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human nature of ours into the inseparable union with the ever-glerious and blessed Godhead; to be adored of all principalities, and powers, and thrones, and dominions of heaven.

Lo, I, that even now could have been sorry that I was a man, begin now to be holily proud of my condition; and know not whether I may change the man for the angel. Pardon me, ye Glorious Spirits: I durst not speak thus big of myself; but, in the right of my Saviour, I dare and must: non assumpsit angelum, sed hominem. Howsoever, man is lower than you. Alas, what should dust and ashes talk of comparing with spiritual and heavenly powers? Yet I am sure the Son of Man is above you. In him, will I glory. In itself your nature is so much above ours, as it is more spiritual, and nearer to your Infinite Creator: but if the Son of God hath advanced our nature above yours in uniting it to the Deity, we cannot so much praise his mercy as you do for us. Yea, O ye Blessed Angels, whose greatness though we must not adore yet we cannot but awfully acknowledge with due veneration, I may boldly say, ye hold it in no scorn to be πνεύματα λειτοργικά, serviceable spirits to the behoof of us weak and sinful men; Heb. i. 14. Ye behold the face of our Heavenly Father for us; Matt. xviii. 10. Ye bear us in your arms, that we dash not our feet against the stones of offence; Psalm xci. Ye pitch your tents about us, for our defence. Ye rejoice in heaven at our conversion. Ye carry up our parting souls into the bosom of Abraham. As this is a wonderful joy and honour to us; so can it be no derogation from your celestial glory and magnificence: since he, whom ye profess to serve with us, professes that he, the Son of Man, came not to be served, but to serve. Oh now what can we want, when we have such purveyors? What can we fear, while we have such guardians? While we have such conveyance, what can let us from ascending into our heaven?

How justly do we now exult in the glory of manhood, thus attended, thus united! But, soft, that our rejoicing be not vain: while our nature is thus glorious, our person may be miserable enough. Except we be in Christ, united to the Son of God, we are never the better for the uniting of this man-hood to God, Where should ambition dwell, but at a Court? Oh, be ye ambitious of this honour, which will make you everlastingly happy. What ever become of your earthly greatness, strive to be found in Christ; to be partakers of divine nature; to be favourites of heaven. It is a great word, that Zozomen speaks of Apollonius, that never asked any thing in all his life of God, that he obtained not: if we follow his rule, we shall be sure to be no less happy. And now, being thus dignified by the knowledge, by the account of God, how should we strive to walk worthy of so high favours; both in the duty of self-estimation, and of gratitude!

Self-estimation: for, if God make such account of us, why do not we make high account of ourselves? I know I do now spur a free horse, when I wish every man to think well of one: but there is a holy pride, that I must commend unto you, with St. Jerome, a

THE CHARACTER OF MAN.

pride as good as the other is sinful; that, since God hath so advanced you, you should hold yourselves too good to be the drudges of sin, the pack-horses of the world, the vassals of Satan; and think these sublunary vanities too base to carry away your hearts. It was a brave word of the old Jewish courtier Nehemiah, Should such a man as I flee? Say ye so, ye Regenerate Souls. Should such a man as I debauch and sin? Should such a man as I play the beast? Is it for my upright face to grovel? Is it for my affections to walk on all-four? No; let beasts be sensual: let devils be wicked: let my heart be as upright as my face. I will hate to shame my pedigree; and scorn all the base and mis-becoming pleasures of sin, and will bear myself worthy of the favourite of heaven.

Gratitude: in retribution of praise and obedience. O God, thou mightest have made me a beast; yea, the ugliest of crawling vermin, that I run away from. I could not have challenged thee: thy will and thy works are free, thy power absolute; and lo, thou hast made me thy darling, the quintessence of thy creation, man. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Thou mightest have past by me, as an outcast reprobate soul; and so it had been a thousand times better for me never to have been: but thou hast bought me with a price. I will praise thee, for I am no less wonderfully redeemed. O God, nothing but man, and man regenerate, of all the visible works of thy hands, is capable to give thee the glory of thy mighty creation, of thy gracious redemption. The lowest rank of creatures have not life; the next have not sense; the third have not reason: none but the last hath grace to return thee the praise of thy blessed power and mercy. Oh, let not us be wanting unto thee, who hast thus superabounded

unto us.

But, this is not all. Thanks is a poor windy payment. Our returns to God must be real: Quid retribuam? What should we render to our God, less than all? Yea, all is too little for one mercy. We owe ourselves to thee, O God, as our Creator. What have we to give to thee, as our bounteous Redeemer, as our gracious Sanctifier? Thou, that ownest all, take all. Oh, that our bodies, souls, lives, actions could be wholly consecrated to thee! Oh, that we could really and constantly begin here those Hallelujahs, which we shall ever continue above amidst the Quire of Saints and Angels, giving all praise and honour, and glory, and immortality to thee, O Blessed Father, our Creator; to thee, O Blessed and Coeternal Son, our Redeemer; to thee, O Blessed and Coessential Spirit, our Sanctifier; one Infinite God, in Three most glorious and incomprehensible Persons, now and evermore! Amen.

SERMON XXXI.

ABRAHAM'S PURCHASE AND EMPLOYMENT OF À BURYING PLACE.

A SERMON PREACHED IN THE CITY OF EXETER, AT THE CONSECRATION OF A NEW BURIAL-PLACE THERE, ON ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S-DAY, AUGUST 24, 1637.

TO THE NEAREST AND MOST EMINENT PART OF MY CHARGE,
THE CITY OF EXETER.

I HAD not yielded, upon your strong importunity, to give public life to this Sermon rather than many other of the fellows, which have quietly died in your ears, had I not conceived, that the occasion might be no less profitable than the discourse: the discourse, by way of instruction; and the occasion, by way of example. Your public charity to the dead, which is the ground and subject of this day's service, will, I hope, speak louder, and last longer, than these papers.

The world shall hereby learn to do good to those, which cannot be capable of returning thanks. Your grandfathers found that inconvenience, which ye have now redressed: they were not well apaid, to be thronged in their straitned graves, and to mix their dust: And that goodly fabric of the Church, which is no small part of your glory and beauty, long complained, that, while it stood still, the earth began to rise up toward her lights, and threatened her obscuration.

Your care, and bounty, hath now happily put an end to these griec ances; having, with the resolute neglect of your own apparent advantages, set apart so fair, spacious, convenient a portion for the dead, within the compass of your own walls: For the perfecting whereof, I cannot but justly congratulate to my worthy sons, the Dean and Chapter of this Church, both their godly zeal in exciting your beneficence, and their munificent concurrence in seconding it. It is a happy emulation, when both Bodies are ready to contend for the honour of forwardness in good. Neither may I, without just censure, forget the pious care and fervency of our most reverend and vigilant Metropolitan, in the promoving of this so religious a work; the interposition of whose great authority was well worthy and able to further it to a desired issue.

Blessed be God for all good hands! the thing is done, and now remains a noble monument of Christian charity, and a good pattern for populous communities. For me, your eyes and ears will witness, that the solemnness of the consecration was well answerable to the honour of that holy designment: which service of mine, because it was led in by this homely Sermon, there seemed good reason, both for you to desire it public, and for me not to deny it. The God of Heaven bless it in your hands, and consecrate all your bodies and souls to his own holy and constant service! Such shall ever be the prayer of your loving and faithful Pastor, JOSEPH EXON.

GENESIS xxiii. 19, 20.

And, after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure to Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the sons of Heth.

AFTER many agitations of thoughts and counsels, we see it effected this day, Right Worshipful and Dear Christians, which hath been oft mentioned and long desired, that there is, by mutual agreement, a new dormitory provided for our dead: so as now, we hope our Church shall not need fear to be buried with bodies, nor our bodies to be indecently pressed in their last lodgings: An act worthy, both of this common celebration, and of that Episcopal service of mine, which shall this day give a due consummation to it. I could not better parallel the occasion, than with the practice of him, in whose bosom we all once hope to rest.

Shortly then, my Text and my speech offer you two heads of meditation, ABRAHAM'S PURCHASE OF GROUND, and ABRAHAM's Em

PLOYMENT OF THAT PURCHASE.

I. The PURCHASE is first in nature, though last in mention. We will be as short in the discourse, as Abraham was in the transaction; and he had not many words to a bargain.

Lo, even Abraham purchases: holiest men may touch with secular occasions: not the rayuara, but the gaypareía is that which offends. No man that warfares, as every faithful man doth and must, entangles himself in the affairs of this life, saith our Apostle. He says not, he meddles not with them, but he entangles not himself in them. The world is pitch; scarce to be touched without a defilement: but if we touch pitch with a cold hand, it cleaves not to our fingers. So doth every right son of Abraham handle the world. The earth is the Lord's as the possessor; and he hath conveyed it by deed of gift to the children of men: so that, by due right of inheritance or purchase, it is lawfully devolved to us. This is no warrant for excess: Woe to them, that join house to house, and land to land, till there be no more place! devouring depopulators of whole countries! Such men purchase with a vengeance. Let it be our care so to purchase a share on earth, that we lose not our mansion in heaven.

Of whom doth Abraham purchase, but of Ephron the son of Heth? and he was the son of cursed Canaan: yet Abraham forbears not, both to converse and commerce with these, that were of the seven branded nations. Trade and cohabitation with them without, is not unjustifiable; so as it may be carefully managed: civil society and traffic is lawful; yea, compliment and courtesy, as we see here: but without too much entireness; so as, in the mean time, we lie at a sure lock for the avoiding of spiritual hurt. If our purses gain, and our souls lose, we make but an ill match.

As we are wont, in public and politic affairs, to say, Salus populi suprema ler; so, in spiritual and private, Salus anime suprema lex: the main chance must be looked to: we may not so far and so long put ourselves out of the bounds of God's Church, as to starve our graces.

Withal, if we mark it, Abraham so converses with them, that he severs from them: and, therefore, as Cornelius à Lapide well observes, he will purchase, pnn, the possession, and not the loan or use of a sepulchre. And, when Ephron offers him his tomb, he refuses it: he will not have his dead mixed with idolaters; although it were, as the word signifies, spelunca duplicitatis," a cave with partitions," as Precopius, one part for men, another for the women; or, as Mercerus, so called because of the capacity and sinuosity of it, insomuch as there might seem to have been room enough, yet Abraham holds off. And so must all his true sons learn of him to do: so dealing with infidels and idolaters, as we would do with the plague-sick; talk with them at a distance; and take the wind of them; and deliver our commodities at the stave's end; and, as it were, wash their coin, ere we touch it; and, shortly, in the Apostle's charge, Have no fellowship or unequal yoking with infidels.

Yet further, see, I beseech you, in this purchase Abraham's justice, moderation, faith. Twice had God given Abraham and his seed this land. He had now a right to it, jus ad rem; but would stay God's leisure for the possession of it, four hundred years. Onwards, he takes his livery and seizin; and will purchase with money that, which the great Owner of Heaven gave him freely, and which he knows shall be once his. If we will approve ourselves the true sons of faithful Abraham, we must with patience wait God's leisure in all his performances: He, that believes, hastens

not.

What a difference there is, betwixt a David and a Hazael, a Syrian and Israelite! That Syrian hears he shall once be a king; and straight goes home, and smothers his master: David, that hath full and clear assurances of his succession, rides out many bitter storms; and repents, to have but cut off a skirt of his master's garment. Have we then the gracious engagements of the Almighty; and yet, doth he seem to protract the time? Let not the hope, that is delayed, be the fainting of our heart; but let us bear up cheerfully, in a constant expectation of that mercy, which in due time shall be made good to us. Let us take what he gives; and wait for what he promises: as well knowing, that he cannot be slack, as the world accounts slackness; but will surely keep his own time, though not ours. Is it for some great heir, to break through his wardship; and shoulder into his inheritance, by a forcible anticipation? Were not this the way to lose all? Canaan was to Abraham and his seed a type of heaven: if we be his spiritual seed, we must live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present. world; looking, and looking long, for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Tit. ii. 12. 13.

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