LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both.

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Title
LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both.
Author
Farindon, Anthony, 1598-1658.
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London :: Printed by Tho. Roycroft for Richard Marriott,
CIC DC LXXII [i.e. 1672]
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Church of England -- Sermons.
Sermons, English -- 17th century.
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http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A40888.0001.001
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"LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both." In the digital collection Early English Books Online 2. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A40888.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed October 31, 2024.

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Page 227

The Tenth SERMON. (Book 10)

PART I.

MATTH. XXIV. 42.

Watch therefere; For yee know not what hour your Lord doth come.

THese are the words of our blessed Saviour, and a part of the answer he returned to that question which was put up by his Disciples vers. 3. Tell us, When shall these things be? and what shall be the signe of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Where we may observe that he doth not satisfy their curiosity, which was measuring of Time, even to the last point and moment of it, when it shall be no more, but he resolveth them in that which was fit for them to know, and passeth by in silence and untoucht the other as a thing laid up and reserved in the bo∣some of his Father. The time he telleth them not, but foretelleth those fearful signes which should be the forerunners of the destruction of Jeru∣salem and of the end of the world: Which two are so interwoven in the prediction that Interpreters scarce know how to distinguish them. We need not take any pains to disintangle or put them asunder. At the thirtieth verse our Saviour presents himself in the clouds with power and great glory: The Angels sound the Trumpet, at the next: The two men in the Field, and the two women grinding at the mill, in the verses immedi∣ately going before my Text, the one taken, the other left, are a fair evi∣dence, and seem to point out to the end of the world, which will be a time of discrimination, of separating the Goats from the Sheep. And then these words will concern us as much as the Apostles; In which He who is our Lord and King, to rule and govern us, He that was, and that is, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is to come, telleth us of his coming, openeth his will,* 1.1 and manifesteth his power, and, as he hath given us Laws, telleth us he will come to require them at our hands; He that is the Wisdome of his Fa∣ther, He that neither slumbreth nor sleepeth, calleth upon us, maketh this stir and noise about us; and the alarum is, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Be watchful. Call it what we please, an Admonition, or an Exhortation, it hath the necessi∣tating and compulsive force of a Law, and Christ is his own Herald, and proclaimeth it as it were by the sound of the trumpet: For this VIGI∣LATE ERGO, Watch therefore, is tuba ante tubam, is as a trumpet before the last trumpet; and thus it soundeth, To you it is commanded, to fling your selves off from the bed of security, to set a court of guard upon your

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selves, to rowze up your selves, to stand as it were on a watch-tower, looking for and expecting the coming of the Lord. I may call it a Law; but it is not as the laws of men, which are many times the result of mens wills and are guided and determined by their lusts and affections; and so Ambition maketh laws, and Covetousness maketh laws, and private In∣terest maketh laws, with this false Inscription, BONO PƲBLICO, For the publick good: But it is prefaced and ushered in with Reason, which con∣cerneth not so much the Head as the Members, not the Lord as his Ser∣vants, not the King as his Subjects, for us men, and for our salvation. For him that is in the field, and him that is in the house, for him that sitteth on the throne, and her that grindeth at the mill, for the whole Church, is this warning given, is this law promulged. And every word is a rea∣son; 1. That he is our Lord that is to come, 2. That he will come, 3. That the time of his coming is uncertain: A Lord to seal and ratifie his laws with our blood, which we would not subscribe to nor make good by our obedience;* 1.2 and a Lord gone as it were in∣to a far Countrey,* 1.3 and leaving us to traffick till he come, but after a while to come and reckon with us; and last of all, at an uncer∣tain time, at an hour we know not, that every hour may be un∣to us as the hour of his coming: for he that prefixeth no hour may come the next. Every one of these is a reason strong enough to enforce this Conclusion, Watch therefore. A Lord he is and shall we not fear him? To come, and shall we not expect him? To come at an hour we know not, and shall we not watch? These are the Pre∣misses; and the Conclusion is Logically and formally deduced, primae ne∣cessitatis, the most necessary Conclusion that a servant or subject can draw. So that in these words we have these things considerable: first, the Per∣son coming, your Lord; secondly, his Advent, He will come; thirdly, the Uncertainty of the hour, We know not when it will be; Out of which will naturally follow this Conclusion, which may startle and awake us out of sleep, Watch therefore.

We will follow that method which we have laid down, and begin with the premisses. First it will concern us to look upon the Per∣son. For as the person is, such is our expectation. And could we take the Idea of him in our hearts, and behold him in the full compass and extent of his power, we should unfold our arms, and look about us, veternum excutere, shake off our sloth and drowsiness, and prepare for his coming. For it is Christ our Lord. Ask of me,* 1.4 and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance, saith God to Christ.* 1.5 And Christ saith, I and the Father are one. We believe he shall judge the world;* 1.6 and we read that the Father hath committed all judgement to the Son. Take him as God, or take him as Man, he is our Lord. Cùm Dominus dicitur, unus agnoscitur; for there is but one faith,* 1.7 and but one Lord. So that Christ may well say,* 1.8 You call me Lord and Master, and so I am; A Lord, as in many other respects, so jure redemtionis, by redemption, having bought us with a price;* 1.9 and jure belli, by way of conquest, by tread∣ing our enemies under our feet, and taking us out of slavery and bondage.

And that we may not think that Christ laid down his power with his life, or that he is gone from us never to come again, we will a little consider the nature of his Dominion, and behold him there from whence he must come to judge the quick and the dead. And the Prophet David hath pointed out to him sitting at the right hand of God, where we should ever behold him, and fix our thoughts

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and our eye of faith upon him, in this our watch,* 1.10 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thy enemies thy footstool. Which speech is metaphorical, and we cannot draw it to any other sense then that on which the intent of the speaker did level it, which reacht no fur∣ther then this, To shew that his own Kingdom was nothing in compari∣son of Christs, which was of another and higher nature.* 1.11 As Tertulian spake of Parables, We do not draw conclusions and doctrines out of Me∣taphors, but we expound the Metaphor by the doctrine which is taught and the scope of the teacher, nor must we admit of any interpretation, which notwithstanding the Metaphor might yield, that is not consonant and agreeable to the doctrine and analogie of faith. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith the Philosopher; We can neither bring a Meta∣phor into a definition, nor can we build an argument upon it. We may say of Metaphors as Christ spake of the voice from heaven, They are used in Scripture for our sakes 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.12 for likeness and proportions sake, and serve to present intellectual objects to the eye, and make that light which we have of things familiar to us a help and medium by which we may more clearly see those which are removed and stand at greater distance. For he cannot be said to sit there at the right hand of God from the position and site of his body. We cannot entertain so gross an imagination.* 1.13 And S. Ste∣phen telleth us he saw him standing at the right hand of God. But it may declare his victory, his triumph, and his rest as it were from his labour. Secundùm consuetudiuem nostram illi consessus offertur, qui victor adveniens honoris gratiâ promeretur ut sedeat; It is borrowed, saith S. Ambrose, from our customary speech, by which we offer him a place and seat for honours sake who hath done some notable and meritorions service. And so Christ having spoiled the adversary by his death, having led captivity captive, and put the Prince of dark∣ness in chains, at his return with these spoils heareth from his Father, Sit now down at my right hand. Nor doth God's right hand point out to any fixt or determined place where he sitteth. For Christ himself telleth the high Priest that they shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven,* 1.14 which if literally understood, we must needs conceive him coming and sit∣ting at the same time. All agree it is a Metaphor: and some in∣terpret it of that Supremacy Christ hath above the Creature. For so he is described sitting at the right hand of God in heavenly places,* 1.15 far above all principality and power, and every name that is named not onely in this world, but in the world to come. Some have conceived that by this honour of sitting at the right hand of God not onely an Equality with God is implyed, but something more:* 1.16 Not that the Son hath any thing more then the Father; for they are equal in all things: but because in respect of the exercise and execution of his Royal office he hath as it were this dignity to sit in his Royal seat as Lord and Governour of his Church. For the Father is said, as I told you, to commit all judgement to the Son. But we may say with Tertullian. Malo in scripturis fortè minùs sapere quàm contrá;* 1.17 We had rather understand less in Scripture then amiss; rather be wary then ven∣ture too far, and wade till we sink. And that will prove the best inter∣pretation of Scripture which we draw out of Scripture it self. And then S. Paul hath interpreted it to our hands. For whereas the Prophet David telleth us, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, the Apostle speaketh more expresly,* 1.18 He must reign till he hath put down all enemies under his feet; and in the Epistle to the Hebrews,* 1.19 We have such

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an high Priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; that is, We have such an high Priest who is also a Lord and King, of majesty and power to command and govern us, who hath absolute authority over things in heaven and things in earth, over all the souls and bodies of men, and may prescribe them Laws, reward the obedient, and punish offenders, either in this world, or the next, or in both For though he were a Lord and King even in his cratch and on his cross, yet now his dominion and Kingly power was most manifest; and he commandeth his Disciples to publish the Gospel of peace and those precepts of Christian conversation to all the world, and speaketh not as a Prophet, but as a Prince, in his own name; en∣joyneth repentance and amendment of life to all the nations of the earth, which were now all under his dominion. Thus, saith Christ himself,* 1.20 it is writen, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise a∣gain, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in his name, among all nations. And his Dominion is not subordinate,* 1.21 but absolute: He commandeth not as the Centurion in the Gospel, who had divers under him, yet himself was under authority; but,* 1.22 as Solomon's King, he is Rex ALKƲM, a King against whom there is no rising up.

And now that it may appear that he is not for ever thus to sit at the right hand of God, but there sitteth to rule and govern us, to behold and observe us in every motion and in every thought, and will, nay must, come again with a reward for those who bow to his sceptre, and with vengeance to be poured forth upon their heads who contemn his laws, and think neither of him nor the right hand of God, and will not have him reign over them, though they call him their King, let us a little further consider the nature and quality of his Dominion, that our fear and reverence, our care and caution may draw him yet a little near∣er to us, and we may not onely conceive of him as sitting at the right hand of God, but so live as if he were now coming in the clouds. Tell ye the daughter of Sion,* 1.23 Behold, thy King cometh to thee, meek, and sitting on an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. This was his first coming, in great humility.* 1.24 And this and his retinue shew that his Kigdom was not of this world. He humbled himself, saith S. Paul: wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, given him power, dignity and honour, and made him our Lord and King. For his Prophetical office, which he exercised in the land of Ju∣dea, was in a manner an act and effect of his Kingly office, by which he sitteth as Lord in the throne of Mejesty: For by it he declared his Fa∣thers will and promulged his Laws throughout the world. As a King and Lord he maketh his Laws, and as a Prophet he publisheth them, a Prophet, and a Priest, and a Lord for ever: For he teacheth his Church, he mediateth and intercedeth for his Church, and governeth his Church to the end of the world. Take then the Laws by which he governeth us, the virtue and power, the compass and duration of his Dominion, and we shall find it to be of a higher and more excellent nature then that which the eye of flesh so dazleth at,* 1.25 that he is The LORD of Lords, and KING of Kings.

And first, the difference between his Dominion and the Kingdomes of the world is seen not onely in the Authours but the Laws them∣selves. The Laws of men are enacted many times nec quid, nec qua∣re, and no reason can be given why they are enacted; good reason there is why there should be Laws made against them, and they a∣bolished. Some written in blood, too rigid and cruel; some in water,

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ready to vanish; many of them but the results and dictates of mens lusts and wild affections, made not so safeguard any State but their own. But Christs are pure and undefiled, exact and perfect, such as tend to perfection, to the good of his Subjects, and will make them like unto this Lord, heirs together with him of eternity of bliss. And as the reward is eternal, so are they unchangeable, the same to day and to the end of the world, not like the Laws of the Heathen, which were raised with one breath and pulled down by another, which were fixed by one hand and torn down by a second.* 1.26 Lycurgi leges emenda∣tae, saith Tertullian; Lycurgus his Laws were so imperfect, so ill fitting the Commonwealth, that they were brought under the hammer and the file, to be beat out and fashioned in another form more proportio∣nable to that body for which they were made, were corrected by the Lacedemonians: Which undervaluing of his wisdom did so unman him that he would be a man no longer, but starved himself to death. Ve∣tus & squalens sylva legum edictorum securibus truncatae; the whole wood of the old Laws now sullied and weakned with age was cut down by the edicts and escripts of after-Emperours at the very root as with an ax. All of them are in the body of time, and worn out with it; either fail of themselves, or else are cast aside; humane Laws being but as shadows cast from men in power, and when they fall to the ground, are lost with them, and are no more to be seen,* 1.27 nec uno statu consistunt, sed, ut coeli facies & maris, ità rerum atque fortunae tempestati∣bus variantur, nor do they remain in one state, but alter as the face of the Heavens and the Sea, now smile, anon frown, now a calm, and by and by a tempest. Now the strong man saith, Do this; anon a stronger then he cometh, and I forfeit my head if I do it. Laws are too oft written with the point of the sword, and then the character follow∣eth the hand that beareth it. Thus it is with the Laws of men: But the Laws of this our Law-giver can no more change then he that made them. No bribe can buy out their power, no dispensations wound them, no power can disannul them; but they are the same,* 1.28 and of the same countenance. They moult not a feather, they alter not in one circumstance, but direct the obedient, and stare the offender in the face, and by the power of this Lord kindle a hell in him in this life, and will appear at the great day to accuse him: For we either stand or fall in judgment according to these Laws. In a word, humane Laws are made for certain climates, and fitted to the complexion and temper of certain Commonwealths; but these for the whole world. Rome and Brittany and Jerusalem, all places, are bound alike; and as his Dominion so his Laws reach from one end of the earth to another. And these which he publisht at the first are not onely Laws but promises and pledges of his second coming: For he made them not for nought, but hath left them with us till he come again in glory to judge both the quick and the dead, according to his Gospel.

Besides, the Laws of men are too narrow, and cannot reach the whole body of Sin, cannot comprehend all, not the inward man, the thoughts and surmises of the heart, no not every visible act,* 1.29 they for∣bid not all, they absolve not all. Some irregularities there be which these Laws look not upon, nor have they any other punishment then the common hatred of men, who can pass no other sentence upon them then this, That they dislike them, and we are forced to leave them to the censure and anger of the Highest, saith Seneca; Quoties li∣cet, non oportet; Every thing that is lawful for me to do is not fit to be done. And his integrity is but lame that walketh on at pleasure, and

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knoweth no bounds but those which the Laws of men have set up, and never questioneth any thing he doth till he meeteth with a check; is honest no further then this, that he feareth not a prison nor the gibbet; is honest, because he deserveth not to be hanged. How many are there who are called Christians, who yet have not made good their title to that honour which we give to a just man? How many count themselves just men, yet do those things which themselves, if they would be them∣selves, would condemn as most unjust, and do so when others do them? and how many have carried so much honesty with them into hell? The Laws of men cannot reach home to carry us to that height of innocency to which no other Law but that within us might lift us up. But the Laws of this Lord, like his Power and Providence, reach and com∣prehend all, the very looks and profers and thoughts of the mind, which no man seeth, which we see not our selves; which, though they break not the peace nor shake any pillar of the Commonwealth (for a thought troubleth no heart but that which conceiveth it) yet stand in opposition to that policy which this our Lord hath drawn out, and to that end for which he is our Lord, and are louder in his ears then an e∣vil word in ours; and therefore he looketh not onely on our outward guilt, but also on the conscience it self, and pierceth to the dividing a∣sunder of the soul and the spirit, and regulateth the very thoughts and intents of the heart, which he looketh upon, not as fading and vanishing characters in the soul, but as killing letters imprinted and engraven there, as S. Basil speaketh,* 1.30 as full and complete actions wrought out in the in∣ward man (S. Bernard calleth them passivas actiones, passive actions) which he will judge secundum evangelium, according to these Laws which he hath published in his Gospel.

Secondly, that he is a Lord appeareth by the virtue and power of his Dominion. For whereas all the power on earth (which so often dazleth us) can but afflict the body, this woundeth the soul, rippeth up the ve∣ry heart and bowels: and when those Lords which we so tremble at till we fall from him,* 1.31 can but kill the body, this Lord can cast both soul and body into hell, nay can make us a hell unto our selves, make us pu∣nish and torment our selves, and, being greater then our Conscience, can multiply those strokes. Humane Laws have been brought into dis∣grace because they had not power enough to attend and hold them up; and even the common people, who fear them most, have by their own observation gathered the boldness to call them cobwebs: for they see he that hath a full purse or a good sword will soon break through them, or find a besome to sweap them away. What speak you of the Laws? I can have them and bind them up in sudariolo, saith Petrus Damia∣nus, in the corner of my handkerchief: Nay many times for want of power victae leges, the Laws must submit as in conquest, and, though they have a tongue to speak, yet they have not a hand to strike. And as it is in punishment, so it is sometimes in point of reward: Men may raise their merit and deserts so high that the Exchequer it self shall not find a reward to equal them. We have a story in our own Chronicles of a Noble-man who did such service for his friend; then but a private man, that he made him first a Conquerour, then a King: the Historian giveth this note, That Kings love not to be too much beholding to their Subjects, nor to have greater service done then they are able to reward, and so (how truly I know not) maketh the setting on of the Crown on his friends head one cause of the losing of his own. But it is not so with this our Lord, who, being now in his throne of Majesty, cannot be outdared by any sin, be it never so great,

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never so common, and can break the hairy scalp of the most giant-like offender, and shiver in pieces the tallest cedar in Libanus. Who shall be able to stand up in his sight? In his presence the boldest sinner shall tremble and fall down, and see the horrour of that profitable, honoura∣ble sin, in which he triumpht, and called it Godliness. The Hypocrite, whose every word, whose every motion, whose every look was a lye, shall be unmaskt. And the man of Power, who boasted in malice, and made his Will a Law, and hung his sword on his Will, to make way to that at which it was levelled, shall be beat down into the lowest pit, to howl with those who measured out justice by their sword, and thought every thing theirs which that could give them. Before him every sin shall be a sin, and the wages thereof shall be Death. Again, he hath rewards, and his Treasury is full of them. Not onely the pow∣ring forth my blood as water for the Truths sake,* 1.32 but a cup of cold wa∣ter shall have its full and overflowing recompense: nor shall there ever any be able to say, What profit is it that we have kept his Laws? No,* 1.33 saith S. Paul, Non sunt condignae; Put our Passions to our Actions,* 1.34 our Sufferings to our Alms, our Martyrdome to our Prayers, they are not worthy the naming in comparison of that weight of glory, which our Lord, now sitting at the right hand of God,* 1.35 hath prepared for them that fear him. Nec quisquam à regno ejus subtrahitur; Nor can any go out of his reach, or stand before him when he is angry. He that sitteth on the throne and he that grindeth at the mill to him are both alike.* 1.36

And now in the third place, that every knee may bow to him,* 1.37 and every tongue confess him to be the Lord, let us a little take notice of the large compass and circuit of his Dominion. The Psalmist will tell us, that he shall have dominion from sea to sea,* 1.38 and from the river unto the ends of the earth. Adam the first man, and he that shall stand last up∣on the earth, every man is his subject. For he hath set him,* 1.39 saith S. Paul, at his right hand in heavenly places, and hath put all things un∣der his feet, and gave him to be the Head over all things to his Church. And what a thin shadow, what a Nothing, is all the overspreading power of this world to this? All other Dominion hath its bounds and limits, which it cannot pass but by violence and the sword. Nor is it expedient for the world to have onely one King, nor for the Church to have one universal Bishop, or, as they speak, one visible Head. For as a ship may be made up to that bulk that it cannot be managed, so the num∣ber of men and distance of place may be so great that it cannot subsist under one Government. Thus it falleth out in the world; but it is not so in the Kingdom of this our Lord. No place so distant or remote to which this Power cannot reach. Libyam remotis Gadibus jungit; All places are to him alike, and he sees them all at once. It is called the Catholick Church, and in our Creed we profess we believe SANCTAM CATHOLIC AM ECCLESIAM, the holy Catholick CHƲRCH, that is, That that Church which was shut up within the narrow confines of Judea, now under the Gospel is as large as the world it self. The invitation is to all, and all may come. They may come who are yet without; and they might have come who are bound hand and foot, and cannot come: The gate was once open to them, but now it is shut. Persa, Gothus, Indus philosophantur, saith S. Hierom; The Persian, and the Goth, and the Indian, and the Egyptian, are sub∣jects under this Lord. Barbarism it self boweth before him, and hath changed her harsh notes into the sweet melodie of the Cross.* 1.40 There was dew onely upon the Fleece, the people of the Jews; but now that

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flece is dry,* 1.41 and there is dew upon all the earth. The Gospel, saith our Sa∣viour, must be Preached to all nations. And when the holy Ghost descen∣ded to seal and confirm the Laws of this Lord, there were present at this great sealing or confirmation some,* 1.42 saith the Text, of all nations under heaven, that did hear 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the wonderful things of God, every one in his own language; so that the Gospel might seem to have been Preached throughout the world before the Apostles did stir a foot from Jerusalem. But here we may observe, that Christ, who hath jus ad omnem terram, hath not in strictness of speech jus in omni terrâ. The right and propriety is his for ever; but he doth not take possession of it all at once, but successively and by parts. It is as easie for him to il∣luminate all the world at once as the least nook and corner of it; but this Sun of righteousness spreadeth his beams gloriously, but is not seen of all, because of the interposition of mens sins, who exclude them∣selves from the beams thereof.* 1.43 This true Light came into the world, but the world received him not. But yet what our sensuality will not suffer him to do at once, he doth by degrees, and passeth on, and gaineth ground, that so successively he may be seen and known of all the world.

But suppose men shook off their allegiance, as too many, the greatest part of the world, the greatest part of Christendome, do; suppose there were none found that will bow before him (which will never be) suppose they crucifie him again; yet is he still our King and our Lord, the King and Lord of all the world. Such an universal falling away and forsaking him would not take away from him his Dominion, nor remove him from the right hand of God, and strip him of his Power. If all the world were Infidels, yet he were a Lord still, and his Power as large and irresistible as ever. For his Royalty dependeth not on the duty and fidelity of his subjects: If it did, his Dominion would be in∣deed but of a very narrow compass, the Sheep not so many as the Goats, his flock but little. Indeed he could have no right at all, if it could be taken from him. Neither deceit nor violence can take away a right: No man can lose his right till he forfeit it; which was impossible for this supreme Lord to do. All the contradictions of all the men in the world cannot weaken his title, or contract his power. If all should forsake him,* 1.44 if all should send this message to him, We will not have thee reign over us, yet in all this scorn and contempt, in this open rebellion and contradiction of sinners, he is still the Lord. And as he favoureth those subjects who come in willingly, whom he guideth with his staff; so he hath a rod of iron to bruise his enemies: And this Lord shall command, and at his command his servants and executioners shall take those his e∣nemies who would not have him reign over them,* 1.45 and slay them before his face. He will not use his power to force and drag them by violence to his service, but if they refuse his help, abuse the means which he offer∣eth them, and turn his grace into wantonness, then will he shew himself a King, and his anger will be more terrible then the roaring of a lion. They shall feel him to be a Lord, when it will be too late to call him so; when they shall weep, and curse, and gnash with their teeth, and howl under that Power which might have saved them. For the same Power openeth the gates of heaven and of hell.* 1.46 In his hand is a cup, saith the Psalmist; and in his hand is a reward; and when he cometh to judge, he bringeth them both along with him. The same Power bring∣eth life and death, as Fabius did peace or war to the Carthaginians in the lap of his garment, and which he will he powreth out upon us, and in both is still our Lord. When Faith faileth, and Charity waxeth cold,

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and the world is set on wickedness, when there be more Antichrists then Christians, he is our Lord, yesterday, and to day,* 1.47 and the same for ever.

In the last place, as the Dominion of our Lord is the largest that e∣ver was, so is it most lasting, and shall never be destroyed.* 1.48 It shall break in pieces, and destroy all the Kingdoms of the earth, but it self shall stand fast for ever. No violence shall shake it, no craft undermine it, no time wast it; but Christ shall remain our Lord for ever. The Apostle in∣deed speaketh of an end, of delivering up his Kingdom,* 1.49 and of subjecti∣on. It is true, there shall be an end; but it is when he 〈◊〉〈◊〉 delivered up his Kingdom: and he shall deliver up his Kingdom, but not till he hath put down all authority. Finis hic defectio non est, nec traditio a∣missio, nec subjectio infirmitas, saith Hilary; This end is no fayling, this delivery no loss, this subjection no weakness nor infirmity. Regnum regnans tradet; He shall deliver up his power, and yet be still a Lord. Take Nazianzen's interpretation, and then this Subjection is nothing else but the fufilling of his Father's will; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith he in his 36th Oration, which he made against the Arians. Take others, and by Christ is meant his Church, which in computation is but one Person with Christ; and when his Church is perfected, then doth he deliver up his Power and Dominion. But let us but observe the manner of the ending of this Kingdom, and the fayling and period of others, and we shall gain light enough to guide us in the midst of all these doubts and difficulties. Either Kingdoms are undermined by craft, and shaken by the madness of the people, who shun the whip, and are beaten with Scorpions, cast off one yoke, and put on a heavier, as the young men in Livy complained; or Kingdoms are changed and altered as it pleaseth those who are victorious, whose right hand is their God: But the Power of this Lord is then, and onely in this sense, said to have an end, when indeed it is in its 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and perfection, when there will be no enemy stirring to subdue, no use of laws; when the sub∣jects are now made perfect, when this Lord shall make his subjects Kings, and crown them with glory and honour for ever. Here is no weak∣ness, no infirmity, no abjuration, no resignation of the Crown and Power, but all things are at an end, his enemies in chains, and his sub∣jects free; free from the fear of Hell, or temptations of the Devil, the World, or the Flesh. And though there be an end, yet he reigneth still; though he be subject, yet he is as high as ever he was; though he hath delivered up his Kingdome, yet he hath not lost it, but remaineth a Lord and King for evermore.

And now you have seen this Lord that is to come; you have seen him sitting at the right hand of God, his Right and Power of government, his Laws just and holy and wise, the Virtue and Power, the Largeness and the Duration of his government: A sight fit for those to look on who love and look for the coming of this Lord. For they that long to meet him in the clouds cannot but delight to behold him at the right hand of God. Look upon him then sitting in majesty and power, and think you now see him moving towards you and descending with a shout. For his very sitting there should be to us as his coming, it being but the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the preparation, to that great day. Look upon him, and think not that he there sitteth idle, but beholdeth the children of men, those that wait for him, and those that think not of him. And he will come down with a shout, not fall as a timber-log, for every frog, e∣very wanton sinner, to leap upon and croak about, but come as a Lord, with a reward in one hand, and a vengeance in the other. Oh it is far

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better to fall down and worship him now, then not to know him to be a Lord till that time that in his wrath he shall manifest his power, and fall upon us, and break us in pieces. Look then upon this Lord, and look upon his Laws, and write them in your hearts. For the Philoso∣pher will tell us that the strength and perfection of Law consisteth not onely 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the wise and discreet framing of them, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the right and due performance of them: For Obedience is the best seal and ratification of a Law. Christ is Lord from all eternity, and cannot be devested of his Royal office, yet he counteth his King∣dome most complete when we are subject and obedient unto him, when he hath taken possession of our hearts, where he may walk (not as he did in Paradise, terrible to Adam, who had forfeited his allegiance, but) as in a garden of pleasures, to delight himself with the sons of men. Behold, he commandeth, threatneth, beseecheth, calleth upon us again and again: And the beseechings of Lords are commands, preces armatae, armed prayers, backt with power. And therefore next consi∣der the Virtue and Power of his Dominion, and bow before him, and do what he commandeth with fear and trembling. Let this Power walk along with thee in all thy wayes. When thou art giving an alms, let it strike the trumpet out of thy hand. When thou fastest, let it be in ca∣pite jejunii, let it begin and end it. When thou art strugling with a tentation, let it drive thee on, that thou faint not, and fall back, and do the work of the Lord negligently.* 1.50 When thou art adding virtue to virtue, let it be before thy eyes, that thou mayest double thy diligence, and make it up complete in every circumstance. And when thou thinkest of evil, let it joyn with that thought, that thou mayest hate the very ap∣pearance of it, and chace it away. Why should Dust and Ashes more aw thee then Omnipotency? Why should thy Eye be stronger then thy Faith? Not onely the frown but the look of thy Superiour composeth and mo∣delleth thee, putteth thee into any fashion or form; thou wilt go, or run, or sit down, thou wilt venture thy body (would that were all) nay, thou wilt venture thy soul, do any thing, be any thing, what his beck doth but intimate: but thy Faith is fearless, as bold as blind, will venture on the point of the sword, feareth what Man, not what this Lord can do; fear∣eth him more that sitteth on the bench than him that sitteth at the right hand of God. If we did believe as we profess, we could not but lay this more to our hearts, even lay it so as to break them. For who can stand up when this Lord is angry? Let us next view the Largeness and Compass of his Dominion, which taketh in all that will come, reacheth those who refuse to come, and would not be contracted in its compass if none should come. And why shouldst thou turn a Saviour into a De∣stroyer? Why shouldst thou die in thy Physicians arms, with thy cordials about thee? Why shouldst thou behold him as a Lord till he be angry? He calleth all, inviteth all to come: Why should Publicanes and sinners enter, and thy disobedience shut thee out? Lastly, consider the Duration of his Dominion, which shall not end but with the world, nor end then when it doth end: for the virtue of it shall reach to all eternity: And then think that under this Lord thou must either be eternally happy or eternally misera∣ble; and let not a flattering but a fading World, let not thy rebellious and traiterous Flesh, let not the Father of lies, a gilded temptation, an ap∣parition, a vain shadow, thrust thee on his left hand. For both at his right and left there is Power which worketh to all eternity.

And now we have walkt about this Sion, and told the towers thereof, shewed you Christs Territories and Dominion, the nature of his Laws, the Virtue and Power, the Largeness and Compass, the Duration of his

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Kingdom, we must in the next place consider his Advent, consider him as now coming. For we cannot imagin (as was said before) that he fitteth idle, like Epicurus his God, nec sibi facessens negotium, nec alte∣ri, not regarding what is done below, but like the true Prometheus, governing and disposing the state of times and actions of men. Divinum numen, etiam qua non apparet, rebus humanis intervenit;* 1.51 His Power insi∣nuateth it self and worketh even there where it doth not appear. Though he be in heaven, yet he can work at this distance. For he fi∣leth the heaven and the earth. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, He beholdeth all things, he heareth all things. He speaketh to thee, and he speaketh in thee. He heareth thee when thou speakest, and he heareth thee when thou speakest not. In his book are all things written: nay, he keepeth a book in the very closet of thy heart, the onely book which shall go along with thee; and when he cometh it shall fly open: Every chapter, every let∣ter, every character of sin shall be as plain to thy eye as to his. And though we here seal up this book, he can read it when it is shut He sitteth above tanquam venturus, as one coming. Indeed to us (who, like those Philosophers in Tully, seeing nothing with our mind, refer all to our sense, and scarce believe any thing but that for which we have an ocular de∣monstration; the eye of whose faith is so dull and heavy that it cannot clearly discern that eye of our Lord which is ten thousand times brighter then the Sun) he is most times as lost; like Epicurus his God, doing nothing;* 1.52 like Baal, either in his journey, or sleeping.* 1.53 And as at his first coming he was had in no reputation,* 1.54 so now he is at the right hand of God he is in a manner forgot. Wo do not insult over him in plain terms, as those did in Theodoret, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉;* 1.55 What doth the carpenters Son now do? but we are as slow of heart to believe what we are taught, and what we say we believe, as those disciples which went to Emmaus. We are told that he did rise again from the dead, and ascended, and sitteth at the right hand of God, and will come again, but it is a long time since, those things were done, and he is long a coming. To the Atheist, to the profane person, to the luke-warm Christian, to the hypocrite, he is in a manner lost: they have sealed up his grave, and he will come no more. And this is one argument that he will come, even this, That we so little regard it. For can a Lord that breatheth forth nothing but Love bear with such contempt? Can he whom the voice of God and Man, whom Scripture and Miracles and Reason have placed on the tribunal, and made Judge of all the world, be kept back by these vain imagi∣nations, which are nothing else but the steam and exhalations of our sen∣sual and brutish part? Shall not he judge all the earth, because we are guilty, and deserve to be condemned? No, veniet, veniet hic;* 1.56 etiamsi nolis, veniet; He will come, he will certainly come, whether thou wilt or no. Nor is delay in coming an argument that he will not come. For the Lord is not slack concerning his promise and coming,* 1.57 as some count slackness, some scoffers, who walk after their own lusts, and ask, Where is the promise of his coming? Sensuality is the mother and nurse of Un∣belief; and the Sense flyeth the knowledge of that which is terrible to it: and so we are, as S. Peter telleth us willingly ignorant of that which we are taught, and will not consider that the world is made of corrup∣tible parts, and therefore must at last be dissolved, and that, as the old world perished by water, so this shall by fire. For what guilty person doth not study to drive the thought of a Judge coming out of his mind? He that hath his delight and his heaven in this world is not willing to hear of another to come; VENIT, The Lord cometh, is not in his Creed. Sed nulla est mora ejus quod cerò eveniet: The deferring or delay of that

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which will certainly come should not come into our consideration. Come he will, though he come not yet: and when he is come, all the time past and before, in which we grew wanton and presumptuous, and beat our fellow-servants,* 1.58 is not in true esteem so much as a moment or the twink∣ling of an eye. It is not slackness, it is not delay. That is our false Gloss, who when we break the Law, are as willing to misinterpret the Law-giver. The Hypocrite thinketh him as very a dissembler as him∣self, and is well perswaded that, though he threaten, yet he meaneth it not though he hath denounced judgment against those that sin and repent not, yet he will not be so good, or rather so bad, as his word. The Sacrilegious person looketh upon him as an enemie to Churches, and him that putteth the hammer into his hand to beat down his own Temple. The Profane person would excaecare providentiam Dei,* 1.59 put out the eye of Gods Providence; and the moral Atheist would pull him from his throne, and thrust him out of the world. Every man frameth such a God as will fit him, and proportioneth him to his lusts. We draw God out as the Painter did the Goddess, in the likeness of those vanities which we most dote on, and so we entitle him to our fraud and oppression, In∣venimus quomodo etiam avarum faceremus,* 1.60 We have found an art to bring him in as an abettour and a promoter of our covetousness and ambition, and so, as much as in us lieth, make him as ambitious and covetous as our selves.* 1.61 Thou thoughtest verily that I was like unto thee, saith God to the Hypocrite. Behold, Christ sitteth at the right hand of God in full power and majesty, ready to descend; but he cometh not yet, and hence the scorner concludeth he will never come. This is a false gloss and a false conclusion, the result and inference of flesh and blood. For it is not slackness (that is the dictate of our lusts) but, if Truth interpret it, it is long suffering; and his long-suffering should end and be eased in our re∣pentance.* 1.62 S. Peter telleth us it is salvation. It is what it should be. If it be not salvation, we have drove it from it self; and see, now it is no∣thing but wrath and indignation. His long suffering is either our salva∣tion or our condemnation.

And this is the true reason why Christ is not yet come, but as it were a coming. For Time is nothing unto him, nor is it any thing in it self; nec intelligitur nisi per actus humanos,* 1.63 nor can we conceive or understand it but by those actions which we do now and again, and which we cannot do at once.* 1.64 A thousand years in his sight are but as yesterday, but not so long, not so long as a thought. He delayeth not, but he beareth with us in this our time. We look upon the day of judgment as upon a day to come; but to him it is present. That he is not come to us, is for our sakes. For the Church of Christ till the consummation of all things, is in fluxu, in corpore temporum, as Tertullian speaketh, is wrapt up in the body of Time, cometh not simul & semel, at once, but successively gaineth the addition of parts. S. Paul calleth it a body: And though it be not such a body as the Stoicks phansied, quod more fluminum in assiduâ diminutio∣ne & adjectione est, which, like Rivers, receiveth every day encrease and every day diminution, and is not the same to day which it was yesterday, yet is it corpus aggregatum, a collected body, which is not made up at once in every part, but receiveth its parts successively. She is terrible as an ar∣my with banners,* 1.65 as it is said of the Spouse in the Canticles: and in an army, you know, the van may lodge there to night where the rere cometh not till the morning: So it is with the Church; it hath alwaies its parts, yet hath alwaies parts to be added. So we read Acts 2.47. that the Lord added to the Church daily, that is, successively, such as should be saved. Quantum iniquitatis grassatur, tantum abest regnum Dei, quod secum affert

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plenam rectitudinem, saith the Father. Christ is come, and yet is still a coming. Whilst there are heresies and schismes in the Church, whilst the one undermineth the bulwarks without, and the other raiseth a mutany within, whilst the Devil rageth, and men sin, there be yet some to be ga∣thered to Christs sheepfold; and though in respect of his power he be al∣ready come, yet for his elects sake he will not execute it yet. And this is the very reason which Justine Martyr giveth of the proroguing and delay of his coming and why the consummation and end of all things is not yet,* 1.66 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, for mankinds sake, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, for the seed of Christians, which is yet to be propagated. For by his eternal wisdome he foreseeth that many there be who will believe, and turn to him by re∣pentance; and some that be not, even many who are yet unborn. For the promise is made to you, and to your children, saith S. Peter,* 1.67

Et natis natorum, & qui nascentur ab illis,
and to all that are afar off, even to as many as the Lord our God shall call. How many thousands are not yet, who shall be Saints? For their sakes it is that the Lord doth not consume the world with fire, that he doth not come to judge the world; that wicked men are permitted to revel on the earth, and the devil to rage; that he suffereth that which he abhorreth, suffereth injustice to move its arms at large, and spread it self like a green bay-tree, and leaveth Innocency bound in chains; that he suffereth men to break his commands, to question his providence, to doubt of his being and essence; that we see this disorder and confusion, the world in a man∣ner dissolved before its end. But when that number is full (a number which we know not, or, if we did, cannot know when he will fill it up) when that is complete, then Time shall be no more; then, lo, he cometh, and will purge the world of heresie and schism, will appear in that maje∣sty that the Atheists shall confess he is God, and see all those crooked wayes, in which his providence seemed to walk, made even and strait: then the Epicure shall see that it was not below him to sit in heaven, and look upon the children of men; no dishonour to his Majesty to manage and guide all those things which are done under the Moon; that he may ride upon the Cherubin, and yet number every hair of our head, and observe the Sparrow that falleth from the house-top: then we shall see him, and we shall see all things put under his feet, even Heresie and Schism, Pro∣faneness and Atheism, Sin and Death, Hell and the Devil himself. This he hath in effect done already by the virtue and power of his Cross, and therefore may be said to be come. But because we resist and hinder that, will not suffer him to make his conquest full, and, when we cannot reach him at the right hand of God, pursue and fight against him in his members, he will come again, and then cometh the end, another consummatum est, all shall be finished, his victory and triumph complete; and he shall lift up the heads of his despised servants, and tread down all his enemies under his feet, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in the most proper sense, triumph,* 1.68 and make a shew of them openly. And this is a fit object for a Christian to look upon.

Of this more.

Notes

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