THe Text hath a double fore-head, one lookes towards the Letter, the other, the Allegory; that of the Let­ter glances on the Legall Sacri­fice, by the Iewe; that of the Alle­gory, on the Spirituall, by the Christian; the one was a carnall oblation of the Body onely, the o­ther a Misticall, of the Affections; That spake in the rough Dialect of the Law; Horror, Blood, and Death; This, in the sweet language of the Gospell, Brethren, and Beseeching, and Mercies of God. Here then is no Hecatombe or slaughter of the Beast, no Bullocke or Ram, or Goate slaine for immo­lation, as of old; but the Sacrifice required here, [Page 2]must be Liuing; 'tis a Body must be offer'd, and not a Carcasse: here's no death but of in bred cor­ruptions; no slaughter, but of carnall lusts, and concupiscences. Affections must be mortified, and not the Body; that subdued onely, and chastis'd, not flaine; and yet still a Sacrifice, a Liuing Sacri­fice, a Sacrifice so liuing, that 'tis both Holy and Acceptable to God, and so acceptable to him that he accounts it not onely a Sacrifice, but a Reasona­ble Seruice.

The words then, as they lye in their masse and bulke, are a Patheticall perswasion & incitement to the mortification of the old man; prest on by an Apostolicall power & Iurisdiction & that of the great Doctor of the Gentiles, Paul; Where you may obserue, first, his manner of perswading, I Be­seech; Secondly, the Parties to be perswaded, Iewe and Gentile, vnder an affectionate, and charita­ble compellation, Brethren; Thirdly, the Argu­ment or motiue, by which he doth perswade, By the Mercies of God; Fourthly, the Substance or Matter of that which he labours to perswade, To offer vp your Bodies a Sacrifice to God; Fifthly, the Modus or manner of it; that's various, exprest by a threefold Epithete; Liuing, Holy, Accepble, Last­ly, the Antithesis, in the words following, [...] Reasonable Seruice.

These are the Parts offer'd to my difcourse, which vpon the first perusall and Suruey, I thought particularly to haue insisted on; But finding that I had grasp'd more Materials, then I could sow and scatter in the Circuit of an houre, [Page 3]I was inforc'd to bound my Meditations for the present with the two former, leauing the remain­der, till a second opportunity should inuite me hither; And at this time onely, I beseech you Bre­thren.

[...], in the Originall, not Obsecro, Pars prima. as the vulgar reades, but, Exhortor: Beseeching is too Calme and Gentle, and therefore rather, I Ex­hort, Obsecro nonsa­tis aptè. Annot. Beza in cap. 12. Rom. v. 1. saith Beza: But Exhortor vs'd onely in this place, elsewhere, Precamur, & that from the same Idiom, by the same Translator. And indeed, Faire­ly and Plausibly to exhort, is in a manner to beseech: Hortamur e­tiam sponte fa­cientes, quod de­cet. Bez. ibid. For not onely the Refractary, but the facile, & spontaneous, the voluntier in goodnesse, we Ex­hort, and Beseech in the same Word. And if Mul­titude or Number, doe not too much alter the nature and signification of things or Language, we shall make Beza's Exhortor, and Ierome's Obsecro, all one by the same Pen, and Dialect; For in this place to the Romanes, [...] in the Sin­gular, (which is render'd by Exhortor) to the Thessalonians, [...], in the Plurall, is translated, Precamur, by the same Beza, [...], we beseech you, brethren, 1 Thes. Vide Bez. ibid. ot in cap. 12. Rom. v. 2. 5.14. So that 'tis probable, the Greecke word fignifies Both, but, here more openly to Beseech, then to Exhort, For Obsecro comes neerer to Mise­ricordia, in the Text, then Exhortor doth, we Be­seech euer by the mercies of God; but, sometimes we exhort by his Iustice; And in this sence, the Miracle of the Greeke Church, Saint Chrysostome, Chrys. Aquin. Estius in cap. 12. Rom v. 1. will interpret it, and that for three Reasons, here [Page 4] Aquinas tells me; first, to specifie and open our Apostles humility (for so the Wise man) Cum obse­crationibus loquitur pauper. The Rich man answereth roughly, v. 23. But, the poore man vseth intreaties, Pro 18. Intreaties, not for his owne sake, but for Gods, And therefore Obsecrare (saith he) is nothing but,Aquin. vtsu­pra. Ob sacra contestari. Secondly, that He might rather out of loue, moue them by gentlenesse and request, then, out of feare, command them by his power. And this is not onely his practice, but his precept, You that are spirituall, restore him that is fallen, v. 1. by the spirit of meekenesse, Gal. 6. Thirdly, for the reuerence he owed to the Romane Iurisài­ction, the great Senate to which he wrote (where there was both grauity and State,) which he la­bours to win by perswasion, and not by violence. And this also is not onely his Custome, but his Aduice; Rebuke not an Elder, but Beseech him as a Father, v. 1 Tim. 5. So that whether in matters na­turall, or Ciuill, or Apostolicall, the Obsecro is both opportune and necessarie: But in this last more especially: For I Beseech you; is more insi­nuatiue, then I Exhort; and I Exhort, then, I Com­mand; And yet (as Aretius pathetically) In Apo­stolo obsecrante, Jn cap. 12. Rom. v. 1. Deus est mandans, & obsecrans: In that the Apostle beseeches, God both commands and beseechs too; not immediatly, but by way of a Substitute: so Saint Paul testifies of himselfe, We are Ambassadours for Christ, 2 Cor. 5.20. [...], As though God did beseech you by vs. Wee are the Instruments, He, the mouer; wee but the pipes and Conuoy, He, the Source and Ci­sterne: [Page 5]The waters of Life runne from him, by vs; not by him. And therefore the Greeke text hath the particle [...], Quasi, as it were,Bez Annot. in 12. Rom. v. 1. because God doth not really beseech vs, but As it were be­seech vs in the Person of his Embassadours, for so it followes, Wee pray you in Christs stead, 2 Cor. 5.20. So that there are Two here which beseech; God, and his Apostle. Either had lawfull authority to command; He, as a Creator in full right: This, Aret. vtsupra. as a Legate in his name; but they had rather win fairely by a cōpassionate perswasion, then harshly induce by a rigorous command. And this way of instruction best suites with the stayednesse & tēper of Gods Ministers. Ne pro imperio dictatoriè prae ipiant, & rigidè postulent, quod lenitate, & precibus facilius ob­tinent ab auditoribus. So Pareus. 'Tis true,In cap. 12. Rom. v. 1. that the Law, and the Interpreters of it, the Prophets, not onely not Beseech, but Command and terrifie; and 'twas the way then; for stiffe-neckes and stony hearts, (as the Iewes had) requir'd both the Yoke, Pet. Mart. in locum. and the Hammer, Neither did Christ himselfe (for any light we haue from the Euangelists) euer vse this humilitie of Language. For He taught as one that had authority (saies the text) and not as the Scribes But after Christ, the Apostles; Mar. 1.22. and after them the Fathers made it their Rhetoricke, the chiefe Engine of their perswasion thorow the generall Current of their Epistles: And indeed, a true Seruant of the Lord [...], must not striue: Non oportet litigare, Ʋide Bez. An­not. in 2 Tim. 2.24. sayes the vulgar, Non pugnare, Beza, Must be no Wrangler, nor fighter. 2 Tim. 2.24. A striker in the Church is dangerous: dangerous? into lerable, [Page 6]no lesse then He that is contentious; For cer­tainely they are Both of an Allyance, Graee. Interpr. Qui litigat verbis, pugnat: there is as well a striking with the Tongue, as with the Hand, and sometimes a Word is smarter then a Blow, especially if it doe proceed from a mouth inur'd to barke, which can nought but raile, when it should beseech; A Seruant you know, should imitate his Lord: Now, the Lord is not the God of Tumult, but of Peace, 1 Cor. 14.33. And therefore, his sincere and faithfull Seruant Saint Paul beautafies with a threefold Epithete [...],2 Tim. 2.24. Gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient; Rare eminencies, & in that Orbe they moue, spangle, & shine gloriously; He must be gentle, not to some onely, but to all (so sayes the text) to all, of all sorts, not the parti­culars of his owne Cut and Garbe, but euen to those Without. Next Teaching and not barely so, but Apt to Teach, Estius in cap. 2. Epist. 2. ad Tim. v. 24. Apt as well for Ability, as Will; and to Teach, not to Compell; and sometimes to learne too, as well as to Teach. Sic etiam Aug. lib. 5. de Bap. cont. Donat. cap. 29. So Saint Cyprian tells Pompeia­nus, Oportet Episcopum non tantum Docere, sed & Discere, quia ille Melius Docet, qui Discendo proficit. Lastly, Patient; patient two wayes; in respect of Occurrences and Men: of occurrences, first; Perse­cutions, Scoffs, Detractions, are the Liueries of the Multitude, which He weares with as much humi­lity, as peace;2 Cor. 4.12. and of This, our Apostle, I know not whether Complaines, or Glories, Maledicimur & Benedicimus, We are reuil'd, and yet we blesse, which some Translations reade,Vide Pet. Mart. in cap. Rom. v. 1. Blasphemamur & Obse­cramus, We are blasphem'd, and yet beseech; So that Reuiling, it seemes, is a kinde of Blasphemie, [Page 7]and Beseeching, a kind of blessing, He that reuiles a good man, blasphemes him, & he that beseeches an euill, in some sort blesses him. Patient next, in respect of men; not onely of the Good, for they seldome prouoke distaste, but euen of the wicked and malicious, Non vt vitia palpet, aut dissimulet sed vt eos quamuis à veritate proteruos, & alienos, Estius in 2. Tim. 2.24. man­suetudine vincat; Not that He should dissemble or bolster vice, but that the Strag gling and Peruerse he might reclaime with more facility and meeke­nesse. Thus the Intelligent man euer applies his Sayles vnto the winde, and as that turnes, and blowes, so He steeres. And this was the Spirituall policie of Our great Doctor, Factus sum infirmus infirmis, vt infirmos lucrifacerem, 1 Cor. 9.22. To the weake I became weake, that I might gayne the weake; not weake indeed, (though the two Fathers, Cyprian, and Augustine reade it so,) but weake,Cyp. in Epist. ad Antoninum. Aug. Hpist. 9. ad Hieronym. that is, As weake, the Originall vsing the Aduerbe, [...], Tanquam, as tho weake. For weake really he was not; So he professes of himselfe, Wee that are strong, ought to beare the infirmities of the weake, Rom. 15.1.Ambros. in Psal. 104. Strong there; and yet, weake againe, 2 Cor. 11. with a Quis infirmatur, & ego non infirmor? Who is weake, and I am not weake, who is angry, and I burne not; But this Infirmor hatha Tanquam too,Estius in Epist. 1. ad Co cap. 9. v. 22. as well as the former, or whether it haue or no, it Matters not, seeing the sence is one; For Hee sayes, He became weake vnto the weake; or else, as it were weake, that is, like vnto the weake; Like two wayes; In minde and worke; In minde, by an Affect of Commiseration; In worke, by a [Page 8] Similitude of Action; as a Nurse doth with her Child, or a Phisician with his Patient; And in this sence, his Omnibus omnia factus sum, is to be vnderstood also, I am made all vnto all, 1 Cor. 9.22. All vnto All? how? not that he did Idot it with the Superstitious, or Lewd it with the Prophane, played the Cretian, with the Cretian, or the Iewe, with the Iewe; Estius, vtsupra. But, Hee was made all vnto All, partly by commiserating them, partly by doing something like Theirs, which (notwithstanding) did not oppose the Law of God, or else, (as Saint Augustine paraphrases it) Compassione misericordiae, non similitudine fall aciae, or else, Non mentientis actu, sed compatientis affectu, Augusi. ctiam, lib q. 83. q. in his ninth Epistle to Jerome, and more voluminously, in his booke contra men­daeium, 12.v. 1. chapter.

Neither was he all, to All, in way of Conuersati­on onely, but also, in matters of Discipline, and Ad­uice; in which he deales with the Delinquent, as a disereet Husbandman with a tender plant, or tree; He waters it, and digs about it; and, if then it leafe, and bud onely, and not fructifie, He puts his Axe vnto it; not to roote and fell it, but to prune it; He lops off a sprig, or a branch, but He preserues the body; Thus, the Inordinate must bee admonished onely, not threatned; [...] (saith the Greeke;) not, Corripite, or, Castigate (as Castellie, and Erasmus would haue it) but, Monete, saith Beza, Eez. Annot. in 2. Thes. 5.14. warne them that are vnruly, 1. Thess. 5.14. So also, the Feeble-minded must bee solac'd, and incourag'd, not rebuk'd; [...], Consola­mini; Comfort the Feeble-minded, the same chapter [Page 9]and verse. Lastly, the Weake must not be depressed but supported; Support those that are weake among you; [...], Subleuate; hold vp,Sustinete, infir­mu-opitulamini; sic ex Ambros & Tertul. Bez. vt supra. as a Crutch doth a Body that is lame, or a Beame a house that is rui­ned; which word hath reference to that [...] in the Acts, Suscipere Infirmos, or Sustine­re; I haue shewed you all things, how that so labouring, yee ought to Support the weake, Act. 20.35. Here then are Weake, and Feeble-minded, and vnruly; and these must be supported, and comforted, and warnd; no more; I finde no authority for Indignation; I doe, for patience; for patience to all these; nay, to all men; in the heele and cloze of the same verse, [...]. Be patient towards all men, 1. Thes. 5.14. and not onely so, but to all men, with all patience too; so Timothy is aduis'd [...], Exhort with all long suffering, and Doctrine, 2. Tim. 4.2. And indeed this Do­ctrine of Long suffering, is a Mercifull Doctrine; we seldome finde true patience without Commise­ration; Mercy is the badge and Cognizance of a Christian; It markes him from a Caniball, or a Pagan; And doubtlesse, Those that haue not this tendernesse of Affection, whether in the Naturall, or in the Spirituall Man, are but [...], of Sauage and barbarous Condition, Tygers, and not Men; And therefore as Mercy diuides a Man from a Beast, so doth it a Christian from a meere Man. He must be Mercifull, Mar. 6. as his Father which is in Heauen is Mercifull. O how beautifull vpon the Mountaines (sayes that great Oracle of God) are the feete of him that bringeth glad tydings of good things, Esay 52.7. that preacheth [Page 10]peace, that publisheth saluation, that saith vnto Sion, Thy God raigneth? Esay 52.7. Those were said to haue beautiful feete amongst the Hebrewes, whose Messages were shod with loy, Estius in Rom. cap. 10. vers. 15. who spake comfort to the people, and not Terror. Now, what such Ioy and Comfort to the Children of Sion, as the glad tydings of good things, those excellent good things, Preaching of Peace, & Publishing of Saluation? How beautifull vpon the Mountains are the feete of him that doth it? Aug. lib. 32. con­tra Faust. c. 10. Quam speciosi pedes? (as Augustine reades it) how Precious? or, Quàmtempestiui & Maturi? (as Tertullian) how Mature and timely?Tertul. lib. 5. con­tra Marcionem. cap. 2. & 5. [...] saies the Septuagint, Quàm pulchri? quàm decori? how Faire, and Comely? which some of the Anci­ents, (and with them,Leo Castrensis in Esay 52.7. S. Ierome) haue read [...] (cutting off the three latter vowels) which they expound sicut Hora, that is (as they say) sicut tem­pus opportunum, or, tempus vernum, as the Spring time, when all things florish; so that (making the Text, mutilated, and impersect) they would haue the words runne thus:Schol. Roman. sequens septua­gint. Sicut horaa super montes, sic Pedes Euangelizantis Pacem: As the Spring vpon the mountaines, so are the feete of him that preacheth peace; where all things are greene, and fragrant, when we are led into fresh, and sweet, and pleasing pastures, the pastures of the Spirit; the Staffe and Rod of the Lord to comfort vs, his Peace, and his Saluation, whereby we may walke cheere­fully in the paths of Righteousnes, and so follow­ing the great Shepheard of our Soules (who will feede vs as his chosen flocke) wee shall graze at length vpon the Mountaines, the euer-springing [Page 11]mountaines, the Mountaines of Israel.

And are the feete of him that preacheth peace, that publisheth saluation, so beautifull? beautifull on the mountaines too? what shall we thinke then of the feete of those, the Blacke feete of those, who, like the possess'd man in the Gospell, Marke 5.2. still keepe among the Tombes? tread nothing but destruction, and the graue? and as if they still walk'd in the vale of darkenesse, and the shadow of death, beate nothing but Hell vnto their Auditors, which by continuall thundring of Iudgements, so shake the foundations of a weake-built faith, that they sometimes destroy the Temple they should build vp; and in this harsh and austere manner of proceeding, they oftentimes exceed their Commission, when pressing too farre the ri­gour of the Law, they trench on the liberty of the Gospell, as the Disciples did,Luke 9.55. who requiring fire from heauen to consume the Samaritans, they text it with the seuerity of Eliah: 2. King. 1.10. As Eliah did vnto the Moabites. But the Lord of mercy is so farre from approuing this fiery zeale, that Hee not onely re­bukes it, but the spirit that suggested it. You know not of what spirit yee are, for the Sonne of Man is not come to destroy mens liues, but to saue them, Luk. 9.56. And doubtlesse, the destroying spirit is not the right Spirit: The Holy Ghost (you know) appea­red in the forme of a Doue: and as the Doue is without gall, so should the Organ of the Spirit be, the Preacher. Detrabendum est aliquid seuer itati (saith Augustine to Boniface) vt maioribus malis sanandis, Aug. ad Bonifac­de Cor. Donat. charitas sincera subueniat. Who would not taxe it [Page 12]in a Iudge as a crime and custome too vniust, to be mou'd to choller against a Delinquent or Ma­lefactor, when charity should guide him, and not passion? He doubles the offence, that doth both exaggerate, and punish it; That Diuine labours too preposterously the reformation of his hearer, that chides bitterly, when he should but admo­nish, and admonish,Isid. lib. 3. de summe bone. cap. 2. when he should Beseech. Qui veracitèr fraternam vule corripere infirmitatem, ta­lemse praestare fraternae studeat vtilitati, vt quem cor­ripere cupit, humili corde admoneat, saith Isidore, Sweet and mild perswasions, and the admonitions of an humble heart, worke deeper in the affecti­ons of men, then all the batteries of virulence, and Inuection. Oyle (you know) will sinke into a solid and stiffe matter, when a dry and harder substance lyes without, and can neither pierce, nor sosten it; That which cannot be compa'st by the smoo­ther insinuations of Aduice and Reason, shall neuer be done by force, or if it bee, 'tis not without a tang of basenesse: There is Some-thing that is seruile in Rigour and Constraint, Char. lib. 3. and takes off from the Prerogatiue and freedome of humane will. The Stoick tells vs,Facilius ducitur, quàm trahitur. Seneca. there is a kinde of generousnesse in the minde of man, and is more easily led, then drawne; impulsion is the childe of Tyranny, and holds neither with the lawes of Nature, nor of Grace. Deus non necessitat, sed facilitat. God doth not necessitate, or if necessitate, not compell man to particular actions, but supples and faciles him to his Commands. And (doubtlesse) hee that would captiuate the affections of his hearers, and [Page 13]smooth and make passable what he labours to persawde in the hearts of others, must so modifie and temper his discourse, that it proue not bit­ter or distastfull; like a skilfull Apothecary, who to make his Confections more palatesome, and yet more operatiue, qualifies the malignity of Sym­ples, by preparing them, makes poyson not only medicinable, but delightfull, and so both cures and pleases. I write not these things (saith Saint Paul to his Corinthians) to shame you, 1. Cor. 4.14. but as my be­loned sonnes, I warne you. He will not shame them, and at roughest, He will but warne them, & that as Sonnes too, as beloued Sonnes; And if this will not suffice, he will beseech them also:1. Cor. 4.16. I beseech you bee followers of me, as I am of Christ, in the 16. verse of the same chapter. Calmer admonitions are for the most part seasonable, when reproofes ouer­rough and blustring, not onely not conforme the hearer, but exasperate him; and therefore what our Apostle aduis'd the natural parents, I may without preiudice, the spirituall. Parentes, ne pro­uocetis ad iracundiam filios vestros: ne despondeant animum: Parents, prouoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged, Coloss. 3. For certainely, words are the image of the soule, and if they flow from a gentle and meeke minde, they produce the like effects, Gentlenes, and Meekenes; But from a swelling and tempestuous spirit, they recoyle, as a peece that's ouer charg'd, and start backe as a broken Bowe; They prouoke, nay, they discourage, and find no better entertainement then the stroakes of a hammer vpon an anuile, [Page 14]which the more violently they are laid on, the more violently it rebounds: and therefore Saint Patol is so farre from obiurgation,Philem. 7.8. or menacing, that he will not so much as enioyne his Philemon, but labours with an Obsecro, when he might haue vs'd a Mando: Though I might be much bold in Christ to enioyne thee, yet for loues sake, Iorather beseceh thee, Phil. 7.8. So that where Loue is, there is still an Obsecro, & where it is not, there is com­monly a Damno. Hence 'tis, that the Pulpit is so often the Mount of Terror and of Vengeance, the Throne of personall eiaculations, the Altar, where some belch nothing but fire and brimstone, vo­mit the Ite maledicti too vncharitably, and (which is worst) too particularly; who scare and terrifie, when they should entreat, and in stead of Beseech­ing fall to Reuiling; Rom. 12.11. who vnder a pretence of feruency of the Spirit, and seruing the Lord sincerely, ran­sacke Gods dreadfull Artillery, and call out all his Instruments of Iustice to assist them; his fur­bisht sword, and glittering speare, his bowe of steele, and sharpe-set arrowes, his horse with warre-like trap­pings, neighing for the battell, his smoaking iealousie, and deuouring pestilence, his flaming metecrs and horrid earth-quakes, his storme, his whirle-wind, and his tempest, flouds and billowes, and boylings of the deepe, his cuppe of displeasure, and vials of indignation, his dregs of fury, and besome of destruction, his haile stones and his lightnings, his coales of Iuniper, and hot thunder­bolts. Thus in fearefull harnesse hauing muster'd vp all Gods Iudgements in a full volly, they (at once) discharge them against the pretended [Page 15]corruptions of particular men, whom their vi­vulence labours rather to traduce, then their Deuo­tions to reforme; And this is but a spirituall di­straction, a deuout phrenzy, a holy madnesse, through which (like the Lunaticke in the Gospell) they fall sometimes into the water,Marke 9.22. sometimes into the fire; Nothing will satisfie them, but flouds and flames; flouds to o'er-whelme the sinner, or flames to martyr him; But ‘Quis furor, ô ciues; quae tanta dementia?’

Publicke reproofes, when they are cloath'd with Terror, not onely disparage, but dis-hearten; They breake the bruizedreede, Esay 42.3. and quench the smoa­king flaxe, run many on the shelues of despaire, where they make an vnhappy shipwracke of their faith; and not of their faith onely, but of their body also, exposing it to poyson, or the knife, to strangling, or to the floud; to the wilfull preci­pitation of some Towre or Cliffe, or the vnnatu­rall butchery of their owne hands; and so tor­menting the body for the soule, by a temporall death, at length they feele the torments both of soule and body by an eternall death. Thus if In­cisions bee made too deepe in the vlcers of the Soule, and the spirituall wound search'd too roughly, it more relishes of cruelty, then of Loue; and he that doth it, rather preaches his owne sinne, then endeuours to cure anothers, Qui delinquentē superbo vel odioso animo corrigit, non omendat, sed percutit: Jsid. lib. 3. de summo Bone. cap. 51. Rebukes which taste of enuie or superciliousnesse, do not reforme, but wound, and in stead of lenitying and making more tra­ctable [Page 16]indifferent dispositions, they stubborne them, knowing that reproofes too tartly sea­son'd: are the seruices of Spleene, and not of Zeale: 'tis call'd [...], Zeale, from [...], the see­thing and boyling of a pot; Now, a pot (you know) not temperatly fir'd, boyles ouer; and certainely if Moderation sometimes blow not the Cole, but wee make virulence the bellowes of our zeale, it not onely seeths and rises to passion and distemper, but boyles ouer to Enuy and Vncharita­blenesse, And therefore our Apostle (deuiding the properties of true Charity from a false zeale) makes this one Symptome of that great vertue, Charitas non aemulatur, Eslius in 1. Cor. cap. 13.3. Cyplib. de zelo & Liuore. 1 Cor. 13.3. [...] in the Originall, non zelat: That is (as Cyprian reades) non inuidet, enuies not; for zeale in her perfe­ction, and as it leanes to vertue, is but emula­tion, but screw'd vp to vice, 'tis enuy; Enuy? Nay 'tis fury:Isid. lib. 3. de summo Bono. cap. 91. Quicquid proteruus vel indignans animus protulerit, obiurgantis furor est, non dilectio corrigen­tis, saith the Father: what in way of Admonish­ment passion produces, is Reuiling, and not ad­monishment, and doth not touch so properly on sincerity, as malice; And therefore Enuies and Euill speakings, are link'd with Guile and Hypocrisie. By Saint Peter, Lay asside all guile, Hypocrisies, and Enuies, and euill speakings, 1 Pet. 2.1. A tempe­rate reproofe will mould and worke vs to refor­mation, when an Inuectiue fires vs:In cap. 5. Luae. Ill a pudorem ineutit, Haec indignationem mouet; faith Ambrose: That touches vs with remorce, and slumbers, and becalmes all passion; This kindles our In­dignation, [Page 17]and with that, our stubbonrnesse, For certainely harsh speeches doe not so properly moue, as startle vs, and are like sharpe sawces to the stomacke, which though they sometimes stirre the appetite, yet they gnaw; And for this Error, some haue censur'd Saint Chrysostome him­selfe, That if He could haue moderated his zeale, and temper'd his reproofes with a little mildnesse, (especially to the Empresse Eudoxia) He might haue done more seruice to his Church, and refcued his honour from the staine both of Imprisonment and Exile.

I presse not this so farre (Beloued) to fat and pamper vice, or rocke and lull men in a carelesse sensuality; Though I doe Beseech, yet I would not fawne: This were to kill our young with col­ling them, and with the Iuie, barren and dead that tree which we embrace. I know, a Boanerges is sometimes as well requir'd, as a Barnabas, a sonne of Thunder, as of Consolation; But these haue their vicissitudes, and seasons. There is an vn­circumcised heart, and there is a Broken Spirit: There is a deafe Adder that will not be charm'd; and there are good Sheepe that will heare Christs voyce, For these, there is the spirit of Meekenesse; for the other, loud and sharpe Reproofes; If Na­bals heart. be stony, the Word is call'd a Hammer, let that batter it. If Israel haue a heart that is con­trite and wounded, Gilead hath Balme in it, and there is oyle of comfort for him that mournes in Sion. Thus, as our Insirmities are diuers, so are the cures of the Spirit, sometimes it terrifies, some­times [Page 18]it Commands, sometimes it Beseeches; But let not vs terrifie when we should but Command, nor Command when wee should Beseech, lest wee make this Liberty a Cloake for our Maliciousnesse. 1. Pet 2.16. In all exhortations, first make vse of the still voyce; and if that preuaile not, Cry alowd vnto the Trum­pet; and if that be not shrill enough, raise the Thunder-clap; Aug. l b 2. de sermote Domini in monte se m 1. But this latter, Rarò & magna nece ssi­tate (saith Augustine) seldome, and vpon great necessity; It à tamèn, vt in ipsis etiam obiurgationibus non nobis, sed Deo seruiatur intestinus; If we must needs lighten and thunder, let it bee as from God, not vs, who are to scourge the sinne, not the person, except vpon capitall offences, open blasphemies,Acts 15. wilfull prophanations. Saint Paul then may call Elymas the Sorcerer, the child of the Deuill, and Peter say to Symon Magus, Thou art in the gall of Bitternesse, and the very bond of Iniquity. Rebukes (I confesse) too mercifull for the grand Disciples of Sorcerie, and Magicke, and yet sowre enough for those other Nouices and Babes in the schoole of Christ; Though such also are not onely open to the Checke, but to the Rod, Vultis vt in virga veniam? Shall I come to you with the Rod, or in Loue? 1 Cor. 4.21. To wound and of­fend a little, to profit much, is to loue sound­ly; Habet & amor plagas suas, Ambros su [...]er 1. cap. ad Cor. quae dulciores sunt cùm amarius inferuntur: Loue it selfe hath her whips and thornes, and the more they are layd on, the lesse they wound, to our Ruine, tho not our Smart. There is a sharpnesse of speech vs'd to Edification, not to Destruction, (saith Saith Paul,) [Page 19]2. Cor. 13.10. A religious chastisement, some­times more profits, then a partiall conniuence or remission; This may perchance soften and melt a peruerse nature, The other skums it; There is as well a Cruell mercy in remitting offences which should be punished, as a mercilesse Cruel­ty in ouer-punishing others which might haue beene remitted; And therefore 'tis an Euangelic all Commandement, Sipeccauer it in te frater tuus, cor­ripe eum, If thy brother sinne against thee, reproue him; Reproue him? how? openly? No, Secretò corripe (saith Augustine) Reproue secretly.Aug de Verbis Domini super illa verba, Sipeta­ueriit te frater suus. For if thou art knowing his offence, and by way of a taunt or exprobratio dost diuulge and blazon it, Non es Corector, sed proditor, (sayes the Father) Thou art not a Corrector, but a Betrayer; or as Origen aggra­uates it, Non reprehendentis hoc, sed infamantis, Orig. in Leuit. cap. 23. This is no part of Reproose, but of Defamation. A wholesome holy Reprehension may be viciously applyed, especially not ballac'd by those two great weights, Charity, and Iudgement: Iudgement to mould it, and Charity to sweeten it, otherwise we may Wound perchance, when we desire to Heale, and in stead of reprouing others, condemne our selues; And therefore that of Saint Augustine is very Energeticall, Cogitemus cum aliquom reprehendere nos necessitas coegerit, Aug. lib. de fer­mon. Domini in monte. ser. 1. vtrum tale sit vitium quod nunquàm habui­mus, & tuunc cogitemus nos hon. ines esse, & habere potuisse; vel quòd tale habuimus, & iam non habe­mus, & nunc tangat memoriam communis fragili­tatis, vt ill am correctionem, non odium, sed misericor­dia [Page 20]praecedat When necessity impels vs to repre­hend another (as the Father will haue no repre­hension without necessity,) let vs consider, whe­ther it be such a vice as we neuer had, and then, weigh that we are but men, and might haue had it; or whether such a one as once we had, and now haue not, and then let it whisper to vs the common frailty of mankind, that so Mercy and not Hatred may be the Pule and platforme of our Reproofe. 'Tis true, the words of the Wiseman are compar'd to Goads and Nailes; and the Reason, or Morall rather,Greg. Hom 6. su­per Euang. in illa zerbae. Gregory affords, Culpas delin­quentium nesciunt calcare, sed pungere: Lapses and deprauations, they will pricke, and not smo­ther. But take heed how they pricke too farre, left bleeding them, they rankle. Applications come too late, when the part begins to gangrene; And therefore sometimes our Balsames are opportune, sometimes our Corrasiues; How to time, and qualifie them, the Diuine Moralist will prescribe you,Greg. Moral. lib. 29. Regat Disciplinae vigor mansuetudinem, & man­suetudo ornet vigorem, & sic alterum commendetur, ex altero, vt nec vigor sit rigidus, nec mansuetudo dis­soluta: Discretion must be the Guide to decline hatred, and auoyde negligence, to blunt and meeken Rigour, and to edge and embolden Soft­nesse; that so we may not onely rebuke Delinquents, as men meerely, but sometimes encourage them as Christians, and not alwayes terrifie them, as Aliens and enemies to the Church, but, now and then Beseech them as our Brethren; so the Chari­ty of our Apostle runs in the words following, I beseech you Brethren.

Brethren? how? by Nature? or Country? Pars 2. or Allyance? Neither; For the Romane Church was then a mixt Church, Aquin. parte 3. q. 28. Art. 3. ad 5. a Throng of Iewes and Gen­tiles promiscuously; And these could not be pro­perly his Brethren, either in respect of Parents, or Nation, or Consanguinity; and therefore, Bre­thren, by Affection, Singulari affectu, Aretius in cap: 12. Rom. Pareus Ibid. (saith Are­tius,) And so Pareus too, Fratres compellat, vt de amore eius frater no non dubitet, He vses this sweet Compellation, Brethren, not (perchance) that they were so, either by Grace, or Nature; but, Brethren, that they might not distrust his brother­ly affection; For though of old the word Fratres was a common Attribute and name to all Belee­uers; yet, not vsed to the Romanes (here) because, Beleeuers, Sed vt fraternam beneuolentiam, Carthus. in cap 12. Rom. v. 1. & chari­tatem, in illis declaret suam, saith Carthusian; Not so much to manifest their faith, as his Charity; For though many of them were strangers to him, and some his sworne enemies, yet notwithstanding their extremity of hatred, hee would not refuse to call them Brethren, that would be his Execu­tioners; Nay, such were his ouer-flowings of Zeale and Loue; Loue towards them, for Gods sake; and Zeale towards God, for theirs, that he will not onely expose his Body to tortures for them, but (if it were possible) his very Soule; And left this should be thought a Florish meere­ly, He calls his owne Conscience to witnesse it, My Conscience bearing me record, that I could wish, Rom. 9.8. that my selfe were accursed from Christ, for my Bre­thren, [Page 22] my kinsmen according to the flesh, Rom 9.3.

Thus, the great Lamps and Beacons of the Church, as they haue abounded euer in Grace, so in Loue too; their Charity went hand in hand with their Zeale, and sometimes out-stept it; and in­deed Charity is the very Salt of Religion, the sea­soner of all our Spirituall and Morall Actions; without which, euen our Deuotions are vnsa­uoury, our Orisons distastfull; and therefore to this great vertue, some haue made three Stories or Ascents;Polan. Syrtag. lib. 9. cap. 10. Dilection, Loue, Charity; Dilection at the foote; Loue in the mid-way; Charity at top; That, the ground-worke or foundation; Th'o­ther, the walls and body, This, the roofe and bat­tlement; Dilection (say they) includes the Iudge­ment of the Chooser, and a separation of the thing chosen from others which are not; Loue followes Dilection, by which we are vnited in affection to the thing we chose, and so loue; But Charity is greater then both, by which we so im­brace the thing lou'd, that we endeuour alwayes to preserue it in our loue Dilection is an Effeminate, light and transitory affection; Loue more Mascu­line, though somewhat violent, and so vnstable too; Charity, sober, and hung with grauity, and inuolues both strictnesse of Tye and inuiolable­nesse. Thus the Moralist will Cryticke on the words; the Diuine is not so curious, But if he find any difference. He makes Loue and Charity towards God,Polan. Syntag. lib. 9. cap. 10. the causes of Dilection, and This the effect of the other Two, so Polanus. But indeed Charity includes all, hath a diuerse Aspect, and casts [Page 23]euery way, like a well-arted eye in a curious Sta­tue, stand what side of it you please, It seemes still to glance and dart vpon you; Sometimes It lookes ad nos, to vs, and that is our home-Charity, Charity to our selues; Sometimes supra nos, a­boue vs, and that's towards God; Sometimes praeter nos, beside vs, and that's towards our ene­mies; Sometimes iuxta nos, with vs, and that's towards our neighbour; Sometimes extra nos, Aug. lib. 1. de Doct. Christiana. cap. 23. without vs, & that's towards the Infidell; Some­times infra nos, below vs, and that's towards the world. What? Charity towards our Neigh­bour, the vnbeleeuer, and the world? and none towards the Text here, Our Brethren? Yes, Cha­rity towards our Neighbour includes that; or if it did not, Charity towards God commands it, Hoc mandatum habemus à Domino, This command we haue from God, that hee that loueth God, should loue his brother also, 1 Iohn. 4.21. So that this Diligere Deum, presupposes diligere fra­trem; and this diligere fratrem, diligere proximum; and this diligere proximum, diligere omnem hominem: so Saint Augustine, vpon our Sauiours Diliges pro­ximum tuum, thou shalt loue thy neighbour, Manifestum est omnem hominem proximum esse depu­tandum, Aug. vt supra. 1. Booke de doct. Christ. 30. cap. So that, to loue God, doth insinuate to loue euery man by the rules of Charity; not euery man for him­selfe only, but for God, & therefore for himselfe, because for God; according to that of the same Saint Augustine, Charitas est motus animi ad fruen­dum Deo, propter ipsum, & se; atque proximo, Aug. lib. 3. de Doct. Christiana. cap. 10. propter [Page 24]Deum Charity is a motion of the mind, by which we enioy God for himselfe, and our selues, and our Neighbour for our God. Thou shalt loue thy God (saith Christ) with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thy selfe. As thy selfe? how is that? with all thy heart too: so that He shares in thy whole man, as well as God; but not so Extensiuely; God principal­ly, thy Neighbour in Subordination to him. And questionlesse, Ratio diligendi proximum, Deus est; hoc enim in proximo debemus diligere, vt in Deo sit: God is the Reason why we loue our Neighbour; for in this respect we ought to loue our Neighbour, that hee be in God; and therefore 'tis manifest that the same Act in Specie (saith Thomas) is, by which we loue God,Aquin. secunda secundae. q. 25. Art. 1. Const. and by which we loue our Neighbour, and so the very Habit of Charity must not onely extend it selfe to the loue of God, but to the loue of our Neighbour also.

Neither is this great vertue terminated here, but extendeth also to our very enemies; and that not onely out of command, because God en­ioynes it, but out of Necessity, because Charity will inforce it. The very Lawes of Charity will haue vs loue our Enemies, but not meerely, as our Enemies; for that were to loue anothers sin; but, in vniuersali, as men, and partakers of our Nature; and, not onely, in this Generality of loue neither;Aquin. secunda secundae. q. 25. Art. 2. but sometimes, more personally, In ar­ticulo necessitatis, secundum praeparationem animi (as the Schooles flourish it) In an Article of Necessity, by some mentall preparation; To wit, That our minde should euer bee so prepar'd, that [Page 25]if Necessity did comply, we could loue our ene­my in Singulari too, more specially, more parti­cularly.

And not onely, Thus, to our enemie, but the Wicked enemy, Charity binds there, too; but there as before, Non culpâ, quâ peccatores, sed naturâ, vt diuinae beatitudinis capaces. For there are two things considerable in the wicked man▪ Nature, and Sin; According to Nature, which he hath from God, he is capable of Beatitude, and so, the Obiect of our Charity; But according to Sinne, by which hee stands in Diameter, Debemus in pee­catoribus odire quòd peccatores sunt, et diligere, quòd homines sint beatitudini ca­paces. Aquin. secunda secundae. q. 25. A. 6. and direct opposition to his God, and so finds an impediment of this blessed­nesse, hee is rather the But and Aime of our ha­tred, then Commiseration. And therefore, where­as the Prophet is often violent against the wicked man, debarring him (as it were) of all Charity, with his Conuertentur peccatores in Infernum, The wicked shall be turned into Hell, Psal. 9.17. 'Tis spo­ken per modum praenunciationis, non imprecationis, by way of Prophesie, not Curse; and therefore 'tis not Conuertantur peccatores, Psal. 50.10. Let the Sinners be turned; but Conuertentur, in the Future, They shall be turned; or perchance too, per modū optationis; by way of wish; yet so, that the desire of him that wishes, be not refer'd to the punishment of man, but the Iustice of him that inflicts it; Because God himselfe punishing, doth not reioyce in the destruction of the wicked, but his owne Iustice; or else, that this desire be refer'd to the remo­tion of Sinne, not the very Act of punishment, that so the Transgression be destroyed, and yet [Page 26]the Man remaine.Secunda secun­dae. q. 25. A. 7. ad 3. And there is Charity in this too, great Charity, that we wish the preseruation of the Sinner, when we desire the destruction of his Sinne; But this is Charitas secundùm naeturam also, which is not onely expos'd to Man, and the worst of men, but to Creatures reasonlesse, nay, to the very Deuils themselues, whose nature we may euen (out of Charity) loue, forasmuch as we would haue those spirits to be conseru'd in suis naturalibus, Secunda secun­dae. q. 25. A. 11. Genel. as they are naturally spirits, to the Glory of that diuine Maiestie that created them, so Aquinas, secunda, secundae, quaest. 25. Art. 11.

Thus we haue followed Charity in her largest progresse, through heauen and Earth, to the Horrid pit; From God, by men, to Spirits; if there be a place or subiect else where Goodnesse may re­side or pitch on, Charity will dwell there also: It beareth all things, 1. Cor. 13.7. beleeueth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things; Are there Prophecies? They shall faile. Are there Tongues? They shall cease. Is there Knowledge?1. Cor. 13.8. That shall vanish; but Charity shall ne­uer faile, neuer in matters of Nature, or Grace, or Glory; of the Law, the Gospell, or their Consumma­tion; Charity fulfils the Lawe, comprehends the Gospell, and compleats Both. All the Morall ver­tues lye shrin'd here;Secunda secundae quaest. 65. Art. 3. Concl. August. Serm. 46. de Tempore. 1. Cor 13.23. so Aquinas; all the Cardinall, saith Augustine; all the Theologicall, Saint Paul, though not ex confesso, yet by way of Intimation; for Faith and Hope are not onely with it, but vn­der it: The greatest of these is Charity, 1. Cor. 13. vlt. The greatest of these? All these, they are all in Cha­rity, and Charity in God; In God? God it selfe, God [Page 27]is Loue, and he that dwelleth in Loue, dwelleth in God, and God in him, 1 Iohn 4.16.

'Tis plaine then, where Charity is, there is an habitation for the Lord; and where 'tis not, there is a Thorow-fare for the Diuell; Religion is but rottennesse without it, and all this front of holi­nesse, but drosse and Rubbish: Tell me not of Faith, without thy works; nor of Prayers, without thine Almes; nor of Piety, without thy Compassion; nor of Zeale, without thy Charity; what is Deuotion when 'tis turbulent, or Conscience when 'tis pee­uish? or Preaching, when 'tis Schismaticall? I loue not Diuinity, when 'tis stipendary; nor purity, when 'tis factious: nor Reprehension, when 'tis Cruell; nor Censure, when 'tis Desperate: Orall ve­hemency hath more tongue then heart: & there­fore that Zeale which is ouer-mouth'd, wee may suspect either for counterfeit, or Malicious.

Beleeue not euery spirit (saith Saint Iohn) but try the spirits, whether they be of God or no, 1. Iohn 4. for many false Teachers are gone out into the world: Into the world, in all Ages, and all Churches: Let's particularize in some, in that of the Apostles first, when vnder a pretence of sincerity, and suppressing Innouation; (labouring to establish the Iewish ceremonies more firmely,) there were some that sub­tilly cryed downe the very seeds of Christianity, as those false apostles did, which came from Iudea, vnto Antioch, and taught the Brethren; That ex­cept they were Circum ised after the manner of Mo­ses,Acts 15. they could not bee saued; whom Paul and Barna­bas first; and afterwards Peter and Iames, and the [Page 28]rest at Ierusalem, both zealously did resist, and in their Synod, or first conuocation, powerfully suppresse. But this Pseudo-zeale in the time of the Apostles, did but smoake and sparkle (like fire vnder greene wood,) In that of the Fathers, it brake out into flames, when someturbulent and discontented spirits, burning in hatred to the true Professors, or leaning partially to some fa­ction against the Church, notwithstanding out of a meere tickling and itch of glory, offer'd themselues vnto death, for the confession of the name of Christ,Ʋide Estius in c. 13. ad Rom. as the Montanists, Nouatians, Arrians, Donatists, whom the Catholicke Church neuer honor'd with the Title of Martyrs, but reprobated and cast out as the wilfull Patriarchs of Schisme & herefie; as Saint Augustine, and Saint Cyprian more voluminously; The one, in his Disputation a­gainst the Nouatian; the other, against the Dona­tist. And doubtlesse, Suffering is not alwayes the way to Glory; 'Tis not Passion, but the Cause of it, that both creates, and crownes our Martyrdomes. Timeo dicere, Hieron. in cap. 5. ad Galat. sed dicendum est; Ierome is loth to speake it, but he must: That those Corporall tor­tures which for Religion wee vndergoe, euen Martyrdome it selfe; if it be therefore vndergone, to purchase Admiration and Applause of men, fru­strà sanguis effusus est, That blood was spilt in vaine. We honour not Martyrs, because they suf­fer, but because for Christ, and his Church, they suffer. 'Tis not thy carcasse then, but thy Charity that casts vp the gratefull Incense; and therefore those that glory in their wilfull passions vnder a [Page 29]false name of Martyrdome, Heare how Saint Au­gustine descants on: Ecce, venitur ad passionem; Aug. serm. 50. de Verbis Dom. ve­nitur & ad sanguinis effusionem; vennuur & ad corpo­ris incensionem; & támen, nihil prodest, quià Charitas deest, We offer our Bodies to the stake, our Blood to the flames, our Liues to the fury of the Tormentors, all this is nothing without Charity, 'tis that makes the Suffering glorious.1. Cor. 13.4, 5. If I giue my Body to be bur­ned (saith Saint Paul) and haue not Charity, it pro­fiteth me nothing, nay had I all faith, so that I could re­moue mountaines, and haue not Charity, I am nothing; Not, Nullus sum, but Nihil sum, Not so much, not a Man, as not a creature, nothing.

Hearken then, thou sonne of Tumult, whose lips enter into contention, and whose mouth calleth for stroakes; Thou which raisest tempests in Religion,Pro. 8.5. and sowest thy Tares of Faction amongst the mul­titude; thou which bringest in the strange Leauen of New Doctrines, and colourest them with thy pro­bable allegations, whereby the Consciences of the Simple are intangled, and the peace of the Church disturbed, though otherwise perchance, thou art punctuall enough, both in thy conuersa­tion and thy Tenents, hast the gifts of Prophecy, vn­derstand'st all Mystertes and all Language, yet, because in some things thou hast made a breach of this Harmony in the Church,Schismatici, qui extra Ecclesians Catho icam, prae­sentem finunt. vilam, in ignens eunt aeternum. Aug. seu potius. Fulgent. de fide ad Petrum Dia­conum, cap. 38 thou art a Rebell both to it, and thy Christ; and except by Retra­ctation and Submission thou art recald to the Fold from which thou hast wandred, thou stand'st out-law'd and excommunicate to Heauen, and nei­ther Imprisonment nor Death can make atonement [Page 30]for thy Mistreadings. Is this harsh? 'Tis Saint Augu­stines, and he will yet goe farther: A Schismaticke brought vnto the take; not for that Error which did separate him from the Church, but for the truth of the Word and Sacrament which he doth else maintaine, suffering the Temporall flames, to auoyde the Eternall, and beares it patiently; though that Patience be commendable, and a gift of God, yet (because in part a Schismaticke) not of that kind of gifts which are imparted filijs Ie­nusalem, but to those also which are filij concubi­narum (saith the Father) which euen earnall Iewes, and Heretickes may haue; and concludes at length, that This suffering and patience no­thing profits Him towards Heauen; but supposes that the great Iudgement will be in this more to­lerable to Him, Aug. lib. de Pati­entia, cap. 26.27.28. Quàm si Christum negando torme ta mortémque vitâsset, Then if by denying Christ, he had euaded the cruelty of his Death and Torment: in his Booke de Patientia, 28. chapter.

You haue heard what primitiue times haue done for the barke and out-side of Religton; the very skin and shell of Christianity; Let vs now com­pare them a little with our owne; and wee shall finde, that they haue not any-whit gone beyond vs in the Externall profession of sincerity, tho in their suffering and Tortures they haue much. We haue deceitfull workers as well as they,2. Cor. 11.13. Transfor­ming themselues into the Apostles of Christ, 2. Cor. 5.20. which glory in appearance, and not in heart.

We abhorre, That Age should out-doe ours, either in Hypocrisie or prophanenesse, wee haue our [Page 31] Donatists and Catharists, and Anabaptists, as plen­tifully as they; and some besides, They had not; the Brownist, the Barrowist, and the Familist, and one more that both fosters and incloses all these, (may he be whisper'd without offence, my Bre­thren) the Puritan; but he will not be Titled so; the very Name hangs in his Iawes, and the chiefe way to discouer him, is to call him so; That fires and nettles him, and so repining at the Name, he ownes it; and questionlesse 'tis his, though he shrowd and vaile it vnder the word Brethren in the Text; whose Purity consists much in washing of the out-ward man, Vide Ro. Art 19. A. 1. prop. vbi ci­rat H. N. 1. ex­hort c. 13. § 10. the Brewaists to Cartwright, page 39. Barrow in his discouery, p. 33. whilst their Tenents looke to­wards a Legall righteousnesse, and a trium­phant and glorified condition of man here vpon earth; professing by their open Pam­phlets, that the visible Church, the true visible Church, is deuoid of Sinne and Sinners, and for Manners cannot erre; and therefore Paradox it, That the Assemblies of good and bad together, are no Church, but Heapes of prophane men; as if in one field,Math. 25. there were not as well Tares as Corne, in one house, vessels of wood and earth, as of gold and siluer; a Mixture of good and bad,Math. 23. in all Congregations; which as an Embleme of the Church visible, our Sauiour types-out in the pa­rable of the Sower, the Marriage, and the Virgins; Math. 13. Nay his Blessed Spouse, of her selfe, freely professes her deformity, Tho I am comely, I am blacke, Cant. 1.5. O yee Daughters of Ierusalem, blacke as the Tents of Kedar. And yet These will haue her all cleane and louely, like a face without spot, or wrinkle; when wee know a Mole or Wart (sometimes) beautifies a [Page 32]feature, and in this Warre of opposites, there is both gracefulnesse, and Lustre; and therefore I suppose the Church was first compar'd vnto the Moone, not so much for change, as obnubila­tion, being obuious to clouds, and Eclipses; and when 'tis at clearest, 'tis not without a mole in her cheeke neither, at least-wife, to an ocular ap­prehension or if it were all faire and Lueid, yet, 'tis by way of Influence, beam'd from a greater light, borrowed, not her owne; so is this of the Church too; one un of righteousnesse enlightens Both, and therefore, Woe vnto them, that call Light, Darkenes & Darknes, Light; make a Church of it selfe shine, which cannot, or not shine, which might, if they were not, by others; dogmatically, & perēp­torily laying downe, that where Errors are there is no True Church (when there was neuer any, nor will be, whil'st 'tis militant, without them,) But They are no more of the substance of our Religion, or any Essentiall part of our Churches Doctrine, Ro. Artie. in the Preface. then ill humours which be in, are of the Body, or Dregs in a vessell of wine, part of the wine, or vessell.

'Tis true, some Ceremonies we retaine yet, as matters of Indifferency, and not of Substance, and these (forsooth) are so hainous, that they are Thornes in their sides, and prickles in their eyes; matter of Ceremony, is now matter of Conscience, and rather then subscribe, Silence, Suspension, Imprisonment, they venture on, and sometimes suffer too; where A Brethren-Contribution more fats them, then al the Fortunes they were masters of before; and this (beloued) cannot be zeale, [Page 33]but Schisme, or if it bee zeale, [...],Rom. 10.2. it wants Eyes, and Intellectuals, 'tis not according to knowledge; For what Iudgement would expose our Body vnto prison? our Calling to the staine of Separation, and Reuolt, for a thing meerely of in­differency and Ceremony? No, there is more in it, then This; the Rochet, Tippet, and the Surplesse is not that they shoot at, but the thing call'd Parity; Moses and Aaron they like not for the Ephod, and the Rod; they speake power, and command, and so intimate obedience; But these struggle for equa lity; the Ecclesiasticke Hierarchy they would demo­lish, Episcopall corruption is the great Eye-sore; Downe with it, downe with it, euen to the ground. And yet I dare say, there are some subtle Pioners, and secret Mutiners in Common-wealth, pretending plausibly to the flourishing of Religion, which if they could once glory in that Babel they ende­uour to erect, they car'd not, if erusalem were An heape of stones; 'Tis impossible, that Ciuill Authority can euer subsist without the other; and if there be once a full rent & flaw in Church-policy, what can we expect from that of State, or either, but vast Anarchy, and Confusion?

Thus, he that strikes at the Myter, God grant he catch'th not at the Scepter, and (if he could graspe it) the very Thunderbolt; no Bishop, no King, and so by consequence no God; He proclaimes him­selfe the God of Order, and These would make him the Father of Confusion; and so, in circum­stance disgod him too, seeing his greatest glory consists in the Harmony of his Creatures, the Peace of his Church, and vnanimity of his Saints [Page 34]and Seruants; and therefore (brethren) let me beseech you in the words of the Apostle, Marke them which cause Diuisions, Rom. 6.17, 18. and offences, contrary to the Doctrine which you haue heard, and auoyd them. For they that are such, serue not our Lord Iesus Christ, but their owne Belly, and by good words, and faire speeches, deceiue the hearts of the simple, Rom. 16.17, 18, ver.

I haue yet but Beseech't you in the words of an Apostle; Let me warne you also in the Language of a Sauiour, Beware of Those which come to you in sheeps clothing, with such a Cast of Mortification and Integrity, as if their conuersation spake no­thing but Immaculatenesse, when within they are rauening wolues: such as will not onely tondere pe­cus, and deglubere; but deuorare too; subuert whole houses for filthy lucre:Tit. 1.13. You shall know them by their fruite; Their fruite vnto the eye beautifull and glorious, but to the finger, Dust and Smoake; or if not by their fruite, by their Leaues, you may, a few wind-falne vertues which they piece and sowe together to couer their owne Nakednesse. Will you haue them in their full Dresse and por­traiture? Take the draught and paterne, then from the Pharisee, Mathew 23. There the character is exact; where if you obserue, They are twice cal­led Blind Guides: Blindnesse of knowledge brings on Blindnesse of Heart; and therefore twice also Fooles, and Blind; ver. 17.19. To this Blindnesse of Heart, Pride is annex'd; They make broad their Phylacteries, and inlarge the Borders of their Garments; ver. 5. To this Pride, vaine-glory; They loue greetings in the Alarket, vppermost roomes at feasts, and chiefe [Page 35]seates in the Synagogues; ver. 6.7. To this Vaine-glo­ry, Hypocrisie; They make cleane the out-side of the cup and platter, and for a pretence make long prayers; and all to be seene of men, v. 14.25. To this Hypocri­sie, Spirituall malice; They shut vp the Kingdome of Heauen against men, for they neither goe in themselues, nor suffer them that are entring, to goe in, ver. 13. Last­ly, to this Malice, there is vncharitablenesse; They bind heauy Burdens, and grieuous to be borne, and lay them on mens shoulders, but they Themselues will not moue them with one of their fingers, ver. 4. Rare per­fections, doubtlesse, for the Sanctified Child of God! Obserue the Catalogue, Blindnesse of Heart, Pride, Vaine-glory, Hypocrifie, Malice, and Vncha­ritablenesse: Let vs make it out, Enuy, and all Vn­charitablenesse, and then Libera nos, Domine, Good Lord deliuer vs; deliuer vs from all false-hood in his Seruices, and faction against his Church, that we may be his Ministers in Sincerity, and not in shew, as those false Teachers were of old, or our Braine-sicke and discontented Neotericks at the present, whom Saint Paul discouers by a double Attribute, [...], and [...], vaniloqui, & Seductores; vnruly and vaine-talkers, and Decei­uers, Titus 1.10. They talke (it should seeme) They doe not Teach; and talke vainely too;I stius in cap. 1. Tit. v. 10.11. and not onely so, but this vanity must be nois'd, vn­rulinesse goes with it,Lectio Hieron. in 1. cap. Tit. v. 10.11. and Those which in their Doctrines are vaine and vntuly too, sometimes proue Deceiuers, Mentium Decepteres, (as Ierome reades it on the Text) Deceiuers of mindes, 2. Tim. 3.6. of weake and simple mindes, Mechanicks, and captiu'd women, which haue beene the disciples of [Page 36]all Schismes and all Heresies in al Ages. And such in­deed are the chiefest Proficients in their Schooles now: for none are so pinn'd to the strict obserua­tion of their Precepts, Vide 2. Tim. 4. ver 3.4. as these Silly ones. There is nothing so furious as an ignorant zeale, so violent as a factious Holinesse; and therefore when their Doctrines or their practices are touch'd vnto the Quicke, and made (once) the subiect of a Pulpit Reprchension; their Charity is presently on the Racke; the Brasse sounds loud, and the Cymball tinckles shrill, their Censures are full-charg'd, and come on like a peale of Great shot, thicke and ter­rible.

The Cymball (as Caietan obserues) was an In­strument of old,Vide Estium in 1. Cor. 13.1. Magis sonorum, quàm musicum, not so musicall as loud and of more noyse then me­lody, and such as women onely vsed, both in their times of Triumph and Deuotion. A pretty Inuention for weakenesse and child-hood to play withall, and be it spoken without disparagement of some glo­ries in that Sexe, a fit type of women and their frailties; who, for the most part are taken rather with the sound of things, then the things them­selues, and are seldome without this Instrument of Noise about them. The Tongue is their proper Cymball, Psal. 150. not the well-tun'd Cymball Dauid speakes of; but the Loud Cymball, with which they doe not so much praise God, as sometimes dispa­rage men; Their Morality, and their zeale are neere one, a shrilnesse as well in their Deuotion, as their Actrons, and their practice in both is a very Tinckling; Tinckling with their Feete, leade the Daunce to the next Conuenticle; Tinckling with the [Page 37] tongue too; Great talkers, in Diuinity, and if they could exchange a Parlour for a Church, or a stoole for a Pulpit, they would preach too, & ('tis thought) Edifie as much as their zealous Pastor. But Away with those Ecchoes in Religion, fitter for Silence, then Reproofe; and for pitty, then confutation; and therefore (once more) I Beseech you, and with the phrase of an Apostle too, Heb. vltims. Bee not carried about with diuers and strange Doctrines, Halt and limp not betweene Innouation and an establish'd Disci­pline. But (as Peter said to the Cripple) In the Name of Iesus Christ of Nazareth, rise vp and walke; Acts 3.6. Re­turne vnto the Church, whence ye are straggling; not to your Stepdame, but your mother, the Mother of whom you were borne and nurs'd; dry those teares she sheads for you; peace those sighs, and groanes, & complaints, which she wailes for you; Fall vpon those Armes which will embrace you, those Bowels which yearne for you, those Paps which gaue you sucke. What went you to see? A Reed shakē with the wind? Yes, a very Reed, shakē with eue­ry wind of Doctrine; A Reed with a bruized stalke or brokē Eare, no Corne in it; or if it haue, 'tis blasted with Sedition, fitter for the Dunghil, thē the Granary.

Away then from Lebanon (my Beloued) from Lebanon; Looke from the Den of Lyons, Cant. 4.8. and Moun­taines of the Leopards (where the peace of Religion is blood-suck't and deuour'd) and come hither to the mountaines of Myrrh; and hills of Frankincense; The Altars of the liuing God, where the Incense of his Church flames cheerefully, with no lesse truth of deuotion, then vnanimity. Loe, her golden vials, full of odours, Sacrifices both deuout and peace­able, [Page 38]Such as the heart of his people offer, and not the hands, onely; Calues of our lips, and groanes of the Spirit, which touch both the cares and nostrils of the Almighty. Let the voyce of diuision, then, jarre no more amongst you, which if there were no­thing else to noise our frailties, were enough to speake bondage to the flesh, and not yet, our free­dome to the Spirit. For whence are strifes and enury­ings? are they not from your lusts? And whilst one saith, I am of Paul, 1. Cor. 3.4. another, am of Apollo, are ye not car­nall? Christ is not deuided, his Church is one; My Doue,Cant. 6.7.my vndefiled is but one, she is the onely one of her mother, the choice one of her that bare Her, Can. 6.7.

The Church, (you heare) is Gods onely one, his choice one; He hath no more, and we, tho many, are but one neither,1. Cor. 10.17. the Churches one, Her choicest one, one Body, nay, one Bread, 1 Cor. 10.17. Moreouer, Christs Spirit is but one; tho it bee in many, 'tis there still one Spirit, no diuision where that is, but all peace; Ephes. 4.3. and therefore 'tis call'd the vnity of the Spirit; and this vnity must be still kept in the bond of peace. Marke, here's no wanering, or Temporary peace; but this peace must be still kept, and not stightly kept, but there is a Tye on the keeping of it, The Bond of peace: Ephes. 4.3. and 'tis this Bond that makes the vnity, and this vnity that keepes the peace, and this peace that preserues the Spirit, so that 'tis still an vnity of Spirit, kept in the Bond of peace.

Come hither, then, my Faithfull Brother in the Lord, and let vs no more censure, but expostulate. Hast Thou the true Faith thou so much gloriest in? where is thy zeale? hast thou true zeale? where is thy Charity? hast thou true Charity? why art thou [Page 39] Tumultuous? Iohn. 13.35. By this shall you know (saith Christ) that you are my Disciples, if you loue one another. Mutuall agreement begets Loue, and this Loue makes the Disciple, and this Disciple is knowne to be Christs, by a Si diligeretis, onely, if yee loue one another. And therefore in the first Dawne and rising of the Chri­stian Church, the chiefe thing remark'd in it by the Gentiles, was the Christian Loue: Tertul. Apol. 36. Vide vt inuicemse diligunt! vt pro alterutro mori sint parati! as Tertullian stories it. Lo how they Loue! the Heathens cry, How ready to Dye one for another! But this Loue of the Brother vnto Death, I presse not here; (for the very Infidels had their Commorientes, as well as we) but Loue vnto Sincerity and Constancy, of which he that is destitute, falls short both in Religion, and Morality. And therefore that Text in Saint Peter runs Methodically, Feare God, 1. Pet. 2.17. Ho­nour the King, but first, Loue the Brotherhood; as if there could be no true feare of God, or honour of the King, except there be first Loue to thy Bro­ther; to thy Brother? nay, the Brother-hood: [...], saith the Greeke, Achava, the Hebrew;Beza Annot. in 1. Pet. 2 10. Brotherhood, for the company and coniunction of Brethren in the Church; and in this, not so much a Coniunction of persons, as of Mindes, other­wise 'tis no Church. And therefore the multi­tude of them that beleeued at the Apostles Ser­mon, were said to bee of one Soule, and one heart, Acts 4.32. And this one Soule, and one heart; S. Paul calls one minde, and one Iudgement: And this one minde and one Iudgement, must not be thinly mixt,1. Cor. 1.10.12. but perfectly ioyn'd together, and so ioyn'd together, that there be no Diuision among vs; and therefore [Page 40]he coniures his Corinthians by the Name of Iesus Christ; Rom. 15.5, 6. not onely to Doe, but to Speake the same thing. I Beseech you Brethren, by the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ, that ye all speake the same thing, that there be no Diuision amongst you, but that ye be perfe­ctly ioyn'd together, in one minde, and the same Iudge­ment, 1 Cor. 1.10.

Maximum indicium malae mentis fluctuatio, Sen. Epist. 121. Ree­ling betweene opinion and opinion; is a Mentall drunkennesse and there is no such Index of a De­praued Disposition, as wauing & vnsettlednesse. And therefore the Stoicke describing the vnconstant man,Senec. Jbid. Thus lashes him, Nunquàm eundem nec simi­lem quidem, sed in diuersum aberrat; He so trauer­ses and wanders in himselfe, that hee is neither the same, nor like, but diuerse. So that the Wise man is the Man onely of Resolution, for He is one, and the same still: Praeter Sapientem nemo vnus, Se­neca tells his Ducillius in his 126. Epistle. And doubtlesse, 'tis this one minde and one Iudgement, that makes both the discreet Moralist and the wise Christian: Videmus qualis sit, quantus sit, and vnus sit: Epist. 26. the same Seneca. Vnanimity is the Soule of Brother-hood, whether in that of Nature, or of Grace; And therefore, what Abraham, of old, said vnto Lot, is worthy both of your memory and obseruation,Genes. 13.8. Let there be no strife betweene me and thee, nor betweene my Heardsmen, and thy Heards­men; why? We are Brethren as if the very word did inuolue vnion, and where there was Brother-hood, there could be no strife; no not amongst their very Heardsmen, that brawling Regiment, which, for the most part, are as vnruly as the Droues they [Page 41]keepe; and in some things 'tis disputable, which is the verier Beast; for they both goe one way, non quá eundum est, sed quâ itur, Sen. Epist. 135. As the multitude treads, so they follow, squadron'd into a Faction, as That is, not onely in the State, but the Church too; And so 'twas of old, Acts 14.4. in the time of the Apo­stles, when at Iconmum there was a great vprore amongst the Iewes and Gentiles, about the prea­ching of Paul and Barnabas; in stead of sup­pressing the fury of the Tumult, the Rabble of the City was Diuided; and part held with the Iewes, and part with the Apostles, Act. 14.4.

Thus popular conuocations were euer the Nurses of Distraction; and These, now occasion the Hubub and Out-cries in Our Church, the strife is not so much betweene Loo, and Abraham, as their Heardsmen, the People more side it in Religion, then their Pastors doe; and that's the best Doctrine which They fancy; not what the Others teach. And to this purpose, They haue gotten, lately into most Corpor ations of the Kingdome, certaine Lapwing-Dinines, and featherlesse Professors of their owne Cut; prescribe them Principles which they may not tran sgresse; and not onely their Posture, Habit, and Conuersation, but the very Methode, Tone and Language cued them. Mise­rable Age, when Diuinity shall be thus slau'd to a Stipend and a Trencher! and the Apostles of Iesus Christ, for a morsell of bread! or some Mechanicke, or Leane-cheek'd Contribution, shall dispa­rage the Powre and Sacrednesse of their Keyes! But fie on this Factious Holinesse, this Iezebel in Reli­gion, that smells too much of the Painter, and [Page 42]his Varnish: Let it no more with vncharitable con­tentions, or nouelty of Doctrine, or vnseasonable­nesse of suggestion, disturbe the peace of our Spirituall Mother; but let her sleepe and rest sweetly in that Diuine truth, which she hath receiued from Primi­tiue plantations, and seal'd fince, with the Blood of so many Martyns. I charge you, O Daughters of Ieru­salem, by the Roes and Hinds of the field, that ye stirre not, or awake my Loue, vntill she please, Cant. 3.5.

'Twas long since the complaint of a disconsolate Church, and ours hath in part reuiu'd it: Ecce pace ama­ritudo mea amarissima, pax ab haereticis, pax à paga­nis, bellum à filijs: O my bitter bitternesse in the dayes of peace, peace amongst pagans, peace amongst Heretickes, but warres and struglings by the twinnes of my owne womb! My sonnes, my diuided sonnes, are more vnnaturall then all these. The Protestant, that hath beene so long the Starre of the Reformed Church, the Ensigne and Standard-bearer of true Religion, must be now buffeted and spit vpon by the obloquy and scorne of vp start Sectaries!

You then, that thus dig out the Bowels of your hallowed mother, and sticke your Daggers at her very heart;Serm. 57. de Di­uerfis in Append. Hearke, Saint Augustine, the deuout Saint Augustine, All those gifts and rewards of Beatitude, which God hath treasur'd vp for his Children and Elect, in pacis conseruatione promisit, are appropriate onely to the Sonnes of peace. And hence is our Sauiours Beatipacifici, Blessed are the peace-makers; why? They shall be called the sonnes of God. Aug. Serm. 463. de Temp. Non peruenitur ad voc abulum Filij, nisi per nomen pacifici, saies the Father. They had neuer beene [Page 43]called the Sonnes of God, had they not beene first the sonnes of peace; nor entituled to the Attri­bute of Blessed, had they not beene formerly the Sonnes of God. And therefore 'tis the Substance of Christs valediction to his Disciples;Iohn 14.27. Aug. Serm. 463. de Temp. My peace I leaue with you, my peace I giue vnto you: Proficiscens voluit dare, quod desiderabat rediens in omnibus inueni­re; the same Saint Augustine; Hee gaue to all, at his departure, what he desir'd to find in all, at his returne; his peace, his blessed peace: For where there is a Congregation of men, and not of opi­nions, or of opinions, and not of loue; Christ is not there with his Pax vobis: so that where peace is not, there is no Christ; and where no Christ, no Church. Thy Religion, thy Faith, thy Hope, are dead without it, thy Groanes, thy Sighs, thy Deuotions, are false and empty, like vaults that sound meerely from their hollownesse; thy selfe like an Instru­ment that's crack'd, or a string that jarr's. And therefore to the peace-lesse Brother, that of Tertul­lian to the Gentiles, shall be both my Aduice, and my Conclusion; Fratres vestrisumus, Tertul. Apol. 36. iure nostrae Ma­tris vnius; et si vos parum homines, qui mali fratres; at quanto dignius, fratres & dicuntur, & habentur, qui vnū Patrem Deum agnouerunt, qui vnum Spiritum biberunt sanctitatis, qui de vno vtero ignorantiae eius­dem, ad vnam Lucem expauerint veritatis? Itaque, quia Animâ, animóque miscemur, nihil de rei communi­catione dubitemus: Since we haue one God, our Father; one Christ, our Brother; one Church, our mo­ther; one Spirit, our Comforter; Ephes. 4. vli. let vs all haue one minde, one heart, one peace, our Director; that so the God of peace, which is aboue All, may be through [Page 44] All, Cant. 4.15. and in vs All. And then Arise, O North and come, O South, and blow on my Garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Cant. 7.12. Arise yee Soueraigne winds of the Spirit of God, and breath on this garden of the Spouse, where the Pomegranates bud forth, and the ten­der grapes appeare, that the fragrant odours of these her Plants may bee both increas'd and dispes'd, and at length carryed into the Nostirls of her well­beloued, who shall bring her out of this Wildernesse below,Cant. 3.6. like pillers of smoke, perfum'd with Myrrhe and Incense, which as sweete sauours, shall ascend on high, where the Day breakes, and shadowes flye away, where Darkenesse is banish'd euerlastingly, and the Sunne of Righteousnesse shines for euer­more. To whom, &c.

Gloria in excelsis Deo.