He kill me, yet will I trust in Him." My breath I may, my hope I will not forego; expirare possum, desperare non possum. Here now is our second hope; to come forth, to be delivered from Christ's whale, from death itself. But if the whale be, or betoken, the death of the body, it doth much more the death of the soul. So shall we find another whale yet, a third. And that whale is the "red dragon," Rev. 12. 3. that great spiritual Leviathan, Satan. And sin, the very jaws of this whale, that swoopeth down the soul first, and then the body, and in the end both. Jonas had been deep down this whale's throat, before ever he came in the other's; the landwhale had devoured him, before ever the sea-whale meddled with him. In his flight he fell into this land-whale's jaws before ever the sea-whale swallowed him up. And when he had got out of the gorge of this ghostly Leviathan, the other bodily whale could not long hold him. And from this third whale was Jonas sent, to deliver the Ninevites; which when he had, the other, of their temporal destruction, could do them no hurt. Their repentance rid them of both whales, bodily and ghostly, at once. Here then is a third cape of good hope, that though one had been down as deep in the entrails of the spiritual great Leviathan as ever was Jonas in the sea-whale's, yet even there also not to despair. He That brought Jonas from the deep of the sea, and David "from the deep of the earth," his Ps. 71. 20. body so; He also delivered his "soul from the nethermost Ps. 86. 13. hell," where Jonas and he both were, while they were in the transgression. And now by this are we come to the very signature of this sign, even to repentance, which followeth in the very next words, "for they repented at the preaching of Jonas." Jonas Mat. 12.41. preached it, and indeed none so fit to preach on that theme, on repentance, as he, as one that hath been in the whale's belly; in both the whales, the spiritual whale's too, for Jonas had been in both. One that hath studied his sermon there, been in Satan's sieve, well winnowed, cribratus Theologus, he will handle the point best, as being not only a preacher but a sign of repentance, as Jonas was both to the Ninevites. And as Jonas, so Christ; how soon He was risen, He gave order straight" that repentance," as the very virtue, the stamp D d SERM. of His resurrection, and by it "remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations." XII. Lu. 24. 47. But, indeed, if you mark well, there is a near alliance between the Resurrection and Repentance; reciprocal, as between the sign and the signature. Repentance is nothing Eph. 2. 1. but the soul's resurrection; men are "dead in sin," saith the Apostle, their souls are. From that death there is a rising; else were it wrong with us. That rising is repenting; and when one hath lain dead in sin long, and doth eluctari, 'wrestle out of a sin that hath long swallowed him up, he hath done as great a mastery, as if with Jonas he had got out of the whale's belly; nay, as if with Lazarus he had come out of "the heart of the earth." Ever holding this, that Mary Magdalene raised from sin, was no less a miracle than her brother raised from the dead. And sure, repentance is the very virtue of Christ's resurrection. There it is first seen, it first sheweth itself, hath his first operation in the soul, to raise it. This first being once wrought on the soul from the ghostly Leviathan, the like will not fail but be accomplished on the Eph. 5. 32. body from the other of death, of which Jonas is here mysterium magnum; dico autem in Christo. For in Christ this sign is a sign, not betokening only, but exhibiting also what it betokeneth, as the Sacraments do. For of signs, some shew Mat. 12.41. only and work nothing; such was that of Jonas in itself, sed ecce plus quam Jonas hic. For some other there be that shew and work both-work what they shew, present us with what they represent, what they set before us, set or graft in us. Such is that of Christ. For besides that it sets before us of His, it is farther a seal or pledge to us of our own, that what we see in Him this day, shall be accomplished in our own selves, at His good time. And even SO pass we to another mystery, for one mystery leads us to another; this in the text, to the holy mysteries we are providing to partake, which do work like, and do work to this, even to the raising of the soul with "the Rev. 20. 5. first resurrection." And as they are a means for the raising of our soul out of the soil of sin-for they are given us, and we take them expressly for the remission of sins-so are they no less a means also, for the raising our bodies out of the dust of death. The sign of that body which was thus "in the heart of the earth," to bring us from thence at the last. Our Saviour saith it totidem verbis, "Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh Joh. 6. 54. My Blood, I will raise him up at the last day"—raise him, whither He hath raised Himself. Not to life only, but to life and glory, and both without end. To which, &c. A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE KING'S MAJESTY AT WHITEHALL, ON THE FIFTH OF APRIL, A.D. MDCXVIII., BEING EASTER-DAY. SERM. 1. How the text may serve 1 CORINTHIANS xi. 16. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the Churches of God. Si quis autem videtur contentiosus esse, nos talem consuetudinem non habemus, neque Ecclesiæ Dei. [But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the Churches of God. Engl. Trans.] THIS is no Easter text as we are wont to have, nothing of the Resurrection in it. It is not for the day. It is not directly, but if it should happen there were any contention about Easter, that would bring it within the word for Easter. "contentious" here. Specially, if that contention about Easter were, whether it hath been ever a custom in the Church of God, for that would bring it within in the word "custom" here mentioned; and so would it both ways fall within the compass of the text. The custom of Easter made a contention, would make it an Easter-day text. The text two ways "Seems. " I say not any such contention there is, I desire to proceed, qualified as the Apostle doth, without the least offence. 1. He saith 1. Videtur. not, there be any " contentious," but "if any seem to be.” That any be "contentious," it may not be said. They will deeply protest that from their hearts they abhor all contentions, and desire to walk peaceably. Be not then, but seem to be." 66 "If any." 2. Nay, not "seem to be" neither, St. Paul says not so 2. Si quis, much; says only, si quis, "if any;" puts but a case, and there is no harm in that. No more will we, go no farther than the text: "If any such seem to be," this text tells what to do; if none be, none "seem to be," it is but a case put. And so by way of supposition be all said that shall be. All upon supposi The di Upon the view, three points give forth themselves: 1. Here tion. are contentions; and 2. here are customs; and 3. customs vision. opposed to the contentions. These the three heads. Conten To break them yet farther into certain theses or propo- I. sitions, to proceed by. 1. First, it should seem there were tions. contentions in the Apostle's times. 2. Contentions about what? About matter of circumstance. So was this here, whether men were to pray uncovered, and women veiled or no? 3. And that there were which did not only contend, but which is more, were even "contentious" about these. 4. For those that were so, here is a si quis set up, "if any seem to be" such, what to do to them. Not to pass them in silence and say nothing to them, but this to say; 66 we have no such custom, nor the Churches of God." And so oppose the Churches' custom to contention. In which saying, there are these heads: 1. First, that the Church hath her customs. 2. As she hath them, so she may, and doth allege them. 3. And allege them finally, as the Apostle here, we see, resolveth the whole matter into them, as into a final resolution. 4. And all this by Scripture confirmed, even by this Scripture, on which the customs of the Church are grounded, and the power that shall be ever in them, to overrule the "contentious." The II. Church customs. mus talem. the last Negative And let not this move you that it seems to be negative, Non habeNon habemus talem. As this time twelve-month Non dabitur Mat. 12 39. nisi, a negative in shew, proved an affirmative, Dabitur, sed The text non nisi; so will this Non habemus talem prove to habemus, year. sed non talem. "Custom" we have, but "none such." To in shew; apply it to the Apostle's purpose: "none," to sit covered at tive in prayer, non talem, none such," but the contrary rather; to be uncovered then, talem, such is our custom, such an one the Church hath. 66 Affirma effect. marks of a Where, because the negative refers not to habemus, but to The two talem, and a custom is not therefore good, because we have right cus tom. |