speaks against this truth, which hath had so long a testimony from God, and from the wisdom and experience of so many ages, of all our ancestors, and all our laws.

6

When the Spirit of God wrote in Greek, Christ is called A and ; if he had spoken Hebrew, he had been called and Л, that is, "emet;" he is "truth," the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever:' and whoever opposes this holy sanction, which Christ's Spirit hath sanctified, his word hath warranted, his blessings have endeared, his promises have ratified, and his church hath always kept; he fights against this

“emet," and "secher" is his portion; his lot is a "lie;" his portion is there, where holiness can never dwell.

And now to conclude: to you, fathers and brethren, you who are, or intend to be of the clergy; you see here the best compendium of your studies, the best abbreviature of your labors, the truest method of wisdom, and the infallible, the only way of judging concerning the disputes and questions in Christendom. It is not by reading multitudes of books, but by studying the truth of God: it is not by laborious commentaries of the doctors that you can finish your work, but by the expositions of the Spirit of God: it is not by the rules of metaphysics, but by the proportions of holiness: and when all books are read, and all arguments examined, and all authorities alleged, nothing can be found to be true that is unholy. 'Give yourselves to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine,' saith St. Paul. Read all good books you can; but exhortation unto good life is the best instrument, and the best teacher of true doctrine, of that which is according to godliness.'

And let me tell you this, the great learning of the fathers was more owing to their piety than to their skill; more to God than to themselves: and to this purpose is that excellent ejaculation of St. Chrysostom,* with which I will conclude : "O blessed and happy men, whose names are in the book of life, from whom the devils fled, and heretics did fear them, who (by holiness) have stopped the mouths of them that spake perverse things! But I, like David, will cry out,' Where are thy loving-kindnesses which have been ever of old?' Where

* Lib. de Consummat. Seculi, inter opera Ephrem Syri.

is the blessed quire of bishops and doctors, who shined like lights in the world, and contained the word of life? Dulce est meminisse; "their very memory is pleasant." Where is that Evodias, the sweet savor of the church, the successor and imitator of the holy Apostles? Where is Ignatius, in whom God dwelt? Where is St. Dionysius the Areopagite, that bird of Paradise, that celestial eagle? Where is Hippolytus, that good man, dvǹp Xenoròs, "that gentle, sweet person?" Where is great St. Basil, a man almost equal to the Apostles? Where is Athanasius, rich in virtue? Where is Gregory Nyssen, that great divine? And Ephrem, the great Syrian, that stirred up the sluggish, and awakened the sleepers, and comforted the afflicted, and brought the young men to discipline; the lookingglass of the religious, the captain of the penitents, the destruction of heresies, the receptacle of graces, the habitation of the Holy Ghost?" These were the men that prevailed against error, because they lived according to truth: and whoever shall oppose you, and the truth you walk by, may better be confuted by your lives than by your disputations. Let your adversaries have no evil thing to say of you, and then you will best silence them for all heresies and false doctrines are but like Myron's counterfeit cow, it deceived none but beasts; and these can cozen none but the wicked and the negligent, them that love a lie, and live according to it. But if ye become burning and shining lights; if ye do not detain the truth in unrighteousness; if ye walk in light, and live in the Spirit; your doctrines will be true, and that truth will prevail. But if ye live wickedly and scandalously, every little schismatic shall put you to shame, and draw disciples after him, and abuse your flocks, and feed them with colocynths and hemlock, and place heresy in the chairs appointed for your religion.

I pray God give you all grace to follow this wisdom, to study this learning, to labor for the understanding of godliness; so your time and your studies, your persons and your labors, will be holy and useful, sanctified and blessed, beneficial to men and pleasing to God, through him who is the wisdom of the Father, who is made to all that love him wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: to whom, with the Father, &c.

A

SERMON

PREACHED IN

CHRIST'S CHURCH, DUBLIN,

July 16, 1663,

AT THE FUNERAL

OF

THE MOST REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,

JOHN,

LATE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH, AND PRIMATE OF ALL

IRELAND.

SUMMARY OF SERMON VII.

1 CORINTHIANS, CHAP. XV.-YERSE 23.

PRELIMINARY observations, on the weak and limited state of man in this world; on the hope of man in the resurrection of the soul, even in this world, from sorrow and sad pressures, &c.; on death as the end of all his mortal hopes, and joys, and troubles; and on the resurrection from death; from the death of the body, to the life of the soul, &c.

The great hinges of our religion are these: 1. Christ is already risen from the dead: 2. we also shall rise in God's time and our due order; for Christ is the first-fruits: this topic enlarged on.

1. Christ is the first-fruits: he is already risen from the dead, for he alone could not be held by death. Death was Sin's eldest daughter; but Christ was conqueror over both, and came to take away one, and to disarm the other. This was a glory fit for the Head of mankind; but it was too great and good to be easily believed by incredulous and weak-hearted men: doubts stated, objections answered, and proofs alleged. This article was so clearly proved, that men became no longer ashamed of the cross, &c. ; but it soon came to pass that the religion of the despised Jesus infinitely prevailed: nature of this religion described, &c.: conduct of its disciples, &c.: so that men could no longer doubt of the resurrection of Jesus, when they saw such forcible reasons for belief: these enumerated. He therefore is the first-fruits; and if we hope to rise through him, we must confess that he is first risen from the dead. That is the first particular.