ƲRBS DEPLORATA. A SERMON Preached in Course In the Cathedral Church of St. Mary LINCOLN, On the Tenth Sunday after Trinity, Aug. 19. 1666. Happening at the time of THE GENERAL ASSIZE.
By Edward Boteler, Prebendary of that Church, Rector of Wintringham in that County, and one of his Majesties Chaplains.
Noc recordata est finis sui, deposita est vehementer, non habens consolatorem.
LONDON: Printed by J. C. for Octavian Pulleyn, at the Kings head in Little-Britain. 1669.
To Sir John Monson, Knight of the Honourable Order of the Bath, and Baronet.
SIr, I have, not without smiling, observed how some doating Dogmatists of late, pretending to a Gravity some Centuries higher then the Age they live in, have scouled upon intitling Epistles, and by an affected Morosity have attempted to explode this honest way of Dedication. I like not the humour at all; it hath too much of the [Page]Proud, or the Peevish, or both, in it. These sullen Sirs, under pretence that they are afraid to be thought to fawn upon others, do most notoriously flatter themselves: He is certainly the Grand Opinator, that dares face this Age of Vertuoso's single, and venture abroad with no better countenance then his own. Let Brutes creep into the World without help: to Convoy a Youngling into its first light, is nearer of kin to Humanity. Away then with such rude severities, let them be Tubb'd up with old Reprobate Philosophy! Give me a Patron; and, if I may chuse, give me him that none can give but your self, that is, your self. A Lincolnshire Dedication [Page]would not, should not miss Sir John Monson: you stand Title-Page to your Country; every Letter of your Name is great, and Capital among us.
These Sheets, Sir, were voted to you long since, but could not till now pass some difficulties that lay betwixt them and the Press. And truely, I gratulate their stay; for had they come out hastily, they would have look'd like some good Mood, or fit of Devotion to you; whereas now they speak me constant, and that to serve you is my meditation.
Live, Great Exemplar of Piety, Prudence and Loyalty, and whatever may intitle to Glory and Vertue: and live [Page]again. Live in your self, and live in your son; all that know you both, hope so, pray so: there's but that one Copy of you, but it is a fair one, a full one; and may happy Posterity speak you both to the World. Honour, Blessing, and immortality be upon your Name. These are no seldom ingredients in the prayers of, Sir,
A SERMON Preached in the Cathedral Church of Lincoln, on the tenth Sunday after Trinity, Aug. 19. 1666.
IT cost me no pains to seek out a Text for this great Assembly; the Gospel for the day brought it to my hands; there you have lately heard it read, there you may again see it written.
Dicens, Quia si cognovisses, & tu, & quidem in hac die tua, quae ad pacem tibi.
Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace.
Saying. And whose saying is it? That would be known. It is [Page 2]the first word of the verse, and calls for our first enquiry, lest we make an immethodical entry, a breach upon the Text, and do it wrong.
But there's no danger of that, if we consult the words immediately foregoing, they point at him, and direct us to him: He (they say) beheld the City, and wept over it.
He: But who is that? Look a little higher, and you have him. He was a King, a blessed King, a King that came fairly by it, that came in God's Name; Blessed be the King that cometh in the Name of the Lord, Ver. 38. v. 38.
Do you not yet see him plain enough, but would you a more particular account of him? You have him named, and may see how he was mounted, v. 35. They cast their garments upon the Colt, and set Jesus thereon. You have him attended, and may hear how he was applauded, v. 37. At the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the Disciples began to rejoyce, and to praise God with a loud voice: As if they overheard [Page 3]that call of Zechary, Zech. 9.9. Rejoyce greatly O Daughter of Zion, shout O Daughter of Hierusalem, behold thy King cometh unto thee!
We have found then who He is, but we find him in a strange posture, one would think; the holy Jesus is weeping, weeping even then, when the multitude of his friends and followers were tripudiating, and in a transport of joy because of him. Such are all joys on earth, they have their mixtures, and allays; pure joy, and uninterrupted, is the reserve of Heaven. The Inhabitants of the New Hierusalem are only thus priviledged, Rev. 21.4. to have all tears wiped from their eyes, and know no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor any more pain. When we have climbed the holy Hill, we are above the reach of trouble; whilst we are passing the valley of Baca, Psa. 84.6. the Pools are filled with water, filled till they run over: He beheld the City, and wept over it.
And wept. And why wept? Valentinus indeed, (the Ecclesiastical [Page 4]History tells us) like a Dotard, fancied a God weeping when it rained, and laughing when the Sun shined: But how comes a Cloud in the face of the Sun? whence is it that this Well of Life at the same place sends forth sweet water, and bitter? Strange that tears should flow from the fountain of joy! Ludolph. vit. Christi O but, Fons pietatis lachrymas continere non poterat: He was such a Fountain of piety and pity, that he could not look with dry eyes upon the insolent sins, and ingruent desolations of the Daughter of Sion. Isa. 53.4. Surely he hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Nec planxit aedificia parietum, sed subversionem animarum. He bewailed not so much their City, as their souls; It was not so much the goodly stones of their houses, as the ungodly stone in their hearts, which was the object of his tears. It is a rare affection, and worthy our imitation, to be solicitous for the precious souls of men. Blessed be that passion that hath a sense of [Page 5]their sins, and sad estates, who have none of their own.
When Saul was grown so bad, that Samuel declined all converse with him, would not come at him, which was a long time before his death, Veruntamen lugebat, 1 Sam. 15.35. Neverless Samuel mourned for Saul.
And what Bottle big enough to hold the tears which were spent upon this wretched people? 2 King. 8.12. Elisha wept because of the evil which Hazael would do unto the children of Israel. Jeremy, because of that they suffered under the Caldeans, his Soul wept in secret, Jer. 13.17. and his eye wept sore, because the Lords Flock was carried away captive. And as if he could never mourn enough unless he were melted, he would be turned into a Well, an Ocean: Ch. 9.1. Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the Daughter of my People!
It was the last Item which our Lord, that Man of Sorrows, Isa 53.3. gave them in that black walk to his [Page 6]passion, (where, it seems, some had the good nature to lament him) Daughters of Hierusalem weep not for me, Luk. 23.28 but weep for your selves, and for your children. But since they had not the grace to do it for themselves, he hath the compassion to do it for them; for, He beheld the City, and wept over it; saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!
You see by this time whose the saying is, and what it means. Patent viscera, St. Bern. per vulnera; as his bowels did appear by those wounds which they after made in his body, so are they here audible from his tongue, legible in his eyes, all parts of him speak his passionate thoughts for the sins and sufferings of Hierusalem.
Sins, and sufferings, they were not parted in his, must not be in our mourning. We care not for them in conjunction, are over-apt to divide them. Sufferings we quickly feel, and heavily complain [Page 7]of: scarce a word of our sins; we go under them, as if we were insensible. Tears for sufferings overflow our cheeks often; for sins, seldome fill our eyes. When we suffer we can weep showers, but we put off our sins with a few heat-drops, and rarely they get them too.
But this is a squandring away that precious Eye-water intended for better use, and meets with few or no Comforters. Rachel wept, and would not be comforted; she wept for her losses. Mary Magdalen wept, and found joy; she wept for her lusts. Sorrow was made for sin, is good for nothing else; and whatsoever streams run another way, are straglers, and have lost their Channel.
Let us then borrow from our sufferings, to bestow upon our sins: Isa. 61.3. this will bring the Garment of Praise for the spirit of heaviness. This is Aquam fluentem in Cloacam deducere in hortum, as St. Augustine expresseth himself; [Page 8]to turn the water which ran through the Sink, and bring it to the sweeter and more delicious service of the Garden. And certainly we have cause enough, never more; our sins are many, our sufferings not a few: The Sword hath slain its thousands, and the Plague its ten thousands; and the Fire hath devoured our Habitations, a Fire only short of that threatned in Jeremy, Jer. 21.12. To burn, and none can quench: a fire only second to that in Deuteronomy, which burns to the lowest hell, Ch. 32.22. and sets on fire the foundations of the Mountains. And for our sins, who can number them? How shall we list those Anakins which are all Commanders? Pride, Luxury, Prophaneness, Atheism, Irreligion, Whoredome, Drunkenness, and Oaths of the new fashion; Propter hoc lugebit terra, Hos. 4 3. therefore shall the Land mourn. Because of these, Ne faceat pupilla oculi; Thren. 2.18. Let tears run down day and night, let not the apple of thine eye cease. We may well weep for sin, who are [Page 9]all sin, when he wept who knew no sin; we heartily for our selves, when he so affectionately for others: He wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace.
The words are very passionate, and so somewhat broken, like the language of Mourners. Griefs can hardly speak out: The Book of the Lamentations is observed to have no Title in the Original; Cor. a Lapid. Arg. in Thren. that which it now wears, was bestowed on it by the Seventy two Interpreters. Sorrow is none of the best Speakers.
The affectionate thoughts of our Lord abounded till they crouded one another; so that like a multitude at a small Port, each hindred the others pass; broken words, coming from a broken heart; a Soul sighing it self out in love, and with an earnest compassion [Page 10]crying out, Oh that thou; or, If thou hadst known, &c.
Nor doth the Aposiopesis, or repression of some words, make so wide a breach in the sense, that we need fetch in any kind of Fillers to make it up.
Indeed if we make the [If] conditional only, then we must resolve with the Commentator, Maldonat. in Loc. Dictio si exigit aliquod verbum ubi quodammodo quiescat: there must be something brought in for it to lean and rest upon, and it will need a larger Supplement.
If thou knewest, what? There must be an object for knowledge; it will starve if it have nothing but second notions to feed upon.
If thou knewest, what then? It must be to some purpose, or else it makes but a sounding brass, and a tinkling Cymbal.
To supply these defects, Interpreters have busied themselves more then needed; they might have spared their Paralipomenon's with more thanks. Some of them are not worth naming: I'le only [Page 11]present you with two or three of the better sort.
If thou, The people in thee, and the chief of thee; knew me, as this poor company of Disciples doth, and as those lesser Cities which have acknowledged, and received me. Annot. in Locum. So the Italian Diodati.
If thou knewest, Ruinam scilicet, & subversionem quae tibi imminet, how near thou art to ruine and destruction, thou wouldest weep who now rejoycest. So our Country-man Gorran. In Loc.
If thou knowest, sicut & ego cognosco, says Gregory and Bede, Homil. 29 in Evang. What I know, and see coming upon thee, thou wouldest weep as I do, and have a more serious sense of thy sad and deplorable condition.
But this Conditionality ingageth it's followers in unnecessary difficulties, and gives the Text not so much a supply, as a surfet. Nor is it so safe Verba foris accersere, Beza in Annot. (says a learned pen upon the place) For if we may call in words [Page 12]at pleasure, we shall soon open a way to heretical depravations.
If we must have condition, that of Saint Cyril, Augustine and Theophylact, is doubtless best, who rest the Si cognovisses upon the following Quae ad pacem tibi, and so make but one supply, thus. If thou knewest the things which belong unto thy peace, thou wouldest not neglect the opportunity now put into thy hands.
But what need this [If] be conditional, when it may be Optative, may better be so? Praestat ut in optandi forma legamus, quam cum reticentia. Oh that thou had'st known, or, Would thou had'st bin so happy as to know the things that belong unto thy peace in this thy day! And then we have the compleat sense within us, and the sentence will be more emphatical: nor doth this want the countenance of the best Authors; for besides that it is usual in the elegant Lucian, the Criticks tell us that the Hebrew [Si] is often all one with an [Ʋtinam.] And the Seventy two [Page 13]Interpreters have so rendered it more then once; of which instances might be given, if it were a time or place for such a purpose.
But I wave that. Be it a Si optantis then, Oh that thou hadst known! This quickens the Emphasis, and suits well with that vehemency of affection, with which our Lord did here intend to express himself, crying out both for and against the City. Neque enim tantum miseratur urbis cladem: sed simul ingrato populo extremum scelus exprobrat. He both pitties them because of their ingruent calamity, and also objects to them their incomparable madness and stupidity. For
Here is Oculus plangentis, and Aculeus pungentis. A melting and gracious eye bewailing; and a sharp, and quick sting, upbraiding them for that sad condition into which they had sin'd themselves. And we shall see it the better, if we look at it as the Text presents it to us under a threefold charge of Ignorance, Improvidence, Impudence.
I. Ignorance, in Si cognovisses: If thou hadst known; and this heightened by the personal aggravation of Et Tu, If thou hadst known, even Thou.
II. Improvidence, in that there was,
1. An Opportunity, In Die; they had a fair time, there was day for it.
2. A propriety, In die tua; it was a day to which they were especially intituled, a day of their own. In thy day.
3. An Haecceity, or critical particularity, In hac die tua; it was one day among many, and above all; a day with a This pointing at it, an Hic with an Et quidem too, at least in this thy day.
III. Imprudence, in Quae ad pacem tibi: the things which they knew not in their day, were of greatest concern to them, they belonged to their peace. If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace.
We begin with the first charge [Page 15]against them, in the first words, Si cognovisses, If thou hadst known.
Sed numquid Israel non cognovit? St. Paul made it a Query, and so may we, Rom. 10.19. Rom. 3.2. Act. 7.53. Did not Israel know? Is it possible? To them were committed the Oracles of God. They received the Law by the disposition of Angels. Their Fathers kept a correspondence with God, by Moses, who was admitted to nearer approaches, then any that ever wore flesh, and was not Divinity within. The Tabernacle of God was among them. Psal. 147, 19, 20. They had Statutes and Ordinances to a Non taliter fecit, He dealt not so with any Nation. So that Notus in Judaea Deus, was the triumphant Song of this eminent people, In Judah is God known, Psal. 76.1. and his Name is great in Israel; and is it now come to a Si cognovisses, If thou hadst known?
But it may be this Ignorance is among the Rabble onely, where better cannot be expected; This people who know not the Law are cursed; Joh. 7.49. possibly the better sort [Page 16]are better knowing: the Pharisees took it ill that their knowledge should be suspected, they ask with scorne, Joh. 9.40. Are we blind also? We had best then take the Prophet Jeremie's course: Jer. 5.4, 5. I said, These are poor, they are foolish, they know not the way of the Lord. I will get me unto the great men; and how speeds he there? not a whit better, These have altogether broken the yoke. Out of their own mouths we may condemn these wicked servants; you have them boasting of their folly, Joh. 7.48. Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? The Priests said not where is the Lord? Jer. 2.8. and they that handle the Law knew him not. Samaritana Messiam cognovit ad fontem,Hier. Ep. ad Rustic.quem in Templo populus Jadaeorum ignorabat. There was abundant blockishness lurking under the Gowns of the Temple, desperate Dunces among the Doctors; and they that affected the name of Rabbi, and walked in print with their inlarged Phylacteries, were but painted posts with some gay inscriptions, [Page 17]nothing in them, as ignorant as any. The stupidity was universal, past Saint Paul's Quidam, Some have not the knowledge of God: nearer the Psalmist's Non est us (que) adunum, not one that understands, and seeks after God. They are all within Si cognovisses; Our Saviour bewailes them for it, upbraides them with it, If thou hadst known.
Nor was it a simple nescience, but a sinful ignorance. There are several things (as Parisiensis observes) to which a man may rereturn a Nescio, and not blush. Ask the Divine if he can cut out a shooe, or shape a Garment; and he may with a whole credit say, Nescio. Ask the Artificer if he can preach, it may be some as bold as ignorant will pretend to it, but a prudent sober person will say, Nescio; and it is no dishonour to him. It is safe to sit down in an humble and contented ignorance, of what either is not the proper object of our enquiry, or revealed to us, and required of us as our duty to know. Our Lord chides [Page 18]such darings, repells them with a Non est vestrum, Act. 1.7. It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. What God locks up, we may not break open. His Counsels are great depths, Diving will bring in danger of drowning. Miranda sunt, non Rimanda: We must admire them onely, when we are not admitted to them. Abscondita Domino Deo nostro, Deut. 29.29. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us, that we may do them. Not to do them shall have many stripes, not to know them shall have some: the Si cognovisses hath one lash at him, If thou hadst known.
And that we may make good this charge, and give in the clearer evidence against this Ignorance, let us (if you please) borrow the usual distinction of Ignorance from the Schools, with whom it is, Crassa, Supina, & Affectata; We need no more but them three.
1. In the Si Cognovisses, is Ignorantia [Page 19]Crassa, an Ignorance of some thickness. Their eyes were not onely made up with Scales, like Saul's; Act. 9.18. but their whole souls were crusted over. What holy Agur says modestly of himself, may be justly said of them: Prov. 30.2 Surely they were more brutish then any men, and had not the understanding of men. Their rudeness set them below the School of the Ant, and those other sagacious creatures, and ranged them with the Horse and Mule, which have no understanding. Not so like Pelagius, born with one eye; as the man in the Gospel, Joh. 9.2. Psa. 14.4. who was born blind. These workers of iniquity had no knowledge. There was not onely Velamen in Mose, but Velamen in Corde, Mat. 13.15 For this people's heart is waxed gross. There was an [...], Theophylact's word, Theophyl. in Loc. a Non-sence upon them. So untaught they were, they knew not their own language, in so much that after seventy years captivity, when Ezra read the Law to them, they understood not what was read, untill Scribes were appointed to [Page 20]expound it, which was the original of that office, (which after became a Sect among them) as some learned pens have observed. The King of Assyria gave them as good as he took, when he transplanted Men from Babylon, 2 King. 17.24, 26. and Cuthah, and Ava, and Hamath, and Sepharvaim, that knew not the manner of the God of the Land. Here were the Prophet's Tenebrae, Joel 2.2. & Caligo, darkness, and thick darkness. The Apostle's [...], Jud. 13. the very blackness of darkness, nothing darker but Hell: A most sad Si Cognovisses, If thou hadst known.
2. In this Si Cognovisses, is Ignorantia Supina, which, though some mossy and over-grown Philosophers have confounded with the former, yet those of a modern and quicker eye have distinguished according to the import of the word. A gazing and a gaping ignorance, an oscitancy, they were an heedless people. Wisdome stretched out her hands, and lifted up her voice, and no man heard, no man regarded. Veternus civitatem occupat, [Page 21](in the Orator's phrase) they were under the seisure of sloth and obtorpency, dwelt careless, Judg. 18.7 after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; never regarded the work of the Lord, nor considered the operation of his hands. Isa. 26.11. Let his hand be lifted up, and they see it not. Let things go as they will with Sosthenes, and the Synagogue, Act. 18.17. let the judgement-Seat be affronted, they are of Gallio's humour, care for none of those things. They think the Keeper of Israel, is as sleepy as Baal, and say in their hearts (so Zephany chargeth them) The Lord will not do good, Zeph. 1.12 neither will he do evil. The Storke and Crane, the Turtle and Swallow are let fly in their faces by the Prophet, Jer. 8.7. for observing their appointed times, whilst they know not the day of their Visitation. They were weatherwise, could discern the face of the sky: Mat. 16.3. but discern'd not the times, look'd not at those black clouds which hung over them, and threatned a storm of wrath ready to fall upon their [Page 22]wretched heads. Matt. 3.7. John Baptist warnes them to flee from the wrath to come. Our Saviour moves it to them as a difficulty not to be easily encountred, Mat. 23.33 How will you escape the damnation of Hell? But they (like Job's Leviathan) are made without all fear. Job 41.33 It was in theirs as in the days of Noah and Lot, Luk 87.28 They eat, they drank, and married, and bought, and sold, and planted, and builded: neither the Old World, nor Sodom; neither fire, nor water startles them; whilst they are inadvertent, they are safe. 2 Sam. 13.13. Such Fools in Israel whither will they cause their shame to go? A strange Si Cognovisses indeed; it is Ignorantia Supina, or neglectus Remedii, If thou hadst known. That's a second.
3. In Si Cognovisses, is Ignorantia Affectata, a worse Ignorance yet. They knew not, and they would not know. Latet eos volentes, as it is in Saint Peter, This they willingly are ignorant of. It is not so much Privatio Luminis, as Aversio voluntatis, in Aquinas his [Page 23]words: The Judgement possibly sees, but the Will says nay. What they see, they will not consent to. They forsake their own mercies, and reject the Counsel of God against themselves. In Jeremie we find them declaring, Jer. 44.16. As for the word that thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. This their way is their folly; Psa. 49.13. yet their posterite approve their savings: they are their fathers sons to a little, or rather the Fathers are out-done by these children of disobedience. How often do we meet with their disputes, (such as they are) against the Grace offered? And what they could not do by agument they would do by armes, the common trick of them that have a weak or wicked cause. Let them be followed close, and they have their [...] to retreat to, such strong holds as will yeild to no summons or assaults of truth. It was usual with them to fence and fortifie against Heaven. When St. Act. 6. & 7. Stephen preached that quick Sermon [Page 24]which out down so many Sectaries and Synagogues before him, lest he should enter them by the force of conviction, they stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord.
It is not once onely we hear complaints of their obstinacy; Their Will Nots, and Would Nots, are frequent, and notorious.
Nolumus hunc regnare, (ther's one of them) Hunc, a lawful prince, no Usurper; Regnare, a gracious reigne, no Tyranny, or arbitrary imposition; No, all lies in nolumus, it is their perversness, Luk. 19.14 We will not have this man to reigne over us.
O Hierusalem, Hierusalem (ther's another of them) how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a Hen doth gather her brood under her wings? At noluisti, ther's the mischief on't, You would not Luk. 13.34 Et haec summa delicti est nolle agnoscere, quem ignorare non possunt; So St. Cyrpian. No ignorance like that which will not know. It is Ignorantia Affectata, or Rejectio Remedii, that's the third.
I have but two Inferences to make now, and we shall ha' done with this.
This Si Cognovisses tells us, there are Cognoscibilia, Things that may be known; and Cognoscenda, Things that must be known.
1. Si Cognovisses, If thou hadst known; There are Cognoscibilia then, Things that may be known. Here is no precluding by a Decree: If so, then had our Saviour's tears bin feigned, and this vote of his a very vanity, a complemental compassion; his wish had not bin hearty, but hypocritical, as too many of that rigid opinion are thought to be. S. Augustine hath a hard saying, who can hear it without shrinking? Quidam ideo non salvantur, non quia ipsi nolunt, sed quia Deus non vult. But he was an Affrican, & had too much of the heat of his country in his head oft-times, for which he may well be called Durus pater, though otherwise of great parts, piety, and industry: The Church is in debt to his name for the light of his Generation. It is pitty he [Page 26]cannot be reconciled to St. Paul, who tells Timothy, that God our Saviour will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledg of the truth. If they may not, away then with Si Cognovisses, our Saviour meant Hierusalem no good, when he so passionarely desired, If thou hadst known.
2. Si Cognovisses, If thou hadst known; There are Cognoscenda then, Things that must be known, must, upon necessity, indispensible necessity. There is not onely the necessity of a duty in it, We sin if we be Ignorant: but the necessity of a remedy, We die unless we know him whom to know is eternal life. It is Maxime enough that of Fulgentius, Gravius Lex agnita, quam ignorata condemnat, Knowledg damns deeper then ignorance, but yet ignorance condemns too. Capernaum is damn'd with a Strapado, exalted up to Heaven, and then thrown down to Hell, because they heeded not the advantages of the Gospel: but yet Sodom, and Gomorrah (with whom [Page 27]the comparison is made) destitute of such means, shall also suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. Ʋt mitius ardeant, is all the miserable mercy which Ignorance can pretend to; it may alleviate, cannot acquit: and what is that, when nothing of Hell is less then intolerable? To say thou never taughtest in our streets, will be but an insecure plea in that day, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels, 2 Thes. 1.7, 8. in flaming fire to take vengeance on them that know not God.
And that for Si Cognovisses, If thou hadst known; They were Ignorant.
But that's not all Here's an Et Tu beside, or, a Vel Tu (as Beza) Even Thou. A personal, or rather a national aggravation of this Ignorance, If thou hadst known, Even Thou. Thou with an Emphasis; Thou that hast most cause, and from whom it might most justly be expected, having bin brought up under the Paedagogy of Moses, disciplin'd by the Prophets, and [Page 28]taught of God. Thou rather, before, above all others; for it is a tacit comparison of Hierusalem with the other cities of Judea, with the whole world: so notable a Thou is this, Even Thou. And that the Emphasis may appear in greater force and vigour, please to look at this Thou, through the following particulars.
1. Thou. And that Thou was Ʋrbs, in the foregoing verse, He beheld the City, saying, If Thou. It was no rude, and untutour'd village, no infrequented Town, and so void of commerce with what was more ingenuous and civil; but a City, a place of Order and Discipline, under the immediate administration of Law and Covernment, full of Synagogues and Schools, the chaffering place of opinions, the Empory for tongues, Nations, Psa. 122.5 and Languages. There were set Thrones of Judgment, the Thrones of the house of David.
Gadara was Swinish, knew not to prize a Saviour, discharged him their coasts. Micah was doltish, [Page 29]got a house full of Gods, made an Ephod, and Teraphin, and consecrated a Priest: yet the less to blame, because one of them was a Country-Town, the other a Grange onely on Mount Ephraim; few paths of knowledge led to them, they were out of wisdom's walk. But thou, Even Thou, A City, full of people, great among the Nations, the joy of the whole Earth, and a Type of Heaven. A chief place of Concourse, a Confluence of Priests, and Elders, and Scribes, and Rabbi's, and long Robes, and yet be ignorant? Thy Glory is thy shame, Thou the City, that's the First.
2. Thou, and that Thou was Ʋrbs electa, the chosen City. Psal. 132.13, 14. The Lord hath chosen Zion to himself, he hath desired it for an habitation: this is my rest for ever, here will I dwell. It was the place he chose out of all the earth to place his Name there. Deut. 14.23. Cant. 6.9. She was the onely One of her Mother, She was the choice One of her that bare her: the Daughters saw her, and blessed her; [Page 30]the Queens, and the Concubines, and they praised her. Others were vile, Psal. 60.8. and refuse in his eyes; Moab is my Wash-pot, over Edom will I cast out my Shooe. Isa. 43.4. But thou wast precious in mine eyes, and honourable. Deu. 32.9. Am. 3.2. The Lords portion is his people, Israel is the Lot of his Inheritance. You onely have I known of all the families of the earth. Psa. 10.4. And now through the pride of their countenance they will not know, nor seek after God. Deut. 32.6 Do you thus requite the Lord, O foolish people; and unwise? Shall he that hath chosen you complain of you, Psal. 81.11 Israel would none of me? It is an Ingratitude incomparable, a guilt could lie at no door but thine, If Thou hadst known, Even Thou.
3. Thou, and that thou was Ʋrbs Adamata, The beloved City. What the Jews said when they saw his tears for Lazarus, we may say, when we hear him weeping over this City, Joh. 11.36 Behold how he loved it! Psal. 47.4. Psal. 87.2. This was the Excellency of Jacob whom he loved. The Lord loveth the Gates of Zion more then all the [Page 31]dwellings of Jacob. Jacob more then all the world, and Zion more then all Jacob. The time of this people was a Time of love, says, Ezek. 16.8 Ezekiel: of love and marriage, and all, says, Esai; Isa. 62.4. Thou shalt be called. Hephzibah, and thy Land Beulah, for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy Land shall be married. They shall be mine, Mal. 3.17. saith the Lord of Hosts, in the day when I make up my Jewels. They his? and he not theirs? That's not fair. Isa. 1.2. Hear O Heavens, and give Ear O Earth! Nay, Isa. 5.3. Let the Inhabitants of Hierusalem, and even of Judah themselves judge betwixt God and his Vineyard. Amor amoris praetium; and it is a reasonable price too, to repay one love with another. The Spouse thought so, Cant. 2.16 My beloved is mine, and I am his. St. John makes the same account, We love him because he loved us first. 1 Joh. 4.19 And this people were of that mind once, God remindes them of it by the Prophet; I remember thee, Jer. 2.2, 3. the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest [Page 32]after me in the Wilderness, in a Land that was not sown. Israel then was holiness unto the Lord; But now false and faithless that thou art, Thou hast forgotten me days without number, Jer. 2.32. and hast forsaken thy first love. Thou, even Thou, Rev. 2.4. It was Ʋrbs adamata, that's the third.
4. Thou, and that Thou was Ʋrbs Sancta, The holy City. Hierusalem made Greek, carries holiness in the name. Zech. 12.20. Sanctum Domino, is the Motto and Impress of it, Holiness unto the Lord. It was dedicated to God betimes; there Abraham sacrificed, Gen. 22.13 having commuted his Offering, when it was as yet but Mount Moriah. And after that it was made the Residence and Station of the Arke, where God did exhibit and presentiate himself, Heb. 9.1, 2, 3. where were Ordinances of Divine Service, the Tabernacle, the Sanctuary, and the Holiest of all, so the Apostle enumerates them. Hither the Tribes go up, Psal. 122.4 the Tribes of the Lord unto the Testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name [Page 33]of the Lord; so the Psalmist applauds them. To be short, Hier. Ep. ad Marcel. To tum mysterium istius nostrum urbis vernaculuus est; what ever rarity sojourned in therest of the World, was at home in that City. Had it been Dan, or Bethel, that had not known him, it had been less wonder: the infection of Jeroboam might still stick by them, they were his nurseries of Idolatry and Rebellion; He durst not let them know the worship of the true God, for fear they should honour the King, and return to the house of David. Nor had it been so much for Beersheba; they were naught by prescript, corrupted to a custom, The manner of Beersheba liveth (as it is in Amos) Secundum usum Beershebae. Cha. 8 14. And Samaria may go in the same rank with them, The Statutes of Omri are kept there; Mic. 6.6. they were devoted to the follies of Ahab their founder. But Thou, the City of God, of which such excellent things are spoken, the City of his holiness, Coeleste in terris Sacrarium, the Repository of all that's mysterious and sacred, Thou to [Page 34]carry an Inscription like that Altar at Athens, Act. 17.23. To the unknown God, Thou to be confuted by the Oxe that knows his owner, and be like the Beasts that perish, Thou thus to unhallow thy name, Hier. Ep ad Eustoch. Palma vitiorum est honesta polluere; This heightens thy sin, and hastens thy ruine, If Thou hadst known, even Thou: It was Ʋrbs Sancta, The holy City; be that the last.
I shall pass this particular by applying only as Nathan did his parable to David, 2 Sam. 12.7. Thou art the Man. This is ours too, We are an Emphatical Thou: Thou the Church, and people of England, Psa. 72.12, 14. delivered when thou wert poor and hadst no helper, Redeemed from deceit and violence, Am. 4.11. A Firebrand pluckt out of the burning: Hos. 6.1, 2. torne, and healed; smitten, and bound up: killed, and revived, and thou livest in his sight. Deut. 33.29. Happy art thou O people, who is like unto thee, saved by the Lord, the shield of thy strength, and the sword of thine excellency; thine enemies are found liers unto thee, and thou treadest upon their high places? [Page 35]The Lord hath saved thee to a miracle by Land, and shewed many wonders for thee in the deep. The eternal God is thy refuge, ver. 27. and underneath are the everlasting Armes, and he shall thrust out the Enemy before thee, and shall say destroy. Thy mercies are Talleys to Hierusalem's, more then second to them; O do not overmatch her in sin and sottishness, be not the transcript of her unworthiness; let it never be said of thee, If thou hadst known, even thou.
And that for the first part of the charge against this people, their Ignorance hinted in Si cognovisses, and aggravated in Et Tu, If thou hadst known, even thou.
The first part of our Text hath had a large portion of our time, the rest must be put off with less: briefly then of the
2. Their Improvidence, which is manifest
1. Because of their opportunity, it was In Die, they had a day for it. Day, and so it must needs be, the Sun was up, Mal. 4.2: Malachi's Sun of [Page 36]Righteousness was now risen with healing in his wings. Day it was, for all was little better then night before. Tenebrae or Ʋmbrae; natural darkness, or legal shaddows, were till now in every Quarter of the World. And therefore the estate of the World before this day, is described by night and darkness: The night is far spent, Rom. 13.22. Mat. 4.16 the day is at hand. The people which sate in darkness saw great light: and to them who sate in the Region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. Illuxerunt quaedam Coruscationes Orbi terrarum, saith St. Prosper; of all that little light which the quickest eyes could hitherto discover, there were some little glimmerings only broke out, and now and then appeared. Abraham saw this day and was glad, but it was E longinquo, afarre off, and through the perspective of an extraordinary faith. Balaam when his eyes were opened to see the Vision of the Almighty, could discover a Star coming out of Jacob. Job saw through those dark times, and the darker chambers [Page 37]chambers of the grave, St. Hier. Et nec dum natus erat Dominus Redemptorem suum vidit a mortuis resurgentem; Saw him rising from the dead, before he was seen conversing among the living. Act. 3.24. And not onely Moses, but all the Prophets, from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days, says St. Isa. 60.3. Peter in his Sermon at the Temple-Gate. Esai saw the Gentiles coming to this light, and Kings to the brightness of this rising. John Baptist, who stood betwixt the Law and the Gospel, and is therefore by the Fathers called Fibula utriusque legis, brought in some more light; yet he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. Joh. 1.8. He was onely Day-star to the Sun, and it was as yet, but Sicut mane expansum super montes; 'tis Joel's expression, Joel. 2.21. As the morning spread upon the Mountains. It was never till the air was inlightened with that brisking Hodie, issuing from the mouth of an Angel, This day is born to you a Saviour, [Page 38]which is Christ the Lord. It was (that I may borrow several tongues to speak withal at once) Crepusculum legis, The Law's Twilight; Gallicinium Prophetarum, The Cockcrowing of the Prophets; but now [...], through the tender mercies of our God, the Dayspring from on high hath visited us. It was never perfect day till those Beams of light began to gild the World. The Sun till then was under the Horizon, now he is come to his Zenith, and shines from the heights of Heaven. And now none can be blind, but Vespertiliones fidei post occasum Solis evigilantes, (in the words of Parisiensis) They are Bats and Owles that withdraw and will have no Sun. Joh. 3.19, This is the condemnation, that light is come into the World, and men loved darkness rather then light. This was their case, it was In die, fair daylight with them, and yet they would not see, they abused their Opportunity, The first piece of their Improvidence.
2. They had a propriety in this [Page 39]day too, it was In dietua, In thy day.
Dies Hebraeorum more dicitur, say the Glosses, The Hebrews call day, that alotment of time in which Overtures for Heaven are made to them in the tenders of the Gospel. Which were now so made to this people, as never the like to any. The Sun shined upon others Radio obliquo, upon them Radio directo. primarily upon them, and directly; but obliquely upon the rest of the World. Luk. 2.32. He was a light to lighten the Gentiles, but the glory of his people Israel. They were within the Tropick where the Sun had all his motion, his Influence most warm, and powerful there. How hardly he was forced into his Apogaeum, or recesse from them, let his patience and long suffering bear him witness; Sun stand thou still! and the Sun stood still in the midst of Heaven, and hasted not to go down for a whole day, as long as it was Dies tua with them, Thy Day.
There are two Days which God [Page 40]allowes the World.
1. Dies hominis, (if I may make so bold with the Apostles expression) The Day of Man, or Mans Day, as he calls it; a Day of nature, a time of life and pilgrimage, a space of Sojourning on this side the Grave, before he launch out into that unfathomable Ocean of eternity, when Days and Time shall be no more.
2. Dies Tibi hominis, A Day the Gospel mentions often, The Day of the Son of Man; the Day of Grace, wherein God waits to be gracious; the Day of Treaty with Souls; the Day of Expectance, and Visitation. All men have the former, a day of life, Till the silver cord be loosed, Eccl. 12.6, 7. and the golden bowl be broken, and the dust return to the earth as it was. The latter fell especially to the lot of this wretched people, the most unworthy of all; they carried it from all by a singular Prerogative. Luk 10.24 Many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which they saw, and did not see [Page 41]them; and to hear those things which they heard, and could not hear them; for Nondum venerat hora, their hour was not yet come, it was not their Day.
This Day. Thine so much, so wholly thine, that not a moment of it belonged to any other, but such as by an extraordinary strength of Faith could croud in for a share of it; such as the Magi of the East, the Syrophoenician Woman, and the Captain of the Italian Band. His [...], that glorious work of Redemption was in common, appertained to all; His [...], the gracious Ministration of his Apostleship, was confined, and peculiar to the Jews, to them onely; Matt. 15.24. He was not sent but to the lost Sheep of the house of Israel. And his Apostle had it in Commission, not to go In viam Gentium, Matt. 10.5. nor yet into any City of the Samaritans, who had some of the Jews in them still; such proprietors were the Jews in the rich treasures of the Gospel. St. Augustine observes, that the Title of The God of [Page 42]Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, goes with such a grace in Scripture, Tanquam trium hominum esset Deus, as if he was the God of these three men onely, and all the World were shut out but they and their seed. And in a manner so they were, till by their Apostacie, they made way for others, and opened that door in Isaiah, to let in The Dromedaries of Midian, Cha. 60.6, 7. and Ephah, and those of Sheba to come; the flocks of Kedar, and the rams of Nebaioth. Then, indeed the comings in were great and numerous; V. 8. Then, Who are these that flie as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Hieron. Ep. ad Paulinum. Siccato Judeae vellere, Ʋniversus Orbis coelesti rore perfusus est: When the Jews refused, then the Gentiles were called in, Joh. 4.22. not till then. Salvation is of the Jews, says he that brought it. And two of his Apostles at once declare thus to the people at Antioch, Act. 13.26. It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you put it from you, and judge your [Page 43]selves unworthy of everlasting life, Lo, we turn to the Gentiles. The Jews had the first refusal, the Day was chiefly theirs. Thy Day, that's the Propriety.
3. And which makes their improvidence the greater, there was an Hecceity, or a critical Particularity in it too; it was, In hac die tua, in this thy Day.
In this; not that, or th' other; not every, not any day, which lust will allow, or pleasure appoint, or profit dispense with, or leisure admit of; but this, this before all, this or none, In this thy Day.
Hierusalem had other days, some black enough: Psal. 137.7. The Children of Edom in the day of Hierusalem, cryed, Rase it, rase it even to the foundations thereof; and it may be they were better in those worse days. But this was a bright and glorious Day, A Day of Visitation (as it is called v. 44.) A Day in which Christ came to visit in great humility, (as it is in our Advent-Collect.) And a Day of visits from [Page 44]Heaven makes a This indeed, it may well be called This; In This thy Day.
Let us compare it above other days, and see what a This it is above them all.
The Antediluvian Fathers had a Day. 1 Pet. 3.20. The long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah; but behold a greater then Noah is here! they were not like This Day.
Wisdom had a loud voice in the days of Solomon; She startled the distant corners of the Earth, and awakened the drowsie World: The Queen of the South came from the uttermost parts to hear him: Matt. 12.42. But behold, a greater then Solomon is here! they were not like This Day.
Niniveh had forty days, and repented at the preaching of Jonah; V. 41. but behold, a greater then Jonas is here! they were not like This Day.
God spake at sundry times, Heb. 1.1. and in diverse manners in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets; but hath in these last days spoken [Page 45]by his Son, a Prophet, more then a Prophet; there were none of them like This Day.
Moses was Impeditoris linguae, of a slow speech, (Stammered, Exod. 4.10. as some render it) he says so of himself. Isa. 6.5. Esai cryes out of Labia immunda, I am a man of unclean lips. Jer. 1.6. Jeremy complains, with a Nescio loqui; Ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a Childe. Thus were the former times served: but now the Master himself serves, the Word himself speaks, Bern. Et ipse quem loquuntur, ipse loquitur, (that you may have it in the Fathers language:) He speaks, they all spake of. The consolation of Israel, the desire of all Nations was come; and Spectant, in the stead of Expectabant; they may now see him, whom so many Ages had sought after; Et Phosphore redde diem, is now out of date; for the Sun hath brought away the Day, that Day like unto which there was none before it, nor after it shall be any till day and night come to an end; it was This thy Day
And, for a close of this, it was This with an Et quidem too, At Least, in This thy Day. There's much in this At Least, very much; take a little of it.
At Least, whilst the Ports and Passages of Mercie are open, the healing wings expanded to gather thee, and the everlasting Arms extended to embrace thee; before he bend his Bow like an Enemy, and stand with his right hand like an Adversary, and slay all that are pleasant to the Tabernacle of the Daughter of Zion.
At Least, whilst patience waits, and long-suffering expects, and importunity sollicites; Love standing till his Head be wet with the Dew, and his Locks with the drops of the Night.
At Least, whilst you may go about Zion, and tell the Towers thereof, and mark well her Bullwarks, and consider her Palaces: before the Heathen come into Gods Inheritance, and desile the holy Temple, and bring in the Abomination which maketh desolate.
At Least, whilst the Candle of God shines upon thy head, and the Almighty is yet with thee, whilst thou washest thy steps in Butter, and the Rock pours thee out Rivers of Oyl; before the measure of iniquity, and the Vials of wrath be filled up, and inquisition be made for blood, the blood of all the Prophets, and it be required of this Generation.
At Least, whilst thou sittest under the smiles of Heaven, Mercy is near, and blessings hover over thee; before they be gone, and leave no place of repentance, though thou seek them carefully with tears.
At Least, whilst the last, and most inviting offers are made; before loving kindness be shut up in displeasure, never to open more.
At Least, whilst he strengtheneth the Bars of thy Gates, and blesseth thy Children within thee, and thou hast a capacity of thy wellfare by thee; before thy Walls be rased, and those goodly stones of [Page 48]the Temple made a ruinous heap, thy Country desolate, thy City burnt with fire, the Daughter of Zion be left as a Cottage in a Vineyard, as a lodge in a Garden of Cucumers; and thou be as Sodom, and be made like unto Gomorrah, because thou knowest not the Day of thy Visitation, thy Day, this thy Day, At least in this thy Day.
You have heard their Improvidence, the second charge against them, which our Saviour bewails them for, upbraids them with; they knew not, though they had a Day for it, a proper and peculiar Day; If thou hadst known, even thou, At least in this thy Day.
The third onely remains, their Imprudence, in that the things they knew not, were no trifles, or impertinences; no curious Vanities, nor empty Speculations; but matters of moment and weight, of nearest and greatest interest; they had all at Stake upon it; they were Quae ad pacem tibi, The [Page 49]things which belong unto thy Peace.
Peace, it is the Nerve and Sinews of Cities and Kingdoms; it holds the world in being; it is the chiming of the Universe, Heaven and Earth in harmonie: It is the Breviate of Blessings, the World in a World. Quae ad pacem, is, all this people, any people could or can have. Beza Annot. in Locum. Ea in quibus posita est tota tua faelicitas, that in which thy present and eternal welfare doth consist.
The Hebrews were wont to call all which they thought good, by the name of Peace. The Priest's Blessing in the old Testament was, Lev. 6.26. The Lord lift up his Countenance upon thee, and grant thee peace: And the Apostle's Blessing in the New was, Grace and Peace, Truth and Peace, Mercy and Peace; Peace of the Quorum still among all good things, as if all were good for nothing without Peace.
Christ gave it when born, 'twas Xenium, his New-years-gift, Peace on Earth; Luk. 2.14. left it when dying, 'twas [...], his Legacie, (so St. Joh. 14.27. Basil) My peace I give unto you.
It was the purpose of his Mission, Eph. 2.15. Ʋt duos condat in uno, faciens pacem, to make of twain one new man, so making Peace: It was the purchase of his Passion, Pax vobis, Joh. 20.19, 20. and then he shew'd them his hands and his feet.
When I have said Peace, I have said all; so these people not knowing Quae ad pacem, did in truth know nothing at all.
Strange! Hierusalem the Vision of Peace, In Epist. ad Marcell. Et Bernard. 9. Ser 2. in vig. natal. Domini. as St. Hierom interprets it, should not see Peace. Their Neighbours of Tyre and Sidon were wiser, who implored a Peace from Herod upon a less concern. Gal. 4.9. But they spent themselves In egenis elementis, busied their enquiries after weak and beggarly [Page 51]Elements; and never regarded Wisdom, whose Merchandize is better then sine Gold.
Tertullus his Tongue was well hung; Gamaliel, the glory of the Bar; Nicodemus, a Master in Israel, expert in all Customs and Questions among the Jews: these could make Ceremonies speak, sum up the very Letters of all the Sections of the Law; tell you what odds betwixt them, and the days and hours of the year; compare words and syllables, with the joints and bones of their bodies, and make out the comparison too: but come to speak of the Messias, the Saviour of the World, how and when born; the mysterie of Regeneration, and how a man may be born again; they finde no such Case in their Law-books, you have given a baffle to all their Learning. Their knowledge went much at the rate of their Tithing, Mint, Mat. 23.23. Anise & Cummin, with neglect of the Weightier matters of the Law, Judgement, Mercy and Faith. They [Page 52]did Haerere in Cortice, and Shells speak emptiness. They were men of the Letter onely, and so in truth but illiterate. No people pretended more to knowledge; but for Quae ad pacem, there's a Si Cognovisses twitcheth them; If thou hadst known the things which belong unto thy peace.
And now, if you please, let's see if this Si Cognovisses do not come a little nearer us. There's a great deal of knowledge in the World, of which little looks at Quae ad pacem, the things which belong to Peace.
The Gnosticks, I wave as unworthy; they pretended to know, rather then knew; their name was no great credit to them, though derived from knowledge: Viam paecis non cognoverunt, the world had better never have known them.
The Jesuits rant it high, Penes [Page 53]nos est Imperium Literarum; they know much, we will grant it: but all Christendom knows, and beyond Ganges and Indus it is known (if the late China-stories do not wrong them) Quae ad pacem is least in their designs, they will not know the things that belong to Peace.
To come nearer home yet. We live in a Sagacious Age; men begin to scoure off the rust of antiquated Authors, and burnish themselves with new and happy acquirings. Never Age made an higher improvement of Natural Knowledge; may the Divine keep pace with it, that Si Cognovisses quae ad pacem may never reproach such excellent Indagatots. If thou hadst known the things which belong to thy Peace.
The Divine takes the Chair, ties and unties knots, raiseth scruples, resolves them; Champions it for his Church, disarms his Adversarie, fills the Schools with his [Page 54]Trophies, and atchieves the name of irrefragable; but at last, it may be, is baffled with a Si Cognovisses quae ad pacem, If thou hadst known the things which belong to thy peace.
The Lawyer is thought somebodie in his Country; and how usefully knowing some may be in that eminent Profession, we need not seek out of this Assembly for evidence: The better World payes a just honour to the merits of some here present; Baron. Hales, &c. may their share be as great in the best knowledge, that they may never hear a Si Cognovisses quae ad pacem, to implead them at the great Tribunal, If thou hadst known the things which belong unto thy Peace.
The Physitian hath found a new stream through the old Lake of blood; rifled the bosome, and raved into the bowels of Causes; gone deep to lay the Foundation of his Mineral Kingdom, pretending [Page 54]to make some pretty little Immortalities here below: but he dies like the Fool, Psa. 49.10. and the bruitish person, and sadly reflects upon himself with a Si Cognovisses quae ad pacem; If thou hadst known the things which belong unto thy Peace.
The Vertuoso, disdaining the shoulder of the tallest Philosopher to help him up, looks over all Antiquity by new Modes and Methods of his own; findes out the Original of Forms; sees those Effluviums of kindness, that pass betwixt attractive bodies and their Objects; discovers how the Species of things are laid up in the Memorie, and each comes up, and presents it self at the call of the Understanding, whilst the rest lye still; reads Lectures of Magnitude upon the most Minute Bodies; looks wishly into the Air, and findes it all stones, and those animated too; takes the Heavens with his Telescope; holds intelligence with the Stars; knows all [Page 56]their Gests and Journeys: no Travailer is better versed in the ways of this lower World; and yet happily at last is convinced that Si Cognovisses quae ad pacem is infinitely desirable before them all. If thou hadst known the things that belong unto thy Peace.
All these are Dross and Dung, nothing, or worse then nothing to Quae ad pacem, to the excellencie of the knowledge of Jesus Christ; so St. Paul, who was Scholar enough, charged by Festus for over-much, by none for over-little learning.
When they of Ephesus began to know Quae ad pacem, and the Name of Jesus; the Prince of Peace was magnified; the Conjuring-Books, and Papers of curiosity were burned, not now fit to remain as waste Paper, though formerly of great value, more worth then many of our whole Libraries.
There is still some inconvenience haunts and attends all knowledge, but this of Quae ad pacem. Scientia inflat, other knowledge puffs up, but this edifies: Scientia destruitur, other knowledge shall vanish away, but this is above the power of the grave, keeps us company into the other world. All other is but Saltus Cicadae, like the short skips of a pitiful Grashopper; this is Volatus Aquilae, the soarings of an Eagle in the face of Heaven. When we have gotten as much knowledge as our heads can hold, we shall finde Quae ad pacem is all in all, to know the things that can make us happy, that belong unto our Peace.
And now, the Apostle, if you please, shall lead us to a close of all. Let us follow after the things which make for peace, Rom. 14.19. and things whereby one may edifie another. Quae pacis sunt, the very appurtenances of peace are precious, and worthy our pursuit.
My Lords the Judges, and you the Magistrates, remember, I beseech you, that you carry Quae ad pacem in your Commissions and Title; and let the troublers of Israel know that you carry not the sword in vain.
Let the Clergy remember that it is a promise at least, made at the Ordering of Priests, to set forward peace and love among all Christians; that we may have no more of that dismal wild-fire thrown abroad from the Pulpit, which probably kindled, but most certainly increased our late flames. Quam speciosi pedes Evangelizantium pacem? How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace?
Let the Gentlemen of the long Robe hug no quarrels under it, but Love Quae ad pacem better then commonly they do. It is below you, with Demetrius and his Fellows, not to 'bate an Hair of your Diana, because by this craft you [Page 59]have your wealth. Assure your selves, Quae ad pacem will get you a better name; build you a surer house; make you a happier Exit: Mark the just man, Psa. 37.37. and consider the upright; for the end of that man is peace.
And as to the Commonalty, me thinks Quae ad pacem should do well with them, after such noise of the Warriour, and Garments rolled in blood. And though it may justly be suspected, there are some still, whose words are softer then butter, but War is in their hearts; yet it is to be hoped God will ere long scatter those people that delight in War, and give his people the blessing of Peace.
That we may see Augustus his peace, the Temple of Janus shut, Janum Quirinis clausit. Hor. li: carm. 4. Od. 15. peace of Nations. Orbem pacatum, a constant petition in the Common-prayers of Tertullian's days, a quiet World.
Hierusalem's Peace, the Peace of the Church. Psal. 122.6. Let them prosper that love it.
Hamor's Peace, the Peace of the Common-wealth: Gen. 34.21. These men are peaceable with us, let them dwell in the land, and trade therein: Peace of Commerce.
St. Paul's Peace, Peace and joy, the ceasing of the storm, and the breaking out of the Sun: Peace of Conscience.
Jacob's Peace, Peace with God, a Ladder from Earth to Heaven: Peace of Correspondence.
Hezekiah's Peace, Peace and Truth in our days, Peace all our lives.
Simeon's Peace, Peace at our death, Pacem in Novissimis, Lord now lettest thou thy Servants depart in Peace.
And so at last come to the [Page 61]Disciples Peace, a little before the Text; Pacem in Coelo, Peace in Heaven, and Glory in the Highest.
To which Peace he brings us, who hath bought it for us with his Precious Blood, and is our Peace-maker; the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace: Unto him be Glory in the Church throughout all Ages, World without end. Amen.
HALLELUJAH.