SERMONS UPON Solemn Occasions: PREACHED IN Several Auditories. BY HUMPHREY SYDENHAM, Rector of Pokington in SOMERSET.  D. Aug. Serm. 46. de Tempore. 
Multa sunt ora ministeriorum, Sermonis gerentium, sed unum est os ministros implentis.  
LONDON, Printed by JOHN BEALE, for Humphrey Robinson, and are to be sold at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in PAUL'S Churchyard. M.DC.XXXVII.   

TO THE MOST REVEREND FATHER IN GOD, MY VERY GOOD LORD, WILLIAM, Lord Archbishop of CANTERBURY his Grace, Primate of all ENGLAND, and Metropolitan, and Chancellor of the University of OXFORD.  
MOST REVEREND,  
IN matters of Bounty or Benefit received, He that speaks thanks, 
Sigratum dixeris, omnia dixcris. Sen. lib. de Ben. 2.  commonly, Speaks all; The Divine not so, His profession requires aswell Devotion, as Gratitude; and what is only Acknowledgement in others, should be Prayer in him. These have made way for this Ambition of mine (for so it will be censured) in seeking your Grace's Patronage; to which, by your former great Favours and Encouragements, I have met with a double stair; The one, in my first admission to spiritual preferment; The other, in settling it, when it was disturbed; Both these, here bound up by a thankful and zealous obligation, in this Tender of my poor Endeavours: which, though I fear, will scarce hold weight in the Scale of your stricter judgement; yet, in that of your Charity, They may pass, perhaps, with a Grain or two, (as oftentimes light pieces do) and so vindicate me from the imputation of that lose and lazy Ignorance, which the very Spirit of Ignorance would put upon me; where Vociferation is cried-up for Industry; and Faction for Holiness; and a bitter and unbridled Zeal for sound knowledge. But notwithstanding the foaming of those muddy waters, Springs may run clear; and I doubt not, but Mine shall, if they find a Current in your Grace's Protection; with whom, though in the most Critical and envious Eye, All things are clear and pure, without the least taint or tincture of corruption (like waters in their own Source and Fountain) yet the Waters of Marah have been round about you, and no doubt, but your Grace hath had a taste (no less than others of that Hierarchy) of their Gall of Bitterness. Witness their divine Tragedies and impudent Appeals; their late Currantoes, 
Acts 8.23.  and Legends of Ipswich, and since (I know not by what poor Haberdasher of small wares) Their Looking glass for Lordly Prelates; In which they have not so much wounded the particular Honours of eminent and learned men, as struck through the sides of Religion itself, in blemishing the outward face of the Church, not only by obtruding to her, her former Spots and Moles (as what Church was ever yet without them?) but overspreading it with a kind of Leprosy; And so, instead of being black, 
Cant. 1.5.  like the Tents of Kedar, They would make her ugly, like the Tent of Korah, thereby exposing her to the scornful eyes of her enemies abroad; and (if possibly) of her own Sons at home. Now, if bold men dare thus play with the very Beard of Aaron, 
Psal. 133.2.  what will they do to the Skirts of his Raiment? If the goodly Oak, and the Cedar be thus beaten on with their Tempests, what shall become of the slender Fir Tree, and the poor Shrub of the valley? If Schismatical hands be catching at the mitre and the Rotchet, how will they rend the contemptible Hood and Surplice? Certainly, if the main Pillars and Buttresses of the Church be once shaken, the weatherbeaten Tiles and Rafters will be tumbling about their ears; However, in despite of the envious Basilisk, 
Psalm. 57.4  this poison of the Asp, and Gall of the viper, the spears and arrows and sharp Swords of these holy Libelers (O blessed for ever be the God of Heaven; and under him, here His God of earth, 
Ezra 7.6.  a most Gracious Sovereign!) Ezra is in high Favour, and The King hath granted him all his requests according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him: So that, your Grace is still above danger, and shot-free of their Power, though not of their Envy; which; no doubt, is cursed enough, but that her horns are short; and if they were not, I might appositely enough bring home, That to your fatherly Care of the Church, here (a word only or two exchanged) which in the like case, S. jerom did to the learned Bishop of Hippo, the great Repairer of the primitive Faith; In orbe celebraris, Canonici, Te, 
Epist. 57 D. Aug. circa sinem.  Conditorem antiquae rursum Fidei venerantur; & quod signum majoris eft gloriae, omnes Schismatici detestantur; & Tuos, pari persequuntur odio; ut quos Gladio nequeunt, voto intersiciant.  
Pardon this Digression, most Reverend Father. Obscure men may, without offence, deplore the miseries they cannot redress; Those that are more eminent, may do both. A General Harmony, aswell in Doctrine, as in Discipline is yet wanting in the public practice of our Church, though not in the Principles thereof; which is the main Anvil most of my Sermons hammer on; where, though you shall meet, belike, with much dust and rubbish, yet there is a way begun to a richer Mine, which more elaborate and higher wits may dig after, if they please. And as in public Vineyards, there are tàm Wae, quàm Labruscae, here a wild Grape, there a Green one; yonder a Third, in its full blood, more ripened for your Palate; So it is in this mixture of my labours, according to the disposition of their several Dedications; where, though every piece may find an Incourager, None a Vindicator justly, but in a religious and learned Metropolitan, to whose Gracious hands are in all obedience offered, These and all the Powers of  
Your Grace's most obliged Honourer, and Servant, HUM. SYDENHAM.   

THE WEL-TUNED CYMBAL. OR, A Vindication of the modern Harmony and Ornaments in our Churches. AGAINST The Murmur of their discontented OPPOSERS. A SERMON, Occasionally preached at the Dedication of an ORGAN lately set up at Bruton in Somerset. By Humphrey Sydenham.  PSAL. 150. v. 4, 5. 
Laudate Dominum in Chordis & Organo, laudate eum in Cymbalis jubilationis.  
LONDON, Printed by JOHN BEALE, for Humphrey Robinson, at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in PAUL'S Churchyard. 1637.   

TO MY HONOURABLE Friend, JOHN COVENTRY, Esquire, Son to the Right Honourable THOMAS, Lord COVENTRY, Baron of Alesborough, and Lord Keeper of the Great SEAL of England.  
SIR,  
I Presume a musical Discourse can neither be improper, nor unseasonable for him, that hath so much harmony in himself, that holds such a consonancy with the practice of the Church he lives in. And this is both your happiness and your aim. Too many there are which employ their wit and greatness a contrary way, and delight altogether in the jarring of the string, as if there were no Melody but in Discords; but such are not within your fingering; nor, indeed, your fancy; knowing that a Song of Zion, is a Song of Peace; and he that keeps not time in the Hosannah below, shall hardly sing his part in the Hallelujah above. I could whisper something in your ear, but being in part a stranger, I may be thought to gloze; and therefore I will tell't abroad, where I am conceived to be a little blunt, and therefore unapt to flatter. You have beside your accurate speculations both in Divinity and Arts, a way to sweeten them. an humble and courteous affability, by which you have given so much encouragement to those more canonically devoted in our (commonly despised) Tribe, that you have made them even tributary, and captive; so that they equally study their own thankfulness, and your honour; to which if these poor scribble of mine may give either lustre or advancement, (you having been formerly pleased to afford them not only the charity of your fair opinion, but the approbation also) I have done something to glory in; and amongst the Troop of your other Honourers and Admirers, shall persist as the most humble, so  
The most Faithful, HUM. SYDENHAM.   

THE WELL-TUNED CYMBAL.  
The first Sermon.  PSAL. 59.16. 
I will sing of thy Power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy Mercy, in the morning, because thou hast been my defence and my refuge in the day of my trouble.  
THe Text, though but a verse, is a complete Psalm, having in it all the properties of a spiritual Song; where we may find the Parts, the Ground, the Descant, the Author or Setter of it, the Time when 'twas sung, and the Occasion of the singing.  
1 The Parts two, in two words; Potentia and Misericordia, Power and Mercy; and these voiced alost, in a sacred and purer strain, fit for a Choir of Angels than of men; and that in double Tue, Tua potentia, and Tua misericordia, Thy Power, and Thy Mercy; Thine, the God of men and Angels; the God of all Power and Mercy.  
2 The ground likewise in two words, Adiutorium and Refugium, Defence and Refuge; but these pitched lower, in a double- Meum, Adjutorium meum and Refugium meum, my Defence and my Refuge; but, Meum, Eaten, and Adte Domine; this My having Reference to, and Dependence from Thee; thou, the God of Defence and Refuge: And therefore my Defence, because of thy Power; and my Refuge, because of thy Mercy.  
3 The Descant, likewise, in two words, Cantabo and Exaltabo, I will sing, and I will sing aloud; Here is singing only of God's Power; but there is singing aloud of his Mercy; as if his Mercy were more exaltable than his Power, and That reached the very Heavens; This, unto the Clouds.  
4 The Author or Setter of it; here singly expressed (not like the rest) in a naked Ego, but an Ego with a double Office and Appellation; I, a King and a Prophet, and not barely so; but I, David, a Singer too, the sweetest Singer in Israel: I will sing of thy Power, and I will sing aloud of thy Mercy.  
5 The Time when 'twas sung; not Vespere, or Post Meridiem (as the custom of some Churches were, and are) no Afternoon or Evening-Antheme, when spirits are dull, and devotions sleepy, and voices flatted; but in Matutinum, in the morning, when his Thoughts are brushed and swept, the pipes, formerly obstructed, clean; the Bellowes of his Zeal filled full with the breath of God's Spirit; Then comes he with his Cantabo, and his Exaltabo, then can he best sing of God's Power, then sing loudest of his Mercy.  
6 Lastly, the occasion of the Singing, opened here in the Adverbe, Quia, Because; and this Quia being the occasion, looks narrowly to the Ground of the Song, to Adjutorium and Refugium, to God his Defence and his Refuge; and because he was so, and in the day of his Trouble too, therefore he would sing of his Power, and sing aloud of his Mercy: Nay, he will sing of his Mercy for ever; With his mouth will he make known his faithfulness to all generations, for his Mercy shall be built up for ever, and his faithfulness established in the very Heavens: So he professes in his 89. Psalm, 1. and 2. verses.  
Thus, I have showed you a Model of my Discourse, where I shall not dwell punctually on each limb and parcel of it, the time will not give way; no, not to touch on some: And seeing we cannot well sunder the Descant from the Song, or either, from him that sings it, let's join all three together, and so begin, and so end, I will sing, and I will sing aloud.  
'tIs then most happy with the affairs of God's people, when Kings are not only Patrons of the Church, but Ornaments, such as can no less beautify Religion, than propugne it. And this David did in a double way, of Majesty and knowledge, being the prime piece in all, Israel, for Harmony and Eloquence, exquisitely endowed with the perfections both of Poetry and Music; In somuch, that some of the Fathers either to cry down the vaunts of Heathens in their rarities that way, or else to rival him with the fertile and richer Wits of their Times, have been pleased to style him Simonides noster, Alceus, Catullus, Flaccus, 
S. Jerome ad Paulinum.  and Serenus; let me add the Divine Orpheus, and Amphion, one that made Woods, and Beasts, and Mountains; brutish, stony, and blockish dispositions to dance after his Harp; and sometimes to sing with it in a Laudate Dominum ipsi montes, ipsi arbores, ipsa jumenta, Praise the Lord ye Mountains and little Hills, Trees, and all Cedars, Beasts and all Cattles, 
V 10.  Psal. 148. Herein personating Christ himself, who was that Poeonius medicus (as Clemens Alexandrinus styles him) the Spiritual Aesculapius, Ille Sanctus aegrotae Animae In cantator, The holy Enchanter of the sick Soul, who first transformed Beasts into men, reduced Savagenes and Barbarism into civility: Qui sevos, ut Leones, 
Clem. Alexan. paed. lib. 1. cap. 2.  ad mansuetudinem; Fallaces ut Vulpes, ad sinceritatem; obscenes ut sues, ad continentiam revocavit: Cruelty, Craft, Obscaenitie (Hieroglyphically shadowed under Lions, Foxes, Swine) he translated to meekness, innocence, temperance, causing the Wolf to dwell with the Lamb, and the Leopard to lie down with the Kid, and the young Lion and the Fatling together, 
Isai 11.6.  and a little child leading them, Isai. 11.6. And although there be no Analogy between Truth and Fiction in respect of substance, let us make it up in respect of circumstance: They 
* Nugivenduli Ethnicorum vates.  by their dexterity in Music, and cunning on the Harp, redeemed some of theirs from the Gates of Hell; our Prophet, though by his heavenly touch and warble, that way caused not the Redemption of any from below; yet on his tenstringed Instrument, he sung sweetly the Resurrection; For so Saint Jerome tells his Paulinus, David Christum Lyra personat, 
jer. ut supra.  & in Dechacordo Psalterio ab inferis excitat Resurgentem.  
But let's us not so resemble small things to great, that we should dare compare those Poetic Rhapsodies with his sacred Harmony, their sensual Elegies and Madrigals with his diviner Sonnets: O procul hinc procul ite prophani. 'Tis true, his verses consisted of number and feet as well as theirs, and he was as critical in their Observation as the daintiest Lyric or Heroic, yet there was a vast disparity, both for sublimity of matter and elegancy of expression; Insomuch, that Petrus Damianus, the great adorer of Humane Eloquence (and one whose very soul was charmed with their prophaner Sonnets) was enforced at length to his Dulcius, immurmurat filius jesse. The Thracian Harp, and the Mercurian Pipe, and the Theban Lute, were but harsh and grating, when the Jewish Psaltery came in place; One touch of the son of jesse, one warble of the Singer of of Israel, was more melodious than all their Fabulous incantations, 
Clem. Alexan. paed. lib. 1. c. 2.  their Sirenical fictions, which were but jucunda quaedam auribus Raucedo, a kind of plausible hoarseness, in respect of those sweet murmurs of that heavenly Turtle. An Iliad of Homer, or an Ode of Pindarus, or a Song of Anacreon, or a Scene of Aristophanes, have not the juice, and blood, and spirits, and marrow; the acuteness, elegance, vigour, majesty, that one of his sacred Ditties are ballaced and fraught withal: And God forbidden that those Ventosae nugae, and Expolita mendatia, those Superbi errores, and Gacculae Argutiae, 
D. Aug. Ep. 131.  (as Saint Augustine styles them to his Memorius) their garnished and beautiful lies, their windy trifles, their vainglorious errors, their elaborate kickshaws; their ingenious nothings should stand up in competition with one Michtam of David, his Jewel, his golden Song, fare above their buskined raptures, their garish Phantasms, their splendid vanities; the Pageants and Landscapes (if I may so term them) of prophaner wits: And yet there have been some Heretics of old, Gnostics and Nicolaitans, which have rejected the Psalms as prophano Sonnets, the births of humane fancy and invention, without any influence or aspiration of the holy Ghost, whereas the very Spirit of God, our Saviour himself, and the Univocal Consent of all the Apostles (nay the hallowed Choir of Heaven and earth, of Saints and Angels) have acknowledged, that God spoke by the mouth of his servant David, that he was the sweet Psalmist of Israel, that his Word was in his tongue, 
Act. 4.24. 2 Sam. 23.2.  he in Spirit calling him Christ the Lord, Mat. 22.43. Notwithstanding, he that hath a little traversed Primitive Records, shall meet with one Paulus Samosetanus, 
Euseb. l b. 7. cap. 26. & 29.  a branded Heretic, and many other ways infamous, who in open assemblies, inveighed against Expositors of Holy Story; Psalms sung to the Honour of our Lord Jesus he caused to be expunged and razed out from the Church, accounting them but the work-manship of novelty, the forgeries of some neoterics and Upstarts in the Church; Instead whereof, in the body of the Temple, upon the high Feast of Easter, he suborned cetaine women (flickering and unstable creatures, whom he had moulded to his own purposes) to sing loud Sonnets of his praise. Though some favourers of the Heretic have been pleased to blanche a little the foulness of his practice, 
Pol. Syntag. l. 1. c. 32.  and would not have it thought a disparagement of the Psalms of David, but of the Hymns and holy Songs, which Christians in a religious vow and zealous endeavour made afterwards in the honour of Christ, and the commemoration of his Name. But were they religious Songs or Psalms that had been thus sacrilegiously debarred the inheritance of the Church; I stand not curiously to discuss, I am sure the custom was abominable, to chant their loud Panegericks there, where only should be sung hosannah's to the Lord. For as Temples were first dedicated to the glory of God, so they were still continued to the worship of his Name; of his Name only; except where Superstition had interposed, Ignorance or Heresy taken foot; and so Apostates and Idols, nay Deulis themselves have sometimes shared in that worship which was peculiar to the Lord of Hosts. Or else, perchance, the purblind zeal, or devout errors of others, who have erected their glorious Pyramids to the memory (and it were well, only to the memory) to the Adoration of some Saint or Martyr, which in their primitive institution were proper only to the God of both.  
And for this, God's better Reverence and Majesty in his Service, the Churches of old have generally mixed Psalms with their Devotions, and Melody, with their Psalms; Melody, as well of Instrument as of Voice; which, as it hath been a gray-haired custom of most times and places; so not so obsolete, now, or super-annuated, that it should beburied wholly with that Law of Ceremonies; for besides the countenance and authority which it found in the first ordinance, it hath been the practice of God's best servants, in most ages of the Church, nay in most ages of the world, except that first age of Sacrifices, when we read of no public Service, but by Holocaust; of no Church but the Tents of Patriarches; no preaching of the Word but by Dream or Vision; when Altars wore the tongue of Religion, and devotions were cast up by Incense, and not by Voice. But not long after them, when there was not yet a Temple built, but an Ark only (a mystical porch or entrance to that Temple to come) we find a Representative Cathedral amongst the jews. Singing men, and Psalms, and Instruments of Music, and all the Compliments of a full Quire. 'Tis true, in the first rearing and forming of the Ark, we read only of Priests and Levites, with their attendance and charge; of no Songs or jestruments either prepared yet, or enjoined, only two Trumpets of Silver made by Moses at the command of God; and these the Israelites used, not merely for the calling of Assemblies, and journeying of the Camp, and the Alarms for War, but in solemn days and times of Gladness, the Sons of Aaron were to blow them over their  Offerings, and the Sacrifices of their Peace-Offerings (as if on special Festivals and times of joy, God could not be praised sufficiently without this louder Harmony) and therefore the Text says, It was to them for a memorial before God, Numb. 10.10. But afterwards the Israelites setting forward in their journey; when the Ark was to remove from the Mountain of the Lord, we find a kind of To Deum laudamus amongst the people, 
Numb. 10.35.  Moses beginning a Magnificat to the Lord, Rise up Lord, let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hath thee flee before thee. And this Surge Domine, is by David afterwards (speaking of the removing of the Ark) voiced into a Cantate Domino, Sing unto the Lord, sing praises unto his Name, extol him that rideth upon the Heavens by his Name JAH, and rejoice before him, Psal. 68.4. After this, I read no more of the Ark of God, without some kind of Music, whether in times of peace or war, of triumph, or overthrow, except once when the Philistines to the disgrace of Israel led it captive, and brought it from Eben-Ezer unto Ashdox, where though it lost a while its former melody, it found a kind of observance from the Pagan's themselves, who put it in the house of their God, and because it should not be long there without reverence, Dagon himself falls on his face to worship it, as if he had blushed, that mettle, and wood, and stones (the substance belike of that false God) should acknowledge a true Divinity, where Barbarism and Infidelity would not. But (it seems) God was not well pleased with this kind of worship, but instead of a blessing, sends a disease; the emrod's drive the Ark of God from Ashdod to Gath, from Gath to Ekron, from Ekron to Bethshemesh, from thence to Kyriath-iearim, where after some time of lamentation, David fetching it again to Zion, prepares all manner of Instruments for the removal, and the whole house of Israel play before it with Harps, and Psalteries, and Timbrels, and Cornets, and Cymbals, 2 Sam. 6.5. And after the Ark had rest, there being a place prepared, and a Tent pitched for it in the City of David, the chief of the Levites and their brethren were appointed to be their Singers with Instruments of Music, sounding, by lifting up their voice with joy, 1 Chron. 15. v. 1.16.  
And because this sacred melody might not breed confusion in public services, special men are culled out by David for special Instruments, others for Songs, for the better raising up of men's hearts, and sweetening their affections towards God; Eleezer and jehosaphat the Priests were appointed to sound with Trumpets continually; Heman and Ethan with Cymbals of brass, Zacharit and Maasiah with Psalteries on Alamoth, Maitathia and Azzacia with Harps on the Sheminith to excel, Chenaiah chief of the Levites was for Song; for Song as well to instruct others, as to sing himself, so says the Text, He instructed about the Song, because he was skilful, 
V 19, 20, 21, 22.  1 Chro. 15. Insomuch, that though our Prophet here seriously professed, that he himself would sing, and sing aloud, yet we understand it for the most part rather of his Pen, than of his Voice; for though the greater bulk of Psalms was composed by David, yet (as Saint Augustine observes) he sung only nine in his own person, 
Asaph, Eman, Ethan, jeduthun. D. Aug. de Tit. primi Psal.  Reliqui dicti a quatuor principibus juxta titulorum inscriptionem, the rest were sung, or at least commanded to be sung by one of those four chief Musicians specified in the inscription fronted to each Psalm; and these were men, Spiritu sancto mundati (says the Father) whom the holy Ghost had purified and apted for a sacred modulation, and he that had the greatest measure of the Spirit for the present, he for the most part sung, and not only sung, but sometimes prophesied, prophesied with instruments too (for so we read) Asaph, Eman and jeduthun were to prophesy with Harps, Psalteries and Cymbals, and this custom was continued until the days of Solomon, 1. Chron. 6.32.  
Neither did it cease in the beginning of this wise King's Reign, but we hear an Echo and resounding of it, at the Dedication of his glorious Temple, where we have a touch again of this melodious Hierarchy, Priests, Levites, Nethynims, Singers, Trumpeters; the Levites with their Sons and brethren (which were Singers) being arrayed in white linen, and having Cymbals, and Psalteries and Harps, stood at the East end of the Altar, and with one hundred and twenty Priests sounding with Trumpets, and the Trumpeters and Singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising the Lord God, 2 Chron. 5.12.  
And this manner of Jubilation and magnifying of God aloft, continued (only the time of Captivity excepted) till the expiration of the Law, and though in the first seeding of the Gospel, it seem swept clean away with those Ceremonies of Israel (we having no mention by the Evangelists, either of vecall or Instrumental melody, except in a solitary Choir, by a Song of Simeon, or a Magnificat of Mary, or a Benedictus of Zacharias) yet some of the Fathers will tell us, that in the jewish Synagogue, even in the times of Christ, there was a kind of Diapsalma, a leaping into Dances; which though some jeering michal's may account to be little less than mimical or ridiculous, yet no doubt religious enough, if sincerely done, as we may see by the holy practices of David and Myriam, and many thousands more.  
'Tis true, in the dawn and rising of the Primitive Church, we read of Spiritual Songs, Hymns, and Psalms; but these (it seems) spoken only, not sung; or if there were singing then, no singing aloud. No Melody so proper then, as of the heart (and surely then, and now, that is the best private Melody). Speaking to yourselves (saith Saint Paul) and making melody in your bearts to the Lord, Ephes. 5.19. And this was the loudest melody the Church could or durst make awhile, being yet but a handful of Apostles, with their Proselytes or Catechumeni, and these for the most part under the sword of persecution too; but not long after, this custom of singing aloud began again to revive in the Church, in the days of 
* Euseb. l. 3. c. 32. Socrat. lib. 6. cap. 8.  Ignatius (that Ignatius that trod so near on the heels of the Apostles, the Disciple of john, and second, or as some would have it, third Bishop after Saint Peter in the Church of Antioch, 
M. H. Eccle. Chron. ad ann. 100 T. C. lib. 1. pag. 203.  martyred in the time of Traian near 100 years after Christ) though 
* Euseb. l. 3. c. 32. Socrat. lib. 6. cap. 8.  some, who labour not only to deface, but to cry down Antiquity this way, derive the pedigree a little lower from the times of Constantius the Emperor 25 5. years after, when this solemn custom bloomed again by the zealous endeavours of Flavian and Diadore, men that stoutly propugned the Apostolic Faith, 
M. H. Eccl. Chren. ad ann. 355.  against the Bishop of the same See, Leantius the Arrian; nay, lower yet 23. years after to the times of Damasus in the Reign of Valentinian, by Chronological computation 378. years after Christ, 
Theod. lib. 2. c. 24.  though it be evident, that this custom was on foot long before in the Greek Church: 
M. H. Eccles. Chron. ad ann. 178.  And for proof hereof, a learned 
* Idem ad annum, 367.  Antiquary quotes both the Authority and Practice of S. Basil, who first brought it into Caesarea, where he was Bishop, and afterwards bequarrelled by Sabellius the Heretic, and Marcellus, who took occasion to exasperate the Churches against him, as being the Author of Innovation, he allegeth the examples of many Churches in this kind, 
Sanct. Basil. Ep 63.  those of Egypt, Lybia, Thebes, Palestina, Tharabians, Phoenicians, Syrians, Mesopotamians, etc. And after a voluminous quotation of Text and Fathers, the unparalleled Hooker (for I must name him, and I must name him so) concludes, 
Lib. 5. Eecl. pol. sect. 39  whosoever were the Author, whatsoever the time, whencesoever the example of beginning this custom in the Church of Christ, the practice was not less ancient than devout, nor devout than warrantable, having had acquaintance with the world since the first times of the Gospel above twelve hundred years, even by the consent and account of those who have fifted the Antiquity and manner of it to the Bran, 
T. C. pag. 203.  not so much to know as to deprave; and yet at last are enforced tacitly to assent, that all Christian Churches have received it, most approved Counsels and Laws ratified it, the best and wisest of God's Governors applauded it; and therefore not only without blemish or inconvenience, but with some addition of lustre & majesty to God's service as having power to elevate our devotions more swiftly towards Heaven; to depress and trample under foot (for the present) all extravagant & corrupter thoughts, rowzing & relieving those spirits which are drooping, and even languishing in a solitary and sullen, and (oftentimes) a despairing heaviness; nay, the very Hammer that bruises and beats into Devotion those dispositions which will not be otherwise suppled and made tender, but by the power and virtue of those sounds which can first ravish the affections, and then dissolve the heart.  
And yet there are some ears so nice and curious (I know not whether through weakness or affectation) to which this Harmony in the Church is no more passable than a Saw or a Harrow, which in stead of stroking, draggs and tortures them. David's Cantabe is generally current, but his Exaltabe passes for Apocryphal; Singing in private families, or congregations, have a taste, questionless of Geneva; but singing aloud relishes too much of the Romish Synagogue; and though perhaps it do, yet there can be no Plea here for those, who obtruding to us the use of Instruments by Pagans in honour of their Idols; or the modern practice of some places, where Religion lies a little sluttish and undressed, that therefore they are not warrantable, or at best but offensive in a reformed Church; for immediately upon the reign of Ahaz, that idolatrous King, who made a molten image for Baalim, and burnt incense in the Valley of the Sons of Hinnon, where those louder Instruments were in use for drowning the cries of little children whom they barbarously forced through their cruel fires, to the worship of their God Moloch, the good King Hezekiah, labouring to restore Religion to its primitive lustre as it shined in the days of our Prophet (and then questionless it shined without Idolatry) with the Rulers of Israel, goeth to the house of the Lord, and in a solemn Sacrifice sets there the Priests and the Levites with Cymbals, Psalteries, and Harps, and this upon no particular or private fancy of his own, but the Line and Rule of his uncorrupted predecessor, David; so says the Text, According to the command of David, 2 Chron. 29. And not only so, but (that Kings may be known to rule as well by special revelation, as by prescription, or their own will) by the assent of the Lord too, his principal Agents, Gad the King's Seer, 
2 Chro. 29.15.  and Nathan the Prophet, in the 15. verse of the same chapter; and after this, when Manasseh his son revolted from the sincerity of his Father, and followed the abominations of the Heathen, whom God had cast out before Israel, building again the high places that his Father had broken down, making Groves and erecting Altars for all the Host of Heaven (when no doubt all the pomp and rarity of Music was in request both to allure and besot the people) the immediate Successor after Ammon (the son of his Idolatry and witchcraft) the good josiah, when he had demolished those Baalitish Altars, cut down the Groves and carved Images, and their molten Gods, cindered and brayed into dust, repairing again the house of the Lord his God, calls for the Sons of Merari and Zechariah and Meshullam, and others of the Levites that could skill of the Instruments of Music, and the Singers, the Sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Heman, and jeduthun, the King's Seer, 2 Chron. 35.15.  
However, there are amongst us some anti-harmonicall snarlers, which esteem those bellow in the Church (for so they have bruitishly phrased them) no better than a windy devotion, as if it cooled the fervour of their zeal, damped the motions of the Spirit, clogged the wheels of their fiery Chariot mounting towards Heaven, choked the livelihood and quickness of those raptures, which on a sudden they ejaculate; when, if they would but wipe off a little those wilful scales which hang upon their eyes, they could not but see the admirable virtues and effects which melody hath wrought even in that part of man which is most sacred; Insomuch, that both Philosophers and Divines have jumped in one fancy, that the Soul is not only naturally harmonical, but Harmony itself. And indeed, the whole course of nature is but a Harmony; the order of superior and inferior things, a melodious Consort; Heaven and Farth, the great Diapason; both Churches, a double Choir of hosannah's and Hallelujahs, Magnus Divinae Majestatis praeco, mundus est, saith the lofty Nazianzene, the world is the great Trumpeter of Divine Glory, Suave canticum, as Saint Bernard hath it, a sweet Song; 
D. Aug. lib. 11. de civet. Dei, cap. 18.  or else Carmen pulcherrimum (as S. Augustine will) a golden Verse; as if in Art and Consent both, it resembled both a Verse and a Song. Now Carmen in most languages is nothing else but laus; and therefore that Psalmodicall Tract, which we call Liber carminum, the Hebrews call Liber landationum; So that a Song is nothing else but a Praise; and therefore the whole world being a kind of Encomium, or praise of the glory of God, we may not improperly call it a Song also.  
And as the greater world is thus a Song, so is the lesser too: 
Ephes. 2.10.  Ipsius factura sumus (saith Saint Paul) we are God's workmanship, which some from the Greek render Ipsius poema sumus, we are his Poem, his Heroic Poem: All creatures, men especially, being certain luculent Songs or Poems, in which divine praises are resounded. Nay some of the Fathers have called Christ himself a Song (for so Clemens Alexandrinus) pulcherrimus Dei Hymnus est homo, 
P. ed. lib. 1. c. 2.  qui in justitia aedificatur, the man of Righteousness is a most beautiful Hymn or Song, and so is his Spouse a Song too, and the love between both, Canticum canticorum, a Song of Songs, there being such a harmony between God and the World, and the World and the rest of his creatures there, that the one is like a well-set Anthem; the other as so many Singers and Choristers to voice and chant it: First, the Heavens, they sing, Isai 49.13. and then the Earth, that sings Psal. 98.4. the Mountains also they break forth into singing, Isai. 55.12. the Valleys they laugh and sing too, Psal. 65.13. the Cedar and the Shrub are not without their Song neither, Isai 14.8. (as well the 
* Isai 42.11.  Inhabitants of the Rock, as those that dwell in the 
* & 26.9.  dust) nay, those creatures that cannot yet speak, do sing, The lame leaps as an Hart, and the tongue of the dumb sings, Isai. 35.6.  
Seeing then, that the whole course of nature is but a Song, or a kind of singing a melodious concention both of the Creator and the creature: how can we conceive them to be less than prodigies, who as if they distasted this general harmony, revile that particular and more sacred in our Churches, not considering what wonderful effects and consequences Music hath wrought both in expelling of evil spirits, and calling on of Good.  
Exagitabat Saul spiritus nequam, says the Text, An evil spirit troubled Saul, and with one touch of David's Harp he is refreshed, and the evil spirit departed from him, 1 Sam. 16. Elisha, 
V 14.25. V 15.  when he was to prophesy before the Kings of judah and Samaria, calls for a Musician, and as he played, The Spirit of God fell upon him, 2 Kings 4. Mirum (saith S. Augustine) Daemons fugat, 
D. Aug. prol. in lib. Psal.  Angelos ad adjutorium invitat. And yet 'tis not a thing so strange as customary with God to work miraculous effects by creatures, which have no power of themselves to work them, or only a weak resemblance. What virtue was there in a few Rams horns, that they should flat the walls of jericho? or in Gideons' Trumpets, that they should chase a whole Host of Midianites? Digitus Dei hic, the finger of God is here, and this finger oftentimes runs with the hand of the Musician: and therefore a modern and learned Wit, 
M. Th. Wright.  discoursing of the passions of the mind in general, falls at length on those which are raised by Harmny, and diving after reasons, why a proportionable and equal disposition of sounds and voices, the tremble, vibrations, and artificial curl of the air (which in effect he calls, The substance of all Music) should so strangely set passions aloft, so mightily raise our affections as they do, sets down four manners or forms of motion, which occur to the working of such wonderful effects.  
The first is Sympathia, a natural correspondence and relation between our diviner parts and harmony, 
Sympathia.  for such is the nature of our souls, that Music hath a certain proportionable Sympathy with them, as our tastes have with such varieties of dainties, or smelling with such diversities of odours. And Saint Augustine this way, was enforced to acknowledge, that Omnes affectus spiritus nostri, all the affections of our spirit, by reason of the variousness and multiplicity of them, had proper manners and ways in Voice and Song, 
D. Aug. lib. 10. coas. cap. 33.  Quorum nescio quâ occultâ familiaritate excitentur, which he knew not well by what secret familiarity or mysterious custom they were excited and roused up.  
The second, Providentia, God's general providence; which, 
Providentia.  when these sounds affects the ear, produceth a certain spiritual quality in the soul, stirring up some passion or other, according to the variety of sounds or voices; For The imagination (saith he) being not able to dart the forms of fancies, which are material, into the under standing which is spiritual, therefore where nature wanteth, God's providence supplieth. And as in humane generation, the body is from man, and the soul from God; the one preparing the matter, the other creating the form: so in Harmony; when Men sound and hear, God striketh upon and stirreth the heart; so that, where corporal music is unable of itself to work such extraordinary effects in our souls, God by his Ordinary natural providence produceth them.  
The third, more open and sensible, is Sonus ipse, the very sound itself, 
Sonus ipse.  which is nothing else but an artificial shaking & quavering of the air, which passeth through the ears, and by them unto the heart; and there it beateth and tickleth it in such sort, that it is moved with semblable passions, like a calm water ruffled with a gale of wind: For as the heart is most delicate and tender. so most sensible of the least impressions that are conjecturable; and it seems that Music in those Cells, plays with the animal and vital spirits, the only goads of passion; So that although we lay altogether aside the consideration of Ditty or Matter, the very murmur of sounds rightly modulated and carried through the porches of our ears to those spiritual rooms within, is by a native vigour more than ordinarily powerful, both to move and moderate all affections; and therefore Saint Augustine would have this custom of Symphony kept up in the Church,  per oblectamenta aurium infirmior animus in affectum pietatis assurgat. 
D. Aug. lib. 10. cons. cap. 33.   
The fourth, Multiplicitas objectorum, 
Multiplicitas objectorum.  for as all other senses have an admirable multiplicity of objects which delight them, so hath the ear: And as it is impossible to express the variety of delights or distastes which we perceive by, and receive in them, so here variety of sounds diversificate passions, stirring up in the heart many sorts of joy or sadness, according to the nature of Tunes, or temper and quality of the receiver. And doubtless in Harmony we may discover the mystic portraitures both of Vice and Virtue, and the mind thus taken with resemblances, falls often in love with the things themselves; insomuch, that there is nothing more betraying us to sensuality, than some kind of Music; than other, none more advancing unto God. And therefore there must be a discreet caution had, that it be grave and sober, and not over-wantoned with curiosity or descant. The Lacedæmonians banished Milesius their famous Harper only for adding one string to those seven which he was wont formerly to teach withal, as if innovation in Art were as dangerous as in Religion: Insomuch, that Plato would make it a Law in Music that it should not be Multiplex & effeminata, 
V de Osor. lib. 4. de justit. Regis.  he using it to his Scholars, non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; ut condimentum, non quotidianum pabulum; as sauce only, or a running banquet only, not as a full meal.  
The over-carving and mincing of the air either by ostentation or curiosity of Art, lulls too much the outward sense, and leaves the spiritual faculties untouched, whereas a sober mediocrity and grave mixture of Tune with Ditty, rocks the very soul, carries it into ecstasies, and for a time seems to cleave and sunder it from the body, elevating the heart inexpressably, and resembling in some proportion those Hallelujahs above, the Choir and unity which is in Heaven. And this glances somewhat at that story of Ignatius by Socrates, who took a pattern of his Church-melody from a Chorus of Angels; 
Lib. 6. cap. 8.  which (as the Historian testifies) he beheld in a Vision extolling the blessed Trinity with Hymns interchangeably sung. Or if this perchance prove fabulous, that of Saint Augustine will pass for canonical, where he styles this voicing of Psalms aloft, Exercituam coelestium Spiritale Thymiama, 
D. Aug. Prologue. in lib. Psal.  The Music of Angels themselves, the spiritual Incense of that celestial Army. And as it is a representation of that Unity above, so is it of 
* Totius Eccles. vox una. D. Aug. ibid.  concord and charity here below, when under a consonance of voice, we find shadowed a conjunction of minds, and under a diversity of notes, meeting in one Song a multiplicity of Converts in one devotion, so that the whole Church is not only one tongue, but one heart. And to this purpose Saint Augustine again, Diversorum sonorum rationabilis moderatusque concentus, concordi varietate, compactam bene ordinatae civitatis insinuat unitatem, in his 17. De civitate, 14. chapter.  
And here I cannot but justle once more with those spirits of contradiction, which are so fare from allowing Harmony, an Emblem of unity in the Church, that they make it their chief engine of war and discord: and that which doth as it were betrothe others to those solemn services, is their chief motive of separation and divorce. A Psalm by Voice barely they can allow, but not by Instrument, as if this were abrogated by the Ceremonial Law; the other not, and yet if one, why not the other? And herein they not only destroy the nature and property of Psalms themselves, but cry down the authority of the Psalmist too, in his laudate Dominum in Psalterio, 
Psal. 150.  praise the Lord upon the Psaltery, an instrument first invented for the Psalms, and used only to it; and therefore called Psalterium a Psallendo: Insomuch that some of the Fathers have defined a Psalm to be nothing else but Modulatio per Instrumentum musicum, or Sermo musicus secundum harmoniae rationem ad Organum pulsatus, 
Vide Coq. in lib. 17. civet. Dei cap. 14.  (so the Translator gives it me both from Saint Basil and Gregory Nyssen.) And what is this but our Prophet's Landate Dominum in chordis & Organo? 
Psal. 150.4.  Praise the Lord upon stringed Instruments and the Organ. The word of the Septuagint there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; which, though it generally signify any kind of Instrument, yet that is most properly called so; 
D. Aug. in Psal. ult. v. 4.  Quod inflatur follibus, saith Saint Augustine: And what other is that in use now in our cathedrals? which like those of old is an Instrument of Exultation, job. 21.12. and had his original (for aught I know) from the invention of jubal himself, in the 4. of Genesis 21. But whether it had or not, doubtless in many it doth sublimate devotion, sets their contemplation a soaring, as having a near affinity with the voice of man; which lifted as it ought, resembles that of Angels, Et hoc fit modulatione quadam & delectabili Canore, 
D. Aug. prol. in lib. Psal.  says that renowned African, by a kind of modulaminous and delightful air, which insinuating strangely with the outward Sense, steals subtilely into the mind of man, and not only invites but draws it to a holy chastity and immaculatenesse, and therefore 'twas the wisdom of the Spirit (seeing man's disposition somewhat refractory to good, and struggling naturally with the Laws of virtue, his affections more steep and prone to the ways of pleasure than the untrodden paths of Righteousness) to mix the power of Doctrine with that of Tunes,  dum suavitate carminis mulcetur auditus, divini Sermonis pariter utilitas inseratur, that whilst the ear was charmed with the sweetness of the Ditty, the mind also might be rapt with the divineness of the matter, and so whilst others sing, we not only hear, but learn too; 
D. Aug. prol. in lib. Psal.  O verè admirandi magistri sapiens institutum, ut simul & cantare videamur, & quod ad utilitatem animae pertinet doceamur, the Father still. And yet, by the way let us take heed, whilst we too much indulge this outward modulation, we are not more transported with the melody of the Tune than the sense of the Psalm; the singing, than the matter that is sung: Saint Augustine, when he did so (as he confessed he did so) confessed likewise, 
D. Aug. lib. 10. conf. cap. 33.  that he did Poenaliter peccare, and yet withal acknowledged, that in those sounds which Gods sacred Word did quicken and inspire, when the voice that was to chant them had both sweetness and art, Aliquantulum acquiesco, non ut haeream, sed ut surgam, cum volo, he rested a little, though he stuck not there; and 'twas a wonder he had not, considering what a means it had been formerly to his mortification, when after his conversion by Saint Ambrose, being baptised at Milan with Alipius and his son, he confessed, or sighed rather, Quantum flevi in Hymnis & canticis suauè sonantis Ecclesiae vocibus acriter commotus? when his head was a full Sea, each eye a fountain, and every cheek a channel, where tears did not so properly drop as flow, as if he threatened one flood with another, a flood of transgressions with a flood of sorrows; notwithstanding, afterwards upon a new recollection of his spirits, and (as it seems) his judgement, the devout Father was pleased to censure some curiosities in the Church this way, and that from the authority of Athanasius, who would have the Reader of the Psalm to use such a slender inflection of voice,  pronuntianti vicinior esset, quam canenti, 
D. Aug. lib. 10. conf. cap. 33.  that it should seem rather utterance than Song; whereupon some have presumed to affirm, that singing at first in the Church was little more than a kind of melodious pronunciation, though it be apparent (and I can prove it so) that the Doric Tone was in use even in primitive times, and for the gravity and pleasantness of it Psalms and Hymns were then continually sung to that kind of Harmony. And this had a double aim in the first institution; the one, for Novices in devotion, that where minds but lately carnally affected (which naked words could not so easily bore and enter) the flatteries of Art, the insinuations of Music, might gain a more plausible convoy and access for diviner matters; the other, for the spiritual refreshing and comfort of those that for Religion heretofore groaned under the yoke of tyranny; when this kind of singing was first set up by Saint Ambrose in Milan, according to the custom of the Eastern Churches, 
D. Aug. lib. 9 confess. cap. 7.  Ne populus maeroris taedio contabescat, so that it was not only a special in ducement to the mortification of those which otherwise had been still secularly disposed, but a main cordial and solace for them also, which under the sword of Arrianisme were set apart of old for the Fiery Trial.  
Some Philosophers are of opinion, that the Spirit knoweth and understandeth only by the help and service of the Senses, Nihil est in intellectu, quod non fuerit prius in sensu, which if it be generally true, our ears doubtless are as trapdoors to our mental faculties, which as they are shut or open, so shut or open to their spiritual operations. But Aristotle here was too much a Naturalist, and somewhat injurious to the soul, in so beslaving it and setting it a begging of the senses, as if it had not virtue and wisdom enough of itself to exercise her functions without the special administration of outward Adjuncts, knowing that the Senses apprehend only the simple Accidents, and not the Forms and Essence of things, much less the secrets in or above Nature, which are a journey and task for our contemplative and intellectual powers, and these also puzzled sometimes in their inquisition, and well nigh lost in the windings and turnings both of metaphysical and natural speculations. And therefore doubtless in spiritual affairs (where the Soul chiefly is embarked) we are, or should be, more elevated to God by Reason than by Sense, when we ascend to him by serious Meditations, deep Penetrations of his Word, 
Tho. Wr. ut supra.  Majesty, Attributes, Perfections, which chiefly transport those that are truly grave, that are mortified indeed; when this overtickling of the Sense by the plausibility of sounds, this courting and complementing with the Ear by the elegance and rarity of some well-run-voluntary or descant, are for Punies in devotion; to whom notwithstanding they are as sensual objects to ascend to God in Spirit, to contemplate his sweetness, blessedness, eternal felicity; though even in those also that are most pure and sanctified (to whom the most curious Air that ere was set, is not half so harmonious as one groan of the Spirit) do not always attend those deeper cogitations, but now and then intermingle their devotions with this sacred sensuality, which as a pleasant path leadeth to the Fountain of spiritual joy and endless comfort. And therefore let the Psalmist be once more our remembrancer, and as a remembrancer, an informer too, Laudate Dominum in Psalterio, 
Psal. 150.5.  laudate eum in Cymbalis jubilationis; let our outward praises of the Lord so run with those within, that our Soul may magnify him, and our Spirit rejoice in him that saved us, and then no doubt we may sing cheerfully of his Power, and sing aloud of his Mercy; so sing, and sing aloud, that our psaltery may bare a part with our Cymbal, our heart with our tongue, our sincerity with our profession, our actions with our words.  
Saint Augustine paraphrasing on that of the 104. Psalm, Sing unto the Lord, sing Psalms unto him, makes a criticism between Cantate and Psallite; sing unto God, & singing Psalms unto him, Verbo Cantat, Psallit Opere, he sings to God that barely professes him, he Psalms it that obeys him; the one is but Religion voiced, the other done; and 'tis this doing in spiritual business that sets the crown on Christianity; Profession only shows it, and oftentimes scarce shows it truly, like an hypocritical glass, which represents a feature as it would be, not as it is; as it desires to seem, not as it looks. Again, 
Psalterium pulsatur manibus. D. Aug. ibid.  o'er Cantatur Manibus Psallitur, he that Sings, makes use of the mouth; he that Psalms it, doth exercise the hand, so that the mouth (it seems) only expresseth our faith, the hand our good works, the one doth but tattle Religion, the other communicates it. And therefore our Prophet no sooner mentions his Cantate and his Psallite, but immediately there follows a Narrate and a Gleriamini; First, Sing unto the Lord, and sing Psalms unto him, and then in the next verse, Talk of his wondrous works, & glory in his holy name: So that belike, He that only sings unto God (the vocal professor) he doth but talk of his wondrous works; but he that Psalms it (the realist in Christianity) he glories in his holy Name. And to this purpose, the Father doubles on the Prophet, Psal. 67. Sing unto God, 
D. Aug. in Psal. 67.  sing praises unto his Name. Cantat Deo, qui vivit Deo, Psallit nomini ejus, qui operatur in gloriam ejus, he sings unto God that lives unto God, and he sings praises to his Name that doth something for the glory of his Name: And happy is that man that so sings, and sings praises, that both lives and does to the glory of GOD'S Name.  
And how can God's Name be better glorified than in his House? and how better in his house, than by singing of his Power and Mercy? his Mercy in so drawing us, that we can live unto him; his Power, for enabling us to do something for his Glory. And 'tis well, that Those whom God hath enabled to do, will do something for God's Glory; for the Glory either of his Name of House. A Precedent this way is but Miracle revived; and the Thing done, doth not so much beget Applause, as Astonishment. 'Tis somewhat above Wonder, to see the One without Profanation, or the Other without Sacrilege; I mean not (and I say I mean not to forestall the preposterous Comments of others, which sometimes injuriously pick knots out of Rushes) that Sacrilege, which fleeces the Revenues, but the Ribs and Entrails of a Church; defaces Pictures, and rifles Monuments, tortures an innocent piece of Glass for the limb of a Saint in it; Razes out a Crucifice, and sets up a Scutcheon; Pulls down an Organ, and advances an Hourglass; and so makes an House of Prayer, a fit den for Thiefs. And indeed, this malicious dis-robing of the Temple of the Lord, is no better than a Spiritual Theft; and the Hands that are guilty of it, are but the Hands of Achan; and for their Reward, deserve the hands Gebazi. God is the God of Decency. And Ornaments either In his House, or About it (as they are Ornaments) are so fare from awaking his Jealousy, that they find his Approbation. He that hath consulted with the jewish Story, cannot want instance this way, nor illustration. The Law of old required the Altar clean, the Priest washed, the Sacrifices without blemish; and this, when there was yet not only a Temple not built, but not projected; but this once enterprised, straightway stones must be choicely hewed from the Mountains, Artificers fetched from Tyre, Cedars from Libanus, Silver from Tharshish, Gold from Ophir, 
1 King 6. & 7. 2 Cron. 3.4. 1 Chro 29.4  Silver and Gold in no small proportion, ten thousand talents at least, to overly the walls of it; beside, the very beams and posts and doors o'erspread with Gold, Gold of Parvaim (no other would serve the turn) garnished within with precious stones and graved Cherubins, 
2 Chron 3.  Cherubins of Gold too ●●●e Gold: (so says the Text) veiled over with blue and purple and crimson and fine Linen, nothing wanting for lustre or riches, for beauty and magnificence for the house of a God; the King would have it so, Solomon the wise King, and he would have it so for Ornament, and not for Worship, except for the worship of his God, and that his God approves of with a fire from heaven, 2 Chron. 7.1.  
And now, my Brother, what capital offence in the Image of a Saint or Martyr, historically or ornamentally done in the house of the Lord? It invites not our knee, but our eye; not our Observance, but our Observation; or if perchance our Observance, not our Devotion: Though we honour Saints, we do them no worship; and though sometimes we sing of, we sing not unto them; we sing of their Sufferings, not of their Power; and in so singing, we sing unto God; Sing first of his Power, that he hath made them such Champions for Him; and then, Sing aloud of his Mercy, that they were such Lights unto us. And here, what danger of Idolatry? what colour for Offence? what ground for Cavil or exception? Our days of Ignorance and blind zeal are long since past by, but (it seems) not of Peevishness or Contradiction: And certainly, if Fancy or Spleen had not more to do here than Judgement, this Quarrel might be ended without Blood. We are so curious in Tything of Mint and Cummin, that we let go the weightier matters of the Law; and whilst we dispute the indifferencies of a painted roof or window, we sometimes let down the very walls of a Church: And I dare say, if a Consistory did not more scare some than a Conscience, Temples would stand like those Egyptian Monuments, I know not whether a Model of Antiquity or Desolation. 'Tis a misery, when the life of Religion shall lie in the Tongues of men, and not in their Hands; or if in their Hands, sometimes not in their Hearts. The times are so loud for Faith, Faith, that the noise thereof drowns sometimes the very Motion of good Works; and even there too, where Faith is either begotten, or at least strengthened in the House of the Lord; That stands Naked, and sometimes Bareheaded, as if it begged for an Alms; when our Mansions swell in pride of their Battlements, the beauty of their Turrets; and yet their Inhabitants still cry as the mad people did after the Flood, Come, 
Gen. 11.4.  let us make Brick, let us Build: But all this while, No noise of an Axe or a Hammer about the House of the Lord; Their project is to lift their Earth unto Heaven, and it matters not though the Heaven here below lay level with the Earth, they sing of a City and a Tower to get them a Name; They care not for a Temple to sing aloud in to the Name of their God: And hence it is, that this God makes that sometimes a way to their confusion, which they intended a means to their Glory.  
I have observed three special sorts of Builders in our Age, and three sorts of singing by them. Some build up Babel with the stones of Jerusalem, (Adorn their own Mansions by demolishing of Churches) and such sing only Requiems to their own name, and are so fare from singing unto Gods, that he cries out against them by his Prophet, Though you build aloft, 
Obad. 4.  and nestle among the Clouds, yet I will bring you down into the dust of the Earth.  
Others, build up jerusalem, with the stones of jerusalem, repair one Church with the ruins of another; Take from that Saint, and Give unto this: And in this they think they sing aloud unto God, but he hears not their voice; or if he hear, he rebukes it, Away with your sacrifices, I will none of your  offerings, 
Isa. 1.13.  they are abomination unto me, saith the Lord God.  
Others build up jerusalem with the stones of their Babel (Repair the ruins of God's house, with their own costs and materials) and not only repair, but beautify it, as you see; And such not only sing unto God, but sing Psalms unto him; Talk and do to the Glory of his Name. And blessed is the man that doth it, doth it as it should be done; without froth of ostentation, or wind of Applause, or pride of Singularity; But from the uprightness and integrity of a sound heart, 
Psa. 69.9.  can Sing aloud to his God; 'Tis my zeal to thy house, that hath thus eaten me up. And doubtless, he that is so zealous for the house of the Lord, the Lord also will be merciful unto His; and he that so provides for the worship of God's name, God also will provide for the preservation of His; 
Deut. 28.  Blessed shall he be in the City, and Blessed in the field, Blessed in his coming in, and Blessed in his going out; Blessed in his basket and in his store; Blessed in the fruit of his cattles, and the fruit of his ground. God's special Providence shall pitch his Tents about him, the dew of Heaven from above, and the flowers of the Earth from below: Before him, his Enemies flying; behind him, Honours attending; about him, Angels entrenching; on his right hand, his fruitful Vine; on his left, his Olive-branches; without, Health of body; within, Peace of Conscience; and thus: 
Psal. 25.12.  His Soul shall dwell at Ease, and his Seed shall inherit the Land. And whilst he sings unto Heaven, Blessed be the Name of the Lord for his mercy endureth for ever. Heaven shall rebound to the Earth, and the Earth sing aloud unto him; Blessed is he that putteth his trust in the Lord, for Mercy shall encompass him on every side. And now (O Lord) it is thy Blessings which we want, and thy Mercies which we beg; Let thy Blessings and thy Mercies so fall upon us, as we do put our trust in Thee; Lord in Thee have we trusted, let us never be confounded. Amen.  
Gloria in excelsis Deo. Amen.  
FINIS.   

The Christian Duel, IN TWO SERMONS, Ad Magistratum. Preached at two several ASSIZES, held at TAUNTON in Somerset. Anno Domini, 1634. 1635. By Humphrey Sydenham.  ROM. 8.5. 
Qui secundum Carnem sunt, quae Carnis sunt, sapiunt:  
Qui verò secundum Spiritum, quae Spiritus sunt.  
Vellem quidem et carnem meam esse in vita; sed quia non potest, sit vel Spiritus meus, sit vel Anima mea.  D. Aug. Serm. 6. de Verbis Domini. 
LONDON, Printed by JOHN BEALE, for Humphrey Robinson, at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in PAUL'S Churchyard. 1637.   

TO THE TRULY NOBLE, BOTH BY BLOOD and VIRTUE, Sir JOHN POULETT, KNIGHT: Son and Heir to the Right Honourable, JOHN, Lord POULETT, Baron of Henton St. George.  
SIR,  
IF there be a Succession of Virtues with the Fortunes of Great men, doubtless there should be of the Services of those that honour them. This makes me speak boldly through the sides of your Noble Father, whose continued respects towards me, and encouragements, I cannot better acknowledge than by my thankful expressions to such a Son; who (in the hopes and expectations of his Country) shall no less inherit Him, than his Revenues; Ana then, Honour, Riches, Wisdom, you cannot but prescribe for; & what else may either entitle you to Greatness here, or to Glory hereafter. Such a Patronage as This, I could not but listen after, where is as well Virtue to countenance me, as Power; and so perhaps, Censure and Prejudice may be a little hushed, or at least, not so loud, but that the labours of poor men may travel the world; if not without their snarlings, (for who can so muzzle a black mouthed Cur?) yet without their public Barkings and traducements. Believe it, Sir, what I present you here is mine own, though but a mite; and a mite thus offered cannot prove less acceptable to a noble Treasury than an Oblation of a richer value, since your  offerings were ever of best esteem, both with God and Good men; which doth hopefully encourage me of your fair entertainment of This, from the hands of  
Your most devoted HUM. SYDENHAM.   

THE CHRISTIAN DUEL.  
The first Sermon.  ROM. 7.25. 
So then with the mind, I myself serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the Law of sin.  
THis life is a warfare, and this Text a lively description of it, where the parts lie as the two Armies of Israel, and the Philistines did in Elah & Ephes Dammim, there is a Mountain on the one side, and a Mountain on the other, and a Valley between them, 1 Sam. 17. Here is first Lex Dei, 
V 3.  the Law of God; on that Mountain the Israelite pitcheth; than Lex peccati, the Law of sin, on this the Philistine, between both there is a spacious Valley, where David encountreth the mighty Goliath, the spiritual Combatant, his fleshly adversary: and this in the Ego ipse, I myself; where the conflict is both hot and doubtful; sometimes the flesh hath the defeat, and then the Law of God hath the glory; sometimes the mind is overlaid by the strokes of the Flesh, and then the Law of sin. In this Duel our Apostle is a main Champion, or to use his own word, a Servant, Ego ipse servio, I myself serve, and I serve two ways; mentally with the mind, that is for the Law of God; carnally with the flesh, this for the Law of sin. 
Serm. 44. de temp.  Audi (saith the Father) vitam justi in isto adhuc corpore, bellum esse nondum triumphum, the righteous man hath but a skirmish here, no triumph; no triumph yet, but a daily tempest and struggling between the mind and the flesh, the Law of God, and the Law of sin; and this Law is the occasion of that war, and that war of captivity, and yet this captivity at last of triumph; I find a Law in my members fight against the Law of my mind, 
Quando audis repugnantem, quandò, captivantem, bellum non agnoscis? D. Aug. ibid.  and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin, V 23. Here is fight and bringing into Captivity, that's the War on the other side, Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through jesus Christ our Lord, v. 24. Here is deliverance from death, and Grace by jesus Christ our Lord, this the Triumph. Now the ground both of that war and this Triumph the Apostle locks up here in a Nempe igitur, a so then, So then with the mind, I myself serve the Law of God; but with the flesh, the Law of sin.  
Thus you see how the Field is pitched, and every word in its several squadron; but before we enter lists, or can well show you the heat of the encounter, it will not be amiss to open first what the word Mind imports, what her office and properties; then what the Law of God, and the service required there, and so the Analogy between both. In the next rank, what the word Flesh specifies, what the Law of sin, the service due there also, and the relation between them. This done, I shall in the rear bring up the ego ipse, the Apostle himself, harnessed and ready armed for the spiritual conflict, and setting him between the Mind and the Flesh, the Law of God and the Law of sin, typify and represent unto you the state of a true Christian Soldier here on earth, how his loins should be girt, his feet shod, his Armour buckled on, what his breastplate, and Shield, and Sword, and Helmet, and how fare able, or not, to withstand all the fiery Darts of the wicked one. This whilst I endeavour to perform, I shall desire this honourable and learned Throng, to make use of Saint Augustine's Apology on the same subject, Potentiam mihi praebeat charitas vestra, 
D. Aug. Serm. 5. de verb. Ap.  ut si habeam propter obscuritatem rerum difficilem disputationem, saltem habeam facilem vocem; ut autem prosit labor noster, sit patiens auditus vester. Discourses which savour of depth and industry are most proper for noble and ingenuous Auditories, and look for patiented attention, and candid interpretation. I begin, where I should, with the mind of man; tell you what it meaneth here, and how it holds conformity with the Law of GOD.  

PARS I. With the mind I serve the Law of God.  
AND for the better opening of this Cloud, both Fathers and Interpreters make a criticism between Soul, and Mind, and Spirit; which some endeavouring to express, have not unfitly compared to a house of three rooms or stories, in the lower room is Anima, in the middle men's, above both, Spiritus, as the Cock-loft or upper Region of the Soul. In these three is the substance of the soul lodged, Quasi quadam sua Trinitate, this being (it seems) an Emblem of the Deity; a Trinity in Unity, and a Unity in Trinity; the Essence the same in all, but the propriety divers: like several strings in an Instrument set in tune to make up one Harmony; and therefore it is called Anima, 
De spirit. & Anima c. 12.  dum animat; Spiritus, dum spirat; mens, dum metit & meminit. Or else, Anima, dum vegetat; mens, dum intelligit; Spiritus, dum contemplatur: So that here is no Essential, but only a Virtual difference, the substance of the soul lying in the powers and properties thereof, and yet not divided into parts, but simple and individual, these powers neither impairing nor adding to the unity of the soul, no more than the diversities of streams to the unity of one source or fountain. And yet there are diverse steps or degrees of perfection in them, in some of them, not all; Oculus corporis est anima, animae, mens, the soul is the eye of the body, and the mind is the eye of the soul; and as the eye is the beauty of the face, the bright Star of that Orb it moves in, so is this the beauty and bright Star of the soul; and therefore that is called, Mens quod emineat in Anima; Mind, because it shines in the soul, as a light in the sphere it rolls in. Hence some would derive the Etymology of men's from the Greek, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
D. Aug. ut. supra cap. 11.  which signifies the Moon, not so much for variety of change, as brightness; or else, men's, a mensurando, from a dexterity it hath in measuring, or contriving. Now, Dijudicare, & mensurare estactus intellectus, 
Parte. 1. q. 79. Art. 9 ad 4.  (says Thomas) to judge and to measure is an art of the understanding, and the understanding is the very form and selfe-being of the soul, or rather the soul of the soul, as the apple of our eye is the very Eye of our eye; so that the mind is the beam and splendour of the soul, as the soul is of the body; so near Divinity, and so much resembling it, that the Romans of old adored the Mind as a Goddess, and by Marcus Aemilius Scaurns there was a Temple dedicated, Deae menti, ut bonam haberent mentem, as S. Augustine observes in his 4. Book, De civitate Dei, 21. chapter.  
Well then, that we may now look back unto the Text, we take not here the word men's physically, for reason and understanding as they are in Meris naturalibus; but Theologically, for the spiritual and regenerate part of man: And so taken, it stands at some distance with the word Anima, though not with the word Spiritus: For though every Soul be a kind of Spirit, yet every Spirit is not a Soul, nor every Soul a Mind, at least, a Mind regenerate; but Mind and Spirit (for the most part) kiss in Scripture; Saint Paul in the latter end of this chapter, calling that men's, which in the very beginning of the next, he names Spiritus: so that Mind and Spirit in a sacred sympathy go hand in hand, but soul and spirit do sometimes justle.  
My Soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoced in God my Saviour, Luk. 1.46. Here the blessed Virgin makes a difference between her 
* Non in hoc gemmo vocabule gemina substantia intelligitur, sed cum ad distinctionem ponitur gemina vis ejusdem substantiae, una superior, per spiritum, altera inserior per animam designatur: in hac utique divisione, anima & quod animale est in imo remanet; spiritus autem & quod spiritale est ad summum evolat, ab infimis dividitur, ut ad summa sublimetur, ab anima seinditur ut domino uniatur. De Spiritu & Anima. cap. 34.  soul and her spirit; and why? why? It is called soul in respect of vivification, spirit of contemplation: Soul, as it is a leiger and sojourner with the body, quickening and informing that: Spirit, as it is mounted and embarked for Heaven, and rapt with the beatitude of that celestial Host: the soul doth only magnify God as a God; the spirit rejoiceth in that God as a Saviour. In a word, the soul in man, as it is a soul, is like Fire raked up in embers; the spirit like that fire extenuated and blown into a flame, the one glowing in our ashy part, the other sparkling in our intellectual.  
And this distinction the great Doctor himself useth to his Thessalonians: where after some benediction, at length he prayeth, that their whole spirit, and soul, and body, may be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord jesus Christ, 1 Thes. 5.23. Mark, he gins with the spirit, O culatissima hominis parte, the Eagle part of man which eyes things divine; that like another Mary, always sits at the feet of jesus: then comes the soul, 
Stella in cap. 1. Lucae.  Quae naturales exercet ratiocinales; this like another Martha is cumbered with much serving, busied about Reason and the natural faculties, but the unum necessarium it hath not chosen yet. And lastly the Body, that villa Marthae, the Village where our Martha dwells, those earthly affections of ours, which so taste of the body and earth, that if they be not restrained, make man as it were all body, that is, all carnal; for which cause we find some men called spiritual, some animal, and some carnal, 1 Cor. 2.3. Thus the spirit is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as a Pilot or Governor squaring and fashioning new motions in the regenerate, and subjecting their will to the will of God: The soul is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, under whose Lee come the sensitive faculties, Reason, judgement, not yet washed and purified by the spirit: the body, Organum illorum, the engine and Instrument of both, which they employ in their diversities of actions and operations: These three are the integral parts of a man regenerate, when of the earthly man there are only two, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Aret. in Ep. 1. Thess. cap. 5. v. 23.  soul and body; no spirit he, it is foolishness unto him. Hence proceeds that double man so frequently mentioned in the Scriptures; the one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, who is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Animal or carnal, and lives yet in the state of Nature; the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, mental or spiritual, and in the state of Grace, showing his profession by his Faith, and his Faith by his Works. Now, as with man there is a double man, spiritual and secular; so with the spiritual man, there is a double man too, inward and outward; the one in the Text here called Mind, the other Flesh, that serving the Law of God, and this the Law of sin.  
And here, by the Law of God, we understand not that only on Mount Sinai, first promulgated by Moses, and after him taught by the Prophets, but that also on Mount Zion, by Christ and his Apostles; to wit, The eternal will of God declared in the Doctrine of the Gospel, which is no less a Law than the other; and this Law every regenerate man doth serve, serve though not fulfil; serve with the mind, a willing mind, crying out with the Prophet, My heart is ready, 
Psal. 42.1.  my heart is ready, so ready, that it panteth and gaspeth for the water-brook, the Commandments of God, which are as deep waters: But on the other side, the Flesh plays the Craven, and as if it had received some deadly wound, makes him complain with the same Prophet, Thine Arrows stick fast in me, there is no health in my flesh, nor any rest in my bones by reason of my sin, Psal. 38.3.  
You hear then, how sin still lies at the doors of the Flesh, though the Flesh be not properly the seat of fin, but the soul; and yet the soul new borne by the spirit serves principally the Law of God, which is indeed rather a freedom, than a service; a perfect freedom, says our liturgy, and because made perfect by the Spirit, the spirit of freedom too, Non accepistis spiritum serviiutis, sedlibertatis; And if Christ have made us free, we are free indeed; otherwise, our freedom is no better than a bondage, Rom. 8.15. This made the Singer of Israel warble sweetly, 
Psa. 19.7.  The Law of the Lord is an undefiled Law, converting the soul: And the Soul in this manner converted, is a kind of undefiled soul; because it so serves the Law of the Lord. Thus, He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit, 1 Cor. 6.17. One Spirit? How? Essentially? no, how then, accidentally; one in charity, consent of will grace, and glory too, 
Cornel. Lap. 1. Cor. 6.17.  Quae hominem saciunt, quasi Divinum, & Deum; which make a man as 'ttwere divine; so fare forth God, that with God he is as one, and the same spirit: And therefore a chaste and a holy soul, the Fathers often style Deisponsam, the Betrothed of the Lord. Now, 
Serm. 7. sup. Cant.  Sponsa and Sponsus, (as S. Bernard notes) Maximè indicant internos animi affectus: And doubtless, God doth so intimately affect a religious and a sanctified soul, that in his Arms he doth embrace it, even as his Spouse; and with the Beloved in the Canticls, doth even kiss it with the kisses of his mouth: and therefore, as at first, in the matrimonial Union between man and wife, 
Cant. 1.2.  Two were made as one flesh; so in this mystical union between God and the Soul, two are become as one spirit.  
Again, The Commandment of the Lord is pure, and giveth light unto the eyes, Psal. 19.8. Light unto the Eyes, what Eyes? the eyes I told you of before, the eyes of our intellectuals, the eyes of our mind, which being dimmed, and clouded by the fall of the first man, God doth illuminate again by the beams of the spirit: and the Eyes thus opened, behold instantly the wonderful works of his Law; and so, 
Psa. 36.10.  In lumine tuo videbimus lumen, In this light we shall see light, 
Psa. 119.105  the Light of his Word and Commandments, which he called, A Lantern unto our feet, and a light unto our paths; and without which we grope in ignorance and error, walking in blindness and in the shadow of Death; the way of the wicked being darkness (saith Solomon) and a continual stumbling, 
Prov. 4.18, 19  but the way of the Just, as a shining Light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day: And therefore S. Peter calls the word of Prophecy, (which is the Word of God, and of his Law) A Light which shineth in a dark place, until the Dawne and the Daystar arise in our hearts, 2 Pet. 1.19. Our hearts which were but the Chambers of darkness, the couch and resting place of our blinded mind, God, who hath commanded light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into, 
2 Cor. 4.6.  shined into the darker corners of them, To give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of jesus Christ, who is the spiritual daystar, that dayspring from on High, 
Luk. 1.79.  which through the tender mercies of God hath thus visited us, giving light to them that sit in darkness, and guiding their feet in the way of everlasting peace. Hereupon the Kingly Prophet ravished, it seems, with the joy of the inward man; tells us, That the statutes of the Lord are right, and rejoice the heart, Psal. 19 
V 8.  The heart which was before merely sensual, a rude lump of flesh, a cage of unclean birds, a bundle of sinful and impure thoughts, they new brush and sweep, and so garnish with spiritual gifts and graces, that instead of drooping, they cheer and elevate it; making that which was before the ground of Terror, the means of rejoicing; more desiring it now than gold, than fine gold; sweeter than the honey or the honey comb: that, to the mind regenerate, the Law of God is not a service barely, but a delight; His delight is in the Law of God, and in that Law doth he exercise himself day and night, Psal. 1.2. And indeed, wherein should he be exercised? what object more proper or more blessed? what should the Spirit mind, but the things of the Spirit? what the Righteous aim at, but his centre and eternal resting point? God hath created man for his own Glory; and as Man is the end of the world, so is God the end of man, and his Glory of both: And therefore he is called, The Temple of the Living God, and his mind the Sanctum Sunctorum in that Temple; in which God is said, not only to dwell, 
Serm. 27. Sup. Cant.  but to walk, 1 Cor. 6.16. O quanta illi Animae latitudo, quanta & meritorum praerogativa, quae divinam in se praesentiam & digna invenitur suscipere, & sufficiens capere! saith S. Bernard. That Soul is of a boundless circuit and goodness, that can comprehend the incomprehensible God: Cannot the greater World contain him, and is he involved in the less? Is the Mind a Temple for him to dwell in, that dwelleth not in Temples made with hands? Is there in Man a Tabernacle for his service, at whose feet both Men and Angels fall down and worship? This than should mount him above the world, and all the base Lees and dregs thereof, disrobe him of his earthly garment, make him put on the New man in Righteousness and Holiness, shake off the very dust from his feet, those dusty corruptions which stick so fast on his feet of frailty, lifting himself above himself, and retiring from all outward things into the Soul, the soul unto the mind, and the mind unto God, may seek his conversation in Heaven only, minding nothing but Heaven and Heavenly things; every true sanctified soul being not only Heavenly, (saith S. Bernard) but Heaven itself; 
S●rm. 27. sup. Cant.  and sitting in the body, tanquam Deus in suo mundo, where his understanding shines as the Sun; his virtues as the Stars; and his Faith as the Moon; which he calls, 
Psal. 89.36.  The faithful witness in Heaven. And so Man being a kind of Heaven to himself, and having a God within him, ruling and commanding it, should always have his Contemplation winged, his thoughts towering upwards to the God of Gods in the Heaven of Heavens, where there is joy unspeakable for evermore.  
And now you have heard what the Front of the Text meaneth by the word, Mind, what her office and properties, and how they look to the Law of God; In the next rank I am to sew you, how the Flesh comes up with all her Forces, and how that joins with the Law of Sinne.   

PARS II. With the Flesh I serve the Law of Sinne.  
SOme Expositors leaving the Geneva Road, and treading the by ways to Rheims and Douai, make a double partin Man, Reason and Sensuality; the one of them they style Spirit, the other Flesh, dishonouring thereby the sacred Doctrine of our Apostle, as if Reason and the Spirit sounded alike, in regard of the Inward man; Flesh and Sensuality in respect of the Outward: But this were to rival Philosophy with Scripture, 
Acts 19.9.  send S. Paul to Stagyra, and Aristatle to the School of Tyrannus; for the same Divinity the great Peripatetic preacheth in the first of his Ethics; where he divides the Mind into two parts, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Cap. 13.  where Reason dwelleth; and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, where Passions reign: These drawing one way, and That another; Appetite in an incontinent man, being towards Reason, ut membrum paraliticum, as a limb that is struck with the dead Palsy, turn it to the right hand; and it falls to the left; whatsoever Reason dictates for the Better, Sensuality straineth to the worse, and what is that (say they) but the Flesh and the Spirit? Thus, they would confound Nature with Grace, the mere Carnal men with the Regenerate; making the struggle of the one between Sensuality and Reason, the others combat between the Flesh and the Spirit; 
Lib. 6. cap. 11.  But S. Augustine tells Julian the Pelagian (who first hatched this dangerous Cockatrice) that in these words of the Apostle. Sunt gemitus sanctorum, contra carnales concupiscentias d●rnicantium, the deep sighs and groans of the Saints, breathed out against their remainders of corruption, and their carnal frailties; their mind serving the Law of God, but the Flesh the frail Flesh; lead captive by the Law of Sinne.  
Now, in Scripture, you know the word Caro, Flesh, 
Isa. 40.6.  is taken either properly, pro carnulentâ illâ mole, for the body which is composed of Flesh; or else Tropically, 
Gen. 6.3.  for her fleshly qualities: and in this latter sense it sometimes signifies the corruptions of the Flesh; sometimes, the lusts of the Flesh; sometimes men exposed to Both, which are nothing else but Flesh; and hold a direct Antipathy with the Spirit: And therefore the learned African tells his Consentius, 
Epist. 164.  that he that will be Eminent in virtue, must be free of the Flesh; And hence is the Apostles, Vos non estis in carne, Ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit, Rom. 8.9. And the Evangelists, Quicquid natum de carne, caro est, Whatsoever is borne of the flesh, is flesh; and whatsoever is borne of the Spirit, is Spirit; Joh. 3.6. Again, Caro goes sometimes for Concupiscentia, 
Cornel. a lap. in Canon. verb. Epist. Sancti Paul's, pag. 22.  not properly, as if Flesh were Concupiscence itself, but Metonimically; because the Flesh is, as it were, the shop of the Soul, where it moulds and works, as the Potter doth his clay, Concupiscentiarum imagines & portenta, I know not what strange Antics and Monsters of concupiscence: And therefore some Philosophers are of opinion, that as the censations, so the motions of the sensitive appetite are as well in the body and organs of it, as in the soul; though others more subtly, and indeed more rationally, say, that as they are spiritual, vital and animal, so they are in the soul only; since that alone is said, of itself to live, and the body by that life; and yet the body (as they conceive) by the Organs, Spirits and Blood, doth dispose and assist the soul in these and the like motions and operations, whereas Saint Cyprian will by no means hear, that the afflictions should any way belong unto the body, but to the soul, Hoc ipsum quod dico carnis affectus, impropriè dico, saith the Father: For vices indeed are principally the Souls, to which sin is directly and properly imputed, for as much as it is endowed with judgement, will, knowledge, power, by which it may eschew that which is evil, and cleave to that which is good: the Soul using the Body as the Smith his hammer, or his Anvil, by which he forgeth and fashioneth, Omnium turpitudinum idola, quarumcunque voluptatum simulachra, all her voluptuous and filthy Idols of lust and sensuality. The Flesh doth neither dictate nor invent, nor form, nor dispose; no project, no thought, no malice, no sin from her; not from her, but by her; 
S. Cyp. in prol. de Card navirt. Christi.  the soul not sinning neither, but by the flesh, Saltem mediatione remotâ: And yet the Flesh, as it is Flesh merely, without the Soul, can neither sin, nor serve sin; knowing that when the Flesh is separated from the Soul, 
Idem ibid.  it is nothing else but Putredinis massa, & paludis Acervus, a putted and corrupt Mass or Bog, and when it is joined with it, It is at best, but Quadriga Animae (as Galen calls it) the Chariot of the Soul, in which it jogs for a time in Triumph, and then it is Seneca's Carcer animae, the Goal and Fetters of the Soul; nay, his Sepulchrum animae, the Greeks' calling it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Tomb or Sepulchre, a living death, a sensible carrion, a portable grave; Vbi homo in vitijs est sopultus, ubi corrupti corporis scatent scelera, ubi homo hominis est sepulchrum, ubi in homine, non homo cernitur, sed cadaver: as the golden tongued iChrysologus in his 120. Sermon upon the fifth of S. Matthew.  
But what then, is it this Carcase and Tomb, and Sepulchre St. Paul here so much complains of? is it the body and the frailetties there, that are here meant by this word Flesh? noe: But as before we took the word men's, Theologically, not Phisically; so do we here the word Caro, Flesh; not for the fleshly lump, this frail mass of shin & blood, and nerves kneaded and incorporated into one substance: but for the Carnal and as yet unregenerate part of man, Will, Mind, Affections, soiled and corrupted from the old Adam, so Gal. 5.20. Heresies are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Works of the flesh: Now, Heresies you know flow from the mind, not from the body, so that the mind is in some sort Flesh as well as the other, not flesh sensible and material, but Metaphorically taken: insomuch that the very Saints and servants of God, as long as they have the dregs and remainders of sin about them, not only in the inferior part of the soul, but even in the mind and the will, are said to be Flesh; and the reason is because that that sin by which we consent unto the lusts of the flesh is not committed but in the will, where it hath his original and foment. The Schooleman defining Concupiscence to be nothing else but Voluntatem improbam, 
Altissiod. lib. 3. tract. 2. cap. 3. q. 2.  qua Anima appetit fornicari in creatura, A depravednes of the will, by which the Soul desireth to play the strumpet with the creature: And hence it is, that the Apostle confesseth that he is not yet delivered of the burden of the Flesh, that he still labours of her infirmities; that he is Carnal both by Nature and Suggestion; by 
* Pareus in cap. 7. ad Rom. v. 25.  Nature, because borne so; by Suggestion, through the daily flatteries and titillations of his fleshly associate, Quae non post nos, sed in nobis, nos sequitur, saith St. Ambrose; 
de poeniten. lib. 1. cap. 14.  which haunts and whores us wheresoever we go; a continual Dalilah about us, and within us; not discarding of this Hittite, nor this Amorite; but in despite of us, it will be meddling with our flesh pot, so journey it will in our Mesech here, & dwell in our tent of Kedar. However, I presume, you conceive a difference between Flesh and Flesh, only that is merely Carnal, and another which is carnal but in part; him that is In the Flesh, walks in the Flesh, and whose weapons are fleshly, and him that is only obnoxious to the infirmities of the flesh, 
In cap. 7. ad Rom.  an Amphibion (as I may call him) between Flesh, and Spirit, Carnem habentem legi Dei obstreperam (as Carthusian speaks) whose flesh is ever scolding with the Spirit, and his spirit ever chiding with the flesh; for to be flesh imports for the most part a humane Imbecility, but to be In, or After the flesh, an universal bondage and subjection of man's nature to the lusts of the flesh. The Patriarcks, and Prophets, and Apostles themselves were flesh, and lived here (saith St. Augustine) but they lived not here In the flesh; Portabant Carnem, 
Serm. 6. de verb. Dom.  non Portabantur a Carne, the flesh was their Burden, not their Guide. And therefore it is one thing to say, that Sin and fleshly corruptions are in man; another that man is in sin, and in the Flesh; as that of St. Peter to Simon Magus was more wounding, Thou art in the gall of Bitterness, then if he said, the gall of Bitterness is in thee; For, for man to be In sin and In the flesh presupposes a kind of Uassalage and Thraldom, sin & the flesh have over him; for sin to be in man, an Hereditary corruption, quam nec fugere possumus, nec fugare, 
St Bernard, serm. 7. sup. cant.  circurn far necesse est, which we can neither shake off nor avoid, but it sticks like a Burr to our frail condition, and though we labour to wash it out with all our Hyssop, all our Nitre, yet this Aethiope will not be clean, this Leopard will not change his spots; but though the Mind be intent upon the Law of God, yet the Flesh, the weak, weak flesh will be still serving the law of Sinne.  
The Law of Sin? what's that? what? that which before S. Paul entitled to the Lex membrorum, The Law in his members; 
v. 23.  & what is that Law? That which in the next verse, he calls Corpus mortis, The Body of death. And what is that death, and that Law? 
v. 24.  That which all the Servants and Saints of God have panged, and groaned under Concupiscence; that which S. Austin styles legem foetidam, legem miseram, unlnus, tabem, languorem, 
Serm. 46. de temp.  A putrid loathsome and wretched law, an enticing & lustful law, lodging and reigning in our very members; and in such a Tyrannical way, that the Flesh is even enforced to serve, and obey it, and therefore by the Apostle here called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Law, the word Law being taken at large, for any thing that governs, and moderates our actions. So that Concupiscence holding such a strict Empire and Command over it, can be no less than a Law unto it; and therefore Peter Martyr calls it, Vim 
* In cap. 7. ad Rom. v. 24.  peccati, et innatae pravitatis, The Sceptre (as it were) and Prerogative of sin; an inbred pravity, Qua quisque 
* D Aug. in 7. ad Rom. tom. 4.  carnis consuetudine implicatus astringitur, By which every man, involved in the customary snares of the flesh, is so manacled & bound as by a rigid Law. Now it is called lex peccati, The law of sin, because such concupiscence is sin indeed, not only Foams, et Causa, and Poena peccati (as the Church of Rome doth cavil) but peccatum itself, S. Paul, no less than fourteen times in this Epistle calling it plainly Sin; seven times in this Chap. four times in that before, & three times in the next that follows. It is called Lex membrorum the law in our members, because it useth all our parts & powers & faculties, as instruments or members: or else lex membrorum, in relation to corpus mortis. This law in the members, 
Pet. Mart. in cap. 7. ad Rom. v. 24.  being afterwards called The body of death, and there is no true body, you know without its members; which members do here signify, as well all the Powers of the mind, as all the parts of the body, infected & defiled by sin, which as an hereditary disease we have derived even from the womb, residing not only in some one part of us, but sprinkling this contagion through the Whole Man, and every parcel and memeer of him.  
Now this whole man though it suffer the distinction of Interior and Exterior Homo, yet it is but one & the self same man; But by reason of diverse States, Affections, and Operations, called the inward and the outward man; and not as the Manichees wildly fancy, teaching two souls in man: the one good, from which virtues flowed; the other, evil, whence vices proceeded; and so consequently, that in one man there were, as two men; the inward embracing those virtues: and the outward, following these vices; but in one, and the same man, there is one and the same soul; and in this same soul, and the same portion and faculty of it, Calvine sets this Apostolical combat, 
Cor. lap. in cap. 7. ad Rom. v. 25.  making the inward man nothing but the mind, quatenus consentit legi Dei, the outward the same mind, quatenus concupiscit mala, which though the jesuite cry down for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Soli renati habent hom nem interiorem, Ephes. 3.16. soli filij dei sunt renati, joh. 1.13. & soli renati spiritum habent-Rom. 8.14. quem mundns excipere non potest. john. 14.17.  et Haeretica, and set's up Reason & sense in a vie with the Flesh and the Spirit; for mine own part I think it both senseless and reasonless; forasmuch as the combat between these is proper only to the Regenerate; Between the other, to the mere natural and carnal man, who hath no touch of the Spirit at all, nor oftentimes of God about him. And therefore that we may at length take away the veil from this darkened face, pull aside the curtain that so obscures the Text, we must know, that in one and the same S. Paul here there is a double man considered; the one, Interior Ingraffed into Christ, assisted and agitated by the holy spirit, which searcheth every chink & cranny of the heart, watering her barren furrows, and sending showies into the little valleys thereof, making it fruitful with the drops of rain, 
Psal 65.11.  suppling and mollifying that stone like flesh; According to this man, which is Inward; he wills that which is Good, approves the law of God; serves it, delights in it, magnifies it; The other Exterior, which is not yet totally renewed, but remains in part carnal, still retaining the corruptions of man's nature; and as a prisoner to the flesh, hath not yet knocked off his Gives and Fetters; This man being still outward to the world, followeth the law in his members; And hence is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that contrary war in the same man, in the one part or wing of him, we see the law of the members, fight and struggling for the law of sin, leading man captive through the infirmities of the flesh: On the other side, is the law of God: to which, in a holy correspondency, the mind or will being renewed, assent. Between these is the whole man placed, 
Aret. in cap. 7. ad Rom. v. 23.  quasi communis praeda, as a common booty or prey exposed unto the assaults of both. And in this encounter it speeds with him. as with the two opposite armies in the valley of Rephidim, Exod: 17. sometimes Israel prevaileth; sometimes Amaleck; the mind sometimes; sometimes the flesh: As long as the hands be held up, whiles the thoughts be elevated, the mind soaring, there is a great shout heard in the Hebrew Camp, the Israelite hath the day, the inward man prevaileth, and then the Hosannah goes for the Law of God: but when the hands be let down, when his devotions are a drooping, when he gins to flag and grovel towards the Flesh, strait there is a noise of victory in the Heathen troops, the Amalekite gives the chase, the outward man prevaileth, and so the cry runs for the Law of sin. In this case the regenerate man must do as Moses there did, rest upon the stone, the Cornerstone, Christ jesus: and his hands being weary with lifting up, his mental parts overburdened with the weight of the flesh, Faith and Prayer, like another Hur and Aaron, must pillar and support them; then he shall be steady till the going down of the Sun, till he set in death; when Amalek shall be discomfited, all his spiritual enemies put to the sword, and he in peace go in and possess the land promised to his Forefathers, the celestial Land, the Canaan above, where he shall reign with Abraham, Isaac and jacob, for ever and ever.  
Thus in a double rank, I have showed you the double man, inward and outward; the one under the colours of the flesh, marching for the Law of sin; the other under the Ensign of the spirit, fight for the Law of God. It remains now, that in the Rear we bring up the Ego ipse, the Apostle himself ready armed for the conflict; and viewing him, dividing these Ranks, observe how with the Mind he serves the Law of God, but with the Flesh the Law of sin.   

PARS III. Ego ipse servio, I myself serve.  
SOme ancient Heretics, taking occasion by the error of Origen, 
S. Chrys. Theo. Basil.  (whom many of the Greek interpreters followed, and some of the Latin) make here a Prosopopeia, or fictio pèrsonae, as if by this Ego ipse, I myself, Saint Paul himself had not been understood, 
S. Amb. Icrome.  but some other by him personated (some unregenerate or carnal man) or if himself, himself as he was formerly under the Law, and not yet under Grace: 
D. Aug. ad Simplicium. lib. 1. q. 1. D. Aug. lib. 6. cont. julian. c. 11.  In which opinion the great Saint Augustine confesseth that he sometimes wandered, but afterwards took up with his Prius aliter intellexeram, vel potius non intellexeram, in the first of his Retractations 23. chapter.  
And upon this tide many scruples of the Church then were after wasted to posterity. The Pelagians of old, and their wayward Proselytes, have scattered two pestilent Epistles to this purpose, the one written by julian to Boniface at Rome; the other by eighteen Bishops, Ringleaders of that Faction, to the See of Thessalonica, both which quoted and confuted by the learned Father in his Anti-pelagian controversies, principally against julian the Muster-master (if I may so style him) of that dangerous Sect; who contended, that under this Ego ipse, Saint Paul either described, 
Vid. fusius, Par. in cap. 7. ad Rom. v. 25.  hominem aliquem libidinosum, some one that was luxurious or incontinent, not yet washed from the grosser corruptions of the Flesh; or else discovered the nature of man after the Fall, when and how fare he might prevail without grace; and upon this misconjecture, they strooke at the heart of original sin, strangled that in the womb of our first Parents, gave suck to new fancies of the times, cockered an upstart of their own begetting, shouldered up nature with grace, engaged freewill in matters of the Spirit, contrary to the Apostles Peccatum in me habitans, and his quod non vellem, hoc ago, in the 15. and 17. verses of this chapter. But it is more than probable, that this Ego ipse reacheth Saint Paul himself, he continuing his complaint, in the first person, through the whole body of this chapter, Ego sum carnalis, ego agnosco, ego consentio, ego delector, ego servio, it is I that am carnal at the 14. verse, and I allow not, at the 15. and I will not, at the 16 and I delight, at the 22. and I serve here, at the 25. I, I myself, I Saint Paul, I the Apostle, I the great Doctor, I the chosen vessoll, he gives not the least hint or touch of any other: 
Ego nescio quid sit Scr. pturas penitus pervertere, si hoc non sit, Beza Annot. in cap. 7. Rom. v. 25.  And therefore it is a bold Fiction, and a manifest depravation of the Text, to wiredraw Scripture to men's private purposes, interpreting here Ego, by Altar, as if I Saint Paul were not carnal, not sold under sin, not captivated by the Law of it, but some other, some jew or Gentile not yet converted, when the main bend of the great Doctor driveth another way, he speaking of himself in the state of his Apostleship, the conflicts and sikrmishes he then had between the Mind and the Flesh, not of his old Pharisaical condition, as some dream, for the words are of the present, Ego servio, not Ego servivi, not I did, but I do serve, and not barely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, neither I, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I myself, I and no other, which excludeth all figurative interpretation whatsoever: And therefore doubtless the Apostle here, even as 
* Sed hoc forte aliquis; non Apostolus; certe Apostolus. D. Aug. serm. 5. de verb. Apostoli.  Apostle, by an ingenuous and humble confession of his own frailties, doth bemoan his present condition, and though in the state of grace, finds himself not only not conformable, but in part averse to the spirituality of this Law; acknowledging with deep groan, that he was Peccati mancipium, sold under sin (as he phraseth it) that inward sin he mean, Concupiscence, not only a servant to it, but a very captive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, leading me captive to the Law of sin, v. 23. A Metaphor taken from the practice of Generals in their Wars, whereas some are destined to the Sword, so others to thraldom and imprisonment: In which, though there be not always a noise of slaughter, there is of bonds and shackles, and sometimes of death too, when the Ammonite must to the Saw, and the Axe, and the Harrow of iron, 1 Chron. 20.3. But in this Apostolical War there is no danger of the Axe, nor the Saw, though there be of the shackle; no stroke of Fate, but of captivity; no marking out to the Sword, but to Ransom, to that, Empti estis pretio magno, 1 Cor. 6.20. In expectation whereof, though he complain for a time of wretchedness and death, with a Quis me liberabit? who shall deliver me from the body of this death? yet a death indeed he rather bewails than suffers, this being the voice not of one despairing, 
Vox non desperautis sed deplorant is carnis infirmitaton. Aret. in c. 7. ad Rom. v. 24. Trahi captivum in legem peccati, solum est renati, cum ●mpii, & a gratia alieni, ultro ad mala currunt, imoruant. Par. ad cap. 7. Rom. v. 25.  but deploring his carnal infirmities: So that in this service of the law of sin, Saint Paul is not a voluntiere you see, but goes upon command, hath his press-money from the Flesh; serve he must, whether he will or no; he hath a Marshal within him, that drags him as a slave, and he must fight or suffer: This makes him groan indeed, groan to an Aerunnosus ego homo, wretched, wretched man that I am: And yet, though he so groan, and under the heat (it seems) of his restless assaults, and is thereby enforced sometimes to retreat; yet he leaves not the field totally; a Captain he had rather be than a coward; and a Captive he is made, but 'tis much against the hair; serve he doth, and must, but assent he will not; 
Nemo sponte captivatur. paer. Rom. 7.  his mind is engaged another way, that's for the Law of God; but the Flesh, the traitorous Flesh, lies in ambush all the while, and this betrays him to the Law of sin: this makes him so deeply complain, I know that in me, that is in my Flesh, 
V 18.  dwelleth no good thing, that is true, none, not in my Flesh, no good there, and why? because it serveth the Law of sin. But I know again, that in me, that is in my mind dwelleth some good, that's true too, good there, and why? because it serveth the Law of God: Et in isto bello est tota vita sanctorum, 
Ser. 5. de verb. Apostoli.  saith Saint Augustine. Every sanctified life, is but a Duel, such a Duel as this, between the Mind and the Flesh: No true child of God but hath been a Captive in this Combat: whosoever is regenerate, is spiritual, I confess, but he is in part carnal too, for as much as he hath not deposed his carnal infirmities, not yet totally unclothed himself of Nature and the Flesh, Si qui● dubitet, excutiat cor suum, if any scruple it, let him search his heart a little, sift his own bosom; and there he shall find either his lust lurking, or his hypocrisy: we are not all Mind, nor all Flesh, but composed of both, lest we should either despair for our infirmities, or grow proud through our spiritual endowments: The Mind perhaps may be mounting, and rowzing as it were her feathers, take her flight upwards to God and his pure Law; but the Flesh will be still bottoming, 
Caro semper manet infirma, semper nos in cursu moratur. Aret. ad cap. 8. Rom. v. 21.  fluttering here below, and stooping servilely to the Law of sin.  
Now, this Law hath not barely an habitation in our Members, but a very Throne; it not only possesseth the Regenerate, but reigns in him; reigns in him as a Tyrant, not as a King; makes him a slave, not a subject; bids him acknowledge a sword for a Sceptre, and a Scorpion for a sword: And therefore Lombard tells us, 
Lib. 2. d. 32.  that it is Ipse Tyrannus in membris, a very Nero in our members; or else, Manubrium Daemonis (as Pimenius hath it) the Hilt of the Devil's sword, 
De vit. pat. l. 7. cap. 25.  by which he brandisheth, and playeth so cunningly his prizes with the Flesh. And of these and the like Fancies, 
Greg. de val. depec. orig. cap. 60. Bonavent. sent. 2. d st. 32.  the Schools do generally ring, Vulnus animae, and Languor naturae, and Habitus corruptus, and Vitium ingenitum; A wound, a disease, a languishment, nay a Vice they will hear of, 
Thom. 1.2. q. 82. Art. 10. ad 1. Estius sent. 2. dist nct. 32. lit. g. b. Lom. lib. 2. dist. 32. lit. 8.  but not a Sin; a Sin by no means (the Master himself allowing the word Vitium, but not Peccatum) the Mother 
* Causa, Foams, poena peccati. Psal. 51.5. De fide ad Pet. Diacon. cap. 26.  and Nurse, and rod of Transgression, the Tinder, and Touchwood of sin; nay the match and the sparkle too, and yet not sin itself. When our Apostle here Besinnes it over and over, the man after Gods own heart confessing, that He was shapen in wickedness, and that in sin (this very sin) his mother conceived him. And therefore S. Augustine, or (as some would have it) Fulgentius puts it on Peter the Deacon, as a point of Faith; That every man was borne, Impietati subditum, so that not only concupiscence itself, but as they rarify it with their Primi Motus, the Ebullitions, First-rising and Assays of lust, nay, their Primo-primi; or, if they have an Art to mince them smaller, their Primi-primo-primi are all Sin; forasmuch as Concupiscence being evil of itself, is, of itself without the consent of the will, 
* Pol. Synt. lib. 6. cap. 3. Omnes primi motus, quia apti sunt insequirationem, & peream regulari, si eam pervenerint, dici possunt peccata, etiam in parvulis, & fatuis, quia sunt praeter ordinem naturae primitus, institutae. Gerson de reg. mor. pag. 128. lit. B.  a sin: Otherwise in infants, which by reason of their suckling and tender years cannot yet assent to wicked desires, there should be no sin at all; whereas these inordinate motions are not barely the Symptoms, but the very Impressions of a sickly soul, 
Strom. lib. 2.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (as Clemens Alexandrinus calls them) Against which we are to take up our Sword and Buckler; and not only oppose, 
De Sacrament. Mat. cap. 7.  but murder them, if we can. And therefore in this war of the Flesh, the learned Parisiensis would have the prima acies cut off, the first Motions slain, propter iniquitatem Rebellionis, for their rebellious attempts against the Spirit; as being, not only bellowes and fuel, but Fire also, to our daily and dangerous mistreading; And yet the Church of Rome is so hot here, for the immaculatenesse of the Saint, that she altogether disinherits him of flesh, cuts off the Entail of his primitive corruption, washes clean away his original Taint in the Laver of Baptism; And so doth the conduit of our Church too, quoad Reatum, but not quoad Actum; The guilt of sin is expunged, but the act and existency remains still, even in the Regenerate; there being found in them not only poenas quasdam, aut sequelas peceati, Certain sequels or punishments of sin, but also really; and in their own Nature damnabiles 
* Reveren dissimus Davenantues de justitia habit. cap. 1.  Reliquias, remainders enough to damn them; but that the dominion of sin being Bankrupt (as it were) and broken, and the bond cancelled above, they make not to the condemnation of his person that is atoned and reconciled by Christ. And therefore the Cardinal may forbear to traduce us for Messalians and Origenists, 
Bell. de sacr. Bapt. l. 1. c. 13.  because we allow not a total eradication of sin by the power of that Sacrament; for as much as some of his own Tangle, denying concupiscence after Baptism, to be Peceatum; yet they say, that it is Radix peccati, and so takes hold in the very child of God; which Root though it be crushed a little and bruised, yet it sticks fast still in the Nature, notwithstanding the guilt be absolutely removed from the person of the regenerate. And this much their own 
* Lib. 2. dist. 32. lit. B.  Lombard in circumstance will tell us, who granteth, that by the virtue of Baptism, there is a full absolution of original sin in respect of the Gild of it, but a Debilitation only, and an Extenuation of the vice, no total Extirpation. And therefore the Gratianists stick not to gloss here: that it is not so dismissed, nè sit, that it be not at all; But it remains debilitatum & sopitum, languishing and slumbering, not dead it seems; Nay, 
A●not. ad Rom. cap. 5.  Hugo de sancto victore, comes on more fully, Manet secundum culpam, dimittitur secundum solum aeternae dan nationis debitum. Whence I gather, with that learned 
* Episcopus Sarisburiensis, de justitia habit. cap. 20.  Prelate, that concupiscence after Baptism is no less than Culpa, even in the Regenerate; And that, That Justice which is conferred on them, consists rather in the participation of Christ's merits, who cut the score, than in any perfection of Virtues, or Qualities infused; So that the Vis damnatoria (as they call it) The condemning power in this Sin is taken off by virtue of that Sacrament, but the contagion or deordination of it, still dwells in man; which is so riveted in his nature, and as it were nature itself; ut tolli non possit sine destructione naturae, we may as soon destroy nature herself, as It; And if we believe the Scholeman, Non est medici summi illum tollere, In this case God himself cannot do it; so Alexander Halensis, de Sacramento Baptismi, 4. part. 8. quaest. 2. Articl.  
Let others, then, vaunt at their pleasure, in the riches and ornaments of their inward man, ruffle in the gaudy plumes of their conceived perfections, deck their minds in their white robes of purity: file and whet, and sharpen the very point of the spirit they talk of, yet if we knock a little at the doors of their hearts, Enter into them with a Candle and a snuffer (as Charron speaks) we shall find Concupiscence there sitting in her chair of state, commanding, or at least, drawingon the motions of the flesh, which they can no more restrain then the beating of their pulses, which still keep centinel in the body, and are the watch words of nature that the heart liveth. 
Serm. 58. supper Cant.  Erras si vitia putes emortua, et non magis suppressa, He is in an error (saith S. Bernard) that thinks his corrupt inclinations to be absolutely dead, and not rather suppressed, or smothered; Velis, nolis, intra sines tuos habitat Cananaeus, let the Israclite do what he can, this Canaanite will be still skulking about his coasts; subjugari potest, exterminarinon potest, made tributary (perhaps) he may be, exiled he will not. And indeed, those untamed lusts and affections of ours (which are nothing else but the waves and storms of our souls raised by every little blast of the flesh) as long as we are environed with these walls of frailty, this rotten tabernacle of the body, Mother ari et regere possumus, 
S. jer. Reg. Monach. c. 22.  amputare non possumus, master perhaps, or qualify for a time we may, totally subdue we cannot.  
The mind no doubt may put in her plea with a Video meliora; I see that the law of God is the better, I see, and approve it too, and therefore I serve it; But than comes the flesh with a Deteriora sequer: 'tis true, the other is the right way, but it is troublesome, and slippery, and like a sandy hill to the feet of the aged; The way the flesh walks is smooth and even, pleasing to him that treads it, and therefore I follow that; I follow? That were more tolerable, but I serve; I am in subjection to it; though my mind have a desire, and more than a desire, an act of serving the law of God: yet, there is another Master I must serve too, my flesh invites me; invites? nay commands and hurries me, and that is to the law of sin, Certum est, 
Orig. Homil. 21. in Ios.  etiam jebuzoeos habitare cum filiis judoe in jerusalem, says the Allegorical Father; nothing more certain than the deep remainders of corruptioneven in Gods peculiar Israel; These jebusites will be still dwelling with the sons of judah in jerusalem: the flesh will be serving the law of sin, even in the sanctified and chosen vessel, S. Paul himself; and the reason is, 'tis a church militant we live in, 
Cant. 2.  an Army (saith Solomon) terrible with her banners; no lying idle, then, in tents and garrisons, but a daily marching on against the enemy, a continual skirmishing with the flesh; which though by the daily sallies and excursions of the spirit, it be sometimes repelled and driven back (as if it had received the foil or the defeat) yet gathering new strength and forces, it comes on again with her fresh, and restless assaults: so that, there is no expectation of a total triumph and surprisal here, but in a church triumphant, where the Palm and the Crown and the white Robes are laid up; and instead of Drums and Ensigns, Hallelujahs to the Lamb for ever.  
I have done now with the text, 
Applicatio ad Magistratum.  and the two laws there, lex Dei, and lex peccati; But the occasion of this meeting listen's after a third law, and that's lex Regni: which though it be grounded (or at least should be) on the lex Dei, yet it sometimes falls unhappily upon the lex peccati. Now, a war there is in this law, as between the former two, Inveterate; sometimes Irreconciliable, and not to be decided, but by Deaath, war much of the nature of the other, between Spirit & Flesh: a proud spirit for the most part, and a stubborn piece of flesh: for if there were either humility on the one side, or patience on the other, the noise of discord would not be so loud in our streets, but the voice of the turtle would be heard better in our land: There would be more peace within our walls; I am sure, more plenteousness within our habitations. What, in the first institution, was intended as a shield, or buckler, is used at length as a scimitar or sword; That which should defend me from the blows of another, is the engine by which I wound him at last, and myself too; The law, which in case of in jury, or trespass was ordained of old for a Sanctuary, is made sometimes little better than a house of correction. If I malice another, 'tis not I must seourge him, but the law; though it be in mine own power to chastise him with whips; yet the law do it with more state, and more fury too, for that shall chastise him with Scorpions: when all this while, the lash falls not so much on the back of the transgressor, as his purse: and the bleeding of that (as the world goes) is as fatal as the other. Sed hominum sunt ista, non legum, the fault is not in the law, but in some of her touchy and waspish votaries: or if it be in the law, I am sure it is not in the lex Dei, nor (I hope) in this lex Regni, but in the lex peccati; 'Tis the law of sin is to blame here, the mighty Holofernes (as Castrusian told S. jerom) that rebellious lust of ours, which thus play's's the tyrant with ourselves and others, Ille criminum leno; Ille par asitus vitiorum, that bawd and parasite of vices which in one act flatters and betrays us: This is the Fox with a Firebrand in the tail, that burns up the corn field of the Philistines: the prime wheel and stirrer of all our turbulent motions, our unpeaceable proceed, which first sets our pride a-gog, and then our malice, and at length our revenge: and in such a high way of distaste, that no sorrow of the party offending, no mediation of friends, no tender of sitisfaction, no interposing of the Magistrate himself can atone or pacify: But as if there were no Gospel upon earth, or else no mercy by that Gospel, they are still Jewishly bend with their crucifige, crucifige, the Law, the Law. And let such implacable Spirits have their fill of it, let it enter like water into their bowels, and like oil into their bones; let the Law at last be their comfort, and not the Gospel, let justice have her full swinge, and not mercy; and so (if they will needs have it so) Currat Lex, let the Law go on, á lege ad legem, from one Law to another, from the Lex Regni, to the Lex Dei; from the Court of Common Pleas here below, to the great Star-chamber above, where every man shall receive either doom or recompense according to his works.  
The Law all this while is unreprovable you hear, no stain nor blemish there, but either in the malicious Client or Solicitor, or both; It being true in this case what Saint Paul spoke in another, Lex quidem spiritualis, illi vero carnales, venundati sub peccatò, Rom. 7. v.  
And here some may expect that I should have a fling at the Gown, or at least (as the custom of this place is) instruct or counsel it: But this were to bring drops to a River, offer a few mites or pence to a Treasury that is full; for no charity can be so barren, as to conceive, that those should be ill husbands in counselling themselves, that so abundantly dispense and communicate to others: And indeed how, or to what purpose should they receive instructions in a Church here, that are taking so many in a Chamber? How make use of the Doctrine of the Preacher, that are so busy with the breviate of a Client? But by their leave (for I must have leave to tell them so) God is herein dishonoured, and the solemnity both of this time and place disparaged, if not profaned. They are not (I presume) so straightened with time, nor so thronged with the multitude of affairs, but they might sequester one solemn hour for the service of the Lord: The hearing of a Sermon can be no great prejudice to the debating of a cause, if it be just and honest; and a few Orisons first offered in the Temple, are a good preparative and prolog to a conscionable and fair pleading at the Bar. As for any error else, either in their practice or profession, I have not to obtrude here; or if I had, I would not: Every man, or at least, every good man is a Temple to himself, and hath a Pulpit in his own bosom, where there is a continual Preacher or Monitor, a conscience either accusing or excusing him: and one lash of that toucheth more at the quick, than a thousand from the tongue or pen of another. Cor hominis (saith Saint Augustine) aut Dei Thuribulum, aut Diaboli, every man's heart is an Altar for God, or for the Devil; and according to the nature or quality of the Sacrifice, so it smokes either to his doom or glory: and this is enough for an understanding ear without farther boring it. And indeed it is not my practice to pull Gravity by the beard; bring back the grey hair to the Rod and the Ferule; School (as some do) a Magistrate, and catechise a Judge; nay, traduce him too with their borrowed and affected Epithets, Rampant, Couchant, Dormant, and the like unreverent and saucy follies, which are nothing else but the leaking of bottles which are not sound, the noise of Casks which are both foul and empty, fragments of that broken vessel Solomon speaks of, which can contain nothing, no not the droppings of their own vanities. For mine own part, I have been taught what the word judge meaneth, both by representation and by office, a King one way, and a God another; and what is that but a God, and a God? and therefore a God shall admonish him, not I; and one God, I presume, may speak roundly to another.  
Hark then what the God jekosaphat tells the Gods, his Judges, in the fenced Cities of judah, Take heed what you do, for you judge not for man, but for God, who is with you in the judgement; Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you, take heed, and do it, for there is no iniquity with God, no respect of persons, nor taking of gifts, 2 Chron. 19.6, 7.  
Doubtless, the matter is of great weight and consequence that is thus prefaced with a double caution, Take heed, Take heed. The formér Cavete is for a Quid facitis, the latter, for an ut faciatis; first, take heed what you do, and then take heed that you do it too; so that in matters of Judicature, a deep consideration should always precede Action; Deliberation, Judgement: And the reason of the quid sacitis, if you observe it, is very ponderous; For you judge not for man, but for God, and God (as the Psalmist speaketh) judgeth amongst the gods, Psal. 82.1. You gods that judge men here, that God shall judge hereafter: and as you judge these, so shall he judge you.  
The reason of the ut faciatis, is no less weighty neither, for there is no iniquity with God, he loves it not, and what he loves not, you are to condemn and judge; and that this judgement may carry an even fail, there must be no respecting of persons, nor taking of gifts. The ears must be both open, and the hands shut; the complaint of the Widow, and the Orphan, and the oppressed must be as well listened to, as the trials of the rich and mighty; aswell, and as soon too: nay, sooner; for the one gives only, the other prays: and men's devotions go with us to heaven, when their benevolences, with the giver, moulder upon earth.  
Let the Sword then strike where it should, in the great business of life and death; let the balance hang even in matters of nisi prius; that there be no selling of the righteous for a piece of silver, 
Amos 8.6.  or of the needy for a pair of shoes: no cruel mercy, in the one, in remitting incorrigible of fenders; no partiality in the other, in siding with particular men, or causes; but, fiat justitia, et ruat coelum.  
And when justice is thus done in your part, it is not done in all: manifold experience tells us, that when causes have been prosecuted by all the fidelity and care of the solicitor, pleaded by all dexterity of counsel, attended by all the vigilancy of the judge; yet the mystery, the wicked mystery of a decem tales shall carry them against wind and tide; and a heard of mercenary ignorants (for mnay of them are no better) shall buy and sell a poor man & his estate for eight pence: This is neither christian, nor moral, nor scarce humane; & therefore for reformation of this capital abuse, it is both just, & necessary, that such substantial men as are returned in juryes should attend in their own person: and not shuffle of the weight of public affairs upon the shoulders of those, who either understand not a cause when it is debated; or else, use not a conscience, as they should, in giving up their verdict; but make their foreman their primus motor, whom they follow like those beasts ' in Seneca, non qua eundum est, sed qua itur. No man is to good to do his God, or King, or Country service; nay every good man thinks it rather his honour, than his burden: and therefore, where there are delinquents this way, let the mulct & the fine be laid on, according to statute; that where admonition cannot prevail, imperet Lex, compulsion may.  
And now I have performed my office, done the part of a spiritual watchman, blown the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramoth, told Israel aloud her sins, and judah her transgressions. The next act is from the Pulpit to the Tribunal; where it will be expected that Moses should do all things according to the pattern shown him by GOD in the mount beer, that laws be not only written, or prescribed, or remembered, but put in execution also: and for your better encouragement herein, observe what the same Moses says to joshua; 
Deut. 31.8.  Be strong, and of a good courage, for the Lord thy God he it is that goeth with thee, he will not sail thee, nor forsake thee.  
To that God, and to his son Christ jesus, with the blessed spirit, be ascribed all honour, glory, power, and dominion, both now and forever, Amen.  
Gloria in excelsis Deo.  
FINIS.    

The Christian Duel. THE SECOND SERMON, Ad Magistratum. Preached at the ASSIZES, held at TAUNTON in Somerset. 1635. By Humphrey Sydenham.  ROM. 8.6. 
Quod sapit Caro Mors est; Quod autem sapit Spiritus, Vita & Pax.  
LONDON, Printed by JOHN BEALE, for Humphrey Robinson, at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in PAUL'S Churchyard. 1637.   

TO THE NOBLE AND MUCH DESERVING, Sr. WILLIAM PORTMAN, BARONET.  
SIR,  
STartle not, (my Noble Sir) This is no Challenge I present you with, but a Flag of truce; for though it have an Alarm in the Front, and the subject speaks war altogether, and discord, yet it prepares to peace, such a peace as presupposeth victory, and victory, life; and life, Eternity. To tell you here the nature of this war, its fears, stratagems, dangers, sufferings, were but to preach by Letter, and degrade a Sermon to an Epistle. The following discourse shall give you a hint of all, where shall find, that he that is a true Christian soldier must be at peace with others, though he have no concord with himself. This is the model of the whole fabric, and this I offer to your Noble hands, which when it shall kiss, be confident you cannot hold faster, than (please you try) the heart of him that offers it. Sickness and Age (both my companion, now) are but ill Courtiers, and as little acquainted with the nature of Ceremony, as the practice; A Compliment then, you cannot style this, but an expression of my zeal to the merits of your dead Brother; to whom, as I was of old a faithful Servant, so still a true honourer of his Name, though not (O my unhappiness!) an Attendant; which I cannot so much ascribe to negligence, or error, as to Fate. But suppose either, or all, or others, I murmur not, but bless rather; and bless thus:  
God preserve you and yours, and send you length of days, and accumulation of honours, and fruitfulness of Loins; that as your Fortunes look green and flourishing, so may your Name also; to the glory of your God, the service of your Country, the hope of your friends, the joy of your Allies, and the Prayers of  
Your wel-wishing Honourer, HUM. SYDENHAM.   

THE CHRISTIAN DUEL.  
The second Sermon.  GAL. 5.17. 
The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusteth against the Flesh.  
'tIs not my intent to perplex either myself or Auditory, with any curiosity of Preface or division, the words are already at variance between themselves; and so instead of farther dividing them, the Text at this time shall pass for a division: for here is Flesh against Spirit, and Spirit against Flesh, and lust against lust; and these in the same man, and this man cleft and sundered between these in a bitter and restless Combat. My purpose rather is to show you the original and ground of this Duel; where and whom it challengeth, and how; that so the nature and quality of this war being discovered, I may with more truth and boldness unmask the Hytocrite, pull off the vizard from the Mountebank in Religion, shem you Christianity in her own face and feature, without the whoredoms either of Art or Falsehood, the gildings and overlaying of Dissimulation and Imposture, tell you who are selected Soldiers for the Lords Battle, and who Volunteers for the service of the Enemy, what they are that march under the Ensigns of the Spirit, and what these under the colours of the Flesh, and all this in a Caro concupiscit adversus Spiritum, The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusteth against the Flesh; of which briefly, and as my custom is, bluntly, in a few broken Meditations, such as I could solder and piece up from the remainders of a more involved and laborious discourse: And now Caro-concupiscit, The Flesh lusteth.  
MAN, since the breach of his first Truce with his Greater, hath been a continual Rebel and Mutineer, up in arms against God and himself too; 
Gen. 3.  the violation of that great Caveat, Ne manducas, Thou shalt not eat, hath exposed both him and his posterity to the Sword, and the doom thereof lies fresh upon record, in a Mortemorieris, The Lord hath bend his Bow, 
Isai. 9  and whet his Sword, and prepared for him his instruments of Death, Psal. 7.12, 13. And whereas Man hath forsaken the way of peace, and broken his league with the great Prince thereof, and by that revolt made himself no more a Man of peace, but of open war; God therefore will sign him his Letters of Mart, 
Gen. 3.15.  with an Ego ponam inimicitiam, Gen. 3. I will set enmity, not only between the Serpent and the Woman, or the Woman and the Man, but even between man and himself, so that instead of David's pax inter muros, 
Psal. 122.7.  Peace within the walls of jerusalem, peace within these spiritual walls (calmness and quietness in the bosom of the Saints here) the noise of Discord hath been shrill in our ears, and that Prophetic speech of our Saviour is come not only about us, but within us; Bella & rumores bellorum, 
Matth. 24.6  There shall be wars and rumours of wars; Wars within us, and rumours of wars without us. Certamen illud praeclarum decertavi, saith Saint Paul, I have sought the fight, the good fight, 2 Tim. 4. There's the war we talk of, Sonum bucccinae audit Anima mea, clangorem belli, My soul hath heard the sound of the Trumpet, the Alarm of Dissension, jer. 4.19. there's the rumour of war. To come home, Care concupiscit adversus spiritum, the Flesh is at opposition with the Spirit, and the Spirit with the Flesh, in the Text here, there's the war within: Vices & exercitus tui sunt contra me, Thy changes and thine Armies are against me, job 10.17. there's the war without.  
Now though in these wars and rumours of wars there be not as in the other insurrectio gentium, a rising up of Nation against Nation, or of Church against Church, or of opinion against opinion, (for in their bloody pursuit, the Sword hath been a long time drunk, and made the Prophet of them for the truth of his predictions, no less than a true God) yet there is a rising of Brother against Brother; nay of each Brother against himself; the Spiritual is against the Carnal, the unregenerate against the sanctified, the inward against the outward man; and all these (as I told you) in the same man, and this man sawed and rend between these in an irreconcilable Discord.  
Neither is there only thus, a rising of Brother against Brother, but in an allegorical way, of the Brother against the Sister (of the body against the Soul) nay of the Sister against the Sister (of the Soul against herself.) And herein both Rome and Geneva kiss; 
Cornel. a lap. in cap. 7. Rom. v. 25.  Solius animae lis ista, the soul only is engaged in this Combat; the Flesh, as Flesh merely, hath nought to do, but as a second to abbet or look on. And therefore, we take not the word Caro here properly for this fleshly Mass, or lump (which is as it were the paste and crust of the body) but metaphorically for the carnal and unregenerate part of man; neither do we take the word Spirit physically, for the reasonable Soul merely, but Theologically, for the spiritual & regenerate part of man; and between this Spirit and that Flesh, this regenerate and that unregenerate part, this new and that old man, there is a continual skirmish in the same man, and this Quarrel not to be decided but by Death.  
Now, as this Combat all the Saints and servants of God have, so they only have it; a Combat so proper to the true christian, that none can fight it but he alone; hanc pugnam non experiuntur in semetipsis, nisi bellatores virtutum, et debellatores vitioorum, saith S. Augustine; those that fight for virtue, 
Serm. 59 de diversis.  and against vice, feel this war, and no other; and this is a blessed war; and where it is not, there is but a cursed Peace. If all be hushed and calm within, there is not only a Sleepiness but even a vacancy of goodness; the spirit is no longer spirit in man, then when it is in agitation, and at variance with the flesh. And therefore, we here peremptorily exclude two sorts of men from any interest they can challenge in this war of the Regenerate; such as are so buried in the flesh, that they seem to have no spirit at all; and such as glory altogether in the spirit, as if they had no flesh; for, as on the one side, if there be no spirit, there can be no reluctancy of the flesh; so on the other, if no flesh, no opposition of the spirit; and if neither of these, no war; if no War, no Crown, no Garland, no Glory. The former sort we may compare to the children of Israel, in the times of Deborah; 
judges. 5.8.  There is not a sword nor a spear amongst forty thousand of them; a troop of secular and carnal men, which know not the use of S. Paul's artillery; The sword of the spirit, 
Ephes. 6.14. et 17.  and the shield of faith, & the breastplate of righteousness, and the helmet of salvation are not their proper harness; but as unwieldy for their shoulders, as saul's armour was for David. A brawling, perhaps, they may have between reason and affection, or between natural conscience and natural affection, between the will and the understanding; which as in a mind enlightened only, not renewed, is nothing else but a neighbourly discord between flesh & flesh; but for any solid debate between will and will, affections and affections, flesh and spirit, indeed they have none at all; it being true of these which God by Mosis spoke of those of the old world, My spirit shall no longer contend with them, for they are but flesh, Gen. 6.3.  
The other sort we may fitly resemble to the Children of Ephraim, who being harnessed and carrying Bows, 
Psal. 78.10.  turned themselves back in the day of Battle. Men that make a shrewd flourish in the vanguard of Religion, their Bow is ready bend against the wicked, and they shoot their Arrows, even bitter words, desperately bitter, but when they come themselves to the shock and brunt of the Battle, to the handy-gripe of the Adversary, to the trial indeed of their spiritual manhood, they instantly forsake their Colours, and the Roe is not more swift on the Mountains, than they to fly from the Standard and Ensign under which they fought, running from one Clime and Church unto another; from an old one here founded on a Rock, Counsels, Synods, Decrees, Harmony of Fathers, the practice of the very Apostles themselves, to a new one built on the sands of their own fancies, the brainsick plantations of unstable souls. And such are so fare from any true spiritual valour or wisdom, that our Apostle bestows on them the livery of Fools; their first March and Onset might perhaps be in the Spirit; but their Retreat doubtless was in the flesh; their Coming on in lightning and thunder; but their Going off in smoke.  
And here in this throng, I cannot pass without shouldering a little with the Anabaptist, and the Persectist; men forsooth so wholly sealed up by the spirit, that they seem to disclaim the least impressions of the flesh; and pretending that they see visions, do nothing else but dream dreams; lulled along in a confidence of their legal righteousness, and slumbering in an opinion of their perfection in this life; as if they were no longer militant but triumphant, But as in the mouth of the foolish, there is virga superbiae, saith Solomon, Arod of pride; 
Prov. 13.3.  so in the mouth of those proudones, there is virga stultitiae, A rod of folly. If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me; if I say I am Perfect, I shall also prove myself perverse, job: 9 20. Lo, here, in one text, these great vaunters with all their flourishes and bravadoes are put unto the foil; and the justice and perfection they so wrestle for thrown flat upon the back, even by job himself, as just a man (the text says) as any the earth had: and yet he tells them plainly by his own experience,  if they glory in the one, their own mouth shall condemn them, if they but mention the other, they shall prove themselves (as indeed they are) wayward and perverse. Shall we leave the just, and inquire after the perfect man, David, the man after Gods own heart, (and such a one was a perfect man, you will say, if the earth had any) we shall find him complaining of uncleanness within, and vehemently importuning the Lord for purging and washing Psal. 51.7. 
S. Hieron. Regmonach. c. p. 15  In carne justorum imperfecta tantum perfectio est, saith Saint Jerome; the most righteous upon earth here have but an imperfect perfection; and those that would be thought more righteous than others, a perfect imperfection: And therefore I may say of these phanatickespirits, as Hanna, the wife of Elkanah, said of Peninnah; Talk no more so exceeding proudly, 
1. Sam. 2.3.  let not arrogance come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. His hand is ever at the beam, his eye looking how it turns; and so when your clipped & your washed gold comes to the scale, your false stamped shekle to the balance of his sanctuary, how will it be found lighter than vanity itself, how more vain than nothing? for if Angels before him are charged with folly, how much more, those that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, that are crushed before the moth. job 4.19.  
That of the Athenians to Pompey the great, 
Ipsd est perfectio hominis, invenisse se non esse perfectum: D. Aug. Serm. 49. de temp: D. Aug. Serm. 44. de temp.  was a remarkable saying: Thou art so much the more a God, by how much thou acknowledgest thyself to be a man; To be an excellent man is to confess himself to be a man indeed; that is frail, imperfect; haec est vera regenitorum persectio, si imperfectos se esse agnoscant, saith Saint Augustine: then is a regenerate man come to his true perfection here, when he knows that he hath none here, truly. And questionless, 
2. Cor. 4.16. 2. Cor. 7.1.  If the inward man be renewed day by day; and that we are yet to perfect holiness in the fear of God (as S. Paul testifies) then, this renovation and sanctification being not yet absolutely ripe cannot produce any perfect operation, until itself be perfect; and therefore our habitual justice is so fare forth complete, and no farther, 
D. Aug. lib. 3. contra. 2. Epist pelag. cap. 7.  ut ad eius perfectionem pertineat ipsius imperfectionis et in veritate cognitio, et in humilitate confessio; A true knowledge, and an humble confession of our own frailties is the greatest justice and perfection we have about us. Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thy iniquity is still marked before thee, Jer. 2.22. And, Though I wash myself with snow-water, and make my hands never so clean, yet thou shalt plunge me in the ditch, and my very  shall abhor me, Job 9.30, 31.  
There is no perfection then in this earthly Tabernacle, None, none as we are Sojourners, and in our pilgrimage; But at our journeys end, in the Palestina above; None of Degrees, I mean, but of Parts only; As an Infant is a perfect man, because he hath the perfect proportion of a Man; there is nothing monstrous, nothing defective or superfluous in him, in respect of the Organs or Parts, but in respect of the Faculties and Functions, and the Operation of the Organical parts (which is the perfection of Degrees) he hath none at all; for though he have members, yet they cannot do their office; The feet walk not, the hands feed not, the head judgeth not; So it is in our spiritual growth; where there is only perfctio viae, not patriae; S. Augustine detrmining this point with a Tum erit perfectio Boni, quandoerit consummatio mali, A perfection of Good, and a consummation of Evil have their Joynt-inheritances in the Kingdom of Heaven; so the Father in his 15. Sermon de verbis Apostoli.  
No doubt, Egypt here may afford us her Garlic, her Onions, and her fleshpots, but the Flow of milk and honey, and the Rivers of Oil will be in the Canaan above. The earthly Jerusalem may abound with Silver and Gold, and Arabian spices; But what are These to the gates of pearl? to the streets paved with precious stones? Sheba and Tharshish and Ophir may supply her, both with treasure and delight, Ivory and Apes and Peacocks, 1 King. 10. But these are comparatively Toys, in respect of those rich and glorious Constellations which shine in the heavenly jerusalem; The Emerald, the Saphire, and the Chrysolite are there; The jacinth, the Topaz, the Amethyst are above: Rev. 21.20.  
Honorificentissima praedicantur de Te, 
Psal. 87.3.  O Civitas Dei, Summè honorifica! Great and excellent things are spoken of Thee, thou City of God, Thou everlasting City! Great and excellent indeed, for there is neither true Greatness nor Excellency, but There; where we shall grow up to the perfect Man, Indeed, as S. Paul tells us, And to the measure of the ture of the Fullness of Christ; 
Ephes. 4.13.  when we shall lay hold on that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, That Aeternum pondus Gloriae, The excellent and eternal weight of Glory, 2 Cor. 4.17. No Defect there, no Sin, no Temptation, no Lust, no Infirmity, no Sorrow; but we shall be filled with all the Fullness of God; 
Ephe. 3.19.  The Sun shall not burn us by day, nor the Moon by night: Nay, there shall be no need of Sun and Moon; for the Glory of God shall shine there, and the Lamb is the light thereof for evermore.  
But whilst we wander as strangers and pilgrims here on earth, there will be a daily tempest between the Flesh and the Spirit; a wilderness of sin must be passed through, and a fiery pillar required to guide us in our night of errors. And though God by his great mercies in his Son Christ jesus hath brought us out of darkness into his marvellous light; yet, even in this light, darkness sometimes overshadowes us. And therefore as in the Creation of the greater World, God ordained two principal lights, the one to rule the day, and the other the night: So in the restauration of this lesser World, Man, God hath set two lights also, a Sun and a Moon, Christ and his Church, the one to govern him by Day when the beams of the Spirit do enlighten him, the other in the Night when the fogs and mists of the Flesh do overspread him; and as those natural Planets do sometimes meet with their Clouds and Eclipses, so do these mystical also. Now as the interposition of the Earth between the Sun and the Moon causeth an Eclipse in the Moon; and as the interposition of the Moon between us and the Sun, causeth an Eclipse in the Sun: So the interposition of the Flesh (which is as our earthly part) between God and the Soul, causeth an Eclipse in the Soul, whereby her saculties are overclouded; and the interposition of concupiscence or lust between our Spirit and the Spirit of God, causeth an Eclipse in the Spirit, whereby Grace is darkened, and that Sun of Righteousness which would otherwise arise in our hearts is many times over-shadowed by our corrupter motions; insomuch that the best Saints and Servants of God have often groaned within themselves, and poured out their complaints in bitterness of Soul with an Vsquequo Domine Jesus, usquequo? How long Lord jesus, how long? How long this Tyranny of the Flesh? this bondage of corruption? this body of Death? this captivity to the Law of fin? 
Psal. 120.5.  Wretched, wretched that we are, who shall deliver us? Woe that we are thus constrained to sojourn in Mesech here, and to dwell in the Tents of Kedar. But even in these spiritual convulsions they have their lucida intervalla, their Divine solaces and refreshments; this being not the language of desperation, but complaint. jeb after all his passionate expostulations with God, tell's Bildad, that he knows his Redeemer liveth, job 19.25. And Saint Paul after his sad and manifold disputes with his own frailties here, can give thankes to God through jesus Christ our Lord, Rom. 7.24. which sacred ejaculations of theirs, preach no other Doctrine and use but this, That we feeling this thorn in the flesh, and the messenger of Satan ever ready to buffet us, 
2 Cor. 12.7.  should not be exalted above measure; but when we begin to bristle and advance ourselves in the whiteness of our feathers, swell in the opinion of our own Justice and perfections, we should cast down our eyes upon the black and ugly feet of our infirmities, and so humble the pride of our imaginations with the modest language of the Prophet, Lord blot out my transgressions as a mist, and as a thick cloud my sins: 
Isai. 44.22.  Melior est peccator humilis quam justus superbus; 
D. Aug. serm. 49. de temp.  a sinner in his humility is a more acceptable Sacrifice than a just man (if such a one may be) in his pride. And yet as we should be thus sensible of our infirmities, how daily, how hourly, how minutely, how unavoidably they are; so we should not humble ourselves below ourselves, forgetting the great Pilot and Anchor of our Souls; but whilst we have arms, and Oars, and planks to waft us in, let us not voluntarily plunge ourselves in that depth which may occasion our everlasting shipwreck, diffidence and despair; but knowing that prophets and Disciples themselves have been in the like Tempest, the Ship ready to sink, and her Great Steersman asleep, they crying amazedly, we perish, we perish, yet if we invoke him by our zealous importunities, rouse him with a Master, Master, he shall awake at length and rebuke the churlish winds and the waves, 
Luke. 8.24  and a blessed calm shall follow. The greatest servants of God have had their great infirmities; and yet none so great, but have had a fair audience in his Court of mercy, and met both with excuse and pardon from the mouth of a compassionate judge; who acknowledgeth that their spirit is ready, though their flesh be weak, and their mind following the Law of God, though the Flesh, the frail Flesh, be led captive by the Law of sin.  
And this peculiar Plea of Gods chosen Servants is at length become an Apology for the customary sins of those who in their conversations are most wicked and depraved; the profanest Esau's, 
Pet. Mart. in cap. 7. ad Rom. v. 25.  the losest Libertines that are; Illae pests, & furiae temporum (as Peter Martyr calls them) those plagues and furies of the times, lay title to it, and 'tis made not only the excuse of their sins, but their very patent and privilege of sinning, who under the colour of their carnal frailties can blanche and palliate their deepest enormities; make Scarlet, Snow; and Crimson, Wool; crying out with those wretches in the times of S. Augustine, 
Vide D. Aug. Serm. 46. de Temp. & Ser. 13. deverbis Dom. & Serm. 6. de verbis Apostol.  Non nos, sed Caro; non nos, sed Caro, Not us, but the Flesh, the Flesh, that must be are the blame, whatsoever the Sin be; Their mind, they pretend, is prone enough to matters of Religion, but the flesh, as a violent Tide or Torrent, drives them another way; and no sin so capital but finds S. Paul's evasion, Non nos, sed peccatum in nobis, 'Tis no more we that do it, but Sin that dwelleth in us. Lies and Oaths, and Blasphemies and Profanations are at length but a business of the Flesh, to wallow in Surfeits and Vomitings and Excess of Riots, till the wine inflame, and the eyes look red, and startle, a toy of the flesh too; Rail and Envies, and Scandals and Back bitings, (the Cutthroats of neighbourhood and amity) but a frailty of the flesh neither; Chambering and watonnesse, and a lustful neighing after thy neighbour's wife, nay, the rank sweat of an Incestuous Bed, a trick of the flesh also; (and that's a trick of the flesh indeed) to grind a poor man, or steece a Tenant, or pillage a Church, cheat God himself of his dues, imbeazle his tithes and offerings, Imbrue our hands in the blood of his Sacrifices, but a trifle of the Flesh neither: In a word, be their Sins died in Graine, never of so sanguine and deep a Tincture, so mighty, so heinous, so inexpiable, the Flesh shall be their excuse still, and the words of the Apostle are ever ready to plead for them, 
Rom. 7.25.  With the mind I serve the Law of God, but with the Flesh the Law of Sinne. But let such corrupt Glossers on the Text consider who S. Paul was that used those words, and of what sins, (for let the Pelagian bray what he list, the words are S. Paul's, & S. Paul's of himself, and of himself as an Apostle, 
Vide D. Aug. Ser. 5. de verbis Apost.  not as a Pharisee) not of public and scandalous, and notorious sins, (from which even his Pharisaisme was exempt) but of bosom and inward infirmities, whereby he felt his sanctified intentions strangled by the counterplots of the Flesh. Moreover the Text properly belongs to those that struggle, not to them that lie soaking and weltering in their sins; the Spirit must be still lusting against the Flesh; and the Flesh still lusting against the Spirit: (This Sea of Ours, never lying calm, & unruffled without some storm) So that those which tug not, and bear up stiff Sail against this Tide, but plunging themselves headlong in all manner of Vices, yet still pretending a rectitude of their mind and will, have nothing to do with this prerogative of the Saints, For, as a grave Neoterick of ours strictly observes, None can say, 
The mystery of self deceiving. by. D. D. cap. 14.  that sins are not Theirs, but the Flesh's; but such have the Spirit besides the Flesh, contending with the Flesh. Now those, saith he, which are so ready with their Non nos, sed caro, Not us, but the flesh are oftentimes themselves nothing else but flesh; no Spirit at all to make the least resistance, but give up themselves in a voluntary subjection to the lusts and corruptions of the Old man. So that, this non Nos, sed Caro is but a vain Pretence of Theirs, sounding nothing else but us, and ourselves; For, in understanding, will, memory, affections, soul and body too, they are altogether flesh; Nature speaking of These, as sometimes Adam did of Eve, Adest Os ex ossibus meis, et Caro de carne mea, Here is Bone of my Bone, and Flesh of my Flesh, Gen. 2.23.  
Notwithstanding, in the committing of some grievous sin, they have no doubt, a kind of inward murmuring and reluctation. Pilate will not condemn Christ, but he will first wash his hands, pretending that he is innocent of his blood: Mat. 27.24. Felix will give S. Paul liberty of speaking for himself, before he will deliver him mercilessly to the jews, bound; Acts: 24.27.  
There is a grudging and recoiling in the consciences of most men, even In, and Before the act of their mistread; but this resistance is not from a mind renewed, but enlightened only; not from a religious fear of offending God for this or that sin, but the fearful apprehension of punishments which shall follow upon those sins; so that they do it only, saith S. Austin, timore poenoe, non amore justitiae, rather to avoid a hover vengeance, 
Serm. 59 de diversis.  then for any filial obedience, or respect to God and his commands. And herein, as in a map or glass, we may see the difference of the combat between the regenerate and the mere carnal man; that of the regenerate is in the same faculties of the soul, between the will and the will, the affections and the affections; these faculties even in the renovated soul, being partly spiritual, and partly carnal, whence it follows that when the renewed part of the will (which is the spirit) invites us to good; the unregenerate part (which is the flesh) sways us to evil; But the combat in the mere carnal man is between divers faculties of the soul, between the understanding and the will, between the conscience and the affections; he neither resisting temptations to sin, nor the swinge of them when he is tempted, neither hating the sin forbidden, nor loving the law forbidding it; but still draws on cords with cart-roaps; vanities with iniquities; and these in a full measure, drinking them like water; until he come even to the overflowing of ungodliness; 
job. 15.16.  so far from holding back from mischief, that he doth it with greediness and swiftness; committing all uncleanes with greediness, Ephes: 4.19. Et pedes festinanter currentes ad malum; his feet are swift in running to mischief, Pro. 6.18. the regenerate man checks evil motions when they are offered; the carnal man gives them line and liberty of access without control; Sin to the one is like the book Saint john mentions; causing bitterness in the belly, Revel: 10.9. To the other, like Ezekiels' scroll; 'tis to him as honey and sweetness, Ezek: 3.3. That doth utterly distaste, this doth affect and relish it; he, in the temptation of sin strives to avoid the action; to this, the action is as ready as the temptation; so that, instead of the rain or the snaffle, he is altogether for the switch and the spur, veloces sunt pedes ejus ad effundendum sanguinem, his feet are swift to shed blood: Rom. 3.15. Once more, The one keepeth his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. 1. Pet. 3. The others tongue frameth deceit, and deviseth mischief, and the poison of Asps is under his lips; proudly vaunting with those in the Psalmist, Quis est Dominus nobis? with our tongues we will prevail, we are they that ought to speak, who is Lord over us? Psal. 12.4.  
I deny not, but the same sin, according to the act may be both in the regenerate, and the mere carnal man, but not without this qualification, in the one, for the most part, 'tis a sin of will, and choice, and delight, and custom, in the other a sin of infirmity, and reluctation, and contempt, a sin of invasion, not of appetite. Besides, as there is a difference in the manner of their sinning so there is in their opposition which they make against their sins; The reluctancy, which the regenerate hath, is from the apprehension of the goodness of God's law, forbidding sin; of the carnal man, 
D. D. ut si p. 〈◊〉  from the apprehension of the truth of the judgements, denounced by that law, punishing those sins, that from love; this from fear. Credit bonus, et verè credit; (saith Saint Augustine) credit malus, sed non vere credit; credit Christum, sed odit Christum; the good man believes, and he believes truly; the wicked man believes too, but he believes not truly: he believes Christ, but he loves not Christ, he believes him as a GOD, loves him not as a judge; in a word, habet confessionem fidei in timore poenae, non in amore coronae. Peter's confession of Christ, and the Devils was all one in respect of the words, but not of the heart, they both acknowledged that he was filius Dei magni, the Son of the living God. Math. 16. But see the difference: Hujus confessio, quia cum odio Christi prolata est, merito damnatur; Eius, 
D. Aug. Serm. 59 de diversis Tom. 10. p. 616  quia ex interna dilectione processit, aeterna beatitudine remuneratur: The Devil as an Angel that was fallen, enviously acknowledged Christ's divinity, & therefore his own just condemnation: Peter as an Angel that should rise, had an inward taste of his mediatorship, and therefore of his own undoubted glorification.  
In fine, though the motions of the flesh be alike in both, yet the humouring of those motions is not. Aliud est concupiscere, aliud post concupiscentias non ire: It is one thing to lust, another to go a whoring after it. As it is one thing to glance and dart a wanton desire, another to court and plead it. A man may have, and hath and must, as he is man, his carnal titillations, and yet a spiritual man all this while, if he oppugn them, if he withstand their march, and onset: But if he once hang out his flags of truce, if he give way to their fiery siege, if he open the city gates to let in this armed monster, the spiritual man hath lost the day, and the carnal hath the full triumph. Hark what Saint Augustine in this case obtrudeth, Quicunque carnalibus concupiscentiis cedis, atque consentis &c: Whosoever thou art that givest way to thy carnal concupiscences, and either thinkest them good to fill up the saturity of thy lust, or else so seest them to be evil, that notwithstanding that evil thou dost assent, and so follow them where they lead thee, and what they suggest, commit, Tu, tu quisquis talis es, totus, totus carnalis es, Thou art carnal, Thou, thou whosoever thou art, art All, all carnal. And therefore the advice of the same Father will be seasonable here, If the infirmities of the Flesh be such, 
D. Aug. Serm. 5. de verb. Apost.  ut concupiscas, saltèm post concupiscentias non eas; If thou must needs lust, (as lust thou must, because a man) yet run not after thy lusts; Though they surge and boil, let them not break upon thee; though their floods rise, though they lift up their voice aloud, though their waves are mighty, and rage horribly, let them not compass thee about, 
Psalm. 93. v. 3.4.  let them not come in upon thy soul; But though the rain fall, and the winds blow, and these floods come, and beat upon thy house of clay, yet remember the Rock upon which it is founded, the Rock Christ; The Rock of thy strength (as David calls him) and the Rock of thy refuge, and the Rock of thy salvation.  
Again, 
Math. 7.25.  seeing the Flesh is Hostis internus & gravissimus, (as Origen styles it) and that our greatest Enemies are those of our own House, those that are about us, 
Psal. 62.7.  and within us, p●ae●aeteris omnibus, carnis insidiae formidandae sunt; we should principally beware of the Stratagems and Ambuscadoes of the Flesh; let us strive to awaken her forces, abate the edge both of her pride and teachery; knowing, that where this Siren sings, it doth but presage our shipwreck; when this Delilah embraceth, 'tis but to betray us to the spiritual Philistine, 'tis the principal snare and pit fall the Devil useth to entrap us to our destruction. He may be the Father begetting sin, but the Flesh, for the most part, is the Mother conceiving and bringing it forth. And therefore Saint james saith, that Every man when he is tempted is enticed and drawn away by his own Concupiscence, Jam. 1.14. So that although Satan hath a hand, a powerful, a subtle and malicious hand in tempting us, yet the Flesh and her Lusts carry the greater stroke; He tempts only, the other entice and draw away; he doth but lay the bait, the other cause us to play and nibble, and at length to swallow it. The Devil hath only a subtlety in persuading, no power in compelling man to sin, Non enim cogendo, sed suadendo nocet; 
D. Aug. Serm. 197. de temp.  nec extorquet à nobis consensum, sed petit, saith Saint Augustine. But the Flesh doth not only insinuate consent to sin, but even extort it; she being both a Traitor and a Tyrant, first lays her powder-plot, and then blows us up. And therefore, let every one of us arm himself against the assaults of the Flesh, the suggestions of our corrupter Lusts; humbling and macerating these pampered bodies of ours by Prayer and Abstinence, choking all inordinate motions, and all ways of distemper and excess, which may give them either flame or nourishment. You know who tells you, that Gluttony is the forechamber of Lust, and Lust is the innerroome of Gluttony. On the other side, Abstinence is the midwife of Devotion, and Devotion is the sister of Zeal, and Zeal is the mother of true Prayer; so that there is neither Zeal, nor Prayer, nor Devotion truly without Abstinence; I mean as well a corporal as mental Abstinence; a Restraint from the fullness of bread, as from the fullness of Sinne. For it is with the soul and Body, for the most part (pardon the similitude I beseech you) as it is with the Commonwealth, and the Exchequer; if the one be full, the other, they say, is still empty. The Soul, which is God's Exchequer and Storehouse of his Graces, when it is full of Contemplations and heavenly Entrancements, the Body is commonly empty of her carnal repletions, as causing a drowsiness and dulness in all spiritual agitations. On the other side, the Body which is the Commonwealth of the senses, (the rebels commonly of the Spirit) when that is crammed with satiety, the blood dancing in the cheek and veins, and the joints swimming with marrow and fatness, there is a kind of macelency and famine, and leanness in the soul, all goodness is vacant and banished then, and Lust keeps her revel and rendevouz. A fit caution and mements, as I conceive, for this place and meeting, that those days which the Church hath of Old solemnly consecrated to the service of the Spirit, we devote not another way in making provision for the Flesh, to fulfil the Lusts thereof: That the time she hath set apart for Fasting and Prayer, whereby we should magnify the Lord upon the strings and pipe, and so make the tongue, Cymbalum jubilationis, A wel-tuned Cymbal, we over-lavish not to feasting and excess, and so make our throat, Sepulchrum apertum, An open sepulchre. I know, that Noble assemblies require something extraordinary, both for State and Multitude, and let them have it; But withal, I beseech them to consider what Lent is, 
Preached in Lent ad Magstratum.  and with what devout strictness observed by the Christian Church for many hundred years together; though in these days of Flesh, cried down by some pretenders to the Spirit, as a superstitious observation of our blinded Ancestors. But let them know, or (if they do not) let them read; read Antiquity in her clear, though slow streamings unto us, not the troubled and muddy waters, novelty hath cast upon our shore, and then they shall know, that it is a time of Sackcloth and Ashes and casting earth upon the Head, for the humbling and macerating of the Sinner; not of putting on the glorious apparel, your vain shinings in silks and trssues, for the ruffling of the Gallant. A time like that in the mountain, of restraint and scarcity; when a few barley loaves and some small Fishes should suffice a Multitude, joh. 6.9. Not of pomp or magnificence, when the stalled Ox, and the pastured Sheep, and the fallow Deer, 
1 King. 2.4.  and the satted Fowl are a service for the Lords Anointed.  
For mine own part, I am not so rigid either in practice or opinion (or if I were in both, it matters not where a higher judgement and authority overballaced me) to deny sickness or age, or (in respect of travel, or multitude of employments) the public Magistrate, what in this case were either convenient, or necessary, or enough; however I desire them to remember, that both the Sword and the Keys have a stroke here; and so that they would feed only, not cloy; nourish, not dainty up the body, knowing that when it is cockered and kept too high, the Soul itself is manacled, and more than lame and heavy in sacred operations. And therefore let us not be altogether men of Flesh; but as the Father hath it occasionally on this Text, 
D. Aug. 43. Ser. de verb. Dom.  Vincat spiritus carnem, aut certè nè vincatur a carne, let the spirit have a sway too, and though not wholly a Conqueror, yet make her not a captive; let our Devotions go along with our entertainments, our Acts of Charity with our Acts of justice: Foeneratur Domino qui miseretur pauperis, saith the Wiseman, He that hath pity upon the poor, dareth, or (as the Latin implies) putteth to use unto the Lord, Prov. 19.17. Now, Qui accipit mutuum, servus est foenerantis, The borrower is a Servant to the lender, Prov. 22.7. So that the Lord is as 'twere a Servant unto him that hath pity on the poor, because in that pity he dareth to the Lord. And indeed, who would not be a lender to the Lord, when his interest may be a Crown, and his reward everlastingness? who would not exchange a morsel of bread for the celestial Manna? and alms for the food of Angels? a few earthly rags for the white Robe of the Saints? Since most of these are not so properly a lending or benevolence, as a due. The glean of the Cor-field, 
Levit. 23.22.  and the shake of the Vintage, were a Legacy long since bequeathed the poor man by the Law, when the Gospel was yet in her nonage and minority: But now it is not only the crumbs and fragments from thy Table, and so feed the hungry, or the courser shearings of thy Flock, and so  the naked: But visit the sick too, and those which are in prison, Mat. 25.26. So that our charity should not only reach the impotent and needy, but the very malefactor, and legal transgressor. The groan of the prison should be as well listened to, as the complain in the streets; and at this time more specially, more particularly; that those bowels which want and hunger have even contracted and shrivelled up; and those bodies which cold and nakedness have palsied and benumbed, not finding it seems so much pity as to  and feed them as they should whilst they were alive, may at last meet with such a noble and respective charity, as to shroud and inter them like Christians when they are dead. In the mean time I have that humble suit to prefer to the Gods of Earth here, which David had of old to the God of Heaven. Oh let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before you, 
Psal. 79.12.  according to the greatness of your power, have mercy on those which are appointed to dye: Let your Vinegar be tempered with Oil, justice sugared o'er with some compassion, that where the Law of God says peremptorily, Thou shalt restore and not dye, let not there the Law of Man be writ in blood, and say, (except to the notorious and incorrigible offender) Thou shalt dye and not live. There will a time come, when we shall all appear before the judgement seat of God. 
2 Cor. 5.10.  And what then? what? The Sinners Plea will be generally then, 
Job. 9.3.  Lord I cannot answer thee one for a thousand. And what if I cannot? yet, O Lord, with thee there is mercy and plenteous redemption. 
Psal. 130.7.  But now and then it falls out so unhappily at the Judgement seat of Man, that parties arraigned, though they answer a thousand in one (multitudes of inditements in one innocence) yet sometimes naked circumstances, and mere colourable conjectures without any solid proof at all, shall so cast them in the voice of a dazzled jury, that there is neither hope of mercy nor redemption; 
Gen. 40.22. Esther 7.10.  but pharoh's Baker must to the Tree, and Haman to the Gallows fifty cubits high. But in this case, Be learned and wise ye judges of the Earth, serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice to him in reverence, Psal. 2.10.  
But I have here digressed a little, and perhaps a little too saucily in this point of charity: let charity have the blame if she have deserved it, whilst I return where I formerly left you, and that was at a feast in time of fasting. Good LORD how preposterously, nay how rebelliously, and in one act crossing both the civil and ecclesiastic power which prohibit it. And therefore since nature says, for the better maintenance and support of these fleshly tabernacles, thou shalt eat and drink ad necessitatem; and the church to take down the frankness of nature, and tame the wildness of the flesh, (for in point of fasting there is as well a religious, as a civil, or politic respect) says, thou shalt not eat and drink ad intemperantiam, let us so eat and drink, that we may live and not lust, and so live, that thus eating & drinking we care not if we die to morrow. The cause why Moses so long fasted in the Mount, was mere divine speculation; the cause why David did, humiliation: so that, the way to mortify the flesh, and to advance the spirit, is by the door of abstinence, whereby we may undermine the palaces of lust and wantonness, plant parsimony as nature, where riotousness hath been study; 
Hooker Eccles. pol. lib. 5.  that whereas men of the Flesh eat their bread with joy, and drink their wine with a merry heart, Eccles. 9.7. The man of the Spirit may be contrite and wounded, and so humble his soul with fasting, Psal. 35.13. Beware then of this Ingenuosa Gula, this kick-shawed luxury, when the brain turns Cook for pleasing both of the eye and palate: let's not court appetite, when we should but feed it, not feed excess, when we should strangle it. Moderation and sobriety are the best Governors of our meetings; and where these are, (as they are not too often in the meetings of a multitude) the example of our Saviour will allow us to turn Water into Wine; and the advice of his Apostle, to drink it also for our stomach's suke; and doubtless sometimes for our mirth's sake too, if we exceed not the bounds of temperance, nor fly out into superfluity or Epicurism, which are the blot and stain of Society, and a hindrance of that true joy and comfort, which otherwise might smile in our public meetings, when invitations are turned into riots, feeding into suffocation, clogging the body and damping the spirits, and (thereby) those blessings, which else happily might have showered upon us. A Soul drowned in meat, as the Father phraseth it, can no more behold the light of God, than a body sunk in puddle can behold the light of the Sun. For, as fogs and mists arising from the Earth, and hiding the light of the Sun from us, debar us for the present, of the virtue of those heavenly influences, which otherwise we might partake of: So the fumes and vapours of an overcharged stomach, ascending to the brain, cause a cloudiness in the soul; hindering and darkening those heavenly speculations, which the Spirit would else mount to in God, and his Son Christ jesus.  
To conclude then, it should be our principal care to keep the whole man brushed; all sluttishness swept-of as well within, as without; not only those outward spots and blemishes which bestain the flesh; but even those smaller dusts and atoms, which overspread the soul. Remember, it is the white robe which is the dressing of the Saint; and that the hand which is washed in innocency is accepted at God's Altar; The hair that is unshaven is not for his congregation, nor the fowl and unclean thing for his kingdom. We read that Solomon's Temple had two altars; the one without, Vbi animalium caedebatur Sacrificium, 
1. Kings 6.20. & 22.  where the bullock was slain for sacrifice; The other, within, Vbi Thymiamitis offerebatur incensum, where incense and perfumes were offered, the best myrrh, and the onyx & the sweet storax. 
Ecclus. 24.15.  And we know that this temple of the holy Ghost hath two altars also; the one without, in the flesh, where the bullock should be slain, the Hecatomb of our hundred beasts offered, our beastly lusts and corruptions, which fight against the soul. The other within; in the mind, where the fumes of myrrh and frank incense ascend, the incense of prayer, and gratulation, that spiritual holocaust, that vial of the Saints, full of odours, which reacheth the very nostrils of the Almighty. On these two altars, 
D. Aug. 256. serm. de temp.  God requires a two fold sacrifice; munditiem in cord, cleanness in the heart, which David so vehemently desired, create in me a clean heart O God, Psal. 5 1. and castitatem in corpore, chastity in the body, 
S. Bern. inter sententias.  which S. Bernar calls martyrium sine sanguine, a martyrdom without blood; where there is a death of the flesh, without the death of the body; a death of her lusts, and a death of her corruptions by mortifying and subduing all carnal rebellions. And this martyrdom of the flesh S. Paul glories in, I keep under my body, or as the Greek hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Corpus contundo, 
Paulin. Ep. 58.  et Lividum reddo (so Paulinus reads it to S. Augustine) I Bray as it were, and macerate my body, and mark what follows, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In servitutem redigo, I bring it into subjection. 1. Cor. 9.27. And in subjection indeed it must be brought, in subjection to the soul; which as it gives the other form; so it should steer and master it. Vnumquodque sicundum hoc vivat, unde vivit saith S. Augustine; let every thing live according to the rule and platform of that by which it lives. Vnde vivit caro tua? De anima tua; unde vivit anima tua? De Deo tuo; unaquaque harum secundum vitam suam vivat: Whence lives thy body? from thy soul: whence lives thy soul? from thy God: Let both then live, according to that Life which gave them life. The world was made for man, and man for his soul, & his soul for God. Tum rectè vivit carosecundū animam, 
D. Aug. Serm. 13. deverb. Dom.  cùm anima vivit secundum Deum; The sweet Saint Augustine still; then the body lives rightly according to the soul, when the soul lives rightly according unto GOD. Let the body then so live after the soul, and the soul after GOD, that both body and soul may live with God in his eternal kingdom, and that for his dear Sons sake, jesus Christ the righteous: to whom with the Father, & the holy Ghost be all honour and glory ascribed both now, and for ever. Amen.  
Gloria in excelsis Deo.  
FINIS.   

Jehovah-Jireh. GOD In his PROVIDENCE And OMNIPOTENCE Discovered. A SERMON PREACHED Ad Magistratum, at CHARD in Somerset. 1633. By Humphrey Sydenham.  
Laudate Dominum de omnimoda potentia ejus, Laudate eum secundum multitudinem Magnitudinis ejus.  Psal. 150.2. 
LONDON, Printed by JOHN BEALE, for Humphrey Robinson, at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in PAUL'S Churchyard. 1637.   

TOMY HIGHLY HONOURED FRIEND Sr. JOHN STAWELL, Knight of the BATH, THIS.  
SIR,  
JUST promises are just debts, and debts (though delayed) ever come acceptably, if they come with advantage. I long since promised you a transcript of this Sermon (which was the Principal) and now I send it you with a Dedication (which is the Interest;) and such an Interest, I presume, you will not refuse, though presented by the hand of your poor Servant. Now it is yours indeed, but it is yours chief to peruse, not to protect; for such a subject will look above all humane Patronage, there being nothing fit either to own or protect Omnipotence, but GOD himself; to whom I consecrate both myself and It. And yet, though the subject be Sacred, and points directly at the Creator of us all, yet there may be (and are by all likelihood) frailties in the discourse; which as they will meet with some cavil or opposition, so they will require a Bulwark and defence also, and from whom more properly, than from a Great man! who both in place and nature is nearest to his God (if Goodness, as it ought, shake hands with Greatness;) and of that no man despairs in a Noble disposition, where but to question virtue, were to profane it. Your Country hath often tasted of the Greatness of your Spirit, and where there is Spirit, truly there must be something that is divine also; which cannot but speak your Goodness without control, from me especially,  
Your old, and (if you please to preserve him) constant Servant, HUM. SYDENHAM.   

JEHOVAH JIREH.  PSAL. 59.16. 
I will sing of thy Power, and sing aloud of thy Mercy.  
I Think it not unseasonable, 
Preached Ad Magistratum.  nor besides my errand, to sing of the Power and Mercy of one God in the presence of another. Greatness is a kind of Deity; God himself affording Rulers & Nobles no lower Title than his own, of Gods. But Gods by Office or Deputation, not by Essence; and yet so Gods by Office, that they personate that God by Essence. Power they have, a mighty one, and Mercy too, or should have, and both these the people sing of, only mortality puts the distance and divides between civil and sacred (or if you will) sacred and celestial attributes. I say ye are Gods, Gods with a Moriemini, mortal Gods, there is a but annexed to the Deity, But ye shall dye, die like men, and fall as one of the Princes, Psal. 82.6.  
And now that I may not beguile time nor you with any curiosity of preface, the Text being only a parcel of a Psalm, I have formerly resembled to the whole; where I observed the ground, the parts, the descant, the Author or Setter of it, the time when it was sung, and the occasion of the singing. The Author and his descant I have already opened in two words, Cantabo and Exaltabo, I will sing, and I will sing aloud; Now method leads me to the parts, Power and Mercy. Mercy is a plausible Theme, and a large one; enough of itself to fill up discourse, and time, and attention, with exquisite variety: And therefore I shall dwell for the present, only in the expressions of divine Power. A Subject (I confess) like the Ocean, wide and deep, and not without some danger to him that shall either steer or sound it. But that God, who was a staff to his Patriarch to pass over jordan, will be a Pilot to his Disciple in the Sea too, that he sink and perish not (this vast and troubled Sea of his Omnipotence) where some learned Wit have been overwhelmed, either by a bold curiosity, venturing too fare to shoot the Strait and Gulf they should not, or else by a vain glorious conceit of their own Tenets have proudly borne sail against wind and tide, the main drift of Scriptures and current of the true Faith, and so at length have run themselves on the shelves of Heresy or Blasphemy, or both: Against both which I shall ever pray in the language of the Disciples in the great storm, Master save me lest I perish: 
Mat. 8.25.  And thus by Thee in safety I shall daily sing of thy Power, and sing aloud of thy mercy, because thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.  I will sing of thy Power. 
THis word Power in respect of God is Homonymon, and of various signification in sacred Story. Sometimes it is taken only for Christ; so by Saint Paul: unto the jews and Greeks (which are called) we preach Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Power of God, 1 Cor. 1.24. Sometimes for the Gospel of Christ, so by the same Apostle, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for it is the power of God unto salvation, Rom. 1.16. Sometimes neither for Christ nor his Gospel, but the enemies of both; So the Samaritans said of Simon Magus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, This Man is the great power of God, Acts 8.10. But here we take Power for that Essential property of God, by which he is able and doth effect all in all, and all in every thing. And whereas Divines distinguish of a double power, active and passive; the one, Ad agendam; the other, Ad suscipiendam formam: 'Tis manifest that this latter is not in God, because God who is a pure Act, and simply, and universally perfect, is not passive, nor capable of any form, but in himself from all eternity contains the perfection of all forms; this active power being in him principal and most eminent, and indeed the very Mint and Forge where all things had their first stamp and hammering.  
Now this Power of God is not only infinite in its own nature and pierce as it is the very divine Essence; 
Pol. Syn. lib. 2 cap. 29.  but in respect of Objects to which it is extended, and of Effects which it can produce, and of Action too by which it doth or can work miraculously; which Action is never so valid and intense (for so Polanus words it) but it may be set to a higher pin and screw, and wooned up even to Infiniteness; And therefore it is not only called Power, or Strength, or Efficacy, or Fortitude, but Omnipotence; Insomuch that though it have some rational and modal distinction by reason of our feeble capacities, yet no real and substantial difference from God's Will, Knowledge, Providence, but are all wards of the same Key, shut and open to the same Essence: For when we name his providence, we conceive it, ut dirigens; his Knowledge, ut apprehendens; his Will, 
Estius in lib. 1. Sent. dist. 42. Sect. 1.  ut imperans; and his Power, ut exequens; So that Apprehension, and Direction, and Command, shine more properly in Gods other Attributes; but Execution principally in his Power: And therefore it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Vim efficacem (as Beza translates it) the Working power, whereby God is able to subdue all things to himself, Phil. 3 21.  
And as this Power is always, so it is only active; and that Saint Paul intimated, when he styled it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Ephes. 3.20.  The Power that worketh in us, so worketh in us, that no power of any Creature can hinder that operation; for the Throne of it is a fiery flame, and the wheels of it a burning fire, Dan. 7.9.  
The Fathers, it seems, heretofore were much perplexed by the Pagan Sophisters about this great Attribute of God, Omnipotence; 
Omnipotens Omnia-potens.  some jangling merely about the etymology of the word, have dashed themselves against the rocks of heresy; Faustus the Manichee, and Cresconius the Grammarian, have put Saint Augustine to the sweat about it, who dwelling too critically upon God's omnia potest, went about to geld his omnipotence; Nay, 
D. Aug. lib. 26. Cont. Faust. cap. 5.  some herein, making reason their polestar, and not faith, have leaped out of their curiosity into blasphemy; as the Hermians and Seleucians of old, those hoeretici materiarii (as Tertullian styles them) who following the proud sect of the Platonists, 
Adversus Hermog. cap. 25.  made their materia prima coomnipotent with God, because God, as they pretended, could not make the world out of nothing, but of some praeexisting matter. And from this hive belike, swarmed those Locusts of their age, Menander, Carpocrates and Cerinthus; who took off the power of God in the creation of the world, and set it upon Angels; 
D. Aug. de fide & Symb. c. 1.  and so, either pared too much the divine prerogative, in making it slow or unable for so great a work, or else superadded to the glory of those intellectual natures; as if this great frame of the universe had been rather the workmanship of their hands then of his, that created both it and them: Although others, of a like vertigo, were not so over-staggered with their own frenzies, but that they allowed the Godhead a superintendency of power, and yet, not that 
* Tri. Vne.  Triune power the christian struggles for (a power of three persons in one essence, of equal majesty and command) but ascribed to the Father, only a sulnes of power, a mediocrity to the Son, and to the holy Ghost, none at all: and of this sink was Petrus Abaialardus, censured by Saint Bernard in his 190. Epistle, ad innocentium.  
But leaving these to their strong delusions, knowing that an evil conjecture hath overthrown their judgement: 
Ecclus. 3.24.  Let us return whence we have digressed a little, to divine omnipotence; and we shall find by ground or reason there of to be divine essence; (for GOD works not but by his essence) and by how much more perfect the form is in every agent by which it works, by so much, the power is greater in working.  
Seeing then, the essence of God is infinite, his power of necessity must be infinite too; now because to be thus infinite, is to be but one, there is but one omnipotence, as there is but one essence and yet, for the diversities of respects, Divines have cut it into a double file, an actual and absolute omnipotence, 
Omnipotentia absoluta.  the absolute omnipotence of God is that, by which he can perfectly do any thing that is possible to be done, and it is called absolute because it is not limited by the universal law of nature; as if divinity were necessarily pinned to the order of secondary causes, and that God could not do any thing beside or above that law; and this the schools call omnipotentia Dei extraordinaria, God's extraordinary power; because by that he can work beside the trodden and accustomed course of nature, producing of himself as well those effects of secundary agents as others, 
Pol. syntag. lib. 20. cap. 29.  to which sublunary creatures cannot attain. Haec simpliciter essentialis (saith the Syntagmatist) this omnipotence is simply essential: by which God can absolutely and simply do all things which are possible to be done, to wit; such as do not repugn the will or nature of God, though they do sometimes the course of nature; for that may be impossible in respect of the one, which is not of the other. Quod dicitur impossibile secundum aliquam. 
Parte 1. q. 25. Art. 40. ad. primum.  potentiam naturalem, divinae subditur potentiae, saith Thomas; what natural power calls impossibility is without dispute possible to omnipotence; and therefore, there is nothing that hath but a 
* Quicquid potest habere rationem entis, comprehenditur sub possibil●bus, respect n omnipotentiae absolutae.  capability of being, that comes not within the verge of God's absolute power, of his power, though sometimes not of his will or wisdom, for God can do many things, which these think neither convenient nor necessary to be done. To imagine any thing of God, as if he did it because he can do it, is an abrupt and rude presumption; non quia omnia potest facere, ideo credendum est Deum fecisse, etiam quod non fecerit, sed an secerit, requirendum. God can of stones raise up children unto Abraham, 
Lomb. lib. 1. dist. 43. ex Aug. lib. de spir. et lit. Cap. 1.  but he never did, nor I think will. Potuit Deus ut duodecim legiones Angelorum etc. God could have sent twelve legions of Angels to fight against those jews that apprehended Christ sed noluit, saith Lombard, potuit Deus hominem pennis ad volandum instruxisse, God could have given man as well wings as feet, made him soar as go; non tamen quia potuit, 
Tert. lib. adversus Prax. cap. 10.  secit, saith Tertullian. Potuit, et Praxeam, et omnes pariter haereticos statim extinxisse; he could have crushed Praxeas, and all other heretics in their very shell and first matter, non tamen, quia potuit, 
D. Aug. lib. de Nat. et Grat. cap. 7.  extinxit, (saith the same Father.) Once more, Dominus Lazarum suscitavit in corpore, nunquid dicendum est non potuit judam suscitare in ment? God raised Lazarus in body, and could he not judas in spirit also? potuit quidem, sed noluit, saith S Augustine.  
Thus, Antiquity, you hear, still pleads for Gods, Potuit, His infinite Power, the Fathers generally acknowledge, but they sometimes restrain the execution of it; and mince it with a Noluit, or a non fecit. And doubtless, he can do more things than he doth do; if he would do them, but he will not; not that there is any defect in his Will or Power, but because in Wisdom he doth not think it meet.  
God's actual Omnipotence, is that, by which he is not only able to do whatsoever he wiled or decreed to be done; 
Actualis omnipotentia.  but also, Really doth it, Solo voluntatis imperio, at a beck or command; without difficulty or delay, with a mere Dixit & factum est, He speaks only, and he does it; So does it, that it cannot be hindered by any cause or impediment whatsoever. And this, the Schools call again, Omnipotentia Dei ordinata, God's ordinated Omnipotence; because, he doth by that what he hath ordained or decreed to do. And this hath respect to the particular Law of nature; and to a special order bequeathed things by that Law, through which he at first created all things; and still either conserveses, or moderates, or destroys them.  
Now, as there are many things which God can do by his absolute, but not his Actual Omnipotence; 
Pol. Synt. lib. 2. cap. 29.  so there are some which he can do by neither: For instance, he cannot make Contradictions kiss, neither can he beatify a Stone; for though his Power be infinite, yet he never works but as it is modefied by his will or wisdom; which sometimes either prohibit absolutely the doing of a thing, or else think it not convenient to be done.  
And now here's a way made for the Libertine to cavil, the Sceptic in Religion to exercise the venom of his wit, who deal with God's Power, as some broken Artificers do with coin; which either forge a new stamp, or else deface the old: Some dilate and beat it out too fare, others again do wash and clip it; 
Plin. lib. 2. nat. Hist. cap. 7.  Superstition gives it too much, and Atheism too little. Pliny will deny Gods Al-able Power, because he cannot kill himself; and Elymas the Magician, because he cannot deny himself; 
Dyonis. lib. de Divin. nom. ca 8.  strong reasons doubtless to puzzle a Divinity, arguments sitter to confirm Omnipotence than to convince it. For if God could give way to his own death or denial, he must lose his two attributes of Life and Truth; and then he should not be so much not Omnipotent in what he could not do, as in what he did. God were not truly Omnipotent, if he could do all things; 
Haec non potentiae sunt, sed infirm talis. D. Aug. lib. 5. C.D. cap. 10. Idem lib. 15. de Trinit. cap. 15. & lib. 1. de Symb. sid. ad Cathcc. ca 1.  to dye, dissemble, lie, deceive are rather arguments of Frailty, than of Power; Magna Dei potentia est non posse mentiri, saith S. Augustine. 'Tis a great proof of Omnipotence in God, that he cannot lie; for, if he were subject to this or the like passions and defects, he could not be possibly God, and therefore not possibly Omnipotent. Every possibility of doing doth respect an active Power from which it may be done, which Power doubtless is an absolute persection: And therefore, 
Estius l. 1. sent. dist. 42. Sect. 1. lit. E.  those things which speak infirmity or defect in the doer are not ascribeable to God, whose omnipotence extends only to the doing of those things, whose effects argue no imperfection in the doer. Nemo ergo Deum impotentem in aliquo dicere presumat; sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper blister that foul tongue which would make God impotent in any thing; and the reason Lombard gives, Quia omnia potest, quae posse, potentiae est, et inde dicitur Omnipotens, in the first book of his sentences, 42. distinction.  
And here, with one breath, we may blow-off the languishing and soulless allegations both of Libertine and Atheist, whose strongest objections against God's Omnipotence, are for the most part such as do not signify Action, but privation; or if Action, Action with Deformity or Defect, or else such as import motion or mutation, which cannot be without passion, and therefore some imperfection; or lastly such as jar absolutely amongst themselves, and imply a manifest contradiction; as to suffer, to be deceived, to sin, to be unjust, to be truth and yet salshood, and the like, which are Symptoms of debility and impotence, and cannot possibly comply with Divine power: 
Revera, quaedam non potest Deus, quia-est omnipotens. D. Aug. lib. 5. de C. D. cap. 10.  For God is so fare from being omnipotent, because he should do all things, that he cannot do some things because he is omnipotent.  
And therefore to keep these in an even Scale, Divines distinguish between impossibilities of and in Nature; Impossibilities of Nature are such as exceed the ordinary course and Law of Nature, as that the Sun should stand still, Iron swim, Fire not burn, which that God hath caused to do or not to do, the Scripture is a witness. Impossibilities in Nature are such as repugn the very definition of a thing, and thwart Ens, as it is Ens, which yet never were, and lest they should be, are hindered by God's ordination and decree; such as imply in themselves a being, and no being; truth, and yet lies, which are simply and altogether impossible, as that contradictories should be both true, that a perfect Triangle should not have three angles equal to two right, that Lines drawn from the Centre to the Circumference should not be equal: Talia imposstbilia Deus non potest, 
Pol Synt. lib. 2. cap. 29.  such impossibilities God cannot do, because contraries cannot subsist in a Nature most simple and immutable; nor contradictories find any room in an Essence void of all falsehood, in a truth most absolute and perfect. And herein both Schoolmen and Philosophers will countenance and direct us; Sub omnipotentia Dei non cadit aliquid quod contradictionem implicat, 
Thom. part. 1. q. 25. Art. 4. un corp. Arist. lib. 6. Ethic. cap. 2.  so Aquinas; And, Hoc solo privatur Deus ingenita facere quae facta sunt, so Aristoile; whatsoever implies a contradiction comes not within the verge of Omnipotence, and Divinity is then put to the nonplus, when it would make a thing done, and undone at the same instant. The Sententiaries, therefore, here dig out their Cliffs and bounds; and with certain words (as by their proper stones and land marks) have limited and penned in divine power; 
Estius lib. 1. Sent. dist. 42. §. 1.  and they are two, factibile and possibile; and in this sense only understand God omnia posse, because he can do omne possibile; and that power which in him they call active, looks only to omne factibile or agibile; so that his Omnipotence reacheth farther than to things able and possible to be done, and all things are contained within those possibilities which imply not a manifest contradiction; and they which do are more properly said, 
Aquin. part. 1. q. 15. Art. 3.  Non posse fieri, quam quod Deus non potest facere: for in that they cannot be done, 'tis not through any defect of divine Power, but because they have not the nature or reason of things possible: For no understanding can conceive, that truth and salsehood which are diametrally opposed, should possibly be reconciled, and so the maim rests still in the contrarieties of things, not in divine power; which therefore seems lame and imperfect, because things cannot be done, not because it cannot do them. Or should we say peremptorily, as we do, and did before; that there are some things God cannot do, we should neither dissect nor weaken the nerves and sinews of his Omnipotence; for he is most potent which hath an immutable and constant power, and from that Power will not tread aside nor decline; Constancy in the best things being the best power: And therefore those which God hath accustomed to do (he being goodness itself) are doubtless the best things; and for him to vary from such, must either question his Mutability or weakness, or both; and if mutable, how a God? if weak, how Omnipotent? Hereupon the Master himself makes God's Power principally discoverable in two respects, 
Lib. 1. dist. 42. lit. E.  Quod omnia facit quae vult, & nihils omnino patitur; So that we take for granted there is nothing passive in the Almighty, and that which is of Action is qualified by his will; and the ground hereof is from the great Saint Augustine, 
D. Aug. lib. 5. C. D. cap. 10.  Deus dicitur omnipotens faciendo quod vult, non patiendo quod non vult: And again, Quod non possit omnia facere, 
Lib. de spirit. & lit.  sed quia potest efficere quicquid vult. So that belike God's Omnipotence hath not so properly its denomination from his Omnia potest, as from his Quicquid vult; God can do what he will do, and therefore is Omnipotent. And this is the main string that Prophets, Apostles and Fathers generally harp on, Omnia quae voluit sccit, saith David: Lo here his Will and Power meet; Voluit, he would do, there's his Will; Fecit, he hath done it, there's his Power; And this Power not limited it seems, for there is an Omnia with the Voluit; All that he would do, he hath done; Psa. 135.6. Moreover, Voluntati ejus quis obsistit? saith S. Paul; here his Will and his Power meet again: For here is an Obsistit, aswell as a Voluntati; no resistance, because there is will; that's a Power with a non obstante none can hinder it; a Power as before, without limit, intimated in the Interrogatory Quis, Quis obsistit? Who hath resisted his Will? Rom. 9.19. 'Tis a beaten Principle in Philosophy, In perpetuis non differunt esse, & posse, In things perpetual there is no difference between Power and Being: Now, the Will of God being perpetual, his Power is extended no farther than his Will; So that only, what he wills, he does; and this doing ever ordered by his Will.  
And here with one voice Antiquity sweetly accords, 
S. Chrysost. Hom. in exposit. symb. Apost. ad princip 'em. Tom. 5. D. Aug. lib. 21. de Civ. Dei. cap. 7. Damasc. lib. 1. de side orthod. cap. 8.  ipse est ergo omnipotens, ut totum quod vult, possit; so Saint Chrysostome, vocatur omnipotens, quoniam quicquid vult, potest; so Saint Augustine, credimus virtutem Dei propria voluntate mensuratam, omnia enim quae vult, potest, so Damascen. Hark how the choir of Fathers chant it? how one Saint warbleth to another's quicquid vult, Potest; quicquid vult, Potest. His omniporence they all sing of, but the burden of the song runne's much upon his will; his vult bears a part with his potest, still a part, but not all. God can do all that he will do, but sometimes he will not do all that he can; so that his will doth rather order his power then abridge it. The text says plainly, that God could do nothing unto Sodom till Lot was escaped unto Zoar, he could not, non posse dixit, (saith S. Augustine) quod sine dubio poterat per poten. tiam, sed non poterat per justitiam 
* Quasi poterat quidem, sed non volebat: et ill a volunt as justa erat. ; he could doubtless, but he would not; and yet his will just, and his power still infinite: so that his will is the rule and square of his justice, and the rudder (as it were) and stern of his power; it doth manage & dispose, not lessen and contract it. 
D. Aug. lib. 2. contra 2. Epist. Gaudentij, cap. 22.  I shut up this dusky point with that of the great Schooleman, and so involve one cloud in another; Dicitur Deus omnipotens, quia per se potest quicquid vult fieri, et quicquid vult se posse; et nihil vult se posse, quod non possit; et omne quod vult fieri, vult se posse; sed non omne quod vult se posse, vult fieri; si enim vellet, sieret. The words are like the Author, crabbed and full of knots, and yet easier to be understood, than rendered; If any stutter at them, let them consult Lombard in his first Book, 42. Distinction, where they may find matter that will both please, and disturb their Judgement; and aswell take up the brains, as the pen of the peruser.  
Thus at length, the Atheist and Infidel we have hushed, and all their Cavils examined and resuted; let's now hear the Christian speak, what Dialect he uses, how he sings of the Power of his Creator. He inquires not so much what GOD can do, as admires what he hath done, and still doth. In divine Mysteries, he thinks it safer to believe, than to discuss; and to exercise the solidity and vigour of his Faith, than any Acumen and Pregnancy of his reason. And here is enough to employ all his faculties, embark the whole man, set all the engines and wheels both of Soul and Spirit running, and turn them in endless speculations. Whatsoever is above him, or below him; without him, or with in him; is a fit object of God's Power, and his own wonder. When I consider (saith our Prophet) the Heavens, the work of thy fingers, the Moon and Stars which thou hast ordained, Lord, what is man? Psal. 8. What is man? Nay, How is he? Surely like one in a slumber or a dream; for as he that dreameth hath his fancy sometimes disturbed with strange objects, which are rather represented, than judged of; so in the view of those celestial bodies, the contemplative man stands (as it were) planet-strucken in his intellectuals, whilst he considers the Heavens, he loses them; and that Moon and those Stars which should enlighten, dazzle him. The finger of God in them he doth acknowledge, but not discover; he made them by his power, he confesses he ordained them, but how he ordained or made them so; his apprehension is at a stand or bay, and transported beyond measure, cries out with that afflicted Penitent, 
Job 26.14.  Tonitru potentiae ejus quis intelligat? The thunder of his power who can understand? Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? It is high as Heaven, what canst thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst thou know? If he cut off, or shut up, or gather together, who can hinder him? job 11.9, 10.  
If we lift up our eyes from the footstool to the Throne of God, and thus lifted up, cast them back again; Can they make an exact and uncontrolled discovery of both Globes, see all the wonders and secrets that nature hath there locked up in her vast store-house, we should find in each cranny thereof the sway of his powerful Sceptre; Water, Fire, Earth, Aire limit not his Commands, but through the Territories of Heaven and Hell, the Bonds of his Power obtain a Jurisdiction. Will you hear his own Secretaries speak? The registers and penmen of Divine story? How they sing of his Power! How they blazon his Omnipotence! Lo, 
Isa. 40.12.  He meats out Heaven with a span, measureth the waters in the hollow of his hand, comprehends the dust of the Earth in a measure, weigheth the Mountains in Scales, and the Hills in a Balance, Isa. 40.12. Here is the whole world circled in one verse, and yet not his whole Power in that Circle; his Power is his Godhead, and God himself hath been called a Circle. It is he that sitteth upon the Circle of the Earth, and the Inhabitants thereof are as Grassehoppers before him. Mark, He sits there, he is not contained there; There? no, that were above miracle; the greater Circle contained in the less. The Heathens themselves could tell us, God was an intelligible Sphere, 
Empedocles.  without Dimensions; a Circle whose centre was every where, no where his Circumference, no where, not in the whole World, not in the Earth, not in the Waters, not in the Heavens that circled both. The Waters (you hear) he measures in the hollow of his hand, the Earth in the same measure, the Heavens that contain these in a Span: Here is but a Span and Handful of his Power, and yet this Handful grasps the Universe. This made our Prophet often sing, and in his song, close as he began; How wonderful is thy Name in all the World! 
Psal. 8.1, 9  How wonderful in all the World! A double wonder indeed in respect of Man, though of God not so; God could not be so wonderfully Great, if man had ability to express him: and therefore having none, he expresses himself by himself; or at least, himself by his Prophets, to whom himself he dictates; who like men infused and entranced, Speak aloft in sacred Allegories, such as beseem the Majesty and Greatness aswell of the Penman, as Inspirer.  
And here, 
Psa. 104.2.  what sublimity both of power and language! He clothes himself with light as with a garment, 
Isa. 40.22.  stretcheth out the heavens like a curtain, and spreadeth them as a tent to dwell in; by his spirit hath he garnished the sky, 
Job 26.10.  and fashioned it like a molten looking glass; In them hath he set a tabernacle for the Sun, 
Psal. 19.5.  which as a Bridegroom cometh out of his chamber, 
Psal. 103.  and rejoiceth as a Giant to run his course. He, he hath appointed also the Moon for seasons, and at his pleasure sealeth up the stars; 
Job 9.7.  He binds the sweet influences of the Pleyades, 
job. 9.7.  and loses the bonds of Orion, brings forth Mazaroth in his season, and guides Arcturus with his Sons, 
job. 38.31.32.  Hear all bumane Eloquence is befooled; Non vox hominum sonut: Oh, Dei, certe. Such an expression of God none could frame, but God himself; and this made our Prophet finge again, 
Psal. 104.24.  O Lord of hosts, how wonderful are thy works? In wisdom hast thou made them all; who is a strong Lord like unto thee, or to thy power and faithfulness round about thee: Psal. 89.8.  
Let us now leave the firmament, and (the Lord bowing the heavens and coming down) see what empire and dominion he hath in the regions of the air. There, 
Psal. 104.3.  he layeth the beams of his chamber in the waters, maketh the clouds his chariot, and rideth upon the wings of the wind. Through the brightness of his presence are coals of fire kindled, lightnings and hot thunderbolts. 
Psal. 18.  There, he hath made a decree for the rain, 
job. 38.28 en 37.16.  the ballancings of the clouds (as job styles them) and there hath he begotten the drops of dew. Thence, he giveth snow like wool, 
Psal. 147.17, 18  and scattereth the hoar frosts like ashes, & casteth out his ice like morsels. There, 
job. 28.25  he maketh weight for the winds, he bindeth up the waters in a cloud as in a bottle, 
job. 26.8.  and the cloud is not rend under them. This made our Prophet sing aloft, Praise the Lord in the heights, praise him fire and hail, snow and vapours, stor my wind sulfilling his word: Psal. 108.1. and 8. verses.  
Let us descend once more, and amongst those proud heaps of earth which seem to lift their heads even to the very stars, observe what sway his power carries there, or rather what terror. He shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, 
Isai. 41.15.16.  and make the hills as chaff; he shall fan them, and with his whirl wind shall he scatter them, 
job 28.10.  and shall overturn them by the roots. 
Isai. 40.16.  If he be angry, Lebanon is not enough for incense, nor the beasts thereof for a  sacrifice. The foundations of the round world are discovered at his chiding, 
Psal. 18.15.  at the blasting of the breath of his displeasure. This made our Prophet sing again, The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all Gods, in his hands are all the corners of the earth, and the strength of the hills is his also. Psal. 95.3.4.  
Shall we yet stoop lower, and descending this mount, see how he is a Lord of the valleys, and the inhabitants thereof. 
job 38.6.  Lo, the foundation of the earth he hath wonderfully set, 
job 9.6.  and laid the corner stone thereof; at his pleasure again he shaketh it out of her hinges, 
Psal. 114.8.  and the pillars thereof tremble: He turns the hard rock into a standing water, and the flintstone into a springing well. The Nations before him are less than nothing, they are accounted as the drops of a bucket, 
Psal. 149.8.  and as the small dust of the balance. He bindeth Kings in chains, and Nobles in fetters of iron. 
Isai. 41.2.  he gives his enemies as dust to the sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He shall rise up as in mount Perazim, 
Iosh. 10.12.  He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his great work, 
Isai. 28.21.  and bring to pass his act, his great act. This made our Prophet sing again, The earth is the Lords, and all that therein is, the compass of the whole world, and all that dwell therein, for he hath founded it upon the Seas, and prepared it upon the floods. Psal. 24.1, 2.  
Shall we now leave the earth, and those that sojourn there, and see the wonders of the Lord in the great deep? 
Psal. 33.7.  There he gathereth the waters of the Sea together, and lays them up in storehouses; At his command, the floods lift up their voice, the waves begin to swell, 
job 41.31.  and he makes them boil like a pot of ointment. Again, he ruleth the raging of the Sea, and the waters thereof he stilleth at his pleasure. 
Psal. 93.4.  He bindeth the floods from over flowing, shuts up the Sea with doors when it breaks forth as if it issued out of the womb, makes the cloud a garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band, 
job 26.11.  breaks up for it his decreed place, and sets bars and gates, and says, Hither to shalt thou come, no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed. job 38.9, 10.  
Shall we yet step a stair lower, and opening the Jaws of the bottom less pit, see how powerfully he displays his Eanners in the dreadful dungeon below? Behold, Hell is naked before him, 
job 26.6.  and destruction hath no covering. This made our Prophet sing more generally, The Lord is above all Gods; whatsoever pleased him, that did He, in Heaven and Earth, and in the Sea, and in all deep places; 
Psal. 135.6.  Psal. 135.6.  
Thus, you hear, God is in the world, as the Soul is in the body, life and government; And as the soul is in every part of the body, so is God in every part of the world: No Quartermaster, nor Vicegerent He, but universal Monarch and Commander; Totus in toto, & Totus in qualibet parte, A God every where, wholly a God, and yet one God every where, only One; whom the vain conjectures of the Heathen dreaming to be more, gave in the Sky, the name of jupiter; in the Air, juno; in the Water, Neptune; in the earth, Vesta, and sometimes Ceres; the name of Apollo in the Sun; in the Moon Diana; of Aeolus in the winds; 
Ex D. August. Hot kerus, Eccles. pol. l. b. 1. Sect. 3.  of Pluto and Proserpina in Hell. And in fine, so many guides of Nature they imagined, as they saw there were kinds of things natural in the world, whom they honoured as having power to work or cease according to the desires of those that homaged and obey them. But unto us there is one only Guide of all Agents natural, and he both the Creator and Worker of all in all, alone to be blessed, honoured and adored by all for evermore.  
And is God the Lord indeed? Is he chief Sovereign of the whole world? Hath his Power so large a Jurisdiction? Doth it circuit and list in Water, Earth, Aire, Fire; nay the vaster Territories of Heaven and Hell too? How then doth this frail arm of Flesh dare list itself against Omnipotence? Why doth it oppose (or at least incite) the dreadful Armies of him who is the great Lord of Hosts? Why do we muster up our troops of Sins; as if we would set them in battelaray against the Almighty? Scarce a place where he displays the Ensigns of his Power, but man seems to hang out his flag of Defiance, or at least of Provocation; and though he hath no strength to conquer, yet he hath a will to affront; If he cannot batter his Fort, he will be playing on his Trenches; anger his God, though not wound him. In the earth, he meets him by his grovelling Sins; of Avarice, oppression, violence, rapine, Sacrilege, and others of that sty and dunghill. In the Water, by his flowing sins; of Drunkenness, Riots, Surfeits, Vomitings, and what else of that frothy Tide and Inundation. In the Air, by his windy sins; of Ambition, Arrogance, Pride, Vainglory, and what vapour and exhalation else his fancy relisheth. In the Fire, by his flaming sins; of Lust, Choler, Revenge, Blood and what else sparkles from that raging furnace. In Heaven, by his lofty Sins; of Profanation. Oaths, Blasphemies, Disputes against the Godhead, and the like. And lastly, as if Hell were with man on earth, or man (which is but Earth) were in Hell already by his damned sins of Imprecations, Curses, Ban, Execrations and others of that infernal stamp, which seem to breathe no less than Fire and Sulphur, and the very horrors of the burning Lake. Thus, like those Monsters of old, we lift our Pelion upon Ossa; Tumble one mountain of transgressions upon another, no less high, than fearful; as if they not only cried for thunder from above, but also dared it. But wretched man that thou art, who shall deliver thee from the horror of this death? 
2 Thes. 1.8.  When the Lord shall reveal himself from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that fear him not; what Cave shall hide, 
2 Sam. 22.9.16.  or what Rock cover them? At his rebuke the foundations of the world are discovered, even at the blast of the breath of his displeasure: Out of his mouth cometh a devouring flame, and if he do but touch these mountains, they shall smoke; 
Psal. 104.32.  if he but once lift up his iron Rod, he rends, and shivers, and breaketh in pieces like a Potter's vessel; he heweth asunder the snares of the ungodly, and his enemies he shall consume like the fat of Lambs. 
Psal. 37.20.  O then let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the Inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him, let Kings throw down their Sceptres at his feet, and the people their knees and hearts at those Sceptres; from the Cedar of Libanus and the Oak of Basan, to the shrub of the Valley, and the humble Hyssop on the wall, let all bow and tremble; Princes and all judges of the Earth, both young men and Maidens, old men and children; let them all sear, and in searing praise, and in praising sing of the Name and Power of the Lord God, for his Name only is excellent, 
Psal. 148.13.  and his power and Glory above Heaven and Earth.  
On the other side, is the Lord Omnipotent indeed? Hath his Power so wide a Province and extent? Is the glory of his mighty Acts thus made known to the sons of men? Is his Kingdom not only a great, but an everlasting Kingdom? His Dominion through and beyond all Generations? 
Psal. 145.13.  Doth he plant and root up? prune and graft at his own pleasure? 
Psal. 147.6.  Doth he raise the humble and meek, and bring the ungodly down to the ground? Is he with his joseph in the prison, with Eliah in the Cave, with Shadrach in the Furnace, with Daniel in the Den? Doth he deliver his anointed from the persecution of Saul? His Prophet from the fury of jezcbel? his Apostle from the bonds of Herod? His Saint from the Sword and Faggot of the infidel? 
Psal. 104.21.  Doth he  the Lilies of the field? Have Lions (roaring after their prey) their food from him? Doth he give fodder unto the Cattles? quench the wild Ass' thirst? feed the young Ravens that call upon him? Doth he stop the mouths of wild beasts? Quench the violence of fire? Abate the edge of the Sword? Shake the very powers of the Grave, and all for the rescue and preservation of his servants? his faithful, his beloved servants? Why art thou then so sad, O my soul; why so sad, and why so disquieted within thee? Trust in God, 
Psal. 147.3.  he healeth those that are broken in heart, and giveth medicine to heal their sick enesse. Though thy afflictions be many, thy adversaries mighty, thy temptations unresistable, thy grievances unwieldy, thy sins numberless, their weight intolerable, yet there is a God above in his provident watch-Tower, a God that can both protect and pardon, infinite as well in Mercy as in Power. Are thy wounds grievous? there is balm in Gilead: Thy ulcers (in the eye of man) incurable? the Samaritan hath Oil: he searohes, and pours in, and binds up, and heals the maladies of those that seek him with a true heart: 
Psal. 72.1.  Ah quam bonus Israel Deus iis qui recto sunt cord, saith the Psalmist. Doubtless, he that watcheth his Israel will neither slumber nor sleep, but preserveth his children as tenderly as the apple of that eye that watcheth them; he is their staff and crutch, and supportation in all their weakness; he erects them if they fall, directs them if they err, succours them if they want, refresheth them in the heat of their persecutions, mitigates the tempests of their sorrows, moderates the waves of their bitter passions, smiteth their enemies upon the cheek bone, 
Psal. 3.7.  breaks the teeth of those that rage and grin so furiously upon them; Insomuch that God hath sworn by his Prophet, to have mercy upon the dwelling places of jacob, and all they that devour her shall be devoured, and they that spolle her shall be made a spoil, and all they that prey upon her shall be made a prey; And he will restore health unto her, and cure her of all her wounds, 
Jer. 30.16, 17.  Jer. 30.16, 17.  
This should arm us with resolution against that triple assault of the world, flesh and devil, and make us buckle on our harness as that good King of Israel did, I will not be afraid (saith he) for ten thousands which should compass me round about: Afraid? 
Psal. 3.6.  No, for ten thousand of men and dangers. If calamities hover over me, God is my Tower; if they would undermine me, God is my Rock, if they come before me he is my Sanctuary, if behind me he is my Castle, if about me he is my Trench, if on my right hand he is my Sword, if on my left hand, he is my Buckler; if any way, he is my shield and for tress, and mighty deliverer. Then, put not your trust in Princes, nor in any child of man, 
Psal. 146.3, 5, 6.  for there is no help in them; Blessed is he that hath the God of jacob: for his help, and whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven and earth, the Sea and all that therein is, which keepeth his promise for ever. This made our Prophet awake his Harp and Lute, and cheerfully sing that Magnificat of his, Praise the Lord, 
Psal. 146.1.  O my soul, praise the Lord, yea as long as I have any being, I will sing praises unto my God. I will be like a green Olive Tree in the house of my God, my trust shall be in the tender Mercy of God for ever and ever, Psal. 52.9.  
Once more, and but once; Is God thus indeed a God of power? Questionless, and only a God of power? No, the text tells us he is a God of mercy too; his goodness keeps pace with his greatness, his sanctity with his fortitude; 
Luke 1.49.  He that is mighty, (saith the blessed Virgin) hath done great things for me, and holy is his Name: Luk. 1.49. Upon which place, Stella hath an adverte lector, A note (it seems) worth observation; Marry there to God's name joining both sanctity and power; Quia imperiumet potestas fine sanctitate Tyrannis est, 
Stella in 1. Lucae v. 49.  saith he, Command, not seasoned with holiness, is but Tyranny, Let Nabuchedonozer, and Pharaoh stand for instance, whose wickedness got them the nickname of Tyrants, which by their power, otherwise had the title of Gods. Empire, there fore, must acknowledge itself indebted to religion, godliness being the chiefest top and wellspring of all true virtues, even as God is of all good things. So natural is the union of true religion with power that we may holdly deem, there is neither truly, where both are not. Insomuch, that where there is command without holiness, there is not power properly, but cruelty; and therefore, God is not only styled powerful, but holy also; Sanctum et terribile nomen ejus, and Consiteantur nomini tuo magno, quoniam sanctum et terribile est; in the 98. and 110. Psalms. And 'tis this mixture of Sanctus and Potens, that divides between the God of Heaven, and those others of Earth; Power and sanctity conjoined proclaim a God; Power without sanctity sometimes a Devil. Mistake me not, I come not here to school the grey hair, to cast dirt in the face of the Magistrate; no, I remember well what Elibu said unto job, Is it fit to say to Princes, ye are ungodly? Job 34.18. By nomeanes, I leave such reproofs to those saucy and pragmatic spirits, which will undertake to catechise a God, teach Divinity what it hath to do; for whom the reply of job to Zophar shall pass for a counter check, O that you would altogether hold your peace, and it should be counted your greater wisdom, Job 13.5. My drift and purpose in this point, is, only to show you how prone and headlong those dispositions are to all manner of depravednes, which project rather to be great, then Good; and this an instance or two from antiquity shall clear; in which the relation only shall be mine, the application (as you bring it home to your own breasts) yours.  
It was but an itch of Ambition, and a thirst of Greatness, not rectified as it ought that was the ground work and first stair of julians' Apostasy, his fiercest enemies did acknowledge, that he was once a man of rare dexterity and forwardness both in Wit & Virtue, and these not without their salt and seasoning of true Religion, 
D. Aug. lib. 5. de C. D. cap. 21.  Sed illam egregiem indolem ('tis both Saint Augustine's phrase and testimony) Amore dominandi decepit Sacrilega & detestanda curiositas, his love of Empire, and a little curiosity to boot, blew off his devotions from Christianity to Paganism; So that the Altars and Oracles of the true God, are now left for those doubtful and false ones of the Heathens; where instead of Prophets inspired from Heaven, he now consults with the very factors and promoters for the Devil, Wizards and Necromancers; incited principally thereunto by the suggestions of Libanius the Sophister: So fatal sometimes it proves to unstable greatness, that where men more subtle than sound hang at the ears of it, there's commonly a trench digged, no less for ruin than innovation. Who knows not that Nero (the meteor and comet of the times he moved in) had at first his fair promises of youth, the glowings, as it were, and sparks of future Clemency and Goodness? For when he was to sign the death of a Malefactor, (which was a solemn custom among the Romans) his unwillingness to do, with an utinam literas nescirem, was (if he dissembled not) a great argument of his mercy: But when his Power once began to mount, his Cruelty took wing also; And at length soared so high, 
D. Aug. lib. 5. de Civ. Dei cap. 19   nihil molle habere crederetur, si nesciretur; There was not so much as a thought of Mercy left, because none of Goodness; And now to be savage is no less his inclination, than his sport; Sloth and Cruelty (too rare Eminencies in Superiors) must ennoble him to posterity, where he seems to be as greedy of Fame, as before of Blood; Rome must be called Neropolis, and that month and season of the year which was for his recreation and disport, 
Annot. Lud. viv. Ib. dem.  Neroneus.  
What projects will not ungodly men set on foot, first for the advancement of their name, and then the perpetuity; But such a perpetuity is not without a kind of rottenness: 'Tis a curse the Spirit of God breathes against the wicked, that Their memory shall rot; nothing shall remain of them, but their Vices; and they sometimes of that stench and loathsomeness, that the Sent of them is quick, though unsavoury in the nostrils of Posterity. 
Eccles. 9.5.  What lives there of Herod (besides his Lust and Cruelty) but the manner of his death? which was no less a prodigy, than his life; the story of the one, being written by the blood of Innocents'; of the other, by the fury of Worms: And yet how cautelous this Monster was to propagate his honour to After-ages; who doubting the baseness of his parentage should in future be discovered, burns the Genealogies of the Jews, that he might be thought to have had his descent as royal as the rest of his Predecessors. And this is the customary Plea of the Aspirer, (the Gourd and Mushroom in Commonwealth) he cares not whose name be obliterate, so his own flourish; causing other families to vanish in a snuff, whilst his own must shine like a light in a Watch tower, or a Beacon flaming on the top of a mountain. I could wish we had not such Foxes in our Vineyards, such Boars about our Forest, which will not only feed where they enter, but root out and destroy; like a steep Torrent driving all before them: or as A sweeping rain (saith Solomon) which leaveth no food. Pride, Violence, 
Pro. 28.3.  oppress on are too low for them, nothing stands up with the greatness of their Spirit, or design but a General devastation, laying house to house, and field to field; like Ravens of the valley, 
Prov. 30.17  pecking out the very Eyes and Heartblood of those that come under the Tyranny of their Bill. And thus, They gather stones for other men's burial, in which they inter both their Fortunes and their Name; not only scarify them alive, but Torment them when they are dead also; strip them of their monumental Rites (the solemn pomp and Trophies of the Grave,) ravish their sepulchers, deface those ensigns and inscriptions which should remark them to succeeding Times. A Barbarism, or rather Sacrilege abhorred amongst the Heathens, as a Capital injury and violence to their Manes and infernal Gods; the prophaners whereof they threatened with the torture of all the Furies.  
O consider this, All you whom God hath advanced either in Title or Blood above others; think it not enough to be Great or Fortunate, but to be Good also; that men may as well sing of your Mercy, as your Power, rather magnify your compassion, than murmur at your rigour; you are exalted to protect the innocent, not to oppress them; to relieve the poor man, not to grind him: The Lazar, and Widow, and Orphan should proclaim your care and pity, not your insultation; acknowledge your Power, rather by their Love, than Fear. Remember the greater you are in place, the nearer you are unto God; and he that is near unto God, hath a Greatness as well of Mercy, as of Power; And as of these you sing unto God, so the afflicted must sing unto you; and as in their calamities, you have been a strength and resuge for them; so in all your troubles, God will be a Sanctuary for you; and than you may boldly rejoice in the words of our Prophet here, I will sing of thy Power, and I will sing aloud of thy Mercy in the morning; because thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.  
Gloria in excelsis Deo.  
Amen.   

Osculum Charitatis: OR, MERCY and JUSTICE kissing. A SERMON PREACHED ON CHRISTMAS DAY, Anno Dom. 1635. By Humphrey Sydenham.  
Osculetur me osculis oris sui, sunt enim Amores tui meliores vino.  Cant. 1.2. 
LONDON, Printed by JOHN BEALE, for Humphrey Robinson, at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in PAUL'S Churchyard. 1637.   

TO THE TRULY GENEROUS, AND NOBLY DISPOSED, DENYS ROLE, Esquire. This.  
SIR,  
IT was not thought of Old (however the Conditions of Men, and their Times vary) either Presumption or Rudeness in the Divine, to salute his Superior with a Kiss. Prophet's have done so to Kings themselves at their Regal Unctions, in the very Dawne of Sovereignty; And Apostolical men to their greatest Proselytes, in the first rising of the Christian Church, where the prime Ceremony was a Kiss; And a Kiss like This I present you with, Osculum Charitatis, a Kiss of Charity. A Kiss indeed of your own choice, in your first honouring of it from the Pulpit; and now, in all justice of your countenance at the Press. A Kiss much like your self, and Actions, where there is such a sweet mixture of Charity with Power; that I know not well, whether I should rather magnify Fortune, that you are Great; or Virtue that you are Good. Your Noble Deportment in the public Services of your Country, your great and unpatterned Supplies of your engaged and necessitated Friends; your courteous and liber all respects to those despised once of mine own Coat (besides the daily flow of your Elëemosinary Bounties) can speak what temper you are of; In all which, though you wanted not a Trumpet to proclaim you, yet you blew it not yourself: So just you are to your own merits, that doing Courtesies, you scorn to blab them. Maxima Laus est, non posse laudari; Tua, non velle. It is the greatest argument of Praise, to be beyond it; of Nobleness, without it. Merit will be Merit without popular acclamations, and common applause doth not always give Lustre to particular honours, but sometimes Suspicion. For mine own part, my Style and Disposition both are too rough for a Panegericke; And indeed, to sow pillows under Elbows, I ever thought fit for an Upholster, than a Divine. However, let the world know, I no less hate. Rudeness, than Flattery; And as I would not be thought clawing, so not uncivil; especially in religious Ceremonies, in this holy one of the Kiss: which I shall desire you to entertain fairly and cheerfully, with an even Brow; and not like the coy Dames of our Age, turn the Cheek for the Lip, and so lower a Kiss into a Scorn; That were to lessen you in your former ingenuities, and cast a cloud over those virtues which so make you shine in the opinion of others, and me  
The unworthiest of your Honourers. HUM. SYDENHAM.   

Osculum CHARITATIS: OR, MERCY and JUSTICE KISSING.  PSAL. 85.10. 
Mercy and Iruth are met together, Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other.  
EVery Attribute of GOD, is God himself; and God himself is principally discovered by those Attributes. Now where we find Mercy and Truth, and Righteousness, and Peace, and all these meeting and kissing in one substance, we cannot conceive less than a God there, the true God; for the true God is the God of all these. Had the words run only in the Concrete, merciful and true, and righteous and peaceable; David perhaps, or who ever else was Author of this Psalm, might have understood here some earthly God, a King, a Good King, as David was; for these also meet and kiss in a religious sovereignty; But since they are in the abstract, mercy, and truth, and righteousness, and peace, there is a greater Majesty enshrined, A King of Kings, and a God of Gods. And what is that God here? In General, and at large, the 
* Triune.  Triune GOD, the One God in Three persons; In Special, and more particularly, the second person in that One God, CHRIST; For, if we sunder and untwist the Attributes, as they now lie folded in the Text, and so set Righteousness to Truth, we shall find God the Father; if Mercy to Truth, God the Son; if Peace to Truth, God the Holy Ghost. In Righteousness, there is the Creator; in Mercy, there is the Redeemer; in Peace, there is the Comforter; in Truth, All Three. But if we rank them again as they stood in their first order and so make Mercy & Truth meet, and Righteousness and Peace kiss, they kiss & meet properly in the Anointed, and the Saviour, the King, and the Priest, the God and the Man, and the judge between Both, CHRIST JESUS: Mercy, there's the Saviour, Righteousness, there's the judge; Truth, there's the King; Peace, there's the Priest; or (if you will have it) Peace, there's both King and Priest; Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech, Heb. 7.17. Now Melchisedech was King of Salem, and Salem signifieth Peace, so that he is not only a Priest, but a King of Peace; a Priest and a King, so, for ever.  
When the Earth was first in a general Combustion, and her sinful Rebellions smoking against Heaven; when between God and Man, or rather from God to Man, there was nothing to be expected but Fire and Sword; Christ stands between, like Moses in the Gap; He is the Attoner and Pacifier, the Propitiation and Reconciliation for all our sins, 1 Joh 2.2. And here was Peace indeed, and this Peace could not be procured without Mercy, an infinite Mercy; for a Son to interpose between an angry Father, and an obstinate offender; nay, a wilful enemy (for so was Man then) was an Argument of Mercy, you'll say; But to hunger, and to bleed, and to dye for him, and to dye ignominiously, and in that death to bear the Curse due to the malefactor too, was an infinite mercy. Thus God commendeth his Love towards us, his exceeding great Love, that when we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us, Rom. 5.8.  
I will not trouble the Text, nor Time, nor you, nor myself with a Division; what God hath thus joined together, let not man separate; Mercy and Truth meet, Righteousness and Peace kiss; and let them meet and kiss still, only give me leave to show you, How, Mercy and Truth have met, and in whom; and How, Righteousness and Peace kissed, and For What. Mercy and Truth are met together, Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other. I begin with Mercy, and there doubtless, we shall find Truth.  Mercy and Truth have met together. 
FOr Mercy, here, the Original hath the word Rachen from Racham, which signifieth Diligere, to Love, but such a Love as is inward, and from the very Bowels: Now, the Bowels, you know are the Seat of Mercy; and therefore S. Paul presses his Collossians with an Induite viscera misericordiae, Put on the Bowels of Mercy, Col. 3.12. But because, of this Mercy there are manifold Effects, the Greek hath it usually in the plural, 
Origen. in. cap. 12. ad Rom. 1.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Mercies; Ad judicandam immensam Dei misericordiam, To show the Greatness (saith Origen) and not only so, but the Tenderness of God's Mercies; And therefore, we read, sometimes, Miserationes, sometimes, viscera miserationum; sometimes, Viscera & miserationes: so Phil. 2.1. If there be any Bowels and Mercies, where the Text hath not only the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Cornel. a lap. in cap. 2. ad. Phil. v. 1.  which are the same with the Hebrew, Rachamim, miserationes, for Viscera misericordiae: So Christ when he saw the people scattered in the wilderness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, says the Text, His bowels did yearn, or He had pity on them, Mar. 6. Hence, compassionate men are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Bonorum Viscerum, Men are good bowels, which we translate , or merciful, Ephes. 4.32 So merciful, that touched even at the marrow and entrails for the miseries of another, they could pour out their very Bowels for him. And such were the Mercies of God to Man, when he poured out his own Bowels, His only begotten Son for us; So the Evangelicall Zachary Prophetically of Christ, By the tender Mercies of God (where the vulgar reads Per Viscera misericordiae Dei, By the bowels of the mercy of God) the Dayspring from on high hath visited us, Luk. 1.78.  
And to this purpose, Saint Paul labouring the conversion both of jew and Gentile, 
Rom. 12.1.  doth beseech them by the mercies of God, as tenderhearted mothers their immorigerous children, per abera et ventrem suum, 
Pet. Mart. in cap. 12. Rom.  (saith Peter Martyr) by the womb that bore them, and by the paps that gave them suck; Nay more, per viscera misericordiae, by the bowels of mercy, farther yet, per viscera jesu Christi, by the bowels of Jesus Christ, he that is womb, and bowels, and paps, and all mercy; God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of jesus Christ. Phil. 1.8. And certainly, if there were ever bowels of mercy, his were; or ever miseries for those bowels to work on, ours were; when he not only poured out his affections, but his very blood for us, us then his enemies, and without him, perpetual captives, and galley slaves to sin, and Satan: And therefore, the Evangelist having (it seems) no word more Emphatical to express the mystery of incarnation by, calls it mercy: Luke. 1. 
vide Saint llamin cap. 1. Lucae.  and the Apostle charity, Rom. 8. Mercy and Charity? the Analasis of heaven and earth, God and man epitomised: nay, God the man! and therefore, those two great virtues, or rather attributes, simeon in his song, calls salutare Domini, Luke. 2.30. The salvation of the Lord, or rather the salvation from the Lord, from the Lord for man. Hence David rapt in the spirit, and desiring to see the son of God, incarnate; pours out his request to the Lord, with an ostend nobis misericordiam tuam, et salutare tuum da nobis domine, show us thy mercy O Lord, and grant us thy salvation, Psal. 119 41. thy mercy and thy salvation, because from thee; but thy mercy, and our salvation, because for us. And this Salvation for us, was a mighty salvation; So runs the prophecy, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, why? He hath raised up a mighty salvation for us in the house of his servant David. Luke 1.68. A mighty Salvation, and therefore a mighty Mercy; such a mercy as the Apostle calls, Divitias misericordiarum, riches of mercy; mercy so wonderfully rich, that it is above all God's works, all his works of nature, or miracle, or glory, or mystery. In his works of nature there was only flatus, or spiritus Dei, the breath of the Lord used, what breath? his Dixit, et facta sunt; which were the breathe of the Almighty upon his creatures, he spoke, and (for the most part) they were made, and where they were not so; he spoke, and breathed, and they were made good. So God breathed into man the breath of life, 
Gen. 2.7.  and man was a living soul. Gen. 2.7. In his works of miracle, there was digitus Dei, the finger of God, so in those done before Pharach, and his wisemen, When magic was at a stand, and all her spells and enchantments nonplussed in the production of louse out of dust, the Sorcerers and Wizards instead of manifesting their skill, acknowledge their impotence, and that great Master of their black art, who had hitherto tutored them in lies, now lectures them a way to truth with a digitus Dei hic, This is the finger of God, Exod. 8.19. In his works of glory, there is manus Dei, the hand of God, so, those rolling torches of the firmament, those bright eyes of Heaven, Sun, Moon, and stars, with all that spangled and glorious host, the Apostle calls, the work of God's hand, Heb. 1.10. But in his works of mystery, especially in this greatest of incarnation, as if nature, and miracle, and glory were subordinate, and the breath, or hand, or finger of the Almighty too weak for so mighty a design, there was Brachium Dei, the arm of God, his mighty arm, the strength of his mighty arm; And therefore the blessed Virgin Mary in a deep contemplation of it, professes, 
Stella in 1. Lucae.  Dominum potentiam in brachio forti demomstrasse, The Lord hath showed strength in his mighty arm. Luke 1.51. In that ransom of the Israelites from the Egyptian vassalage, the text says, he did it with his arm, his outstretched arm. Psal. 77. with his arm? why not as well there with his finger, or his hand, as with his arm? why? Their freedom from that temporal captivity by Moses, was a type of our redemption from our spiritual slavery by Christ, and therefore as the arm was exercised in the one, so in the other too. We were in our Egypt here in darkness, darkness so thick, that it might be felt, made slaves to the grindings of a Tyrant, though not a Pharaoh, yet a Prince as he was, of darkness, and worse than he was then, of utter darkness, under his Iron rod and sceptre, all the fetters and manacles of sin and Satan, till God by the virtue of his Arm knocked off those iron shackles, and broke asunder the bands of death and darkness. And herein was the work of his Arm, his mighty Arm, the Strength of his mighty Arm; nay, it was not so properly the strength of his own Arm, as that strength which is the Arm itself, the Arm, JESUS. And here in two Prophets meet, Paravit Dominus brachium suum, and Dominus in fortitudine ventet, & brachium ejus dominabitur, The Lord hath made bare his Arm, so Isaiab: His holy Arm hath gotten him Victory, so David. And why hath the Lord thus made bare his Arm? or what is that Victory his holy Arm hath got? What? 
Isai. 52.10.  All the ends of the world shall see his salvation, Isa. 52.10. And, His salvation is made known in the sight of all the Heathen, Psal. 98.2. Here then still, 
Psal. 98.2.  this Arm is Salvation, and this Salvation, Mercy; and this Mercy Eminent, and this Eminency in Truth: All the ends of the world shall see it, and it shall be made known in the eyes of all the Heathen, all the Heathen, all the World, all shall see it, shall See it, but not enjoy it; and yet to see it, is the way to enjoy it; and that we may find that way, and at length enjoy it as we should, 
Isa;. 52.9.  Break forth into melody, sing together ye waste places of jerusalem; and not only those, but the whole Earth: Sing aloud unto the Lord all ye Lands, the round world, and all that therein is: ye souls of the Air, 
Psal. 98.  that sing among the branches; ye Beasts and Cattles upon a thousand Hills, ye that sport also in the deep, 
Psal. 104. v. 8. 11, 12.  that go up as high as the mountains, and down to the Valleys beneath. Let the Sea roar and the fullness thereof; let the floods clap their hands, and the little hills dance for joy: Let the Nations also be glad, let them sing upon the harp, upon the harp with a Psalm of Thanksgiving. Praise him on the Cymbals, ye sons of His, praise him on the Wel-tuned Cymbals: with trumpets also and shawms praise his Name. Pour out all your acclamations and shouts of Joy, all your hosannah's and Hallelujahs, ye Saints of his; Sing, and sing aloud unto the Lord, that his mercy is thus made known upon Earth, and his saving Health among all Nations.  
And here we cannot complain of the Lord as the Prophet did of old; 
Isai. 63.15.  Where is now the sounding of thy bowels, and thy mercies towards us? For it is gone, you hear, into all Nations; but rather, where is the sounding of our Thankfulness, our singing aloud in Magnificats and Regratulations unto him? Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantobo, saith, David, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever, Psal. 89.1. And certainly, if they be Mercies of the Lord, they are Mercies for ever; 
Psal. 89.1.  and if Mercies for ever, great Mercies; and if Mercies, and Great, and For ever too; worthy for ever to be sung by all those that are in misery, even by Kings; by David himself, if a King (as he was) in misery. For, Misery hath aswell a For ever, as Mercy hath: And therefore it was necessary that God's Mercies should be infinite, because of our miseries; and it was just that our miseries should be infinite, because of our sins. Here then, Abyssus abyssum invocat, One deep cries unto another; and here, Altitudo altitudinem invocat, One height cries unto another; this Height and Depth will make up Infiniteness. Now, infinite Sins cry unto infinite Miseries, there are the two Deeps: Again, infinite Miseries cry upon infinite Mercies; and infinite Mercies upon infinite Truth; there are the two Heights. Once more, Shame is a consequent of Sin, and death of Shame; and of such a Death, Misery; here is a Great deep. On the other side, the strength of Goodness is Power; and of Power, God; and of God, Eternity: There's a Great Height: Now, between this Height and Depth, what Medium have we? Mercy still, and how this Mercy but from Truth? and how this Truth but from God? and how from God, but as a Father? And therefore S. Paul calls him, Pater misericordiarum, & Deus totius consolationis, The father of Mercies, and God of all Consolation: 2 Cor. 1.3. 
2 Cor. 1.3.  Mark, he is not barely Pater misericordiae, but Misericordiarum; General offences presuppose general Pardons: and therefore the Father of Mercies, not of Mercy; and he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Father of them, there is no other. Besides, he is Deus totius consolationis, Universal distresses require universal comforts; 
S. Ber. Serm. 5. de Natal. Dom.  and therefore, not only the God of This or That, but the God of All comfort. Again, he is called Miserationum, non ultionum Pater, The Father of Mercies, not of Revenge; For in this, he were rather a God, than a Father; and a severe Judge, than a God; A Father then of Mercies, not of Judgements: Quià non tam decet patrem indignari, quàm misereri filiorum, saith S. Bernard: Mercy is more proper in a Father, than Indignation; and therefore a Father of Mercies still: or if these be sometimes mixed with Indignation, Tamen miserendi causam sumit ex proprie, ulciseendi ex nostro, The cause of being merciful, is from Himself: of being angry, from us and our sins. On the other side. He is Deus totius consolationis, The God of all Comfort; 
S. Ber. ut supra.  Quià micificè dum misericordiam exercet, omnes mortales consolatur. He hath a Salve for every wound, a Cordial for every languishment, for every calamity a Comfort: And therefore, according to the diversities of Benefits we receive from him, we return him as well diversities of Attributes, as Thanks. In Weakness, we call him Strength; in Sickness, Health; in Misery, Mercy; in Distress, Comfort. In time of War, he is the Sword, and the Bow; 
Psal. 18.2.  of danger, the Buckler and the Shield; of Persecution, the Castle and the Tower; of Trouble, 
Psal. 27.1.  the Rock and the Sanctuary. And here the Apostle belike, calls him, The God of hope and peace, the God of Patience and comfort, Rom. 15.5, 13. Of Peace, in War; of Hope, in Danger; of Patience, in Trouble; of Comfort, in Persecution. Of all These he is a God, that is, Largitor (saith Theophylact) the Benefactor or Disposer; his very Deity doth include Comfort, 
Theoph. in loc.  and by his Essence he is not only Tota, but Totus, consolatio; or rather, Totum consolationis a full Tide and Sea of Comforts; which he pours out in this life upon his Servants in Tribulation, with such a bountiful hand, that mortal heart is not capable either of receiving or expressing it; but enforced to cry out with that blessed Martyr, Satis est Domine, Satis est.  
Lastly, he is called Pater misericordiarum intransitiuè, that is, multum misericors, or by the same Hebraisme, Misericordissimus (as both Cornelius and Carthusian gloss it) Father of mercies, 
Cornel. a lap. in 15. cap Rom. v. 5.13.  for most merciful, or full of mercies; and in that sense, he is said to be the Father of them, as elsewhere he is the Father of Rain; 
Job. 38.28.  ('tis a acquaint speculation the jesuite hath) because his blessings come in showers, and are not so properly dropped as poured down upon his inheritance. 
justin. Gen. in 2 Cor. cap. 1.  Moreover 'tis the nature of rain to cherish and refresh the dry and barren ground; and of Mercy, the languishing and thirsting Soul: And therefore the Psalmist cries, My soul gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty Land, 
Psal. 143.6.  Psal. 143.6. Now the thirsty Land gaspeth after him as the God of Rain, but the thirsty Soul as the God of Mercy: And yet these, as they are one in substance, so oftentimes in effect and operation too. Mercy extends as well to the unjust as to the just; 
Mat. 5.45.  So doth the Rain, He raineth (saith the Evangelist) as well on the unjust as the just, Mat. 5.45. And doubtless both the just and the unjust want it, and desire to be refreshed with those two dews of Heaven, Providence and Mercy. Hence is that elegant similitude of the Prophet, As the Hart brayeth after the Rivers of waters, so my soul panteth after thee, Ps 42 1. Here the Sic will answer punctually the Sicut; the Hart (you know, for 'tis a trodden observation) when he is hard chased & wounded, immediately betakes himself to the next water or River, which is to him both balm and refreshment; and the heart of man when it is sore chased and wounded by his manifold sins, flies to the water and the River too, the River of everlasting waters, and these waters everlasting comforts, comforts from him that is everlasting, the God of comforts; and who is that God of comforts, but he that was before the Father of Mercies? And who this Father of Mercy, but he that is the Father of Raine? From the noise of whose water-spouts stream all those blessings which we here call Mercies and Comforts, and these sometimes both in measure and manner extraordinary. And indeed it was requisite (saith Saint Bernard) that many should be God's Mercies and Comforts, because many were the tribulations of the just; and so Miseria nostra multiplex non medo magnam misericordiam, sed multitudinem quaerit miserationum, as the Father in his 5. Sermon, De natali Domini: a manifold misery doth not only require a great but a manifold Mercy. And therefore David touched it seems at the quick with the smart and sense of his transgressions, gives not off his suit with a single importunity, but closely prosecutes the Lord with a Fac mihi gratiam, fac mihi gratiam Domine, Be merciful unto me, O Lord, be merciful unto me Psal. 57.1. And why this doubling upon mercy, except his miseries were double? And doubtless they were doubly double; and therefore be merciful unto me be merciful unto me? & why thus unto me, unto me: why? Because my soul trusteth in thee, in the 1. v. of that Psalm. Now in what, or in whom should it trust but in the Father of mercies? Or from what, or whom should it expect redress but from the God of comfort? & hereon the same Prophet wounded in soul, and under the bitter pangs & convulsions of a griping conscience, dogged and pursued at the very heels by the Hue and cry of two foul sins, Murder and Adultery, is at length brought unto the bar, and after arraignment and conviction done calls for his Psalm of mercy, and instead of an Exaudi me Domine, he comes with a miserere mei Deus. 'Twas before, Hear me O Lord for thy righteousness sake, as if he stood upon terms of justification, but now both the Tune and the Plea is altered: And therefore have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my offences, Psal. 51.1. Here we find Saint Bernard again with his Magna misericordia, and his Multitudo miserationum, great sins require great goodness; offences that are not common, the multitude of God's mercies, the multitude of his tender mercies; and according unto those, Have mercy upon me (the Psalmist cryeth) upon me, thy servant, thy Prophet, the man after thine own heart: My sins are such that they require thy goodness, thy great goodness; my offences so capital, that they look for thy mercies, thy tender mercies, the multitude of thy tender mercies, for their sake, and only for their sake, blot out these my foul corruptions; which if they should still continue in that ugliness which they now are, whither, O whither should I fly? No flesh is righteous in thy sight; nay, no righteousness in me as man merely, but is as flesh in thy sight, frail, imperfect, rotten, not able to endure the touch of thy judgements; If thou shouldest mark what is done amiss, who should be able to abide it? 
Psal. 130.3.  Surely not flesh & blood; not I, I that am the miserablest of flesh and blood; I cannot answer thee one for a thousand, 
Job 9.3.  not one for a thousand thousand; so desperate are my sins without thy goodness, thy great goodness; so heinous my transgressions without thy mercies, thy tender mercies, the multitude of thy tender mercies. And this ever was & will be the plea of God's Children in their great extremities; all their thoughts, words, endeavours, then, tread no farther the way to heaven than a miserere mei Deus. If any brainsick or upstart speculation have found out a newer cut, or a nearer; for mine own part I give it the Passport and good speed, that Constantine did the Novatian Heretic, Tollescalas Acesi, 
Socrat. lib. 1. cap. 7.  & in coelum solus ascendas, let Rome suggest me, it is in him that willeth, or Geneva, in him that runneth; Saint Paul's miserentis Domini carries the Palm at last; It is not in him that willeth, nor in him that runneth, but in God that showeth mercy, Rom. 9.16. Those vainglorious opinions of merit and perfection here are but the dreams, or delusions rather of two opposite and wayward Sisters, Popery and Puritanisme; Non sum dignus, Nonsum dignus was the true and ancient ensign both of sanctity and martyrdom. And therefore the great Patriarch of the Romish Church was enforced at last to come in with his Tutissimum est It is most safe (most safe Cardinal? 
Bellar. de justif. lib. 5. cap. 7.  most just) In sola Dei misericordia, only in the mercy of God to repose our hope, our confidence, our eternal exectation. And to this purpose one of the candles, or rather stars of the same Church, speaking of the mystery of our redemption, 
Stella in 1. Lucae.  calls it mercy, Quia tale & tam divinum opus sub nullo merito comprehenditur, sed sola divena misericordia factum est: He that hath heard of Bellarmine or Stella, knows where the Quotations lie.  
Hear then, mercy and mercy only is embraced, and those old presumptions of merit cashiered by some of their greatest Rabbis; Now if I could but read or hear of so much modesty or so much mercy from some Perfectists of ours (men so pretendingly immaculate and pure, as if their hands and hearts were washed in innocence, and they could go boldly to God's Altar, as if they rather dared his justice, than implored his mercy) I might at length believe (as I do not yet) that it were possible for a sincere, or a learned, or a not discontented man to turn Chatharist; and so find out a new way to Heaven by the spirit of opposition, and singularity. If any such Pharisees there be here standing about the Temple, which yet dare vaunt in their plumed righteousness, and tell God saucily to his face, that they are not as other men, Extortioners, , Adulterers, no not as this Publican, let them enjoy the fruit of their insolent and uncharitable devotions, whilst others and myself address our Orisons to God in his pensive and humble posture, where we may find a heart more stooping then a knee, and a look then either, an eye so dejected and intent, that it dares nor so much as glance where it offended, as if one cast of it towards heaven were enough not only to dazzle but confound him. Besides, a hand so trembling, or rather so feeble, that it moves only to the striking of a sinful breast, no higher, thoughts so mortified, and gesture so lowly, and language so modest, that we can discover nothing but penitence and submission, and these rather expressed by groans then words; or if words, broken once, 
Luke 18.13.  God be merciful to me a sinner. And here by the way, we must remember, that as mercy and truth meet, so peace and righteousness must kiss too, nay righteousness and mercy: God is as well a righteous as a compassionate God, a God of justice as of mercy; nay his mercy sometimes shines the clearer for his justice, as the Sun doth near a storm or thunder-clapp. His mercies (saith the Prophet) are above all his works; All his works? 
Psal. 145.9.  That as you have heard, is without Quaere; not all his attributes too? No though the Apostle seemeth to intimate so much, Misericordia Dei super-exaltat judicium, mercy doth supper exalt or glories above, or (as some read it) Against judgement, James 2.13. There is nothing in God majus or minus; His attributes, as I told you, are himself, and therefore to make one less or greater than another, were to make God less or greater than himself. God is sum simplicissimus, not only one but very oneness, and therefore whatsoever is in himself must be himself, and if himself, therefore infinite, infiinite, than his justice as well as mercy, and all his attributes as either; and yet though mercy and justice as they are referred to God, may be styled infinite, and are; yet in relation to his works, they have such a reason of their magnitude, as the work itself is either proceeding from mercy or justice. And therefore when God suffers sins to pass by unpunished (as sometimes he does) he is said to be exceeding merciful; But when he doth scourge a little, his justice was not home to the desert of the offender, so that his mercy is said to be greater than his justice (though both be infinite) because in his works Ad extra, he doth more use mercy in forgiving, than justice in punishing offences. Thus, Misericordia Dei plena est terra, Psal. 119.64. The Earth is full of the mercy of the Lord, and it need be full, the merciful Lord knows, for the earth wants it, miserably wants it; And Domine in coelo misericordia tua, Psal 36.5. Thy mercy is in heaven also; Heaven is full of it, and yet heaven never wanted it, for there is no misery, but fullness of joy for evermore. And are Heaven and Earth thus full of his mercy? where then doth his justice reign? in both these, but that his mercy is, sometimes, superintendent, and so doth qualify the other, though not impair it. When justice is at the bar, mercy interposeth, ventures on the very seat of judgement, and not only sits by it, but (sometimes, in respect of man) over it. It doth mellow and sweeten justice, and takes away the acrimony and sharpness of it. God's threatenings, I confess, have sometimes a fearful brow, and like a sky troubled & flaked with red, intimate fire and blood, but scatter none; They are sparkles perchance of his indignation, but not coals; sent only to menace, not to destroy: Or if his vengeance once begin to kindle indeed, so that from his Throne proceed Hailstones and coals of fix, lightnings and hot thunderbolts, yet his mercies are still sprinkled on those flames, and the very dregs of the cup of God's fury are tempered with some compassion; nay, God is seldom seen in any of his works or his Attributes, but mercy is there either as an agent or looker on; Mercy in his goodness, fortitude, providence, wisdom, Power, nay in his very justice. To be merciful and just, and mercy and justice, merciful and mercy, just and justice, are one with God Essentialiter, though not Denominatiuè; Concretes and Abstracts altar not the Godhead, but are the same in substance, though not denomination; And therefore, whereas some works of his are said to be of justice, others of Mercy, Non diversitas subjacentis, sed varietas sensuum & effectuum in creaturis monstratur, saith Lombard, there is no diversity expressed of the thing signified by the words, but the variety of senses and effects manifested in the Creatures. Moreover, in some of his works there are said to be effects of his mercy; in others, effects of his justice, not that justice doth produce one thing, Mercy another; if we refer them to his essence, but because of some effects, he is understood to be Index, of others Miserator; or as some please justus, et Misericors. In every work therefore of God, secundum effectum mercy and justice do not always concur; but in some mercy, in others justice; in others mercy and justice, (as some of the Schoolmen would suggest us) and yet withal confess, that whatsoever God hath done, Misericorditer egit & just, referring the reason of the speech to the will of God, which is justice and Mercy, not to the effects of justice and Mercy, which are in things; and yet others conjecture, and they more rationally; that as God is said to do all his works justly and mercifully, so it is to be granted, that in every such work there is mercy and justice, Secundum effectum too, because there is no work of God in which there is not an effect, or at least a sign of equity and clemency, either concealed or open; for sometimes his clemency is apparent, and his equity hid; and sometimes E converso, as the Master of the Sentences more at large in his 4. Book 66. distinction.  
Now, as Mercy and justice go hand in hand in respect of God the Father, so they do also of God the Son; Omnia quae Dei sunt, Christus est, saith Origen, Christ is Gods All, Wisdom, Sanctity, Providence, Fortitude, justice, Mercy, and all these One, but one here as before, by way of Essence, not Denomination. To be justice then, is to be as Essentially Christ, as to be mercy; and to be just as to be merciful; we cannot divorce nor sever them; for lo, mercy and truth here meet together, righteousness and peace do kiss each other, meet and kiss in the same Christ. Thus Isaiah calls him the Prince of peace, Isai. 9.6. and jeremy, The Lord our righteousness, Jer. 23.6. Here Righteousness and Peace kiss again, and as they kiss, mercy and justice meet, mercy as he is the Prince of peace, justice as the Lord our righteousness. One Prophet says, that he is Fons misericordiae, another that he is Sol iustitiae: So that belike he hath as well the face of a Lion, as of a man; of a Judge, as a Mediator; and therefore he came not only to govern, but to judge the Nations. Government presupposes mercy; and judgement, truth; and therefore he is called, mercy and truth towards Israel, Psal. 98.3. Lo here mercy and truth kiss, and as they kiss, peace and righteousness meet, meet and kiss in the glorious Bridegroom Christ jesus.  
Thus, All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, Psal. 25.9. Misericordia, quâ placabilis est; 
D. Aug. ad psal. 24. v. 9  veritas, quâ incorruptus est, allam praebuit donando peccata, hanc opera 〈◊〉, faith Saint Augustine: 'Tis mercy than makes God not implacable, and 'tis truth that speaks him not corrupt, by the one he is ready to forgive, by the other to censure and scanour Actions. His mercy therefore still leaneth to his truth; and his truth declines not from his justice. All the ways of the Lord are here; all the ways, by which he either descends unto us, or by which we ascend unto him. By his truth, heaven first came down unto earth; and by mercy earth climbs up again to heaven; 'tis truth, qua a malo declinamus; & 'tis mercy, qua bonum facimus. 
Lom. lib. 4. dist. 66.  In these two are all Gods works included; and these two go hand in hand with his judgements. Towards his Saints, all his ways are mercy: towards the wicked, all his ways are Truth; Quià & in judicando subvenit, & sic non deest misericordia, & in miserando id exhibet quod promisit nè desit verit as. To all those then that he doth either pardon or condemn, all his ways are Mercy and Truth; Quià ubi non miseretur vindictae veritas datur, as S. Augustine pleads it in his 19 Sermon upon the 5. of Matthew.  
They than that would divide and sunder the Lord of Life, and cleave (as some do) his mercy from his justice, deal with him as some curious Limners and Painters do, who commonly picture him with a half face: That which is of mercy, is transparent and lovely to the eye, the other of justice, is shadowed and understood. But certainly, they that would look upon him, as All mercy, deal too much with the spectacle and the multiplying glass, where the thing they desire to see, shows greater than it is; and so endeavouring to aseist the eye, they cousin it. justice no doubt, is as visible as Mercy, but that Flesh and Blood is apt to turn the perspective the contrary way; and so beholds justice in a small letter, but turning it again, views Mercy in a large print. In such a case, I should rather chide, than counsel; did not the Son of Syrach put in his caveat here, 
Ecclus. 5.5. & 6.  concerning Propitiation, Be not without fear to add sin to sin, and say not, His mercy is great, he will be pacified for the multitude of my sins, for mercy and wrath come from him, and his Indignation resteth upon Sinners: Ecclus. 5.5. & 6.  
'Tis true, the Mercies of the Lord are infinite, but his promises of them are, for the most part, conditional and restrained; like as a Father pittyeth his own children, so is the Lord merciful; 
Psal. 103.13.  but to whom? Timentibus eum, to those that fear him. Psal. 103.13. So again, the mercies of the Lord are throughout all generations; All generations? How? Timentibus eum, to those that fear him throughout all generations. Luke 1.50. No fear then, no mercy; But is there always mercy where there is fear? yes, this Timentibus eum, joined with a Credentibus ineum; if fear go with belief, and filiation with fear; not else. Yea, but the Devils believe and tremble too, is there not mercy for them? Origen will say there is, and (after some expiration of years) Salvation too: And for the better colouring of his tenet, he hath as well text for the Devil, as the Devil had for Christ; Hath God forgotten to be gracious, or will he in his anger shut up his tender mercies for ever. Psal. 77. From which words he endeavours to lenify those often breathe against the wicked,  terribilus dicta, quam verius, as if they had more horror in them than truth, and used only to awe malefactors, not to punish them. But this wild fancy of his the Church long since spewed out as erroneous, and interprets that anger of God, which he formerly urged in the behalf of the damned, not any divine perturbation, but their own damnation, which is frequently in scripture called anger, and that anger endless; and therefore the Psalmist says, Inira sua, non ad finiendam, 
Lib. 4. dist. 66.  or post iram suam, as the Master glosseth it. And doubtless, as the glory of God's children is endless, so is the destruction of his enemies; The text oftentimes resembling their torments unto fire, fire unquenchable, everlasting fire; Everlasting in respect of time, though sometimes not of rigour: And herein is mercy still, though no salvation; mercy, in that there is a qualification of punishment, not salvation, because no termination of time for that punishment. Hereupon, Saint Augustine in his enarrations upon that of the Psalmist, The mercy of the Lord endureth for ever, Psal. 106. From a double version of the word ever, gathers a double observation of mercy. The Septuagint reads it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, In aeternum. Saint Jerome (whom the Father follows) In seculum; Now there is a mercy (saith he, Qua nemo sine Deo beatus esse potest, by which, no man can be blessed without God; that is not enjoying him; And this he calls mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, In aeternum. There is a mercy besides Quae miscris exhibetur, which is afforded to men in misery, such a mercy as either involves barely a consolation; or else such a mercy as presupposes freedom, and this he calls mercy In seculum, 
D. Aug. ad Psal. 105.  that is, (as he interprets himself) In finem seculi, in quo nòn decrunt miseri quibus misericordia praebeatur: At the general and dreadful assize, at the last day, some shall not cease to be miserable, to whom mercy is allowed; and so to the Devil, his Angels, and the reprobated drove, there is a mercy granted, a mercy, not of enlargement, but relaxation; and so that mercy may be said to be eternal, on their eternal misery, Non aeterno supplicio finem dando, 
Lomb. lib. 4. dist. 66.  sed levamen adhibendo, not by Ending, but by Easing their everlasting torments. And here, 
D. Aug. ut sup.  Quis audeat dicere, saith the Father, who durst say, this Easing is not Mercy, or this Mercy not Eternal? His mercy endureth for ever, His mercy endureth for ever; His mercy endureth for ever; 'Tis the burden and under-song the Prophet useth thrice in one Psalm, and 26. times in another. Whither then (O God) shall we fly from thy Power? or whither so flying, but to thy Mercy? If we climb up to Heaven, Mercy is there; If we go down into Hell, Mercy is there; If we take the wings of the morn, and fly to the uttermost parts of the Earth, Mercy is there also: 'Tis in Glory, Exile, Torment; 
Psal. 118.  Above beyond, under us; with thy Friends, thine Aliens, thine Enemies, thy glorified, thy dispersed, 
Psal. 13.  thy condemned. Mercy, Before the world; and Mercy, After the world; Mercy, From everlasting; and Mercy, To everlasting: Mercy, when there was no Time; and Mercy, when there shall be Time no more; Mercy from that immortality which hath No beginning; and Mercy to that immortality which hath Noend; Infinite, Incorruptible, Eternal: For his Mercy endureth for ever, for his Mercy endureth for ever, for his Mercy endureth for ever.  
Well then, Is God the God of Mercy? And Christ the Christ of Mercy? Are we Christ's? and Christ God's? Let us then be the Sons of Mercy too, being merciful as our Father in Heaven is merciful; forgiving one another, as God for Christ's sake forgave us. Let there not be a Nabal murmuring within us, no heart of stone for the hammer of the Law to batter, but hearts of Flesh, soft and pliable to the miseries of others; And as God hath poured out his bowels for us, so let us pour out our bowels for our brethren, our bowels of Pity and Compassion. Remember what the counsel of S. jerom was to Demetriades the Virgin, 
S. Hieron. parte 3. Tract. 5. Ep. Epist. 17.  Laudent te esurientium viscera, non ructantium opulenta convivia, Let the great man's Voider be the poor man's Basket; the emptying of his Abundance, the Accommodation of the others wants. Hunger will not be fed with Air, nor misery with good words; they must have a taste of the Meal in our barrel, and of the Oil in our Cruse: Let's abate somewhat of our superfluities, to supply their necessities; 
Sint tua supersiva pauperis necessaria Sen. ad Lucil. Ep. 51.  Bleed this Pleurisy of ours, and Cordial their Consumption; Let the Naked be clothed, the Hungry fed, the Impotent provided for, the Sick visited; Give not for Bread a Stone; nor for a Fish a Scorpion: But let our hands speak, what our hearts mean; our Alms tell that our thoughts are compassionate; And not like those flinty professors, which turn Gospel into Law; Christianity, into Barbarism; A poor widow, or Lazar, or Orphan, are an Abomination at their gates. The story of Hatto and his mice revived, Away with such vermins as these, which devour our Corn, they stand neither with our profit nor the Law. A morsel of Bread for God's sake, or a penny for the Passion of a Saviour, they choke with a penal statute; and their Charity is a Lex prohibet; Fie on this cruel Mercy, it holds not with the Law. If a Collection for the disasters of Fire, or Wracks, or distressed captives be presented them, (though stamped with the Authority of a Regal Patent) yet, Away with this Non obstante, 'tis against the Law; Nay, if Tribute be required for Caesar himself, a supply demanded for the ships of Tharshish, a Rate to be levied for the Royal Navy, to the honour of their Prince, the Terror of other Nations, and the future preservation of their Own; they are up presently with their Passive Obedience, Goods forsooth they have, but in this case, Money they have none; (though all the while they tumble in Bonds and Mortgages) And why? 'Tis against the Law. Thus, they make the mere Letter of the Law, Their Oracle; A Statute, their Teraphin or tutelary God; Their Religion, Faith without Works; Their Allegiance, murmuring; their Church, Mutiny; their Charity, implacableness; their Compassion, Bridewell; their Alms, a whipping Post.  
O crudelis Alexi—  
Nil nostri miserere?—  
Argier, or the Holy Inquisition are scarce so merciless.  
Again, Is God the God of Truth? and Christ the Christ of Truth? Let us then be Christians in Truth too: not only in the Bark and Shell, in outward deportment and resemblance, (as too many are) but at the very Core and Kernel; in Reality and Substance also. He that is not sound at heart, is little better than rotten in all his parts; And that Religion which hath not warmth within, is either Cold, or Counterfeit, or Both: A Cake on the hearth not turned, the Prophet sharply condemned in Ephraim, and your halfe-baked Christian is an Abomination to the Lord. What we profess to be, let us be wholly; lest we prove at last to be nought at all: Let us not have a Tongue here at home, and a Heart at Geneva; our pretence for the reformed Church, and our project for the Romish; But if we be for Baal, let us go after him; If for the Lord, let us go after Him.  
Lastly, Is God a God of Righteousness and Peace? Do they kiss both in the Father, and his Son Christ Jesus? Let them kiss therefore in Us also that are Christians, That as we are his Sons by Adoption, so we may likewise by Imitation. Let us endeavour to be Righteous, as He is Righteous; at least in similitude, though not in equality; to be the Sons of Peace, as he is the God of Peace; turning our Swords into Sythes, & our Spears into Pruning-hookes; that the voice of War and Dissension be no more amongst us. Away with those waters of Marah and Meribah, those overflowings of bitterness and Strife; let the silent Stream glide amongst us, no Raging of the waves, Rising of the floods, no Noise of the water spouts. But let us all endeavour to keep the unity of Spirit in the bond of Peace.  
Remember whither you are now going, to the Lord's Altar; and he that comes thither, must have his hands washed in Innocence, and his heart in Peace. It is the Altar of Atonement and Reconciliation, and there is no Reconciliation with God, except there be first Peace with thy Brother.  
If thou bring thy gift to the Altar, and there remember'st, that thy Brother hath aught against thee: Leave there thy gift before the Altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy Brother, and then come, and offer thy Gift; as our Saviour adviseth thee, Matth. 5.24. Look not here for mercy from God, except thou hast first Charity with man; How canst thou expect forgiveness of thy Trespasses, unless thou forgive Them that trespass against thee; Forgive then, and thou shalt be forgiven: Seek Peace, and thou shall find it, even That Peace which passeth all understanding; And let That Peace always keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love both of God and Man: And, The Blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost be with you, and remain with you, now and for ever. Amen.  
Gloria in excelsis Deo. Amen.  
FINIS.   

The Blind Ephesian: OR, IGNORANCE unveiled. A SERMON PREACHED Ad POPULUM, at Henton S. GEORGE in Somerset. By Humphrey Sydenham.  
Revela, Domine, Oculos meos, ut intuear mirabilia de Lege tua.  Psal. 119.18. 
LONDON, Printed by JOHN BEALE, for Humphrey Robinson, at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in PAUL'S Churchyard. 1637.   

TO MY MOST DESERVING FRIEND and Kinsman, HENRY POULETT, Esquire. THIS.  
SIR,  
WIth a bold dedication I have this humble suit to prefer; that you measure not the disposition of the Offerer, by the quality of the Present. For if I had not as well known the greatness of your Charity. as of your judgement, I should not have thus profaned a Noble Altar with a blind Oblation; which amongst those Legal sacrifices of old was ever so much below acceptance, that it was not farfrom Abomination. I must ingenionsly confess, this Piece was designed elsewhere; and perhaps, importuued also: but then in all probability, the blind should have led the blind, and so, both fall'n into the Dyke together: with you, I am sure, as well of a Cherisher, as Director, (and such a one our Ephesian wants) who in his first offer to the pulpit, tripped a little (so apt blind people are to fall) but it was in the misprision of the hearers, which commonly receive things according to Fancy or guilt, and soldome to the intention of the Speaker. However, he is now on his legs again, & will adventure under your Countenance and Conduct, to travail the world a while, where wanting the benefit of his own eyes, he shall be guided by the quickness and clearness of Yours; which can distinguish between things really blind, and those which are metaphorically, and in tittle only, such are the Freewill offerings of  
Your poor Servant, and Ally, HUM. SYDENHAM.   

THE Blind Ephesian, OR, Ignorance unveiled.  EPHES. 5.8. 
Ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord, walk as Children of light.  
NOthing so much debaseth man and brings him down to Beast, as a wilful neglect or ignorance of moral and sacred principles. Our Apostle (you know) hath been formerly at Ephesus, where instead of encountering men, 
1 Cor. 15.32.  he himself testifies that he fough: with beasts, a people belike as brutish in their manner of deportment as Religion. Now Ephesus was the Metropolis of Asia the less; a City, saith Saint Jerome, stupidly affected to Magic and Idolatry, 
In praemio Comment. hujus Epist.  in chief remarked for that renowned Temple of her great Goddess Diana, which as it was the Mother of much wonder unto other Nations, so of superstition to her own; for instead of those Magnificats and hosannah's which were proper only to the true God, 
Act. 19 v. 28. & 34.  Great, great is the Lord, and worthy to be praised; how excellent is thy Name in all the world, Psal. 8. Here the unruly shout of Crafis-men and Shrine-makers (so busy are Mechanics still in matters of Religion) are loud for a more glittering Deity, and cause both the streets & the Temple to ring, 
Act. 19.26.  Great is Diana of the Ephesians, Great is Diana of the Ephesians: Saint Paul therefore pitying their blindness, and willing to reduce them from darkness unto light, tells them that they were no Gods which were made with hands, but the brainsick sancies of those that made them; and withal, acquaints them with a new Divinity, which they had not heard of, and hearing perhaps could not well understand, opens to them the mystery of a Trinity, tells them of Three Persons in one God, nay that three persons were but one God, and yet every one of these persons a true God, that there was a Father from everlasting which was Divine, and a Son so too, very God of very God, begotten before the world, and before all time, and yet brought forth after there was a world, and in the fullness of time. This could be no less than a Riddle to Flesh and blood, and more apt to stagger a natural understanding than inform it. But that God who wrought miraculously in the Creation of man, doth also in his Conversion. His Apostle here shall do that by the secret operations of the spirit, which the subtle powers of Art and reason, with all their acuteness and sublimity cannot possibly aspire unto.  
And now he gins to preach unto them Christ jesus, and him crucified; 
1 Cor. 1.23.  a matter of folly unto some, of stumbling unto others, but of salvation here; and this great work is not to be done suddenly, or with a flash, but requireth both time and tears, diligence and compasaion, as if in matters of spiritual employment, God not only expected the tongue or hands of his Ministers, but their eyes also; for so Saint Paul tells the Elders of Ephesus at Myletum, Acts 20. that He ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And this he did for the space of three years, until a commotion being raised against him by Demetrius the Silver-smith (one that more loved his own gain than Religion, as most mercenary men do) he departed into Macedonia, leaving Timothy at Ephesus for the farther growth of that Doctrine which he there seeded. Not long after, going bound in spirit to jerusalem, and from thence to Rome, where he was in bonds, and fearing that the Dog might again to his old vomit, he writes this Epistle to Ephesus, by Tychicus the Deacon; 
2 Tim. 4.12.  not to the dispersed jews, there, or Iudaised Christians, as some conjecture, for these had formerly revolted, 
2 Tim. 1.15.  Phygellus and Hermogenes being chief, but to the converted Gentiles; for so he himself professed, Ego Paulus vinct us jesus Christi, pro vobis Gentibus, in the 3. chapter of this Epistle: In which he is not only careful for the suppressing of Heresies which were like to rise, or else already grown; principally those of the Symonian Sect, and the Schools of the Gnostics, 
Epiph. lib. 1. contra Haeres.  as Epiphanius notes; but also for the perfecting of that great work of Christianity, which he had with such danger begun, and with such difficulty proceeded in. And therefore, here, like a discreet Monitor, he first puts them in mind of their primitive condition, what they formerly were, Ye were sometimes darkness; Then of their present state and happiness what they now stood in, Ye are light in the Lord: And lastly, of their conversation in the future, what a holy strictness should carry them in aftertimes, Walk as children of light. These are the branches the Text naturally spreads unto, and because they are large ones, and each particular full enough for the whole body of a discourse, I shall pitch my meditations, for the present, on the former only, and so confine both myself and them to the very front of the Text, Eratis olim Tenebrae, Ye were sometimes darkness.  
And here, lest we fall a stumbling in the dark, and with the Israclite wander up and down under the Cloud, let us inquire a little what darkness is? or rather what it is not? then what it is, or is not, in the Text here; and so make up the Analogy between both. Now darkness is nothing else but Absentia luminis, a Nonresidency (if I may so style it) or vacancy of light. 
Qui diligenter considerate, quid sint tenebrae, snil aliud invenit, quam lucis absentiam. D. Aug. lib. de Gen. ad lit. imperfect.  And to this purpose Moses tells us, that in the beginning, when the earth was without form, and void, Tencbrae erant super Abyssum, Darkness covered the face of the deep: which is all one (saith Saint Augustine) with Non erat lux super abyssum, There was no light upon the face of the deep: So that the Father would have darkness there, to be only Informitas sine lumine, A prodigy without light, blemishing and dimming that rich beauty and lustre which should radiate and enlighten the whole world. And indeed, if we critically inquire into the original of things, we cannot bring darkness within the verge of Creation; we read of a Fiat lux, let there be light, but no where of a Fiant tenebrae, let there be darkness; as if with darkness God had nothing to do; nothing indeed in respect of Creation, but of Ordinance or Administration: For God made the Species of things, 
Nè vel ipse private ones non haberent suum ordinem. D. Aug. ut supra.  not privations; not made these, but disposed them, lest privations themselves should not have their order; God managing, though not creating them, who is the God of Order. Now, light you know is a created quality, not made (as I told you) but ordained only; like a rest in a Song, where though there be an intermission of voice for the present, as if there were neither voice nor Song, yet if it be rightly timed and ordered, makes the Song more melodious, and the art fuller: Or like shadows in wel-limned Pictures, which give the other life and excellence, but in themselves Non specie, sed ordine placent, their shape is not pleasing ' but their order. We say not, nor dare not say that God was the causer of this Ephesian darkness, but doubtless he was the Disposer of it, otherwise it had never been advanced to this Lux estis in Domino, ye are now light in the Lord. God is not the Author of any obliquity or crookedness in our ways, but he is the Orderer, and turns them oftentimes to our punishment and his glory; Nay oftentimes, (O the depth and riches of his mercies ') from our punishment to our own glory, converting this Eratis olim tenebrae to a Lux estis in Domino, making that which was sometimes darkness, to be now light in the lord 
Quaedam sunt quae Dens ordnat & facit; quaedam quae ordinat tantù D. Aug. ut sup:  There are some things which God both makes and ordains, and some which he ordains only. The just which are as light, as the shining light, (saith Solomon) which shineth more and more unto the perfect day, God not only makes, but ordains; The wicked, which are as darkness, and a continual stumbling, he ordains only, not makes, not makes them wicked, but men; So that, although both are not made by him, both are disposed of, though in a different manner disposed of; The one Ad dextram Dei, On the right of God, with a venite Benedicti Come ye blessed; The other Ad sinistram On the jest, with an Ite maledicti Go ye cursed. And indeed, whither should light go, but to him that is Pater luminum The Father of lights? james 1.17. Or whither should darkness tend, but to him that is Princeps tenebrarum, the Prince of the power of darkness. Mat. 9.34.  
You hear then, that where light is, there is life too; and where there is darkness, death; And these two are as distant as the two poles, as opposite as two contrary winds, or tides, differing, sicut nuditas & vestimentum, as nakedness and a garment doth; 
D. Aug. lib. de Genes. ad lit. imperfect.  Now as in scripture there is some Analogy between light and a garment, so there is between nakedness and darkness. The Psaimist describing the majesty of God, says, that he was Amictus lumine sicut vestimento, clothed with light as with a garment, Psal. 104.2. Here garment and light shine both together, and with them life. job, typifying unto us the fleeting and unstable condition of the Rich, under the sudden loss of his goods and children, with his mantle rend, and his head shaved, at length prostrates himself with a nudus exibo, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked I shall return. And what of this nakedness? what? nay whither? Ecce, in tenebris instruo Cubile meum, Behold, 
job. 1.21.  I have made my bed ready in the darkness, Job 17.13. Here nakedness and darkness sleep together, and with them death. And hence, I suppose it is that the Evangelist calleth darkness Vmbra mortis, The shadow of death. Luke 1.79. And the Prophet (whence he had it) Regionem umbrae mortis, the Land of the shadow of death. Isay. 9.2. Death, and shadow of death, and the land of the shadow of death; and of all these Darkness is an Hieroglyphic, or Emblem, or both; as if there were no other misery to express them by, but darkness. And indeed, Darkness is a great misery and seldom mentioned in sacred story without intimation of some curse or punishment. So, for the unprofitable servant, 
Math. 25.30.  we find that the doom is Utter darkness; And for the Angels that fell, Chains of darkness; 
jude 6.13.  And for the wand'ring stars Blackness of darkness for ever. Nay, when God himself speaks in terror to the world, (the Earth trembling: and the foundation of the Hills shaking because he is wroth) A smoke out of his nostrils, and a devouring fire out of his mouth, are not astonishment enough; but as if there were nothing else to ripen horror, He makes darkness his secret place, his Pavilion round about, dark waters, and thick clouds of the sky. Psal. 18.11. And therefore, in mount Sinai, at the promulgation of the law, lightning and thunder and the noise of the trump, and the smoking of the mountain like a furnace were too light, it seems, to cause a general palsy and trembling in the camp of the Israelites; But to make terror solemn and complete, and set her up in the chair of state, there must be a thick cloud also, and to make that thickness more dreadful, Thick Darkness too: Exod. 20.21 And lastly on mount Calvary at the satisfaction of the law, when part of the world seemed to dye, and part to resurge in the death of her Saviour, the Temple cleaving, the Earth quaking, the Rocks rending, the Graves opening, and many Bodies of the Saints which slept, arising; Yet, in this there was not a full pomp, either of sorrow or wonder, not mourning or miracle enough for the tragedy of a God; But the heavens must be clothed with blackness, and sackcloth shall be a covering; And as if one light languished for the extinguishing of another, The Sun itself shall blend and look heavy to see her maker eclipsed, and Darkness, like a sad manile shall overspread the whole land from the sixth hour unto the ninth hour. Matth. 27.45.  
By this time, you may conceive what Darkness is, and the miserable estate and condition of those that lie captived under her bands and fetters; Now 'tis time to reflect more particularly, upon the text, and inquire what the darkness was that is there complained of, what that, which of old so manacled the Ephesian. Ye were sometimes Darkness. Darkness here, 
Beza & Cornel. alap. in locum.  hath a metonimical sense; and is (if you will take the word of a jesuite, or if not his, Beza's) more than ordinarily emphatical, Tenebrae being used for renebricosis, Darkeves for those which are in the dark, as wickedness is oftentimes taken for those that are wicked, but dark or wicked in a superlative way. Now as before Darkness was an absence or privation of the light natural, so it is here of the light spiritual, and is a type or figure of man in naturalibus, a representation of the state of nature before grace; and such a state is a very darkness, in which there is not so much as a glimmering of this Lux estis in Domino, ye are now light in the Lord; But rather a blind relic of this olim tenebrae in the text here, that darkness which of old so be sotted our Ephesian; And what is that darkness but ignorantia veritatis, an ignorance of divine truth? 
Aret. in locum.  and imports only caecitatem innatam, caliginem mentit de Deo & Divinis, an inbred blindness cast as a mist upon the soul, a mental dimness and obscurity in respect of God and things divine; So that where such ignorance dwelleth, there is no light at all, but darkness hangs like a thick fog about it. First, Darkness in the eyes, Psal. 69.23. Then, Darkness in the heart, Rom. 1.21. And at last, Darkness in the understanding too, Ephes. 4. And why this threefold darkness? Darkness in eye, in heart, and understanding, why? Because alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, at the 18. verse of the same chapter.  
And here if we had neither light of Father nor In terpreter, Scripture would comment upon scripture, Palpwiuns, sicut coeci, parietem, We grope for the wall like the blind, weè stumble at noon day as in the night, we are in desolate places as dead men. Isai. 59.10. Now what causeth this blindness, this groping, this stumbling at noon day, this sicut mortui, that we are as dead men, but the fearful night & desolation ignorance carries with it? And indeed there is an ignorance which is no better than a desolation, a dwelling for the Ostrich, and a dancing room for the Satire, Where the Beasts of the land and the Dragon's cry Isay. 13. (men brutishly and barbarously, and sometimes diabolically inclined) and 'tis a night too, a night for the Bat to flutter, and the owl to hoot in (men of besotted and infatuated condition) and 'tis not only nox, but nox media, saith S. Augustine, the very depth of night, and as it were a night in a night, and because I will not be thought to coin it, I will quote it from the Father in his 30. Sermon, de verbis Domini.  
Now, as night is a time for Zijm and Ohim, 
Isai. 13.22.  for the ranging of doleful creatures, and spirits that are wicked; so is Ignorance a nightly haunt of Spirits that are dosefull, and wicked also; 
1. john 4 6  the Spirit of dulness, and the Spirit of error, and to make it nightly indeed, the Spirit of slumber too, 
1. Tim. 4.1.  Rom. 11.8. per noctes quaesivi quem diligit anima mea, saith the Spouse in the Canticles, In the nights I sought for him whom my soul loveth; And what then? I sought him, but I found him not. Cant. 3.1. Christ will not be met with in the dark; Night is not a season to seek Jesus in, though perhaps to betray him, the night either of Ignorance, or Infidelity. For, what hath a Saviour to do with him that knows him not? or with him that knows him, but believes him not? or with him that believes him, but believes him not as he should? Again, the Text says not per noctem quaesivi, but per noctes, not in the Night, but in the Nights. Now Ignorance is a double Night; One of nature, the other of grace; Reason and Understanding are darkened in the one, Faith & all spiritual operations in the other. Habet mundus nectes suas, & non paucas, saith Saint Bernard; 
Scrm. 5. supcam.  The world hath her nights, and too many; Nay, the world itself is but a night, and totally involved in darkness, no light at all in it, but what is influenced and beamed down from above; And therefore Christ is called Lux mundi the light of the world; Because, where the knowledge of him shines not, there is undoubtedly darkness, the O limb tenebrae in the Text here, Ye were sometimes Darkness.  
Again, Quot Sectae, tot Noctes, As many Schisms, so many Nights; Nox est Iudaica persidia, Nox Haeretica pravitas, Nox Catholicorum carnalis Conversatio; Heresy and judaisme, and the carnal Conversation of pretended Catholics are all Nights. On the other side, Donatisme, Anabaptisme, nay the holy Catharisme, or (if that word be too much antiquated) Carthwritisme, brag of their Lux in domino what they list, are Nights too; They wait for light, but behold obscurity, for brightness, but they walk in darkness. Isai. 59.9. And lastly, which is the night of all those nights, Nox Ignorantia Pagancrum ('tis Saint Bernard's again) Pagan or Ephesian Ignorance is a Night also; 
We supra.  or if not a Night, Darkness I am sure, the Olim tenebrae the Text speaks off, Darkness sometimes, though afterward made light in the Lord & therefore, as S. Paul saith elsewhere of his Thess. Qui Ebrii sunt, 
1. Thess. 5.7.  Nocte Ebrii, Those, that are drunken, are drunken in the Night. So we may not improperly say here of our Ephesian, Qui ignorant, nocte ignorant, Those that are ignorant, are ignorant in the Night, for Ignorance is nothing else but a mental Darkness, or Drunkenness, and both these a business of the Night, causing us to grope without light (as job speaks) and to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. 
job 12.24.  Errare eos faciet sicut Ebrios, They are made to err like a drunken man, job 12.25. Here Error and Drunkenness reel together, and with them Ignorance, and are as near allied as a Vertigo, and an Epilepsy; the one causing us to fall or stagger, the other to some in our own shame.  
Now this disease had a long time dangerously infected the world, this Darkness fearfully overspread it, before the Sun of righteousness began to arise, until Christ Jesus by the beams of his Gospel shined upon it; Witness the woeful Blindness and perverse Judgement, which possessed the Gentiles in the time of Gentilism; even in those things which common reason and the law of nature prohibited. The Persians took their Mothers, Sisters, and Daughters, nefandis matrimoniis, (for so the Historian) into matrimony, shall I call it, or incest? Either damnable enough. The Scythians were no better than Anthropophagis, and made their own Sex their food; Sacrificing their children (like those in the valley of Hinnon) to the Tabernacle of Moloch, 
Acts 7.43.  or the star of their God Remphan. The Massagetae, as Clemens Alexandrinus testifies, feasted on the bodies of their nearest Kindred; 
Hircanae què admorunt ubera Tigers.  the Hircanis (and from thence I suppose the Poets Hircanae Tigers) threw out their old men to the fowls of the Air; The Caspians to their dogs. The Lacedæmonians magnified theft as a project of wit and industry; And Saint jerom writing-against jovinian, tells him, Apud multas Nationes licuisse, 
Lib. 1. Epist. parte. Epist. 6. cap. 36.  that amongst many Nations many kinds of homicide were nor only conniv' dat, but allowed, nay, if we reflect a little on the laws of Plato, Plato the Divine, (as they style him) how monstrous and abominable in giving full liberty to lies, to insanticide, to community of wives, to the unnatural abuse of sick men that were ready for the urn? and those brutish Edicts of Lycurgus also, the great Lacedaemonian Oracle, Pueros, impune prostitui, Feminas licenter exponi: Proclaiming an unpunished freedom of prostituting and exposing both Sexes to that which the Apostle calls Burning in lust, and a work which was unseemly, Rom. 1.27. Insomuch that some strumpeted their own wives, unbracing them to their Guests in symbolum Hospitii, as you may have it in a larger survey from Eusebius and Theodoret, quoted by Cornelius a lapide, on this place. And if this kind of Antiquity will not pass for Authentic, please you to inquire a little at the Oracles of God, and there you shall find the mistreding of the Ammonite, and Moabite, and Ekronite; nay of the Israelite himself, no less damnable than the other; Their abominations in respect of Earth as great, and (if possible) of Heaven greater, leaving that true God that made them, and making Gods of their own which were so fare from the True, that they were none at all; Sacrificing to stocks and stones, and sometimes Devils, as our Ephisian here did; whose impietyes consisted most in the darker practices of Magic and Idolatry, the one a plain trassicke with the Devil, the other a tribute to him.  
Now what is the cause of these prodigious aberrations, but an invellectuall blindness, a darkness of the inward man? A stupid ignorance of God, and things divine? And therefore, as a wicked man; is not quis but quasi quis; or else, non homo sed quasi cadaver hominis (as Boetius hath it) So an ignorant man is not a man properly, but a quasi homo as it were a man; Nay, quasi cadaver hominis, as a carcase of a man that was. And, where is a fit place for a carcase, but in darkness? So I told you before, my bed is made in the darkness; And what is this darkness but death? I go whence I shall not return (saith job) And where's that? To the land of darkness and the shadow of death, job 10.22. Tolerabilior est poena, vivere non posse, quam nescire; 'Tis a calmer punishment to be deprived of life, than knowledge; For knowledge is a posting unto life, and ignorance a lingering or hanging back unto death. And therefore Solomon tells us, that the holy Spirit of discipline will remove from thoughts that are without understanding, Wise. 1.5. God dwells not with him that dwells not with himself; that is, 
Multi multa sciunt, & seipsos nesciunt; cum tamen summa philosophia sit, suipsius cognitio. Hugo de sancto victore lib. 1. de Anima cap. 9  not with one that knows not himself, and his God too; So that in every man there is a double knowledge, not only required, but necessary unto life, Dei, & Sui, of God, and of Himself; Of which, he that is ignorant, comes within the lash of this Olim tenebrae, and is not only Darkness, but in the way to utter Darkness; Such an Ignorance being not only dangerous or desperate, but Ad perditionem, Damnable too; So says Saint Bernard in his 36. Sermon upon the Canticles  
Nosceteipsum was one of the proverbs of a secular wiseman, and Reverentia jehovae of a sacred. First, know thyself, that morality enjoins, and doth distinguish Man from Beast, then know thy God, and fear him too. This Divinity requires, and divides man from man, makes that Spirit which was before-Nature, and is no less than Caput scientiae The springhead as well of life as knowledge; Prov. 1.7. And indeed, what hope of life without this knowledge? or of this knowledge without humility and fear? of humility in thyself, which as it is the Mother of virtues, so of happiness; of fear in respect of God, which as it is the beginning of Wisdom, so of divine Love: Non potes amare quem nescias, aut habere quem non amaveris, 
S. Bern. 37. Serm. super Cant.  thou canst neither love him whom thou knowest not, nor enjoy him truly whom thou dost not love. And therefore labour to know thyself, that thou mayst fear God, and so fear and know God, that thou mayst love him too; In altero initiaris ad sapientiam, in altero & consummaris; the one is the first step to wisdom, the other the stairhead; that, as earth which is the footstool; this, as Heaven which is the Throne of God. Moreover, as from the knowledge of God proceeds his fear; so from the same knowledge, love; and from both, hope, which is the blood and marrow of faith, and saith of life and glory. Fili mi, Reverere jehovam, saith the Wiseman; My son fear the Lord, and what then? Salutare erit umbilico tuo, & medulla ossibus tuis, It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. And is this fear, then, of the Lord, all? No, but get wisdom and understanding too; and why? why? Longitudo dierum in dextra ejus; in sinistra, divitiae & honour, Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honour, Pro. 3.8.  
Now, as knowledge doth mightily advance man and sets him up to God, so simplicity pulls him down, and thrusts him below himself; It unmans him, makes him beast, buries him in shame, contempt and obloquy, whither in a moral or civil, or spiritual way. The Stoic will tell us, Loco ignominiae est apud indignum, dignitas; Titles or Fortunes cast on a worthless and simple man, tend more to his scorn than honour; for he is but Simia in tecto, or Latro in scalis, as Ludolphus hath it; Apishness or robbery advanced, 
De vita Christi part. 1. cap. 68  and in the vote and opinion even of the multitude, Non ad honorem, sed ad derisionem, he is rather exposed to laughter than applause, as if men by nature were taught to shun the presence of him in whom they perceived not the lips of knowledge. 
Prov. 14.7.  And indeed, such a one is but a mere Bladder of honour, some thing that time and Fortune have blown up as children do their bubbles, to game and sport at; a mere windy Globe, which hath colour, but no weight; Titulus sine homine, 
Contra Avaritiam lib. 2. p. 68  saith the sweet-tongued Salvian, a Title without a man, or a man without his Soul, or a Soul without her ballast, Reason and Understanding.  
Man that is in Honour and understands not, what becomes of him? Ask the Psalmist, and he will tell you, Similis fit jumentis, he is made like unto the beasts; what Beasts? jumentis qui pereunt, to the beasts that perish, Psal. 49.20. Other Beasts are not like or equal to him, but beyond him, 
Isai. 1.3.  God giving them a distinct pre-eminence, the Ox and the Ass before his Israel, Nay, the Stork, the Turtle, the Crane and the Swallow, with the rest of that winged Commonwealth, are better disciplined than he; they know their appointed times, and observe them too: But Populus meus non intelligit, my people do not understand, 
S. Bern. Serm. 37. in Cant.  jer. 8.7. An non tibi videtur ipsis Bestiis quodammodo bestialior esse home, ratione vigens, & non vivens? saith Saint Bernard, A man endued with reason, and not squaring his actions accordingly, is he not more brutish than the beast himself? Yes questionless; for though the one be steered altogether by sense (reason being a peculiar property and prerogative of man) yet man faltering either in the use of it, or end, the beast hath got the start of him, and is become, if not more rational, more regular than he.  
Si ignor as o pulcherrima foeminarum, says the Beloved to the Spouse, If thou knowest not O thou fairest amongst women; if thou knowest not, what then? what? Egredere post greges tuos, Get thee behind the footsteps of thy Flock, and feed thy Kids besides thy Shepherd's Tents, Cant. 1.8. Mark, the Text says not, get thee out with thy Flock, or to it, but behind it: And Ad quid hoc? saith Saint Bernard, what means this? but to set up Ignorance to more fear and shame: Quod hominem bestiis non tam parem fecisset, quam posteriorem; In that it hath not ranked Man equally with Beasts, but below them, as if he that understood not, went not side by side with creatures that are brutish, but behind them; and behind them he is indeed; Forasmuch as Man hath disparaged and depraved Nature, which the Beast hath not; and therefore justly convinced to go behind the footsteps of his Flock, not only in this life Depravatione naturae, but in that to come extremitate poenae, as the Father, sharply, in his 37. Sermon upon the Canticles.  
Thus we have brought down the Ephesian to the Beast, and somewhat below him, and so rivalled Ignorance with Darkness, and that Darkness with death; though the Church of Rome be a little inflamed here, and would list it out of darkness into the marvellous light; from this Olim tenebrae, to the Lux in Domino, making her no less than a grave Matron in Religion, a great fostermother of the Church; and for the better dazzling of her opposers, she tumbles distinction upon distinction, even to the dividing of hairs, and mincing of Atoms. But upon farther sisting and enquiry, I hope it shall appear, and that from her own Champions, that ignorance is so far from being the Mother of Devotion, that it is the Grandam of all falsehood; this wicked mother having two worse daughters, doubt and error; 
P●ssimae matris pessimae silia, duae sunt, dubictas, & error. S B●rn. supra Cant. Serm. 17.  Now where these two are, there can be neither Truth nor Faith, at least faith that is true, no faith with doubt, no truth with error; and where no faith nor truth is, what ground can there be for sincere Devotion? or for that which kindles it, Religion. Nay; if we prick home, here, to the quick, we shall find it, in some sort, common to all sins, (whether of will, or malice, or presumption) that this Mother and her Daughter, ignorance and error are a principal means either begetting or producing them, as being the leven of all other sins, and that which sours the whole lump, Errand qui operantur malum, they err that devise evil, Prov. 14.22. So that it seems there is no work of evil without error; Insomuch that the Philosopher will tell us, 
Ethic. 3. cap.  Omnis malus est ignorans, every evil man is an ignorant man; And Scientiâ present, 
Socrat. ibid. quotat. ab Aristot.  non peccatur, if knowledge be present there can be no sin, which is true (saith the Schooleman) if we extend knowledge to the right use of reason, 
Estius lib. 2. sent. dist. 22.  in particulari eligibili, for if wisdom or judgement stand right in the particular object, there can be no sin; Man intending that which is good, or at least seemingly good, and choosing it too, if reason warp not, or prove corrupted; so that error, all this while, is the mother of sin, as sin is of misery and death. And therefore the great Peripatetic handling this point Exprofesso, for the better illustration of the truth thereof, instances in those that are incontinent, who have no true judgement or opinion at all, Rei particularis, to wit, what is to be done precisely for this or that particular, 
Aristol. lib. 7. Ethic. c. 2. & 3.  Quoad hic, & nunc (as he cants it) And therefore compares them to drunken men rehearsing Verses of Empedocles, rambling that which they understood not; in the 7. of his Ethics, 3. chapter.  
And this explanation of the Philosopher shall serve for a comment on the Father, 
Dyonis. de div●n. nom. cap. 4.  Nemo intendens admalum, operatur, No man works with an intention to evil; that is, Evil apparent; Reason standing still rectified, and not depraved; But that miscarrying, strait there is a trodden way to Error, and consequently to Vice, and so this Sun being once set, Night presently comes on, the Ephesian falls back to his Olim tenebrae, whilst the Lux in Domino is in her full Eclipse, For, as Darkness closeth, and as it were dams up the windows of our corporal eyes, so doth Error of our mental ones & will not suffer us to behold the light, nor ourselves, & therefore when any one is ensnared by sin, si obtenebratis oculis non videt delictum saith S. Austin, 
D. Aug. in Psal. 18.  He sins without eyes, or at least with blind ones, Errorhath filmd and over-scald them, and he cannot perceive that he hath sinned at all; Insomuch, that S. Greg. speaking of the proud man, & in him of all sinners of that rank, would persuade us, Quod superbire nequeunt, nisi prius oculos cordis perdunt, A man cannot grow Insolent, nor Whore, nor profane, nor oath it bravely, except he have first lost his eyes, his eyes of the inward man, & when Error hath once made them dim or purblind, he falls instantly into all manner of debauchment.  
And the ground hereof we have from the Seraphical Doctor, (for so the Roman style goes) who makes it an unbattered Principle of his, 
1.2. quest. 77. Art. 1.  that Motus voluntatis natus est semper sequi judicium Rationis, the motion of the will doth naturally follow the judgement of Reason, as the lesser wheel in a clock doth the greater; and both, the weight or poise that turns them; for, Reason is the begnning of humane operations, and therefore, if a man doth not actually consider what may, and aught to be considered; Such a neglect is culpable, Thomas calling it Ignorantiam malae Electionis, An Ignorance of evil choice; 
1.2. q. 58. Art. 2.  So that no sin can happen, except there be first a defect in some act of Reason directing it; And therefore in those that transgress, the judgement is corrected Quoad particulare Agibile saith the same Thomas, 1.2. q. 20. Art. 3. And again Peccatum non fit, Sin is not committed, except there be first an Error about the Object Saltem in particulari in his first book contra Gentes, 95. chapter. For, the will you know follows necessarily the understanding which the Schools call Imperium voluntatis, because it lays a kind of Empire and Command upon the Will, causing it to make choice of this or that thing at her Pleasure; And therefore, if the Election be evil, falsitas est in Imperio. Besides, the Will is the reasonable Appetite, and therefore cannot choose but what Reason hath judged to be chosen; so that the Conclusion rests still unshaken Nunquam voluntas peccat El●gendo. Quin Ratio aberrat judicando, the Will never sins in her choice, except Reason first err in her judgement. So the Thomists in a full volley, quoted by Estius on the 2. of the Sentences, 22. distinction.  
Neither hath this Doctrine only received countenance from Philosophers, Schoolmen and Fathers, (which perhaps relish not with some snarling dispositions, who either repiningly or prejudicately censure them as too subtle, or too toilsome for the Pulpit, because they somewhat over ballast their muddy intellectuals) but abundantly also from sacred Scriptures; Where we shall find, that sins have oftentimes the style of Ignorance and Error, as if without them there were no sin at all. So the Psalmist, Erraverunt ab utero Psal. 58. that is Peccaverunt; and so the Prophet, Omnes nos quasi O ves erravimus Isai. 59 that is, peccavimus; And so the Apostle too, Si quis ex vobis erraverit, james 5. that is peccaverit; So that both with the Psalmist, and Prophet, and Apostle, Erring all this while is but Sinning, and this sinning an ignorance of the right way; And therefore David joins both his sins and his ignorances together, and prays against both in one, Delicta juventutis meae & ignorantias meas ne memineris (So the old translation runs) Remember not the sins and ignorances, which we render the transgressions of my youth. Psal. 25.7.  
Hereupon, some of the Ancient Platonists (who doubtless had a taste of divine truth, drawing most of their Philosophy from the books of Moses) brought all virtues within the lists of knoweldge, and all sins of ignorance; Insomuch, that it is not only a Stolen or Bawd to their sins, but also whorish in itself, Sin too; And if a sin, what colour can there be for the excuse they talk of? Except we make one sin to excuse another; and this Ignorance cannot do; Since, he that can please divine justice, (saith Leo) must of necessity know. I am sure that under the law, a sin of ignorance went hand in hand with a sin of violence, and had a like Gild, and Sacrifice. If a soul sin, though he witted not, says the Text, yet he is guilty, and he shall bear his iniquity Levit. 5.17. On the other side, If a soul sin in a thing taken by violence, he is guilty too Levit. 6 4. Here is the guilt plain in both; Now what s the Sacrifice? They shall both bring a Ram without blemish out of the flock, for a trespass offering to the Priest; In the 5. and 6. chapters of Levitcus, the 6. and 18. verses. Well then, if this sin under the law were of that magnitude, and the guilt of it of such a tincture, that it even touched with blood and violence, How comes it so spotless and innocent under the Gospel? How grows it disputable whether it be a sin or no? Or if a sin, whether not excusing, because of ignorance? the old Moralist will tell us, 
Plut. lib. 1. moral.  Vulgaris quidem, sed frigida excusatio est, Insciens feci 'Tis indeed a popular, but frozen excuse, I did it unknowingly; And, Iners malorum Remedium, Ignorantia, says the brave Tragedian, 
Sen. in Oedip.  Ignorance is but a sluggish Remedy of evils, and rather pretends to excuse, then makes it. I deny not, that there is some thing this way, which may Rarify or Extenuate an offence, Nullify it cannot; Takes it of a tanto, eo quod minuit Voluntarium, Because, it lessens that which is voluntary in sin, but it doth not totally expunge it: not so wholly wash it out, but that there is some stain and blemish remaining still; which, without divine dispensation will prove at length both evidence & condemnation. 'tis true, that those do less offend Christ, that offend him exignorantia; And yet, even those except God out of his singular grace and goodness enlighten with repentant faith Damnandos esse liquet their doom is no less than Damnation, 
Vide Bezae annot. in 2. Thes. 1.8.  if the Authority of Beza will pass for Authentic; who doth thus sentence them from that of the Apostle, threatening, a flaming fire, to take vengeance on those that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of jesus Christ. 2. Thess. 1.8. Here then is fire and vengeance due, and the flame of both; And to whom? Nescientibus Deum, To those that know not God, know not God? How? Out of a wilful blindness only? No; but also of a simple Nescience, which excuseth no man so absolutely,  aeterno igne non ardeat, sed fortasse ut minus ardeat; So Lombard himself in his 2 book 22 Distinction. 
lit. k.   
And now we are fallen upon the very Pikes of the Schoolmen, who here press home upon us for the justification not only of their invincible ignorance, 
Thom. 1.2. q. 76. Art. 1. in corp.  which they say is not conquerable by Diligence, nor Endeavour; and therefore ; but of that ignorance also, which is vincible, and may be mastered, concluding it to be no sin, if it be of those things, which a man by nature is not apted, and by duty not bound to know; proportioning withal certain limits for the necessity of that knowledge, which every man is engaged under the pains of eternal death to know, 
Franciscus a sancta Clara problem. 15.  whether in respect of the means, or precept. Now, where they charge too hotly, or too maliciously upon us; we will endeavour, in what we can to return their points upon their own breasts; But where they flourish only, as if they would but dazzle and not wound us, let us be contented to wheel fair about, & take what we may for our own advantage; and not as some of our angry declaimers do; come on in lightning and go off in smoke; Rail and vilify, when they should confute; Calling doubt by the name of Heresy, and opinion (if not theirs) Antichristian; And so Dum vix mactarint, excoriant (As Honorantius hath it) before they scarce wound their Adversary, 
lib. 1. cap. 18.  they flay him; I would have such to know; that Reason here is better than violence, and solid Allegation than a sweatish and feverish Invective.  
And here, 
Lomb. lib. 2. dist. 22.  the Master himself will acquaint us with a threefold Ignorance; the first of those Qui scire nolunt cum possint who will not know when they may; And this is so fare from excusing sin, that it is a sin itself; A Sin to condemnation. The second of those Qui scire vellent, sed non possunt, which would, but cannot know; And this, saith he, doth excuse, and is only a punishment of sin, no sin itself. The third of those Qui simpliciter nesciunt which simply know not; Neither refusing, nor yet proposing to know, which doth not fully excuse any, Sed fortasse ut minus punietur but for their milder punishment.  
And upon this Anvil the Schoolmen have hammered that common Trident of theirs, 
Estius in 2. sent. dist. sect. 7.  Ignoranttam purae negationis, privationis, and pravae dispositionis; which the Syntagmatist hath Analized and contracted into two; a Negative and a Privative Ignorance. 
pol. Syntag. lib. 6. cap. 15. pag. 1919. D.  A Negative Ignorance is when a man knows not those things, which by nature he cannot know, and by duty he is not tied to know; And this is not so properly Ignorance as Nescience, not a Privation of knowledge, but a Negation of it, which was in Adam in his state of Innocence, in the good Angels, and Christ himself, as he was man, and is no sin at all, neither doth it oppose the knowledge of God, either in General or Particular. A Privative Ignorance is, when a man knows not those things, which by nature he may know, and by duty he is tied to know, 
lib. 3. de lib. Arbit. cap. 12.  & haec merito deputatur Animae in Reatum saith Saint Augustine, This lays a deserved guilt upon the Soul; 'tis sin, a dangerous one, and not only Peccatum, but Paena too; as Treading opposite to the knowledge of the true God, who is life, and without whom there is Death certanely.  
So that, now we cannot but farther conceive a double Blindness in respect of things Divine; The one affected, when through a voluntary Ignorance we know not those things which we cannot not know; This is so fare from lessening sin, that it aggravates it, as being Directè voluntaria, and therefore necessarily Sin; And not only so, 
Estius in 2. sent. d. 22. sect. 11.  but a Canopy or Curtain to sin with more freedom. And this Saint Bernard hath a fling at, with his frustra sibi de infirmitate blandiuntur etc. 
Serm. 38. supper Cant.  infirmity or ignorance is a vain Plea for those which are contented not to know, that they may with greater liberty offend. And these the Prophet scourges with a Noluerunt intelligere, Psal. 34. And the Apostle with a Sponte ignorant 2. Pet. 3. and job too with a Nolumus scientiam, Depart from us for we desire not the knwledge of thy Law, job 21.14. Such conditions are so fare below man, that they are altogether Brutish, and as brutish, taunted at by the Psalmist, Nolite estote sicut Equus & Mulus, Be not like the Horse and Mule, which have no understanding. Psal. 32.9.  
The other not affected, when through an involuntary Ignorance we know not those things which are without, or beyond our knowledge, And this Ignoranee is more pardonable: That of Saint Augustine standing in force here, Non tibi deputabitur ad culpam, 
D. Aug. lib. de nat. & great.  quod invitus ignoras; That shall never be imputed unto thee for sin, which either thy Infirmities tell thee that thou canst not, or thy will (if not averse) that thou dost not know.  
Now, put the case that our Ephesian had still persisted in his Olim tenebrae that his Darkness without an Apostolical illumination had overshadowed him unto death, that neither Saint Paul, nor any Proselyte of his had acquainted him with the living God, not preached unto him Christ Jesus, nor his Gospel, had not this Ignorance been invincible, and consequently no sin? No sin, in respect of any law positive, but of the law natural; For between a law natural and a law positive there is this difference, that the law natural obligeth every man, as fare forth as he partakes of the use of reason, and Quatenus so, without any farther obligation; But a positive law, whither it be divine or humane, 
Est. in 2 Sent. Dist. 22. §. 9  doth not bind, Nisi positiuè promulgatum except it be positively proclaimed, for it hath not the essence and full vigour of law without promulgation. Whence it is manifest, that the Ignorance of the law natural is always a sin, whither it have the access of external instruction or no; for, the Gentiles which had not the law, that is, the Law taught, had notwithstanding the works of the law engraven in their hearts Rom. 2. And if engraven there, 
V 15.  Ignorance had no plea.  
But the Ignorance of a law positive, though it be divine, is not a sin to those to whom it was not promulgated and taught; And therefore, that infidelity by which some believe not in Christ, to wit, to whom Christ hath not been preached, who have not heard any thing at all of his Name, to them it is no sin; which our Saviour himself intimates in his Si non venissem, & locutus essem, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had had no sin, john 15.22. What no sin? no, not of Infidelity; And therefore, Saint Augustine expounding that place, and speaking of those to whom the preaching of the Gospel had not sounded, plainly excuseth them from sin, from that particular sin of unbelief in Christ, but withal, thrusts them headlong into Hell, for other sins committed against the law of nature, in his 89. Tract upon john, and more at large in his 3. book against the 2. Pelagian Epistles 3. Chapter.  
And here by the way, Some without pity censure, (I cannot) the unhappy condition of those, unhappy as they would have them for the present, though in their own condition admiredly happy heretofore; which were sometimes such Lights unto the world, and their incomparable works still shining to posterity, yet the Law of Nature prompting them, there was a God that gave them Light, and the world too; and they not glorifying that God, 
Romans 1.21  they became thereby inexcusable, and are now under the chains of everlasting darkness. Aristotle the Rational, and Socrates the wise, and Cato the censorious, and Aristides the Just, and Seneca the moral, and Plato the divine, with all their rich Precepts and Principles both of Nature and Morality; they severely (I say not uncharitably) doom to eternal flames, where they now burn: And yet in this heat of Justice they sprinkle them with this Mercy, that for their natural and moral Excellencies they shall burn the less; even civil virtues prevailing so fare without true Religion,  hac additâ (as Saint Augustine tells. Marcellinus of the Roman Empire) If they had had this, they had been Citizens, Alterius Civitatis, Denizens of the new jerusalem; so fare from burning below, that they had shined as Stars in the Firmament for evermore. But, as they were, they passed not, Absque mercede, They doing something, saith S. Jerome, not only Sapienter, but also Sanctè; God being therefore bountiful unto them in this life prosperitate vitae, 
In Epist. ad Gal. cap. 10.  and merciful in that to come levitate paenae. And indeed it stands with the strict rules of Justice, that small offences should less suffer, and so minus punietur Fabricius, quam Catilina, 
Sanctus Hieron in E zech. cap. 29.  saith the Father, Fabricius shall be less punished than Catiline; But he will have him punished, not because he was good, but because the other was more evil; For, Good we cannot call him, than he had been Crowned; but he was less impious, and therefore punishable the less, less impious? How? non veras virtutes habendo, sed a veris virtutibus non plurimum deviande, not that the virtues he had were true indeed, but that they digressed not much from those which others had that were reputed true: so Saint Augustine again in his 4. book against Julian 3. chapter.  
Well then, is Ignorance a Darkness? and that Darkness tending unto Death? Do sins of affected weakness and simplicity lead man blinded to the ditch, and there grovel him, not only dangerously, but without an infinite compassion, Irrecoverably too? What shall we think then of those that dwell in the light, that have the golden candlestick before them, the knowledge of Christ, and his Gospel shining clearly, and yet both they and all their practices, driving amain to the Land of Darkness, and the shadow of Death? Surely, there is a Vaetibi Corazim recorded against such, and the Tyrian and Sydonian, in respect of divine justice have a more colourable Plea than those: Woe unto thee Chorazin, we unto thee Bethsaida, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgement, than for you, Luke 10.14.  
Again, are justice, Temperance, Sobriety, Patience, Chastity, and the rest of those moral Rarities in the Heathen (because not divinely illuminated, as they should) now swimming in the burning Lake? And do we think (which daily hear the voice of the Turtle in our Land) that Corruption and Dissoluteness, and Riot and Lust, and Blood, shall without the epe Repentance pass by that Flood of Brimstone, those Coals of juniper, the flaming of that Tophet which was prepared of Old? Do our ignorant mistread drag us to a strict Arraignment? And shall those of Premeditation and Will, and Malice and Presumption escape the Tribunal of the Great judge? Hark the dreadful Thunderelap of the Apostle, Voluntariè peccantibus non relinquitur Hostia, If any sin willingly, after they have received the knowledge of the Truth; What then? What? Horrenda quaedam expectatio judicij, There is no more Sacrifice for sin remaining, but a fearful expectation of judgement and fiery indignation, Heb. 10.27. A place, I confess, loaded with Terror, and as with terror, so with Obscurity and Doubt; enough to strike the presuming Sinner into a Sound, or a cold sweat: 'Tis a Hammer for the breaking of the Stone, an Iron rod for the bruising of the mountain, able to batter and beat into shivers a rocky and Adamantine Heart.  
Again, Is there such vengeance due to those that know not God, and his Son Christ jesus? What is there then to those that know him, and yet crucify him? Nay, what to Us, that crucify him afresh daily? That kiss him by our treacherous sins of Disloyalty and Revolt? That Sell him by our greedy sins of Rapine and Avarice? That spit upon him by our scornful sins of Pride and Contumely? That Mock him with our cogging sins of Hypocrisy and impure Purity? that buffet him with our churlish sins of Rigour and Incompassion? That Scourge him by our bloud-fetching sins of rigid, malicious, uncharitable censures? That crown him by our thorny sins of Oppression, Depopulation, Sacrilege? That Revile him by our foul-mouthed sins of Oaths, Profanations, Blasphemies? That Nail him to his Cross by our implacable sins of Choler, Revenge, Fury? And lastly, that pierce him to the very heart by our javeline sins of Cruelty, Rebellion, Patricide, and the like; which cry louder now against the Christian, than that Christi-cidium of old against the jews; because the heinousness of their fact was somewhat abated by the Ignorance of the Agents: And so, instead of the rushing of that mighty wind, Confunde Domine, confunde, Let them be confounded and brought to nought. They meet with the whisperings of the soft and the gentle Voice, Pater ignosce, ignosce, Father forgive, forgive, for they know not what they do. And indeed, if they had known him truly (as many amongst us Glory that they do) what could be the Reward of their matchless Butchery, but the Hailestone, and the Coal of fire, the Lightning, and the hot Thunderbolt?  
Once more, if ignorance of itself had such a privilege that it could totally excuse; yet as the times go, there is no plea for ignorance; I confess there was a time here to fore both of ignorance and blood, when superstition hang dilike a dark Cloud over us, and Martyrdom at the heels of it as a fatal Comet; I mean those Mariana tempora, when there was no other Dilemma for a distracted Church, but either Rome or the fury of her faggot; but those times are gone into Ashes, and some of those Ashes I presume into Glory; and no ground lest us now, either for ignorance or fear; Our Church is full crammed with Pastors, and our Pastors with the Word, and our Congregations with both, and our Parlours sometimes with all three; more Preachers now a days than we have either Churches or Pulpits; our Shops, and Cloisters, and Barns ring aloud of them; Insomuch, that for some of these there is still a full maintenance in the Church; and that, as they pretend, jure Divino, only the poor Pastor, instead of cramming others, hath scarce a competence to feed himself and thats, no doubt, jure humano, where Sacrilege hath got the authority to flay that revenue which the other in all equity should fleece. But notwithstanding the rapine of such Cor●●orants, our Lamp is still burning in the Tabernacle, and (magnified be the great GOD of Israel) still like to burn, burn like a vestal Flame, that will never out; and cursed be they that labour to extinguish it; or not labouring, cursed be those which mutter that they would. 'Tis a kind of rifling of the Ark, or at least a busy prying into it, to meddle with those, Arcana Religionis & imperii, Mysteries of Religion or State are not a business for the multitude to champ on; who, because they cannot have a Church and Commonwealth at their own fancy, will be a Church and Commonwealth to themselves, and so lift the heel against an Old England, for a New. But o height of folly and presumption! Nay, of madness: What hath Vzzah to do with the touching of the Ark? What a Lay-Schismaticke with the Hierarchy of a Church? Obedience of old was better than Sacrifice; and now, then sauciness; And therefore let such look home to their Axe and their Hammer to their false Balance, and the unjust measure, to the factious Loom and Shuttle; let not the Cobbler outgo his Last, nor the Tinker his Budget; But Tractent fabrilia fabri.  
To shut up all, you must know, that every corrupt Conversation is a darkness; the continuing in any customary sin, a great darkness. Seeing then, that the night is past, and the day is at hand, Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the Armour of light; even that Arniour which Saint Paul in the close of this Epistle prescribeth his Ephesians, that Girdle, and Breast plate, and Shield, and Sword, and Helmet, Truth and Righteousness, and Faith, and Salvation, and the Spirit; and then no doubt we shall be able to withstand all the fiery darts of the wicked. And to this purpose, let the incontinent make a covenant with his eyes; the proud man, with the loftiness of his look; the over-credulous with his ears; the Dissembler with his lips; the envious with his teeth; the Slanderer, with his tongue; the Blasphemer with his mouth; the Intemperate with his Throat, the Hypocrite with his heart, the Incompassionate with his Bowels, the Glutton with his Belly, the Adulterer with his Bones and marrow, the Covetous and grinding Miscreant with his bands, the purloiner with his Fingers; and lastly, the Transgressor in general with his Feet, that those which have been swift heretofore in running to mischief, and the shedding of innocent Blood, may at length be more careful to tread in the paths of Righteousness, that they which were sometimes going down to the Chambers of Death, to this Olim tenebrae in the Text, to the fearful darkness our Ephesian was involved in, may at length climb up to the Lux in Domino to be Light in the Lord, 
Heb. 12.23.  nay, to the Lord, who is the Light; To the general Assembly and Church of the firstborn; where the foundations are laid with Saphires, and the windows made with agates, 
Isa. 54.11, 12.  and the Gates of Carbuncles, and the whole Fabric of precious Stones; which as so many Lights point to that Light inaccessible to GOD the Father, and his Son CHRIST JESUS; to whom with the Spirit of Lights be all Glory ascribed for ever and ever.  
Gloria in excelsis Deo.  
Amen.  
FINIS.   

The foolish Prophet. A SERMON PREACHED Ad CLERUM; At the Triennial VISITATION of the right Reverend Father in GOD, WILLIAM by divine providence, Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells. At TAUNTON in SOMERSET, june 22. 1636. By Humphrey Sydenham.  PSAL. 75.4, 5. 
Dixi insipientibus, nolite iniquè agere: nolite in altum extollere Cornu vestrum.  
LONDON, Printed by JOHN BEALE, for Humphrey Robinson, at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in PAUL'S Churchyard. 1637.   

TO THE NOBLY-INGENIOUS, EDWARD SEYMOUR, Esquire. This.  
SIR,  
'tIs acriticall age we live in, where Divines and Poets have alike fate and misery, most men frequenting Churches as they do theatres, either to clap or hisse; and it is with the Auditors of the one, as with the Spectators of the other; sometimes they bestow their Laurel, sometimes their Thistle; Applause sometimes, sometimes censure. Unhappy Creatures that we are to be thus fed with Aire, as if we no longer lived by the Spirit of God, but the breath of the people. And if this Air were either pure or temperate, it were a passable calamity; but it is for the most part, poisoned and corrupt. Lose men breathe their rottenness and filth upon us; and it is not wit (for sooth) nor bravery, except it be drivelled upon the Priest, whom they all besmear with calumny, and rake the very kennel for dirt to fling at him, as if he were the only prodigy of the times, S. Paul's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the very dung of the world, 
1 Cor. 4.  and the offscouring of all things unto this day. This is the common misery of our Tribe, and it was mine, in opening the folly of this Pseudo-Prophet; which hit so unhappily with the temper of those holy Monopolizers (which pretend so much to be the only men of the Spirit) that the Catharist was up in Arms, and Demetrius, and the Zealous Craftsmen were about mine ears; who put me (without mercy) to the push of their Pike, and shot their poisoned Arrows, even bitter words against me, such as malice could only sharpen, or falsehood level. But notwithstanding the Spirit of Rabshakeh, and the venom of those sanctified Railers, I wanted not my Propugners amongst the impartially judicious, both Divines and Layicks; and with the latter of these, more eminently, yourself. And had I had no more, it was enough that there was Seymour in it, a name that involves Nobility, and the better part of it, Virtue; and the better part of virtue, humility and courtesy, and all these tempered in you with a religious observance of the Rites of the Church you live in; so that you are not transported with change and novelty; not apt to be misted with any false light of the times, not with the Ignis fatuus of our Prophet here, no Proselyte of Schism or Innovation, but a man fast to yourself, constant and resolved in all your actions; which is an excellent temper to make a Christian of, and a sure foundation to build true friendship on, especially in this age of words, where Integrity and Goodness are so rarely met with, by me (I am sure).  
Your unhappy, but truehearted Servant, HUM. SYDENHAM.   

THE Foolish Prophet.  EZECH. 13.3. 
Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the Foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing.  
THus saith the Lord God? Israel, no doubt, was out of Joint, and a strange looseness in all her Tribes, when Folly and Blindness, and a Deluding Spirit were obtruded to her Prophets, and thus thunder-clapt with an Woe too: and that from the mouth of the Lord himself Sic dicit Dominus Deus, Thus saith the Lord God. 'Tis not always desperate with the Church of God, when his Prophets are sent to it with a Cavete in their mouth (matter only of caution or premonition) that hath a taste no less of his Providence than his Mercy; But when their cheeks are filled with a Vaevobis, (his hearuld of displeasure and malediction) vengeance and her vials, are ever at the heels; And this under the law was customary from Goes Prophet to the people; but somewhat rare, and of remark from his Prophet, to their Prophets; and that by special command too, from Heaven, in a sic dicit Dominus Deus, Thus saith the Lord God. But doubtless, this Woe was denounced in the very heat of superstition, when the Rage and Fury of the people whoring after novelties, and following the blindness of their own spirit, hurried them along to the worshipping of stock and stones; when there were as many Prophets, as there were Gods; and Gods almost, as things. Every Hill and Mountain had an Altar smoking; and in every Grove, and under every green Tree, Incense burnt to the Queen of Heaven, and all the Host of it; when the true Lord of both was forgotten in his worship; the Pagan Hecatomb had cried down the Sacrifice of the living God, and whole Herds and Droves offered to Ashteroth, and Chemosh, or some God of Ekron; when there was scarce a Bullock for immolation to the Lord of Hosts. The Almighty therefore, gins to rouse himself, and to show, that there is no God, indeed, but himself; and no true Prophet but whom he pleases to accommodate, will now harness one of his own; and for his better choice, he goes, not to the glory of Israel, but amongst the captives, by the river Chebar, he meets with the Son of Busy, an obscure Priest among the Chaldean's, upon him the Spirit of the Lord must rest: And because he shall be known to be a Prophet of His indeed, and what he speaks to be inspired merely from above, the Heavens themselves shall be opened, And lee, a Vision, saith the Text, such a Vision as had always God in it, or his Angel, A whirlwind, and a fire, Ezeck. 1.4. To show belike, that the true Prophet of the Lord must have Light with him, aswell as Noise; Understanding, as Reproof. And thus addressed, he is now sent to the house of Israel, That house of stubbornness and rebellion, where he must set his forehead against theirs, bid them read in it the Prophet of the true God; tell them that the gods which they blindly worship, are no gods, but their own fancies; the Prophets they dote on, no prophets, but their own Lies; And for their better unmasking and discovery, he doth first blazon them by their attribute Foolish, then by their properties, and they are two. 1. Headstrong, lead by their own spirit. 2. Ignorant, see nothing, for these he says, there is an Woe denounced, not merely from himself, but the very mouth of God; Sic dicit Dominus Deus, Thus saith the Lord God.  
Here is all the business of our Prophet to the Israelite, and mine, to this reverend and learned Throng; which by reason of some late distraction through my secular employments, I shall be enforced to present you in a broken discourse, pieced up from the remainders of my former more elaborate endeavours: presuming that where there is so much Piety and Worth, there is not only an attentive patience, but some charity; A weak man wants all, I beg them; And now, Woe to the Foolish prophets that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing.  
Which words are literal to the Hebrew text, to the Greek not so; where we find no mention at all of the Foolish prophet, nor the Spirit which he follows, only the Vaticination of the heart, and the Blindness which attends that, Vae his qui prophetant de cord suo, & omninò non vident, (so S. jerom reads it from the Septuagint) Woe unto them which prophecy from their heart, and see not at all. It seems the Father there, understands the heart for the spirit; and the wild conjectures of that, he rivals with the folly of those which too much indulge the other; the Blindness is alike in both, so that the sense runs the same way, though the words do not, the Prophet after his own heart being as Foolish, as the other after his own spirit, and the non vident of the same latitude in both, except the Omninò make the difference, and so we divide between a Prophet that sees nothing, and one that sees not at all.  
And now the words being thus at peace for the matter of the Text, Lo, what war in the manner of it! Not seeing? and yet a Prophet? Following a Spirit? and yet Foolish? A Prophet and a Spirit at one? and yet an Woe denonunced? How can this be? This word Propheta is no more than videns, no less neither; S. Bernard tells me, and I am sure, Prophets of old were called seers.  
How comes then the Blind here, to have his eyes unscaled? and the Non videns in the Text to be a Prophet? Besides, All wisdom and knowledge is from the Spirit (saith Saint Paul.) How is it then that our Prophet is subject to Malediction, and he that follows his Spirit to be thus entitled to Ignorance and Folly? Saint Jerome labours the answer, but not home, Non quempiam meveat quod Prophetae appellantur, Let it not trouble any that they are called Prophets, for 'tis the custom of the Scriptures, Vnumquemque vaticinationis suae & sermonis Prophetam nuncupare, Every vision, or Divination, though delusive, is a kind of Prophecy; and he that hath either, a Prophet doubtless; But a Prophet by way of restriction, with his reproachful Epithets of Falsus, or Vanus, or Insipiens; They are all three in this Chapter, though not in the Text; in the Chapter within four verses of the Text, at the sixth verse we find a lying Divination, there is the falsus Propheta; at the seventh, a vain Vision, there is the vanus too; And if we weigh the dependences of words with matter, we shall bring this Vanus and Falsus within the verge of the Text too; and so make the foolish Prophet, the vain, and the Lying, all one; For whatsoever is false must be vain, and what is vain is Foolish too; Novit Deus homines vanos, God knoweth vain man, Job 11.11. Vanus there is in the root, Naboüb, which is as much as Concavum, or Vacuum, any thing that is hollow or empty, a word which the Rabbins usually bestow on fools, who have nothing in them solid and compact: and therefore in Scripture resembled not only to an empty, but to a broken vessel. In the like manner, the French (as their Bolducus tells me) hath the word Folls, quasi Follis, 
Bolducus in job c. 2.  metaphorically borrowed from a pair of Bellowes, which as they take in Air, so they give it, and when they are full, are nothing else. Hence is that word of contumely and disgrace, mentioned by the Evangelist, Racha, or more properly, Richa, from the Hebrew, Rick, Evacuare, or offandere, so that it seems Folly is nothing else but a leaking or pouring out, or spilling on the ground, as Expositors gloss that place, Mat. 5.22. And indeed, mere simplicity is but the poverty or emptiness of the mind; and therefore to be empty, and poor, and foolish sounds one. Omnis stultus eget, saith Saint Augustine, & omnis qui eget, stultus est; every fool wants, and every one that wants is a fool. The Father doubling on the words doth at last distinguish them, Egestas est verbum non habendi; and Stultitia verbum sterilitatis, habet egestatem aliquis? habet non habere, habet stultitiam? habet nunquam habere. Folly and poverty are names of barrenness and want; the one may have some expectation, or at least hope of supply; the other, never. Folly is not capable of alteration, poverity is; Folly will be folly though you bray it in a Mortar; 'tis not only feebts, or shallow, but perverse; and thou shalt sooner bear it into Atoms, than break it of that course in which it is a driving; 'twill be always following her own Spirit, the worst of Spirits, Spiritum Eratoris, where once captivated it can see nothing, neither indeed desires to see: And therefore the Father tells us, that 'tis not Quaevis, but Vitiosa ignorantia, such an ignorance as is not only dark, or purblind, but refractory; impatient as well of direction, as restraint; headstrong, will not endure the curb nor the snaffle, but the Reynes lose on the neck, gallops where it list, not where it should; carried merely by the precipitation of the will without any guide or convoy of reason or understanding: A Ship without Sterne or Rudder, unmanned, unballaced, without Pole or Compass, the scorn of every blast and billow. Hence it is, that the Holy Ghost puts the fool on those that are the Lackeys and Slaves of their own imaginations, following their own Spirit, by which they see nothing, and leaving that Spirit by which they might see all.  
So that now we cannot but discover here a double Spirit, the two Spirits spoken of by Saint Paul, Dei, & Hominis 1. Cor. 2.11. By which we may clearly distinguish the foolish from the wise, the false from the true Prophet: That follows the track of his own wheel merely, as his spirit or fancy gires him; This turns his thoughts with those wheels in Ezekiel, whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, Thither was there spirit te go too Ezec. 1.20. The one is in Egypt still in darkness, darkness so thick that it may be felt; a gross and affected stupidity; The other followeth his pillar of fire, his inspired illuminations, and they conduct him to his promised Canaan. The former with his dark lantern stumbles along the broad way, which leads down to the chambers of Death; The latter with a lantern too, but a light unto his steps, treads that Semitam rectam in the Psalmist, and that brings him into the land of the living. In fine, the foolish Prophet without any divine influence or revelation, proprio vaticinatur cord, makes the thoughts of his own heart oraculous; when the Prophet of the Lord, knowing that the thoughts of the heart are evil continually, leaves those vain suggestions, & perceiving that he is blind by nature, and must to his pool of Syloam, desires to have his Spittle and his Clay washed off, and so cries out with David, Lord open mine eyes, and then I shall see the wonderful works of thy Law. Here then, as there is a double Spirit, so a double Prophet; And to distinguish either Prophet, from his Spirit, Saint Augustine borroweth a double word from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and both these from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Spiro; but this latter a Spirit of a courser temper. We read in the last of Saint John that Christ breathed upon his Disciples Spiritum sanctum, the Original there using the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which for the most part hath reference to the Spirit of Sanctity; That the Father appropriates to the wise Prophet. In the 2. of Genesis, 'tis said of Adam, that God breathed into him Spiritum vitae, the word of the Septuagint is, there 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, more frequently used in the expression of humane spirit, then divine; This he bestows on the foolish Prophet; And therefore some Ancient Romans, well versed in the Criticism of that language, 
D. Aug. lib. 13. C. Dei cap 24.  and for the better discovery of the difference in Idioms, will not call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Spiritum, but Flatum: So in the 5. of Esay the vulgar translation reads it. Omnem flatum ego feci (Flatus no doubt there taken for Anima) And so also that of Genesis, Halitum, not Spiritum, breath of life, 
Cap. 2.7.  not Spirit, though the Chaldee paraphrase to reconcile both, joins there Flatus & Spiritus together; and so reads; God breathed into man flatum sive animam vitae the soul, that is the breath of life, 
Vid. Coqueum in lib. 13. Aug. de Civ. Dei cap. 24.  and man was made in Spiritum loquentem a speaking Spirit.  
Thus, after some struggling with the words, we have brought Soul & Breath, & spirit in one, and this Spirit in the wise Prophet following the true God: It is time now to look back unto the Text, and there view the foolish Prophet leaving the true God, and following his own Spirit, Vae Prophetis insipientibus, Woe to the foolish Prophet which follows his own Spirit.  
And what is that Spirit which he follows? By Spirit no doubt are understood the corrupt thoughts and imaginations of the Heart; For, what in the 2. verse of this chapter was called Prephecy of their own heart, is in the Text here, following their own Spirit. And indeed in the natural man, Spirit and Imagination are all one in essence, though in action and virtue divers, the one receiving the forms and images of things with a kind of passion and impression of the soul, occasioned by the presence of her objects, & therefore called Imagination; The other a subtle facility in the penetration of those forms, and images received, and therefore Spirit; which though for the vivacity and quickness of it, some have been pleased to style the image of the living God a taste of the immortal substance, a stream of the immortal Divinity, a celestial Ray, by which there is a kind of kindred between God and Man, there being nothing great with God but Man, and nothing great in Man but his Spirit; yet if this Spirit be not guided by a higher, as the poise and wheel by which it moves; but leaving the influence of that, follows the motions of its own breast, we shall make it the source of all vanity and error, a mere Quack-salver in the Church, the seedsman of imposture and debate, and the very ground work of novelty and innovation. I have seen folly in the Prophets of Samaria, an horrible thing in the Prophets of jerusalem saith jeremy. What is this thing of Folly and Horror he so deeply complains off? What? They walk in lies, what lies? the visions of their own heart, jer. 23.16. And doubtless, the visions of the heart merely can be no less than lies, and therefore lies, because visions of their own, and therefore their own lies too, because they walk in them; and because they thus walk in them, they deceive themselves, and then there is no hath in them. Truth hath abounded by my lie, to God's glory Rom. 3.3. meum dixit mendacium (saith S. Augustine) veritatem Dei; Truth there hath reference to God, Lie unto Man, unto man properly and solely, and therefore Meum mendacium my lie; and why my lie? because I follow mine own Spirit, which being man's cannot but err, and so prove false; and not the Spirit of God; which being Gods cannot but be true. The Prophet then that thus follows his own Spirit, cannot but speak according to that Spirit which he follows: And he that so speaks must of necessity lie, Qui de seipso loquitur Mendax est, He that speaks of his own is a verylyer, john 8.44. God only is to be believed in all he says, and that because he says it. Truth depends not on any humane revelation or authority; I may lawfully dispute, whether it will pass for current, except it be stamped with a Sic dicit Dominus, Thus saith the Lord God 
* Audi, dicit Dominus, non dicit Donatus, aut Rogatus, aut Vincentius aut Ambrosius aut August●nus, sed dicit Dom nus. D. Aug. Epist. 48. , there are no Principles in man, if Divinity hath not either revealed or confirmed them; All the rest is but a fancy, or a dream; the heat of some private spirit at first, which taking bud and blossom from the approbation of some weaker proselytes, grew at length to the height of Aphorisms, and so must spread our belief without controlment. But (as the great Critic of the French observes) what judgement can be so infatuated, or made drunk, as to receive for classical, either Plato's Idaea's, 
Charron. sap. lib. 1.  or Epicuru's Atoms, or Pithaegora's numbers, or Copernicus vertigo of the earth? They were but the indigestions of distempered spirits, mere chimaeras of their brain, which they rather feigned, than knew; and we receive, than trust. All humane positions weigh alike, except Reason turn the scale, and with most men, all divine too without the Text. Personal Authority may not totally sway us, except it convince our judgement; then we not only submit, but subscribe too: But to be milked along with a bare Ipse dixit, not weighing the reason as well as the authority, were to borrow our own overthrow, and turn Bankrupt upon trust. A hasty belief speaks the heart light, 
Qui cito credit levis est cord. John 5.36. 1 John 4.1. 1 Cor. 11.13.  and the brain shallow: The Holy Ghost tells us that we are to search Scriptures, and try Spirits, and judge of occurrences; and yet oftentimes we pin our Faith to the spirit of another, and so believe, and judge, and live, and dye, and all upon his authority. There is not an Art or Science without a Sic dicit to it, and the power of that must carry my reason, sometimes my Religion too: Not a place of remark or same without this Apothegme; 'Tis at Athens, Sic dicit Socrates; at Siracusa, Sic dicit Archimedes; at Stagyra, Sic dicit Aristoteles; at Milan, Sic dicit Ambrose; at Hippo, Sic dicit Augustinus; at Geneva, Sic dicit Calvinus: And that Sic dicit comes hither too, where it hath been so long advanced in the opinions of many, that heretofore it seemed to grow disputable, which was of greater authority, a sic dicit Calvinus, or a sic dicit Dominus.  
Let no hasty censurer condemn me here, I like the sic dicit of Antiquity well; like it? magnify it; You hear I quote it often; Calvines' very well, if his sic ratiocinatur go with it: Otherwise, I may fairly evade him with that of the learned Cardinal, Authoritatem video, argumentum non video. I acknowledge him the great Patriarch of the reformed Discipline, the Lucernae lucens both of the age and Church he lived in, a man of admirable dexterity and spirit, and yet a man too, a man that in some things too much followed his own spirit, and so might, and did err: And therefore to lay the whole bulk and body of my Religion on a foundation, in part frail or sandy, must either question my weakness, or partiality, or both; and so, whilst I lean too much to the positions of a private man, I must fall off from the principles of my God. Plura sunt quae nos tenent, quam quae premunt, & opinion potiùs, 
Sen. ad Lucil. Ep. 53.  quam re laboramus. More things take hold of our belief, than carry our reason; and we are not so much transported with the weight of things, as the conceit of him that framed them. Thus we are led along by the Spirit of another, which is as great a folly as to be led by our own, and that which points us the way, is, for the most part a blind Guide, that common Huckster of ignorance and popularity, Opinion; which without scanning the nature and truth of things, grows at once resolute and lawless, and so travels the world without a Past-port. But I would not have men pretending to knowledge and sounder literature, to be muffled in matters of Religion; like Hawks that are unmanned, kept hooded for fear of bating. An implicit faith we vehemently cry down in the Romish Church, let's not begin to advance it in our own; for who had ever eyes given him to keep them shut? or Intellectuals, that they should slumber? or Judgement that it should fall asleep? Spiritualis omnia dijudicat (saith Saint Paul) The spiritual man judgeth, 
1. Cor. 2.15.  or at least should judge all things, all things that are not immediately sacred and inspired; knowing that there is no captivation of mind or judgement to any principle, but divine, all humane propositions having a taste of frailty, and following too much the spirit of him that follows his own spirit; and how such a spirit must delude, hear, and then judge.  
Man, poor man, in himself understands nothing perfectly, and purely, as he should do; appearances do always circled and involve him, which are no less in things that are false than true. Errors are received into our soul ('tis Charron's I confess, 
Lib. 1. cap. 14.  there I had it) by the same Pipe and Conduit that the Truth is; the Spirit hath no power to discern nor choose. Truth and Error are but Cousin-germen removed; and these sometimes so near, that a wise man is put to his plunge to distinguish them; the means we principally use for the discovery of Truth, are two, Reason and Experience; and the one of these is a mere Cheat, the other a Courtesan. Experience itself tells us, that experience cousin's us; the same conclusion now made trial of, speaks one thing; upon a second experiment, another; Insomuch, that learned men have bestowed one prime honour on it, in making it The mother of fools. On the other side, Reason plays the Dalilah, hath Samson in her arms, but a Philistin in her heart, lulls us one way, but betrays us another. It hath two faces in one head, carries a staff with two pikes, 
Charron ibid.  a Pot (saith Epictetus') with two handles. There is no Reason but hath a contrary reason; and upon which of these shall I raise a principle for Truth?  
Thus we see how weak our Spirit is, how false and yet how proud? The Fool that owns it, is not so properly a companion of it, as a drudge; he goes not with it, but follows it, whereby he reposeth himself merely in his own opinions, moves in his own circumference, rests in his own Centre, will not vouchsafe an ear to the reasons of another, but supposes the whole world must sail by his Compass, as if Heaven and Earth and all moved, when he moved. But this (says that wise man) is a Disease of our Judgement, an Ignorance of ourselves, in not discerning the weakness of our Spirit; which if it chance prove vigorous and quick (as in some it doth) it is the Mother of all prodigy and disorder, grows not only troublesome, but dangerous; makes Earthquakes in Religion, shakes the very Rock and Buttress of our Faith, justles the grey hair to make room for an upstart, lifts at aged principles to bring in novelty, and under a colour of clearing old doubts, creates new. It would seem to remove weeds, but it sows Tares; to root out Solecism, but plants Error; to prune impertinences, but grafts Faction. And this is the common Plea of all Innovators, especially those of the refined and nimbler cut, who in mysterious and abstruser points (the very Riddles and Labyrinths of Divinity) elevate their Acumen, whet and sharpen the very point of their Spirit, by which they thrust into the closet of the Almighty; nay, into his very Bosom; ransack his secrets there; call out his Prescience, his Will, his Decree, his Justice; bring them to the Bar, Arraign them, Censure them, know at a hair's breadth whom he will save or damn; or else they will divest him of his Godhead, make him unjust, and so manacling his incomprehensibleness to their Reason, belch sometimes their prouder blasphemies, that God must do this, if he be God, or else he is no God; And thus whilst they follow too much the heat of their own Spirit, they come within the lash of our Prophet, the Insipiens takes them by the sleeve, the Fool here in the Text (the holy Ghost puts it on them, Not I) Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the foolish Prophet that follows his own Spirit.  
Nil Sapientiae odiosius acumine nimio, your richest wits are neither over-stored with wisdom nor holiness; neither with the subtlety of the Serpent, nor the innocency of the Dove. The ordinary way of knowledge they contemn; nothing pleases them but the Curvet, and the Levolto; Up they must in their metaphysical Speculations, their sublimate Raptures (the high built scaffolds of their own pride and spirit) which indeed are but the fury of brains entranced, and good for nothing but the torment of themselves and others. There was never any great wit without a touch of madness; which, not rightly modified as it ought, is a fit stock to graft a villain on, whither in Church or State. I have observed some myself, that have passed for Masterpieces, and petty miracles in their way; when their discourse hath been closely, Atheism, and their jest, the Scripture; And he that hath but traversed a little Ecclesiastic story, shall find; That in primitive times, it was the only Seminary of Heresy and Revolt; witness those two Firebrands of their age, julian, and Arrius; 'twas the greatness of their Brains made them lose their Bowels, and the foul Blasphemies they breathed thence, purchased them a just Hearse and Tomb in their own dung. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God, a dangerous into the hands of men, but a most pernicious into the hands of ourselves; When in a presumptuous and proud dotage of our own parts, a foolish following our own spirit, we commit idolatry with our own bosom, adore ourselves, worship the thoughts of our own hearts, not looking up to our primus Motor who rules and turns this Machine and Frame of our little world; but, without any reflecting on our personal imperfections, we deify these moulds of Earth, as if we could raise Eternity out of ashes, or build Immortality on pillars of dust, saying to ourselves, We shall be as Gods, when God says we are but men, and that man in his best honour is as the beast that perisheth.  
You know there is a proverb current, now in our language, but originally from the Spaniard, O Lord keep myself from myself, and this is the tenor of our daily prayers, Libera nos a malo, Lord deliver us from evil. What evil? Ego sum malus, libera me a me malo, si bonus liberaverit me a malo (me, a me malo) ero de malo bonus, so the Father runs his descant in his 30 Sermon, de verbis Apostoli. And doubtless, if we but ransack the inward man, sift the chinks and crannies of our own breasts, we must acknowledge with the Apostle, That in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good, and therefore, Libera me a malo, me, a me malo, Lord deliver myself from myself, myself from that evil in myself, and myself from myself that am all evil.  
High thoughts are but the vain Alarms of the heart, and 'tis the pride of it that beats them, Omnis homo qui sequitur spiritum suum, superbus est, Every man that follows his own spirit, is a fool we know, but why a proud man good Saint Augustine? the Father answers putatses aliquid esse, cum nihil est, He thinks himself something, when he is nothing (and in such a thought, there is both Pride and Folly, and this Pride and Folly a very nothing) Insomuch that we find a blessedness promised to those who are poor in Spirit, pauperes Spiritu suo (saith the Father) divites autem Spiritu divino, 
Serm. 30 de verb. Apost.  poor in their own Spirit, but rich in the Spirit of the Lord. True humility was ever a step to glory, and to a sense and feeling of that Spirit, which can either make us to know God, or God us, or us ourselves, as we should do.  
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me (saith David) than thou knewest my path. Psal. 142.3. Quare defecit Spiritus tuus, O Martyr, in tribulatione posite? When thou wert in tribulation, O blessed Martyr, why was thy spirit so troubled in thee the Father that made the Quaere answers it,  non mihi arrogem vires meas, ut sciam, 
D. Aug. ut supra.  quod alius in me operatur istam virtutem, that I might not be blown up with a conceit of mine own spirit, not arrogate to myself mine own strength, but know, that thou art the Fountain of all virtues, and that their streams run from and by thee, who dost only so replenish them and me, that out of mine and their bellies shall flow Rivers of living waters. Thus as we are emptied of our own spirit, God fills us up with his; otherwise, when we are full, we are but empty still; empty as well of knowledge, as of grace, groap after shadows and refemblances of things, and so are coze'nd with probabilities for truth.  
There is but one certainty upon Earth, and that is, that there is nothing certain there; and there is but one knowledge in man, and that is a great knowledge if he knew it well, that he knows nothing; nothing in himself as he should know. Nosce teipsum, was a wise man's Motto; and indeed, a hard task if it be impartially done; It is a twisting of our vanities a little closer, a bringing of ourselves within ourselves, that we may say we are men indeed, that is, understand ourselves, weigh our actions with our words, and our deportment with our actions; and then the Insipiens in the Text hath no reference to us, we are Prophets of a diviner strain.  
There are many Plausibilities in the world, which pass currently for Gold; glitter and spangle handsomely a fare off, which brought unto the touch will prove at best, but Alchemy, or copper; mere counterfeit pieces, which have stamp and colour right, but the mettle is naught. Vniversus mundus exercet histrioniam, the whole world is a mere Play, where he that best dissembles, acts best: And such a one carries strongly the Applause of the multitude. If I would juggle a little with Divinity; turn Impostor in my calling, make Errors in judgement, scruples in conscience; call Fury, zeal; and Faction purity; leave all ways of learning to follow mine own Spirit; Ravish Scriptures to force out doctrines for mine own ends; empty my Rancour, by turning them to uses; give off my Charity to devour widow's houses; leave the Field of my spiritual adversary to lead women captive, and their lusts; call wilful Sectaries, holy professors; Open Conventicles, Sabbath-Repetitions; Brainsick Mechannickes, the Generations of the just; Presbyterial Ornaments, the Dresses of the whore; the Rochet and the Ephod, Rags of Antichrist; In a word, would I leave the commendable Rites of an established Church: for the new-fangled fancies of mine own brain, turn Rebel to that Discipline which I have sucked from the Breasts of uncorrupt Antiquity, and grow Separatist abroad; Damn all practices of Orthodox predecessors, by a new form of Sacramental vows: pull down Ceremonies, and build up Anarchy; Leave an old Church in this Land, to plant a new one in another; and all this under the pretence of an immediate calling, when it is nothing but the heartburning, and proud discontent of mine own Foolish Spirit, Sublimi feriari sidera vertice, Earth is too vile to contain me then, my zeal knocks at the stars, and though my personal imperfections weigh me down, and the knowledge of my thousand thousand weaknesses clog and depress me even to the gates of hell; yet the Magnificats of the People shall keep me on my wings; and as their voice shall elevate or mount me, so I must Soar; be my rebellions to God, or his Church, never so intolerable. And this proceeds, at first from a popular facility in some, who receiving & entertaining whatsoever is proposed, but in a colour of Truth, for Orthodox and Authentic, not sifting the kernel and depth of things; but preoccupated by a hasty belief of particular men, and their opinions, subscribing wholly to their bare asseveration or negation, without more ado, by a lose and idle lightness and precipitation of their judgement, feed themselves with Lies, versat nos, et praecipitat, traditus per manus error, et malumus credere, quàm judicare, Error, if it be once Traditionary, doth strangely waft & transport the hearts of the Simple; which are more prone rashly to consent then judge; which is a main Symptom of Spirits emasculate and sick; indiscreetly, and womanishly zealous, that are carried along with Beliefs merely, not out of choice and Judgement, but a partial Opinion of him they fancy. The times are grown so perverse and peevish (and is there no cure O God, for this stubborn Frenzy?) That as I will forsooth, so I am opinioned, & as I am opinioned, so I please to understand; and as I please to understand, so I must be edified; and as I am edified, so is my zeal inflamed; when he that understands any thing, knows that this way is both preposterous and false; For my will should follow my understanding, & my understanding assist my Judgement, & my judgement guide my opinion; and my opinion, thus guided, direct my zeal, and then I cannot but look on men completely harnessed, full of Sappe, and vigot, and not carried about with Shells and Rattles, things turbulent and empty, made only for the torture of the ear, and the perplexity of ingenuous congregations. But oh the Phanaticke wilfulness of some, who though they meet with a Prophet of the Lord indeed, one richly clad with the prime endowments both of grace, and nature (the perfections and Rarities of both men) insomuch that their own consciences, (if not perversely erroninious) must needs tell them, that this man hath his, vocatus sicut Aaron; yet their Fancy shall sit above their judgement; and as they please to humour another, or he them, so he, only shall edify; the other not, though all this while he be no better than the Prophet in the text here, A fool that follows his own Spirit, 
Charron lib. 1. cap. 43.  and hath seen nothing.  
That learned Sceptic in his voluminous discourse of Wisdom, and the nature of in (speaking of the vanity of men, and of their Spirits) doth Analize the whole world into three sorts of People, and so proportions them three conditions, or degrees of spirits. In the first and lowest, are the weak and plain Spirits of the world, of slender and coarse capacity, borne only to obey, serve and be lead; who in effect, are but simply men; These as the bottom, lees, and sink of mankind he resembles to the earth, which doth nothing but suffer and receive that which is poured down from above. In the second loft or story, are such as are of an indifferent and middle judgement; making profession of sufficiency, knowledge, dexterity; but do not fully understand and judge as they should; resting themselves upon that which is commonly held, without farther enquiry of the truth and source of things: And these he resembles to the middle Region of the Air, where are formed all the Meteors, thunderings, and alterations, which after fall upon the Earth. In the third and highest Stage, are men endued with a quick and a clear Spirit, of a firm and solid judgement, which do not settle themselves in Opinions popular; but examining all things that are proposed, naturally sound the causes, motives, of them, even to the root; These he resembles to the Firmament itself, where all is clear, pure, and peaceable. The Moral or application I make up thus; The spirits of the multitude are in themselves earthy, and dreggish; and all their infusions and distillations of knowledge they receive from your middle regioned men where all the thundering and the noise is, all those hot meteors and exhalations in the brain which so embroile the church; these are the main Botifewes and Incendiaries in religion, the common blow coals in ecclesiastic tumults, carrying the people after them, in a distempered zeal, as that wild Syrian in Florus did fourtythousand with a nutshell of Sulphur between his teeth; 
Flammam inter verba sundebat. Flor. lib. 3. cap. 19  when on the other side, the man of judgement and solidity, hath his spirit calm, and temperate, sits down to the rites and injunctions of his church, knowing, that many eyes see more than one, and a learned Synod to be less erroneous, than the Fancies of a private spirit. To this purpose, Saint Augustine paraphrasing on that of the Psalmist, Depluet super improbos laqueos, God shall rain snares upon the wicked, Psal. 11.6. plays on the word depluet, and to make the Allegory, and his Fancy kiss, calls generally all Prophets, nubes clouds; but more particularly, the Pseudo-prophet, the brother of the foolish, here in the Text; who are ordained by God, saith the Father, ut de his, laqueos super improbes depluet, so that, it is the property of false prophets, you hear, to be as clouds, by which there are snares reigned, snares on the wicked, not else (doctrines that shall not so much inform, as entangle them) and when the minds of the people are once entangled with their doctrines (though these doctrines, all this while, are but snares) it is not in the power of learning either to dissolve or untwist them; For, Popular conceit is head strong; and whereas wisdom is ever carried by strength of Allegation, Folly and Popularity are Tyrants to themselves; their reason is their will, and this will so perverse, and this perverseness so stupid, that reason is no more a Guide, but a slave; and you may sooner persuade a jew from his Talmud, or a Turk from his Alkeron, than these from their Opinion to which they are once riveted, Quod vult, non quod est credit, qui cupit errare, he that desires to err, believes what he will, not what he should. Opinion, though ill grounded, when it is once up in the hearts of the people, will not be hastily cried down by any secular or humane power; scarce a Divine. Let Saint Paul himself preach at Ephesus against the Gods of that place, the Craftsmen presently take the quarrel to heart, and in a double shout and volley of their fury make the streets and the Temple ring, Great is Diana of the Ephesians, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And if we but observe (beloved) even in this our Age and Clime, the Craftsmen are the main Spokesmen for the church, the undoubted Champions of Religion 'tis their zeal that is loud for the Temple; but this zeal looks on squint; and like that of Demetrius and his rabble, hath a cast to their own ends. 'Tis true, a Goddess was in their mouth, and Diana strooke loud at the tongue; but 'twas the silver shrine, and the profit they drew thence, made the Hammer double, Great, Great is Diana. Sinnes they would have cryed-downe, and Judgements thundered aloud; but if the Hin, or the Omer, the measure or the balance (obliqne ways of their Gain) be a little touched upon, the Hoobub is up instantly, Paul is a feducer of the people, our Craft begins to Reel, and then, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.  
Thus they play at fast and lose with the Spirit of God, make Religion a trick of Legerdemain, by which they would delude the eyes of the world by the untrusty promises of a fair outside; they are a plausible entrance, I confess; a pretty front or portal of a house, but the rooms within sluttish and unswept. Such holiness (faies the Moralist) is a mere complexion, and not a virtue; much like the picture of a Saint in a Glass; where the lineaments of Religion seem drawn at a lively posture, all the silent Rhetoric of devotion, eyes elevated, and knees bended, and hands expansed, and yet this is but a picture still, and a picture of the greatest deceit, a veil drawn over it, a glassy one (a transparent sanctity) so brittle, and thin, and hollow, that with the least intention of the eye we may at once discover the imposture, and pity it. And yet forsooth these would monopolise all Religion to themselves; there must not be a motion of the Spirit stirring, but where they please to breathe it, as if they carried the Holy Ghost (as 'twas said they did, at the Council of Trent) up and down in a Cloak-bag: They pretend more to the soundness of divine knowledge, than any Scribe, or Rabbi, or Disputer of them all. And no doubt there is more subtlety, and more acuteness of Divinity in a Shuttle or a Needle's point, than in all the body of the Schools; and a Thimble or a Distaff shall sooner knock down Antichrist, than a double University. The spiritual Plough is not half so well managed by any, as one that was yesterday conversant with the Goad and the Sullow; he knows when the heart is to be ploughed up, and when to lay it fallow, he hath learned it from his practice at the Furrow, where, the other day, he followed the bellowing of his Oxen in the wide field, and now he is a bleating with his Sheep in the open congregation. Thus the blind will be led by the blind, or if they chance to see a little, Dicunt videntibus, nolite videre, Esay 30.11. Seer see not, and Prophet prophesy not, except thou prophesy deceit; the visions of thine own heart, the fancies of thine own spirit, and so living in that war of Ignorance (as Solomon styles it) they call so great a Plague, 
Wisd. 14.22.  Peace, Peace. Nay, Knowledge, as Irenoeus said of the Valentinians, Qui veritatis ignorantiam cognitionem vocant; The Ignorance of Truth, was with them a knowledge; and rudeness of speech, true holiness. Prophets they value none, but such as are quoted in the Text, here, those that follow the ramblings of their own Spirit, and have seen nothing: And to such, out of all Coasts, they come in swarms, as the Flies did to the Sacrifice of the false Gods, which were drawn thither, Nidore Sacrificii (as my Antiquary tells me) by the savour, or stench rather of the Sacrifice, when at the Altar of the true God, there was not a Fly stirring, which gave occasion to the jews to deride the Pagans and their Gods, calling Beelzebub, The God of Flies. And this is no new business in the Church: All ages have tasted of this frenzy in the multitude; those of the Fathers and the Apostles, many hundred years ago; that of the Prophets, many a thousand. All new ruptures in the Church are but the grey hairs of an ancient Schism, new combed and coloured, or the bones of some primitive Heresy revived; the like proportion of dispositions and occurrences now, as of old. Errors still live, though their Founders and Ages vanish, and the vices of men are hereditary, though the times dye.  
The word Catharoi was damned for an Heretic many an age since, and yet some of those locusts are now crawling about the Church; and it were well if they did crawl only, they flutter almost in every congregation, Donatisme, Anabaptisme, Sabatarianisme, in every corner. Those Tenets which were worm-eaten, and even dusted with antiquity, are now again new brushed and flourished, and those very principles which so long lay urned and buried with the ashes of their corrupter Grandsires, are raked up again so plentifully, that they fly abroad in the eyes of the multitude, and so blind them; that what of old past for a foul Schism or Heresy, hath been lately preached as the Doctrine of the Reformed Church. But their main Ringleaders and Seedesmen have been such, as Universities have vomited either as their burdens or their trifles, and Authority justly condemned to silence or suspension, or some other horrid Anathema; of whose seditious doctrines and uncontrolled practices our western Pulpits have not been a little guilty, whence they have departed, neither without popular applause, nor reward; neither with an empty fame, nor purse.  
But Vsque quò, Domine jesu, Vsque quo? How long Lord Jesus, how long? how long shall thy seamelesse coat be thus rend and divided? how long those wounds in thy side? this spittle in thy face? these thorns on thy head? these lashes on thy body? How long these daggers and darts in the bosom of thy beloved Spouse? The Church hath the same ground for complaint now, that it had of old; Filij matris meae pugnaverunt coutra me, My mother's children were angry with me, or fought against me, Cant. 1.6. Et pulchre filios matris meae (saith Saint Bernard) non autempatris sui, illos vocat; quia non habebant patrem, Deum, sed Diabolum. Solomon was in the right, when he called Mutineers in Religion, Sons of their Mother, the Church; not of their Father, God; there are many In, and From her, that are not of her; some by-blows through Faction, and Hypocrify, not all legitimate; and therefore the sons of my Mother, not my Brothers, nor the sons of my Father, as if God had nothing to do with Assacinates and Rebels in the Church; nothing as a Father, or a God; as a Judge he hath; as a Father he hath not; He says, A Kingdom or Family divided cannot stand; as a God he hath not, He is called The God of peace, not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
1. Cor. 14.33.  Incompositi status (as Beza translates it) The God of a state or condition incomposed, where there is neither Uniformity of things, nor Manners? He is the God of Order, Decency, Method, Unity; And where these are not, God is not to be found, no Deus pacis there, but that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, spoken of by Saint Paul, Unquietness, Exagitation, Tumult, or, (as we newly render it) Confusion. And indeed, that word is most proper to the State and Church, where the Deus pacis hath nought to do; Confusion there, there necessarily. Peace is the Nurse both of strength and plenty, if it be Fax Dei; But there is a kind of peace, that the Deus pacis will not father, and there he is Deus eversionis as Tertullian told the Marcionist in his 4. book, 3. chapter.  
In Schisms, Heresies, Seditions, there is a kind of peace in respect of the Agents, though not of their Ends, and Agreement in their Intentions, though not in their Execution (if this be not more properly a combination than an agreement) Now God is not there Deus pacis, but Deus eversionis. 'Tis true, God is not the God of confusion, but of peace, saith Saint Paul; But where is he so? In all the Churches of the Saints, 1 Cor. 14.33. So that amongst his Saints only he is Deus pacis, but amongst their enemies & disturbers he is Deus eversionis.  
Of the Ark (which was a Type of the true Church) and the Floods on which it was tossed, of the troubles and persecutions of it, God was heretofore Deus conservationis: But when men to preserve themselves from the floods of their own fancies, will raise up an Ark of brick, a Tower whose top should even reach the Heavens (as if the earth were not large enough for their pride and folly) God was Deus confusionis. And doubtless, when the Walls of jerusalem are pulling down, and those of Babel raising up, the peace and unity of the Church demolishing, and Anarchie building on so fast, God will not be long there, Deus conservationis, he will be at length, Deus confusionis. Though thou build aloft, 
Obad. 4.  and nestle among the Clouds, yet I will bring thee down into the dust, saith the Lord God.  
And 'tis well, that what the God of Heaven thus threatneth, the Gods of the Earth will put in execution. Authority which this way hath been long time asleep, gins to rub up her eyes again; and Aaron's Rod which seemed in our latter times to droop and whither, doth at length blossom and bud afresh. Canons, Constitutions, Decrees, which were formerly without soul or motion (Oh blessed be the religious care of an incomparable Sovereign, a powerful Metropolitan, and by them here an active Diocesan) have recovered a new life and vegetation. Ceremonies, harmless Ceremonies, which some in the heat of their foolish spirit, had Anathematised, and thrust out of our Church as Antichristian and superstitious, have gotten their former lustre and state again. The Academical Hood and Surplice, so long in exile and disgrace amongst us, are visible here in our Congregations. Churches are new swept of their dust and Rubbish, and put on a more decent and ornamental dress. Those knees that were heretofore so stubborn and stiffe-joynted, that they would not stoop at a Sacrament, begin at length (without fear it seems of their murmured idolatry) to bow at the Name of JESUS: Nay, those tongues which were set on fire, and Mar-Prelated you know of old, against the Ecclesiastic Hierarchy, can pray now (how humbly or hearty I know not) for the most Reverend Arch-Bishops, and the Reverend Bishops. And whereas that place of 
* Sacrificium incruentum.  Sacrifice, which not long since was so odious to them, that they beslabbered it with their greasy imputations of Dressers and Oyster-boords; they now begin to re-mould their language, and restore it to the primitive Title and Style of The Holy Table at least, though not the Holy Altar: Though there are still I confess some black-mouthed censurers, which will not only bark and snarl at this Reformation; but if they were not muzzled by Authority, bite too: Men that this way even hate to be reform, stopping their ears at the voice of our charm, and crying down the Ordinances of our Church, as the Edomites of old did jerusalem, Down with them, 
Psal. 137 7.  down with them, even to the ground; for such is ordained that Apostolical sword, Abscindantur qui disturbant vos, 
Gal. 5.12.  Let them be cut off that trouble you.  
Here Aaron and his Oil must part, and exercise his Rod only, remembering that of Saint Jerome to his Heliodorus, Solum pietatis genus est, in hac re esse crudelem, Cruelty in this kind is a great piety, nay, a mercy, that those who have been so graciously invited to this supper of the good King, and they refusing to come, that of the parable may at last castigate and bring home, Coge ingredi, Compel them to come in. 
Luke 14.23.   
There are among us (right Reverend) and I even bleed to speak it, 
Qui dum volunt esse judaei & Christiani, nec judaeisunt, nec Christiant. Hos. 7.8.  certain Hermaphrodite Divines, mere Centaurs in Religion; Saint Austin's Amphibions, in resemblance jews and Christians both, in truth neither; Cakes on the hearth not turned, certain dough-baked professors, which have a tongue for Geneva, and a heart for Amsterdam; their pretence for Old England, and their project for New; to the jew they become as a jew; to them that are under the Law, as under the Law; to them that are weak, as weak; but not with the same intention of the Apostle, 
1 Cor. 9.20.  to gain some, but to betray all. 'Twere well if such had a hook put in their Nostrils, and a bridle in their jaws; that as there is now a general uniformity in our habit, so there may be in our mind and manners too, one Heart, one Conformity, one Obedience.  
I shut up all with the advice of Saint Paul to his Ephesians, Since he hath given some Apostles, 
Ephes. 4.  some Prophets, some Pastors and Teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; Be not henceforth any more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of Doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness of those whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, grow up to him in all things which is our head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted, by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love. And therefore, if there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, and of one judgement, end eavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, knowing that there is but one Body, one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 
1 Thes. 5.23.  And Now the very God of peace sanctify you throughout, and I pray God that your whole spirit, and soul, and body, may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord jesus Christ. Amen, Amen.  
Gloria in excelsis Deo.  
FINIS.   

The Good Pastor. A SERMON Ad Clerum. Preached at the Primary Visitation of the right Reverend Father in GOD WILLIAM by divine providence Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells. At CHARD in SOMERSET, Anno Dom. 1633. By Humphrey Sydenham.  MATTH. 7.15. 
Cavete vobis a pseudoprophetis, qui veniunt ad vos in vestimentis ovium, sed intrinsicus sunt lupi rapaces.  
LONDON, Printed by JOHN BEALE, for Humphrey Robinson, at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in PAUL'S Churchyard. 1637.   

TO MY REVEREND AND LEARNED FRIEND Dr. RALEIGH Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty, and Rector of Chedsey in Somerset.  
SIR,  
WOnder not, that in such a troop of Dedications, I set a Learned Doctor in the Rear; for it is my custom in public Epistles, as in my private Letters, To remember my choicest Friend in a Postscript. Besides, you know I am a Divine, and no Herald; and therefore should not so much study priority of place, as merit; or had I done both, in these, I should have met with no great disparity, since virtue was ever thought a companion for blood and fortune, especially in them which can challenge as well an eminency of Descent, as Knowledge. And therefore to suppose a distance here, were but to distinguish men at Ordinaries, and make an upper end at a round Table. To you then I cannot but send this wandering Pastor of mine, who amongst my other Pilgrims abroad, hopes to find countenance & entertainment from you, and from you in a just claim and interest; where (like several streams in a full channel) Integrity, Learning, and Charity meet, and what else may speak a Pastor, good; or a good man, glorious. In confidence whereof I tender this, with myself (and you can have no more of your best votaries than all) assuring you that you have not a truer honourer any where, than with  
Your most respective Friend, and Servant, HUM. SYDENHAM.   

THE GOOD PASTOR.  JEREM. 3.15. 
I will give you Pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you which knowledge and understanding.  
GOD is the God of Israel, and Israel is now sick at heart, and her Pastors as sick as Israel. Her Diseases are in chief two, Ignorance and Idolatry, and these no less fatal than infectious. This contagion hath overspread the Land, 
Numb. 1.46.  and amongst so many hundred thousands in her Tribes, which have been worshippers of the true God (so many that they have been compared to the stars of Heaven for multitude) there is but a remnant free, seven thousand left that have not bowed to Baal. She that had so long the affectionate and familiar style of the Daughter of my people, 
Ezech. 23.3.  and in purity preserved her Virgin Teats unbruised (as the Prophet speaks) is at length become the Strumpet of the Nations: Upon every high Mountain, and under every green Tree; 
Jer. 3.6.  she hath played the Harlot, and through the lightness of her whoredoms hath committed Adultery with stocks and stones. Those Altars which were wont to smoke only to the Lord of Hosts, now cast up their incense to false and imaginary Gods: 
Jer. 7.18.  The children gather wood, and the Fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the Dough, to make Cakes to the Queen of Heaven. The Gods of the Ammonite and the Moabite have their Offerings of drink and blood, when the Mighty One of jacob hath not so much as a Sheep or an Ox for Sacrifice. In this great disorder of the Church, GOD himself will become Bishop, and intends a Visitation no less severe than speedy; and because he will reform as well as visit, he threatneth the deposing of the Old, with the choice of a New Priesthood. Wherein you may please to observe, first, the manner of Ordination; and that in the Dabo vobis, I will send, or give you; Next, the parties to be ordered, and they are entitled here to the word pastors, I will give you Pastors; Thirdly, their Qualification, Secundum cor meum, Pastors according to my heart; Fourthly, their Office, Pascent vos, they shall feed you; Lastly, the power and manner of that feeding, in respect of their mental endowments, Scientiâ, and Intelligentia, with Knowledge and Understanding.  Dabo vobis, I will give you. 
I Begin this Dabo vobis, 
Pars 1.  with the gloss of Stella upon that Mittam vos, of Christ to his Disciples, Luke 10. Non est omnium se divino ministerio ingerere, sed qui a Deodatur, & eligitur. Instead of a Translator here, pray take an Apostle, who gives us the sense, though not the words, No man takes this honour to himself, but he that is called of God, as Aaron was, Heb. 5.4. In matters of divine Ministry, to run, and not be sent, is, not to undertake, but to invade it; which invasion is no less bold than dangerous; and therefore amongst the jews, such as prophesied without a Vision, were called Dreamers, and not Prophets; or if Prophets, Prophets of the deceit of their own heart, 
Jer. 23.26.  and by the Sword and Famine such Prophets were consumed, jer. 14.15.  
The Scribe that made a voluntary tender of himself to Christ, resolving to follow him wherso'ere he went, was refused with a secret check, Mat. 8.19. whilst another, that in a religious excuse would needs go bury the Dead (bury perhaps his own dead, his corruptions) the Lord commanded instantly to go and preach the Kingdom of God, Luk. 9.60.  
Thus the intruder upon divine Ordinances doth justly meet with his Quomodo huc introisti, Friend how camest thou hither? When the humble man that chides his own abilities by undervaluing them, shall be honoured with an Ascend altius, Friend sit up higher, and in that height finds worship with all that are about him, Luke 14.10.  
It is the observation of Saint Augustine, that Christ was boldly invited to the house of a Pharisee, but modestly denied the roof of a Centurion. Audi (saith the Father) in domo erat, 
D. Aug. de ver. Dom. in Mat. Serm. 6.  in cord non erat, he was in the house of the Pharisee, not in his heart; And why? the Pharisee was ambitious, and pride is not the seat of Religion: On the other side, In cord erat, in domo non erat, he was in the heart of the Centurion, not in his house; why? the Centurion was humble, and humility is the groundwork of all spiritual advancement. And doubtless he that is thus accommodated, is fittest for a sacred design; whither for Gods call, or choice, or employment (for to call, to choose, and to employ, 
jeron. part. 3. Tract. 15. Ep. 82.  are terms distinct) upon which, some of the Father's playing as well the Critic as the Divine, would have the word vocation to belong indifferently to God and man, election properly and solely unto God; the Church (say they) might, 
Multi sunt vocati magistri per omnes ecclesias, multi vocati m nistri: sed nescio an electi magistri & min stri. Ibid.  and did then, vocare, but not eligere; Hence it was that Saint Jerome tells his Heraclius, That there were Masters and Ministers in the Church, to his knowledge, abundantly called, but whither chosen, or not, he left to the searcher of their hearts, and his; And thereupon concludes, that it was with some Pastors, as with some Martyrs, Qui vocati sunt Martyrs, & non electi; & he instances in those, Qui postea to rmentorum Agones, 
jerom. ibid.  & Carcerum, non usquè ad finem in Confession is toler antiae perseverarunt; So that, belike, that Pastor that shrinks and gives ground in time of persecution, is but Pastor vocatus; But he that so buckleth on his armour, that neither Sword, the Faggot, nor the Wheel, nor all the dreadful Engines of the Tormentor can startle one inch from the constant profession of his faith; He is electus Pastor, or rather Pastor coronatus; the Lord assuring him, that if he be faithful unto death, he will give him a crown of life. Rev. 2.10. But doubtless, the Father, there by the word Electus, meant rather the eternal, than the temporal election; That to the everlasting Kingdom, not this barely to the Priesthood; For, if we examine the body of divine writ, we shall find, that the usual liveries of God's special servants, are in this kind, principally two, Missio and Vocatio, or else, the Dabo vobis in the text; I will give you; Hence it is, that we so often meet with a mitto Prophetas, and a mittet Operarios, and a mittam Legatos, and a dabit Angelos; Labourers, and Messengers, and Prophets, 
Mat. 23.34. Mat. 9.28. Mar. 1.2. Mat. 26.53.  and Apostles, and Ambassadors, and Angels themselves are under the condition of a mittam vos, or a dabo vobis, he sends, or gives, or calls them; And, certainly, they were not so nearly Gods, if God did not so send, or call them. Those are not truly Pastors, that have not heard the voice of the great Shepherd, that have not been acquainted with his whistle, or his Call. The sons of Zebedee were but poor fishermen mending their nets, till the Lord called them. Math. 4.12. Saint Paul is in fury running to Damascus, till by the grace of God he was called. Gal. 1.15. Nay, the great Bishop, and Shepherd of our souls, Christ Jesus himself, comes not to his office without a calling neither; I have called thee in righteousness (saith the Prophet) and I have called thee from the Womb; From the Bowels of thy mother have I made mention of thy name, I have made thy mouth as a sharp sword, and as a polished shaft in my Quiver have I hid thee. Isai. 49.1, 2. verses.  
Thus unbidden Guests may not come to the supper of the Lord, and a wedding garment is required to the marriage of the King's son; Whom God employs in his services, he calls; and whom he calls, he clothes; giveth as well abilities of doing, as authority to do; And where both these are, the Lord hath some special interest. If Saint Paul have a door of utterance, God himself must open it; 
Coloss. 4.3.  If the Apostles speak wonderfully the mysteries of God, 
Act. 2.3.  the holy Ghost must come down upon them in fiery tongues; If Isaiahs' lips be purified from their uncleanness, a Seraphim must touch them with a coal from the Altar. 
Isai 6.6.  There is nothing to be done in spiritual undertake, without this dabo vobis, I will give you. Hence it was, that in time of consecration, certain pieces of the Sacrifice were given or put into the Priest's hands under the Law. Exod. 29. (the ceremonies of that age, looking belike, to those of ours) where as an emblem of our Ite, and Predicate, the Bishop, in time of ordination, gives a Bible into our hands, not only as a rule and platform of that which should direct us, but also a sacred witness of that profession, into which we are by a divine hand invested. Hereupon, the Hebrews of old were wont to style consecration, 
T. G. jewish Antiq. lib. 1. cap. 5.  the filling of the hand, so it stands upon record against jeroboam, as his perpetual wound and infamy; whosoever would, he filled his hand, that is, consecrated whom he list, and out of the basest of the people, made priests of the high places. Kings. 13.33.  
The Church of God is never so much sensible of her Blemish & Dishonour, as when her Pastors are thus sifted out of the very dross & rubbish of the multitude. And therefore, in the first plantation of it, God himself gives Moses an especial charge, and Moses Aaron, that his Levites (for the text says, they were wholly his) should be first severed from among the children of Israel, and then their  washed, were presented as an Offering before the Lord. Numb. 8. v. 14, 15, 21.  
Now their manner of Severing was double; 
Numb. 3.15.  First in the initiation of their office, which was, when they were but a month old; 
Numb. 8.24.  & then at their consecration, at the age of 25. which was solemnly done through the imposition of hands, by the sons of Israel (some read) others, by the first borne of Israel, who were then the representative Church; and in allusion to this, The Church of Christ is called the Church of the first borne. Heb. 12.23. Insomuch, that this custom of severing or separating from the multitude, was no less practised in the time of the Gospel, 
Acts. 13.2.  then under the Law; Saint Luke's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, looking as well to the christian ministry, as to the Jewish Priesthood. Separate me Paul and Barnabas Acts. 13.2. And God hath separated me from my mother's womb. Gal. 1.16. To show belike, that God's Ambassadors should be distinct from others, as well in matter of Sanctity, as Choice; So we read, that Stephen, Philip and Nicanor were separated from the multitude, and the Apostles setting them before them, prayed, and afterwards laid their hands upon them. Acts 6.6.  
In which manner of theirs, for conferring of holy orders, 
T. G. jew. Antiq. lib. 1. cap. 6.  there was (as our english josephus observes) a double posture observed, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Imposition of hands, in t●●en of consecration Acts. 8.17. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the holding up of hands, in token of confirmation. Acts 14.22. The first of these borrowed from the Hebrews, the second from the Athenians, who had two sorts of Magistrates; the one chosen by Lots, the other by holding up of hands. And this Imposition of hands was primitively a custom so hallowed, that there was scarce a remarkable Blessing, or Honour, whither secular or spiritual, conferred publicly on any, without this ceremony of laying on of hands; Insomuch, that Saint Paul chargeth strictly his beloved Timothy to keep himself pure, and to lay hands suddenly on no man, lest he be partaker of other men's sins. 1. Tim. 5.22.  
Here is a good Remembrancer for the Ephod, a fit Caution for Aaron himself; that our learned Prelates admit not such into holy orders, as may pull either dishonour on themselves, or scandal on the Church; that those they lay their Reverend hands on may be, ' though not altogether 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, men eminently gifted in all variety of knowledge; yet at least 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Irreprehensibiles, unreprovable either for Life or Learning; whereupon the great Doctor of the Gentiles tells his young Bishop, that he that is capable of the office of a Deacon, must hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience 1. Tim. 3.9. Non solum peritus in religione debet, sed castus moribus, as Aretius' glosses that place; he must be well versed both in the Fundamentals of Learning and the practical part of Manners; Insomuch, that the Apostle there, calls Faith a Mystery; and a mystery (you know) Ignorance cannot reach to; moreover, the Conscience he desireth to be kept pure, and purity dissoluteness will not comply with. And therefore he comes afterwards with his Hiprobentur in the 10. verse, let these be first proved; Probation is required both for matter of ability, and deportment. 'Tis not safe, no not discreet to take men's learning or manners upon trust; And therefore, in this case, the advice of Saint Bernard to his Eugenius, will pass for Authentic, Viros probatos oportere deligi, 
S. Bernard. lib. 4. de considerate. ad Eugenium.  non probandos; Such as are admitted must be of a tried sufficiency, and their worth, not of a naked Echo, and report; which hath been such a negligence, or rather an abuse, crept into our latter times, that with some enemies of the Church, Episcopal Honour hath been brought not only into question, but some censure; A testimonial letter (as they murmur it) sets an Ignoramus into orders without examination; And the approbation of the next justice into a Lecture, without licence. Hence it is, that the Church is sick of so many Fevers and Dropsies as now reign in it; men on the one side, so burning with an affected zeal, that it cinders and dries up the vitals of religion, Knowledge, and Conformity.  
On the other side, men wholly obstructed in their intellectual parts, swollen up with waterish and corrupt principles; what proceeds from them is crude and indigested, nothing of solid nourishment either for themselves or others. And questionless, if the blind thus lead the blind we cannot but expect the ambo in foveam, a falling into the dike, a deep and a double one; of vice and error; and then the fearful prediction of the Prophet on the Land, will be completed in the Church, Formido, & Fovea, & Laqueus super te, Fear, and the Pit, and the Snare are upon thee, Isai. 24.17.  
It was not well, doubtless, with the Watchmen of Israel, 
Isa. 56.10.  when God's prophets complained against them, in a Nescierunt universi, They were all blind, all ignorant. For, what means Ignorance and Blindness in the Sanctuary, where the Lamp and the Oil should flourish? Is it not a shame, that those hands which trades have made Mechanical and profane, should dare at length to wield the Censer, lay hold on the very horns of the Altar, bring the Sacrifice to the door of the Tabernaole, stand before God and the congregation as his Anointed, as dispensers of his blessed word and sacraments? Good Lord, what relation have A pair of shears to a Church? or a Loom, to a Pulpit? And yet our later times have, to the amazement of many, produced some, whose tongues have been as nimble at a Sermon, as their hands formerly at a Shuttle; and others grown as expert in dividing of a Text, as in times past they were in cutting of a garment: Nay some whom Courts have discarded, and Corporations, as men either lazy or unapt for such kind of Negotiations; have at last been shouldered into the Ministry, and grown as conversant with a Bible, as of old with an office or a Shop-book; and their Pens as fluent at a Postill, as heretofore at a Summa Totalis, or a worm-eaten Record. 
S. Bernard lib. 4. de consider. ad Eugenium.  Sed a nobis mos iste, vel potiùs mors ista non cepit, utinam in nobis desinat. This is no modern calamity, a sin of one age or climb only, other places and times have tasted of the like disorder; insomuch that Antiquity gives us intelligence of many which have been merely Layicks, and for an itch of temporal preferment (their Bishops being lately dead) have in the vacancy of their See, been shaved, and made suddenly Priests, Et quo miles nunquam extitit, 
Greg. mag. lib. 4. Epist. ex Reg stro. 13.  Dux religionis fieri non timuit, He that was never before a Soldier fight under Christ's holy Banner, was at length made General of the field, and feared not to be a Conduct even of Religion itself, Res detestabilis in Ecclesia, saith the Father, 
Cap. 95.  A thing so distasteful to good men, and of such obloquy to the Church of God, that the Father complaining of the like abuses in his age, persuades Virgilius the Bishop to move Childebert his King,  hujus peccati maculam à regno suo funditùs repellat, in his fourth Book of Epistles, ex Registro, 95. chapter. Nay, Rome herself (though she much vaunt in the Title of the Mother Church) is not without her Moles and Scars this way; Some of her own Sons, I know not whether out of Zeal or Envy have bespauled her shrewdly, declaiming against her Prelates for their sudden jump from the Court to the Consistory; whose former employments and endeavours were wholly devoted, juri Caesareo, and could give no other account of their learning, Quàm Venationi & Voluptatibus student. At Counsels, they were but as cyphers and margins, or rather mutes; whilst others spoke, they were Instar ligni elinguis, vel lapidis muti, As a dumb stone, or a tongueless piece of wood, and such there were in Sacro Concilio Tridentino, the sacred and famous Council of Trent was not exempted from this infamy, 
Stella in cap. 6. Lucae.  one of their Friars tells me so in his Commentaries upon the sixth of Luke 39 verse.  
— Pudet haec opprobria—  
Et dici potuisse, & non potuisse refelli.  
Now the Ground and Original of these corrupt abuses in the Church, 
Flens dico, gemens denuncio, Greg. ut sup.  I suppose to be that which Saint Gregory mournfully obtrudes to some Prelates of his Age, generally condemning herein the practices of France and Germany, where there were none admitted to Sacred Orders; sine commodi datione without a Gratuity or Present; not remembering, it seems, that strict precept of Christ to his Disciples; Who giving them power against unclean Spirits, and sending them abroad to cure all manner of diseases, bids them Heale the Sick, cleanse the Lepers, raise the Dead, cast out Devils, but with this caution, gratis accepistis, gratis date; neither provide gold yourselves, nor accept any offered you: Lo, freely you have received, freely give Math. 10.10. The taking of a few shekels of Silver, and a few changes of Raiment, stuck Naamans' Leprosy upon Gehazi, and his upon his house for ever. And upon this ground belike it was, that our Saviour afterwards coming into the Temple of jerusalem, with great indignation overthrew the Tables of the money changers, and the Seats of them that sold doves: And why? why? The Church is not a place of merchandise, 
Math. 21.12.  the selling of doves is dangerous in the Temple & if we may believe the Father's comment on that place, a sin so heinous, that it toucheth upon the holy Ghost, Columbas vendere est despiritu sancto commodum temporale percipere, he that makes a temporal commodity by the gifts of the holy Ghost, 
Greg. lib. 4. Epist. ex Reg st. cap. 95.  doth but sell doves in the Temple, translates a Church to an Exchange, makes a house of prayer, but a den for thiefs. And for this, or the like occasion, one Simon dooms another with a pecunia tua tecum in perditionê, 
Acts 8, 10.  Thy money perish with thee Acts. 8.10.  
And now for redress of those gross enormities in the Churches where they reign (as God forbidden they should reign or touch here in a Church reform) there are two things necessarily required in their Guides and Governors, Vigilancy, and Integrity; that they look on men fraught with sufficiency and worth: and not transported with any sinister or by-respects, either of profit, or partiality. 'Tis lamentable, that Ignorance and Simplicity should be thus braying out the Oracles of God, that such beasts should be employed about the carriage of his Ark, which can do nothing but low after their calves at home. Moses tells plainly the Israelite, 
1. Sam. 6.12.  non junges Bovem & Asinum, an Ox and an Ass shall not plough together, Deut. 22. that is (as the Father morals it) Sapientem cum stolido non junges inpraedicatione verbi. In the spiritual plough Wisdom and Folly are unequally yoked; 
Greg Hom'l. 19 super Ezek.  Knowledge and Ignorance will never draw together; and therefore we read, that the Range of the mountains is the feeding for the wild Ass; 
job. 39.8.  but the fruitful Field for the Ox that treadeth out the corn. 
1. Cor. 9.9.  Send then the illiterate a grazing on the mountains; Ignorance and Barrenness will dwell together; But place the Scholar with the laborious Ox, direct Learning to the cornfield, and the fruitful Vine to the green pastures, and the still waters to the prepared Table, and the cup that overstoweth; from the Vale of death to the Path of Righteousness, that he may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. 
Psal. 23.   
I conclude this tedious point with the advice of that devout Abbot to his advanced Proselyte; and by way of humble suit prefer the same to the reverend care of him, whom God's special providence hath made a superintendent of his Church here; Beseeching him in the bowels of Christ jesus, that those which shall be hereafter partakers of his Dabo vobis, whom he shall either sanctify by laying hands on, or otherwise publicly admit to any service in the Church, may be such as the Father there squares-out, a Precedent and a Pattern unto others; Qui sunt compositi ad mores, probati ad sanctimoniam, parati ad obedientiam, subjecti ad disciplinam, catholici adfidem, fideles ad dispensationem, concords adpacem, conforms ad unitatem: This is not all, I yet press closer with Saint Bernard, Sint in judicio recti, in jubendo discreti, 
S. Bernard. lib. 4. de considerate. ad Eugenium: circa medi 'em.  in loquendo modesti, in professione devoti, in zelo sobrji, in misericordia non remissi, in otio non otiosi, quorum ingressus pacificus, non molestus exitus, qui Ecclesias non spolient, sed emendent, qui famae provideant suae, nec invideant alienae. Hear is all, and that is enough, enough, I am sure for the matter of ordination, 'tis time now to look on the Parties ordered, and they are described here by the word Pastors, Pastors with a qualification; after mine own, which is the second part, I will give you Pastors after mine own heart.  Dabo pastors, I will give you Pastors. 
Pars 2.  
The word PASTOR is of a large dimension; and if we traverse the latitude and extent thereof, it will involve in the generality, any Teacher in the Church. But because some of them instead of stars fixed in their Orbs, have proved Wand'ring stars, 
jude 13.  reserved for darkness; and the Text being in a direct Antipathy with such, whom the Prophet's style, Idol, corrupt, brutish, destroying Pastors; 
jer. 10.21.  Let's go up a little to the Mountains of Israel, to the Fat pastures, where the Lord's Flock and Folds he, and there from the scriptures themselves, take a view whom he hath made choice of, what Pastors he hath culled out, after his own heart, where we shall find that as God is a God of Providence, so of Order; And as in all other things, so principally in his Church. And that we may begin in Moses (for before every man was King, and Prophet, and Priest in his own Family) It will appear, that the first foundation of it was laid in inequality; God then distinguishing her Attendants into three orders or degrees, Priests, Levites, Nethinims, and above these an Aaron, as Superintendent and Commander. After Moses death (long after) the people returning out of Babylon, we have a special mention of certain Teachers in Israel, which were also distinguished into three several ranks Wisemen, Scribes, Disputers; and these not only succeeding but subordinate to the Prophets which Saint Paul hath a glance at against the jews, where is the Wise, where is the Scribe, where is the Disputer? 1. Cor. 1.20.  
When the Temple was rebuilt, though these Orders grew into Sects, and instead of them we find Essenes', Pharises, and Sadduces, yet not these, 
Ephes. 4.11.  without their Primate, and Metropolitan: And in the time of our Saviour, when Sects and Orders were so intermingled, that we could scarce distinguish them, yet they all join in a Superior; and we meet with Priests, and Scribes, and Elders, flocking for advise to the palace of Caiaphas the high Priest. Math. 26.3. After these, we find Pastors, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, and they, thus distinguished by the great Doctor Saint Paul: And lastly, Elders, Presbyters, Deacons, and these under their Bishop Timothy. 1. Tim. 1.5. So that a priority of degree and power in the Priesthood, we may draw down from Moses to Christ, from Christ to the Apostles, and from them to the Fathers, and Prelates of the Church; not only by Ecclesiastical or Apostolical tradition or constitution, but, for aught I am hitherto posseessed of otherwise (and I would some higher judgement would inform me better) After Gods own heart and 
* Quamvis forsan, res ipsae in Ecclesia constitutae humani sint, sive Ecclesiastici juris Ipsa tamen obligatio ad Reverentiam & promptam Obedientiam talibus Ecclesiae constitutionibus exlnbendam, est juris Divint: juxta illa dicta Evangellca, Math. 18.17. 1. Cor. 14.32. Heb. 13.17. Io. Forbes. It enicum, lib. 2. cap. 1. sect. 5.  jure divino. Insomuch, that Saint Jerome 
* S. jeron. comment. in Epist. ad Tit. cap. 1.  himself, who hath been reputed a great stickler for the equality of Churchmen, and a Father that hath sometimes rivalled Presbyters with Bishops, 
Idem  writing to his Evagrins, tells him, thus,  sciamus traditiones Apostolicas, sumptas de lege etc., 
Parte 3. tract. 4. Epist. 9 ad Evagrium.  that we may know Apostolical traditions to be derived from the old Law; we doubt not but of what condition Aaron, his Sons, and the Levites were in the Temple, Hoc sibi Episcopi, etc. The same, Bishops, Ministers and Deacons challenge in the Church.  
Now, who knows not that Aaron by Gods own appointment was superior to his Sons, his Sons to the Levites, the Levites to the Nethinims? So that a Bishop may claim a transcendency in the Christian Church, even by divine Ordinance and Institution; 
Est. in lib. 4. sent. dist. 24. sect. 25.  or if the truth hereof could not be clearly evidenced out of those sacred Monuments, (yet as the same 
* Ecclesiae salus in summi Sacerdotis dign●tate pendet: cut si non Exhorts quaedam, & ab om tibus eminens det ur potestas tot in Ecclesiis efficientur Schismata, quot Sacerdotes. S. Hieron. in Dialog. adversus Luciferian.  Father adds) for avoiding of factions, and mutinies, and confusion in the Church, there is one, eminently One, required necessarily to sit at the Helm and Rudder, a Pilot and Steersman in those differences (A Bishop) otherwise there would be as many Schisms in the Church, as Pastors; And certainly, where disorders have been so frequent, they have proceeded principally through a defect of superiors, who either had not the edge of Authority; or having it, have blunted it; though some, who have been embarked wholly in matters of Discipline, have from the discontented spirits of their age, received their censure rather of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, than Episcopi. 
Arer. in 1 Tim. 3.1.  And yet if we look to the Analogy of Reason, as well as Scripture, we must either grant them a superintendency, or else make an absolute confusion. For it is here, as it is with Instruments, if all the strings be unisons, there can be no harmony. That hand is unshapen and little better than monstrous, where all the singers are of the same length; Parity, in a Church, is prodigious. There must be as well a superiority in Ecclesiastic as in Civil government, there being required in both, One eminent above the rest, as Saul was higher than any of the people from the shoulders upwards, 1 Sam. 9.2. 'Tis not enough that there are in the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Seers, but there must be also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Overseers; so Saint Paul chargeth the Elders of Ephesus, Take heed to the Flock, of which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers, Acts 20.28. The old Roman was but laughed at, that would make an Army of all Commanders, for where there were none to obey, there could be none to govern. And therefore the Wise man says, that the Church is Tanquam acies ordinatal, as an Army with her Banners displayed, Cant. 6.4. And in such an Army one Officer is subordinate to another, and a common Soldier unto both; Some are appointed to be Horsemen, some to run before the Chariots, some Captains of sifties, some Captains of hundreds, some Captains of thousands, 1 Sam. 8.12. Hereupon Churchmen have been by some resembled unto Stars; for, as in the Firmament above, one Star differs from another both in glory and magnitude, so they do also in the Firmament of the Church here: Others compare them unto Angels, and as there is a Hierarchy of them, so of these also, the inferior Angels are illuminated by a higher order of Angels; so should it be with those Angels of the Church below, the Spirits of the Prophets being subject to the Prophets, and God being every where the God of Order, and not of confusion, 1 Cor. 14.33. Moreover, it is evident, that the 70. Disciples were inferior to the Apostles, the Levites to the Priests, even jure Divino; and in consent to this, the Fathers warble sweetly, the Bishops succeeded the Apostles; the Pastors and Presbyters, the 70. Disciples; so that as on the one side, they were inferior to the Apostles; so on the other, these to the Bishops. Which allegation of the Cardinal (for it is Bellarmine's allegation) some of your Dutch Hotspurs labouring to wave, not only exclude Bishops from Apostolical authority, but also from succession; and to throw them clean under hatches, advance their own Pastors, and can allow them to be the Apostles Successors, Aliquo modo; 
Ames. Bel. Enerv. Tom. 2. c. 4. p. 113.  but Bishops (as they now are) Nullo modo; so the factious Franeker with his Moles sine nervis, 2 Tome, 4. chapter. But if this shall pass for Text, and they can thus dis-myter Bishops to crown their Presbyters; how was it that Titus by the appointment of Saint Paul (from God no doubt, otherwise what had Saint Paul to do to appoint Titus?) was left at Crect, to ordain Elders there in every City, to reject Heretics, and to set in order the things which were amiss? Tit. 1.5. And Titus was the Bishop, the first Bishop of the Cretians. Moreover, how came it to pass, 
Euseb. lib. 3. cap. 4.  that Timothy had by the same Saint Paul, power committed unto him over Presbyters, and counsel given him to admit an accusation, or not; to punish, or not to punish; 1 Tim. 5.19. And that, Timothy was a Bishop too, the first Bishop of Ephesus, who can contradict? Now, 
Euseb. lib. 3. cap. 4.  what can these instances otherwise imply then a Superiority by divine law? and yet, this is again lifted by the Brethren from Bishops to their Presbyters, who may receive an accusation (as they pretend) no less than others; And for any Priority Timothy had over the Elders of his time, or any Authority to punish, or not, they stiffly deny; not allowing Him, or any other Bishop, ullum forum Ecclesiasticum, praeter forum conscientiae; 
 supra, Tom. 1. pag. 226.  Amesius in great heat would awhile persuade me so? yet afterwards blows his fingers, acknowledging, that there were in the Primitive Church, besides those the Father styleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men eminent in the word, 
Euseb. lib. 7. cap. 13.  certain Presbyters (Bishops he will not call them, or if he do, he reconciles the Terms) which did only attend Government; and for proof hereof, he quotes Origen against Celsus; 
Orig. Tom. 3. contra Celsum.  where the Heretic exprobrating the christian Doctors for their weak and simple Auditors, the Father answers, that the christian Teachers had first for their Scholars, some that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Probationers, and after they were approved, did institute two Orders, Vnum Incipientium the one of Novists, which they called Catechumeni; Alterum perfectiorum the other of riper and maturer judgement; 
Vide Amesium, tom. 2. cap. 4. pag. 108. de distinct. Epis. cap. & presbyteri.  and amongst them some were praepositi which enquired only into the manners and life of others; and those which were viciously inclined they punished, and cherished them which were otherwise disposed to virtue. Thus, whilst he would Enervare Bellarminum, he doth but Enervare Ecclesiam, and playing too much with that Candle, sindgeth his own wings. First, he drowns the word Episcopus in Presbyter, and makes them both one, and so restrains them to those, and only to those, whom he calls, Laborantes in Doctrina; yet afterwards he new ranks them again, and in one file places his Predicants; in another, Governors. What's this, but that Prelates themselves will allow inferior Pastors? That there is Idem Ministerium, but Diversa potestas; and that they differ not, Quoad virtutem Sacerdotii, but quoad potentiam jurisdictionis.  
There are some (and I would there were not) turbulent Spirits in our Church, which are at such defiance with the Romish See, that they are impatient of any other; and whilst they endeavour to dis-pope her, they would un-Bishop all Christendom. For mine own part, a Papal jurisdiction, I equally renounce, and disapprove, as a Prerogative both insolent and usurped; but an Episcopal doth not only engage my consent, but my obedience, and that upon a double tie, of Reason and Religion. If I should not respect order, I were a beast; if not the Ordinance of my Church, a Heathen.  
Saint Paul requires subjection to higher powers on a strong ground, 
Mat. 18.17.  because there is no power (saith he) but of God, 
Rom. 13.1.  no power, no civil one (you'll say) nay, no Ecclesiastic neither; they are both the Ordinances of God, He hath a finger in them; They are after his own Heart; and he that doth oppose them, the Apostle tells you what he purchaseth; what? Contempt? yes, and only so? No, Condemnation too; Rom. 13.2.  
'Tis well nigh grown proverbial, now, in the English Church, no Bishop, no King; and if neither Bishop, nor King, how a God? God professeth Method and Order in his universal Government; and without these, there would be some manifest Breach and flaw in the carriage of inferior things. He knows, that Equality looks to Anarchy, and Anarchy to Confusion. And certainly Episcopal honour hath gone down the wind, since this dream of parity first started in the Church, since the Levite hath been stripped of his proper portion, and fed with the naked benevolences of the people. Geneva, doubtless, was well pleased, when Bishoprics were first analized into Pensions; when the large revenues of her Church were unravelled to a stipend of 40. pounds per Annum, The Layicke, whose religion lieth most in his purse, little cares how the Ox be muzzled, so he have the profit of treading-out the corn; Insomuch, that her great Presbyter Calvine himself, (who before, had laid the Authority of the Church in the hands of the people and thereupon made stipendiary) in his commentaries on the lesser Prophets, sadly complaineth of a short proportion and a slow Pay. And in deed, the Glory of the Pastor hath not a little wrapped and declined, since Divinity hath been so much acquainted with the Stipend, and the Trencher. We raise Doctrines nowadays according to our pay; fill others Ears, as they our Hands, or Belly: put Honey in our Sacrifice, instead of Salt; sweeten our discourse to the palate of our Contributors; We sing of their power, and cry down our own; Add vigour and quickness to those temporal hands, which can only bind and lose, on Earth, no more; and shackle the virtue of those spiritual ones, which as they lose or bind on Earth, so they Lose and Bind in Heaven also.  
We have so long untwisted the power of the Clergy, and wooned up that of the Layicke, that now we are entangled in our own web, struck through with our own Darts. Saint Paul had a time, when he could not only threaten his Corinthian with the Rod, but the Galathian with the Sword too, with an Abscindantur qui disturbant vos, Let them be cut off that trouble you; Gal. 5.12. But now, our Sword is not only Blunt, or Rusty, but wrested out of our hand; and how to regain or new-furbish it we know not. The Philistines have not left us so much as a Smith in Israel; So that, 
1. Sam. 13.19.  it speeds now with the poor Pastors as it did then with Saul's heartless soldiers, who had neither Sword nor Spear for the day of Battle. 
1. Sam. 13.22.  We have so long given advantage to the mere secular power, that at length our Sword is beaten into the , and our Spear into the pruning Hook; The penal statute hath a Jirke at us, and the Bench gins to usurp that Authority which hath been formerly peculiar to consistorial proceed. This is our misery, and this misery we have pulled upon ourselves, partly by insinuation, partly by negligence, partly by pusillanimity, principally by our own discords. Quot Capita, tot Dogmata, So many Opinions almost, as Pastors, and Factions, as Congregations: One is for Paul, another for Apollo, another for Cephas; This man is a Calvinist, That a Lutheran, and a Third a Carth-writhian; Insomuch, that Religion gins to look asquint, and hath one cast for Geneva, another for Rheims, another for Amsterdam. 
Euseb. de vita & transitu sanct. Hieron.  Multi hodiè in Ecclesia (saith Saint Jerome) none pastors, sed destructores, sed Lupi, sed Mercenarii, ad quos nihil portinet de Ovibus, nisi ut devorantur; There are many at this day, in the Church of Christ, under the name of Pastors, which come to you in Sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are, Ravening Wolves; They pretend feeding, but the event is devouring the flock. Nihil abominabiliùs, quàm cùm Ille, qui custodire debet, dissipat, saith the same Father. There have been a long time clustering about this Vineyard of the Lord, the Brownist, the Anabaptist, the Familist, and of late the Perfectist; and that we may lay all the heads of Faction upon one shoulder, the Catharist, a Sect, long since cried down by the Fathers, for Heretical, but now Buttressed and Backed up as the main Pillar of Religion, the polished corner of the Temple, and he that is not hewed out for that Garb, hath the spittle of the multitude thrown in his face, wears the aspersion of a Libertine, and of late, the broad Livery of a Sycophant, or Knave. Good Lord, that glow-worms and rotten Sticks, which were wont to glimmer only in the dark, should thus shine more and more unto the perfect day; That this dull candle which hath been so long hid under a Bushel, should at length be set on a candlestick, and give so proud a light to all that are about him; There was a time, when Faction was neither so strong nor so bold, when the chief patriarchs, and Founders of it had for their Cities of refuge only Woods and Barnes, and their Disciples but the Suburbs and Offal of the people; But now, forsooth, the Fir Tree must be a dwelling for the stork, and the lofty Cedars spread their boughs over them, great men are become both their Proselytes and Protectors; Insomuch, that the Vultures have their nests, and the little Foxes their holes; They Earth themselves in Corporations, & Peculiars, where they are shot-free of the power of a Consistory, an injungendo mandamus cannot reach them, or if it do, a common purse defends them both from bruise and battery; So that the mouth of the Canon cannot reach them, the Thunderbolt of Excommunication not so much as scare them; and then Ceremonies, and the Surplice, and the Rochet, and the Mitre too are no better than remnants of Superstition, weeds Babylonish, and Apocryphal. But oh, that Aaron would remember he had a Rod, as well as Oil; Discipline, as Instruction; that where the one cannot supple and make pliable, the other may bridle and restrain Schismatical and contentious Spirits; that so his Rod may be ever budding, his Authority green and blossoming, to the Glory of God, the flourishing of his Church, the conformity of her Sons, the concord of her Pastors, and the Peace of us all; Unity, Unity, Unity the Church groans for; O, let this Dew of Hermon drop plentifully on the little Hill of Zion; Let this precious Ointment so overflow the head of Aaron, that it may run down his beard, and from thence to the skirts of his clothing; That so there may be a perfect Harmony in the Church, that we may sing joyfully together the song of Zion in our own land; that we may be all Pastors as we should be, Pastors after Gods own Heart, Pastors feeding his flock in love, feeding it as it ought to be fed, with Knowledge, and Understanding, which is my last part. Pascent vos, They shall feed you with Knowledge and Understanding.  
THere is no Pastor, properly, without a Flock, 
Pars 3.  no Flock without feeding it, no true feeding without knowledge and understanding; which like salomon's two Pillars are to be set in the Porch of the Temple, in the very front and entrance of our Ministry. 
1. Kings 7.21.  Knowledge directs our feeding, and Understanding doth wield our Knowledge, and God enlightens our understanding; so that the Pastor after his heart must both scire and intelligere, and he that doth not, feeds not a flock, but betrays it. In that Dabo tibi claves of Christ to Saint Peter, there is a double key left for the Government of the Church, the one of power, the other of knowledge, and both these by Divines resembled to Zachary's two staves, 
Zach. 11.7.  Beauty and Bands, Doctrine and Discipline; of power and Discipline the Pastor had his share in the last part; of Knowledge and Doctrine he challengeth in this, which is so essential to the condition of a churchman, indeed, that without it he is not a Pastor truly, but an impostor or deceiver; Insomuch, that Saint Paul carefully distinguishing between Apostles and Prophets, 
Ephes. 4.11.  and Prophets and Evangelists, and Evangelists and Pastors, sets Pastors and Doctors together without their difference, Ephes. 4.11. And the reason Saint Augustine gives to his Paulinus, Cum praedixisset pastors, subjunxit Doctores, ut intelligerent Pastores ad Officium suum pertinere Doctrinam, 
D. Aug. Epist. 59 ad Paulinum.  in his 59 Epistle Ad Paulinum; he joineth Pastors and Doctors so near together, because Doctrine is required to the Office of a Pastor. And indeed blind Obedience is but an ill Nurse for the people; to the spiritual perfection there is necessarily required a growing up from knowledge to knowledge, from one Virtue to another. And therefore Ignorance is so fare from begetting Devotion, that it strangleth it; 'Tis the mist and fog, and damp of the multitude; the dark Lantern of the seduced Church, which is not only close shut to itself, but to all that are about it. 
Stella in cap. 6. lucae. v. 39  Ridiculum est, ut qui speculator est, caecus sit, Doctor, inscius; 'Tis beyond common absurdity, to make a blind man an Overseer; an illiterate one, Doctor of the chair. Prophets of old, you know, were called Seers and Rulers of the people, Men of good Eyes; Insomuch, that when Moses was to encamp in the Wilderness, he desired Hobab not to departed from him, Because he should be to him instead of eyes, Numb. 10.31. 
Numb. 10.31.  A Pastor or Governor with the people is as the eye in the body, or the apple in that eye, or the quickness and clearness in that apple; 'Tis the Organ by which they see, and are indeed blind without it. Hence they have their double Title of Seekers and Watchmen, 
Jer. 10.21.  both for industry and perspicacy. And therefore Moses is commanded to tell Aaron from the mouth of God himself, that he that was lame or blind might not approach to offer the bread of his God, 
Levit. 21.17.  Levit. 21.17. So choice he was of admitting servants about him with any mental blemish, that he would not brook a corporal.  
When the jebusites in the sight of David had laid their Blind and their Lame upon the walls of jerusalem, the Text saith, They were hated of David's soul, and not permitted to come into his house; 
2 Sam 5.8.  and he that would go up to the Gutter, and smite the jebusites should be his chief Captain and Commander, 2 Sam. 5.8. And in truth, what have the Blind and the Lame to do with the walls of jerusalem? What share or inheritance have Impotence and Darkness in the Temple of the Lord? What hath Ignorance to do in the Sanctuary, where the Lamp and the Oil should flourish? David hates it with his soul, the man after Gods own heart will not suffer them to come under his roof; the Captains of Israel have a command to smite them; the Gospel itself denouncing her bitter woes against the blind Guide, 
Math. 23.19.  and the Law prohibiting any thing that was Lame or Blind to be offered in Sacrifice to the Lord. 
Deut. 15.21.  Deut. 15.21.  
Thus the Ignorant is totally cashiered from the office of a Pastor; and they only admitted that are pastorally accommodated, that have their Rod and Staff to comfort, Knowledge and Understanding; And he that is so harnessed, must not only lead forth his flock by the pleasant Waters, but he must also feed it in the green pastures, in the Path of Righteousness, that the loving kindness of the Lord may follow him all the days of his life. 
Psal. 23.  Saint Augustine paraphrasing on that of the 36. Psalm. Thy Righteousness is like the mountains of God verse 6. doth by Mountains, there, understand Pastors. Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, and he first riseth upon these Mountains of his, his Pastors; and having enlightened them, he casteth his beams upon the lesser hills, and from them, to the Valleys below, to the people that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death: This made the Psalmist sing, I have lifted up mine eyes unto the Hills, whence my comfort and health cometh: 
Psal. 121.1.  So that there is no comfort to the inferior people, but from those Hills which are above them; no light to them that sit in darkness, but from that Sun which casteth his Beams on those spiritual Mountains, The asters Paster his own heart: And therefore we find a threefold expostulation of Christ with Saint Peter, If thou lovest me seed my flock; If thou lovest me, etc. Every Si me diligis was seconded with a Pasce oves. No feeding then, no love to Christ; Saint Gregory will tell us so, Si dilectionis est testimonium cura pastionis, quisquis virtutibus pollens gregem Dei pascere renuit, pastorem summum convincitur non amare, in the first of his Pastorals, 5. chapter. A feeding then there is strictly required, both by duty and command; and we hear many a fearful volley and Thunderclap, as well from the Gospel as from the Law, rowzing the sluggish Pastor to an industrious vigilancy and attendance on the Lord's Flock. But because we are fallen into these censorious times, where they deny any kind of feeding, but preaching; or any kind of preaching, but Sermoning; or any kind of Sermons edifying, but the hasty fancies and voluntaries of some private heads; when such come not properly within the verge either of pastoring or preaching; but the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that Inanis garrulitas Saint Paul speaks of, those vain Babble 2. Tim. 2.16. which as in some, increase to more Ungodliness, so in others, to more Faction. Seeing then I say, we are so dangerously beset with censures, that we must either feed according to such men's humours, or else have our mouths shut up with the imputation of dumb Dogs, let us from Christ's threefold command to feed, observe a threefold kind of feeding, Verbo, Exemplo, & temporali Subsidio: I shall beg your patience for a touch at either, and I have done.  
First Verbo, There is a feeding by the Word; 
1 Verbo.  and that is either per justructionem, or per Reprehensionem. Now Instruction hath two Breasts (says Saint Bernard) from whence her milk flows; The one is for Saint Paul's Babe, 1. Cor. 3 and from that droppeth Lac consolationis; the other for his stronger sort, and from this Lac adhortationis; both these to be administered with gentle hands, so Timothy is advised, The Servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, in meekness instructing others, 2. Tim. 2.24. And in this case, Barnabas prevaileth; The Son of consolation hath his plea, the man of thunder hath nought to do, but the gentle Wind, the soft Fire, and the still Voice, that precious Balm which cures the wound, not breaks the head. 
Psal. 141.6.   
Per reprehensionem, where Instruction by the word prevaileth not, Reprehension must, there must be a hewing by the Prophets, 
Hosea 6.5.  & a slaying by the words of our mouth, 
2. Tim. 2.4.  and then, Argue, Objurga, Increpa, saith Saint Paul; Reprove, Rebuke, Exhort; But how? cum omni patientia & doctrina, so that, those who are of a vicious conversation, are to be rebuked; others more religiously inclined, exhorted, but all with long suffering and Doctrine 2. Tim. 2.4. Hence it was, that in the Ark of the covenant ('tis a postil observation, and I pray take it so) was placed the Pot of Manna, the Rod, and the Tables of the Testament; 
jacob. de Vorag. Domin. 2. post pas. ser. 2.  to typify belike, that in the true Pastor, who is a living Ark, there should be the golden pot of Manna, Sweetness of Exhortation, and this quoad bonos, than the Rod Budding: Discipline and Correction, and that quoad duros, and lastly, the two Tables written, Knowledge and Understanding, Judgement and Discretion: and these quoad omnes. And for this reason it was, that Solomon set engraven in the bases of the Temple, Lions, Oxen, and Cherubins, 1. Kings 7.29. moralising by the Ox, Gentleness: by the Lion, Austerity: by the Cherubins, Knowledge: and therefore the Pastor after Gods own heart must be in respect of the good, Mansuetus, of the obstinate Severus; of both, Sapiens and Discretus. I know; the Scriptures mention a broken heart, and the bruised reed, and the smoking flax; and for such is ordained the spirit of meekness, the Staff of comfort, and the Obsecro vos per misericordias Dei, Rom. 12.1. 
Rom. 12.1.  On the other side, we meet with a Stiff Neck, and the Iron Sinew, and the Heart of Adamant; and there the Hammer must be employed that breaketh the stone, two edged Sword dividing asunder the soul, and the spirit, the very joints and the marrow. Heb. 4.12.  
Is Piety then blossoming? shall I not cherish it? Is Wickedness branching forth? shall I not prune it? shall I make a Pulpit, the Throne of Falsehood; shall I teach God to lie? shall I bitter virtue, and sweeten vice? Call Light, Darkness, and Darkness Light? Am I not God's Ambassador, his Herald? shall I proclaim Peace, where there is open War? deal with the Dulcimer and the Cymbal, when I should be at the Trumpet and the Fife? shall I sing of men's providence when I should cry down their Opression? magnify their Religion, when I should scourge their Hypocrisy? shall I apply Lenitives and Oils, where Corrasives are more proper? stroke a sore, when I should bruise it? Lastly, shall I instead of the Razor, come with the Brush, and the Comb? when I should lance or cut off a growing Insolence, shall I curl and frounse it? No, but as on the one side I condemn the rough hands of Esau, so on the other, the soft voice of jacob; as well him that gripes the tender and relenting Conscience, as him that will not scarify the impostumated and corrupt. There is a time as well for Lightning and Thunder, as for Rain; and all these from the clouds above, from the Ministers of God, who are his spiritual clouds; upon which the Fathers have many a dainty flourish, and continuing the Metaphor, drive on to an Allegory, and say, that when God threatens by preachers, Tonat per nubes: when he doth wonders by them, 
D. Aug. in Psal. 35. v. 5.  Coruscat per nubes: when he promiseth blessings by them, Pluit per nubes. Thy mercy O Lord is in the Heavens, and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. Psal. 108.4. By Truth here, Saint Augustine understands the Word, and by the Clouds, the Teachers and Dispensers' of it. Now how can we that are but Earth (saith the Father) know that God's mercies are in the Heavens? mittendo veritatemsuam usquè ad nubes, by fending his truth unto the clouds, by revealing his word to his faithful Ministers, which like those bright clouds Zac. 10.1. shall give their showers of rain to every grass of the Field. Every man that is but as the grass of the Field, shall know that these mercies of God are heavenly, and provided for him; if he believe in the truth of that word which God reacheth unto his clouds; or rather in that truth which is The Word that cometh with the clouds, and every shall see. 
Revel. 1.7.   
Now, though Pastors are so compared unto the clouds, that they can lighten and thunder as well as rain; yet the rain is most fruitful to the pasturing of their Flocks. It was a fearful judgement, God was, preparing for judah his Plant, and Israel his Vineyard, when he threatened it with a Mandabo nubibus nè pluant super eam, I will command the clouds that they rain not on it, Isai. 5.6. And certainly, that Plant cannot, but whither; that Vineyard, but grow into barrenness, and instead of the Grape, brings forth the Thorn and the Brier, which is not refreshed with the Dew of Heaven, not watered with the droppings of these Clouds. And therefore, the Church had need to pray, 
Judas 1 2.  that her Pastors be not such as Saint jude calls Clouds without water (dry and ignorant Pastors) or Saint Peter, 
2 Pet. 2.17.  Clouds carried with●● tempest (turbulent and factious Pastors) but jobs wel-ballanced clouds, 
Job. 37.16.  those bottles of Heaven (as he styles them) which drop down the fruitful dew, and send the joyful rain on the inheritance; Pastors that can feed as well by instruction, as reprehension; by knowledge, as understanding.  
As there was before a feeding by the Word, 
2. Exemplo.  so here a seeding by Example too; our Life must preach, as well as our Doctrine; Action, as Instruction. Titus must not only speak the things which become sound Doctrine; but in all things beside, He must show himself a pattern of good works, 
Part. 1. past.  Tit. 2.17. Non deoet hominem ducatum suscipere, qui nescit homines vivendo praeire, saith Saint Gregory; he that hath the charge and government of others, should as fare outstrip them in Example as in Office. Those whom the Scriptures so richly  with Titles of Lights and Candles, and Burning Lamps, should so shine before men, that they may not only hear their words, but also see their good works, and then Glorificabunt patrem, they shall glorify their Father which is in Heaven. Vocem virtutis dabis, si quod suades, prius tibi cognosceris persuasisse, validior operis, quam oris vox, as Saint Bernard sweetly, in his 59 Sermon upon the Canticles. He that will work a reformation in the miscarriages of others, must first circumcise his own; Si me visflere, dolendum est prius; If I will be a curb to others, I must first be a bridle to myself. The Pastor hath not so great a conflict with the ear of the multitude, as with the eye; which is more active and intent upon what he practiceth, than what he doth prescribe; and this is rather their madness than their judgement, since examples are not totally to carry them, but precepts. Nazianzene you know was wont to style great men, Speaking Laws, and unprinted Statutes; they were first Laws and Statutes to themselves, and then they not only spoke obedience to others, but also impressed and commanded what they spoke, Boni mores praedicantium, Saleorum Doctrinae, the integrity and manners of the Preacher is the salt of his Doctrine; 
2 Kings 2.20.  And as that Salt which Elisha cast into the Spring made the waters sweet, which were before bitter and unsavoury, so shall his conversation sweeten his precepts, though they seem never so bitter and untooth some to the people. He that will be great in the Kingdom of God, must both teach and do; nay, if he teach well, he must first do, 
Mat. 5.19.  and then teach. Eusebius tells Damasus and Theodosius, Facite, & posteapradicate; Christ never said, Qui praedicaverit voluntatem patris mei, sed qui fecerit; Not he that preacheth, but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven, 
Mat. 7.21.  shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven: Subtilium verborum Dollor & non operum, est quaedam levis aurium inslatio, 
〈◊〉 Dam●sum & Then●osium de vila & ●●ansi●u S. Hieronim.  & sumus sine fructu pertransiens, saith the same Father; This feeding of a Flock by words only, is but a slight fanning of the air, a thin cloud of smoke, that in the rising vanisheth; and what is this to the substance of Religion? Surely, no more than the shadow of it. Give then Camelians air, and Men bread. There are many intruders upon the Sanctuary of the Lord, whose Bells tingle shrewdly; but their pomegranate buds not forth; a noise we hear of, but no fruit, 
Cant. 7.12.  as if all Religion were planted in the tongue, none in the hands. God's Word is often in Scripture compared to a Sword, and a Sword how can a tongue brandish without a hand? And therefore the sweet Singer of Israel says of the children of Zion, that they had Exultationes Dei in gutture, & gladium hipennem in manu; not only the high praises of God in their mouth, but a two edged sword in their hand. 
Psal. 149.6.  And upon this hint, belike it was, that Christ grounded his Fac hoc, & vives, not Teach this, but Doethis, and thou shalt-live; And therefore your Praedicants of old were called Operarios, quia opere magis quam ore praedicare debent, as Stella glosses that, mittet Operarios suos in messem. Luke 10.6.  
As there was but now a verbal and moral kind of feeding, so here a corporal; 
Temporali subsidio.  Before, by Instruction and Example, now by Distribution; There Practice must confirm our doctrine, here Charity our practice. And this is Saint Paul's super omnia induimini, his vinculum perfectionis Col. 3. The chief part of that religion which Saint James calls pura, & immaculata, first, Visit the Fatherless and the Widow in their affliction, relieve them, and then the other will follow, thou shalt keep thyself unspotted of the World. James 1.21. All our profession of sincerity without this, is but a tincling Christianity, no better than the Apostles Cymbal, or his sounding brass. Let our congregations ring of justification by Faith only; you know who tells you without work, 
Psal. 51.14.  Faith is a dead faith. james 2.17. He that giveth us tongues to sing aloud of his Righteousness, doth also teach our hands to war for him, and our singers to battle. Our Actions fight more for our religion, than our words can. 
Psal. 144.1.  He is a Rector indeed (saith Saint Augustine) that doth as well refresh the hungry with the crumbs of his table, as feed the ignorant with the bread of his knowledge; 
D. Aug. 13. de div ersis.  Libenter audit'e jus linguam loquentem, cujus expect at dextram porrigentem. Let then, our Hospitality preach as well as our Pulpit; our Alms edify, no less than our Doctrine. Nature doubtless, intonded nothing superfluous, or in vain; so that, 
Optimus Dispensator est, quisibinith; l reservat. S. Hieron. ad Nepot. Ep. 7.  God allotting us two hands, and but one tongue, would have us distribute, as well as talk; communicate by our substance, as by our knowledge; where the mouth is always open, and the bowels shut, we have just cause to suspect that man's religion for imperfect; seeing God is a God of compassion, as well as jealousy. Between three Sermons a week, and but one Alms in an age there is no proportion; Let us as well fill the poor man's Belly, as his Ears; that is the way to glorify God, and thank us. I cannot but grieve at the Savageness of those dispositions; that for bread, sometimes give but a stone, for a Fish a Scorpion. a house of correction, instead of an Hospital; a Whip for an Alms. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy, and by the same reason, Cursed are the merciless, for they shall find no mercy. If I am thus unnatural to my Brother whom I daily see, what respect can I have to my God, whom I never saw? An Angel tells Cornelius, that his Alms were come up as a memorial before the Lord. God doth not only take notice of our charityes, 
Acts 10.4.  but enrolls them; A cup of cold water given in his name doth not lose a reward, a reward? no, not a crown; we have his own word for it, I was hungry, 
Matth. 25.35.  and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and yet gave me drink; what is the end of these? Their Righteousness shall go into life eternal. Math. 25.46.  
God grant, that we may be all of us Pastors according to his Heart; that we may so feed our flocks with the spiritual and the temporal bread, here, that they with us may be hereafter fed with the Eternal Bread, the celestial Manna, the Food of Angels, in the Kingdom of Heaven; To which the Lord bring us for his Christ's sake Amen, Amen.  
Gloria in Excelsis Deo.  
FINIS.   

Perlegi has Conciones in quibus nihil reperio sanae fidei, aut bonis moribus contrarium; ideoque dignas judico quae Typis mandentur.  
THOMAS WYKES R. P. Episc. Lond. Cap. domest. Lond. July 10. 1637.