SERMON XII.

Henry the Seventh's chapel, July 4,

1663. at the

bishop of

Man's consecration.

XII.

A CONSECRATION SERMON.

PSALM CXxxii. 16.

I will also clothe her priests with salvation. SERM. THE context runs thus: The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I WILL ALSO CLOTHE HER PRIESTS WITH SALVATION and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud, &c.

If all, not only inaugurations of persons, but dedications even of inanimate things to some extraordinary use, hath been usually attended with especial significations of joy and festival solemnity; with great reason the consecration of a person to so high and sacred a function, as that of a Christian bishop, (that is, of a prince, or principal pastor in God's church,) requires most peculiar testimonies of our gratulation and content: the face of things

ought then to be serene and cheerful: the thoughts SERM. of men benign and favourable; the words comfort- XII. able and auspicious, that are uttered upon such occasion. And that ours at present should be such, the subject as well as the season of our discourse doth require. Words few, but pregnant, and affording ample matter for our best affections to work upon: and which more particularly will engage us, both to a hearty thankfulness for past benefits, and to a confident expectation of future blessings; while they acquaint us with the ancient exhibition of a gracious promise, remind us of the faithful performance thereof hitherto, and assure us of its certain accomplishment for the future. The occasion whereof was this:

King David, moved by a devout inclination to promote God's honour, and benefit the church, had vowed to build a magnificent temple, imploring God's propitious concurrence with, and approbation of, his design. Whereupon Almighty God not only declares his acceptance of that pious resolution, but rewards it with a bountiful promise, consisting of two parts; one conditional, relating to David's children and posterity, that they in an uninterrupted succession should for ever enjoy the royal dignity, in case they did constantly persist in observing his covenant, and the testimonies that he should teach them; the other more absolute, that however, what he chiefly intended concerning God's established worship and the perpetual welfare of the church, God would have an especial care that it should fully and certainly be accomplished: that he would for ever fix his residence in Sion; that he would protect and prosper it, and all that did belong thereto; especially those that did most need his favour and assistance, the poor, the

SERM. priests, and the saints, (or gentle ones.) This is XII. briefly the importance of the general promise whereTin is comprehended that particular one whereon we are to treat and in which we may observe,

4. lxxxix.

34.

1. The Promiser, I.

2. The persons who are especially concerned in the promise, her priests.

3. The thing promised, clothing with salvation. I. I say, the Promiser, I: that is, the Lord; the most true, the most constant, the most powerful God; most true and sincere in the declaration of his purpose, most constant and immutable in the prosecution, most powerful and uncontrollable in the perPsal.xxxiii. fect execution thereof: whose words are right, and all whose works are done in truth: who will not break his covenant, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips: whose counsel shall stand, and who will do all his pleasure. These glorious attributes and perfections of his, so often celebrated in holy writ, do ground our reliance upon all God's promises, and do oblige us, notwithstanding the greatest improbabilities or difficulties objected, to believe the infallible performance of this.

Isa. lxvi.

10.

Contra,

2 Chron.

vii. 21.

II. The persons whom the promise mainly regards, her priests. Priests, that is, persons peculiarly devoted to, and employed in, sacred matters; distinguished expressly from the poor, (that is, other meek and humble persons;) and from the saints, (that is, all other good and religious men.) And, her priests; that is, the priests of Sion: of that Sion which the Lord hath chosen; which he hath desired for his permanent habitation; which he hath resolved to rest and reside in for ever. Whence it plainly enough follows, that the priests and pastors of the Christian

XII.

church are hereby, if not solely, yet principally de- SERM. signed. Which interpretation, because it is in a manner the foundation of our subsequent discourse, and by some it may perhaps not be readily admitted, I shall endeavour further to confirm by these few arguments.

2 Chron.

1. Because the covenant here mentioned is not, as to the main parts thereof, of a conditional or temporary nature, but absolute and perpetual; and must therefore be understood to respect the Christian church (that of the Jews being long since rejected, Vide their temple demolished, their Sion utterly forsaken.) vii. 16. For although one particular contained therein, concerning the continual succession of David's posterity in the regal authority over Israel, hath a condition explicitly annexed; (and, consequently, the effects depending upon the performance of that condition were contingent and mutable ;) yet all the rest of this covenant (or promise) is conceived in terms peremptory, and expressly importing perpetuity. This is my rest for ever, Ty Ty, that is, as the Greek translators render it, eis aim̃va toũ aiŵvos, (in seculum seculi,) that is, to the end of this world ; as εἰς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων denotes the end of all worlds, or the most perfect sempiternity. And that it doth really in this case denote a proper and unlimited perpetuity, is also evident by those explications thereof in the eightyninth Psalm, where the very same covenant is, as to some parts thereof, more largely recorded. Once Ver. 35, have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto 36, 37. David: his seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me: it shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. No words can express more fully a per

20, 21.

SERM. petual duration, or at least one coextended with XII. the duration of the world, than those do. And the prophet Jeremy, referring also to this very covenant, and particularly to this very clause thereof, thus exJer. xxxiii. presses the matter: Thus saith the Lord; If you can Vide 2 Chr break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. But further,

vii. 16.

15.

2. The completion of this individual promise is both by the prophets foretold, and expressed by the evangelists, to appertain to the times of the gospel. Ye heard even now the words of Jeremy, which are by him applied to those times, when God would cause Jer. xxxiii. the Branch of righteousness (that is, Jesus of Nazareth, our blessed Saviour) to grow up unto David, who should execute judgment and righteousness in - Verse 16. the land. In those days, saith he further, shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, (or rather, which he shall be called, as not only the vulgar Latin and the Greek interpreters, but the Chaldee also read it,) THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Likewise in the fifty-fifth of Isaiah, Isa. Iv. 3. God thus invites the Gentiles: Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David: that is, I will ratify that everlasting covenant, which, in your behalf, I once made with David, and will confer on you those favours which I faithfully promised him; relating to this very promise also. For both in Solomon's prayer, (2 Chron.