DEus quantum satis esse judicavit locu­tus, Scripturam condidit: God, saith St. Austin, having manifested so much of his heavenly will as he thought sufficient for our use, com­posed the body of the Scriptures: And in composing of it, he contri­ved it so, that it gives wisdom to the simple, and ex­erciseth the abilities of the greatest Clerks. Now as the Scripture is, which is verbum Dei, such also was the Preacher, which is Deus verbum. In his most [Page 2] heavenly Sermon made upon the Mount, he taught the people plainly, without tropes or figures. [...], [...]: For, as St. Chrysostome hath noted, In Matth. 13. v. 3. those unto whom he then discoursed were plain simple men, uncapable of Pa­rables, and Allegories, and such mysterious arts of speaking. But here we meet with men of another mettle; the Scribes, the wise men of the World, [...], together with the subtle Pha­risees, as Theophylact calls them. In Matth. 13. These, as they would believe no Gospel, which did not come ac­companied with signes and wonders, so might they judge all Doctrine to be poor and base which was not represented to them in an handsome habit. There are some men that are more taken with those things which they understand not, then such as are familiar to their apprehensions. Others to whom no truth is pleasing, nisi quod auditu suave est, as Lactantius hath it; Lib. 5. c. 1. but that which is apparelled in a curious dresse. In which regard our blessed Saviour, of whom St. Paul learnt to be [...], did some­times, as he had occasion, speake in Parables; partly to make his Auditors the more attent, partly to grave the deeper and more firm impression in their hearts and memories, but principally to excite them to a more diligent enquiry after that which they un­derstood not. Perspicua obscuris miscet, ut per ea quae intelligunt provocentur ad eorum notitiam quae non in­telligunt; In Mat. 13. as St. Hierome hath it.

Besides, our blessed Saviour hath compared him­selfe to a certain man which made a great supper, and bad many; Luk. 14. 16. his Kingdom to a certain King, which made a marriage for his Sonne. Matth. 22. 2. Now to a [Page 3] great Supper, or a Wedding Feast, some come for hunger, some for dainties; and others only out of curiosity, to observe the order of the entertainment. He therefore that would please all commers, must provide accordingly, and furnish out his Table with that rich variety, that he hath wherewithall to con­tent each palate, lest else some one or other go a­way unsatisfied. And so it was with our Redeemer, whilest being here upon the Earth, he was at once the entertainer and the feast. Some flocked unto him to partake of the bread of life, poor souls that hun­gred after righteousness; Matth. 5. others to prie into his actions, and observe his sayings: and some out of a curiosity, 1 Kings. as once the Queen of Sheba came to Solo­mon, only to wonder at his wisdom, and from whence it came. One and the same continual manner of dis­course was never likely to have sorted to that vari­ety of humours which resorted to him. And there­fore to poor simple men he spake home, but plainly; Loe now thou speakest plainly, Joh. 16. 29. and speakest no Parables. But to the captious and the curious, to the wise and learned, it pleased him to speak sometimes in dark speech and Parables, to set an edge upon their appe­tites, and keep them from a loathing of that Manna which came down from Heaven: God so sets out his word as men do their feasts, De Doct. Ch. l. 2. c. 3. ut locis apertioribus fami occurreret, obscurioribus fastidia detergeret, in St. Au­stines Language: as well to quicken and revive our appetites, as allay our hunger. Nor have we onely here a Parable, but we have aliam parabolam, another Parable; a Banquet superadded to the second course. The Lord, as Hi [...]rome hath observed, provides his guests of several dainties, in locum. ut unusquisque secundum na­turam [Page 4] stomachi sui varia susciperet alimenta; that each mans stomach may be fitted with the meate he likes.

Here then we have a Parable, and another Para­ble; and we have reason also why our Saviour spake at this time in Parables, in matters which concerned the Kingdom of Heaven: Some other reasons there are of it, which we shall meete withall hereafter. The next thing here to be considered, is that very King­dom, which in my Text, and other places of this Chapter, is in so dark a way pointed out unto us. Which Kingdom, whether that it be the preaching of Christs Gospel, or the imparting of his graces to the soul of man, it is resembled very fitly unto the work and travels of the Husband-man, who having laboured and manured his field with his utmost care, and sowed it with his choycest seede, betakes him­selfe unto his rest, in expectation of a plentiful and joyful Harvest: yet so it hapneth many times, that notwithstanding all his cost and travel, it brings forth tares instead of Wheat, weedes instead of flowers: Longique perit labor irritus Anni. Ovid. met. lib. 1. Gods field is many times too like his Vineyard; when he had digged it, and dressed it, and that there could be nothing done unto it which he had not done, yet when he came and looked for grapes, it brought forth wilde grapes, such as were only fitted for the Wine-presse of his indignation. So that at last the meaning of the Text will be briefly this, That it so falls out with our Savi­our in the administration of his heavenly Kingdom, as with a man that sowed, and sowed good seed, and sowed it in a field of his own possession; but at the comming on of harvest, found it full of tares. And he [Page 5] put forth another Parable unto them, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man, &c.

Hitherto have we gone in the way of preparation, and spake as much as was convenient touching the subject of and in this Parable, the Kingdom of Hea­ven. And in the Predicate thereof, wherein the sub­stance of the Text doth consist especially, we have these parts to be considered; The Husband-man, the Seede, the S [...]yle. First for the Husband-man, it seemes he was a man of action, for we finde him sowing; and next a man of quality, as one that did not all his work by himself immediately, but used sometimes the ministery of his servants, as may appeare out of the 25. and the 27. Verse compared together. Then for the Seed, that is to be considered also; first, in the substance, it was Wheat, the best kinde of grain, for the Text tells us of the Tares, that they were sowen in medio tritici, in the middle of the Wheat; and secondly, it was bonum semen, a good sort of Wheat. Last of all for the field, we will look on that, first in it selfe, as it is ager, a place fit for til­lage; and then in the Proprietarie, it was Ager suus, his own field, a field not hired nor rented, but his own possession. Of these, &c.

Prima Ceres ferro mortales verteret erram Instituit. Georgic. l. [...]. The art of Husbandry is of such antiquity, that it is attributed by the Poets to the Gods themselves, That and the calling of the Shepheard coeval in a sort with the very world. Gen. 4. 2. We read it of the Sonnes of Adam, that Abel was a keeper of Sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. Both Offices united in the first man Adam, till his Sonnes came to age to dis­charge them for him: and both united also in the [Page 6] second Adam till he intrusted them to his Apostles, & their successors in the Evangelical Presthood. Philo hath noted to our hands, that the name of Shepheard was antiently applyed unto Kings and Law-givers, yet not to Kings and Statesmen only, Lib. de Agri­cultura. [...], but that it is as justly attributed to the Lord Almighty. But behold, a greater then Philo is here. For Christ hath told us of himself that he is a Shepheard, Ego sum pastor bonus, Joh. 10. 11. I am the good Shepheard, Joh. 10. And his Apostle tells us of him, that he is Princeps Pastorum, the chief Shepheard; and Pastor animarum, the Shepheard of our souls, 1 Pet. 5. 4. 2. 25. Even that good Shepheard which did once lay down his life for his Sheep, and doth still feede them in the pastures of eternall life.

But questionless, the Husband-man is of the two the better Gentleman, descended, as we use to say, of the Elder house. And therefore Philo in his Book de sacrificiis Cain & Abel, conceives, that in the distri­bution of their Fathers business, Cain having choyce of both as the elder Brother, made choyce of Hus­bandry. [...], [...], as his words there are Indeed it was the first imploy­ment of our Father Adam: No sooner was he fallen & cast out of Paradise, but he was put to till the Earth; and that too in su [...]dore frontis, Gen. 4. with great care and sorrow. So that being in the infancy of the world the portion of the elder Brother, and before him, the business of his Father Adam, sole King and Mo­narch of the world: it came in fine, to be the ex­ercise and delight of the greatest Potentates; For it [Page 7] is written of Uzziah King of Judah, that he loved Husbandry. 2 Chron. 26. 10. Hist. Rom. l. 1. c. 11. And Florus writes of Quinctius the Dictator in the State of Rome, that being taken from the Plough, to manage the affaires of that growing Empire; after the Warres were ended, and his Tri­umphs over, he returned back unto his labours; Re­diit ad boves suos triumphalis Agricola. But behold a greater then either Quinctius or Uzziah is here also. For Christ himself hath told us of his heavenly Fa­ther, that he is an Husband-man, v. 1. Joh. 15. I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Husband-man. So that the marvel is not much if having likened his most glorious Father to an Husband-man, he doth re­semble his most heavenly Kingdom, and his admini­stration of and in the same, unto a man that sowed, and that sowed good Seed. In this respect our Sa­viour is as well the Husband-man as he is the Vine; an Husband-man, whose labour like the Countrey Plough-mans is never at an end, Joh. 5. 17. but runs round in circulo. My Father worketh hitherto, saith Christ our Saviour, and I also work. As if he had thus said in more plain discourse; Hitherto hath my Father worked, Augustine. J [...]h. 5. from the beginning of the world to this very time, nec ullum sibi cessationis statuisse diem, and lost no time, nor intermitted any opportunity of sowing the celestial seed of life eternall: And I his deare and onely sonne work also, and am continually imployed in doing the will of him that sent me. For wot ye not that I must go about my Fathers business; and that what ever thing he doth, he doth it in and by the Sonne? Per me enim facit cum fecit, & per me regit cùm regit. God made the world, but by the Sonne; for by him all things were made, Joh. 1. And God in­structs [Page 8] the world in his holy mysteries, Joh. 6 61. but it is only by the Sonne, who is both God the word, and the word of God. Master, said his Apostle to him, whi­ther shall we go? Thou only hast the words of eternall life. Which institution, being, as it is here called, but a kinde of sowing, hath been the care and labour of the heavenly Husband-man from the first fall of Adam to this very day, and will still be his care and labour, from this day forwards to the end of all things.

For, the first man being fallen almost as soon as made, became the most calamitous ruine of a goodly fortune; His understanding darkened with the clouds either of ignorance or error; his will corrupted, and the affections of the same depraved, and his Consci­ence hardned. So that the Earth and he were both of the like condition: [Both pure and perfect in themselves at the first creation; the one being fra­med according to the Image of Almighty God, in Justice and Integrity; the other bringing forth of its own accord whatever thing could please the eye, or delight the palate. But presently upon the curse, the Earth was fruitful only in thorns and thistles; and so was man upon the fall: those thorny cares and troubles which afflict the minde, those thistles of corruption which invaded his will and passions.] That stood in need of tillage, and so did he: the Plough to work and break the one, that so it might be fit to receive that seed which by the careful Hus­band-man is designed unto it; the preaching of the word to prepare the other▪ for the reception of the graces and gifts of God: That required sowing at due seasons, and so did he; the Earth not bringing [Page 9] forth good fruit without pains and labour, yet yiel­ding good Increase of the seed allotted; nor man producing any thing that is just and righteous, out of his own corrupted nature, yet sometimes bringing forth the fruits of plety, according to the seed sowne in him, [ Si modò culturae patientem commodet aurem, as the Poet hath it.] Nay, as it seemes, these several kindes of sowing are of equal date; For when it first was laid as a curse on Adam, that in the sweat of his browes he should eat his bread, it also was communi­cated as a blessing to him, that he should finde relief in the promised seed. Gen. 3. 15. That the first seed of faith and comfort that was sown in Adam, a seed of so divine a nature, that it did quicken without dying, and dy­ing did give life to all men; a seed that sowed it self in the Virgins womb, and so became the Sonne of man, that by his meanes poor man might be re­deemed from sin and Satan, and so become the Sonne of God.

Nor did he only sowe in the heart of Adam the comfort and assurance of the promised seed; but he instructed him to typifie and prefigurate his death and passion, for the redemption of the world, in the way of sacrifice: For howsoever the first bloody sa­crifice we read of in the holy Scripture was that of Abel, and that it generally is conceived that he was taught it by his Father; yet there's no question to be made, but that Adam learnt it of the Lord. Deus solus docere potuit ut se vellet orari, Tertul. as Tertullian hath it. And for those other seeds of faith and piety, by which, or they, or Seth or Enoch, or any of the Patriarchs before the Flood, were quickned and ina­bled to the works of righteousness, they were all [Page 10] of them sowne by the Lord our God, sometimes by Dreams and Visions, as the Prophets tell us, and sometimes also viva voce, by a more evident and personal manner of discourse. Many and frequent were the visits that God made to Abraham, after that he had called him from his own Country, and his Fathers house; and there was none in which he did not manifest something to him of his will and plea­sure: Not to say any thing of Isaac, Jacob, and those other good and godly men, to whom the Lord ap­peared and spake face to face, thereby implanting in their souls the seeds of piety and vertue. But when the house of Abraham was grown great and nume­rous, and had withall degenerated from the example and integrity of their common Parent, then did the Lord begin to commit this part of heavenly Hus­bandry to his menial Servants, Prophets, and Seers, Priests and Levites. Exod. 21. 1. For it was he that said to Moses, These are the judgements which thou shalt set before the people; the words and judgements of the Lord, as he elsewhere calls them: Which said unto his Servant Jeremïe, cap. 1. v. 9. c. 3. v. 17. Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth; and to Ezekiel, Heare therefore the word from my mouth, and give them warning from me. Where we may see, that howsoever God makes use of men to dispatch this business, yet they are still Gods words, Gods judgements, the words of his most sacred mouth, which they impart unto the people. God so dispo­sed of this imployment unto his Servants and Disci­ples, that still he kept unto himself the power and reputation of the principal Workman.

Thus in these several wayes, Heb. 1. 1. spake God in times past to our Fathers; and every several way of these [Page 11] was a several sowing: 2. but in these last times hath he spoken to us by his onely Sonne, whom he ap­pointed to be Heire of all things, and by whom also he made the Worlds. Himself hath told us of himself, in the Exposition of this Parable, v. 37. that he that soweth the good Seed is the Sonne of man. And indeed, what was all his life, but a continual sowing of the word of God, at Nazareth, Hierusalem, Capernaum, in Galilee, in the Land of Judah, in the fields and Cities? Hardly one step in all Judaea which he had not mea­sured, and in the which he did not punctually per­form the Office of a faithful Seeds-man. He sowed his Word amongst them, and it brought forth faith; he sowed his Grace among them, and it brought forth godliness; he sowed miracles among them, and they brought forth followers. And which is yet more marvellous then all the rest, he sowed Himself, the Christ among them, and forthwith all the World, ab ortu Solis ad occasum, as Lactantius hath it, did in a manner become Christians: [he sowed the very King­dom of Heaven amongst them; and every one of his Disciples did presently grow greater with Gods hea­venly Kingdom; Behold, the Kingdom of God is with­in you, Luke 17.] No miracle in all the Scripture parallel to this, that he that was the Sower should become the Seed; and the same person, at and in the self-same instant, should be the Preacher and the Gospel. And though it pleased him for a time to withdraw himself, and leave the pursuit of his work unto his Apostles, Matth. 28. v. 20. In locum. yet did he promise to be with them alwayes, even to the end of the World. Cum vobis & successoribus vestris, alwayes with them and their suc­cessors, as Denys the Carthusian notes it; Alwayes, in [Page 12] reference to his power and Spirit, by which he is for ever with us; and alwayes, in relation to his care and providence, by which his Servants and Disciples have been still amongst us: For s [...]me he hath given Pro­phets, and some Apostles, Ephes. 4. v. 11, 12. and some Evangelists, and some [...]astors and Teachers; for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Ministry, and for the edify­ing of his body.

So then these Teachers, Prophets, and Apostles which Christ left behind him, are all of them the ser­vants of that heavenly Husbandman whom we finde mentioned in this Text: Not servants of so mean and poor a quality as the world would make them; for St. Paul tells us of them, That they are Labou­rers together with God, 1 Cor. 3. 9. the [...], and Fellow work­men of the Lord. It is the priviledge of Princes, and great Commanders, to say unto their Servants, do this and they do it; but for the Husband-man, he is alwayes one in every business that concerns him, and doth not say unto his people, see that this be done, but let us do it. So that God doth not work the lesse, be­cause he hath so many Servants employed from time to time in his holy Husbandry; He works not only by them, but he labours with them: For howsoever Paul may plant, 1 Cor. 3. 6. and Apollos water, yet it is He alone that gives increase. His Eye it is that doth direct them, and his Hand that guides them, as well as that it is his Word which is sowed by them. And sowe they must continually, in all times and places, in season, out of season, without end or ceasing; otherwise they will fall full short of that glorious title of being [...], and Labourers together with Almighty God.

[Page 13] And on the other side, it is to be observed with­all, that as the Priest is called [...], a Fellow-Labourer with God, so are the people called [...], Gods Husbandry, in that very Verse. For we are Labourers together with God, and ye Gods Husbandry: Not his field only, nor his V [...]ne­yard only, but his very Husbandry, his business, his imployment, his ground ready tilled, about the which he hath bestowed so much care and travel. And be­ing so, it is expected at your hands, that you bring forth the fruits of good living, that you be answe­rable to the vote and expectation of the heavenly Husband-man. The Lord hath pretermitted neither cost nor pains, to make his field exceeding fruitful of good works; for he hath fatned it with the blood of his only Sonne, and with the blood of many and most glorious Martyrs.

He hath manured it with the hands of his holy Pro­phets, which hath been since the World began; wa­tred it with the dew of Heaven, and sowed it with the Seed of his holy Word. What could he do more to it that he hath not done? It after all this care and cost, instead of Grapes, you bring forth nothing but wild grapes; if when he sowes amongst you his most sacred seed, he findes his field over-run with thorns and thistles, or that it brings forth Tares when he looks for Wheat; it cannot possibly be said, that God is wanting unto us, but we are wanting unto God. Nor can it be replyed, (were a man minded to dispute with Almighty God) that every man is as the Lord hath made him, and that the fault is rather in the seed then in the soyle: For whatsoever God [Page 14] created, he looked upon it, and behold, it was good: and whatsoever seed he soweth, let us look upon it, and we shall finde it good also. Gods Kingdom is here likened unto that man, not which sowed every sort of seed, but the good seed only; the next par­ticular, and next in order to be handled.

Necesse est sumptum facere qui quaerit lucrum; Plautus. He that intends to reap must sowe. It is not now, as once in the golden Age, when as the Earth brought forth its fruit without seed or ploughing; Metam. l. 1. Mox etiam fruges tellus inarata fer [...]bat, as the Poet hath it. And he that hopes to reap good fruit, must also have a care that he sowe good seed; for no man is to look for Grapes from thorns, or for Figs from thistles. The Hus­bandman in the present Parable was well experien­ced in this rule, and did not only sowe his field, but he sowed good seed. Now for this seed, the con­text tells us it was wheat, the best kinde of grain, [...], as Galen call's it. And the Text tells us it was good, the best kind of Wheat, as that of which the purest bread, the bread of life was to be made, whereby the Children of the Kingdom are begotten to a lively hope, to an incor­ruptible inheritance. Bu [...]ling. A Protestant writer of good credit doth expound it so; Semen, saith he, propriè exponitur verbum Dei, unde enati filii regni. And this with good congruity enough unto our Saviours Ex­position, who having said, that he that soweth the good seed is the Sonne of man, adds, that the good seed are the Children of the Kingdom. The Children of the Kingdom then, there's no doubt of that. And being that Children of the Kingdom are begotten by the celestial seed of Gods holy Word, the Word of [Page 15] God may put in also for its part, and come within the compasse of the seed here mentioned. In Matth. 13. Hierome indeed hath given it to us for a rule, that, Ubicun (que) Do­minus exponit sermones suos, cavendum est ne vel a­liud, nec plus velimus intelligere quàm ab eo expositum est. But this, I think, is to be understood of such ex­positions as are repugnant to our Saviours, and not subservient thereunto.

But yet to keep our selves more neer unto our Sa­viours Exposition, [the Children of the Kingdom here, and the Children of the wicked one in the fol­lowing words, are not to be interpreted of the men themselves: For, being it is said, that the enemy sowed tares, and that the tares are the children of the wicked one, it might then follow thereupon, that wicked men, quà men, are the Devils children, seeds of his sowing, and people of his own creating. And that might serve to usher in the damnable impiety of the Manichees, who had devised two several Gods, the one good, the other evil; the one the maker of good men, the other the creator of wicked men; as St. Austin hath informed us of them.] When it is said, the good seed are the Children of the King­dom, it may be further understood, as of the men themselves adopted to eternal life, of those sancti­fied thoughts, of those celestial gifts and Graces, by which a man is made a Child of the most high God. Quaecunque sunt in hominis animo bona, Homil. in Matth. 3. condita sunt à Verbo quod in principio erat apud Deum, as it is in Origen. Whatever God soweth in the heart of man is most pure and perfect; for being good himself, yea most infinite goodness, nothing can be supposed to come from him but what is absolutely good. We [Page 16] may conjecture of the seed by the fruit it yieldeth; If that the fruit be good, then the seed is such; for an evill Tree bringeth not forth good fruit, as our Saviour tells us: and then we may be sure that it is of God. But if the fruit prove evil, we may easily guesse from whence it commeth, both from what Sower, and what Seed; even from that seed of lust and disobedience which was first sowen in Adam by the Tempter, and hath since proved too fruitful in all his progeny. The Devil sowed in man the first seeds of Lust, and lust conceiving brought forth sin. God had no hand therein at all, more then in execu­ting justice for the sinne committed, and imposing death upon the sinner. Therefore let no man say when he is tempted, I was tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evill, James 1. v. 13, 14. neither tempteth he any man; but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. So the Apostle hath re­solved it.

And well it is, that it is so resolved by the A­postle; otherwise one might happily have met with some, who not considering that whatsoever God made was good, and that the Seed he soweth is also good, would take upon them to make him guilty of all the sinne and mischief which lewd men com­mit. Eusebius Hist. 5. 19. Florinus taught so once in the primitive times, one of the Scholars of Montanus, and the Cataphry­gians.

Thereupon Irenaeus published a Discourse, with this Inscription, [...], that God was not the Authour of sinne: And he gave this Inscription to it, as the Story tells us, because Florinus with great violence and earnestnesse had [Page 17] taught the contrary opinion. It seemes Florinus was an Heretick of no common aimes, and would not sa­tisfie himself with these vulgar follies which had been taken up before him, but was resolved ponere os in coelum, to strike at Heaven, and plant his battery against the very Throne of Almighty God. And therefore it is said of him by Irenaeus, that he had spread abroad those blasphemous tenets which ne­ver any of the former Hereticks [...], had once dared to broach. Yet bold and venturous though he were we do not finde that he became the head of any faction in the Church; or that his fol­lowers, if he had any, ever attained unto the height of their Masters impudence. Some therefore of the ensuing Hereticks, who in their hearts had entertain­ed the same opinions, did in their writings recom­mend them to the world in a different habit; for they had cloaked and clothed this blasphemy with the more plausible and specious titles of destiny, and of the Starres; the most inevitable decrees of the one, and unresistible influence of the other, necessi­tating men unto those foule actions which they had committed. Aug. de haeres. c. 35. Thus are we told of Bardesanes, Quòd fato conversationes hominum ascriberet, that he ascri­bed all things to the power of fate. And thus it is affirmed of Priscillianus, fatalibus astris homines alli­ga [...]os esse, Ibid. c. 70. that men were governed by the Starres: which last St. Austin hath affirmed also of one Colar­bas, Ibid. c. 15. save that he gave this power and influence to the Planets only.

But these, if pondered as they ought, differ but little, if at all, from the impiety of Florinus, before remembred; only they were expressed and pub­lished [Page 18] in a better Language, and seemed to savour somewhat of the Philosopher; for if the Lord had passed such an unevitable and irreversible Law of Fate, that these and these men should be guilty of those foul transgressions which they so frequently committed, it were all one in the true sense and meaning of it, as if he were proclaimed the Author of those sins which they had committed; and then why might not every man take unto himself the ex­cuse and plea of Agamemnon, [...], it was not I that did it, but the Gods and Destiny: or if the Lord had given so irre­fistible a power unto the Starres, as to inforce men to be wickedly and lewdly given, what differs this from making God the Author of those vicious acti­ons to which by them we are inforced? and then why might not every man return his sins upon the Lord, and say as did some such in St. Austines time, accusandum potiùs authorem syderum quàm commisso­rem scelerum: De Gen. ad lit. l. 2. c. 17. which granted, we might passe an Index Expurgatorius on the holy Creed, and quite raze out the 7th Article, that viz. of our Saviours comming unto judgement; for how could God con­demn his creatures to unquenchable flames, in case the sins by them committed were not so properly and truly theirs, as his in them; or punish them for that whereof he is Author, or unto which he doth inforce them? So excellently true is that which Ful­gentius tells us, Deus non est eorum ultor quorum est autor.

But were Florinus, and those other Hereticks in the former times, the only men that broached these Doctrines? and have these latter dayes, think we, [Page 19] been free from so great impiety? certainly I could wish they were, though I dare not hope it, finding the same blasphemous follies charged upon the Li­bertines, a late brood of Sectaries. These taught, as did Florinus in the dayes of old, Calv. Instruct. adv. Libertinos. Quicquid ego et tu fa­cimus Deus efficit, nam in nobis est, and so made God the Author of those wicked actions which themselves committed. The founders of the Sect, Coppinus and Quintinus, In Quintino. Flemmings both, and these Prateolus affirms for certain to be the Progenie of Calvin, and other leading men of the Protestant Churches. Bellarmine somewhat more remissely, Omnino probabile esteos ex Calvinianis promanasse, and makes it only probable that it might be so; but nei­ther rightly; for Staphylus reckoning up the Sects that sprung from Luther, however that in other things he flies out too farre, yet makes no mention of these fellows. Paraus on the other side, in his corrections on the Cardinal, assures us that they both were Papists, acquaints us with the place of their na­tivity, and the proceedings had against them. Calvin, who writ a tract against them, makes one Franciscus Poquinus, a Franciscan Frier, a principal stickler in the cause. And we may adde ex abundanti, that the said Sect did take beginning Anno 529. when Calvin yet was very young, and of no credit in the world, no not amongst those very men, who have since admired him, and made his word the touchstone of all Ortho­dox Doctrine. So that for the reviving of this Here­sie in these latter Ages, so farre forth as it is deliver­ed positively, and in expresse termes, (which was the blasphemy of Florinus) we are beholding for it to the Church of Rome, or some that had been mem­bers [Page 20] of it, how willingly soever they would charge it on the Protestant Doctors.

Yet true it is, (for, magna veritas & praevalebit) that some, and those of no small name in these forraign Churches, which think themselves a pattern unto all the rest, have given too just a ground for so great a scandall. And well it were they had observed that caution in their publick writings, Plutarch in Caesare. which Caesar look­ed for from his Wife, and that is, [...], that they had been as free from the suspicion as the crime it selfe; for howsoever they affirm it not in termes exprest, which was the desperate boldness of Florinus, yet can it hardly be denyed that they came too near it, to a tantamont, by way of necessa­ry consequence and deduction, which was the Arti­fice of Bardesanes and Priscillian; Calv. Institut. l. 3. c. 23. Se. 7. for if that God from before all eternity did purpose and decree the fall of Adam, ut sua defectione periret Adam, (as some men have taught us,) there was in Adam a necessity of sinne, because the Lord had so decreed it: if without consideration of the sinne of man, he hath by his determinate sentence ordained so many mil­lions unto destruction, and that too, necessariò & in­evitabiliter, as they please to phrase it, he must needs preordain them also unto sin; because, as they them­selves affirm, there is no way unto the end but by the meanes: And then what can the wicked and im­penitent do but ascribe all their sins unto the Lord, by whose inevitable and fatall will they were lost in Adam; by whom they are particularly and personally necessitated unto death, and therefore also unto sin: for thus Lycomedes in Plautus pleaded for himself, when he defloured old Euclio's daughter; Deus mih [...] [Page 21] impulsor fuit, is me ad illam illexit: it was Gods do­ing, none of his, that he was so vicious.

But let us not deceive our selves, God, as he is not mocked, so he is no mocker: He tells us by his Sonne, that his Seed is good; by his Apostle, that men are tempted by their own lusts; by his Pro­phets, that a mans destruction is from himself, Perdi­tio tua est ex te, O domus Israel; for his part, he hath planted in our mindes many saving notions, poured out upon our hearts the influence and dew of his hea­venly graces, and kindled many times within us the flames of an affectionate zeal to his holy service. If that we quench these flames, and expel these graces, and root out these notions, or else permit the enemy to sowe his false and dangerous T [...]res, even in the middle of Gods Wheat, is it not then our faults, ei­ther to do the one, or permit the other? God can­not possibly be accused of sowing other then good Seed, who soweth the good Seed and no other: Should we think otherwise, the smallest error we could fall into is that of Bardesanes and Priscillian, who ascribed all unto fatality, and the Starres and Planets; of which St. Austine tells us plainly, that it aimed principally at the ruine and subversion of our whole Religion, De Civit. l 5. c. 1. Nec aliud agit nisi ut nullus om­nino aut rogetur aut colatur Deus, as the Father hath it. Well then, the seed God sowes is good, he nei­ther made man evil at his first creation, nor suggests evil thoughts unto him being once created; nor did he preordain him unto sinne, or dispose him to it: God is the God of peace, and sowes not dissention; the God of order, and sowes not confusion; the God of love, and sowes not debate; the God of [Page 22] truth, and sowes not error, or false Doctrine; the God of Justice, and sowes not iniquity: Nor doth God sowe his good Seed only in this man or that, some chosen Vessels of his mercy, some few selected ones of his own right hand, and neglect all the rest, as not worth the looking after; not in his Vineyard only, or in his Garden, his Church, the Congregati­on of his Saints, but universally over all his field, and every part and parcel of it; God is here likened to the man that sowed good seed, and sowed the same in agro suo, in his own field; my next particu­lar.

Ager colendo fit bonus, a field is bettered by manu­ring; and the more large the field, the greater cul­ture it requires. How great then is the labour that Gods field hath need of? how great a quantity of seed must be sowen upon it? Himself hath told us of this field, that it is the World, viz. the general corporation, or bodie aggregate of mankind, the World, and not the Church alone, & mundus, non tantùm Ecclesia, as it is in Origen. This vast and u­niversal field the Lord hath dressed and laboured with his mighty hand, and fatned with his most pre­cious blood of his only Sonne; For God so loved the World, Joh. 3. 16, 17. 1 Joh. 2. 2. as the Scriptures tell us, 1 Joh. 2. 2. that he gave his onely begotten Sonne to be a propitiation for our sinnes, and not for ours onely, [ Gods selected ones] but for the sinnes of all the World, that the World through him might be saved. It is the will of God the Father, as St. Paul hath told us, that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of his holy truth. It is the will of God the Sonne, that all men which are heavy laden should come unto him, upon the promise & assurance that he [Page 23] will ease them. It is the will of God the holy Ghost, that all men should be made partakers of those meanes that lead to happiness eternal; who therefore fell on the Apostles in the similitude of cloven tongues, Acts 2. 3, 11. that every man might heare them speak in his own Language the wonderful works of God: which being the will and pleasure of the Godhead joyntly, and each person severally, could not be possibly fulfilled, in case the blessed word of God had been restrained to any, either place or people, and not proclaimed and published u­niversally over all the World: and therefore when our Saviour sent forth his Apostles, he gave them a Commission of a large extent, Ite in universum mundum, Mark 16. 15. Go into all the world, saith he, and preach the Gospel unto every Creature: nor were they back­ward in performance of the Lords Commandement, scattering themselves abroad over all the Earth; and where they could not go themselves, sending out o­thers in their room; so that they might have taken up that speech in Virgil, Aene. l. 1. Quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris? as well as that which is reported of them by St. Paul, Exivit sonus eorum in omnes ter­ras, their sound went forth into all Lands.

The World then is this field, not the Church a­lone; and in this field, the Sonne of man, the hea­venly Husbandman, hath sowen his good seed, gene­rally and universally, no one part excepted, In toto mundo filius hominis seminavit bonum semen, so saith Origen; for there's no barbarous nation, either past or present, which may not in the book of nature read the works of God, and so attain to the first princi­ple of Religion, Deum esse, that a God there is. This the Apostle hath observed, that the invisible things [Page 24] of God from the Creation of the World, have been plainly seen, i. e. as Austin doth expound it, Per visi­bilia creaturae pervenisse eos dicit ad intelligentiam invi­sibilis creatoris; and they were also well enough in­formed of this, that God was to be worshipped by them, [...], and that too in the first place, with a [...], as Isocrates hath it: nor did they know this only in the general notion, which might be a remaining spark of the light of na­ture; but some of them, as Aristotle, Plato, Tully, have written so divinely touching the nature, attributes, and works of God, that they may seem to have con­sulted with the Scriptures: and yet God did not leave them so, as if he had done bountifully for them in giving them this knowledge that there is a God, and that this God is to be worshipped; but he revealed so much of his will unto them, as might enable them to live in a vertuous manner, or leave them utterly inexcusable before God and man. The Gentiles (saith St. Paul) which know not the Law, do by nature the things contained in the Law, which shewe the Law written in their hearts, their Conscience also bearing witnesse. Hence it is, that the ancient Heroes attained to such a height in all moral vertues, that for boun­ty, valour, magnanimity, chastity, justice, and the rest, they stand ennobled on record unto all posterity: so that God did his part among them, and sowed good seed, his seeds of knowledge and Religion over all his field. It was no want in him that they went no further, that they proceeded not from morall to spirituall graces; the fault was only in themselves, who when they had received as much as might make way for their ambition, or vain-glory, or esteem with [Page 25] men, cast off all further progresse in the works of piety, as an unnecessary burden, of no use at all: by meanes whereof, as St. Paul chargeth it upon them, they held the truth of God in unrighteousness, and so became without excuse.

Others there were who made no benefit at all of the seed sown in them, whose hearts were waxed grosse, their eares dull of hearing, such as had closed their eyes, as it were of purpose, that so they might not see the great works of God: whence, I beseech you, came this backwardness, this most stupid dul­nesse? not from the Lord, who is natura naturans; nor from the faulty error and defect of nature, which is natura naturata; but it came meerly from them­selves, from their own evil wills, and corrupt affecti­ons, their wilfulness, or negligence, or both together. The Lord hath so made man, that he hath naturally in himself a power of seeing: How comes it then to passe that some do not see? [...], so saith Theophylact; there's none so blinde as they that will not see, so saith the Proverb. God gives men eares, that they may hear; and hearing, may conceive his most holy will: How comes it then to passe that they do not heare, or hearing do not un­derstand? [...], saith mine Author, it was their own fault only that they are so wilful: And being so wilful as they were, and so regardless of the mercies and grace of God, no marvel if the Lord withdrew from them his most heavenly seed, or sowed it with a sparing and lesse liberal hand. The carelesse servant in the Gospel, that hid his talent in a napkin, and neither did employ it to his own or his Masters benefit, not only was rebuked for so great a [Page 26] negligence, but had his talent taken from him, and it was given to one that knew how to use it. Gods field is large, and like a large field it consists of seve­rall parts; some places full of stones, and some full of thorns, and many times a foot-path, or high-way, that crosseth over it: God soweth his good seed e­very where over all his Field; but more in some parts then in others; more in the good soyle, then in the stony or the thorny-ground, or the high-way side; more in the Church, then in the Synagogue; more in the Synagogue of the Jewes, then amongst the Gentiles, according as it gives increase.

Of this we have a pregnant instance in the Jewes themselves: the Word of God had been long preach­ed unto them, and hearing they did hear, but would not perceive: the Sonne of God had been long con­versant among them, and they had seen those won­ders that he had performed; which seeing they did see, but would not believe. They had ascribed the one to Belzebub; he casts out Devils by the help of Belzebub the Prince of Devils: the other t as Dia­bolical and impure a spirit; Said we not that thou art a Samaritan and hast a Devil? both of them slighted and contemned in that scornful question, whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty things? Such men as these, that had so vilified and abused the grace of God, could not but make themselves unworthy of a clearer light, then that which might shine forth un­to them, from a Cloud of darkness: therefore he spake unto them in a Parable, and without Parables spake he not unto them: not that the Lord envied them a more perfect ray of his Divinity, he being that light which lighteth every man that comes into the [Page 27] World: or that he was not willing to impart unto them sufficient meanes for their salvation, who would that all men should be saved: not so, but that he found by their former actions, how his Gospel would be entertained, if it came among them; how strong a resolution they had made, not to be con­verted: he that had lessoned his Disciples, not to cast Pearles before the Swine, had very ill observed his own direction, had he layed open all the treasures of salvation to such obstinate Chapmen, as were resol­ved to buy neither milk nor honey, though they might buy them without money: yet that he might not leave them destitute of all outward meanes, by which they might attain to the eternal life: he speaks unto them, though farre off, openeth his mouth to them, though obscurely, in dark speech and Parables. This served to intimate that he was not yet departed from them, that he had still a care of their preserva­tion; that he would yet be found, if they pleased to seek; that even they also should finde favour, to un­derstand the Word of God, if they, as his Disciples were, would be sollicitious to enquire the meaning, [...], as the Fa­ther hath it: and he himself hath said, They that seek shall finde, and unto them that aske, to them it shall be given, to know the Mysterie of the Kingdom of Heaven. Thus also is it with the Gentiles, with Gods Field in general, God sowes it only with good seed; but so disposeth that good seed, as may be most unto his Glory.

God sowes his good seed in his Field, over all the World, although not over all in an equall measure; but the Church only brings forth fruit agreeable un­to [Page 28] the seed sowne in her; and God rewards this fruitfulness with a further favour, in speaking to her after a more evident and significant manner, then un­to those that are without. In which regard, the holy Prophet having said, that God had shewn his word to Jacob, his Statutes and his Ordinances unto Israel, exults with a non taliter, that so he had not done unto other Nations, nor had the Heathen so exact a knowledge of his holy Laws. God sowes his good seed in his Church, his best seed in that, as being not his Field only, but his Garden too, (for so the Spirit calls it in the Book of Canticles:) and men, we know, are farre more curious in their Gardens, then about their Fields: But in this Church, this Garden dress'd with Gods own hand, there are some Plants that thrive and prosper more then others; and those the Lord hath chosen to inoculate in the Tree of Life; for every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth, as him­self hath told us, that it may bring forth more fruit, John 15. Let us all therefore have a care in our seve­rall places, that we amend our lives, and yield fruits worthy of Repentance, that being fruitful of good works in this present Nursery, we may be all of us transplanted into the glorious Eden of eternal life.

I should now speak of Gods propriety in this Field, and shew that it is ager suus, Gods own Field alone; but I have spoken of it sparsim, through and in each part of this discourse, and cannot but perswade my selfe, that you all know the Earth is his, because he made it; and the World his, because he governeth and directs it. And therefore here I will conclude, beseeching God, &c.

SPiritus isti insinceri non desinunt per­diti jam perdere, &c. In Octav. It is the ob­servation of Minutius, that the Devil being alienated from the love of God, endeavours nothing more then mans destruction. It is too great a misery, as he conceives it, to be miserable by ones selfe alone, and Hell too hot to be [...]dured, if none else should endure it but the Devils: upon this ground, no sooner had the Lord made man, but Satan laboured to undo him. He had before procured himself a party in the Heaven of glories, and amongst the Angels, how much more easie was it for him to infect Paradise, and seduce a woman? In which attempt, the issue proved so an­swerable to his hopes, that man became devested of his chief indowments, his Justice and Integrity. Nor [Page 30] was there any way to repair those ruines, but by the preaching of the word, which he hath laboured ever since, either to hinder, that it be not preached at all, or so to practise on the hearers, that it be preached with little profit. Three parts of that good seed which God had sown upon his Field, are by those arts made barren and unprofitable: and for the fourth, that which did fall upon good ground, and took root downward, and began to bear fruit upwards, even that if possible, shall be corrupted in it self, or mingled with a grain of different & dangerous nature; for sin, as Chrysost. In locum. hath noted; he neither could destroy it in the seed, nor scorch it in the blade, nor choak it in the stalks, as we are told he did in the former Para­ble, [...], he is resolved upon another neat device, not like to fail: this was to watch his opportunity: and when the servants of the Husbandman were grown no lesse careful of their charge, to scatter tares among the wheat, and go his way, Cum autem dormirent homines, &c.

These words contain in them the two inseparable qualities of the old murderer, his malice and his subtility; his malice first express'd in this that he is inimicus ejus, Gods enemie; and secondly, in his devi­lish plot to destroy Gods harvest, sevit zizania in me­dio tritici, his sowing tares among the Wheat. His subtlety described in this; first, that he took his op­portunity, when as the servants of the Husbandman were fast asleep, cum dormirent homines, while men slept: and lastly, by his quick and crafty leaving of the place, venit & abiit, he came secretly, and de­parted suddenly. Of this his speedy going thence, and of the manner of his comming, we shall say no­thing [Page 31] at this time. It is not for our benefit, to be too zealous of his company, in a business of this nature, and therefore abeat, let him go: as for the residue of the Text, we shall discourse thereof in these several Couplets. First, we shall speak unto you of the De­vill and his diligence, sevit inimicus ejus, his enemy sowed; next of the Seminary and the seed, zizania in medio tritici, tares in the middle of the Wheat; and thirdly, of the servants and their sluggishness, cum dormirent homines, while men slept: of these in their order.

Victoria sine certamine constare non potest, nec vir­tus ipsa sine hoste, L [...]ctant. de qusecio de c. 20. vertue is never made more amia­ble then by opposition; nor should the valiant man be more remembred then the Coward, if he had no Adversary: how little had we known of David, had he consumed his time in sloth, and payed perhaps unto the Nations round about him, for a secure and quiet bondage: for this cause God hath pleased to let his enemy the Devil continue still, and his crea­tures, and to continue still a Devil: had he but said the word, he could have quickly made him nothing; or had he pleased, he could have made him meerly passive, and only capable of torments; but God did leave him as he was, (save that he cast him down to Hell,) Lact. ibid. ut eo superando vim suam vel exerceat, vel o­stendat, that so there might be still some enemy, on which to exercise his power, and expresse his great­nesse, I will put enmity (saith God) between thee and the Woman, and between thy seed and her seed, Gen. 3. not be­twixt the Devil and us men, though we do all de­scend from her, who was the Mother of all living; but between him and our Redeemer, the promised [Page 32] seed, the expectation of the Gentiles; he only is of power to bruise the head of the old Serpent; the Devil therefore is at enmity with him alone: to him an enemy ex professo, inimicus ejus, his enemy, to us an enemy no further then we have reference to him, and are the children of his Kingdom, the servants of his holy Houshold: with this St. Chrysost. accords; Satan (saith he) doth bend his forces most against us men; In locum. but the occasion of his malice is not so much in hate to man, [...], as an in­veterate hate to God, whose badge and cognizance we bear: just so the King of Ammon dealt with Da­vids servants, not that he was displeased with them, (for how could they poor men deserve the anger of so great a Prince?) but that he bare no good affection to the King their Master.

In ancient times, the Images of such as capitally had offended, or otherwise were grown odious with the common people, were broken down, and pub­lickly defaced in the chief assemblies; on them the people used to expresse their fury, when such as they distasted were above their reach, too high for them to strike at. Thus they of Rome, effigg [...]es Pisonis in Gemonias traxerant, had drawn the Images of Piso unto the place of execution, Tacit. Annal. l. 13. had not the Emperors power withstood it. Thus when Sejanus fell into disfavour with his Prince, they threw down all his Statues, Hist. l. 58. and brake them every one in pieces, as if, (saith Dion) their fury had been executed on the man himself. The like hath Basil noted of this enemy the Devil; Immediately (saith he) on his Apostasie from God, he grew an open enemy unto his Crea­tor; but since he could not reach at him, he turns [Page 33] his fury on us, [...], as be­ing made after the Image of our Maker: Homil. Quòd Deus non sit au­tor peccati. yet with this difference, that he is naturally and originally a [...], and profest enemy to God; but a man-ha­ter, a [...], onely in reference to this, [...], because we are Gods Image, and do bear his character and superscription. So then the Devil is not properly and principally our enemy, inimicus noster, but Gods alone; and therefore inimicus ejus, his enemy, as the Text here calls him.

But Satan, as he is Gods enemy, a [...], so he is Gods Ape also, a [...]; He is still haunted and possessed with his old ambition, [...], to be great as God; and they that aime at the same greatness take commonly the same courses. Therefore if God, in the advancement of his Kingdom, be as a man that sowed and manured his field, his enemy will be very diligent in pra [...] ­sing the very self-same arts, still sowing and still sowing as he findes occasion. As for example; it pleased the Lord to make a Covenant with Abraham, & as a sign thereof to institute the Sacrament of Cir­cumcision: consult with Origen upon the 2 ^d to the Rom. Origen. & there we find, non solùm Aegyptiorum Hierophantas, that not alone the Priests of Egypt had been taught the use of circumcision, but that it had been taken up by the Phoenicians, Aethiopians and Arabians. The Lord thought good to teach the Jewes, as in a shadow, that certain meates should be reputed as un­clean; [...], &c. Origen. We are infor­med by the same Author in his disputation against Celsus, that the Egyptians and the Pythagoreans did [Page 34] the like, though in divers kindes. But what needs more? In many of the miracles which God wrought by Moses, we read that the Magicians did the like by their Inchantments: And in the body of the Scri­pture, we meet not oftner with the Prophets of the Lord, then with those of Baal.

And what was all this but a kinde of sowing, a sowing of such Ceremonies and religious Ordinan­ces, (though in the object misapplied, and in the purpose ill-directed) which God had sowed upon his field? But since the good seed is interpreted of the Word of God, whereby Gods Children are begot­ten, we will restrain our selves more punctually to that kinde of sowing, which comes neerest thereunto, At sundry times, and divers manners, Heb. 1. (saith the A­postle) spake God in times past to our Fathers, viz. in dreames and visions, and in the Sanctuaries of the Temple. The Enemy soon learnt this Order, and will communicate his Counsels also, either in dreams and visions, called by Philosophers [...]; or else by Oracles, delivered in the inmost Adyta, and most choyce revestries of his Temples. After, when as the Lord vouchsafed to use the Ministery of his Prophets in the composing of the Scriptures, and had ordained that they should openly be read in the Congregation, his enemy also did the like: For in an Apish Imitation of Gods truth, (saith Justin Martyr) there were composed not a few Books of Pagan Theologie, Dial. cum Tryphone. [...], which he procured by his suggestions to be read pub­lickly amongst the Gentiles: nay, to suppress the Go­spel writ by the Evangelists, and to eclipse, as much at least as in him was, the glorious works of our Re­deemer, [Page 35] he set on work too lewd and shameless wretches, Hierocles and Philostratus, to write the life of Apollonius Tyanaeus the Magician. This the most divellish and malicious plot of all the rest, Lib. 5. c. 3. inventum planè diabolicum, as Lactantius calls it, a stratagem in which the enemy went beyond himself; for unto this the project tended, ut ostenderent Apollonium vel paria vel majora fecisse, that Apollonius had done more and greater miracles then the Messiah. When this succeeded not aright, and that Gods holy truth did notwithstanding mightily prevail in every place, he then took order to divulge a Gospel, as I so may say, of his own enditing. This he entituled The true History of Christ and Pilate, Euseb. hist. l. 9. c. 4. though full indeed of dangerous, false, and foolish fancies; and wonne so farre upon the Emperors then being, (men fit enough for such a mischief,) that they gave order to all Schoolmasters throughout the Empire, [...], that they should catechise their Scholars according to the Story so set out and falsified. So careful is the enemy not to be wanting to his hopes, but still to be in action, still to pursue those Arts and Counsels which may advance him to his greatness. If God advance his Christ, the enemy will have his Antichrist; if God raise up his Jesus, the enemy will have his Jesuites; if God be as a man that soweth, or a Seminator, will not the e­nemy also have his Seminaries?

I have pursued this Argument, the rather in this manner, because I would not have the enemy estima­ted either by his diligence, or by his cunning: not by his diligence, his constant following of the Plough, his frequent scattering of his seed; for all his pains, [Page 36] his sowing in our Saviours field, and mingling with the Sonnes of God, tends to this alone, to make them filii nequam, the Children of the wicked one, fit only for the fiery Furnace: nor by his cunning, his subtile imitation of the wayes and paths of God; for God himself hath told us of him, that Satan can transform himself into an Angel of light, and that his Ministers also are transformed as the Ministers of righ­teousness. 2 Cor. 11. 14, 15. Diligence and a seeming sanctity are not the most infallible signs of the true Husbandman in­deed, unless they be applyed to their proper end, the furthering and promoting of Gods heavenly Husban­dry. There never was a more industrious and active generation then the Arian Hereticks, either in work­ing on the choicest and most excellent wits, or in in­sinuating into the hearts and bosomes of the greatest Princes. Never did any sort of men bear greater sway amongst the vulgar then did once the Donatists, by meer appearances of their zeal and devout affections; and yet both of them doubtless were the Devils A­gents. No question but it is a Trade more full of gain then godliness, to be continually sowing in the fields of other men, to build upon anothers ground, to range abroad and graze, and fat our selves upon o­ther mens inclosures. What then advise we to be done? only that we would try the spirits, whether they be of God or not; that we consider of the fruits, for by their fruits, as Christ hath told us, we shall know them. Of us it is expected that we rest not sa­tisfied with the outward shew, that we esteem not of the seed, because the Husbandman is painful at his Plough continually, and seemes in face as was Na­thaniel in his heart, an Husbandman that had no guile: [Page 37] Of us it is expected that we sift the grain, to see if it be Wheat indeed, or at best but tares. This we shall easily discern, if we reflect a little upon the nature of these tares, and take a just view of the same, both in the seminary and the seed; zizania in medio tritici, tares among the wheat, my next Couplet.

Naturale est odisse quem laeseris, Minut. Fe [...]. It is a natural vice in man, having once wronged another, to resolve to hate him; and being once resolved to hate him, to seek occasions how to wrong him. A vice derived o­riginally from the Devil, in whom my Author first observed it drawn into practise by them only whom the old enemy of God hath instructed in it; for he by his aspiring sins having displeased his Lord and Maker, conceived so deep an hate against him, that now it is not possible he should desist from doing the effects of spight and fury. In the expressing of which hate and fury, he deales with God as Sampson with the Philistins, when he could hurt him no way else, he destroyes his Harvest. So much the Text affirms for certain, sevit zizania in medio tritici, that he sowed tares among the Wheat. And of the tares themselves, what they should be, and how the place must be ex­pounded, it resolves so clearly, that if we will, we may with ease compose that difference of opinion which seemes to be betwixt the Fathers. Strom. l. 6. Clemens of Alexander, In locum. Origen, Hist. Eccle. d. 3. c. 26. Eusebius, Tom. 2. p. 318. gl. Athanasi­us, In locum. St. Hierome, and Theophylact, conceive by tares, the Devils Doctrine, haereses, mala dogmata, [...], dogmata haereticorum. Beda will have them to be generally vices, faeditates vitiorum; not to descend to later writers. And on the other side, Hexaem. hom. 5. St. Basil, In locum. Chrysostome and Euthymius, interpret it of Hereticks, of the men themselves. qu. Evang. in Matth. St. Austin [Page 38] makes a question whether the Schismatick should not be added to the other, and leave it in a manner with a potest dubitari, as a matter doubtful. St. Cy­prian Epist. 3. l. 3. conceives it generally of the wicked men: and Justin qu. 22. ad Orthod. Martyr seemes to me, to lean more that way then the other. And unto these, these Fa­thers that do so expound it, our Saviours glosse upon the Text gives most advantage, v. 38. who tells us, that the Tares are the Children of the wicked one, i. e. of the Devil.

To reconcile which difference, or rather to inter­pret favourable of those other Fathers, who seem to have departed from the letter of our Saviours Com­mentary, we may thus resolve it; that those whom first we named apply the Text as in the morall, and that the others keep themselves unto the letter. Or thus; the tares are said to be the Children of the wicked one, not properly, but by a Metonymie ab ef­fectu, that is, they are that seed by which the Chil­dren of the wicked one are all begotten. Hemingius in Postill. A Prote­stant Writer of good note doth expound it thus, Quid fecit inimicus? Seminavit in agro Domini haereticam doctrinam, ex eo autem semine nascuntur zizania, i. e. filii nequam: nor doth he stand alone herein with­out some to second him; for Origen amongst the an­cients comes up close unto him; In locum. In toto mundo semi­navit malus ille zizania, quae sunt sermones pravi, ex malitia orti, mali filii. Where plainly he makes wick­ed and malicious Sermons, sermones pravos, as he calls them, to be these tares, these children of the wicked one; which must needes be, because the chil­dren of the wicked one are many times begotten by them. So then, we draw to this atonement, that we [Page 39] may understand these tares not only of the Here­ticks, and other children of the Dev [...]l, as in the let­ter; but of their wicked Doctrine, as in the morall; yea, and according to our Saviours garb of speech, which was by Allegories, Tropes and Parables, in the true meaning of the figure.

Sevit zizania inimicus, the enemy sowed tares: And certainly, the Devil could not more cunningly have express'd his malice then in this particular, for in it self the tare is of a dangerous and malignant na­ture; and in particular, Ovid. it is noted by the Herbalists of all times and ages, lolium oculis officere, that it hurts the eyes. This Ovid also hath observed in his book de Fastis; Et careant loliis oculos vittantibus agri, as his words there run. An observation so exact, that lolio victitare, to feed on tares, was grown into a com­mon Proverb, applyed to those which were dim­sighted. It is an excellent note of Aristotle, E [...]hico [...]um. l. 1. c. 7. that as the eye is to the body, [...], that so the minde or understanding is to the soul: it is that part thereof which doth illuminate and direct the rest, the will and the affections; and if that eye be single, the whole body will be full of light; but if we feed upon these tares, tares of the Devils sowing, and do­ctrines of the Devils raising, how great a darkness will invade us, what a perpetual night confound us? For if the light be darkness, ipsae tenebrae quantae? how great then is that darkness, saith Christ our Saviour? shall we not then be like the Citizens of Sodom, blind upon the sudden, enquiring for the Sun at noone, wearying our selves to finde that door that is shut a­gainst us? or rather, shall not that great misery befall us, which we finde mentioned in this Chapter, that [Page 40] seeing we shall see, but shall not perceive? Error, and Heresie, and Schisme, how plausible soever they may seem in the outward shew, are but unkind and trea­cherous guests. We may compare them to those sparrowes in the Book of T [...]bit, which roosted in his walls, and made their nests within his Courts; but when he took his rest, and did least expect it, they muted warm dung in his eyes, and a grosse whitenesse came upon them, that he could not see; nor knew his Doctors how to help him. They are blinde leaders of the blinde, saith Christ our Saviout, i. e. as Lyra glos­seth on it, In locum. exaecant alios errore suo, they make the people blind with errors.

There is another dangerous quality in the tare as great as this; for being mixt in bread it procureth giddiness. Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 17. Aera (saith Plinie) cùm est in pane celerri­mè vertigines facit. Rovillius a late Herbalist ob­serves, that it is intoxicating also, et temulentiam vini modo excitare, l. 4: c. 24. and that it makes men drunk as it were with Wine. So farre avowed by Theophra­stus, that it is [...], Hist. Plant. l. 9. sluggish and dull, and breedes Diseases in the head, the capitall and chief fortresse of the Isle of man, which once sur­prized with ache and giddiness, and distemper, how easie will it be to subdue the rest? Thus is it also with false Factions and Schismatical Doctrines, if ming­led with the bread of Life. The Word of God, [...], how excellent is it in it self, how sweet a nourishment unto life eternal? But if the tares of Heresie and Schisme be mingled with it, then it be­comes, as the wise man calls it, Prov. 4. 17. & 20. 17. & 23. panis impietatis, bread of wickedness; panis mendacii, bread of lies; and panis mendax, bread of falshood. Such as do eat [Page 41] thereof, however it may please the palat, will finde it gravel in their mouthes, and bitterness within the stomach, and giddiness within the head. The Cup of the New Testament, how pleasant is it in it self, how powerful to the remission of our sins? yet if the juyce of these foule tares be mingled in it, then is it vinum iniquitatis, the wine of wickedness, and vinum prostitutionis, the wine of fornication, as the Prophet calls it: such as do drink thereof, how drunken will they be with the Cup of abomination and filthiness, the wine of the wrath of God poured out in the Cup of his indignation? We note it of this kind of men, with what a giddiness they are possessed in all their wayes, how strangely they are madded on their own dear fancies, and as it were besotted with the folly of their own inventions. The Lord hath mingled spiritum vertiginis, the spirit of giddiness and per­verseness in the midst of Egypt, and made them erre in every work thereof, Esay 19. 14. as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

Galen relates in his first Book de facultate alimoniae, how once, Cap. ult. the year being unseasonable and intempe­rate, there sprung up an exceeding quantity of tares among the wheat; the store of wheat in the mean time, was very small; and therefore neither the Husbandmen nor Bakers did sift it, as they ought to do, with skreenes and triers for that purpose, but sold the wheat and tares together: hereupon many of the people began to be diseased, and ill affected in their heads; but at the comming on of Summer, [...], they brake out all of them into boyles and botches. On this the wise Physitian gives this Caveat, that we do careful­ly [Page 42] pick out these tares, [...] (as his words there are) and part them from our heaps of Corn, lest else we also fall into the same distem­pers and inconveniences. Do we not note it also thus in the condition of false, schismatical, and factious Doctrines, and the progress of them? The enemy hath been diligent, there is no doubt of that, in sowing tares amongst the wheat; and many of his Bayl [...]ffs careless in the sifting of them, because their store of wheat is small; and are not some of them, which are (as were those Bakers of whom Galen speaks) the makers, the dividers of this bread unto the people, either on negligence or set purpose, guilty alike of this Imposture? That such there are, fraudulent and deceitful Bakers of the bread of life, is more then certain: the destiny of Pharaohs Baker be upon them; for what can follow hereupon but strange distempers in the head, and foul diseases in the body, fallings away from God, breach of the common bond of peace; and in the end, perhaps to­tall Apostasies from the faith and Gospel? And then what next, but that, in the Apostles Language, as they did not like to acknowledge God, so doth God give them over to a reprobate minde, to do those things which are not convenient. Rom. 1. 28. If Nicolas the Deacon fall away from the holy truth, and over­throw the faith of some, no question but that he or his will also do those things which the Lord hateth: and Simon Magus, if he have once the Gall of bitter­ness within, what else can be expected from him, but a promiscuous and lawless liberty indifferenter utendi foeminis, [...]ugust. de [...]eres. c. 1. which came in fine to be his Doctrine? The Shipwreck of the faith is commonly attended by as [Page 43] great a Shipwreck of the Conscience; however, for the most part notably dissembled: for remedy whereof, we will apply the counsel and advice of Galen in our Saviours Language, Matth. 16. Take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadduces: or in the phrase of the Apostles Purge therefore out the old leaven, 1 Cor. 5. v. 8. the leaven of wickedness and malice, and let us keep the feasts of God with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

But yet the Devil stayed not here, the Devil as in malice he is inimicus, a malignant enemy, so in his cunning he is serpens, as wise and subtile as a Serpent: therefore he did not only sowe his tares in agro Domi­ni, in the Lords field▪ but even in medio tritici, in the middle of the wheat it self; and in that act play'd both his prizes: for it is generally noted of the tare, that it is frugum pestis, the very bane and plague of all o­ther grain, and for that reason called by Virgil, infelix lolium: nor doth the name thereof in the Greek Originalls assure us of a better Omen; for the zizanion of my Text is in the grand Etymolo­gicon so called, quasi [...], vel [...], because it growes up with the wheat, and at last destroyes it. And [...], by which name the two great Doctors, Galen and Theophrastus, have given it to us, in the same work is said to be derived by a Metathesis [...], which signifies to vitiate, or to corrupt; the tares corrupting the good seed, by being mixed and made up with it into bread, as I have told you out of Galen; but that which is the greatest danger, is, that if not looked to in time, the wheat may chance to be destroyed, and all the field run over and pestred with them; for Pliny tells us of a certain, triticum cir­cumligando [Page 44] en [...]care, De caus. Plan­tarum, l. 5. 22. that winding round about the wheat, at the last it kills it; or if not so as he deli­vers, yet it devoures it in the end, by growing up with it, and overspreading all the field in the which it groweth, as Theophrastus rather thinketh.

And have we not observed it thus in Heresie, false Doctrine, In locum. Schisme? Hath not St. Chrysostom observed, that Satan did forbeare his tares, when there was nothing to be hurt; and that he sowed them when the wheat had taken root, [...], that so he might destroy the hopes and whole endeavours of the heavenly Hus­bandman? And hath not Lyra noted well, that there­fore did the enemy sowe his tares, In locum. even in the middle of the wheat, ad ipsius destructionem, only of pur­pose to destroy it: destroy it? how? either by winding round about it, or over-running all the field in which it is. By winding round about it first, as doth the Ivie with the Oak, till it hath sucked out all the juyce, and made it fit for nothing but the very fire. Faction and error so behave themselves to the Word of God, as Judas did to God the Word. They are both of them cunning Traytors, killing some­times in their embraces, and sometimes betraying in their kisses. Or if not thus, yet they destroy it at the last by over-spreading all the Church, and eating out the truth of Doctrine; if not, tell me, if in the Jewish Church the Pharisees had not almost made the Commandements of God of none effect by their traditions. Tell me, if in the Christian Church the tares of errour and false Doctrine had not even over­grown the Gospel; if the Popes Canon, and the proud dictates of the Schoolmen, had not usurped [Page 45] into the Chair and Throne of Scripture: certain I am, that Frier Richard de Mans in the Trent-Councel did publickly maintain, and with good applause, that all the points of faith had been so clearly hand­led by those Schoolmen, ut ea ex Scripturis discere nil opus esset, Hist. Con. T [...]id. that now the word of God was no longer serviceable: so truly was it Satans purpose, not only by the sowing of his tares to corrupt Religion, but by that cunning to supplant it. And all this while, what was become of those to whom the Lord had farmed his field, and leased out his Vineyard? My Text makes answer to this question, and tells us that they were asleep, wherein we have the Servants and their sluggishness, my last Couplet; cùm dormirent homines, while men slept.

Invadunt urbem somno vino (que) sepultam. Vi [...]gil. Cities are sometimes soonest taken when the siege is raised, and all the Watch-men made secure; for when the enemy is neare, and a Trench cast about the Walls, the Watch is doubled, and there are Centinels and Scouts in every corner, to mark the motions of the Enemy, and observe his purposes: so also was it with the grand enemy of Gods Field in generall; but more especially in reference to that particular part thereof which we call the Church. As long as he essay'd to batter down the Bulwarks in the House of God, he was more closely watched, and all mens eyes were bent upon him; but having lulled it once asleep, drenched it in sensuality, corrupted it with ease and prohibited pleasures, then was his time to venture on it, and to sowe his tares; an opportunity well watch'd. No sooner did men sleep, no sooner were the servants drowsie, and regardless of so great a [Page 44] [...] [Page 45] [...] [Page 46] charge, but he was straight about his business; no sooner did men sleep: I [...] locum. what men? Lyra makes an­swer, the Apostles: what of their negligence? no, God forbid; but of the death, the last sleep and de­parture of those blessed spirits. Qu. Evan­g [...]. in Mat. St. Austin and In locum. Euthymius do a little touch at this conceit, and they only touch it: but Eus [...]b. hist. l. 3. c. 26. Egesippus with great con­fidence affirms it, saying, that after the Apostles deaths, the Hereticks did then begin to lift up their heads, and advance their errors, mingling their tares, [...], their false and commentitious Doctrines, with the truth and Gospel. This we believe indeed, that then the Hereticks became more insolent and adventurous then before they were, and did oppose the Gospel, as he tells us there, [...], with the greater impudence; but yet I am not of opinion, that this should be the sleep, and these the men intended in the present Scripture.

With how much better reason doth the Glosse expound it of a general negligence both in the Pa­stor and the people? I [...] locum. a negligence of private men, circa custodiam suae propriae personae, in the preserving and defence of their several souls; a negligence of the publick Pastors, circa custodiam gregis sui, in the ill tending of the flock committed to them. This exposition of the Glosse confirmed by Chrysostom, where he informs us of a misery of no mean quality, like to befall those sleepy souls to whom the Hus­bandman had left his field; yet not the Priest or Prelate only, [...], but the people also: otherwise, as the Apostle said, that if there were no Resurrection, then were the Christians of all men [Page 47] most miserable; so were the Priest and Prelate the most miserable of all other Christians, if all mens sins were rated only on their scores; and they to give up an account of every soul in their several char­ges. In locum. Its true indeed, that both Euthymius and St. Hierome understand here only magistros & praecepto­res ecclesiarum, the teachers and overseers of the Church. And so far we may yeeld unto them, that it is meant of them principally, and as publick Mini­sters, which are to have a care of the common safety; but so, that every private man is included also in the Parable. The Devil first makes his advantage of the negligence of private persons, and whiles they sleep secure and careless, he scattereth in their hearts the seeds of Heresie and error, that so they may be able to infect their brethren. The enemy never sends out any of his Foxes to destroy Gods Harvest, till he put fire-brands in their tails. This done, he seeks occasion to employ them in the de­struction of the wheat, in the infection of the Church; and therein also makes advantage of the security and negligence of their Superiours, of their Rulers. These the Lords Bayliffs, as it were, to whom he hath intrusted his holy Husbandry: and if they sleep, if once they grow remisse and careless, what else can we expect, but that these tares take root, and outgrow the Wheat, and in conclusion overcome it?

Now in the Church we may observe three severall kindes of sleepiness, all of them in their course pre­dominant, and of ill effect; the sleep of negligence, the sleep of ignorance, and the sleep of sensuality. The first, the sleep of negligence; and so St. Austin [Page 48] doth expound it, but while men slept, i. e. saith he, Cùm negligentiùs agerent praepositi Ecclesiae, when as the Rulers of Gods House grew dull and careless of their Watch, and were not mindful of their duties. This the disease, even of the best and purest Ages; for which is there almost of the Angels of the seven Churches, which is not branded with this mark, du­ring the lives of the Apostles, the falling from the love of Christ, the tolerating of the Nicolaitans, the suffering of the Woman Jesebel to seduce Gods ser­vants; the want of piety in one, zeal in another, and that poor little strength of faith which was remain­ing in the third, what were they but the sad effects of dull and negligent security in the severall Pastors? But the Apostles being gone, those which did over­see the overseers, there followed by degrees an in­fectious drowsiness over all the Church, still more inclining to this sleep the more they were accustom­ed to it.

The times of Nazianzen, how watchful were they in respect of those succeeding? yet he complains, in his Epistle to Nectarius, Orat. 46. as if the providence of God had been quite wanting to his Church. The Arians grown so insolent, that they made open profession of their Heresie, [...], as if they had been authorized and licensed to it. The Macedonians so presumptuous, [...], &c. that they were formed into a Church, and had a titulary Bi­shop of their own Sect. The Apollinarians held the [...]r Conventicles, [...], with as much safety and esteem as the Orthodox Christians. And for Eunomius, [...], the bosom-mischief of those times, he thought so poorly of a [Page 49] general connivence, that at last nothing would con­tent him but to have all men else to be his Disciples. Of all which scandalls and disorders, the said Necta­rius then being Patriarch of Constantinople, the grea­test Prelate of the East, is there affirmed to be the cause: A man, as the Historian saith of him, [...], Socrat. Hist. l. 5. c. 8. of an exceeding faire and plausible demeanor, and very gracious with the people; one that chose rather, as it seemes, to give free way to all mens fancies, and suffer every mans proceedings, then draw upon himself the envy of a stubborn Cler­gy, and a factious multitude. A pregnant evidence, that possibly there cannot be a greater mischief in a Christian Church then a popular Prelate: If so, if by the negligence & connivence of one man alone so great a spoil was made in the Church of God, how busie think we was the enemy in sowing tares, when as this negligence was epidemical, and in a manner universal over the people?

The second kind of sleep which did invade the Church of God, was the sleep of ignorance; a sleep of such a generall latitude, that neither Priest nor people were able to hold up, or to look abroad. The Priests lips destitute of knowledge, the people so regardless, that they did not seek it; both so defe­ctive in their duties, that at the last the Priest, like those in Irenaeus, veritatis ignorantiam cognitionem vocant, taught, that the safest knowledge was to know nothing; and, as they preached, even so the people did believe: if not, tell me who can what was be­come of the gift of tongues? is it not noted to our hands, Quòd Graecè nosse suspectum foret, Hebraicè propè haereticum, that it was Heresie almost to be seen in [Page 50] Hebrew, and a misprision of Heresie to be skilled in Greek? And for the Latine, the Books still extant of those times will inform us easily, that there was no­thing left of it, no not the words: Ennead. 9. Or of the Arts; doth not Sabellicus complain how totally they were forgotten in the middle Ages, Quanta bonarum arti­um per id tempus oblivio invaluerit? Or of the Lawes; do we not read how they were buried in a manner with the great Emperour their Collector, till in the latter dayes, Lotharius Emperour of Germany found an old Copy of them at Amalphi in the Realm of Naples? Or of the Scriptures; was not the Book sealed up for many Ages? and had not worldly po­licy so farre prevailed above true piety, that it was made unlawful, if not capitall, to look into it? Nor was this ignorance only in the people; but as the Prophet said in another case, A [...] is the people such was the Priest, and as the Priest was such were the people: nay, In Chronolog. even the Cardinal complaineth of an infelix se­culum, an unhappy age in which was neither famous Scholar, nor Pope that cared much how Religion went: which being so, Divinity it self, and all the Arts and helps unto it, layed to so long and dead a sleep, no question but the enemy was exceeding di­ligent, both in the ripening of his old tares, and in sowing new.

There is a kinde of sleep yet left as hurtful [...]o the Church as the other two, the sleep of sensua­lity, and of immoderate ease and pleasures; a sleep like that described in the sixth of Amos, They lie (saith he) upon benches of Ivory, and stretch them­selves upon their couches; they carouse wine in bowles, and anoint themselves with the chief oyntments. Did [Page 51] not the Prophet think you reflect a little on the last Ages of the Church? or may not his description with good reason be applyed unto them? if not, why did St. Bernard in a pious anger upbraid the Clergy of those times with their Stage-like gestures, their meretricious neatness, their pompous habits and reti­nue? Incedunt nitidi & ornati, S [...]rm. 33. & 37. in Cant. & circumamicti varie­tatibus, more like (saith he) unto a spruce and Court-like Bridegroom, then the severe Guardians of the Spouse of Christ. Could it be thought that men so neat and complete as those, drowned in effe­minacy and ease, and surfeited with too much full­nesse, would leave the pleasures of the world, to minde the business of the Church; or shake away their pleasant slumbers, to entertain so sowre a Mistress as the perplexities of learning, and the se­verities of Discipline? Pluta [...]ch. Nunquam putabam fore, I ne­ver thought (said Cicero) that such a curious youth as Caesar, one that so smoothly comb'd his hair, and rnb­bed his head with his fore-finger, would either have the happiness or the heart to vanquish Pompey. Though Tully was deceived in the event of that great action, yet his conjecture had good grounds. And we may well apply it to them; that sure such men as in those dayes had the sole managing of the Church when as these tares were sowen, and had brought forth fruit, were never like to crosse the e­nemy in that purpose, or disappoint him of his hopes, or overcome him at the last in the main encounter: not that the Priests and Prelates were all such with­out exception, (for the worst times have brought forth brave and vertuous men, and such as stand up­on record for their eminent piety;) but that they [Page 52] were thus for the most part, [...].

Thus have I shewn unto you three several kindes of sleep, which had not only seized the people, but also had surprized the Watchmen, and made blinde the seers, and laid up the Guardians; and hard it is to say which of the three gave most increase to the Devils Harvest. The Pastors, careless of their du­ties, aimed at this especially, that they themselves might live in peace, and die, if possible, in the gene­rall love and good opinion of their people. Here were the tares first sowen, and neither noted in the seed, nor in the blade; for either the opinion taken up was but the fancy of some few, eminent like e­nough in point of learning; or some such innovation in the Churches orders, as seemed not in it self to vi­olate the sacred truth, or threaten any present danger to the common quiet. And then what was it but a vain and faulty curiosity, either to quarrel with a man so much renowned in point of knowledge, or to enquire into their meaning and intentions who loved the Lord too well to disturb his Church? By which connivence, this plausible and popular beheaviour of the Watchmen, the enemy first entred upon Gods inheritance; and having sowen his tares, departed, went away in good assurance of success. Afterwards, when this negligence was lulled into an ignorance, the tares were grown into a stalk, and began to sprout; but who was able to discern them? Bellar­mine counts it an especial happiness in those dayes of darkness, ut nullae novae surgerent haereses, that there arose not in the Church any upstart Heresie. Chronol. And why so great an happiness, but because that wretched Age neither afforded learned Scholar to confute [Page 53] them, nor publick Councel to condemn them? How much more happy had it been had not those seeds of error which were sowen before, then took advantage to spring up? had not the darkness been so great, like that of Egypt, that one scarce saw another, nei­ther rose any from his seat, to look unto the publick safety? But in the end, when as the Priest and Pre­late became luxurious and wanton, stretched on their beds of case, and lulled asleep with too much plenty, then came the tares to bring forth fruit, and to ap­pear in their own likeness; yet was there then lesse hope then ever. Did those that dwelt upon the Nile, and were accustomed to the noise, ever observe the fall and roaring of the waters? Or grant we, that they saw these tares, and took notice of them, shall we conceive that men so drowned in ease and pleasure would undertake a restitution of the ancient Discipline? Was any thing more odious to the Court of Rome, then the attempts that some of the more pious Popes had made of a Reformation? rather like the Amyclae, an Italian people, they passed a Law, Ne quis de hostium adventu famam spargeret, that no man should presume from that time forwards to give them notice of these tares, or of the neer approach of the common enemy. Nay, at the last this Ba­stards Reign shall be legitimated by the Common-Councel, proclaimed to be good seed of the Lords own sowing; and then what man is he that dare call them tares?

In which so long a night of several and distracted sleepes, in what a wretched state had the Church been think we, had not the Lord awakened some to have a care unto his field, and to take notice of these [Page 54] tares? Once the affaires of Rome were brought unto so low an ebbe, that there was nothing of the City left them but the very Capitoll, Aug. de [...]ivit. l. 2. 4. and that too in a possibility to have been surprized, ni anseres Diis dormientibus vigilassent, had not their Geese been better to them then their Gods. Hus, as my Books inform me, in the Bohemian Language, of which Land he was, doth signifie a Goose; had not this Hus, this Goose, and such men as he, H [...]erome of Prague, W [...]clif and Luther, and the rest, (though men which had, I grant, their own several errors) dis­covered by their noyse and cackling the neere ap­proches of the enemy, and so awakened all the World out of that dull security in the which it was, how easie had it been for Satan to have gained the Capitoll; yea, to have rooted all the Wheat out of the field of our Redeemer? But at the last the World awakened, and being throughly awakened, some discerned those tares which had so long been sowen by this subtile enemy; and having once discerned them, took a speedy order in many places of Gods field to weed them out: a thing of great offence to the Court of Rome, which took it very ill to be so a­wakened and startled from their pleasant slumbers. Marvel it is, that like unto the sensual Sibarites, their Italian Neighbours too, they banished not all cocks the verge and territory of their Church, ut mollùs viz. cubarent, nullo (que) illorum strepitu interpella­rentur; for fear their sleepes should be disturbed, and themselves called on to repentance.

For our parts, as we are a parcel of this common field, it cannot be denied by our greatest adversaries, that from the sleep of ignorance and sensuality we [Page 55] have been very well awakened; and we begin to be awakened also from the sleep of negligence. And certainly it is high time that it should be so, standing besieged as we do by two several enemies; both la­bouring to subvert our Church, and to advance their own in the ruines of it: For, to speak truth, the pre­sent quality of our Church may with most fitness be resembled unto that of the Primitive times, when both the powerful Arians▪ and the popular Do­natists were both at once in Arms against it: or if we will, we may compare it no lesse fitly to the State of Rome, during the second Punick Warre. We have the Macedonians upon all the skirts and quarters of our Empire, calling to minde the Reputation of their Ancestors, the great Dominion they have lost; and watching all advantages to enlarge their border. And there is Annibal ad portas, a neerer enemy at hand, at our very Gates, [...], as the Father called Eunomius, a bosom Traytor, which grindeth upon our very entrails like Prometheus vulture. One side assailes openly, and profess their enmity; and by a signe distinctive, as they please to call it, give us to understand that they are but tares: These, like the wild Bore in the Psalms, endeavour in a publick way to destroy our Vineyard. Secretior Pom­peius Caesare, non melior; The other, a more close and secret enemy, doth not so much assault the Church, as undermine it; but they aim both of them at the same mark, the subjugating of the Church, and the chief Soveraignty of the State, and have the same end of their journey, although they travel diverse wayes. Is this a time think we to sleep and slumber, and stretch our hands in negligence and a carelesse [Page 56] sloth? Did ever any Mariner permit his eyes to sleep, or eye-lids to slumber, sailing betwixt Sylla and Charibdis? Or can we think the Romans looked not then about them, assailed at once by Greece and Carthage? or that the primitive Christians stood not on their Guard, when both the subtile Arian and Saint-seeming Donatist did oppose her Doctrine? As­suredly when men are compassed round with dan­gers, and that they have not only forraign, but dome­stick enemies, they have good reason to be watch­full.

Thus, as we see, our dangers are alike on both sides, though we perhaps are not alike or equally affected in apprehension of those dangers. On the one side, we think there never can be watch enough, that all those Lawes and Proclamations which are out against them are not sufficient to secure us, and dispossess us of our feares: And now that his most sacred Ma­jesty hath given new life unto those Lawes, and by his royall Edict declared his pleasure, that no man shall presume hereafter to practise on his weak and unsetled subjects, for the reduction of them unto the superstition of the Church of Rome; we think, as true indeed it is, that he hath shewn his zeal to the House of God, and that we cannot magnifie him as we ought to do. But on the other side, we think there needs no watch at all, that those few Lawes and Canons which are now in force for preservation of the Churches peace and safety, may very well be spared, and layed by for ever. And if his Majesty vouchsafe to give command unto his Prelates, to have an eye unto the unity and uniformity of their se­verall Churches, and to reduce them to her primi­tive [Page 57] lustre: he is not only sure to hear of it in those scandalous Pamphlets which every day are offered to the publick view, but shall have many close ill-wil­lers, that secretly repine & murmur at so brave a pie­ty; I wil not say from what bad humour this proceeds, but sure I am, to say the best, that it proceeds from a misapprehension of the Churches danger; and that we would perswade our selves, that the intentions of these men are harmless, and themselves contemp­tible; and that their wheat is pure and clean, not a­ny dangerous tare amongst it; but I could tell you, had I time, and may perhaps take time to do it in prosecution of this Parable, that they have introdu­ced into the Church the ancient Heresies of the No­vatians, Donatists, Aerians, Priscillianists, and the Apostolici; with those of Bardesanes and Florinus; which I spake of lately: not to say any thing of those dangerous principles which they are known to hold among them against peace and government. High time assuredly both for Prince and Prelate to have an eye upon them, and to watch their doings. Gird then thy Sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty man of valour, ride on with Worship and Renown because of Gods, thine and the Churches enemies. And may it be thine happiness, as it is thy care, to have thy Watch­men vigilant, thy Servants faithful, and thy Councel circumspect, that so no tare, either of error or false Doctrine, may ever grow upon those Churches under thy Dominion.

PRosperum ac felix scelus virtus vocatur: Seneca. Succesfull mischief is oft crowned with the name of vertue; and he is counted fortunate, whose designes do prosper, how wretched and unjust soever. The wicked man is not asha­med of doing ill, but of being detected; nor doth he fear the sin but the discovery: this makes them, as they love to sin, so to sin in secret, as if the dark­ness would conceal their naughtiness; or if it could be hid from God, because committed in a corner. But God from Heaven looks down upon them, and derides their follies, and brings them at the last to the open light, that howsoever they have sinned in secret, they may receive the wages and reward of sinne in publick. And thus it was with Satan in the present Parable, whose foot-steps and example his [Page 59] Disciples follow. When he intended to destroy Gods Harvest, he did it in a time of darkness, Cùm dor­mirent homines, when all the servants were asleep. And that he might be sure to avoid discovery, he did the feat alone, in private, without any company; Venit & abiit, [...]aith the Text, his comming was in se­cret, his departure sudden, so that no notice could be taken of him when the deed was doing, and not much neither being done: for he made choice of such a seed to sow and scatter in Gods field, which was so like the wheat in an outward shew, and pro­mised such a rich increase to the heavenly Harvest, that it was no small difficulty to distinguish which was Gods, which his. And all this while who could have otherwise conceived but that he had been very fortunate in his undertaking, and his tares good wheat? but yet at last it fell out contrary to his ex­pectation, God making a discovery of his subtile practices, and manifesting to his Church the danger in the which it stood. And howsoever that men slept when the seed was sowen, and that they looked not after it when the blade sprung up; yet when it came to bring forth fruit, then their eyes were opened, and they were able to distinguish between wheat and tares. But when the blade sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, Cùm autem crevisset herba, & fructum fecisset, then appeared the tares also.

In handling of these words, I shall consider these things following. First, Of what kinde those Do­ctrines were which were sowen by Satan, and are de­cipher'd here by the name of tares. Secondly, That there was no way to discern those Doctrines, the falshood and ill nature of them in the seed or stalks, [Page 60] until they came to bring forth fruit. Thirdly, That every Doctrine of what sort soever doth produce some fruit, by which it may be known whether true or false: and Fourthly, That when the fruits ap­peared, then it was easie to discover of what sort they were. Of these, or of as many of them as the time will suffer, beginning with the nature of these Doctrines which are here intended.

Sapientis est malè facere si & utile sit & tutum. Lactan. l. 3. 17. It was a maxime with the Epicures, that no wise man forbears to pursue his most wicked counsels, in case they might conduce to profit, and be done with safe­ty. A dangerous and most mischievous principle, if once put in practice; and such as could proceed from no other Fountain, then the first Father of all falshood. He indeed had been versed therein from the first beginnings, even from the first attempt that he made on man; in which he took upon himself the shape and title of a Serpent, the most subtile beast, to work upon the weakness of a woman, the most feeble sex. The profit that he aimed at in that grand imposture, was to attain that Empire on the earth over wretched man which he had failed of in the Heavens, and amongst the Angels. And he con­ceived himself secure in the undertaking, both in re­gard of this disguise, and the condition of the party that he was to deal with. Thus was it then, and thus it hath been ever since. For the old Serpent is no changeling, Horace. but still keeps his own, qualis ab incoepto processerit, the same Serpent still. God had no sooner sowen his field with celestiall seed, but straight the Devil was at hand to disperse his tares: by doing which he might not only spoyl Gods Harvest, but [Page 61] increase his own. This was the profit that he aimed at: which that he might be sure to procure with safety, and not incurre the least suspicion of impo­sture till his croppe was ripe, he did not only watch his opportunity whiles the servants slept; but sowed the field with such a grain that could not easily be discerned when they were awake.

For tares, zizania, if we consider them according to the first appearance, and in the manner of their growth, are not much different from the wheat. Folio oblongo sunt, & culmo tritici graciliore, so sayes Rovillius, and with him divers others of the modern Herbalists. Nay many of the ancient writers have observed no lesse, In locum. Zizania tritico similia esse in arun­dine, dissimilia in fructu; the difference is not in the blade or stalk, but the fruit alone: So saith Eu­thymius Zigabenus. Between the tares and wheat, whilest they are yet in herba, in the blade or stalk, grandis similitudo est, In Matth. 13. there is no small similitude: So Hierome. Lastly, To add no more, we are told by Chrysostome, that it was Satans cunning to disguise his errors under the mask and veil of truth, that so he might more easily seduce the simple, and beguile the ignorant. And for that very cause (saith he) he made choice of these tares, [...], being so like unto the wheat in the first appearing, that it was very hard to know which was right. [ Tostatus hath affirmed as much in his work on Matthew; Nam herba tritici & zizaniorum similis est, sed grana dissimilia, the fruit, saith he, is diffe­rent, though the blades be like.] Lay these parti­culars together, and they come to this, that the false Doctrines noted and intended in the present Para­ble [Page 62] were such as had a shew of truth, and might be easily mistook for sound Orthodox Tenets; but be­ing afterwards discovered and examined, were dis­proved as dangerous.

So then the errors and false Doctrines which are noted here, and said to have been sowen by Satan, in medio tritici, even in the middle of the Church, were not like those of Arius, who denied the Deity, or of the Valentinians, who denied the Manhood of our Lord and Saviour; or of the Marcionites and Ma­niches, which blasphemed the very Majesty of God the Father; or of the Macedonians, who quarrelled the Divinity of the holy Ghost: Nor were they, fi­nally, like those which had been set on foot in the primitive times by those desperate writers, who in their severall turns and courses had impiously oppo­sed and quarelled every, or any Article of the Chri­stian faith. These we may rather liken unto briers & brambles, discerned as soon as in the blade, or in the very first appearance. The Church soon spied those Heresies, and as soon condemned them; nor ever were the servants eyes so heavy, as not to note the time, and observe the Authors of those wicked Do­ctrines, leaving to us upon record the knowledge and relation of the whole proceedings: so that those wretched and blasphemous Heresies wherewith the Church was exercised in the Primitive times, were generally but like Jonahs gourd, In Pseudo lo. of a dayes continu­ance; or the Solstitial Herbe in Plautus, quae repen­tino ortae sunt, repentino occidunt, almost as soon sup­prest as risen. Few of them, though they had been sowen with all care and cunning, came to take deep root; fewer to cùm crevisset herba, to the blade or [Page 63] blossom; but none unto fecissent fructum, to bring forth their fruit, before they were descried and cen­sured. And however some of them, as that of Arius, became of universall latitude and long continuance, so that ingemuit orbis, as St. Hierome hath it, the whole world groaned under the weight and burden of so foule an heresie: yet did it never passe for Wheat, or was counted Orthodox, but still pursued and execrated as a wicked blasphemy.

But for these tares, the Doctrines and erroneous tenets of the present Parable, the case was otherwise. either the servants were not able to discern them at first peeping forth; or else conceived there was not so much danger in them as in truth there was; or else were willing to believe that possibly they might prove wheat, and so become a plentiful addition to Gods holy Harvest. For either the opinion taken up was but the fancy of few, however had in admi­ration for their parts and learning, and so not likely to prevail; or some such division from the Churches tenets, as did not seem to threaten any present danger to the common quiet, and so the lesse to be regarded. And this is that which is ob­served by Lirinensis, that many errors and false Do­ctriens had secretly been introduced into the Church, Cap. 15. quos nec cito deprehendere valeas, nec facil damnare fas ducis; which neither could be soon dis­cerned, nor were thought fit to be condemned on the first discovery. By meanes whereof it came to passe, that the said new, but false opinions, as they were scattered and dispersed when no man saw them, so they took root when no man marked them. And when they came to cùm crevisset herba, when it came [Page 64] to that, and that the blade sprung up and had shewn it self, yet were they still so like the wheat, both in shape and colour, that few there were of such a searching and discerning eye, as to pronounce aright from what seed they sprung: nay when they came unto the triall to fecissent fructum, and that their fruit discovered them to be but tares, yet then they shewed themselves to the publick view with such a Copy of old age, and reputation of Antiquity, that they contended for priority with the wheat it selfe.

Such are the errors and false Doctrines whereof we challenge and accuse the Church of Rome; such as a long time passed for truth, and were not noted either in the seed or blade. Errors which being set on foot by some private men, and having gotten credit by continuance and long tract of time, were first de­bated in the Schools as probable; afterwards enter­tained in the Church as true; and last of all, im­posed on mens souls as necessary. Errors which at their first appearing did not directly, ex professo, ei­ther oppose the Churches Doctrine, or disturb her peace; but such as seemed to have upon them the character and superscription of sacred verity, and grew up sensim sine sensu with Gods holy truth: we charge them not with any of those impious blasphe­mies, or wicked heresies, derogatory to the honour of our Lord and Saviour, or any other person of the glorious Trinity, or any other common principle of the Catholick faith, which Simon Magus, and the rest of that damned crew have opposed and quarrel­led. In that they have done bravely for the Church of Christ, and publickly opposed those wretched [Page 65] heresies which the Socinians have revived in these latter dayes, Utinam sic semper errassent, would they had erred thus alwayes, had they erred no otherwise, as once the Cardinal said of Calvin. That which we have to say against them is, that they have forsaken their first love, like the Church of Ephesus, and cast a stumbling-block before the people, like to that of Pergamus; and suffered the woman Jezebel, which calleth her self a Prophetess, to seduce Gods servants from the right way of his Commandements, like the Thyatirians. So that the aberration from the Go­spel which we charge upon them, is not from the profession, but the purity of the Christian faith; not from the outward signes and Sacraments, but the sincerity and soundness of Religion; not from the Church of Christ, but in it.

And yet I would not be mistaken, as if I thought there were no Heresie to be found in the Church of Rome: or that their errors which they teach, were neither positively dangerous in themselves, nor pos­sibly pernicious and destructive to them that hold them, without true repentance. That which was first an error only, when first taken up, in them that taught it, may by an obstinate pertinacy become an Heresie in them that hold it. Its true, that every deviation from the truth, or opposition made against it, doth not denominate an Heretick: nor doth the volunta­ry taking up of a false opinion, create such mischief to the Church, as the unwillingness to lay it down. Were it not for pertinaciter defensa, sponte electa would beare no great stroke in the definition of an Heresie. This was the case between St. Cyprian and the Donatists; S. Cyprian and some other holy Bishops [Page 66] of the African Churches, conceived rebaptization to be necessary in some certain cases; but modestly, and with submission to the Church of God deter­mining according to his word in Scripture. The Do­natists maintained the same opinion, but they did it obstinately, refused to hearken to the Church, or to admit of any Judges but themselves, to decide the controversie. The error was the same in both, the Doctrine false alike in both; and yet the Do­natists stand branded for it by the name of Here­ticks, whereas St. Cyprian and his Associates are accounted Catholicks. Why so? because of perti­naciter defensa, because the Donatist maintained it with so great perverseness, that there was no reclaim­ing of him to the sound Doctrines of the Church. And this is that which Lerinensis speaks of with such admiration, Cap. O mira rerum conversio! Authores opinio­nis Catholici, sectatores haeretici judicantur; absolvuntur magistri, condemnantur discipuli.

This also is the case of the Church of Rome, the enemy had sowen his tares in agro domini, and they sprung up in medio tritici. When they were sowen they were not noted; and having taken root, and put forth the blade, they looked so like the wheat, with so fair a shew, that very few, if at all any, did suspect them. And so long these of Rome were in the same condition and estate with the African Prelates: either their ignorance or inadvertency might have salv'd the sore; but when the fruit discover'd them to be tares indeed, and that they notwithstanding would defend and countenance them, proclaim them to be wheat of the Lords own sowing, sell them for such to simple people in the open markets, and [Page 67] make them eat (as one may say) their own damna­tion, then fell they into the condition of the despe­rate Donatist, and that which was an error only in the first broachers of the Doctrine, is in them made He­resie. And here I may repeat that of Lirinensis, Au­thores opinionis Catholici, sectatores haeretici. They which first set on foot the opinion, whatsoever they were, might have no ill intention in it, conceiving that which they delivered not to be contrary to the Churches tendries, though perhaps besides them. And so it might be with them also which took them upon trust, and assented to them, not having meanes or opportunity to come unto the knowledge of the truth in those particulars. But so it is not with our Masters in the Church of Rome, who have not only means to know them, and opportunity to consider of the fruit they bear; but having been in­formed of that long mistake in which their Prede­cessors lived, and of the dangers which those tares do threaten to the Church of God, do obstinately shut their eyes against the sacred light of truth, and will not see the beames thereof, shine they never so brightly: In which estate, if they continue wilful without true repentance, let them take heed lest that befall them which my Authour speaks of, Absol­vuntur magistri, condemnantur discipuli: and so I leave them to Gods mercy, & with them the first point of this Discourse, viz. the kind or nature of the Doctr. which are here intended, proceeding hence unto the 2d, the difficulty to discern them in the seed or blade, until they came to bring forth fruit, to fecissent fructum.

Nil magis curant quàm occultare quod praedicant. Lib. 1. In initio. Tertullian notes it of the Valentinians, that they did [Page 68] use to hide their tenets, and conceal their Doctrines. A Lesson taught them by their sire the Devil, who when he had a purpose to destroy Gods Harvest, not only did it at a time when the servants slept, and in so quick a manner that he was not noted, but sowed Gods field with such a seed, as could not easi­ly be discerned from the wheat it self, until the ve­ry fruits proclaimed it. In all his other projects to subvert the Gospel, the Watchmen of the Church so traced him, and kept so vigilant an eye upon him, that all his machinations were detected, and his hopes made frustrate: he is resolved to cheat the very Watchmen, and therefore sets on foot such Do­ctrines in which was no apparent danger, and much lesse any visible impiety; that whilest the Watch­men let them passe, neither examining from whence they came, nor to what they tended; he might by them effect his purpose with the greater safety, and by degrees endanger and subvert Religion.

And certainly it is no marvel that they should passe without discovery, and prevail so farre, consi­dering how closely the design was carried, how little noyse it made abroad, and by what leisure and de­grees it did gather strength. For howsoever it be true which the Cardinall tells us, Bell [...]rm. de Eccl l. 4. c. 5. that in omni insig­ni mutatione religionis, in every notable change and alteration of Religion, a man may easily discern both the change it self, and all the circumstances that pertain unto it; yet in the sowing of these tares it was not so. We neither know the Authors, time or place, by whom, when, where, the said false te­nets were first broached: nor finde we any that op­posed them at their rising up, or whether any did [Page 69] take notice of them when the blade sprung up. And yet it is most manifest, that such tares there were, and that they had almost corrupted and destroyed the wheat, before the servants had espied them. The Cardinalls Rule holds good in all sudden chan­ges, which are made publickly and professedly, and all at once, in publick and notorious Heresies, which come in with violence, and aim at the foundation of the House of God. And any man of common reading can tell as well as he, when, and by whom, and where, the Macedonian, Arian, Valentinian Here­sies, or any of the rest of so high a nature did at first begin; but between those and these in the body mystical, the difference is as great and signall, as be­tween open Arms and Clandestine conspiracy in the body politique, whereof that may be easily discer­ned, this not: or an outragious burning Feaver, and a dull Consumption in the body naturall, of which that comes with fury, this growes on insensi­bly: it fares no otherwise with the tares in the pre­sent Parable, then with the good Seed in another of our Saviours Parables: which is, as if a man should cast his seed into the ground, Mark 4. and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, but he knoweth not how.

Our Saviour tells us of his Kingdom, Luke 17. v. 20. non venire cum observatione, that it commeth not with obser­vation, but growes upon us, in us, with us, insensi­bly and by degrees. And so it is also in the King­dom of Antichrist, in the beginning, working and in­crease thereof: which with the whole abominations of it, was to be introduced into the Church, not o­penly and ex professo, so that all might see it; but [Page 70] mystically, covertly and silently, without noyse or clamour, so that it might deceive even the very Watch-men. They who advanced this business, were such men as those, Cap. 1. of whom St. Paul tells us in the first of Timothy, that they should speak all fal­shood in hypocrisie. The meaning is, that they should so disperse their Doctrines with such a shew of godliness, and pretence of piety, that no man should have cause to suspect their doings, untill the very fruits bewrayed them; and so it proved in the event. That generall aberration from the power and purity of Christs glorious Gospel, the seeds whereof were sowen by Satan, even in the lives of the Apostles, was not discovered fully till these latter dayes: St. Paul, who diligently traced his foot-steps, and found by good conjecture, that he had been sowing, calls it, [...], a very mystery of iniquity. A mystery in the seed, and in the blade; but in the fruit thereof a plain iniquity. Had it not brought forth wickedness, iniquitatem, it had not been of Sa­tans sowing; and had the working of it been noto­rious, and sensible to every eye, it had been no my­stery; but it was both, and both together made up the true nature of it, mysterium iniquitatis. That wicked one in the Apostles time did already work, although he was not then revealed; but in our dayes, mystery, which before was written upon the forehead of the woman, is quite vanished; and there is nothing to be seen at all, but Babylon the Great, the Mother of abominations.

And I said well, that mystery was writ upon the forehead, and not only in a mystical, but a literal sense; for Scaliger in his notes on the Revelation re­ports, [Page 71] that in the former times the word mysterium was ingraven in Capitall Letters upon the front, or fore-part of the Triple Crown; and that it so con­tinued till the Reign of Julius, who caused the old one to be broken, and a new one made, and his own titles, Julius Pont. Max. to be inchased with Pearls where the old word stood. This he delivereth from the mouth of D. Montmorency, who learnt the same at Rome from men of good repute and quality who had seen the same, upon whose faith we must relie for the truth hereof. But to proceed:

They therefore much mistake themselves, and the condition of the tares here sowen by Satan, who either think they may be easily discerned as soon as sowed, or that they will disclose their malignant nature upon the first Essay and Triall. The Scri­pture tells us of these tares, that they appeared not to be tares, till the fruits proclaimed them. And Ga­len notes, D [...] facultate al. mon. l. 4. that when some covetous and careless Husbandmen, not winnowing their Corn as they ought to do, had sold both tares and wheat together, those which did feed thereon found no disease, nor ill effect thereof, at the very instant; but that on the approch of Summer, [...], they broke out all of them into biles and sores. When therefore he prescribes this course in the way of diet, that we should carefully cast away the tares, and sift them from our heaps of Wheat, he gives this reason of his counsel; for though (saith he) the inconvenience be at first so small, that we scarce feel it for the present, yet at the last, when the ill humors and corruptions which do thence arise, are grown full and pregnant, [...], [Page 72] then the malignity of their nature doth at large ap­peare. So is it with the juyce of tares, if we drink thereof, (as sometimes it is mingled with the Cup of Life,) it doth not work upon the sudden: that poysoned Cup wherewith the Princes of the Earth, and the Inhabiters thereof have been made drunk so long together, was of a soft and gentle nature, not of quick dispatch; tempered according to the neat Ita­lian fashion: The venom of the same being insensi­bly pernicious, brings on death at last, and yet we never feel it working; which briefly we return for a general Answer unto those Cavils of the Cardinall, who therefore will allow no tares to have been sowen at all in the Church of Rome, Eò quòd tempus cer­tum designare non possumus, because we cannot tell the circumstances of time, place and persons, when, and by whom, and where the Devil sowed them. A more particular Answer thereunto is neither pos­sible nor necessary in the present case.

And first it is not possible as unto the Author, which is the first and greatest circumstance by him required. All that the Text informs us is, inimicus sevit, that the enemy sowed them; and that this e­nemy is the Devil; but by whose hands the Devil did it, what instruments he used to effect his purpose, as Christ our Saviour hath not told us, so are we still ignorant: we finde no further light here then a venit, abiit, that he came secretly, and departed sud­denly, he staid not long upon the place; and for the little time he stayed, he took his opportunity, cùm dormirent homines, when all the servants were asleep, and did not see him; and if they did not see him, as tis plain they did not, I would fain know [Page 73] how they could possibly produce him. Besides, it is most likely that he came disguised in the apparel of some Houshold-servant belonging to the heavenly Husbandman, having a form of godliness, and a shew of zeal; so that in case the other servants had not slept, he might have past away without discove­ry. The Devil when he came to Eve, came not like the Devil, but in the shape of a Domestick, one of A­dams Family; and of a Serpent, in whose shape he came, Tertullian tells us, abscondit se serpens quantum potest, to tam (que) prudentiam in latebrarum ambagibus tor­quet, that he conceales himself as much as possibly he can, and shews his wit in nothing more then in finding lurking-holes: nay, sometimes when he hath a purpose to abuse poor man, he doth trans­form himself into an Angel of Light, his Ministers into the Ministers of Righteousness: and who could possibly suspect any hurt or danger from those who are accounted Ministers of Righteousness, or celestial Angels? Nor is the Rule of Bellarmine so generally true in this particular of the Author, but that it will admit of some exceptions; for there were very ma­ny Heresies in the primitive times, acknowledged and avowed for such in the Church of Rome, as viz. of the Gnosticks, Nazarenes, Ophites, Cainites, Sethi­ans, cum multis aliis, mentioned in Epiphanius, Austin, and Theodoret, and many other antient Writers, of which it would extremely puzzle Bellarmine, and all his followers in that Church, to produce the Au­thors.

So is it also with the circumstances of time and place in which those heresies began, which neither he nor any of the best Philologers in the Church of Rome, [Page 74] can assigne precisely, but wander up and down in the search thereof, as their blinde fancies and con­jecture lead them; and so the wonder is the more, that not being able to assigne the certainty of time and place, in publick and notorious Heresies, which came in with clamor, they should expect the same from us, in the detecting of those errors which came in by stealth. In their authentick vulgar Latine, there are many errors, corruptions, transpositions, barba­rismes, which are by Cajetan, Senensis, Oleaster, and the English Rhemists, ingenuously confessed & pub­lished. Isidore Clarius, a Spanish Monke, professeth that he found no fewer then 8000 errors, some of them very grosse and palpable. And should we turn the scale, and demand of Bellarmine, when, in whose time, by whose neglect, all the said errors and cor­ruptions crept into the Text: I trow he would be fain to answer, cum dormirent homines, that it was done when as the Watchmen were asleep, and look­ed not to the publick safety of the Church of God.

So for the circumstance of place, all that we know, or possibly can know, at so farre a distance is, that these tares were sowen in agro domini, not in this part alone, or that; but in medio tritici, even in the mid­dle of the Wheat, as well in one place as another. Dic quibus in terris, were too hard a taste for the best Apollo in the Conclave; and we may say, Qua terra patet, when they ask that question. A more particular designation of these two last circumstan­ces, in all the points debated between them and us, is a thing impossible. The Text informs us, that these tares were sowen, cùm dormirent homines, when [Page 75] all the servants were asleep; and would you have them give accompt of time and place, in matters which were done when they were asleep? Such an accompt indeed they might ha [...]e given, as did the Souldiers in the Gospel of our Saviours body, who gave it out, and stood to it, like brave men of arms, that his Disciples came by night, and stole it whilst they were asleep. A very likely tale I promise you; for if they were asleep, as they said they were, how could they tell, that either any body came to steal him, or that the Lords Disciples were the men that did it? Adeo mendaci rum natura est, ut cohaerere non possunt, said Lactantius tru­ly.

Besides, those errors which we note in the Church of Rome, as they came in privily, so they grew up in­sensibly. And first of all they came in privily, there being not only many errors, but even damnable he­resies, which came in privily and by stealth, as St. Peter tells us. There shall arise (saith he) false Teach­ers in those dayes, that privily shall bring in damnable Heresies, sectas perditionis, as the Latine reads it. The Devil in this point is like the Peacock; as he is An­gelus in penna, and can transform himself into an An­gel of light, when he thinks it necessary: so is he pede latro too, a creature of a silent and a theevish gate, when he sees occasion. It is no easie tracing of him in his private paths. Secondly, those errors as they came in privily, so they grew insensibly, like to the finger of a Diall, which we finde varied from the place where before it was, and yet we do not see it vary; for so do private mens opinions, if they be but probable, gain by degrees we know not how, on the [Page 76] affection and good liking of particular persons, and after on the approbation of the Church it self, till in the end of Paradoxes, they became to be counted School-points, then taken, or mistaken rather, for the traditions of the Church; and finally received as Articles of the Christian faith. The holy Ghost hath said of Christ, that he is a Rock, Petra autem e­rat Christus, in St. Pauls Epistles; and Christ hath told us of the Confession of his faith, that it is a Rock, super hanc petram, in St. Matthews Gospel. Now one of those four things which seemed so wonderful and unsearchable in the eyes of Solomon, is via serpentis super petram, that of a Serpent on a Rock; or, if you like the Application, that of the Devil, in subverting the faith of Christ: nor is it thus only in the points of faith, but in that of Cere­monies, which by degrees, insensibly, and without observation, have very much declined and varied in the Church of Rome from what they were in their original institution, there being many things or­dained of a good intent, as one amongst themselves complaineth, quae nunc videmus partim in abusum, partim in superstitionem verti, which are now changed into abuse, and altered into supersti­tion.

But yet the Cardinal stayes not here, we must enquire, quis eam oppugnaverit, what men oppo­sed these new opinions, and made head against them at their first appearance, or else all is lost. A Quere not more capable of resolution than the others were; for if the Authors were not known, the opi­nions private, and that there is no Constat of the time or place, when, and wherein the seeds were [Page 77] sowen, then certainly, to look for an opponent, were an excellent folly. And it is plain, that in the sevit, no man saw them, they were all asleep; in the crevisset no m [...]n knew them, they looked so like un­to the Wheat; but when they came to fructifie, to fecissent fructum, and that the fruits did yield the least suspicion to the vigilant servants of an ensuing mischief to the Church of God, then did God stir up some to take notice of them, and to give warn­ing to the rest of the common danger: if not, tell me what Caveats had been entred in the Churches name, by Gregory the Great, against the Doctrine of the Popes supremacy; by Berengarius, against that of the carnall presence; by Charles the Great, and all his Clergy in the Synod of Frankford, against the worshipping of Images; by Huldrich B. of Ausburg, in defence of the married Clergy; by the Waldenses, Pauperes de Lugduno, Clemanges, Petrus de Alliaco, Wiclif, Hus, and others, (though men that had, I grant their own personal errors) against the seve­rall corruptions of the Church of Rome, both in faith & manners? Nay, if we thought that that would please him, we could tell the Cardinall, out of Rai­nerius, one of the Popes Inquisitors, that there have never wanted some since the time of Constantine that have opposed the errors of the Church of Rome; the names of whom who list to see, may finde them in Catalogus testium veritatis, with their times and qualities: so that the Cardinall might well have spared this bold expression, non solum pa­stores sed et Deum valde dormivisse, that God, not men alone, had been fast asleep, had he not in so many ages stirred up one or other to make resistance [Page 78] to those errors which were sowen by Satan. A speech, which in another man might be called a Blasphemy; but comming from the mouth of so grave a Father, may passe among the Oracles of the Roman Conclave.

But since those circumstances of time, place and person, are pressed so frequently by the adversary, and that the Cardinall insists so much upon it, quod nullum horum in nobis possunt ostendere, that we can finde none of them in the Church of Rome: we must answer further, that as the satisfaction of these Queres is not possible, so it is not necessary. Shall not my Doctor think me sick, although he finde a general decay over all my body, not one sound part from head to foot, unless I can inform him punctu­ally, both when, and where, and in whose company I sickoned? or should we conceive him a sory Ar­chitect, that being called to view an old ruinous Buil­ding, would not believe it wanted any thing, or was out of order, unless I could acquaint him where it first took wet, and in what part it first decayed, and who then dwelt in it? Do not corruptions creep into the strictest Governments, labente paulatim dis­ciplina, the rigour and severity of Discipline, day by day declining? And should we not repute him a most excellent Statesman, that would think nothing fit for a Reformation, unless some wiser then him­self could tell him, when and by whom, and in whose Government the abuse crept in? But to restrain our selves to matters that concern Religion, Antiqu. l. 13. c. 18. Josephus tells us of the Pharisees, what innovations they had made in the Jewish Church, and that they pub­lished many things as the traditions of the Fa­thers, [Page 79] [...], which were not to be found in the Books of Moses. Our Sa­viour also tells us of them, that they had made the Word of God of none effect by their traditions. But for the time when they began, and from what Au­thour they descended, Josephus could not tell us, and our Saviour did not, which shewes our Saviour did not think it necessary, nor Josephus possible. Our Saviour looked not on the root, but upon the fruit, and by the fruit gave judgement of the Tree it self, there being no Doctrine of what sort soever, but it beares some fruit, by which it may be known whe­ther true or false: my next particular, and next in order to be handled.

Nemo non in vitia pronus est. There are few men but are addicted to some vice, either by the corrup­tion of their nature, or the iniquity of their educati­on. We are all sinners from the womb, but are then most sinful, when we are seasoned with ill Princi­ples; and that the poyson of our education is super­added to the venom of our dispositions. And this is that which Tully charged upon Mr. Anthony, that he had took great pains, and studied most extreamly hard to be lewd and vitious, ac si putaret se natura tam improbum non potuisse evadere, nisi accessisset etiam dis­ciplina. But on the other side, the benefit of a ver­tuous institution is so great and excellent, that it cor­recteth in us our most prevalent frailties, and rectifi­eth the obliquities of our affections, which made the wise man give this testimony of, and to Philosophy, that by his knowledge in the same he could live up­rightly, and exercise those vertuous actions of his own accord, [...], [Page 80] which others did upon compulsion, and for fear of law. How much more operation think we have those Doctrines on us, which come apparalled in the habit of Religion, and the Cloak of piety? on a confor­mity to the which we are perswaded, that all our comforts do depend for the present life, and all our hopes for that to come. Assuredly these precepts and instructions which we take from them, whose words and dictates we imbrace as celestial Oracles, are of power incredible, either to make us fit for mischief, or to inable and prepare us for the works of goodness: so that in case there were no other way to know what leaders we have followed, and what instructions have been given us, the fruits of our affections would at full declare it.

The reason is, because of that dependence which the affections have on the understanding, that which the understanding apprehends as true, being re­commended to the will as good, and forthwith by the will desired and followed: so that as often as the understanding is deceived in its proper object, and entertaineth falshood instead of truth, so often is the will misguided, in courting those things which indeed are wicked, but yet are clothed in the ha­bit of dissembled vertue: upon this ground St. Paul hath told us of the Gentiles, that having their under­standing darkned through the ignorance which was in them, they gave themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all manner of uncleanness with greediness. Eph. 4. 19. If so, if that so sad effects did follow upon the darkness of the understanding, no question but the misperswasion wherewith sometimes it is effected, produce more wretched consequents in our outward actions; for if [Page 81] the understanding be depraved with false opinions, the will most commonly is led aside by vain affecti­ons; the errors of the same being farre more dange­rous, because more active. Now there is nothing entertained in the understanding which is not re­commended to it by the outward senses, Nil est in intellectu quod non priùs fuit in sensibus, say the old Philosophers. And of all outward senses, there is none more serviceable to the understanding then the sense of hearing; for Fides ex auditu, Faith is by hearing, saith the Apostle. By meanes whereof it comes to passe, that as we preach, even so the people do believe; and as they do believe, even so they practise. Take we heed therefore what we preach, and that we sowe not tares among simple men, who cannot know them from the Wheat.

Now of the tares I told you in my last Discourse from Galen, Plinie, Theophrastus, and many of the best of our modern Herbalists, that they affect the sight with dimness, and the head with giddiness, and the whole body with Diseases: And so it is also with the false opinions, those dangerous and errone­ous Tenets intended in the present Parable; for in our eyes, (conceive we of our understanding) they do occasion such a dimness, that either we cannot see the way that leads to happiness, or seeing, see the same, but will not perceive it. And in our heads it doth produce so great a giddiness, that we are con­stant unto nothing, halting, as once the Israelites, between two opinions, divided betwixt God and Mammon, in great distraction with our selves, whe­ther we shall adhere to Christ, or follow Antichrist; [Page 82] continue in old England, or hoyst sail for New. And for the sores upon the body, the blemishes of our behaviour, the stains and scandalls of our con­versation, by which we grieve the Spirit, and dis­grace Religion, what are they but the frequent, though most lewd effects of a perverted understan­ding, and a poysoned will?

The Heresies of the Gnosticks and the Carpocrati­ans, what vile and wretched things they were! A man might easily conjecture what fine points they held, by the condition of their lives, which were so filthy and obscene, that for their sakes the name of Christian first grew odious to the sober Gentile. Vide Christianos quid agunt, In illis patitur lex Christiana maledictum, as devout Salvian oft complained. The errors of the Church of Rome in point of judgement have they not bred as grievous errors in the points of practice? Whence else proceeds it that the Priests are debarred from Marriage, and permitted Concu­bines; that open Stewes are suffered and allowed of, so they pay rent unto the Pope, and supply his Cof­fers; that Princes may have dispensation to forswear themselves, and break those Covenants which they have solemnly contracted with their confederates; that subjects may take arms against, and depose their Princes, if the Pope do but say the word, and free them from the Oath of their Allegeance? And on the other side, when we behold men factiously bent to oppose the Church, seditiously inclined to disturb the State, disloyally resolved to resist their Soveraign, rebelliously disposed to excite the people; when men refuse to pay the King his lawful tributes, and yet consume them on their lusts; when they let [Page 83] loose such rogues as Barrabas, that they may crucifie their Lord and Master; may we not certainly affirm, that they have hearkened to the Doctrines of Knox and Cartwright, and their successors in the cause? Such as the Doctrines are which the eare takes in, such al­so are the lives which are framed thereafter. Cavete itaque quid auditis, take you heed therefore what ye hear, lest whilest you lend an eare to those false Apostles, you partake with them of their sins.

And certainly there is good reason why we should take heed. The Devil never was more busied in sowing of his tares, then now; nor ever had he bet­ter opportunity to effect his purpose. So dull and sleepy are men grown circa custodiam propriae personae suae, in reference to themselves and their private safe­ty, that they are angry with the Prelates for being so vigilant and careful circa custodiam gregis sui, and having more care of them then they have them­selves: so that if Satan be but diligent, as no doubt he is, and send his instruments abroad, as no doubt he doth, he may disperse his tares securely, and bring them to fecissent fructum, ere they be discovered. And how comes this to passe, but for want of heed, for want of taking heed what it is we hear, and unto whom it is we hearken, False? factious and schsma­tical Doctrines are the seeds of Satan; and many in­struments he hath, both in the Pulpit and the Parlor, to disperse those seeds: some speaking evil of Au­thority, and despising Dignities; others perverting of the people, and forbidding to pay tribute unto Caesar: some taking up provision of the choicest wits, and persons of most power and quality for the [Page 84] Church of Rome; and others leading out whole Fa­milies to seek the Gospel in the Desert. He that doth look for better fruit from such dangerous Do­ctrines, then discontent and murmuring against their Rulers, associations and conspiracies against law­ful Government, and finally, a flat Apostasie from the sincerity of that Religion which is here profest, may as well look for Grapes from Thorns, or Figs from thistles. A good Tree bringeth forth good fruit; but for these evil Trees which bear evil fruit, what are they profitable for but for the fire? that as they are the cause of combustions here, they may adde fuel to the fire hereafter.

Thus have I brought you at the length to that which did occasion the discovery of the Devills practise. The sowing of these Tares, the Sevit we had seen before: We have now took a brief view of them in crevisset herba, and brought them to fecis­sent fructum. There remains nothing further but apparuerunt, that they appeared, and how they were discovered; but that must be the work of another day.

LAtet anguis in herba: The Snake or Serpent doth delight to hide himself under the covert of the grasse, so that we hardly can discern them till we tread upon them; and treading on them unawares, when we think not of it, are in danger to be bitten by them when we cannot help it. Et sic palleat, ut nudis qui pressit calcibus anguem: so is it also in the Text. Here is a Serpent in the grasse, anguis in herba, in the tares, when they first peeped out, and anguis in crevisset, when the blade grew up. Yet all this while the e­nemy was either in his latitat, and so was not seen; or else disguised and veiled with an alias dictus, and so passed unknown. And had he not been found in fe­cissent fructum, when the fruit was ripe, and men were able to discern him, we might have bin worse [Page 86] bitten, and more shrewly punished then were the Israelites in the Desert by the fiery Serpents. But God was pleased to deal more mercifully with his Church then so. And though it seemed good unto him for some certain space to let the enemy rejoyce, and admire himself in the success of his designes, yet it held not long; for when his hopes were highest, and his tares well grown, so that they seemed to have preeminence of the wheat it self, then did the Heavenly Husbandman awake his servants, and let them look upon the tares in fecissent fructum, when they appeared to be what indeed they were, infelix solium, frugum pestis, and whatsoever other name the Poets and Philosophers have bestowed up­on them. But when the blade sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, tunc apparuerunt & zizania, then appeared the tares also.

The words you see are very few, and so the parts not like to be very many. We will observe only these two particulars. 1. That the tares appeared at last, apparuerunt & zizania; when, or how they were discovered, and that we finde in the word tunc, then when the blade had brought forth fruit. Of these in order, begining what the Quod sit first, and so proceeding to the Quando.

Veritas non quaerit angulos, Truth seeks no corners, saith the Proverb: And therefore Christ our Savi­our hath compared it unto a Candle set upon an hill, which shewes it self unto the eye of each beholder. We may affirm thereof, as doth St. Ambrose of the Sun, deficere videtur, sed non deficit; the light there­of cannot be possibly extinguished, although some­times darkened: Opprest sometimes it is, as it hath [Page 87] been formerly, by errors, Heresies, and false opini­ons; supprest it cannot be for ever. For magna veritas, great is the truth, and it prevaileth at the last, however for a while obscured by mens subtile practises. That Heresies shall arise St. Paul hath told us, and he hath brought it in with an oportet, oportet esse haereses, in the Epistle. And that there must be scandalls Christ himself hath told us, and he hath told it too with a necesse est ut scandala veniant, in the holy Gospel. The reasons both of the oport [...]t and ne­cesse, we shall see hereafter, when we shall come to scan those motives which might induce the Lord to permit these tares; Sinite utraque crescere, usque ad messem, v. 30. Mean while it doth concern us to take special notice, that as it pleased the Lord to give way to error, and suffer sometimes heresies of an higher nature, and sometimes false opinions of an inferior quality to take fast footing in his Church; yet he did never suffer them to destroy his harvest, but brought them at the last to apparuerunt. The comfortable beams of truth dispersed and scoured away those Clouds of error wherewith the Church before was darkened, and by the light thereof the foulness and deformity of falshood was made more notorious: so that from hence two special Queres may be raised, first, why these tares or errors were so long concealed; and secondly, how they were at last revealed.

And first they were concealed as it were of pur­pose to let the Church take notice of her own con­dition, how careless and how blinde she is in the things of God, did not the eye of God watch over her, and direct her goings. Her carelesness we had [Page 88] before in dormirent homines, when as we found her sleeping, and regardless of the common enemy; that time the tares were in their Sevit, and no man would hold up his head to look unto the publick safety. Her blindness we may note in this, that being left unto her self, she could not see them in crevisset, when they put forth the leaf, and the blade sprung up, and that they did begin to spread abroad, and justle with the truth for the preeminence. If either no false Doctrines had been sowen at all, or had they all been noted at the first peeping forth, the Church might possibly impute it to her own great watchful­ness, pleaded some special priviledge of infallibility, and so in time have fallen into presumption. God therefore left her to her self, that falling into sin and error, and suffering both to grow upon her by her own remisseness, she might ascribe her safety unto God alone, whose eyes do neither sleep nor slumber. The Church is then in most security when God watcheth over her; when he that keepeth Israel hath his eye upon her; Gods eye, he being [...]culus in­finitus, as the learned Gentile, and totus oculus, as the learned Father, is her best defence. Which if it be averted from her, she walketh forthwith in dark­ness and the shadow of death, subject to every rising error, obnoxious to the practises of her subtile ene­mies. And in this state she stands, in this wretched state, till he be pleased to shine upon her, and blesse her with the light of his holy countenance, the beames whereof discover every crooked way, and bring them to apparuerunt, to the publick view.

And to apparuerunt all must come, every false Doctrine whatsoever, there's no doubt of that; for [Page 89] Idem est non esse & non apparere. No Tenet is erro­neous in respect of us, till it appear to us to be so; and till it doth appear to be so, we may mistake it for a truth, imbrace it for a tendry of the Catholick Church, endeavour to promote it with our best af­fections, and yet conceive our selves to be excusable, in that it is amoris error, not erroris amor. In th [...]s re­gard our Fathers might be safe in the Church of Rome, and may be now triumphant in the Church of Heaven, though they believed those Doctrines which were therein taught, or possibly maintained them with their best affections. The errors of that Church were not then discovered, nor brought to their apparuerunt; and being taken or mistaken for sound Orthodox Tenets, were by them followed and defended in their several stations. So that we may affirm of them as once St. Peter of the Jewes, novimus quia per ignorantiam fecerint, we know that through ignorance they did it: or if we know it not so clearly as St. Peter did, yet we may charitably hope that it was no otherwise, in those particular points and passages wherein we know not any thing unto the contrary. He that makes any doubt of this, what faith soever he pretends to, shewes but little charity, and makes no difference between an acci­dentall and a wilful blindness. There are some errors in the Church, like some Diseases in the body; when they are easie to be cured, they are hard to be known; & when they are easie to be known, they are hard to cured; but every error & disease is of that condition that it must first be known, & the true quality there­of discovered, or else it is impossible to prescribe a remedy.

[Page 90] But so it is not now with us, nor any of our Ma­sters in the Church of Rome, as it was anciently with our fore-fathers in and of that Church. Those er­rors which in former times were accounted truths, or not accounted of as errors, are now in the apparue­runt, we see them plainly as they are; and by com­paring them with Scripture, the true rule of faith, are able to demonstrate the obliquity of those opinions and false Doctrines which they have thrust upon the Church in these latter ages. And we may say of them in Tertullians Language, Ipsa Doctrina eorum cum Apostolica comparata, ex diversitate & contrarieta­te sua pronunciabit neque Apostoli alicujus ess [...], ne­que Apostolici. The difference which appeares be­tween the Doctrines of the Church of Rome, deli­vered in the new Creed of Pope Pius quartus, and those which were delivered once unto the Saints in the old Creed of the Apostles, shewes plainly that they neither came from the Apostles, nor any Apo­stolical Spirit: so that in case we shut our eyes against the sacred beames of truth which now shine upon us; or if they so long after the apparuerunt will not see those tares which are discovered to their hands▪ both we and they are all [...], utterly uncapable of excuse in the sight of God. If any man will be so obstinately wedded to his own opinion, as to take up his Lodging in a Pest-house, after he hath been made acquainted with the present danger, however we in charity may say, Lord have mercy upon him; yet he hath reason to believe, that God in justice will inflict that judgement on him which usually doth befall those men which do wilfully and perversly tempt the Lord their God.

[Page 91] Nor was it only necessary in regard of us, of pri­vate and particular men, that the tares should come to their Epiphanie, their apparuerunt; God did it most especially for his Churches sake, whom he had promised to conduct in the wayes of truth, and to be with her alwayes to the end of the world. The tare is in it self, as the Poet calls it, infelix lolium, a wretched and unlucky weed, and frugum pestis, the bane and plague of other grains, as the learned Herbalist. And of the mischief which it brings to Gods holy Husbandry, either by eating up the wheat, the Lords own good seed, or over-running all the field in the which it growes, I have at large discoursed already. Suffice it that the Devil sowed them with a devillish purpose, [...], that so he might destroy the labour of the Heavenly Husbandman. And doubt we not but that he had in fine effected his malicious ends, had not God brought them in due time to apparuerunt; had he not made a plain discovery of their noxious na­ture, and called upon his servants to take notice of them. We may conceive what reputation they had gained by a longer sufferance, how ill it would have gone with the Church of God in the attempt of re­formation, in that being so long since detected, and brought to their apparuerunt, so many in the world are not yet perswaded that there was any thing in point of Doctrine fit to be reformed. It is with er­rors now, as with temples anciently; the more anti­quity they have the greater sanctity, Tantumque sanctitatis tribuerunt quantum vetustatis, as Minu­tius Felix. God therefore took his time to detect these errors, and to give notice to the world, that [Page 92] they were but tares, before they could prescribe to truth, or challenge such an interest in antiquity, as was not possible to be disproved.

And this the Lord did partly for his own sake too, that so he might acquit himself of those gracious promises which he had made unto his Churches, and by that meanes became her debtor. He promi­sed to be with her alwayes, and therefore could not possibly forsake her in her greatest need: He promi­sed to conduct her in the wayes of truth; and there­fore could not leave her as a prey to error. He promi­sed that the gates of Hell should not prevail against her, and therefore could not give her over to the snares of Satan. God never doth forsake his Church, though he sometimes leaves her to her self for her further trial; nor turn away his face, though he look aside, for her correction and chastisement; for should he utterly desert it, and leave it as a prey un­to sin and error, the Church indeed were in a very sory taking; but in the mean time, where were all Gods promises? Might not the enemy rejoyce, and advance his head, and say that either God did not see his practises, or was not able to prevent them? that he was only rich in promises, promissis dives, but when it came to the performance, then Quid dig­num tanto? And might not his most trusty servants have complained with David, Ut quid Deus repulisti in finem. O God wherefore art thou absent from us so long? we see not our tokens, there is not one Prophet more, no not one is there among us that understandeth a­ny more. This the Lord heard, but would not suffer. And therefore when he had made trial of his Church, and let her see her own infirmities, he [Page 93] brought those errors and false Doctrines which did seem to threaten it, to their apparuerunt, to the open light. And of false Doctrines, many are of that con­dition, that being once discovered, they are soon con­futed, majorque aliquanto labor est invenire quàm vin­cere, How this was done, and when, we must next consider, which for the time thereof was tunc, and for the manner of it, in fecissent fructum; my next particular, and next in order to be handled.

Rectum est sui index & obliqui. There is no bet­ter way to discern any thing thats crooked then by laying it to a right line; or to discover errors and er­roneous Tenets, then to compare them with the truth. Truth doth not only justifie it self, but by the light thereof we are made more able then before to judge of falshood. And howsoever many false opi­nions have passed, and still may passe for currant, in the conceit of those which have took them up; yet by comparing them with Scripture, which is truth it self, or with the Catholique tendries of Gods holy Church, the best Expositor of Scripture, their fol­ly and their falshood will at once appear. Thus was it with the tares in the present Parable; They seem­ed so lovely to the eye in the blade or stalk, that few were able to discern them. Most took them to be Wheat of the Lords own sowing, a very excel­lent piece of Wheat, and such as might have re­compenced the labour of the heavenly Husband­man; but when they came unto fecissent fructum, when both the Wheat and tares came to bring forth fruit, and that the fruits of each were balanced in the scale of the holy Sanctuary, then was it no great difficulty to determine of them, to say that this was [Page 94] Wheat, and that these were tares; that this was truth, and that was error; that this was seed of Gods own sowing, the bonum semen mentioned in the 24. and for the others, unde haec? they could proceed from none but ab inimico. So true is that which Christ our Saviour tells us in another case, igitur ex fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos, by their fruits you shall know them. As for example;

The Doctrine of the Popes supremacy, as it is re­presented to us in the fairest colours, how specious seemes it to the eye, how necessary for the preser­vation of peace and unity in the Church of God? how excellent a piece of Wheat would a man sup­pose it at first looking on? Nature pleads for it, in regard that all living Creatures, as Bees and Birds, and Sheep and all other Cattel love to have some chief, by which the rest may be directed. Rex unus apibus, dux unus gregibus, & in armentis rector unus, as St. Cyprian hath it. Cyprian. St. Hierome adds, & grues u­num sequuntur literato ordine, that the Cranes also have some Prince whom they love to follow. The Politicks stand up in defence of Monarchy, as the most excellent form of Government, Ethicorum l. 8. c. 10. [...], saith our Master Aristotle. And that they may not stand alone against those popular Estates which the world then cherished, they bring the Poets in for seconds; for whom, & in the name of all the rest it is said by Homer, [...], that there is never any unity without one supreme. The Theologues or Divines have affirmed as much, in that the monarchie of all forms of government comes neerest to the Govern­ment of Almighty God, who as he hath alone cre­ated [Page 95] all things by his Almighty hand, so he alone doth govern all things by his mighty power. Multo (que) facilius ab uno regi potest quod est ab uno constitutum, Lactant. said Lactantius truly; which being so, as so it is, and that the Church is the most glorious State of all bo­dies aggregate, good reason that it should be order­ed according to the most complete and best kind of Government, and be obedient to the voyce of one supreme Judge.

This being taken pro confesso, what can follow next, but that this supreme Government ought to have been in some one or other of the Lords Apo­stles? And of that glorious company who so proper for it as divine St. Peter? whom the Evangelist [...] al­wayes make the Marshall in one constant place, and that is primus Simon Petrus, to whom our Saviour said, T [...]bi dabo claves, super hanc petram, pasce oves; and whatsoever else might seem to intimate that he designed him for a Chief over all the rest. Now be­ing that these priviledges and prerogatives were not conferred on Peters person, but upon him and his Successors, as 'tis said they were; where should we look to finde them but in Peters See, the Renowned City of Rome, the Imperial Seat, the Queen and Lady of all Nations? Good reason that the Bishops of that most famous Church, whose faith was spo­ken of through all the world, Et quae domina [...]i in caetera possit, and had sufficient power to command the rest, should sit chief amongst them, chief Presi­dent in all general Councels, chief Justice in all pub­lick controversies, yea, and Lord Treasurer too to dispense all indulgences, and other graces of the Church. Nay, the commodities which the Christian [Page 96] world enjoyes by the sole benefit of the Popes Supre­macie, are said to be so great and weighty, that they are able to bear down all cavils and objections which are made against it; for what a signal blessing is it to have one common Father over all the Church, to whom as to a Catholick Moderator, and indifferent Umpire, all Christian Kings and Princes may refer their quarrels; one supreme head, to whom as to a visible and infallible Judge, the Prelates of the Church, and other learned men may refer their con­troversies: unity must begin from one; and who more fit to be this one, then he that can derive unto himself so faire a title?

And a faire title tis indeed, and hath been so well pleaded by the Advocates of the Court of Rome, that for long time together there was no suspicion that it would ever come in question whether true or false. So fair a field could bring forth nothing but the purest Wheat, the bread of life, even manchet for the Lords own Table. He that had thought or given it out that there was any tare amongst it, much lesse, tares all over, might possibly have had some hearers, but few believers. The reason was, because that all this while the Doctrine was but in crevisset herba, in the blade or stalk; not come unto the height, to fecissent fructum. But when it came to that, and that the fruits thereof appeared in their proper likeness, it proved to be so grosse a tare, such an infelix lolium, such a frugum pestis, that a more dangerous was never sowen by Satan in the Church of God. For then it was discovered plainly, that the Popes in a manner had forsook the claim of being successors to Peter, and would be Vicars unto Christ; [Page 97] that they had changed Quodcunque ligaveris in terra, into Omnis potestas data est mihi in coelis; the Priestly and Prophetical power into the Kingly; and built their rise not on the priviledges which Christ gave to Peter, but upon those which God the Father gave his Christ; and what did follow thereupon, but that his Courtiers honoured him with the title of Vice-God, or Vice-Deus? as in the Inscription of Paulo Quarto Vice-Deo: others with that of Dominus noster Deus [...]apa, our Lord God the Pope: some giving him authority to make vertue vice, and vice vertue, as did Card. Bellarmine; De R. P. l. 4. c. 5. others, to make a new Creed, and coin new Articles of Faith, as did Thomas Aquinas: and finally some of them having gone so farre, as to condemn our Saviour Christ of great in­discretion, nisi unum post se talem vicarium reliquisset, had he not left behind him such a Vicar, so absolute­ly endowed with all manner of power, as did Peter Berhardus.

So for the Popes themselves, De Jurisd. Eccl. c. 7. when they had lay­ed the foundation of their Grandeur on those words of Christ, Omnis potestas data est mihi, how quickly did they turn that primacy which before they had in point of order, into a soveraignty or supremacy in point of power? with what subtile blasphemy did they shift the Scriptures, to make them serviceable to their wicked and ambitious ends? Instead of Tibi dabo claves, one findes out ecce duos gladios, behold here two swords, the one spiritual, the other tempo­rall. And thereupon Pope Julius passing over Tiber, drew out his sword, and threw his keyes into the Ri­ver; affirming openly, that since St. Peters keyes would not serve his turn, St. Pauls Sword should. In­stead [Page 98] of super petram hane, a second brings in super as­pidem & basiliscum: and that Pope Alexander useth, to justifie his treading on the neck of the Emperor Frederick. Instead of Pasce oves meas, a third hath found out Surge Petre occide & manduca, Arise Peter, kill and eat: and this Pope Paul the Fifth alledged for an Authority that he might kill, assassinate, and murder disobedient Princes; and by the same Au­thority, for ought I can see, he may eat them too. And finally to mend the matter, the Popes Supre­macy thus founded and promoted by such wretched shifts, mnst be reputed as an Article of the Christian Faith; and that too primus & praecipus Romanensium fidei articulus, the first and principal Article of the Church of Rome: certain I am, that so it was defen­ded in the time of Pope Clement the Eighth, & hath been since so ranked and marshalled in the new Creed of Pius Quartus. Add unto these their practise in the points aforesaid, proclaiming errors to be truth, and publickly condemning truth for errors; making new Articles of Faith, and misinterpreting the old; deposing Kings, disposing of their Kingdoms, and bringing them to be at their devotion; and tell me if the ordinary fruits of the Supremacy do not disco­ver it most manifestly for a dangerous tare.

Next for the single life of Priests, when it first sprung up, how lovely seemed it to the eye? how few had reason to suspect that it was a tare? Paul seemes to advocate the cause, wishing that all men were as he; affirming also, that for the present di­stresse it were good for all men so to be; 1 Cor. 7. 7. that the unmarried cares more for the things belonging to the Lord, how he may please the Lord, then the [Page 99] married doth. The Fathers many of them are ex­ceeding copious, if not hyperbolicall, in commen­dation of Virginity; especially after that Jovinian seemed to undervalue it, fideliumque matrimoniorum meritis adaequabat, and made it of no greater merit then a vertuous Wedlock. Which general Rules of the Apostle became appropriated to the Clergy, first, by conforming thereunto of their own accord, as a matter voluntary: next, by the Authority of the Fathers, who recommended it unto them for a more perfect state of life then that of marriage; but left it howsoever as a matter arbitrary. But af­ter-ages finding out further motives to endure the business, as viz. that being freed from domestick cares they might more readily attend Gods service, more constantly pursue their studies, more bounti­fully cherish and relieve the poor, but specially that they might more chearfully infeoffe the Church with their possessions, it came at last, insensibly and by degrees, to be imposed upon them as a matter necessary. By meanes whereof the single life being generally imbraced by Clergymen in these Western parts, it grew in time to be disputed whether ever it had been otherwise in the Church of God. And in conclusion it was determined, that however in some cases the Clergy were permitted to retain those Wives which they had taken before Orders, yet that the Examples of men married after Orders were exceeding few, if at all any could be found.

Thus was it in the blade or stalk, & no fault found with it. But when it came to bring forth fruit, to fe­cissent sructum, then the case was otherwise; and it appeared, that howsoever continency and virginity [Page 100] were the gifts of God, yet the restraint of marri­age was a tare of Satans; for what did follow here­upon, but that the Clergy grew infamous by their frequent lusts? Panormitan complaining, plerosque coitu illi cito commaculari; Cassander publickly affirming, ut vix centesimum invenias, that hardly one amongst a hundred did contain himself within the limits of his Vow: the Canonists withall maintaining, that Clerks were not to be deprived for their inconti­nency, cùm pauci sine illo vitio inveniantur, the mis­chief being grown so universal that it was thought uncapable of any remedy. I willingly passe by their unnatural lusts, for which they stand accused in the Poet Mantuan; venerabilis ara cynaedis servit, and that which followeth after; nor will I tell you of the Fish-pond in Pope Gregories time, wherein were found the skulls of 6000 Infants, ex occultis fornica­tionibus & adulteriis sacerdotum, conceived to be the tragical effects of their loose affections. And not­withstanding that these things were known, and bit­terly complained of by such devout and conscienci­ous men as observed the same, yet to so high an im­pudencie did they come at last, that John the Car­dinal of Cova preaching at noon against the marriage of Priests, was the night following taken in adultery; and Cardinal Campegius in the Diet of Norimberg did not shame to say, that it was more lawful for a Priest to have many Concubines, quàm vel uxorem unam ducere, then one lawful Wife. And why was all this suffered think you? upon grounds of piety? no, but in point of policy, to uphold the Popedom. For when this matter was debated in the Co [...]ncel of Trent, and that the Prelates there did not seem un­willing [Page 101] to ease the Clergy of that heavy, but more scandalous yoke; the Pope returned his absolute Negative, and was much offended that they had suf­fered it to come in question. Why so? because that Church-men having Wives and Children, to be as Hostages or pledges for their good beheaviour, would become more obnoxious to the secular pow­ers, and more obedient to the pleasure and Com­mand of their natural Princes; adeoque Pontificem redigere ad solius Romae Episcopatum, which would in fine prove prejudicial to the Popes Supre­macy, and limit his Authority to the Walls of Rome.

The fruits thus palpably discovering the true condition of the Doctrine, begat withall a shrewd suspicion that possibly the reasons commonly al­ledged in defence thereof might be weak and wrest­ed. And upon search it did appear that the directi­ons of St. Paul were general, and did no more con­cern the Clergy then all people else; some of them being only fitted to the present time, and therefore not to make a rule for all future Ages: that though the Fathers magnified and extolled the single life, they imposed it not; or if they did, it was not more upon the Clergy then upon the Laicks: and final­ly, that Pope Siricius, who imposed it first, could find no Text in Scripture whereupon to ground it, and therefore most prophanely wrested and abused that place, Qui in carne sunt non possunt placere Deo, to make it serviceable to his wretched ends. And it was also found on further search into antiquity, that this restraint of marriage being proposed unto the Fathers of the Council of Nice, was by Paphnutius [Page 102] and the sounder part of that great Synod openly re­jected; that it was neither new nor strange to marry after holy Orders, Eupsychius a Bishop of the Cappa­docians, whom Althanasius highly praiseth, taking a Wife after he was advanced unto a Bishoprick; and of a Bridegroom instantly become a Martyr, dum adhuc quasi sponsus esse videretur, saith the Tripar­tite History. The like, as to the point of marrying after holy orders, Vincentius tells us of one Phileus, an Egyptian Prelate. The same may also be made good not only in the Eastern Church, where the Priests are not yet debarred from marriage after Orders taken, as it is noted on the Glosse on Gratian; but for 1000 years together in these Western parts. So lately it was before the Clergy were generally min­ded to yield to that slavish tyranny: nor was it ma­nifest on more mature deliberation, that marriage in and of it self did any way disable men from Gods publick service, the studying of the holy Scriptures, o [...] the works of charity; Greg. Nazianzen affirm­ing of some friends of his, which lived in Wedlock, [...], &c. That they were every way as eminent in all acts of godliness as those that did professe virginity.

Which, with the wretched consequents before re­membred, being taken into consideration by our first Reformers; and being it was observed withall that the restraint depended upon positive Lawes, no Divine Commandement; the wisdom of this State thought fit to take away those positive lawes on the which it stood, and leave it arbitrary as at first. And this they were the rather induced to do, by reason that the rigorous necessity of a single life had for­merly [Page 103] affrighted many a man of parts and learning from entring into holy Orders, and filled the Church with ignorant and infamous persons. By meanes of which indulgence granted as before, the gift of continency is become more eminent in them that have it, & without reproch to them that want it. The freedom which the Church hath given in the use of chastity, makes the vertue greater; no vertuous action being commendable if it be not voluntary. And since the granting of this liberty in the point of mar­riage, how many of each order hath this Church produced, Bishops, Priests and Deacons, that have em­braced the single life out of choyce, not force? with far more honour to themselves, and greater lustre to the Church, and a more gracious acceptance with Almighty God, then if it were imposed upon them by a positive Law. Of whom we may affirm with safety, as did Minutius of some Christians in the pri­mitive times, perpetua virginitate fruuntur poti [...]s quàm glori [...]ntur.

But of this [...]are enough; what is that comes next? let it be the religious Worship ascribed unto the blessed Virgin, which by a name distinct is in the Schools entituled hyperdulia, being a kind of vene­ration inferior unto that of God, but greater then may be communicated to the other Saints. The Church in the beginning had been exercised with many Heresies touching the incarnation of our Lord and Saviour: The Valentinians hold that he took not from her his humane nature, but brought it with him from the Heavens; with whom concurred A­pollinaris, and the Secundiani. Nestorius on the other side affirmed, that he who was born of her was the [Page 140] Sonne of Mary, but by no meanes the Sonne of God: and therefore he allowed not that she should be called [...], the Mother of God, but only [...], or the Mother of Christ. Helvidius and the Antidico-Maritan had a further reach, and en­vied her the glorious title of the Virgin Mary, af­firming with like impudence and ignorance, eam post Christum natum viro suo fuisse commixtam, that after our Redeemers birth she was known by Joseph. In which respects, both to restore her to her rights, and to depress those Hereticks that had so debased her, the Fathers have conferred upon her many glo­rious attributes; but yet no more then she deser­ved. Hence is it that we finde the Titles of [...] and [...], Mother of God, perpetual Virgin. Hence is it that St. Cyril, a most zealous persecutor of the Nestorian faction, calls her preti­osum totius orbis thesaurum, &c. the most rich Trea­sure of the World, a Lamp that cannot be put out, the Crown of Chastity, and very Scepter of true Doctrine; sceptrum rectae Doctrinae, and not the Scepter of the Catholick Faith, as our Rhemists render it. Which honorarie attributes not being given, (nor possibly appliable) to any of the other Saints in true antiquity, as they proceeded then from a just necessity, so were they afterwards con­tinued without just offence. For who could reasona­bly conceive but that a greater reverence must be due to her then any other of the Saints, whom God had sanctified and set apart for so great a blessing, as to be the Mother of her Saviour?

Hitherto omnia bene, for what hurt in this? what soul so dull in her devotions, so cold in her affecti­ons [Page 105] to our Lord and Saviour, as not to magnifie the Womb which bare him, and blesse those papps that gave him suck? Who could suspect that possibly there should be any tare in so fair a Field? who could suppose that any warrantable honor done or tendred unto the Mother of our Lord (as Elizabeth styled her) did not redound unto the Sonne? And certainly, as long as those of Rome contained themselves with­in the limits of the ancient Fathers, and that O quàm te memorem virgo! their pious flourishes, Rhetorical Apostrophes, and devout Meditations went no higher then a Religious commemoration of her life and piety, they did not more then what had warrant from the Scripture and the Angel Gabriel; Benedicta tu mulieribus would have born all that: nor had it done much hurt, had they ventured further, even to nec vox hominem sonat, and made her some­what more then mortal, had they tarried there. But when they could not stop in the full careire, and would needs hold it out to the D [...]a certè, as Mantuan and Antonius in plain termes have done, and to cre­ate her Queen of Heaven, and call her by the name of Regina Coeli, then drew they very neere to the old Idolaters mentioned in the Prophet Jeremy, in case they did not go beyond them.

This that we may the better see, and so discern withall what a tare it proved, let us look next up­on the fruits, and we shall finde that there is nothing lesse in this [...], this Virgin-Worship, if I may so call it, then true Wheat indeed. Let us but look upon the fruits, and we shall see that Anselm gives this reason, why Christ when he ascended into Heaven left his Mother here, De Excel. V. c. 1. Ne curiae coelesti ve­niret [Page 106] in dubium, &c. for fear the Court of Hea­ven might have been distracted, whom they should first go out to meet, their Lord or their Lady, that Bernardin Senensis, one of her especial votaries, doth not fear to say, Mariam plura fecisse Deo quàm fe­cit Deus toti generi humano, that she did more to Christ in being his Mother, then Christ hath done to all Mankind in being their Saviour: That Gabriel Biel, a School-man of good note and credit, hath shared the Government of the World betwixt God and her, God keeping justice to himself, miscricordia matri virgini concessa, and left to her the free dis­pensing of his mercies. That Petrus Damian tells us, that when she mediates for any of her Supplicants with our Saviour Christ, non rogat ut ancilla, sed im­perat ut domina, she begs not of him as an Hand­maid, but commands as a Mistress: that Bonaven­ture, in composing of our Ladies Psalter, hath ap­plyed to her what ever was intended by the Holy Ghost for the advancement of the honour of our Lord and Saviour: and finally, that Bellarmine hath made no difference between the veneration due to her, and that which doth of right belong unto Christ as man. Add unto these their usage of the vulgar sort in point of practise, saying so many Ave Ma­ries for one single Pater Noster, hearing so many Masses of our Lady, and not one of Christs; deck­ing her Images with all cost and cunning that mans wit can reach, when his poor Statues stand neglected, as not worth the looking after. These, and the rest if we should add, what could be imagined but that the Apostles were mistaken when they made the Creed; and that it was not Jesus, but the Virgin-Mother [Page 107] that suffered under Pontius Pilate, was cru­cified, dead and buried for the sin of man?

You see then what most monstrous tares have grown up in the Church of Rome, under the new de­vise of Hyperdulia. Let us next see what their [...] carrieth with it, what a strange multitude of tares that one word doth carry. The Cardinall makes this difference between the termes, hanc sanctis cae­teris, that that belongs indifferently to all the Saints, illam humanitati Christi & matri ejus; but this alone to Christs humane nature only, and his blessed Mother. The ground of the distinction, and how they differ from [...], or indeed rather how they differ not, we shall not canvasse for the present. Suffice it that in this [...] they comprehend both prayers to Saints, and adoration of their Images. And first for prayers unto the Saints, the Fathers taught, according to the word of God, that the Saints de­parted pray for us, as fellow-members with them of that mystical body whereof Christ Jesus is the head. Which as it is unquestionably true of the Saints in general, so was it thought by Maximus Taurinensis, and that not improbably, that of the Saints none were more constant in it then the holy Martyrs, qui & supplicia pro nobis pertulere, who suffered death for our incouragement and confirmation. In this regard the faithful of the primitive times used to repair un­to their Tombs, and did there offer up their suppli­cations to the Lord their God; next, ventured to implore the Lord to grant them their desires and prayers, even for the blessed sake of those Saints and Martyrs at whose Tombs they kneeled; and in the end began to implore the Martyrs to recom­mend [Page 108] their prayers to the Lord Almighty, for their more quick dispatch in the Court of Heaven. By which degrees came in the invocation of the Saints, and ther with that [...], that Religious worship of them which the Schools maintain, and is defended for good Doctrine in the Church of Rome.

This Doctrine, of what sort it is, whether wheat or tare, must be determined by the fruits: and if we bring it once to fecissent fructum, the true condition of this Doctrine will at full appear. For what did follow hereupon, but that the Saints were made our Mediators at the Throne of Grace? every man choosing some or other of those blessed Spirits to be his Advocate and Intercessor with Almighty God; our Saviour Christ meanwhile neglected, or but little thought of▪ Nay, they went so far at the last, that Christ was fain to mediate with the Saints, as if their passions, and not his, had been the merito­rious causes of Redemption: as in that prayer of the Portuice touching Thomas Becket, Christe Jesu per Thomae vulnera quae nos ligant relaxa scelera. Nor stayed they there, but as they made their prayers unto them, so did they come at last to make their vowes, not by but to the Saints departed; and fi­nally, to dedicate unto their proper and immediate service, Temples, and Festivalls, and Altars, and set forms of worship; which being all materiall parts and circumstances of religious adoration, and so confes­sed to be even by those of Rome, hath so plunged poor ignorant people into grosse and palpable Idola­try; it having been the constant Doctrine of Anti­quity, that all religious worship, of what sort soever, is so peculiar unto God, that without manifest Ido­latry [Page 109] it cannot be communicated unto any creature. And howsoever those of wit and learning have found a mentall reservation to deceive themselves, yet that will prove no plaster for the general sore, nor save the common people from the down [...] right sins. The Cardinall indeed thus resolves the case▪ Licet di­cere, S. Petre miserere mei, &c. that it is lawful for us men to pray unto S. Peter to have mercy upon us, to save us, and set open to us the Gates of Hea­ven, to grant us health and patience, and what else we want, modò intelligamus his precibus & meritis, if so we understand it thus, Do all these things that I request by thy prayers and merits. But this I would fain know of Bellarmine, with all his wit, how many of the vulgar sort have ever learnt or practised such a reservation; or if they have, how farre it may ex­tenuate and excuse the sin.

So it is also in the point of Images, first introdu­ced into the Church for Ornament, history and imi­tation. Sic & defunctis praemium, & posteris dabatur exemplum, as Minutius hath it. Had they stayed there, it had been well, and no fault found with them. They might have used them so sans question, and therewithall have given them that respect and reverence which properly belongs to the similitude and representations of celestiall things. Posterity had never questioned them or their proceed [...]ngs in the point, had they gone no further. But when the Schools began to state it, that idem honor debetur imagini & exemplari, that the same veneration was to be afforded to the Type and Prototype, then came the Doctrine to the growth, to fecisset fructum. When, and by whom, and where it was [Page 110] first so stated, it is not easie to determine, and indeed not necessary. It is enough that we behold it in the fruits. And what fruits think you could it beare, but most grosse Idolatry, greater then which was ne­ver known amongst the Gentiles? witness their praying, not before, but to the Crucifix, and cal­ling on the very Crosse, the wooden and materiall Crosse, both to increase their righteousness, and re­mit their sins. Auge piis justitiam, & reis dona ve­niam, as the Portesst had it. Nor could we look for better fruit from so lewd a Tenet, it being defended in the Schools, that the Image of Christ is to be worshipped with [...], the highest kind of wor­ship in their own opinion, cum Christus adoretur ado­ratione latriae, because that kind of Adoration doth properly belong to Christ our Lord. And for the I­mages of the Saints, they that observe with what laborious Pilgrimages, magnificent processions, so­lemn offerings; and in a word, with what affections, prayers, and humble bendings of the body, they have been & are worshipped in the Church of Rome, might very easily conceive that she was once again relapsed to her ancient Paganisme.

Its true, the better to relieve themselves in this desperate plunge, they have excogitated many fine distinctions, as terminative and objective, propriè & impropriè, per se & per accidens; which howsoever they may satisfie the more learned sort, are not intelligi­ble to poor simple people. What said I, that perhaps they may give satisfaction to the learned? No such matter verily; for Bellarmine himself confesseth, that those who hold that any of the Images of Christ our Saviour are to be honoured with that kind of wor­ship, [Page 111] which they call [...], are fain to find out ma­ny a nice distinction, quas vix ipsi intelligunt, nedum populus imperitus, which they themselves, much lesse poor ignorant people, could not understand: which makes me think, that sure the Cardinall was infatua­ted with the spirit of dotage, himself defining posi­tively in the self-same page, Imagines Christi impro­priè & per accidens posse honorari cultu latriae, that by the help of a distinction, our Saviours Images may be adored with [...]. And this I may account for another fruit of this Image-worship, that it drawes down on them that use it that curse recited in the Psalms, viz. That such as worship them are like unto them. Add unto these the scandall which is hereby given unto Jewes and Turks, and the great hindrance which it doth occasion unto their conver­sion, who do abominate nothing more in all Chri­stianity then this profane and impious adoration of Images. In which respect we may affirm that of the present Romans, which St. Paul tells us of the ancient, nomen Dei per vos blasphematnr inter gentes, that by their meanes God is blasphemed among the Gen­tiles.

In [...]initum est ire per singula; To run through all particulars in this manner were an infinite business. Suffice it that there is no point in difference between them and us, the falshood and absurdity whereof is not discovered in the fruits, in fecisset fructum, how­ever it lay hid in crevisset herba. The Doctrine of indulgences and merchantable pardons to be bought for money, what fruit doth it produce but licenti­ous living, when for so small a trifle one might pur­chase pardon, non solum pro praeteritis, verùmetiam pro [Page 112] futuris, not only for sins past, but for those to come. The holding back of Scripture from the common people, and celebrating Gods divine service in an un­known Tongue, what fruits do they afford but igno­rance of Gods holy pleasure, and blind obedience to the precepts of sinful men, and coldness in the ex­ercise of devotion; and finally, contempt of Gods word, and whole Commandements? The e­qualizing of their own Traditions with Gods holy word, according to the Canon of the late Trent-Councel, what fruits doth it afford but contempt of Scripture? The Doctrine of that Church in the point of merit, what fruits doth it produce but high presumption? or that of transubstantiation, but most grosse Idolatry? or that of half Communion, but most horrible Sacriledge? Such fruits, if all meanes else should fail us, would serve sufficiently to mani­fest and declare their noxious nature, and thereby make us able to determine of them, though none at all observed them when they were in semine, and few were able to distinguish them, when they were in herba: Nam quod latebat in herba manifestatur in spica, & quod celatur in germine aperitur in fructu, as saith Paschasius on the Text.

You see by this that hath been spoken that there are other meanes still left us by Gods infinite mercy, to know Gods Seed from Satans, the good Wheat from tares; besides the observation of time, place and persons, Ex sructibus corum cognoscetis eos, by their fruits ye shall know them, saith our Saviour. And yet the triall of these tares is not made only by the fruits; the fruits first brought them to appa­ruerunt, made them plain and visible, and brought [Page 113] them to appear in the open Court. But having en­tred their appearance, they were to be examined, tried and judged by the word of God. The Lord hath given it for a Rule, ad legem & testimonium ▪ that in all doubtful controversies, we should have re­course to the law and testimonies. And Christ our Saviour being asked his judgement touching the bu­siness of Divorce, refers himself to the first Institu­tion, saying, Ab initio non fuit sic, it was not so in the beginning. So that whoever can demonstrate from the Book of God, that either the Doctrine or the practice of the Church of Rome differeth from that which was first preached and published by our blessed Saviour, and the holy Apostles, doth manifestly prove a change therein; nay prove as forcibly that they have departed from the rule of Faith, which was once given to the Saints, as if he could, or did demonstrate all the circumstances, when, and by whom, and in what Country, every particular de­viation and corruption did at first creep in. Quid verba audiam, cùm facta videam? what need we search for circumstances, when we have the substance; or look into the root, when we see the fruit?

But here may those of Rome reply and say, Are there no [...]ares at all in your reformation? are all your Geese Swans? and your Grain good Wheat? Did Satan never take you sleeping? Whence is it then we see amongst you such opposition to all publick Orders, such a neglect of fasting, such contempt of holy dayes, though both of Apostolical institution? such practises and attempts against Episcopacy, though ordained by Christ? such quarrelling against those sacred Ceremonies in Gods publick service, [Page 114] which you pretend to be derived from most pure an­tiquity? Whence is it that we have observed such Covenants and Combinations against lawful Go­vernment; such obstinate and strong, if not perverse resistance against just Authority of your supreme Lord, as well in temporal matters as Ecclesiastical; such common stocks and contributions to support your factions, and relieve those that are condemned for their disobedience? Whence is it that there are maintained amongst you such blasphemies, in lay­ing upon God the blame of sin; such Stoicisme in necessitating all mens actions by the fatality of Gods Decrees; such Donatisme in appropriating to some few amongst you the names of Saints and true Pro­fessors? Qui alterum incusat probri, &c. you that have found so many tares in the Church of Rome, had best be sure that your own floore be very throughly pur­ged, and your wheat well winnowed; and that you search not our wounds with too sharp an hand, till you have cleansed and cured your own.

This they object; and what shall we return for an­swer? We will be more ingenious, then they are to us, and confess the action, and so not put them to the needless trouble of looking after the particulars of time, place and persons. Too true it is, that some amongst us, though not of us, have set on foot those Doctrines, and pursued those practises, which are be­come a scandal to our Reformation and further will dishonour it, and in time subvert it, if care and order be not taken to prevent the mischief. We see them in their fruits already, and that hath brought them at the last to apparuerunt. But what they are, and whose, and what fruits they bear, and what is aimed [Page 115] at in those innovations which they have thrust upon this Church, and yet cry out of innovations, as if these were none, I cannot shew you for the present. The time is too far spent, and the season past, to venture on a new Discovery; but what is wanting now, shall be made good hereafter at next setting out, when I shall come to the unde haec zizania, in the following verse. Have patience but till then, I will pay you all: which that I may the better look for, I shall not tire your patience further at this pre­sent time; and therefore here I will conclude.

PRimus felicitatis gradus est non peccare, [...]yprian. &c. The first degree of happiness is not to sin: The second, to be sensible of a fault committed. It had been well done of the servants in the present Parable, to have been careful in their Masters business, and not have given the enemy advantage by their dull security, for the dispersing of his tares. And it was well done, although not so well, that they discerned them in good time, before they had destroyed Gods Harvest, and devoured his Wheat. A fault had been committed by their sloth and drowsiness, that they saw too well; but every man was willing to excuse himself, Vill. Pater­culque. and cast the blame upon his fellow. Propri­um est humano ingenio omnia sibi remittere, nihil aliis, said Velleius rightly. And tares they saw sprung up [Page 117] which they had not sowen; but how they came there, that they could not tell: certain they were, that they had sowen good seed in their Masters Field, and that the Field was well manured, and fit­ted for so great a blessing. To see this Field so dres­sed and cultivated, overgrown with tares, and to be ignorant withall what malicious hand had plotted and performed so great a mischief, must needs pro­duce both wonder and amazement in their doubtful mindes: therefore as well to satisfie their Master, that they had sowen good seed in his blessed Field, according unto his appointment; and to be satisfi­ed themselves, whence those tares should come, they came unto the Housholder, and said unto him, Domi­ne, nonne seminasti bonum semen? Sir, Didst not thou sowe good Seed in thy Field? whence then hath it tares?

In our discourse upon this Text, I shall present you with an Explication, and an Application: an Explication for the Text, an Application for the time. In the first general, the Explication, we shall behold the servants of this Parable in their addresse unto their Master, and their conference with him. In the next general, the Application, we shall endea­vour a discovery of those tares and errors which have been sowen by Satan in this Field of God. And first, we must begin with the Explication, and therein with the matter of address. Sic accedentes s [...]rvi patris-familias, so the servants of the Housholder came, &c.

Frustra quaeritur quod per viam suam non quaeritur. Lact. l. 3. c. 28. There is but one way leading to the truth, which they that misse do rather wander then travel, and [Page 118] shall finde their journey at the last, without end or profit. The servants of the Heavenly Husbandman were at a losse among themselves touching the unde of these [...]ares; That there they were, even ripe and ready for the Harvest, that they saw too plainly; but how they came there,▪ who it was that sowed them, was not yet discovered; nor was it probable, that they who had committed so great a villany would confess the action. The taking of their opportuni­ty, cùm dormirent homines, when as the servants were asleep, did manifestly shew, that by whomever it was done, it was intended for a work of darkness; and therefore very little hope, that they themselves would bring it to the open light. In this uncertain­ty, there could be found no better way to inform themselves, Psal. 121. then to repair unto the Lord, the cele­stiall Housholder, whose eyes do neither sleep nor slum­ber. Gods eye is alwayes open, though his servants sleep; Minut. Felix. Interest tenebris, saith Minutius, no darknesse is so grosse which he cannot penetrate, nor fact so secret and obscure which he discerns not. The Lord is totus oculus, Ierenaeus. & totum lumen, as the Father hath it; and therefore cannot be kept ignorant of mens pri­vate practises, how close soever they are carried. Can any man hide himself in secret places, so that I shall not see him, Jerem. saith the Lord Almighty?

Besides, there was a ruled case in the point before, it was the Custom of the Jewish Church, in all doubt­ful cases, as long as they continued in Gods grace and favour, to ask for counsel of the Lord. No reso­lution so perspicuous, as that which came from God in his holy Tabernacle, or was delivered by his Seers. Our Saviour Christ, as he is Deus de Deo, God of God; [Page 119] so he is also lumen de lumine, light of light. His pro­vidence as watchful, and his eye as piercing as that of his Almighty Father. No better resolution of a doubtful case, then that which might be had from him, Domine quò eamus? Lord, saith St. Peter, whi­ther shall we go? c. 6. 68. thou hast the words of everlasting life. Himself, our blessed Saviour, gives them more in­couragement to have recourse to him in their doubts and difficulties. Ego sum via, veritas & vita, I am the way, the truth, and the life, John 14. The servants of my Text need not make a question, either of finding out the truth, which they were in search of, or gaining life eternal, which they sought by truth: when he which was the Journies end, was the way also. And therefore in my minde St. Bernard de­scants very pretily on that Text of Scripture; Ea­mus ergo post Christum, quia est veritas, per Christum, quia est via; ad Christum, quia est vita. Let us walk after Christ, because he is the truth; by Christ, be­cause he is the way; to Christ, because he is life. St. Austin also gives us a good hint for our direction in this journey, both for truth and life; Non est quò eamus nisi ad te, non est quà eamus nisi per te; Whither O Lord shall we repair but to thee? and which way shall we come unto thee, if we come not by thee? The Servants here were well acquainted with this way, they knew none better, that howsoever God inhabits in luce in­accessibili, in light inaccessible, yet he was easie of access unto them that fear him; and therefore ac­cedentes, they came unto him.

Accedentes autem servi, So the Servants came. The servants in the plural number, they came not one by one to make their own excuse apart, they [Page 120] came all together. They had been faulty all alike, and therefore if a check were feared, good reason they should be all partakers of it. The Heathen Orator thought it an equitable point, Tull. pro Mar­cello. ut qui in eadem causa fuerunt, in eadem item essent fortuna, that they who had been interessed in the self-same business, should beare their equal shares in the self same fortune; but this was not the business that they were in quest of. Their errand was, not only to be satisfied upon the unde haec zizania, whence the tares should come; but to enquire their Masters pleasure, what he thought sitting to be done on the discovery, vis i­mus & colligimus ea? v. 28. as it follows after: this was indeed a weighty business, such as required a ge­nerall unanimity, and a joynt assistance. The refor­mation of the Church is no easie work, nor to be undertaken by a single man. It is a business that re­quires much help, and many hands, and all those hands to work together to one end, God blessing their endeavours by his Grace and Spirit. Tacitus tells us of the Britains, I [...] vita Agricolae. that though a very valiant Nation, yet they were very easily made a thrall to Rome, quòd in commune non consul [...]bant, because they never held together, never communicating for the common safety either their counsels or their purses. I hope we never shall again commit that er­ror, though there be dangerous Symptoms of it, the servants of my Text may instruct us better: who howsoever they had done amisse by their former drowsiness, in giving Satan opportunity to sowe his tares, yet now they are resolved to combine toge­ther, for the preventing of all further mischief. Acce­dentes autem servi, so the servants came.

[Page 121] Well, they are come, and well come, what comes after next? Dixerunt ei, they say unto him, it seemes they stood not mute not fearful,

looking on one another who should first begin. They saw the Church in no small danger of approching ruine, by the quick spreading of those tares; and consequently, thought it fit to know truly how the matter stood: not that he needed to be told, but that he looked that they should tell him. The Lord knowes our necessities before we ask, yet he ex­pects that we should call upon him in our servent prayers. He knowes more of our sins and frailties then we do our selves, and yet he hath enjoyned us to confession. And this he doth, to keep on foot an intercourse between Heaven and Earth, to rouze our spirits, and inflame our zeal, and quicken our de­votions. Dixerunt ei, they said unto him, and that too in the plural number; What, spake they all to­gether, as they came together? I believe not so: God is the God of order, not of confusion. They therefore which repair unto him, must come unto him in an orderly and decent way: so that it is most likely that they had some Speaker, who had in charge the representing of the common businesse; or that they spake by turns, as occasion served. And yet they are all joyned in dixerunt here, to shew that howsoever they had many tongues, they had all one voyce; or that whoever spake, spake the mindes of all. Such unity of hearts and tongues is to God most grateful, being the best expression of the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We must not rest upon the quod sit, that they [Page 122] came and said, we must examine next what it was they said. They craved access upon no other ground and motive, but to come to conference. That was the thing most aimed at in the accedentes, in their coming to him. Now in the Proeme to this confe­rence, they propose two questions: first, Domine, nonne seminasti bonum semen? Sir, didst not thou sowe good Seed in thy Field? next, unde haec zizania? whence then hath it tares? In one of these there was no sa­tisfaction needful; for none knew better then them­selves, that God had sowen it with his choysest Seed, so picked and cleansed, and fit for his sacred Field, that there was neither weed nor tare amongst it. Themselves had laboured and manured it, and sowed and harrowed it, according to the rules of that ho­ly Husbandry. In which respect, St. Paul not only calls them Labourers, but [...], and fellow-La­bourers with God. God looking on, blessing the piety of their endeavours, and giving his increase unto it. In Matth. 13. Its true indeed, St. Hierome makes the ser­vants here to be the Angels; Servos Dei non alios ac­cipias quàm Angelos. So doth Theophylact, and o­thers of the Fathers also; but this can no way stand with our Saviours Comment, who in his Comment on this Parable hath made the reaping of the Corn, not the sowing of it, for the work of Angels. This question therefore being asked by those that knew how to answer it, may passe amongst those data, matters of concession, which are required in many Sciences. Questions or Interrogatories in the Book of God are oftentimes equivalent to affirmations, not proposed as doubts.

[Page 123] But for the other question, unde haec Zizani [...], that was indeed a true quaesitum, a doubt considerately proposed, in hope of satisfaction or solution. And in this question there are two things to be consider­ed, the substance of it, and the circumstances. The substance or the matter of it doth concern the tares, what kind of grain they were, who sowed them, and from whence they came. These have been touched upon before, in our Discourses upon the 25. verse, upon the Sevit, and shall be yet more throughly canvassed in the following Answer, when we are come to the sive fecit inimicus. But for the circum­stances of the question, who asked it, and of whom they asked it, those come in fitly here to be consi­dered. And first, the men that asked it were the servants of the Heavenly Husbandman, who ha­ving sowen no other seeds then the seeds of piety and true Religion, could not but wonder at the tares. Next, being full of doubt and wonder, they made repair for resolution to their Lord and Master, whose [...] and fellow-Labourers they were. They knew not of the Enemy, nor his subtile practi­ses, and therefore took the speediest course that could be for the removing of their doubts; and put the question unto him who knew how to salve it. Not one amongst them but he might have said, Da­vus sum, non Oedipus. We have more need to be resolved of you, and come you to us?

The stating of this point might make the inju­stice of our Romish Adversaries the more inexcusa­ble. We challenge them of several errors and cor­ruptions in the Church of Rome: we tell them what they are, how many, wherein they differ from Gods [Page 124] word, and from the tendries of the Church in the purest Ages. They make reply unto us with an unde haec, Bellar. l. 4. c. 5. quo tempore, quo loco, quo autore? Shew us, say they, when, and by whom, and where your said tares were sowen, or else they shall not passe for tares. We have replyed to all these Queries in a former Sermon; not on constraint, as forced unto it by the equity of the demand, but gratis, to demonstrate the absurdities and the follies of it. But now we answer more resol­vedly, that this is not to make, but mistake the que­stion, to change at once both scene and Actors. The servants of the Housholder askt the question here; there they that askt it are the servants of the very enemy. He who is asked the question here is the heavenly Husbandman, whose eyes are alwayes open for his Churches safety, and who beheld the enemy through all his vizards, even whilest he was about this deed of darkness. By them a question is demanded of poor ignorant servants, who either weary of their labour, or inclined to ease, or careless of their Masters business, had been fast asleep, and knew not what was done till they were well waken­ed. If they must needs be further satisfied in these curious cavills, let them repair to their own Master, and enquire of him, who being conscious to himself of his own lewd acts, can give them a more punctu­all answer. We are no servants of the enemy, nor ever were imployed in sins dark designs, and there­fore unacquainted with his plots and counsels. To us, according to this Parable, the asking of the question appertains, not to the answer of it.

But put the case the worst that may be, and let it passe for granted, that our adversaries may pervert [Page 125] and change the question as they list themselves; yet why should we return them any other Answer then the Lord made unto his servants? Why may not we make this reply to all their Queries, inimicus homo hoc fecit, that the enemy did it? The Lord out of his infinite wisdom thought it not improper to give a general answer to a particular demand. And why should we be wiser then our Master? The servants ask in special, unde haec zizania? the Lord returns in generall, inimicus fecit. But as for the particulars of time, place and persons, wherewith our Adversaries presse and charge us against right and reason, those he reserves unto himself, and conceales from us. And 'tis a learned ignorance not to know those things which God endeavours to keep secret. Ea nescire quae magister optimus non vult docere, erudita est inscitia, as mine Authour hath it. Some things the Lord re­serves to the day of judgement, when all hearts shall be open, all desires made known, and no secrets hid: And then we shall be sure to know, what times the enemy made choyce of to sowe his tares; what in­struments he used in the doing of it; what place or Country he selected for their first appearance; with all the other curious circumstances which are so much insisted on by the common Adversary. If this suffice not, we must finally return that Answer which once Arnobius made to some foolish questions propounded by the enemies of the Christian faith; l. 2. cont. gentes. Nec si nequivero causas vobis exponere cur aliquid fiat illo vel illo modo, sequitur ut infecta sint quae jam facta sunt. In case we are not able to declare unto them, when, by what persons, in what Countries, the Do­ctrines by us questioned were first set on foot, it fol­loweth [Page 126] not, that therefore none of them are tares of the enemies sowing.

I have no more to say for the Explication, most of the points having bin treated of before in our former discourses on this Argument. And for the Applica­tion, I must give you notice, that it relates not to the matter only at this time delivered, but to the whole intent and purpose of the present Parable. I have al­ready layed before you those tares and errors which have been noted and observed in the Church of Rome. Our own turn is next, and it comes in agreea­bly to the Text it self; in which it is supposed as granted, that there was good feed sowen by the Heavenly Husbandman, however afterwards the field became full of tares. According unto which Proposall, I shall first shew you in the Thesis, what speciall care was taken in our Reformation, that all things might be fitted to the word of God, and the best ages of the Church. Next, I shall make a true discovery of those several tares wherewith this Field is over-grown, and Gods seed indangered. So doing, I am sure I shall not be accused of partiality, or respect of persons. And therefore [...], encouraged by your Christian patience, let us on in Gods name.

Si de interpretatione legis quaeritur, De legib. & longa cons [...]ctud. inspiciendum est inprimis, quo jure civitas retro in ejusmodi casibus usa suit. It is a Maxime in the Lawes, that if a question do arise about the sense and meaning of some Law or Statute, the best way is to have recourse to the de­cisions of the State in the self-same case. An Axiome no lesse profitable in Divinity, then it is in Law. The State Ecclesiastical hath her doubts and changes, as [Page 127] great and frequent as the civill: the body mystical as subject to corruptions as the body politick. In which condition, either of distractions or of distem­pers, no better way to set her right, to bring her to her perfect constitution, then to look back upon her primitive and ancient principles. Ad legem & testimo­nium, was the rule of old: And this the Church of Christ hath thought fit to follow, when she hath found her self diseased with plain and manifest cor­ruptions, or otherwise distracted with debates and doubtful disputations, Rom. 13. v. 1. as St. Paul calls them. The Law of God, the Gospel of our Saviour Christ, for points of Doctrine; the usage and testimony of the primitive Church, for points of practice, hath al­wayes been her rule and Canon in such desperate plunges. In the observance of which rule, as gene­rally the Church of God hath discharged her duty, as may appear by the inspection of her ancient Co [...]ncels, and other Monuments and Records of her acts and doings; Livie. so, aut me amor suscepti negotii fallit, either I erre through too much filiall piety to the Church my Mother, or else there never was a Na­tional Church, in what Age soever, that hath more punctually observed this rule then this Church of England.

For in that great business of the Reformation, those Worthies here, whom God had raised and fitted for the undertaking, were not possessed, for ought we finde, with any spirit of contradiction, or humour of affecting contrarieties. That which they found be­fore established, which either was agreeable to the word of God, in point of Doctrine, or to the usage of the primitive Church, in point of order and devo­tion, [Page 128] they retained as formerly: so farre endeavouring a conformity with the Church of Rome, that where she left not Christ and the Primitive Church, there they left not her. Luther and Calvin, however ho­noured and admired in the World abroad, were here no otherwise considered then as learned men, whose works and writings possibly might be counted use­ful, but not thought Authentick. Our Prelates here that were engaged in this great business, Cran­mer and Ridley, and the rest of these brave Heroes, were of as able parts as they, but more moderate spirits. They knew the Church had first been foun­ded upon the Prophets and Apostles, our Saviour Christ being the Corner-stone; and therefore would not build their reformation on the names of men. Christianus mihi nomen est, Catholicus cognomen, was Pacianus's Speech of old; Pacian. but they made it theirs, and still we keep it as our own. But what need more? The fair succession of the Bishops, and the vocation of the Ministry, according to the ancient Canons; the dignity of the Clergy in some sort preserved; the honour and solemnity of Gods publick worship re­stored unto its original lustre; the Doctrines of Re­ligion vindicated to their primitive purity, shew manifestly that they kept themselves to that sacred rule, Ad legem & testimonium, to the Law and Testimony.

Two things there are especially considerable in the Church of Christ; matters of Doctrine, and of worship. The first of these we find comprized in the Book of Articles; the other in the Book of Common Prayer, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England. In both of which the Fa­thers [Page 129] of this Church proceeded with a temperate hand, having one eye upon the Scriptures, the other on the practice of the Church of God in her purest Ages; but none at all, either on Saxonie or Ge­neva. Its true indeed, that Calvin offered his assi­stance to Archbishop Cranmer, for the composing of our Articles, Epist. fo [...]. [...]00. si quis mei usus fore videbitur, if his assistance were thought necessary; and would have crossed the Seas about it. But the Archbishop knew the man, and how he had been practising with the Duke of Somerset, Epist Calv. ad Bulling. fol. 98. ut Hoppero manum porrigeret, to countenance Bishop Hooper in his opposition to the Churches Ordinances, and thereupon refused the offer. Latimer also tells us, in a Sermon preached before King Edward, Lat. p. 47. Anno 1549. That there was a Speech touching Melanchthons comming over; but it went no further then the Speech. Mel. Epist. Anno 1553. And he him­self, Melancthon, writes to Camerarius, Regiis literis in Angliam vocor, that he was sent for into England; but this was not till 53. as his Letters testifie: the Articles of this Church being passed the year before in Convocation, and the Doctrine setled. God cer­tainly had so disposed it in his heavenly wisdom, that so this Church depending upon neither party, might in succeeding times be a judge between them, as more inclinable to compose, then espouse their quar­rells. And for this Doctrine what it is, how corre­spondent to the word of God, and to the ancient ten­dries of the Catholick Church, the Challenge and Apology of Bishop Jewel, never yet throughly an­swered by the adverse party, may be proof suffici­ent. But we have further proof then that; for the Archbishop of Spalato at his going hence professed [Page 130] openly, Spalat. shift­ing, &c. p. 90. & pag 41. that he would justifie and defend the Church of England for an Orthodox Church in all the es­sentiall points of Christianity; and that he held the Articles thereof to be true and profitable, and none of them at all heretical. And he that calls himself Franciscus, à S [...] Clara in his Examen of those Ar­ticles denies not, but that being rightly understood, they do contain sound Catholick Doctrine. Adeò ve­ri [...]as ab invitis etiam pectoribus erumpet, said Lactan­tius truly.

Now, as the Church of England did not [...] (as once the Orator affirmed of the Grecian Ora­cles,) in the points of Doctrine: so neither did it Calvinize in matter of exterior order, and Gods publick Worship. The Liturgy of this Church was so framed and fitted, out of those common princi­ples of Religion, wherein all parties did agree, that it was generally applauded and approved by those, who since have laboured to oppose it. Alexander A­lesius a learned Scot did first translate it into Latine; In Epist. ad Buceri cen­saram. and that, as he himself affirms, both for the com­fort and example of all other Churches which did endeavour Reformation, and increase of piety. The Scots in their first Reformation divers years together used the English Liturgy: the fancy of extemporary prayers not being then took up not cherished, as Knox himself confesseth in his own dear History. And howsoever now of late they have divulged a factious and prohibited Pamphlet against the Eng­lish Popish Ceremonies, as they please to call them; yet in the structure of their Reformation, they bound themselves by Oath and by Covenant too, to adhere only to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of [Page 131] England; Religionis cultui, & ritibus cum Anglis communibus subscripserunt, Hist. Scot. lib. 19. as it is in Buchan­nan.

So for the other opposite party, those of Rome, they made at first no doubt nor scruple of coming to our publick Service, or joyning with us in the worship of one common Saviour. Sir Edward Coke, a man who both for age and observation was very well able to avow it, both in his pleadings against Garnet, and his Charge given at the Assizes held in Norwich, and the sixth part of his Reports, in Caw­dries case, doth affirm expresly, that for the ten first years of Queen Elizabeths Reign, there was no Re­cusant known in England: whose testimony, lest it should stand single, and so become obnoxious to those scorns and cavils which Parsons in his Answer unto that Report hath bestowed upon it, Sanders himself, in his seditious Book de Schismate, shall come in for second. Frequentabant haereticorum Synagogas, intererant eorum concionibus, ad eas (que) audiendas filios & familiam suam compellebant. So he; but not to stand upon his testimony, or build so great an edifice on so weak a ground, Arist. Eth. as the [...], the suffrage and consent of the vulgar Meinie; the Pope himself, Ann. Eliz. Anno 1561. as Cambden doth relate the Story, made offer to confirm our Liturgie, the better to make up the breaches of the House of God; which since, the Priests and Jesuites have disswaded from, out of a wretched policy to make them wider. A point which verily that Pope had not yielded to, being a very stiffe and rigorous Prelate, but that he found the Liturgie to be so composed, as it could no wayes be offensive unto Catholick eares. Either the Pope [Page 132] must lose his infallibility, and become subject unto error, like to other men; or else there is no error to be found in the English Liturgie.

Thus have we seen a Church reformed, according to the prescript of the Word of God, by the Law and Testimony. A Church that seemes to have been cultivated by the Lords own hand, planted by Paul, and watred by Apollos, God himself giving the increase. A Church that grew up in the middle of two contrary factions, as did the Primitive Church between Jew and Gentile, and was the better streng­thened and consolidated by the opposition. Gods Field was no where better husbanded, the good seed no where sowen with a clearer hand, then it was in this. O faciles dare summa Deos! But as it fared at first with the Primitive Church, Lucan: so it hapned here. We must not so far flatter and abuse our selves, as to conceive there are no tares at all in our Reforma­tion, because it was first sowen with the Lords good Seed. The Devil as he stayed his time, donec dor­mirent homines, till the servants slept, so he made use of such a grain, and used such subtile instruments to effect his purpose, that many will not think them to be tares of the enemies sowing now they are a­wake. But being they are come at lest to fecissent fructum, unto the bringing forth of fruit, we must needs challenge them for tares, and so pronounce them.

And first it was accounted in Aerius for a capitall Heresie, Haeres. 75. n. 3. [...], that Priests and Bishops were all one, no difference at all between them. This Epiphanius who records it calls [...], a frantick dotage, and such as could [Page 133] not then obtain belief or credit. Nor did it other­wise succeed in the world abroad; Aerius and all his followers being exiled from the society of mankind, [...], Ibid. flying to Woods and Precipi­ces, and to desolate places. I hope it cannot be de­nied, but that this tare hath taken a deep root a­mongst us. The Bishop is not only in these dayes put below the Priest, but thought to be at all no Or­der in the Church of God. Aerius was too gentle to ascribe them any thing; nor was he so well stu­died in the controversie as we have been since. And here methinks we may resume, as well the wonder as the words of Lyrinensis: Cont. haer: cap. 9. Here we have miram re­rum conversionem, a strange turn indeed. The world is finely brought about; It is the Bishop in our times, and not the Heretick, that is turned out of House and home, pronounced to be an Alien to the Tribes of Israel; and cursed are they that give them room or entertainment. It was so ordered in Geneva, when in their Reformation, if I so may call it, they expel­led their Bishop: and they that since that time have imbraced their principles, have ever since pursued their practises. Nor is this Doctrine thus dissemina­ted, a deviation only from Antiquity, no hereticall Tenet; or made to be an Heresie by the Bishops only, ab episcopis, as Danaeus hath it, such as were Epiphanius and St. Austin, who do so define it: The learned Cracanthorp, cap. 41. num. 3. who if he did decline in any thing from the Church of England, it was in favour of that party, calls it in plain termes Puritanorum haeresin, or the Puritan Heresie, in his defence a­gainst Spalato.

But yet Aerius stayed not here. He had before [Page 134] blown down the Bishops, as he thought himself, and must now have a blow at the civil State. He could by no meanes like of fasting, especially of fasting on set dayes and times; but would by all meanes have it left to mens Christian liberty, to be omitted or performed as men list themselves. Non celebranda esse statura jejunia, De haeres. cap. 53. sed cùm quisque voluerit jeju­nandum, saith St. Austin of him. Where we may see what kind of fastings they were that the man disli­ked, viz. Statuta jejunia, fastings ordained by Law, and imposed by Statute: An arbitrary fast of his own appointment no man liked better then himself. Nay, he was so averse from all publick order, that whereas antiently those Eastern Churches did use to fast the Wednesday and the Friday, and feast it al­wayes on the Sunday; this man and his Disciples must needs fast the Sunday, Ep [...]phan. hae [...]es. 75. n. 3. [...], and revel it, whosoever said nay, upon the Wednesday and the Friday. I must needs follow this fine fellow a little further in his courses. The Church in those most blessed times did use to spend the week which preceded Easter, the holy week, as pure antiquity did call it, in watching, fasting, prayer, and other exercises of humiliation; on no day more then on good Fryday. Aerius on the contrary and his Disciples, used not alone to pamper and inflame the flesh in that holy time, but to deride all those that carefully and religiously observed the same, [...], Ibid. as the Father. I put it to the Consciences of those who this day hear me, whether they have not eaten of this tare too liberal­ly. Certain I am, that many a pious man amongst us may complain with David, I humbled my [Page 135] self with fasting, and that was turned to my re­proof.

Arius comes somewhat neer in sound unto Aerius; and they agreed in other matters of their Heresie, though not in these. What Arius and Aerius taught in derogation of the honour of our Lord and Savi­our, we all know sufficiently. And though I will not say with some Lutheran Doctors, Dieter. con▪ Lam. p [...]d. Calvini anam reli­gionem ejusmodi principia continere, ex quibus fa­cilis est prolapsus ad Arianismum, yet one might say, I doubt too justly, that some amongst us of that party come too neer the Arians in their expressions and behaviour. In their expressions, making Christ our Saviour no better then an elder Brother, the first begotten of the Saints, and no more then so. So that in case these men should hold in Heaven by Burgh English, (as doubtless wheresoever they come, they will start new tenures) their share in the eternal glories, for ought I conceive, may be the greater of the two: for their behaviour, that is fitted unto their expressions. For if our Saviour be but in the state of an elder Brother, why may they not be ho­noured when they stand before him, talk with him as familiarly as with one another, and sit down with him at his Table? A gesture at the holy Supper, however much desired both here and else-where, which in three severall Synods of the Polish Churches, stands condemn'd of Arianism [...], Ritum se­dendi ad mensam dominicam, Consens. Eccl. Pol: profectum esse ab A­rianis tran fugis. It came, say they, expresly from the Arian Hereticks; and to them I leave it: I only note it as a tare of the Enemies sowing, you may discern it by the fruits.

[Page 136] And now I am fallen upon the point of gesture in the holy Sacrament, I must needs speak a little of the point of gesture in the act of prayer. Pious and pure Antiquity used in the time and act of prayer, Apologer: ad orientis regionem precari, in Tertullians Lan­guage, to turn their faces towards the East. A Cu­stom of such universal latitude, that Epiphanius reckoneth it amongst the Heresies, or follies rather of the Osseni, Haeres. 19: n. 3. a sort of Hereticks mixt of Jew & Chri­stian, that they prohibited their followers to ob­serve the same, [...], as the Father hath it. How much we have of these Osseni, and how this Church hath been traduced in these latter dayes, need not now be said. Or were it need­full, I should say no more then this, that Cartwright first began the cry in the late Queens Reign. Burton with his Associates have since took it up; the Au­thour of the Holy Table opening as wide as any of the rest to make up the Consort.

But to proceed; Optatus tells us of the Donatists, that they confined the Church to their private Con­venticles, De schism. Donatist. lib. 1. making that part of Africk wherein they re­sided to be the Catholick Church of Christ, the resi­due of all the world being quite excluded. And this they did, saith he, quia specialem sanctitatem sibi vendicabant, because they challenged to themselves a peculiar sanctity, not incident to other people. In confidence of this, lib. 4. Id. p. 122. they did not only think all Chri­stians else unworthy of their salutation, and of the common courtesies between man and man; but taught their followers and Disciples, ne ave dicant cuiquam nostrum, not to bestow an Ave or All hail upon them. And more then so, scandala contra nos [Page 137] ponitis, they raised false clamors, scandalous reports against their Brethren: nor was there one of all the Sect, qui non convitia nostra suis tractatibus misceat, whose Pamphlets were not full of opprob [...]ious rail­ings against the Orthodox professors. Id. ibid. p [...] 522. Nay, they went so farre at the last, as violently to assault and kill their opposites; as did Purpurius Lerinensis, who with his own hands killed his own Sisters Sonne: and being asked the reason of it, returned this an­swer, Et occidi, Id. l. 1. & occido non eos solos, sed & qui­cunque contra me fecerit, that he had done it, and would do the like to any he who durst oppose him. How came they shall we think to this dangerous height? why certainly, because they had discl [...]im­ed the jurisdiction and authority of the civill Magi­strate thinking themselves exempt from all hum [...]ne Ordinances; and that not only in such matters which concern the Church, according to that fre­quent dictate of Donatus, Id. l. 3. quid imperatori cum Ecclesia? No, they were better studied in the point then so, and thought the King, or supreme Magistrate, a most unnecessary calling in a Christian State. Quid Christi­anis cum Regibus? Id. l. 1 [...] What need have Christians of a King, was their common saying, and that went very high indeed.

Other particular notes and characters of this de­sperate Heresie I omit of purpose. These are enough, if not too many, to make plain & manifest how deep a root this dangerous tare hath gotten in our Re­formation: for he knowes not any thing who knowes not this, that some amongst us have appropriated to their secret Conventicles the name and title of the Church; and to themselves, the names of Chri­stians [Page 138] and Professors; that they bestow no better at­tributes on such as are conformable to the publick Government, both in their Pamphlets and their prattles, then such as are not fit for the eares of Christians; that out of an opinion of their own dear sanctity, they will have no commerce, and much lesse humanity, with such as they conceive not to like their courses. These things are notiora quàm ut stylo egeant. There are some other points and circumstan­ces, in which they come more near the Donatist: one Burchet, Cambd: in Annal. Anno 1573. a great zelot of the former times, being come at last to be of this opinion with them, Lici­tum esse Evangelicae veritati adversantes occidere, that it was lawful to destroy all those which opposed the Gospel. How the said Burchet put in executi­on his own divellish Principles, and what effects they wrought on that furious Welchman, P: Studley looking-gl. of Schisme. in that most bar­barous Assassinate on his innocent Mother, is not now my business. All I shall say is briefly this, that men are principally led into these extremities, on this misperswasion, that Kings have no Authority in sa­cred matters; and consequently, every man, of what sort soever, in matters which concern Religion may be a King unto himself. Which if it once be took for granted, if once they come to ask this Que­stion, quid imperatori cum Ecclesia? assuredly in little, very little time, they will make bold to alter and in­vert the other, and ask, quid regibus cum Christianis? what right have Kings to Lord it over Gods Inheri­tance?

Occultior Pompeius Caesare, Hist. l. 1: non melior. Pompey, saith Tacitus, was something secreter then Caesar in his proceedings, though nothing sounder in his pur­poses [Page 139] to the Common-wealth. So stood the case between Priscillian and the Donatist: Priscillian was the warier of the two, but perhaps more wicked: his Doctrine and his practise too, tending to the sub­version of all publick Government and humane so­ciety. His Doctrine was, Aug. de hae­res. c. 10▪ fatalibus astris homines alli­gatos esse, that all mens actions were necessitated by the Starres above. A Paradox by him derived from Bardesanes, who ascribed all things unto Fate; by Bardesanes from the Stoicks. And for their practise what it was, we may conjecture at it by their so ce­lebrated Maxime, which St. Austin speaks of, Jura, perjura, Id. ibid: secretum prodere noli, That swearing, forswea­ring, any thing was lawful which did conduce to the concealing of their counsels, and the promoting of their Sect. The Doctrine of Predestination, as by some delivered, comes home unto the dreames and dotages of Bardesanes and Priscillian, necessitating all mens actions by the fatality of Gods Decrees: By which we are informed, Calv: Instit. decretum esse à Deo ut sua defectione periret Adam, that God decreed the fall of Adam before all eternity; and that the acti­ons of the Sonnes of Adam are so prescribed and li­mited by the like Decrees, Piscat. ad Vorstium. ut nec plus boni faciant, nec plus mali omittant, that they can neither do more works of piety, nor commit fewer deeds of darkness then their stint or measure. But for the Maxime of Priscillian, and the great use is made of that, whe­ther for the concealing of their purposes, or the ad­vancement of their projects, Baner. of l. 3. c 9. Cartwright himself shall come to give in evidence: who being cited to ap­pear in a Court of Judicature, indicted an Assembly of his Church in London, and there proposed this [Page 140] question to them, Whether or not it were convenient for him, being to be examined upon Oath, to reveal any of the matters which had passed amongst them? A very tender case of conscience, such as I trust is neither to be found nor parallel'd in all the Casuists and School-men from Bonaventure down to Bonaci­na. I only add this, Sulpit. Sever. hist. l. 1. and so leave Priscillian; and that is, how Justantius, one of his Associates, and a chief stickler in the Sect, was for his factious and sediti­ous cariage banished for ever to the Isles of Scilly, Ad Sillinam insulam ultra Britanniam deportatus, as Sulpitius hath it.

But Popery and Pelagianisme are the darling er­rors, the [...], the bosom-mischiefs of the time, as some men conceive it. Are none of these crept up in our Reformation? Pelagianisme some, that's certain: and that no otherwise esteemed and cherished, than if it were a part of our Saviours Go­spel. St. Hierome tells us of Pelagius, Adv. Pelag. l. 1. how general­ly he was offended with the Surplice, how much it went unto his heart, Ecclesiasticum ordinem in candi­da veste procedere, to see the Priest administer the blessed Sacrament in a white Vesture. Pelagians of this kinde we have too too many; such as not only hate the Surplice, and refuse to wear it, but think the Gospel of our Saviour to be unprofitable and of none effect, if preach'd by one that doth ap­prove it. A learned man who once was of that par­ty, & pars magna too, D. Burges. hath so informed me in his Books, and I dare take it on his cre­dit.

For Popery, that is grown amongst us to the ve­ry height; and in the points and parts thereof, in [Page 141] which the life and essence of Popedom doth consist especially. The time was, when as Kings and Empe­rors had the sole power of calling Councils, of mode­rating or presiding in them by themselves or Depu­ties; and finally, of confirming their Acts and Canons. This power the Popes have long usurped, and think it a great favour unto secular Princes, if they vouch­safe to give them notice of their purposes, or trust them with the execution of their Lawes and Ordi­nances. The time was too when Princes thought themselves supreme in their own Dominions, ac­comptable to none but God. But now the Popes have challenged a disposing power, both of their Per­sons and Estates: as being the Vice-gerents of Al­mighty God, the Vicars general of Christ our Savi­our. To produce Authors for the proof of such evi­dent truths, especially in such a knowing and dis­cerning audience, were a foul impertinency, and indeed sensibile super sensorium ponere, to light a Candle to the Sun.

In these two points, which are the very life and essence of the Popedom, as before I said, the Puri­tan is no lesse Popish then the Pope himself. The power of calling the Assembly, that appertains no longer unto Kings and Princes; it belongs only to the Church, that is, themselves. God was mistaken sure when he said to Moses, Numb. 10. 1, 2. Fac tibi duas tubas ar­genteas, that he should make to, or for, himself two silver Trumpets; tis well if Dathan, Corah and Abiram will allow him one. And for the civill power, to command that one, according to the Doctrine now, it is originally in the people too, and in the King by way of derivation only: and that too [Page 142] cumulativè, not privativè, as they please to word it; the people having still a liberty inherent in them to reassume the Government, as they see occasion. There is much talk indeed of Solomon, and all his wisdom: think we, he was not out when he broach­ed this Doctrine, per me Reges regnant, by me Kings reign; or speaking as he did, in Parables and Proverbs, which are hard to construe, his words may brook some other meaning then they seem to signifie? De Jure Regni. Buchanan was a learned man too, but speaks plainer farre; Populo jus est imperum cui velit deferat. The people have a power, saith he, to dis­pose of Kingdoms, from man to man, and line to line, as they list themselves. Nor stood he single in it neither. Goodman and Knox, the two Apostles of the Sect, led the way to him, and they first brought it to Geneva; The Kings and Princes of the Earth must change their styles and tenures, if this Doctrine hold: It is no longer Dei Gratia that they hold their Scepters, but Populi clementia, by the peoples courtesie. And Tenant at the will of another man is the worst tenure or estate in all my Littleton. The greatest Kings and Princes, by their opinion, are but as Bayliffs and sworn Officers of the Common­wealth, and therefore to be called to a publick rec­koning, either upon pretence of mal-administration, or any popular dislike or disgust whatsoever: nor will there want some Tribunitial Spirit, when occa­sion serves, to take them by the throat, and say unto them, Redde rationem villicationis tace, that is to say, as our last Translations read, Give an account of thy Stewardship, for thou shalt be no longer Stew­ard. This is indeed the Doctrine proper to the Sect, [Page 143] for which they have no precedent nor pattern in the former times; and is withall the true foundation of that disobedience and desire of liberty, which is be­come so Epidemical amongst us. There are none so blind but may discern this for a tare of the enemies sowing. It is already come to fecissent fructum.

I could now to these points of Popery add a point of Judaisme, in the imposing of a Sabbath on the Church of Christ; and that to be observed with so great severity, that they have gone beyond the Jewes, and shewed themselves more Pharisaical then the very Pharisees. But hereof I have spoken more at large elsewhere, and cannot now contract it in a narrower compasse. I could say somewhat also of those Pharisees, both for their Doctrine and their practise: their Doctrine, in maintaining Fate and De­stiny as the Stoicks did, and setting up their own tra­ditions above the word of God and the Churches Ordinances: their practises, in the compassing of Sea and Land to increase their Proselytes, the ostentati­on of their zeal and piety to the publick view; the absolute command they attained unto both on the purses and the consciences of the common people; and on the strength thereof, their disobedience and contempt of all Authority: but these I only glance at, and so passe them over. Nor shall I now insist on the Nazaraei, Epiph. haeress. 29. n. 6. Id. haeres. 76. n. 4. excluding the necessity of good works out of the Covenant of grace: nor on the Heresie of the Anomaei, or Eunomians, who for themselves and their Disciples had cancelled the Obligation of the morall Law; nor of the Apostolici, who had all things common, or rather common stocks and con­tributions, [Page 144] for the promoting of the Sect. August. de haere [...]. c. 40. I should be endless in this tedious and ungrateful search, should I present you all those tares which have been scattered in Gods Field since the Reformation.

Tares then there are we see in our Churches too, not only in the Church of Rome: those I discovered to you at my last being here; these I reserved un­till this present, with promise then, that if you would have patience, I would pay you all; and now I hope I have discharged my self of that Obligation. And in this way I went the rather, for the perfor­mance of my duty to Almighty God, and to your sacred Majesty, as Gods Vice-gerent in these King­doms; and unto those who under God and you have the chief ordering of this Church. These tares I saw not in the Sevit, I was then unborn; nor in crevisset herba, when the blade sprung up; for if born then, I was then too young. But being now a ser­vant, though the meanest of the heavenly Husband­man, and having noted and observed them in fecissent fructum, I have made bold to come before you, as did the servants of my Text, saying, Sirs, There was good seed sow [...]n in the Field of God▪ but unde haec zizania? but behold these Tares. And having said this, I have done my duty. God so direct your royall Counsels, and the aviso's of your P [...]elates for the Churches peace, for the averting of those mischiefs which these tares do threaten, that so not any of them, no nor all together may either prove infecti­ous to the Wheat, the Lords own good Seed, or any way destructive to the Field it self. And let all good Christians say, Amen.

FAcilius est in contubernalibus disputare quàm conserere sapientiam. Minut. Felix. It is obser­ved exceeding well by Minutius Fe­lix, that men of equall parts and power may farre more easily debate then defend a question. Disputes are sooner raised then they are determined: and every one that knowes how to start a question knowes not how to lay it. Determinations and Decisions are matters of Authority and Judgement, which how­soever they were agitated and prepared in Schools, are pronounced ex Cathedra. If the Dispute be­come so vehement, and the point so intricate, that neither the Master of the Schools, nor Doctors of the Chaire do determine of it, then Dic Ecclesiae comes in next, devolve the business to the Church, and hearken with obedience to her resolutions. The [Page 146] Church is furnished by our Lord and Saviour with sufficient power to settle and compose such questi­ons as are raised within her: nor wants she the assi­stance of Gods Spirit to direct that power for the appeasing of the same; yet if the Church be wa­vering and unsetled in her resolutions, or that the point in question be de summa rerum, the safety and subsistence of the Church it self, then must we do as did the servants of my Text, make our addresse unto the Lord, who keeps unto himself the dernier resort. The servants came, but how? in the spirit of prayer. Accesserunt ad Deum per orationem, as it is in Lyra: In locum. Corde & mentis desiderio, in purity of heart, and fervency of spirit, as Remigius hath it. And he whose eares are alwayes open to the affectionate de­sires of his faithful servants, lets them know the truth, Diaboli calliditate hoc factum, that that which they enquired about was of Satans doing. They came unto him with an unde, and he makes answer with an ait, He said unto them, inimicus homo hoc fecit, the enemy hath done this.

These words contain in them these two generall parts, a quis respondet, and a quia respondet: first, who it is that answers; and then, what he answereth. The quis respondet in the first words, & ait illis, he said unto them; the quid respondet in the last, inimi­cus homo hoc fecit, an enemy hath done this. In this last generall, the quid respondet, we have these particulars; first, who it was that did this mischief, an enemy, inimicus homo; next, by what practises and arts he did it; which we may easily finde, if we look well for them, in the fecit hoc. I shall speak first unto you of the quis respondet, who it [Page 147] is that answereth, Et ait illis, he said unto them.

Nec Deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus Inciderit. De Art Poet. It is prescribed by Horace, in his Art of Poesie, not to bring in the Gods to bear a part in any of their scenes and Comedies, but where some speciall diffi­culty did arise, which of necessity might seem to re­quire their presence. The Parables in Scripture are a kinde of Poesie, fitted and framed to our capacity, and for our instruction. And we may take it for a rule, that in what Parable soever God comes in dis­coursing, there is some weighty point in agitation, which could not be determined of but by him alone. God we finde here discoursing with his Houshold-servants, though not here as God: The Parable holds in this also a true decorum with the Rules of Poesie, and shewes us God presented in the shape of man, Et Deus humana sub imagine, M [...]tam. lib. 1. as it is in Ovid. God here appeares unto us like an Housholder, or an Husbandman, the homo seminans of the Text, con­ferring with his servants, his subordinate Ministers, about the quality and success of their employment. He in this place, as [...] and ille in the Greek and Latine, is not demonstrative, but relative, and doth relate unto the Housholder of the former verse, the Pater-familias, as the Latine; the [...], or Master of the House, as the Greek calls it.

And indeed, call him by which name you will, it comes all to one: Each of them doth express suffi­ciently both his power and greatness. The whole world, the united body of all mankind is but one great Family; and who the Pater-familias, the Fa­ther of this Family, but the Father Almighty? His [Page 148] Sonnes we are, if we behold our selves in the first Creation; not only as the Father of the first man A­dam, from whose loynes we come, but even of all and every one in his particular. The very bodies of us men are too too excellent a structure for man and nature to erect: And therefore said Lactantius tru­ly, hominem non patrem esse, Lib. 5. c. 19. sed generandi ministrum, Man only is the Instrument which the Lord doth use to raise that goodly edifice of flesh and blood, which he contemplates in his Children. His servants we are too in our several functions; the King, as the chief Steward of his Family, to go in and out before his people; the Bishop and the Priest, to instruct and teach them; the Peeres, to countenance and protect them; the Judge, to regulate and defend them. Some in one place, and some in another, all servants, all Domesticks in that numerous family. And he, as Father of the Family, doth not he take care that every one according to his place and qua­lity receive his portion of meat in due season? Doth not he feast the rich with dainty, and the poor with plenty? Doth not he heal the sick, and cure the wounded, and comfort the afflicted, and support the weak? Sic curat unumquemque tanquam solum curet, sic omnes tanquam singulos, as my Authour hath it. Never did Father of a Family so discharge his duty. Minu [...].

Next, let us look upon the world as it is an House, the generall habitation of mankind, and of all Gods creatures; and who should be the [...], the Lord and Master of this House, but the Lord Al­mighty? Deo una domus est totus hic mundus, Id. ibid. as saith Octavius in the Dialogue. An House so orderly disposed, so well contrived, so richly furnish­ed, [Page 149] that one may very well conjecture that certain­ly it hath some Lord and Master of great power and wisdom. They say, the model of an House is fashio­ned according to his brain that builds it: Then sure, the builder of this House is of infinite wisdom, who hath contrived and ordered it in such an excellent manner, as well for state and entertainment as infe­riour Offices. And when we come into an House wherein we see the servants vigilant and laborious in their severall stations, neither omitting their own duties, nor intermedling in those Offices which be­long to others, we use to say, that such an House is prudently and wisely ordered. Crederes universitatis esse dominum; Minut. The Lord of all this Universe hath his House so fitted, alotting every man unto some employment, as a barre to idleness; and limiting each man to his own employment, to avoid confusi­on. They which will needs be medling in anothers office, either the affaires of Church or State, which they are not called to, d [...]sturb the order of Gods House, and subvert the Discipline thereof, and so become unworthy to be counted servants to so wise an Housholder.

But God is not an Housholder only, and no more then so, though so translated in my Text: The Lord is [...] as well as [...], Lord of the soyle, as well as Master of the House; the House being such as hath good store of Land, and a fair demesne belonging to it. Ager est mundus totus, non ecclesia; Origen. in Mat. 13. The whole World is the Field of God, and therefore called Ager suus, his Field. v. 24. and Ager tuus, thy field, the servants speaking to their Master, v. 27. The Earth is the Lords, and the fulness of it; the [Page 150] whole World, and all that dwell therein, as the Royal Psalmist hath it. Satan was but a silly braggard, when he said to Christ, Haec omnia tibi dabo, all these will I give thee. The Kingdoms of the Earth, and the glories of them are of Gods disposing: And all the Princes of the World, even the Mahometan and Hea­then, hold their Crowns of God, though they do service for them to the Devil. The enemy is so far from being Lord in chief of all the Universe, that he hath no propriety in the smallest part: No Field, no not the corner of a Field, which he can challenge to himself, or say to any of his servants, that's mine own, go plough, and fallow, and manure it, and then sowe my seed. If he be so inclined at any time as to be sowing of his tares, it must be done in agro Domini, some part or other of the Lords Field. And then he comes but on the post fact neither, after the Field was sowen with good seed before. For howsoever Heresies may be antiqua, yet they are not prima; Heresie may be very ancient, but never primitive. Truth was first sowen, though many times it hapneth by the Devils practises that Heresie doth overcome it. [...], wholsom Doctrines, had first of all been planted in the Church of Christ; [...], other Doctrines, as the Apostle calls them, cap. 6. v. 3. 1 Tim. they came in after, as the fruits of a latter sowing.

So much of ille, he, the relative, as it stands mar­shalled in my Text: and what did he? Et ait illis; He said unto them. And it was no small grace to his poor servants that he vouchsafed to look so low as to hold conference with them, and admit of parlies in matters which himself alone knew how to reme­dy. [Page 151] But being it was a matter which concerned his Church, and in the which the servants did address themselves unto him with so great affection, he thought it no disparagement to hearken to their in­formation, and return an answer. Nor stops he here, as if he had done too much for them; but he per­mits them also to propose their counsels, vis imus & colligimus ea? in the words next following: and to that also he replies: Such conferences between the heavenly Husbandman and his Houshold-servants, God and the Prophets, Christ and his Disciples, are no rare matters in the Scripture. Not that God ei­ther stood in need of their intelligence, or was made wiser by their counsels; but leaving thereby an ex­ample unto Kings and Princes, and such as are in au­thority from and under them, not to despise the in­formation, or undervalue the advice, of the meanest person, how much soever ranked below them both in place and power. Such men as are inquisitive in asking questions, or prompt in giving their advise in emergent difficulties, however they may seem un­seasonable, yet if they do it on good grounds, as the servants here, are not to be rejected as unserviceable. Certain I am my Housholder conceived it so; He neither blames his servants for their curiosity, with nolo nimiùm curiosos; nor taxeth them of indiscre­tion in the delivering of their opinions, with nolo­nimiùm diligentes. For howsoever to their counsel he returns a non, yet he acquaints them fully with those weighty reasons which did incline him there­unto. And as unto the unde, to the point proposed, to that he makes such answer as removed the doubt; which is the quid respondet, and my second general, [Page 152] inimicus homo hoc fecit. Where first we must consi­der who it was that did this mischief; and that was inimicus, an enemy.

Dicuntur in Scripturis inimici Dei qui non naturâ sed vitiis ejus imperio adversantur. De civitar. Dei. l. 12. c. 3. It is a Maxime of St. Austins, That those are called Gods enemies in holy Scripture, which are not such by nature, in their first creation, but only by their own corrupt affections. His reason is, Id. ibid. naturam non esse contrariam Deo, sed vi­tium, because that nature of it self is not contrariant unto God, but subservient rather. Sin is the instru­ment which first made the breach between God Al­mighty, and those who in the Book of God are cal­led his enemies. So was it also with the enemy which is mentioned here, God made him good, though not unchangeably good. By nature he created him a living and immaculate spirit, inferior unto none but to God himself. But he would needs aspire be­yond his nature; and so, as many times it hapneth unto proud usurpers, lost both the Crown he aimed at, and his own Inheritance. For whereas God pro­fesseth of the Angels, that they are [...], and were by him created to be ministring Spirits, Lucifer, so the Scriptures call him, did not like of that: He thought himself a creature of too glorious a composition to be sent on errands, or to be ready at command, Isaiah 14. v. 4. and therefore aimed at higher matters, et ero similis Altissimo, said the proud Aspirer; He must be equall to the Almighty, both in place and power. This pride and blind ambition cast him out of Heaven, and made him of an Angel, and a Friend of God, to become an enemy, an enemy unto the Lord and to all his Saints.

[Page 153] This is the enemy which I am to speak of, the e­nemy that took such pains to destroy Gods Harvest. We met with him before in the 25. but there we found him with his clogge. There he is styled [...], inimicus ejus, his enemy; the enemy of God alone, and there we did consider him accor­dingly. To God an enemy ex professo, on the anci­ent qua [...]rel, upon the sentence passed against him for his first aspirings. To man an enemy no further then he weares Gods Livery, and retains unto him: and therefore in that place, inimicus ejus, Gods enemy. But here we finde him more at large, an enemy; or inimicus quispiam, some enemy, as Beza reads it. An enemy to God, and to Man, Gods Image, and the Church, Gods Spouse: to each of these an enemy in their several places. In the first, to God; to God indeed an enemy, but an harmless enemy. His ma­lice unto God doth consist much more in a continual purpose to resist his will, then a power to hurt him: non potestate laedendi, August. de civ vit. l. 12. c. 3. sed voluntate resistendi, as the Father hath it. The mischiefs which he meanes to God, are but like Arrowes shot against a Rock of A­damant, which rebound back on him that shot them, nihil illi valentes nocere, sed sibi. The hurt he doth is to himself, in filling up the measure of his own iniquities, and thereby adding to the weight of his just damnation.

Things not succeeding to his wish with Almighty God, his next design is upon man. With him he had a quarrel too at his first Creation: It grieved him at the very heart to see poor man, composed of such vile matter as dust and ashes, adopted unto those ce­lestiall glories, Gen. 3: whence himself was fallen: and there­fore [Page 154] he resolves to work him to the like Apostasie. This onset he then gave, and hath since continued, endeavouring nothing more then the fall of man, that he might triumph on his ruines. For being alie­nated from the love of God, he hath been labouring ever since the World began to fill mens mindes with false opinions touching God, and to bring in strange forms of worship, which the Lord abhors. Et alienati à Deo, Minut. Fel. inductis pravis religionibus, non de­sinunt homines à Deo segregare; as mine Author hath it. Hence came the monstrous dotages of the anti­ent Gentiles concerning God; the infinite and in­numerable multitude of the Gods themselves, their most ridiculous, and sometimes most obscene and filthy ceremonies at many of their publick Festivals: their barbarous and unnatural sacrifices, not of the flesh of strangers only, as in Gaul, Pontus, Egypt, yea and Rome it self; but making their own Children passe through the fire to Moloch, as amongst the Is­raelites. If Socrates, Diog. Laert. in vir. Socrat. or any of the Learned and more noble souls, oppose these manifest impieties, and seek to vindicate and restore the true knowledge of God, him he will first disgrace with the common people, deprive him of his fame and substance, and at last his life. Job c. 1. &c. If Job, or any pious and religious spi­rit, live not according to the will of Satan, and the wicked multitude, him he will labour to accuse be­fore God himself; that getting him into his hands, to spoyl and plague him to the utmost, he may in­force him in the end to curse God and die. So then we see the difference of the Devils enmity unto God and man. To God he is an enemy affectu only, in his minde and purpose; to man an enemy affectu and [Page 155] effectu too; not only seeking whom he may devoure, but devouring many.

Thus deales he also with the Church, with the u­nited body of Gods chosen servants. Christ had no sooner raised himself from the bonds of death, and placed himself at the right hand of God in the hea­venly places, Apocal. c. 12. 1: &c. but presently the Woman, the Church of God, however cloathed with the Sunne, and crowned with Starres, was by the Great Dragon brought into distress, and forced to flie into the Wil­derness. Nor was it long before there was a Warre in Heaven, Michael and his Angels against the De­vill and his angels. Apocal. c. 12: v. 7. 9. And howsoever the Arch-angel had the better then, and that the Dragon was cast out and vanquished, to the great comfort of the Saints, yet hath he never left to persecute and af­flict the Church. The case stands so between the Devil and the Church of God, as it was once 'twixt Rome and Carthage. Patercul. hist. l. 2. Semper inter eos populos aut bel­lum, aut belli praeparatio, aut infida pax fuit, as the Sto­ry hath it. Either they were in open Warre, or pre­paring for it; or if at any time in peace, it was a peace more dangerous then the Warre it self. For in the infancy of the Church, what persecutions did he raise against her? what monstrous Heresies did he raise within her? what havock did he make of the Saints of God? what a red Sea did he create of the blood of Martyrs? If that at any time his wretched Instruments grew weary of their own tyranny, as sometimes they did, he then prepares the way unto new afflictions, by charging those poor innocent souls with incestuous mixtures, and drinking the warm blood of a new slain Infant: which were [Page 156] those [...], Just. Martyr. Apol. so oft con­futed and retorted by the antient Fathers. Nay, when the Church was setled in a perfect peace by the hand of Constantine, yet was it still infida pax, a peace but ill observed by the treacherous enemie, intent on all occasions, watching all advantages, if not to cut it down at once by open violence, yet to supplant it at the last by his subtile practises.

This to perform, he was to deal in other manner, and by other instruments then before he did; more like a cunning practiser then an open enemy. Before we finde him styled inimicus simply, or inimicus quis­piam, as Beza here. But in this place he comes in with a speciall adjunct, [...], as in the Greek, or inimicus homo, in the vulgar Latine: wherewith agree Castellio and Erasmus, in their translations of the Text. Our English versions do somewhat differ in the point. The Bishops Bible, as they call it, reads it a malicious man; that of Geneva, an envious man▪ the Rhemists literally, an enemy man. All of them keep themselves unto the homo as well as to the ini­micus; except our last Translation, therein follow­ing Beza. But what the reason is why Homo should be superadded unto inimicus, that's not yet agreed on. [...]n Mat. 13. St. Hierome is of this opinion, Diabolum propte­rea inimicum hominem appellari, quod Deus esse de­siit, that Satan is here called inimicus homo, because he left off to be God. But this I can by no meanes like of: the Devil in the height of his ambition as­pired not to be God, but like him. It was not ero Deus, cap. 64. but ero Deo similis, that procured his down­fall. Lupoldus in his Book de vita Christi, tells us, that homo is here joyned to inimicus, as Africanus [Page 157] was to Scipio; to denotate that Conquest which he gains on man, when he subjects him to his will. O­thers conceit, that he is therefore called inimicus ho­mo, to shew that correspondence and affinity which is between the Devil and the wicked man: the De­vill in this place being called a man, and Judas in the sixth of John being called a Devil; but these, as I conceive it, are but tricks of fancy, and come not home unto the point.

For my part, I should rather think that Satan is here called inimicus homo, because in sowing of his tares he used the help of envious and malicious men, whom he had fitted for that purpose. When he first set upon the Church by violent and bloody persecutions, he made use of Beasts. The Ty­rants all from Nero down to Dioclesian, what were they else but Beares, and Wolves, and Pards, and Ly­ons; creatures that never sucked the milk of Wo­men? Certain I am, as most Interpreters agree, that by the name of Lyon, c: 4. v. 18. in the 2d of Tim. St. Paul de­signes the Emperor Nero; I was delivered, saith the Apostle, out of the mouth of the Lyon, Ex ore leonis, In locum. i. e. persecutoris, saith St. Hierome; i. e. Nero­nis, saith Lyranus. [...], so saith St. Chrysostome; with whom accord Theophylact and Oecumenius. And when he laboured to envenom it by scandalous and noysom Hereticks, he made use of Serpents, that by the poyson of their impious Doctrine, she might be brought unto destruction. Certain I am that Epiphanius resembleth every severall Hereticks unto some speciall sort of Ser­pent. Epiphan. But in the sowing of these tares, in bringing in that deviation from the true Religion which is in­tended [Page 158] in this Parable; he then thought it his best way to make use of men, men who knew how to time it, and to watch advantages, and to make use of all occasions; and so with more assurance might ef­fect his purpose, because leas [...] suspected. The Devill never went beyond himself but in this invention, in putting on the shape of man when he did this feat, that he might passe unseen by the houshold-servants. This is the true cause as I conceive it, why Sa­tan is here called inimicus homo, the envious and ma­licious man; or if you will, the enemy-man, as the Rhemists read it. What kinde of men the enemy made use of to effect his purpose, and how he makes the lusts and passions of his several instruments sub­servient to his wretched purposes, we shall see in the hoc fecit, my last particular.

Aetatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores. Horar: de arte. He that desires to be esteemed a Master in the Art of man, must be well skilled in all the humors and affections, which are peculiar to his nature, and incident unto his age. Nay, he must be well read in mens wants and weaknesses, their imperfections and defects: which if applied with cunning, and employed with care, may prove exceeding serviceable to the aims and projects of the cunning practiser. And as the thrifty man that desires to prosper, turns every thing unto his profit, and makes no small commodity out of toyes and trifles; so he that trades in men, and hath the art of diving into their affections, may hus­band and improve the meanest passion to his great advantage. The Devil, the old enemy, is a cunning man, a subtle practiser, and is not now to learn this lesson. When he was once resolved on the fecit [Page 159] hoc, to sowe his tares, his dangerous and hereticall Doctrines in the Church of God, he was not to be taught how to deal with men, how to make use of their affections, of their lusts and passions, for the promoting of his purpose; or how to use their weak­nesse and deficiencies, as an help unto it. Whether men be voluptuous, arrogant, or vain-glorious, whe­ther they pine with envy, or are stirred with choler; or be they rash, or head-strong, tis all one to him. He knowes full well his opportunities, how to apply himself unto them, as the humour takes: and by their meanes to do that businesse, which he durst ne­ver undertake without them. Epiphan. hae­res. 75. num. 1. [...]. Not that the Devil hath a power, as the Father notes it, to thrust men into his employments whether they will or not; but that he makes such use of their lusts and passions as may best suit with his intendments. The enemy in this business deales by craft, not force.

And first, if we begin with the ambitious man, (as certainly he would take it ill, if we should do other­wise,) how much hath Satan wrought upon this af­fection from the beginning of the world? What was it but ambition in our Father Adam, Gen. 3. when he desired to be as God, knowing good and evill? And did not Satan work upon that humour, to the undoing of that wretched upstart, and his whole posterity? What was it but ambition in Simon Magus, [...], Ep [...]. ad. the first-begotten of the Devil, as Ignatius calls him, which made him love to be en­tituled the great power of God? Acts 8. v. 10. And did not Satan work upon that humour, for the promoting and di­vulging of those desperate blasphemies, with which [Page 160] the Church was long tormented? What was it but ambition in the Popes that moved them to affect the Title of Universall Bishop in the Church of Christ? And hath not Satan wrought upon that humour, to the distraction of the Church, if not the totall ruine of it? This Doctrine of the Cardinall, Si Papa do­ceret virtutes esse vitia, &c. that if the Pope deter­mine vertue to be vice, all men are to believe so, with­out more ado: that of Aquinas and the Schools, that he may make new Articles of faith; which Pius Quartus put in practise: that of the Canonists in ge­nerall, that as the Vicar-generall of our Saviour Christ, he is Lord of all, and consequently hath a power to do what he list; as also to dispense what, and how he list, in matters which concern the Church, with Oaths and Vowes, and Leagues and Mariages; yea, with the very Law of nature: these and the rest what are they but the fruits of the Popes supremacy? and what produced the Popes supremacy but the Popes ambition? I fear a spice of this ambition, and a shrewd one too, is still left a­mongst us: in them most visible, who would be every one a Pope in their severall Parishes. The Fathers of the Consistory claim as great Authority, as ever Pope did in the Conclave; and at their feet, according to their own dear principles, the P [...]inces of the Earth must lay down their Scepters. Huic disciplinae omnes orbis principes fasces suos submittere, De Discip. Eccl. p. 141, 143. & parere necesse est, as Travers hath resolved it in his Book of Discipline.

Vain-glory may come next ambition, and many times they go together. This was the motive that incited Theudas to take upon himself the name of Acts 4: [Page 161] some doughty Prophet, Epl. cont: Fundan. Manicha. cap. 6. Se [...]m. 65. in Cantu. that he might draw away much people after him, and be counted somebody. This Austin notes to be the fountain of all Heresies; Superbia mater heres [...]on, as the Father hath it. St. Bernard speaks it out more fully, captare gloriam de singularitate scientiae, to get himself a name for a man of eminency. Somewhat they needs must teach which is not ordinary, to gain themselves opinion, and increase their followers. St. Dominick, St. Francis, and all the rest which have so surfeited the Church with their several Orders, what aimed they at in all their institutions, but the vain-glory of a new Invention, and to have their followers called by their own names? So fared it also with the School­men, Lombard, Aquinas, Bonaventure, and the rest that followed; every one superadding some new ni­ceties unto those before them. Those intricate de­bates first raised amongst them touching Predestina­tion, Grace, Free-will, the Merit of good works, as well excongruo, as condigno; the number and nature of the Sacraments, [...], [...], and the like per­plexities; Their new distinctions, and new termes of Art, new notions, or indeed new nothings, what served they for, but the ostentation of their singula­rities in point of learning, to the no small increase of disputations, and decrease of pi­ety?

Nor hath it fared much better with the Chutch in these latter times; She is, and hath been long, afflicted with this New Disease. New Doctrines now are no lesse pleasing to the people, Acts 17▪ 21 [...] then once newes at Athens; and many a man we have, as there, that spends his time for nothing else then to hear new [Page 162] things, [...], as in the Greek, some Doctrine of the newest fashion. Ibid. v. 18. In case they have not what they look for, then presently what would this babler have? say some: he seemes to be a setter forth of strange Gods, say others; because perhaps he preached unto them touching obedience, and con­formity to the publick Government. Such being the humour of the people, Sermonibus opinantium faciles praebere aures, Tacit. to hearken greedily to such Sermons as are fraught with fancies: whoever hath the art to feed that humor, shall have many followers. And who I pray you would not buy a company at so cheap a rate, for fear of hazarding so poor a trifle as the Churches peace?

Desire of glory leads the way to desire of gain, or indeed cannot go without it. He that doth feed upon the aire of popular applause, and live upon the breath of acclamation, may carry all his dinner in an empty belly. [...], Tis money makes the man, said the old Greek Proverb. And therefore they that are vain-glorious, and hunt for popular applause amongst their followers, are for the most part also covetous, and suck no small advantage from them too. Wer't not for spes dolosi affulserit nummi, Pe [...]sius. the flattering hopes of filthy lucre, digito monstrari would not serve the turn. Desire of gain, and love of money, are the predominant affe­ctions that the enemy works on. The love of money, saith the Apostle, 1 Tim. c. 6. v. 10. is the root of all evill; the which whilest some have coveted after, à fide erraverunt, they have erred from the faith. And if that men subvert whole houses, and teach things they should not, do we not finde it by experience that it is tur­pis [Page 163] lueri gratiâ, Titus. c. 1. v. 11: even for the sake of filthy lucre? Certain it is, the prosecution of these covetous hopes hath given the enemy no small advantage in the disseminating of his tares in the field of God. It hath been magnus laqueus diaboli, a great snare of Satans, who no sooner found that Clergy-men were covetous, and intent on riches, but streight he layed before them, many opportunities to feed that hu­mour. As for example;

The Church was used, according to the rigor of the primitive times, to enjoyne strict and tedious penance on the party criminall: why might not this be turned to money? Hence came the preaching, and the prizing too, of Indulgences and the year of Jubile; no small Revenue of the Popedom. Christ had left power unto his Ministers to absolve the pe­nitent, and to remit the sins of a contrite person: may not some gain be made of that? may not a par­don be obtained for money, as a thing of course? yes questionless, & that not for the present only, but ma­ny thousand years to come; not for poor trifles only, or peccadillos; but such as a religious ear would abhor to think of, Chemnit. Exam. C. Tr. non pro praeteritis tantùm, sed & pro futuris; not for sins past only, but for those to come: the gates of Heaven are never opened with more speed to the formall penitent, then by silver keyes. Some of the Fathers speak of a fire of Purgatory, though doubtingly, and as a matter not agreed on: might not that fire be made to warm their Kitchins, and prepare all them in a readiness for the common Re­fectory? The Passion of our Lord and Saviour was a sufficient sacrifice both for quick and dead: Might not the Masse, or the commemoration of that sa­crifice [Page 164] be taught to be of equall value? And having taught the people so, might they not sell their Mas­ses at a dearer rate then the false traytor sold his Master, whom the Masse commemorates? The times began to be exceedingly inclined to superstition: Wer't not an excellent piece of cunning to feed that humour, and put the people to the charge of the en­tertainment? From hence came shrines, and vowes to Saints, and Pilgrimages; and, which was worst of all, false and feigned miracles, only to gain greater re­putation to their shrines and temples, and the more profit to themselves. I could hunt further on this sent, but that I have more game to follow; and for the rest, refer it to the Poet Mantuan.

Now as ambition, and vain-glory, and the love of money have prevailed on some, and made them fit and ready for the Devils service; so discontent and envy have perswaded as much with others. Florinus never had been so ungracious as to make God the Authour of sin, Euseb. hist. 1. 5. or stained the peoples eares with so lewd a blasphemy, but that he had been formerly degraded from the holy Priesthood; [...], as Eusebius hath it. cap. 14. The discontent he took upon that disgrace made him apt to mischief; and Satan took the opportunity to make him useful for his purpose. Nor ever had Aerius broached this foolish fancy, August. de haeres. 53. Episcopum nulla ratione debere discerni, that Priests and Bishops were all one, but that he saw Eustathius, his companion on [...]e, advanced unto a Bishoprick before him. Him­self, as Epiphanius doth relate the Story, haeres. 74. n [...] 1. [...], did very earnestly affect that dignity; but he could not get it. Eustathius was preferred before [Page 165] him; Ibid: hence began the quarrel, [...], as the Father hath it. This envy at the fortunes and preferment of another man made him first quarrel with Eustathius, though his very Friend; and after with the Calling, with the very dignity. Just so the Fox complained that the Grapes were sowre, because he saw he could not reach them. Whether this folly, or this frenzy rather (for Epiphanius calls it in plain termes [...], Id. ibid. a frantick heresie) be not revived again on the self-same grounds; whe­ther Episcopacy be not now cryed down by those e­specially who either look with envious eyes on the preferment of their betters, or else are discontent­ed at their own misfortune, in not attaining to that e­minency in the Church of God, is no hard matter to determine. This I am sure, and speak it upon good Authority, that if some men had been advanced un­to those honours which they laboured for, and o­thers had attained those Bishopricks which they were in quest of, we had not been disquieted with those Schismes and ruptures wherewith the Church of God is now torn in pieces.

Envy and ignorance sometimes go together. Sure I am ignoratio recti & invidia are so placed in Taci­tus; In vita Agric. This we account not as a passion or affection in the minde of man, unless it be a voluntary and affe­cted ignorance, but as weakness or defect. And yet of this the enemy hath raised himself a greater for­tune then out of any of the rest. There was a time when ignorance was in request, Ap [...]cal. c. 20. v. 2. the tenth Age from Christ, the very next to that wherein hell brake loose; a dark and sullen night of ignorance, in which the servants of the Husbandman did not only slum­ber, Annls. Anno 900. 1. [Page 166] but slept and snorted. A seculum obscurum, as Baronius; In Chronolog. In Chron. a seculum infelix, an unhappy Age, where­in was little reading, and lesse writing, saith the Car­dinall Bellarmine: An age quite destitute of eminent men, both for wit and learning, as their Bishop Ge­nebrard. Can we conceive the enemy let slip the op­portunity of so dark a night, and slept for company? or that he would not husband it to his best advan­tage, when there was either none so vigilant as to watch his doings, or so industrious as to commit to writing what they had observed? What fitter time then this, to sowe the seeds of transubstantiation, and adoration of the Host; with all those severall points and Articles, those uncouth Ceremonies and gesticulations which depend upon it, when all divine and humane learning were laid up in silence? What fitter time then this to seal up the Bible, and take the Scriptures from the Laity, when there was such a fair pretence, that few or none could understand it? What fitter time then this, to captivate mens under­standings to the Churches dictates, and to advance their own traditions into the Chair and Throne of the Word of God, when men were taught, to the great obloquy and contempt of learning, that igno­rance was the mother of devotion? And in a word, what fitter time then this, to open and bring forth the tares of Image-worship, and invocation of the Saints, and prayer for the dead, and restraint from marriage; (the seeds whereof were sowen in those slumbring times which usher'd in this Epidemicall and dismall darkness) when men had wilfully sealed up their eyes, and professed blinde obedience to the Popes decrees? Here was a season for the nonce to [Page 167] spread abroad false Doctrines, and unsound opini­ons. The Devill had been an Asse indeed, if he had not spyed it.

And yet it is not easie to determine neither, whe­ther the negligence both of Priest and people did not as much promote the purpose of the enemy, as did their ignorance.

Now for this double kind of negligence, that which we charge upon the people is circa custo­diam personae suae, touching the looking to them­selves; that which we charge upon the Priest, Gloss. ord. in Mat. 13. v. 25. circa custodiam gregis sui, touching the looking to his Flock. [...] The people I find faulty in these two re­spects; 1. In not doing of their duties, and 2dly, In not claiming of their dues. The Church in the first Ages of it used every day to celebrate the blessed Sacrament, which thereupon St. Ambrose calls quoti­dianum cibum, de Sacrament. l. 6. c. 4. our daily bread. The times were then severe and quick, the people pious and de­vout; and few there were that failed to be present at it. But when the Sun of peace and liberty shined upon the Church, the people grew remisse and care­less, took cold in their devotions, and forbare the Church, and left the Priest, who by the ancient Ca­nons was to do this Office, to say his lesson to him­self. By this meanes and no other came in private Masses, wherein the Priest participates by himself a­lone; not upon any positive constitution, which de­barres the people, but for defect of piety and devo­tion in them. Against Jewel. Art. [...]. S. 7. Harding & other learned men in the Church of Rome, so excuse the matter; and not per­haps without just reason. But certainly the Priest was to blame the while, who either did not call upon [Page 168] them to attend their duties, or in default thereof did not proceed against them, as he should have done, according to the ancient Discipline. But more to blame no doubt was the Church of Rome, Syn. Trid. Sess. 22. Can. 8. who on complaint of the abuse, not only hath ordained no remedy for the recalling of the people to the primi­tive custom, but hath established and confirmed these private Masses maugre all opposition and resi­stance, inflicting an Anathema upon every one that dares d [...]sprove them.

As then the people were first faulty in the not doing of their duties, so we shall finde them as de­ficient in the second point, for the not claiming of their dues. For if the question should be asked, how and by whom the Laity were first denied the Cup in the blessed Sacrament: It must be answered, the People lost it by degrees, for want of putting in their claim to assert the title; for not demanding the per­formance of our Saviours will delivered and decla­red in his holy Testament. Art. 2. S. 8. That it was instituted in both kinds by Christ, Ibid. S. [...]8. administred by St. Paul in both kindes at Corinth, and that it was so used in o­ther places during 600 years and upwards, is confes­sed by Harding in his reply to B. Jewell. When, and upon what Motives, and by whose Authority, this innovation was first made, is not yet agreed upon a­mong themselves. De legit. usu. Eucharist. l. 10 Greg. de Valentia, who took much pains in the examination of this business, re­turns an Ignoramus, or a minimè constat, unto all these Queries; and at last is fain to father it upon the usage of the Church, and consent of the faith­full. For the consent, or at the least the not gain­saying of the faithful, there is no doubt of that, for [Page 169] ought I can finde, and that's the point we now com­plain of. But for the usage of the Church, which al­so he pretends, to make up the matter, that came in of late. Thomas Aquinas, who lived about 300 years ago, no more, hath delivered plainly, calicem in quibusdam locis populo non dari, that the Cup was not then administred unto the people in some certain places. An undeniable Argument that it was univer­sally received then in all places else. Nor was it e­ver otherwise determined that I can hear of, till the Assembly held at Constance (for I can hardly think that it was a Councel) decreed it, against Christ him­self, with a non obstante; which after was confirmed and ratified in that of Trent.

Now, as the Prophet once complained, as was the People then, such was the Priest; and as the Priest was then, such were the People; both ignorant alike, and both alike negligent: The negligence incumbent on the Priests was of two sorts also; first, in not teach­ing of the People as they ought to do; and 2dly, in not applying speedy and peculiar remedies to emer­gent mischiefs. The Priests lips, by the Lords ap­pointment, were to preserve knowledge, and at their mouthes the people were to seek the same: so the Prophet Malachi. Malach [...] But when the Priest became quite destitute of knowledge, through affected ignorance; or had his lips sealed up, through affected idleness; they fed the People with dumb shewes and Images, the Lay-mens Bible, and with the pomp and cere­monies of the Masse, the Lay-mens Idoll; or with the counting of their Beades, the poor peoples Pater­noster: Quae non officio mentis, Div. Inst: l. 4. c. 3. sed ministerio corpo­ris consistunt, as once Lactantius scoffed it of the an­cient [Page 170] Gentiles. By meanes whereof the rites and ce­remonies of the Church were grown so numerous, that they became a burden to the Church of God; and being first ordained as helps and accessories to Gods publick worship, came in the end to be ac­counted the meritorious and essential parts thereof: and having in their Institution first no more then usum significandi, a power to signifie, attained at last to usus efficiendi, a power to dignifie, in the pro­duction of the works and effects of Grace.

As for the fault in not applying speedy remedies to emergent mischiefs, that relates chiefly to the Prelates, as those who are intrusted by our Saviour with the powers of Government. For if at first, up­on the broching of some new opinions which see­med to tend to any alteration in the things of God, the Prelates had bestirred themselves, tryed and ex­amined it by the holy Scriptures, or by the tendries and expressions of the Primitive Church, we had not now been troubled to decry those Doctrines which are obtruded on the Church for Catholick: Or if they had compelled the People to observe those Ce­remonies which had been recommended to them from most pure Antiquity, and not have suffered o­thers to be thrust upon them, either by practise or connivence we had not been troubled to discard those usages, which had defiled, if not prophaned the whole Worship of God. So when the Latine Tongue in these Western parts, by reason of the in­termixture of Gohes, Hunnes and Vandalls, and other Nations of the North, began to alter and degenerate from its ancient purity, if then the Prelates of the Church had also changed the Language of the pub­lick [Page 171] Liturgy, and fitted it to the understanding of the common people, the Church of Rome had never been accused of so foul a crime, as to inforce poor people to a Latine Service, to which they cannot say Amen.

For sure it is an excellent rule of him in Gellius, that men must speak according to the times in which they live, and live according to the times which old Stories speak of: Noct. Att. Moribus antiquis, praesentibus utere verbis, as that Author hath it. Agreeably to which good Rule, those in the Church of Rome might have kept together the ancient Piety and Dis­cipline with the modern Languages.

Hitherto we have noted and surveyed the Devils practises upon the nobler [...]sex of man: Think we he holds so wretched an opinion of the other, though the weaker Vessel, as to conceive them utterly un­serviceable for the improving of his Harvest? If we observe his doings, we shall finde it otherwise. He had so good success with Eve, Gen. 3: in his first attempt, that he had shewn himself at once ingrateful and un­provident to have left them so. He knew that by the constitution of their sex, they were weak, but wilful; easily won to entertain new fancies and opi­nions, but not so easily to forgo them. He also knew, that by the eagerness of their affections, and the insinuating powers which they have by nature, they are most diligent and industrious in draw [...]ng their Husbands, Children, friends and servants, to entertain that cause which themselves affect: Upon this ground he would not send out Simon Magus without an Helena; S. August. de haeres. c. 1. Id. c. 27. nor would Montanus venture on the Stage alone to disperse his Heresies, but must [Page 172] have Maximilla and Priscilla joyned Assistants with him. And if Priscillian have a mind to pervert the People, and raise a faction to himself in the Church of God, Sulpitius Se­ver. l. 2. he will not fail to court the Women, and make them fast unto his party. Sulpitius so assures us of him, that he was much admired and followed by the female sex, who loving novelties, and being of unsetled judgement, catervatim ad eum conflue­bant, resorted to him by whole flocks and multi­tudes.

So for the sowing of his tares in the middle Ages, what use the enemy made of Maud the Countesse, in the advancing of the Popes supremacy; what of St. Briget and St. Clare, (if I may so call them) in laying the burden of professed virginity upon the necks of tender Maidens, which they can neither carry as they should, nor cast down when they list, the Story of those times can witness, and these Ages feel. The enemy is still the same, qualis ab incoe ep [...]o processerit, the same Satan still, Horat. de Arte. and will not suffer this poor sex to remain in quiet; but works upon them by his E­missaries, and practiseth upon them by his Agents, as knowing what fit Instruments they are to advance a party. Not that he doth employ them often in the setting, but in the selling of his tares; their business lies not in the Field, but in the Market, to passe them up and down, and from hand to hand, and raise the price of the Commodity. St. Paul foretells us of a sort of men that should creep into Houses, 2 Tim. 3. v. 6 [...] and lead captive silly women laden with sin, and driven about with divers lusts. Now we finde it verified; where we may note, (and I but note it by the way) that those who are led captive so, in the Apostles Judgement, [Page 173] are but silly women, or [...], as he calls them, laden with sin, and therefore easie to be wrought on, and so not walking in the wayes of Gods Com­mandements; and driven about with divers lusts▪ therefore not rightly grounded in the rules of con­stancy. Such women as are there described by the Apostle, silly and sinful, and unconstant too, let them for me be still led captive; tis a gain to lose them.

Thus have I represented to you a discovery of the enemies practises; 1. the use he makes of the af­fections, passions and deficiencies of his severall in­struments, to bring about the fecit hoc which my Text here speaks of. And though it be a matter of no small difficulty to trace the Prince of darkness in his deeds of darkness, yet I have done the best I could, directed by the light of Scripture, and by the Candle of antiquity, to observe his goings. The use we make of all is this, that we avoid those humors and deficiencies in our severall stations which Satan is so apt to work on; that we be neither puffed up with ambition, nor tickled with vain-glory, nor filled with covetous desires, nor pined with discontent and envy, nor dulled with ignorance, nor finally be­sotted with a lazie negligence. These passions and defects if we yield not to, we need not fear the ene­my, no [...] his fecit hoc: For God, even our own God, shall give us his blessing, and strengthen us in every good, both word and work. To whom be glory, &c. Amen.

TAm vari se gessit, Velleius Pa­ter [...]. l. 2. ut nec lauda­turum magna, nec vituperatu­rum mediocris materia deficeret: It is affirmed by the Historian of Caius Caesar, how he behaved himself in such different manner, that there wanted not forcible reasons to condemn, yet excuse sufficient to com­mend him. The like may we affirm of our Servants here; he that doth look upon them in their sleep and negligence, and findes them ut dormirent homines, cannot but think them accessary to so great a mis­chief as Satan brought upon the Church in sowing Tares. The opportunity they gave him by their dull security, or at the least their supine carelesness, makes them parcel-guilty. And he that undertakes [Page 175] to defend them in it, will questionless as much betray his Client, as they their Cause. But look upon them when they were awakened, when they had seen their own error, and the Churches danger, and then how many things are there worthy at once of our ap­plause and imitation? In servis habemus tam quod laudemus quàm quod imitemur, Gorran: in locum. as my Author hath it. First, their fidelity, quòd accesserunt, in that they came unto their Master, v. 27. made him acquainted with the accident, and so prepared him for the Remedy. Their coming was an Argument of their good intentions, and that they had not willingly betrayed the trust reposed in them; they did not fly on the discovery. And next we have their care, quòd quaesie­runt, that they could never be at quiet till they were satisfied in the Original and Instrument of so great a mischief, till they had learnt the unde, whence the tares should come. And when their Master had in­formed them in the fecit hoc, v. 28. and told them that the Enemy had done it, yet they stayed not here, as if the question had been made out of curiosity, more to inform their understandings, then reform the matter. They thought it did concern them to redeem the time, because their former fact was evill. And as the enemy had entred by their sloth and negligence, and thereby took occasion to destroy Gods Harvest; so they conceived it did belong to them especially to labour in the Reformation, and to reduce Gods Field to its primitive lustre by their zeal and cou­rage. This was the thing most aimed at in the Acces­cerunt, this the chief reason of their coming. No sooner had they heard that the enemy did it, Lyran. in locum. and that this enemy was the Devil, ( Diaboli calliditate [Page 176] factum esse, as it is in Lyra;) but presently they make an offer of their service to redress the mischief, and by their joynt endeavours to root out those [...]ares by which Gods Field was so indangered. The servants said unto him, Vis imus & colligimus ea, Wilt thou that we go and gather them up?

This is the last part which the Servants have to act in this present Dialogue; and in this part they give a fair expression of their zeal and wisdom. He that will take their Picture right, shall finde that it con­sisteth of these five Lineaments: For first, we have a noble courage, vis imus? Sir, Wilt thou that we go and give the onset? Tis not the Devil whom we fear, nor any of his wretched Instruments, how great so­ever they may be, both in power and malice. Vis imus? Say but the word only, and thy servants go. And next, we finde an honest zeal to rectifie what was amisse in the Field of God. Vis imus & colligi­mus ea? Is it your pleasure that those Tares shall be rooted up? Tis not the Tares we are in love with, how fair soever to the eye, how plausible soever they may seem in the opinion and esteem of seduced people. Say thou but faciat is hoc, and thy servants will do it. In each we have their readiness and unani­mity. First, imus & colligimus, we go and gather, in the plural number; then imus & colligimus, we go and gather, in the present tense; and last of all, we have their temper and obedience, guiding their coun­sels by their Masters will, and governing their zeal by his direction, Vis imus & colligimus ea? This we are ready to perform, if you please to have it so; if otherwise, we neither are so in love with danger, nor so ambitious of imployment, as not to take your [Page 177] Warrant and Commission with us for our justifica­tion. And therefore fiat voluntas tua, not our will, but thy will be done; Vis imus & colligimus ea? Wilt thou that we go and gather them up? These are the features which I am to draw, though I confess with an ignorant and unskilful pencil; leaving them to be better limmed and polished by your more seaso­nable meditations. And first I am to lay before you their heroick courage; vis imus? wilt thou that we go?

Scientia parum est nisi accedat & virtus; Lactant. l. 3. c 8. Knowledge is little worth when it comes alone, when it is nei­ther joyned nor seconded with vertuous purposes. Some desire knowledge only that they may be known, and this is vanity: some only for the thing it self, to know, and this is curiosity: others, that they may edifie therewith, and this is charity. This last kinde was the desire of knowledge which these ser­vants brought, when they repaired unto their Ma­ster with an unde haec? They only laboured to discern whence the Tares should come, that so they might bethink themselves of some present Remedy. And having found out what they sought for, a man would easily have thought they had found enough to save them any further trouble: To tell them that the e­nemy was abroad, and that by his false Arts and Practises he had sowen those Tares, might well have been a Supersedeas to all further care; for who would willingly provoke an enemy, especially in matters which concern the publick, when by declining of the business, & quitting an employment of such dan­gerous nature, he may preserve himself both in peace and quietness? But when this Enemy is discovered [Page 178] further, to be an enemy of no common rank, but even the very Prince of darkness, qui tot Legionibus impe­ritat, one that commands so many Legions; I trow it were no part of wisdom to incur his anger, when by a plausible and discreet connivence we may hold fair with him.

To go against an enemy of such power and quali­ty were a desperate madness, such as no man of or­dinary brains would be guilty of, when he may safely sit at home, and take such fortune as the success and issue of affaires should offer: yet such was the un­daunted courage of the servants here, that none of all these cautions or considerations could preponderate with them, or hinder them from venturing in their Masters cause; vis imus? Wilt thou that we go?

And 'twas no mean note of a noble courage that they would be going: It seemes they thought it not becomming to sit still at home, and spend their time in consultations, how, and by what close meanes, without the open hazard of their lives and fortunes, so great a business as that was might be best effe­cted. The mischief which they feared was imminent, not capable of long debates, of slow and lingring de­liberations. Dum quid sis dubitas, Martial. j am potes esse nihil. And whilest they spent the time in Disputes and Questions, casting of doubts, and raising casuall or emergent scruples, the mischief which they feared might have fallen upon them. 'Tis true, the enter­prise was great, and full of danger; and therefore was to be encountred with an equall courage, both in the onset and pursuit. The greater the attempt was conceived to be, the braver resolutions were re­quired [Page 179] in them that durst undertake it. Poor are the spirits of those men who in a time of common dan­ger, when the whole Church is threatned, and the State oppressed, dare not go forth to meet an ap­proching mischief. To sink under the burden of ca­lamitous fortune, and not to struggle with adversity, is the next way to tempt and invite it to us. When troubles are at hand go forth to meet them; Ovid: Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentiùs ito, was a brave old Rule, both given and practised by the Heathens in matters of farre lesse concernment then the present business. And 'twas a gallant speech of Pompey, wor­thy the Reputation and Renown of so great a spirit, Plutarch. in Pomp. Necesse est ut eam, non ut vivam. He was imployed by his Country, the State of Rome, to scoure the Seas, and bring in such provisions of Corn and Victu­all as the Town then wante [...]: from which when some who seemed to be his friends disswaded him, urging the difficulty of the action, and the apparent hazards he was like to run; he answered, that his going was more necessary then his life could be; Necesse est ut eam, non ut vivam. No life could be so precious to him as his Countries safety; and therefore go he would, though the windes said nay, and all the forces of the World had been raised against him.

But Pompey shall not go alone; the Church of Christ can yield him Equals, though Rome yielded none. Pompejusque parem, which was there a Para­dox, is here the ordinary practise of Gods Saints and Servants. More then so, major hic Pompeio, what speciall Servant is there of the Lord our God who hath not shewen a braver and more noble courage? When Moses was imployed by God on so sowre a [Page 180] Message, as to solicit Pharaoh the Egyptian Tyrant for the dismission of the House of Israel, what dan­gers might not he have feared? what reasons might not fairly have been pretended to excuse the Jour­ney? And when he was resolved upon it, what diffi­culties did he meet with? how many times was he repulsed with threats and terrors? yet God no oft­ner said to Moses, though he said it often, Ingredere ad Pharaonem, Go unto Pharaoh, that bloody Butcher of my Children, that merciless oppressor of my people Israel, and tell him that he shall no longer keep them in that house of bondage; but Moses went immediatly upon the errand. It was no need to bid him hast, when the afflictions of his people, and the necessities of that poor Church did require his going. Moses, though celebrated in the Scripture for a man of meekness, Numb. 12. 3. mitissimus super omnes homines, as the Vulgar reads it, wanted not courage to go on when the Lord commanded. But this perhaps shewed more of his obedience then his resolution; and Moses did no more in this then the other Pro­phets, none of which stayed behind, or put off the service (excepting once the Prophet Jonah) when God bad them go.

Let us next therefore look on the Prophet Esay, who when God wanted one to reform his Church, and seemed thus to proclaim his wants, Quem mit­tam, & quis ibit nobis? Esay c. [...]. v. 8. Whom shall I send? who will go forth for us on this desperate and ungrateful service? made offer on his own accord to undertake it, Ecce ego! mitte me; Here am I, (saith the Prophet) let me be sent, and see if I decline the business, or dare not put my self on the undertaking. The Prophet [Page 181] was resolved upon the imus, to go, as soon as he per­ceived the Churches dangers. He stayed but for his Mission & Commission; Vis imus? Wilt thou that we go?

And yet we are not come to the best examples which the Church yields us in this case. The Pro­phets, though they were imployed by the Lord their God, in matters of this thankless and invidious na­ture, yet were they seldom sent abroad beyond the bounds and limits of their native Countrey, where they were countenanced and backed with their friends and kindred. It was not so with the Apostles, their Ite was of a more large, almost an infinite ex­tent; Ite in omnes gentes, Go into all the World and preach the Gospel. Matth. 28. And they were told before they undertook the business, Ecce mitto vos, Behold I send you forth as sheep amongst the Wolves; Id. cap. 10. and needs must tell you beforehand, that you shall be convented be­fore Kings and Councels, the Rulers of the Synagogue, and the Court of Sanhedrim of the Elders, by whom ye shall be buffeted and reviled, condemned and ex­ecuted. More then so yet; Satanas expetivit, Satan himself desires to sift and winnow you. And though I give you power to cast out Devils, Luk. 22: yet do not think that Satan will so easily forgo his hold, or lose the Kingdom which he hath so long possessed in the souls of men. Tis neither against Principalities and Powers, nor only against flesh and blood that you are to wrestle; but against the Devil and his Angels, against the Rulers of the darkness of this present world: yet finde we not that any of those blessed Spirits was therewith discouraged, or did not think themselves obliged the rather to fulfill their Mini­stry, because it seemed so full of danger. Which of [Page 182] them did not travel both Lands and Seas, when once the Ite was pronounced? Which of them might not well have said in the Poets Language, Quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris? What corner was there of the Earth which they went not to, in which they did not cultivate the Field of God; and in so doing bid defiance to the powers of darknesse?

We must not look to finde a Parallel to the A­postles in the Ages following. And yet the servants of my Text, in point of courage, came not much be­hind; whom neither the report of so great an Ene­my as had been practising of late in the Field of God, could terrifie from going forth to secure the Harvest; nor the complexion of the Tares, which was fair and specious, could hinder or divert from of­fering their endeavours to root them out. He that had seen the Fathers of the Primitive times grap­ling with Hereticks, pleading the Churches cause in their Apologeticks, refusing to comply with those impieties which were obtruded on them by the se­cular powers; and sinally, in going to the Scaffold with no lesse a bravery then if some Actor had been hired to mount the Theater, would surely have con­ceived them to be men of courage: and 'twas no wonder if the Church did then thrive and flou­rish when men of courage had the conduct of her chief Affaires. The like may be observed of the times succeeding, though somewhat colder in their love to the Lord our Saviour, as something fur­ther off from the dayes he lived in. The renowned Athanasius would not stoop to Arius, S [...]crat. hist. [...]lccl. though patro­nized for a time by the famous Constantine; nor yield a Temple to the Arians, although required by [Page 183] Constantius to give way unto it. St. Ambrose was resolved not to submit his judgement in a point of faith to the decisions and decrees of a Lay-Tribunal, though nothing but apparent ruine was to be ex­pected on his refusal of the same. Lib. [...]. Ep. 32. Non tanti est Am­brosius ut propter se deijciat sacerdotium. And when he was commanded to desert his charge, and leave it to Auxentius, an Arian Heretick; rather then to be­tray his trust, Id O [...]. 5. he would lose his life. Prius est ut ani­mam mihi quàm fidem auferant. An equal courage unto which we finde in Chrysostom, contesting openly with Gainus, Socr. hist. l. 6. c. 5. who then commanded all both in Camp & Counsel, [...], though he required but one Church only within the City, wherein the Arians whom he favoured might have leave to meet. Nor might these latter and de­generate Ages wanted examples of this kind: Wit­ness that stout and noble courage which appeared in Luther, who being sent for unto Wormes by Charles the Emperor, to render an account of his Faith and Doctrine, Hist. Conc. Trid. l. 1. and much disswaded by his Friends from that desperate journey; returned this gallant and cou­ragious Answer, that go he would, licèt contra se tot insurrecturi essent daemones quot in tectis aedium cernerentur tegulae, though all the Houses in the Town were tiled with Devils.

It is a saying of Paterculus, Patercul. hist. l. 2. Eminentes viros mag­nis adjutoribus usos esse, that the most eminent sort of men have commonly the ablest servants. And it concerns them so to have; they could not else go through with those great affaires which are incum­bent on their places. Josuah and Caleb, Moses Mini­sters, were they not men of faith and courage? What [Page 184] notable exploit could Moses have atcheived against his Enemies, or in the conduct of Gods People to the Land of Canaan, if not so seconded and assisted? And if we finde so many famous Victories obtained by David, was it not that he was well served and fol­lowed by men of Valour and Renown, his migh­ty men, as they are called in holy Scripture? Men of weak spirits are not fit for great undertakings, as being neither constant to their principles, nor resolute in their conclusions. And therefore 'tis to be obser­ved in Almighty God, that when he sent out any of his servants on some great design, he used this Item most an end, viriliter agite & confortamini, i. e. Be strong and of a good courage, Deut. 31. 6. 2 Chron. 32. 7. as the English reads it.

It seemes God doth not think himself well ser­ved when he findes it otherwise; when those whom he employeth in his publick service had rather flie to Tarshish then go on to Ninive. And being he is the Husbandman intended in the present Parable, he could not chuse but take it kindly from his Servants, that they expressed so great a courage, as to make offer of their best endeavours for the promoting of his business; vis imus? Wilt thou that we go? This sheweth that they were resolved upon the imus, to go forth couragiously, and not to sit down idly in a time of danger. But to what end they would be go­ing, and what they did resolve to do when they were going forth that we shall finde in the Colligi­mus. We had their courage in the imus; their zeal comes next in the Colligimus; vis imus & colligi­mus ea? Wilt [...]hou that we go and gather them up? my next particular.

Qui non zelat non amat. Augustin. Contr. Ada­mant. c. 13. Where there's no zeal, there is no love, no sincere affection. A truth so clear and evident in St. Austins time, that it was grown into a Proverb; however afterwards dispu­ted amongst the Schoolmen. Tho. A qu. 1, 2. qu. 8. S. 4. In vain do they pretend to love, who are not zealous in behalf of the thing be­loved: they love not God, who are not zealous of his glory; nor cordially affect the Church, who have no zeal unto her peace: K. David rightly understood the nature of it, Ps. 119. v. 139. when he affirmed it of himself, in regard of God, Tabescere me fecit zelus meus, My zeal hath even consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words; Psal. 39. v. 9. and in relation to Gods Church, quoniam zelus domus tuae comedit me, The [...]eal of thi [...]e house hath eaten me. This last kind of zeal (I must needs say that) either hath been much mistaken, or not rightly practised: the times being such where­in the zeal of some Reformers hath eaten up many of the Houses of Almighty God; and doubtless, will devoure the remnant of Gods dwelling-places, if not stopped in time: therefore to set the matter right, that both the Text may be restrained to its proper meaning, and zeal be regulated & directed by the holy Text, we will explain those words of David by these words of Austin: Tract. 10. in Joh. What is the man, saith he, who is devou [...]ed or eaten by a zeal to the House of God? Even he, qui omnia quae fortè ibi videt perversa satagit emen­dare, cupit corrigere, who studieth to amend and rectifie whatever stands inneed of a Reformation: the ordinary glosse makes the same glosse on it, but with some little alteration of the words and Phrase.

Such was the zeal expressed by the Servants here. No sooner had they seen the tares in fecissent fru­ctum, [Page 186] and by their Masters answer found from what seed they came, but they were vehemently zea­lous to root them out. They knew full well what mischief would ensue, if it were not looked to, both in relation to the Field, in danger to be overgrown and mastered by them; and to the Children of the Church, who when they trusted to be fed with the bread of life, might unawares be poysoned with the bread of wickedness. In both respects, no course more proper as they thought, than ire & colligere, to go and gather them, before they had destroyed the Wheat, or by that Gods people. This they resol­ved to do, there's no doubt of that. Their imus & colligimus make that plain enough; but in what way they meant to do it, hath been made a question.

Lyra conceives their purpose was to gather them to root them up, Lyran. in Mat. 13. in such a way as was peculiar to the Church, separando eos à communione Ecclesiae, by severing them from the Communion of the faithful. The like saith Gorran also, Gorran in locum. and some latter Writers; others, and those of more Antiquity, but farre more eminency in the Church, think rather that their meaning was to cut them off, not only from the bo­dy of the Church, but of all mankind; to go against them with the Sword; and destroy them utterly.

Chrysostom so conceives it, Chrysost. in Matth. saying, that if they had gone on as they were resolved, in prosecuting of the Heretick with fire and sword, [...], blood-shed and warre must needs have followed over all the World.

Theophylact goes to work more plainly, Theophyl. in cund. and tells us, that the servants being offended at the growth of Heresies, by consequence incensed against the He­reticks [Page 187] themselves, [...], were of a minde to make quick work with them, to rid them of the troubles of this wretched life, and so to save the trouble of more tedious process.

To which of these two courses their zeal might bend them, is in the next place to be considered; I conceive the last. And this I am induced to think by the Masters Answer; who on the hearing of the Proposition returned a non, (for it is plain, he had a negative voyce, of which more hereafter.) He did not like of the intention: and to dislike their pur­pose there had been no reason, had their design been to proceed only by the Churches censures. He that committed to the Church in St. Peters name, Matth. 16. the power and dispensation of the keyes, intended not that they should serve for nothing but a dumb shew, a sign and token only of a powerless Ministery. And when he gave to his Apostles so direct a power of binding and retaining sins, and giving over unto Satan the impenitent person, think you, his mean­ing was they shonld never use it? Joh. [...]0. v. 23. If so, St. Panl must needs be guilty of no small offence, in dealing so severely with the man of Corinth: 1 Cor. c. 5. v. 5. and wonder 'twas, there was no relaxation sued for from the Court of Heaven, in case of so severe and just a sen­tence. And to what end serves Dic Ecclesiae, if the poor Church have power to hear, Matth. 18. but not to cen­sure? or if upon the Churches censures, none be so fit to be accounted either an Heathen or Publican, as he who is intrusted by the Church to inflict the same? Assuredly God would not disallow the course which himself prescribed; or by removing from the Church the power of censure, open [Page 188] a gapp to all impurity both of life and do­ctrine.

There was a time once in the Church of England, ( I do not say it is so now) wherein the censures of the Church, under pretence or colour of some civill sanctions, were either quite abolished, or of no effect; to the no small increase of vice, because it nourished a presumption of impunity in vicious persons. Of this old Father Latimer doth thus complain in a Sermon preached before King Edward: Serm. 2. Lechery (saith he) is used in England, and such lechery as is used in no o­ther place of the World. And yet it is made a matter of sport, a matter of nothing, a laughing matter, a trifle, not to be passed on nor reformed. Well, I trust it will be a­mended one day, and I hope to live to see it mended as old as I am. And here I will make a suit to your High­nesse, to restore unto the Church the Discipline of Christ, in excommunicating such as be notable offen­ders. Nor never devise any other way; for no man is able to devise any better then that God hath done, with excommunication to put them from the Congregation, till they be confounded. Therefore restore Christs Dis­cipline for Excommunication, and that shall be a meane, both to pacifie Gods wrath and indignation; and also that lesse abomination shall be used then in times past hath been, and is at this day. I speak this of a Consci­ence, and I mean to move it of a will to your Grace, and your Realm. Bring into the Church of England the o­pen Discipline of Excommunication, that open sinners may be stricken withall. So farre the very words of Father Latimer. Let every one consider of them as he thinks most necessary: perhaps the Sermon may be more effectuall with some kinde of men, [Page 189] when one is raised up from the dead to preach unto them.

Besides, this could not be the way which was in­tended by those servants, if either we consider their Colligimus, or the eradicetis of their Master in the following words. The servants, or the Church in them might have gone on to excommunication of the Heretick, and the condemning of the Heresie, with­out the least fear or imagination, that by so doing, eradicetur simul cum eis triticum, the wheat, the Lords good seed would be pulled up with them. The cen­sure of an Heretick doth rather strengthen then de­stroy the truth of Doctrine, and he that doth correct a stubborn and impenitent sinner, hindreth not, but confirms the vertuous person in the way of godliness. And for Colligimus, that is we know a compound word, as is [...] in the Original, and doth not so much signifie a single gathering, as a gathering up of all together: and so the word is used in the fol­lowing Verses. It seemes the servants of my Text would have made short work, and swept away these tares at once, without more ado: which howsoever it may be done sometimes in ore gladii, which de­voures all things where it is permitted to range at li­berty: yet is it seldom done, if ever, in gladio oris, by Admonitions, Excommunications, or any other kind of spiritual punishments, Non excommunican­dam multitudinem, was the rule of old▪ The censures of the Church do only legere, pick here and there a man out of many sinners, by whose exemplary cor­rections others may beware of the like offences. Tor­menta paucorum sunt exempla omnium, Stapleton. in Promp [...]. as my Au­thour hath it. Colligere is none of hers in this sense [Page 190] and meaning. And therefore here was no such mean­ing, as to proceed by excommunication, to bring these tares to be arraigned and tryed at the Churches Barre.

And being their meaning was not so, their zeal though more remarkable, was yet lesse warrantable. A zeal like that of James and John, the two Sonnes of Thunder, Luk. [...]. v. 54. Vis dicimus ut descendat ignis? Wilt thou that fire come down from Heaven to destroy these mis­creants? No dealing with some zelots of both sides, but by fire and faggot, by the sword at least; for which they have no warrant I am sure from either Text. Neither indeed do they which stand most on it fetch their grounds from hence; or if they did, how wretchedly would those grounds deceive them? nei­ther the Brethren there, nor the servants here, had a­ny calling from the Lord, to be the instruments of his vengeance. The Apostles were ordained by Christ, amongst other things, to offer unto God the sacrifice of prayer for the sins of the people; but not to sacrifice the people for their sins to God. No such burnt-offering to be found (Iam sure of that) in all the Gospels. And 'twas the duty of these servants, not to confound the Heretick, but to confute the Heresie; rather to pray for the conversion, then practise the subversion of the wicked man. Our Sa­viour Christ rebuked the two Brethren for their fiery zeal, v. 55: nescitis cujus spiritus estis, Ye know not of what spirit you are. Nor fared it otherwise in effect with the servants here, although the reason of their indig­nation was more just and visible. For though we do not finde that this zeal of theirs was openly repro­ved by their Lord and Master; yet it was tacitly dis­proved, [Page 191] because not suffered to proceed unto execu­tion. The goodness of our God winks at the errors of an honest zeal, and doth so love the strength of our good affections, that it passeth over their infir­mities. If it transport us, as it doth sometimes, be­yond our limits and due bounds, he rather pardon­eth the exiliencies of our heat and [...]ervency, then the indifferences of our lukewarmness. How highly would the Lord esteem a well-governed zeal, when as his mercy crowns it many times even with all its faults?

And yet this zeal of theirs, if considered rightly, was neither faulty nor ill-governed, although mista­ken in the meanes and instruments which God inten­ded to make use of in so great a work as the eradi­cation of these tares, the finall condemnation of them. God purposed to bring them to destruction, but not by their hands, not by their endeavours; and thoroughly to purge his field of a seed so dangerous, though not so soon as they expected, not till the ve­ry coming on of Harvest. The error of their zeal was but in the circumstances, not in the substance of the work. The work was to be done, but not by them; and at another time, not then when they made the offer: but this was more then God had formerly revealed unto them. So as the worst which can be said of this act of theirs, was, that they had a zeal to the glory of God, but not according unto know­ledge, I mean the knowledge of all points and cir­cumstances which God did purpose to observe in so great a business. Which zeal of theirs, how infi­nitely may it condemn the coldness and stupidity of this present Age, in which there are so few, if any, [Page 192] that are affected zealously in the cause of God? How few made offer of their service, when occasion was; I say not to root out, but suppress those tares which threatned then such imminent dangers, and have since brought so sad a desolation on this Church of Christ? And now that they are come so fully to fecissent fru­ctum, how few present themselves to their Lord and Master, saying, vis imus & colligimus [...]a? is it your pleasure that we go and gather? Hujusmodi si zelus singulorum esset non sic abundarent zizania, as mine Author hath it. Were there more zeal amongst the servants of the Houshold, there would not be so ma­ny tares in the field of God. There's no doubt of that; especially if this zeal be armed with courage, and both these seconded with readiness and unani­mity in the promoting of the work, according as we finde it in the servants here.

For, as was formerly observed, they did not only come before their Master with zeal and courage, but shewed in both their readiness and unanimity. First, imus & colligimus, we go and gather, in the plural number; then imus & colligimus, we go and gather, in the present tense. First, imus & colligimus, in the plural number. And it was wisely done that they went together, they might have otherwise been foiled in the undertaking. The enemy against whom they resolved to go, was strong, and his Army nu­merous, a Legion of them in one man; how many Legions then were they to meet withall in the pre­sent enterprise, in which so many men were ingaged and interessed? Had they gone severally one by one, as in distracted times men do use most commonly, how easily had they been made a prey to the roaring [Page 193] Lion? how little good had they been able to effect, had they scaped his Clawes? Tacitus in vit. Agric. We know who said it well enough, and on what occasion, Dum singuli pug­nabant universi vincebantur: Our Ancestors the Bri­tains when they fought one by one were all quick­ly vanquished; when they joyned hearts and hands together, they were then impregnable. If therefore we will go and gather, as becomes men of courage in a time of danger, let it be imus & colligimus, in the plural number, as becomes men of wisdom in a common cause. Let not zeal make us inconsiderate, nor too much gaitè de coeur, prompt us to be fool­hardy, as they use to call it. The Servants of my Text had as much zeal and courage as the work re­quired, (and 'twas a great and weighty work, if we mark it well:) yet they resolved to joyn together, not only for their own security, but to assure them­selves of a speedier Conquest. United forces are no lesse necessary in the field of God for the suppressing of his enemies, then are united prayers in the Con­gregation, for the obtaining of his mercies: therefore vis imus & colligimus, in the plurall number.

Next it is imus & colligimus, in the present tense. They were not only on a resolution to go and gather, but to do it presently. Their courage was too great to delay the action, their zeal too fervent to pro­crastinate so desired a service. Stapleton in Prompt. Non aiunt ibimus, sed imus, as mine Author hath it. They say not, we will go hereafter, on more mature deliberation; but were ready to advance as the word was spoken. They did not only speak of going, but were even going whilest they spake. The servants of my Text were too full [Page 194] of courage to trifle and delay the time in their Ma­sters business, August. Confess. l. 8. c. 5. as did the Father in the work of his own conversion, with modò, ecce modò, and sin [...] paulu­lum: they cryed not with the sluggard in the Book of Proverbs, A little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands. The Father tells us of himself, that modò & modò non habebant modum, and sine paululum in longum ibat, Id. Ibid. how one delay be­gat another, till he had almost lost the opportunity which had been offered to him by the Lord his God. And one inferior unto Solomon in all parts of wis­dom could say unto his Generall, tolle moras, that to delay the onset, Lucan. l. 1. was to lose his Victory. The I­ron must be struck when it is at hottest; he that works on it when tis cold, doth but beat the Anvil. And tis an excellent Rule in Physick, though a Poet gave it, Principiis obstare, to have an eye to a Dis­ease when it first breaks forth. The Medicine comes too late to remove a malady, which is confirmed and setled by a long delay. And so tis also in this case with the Churches Doctors: He that doth undertake the cure of a crazie Church, must be instant in it, not put it off until the morrow. Hodie si vocem ejus, To day if you will hear his voyce, saith the Prophet Da­vid; and operamini cùm vocatur [...]odie, Psal. 95. Work whilest tis called to day, saith the Sonne of David. No tense so proper as the present for this weighty work. If they intend to go and gather, either by labouring in his Vineyard, or by setting forth against the ene­mies, it must be imus and colligimus in the present tense, before their courage is grown cold, and thei [...] zeal abated. Sure I am, so it was with my servants here: and yet they were not so intent on the present [Page 195] service, as not to take their Masters leave and in­structions with them, guiding their courage by his will, and governing their zeal by his directions. This shewes their temper and obedience, as before I no­ted. Vis imus & colligimus ea [...] Wilt thou that we go and gather them up?

Turpe est in extremo actu deficere. To fail in the last Act in the close of business, is a foul reproch; and derogates not only from the Agent, but from the en­terprise. The servants had done all things well since they were awakened, both in their coming and en­quiry, the resolute expressions of their zeal and cou­rage, their readiness and unanimity in the promoting of their Masters business: There wanted nothing now to dispatch the work but a Commission from their Master. And certainly it stood with reason, that in a business wherein their Master was concerned in so high a manner, they should do nothing rashly without his consent. Had they gone otherwise to work, they had not merited so much for their zeal and courage, as they had forfeited and lost for want of wisdom. Saepe honestas rerum causas, ni judicium adhibeatur, perniciosi exitus consequuntur, as he in Tacitus. Tacitus. hist. l. 1. Zeal without judgement and advice may be compared to a brush-Bavin-Faggot in a Country-Cottage, more likely farre to fire the House then to warm the Chimney. And zeal and courage desti­tute of consent and counsel is but like Sampson in the Story, when as his hair was grown, and his eyes put out; and seldom serves to other purpose then to pull the House upon our heads. But here zeal yielded to obedience, and courage thought it no dis­paragement to submit to temper. Here was both [Page 196] modus caritatis, Id. Ibid. & temperamentum fortitudinis. This made them first consult their Master, before they went to execute their own desires; and it did well with them: the bit of respect being oftentimes as useful as the spur of courage. Discretion is a sure guide to zeal, and only that which keeps it that it breaks not out into open fury. If good directions do not hold the reins, our good intentions many times may chance to break their own neck, and the Riders too: and which is yet most strange of all, without such guidance and instruction our zeal to God may lead us from him.

Besides, the business which they came about, was their Masters chiefly: the field of which they were so zealous, did belong to him, as the sole owner and Proprietary; and therefore Ager suus, his field, v. 24. The enemy against whom they resolved to go was not theirs, but his; or theirs no otherwise then as they did retain to him, and weare his Livery: and therefore inimicus ejus, his enemy, v. 25. Men might have said they had bin desperately bold, and perverse­ly zealous, if they had entred on his field, and a­gainst his enemies, without his liking and consent. It had been little to the prayse of their discretion, of their duty lesse; how much soever they might have been admired by unknowing men for great underta­kers. And though they had returned with success and victory, yet who can tell but that instead of be­ing made welcom with an Euge, Well done my good and faithful Servant, they might have been repro­ved at their coming home with a quis haec quaesivit, who required these things at your hands? It is the approbation of Authority which makes courage use­full; [Page 167] and zeal, if it be publick, warrantable. With­out that both become unprofitable, in some cases dangerous. We may affirm of them as we say com­monly of fire and water, that they are excellent Ser­vants, but ill Masters: Ambrose. or as St. Ambrose of the Sun, that it is melior in ministerio quàm imperio; never more useful to us men then when the beames there­of are most meek and gentle, and so the more apply­able to our necessities. In these regards the servants had too much neglected both themselves and him, had they been all for imus & colligimus, and as­cribed nothing unto vis, to the Masters plea­sure.

Solomon in the Book of Canticles compares the Church unto an Army, an Army terrible with ban­ners. And tis indeed an Army most exactly ordered. [...], Chrysost. never was Army better marshalled in the words of Chrysostom. Now tis well known that an Army is a gallant sight, when it hath all one motion, and that so many thou­sand bodies seeme to be guided by one soul; and e­very one observeth that rank and station in which he hath been placed by the chief Commander, or other Officers of the field. The poor Centurion in the Go­spel, was so far sensible of his own Authority, Mat. 8. v. 9. as to appoint the Souldiers under his Command not only what they were to do, but when it was fit to go, and when fit to come. Had they been doing of their own accord, without his Fiat, or going upon any action without his vade, or appointment, no question but they should have felt their error, though they would not see it. And he affirms it of himself, that he was sub potestate constitutus, a man under the Authori­ty [Page 198] and command of others▪ implying this, that as he did expect obedience from the common Souldier, so he did yield it to his Colonel, or his Serjeant Major, or whosoever else was in place above him. The Dis­cipline of Warre could not else be kept. Ita se du­cum autoritas, sic rigor Disciplinae habet. And if that be not kept as it ought to be, Taci [...]us hist. l. 1▪ confusi Equites p [...] ­ditesque in exitium ruunt, the whole will soon run on to a swift destruction. Thus is it also with the Church, with the Camp of God, that Acies castrorum ordinata, as the Scripture calls it. If there be no subordination in it, if every one might do what he list himself, (as did Gods people in those dayes, in which there was no King in Israel,) what a confusion would ensue, how speedy a calamity must needs fall upon it?

The servants of my Text understood this rightly, and therefore though they came provided, and desi­red nothing more then to give the onset, yet thought they [...]it to hear how their Master liked it, and to ap­ply themselves to his resolution. [...], as it is in Chrysostom. Chrysost. in Matth. They durst not trust, saith he, to their own opinion, in a matter of so great concern­ment, but referred all unto their Master. Courage and zeal do never shew more amiably then when they are subordinate to good directions: especially, when they take direction from the right hand, from their Ma­ster only, not from the interest and passion of their fellow-servants. Though it be imus & colligimus, in the plural number, yet tis vis only in the singular. One to command, and many to obey, makes the sweetest government. 'Twas prayse and commenda­tion [Page 199] enough for them, that they came fitted and prepared to pursue the action. It was the Masters office to direct, and theirs to execute. Vobis arma & animus, Tacitus hist. l. 1. mihi consilium & virtutis vestrae regimen re­linquite, as he in Tacitus. Nor were the two Bre­thren, those Sonnes of Thunder which I spake of, to be taught this lesson, however they may seem tran­sported with zeal or passion. Though the Samari­tans had incensed them in an high degree, Luk. 9. and that they long'd for nothing more, then to inflict some grievous punishment upon them yet they submit­ted their affections to their Masters judgement. They fell not presently on the affront to their imprecati­ons, nor called for fire from Heaven to consume them utterly, as on the blasting of the breath of their displeasure: As vehement as their zeal and dis­pleasure was, yet they proposed the business to their Master first. It is not dicimus ut descendat ignis, it is our pleasure to command that fire come down from Heaven, to destroy these wretches; but it is vis di­cimus, is it your pleasure that we shall? Vis imus & colligimus here, & vis dicimus there. In both the Ma­sters leave and liking, is the thing most sought for.

And 'twas no newes this in the Church of God, that they who were in any publick place or Ministry should fit their zeal and courage to the will of God, and to the guidance of such persons, who under him, and by his appointment, had the chief ordering of the Church. Isa [...]ah, though both bold and zealous in the cause of God, and that his lips were touched with a Coal from the Altar, yet durst not meddle in Gods matters, before he had both Mission and Commissi­on [Page 100] too. God had first said, Vade & dices huic populo, Go and tell this people, before he undertook the bu­siness, or put himself upon the work of reformation. And which is there of all the Prophets that went up­on Gods errands without his consent, and stood not more on dixit Dominus, then on dicam populo? I trow, the times were then corrupt, and the people sinful. The whole contexture of their several Prophecies make that plain enough: yet finde we none of them so hasty in rebuking either, as not to take a speciall Warrant and Commission from the hand of God. No imus & colligimus in the dayes of old, in point of ex­traordinary mission and employment; but still there was a vis expressed, some warrant looked for from the Lord, to make way unto it.

So for the way of ordinary Reformation, when the fabrick of the Church was out of order, & the whole worship of the Lord either defiled with superstitions, or intermingled with Idolatries, as it was too often; did not Gods servants tarry and await his leisure, till those who were supreme both in place and power, were by him prompted and inflamed to a Reforma­tion? How many years had that whole people made an Idol of the Brazen Serpent, and burnt incense to it, before it was defaced by King Hezekiah? How many more might it have longer stood undefaced, untouched by any of the common people, had not the King given order to demolish it? How many Ages had the seduced Israelites adored before the Altar of Bethel, before it was hewen down and cut in pieces by the good King Josiah? Where can we finde that any of Gods faithful Servants, any of those 7000 souls which had not bowed the knee to Baal, did [Page 201] ever go about to destroy the same? or that Elijah or Elisha, two men as extraordinary for their Calling as their zeal and courage, did excite them to it, or told them it was lawful for them so to do, without the Fiat of Authority to make good the work? Where shall we read in the whole course and current of the Book of God, that the common people in and by their own authority removed the high places, or de­stroyed the Images, or cut down the Groves, those excellent Instruments of superstition and Idolatry; that they appointed Fasts, and ordained Festivals; or that they did so much as attempt such matters, without this vis, the power and approbation of the supreme Magistrate?

This was the Doctrine and practise both of the former times, so far forth as Gods Book directs us in the search thereof: nor ever was it preached or printed till now of late that it should be otherwise; or that the work of Reformation belonged unto the common people, in what capacity soever they were clothed and vested. Of late indeed I finde it to be so determined, it being affirmed by Glesselius, one of the Contra-Remonstrants of Roterdam, that if the Prince and Clergy did neglect their duties in the re­forming of the Church, necesse esse tum id facere ple­beios Israelitas, that then it did belong to the com­mon people. And tis with a necesse, if you mark it well; they might not only do it, but they must be doing. Do it, but how? what? in the way of treaty, by mediation and petition, and such humble meanes by which the dignity of the supreme Magistrate may be kept indemnified? not so, but even by force and violence, licèt ad sanguinem usque pro eo pugnent, even [Page 202] to the shedding of their own and their Brethrens blood. In which it is most strange to see how soon this desperate Doctrine found as lewd an use; how soon the people put in practise what the Preacher taught them; but farre more strange to see, (and who can chuse but see it, if he be not blinde?) how infi­nitely their Scholars in this Island, both for the theo­ry and the practise, have out-gone their Masters. And wonder tis in all this time they made it not an Arti­cle of their Christian Faith, and put it not into the place of some one or other of the twelve which they think lesse necessary. Here is a vis indeed, they say true in that; but no such vis as is intended in the Text. The servants of my Parable knew no other vis, then that of Proposition only, it being not their intent nor custom, either to run before or against Au­thority. And having made the Proposition, they did with patience and humility attend the Answer of their Master, which they were faithfully resolved to conform unto, however it might crosse their own dear designes; but what that answer was you may see hereafter. For though the Master took no time to consider of it, who comprehendeth all things in one generall view; yet being it is a business of such weight and moment, and that your patience hath been tired too much already, I shall defer the same till another time. And therefore here I will conclude, desiring God, &c.

SPernit coelestis animus humana consilia: Velleius Patercul. The divine wisdom is not swayed nor balanced by humane advice. God doth sometimes make use of Man as a meanes and Instrument whereby to compass his intents; but he takes counsel of himself alone. 1 Cor. 2. v. 16: For who hath known the mind of the Lord that he might instruct him? aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit, or who hath been his Counsellor? saith the Apostle. How inconsiderable and impertinent are our opinions, Rom. 11. 34. in matters which pertain to his heavenly judgement? how blind in points above, or beyond our sight? The Servants of my Text, no doubt, thought themselves fit and able to advise their Ma­ster, and did not make a proffer of their help and ser­vice, but that they thought it likely to be entertain­ed. And though they do not take upon them posi­tively [Page 204] to prescribe a course for the preserving of the Wheat which was then in danger; yet by the tender of themselves to root out the Tares, they declare expresly that they conceived that way most pro­per to effect the business. In which, if they exceeded their accustomed duty, or went beyond the modesty of domestick Servants, yet made they fair amends in that humble reverence wherewith they did sub­mit to his resolution. Cicurella in Sixto. Qu. Non multùm pugnabant ut sua vinceret sententia, as a late Writer hath observed of a Pope of Rome: They were not so much wed­ded to their own opinion, but that a clearer judge­ment might divorce them from it. And therefore, as before was noted, Fiat voluntas tua, not their will, but his will be done. They offered their advise and assistance in it, vis imus & colligimus ea? Wilt thou that we go and gather them up? which having done, they did expect his resolution, to which they were in duty and discretion to conform themselves. And hereto he returns his non, a plain refusal of their ser­vice, grounded upon a plain dislike of their intenti­ons. Et ait non, But he said, nay; lest while ye gather up the Tares, &c.

These words contain the Masters answer to the Proposition which by the servants was presented in the former verse. We may behold therein these two general parts, His Power, His Providence. His Power first, that he was not bound to give obedience to their counsels, or to submit his judgement unto their opinions: His Providence, in having such a tender care of his own good seed, as not to yield unto the gathering of the Tares in the way proposed, for fear the Wheat might have incurred some danger by it. [Page 205] His Power we finde no otherwise set forth unto us then in a bare dissent, a plain negative voice, & ait non, but he said nay: he did not like of their Pro­position, and therefore was not bound to assent unto it. His Providence, first that he left them not unsatis­fied, but layd them down a reason of his Resolution; and then in giving such a reason as counterballanced their desires of a quick dispatch, and made them see the error of their former hast; Ne fortè colligentes Zizania, lest while ye gather up the Tares, &c. Which reason, though but one in shew, that is to say, the pre­servation of the Wheat, the good Seed it self, doth yet contain as many reasons as there are severall wayes and meanes, by which in gathering the Tares they might have rooted up the Wheat also. For go­ing the way by themselves intended, which was in ere gladii, as before was told you, either in the violence of their proceedings they might have rooted up the Tares and the Wheat together; or else by prejudice or inadvertency have taken that for Tares which indeed was Wheat; or finally, by too much hast and precipitation have destroyed some Tares which might in time have proved good Wheat, and so become a plentiful addition to the Lords Harvest. And therefore non, he did not like of their intention, nor would give way unto the Pro­position which they brought unto him, ne fortè, lest under colour and pretence of gathering the Tares in the way propounded, eradicetur simul cum eis triticum, the Wheat, the Lords own Seed, might be rooted up. These are the points to be observed, and these I shall run over as they lie before me, beginning with the Masters power; & ait non, But he said nay.

Magna negotia magnis egent adjutoribus: Velleius Patere. Great Honours are great burdens, and therefore do require more shoulders to support the weight, then those that rest under the quiet and protection of a private for­tune: the man that travelleth in affaires of high and generall concernment, is ill advised, if he trust only to himself and his own abilities, and use not the assi­stance of such friends and servants whose wisdom and fidelity he is well assured of. Plus vident oculi quàm oculus, Two eyes see more then one, was the ancient Proverb: And therefore he shall follow but a blinde direction, who puts out any of the light which is offered to him, & will see only by the blaze of his own Candle. And on the other side, those whom great persons do make use of for advice and counsel, should do well to ponder with themselves, that they are only Adjutores, not Governours them­selves, but helps in Government; that they are Mi­nisters, not Masters; and Counsellors, but not Con­trollers. He that desires to have an Adjutant to ease him of some part of the care and trouble which is in­cumbent on his office; or to instruct and counsel him in discharge thereof, would yet be loth to have him in the nature of a Coadjutor, to give him any sha [...]e in the publick Government, or to submit himself with a blind obedience to all his dictates and prescripti­ons. That were to alter and invert the whole course of nature, if the head could not choose but be sway­ed that way which the feet would carry it; and make so foul a Monster of the Body Politick, as either to have too many heads, or else none at all. The ser­vant may do well to advise his Master for the best, when his opinion is required; and he should ill dis­charge [Page 207] his duty, if he did not do it: but 'twere an high degree of Arrogance in the ablest servant, to think that his advise must needs be followed; and as great weakness in the Master, should he submit to every proposition which is tendered him by those whose Counsel he requires in his great affaires.

The Master in my Text did better understand himself and his place then so: And therefore though the proposition which was made unto him was both fair and specious, and seemed most clearly to con­duce to the advancement of his service, and the pub­lick good; yet he rejects it with a non, he refused it utterly. He neither liked their imus, though they came with courage; nor their Colligimus, although it were accompanied with zeal and chearfulness; nor indeed any thing at all in the Proposition, but that they closed it with a vis, and did refer it wholly unto his discretion. And he accordingly made use of that power and priviledge which properly and naturally was inherent in him; not putting out his own eyes, in hope to see the better by their Spectacles; much lesse denying the use of his own reason, that they might the more abound in their own sense. But as a negative voyce had been vested in him, both by the Lawes of nature, and the rules of Occonomy, so he is resolved to let them see, that as well now when he was compassed round with dangers, and his field in such a way to ruine, as formerly in the best and se­curest times, he knew how to use it, and when 'twas fit to stand upon it. Nay though the Proposition was of no lesse moment then the preservation of the Church, and they that moved it to him of no lower [Page 208] rank then Magistri & praeceptores Ecclesiae, the Ru­lers and instructers of the Church, as St. Hierome tells us, yet he still kept himself to his own con­clusions, Et ait non, Hieron. in Matth: But he said nay. He would not put the Sword into their hands when they went a gathering, though they much desired it, and that they thought no way to be so effectual for the secu­ring of the Harvest.

Nor was this any new Authority which the Ma­ster had usurped against former precedents, but such as he had used and practised upon all occasions. For if our Saviour be the Master in the present Parable, (as no doubt he was) it was no newes in him to pro­ceed this way, and stand upon his own Prerogative, when either his own Honour, or the Churches safety did depend upon it. St. Peter doubtless did con­ceive that it concerned his Master in point of safety not to go down unto Hierusalem, Mat. 16. v. 21. where he was like to be despitefully intreated by the Priests and Phari­sees; and therefore laboured to disswade him from that dangerous journey. And this most probably he did, with the consent, and on the motion of all the rest of the Apostles, whose mouth he was, [...], as the Father calls him. Chrysost. in Matth. But whether it were so or no, no question but the counsel did proceed from that true affection which the Apostle carried towards his Lord and Master, and the re­spect he had to the little Flock, whose preservation and support depended, as he thought, on the Shep­herds safety. And yet our Saviour did not only dis­approve the counsel, v. 23. but told him plainly to his face, quia non sapis ca quae Dei sunt, that it did too much savor of the World, and of God too little. And the [Page 209] two Sonnes of Zebedee did believe as strongly, that it as much concerned him in point of honour not to put up that foul affront which had been offered him by the Samaritans; Luk. 9▪ v. 54. and therefore made this motion to him, vis dicamus ut descendat ignis? shall we com­mand that fire come down from Heaven to con­sume these wretches? Which motion, though it arose from a just resentment of that indignity and wrong which had been done unto their Master, yet did their Master absolutely reject the same, v. 55. not with­out some dislike of their fervor in it; Nescitis cujus spiritus estis, in the words next after. In both it is to be observed, that the Lord did not put them off with any dilatory Answer, as if he either wanted time to consider of it, or were afraid to stand upon his just prerogative; but gave them a refusal in plain termes, and gave it with a check to boot, to let them see how sensible he was of his own Authority.

Nor was it otherwise in this case with the Sonne of David, then with David formerly; who though he had a patient ear, and was content to heare his Servants, (and in matters of the highest points, both of life and Soveraignty,) yet he conceived him­self to be left at liberty either to dissent or assent, as he thought most fit. Upon which principle of power, 1 Sam. 24. v. 4. and point of liberty, he absolutely refused to hearken to the counsel of his Men of Warre, when they advised him to make use of the opportunity which the Lord had given him in delivering Saul into his hands. And though he found by many clear signes and apparent circumstances, 2 Sam. 19. 21. &c. that the Sonnes of Zerviah were so potent amongst the Military men, and so respected of the people, that it was not safe [Page 210] for him, as the case the [...] stood, to oppose their do­ings; yet he conceived himself not bound to em­brace their counsels, or to assent to every propositi­on which they made unto him. And therefore when they pressed him for the death of Shimei, who had so utterly reviled him in the day of his tribulation, 2 Sam. 19. v. 21, 2 [...]. &c. that nothing more could have been acceptable to the common people then such a gratefull piece of ju­stice, he had resort unto his negative, & refused abso­lutely to give way unto it. The reasons which indu­ced him to dissent, I regard not here: Tis plain, he thought himself at liberty to assent, or not; and tis as plain, that he made use thereof when he saw occa­sion; and yet was never quarrelled for it, or thought to have usurped a power which belonged not to him. David had bin in a worse condition then the meanest Subject, if he had been nothing but a State-Eccho, necessitated to repeat those words which his servants did prescribe and dictate to him; if ait, aio, negat, nego, which was the Parasites part in the Roman Theatre, had been all the part he was to act on the Stage of Government.

But to return unto my Parable; It seemes the ser­vants were as well perswaded of their Masters Power in this particular, as the Master was; and thereupon submitted without more dispute to his will and plea­sure. They came not to him out of Complement, or tentandi causâ, to try what metall he was made of, whether he would give way or not unto their desires; and if not, then to carve themselves, and to proceed in their own way, to the contempt and scorn of his Authority. Tis true, that some of the Disciples had so served him once, in the great case of the Militia: [Page 211] They came unto him with a Question, Domine, si per­cutimus eos gladio, Luk. 22. v. 49: Lord, shall we strike them with the sword? shall we betake our selves unto our weapons in this dangerous time, in which we have not a bare ground only of feares and jealousies, Grotius Annotat. but see too e­vidently that many of our enemies are in Arms a­gainst us? But without tarrying for an Answer, non expectato Domini responso, as my Author hath it, one of them puts himself into a posture of Warre, and drawes his Sword, and gives the onset, as if they had sufficiently complied with the Obligation wherein they stood bound to their Lord and Master, by tel­ling him before hand what they meant to do. But so it was not with the Servants of my present Text; all which they did, and all they thought they had to do was to make the motion; and having made the mo­tion, to expect his Answer: which as in duty they were bound to conform unto, so in compliance with that duty, they desisted presently from prosecuting their own projects. No sooner had they found by their Masters Answer, that they had been mistaken in the time and instruments in and by which so great a business was to be effected, but they gave over the pursuit, and left the work to be performed by the Heavenly Angel, to whom their Master had reser­ved it. No further speech of imus & colligimus, after their Lord and Master had returned a non.

And certainly this moderation and submission of themselves to their Masters pleasure shewed excee­ding lowly, and tends not more unto the commen­dation of their modesty, then of their piety. In vain it is for man to dispute with God, to stand as 'twere on equall termes, and expostulate with him, if our [Page 212] desires and counsels do not take effect: O homo, tu quis es qui respondeas Deo? Rom. 9. 20. For who art thou O man that disputest with God? saith the great Apostle. It carrieth something in it of that monstrous Warre which rhe Giants made against the Gods in ancient Fables; Ovidii Metam. l. 1. Altaque congestos struxisse ad sydera montes, when they heaped hills on hills to come neerer to them, to fight it out upon even ground. And tis as vain to set our selves against those Powers, to whom God hath not only pleased to impart some branch of his Authority, but to communicate his name; to think that we can binde them by our votes or wishes, or circumscribe them by our Counsels. Rom. 13: 2. It is no Ar­gument of weakness to give way to them who are too strong to be resisted, or by resisting whom we shall but agravate our own guilt and ruine. Non turpe est ab eo vinci quem vincere est nefas; Velleius hist. l. 2. It is no shame, said the Historian, to yield to him whom it were sin to overcome: nor is it a dishonour to submit to those whom Fortune, or the Gods rather, have advanced a­bove us. And therefore they who plunge whole States in Warres, and themselves in miseries, be­cause their propositions may not passe for Lawes, are but like Achitophel, of whom it is recorded that he hanged himself because his counsel was not fol­lowed. 2 King. 17. 23.

It is well said by him in Tacitus, Histor. l. 4. Suadere Principi quod oportet multi laboris est, that to give good coun­sel to a Prince is a work of difficulty; and he that doth it well, hath discharged his duty: The issue and success thereof he must leave to God, who hath committed to his Substitutes the supreme power of [...]udging what is fittest for them to consent unto. The [Page 213] vertue of obedience is the Subjects glory: And he may well perswade himself, that as he had some rea­sons which induced him to advise one way, so there were others no lesse weighty which might incline his Master to pursue another. Which reasons, if they be made known unto him, he may then satisfie himself and others whom it doth concern: If not, he hath no reason to complain at all; Princes being [...], as the Statists terme it, not bound to render an account of their words or actions, further then as they shall be pleased of their own accord to impart the same unto their servants, for the remo­ving of such umbrages and discontentments as the rejecting of their Counsels might occasion other­wise. This leades from the Masters power unto his Providence, in that he did not leave his servants without satisfaction, but layed them down a reason of his refusall, and such a reason as came home to the point proposed: But he said, nay, ne fortè colligentes zizania, for fear lest while ye gather up the Tares ye root the Wheat up also with them: My second Generall.

Majoribus nostris nulla reddita ratione rationis est credere, Tullius. said the Heathen Orator. It was the easi­ness and flexibility of some former times to give belief to any thing which was commended to them by their Ancients, without examining the grounds and reasons. Which though it was a course that did not much conduce to the advancement of know­ledge, served notwithstanding very well to train the people up in the Schools of obedience. But then withall it was observed, that though some tendries were so ancient that they grew i refragable, some [Page 214] Authors so esteemed of that they grew Authenti­call; yet to discerning men, men of abilities and parts in the wayes of learning, neither the Antiquity of the Tenet, nor the Authority of the Teacher, car­ried so much sway, as did the reason which appeared in these points and tendries. Et quanquam in Autore satis rationis est, Velleiu. l. 2. ratio tamen quemlibet magnum Autho­rem facit. In which regard, those who have took up­on them to be Guides to others, and to instruct them in the Arts of life or learning, found a necessity at last of making them acquainted with the grounds and reasons of that which they did dictate and pre­scribe unto them. Men being of a reasonable soul by nature, are best ruled by reason, and then most ap [...] to yield obedience, when they perceive there is some reason in the point commended to them, some rea­son for the imposition or command which is laid up­on them. And so it also holds in the Arts of Go­vernment, the actions of the supreme Powers being then most acceptable, when they are pleased to give a reason of those Acts and Results of State in which the Subjects are concerned. Tacitus Annal. l. 6. Tis true indeed which the wise Statesman hath observed, abditos Principis sensus, that the thoughts of Soveraign Princes are most dark and hidden; and that to prie into them with too curious eyes, is not unlawful only, but exceeding dangerous. But then withall, it is as true, that sic volo sic jubeo is but a sorry piece of Rhe­torick to perswade obedience; Ovid. and that the Sub­ject yields but a dull conformity to the Commands of his Superiour, when the imperiousness of those Commands is not backed by Reason, but founded only upon Will.

The Master in my Text understood this rightly; and therefore when he was resolved (upon mature consideration of the Servants offer) not to give way to their imus & colligimus, yet he thought fit to make some answer to the vis, to let them see the reason why he differed or dissented from them. In this we have the Servants modesty, and the Masters goodness. The Servants were too modest to demand the reason why he refused to hearken to the Pro­position which they brought unto him: They knew that he was liber agens, not bound to tell them any more of his resolutions then he had a minde to; and that it was a speciall favour, if he told them any thing which he might lawfully have kept within the Cabi­net of his own bosom. The Master of a Family is a Petit-Prince, especially as the paternal power stood fortified in our Saviours time, the Father having then potestatem vitae & necis, Minsiner. in Institut. lib. 1. tit. 9. the power of life and death over all the Houshold. And for the exercise thereof, He saith to this man, Go, he goeth; and to ano­ther, Come, Mat. 8. v. 9. he cometh; and to a third, Do this, he doth it: In no case bound to give a reason for any of those severall Commands he layes upon them, or to set out a Declaration of those grounds and motives which might induce him to dissent in opinion from them. But if he please to let them see so farre into him of his own accord, it is to be interpreted for an act of Grace, as it relates unto themselves; though possibly it be an act of especial providence, is it re­flects upon the service. The servant is then most o­bedient to the Masters pleasure, and takes most pa­tiently the refusal of his profered service, when it is sweetned by some plausible prevailing reasons.

And so we finde it in this case; The Servants of the Text had performed their duty, in making a discove­ry of the Tares, and in the offer which they made to go and gather them before they had destroyed the Harvest. An offer not to have been slighted, or pas­sed lightly over, but that the Master saw more in it then the servants did, and found it could not be ac­cepted without greater danger to his field then the Tares did threaten. Which being visible to him, though unseen by them, he thought it not amisse to acquaint them with it, and let them see the error they were fallen upon, in offering such a remedy to remove the mischief as would have been more mis­chievous then the Tares themselves which they made offer to remove. A mischief which the servants did not think of when they came before him, being transported then by their zeal and courage; and per­haps might not have discerned it upon second thoughts. Though they were men of excellent and discerning Spirits, yet they were but men, and could not look so farre into the issue and success of things as the more penetrating eye of Almighty God. Nil inter Deum hominemque distaret, Lactant. l. 1. c. 1▪ &c. There were no difference, said Lactantius truly, between God and man, were not men subject unto error, and might not sometime lose themselves as well in the fallibi­lity of their own counsels, as the unsearchableness of his. Therefore to let the servants understand more clearly how infinitely short they were of his hea­venly wisdom, that all their wit was folly, and their counsels foolishness, he doth not only answer nay, which had been sufficient, but adds ne fortè to his non, and lets them know the reason of his disallow­ance, [Page 217] that so they might perceive the danger of their rash design.

A reason then was given, but what reason was it? A reason certainly which counterbalanced their de­sires of a quick dispatch, and made them see the er­ror of their former haste. The way in which they meant to go was in ore gladii, The [...]ph. in locum. to go against them with the Sword, and destroy them utterly, [...], to cut them off not only from the body of the Church, but of all mankind, as Theophy­lact hath it; to raise an holy Warre (if I may so call it) which should have had some influence [...], Chrysost. in Matth. over all the Quarters of the World, as we finde in Chrysostom. And had they gone this way to work, as they meant to do, no doubt but in the violence of their proceedings, they would have root­ed up the Wheat and the Tares together. The Sword, though never so well sharpned, is but an ill distinguisher between Tares and Wheat: and Warre the most improper Judge that was ever thought of to determine Controversies in Religion. Where the Sword strikes, it strikes on both sides; it is gladius Delphicus, and makes as little difference between the Doctrines, as between the Teachers. And when Warre rageth in a Nation, it beares all before it: Hallowed places and prophane, the innocent person and the guilty are all alike involved in the same ca­lamity. We may affirm of them, as the good Wri­ter doth of the dreadful Thunder-bolts, Sine delectu tangunt loca sacra & profana; homines noxios feriunt, saepe & religiosos. Minut. Fel. Apol. But saepe will not serve our turn, it must be Saepius, or else nothing; and so indeed it proves most commonly. For when the Sword and [Page 218] Warre are to act their Tragedies, the best and holi­est men speed worst, as they who least know how to time it, and to comply with the iniquities of the place they live in. And therefore saeviente ardore belli meliores potius occumbere, Id. ibid. saith mine Au­thor rightly. But never is the Sword more fatally, nor more unhappily imployed, then when tis mana­ged by those men who ought to know no other Weapons then the Sword of the Spirit: no Warre more cruel and unnatural, then when the bellows of sedition which inflames the State, are blown by those who should be Ministers of peace. Ne fortè is good counsel here: No imus & colligimus in the way pro­posed, for fear of rooting up more Wheat then Tares in the prosecution.

The dangerousness of this design we shall further see, if we look first upon the Tares, what is meant by them; and then upon the Servants, of what rank they were, who were so hot upon the service, upon the imus & colligimus of the former verse. First, for the Tares, V. the 2d Sermon on this Parable. besides that many, if not most of the ancient Fathers interpret them of false opinions, of haereses & mala dogmata; St. Chrysostom and others do expound them of the Hereticks, of the men themselves. St. Austin seemes to make a question, whether the Schismatick be not also comprehended in them; and Cyprian conceives it of the wicked ge­nerally, as do also others. But be it which it will, it comes all to one. Warre and the Sword are but of little use God knowes in the confuting of the Here­tick, or the converting of the sinner, or the reducti­on of the Schismatick to the Fold of Christ. Non tali auxilio: the Lord hath chosen other meanes, and [Page 219] other Ministers for the performance of these servi­ces, and needs no such helps. How farre, and in whose hands they may be serviceable for the correction of the wicked, we shall see anon. In the mean time we must take notice, that by the Servants in this Para­ble are meant the Rulers of Christs Church, Magi­stri & Praeceptores Ecclesiae, as before I told you out of Hierome; to whom our Saviour gave the keyes, and the Church afterwards the Crozier, or the Pastoralls Staffe, the badge and emblem of their Office. But neither our Saviour nor the Church gave them any power to take the Sword into their hands, or to proceed in ore gladii, when they found any thing amisse in life or Doctrine which stood in need of Reformation.

Look upon which of these you will, either upon the Servants or upon the Tares, and we shall quickly finde that the Sword and Warre are never more un­fitly used, then by such men, and in such cases. For the Tares being sowen in medio tritici, amongst the Wheat, v. 25. and growing intermingled with it in the blade or stalk, v. 26. if the Sword chance to mow them down, down go both alike. And should the Field be weeded by the hand of Warre, impossi­ble it is but that in gathering up the Tares eradice­tur simul cum eis triticum, the Wheat must needes be rooted up at the self-same time. Bonorum malo­rumque fata mixta, Min. Fel. merita confusa. The wicked and the righteous person, the Schismatick and confor­mable man, the Heretick and Orthodox Professor▪ are all alike subject unto those calamities which the Warre brings upon a Nation; their Persons, their Estates, their Families, all comprehended in the [Page 220] masse of the same perdition: which as they are the ordinary consequents of the Sword and Warre, so do they fall most heavily on the Church of Christ; when the Sword is put into unskilful hands, who neither have a right unto it, nor the Art to use it; or when the Warre is undertaken and pursued under the mask and colour of Religion. When once the Suc­cessors of St. Peter, as they claim to be, laid aside the keyes, and betook themselves unto the Sword, what havock did they make in the Christian Church? how often have they died their Robes in the blood of the Saints? And when the Warre begun by the Christi­an Princes on the Turks and Saracens, Histor. Albigens. was turned upon the Albigenses by the Popes of Rome; and that the Cruciata was proclaimed against those poor souls, only because they differed in some points of Do­ctrine from the opinions of that Church; how many hundred thousands of well-meaning men, who made a conscience of their wayes, and erred not, (if they erred at all) out of pride, but ignorance, were rooted up, and made a sacrifice to the offended Deities of the Roman Conclave?

The miseries of those Warres, and the nature of them, are but a Glasse, wherein we may behold the troubles and distractions of these latter times, in which the Sword hath been so often made the Judge of controversies; Necessar. Respons. & almost all the States in Christen­dom have been imbroiled in Warres, under pretence of Reformation. That Maxime of Illyricus, the Fa­ther of the rigid Lutherans, as they use to call them, terrendos Principes metu seditionum, that Princes must be frighted into Reformation by the fear and threat­ning of seditions: that of Gesselius, a more rigid Cal­vinist, [Page 221] that if the Prince and Clergy did neglect their duties in the reforming of the Church, the people then must undertake it, licèt ad sanguinem usque pro eo pugnent, Ibid. although they have no other way to ef­fect the same, then by raising Warres, and stirring up the Subjects against their Soveraigns: that of some zelots of our own, Jo. Durant. who now the Sword is drawn, would not have it sheathed, till it be fully glutted in the blood of Malignants: what ruine and destructi­on hath it brought on the Church of God, defiled the Sanctuaries of the Lord, and defaced his Tem­ples, laid desolate the beauties of our dwelling-pla­ces, and made us Christians both a derision and a prey to the Turks and Gentiles? Lucan. Tantum religio po­tuit suadere malorum. Such mischiefs have the Sword and the Warre produced, under pretence of imus & colligimus, of gathering up such Tares as have been thought to grow in the Field of God; and rectify­ing such abuses as in long tract of time had risen in his publick worship. With how much better judge­ment was the Question stated in the Heroick times of Christianity? when as it was both taught and practised, Lactant. lib. 5. c. 20. Defendendam esse Religionem non occidendo sed moriendo, that the Gospel was to be defended not by blood and slaughter, nor by destroying those who opposed the same, or harboured any Tenets which agreed not with it; but by submitting our own lives to the hand of death, in testimony of the truth and a good conscience, whensoever the necessi­ties of the Church shall require it of us. With how much greater love to the Church of Christ, did the good Father give this Comment on the present text? Theophy [...]act. in locum. [...], [Page 222] God, saith he, would not let the Hereticks be destroy­ed by Warres, for fear the righteous person and the true believer should also suffer with them in the same destruction.

But what will some men say? Is there no use of the Sword at all in the confounding of the Heretick, or the reclaiming of the Schismatick, or the cor­rection of the wicked and flagitious person? I say not so; the Sword may have its use in all these particu­lars, and Warres be serviceable in some of them: But then the Sword must be committed to the hands of the proper Minister, not to the Servants of my Text, or any Minister of the Gospel of what rank soever; and Warres must be denounced and pursued by those in whom the supreme Government of the State is vested, Virgil. to whom it appertains of right, Parcere sub­jectis & debellare superbos, to be indulgent to the quiet and obedient subject, but to pull down the sto­mach of the proud and rebellious person. Each of them hath their several way, and their severall wea­pons in the effecting of this work; but each of them must stay the time. The Heretick is first to be at­tempted by the power of the word, by which Apol­los mightily convinced the Jewes; and which St. Paul assures us is exceeding profitable, 2 Tim. 3. 18. not onely for Doctrine, but reproof. It is the faithful word, as he elsewhere tells us, by which the Prelate is inabled not only to exhort, Tit. 1. 9. but convince gainsayers. The same course must be also taken in the recovery of the Schismatick, in reduction of the stray-sheep to the Fold of Christ: it being the duty of the diligent and careful Shepherd to seek out that which was lost, Ezech. 34. and bring back that which was driven away. Which [Page 223] meanes, if they should prove to be ineffectual, and that the word and Doctrine will not work the cure, it then pertains unto the Pastor to have recourse unto the censures of the Church, Et flagellorum terroribus vel etiam doloribus revocare, to fetch them back again by the Rod of Discipline; and if that faile, to excom­municate them, August. Eph. 50. and deliver them to the hands of Satan. Further then this they may not go, tis be­yond their bounds: what may be done upon Certifi­cate hereof by the Civil Magistrate, and how farre he may use the Sword in cutting off the obstinate Heretick, and the perverse Schismatick, we shall see hereafter, when we are come to look upon the Si­nite in the following verse: in which it was appoin­ted by the heavenly Husbandman, that both the Tares and Wheat should be permitted to grow up together till the Harvest.

In the mean time there is no question to be made, but that notorious offenders, (& such S. Cyprian takes to be the Tares which are here intended) are most immediately subject to the sword of the Civil Magi­strate, if single persons; and to be rooted up by the hand of Warre, if they unite themselves together, & by their wretched ma [...]hinations do imbroyl the State: God gave the Sword into the hands of the higher powers, Ro [...]. 3. v. 2. 4. for no other purpose, but that they should be his avengers, vindices in iram, saith the vulgar, to execute wrath and judgement upon those that do e­vill, and amongst other evill that do resist the pow­ers. He that imployes it not to that end and purpose, and doth not make himself a terror unto those which do evill works, beares the Sword in vain, and gives some countenance unto, the error shall I call it, or the [Page 224] frenzie rather? Sleidan Comment. 1. of the foolish Anabaptists, who do affirm expresly, and in terminis, That the Sword is not to be used by the Civill Magistrate: which were it so, in case the Magistrate might not use the Sword when he saw occasion, or will not use the same when he may and ought, God needed not have put the Sword into his hands. A Scabbard and a pair of Hilts would have served the turn. And as for Warre, it is the last remedy which a Prince can use for the correction of a stubborn and rebelli­ous people; not to be thought on, nor imbraced, but in great extremities. Warre is then only just when it is necessary, and can no longer be avoided; and then too to be used with alloyes and temperaments, as Poysons are sometimes in a Course of Physick. That Prince, as wittily and tartly the Italians tell us, who upon every slight occasion doth take up Arms a­gainst his Subjects, may be compared unto the m [...]n which sets his House on fire for to rost his Eggs. But if the Prince hath tryed all other courses, and can speed in none; if when he speaks of peace they prepare for Warre; if they refuse to hear his Charms, charm he never so sweetly, Luc. Viribus utendum est quas fecimus, God and the Sword must end the quarrel. Let him then gird his sword upon his thigh, Psal. 45: like a migh­ty man, according to his Worship and Renown: Let him ride on couragiously against them that hate him; let his right hand teach him terrible things; and finally, let his Arrowes he sharp in the hearts of his enemies, till the people be subdued unto him; and that he be anointed with the Oyl of gladness above all his fellows. No Physick better then Phlebotomy for corrupted bodies, when as the spirits are inflamed, and the blood boyles high.

But of this Argument enough. There is another thing to be considered in this present Answer, in the ne fortè of the Master, and that was this; for fear lest out of prejudice or inadvertency they might have taken that for Tares which indeed was Wheat; and so have done more hurt to the Field of God then the Tares themselves. For as I have observed be­fore on the 26. the Tares are very like the Wheat in the blade or stalk, In locum. as both Euthymius; Zygabenus, and St. Hierome tell us. So like they are to one ano­ther, [...], saith St. Chrysostom, according to the outward shew, that he must have discerning eyes who can distinguish them aright till their fruits be ripe, Athanas. Homil. de Semente. who on the first discovery can expresly say, [...], that these be Tares, and this is Wheat, saith Athanasius. And this he doth illustrate and exemplifie by the similitude and re­semblance which seemes to be betwixt the Hypo­crite and the righteous man: Both of them come unto the Church and receive the word, and seem to entertain the same with such equal joy, that the spi­rituall Husbandman himself is many times deceived in them, not being able to determine by the outward view; but when the Doctrine which they heard comes to bring forth fruit, then, saith he, it is easily seen, [...], who is the true Believer, and who the Hypocrite. By meanes of which similitude and resemblance, Id ibid. as many counterfeit Christians have been taken for right honest men, and divers dangerous and unsound opinions found entertainment in the Church for true Orthodox Tenets; so tis not only possible, but also probable, that either through prejudice or inadvertency, some honest and religious [Page 226] men may be condemned for lewd and reprobate; some Orthodox and true opinions rejected as un­sound and dangerous.

First, for the men themselves, let us look on them, and we shall finde that tis not only probable, as before tis said, but even of ordinary course for the best men to be traduced, and to be branded with some Cha­racter of reproach and infamy. Our Saviour Christ himself did not scape so well but that he was ac­counted a Samaritan, a Wine bibber and a glutton, a friend of Publicans and sinners. St. Peter stands ac­cused by the Magdeburgians for a forward fellow, a rash and inconsiderate person: Cent. 1. St. Paul by the Athe­nians for an idle prater, a setter forth of strange Gods, Acts 17. 18. a babler. And who is he of all the gallant Spirits in the Primitive times, who is not branded on record for incestuous mixtures, those [...], remembred and confuted in the works of our Christian Advocates? Justin M. Prejudice blindes the eyes as much as malice, and inadverten­cy betrayes the judgement to an error with as great facility as either. If we be biassed with the one, ver­tue will be accounted vice, obedience treason, loyal­ty rebellion; and upon those whom we finde guilty of those crimes an imus & colligimus shall be passed immediately. If we are governed by the other, and judge of men according to the Character which the World gives of them, each light report or foolish fear, or slight suspicion, shall serve for a sufficient ground to condemn the innocent; and though he be right Wheat indeed of the Lords own sowing, vote him to be a Tare, and the work is done, the imus & colligimus will come after as a thing of course. Good [Page 227] reason therefore had the Master to restrain his Ser­vants, to check them in the midst of their hot pursuit, and not to let them go and gather, quòd multi falso deferuntur qui sanctimoniam & pietatem in occulto co­lunt, considering how easie a thing it is for the best men to be misreported, and so accordingly destroy­ed. And what he said to them he saies to us and o­thers on the like occasions; there's no such need of imus & colligimus as we think there is.

So is it also with opinions, with some points of Doctrine, which if beheld with prejudice, or inad­vertently looked over, will be counted Tares, though in themselves of that good seed wherewith Gods Field was sowed from the first beginning. There is so specious a resemblance, such a fair similitude be­tween the merit of good works, and the reward that's due unto them according to the will and pleasure of Almighty God; between the efficacy of good life in the point of justification, and the necessity thereof in the way of salvation; between the influence of Gods grace on the will of man, & the cooperation of mans will with the grace of God; between the conscientious confession of our sins to those from whom we may receive the benefit of absolution, and that auricular Confession which hath been so abused of late by some Priests and Jesuites; between the reverence required at the receiving of the Sacrament in the Church of England, and that unjustifiable Adoration of it which is obtruded on the people in the Church of Rome; between the dedicating of some dayes to the honour of God, with a relation to the creature, and a devoting of them to the creature with some re­lation unto God; that the true Tenet in those points, [Page 228] as in many others, commended to us in the writings of the ancient Fathers, if eithe [...] looked upon with the eye of prejudice, or through the false lights of inadvertence, may be took for Tares. And what can follow thereupon but an eradication of the Tenet and the Teachers too, if every man may go and ga­ther when and where he listeth, and that ne fortè be not laid as a barre before them by their Lord and M [...]ster? Indeed there is no reason we should look for other, or that the Doctrines of the Fathers may not passe for Tares, when the Apostles Creed it self is subject to the same misprision; one of the Articles whereof hath been already noted with a Deleatur, and all the rest obnoxious to the like calamity, on the next imus & colligimus, upon the setting out of the Expurgatorius Index which is now in hand.

Therefore to set the matter right, that neither zeal may be disheartned, nor the edge of courage taken off, and yet that imus & colligimus may both be regu­lated, and restrained to its proper bounds; there's a ne fortè in the way, which shewes how farre it is fit to go, and when fit to stop. We must so cherish zeal, and give way to courage, that the Lords work may be promoted, and his Field preserved; and yet so curb and keep them in when they grow irregular, that they transport us not beyond our limits, or make us run upon mistakes. Zeal many times is full of prejudice, and an excess of courage makes us in­considerate. In both these cases, (and they are such cases as do happen often) we are not governed by truth, but by appearances; and he that is good Wheat indeed is looked upon as a Tare, and con­demned accordingly. He that beholds his Brother [Page 229] with the eye of prejudice, either looks on him through a Multiplying Glasse, which makes his faults seem greater then indeed they be; or by some new invented Optick, which represents things contrary to what they are. Acts 12. 2, 3. And he that doth condemn a man on no other grounds then the opinion and esteem which the world hath of him, is but like Herod in the Acts, who when he stretched out his hands to vex the Church, J [...]h. 7. v. 34. killed James and then imprisoned Peter, videns quia placeret Judaeis, because he saw it plea­sed the people.] Our Saviour therefore gives this Caveat unto his Disciples, Nolite judicare secundum faci [...]m, Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement. If we took notice of this Caveat as we ought to do, zeal should not swallow up our charity, or inadvertency put out the eyes of our understanding: nor should we be so hot and ur­gent upon the imus & colligimus as we have been lately, without reflecting on ne fort [...], those inconve­niencies and dangers which the Church of Christ might suffer by it. 1 Cor. 13. Now tis a property of charity, Bernard. as St. Paul hath told us, that it thinketh no evill; and tis a rule in charity, as St. Bernard tells us, non temerè de fratre mali aliquid credendum esse, not easily to entertain an ill opinion of our Brother, nor lend too credulous an eare unto those reports which the world makes of him. And as for Doctrinalls, which are the proper subject of the understanding, Whitak. Contr. 2. qu. 5. c. 8. he who doth take them upon trust without further search, shall run upon received opinions, as Calderinus in Ludovicus Vives went to Masse, Eamus ergo quia sic placet in communes errores; And in defence of these opinions, shall condemn for Tares, whoever doth oppose, or [Page 230] opine the contrary. Ne fortè is a good caution here, as in most things else; which had it been regarded as it should have been, so many points of Protestant Doctrine had not been rooted up for Tares, under the odious name of Popery; nor had Episcopacy been so often and so blindly struck at, under pretence of being but a step to the Throne of Antichrist; nor Monarchy so openly undermined as inconsistent with the liberty of the Sonnes of God: therefore no imus & colligimus, but ne fortè first.

This further justifieth the non, the wise Masters Negative; but there is one thing yet to come which indeares it further, and was a seasonable fear, lest that by too much hast and precipitation they had gone and gathered up some Tares, which might in fine have proved good Wheat, and so become a plentiful addition to the Harvest. Basil in H [...]xan. 4. For such is the nature of the Tare, that though it generally ariseth [...], from its own proper seed, as St. Basil tells us; yet, Aretius. as good Authors do observe, they do often spring, ex corrupto tritici semine, from some cor­rupted corns of Wheat, [...], saith Theophrastus. Hist. de Plantis. l. 8. c. 8. The Greek Etymologians seem to look this way, Aretius in locum. De facult. Aliment. l. 1. c. ult. who tell us of those Tares, [...], that not being sowen, nor coming from their proper seed, they took root together with the Wheat, and grew up with it. Of the same minde is Galen also, who justifieth this [...], or transmutation of the Wheat to Tares, by his own observation and experience. De causis Plant. l. 2. c. 21. Which trans­mutation or corruption, as it hapneth often, so is it then most frequent and apparent when the Wheat takes wet, [...], as in Theophrastus, ei­ther [Page 231] by some great glut of rain, or from the moorish­ness of the ground in which tis sowen. Galen affirms it more expresly, who in his first de facultate alimen­torum relates a passage, D [...] facult. Aliment. l. 1. c. ult. that once the constitution of the year being unseasonable and intemperate, [...], as his words there are; there sprung up an exceeding quantity of Tares amongst the Wheat, mo [...]e then had ever been observed in the years foregoing. And hereunto as other good Authors do agree, so is it further verified and confirmed by those who are habituated and ex­perienced in the Arts of Husbandry.

Which being so, considering that the Wheat, the good seed it self degenerates sometimes into Tares, there is no question to be made but that the Tares by care and husbandry may be restored in time to their first perfection, and prove Wheat again. The Fathers do resolve it so, especially as they behold it in the Morall, and look on the condition of such mortall men as in the Tares are represented. For if by Tares we mean the Heretick, Fieri potest ut ille qui noxio dogmate depravatus est, cras resipiscat, & defendere incipiat veritatem: Tis not impossible, saith St. Hierome, but that the man who is infected with unsound opinions, may repent thereof, and prove a zealous Champion of the Truth and Go­spel. Witness St. Austin, once a Manichee, but af­ter malleus Haereticorum, the greatest Champion of the Church against Sects and Heresies. If by the Tares we mean the wicked, who makes no consci­ence of his wayes, Quaest. Evan. l. 3. c. 12. so he may enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, multi primò zizania sunt, & postea triticum fiunt, many at first are Tares which at last [Page 232] prove Wheat, as St. Austin tells us. Witness St. Paul, a persecutor first, and a Martyr afterwards. St. Matthew first a Publican, an Evangelist after. Zachaeus an oppressor of the poor, but in fine a Confessor; and Mary Magdalen, of an Harlot made a famous Con­vert. Or finally, if by the Tares we mean the Schis­matick, who out of pride and arrogancy doth divide himself from the main body of the Church; Tertul▪ Prode­ant ipsae picturae calicum, as Tertullian hath it: The ve­ry Chalices of the Church, in which they used to carve the figure of a Shepherd bringing home the stragling sheep upon his shoulders, is Argument e­nough that possibly the Separatist may be gained up­on, and reunited to the Church. Witness - And yet to say the truth, examples of this kind are more hard to finde, then either of converted sinners, or reclaimed Hereticks, by how much the perverseness of the will is more hard to cure then any error of our judge­ments, or the obliquities and defects of our conver­sation.

This being premised, Stapl [...]ton. we may more fully see the reason of the Masters Negative; for had the Servants gone the way which themselves propounded, they had wronged the Harvest. How so? in rooting up the Wheat: Gorran. what Wheat? futurum triticum, that which in fine would have proved Wheat, as one Au­thor hath it, quod pia praesumptione, which we may charitably presume would prove Wheat in time; quod fieri potest triticum, which by the diligence and care of the spiritual Husbandman, may be made Wheat at last, though it now be none, as some others tell us. The Fathers generally do incline this way: Monemur non citò amputare fratrem; By this we are advised, [Page 233] saith Hierome, not to be too hasty with our Brethren, nor to cut them off without great care and expectati­on; for he that is to day infected with un [...]ound opi­nions, may prove another man to morrow. Many at first are tares, as St. Austin notes, but afterwards become good wheat; whose reformation and amend­ment had not God patiently expected when man in­tended to destroy them, Question. Evangel. ad laudabilem mutationem non pervenissent, they never had attained to such a blessed change. Chrysol. Ser. 97. Had not Gods patience, saith Chryso­logus, preserved the tares from extirpation, from be­ing rooted up on the first discovery, nec Matthaeum de Publicano Evangelistam, Matthew the Publican had not lived to be an Evangelist, nor Saul the persecu­tor to be an Apostle. And certainly, had not God seen more into this last then Ananias did, who was sent unto him, no notice had been taken of the ser­vice which he was to do unto the Church for the time to come, but of the spoyl and havock he had made thereof for the time preceding; and then the Church had lost the benefit of his pains and preach­ing, the notable Examples which he left behind him of his zeal and constancy. And therefore very well saith a modern Author, Stapleton in Prompt. Si Deus eradicasset Paulum per­sequentem ecclesia non haberet Saulum praedicantem: If God had rooted up Saul the Persecutor, the Church had wanted Paul the Preacher. Ne fortè is most use­full here; There's no such hast of imus & colligimus, but that we may defer it till a further time.

Here then we see the patience of Almighty God towards sinful men; and here we see the reasons of it: God beares with men in expectation of their con­version and amendment; there being none so despe­rately [Page 234] ingaged in a course of sin, but by Gods grace he may draw back and turn again, and seriously re­pent him of his former wickedness. Datur ergo lo­cus poenitentiae, Hierom. saith an ancient Father, there's al­wayes place left for repentance: And God hath pro­mised for his part, that when the wicked man turneth away from the wickednesse which he hath commit­ted, and doth that which is lawfull and right, Ezek. 28. 27. he shall save his soul alive. Tis to this end, and on this ex­pectation, that God sheweth such a strong and un­wearied patience towards sinful man, notwithstanding all his provocations. Patientia Dei ad poenitentiam in­vitat malos, as the Father hath it; God doth as well invite them to repentance by his love and patience, as scourge them to it by his punishments. And this St. Paul doth also witness, where he tells us, saying, that God endured with much long-suffering the ves­sels of wrath fitted to destruction. Rom. 9. v. 22. Endure them, why? To the intent that being purged from all their evill wayes, 2 Tim. 2. 21. they may be made vessels of mercy, sanctified and meet for the Masters use, and prepared for every good work, as in that to Timothy. St. Austin by com­paring both the Texts together doth expound it so; Inde dicitur Deus tolerare vasa irae formaliter talia, ut [...]iant vasa misericordiae. The shewing of his wrath, and making of his power to be known upon them, which the Apostle speaks of in the former place, is but at such times, and in such cases, when neither his pro­mises can wooe them, nor his threats reclaim them, nor his patience win so farre upon them, but that they will run headlong on their own destruction.

This patience of Almighty God must be our in­struction, and teach us not to be too forward in the [Page 235] condemning of our Brethren. Rom. 2. v. 4. Shall God be rich in goodness, full of forbearance and long-suffering to­wards sinful man, in expectation of his repentance and amendment; and shall not men, being all alike obnoxious to the wrath of God, conceive some hopes of one another? Doth God forbear to strike us with the Sword of Justice, and cut us off even in the middle of our sins; and shall we wrest the Sword out of his hands, to execute judgement on our selves? Doth he expect the reformation and conversion of the sinner, till the eleventh houre of the day; and will not we tarry for him till the sixth or ninth? Is God so patient towards the tares, as to expect whether they will prove wheat, or not, to lay ne fortè as a barre in the way of those who came prepared to go and gather them up without more delay; and are we men so inconsiderate of their case, and our own condition, as to be all for imus & colligimus, for ne fort [...] no­thing? May we not say in this case with the great A­postle, Rom. 2. v. 1, 2. inexcusabilis es O homo, Thou art inexcusable O man whosoever thou art that judgest another, thou condemnest thy self? or if thou wilt be judg­ing, take this rule along which the Apostle gives thee in another place, Nolite judicare ante tempus, Judge nothing before the time, till the Lord cometh, &c. 1 Cor. 4. 4. Assuredly it argues little Chri­stianity, but farre lesse charity, to condemn them to death whom God meanes to save; to go about to cut them off, and bring them unto execution, whom God is purposed to reprieve to a further triall; to cast them out of the house as Vessels of wrath, who in due time, though not so soon as thou expectest, may be vessels of mercy. Therefore take heed of imus & [Page 236] colligimus; be not too hasty and precipitate in acting thine own Counsels, or in pursuit of those designes which thou hast in hand towards the reformation of the Church of God, the extirpation of those tares which thou hast an eye on, and by the which thou thinkest Gods Field to be so indangered; but let ne forte hold the reines, and make thee look with care and circumspection on the work before thee. At least refer it all to Vis, to the Masters pleasure, and then proceed according unto his directions. So doing, thou shalt more promote thy Masters business, then by following the devices and desires of thine own heart; for so doing thou shalt be entertained in the Court of Heaven with Euge bone serve, Well done thou good and faithful Servant, enter into thy Masters joy. Which Christian care and moderation God of his goodness grant us all, that we may all be made partakers of the like reception in Gods glorious Kingdom. Amen.

QUantum inter opera divina & humana in­terest, Institut. div: l. 7. c. 4. tantum necesse est distare inter Dei hominisque sapientiam: It was the observation of Lactantius an ancient Writer, That look how great the dif­ference was between the visible works of Almighty God, and the poor undertakings of us mortall men, so great or greater was the difference between his Heavenly Wisdom and our deepest Counsels. Which rule if it be true, as no doubt it is, how infinitely short must we needes conceive that Solomons wisdom, though the wisest of the Sonnes of Adam; or Moses knowledge, though well trained in all the learning of the Egyptians; or the Prophetick spirits of Isaiah, Daniel, and the rest of the ancient Seers, was of the wisdom, knowledge, foresight of Almighty God? For alas, what proportion hold the Worlds seven [Page 238] Wonders, so celebrated in the Writings of the elder dayes, or any of the most heroical achievements of the greatest Potentates, with the Creation of the World, nay, with the composition of the meanest creature, in which there is not any thing but what may breed both wonder and astonishment in the mightiest Monarch? The wisdom of the wise is it not foo­lishness with God? 1 Cor. 1. 20. saith the great Apostle. Doth not the same Apostle tell us, that our knowledge is im­perfect and our fore-sight blinde; seeing no more then in Aenigmate, 1 Cor. 13. 12. through a dark Glasse, or a broken Perspective? We know, saith he, in part, and in part we prophesie. 1 Cor. 13. 9. And if in part onely, then is neither per­fect.

A clearer instance of this truth we can hardly finde, then in the process of this Parable, comparing the ad­vice of the Houshold-servants with the decree and fi­nall resolution of their heavenly Master. The ser­vants thought there was no safer way to secure the Harvest, then an eradication of those dangerous tares which had been sowen during their negligence and security by the crafty enemy. To this end they made offer of their help and service, vis imus & colligimus ea? Wilt thou that we go and gather them up? v. 28. and they expected thanks at least for the proposition, if not an approbation of their course and Counsel. But contrary, their Master seeing further then the servants could, and being apprehensive of the dan­gers which might follow on it, had their advice been entertained, first countermands their offer with an absolute Negative, v. 29. Et ait Non, but he said Nay, he did not like of their intention: the gathering of the tares in the way proposed would have procured more mis­chief [Page 239] to the Field of God, then the tares themselves did seem to threaten. And more then so, he lets them see, (which all the wisdom of the world would have never thought of) that the best way to save the Har­vest, and preserve the Wheat, was to permit the tares and wheat to grow up together till they were ready for the Reapers; and then to gather them and dis­pose them in their proper places, according to the will and pleasure of the Lord their God. This the co­herence of the Text with the former passages, this the Text it self, Sinite utraque, &c.

In these words we have these two general parts to be considered; the sufferance of Almighty God, and the season of it: 2ly. the condition of the Church, and the causes of it: the sufferance of Almighty God to­wards sinful man, in the first word Sinite, suffer them both to grow together; the season of it in the last, usque ad messem, till the Harvest. The condition of the Church represented to us in the intermixture of the Wheat and Tares, both which are here permitted simul crescere, to grow up together till the Harvest: the causes of this intermixture not expressed in ter­minis, but to be found, if sought for, without much a­doe. In the first generall we shall examine these three points; 1. What is meant by messis, the ap­proching Harvest, and the use thereof. 2. What in­duces the Heavenly Husbandman to give so long a sinite to the Tares, when meanes and opportunity was offered for their extirpation. And 3. Whether the sinite of the Text delivered in the Imperative mood, be so strong and binding, that in no case the tares are to be rooted out till the Harvest come. In the next generall we shall shew you, 1. That the Church here [Page 240] militant is of such condition, that good and bad, the Orthodox Professor and the Heretick, are so inter­mingled, that there is no perfection to be looked for here: and 2. That there want not great and weighty reasons why it should so be; of which some relate unto the Tares, some unto the Wheat, some to God himself, whose glory is most chiefly aimed at. These are the points to be considered: and of these I shall discourse in order, beginning with Gods sufferance, and the season of it, and therein with the first enqui­ry, What is here meant by messis, the approching Harvest; and what use we may make thereof for our own advantage.

Priùs dividendum quàm definiendum; Tull. It was the O­rators Rule of old, First to distinguish of the termes, before we take upon us to state the question. A Rule exceeding necessary in the present business, and much conducing to the Explication of the points in hand. For the word messis is [...], a word of various significations, according to the scope of the severall places where it doth occur. And first, not ta­king notice of it in the literall sense in the 9th Chap­ter of St. Matthew, v. 7. it signifieth the times and seasons fit for the preaching of the Gospel. There read we messem esse multam, that the Harvest was great, i. e. that there were many people whose mindes were cheerfully prepared to receive the word. And there's another Harvest which the Baptist speaks of, Matth. 3. the bringing forth of fruits meet for repentance, fruits worthy of the Preachers pains, and the hearers dili­gence; the [...], the Harvest of good works which we finde in Chrysostom. In locum. But we have o­ther Corn to thresh, and therefore must look out for [Page 241] another Harvest; an Harvest not of hearing, nor of fructifying, but of receiving the reward of our seve­rall labours; an Harvest in the which each workman shall receive his wages, according to the works which he hath wrought in the flesh, whether good or evill. And this again is either taken for the day of Gods temporall judgements upon particular Men, or Sects, or Collective bodies; or for the day of generall judge­ment, when all flesh shall appear before the Lord to receive its sentence. In this last sense the word is ta­ken in the 14 of the Revelation, where the Angel said to him that sate upon the Throne, mitte falcem & mete, Thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time is come, v. 14. and the Harvest of the Earth is ripe, i. e. all Na­tions were now ready to receive that judgement which God in his just anger should pronounce against them. And in the other sense it is said by the Pro­phet Jeremy, c. 51. v. 30. The Daughter of Babylon is a threshing-floore, the time of her threshing is come, yet a little while and the time of her Harvest will come. Tempus messio­nis ejus veniet; and what time was that? even that wherein she had made up the measure of her iniqui­ties and abominations, and was to be given up for a prey to the Medes and Persians.

I know that most Interpreters, as well old as new, do take the Harvest in my Text for the generall judgement, that which our Saviour doth describe in the 25. of this Gospel: And they expound it thus for this reason chiefly, because our Saviour gives this de­scant on his own plain song, v. 39. Messis est consum­matio seculi, the Harvest is the end of the World. A man would think the sense must be very obvious, even to the vulgar wits, when he that writ the Text [Page 242] made the comment also. But then a question may be made what our Redeemer meanes by consummatio seculi, or the end of the World, or the [...], as the Greek Text hath it. Assuredly not alwayes the last day precisely, but the last times ge­nerally, or the particular time appointed by Almigh­ty God for the effecting of some speciall and particu­lar purpose. For in the 9 Chapter to the Hebrews the same words occur, where the Apostle treating of the passion of our Lord and Saviour, saith it was done [...], in consummatione seculi, in the end of the World. Beza in Heb. 9. Ask Beza what is meant there by the end of the World, by the [...], and he will tell you that it is the same which the Apostle calls in another place plenitudinem tem­poris, or the fulness of time, i. e. saith he, and so both Caietan and Ribera do expound the Text, Secu­lorum perfectionem & complementum, the full perfecti­on and accomplishment of some time appointed.

So then upon this disquisition we have gained thus much, that though the Harvest in my Text be for the most part understood of the general judgement, of which hereafter in the next; yet may it also mean the time of Gods temporal punishments upon parti­cular men, or Sects, or Collective bodies: Whom though God suffereth for a while till their sins be ripe, and lets them flourish and grow mighty both in power and wickedness, yet have they all their seve­rall Harvests, in which they shall be mowed, and threshed, and winnowed, to his greater glory. The sickle of the Lord is alwayes ready, Matth. 3. and his van al­wayes in his hand. And when his Harvest-time is come, and the fruits of wicked men be ripe, he shall [Page 243] not only mowe them down, Esay 17. 5. as when the Harvest-man gathereth the corn, and reapeth down the eares with his arme, in the Prophets language; but he will throughly purge his floore, and make them like the chaffe, Psal. 2. in the Psalmists words, which the wind drives away before it. But for the just and righteous person, he either shall be saved from the day of trouble, or preserved in it: Or if he fall, as fall he may some­times into the hand of the Reapers, like a good eare of corn well grown, or Grapes fully ripe, he shall be congregatus in horreum, gathered into the barn of the heavenly Husbandman. In execution of which acts of his will and justice he many times makes use of Angels, literally and properly so called, which are the Reapers of this verse and the 39, and many times of other Ministers who do supply the place of An­gels, and may be called so in a borrowed, meta­phoricall sense; as Attila the Hun, the scourge of the impenitent Western Christians, was in the Stories of those times called Flagellum Dei.

That there have been such Harvests in former times, and that such Harvests are in the compass of our Saviours meaning, the Stories of Gods Book, and all the Monuments of the Church do most clear­ly evidence. And to say truth, did not the Text ad­mit such Harvests, all the seditious aggregations of unquiet men; all the Idolatries of Rome Heathen, and superstitions of Rome Christian; the Pride of Baby­lon, and the filths of Sodom, with all the rabblement of pernicious Hereticks, and factious Sectaries, which have disturbed the Church in foregoing Ages, must be still extant and unpunished to this very day. But they have had their severall Harvests, and the Lord [Page 244] hath reaped them, reserving them with the Apostate Angels, 2 Pet. 2. v. 4▪ in eternall chains, to the judgement of the great and terrible day. And though this be a truth so clear that it needes no proofs, yet we will instance in some few, the better to set forth the necessary truth of this, together with the longanimity and justice of Almighty God. In the old World, the sinnes of men were very great, Gen. 6. v. 2, 5. all the imaginations of their hearts corrupt and evill, so that the very Sonnes of God were tempted to go in to the Daughters of men; and yet God spared them a long time, and ad­ded 120 yeeres unto the dayes of their repentance. But when their sins were grown so ripe that God re­pented him at last of Mans creation, he brought the flood upon them, and destroyed them all; but sa­ved righteous Noah, and his Houshold with him. The Citizens of Sodom had long swelled in pride, Gen. 7. and sur­feited on fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness, as the Prophet tells us; Ezek. 16. and yet God suffered them to live, and fulfill their lusts. But when the voyce of their sins became so loud, as to cry unto the Heavens for vengeance, and to occasion God himself to come down and see majorne infamia vero, Ovid. whether their sins were answerable to the cry which was come unto him, Gen. 18. 21. then were they ready for the sickle, 'twas high Harvest then; and the Lord sent his Angels to con­sume their City, Gen. 19. and rained down fire from Heaven upon them; but delivered Lot and his small Family, like a fire-brand snatched out of the flames.

Passe we on forwards into Egypt, and we shall finde how patiently the Lord expected that the proud E­gyptians would at the last dismisse his people with peace and safety; Exod. 14. but when that did no good upon [Page 245] them, when they had added tyranny unto oppression, and unto both a proud contempt of his Word and Messengers, he brought his people out with a mighty hand; the Angel of the Lord going before the Camp of Israel, but overwhelming Pharaoh and his Host in a second deluge. And if God did not presently invest his people in the possession of the Land so often pro­mised, it was not only for their disobedience, or their unbelief, nor for their murmuring against God, and groundless exclamations against Moses and Aaron; though these did all concur to retard their entrance: The Scriptures give another reason, and questionless the true reason of that long suspension; Gen. 15. 16. nondum com­pleta est iniquitas Amorrhaeorum, the wickedness of the Amorites was not yet full, 'twas not Harvest yet, and therefore God had not given order to the Land to spew out her Inhabitants. Thus do we read in holy Scripture of the Harvest of Babylon, Esay 17. 5. & 51. 33. and of the Harvest of Damascus, i. e. of those appointed times, in which for their Idolatries and abominations they were to be delivered over to the hands of their seve­rall enemies. And for those very Jewes themselves, though God spared them long, notwithstanding all their provocations, and only visited them sometimes with Warre or thraldom, yet he stayed not there; for when they had made up the measure of their Fathers sins, and added to the same the blood of the Sonne of God, more precious then the blood of Abel and of all the Prophets, then did the Lord destroy their City, and disperse their people, making them that they were no longer to be called a Nation, but a poor scattered remnant of what once they were. But for the persecuted Saints of Christ which lived a­mongst [Page 246] them, Euseb. hist. l. 3. c. 5. the Lord withdrew them from that plague, warning them [...], by a Dream or Oracle, to remove thence to Pella, a small Town of Syria, before the first approch of the Roman Armies.

Thus was it also with the Church since the time of the Gospel; The Princes of the Earth sometimes raged against it, and harried it with fire and sword, and all kinde of torments: And though the souls of them which were slain for the word of the Lord had cryed unto their God for vengeance, Apoc. [...]. 9, 10, 11. yet was it said to them from above, ut requiescerent adhuc modicum tempus, that they should rest yet for a season, and tarry till their Brethrens blood was cast into the bal­lance also to make up the weight. Which time being come, the Lord did plague the persecutors with such grievous plagues, that in the anguish of their souls, and guilt of conscience, they cryed unto the Rocks to fall upon them, & on the hills to hide them. Ne­ver Dog barked against the Crosse but he grew mad after it, Fox in the Acts & Mon. saith the Author of the Book of Martyrs. So for those vile and wretched miscreants which did afflict the Church of Christ with Schismes and He­resies, they did exalt their horns a while, and bare all before them; Vincent. Lerinens. the Arians especially being so predo­minant, ut jam non portiunculam quandam, that they thought scorn to be confined to one Church or Na­tion, but like a generall scab or Leprosie, had invaded almost all the parts of the body mysticall: yet when their pride was greatest, and their power most for­midable; when their impieties and blasphemies were so strongly backed, that these few Orthodox Profes­sors which were left untainted did tremble at the [Page 247] apprehension of the present danger, God then con­ceived them fit for vengeance, and put in his sickle, the time being come for him to reap, and the Har­vest ready; so that of all those Sects and Heresies which did afflict the Church in her purest Ages, there is scarce any thing remaining but the name and infa­my. And though the Christians of those times be­ing delivered from the fear of their deadly enemies, had surfeited on peace and prohibited pleasures, yet God reprieved them a long time from the hand of punishment; but when their sins were grown so publick, and so full of scandall, ut pateretur lex Chri­stiana maledictum, Calvin. that even the Gospel grew to be ill reported of by the Jew and Gentile, then poured he out the Nations of the North upon them, who sacked their Cities, and laid waste their Palaces, and in conclusion dispossessed them of their Countries also.

Now by this Standard we may take the measure both of Gods patience and his justice, in all parallel Cases: If we see Sects and Heresies rise up to disturb the Church, and not to rise up only, but grow strong and prevalent, and in a way like Pharaohs seven lean Kine to devoure the fat; if we see wickedness grow successful, and rebellion prosperous, and the best men become a prey to the cruel spoylers, we must not think that God is all this while asleep, and regards it not; Psal. 122. not so, the Lord that keepeth Israel neither sleepes nor slumbereth. But when the sins of men be ripe, and the time of wrath is come that they should be judged, the God that dwelleth in the Hea­vens shall scourge them with a whip of Scorpions, and break them into pieces like a Potters vessel. Psal. 2. And though [Page 248] some of them have the hap, or the seeming happi­ness, to go down into the grave in peace, yet God will finde them at the last, and meet with these sowre grapes in his general vintage, and tread them in the wine-presse of his indignation. And to say truth, there are as great and weighty reasons why some mens punishments should follow after them, as that the rest should have a trial and essay of their future miseries by those which they endure in this present life; for, as St. Austin well observes, should all mens sins be punished in this present life, nihil ultimo judi­cio reservari putaretur, De Civit. D [...]i l. 1. c. 8. it would occasion some to think that there were no necessity nor use of the generall judgement: as on the other side, if none, nulla esse di­vina providentia crederetur, others would be too apt to think that there were no God; or at least rob him of his Providence, and say with him in Davids Psalms, Tush, God doth not see it. If therefore God permit the Tares to grow up together with the Wheat, it is to shew his patience and longanimity in expectation of their conversion and amendment; but that he brings them to the Harvest, and moweth them down at last, is to shew his justice. And doubt we not, but that the Lord in his just judgement will destroy those Tares which at this present threaten ruine to his blessed Field, when they once be ripe, and that we are suf­ficiently awakened out of that dull security which had seized upon us; God dealing still with wicked and seditious men, as heretofore with Haman, Abs [...] ­lom, Achitophel, and such other instruments; when they have served his turn then he hangs them up.

But I must tell you this withall, that if we do ex­expect [Page 249] an Harvest of Gods temporall judgements upon the heads of those that lay wast his Church; we must first put away those customary unrepented sins, which have drawn them down upon our selves. Horat. de Arte Poet. Si vis me flere dolendum est primùm ipsi tibi. If we desire that God be pittiful to us, in freeing us from those which do play the Tyrants over our bodies and estates, we must be pittiful to our selves, in labou­ring to free our souls from a greater tyranny, that of sin and Satan. We must first repent us of the pu­nishment that is due unto them. But I see little hopes of so great a change; or indeed any hopes at all, either great or little, except it be unto the worse, in the corrupting of those meanes which should work our peace. For tell me I beseech you, is not our fa­sting grown so formall, and our humiliation mixt with so much hypocrisie, that we are sicker of repentance then before of sin? Is not our common talk so over­grown with oaths and prodigious cursings, as if we meant to bid defiance to the Host of Heaven? and our devotions in Gods House so cold and careless, as if we thought as poorly of the Lord himself, as of the Preacher, or the Prayers? And can we look for bles­sings from the hands of God, when we send curses to his eares? or that the Lord should work a double miracle upon us, whether we will or not; one in re­moving from us a deserved punishment, the other in forgiving unrepented sins? Assuredly, unless we make our peace with God, and wrest deliverance from him by our prayers and penitence, the Lord in his just anger will afflict us further, and give us over for a prey unto those that hate us. God is not bound to bring upon the wicked and seditious person, the He­retick [Page 250] and Schismatical man, the Harvest of his tem­poral judgements, though sometimes he do it: some­times he lets them passe till the general Harvest, and calls them not unto account untill he bring them at the last to the finall reckoning. But whether it be first or last, it pleaseth him to give the Tares a longer Sinite then his servants did desire he should, and suf­fered them to grow in his holy Field, when meanes and opportunity was offered for their extirpation. What might incline him thereunto, and how farre we are bound by this present Sinite, are the next enqui­ries.

Expertâ morbi molestiâ evidentior fit jucunditas sanitatis. De Civit. Dei, l. 14. c. 17. No man can judge so well of health, as they that have been long afflicted with a wounded body, or visited with some grievous sickness: nor set so high a price on the light of Heaven, as he who hath been lodged in a dolefull Dungeon. Now that which darkness is in the Aire or Firmament, and wounds and sickness in the body, the same are errors and cor­ruptions in life and Doctrine, (or scandala, & qui fa­ciunt iniquitatem, as our Saviour tells us of these tares, v. 38.) in the Church of Christ: darkness best sets off light, wounds and sickness health; and so doth error truth, and corruption purity. God therefore doth sometimes permit the ungodly man to have his ha­bitation with the just and righteous, that so the justice of the righteous might be made more eminent: of which we shall say more anon in the Simul crescere. And sometimes he permits his People to walk in darkness, & wander in the crooked lanes of deceit & error, that when they come into the light, and to the saving wayes of truth, they may imbrace the same [Page 251] with the greater fervour: were it not for this reason, and in this respect, it is not probable that God who is the God of truth, and the Father of lights, would suffer any Heresie, or erroneous Tenet to be sowen or rooted in his field; but either would discover them on the first appearing, or cause them to be roo­ted up on the first discovery; at least he would have harkened to the Proposition, to the vis imus & col­ligimus of the former verse, were it not that the light of truth would appear more brightly, after it had been long eclipsed with the Clouds of error; Tacit. Annal. l. 1. Et sic deterrima comparatione gloriam sibi compararet. For contraries when they are looked upon together, do appear most visibly.

Besides, Oportet esse haereses, there is a farther use of Heresies, 1 Cor. 11. 19. which brings them in with an Oportet, as we read of in the 18. of St. Matthew, necesse est ut veni­ant scandala. v. 7. Scandala saith St. Matthew, haereses saith S. Paul; but in both Texts the same, saith the Learned Scholiast; and both attended or brought in by the same necesse. G [...]otius in Matth. 13. Not a necessity simpliciter dicta, an absolute necessity that so it must be, as if truth could not stand without them; but an Oportet, a ne­cessity secundum quid, it being expedient that so it should be, because truth stands the better by them. How many excellent tractates, grave discourses, learned and pious writings had these Ages wanted, had not the Primitive Church been exercised with so many Heresies? In what an ignorance had we lived in matters which concern the glorious Trinity, the powers of Grace, the influences of the holy Spirit; had not the Arians and Pelagians startled those opi­nions which put the Church to a necessity of setting [Page 252] learned men on work to confute and crush them? And doubt we not but that Posterity will fare the better for those monstrous Paradoxes in Divinity which have been vented since the meeting of this new As­sembly, and penetrate more throughly into some deep questions which now disturb the peace both of Church and State, then any of the former Ages. Fir­mior multò fides est quam reponit poenitentia. August. Faith, saith the Father, stands more firmly when it is built upon repentance; as doubtless Peters faith was most strong­ly setled, after he had denyed his Master. And 'tis no otherwise with truth then it is with saith, best setled, and confirmed and planted, when strugling long with error or heretical Doctrines, it hath got the victory. God, as before I said, is the God of truth, and they that wilfully oppose the least truth of Gods, are Rebels against God, and against his truth. And 'twas known to be an experiment in the School of Politicks, Tacit. Annal. conatus subditorum irritos imperium sem­per promovere, that the rebellion of a people when it is supprest, doth make a Prince more strong and ab­solute then he was before.

But the Oportet goes yet further; it reacheth not to the truth alone, but to all those who do defend it. There must be heresies, 1 Cor. 11. 19. saith St. Paul, ut qui probati sint, that those who are approved amongst you may be known and manifested. St. Austin tells us of two sorts of enemies which do afflict the Church of Christ: August. whereof the one is blinde with error, and the other with malice. And then he adds, That if these enemies have leave to afflict it corporally with any kinde of persecution, exercent ejus patientiam, they give the Church occasion to shew forth her patience; [Page 253] but if they do assault the same with Sects and Here­sies, or malè sentiendo, with their false opinions, exer­cent ejus sapientiam, they give her opportunity to de­clare her wisdom. There were no need of Champi­ons to defend the truth, should there be none that did oppose it: nor could we know by any meanes who would take part with Christ, and who sight a­gainst him, were it not brought unto the triall. Hecto­ra quis nosset felix si Troja fuisset? Hector had never been so famed for his feats of Arms, had not Troy been beleaguered by the powers of Greece: Nor had the valour and fidelity of Joab, the wisdom and fide­lity of Cushai, 2 Sam c. 17, 18. the bounty and fidelity of Barzillai, the piety and fidelity of the Priests and Levites; no not so much as Shimeis slanderous tongue, or the incon­stant mutability of the vulgar herd been manifested and made known to David, had not Achitophel con­trived, Absolom actually raised, a Warre against him. What had we known of Athanasius, had not the Arian faction joyned themselves together in a League against him, and spent their whole united forces on his single person? Lucan. Phars. Parque novum fortuna videt concur­rere bellum, Atque virum. As if that holy Patriarch had been born unto Ishmaels destiny, to have his hand a­gainst every man, and every mans hand against him. How little had been left unto us of Irenaeus, Basil, Hierome, Austin, and all the brave Heroes of the Pri­mitive times, had not the Gnosticks, Valentinians, A­rians, Donatists, afforded them occasion to expresse their piety, and manifest their zeal to the cause of Christ? And to come neerer to our selves; where had been all the glories of renowned Jewel, or of incom­parable Whitgift, had not this Church been crucifi­ed [Page 254] from the first beginning, between the Popish su­perstitions and the Puritan frenzies? All men are apt enough to professe the Gospel in a time of peace, and to declare themselves for truth, when there are no heresies: therefore Oportet esse haereses, that so it may be known more clearly, as Tertullian notes it, tam qui in persecutionibus steterint quàm qui ad haereses non exor­bitaverint, De praescript. advers. haeres. as well who dare stand bravely out against persecutions, as who dare bid defiance unto Sects and Heresies.

So then there are some notable reasons for the present Sinite, and suffering of the Tares and Wheat to grow up together till the Harvest, besides the dangers mentioned in the former verse. But then a question will be made, whether the Sinite in this place be so strong and binding, that in no case the Tares are to be rooted up till the Harvest come. Where first we take it for a truth unquestionable, which we finde in Chrysostom, in Matth. 13. [...], &c. It is not here forbidden, saith that learned Father, ei­ther to curb the Heretick, or silence him, or suppress his insolencies, or to prohibit their Assemblies, or di­sperse their Conventicles. God hath not so disarmed his Church, as to lay it open to the assaults and vio­lence of malicious enemies, and left her with no other weapons then defensive only. In the spirituall Armorie which St. Paul describes, Ephes. 6. there is as well the sword of the spirit, as the shield of faith; and truth appointed for a Girdle, as well as righteousness for a Brest plate. Gods Church is furnished with a power to convince gainsayers, as well as to exhort, or re­buke the sinner; and may employ the pen, though [Page 255] not tosse the Pike. Else not the Heretick, but the true Professor would be put to silence, and God should send out men to fight, and yet binde their hands. And more then so, the Lord hath given his Church Authority to deal with obstinate Hereticks, and with perverse Schismaticks, as St. Paul did with Hymenaeus and Alexander, 1 Tim. 1. v. 19, 20. who having made shipwrack of the faith, were by him cut off from the society of the faithfull. For though some men of eminency in point of learning, out of their love to that libertas Prophe­tandi now so much in fashion, would have the Church be very wary in exercising this authority; Grotius in Matth. 13. yet they profess they have no purpose utterly to de­prive her of that power and priviledge, segregandi eos à suis coetibus qui doctrinam adulterant, of excom­municating those who corrupt her Doctrines.

What then is that which is denied the Church in the present Sinite? Assuredly not to restrain the He­retick, or confute the Heresie, [...], but to kill and slay them. Chrysost. in Mat. 13. The Servants, as we told you formerly, were much scandalized to see Gods Field indangered by those wretched Tares: errors in Doctrine, and corruptions in point of man­ners being grown so prevalent, that there was little hope to preserve the Church, but by a sudden extir­pation of them, of what sort soever: and thereupon they purposed as before I told you, to go against them with the Sword, to raise an holy Warre, and destroy them utterly. Which how unfit a way it was, either to plant the Gospel, or reform Religion, I then told you also: Warre being a Tragedy of such a nature, as commonly destroyes the Stage whereup­on tis acted; and no such Weapon as the Sword, [Page 256] (except it be the sword of the Spirit) committed to the Ministers of the Word and Sacraments, which are the Servants aimed at in our Saviours Parable. It is the Civill Magistrate, and tis he alone which hath jus gladii materialis, as our Lawyers call it, the power of the materiall Sword, and the right to use it. And if he use it not as occasion serves, Bract [...]on. in cutting off no­torious Malefactors, and punishing seditious or rebel­lious persons, frustra gladium gerit, he beares the Sword in vain, Rom. 13. as the Scriptures tell us. But how farre he may use the same in cutting off the obstinate He­retick, and the perverse Schismatick, after the Church hath done her part, and that Certificate be returned of her whole proceedings, is a point worthy of a further and more punctuall search. At this we only touched before, referring the full disquisition of it to the present Sinite, as a place more proper for that purpose.

And first perhaps it will be thought but an easie Controversie, and of no great difficulty to deter­mine, in which the disagreeing parties are so well agreed. The practise of the Church of Rome makes it clear enough what they do hold in point of Do­ctrine; although they have not yet improved it (for ought I can tell) into an Article of the faith, as many of their School-points were in the Tridentine Coun­cil. Bellarmine gives it for a Maxime, or a ruled case rather in the Divinity of that Church, De Laicis l. 3. c. 21. Posse haereticos ab Ecclesia damnatos temporalibus poenis & etiam mor­te mulctari, that Hereticks condemned at the Churches barre are to be executed on the Scaffold of the Civil Magistrate. And this he laboureth to make good, as his Custom is, both by Authority of [Page 257] Scripture, and consent of Fathers, though he bring some sory proof from either. Our Saviour tells us of false Prophets, that they should come in Sheeps Clothing, but inwardly were ravenous Wolves; and that whoever comes not into the fold by the ordina­ry doore, but climbs in at the Window, is a Thief and a Robber. At Lupi rapaces optimo jure occiduntur; But Wolves, saith he, are justly killed, and tis well known what punishment belongs to Theeves; and thereupon concludes without more adoe, that Here­ticks are to be punished like Wolves and Robbers. Would any man believe that so great a Clerk could be so seriously foolish in a matter of such main con­cernment as the life of his poor Christian Brother; or that he meant good earnest when he urged those Texts? Might not a man conclude with as good a Conscience (I am sure he may with as much equity and Logick as the Cardinall doth) that Christ our Sa­viour ought to be crucified again at his second com­ming, because he tells us of that comming, that it will be Sicut fur in nocte, like a Thief in the night? and we well know what punishment belongs to Bur­glarers: or, that prophane and wicked persons are to be cherished in their riotous and licentious courses, because the Scripture likeneth them to a dogg which returneth to the vomit? 2 Pet. 2. 22 and yet such doggs are oft times cherished by their Masters. The Cardinall had never set so light a price on the life of his Bro­ther, had he considered at how great a price it was bought by Christ.

So also for the Protestant Doctors, though at the first they did unanimously detest both the opinion and the practice of the Church of Rome in this parti­cular, [Page 258] (and certainly they had good reason so to do, as the case then stood) yet they soon altered their opinion; for after that Servetus had been burnt at Geneva by the instigation of Calvin, and Valentine Gentilis executed at Brasil by the Command of the Switzers, the Allobrogian party set their wits on work to defend the action, and after drew in many others of the Protestant Churches to concur with them in that point. Calvin first sets it down in thesi, haereticos jure gladii coercendos, that Hereticks were to be restrained by the Sword of the temporal Magistrate; which though it was in generalls only, yet did he make it serve the turn for the present shift. But Beza, building a large Tract upon his foundation, entituled, De haereticis à Magistratu puniendis, sets up this Posi­tion, almost the same in termes with that of Bellar­mine, viz. haereticos interdum capitali etiam supplicio à magistratu coercendos, that Hereticks sometimes are to be punished by death. For which, though he produce no evidence from the Evangelists or A­postles, which are the best Judges in this case, but that of Ananias and his Wife Saphira, Acts 5. both whom St. Peter most miraculously condemned and execu­ted by a word of his mouth; yet he confesseth of this instance, non posse in exemplum trahi, that it is not to be drawn into example. Bez. ibid. And if not to be drawn into example, as he saith it is not, then certainly no such proof to confirm the point as he thinks it is: yet that we might not think him singular, or to stand alone, he brings in Bullinger, Melancthon, and Wolf­gangus Capito, as being of the same judgement with him; to whom Aretius might be added, in his de­fence of the proceedings against Valentine Gentile, and [Page 259] some others since: so incident it is to our humane frailty to square our judgement by the rule of our private interests; and not so much to ponder what we ought to do, as to finde Pleas and Arguments to de­fend our doings.

But notwithstanding this agreement of the adverse parties, we may resolve upon the question, as our Redeemer did in another case, quòd ab initio non fuit sic, it was not so from the beginning. The Primitive Fathers knew of no such meanes for the confuting of an Heretick, or the suppressing of an Heresie, as the fire and faggot. St. Chrysostomes judgement in the point you have heard already, take St. Austins now; who tells us of himself, that he was once perswaded, neminem ad unitatem Christi cogendum esse, August. in Ep. l. 48. that no man was to be compelled by force and punishments to joyn himself unto the Church. But afterwards, upon experience of the peace and benefit which did most commonly redound to the Church thereby, he so farre altered his opinion, as to allow of banishment, or fine and ransom, in case of obstinate perverseness; but by no meanes of death in what case soever. And this the Cardinall confesseth, Bellarm. de Laic. l. 3. c. 21. though against himself, ingeniously affirming of that holy Father, semper ex­cepero supplicium mortis, that alwayes he excepted death as too sharp a remedy, and inconsistent with the meekness of our Saviours Gospel. Tis true, that Valentinian, Martian, and other of the following Em­perours, when they could finde no other way to re­strain their insolencies, have added also poenam san­guinis in their publick Edicts: But this was only in terrorem. No execution done upon them in a long time after, and then but by some Arian Kings of the [Page 260] Gothes and Vandalls, in the declining times of the Christian purity. Sulpit. Sever. hist. sacr. l. 2. Onely the Tyrant Maximus, who usurped the Empire, though otherwise an Orthodox Prince, caused the Arch-Heretick Priscillian, and some of his Associates to be put to death, at the in­stigation of Ithacius, a Catholick Bishop, whom the impieties of the man had extremely stirred. Con­cerning which Sulpitius Serverus tells us, that though they were homines luce indignissimi, men most un­worthy of the light, yet they were pessimo exemplo necati, and that their execution was of dangerous consequence to succeeding Ages. And as it seemes, the French and German Prelates did conceive so of it, by whom Ithacius was deprived of the Commu­nion, for no other reason, then that he had been a chief Actor in that woful Tragedy. Thus also when Alexius of Constantinople had caused Basilius and o­thers of the Bongomili to be burnt to ashes, Zonar. (Here­ticks lewd enough of conscience, if their Opinions have been transmitted to us by ingenious hands) the Eastern Prelates generally disallowed the fact. But what need further search be made in this particular, when we have confitentem reum? Annal. Eccl. For even Baronius doth acknowledge, though otherwise a professed Champion both of the customs and corruptions of the Church of Rome, that anciently it was the usage of the Christian Bishops, when they addressed them­selves to the secular powers in matters of this present nature, so to insist on the correction of the Heretick, ut tamen à capitali supplicio inferendo dehortati sunt, that they disswaded them by all meanes imaginable not to shed their bloods. From which sweet modera­tion of the Primitive Prelates, how miserably the [Page 261] Church hath deviated in these latter dayes, the pub­lick Martyrologies of both sides do declare too evi­dently.

What then, may some men chance to say, shall Theeves and Murderers die the death, which onely rob us of our goods, or destroy our bodies, and shall the Heretick which robs us of our precious faith, and damn both soul and body to the pit of hell, either escape unpunished, or be punished onely with some light pecuniary mulct, or short imprisonment? Is there no case in which the desperate Heretick may be rooted up, and such vile tares be liable to an ex­tirpation? I say not so. The Lord himself decreed in his holy Law, (and caused execution to be done upon it) That whosoever did blaspheme the name of the Lord should be stoned to death; Levit. 24. v. 16. and that if a Pro­phet did arise which did entice the people after other Gods, Deut. 13. v. 1. &c. they should also slay him, without either pity or delay. The Jewes, though they transgressed in the second case, were alwayes zealous in the first; and howsoever they connived at some grosse Idolatries, would not spare a blasphemy. This made them when they sate in judgement on our Saviour Christ, to balk all other Accusations, and lay hold on this; interpreting some words of his, Matth. [...]6. v. 65, 66. in which he called himself most tru­ly the Sonne of God, for blasphemous passages. And then the high Priest said (with great joy no question) what need we any further witnesses? we have heard his blasphemy: and thereupon they all concluded he is guilty of death. In which the ground was true and justifiable, it was Gods own Rule; but the judge­ment wicked and erroneous, as being utterly per­verted in the Application. Now though these Lawes [Page 262] were given particularly to the Jewes for their square and measure, by which they were to punish malefa­ctors of that odious nature; yet in the equity there­of they relate to us, to whom the honour of Al­mighty God ought to be as precious as ever it was among the Jewes, and all blasphemers of his name to be held as execrable as in the Commonwealth of Israel. If therefore there arise an Heretick which belcheth his blasphemous follies against the Majesty of God, or any person of the holy undivided Trini­ty; or seeks to draw the people after other Gods, or add the Jewish Ceremonies, or the heathenish sacri­fices to the pure worship of the Lord, as did the Manichees of old, Nic. hor. hist. Eccl. and Anatolius in the close of the sixth Centurie; let the Sword in Gods name passe upon him. My eye shall neither pity him, nor my house conceal him. There are some Heresies as well as sins, which if unretracted, are neither pardoned in this World, nor in that to come. Such wretch­ed miscreants as these in the body mystical are like a gangrened member in the body natural, and must be cut off in due time, or else will suddenly infect and destroy the whole: Metam. l. 1. so true a Rule is that in the Poet Ovid,

Next to the Majesty of God is that of Kings and Soveraign Princes; to whom God hath not onely pleased to impart his name, but delegated a great part of his royall power: And therefore if an Here­tick set on foot such Doctrines as tend to the de­struction of the Princes person, or the seducing of his Subjects from their due allegiance; or otherwise [Page 263] grow practical, and embroyl the State, for the pro­moting of their dreams and dotages, though of lower quality, let them receive the wages due to their lewd attempts. There are as well seditious Do­ctrines as seditious practises, both dangerous alike, and therefore to be punished with the like severity: and this have the chief Priests of the Jewes un­derstood full well, when having brought our Saviour to the Judgement-hall, and fearing Pilate would be little moved with the noyse of blasphemy, they cast their accusation in another mould; We found (say they) this fellow perverting our Nation, forbidding to pay tribute unto Caesar, and calling himself Christ a King: & then if Pilate will not hasten to his condem­nation, he shall be instantly proclaimed for no friend of Caesars. In which, although they shewed them­selves to be false accusers, yet they declared suffici­ently, that in their opinion, and in the opinion of a vigilant and careful Magistrate, all Doctrines which may tend to perturb the State, or rather that all such, whoever, which have raised factions in the State to promote their Doctrines, were worthy of a Crucifige. And so farre we may take St. Paul along for Company, who tells us of coitiones in Syna­gogis, seditions raised in the Synagogues as well as in the streets or Citie, Acts 24. Of either of the which if his malicious enemies could have proved him guilty, he had deserved to die, as himself doth intimate, Acts 25. v. 11. And this no question was the reason why some Roman Emperors proceeded more severely against the Donatists, then against ma­ny other Heresies of an higher nature; because they were an active sect, and cared not to distract or sub­vert [Page 264] a Province, so they might settle their opinions, and increase their Proselytes: though, to say truth in this and all such parallel cases, it was their faction not their faith, not their Religion, but rebellion which was punished in them. In these two cases, and these onely, dare I set any edge on the temporal Sword, though even in these it be a remedy to be last applied; and more to be commended where it may not, then where it may possibly be spared.

In other cases where the error lieth in the under­standing, although most commonly backed with ob­stinacy and perverseness in the will and affections, the adverse parties in the Church have been too farre transported beyond their bounds, and drawn too much blood from one another, though both pretend the Lawes for their justification. For who seeth not how little it doth savour of the spirit of Christ, to hale young boyes, and silly women, and poor igno­rant Tradesmen to the Funeral-Pile, because they could not fathom the deep Mystery of transubstanti­ation; or thought it not an acceptable sacrifice to devoure their God; or found not Purgatory in the Scriptures; or did not think it fit to invocate the Saints their Brethren, when as the way lay open unto God their Father; or durst not give that honour to a painted Crucifix, which properly belonged to their crucified Saviour? And on the other side, it wants not reprehension amongst moderate men, that Chri­stians should be dragged unto the Scaffold for no o­ther reason, then taking sacred Orders from a forreign hand, or treading on prohibited ground; not being otherwise convicted by sufficient evidence, either [Page 265] of practising against the State, or labouring to se­duce the Subjects from their natural duties. The Christians of the Primitive Ages had lost the most effectual part of their Apologies, if difference in Re­ligion only had been a crime sufficient, without fur­ther guilt, to draw those fiery storms upon them un­der which they suffered. And though I say not of these Lawes, to which each parties do pretend for their justification, Plutarch. in Solo [...]. that they are [...], like unto Draco's Lawes of old, which were written in blood; yet one might say, and say it without just offence, that they were neither made nor executed within these Dominions, but either when the Dra­gon was a chief Supporter of the Arms Imperiall; or else on those unfortunate wretches, who have since fallen in regionem Draconum, into the place of Dra­gons, as the Psalmist calls it. Certain it is, that by those bloody executions both sides have rather been confirmed then weakned, and both have given ad­vantage to the growth of Heresies. Just as Sulpiti­us hath observed, Hist. Sacr. l. 2. that by the execution of Priscilli­an, which before I spoke of, non tantùm non re­pressa est ejus haeresis, sed & propagata, his Heresie was so farre from being suppressed, that it grew the faster for the cutting. Christs Sinite stands not here for nothing; but shewes, that till the time of the general Harvest, there will be tares amongst the Wheat, do we what we can: Which leads me to my last particular, to the condition of the Church here militant, delivered in the Simul crescere, in that the tares and Wheat are ordered to grow up toge­ther. Of which, and of the reasons of that inter­mixture, [Page 266] I shall crave leave to insist a little, and so commend you unto God.

Perplexae sunt istae duae Civitates in hoc seculo, Aug. de Civit. l. 1. in­vicem (que) permistae: It was the saying of St. Austin, that the two Cities which he was to write of, the Ci­ty of the Lord, and the City of Satan, were so in­termingled, that there was little hope to see them separated till the day of Judgement: The same may we affirm of the Church of Christ; it is of such a mixt condition, compounded so proportionably of the good and evil, the Heretick and true Professor, that neither of the two is likely to suppress the o­ther, till God take up the controversie in the day of doom. And therefore not without good reason is the Church compared to a threshing-floore, Mat. 3. 12. on which there is both wheat and chaffe; and to a Fold, wherein there are both Sheep and Goats; Mat. 25. 33. and to a casting-net, which being thrown into the Sea, drew up all kind of Fishes, Mat. 13. 47. whether good or bad; and to an House, in which there are not only vessels of ho­nour, as of gold and silver, but also of dishonour, and for unclean uses; 2 Tim. 2. 20. and in my Parable, to a field, wherein besides the good seed which the Lord had sowen, Infelix lolium & steriles dominantur ave­nae, the enemy had sowed his tares. And this is thought by some of good note and learning to be the chief intention of our Saviours Parable, who tells us, that he meant not by the Sinite so farre to patronize the Heretick, or protect the wicked, as to respit either of them from the censure of the Church or State, under pretence of calling them to an ac­count at the general Audit; but to set forth the true [Page 267] condition of the Church here militant, in which the wicked person and the righteous man are so inter­mingled, that there is no perfection to be looked for in this present World: Beauxamis in locum. and therefore very well said a modern Authour, Docetur hic non quale sit of­ficium nostrum, aut magistratus, aut Pastorum, sed tan­tùm quae futura sit Ecclesiae conditio: Christ doth not here inform the Minister, or the Civil Magistrate, or any private person, what they are to do, but onely represents unto his Disciples the true condition of his Church till the end of the World; which can be never so reformed and purified, but that some errors and corruptions will continue in it.

But whether it be so or not, certain it is, that such is the condition of the Church in this present World, that it is subject to corruptions, and never absolutely free from sin and error. There is much drosse amongst her gold; 1 Cor. 3. 12. and although that her foundations be of precious stones, yet there is wood and hay, and stub­ble in the superstructure; which are so intermin­gled & made up together, that nothing but a general fire can exactly part them, I mean the fire of con­flagration, not of Popish Purgatory. Were it not thus, we need not pray for the Church militant, but glory as in the triumphant. And yet the Church is counted holy, and called Catholick still, this inter­mixture notwithstanding; Catholick in regard of time, place and persons, in and by which the Gospel of our Saviour is professed and propagated: Holy, secundum nobiliores ejus partes, in reference to the Saints departed, and those who are most eminent in grace and piety: And it is also called Ecclesia una, one holy, Catholick and Apostolick Church, though [Page 268] part thereof be militant here upon the earth, and part triumphant in the Heavens; the same one Church both now and in the world to come. The difference is, that here it is imperfect, mixt of good and bad; there perfect, and consisting of the righteous onely, according to this determination of St. Austin, In Collat. cont [...] ▪ Donatist. ean­dam ipsam unam & sanctam Ecclesiam nunc habere ma­los mixtos, tunc non habituram. For then, and not till then, as Hierome, Augustine, and others do expound the place, Eph. 6. 27. shall Christ present her to himself a most glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle, and mar­ry her to himself for ever. Till that day come, it is not to be hoped or looked for, but that many Hypo­crites, false Teachers and licentious livers will couch themselves under the shelter of the Church, and passe for members of it in the eye of men, though not accounted such in the sight of God. The eye of man can possibly discern no further then the outward shew, and mark who joyn themselves to the Con­gregation to hear the Word of God, and receive his Sacraments; 2 Tim. 2. 19. Dominus novit qui sunt sui, the Lord knowes only who are his, and who are those occulti intus whose hearts stand fast in his Com­mandements, and carefully possess their souls in truth and holiness.

And yet some men there are, as here hath been formerly, who fancy to themselves a Church with­out spot or blemish, and dream of such a field as contains no tares; of such a house as hath no vessels but of honour, sanctified and prepared for the Ma­sters use: And where they finde not such a Church, they desert it instantly, and cry, Go out of her my people, [...]. [...]8. v. [...]. be not partakers of her sins. The Cathari in [Page 269] the East, the Donatists in the South, & the Novatians in the West, which made one faction only, though of several names, were anciently of this opinion, and set up Churches of their own of the new Edition; for flattering themselves with a conceit of their own dear sanctity, they thought themselves too pure and pious to joyn in any act of worship with more sober Christians; and presently confined the Church, which before was Catholick, to their own private Conventicles, and to them alone; or intra partem Donati, as they phrased it then. Who have suc­ceeded them of late, both in their factions and their follies, we all know too well: The present ruptures in this State do declare most evidently, that here is pars Donati now, as before in Africa. A frenzy which gave great offence to the ancient Fathers, who laboured both by speech and pen to correct their in­solencies; and of such scandall to the Churches of the Reformation, that Calvin, though a rigid man, did confute their dotages, and publickly expose them to contempt and scorn. Insti [...]u [...]. l. 4. c. 1. The Ancients and the Moderns both have agreed on this, that though the Church of Christ be imperfect alwayes, and may sometimes be faulty also, yet are not men rashly to separate themselves from her Communion, and make a rupture for poor trifles in the Body mystical. It argues little faith, lesse charity, saith renowned Cyprian, if when we see some tares in the Church of God, Epla. 3. l. 3▪ de Ecclesia ipsa recedamus, we presently with­draw our selves, and forsake her fellowship. And here we might bring in St. Austin, and almost all the ancient Writers to confirm this point; but that they are of no authority with the captious Schisma­tick, [Page 270] and now of late disclaimed by our neater Wits.

Therefore for further satisfaction to the stubborn Donatist, let us behold the constitution of the Church in the Book of God, and take a view of the chief types and fortunes of it, to see if we can sinde such a spotless Church as they vainly dream of. In Adams Family, which was the first, both type and Semina­ry of the Church of God, Gen. 4. 8. there was one Cain, a mur­derer, that slew his Brother: and in the Ark, the next, and perhaps the greatest, a Cham, which wretchedly betrayed the nakedness of his aged Father. 9. 22. In A­brahams house there was an Ishmael, 21 9 which mocked at Isaac, though the Heire, and the Heire of promise. In Isaac's, 25. 31. a prophane Esau, who made his belly his God, and sold Heaven for a break-fast. In Jacob's, there was Simeon and Levi, 49. 4, 5. Brethren in evill, besides a Reuben, who defiled [...]is old Fathers bed. And in the Church of Israel, when more large and popu­lous, how many were mad upon the worship of the golden Calf, more mad in offering up their Children to the Idol Moloch; thousands that bowed the knee to Baal; ten thousands which did sacrifice in the Groves and prohibited places? yet all this while a Church, a true visible Church, with which the Saints and Prophets joyned in Gods publick worship. Let us next look upon the Gospel, and we shall find that when the bounds thereof were so strait and narrow, that there were few more visible members of it then the twelve Apostles, yet amongst them there was a Judas which betrayed his Master. When it began to spread and inlarge it self to the number of one hundred and twenty, there were among them some [Page 271] half-Christians, Acts 1. such as Nicodemus, who durst not openly profess the Gospel, but came unto the Lord by night; Joh. 19. 39. and some false Christians, 2 Tim. 4 10. such as Demas, who out of an affection to the present world, forsook both the Apostle and the Gospel too. See them in­creased to such a multitude, that they were fain to choose seven Deacons to assist the work; Acts 6. 5. and one of them will be that Nicolas the founder of the Nicolai­tans, Apoc. 2. 15. whom the Lord abhorred. Follow it out of Jewrie to Samaria, and there we find a Simon Magus, as formall a Professor as the best amongst them, Acts 8. v. 13, 15. yet full of the gall of bitterness within. Trace it in all its progress through Greece and Asia, and we shall see the factiousness of the Corinthians, Apoc. c. 2. & 3. the foolishness of the Galatians, and six of the seven Asian Churches taxed with deadly sinne. Good God! into what cor­ner of the Earth can the Donatist run, to finde a Church without corruption, free from sin and er­ror? It must be sure into the old Utopia, or the new Atlantis, or some fools Paradise in Terra incognita, which no Mapp takes notice of; unless (as Constan­tine once said unto Acesius a Novatian Bishop) [...], they can erect a Lad­der of their own devising, Sozomen. l. 1. c. 21. and so climb up unto the Heavens; whilest they are here upon the Earth, they have no such hopes. God better knowes then we what he hath to do; and he already hath deter­mined of a Simul crescere, that both the Tares and Wheat shall grow up together.

Nor wanted his eternal wisdom some especial rea­sons which might incline him thereunto: First, in re­lation to the wicked, who owe their preservation chiefly to this intermixture; For certainly, the note [Page 272] is true, Stapleton in locum. Deum propter bonos sustinere malos; That God gives many temporal blessings to ungodly men, be­cause they live so intermingled with his faithful ser­vants; and respites them sometimes from the hand of punishment, not for their own, but for the righte­ous persons sake amongst whom they dwell. The Lord, Gen. 30. 27. we know, blessed Laban for the sake of Jacob, and prospered the whole house of Potiphar, out of the love he bare to Joseph. 39. 5. If Sodom stood so long un­punished, it was in part because of righteous Lot, 18. 32. who sojourned with them: and possibly it might have stood to this very day, but certainly have scaped that fiery storm which fell upon it, had it contained no more then ten righteous persons. Farre is it from the Lord our God to slay the righteous with the wicked, the Judge of all the World is more just then so. When God rains vengeance from above on the wick­ed man, it cannot be but that the righteous must par­take of the common miseries which do befall the State or Nation in the which he lives; as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did of the several famines which God had sent upon their Neighbours. Gen. 12. 10. 3 [...]. & 42. There are not al­wayes such distinctions as was between the Land of Goshen and the rest of Egypt: God therefore some­times holds his hands, Exod. 8. 22. when the sins of wicked men cry loud for punishment, out of his favour and com­passion on the righteous person; or else abbreviates the time of their tribulation, out of regard to his E­lect: or, Mat. [...]4. 22. if they both partake alike of the common mi­series of Famine, Pestilence and Warre, as sometimes they do, it is because that even the best men have their imperfections, and ever and anon commit some foul sins which God thinks fit to expiate with a tem­porall Purgatory.

Now as the righteous do this service to the wick­ed man, in reference unto his temporal conservati­on; so he receives in lieu thereof a farre greater be­nefit, in reference to his own spiritual conversation: For first, the filthy lives of ungodly persons are as a glasse wherein Gods Children see the foul face of sin, and thereby learn to frame their lives by a bet­ter rule. Gloss. Ord. Permixti bonis mali sunt, ut eorum compa­ratione ad melius nitantur, as mine Authour hath it. Just so the Spartans used to shew their drunken slaves to their Sonnes and Nephews, that they might bring them to a loathing of that beastly vice. And then they make them farre more careful of their lives and actions, yea of their words and speeches also: David resolved, and 'twas a necessary reso­lution if you mark it well, to set a bridle on his mouth, Psal. 39. for fear of offending with his Tongue; but it was only for quamdiu, quamdiu impius in conspectu, as long as the ungodly was in his sight, who hearken­ed unto his discourses, as the Jewes did unto our Sa­viours, only of purpose to betray him. And this was it which made the Primitive Christians so severe in their conversations, and keep so diligent a watch upon all their actions, because the inquisitive and ma­licious Gentiles amongst whom they lived, were as so many spies upon them to observe their doings. They durst not else have stood so stoutly on their ju­stification, defied the favour of their Judges, and openly professed before all the world, Tertul. Apolog. c. 2. non scelus ali­quod, sed nomen, that there was nothing in them which deserved either bonds or death, Gloss. O [...]d. but only the bare name of Christian. And last of all, they serve as meanes and instruments, per quos exerceantur boni, [Page 274] by which the Saints have opportunity to manifest their faith in Gods gracious promises, and to set forth their patience in the time of trouble. The Is­raelites had never cryed so fervently to the Lord their God, had not the Canaanites, like pricks in their sides, spurred them on unto it: and where had been the story of Jobs memorable patience, had not the Chaldees and wild Arabs been neer neighbours to him? So that in this respect we may crosse the Pro­verb, Est aliquod bonum propter vicinum malum, There comes much good assuredly from an evill neighbour. In each of these respects, or in all to­gether, the Lord permits the wicked man to live and tarry out his time in this present world, as being ve­ry useful to his faithful servants, which grow the bet­ter for them, and the wiser by them.

And yet the Lord hath other reasons which in­cline him to it, and such as do relate to himself a­lone, viz. to shew his grace and goodness over all his creatures, whether they be the sheep of his Pasture, or the work only of his hands. This makes him send his rain promiscuously on the just and wicked, Mat. 5. 45. and cause his Sunne to shine alike on the sinner and the righteous person; Psal. 145. 16. opening his hands, and filling all things living with plenty. And more then so, he gives them such a general hint towards their salvati­on, that by the book of Nature, and general notions of the Spirit, they may attain this principle of the sa­ving faith, [...], that God is, and that he is a rewarder also of all them that seek him. Heb. 11. 6. By meanes whereof, he doth not only shew his grace in their great unworthiness, Aug. de civit. l. 22. melius & potentius esse judicans etiam malis bene facere, by doing well [Page 275] to those who deserve ill of him; but makes them all [...], or without excuse, in matters which relate unto life eternal. Finally, as they are the Objects of his power and goodness in this present world, so by ill using of his gifts, and by neg­lecting of the meanes which is offered to them, shall they become the objects of his wrath and justice, and serve as special instruments to set forth his glory in the world to come; when he shall say unto his An­gels, (which are the Reapers mentioned in the fol­lowing words) Gather the Tares together, and binde them in bundles to burn them; but gather the Wheat into [...]y Barn. Which as it is to be the work of a further time, and the last act of justice which the Lord shall execute in consummatione seculi, in the close or consummation of the world present; so shall the handling of it be the business of another day, in the conclusion of my Meditations on this present Parable.

RUmpit, Vellcius hist. l. [...]. interdum moratur proposita homi­num Fortuna, The projects and de­signes of us mortall men are many times delayed, and sometimes over­thrown by higher Power. Which power, though the Historian being a Courtier, (who ascribes all things to good luck) entituled by the name of Fortune; yet the Philosopher, or contem­plative man, who had been studied in the Govern­ment of humane affaires, would have called it Pro­vidence. That divine Axiom, Proponit homo, dis­ponit Deus, Man purposes, and God disposeth, was the Rule of this; the Rule by which it was first squa­red and fitted to the use of men; the Rule by which we are instructed to submit our selves, our Coun­sels, [Page 277] our desires, our actions to the will of God. And this we finde exemplified and made clear unto us in the design and purpose of the Houshold-servants, touching the extirpation of the Tares so often men­tioned; which God delayed as to the time, and ut­terly overthrew, as for the hopes they had conceived of their dealing in it, and consequently of the course which they meant to take. The servants were hot upon the spur, had not patience to defer the action till a fitter time, but would have fallen upon it in­stantly, with more hast then speed; Vis imus & col­ligimus? in the present Tense, without deliberation or delay at all. And they intended to have gone in so sharp a way, which in the heat and violence of un­governed zeal must of necessity have been dangerous to the Lords good Seed, and pulled up many a man for suspected Tares, which either were right Wheat of the Lords own sowing, Chrysost. in Mat. 13. [...], or in due time, according to the course and seasons of the heavenly Husbandry, might have been changed unto the better, and become good grain. How did the Lord approve this project? What com­fort did he give them to pursue their Counsels? No, saith the Lord, as to the time, there is no such hast, Sinite utraque simul crescere, let both grow toge­ther till the Harvest, till their fruits be ripe, until they may be gathered up in a safer way, more to the glory of the Lord, and lesse unto the hurt of his faithful people. If they desired to have these Tares destroyed, (as no doubt they did) and to destroy them in a way which should bring neither wrong nor danger to the Wheat it self (as was fit they should, Id. ibid.) [...], they must expect a fit­ter [Page 278] and more proper time, which the Lord had not yet bin pleased to make known unto them. And No, saith he, as to themselves, whom he intended not to use in so great a business; knowing full well, that if they did go on according to the proposition which they made unto him, how much they would be bi­assed by their own affections? what dammage might redound to his Church thereby? We must (saith he) have care and patience towards these Tares, of which you have complained in such sensible termes, and let them grow until the Harvest, in hope they may prove better then you are aware of. But if this do no good upon them, if they make no more use of this longanimity, then to bring forth the fruits of customary unrepented sins, [...], vengeance and Hell shall overtake them at the last, Id. ibid. there's no other remedy: For then in the conjuncture of those circumstances, in the time of Harvest, I will cause the Ministers whom I mean to use, to appear before me, and say unto them being come, My Reapers, Colligite primum zizania, Ga­ther ye together first the Tares, &c.

These words contain the full and finall resolution of the heavenly Husbandman, in the disposing of the Tares, so much, so earnestly complained of. In which we must behold him in the quality of a Judge or Magistrate, pronouncing his determinate sentence in an open Court, upon the pleadings and debate of the point before him. And here we have two gene­nerall parts to be considered, the Judgement and the Executioners: The Executioners, the Ministers ra­ther of the Court, are the Heavenly Angels (though here represented to us by the name of Reapers) to [Page 279] whom it appertaineth to bring forth the Prisoners, and to see justice done upon them in the form pro­nounced. The Judgement doth consist especially of these two Acts, t [...] condemnation of the wicked, the exaltation of the just: The condemnation of the wicked, the sentencing of the Tares to the f [...]re of Hell, we finde delivered briefly in these three par­ticulars; Colligite, colligate, comburite: Gather them first, for they shall be no longer suffered in the field of God. 2. Binde them, and binde them in the chains of eternal darkness, to let them know there is no hope, no possibility to escape their punishment. 3. And having bound, then cast them presently in­to the everlasting flames, to fire unquenchable. This is the Judgement of the Tares, of the wicked man. In that which doth concern the Wheat, we have these two parts, an Action first, and that is congre­gate, gather; Gather the several corns thereof in a Body or a Congregation: next, the Repository, the place it self in which they are to be disposed of, Horreum meum, the Lords Barn, the House or Ha­bitation of his Heavenly glories: There's the con­dition of the Wheat, of the righteous soul. Of these I [...]hall discourse in order, as they lie before me; be­ginning with the Executioners, or the Ministers ra­ther of the Court, the Angels: And in the time of Harvest I will say unto the Reapers, Dicam messort­bus, that's the first.

Eminentes viri magnis adjutoribus usi sunt, Patercul. hist. l. 2. The greatest persons have commonly the most able Mi­nisters, whether it is in point of Counsel or of exe­cution. And he that is well studied in the art of men, will so imploy his Ministers and their abilities, as [Page 280] may be fittest to advance the business which he hath in hand. Every mans Talent lieth not in the Camp or Senate; some are for the Ministerial or more ser­vile Offices, but yet as useful to the publick in their several places, though not so honourable in themselves; and these too have their proper and di­stinct Activities, beyond the bounds whereof if they be commanded, they become dull and slug­gish, and unprofitable, and rather do incumber then promote the service. Thus it is also in the Oecono­my of the Heavenly Husbandman; The Lord hath several sorts of Ministers, some for cultivating and manuring of his holy Field, others for bringing in the harvest: That the imployment of the Prelates and inferior Clergy; this of the holy Angels, of the Hosts of Heaven; Messores autem Angeli sunt, the Reapers are the Angels, v. 39. And 'tis an excellent Rule which St. Hierome gives us in this business, Quae expo­sita sunt à Domino his debeo accommodare fidem, That in those things which are expounded by our Sa­viour, in Mat. c. 13. it were absurd to look for any clearer Com­mentary. Which makes me wonder by the way, that Hierome should so easily forget him­self and his own good rule, as to expound the Servants of the 27. of the Angels also. As­suredly the Servants of the 27. with whom the Master doth discourse throughout this Pa­rable, must needs be different from the Reapers of this present Text, of whom he speaks unto those Servants, as distinct Ministers designed to their se­verall Offices.

So then the Reapers are the Angels, there's no doubt of that. And they we know are [...], [Page 281] ministring spirits, saith the Scripture, imployed by God, as often as he sees occasion, in his affaires of greatest moment; in none more fre­quently then such as do relate to the Sonnes of men, either in point of punishment or preservation. We told you not long since of a double Harvest, within the compasse and intention of the present verse; an Harvest of Gods temporal judgements upon particu­lar men and Nations, and collective bodies: an Har­vest of Gods general judgement, when all flesh shall appear before him to receive their sentence. And in both these the Angels are the Ministers of that dread­full Court; the ordinary Officers or [...] of the Almighty Judge, and bound to execute the mandates which are issued thence, whether mens sins be ripe for vengeance, or that affliction and re­pentance make them fit for mercy. First, in the wayes of temporal punishment, it is most clear and e­vident in holy Scripture, Gen. 19. v. 13. that God sent down his An­gels with a full Commission to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, two rich populous Cities, after they had so long abused his patience, and their own prosperities; and that he sent his evil Angels amongst the Egypti­ans, Ps. 78. 49, 50. when neither signes nor wonders could prevail upon them; by whom he gave their life over to the Pestilence, slew the first-born in all their dwellings, and finally overwhelmed them in the red Sea. Where note, Bellar. & Lorin: in Ps. 77. that they are there called mali angeli, or evill Angels, not that they were so in themselves, but ab effectu, by reason of the several evils which they did inflict on that perishing and wretched people, by the Lords appointment. Thus do we also read of a de­stroying Angel, by whom, according to the Word [Page 282] and Command of God, no fewer then 7000. of the Jewes were consumed in an instant, when once they boasted in their numbers, and did presume too farre in the arm of flesh: 2 King. 19. v. 35. and of another which went out and smote in the Camp of the Assyrians no lesse then 185000. men, after they had blasphemed the Lord, and put a scorn upon the holy one of Israel: not to say any thing of Herod, who when he had beheaded James, Act. 12. 2, 3. 23. imprisoned Peter, and troubled certain of the Church, was miserably smitten by an Angel, and consumed by worms. It pleased God to imploy them in these acts of vengeance, though well affected in themselves to the good of mankind; and a necessity was layd upon them to obey his pleasure. Nec quic­quam est in Angelis nisi parendi necessitas, l. 2. c. 17. said Lactantius truly.

So farre the point is clear from the Book of God; and if we will believe the Learned (as I think we may) there is no signall punishment of ungodly people ascribed to God in holy Scripture but what was executed by the Ministry of these blessed Spi­rits, except some other meanes and Ministers be ex­presly named. That great and universall deluge in the time of Noah was questionless the work of God; Behold I, Gen. 6. v. 17. even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the Earth: But this was done Ministerio Angelorum, by the Ministry and service of the holy Angels, whom God employed in breaking up the Fountain of the great deep, and opening the Cataracts of Heaven, for the destruction of that wicked unrepenting people. v. 24, 27. Thus when it is affirmed in the 14. of Exod. That the Lord looked into the Host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire, and overthrew them in the [Page 283] midst of the Sea: non intelligendum est de Deo, sed de Angelo qui erat in nube, Tostat. in Exod. 14. we must not understand it of the Lord himself, but only of the Angel, or that ministring spirit, of whose being in the Cloud we had heard before. And when we read, that in the Battel of the five Kings against the Israelites, the Lord cast down great stones from Heaven upon them, in the 10. of Josuah, Id. in Jos. 10. qu. 8. it is not to be thought, as Tostatus notes it, quòd Deus mitteret, sed Angeli jubente Deo, that this was done by Gods own hand, but by the holy Angels at the Lords appointment. The like may be observed of those other acts of power and punishment, whereof we find such frequent men­tion in the holy Scripture, that though they be as­cribed to God as the principal agent, yet were they generally effected by his heavenly Angels, as the meanes and instrument.

But the most proper office of the holy Angels is not for punishment, but preservation; not for cor­rection of the wicked, but for the protection of the just and righteous; not for the rooting up of the Tares, but for the safety of the Wheat; for they are ministring Spirits (saith St. Paul) sent out to mi­nister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation. H. b. 1. v. 14. That's the chief part of their imployment, the businesse which they most delight in; and God accordingly both hath and doth employ them from time to time. For, by the Ministry of his Angels did he deliver Ishmael from the extremities of thirst, and Daniel from the fury of hunger, Lot from the fire, and trembling Isaac from the Sword; our Infant-Saviour from one Herod, his chief Apostle from another; all of them from the common prison, into the which [Page 284] they had been cast by the Priests and Sadduces. But these were only personal and particular Graces: Look we on those which were more publick; and such as did concern his whole people generally, and we shall find an Angel of the Lord encamping between the Host of Israel and the Host of Egypt, to make good the passage at their backs, till they were got­ten safe to the other side of the Sea: Another An­gel marching in the front of their Armies; as soon as they had entred the Land of Canaan, and he the Captain of the Lords Host; Jos. 5. 15. Princeps Exercitus Do­mini, the vulgar reads it; some great and eminent Angel doubtless, but whether Michael, Gabriel, or who else it was, the Rabbins may dispute at leisure, and to them I leave it; More then so yet; That wall of waters which they had both on the right hand and upon the left, Exod. 14. v. 22. when they passed thorow the Sea as upon dry ground, Tostat. in in Exod 14. facta est à Deo per Angelos exequentes, as learned Abulensis hath it, was the work of Angels, directed and employed by Almighty God. Which also is affirmed by the Jewish Doctors of the divi­ding of the waters of Jordan, Id. in Jos. 3. to make the like safe passage for them into the promised Land which the Lord had given them. P. Mart. The like saith Peter Martyr of the raising of the Syrians from before Samaria, when the Lord made them hear the noyse of Charets, 2 King. 7. v. 6. and the noyse of Horsmen, that this was Ministerio An­gelorum, effected by the Ministry of the holy An­gels, whom he employed in saving that distressed City from the hands of their enemies. And by an Angel, Eus [...]b. hist. l. 3. c. 5. or at least an Angelical vision, [...], by a Dream or Oracle delivered unto them in their sleep, as Eusebius tells us, did he forewarn the Chri­stians [Page 285] dwelling in the Land of Palestine, to remove thence to Pella, a small Town of Syria; and so pre­served them from the spoyl and fury of the Roman Armies.

This was Gods way of preservation in the times before us; and for his way of preservation in all Ages since, God is the same God now as then, his holy Angels no lesse diligent in their attendance on our persons, then they have been formerly. Let us but make our selves by our faith and piety worthy to be accounted the Sonnes of God, and the Heires of sal­vation, and doubt we not of the assistance of those ministring Spirits in all the times of personal or pub­lick dangers. It's true, the apparition of the Angels in these latter times hath been very rare, and God dealt very graciously with the sonnes of men, that they come so seldom; for, being too many are so prone to give divine honours to the Images of the Saints departed, how easily might they deceive themselves of their reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels (which was the fault of the Colossians, 2 Col. 15. and after the Heresie of those whom Epiphanius and St. Austin call Angelici) did they ap­pear unto us ordinarily in some visible glorious form. But then it is as true withall, & one of the most eter­nal truths of holy Scripture, That the Angel of the Lord encampeth about them that fear him, Psal. 34 7. and delivereth them. Whether we see, or see them not, it comes all to one; and so resolved by Clemens of Alexandria, an old Christian Writer, [...]: Stromat: lib. 6. The Lord saith he, doth still preserve us by the Ministry of his holy Angels, though we behold them not in any vi­sible [Page 286] shape, as the Antients did. When therefore and as often as we fall into any danger, let us address our prayers to the Lord our God, that he would please to give command unto his Angels to come in to help us; that he would make our enemies like the chaffe before the wind, and the Angel of the Lord scattering them; Psal. 35. 5. and having so made known our de­sires unto him, to look for their assistance according­ly. This is warranted unto us in the words of Calvin, Ut in periculis constituti à Deo petamus protectionem An­gelorum, & confidamus eos ex mandato Dei praestò fore. Institut [...] l. 1. c. 14. But behold a greater then Calvin here; for we are warranted as much both by the Doctrine and the practice of the Church of England, who teacheth us to pray, and we pray accordingly, That God who hath ordained and constituted the service of Angels and men in a wonderful order, would mercifully grant that they which do him service in Heaven, may by his appoint­m [...]nt, succour and defend us upon the Ea [...]th; as in the Collect for the day of St. Michael the Arch­angel.

But this is but a [...] to the main design; for though these temporal judgements and deliverances may come within the compass of the Harvest which is here mentioned, yet is the Harvest chiefly meant of the general Judgement, when all flesh shall be brought before Gods Tribunal, and brought before it by the Ministry of the holy Angels, who are the Reapers of my Text, the Ministers or [...] of that dreadful Court. For proof whereof, we need but look into the process of St. Matthewes Gospel, Mat. 24. v. 30. in which we find, That the Lord shall come to judgement, riding on the Clouds with great power and glory, accompanied [Page 287] with Angels and Archangels, and the sound of the Trumpet. So great a Judge coming to hold his grand Assises, cannot be ushered in with lesse Pomp and Majesty. And to what purpose serve those Angels? Assuredly, not only to fill up the Train, to make the manner of his coming the more brave and glorious, but for some other special and more weighty use. And therefore when our Saviour hath informed us this, That the Sonne of man shall come in his glory, Mat. 15. v. 30. and all the holy Angels with him; he tells us in the following words, That before him shall all the Nations of the World be gathered. Gathered together, but by whom? by these very Angels. Then, saith he, shall he send his Angels with a great sound of a Trumpet, 24. 31. and they shall gather together the Elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven unto the other. What the Elect, and none but they? Not so. These Reapers must root up the Tares as well as gather in the Wheat. Our Saviours Exposition of the Text makes that clear enough, where we shall find, that at the end of the world, the Sonne of man shall send forth his Angels, and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend, v. 40. &c. and them that do iniquity. And in the Para­ble of the casting Net, That the Angels shall come forth at the end of the World, v. 49: and sever the wicked from the just. There are two sorts of men to be brought together, the Elect and Reprobate; two sorts of Grain which must be gathered by these Reapers; but how they must be ordered, being brought together, and what the Angels have to do in execution of those orders, we shall soon find by looking over the parti­culars of the second generall: where we have, first, the condemnation of the wicked represented to us in [Page 288] three words, Colligite, Colligate, Comburite, Gather ye together first the Tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them. Of this next in order.

In Patrefamilias habemus qu [...]d amemus & imitemur. Gorran. in locum. There are four things remarkable in the Heavenly Husbandman, as he is represented to us in this pre­sent Parable, worthy of our applause and imitation: His goodness first, Seminando bona, in that he sowed his field with the good seed only; his patience next, tolerando mala, in suffering the Tares, though other­wise a corrupt and adulterate seed, to remain unga­thered till the Harvest came. In the next place, we have his wisdom, praecavendo pericula, in taking such especial care to preserve his Wheat, which doubt­less had been subject to some notable mischief, had he imbraced the other which his Servants made, the imus & colligimus of the 28. And last of all, we have his justice, reddendo secundum merita, in giving unto every one as he had deserved, according to the works which he hath wrought in the flesh, whether good or bad. Praemium & Poena, Reward and punishment have in all Ages been esteemed the Rule and mea­sure, not only of all Earthly Governments, but the Heavenly also. Who would endeavour piety and the works of vertue, were there not some reward to al­lure him to it? or rob his Genius of the dalliances of this present life, and not give way unto the sensua­lity of his lusts and Appetite, were there not punish­ments in store to affright him from it; were not the punishments so grievous, and of such eternity, as farre surmount the sweetness of these sinful pleasures, which in themselves are short and momentany, and enjoyed only for a season? The fear of punishment [Page 289] and Hell are of greatest efficacy to affright many a man from sin, (whom the love of God and godlinesse will hardly work on;) and well it were if the consi­deration of it would prevail so farre.

Of this, the condemnation of the wicked, I am first to speak, the method of my Text doth invite me to it; and the first word we meet with is Colligite, ga­ther ye together, [...], as the Greek Text hath it; and that doth signifie such a kind of gathering as intimates a plucking up by the roots withall. We had it in this sense in the former verse, where the Servants having made an offer to go and gather up the Tares, were absolutely refused, on this reason chiefly, ver. 29. ne fortè colligentes zizania, lest while ye ga­ther up the Tares, ye root up the Wheat. Certainly, had the Tares been gathered, either by pulling off the eares, as the Apostles did the Corn on the Sabbath­day; or breaking off the stalk in the very midst (each of which wayes they might have gone) they might have gathered in the Tares, and not hurt the Wheat, at least as to the rooting up, the totall eradication of it. [...] then is not to gather only, but to gather up; [...], to gather up the Tares by the very roots; which shewes the desperate and re­mediless condition of the wicked man, if once deli­vered over unto condemnation; for where there is a gathering or a rooting up, there is no hope that e­ver it shall grow again: weeds which are only mowed may spring up again; and Tares that have their eares pulled off, and no more then so, cumber the ground at least, if they do not worse; they have still place and footing in the Field of God, and take up so much room therein, that they permit not Gods Seed to in­large [Page 290] large and spread it self, and yield such fair increase to the Heavenly Husbandman as it would do other­wise; but if they once be gathered up, or pulled up by the Roots, which comes all to one, they are then past growing any more; they shall be able from thenceforth to do no more hurt, or work unto the Wheat any further dammage.

But then [...] is withall a compound word, and doth not only signifie a gathering up, but a gathering up of all together: Gather ye the Tares together, so the English. All of them, not a Tare excepted; nei­ther the Heretick nor the Schismatick, the formall, nor the false Professor; neither the counterfeit not the false-faced Protestant, the open nor the secret sinner, shall escape the gathering. Though they pro­cure the Rocks to fall upon them, and the hills to hide them, yet shall these Reapers find them out, and gather them from every corner of the Earth, be they where they will. And we may say of them, as Moses of the Herds and Cattel of the House of Israel, ne ungulam esse relinquendam, that not an hoof of all these unclean beasts shall be left behind. Though they have flattered their poor souls, and said, Tush, God will not see it; or have disguised themselves with fig leaves, out of a silly hope to conceal their nakedness; or wiped their lips so cunningly, with the Harlot in the Book of Proverbs, that no men can dis­cern a stolen kisse upon them, yet all this will not serve the turn: God for all this will bring them eve­ry one to judgement, and apprehend them by his Angels, the Ministers of the mighty Judge, when they go a gathering. There shall not one of them escape the hands of these diligent Serjeants, ne u­nus [Page 291] quidem, not so much as one. It is colligite in the Text, a gathering up of all together. And yet this is not all contained in this gathering neither; it is a gathering in which implies a severing, or a separation, and then it is [...], i. e. [...], gather them up, that is to say, sever them, set them by themselves to receive their sentence. v. 49. For in the following Pa­rable of the casting-Net, the gathering of every kind of fish had a severing with it. The Angels shall come forth, [...], and shall sever the wicked from the just. And in that of the Sheep and of the Goats, in the 25. v. 31. the gathering of all Nations before the Lord, brings in a separation, or [...], of the one from the other.

So then Colligite in this place must be separate, Se­ver them from the Wheat, from the Lords good grain, that their impieties and iniquities may appear more evidently; and separate them from the pre­sence of the Lord their God, of whose most blessed vision they deserve not to be made partakers. First, sever, or part them from the Wheat, let them stand alone. Though in this World the Lord doth some­times spare the wicked and ungodly man, Stapleton. propter prae­sentiam justorum, as my Authour hath it, out of his love to the Elect; or in profectum humanae salutis, for the salvation of his Saints, Hilarius. to whom they serve for an increase both of faith and patience, as we read in Hilary; yet in the day of judgement they shall find it otherwise. In that day they shall neither be parta­kers of Gods blessings with them, nor receive any benefit or protection by them; and much lesse bor­row any of their Oyl to trim their Lamps, or enter with the Bridegroom by that borrowed light. The [Page 292] ungodly shall not then stand in the judgement with them, Psal. 1. 5. nor sinners in that Congregation of the righ­teous, as the Psalmist hath it. And next, they shall be separated from the presence of the Lord their God, of whose most blessed and beatifical vision they deserve not to be made partakers; for being sever­ed from the just, and standing before God in their own uncleanness, without the light of faith, and the robes of charity, there followeth a Discedite à me, Depart from me ye cursed, Gorran. in locum. get you farre from hence. And this is dira & infelix discessio, a miserable and most wretched case, in case it went no further then a poena damni, a losse of those inseparable comforts which do arise unto the Saints upon the sight of God. Discedite à me, Depart from me: O the most terri­ble sentence of a most just Judge, which neither the guilty can escape, nor the condemned man withstand; against which no sinner can except, & from which the damned cannot appeal! Depart from thee! why, whi­ther shall we go, O God, being driven from thee? whither, but from the Paradise of glories to a world of shame, from the Father of lights unto ut­ter darkness, from the fulness of joy to howling and perpetual lamentation, from pleasures unto weeping and gnashing of teeth?

The gathering being finished, next comes in the binding: It is Colligite first, and Colligite primùm, before we come to alligate; First gather, and then binde them fast. I know that some Interpreters re­fer this primum to the order of the several judge­ments; first, gather up the Tares, then bring in the Wheat. But this doth ill agree with our Saviours method used in other places; for in the Parable of [Page 293] the Net cast into the Sea, the good fish were first ga­thered into Vessels, v. 48. before the bad were thrown a­way: and in the other, of the Sheep and of the Goats, Mat. 25. Venite hath precedence of discedite; the blessed of the Father were first absolved, before the cursed were condemned to the pit of torments. Nor will it serve the turn which is said by some, Gorran. in locum. that though the merits of the just are pri [...]s in discussione, first taken into consideration and inquired into, yet shall the punishment of the wicked and ungodly man be pri [...]s in executione, first put in execution, and in­flicted on them; Mar [...] 19. v. 28. for this as ill agrees with those Texts of Scripture, where it is said, not only in parti­cular of the twelve Apostles, that they shall sit on twelve Thrones, judging the twelve Tribes of Israel; but also of the Saints in generall, 1 Cor. 6. v. 2: Estius in 1 Cor. 6. Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the World? and that not only sola comparatione, by upbraiding their impieties and im­penitencies, in which respect the Ninevites and the Queen of the South are in the Gospel said to con­demn the Jewes; but approbatione divinae sententiae, by approving and applauding that most righteous judgement which Christ the supreme Judge shall pronounce against them: which could not be, in case the wicked did receive their finall sentence before the righteous were admitted into some participation of the heavenly glories. The gathering of the Tares is here first propounded, not because first in order of the several judgements, but because they gave occa­sion unto this discourse betwixt the heavenly Hus­bandman and his houshold-Servants, for no other reason. Colligite primum, first gather, in that sense, but in no sense else; alligate next.

First gather, and then bind. And binding is a terme derived or borrowed from the Courts of secular Judges, according to the course whereof the condemned Prisoners are led bound to their executi­on, so to prevent all hope and possibility of their e­scape, and make them yield unto their punishment with the lesse resistance. I Lictor, liga manus, verberato, infeliciarbori suspendito: Livius passim. Here Lictor, binde the Prisoner, scourge him, or hang him on the Gallow-Tree, as the sentence varied. But whether verberato, or suspendito, there was still Liga manus, as a part of the punishment. Thus when the great Tyrant Ne­buchadnezzar had condemned the three Hebrew Children to the fiery Furnace, Dan. 3. he first commanded them to be bound, and then to be cast in the midst of the flames. And when the Priests and Pharisees had voted our Redeemer to be guilty of death, they led him bound to Pontius Pilate, Matth. 27. ( vinctum adduxe­runt, saith the Text) to have their bloody sentence put in execution. This binding of the wicked after condemnation is the first poena sensus, the first part of the sensible torments which they are damned un­to by the righteous Judge: and a great aggravation of their torments 'tis, if you mark it well; it takes a­way all hope and possibility of escape, as before was said; letting them see, that how intolerable and ex­treme soever their damnation be, they must endure it to the utmost, there's no after-remedy. And there­fore alligate ut non possint evadere, saith my Author well. Gorran. The Chains in which they are here bound are everlasting Chains, aeterna vincula, as St. Jude calls them: and therefore they which are thus bound, are bound for aye and everlastingly, without expectati­on [Page 295] on of release. There is no saying in this case, rum­pamus vincula, let us break their bonds in sunder, and cast their cords from us; Psal. 2, 3. they are aeterna vincula, everlasting these.

Next, it deprives them of all ease, of all meanes and help, of lessening any part of those terrible tor­ments which the most righteous Judge hath in­flicted on them. It is a great refreshing unto one that languisheth under the rage and tyranny of a burning Feaver, that he can sometimes shift his side, and tumble from one part of the bed to another; no small comfort to a Prisoner, if he have liberty to walk or stir up and down, in the midst of all the torments which are laid upon them: But they which are tor­mented in the flames of Hell, and laid up in that dreadful Dungeon, have not the liberty to move, and to change their places, further then as it shall seem good unto their tormentors, for the multiplication and increase of their pains and miseries. And this we may be sure of also, that the greater Libertines we are here, the more licentiously we live in this present world, the greater shall our thraldom be, the more strict our bonds, in the estate of condemnation in the world to come. Too many which profess the Go­spel have been loosly given, addicted unto all un­cleanness and lasciviousness; and therefore alligate, binde them, make them fast enough. A binding to the good behaviour to the purpose this: others have had their feet swift to shed innocent blood, and lifted up rebellious hands against Gods anointed. I Lictor, lig a manus, Hold Satan, take him hence, binde him hands and feet, in the eternal chains of darkness, never to stir a foot in the way of peace, or [Page 296] lift up a repenting hand to the God of mercy; never to be restored to liberty, nor released from misery: the Fable of Prometheus being bound in the mountain Caucasus for a perpetual prey to devouring Vul­tures, hath some resemblance unto this: but that was but a Fable, this a most sad truth; never were known such bonds as these, such a binding never.

And yet the binding is the worse, and the tor­ment greater, in regard they are not severally bound, every one by himself in his own Irons, but in fas­ciculos, in bundles, every man with his fellows and Associates which were guilty of the same sin with him; that sin I mean which either was most grie­vous in the sight of God, or most predominant in the heart of the sinful man. It is not alligate sim­ply, but alligate in fasciculos, binde them in bundles, so the English; or into Fagots rather, as the words do signifie; and Fagots are the fittest fewel for the fire of Hell. This shewes that God doth punish sin­ners in the world to come, non secundum statum quem in hoc seculo habuerunt, sed secundum delicta; according to the nature of their several crimes, Stapleton. not of their qualities or degrees; and that as men confede­rate together in the acts of sin, so they shall burn to­gether in the fires of horror; for besides what is said to confirm the same by Gregory and Austin, two old Catholick Bishops, Greg [...]n Job. l. 9. c. 47. who spake herein according to the light of Scripture; the Heathen Orator, though guided by no other rule then the common Principles of Justice, hath resolved it so; by whom it is affirmed as a thing most equitable, Aug. [...]. 30. [...] de [...]. ut qui in ea­dem causa sint in eadem item essent fortuna, that [Page 297] they who were partakers in the sweets of sin should be made partners also in the smarts of punishment. Tull. pro Lig [...]io. They then that have defiled themselves in the self­same filth, how different soever in estate and quality, must be bound up together in the self-same Fagot. Facinus quos inquinat aequat, Lucan. said the Poet rightly: The Murderers, and such as kill without the Sword of Authority, shall make one Fagot, the secret and the open Traytors another; the Adulterers and Adul­teresses shall make one Fagot, and the Fornicators another; the Hereticks shall make up one Fagot, the Schismaticks and Sectaries shall be bound up in another; the Idolaters shall make one Fagot, they that commit sacriledge to pull down Idolatry, shall make up another; the Glutton, whose belly is his God, shall make one Fagot, the Drunkard whose glory is his shame, another: The Thief, that knowes no other Trade to maintain himself but by undoing of his Neighbour; the cunning Hypocrite, who makes a gain of godliness, and puts his Religion unto usury; and they who basely and perfidiously invert the publick money to their private profit, shall each make up their several Fagots. Pares cum paribus, saith St. Austin; every man shall be punished in the world to come, according to the sin which he hath committed, and in the company of those with whom he hath most offended. And though it be an old said Saw, Solamen miseris, that it is a comfort to those in misery to have others bear a share in their griefs and sorrows, (a miserable comfort at the best, there's no doubt of that;) yet it is nothing so in the present case; for of that nature are the punishments which attend this binding, that the pains thereof are nothing [Page 298] lessened by being communicated, but are then mul­tiplied when divided.

Well, being bound, and bound in bundles, what comes after next? Ad comburendum, saith the Text, binde them in bundles for to burn them. And here the case is somewhat altered, as it relates unto the Ministers, though still the same as it hath reference to the Malefactors. It was before colligite & alligate; here, not comburite, but ad comburendum. The holy Angels were the Ministers to attach the sinner, to bring him before Gods Tribunal; and after sentence was pronounced to lay hands upon him, and make him ready for the punishment which he is condemn'd to; but that being done, they give him over to the fiends of Hell, v. 34. to the tormenters, [...], as our Redeemer calls them in the 18 Chap. The Officers of the Court, or the [...], which he speaks of in the 7 of Matth. differ from these tormenters, from these [...], of which he tells us in the 18. as the Usher or Cryer of a Court from the Executioner, or the Under-Sheriff from the Hangman. The Angels then, I mean the holy and good Angels, they only do colli­gere & alligare, and having so gathered and bound them up, deliver them ad comburendum, assign them over by Indenture to the Executioners, to see them punished and tormented according to the will and sentence of the dreadful Judge. The holy Angels are the Ministers, the Devil and his Angels are the Executioners, who bearing an old grudge to man, as being adopted by the Lord unto those felicities from which he miserably fell, will doubtless execute his office on him with the most extremity: Non desinunt perditi jam perdere, Min. Fel▪ said Minutius truly. It hath been [Page 299] his chief work to tempt man to sin, out of an hope to have him at his mercy one day; and be we sure he will not spare him when he hath him there. The De­vills chief delight is in mans calamity: And could we fancy such a thing as an Heaven in Hell, the Devill would enjoy it in this opportunity of tyrannizing o­ver those whom he hath seduced and brought into that pit of torments.

Ad comburendum, v. 41, 42. to be burnt; for that's the punishment appointed to the wicked in the Book of God. Here, in the Exposition of this Parable, it is said by Christ, that the Angels shall gather out of his Kingdom all things which offend, v. 50. and them that do ini­quity, and shall cast them in caminum ignis, into a furnace of fire. And in the Parable of the Net, Luk. 16. v. 24. we have it in the very self-same words, in caminum ignis. Thus the rich Glutton in St. Luke, is said to be tormented in the flames: And in the 20th. of the Revelation it is called expresly Stagnum ignis & sulphuris, v. 10. a Lake of fire and brimston, a most dreadful Lake. A truth communicated to and by the Prophets of the former times, Isa. 30. 35. who give us this description of Tophet, or the Vallie of Gehinnon, that the Pile thereof is fire and much wood, 34. 10. that the breath of the Lord is like a stream of Brimstone to kindle it; and that the stream thereof shall be turned to Pitch, c. 4. v. 1. and the dust into Brimstone. And Malachi speaking of the day of Judgement, telleth us, that it shall burn like an Oven, and that all which do wickedly shall be as the stubble, Et inflammabit eos dies veniens, whom the day that commeth shall burn up. A truth so known amongst the Gentiles, whe­ther by tradition from their Ancestors, or conversa­tion with the Jewes, need not now be argued; that, by the verses of the Poets, and the works of the [Page 300] most learned Philosophers, Min. Fel. in Octav. illius ignei fluminis ad­monentur homines, men were admonished to beware of that burning Lake. And unto those it were imper­tinent to add the testimony of the ancient Fathers, by some of which it is called Divinus ignis, poenale in­cendium by another, L [...]ctant. Minut. Austin. ardor poenarum by a third, aeternus ignis by a fourth, Et sic de caeteris. And though a que­stion hath been made, (as all things have been questi­oned in these captious times) whether this fire be true and reall, or only metaphorically called so in the Book of God: yet by all sound Interpreters, it is thus agreed on (as a learned Jesuite hath observed) metaphoram esse non posse quae sit tam perpetua, Maldonat. in Marc. 9. that such a constancy of expression doth exclude a Metaphor.

Now as it is a fire, a devouring fire, so is it ignis inextinguibilis, v. 12. a fire unquenchable, in the third; ignis aeternus, v. 41. Isa. 34. 10. an everlasting fire, in the 25. of St. Matthew, the smoak whereof goeth up for ever, in the Prophet Esay; a fire which feeds both on the body and the soul, yet shall never consume them: and such a fire as breeds a kind of worm within it, Mar. 9. v. 48. which shall never die, but alwayes gnaw upon the conscience of the man condemned, and create farre more anguish to him then all bodily torments. And to this truth all the old Catholick Doctors do attest unanimously, whether Greeks or Latines: Tatian. adv. gent. Tatianus, one of the most ancient of the Greeks, calls the estate of the damned in Hell, [...], a death which never dieth, an immortal misery. Tertullian, the most anci­ent Latine, cruciatum non diuturnum sed sempiter­num, not only a long and tedious torment, but an e­verlasting one. St. Austin answerably unto that of Tatianus, doth call it mortem sine morte; adding moreover of those fires, punire, non finire corpora, that [Page 301] they torment the body, but destroy it not: he goeth further, and saith, that it burns the body, but repaires it also, and calls it flammam nu­tricem, a fire which so devoures, as it also nourisheth; with whom Lactantius doth consent; so also doth Minutius Fel. Prudentius, Cas [...]iodorus, and indeed who not? And why should this be thought a wonder so farre beyond the reason and belief of a meer natural man, or such who taking on themselves the name of Christians, will yet believe no more then may stand with reason? Exod. 3. Doth not the Scripture tell us of a burning bush, a bush that burned with the fire, and was not consumed? and the Historians of the Hills of Aetna and Vesuvius, which do almost con­tinually send out dreadful flames, and yet never wast▪ and the Philosophers of a Worm, or Beast, which they call the Salamander, whose natural Habitation is in the midst of the fire? and the Poets of Prome­theus and Titius Vultures, which having fed so many hundreds of yeers upon their bowels, had not yet de­voured them? Doth not experience tell us daily, that the lightning glanceth on our bodies often, but doth seldom hurt us? and doth not Ovid say expresly, Nec mortis poenas mors altera finiet hujus, that there's a second death which shall never end? yet I confess, that the prevailing Heresie which pretends to such wit & piety, hath no small reason to declare, interire posse animas, Ovid. in Ibin. Ap. Grot. in Matth. 25. aut ab exitio liberari, that the souls of wicked and impenitent men shall either be annihilated, or in fine released; for we may safely say of those new pretenders, in Octav. as once Minutius did of the old Philosophers, malunt extingui penitus, quàm ad supplicia revocari; Considering how they have sub­verted [Page 302] all the fundamentals of the Christian faith, 'tis all the reason in the world that they should rather wish the soul annihilated, then survive to torments, such torments as do know neither end nor measure.

O the most sad condition of the soul condemned! which being cast into the lake of fire and brimston shall be alwayes burning, and yet never consumed; continually falling, yet never come to the bottom; perpetually dying, and yet never dead: where he shall hear no noyse, but weeping, howling, and gnashing of teeth; nor voyces, but of blasphemy and execra­tions; nor musick, but the woful tune of lamentati­on: where he shall see no light but the fire which burns him; nor company, but that of the Devil and his Angels, which take a pleasure to torment him: where he shall have no other food then hot burning coals; nor drink, but from a stream of fire and brim­ston; nor comforts, but variety and change of tor­ments, which howsoever they be dressed in several fashions, yet are they still but torments, everlasting torments; tormenta quibus nec modus ullus nec termi­nus, Min. Fe [...]. in Octav. torments which never know any ease of pain, nor ever shall admit any end of time: of which the least which can be said is this, that they are unsuffe­rable, and the most this, that they are unspeak­able. And yet unto this miserable and calamitous end come the Tares at last, after so long a flourishing in the field of God. They had been cunningly sowen at first, v. 25. cùm dormirent homines, whilest the servants were supine and careless, and looked not to their Masters business as they ought to do. Being sowen, they passed a long time undiscovered, and went for very good Wheat, v. 26. even with knowing men, till they [Page 303] came unto fecissent fructum, till their fruits betrayed them, and that they neither would nor could be con­cealed longer, and by this time were grown to so great an height, and threatned so much danger to Gods sacred Field, that the awakened servants thought there was no other way to secure the same, then by a quick and general extirpation of them all together. v. 28. Which though the Lord refused to give eare unto, v. 30. but was resolved to suffer them to grow till the Harvest came; yet, when their time was come, and their fruits were ripe, he brought some of them to the Harvest of his temporal judgements; and for the rest, condems them (as we see) to everlasting and unquenchable flames. Farre otherwise is it with the Wheat, with the Lords good seed, which though it do endure some danger and oppressions here, some­times in fear to be destroyed and brought to nothing, by the growth and spreading of these Tares, yet in the end shall be preserved, and layd up safely in the barn of the heavenly husbandman: which is the ex­altation of the just, and my next particular, Congre­gate triticum in horreum meum, Gather ye the Wheat into my Barn.

Deus adversus impios rectissimus Judex, Iastitut. l. 1. c. 1. ita erga pios indulgentissimus Pater. God (saith Lactantius) as he is a just and terrible Judge towards the wicked and ungodly, so towards his conformable and vertu­ous Children, a most gracious and indulgent Father. And if a Father, a gracious and indulgent Father, as no doubt he is, no question but he will provide his Children of all things necessary in this life, and settle them in an inheritance immortal, undefiled, and which never fadeth in the life to come. 1 Pet. 1. Though he [Page 304] do sometimes feed them with the bread of sorrows, chastning those most frequently whom he loves most fervently; expose them unto many dangers, and suf­fer them to be affronted and despised by the worldly wicked: yet by those wayes, though they may seem to lead to the vale of misery, doth he conduct them at the last to the hill of mercy; and lets them see, there is no readier way to the Land of Canaan, then thorow a Wilderness of trouble, Virgil. and a Land of ene­mies, Per varios casus & tot discrimina rerum, as Aeneas travelled into Italy. In prosecution of which Journey as he vouchsafes them the assistance of his holy Angels, whom he hath given in charge to encamp about them, and to defend them in all their wayes; so when the time is come that they must be gathered to their Fathers, they shall be carried on the wings of Angels into Abrahams bosom, and layd up safely at the last in the Lords Repository, in the Hea­ven of Glories, whether we look on Congregate, or on horreum meum, they both say the same.

Congregate, that's the action here, and the first word to be considered, which though our English rendreth Gather, yet is it a farre different gathering from that which did occur before. Before it was colligite, congregate here, gather them into a Church or a Congregation; Before it was [...], pluck them up together; but here 'tis [...], draw them into a Synagogue, a place of general Assembly. This is the old word by which the Fathers used to denote the Church of God amongst the Jews, before the coming of our Saviour; and that the new, by which they many times express the Church of God amongst us Christians since our Saviours passion. [Page 305] Both of them words of Ecclesiastical use and notion, and both do signifie the same, though in diverse Lan­guages. They which be true and faithful members of the Church of God, whether it be under the Law, or under the Gospel, shall all be drawn into one Syna­gogue or Congregation in the day of the Lord; and all, together with the holy Patriarchs before Moses time, shall make up that one glorious Church which is entituled in the Scriptures Universalem Congregati­onem, the general Assembly, the Church of the first-born whose names are written in the Heavens. We have the word thus used, Heb. 12. as in other places, so in the 24. of St. Matthews Gospel, where it is told us of these Angels, [...], congregabunt electos, that they shall gather the Elect out of every corner of the world, i. e. that they shall gather them in sacram Synaxin, in sanctam congregationem, into an holy Congregation, a religious Assembly. So that the gathering of the Saints together in the day of Judgement is but a Translation of them from one Church to another; or rather from that part of the same one Church which is here militant on the Earth, to that which is triumphant in the Heaven of glories. The Saints both here and there make but one Communion; we praising God for manifesting his great power and Grace on them, they praying unto God to send his choycest blessings of grace and mercy upon us. The difference is no more then this, that here it is exposed to disgrace and ignominy; sor­rows & age have ploughed deep wrinkles on her face; too many spots there are in her feasts of charity; and sometimes she takes cold in her affections, like the Church of Ephesus, starting aside from her Redeemer [Page 306] like a broken bow; Ephes. 6. but there shall Christ present her to himself a most glorious Church without spot or wrinkle, and marry her to himself for ever: Here we have Tares amongst the Wheat, more Tares per­haps then Wheat in too many places; but there shall be no place in Heaven but for Wheat alone; no unclean thing shall enter into the new Hierusalem, no Tares into the Barn of the heavenly Husbandman; that was provided for the Wheat only, and for none but that.

For so it followeth in the Text, Congregate triticum in horreum meum, Gather the Wheat into my Barn, the place designed by all good Husbands for the disposing of the Wheat, their best sort of grain. Not in a Barn, according to the literal sense, (we shall have too many Congregations held in Barns, if this world go on) but according to the mystical meaning. In horreum meum, into my Barn, i. e. as he expounds himself in the 25. in gaudium Domini, into the joy of the Lord; Heb. 4. regnum à constitutione mundi paratum, the Kingdom prepared for the righteous from the foun­dations of the World, v. 12. i. e. as the Apostle tells us, in requiem Domini, into the rest of the Lord; in civi­tatem Dei viventis, the City of the living God. So then it is a rest, a joy, a glorious City, an eternall Kingdom; and all of these may serve in part to set forth the condition of this heavenly dwelling: A rest for them which die in the Lord, in which they rest from all their labours. And this sit of which St. Paul speaks in the 4th to the Hebrews, c. 4. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God: a joy of so divine and sublime a nature, that no tongue is able to express it, nor heart so large as to conceive it; for, in [Page 307] his presence is the fulnesse of joy, and at his right hand there is pleasure for evermore; Et nunquam turbata quies, & gaudia fi [...]ma. A City of pure Gold, and as clear as Chrystal; the Walls of Jasper-stone, and the Gates of Pearl; watered with the most plea­sant Rivers of the waters of life, according as it is de­scribed in the Revelation: the man of God descri­bing the full glories of the new Hierusalem in such a manner, and by such materials, as he conceived to be most estimable in the sight of men. And finally, a Kingdom, an eternall Kingdom, [...], the Kingdom, as it is called by way of excellency; in which each true believer shall receive his Crown, ac­cording to the eminency of his faith and piety; a Crown of martyrdom for those who patiently sub­mit themselves to the hands of the persecutors, in maintenance of Gods Church and the true Religion; a Crown of Virginity for those who subdue concu­piscence, and give no entertainment to prohibited lusts; a Crown of chastity and fidelity for those who have faithfully kept the vow of wedlock, and the bed of Marriage undefiled; a Crown of charity for those who have exhausted their estates in the works of mercy, and the acts of piety, in founding Temples for the Lord, or Hospitals for relief of the poor and needy; and finally, a Crown of righteousness for all those who walk unblameably in their Conversation before God and man. When all the Monarchs of the Earth have laid down their Scepters at the feet of Christ, God shall be still a King of Kings, a King (to speak the truth) of none but Kings; Rex Regum, Do­minus dominantium, alwayes, but most amply then. Never was corn so housed, so laid up before.

Thus, as before we brought the Tares, the worst sort of weeds, unto the fire of condemnation; so have we brought the Wheat, the best kind of grain, [...], as Galen calls it, to the barn of glory: A grain, which as it doth re­quire a ground well tilled and cultivated, so lieth it longest buried in the earth of any, before it spring into a blade; and being sprung into a Blade, doth en­dure much hardness, congealed sometimes with snow, sometimes nipped with Frost, before it grow into a stalk; and when the stalk is grown, the ear is formed, it is exposed to many hazards, drencht with unseasonable showres, and scorched with as in­temperate heats; laid flat upon the ground by tem­pestuous winds, some of the grains thereof being scattered by those blasts over all the field, before tis brought into the Barn. Ecce jam seges cana imbre corrumpitur, grandine caeditur, as Cecilius noted in the Dialogue. And so tis also with the just, with the righteous person; He doth require much Husban­dry, great care and Tillage, in fitting him to receive the seeds of faith and piety; and lyeth long strug­ling in the womb of regeneration, before he doth come forth a spiritual man, and is renatus, born again, advanced unto the state of a man regenerate. Multa tulit fecit (que) puer, Much must be suffered, and much done, before it come to that, there's no question of it. Suppose him brought so farre in his way to Hea­ven, as that he hath received the Seal of his regene­ration and adoption, the testimony of the Spirit, that he endeavoureth nothing more then the ad­vancement of Gods glory and increase of piety, shall he not be reviled and howted at like the Owl among [Page 309] the wanton birds, forsaken by his old acquaintance and familiar friends, like a Pellican in the desert Wil­derness? Shall not he presently be exposed unto the heats of persecution, and colds of poverty, and drowned in the Waves of cruel and unprosperous fortune? Shall not the storms of trouble and afflicti­on shew their fury on him, till they have laid him flat on his very back, and scattered his dispersed and mangled members over all the Earth? yet shall this man, this faithful and religious man, that hath en­dured so great a measure of affliction, such a s [...]o [...]m of tyranny, be gathered at the last in horreum Domini, into the Barn, the safe Repository of the Heavenly Husbandman. Not one of all those scattered limbs, not a broken bone, but shall be recollected by the Angels when they go a gathering, made up into the same one body which before it was, and laid up in the Lords Barn with joy and triumph; that the body which fell in dishonour may be raised in honour, and the bones which have been broken may rejoyce to­gether.

Come then thou blessed Soul into the place of thy rest; Thou hast been long a wearied Pilgrim on the face of the earth, tossed from one station to another, spent with continual travel, and worn out with la­bours, yet all this while couldst find no rest for the sole of thy foot: Here is an everlasting rest provided for thee, Enter thou good and faithful Servant into the joy of the Lord; Thou hast been faithful in a lit­tle, employed thy Masters Talent to the best advan­tage, and for so doing hast been reviled and beaten by thy fellow-servants, wounded and shamefully in­treated by those Husbandmen to whom the Lord [Page 310] let forth his Vineyard; and slain in fine, in hope the Lords Inheritance would be shared among them. Here is a joy, a perfect everlasting joy, made ready for thine entertainment. Welcom thou glorious Ci­tizen of the new Hierusalem to the continuing City thou hast so long looked for; in which thou shalt en­joy, after all thy troubles, the Beatifical vision of Al­mighty God, the goodly fellowship of Prophets, the glorious company of the Apostles, the noble Army of the Martyrs, the dear society of those who have died before thee in and for the Lord. Mount, mount victorious Soul▪ into the Throne prepared for thee; where thou shalt presently receive the immarcessible Crown of glory, which Christ the righteous Judge shall give thee in that joyful day with great pomp and triumph; millions of the celestial spirits atten­ding on the solemnities of thy Coronation, and the harmonious quire of Angels singing with thee, and with the residue of the Saints departed, Allelujah, Gloria in excelsis Deo, and all the holy Anthems ex­tant in the Book of God. And for our parts, although we are not worthy in this humane frailty to sing in quire and consort with those blessed spirits, yet let us bear the burden of those heavenly ditties which are chanted there; singing with heart and voice all with one accord, All honour, praise, and power, and glory, be unto him that sitteth in the highest Throne, and to the Lamb, and to the blessed and eternal Spi­rit, now and evermore. And let all the people say Amen.

I Might here shut the Book and end, and say as did our Saviour in another case, Impleta in nostris haec est Scriptura di­ebus; this day is this Scripture ful­filled in our eyes; So many are there of our selves that rise up continual­ly, whose lips speak proud words, and pervert good meanings, that so they may be followed and cryed up, and draw away much people after them. St. Paul foresaw this mischief, and forewarns us of it; and of a Preacher instantly becomes a Prophet: He doth begin his charge with an Attendite, Take heed unto your selves, and to all the flock; and he concludes the same with a vigilate, Watch therefore, and remem­ber that you have been warned. Reason enough there was for both, as well for the attendite as the vigilate: [Page 312] Wolves, grievous Wolves were entring in, and such as would not spare the Flock; that follows close on the attendite: and perverse Fellows rising up to make a rupture in the Church, and draw away Disciples after them; that goes immediately before the Vigilate▪ Attendite & vigilate are two good Caveats, and en­tred here by the Apostle in the name of Christ, that so he might preserve that interest in the Church of God, which he had purchased to himself with his own dear blood. In one of these he arms his Prelates contra saevitiam persecutorum, against the fury of the persecutors, which assault without; and in the other he prepares them contra fraudulentiam deceptorum, against the fraud of the perverters; and other secret sicknesses which infect within. In both he layes before them the Churches dangers, that so they may be­think themselves of convenient remedies.

As for the words now read unto you we may con­sider in them these two generals; the sickness of the Church, and the cure thereof. The sickness is a swel­ling, or a rising up of certain ill-affected humours in the body mystical: which we shall first consider in the thing it self, Exurgent viri, then shall men arise. Secondly, in the unde, from what part or place, Ex vobis ipsis, from our selves. Thirdly, in the effect, what they do being risen; loquuntur perversa, speak­ing perverse things: And lastly, what it is they aim at; ut abducant discipulos post se, to draw away Dis­ciples after them. In the next general, the Cure, we have these particulars: 1. The Physician, that's the Prelate, to whom the charge promised is given. And 2. The Medicine here prescribed, which is the care and vigilancy of the Prelates, Vigilate igitur, Watch therefore. Of these, &c.

Exurgent viri, that's the first. And sure it might be well supposed, comparing these two dangers with one another, that the poor Church were in no mean degree of safety, having escaped those grievous Wolves, to fall into the hands of men; for homo homini fit Deus, as the Proverb hath it. But, if consi­dered as it ought, the danger is no lesse then before it was; for homo homini fit lupus, is a Proverb too. There we had men who for their rage and cruelty were en­tituled Wolves; here Wolves, who for their see­ming gentleness and humanity are entituled men. But here and there their purpose is the same to sub­vert the Church; there openly by force and vio­lence, here secretly by fraud and cunning: and therefore here the danger greater, because lesse su­spected, as undermining is more dangerous to be­leaguered Cities then an open battery. As long as Satan had no other instruments to subvert the Church then those grievous Wolves, he took great pains to lose his labour: The Tyrants all from Nero down to Dioclesian, when they made havock of the faithful, what did they but confirm them in their resolutions, and increase their numbers? Nec quicquam proficit exquisitior crudelitas vestra, illecebra sectae est, as Tertullian hath it. The Hereticks all from Simon Magus to Priscillian, the last that stands upon the Register in St. Austins Catalogue, when they did openly assault the faith it self, and struck at the foundations of it, what did they but occasion only that the faith became the better setled, and that all those which were approved were made more ma­nifest? In which regard that of Euagrius is most true, that from those very men and matters which made [Page 314] so many ruptures in the Church of God, [...], by those the Doctrine of the Church was confirmed and setled.

This when the Devil had perceived, he called in his Wolves, and exercised the Church no more with Heresies and persecutions: He found it more expe­dient to make use of men, who knew how to time it, to watch their opportunities, and espy advantages; and so with more assurance might effect his purpose, because lesse suspected. The Serpent never had be­guiled poor Eve, had he not used the voyce of man; nor had the Syren [...] captivated and bewitched so many passengers, had they not had the face of Women; Virginei vultus, & vox humana remansit, as the Poet hath it. Of all the instruments of mischief which the world hath bred, there's none like man, the Master workman, whose winding wit, and subtile reaches make him most fit for all imployments. Xerxes, when as with all his forces, his most numerous forces, he could not force an entry through the walls of Babylon, met with a man, Zopyrus, by whose craft and cunning he found the gates set open to him; which made him oftentimes affirm, malle se Zopyrum integrum quàm viginti Babylonas, that he preferred Zopyrus before twenty Babylons. No battery doth as­sault so forcibly, nor mine work so surely, as the wit of man; which if it be once set on mischief, is in­deed most mischievous. Our Saviour Christ, when he was led by Satan into the Wilderness, found neither Bear nor Wolf, nor Lion, that durst set upon him; but when he came into the open Country, and con­versed with men, then was he assaulted on the one side by the Scribes and Pharisees, and on the other [Page 315] side by the Herodians, all of them lying in wait how they might betray him. And therefore when he sent out his Disciples, he arms them with this wholsom Caveat, Cavete ita (que) ab hominibus, beware of men; Ab ipsis potiùs hominibus quam à feris timendum, as Beza glosseth on the place.

And yet there is no fear of men, if they would be quiet; the danger is not in the men, but in their ri­sing, it is the [...] that works all the trouble. And indeed [...] in this place is an active word, or verbum operativum, as the Lawyers call it. This aggravates the Churches dangers; for when the Wolves came in, they came in with intrabunt, at the common entrance: The whole Church saw it, and observed it, and knew how to trace them; but for these risings, it is hard to say whence they take be­ginning, or to what they tend, or who it is that doth support them. When Jupiter had transformed his Io into an Heifer, and was demanded whence she came; the crafty God returned this answer, that she did rise immediately from the very earth; ut autor desinat inquiri, that so there might no further search be made of what herd she was. And so it is in all these risings, Jupiter è terra genitam mentitur; there's no man will confess from what root they came, or own them till they grow into a body, and are made ready for an head. And when tis come to that, tis a rising still; a popular, seditious, and tumultuous ri­sing. The word so used twice for failing in the 5th Chapter of the Acts, [...], Before those dayes arose up one Judas, [...], (that's the word,) boasting himself to be somebody, to whom a number of men joyned them­selves. [Page 316] In the next verse, [...], After this man rose up Judas of Galilee, [...], that's the word again, in the dayes of tax­ing, and drew away much people after him. Here have we risings, popular and seditious risings; the one against the civil Magistrate, in the point of tax­ing, the other against the peace and polity of the Church in matters which concern Religion; both of them layd before us in that very word which my Text makes use of; which shewes us that the rising mentioned in my Text is like that of Theudas, or of Judas, a sudden & tumultuous rising of unquiet men.

Yet were this but a rising simply, and no more then so, the danger were not great, if any; for men may sometimes rise and sit down again, rise, and re­pent them of their rising upon better thoughts; and having so repented, set them down without more hurt done. Such was the rising of the holy Pilgrims in King Henries time, who bound themselves by so­lemn Covenant to defend Religion, although then changing to the better; but on the first report of the Kings approch disbanded and went home again; e­very man to his House O Israel. But this we must not look for alwayes. The [...] of my Text, as it doth signifie to rise, so it doth intimate unto us such a rising as brings destruction with it, and deso­lation after it. The word so used oftentimes in the best Greek Authours; as [...], eversa est ci­vitas, and [...], to raise a City. Such ri­sings as those are which St. Paul here mentioneth, however they may hap to speed, aim at the utter ru­ine of that State against which they rise; nor do the risers think themselves in safety whilest there are a­ny [Page 317] to resist: They never use to talk of peace till a desolation, Et ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appel­lant, as he in Tacitus.

And yet we do not see the bottom of our danger neither; Some risings have been easily suppressed by art and wisdom, and other some dissolved by force and power: But this is such a kind of rising, that though it be supprest a while it will up again; and, like Antaeus in the Poet, rise up with greater strength then before it had, majorque accepto robore surgit, as it is in Lucan. The word in the Original doth sig­nifie resurgere as well as surgere; and then we have an insurrection with a resurrection, a rising that will still be rising, if composed only for a while, or set­led only for the present. The Church is never safe in such storms as these, until it happen to these risers as unto Theudas and his followers, of whom the Story saith, that both himself and as many as be­lieved on him [...], were scattered and confounded, and brought to nothing; Redacti sunt ad nihilum, as the Latine hath it. And when we once come to annihilation there's no re­surrection.

You see here's ground enough for a Vigilate, and that as well à parte ante, to prevent these risings, as afterwards à parte post, to quiet and appease them when they once are up: Both necessary, though the first more safe; as commonly preventing Physick stirs the humors lesse, then when the sickness is con­firmed by some long delay. And yet though this be ground enough for a vigilate, the duty is farre more necessary in reference to the unde whence the danger riseth, which is ex vobis ipsis, from amongst your [Page 318] selve. As long as Christ our Saviour did foretell his followers, Mark 13. 8. Exurget gens contra gentem, That Na­tion should rise up against Nation, and Kingdom a­gainst Kingdom in the latter dayes, the matter see­med not very great, the World had long been u­sed to the like hostilities; and therefore it is said of those warres and troubles, that they were initium do­lorum, the beginnings of sorrows: But when it came to this, exurgent filii in parentes, that Children should rise up against their Parents, and Brother should betray his Brother, then could not any thing be added to the Churches miseries but the abomina­tion of desolation, spoken of by the Prophet Da­niel. It was not bella per Emathios that made Rome complain; v. 14. she had before advanced her Standards in the field of Macedon with success and honour: plus qu [...]m civilia was the thing which did all the mis­chief; the cruelty and the unnaturalness of the civill Warres which consumed her forces, and at last brought her unto bondage. The damage which the Church hath sustained by Wolves hath indeed been great, yet not to be compared unto those calami­ties which she hath drawn upon her self by her own dissentions. And this St. Chrystome confesseth, [...], that the danger here is greater then it was before; [...], in that it was a civill Warre which is here forespoke of.

Ex vobis ipsis, from your selves, from men of holy Church, that do partake with you in the same profession, and have given up their names to Christ, and do wear his Livery. Were it not for ex vobis ipsis, the danger were not great from exurgent viri. [Page 319] The time was when the Kings of the Earth rose up, and the Rulers took counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed: But what became of them and their machinations? Psal. 2. v. 2. He that dwelleth on high laughed them to scorn, and the Lord had them in derision: bruïsing them with a rod of iron, and breaking them in pieces like a Potters Vessel. Non posse Romanos nisi suis armis vinci, The Church was never overcome but by the Church, nor Christ betrayed by any but his own Disciples. Our Saviour read his own and the Churches destiny, in that general speech, inimici ho­minis sunt domestici ejus, that a mans enemies are those of his own house. That this hath alwayes been the destiny of the Church of God is St. Cyprians note, Inter initia mundi Abel justum non nisi frater occidit, &c. Abel, saith he, had none to kill him, Jacob none to persecute him, nor Joseph any to make sale of him, but their Fathers Children. Which said, he adds, how Christ foretold us in that generall Maxime before delivered, ips [...]s qui sacramento uni­tatis copulati fuerint, se ipsos invicem tradituros, that those who had been joyned together in the holy Sa­craments should betray each other. So that as well in this regard, as in that of sin, we may take up the saying and complaint of the Prophet Esay, Perditio tua ex te est, Thy destruction is from thy self O House of Israel.

Ex vobis ipsis, from your selves. What, from the Elders of the Church, the Overseers of the flock, should men arise from them to pervert the people? No question but it was so meant by the Apostle; For to the Elders, to the Overseers, did St. Paul give this charge, and direct this Caveat, Attendite vobis [Page 320] ipsis & universo gregi, Take heed unto your selves and to all the flock. There have we vobis ipsis, vobis ipsis here; which makes it manifest and apparent that even from them should men arise speaking per­verse things, to draw away much people after them. The Elders here were Priests, there's no doubt of that; Pastors and Teachers of the people: Nor is it any miracle that such men as those should have their hands or heads in those publick quarrels wherewith the Church hath been distracted. The first distur­bance which befel the Church was by certain men which came down from Judaea, and taught the people; And what did sollow thereupon but dispu­tations and dissentions, as the Text informs us; and those so great, and followed with such heat and vio­lence, that the Apostles had no small adoe to com­pose the business? Our Saviour Christ foresaw this mischief, and therefore hath repeated no one caution more then, Cavete à Pseudoprophetis, Beware of false Prophets and of false Apostles: For they, and such as they, as they teach false Doctrines, so are they too indulgent to their own affections, too easily incli­ned to foment a party, and contribute their utmost to those frequent quarrels which have afflicted and disquieted the Church of God. Examples of which I could shew you many, both in our dayes, and in the dayes which were before us, did I conceive the El­ders mentioned here were but simply Priests.

But sure, (as I shall shew anon) the Elders which assembled here were of an higher rank, a superior order; Bishops, or Overseers, call them which you will. And shall we think that any of the holy Hie­rarchy could take so little heed unto themselves and [Page 321] to the flock, as either openly or covertly to foment a faction, and to hunt counter to the Church, and her publick Ordinances; I would be very loth they should. And yet I cannot chuse but tell you, that I have met in my small reading with some of them: Meletius had his name from [...], a Greek word signifying care: but he was not Episcopus sui nominis, not a true Meletius; for he shewed little care of the Churches peace, but his whole designes were to increase his party, to draw Disciples after him; as dangerous for the time, but not of such a long conti­nuance, as that of the Novatians before remembred: Novatus had no sooner received the Episcopal Order, but presently he set himself upon Cornelius, his chief Bishop, the Patriarch at the least of the Roman pre­fecture; professing a more rigid kind of piety then the Church allowed of, making himself the head of a Schismatical faction, and drawing many Disciples after him, not only in Italy it self, but in Greece and Asia. But as Novatus was his name, so Innovation was to be his business; and he plyed it well, being the founder of the Cathari, as they (in some re­spects) of our English Puritans. The like may be af­firmed of Meletius also, an Egyptian Bishop, raising a long and tedious Schisme against the Patriarch of A­lexandria, to whom the Canons of the Church had made him subject. The like of many of the African, or Southern Prelates, so wedded to the cause and fa­ction of the ancient Donatists, that they confined the whole Church intra partem Donati, within the pale and limits of the faction of these Donatists only; and in some points were not unlike the Anabaptists of these latter times, drawing so many Disciples after [Page 322] them, that in the end they grew a terror to the Or­thodox party. Assuredly the Church was most un­happy in these popular Prelates, how fortunate so­ever they conceived themselves in the multitude of their Disciples, in being countenanced and abetted by the common people. And so she is in those who pursue their courses; who being placed as Overseers in the Church of God, do not alone neglect their du­ties in the attendite and the vigilate which are here prescribed, but have their part in the exurgunt, a principal and leading part in the rising up. Great pity 'tis that either they, or any other of the flock of Christ, that ought to speak peace to the Church, should rise up against it; and being risen up in so soul a manner, should spend their tongues and talents to so lewd a purpose as speaking perverse things, [...], to draw away much people after them, and be the leaders of a party. Yet this the hu­mour and the aim of these rising men, loquuntur per­versa ut abducant discipulos post se; my next particu­lar, and next in order to be handled.

David complains of a vexatious people in his dayes, which used to say that with their tongues they would prevail, and that they were the men which ought to speak, without regard to any power that was above them; Quis noster dominus est? Who is Lord over us, say they, or shall command us not to speak when opportunity is given us to advance our selves, and draw away Disciples after us? Such lawless Tongues as these doth St. Paul here speak of, who that they might be sure to possess the people, cared not what they said, whose actions they traduced, whose good name they slandered, or whose good [Page 323] meaning they perverted. The word [...] used in the Original, doth signifie perverse or froward, as in the 17th of Matthew, [...], O faithlesse and perverse Generation. And in the 2d to the Philippians, [...], in the middle of a froward and perverse Generation. This shewes us that these exurgentes are a perverse and froward people, very hard to please, and such as will take nothing in good part, how real and sincere soever: A sullen and unsociable race of men, quo­rum superbiam frustra per obsequium & modestiam effu­geris, whom when we strive to please we lose them, being still further off the more sought after: A stubborn and untractable Generation, quos nunquam persuadebis etiamsi persuaseris, Tacit. in Agric. that will adhere to the conclusion, though they be beaten off the premi­ses; and will not yield to reason, although vanquisht by it.

And yet this sad and froward humour would not hurt any but themselves, did they keep it in; but here is a [...] that brings all to nought: This fro­ward humour must be vented and break wind in speech, and having broken out in speech, is as full of frowardness as was the stomach whence it came. The perverse humour which affects them would else eat them up, and gnaw upon their entralls like Pro­metheus vulture. This makes them seek out such as are like themselves, or easily inclined to give eare unto them; to whom they powre out their com­plaints, and bemoan the times, as if the Church were like to fall, did not they support it. St. Paul and they so equal in their jurisdiction, that it is very hard to say which of them hath the greatest care of all the [Page 324] Churches; Hence is it that they fill the heads of poor ignorant people with most groundless feares of innovation in Religion, and changes in Gods publick worship; the Church continually traduced, as if she were unsound in her intentions towards Christ; the Prelates generally accused as Factors for the mystical strumpet; and the inferior Clergy which submit themselves to the Commands of their superiors in the Lord, what are they counted but the wretched instruments to usher in those innovations which are so much feared?

And certainly this is perversa loqui, in the proper sense, in the true meaning of the word; when men are grown to such a measure of perverseness, that we pervert the words and purposes of all publick per­sons, and wrest them to a meaning which they never dreamt of. For [...] in the Greek is proper­ly and truly to distort and wrest; as [...], to wrest a matter from the truth, in the famous Ora­tor: A thing not seldom used by these perverse speakers, who, to set off their projects, and promote their cause, not only wrest the words and actions of their innocent Brethren beyond their true intent and meaning, but too too often wrest the Scripture, even the most blessed Word of God, to make it ser­viceable to their factious and seditious ends. The Scribes and Pharisees of old, when they watched our Saviour, seeking occasion to betray him, what did they else but wrest and pervert his actions? report­ing that he cast out Devils by the help of Devils, that all his miracles were forged, and his Doctrine false, tending to introduce a new Religion, and annul the old. And what, conceit you, was their aim, but to ani­mate [Page 325] the people by those perverse speeches, that in a zeal unto the preservation of Religion they might combine together with them, unite themselves in some strict Covenant against the Lord and his a­nointed, and cry out nolumus hunc regnare with the better stomach?

This is indeed the utmost mischief which [...] carries with it; the word not onely signifying to di­stort or wrest, but by so doing to seduce and pervert poor people. Thus read we Luke 22. [...], Acts 13. We found this fellow perverting our Nation; and so of Elymas the Sorcerer, [...], that that he endeavoured to pervert the Deputy, and turn him from the faith of Christ. This is the thing they aim at in their perverse speakings, to captivate, se­duce and bewitch the people, and make them fit for any mischievous attempt which they shall please to animate and excite them to▪ We find in Ovid, that when [...]allas had commanded Cadmus to sowe Vipers teeth, motae supponere terrae vipereos dentes, as the Poet hath it, there presently rose up an Army very well appointed, crescit (que) seges clypeata virorum. Nor have we reason to expect any better Harvest, when these men sowe their Vipers Tongues; when by calumniating and traducing both the Church and State, they do not onely stir up envy and great thoughts of heart, which were the wonted strifes of Reuben, but lay a ground-work also for sedition, which is the ordinary consequent of the gain-saying of Corah. The holy Leagues, Covenants and Asso­ciations which this age hath bred, and the like combi­nations against lawful Government, and lineall suc­cession [Page 326] unto Crowns and Scepters, what are they but the natural, though sad, effects of these perverse speakers? Certain I am, that by these male-con­tented and seditious artifices they augment their numbers, and increase their followers, and draw a­way Disciples after them; which is the only thing they aim at.

To draw away Disciples after them. This is strange indeed: Hath there been any age so happy in which the people need be drawn to imbrace new fancies, to hearken after factious risers, and lend too credulous an ear to their perverse speeches? I cannot tell, I would be loth to brand all preceding times; though in my slender reading I have met with none of so composed and fine a temper, no Age wherein men were not prone enough to hearken to perverse and seditious talkers: Sponte sua properant, the people commonly are too hot of their own accord to follow after such pursuits, and need little drawing. But drawing in this place is no word of force, unless it be of forcible and strong perswasions; as when it is af­firmed in Scripture, That no man commeth unto the Sonne, except the Father please to draw: Except the Father draw him; how? not by compelling of the will, or forcing men to Heaven whether they will or not; or drawing them velut inanimatum quoddam, as men draw after them a Log or Stone, as some­times Luther pleased to phrase it: Not so, but by in­viting men to their salvation, calling upon them to accept it by his holy word, and working on them by the operations of his holy Spirit. So the word traho hath been used in best Latine Authours; Trahit sua quemque voluptas, in the Poet Virgil; me trahit [Page 327] invitam nova vis, in the Poet Ovid. What? by applying any outward violence? No, but by hear­kening to the motions of our own desires, and giving way to our affections; for so it followeth in the Poet, aliud (que) cupido, mens aliud suadet; Our understanding and our lusts draw two several wayes: and we may properly be said to be drawn by either, when either we submit our selves to the rule of Reason, or follow the dictamen of our lusts and passions. And such, and none but such, is the present drawing, the drawing of weak men by more subtile wits, to hearken to their perverse speakings, and thereby to become their fol­lowers and be accounted their Disciples.

Nor do they only ducere, but they do abducere, not only draw, but draw away: the [...] in the Original must be so interpreted, and is so used in o­ther Texts of holy Scripture. Drawes them away? from whence? from the main body of the Church, the Congregation of Gods chosen. The Church is often called in Scripture the body of Christ, of which each faithful Christian is a speciall member. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in par­ticular, as said St. Paul to those of Corinth. They therefore which withdraw a Christian from the Church of Christ, not only pierce his side, as the Souldiers did, but teare a member from his body, which the Souldiers durst not. And therefore Beza reads the word, ut abstrahant; and gives this reason why he doth so read it, Loquitur Luca [...] ut de mem­bris crudeliter corpore suo avulsis. But it would little profit these perverse speakers to draw poor people from the Church, to make them disaffected to the present Government, and so give them off; what [Page 328] should they get, if any, or if every man were so misperswaded? There's a post eos in the Text which they chiefly aim at, to make men so leave the Church as to follow them. Not one amongst them but will be a leader, and must have followers of his own, some fair retinue to come after him, for the greater state. Such men as these stand more upon post eos, then upon abducunt; and be their Proselytes what they will, noble, ignoble, rich or poor, they must come behind. Post nos bonus mos, is the best rule in all their Ethicks; and, primus ibi ante omnes magna comitante caterva, accounted by them the most heroick verse in all Virgils works. The Scholar must not be above his Master; there's no sense in that: And therefore that they may be sure not to lose post eos, their Scholars shall be Scholars still, still learning, like St. Pauls old women, but never com­ming unto the knowledge of the truth.

And certainly there is good reason why the holy Spirit doth not entitle those which are drawn away by the name of followers, or dependents, but by that of [...], Disciples. Men commonly reward their followers, but they take pay of their Disciples; and something hath some favour, as the saying is. Dignus est operarius mercede sua, The Labourer is worthy of his wages: Gal. 6. 6. And he that is taught ought to communi­cate unto him that teacheth in all good things, so saith the holy Scripture. Administer in all good things that's true, but in what proportion? In om­nibus bonis, in all his good things, saith the true Apostle; omnia bona sua, even all his goods, say these false Apostles. The better pay, the better Scholars while you live; A matter out of which the Pharisees [Page 329] sucked no small advantage, becoming so much master of the peoples purses, that being once fined by Herod for their disobedience, a principal Lady of their faction mustred up her store, Joseph. l. 17: c. 3. [...], and payd the fine down for them without more adoe. Besides, the Disciple is obliged to believe his Master; oportet discentem credere, as the old rule is, and if he yield up his belief to his Ma­sters dictates, his Master may dispose of him as his own creation. Hence is it that these exurgentes have attained such credit, that their words passe for Ora­cles with their credulous followers: And when they once have misperswaded them of their superiors in the Lord, whether Prince or Prelate, it is not in the power of men or Angels to bring them to a right o­pinion. Josephus tells us of the Pharisees, Antiqu. l. 13. c. 18. that they had gotten much footing in the affections of their followers, [...], [...], &c. that whatsoever they pleased to say either of the high Priest, or the King himself, how false and scandalous soever, it was received for truth with­out further question.

And now I am fallen upon the Pharisees, I shall add this further, that the great pains they took in compassing both Sea and Land to increase their Pro­selytes, and add unto the number of their dear Dis­ciples, shewed plainly that they aimed at more then obedient greatness. The power and sway they had with the common people had so farre inabled them, [...], Ibid. l. 13. c: 23. to hurt their ene­mies, and promote their friends; that happy was the man could be favoured by them. Nay, more then this, they would have Kings and Princes stand at [Page 330] their devotion, and be directed by them in all mat­ters both of Church and State, or else controll and terrifie them with their numerous followers, the mul­titude of their Disciples. Which lest I may be thought to report without book, we need but look into Josephus, where we shall finde that Alexandra durst not enter on the Government in her Childrens non-age, until she had permitted all things unto their disposing; Ibid. [...], &c. and promised to do nothing without their directions. What was the reason, think ye, why that excellent Lady humbled her self so lowly to so proud a Sect? marry she did it by advice of her dying Husband, whose Government proved not so successful as the Prince deserved, [...], in that he had offended that prevailing faction. We need not doubt but that all such as have pursued the cour­ses of these Pharisees do propose their aims, lay­ing the foundation of their greatness upon the backs of their Disciples; whom if they have infected with their dangerous principles, there is no man so safe, whom they may not mischief, nor any estate so sure which they may not ruine. Examples of the which, in the Priests of Meroe, and that command they held on the Aethiopians, I could tell you some, but desire rather to refer you to Diodorus Siculus for your satis­faction. So true is that of Quintus Curtius, Multitudi­nem vana religione captam meliùs vatibus suis quàm ducibus parere, The common people once possessed with a false Religion are more obedient to their Priests then unto their Princes. Thus have I brought the Churches sickness to the pitch or [...], the ut­most extremity of this strange Disease. Pity it [Page 331] were to leave her in this desperate state; and there­fore I make hast, all the hast I can, to call in the Phy­sician, and attend the cure, Vigilate igitur, Watch therefore.

There is a great similitude between the body na­tural and the body mystical, the bodies of us men, and the Church of Christ: each of them hath their infancy, their youth, their age; each of them their peculiar maladies, and their proper cures. And as in bodily Diseases, no sooner we begin to be ill-dispo­sed, but presently we look out for the Physician; so in these griefs and sicknesses which befall the Church, it is not safe to trifle or delay the time, but have recourse to the Physician with all speed that may be. Now the Physicians in this case, the Churches Doctors, are those to whom this charge was given by the Apostle, and they are said to be the Elders of the Church of Ephesus. What the Lay-Elders of the City, men of shops and Trades; this day a bencher in the Consistory, the next a botcher on the stall? Not so, though some have so delivered; but such as were at least in sacris ordinibus constituti, men in holy orders, such as had parts to feed the flock, and power to rule it. The word [...] in the 28. will admit both duties, and so exclude Lay-Elders from being any way concerned in the present business. Those of the Laity must either lose the name of Elders in the present sense, or else take the office; and if they un­dertake the charge, they must be Pastors, and not Lay-men. The Office proper to these Presbyters was that which Christ commended to St. Peter, and that was pascere greg [...]m Dei: If they did this, then were they Pastors; if they did not, they were no [Page 332] Presbyters, the name and Office here must needs go together. And though in our Translation both here and elsewhere, we render the word Presbyter by that of Elder, yet when we finde it so translated, we must take it thus, that howsoever for their age they were called Elders, yet by their Office they were Mini­sters of Gods Word and Sacraments, such as had senectutem cordis, though not corporis, in St. Gregories language. Priests they were then that here assembled, [...] in the Church-construction; and yet not simply Priests, and no more then so, but such as were above the rest both in place and power, the Bi­shops and chief Rulers both of that and the neighbor-Churches. The Text is plain, in quo vos Sp. S. posuit Episcopos, that the holy Ghost had made them Bi­shops, or Overseers, as we read in the last Translati­on. And I said well, that so we read it in the last; for ab initio non fuit sic, it was not so in the beginning. An ancient M. S. Translation, which by the Character and Language I guesse to be as old as Wiclif, reads it plainly Bishops. So doth that also of Miles Cover­dale, a fervent Protestant in King Henries dayes, and no great friend unto the calling, although one him­self. Beza, though he dislike the Hierarchy, and makes it a device of man, if not of Satan, yet renders it Episcopos, as the vulgar doth. And so do the Divines of the Lutheran Churches, though generally in common speech they rather do affect the Title of a Superintendent; and so ex Graecis bonis Latinas fe­cere non bonas, as the Poet hath it. Only our last Translators, of all people else, when as they might have kept themselves with safety to the Greek Ori­ginals, have brought us in an Overseer for a Bishop. [Page 333] Which if it were not done ut placerent populo, to please the people, yet possibly it might be done quia timebant sibi à populo, because they were afraid to offend the people. A vein of which timidity one may easily finde in many places of the Acts and Writings of the holy Apostles.

But Overseers let them be, the Overseers, if you please, of Christs Will & Testament, the overseers of the Clergy, which are the Executors of that Will & Testament, appointed to administer the Word and Sacraments, which are the Legacies Christ left be­hind him unto all the people. And Overseers let them be in name and dignity as well as Office; For being that the Priest may be called a Seer, according to that meaning of that notion, in the first of Samuel, (He that is now called a Prophet was before called a Seer,) 1 Sam. cap. 9. v. 9. then certainly, the Bishop being over and a­bove the Priest may well be called an Overseer. And so all circumstances pondered and compared toge­ther, we have gained thus much; that those to whom this charge was given were Bishops, or Overseers if you will, such unto whom the oversight of the flock was trusted; such unto whom St. Peter speaks in his first Epistle, Pascite gregem Dei qui in vobis est, Feed you the flock of Christ which is amongst you, [...], saith the Text, playing the Bishops in the same, or taking the oversight thereof, as the English reads it. Nor doth it any way contradict this Tenet, that those who are entituled Bishops, or [...] in the 28. are called [...], Priests or Elders only in the 17th verse; For Beza tells us in his Notes on the first of Peter, Generale nomen est Presbyteri, that the word Presbyter is so general in [Page 334] some Texts and places, ut ipsi quo (que) Apostoli hoc no­mine comprehendantur, that even the holy Apostles are comprized therein. If so, as so it is, and that the Apostles may be comprehended in the name of Pres­byters, then certainly it is no absurdity or incon­gruity to say, that the Presbytery in the 17th verse, whom St. Paul called from Ephesus and the Neigh­bour-Cities, ( ab Epheso & à reliquis proximis civitati­bus, as in Irenaeus,) were not simply Presbyters, but such as had preeminence above the rest, whom the Text honoured in the 28. with the name of Bishops. The Bishop of Ephesus was anciently a Metropolitan, and had many Suffragans; which possibly may be the reason why Ephesus is only named in the relation of this Story.

Having thus found out the Physician, I need not dwell upon the remedy, but leave that to them; credendum est artifici in arte sua. We have had many Phormio [...]s lately which take upon them to instruct their betters, and teach the Bishops how to govern. All that I have to say is but vigilate, that it concern­eth the Prelate to be very watchful; and that not only in regard of Wolves, Hereticks, and all such as are counted Hereticks, as some men would have them; but in relation unto subtile practisers, and such as would fain rise in the Churches fall. Not only heterodox and heretical teachers, but facti­ous and perverse Preachers are brought within the compass of this vigilate; and that by the direction of St. Paul himself, who had his Warrant from above, and knew how to use it. And indeed vigilate is the safest Physick in the present case, not only to pre­vent, but remove the sickness. If vigilate be well fol­lowed, [Page 335] either men will not rise at all, or being risen, dare not talk perversly; or if they do, it must be closly and in corners; and that will draw away but few Disciples to follow after and admire them. O­ther the Ministers of God and his holy Church are Watchmen in their several places over the little flocks committed to them, the Bishop is Praefectus vigilum, the Captain of the Watch, the common Centinel, who by his Office is to walk the round, and see that the inferior Watchmen do discharge their duties. The tidings of our Saviours birth was first proclaimed unto a company of Shepherds keep­ing watch over their flocks by night; their care and vigilance deserved that comfort which the Angels gave them, Nolite timere, Fear not, I bring you ti­dings of great joy. The Watchmen which expect the like grace and favour must not be short of them in their pains and travell; if they expect from God or his holy Angels at Christs second comming, E­vangelizo vobis gaudium magnum, they must be vi­gilantes super gregem suum.

Ezekiel tells us of the living Creatures which he beheld as in a vision, totum corpus plenum oculis in cir­cuitu, that they were full of eyes round about them: the perfect Emblem of a vigilant and careful Prelate, who must not only see before him, but have his eyes in every corner of his Diocess, in every member of his body: Eyes in his head, to understand his place and function, that he be able to perform what belongs unto him: Eyes in his feet, to have a care unto his goings, that he give no offence or scandall in so high a calling: Eyes in his hand, or Oculatus manus, as he in Plautus, that he ordain no man unworthily: Nay, [Page 336] even his Crozier he must have eyes, he must have ocu­latum baculum, as Antiochus hath it, that so he pu­nish none but those that deserve correction. In a word, as the good Father Iraeneus said of God Almighty, that he is totus oculus, & totum lumen; so should it be reported of a careful Prelate, that he is eye all o­ver, and sees round about him. Which if he do, how­ever he may wink at some things out of humane fra­ilty, and possibly connive at others out of just ne­cessity, yet will he still have one eye open to have a care upon the main.

The Tale of Argus with his hundred eyes, how they did watch and sleep by turns when the guarded lo, how he was voce nova captus, and virga medicata tactus, won with a song, and blinded with a touch of a charmed rod, is a pretty fable, but very useful in the morall: And it doth plainly shew the Prelate this, that if fine words can win him, and corruption blind him, he will become a prey to every Mercury, and in conclusion, lose himself and the Church together. Vigilate igitur, watch therefore, you that are this day advanced to so high a dignity: And what I say to you I say to all the rest in their several stations, Vigilate, Watch.

Now unto God the Father who keepeth Israel, whose eyes do neither sleep nor slumber; to God the Sonne, the chief Shepherd, and Bishop of our souls; and unto God the holy Ghost, which hath made you Bishops to feed and rule the Church of God, let us ascribe all honour, praise, and power, and glory, now and for evermore. Amen.

AMongst those severall Allegories which are used in Scripture to sig­nifie the state of the Church of God, there is not any one which doth more lively represent the same unto us then that of the Shep­herd and the Sheep: The Shepherd vigilant and in­tent, not only in the feeding, but the preservation of the flock committed to him: the Sheep obedient to the voyce of the careful Shepherd, and apt to fol­low in the way which he leads before them. The Of­fice of this heavenly Shepherd, as it relates unto the feeding of his flock, we finde most punctually ex­pressed in the 23. Psalm of David; but as it doth concern them in their preservation, we finde it no where more exactly then in this whole Chapter of St. John. His life he laid down for his Sheep, for their [Page 338] Redemption, v. 17. that he might take it up again for their justification. This made him take unto himself that glorious attribute of Pastor ille bonus, that good Shep­herd; good absolutely in himself as the Sonne of God, and good respectively to us as he is a Shepherd; especially if we reflect upon the hireling and the Thief, which here he speaks of; for if we mark the situation of the Text, we finde it crucified in a man­ner between two Malefactors, the Thief upon the one hand, and the hireling on the other. The Thief we finde in the 10th verse, who comes into the Fold to no other end, nisi ut furetur, & mactet & perdat, but to steal, and kill, and to destroy. And this doth manifest the more our Saviours goodness, who came not to destroy, but to save the Flock. The hireling he comes after, v. 12. who undertakes the charge with no other purpose then that of Balaam the sonne of Bosor, 2▪ Pet. 2. 15. amans mercedem iniquitatis, even for the wa­ges of unrighteousness. And therefore when he sees the Wolf, he takes care for one; not for his sheep, (for the Text tells us, v. 13. that he cares not for them) but for himself: He leaves the sheep and fli­eth, and the Wolf catcheth them, and scattereth them. v. 12. This doth the more advance the reputation of the good Shepherd of my Text, who knoweth the sheep, and loves them as his own; and for a Pledge and Testimony of his great affection, chose rather to expose his own life to a certain ruine, then that his flock should run the hazard of a dissipation. And so we briefly fall on the words themselves, Ego sum Pa­stor ille bonus, I am the good Shepherd, &c.

These words contain in them these two generall parts, a Position and an Exposition: the Position in [Page 339] the first, Ego sum Pastor ille bonus, I am the good Shep­herd; the Exposition in the last, Matth. 11. v. 3. Bonus pastor animam suam dat proovibus suis, The good Shepherd giveth his life for the Sheep. We may resolve them both into this Proposition; Our Saviour Jesus Christ is that good Shepherd which layeth down his life for his Sheep. Now in this Proposition we have these three parts; the Person first, and that is Christ himself who speaks it, Ego sum, I am. 2. The office; and that's a Shepherd, [...] in the Greek, that Shepherd; and last of all his eminent piety in the discharge of that imployment, he is Pastor bonus, the good Shepherd. Where in the Greek, as we had [...], ille Pa­stor, so have we [...], ille bonus too. And so our Saviour is that Shepherd also, the best no doubt that ever was, none ever laying down his life for his sheep but he. These are the parts, and these I shall discourse of as they lie in order, beginning with the Person first, which is Ego, I.

Ego sum, I am; So the Text expresly: But who this Ego is, that we finde not here. This must be looked for in the 7th verse. Dixit eis iterum Jesus, then said Jesus unto them again: And having found this we need seek no further, nor ask with Johns Disciples, art thou he, or shall we look for another? This Ego is that [...], he that was to come, whom St. John asked after, that Jesus whom the other John, v. 7. St. John the Evangelist, in the beginning of this period, doth call ostium ovium, the door of the Sheep: the door there, and the Shepherd here; but both se­cundum similitudines, non secundum proprietates, saith St. Austin; A door in a similitude, a Shepherd in a Parable, but in propriety of speech a Saviour, a true [Page 340] Jesus verily, so called before his birth by the holy Angel; Matth. 1. v. 2 [...]. Jesus by name, the Sonne of God by nature and propriety, filius unicus de patre in aeternum ab aeter­no genitus, begotten by his Father before all worlds, God of God, Augustin in Joh [...] light of light, very God of very God, as the Creed instructs us. And yet a Shepherd and a door, a Rock, a Vine, the Lion of the Tribe of Ju­dah; besides those many other Attributes which are accumulated on him in the Scripture, secundum ali­quam similitudinem, according to the trope or allego­ry.

But of all adjuncts given unto him, those of the Sheep and Lamb, do seem most incompetible; for if he be a Sheep, who is then the Shepherd? and if he be a Lamb, who takes care to feed him? And yet a Lamb he is, even that Agnus Dei, that Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World, as was vouched of him by St. John: the holy Lamb, the very Paschall Lamb indeed, whose blood being sprinkled on our doores, keeps away the destroying Angel that he come not near us. And yet a sheep he is, Esay 53. even that harmless sheep whereof Esay speaks, which being afflicted and oppressed opened not his mouth, but like the sheep before the Shearer he was dumb and silent. And this the sacred name of Jesus, if there be any faith to be had in Anagrams, doth either intimate or presuppose; for out of that most blessed name, as it is written in the Greek, the original Tongue, those which have traded in that art, have found this Anagram (and a most excellent one it is indeed) [...], thou art that Sheep, that name­ly whereof Esay prophecied, and in whose name (according to the transposition of the Elements) the [Page 341] Eunuch was baptized by the Evangelist. Acts 8. v. 38. So then this Ego of my Text hath somewhat in him more then ordinary, being both the Shepherd and the Sheep; Ille & Pastor est & Ovis, as the Father hath it.

But all this, as before I said, secundum similitudines, as in a figure or resemblance. Would you be pleased to know what he is indeed, in his own nature and con­dition, as he is Ego, I, one of the persons in the Syntax of the blessed Trinity? Si quaeras à me proprietatem, as St. Austin hath it; In Joh. would you be satisfied in that? then know assuredly, that he is filius hominis & filius Dei, the Sonne of God and man, even the man Christ Jesus; Sym [...]ol. A [...]h [...]n [...]. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before all worlds, man of the substance of his Mo­ther, born in the world: As God, the second Person in the glorious Trinity, begotten by his Father be­fore all time, generatione, [...], in an unspeakable manner, without any concurrence or act of woman: As man, the first person of the Sonnes of Adam, born of his Mother in the fulness of time, ge­neratione [...], in a most supernatu­rall way, without help of man. The very true Mel­chisedeck which the Scriptures speak of, who in the u­nity of his person, being God and man, is without Father, Heb. 7. v. 3. without Mother, without descent, having neither beginning of dayes nor end of life: Without a Father as the Sonne of man, without a Mother as the Sonne of God; in both respects without descent, nam generationem ejus quis enarret? Esay 53. v▪ 8. for who can tell the manner of his Generation, or derive his Pedigre? Without a Father, yet the Sonne of God; without a Mother, yet the Sonne of the Virgin Mary; here without Father, without Mother there. In terris sine [Page 342] Patre, in coelis verò sine matre, as it is in Origen. Shall we explain this Riddle by another? Know then, that in despite of Grammar and the Rules of Accidence, Ego is here the second person, and yet as worthy as the first.

That God by his meanes would repaire the ruines of our mortall nature, himself had frequently fore­told in holy Scripture: It was the first promise made to Adam, to comfort and revive him after his defecti­on, that the seed of the woman should bruise the Serpents head; Gen. 3. 15. that he should crush the sting of death, and swallow up the grave in victory. It was the first promise which God made to Abraham, when he commanded him to leave his own Country and his Fathers House, Gen. 12. v. 3. that in his seed should all the Nati­ons of the World be blessed. Promises not to be fulfilled but in him that made them, never to be accomplished till God descended so much beneath himself, as to come down from Heaven, and be incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary. This the great mystery of godliness which St. Paul inculcates, God mani­fested in the flesh; the Verbum caro factum, which St. John remembreth. Jo [...]. 1. 14. For who but he that is the Word could by his words procure this testimony from his enemies, Joh. 7. 48. nec vox hominem sonat, never man spake as this man speaketh? Who but God manife­sted in the flesh could by his works extort this true Confession from his executioners? Matth. 27. v. 54. Surely this was no other then the Sonne of God. Adeo veritas ab invi­tis etiam pectoribus erumpit, Institut. said Lactantius truly.

And yet besides Gods gracious pleasure, and the necessity of mans estate that so it must be, it stood with most convenience that so it should be. Qui al­terum [Page 343] erigit seipsum incurvat, He that lifts up ano­ther must first stoop himself, and bow down his own body first, before he can raise up a man that's fallen. And this was it for which the second person in the glorious Trinity became the first in the construction of my Text; He made himself the Sonne of man, that so we might be made the Sonnes of God. He for a time did bow down the Heavens, and remained with us on the Earth for a certain season, that man created of the Earth, might be taken with him up to Heaven, and there live for ever. His incorruptible did put on our corruption, that so our mortall might be clothed with his immortality. And this in the good Fathers Language, Augustin in Joh. non similitudo, sed res ipsa est, is neither Allegory, Trope nor Figure, but a most sacred necessary truth, and of all men to be believed who have not forfeited their faith to advance their wits; or rather have not forfeited those great wits they boast of, in bringing all the Principles of the Christian faith to be indicted and arraigned at the Barre of Reason. Lactant. Id fides credat, intelligentia non requi­rat, was the Fathers Rule, but thrown aside in this unlucky Age, wherein men are so apt to dispute themselves out of all Religion, and set up a new Creed of their own devising.

So then this Ego of my Text relates to Jesus, v. 1. and that unto the first of Matthew, where he had his name, and where he was proclaimed by the heavenly Herald to be conceived of the holy Ghost by the Virgin Mary. Ego here, Jesus there; in both Texts a Saviour, a person of a mixt condition be­tween God and man, such as a Saviour ought to be; For being sensible of our infirmities as a man, and a­ble [Page 344] to relieve us in them as our God, as God and man he mediates for us, that being freed of those in­firmities which are inherent in our flesh, we may hereafter reign with him in his endless glories. We read in Livie, that when the Romans had violently surprized the Sabine Women, and taken them to their Wives, the angry Sabines took up Arms to re­venge the injury. The Armies being ready for the fight, the Women seriously taking into considerati­on, that as they were begotten by the one, so they are now as flesh with the other people, rush in be­tween them, Hist. Rom. Dec. 1. [...]. 1. Hinc viros, inde Patres orabant, Some­times they pray unto their Fathers to remit the wrong, and sometimes call unto their Husbands to admit a Parley; never desisting from that pious of­fice, till both the Armies were made friends, and an eternall League was sworn between them. The Ap­plication is so easie and familiar that I need not press it: Only I note, that this great work of our Reconci­liation could not be wrought by any but a Saviour, and such as had relation to both parties, both to God and man; that being jealous of the honour of the one, and zealous for the preservation of the other, he might make up that peace betwixt us which all the powers of Hell should not interrupt. Which work of reconciliation, being a special part of that Pastorall charge which he hath taken to himself, leads me on fairly to my second generall, which is the Office of our Saviour; Ego sum ille Pastor, I am that Shep­herd.

And here perhaps it may be said, that we have took great pains to a little purpose: Have we endea­voured all this while to prove our Saviour to be the [Page 345] Sonne of the eternall ever-living God, and do we now so much debase him as to make him a Shep­herd? Have we advanced him up on high, and set him at the right hand of God in the heavenly places, ut lapsu graviore ruat, Claudian. only to make his fall the grea­ter? Or with the Tempter in the Gospel, have we advanced him to the top of the highest Pinacle, and told him that he was the Sonne of God, and then come out with mitte te deorsum, cast thy self down as farre as poverty and contempt can make thee? This were a cunning peece of malice, if it were so meant, in case the office of a Shepherd were so con­temptible and inconsiderable as some men have made it. But if we look upon it well, we shall finde the contrary; there being no inferior place of charge or Government, more like unto the Kingly Office then the Shepherds is: Upon which ground Homer calls Agamemnon, de Agricultura. [...], the Shepherd of his People. And Philo gives it for a Rule, that not Homer only, [...], but the whole Tribe of Poets also have honoured good Princes with the same Attribute. Nay, in his Book of the life of Joseph he gives this note, that the best Shepherd makes the best King: and in his Tract de vita Mosis doth affirm expresly, [...], that the best preparation to the Kingly Office is to be a Shepherd. In which regard St. Basil tells us, [...], that the Pa­storal and Imperial Offices were near of kin; the one being but a [...], or preparation to the other. But behold a greater then Philo or St. Basil here: For God himself hath said of Cyrus, Esay 44. v. 28: that he was his Shepherd; and purposely exalted David from the [Page 346] Sheep-fold to the regall Throne, that he might know the better how to feed Jacob his people, and Is­rael his Inheritance, Psal. 78. v. 70.

Nor hath the name of Shepherd been accounted anciently an honorary adjunct only to the greatest Princes, [...], but to God him­self, as Philo hath observed in his Book of Husban­dry. An observation not so strange in Philo, by birth a Jew, and so acquainted with the Scripture, as it may seem to be in Plato, Plato de Reg [...]o. who was a meer stranger to the Covenant: And yet in Plato do we finde it, and that in termes no lesse expressive then in those of Philo; for speaking of the peaceable and happy lives which men are said to lead in the first Ages, he gives this reason for it in his Book de Regno, [...], &c. God, saith he, was their [...]hep­herd, and he did lead them and conduct them as now Princes do; whom therefore we are bound to honour in the next degree to the Gods immortal. A Speech so excellent and divine, that nothing but the written word can go beyond it. But behold a greater then Plato is here also; for God hath told us by the mouth of his Servant David, that he is a Shepherd; Dominus Pastor meus, the Lord is my Shepherd, Psal. 23. and hear O thou Shepherd of Israel, v. 1. v. 1. Psal. 80.

If therefore God may, without diminution of his power and greatness, assume unto himself the name of a Shepherd, assuredly the Sonne of God will think it no disparagement to be called so too. Or if it were, what poor and low condition would not he gladly un­dergo for the sake of man, whose bowels yerned so oft within him, Matth. 9. v. 36. when as he saw his wretched and neg­lected people wandring like sheep without a Shep­herd? [Page 347] And certainly, if we consult the Scriptures, we shall there finde that God designed him to this Of­fice, long time before his incarnation, the taking of our flesh upon him; v. 23. for in the 34. of Ezekiel, thus saith the Lord about his flock, I will set up one Shep­herd over them, and he shall feed them, & ipse erit eis in Pastorem, and shall be their Shepherd. A Prophe­cie accomplished by our Lord and Saviou [...] in the whole work and business of his life amongst us▪ for being appointed by Almighty God to be the Shep­herd of his people, Luk. 2. 8. 12. he caused the first tidings of his Birth to be proclaimed to a company of shepherds; & chose a stable, or a sheep-coat rather, (as most Fathers think) to be the place of his Nativity. Conversing here amongst us men, he took unto himself the name of a Shepherd, v. 11. 14. being styled so in this Chapter twice, and talking of his Sheep throughout the whole. After all this, being to take his farewel of us, (for as much as did concern his bodily presence) he left no greater charge unto his Disciples, Joh. 21. v. 16, 17. then, Pascite oves meas, to feed his sheep. One further evidence to this purpose we will make bold to borrow out of Plutarchs works, who tells a Story of one Thames, that as he sailed to­wards Greece, was by a strange voyce, but from whence he knew not, commanded to make known when he came on Land, that Pan the Shepherds God was dead. This Pan the Authour takes to be the sonne of Mer­cury and Penelope, Plutarch de Oracul. cessat. when the Gentiles worshipped: But they which looked with more advice into the mat­ter, conceive it rather to be meant of the Sonne of God, and the Virgin Mary; who much about the time which that Authour speaks of, did suffer death upon the Crosse for our redemption, and was indeed [Page 348] the true God Pan, chief Shepherd of the soul of man.

A Shepherd then our Saviour was, there's no doubt of that; we might have took it absolutely on his Ipse dixit. But how he doth discharge the office, is in the next place to be considered. And this we shall the better see, by looking for a while on the Country-shepherd, whose duty doth consist in three points especially; 1. In the feeding, 2. In the order­ing, And 3. In the guarding of the sheep committed to him. For feeding first, there is no question to be made but that it is a part of the shepherds office. The very name doth intimate so much unto us; for Pa­stor à pascendo, a shepherd is so called from feeding, and that not in the Language of the Latines only, but in Greek and Hebrew. This duty mentioned in the Georgicks, Luciferi primo cum sydere frigida rura carpa­mus: in which he doth advise his shepherd, that at the dawning of the day he unfold his sheep, and drive them out into their Pasture. And this exemplified in Jacob, Gen. 30, 31. and the sonnes of Jacob, honest shepherds all; it being said of Jacob in the Book of God, 37. 12. that he did feed the Sheep of Laban; of Jacob's sonnes, that they did feed their Fathers flocks in Sichem. And finally, this took for granted in Almighty God, in his expo­stulation with the Priests and Prophets of the House of Isra [...]l, Ez [...]k. 34. v. 2. nonne greges à Pastoribus pascuntur? should not the Shepherds feed the Flocks?

That Christ doth punctually discharge this duty, v. 25▪ is past all controversie: The Prophet hath foresig­nified that he should so do; I will set up one Shepherd over them: and the Evangelists declare that he did so do, For what were all those heavenly Sermons, those [Page 349] frequent exhortations unto faith and piety which he so often made unto them, but a spirituall feeding of the inward man, a sweet refection of the soul, a ce­lestiall nourishment? His feeding of so many thou­sands by a few Loaves of Bread, and two small fishes, what was it, though a signall miracle, compared with those many millions which he doth feed continually with the bread of life? We need not doubt of the success, when he that fed them with the Word was the Word it self; or of the spreading of the Gospel, when he that was the Preacher was the Gospel too; or of the nourishment of the Guests in the fruits of godliness, when he that carved unto them the life of bread was of himself the bread of life. For he indeed was magnus ille panis qui mentem replet, Augustin. non ventrem, that holy bread which feedes the soul, and not the bo­dy, as the Father hath it; the living bread (as him­self tells us of himself) which came down from Hea­ven, of which whosoever eateth he shall live for ever. Joh. 6. 51. Which bread, if it be meant of Christ, who is God the Word, we then partake it principally in the Sa­craments; but if we understand it of the Word of God, in Psal. 1. 47. (as St. Hierome doth) we must then look for it in the Scriptures. By these two meanes, the preach­ing of Gods holy Word, and the administration of his Sacraments, are we still fed and nourished unto life eternal; 1 Pet. 5. if not by Christ himself, the [...], or chief Shepherd, as St. Peter calls him, yet by those under-Officers, those inferior Ministers to whom he hath intrusted that most weighty duty.

First, for the preaching of the Word, that be­longs equally to all his Ministers; to whom he grant­ed a Commission to this end and purpose, when he [Page 350] commanded his Apostles, and in them all other Mi­nisters of his holy Gospel, Mat. 28. 28. to teach all Nations; or, as St. Mark doth change the Phrase, Mark 16. to preach the Go­spel. This the most excellent kinde of feeding, and most peculiar to our Saviour in his Pastoral Office; the feeding of our bodies appertaining rather unto God the Father, who on the opening of his hand filleth all things living with plenteousness. Psal. 145. In which respect, our Saviour tells us in his Gospel, that man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word proceeding from the mouth of God. This is that part of heavenly nourishment from which we are at no time barred; from which no age, no sex, no quality is to be repel­led. Universos homines, [...]ct. l. 1. M [...]n. Fel. sine discrimine sexus vel aetatis, (Minutius adds vel dignitatis) ad coeleste pabulum con­vocamus. This bread is offered unto all, of what con­dition or estate soever; and being offered unto all requireth the more hands to make tender of it. And therefore all the Ministers of the Church in their Or­dination have this authority intrusted to them, that they should preach the Gospel, where and whensoe­ver they are appointed thereunto.

For the administration of the Sacraments, especi­ally the holy Eucharist, that belongs only to the Priests, who hath power to consecrate and blesse the creatures, which are appointed by the Lord our Savi­our for the commemoration of his death and passion. Hoc facite is there the Priests Commission, to take the bread, and blesse and break it? hoc edite, hoc bi­bite, take, eat and drink, are a Commission to the people to partake thereof: And certainly, never was Table better furnished then that of our Redeemer in the blessed Sacrament; a Banquet of all others [Page 351] the most rich and nourishing, where Jesus Christ is set before us, and he himself is both the Entertainer and the Feast. If any hunger, here is the bread of life, Joh. 8. 51. spiritual Mannah, farre better then the food of Angels; whoever eateth of this Bread he shall live for ever. Is any thirsty, here is the well of life eternal, farre better then the well of Jacob, or the waters of Jordan; Whoever drinketh of these waters he shall never thirst. Ioh. 4. 14. Will you have more? and in that more the proof and reason of the whole; he telleth us, that his flesh is meat indeed, and that his blood is drink in­deed, in St. Johns Gospel. A bountiful and liberal feast, and such whereof our blessed Saviour is no nig­gard; we may participate of it monethly, weekly, daily, as our spiritual necessities and estates require: Panem hunc dat quotidie, in Psal. 18. dat omnibus, dat semper, as Ambrose hath it.

The second duty of the Shepherd is, that he order and direct the Flock committed to him: so to direct them that they do not wander; or if they do, that he reduce them back to the Fold again; to order them, both when they are in state of health, and when they chance to fall into those Diseases to which they na­turally are inclined. The word [...] in the Greek doth imply a Government; the Poet else had not called Agamemnon [...], the Prince or shep­herd of his people. And so we finde it also in the Book of God, in which [...] is interpreted to rule or govern; v. 6. as in the 2d of St. Matthew, for out of thee shall come a Governour, [...], which shall rule my people Israel. Now for the exer­cise of this part of his Office, the shepherd hath not only his Oyls and waters, and other implements of [Page 352] Chirurgery, Scyllam (que) helleboros (que) graves, nigrum (que) bitumen, as the Poet hath it; but he is armed also with his Shepherds Crook, which is the Scepter of his Empire; called therefore Pedum in the Latine, eò quòd retineat pecudum pedes, as Servius notes it upon Virgil. In this regard the shepherds in the Book of Jeremy are called Optimates gregis, the Princes, or the principalls of the Flock, 25: 34. as the English reads it, as having principal authority in ordering and dispo­sing of them. And David, when he kept his Fathers sheep in Bethlehem, is represented to us with his Shep­herds staffe, 1 Sam. 17. v. 40. Et tulit ba [...]ulum suum in manibus suis, He took his staffe in his hand, as the Text informs us, i. e. the staffe or Shepherds Crook wherewith he used to order and direct his flock, and pull them in as often as they went astray.

Thus also deals our Lord and Saviour with the sheep of his Pasture: Did any of them prove un­sound? he then applyed himself unto the cure, Et medicas adhibere manus ad vulnera, Virgil: and to the salving of their sores. Witness that heavenly speech of his, when being taxed for keeping company with Publi­cans and sinners, he returned this answer, that the whole had no need of the Physician, Mat. 9. v. 12. but the sick. Did any of them go astray? he tells us of himself by his ho­ly Prophet, that he would seek that which was lost, and bring back that again which was driven away; Ezek. 34. and tells us by himself in his holy Gospel, that the Sonne of man was come to seek and save that which was lost; Luk. 19. 10. &c. which in the Parable of the lost sheep is at large ex­emplified. Were they grown wanton and unruly? we finde him armed with power to destroy the fat and the strong, & pascere illos in judicio, and to [Page 353] feed them with judgement, Ezek. 34. to feed the flock of his inheritance with a rod, v. 10. Micah 7. and fi­nally the Prophet David doth represent the Lord his Shepherd, v. 14. with a rod and a staffe, Psal. 23. i. e. as Austin doth expound it, with a corrective power, with the Rod of Discipline, according to the quality of the offence, August. in Psal. 23. and the condition of the offender. Disciplina tua tanquam virga ad gregem ovium, & tan­quam Baculus ad grandiores filios, as he states the busi­ness.

This power of Government, the Lord when he withdrew himself from the sight of man, transmitted over to the Church, and the Ministers of it. Whether indifferently to all alike, that's the point in question. Bellarmine looking through the Spectacles of the Popes Ambition, ascribes this solely to St. Peter, and to his Successors in the See of Rome. de R. Pont. l. 1. c. His reason is, because the charge of Pasce oves meas, Pasce agnos meos, was given peculiarly to Peter, and to him alone: But herein he and those of his opinion, are destitute of that antiquity and consent of Fathers, which usual­ly they do pretend to. In this the Fathers leave them to themselves to make good the cause, and run a ve­ry different opinion from them. A Jury of them at the least might be here impanneled, which opine the contrary. And if St. Austine were the fore-man, he would find it thus; de Agon. Chr. c. 40: that P [...]ter oftentimes in the holy Scripture, sustained the person of the Church, Et cum ci dicitur, ad omnes dicitur, pasce oves meas. And therefore when our Saviour said unto him, feed my Sheep, he said the same in him, unto all the rest. So then the rest of the Apostles have as much interest in this weighty charge, as St. P [...]ter had, they being [Page 354] all equally invested pari consortio potestatis & honoris, with an equall measure both of power and honour▪ as Cyprian, Cypr. and generally all the Fathers tell us.

The next enquiry will be this, whether that all the Ministers of our Saviours Gospel be equally intru­sted with a power of feeding, and may all equally take upon themselves the name of Pastors. Some would fain have it so indeed; for seeing that the word of God is the food of the soul, Moulin ad Winton. non video cur Pastor non dicatur, qui pabulum hoc subministrat, we see no cause say they, that those who preach the Word of God, should not be honoured also with the name of Pa­stors. And Pastors let them be, if the name will please them, though ab initio non fuit sic, it was not so from the beginning; for anciently the Prelates only had the name of Pastors. St. Austin knew no other Pastors in the Church of God, then the Apostles and the Bishops, in the 47. Tract on John. Our learned Andrews is resolute upon the point, [...]nton. ad Moul. neminem veterum sic locutum, that the Antients never otherwise under­stood the word. And Binius in his notes upon the Councils, excepts against a fragment of the Council of Rhemes, as being not of that Antiquity which is there pretended: Tom. 3. part. 2. quod titulum Pastoris tribuat Par [...] ­cho, because the name of Pastor is communicated to the Parish [...]Priest, contrary to the usage of those el­der times: But Pastors let them be in Gods name, if the name will please them, so they usurp not on the power: Pastors, as Pasco is derived from [...], which signifieth to feed, but not to govern,

For whereas there are divers acts of the Pastoral charge, 1 Thes. 5. 14. as viz. to beat down the body of sin, to warn the unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, [Page 355] to infuse balm into the sick and wounded soul, and with all care and industry to call the sinner to repentance: all these do equally belong to those, who are inve­sted by the Church with holy Orders. The Parish-Presbyter would very ill be called a Rector, did we not grant him this authority, And for the power corrective, let him take that too, so farre as he may do it with the sword of the spirit, Et virga oris sui, and with the rod of his mouth, Esay 11. as the Prophet calls it. But for the power of correction, by the Rod of D [...]s­cipline, or the staffe of punishment, or by the cen­sures of the Church, that pertains only to the Pre­late, the superior Pastor; and it concerneth him high­ly, that he use it well. For many times it hapneth, that the stragling sheep will not be brought into the Fold by fair perswasions, or by the Ministery of the Word. What then? Ad diligentiam Pastoralem per­tinet, it then belongs unto the Pastor, Flagellorum ter­roribus vel etiam doloribus revocare, to fetch him back again by the stripes of D [...]scipline, August. E [...]. 50. by the coercions of the Church. Which power, were it committed to the hands of each several Minister, would doubtless prove the greatest tyranny, that ever the poor Church of Christ did suffer under. This is not [...], but [...], and pertains solely to the Prelate, as an act of Government; Who therefore anciently was arm­ed with his Crozier, or Pastoral staffe, (and by the Law of England he may use it still) that by the same he might reduce the stragler, and correct the stub­born, and rouze up the affections of the sluggish per­son. According to the good old verse,

— Attrahe per primum, medio rege punge per imum; A perfect Embleme of his duty: for howsoever that [Page 356] of Nazianzen be exceeding true, Nazianz. [...], that the good Shepherd should oft­ner use his Pipe then his. Shepherds-staffe: yet the Sheep become unruly, and will not hear the Shep­herds-pipe, pipe he never so sweetly; he must needs take his staffe in hand, there's no other remedy. But I touch onely on these Controversies, and so passe them by.

The third and last duty which pertains unto the Shepherd is, that he guard his sheep, and keep them safe, from the devouring malice of the enemy. In which regard, it is the Custom of those Countries which are plagued with Wolves, to lodge their sheep at night in defossis specubus, in some strong Caverns under ground, and free from violence. In which re­gard, the Poet Virgil doth advise his shepherd to pro­vide himself of some fierce Mastives, acres molossos, as he calls them, by whom the flock may be defen­ded, during his own necessary absence. And finally, in this regard the faithful Shepherd doth expose his person unto much peril, many inconveniences, and several assaults of enemies. Thus Jacob tells us of himself, that when he kept the sheep of Laban, the drought consumed him by day, Gen. 31. v. 40. and the Frost by night, and that sleep departed from his eyes. And in the Story of Gods Book we are told of David, that when he kept his Fathers sheep, and that a Bear and a Lion had sur­prized a Lamb, 1 Sam. 30, 35. he set himself against the fury of those ravenous Beasts, and delivered the poor Lamb out of their pawes, and in a single combat slew them both.

So is it with our Saviour Christ in the protection of his Church, in the defence of those who are the [Page 357] sheep of his Pasture. It was his glory, as it was his comfort, John. that of all those whom God had given him, he had lost not one. And 'twas his comfort as it was his care, that he had lodged them in a place of such strength and safety, even in his strongest hold, his holy Tabernacle; against the which the Gates of Hell shall never be able to prevail. A place in which if we continue, we need not fear the violence of Sa­tan that roaring Lion, 1 Pet. who walks about the Fold con­tinually, seeking out whom he may devoure. And it is well said that he walks about; for get into the Fold he cannot: and therefore doth he walk about it, that so if any of the flock do forsake the Fold, him he may make his prey, and ravish him into his Den. Tis true, that Christ hath sent us out like sheep among the Wolves, as himself hath told us. But then it is as true withall, that he hath furnished us with doggs, and pla­ced them round about his Church, in each corner of it; that by their fierceness, and their watchfulness, and continual barking, they may keep farre aloof the common enemy, by whom the straglers are en­dangered. Vigilant enim & latrant boni Canes, & pro Pastore, Epist. 59. & pro Grege, as St. Austin hath it. The Wolf and other enemies of the flock, know this well e­nough, and indeed labour all they can to destroy these Mastives. Which when they could not do by vio­lence, they treated with the sheep, as the Fable hath it, to deliver them up into their hands; but mark what followed thereupon. Oves presidio Canum destitutas la­niant, the doggs being gone, they fell upon the sheep and worried them, and brought them to a swift de­struction.

Lastly, He hath supplied his Church from time [Page 358] to time with faithful Pastors, for the defence and cu­stody thereof from the common enemy: such as have evermore exposed their persons to apparent dangers, their good names to the calumnies of malicious tongues, their fortunes many times to apparent ruine; all for the safety of the flock, for the defence of Christs and the Churches cause. Witness those ma­ny sufferings of the Apostles, 1 Cor. 4. 12, 13. as St. Paul describes them, reviled, yet blessing; persecuted, yet still suffer­ing; defamed, and yet intreating: and in a word, ut mundi purgamenta facti, accounted as the filth of the world, and the off-scouring of all things to this very day. 2 Cor. 11. 24, 25. And more then so, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by their own Countreymen, in perils by the Heathen, in perils in the City, in perils in the Wil­derness, in perils by Sea, in perils amongst false Bre­thren. And to make up the total summe of their af­flictions, in stripes above measure, in prisons more fre­quent, in deaths oft. The Devil knew how much the safety of the Flock depended on the care and vigilan­cy of the Shepherd, and therefore he aims most at them. Percutiam Pastorem & dispergam gregem, is the best Text in his Divinity. This he hath practised in all times and ag [...]s, upon the Prophets, the Apostles, Prelates, Pastors; the Shepherds of all ages many, of all places some; but upon none more visibly then our Saviour Christ, who was not only il Pastor fido, the faithful Shepherd, whose eyes do neither sleep nor slumber, that so his sheep might feed in safety on the Hills and Mountains; but Pastor ille bonus, the good Shepherd too, even that good Shepherd of my Text. Not onely willing to expose his person to contempt a [...]d scorn, as many of his followers since have done; [Page 359] but also to lay down his [...] life to save his sheep, which never any did in this world but he. And so I come unto the eminent piety of our Saviour, in the dis­charge of this imployment; being not only ille Pastor, that Shepherd, but ille bonus Pastor, that good Shep­herd also; my last particular, and now in order to be handled.

Ego sum Pastor ille bonus, I am the good Shepherd. And first this goodness of the Lord, though indivisi­ble in it self, hath been divided by the Schoolmen, with good propriety both of words and meaning, into two kindes or species. The first they call [...], Original, the other [...], exemplified. Illa in Deo existens, haec in creatur is expressa: the first existing solely on the Lord our God; the other copied out▪ and manifested in his creatures. That which they call [...], or original, we may define to be an everla­sting and unalterable quality in Almighty God, qua modis omnibus & summè bonus est, whereby he is su­premely and entirely good. In which regard Plato hath said of God, that he is [...], good only in and of himself, A [...]rian. E [...]ctet. [...], the only▪ saving good, as others of the Heathen call'd him. And he that knew him best, our most gracious Saviour, hath given this to us for a Maxime, That there is none good but onely God. Mat. 19. v. 17. So good, that the most blessed Vision of the Almighty is the most excellent good, the summum bonum, which any of the Saints or Angels can aspire unto. Philosophers may wrangle and dispute amongst themselves, of mans chief felicity, and may ascribe it, if they please, to pleasure, or riches; or as the wiser sort have done, to the works of vertue. But we that are the sheep of our Saviours Pasture, look for [Page 360] this summum bonum, only in the Lord our God, and there we shall be sure to finde it.

The other kind of goodness call'd by the School­men [...], or exemplified, is that which God hath mani [...]ested on his creatures, and imparted to them. This they divide again into general and special, that being extended unto all his Creatures, this more par­ticularly restrained to his chosen servants. This gene­rall goodness clearly manifested in the Creation of the World, ( quid enim aliud est Mundus quam Deus explicatus, said the old Philosopher) and in preser­ving of the same created, cloathing the Lillies, and feeding the young Ravens when they call upon him; making his Sun to shine as well upon the sinner, as the righteous person; Psal. 145. and in a word, opening his hand, and filling all things living with his plentiousness. In which respect, David most truly tells us of him, re­pleta est terra bonitate Domini, Psal. 32. 5. the Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. But that which most especially doth concern this business, is his special goodness, re­strained unto his chosen servants, to such as fear his name, and observe his precepts. The Lord is good to Israel, Psal. 73. (saith the royal Psalmist) his qui recto sunt corde, even unto all such as are of a clean heart. And the Book of Lamentations, The Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. This goodness is manifested & declared in delivering them from evil, the evil both of sin and punishment; and in accu­mulating on them his most sacred blessings both of grace and glory. For if an earthly Father, (as our Sa­viour urgeth) though full of evil in himself, Matth. knoweth how to provide good things for his natural Children: how much more shall our Father which is in Heaven, [Page 361] bestow good things on those whom he hath adopted. This is enough to make us sensible of Gods goodness to us. And yet the way by which this goodness is procured for us is far more admirable: Rom. 8. 32. the Lord not sparing his own Sonne, but delivering him up for us all, that with him he might also freely give us all things, as St. Paul instructs us.

This is indeed the highest point of heavenly good­ness. And very hard it is to say, whether deserve more of our admiration, either that God the Father should appoint it so, or God the Sonne considered in our flesh, should act the Tragedy. I shall no longer wonder at the strange Command which God once layd upon our Father Abraham. Abraham take now thy Sonne, Gen. 22. 2. thine only Sonne Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him for a burnt Offering to the Lord thy God. Here finde we God the Father really performing what he imposed on Abraham, tentandi causa, only for triall of his faith, and his obedience. Nor shall I much ad­mire at the zeal of Moses, desiring in a pious ferven­cy, that he himself might be blotted out of the Book of God, Exod. 3. 32 [...]. upon condition that the peoples sins might be forgiven them. Here finde we God the Sonne actu­ally laying down his most precious life, not only for his own people and the sheep of his hands, but even for those which were not of his Fold, and did never know him. Alias enim Oves habeo. For other sheep I have which are not of this Fold, as in the 16. of this Chapter. An action beyond all example; and such wherein our blessed Saviour went beyond himself. Himself had given it for a Maxime, John 15. 1 [...]. that greater love could no man shew then this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. And yet behold how willingly he [Page 362] gave his life for those who either were false friends, or apparent enemies, Never did Sheepherd act such a part of goodness, never were sheep so much obliged unto the goodness of their Sheepherd.

O the unsearchableness of Gods mercy! the most unlimited extent of his grace and goodness to morta­lity! It had been farre above the possibility, either of our merit or requital, had he but only bowed the Heavens and come down to visit us. It had been such a prodigie as would have startled the most setled mindes of the sonnes of nature, to have heard only this, that for a good mans sake, some peradventure would yet dare to die. But God (saith the Apostle) commends his love to us in this, in that whilest we were yet sinners, Rom. 5. 8. Christ di [...]d for us. The Lord and giver of life, submits himself unto the death; mortem autem Crucis, to the reproachful death of the accursed Crosse. He yields himself to the most shameful of all deaths, the accursed Crosse for the most wretched and unworthy of all his Creatures, rebellious man. Rebellious man, which had so often provoked his God to anger, and crucified as it were the Lord of Glory, before his comming in the flesh. And wh [...]ch doth add unto the miracle of his goodness to us, di­vinitatem dat in proemium, he died for us that we might live with him for ever; August. and therefore put on our corruption, that we might all be cloathed with his immortality. Good God! how gladly could I wish unto my self, the tongues of men and Angels at this present time, that I might speak a little of thy Grace and mercy. And yet O Lord, the tongues of men and Angels would fall so short of true expressi­on, that they would seem no better then a sounding [Page 363] brasse, 1 Cor. 13. or a tinckling Cymball. Thou only hast ability to relate the history of thine own great mercies, who hadst alone the power to do them. The story of thy sufferings will be then best told, when we shall see thee face to face; and thou which wert the Argu­ment, art the Authour too.

Christ died then. Animam suam posuit pro Ovibus suis, and laid down his most precious life to preserve [...]is flock. Besides his gracious pleasure that so it should be, there was in a manner a necessity that so it must be. Heb. 9▪ Without the shedding of blood (saith the A­postle) there is no remission; and what blood else could have that efficacy, but his that speaks farre better things unto us, then the blood of Abel. No saving of the sheep, but by the blood of the Shepherd: no raising of the sonnes of men to the life of righteous­ness, but by subjecting the Sonne of God to the death of nature. c. 53. v. 5. For our transgressions was he wounded, for our iniquities was he bruised, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed, saith the Prophet Esay. Percutiam Pastorem is salva­tion here. Besides, the enemy against whom he fought, had been else invincible. For as upon some sodain exigents, the surest way to conquer is to flee; so here, the readiest way for him to get the victory, was to lose his life. Novum ad victoriam iter sangui­nis sui semita aperuit, Florus hist▪ Rom. l. 1. as the Historian said of Decius. This was indeed a battel of a strange condition, in which the Conqueror must first lose his life, before he could obtain the victory, and live again before he could enjoy it. No other way to subjugate the pow­ers of death, and ransom his distressed sheep from the hands of Satan, c. 2. v. 14. but by his death to overthrow him [Page 364] which had the power of death, which is the Devil. So the Apostle to the Hebrews, A miracle saith the Glosse indeed, that the Devil should be beaten at his own weapon; and being the first that brought in death, should be conquered by it. Mors enim erat arma per quae vincebat diabolus, & per en victus est à Christo. So the Glosse expounds it. Closs. O [...]dinar

Thus punctually hath the Lord our Saviour dis­charged the duty of the good Sheepherd unto us; and somewhat we must do reciprocally in the correspon­dence thereunto. But what that is, will be too long a business, to be discoursed of at this present. The 27. of this Chapter will be a more convenient Theme, whereupon to build an Application of the present Doctrine; as it relates unto the Pastoral charge of Christ our Saviour, in feeding of our souls with the bread of life, curing our wounded consciences with the Physick of the Word, correcting out obliquities with the rod of Discipline; and lodging us in a most safe and secure place, whilest we are made partakers of his heavenly comforts. But as our present Text re­lates to the Sheepherds goodness, the Application will be here more proper then it can be there: the hearing of his voyce, and the requital of his good­ness in a mutual suffering, being of very different na­tures. For questionle [...]s, as Christ out of his infinite goodness did will [...]ngly lay down his life for us; so may [...]e well expect a mutual readiness in us, not only to die with him, but to die for him [...] also, when our [...]piritual necessities▪ and the extremities of his Church shall so require. The first of these two wayes, is by dying with him, cruc [...]ying our sins upon his Crosse, burying our corrupt affections in his Grave, mortify­ [...]ng [Page 365] our earthly members, and killing in our selves the whole body of sin. This to be done by chastising of our souls with watchings, fastings, labours, patience, afflictions, sufferings. Duties so throughly practised in the former times, by many of the Primitive Chri­stians, that their very flesh was rarified into spirit; and the whole man so fitted for eternal glories, as if they did not look to die, but to be translated. Which du­ties, as they are at all times to be practised by us, so most especially on those dayes and times, which are designed according to the pattern of pure Antiquity, for fasting, prayer, and such like acts of Christian hu­miliation: though now not only generally neglected by most sorts of men, as if there were no difference between Christian libertie and antichristian licenti­ousness; but branded and defamed as superstitious, if not somewhat worse. So that I fear we may too truly take up the complaint of the Royal Psalmist I humbled my self and fasted, and put on Sackcloth, and it was turned to my reproof.

The second way of mutual suffering with our Sa­viour, is by dying for him. This was the salt where­with he seasoned his Disciples, and [...] it preserves their memories most sweet and fragrant to this very day. A matter not so gracious I confess unto flesh and blood, but such as may be entertained without great difficulty, in any heart that is truly Christian; by a­ny one who seriously considers how much the most that he can suffer for the sake of Christ, comes short of that which Christ hath suffered for the sake of man: he being immortal, and not subject unto death, unless he would; we mortal, & of necessity to die, how much soever w [...] decline it. Death is a sleep, which [Page 366] first or last must bind up all our senses; and in the bottom of the Grave we shall all be lodged. This all the difference, that some of us may be sooner had to bed, and not laid down so easily as the others are. Add unto this the comfortable words of Christ our Savi­our, in St. Matthews Gospel, qui perdiderit animam suam propter me, Mat. 10. 39 he that loseth his life for my sake, shall be sure to finde it. And tell me then if thus to die, be not the readiest way to live for ever: if thus to venture all for the sake of Christ, be not the surest way to keep all from hazard, and to receive our own with usury. Thus must we be resolved, if ever, as God knowes how soon, there should be oc­casion: and though there never be occasion, (as God grant there be not) yet must we all be thus affected, at the least in voto. So doing, we are Martyrs though we do not suffer, and shall die whilest we live. And dying for him, whilest we live in our earthly Taber­nacles; we shall live with him when we die in his end­less Glories. Which God of his great mercy vouch­safe unto us all. Amen.

THe Sheepherd and the Sheep are a kind of relatives, and there are mutual and reciprocal Offices to be done be­tween them. The Sheepherd calls the Sheep by name, and they hear his voice; he leads them in the way, and they follow him. This Sheepherd who it is we have seen already; it is Christ our Saviour, the great Sheepherd of the Sheep as St. Paul; the [...], or chief Sheep­herd, as St. Peter calls him. Heb. 13. 1 Pet. 5. But what need more be said of this, then what our Saviour hath affirmed in that kind before, who did not only take upon himself the name and office of a Sheepherd, but chalenged to himself the title of the good Sheepherd too, the best without all question that was ever known; none e­ver laying down his life for the sheep but he. So [Page 368] for the sheep, look we but on our selves, we shall quickly finde them: Psal. 95. we being all of us, oves manuum ejus, the sheep of his Hands, the workmanship of his Creation, & oves pascuae ejus the sheep of his pastures, fed and brought up by him in the works of godliness. And this the good Father Greg. N [...]ss. doth reckon as a principal part of our felicity, [...], that Christ doth cause us to be called his sheep, and feed us with the viands of eternal life.

How farre our blessed Saviour hath discharged his Office, not only as a Sheepherd, but the good Sheep­herd too, we have shewn already. Superat pars altera curae lanigeros agitare greges; That which remains behind, doth concern our selves, the duties wherein we stand bound by the Lord our Sheepherd. For cer­tainly, it is to be expected, that if he speak unto us, we should also hearken; if he preach to us, we should practise. More then this he requires not of us; and lesse then this we could not do, did he not require it. The hearing of his voyce when he speaks unto us, is an easie piety: and we should ill deserve the benefit even of outward sense, did we not hearken unto him who made the eare; or lend an eare to him, who first gave it us. The following of his steps in the way of godliness, may perhaps seem an harder duty; and yet of no such difficulty, if considered rightly, when he which leads the way doth support us in it. We shall ill finde the way to immortality, if we were left unto our selves; who cast such doubts, and make such poor excuses to delay the journey, having so sure a Guide, such a brave Conductor, not only to direct us that we do not erre, but to sustain us also that we do not fall. These the chief duties which he looks for [Page 369] from us; and these he gives us in the words now read unto you. Oves meae vocem meam audiunt, My Sheep hear my voyce, and follow me.

These words, as they relate unto our selves, pre­sent unto us these three things to be considered. 1. The condition of Gods people, as they are repre­sented to us in the name of sheep: first Oves, and then Oves meae, Christs Sheep, the sheep of his most blessed Pastures. 2. The duties here expected from them, which are audire & sequi, to hear and to fol­low; or rather so to hear that we may follow the better. 3. We have the object of this duty, which is twofold also, vocem meam, me; not my voice only, but my foot-steps too. These are the points to be considered▪ beginning first with the condition of Gods people, as they are represented to us in the name of sheep: first single in themselves as Oves, then as uni­ted in one fold, under one chief Shepherd, oves meae, my sheep, the whole flock together. First then,

Ovis est molle pecus, corpore inerme, animo placidum. The sheep is said by Isidore, to be a creature of a very meek and quiet nature, of great, both innocency and simplicity: disarmed, and so by consequence disabled from doing the least hurt or injury to any other. In this regard, our Saviour Christ was likened by the Prophet Esay, unto a sheep before the Shearer. Who though he was not only shorn, 53. 7. but fleeced; nay both oppressed and afflicted, as the Text informs us: yet he indured it all with patience. He opened not his mouth, but was dumb before them; reviling not a­gain when he was reviled, nor using threatning words when he suffered wrongfully; but withall, meekness and humility committed his whole cause to him who 1 Pet. 2. 23. [Page 370] judgeth righteously. In this regard, our Saviour be­ing to warn his followers of those false Prophets, which the Devil did intend to send amongst them, he lets them know that they should come in Sheeps cloathing, i. e. that they should be apparelled with all shewes of meekness, innocency and humility, and such like amiable qualities, such as win most on the affections of misguided men. Nay it is noted by A­quinas, in nomine Ovis innocentiam & simplicitatem per totam scripturam designari; that through the whole body of the Scripture, innocency and simplicity are expressed unto us under the notion of the sheep. Which though perhaps it be not universally true (as perhaps it may be) yet doth it very well agree with the condition of the sheep, which is not only molle pecus, a creature of a mild and tender nature; but for the most part white of color, quam dives nivei pecoris, as he in Virgil, which is the sign or robe of innocence.

Such also are the sheep of our Saviours Pasture, walking in their vocation, as St. Paul adviseth, with all lowliness and meekness; washing their hands in innocence with the▪ Prophet David; putting away high mindedness and pride, and arrogance, as things which are not competible with their Christian Cal­ling. Our Saviour Christ hath not only taught us to be wise as Serpents, but to be innocent as Doves also. Nor hath he called upon us only that we be holy as he is holy, and per [...]ect, as our Father in Heaven is perfect: but he would have us learn of him, how to be meek and lowly of heart, ut requiem inveniamus animabus nostris, that we may finde rest unto our souls. Humi­lity is the first step in that sacred ladder which reach­eth up from Earth to Heaven; and there we must be­gin [Page 371] our rise, if ever we intend to attain the top. And for the Gates of Heaven, they are strait and narrow, and can be entred only by the meek in heart, by the poor in spirit. Luke 1. It was the lowliness of the Virgin Mary that the Lord regarded; the humble and the meek that he exalteth. The wise man Chilo, though an Heathen, could have taught us this. Who being asked what Jupiter did use to do, Laert in chil. returned this answer, [...], &c. the very same with that of the Magnificat. Deposuit potentes de sede sua, He doth put down the mighty from their Seat, and doth exalt the humble and meek. Exalt them then he will, for him­self hath said it; and that not only in this world above their Brethren, but in the world to come amongst the Angels. Ma [...]. 5. 5. That Christ who hath assured us this, that blessed are the meek in heart, for they shall inherit the Earth; he also hath affirmed, that blessed are the poor in spirit, quoniam ipsorum est Regnum coelorum, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

These qualities of lowliness, meekness and humi­lity, as they are at all times very necessary; so most especially at that time, when we come to hear, to exercise that Office, and perform that duty which is here required. The proud man hates to be instruct­ed, and the impatient will not brook a reprehension. The one thinks no man good enough to be his re­membrancer; the other storms and flies out into fu­ry on the least reproof. The one thinks scorn to come to Christ, wh [...]lest he is preaching in the Temple, and such publick places; They expect rather, and King Herod did in the holy Gospel, Luke 23. till he be brought unto their Houses: and then too, if they be not satisfied in their curiosities, they set him at naught, laugh at [Page 372] him to his very face, & veste alb [...] indutum illudunt, put the fools coat upon him, and so send him going. The other come about him like the Scribes and Pha­risees, Mat. 23. and hearken greedily to his words. But if he touch upon their vices, if he denounce a woe against them for their pride and arrogance, their covetous­n [...]ss, hypocrisie, and desire of glory, they then take counsel presently, how they may destroy him. Nei­ther of these are in a fit condition to repair to Christ; or if they do, are like to get but little by their com­ing to him. Dirigit mansuetos in judicio; they are the meek only whom God guides in judgement, the meek whom he instructeth in his holy wayes. In vain do they resort unto him to hear his voyce, who use to come with hardned, not with humbled hearts.

But there's another quality of the sheep, as neces­sary to the work of hearing on the Post [...]fact, as meek­ness and humility in the preparation, or a parte ante: which is the chewing of the Cud, as we use to call it. The Latines call it rumination. Illice sub nigra▪ pallen­tes ruminat herb as, as the Poet hath it. And they de­rive that terme from the old word rumen, which sig­nifies that little bag or ventricle, into the which it is conveyed before the second chewing of it; or else as Servius hath it in his notes on Virgil, from the most prominent part of the throat, called Ruma, per quam demissus cibus revocatur, by which they do recall that food into their mouthes, which they had lodged with­in their stomacks. The reason of this rumination I re­gard not here, [...]. It properly belongs to the Philosopher, and to him we leave it. All I shall note from hence is this, that ruminare by a Metaphor, is sometimes taken for in memoriam revo­care, [Page 373] to call again to our remembrance: the recalling of such things into our memories, which either have been lost out of them, or mislaid in them, being much of the same nature in a man, as is the other in a Beast. The sheep comes hastily to feed, and in that hast, doth not so thorowly chew and prepare their food, and fit it for digestion, as do other creatures: but when the fury of their Appetite is a little slackned, they be­stow upon it as it were a second eating, that it may be more perfectly concocted, and made fit for nourish­ment. Atque iterum pasto pascitur ante cibo, as it is in Ovid. And this no question is required in every one who doth desire to be accounted for a sheep of our Saviours Pasture, and comes with hast and hunger to hear his voyce. It was the Precept given by David to the great Kings Daughter, not to hear only, but to consider: hearken O Daughter and consider, Psal. 45. And ' [...]was the greatest commendation of the Virgin Mary, a Daughter of the great King also, that she did keep the sayings of her Lord and Saviour, conferens in corde suo, Luke 2. 19. and pondered them duly in her heart. This is that commanded by the Lord to his people Israel, that they should lay up his words in their hearts, Deut. 11. 18. and me­ditate on the same both day and night; commended by St. Luke in the Beroeans, who did not only re­ceive the Word with all readiness of mind, but care­fully compared it with the holy Scriptures: Acts 17. 11. and is in­deed an excellent chewing of the cud, a profitable art of benefiting by the word revealed. For they who thus do chew the cud, are of all others the most like­ly, not only to preserve the word in their hearts and memories, but to observe it also in their words and actions.

This is indeed the principal end both of our preach­ing and your hearing, [...]ra. ut [...]a retineatis in mente, imple­at is in opere, that you do keep it in your mindes, and manifest the same in your conversations. And happy were it with us all, did we imploy our memories to so good a purpose; could we take counsel of the sheep, and learn this excellent art of chewing the cud as we ought to do; for as it hapneth too too often, the soul hath never lesse command upon the memory, then in those things which appertain to its own salvation. Trifles and toyes, conceits and pleasant passages of wit float on the top thereof, and are still at hand. Posco & adsunt illico, as St. Austin hath it. But such things as concern Christs Kingdom and his holy words, Confess. these either are quite lost, and we look not after them, or so mislaid, we cannot find them. Such is the common frailty of us mortal men, that the best things are last learnt, and first forgotten. A frailty no way to be rectified, but by a frequent pondering of the word of God, a due revolving of it in our thoughts and memories: whether we read it in the Scrip [...]ures, or hear it published in our Churches. By doing where­of, we shall not only hear Gods Word, nor peruse it onely, nor onely keep it in our memories, as a tale or Story; but turn the words thereof to works: and thereby verifie that good note of Bernard, Bernard. Is legit rectè scripturas sanctas qui verba vertit in opera.

This if we do, we shall come nearer to the conditi­on of the sheep then before we were: which is a ve­ry profitable creature and exceeding fruitful of good works. For whereas it was either profit or pleasure which first brought Beasts into the service and ac­quaintance of man; the sheep hath the preheminence [Page 375] of them all in the point of profit. Quadrupedum qua [...] utilitatis causa homines incluserunt, Histor. Animal. primas fuisse oves, saith Conradus Gesner. And certainly from that little creature, we have not only all things necessary for the life of man, but many things which are for pleasure and convenience. Thus have we Cloaths of courser wearing from their Skins, of finer from their Wooll; meat from their flesh, medicine from their blood, and Musick from their Bowels. And when the Sun with­drawes his comfortable beames from the sight of man, we make our selves an artificial day by their fat and Tallow. Nay, they afford us an increase also, both of Bread and Beere; and in some parts are be­neficial to their Masters, in all the bounties of a Dairy. Varro de re Rusticâ. Ad cibum lac & caseum praebent. So Varro, and such others who have written of the arts of Husban­dry. For further proof, consult the 25. of St. Matthews Gospel, where our Redeemer gives the sheep this commendation. v. 35, 36. I was (saith he) an hungry, and you gave me meat; thirsty, and you gave me drink; naked, and you cloathed me; a stranger, and you took me in; sick and in prison, and you came to visit me. Which as it doth express most fully the bountiful condition of the sheep, (which questionless, is the most plenti­full and liberal House-keeper of all creatures else:) so doth it also shew, what kind of men they ought to be which are the sheep of our Redeemer, that most glo­rious Shepherd; free in imparting all those blessings wherewith by his great mercies we have been inrich­ed.

But here some men may chance to say, what means have we of yielding any profit to our Lord and Ma­ster, the great Shepherd of our souls, 1 Pet. 2. as St. Peter [Page 376] calls him. He dwells not near us, that we should in­vite him to our Feasts or Banquets; nor can we see him face to face, to make him partaker of our sub­stance. But this, although it be a common, is a false pretence. God dwells amongst us in his poor, and in his Prophets; and he expects that we be bountiful to them whom he hath substituted in his place, either as instruments of our edification, or objects of our li­berality. The Prophet or the Priest, call him which you will, is in the Scriptures called a Sheepherd; and all that are committed to his charge and care are his Sheep, his Flock. And doth not equity require and the Scriptures dictate, 1 Cor. 9. that he which feedèth the Flock, should also feed himself with the milk of the Flock, and sometimes cloath himself with the Fleece thereof? The Law of nature and of Nations have resolved this case. And he must needs rebel against both of them, who grudgeth the poor Priest that maintenance which the Law allowes him; or shall compel him to make up his full tale of bricks, and take away the straw and stubble which before he had. So for the poor, they also have a warrant dormant; or if you will, a general Letter of Atturney, to receive our boun­ties; and to receive them also in the name of God. Verily saith our Lord and Saviour to his blessed sheep, Mat. 25. in as much as you have done these works of mercy unto the least of these my Brethren, ye have done them al­so unto me. An excellent motive unto bounty and the works of charity.

There is another quality in the sheep, which Alber­tus speaks of, viz. that mutual love and correspon­dency which is between them. Oves se mutuò amant, & una condolet alteri, as he tells us of them. Some also [Page 377] have observed▪ that if a sheep that's strong and healthy do see another of the same Fold sick and fainting, Soli pro eadem se objicit, & umbram ei obtendit, he will stand betwixt him and the Sun, and keep him from the fury and the heats thereof. Which if it be so, as I have no reason to suspect the Authours, it is a sympathy full of scandal to the sonnes of men; who for the most part, are so farre from making shade to the afflicted and oppressed, that if their ruine and de­struction will any way conduce unto our advantage, we use to lay them in the Sun. Such miserable com­forters were the friends of Job, who when they should have laboured to revive his spirits, endeavoured to afflict his conscience: and such the Ziphites unto Da­vid, instead of being a comfort to him in the time of his exile, they practise to deliver him into the hands of Saul. We are all of us apt enough to comply with one part of St. Pauls injunction, which is gaudere cum gaudentibus, to rejoyce with them that do rejoyce, to share with men in their prosperities, and be partakers of their glories; and do it, though we be not bidden. But for the other part thereof, which is dolere cum dolentibus, to weep with them that weep, and bear a part in their affliction; we will by no means yield to that, though we be intreated. In that quite contrary to the counsel of the wise Philosopher, who would have no man come uncalled to a friend or neighbour, [...], but in the times of his af­fliction and his adversity.

Next, let us look upon the sheep, as they are a flock; as they are Oves first in the plural number, and secondly, as Oves meae, my sheep, the sheep of Christ, a multitude, or number, under the command of one [Page 378] supreme Sheepherd. First, Oves in the plural number, otherwise Christ could have no Church, and the great Sheepherd would have never a Flock. One sheep can no more properly be called a Flock, then one Swal­low may be said to make a Summer; and on the o­ther side, a multitude of sheep without rule or Go­vernment, is no more a flock, then several shreds of Cloth may be called a Garment. So is it also with the Church, one man though never so replenished with celestial Graces, cannot so properly be called a Church, as a Chappel of Ease: and multitudes of men that live not under one Lord, one Faith, one Baptisme, cannot with such propriety be termed a Church, as a confusion of opinions. To the making therefore of a Church, a Flock; there is a number first required, and next an union or consolidation of those numbers. Its true, this number hath not been at all times eminent, nor equally conspicuous in all places; and yet there have been still a number. Seven thousand knees there were in Israel, which Elijah knew not, that had not bowed themselves to Baal, and infinite numbers in the Realm of Judah, who ne­ver offered sacrifice to that wretched Idol; visible Professors of Gods saving truths and devout wor­shippers of his holy name. Nor ever was the Church so destitu [...]e of the grace of God, as not to hold those necessary fundamental Doctrines which are required unto salvation: and those professed and taught in some place or other according to the will and plea­sure of Almighty God. Since God first had a Church, there have still been numbers of Professors; though more or lesse, according unto times and seasons, more in some places then in others, although not alwayes [Page 379] in such whole and sound condition, so free from erro [...] and corruptions as it ought to be.

But number simply, is not so great a strength to the Church of God, as is the unity thereof. For as the holy Ghost in the Book of Psalms, Psal. 122. compares the Church not unto men, c. 6. v. 4. but to a City, a City at unity in it self, and in the Canticles, not unto Souldiers, but an Army, v. 6. an Army terrible with banners; so doth he liken it not unto sheep, but to a flock, a flock new come from washing, in the same Song of Solomon; a little flock, c. 12. as himself calls it in St. Luke. And if a flock, it must be then united and collected into one Fold, under the leading and command of the same one Sheepherd: unum [...]vile, and unus Pastor, being joyned together in this Chapter, v. 16. To finde this one Sheepherd who it is, we need seek no further then my Text, it is Christ our Saviour; who therefore calleth them oves meas, his own sheep; his as the chief sheepherd and proprietary, the Lord and owner of the flock. And this supreme and universal sheepherd we acknowledge gladly, and should account our selves in an ill condition were we not under his command, fed by his blessed Word and Sacraments, and safely shel­tered under the wings of his protection. There is in­deed another who pretends to this, this universal Em­pire over all the Flock: one who cries out with Po­lyphemus in the Poet, Ovid. Met. 1. 13. Hoc p [...]cus omne meum est, that all the sheep upon the Downs are his; or like the sheepherd in the Eclogue, Mille meae Siculis errant in montibus Agnae, and so are all the Lambs on a thou­sand Hills. Virg. 2. And whereas antiently it was conceived to be a perfect definition of the Church of Christ, viz. that it was a body of men professing one Lord, [Page 380] one Faith, one Baptisme: our Masters in the Church of Rome, have now added this, sub unius Christi in ter­ris Vicarii, Bellarm. de Eccles. l. 3. c. 2. Romani Pont. that this collected body must be under the command of the Bishop of Rome. A patch subjoyned to the old definition of a Church, much like the piece of new Cloth put to an old Gar­ment, which our Saviour speaketh of. That which is added to it to make up the rent, Mat. 9. 17. takes from the beau­ty of the Garment; Et scissura fit pejor, saith the Text, the Schisme or rupture is made worse then be­fore it was. For by this patch, this new addition, the Churches of the East which are large and numerous; those of the Moscovites and A [...]thiopians, which are farre more entire, though not so populous; and all the Churches also of the Reformation are cut off for ever from having any part in David, or hope of an in­heritance in the sonne of Jesse. But with this new Divinity we have nought to do. We know but one chief Sheepherd onely, even the Lord Christ Jesus, whose voyce we are to hear, whom we ought to fol­low.

If it be asked, whether the number or the unity of the flock, be the more considerable; no question but we must determine it in behalf of unity. A small flock if it hold together, are lesse obnoxious to the Wolf, then multitudes of sheep dispersed and scatter­ed without rule and order. Luporum insidiis oves mi­nus patent, quod ita catervatim incedant, & à reliquis non aberrent, as mine Authour hath it. When the sheep keep together in a flock, a Body, the Wolf dare hardly meddle with them; for it were madness in him to attempt a flock. But if he meet them single, or in scattered Companies, divided from the main [Page 381] Body of their fellows; or otherwise stragling from the Fold: then takes he his advantage of them, and destroyes them utterly. As long as Dinah kept her self within the Sanctuary of her Fathers House, fen­ced by the valour of her Brethren, and guided by the counsels of a careful Parent; it went well with her, she preserved her honour. Gen. 34. But when the gadding hu­mour took her, and she must needs abroad to see the Daughters of the Land; she forthwith met with Si­chem the Sonne of Hamor, who seized upon her and defiled her. And so it also is with the stragling Chri­stian, such as do peevishly divide themselves from the Communion of the Church, and wander from the rest of that sacred Body; They either fall into the jawes of the roaring Lion, 1 Pet. who walkes about in expectation of his prey, seeking out whom he may devoure; or else by hearkening to the voice of strangers, John 10. whom they should not follow, they make themselves a spoyl unto Theeves and Robbers. Keep we then all together in one Fold, one Flock; and so we need not fear the violence of Satan, nor the power of Hell, nor any mis­chievous design of malicious men. And if we would preserve the spirit of unity in the bond of peace, we cannot do it with lesse hazard, nor with more assu­rance, then if we hearken diligently to the voyce of Christ, and tread with patience in his steps, which are the duties to be done, and come next in order to be handled.

[...], the sense of hearing (saith our Master Aristotle) is the sense of Dis­cipline, de sens. & s [...]n­sibil. that sense whereby we are made capable of learning; and thereby gain unto our selves that knowledge, which could not be begotten with us by [Page 382] our Parents. We may upon the same grounds, call it the sense of salvation. Rom. For Fides ex auditu, Faith comes by hearing, saith St. Paul. And without faith, it is impossible we should be saved, because it is impos­sible that without faith we should please the Lord. Now no man brings this knowledge of, or this faith in Christ, into the World along with him; nor can a man believe in the Sonne of God, into whose soul the Doctrine of belief is not distilled and infused through the outward senses. Faith, though an habit principal­ly of the Lords infusing, yet requires somewhat on our parts to be done and acted, as hearing, reading, conference, and such like preparatives; whereby our understandings are informed, and our mindes en­lightned, and so prepared to entertain it. Besides, it is the observation of an ancient Father, that many faculties of the soul, Basil. in Psal. 33. [...], are likened and resembled to the outward members. Upon which ground, the eare may not improperly be called [...], the spirituall mouth, by which we do receive both food and Phy­sick for the languishing soul. It hath been noted of the sheep that it is naturally subject to the rot. Ossa minutatim morbo collapsa trahebat, Georgic. 3. as the Poet hath it. Which as it naturally doth arise from the moyst and flegmatick constitution of their bodies; so is it then most frequent and predominant in them, when to the natural moysture of their bodies is added also the cor­rupt moysture of their Pastures. No way to help it or prevent it, but to change their Pastures, to lead them up unto the Mountains, to places of a sweet, but more wholsom Herbage. So is it also with us men, with our Saviours sheep. We are all rotten [Page 383] from the womb: in sin our Mothers have conceived us, saith the Royal Psalmist: but then most dange­rously affected with it, when to the natural corrupt­ness of our disposition are added also the diseases of our education: Tully in Phil. 2 Crederes nos naturâ non tam improbos esse, nisi accederet etiam disciplina. But being thus diseased and ill-affected, what means is left us for the cure? surely there is no other way to remedy the dis­eases of our conversation, but by the physick of the Word; nor other way to make that physick effica­cious, but by applying it to the ear, That is the mouth wherewith we must take down those potions which the Physitians of our souls have prescribed unto us.

Next let us look upon the Word as it is our food, man living not by bread alone, but by every word procee­ding from the mouth of God; food fitted for all Ages and for all conditions. Are we but Novices in the things of God, but Babes of yesterday? then it goes for milk. As new-born babes desire ye the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby, so St. Peter hath it. 1 Pet. 2 Are ye of riper years and more setled judgments? then it stands for meat. Strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, who have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil, Heb. 5. 12. so St. Paul hath told us. Are ye of curious tasts and affected palates? then it is a banquet, a banquet of all others the most rich and nourishing. A banquet full of all Varieties; in which there are both Sweet-meats to delight the Tast, Sal­sado's to revive the Palate, Tart stuff to set an edge upon the Appetite, Lenitives to open and unknit Obstructions, Cordials to heighten and advance our Spirits. And by what means do we become partakers [Page 384] of those heavenly Viands, but onely by the mouth of our Understanding; de resur. carnis. auditu devorandus est hic pa­nis, Intellectu devorandus, Fide digerendus. This sa­cred and celestial food must be first swallowed with our Ears, chewed with our Intellect or Understand­ing, and finally digested by our Faith, as Tertullian hath it: so that in each of those respects and in all together, Qui habet aures audire, audiat, He that hath ears to hear let him hear: and yet that's not all.

Not all assuredly, there's no thought of that; the way to Heaven were very easie if it should be so. There's not a Scribe or Pharisee in all the Gospel but had been Sainted long before this time, if hearing onely in it self, ex opere operato, as the Schoolmen phrase it, could have brought them thither. They heard the voice of Christ, none oftner, but they one­ly heard it; and in this place audire goes a little fur­ther. The hearing, Servius in Aeneid. 3. as it is the sense of discipline, so was the ear (the instrument of hearing) of old times consecrated to the memory. Physici dicunt singulas corporis partes Numinibus consecratas esse, ut aurem Memoriae, Guil. in Joh. frontem Genio, as Servius notes it upon Vir­gil. We must so hear then that we do remember, not make our ears a thorough-fare, and no more then so: and yet this is not all we must look to neither. Audire est credere & obedire, as mine author tells me. To hear is to believe and practise; first to believe that what we heare delivered in the Word is true, and then to practise it as fit and necessary to be done: this is the hearing we must trust too if we look for Hea­ven. 'Tis not the shutting of our eyes, and turning all the body into an ear that will save our soules; there's somewhat else which must be thought of. First [Page 385] to commit to memory those saving Doctrines which we have heard delivered from the Word of God, and next to express the power thereof in our lives and actions, in 2 Pet. [...], as in Oecumenius, with all alacrity of mind and spirit; for not the hearers of the Word, but the doers of it shall be justified, so the Apostle to the Romans.

Nor is it strange that hearing in the Book of God should be interpreted Obedience. It was the first quarrel which God had with Adam, Gen. 3. quia audiisti vo­cem uxoris tuae, because he had hearkened to the voice of his wife. What, had God given her to him for a comfort, and doth he now find fault that he heard her speak? what comfort can there be in a sullen wo­man? in a dumb woman none at all. Not so: 'twas not the hearing of Eves voice that the Lord con­demned, but his obeying of the same, his yielding to her wanton motions, and attributing more unto her desires then to Gods Commandements. Audisti, i. e. adimplesti, to hearken there is to obey; because thou hast obeyed the voice of thy wife, and willfully transgressed the precepts of the Lord thy God, therefore the Lord shall curs [...] the earth, and make thee labour for thy living; v. 22. so in the 1 of Samuel and the 15th Chapter, Melior est obedientia quàm victimae, to obey is better then sacrifice, and to hearken then the fat of Rams. Where auscultare & obedire to hearken and obey are plainly used as words of the same sig­nification, the same in sense though not in sound; and therefore when Almighty God did give this te­stimony of our Saviour, Mat. 3. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, and then immediately sub­joyned audite ipsum, hear ye him, it is not to be [Page 386] thought that he required no more then their outward ears: That had been to invite his followers to that very fault which he blamed in others, which was au­dientes non audiunt, the people heard his word, and yet heard it not: i. e. they heard the Word but did not do it. They onely hear his Word aright, which do hear with profit: which if we do, we shall not onely hear his word as is here commanded, but shall so hear his voice as to follow him, which is most chiefly here intended; but of this we shall speak more anon.

In the mean time we must take notice of the ob­ject which we are to hear. Audite ipsum, hear ye him, so saith God the Father▪ audite vocē meam, hear my voice, so saith God the Son, and both these are one. Ipse there, which is God the word, is here vox mea, or the word of God, both most apparently the same. Indeed it is not to be thought, that he which is the Word should more conveniently express himself in any other way then by his voice: for howsoever that of the Apostle be most unquestionably true, that God at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto our Fathers by the Pro­phets, Heb. 1. 1. yet still we are at locutus est Deus, that God spake unto them, & speak he could not properly but by a voice; nay, if we look upon it well, we shall surely find that the first external action ascribed to God in holy Scripture is dixit Dominus, the Lord spake; Gen. 1. and that was a miraculous kind of speech in­deed, he spake not onely words but works. He spake the word and it was made, he said the word onely and they were created. Psal. From that time forwards un­to this▪ God never did express himself in a cleerer [Page 387] way then by that of speaking, either in dreams and visions as unto the Patriarcks, or Angelorum atque ho­minum ministerio, by the tongues of holy men and An­gels, as unto the Jews, till in the last dayes locutus est nobis in filio, he spake unto us by his Son the heir of all things. This is that He, and his that Voice which we are to hear; and well it is, and most agreeable to our infirmities that he should speak to us by a voice. For should he speak unto us now as at the giving of the Law in Sinai, Exod. 19. in thunder and lightning, what flesh were able to abide it? Or should he speak unto us in a cloud of darkness, & cum clangore Tubae, and with the sound of a Trumpet, what ear were able to en­dure it? Exod. 20. Speak thou unto us (said the Jews to Moses) and we will hear, but let not God speak to us lest we die, i. e. let not the Lord so speak unto us that we dare not hear, or shew himself in such a terrible way unto us, that we dare not approch unto him. Indeed it is not often that God speaks otherwise unto us, then in a still and gentle voice, such as the Jews call Bath-col, filia vocis, 4 v. 16. a small slender voice; such as Job calleth vocem aurae lenis, a still silent voice; such as may charme but not astonish, and which is fitter to invite attention then to excite our fears.

Now of this truth we find a very pregnant instance in the history of Elijah, as it is represented to us in the Book of Kings, God called upon him to go forth and stand upon the Mount before him, & then it follows, And behold the Lord passed by, and a great strong wind rent the Mountains, 1 Kings 19. 11, &c. and broke in peeces the Rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an Earthquake, but the Lord was not in the Earthquake; and after the Earthquake a Fire, but the [Page 388] Lord was not in the Fire; and after the Fire a still small Voice, sibilus aurae tenuis, as the vulgar hath it, and in that voice the Lord appeared unto the Prophet, and signified his will unto him. Which, as it doth most excellently expresse the manner of Gods speak­ing to his people in the former times, so is it, as it were, as history of those wayes and means by which the Lord hath spoke to us (to us particularly of this Nation) in these latter dayes. The time was when the Lord passed by us in a mighty wind, a wind that blew down violently before it those majestick stru­ctures which had been consecrated anciently to reli­gious uses and the service of God, but sure God was not in that wind; next he passed by us in an Earth­quake in King Edwards dayes, an Earthquake or Commotion as the vulgar reads it, by which the very foundations of the State were almost utterly subver­ted by rebellions, and the whole fabrick of the Go­vernment dissolved by potent factions, At non in Commotione Dominus, but the Lord was not in that Earthquake. Post commotionem Ignis, after the Earth­quake came a Fire, a cruel and devouring Fire, a Fire more raging then the Babylonian Furnace, not heat­ed for three onely but for thrice three hundred; a Fire intended for the utter ruine of Gods Saints and Servants, though it proved rather in the event a fie­ry Chariot, such as was that provided for Elijah, for their conveyance into Heaven, At non in igne Domi­nus, I am sure God was not in that Fire. At last he shewed himself unto us in sibilo aurae tenuis, in a still small voice; a voice of comfort and of consolation, a voice which for these eighty years hath spoken far better things unto us then the blood of Abel: a voice [Page 389] which we must hearken to with fear and reverence, as did Elijah to that still small voice which appeared unto him, as being vox Dei there, and vox mea here, no difference at all between them.

But what may some men chance to say, How shall we know whether the voice that speaks unto us, and which we go so greedily to hear, be the vox mea of the Text, since every one pretends to the like Com­mission, and hath a dixit Dominus in his mouth, be he who he will? The readiest way to satisfie this doubt, is to look back upon the story of Elijah, and resolve our selves: for if the Preacher speak unto you in a still small voice, if he deliver nothing to you but the truth with soberness, Acts 26. verba veritatis & sobrietatis as the Apostle calls them, then doubt you not but God is present in that voice, and tis your Christian duty to give ear unto it: but if he speak unto you in Fires and Earthquakes, in Storms and Tempests, or like the sons of Boanerges call for fire from Heaven, it is a shrewd conjecture that God is not there. Those voices savour of a different spirit from the Lord our Sheepherd, whose lips dropped Myrrhe, who spake unto his people in so mild a way, that his reproofs were gentle, his corrections sweet. No Fire, nor Storm, nor Earthquake in that sacred voice wherein he speaks unto his Flocks, nor can it stand indeed with his pastoral Office, or with the safety of his sheep that it should be otherwise. The sheep is naturally of a ti­morous and weak condition, easily frighted from their food should they be terrified with the cries of Wolves, though false and counterfeit; or the conti­nual barking of the dogs, though perhaps their own. In which regard the Poets often represent the [Page 390] Sheepherd with his pipe and songs, and his flocks feeding round about him, Stant & oves circum, &c. Such is the voice we are to hear, a still silent voice, vox aurae lenis, or sib [...]lus aurae tenuis, a still small voice, a voice proceeding from a meek and humble spirit: and yet it is not vox & preterea nihil, not a bare voice onely which we are to hear, but there's a guide also whom we are to follow; audire vocem ejus will not serve the turn, if we do not sequi. The voice but leads us on to him whom we ought to follow, and we are bound to hear his voice for no other rea­son, but that we may the better know how to follow him, my next particular and very briefly to be hand­led.

Oves meae vocem meam audiunt, & sequuntur me, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me, i. e. they do so hear his voice as to follow him. They stand not gazing after him like men astonished, as did the men of Galilee at his ascention, or as Elisha did upon Eli­jah at his assumption, but are still going and in mo­tion, if they follow him. And if we follow him as we ought to do, in all the paths of piety and vertue which he hath pleased to lead before us, we shall be hearers of his voice, there's no doubt of that, and hearers of it to the purpose. And I said well, if we do follow him through all the paths of piety and vertue which he hath pleased to lead before us: for many things our Saviour did, in which it is impossible we should follow him; or else not necessary if we could. Miracles, and such works of wonder as he wrought daily by the power of his Divinity, are objects of our Faith onely and our admiration; and in these we can­not follow him. Particular actions, whether of Cere­monie, [Page 391] as his sitting whilst he taught the people; or Circumstance, as his administring the Sacrament in an upper Chamber, are left arbitrary; and in these we need not follow him. But in all Morall duties whatsoever, as Prayer, and Fasting, and Alms-deeds, in pardoning such offences as are done unto us, and humbling our selves under the mighty hand of God; in these he hath commanded an obedient imitation, and in all those we ought to follow him.

If therefore Christ hath taken up his Crosse, and is gone before us, it is no small part of our obedience to take up our Crosses also, Luke 24. and to follow after. Opor­tet primum haec pati, we must first suffer all these things, Afflictions, Persecutions, Buffetings, Revilings, yea and Death it self before we enter into glory. As he hath led the way before us in all the works of Godliness and the fruits of Mercy, what better can become us then to do so too? to tread in his most sacred steps as he makes us able: Himself hath so commanded, and we must obey, Eph. 5. 1. Be ye followers of God as dear children, saith the great Apostle, i. e. as children love to imi­tate the gestures, speech, and other actions of their Parents, so must we follow the example of our hea­venly Father, Virgil. sequimurque patrem non passibus aequis. St. Peter to the self same purpose, that Christ hath left us an example, 1 Pet. 2. 21. ut sequamur vestigia ejus, that we should follow his steps. And though St. Paul doth in another place exhort those of Corinth that they should be followers of him, 1 Cor. 11. 1. yet he subjoyned this li­mitation, sicut ego Christi, as I am of Christ. Were it not for this tie, sicut ego Christi, we might be Phari­sees in our youth, and Persecutors in our age, (as too many have been) and justifie our selves in both by [Page 392] St. Pauls example. So that however that of the Po­et be exceeding true, Claudum. vivitur exemplo melius, that men are guided easier by example then they are by precept, yet it concerns us all to be very careful in choosing of the patterns which we mean to imitate; and not to follow any man how great soever, further then he doth follow Christ the chief Lord of all.

And certainly our Saviour did not limit and re­strain this duty, and tie it to himself alone without special reason. He knew, none better, the faulty hu­mour of the sheep; how apt they are (out of their na­tural inclination) to run that way which some of their unruly fellows have first led before them, though con­trary to the direction of their Sheepherd, and many times to their own ruine and destruction. Ubi mares viam ducunt, Aristotle in Hist. Animal. reliquus grex facilè sequetur. Aristotle long ago did observe this in them, in his Historia Ani­malium, and it holds good still in our own observati­on. Thus is it also with us men, we are all apt to fol­low bad example, especially the example of some no­ted Bell-wether; and few there are which are not very much in love with the faults and errors of their betters: which as it may advise all those of more e­minent ranck, to have a special care of their wayes and actions, because their actions many times are made exemplary, so may it lessen those of the lower sort, that to be governed by the example of frail sin­ful men, is at the best a simple and sheepish quality. O Imitatores stultum pecus, Horat. said the Poet truely, the reason is because the best men have been guilty of notorious crimes, and therefore should we make their lives a general pattern unto ours, we may be drunk with Noah, and incestuous with Lot, swearers with [Page 393] Joseph, Murderers with David, Idolaters with Solo­mon, Persecutors with Paul, Deniers of the Lord with Peter, and indeed what not. 'Tis not sequuntur then which is here commanded, an art of Imitation onely which is here required, for then our Saviour had not told us in their commendation, Alienum au­tem non sequuntur, that they would not follow after strangers. 'Tis the word me that makes all sure, the following of the Lord our Sheepherd, and of none but him, which in the end will bring us unto life e­ternal. He is the carkase which is gone before us, and we the Eagles that must follow after him, and follow after him to that place where our reward is gone be­fore, and provided for us: For doubt we not but if we follow our most gracious Sheepherd in all those paths of grace and godliness which he hath gone before us in this present world, but we shall also follow the Lamb whether soever he shall go in the world to come.

And yet I must not leave my Text: there is one word more to be considered, and such a word as is of special use and efficacy to move vs to the following of our Saviour, and of none but him, and this is Et cognosco eas, and I know the sheep. A knowledge not in general onely, how many and how fat they are, of what size and colour, which every one may quickly know as well as he, but a particular know­ledge of their several states, of their strength or fee­blenesse, how they have prospered in his pastures, to what infirmities they are subject, and the way to cure them. A knowledge so exact and punctual, as to know them every one by name, & proprias oves vocat nominatim, he calls them every one by name, [Page 394] in the third of this Chapter; such as ascertains them of his favour here and his glories hereafter. For Dominus novit qui sunt sui, The Lord knows who are his, 2 Tim 2. 19. saith the great Apostle; and this he terms fundamentum firmum & signaculum, [...], as the Greek text hath it, the sure founda­tion and the seal of our Christian hope; the sheep­mark if I may so call it, of the heavenly sheepherd: more then this yet: It is a knowledg which begets a mutual confidence and acquaintance in and with one another: I am the good sheepherd and know my sheep, and am known of mine, ver. 14. He knows them so as to take special notice of them, and to observe whether they follow him or not, as they ought to do. Not one of them can go astray but his eye is on him, nor hide himself so closely that he cannot find him; and having found him at the last, will ei­ther bring him back to the fold in triumph, or leave him if he find no hope of his reduction, with some brand or other that all the rest may be admo­nished to forbear his company. And they so know him on the other side as to rest assur'd that he will lead them in no other paths then the paths of righteousnesse, nor conduct them unto any other pa­stures then the green pastures of the Word, or drive them to any other waters then the waters of comfort, Psalme 24. whereof David speaks. No Vallie of the shadow of Death, no dreadful Precipice, no dangerous or un­comfortable walk to be feared at all, if we take care to follow him: they are all sure enough of that, and this assurance doth proceed from cognosco eas, that knowledg which he is pleased to take of his sheep particularly, and to vouchsafe them of him­self [Page 395] and his favours towards them. Follow him then we may with safety, for he will lead us onely in the way to Heaven; and follow him we must with care, for he takes notice of our wandrings, of going astray; and follow him we must both with hope and confidence, for he knows our frailty, and will pro­vide us of all necessaries for so long a journey. And then we may be sure of this, that as we do our best to follow him in the paths of righteousness, so he will do his part (for he knows our hearts) that Grace and Mercy shall attend us in the course of this life, and bring us in conclusion to the house of the Lord our God, where we shall dwell for evermore: and to this house God of his grace and mer [...]y bring us all even for Christ his sake; to whom with God the Father and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all Honor, Praise and Glory, now and ever more, Amen.