SERMON V.
l't" bath been suspicious]y doubted, and more than that, freely disputed, aud more than that too, absolutely denied, that Christ was born the five-and-twentieth of December; that this is Cristmas-day: yet for all these doubts and disputations, and denials, we forbear hot, with the whole church of God, constantly and confidently to celebrate this for his day. It bath been doubted, and disputed, and denied, too, that this text, 0 my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him u'hom thou wilt send, hath any relation to the sending of the Messiah, to the eoming of Christ, fo Christmas-day; yet we forbear hot to wait upon the ancient fathers, and, as they said, to say, that Moses having reeeived a eommandment ri-oto God to undertake that great employment of delivering the ehildren of Israel from the oppressions of Pharaoh in E.'pt, and having exeused himself by some other modest and pious pretensions, at last, when God pressed the employment still upon hin, he determines all in this, 0 my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send, or, (as it is in out margin,) whom tkou ,'houldest send. It is a work next to the great work of the redemption of the whole world, to redeem Israel out of E'pt; and therefore do both works at once, put both into one hand, and mitre (luem miurus es: send Mm whom I know tkou wilt send, him vholn, pursuiug thine own decree, thou shouldest send; send Christ, seud him now, to redeern Israel from Eg)t. These words then (though some have ruade that intcrpretation of them, and truly hot without a fait appearance and probability and verisimilitude,) do hot necessarily imply a slackness in hloses' zeal, that he desired hot aflctionately and earnestly the deliverance of his uation from the pressures of E'pt; uor do they imply any diffidencc or distrust that God could hot, or would hot, endow him with faculties tlt for that elnployment. But as a thoughtful inan, a pensive, a considerative man, that stands still for a while, with his eyes fixed upon the ground belote his feet, when he casts up his hcad,'hath presently, instantly, the sun, or the hcavens, for his object, ho secs not a tree, nol" a house, nor a steeple by the way, but as soon as his cye is departed from the earth whcre it was long tlxed, the next thing he secs is the sun or the heavens; so when Moses had tlxed himself long upon the consideration of his own insufficieucy for this service, vhcn he took his eye ri'oto that low piece of ground, hiluself, considered as he vas then, he fell upon no tree, no house, no steeple, no such consideration as this,—God may cndov me, improve me, exalt me, enable me, qualify me with faculties fit for this service,—but his tïrst object was that whicl presented infallibility with it, Christ Jesus himself, the Mssiah himself, and the first petition that he offers to God is this, 0 mj Lord, send, I pray thee, b!! the hand od" him wkom thou wilt send. For me, as I ara, I ara altogether unfit; when thou shalt be pleased fo work upon me, thou wilt find me but stone, hard to reeeive thy holy impressions, and then but show, easy to melt, and lose those holy forms again. There must be labour laid, and perchance labour lost upon me; but put the business into a sale hand, and under an infallible instrmnent, and mitte missuru« es, send hl» u'kom 1 know thvu wilt send, him u'hom, pursuing their own deeree, thvu skouldest eend, senti him, send Christ nov. As mueh as paradise exeeeded ail the places of the earth, do the Seriptures of God exeeed paradise. In the midst of paradise rew the tree of knou'led.qe and the tree of lid'è: in this paradise, the Seripture, every word is both those trees, there is lire and knowledge in every vord of the word of God. That 9ermen Jekoa', as the prophet Esay ealls Christ, that oflpring of Jehovah, that bud, that blossom, that fruit of God himself, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer, Christ Jesus, grows upon every tree in this paradise, the Seripture; for Christ was the occasion before, and is the eonsummation after, of ail Seripture. Tki» I kare writt«n (says St. John), and so say ail the 1 John v. 13.
penmen of the Holy Ghost, in ail that they have written, Thls ]ave we writtên, that je.ma!! ]aow that .e hae eternal lire: knowledge and lffe grows upon every tree in this paradise, upon every word in this book, because upon every tree here, upon every word, grows Christ hiuselt in some relation. From this branch, this text, 0 my Lord sed, I pray t]ee by te hand of him, whora thoa cilt 8el, we shall hot so much stand, to gather here and thcre an api»le, that is, to consider some particular words of the text itselt as endeavour to shake the whole tree, that is, the context, and cobcrence and dependence of the words: for, since ail that passed between God and 5Ioses in this atair and negotiation, Godes employin of Moses, and Moses presenting his excuses to God, and God's taliny of all those excuses, determines in out text, in out text is the whole story, virtually and ralically implied; and therefore, by just occasion thereof, we shall consider first, tlmt thoug for the ordinary duties of out callings, arising out of the e'idence of express Scriptures, we are allowed no hesltation, no disputation, whether we will do them or no; but they requête a present, and an exact execution thereof: yet in extraordinary cases, and in such actions as are hOt laid upon us, by any former and permanent notification thereof in Scril)ture, such as was Moses" case here, to undertake the dcli'erance of Israel from Ept; in such cases, hot only some hesitation, some deliberation, some consultation in ourselve.% but some expostulation with God himself, may be excusable in us. Ve shall therefore see, that Moses did excuse himself four ways; and how God was pleased fo join issue with him in ail four, and to cast him, and overcome him in them all: and when we corne fo consider his fifth, whicl is rather a diversion upon another, than an excuse in himself, and yet is that which is most literally in out text, 0 my Lord 8eM, I i»ray tee, b!! the had of him, u'hom tlo wilt sed, because this was a thing whieh God had reserved wholly to himself, the sending of Christ: we shall see thEt God would hot have been pressed for that, but, (as it follows immediately, and is also a bough of this tree, that is, grows out of this text) God n'as a.qrJ; but yet (as we shall see in the due place) it was but such an anger, as ended in an instruction, rather than in an increpation; ad in an encouragement, rather G VOL. 1.
8 PREACHED ON CHRISTMAS DATo [ERo Vo than in . desertion, for he eablished Moses in . resolution to undertake the work, by joining his Lrothcr Aaron in commission vith him. So then xve bave shaken the tree, that is, resolved and ana]yzed the context, of al] which the text itself is the foot, and file seal. And as we bave presented to your sight, xve shall farther oflèr to your taste, and digestion, and rumination, these particular fruits; first, that ordinary duties require a present execution secondly, that in extraordinary, God allows . de]iberation, and requires hot an inlp]icit, a blind obedicnce: and in third place, wc sbal] give you those four circnmstances, that accompanied, or constitutcd Moses" deliberation, and God's removing of those four impediments: and in . fourth room, that consultation or diversion, tle sênd;».f/oJ" Cirist: and in that, hoxv God was aflbcted xvith it, « as a»yry: angry th,t Moses would offer to look into those things which he had locked up in his secret counsels, such w that sending of Christ, which he inteuded: Lut yet not angry, so as that he left ]loses unsati.fied, or unaccommodated for the main business, but settled him in a holy and cheerfid readiness to oLey his commandment. And through all these particu]ars, we shall pass with as much clearne as the xveight, and as much shortncss as the number wi]l permit. First thcn, our first consideration constitutes that proposition, ordinary duties, arising out of the evidence of God's word, re- «luire a present execution. There are duties that bind us emper, and ad se:nler, as our casuists speak; we are always bound to do thcm, and bound to do them always; that is, always to produce actt«s dicitos, determinte acts, successive and cosecutive acts, conformab]e to those duties; whereas in some other duties, we are on]y bound to an habitual diosition, to do them in such and such necessary cases; and those actions of the latter sort, fall in yeee deliberati:o, we may consider circumstances, belote we fal] under necessity of doing thcm, that is, of doing them then, or doing them thus: of xvhich kind, even those great duties of I)l'aying, and fasting are; for we are always bound to pray, and always bound to fast; Lut hot Lonnd to fast always, nor always to pray. But for actions of the first hind, such as are the worshipping of God, and the hot worshipping of images; such as are the sanctifying of God's Sabbaths, and the not blaspheming
SEl{. V.] ON TltE NATIVI'I'I ". 83 of his naine, which arise out of clear and evident commands of God; thcy adroit no deliberation, but require a present ex,ution. Theretbre as St. Stephcn saw Christ, standing st the right hand of his Father, ( posture that denotes first a readiness to survey, and take knowlcdge of out distraes, and then a readiness to proeced, and corne forth to out aistance) Litur, in our service, in the congregation, we stand up st the profession of the Creed, st the rehcarsing the Articles of out fifith, thereby to dlare to God, and his clmrch, our rcadine to shnd to, and out readiness to proceed in that ptbssion. The commeudation which la given of Andrew , and Peter for obeng Christ's call, lies hot so much in that tey Ift teir nets, as in that forthoeR, immediately, without trther deliberation, tey loEt teir ets, the means of their livelihoed, and followed Christ. Tke Lord ad kis Airit kat anointed,us to preac , says the phet Iiah: to preaeh whnt the acceptable year OE the Lord. All the yer long tire Lord stands with his arms open fo embraea you, and all the)ear long wepray wou be recotciled to fo narrower eompass of rime, that you would hear kis ¢oic¢ to-day, and nog harden?tour hearts to-day: nd to naower eompa than tht, Dabitur iz illa kora, says Christ, Tke lloly Gkoet skall teach you in tkat hour «: in this hour the Holy Ghost offers himself unto you: and to a narwer eompass than an hot, Blessed are ye that huffer nou', and that mourn now , tiret put not off years, nor days, nor hours, but corne to z ense of your sins, and of the means of reconciliation to God, now, minute. And therefore, when ye read, jut weights, nd just balanees", and just lneasnres, a just Hin ad a just kah shall ye hare, I am tke Lord your God, do hot you say, so I will hereafier, I will eome to just weights a»d measures, and deal uprightly in the wodd as soen as I bave nmde a fbrtune, established u state, raised I must do as other men do; when you read R«mzb" tha flou t'«el kolt the %tbbatk dal bath ealed his other holy days, ami holy convocations,,abbatks $Im'k i. 18. Isuh txi. l. 2 Cor. v. 20. Psal. xxç vfii. « Le . 12. Luke x5. 21. Let. x. 36. Levit. .
too,) remember that you celebrate his Sabbaths by your presence here, do hot you say, so I will if I can rise rime enough, if I can dine soon enough; when you read, swear wt at all,o, do not you say, no more I would but that I lire amongst men that will hot believe me without swearing, and laugh at me if I did not swear; for duties of this kind, permanent and constant duties al'ising out of the evidence of God's word, such as just and true dealing with men, such as keeping God's Sabbaths, such as not blaspheming his name, bave no latitude about them, no conditions in them; they" bave no circumstance, but are ail substance, no apparel, but are ail body, no body, but are all soul, no matter, but are ail form; they are not in.qewre deliberatiro, they adlnit 11o deliberation, but require an immediate, and an exact execution. But then, for extraordinary things, things that have not their evidence in the word of God formally revealed unto us, whether we consider matters of doctrine, and new opinions, or matter of practice, aud new commands, from what depth of learning soever that new opinion seem to us to fise, or from height of power soever that new command seem to fall, it is still in.oettere d«libeq'ati¢o, still we are allowed, nay still we are commanded to dcliberate, to doubt, to consider, before we execute. As a good author in the Roman Church says, PertHciosits est ecclesiee , It is more dangerous to the church, to accept an apocr)]»hal book for cauonical, than to reject a canonical book for apocr)Thal: so may it be more dangerous to do some things, which to a distempered man may seem to be commanded by God, than to forbear some things, which are truly commanded by him. God had rather that himself should be suspected, thau that a false god should be admitted. The easiness of admitting revelations, and visions, and apparitions of spirits, and purgatory souls in the Roman church; and then the overbending and super-exaltatiou of zeal, and the captivity to the private spirit, which some bave fallen into, that have hot been content to consist in moderate, and middle ways in the reformed church; this easiness of admitting imaginary apparitions of spirits in the papist, and this easiness of submitting to the private spirit, in the schismatic, bath produced effects equally mischievous: melancholy beiug ruade the seat of religion on the « Matt. v. 31. — ]Ielchior Canus.
one side, by the papist, and hrensy on the vther side, by the errr à edo , was te observation and the cvmplat of tiret father in his time, and his prophecy of vrs; that any times, an vver-vehemcnt benng into some way of vr v chosin, ds hot only withaw s from the let-hand way te y of spertition, and idolatry, fm which we shvld a draw, bt from thc middle way toe, in which we sod stand and walk. And flen the danger is thus great, fitcle b» omniaflayitia imptdit, qnos religione decoEit diabol«s '; as God doth, the devil also doth make zeal and religion his instrument. And in other tentations, the devil is but a serpent; but in this, when he makes zeal and religion his instrument, he is a lion. As long as the devil doth but say, do flis, or thou wilt li,-e a foel, and die a beggar; do this, or thou canst not lire in this world, the devil is but a devil, he plays but a devil's part, a liar, a seducer; but when the devil cornes fo say, do this, or thou canst hOt live lu the ncxt world, thou cat hOt be saved, here the devil pretends to bc God, here he acts God's part, and so prevails thc more powerthlly upon us. And then, when mcn are o mis-tran poed, either in opinions, or in actions, with this private spirit, and inordinatc zeal, Q«ibus uot potest aerre fidem, aoEert &ariratera, says the saine fatber, though the devil hath hot quenehed thith in that man himself, yet he hath quenched that man's eharity towards other men; though that man might be saved, in that opinion which he holds, because (perehanee) that opinion destroys no fundamcntal point, yet his alvation is shrewoey shaken, and endangered, in his uncharitable thinking that nobody can ho saved that thinks otherwise. And as it works thus to an unehoeitableness in private, so doth it to turbulency, and section in the public. Of which, we haro a pregnant, and an appablo example in the life of Constantine the emperor'; in his time there arose some new questions, and new opinions in some points of religion; thc empemr writ alike to both paries, thu: De rebus t«smodi, nec omnino royetis, nec royati respondeatls: do you more no questions, in such things, yourselves; and if any other do, yet be hot)vu too tbrward, to write m much as against B Leo. z* Emebi them. Vhat que.tions doth ho mean mdl« lex, c«nonre ecclesiasticus ecessario prwscribit; such questions, as are net evidently declared, and more tlaan cvideaatly deelared, necesrily enjoined hy somo law, seine rule, seine canon of the church: disturb net the peace of the church upon infcrences and conscquences, but deal only upon those tlfings, wlaich are cvidently dcclarcd in the articles, and necessarily cnj«,iaacd hy the claurch. And yet, tlaougla tlaat cnaperor declared himself on neither side, aaor did anv act in faveur.f eithcr side, yet bccause ho did net deelarc himsclf on their side, tlaose promoters of these new opiafions, Eo perreere (says that author) imttgites imperatoïis ,iohtrint, They came as far as they could, te violatc the pcrsoll of the eml)eroa', for they vi«»]ated and de|hced his statues, lais ianages, lais pictua'es, the cnsigns of ]lis power and honour; and in tlais insolency thev continued (says that autlaor) even after thc cmperor had silenced both parties; when lac, hy his cxpa'ess edict, had fol'bidden both sides te wa'ite, the promoters of the new opinions would wa'ite. Sti]l such la)en tlaink, that whatsocvcr they think, as net on]y true in itself, hut neccssa2 fi)r salvation te every lllan; whereas new opinions, that nlay vary fl)m the Scriptures; new conmmnds, that may vaa'y frein tlac chute]l, are still in.qenere d«liberatiro, thcy adnfit, they require dclihcration. Blind and implicit faith sllall net save us ils nmttcr of doctrine, ner hlind and implicit obedience in matter of pa'acrace; ncitllcr as there aRy fidth se hlind, and implicit, as te bclieve those imaginary apparitions of spia'its, ner any obedionce se 1.1laid, and implicit, as te obcy out own pa'ivate spirit, and distempered zcal. Truly I sllould hol)e hetter of their salvation, who in the fir.t darker tianes, douhted of the revelations of St. John, than of theia's, who in tllcse clear and evident rimes, accept, and enjoin, and ma,_maify, se much as flmy de in lonlan chureh, the revelations of St. Brigid; and I should rather accompany them, who out of their charitable nmderation, de believe that seine Clll'i.tians, though possessed with seine errors, nmy be saved, than them, who out of their passionate severity, fir call every difl'ea'ence froan themselves, an errer; and then every errer, damamble; and de net only pronounce, that none that holds any such errer, can bc savcd, but that no man, though
ERo V. 1 ON THE NATIVITYo he hold none of those errors himsclf, can be savcd, if he think any man can be saed, that holds them. And se we lme donc with those two propositions, vhich arc the walls upon which out whole frame is te be laid that ordinary duties rcquirc a present execution, that was out" first: but extraordinary adroit dclihcration, that was out second consideration; and new out third is, te consider Moses" case in particular, as it,«' an example of both. As Moses was an example of the present performance of an evident duty, we carry you back, te the former chapter, where this root, this text is first laid, that is, this employmcnt first bcgun te be notified. Thcre (ver. .) Goal calls Moses, and he cales him by naine, and by naine twice, lIoses, lM,ses. Of this, lIoses cotdd net be ignorant; and theretbre he cornes te a present discharge of this duty te a present answer, ecce adsrtm, Lord, here I am. This is the advantage of innocence above mfiltiness; God called Adam in Paradise, and he called him by naine, and with particular inquisition, Adam, tbi es? Adam, t'here art And Adam hid himself; God calls Moses, and lIoses answers. Ho that is used te hear God, at home, in his conscience, and in his ears, at church; and used te aswer God, in both places, af home in lais private meditations, and in publie devotions at Church; he that is used te hear, and used te answer God thus, shall ho glad te hear him, in his last voice, in lais angels" trumpets, and te that roiee,,tryite çui dormitis, arise thou that sleepest the dust, and stand up te jud«uent, as he shall have investcd the righteousness of Christ Jesus, he shall answer in the vcry words of Christ Jesus; I ara he tl««t licetl, and was dead, and behold ara alie, for ermore, Amec . In this evident duty then, Moses permitted himself no liberty; God called, and he answercd instantly; he answered in action, as well as in words; and, indeed, that is out loudest, and most musical answer, te answer God, in deed, in action. Se lloses did; he came, he hastened te the place TM, where Go,1 spake. It is one good argmnent of piety, te love the place where Goal speaks, the bouse of his presence. But yet Moses received an inhibition from God there, a e alropinqtes, corne net too near, too close te this place. God fores 1.$ IOVo i. 18. Ver. v.
that we should corne to him here in his house; but God vou]d hot bave us press too close upon him here; we must hot be too familiar, too fcllowly, too homely with God, hcre at home, in his bouse, nor loath to uncovcr out head, or how our knce at his naine. XVhcn God procecdcd farthcr with Moscs, and cornes to sa)', I ara corne doyen to ddirêr Israel from Ey!tpt '7, (whieh was the first intimation that God gave of that purpose) Moses likes that well enough, opposes nothing to that, that God would be i.leased to think of some course ibr delivering of Israel, and enable some instrument for that work; for that is, for tlle most part, God's deseending, and his eoming down, to put llis power instrumentally, nfinisterially, into the hand of another; general things, and remote things do hot lnueh affeet us; Moses says nothing to God's general proposition, that he was eome down to deliver Israel, but when God cornes to that partieular, Corne therefore that I uay senti thee ', him into E'pt, Moses to Pharaoh, this was a rock in llis sea, and a remora upon his sllip, a hill in his way, and a shake in his path. Some light, that this was about the time, when Israel should be delivered, there was before, lloses takes knowledge, that God had promised Abraharo , that after four generations, they should eome baek; and the four generations were eome about. Some light, that Moses should be the man, by whom they should be delivered, it seems there vas before; for upon that history whieh is in the seeond ehapter of this book, that Moses slew an Egyptian who oppressed one of his eountl)men, St. Stephen, in his own funeral sermon, says, that JIoses in that act, sut)posêd hls brethren would bave understood kow that God by his hand ro-uld deliver them, but the uderstood it wt '. So that it seems some sueh thing had gone out in voiee, some revelation, some intimation, some emanation of some kind of light there had been, by whieh they might bave understood it, though they did hot. But when Moses remembers now, that that sueeeeded hot, that they apprehended hot the off'er of his service then, and that he was now grown to be eighty years old, and that forty of that eighty had been spent in an obseure, in a shepherd's lire, and that he must now be sent, 7 Rev. i. 8. Ver. 10. » Ge_n. xv. 16.:o Exod. iL 13. l Acta vil 25.
SEl].. V.] ON THE NATIVITY. hot on[y to work upon tht peopIe, who howed no forwaress tow him thon, and might abso]ute]y bave fototten him now, but upon P]mraoh himIf, ts creted in Moses this hesitation, thl8 deliberation; perchance hot without some tincture f infirmity, but far tm any degee of impiety; perchance hot without some expostulation with G but far from any reluctation against God. Consider Abraham; Abrahan the ]àter of the ]hhitd; of whom, as tire apostle says, that he ],oped beyo,d ]wpe, we may ay, that he lieved beyond faith, fbr, (as he says) Se God, ot 'owig 'hitlter e led Mm; Abrahmn came to another manner of expostulation with God, in the beha]f of Sodom; he says to GooE wilt tkou destroff the ritts wit tke wicked? tltat far from thee ; and he repeats it, Be tat fier ]>oto tkee; and he pleads it with God,,S'hall ot tke J««dge " all the eartk do «igkt? Now as St. Paul says of Esay, Esay was hohl when ho said thus and thus; so we may »ay of Abraham, Abraham was bold, when he cod conceive mch an imagination, that God wod destroy the rightus with the wicked, or that the Judge of all the eah should hot do right; yet Abraham is hot blamed for this. Consider St. Peter's proceeding with CM'ist; he cornes to a rebuking of Christ, and to a more vehemeut absit, Lord be tkis far from t]tee, tMs sall ot be otto t],ee , speaking of his going up to Jerusalem, upon which journey depended the whole work of our redemption. And though St. Peter incurred au increpation tYom Christ, yet that which he did, was rooted in love, and piety, though it were mixed with inconsideration. St. Peur went farther than Abraham, but Al,raham faher than Mos; as erefore that fizt revelation, which Moses may seem to hve received, when he was foy years before this in Et, did hot so bind him to a present prosecution of dmt work of their deliverance, but that upon occasion he did withdraw himseR from Et, and continue from thence, in a foy years" abnce neither did this intimation, which he received from God now, so bind him up, but that he might piously present his om unfitness for that emploent for it does hot so much iml»ly a denial to undertake the service, as a petition, that God would super-endov him, with paoEs, and fculties, fit for that service; it is far from Gen. xi. 2. Matt. x. 23.
90 PREACI1ED ON eI-IRIWI'_MA8 DA''. that stubborn son's non i6o, I w hot go to work in yard but it is only thi excep God do omewhat for e before I go, I haU Le,'e unfit to go: and that any ambassador may y to his prince, any minister of state to his master, any senger of God to God himseff. And thorefore goed occasion of doctrines of edification oflring itself from that consideration, wo shall insist a little upon each of his excuoes, thongh they bc four. tlis first prospect that he looks upon lu himlf, his first object, that by way of objection he makes to God, is himseff, and hi own unwobiness. To consider others, is but to travel: to be et home, is fo consider ourselves: upon others we can look but in oblique le; only un ourselves, in direct. Man "tis true; but eah is the centre. That man who dwells npon himsdf, who is always conversant in himself, tests in his centre. Man is a celetial creature too, a heavenly creature; and that lnan that dwes upon himoelt: that bath his conversation in himselt: bath his convertion in heaven. If you weigh anything in a scale, the eater if is, the lwer it sinks; as)u growgreater and greater in the e)oes of the worhl, sink lower and lower in o. If thou ask thyseff Qui,« eo, What ara I and bst able to answer thyseff, Why now I ara a man of title, of honour of place, of power, of posssions, a man fit fi»r a chroniclc, a man considcrable in the herald's office; go to the herald's office, the sphem and clemcnt of honour, and flmu shalt find those men as busy tbcre about the considel'ation of funcrals, as about the consideration of creations; thou shalt find that office to ha as well the gravc, as the craoee of honour; and tlmu shalt find in that office as many records of attainted familles, and escheated familles, and ilnpovcrished and forgotten, and ob]iterate familles, as of families newly erected and presenfly celebrated. In what height any of you that sit here, stand et home, there is some other in some higher station than yours, that weighs you doxx: and he that an&s in the highest of subordinate heights, nay in the highest supreme height in this world, is weighed dox by that which h nothing for what is any monarch to the whole world and the wlmle world is but that; but what but nothing. Vhat man amongst us looks Mooes' way, fir% upon himself perchance enow do so; but who loeks Mose' way, and by Moses" ]ight
SER. V. ON Tlrll, NATIVI1T. 91 first upon himself, and in himself, first upon his own insutTiciencies; what nmn amongst us, that is named to any place, by the good opinion of others, or that calls upon others, and begs, and lmys thcir good opinion for that place, begins at hloses" lIThat ara If whcre have I studied and practised sutTiciently beforc, that I should fill such or such a place of judicature. lVhat ara I? where have I served, and laboured, and preached in inferior places of tho church, that I shouhl fill such or such a place of dignity or prelacy there. IIat ara I? where haro I seen and cncountercd, and discomfited the enemy, that I should fill such or such a place of command in an army. There is not an Abraham lcft to say, O my Lord, I ara but dust and ashes; hot a Jacob lcft to say, O my Lord, I ara hot worthy of the least of these proferments; not a David left to say, O my Lord, I ara but a dcad dog, and a flea; but every man is vapoured up into air; and, as the air can, he thinks he can fill any place: every man is undcr that complicated disease, and that riddling distemper, hot fo be content with thê most, anti)'et to ho proud of the lea«t thing ho hath; that when he loks upon men, he despises them, becausc he lu some kind of oflcer, and when he looks upon God, he murnmrs at hiln, because he ruade him hot a king. But if nmn will not corne to his Qtls t.qo? Who al I fo a due considemtion of himseff, God will corne to his Q«is t«t Who art thou, and fo his ci mlce qr«omodo intrasti? Friend how came you in. To every nan that cornes in by undue means, God shall say, as first to us, in out 1)rotssion, What hadst thou to do, fo take my Wol'd into thy mouth. so to others in theirs, Vhat ha(t thou to do, to take my sword into thy hand, Only to those who are little m their own eyes, shall God say, as Christ said fo his church, Fear noz, littlc flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure fo give you the kingdom '. It is hOt called a -iydom, but he ki.¢dom; that kingdom, which alone, is worth all the kingdoms that the devil showed Christ, the kingdom of heaven. Be but a worm and no man , as David speaks even in the person of Crist; Find thysclf trodden under tbot, and under thine own tbot, that is, depressed in thine own estimation, and God shall raise thee with that supportation, Fear not thou worm of Jac«b ', ye men of « Luke.xii. 32. a Ps, xxii. 7. « Isaiah xri. 14.
Israel. Be but worms and no more, in)-our own cyes, and God shall make you men, be but men and no more in your own eyes, and God shall make you the men of his Israel. This was/loses" v,'ay;not running away from God, but turning into himself; hot reluctation against God; but a con.ideration of himseIf. For, though the lazy man's Quis eyo, shall not profit him, when he hall say, XVhat ara I. I ara but onc man, I can do nothing alone, and so leave all reformation Ulmttempted in his place, because others t'iii reform nothing in thch's, (for, that whk.h David says, If thou sawe.t thief, thou didst rise and run with him, is hot much worse, than when thou seest lazy man, to lie down and sleep with him ) though this man's Quis «.qo, What ara |:.hall hot profit him, for it is but the voice ot" prevarication, in thc ordinary dnties of his calling, yet in Moses" case, in cvery undertaking of net" action, this examlnation, this exinanition of otrselves is acceptable in the sight of God. And therefore Calvin says justly of this particular, in /Ioses" case, moElo culpa vacare, sed laude dçon«m lato, that lloses in this his proeeeding with God, was so thr ri'oto deserving blame, that he deserved mueh praise. And so it seems God himseff iltel'preted it, and aeeepted it; tbr first, br his way, he gives him that assurance, Certaiu 0 1 cill be «'itk tkee ; and then for the end, and the eflO:t too, he directs him thus, cken thou kast brongktfortl tkel,eople out of Ea!tl,t (as, eertainly this people thou shalt bring from thenee) tkeu shall th! serre God tlon this nountain. And further we ma)" hot can'y the consideration of loses' first excus, arising out ot' the eontemplation of his own insuflàciency, lu general. The second dobt and diflàeulty that.Moses makes to himselt, aud l)resents to God, is this, that he t'as hot able to tell them fo whom he was sent, his naine, that sent him. lVhen I ara corne to tkem, says Moses to God, and shall say, thott hast sent me, and the!! skall sa!l, «hat is his naine, wkat hall I say unto them ? In Eusebius's history, a tyrant °, a perseeutor, asks a martyr, Artalus, in the midst of his torments, in seorn and eontempt, IVkat isffour God's naine? you pretend a neeessity of worshipping a new God, your God, but what shall we call your God,: P. .. 18. a Ver. 12. Ver. 13. o Eseb. b. ri. c. 3.
what is your God's naine. And the martyr answered, QM pl,res sutt, nominib«s decer«tur, qui uas est, nomie non iMiyet: You who worship many gods, need many names to distingmsh your gods l)y; we, who know but one God, need no other naine of God, but God; we who worship the only true God, need hot the semi-gods, nor t]le sesqui-gods of the Roman church; hot their semi-gods, their hMf-gods, men beatifled, but hot sanctified; ruade pl'i'ate god., but hot public gods; chan)ber gods, but hot chm'ch gods; nor any sesqui-god, any that nmst be luore than God, and receive appeals from God, and reverse the decrees of God, which they nlake the office oi r the Virgin Mary, whom no man can honour too much, that makes her uot God, and they dishonour most, that make ber so nmch more. But)-et, some nanles, some notifications of God, no doul)t the.Jews had: Moses says lmre, tlmt he would tell them, that the God of their ïathers had sent him; which was a naine oi r specification, and distinction of this God, irrom all the.go4s of the Genti|es. But in this p|ace, Moses desires such naine of God, as might hot onlv intilnate to them to whom }le was sent, a great power in that Prince that sent him, but migllt also intimate a great privacy, and confidence in him that was sent; a naine by which he might be knoxxa to know nmre of that God, than other men knew; iror, nothing advances a business more, t|mn when he that is eml)loyed, is believed to know the mind, and to bave the heart, of him that sends him. Thereirore God gives Moses a cypher; God declares to Moses, his bosom naine, his visceral naine, his radical, his fundamental naine, the naine of his essence, I ara;.qo, and tell them, that he u'hose ame is J[ ara, ]ath set thee. It is true, that literally in the original, this naine is conceived in the futnre; it is there, I t]at sall be. But this present acceptation, I ara, bath passed through ail translators, and ail commentators, and ithers, and councils, and schools, and the whole church of God tests in it. And I know but one , (who is of the Reformation, and of the most rigid suhdivision in the Reformation, and who hath many other singularities besides this) that will nee(ls translate this naine, I tcas. Howsoe,'er, all intend, that this is a naine that den»tcs essence, hein,,: Being is thc naine of Go(l, and of
God on]y: for, of every other creature, Plato says well, nome est ]aoti«s non esse; The naine of the Creator is, I ara, but of every cre3,ture rather, I ara hot, I ara nodfing, l-le considcrs it, and concludes it, in the best, and noblest of creatures, man; for, he, as well as the rest, plus habet no enti», q«am etis; man bath more privatives, than positives iii him; man bath but his own being man lmth hot the being of an angel, nor the heing of 3, lion God bath ail in 3, kind of eminence more excellently than the kinds themselves, only his naine is 1 «cm. Plato pursues this considcration usefully tabMt ««te, wter um w esse; man had an eternal not-being before; that is, beforc the creation for those infinite millions of millions of gcnerations beforc the creation, there was 3, God, whose naine ,as I ara; but till within these six thousand yeal's, man was not, there was no man. And so says Plato, H¢bere wernum no esse, As man had an e,ternal not-being before the creation; so he wou]d bave another eternal not-being aftcr llis dissohltion by death, in son], as well as in hody, if God did hot preserve tbat being in hoth which he llath imprinted in both. And says he, As man had one eternal notbcing bcfore, and wouhl bave another after, so for that being which lle seems to bave here now, it is a continual declination into a not-heing, because he is in coutinual change, and mutation, qtw desiMt i» non esse, as he says well; every change and mutation bcnds to 3, not-being, because i every change, it cornes to a hot being that which it was belote In which naine, God gave Moscs, and does give us who are al his ambassadom, so much illowledge of llilnself, as that we may tell you, though hot what God is, yet, that God is; God, in tlle notification of this naine, sends us sufficiently instructed to establish you in the assurance of an everlasting, and an ever-ready God, but hot to scatter you with unnecessary speculations, and impertinencies concerning this God. He is no fit messenger l)et'een God and his church, that knows hot God's naine; that is, how God bath notified, and manifes_ted himself to man. God bath manifested himself to man in Chri; and manifested Christ in tlm Scriptures; and manitisted tlm Scriptures in the church; the naine of God is thc notification of God— how God will be sR. v.J o Ttm.ATWrr,. 95 called by man, and that is, the Father of out Lord Jesus Christ; and how God will be called upon by man, that is, that all out prayers to God be directed in, and tllrough and by and for Christ Jesus. If we know the naine of God, I cm, that is, believe Christ Jesus, whom we worship to bave been from all eternity, to be God and then for more paioEicular points, believe those doctrines, which are, that is, which bave been always belicved and a]ways believed to bave been necessary to he believcd as articles of faith, through the whole Catholic ehurch, if wo know the naine of God thus, we bave oui. commission, and out qualification in that gospel, Go, and te«ch all.nations, end bapti:e in, the ame of the Father, and of the A'on, and of tke l[oly Gkost "; that is, the naine of God to z ehristian, the Trinity. And lest that commission so delivered in the general and fumlamental manner, professing the Trinity, should hot seem enough, it is repeated and par«tphraed in the verse followin.,-, Te«cl them to obrre all thhçqs whatsoêver I bave commanded you. First tbere is a teaekiny; good life itself is but a eommentary, an exposition Ul,On out preaehing; that whieh is first laid upon us is preaehing; and then teneh them to observe, that i., fo l,raetise; breed them hot in an opinion that sueh z faith as i. without works is enough; and teach them to observe ail; f,w, fi»r lnatter of pl'actice, He tkat breaks one law is yuilty of all, and he that thillks to sen'e God by way of coml)ensation, that is, to reeompense God by doing one duty, for tlle omission of another, sins even in that, in whieh lle thinks he serves God; and for marrer of bclief, he that believes not ail, soh'it Jesum, as St. John speaks, ho takcs Jesus in pieces, and after the Jews have crueified him, lle dissccts him, and makes him an anatomy. We must therefore teaeh all; but then it is but ail, which Christ hath comlnanded us; additional md tr ditiolml doctrines of tbe pal)ist, speeulative and dazzling, l'iddling and entangling perplexities of the school, passionate, and unebaritable wranglings of contl'overters, these fall hot in Moses" commission, nor ours, who partieipate of his; we are to deliver to yon by thc ordinance of God, preaelling, the naine of God, tllat is, how God bath manifested himself to man, and how God wi]l be called upon by man, that God is your God in Christ, if you llatt, xxviià, 19.
receive Christ in the Scriptures, applied in the church. And fiu'ther we cari.¢ not oar consideration upon this second excuse of Moses, in wh|ch (as in thc former, he considered his iusufflciency in the general) he considers it in this, that he had not studied, he had hOt acquire(L he had hOt sought the knowledge of those myster|es wh|ch appertained to that calling, implied in that, that he did hot know God's naine. His third excuse, which induces a ,'eat discouragement, af|ses out of a detbct in nature, whereas the tbrmer is rather of art, and study, and consideration; and to be naturally defective in those faculties, wh|ch are esseutial and necessary to that work, wh|ch is under our hand, is a great discouragement. Lameness is hot alwavs an insupportable calalnitv; lmt fi»r Mephibosheth to bave been hiudered bv lameness, when he should bave received favour from the king, and settled his inheritance, this was a heavy affliction. Lowness of stature is no insu]q»ortab|e thing; but when Zaccheus came with such a des|re to sec Christ, then to be disappolnted by reason of his lowness, this lnight affect hiln. It is hot alwavs insupportahle to lack the as.istance of a sel'ant, or a ri'|end; but when the angel bath troubled the water, and ruade it medicinal for him that is first put in and no more, then to have lien nmny years in expectation, and still to lack a sel'ant, or a ri'|end to do that office, this is a misery. And this was Moses" case; God will send him upon a service, that consisted lnuch in persuasion, and good speech, and he sa.vs, f my Lord, I ara ot elo,pwnt, m lther keretotbre, wr since tkou lmst spoken fo serem«t . Vllere we see there is some degree of eloquence required in the delivery of God's mes.ages. There are not so eloquent books in the world, as the Seriptures; neither should a man corne to any kind of handling of them with uncircumcised lips, as Moses speaks, or with an exteluporal and irreverent, or over-homdy and rulgar language. Tke preparatiot of tke keart is of tke Lord ', says Solomon; but it is hot only that; Tkepreparation of tke heart, and the a»swer of the to».q«e i« of the Zord. To conceive good thiugs for the giory of God, and to express then to the edification of God's people, is a double blessing of God. Therefore does Esther form and institute her prayer to God so, Ver. x. Prov. xvL I.
(lire me I, oldne.q, 0 Lord of al! power'; but she extends her prayer hrther, And ive me eloqwnt speeck i my mouth. And the want of thiu in u natural defect, and unreadinesu of speech disoeuraged Mos. And when (;od rccompenses, und supplies this defoet in Moses, he does it but thus, I will be with tky moutk, atd I will teach tkee wkat thoa skalt say. Still it is Moses that must say it; still Mose2 mouth that must utter it. Beloved, it is the general ordinance of God, of wlmm, as we hare receieed mercy, we bave received tke mi»i«tr, and it is the pmoEicular grace of God that inanimates out labours, and makes them eflëctual upon you; ail that is net of out plantin9, ner waterin9, but of God tkat pires the bterease; but vet we must labour to get, and laur to improve such learnlng, and such language, and such other abilities as mav best become that service; tbr the natural want of one of these, retarded Moses ri'oto present acceptation of God's employment. And so trnly, should put any man, that puts himoelf, or i)uts ]ris son u]»ou this profession, upon that consideration, whether he have such natural parts as wil] adroit acquisitions, and superedifications fit tbr that calling. And çarther we carry hot Moses" third excuse, raised out of a natm'al detçct, I ara hot eloquent enough. The tburth is a shrewd discouragemcnt: in thc first verse of this chapter, I[e answered aud sald, btt beold, th«y will hot belie¢e me; when I bave told them thy naine, how thou hast manitësted thvself to them, and in what naine they must call upon thee, B«old, th«y u.;ll hot beliere e; md this is the saddest discouragement that can çall upon the minister and meseuger of God, hot to be beliered. God round this, and complained of it at first, Q«o«sq«e non credent "? How long will it be ere this people believe they will never belleve. The prophet Esay foresaw this; Qiscred;dit Lrd who ath belleed out report No man doth, no man will believe us. St. John round this prophccy of Esay fulfilled ', even wheu Christ in person w l)reaching, and working of miracles; thcn, says that evangelist, was that of Esay fulfilled, Te beliered hot his re])ort. And St. Paul ' suw it performed amougst thc Gentiles, as well as St. John amongst the a Est]aer v. 12. s« Num. xlv. 11. s Iih i. 1. as John i. 38. a Rom. x. 6. VOL. i.!1
Jews, Lord ro atl belieeed out r«po? Christ hath said himoelf, and Chri hafl bidden m v, lle tkat bdieres not, slall be damned: and yet, Lord l,o atl belierd out report? Thore cannot fall a dder discoagement upoll tho inemenger of God, than not to ho helioved. How loeth we find tho blesed fathers of tho primitive churcl, to lack company at thoir serinons How earnestly Leo, in one of his anniversary $erlllOll8, COml)lains of Inultitudes and thrusts at plays, ami mask8, and of a thinne88, and oearcity, and oelitudo at ehurch $ How glad flmy wero to kaw men thither$ And then how mueh they endeasured to hold them in a disposition of hearkening unto them, when they had them? Slnetilnes with observing them with phrases of humiliation; m Damasceno proe tbsses himself ninimu»z serrure cle:oE, the ineanest and unworthie::t servant to that congregation. So Leo presents himself, ad ¢e'tr« paratus ob««t«i«, ready to do ai1 bsequious oervice to that eongregation: and so St. Auëustine, i o cis serimus, wo shall do this cougregation the best service, in hanoeing this point thus. Solnetillle8 they did it so, by subnfitting themselves to tho congregation, in phrases of huluiliation; and sometime by taking knowledge of the pious, and devout behaviour of tho congregation, even in their sermous, and thanking them for if; as L does too, 9uod non tacito lwnorastis aectu, that they did cuntenanco that which was »aid, with a holy murmur, th a reliious whispering, and with an car applauso, with fixing their eyes UpOll the preacher, and xsth tul'niug their eyes upon ne another; for thoso outwal'd declarations wero much, ve illuçh in use in those tilnes. And though in the excess of such outward declarations, St. ('hrystom complain of thom, n tkeatrum ecclesia, my mters what mean you, tho church is hot a theatre, uw niki istor«m plauum utilitas? what get I by these ]auts, and oeclamations I had rather bave one soul, than all these han and eyes: yet it is easy to obse, in tho general proe ceeding of those blessed fathers, that they had holy delight be heard, and to be heard with delight. For, nemo flectitur, qui moleste audit'c; no man profits by sermon, that hears with aiu, or weariness. Thel'efOl.e St. Chr)'som awakes his 0 Authe.
sga. v.] o ,,, sA,v,,r . 99 auditory with that a]arm, Hearken, I pray you now, says he; for if is no ordinary nmtter tha I sha]] II you: and hasng so awakened them, he keps them awake with such doctriues as he thought fittest for their edification. And te the saine purpoee, St. Augmstîne does net only protss of himself, that he studied at home, mako his langmage sweet, and harmonious, and acceptable te God's pple, but he believes aise, tiret St. Paul himself, and all the apostles, had a delight, and a complacenc)ç and a holy mdting of the bowels, wheu fle congregation liked their preaclling: the ththers were glad tu be heard, glad te ho liked, and glad te be understoed toe; tbr, the]tbre doth Damascene repeat, almost verbatinl, that,great sermon of Iris De Imc«giMb«s, a.second time, bause (as he assigus the rcason) he was net thoroughly understood in the tiret preaching thereof; and therefore doth Ezïa « extend himself hr, as te preach frein morning (as it is in the eriginal, frein the liht) till noon, that by giving himself that compass, ho might carry every poiut in a clearness, as he went. New if these ]»lessed hthers, these angels of the chm'ch, the archangels of the primitive chm'ch, were thus affected, if they were net frequented, but neglecwd fbr other entertahmmnts; or if they were net hearkened te, when they were heard, but heard perfuncmrily, fi'agmentarily, here and flmre a rag, a piece ot'a sentence; or if they were net uuderst, because they dmt heard wem scattered, and distracted with other thoughts, and su withdmwn frein their observation; or if they were net lil, ed, because the au&tory had seine pre-contracts upon other:preacher that they liked better; how may we think, that those ho]y and bleed spirits were troubled, if they were net believed This destro)-s and demolishes the xvhole body of out building; tlfis evacuates the whole function of our ministry, if we lose out credi})ility; if we may net be helieved; if the church couceive a jealousy, that we preach te serve turns; and tliemfore woe unto that man (if any such man there should ever be)that gives jut oecion of such a jealousy, tiret he ]»reaches te serve turns; and woe te them (who abound every where) who enteain such jea]ousies, where no jut occasion is offered, bttt misinterpret the hithful labours of God's truc servants, and think every thing due te t Nehem. .
lO0 nF..CnF.O 0. çnmsv.lAs D.V. [sW. V. serve turns, that doth hot aee with their distemper, lu the likeness of zeal. The fathers were sorrv if they were hot heard, they we hot undcrstood, f thev were hot liked; but the saddest disoeuragement of ail, is if we bc not believed. And faRher we car T hot our considetiou upon 5loses' tbur excuses; of which the fit was, in contemplatiou of Iris o insufficiency in general; the second, in that paRicular, of hot having furnished himoelf with additions necessat T for that ser-ice; the third, because he had a defect in natural faculties; and the last, for the indisposition of them, to whom he was to go. But then the fifth, which is hot so much an e.xcuse, as a petition (0 my Lord, send [ pray tee, by te a,d OE ilt send) tastes of most vehemence, and, as it mav seem, of some psion in Moses. He says first, I ara hOt wohy of this emplo ment; that's true; but thou art able to qualify me for it; and that objtion is taken awav. I kuow hot thv naine, how thou wdt be called, and how thou wilt be called upon by men; I ha'e hOt studied that: but thou hast,vealed unto me the knowledge of fundameutal doctrines, necessarv for salvation, and that objection is removed. I ara hot eloqueut, hot of ready speech, def- tire in those natural [hculties; but the Sl,irit of eloqnence, and the irresistibleness of rsuasiou is in that mouth, in which thou speakest: and that excuse is taken awav too. I know their stubbornness, to whom I go, they wiH hot believe me; but thou ha put the power of miracles into mv han, as well as knowlee into my hea; God makes metimes a plain and simple man's good lire, powefful, as the mot eloquent sermon. Ail this I acknowledge, says Moses; but yet, ( Lord, when thou shalt have done ail this, in me, and in them, ruade me wohy by thy powe,ç taught me thy naine by thy ace, infused a persuasibility them, and a persuasiveness into me, by thy Spirit, yet there is one who is to be sent, one whom I know thou wilt send, one, whom, psuing thine own decree, thou shouldst send, one, whose sho latchet I shaH hot be worthy to untie then, when thou shalt bave mtiplied ail these qualifications upon me, and therefore, 0 Lord, send, I pray tee, @ i¢ Aa,d, send him, send Cst now. So then, with the ancient fathers, with Jtin IaT, th St. Basil, witb Telian, with more, many, very nmny more, we may safely take this to be a supplication, that God would pleasd hasten the coming of the Of out later wfite, Calvin depas from th aneients herein, so f, to y, riAmis coacta, it seems mewhat a forced, somcwhat an unnatural nse, to interet these words of thc coming of Christ; but he proceeds no tkher. But another, of the saine subdivision", is, (as he uses to be) more assured, more confident; and he ys, est omnim« pr«rcisa recttsatio; it is an ablute refusal in Moses, to obey the comrnandment of (;od: and that uly, needed hot to bave been said. h'ow, when we consider the exp,/tion in the Roman church, when their great bisllop ', (I mean their great writing bishop) departs from the ancients, and d hot understand these words of the coming of Christ, a Jesuit" is so bold with that bishop, (their order tbrbids them to he bishops, but hot to bc controllers over bishops) as to tell him that ho depags from a good foundation, the fathcrs, and that Uln a light rean. And when another author « iu that church proceeds faher, to so much vehemence, so much violence, as to say, that it is hot only an incommodions, but a superstitious sense, to interpret these wor,is of the coming of Crist, two.lesuits" coroect h/m, ahnost in the saine words, (for in the ways of contumely and defamation, they agree well) and say he does but saucily bark, and kick against the ancient fathers, to whom h/mself is hot to be comprend, neither fi»r learning in himselt nor for place and dimity in the church, nor tbr sanctity and holiness of iife in the world. They may be as bohl with one another, as they please; indeed thev are so used to uncharitable phrases towards ail others, as sometimes they cannot spare one another. For out part, we lay o such imputations upon anv of our later men, that accept hot that sense of these words, but)t we cmmot doubt of leave to accompany thc fathers in that exposition, that theso words, 0 mil Lord, send tou wilt send, are a pet/tion, and not a reluctation against God. And that, hot Lyra takes them; L)a takes them to be a petit/on, and hot a reluctation: but a pet/tion of Moses, that he would send Aan; that, if he wouhi send any, he should send « Pistor. a Tostat. « Pereriu » Eutbus. « Pereri and Coehus.
]02 PREAeHED ON" EHRISTMAS DAY. [SEIt. V. man of better pas. and abilities, than himself: and this is n raro modesty, when n man is named for any place, to become suitor fi»r another to that place; 3[oses,cas tbe recel'est man npon eart; but this was hot his meaning here. Nor as Rabbi Solomon takes i; he takes it for petiion, and no reluctation; but, a petiion, that (od wouhl send.Iohua; for, (says that rabbi) les had had:t revelation, that Joshua, and uo he, shou]d be the man, that should hring that peop]e into the Land of Promise; and therefore, 8ince.loshua was to ha'e the honour of the action, l«,ses wouhl ha'e laid the burden Ul,«m him too; but this makes l«,se» a more fi,-hional, a more pmoEicular, a more self-eonsidering mau, for his own estimation, than he was. But, with the ancients, and later devout men, we piously helieve loses in the wors to haçe extended his devotion towards his nation, and the whole world teether, as far as one of them ' hath extended the exposition; what shall they be the better, sçs he, fi,r eoming out of the pressures of Ebçvt, if they mus remain still nnder the oppression of sinful conscience [ And that must be their case if th«»u send but a Moses, a«l hot a Clist to their sueeour. Vha shall they gct, in being de]ivered from l'haraoh, if they be not delivere.l from the devi] Vhat preferment is it, to dwe]] in a g«o«l land, and to he hanihed ou of heaven And this will be their case, if thou send but a Moses, and hot a Christ, tbr their de]i'eranee. ]Ie earries it from them, to God himself: Wht lory will it he to thee, O God, who studiest thine om g]ory, to deliver one nation ri'oto temporal bondage, and leave ail mankiud under e'erlasting condenmatiou [ And tha must be the case of ail, if thou sen,l but Moses, and not a Christ; Moses, may, by thine abulldant goodness, do some good; hut there is one, one appoiuted to be sent, that 511 do all whieh Moses shou]d do, better than Moses, and infinitely more than Moses ean do, or, of himself, so much as wish to be donc; and therefore send him, send hilu now, to do ail together: aud so these words are a petition, and no rduetation, though some men lm'e taken them so; and a petition for the sending of Chri.t, and no Aaron, no Joshua, no other man; though some have taken so too. Ye we do not deliver Mos from aH iufirmity herein; no nor 7 Fe.
8ER, V.] ON TH NATIVITY. 103 from ail error, and mistaking; no more thon we do in that other pryer of his, prdon this people ', or blot my naine ont d thy book, where Moses capitulated too narrow]y, and upon too strict conditions with God. Therefore, in this place, it tbllows prcsently upon this prayer, that God was anyry cit /dru. Unseasonable prayers, though because they may be rooted in piety, they may be, in some sort, excusable in him that makes them, yet nmy be unacceptable to God. St. Augustine prayed for a dead mother, Monica; and St. Ambrose prayed for a dead toaster, Theodosius; God fi,rbid we sbould condemn Augustine or Ambrose of impiety in doing so; but Go,! forbid we should nake Augustine or Ambrose's example out rule to do so still. This sendiy of C/rist, which Moses solieits here, was de.l rcanis 1)ci; il was one of the secrets of his state, and of bis government; il was one of his bosom counsels, attd cabinet decrees: one of thoso reserved cases, which he had comnunicated to no man; as the day of Christ's second coming, bis coming to judnent, is now; which God bath communicated to no man; as the clear understanding of the state of the de,l, who are departed this lire, God bath imparted to no man; nor some circumstances of time, and place, and person in antichrist; God hath revealed these to no man, nor to his whole church; tbese are acts of his regality, and of his prerogative; and as princes say of their prerogative, we will hot bave il disputed, nor called into question, so for these roserved cases, and unrevealed counsels of {;od, such as was the first coming of Christ in Moses' time, and such as is the second coming of Christ, now in our time, Goal would not be importtmed. God meant to give the chihlren of lsrael a king, from the benning; we presume he rotant il, bccause it is the best blessing of ail forms of government: and we sec he meant il, because long belote, he established laws '°, by which thcy should govern themselves in their choosing their king, and by which their king should govern them when he was chosen; yet God was angry when they importuned him for a king, al such a lime, and upon such terres, as he intended hot to do il. But now, because in 1Moses" case, though there were hot a present obedience, }'et there was no disobedience, the fault being no greater, the anger was hot great Exod. x.x.xii. 32. ° Dent. xvii.
neithcr; and therefore we may safely sav with Rupcrtus, that the iratusdt, ws lmt wn propitiusdt; God was any, as that he did hot grant, uor accept Moses" petition, nor ente:oEain any fanhcr scoursc with him, concerning the sending of ('hrist Abraham's solicitation, in thc bchaff of odom, it is said, that God veut hot away, as long as Abraham had anv thing to say but hcre, God was so ihr angy, as to brcak off Me»ses" discoursc: but his anger was hOt so much an increpation, that he had said anv thing, as an instruction that ho should say no more of God's um'evealcd puq»oses. Thcrcforc (;od docs hot contiuue his anger, so as to discontinue his work. ]t was but a catcchistical anger, such an anger as St. Bernard bcs at God's bands, { } Lord, bc ang T with me, and leave me hot to mysclf; thou hast an angcr, that instructs in the way; but thou hast hcavy indimation, that conbunds, and exterminatcs in tbe cnd. Theretbre out prayer in thc Limny, is hot, { Lord be never angry with us, but, 0 Lord, be hot a»yry with us for er«r. David was a man according to God's beaU; yet, no doubt, but God was angry with David, for the mattcr of Uriah, s himself calls it. God was hOt angry with Moses, so as that he gave over his purpose of delivering IsmcL or of delivering ]srael by him, and him established in a cheerful surance to undeake it for in the smne breath, in the saine words s°, in the me veine, wherein his anger is expssed his benignity, and his benevolence is expressed also; for there he says, brother; I know ke tan speak well; and also, b«kold, ke meth forth to meet tkee: (od had laid it so, that Moses shod be settled this way, by having able a man, and then, a man in whom he nfight be so eonfident as a brother joined in commission with him. Slide we in this note by the way; God loves hOt sin- arity: God binds us to nothing, that was never said but by one: (od loves s)pathy, God loves sphony; God loves compassion and fellow-feeling of others' miseries, that is spathy, and God loves harmony, and fellow-beliefing of others' doetrine¢ that is s)phony: no one man alone makes a ehureh; no one ehureh alone makes a Catholie ehureh. Christ sent his own disciples by couples, two and two: and Aquinas says out of his o Ver. v.
s,.'.c.v.] ox 'rn..A'nvrr'. 105 observation, ]tIonacl«s solos est &cmoa solitarl«s: Though naturally a monk muet love retiredness, yet a single monk, a monk always alone, says he, is plotting ome singular mischief. Dêus 9ui a6itat iT 7«o6is, t.tiam nos custod;et êa «oBe s, is exccllently said by that excellent fathcr: (od that dwells in u% will sustain the building, and repair the building out of ourselves; that is, hc will make us tutelar angels to one another; and a holy, and reverential respect to one another, in good conversation, shall kcep us from many sinful actions, which we would commit if we were alone. So then, God was hot so an'y, nor angry so with Moses, as that he did hOt pursue his tirst purpose upon him, of sending him antl sending him so, as might best spced, and advance his negotiation. And therefore, as 3Ioses" praying for ('hrist's tirst coming, which was one of God's reserved cases, and an act of his regality, and prerogative, though he had hOt dmt prayer Izranted, yet wa.s hOt left unsatisfied, nor unaccommodated by God, o, (which is the end, that we drive all to) vhen the calamities, and distresses of this life oppress us, and we pray for the second confing of Christ, in the consmnmation of all, in glory, though, because this second coming «»f Christ, is one of (;od's reserved cases, and an aet of lfis reality, and prerogative, he do hOt grant that, that Christ do corne so; yet in his blessed Spirit he will eome to us, in an assurance, that when he shall conte so, in judgment, ve in his right, shall stmd upriht even in that judgnent; and, if in extraordinary distresses, we pray for extraordinary reliefs, though extraordinarv helps, and miracles be reserved cases, and acts of his regality, and prerogative yet, as he remembers his mercies of old, he will remember his miracles of old too (anti as his mercies are new every morning his miracles shall be new every morning too; and all that he did in eighty-eight, in the last century , he shall do (if we need it) in twenty-eight, in this century and though he may be angry with our prayers, as they are but verbal prayers, and hot accompanied with actions of obedienee, ver he will hot be an,,rv with us for ever, but re-establish at home zeal to out prescrit religion, and good correspondence, and affections of ail parts to one another, and out powcr, and our honour, in forcign nations. Amen. Augustine.: The )ear of the defcat of the Spanish Armada.