, and Preaching on both ſides paſt, and that ſome perſons of great place and eſtimation in our Church, together with him who was the greateſt of all, amongſt our Clergy, had vpon mature deliberation eſtabliſhed a reſolution what ſhould bee thought, and taught, held and preached in thoſe poynts, and had thereupon ſent down that reſolution to be publiſhed in the Vniuerſitie, not vulgarly neither, to the people, but in a Sermon, Ad Clerum onely, yet her Maieſtie being informed thereof, declared her diſpleaſure ſo, as that, ſcarce any houres before the Sermon was to haue been, there was a Countermaund, an Inhibition to the Preacher for medling with any of thoſe poynts. Not that her Maieſtie made her ſelfe Iudge of the Doctrines, but that nothing, not formerly declared to be ſo, ought to bee declared to be the Tenet, and Doctrine of this Church, her Maieſtie not being acquainted, nor ſuplicated to giue her gracious allowance for the publication thereof.

His ſacred Maiestie then, is herein vpon the ſteps of the Kings of Iudah, of the Chriſtian Emperors, of the Kings of England, of all the Kings of England, that embraced the Reformation, of Queene Elizabeth her ſelfe; and he is vpon his owne ſteps too. For, it is a ſeditious calumny to apply this which is done now, to any occaſion that riſes but now: as though the King had done this, now, for ſatisfaction of any perſons at this time. For ſome yeares ſince, when he was pleaſed to call the Heads of Houſes from the Vniuerſity, and intimate to them the inconueniences that aroſe from the Preaching of ſuch men, as were not at all conuerſant in the Fathers, in the Schoole, nor in the Eccleſiaſticall Storie, but had ſhut vp themſelues in a few later Writers; and gaue order to thoſe Gouernours for remedy herein, Then he began, then he laid the foundation for that, in which hee hath proceeded thus much further now, to reduce Preaching neerer to the manner of thoſe Primitiue times, when God gaue ſo euident, and ſo remarkable bleſsings to mens Preaching.

Conſider more particularly that which he hath done now; His Maieſtie hath accompanied his moſt gracious Letter to the moſt Reuerend Father in God, my Lords Grace of Canterbury, with certaine Directions how Preachers ought to behaue themſelues in the exerciſe of that part of their Miniſterie. Theſe being deriued from his Grace, in due courſe to his reuerend Brethren, the other Biſhops, our worthy Dioceſan, euer vigilant for the Peace and vnitie of the Church, gaue a ſpeedy, very ſpeedy intimation thereof, to the Clergie of his Iuriſdiction; ſo did others, to whom it appertain'd ſo to doe in theirs. Since that, his Maieſtie who alwayes taking good workes in hand, loues to perfect his owne works, hath vouchſafed to giue ſome Reaſons of this his proceeding; which being ſignified by him to whom the State and Church owes much, The right Reuerend Father in God, the Biſhop of Lincolne, Lord Keeper of the great Seale, and after by him alſo, who began at firſt, his Maieſties pleaſure appearing thereby, (as he is too Great, and too Good a King to ſeeke corners, or diſguiſes, for his actions) that theſe proceedings ſhould be made publique, I was not willing only, but glad to haue my part therein, that as, in the feare of God, I haue alwaies preached to you the Gospell of Chriſt Ieſus, who is the God of your Saluation; So in the teſtimony of a good Conſcience, I might now preach to you, the Goſpel of the Holy ghoſt, who is the God of peace, of vnitie, and concord.

Theſe Directions then, and the Reaſons of them, by his Maieſties particular care, euery man in the Miniſtery may ſee & write out, in the ſeuerall Registers Offices, with his owne hand for nothing, and for very little, if hee vſe the hand of another. Perchance you haue, at your conuenience, you may ſee them. When you do, you ſhall ſee, That his Maieſties generall intention therein is, to put a difference, between graue, and ſolid, from light and humerous preaching. Origen does ſo, when vpon the Epiſtle to the Romanes, he ſayes, There is a great difference, Inter praedicare, & docere: A man may teach an Auditory, that is, make them know ſomething that they knew not before, and yet not Preach; for Preaching is to make them know things appertaining to their ſaluation. But when men doe neither, neither Teach, nor Preach, but (as his Maieſtie obſerues the manner to bee) To ſoare in poynts too deepe, To muſter vp their owne Reading, To diſplay their owne Wit, or Ignorance in medling with Ciuill matters, or (as his Maiestie addes) in rude and vndecent reuiling of perſons: this is that which hath drawen downe his Maieſties piercing Eye to ſee it, and his Royall care to correct it. Hee corrects it by Chriſts owne way, Quid ab initio, by conſidering how it was at firſt: for, (as himſelfe to right purpoſe cites Tertullian) Id verum quod primum; That is best, which was first. Hee would therefore haue vs conuerſant in Antiquitie: For, Nazianzen askes that queſtion with ſome ſcorne, Quis est qui veritatis propugnatorem, vnius diei ſpatio, velut e luto ſtatuam fingit. Can any man hope to make a good Preacher, as ſoone as a good Picture? In three or foure dayes, or with three or foure Books? His Maieſty therfore cals vs to look, Quid primum, what was firſt in the whole Church? And againe, Quid primum, when we receiued the Reformation in this Kingdom, by what meanes, (as his Maieſtie expreſſeth it) Papiſtry was driuen out, and Puritaniſme kept out, and wee deliuered from the Superſtition of the Papiſt, and the madneſſe of the Anabaptists, as before hee expreſſeth it: and his religious and iudicious eye ſees clearly, That all that Doctrine, which wrought this great cure vpon vs, in the Reformation, is contained in the two Catechiſmes, in the 39. Articles, and in the 2. Bookes of Homilies. And to theſe, as to Heads, and Abundaries, from whence all knowledge neceſſarie to ſaluation, may abundantly be deriu'd, hee directs the meditations of Preachers.

Are theſe new wayes? No way new: for they were our firſt way in receiuing Chriſtianity, and our firſt way in receiuing the Reformation. Take a ſhort view of them all: as it is in the Catechiſmes, as it is in the Articles, as it is in the Homilies. Firſt you are called backe to the practiſe of Catechiſing: Remember what Catechiſing is; it is Institutio viua voce. And in the Primitiue Church, when thoſe perſons, who comming from the Gentiles to the Chriſtian Religion, might haue beene ſcandalized with the outward Ceremoniall, and Rituall worſhip of God in the Church, (for Ceremonies are ſtumbling blockes to them who looke vpon them without their Signification, and without the reaſon of their Inſtitution) to auoyd that daunger, though they were not admitted to ſee the Sacraments adminiſtred, nor the other Seruice of God performed in the Church, yet in the Church, they receiued Inſtruction, Inſtitution, by word of mouth, in the fundamentall Articles of the Chriſtian Religion, and that was Catechiſing. The Chriſtians had it from the beginning, and the Iewes had it too: for their word Chanach, is of that ſignification, Initiare, to enter. Traine vp a child in the way he ſhould goe, Pro. 22.6 and when he is olde, hee will not depart from it. Traine vp, ſayes our Tranſlation in the Text; Catechiſe, ſay our Tranſlators in the Margin, according to the naturall force of the Hebrew word. And Sepher Chinnuch, which is Liber Inſtitutionum, that is, of Catechiſme, is a Booke well knowne amongſt the Iewes, euery where, where they are now: Their Inſtitution is their Catechiſme. And if wee ſhould tell ſome men, That Caluins Inſtitutions were a Catechiſme, would they not loue Catechiſing the better for that name? And would they not loue it the better, if they gaue me leaue to tell them that of which I had the experience. An Artificer of this Citie brought his Childe to mee, to admire (as truly there was much reaſon) the capacitie, the memory, eſpecially of the child. It was but a Girle, and not aboue nine yeares of age, her Parents ſaid leſſe, ſome yeares leſſe; wee could ſcarſe propoſe any Verſe of any Booke, or Chapter of the Bible, but that that childe would goe forward without Booke. I began to Catechiſe this child; and truly, ſhee vnderſtood nothing of the Trinitie, nothing of any of thoſe fundamentall poynts which muſt ſaue vs: and the wonder was doubled, how ſhe knew ſo much, how ſo little.

The Primitiue Church diſcerned this neceſsitie of Catechiſing: And therefore they inſtituted a particular Office, a Calling in the Church of Catechiſers. Which Office, as wee ſee in Saint Cyprians 4.2. Epiſtle, that great man Optatus exerciſed at Carthage, and Origen at Alexandria. When S. Auguſtine tooke the Epiſtle, and the Goſpell, and the Pſalme of the day, for his Text to one Sermon, did he, thinke you, much more then paraphraſe, then Catechiſe? When Athanaſius makes one Sermon, and, God knowes, a very ſhort one too, Contra omnes Haereſes, To ouerthrow all Hereſies in one Sermon; did he, think you, any more then propoſe fundamentall Doctrines, which is truly the way to ouerthrow all Hereſies? When Saint Chryſoſtom enters into his Sermon vpon the 3. Chapter to the Galatians, with that preparation, Attendite diligenter, non enim rem vulgarem pollicemur, Now hearken diligently, ſayes he, for it is no ordinary matter that I propoſe, There he propoſes Catechiſticall Doctrine of faith and works. Come to lower times, when Chryſologus makes ſixe or ſeuen Sermons vpon the Creed, and not a ſeuerall Sermon vpon euery ſeuerall Article, but takes the whole Creed for his Text, in euery Sermon, and ſcarſe any of thoſe Sermons a quarter of an houre long, will you not allowe this manner of Preaching to bee Catechiſing? Goe as lowe as can bee gone, to the Ieſuites; and that great Catechizer amongſt them, Caniſius, ſayes, Nos hoc munus ſuſcipimus: Wee, wee Ieſuites make Catechiſing our Profeſſion. I doubt not but they doe recreate themſelues ſometimes in other matters too, but that they glory in, that they are Catechizers. And in that Profeſsion, ſayes hee, wee haue Saint Baſil, Saint Auguſtine, Saint Ambroſe, Saint Cyrill, in our Societie; and truly as Catechizers, they haue; as State-Friers, as Ieſuits, they haue not. And in the firſt Capacitie they haue him, who is more then all; for as hee ſayes rightly, Ipſe Chriſtus Catechiſta, Chriſts owne Preaching was a Catechiſing. I pray God that Ieſuites concluſion of that Epistle of his, be true ſtill; There he ſayes, Si nihil aliud, If nothing elſe, yet this alone ſhould prouoke vs to a greater diligence in Catechiſing; Improbus labor, & indefeſſa cura, That our Aduerſaries, the Proteſtants doe ſpend ſo much time, as he ſayes, day and night in catechizing. Now, if it were ſo then, when he writ, and bee not ſo ſtill amongſt vs, wee haue intermitted one of our beſt aduantages: and therefore God hath graciouſly raiſed a bleſſed and a Royall Inſtrument, to call vs back to that, which aduantaged vs, and ſo much offended the Enemy. That man may ſleepe with a good Conſcience, of hauing diſcharged his dutie in his Miniſtery, that hath preached in the forenoone, and Catechiſed after. Quaere, ſayes Tertullian, (and he ſayes that with indignation) an Idolatriam committat, qui de Idolis catechizat: Will any man doubt, ſayes he, whether that man be an Idolatrer, that catechiſes Children, and Seruants in Idolatry? Will any man doubt, whether hee bee painfull in his Miniſterie, that catechiſes children, and ſeruant in the ſincere Religion of Chriſt Ieſus. The Roman Church hath ſtill made her vſe of vs; of our fortunes, when ſhe gouernd here, and of our example, ſince ſhe did not: They did, as they ſaw vs doe; And thereupon they came to that order, in the Councell of Trent, That vpon Sundayes and Holydayes, they ſhould Preach in the forenoone, and Catechiſe in the afternoone; till we did both, they did neither.Mat. 18.3 Except yee become as little Children, yee ſhall not enter into the Kingdome of Heauen, ſayes Chriſt. Except yee, yee the people bee content at firſt to feed on the milke of the Goſpell, and not preſently to fall to gnawing of bones, of Controuerſies, and vnreuealed Miſteries, And except yee, the Miniſters and Preachers of the Goſpell, deſcend and apply your ſelues to the Capacitie of little Children, and become as they, and build not your eſtimation onely vpon the ſatisfaction of the expectation of great and curious Auditories, you ſtopp theirs, you looſe your owne way to the kingdome of Heauen. Not that wee are to ſhut vp, and determine our ſelues, in the knowledge of Catechiſticall rudiments, but to bee ſure to know them firſt. The Apoſtle puts vs vpon that progreſſe,Heb. 6.1. Let vs learne the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ, and goe on to perfection. Not leaue at them; but yet not leaue them out: endeauour to encreaſe in knowledge, but firſt make ſure of the foundation. And that increaſe of knowledge, is royally, and fatherly preſented to vs, in that, which is another limne of his Maieſties directions, the 39. Articles.

The Foundation of nceeſſary knowledge, is in our Catechiſmes; the Superedification, the extention in theſe Articles. For they carry the vnderſtanding, and the zeale of the ableſt Man; high inough, & deepe inough. In the third Article there is an Orthodoxe aſſertion of Chriſts deſcent into Hell; who can go deeper? In the 17. Article there is a Modeſt declaration of the Doctrine of Predeſtination; who can go higher? neither doe theſe Articles onely build vp Poſitiue Doctrine; If the Church had no aduerſaries, that were ynough; but they imbrace Controuerſies too, in poynts that are neceſſarie. As in the two and twentieth Article of Purgatorie, of Pardons, of Images, of Inuocations: and theſe not in generall onely, but againſt the Romiſh Doctrine of Pardons, of Images, of Inuocation. And in the eight and twentieth Article againſt Tranſubſtantiation, and in ſuch tearmes, as admit no meeting, no reconciliation; but that it is repugnant to the plaine wordes of Scripture, and hath giuen occaſion to many Superstitions. And in one word, we may ſee the purpoſe and ſcope of theſe Articles, as they were intended againſt the Romane Church, in that Title which they had in one Edition (in which though there were ſome other things, that iuſtly gaue offence; yet none was giuen nor taken in this) That theſe Articles were conceiued and publiſhed, to condemne the Hereſies of the Manichees, of the Arrians, of the Neſtorians, of the Papiſtes, and others. And therefore in theſe reaſons, which his Maieſtie hath deſcended to giue of his Directions, himſelfe is pleaſed to aſsigne this, That the people might bee ſeaſoned in all the Heads of the Proteſtant Religion. Not onely of the Chriſtian againſt Iewes, Turkes, and Infidels, but of the Proteſtant againſt the Romane Church.

The Foundation is in the Catechiſme; the growth and extention in the Articles, and then the Application of all to particular Auditories in the Homilies: which, if his Maieſtie had not named, yet had beene implyed in his recommendation of the Articles. For the fiue and thirtieth Article appoynts the reading of them: both thoſe, which were publiſhed in the time of Edward the ſixth, and thoſe which after. In the firſt Booke, the very firſt Homilies are, of the Sufficiencie of Scriptures, and of the abſolute neceſsitie of Reading them; ſufficiently oppoſed againſt that which hath been ſayd in that Church, both of the impertinencie, of Scriptures, as not abſolutely neceſſarie, and of the inſufficiencie of theſe Scriptures, if Scriptures were neceſſarie. And in the ſecond Booke, the ſecond Homily is againſt Idolatrie; and ſo farre againſt all approaches towards it, by hauing any Images in Churches, as that perchance Moderat Men, would rather thinke that Homilie to ſeuere in that kind, then ſuſpect the Homilies of declination towards Papiſtrie. Is it the name of Homelies that Scandalizes them? would they haue none? Saint Cyrills 30. Paſchall Sermons, which he preached in ſo many ſeuerall Eaſter daies, at his Arch-biſhoprike of Alexandria, and his Chriſtmas dayes Sermons too, were ordinarily exſcrib'd, and rehearſed ouer againe, by the moſt part of the Clergie of thoſe parts: and in their Mouthes they were but Homilies. And Caluins Homilies vpon Iob (as Beza in his Preface before them, calls them) were ordinarily repeated ouer againe in many places of Fraunce: and in their mouthes they were but Homilies. It is but the name, that ſcandalizes; and yet the name of Homilia and Concio, a Homily and a Sermon, is all one. And if ſome of theſe were ſpoken, and not reade, and ſo exhibited in the name of a Sermon, they would like them well inough. Certainely his Maieſtie miſtooke it not, that in our Catechiſmes, In our Articles, in our Homilies, there is inough for Poſitiue, inough for Controuerted Diuinitie; For that Ieſuit, that intended to bring in the whole body of Controuerted Diuinitie into his booke, (whom we named before) deſired no other Subiect, no other occaſion to doe that, but the Catechiſme of that Church; neither need any ſober Man, that intends to handle Controuerſies aske more, or go further.

His Maieſtie therefore, who as he vnderſtands his duty to God, ſo doth he his Subiects duties to him, might iuſtly thinke, That theſe ſo well grounded Directions, might, (as himſelfe ſayes) bee receiu'd vpon implicite obedience. Yet hee vouchſafes to communicate to all, who deſire ſatisfaction, the Reaſons that mou'd him. Some of which I haue related, and all which, all may, when they will ſee, and haue. Of all which the Summ is, His Royall and his Paſtorall care, that by that Primitiue way of Preaching, his Subiects might be arm'd againſt all kind of Aduerſaries, in fundamentall truthes. And when he takes knowledge, That ſome few Church-men, but many of the people, haue made ſiniſter conſtructions of his ſincere intentions, As hee is grieued at the heart, (to giue you his owne wordes) to ſee euery day ſo many defections from our religion to Popery and Anabaptiſme; So without doubt he is grieued with much bitternes, that any ſhould ſo peruert his meaning, as to thinke, that theſe Directions either reſtraind the Exerciſe of Preaching, or abated the number of Sermons, or made a breach to Ignorance and Superſtition, of which three ſcandals he hath been pleaſed to take knowledge. What could any Calumniator, any Libeller on the other ſide, haue imagin'd more oppoſit, more contrary to him, then approaches towards Ignorance, or Superſtition? Let vs ſay for him, Can ſo learned, ſo abundantly learned a prince be ſuſpected to plot for Ignorance? And let vs bleſſe God, that we heare him ſay now, That he doth conſtantly profeſſe himſelfe an open aduerſary to the Superſtition of the Papiſt (without any milder Modification) and to the madneſſe of the Anabaptiſt: And that the preaching againſt either of their Doctrines is not only approued, but much commended by his royall Maieſtie, if it bee done without rude and vndecent reuiling. If hee had affected Ignorance in himſelfe, he would neuer haue read ſo much; and if he had affected Ignorance in vs, hee would neuer haue writ ſo much, and made vs ſo much the more learned by his Books. And if hee had had any declination towards Superſtition, he would not haue gone ſo much farther, then his rank and qualitie preſſed him to doe, in declaring his opinion concerning Antichriſt, as out of Zeale, and zeale with knowledge hee hath done. We haue him now, (and long, long, O eternall God, continue him to vs,) we haue him now for a father of the Church, a Foſter-father; ſuch a father as Conſtantine, as Theodoſius was; our poſterity ſhall haue him for a Father, a Claſsique father; ſuch a father as Ambroſe, as Auſtin was. And when his works ſhall ſtand in the Libraries of our Poſteritie, amongſt the Fathers, euen theſe Papers, theſe Directions, & theſe Reaſons ſhalbe pregnant euidences for his cōſtant zeale to Gods truth, and in the meane time, as arrowes ſhot in their eyes, that imagine ſo vaine a thing, as a defection in him, to their ſuperſtition. Thus far he is from admitting Ignorance, and from Superstition thus far, which ſeemes to be one of their feares. And for the other two, (which concurre in one) That theſe Directions ſhould reſtraine the Exerciſe of Preaching, or abate the number of Sermons, his Maieſtie hath declar'd himſelfe to thoſe Reuerend Fathers, To be ſo far from giuing the leaſt diſcouragement to ſolid Preaching, or to diſcreet and religious Preachers, or from abating the number of Sermons, that hee expects at their hands, that this ſhould increaſe their number, by renuing vpon euery Sunday in the afternoon, in all Pariſh Churches throughout the kingdome, that primitiue, and moſt profitable expoſition of the Catechiſme. So that heere is no abating of Sermons, but a direction of the Preacher to preach vſefully, and to edification.

And therfore, to end all, you, you whom God hath made Starres in this Firmament, Preachers in this Church, deliuer your ſelues from that imputation,Iob 25.5 The Starres were not pure in his ſight; The Preachers were not obedient to him in the voice of his Lieutenant. And you, you who are Gods holy people, and zealous of his glory, as you know from St. Paul, 1 Cor. 15 14. that Stars differ from Stars in glory, but all conduce to the benefit of man: So, when you ſee theſe Stars, Preachers to differ in gifts; yet, ſince all their ends 〈…〉 your ſaluation, encourag • 〈…〉 •• izer, as well as the curious Preacher. 〈…〉 ſo farre towards your way to Heauen, as to the Firmament, and conſider there, that that ſtarre by which wee ſaile, and make great voyages, is none of the ſtarres of the greateſt magnitude; but yet it is none of the leaſt neither; but a middle ſtarre. Thoſe Preachers which muſt ſaue your ſoules, are not ignorant, vnlearned, extemporall men; but they are not ouer curious men neither. Your children are you, and your ſeruants are you; and you doe not prouide for your ſaluation, if you prouide not for them, who are ſo much yours, as that they are you. No man is ſau'd as a good man, if he be not ſau'd as a good Father, and as a good Master too, if God haue giuen him a family. That ſo, Priest and people, the whole Congregation, may by their religious obedience, and fighting in this ſpirituall warfare in their Order, miniſter occaſion of ioy to that heart, which hath beene grieued; in that fulneſſe of ioy, Which Dauid expreſſeth.Pſal. 21. The King ſhall reioyce in thy ſtrength, 〈…〉 Lord, and in thy ſaluation how great •• 〈…〉 reioyce? Thou haſt giuen him his 〈…〉 , • nd thou haſt not withholden the 〈…〉 his lipps: for the King truſteth in the Lord, and by the mercy of the moſt High, he ſhall not bee mooued. And with that Pſalme, a Pſalme of Confidence in a good King, and a Pſalme of Thankſgiuing for that bleſsing, I deſire that this Congregation may be diſſolued; for this is all that I intended for the Explication, which was our firſt, and for the Application, which was the other part propoſed in theſe wordes.

THERE are reckoned in this Booke, Two and Twentie Sermons of the Apoſtles; and yet the Book is not called the Preaching, but the Practiſe, not the Words, but the Acts of the Apoſtles: and the Acts of the Apoſtles were to conuey that name of Christ Ieſus, and to propagate his Goſpell ouer all the world: Beloued, you are Actors vpon the ſame Stage too: the vttermoſt part of the Earth are your Scene: Act ouer the Acts of the Apoſtles; bee you a Light to the Gentiles, that ſit in darkeneſſe; bee you content to carrie him ouer theſe Seas, who dryed vp one Red Sea for his firſt people, and hath powred out another Red Sea, his owne Bloud, for them and vs. When man was fallen, God cloathed him, made him a Leather Garment; there God deſcended to one Occupation: when the time of mans Redemption was come, then God, as it were, to houſe him, became a Carpenters Sonne, there God deſcended to another Occupation. Naturally, without doubt, man would haue beene his owne Taylor, and his owne Carpenter; ſomething in theſe two kinds man would haue done of himſelfe, though hee had had no patterne from God: but in preſeruing man who was fallen, to this redemption, by which he was to be raiſd, in preſeruing man from periſhing, in the Flood, God deſcended to a third occupation, to be his Shipwright to giue him the modell of a Ship, an Arke, and ſo to be the author of that, which man himſelfe in likelihood, would neuer haue thought of, a means to paſſe from Nation to Nation. Now, as GOD taught vs to make cloathes, not onely to cloath our ſelues, but to cloath him in his poore and naked members heere; as God taught vs to build houſes, not to houſe our ſelues, but to houſe him, in erecting Churches, to his glory: So God taught vs to make Ships, not to tranſport our ſelues, but to tranſport him, That when wee haue receiued power, after that the Holy Ghoſt is come vpon vs, we might be witneſſes vnto him, both in Ieruſalem, and in all Iudaea, and in Samaria, and vnto the vttermoſt parts of the Earth.

As I ſpeake now principally to them who are concernd in this Plantation of Virginia, yet there may be diuers in this Congregation, who, though they haue no intereſt in this Plantation, yet they may haue benefit and edification, by that which they heare me ſay, ſo Chriſt ſpoke the words of this Text, principally to the Apoſtles, who were preſent and queſtioned him at his Aſcention, but they are in their iuſt extention, and due accomodation, appliable to our preſent occation of meeting heere: As Chriſt himſelfe is Alpha, and Omega, ſo firſt, as that hee is laſt too, ſo theſe wordes which he ſpoke in the Eaſt, belong to vs, who are to glorifie him in the Weſt? That we hauing receiued power, after that the Holy Ghoſt is come vpon vs, might be witneſſes vnto him, both in Ieruſalem, and in all Iudea, and in Samaria, and vnto the vttermoſt parts of the Earth.

The firſt word of the Text is the Cardinall word, the word the hinge vpon which the whole Text turnes; The firſt word, But, is the But, that all the reſt ſhoots at. Firſt it is an excluſiue word; ſomething the Apoſtles had required, which might not bee had, not that; And it is an incluſiue word; ſomthing Chriſt was pleaſd to affoord to the Apoſtles, which they thought not of; not that, not that which you beat vpon, But, but yet, ſomething elſe, ſomething better then that, you ſhall haue. That which this but, excludes, is that which the Apoſtles expreſſe in the Verſe immediatly before the Text, a Temporall Kingdome; Wilt thou reſtore againe the kingdome of Iſrael? No; not a temporall Kingdome; let not the riches and commodities of this world, be in your contemplation in your aduentures. Or, becauſe they aske more, Wilt thou now reſtore that? not yet: If I will giue you riches, and commodities of this world, yet if I doe it not at firſt, if I doe it not yet, be not you diſcouraged; you ſhall not haue that, that is not Gods firſt intention, and though that be in Gods intention, to giue it you hereafter, you ſhall not haue it yet; thats the excluſiue part; But; there enters the incluſiue, You ſhall receiue power, after that the Holy Ghoſt is come vpon you, and you ſhall bee witneſſes vnto mee, both in Ieruſalem, and in all Iudaea, and in Samaria, and vnto the vttermoſt parts of the Earth. In which ſecond part, we ſhall paſſe by theſe ſteps; Superueniet Spiritus, The holy Ghoſt ſhall come vpon you, The Spirit ſhall witneſſe to your Spirit, and rectifie your Conſcience; And then, by that, you ſhall receiue power; A new power beſides the power you haue from the State, and that power ſhall enable you, to be witneſſes of Chriſt, that is, to make his doctrine the more credible, by your teſtimony, when you conforme your ſelues to him, and doe as hee did; and this witneſſe you ſhall beare, this conformity you ſhall declare, firſt in Ieruſalem, in this Citie; And in Iudaea, in all the parts of the Kingdome; and in Samaria, euen amongſt them who are departed from the true worſhip of God, the Papiſts; and to the vttermoſt part of the Earth, to thoſe poore Soules, to whom you are continually ſending. Summarily, If from the Holy Ghoſt you haue a good teſtimony in your owne Conſcience, you ſhall be witneſſes for Chriſt, that is, as he did, you ſhall giue ſatisfaction to all, to the Citie, to the Countrey, to the Calumniating Aduerſary, and the naturals of the place, to whom you ſhall preſent both Spirituall and Temporall benefit to. And ſo you haue the Modell of the whole frame, and of the partitions; wee proceede now to the furniſhing of the particular roomes.

SAint Baſill in a Sermon vpon the 114.Baſill. Pſalme; vpon the like occaſion as drawes vs together now, The conſecration of a Church, makes this the reaſon and the excuſe of his late comming thither to doe that Seruice, that he ſtayd by the way, to conſecrate another Church: I hope euery perſon heere hath done ſo; conſecrated himſelfe, who is a Temple of the Holy Ghoſt; before hee came to aſſiſt, or to teſtifie the conſecration of this place of the Seruice of God. Bern. Ser. 1. Noſtra feſtiuitas haec est, quia de Eccleſia noſtra; ſayes Saint Bernard. This Feſtiuall belongs to vs, becauſe it is the conſecration of that place, which is ours, Magis autem noſtr • , quia de nobis ipſis: But it is more properly our Feſtiuall, becauſe it is the conſecration of our ſelues to Gods ſeruice. For, Sanctae Animae propter inhabitantem Spiritum; your Soules are holy, by the inhabitation of Gods holy ſpirit, who dwells in them. Sancta corpora propter inhabitantem animam; Your Bodies are holy, by the inhabitation of thoſe ſanctified Soules. Sancti parietes, propter Corpora Sanctorum. Theſe walles are holy, becauſe the Saints of God meet here within theſe walls to glorifie him. But yet theſe places are not onely conſecrated & ſanctified by your comming; but to bee ſanctified alſo for your comming; that ſo, as the Congregation ſanctifies the place, the place may ſanctifie the Congregation too. They muſt accompany one another; holy perſons and holy places; If men would waſh ſheep in the Baptiſterie, in the Font, thoſe ſheep were not chriſtned. If prophane men, or idolatrous men, pray here after their way, their prayers are not ſanctified by the place. Neither if it be after polluted, doth the place retain that ſanctitie, which is this day to be deriued vpon it, and to bee imprinted in it.

Our Text ſettles vs vpon both theſe conſiderations, The holy place,Diuiſio. and the holy perſon. It was the Feaſt of the Dedication: there's the holineſſe of the place; And the holy perſon, was holineſſe it ſelfe in the perſon of Christ Ieſus, who walked in the Temple in Salomons Porch. Theſe two will bee our two parts: And the firſt of theſe wee ſhall make vp of theſe pieces. Firſt, we ſhall ſee a lawfull vſe of Feaſts, of Feſtiuall dayes. And then of other Feaſts, then were inſtituted by God himſelfe; diuers were ſo; this was not. And thirdly, not only a feſtiuall ſolemnizing of ſome one thing, at ſome one time, for the preſent, but an Anniuerſary returning to that ſolemnitie euery yeare; And laſtly, in that firſt part, this Feſtiuall in particular, The Feaſt of the Dedication of the Temple: that ſanctified the place, that ſhall determine that part. In the ſecond part, The holineſſe of the perſon, we ſhall carry your thoughts no farther, but vpon this, That euen this holy perſon Ieſus himſelfe, would haue recourſe to this place, thus dedicated, thus ſanctified: And vpon this, that hee would doe that eſpecially at ſuch times, as hee might countenance and authoriſe the Ordinances and Inſtitutions of the Church, which had appointed this Feſtiuall. And this, ſayes the Text, he did in the Winter: Firſt, Etſi Hiems, though it were Winter, hee came, and walked in the Porch, a little inconuenience kept him not off: And, Quia Hiems, becauſe it was Winter, he walked in the Porch which was couered, not in the Temple which was open. So that heere with modeſtie, and without ſcandall he condemned not the fauouring of a mans health, euen in the Temple, And it was at Ieruſalem, the Feaſt of the Dedication; and it was Winter; and Ieſus walked in the Temple in Salomons Porch.

In our firſt part, Holy places, 1. Part. Feſta. wee looke firſt vpon the times of our meeting there, Holy dayes. The root of all thoſe is the Sabboth, that God planted himſelfe, euen in himſelfe, in his owne reſt, from the Creation. But the root, and thoſe branches which grow from that root, are of the ſame nature, and the ſame name: And therefore as well of the flower, as of the root of a Roſe, or of a Violet, we would ſay, This is a Violet, this is a Roſe: ſo as well to other Feaſts of Gods inſtitution, as to the firſt Sabboth, God giues that name; hee cals thoſe ſeuerall Feaſts which he inſtituted, Sabboths; enioynes the ſame things to be done vpon them, inflicts the ſame puniſhments vpon them that breake them.Leuit. 23. So that there is one Moralitie, that is the ſoule of all Sabboths, of all Feſtiualls; howſoeuer all Sabboths haue a ceremoniall part in them, yet there is a Morall part that inanimates them all; they are elemented of Ceremonie, but they animated with Moralitie. And that Moralitie is in them all, Reſt: for if Adam could name creatures according to their nature, God could name his Sabboth according to the nature of it, and Sabboth is Reſt. It is a Reſt of two kindes; our reſt, and Gods reſt. Our reſt is the ceſſation from labour on thoſe dayes; Gods reſt, is our ſanctifying of the day: for ſo in the religious ſacrifice of Noah, when hee was come out of the Arke, Geneſ. 8. God is ſaid to haue ſmelt, Odorem quietis, the ſauour of reſt: vpon thoſe dayes we reſt from ſeruing the world, and God reſts in our ſeruing of him. And as God takes a tenth part of our goods, in Tythes, but yet he takes more too, he takes Sacrifices, ſo though he take a ſeuenth part of our time in the Sabboth, yet he takes more too, he appoints other Sabboths, other Feſtiualls, that he may haue more glory, and we more Reſt: for all wherin thoſe two concurre, are Sabboths. Vacate & videte quoniam ego ſum Dominus ſayes God. Pſal. 46.10 Firſt vacate, reſt from your bodily labours, diſtinguiſh the day, and then videte, come hither into the Lords preſence, and worſhip the Lord your God, ſanctifie the day: And in all the Sabboths there is ſtill a Ceſſate, Leuit. 23. and a Humiliate animas, bodily reſt, and ſpirituall ſanctifying of the day. Holy dayes then, that is, dayes ſepoſed for holy vſes, and for the outward & publike ſeruice of God, are in Nature, and in that Morall Law which is written in the heart of man. That ſuch dayes there muſt be is Morall; and this is Morall too, that all things in the ſeruice of God bee done in order; and this alſo, that obedience be giuen to Superiours, in thoſe things wherein they are Superiors. And therfore it was to the Iewes, as well Morall, to obſerue the certaine dayes which God had determined, as to obſerue any at all. Not that Gods commandement limitting the dayes, infuſed a Moralitie into thoſe particular dayes: for Moralitie is perpetuall; and if that had been Morall, it muſt haue been ſo before, and it muſt bee ſo ſtill; Gods determining the dayes did not infuſe, not induce a Moralitie there, but it awakened a former Moralitie, that is, an obedience to the commandement, for that time, which God had appoynted that for them; for this Obedience, and Order is perpetuall, and ſo, Morall. We depart therfore from that error, which thoſe ancient Heretiques, the Ebionites begun, and ſome laboured to refreſh in Saint Gregories time, and which continues in practiſe in ſome places of the world ſtill; To obſerue both the Iewes Sabbath, and the Chriſtians, Satterday, and Sunday too; becauſe the Sabboth is called Pactum ſempiternum: Exod. 31. for to that any of Saint Auguſtines Anſweres will ſerue; either that it is called euerlaſting, becauſe it ſignified an euerlaſting reſt; (where be pleaſed to note by the way, that Holy dayes, Sabbaths, are not onely inſtituted for Order, but they haue their Myſtery, and their Signification; for Holy dayes, Col. 2.16. (as the Text calls them there) and New Moones, and the Sabboth, were but ſhadowes of things to come:) or elſe the Sabboth was called euerlaſting to them, becauſe it bound them euerlaſtingly, and they might neuer intermit it, as ſome other ceremonies they might. But their Sabboths bind not vs; we depart from them who thinke ſo; and ſo we doe from them, who think we are bound to no Feſtiualls at all, or at leaſt to none but the Sabboth. For God requires as much ſeruice from vs, as from the Iewes, and to them hee enlarged his Sabboths, and made them diuers. But thoſe were of Gods immediat inſtitution: but all that the Iewes obſerued were not ſo; and thats our next conſideration, Feſtiualls inſtituted by the Church.

Sine Mandato.At firſt, when God was alone, it is but Faciamus, let vs, vs the Trinity make man. This was, when God was, as we may ſay, in Coelibatu. But after God hath taken his ſpouſe, maried the Church, then it is Cadite nobis vulpes, Cant. 2.15 doe you take the little Foxes, you the Church; for our vines haue grapes; the vines are ours; yours and mine ſayes Chriſt to the Church: and therfore do you looke to them, as well as I. The Tables of the law God himſelfe writ, and gaue them written to Moſes: he left none of that to him; not a power to make other Lawes like thoſe lawes: but for the Tabernacle, which concern'd the outward worſhip of God, that was to be made by Moſes, Exod. 25.9. Iuxta ſimilitudinem, according to the paterne which God had ſhewed him. God hath giuen the Church a paterne of Holy dayes, in thoſe Sabboths which hee himſelfe inſtituted, and according to the paterne, the Church hath inſtituted more: and Recte feſta Eccleſiae colunt, Aug. qui ſe Eccleſiae filios recognoſcunt: They who diſdaine not the name of ſonnes of the Church, refuſe not to celebrate the daies which are of the Churches inſtitution. There was no immediate commandement of God for that Holy day, which Mordechai, by his letters eſtabliſh'd;Eſter 9.23 but yet the Iewes vndertooke to do as Mordechai had written to them. There was no ſuch commandement for this Holy day, in the Text; and yet that was obſerued, as long as they had any beeing. And where the reaſon remaines, the practiſe may; The Iewes did, we may inſtitute new Holy dayes. And not onely tranſitory daies, for a preſent thanks giuing for a preſent benefit, but Anniuerſaries, perpetuall memorials of Gods deliuerances. And thats our next ſtep.

Anniuerſaria.Both the Holy dayes, which we named before, which were inſtituted with out ſpeciall Commaundement from God, were ſo. That of Mordechai, he commanded to be kept euery yeare for two dayes, and this in the Text, Iudas Maccabeus commanded to be kept yearely for eight dayes, which was more then was appoynted to any of the Holy dayes, inſtituted by God himſelfe, for the Feſtiuall alone. According to which paterne,Felix. one Biſhop of Rome, ordained that the Feſtiuals of the Dedication of Churches ſhould bee yearely celebrated in thoſe places;Greg. and another extended the Feſtiuall to eight dayes; at leaſt at the firſt dedication thereof, if not euery yeare: that God might not onely be put into the poſſeſſion of the place, but ſetled in it.Deut. 31.19 God by Moſes made the children of Iſrael a Song, becauſe, as hee ſayes, howſoeuer they did by the Law, they would neuer forget that Song, & that Song ſhould be his witneſſe againſt them. Therefore would God haue vs inſtitute ſolemne memorialls of his great deliuerances, that if when thoſe dayes come about, we doe not glorifie him, that might aggrauate our condemnation. Euery fift of Auguſt, the Lord riſes vp, to hearken whether we meet to glorifie him, for his great deliuerance of his Maieſty, before he bleſt vs with his preſence in this Kingdome: and when he finds vs zealous in our thankes for that, he giues vs farther bleſsings. Certainly he is vp as early euery fift of Nouember, to hearken if we meet to glorifie him for that deliuerance ſtill; and if hee ſhould finde our zeale leſſe then heretofore, hee would wonder why. Gods principall, his radicall Holy day, the Sabboth, had a weekly returne; his other Sabbaths, inſtituted by himſelfe, and thoſe which were inſtituted by thoſe paternes, that of Mordechai, that of the Maccabees, & thoſe of the Chriſtian Church, They all return once a yeare. God would keepe his Courts once a yeare, and ſee whether wee make our apparances as heeretofore; that if not, hee may know it. Feaſtes in generall, Feaſtes inſtituted by the Church alone, Feaſts in their yearely returne and obſeruation, haue their vſe, and particularly thoſe Feaſts of the Dedication of Churches, which was properly and literally the Feaſt of this Text. It was the Feaſt of Dedication.

Eucania.As it diminiſhes not, preiudices not Gods Eternitie, that wee giue him his Quando, certaine times of Inuocation, God is not the leſſe yeſterday, Temple. and to day, and the ſame for euer, becauſe wee meet here to day, and not yeſterday, ſo it diminiſhes not, preiudices not Gods Vbiquitie and Omnipreſence, that wee giue him his Vbi, certaine places for Inuocation. Thats not the leſſe true,Acts 7.48. that the moſt High dwells not in Temples made with handes, though God accept at our hands our dedication of certaine places to his ſeruice, & manifeſt his working more effectually, more energetically in thoſe places, then in any other. for when we pray, Our Father which art in Heauen, Chryſoſtome. It is not (ſayes Saint Chryſoſtome) that wee deny him to bee heere, where wee kneele when we ſay that Prayer, but it is that we acknowledge him to be there, where he can graunt, and accompliſh our prayer. It is as Origen hath very well expreſſed it,Origen. Vt in melioribus mundi requiramus Deum: That ſtill wee looke for God in the beſt places; looke for him, as he heares our petitions, here, in the beſt places of this world, in his Houſe, in the Church; looke for him as he graunts our petition, in the beſt place of the next world, at the right hand, and in the boſome of the Father. Deut. 30.13 When Moſes ſayes that the word of God is not beyond Sea, he addes, It is not ſo beyond Sea, as that thou muſt not haue it without ſending thither. When he ſayes there, it is not in heauen, he adds, not ſo in heauen, as that one must goe vp, before hee can haue it. The word of God, is beyond Sea, the true word, truly preached in many true Churches there, but yet we haue it here, within theſe Seas too; God is in Heauen, but yet hee is here, within theſe walles too. And therefore the impietie of the Manicheans exceeded all the Gentiles, who concluded the God of the Old Teſtament to be an impotent, an vnperfect God, becauſe hee commaunded Moſes firſt to make him a Tabernacle, and then Salomon to make him a Temple, as though he needed a Houſe. God does not need a houſe, but man does need, that God ſhould haue a Houſe. And therefore the firſt queſtion, that Chriſts firſt Diſciples asked of him, was Magiſter, vbi habitas, they would know his ſtanding houſe, where he hath promiſed to bee alwaies within, and where at the ringing of the Bell, ſome body comes to anſwere you, to take your errand, to offer your Prayers to God, to returne his pleaſure in the preaching of his Word to you. The many and heauy Lawes, with which ſacred and ſecular ſtories abound, againſt the prophanation of places, appropriated to Gods ſeruice, and that religious cuſtome, that paſſed almoſt through all ciuill Nations, that an oath, which was the bond between man, and man, had the ſtronger Obligation, if that were taken in the Church, in the preſence of God, (for ſuch was the practiſe of Rome towards her enemies, Tango aras medioſ que ignes, to make their vowes of hoſtility in the Church, and at time of diuine Seruice, (and ſuch is their practiſe ſtill, they ſeale their Treaſons in the Sacrament) ſuch was Romes practiſe towards others, and ſuch was the practiſe of others towards Rome, (for ſo Anniball ſayes, that his father Amilcar ſwore him at the Altar, that he ſhould neuer bee reconciled to Rome, (And ſuch is your practiſe ſtill, as often as you meet here, you renew your band to God, that you will neuer bee reconciled to the Superſtitions of Rome) all theſe, and all ſuch as theſe, and ſuch as theſe are infinite, heap vp teſtimonies, that euen in Nature there is a diſpoſition to apply, and appropriate certaine places to Gods ſeruice. And this impreſſion in nature is illuſtrated in the Law, as the time, ſo the place is diſtinguiſhed, Yee ſhall keepe my Sabboths, Leui. 19.30. there is the time, and you ſhall reuerence my Sanctuary, there is the place. But that they may be reuerenced, that they may bee Sanctuaries, they are to be ſanctified and thats the Encaenia, the Dedication.

Euen in thoſe things which accrue vnto God, and become his,Encaenia. by another title, then as he is Lord of all, by Creation, that is, by appropriation, by dedication to his vſe and Seruice, There is a Lay Dedication, and an Eccleſiaſticall Dedication. I hope the diſtinction of Laytie, and Clergie, the words, ſcandalize no man. Luther, and Caluin too might haue iuſt cauſe to decline the words, as they did; when ſo much was ouer-attributed to that Clergie which they intend, as that they were ſo Sors Domini, the Lords portion, as that the world had no portion in them, and yet they had the greateſt portion of the world; and howe little ſoeuer they had to doe with God, yet no State, no King might haue any thing to doe with them. But, as long as we declare, that by the Layetie we intend the people glorifying God in their ſecular callings, and by the Clergie, perſons ſepoſed by his ordinance, for ſpirituall functions, The Layetie no farther remoou'd then the Clergie, The Clergie no farther entitled then the Layetie, in the blood of Chriſt Ieſus, neither in the effuſion of that blood vpon the Croſſe, nor in the participation of that blood in the Sacrament, and that an equall care in Clergie, and Layetie, of doing the duties of their ſeuerall callings, giues them an equall intereſt in the ioyes, and glory of heauen, I hope no man is ſcandaliz'd with the names. The Lay Dedication then is, the voluntary ſurrendring of this piece of ground thus built, to God. For we muſt ſay, as Saint Peter ſaid to Ananias, Acts 5.4. Whiles it remain'd, was that not your owne? and now, when that is raiſed (ſauing that there was Dedicatio Intentionalis, a purpoſe from the beginning to appropriate it, to this holy vſe) might you not, till this houre, haue made this roome your Hall, if you would? But this is your Dedication, that you haue cheerfully purſued your firſt holy purpoſes, and deliuer now into the hands of this ſeruant of God, the Right Reuerend Father the Biſhop of this See, a place to be preſented to God for you, by him, not misbecomming the Maieſtie of the great God, who is pleaſed to dwell thus amongſt vs. What was ſpent in Salomons Temple is not told vs. What was prepared, before it was begun, is ſuch a ſumme, as certainly, if all the Chriſtian Kings that are, would ſend in all that they haue, at once, to any one ſeruice, all would not equall that ſumme. They gaue there, till they who had the ouer-ſeeing therof, complain'd of the abundance, and proclaim'd an abſtinence. Yet there was one, who gaue more then all they; for Chriſt ſayes the poore widdow gaue more then all the reſt, becauſe ſhe gaue all ſhe had. There is a way of giuing more then ſhe gaue; & I, who by your fauours was no ſtrāger to the beginning of this work, and an often refreſher of it to your memories, and a poore aſsiſtant in laying the firſt ſtone, the materiall ſtone, as I am now, a poore aſsiſtant again in this laying of this firſt formall Stone, the Word & Sacrament, and ſhall euer deſire to be ſo in the ſeruice of this place, I, I ſay, can truly teſtifie, that you (ſpeaking of the whole Societie together of the publike ſtock, the publike treaſury, the publike reuenue) you gaue more then the widow, who gaue all, for you gaue more then all. A ſtranger ſhall not entermeddle with our ioy, as Salomon ſaies: ſtrangers ſhall not know, how ill we were prouided for ſuch a work, when we begun it, nor with what difficulties we haue wraſtled in the way; but ſtrangers ſhall know to Gods glory, that you haue perfected a work of full three times as much charge, as you propoſed for it at beginning: ſo bountifully doth God bleſſe, and proſper intentions to his glory, with enlarging your hearts within, and opening the hearts of others, abroad. And this is your Dedication, and that which without preiudice, and for diſtinction, wee call a Lay Dedication, though from religious hearts, and hands.

There is another Dedication; Eccleſiaſtica that we haue call'd Eccleſiaſticall, appointed by God, ſo as God ſpeaks in the ordinances, and in the practiſe of his Church. Haereditary Kings are begotten & conceiu'd the naturall way; but that body which is ſo begotten of the blood of Kings, is not a King, no nor a man, till there bee a Soule infuſed by God. Here is a Houſe, a Child conceiu'd (wee may ſay borne) of Chriſtian parents, of perſons religiouſly diſpoſed to Gods glory; but yet, that was to receiue another influence, an inanimation, a quickening, by another Conſecration. Oportet denuo naſci, holds euen in the children of Chriſtian parents; when they are borne, they muſt be borne again by Baptiſme: when this place is thus giuen by you, for God, oportet denuo dari, it muſt be giuen againe to God, by him, who receiues it of you. It muſt; there ſeems a neceſsitie to be implied, becauſe euen in Nature, there was a conſecration of holy places; Iacob in his iourney,Gen. 28.20. before the Law, conſecrated euen that ſtone, which he ſet vp, in intention to build God a Houſe there. In the time of the Law, Num. 7.1. this Feaſt of Dedication, was in practiſe; firſt in the Tabernacle; that and all that appertain'd to it, was annointed, and ſanctified: So was Salomons Temple after; ſo was that which was reedified after their return from Babylon, and ſo was this in the Text, after the Heathen had defiled and profan'd the Altar thereof, and a new one was erected by Iudas Maccabeus. Thus in Nature, thus in Law, and thus far thus in the Gospell too: that as ſure as wee are that the people of God had materiall Churches in the Apoſtles firſt times, ſo ſure we are, that thoſe places had a Sanctitie in them. If that place of Saint Paul, 1 Cor. 11.22 Despiſe yee the Church of God? be to be vnderſtood of the locall, of the materiall Church, and not of the Congregation, you ſee there is a rebuke for the prophanation of the place, and conſequently a ſanctity in the place. But aſſoone as the Church came euidently by the fauour of Princes, to haue liberty to make lawes, and power to ſee them practiſed, it was neuer pretermitted to conſecrate the places. Before that, we find an ordinance by Pope Hyginus (he was within 150. after Chriſt, and the eighth Biſhop of that See after Saint Peter) euen of particulars in the Conſecrations. But after, Athanaſius in his Apologie to Conſtantius, Athanaſ. makes that proteſtation for all Chriſtians, That they neuer meet in any Church, till it bee conſecrated: And Conſtantine the Emperour leaſt hee ſhould be at any time vnprouided of ſuch a place, (as we read in the Eccleſiaſticall ſtory) in all his warres, carried about with him a Tabernacle which was conſecrated: In Nature, in the Law, in the Goſpell, in Precept, in Practiſe, theſe Conſecrations are eſtabliſhed.

Ʋſus.This they did. But to what vſe did they conſecrate them? not to one vſe only; and therfore it is a friuolous contention, whether Churches be for preaching, or for praying. But if Conſecration be a kind of Chriſtning of the Church, & that at the Chriſtning it haue a name, wee know what name God hath appoynted for his Houſe, Domus mea, Domus orationis vocabitur. My Houſe ſhall bee called the Houſe of Prayer. And how impudent and inexcuſable a falſhood is that in Bellarmine, That the Lutherans and Caluiniſtes doe admit Churches for Sermons and Sacraments, Sed reprehendunt quod fiant ad orandum, They diſlike that they ſhould be for Prayer: when as Caluin himſelfe, (who may ſeeme to bee more ſubiect to this reprehenſion then Luther) (for there is no ſuch Liturgie in the Caluiniſts Churches, as in the Lutheran) yet in that very place which Bellarmine cites, ſayes Conceptae preces in Eccleſia Deo gratae; and for ſinging in Churches, (which in that place of Caluin cannot be only meant of Pſalmes, for it was of that manner of ſinging, which being formerly in vſe in the Eaſterne churches, S. Ambroſe, in his time, brought into the Church of Millan, and ſo it was deriud ouer the Weſtern churches, which was the modulation and ſinging of Verſicles and Antiphons and the like) this ſinging, ſayes Caluin, was in vſe amongſt the Apoſtles themſelues, Et ſanctiſsimum & ſaluberimum eſt inſtitutum. l. 3.20. § 32. It was a most holy and moſt profitable Inſtitution. Still conſider Conſecration to be a Chriſtning of the place; and though we find them often called Templa propter Sacrificia, for our ſacrifices of praier, and of praiſe, & of the merits of Chriſt, and often called Eccleſiae ad conciones, Churches, in reſpect of congregations, for preaching, and often call'd Martyria, for preſeruing with reſpect, and honor the bodies of Martyrs, and other Saints of God, there buried, & often, often, by other names, Dominica, Baſilica, and the like, yet the name that God gaue to his houſe, is not Concionatorium, nor Sacramentarium, but Oratorium, the Houſe of Prayer. And therefore without preiudice to the other functions too, (for as there is a vae vpon me, Si non Euangelizauero, If I preach not my ſelfe, ſo may that vae be multiplied vpon any, who would draw that holy ordinance of God into a diſ-eſtimatiō, or into a ſlackneſſe,) let vs neuer intermit that dutie, to preſent our ſelues to God in theſe places, though in theſe places there bee then, no other Seruice, but Common prayer. For then doth the Houſe anſwere to that name, which God hath giuen it, if it be a houſe of Prayer.

Modus.Thus then were theſe places to receiue a double Dedication; a Dedication, which was a Donation from the Patron, a Dedication which was a conſecration from the Biſhop, for to his perſon, and to that ranke in the Hierarchy of the Church, the moſt ancient Canons limited it; and to thoſe purpoſes, which wee haue ſpoken of; of which, Prayer is ſo farre from being none, as that there is none aboue it. A little ſhould be ſaid, (before wee ſhut vp this part) of the manner, the forme of Conſecrations. In which, in the Primitiue Church, aſſoone as Conſecrations came into free vſe, they were full of Ceremonies. And many of thoſe Ceremonies deriu'd from the Iewes: and not vnlawfull, for that. The Ceremonies of the Iewes, which had their foundation in the prefiguration of Chriſt, and were types of him, were vnlawfull after Christ was come; becauſe the vſe of them, then, implyed a deniall or a doubt of his being come. But thoſe Ceremonies, which, though the Iewes vſed them, had their foundation in Nature, as bowing of the knee, lifting vp the eyes, and hands, and many, very many others, which either teſtified their deuotion that did them, or exalted their deuotion that ſawe them done, are not therefore excluded the Church, becauſe they were in vſe amongſt the Iewes. That Pope whom we named before, Hyginus, the eighth after Saint Peter, he inſtituted, Ne Baſilica ſine Miſſa conſecretur. That no Church bee conſecrated without a Maſſe. If this muſt binde vs, to a Maſſe of the preſent Romane Church, it were hard; and yet not very hard truely; for they are eaſily had. But that word, Maſſe, is in Saint Ambroſe, in Saint Auguſtine in ſome very ancient Councels; and ſurely intends nothing, to this purpoſe, but the Seruice, the Common Prayer of the Church, then in vſe, there. And when the Biſhop Panigarola ſayes in his Sermon vpon Whitſunday, that the Holy Ghoſt found the bleſſed Virgin and the Apoſtles at Maſſe, I preſume hee meanes no more, then that they were mett at ſuch publique Prayer, as at thoſe times they might make. Sure Pope Clemens, and Pope Hyginus meane the ſame thing, when one ſayes Miſſa conſecretur, and the other Diuinis Precibus: One ſayes, Let the Conſecration bee with a Maſſe, the other, with Diuine Seruice; the Liturgie, the Diuine Seruice was then the Maſſe. In a word, a conſtant forme of Conſecrations, wee finde none that goes through our Ritualls: the Ceremonies were ſtill more or leſſe, as they were more or leſſe obnoxious, or might bee ſubiect to ſcandalize, or to be miſ-interpreted. And therefore I am not heere either to direct, or ſo much as to remember, that which appertaines to the manner of theſe Conſecrations; onely in concurring in that, which is the Soule of all, humble and heartie prayer, that God will heare his Seruants in this place, I ſhall not offend to ſay, that I am ſure my zeale is inferiour to none. And more I ſay not of the firſt Part, The Holy place; and but a little more, of the other; though at firſt it were propoſed for an equall part, The Holy Perſon, That at the Feaſt of the Dedication, Ieſus walked in the Temple in Salomons Porch.

2. Part. In this ſecond part, wee did not ſpread the words, nor ſhed our conſiderations vpon many particulars: the firſt was,Jeſus in Templo. that euen Ieſus himſelfe had recourſe to this Holy place. In the new Ieruſalem, in Heauen, there is no Temple. Apo. 21.22 I ſaw no Temple there ſayes Saint Iohn: for the Lord God Almightie, and the Lambe are the Temple of it. In Heauen, where there is no danger of falling, there is no need of aſſiſtance. Heere the Temple is called Gnazar, 2. Paral. 4.9 that is Auxilium: A Helper: the ſtrongeſt that is, needs the helpe of the Church: And it is called Sanctificium, by Saint Hierom, Pſal. 78.69. a place that is not onely made holy by Conſecration, but that makes others holy by GOD in it. And therefore Chriſt himſelfe, whoſe perſon and preſence might conſecrate the Sanctum Sanctorum, would yet make his often repayre to this Holy place; not that hee needed this ſubſidie of Locall holineſſe in himſelfe, but that his example might bring others who did neede it; and thoſe who did not; and, that euen his owne Preaching might haue the benefite and the bleſsing of Gods Ordinance in that place, hee ſayes of himſelfe,Math. 26. Quotidie apud vos ſedebam docens in Templo, and Semper docui in Synagoga, & in Templo; as in the Actes, the Angell that had deliuered the Apoſtles out of priſon, ſends them to Church, Actes 5. Stantes in Templo loquimini plebi. The Apoſtles were ſent to preach, but to preach in the Temple, in the place appropriated and conſecrated for that holy vſe and employment.

Tempus.He came to this place, and he came at thoſe times, which no immediate command of God, but the Church had inſtituted. Facta ſunt Encaenia, ſayes the Text; It was the Feaſt of the Dedication. Wee know what Dedication this was; That of Salomon was much greater; A Temple built where none was before; That of Eſdras at the returne was much greater then this, An intire reedification of that demoliſhed Temple, where it was before. This was but a zealous reſtoring of an Altar in the Temple: which hauing beene prophaned by the Gentiles, the Iewes themſelues threw downe, and erected a new, and dedicated that. Salomons Dedication is called a Feaſt, 2 Chr. 5.3. a Holy day: by the very ſame name that the Feaſt of vnleauened bread, and the Feaſt of the Tabernacle is called ſo often in Scripture, Ezra 6.16. which is Kag. The Dedication of Ezra is ſufficiently declared to bee a ſolemne Feaſt too. But neither of theſe Feaſtes, though of farre greater Dedications, were Anniuerſarie; neither commanded to be kept euery yeare; and yet this, which was ſo much leſſer then the others, the Church had put vnder that Obligation, to bee kept euery yeare; and Chriſt himſelfe contemnes not, condemnes not, diſputes not the inſtitution of the Church. But as for matter of doctrine hee ſends euen his owne Diſciples, to them who ſate in Moſes Chayre, ſo for matter of Ceremony, he brings euen his owne perſon, to the celebrating, to the authorizing, to the countenancing of the Inſtitutions of the Church, and reſts in that.

Now it was Winter, ſayes the Text: Etſi Hyems Chriſt came etſi Hyems, though it were Winter; ſo ſmall an inconuenience kept him not off. Beloued, it is not alway colder vpon Sunday, then vpon Satterday; nor at any time colder in the Chappell; then in Weſtminſter Hall. A thruſt keepes ſome off in Summer; and colde in Winter: and there are more of both theſe in other places, where for all that, they are more content to be. Remember that Peter was warming himſelfe, and hee denyed Chriſt. They who loue a warme bed, let it bee a warme Studie, let it bee a warme profit, better then this place, they deny CHRIST in his Inſtitution. That therefore which CHRIST ſayes, Pray that your flight bee not in the Winter, Mat. 24.20. nor vpon the Sabboth; we may apply thus, Pray that vpon the Sabboth (I tolde you at firſt, what were Sabboths,) the Winter make you not flie, not abſtaine from this place. Put off thy ſhooes, Exod. 35. ſayes God to Moſes, for the place is holy ground. When Gods ordinance by his Church call you to this holy place, put off thoſe ſhoes, all thoſe earthly reſpects, of eaſe or profit, Chriſt came, Etſi Hyems.

Quia HyemsBut then, Quia Hyems, Becauſe it was Winter, Hee did walke in Salomons Porch, which was couered, not in Atrio, in that part of the Temple, which was open, and expos'd to the weather. We doe not ſay, that infirme and weak men, may not fauour themſelues, in a due care of their health, in theſe places. That he who is not able to raiſe himſelfe, muſt alwayes ſtand at the Goſpell, or bow the knee at the name of Ieſus, or ſtay ſome whole houres, altogether vncouered heere, if that increaſe infirmities of that kinde. And yet Courts of Princes, are ſtrange Betheſdaes; how quickly they recouer any man that is brought into that Poole? How much a little change of ayre does? and how well they can ſtand, and ſtand bare many houres, in the Priuy Chamber, that would melt and flowe out into Rhumes, and Catarrs, in a long Goſpell heere? But, Citra Scandalum, a man may fauour himſelfe in theſe places: but yet this excuſes not the irreuerent manner which hath ouertaken vs in all theſe places; That any Maſter may thinke himſelfe to haue the ſame libertie heere, as in his owne houſe, or that that Seruant, that neuer puts on his hat in his Maſters preſence all the weeke, on Sunday, when hee and his Maſter are in Gods preſence, ſhould haue his hat on perchance before his Masters. Chriſt ſhall make Maſter and Seruant equall; but not yet; not heere; nor euer, equall to himſelfe, how euer they become equall to one another. Gods ſeruice is not a continuall Martyrdome, that a man muſt bee heere, and here in ſuch a poſture, and ſuch a manner, though hee dye for it; but Gods Houſe is no Ordinary neither; where any man may pretend to doe what he will, and euery man may doe, what any man does. Christ ſlept in a ſtorme; I dare not make that generall; let all doe ſo. Chriſt fauoured himſelfe in the Church; I dare not make that generall neither: to make all places equall, or all perſons equall in any place.

Tis time to end.Baſil. Saint Baſill himſelfe, as acceptable as hee was to his Auditory, in his ſecond Sermon vpon the 14. Pſalme, takes knowledge that hee had preached an houre, and therefore broke off: I ſee it is a Compaſſe, that all Ages haue thought ſufficient. But as we haue contracted the conſideration of great Temples, to this leſſer Chappell, ſo let vs contract the Chappell to our ſelues: Et facta ſint Encaenia noſtra, let this be the Feaſt of the Dedication of our ſelues to God. Chriſt calls himſelfe a Temple, Soluite templum hoc: Iohn 2.19. Deſtroy this Temple. 1 Cor. 3.16. & 6.19. And Saint Paul calls vs ſo twice; Know ye not that ye are the Temples of the Holy Ghoſt? Facta ſint Encaenia noſtra: Encaenia ſignifies Renouationem, a renewing:Aug. and Saint Auguſtine ſayes that in his time, Si quis noua tunica indueretur, Encaeniare diceretur. If any man put on a new garment, hee called it by that name, Encaenia ſua. Much more is it ſo, if wee renew in our ſelues the Image of God, and put off the Olde man, and put on the Lord Ieſus Chriſt. This is truly Encaeniare, to dedicate, to renew our ſelues:Nazian. and ſo Nazian. in a Sermon, or Oration, vpon the like occaſion as this, calls, Conuerſionem noſtram, Encaenia, our turning to God, in a true repentance, or renewing, our dedication. Let mee charge your memories, but with this note more, That when God forbad Dauid the building of an Houſe, Becauſe hee was a man of blood, at that time Dauid had not embrued his hands in Vriahs blood; nor ſhed any blood, but lawfully in iuſt warres; yet euen that made him vncapable of this fauour to prouide God a houſe. Some callings are in their nature more obnoxious, and more expoſed to ſinne, then others are: accompanied with more tentations; & ſo retard vs more in holy duties. And therefore as there are particular ſinnes that attend certaine places, certaine ages, certaine complexions, and certaine vocations, let vs watch our ſelues in all thoſe, and remember that not only the higheſt degrees of thoſe ſinns, but any thing that conduces therunto, prophanes the Conſecration, and Dedication of this Temple, our ſelues, to the ſeruice of God; it annihilates our repentance, and fruſtrates our former reconciliations to him. Almighty God worke in you a perfit dedication of your ſelues at this time; that ſo, receiuing it from hands dedicated to God, hee whoſe holy Office this is, may preſent acceptably this Houſe to God in your behalfes, and eſtabliſh an aſſurance to you, that God will be alwayes preſent with you and your Succeſsion in this place. Amen.