6.27 For him hath the Father sealed The second is his blessing of it whereby he by the recitall of the promises and praiers conceiued to that ende doth actually separate the bread and wine receiued from their common vnto an holy vse This doth seale that action of God by which he did in the fulnesse of time send Christ to performe the office of a Mediatour vnto the which he was fore-ordained The third is the breaking of the bread and powring out of the wine this doth seale the passion of Christ by which he verely vpon the crosse was both in soule and bodie bruised for our transgressions The fourth is his distributing of the bread and wine into the hands of the communicants This sealeth the action of God offering Christ vnto all yea to the hypocrites but giuing him indeede vnto the faithful for the daily encrease of their faith and repentance The action of the receiuer is double The first is his taking the bread and wine in his hand This sealeth a spirituall action of the receiuer namely his apprehension of Christ by the hand of faith Ioh. 1. 1â— The second is his eating of the bread and drinking of the wine to the nourishment of his bodie This sealeth his application of Christ by faith that the feeling of his true vnion and communion with Christ may daily be encreased 1. Cor. 11.16 The cuppe of blessing which we blesse is it not the communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we breake is it not the communion of the bodie of Christ That doctrine of Transubstantiation which teacheth that the bread is turned into the very bodie of Christ and the wine into his blood is a very fable the reasons why are these I. In the first institution of the Supper which was before Christ his passion the bodie of Christ was then eaten as alreadie crucified Now how the bodie of Christ crucified should after a corporall manner be eaten he himselfe being not as yet crucified it is impossible to imagine II. The bread after the consecration is distributed into parts but the whole bodie of Christ is receiued of euery singular communicant III. The bread is the communion of Christs bodie therefore not his very bodie IV. By this meanes the bodie of Christ should not onely be made of the substance of the Virgin Marie but also of the bakers bread V. Let the bread wine be kept for a time and the bread will mould and the wine turne to vineger after the consecration by which we may conclude that there did remaine the substaÌ„ce of bread and wine VI. This opinion quite ouerthroweth the sacramentall vnion namely the proportion which is betwixt the signe and the thing signed Thâ— lâ—ke may be said of the Lutherans Consubstantiation whereby they bâ—â—re men in hand that there is a coexistence by which the bodie of Christ is eithâ—â— in or with or about the bread Against this these reasons may suffice I. The â—hoâ—â—â—ction of the Supper is done in remembrance of Christ now what 〈…〉 f the bodie of Christ were really present II. Act. 3.21 Whom the heauens 〈◊〉 containe vntill the time that all things be restored III. This is an essential propertie of euery magnitude and therfore of the bodie of Christ to be in one place and circumscribed or compassed of one place IV. If that Christs bodie were eaten corporally then should the wicked as well as the faithfull be partakers of the flesh of Christ but to eate his flesh is to beleeue in him and to haue eternall life V. It were very absurd to thinke that Christ sitting amongst his Disciples did with his owne hands take his owne bodie and giue it wholly to each of his Disciples Such as will in an holy sort prepare themselues to celebrate the Lords Supper must haue First a knowledge of God and of mans fall and of the promised restauration into the couenant by Christ. 1. Cor. 11.26 So often as ye shall eate this bread and drinke of this cuppe ye shew the death of the Lord till he come 29. and discerne his bodie Secondly true faith in Christ for euery man receiueth so much as he beleeueth he receiueth Heb. 4.2 For vnto vs was the Gospel preached as also vnto them but the word that they heard profited not them because it was not mixed with faith in those that heard it Furthermore true repentance of their sinnes Esai 66.3 He that killeth a bullocke as if he slue a man he that sacrificeth a sheepe as if he cut off a dogges necke he that offereth an oblation as if he offered swines blood he that remembreth incense as if he blessed an idol yea they haue chosen their owne waies and their soule delighteth in their abominations Psal. 26.6 I wash mine hands in innocency O Lord and so come before thine altar Thirdly renued faith and repentance for daily and new sinnes committed vpon infirmitie because euery new sinne requireth a new act both of repentance and faith this renouation must be seene by our reconciliation of our selues to our neighbours for iniuries and wrongs Mat. 5.23 If thou bring thy gift to the altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee 24. Leaue thy gift before the altar and goe first be reconciled to thy brother then come and offer thy gift If thou canst come furnished with these things abstaine not from the Lords table by reaâ—â—n of thy many infirmities If being thus prepared thou feelest that thou hast a corrupt and rebellious heart know this that then thou art well disposed to the Lords table wheÌ„ thou art liuely touched with a sense of thy crooked disposition Luk. 4.18 The spirit of the Lord is vpon me because he hath annointed me that I should preach the Gospell to the poore he hath sent me that I should heale the broken hearted that I should preach deliuerance to the captiues and recouering of sight to the blind that I should set at libertie them that are bruised Mat. 15.24 He answered and said I am not sent but to the lost sheepe of the house of Israel The Lords Supper is a medicine to the diseased and languishing soule and therefore men must as well seeke to purifie and heale their hearts in it as to bring pure and sounde hearts vnto it If thou feele in thy selfe some great defect and want of faith pray vnto god earnestly that he will vouchfafe to increase it Mark 9.24 The father of the child crying with teares said Lord I beleeue helpe mine vnbeleefe If thou canst not doe this thy selfe vse the aide of the faithfull which may by their faith carrie thee as men did the sicke of the palsie vpon their sholders and laid him before Christ. Mark 2.3 If thou come not furnished on this maner to the Lords table thou shalt be adiudged guiltie of the bodie and blood of Christ as he is guiltie of high treason who doth counterfeit or clip the Princes coyne 1. Cor. 11.27 He
the wages of sinne Rom. 6.22 it is an enemie of Christ 1. Cor. 15. and the curse of the law Hence it seemes to follow that in and by death mē receiue their wages and paiment for their sinnes that the daie of death is the dolefull daie in which the enemie preuailes against vs that he which dieth is cursed Ans. Wee must distinguish of death it must be considered two waies first as it is by it selfe in his owne nature secondly as it is altered and changed by Christ. Now death by it selfe considered is indeed the wages of sinne an enemie of Christ and of all his members and the curse of the law yea the verie suburbs gates of hell yet in the second respect it is not so For by the vertue of the death of Christ it ceaseth to be a plague or punishment of a curse it is made a blessing and is become vnto vs a passage or mid-waie betweene this life and eternall life and as it were a little wicket or doore whereby wee passe out of this worlde and enter into heauen And in this respect the saying of Salomon is most true For in the daie of birth men are borne and brought forth into the vale of miserie but afterward when they goe hence hauing death altered vnto them by the death of Christ they enter into eternall ioy and happines with all the Saints of God for euer The third obiection is taken from the examples of most worthie men who haue made their praiers against death As our Sauiour Christ who praied on this manner Father if it bee thy will let this cuppe passe from mee yet not my will but thy will bee done And Dauid praied Returne O Lord deliuer my soule saue me for thy mercies sake for in death there is no remembrance of thee in the graue who shall praise thee And Ezechiah when the Prophet Esai bad him set his house in order and tolde him that he must die wept sore and that in respect of death Nowe by the examples of these most worthie men yea by the example of the sonne of God himselfe it may seeme that the daie of death is the most terrible and dolefull daie of all Ansvvere When our Sauiour Christ praied thus to his father hee was in his agonie and hee then as our Redeemer stoode in our roome and steade to suffer all things that wee should haue suffered in our owne persons for our sinnes and therefore hee praied not simplie against death but against the cursed death of the crosse and hee feared not death it selfe which is the separation of bodie and soule but the curse of the lawe which went with death namely the vnspeakable wrath and indignation of God The first death troubled him not but the first and second ioyned togither Touching Dauid when hee made the sixt psalme hee was not onely sicke in bodie but also perplexed with the greatest temptation of all in that hee wrestled in conscience with the wrath of God as appeares by the words of the text where he saith Lord rebuke me not in thy wrath And by this wee see that hee praied not simply against death but against death at that instant when hee was in that grieuous temptation For at other times he had no such feare of death as hee himselfe testifieth saying Though I should walke through the valley of the shadowe of death I will feare no euil Therefore he praied against death only as it was ioyned with the apprehension of Gods wrath Lastly Ezechiah praied against death not onely because hee desired to liue and doe seruice to God in his kingdome but vpon a further and more speciall regard because when the prophet brought the message of death hee was without issue and had none of his owne bodie to succeede him in his kingdome It will be said what warrant had Ezechiah to praie against death for this cause Ansvvere His warrant was good for God had made a particular promise to Dauid and his posteritie after him that so long as they feared God and walked in his commandements they should not want issue to sitte vpon the throne of the kingdome after them Nowe Ezechiah at the time of the Prophets message remembering what promise God had made and howe hee for his part had kept the condition thereof in that hee had walked before God with an vpright heart and had done that which was acceptable in his sight hee praied against death not so much because hee feared the danger of it but because he wanted issue This praier God accepted heard and he added fifteene yeares vnto his daies two yeares after gaue him Manasses The fourth obiection is this that those which haue beene reputed to bee of the better sort of men oftentimes haue miserable endes for some end their daies despairing some rauing and blaspheming some strangely tormented it may seeme therefore that the daie of death is the daie of greatest woe and miserie To this I answere first of all generally that we must not iudge of the estate of any man before God by outward things whether they bee blessings or iudgements whether they fall in life or death For as Salomon saith all things come alike to all and the same condition is to the iust and the wicked to the good to the pure to the polluted to him that sacrificeth to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner hee that sweareth as hee that feareth a◠oath Secondly I answer the particulars which bee alleadged on this manner And first of all touching despaire it is true that not onely wicked and loose persons despaire in death but also repentant sinners who oftentimes in their sickenesse testifie of themselues that beeing aliue and lying in their beds they feele themselues as it were to be in hell and to apprehend the verie pangs and torments thereof And I doubt not for all this but that the child of God most deare vnto him may through the gulfe of desperation attaine to euerlasting happines This appeares by the manner of Gods dealing in the matter of our saluation All the workes of God are done in and by their contraries In the creation all things were made not of something but of nothing cleane contrarie to the course of nature In the worke of Redemption God giues life not by life but by death and if we consider aright of Christ vpon the crosse wee shall see our paradise out of paradise in the midst of hell For out of his owne cursed death doth he bring vs life and eternall happinesse Likewise in effectuall vocation when it pleaseth God to conuert and turne men vnto him hee doeth it by the meanes of the Gospel preached which in reason should driue all men from God For it is as contrarie to the nature of man as fire to water and light to darkenes and yet for all this though it be thus against the disposition and heart of
followed of all though it may be the applying of it as Iob well perceiued is mixed with follie Here it may be alleadged that in the pangs of death men want their senses and conuenient vtterance and that therefore they are vnable to pray Ans. The very sighes sobbes and gâ—ones of a repentant and beleeuing heart are praiers before God euen as effectuall as if they were vttered by the best voice in the world Prayer stands in the affection of the heart the voice is but an outward messenger therof God looks not vpon the speach but vpon the heart Dauid saith God heares the desires of the poore againe that he will fulfill the desires of theÌ„ that feare him yea their very teares are loud and sounding praiers in his eares Againe faith may otherwise be expressed by the Last words which for the most part in theÌ„ that haue truly serued God are very excellent coÌ„fortable and full of grace some choise examples whereof I will rehearse for instructions sake and for imitation The last wordes of Iacob were those whereby as a prophet he foretold blessings and curses vpon his children and the principall among the rest were these The scepter shall not depart from Iudah and the lawgiuer from betweene his feete till Shilo come and O Lord I haue waited for thy saluation The last words of Moses are his most excellent song set downe Deut. 32. and the last words of Dauid were these The spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue the God of Israel spake to me the strength of Israel said Beare rule ouer men c. The wordes of Zacharias the sonne of Iehoida when he was stoned were The Lord looke vpon it and require it The last words of our Sauiour Christ when he was dying vpon the crosse are most admirable and stored with abundance of spirituall grace 1. To his father he saith Father forgiue them they know not what they doe 2. to the thiefe Verily I say vnto thee this night shalt thou be with me in Paradise 3. to his mother Mother behold thy son to Iohn behold thy mother 4. and in his agonie My God my God why hast thou forsaken me 5. and earnestly desiring our saluation I thirst 6. and when he had made perfect satisfaction It is finished 7. and when bodie and soule were parting Father into thy hands I commend my spirit The last words of Steuen were 1. Behold I see the heauens open and the Sonne of man standing at the right hand of God 2. Lord Iesu receiue my spirit 3. Lord lay not this sinâ—e to their charge Of Polycarpe Thou art a true God without lying therefore in all things I praise thee and blesse thee and glorifie thee by the eternall God and high Priest Iesus Christ thine onely beloued sonne by whome and with whome to thee and the holy Spirit be all glorie now and for euer Of Ignatius I care not what kinde of death I die I am the bread of the Lord and must be ground with the teeth of lyons that I may be cleane bread for Christ who is the bread of life for me Of Ambrose I haue not so led my life amoÌ„g you as if I were ashamed to liue neither doe I feare death because we haue a good Lord. Of Augustine 1. He is no great maÌ„ that thinks it a great matter that trees and stones fall and mortall men die 2. Iust art thou O Lord and righteous is thy iudgement Of Bernard 1. An admonitioÌ„ to his brethren that they would ground the anchor of their faith and hope in the safe and sure port of Gods mercie 2. Because saith he as I suppose I can not leaue vnto you any choise example of religion I commend three things to be imitated of you which I remember that I haue obserued in the race which I haue runne as much as possibly I could 1. I gaue lâ—sse heede to mine owne sense and reason then to the sense and reason of other men 2. When I was hurt I sought not reuenge on him that did the hurt 3. I had care to giue offence to no man and if it fell out otherwise I tooke it away as I could Of Zuinglius when in the fielde he was wounded vnder the chinne with a speare O what happe is this goe to they may kill my bodie but my soule they cannot Of Oecolampadius 1. An exhortation to the ministers of the Church to maintaine the puritie of doctrine to shewe forth an example of honest and godly conuersation to bee constant and patient vnder the crosse 2. Of himselfe Whereas I am charged to bee a corrupter of the trueth I weigh it not now I am going to the tribunall of Christ and that with good conscience by the grace of god there it shall be manifest that I haue not seduced the Church Of this my saying and contestation I leaue you as witnesses and I confirme it with this my last breath 3. To his children loue God the father and turning himselfe to his kinsfolkes I haue bound you saith he with this contestation you which they heare and I haue desired shall doe your indeauour that these my childreÌ„ may be godly and peaceable and true 4. To his friend comming vnto him What shall I say vnto you Newes I shal be shortly with Christ my Lord. 5. being asked whether the light did not trouble him touching his breast there is light enough saith hee 6. he rehearsed the whole 51. psalme with deepe sighes from the bottome of his breast 7. a little after Saue me Lord Iesus Of Luther My heauenly father God and father of our Lord Iesus Christ and God of all comfort I giue thee thankâ—s that thou hast reuealed vnto me thy sonne Iesus Christ whome I haue beleeued whome I haue professed whome I haue loued whome I haue praised whome the Bishoppe of Rome and the whole companie of the wicked persecuteth and reuileth I praie thee my Lord Iesus Christ receiue my poore soule my heauenly father though I bee taken from this life and this bodie of mine is to he laid downe yet I knowe certainely that I shall remaine with thee for euer neither shall any be able to pull me out of thy hand Of Hooper O Lord Iesus sonne of Dauid haue mercie on me receiue my soule Of Annas Burgius Forsake me not O Lord least I forsake thee Of MelaÌ„cthon If it be the will of God I am willing to die and I beseech him that he will graunt me a ioyfull departure Of Caluine 1. I held my tongue because thou Lord hast done it 2. I mourned as a doue 3. Lord thou grindest me to powder but 〈◊〉 sufficeth me because it is thine hand Of Peter Martyr that his bodie was weake but his mind was well that he acknowledged no life or saluation but onely in Christ who was giuen of the father to be a redeemer of mankind and
falshood I will make manifest by sundrie reasons and then answer their arguments to the contrarie Our reasons The first shall bee taken from the properties and conditions that must bee in a worke meritorious and they are foure I. A man must doe it of himselfe and by himselfe for if it be done by another the merit doeth not properly belong to the doer II. A man must doe it of his owne freewill and pleasure not of due debt for when wee doe that which wee are bound to doe wee doe no more but our dutie III. The worke must bee done to the profit of another who thereupon must be bound to repay the like IV. The reward and the work must be in proportion equall for if the reward be more then the work it is not a reward of desert but a gift of good will Hence followes a notable conclusion That Christs manhood considered a part from his Godhead cannot merit at Gods hand◠though it be more excellent euery way then all both men and angels For beeing thus considered it doth nothing of it selfe but by grace receiued from the godhead though it also be without measure Secondly Christs manhood is a creature and in that regard bound to doe whatsoeuer it doth Thirdly Christ as man cannot giue any thing to God but that which hee receiued from God therfore cānot the manhood properly by it selfe merit but onely as it is personally vnited vnto the godhead of the Sonne And if this bee so then much lesse can any meere man or any angell merit yea it is a madnes to thinke that either our actions or persons should be capable of any merit whereby we might attaine to life eternall Reason II. Exod. 20. ◠And shew mercie vpon thousands in them that loue me and keepe my commandements Hence I reason thus where reward is giuen vpon mercie there is no merit but reward is giuen of mercie to them that fulfill the law therefore no merit What can we any way deserue when our full recompence must be of mercie And this appeares further by Adam if he had stood to this day he could not by his continuall and perfect obedience haue procured a further increase of fauour at Gods hand but should onely haue continued that happie estate in which he was first created Reason III. Scripture directly condemneth merit of workes Rom. 6.23 The wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. The proportion of the argument required that S. Paul should haue said The reward of good works is eternall life if life euerlasting could be deserued which cannot because it is a free gift Againe Tit. 3.5 We are saued not by workes of righteousnes which we haue done but according to his mercie he saued vs. And Eph. 2.8 10. By grace you are faued through faith and that not of your selues it is the gift of God not of workes which God hath prepared that we should walke in them If any works be crowned it is certen that the sufferings of Martyrs shall be rewarded now of them Paul saith Rom. 8.18 The sufferings of this life are not worthie of the glorie to come Where then is the value and dignitie of other works To this purpose Ambr. saith The iust man though he be tormented in the brasen bull is still iust because he iustifieth God and saith he suffereth lesse then his sinnes deserue Reason IV. Whosoeuer will merit must fulfill the whole law but none can keepe the whole law For if we say we haue no sinne we deceiue our selues 1. Ioh. 1. And he that sinnes against one commandement is guiltie of the whole law And what can he merit that is guiltie of the breach of the whole law Reason V. We are taught to pray on this manner Giue vs this day our daily bread wherein we acknowledge euery morsell of bread to be the meere gift of God without desert and therefore must we much more acknowledge life eternall to be euery way the gift of God It must needes therefore be a satanicall insolencie for any man to imagine that he can by his workes merit eternal life who can not merit bread Reason VI. Consent of the auncient Church Bernard Those which we call our merits are the way to the kingdome and not the cause of raigning August Manuali chap. 22. All my hope is in the death of my Lord. His death is my merit my merit is the passion of the Lord. I shall not be void of merits so long as Gods mercies are not wanting Basil on Psal. 114. Eternall rest is reserued for them which haue striuen lawfully in this life not for the merits of their doings but vpon the grace of the most bountifull God in which they trusted August on Psal. 120. He crowneth thee because he crowneth his owne gifts not thy merits And Psal. 142. Lord thou wilt quicken me in thy iustice not in mine not because I deserued it but because thou hast compassion Obiections of Papists Obiect I. In sundrie places of Scripture promise of reward is made to them that beleeue and doe good workes therefore our workes doe merit for a reward and merit be relatiues Answ. Reward is two-fold of debt and of mercie Life euerlasting is not a reward of debt but of mercie giuen of the good will of God without any thing done of man Secondly the kingdome of heauen is properly an inheritance giuen of a father to a child and therefore it is called a reward not properly but by a figure or by resemblance For as a workeman hauing ended his labour receiueth his wages so after men haue lead their liues and finished their course in keeping faith good conscience as dutiful children God giueth them eternall life And hereupon it is tearmed a reward Thirdly if I should graunt that life euerlasting is a deserued reward it is not for our works but for Christs merit imputed to vs causing vs thereby to merit and thus the relation stands directly betweene the Reward and Christs Merit applied vnto vs. Ob. II. Christ by his death merited that our works should merit life euerlasting Ans. That is false all we finde in Scripture is that Christ by his merit procured pardon of sinne imputation of righteousnes life euerlasting it is no where saide in the word of God that Christ did merit that our workes should merit it is a dotage of their owne deuifing He died not for our good works to make them able to satisfie Gods anger but for our sinnes that they might be pardoned Thus much saith the Scripture and no more And in that Christ did sufficiently merit life eternall for vs by his own death it is a sufficient proofe that he neuer intended to giue vs power of meriting the same vnles we suppose that at some time he giues more then is needfull Again Christ in the office of mediation as he is a king Priest and prophet admitteth no deputie or fellow For
forsaking Gods word and seeking other wisdome 4. Their pride in seeking to magnifie theÌ„selues and to become like God 5. Contempt of God in transgressing his commandements against their owne conscience 6. In that they preferre the diuell before God 7. Ingratitude who in as much as in them lieth expel Gods spirit dwelling in them and despise that blessed vnion 8. They murther both themselues and their progeniâ— III. The fruit or effects Out of this corrupt estate of our first parents arose the estate of infidelitie or vnbeleefe whereby God hath included all men vnder sinne that he might manifest his mercie in the saluation of some and his iustice in condemnation of others Rom. 11.32 God hath shut vp all men in vnbeleefe that he might haue mercie on all Gal. 3.22 The Scripture hath concluded all vnder sinne that the promise by the faith of Iesus Christ should be giuen to them that beleeue In this estate we must consider sinne and the punishment of sinne Sinne is threefold The first is the participation of Adams both transgression and guiltinesse whereby in his finne all his posteritie sinned Rom. 5. 12. As by one man sinne enered into the world and by sinne death so death entred vpon all men in that all men haue sinned The reason of this is ready Adam was not then a priuate man but represented all mankinde and therefore looke what good he receiued from God or euill elsewhere both were common to others with him 1. Cor. 15.22 As in Adam all men die so in Christ all men rise againe Againe when Adam offended his posteritie was in his loynes from whoÌ„ they should by the course of nature issue and therefore take part of the guiltines with him Hebr. 7.9,10 And to say as the thing is Levi c. paied tithes to Melchisedec for he was yet in the loynes of his father Abraham when Melchisedec met him CHAP. 12. Of Originall sinne OVt of the former transgression ariseth another namely Originall sinne which is corruption ingendred in our first conception whereby euery facultie of soule and bodie is prone and disposed to euil Psal. 1.1 I was borne in iniquitie and in sinne hath my mother conceiued me Gen. 6. 5. Tit. 33. We our selues were in times past vnwise disobedient deceiued seruing the lusts and diuerse pleasures liuing in maliciousnes and enuie hatefull and hating one another Hebr. 12.1 Let vs cast away euery thing that presseth downe and the sinne that hangeth so fast on By this we see that sinne is not a corruption of mans substance but onely of faculties otherwise neither could mens soules be immortal nor Christ take vpon him mans nature All Adams posteritie is equally partaker of this corruptioÌ„ the reason why it sheweth not it selfe equally in all is because some haue the spirit of sanctification some the spirit onely to bridle corruption some neither The propagation of sinne from the parents to the childreÌ„ is either because the soule is infected by the contagion of the body as a good ointment by a fustie vessell or because God in the very moment of creation and infusion of soules into infants doth vtterly forsake them For as Adam receiued the image of God both for himselfe and others so did he loose it from himselfe and others But whereas the propagation of sinne is as a common fire in a towne men are not so much to search howe it came as to bee carefull howe to extinguish it That wee may the better knowe originall sinne in the seuerall faculties of mans nature three circumstances must be considered 1. How much of Gods image we yet retaine 2. How much sinne man receiued from Adam 3. The increase thereof afterward I. In the minde The remnant of Gods image is certaine notions concerning good and euill as that there is a God and that the same God punisheth transgressions that there is an euerlasting life that we must reuerence our superiours not harme our neighbours But euen these notions they are both generall and corrupt and haue none other vse but to bereaue man of all excuse before Gods iudgement seat Rom. 1.19,20 That which may be known concerning God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it vnto them For the inuisible things of him that is his eternall power Godhead are seene by the creation of the world being considered in his works to the intent they should be without excuse Mens mindes receiued from Adam 1. IgnoraÌ„ce namely a want or rather a depriuation of knowledge in the things of God whether they concerne his sincere worship or eternall happines 1. Cor. 2.14 The naturall man perceiueth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishnes vnto him neither can hee know theÌ„ because they are spiritually discerned Rom. 8.7 The wisdome of the flesh is enimitie with God for it is not subiect to the law of God neither indeede can be II. Impotencie whereby the minde of it selfe is vnable to vnderstand spirituall things though they be taught Luk. 24.45 Then opened he their vnderstanding that they might vnderstand the Scriptures 2. Cor. 3.5 Not that we are sufficient of our selues to think any thing as of our selues but our sufficieÌ„cie is of God III. Vanitie in that the minde thinketh falsehood truth and trueth falsehood Eph. 4.7 Walke no more as other Gentiles in the vanitie of your vnderstanding 1. Cor. 1.21 It pleased God by the foolishnes of preaching to saue those which beleeue 23. We preach Christ crucified to the Iewes a stumbling blocke but to the Grecians foolishnes Prou. 14.12 There is a way which seemeth good in the eies of men but the end thereof is death IV. A naturall inclâ—nation onely to conceiue and deuise the thing which is euill Gen. 6.5 The Lord saw that the wickednes of man was great vpon earth all the imaginations of the thoughts of the heart were onâ—ly euill continually Iere. 4. 22. They are wise to doe euill but to do well they haue no knowledge Hence it is apparant that the originall and as I may say the matter of all heresies is naturally ingrafted in mans nature This is worthie the obseruation of students in diuinitie The increase of sin in the vnderstanding is 1. a reprobate sense when God withdraweth the light of nature Ioh. 12.40 He hath blinded their eies and hardened their harts least they should see with their eies vnderstaÌ„d with their harts and I should heale them and they be conuerted Rom. 1.28 As they regarded not to know God so God deliuered theÌ„ vp vnto a reprobate minde to do those things which are not conuenient 2. The spirit of slumber Rom. 11.8 God hath giuen them the spirit of slumber c. 3. A spirituall drunkennesse Esay 29.9 They are drunken but not with wine they stagger but not with strong drinke 4. Strong illusions 2. Thess. 2.11 God shall send them strong illusions they shall beleeue lies The remnant of Gods image in the conscience is an
He is able perfectly to saue them that come to God by him seeing he euer liueth to make intercession for them Secondly according to his Deitie partly by applying the merit of his death partly by making request by his holy Spirit in the hearts of the Elect with sighes vnspeakable 1. Pet. 1.2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of the Father to the sanctification of the Spirit Rom. 8. â—6 The Spirit helpeth our infirmities for we know not what to pray as we ought but the Spirit it selfe maketh request for vs with sighes which cannot be expressed We are not therefore to imagine or surmise that Christ prostrateth himselfe vpon his knees before his Fathers throne for vs neither is it necessarie seeing his very presence before his father hath in it the force of an humble petition The end of Christs intercession is that such as are iustified by his merits should by this meanes continue in the state of grace Now Christs intercession preserueth the elect in couering their continuall slipps infirmities and imperfect actions by an especiall and continuall application of his merits That by this meanes mans person may remaine iust and mans works acceptable to God 1. Ioh. 2.2 Hee is a reconciliation for our sinnes and not for ours onely but for the sinnes of the whole world 1. Pet. 2.5 Yee as liuely stones be made a spirituall house and holy Priesthood to offer vp spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ. Reuel 8.3,4 And another Angell came and stood before the altar hauing a golden censer and much odours was giuen vnto him that he should offer with the prayers of all Saints vpon the golden altar which is before the throne and tâ—â— smoke of the odors with the prayers of the Saints went vp before God out of the Angels hand Thus farre concerning Christs priesthood nowe follow his Propheticall and Regall offices His Propheticall office is that whereby he immediately from his Father renealeth his word and all the meanes of saluation comprised in the same Ioh. 1.18 The Son which is in the bosome of his father he hath declared vnto you Ioh. 8.26 Those things which I heare of my father I speake to the world Deut. 18.18 I will raise them vp a Prophet c. The word was first reuealed partly by visions by dreames by speech partly by the instinct and motion of the holy ghost Heb. 1.1 At sundry times in diuers manners God spake in old time to our Fathers the Prophets in these last daies he hath spoken to vs by his sonne 2. Pet. 1.21 Prophecie came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were mooued by the holy ghost The like is done ordinarily onely by the preaching of the word where the holy ghost doth inwardly illuminate the vnderstanding Luk. 24.45 Then opened he their vnderstanding that they might vnderstand the Scriptures v. 21.15 I I will giue you a month and wisdome where against all your aduersaries shall not bee able to speake nor resist Act. 16.14 Whose heart the Lord opened that shee attended on the things that Paul spake For this cause Christ is called the Doctor Lawegiuer and Counsellour of his Church Matth. 23.10 Be ye not called Dâ—ctors for one is your Doctor Iesus Christ. Iam. 4.12 There is one Lawgiuer which is able to saue and to destroy Esa. 9.6 He shall call his name Counsellour c. Yea he is the Apostle of our profession Heb. 3.1 The Angell of the couenant Malac. 3.1 And the Mediatour of the new couenant Heb. 9.15 Therefore the soueraigne authoritie of expouÌ„ding the Scripture only belongs to Christ and the Church hath onely the ministerie of iudgement and interpretation committed vnto her Christs Regall office is that whereby he distributeth his gifts and disposeth all things for the benefit of the elect Psal. 2. and 110.31.2 The Lord said vnto my Lord sit tâ—ou on my right hand till I make thine enimies thy footestoole The execution of Christs Regall office comprehendeth his exaltation Christs exaltation is that by which he after his humiliation was by little and little exalted to glorie and that in sundrie respects according to both his natures The exaltation of his diuine nature is an apparant declaration of his diuine properties in his humane nature without the least alteration thereof Rom. 1. 4. Declared mightily to be the sonne of God touching the spirit of sanctification by the resurrection from the dead Act. 2.36 God hath made him both lord Christ whome ye haue crucified The exaltation of his humanitie is the putting off from him his seruile coÌ„dition and all infirmities and the putting on of such habituall gifts which albeit they are created and finite yet they haue so great and so marueilous perfection as possibly can be ascribed to any creature The gifts of his minde are wisdome knowledge ioy and other vnspeakeable vertues of his bodie immortalitie strength agilitie brightnesse Philip. 3.21 Who shall change our vile bodies that it may be fashioned like vnto his glorious body Math. 17.2 He was traÌ„sfigured before them his face did shine as the sunne and his cloathes were as white as the light Heb. 1.9 God euen thy God hath annointed the with the oyle of gladnes aboue thy fellows Eph. 1.20.22 Christs bodie although it be thus glorified yet is it still of a solide substaÌ„ce compassed about visible palpable and shall perpetually remaine in some certaine place Luk. 24.39 Behold my hands and my feete it is euen I touch me and see a spirit hath no flesh and bones as ye se me haue There be three degrees of Christs exaltation I. His resurrection wherein by his diuine power he subdued death and raised vp himselfe to eternall life 2. Cor. 13.4 Though he was crucified concerning his infirmitie yet liueth he through the power of God Matth. 28.6 Hee is not here for he is risen as he said Come see the place where the Lord was laid The ende of Christs resurrection was to shewe that his satisfaction by his passion and death was fully absolute For one onely sinne would haue detaiâ—ed the Mediatour vnder the dominion of death though he had fully satisfied for all the rest 1. Cor. 15.17 If Christ be not raised your faith is in vaine yee are yet in your sinnes Rom. 4.25 Who was deliuered to death for our sinnes and is risen againe for our iustification II. His ascension into heauen which is a true locall and visible translation of Christs humane nature from earth into the highest heauen of the blessed by the vertue power of his Deitie Act. 1.9 When he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken vp for a cloud tooke him vp out of their sight and while they looked stedfastly towards heauen as he went beholde two men stood by theÌ„ in white apparell which also said Ye men of Galile why stand ye gazing into heauen this Iesus which is taken vp from you into heauen
is expressed in the morall law The Morall Law is that part of Gods word which commandeth perfect obedience vnto man as well â—n his nature as in his actions and forbiddeth the contrarie Rom. 10.5 Moses thus describeth the righteousnes which is of the Law that the man which doth these things shall liue thereby 1. Tim. 1.5 The end of the commandement is loue out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and faith vnfained Luk. 16.27 Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thine heart with all thy soule and with all thy strength Rom. 7. We know that the law is spirituall The Law hath two parts The Edict commanding obedience and the condition binding to obedience The condition is eternall life to such as fulfill the law but to transgressours euerlasting death The Decalogue or ten Commandements is an abridgement of the whole Law and the couenant of workes Exod. 34.27 And the Lord said vnto Moses Write thou these words for after the tenour of these words I haue made a covenant with thee and with Israel And was there with the Lord fourtie daies and fourtie nights and did neither eate bread nor drinke water and he wrote in the Tables the words of the covenant euen the tenne Commandements 1. King 8.9 Nothing was in the Arke saue the two Tables of stone which Moses had put there at Horeb where the Lord made a couenant with the children of Israel when he brought them out of the land of Egypt Matth. 22.40 On these two commandements hangeth the whole Law and the Prophets The true interpretation of the Decalogue must be according to these rules I. In the negatiue the affirmatiue must be vnderstood and in the affirmatiue the negatiue II. The negatiue bindeth at all times and to all times and the affirmatiue bindeth at all times but not to all times and therefore negatiues are of more force III. Vnder one vice expressely forbidden are comprehended all of that kind yea the least cause occasion or entisement thereto is as well forbidden as that 1. Ioh. 3.15 Whosoeuer hateth his brother is a manslayer Matth. 5.21 to the ende Euill thoughts are condemned as well as euill actions IV. The smallest sinnes are entituled with the same names that that sinne is which is expressely forbidden in that commandement to which they appertaine As in the former places hatred is named murther and to looke after a woman with a lusting eye is adulterie V. We must vnderstand euery commandement of the law so as that we annex this condition vnlesse God command the contrarie For God being an absolute Lord and so aboue the law may command that which his law forbiddeth so he commanded Isaac to be offered the Egyptians to be spoiled the brasen Serpent to be erected which was a figure of Christ c. The Decalogue is described in two Tables The summe of the first Table is that we loue God with our mind memorie affections and all our strength Matth. 22. 37. This is the first to wit in nature and order and great commandement namely in excellencie and dignitie CHAP. 20. Of the first commandement THe first table hath foure commandements The first teacheth vs to haue and choose the true God for our God The words are these I am Iehouah thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage Thou shalt haue none other God but me The Resolution I am If any man rather iudge that these words are a preface to al the commandements then a part of the first I hinder him not neuerthelesse it is like that they are a perswasion to the keeping of the first commandement that they are set before it to make way vnto it as being more hard to be receiued then the rest And this may appeare in that the three commandements next following haue their seuerall reasons Iehouah This word signifieth three things I. Him who of himselfe and in himselfe was from all eternitie Reuel 1.8 Who is who was and who is to come II. Him which giueth being to all things when they were not partly by creating partly by preseruing them III. Him which mightily causeth that those things which he hath promised should both be made and continued Exod. 6.1 Rom. 4. 17. Here beginneth the first reason of the first commandement taken from the name of God it is thus framed He that is Iehouah must alone be thy God But I am Iehouah Therefore I alone must be thy God This proposition is wanting the assumption is in these words I am Iehouah the conclusion is the commandement Thy God These are the words of the couenant of grace Ier. 32.33 wherby the Lord promiseth to his people remission of sinnes and eternall life Yea these words are as a second reason of the commandements drawne from the equalitie of that relation which is betweene God and his people If I be thy God thou againe must be my people and take me alone for thy God But I am thy God Therefore thou must be my people and take me alone for thy God The assumption or second part of this reason is confirmed by an argumeÌ„t taken from Gods effects when he deliuered his people out of Egypt as it were from the seruitude of a most tyrannous master This deliuerie was not appropriate onely to the Israelites but in some sort to the Church of God in all ages in that it was a typâ—â—f a more surpassing deliuerie from that fearefull kingdome of darkenes 1. Cor. 10.1,2 I would not haue you ignorant brethren that all our Fathers were vnder the cloude and all passed through the red sea and were all baptized vnto Moses in the cloude and in the sea Coloss. 1.13 Who hath deliuered vs from the power of darkenes and translated vs into the kingdome of his deare sonne Other Gods or strange gods They are so called not that they by nature are such or can be but because the corrupt and more then diuelish heart of carnall man esteemeth so of them Phil. 3.19 Whose God is their bellie 1. Cor. 4.4 Whose mindes the God of this world hath bewitched Before my face That is figuratiuely in my sight or presence to whom the secret imaginations of the heart are knowne and this is the third reason of the first commandement as if he should say If thou in my presence reiect me it is an heinous offence see therfore thou doe it not After the same manner reasoneth the Lord. Gen. 17.1 I am God almightie therefore walke vpright The affirmatiue part Make choice of Iehouah to be thy God The duties here commanded are these I. To acknowledge God that is to know and confesse him to bee such a God as he hath reuealed himselfe to be in his worde and creatures Col. 1.10 Increasing in the knowledge of God Ierem. 24. 7. And I will giue them an heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be my people and I will be their God for they
The Sacramentall vnion of the parts of baptisme is on this sort The element of water whereby the vncleannesse of the body is purified by a most conuenient proportion shadoweth out the blood of Christ and by the figure Synecdoche taking the part for the whole whole Christ. 1. Ioh. 1.7 And the blood of Iesus Christ clenseth vs from all sinne The action of the Minister is his washing of the partie baptized with the element of water This sealeth and confirmeth a double action of God I. The engrafting or incorporating of the baptized into Christ. Gal. 3.27 As many as are baptized into Christ haue put on Christ. 1. Cor. 12.13 By one spirit we are all baptized into one bodie II. Our spirituall regeneration Tit. 3.5 Not by the workes of righteousnes which we had done but according to his mercie he saued vs by the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the holy Ghost Of washing there be three parts The putting into the water the continuance in the water and the comming out of the water The putting into or the sprinkling of water doth ratifie I. the shedding of the blood of Christ for the remission of all our sinnes and the imputation of his righteousnesse Act. 22.16 Arise and be baptized and wash away thy siâ—nes in calling on the name of the Lord. 1. Cor. 6. 11. And such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are iustified in the name of the Lord Iesus and by the spirit of our God II. The mortification of sinne by the power of Christs death Rom. 6.3 Know ye not that all we which haue beene baptized into Iesus Christ haue beene baptized into his death 6. Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the bodie of sinne might be destroied that henceforth we should not serue sinne for he that is dead is freed from sinne The continuance in the water it noteth the buriall of sinne namely a continuall increase of mortification by the power both of Christ his death and buriall Rom. 6.4 We are buried then with him by baptisme into his death The comming out of the water doth confirme our spiritual viâ—ification to newnesse of life in all holinesse and iustice the which we attaine vnto by the power of Christs resurrection Rom. 6. 4. Like as Christ was raised vp from the dead by the glorie of the Father so we also should walke in newnesse of life 5. For if we be graffed with him to the similitude of his death euen so shall we be to the similitude of the resurrection The action of the partie to be baptized is two-fold The first is to offer himselfe to be baptized before the minister and that in the presence of the congregation This signifieth that he doth consecrate himselfe vnto the Lord and that he vtterly renounceth the flesh the world and the diuell 1. Pet. 3.21 To the which also the figure which now saueth vs euen baptisme agreeth not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but in that a good conscience maketh request vnto God by the resurrection of Iesus Christ. The second is to receiue the externall washing by water this signifieth that the partie baptized doth receiue the internall washing which is by the blood of Christ or at the least that it is offered vnto him Rebaptizing is at no hand to be admitted for as in naturall generation man is once onely borne so must he be in the spiritual regeneration Therfore they that are baptized of a minister which is an heretike not yet degraded from that calling if the externall forme of administration be obserued must not be baptized againe of the Church of God especially if after baptisme they haue beene made partakers of the Lords Supper onely they ought to be instructed in the true faith Euseb. Eccles. hist. lib. 7. c. 8. saith There was in our Prouince an ancient professour of the faith yea before I was created Bishop nay before my predecessour Heraclas who when he was present at the baptisme of some heard what questions they were asked what answer they returned forthwith came weeping vnto me and humbling himselfe before me confessed that he was baptized by an heretike yet in regard of that administration which he saw in our Church he accouÌ„ted that no baptisme in that the confession there vsed was fraught with blasphemies This also he added that he was for this offence so sore grieued that he durst not so much as lift vp his eyes to heauen wherefore he most earnestly besought me that â—e might be clensed and purified with the baptisme of our Church and so receiue the gift of the holy Ghost The which notwithstanding I durst not presume to administer but said it was sufficient for him that he had beene so long a professour amongst vs that at the receit of the Lords Supper he answered Amen These things I told him were of force enough to purge him And therefore I aduised him to rest himselfe in his former faith and conscience alreadie sufficiently purified especially in that he so long was partaker with vs in the Sacraments Aug. lib. 3. c. 2. contra Petil. literas The right vse of baptisme is this When inwardly in thine heart thou sensibly feelest that through the heat of concupiscence thou art mooued to commit some sinne then beginne to haue some holy meditation of that solemne vow which thou diddest make to God in baptisme Againe if through infirmitie thou fallest once or often into some sinne stil haue recourse vnto baptisme that there thou maist receiue courage to thy soule For although baptisme be but once onely administred yet that once testifieth that all mans sinnes past present and to come are washed away 1. Pet. 3.20 Eph. 5. 25 26 27. Therefore baptisme may be truly tearmed the Sacrament of repentance and as it were a board to swimme vpon when a man shall feare the shipwracke of his soule Mark 1.4 1. Tim. 1.19 Rom. 6.4,6 Last of all see thou neuer rest till such time as thou haue a feeling of that renuing power signified in baptisme namly the power of Christs death mortifying sinne and the vertue of his resurrection in the renouation of the Spirit CHAP. 34. Of the Lords Supper THe Lords Supper is a Sacrament wherewith in the signes of bread and wine such as are engraffed into Christ are in him daily in a spirituall manner nourished to eternall life 1. Cor. 11.23,24,25 Rom. 6.5 The proportion of the parts of the Lords Supper is on this wife The Elements of bread and wine are signes and seales of the bodie and blood of Christ. The action of the Minister is a note of Gods action The Ministers action is fourefold The first is his taking the bread and wine into his owne handes this doth seale the action of God the Father by which he from all eternitie did separate and elect his Sonne to performe the duetie of a Mediatour betwixt God and man Ioh.
In whome ye are also built togither to be the habitation of God by the spirit This albeit it be a most neere and reall vnion yet we must not thinke that it by touching mixture or as it were by souldring of one soule with another neither by a bare agreement of the soules among themselues but by the communion and operation of the same spirit which beeing by nature infinite is of sufficient abilitie to conioyne those things togither which are of themselues farre distant from each other the like we see in the soule of man which conioyneth the head with the foote Eph. 2.22 2. Pet. 1.4 Whereby most great and precious promises are giuen vnto vs that by them ye should be partakers of the godly nature in that ye flie the corruption which is in the world through lust Phil. 2.1 If there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of loue if any fellowship of the spirit c. The things vnited In this vnion not our soule alone is vnited with Christs soule or our â—lesh with his flesh but the whole person of euery faithfull man is â—erely conioyned with the whol person of our Sauiour Christ God man The manner of their vnion is this A faithfull man first of all and immediatly is vnited to the flesh or humane nature of Christ afterward by reason of the humanitie to the Word it selfe or diuine nature For saluation and life dependeth on that fulnesse of the godhead which is in Christ yet it is not coÌ„municated vnto vs but in the flesh and by the flesh of Christ. Ioh. 6 5â— Except ye eate the flesh and drinke the blood of the Sonne of man ye haue no life in you 56. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him The bond of this vnion This vnion is made by the spirit of God applying Christ vnto vs and on our parts by faith receiuing Christ Iesus offered vnto vs. And for this cause is it tearmed a spirituall vnion Christ because he is the head of the faithfull is to be considered as a publike man sustaining the person of all the elect Hence is it that the faithfull are â—aid to be crucified with Christ and with him to die to be buried Rom. 6.4 5,6 to be quickened Eph. 2.5 to be raised vp and placed in heauen v. 6. Col. 3.1 the which is not onely in regard of the hope of the faithful but because they are accepted of God certainely to haue done all these things in Christ euen as in Adams first sinne all his posteritie afterward was tainted of sinne A member of Christ is diuersly distinguished and is so either before men or God Before meÌ„ they are the members of Christ who outwardly professing the faith are charitably reputed by the Church as true members But such deceiuing at length both themselues and the Church may be reprobates therefore in Gods presence they are no more true members then are the noxious humours in mans bodie or a woodden legge or other ioynt cunningly fastened to another part of the bodie Againe members before God they are such as either are decreed to be so or actually are so already Such as are decreed to be so are they who being elect from all eternitie are either as yet not borne or not called Ioh. 10. 16. Other sheepe haue I which are not of this fold them also must I bring Actuall members of Christ are either liuing or dying members An actuall liuing member of Christ is euery one elected which being engraffed by faith and the spirit into Christ doth feele and shewe forth the power of Christ in him An actuall dying or decaying member is euery one truely engraffed into Christ and yet hath no feeling of the power and efficacie of the quickening spirit in him He is like vnto a benummed legge without sense which indeede is a part of mans body and yet receiueth no nourishment such are those faithfull ones who for a time doe faint and are ouercome vnder the heauie burtheÌ„ of tentations and their sinnes such are also those excommunicate persons who in regard of their engraffing are true members howesoeuer in regard of the externall communion with the Church and efficacie of the spirit they are not members till such time as they being touched with repentance doe begin as it were to liue againe God executeth this effectuall calling by certaine meanes The first is the sauing hearing of the word of God which is when the said word outwardly is preached to such an one as is both dead in his sinnes and doth not so much as dreame of his saluation And first of all the Law shewing a man his sinne and the punishment thereof which is eternall death afterward the Gospel shewing saluation by Christ Iesus to such as beleeue And inwardly the eyes of the minde are enlightened the heart and eares opened that he may see heare and vnderstand the preaching of the word of God The second is the mollifying of the heart the which must be bruised in pieces that it may be fit to receiue Gods sauing grace offered vnto it Ezech. 11. 19. I will giue them one heart and I will put a new spirit within their bowels And I will take the stonie heart out of their bodies and will giue them an heart of flesh There are for the brusing of this stonie heart foure principal hammers The first is the knowledge of the law of God The second is the knowledge of sinne both originall and actuall and what punishment is due vnto them The third is compunction or pricking of the heart namely a sense and feeling of the wrath of God for the same sinnes The fourth is an holy desperation of a mans owne power in the obtaining of eternall life Act. 2.37 When they heard these things they were pricked in heart and said vnto Peter and the rest of the Apostles Men and brethren what shall we doe 38. Peter said vnto them Repent and be baptized euery one of you in the name of Iesus into the remission of sinnes and ye shall receiue the gift of the holy Ghost Luk. 15.17 Then he came to himselfe and said How many hired seruants at my fathers haue bread ynough and I die for hunger 18. I will rise and goe to my father and say vnto him Father I haue sinned against heauen and before thee 19. And am no more worthie to be called thy sonne make me as one of thy hired seruants c. Matth. 15. 24. He answered and said I am not sent but to the lost sheepe of Israel The third is faith which is a miraculous and supernaturall facultie of the heart apprehending Christ Iesus being applied by the operation of the holy Ghost and receiuing him to it selfe Ioh. 1.1,2,6.35 Iesus said vnto them I am the bread of life he that commeth vnto me shall neuer hunger and he that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst Rom. 9.30 What shall we
Prophets and yee shall prosper They therefore doe very ill who are still in a doubt of their saluation because as yet they feele not in themselues especiall motions of Gods spirit Thus much concerning the way which God vseth in begetting of faith There are beside this two notable degrees of faith The one is the lowest and as I may speake the positiue degree the other is the highest or superlatiue The lowest degree of faith is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a little or weake faith like a graine of mustard seede or smoking flaxe which can neither giue out heate nor flame but onely smoke Math. 8.25 His Disciples awaked him saying Saue master we perish 26. And he said vnto them Why are ye fearefull O ye of little faith Math. 7.20 If ye haue faith as much as a graine of mustard seede ye shall say vnto the mountaine Mooue and it shall remooue Esay 42.3 The smoking flaxe shall he not quench Faith is then said to be weake and feeble when as of those fiue degrees aboue mentioned either the first which is knowledge or the fift which is application of the promises is very feeble the rest remaining strong Rom. 14.2 One beleeueth that he may eate all things and another which is weake eateth hearbes 3. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him which eateth not iudge him which eateth for God hath receiued him The Apostles although they beleeued that Christ was the Sonne of the liuing God yet they were ignorant of his death and his resurrection Matth. 16. 16. Ioh. 6.69 Matth. 17. 22. Luk. 9.49 They vnderstood not that word for it was hid from thē so that they could not perceiue it Act. 1.6 They asked him saying Lord wilt thou restore at this time the kingdome of Israel For the better knowledge of this kind of faith we must obserue these two rules I. A serious desire to beleeue and an indeauour to obtaine Gods fauour is the head of faith Mat 5.6 Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for they shall be satisfied Reu. 21.6 I will giue to him that it is a thirst of the well of the water of life freely Psal. 145.19 He will fulfill the desire of them that feare him he also will heare their crie and will saue them For in such as begin to beleeue and to be renued the minde will lie not idle but being mooued by the holy ghost striue with doubtfulnesse and distrust indeauour to put their assent to the sweete promises made in the Gospell and firmely to apply the same to themselues and in the sense of their weakenesse desire assistance from aboue and thus faith is bestowed II. God doth not despise the least sparke of faith if so be it by little and little doe encrease and men vse the meanes to increase the same Luk. 17.5 The Apostles said vnto the Lord encrease our faith 6. And the Lord said If ye had faith as much as a graine of mustard seed and should saie vnto this mulberrie tree Plucke thy selfe vp by the rootes and plant thy selfe in the sea it should euen obey you Man must therefore stirre vp his faith by meditation of Gods word serious prayers and other exercises belonging vnto faith The highest degree of faith is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a full assurance which is not onely certaine and true but also a full perswasion of the heart whereby a Christian much more firmely taking hold on Christ Iesus maketh full and resolute account that God loueth him and that he will giue to him by name Christ and all his graces pertaining to eternall life Rom. 4.20 Neither did be doubt of the promise of God through vnbeleefe but was strengthened in the faith and gaue glory to God 21. Beeing fully assured that he which had promised was able also to doe it Rom. 8.38 I am perswaded that neither life nor death c. can separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus 1. Sam. 17.36 Thy seruant slue both the lyon and the beare therfore this vncircumcised Philistim shall be as one of them seeing he hath railed on the hoste of the liuing God Psal. 23.6 Doubtlesse kindnesse and mercy shal follow me all the daies of my life Conferred with v. 1,2,3,4 Man commeth to this high degree after the sense obseruation long experience of Gods fauour and loue Quest. Whether is iustifying faith commanded in the law Answer It is commanded in the lawe of faith namely the Gospel but not in the law of works that is in the morrall law Rom. 3.27 the reasons are these I. That which the law reuealeth not that it commandeth not but the lawe is so farre from reuealing iustifying faith that it neuer knew it II. Adam had fully before his fall written in his heart the morall lawe yet had he not iustifying faith which apprehendeth Christ. Obiect I. Incredulitie is condemned by the law Answer That incredulitie which is toward God is condemned in the lawe but that incredulitie which is against the Messiah Christ Iesus is condemned by the Gospel For as by the Gospel◠not by the law incredulitie in the Sonne as Mediatour appeareth to be a sinne so likewise not by the law is incredulitie in the Messiah condemned but by the Gospel which commandeth vs to heare him and to beleeue in him Mat. 17.5 1. Ioh. 3.23 Thus it is plaine that this sinne not to beleeue in Christ is expressely and distinctly made manifest and condemned by the Gospel And albeit the knowledge of sinne be by the law yet not euery thing which doth reprooue and declare some sinne is the lawe of workes or belongeth thereto Obiect II. But ceremonies belong to the decalogue Answer Ceremonies may be as examples referred to the decalogue but indeede they are appendants to the Gospell CHAP. 37. Concerning the second degree of the declaration of Gods loue THe second degree is iustification whereby such as beleeue are accounted iust before God through the obedience of Christ Iesus 2. Cor. 5.21 He hath made him to be sinne for vs which knewe no sinne that we should bee made the righteousnesse of God in him 1. Cor. 1.30 Rom. 5.19 As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one that is Iesus Christ v. 17 shall many also be made righteous Quest. Whether did Christ performe full obedience to the law for vs men alone or for himselfe also Answer I. Not for himselfe as some not rightly would haue him for the flesh of Christ beeing hypostatically vnited to the Word and so in it selfe fully sanctified was euen from the first moment of conception most worthy to be blessed with eternall life Therefore by all that obedience which he performed after his conception Christ he merited nothing for himselfe II. For vs namely for the faithfull he fulfilled all the righteousnes of the law and hence is it that he is called the ende of the law vnto
righteousnes to euery one that beleeueth Rom. 10. Here may be obiected I. Christ as he is man is bound to performe obedience to the law for himselfe Answer He is not bound by nature but of his owne accord for he was not a bare man but God and man And albeit Christ did neither suffer nor fulfill the law but in that flesh which he tooke vpon him yet by reason of the hypostaticall vnion this his passion and obedience hath respect vnto the whole person considered as God and man and therefore his obedience was not due on his part and so was without merit to himselfe yea in that the flesh of Christ is vnited to the person of the Word and so exalted in dignitie and sanctitie aboue all Angels it may seeme to be exempted from this naturall obligation of performing the law II. If then Christ performed the law for vs we are no more now bounden to the obseruance of the same as we doe not vndergoe eternall punishments for our sinnes the which Christ in his person did beare vpon the crosse Answer If we keepe the same respect of performing obedience to the law the consequence is very true otherwise it is not so for Christ performed obedience to the law for vs as it is the satisfaction of the law but the faithfull they are bounden to obedience not as it is satisfactorie but as it is a document of faith and a testimonie of their gratitude towards God or a meanes to edifie their neighbours euen as Christ suffering punishments for our sinnes we also suffer punishments as they are either trialls or chastisments vnto vs. III. The law and iustice of God doth not togither exact both namely obedience and punishment Answer In mans perfect estate the iustice of God requireth onely obedience but in his estate corrupted he requireth both obedience and punishment Punishment as the law is violated obedience that legall iustice may be performed Gal. 3.10 It is therefore plaine that not onely Christs passion but also his legall obedience is our righteousnes before God Iustification hath two parts Remission of sinnes and imputation of Christs righteousnes Remission of sinnes is that part of iustification whereby he that beleeueth is freed from the guilt and punishment of sinne by the merits of the passion of Christ. Coloss. 1.21,22 You hath he now reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to make you holy and vnblameable and without fault in his sight 1. Pet. 2.24 Who in his owne flesh bare our sinnes in his bodie on the tree that we beeing deliuered from sinne should liue in righteousnes by whose stripes ye are healed Imputation of righteousnes is the other part of iustification whereby such as beleeue hauing the guilt of their sinnes couered are accounted iust in the sight of God through Christs righteousnes 2. Cor. 5.21 Psal. 32.1 Blessed is he whose wickednes is forgiuen and whose sinne is couered Rom. 4. the whole chapter where the Apostle repeateth imputation eleuen times Philip. 3.9 I haue counted all things losse and doe iudge them to be domage that I might winne Christ and might be fâ—â—â—d in him that is not hauing mine owne righteousnes which is by the law but that which is through the faith of Christ euen the righteousnes which is of God through faith The forme of iustification is as it were a kinde of translation of the beleeuers sinnes vnto Christ and againe Christs righteousnes vnto the beleeuer by meanes of Gods diuine imputation As is apparant in this picture falling This obedience of Christ is called the Righteousnes of God and of Christ. Of God I. not because it is in God but of God for it taketh all the power and merit it hath from the deitiâ— of the Sonne whence it is that Ieremie saith Iehouah our Righteousnesse II. God doth onely accept of it for vs because that alone maketh vs boldly to approch vnto Gods throne of grace that we may haue pardon for our sinnes and be receiued to eternall life It is also called the Righteousnesse of Christ because being out of vs it is in the humanitie of Christ as in a subiect Obiect I. No man is made iust by another mans iustice Answer This iustice is both an others and ours also An others because it is in Christ as in a subiect ours because by meanes of the forenamed vnion Christ with all his benefits is made ours Obiect II. The ancient fathers neuer dreamed of this imputatiue iustice and it may seeme too of no greater continuance then fiftie yeares Ans. This is both false impious to affirme August 3. Tract vpon Iohn saith All such as are iustified by Christ are iust not in themselues but in him Barnard in his sermon ad milites templi cap 11. Mors in Christi morte fugatur Christi iustitia nobis imputatur that is Death in Christ his death is put to flight and the iustice of Christ is imputed vnto vs. And in his 62. sermon vâ—on the Canticles Where is there any rest saith he but in the wounds of our Sauiour I will further sing but what mine owne iustice nay O Lord I will remember thy iustice alone for that is also my iustice For thou wast made of God vnto me iustice But should I feare whether that one iustice would suffice two nay it is not a short cloake that is not able to couer a couple Thy iustice is iustice for euermore and will both couer thee and me it is largely large and eternall iustice and in me it couereth the multitude of my sinnes c. August lib. de Spiritu litera cap. 9. 26. We must vnderstand this saying so The doers of the Law shall be iustified that we may know that there are no doers of the law but such as are iustified so that they are not first doers of the law and then iustified but first iustified and then doers of the law So it is said they shall be iustified as if it should be said they shall be reputed iust and acâ—ounted iust Iustification hath annexed vnto it Adoption whereby all such as are predestinate to be adopted receiue power to be actually accounted the sonnes of God by Christ. Eph. 1. 5. Who hath predestinate vs to be adopted through Iesus Christ vnto himselfe according to the good pleasure of his will By meanes of adoption God hath bestowed many notable priuiledges vpon his children I. They are the Lords heires apparant Rom. 8.17 If we be children we be also heires euen the heires of God II. They are fellow heires with Christ yea kings Rom. 8. 17. Rev. 1.6 And made vs Kings and Priests euen to God his Father III. All their afflictions yea euen their wants and offences are turned to trials or fatherly chastisments inflicted vpon them for their good Rom. 8.28 We know that all things worke together for the best vnto them that loue God 36. It is written for thy sake are we killed all the day long we are
Christian mans effectuall calling The temptation is the enterprise of the diuell to blindfold mans minde and to harden his heart least the word of GOD should worke in him to saluation Matth. 13.4 And as he sowed some fell by the waie side and the fowles came and deuoured thē vp 5. And some fell vpon stonie ground where they had not much earth and anon they sprang vp because they had no depth of earth 6. And when the Sunne rose vp they wer parched and for lacke of rooting withered awaie 7. And some fell among thornes and the thornes sprung vp and choked them 19. Whensoeuer a man heareth the word of the kingdome and vnderstandeth it not the euill one commeth and catcheth away that which was sowne in his heart and this is he which hath receiued the seede by the way side A resistance in those that are called is wrought by the spirit of God that causeth men to lend their eares to heare and doth ingraffe the word in their hearts that the immortall seede of regeneration may spring in them Psal. 40.6 Ioh. 6.44 Act. 16.14 Iam. 1. 21. Wherefore lay apart all filthinesse and superfluitie of maliciousnesse and receiue with meeknes the word that is graffed in you which is able to saue your soules 1. Pet. 1.22 Seeing your soules are purified in obeying the truth through the spirit to loue brotherly without faining loue one another with a pure heart feruently 1. Ioh. 3.9 Whosoeuer is borne of god sinneth not for his seede remaineth in him neither can he sinne because he is borne of god A resistance in those that are to be called is when in a sincere heart they doe ioyne the word which they haue heard with faith Luk. 8.15 But that which fell in good ground are they which with an honest and good heart heare the word and keepe it and bring forth fruit with patience Heb. 4.2 Here are certaine preseruatiues to be noted I. Premeditation of the power and vse of the word Eccles. 4.17 Take heede to thy feete when thou entrest into the house of the Lord and be more neere to heare then to giue the sacrifice of fooles for they knowe not that they doe euill Chap. 5.1 Be not rash with thy mouth nor let thine heart be hastie to vtter a thing before god for God is in the heauen and thou art on the earth therefore let thy wordes be few II. Diligent attention of the minde Act. 16.14 III. An hungring desire of the heart Ioh. 7.37 Nowe in the last and great day of the feast Iesus stood and cried saying If any man thirst let him come to me and drinke IV. Integritie of life Psal. 26.6 V. The casting away of euil affectiōs Iam. 1.22 And be ye doers of the word and not hearers onely deceiuing your owne soules VI. The inward consent and agreement of the heart with the word preached Act. 2.37 VII An hiding of the word in the heart least we should sinne Psal. 119.11 I haue hid thy word in mine heart that I might not sinne against thee VIII A trēbling at the presence of God in the assemblie of the Church Esay 66.2 For all these things hath mine hand made and all these things haue been saith the Lord and to him will I looke euen to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my words Act. 10.33 Then sent I for thee immediatly and thou hast well done to come nowe therefore are we all here present before God to heare all things that are commanded thee of God The fall is either a coldnesse in receiuing the word and a neglect thereof or else a falling into errours The remedie for this is subiection which must be made to the iudgement and censure of the brethren and ministers Reuelat. 3.15 I knowe thy works that thou art neither cold nor hote I would thou werest cold or hote Gal. 6.2.1 Tim. 1.20 Of whome is Hymeneus and Alexander whome I haue deliuered vnto Satan that they might learne not to blaspheme CHAP. 42. Of the second Assault THe second assault is concerning faith The temptation is an illusion which the diuell casteth into the hearts of godly men as when he saith Thou art not of the number of the elect thou art not iustified thou hast no faith thou must certenly be condemned for thy sinnes Mat. 4.3 Then came to him the tempter and said If thou be the Sonne of God command that these stones be made bread Helpes which the deuil abuseth for the strengthening of such illusions are these I. Aduersitie as dangers losses persecutions iealousie grieuous offences c. Psal. 73.12 Loe these are the wicked yet prosper they alway and increase in riches 13. Certainely I haue clensed mine heart in vaine washed mine hands in innocency Iob. 13.23 How many are mine iniquities sinnes shew me my rebelliō and my sinne 24. Wherefore hidest thou thy face and takest me for thine enemie 25. Wilt thou breake a leafe driuen to and fro and wilt thou pursue the drie stubble II. The remembrance of sins past Iob. 13.26 For thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possesse the iniquities of my youth III. A feeling of death euen alreadie at hand The resistance is made by a true faith applying Christ with all his merits particularly after this manner I assuredly beleeue that I shall not be condemned but that I am elected and iustified in Christ and am out of all doubt that all my sinnes are pardoned Esai 53.11 Hee shall see the trauaile of his soule and shall be satisfied by his knowledge shall my righteous seruant iustifie many for he shal beare their iniquities Rom. 8.38 For I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come 39. Nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. The preseruatiue is in temptation not to behold faith but the obiect of faith which is Christ. Philip. 3.12 Not as though I had alreadie attained vnto it either were already perfect but I follow if that I may comprehend that for whose sake also I am comprehended of Christ Iesus 13. One thing I doe I forget that which is behinde indeauour my selfe to that which is before 14. And follow hard toward the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus Ioh. 3.14 And as Moses lift vp the Serpent in the wildernes so must the sonne of man be lift vp that he that beleeueth in him c. The falling is doubtfulnes and distrust of our election and of Gods mercie Psal. 77.6 I called to remembrance my song in the night I communed with mine owne heart and my spirit searched diligently 7. Will the Lord absent himselfe for euer and will he shew no more fauour 8. Is his mercy cleane gone for euer doth his promise faile for euermore So Dauid
light or small Gal. 5.9 A little leauen doth leauen the whole lumpe Rom. 6.23 For the wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. II. To auoide all occasions of sinne To these rather agreeth the prouerbe vsed of the plague longè tardè citò that is aloofe slowly quickly 1. Thess. 5.22 Abstaine from all appearance of euill Iud. v. 23 And other saue with feare pulling them out of the fire and hate euen the garment spotted by the flesh III. To accustome thy selfe to subdue the lesser sinnes that at the last thou maist also ouercome the greater Rom. 13.4 IV. To apply thy selfe to thy appointed calling and alway to be busily occupied about something in the same V. To oppose the lawe the iudgements of god the last iudgement the glorious presence of God and such like against the rebellion and loosenesse of the flesh Prou. 28.14 Blessed is the man that feareth alway but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into euil Gen. 39.9 There is no man greater in this house then I neither hath he kept any thing from me but onely thee because thou art his wife how then can I doe this great wickednesse and so sinne against God Here certaine remedies take place Against vniust anger or priuate desire of reuenge Here meditate I. Iniuries they happen vnto vs by the Lords appointment for our good 2. Sam. 16. to II. God of his great goodnes forgiueth vs far more sinnes then it is possible for vs to forgiue men III. It is the dutie of Christian loue to forgiue others IV. We must not desire to destroy them whom Christ hath redeemed by his pretious blood V. We our selues are in danger of the wrath of God if we suffer our wrath to burne against our brother Forgiue saith he and it shall be forgiuen VI. We know not the circumstances of the facts what the minde was and purpose of them against whome we swell Bridles or externall remedies are these I. In this we shall imitate the clemencie of the Lord who for a very great season doth often tollerate the wicked Learne of me for I am humble and meeke II. There must be a pausing and time of delay betwixt our anger and the execution of the same Athenodorus counselled Augustus that he beeing angrie should repeat all the letters of the Alphabet or A B C before he against another did either speake or doe any thing III. To depart out of those places where those are with whom we are angrie IV. To auoide contention both in worde and in deede Doe nothing through contention Remedies against those bad desires of riches and honour I. God doth euē in famine quicken and reuiue them which feare him Psal. 33.18 19. The eye of the Lord is vpon them that feare him to deliuer their soules from death and to preserue them from famine II. Godlines is great gaine if the minde of man can be therewith content 1. Tim. 6.6 III. We do wait looke for the resurrection of the bodie and eternall life therefore we should not take such carking care for this present mortal life IV. We are seruāts in our fathers house therefore looke what is conuenient for vs that will he louingly bestowe vpon vs. V. The palpable blindnes of an ambitious minde desireth to be set aloft that he may haue the greater downe-fall and he feareth to be humbled least he should not be exalted VI. Adam when he would needes be checke-mate with God did bring both himselfe and his posteritie headlong to destruction VII He is a very ambitious rob-God which desireth to take that commendation to himselfe which is appropriate onely to the Lord. Preseruatiues against the desires of the flesh I. He that will be Christs disciple must euery daie take vp his crosse Luk. 9.23 II. They which are according to the spirit sauour of such things as are according to the spirit Rom. 8.5 III. We ought to behaue ourselues as citizens of the kingdome of heauen Phil. 3.20 IV. We are the temple of god 1. Cor. 3.6 Our members they are the members of Christ. 1. Cor. 6.15 And we haue dwelling within vs the spirit of Christ which we should not grieue Eph. 4.30 Concerning this look more in the explication of the seuenth commandement In this tentation the fall is when a man beeing preuented falleth into some offence Gal. 6.1 Here Satan doth wonderfully aggrauate the offence committed and doth accuse and terrifie the offender with the iudgements of God Mat. 27.3 Then when Iudas which betraied him sawe that he was condemned he repented himselfe and brought again the thirtie pieces of siluer to the chiefe priests elders 4. saying I haue sinned betraying the innocent blood but they said What is that to vs see thou to it 5. And when he had cast downe the siluer pieces in the temple he departed and went and hanged himselfe The remedie is a renued repentance the beginning whereof is sorrowe in regard of God for the same sinne the fruits herof are especially seuen 2. Cor. 7.9 Nowe I reioice not that ye were sorrie but that ye sorrowed to repentance for ye sorrowed godly so that in nothing ye were hurt by vs. 10. For godly sorrowe causeth repentance vnto saluation not to be repented of but worldly sorrow causeth death 11. For behold this thing that ye haue beene godly sorrie what great care hath it wrought in you yea what clearing of your selues yea what indignation yea what feare yea how great desire yea what zeale yea what punishment in all things ye haue shewed your selues that ye are pure in this matter I. A desire of doing well II. An Apologie that is a confession of the sinne before God with a requiring of pardon for the offence Psal. 32.5 Then I acknowledged my sinne vnto thee neither hid I mine iniquitie for I thought I will confesse against my selfe my wickednesse vnto the Lord and thou forgauest the punishment of my sinne 2. Sam. 12. 13. Then Dauid said vnto Nathan I haue sinned against the Lord and Nathan said vnto Dauid The Lord also hath put away thy sinne thou shalt not die III. Indignation against a mans selfe for his offence IV. A feare not so much for the punishment as for offending the Lord. Psal. 130.3 If thou straightly markest iniquities O Lord who shall stand V. A desire to be fully renued and to be deliuered from sinne VI. A feruent zeale to loue God and to embrace and keepe all his commandements VII Reuenge whereby the flesh may be tamed and subdued least at any time afterward such offences be committed CHAP. 44. Of the patient bearing of the crosse THe patient bearing of the crosse teacheth how Christians should vndergoe the burden The crosse is a certaine measure of afflictions appointed by God to euery one of the faithfull Matth. 16.24 If any man will follow me let him forsake himselfe take vp his crosse and follow me Col. 1.24 Now
reioice I in my sufferings for you and fulfill the rest of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his bodie sake which is the Church We ought to take vp this crosse willinglyâ— euen with both haÌ„ds wheÌ„ it shal please God to lay it vpon vs. And after we haue taken it vp we must beare it with patience and perseuerance Col. 1.11 Strengthned with all might through his glorious power vnto all patieÌ„ce loÌ„g suffering with ioyfulnes Luk. 21.19 Possesse your soules with patieÌ„ce The preseruatiues of patience are I. Strength by the holy ghost Phil. 4. 13. I am able to doe all things through the help of Christ which strengthneth me Phil. 1. 20. It is giuen to you for Christ that not onely ye should beleeue in him but also suffer for his sake II. An holy meditation which is manifold I. That the afflictions of the faithfull come not by chance but by the counsell prouidence of God which disposeth all things in a most excellent sort Gen. 45.4,5 It was God that sent Ioseph into Egypt 2. Sam. 16. 10. The Lord biddeth Shemei curse Dauid Psal. 119.71 It was good for me that I was afflicted that I might learne thy statutes Hence it is euident that afflictions to the godly are ineuitable Act. 14.21 By many afflictions you must enter into the kingdome of god Mat. 7.14 The gate is straight and the way narrow that leadeth vnto life and fewe there be that finde it Ioh. 16.20 In the world ye shall haue troubles II. That albeit afflictions are grieuous yet are they good profitable For they are helps whereby men beeing humbled for their sinnes before god obtaine peace and holines of life 2. Cor. 1.9 We receiued sentence of death in our selues because we should not trust in our selues but in God which raiseth the dead Esay 26. 16. Lord in trouble haue they visited thee they powred out a praier when thy chastening was vpon them Hos. 5.15 I will goe and returne to my place til they acknowledge their fault and seeke me in their affliction they will seeke me diligently Psal. 78.34 When he â—lue them they sought him and they returned and they sought God earely Ier. 31.18 I haue heard Ephraim lamenting thus Thou hast corrected me and I was chastised as an vntamed calfe conuert thou me and I shall be conuerted Heb. 12 11â— No chastisment for the present seemeth ioyous but grieuous but afterward it bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousnes vnto them which are thereby exercised Psal. 30.5 Weeping may abide at euening but ioy commeth in the morning Ioh. 15.2 Euery braunch that beareth fruite he purgeth it that it may bring foorth more fruite 1. Pet. 1.6 Wherein ye reioice though nowe for a season if neede require ye are in heauines through many tentations 2. Cor. 1.4 The God of all comfort which comforteth vs in all our tribulations that we may be able to comfort theÌ„ which are in any affliction by the comfort wherewith we our selues are comforted of God Rom. 5. 3. We glory in afflictions knowing that affliction bringeth patience Heb. 2. 10. He did consecrate the Prince of their saluation through affliction Wee permit Chirurgians that they should both bind vs lying diseased in our beds and seare vs with hot irons yea lanch and search our members with rasors and lastly we send them away vsually with friendly and kind speeches and often with a golden fee for their thus haÌ„dling vs. Shal we then suffer so many things of a Chirurgian to cure a bodily disease and will we not giue God leaue to cure by afflictions the most festered diseases of our sicke â—oules By this also may we gather that the afflictions of the godly are signes of their adoption Hebr. 12.6 Whome the Lord loueth he chasteneth and he scourgeth euery sonne that he receiueth 7. If ye endure chastisement God offereth himselfe vnto you as vnto sonnes And that they are to them the Kings high way to heauen Iam. 1.12 Blessed is the man that endureth tâ—ntation for when he is tried he shall receiue the crowne of life which the Lord hath promised to them that loue him 2. Cor. 4. 17. For our â—ight affliction which is but for a moment causeth vnto vs a farre more excellent and an eternall waight of glorie III. That God hath promised fauour mitigation of punishment his presence and deliuerance Philip. 1. 29. 1. Cor. 10. 13. God is faithfull who will not suffer you to be tempted aboue measure but with tentation will giue deliuerance 2. Sam. 7.14 Psal. 50.15 Call vpon me in time of trouble and I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal. 121.4 He that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleepe Esa. 43.2 When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and thorough the floods that they doe not ouerflow thee when thou walkest through the very fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle vpon thee 3. For I am the Lord thy God the holy one of Israel thy Sauiour IV. That in all troubles of the faithfull Christ is a companion 1. Pet. 4.13 Reioyce that ye are partakers of the afflictions of Christ. 2. Cor. 4. 10. Euery where we beare about in our bodie the dying of Christ that the life of Iesus might also be made manifest in our bodies Col. 1.21 V. That the Angels are readie to defend such as feare God Psal. 34.8.2 King 6.16 Feare not there are more with vs then against vs. CHAP. 45. Of the calling vpon God THus much concerning the deniall of our selues now followeth the profession of Christ. In which we consider either Christ himselfe or his meÌ„bâ—rs namely the faithfull Math. 25.40 Verely I say vnto you in as much as ye did it to one of the least of my brethren ye did it vnto me That profession which directly concerneth Christ is either continuall or onely in the time of danger Continuall is the calling vpon the Name of God and ought euer to be performed of vs in the Name of Christ Iesus our Mediatour 1. Cor. 1.2 To the Church of God which is at Corinthus to them that are sanctified in Christ Iesus in euery place both their Lord and ours Act. 9. 14. He hath authoritie from the high Priest to binde all that call vpon thy Name Col. 3. 17. Whatsoeuer ye shall doe in word or in deede doe it in the Name of the Lord Iesus giuing thankes to God and the Father by him The calling vpon Gods name is by praier or thanksgiuing Phil. 4. 6. In all things let your requests be shewed vnto God in praier and supplication with giuing of thankes Prayer hath two parts Petition and Assent Mark 11.24 I say vnto you whatsoeuer ye desire when ye pray beleeue that ye shall haue it and it shall be done vnto you Petition is the first part of prayer whereby we according to the rule of Gods word aske his helpe for the obtaining of such necessaries as we
noise like to that of charriot wheeles suddenly passe away and the elements with the earth and all therein shall be dissolued with fire 2. Pet. 3. 12. Lâ—â—king for and hâ—â—sting vnto the comming of the day of God by which the heauens beeing 〈◊〉 shall be dissolued and the elements shall melt with heate 13. 〈…〉 new heauens and a new earth according to his promise wherein d 〈…〉 ousness At the same time when as all these things shall come to passe 〈◊〉 sound of the last trumpet shall be heard sounded by the Archangâ—â—â— And Christ shall come suddenly in the cloudes with power and glorie and a great traine of Angels III. Now at the sound of the trumpet the Elect which were dead shal arise with their bodies and those very bodies which were turned to dust and one part rent from another shall by the omnipotent power of God be restored and the soules of them shall descend from heauen and be brought againe into those bodies As for them which then shall be aliue they shall be changed in the twinckling of an eye and this mutation shall be in stead of death And at that time the bodies shall receiue their full redemption and all the bodies of the Elect shall be made like the glorious bodie of Christ Iesus and therefore shall be spirituall immortall glorious and free from all infirmitie IV. Last of all when they are all conuented before the tribunall seate of Christ he will forthwith place the Elect seuered from the reprobate and taken vp into the aire at his right hand and to them being written in the booke of life will he pronounce this sentence Come ye blessed of my father possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the foundations of the world Matth. 25.33 He shall set the sheepe on his right hand and the goates on the left 1. Thess. 4. 17. Reu. 20. 12. whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the lake of fire CHAP. 50. Of the estate of the Elect after iudgement THe last iudgement beeing once finished the Elect shall enioy immediatly blessednes in the kingdome of heauen Blessednes is that whereby God himselfe is all in all his Elect. 1. Cor. 15. 28. When all things shall be subdued to him then shall the Sonne also himselfe be subiect vnto him that did subdue all things vnder him that God may be all in all And it is the reward of good workes not because workes can merit but by reason of Gods fauour who thus accepteth workes and that in respect of the merit of Christs righteousnes imputed to the Elect. Rom. 6.23 The wages of sinne is death but eternall life is the gift of God through Iesus Christ our Lord. 2. Tim. 4. 8. Reu. 22. 12. Behold I come shortly and my reward is with me to giue euery man according as his worke shall be Blessednesse hath two parts Eternall life and perfect glorie Eternall life is that fellowship with God whereby God himselfe is thorough the Lambe Christ life vnto the Elect. For in the kingdome of heauen the Elect shall not neede meat drinke sleepe aire heat cold phisicke apparell or the light of the Sunne and moone b but in place of all these shall they haue in them Gods spirit by which immediatly they shall be quickned for euer Perfect glorie is that wonderfull excellencie of the Elect wherby they shal be in a farre better estate then any heart can wish This glorie consisteth in three points I. In that they shall still behold the face of God which is his glory and maiestie Reuel 22.4 And they shall see his face and his name shall be in their forheads Psal. 17.15 I will behold thy face in righteousnes and when I awake I shall be satisfied with thine anger II. In that they shall be most like to Christ namely iust holy incorruptible glorious honorable excellent beautifull strong mightie and nimble 1. Ioh. 3.2 Dearely beloued now are we the sonnes of God but yet it doth not appeare what we shall be and we knowe that when he shall appeare we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Phil. 3.21 Who shall change our vile bodie that it may be fashioned like vnto his glorious bodie according to the working whereby he is able euen to subdue all things to himselfe III. They shall inherit the kingdome of heauen yea the newe heauens and newe earth shal be their inheritance 1. Pet. 1.4 God hath begotten you to an inheritance immortall vndefiled and that fadeth not away reserued in heauen for you Mat. 25.34 Then shall the king say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father possesse a kingdome prepared for you before the foundations of the world were laid Reu. 5.10 Thou hast made vs vnto our God kings and priests and we shall raigne on the earth Reuel 21.7 Hee that ouercommeth shall inherite all things and I will be his God he shall be my sonne The fruit that commeth from both these parts of blessednes is of two sorts Eternall ioy and the perfect seruice of God Psal. 16.11 Thou wilt shewe me the path of life in thy presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for euermore Psal. 36.8 They shall be satisfied with the fatnes of thine house and thou shalt giue them drinke out of the riuer of thy pleasures 9. For with thee is the well of life and in thy light shall we see light The parts of Gods seruice are Praise and Thanksgiuing Reuel 21.3 And I heard a great voice out of heauen saying behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himselfe shall be their God with them Chap. 5.12 Saying with a loud voice Worthy is the Lambe that was killed to receiue power and riches and wisdome and strength and honour and glory and praise c. 13. Chap. 11.17 The foure and twentie Elders which sate before God on their seates fell vpon their faces and worshipped God saying Wee giue thee thanks Lord God Almightie which art and Which wa st and Which art to come for thou hast receiued thy great might and hast obtained thy kingdome The manner of performing this seruice is to worship God by God himselfe immediately In heauen there shall neither be temple ceremonie nor Sacrament but all these wants shal God himselfe supply togither with the LaÌ„be that is Christ. Reuel 21.22 I sawe no temple therein for the Lord God Almightie and the Lambe are the Temple of it This seruice shall be daily and without intermission Reuel 7.15 They are in the presence of the throne of God and serue him day and night in his temple A Corollarie or the last conclusion THus God in sauing the Elect doeth clearely set forth his iustice and mercy His iustice in that he punished the sinnes of the elect in his Sonnes owne person His
to Christ is in bearing afflictions Phil. 3.10 That I may know him and the vertue of his resurrection and the fellowship of his afflictions to be made conformable to his death V. To doe good workes Eph. 2. 10. Wee are his workemanship created in Christ Iesus to doe good workes which God hath ordained that we should walke in them Thus much concerning Theologie AN EXCELLENT TREATISE of comforting such as are troubled about their Predestination Taken out of the second answer of M. Beza to D. Andreas in the act of their Colloquie at Mompelgart c. VNlesse saith D. Andreas regeneratioÌ„ be alwaies vnited to baptisme and remaineth in such as are baptized howe should the troubled consciences of those be eased and coÌ„forted who because they feele not in themselues any good motions of gods holy spirit finde none other refuge but the Word and Sacraments especially the Sacrament of Baptisme Now this remedie would be of small force except it be opposed against those imaginations which the diuell casteth into a troubled heart yea except it taught such that God is greater then our heart who in Baptisme hath not onely offered vs the adoption of sonnes but hath indeede bestowed the same vpon vs as it is said by Christ Hee that beleeueth and is baptized shall be saued And by Paul Ye which are baptized haue put on Christ. Dauid beeing armed with the like comfort from his circumcision feared not to ioyne battell with that great giant Goliah and if this were not so it must needs followe that Baptisme were nothing els but an idle ceremonie and also the persons of the Trinitie would be thought lyars Wherefore those afflicted men when Satan assaulteth them must resist him with these wordes Depart from me Satan thou hast neither part nor portion in the inheritance of my soule because I am baptized in the Name of the holy Trinitie and so am truely made the sonne of God by adoption And are these the strong weapons which so many times and in so many wordes haue beene obiected against me by D. Andreas and whereby he hath gotten the victorie But because this his reason is somewhat intricate I will explaine it after this sort First for the place of Scripture which he alleadgeth namely that God is greater then our hearts It is so farre from comforting an afflicted conscience that it will rather driue him to deâ—paire Neither doth Iohn 1. epist. 3.20 make mention of it to ease such as are in despaire shewing vnto them by that sentence the greatnes of Gods mercies but rather that he might therby euen bruise in peeces the hearts of proude persons when they consider the greatnesse of Gods maiestie And for the other place when as a man doubteth of his saluation and feeleth no testimonies of faith in himselfe for such an one wee here speake of what comfort thinke you can hee haue in these wordes Hee that beleeueth and is baptized shall be saued For hee would rather reason contrarily thus I indeede am baptized yet for al that I beleeue not and therefore my Baptisme is not auaileable I must needes be condemned For the saying of August in his treatise vpon Ioh. 6. is verie true who speaking of Simon Magus saith What good did it to him to be baptized bragge not therefore saith he that thou art baptized as though that were sufficient for thee to inherit the kingdome of heauen As for the place of Paul Gal. 3. I shewed plainely before how D. Andreas did violently wrest it to his purpose Neither are his reasons taken from the absurditie that would follow of more force then the former albeit he maketh them especiall pillars to vnderproppe the truth of his cause For I pray you is God of lesse truth because his truth is neglected and derided of them that contemne it Is the ceremonie of Baptisme therefore in vaine because some refuse the grace offered in Baptisme others if we may beleeue D. Andreas reiect that grace when they haue receiued it What Is not the Gospel therfore the power of God to saluation because it is to such as beleeue not the sauour of death to eternall death May not the Supper of the Lord be a pledge of Gods couenant because so may abuse these holy signes or as D. Andreas is of opinion the very bodie and blood of our Sauiour Christ And that I may reason from that which is true in the experience of euery childe can the Sunne be saide to be without light because they which are blinde and asleepe haue no benefit by the light thereof neither such as shut their eyes so close that they will not enioy the comfort of the light But amongst all this one is most childish that Dâ— Andreas will make this his principall argument namely that in vaine did men thus tempted flie at all vnto Baptisme vnlesse we conclude with him that all such as are baptized are in Baptisme adopted the sonnes of God For first if this were a good consequent from baptisme it were in vaine for such an afflicted conscience to gather vnto himselfe a testimonie from the word of God and the other Sacrament of the Lords Supper vnlesse we make all those to be in like sort regenerate and adopted vnto whome the word of God is preached and the Lords supper administred either of which for D. Andreas to affirme is a bold vntruth But to omit this what if we graunt this which D. Andreas requireth concerning Baptisme may not for all that any that is so tempted by Satans pollicie refell this great comforter by his owne argument after this sort I will grant D. Andreas your question suppose I haue beene baptized and adopted the sonne of God yet seeing you teach that the grace of God is not so sure but that I may fal froÌ„ the same as indeed I feele that I haue grieuously fallen what doe you now els but lift me vp with one hand to heauen and with the other cast me downe into hell What meane you therefore to teach me those things which are so farre from easing me as that contrarily they doe more and more lay out vnto me mine abominable and vngratefull heart See now what sure consolation consciences grieuously afflicted may reape by this doctrine of their comforter D. Andreas Now if any be desirous to know what spirituall comfort is most meete to be ministred vnto consciences so troubled I will shew them that which is grounded vpon a sure foundation and which I my selfe haue often found to be true in mine owne experience the which also I purpose to handle more largely for the benefit of the Christian reader First therefore we teach contrarily to that which D. Andreas doth most falsly obiect against vs that the eternall decree or as Paul speaketh the purpose of God must not be sought in the bottomlesse counsel of God but rather in the manifestation of it namely in his vocation by the Word and Sacraments This I speake of such as are
head in pursuing his father theÌ„ Dauid wept and cried O my sonne Absolon my sonne Absolon would God I had died with thee Absolon my sonne And so it is with God our heauenly father when his children sinne against him and thereby loose his loue and fauour and fall from grace he forsakes them but how farre Surely he shewes signes of anger for their wickednes and yet indeede his loue remaines towards them still and this is a true conclusion the grace of God in the adoption of the elect is vnchaÌ„geable and he that â—s the child of God can neuer fall away wholly or finally On the contrarie that is a bad and comfortlesse opinion of the Church of Rome which holdeth that a man may be iustified before God and yet afterward by a mortall sinne finally fall from grace and be condemned Fourthly the childe of God that takes God the father for his father may freely come into the presence of God and haue libertie to pray vnto him We know it is a great priuiledge to come into the chamber of presence before an earthly prince and fewe can alwaies haue this prerogatiue though they be great men yet the kings owne sonne may haue free entrance and speake freely vnto the king himselfe because he is his sonne Now the children of God haue more prerogatiue then this for they may come into the presence not of an earthly king but of Almightie God the King of kings and as they are the sonnes of God in Christ so in him they may freely speake vnto God their father by praier And this ouerthrowes the doctrine of such as be of the Church of Rome which teach and hold that a man must come to speake to God by by praier through the intercession of Saints for say they the presence of God is so glorious that we may not be so bold as of our selues to speake vnto him but needes must haue the intercession of others Lastly God will prouide for all his Church and children all things needefull both for their bodies and soules so our Sauiour Christ bids his disciples take no thought what they should eate or what they should drinke or wherewith they should be clothed adding this reason for your heauenly Father knoweth all your wants And if we take thought it must be moderate and not distrustfull it is a part of the fathers dutie to prouide for his familie and children and not the children for the father Now shall an earthly father haue this care for his children and shall not our heauenly father much more prouide for those that feare and loue him Nay marke further in Gods Church there be many hypocrites which receiue infinite benefits from God by reason of his elect children with whome they liue and we shall see this to be true that the wicked man hath euer fared better for the godly mans cause Sodome and Gomorrha receiued many benefits by reason of righteous Lot and when the Lord was purposed to destroy Sodom he was faine to pull Lot forth of the citie for the text saith the Angel of the Lord could not doe any thing till he was come out of it So also in Pauls dangerous voyage towardes Rome all the men in it fared better for Pauls company for the Lord tolde Paul by an angel that there should be no losse of any mans life for the Lord had giuen to him all that sailed with him And vndoubtedly if it were not for some fewe that feare God he would powre downe his vengeance vpon many nations and kingdomes there is such excesse of wickednesse in all sorts Againe if the Lord doe thus carefully prouide for his children all kinde of benefits what a wonderful wickednesse is this for men to get their liuing by vngodly meanes as vsury carding dicing and such like exercises If a man were perswaded that God were his father and would prouide sufficiently both for his bodie and soule so that vsing lawfull meanes he should eueâ— haue enough out of all doubt he would neuer after the fashion of the world vse vnlawefull and prophane meanes to get a liuing But this prooueth that howesoeuer such men say God is their father yet indeede they denie him And thus much of 〈◊〉 tiâ—le Father the first thing whereby the first person is described Nowe followeth the second point namely his attribute of omnipotencie in the word almightie And whereas the father is said to be almightie it is not so to bâ— vnderstood as though the Sonne were not almightie or the holy ghost noâ—â—lmightie for euery propertie and attribute saue the personal properties is câ—mmoÌ„ to all the three persons For as God the father doth impart his godhead vnto the sonne and to the holy ghost so doth he communicate the proprietâ—es of the godhead to them also God is omnipotent two waies I. Because hee is able to doe whatsoeuer hee will II. Because he is able to doe more then he will doe For the first that god is able to doe whatsoeuer he will Dauid saith Our God is in heauen and he doth whatsoeuer he will for there is nothing that can hinder God but as he willeth so euery thing is done Secondly that God can doe more then he willeth to be done it is plaine where Iohn Baptist saith God is able of these stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham for though God can doe thus much yet he will not doe it So likewise when Christ was betraied the Father could haue giueÌ„ him more then 12. legions of angels to haue deliuered him out of their handes but yet he would not the like may be said of many other things The father is was able to haue created another world yea a thousand worldes but he would not nor will not And likewise Christ being vpon the crosse was able at their bidding to haue come downe and saued himselfe from death but he would not and therefore this is true the Lord can doe any thing that he willeth to bee done actually yea and more then he will But some will say God can not doe some things which man can doe as God cannot lie nor denie himselfe and therefore he is not omnipotent Answere Although some haue thought that God coulde doe euen these things and that he did them not because hee would not yet wee must knowe and beleeue that God can neither lie nor denie himselfe indeede man can doe both but these and many other such things if God could doe them hee could not bee God God indeede can doe all things which shewe foorth his glory and maiestie but such things as are against his nature he cannot doeâ— as for example God can not sinne and therefore cannot liâ— and because he cannot doe these things for this very cause he is omnipotent for these and such like are workes of impotencie which if god could doe he should euen by his owne word be iudged impotent Secondly he cannot doe that which implies contradiction
to make all grace to abound towardes them Where also this dutie is taught vs that seeing God is omnipotent and therefore able to make vs abound therefore wee must giue cheerefully to our poore brethren which want Fourthly whereas there are many in euery place which haue liued long in their sinnes euen from their cradle some in wantonnes some in drunkennes some in swearing some in idlenesse and such like out of this place to all such there is a good lesson namely that euery one of them doe nowe become new men and repent of all their sinnes for all their life past For marke what Paul saith of the Iewes which are cutte off from Christ through vnbeleefe and haue so continued in hardnesse of heart and desperat malice against him almost 16. hundreth yeares If saith he they abide not still in vnbeleefe they may bee grafted into their oliue againe and his reason is this because God is able to graft them in againe Euen so though wee haue liued many yeares in sinne and sure it is a daungerous and fearefull case for a man to liue 20.30 or 40. yeares vnder the power of the diuell yet wee must knowe that if wee will nowe liue a newe life forsake all our sinnes and turne to God wee may be receiued to grace and be made a branch of the true oliue though we haue borne the fruits of the wilde oliue all our life long But some will obiect that they haue no hope of Gods fauour because they haue beene so grieuous sinners and continued in them so long Ans. But knowe it whosoeuer thou art God is able to graft thee in and if thou repent he will receiue thee to his loue and fauour This must be obserued of all but especially of such as are olde in yeares and yet remaine ignorant without knowledge they must turne to the Lord by repentance otherwise if they continue still profane and impenitent they must knowe this that their damnation comes post hast to meete them and they to it And thus much for the duties Nowe followe the consolations which Gods Church reape from this that God the father is omnipotent First the wonderfull power of God serueth to strengthen vs in praier vnto God for hee that will pray truely must onely pray for those things for which he hath warrant in Gods word all our prayers must bee made in faith and for a man to praie in faith it is hard therefore a speciall meanes to strengthen vs herein is the mightie power of God This was the ground and stay of the leper whom our Sauiour Christ clensed Lord saith he if thou wilt thou canst make me cleane And in the Lords praier when our Sauiour Christ hath taught vs to make sixe petitions in the end he giueth vs a reason or motiue to induce vs to stand vpon and to waite for the benefits before craued in these wordes Thine is the kingdome thine is the power c. Secondly hence wee learne this comfort that all the gates of hell shall neuer bee able to preuaile against the least member of Christ. I doe not say they shall neuer be able to assault or tempt them for that may be but they shal neuer ouercome them How will some say may we be resolued of this I aunswer By reason of faith for if a Christian man do beleeue that God the father and in Christ his father is almightie no enemie shall euer be able to preuaile against him So S. Iohn reasoneth Litle children ye are of God haue ouercome them that is all false teachers because greater is he that is in you that is Christ Iesus by his holy spirit who is God and therefore almightie then he that is in the world that is the spirit of satan therefore you neede not to feare So Dauid compareth himselfe to a silly sheepe and saith Though I should walke through the valley of the shadow of death that is as it were in the mouth of the lyon yet I will feare none euill why so because the Lord is with him thy rodde saith he and thy staffe comfort me Thus much for the benefits Now whereas it is said the first person is a Father as also Almightie ioyne these two togither and hence will arise singular benefits and instructions First whereas we are taught to confesse that the first person is a Father Almightie we and euery man must learne to haue experience in himselfe of the mightie power of this almightie father Why will some say that is nothing for the deuill and all the damned soules feele the power of the Almightie True indeede they feele the power of God namely as he is an almightie Iudge condemning them but they feele not the power of an almightie father this is the point whereof we must indeauour to haue experience in our selues Paul prayeth that the God of our Lord Iesus Christ the father of glorie would giue vnto the Ephesians the spirit of wisedome to see what is the exceeding greatnes of his power in them which beleeue according to the working of his mightie power which he wrought in Christ. Which place must be considered for here the Apostle would haue vs haue such a speciall manifestation of Gods power in our selues like to that which he did once shew forth in Christ. But how did Christ see and finde the power of God as he was manâ— Answer Diuers waies I. On the crosse he died the first death which is the separation of bodie and soule and he suffered the sorrowes of the second death For in his soule he bare the whole wrath of God and all the pangs of hell and after was buried and laide in the graue where death triumphed ouer him for the space of three daies Nowe in this extremitie God did shewe his power in that he raised Christ from death to life And looke as his power was manifested in Christ the head so must it be manifested in all his members for euery man hath his graue which is naturall sinne and corruption which we drawe from our first parents and looke as a man lies dead in the graue and can mooue neither hand nor foote so euery man by nature lyeth dead in sinne Now as God did shew his power in raising Christ from death so euery one must labour to haue this knowledge and experience in himselfe of the mightie power of God in raising him from the graue of sinne to newnesse of life For thus Paul makes a speciall request that he might know Christ and the vertue of his resurrection that is that he might feele in himselfe that power whereby Christ was raised from death to life to raise him also from the bondage of his sinnes to a newe life more and more Furthermore when Christ was vpon the crosse and all the gates of hell were open against him then did he vanquish Satan he bruised the serpents head and as Paul saith he spoyled principalities and powers
wherein we must rest as it were for a night as a straunger doth in an Inne and so away but the second house is eternall in the heauens an euerlasting seate of all felicitie and happinesse And therefore our dutie is aboue al things to seeke the kingdome of God and his righteousnesse as Christ himselfe biddeth vs. And if the Lord haue there prepared such a place for vs theÌ„ we must in this world vse all good meanes whereby we may be made worthie the fruition of it and also fitte and readie at the day of death to enter into it which at the day of iudgement we shall fully possesse both in soule and bodie and there raigne eternally in all happinesse with God Almightie our creatour the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost But some may say how shall a man so prepare himselfe that hee may bee fitte for that place Answere This the holy Ghost teacheth vs for speaking of this heauenly Ierusalem he saith There shall enter into it none vncleane thing neither whatsoeuer worketh abomination or lies The meanes then to make our selues fitte is to seeke to bee reconciled to God in Christ for our sinnes past and withall to endeauour to haue an assurance of the free remission and pardon of them all in the blood of Christ. And as touching that part of life which is to come we must remember what Saint Iohn saith Euery one that hath this hope purifieth himselfe meaning that he which hath hope to raigne with Christ in heauen vseth the meanes whereby he may purifie and keepe himselfe from sinne as also he saith after that he which is borne of God keepeth himselfe and the wicked one toucheth him not Signifying that all such persons as are truely iustified and sanctified carrie such a narrowe and straite watch ouer the whole course of their liues and conuersations that the deuill can neuer giue them deadly woundes and wholly ouercome them Nowe the man that iâ— resolued in his conscience of the pardon of his sinne for the time past and hath a steadfast purpose in his heart to keepe himselfe vpright continually to walke in righteousnesse and true holinesse all the daies of his life this man I say is prepared and made fit to enter into the heauenly Ierusalem come death when it will he is readie And howesoeuer he must not looke for heauen here vpon earth yet he is as it were in the suburbes of this heauenly cittie and at the end of this life the king thereof the Lord Iesus will open the gates and receiue him into his kingdome for he is alreadie entred into the kingdome of grace To conclude this point let euery man in the feare of god be mooued hereby to set his heart to prepare himselfe that when God shall call him hence he may be fitte to enter into that glorie Secondly seeing God hath prepared the third heauen for vs it teacheth euery man in this worlde to be content with the estate wherein God hath placed him whether it bee high or lowe rich or poore why so because here he is but a pilgrime and liues in a cottage of clay and in a tent wherein he must abide but a while as a pilgrime doth oftentimes carrying his house about with him and we shall in better sort accept the afflictions which God sendes vs in this life if we remember that there is prepared for vs a place of ioy which must bee our resting place and perfect felicitie for euermore This was the practise of the chidren of God especially of Abraham for when the Lord called him out of his own country he obeyed and by faith abode in the promised land as in a straunge countrie as one that dwelt in tents with Isaac and Iaakob heires with him in the same promise and the reason followeth for he looked for a cittie hauing a foundation whose builder and maker is God They beleeued that these things which the Lord promised were shaddowes of better things and hereon staied themselues beeing well content with that estate whereto God had called them So Paul was coÌ„tented to beare the afflictions which God had laid vpon him and his reason was Because saith he we looke not on things which are seene but on things which are not seene for the things which are seene are temporall but the things which are not seene are eternall And in the next chapter We knowe saith he that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle be destroyed we haue a dwelling giuen vs of God that is an house not made with hands but eternall in the heauens And for this cause his desire was rather to remooue out of this body and to be with the Lord. And thus much concerning heauen Nowe followeth the second part of Gods creation in these wordes And earth Earth signifieth the huge masse or body standing of sea and land on which we liue and all things that be in or vpon the earth whatsoeuer as Paul saith For by him were created all things that are in heauen or in earth c. In other Creeds which were made since this of the Apostles beeing expositioÌ„s of that there is added maker of all things visible and invisible Here we haue occasion to speake of all creatures but that were infinite therefore I will make choice of these two good Angels and Men. I. That Angels had a beginning it is no question for Paul saith that by God all things were created in heauen and earth things visible and inuisible whether thrones principalities or powers And in respect of the creation angels are called the sonnes of God But the time day of their creatioÌ„ cannot be set down further theÌ„ this that they were created in the coÌ„passe of the sixe daies For Moses saith Thus namely in the compasse of the first sixe daies the heauens and the earth were fashioned and all the hâ—ast of them that is all varietie of creatures in heauen and earth seruing for the beauty and glory thereof whereof no doubt the Angels are the principall II. Touching the nature of Angels some haue thought that they are nothing but qualities and motions in the mindes of men as the Sadduces and the Libertines of this time but the truth is that they are spirits that is spirituall and inuisible substances created by God and really subsisting for the Scripture ascribes vnto them such kinde of actions which can not be performed by the creatures saue onely such as be substances as to stande before the throne of God to behold the face of the Father to carie mens soules to heauen c. yet must we not imagine that they are bodily substances consisting of flesh and bone And though they tooke vpon them visible shapes and formes and did eate and drinke in the companie of men and thereupon are called Men in Scripture yet they did this by diuine dispensation for a time that they might the better performe the actions
we so poreblinde that we cannot discerne any blessing and prouidence of God in them Therefore let vs learne to looke vpon both ioyntly togither and so shall wee bee thankfull vnto God in prosperitie and patient in aduersitie with Iob and Dauid This lesson Paul learned I can be abased saith he and I can abound euery where in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungrie and to abound and to be in want Fourthly seeing Gods prouidence disposeth all things wee are taught to gather obseruations of the same in things both past and present that we may learne thereby to be armed against the time to come Thus Dauid when hee was to encounter with Goliah gathered hope and confidence to himselfe for the time to come by the obseruation of Gods prouidence in the time past for saith he when I kept my fathers sheepe I slue a lyon and a beare that deuoured the flocke nowe the Lord that deliuered me out of the paw of the lyon and out of the paw of the beare he will deliuer me out of the hand of this Philistim Fifthly because Gods prouidence disposeth all things when we make lawfull promises to doe any thing we must put in or at the least conceiue this condition if the Lord will for S. Iames saith that we ought to say If the Lord will and if we liue we will doe this or that This also was Dauids practise for to all the congregation of Israel he saide If it seeme good to you and if it proceede from the Lord our God we will send to and fro Sixtly seeing Gods prouidence is manifested in ordinary means it behooueth euery man in his calling to vse them carefully when ordinarie meanes be at hand wee must not looke for any help without them though the Lord be able to doe what he wil without meanes Ioab when many Aramites came against him he heartened his souldiers though they were but fewe in number bidding them be strong and valiant for their people and for the citties of their god and then let the Lord doe that which is good in his eies And our Sauiour Christ auoucheth it to be flat tempting of God for him to leape downe from the pinacle of the temple to the ground wheras there was an ordinarie way at hand to descend by staires Hence it appeares that such persons as wil vse no means whereby they may come to repent and beleeue doe indeede no more repent and beleeue then they can be able to liue which neither eate nor drinke And thus much of the duties Nowe followe the consolations first this very point of Gods speciall prouidence is a great comfort to Gods Church for the Lord moderateth the rage of the deuill and wicked men that they shal not hurt the people of God Dauid saith The Lord is at my right hand therefore I shall not slide And when Iosephs brethren were afraid because they had solde him into Egypt he comforteth them saying that it was God that sent him before them for their preseruation So king Dauid when his owne souldiers were purposed to stone him to death he was in great sorrow but it is said he comforted himselfe in the Lord his God Where we may see that a man which hath grace to beleeue in God and rely on his prouidence in all his afflictions and extremities shall haue wonderfull peace and consolation Before we can proceede to the articles which followe it is requisite that we should intreat of one of the greatest workes of Gods prouidence that can be because the opening of it giueth light to all that inâ—ueth And this worke is a Preparation of such meanes whereby God will manifest his iustice mercie It hath two parts the iust permission of the fall of maÌ„ the giuing of the CouenaÌ„t of grace For so Paul teacheth wheÌ„ he saith That god shut vp all vnder vnbeleefe that he might haue mercie vpon all And againe The scripture hath concluded all vnder sinne that the promise by the faith of Christ Iesus should be giuen to them that beleeue Touching the first that we might rightly conceiue of mans fall we are to search out the nature and parts of sinne Sinne is any thing whatsoeuer is against the will and word of God as S. Iohn saith Sinne is the transgression of the lawe And this definition Paul confirmeth when he saith that by the lawe comes the knoweledge of sinne and where no lawe is there is no transgression and sinne is not imputed where there is no lawe In sinne we must consider three things the fault the guilt the punishment The fault is the anomie or the inobedience it selfe and it comprehends not onely huge and notorious offences as idolatrie blasphemie theft treason adulterie and all other crimâ—s that the world criâ—s shame on but euery disordered thought affection inclination yea euery defect of that which the law requireth The guilt of sinne is whereby a man is guiltie before God that is bounde made subiect to punishment And here two questions must be skanned where man is bound and by what For the first Man is bound in conscience And hereupon the conscience of euery sinner sitts within his heart as a little iudge to tell him that he is bound before God to punishment For the second it is the order of diuine iustice set downe by God which bindes the conscience of the sinner before god for he is Creatour and Lord and man is a creature and therefore must either obey his will and commandementâ— or suffer punishment Nowe then by vertue of Gods lawe conscience bindes ouer the creature to beare a punishment for his offence done against God yea it tells him that he is in danger to be iudged and condemned for it And therefore the conscience is as it were the Lordes Sergeant to informe the sinner of the bond and obligation whereby he alwaies stands bound before God The third thing which followeth sinne is punishment and that is death So Paul saith The stipend of sinne is death where by death wee must vnderstand a double death both of bodie and soule The death of the bodie is a separation of the bodie from the soule The second death is a separation of the whole man but especially of the soule from the glorious presence of God I say not simplie from the presence of God for God is euery where but only from the ioyfull presence of Gods glorie Now these two deaths are the stipends or allowance of sinne and the least sinne which a man committeth doth deserue these two punishments For in euery sinne the infinite iustice of God is violated for which cause there must needes be inflicted an infinite punishment that there may be a proportion betweene the punishment and the offence And therefore that distinction of sinne which Papists make namely that some are in themselues veniall and some mortall is false and
nothing regarded A blinde man neuer seeing the sunne is not brought to wonder at it and earthly minded men neither seeing nor feeling what an excellent thing it is to bee the childe of God cannot bee brought to seeke after it But let all such as feare God enter into a serious consideration of the vnspeakeable goodnesse of God comforting themselues in this that God the father hath vouchsafed by his owne sonne to make them of the vassals of satan to be his owne deere children Nowe followe the duties which are two First we beleeue that Iesus Christ who was to be the Sauiour of mankinde must needs be God what is the reason hereof surely because no creature no not all the creatures in heauen and earth were able to saue one man so vile wretched and miserable is our estate by Adams fall And therefore the sonne of God himselfe pitied our estate and beeing king of heauen and earth was faine to come from heauen and lay downe his crowne and become a seruant and taking vpon him our nature was also faine to take vpon him our case and condition and suffer death for our sinnes which otherwise euery one of vs should haue suffered both in bodie and soule world without ende To make this more plaine let vs suppose that some one hath committed an offence against a prince and the trespasse to be so grieuous that no man can appease the kings wrath saue only the kings onely sonne and which is more the kings sonne himselfe cannot release him vnlesse hee suffer the punishment for him in his owne person which is due vnto the malefactour Nowe what is to be thought of this mans estate surely all men will say that he is in a most miserable taking and that his trespasse is notorious and so it is with euery one of vs by nature whatsoeuer we are No man could saue our soules no not all the angels in heauen vnlesse the king of heauen and earth the onely sonne of God had come down from heauen and suffered for vs bearing our punishment Nowe the consideration of this must humble vs and make vs to cast downe our selues vnder the hand of God for our sinnes and pray continually that the Lord would send some Moses or other which might smite the rockes of our hearts that some teares of sorrowe and repentance might gush out for this our wofull miserie Secondly whereas God the Father of Christ gaue his onley sonne to be our Sauiour as we must be thankefull to God for all things so especially for this great and vnspeakable benefit Common blessings of God as meat drinke health wealth and libertie must at all times mooue vs to be thankeful but this that Christ Iesus the onely sonne of God redeemed vs beeing vtterly lost this I say must be the maine point of all our thankfulnes but alas mens hearts are so frozen in the dreggs of their sinnes that this dutie comes little in practise nowe adaies When our Sauiour Christ clensed ten lepers there was but one of them that returned to giue him thankes and this is as true in the leprosie of the soule for though saluation by Christ be offered vnto vs daily by Gods ministers yet not one of tenne nay scarse one of a thousand giues praise and thankes to God for it because men take no delight in things which concerne the kingdome of heauen they thinke not that they haue neede of saluation neither do they feele any want of a Sauiour But we for our parts must learne to say with Dauid What shall I render vnto the Lord for all his benefits yea we are to practise that which Salomon saith My sonne giue me thy heart for we should giue vnto God both bodie and soule in token of our thankefulnesse for this wonderful blessing that he hath giuen his onely sonne to bee our Sauiour and we are to hold this for trueth that they which are not thankfull for it let them say what they will they haue no soundnes of grace or power of religion at the heart And thus much of the third title The fourth and last title is in these wordes our Lord. Christ Iesus the onely sonne of God is our Lord three waies first by creation in that he made vs of nothing when we were not secondly he is our Lord in the right of redemption In former times the custome hath bin when one is taken prisoner in the field he that paies his raunsome shall becom alwaies after his Lord so Christ when we were bondslaues vnder hell death and condemnation paide the ransome of our redemption and freed vs from the bondage of sinne and satan and therfore in that respect he is our Lord. Thirdly he is the head of the Church as the husband is the wiues head to rule and gouerne the same by his word and spirit And therefore in that respect also Christ is our Lord. And thus much for the meaning Nowe followe the duties And first of al if Christ be our Soueraigne Lord we must performe absolute obedience vnto him that is whatsoeuer he commandes vs that must we doe And I say absolute obedience because Magistrates Masters Rulers and fathers may command and must bee obeyed yet not simply but so farre foorth as that which they command doth agree with the word and commandement of God but Christs will and word is righteousnesse it selfe and therfore it is a rule and direction of all our actions whatsoeuer and for this cause he must be absolutely obeyed Thus he requires the obedience of the morall lawe but why because he is the Lord our god And in Malachie he saith If I be your Lord where is my feare And againe we must resigne both bodie and soule heart mind wil affections and the course of our whole liues to be ruled by the will of Christ. He is Lord not onely of the bodie but of the spirit and soule of man he must therefore haue homage of both As wee adore him by the knee of the bodie so must the thoughts and the affections of our hearts haue their knees also to worship him and to shewe their subiection to his commandements As for such as doe hold him for their Lord in word but in the meane season will not indeauour to shewe their loyaltie in all manner of obedience they are indeede no better then starke rebels Secondly when by the hande of Christ straunge iudgements shall come to passe as it is vsuall in all places continually we must stay ourselues without murmuring or finding fault because he is an absolute Lorde ouer all his creatures all things are in his handes and hee may doe with his owne whatsoeuer he will and therefore wee must rather feare and tremble whensoeuer we see or heare of them so Dauid saith I was dumbe and opened not my mouth because thou didst it And againe My flesh trembleth for feare of thee and I am afraid of thy iudgements Thirdly before wee vse
any of Gods creatures or ordinances wee must sanctifie them by the direction of his word and by praier the reason is this because he is Lord ouer all and therefore from his word we must fetch direction to teach vs whether we may vse them or not and when and how they are to be vsed and secondly we must pray to him that he would giue vs libertie and grace to vse them aright in holy maner Also we are so to vse the creatures and ordinances of God as being alwaies readie to giue an account of our doings at the day of iudgement for we vse that which is the Lords not our owne we are but stewards ouer them and we must come to a reckoning for the stewardship Hast thou learning then imploy it to the glory of God and the good of the Church boast not of it as though it were thine owne Hast thou any other gift or blessing of God be it wisdome strength riches honour fauour or whatsoeuer then looke thou vse it so as thou maist be alwaies readie to make a good account thereof vnto Christ. Lastly euery one must in such manner lead his life in this world that at the day of death hee may with cheerefulnes surrender and giue vp his soule into the handes of his Lord and say with Steuen Lord Iesus receiue my soule For consider this with thy selfe that thy soule is none of thine owne but his who hath bought it with a price and therefore thou must so order and keepe it as that thou maiest in good manner restore it into the hands of god at the ende of thy life If a man should borrowe a thing of his neighbour and afterward hurt it and make a spoile of it he would be ashamed to bring it againe to the owner in that manner and if he doe the owner himselfe will not receiue it Vngodly men in this life doe so staine their soules with sinne that they can neuer be able willingly to giue them vp into the handes of God at the day of death and if they would yet God accepts them not but casts them quite away We must therefore labour so to liue in the world that with a ioyfull heart at the day of death we may commend our soules into the handes of our Lord Christ Iesus who gaue them vnto vs. This is a harde thing to bee done and he that will doe it truely must first be assured of the pardon of his owne sinnes which a man can neuer haue without true vnfained faith and repentance wherefore while we haue time let vs purge and clense our soules and bâ—dies that they may come home againe to God in good plight And here all gouernours must be put in mind that they haue an higher Lord that they may not oppresse or deale hardly with their inferiours This is Paul reason Ye masters saith he doe the same things vnto your seruants putting away threatning and knowe that euen your master is also in heauen neither is there respect of persons with him Inferiours againe must remember to submit themselues to the authoritie of their gouernours especially of magistrates For they are set ouer vs by our soueraigne Lord and king Christ Iesus as Paul saith Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers For there is no power but of God and the powers that be ordained are of God And againe Seruants be obedient to your Masters according to the flesh with feare and trembling in singlenes of your hearts as vnto Christ. The comfort which Gods Church may reape hence is very great for if Christ be the Lord of lords and our Lord especially whome he hath created and redeemed we neede not to feare what the deuil or wicked men can doe vnto vs. If Christ be on our side who can be against vs wee neede not feare them that can destroy the bodie and doe no more but we must cast our feare on him that is Lord of body and soule and can cast both to hell Thus much of the fourth title Nowe followes Christs incarnation in these wordes Conceiued by the holy Ghost borne of the Virgin Marie And they containe in them one of the most principall points of the doctrine of godlines as Paul saith Without controuersie great is the mysterie of godlinesse which is God is made manifest in the flesh iustified in the spirit c. And that we may proceede in order in handling them I will first speake of the incarnation generally and then after come to the parts thereof In generall we are to propound fiue questions the answering whereof will be very needefull to the better vnderstanding of the doctrine following The first question is who was incarnateâ— or made man Answ. The second person in Trinitie the sonne of God alone as it is set downe in this article according to the Scripture S. Iohn saith The Word was made flesh and the angel saith The holy one which shall be borne of thee shall be called the sonne of the most high And Paul saith that Christ Iesus our Lord was made of the seede of Abraham according to the flesh And there be sundrie reasons why the second person should rather be incarnate then any other I. By whom the father created all things and man especially by him man beeing fallen is to be redeemed and as I may say recreated now man was at the first created of the father by the sonne and therefore to be redeemed by him II. It was most conuenient that he which is the essentiall image of the father should take mans nature that he might restore the image of God lost and defaced in man but the second person is the essentiall image of the father and therefore he alone must take mans nature III. It was requisite that that person which was by nature the sonne of God should be made the sonne of man that we which are the sonnes of men yea the sonnes of wrath should againe by grace be made the sonnes of God now the second person alone is the sonne of God by nature not the Father nor the holy Ghost As for the Father he could not be incarnate For to take flesh is to be sent of an other but the Father can not be sent of any person because he is from none Againe if the Father were incarnate he should be father to him which is by nature God and the sonne of a creature namely the virgin Marie which things can not well stand And the holy Ghost could not be incarnateâ— for then there should be more sonnes then one in the Trinitie namely the second person the sonne of the father and the third person the holy Ghost the sonne of the virgin Marie It may be obiected to the contrarie on this manner The whole diuine essence is incarnate euery person in Trinitie is the whole diuine essence therefore euery person is incarnate Ans. The whole Godhead indeede is incarnate yet not
in the eternal counsell of God set apart to be a publike suretie or pledge for vs to suffer and performe those things which we in our persons should haue suffered and performed For this cause God the father is said to giue his sonne vnto vs and the sonne again to giue his life for his friends The â—econd question is how by the short and temporary death of the sonne of God any man can possibly bee freed from eternall death and damnation which is due vnto him for the least sinne Ans. When we say that the sonne of God suffered it must be vnderstood with distinction of the natures of Christ not in respect of the Godhead but in respect of the assumed manhood yet neuerthelesse the passion is to be ascribed to the whole person of Christ God and man and from the dignitie of the person which suffered ariseth the dignitie excellencie of the passion wherby it is made in value and price to counteruaile euerlasting damnation For when as the sonne of God suffered the curse for a short time it is more then if all men and angels had suffered the same for euer VII The difference of the passion of Christ and the sufferings of Martyrs and that stands in two thinges First Christs passion was a cursed punishment the sufferings of the Martyrs are no curses but either chastisements or trials Secondly the passion of Christ is meritorious for vs euen before god because he becam our mediatour and suretie in the couenant of grace but the sufferings of Martyrs are not of value to merit for vs at Gods hand because in suffering they were but priuate men and therefore they nothing appertaine to vs. By this it appeares that the Treasury of the Church of Rome which is as it were a common chest containing the ouerplus of the merits of saints mingled with the merits of Christ kept and disposed by the Pope himselfe is nothing els but a sensles dotage of mans braine And whereas they say that Christ by his death did merit that Saints might merit both for themselues and others it is as much as if they should say the sonne of God became Iesus to make euery one of vs Iesus And it is a manifest vntruth which they say For the very manhood of Christ considered apart from the Godhead cannot merit properly coÌ„sidering whatsoeuer it is hath or doth it is hath and doth the same wholly and onely by grace whereas therefore Christ meriteth for vs it is by reason he is both God and man in one person For this cause it is not possible that one meere man should merit for another The vse of the passion followeth It is the manner of Friers and Iesuits in the Church of Rome to vse the consideration of the passion of Christ as a meanes to stirre vp compassion in themselues partly towards Christ who suffered grieuous torments and partly towards the virgin Marie who for the torments of her deere sonne was exceedingly troubled and withall to kindle in their hearts an indignation towards the Iewes that put Christ to death But indeede this kind of vse is meere humane and may in like manner be made by reading of any humane historie But the proper and the speciall vse of the passion indeede is this first of all we must set it before our eies as a looking glasse in which we may clearely beholde the horriblenesse of our sinnes that could not be pardoned without the passion of the sonne of God and the vnspeakable loue of Christ that died for vs and therefore loued his own enemies more then his owne selfe and lastly our endlesse peace with God and happinesse in that considering the person of our redeemer who suffered the pangs of hell wee may after a sort finde our paradise euen in the middest of hell Secondly the meditation of Christs passion serues as a most worthie meanâ— to beginne and to confirme grace specially when it is mingled with faith and that two waies For first it serues to breede in our hearts a godly sorrowe for our sinnes past when we doe seriouslie with our selues consider that our owne sinnes were the cause of all the paines and sorrowes calamities which he suffered in life and death When any man had sinned vnder the lawe hee brought vnto the temple or tabernacle some kind of beast for an offering according as he was prescribed laying his hand vpon the head of it and afterward slaying it before the Lord. Now by the ceremony of laying on the hand he testified that he for his part had deserued death and not the beast and that it beeing slaine and sacrificed was a â—igne vnto him of the sacrifice of Christ offered vpon the crosse for his â—innes And hereby we are taught that so oft as we remember the passion of Christ we should lay our hands as it were vpon our owne heades vtterly accusing and condemning our selues euermore keeping this in our hearts that Christ suffered not for himself but for our offences which were the proper cause of all his woe and miserie And as Christs passion was grieuous and bitter vnto him so should our sinnes likewise bee grieuous and bitter vnto vs let vs alwaies remember this otherwise we shall neuer reape any sound benefit by the passion of Christ. Againe the passion of Christ is a notable meanes to stirre vp in our hearts a purpose and a care to reforme our selues and liue in holines and newnes of life on this manner Hath the sonne of God so mercifully dealt with me as to suffer the curse of the whole lawe for my manifolde iniquities and to deliuer me from iust and deserued damnation yea no doubt he hath I am resolued of it if I should go on in mine old course I should be the most ingratefull of all creatures to this my louing Sauiour I will therefore by his grace returne and reforme my life And in this very point of reformation the passion of Christ is set before vs as a most liuely patterne and example to followe For as much saith S. Peter as Christ hath suffered for vs in the flesh arme your sâ—lues likewise with the same minde which is that he which hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sinne Where he teacheth that there must be in vs a spirituall passion answerable to the passion of Christ. For as his enemies did lade him with miseries euen to the death of the crosse so should we lade our owne flesh that is the corruption of our natures with all such meanes as may subdue and weaken crucifie and kill it To the doing of this three things especially are required First we must consider that the corruption of our rebebellious natures is like the great and mightie Goliah and the grace of God which we receiue like young and little Dauid and therefore if wee desire that grace should preuaile against corruption we must disarme the strong man and strippe him of all his weapons
of death that theÌ„ we may be found readie of the Lord. What shall the Sonne of God himselfe make preparation to his owne death and shall not we most miserable sinners doe the same who stand in need of a thousand preparations more then he wherefore let vs continually thinke with our selues that euery present day is the last day of our life that so we may addresse our selues to death againe the next day The first thing which Christ doth in this preparation is to make â—hoice of the place in which he was to be apprehended as will appeare by conferring the Euangelists together S. Matthew saith he went to the place called Gethsemane S. Luke saith he went to the mount of Oliues as he was accustomed And that we might not imagine that Christ did this that he might escape and hide himselfe from the Iewes S. Iohn saith that Iudas which betraied him knew the place because oftentimes he resorted thither with his Disciples whereas if he had feared apprehension he would haue rather gone aside to some other secret and vnwonted place This then is the first point to be considered that Christ knowing the time of his owne death to be at hand doth willingly of his owne accord resort to such a place in which his enemies in all likelihood might easily finde him and haue fit opportunitie to attach him For if he should haue still remained in Ierusalem the Scribes and Pharises durst not haue enterprised his apprehension because of the people whome they feared but out of the citie in the garden all occasion of feare is cut off By this it is manifest that Christ yeelded himselfe to death willingly and not of constraint and vnlesse his sufferings had bin voluntarie on his part they could neuer haue bin a satisfaction to Gods iustice for our sinnes Here a question offereth it selfe to be considered whether a man may lawfully flie in danger and persequution seeing Christ himselfe doth not Answ. When good meanes of flying and iust occasion is offered it is lawfull to flie When the Iewes sought to kill Paul at Damascus the Disciples tooke him by night and put him through the wall and let him downe in a basket to escape their hands When Moses was called by God to deliuer the Israelites after he had slaine the Egyptian and the fact was knowne and Pharao sought to kill him for it he fledde to the land of Madian And our Sauiour Christ sundrie times when he was to be stoned and otherwaies hurt by the Iewes withdrew himselfe from among them It is lawfull then to flie in persecution these caueats obserued First if a man finde not himselfe sufficiently strengthened to beare the crosse Secondly his departure must be agreeable to the generall calling of a Christian seruing to the glorie of God and the good of his brethren and the hurt of none Thirdly there must be freedome at the least for a time from the bond of a mans particular calling If he be a Magistrate he must be freed from ruling if a Minister from preaching and teaching otherwaies he may not flie And in this respect Christ who did withdraw himselfe at other times would not flie at this time because the houre of his suffering was come wherein he intended most willingly to submit himselfe to the good pleasure and will of his father The second part of the preparation is the praier which Christ made vnto his father in the garden And herein his example doth teach vs earnestly to pray vnto God against the danger of imminent death and the temptations which are to come And if Christ who was without sinne and had the spirit aboue measure had need to pray then much more haue we need to be watchfull in all kinde of praiers who are laden with the burden of sinne and compassed about with manifold impediments and dangerous enemies In this prayer sundrie points worthie our marking are to be considered The first who praied Answ. Christ the Sonne of God but still we must remember the distinction of natures of their operations in one and the same Christ he praieth not in his Godhead but according to his manhood The second is for whome he praieth Ans. Some haue thought that this and all other his prayers were made for his mysticall bodie the Church but the truth is he now praies for himselfe yet not as he was God for the Godhead feeles no want but as he was a man abased in the forme of a seruant and that for two causes First in that he was a man he was a creature and in that respect was to performe homage to God the creator Secondly as he was man he put on the infirmities of our nature and thereupon praied that he might haue strength and power in his manhoode to support him in bearing the whole brunt of the passion to come The third point is to whome he praied Answ. To the father neither must this trouble vs as though Christ in praying to the father should pray to himselfe because he is one and the same God with him For though in essence they admit no distinction yet in person or in the proper manner of subsisting they doe The Father is one person the Sonne an other therefore as the father saying from heauen This is my welbeloued Sonne spake not to himselfe but to the Sonne so againe the Sonne when he praieth he praies not to himselfe but to the Father The fourth point what was the particular cause of his prayer Ans. His agonie in which his soule was heauie vnto death not because he feared bodily death but because the malediction of the law euen the very heate of the furie and indignation of God was poured forth vpon him wherewith he was affected and troubled as if it had beene defiled with the sinnes of the whol world And this appeares first by the words whereby the Euangelists expresse the agonie of Christ which signifie exceeding great sorrow and griefe secondly by his dolefull complaint to his Disciples in the garden My soule is heauie vnto the death thirdly by his feruent praier thrise repeated full of dolefull passions fourthly by the comming of an Angel to comfort him fifthly by his bloodie sweat the like whereof was neuer heard And herein lies the difference betweene Christs agonie and the death of Martyrs he put on the guilt of all our sinnes they in death are freed from the same he was left to himselfe void of comfort they in the middest of their afflictions feele the vnspeakable comfort of the holy Ghost and therefore we neede not meruaile why Christ should pray against death which neuerthelesse his members haue receiued and borne most ioyfully Againe this most bitter agonie of Christ is the ground of all our reioycing and the cause why Paul biddes all the faithfull in the person of the Philippians to reioyce alwaies in the Lord and againe to reioyce And here we are further taught that when we are
his keeper and said Into thy handes O Lord do I commend my spirit Nowe our Sauiour Christ being in the like distresse both by reason of the Iewes who euery way sought his final destruction confusion especially because he felt the full wrath of God seazing vpon him doth make choice of Dauids words and apply them to himselfe in his distresse And by his example was are taught not onely to reade the generall history of the bible but also to obserue the things commanded and forbidden and to apply the same vnto our selues and to our particular estates and dealings whatsoeuer thus the prophet Dauid saith God! How can this be for no part of Scripture penned before the daies of Dauid saith thus of him True indeede but as I take it Dauids meaning is that he read the booke of the lawe and found generall precepts and commandements giuen to Kings and Princes that they should keepe all the ordinances and commandements of God which he beeing a King applyes particularly to his owne person and thereupon saith In the volume of the booke it is written of me c. And this dutie is well practised by the people of God at this day for the Psalmes of Dauid were penned according to the estate of the Church in his time and in these daies the Church of God doeth sing the same with the same spirit that Dauid did and doth apply their seueral estates and conditions Nowe in that Christ commends his soule into the handes of his father hee doth it to testifie that he died not by constraint but willingly and by his own practise he doth teach vs to do the like namly to giue vp our own soules into the hands of god because this dutie is of some difficultie we must obserue three motiues or preparatiues which may induce vs to the better doing of it The first is to consider that God the father of Christ is the creatour of our soules and therefore he is called the father of spirits And if he be a creatour of them then is he also a faithfull preseruer of them For sure it is that God will preserue his owne workemanship Who is or can be so carefull for the ornament preseruation of any worke as the craftes-master and shall not God be more carefull then man Wherefore S. Peter exhorteth vs to committe our soules vnto God as vnto a faithfull creatour The second motiue is this wee must looke to be resolued in our consciences that â—od the father of Christ is our father euery man for himselfe must labour to haue the assurance of the pardon of his owne sinnes and that the corruption of his soule bee washed away in the blood of Christ that he may say I am iustified sanctified and adopted by Christ. And when any man can say thus he shall be most desirous and willing to commit his soule into the handes of God This was the reason which mooued Christ to lay down his soule into the handes of God because he is his father The third motiue or preparatiue is a continuall experience obseruation of Gods loue and fauour towards vs in keeping and preseruing him as appeares by Dauids example Into thy hands saith he I commit my soule for thou hast redeemed me O thou God of trueth The time when we are specially to commend our soules into the hand of God is first of all the time of any affliction or danger This was the time wheÌ„ Dauid commended his soule into the hands of God in the Psalme before named We knowe that in any common danger or perill as the sacking of a citty or burning of an house if a man haue any pretious iewell therein he will first fetch that out and make choise of a faithfull friende to whose custodie he will commit the same euen so in coÌ„mon perils and daungers we must alwaies remember to commit our soules as a most pretious iewell into the handes of God who is a faithfull creatour Another more speciall and necessarie time of practising this dutie is the houre of death as here Christ doth and Steuen who when the Iewes stoned him to death called on God and said Lord Iesus receiue my spirit And as this dutie is very requisite and necessarie at all times so most especially in the houre of death becaâ—se the danger is great by reason that Satan will then chiefely assault vs and the guilt of sinne will especially then wound the conscience Lastly at al times we must commit our soules into Gods handes for though we be not alwaies in afflictioâ— yet we are alwaies in great danger and when a man lieth downe to rest he knoweth not whether he shall rise againe or no and when he ariseth he knoweth not whether hee shall lie downe againe Yea at this very houre we knowe not what will befall the next And great are the comforts which arise by the practise of this dutie When Dauid was in great danger of his life and his owne people would haue stoned him because their hearts were vexed for their sonnes and daughters which the Amalekites had taken it is said hee comforted himselfe in the Lord his God And the practise of Paul in this case is most excellent for the which cause saith he I suffer those things but I am not ashamed for I knowe whome I haue beleeued and I am perswaded that hee is able to keâ—pe that which I haue committed vnto him againâ—t that day This worthie seruant of God had committed his life and soule into Gods hand and therefore he saith In all my sufferings I am not ashamed where we see that if a man haue grace in his life-time to commit his soule into Gods hand it will make him bold euen at the point of death And this must be a motiue to cause euery man daily and hourely to lay downe his soule into the handes of God although by the course of nature he may liue twentie or fourtie yeares longer But howsoeuer this dutie be both necessarie and comfortable yet few there be that practise the same Men that haue children are very carefull and diligent to bring them vp vnder some mans tuition if they haue cattel sheep or oxen they prouide keepers to tend them but in the meane season for their owne soules they haue no care they may sinke or swimme or doe what they will This shewes the wonderfull blindnes or rather madnesse of men in the world that haue more care for their cattell then for their owne soules but as Christ hath taught vs by his example so let euery one of vs in the feare of God learne to commit our soules into the hand of God Againe in that Christ layes downe his owne soule and withall the soules of all the faithfull into the hands of the father we further learne three things The first that the soule of man doth not vanish away as the soules of beasts and other creatures there is gâ—eat difference
it also an imperfit sacrifice because it is repeated and iterated for vpon this ground doth the author to the Hebrues prooue that the sacrifices of the old testament were imperfit because they were daily offered And whereas they say there be two kinds of sacrifices one bloody once onely offered vpon the crosse the other vnbloody which is daily offered I answer that this distinction hath no ground out of Gods word neither was it knowne to the holy Ghost who saith that without blood there is no remission of sinnes The third question is what is the fruit of this sacrifice Ans. The whole effect thereof is contained in these foure things I. the oblation of Christ purgeth the beleeuer from all his sinnes whether they be originall or actuall so it is said If we walke in the light we haue fellowship one with another and the blood of Iesus Christ his sonne purgeth vs from all sinne whether they be sinnes of omission in regard of our duties or of commission in doing euill II. the oblation serueth for the iustifying of a sinner before God as Paul saith We are iustified by his blood and are reconciled to God by his death This being here remembred that in the passion of Christ we include his legall obedience whereby he fulfilled the law for vs. III. the oblation of Christ serues to purge mens consciences from dead workes How much more then shall the blood of Christ which through the eternall spirit offered himselfe without spot to God purge your consciences from dead works to serue the liuing God IV. the oblation of Christ procures vs libertie to enter to heauen By the blood of Christ Iesus we may be bold to enter into the holy place by the new and liuing way which he hath prepared for vs through the vaile that is his flesh By our sinnes there is a partition wall made betweene God and vs but Christ by offering himselfe vpon the crosse hath beaten downe this wall opened heauen and as it were trained the way with his owne blood whereby we may enter into the kingdome of God and without the which we can not enter in at all The last questioÌ„ is how this sacrifice may be applied to vs. Ans. The meanes of applying this sacrifice be two I. the hand of God which offereth II. the hand of the beleeuer that receiueth the sacrifice offered The hand of God wherby he offereth vnto vs his benefit is the preaching of the word the administration of the Sacraments baptisme and the Lords supper and wheresoeuer these his holy ordinances are rightly administred and put in practise there the Lord puts forth his hand vnto vs and offereth most freely the vertue and benefit of the death of Christ. And then in the next place commeth the hand of the beleeuer which is faith in the heart which when God offereth doth apprehend and receiue the thing offered and make it ours The third thing to be spoken of is the altar whereon Christ offered himselfe The altar was not the crosse but rather the godhead of Christ. He was both the priest the sacrifice and the altar the sacrifice as he is man the priest as he is both God and man the altar as he is God The propertie of an altar is to sanctifie the sacrifice as Christ saith ye fooles and blind whether is greater the offering or the altar that sanctifieth the offering Now Christ as he is God sanctifieth himselfe as he was man and therefore saith he for their sakes sanctifie I my selfe by doing two things I. by setting apart the manhood to be a sacrifice vnto his father for our sinnes II. by giuing to this sacrifice merit or efficacie to deserue at Gods hands remission of our sinnes the manhood of Christ without the Godhead hath no vertue nor efficacie in it selfe to be a meritorious sacrifice and therefore the dignitie and excellencie which it hath is deriued thence As for the chalkie and stonie altars of the Church of Rome they are nothing els but the toyes of mans braine Christ himselfe is the onely reall altar of the new testament And in stead of altars which were vnder the law we haue now the Lords table wheron we celebrate the Sacrament of his bodie and blood to shew forth his death till he come The fourth point is concerning the time of Christs oblation which he himselfe calleth the acceptable yeare of the Lord alluding vnto an other yere vnder the law called the yeare of Iubile which was euery fiftie yeare among the Iewes in which at the sound of a trumpet all that had set or sold their possessions receiued them againe all that were bondmen were then set at libertie This Iubile was but a figure of that perfect deliuerance which was to be obtained by Christs passion which was not temporarie deliuerance for euery fiftie yeare but an eternall freedome from the bondage of sinne hell death and condemnation And the preaching of the word is the trumpet sounded which proclaimeth vnto vs freedome from the kingdome of darknes and inuites vs to come and dwell in perfect peace with Christ himselfe Well if the yeare of perpetuall Iubile be now come in what a wretched estate all our loose and blind people that esteeme nothing of that libertie which is offered to them but choose rather to liue in their sinnes and in bondage vnder Satan and condemnation then to be at freedome in Christ. Now follow the vses which are to be made of the sacrifice of Christ. The prophet Aggai saith that the second temple built by Zorubbabel was nothing in beautie vnto the first which was built by Salomon and the reason is plaine for as the Iewes write it wanted fiue things which the first teÌ„ple had I. the appearing of the presence of god at the mercie seat between the two Cherubims II. the Vrim and Thummim on the breast-plate of the high priest III. the inspiration of the holy Ghost vpon extraordinarie Prophets IIII. the Arke of the Couenant for that was lost in the captiuitie V. fire from heauen to burne the sacrifices Yet for all this the Prophet afterward saith The glorie of the last House shall be greater then the first Now it may be demanded how both these sayings can stand together Ans. We are to know that the second Temple was standing in the time when Christ was crucified for our â—innes and it was the sacrifice of Christ which gaue glorie and dignitie to the second temple though otherwise for building and outward ornaments it was farre inferiour to the first And by this we are taught that if we would bring glorie vnto our owne selues vnto our houses and kindred either before God or before men we must labour to be partakers of the sacrifice of Christ and the sprinkling of his blood to purge our hearts This is the thing that brings renowne both to place and person how base soeuer we be in the eyes
this temple and in three daies I will build it vp againe more plainly I haue saith he power to lay downe my life and I haue power to take it againe From whence we learne diuers instructions First whereas Christ raiseth himselfe from death to life it serueth to prooue that he was not onely man but also true God For the bodie beeing dead could not bring againe the soule and ioyne it selfe vnto the same and make it selfe aliue againe neither yet the soule that is departed from the bodie can returne againe and quicken the bodie and therefore there was some other nature in Christ namely his godhead which did revnite soule and bodie togither and thereâ—y quicken the manhood Secondly if Christ giue life to himselfe beeing dead in the graue then much more nowe beeing aliue and in heauen glorified is hee able to raise vp his members from death to life Wee are all by nature euen starke dead in sinne as the deade bodie rotten in the graue and therefore our duty is to come to Christ our Lord by humble prayer earnestly intreating him that he would raise vs vp euery day more and more from the graue of our sinnes to newnesse of life He can of men deade in their sinnes make vs aliue vnto himselfe to liue in righteousnes and true holines all the daies of our life The third thing is that Christ rose againe with an earthquake And this serueth to prooue that he lost nothing of his power by death but still remained the absolute Lord and King of heauen and earth to whome therefore the earth vnder his feete trembling doth him homage This also prooueth vnto vs that Christ which lay dead in the graue did raise himselfe againe by his owne almightie power Lastly it serueth to conuince the keepers of the graue the women which came to embalme him and the disciples which came to the sepulchre and would not yet beleeue that he was risen againe But how came this earthquake Ans. Saint Matthew saith there was a great earthquake For the Angel of the Lord descended from heauen c. This shewes that the power of angels is great in that they can mooue and stirre the earth Three angels destroied Sodom and Gomorrha An angel destroied the first borne of Egypt in one night In the hoast of Senacherib one angel slue in one night an hundreth fourescore and fiue thousand men Of like power is the deuill himselfe to shake the earth and to destroy vs all but that God of his goodnesse limits and restraines him of his libertie Well if one angel be able to shake the earth what then will Christ himselfe doe when he shall come to iudgement the second time with many thousand thousands of angels oh how terrible and fearefull will his comming be Not without cause saith the holy Ghost that the wicked at that day shall crie out wishing the hills to fall vpon them and the mountaines to couer them for feare of that great and terrible day of the Lord. The fourth thing is that an Angel ministred to Christ beeing to rise againe in that he came to the graue and rolled away the stone and sate vpon it Where obserue first how the angels of God minister vnto Christ though dead and buried whereby they acknowledge that his power maiestie and authoritie is not included within the bonds of the earth but extends it selfe euen to the heauens themselues and the hosts thereof and that according to his humanitie Wicked men for their parts laboured to close him vp in the earth as the basest of all creatures but the angels of heauen most readily accept him as their soueraigne Lord and king as in like manner they did in his temptation in the wildernes and in his agonie in the garden Secondly that the opinion of the Papists and others which thinke that the bodie of Christ went through the graue-stone when he rose againe is without warrant For the end no doubt why the angel rolled away the stone was that Christ might come forth And indeed it is against the order of nature that one body should passe through another without corruption or alteration of either considering that euery bodie occupies a place and two bodies at the same instant can not be in one proper place Furthermore it is saide that when the angel sate on the stone his countenance was like lightening and his rayment as white as snow and this serued to shew what was the glorie of Christ himselfe For if the seruant and minister be so glorious then endles is the glorie of the lord and master himselfe Lastly it is saide that for feare of the angel the watchmen were astonied and became as dead men which teacheth vs that what God would haue come to passe all the world can neuer hinder For though the Iewes had closed vp the graue with a stone and set a band of souldiours to watch least Christ should by any meanes be taken away yet all this auaileth nothing by an angel from heauen the seale is broken the stone is remooued and the watchmen at their wittes endes And this came to passe by the prouidence of God that after the watchmen had testified these things to the Iewes they might at length be conuicted that Christ whome they crucified was the Messias The fifth and last point is that Christ rose not alone but accompanied with others as S. Matthew saith that the graues opened and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose and came out of the graues and went into the holy citie and appeared vnto many after Christs resurrection And this came to passe that the church of God might know and consider that there is a reuiuing and quickning vertue in the resurrection of Christ wherby he is able not onely to raise our dead bodies vnto life but also when we are dead in sinne to raise vs vp to newnesse of life And in this very point stands a maine difference betweene the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of any other man For the resurrection of Peter nothing auailes to the raising of Dauid or Paul but Christs resurrection auailes for all that haue beleeued in him by the very same power whereby he raised himselfe he raiseth all his members and therfore he is called a quickning spirit And let vs marke the order obserued in rising First Christ riseth and theÌ„ the Saints after him And this came to passe to verefie the Scripture which saith that Christ is the first borne of the dead Now he is the first borne of the deadâ— in that he hath this dignitie and priuiledge to rise to eternall life the first of all men It is true indeed that Lazarus and sundrie others in time rose before Christ but yet they rose to liue a mortall life and to die againe Christ he is the first of all that rose to life euerlasting and to glorie neuer any rose before Christ in this manner And the persons that
yet afterward for a time hee doth as it were hide the same in some corner of their hearts so as they haue no feeling thereof but thinke themselues to be void of all grace and this he doth for no other ende but to humble them and yet againe after all this the first grace is further renued and reuiued Thus dealt the Lord with Dauid and Salomon for whereas he was a pen-man of Scripture and therefore an holy man of God we may not thinke that he was wholly forsaken with Peter and in this place with Thomas And the experience of this shall euery seruant of God finde in himselfe The second appearance of Christ was to seuen of the disciples as they went on fishing in which hee giues three testimonies of his godhead and that by death his power was nothing diminished The first that when the disciples had fished all night and caught nothing afterward by his direction they catch fish in aboundance and that presently This teacheth vs that Christ is a soueraigne Lord ouer all creatures and hath the disposing of them in his owne handes and that if good successe followe not when men are painefull in their callings it is because God will prepare and make them fit for a further blessing Christ comes in the morning and giues his disciples a great draught of fish yet before this can be they must labour all night in vaine Ioseph must be made ruler ouer all Egypt but first he must be cast into a dungeon where he can see no sunn nor light to prepare him to that honour And Dauid must be King ouer Israel but the Lord will first prepare him hereunto by raising vp Saul to persecute him Therefore when God sâ—ndeth any hinderances vnto vs in our callings wee must not despaire nor bee discouraged for they are the meanes whereby God maketh vs fit to receiue greater blessings at his handes either in this life or in the life to come The second is that the net was vnbroke though it had in it great fishes to the number of an hundred fifty three The third that when the disciples came to land they sawe hotte coales and fish laid thereon and bread Nowe some may aske whence was this foode Answ. The same Lord that was able to prouide a Whale to swallowe vp Ionas and so to saue him and he that was able to prouide a fish for Peters angle with a peece of twentie pence in the mouth and to make a little bread and a fewe fishes to feede so many thousands in the wildernesse the same also doeth of himselfe prouide bread and fishes for his disciples This teacheth vs that not not onely the blessing but also the very hauing of meate drinke apparell is from Christ and hereupon all states of men euen the kings of the earth are taught to pray that God would giue them their daily bread Againe when we sit downe to eate and drinke this must put vs in minde that wee are the guests of Christ himselfe our foode which we haue comes of his meere gift and hee it is that entertaines vs if wee could see it And for this cause wee must soberly and with great reuerence in feare and trembling vse all gods creatures as in his presence And when we eate and drinke wee must alwaies looke that all our speech be such as may beseeme the guests of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ. Vsually the practise of men is farre otherwise for in feasting many take libertie to surfet to be drunke to sweare to blasâ—heme but if we serue the Lord let vs remember whose guests we are and who is our entertainer and so behaue our selues as being in his presence that all our actions and words may tend to his glorie The third appearance was to Iames as S. Paul recordeth although the same be not mentioned in any of the Euangelists The fourth was to all his disciples in a mountaine whither he had appointed them to come The fift last appearance was in the mount of Oliues when he ascended into heauen Of these three last appearances because the holy Ghost hath only mentioned them I omitte to speake and with the repeating of them I let them passe Thus much of the appearances of Christ after his resurrection the witnesses thereof are of three sorts I. angels II. women that came to the graue to embaulme him III. Christs owne disciples who did publish and preach the same according as they had seene and heard of our Sauiour Christ and of these likewise I omit to speake because there is not any speciall thing mentioned of them by the Euangelists Nowe follow the vses which are twofold some respect Christ and some respect our selues Vses which concerne Christ are three I. whereas Christ Iesus beeing starke dead rose againe to life by his owne power it serueth to prooue vnto vs that he was the sonne of God Thus Paul speaking of Christ saith that hee was deâ—lared mightily to bee the sonne of God touching the spirit of sanctification by the resurrection from the dead And by the mouth of Dauid God said Thou art my sonne this day I haue begot thee Which place must bee vnderstood not so much of the eternal generation of Christ before al worlds as of the manifestation thereof in time after this manner This day that is at the time of thine incarnâ—tion but especially at the daie of thy resurrection haue I begotten thee that is I haue made manifest that thou art my sonne so is this place expouÌ„ded by S. Paul in the Acts. SecoÌ„dly Christs rising froÌ„ death by his own poâ—er prooues vnto vs euidently that he is Lord ouer al things that are this vse S. Paul makes hereof for saith he Christ therefore died that he might be Lord both of the dead of the quick And indeed whereas he rose againe on this mâ—ner he did herebâ— shew himselfe most plainly to be a mighty prince ouer the graueâ— death hel condemnation one that had alâ— sufficient power to ouercome them Thirdly it prooues vnto vs that he was a perfit priest and that his death passion was a perfect satisfaction to the iustice of god for the â—innes of mankind For whereas Christ died he died for our sinnes now if he had not fully satisfied for them all though there had remained but one sinne for which he had made no satisfaction he had not risen againe but death which came into the world by sinne and is strengthened by it would haue held him in bondage and therefore whereas he rose againe it is more then manifest that he hath made so full a satisfaction that the merit therof doth and shall counteruaile the iustice of God for all our offences To this purpose Paul saith If Christ be not risen againe your faith is vaine and you are yet in your sinnes that is Christ had not satisfied for your sinnes or at least you could not
and there must be iudged Furthermore the second comming of Christ is sudden as the comming of a thiefe in the night He will come when the world thinketh not of him as the snare doth on the bird The consideration whereof must teach vs the same duties which our Sauiour Christ taught the men of his time First he teacheth them what they must not doe for he knowing all things knew also the disposition of mans heart and therfore he saith Take heede to your selues least at any time your hearts be oppressed with surfetting and drunkennes and the cares of this life least that day come vpon you vnawares For these sinnes benumme the heart and steale away all grace This exhortation in these our daies is most needefull For mens hearts are like the smithes stithie the more they are beaten with the hammar of Gods word the harder they are Secondly he teacheth them what they must doe Watch therefore saith he and pray continually that ye may be counted worthie to escape all these things that shall come to passe and that ye may stand before the sonne of man But you will say how may we be found worthie to stand before Christ at that day Ans. Doe but this one thing for your liues past be humbled before God and come vnto him by true heartie and vnfained repentance be changed and become new creatures pray vnto him earnestly for the pardon of your sinnes in Christ and pray continually that God will turne your hearts from your old sinnes euery day more and more and then come the last iudgement when it will ye shall be found worthy to stand before Christ at his coÌ„ming The repentant sinner is he that shall find fauour in the sight of God at that day The consideration hereof may mooue vs to chaunge our liues Those which were neuer yet humbled for their sinnes let them nowe beginne and those which haue alreadie begunne let them goe forwarde and continue But the deuill will crie in the hearts of some men that this exhortation is as yet needelesse for the day of iudgement is not neere because all the signes thereof are not yet passed Ans. Suppose the day of iudgement be farre off yet the day of thy death cannot be so for the common saying is true to day a man to morrowe none Nowe looke as death leaueth thee so shall the day of iudgement finde thee Impenitent Cain died long since and yet the day of iudgement when it commeth shall finde him impenitent still The same thing may bee said of Saul Achitophel and Iudas They died desperatly and impenitent the Lord shall finde them so at his comming So will it be with thee whatsoeuer thou art that repentest not Death may come vpon thee the next day or the next houre therefore watch and pray Prepare thy selfe against the day of death that at the day of iudgement thou maist be found worthie to obtaine fauour in the sight of the Lord. Securitie doth ouerwhelme the worlde but let vs for our parts learne to prepare our selues daily for if the day of death doe leaue thee vnworthie then the Lord Iesus at his comming shall finde thee vnworthie and the deuill shall stand before thee and accuse thee thy conscience shall condeme thee and hell shall be readie to swallowe thee vp If this admonition take no place in thy heart then at the day of iudgement it shall stand against thee and be a bill of inditement to thy further condemnation The second point followeth that Christ after that he is come in the clouds shall sit in a throne of glorie as the soueraigne iudge of heauen and earth after the manner of earthly kings who when they will shewe themselues vnto their subiects in maiestie power and glorie vse to ascend into the thrones of their kingdomes and there to shewe themselues and appeare in state vnto all the people Nowe what this throne is and howe Christ sits in the same the scripture hath not reuealed and therefore I will not stand to search Yet here must we further marke that this appearance of his in endlesse glorie and maiestie shall be most terrible and dreadfull to the vngodly and therefore in Daniel his throne is saide to be like a flame of fire and at the very sight hereof men shall desire the mountaines to fall vpon them and the hills to couer them The third point is the citing of all men and of the angels before his maiestie in that day there to answer for themselues This citing shall be done by the voice of Christ as he himselfe saith In that day all that are in the graues shall heare his voiâ—e they shall come forth And here we are to consider two things I. the power of this voice II. the ministerie whereby it shall be vttered For the first no doubt the power of this voice shall be vnspeakable and therefore it is compared to a trumpet the lowdest and shrillest of all musicall instruments and to the crie of the marriners whose manner hath beene in the doing of any busines with all their strength at one instant to make a common shout And sensible experience shall manifest the force thereof For it shall cause all the deade euen from the beginning of the world to rise againe though they haue lien rotten in the earth many thousand yeares and all vncleane spirits shall be forced and compelled will they nill they to come before Christ who shall be vnto them a most fearefull and terrible iudge neither man nor angel shall be able to absent or hide himselfe all without exception must appeare as wel high as low rich as poore none shâ—ll be able to withdrawe themselues no not the mightie Monarches of the earth Furthermore this voice shall bee vttered by angels As in the Church Christ vseth men as his ministers by whome he speakes vnto his people so at the last daie he shall vse the ministerie of Angels whome he shall send foorth into the foure windes to gather his elect togither and therefore it is likely that this voice shall be vttered by them And by this which hath beene said wee must be mooued to make conscience of all sinne For there is no auoiding of this iudgement we can not absent our selues no excuse will serue the turne euen the most rebellious of all creatures whether man or angel shall be forced to appeare and therefore it standes vs in hand while we haue time in this life to looke vnto our estates and to practise the duties of christianitie that when we shall be cited before his glorious maiestie at the last day we may be cleared and absolued The fourth point is the separation of the sheepe from the goates the good from the badde for when all the kinreds of the earth and all vncleane spirits shall stand before Christ sitting in the throne of his glorie then as a good sheapheard he shall separate them one from another the
to teach all ignorāt persons and impenitent sinners repentance and humiliation for their sinnes and to mooue them with all speede to seeke vnto Christ for the pardon of the same When Paul preached to the Athenians he willed them to repent vpon this ground and reason because the Lord hath appointed a day wherein he will iudge the world in righteousnes To speake plainly we can be content to heare the word and to honour him with our lipps yet for the most part all is done but for fashions sake for still we liue in our old sinnes our hearts are not turned but in the feare of God let vs bethinke our selues of the time when wee shall come before the iudge of heauen and earth and haue all our sinnes laide open and wee must answer for them all This is the point which the holy Ghost vseth as a reason to mooue men vnto repentance and assuredly if this will not mooue vs there is nothing in the world will Secondly to this purpose Paul saith If wee would iudge our selues wee should not be iudged Wouldest thou then escape the iudgement of Christ at the last day then in this life iudge thy selfe Nowe a man in iudging of himselfe must performe foure things I. he must examine himselfe of his owne sinnes II. he must confesse thē before the Lord. III. he must condemne himselfe as a iudge vpon the bench giue sentence against himselfe Lastly he must plead pardon and crie vnto God as for life and death for the remission of all his sinnes and he that doth this vnfainedly shal neuer be iudged of the Lord at the last day but if we slacke and neglect this dutie in this life then vndoubtedly there remaines nothing but eternall woe in the world to come Thirdly by this we may learne one not to iudge or condemne another as Paul sayeth Iudge nothing before the time vntill the Lord come who lighten all things that are in darknes make the counsels of the hearts manifest And Christ saith Iudgement is mine and iudge not and ye shall not be iudged And againe Paul saith to the Romans Why doest thou iudge thy brother for we must all appeare before the iudgement seat of Christ but some will aske howe doth one iudge another Ans. Thus I. when a man doth well to saie of him that he doth euill II. when a man doth euill then to make it worse III. when a thing is doubtfull to take it in the worst part And by any of these three waies we are not to iudge either of mens persons or of their actions Fourthly wee must endeauour our selues to keepe a good conscience before God and before all men This is the practise of S. Paul who in consideration and hope of a resurrection vnto iudgement as well of the iust as of the vniust endeauoured himselfe to haue alwaies a cleare conscience both towards God and towards men His example is worthie our marking and imitation for fewe there be that vpon this occasion make any conscience either of duty to God or to their brethren Fifthly the last iudgement must stirre vs vp to a reuerend feare of God cause vs to glorifie him as the Angel saith in the Reuelation Feare God and giue glorie to him for the houre of his iudgement is come And doubtlesse if any thing in the world will mooue a man to feare the Lord it is this to remember the fearefull and terrible daie of iudgement Nowe hauing spoken hitherto of the first person the father and also of the sonne it followeth in the next place to speake of the third person in these wordes I beleeue in the holy Ghost In which wee may consider two things the title of the person and the action of faith repeated from the beginning The title is Holy Ghost or spirit It may here be demanded howe this title can be fit to expresse the third person which seemes to bee common to the rest for the father is holy and the sonne is holy againe the father is a spirit and the sonne is a spirit Ans. Indeed the father and the sonne are as wel to be tearmed holy in respect of their natures the third person for all three subsisting in one and the same godhead are consequently holy by one and the fame holinesse but the third person is called holy because beside the holinesse of nature his office is to sanctifie the Church of God Nowe if it be said that sanctification is a work of the whole Trinitie the answer is that although it be so yet the worke of sanctification agrees to the Holy Ghost in speciall manner The father sanctifieth by the sonne and by the holy Ghost the sonne sanctifieth from the father and by the Holy Ghost the holy Ghost sanctifieth from the father and from the sonne by himselfe immediatly and in this respect is the third person tearmed holy Againe the third person is tearmed a Spirit not onely because his nature is spirituall for in that respect the father is a spirit and the sonne is a spirit but because hee is spired or breathed from the father and from the sonne in that he procedes from them both Thus wee see there is a speciall cause why the third person is called the Holy Ghost Nowe the action of faith which concernes the third person is to beleeue in him Which is I. to acknowledge the Holy Ghost as he hath reuealed himselfe in the word II. In special to beleeue that he is my sanctifier and comforter III. To put all the confidence of my heart in him for that cause In these wordes are comprised foure points of doctrine which are to be beleeued cōcerning the holy Ghost The first that he is very God For we are not to put our affiance or confidence in any but in God alone And no doubt the penners of the Creede in that they prefixed these wordes I beleeue in before the article of the third person meant thereby to signifie that he is true God equall with the father and the sonne according to the tenour of the Scriptures themselues Peter saith to Ananias Why hath Satan filled thine heart that thou shouldest lie vnto the Holy Ghost and continuing the same speech he changeth the tearme onely and saith Thou hast not lied vnto men but vnto God Whereby hei nsinuateth that the Holy Ghost is very God In the vision of the Prophet Isai the wordes by him set downe are thus I heard the voice of Iehoua saying Whome shall I send c. and he said God and say to this people Ye shall heare indeed but ye shall not vnderstand But Paul quoting the same place spake on this manner Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esay the Prophet saying Goe vnto this people and say vnto them Now these places being compared togither make it plaine that the title of Iehova agreeth to the holy Ghost But yet the enemies of this truth which thinke that the Holy
We are carefull to flie the infection of the bodily plague oh then how carefull should we be to flie the common blindnesse of minde and hardnes of heart which is the very plague of all plagues a thousand fold worse then all the plagues of Egypt And it is so much the more fearefull because the more it takes place the lesse it is perceiued When a malefactour on the day of assise is brought forth of the iayle with great bolts and fetters to come before the iudge as he is going all men pitie him and speake comfortably vnto him but why so because he is now to be arraigned at the barre of an earthly iudge Now the case of all impenitent sinners is farre more miserable then the case of this man for they lie fettered in bondage vnder sinne and Satan and this short life is the way in which they are going euery houre to the barre of Gods iustice who is the King of kings and Lord of lords there to be arraigned and to haue sentence of condemnation giuen against them Now canst thou pitie a man that is before an earthly iudge and wilt thou not be touched with the miserie of thine owne estate who goest euery day forward to the barre of Gods iustice whether thou be sleeping or waking sitting or standing as a man on the sea in a shippe goes continually toward the hauen though he himselfe stirre not his foote Begin now at length to lay this point to your hearts that so long as ye runne on in your blind waies without repentance as much as ye can yee make post hast to hel-ward and so long as you continue in this miserable condition as Peter saith Your iudgement is not farre off and your damnation sleepeth not Thirdly seeing those whom God hath purposed to refuse shall be left vnto themselues and neuer come to repentance we are to loue and embrace the word of God preached taught vnto vs by the ministers of the Gospell withall submitting our selues vnto it and suffering the Lord to humble vs thereby that we may come at length out of the broad way of blindnes of mind and hardnes of heart leading to destruction into the strait way of true repentance and reformation of life which leadeth to saluation For so long as a man liues in this world after the lusts of his owne heart he goes on walking in the very same broad way to hell in which all that are ordained to condemnation walke and what a fearefull thing is it but for a little while to be a companion in the way of destruction with them that perish and therefore I say once againe let vs all in the feare of God lay his word vnto our hearts and heare it with reuerence so as it may be in vs the sword of the spirit to cut downe the sinnes and corruptions of our natures and worke in vs a reformation of life and true repentance The third point concerning the decree of Reprobation is the Iudgement to be giuen of it This iudgement belongeth to God principally and proâ—erly because he knoweth best what he hath determined concerning the estate of euery man and none but he knowes who they be which are ordained to due and deserued damnation And againe he onely knoweth the hearts and wills of men and what grace he hath giuen them what they are and what all their sinnes be and so doth no angel nor creature in the world beside As for men it belongs not to them to giue iudgement of reprobation in themselues or in others vnlesse God reueale his will vnto them and giue them a gift of discerning This gift was bestowed on sundrie of the Prophets in the olde testament and in the newe testament on the Apostles Dauid in many psalmes makes request for the confusion of his enemies not praying onely against their sinnes which we may do but euen against their persons which we may not doe No doubt he was guided by Gods spirit and receiued thence an extraordinarie gift to iudge of the obstinate malice of his aduersaries And Paul praies against the person of Demetrius saying The Lord reward him according to his doings And such kind of praiers were lawful in them because they were carried with pure and vpright zeale and had no doubt a speciall gift whereby they were able to discerne of the finall estate of their enemies Againe God sometimes giues this gift of discerning of some mens finall impenitencie to the Church vpon earth I say not to this or that priuate person but to the bodie of the Church or greater part thereof S. Iohn writing vnto the Churches saith There is a sinne vnto death that is against the holy Ghost I say not that thou shouldest praie for it in which wordes he takes it for graunted that this sinne might be discerned by the Church in those daies And Paul saith If any man beleeue not the Lord Iesus let him be had in execration Mara-natha that is pronounced accursed to euerlasting destruction Whence it appeares that the Church hath power to pronounce men reiected to euerlasting damnation vpon some speciall occasions though I dare not say ordinarily and vsually The primitiue Church with one consent praied against Iulian the Apostata and the praiers made were not in vaine as appeared by the euent of his fearefull ende As for priuate and ordinarie men for the tempering and rectifying of their iudgements in this case they must followe two rules The one is that euery member of the Church is bound to beleeue his owne election It is the commandement of God binding the very conscience that wee should beleeue in Christ. Nowe to beleeue in Christ is not onely to put our affiance in him and to be resolued that we are iustified and sanctified and shall be glorified by him but also that we were elect to saluation in him before the beginning of the worlde which is the foundation of the rest Againe if of things that haue necessarie dependance one vpon another we are to beleeue the one then we are to beleeue the other Nowe election and adoption are things conioined and the one necessarily depends vpon the other For all the elect as Paul saith are predestinate to adoption and wee are to beleeue our owne adoption and therefore also our election The second rule is that concerning the persons of those that be of the Church we must put in practise the iudgement of charitie and that is to esteeme of them as of the elect of God till God make manifest otherwise By vertue of this rule the ministers of Gods worde are to publish and preach the gospel to all without exception It is true indeed there is both wheate and darnell in Gods fielde chaffe and corne in Gods barne fish and drosse in Gods net sheepe and goates in Christs folde but secret iudgements belong vnto god the rule of loue which is to think wish the best of others is to be followed
horsmen in a kingdom Would you inioy Gods blessings which you waÌ„t By praier you may as it were put your hand into the cofers of Gods treasures inrich your selfe Doe you desire the fauour of Monarks and Princes By praier you may come in presence and haue speech with Iehova the king of heauen and earth Lastly would you know whether now liuing you be dead that beeing dead you may liue for euer By prayer a man may knowe whether hee bee dead to sinne dead to the world liue to God liue to Christ and liue eternally Prayer then beeing so excellent a point of Religion I am imboldened to commend this small treatise to your Honour not so much for it selfe as because it doth set out the matter and true manner of inuocation of Gods holy name And I hope for your fauour in accepting of it the rather because I doubt not but your desire is to be answerable to your most honourable for religion most worthy ancestors in the care of maintaining and countenancing any good thing that may any way serue for the furtheriÌ„g of the gospel of Christ. Nowe Iesus Christ our Lord and God euen the Father which hath loued vs giuen vs euerlasting consolation and good hope through grace stablish your Honour in euery good word and worke to the end Your H. to command William Perkins An aduertisement to the Reader GOod reader there was a booke of late published in London vnder this title PERKINS vpon the Lords praier In it I haue double iniurie First it was printed without my knowledge or consent And secondly the booke is faultie both in the matter and manner of writing In the matter these things are not well set downe First the commandement of praier very easily to be kept pag. 3 b 2. Prayer is the restauration of the Gospell 7 b 3. The three first petitions concerne Gods glorie the three latter the meanes of Gods glorie 1 b 4. Gods name taken for his deitie and not for his attributes or titles 15 b 5. A man must pray for the day of his death 26 a 6. Repentance is sufficient not only to bring a true faith but also to renew it 34. â— 7. A lesson in the Lords praier taken out of Poperie 45 a 8. The doctrine of satisfaction for sinne is a most vile doctrine 52 b 9. God and the deuill agree in the manner of temptation 61 b 10. God offereth men the occasion to sinne 62 a Likewise the manner of writing hath other faults First in the middle of the Lords prayer there is placed a discourse of the Lords supper 2. The end of the Lords prayer is not expounded at all but friuolously 3. There are very many places which haue no common reason in them as First Gods angels doe his will in countenance 39 b 2. Our daily bread is communicating bread 45 b 3. To walke before God in the truth of the satisfaction of Gods iustice 51 a 4. To purge a cleere conscience 51 b 5. The pages 65.66.67 are so penned as the reader cannot knowe what was my meaning Now considering by this vngoaly practise Christian and well disposed people are much abused to omit the iniurie done to my selfe I thought it my duty to make a redresse by publishing this treatise according as the points therein were deliuered otherwise I was not willing to haue set downe any thing in the way of Exposition of the Lords prayer because it is alreadie sufficiently performed by others AN EXPOSITION OF THE Lords praier in the way of Catechisme Seruing for ignorant people by M. Perkins Matth. 6. vers 9. After this manner therefore pray ye Our Father c. THe occasion and so also the coherence of these words with the former is this The Euangelist Matthew setting downe the sermons and sayings of our Sauiour Christ keeps not this course to propound euery thing as it was done or spoken but sometime he sets downe that first which was done last and that last which was done before according as the spirit of God directed him Which thing is verified in these words where the praier is mentioned yet the occasion wherefore our Sauiour Christ taught his Disciples to pray is not here specified But in S. Luk. 11. 1. the occasion of these wordes is euident For there it is said that the disciples of our Sauiour knowing that Iohn taught his disciples to pray made request to their master that he would doe the same to them likewise These fewe words set before the prâ—ier are a commandement and it prescribes vnto vs two duties the first to pray the second to pray after the manner following Touching the first point considering very fewe among the people knowe how to pray aright we must learne what it is to pray To make praier is to put vp our request to God according to his word from a contrite heart in the name of Christ with assurance to be heard For the better opening of these words we are to coÌ„sider sixe questioÌ„s The first is to whome we are to praie The answer is to God alone Rom. 10.14 How shall they call on him in whome they haue not beleeued c. Marke howe inuocation and faith are linked togither And Pauls reason may be framed thus In whome we put our affiance or beleefe to him alone must we praie but we beleeue onely in God therefore we must onely pray to him As for Saints or angels they are in no wise to be called vpon because not the least title of gods word prescribes vs so to doe because they cannot heare our praiers and discerne what are the thoughts and desires of our hearts and because inuocation is a part of diuine worship and therefore peculiar to God alone Obiection What neede any man pray vnto God considering hee knowes what we want before we aske and is readie and willing to giue that which we craue Ans. We pray not for this ende to manifest our case to God as though he knewe it not or to winne and procure his fauour and good will but for other weightie endes First that we might shew our submission and obedience to God because he hath giuen vs a direct commandement to pray and it must be obeyed Secondly that we may by inuocation shewe forth that wee doe indeede beleeue and repent because God hath made the promise of remission of sinnes and of all good blessings to such as doe indeede repent and humble themselues vnder the hand of God and by true faith apprehend and applie the promises of God vnto themselues Thirdly we pray to God that wee may as our dutie is acknowledge him to be the fountaine author and giuer of euery good thing Lastly that we might ease our mindes by powring out our hearts before the Lord for to this ende hath he made most sweete and comfortable promises Pro. 16.3 Psal. 37.5 Obiection What neede men vse prayer considering God in his eternall couÌ„sell hath certenly determined what shall come
spirit If we shall consider the conuersation of the wicked and the godly and their corrupt hearts togither we shall see little difference but in this that the wicked is delighted and glad to sinne but the godly doe wrestle as for life and death with their temptations and doe resist the deuill and doe desire the grace of Gods spirit and crie to heauen to bee freed from this bondage howesoeuer their hearts are alwaies readie to rebel against God 2. Forasmuch as the kingdome of grace is erected in Gods Church here vpon earth in this petition we are coÌ„manded to pray for the Chruch of God and the parts thereof Psal. 122.6 Praie for the peace of Ierusalem they shall prosper that loue thee Esay 62.7 Ye which are the Lords remembranceâ—s giue him no rest vntill he set vp Hierusalem the praise of the world And that Gods Church may flourish and be in good estate we are to pray for Christian Kings and Princes that God would blesse them and increase the number of them For they are as nursing fathers and nursing mothers to the Church And wee especially are bound to pray for the Queenes most excellent maiestie as also for the French king that they may be blessed and Gods kingdome by them aduanced And againe because ministers are the Lords watchmen in the Church we are here also put in minde to seeke their good and to praie that their hearts may be set for the building of Gods kingdome for the beating downe of the kingdome of sinne and Satan and for the sauing of the soules of his people And the rather because the deuill laboureth night and daie to ouerthrow theÌ„ in this glorious worke and to resist them in their ministerie as appeareth in Zachaâ—ie 3.1 When Ioshua the high priest stood before the Angell of the Lord Satan stood at his right hand namely to resist him Therefore also wee are to praie for them that the Lord would keepe them and furnish them with gifts and with all make them faithfull For where vision faileth the people are left naked saith Salomon 2. Thess. 3. 1. Brethren pray for vs that the word of the Lord may haue a free passage and be glorified Thirdly we must pray for all Christian Schooles of learning Howsoeuer some thinke but basely of them yet they are the ordinarie meanes to maintaine the ministerie and so the Church of God A man that hath diuers orchards wil also haue a seminarie ful of young plants to maintaine it Schooles they are as Seminaries to Gods church without which the Church falles to decay because they serue to make supplie of ministers 3. Thirdly we are to desire that the Lord would hasten the second comming of Christ as the Saints in heauen praie Come Lord Iesus come quicklie and therefore the godly are said to loue the comming of Christ. 2. Tim. 4.8 A penitent sinner so abhors his own corruptions and the irkesome temptations of Satan that in this respect he desires that Christ would hasten his particular comming to him by death for no other cause but that he might make an end of sinning and displeasing of God Thy will be done 1. The Coherence IN the second petition we desired that God would let his kingdome come vz. That he would rule in our hearts If he then must raigne we must be his subiects and therefore here we craue that beeing his subiects wee may obey him and doe his will Mal. 1.6 If I be a father where is my honour If I be a master where is my feare 2. The meaning VVIll Here it signfieth Gods word written in the olde and new Testament For in his word his will is reauealed Of the whole will of God there be three speciall points which are in this place meant 1. To beleeue in Christ Ioh. 6.40 This is the will of him that sent me that euery one which seeth the Sonne and beleeueth in him should haue euerlasting life 2. Sanctification of body soule 1. Thess. 4.3 This is the will of God euen your sanctification c. 3. The bearing of affliction in this life Rom. vers 29. Those which he knew before he did predestinate to be made like to the image of his owne sonne Phil. 3.10 That I might knowe him and the vertue of his resurrection and the fellowship of his afflictions and be made conformable to his death Thy will Not mine for mans owne will is wicked and corrupt yea it is flat enmitie to God Rom. 8. v. 5. Done That is obeyed and accomplished of men Then the effect of the prayer is this O Lord seeing thou art our King giue vs grace to shewe our selues good subiects in obeying thy will 3. The wants to be praied against 1. HEre first we are to bewaile this that our hearts are so prone to rebellioÌ„ and disobedience of Gods commandements Put a match to a heape of gun-powder on a sudden it will be all on a flame and as long as we adde matter to the fire it burnes so by nature we are most readie to sinne so soone as the least occasion is giuen Dauid had experience of this when hee praied Knit my heart to thee O Lord c. Psal. 86. 11. and incline my heart to thy commandements Psal. 119.37 Those which finde not this want in themselues and the like affection to bewaile it are in a miserable and dangerous case euen as a man that hath a great disease vpon him and knowes not of it 2. Againe wee must here bewaile the sinne of the worlde as ignorance schismes hipocrisie pride ambition contempt of Gods word couetousnes oppression want of loue of God and his word c. 2. Peter 2.7 Lot was vexed and his righteous heart was vexed with the vncleane conuersation of the Sodomites from day to day so ought our soules to bee vexed and grieued continually at the wickednesse of our time and we are to send vp our praiers to God for vnbeleeuing vnrepentant sinners that they may be brought to the obedience of Gods will Ezech. 9.4 In a common iudgement vpon Ierusalem They are marked in the forhead that mourne and crie for all the abominations that be done in the middest of it 3. Here also we must humble our selues for our vnquietnesse of mind impatience wheÌ„ god laies any crosse on vs. It is Gods wil that we should suffer affliction and withall humble our selues vnder his mightie hand Our Sauiour praied that the cup might be taken away but with submission to his Fathers will Luk. 22.42 And this Dauid had learned when he said But if he thus say behold I haue no delight in thee behold here I am let him doe to me as seemeth good in his eies 2. Sam. 15.26 4. Graces to be desired 1. THe first thing which we are here to desire is that we may haue grace to denie our selues wils and affections because herein wee are vnlike to God and like the deuill This is the first lesson that our Sauiour doth
in more speciall manner they giue assent vnto the couenant of grace made in Christ that it is most certaine and sure and they are perswaded in a general and confused manner that God will verifie the same couenant in the members of his Church This is all their faith which indeede proceedeth from the holy Ghost but yet it is not sufficient to make them sound Professors For albeit they doe generally beleeue Gods promises yet herein they deceiue themselues that they neuer applie and appropriate the same promises to their own soules An example of this faith we haue Ioh. 2.24 where it is said that when our Sauiour Christ came to Ierusalem at the feast of Easter manie beleeued in his name and yet hee would not commit himselfe vnto them because he knewe them all and what was in them To come to the second thing those professors which are indued with thus much grace as to beleeue in Christ in a confused maner goe yet further for this their faith though it be not sufficient to saluation yet it sheweth it selfe by certaine fruites which it bringeth forth for as a tree or a branch of a tree that hath no deepe rooting but either is couered with a few moules or els lieth in the water at the season of the yeare bringeth forth leaues and blossomes and some fruite too and that for one or two or moe yeares so one that is an hearer of the word may receiue the word and the worde as seed by this generall faith may bee somewhat rooted in his heart and setled for a season and may bring foorth some fruites in his life peraduenture very faire in his owne and other mens eies yet indeede neither sound nor lasting nor substantiall What these fruites are it may be gathered forth of these wordes where it is said that they receiue the word with ioy when they heare it for here may be gathered First that they doe willingly subiect themselues to the ministerie of the word Secondly that they are as forward as any and as ioyfull in frequenting sermons Thirdly that they reuerence the Ministers whome they so ioyfully heare Lastly they condemne them of impietie which will not be hearers or be negligent hearers of the word Now of these and such like fruâ—ts this may be added though they are not sound yet they are void of that grosse kind of hypocrisie For the mindes of those Professors are in part enlightened and their hearts are indued with such a faith as may bring forth these fruits for a time and therefore herein they â—issemble not that faith which they haue not but rather shew that which they haue Adde hereunto that a man beeing in this estate may deceiue himselfe and the most godly in the world which haue the greatest gifts of discerning how they and their brethren stand before the Lord like as the figtree with greene leaues deceiued our Sauiour Christ as he was man for when in his hunger he came vnto it to haue had some fruit he found none If this be so it may be then required how these vnsound professours differ from true professours I answer in this they differ that they haue not sound hearts to cleaue vnto Christ Iesus for euer Which appeareth in that they are compared to stonie ground Now stonie groundes mingled with some earth are commonly hot and therefore haue as it were some alacritie and hastinesse in them and the corne as soone as it is cast into this ground it sprouteth out very speedily but yet the stones will not suffer the corne to be rooted deepely beneath and therefore when sommer commeth the blade of the corne withereth with rootes and all So it is with these professours they haue in their hearts some good motions of the holy Ghost to that which is good they haue a kind of zeale to Gods word they haue a liking to good things and they are as forwards as any other for a time and they doe beleeue But these good motions and graces are not lasting but like the flame and flashing of straw and stubble neither are they sufficient to saluation With the true professours it is farre otherwise for they haue vpright and honest hearts before the Lord Luk. 8. 15. And they haue faith which worketh by loue Gal. 5.6 And that Christian man which loueth God whatsoeuer shall befall yea though it were a thousand deaths yet his heart can neuer be seuered from the Lord and from his Sauiour Christ as the spouse speaketh vnto Christ of her owne loue Cant. 8.6 Set me as a seale on thy heart as a signet vpon thy arme for loue is as strong as death iealousie is as cruell as the graue the coales thereof are fierie coales and a vehement flame Much water cannot quench loue neither can the flouds drowne it if a man should giue all the substance of his house for loue they would greatly contemne it Wherefore good Reader seeing there is such a similitude and affinitie betweene the temporarie professor of the Gospell and the true professor of the same it is the dutie of euery Christian to trie and examine himselfe whether he be in the faith or not 2. Cor. 13.5 And whereas it is an hard thing for a man to search out his own heart we are to pray vnto God that he would giue vs his spirit to discerne betweene that which is good and euill in vs. Now when a man hath found out the estate of his heart by searching it he is further to obserue and keepe it with all diligence Prou. 4. 23. that when the houre of death or the day of triall shall come he may stand sure and not be deceiued of his hope And for this purpose I haue described the most of these small treatises which follow to minister vnto thee some helpe in this examining and obseruing of thine own heart Read them and accept of them and by the blessing of God they shall not be vnprofitable vnto thee And if they shall any whit helpe thee helpe me also with thy prayer 1595. FINIS CERTAINE PROPOSITIONS DECLARING HOW FARRE A MAN MAY goe in the profession of the Gospel and yet be a wicked man or a Reprobate I. A Reprobate hath in his mind a certain knowledge of God of common equitie among men of the difference of good from bad and this is partly from nature partly from the contemplation of Gods creatures in which the wisdome the power the loue the mercie the maiestie of God is perceiued II. This knowledge is only generall and imperfect much like the ruines of a Princes pallace it is not sufficient to direct him in doing of a good work For example he knoweth that there is a God and that this God must be worshipped come to particulars who God is what a one he is how he must be worshipped Here his knowledge faileth him and he is altogither vncertain what to doe to please God III. By reason of this knowledge the Reprobate doeth
children And where the spirit of Christ dwelleth there must needes be faith for Christ dwelleth in the hearts of the faithful by faith Therfore as Rebecca when she felt the Twins striue in her womb though it pained her yet shee knew both that shee had conceiued and that the children were quick in her so they who haue these motions and holy affections in them before mentioned may assure themselues that the spirit of god dwelleth in them and consequently that they haue faith though a weake faith XIX Examples of this small faith are euident in the Apostles who though they beleeued that Christ was the Sauiour of the world yet they were ignorant of his death and resurrection which are the cheife meanes of saluation After his resurrection they were ignorant of his ascension of his spiritual kingdome for they dreamed of an earthly kingdome and at his death they all fled from him and Peter fearefully denied him They being in this estate are not said to haue no faith but to be of little faith Another example we haue in Dauid who hauing continued a long space in his two great sinnes adulterie and murther was admonished thereof by Nathan the prophet beeing admonished he confessed his sinnes and straightway Nathan declared vnto him frō the Lord the forgiuenes of them Yet afterward Dauid humbleth himselfe as it appeareth in the 51. Psalme and praieth most earnestly for the forgiuenes of those and all other his sinnes euen as though it had not bin true that they were forgiuen as Nathan told him the reason is howsoeuer they were remitted before God yet Dauid at his first repenting of them felt none assurance in his heart of the forgiuenes of them onely he had a perswasion that they might be pardoned And therefore he vehemently desired and praied to the Lord to remit them and to sanctifie him anew This then being the least measure of faith it must be remembred that he who hath not attained to it hath as yet no sauing faith at all XX. The greatest measure of faith is a full perswasion of the mercie of God For it is the strength and ripenes of faith Rom. 4.20.21 Abraham not weake in faith but being strengthened in the faith was fully perswaded that he who had promised was able to doe it This full assurance is when a man can say with Paul I am perswaded that neither life nor death nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. And least any should thinke this saying is peculiar to Paul he testifieth of himselfe that for this cause he was receiued to mercie that he might be an example to them which after should beleeue in Christ to life eternall and the whole Church in the Cant◠vseth the same in effect saying Loue is as strong as death iealousie is as cruel as the graue the coales thereof are fierie coales and a vehement flame Much water cannot quench loue neither can the flouds drown it if a man should giue all the substance of his house for loue they would contemne it XXI No Christian attaineth to this full assurance at the first but in some continuance of time after that for a long space he hath kept a good conscience before God and before men and hath had diuers experiences of Gods loue and fauour towards him in Christ. This Paul declareth to the Romanes in afflictions God sheds abroad his loue in their hearts by the holy Ghost which is giuen to them but how by degrees for from afflictions ariseth patience from patience commeth experience from experience hope and hope neuer maketh ashamed or disappointeth him of eternall life This is euident in Dauids practise Doubtles saith he kindnes and mercie shall follow me all the daies of my life and I shall liue a long season in the house of the Lord. Mark this his resolute perswasion and consider how he came vnto it namely by experience of Gods fauour at sundrie times and after sundrie manners For before he set downe this resolution he numbred vp diuerse benefits receiued of the Lord that he fedde him in greene pastures and led him by the refreshing waters of Gods word that he restoreth him and leadeth him in the paths of righteousnes that he strengtheneth him in great daungers euen of death and preserueth him that in despight of his enemies he enriched him with many benefits By meanes of all these mercies of God bestowed on him he came to be perswaded of the continuance of the fauour of God towardes him Againe Dauid saide before King Saul Let no mans heart faile because of Goliah Thy seruant will goe and fight with the Philistine And Saul said to Dauid Thou art not able to goe against this Philistine to fight with him for thou art but a boy and he is a man of warre from his youth Dauid answered that he was able to fight with and to slay the vncircumcised Philistine And the ground of his perswasion was taken from experience for thus he saide Thy seruant kept his fathers sheepe and there came a Lyon and likewise a Beare and tooke a sheepe out of the flocke and I went out after him and smote him and tooke it out of his mouth and when he arose against me I caught him by the beard and smote him and slew him So thy seruant slew both the Lyon and the Beare therefore this vncircumcised Philistine shal be as one of thē seeing he hath rayled on the hoast of the liuing God The like proceeding must be in matters concerning eternall life Little Dauid resembleth euery Christian Goliah and the armie of the Philistines resembleth Sathan and his power He therefore that will be resolued that he shall be able to ouercome the gates of hell and attaine to life euerlasting must long keepe watch and ward ouer his owne heart and he must fight against his owne rebellious flesh and crucifie it yea he must haue experiences of Gods power strengthening him in many temptations before he shall be fully assured of his attaining to the kingdome of heauen XXII Thus much concerning faith it selfe now follow the fruits and benefits of faith By meanes of this speciall faith the Elect are truly ioyned vnto Christ and haue an heauenly communion and fellowship with him and therefore doe in some measure inwardly feele his holy spirit moouing and stirring in them as Rebecca felt the Twins to stirre in her wombe Christ is as the head in the bodie euery beleeuer as a member of the same bodie now as the head giueth sense and motion to the members and the members feele themselues to haue sense and to mooue by meanes of the head so doth Christ Iesus reuiue and quicken euery true beleeuer and
that our Sauiour Christ teacheth euery one in his praier which he made before he craue any other thing either concerning God or himselfe to pray that Gods name may be sanctified For by this all Christians are taught that they are to ouerpasse all considerations of themselues their owne pleasure and profit their saluation or damnation and absolutely with an heartie affection to seek after the glorie of God in all their doings that as Gods glorie is most deare vnto himselfe so it may appeare also that it is most deare vnto them If any thinke it strange that Moses Paul or any other should be content to fall into miserie to loose their liues and to bee cast into eternall perdition in hell fire with reprobate and damned spirits rather then Gods honour should bee turned into dishonour and blasphemie let them consider that wonderfull is the power of true loue which makes all things easie which is as strong as the graue that ouercomes all and was neuer yet ouercome which is as a flaming fire that a whole sea of water cannot quench And the loue which these men had to God did so rauish them that they felt no feare of hell fire XXXIX The second affection is the feare of God a most excellent and wonderfull grace of God Salomon matcheth it yea and preferreth it too before all things in this world making it the end of al. Without it a man cannot be wise it is the first step to wisdome in it is assured strength also it is a welspring of life to eschew the snares of death The Churches of Iudea beeing in peace were edified and walked in the feare of GOD and were aboundantly filled with the comfort of the holy ghost In this feare of GOD there be two parts the first is a perswasion in the heart that a man is in Gods presence wheresoeuer he is and when he by infirmitie forgets GOD a drawing of himselfe into Gods presence As it was in Dauid I haue saith he set the Lord alwaies before me For he is at my right hand therefore I shall not slide And this his beeing in the presence of God he setteth down most excellently in the 139 Psalme Enoch walked with God Abraham is commanded to walke before God and to be vpright The second part of the feare of God is in Gods presence to stand in awe of him which is when a man takes heede to his waies least he offend God This aduise Dauid giues to Sauls Counsellers Stand in awe and sinne not Pharao commanded the Midwiues of Egypt to kill all the male children of the Israelites at their birth they did it not because they stoode in awe of God fearing to displease him And hence it is that the godly heare Gods word with feare and trembling XL. The third is the hatred and detestation of sinne because it is sinne and specially of a mans owne corruptions wherewith a Christian is so turmoyled that in regard of them and for no other cause he most hartely desireth to bee forth of this most miserable world that he may be disâ—urdened of his sinne leaue off to displease God Paul feeles in himselfe a laâ—ge masse of deadly corruption it makes him deeme himselfe most miserable and to mourne because he was not deliuered from it saying Oh miserable man that I am who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death Againe it is sinne that makes the Church coÌ„plaine that shee is blacke that the sunne hath looked vpon her and therefore shee cries Come Lord Iesus come quickly XLI The fourth is ioy of heart in consideratioÌ„ of the neerenes of presence of the terrible day of iudgement The reprobate either trembleth at the consideration of the day of iudgement or els in the securitie of his heart hee regardeth it not And when he shall see the signes of the comming of Christ his heart shal faile him for very feare he shall call the hills to fall vpon him but contrariwise the faithfull loue the second comming of Christ and therefore wait and long for it and when they shall see the signes of it they shall lift vp their heads because the full accomplishment of their redemption is at hand XLII The sanctification of the bodie is when all the members of it are carefully preserued from beeing meanes to execute any sinne and are made the instruments of righteousnes and holines So Paul prayed for the Thessalonians that they might know howe to possesse their vessels in holinesse and in honour and not in the lust of concupiscence as the Gentiles doe which know not God And Iob made a couenant with his eies not to look on a woman In whose example it appeareth how euery member is to be kept pure and holy XLIII If any humbled Christian finde not this measure of sanctification in himselfe yet let him not be discouraged For if any man haue a willingnesse and a desire to obey all Gods commandements he hath the spirit and he who hath the spirit is in Christ and he who is in Christ shall neuer see damnation And though he faile greatly in the action of obedience yet God will accept his affection to obey as obedience acceptable vnto him God will approoue of thee for his owne worke which hee hath wrought in thee and not reiect thee for thine XLIV From sanctification ariseth repentance For a man cannot hate his own sins before he be sanctified and he cannot truely repent for them before hee hate them Repentance is when a man turnes to GOD and brings foorth fruits worthy amendment of life This turning vnto God hath two parts The first a purpose and resolution of heart neuer to sinne any more but to lead a newe life This was in Dauid who fully purposed to keepes Gods commandements and applied his heart to fulfill his statutes vnto the ende And vnto this did Barnabas exhort the brethren at Antioch that with full purpose of heart they would cleaue vnto the Lord. The second part is an holy labour in mans life and conuersation to purifie and clense himselfe from sinne of this speaketh Iohn And euery one that hath this hope in him purgeth himselfe euen as he is pure This did Dauid practise as may appeare in that he said Certainely I haue clensed my heart in vaine and washed my handes in innocency If any maruaile how repentance followeth sanctification considering it is the first thing of all that the Prophets Apostles and Ministers of GOD preach vnto the people whome they would winne to Christ I answere that all other graces are more hidden in the heart wheras repentance is open and sooner appeareth to a mans owne selfe and to the eies of the worlde It is like the budde in the tree which appeareth before the leafe the blossome the fruite and yet in nature it is
feele themselues forlorne and vtterly reiected of God according to the sense and iudgement of the flesh yet by faith they can apprehend his hidden mercie and behold it a farre off in the glasse of his promise And so they doe often shew contrarie affections in their praiers as Dauid doth Iacob when he wrastled with the Angel for life and death neuer gaue ouer and when he was foild he would not cease before the Lord had blessed him This his wrastling is a type of the conflicts which the faithfull are to haue with the Lord himselfe who vseth to bring his owne children as it were to the field and he assaileth them with the one hand and with the other he holdeth them vp that so he may prooue and exercise their faith And for this cause the Church is called by the name of Iacob An example may be had in the woman of Canaan First our Sauiour Christ gaue her faith and by that faith shee was mooued to seeke to him but when shee was once come to him he gaue her three repulses First by saying nothing Secondly by denying her Thirdly by calling her dogge Thus Christ in appearance made shew as though he would neuer haue graunted her request But shee at euery repulse was more instant crying more earnestly vnto him and shee plainly opposed her selfe to him would take no deniall for such is the nature of true faith Wherefore the faithfull when they feele themselues ouerwhelmed with sinne turmoiled with cōflicts of Satan when they feele the anger of God offended with them yet they can euen then lift vp their eye lids and giue a glimps at the brasen serpent Iesus Christ and can fling themselues into the armes of Gods mercie and catch hold of the hand of God buffeting them and kisse it LX. By these temptations it comes to passe that a Christian though he can not fall finally from Christ yet he may fall very dangerously from his former estate First the graces of God may be by his default lessened in him else Paul would not haue giuen out these exhortations quench not the spirit Grieue not the holy spirit of God by whome ye are sealed vnto the day of redemption Secōdly the graces of God may be buried in him and couered for a time so that he may be like a man in a traunce who both by his owne sense and by the iudgement of the Physitian is taken for dead This was the estate of Peter who though he confessed that Christ was the Sonne of the liuing Lord yet he denied him and forswore him at the voice of a damsell Thirdly he may fall againe into the same sinne after repentance Indeede this is a daungerous case yet it may befall a true christian Otherwise when as the Israelites Gods people had fallen away from him by their sinnes and idolatries he would not stil haue offered them mercie as he doth by his Prophets And Paul praieth the Corinthians in Christs stead that they would be reconciled to God who neuerthelesse were before reconciled to God Fourthly he may commit a sinne of presumption which is a fearfull sinne beeing done wittingly of knowledge and willingly and with some wilfulnesse Therefore Dauid praied Keepe thy seruant from presumptuous sinnes and to shew himselfe to be in daunger of it he praieth further let them not haue dominion ouer me Lastly he may fall into despaire of Gods mercie for a time and this is a dangerous sinne For he which despaires makes all the promises of God to be false and this sinne of all other is most contrarie to true sauing faith In this estate was Dauid when beeing in trouble he saide this is my death And Paul shewes that the incestuous man might haue fallen into desperation when he saith Comfort him least he be swallowed vp of ouermuch heauines And it must be remembred that the church of Rome erreth in this that she teacheth desperation to be a sinne against the holy Ghost This sinne against the holy ghost is a blasphemie spoken against the knowne truth of Gods word or a deniall of Christ of a wilfull and obstinate malice But desperation may arise through ignorance of a mans owne estate through horrour of conscience for sinne through an often relapse into some sinne through the ouerdeepe consideration of a mans owne vnworthines lastly by abiuration of the truth through compulsion and feare This befell Francis Spira who after his Apostasie despaired Yet they are much ouerseene that write of him as a damned creature For first who can tell whether he despaired finally or no. Secondly in the very midst of his desperation he complained of the hardnes of his heart which made him that he could not pray no doubt then he felt his hardnes of heart and the feeling of corruption in the heart is by some contrarie grace so that we may conueniently thinke that he was not quite bereft of all goodnes though he neuer felt it then nor shewed it to the beholder LXI The cause why a Christian cannot quite fall away from grace is this after that he is sanctified he receiueth from God another speciall grace which may be called Corroboration For he hath in him not onely the sanctifying but also the strengthening power of Christ. Therfore Paul praieth for the Ephesians that they may be strengthened in the inner man for the Colossians that they might be strengthened with the glorious power of Christ. And of himselfe he saith that he is able to doe all things through the power of Christ that strengtheneth him Dauid saith that God renueth them that feare him as the eagle renueth her decaied strength From hence as from a speciall cause ariseth patience and perseuerance vnto the ende for when a man is supported by the power of Christ he may be able to beare many crosses patiently with a contented mind and perseuer in bearing of it how long soeuer the crosse endureth LXII Thus much of the estate of a Christian in this life Now I will adde some reasons in the way of perswasion to all men but especially to worldlings and to loose professours of the Gospel that they would vtterly denie themselues and vse all meanes to become true Christians by being made new creatures in Christ and by leading such a life as may adorne the Gospel of Christ. My first reason is this the man that liueth in this world not beeing a true Christian is farre more vile then the basest creature of all euen the dogge or toade For first he is nothing els but a filthie dunghill of all abomination and vncleannes the stink whereof hath infected heauen earth no perfumes could euer delay it in the nostrils of God but onely the suffering of Christ beeing a sacrifice of a sweet smelling sauour to God We make it very daintie to come neere a lazar man that
is full of botches blaines and sores but much more are those men to be abhorred which haue lien many yeares starke dead in sinnes and trespasses and therefore now doe nothing els but rot and stinke in them like vgly loathsome carrions Secondly he which is no Christian is vnder the power of darknes hauing Sathan for his prince and god and giuing vnto him in token of homage his best parts euen his minde and conscience to be his dwelling place and his whole conuersation is nothing els but a perpetuall obedience to Sathan If Atheists and worldlings and carnall gospellers were perswaded of the truth of this as it is most true it would make them howle and crie though now they liue at ease without feeling any prick of conscience for sinne And if they had but the least sense of it in the world it would make their flintie hearts to bleede and it would make them shed riuers of teares But how long shall they continue in this vile estate Truly vntill they come to Christ awake therefore thou that sleepest and stand vp from the dead and Christ shal giue thee light open thine heart to receiue Christ and then he will come and binde the strongâ— man Sathan and cast him out and dwell in thee himselfe Thirdly he which is no Christian is in daunger of all the iudgements of God so that euery moment some of them may befall him He may perish sodainly by water with the old world he may be consumed with fire and brimstone with Sodom and Gomorrha he may be swallowed vp of the earth with Dathan and Abiram he may hang himselfe with Iudas he may haue his braines dashed against the ground and be eaten vp of dogges with Iesabel he may die in hardnesse of heart with Pharao he may despaire with Caine and Iudas he may be stricken with sodaine death with Ananias and Saphira his wife he may be eaten of wormes with Herod he may be smitten with trembling that he cannot heare Gods word with Foelix he may voide his guttes at the stoole with Arius he may crie at his death that he is damned with Latomus he may be left vnto himselfe to mocke blaspheme and renounce Christ with Iuhan and he may suffer many more fearefull iudgements whereof the Lord hath great store and all tend to the confounding of them which will not be humbled vnder his hand Contrariwise the true christian is so farre out of the reach of Gods iudgements that they cannot hurt him Christ is a couering and a cloud against the heate and tempest of Gods iudgements when a mans heart is sprinkled with the bloode of this immaculate Lambe all the the plagues of God passe ouer him In the destruction of Ierusalem the righteous beare a marke in their foreheads and are saued Therefore let him that hath regard to his owne safetie become a Christian. Thirdly the man which is no Christian is in daunger of eternall death and damnation in hell fire and they which fall into this estate it had beene tenne thousand fold better for them if they had neuer bin borne for they are quite separated from the presence of God and from his glorie all the company they haue is with the deuill and his angels Their bodies and soules are tormented with infinite horror and anguish arising of the feeling of the whole wrath of God in which as into a bottomlesse sea they are plunged Thus they are alwaies dying and yet are neuer dead Furthermore the length of this torment must be considered which greatly aggrauates the paine If a man might be deliuered from the paines of hell when he had suffered them so many yeares as there be droppes in the sea or little sands in the whole earth it were some comfort but after that those yeares be expired there shall come no release but the damned shall continue in shriking yelling and gnashing of teeth enduring the consuming heate of Gods wrath without any ende for euer and euer Yea to goe further a wicked man carrieth an hell about him in this life namely an euill conscience which if it be neuer so little touched with any part of Gods anger a man shall feele himselfe to haue euen the pangs of hell in his heart Now therefore they that would escape out of this hellish and damnable estate while they haue time let them pray for the pardon of their sins in Christ and walke according to the spirit in newnes of life and then they may assure themselues that there is no condemnation can belong to them And it must be alwaies remembred that he which would liue when he is dead must die while he is aliue namely to sinne And againe he which would rise to eternall life in the day of iudgement must rise from sinne before he die vnto newnesse of life The fourth reason God hath appointed vnto euery man that liueth in the Church a certaine time of repentance and of comming to Christ. And hee which mispendeth that time and is not made a christian then can neuer be saued This made our Sauiour Christ weepe for Ierusalem and say O if thou hadst knowne at the least in this thy day those things which belong to thy peace but now are they hidden from thine eyes And he further signifieth the destruction of Ierusalem because shee knew not the time of her visitation Againe the neglecting of this time is one cause why not one or two but many shall seeke to enter into the kingdome of heauen and yet shal not be able It is a marueilous thing that they which seeke to be saued should perish but the fault is theirs which seeke when it is too late Now therefore thou secure worldling thy conscience telleth thee that thou hast not yet repented and that thou art not as yet a liuely member of Iesus Christ. And thou knowest further that howsoeuer thou art aliue at this time yet thou hast no lease of thy life God may call thee forth of this world the next yeare the next weeke the next houre yea he may strike thee with sudden death at this very present And in very truth if thou goest forth of this world being no repentant sinner thou goest damned to hell Wherefore delay not one minut of an houre longer but with all speed repent and turne vnto God and bring forth fruits worthie of amendment of life that all thy sinnes may be done away when the day of death or the day of iudgement shall be And doe not thinke with thy selfe that it shall be sufficient to deferre thy turning vnto God till the last ende For late repentance is seldome true repentance And he which continueth long in any sinne is in a dangerous case If a man lie long in any disease he will scarce recouer his former health and he which is growne in the custome of any sinne and the sinne is become ripe in him it is a thousand to one
by the law Now then this good work of God to my saluation standeth in two points the working of the law the working of the gospel the preaching of the law was a key that bound and damned my conscience the preaching of the gospel was another key that loosed me againe These two salues I meane the lawe the gospel vsed God and his preacher to heale cure me a wretched sinner withall The law did driue out my disease and made it appeare was a sharp salue and fretting corrasiue and killed the dead flesh and loosed and drew the sore out by the root and all corruption It pulled from me all trust and confidence I had in my selfe and in mine owne works merits deseruings and ceremonies and robbed me of all my righteousnesse and made me poore It killed me in sending me downe to hell and bringing me almost to vtter desperation and prepared the way of the Lord as it is written of Iohn Baptist. For it was not possible that Christ should come vnto me as long as I trusted in my selfe or in any worldly thing or had any righteousnes of mine own or riches of holy works Then afterward came the gospel a more gentle plaister which suppled and swaged the woundes of my conscience and brought mee health it brought the spirit of God which loosed the bandes of Satan and coupled me to God and his will through a strong faith and feruent loue Which bandes were to stroÌ„g for the deuill the world or any creature to loose And I a poore and wretched sinner felt so great mercie that in my selfe I was most sure that God would not forsake me or euer withdraw his mercy loue froÌ„ me And I boldly cryed out with Paul saying Who shall separate me from the loue of God c. Finally as before when I was bound to the deuil his will I wrought all manner of wickednes for I could do no otherwise it was my nature euen so now since I am coupled to God by Christs blood I do good freely because of the spirit this my nature And thus I trust I haue satisfied your fiâ—st demaÌ„d Timoth. Yea but me thinkes you doe too much condemne your selfe in respect of sinne For I can remember that from your childhood you were of a good and gentle nature and your behauiour was alwaies honest and ciuil you could neuer abide the companie of them that were roysters and ruffians swearers and blasphemers and contemners of Gods word and drunkards which nowe are tearmed good fellowes And your dealing with all men hath bin euer commended for good faithfull and iust What meane you then to make your selfe so abominable and accursed and to say you were so whollie addicted vnto wickednesse and your will so fearefully and miserably in captiuitie vnto the will of the deuil Euseb. Brother Timothie I knowe what I say God giue me grace to speak it with more liuely feeling of my weaknes and with a more bitter detestation of my sin By nature through the fall of Adam am I the child of wrath heire of the vengeance of God by birth yea and so from my first conception and I had my fellowship with the damned deuils vnder the power of darkenesse rule of Satan while I was yet in my mothers wombe and although I shewed not the fruits of sinne as soone as I was borne nor long after yet was I full of the naturall poison from whence al wicked deedes doe spring and cannot but sinne outwardly as soone as I am able to worke be I neuer so young if occasion be giuen for my nature is to sinne as is the nature of a serpent to sting and as a Serpent yet young or yet vnbroughtforth is full of poison and cannot afterward when time and occasion is giuen but bring foorth the fruites threreof And as an adder a toade or a snake is hated of man not for the euill it hath done but for the poison that is in it and hurt which it cannot but doe so am I hated of God for that naturall poison which is conceiued and borne with me before I doe any outward euill And as the euill which a venemous worme doth maketh it not a serpent but because it is a venemous worm therfore doth it euill and poisoneth euen so doe not our euill deedes make vs euil first but because we are of nature euill therefore doe we euill and thinke euil to eternall damnation by the lawe and are contrarie to the will of God in our will and in all things consent vnto the will of the fiend Timoth. As yet I neuer had such a feeling of my sinne as you haue had and although I would be loath to commit any sinne yet the Law was neuer so terrible vnto me condemning me pronouncing the senteÌ„ce of death against me and stinging my conscience with feare of euerlasting paine as I perceiue it hath bin vnto you therefore I feare oftentimes least my profession of religion should be onely in truth meere hypocrisie I pray you let me heare your mind Euseb. A true saying it is that the right way to goe vnto heauen is to sayle by hell and there is no man liuing that feeleth the power and vertue of the blood of Christ which first hath not felt the paines of hell But yet in these paines there is a difference and it is the will of God that his children in their conuersion shall some of them feele more and some lesse Ezechias on his death bed complaineth that the Lord breaketh his bones like a Lion that hee could not speak by reason of paine but chattered in his throat like a Crane mourned like a Doue Iob saith that God is his enemie and hath set him vp as a marke to shoot at and that the arrowes of the Almightie are vpon him and that the poyson of them hath drunke vp his spirit Dauid bewaileth his estate in many Psalmes but especially in the 130. Psalme where he beginneth on this manner Out of the deepe places haue I called vnto thee O Lord which is as though he should say O my poore soule fall not flat downe vexe not thy selfe out of measure the burden of thy sinnes presse thee sore indeede but be not for al that quite ouerwhelmed thou art thrust down so low into the depth of deepes that thou hadst neede crie aloud to be heard of him which dwelleth in the highest heightes and the euer burning hell fire is not farre from that lake whither thine iniquities haue plunged thee so that thou maiest perceiue as it were the Eccho of their cries and desperate howlings which be there cast out of all hope of euer comming forth But the Lord which bringeth forth euen to the borders of hell his best beloued when they forget theÌ„selues knoweth also how well to bring them backe againe Goe no further then downeward but lift vp thy heart together with thine eie and seeke vnto the
another law in my members rebelling against the law of my minde and leading me captiue to the law of sinne which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shal deliuer me from this bodie of death The second maner of Gods forsaking his Elect is when he hides his graces for a time not by taking them quite away but by couering them and by remoouing all sense and feeling of them And in this case they are like the trees in the winter season that are beaten with winde and weather bearing neither leafe nor fruit but looke as though they were rotten and dead because the sap doth not spread it selfe but lies hid in the roote Dauid often was in this case as namely when he saith Will the Lord absent himself for euer And will he shew no more fauour is his mercie cleane gone for euer doth his promise faile for euermore Hath God forgotten to be mercifull Hath he shut vp his tender mercies in displeasure Selah This comes to passe because the Lord very often in and by one contrarie works another Clay and spittle tempered togither in reason should put out a mans eies but Christ vsed it as a meanes to giue sight to the blinde Water in reason should put out fire but Elias when he would shew that Iehoua was the true God poures water on his sacrifice and fils a trench therewith to make the sacrifice burne The like appeareth in the worke of grace to saluation A man that hath liued in securitie by Gods goodnes hath his eyes opened to see his sinnes and his heart touched to feele the huge and loathsome burden of thē and therefore to bewaile his wretched estate with bitternes of heart Hereupon he presently thinkes that God will make him a firebrand of hell whereas indeede the Lord is now about to worke and frame in his heart sanctification and sound repentance neuer to be repented of The man which hath had some good perswasions of Gods fauour in Christ comes afterward vpon many occasions to be troubled and to be ouerwhelmed with distrustfulnes grieuous doubtings of his saluation so as he iudgeth himselfe to haue beene but an hypocrite in former times and for the time present a cast-away But indeed hereby the Lord exerciseth fashioneth and increaseth his weake faith In one word marke this point That the graces of God peculiar to the elect are begunne increased and made manifest in or by their contraries A man in this desertion cap discerne no difference betweene himselfe and a cast-away and the rather if with this desertion be ioyned a feeling of Gods anger for then ariseth the bitterest temptation that euer befell the poore soule of a Christian man and that is a wrastling and strugling in spirit and conscience not with the motions of a rebelling flesh nor the accusations of the deuill which are oftentimes very irksome and terrible but against the wrath of a reuenging God This hidden and spirituall temptation more tormenteth the spirit of man then all the rackes or gibbets in the world can doe And it hath his fittes after the manner of an ague in which euen Gods own seruants ouercarried with sorrowe may blaspheme God and crie out that they are dāned Iob was in this estate as he testifieth Oh that my griefe were waied saith he and my miseries were laid togither in the ballance for it would be heauier then the sand of the sea therefore my words are swallowed vp for the arrowes of the Almightie are in me the venome therof doth drink vp my spirit and the terrours of god fight against me And further he complaines that the Lord is his enemie that he writes bitter things against him and that he sets him as a But to shoote at This was Dauids tēptation when he said O Lord rebuke me not in thy anger neither chastise me in thy wrath haue mercy vpon me O Lord for I am weake O Lord heale me for my bones are vexed my soule is also sore troubled but Lord howe long wilt thou delay Returne O Lord deliuer my soule saue me for thy mercies sake Hence it follows that when any that hath beene a professour of the gospel shall despaire at his end that men are to leaue secret iudgements to God and charitably to iudge the best of them For example one Master Chambers at Leicester of late in his sicknes grieuously despaired and cried out that he was damned and after died yet it is not for any to note him with the blacke marke of a reprobate One thing which hee spake in his extremitie O that I had but one drop of faith must mooue all men to conceiue well of him For by this it seemeth that he had an heart which desired to repent beleeue therefore a repentant and beleeuing heart indeed For God at all times but especially in temptation of his great mercy accepts the will for the deed Neither is it to be regarded that he said he was damned for mē in such cases speak not as they are but as they feele themselues to be Yea to goe further when a professour of the gospell shall make away himselfe though it be a fearfull case yet stil the same opiniō must be carried First Gods iudgements are very secret Secondly they may repent in the very agony for any thing we know Thirdly none is able to comprehend the bottomlesse depth of the graces and mercies which are in Christ. Thus much of the manner which God vseth in forsaking his elect Nowe followe the kindes of desertion which are two desertion in punishment desertion in sinne Desertion in punishment is when God deferreth either to mittigate or to remooue the crosse and chastisement which hee hath laid vpon his children This befell Christ on the crosse My God saith he my God why hast thou forsaken me This was the complaint of Gedeon Did not the Lord bring vs out of Egypt But now the Lord hath forsaken vs and deliuered vs into the hands of the Midianites Iudg. 6. 13. Master Robert Glouer Martyr at Couentrie after he was condemned by the Bishop and was nowe at the point to bee deliuered out of the worlde it so happened that two or three daies before his death his heart beeing lumpish and desolate of all spirituall consolation felt in himselfe no aptnesse nor willingnesse but rather a heauinesse and dulnesse of spirit full of much discomfort to beare the bitter crosse of martyrdome ready now to be laid vpon him whereupon he fearing in himselfe least the Lord had withdrawn his wonted fauour from him made his mone to one Austine his friend signifying vnto him how earnestly he had praied day night vnto the Lord and yet could receiue no motion nor sense of any comfort from him vnto whome the said Austine answered againe willing him patiently to waite the Lords pleasure and howesoeuer his present feeling was yet seeing his cause was iust and true he
Lazarus that he may dippe the tip of his finger in water and coole my tongue And if thou be one which hast care to order thy selfe in speech silence according to gods word oh doe it more For what a shame is it that men with the same tongue wherewith they confesse the faith and religion of Christ should by vaine and vngodly speech vtterly denie the power thereof And for thy better helpe herein I haue penned these few lines following concerning the Gouernment of the tongue Vse them for thy benefit and finding profit thereby giue glorie to God M. D. XCII Decemb. 12. W. Perkins OF THE GOVERNEMENT OF THE TONGVE CHAP. I. Of the generall meanes of ruling the Tongue THE gouernement of the tongue is a vertue pertaining to the holy vsage of the tongue according to GODS word And for the well-ordering of it two things are requisite a pure heart and skill in the language of Canaan The pure heart is most necessary because it is the fountaine of speech and if the fountaine be defiled the streames that issue thence can not be cleane And because the heart of man by nature is a bottomlesse gulfe of iniquitie two things are to be knowne first how it must be made pure then how it is alwaies afterward to be kept pure The way to get a pure heart is this First thou must seriously examine thy life and thy conscience for all thy sinnes past then with a heauie and bleeding heart confesse them to God vtterly condemning thy selfe Thirdly with deepe sighes and groanes of spirit crie vnto heauen to God the father in the name of Christ for pardon I say for pardon of the same sinnes as it were for life and death and that day and night till the Lord send downe from heauen a sweete certificate into thy perplexed conscience by his holy spirit that all thy sinnes are done away Now at the same instant in which pardon shall be graunted God likewise will once againe stretch forth that mightie hand of his whereby he made thee when thou wast not to make thee a new creature to create a new heart in thee to renue a right spirit in thee and to stablish thee by his free spirit For whome he iustifieth them also at the same time he sanctifieth The purified heart appeareth by these signes I. If thou feele thy selfe to be displeased at thine owne infirmities and corruptions and to droope vnder them as men doe vnder bodily sicknesse II. If thou begin to hate and to flie thine owne personall sinnes III. If thou feele a griefe and sorrow after thou hast offended God IV. If thou heartily desire to abstaine from all manner of sinne V. If thou be carefull to auoide all occasions and entisements to euill VI. If thou trauell and doe thine endeauour in euery good thing VII If thou desire and pray to God to wash and rinse thine heart in the blood of Christ. When the heart is pure to keepe it so is the speciall worke of faith which purifieth the heart Faith purifieth the heart by a particular applying of Christ crucified with all his merits Elisha when he went vp and lay vpon the dead child and put his mouth on his mouth and his eyes vpon his eyes and his hands vpon his hands and stretched himselfe vpon him the flesh of the child waxed warme Afterward Elisha rose and spread himselfe vpon him the second time then the child neezed seuen times and opened his eies So must a man by faith euen spread himselfe vpon the crosse of Christ applying handes and feete to his pierced handes and feete his wretched heart to Christs bleeding heart and then he shall feele himselfe warmed by the heat of Gods spirit and sinne from day to day crucified with Christ his dead heart quickened reuiued And this applying which faith maketh is done by a kind of reasoning which faith maketh thus Hath god of his mercie giuen his own sonne to be my Sauiour to shed his blood for me and hath he of his mercie graunted vnto me the pardon of all my sinnes I will therfore endeauour to keepe my heart and my life vnblameable that I doe not offend him hereafter in word or deede as I haue done heretofore The language of Canaan is whereby a man endued with the spirit of adoption vnfainedly calleth vpon the name of God in Christ and so consequently doth as it were familiarly talke and speake with God This language must needes be learned that the tongue may be well gouerned For man must first be able to talke with God before he can be able wisely to talke with man For this cause when men are to haue communication one with another they are first of all to bee carefull that they often make their praiers to God that hee would guide and blesse them in their speeches as Dauid did Set a watch O Lord before my mouth and keepe the doore of my lippes And againe O Lord open thou my lippes and my mouth shall shewe forth thy praise Where we may see that the mouth is as it were locked vp from speaking any good thing vntill the Lord open it And Paul hauing the gift of ordering his tongue in wonderful measure yet desireth the Ephesians to pray for him that vtterance might be giuē him and good reason because God ruleth the tongue CHAP. II. Of the matter of our speech THe gouernment of the tongue containeth two partes holy speech and holy silence In holy speech must be cōsidered the matter of our speech and the manner The matter is commonly one of these three either God our neighbour or our selues As concerning God this caueat must be remembred that the honourable titles of his glorious Maiestie be neuer taken into our mouthes vnlesse it bee vpon a weightie and iust occasion so as wee may plainely see that glorie will redound to him thereby and for this cause the third commandement was giuen that men might not take vp the name of God in vaine that is rashly and lightly And therefore lamentable and fearefull is the practise euerie where For it is a common thing with men to beginne their speech and to place titles of Gods most high Maiestie in the fore-front almost of euery sentence by saying O Lord O God! O good God! O mercifull God! O Iesu O Christ c. If a mā be to say any thing he will not say Yea or Nay but O Lord yea or O Lord nay If a man be to reprooue his inferiour he will presently say O Lord haue mercy on vs what a slowbacke art thou what a lie is this c. An earthly Prince if hee should haue his name so tossed in our mouthes at euery worde would neuer beare it and how shall the euerliuing God suffer it nay how can hee suffer it I say no more but thou with thy selfe thinke how for in the third commandement the punishment is set down That he will
not beseeming him a sinne of all other to be detested Reasons I. A blasphemer is viler then the rest of the creatures for they praise God in their kind and shew forth his power goodnesse and wisdome but he dishonoureth God in his wretched speech II. He is as the madde dogge that flieth in his masters face who keepeth him and giueth him bread III. Custome in blasâ—hemies sheweth a man to be the child of the deuill and no child of God as yet A father lying on his death bedde called the three children to him which he kept and told them that one only of them was his owne sonne and that the rest were onely brought vp by him therefore vnto him he gaue all his goods but which of these was his naturall sonne he would not in any wise declare When he was deade euery one of the three children pleaded that he was the sonne and therefore that the goods were his The matter beeing brought before a Iudge could not be ended but the Iudge was constrained to take this course he caused the dead corpes of the father to be set vp against a tree and commaunded the three sonnes to take bowes and arrowes and to shoote against their father and to see who could come neerest the heart The first and second did shoote at their father and did hiâ—â—e him the third was angrie with both the other through naturall affection of a child to a father and refused to shoote This done the Iudge gaue sentence that the two first were no sonnes but the third onely and that he should haue the goods The like triall may be vsed to know who be Gods children Such persons with whome blaspheming is rife are very deuills incarnate and the children of the deuill who rende God in pieces and shoote him through with their darts as it is said of the Egyptian when he blasphemed that he smote or pierced through Gods Name Magistrates and rulers seuerally punish such as shall abuse their names and they doe it iustly how much more then should blasphemers of Gods name escape without great punishment Againe here we must be warned to take heede of that customable swearing and also of periurie It is a very straunge sinne for the periuried person doth not onely sinne himselfe but withall he endeauoureth to intangle God in the same sinne with himselfe Further take heede least thou dost either make or recite the iests which are contriued out of the phrases of Scripture which are very many and very vsually rehearsed in companie The oyle wherewith the tabernacle and the arke of the Testament and the Priests were annointed was holy and therefore no man might put it to any other vses as to annoint his owne flesh therewith or to make the like vnto it Pilate a poore Painym when he heard the name of the Sonne of God was afraid and we much more ought to tremble at the word of God not to make our selues merrie with it And therefore the scoffing of Iulian the Apostata is very fearefull who was wont to reach Christians boxes on the eare and withall bid them turne the other and obey their masters commandement Whosoeuer shall smite thee on the right cheeke turne to him the other also And he denied pay and like reward to his souldiers that were Christians because he said he would make them fit for the kingdome of heauen considering that Christ had said Blessed are the poore in spirit for theirs is the kingdome of heauen Here also men must learne to take heede of all maner of charmes and enchantments which commonly are nothing els but words of Scripture or such like vsed for the curing of paines and diseases both in men and beasts As for example the first words of S. Iohns Gospel In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God c. are vsed to be written in a paper and hung about mens necks to cure agues But the truth is such kind of practises are deuillish Patrons of charmes hold that in such words as are either diuine or barbarous is much efficacie But whence is this efficacie from God from men or from the deuill If it shall be saide from God we must know that the word vsed in holy manner is the instrument of God to conuey vnto vs spirituall blessings as faith regeneration repentance but it doth not serue to bring vnto vs corporall health Well then belike words take vertue from the speaker and are made powerfull by the streÌ„gth of his imagination Indeed of this opinion are some Phisitians as Avicenna and Paracelsus who thinke that phantasie is like to the sunne which worketh on all things to which his beames doe come and the latter that by imagination miracles may be wrought But this opinion is fond and the reasons alledged for it are without weight For imaginations are no things but shadows of things And as an image of a man in a glasse hath no power in it but onely serues to resemble and represent the bodie of a man so it is with the phantasie and conceit of the mind and no otherwise And if imagination haue any force it is onely within the spirits and humours of a mans own bodie but to giue force to worke in the bodies of others it can not no more then the shadow of one bodie can ordinarily cure the bodie of another on which it lighteth Wherefore words vsed in the way of bodily cure be they in themselues neuer so good are no better then the deuills sacraments and when they are vsed of blinde people he it is that comming vnder hand worketh the cure and by turning himselfe into an angel of light deludes theÌ„ But it were better for a man to die a thousand times then to vse such remedies which in curing the bodie destroy the soule Lastly auoide all imprecations and cursings either against men or other creatures for God in iudgement to punish such cursed speaking often brings to passe such imprecations as may appeare in the Iewes who at the arraignment of Christ cried saying His blood be vpon vs and vpon our children which imprecation is verified vpon them till this day At Newburge in Germanie a certaine mother cursed her sonne saying Get thee away I would thou mightest neuer come againe aliue the very same day he went into the water and was drowned Againe a mother brought her child to the Vniuersitie of Wittenberge by reason he was possessed with an vncleane spirit beeing demaunded how it came to passe shee answered in the hearing of many that in her anger shee said The deuill take thee and thereupon presently the child was possessed And in our countrey men often wish the plague the poxe the pestilence to their children their seruants their cattell and often it falls out accordingly In the daies of king Edward certaine English souldiers as I am certenly informed by a witnesse then present being by a tempest cast vpon the sands on the
all his family was burnt The second had the iaundise from the head to the sole of the foote and died thereof The third seeing what was befallen these twaine repented and confessed the conspiracie against Narcissus and yet for all that he lost his eies Againe in the daies of Q. Marie as Iames Abbes was led by the Sheriffe to execution diuerse poore people stoode in the waie and asked their almes hee then not hauing any money to giue them did put off all his apparell saue his shirt and gaue it vnto them to some one thing to some another in the giuing whereof he exhorted them to be strong in the Lord and to stand steadfast in the trueth of the gospell While he was was thus instructing the people a seruant of the Shiriffes going by cried out aloude and blasphemously said Beleeue him not good people he is an hereticke and a mad man out of his witte beleeue him not for it is heresie that he saieth And as the other continued in his godly admonitions so did this wicked wretch blow forth his blasphemous exclamations vntill they came vnto the stake where he should suffer But immediatly after this martyr was bound to the stake and fire put to him such was the fearefull stroke of Gods iustice vpon this blasphemous railer that he was there presently in the sight of all the people stricken with a frensie wherewith he had before railingly charged that good martyr of God who in his furious rage madnes casting off his shooes and the rest of his cloaths cried out vnto the people said thus did Iames Abs the true seruant of God who is saued but I am damned and thus ran he about the towne of Burie still crying that Iames Abbes was a good man and saued but I am damned Againe children sitting in companie togither fell into communication of God and to reason what God was And some said one thing some another among the rest one saide He is a good old father to which an other named Dennis Benfield replied with a most outragious blasphemy What he said she is an old doting foole But shortly after this yong gyrle was so stricken that all the one side of her was blacke and she became speechlesâ—e and died Againe one Leaver a ploug-man rayling said that he saw the euill fauoured knaue Latimer when he was burned and also in despite said that he had teeth like an horse At which time and houre as neere as could be gathered the sonne of the said Leaver most wickedly hanged himselfe Againe in the time of K. Edward a young gentleman of Cornwall beeing in companie with other moe gentlemen together with their seruants beeing about the number of twentie horsemen among whome this lustie yonger entred into talke and beganne withall to sweare and vse ribauld speech beeing gently reprooued the yong gentleman tooke snuffe and saide to the reproouer Why takest thou thought for me take thought for thy winding sheete well quoth the other amend for death giueth no warning for assoone commeth a lambes skinne to the market as on old sheepes skinne Gods woundes said he care not thou for me raging still in this manner worse and worse in wordes till at length passing on their iourney they came riding ouer a great bridge standing ouer a piece of an arme of the sea vpon which bridge this gentleman-swearer spurred his horse in such sort as he sprang cleane ouer with the man on his backe who as he was going cried saying Horse and man and all to the deuill Againe there was a seruing man in Lincolnshire who had still in his mouth an vse to sweare Gods pretious blood and that for very trifles beeing often warned by his friendes to leaue the taking of the Lords bloode in vaine did notwithstanding still persist in his wickednesse vntill at the last it pleased God to acite him first with sicknesse and then with death during which time of the Lords visitation no perswasion could mooue him to repent his foresaid blaspheming but hearing the bell to toll did most hardly in the very anguish of his death start vp in his bedde and sware by Gods blood this bell tolled for me Whereupon immediatly the bloode aboundantly from all the ioynts of his bodie as it were in streames did issue out most fearefully from mouth nose wrestes knees heeles toes with all other ioynts not one left free so died These and such like iudgements must be as warnings from heauen to admonish vs and to make vs afraid of the abuse of the Tongue especially when it tendeth to the dishonour of God And we are to imitate the example of Policarpe the Martyr who when he was bidden to take his oath curse Christ answered Fourescore and sixe yeares haue I beene his seruant yet in all this time hath he not so much as once hurt me how then may I speake euill of my King and Soueraigne Lord which â—â—th thus preserued me VI. Lastly God hath honoured thy tongue with the gift of speech and vtterance and the great excellencie of this gift thou shouldest perceiue if thou werest stricken dumme for a time Therefore let thy tongue be applied to the honouring of God and to the good of thy neighbour FINIS TWO TREATISES I. Of the nature and practise of Repentance II. Of the combat of the flesh and spirit A second Edition corrected Printed by Iohn Legate Printer to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge 1600. To the Reader whosoeuer GOd hath bestowed on vs great prosperitie and peace with plentie of all temporall blessings that heart can wish for many yeares in this land Prosperitie abused hath beene the occasion of many grieuous sinnes against the first and second table specially of Atheisme neglect of Gods worship contempt of the word profanation of the Sabbath abuse of the sacraments c. These and such like sinnes haue long called downe for iudgements from heauen vpon vs and the rather because the preaching of the word hath little preuailed to bring vs to any amendment of life Whereupon God hath now begun to cause his iudgement to seaze vpon vs specially by plague and pestilence and that euen in the very principall part of this lande whereby he himselfe doth as Iob saith round vs in the eare and preach repentance to vs. Wherefore it stands vs now in hand if euer to looke about vs and if we haue not repented to begin to repent if we haue in former time repented to doe it more earnestly If so be that we shall harden our hearts both against his word and iudgements and put farre from vs the euill day vndoubtedly we must needs looke for iudgements farre more terrible then euer we felt as yet if not eternall destruction Let vs be aduised by the old world who made light of Noahs warning and were drowned in the floode by Lots sonnes in law who tooke their fathers counsell for mockage and were burnt with fire and
he was This consideration may serue as an iron scourge to driue men from their wicked liues Chrysostome would haue men in their meetings in tavernes and feasts to talke of hell that by often thinking on it they might auoide it A graue and chast matrone being mooued to commit follie with a lewd ruffian after long discourse shee called for a panne of coales requesting him for her sake to holde his finger in them but one houre he answered that it was vnkinde request to whome shee replied that seeing he would not hold so much as one finger in a fewe coales for one small houre shee could not yeeld to doe the thing for which shee should be tormented bodie and soule in hell fire for euer And so should all men reason with themselues when they are about to sinne None will be brought to doe a thing that may make so much as their finger or tooth to ake if a man be but to snuffe a candle he will first spitte on his finger because he can not abide the heate of a small and tender flame Therefore we ought to haue great care to leaue our sinnes whereby we bring endlesse torment to bodie and soule in hell fire to which our fire is but yee in comparison CHAP. IX Of motiues Euangelicall EVangelicall Motiues are two especially The first is taken from the consideration of mans redemption He that redeemed mankind is God himselfe as Paul saith that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himselfe Mans sinne is so vile and haynous in the eyes of God that no Angel nor creature whatsoeuer was able to appease the wrath of God for the least offence But the sonne of God himselfe must come downe from heauen and take mans nature on him and not onely that but he must also suffer the most accused death of the crosse and shed his most pretious heart bloode to satisfie the iustice of his Father in our behalfe If a father should be sicke of such a disease that nothing would heale him but the heart bloode of his owne child he would presently iudge his owne case to be dangerous and would also vow if euer he recouered to vse all meanes whereby he might auoid that disease So likewise seeing nothing could cure the deadly wound of our sinne but a plaister made of the heart blood of Christ it must make vs acknowledge our pitifull â—ase and the haynousnesse of the least of our sinnes and stirre vs vp to newnes of life Againe considering the end of the redemption wrought by Christ was to deliuer vs from our euill conuersation in sinne and vnrighteousnes we are not to continue and as it were lie bathing our selues in sinne for that were as if a prisoner after that he had bin ransomed and had his bolts taken off and were put out of the prison to goe whither he would should returne againe and desire to lie in the dungeon still The second motiue is that God hath made a promise to such as truly repent I. Of remission of sinnes Wash you make you cleane take away the euill of your workes from before mine eyes cease to doe euill c. Though your sinnes were as crimson they shall be made as white as snow though they were red like scarlet they shall be as wooll And Seeke the Lord while he may be found call vpon him while he is neere Let the wicked forsake his waies and the vnrighteous his owne imaginations and returne vnto the Lord and he will haue mercie on him for he is very plentifull in forgiuing II. Of life euerlasting I will not the death of a sinner but rather that he repent and liue And Thus saith the Lord vnto the house of Israel Seeke ye me and ye shall liue III. Of mitigating or remoouing temporall calamities Stand in the court of the Lords house and speake vnto all the cities of Iudah c. If so be they will hearken and turne euery man from his euill way that I may repent me of the plague which I haue determined to bring vpon them because of the wickednes of their workes And If we would iudge our selues we should not be iudged that is afflicted with temporall punishments I ioyne with the remoouing of temporall calamities the mitigating of theÌ„ because they are not alwaies taken away when the partie repenteth After Dauids repentance the childe dieth and the sworde departes not from his house And the Prophet Micha brings in the people humbling themselues before God vnder a temporall punishment saying I will beare thy wrath because I haue sinned against thee And it is Gods pleasure that the chastisement shall remaine after the partie is reconciled to him that he may by that mearies be admonished of his sinne and be an example to others As God hath made these mercifull promises to penitent sinners so he hath faithfully performed them so soone as they haue but begun to repent Example of Dauid Then Dauid said vnto Nathan I haue sinned against the Lord And Nathan said to Dauid Thy sin is forgiuen thee Of Manasses When he was in tribulation he praied vnto the Lord his God and humbled himselfe greatly before the Lord God of his fathers and praied vnto him and God was intreated of him and heard his praier Of the Publicane The Publicane c. smote his breast saying O God be mercifull to me a sinner I tell you this man departed iustified to his house rather theÌ„ the other Of the thiefe He said vnto Iesus Lord remember me when thou commest to thy kingdome Then Iesus said vnto him Verily I say vnto thee to day shalt thou be with me in paradise Hauing such notable promises made to Repentance no man is to drawe backe from the practise of it because of the multitude of his sinnes but rather to do it The Pharises said to Christs disciples Why eates your master with Publicans and sinners When Iesus heard it he said vnto them The whole neede not the phisition but they that are sicke And I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance And Verily I say vnto you that Publicanes and harlots shall goe before you into the kingdome of God CHAP. X. Of the time of Repentance THe time of repentance is the time present without any delay at all as the holy Ghost saith To daie if ye will heare his voice And Exhort one another daily while it is called to day least any of you be hardened through the deceitfulnes of sinne Reasons hereof are these I. Life is vncertaine for no man knowes at what houre or moment and after what manner he shall goe foorth of this world Be ye also prepared therefore for the sonne of man will come at an houre when ye think not This one thing should make a man to hasten his repentance and the rather because many are dead who purposed with themselues to repent in time to come
terrible but it is false to them that bee in Christ to whome many things happen farre more heauie and bitter then death IV. Death at the first brought foorth sinne but death in the righteous by meanes of Christs death abolisheth sinne because it is the accomplishment of mortification And death is so far from destroying such as are in Christ that there can bee no better refuge for them against death for presently after the death of the bodie followes the perfect freedome of the spirit and the resurrection of the bodie V. Lastly death is a meanes of a Christian mans perfection as Christ in his owne example sheweth saying Beholde I will cast out deuills and will heale still to daie and to morrowe and the third I will bee perfected Nowe this perfection in the members of Christ is nothing els but the blessing of God the author of peace sanctifying them throughout that their whole spirits and soules and bodies may be preserued without blame to the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ. Nowe hauing often thus considered with my selfe of the excellencie of death I thought good to drawe the summe and cheife heads thereof into this small Treatise the protection and consideration whereof I commend to your Ladiship desiring you to accept of it and read it at your leisure If I be blamed for writing vnto you of death whereas by the course of nature you are not yet neere death Salomon will excuse me who saith that wee must remember our Creator in the daies of our youth Thus hoping of your H. good acceptance I pray God to blesse this my little labour to your comfort and saluation Septemb. 7. 1595. Your H. in the Lord W. Perkins ECCLESIASTES 7. 3. The day of death is better then the daie that one is borne THese words are a rule or precept laid downe by Salomon for weightie causes For in the chapters going before he sets forth the vanitie of all creatures vnder heauen and that at large in the very particulars Now men hereupon might take occasion of discontentment in respect of their estate in this life therefore Salomon in great wisdom here takes a new course in this chapter begins to lay downe certaine rules of direction and comfort that men might haue somewhat wherewith to arme themselues against the troubles and the miseries of this life The first rule is in this third verse that a good name is better then a pretious oyntment that is a name gotten maintained by godly conuersation is a speciall blessing of God which in the midst of the vanities of this life ministreth greater matter of reioycing and comfort to the heart of man then the most pretious oyntment can doe to the outward senses Now some man hauing heard this first rule concerning good name might obiect and say that renowme good report in this life affoards slender comfort considering that after it followes death which is the miserable end of all men But this obiection the wise man remooueth by a second rule in these words which I haue in hand saying that the daie of death is better then the daie that one is borne That we may come to the true proper sense of this precept or rule three points are to be considered First what is death here meÌ„tioned secondly how it can be truely said that the daie of death is better then the daie of birth thirdly in what respect it is better For the first death is a depriuation of life as a punishment ordained of God and imposed on man for his sinne First I say it is a depriuation of life because the verie nature of death is he absence or defect of that life which God vouchsafed man by his creation I adde further that death is a punishment more especially to intimate the nature and qualitie of death and to shewe that it was ordained as a meanes of execution of Gods iustice and iudgement And that death is a punishment Paul plainely auoucheth when hee saith that by one man sinne entred into the worlde and death by sinne And againe that death is the stipend wages or allowance of sinne Furthermore in euerie punishment there be three workers the ordainer of it the procurer and the executioner The ordainer of this punishment is God in the estate of mans innocency by a solemne lawe then made in these verie wordes In the daie that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death Genesis 2. â—7 But it may be alleadged to the contrarie that the Lord saith by the Prophet Ezechiel that hee will not the death of a sinner and therefore that hee is no ordainer of death The answere may easily bee made and that sundrie waies First the Lord speakes not this to all men or of all men but to his owne people the church of the Iewes as appeares by the clause perfixed Sonne of man say vnto the â—ouse of Israel c. Again the words are not spoken absolutely but only in waie of comparison in that of the twaine hee rather wills the conuersion and repentance of a sinner then his death and destruction Thirdly the verie proper meaning of the wordes importe thus much that God doeth take no delight or pleasure in the death of a sinner as it is the ruine and destruction of the creature And yet all this hinders not but that God in a newe regard and consideration may both will and ordaine death namely as it is a due and deserued punishment tending to the execution of iustice in which iustice God is as good as in his mercie Againe it may bee obiected that if death indeede had beene ordained of God then Adam should haue beene destroyed and that presently vpon his fall For the verie wordes are thus Whensoeuer thou shalt eate of the forbidden fruite thou shalt certainly die Ausvvere Sentences of Scripture are either Legall or Euangelicall the lawe and the Gospel beeing two seuerall and distinct parts of Gods worde Nowe this former sentence is Legall and must be vnderstood with an exception borrowed from the Gospell or the couenant of grace made with Adam and reuealed to him after his fall The exception is this Thou shalt certenly die whensoeuer thou eatest the forbidden fruite except I doe further giue thee a meanes of deliuerance from death namely the seed of the woman to bruise the serpents head SecoÌ„dly it may be answered that Adam and all his posteritie died and that presently after his fall in that his bodie was made mortall and his soule became subiect to the curse of the Lawe And whereas God would not vtterly destroy Adam at the very first but onely impose on him the beginnings of the first and second death he did the same in great wisdome that in the midst of his iustice he might make a way to mercie which thing could not haue beene if Adam had perished The executioner of this punishment is hee that doeth impose and inflict the same on man and that also is God
himselfe as hee testifieth of himselfe in the prophet Esai I make peace and create euill Nowe euill is of three sortes naturall morall materiall Naturall euill is the destruction of that order which God set in euery creature by the creation Morall euill is the want of that righteousnesse and vertue which the lawe requires at mans hand and that is called sinne Materiall euill is any matter or thing which in it selfe is a good creature of God yet so as by reason of mans fall it is hurtfull to the health and life of man as henbane wolfebane hemlocke and all other poisons areâ— Nowe this saying of Esai must not be vnderstood of morall euills but of such as are either materiall or natural to the latter of which death is to be referred which is the destruction or abolishment of mans nature created The procurer of death is man not God in that man by his sinne and disobedience did pull vpon himselfe this punishment Therefore the Lord in Oseah O Israel one hath destroyed thee but in me is thine helpe Against this it may bee obiected that man was mortall in the estate of innocency before the fall Answere The frame and composition of mans bodie considered in it selfe was mortall because it was made of water and earth and other elements which are of themselues alterable and changeable yet if wee respect that grace and blessing which God did vouchsafe mans bodie in his creation it was vnchangeable and immortall and so by the same blessing should haue continued if man had not fallen and man by his fall depriuing himselfe of this gift and blessing became euery way mortall Thus it appeares in part what death is yet for the better clearing of this point we are to consider the difference of the death of a man and of a beast The death of a beast is the totall and finall abolishment of the whole creature for the bodie is resolued to his first matter and the soule arising of the temperature of the bodie vanisheth to nothing But in the death of man it is otherwise For though the bodie for a time be resolued to dust yet must it rise againe in the last iudgement and become immortall and as for the soule it subsisteth by it selfe out of the bodie and is immortall And this beeing so it may be demaunded how the soule can die the second death Answ. The soule dies not because it is vtterly abolished but because it is as though it were not and it ceaseth to be in respect of righteousnesse and fellowship with God And indeede this is the death of all deaths when the creature hath subsisting and beeing and yet for all that is depriued of all comfortable fellowship with God The reason of this difference is because the soule of a man is a spirit or spirituall substance whereas the soule of a beast is no substance but a naturall vigour or qualitie and hath no beeing in it selfe without the bodie on which it wholly dependeth The soule of man contrariwise beeing created of nothing and breathed into the bodie and as well subsisting forth of it as in it The kindes of death are two as the kindes of life are bodily and spirituall Bodily death is nothing else but the separation of the soule from the bodie as bodily life is the coniunction of bodie and soule and this death is called the first because in respect of time it goes before the second Spirituall death is the separation of the whole man both in bodie and soule from the gracious fellowship of God Of these twaine the first is but an entrance to death and the second is the accomplishment of it For as the soule is the life of the bodie so God is the life of the soule and his spirit is the soule of our soules and the want of fellowship with him brings nothing but the endlesse and vnspeakable horrours and pangs of death Againe spirituall death hath three distinct and seuerall degrees The first is when a man that is aliue in respect of temporall life lies dead in sinne Of this degree Paul speakes when he saith But shee that liueth in pleasure is dead while shee liueth And this is the case of all men by nature who are children of wrath and dead in sinnes and trespasses The second degree is the very ende of this life when the bodie is laid in the earth and the soule descends to the place of torment The third degree is in the day of iudgement when the bodie and soule meete againe and goe both to the place of the damned there to be tormented for euer and euer Hauing thus found the nature and differences and kinds of death it is more then manifest that the text in hand is to be vnderstood not of the spirituall but of the bodily death because it is opposed to the birth or natiuitie of man The words then must carrie this sense The time of bodily death in which the bodie and soule of man are seuered asunder it is better then the time in which one is brought into the world Thus much of the first point nowe followeth the second and that is howe this can be true which Salomon saith that the day of death is better then the daie of birth I make not this question to call the Scriptures into controuersie which are the trueth it selfe but I doe it for this ende that wee might without wauering bee resolued of this which Salomon auoucheth For there may be sundrie reasons brought to the contrarie Therefore let vs handle the question the reasons or obiections which may be alleadged to the contrarie may all bee reduced to sixe heades The first is taken from the opinion of wise men who thinke it the best thing of all neuer to be borne and the next best to die quickely Nowe if it bee the best thing in the worlde not to bee borne at all then it is the worst thing that can bee to die after a man is borne Answere There bee two sortes of men one that liue and die in their sinnes without repentance the other which vnfamedly repent and beleeue in Christ. Nowe this sentence may bee truely auouched of the first of whome wee may say as Christ said of Iudas It had beene good for him that hee had neuer beene borne But the saying applied to the second sort of men is false For to them that in this life turne to God by repentance the best thing of all is to be borne because their birth is a degree of preparation to happinesse and the next best is to die quickly because by death they enter into possession of the same their happinesse For this cause Balaam desired to die the death of the righteous Salomon in this place preferres the daie of death before the day of birth vnderstanding that death which is ioined with godly life or the death of the righteouâ— The second obiection is taken from the testimonies of Scripture Death is
man it preuailes with him and turnes him to God Furthermore when God will send his owne seruants to heauen hee sends thē a contrarie waie euen by the gates of hell and when it is his pleasure to make men depend on his fauour and prouidence hee makes them feele his anger and to be nothing in themselues that they may wholly depend vpon him and be whatsoeuer they are in him This point beeing well considered it is manifest that the child of God may passe to heauen by the very gulfes of hell The loue of God is like a sea into which when a man is cast hee neither feeles bottome nor sees banke I conclude therefore that despaire whether it arise of weaknes of nature or of conscience of sinne though it fall out about the time of death can not preiudice the saluation of them that are effectually called As for other strange euents which fall out in death they are the effects of diseases Rauings and blasphemings arise of the disease of melancholie and of frensies which often happen at the ende of burning feauers the choller shooting vp to the braine The writhing of the lips the turning of the necke the buckling of the ioyntes and the whole bodie proceede of crampes and convulsions which follow after much euacuation And whereas some in sicknesse are of that strength that three or foure men cannot holde them without bondes it comes not of witchcrafts and possessions as people commonly thinke but of choller in the vaines And whereas some when they are dead become as blacke as pitch as Bonner was it may arise by a bruise or an impostume or by the blacke iaundise or by the putrefaction of the liuer and it doeth not alwaies argue some extraordinarie iudgement of God Nowe these and the like diseases with their Symptomes and straunge effects though they shal depriue man of his health and of the right vse of the parts of his bodie and of the vse of reason too yet they cannot depriue his soule of eternall life And all sinnes procured by violent diseases and proceeding from repentant sinners are sins of infirmitie for which if they know them come againe to the vse of reason they will further repent if not they are pardoned and buried in the death of Christ. And we ought not so much to stand vpon the strangenes of any mans ende when we know the goodnesse of his life for we must iudge a man not by his death but by his life And if this be true that strange diseases and thereupon strange behauiours in death may befall the best man that is wee must learne to reforme our iudgements of such as lie at the point of death The common opinion is that if a man lie quietly and goe away like a lambe which in some diseases as consumptions and such like any man may doe then he goes straight to heauen but if the violence of the disease stirre vp impatience and cause in the partie franticke behauiours then men vse to say there is a iudgement of God seruing either to discouer an hypocrit or to plague a wicked man But the trueth is otherwise For indeede a man may die like a lambe and yet go to hell and one dying in exceeding torments and straunge behauiours of the bodie may goe to heauen And by the outward condition of any man either in life or death wee are not to iudge of his estate before God The fifth obiection is this When a man is most neare death then the deuill is most busie in temptation and the more men are assaulted by Satan the more dangerous troublesome is their case And therefore it may seeme that the day of death is the worst daie of all Ans. The condition of Gods childrē in death is twofold Some are not tempted and some are Some I say are not tempted as Simeon who when he had seene Christ brake forth said Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace c. foresignifying no doubt that he should ende his daies in all manner of peace As for them which are tempted though their case be verie troublesome and perplexed yet their saluation is not further off by reason of the violence and extremitie of temptation For God is then present by the vnspeakeable comfort of his spirit and when wee are most weake he is most strong in vs because his manner is to shew his power in weaknesse And for this cause euen in the time of death the deuill receiues the greatest foile when he lookes for the greatest victorie The sixth obiection is this Violent and sudden death is a grieuous curse of all euils which befall man in this life none is so terrible therefore it may seeme that the day of suddaine death is most miserable Ans. It is true indeed that suddaine death is a curse and a grieuous iudgement of God and therefore not without cause feared of men in the world yet all things considered we ought more to be afraide of an impenitent and euill life then of suddaine death For though it be euil as death it selfe in his owne nature is yet we must not thinke it to be simplie euill because it is not euill to all men nor in all respects euill I say it is not euill to all men considering that no kinde of death is euill or a curse vnto them that are in Christ who are freed from the whole curse of the Law And therefore the holy Ghost saith Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their Labour whereby is signified that they which depart this life beeing members of Christ enter into euerlasting happinesse of what death soeuer they die yea though it be suddaine death Againe I say that suddaine death is not euill in all respects For it is not euill because it is suddaine but because it commonly takes men vnprepared and by that means makes the day of death a blacke day and as it were a very speedie downfall to the gulfe of hell Otherwise if a man be readie and prepared to die suddaine death is in effect no death but a quicke and speedie entrance to eternall life These obiections beeing thus answered it appeares to be a manifest truth which Salomon saith that the day of death is better indeede then the day of birth Now I come to the third point in which the reasons and respects are to be considered that make the day of death to surpasse the day of a mans birth and they may all be reduced to this one namely that the birth day is an entrance into all woe and miserie whereas the day of death ioyned with godly and reformed life is an entrance or degree to eternall life Which I make manifest thus Eternall life hath three degrees one in this life when a man can truly say that he liues not but that Christ liues in him and this all men can say that repent and beleeue and are iustified and sanctified and haue peace of
For the life of a Christian is nothing else but a meditation of death A notable practise hereof we haue in the example of Ioseph of Arimathea who made his tombe in his life time in the midst of his garden no doubt for this ende to put himselfe in minde of death and that in the midst of his delight and pleasures Heathen Philosophers that neuer knew Christ had many excellent meditations of death though not comfortable in regard of life euerlasting Now we that haue knowne and beleeued in Christ must goe beyond them in this point considering with our selues such things as they neuer thought of namely the cause of death our sinne the remedie thereof the cursed death of Christ cursed I say in regard of the kind of death and punishment laid vpon him but blessed in regard of vs. Thirdly we must often meditate on the presence of death which we do when by Gods grace we make an account of euery present day as if it were the present day of our death and recken with our selues when we goe to bedde as though we should neuer rise againe and when we rise as though we should neuer lie downe againe This meditation of death is of speciall vse and brings forth many fruits in the life of man And first of all it serues to humble vs vnder the hand of God Example we haue of Abraham who said Behold I haue begunne now to speake to my Lord and I am but dust and ashes Marke here how the consideration of his mortalitie made him to abase and cast downe himselfe in the sight of God and thus if we could recken of euery day as of the last day it would straightway pull downe our peacocks feathers and make vs with Iob to abhorre our selues in dust and ashes Secondly this meditation is a meanes to further repentance When Ionas came to Ninive and cried Yet fourtie daies and Ninive shall be destroyed the whole citie repented in sackâ—loath and ashes When Elias came to Ahab and told him that the dogges should eate Iesabel by the wall of Iesreel and him also of Ahabs stocke that died in the citie c. it made him to humble himselfe so as the Lord saith to Elias Seest thou how Ahab is humbled before me Now if the remembrance of death was of such force in him that was but an hypocrite how excellent a meanes of grace will it be in them that truly repent Thirdly this meditation seemes to stirre vp contentation in euery estate and condition of life that shall befall vs. Righteous Iob in the very midst of his afflictions comforts himselfe with this consideration Naked saith he came I forth of my mothers wombe and naked shal I returne againe c. blessed be the name of the Lord. And surely the often meditation of this that a man of all his abundance can carrie nothing with him but either a coffin or a winding sheete or both should be a forcible means to represse the vnsatiable desire of riches and the loue of this world Thus we see what an effectuall meanes this meditation is to encrease and further the grace of God in the hearts of men Now I commend this first dutie to your Christian considerations desiring the practise of it in your liues which practise that it may take place two things must be performed First labour to plucke out of your hearts a wicked and erronious imagination wherby euery man naturally blesseth himselfe and thinkes highly of himselfe and though he had one foote in the graue yet he perswades himselfe that hee shall not die yet There is no man almost so olde but by the corruption of his heart he thinks that he shall liue one yeare longer Cruell and vnmercifull death makes league with no man yet the Prophet Esay saith that the wicked maÌ„ makes a league with death How can this be there is no league made indeed but onely in the wicked imagination of man who falsly thinkes that death will not come neare him though al the world should be destroyed See an example in the parable of the rich man that hauing stored vp aboundance of wealth for many yeres said vnto his own soule Soule thou hast much goods laid vp for many yeres liue at ease eat drink take thy pastime wheras his soule was fetched away presently And seeing this naturall corruption is in euerie mans heart we must daily fight against it and labour by all might and maine that it take no place in vs for so long as it shall preuaile we shall bee vtterly vnfit to make any preparation to death Wee ought rather to endeauour to attaine to the minde and meditation of S. Hierome who testifieth of himselfe on this manner Whether I wake or sleepe or whatsoeuer I doe me thinks I heare the sound of the trumpet Rise ye dead and come to iudgement The second thing which we are to practise that we may come to a serious meditation of our owne endes is to make praier vnto God that we might bee inabled to resolue our selues of death continually Thus Dauid praied Lord make me to know mine ende and the measure of my daies let me knowe howe long I haue to liue And Moses Lord teach me to number my daies that I may apply mine heart vnto wisdome I may bee said What neede men pray to God that they might be able to number their daies cannot they of themselues recken a fewe yeares and daies that are able by art to measure the globe of the earth and the spheres of heauen and the quantities of the starres with their longitudes latitudes altitudes motions and distances from the earth No verely For howsoeuer by a generall speculation we thinke something of our endes yet vnles the spirit of God be our schoolemaster to teach vs our dutie we shall neuer be able soundly to resolue our selues of the presence and speedines of death And therefore let vs pray with Dauid and Moses that God would inlighten our minds with knowledge and fil our hearts with his grace that we might rightly consider of death and esteeme of it euerie daie and houre as if it were the day and houre of death The second dutie in this generall preparation is that euery man must daily indeauour to take away from his owne death the power and strength therof And I pray you marke this point The Philistims sawe by experience that Sampson was of great strength and therefore they vsed meanes to knowe in what part of his bodie it laie and when they found it to bee in the haire of his head they ceased not vntill it was cutte off In like manner the time will come when we must encounter hand to hand with tyranous and cruell death the best therefore is before hand nowe while wee haue time to search where the strength of death lies which beeing once knowne we must with speede cutte off his Sampsons lockes and bereaue him of his power
word of God For Paul saith that they that are the childreÌ„ of god are led by the spirit of Christ. Nowe seeing this is so that if wee would liue eternally wee must begin to liue that blessed and eternall life before we die here we must be carefull to reform two common errors The first is that a man enters into eternall life when hee dies and not before which is a flat vntruth Our Sauiour Christ said to Zacheus This day is saluation come to thy houseâ— giuing vs to vnderstand that a man then begins to be saued when God doeth effectually call him by the ministery of his Gospell Whosoeuer then will bee saued when hee is dying and dead must begin to be saued while he is nowe liuing His saluation must beginne in this life that would come to saluation after this life Verely verely saith Christ he that heareth my word and â—eleeueth in him that sent me hath eternall life namly in this present life The second error is that howsoeuer a man liue if when he is dying he can lift vp his eies and say Lord haue mercie vpon me hee is certainly saued Behold a verie dangerous and foolish conceit that deceiues many a man It is all one as if an arrant theife should thus reason with himselfe and say I will spend my daies in robbing and stealing I feare neither arraignment nor exequution For at the verie time when I am to bee turned off the ladder if I doe but call vpon the iudge I knowe I shall haue my pardon Behold a most dangerous and desperate course the verie same is the practise of carelesse men in the matter of their saluation For a man may diâ— with Lord haue mercie in his mouth and perish eternally except in this world he enter into the first degree of eternall life For not euerie one that sayeth Lord Lord shall enter into heauen but he that doth the will of the father which is in heauen The fourth dutie is to exercise and inure our selues in dying by little little so long as we liue here vpon earth before we come to die indeede And as men that are appointed to runne a race exercise themselues in running that they may get the victorie so should we begin to die now while we are liuing that we might die well in the end But some may say how should this be done Paul giues vs direction in his owne example when he saith by the reioycing which I haue in Christ I die daily And he died daily not onely because hee was often in danger of death by reason of his calling but also because in al his dangers and troubles he inured himselfe to die For when men do make the right vse of their afflictions whether they bee in bodie or minde or both and doe with all their might endeauour to beare them patiently humbling themselues as vnder the correction of God then they begin to die well And to doe this indeede is to take an excellent course He that would mortifie his greatest sins must begin to doe it with small sinnes which when they are once reformed a man shall be able more easily to ouercome his master-sinnes So likewise he that would be able to beare the crosse of all crosses namely death it selfe must first of all learne to beare small crosses as sicknesses in bodie and troubles in minde with losses of goods and of friendes and of good name which I may fitly tearme little deaths and the beginnings of death it selfe and we must first of all acquaint our selues with these little deaths before we can wel be able to beare the great death of al. Againe the afflictions and calamities of this life are as it were the harbingers and puruiers of death and we are first to learne how to entertaine these messengers that when death the lord himselfe shall come we may in better manner entertaine him This point Bilney the martyr well considered who oftentimes before hee was burned put his finger into the flame of the candle not onely to make triall of his abilitie in suffering but also to arme and strengthen himselfe against greater torments in death Thus ye see the fourth dutie which ye must in any wise learne and remember because wee cannot be able to beare the pangs of death well vnles we bee first well schooled and nurtered by sundrie trials in this life The fifth and last dutie is set down by Salomon All that thine hand shall find to doe doe it with all thy power And marke the reason For there is neither worke nor inuention nor knowledge nor wisdome in the graue whither thou goest To the same purpose Paul saith Doe good to all men while ye haue time Therefore if any man be able to doe any good seruice either to Gods church or to the common wealth or to any priuate man let him doe it with all speede and with all might least death it selfe preuent him He that hath care thus to spende his daies shall with much comfort and peace of conscience ende his life Thus much of generall preparation Now followeth the particular which is in the time of sicknes And here first of all I will shew what is the doctrine of the Papists and then afterward the truth By the popish order and practise when a man is about to die he is inioyned three things First to make sacramentall confession specially if it be in any mortall sinne secondly to receiue the Eucharist thirdly to require his annoyling that is the sacrament as they call it of extreame vnction Sacramentall confession they tearme a rehearsall or enumeration of all mans sinnes to a priest that he may receiue absolution But against this kinde of confession sundrie reasons may be alleadged First of all it hath no warrant either by commandement or example in the whole word of God They say yes and they indeauour to prooue it thus He which lies in any mortall sinne is by Gods law bound to doe penance and to seeke reconciliation with God now the necessarie meanes after baptisme to obtaine reconciliation is the confession of all our sinnes to a priest Because Christ hath appointed priests to be iudges vpon earth with such measure of authoritie that no man falling after baptisme can without their sentence and determination be reconciled and they can not rightly iudge vnlesse they know all a mans sinnes therefore all that fall after baptisme are bound by Gods word to open all their sinnes to a priest Ans. It is false which they say that priests are iudges hauing power to examine and take knowledge of mens sinnes and iurisdiction whereby they can properly absolue pardon or retaine them For Gods word hath giuen no more to man but a ministerie of reconciliation whereby in the name of God and according to his word he doth preach declare and pronounce that God doth pardon or not pardon his sinnes Againe pardon may truly be pronounced
and right iudgement of the estate of any man without a particular rehearsall of his sinnes For he which soundly and truly repents of one or some few sinnes repents of all Secondly this confession is ouerturned by the practise of the Prophets Apostles who not onely absolued particular persons but also whol churches without exaction of auricular coÌ„fession WheÌ„ Nathan the Prophet had rebuked Dauid for his two great horrible crimes Dauid touched with remorse said I haue sinned and Nathan presently without further examination declared vnto him in the name of God that his sins were forgiuen him Thirdly it can not be prooued by any good and sufficient proofes that this confession was vsed in the Church of God till after fiue or sixe hundred yeares were expired For the confession which was then in vse was either publicke before the Church or the opening of a publicke fault to some priuate person in secret Therefore to vrge sicke men vnto it lying at the point of death is to lay more burdens on them then euer God appointed And whereas they make it a necessary thing to receiue the Eucharist in the time of sicknes toward death and that priuately of the sicke partie alone they haue no warrant for their practise and opinion For in the want of the sacrament there is no danger but in the contempt and the verie contempt it selfe is a sinne which may be pardoned if we repent And there is no reason why wee should thinke that sicke men should bee depriued of the comfort of the Lords supper if they receiue it not in death because the fruite and efficacy of the Sacrament once receiued is not to bee restrained to the time of receiuing but it extends it selfe to the whole time of mans life afterward Againe the supper of the Lord is no priuate action but meerely Ecclesiasticall and therefore to be celebrated in the meeting and assembly of Gods people as our Sauiour Christ prescribeth when he saith Doe ye this and Paul in saying When ye come togither But it is alleadged that the Israelites did eate the Paschal lambe in their houses when they were in Egypt Answ. The Israelites had then no libertie to make any publike meeting for that end god commanded that the Paschal lambe should be eaten in all the houses of the Isaraelites at one the same instant and that in effect was as much as if it had beene publike Againe they alleadge a Canon of the Council of Nice which decreeth that men beeing about to die must receiue the Eucharist not be depriued of the prouision of food necessarie for their iourney Ans. The Council made no decree touching the administration of the Sacrament to all them that die but to such onely as fall away from the faith in persecution or fell into any other notorious crime and were thereupon excommunicate and so remained till death either then or somewhat before testified their repentance for their offences And the Canon was made for this ende that such persons might bee assured that they were againe receiued into the Church and by this meanes depart with more comfort Thirdly it is obiected that in the primitiue Church part of the Eucharist was carried by a ladde to Serapion an aged man lying sicke in his bedde Ansvv. It was indeede the custome of the auncient Church from the very beginning that the elemeÌ„ts of bread wine should be sent by some of the Deacons to the sicke which were absent from the assembly And yet neuerthelesse here is no footing for priuate communions For the Eucharist was only then sent when the rest of the Church did openly communicate and such as were then absent onely by reason of sickenes and desired to bee partakers of that blessed comâ—union were to be reputed as preâ—ent Lastly it is obiected that it was the manner of men and women in former times to carrie part of the SacrameÌ„t home to their houses and to reserue it till the time of necessitie as the time of sicknes such like Ans. The reseruatioÌ„ of the sacrament was but a superstitious practise though it be ancient For out of the administration that is before it begin and after it is ended the sacrament ceaseth to be a sacrament and the elements to be elements As for the practise of them that vsed to cramme the Eucharist into the mouth of them that were deceased it is not only superstitious but also verie absurd As for the Annoiling of the sicke that is the annointing of the bodie specially the organes or instruments of the senses that the partie may obtaine the remission of his sinnes and comfort against all temptations of the deuill in the houre of death and strength more easily to beare the pangs of sickenesse and the pangs of death and be againe restored to his corporall health if it bee expedient for the saluation of his soule it is but a dotage of mans braine hath not so much as a shewe of reason to iustifie it The fifth of Iames is commonly alleadged to this purpose but the annointing there mentioned is not of the same kinde with this greasie sacrament of the Papists For that annointing of the bodie was a ceremonie vsed by the Apostles and others when they put in practise this miraculous gift of healing which gift is nowe ceased Secondly that annointing had a promise that the partie should recouer his health but this popish annointing hath no such promise because for the most part the persons thus annointed die afterward without recouerie wheras those which were annointed in the primitiue Church alwaies recouered Thirdly the auncient annointing serued onely for the procuring of health but this tendes further to the procuring of remission of sinnes and strength in temptation Thus hauing seene the doctrine of the Papists I come nowe to speake of the true and right manner of making particular preparation before death which containes three sorts of duties one concerning God the other concerning a mans owne selfe the third concerning our neighbour The first concerning God is to seeke to be reconciled vnto him in Christ though wee haue beene long assured of his fauour All other duties must come after in the second place and they are of little or no effect without this Nowe this reconciliation must bee sought for and is obtained by a renewing of our former faith and repentance and they must be renewed on this manner So soone as a man shall feele any manner of sickenesse to seaze vpon his bodie hee must consider with himselfe whence it ariseth and after serious consideration hee shal find that it comes not by chance or fortune but by the special prouidence of God This done he mâ—st goe yet further and consider for what cause the Lord should afflict his bodie with any sickenesse or disease And he shal find by Gods word that sicknesse comes ordinarily and vsually of sinne Wherefore is the liuing man sorrowfull man
in that respect may be saide to be the cause of euery mans death So saith Anna The Lord killeth and maketh aliue The Church of Ierusalem confessed that nothing came to passe in the death of Christ but that which the foreknowledge and eternall counsell of God had appointed And therefore the death also of euery member of Christ is foreseene and ordained by the speciall decree and prouidence of God I adde further that the very circumstances of death as the time when the place where the maner how the beginnings of sicknes the cōtinuance and the ende euery fit in the sicknes and the pangs of death are particularly set down in the counsell of God The very hayres of our heads are numbered as our Sauiour Christ saith and a sparrow lights not on the ground without the will of our heauenly father Dauid saith excellently My bones are not hidde from thee though I was made in a secret place and fashioned beneath in the earth thine eyes did see me when I was without forme for in thy booke were all things written which in continuance were fashioned when there was none of them before And he praies to God to put his teares into his bottle Now if this be true that God hath bottles for the very teares of his seruants much more hath he bottles for their blood and much more doth he respect and regard their paines and miseries with all the circumstances of sicknes and death The carefull meditation of this one point is a notable meanes to arme vs against feare and distrust and impatience in the time of death as some examples in this case will easily manifest I held my tongue and saide nothing saith Dauid but what was it that caused this patience in him the cause follows in the next wordes because thou Lord diddest it And Ioseph saith to his brethren Feare not for it was the Lord that sent you before me Marke here how Ioseph is ariued against impatience and griefe and discontentment by the very consideration of Gods prouidence and so in the same manner shal we be confirmed against all feares and sorrowes and say with Dauid Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints if this perswasion be once setled in our hearts that all things in sicknes and death come to passe vnto vs by the prouidence of God who turnes all things to the good of them that loue him The second meditation is to be borrowed from the excellent promise that God made to the death of the righteous which is Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them The author of truth that can not lie hath spoken it Now then let a man but throughly consider this that death ioyned with reformed life hath a promise of blessednes adioyned vnto it and it alone will be a sufficient meanes to stay the rage of our affections and all inordinate feare of death and the rather if we mark◠wherein this blessednes consists In death we are indeed thrust out of our old dwelling places namely these houses of clay and earthly tabernacles of our bodies wherein we haue made long aboad but what is the end surely that liuing and dying in Christ we might haue a building giuen of God that is an house not made with hands but eternall in heauens which is vnspeakable and immortall glorie If a poore man should be commaunded by a Prince to put off his torne and beggerly garments and in stead thereof to put on royall and costly robes it would be a great reioycing to his heart oh then what ioyfull newes must this he vnto all repentant and sorrowfull sinners when the King of heauen and earth comes vnto them by death and biddes them lay downe their bodies as ragged and patched garments and prepare themselues to put on the princely robe if immortalitie No tongue can be able to expresse the excellencie of this most blessed and happie estate The third meditation is borrowed from the estate of all them that are in Christ whether liuing or dying He that dieth beleeuing in Christ dieth not forth of Christ but in him hauing both his bodie and soule really coupled to Christ according to the tenour of the couenant of grace and though after death bodie and soule be seuered one from an other yet neither of them are seuered or disioyned from Christ. The coniunction which is once begun in this life remaines eternally And therefore though the soule goe from the bodie and the bodie it selfe rotte in the graue yet both are still in Christ both in the couenant both in the fauour of God as before death and both shal againe be ioyned togither the bodie by the vertue of the former coniunction beeing raised to eternall life Indeede if this vnion with Christ were dissolued as the coniunction of bodie and soule is it might be some matter of discomfort and feare but the foundation and substance of our mysticall coniunction with Christ both in respect of our bodies and soules enduring for euer must needs be a matter of exceeding ioy and comfort The fourth meditation is that God hath promised by his speciall blessed comfortable presence vnto his seruants when they are sick of dying or any way distressed When thou passest through the water I will be with thee saith the Lord and through the floods that they doe not ouerflow thee when thou walkest through the very fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shal the flame kindle vpon thee Now the Lord doth manifest his presence three waies the first is by moderating and lessening the paines and torments of sicknesse and death as the very wordes of the former promise doth plainly import Hence it comes to passe that to many men the sorrowes and pangs of death are nothing so grieuous and troublesome as the afflictions and crosses which are laid on them in the course of their liues The second way of Gods presence is by an inward and vnspeakable comfort of the spirit as Paul saith We reioyce in tribulation knowing that tribulation bringeth forth patience c. but why is this reioycing because saith he in the next words the loue of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost Againe Paul hauing in some grieuous sicknes receiued the sentence of death saith of himselfe that as the sufferings of Christ did abound in him so his consolation did abound through Christ. Here then we see that when earthly comforts faile the Lord himselfe drawes neere the bed of the sicke as it were visiting them in his owne person and ministring vnto them refreshing for their soules With his right hand he holds vp their heads and with his left hand he embraceth them The third meanes of Gods presence is the ministery of his good Angels whome the Lord hath appointed as keepers and nources vnto his seruants to hold them vp and to
families must principally bestowe their goods vpon their owne children and them that be of their own kindred This man saith God to Abraham of Eleazar a stranger shall not bee thine heire but the sonne which shall come of thy loynes And this was Gods commandement to the Israelites that when any man dies his sonne should bee his heire and if hee had no sonne then his daughter if he haue no daughter then his brethren and if he haue no brethren then his fathers brethren if there be none then the next of his kinne whosoeuer And Paul saith If ye be sonnes then also heires And againe He that prouides not for his owne and namly for them of his houshold is worse then an infidel Therefore it is a fault for any man to alienate his goods or landes wholly and finally from his blood and posteritie It is a thing which the verie lawe of nature it selfe hath condemned Againe it is a fault to giue all to the eldest and nothing in respect to the rest as though the eldest were born to be gentlemen and yonger brethren borne to beare the wallet Yet in equitie the eldest must haue more then any euen because hee is the eldest and because stockes and families in their persons are to bee maintained and because there must alwaies be some that must be fit to doe speciall seruice in the peace of the common-weale or in the time of warre which could not bee if goods should bee equally parted to all The fourth and last rule is that no Will is of force till the testatour bee dead for so long as hee is aliue hee may alter and change it These rules must bee remembred because they are recorded in Scripture the opening of other points and circumstances belongeth to the profession of the law The second dutie of the master of the family concerneth the soules of such as be vnder his gouernmēt and that is to giue charge to them that they learn beleeue and obey the true religion that is the doctrine of saluation set downe in the writings of the Prophets and Apostles The Lord himselfe commends Abraham for this I know Abraham saith he that he will command his sonnes his houshold after him that they keepe the waie of the Lord to doe righteousnes and iudgement And Dauid giues Salomon on his death bed a most notable and solemne charge the summe and substance whereof is to knowe the God of his fathers and to serue him which being done he further commends him to God by praier for which purpose the 72. psalme was made This practise of his is to be followed of all Thus gouernours whē they shall carefully dispose of their goods and giue charge to their posteritie touching the worship of God shall greatly honour God dying as well as liuing Hitherto I haue intreated of the two-folde preparation which is to goe before death nowe follows the second part of Dying-wel namely the disposition in death This disposition is nothing else but a religious and holy behauiour specially towards God when wee are in or neere the agonie or pang of death This behauiour containes three special duties The first is to die in or by faith To die by faith is when a man in the time of death doeth with all his heart relie himselfe wholly on Gods speciall loue and fauour and mercie in Christ as it is reuealed in the word And though their bee no part of mans life voide of iust occasions whereby we may put faith in practise yet the speciall time of all is the pang of death when friendes and riches and pleasures and the outward senses and temporall life and all earthly helps forsake vs. For thē true faith maketh vs to goe wholly out of our selues and to despaire of comfort and saluation in respect of any earthly thing and with all the power and strength of the heart to rest on the pure mercie of God This made Luther both thinke and say that men were best Christians in death An example of this faith wee haue in Dauid who when hee sawe nothing before his eies but present death the people intending to stone him comforted him at that very instant as the text saieth in the Lord his God And this comfort he reaped in that by faith he applied vnto his owne soule the mercifull promises of God as hee testifieth of himself Remember saith he the promise made to thy seruant wherin thou hast caused me to trust It is my comfort in trouble for thy promise hath quickened me Againe My flesh failed and my heart also but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for euer Now looke what Dauid here did the same must euery one of vs doe in the like case When the Israelites in the wildernes were stung with fierie serpents and lay at the point of death they looked vp to the brasen serpent which was erected by the appointment of God and were presently healed euen so when any man feeles death to drawe neere and his fiery sting to pierce the heart he must fixe the eye of a true and liuely faith vpon Christ exalted crucified on the crosse which beeing done he shall by death enter into eternall life Nowe because true faith is no dead thing it must bee expressed by speciall actions the principal whereof is Inuocation whereby either praier or thanksgiuing is directed vnto God When death had seazed vpon the bodie of Iacob he raised vp himselfe and turning his face towards the beds head leaned on the toppe of his staffe by reason of his feeblenesse and praied vnto God which praier of his was an excellent fruite of his faith Iobs wife in the midst of his affliction saide vnto him to very good purpose Blesse God and die I know and grant that the words are commonly translated otherwise Curse god and die but as I take it the former is the best For it is not like that in so excellent a family any one person much lesse a matrone and principall gouernour thereof would giue such lewd and wretched counsell which the most wicked mā vpon earth hauing no more but the light of nature would not once giue but rather much abhorre and condemne And though Iob cal her a foolish woman yet he doth it not because shee wēt about to perswade him to blaspheme God but because shee was of the mind of Iobs friends and thought that hee stood too much in a conceit of his owne righteousnes Nowe the effect and meaning of her counsell is this Blesse God that is husband no doubt thou art by the extremitie of thine affliction at deaths dore therefore beginne nowe at length to lay aside the great ouerweening which thou hast of thine owne righteousnes acknowledge the hand of God vpon thee for thy sinnes confesse them vnto him giuing him the glorie pray for the pardon of them and end thy daies This counsell is very good and to be
when hee had confirmed this by testimonie of Scripturâ— he added This is my faith in which I will die and God will destroy them that teach otherwise This done he shooke hands with all and said Farewell my brethren and deare friends It were easie to quote more examples but these few may be in stead of many and the summe of all that godly men speake is this Some inlightened with a propheticall spirit foretell things to come as the Patriarkes Iacob and Ioseph did and there haue bin some which by name haue testified who should verie shortly come after them and who should remaine aliue and what should be their condition some haue shewed a wonderfull memorie of things past as of their former life and of the benefits of God and no doubt it was giuen them to stirre vp holy affections and thanksgiuing to God some againe rightly iudging of the change of their present estate for a better doe reioyce exceedingly that they must be translated from earth to paradise as Babylas Martyr of Antioch when his head was to be chopped off Returne saith he O my soule vnto thy rest because the Lord hath blessed thee because thou hast deliuered my soule from death mine eies from teares and my foote from falling I shall walke before thee Iehoua in the land of the liuing And some others speake of the vanitie of this life of the imagination of the sorrowes of death of the beginnings of eternall life of the comfort of the holy Ghost which they feele of their departure vnto Christ. Quest. What must we thinke if in the time of death such speeches be wanting and in the stead thereof idle talke be vsed Ans. Wee must consider the kind of sicknes whereof men die whether it be more easie or violent for violent sicknes is vsually accompanied with frensies and with vnseemely motions and gestures which wee are to take in good part euen in this regard because we our selues may be in the like case Thus much of the first dutie which is to die in faith the second is to die in obedience otherwise our death cannot bee aceeptable to God because wee seeme to come vnto God of feare and constraint as slaues to a master not of loue as children to a father Nowe to die in obedience is when a man willing and readie and desirous to goe out of this worlde whensoeuer God shall call him and that without murmuring or repining at what time where and wheÌ„ it shall please god Whether we liue or die saith Paul we do it not to our selues but vnto God and therefore mans dutie is to bee obedient to God in death as in life Christ is our example in this case who in his agonie praied Father let this cup passe from me yet with a submission not my will but thy will be done teaching vs in the very pangs of death to resigne our selues to the good pleasure of God When the prophet told king Ezechiah of death presently without all manner of grudging or repining he addressed himselfe to praier We are commanded to present our selues vnto God as free-will offerings without any limitation of time and therefore as well in death as in life I conclude then that we are to make as much conscience in performing obedience to God in suffering death as we do of any coÌ„scieÌ„ce in the course of our liues The third dutie is to render vp our soules into the handes of God as the most faithfull keeper of all This is the last dutie of a Christian and it is prescribed vnto vs in the example of Christ vpon the crosse who in the very pangs of death when the dissolution of bodie and soule drew on said Father into thy hands I commend my spirit and so gaue vp the ghost The like was done by Steuen who when he was stoned to death said Lord Iesus receiue my spirit And Dauid in his life time being in danger of death vsed the very same words that Christ vttered Thus we see what be the duties which we are to performe in the very paÌ„gs of death that we may come to eternall life Some man will happily say if this be all to die in faith and obedience and to surrender our soules into Gods haÌ„d we will not greatly care for any preparation before hand nor trouble our selues much about the right manner of dying well for we doubt not but that when death shall come we shall be able to perform all the former duties with ease Ans. Let no man deceiue himselfe by any false perswasion thinking with himselfe that the practise of the foresaid duties is a matter of ease for ordinarily they are not neither can they be performed in death vnles there bee much preparation in the life before Hee that will die in faith must first of all liue by faith and there is but one example in all the bible of a man dying in faith that liued without faith namely the theife vpon the crosse The seruants of God that are endued with great measure of grace doe very hardly beleeue in the time of affliction Indeede when Iob was afflicted he said Though the Lord kill me yet will I trust in him yet afterward his faith being ouercast with a cloud he saith that God was become his enemie and that he had set him as a marke to shoot at and sundry times his faith was oppressed with doubting and distrust How then shall they that neuer liued by faith nor inured themselues to beleeue bee able in the pang of death to rest vpon the mercie of God Againe hee that would die in obedience must first of all lead his life in obedience he that hath liued in disobedience can not willingly and in obedience appeare before the iudge when he is cited by death the sergeant of the Lord he dies indeede but that is vpon necesâ—itie because hee must yeelde to the order and course of nature as other creatures do Thirdly he that would surrender his soule into the hands of God must be resolued of two things the one is that God can the other is that God will receiue his soule into heauen and there preserue it till the last iudgement And none can be resolued of this except he haue the spirit of God to certifie his conscience that hee is redeemed iustified sanctified by Christ and shall be glorified He that is not thus perswaded dare not render vp and present his soule vnto God When Dauid said Lord into thy hands I commend my spirit what was the reason of this boldnesse in him surely nothing els but the perswasion of faith as the next words import for thou hast redeemed mee O Lord God of trueth And thus it is manifest that no man ordinarily can performe these duties dying that hath not performed them liuing This beeing so I doe againe renewe my former exhortation beseeching you that ye would practise the duties of preparatioÌ„ in the course of your liues leading
I shall merit eternall life for my fidelitie in my ministerie But blessed be God which brought to my mind such Scriptures wherby I might quench the fierie darts of the deuill which were What hast thou that thou hast not receiued and By the grace of God I am that I am and not I but the grace of God in me and thus beeing vanquished he departed When thou art tempted of Satan and sees no way to escape euen plainely close vp thine eyes and answer nothing but commend thy cause to God This is a principall point of Christian wisdom which we must follow in the houre of death If thy flesh tremble and feare to enter into another life and doubt of saluation if thou yeeld to these things thou hurtest thy selfe therefore close thine eyes as before and say with S. Stephen Lord Iesus into thy hands I commend my spirit and then certenly Christ will come vnto thee with all his Angels and be the guider of thy way Luther A DECLARATION OF THE TRVE MANNER OF KNOVVING Christ crucified Galat. 6.14 God forbid that I should reioyce but in the Crosse of our Lord Iesus Christ c. PRINTED BY IOHN LEGAT PRINTER to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge 1600. To the Reader IT is the common sinne of men at this day and that in the very places of learning that Christ crucified is not knowne as he ought The right knowledge of whome is not to make often mention of his death and passion and to call him our Sauiour or to handle the whole mysterie of God incarnate soundly and learnedly though that be a worthie gift of God but first of all by the consideration of the passion to be touched with an inward and a liuely feeling of our sinnes for which our Redeemer suffered the pangs of hell and to grow to a through dislike of our selues and our liues past for them and from the groūd of the heart to purpose a reformation and a conformitie with Christ in all good duties that concerne man secondly in the Passion as in a myrrour to behold and in beholding to labour to comprehend the length the breadth the height the depth of the loue of the Father that gaue his owne deare Sonne to death and the goodnes of the Sonne that loued his enemies more then himselfe that our hearts might be rooted and grounded in the same loue and be further inflamed to loue God againe To further this true manner of knowing Christ crucified I haue penned these few lines read them at thy leisure and haue care to put them in practise otherwise thou art but an enemie of the crosse of Christ though thou professe his name neuer so much Ian. 3. 1596. W. Perkins Of the right knowledge of Christ crucified IT is the most excellent and worthy part of diuine wisdome to know Christ crucified The Prophet Esai saith The knowledge of thy righteous seruāt that is Christ crucified shall iustifie many And Christ himselfe saith This is life eternall to know thee the onely God and whome thou hast sent Iesus Christ. And Paul saith I haue decreeed to know nothing among you but Iesus Christ and him crucified Againe God forbid that I should reioyce in any thing but in the crosse of our Lord Iesus Christ. Again I thinke all things but losse for the excellent knowledge sake of Christ Iesus my Lord and doe iudge them but dung that I might win Christ. In the right way of knowing Christ crucified two points must be considered one how Man for his part is to know Christ the other how he is to be knowne of man Touching the first Man must know Christ not generally and confusedly but by a liuely powerfull and operatiue knowledge for otherwise the deuils themselues know Christ. In this knowledge three things are required The first is notice or consideration whereby thou must conceiue in minde vnderstand and seriously bethinke thy selfe of Christ as he is reuealed in the historie of the Gospel and as he is offered to thy particular person in the ministerie of the word and Sacraments And that this consideration may not be dead and idle in thee two things must be done first thou must labour to feele thy selfe to stand in neede of Christ crucified yea to stand in excessiue neede euen of the very least drop of his blood for the washing away of thy sinnes And vnlesse tho◠throughly feelest thy selfe to want all that goodnes and grace that is in Christ and that thou euen standest in extreame neede of his passion thou shalt neuer learne or teach Christ in deede and truth The second thing is with the vnderstanding of the doctrine of Christ to ioyne thirsting whereby man in his very soule and spirit longs after the participation of Christ and saith in this case as Sampson said Giue me water I die for thirst The second part of knowledge is application whereby thou must know beleeue not onely that Christ was crucified but that he was crucified for thee for thee I say in particular Here two rules must be remembred and practised One that Christ on the crosse was thy pledge and suretie in particular that he then stood in thy very roome and place in which thou thy selfe in thine owne person shouldest haue stood that thy very personall and particular sinnes were imputed and applied to him that he stoode guiltie as a malefactour for them and suffered the very pangs of hell and that his sufferings are as much in acceptation with God as if thou haddest borne the curse of the law in thine owne person eternally The holding and beleeuing of this point is the very foundation of religion as also of the Church of God Therefore in any wise be carefull to applie Christ crucified to thy selfe and as Elizeus when he would reuiue the childe of the Shunamite went vp and lay vpon him and put his mouth vpon his mouth and his hands vpon his hands his eyes vpon his eyes and stretched himselfe vpon him euen so if thou wouldest be reuiued to euerlasting life thou must by faith as it were set thy selfe vpon the crosse of Christ and applie thy handes to his hands thy feete to his feete and thy sinnefull heart to his bleeding heart and content not thy selfe with Thomas to put thy finger into his side but euen diue and plunge thy selfe wholly both bodie and soule into the woundes and blood of Christ. This will make thee to crie with Thomas and say My Lord my God and this is to be crucified with Christ. And yet doe not content thy selfe with this but by faith also descend with Christ from the crosse to the graue and burie thy selfe in the very buriall of Christ and then looke as the dead souldier tumbled into the graue of Elizeus was made aliue at the very touching of his bodie so shalt thou by a spirituall touching of Christ dead and buried be quickned to life euerlasting The second rule is
most notable meanes to breede repentance and reformation of life in time to come For when wee begin to thinke that Christ crucified by suffering the first and second death hath procured vnto vs remission of all our sinnes past and freed vs from hellâ— death and damnation then if there be but a sparke of grace in vs we begin to be of another mind and to reason thus with our selues What hath the Lord bin thus mercifull vnto me that am in my selfe but a firebrand of hell as to free me from deserued destruction to receiue me to fauour in Christ yea no doubt he hath his name be blessed therefore I will not therefore sinne any more as I haue done but rather indeauour hereafter to keep my selfe from euery euill way And thus faith purifies both heart and life Thirdly when thou art in any paine of bodie or sickenes thinke how light these are compared to the agonie and bloodie sweat to the crown of thornes and nailes of Christ. When thou art wronged in worde or deede by any man turne thine eie to the crosse consider howe meekely he suffered all abuses for the most part in silence praied for them that crucified him When thou art tempted with pride or vaine-glorie consider how for thy proper sins Christ was despised and mocked and condemned among theeues When anger and desire of reuenge inflame thine heart think how Christ gaue himself to death to saue his enemies euen then when they did most cruelly intreat him shed his blood and by these meditations specially if they be mingled with faith thy minde shall be eased Thus we see how Christ crucified is to be known and hence ariseth a threefold knowledge one of God the second of our neighbours the third of our selues Touching the first if we would know the true God aright and know him to our sahiation we must knowe him only in Christ crucified God in himselfe and his owne maiestie is inuisible not onely to the eies of the bodie but also to the vere minds of men and he is reuealed to vs only in Christ in whom he is to be seene as in a glasse For in Christ he setteth forth and giues his iustice goodnes wisdome and himselfe wholly vnto vs. For this cause he is called the brightnes of the glorie and the ingrauen forme of the person of the father Heb. 1. 3. and the image of the inuisible God Coloss. 1.15 Therfore we must not know god and seeke him any where else but in Christ and whatsoeuer out of Christ comes vnto vs in the name of God is a flat idol of mans braine As for our neighbours those especially that are of Christs Church they are to be known of vs on this manner When we are to doâ— any dutie vnto them we must not barely respect their persons but Christ crucified in them them in Christ. When Paul persecuted such as called on the name of Christ he theÌ„ fâ—om heaueÌ„ cried Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Here then let this be marked that when the poore comes to vs for releefe it is Christ that comes to our dores and saith I am hungrie I am thirstie I am naked and let the bowels of compassion be in vs towards them as towards Christ vnles we wil heare that fearefull sentence in the day of iudgement Go ye cursed into hell c. I was hungrie and ye fed me not I was naked and ye did not cloath me c. Thirdly the right knowledge of our selues ariseth of the knowledge of Christ crucified in whom and by whome we come to know fiue speciall things of our selues The first how grieuous our sinnes are and therefore howe miserable we are in regard of them If we consider our offences in themselues as they are in vs we may soone be deceiued because the conscience being corrupted often erreth in giuing testimonie and by that meanes maketh sinne to appeare lesse then it is indeede But if sinne be considered in the death passion of Christ whereof it was the cause and the vilenes thereof measured by the vnspeakable torments endured by the sonne of God and if the greatnesse of the offence of man be esteemed by the endlesse satisfaction made to the iustice of God the least sinne that is will appeare to bee a sinne indeed and that most grieuous and ougly Therefore Christ crucified must bee vsed of vs as a myrrour or looking glasse in which we may fully take a view of our wretchednes and miserie and what we are by nature For such as the passion of Christ was in the eies of men such is our passion or condition in the eies of God and that which wicked men did to Christ the same doeth sinne and Satan to our very soules The second point is that men beleeuing in Christ are not their owne or lords of themselues but wholly both bodie and soule belong to Christ in that they were giuen to him of God the father and he hath purchased them with his owne blood 1. Cor. 3. Ye are Christs and Christs Gods Hence it commeth to passe which is not to be forgotten that Christ esteemeth all the crosses and afflictions of his people as his own proper afflictions Hence againe we must learne to giue vp our selues both in body and soule to the honour and seruice of Christ whose we are The third is that euery true beleeuer not as he is a man but as hee is a newe man or a Christian hath his being and subsisting from Christ We are members of his bodie of his flesh and of his bone Eph. 5.30 In which words Paul alludes to the speech of Adam Gen. 3. Thou art bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh thereby he teacheth that as Eue was made of a ribbe taken out of the side of Adam so doeth the whole church of God and euery man regenerate spring and arise out of the blood that streamed from the heart and side of Christ crucified The fourth is that all good workes done of vs proceede from the vertue and merit of Christ crucified he is the cause of them in vs and we are the causes of them in and by him Without me saith he ye can do nothing and Euery branch that beareth no fruite in me marke well he saith in me he taketh away Ioh. 15.2 The fift point is that we owe vnto Christ an endles debt For he was crucified onely as our suretie and pledge in the spectacle of his passion we must consider our selues as the chiefe debters and that the very discharge of our debt that is the sinnes which are inherent in vs were the proper cause of all the endles paines and torments that Christ endured that he might set vs most miserable bankrupts at libertie from hell death and damnation For this his vnspeakable goodnes if we doe but once thinke of it seriously we must needs confesse that we owe our selues our soules and bodies and all that we haue as a
doubt they are both wide and the safest course is to keepe the meane between both Therefore the iudiciall lawes of Moses according to the substance and scope thereof must be distinguished in which respect they are of two sorts Some of them are lawes of particular equitie some of common equitie Lawes of particular equitie are such as prescribe iustice according to the particular estate and condition of the Iewes common wealth and to the circumstances thereof time place persons things actions Of this kind was the law that the brother should raise vp seed to his brother and many such like and none of them bind vs because they were framed and tempered to a particular people Iudicialls of common equitie are such as are made according to the lawe or instinct of nature coÌ„mon to all men these in respect of their substance bind the consciences not onely of the Iewes but also of the Gentiles for they were not giuen to the Iewes as they are Iewes that is a people receiued into the Couenant aboue all other nations brought from Egypt to the land of Canaan of whome the Messias according to the flesh was to come but they were giuen to them as they were mortall men subiect to the order and lawes of nature as all other nations are Againe iudiciall lawes so farre forth as they haue in them the generall or common equitie of the law of nature are moral and therefore binding in conscience as the morall lawe A iudiciall lawe may be known to be a law of common equitie if either of these two things be found in it First if wise men not onely among the Iewes but also in other nations haue by naturall reason and conscience iudged the same to be equall iust and necessarie and withall haue iustified their iudgement by enacting laws for their common wealths the same in substance with sundrie of the iudicial lawes giuen to the Iewes and the Romane Emperours among the rest haue done this most excellently as will appeare by conferring their lawes with the lawes of God Secondly a Iudicial hath common equitie if it serue directly to explane and confirme any of the ten precepts of the Decalogue or if it serue directly to maintaine and vpholde any of the three estates of the family the common wealth the Church And whether this be so or no it will appeare if we doe but consider the matter of the law and the reasons or considerations vpon which the Lord was mooued to giue the same vnto the Iewes Nowe to make the point in hand more plaine take an example or two It is a iudiciall lawe of God that murderers must bee put to death now the question is whether this lawe for substance be the common equitie of nature binding consciences of Christians or no the answer is that without further doubting it is so For first of all this lawe hath beene by common consent of wise law-giuers enacted in many countries and kingdomes beside the Iewes It was the lawe of the Egyptians and olde Grecians of Draco of Numa and of many of the Romane Emperours Secondly this lawe serues directly to maintaine obedience to the sixt commandement and the consideration vpon which the lawe was made is so weightie that without it a common-wealth cannot stand The murderers blood must bee shedde saith the Lord Num. 35.33.34 because the whole land is defiled with blood and remaineth vncleâ—sed till his blood be shed Againe it was a iudiciall law among the Iewes that the adulterer and adulteresse should die the death nowe let the question be whether this lawe concerne other nations as being deriued from the common lawe of nature and it seemes to bee so For first wise men by the light of reason and naturall conscience haue iudged this punishment equall and iust Iudah before this iudiciall lawe was giuen by Moses appointed Tamar his daughter in law to be burnt to death for playing the whore Nabuchadnezar burnt Echad and Zedechias because they committed adulterie with their neighbours wiues By Dracoes lawe among the Grecians this sin was death and also by the law of the Romanes Againe this law serues directly to maintaine necessarie obedience to the seuenth commandement and the considerations vpon which this lawe was giuen are perpetuall and serue to vphold the common wealth Lev. 20.22 Ye saith the Lord shall keepe all mine ordinances and my iudgements the law of adulterie being one of them Nowe marke the reasons 1. Least the laÌ„d spue you out 2. for the same sins I haue abhorred the natioÌ„s The Ceremoniall lawe is that which prescribes rites and orders in the outward worship of God It must be considered in three times The first is time before the comming and death of Christ the second the time of publishing the gospell by the Apostles the third the time after the publishing of the gospell In the first it did binde the conscience of the Iewes and the obedience of it was the true worship of God But it did not then bind the consciences of the Gentiles for it was the partition wall between them and the Iewes And it did continue to bind the Iewes till the very death and ascension of Christ. For theÌ„ the hand writing of ordinances which was against vs was nailed on the crosse and cancelled And when Christ saith that the lawe and the Prophett indured til Iohn Luk. 16.16 his meaning is not that the ceremoniall law ended then but that things foretold by the Prophets obscurely prefigured by the ceremoniall law began then more plainely to be preached and made manifest The second time was from the ascension of Christ til about the time of the destruction of the Temple and the Citie in which ceremonies ceased to bind conscience and remained indifferent Hereupon Paul circumcised Timothie the Apostles after Christs ascension as occasion was offered were present in the Temple Act. 3.1 And the Council of Hierusalem tendering the weaknes of some beleeuers decreed that the Church for a time should abstaine from strangled and blood And there was good reason of this because the Church of the Iewes was not yet sufficiently conuicted that an end was put to the ceremoniall law by the death of Christ. In the third time which was after the publishing of the gospel ceremonies of the Iewes Church became vnlawfull and so shall continue to the worldes ende By this it appeares what a monstrous and miserable religion the church of Rome teacheth and maintaineth which standes wholly in ceremonies partly heathenish and partly Iewish As for the Gospel I take it for the part of the word of God which promiseth righteousnes and life euerlasting to all that beleeue in Christ and withall commandeth this faith That we may the better knowe howe the gospell bindes conscience two points must be considered one touching the persons bound the other touching the manner of binding Persons are of two sorts some be called some be
and alteration For he which hath a good coÌ„science hath also care to keepe good conscience in all things V. Presumption is peremptorie without doubting whereas the testimonie of conscience is mingled with manifold doubtings Mark 9.24 Luk. 17. 5. yea otherwhiles ouercharged with them Psal. 77.7,8 VI. Presumption will giue a man the slip in the time of sickenes and in the houre of death and the testimonie of good conscience stickes by him to the ende and euen makes him say Lord remember nowe â—owe I haue walked before thee in trueth and haue done that which is acceptable in thy sight Isa. 38.2 The duties of conscience regenerate are two in speciall manner to giue testimonie and to excuse The speciall thing of which conscience giues testimonie is that we are the children of God predestinate to life euerlasting And that appeares by these reasons I. Rom. 8.16 The spirit of God witnesseth togither with our spirit that we are the sonnes of God Now the spirit of man here mentioned is the minde or conscience renewed and sanctified To this purpose saith Iohn He that beleeueth hath a witnesse in himselfe 1. Ioh. 5.10 II. That which Gods spirit doth testifie to the conscience the conscience can againe testifie to vs but Gods spirit doth testifie to the conscience of a man regenerate that he is the childe of God 1. Cor. 2.12 Therefore the conscience also doeth the same III. He that is iustified hath peace of conscience Rom. 5.1 Nowe there can bee no peace in conscience till conscience tel the man which is iustified that he is indeed iustified IV. That which the conscience may know certenly it may testifie but conscience may know certenly without reuelation the mans election and adoption as I haue before prooued therefore it is able to giue testimonie of these Againe the regenerate conscience giueth testimonie of a certaine kinde of righteousnesse beeing an vnseparable companion thereof and for this cause it is called of some the righteousnesse of a good conscience Now this righteousnes is nothing els but an vnfained earnest and constant purpose with endeauour answerable thereto not to sinne in any thing but in all things whatsoeuer to please God and doe his will Hebr. 13.18 Pray for vs for wee are assured that we haue good conscience in all things desiring to liue honestly 2. Cor. 1.12 Our reioycing is this the testimonie of our conscience that in simplicitie and godly purenesse and not in fleshly wisdome wee haue had our conuersation in the worlde 1. Cor. 4.4 I knowe nothing by my selfe Esa. 38.2 Lord remember now howe I haue walked before thee with an vpright heart and haue done that which is acceptable in thy sight I adde this clause in all things because that obedience which is the signe or fruit of good conscience of which also it giues testimonie is generall shewing it selfe in all and euery commandement of God Philosophers haue said that Iustice is vniuersall because he which hath it hath all vertues But it is more truely said of this Christian righteousnes or new obedience that it is vniuersall and that he which can performe true obedience in one commandement can doe the same in all Act. 23.1 Men and brethren I haue in all good conscience serued God till this day Psal. 119.6 Then shall I not bee confounded when I shall haue respect to all thy commandements Act. 24.16 In the meane season I endeaâ—our my selfe or take paines to haue a conscience without offence towards God and towards men This shewes that there is a great number of men professing the Gospell that want good conscience For though they shew themselues very forward and willing to obey God in many things yet in some one thing or other they vse to follow the swinge of their owne wills Many are diligent to frequent the place of Gods worship to heare the word preached with liking to receiue the Sacraments at times appointed and to approoue of any good thing all this is very commendable yet these men often when they depart home from the congregation say in effect on this manner Religion stay thou here at the Church doore till the next Sabbath For if we looke into their priuate conuersations the gouernment of their families or their dealings in their particular callings we shall with griefe see much disorder and little conscience It is a common practise with sicke men when they make their wills on their death beds in the very first place to commend their bodies to the graue and their soules to God that gaue them in hope of a better resurrection and all this is well done but afterward they bequeath their goods gotten by fraud oppression and forged cauillation to their owne friends and children without making any recompence or satisfaction But alas this should not be so for obedience that goes with good conscience must be performed to all Gods commandements without exception and if it be done but to some alone it is but counterfait obedience and he that is guiltie in one is guiltie in all As regenerate conscience giues testimonie of our new obedience so it doth also by certaine sweete motions stirre men forward to performe the same Psal. 16.7 My reynes that is the minde and conscience inlightened by the spirit of God teach me in the night season Esai 30.22 And thine eares shall heare a word behind thee saying This is the way walke ye in it when thou turnest to the right hand and when thou turnest to the left Now this word is not onely the voice of Pastours and teachers in the open ministerie but also the voice of renewed conscience inwardly by many secret cogitations snibbing them that are about to sinne A Christian man is not onely a priest and a prophet but also a spirituall king euen in this life and the Lord in mercie hath vouchsafed him this honour that his conscience renewed within him shall be his solliciter to put him in minde of all his affaires and duties which he is to performe to God yea it is the controller to see all things kept in order in the heart which is the temple and habitation of the holy Ghost The second office of conscience regenerate is to excuse that is to cleare and defend a man euen before God against all his enemies both bodily ghostly Psal. 7.8 Iudge thou me O Lord according to my righteousnes and according to mine innocencie in me Againe 26.1,2 Iudge me O Lord for I haue walked in mine innocencie c. Prooue me O Lord and trie me examine my reynes and my heart That the conscience can doe this it specially appeares in the conflict and combat made by it against the deuill on this manner The deuill beginnes and disputes thus Thou O wretched man art a most grieuous sinner therefore thou art but a damned wretch The conscience answereth and saith I know that Christ hath made a satisfaction for my sinnes and freed me from daÌ„nation The deuill replieth againe
faith as he is of the articles of the creed I answer First they prooue thus much that we ought to be as certen of the one as of the other For looke what commandemeÌ„t we haue to beleeue the articles of our faith the like we haue inioyning vs to beleeue the pardon of our owne sinnes as I haue prooued Secondly these arguments prooue it to be the nature or essentiall propertie of faith as certainely to assure man of his saluation as it doeth assure him of the articles which he beleeueth And howesoeuer commonly men doe not beleeue their saluation as vnfallible as they doe their articles of faith yet some speciall men doe hauing Gods word applyed by the spirit as a sure ground of their faith whereby they beleeue their own saluation as they haue it for a ground of the articles of their faith Thus certainly was Abraham assured of his owne saluation as also the Prophets and Apostles and the martyrs of God in all ages whereupon without doubting they haue bin content to lay downe their liues for the name of Christ in whome they were assured to receiue eternall happines And there is no question but there be many now that by long and often experience of Gods mercy and by the inward certificate of the holy Ghost haue attained to full assurance of their saluation II. Exception Howesoeuer a man may be assured of his present estate yet no man is certaine of his perseuerance vnto the ende Ans. It is otherwise for in the sixt petition Lead vs-not into temptation wee pray that God would not suffer vs to be wholly ouercome of the deuill in any temptation and to this petition we haue a promise answerable 1. Cor. 10. That God with temptation will giue an issue and therefore howesoeuer the deuill may buffit molest and wound the seruants of God yet shall he neuer be able to ouercome them Againe he that is once a member of Christ can neuer be wholly cut off And if any by sinne were wholly seuered from Christ for a time in his recouerie he is to be baptised the second time for baptisme is the sacrament of initiation or ingrafting into Christ. By this reason we should as often be baptized as we fal into any sinne which is absurd Againe S. Iohn saith 1. Ioh. 2.19 They went out from vs but they were not of vs for if they had beene of vs they would haue continued with vs. Where he taketh it for graunted that such as be once in Christ shall neuer wholly be seuered or fall from him Though our communion with Christ may be lessened yet the vnion and the bond of coniunction is neuer dissolued III. Exception They say we are indeede to beleeue our saluation on Gods part but we must needs doubt in regard of our selues because the promises of remission of sinnes are giuen vpon condition of mans faith and repentance Now we cannot say they be assured that we haue true faith and repentance because we may lie in secret sinnes and so want that indeed which we suppose our selues to haue Ans. I say again he that doth truly repent and beleeue doth by Gods grace know that he doth repent and beleeue for els Paul would neuer haue said Prooue your selues whither you be in the faith or not and the same Apostle saith 2. Cor. 12. We haue not receiued the spirit of the world but the spirit which is of God that we might know the things which are giuen of God which things are not onely life euerlasting but iustification sanctification and such like And as for secret sinnes they cannot make our repentance voide for he that truly repenteth of his knowne sinnes repenteth also of such as be vnknowne and receiueth the pardon of them all God requireth not an expresse or speciall repentance of vnknowne sinnes but accepts it as sufficient if we repent of them generally as Dauid saith Psal. 19. Who knowes the errours of this life forgiue me my secret sinnes And whereas they adde that faith and repentance must be sufficient I answer that the sufficiencie of our faith and repentance stands in the truth and not in the measure or perfection thereof and the truth of both where they are is certenly discerned Reason VI. The iudgement of the auncient Church August Of an euill seruant thou art made a good child therefore presume not of thine owne doing but of the grace of Christ it is not arrogancie but faith to acknowledge what thou hast receiued is not pride but deuotion And Let no man aske an other man but returne to his owne heart if he finde charitie there he hath securitie for his passage from life to death Hilar. on Matth. 5. The kingdome of heauen which our Lord professed to be in himselfe his will is that it must be hoped for without any doubtfulnesse of vncertaine will Otherwise there is no iustification by faith if faith is selfe be made doubtfull Bernard in his epist. 107. Who is the iust man but he that beeing loued of God loues him againe which comes not to passe but by the spirit reuealing by Faith the eternall purpose of God of his saluation to come Which reuelation is nothing else but the infusion of spirituall grace by which when the deedes of the flesh are mortified the man is prepared to the kingdome of heauen Togither receiuing in one spirit that whereby he may presume that he is loued and also loue againe To conclude the Papists haue no great cause to dissent from vs in this point For they teach and professe that they doe by a speciall faith beleeue their owne saluation certenly and vnfallibly in respect of God that promiseth Now the thing which hindreth them is their owne in disposition and vnworthines as they say which keepes them from beeing certen otherwise then in a likely hope But this hindrance is easily remooued if men will iudge indifferently For first of all in regard of our selues and our disposition we can not be certen at all but must despaire of saluation euen to the very death We cannot be sufficiently disposed so long as we liue in this world but must alwaies say with Iacob I am lesse then all thy mercies Gen. 32. and with Dauid Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant O Lord for none liuing shall be iustified in thy sight and with the Centurion Lord I am not worthie that thou shouldest come vnder my roofe Matth. 8. Secondly God in making promise of saluation respects not mens worthines For he chose vs to life euerlasting when we were not he redeemed vs from death beeing enemies and intitles vs to the promise of saluation if we acknowledge our selues to be â—inners Matth. 9. if we labour and trauaile vnder the burden of them Matth. II. if we hunger and thirst after grace Ioh. 7.37 And these things we may certenly and sensibly perceiue in our selues and when we finde them in vs though our vnworthines be exceeding great it should not
sufficient to comfort and direct him All this argues that poperie denied with the mouth abides still in the heart and therefore we must learne to reuerence the written word by ascribing vnto it all manner of perfection The eight point Of Vowes Our Consent Touching Vowes this must be knowne that we doe not condemne them altogether but onely labour to restore the puritie of doctrine touching this point which by the Church of Rome from time to time hath beene corrupted and defaced Wee holde therefore that a vowe is a promise made to God touching some duties to be performed vnto him and it is twofold generall or speciall The generall vowe is that which concerns all beleeuers and it is made in the couenant both of the lawe and of the Gospell I will here onely speake of the vowe which is made in the couenant of the Gospel in which there be two actions one of God the other of man God in mercie on his part promiseth to men the remission of sinnes and life euerlasting and man againe for his part promiseth to beleeue in Christ and to obey God in all his commandements Al men euer made this vowe vnto God as the Iewes in circumcision which also they renued so often as they receiued the Passeouer in the newe testament all that are baptized doe the like And in Baptisme this vowe is called the stipulation of a good conscience whereby we purpose to renounce our selues to beleeue in Christ and to bring forth the fruites of true repentance and it ought to be renued so oft as we are partakers of the supper of the Lord. This vowe is necessarie and must bee kept as a part of the true worship of God because it is a promise wherein we vowe to performe all duties commanded of God either in the law or in the Gospell It may be demanded considering we are bound to obedience how we binde our selues in baptisme thereto Ans. Though we be alreadie bound partly by nature and partly by the written worde yet may wee renue the same bond in a vowe and hee that is bound may further bind himselfe so it be for this ende to helpe his dulnesse for want of zeale and to make himselfe more forward in duties of loue to men and the worshippe of God to this ende Dauid sware to keepe the lawe of God Psal. 119.116 though he were bound vnto it by nature and by the written lawe it selfe The speciall vowe is that which doeth not reach to the person of all beleeuers but onely concerns some speciall men vpon some special occasions And this kind of vowe is two-fold The first is the vowe of a ceremoniall dutie in the way of seruice to God and it was in practise in the Church of the Iewes vnder the old testament examples hereof are two especially the first was the vowe of the Nazarites whereto no kinde of men were bound by Gods commandement but they bound themselues God onely prescribing the manner and order of keeping the same with rites pertaining thereto as abstinence frō wine the not cutting of their haire and such like The second example is of the Iewes when of their own accords they vowed to giue god house or land sheepe or oxen or any like things for the maintenance of the legall worship and of this also God prescribeth certaine rules Leuit 27. Nowe these vowes were part of the Iewish pedagogue or ceremonial lawe wherein God trained vp the Iewes in the old testament and beeing obserued of them they were parts of Gods worship but nowe vnder the Gospell they are not beeing all abolished with the ceremoniall lawe to which Christ put an ende at his death vpon the crosse It is true Paul made a vowe and since kept the same in the time of the newe testament Act. 18. yet not as a part of Gods worship but as a thing indifferent for the time wherein he onely condescended to the weaknesse of the Iewes that by this meanes he might bring them the better vnto Christ. And whereas Christ is called a Nazarite Matth. 2.23 wee may not thinke he was of that very order because he did not abstaine from wine but he was so tearmed because he was the veritie accomplishment of this order For by it was signified that Gods Church was a peculiar people seuered or chosen out of the world and that Christ in respect of holinesse was also seperated from all sinners And the words in S. Mathew he shall be called a Nazarite are borrowed from the booke of Iudges cap. 13. where they are properly spoken of Sampson and in type or figure of Christ. For as Sampson saued Israel by his death so did Christ saue his Church And as Sampson killed his enemies more by death then by life so did Christ. It is plaine therefore that this kind of vowe bindeth not vs for there are no more ceremonies to be kept vnder the gospell for parts of Gods worship but the outward rites of baptisme and the Lords supper Vowes concerning meates drinkes attire touching tasting times places daies were proper to the Iewes The second kind of speciall vowe is that whereby a man promiseth freely to performe some outward and bodily exercise for some good ende and this vow also if it be made accordingly is lawful and belongs both to the Church of the old and newe testament In the old we haue the example of the Rekabites Ier. 35. who by the appointment of Ionadab their father abstained from strong drinke and wine from planting vineyards and orchards whereby Ionadab intended onely to breake them before hand and to acquaint them with their future condition and state that they should bee strangers in a forraine land that so they might prepare themselues to indure hardnes in the time to come And nowe in the newe testament wee haue warrant in like manner to vowe as if a man by drinking of wine or strong drinke finde himselfe prone to drunkennes he may vow with himselfe to drink no more wine nor strong drinke for so long time as he feeles the drinking thereof wil stirre vp his infirmitie and minister occasion of sinning Of this kinde also are the vowes in which we purpose and promise to God to keepe set times of fasting to taske our selues in praier and reading of holy scriptures and to giue set almes for speciall causes knowne to our selues and to doe sundrie like duties And that we be not deceiued in making such vowes certen rules must be remembred I. that the vowe be agreeable to Gods will and worde for if it be otherwise the making as also the keeping thereof is sinne Vowes must not be the bonds of iniquitie II. It must so bee made that it may ftand with Christian libertie For we may not make such things necessarie in conscience which God hath made free Now Christian libertie allowes vnto vs the free vse of all things indifferent so it be out of the case of offence Hence it followes that vowes must be
praier and humiliation are practised in fasting And I doe now specially intreat of this kind Conclus II. We ioyne with them in the allowance of the principall and right endes of a religious fast and they are three The first is that thereby the minde may become attentine in meditation of the duties of godlinesse to be performedâ— The second is that the rebellion of the flesh may be subdued for the flesh pampered becomes an instrument of licentiousnes The third and as I take it the cheefe ende of a religious fast is to professe our guiltinesse and to testifie our humiliation before God for our sinnes aud for this ende in the fast of Nineue the very beast was made to abstaine Conclus III. We yeeld vnto them that fasting is an helpe and furtherance to the worship of God yea and a good worke also if it be vsed in a good maner For though fasting in it selfe beeing a thing indifferent as eating drinking are is not to be tearmed a good worke yet beeing applied and considered in relation to the right ends before spoken of and practised accordingly it is a worke allowed of God and highly to be esteemed of all the seruants and people of God The difference or dissent Our dissent from the Church of Rome in the doctrine of fasting stands in three things I. They appoint and prescribe set times of fasting as necessarie to be kept but we hold and teach that to prescribe the time of a religious fast is in the libertie of the Church and the gouernours thereof as speciall occasion shall be offered When the disciples of Iohn asked Christ why they and the Pharises fast often but his disciples fasted not he answered Can the children of the marriage chamber mourne as long as the bridegroome is with them but the daies will come when the bridegroome shall be taken away from them and then shall they fast Math. 9.15 where he giues them to vnderstand that they must fast as occasions of mourning are offered Where also I gather that a set time of fasting is no more to be enioyned then a set time of mourning It was the opinion of Augustine that neither Christ nor his Apostles appointed any times of fasting And Tertullian saith that they of his time fasted of their owne accordes freely without law or commandement as occasions and times serued And Eusebius saith that Montanus was the first that made lawes of fasting It is obiected that there is a set time of fasting prescribed Leuit. 16.29 Ans. This set and prescribed fast was commanded of God as a part of the legall worship which had his ende in the death of Christ therefore it doth not iustifie a set time of fasting in the new testament where God hath left man to his owne libertie without giuing the like commandement It is againe alleadged that Zacharie 7.5 there were set times appointed for the celebration of religious fasts vnto the Lord the fifth and the seauenth moneths Ans. They were appointed vpon occasion of the present afflictions of the Church in Babylon and they ceased vpon their deliuerance The like vpon like occasion may we appoint It is further obiected that some Churches of the Protestants obserue set times of fasting Ans. In some Churches there be set daies and times of fasting not vpon necessitie or for conscience or â—eligions sake but for politicke or ciuill regardes whereas in the Romish Church it is helde a mortall sinne to deferre the set time of fasting till the next day following Secondly we dissent from the Church of Rome touching the manner of keeping a fast For the best learned among them allow the drinking of wine water electuaries and that often within the compasse of their appointed fast yea they allow the eating of one meale on a fasting day at noone-tide and vpon a reasonable cause one houre before the time of fasting not yet ended But this practise indeede is absurd and contrarie to the practise of the olde testament yea it doth frustrate the ende of fasting For the bodily abstinence is an outward meanes and signe whereby we acknowledge our guiltinesse and vnworthinesse of any of the blessings of God Againe they prescribe a difference of meates as whit-meate onely to be vsed on their fasting daies and that of necessitie and for conscience sake in most cases But we holde this distinction of meates both to be foolish and wicked Foolish because in such meates as they prescribe there is as much filling and delight as in any other meates as namely in fish fruites wine c. which they permit And it is against the ende of a religious fast to vse any refreshing at all so farre as necessitie of health and comelinesse will permit Thus the Church in times past vsed to abstaine not onely from meate and drinke but from all delights whatsoeuer euen from soft apparell and sweete oyntments Ioel 2.15 Sanctifie a fast let the bridegroome goe forth of his chamber and the bride out of her bride chamber Dan. 10.3 I ate no pleasant breade neither came flesh nor wine within my mouth neither did I annoint my selfe at all till three weekes of daies were fulfilled 1. Cor. 7.5 Defraud not one an other except it be with consent for a time that ye may giue your selues to fasting and prayer Againe we holde this practise to be wicked because it taketh away the libertie of Christians by which vnto the pure all things are pure And the Apostle Gal. 5. biddes vs to stand fast in this libertie which the Church of Rome would thus abolish For the better vnderstanding of this let vs consider how the Lord himselfe hath from the beginning kept in his owne handes as a master in his owne house the disposition of his creatures for the vse of man that he might depend on him and his word for temporall blessings In the first age he appointed vnto him for meaâ—e euery hearb of the earth bearing seede and euery tree wherein there is the fruit of a tree bearing â—eede Gen. 1.29 And as for flesh whether God gaue vnto him libertie to eate or not to eate we hold it vncerten After the flood the Lord renewed his graunt of the vse of the creatures and gaue his people libertie to eate the flesh of liuing creatures yet so as he made some things vncleane and forbad the eating of them among the rest the eating of blood But since the comming of Christ he hath inlarged his word and giuen libertie to all both Iewes and Gentiles to eate of all kinds of flesh This word of his we rest vpon holding it a doctrine of deuills for men to commaund an abstinence from meates for conscience sake which the Lord himselfe hath created to be receiued with thanksgiuing Socrates a Christian historiagrapher saith that the Apostles left it free to euery one to vse what kinde of meate they would on fasting daies and other times Spiridion in lent dressed swines flesh and set
of Iohn Baptist. Againe Christ saith that they know not the houre of the last iudgement Math. 24. 23. much lesse doe the Saints knowe al things in God And hence it is that they are said to be vnder the altar where they crie How long Lord holy and true wilt thou not reuenge our blood as being ignorant of the daie of their full deliuerance And the Iewes in affliction confesse Abraham was ignorant of them and their estate Isa 63.16 Reason III. Math. 4.10 Christ refused so much as to bowe the knee to Sathan vpon this ground because it was written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue Hence it was that Peter would not suffer Cornelius so much as to kneele vnto him though Cornelius intended not to honour him as God Therefore neither Saint nor angel is to be honoured so much as with the bowing of the knee if it carrie but the least signification of diuine or religious honour Reason IV. The iudgement of the auncient Church August Wee honour the Saints with charitie and not by seruitude neither doe we erect Churches to them And Let it not be religion for vs to worship dead men And They are to be honoured for imitation and not to be adored for religion Epiphan Neither Tecla nor any Saint is to be adored for that auncient errour may not ouerrule vs that we should leaue the liuing God and adore things made by him Againe Let Marie bee in honour let the Father Sonne and holy ghost be adored let none adore Marie I meane neither woman nor man Againe Marie is beutifull holy and honoured yet not to adoration When Iulian obiected to the Christians that they worshipped their Martyrs as God Cyrill graunts the memorie and honour of them but denies their adoration and of inuocation he makes no mention at all Ambrose on Ro. 1. Is any so mad that hee will giue to the Earle the honour of the King yet these men doe not thinke themselues guiltie who giue the honour of Gods name to a creature and leauing the Lord adore their fellowe seruants as though there were any thing more reserued for God Obiections of Papists I. Gen. 48.16 Let the angel that kept me blesse thy children Here say they it is a praier made to angels Ans. By the angel is meant Christ who is called the angel of the couenant Malac. 3.1 and the angel that guided Israel in the wildernes 1. Cor. 10.9 compared with Exod. 23.20 Obiect 11. Exod. 23.13 Moses praieth that God would respect his people for Abrahams sake and for Isaac and Israel his seruants which were not then liuing Ans. Moses praieth God to bee mercifull to the people not for the intercession of Abraham Isaac and Iacob but for his couenants sake which he had made with them Psal. 123.10,11 Againe by popish doctrine the fathers departed knew not the estate of men vpon earth neither did they pray for them because then they were not in heauen but in Limbo Patrum III. Obiect One liuing man makes intercession to God for another therefore much more doe the Saints in glorie that are filled with loue pray to god for vs and we pray to them no otherwise then we desire liuing men to pray for vs. Ans. The reason is naught for we haue a commandement one liuing man to pray for another and to desire others to pray for vs but there is no warrant in the word of God for vs to desire the praiers of men departed Secondly there is great difference betweene these two To request our friend either by word of mouth or by letter to praie for vs and by Inuocation to request them that are absent from vs departed this life to pray for vs for this is indeede a worship in which is giuen vnto them a power to heare and helpe all that call vpon them at what place or time soeuer yea though they be not present in the place in which they are worshipped and consequently the seeing of the heart presence in all places and infinit power to helpe all that pray vnto them which things agree to no creature but God alone Thirdly when one liuing man requests an other to pray from him hee onely makes him his companion and fellow member in his praier made in the name of our mediatour Christ but when men inuocate Saints in heauen they being then absent they make them more then fellow members euen mediators between Christ and them The XV. point Of intercession of Saints Our Consent Our consent with thē I will set down in two conclusions Conclus I. The saints departed pray vnto God by giuing thanks vnto him for their owne redēption for the redēption of the whole church of God vpon earth Rev. 5. 8. The foure beasts and the foure and twentie elders fell downe before the Lambe 9. and they song a newe song Thou art worthie to take the booke and to open the seales thereof because thou wast killed and hast redeemed vs to God .13 And all the creatures which are in heauen heard I saying Praise and honour and glorie and power be vnto him that sitteth vpon the throne and vnto the Lambe for euermore II. Conclus The Saints departed pray generally for the state of the whole church Reu. 6.9 And I saw vnder the altar the soules of them that were killed for the word of God and they cried 10. How long Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and aueuge our blood on them that dwell on the earth whereby we see they desire a finall deliuerance of the church and a destruction of the enemies thereof that they themselues with all the people of God might be aduanced to fulnesse of glorie in bodie and soule yea the dumbe creatures Rom. 8. 23. are said to grone and sigh waiting for the adoption euen the redemption of our bodies much more then doe the Saints in heauen desire the same And thus farre we consent The dissent or difference They hold and teach that the Saints in heauen as the virgin Marie Peter Paul c. doe make intercession to God for particular men according to their seuerall wants and that hauing receiued particular mens praiers they present them vnto God But this doctrine we flatly renounce vpon these grounds and reasons I. Isa. 63.16 The Church saith to God doubtles thou art our father though Abraham be ignorant of vs and Israel knowe vs not Nowe if Abraham knewe not his posteritie neither Marie nor Peter nor any other of the Saints departed knowe vs and our estate and consequently they cannot make any particular intercession for vs. If they say that Abraham Iacob were then in Limbo which they will haue to be a part of hell what ioy could Lazarus haue in Abrahams bosome Luk. 16.25 with what comfort could Iacob say on his death bed O Lord I haue waited for thy saluation Gen. 46.18 II. Reason 2. King 22.20 Huldah the prophetesse telleth Iosias he
they because they come vnto vs by the hands of men that may deceiue and be deceiued And we hold and beleeue that the right Canon of the bookes of the old and newe Testament cōtaines in it sufficient direction for the Church of God to life euerlasting both for faith and maners Here then is the point of difference that they make the obiect of faith larger then it should be or can be and we keepe our selues to the written word beleeuing nothing to saluation out of it In the second conclusion touching saluation by Christ alone there is a manifest deceit because they craftily include and couch their owne works vnder the name of Christ. For say they works done by men regenerate are not their owne but Christs in them and as they are the workes of Christ they saue and no otherwise But we for our parts looke to be saued onely by such workes as Christ himselfe did in his owne person and not by any worke at all done by him in vs. For all workes done are in the matter of iustification and saluation opposed to the grace of Christ Rom. 11.6 Election is of grace not of workes if it be of workes it is no more of grace Againe whereas they teach that wee are saued by the works of Christ which he worketh in vs and maketh vs to work it is flatte against the word For Paul saith Wee are not saued by such workes as God hath ordained that men regenerate should walke in Eph. 2.10 And hee saieth further that hee counted all things euen after his conuersion losse vnto him that he might be found in Christ not hauing his owne righteousnes which is of the lawe Phil. 3.8 Againe Heb. 1.3 Christ washed away our sinnes by himselfe which last wordes exclude the merit of all workes done by Christ within man Thus indeede the Papists ouerturne all that which in word they seeme to hold touching their iustification and saluation We confesse with them that good works in vs are the workes of Christ yet are they not Christs alone but ours also in that they proceede from Christ by the minde and will of man as water from the fountaine by the channell And looke as the channell defiled defiles the water that is without defilement in the fountaine euen so the minde and will of man defiled by the remnants of sinne defile the works which as they come frō Christ are vndefiled Hence it is that the works of grace which we doe by Christ or Christ in vs are defectiue and must be seuered from Christ in the act of iustification or saluation The third conclusion is touching the imputation of Christs obedience which some of the most learned among them acknowledge and the difference betweene vs stands on this manner They hold that Christs obedience is imputed onely to make satisfaction for sinne and not to iustifie vs before God We hold and beleeue that the obedience of Christ is imputed to vs euē for our righteousnesse before God Paul saith 1. Cor. 1.30 Christ is made vnto vs of God wisdome righteousnes sanctification and redemption Hence I reason thus If Christ be both our sanctification and our righteousnes then he is not onely vnto vs inherent righteousnes but also righteousnes imputed But he is not onely our sanctification which the Papists themselues expound of inherent or habituall righteousnesse but also our righteousnes for thus by Paul are they distinguished Therefore hee is vnto vs both inherent and imputed righteousnesse And very reason teacheth thus much For in the ende of the world at the barre of Gods iudgement wee must bring some kinde of righteousnes for our iustification that may stand in the rigour of the law according to which we are to be iudged But our inherent righteousnesse is imperfect stained with manyfold defects and shall be as long as we liue in this worlde as experience tels vs and consequently it is not sutable to the iustice of the lawe and if we goe out of our selues we shall find no righteousnesse seruing for our turnes either in men or angels that may or can procure our absolution before God and acceptation to life euerlasting We must therefore haue recourse to the person of Christ and his obedience imputed vnto vs must serue not onely to be a satisfaction to God for all our sinnes but also for our perfect iustification in that god is content to accept of it for our righteousnes as if it were inherent in vs or performed by vs. Touching the fourth conclusion they holde it the safest and surest course to put their trust and confidence in the mercie of God alone for their saluation yet they condescend that men may also put their confidence in the merit of their owne workes and in the merits also of other men so it be in sobrietie But this doctrine quite marres the conclusion because by teaching that men are to put confidence in the creature they ouerturne al confidence in the Creatour For in the very first commandement wee are taught to make choice of the true God for our God which thing we doe when wee giue to God our hearts and we giue our hearts to God when we put our whole confidence in him for the saluation of our soules Now then to put confidence in men or in workes is to make them our Gods The true and auncient forme of making confession was on this manner I beleeue in God the father in Iesus Christ and in the holy ghost without mention making of any confidence in workes or creatures the auncient Church neuer knew any such confession or confidence Cyprian saith He beleeueth not in God who putteth not affiance concerning his saluation in God alone And indeede the Papists themselues when death comes forsake the confidence of their merits and flie to the meere mercie of God in Christ. And for a confirmation of this I alleadge the testimonie of one Vlinbergius of Colen who writeth thus There was a booke founde in the vestrie of a certaine parish of Colen written in the dutch tongue in the yeare of our Lord 1475. which the Priests vsed in visiting of the sicke And in it these questions be found Doest thou beleeue that thou canst not be saued but by the death of Christ The sicke person answered Yea. Then it is said vnto him Go too then while breath remaines in thee put thy confidence in this death alone haue affiance in nothing else commit thy selfe wholly to this death with it alone couer thy selfe diue thy self in euery part into this death in euery part pearse thy selfe with it infold thy selfe in this death And if the Lord will iudge thee say Lord I put the death of our Lord Iesus Christ betweene me and thy iudgement and by no other meanes I contend with thee And if he shall say vnto thee that thou art a sinner say Lord the death of my Lord Iesus Christ I put betweene thee and my sinnes If he shall say
vnto thee that thou hast deserued damnation say Lord I oppose the death of our Lord Iesus Christ betweene thee and my euill merits and I offer his merit for the merit which I should haue and haue not If he shall say that he is angrie with thee say Lord I oppose the death of our Lord Iesus Christ betweene me and thine anger Here we see what Papists doe and haue done in the time of death And that which they hold and practise when they are dying they should hold and practise euery day while they are liuing In the last conclusion they teach that we must not onely beleeue in generall but also applie vnto our selues the promises of life euerlasting But they differ from vs in the very manner of applying They teach that the promise is to be applied not by faith asâ—uring vs of our own saluation but only by hope in likelihood coniecturall We hold that we are bound in dutie to applie the promise of life by faith without making doubt thereof and by hope to continue the certentie after the apprehension made by faith We doe not teach that all and euery man liuing within the precincts of the church professing the name of Christ is certen of his saluation and that by faith but that he ought so to be and must indeauour to attaine thereto And here is a great point in the mysterie of iniquitie to be considered for by this vncerten application of the promise of saluation and this wauering hope they ouerturne halfe the doctrine of the Gospel For it inioynes two things first to beleeue the promises thereof to be true in themselues secondly to beleeue and by faith to applie them vnto our selues And this latter part without which the former is voide of comfort is quite ouerturned The reasons which they alleadge against our doctrine I haue answered before now therefore I let them passe To conclude though in coloured tearmes they seeme to agree with vs in doctrine concerning faith yet in deede they denie and abolish the substance thereof namely the particular and certen application of Christ crucified and his benefits vnto our selues Againe they faile in that they cut off the principall dutie and office of true sauing faith which is to apprehend and to applie the blessing promised The 21. point Of Repentance Our consent Conclus I. That repentance is the conuersion of a sinner There is a two-fold conuersion passiue and actiue passiue is an action of God whereby he conuerteth man beeing as yet vncoÌ„uerted Actiue is an action whereby man being once turned of God turnes himselfe and of this latter must this conclusion be vnderstood For the first conuersion considering it is a worke of God turning vs vnto himselfe is not the repentance whereof the Scripture speaketh so oft but it is called by the name of regeneration and repentance wherby we beeing first turned of God doe turne our selues and doe good workes is the fruit thereof Conclus II. That repentance stands specially for practise in contrition of heart confession of mouth and satisfaction in worke or deed Touching contrition there be two kinds thereof Legal and Euangelical Legal contrition is nothing but a remorse of coÌ„science for sinne in regard of the wrath iudgemeÌ„t of God it is no grace of God at all nor any part or cause of repeÌ„tance but onely an occasion thereof that by the mercie of God for of it selfe it is the sting of the law and the very entrance into the pit of hel Euangelical contrition is when a repentant sinner is grieued for his sinnes not so much for feare of hell or any other punishment as because he hath offended and displeased so good and mercifull a God This contrition is caused by the ministerie of the Gospell and in the practise of repentance it is alwaies necessarie and goes before as the beginning thereof Secondly we hold and maintaine that confession is to be made and that in sundrie respects first to God both publikely in the congregation and also priuately in our secret and priuate praiers Secondly to the Church when any person hath openly offended the congregation by any crime and is therefore excommunicate Thirdly to our priuate neighbour when we haue vpon any occasion offended and wronged him Math. 5.23 If thou bring thy gift to the altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee goe first and be reconciled to him now reconciliation presupposeth confession Lastly in all true repentance we hold and acknowledge there must be satisfaction made first to God and that is when we intreat him in our supplications to accept the death and passion of Christ as a full perfect and sufficient satisfaction for all our sinnes Secondly it is to be made vnto the Church after excommunication for publike offences and it staÌ„ds in duties of humiliatioÌ„ that fitly serue to testifie the truth of our repeÌ„taÌ„ce Thirdly satisfaction is to be made to our neighbor because if he be wronged he must haue recoÌ„pence and restitution made Luk. 19.8 there repentance may iustly be suspected where no satisfaction is made if it lie in our power Conclus III. That in repentance we are to bring outward fruits worthie amendment of life for repentance it selfe is in the heart and therefore must be testified in all manner of good workes whereof the principall is to indeauour day by day by Gods grace to leaue and renounce all and euery sinne and in all things to doe the will of God And here let it be remembred that we are not patrons of licentiousnes and enemies of good workes For though we exclude them from the act of our iustification and saluation yet we maintaine a profitable and necessarie vse of them in the life of euery Christian man This vse is three-fold in respect of God of man of our selues Workes are to be done in respect of God that his commandements may be obeied 1. Ioh. 5.12 that his will may be don 1. Thess. 4.3 that we may shew our selues to be obedient children to God our Father 1. Pet. 1.14 that we may shew our selues thankefull for our redemption by Christ Tit. 2. 14. that we might not grieue the spirit of God Eph. 4.30 but walke according to the same Gal. 5. 22. that God by our good workes may be glorified Math. 5.16 that we may be good followers of God Eph. 5.1 Againe workes are to be done in regard of men that our neighbour may be helped in worldly things Luk. 6.38 that he may be woon by our example to godlines 1. Pet. 3.14 that we may preuent in our selues the giuing of any offence 1. Cor. 10.32 that by doing good we may stoppe the mouthes of our aduersaries Thirdly and lastly they haue vse in respect of our selues that we may shew our selues to be new creatures 2. Cor. 5.17 that we may walke as the children of light Eph. 5.8 that we haue some assurance of our faith and of our saluation 2. Pet.
law Answer is made that our daily sinnes are veniall and not against the law but beside the law But this which they say is against the petition for a debt that comes by forfiture is against the bond or obligation Now euery sinne is a debt causing the forfiture of punishment and therefore is not beside but directly against the law 4 In this clause as we forgiue our debters it is taken for graunted that we may certenly know that we are in loue and charitie with men when we make reconciliation why then may not we know certenly that we repent and beleeue and are reconciled to God which all Romane Catholikes denie 5 In the last wordes and lead vs not into temptation we pray not that God should free vs from temptation for it is otherwhiles good to be tempted Psal. 26.1 but that we be not left to the malice of Sathan and held captiue of the temptation for here to be lead into temptation and to be deliuered are opposed Now hence I gather that he which is the child of God truly iustified and sanctified shall neuer fall wholly and finally from the grace of God and I conclude on this manner That which we aske according to the will of God shall be graunted 1. Ioh. 5. but this the child of God asketh that he might neuer be wholly forsaken of his father and left captiue in temptation This therfore shall be graunted 6 This clause Amen signifies a speciall faith touching all the former petitions that they shall be graunted and therefore a speciall faith concerning remission of sinnes which the Romane Church denieth To come to the last place to the Institution of the sacrament of the Lords Supper 1. Cor. 11.23 In which first of all the Reall presence is by many circumstances ouerthrowne Out of the wordes he tooke and brake it is plaine that that which Christ tooke was not his bodie because he can not be saide with his owne hands to haue taken held and broken himselfe but the very bread Againe Christ said not vnder the forme of bread or in bread but This that is bread is my bodie 3. Bread was not giuen for vs but onely the bodie of Christ and in this first institution the bodie of Christ was not really giuen to death 4. The cup is the new testament by a figure why may not the bread be the bodie of Christ by a figure also 5. Christ did eate the supper but not him selfe 6. We are bidden to doe it till he come Christ then is not bodily present 7. Christ biddes the bread to be eaten in a remembrance of him but signes of remembrance are of things absent 8. If the Popish reall presence be granted then the bodie and blood of Christ are either seuered or ioyned together If seuered then Christ is still crucified If ioyned together then the bread is both the bodie and blood of Christ whereas the institution saith the bread is the bodie and the wine is the blood 2 Againe here is condemned the administration of the saâ—ramâ—nt vnder one onely kind For the commandement of Christ is Drinke ye all of this Mat. 26.27 And this commaundement is rehearsed to the Church of Corinth in these wordes Doe this as oft as ye drinke in remembrance of me v. 25. And no power can reuerse this commandement because it was established by the soueraigne head of the Church These fewe lines as also the former treatise I offer to the vew and reading of them that fauour the Romane religion willing them with patience to coÌ„sider this one thing that their religion if it were Catholike and Apostolike as they pretende it could not be contrarie so much as in one point to the groundes of all Catechismes that haue beene vsed in all Churches confessing the name of Christ euer since the Apostles daies And whereas it crosseth the said groundes in sundrie points of doctrine as I haue prooued it is a plaine argument that the present Romane religion is degenerate I write not this despising or hating their persons for their religion but wishing vnfainedly their conuersion in this world and their saluation in the world to come FINIS THE FOVNDATION OF CHRISTIAN RELIgion gathered into sixe Principles And it is to be learned of ignorant people that they may be fit to heare Sermons with profit and to receiue the Lords Supper with comfort Psalme 119. 30. The entrance into thy words sheweth light and giueth vnderstanding to the simple Printed for I.L. and I.P. 1600. To all ignorant people that desire to be instructed POore people your manner is to sooth vp your selues as though yee were in a most happie estate but if the matter come to a iust triall it will fall out farre otherwise For you lead your liues in great ignorance as may appeare by these your common opinions which follow 1 That faith is a mans good meaning and his good seruing of God 2 That God is serued by the rehearsing of the ten Commandements the Lords prayer and the Creede 3 That ye haue beleeued in Christ euer since you could remember 4 That it is pitie he should liue which doth any whit doubt of his saluation 5 That none can tell whether he shall be saued or no certainely 〈◊〉 that all men must be of a good beleefe 6 That howsoeuer a man liue yet if he call vpon God on his death-bed and say Lord haue mercie vpon me and so goe away like a lambe he is certainely saued 7 That if any be strangely visited he is either taken with a Planet or bewitched 8 That a man may lawfully sweare when he speakes nothing but the truth and sweares by nothing but that which is good as by his faith or troth 9 That a Preacher is a good man no longer then he is in the pulpit They thinke all like themselues 10 That a man may repent when he will because the Scripture saith At what time soeuer a sinner doth repent him of his sinne c. 11 That it is an easier thing to please God then to please our neighbour 12 That ye can keepe the commandements as well as God will giue you leaue 13 That it is the safest to doe in Religion as most doe 14 That merrie ballads and books as Scogin Bevis of Southampton c. are good to driue away time and to remooue heart-quames 15 That ye can serue God with all your hearts that ye would be sory els 16 That a man neede not heare so many sermons except he could followe them better 17 That a man which commeth at no sermons may as well beleeue as he which heares all the sermons in the world 18 That ye know all the Preacher can tell you For he can say nothing but that euery man is a sinner that we must loue our neighbours as our selues that euery man must be saued by Christ and all this ye can tell as well as he 19 That it was a good world when the olde Religion was because
which is done by giuing all the members of our bodies to be instruments of the seruice of God in righteosnesse and holinesse Secondly we must indeauour to keepe in the corruption of nature as it were choking and smothering it in the heart that by it neither the world nor the deuill preuaile against vs. And this must be done by hauing a narrowe regard vnto all the powers and faculties of bodie and soule setting a watch before our eies eares lippes and all other parts of the bodie that are in any action the instrumentes of the soule and aboue all as Salomon saith by countergarding the heart with all diligence By the outward senses of the bodie as through open windowes the deuill creeps into the heart and therefore our dutie is to stoppe all such waies of entrance Thirdly when original corruption begins to rebel either in the minde will or any of the affections then must we drawe out the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and incounter with that hydeous gyant laying loade vpon him by the iudgements and threatnings of the lawe and as it were beating him downe with clubbes as Paul speaketh And if it fall out that concupiscence begin to conceiue and bring forth any sinne we must cruise it in the head and dash it against the ground as a bird in the shell least it grow vp to our vtter confusion These are the duties which wee should learne by the passion of Christ. But lamentable are our daies in which all for the most part goes contrarie for commonly men are so farre from killing and subduing the rebellion of the naturall concupiscence that all their studie and care is howe they may feede and cherish it and make it stronger then the mightie Goliah But let vs for our parts be conformable to Christ in his passion suffering in our flesh as he suffered in bodie and soule for And let vs daily more and more by the hand of faith apprehend and apply to our hearts and consciences the passion of Christ that it may as a fretting corasiue eate out the poison of our sinfull natures and consume it Nowe followeth the second point concerning the passion of Christ which is vnder whome he suffered namely vnder Pontius Pilate And Christ may be saide to suffer vnder him in two respects First because he was then the president of Iurie For a little before the birth of Christ the kingdome of the Iewes was taken away by the Romane Emperour and reduced into a Prouince and Pontius Pilate was placed ouer the Iewes not as king but as the Romane Emperours deputie And this circumstance is noted in the history of the Gospell and here specified in the Creed to shewe that the Messias was exhibited in the time foretold by the Prophets Iacob foretold that Shilo must be borne after the scepter is remooued from Iudah Isaiah saith that the family of Ishai shall be worne as it were to the roote before Christ as a braunch shall spring out of it Againe Christ suffered vnder Pontius Pilate as he was a iudge whereby we are giuen to vnderstand of a wonder namely that Christ the sonne of God King of heauen and earth was arraigned at the barre of an earthly iudge and there condemned For thus much the words in meaning import that Pontius Pilate sate as iudge vpon Christ to examine him to arraigne him and giue sentence against him Wherefore before wee come to speake of the degrees of the passion of Christ we must needs intreat of his arraignment vpon earth In handling whereof we must generally consider these points First that when he was arraigned before Pilate he was not as a priuate man but as a pledge and surety that stood in the place and stead of vs miserable sinners as the Prophet Isaiah saith He bare our infirmities and carried our sorrowes and withall in him was mankind arraigned before God Secondly this arraignment was made not priuately in a corner but openly in the publike court and that in a great feast of the Iewes as it were in the hearing of the whole world Thirdly though Pilate in citing examining and condemning Christ intended not to worke any part of mans redemption yet was this wholly set downe in the counsell and good pleasure of God in whose roome Pilate sate and whose iudgement he exercised The generall vse of Christs arraignment is two-fold First it is a terrour to all impenitent sinners for there is no freedome or protection from the iudgement of God but by the arraignment of Christ and therefore such as in this life receiue him not by faith must at the ende of this world be brought out to the most terrible barre of the last iudgement there to be arraigned before the King of heauen and earth And marke the equitie hereof Christ himselfe could not haue beene our Sauiour and redeemer vnlesse he had bin brought out to the barre of an earthly iudge and arraigned as a guilty malefactour and therefore there is no man vpon earth that liues and dies out of Christ but he must whether he will or no hold vp his hand at the barre of the great iudge of all mankind where he shall see hell vnderneath him burning redde hotte and opening it selfe wide to swallow him vp and on the right hand of God standing all the Prophets Apostles and Saints of God giuing iudgement against him on the left hand the deuill and all his angels accusing him and within him a guilty conscience condemning him And thus one day shal the arraignment of those persons be that with full purpose of heart cleaue not to Christ and yet alas huge and infinite is the number of those which make more account of transitorie and earthly matters euen of their pigges with the Gaderens then of him and his benefits and such persons should rather be pitied then despised of vs all considering their estate is such that euery day they are going as traytours pinnioned to their owne iudgement that they may goe thence to eternall execution Secondly Christs arraignment is a comfort to the godly For he was arraigned before Pilate that all such as truly beleeue in him might not be arraigned before God at the day of the last iudgement he was accused before an earthly iudge that they might be cleared and excused before the heauenly iudge lastly he was here condemned on earth that we might receiue the sentence of absolution and be eternally saued in heauen The arraignment of Christ hath three parts his apprehension his accusation his condemnation In the apprehension we must consider two things the dealing of Christ and the dealing of Iudas and the Iewes The dealing and proceeding of Christ was this when he saw that the time of his apprehension and death was neere he solemnly prepared himselfe thereto And his example must teach euery one of vs who know not the shortnesse of our daies euery houre to prepare our selues against the day
comfort but spend the time in silence gazing and looking on or in vttering wordes to little or no purpose saying to the sicke partie that they are verie sorrie to see him in that case that they would haue him to be of good comfort but wherein by what meanes they cannot tell that they doubt not but that he shall recouer his health and liue with them still and be merrie as in former time that they will pray for him whereas all their praiers are nothing els but the Apostles creed or the ten commandements and the Lords praier vttered without vnderstanding And this is the common comfort that sicke men get at the hands of their neighbours when they come vnto them and all his comes either because meÌ„ liue in ignorance of Gods word or because they falsly thinke that the whole burthen of this dutie lies vpon the shoulders of the minister The second circumstance is when the sicke partie must send for the elders to iâ—struct him and pray for him And that is in the verie first place of all before any other helpe be sought for Where the Diuine endes there the phisition must begin and it is a verie preposterous course that the Diuine should there begin where the physitian makes an ende For till helpe be had for the soule and sinne which is the roote of sicknesse be cured physicke for the bodie is nothing Therefore it is a thing much to be disliked that in all places almost the physitian is first sent for and comes in the beginning of the sicknes and the Minister comes when a man is halfe dead and is then sent for oftententimes when the sicke partie lies drawing on and gasping for breath as though Ministers of the Gospel in these daies were able to worke miracles The second dutie of the sick party is to confesse his sinnes as Iames saith Confesse your sinnes one to another and pray one for another It will be said that this is to bring in againe Popish shrift Ans. Confession of our sinnes and that vnto men was neuer denied of any the question onely is of the manner and order of making confession And for this cause we must put a great difference betweene Popish shrift and the confession of which S. Iames speaketh For he requires onely a confession of that or those sinnes which lie vpon a mans conscience when he is sicke but the Popish doctrine requireth a particular enumeration of all mans sinnes Againe S. Iames enioynes confession onely as a thing necessarie meete and conuenient but the Papists as a thing necessarie to the remission of sinnes Thirdly S. Iames permits that confession be made to any man and by one man to an other mutually whereas Popish shrift is made onely to the priest The second dutie then is that the sicke partie troubled in mind with the memorie and consideration of any of his sinnes past or any manner of way tempted by the deuill shall freely of his owne accord open his case to such as are both able and willing to helpe him that he may receiue comfort and die in peace of conscience Thus much of the sicke mans dutie now follow the duties of helpers The first is to pray ouer him that is in his presence to pray with him and for him and by praier to present his very person and his whole estate vnto God The Prophet Elizeus the Apostle Paul and our Sauiour Christ vsed this manner of praying when they would miraculously restore temporal life and therfore it is very meete that the same should be vsed also of vs that we might the better stirre vp our affections in prayer and our compassion to the sicke when we are about to intreat the Lord for the remission of their sinnes and for the saluation of their soules The second dutie of him that comes as an helper is to annoint the sicke partie with oyle Now this annointing was an outward ceremonie which was vsed with the gift of healing which is now ceased and therefore I omit to speake further of it Thus much of the dutie which the sick man owes to God now follow the duties which he is to performe vnto himselfe and they are twofold one concernes his soule the other his bodie The dutie concerning his soule is that he must arme furnish himselfe against the immoderate feare of present death And the reason hereof is plaine because howsoeuer naturally men feare thorough the course of their liues more or lesse yet in the time of sicknes when death approcheth this naturall feare bred in the bone will most of all shew it selfe euen in such sort as it will astonish the senses of the sicke partie sometime cause desperation Therefore it is necessary that we vse meanes to strengthen our selues against the feare of death The meanes are of two sorts practises and meditations Practises are two especially The first is that the sick man must not so much regard death it selfe as the benefits of God which are obtained after death He must fixe his mind vpon the consideration of the pangs torments of death but all his thoughts and affections must be set vpon that blessed estate that is enioyed after death He that is to passe ouer some great deepe riuer must not looke downward to the streame of the water but if he would preuent feare he must set his foote sure and cast his eie to the banke on the further side and so must he that drawes neare death as it were looke ouer the waues of death and directly fixe the eye of his faith vpon eternall life The second practise is to looke vpon death in the glasse of the Gospel and not in the glasse of the law that is we must consider death not as it is propounded in the law and looke vpon that terrible face which the law giueth vnto it but as it is set forth in the Gospel Death in the law is a curse and the downfall to the pit of destruction in the Gospel it is the entrance to heauen the law sets forth death as death the Gospel sets death as no death but as a sleepe onely because it speaketh of death as it is altered and changed by the death of Christ by the vertue whereof death is properly no death to the seruants of God When men shall haue care on this manner to consider of death it will be a notable means to strengthen and stablish them against all immoderate feares and terrours that vsually rise in sicknes The meditations which serue for this purpose are innumerable but I will touch onely those which are the most principal the grounds of the rest and they are foure in number The first is borrowed from the speciall prouidence of God namely that the death of euery maÌ„ much more of euery child of god is not onely foreseene but also foreappointed of God yea the death of euery man deserued and procured by his sinnes is laide vpon him by God who
debt due vnto him And so soone as any man beginnes to know Christ crucified he knowes his owne debt and thinks of the paiment of it Thus we see howe Christ is to be knowne nowe wee shall not neede to make much examination whether this manner of knowing and acknowledging of Christ take any place in the world or no for fewe there be that knowe him as they ought The Turke euen at this verie daie knowes him not but as he was a prophet The Iewe scorneth his crosse and passion The Popish Churches though in word they confesse him yet doe they not knowe him as they ought The Friers and Iesuits in their sermons at this daie commonly vse the Passion as a meanes to stirre vp pietie and compassion towards Christ who beeing so righteous a man was so hardly intreated and to inflame their hearts to an hatred of the Iewes and Iudas and Pontius Pilate that put our blessed Sauiour to death but all this may be done in any other historie And the seruice of God which in that Church stands nowe in force by the Canons of the Councill of Trent defaceth Christ crucified in that the passions of martyrs are made meritorious and the very wood of the crosse their only help and the virgin Marie the Queene of heauen and a mother of mercie who in remission of â—innes may command her sonne and they giue religious adoration to dumme crucifixes made by the hand and art of man The common protestant likewise commeth short herein for three causes First whereas in word they acknowledge him to bee their Sauiour that hath redeemed them from their euill conuersation yet indeede they make him a patrone of their sinnes The thiefe makes him the receiuer the murderer makes him his refuge the adulterer be it spoken with reuerence vnto his maiestie makes him the baud For generally men walke on in their euill waies some liuing in this sinne some in that and yet for all this they perswade themselues that God is mercifull and that Christ hath freed them froÌ„ death and damnation Thus Christ that came to abolish sinne is made a maintainer thereof and the common pack-horse of the worlde to beare euery mans burden Secondly men are content to take knowledge of the merit of Christs passion for the remission of their sinnes but in the meane season the vertue of Christs death in the mortifying of sin and the blessed example of his passion which ought to be followed and expressed in our liues conuersations is little or nothing regarded Thirdly men vsually content themselues generally and confusedly to know Christ to be their redeemer neuer once seeking in euery particular estate and condition of life and in euery particular blessing of God to feele the benefit of his passion What is the cause that almost all the world liue in securitie neuer almost touched for their horrible sinnes surely the reason is because they did neuer yet seriously consider that Christ in the garden lay groueling vpon the earth sweating water blood for their offences Againe all such a by fraud and oppression or any kind of hard dealing sucke the blood of poore men neuer yet knewe that their sinnes drewe out the heart blood of Christ. And proud men and women that are puffed vp by reason of their attire which is the badge of their shame and neuer cease hunting after strange fashions doe not consider that Christ was not crucified in gay attire but naked that he might beare the whole shame and curse of the lawe for vs. These and such like whatsoeuer they say in word if we respect the tenour of their liues are flat enemies of the crosse of Christ and tread his pretious blood vnder their feete Now then considering this so weightie and speciall a point of religion is so much neglected O man or woman high or lowe young or olde if thou haue beene wanting this waie begin for verie shame to learne and learning truly to knowe Christ crucified And that thou maiest attaine to this behold him often not in the wooden crucifix after the Popish manner but in the preaching of the word and in the Sacraments in which thou shalt see him crucified before thine eies Gal. 3.1 Desire not here vpon earth to beholde him with the bodily eie but looke vpon him with the eie of true and liuely faith applying him and his merits to thy selfe as thine owne and that with broken and bruised heart as the poore Israelites stung with fierie serpents euen to death behelde the brasen serpent Againe thou must looke vpon him first of all as a glasse or spectacle in which thou shalt see Gods glorie greater in thy redemption then in thy creation In the creation appeared Gods infinite wisdome power and goodnesse in thy redemption by the passion of Christ his endlesse iustice mercie In the creation thou art a member of the first Adam and bearest his image in thy redemption thou art a member of the second Adam In the first thou art indued with naturall life in the second with spirituall In the first thou hast in the person of Eve thy beginning of the rib of Adam in the secoÌ„d thou hast thy beginning as thou art borne of God out of the blood of Christ. Lastly in the first god gaue life in commanding that to be which was not in the second he giues life not by life but by death euen of his owne forme This is the mysterie vnto which the angels themselues desire to looke into 1. Pet. 1.12 Secondly thou must behold him as the full price of thy redemption and perfect reconciliation with God and pray earnestly to God that hee would seale vp the same in thy verie conscience by his holy spirit Thirdly thon must behold Christ as an example to whome thou must conforme thy selfe by regeneration For this cause giue diligence that thou maist by experience say that thou art dead and crucified and buried with Christ and that thou risest againe with him to newnesse of life that he enlightens thy minde and by degrees reforms thy will and affections and giue thee both the wil and the deed in euery good thing And that thou maist not faile in this thy knowledge read the historie of Christs passion obserue all the parts and circumstances thereof apply them to thy selfe for thy full conuersion When thou readest that Christ went to the garden as his custome was where the Iewes might soonest attach him consider that he went to the death of the crosse for thy sinnes willingly and not of constraint and that therefore thou for thy part shouldst doe him all seruice freely and frankely Psal. 110. 3. When thou hearest that in his agonie his foule was heauie vnto death know it was for thy sinnes and that thou shouldest much more conceiue heauines of heart for the same againe that this sorrow of his is ioy and reioycing vnto thee if thou wilt beleeue in him therefore Paul saith I say againe reioyce
in the Lord. When thou readest that in the garden he praied lying groueling on his face sweating water and blood beginne to thinke seriously what an vnspeakable measure of Gods wrath was vpon thy blessed Sauiour that did prostrate his bodie vpon the earth and cause the blood to follow and thinke that thy sinnes must needes be most heynous that brought such bloodie and grieuous paines vpon him Also thinke it a very shame for thee to carrie thy head to heauen with haughtie lookes to wallow in thy pleasures and to draw the innocent blood of thy poore brethren by oppression and deceit for whome Christ sweat water and blood and take an occasion from Christs agonie to lay aside the pride of thy heart to be ashamed of thy selfe to grieue in heart yea euen to bleede for thine owne offences casting downe and humbling thy selfe with Ezra saying O my God I am confounded and ashamed to lift vp mine eyes vnto thee my God for mine iniquities are increased and my trespasse is growne vp into heauen When thou readest that Christ was taken and bound thinke that thy very sinnes brought him into the power of his enemies and were the very bondes wherewith he was tyed thinke that thou shouldest haue beene bound in the very same manner vnlesse he had beene a suretie and pledge for thee thinke also that thou in the selfe â—ame manner art bound and tied with the chaynes of thine owne sinnes and that by nature thy will affections and whole spirit is tied and chained to the will of the deuill so as thou canst doe nothing but that which he willeth lastly thinke and beleeue that the bondes of Christ serue to purchase thy libertie from hell death and damnation When thou hearest that he was brought before Annas and Caiaphas thinke it was meete that thy suretie and pledge who was to suffer the condemnation due vnto thee should by the high Priest as by the mouth of God be condemned and woonder at this that the very coessentiall and eternall Sonne of God euen the very soueraigne Iudge of the world stands to be iudged and that by wicked men perswading thy selfe that this so great confusion comes of thy sinnes Whereupon beeing further amazed at thy fearefull estate humble thy selfe in dust and ashes and pray God so to soften thy stonie heart that thou maiest turne to him and by true faith lay hold on Christ who hath thus exceedingly abased himselfe that his ignominie may be thy glorie and his arraignment thy perfect absolution When thou readest that Barrabas the murderer was preferred before Christ though he exceeded both men and Angels in holinesse thinke it was to manifest his innocencie and that thy very sinnes pulled vpon him this shamefull reproch and in that for thy cause he was esteemed worse then Barrabas thinke of thy selfe as a most heynous and wretched sinner and as Paul saith the head of all sinners When thou readest that he was openly and iudicially condemned to the cursed death of the crosse consider what is the wrath and furie of God against sinne and what is his great and infinite mercie to sinners and in this spectacle looke vpon thy selfe and with grones of heart crie out and say O good God what settest thou heare before mine eyes I euen I haue sinned I am guiltie and worthie of damnation Whence comes this chaunge that thy blessed sonne is in my roome but of thy vnspeakable mercie Wretch that I am how haue I forgotten my selfe and thee also my God O sonne of God how long hast thou abased thy selfe for me Therefore giue me grace O God that beholding mine owne estate in the person of my Sauiour thus condemned I may detest and loath my sinnes that are the cause thereof and by a liuely faith imbrace that absolution which thou offerest me in him who was condemned in my stead and roome O Iesu Christ Sauiour of the world giue me thy holy and blessed Spirit that I may iudge my selfe and be as vile and base in mine owne eyes as thou wast vile before the Iewes also vnite me vnto thee by the same spirit that in thee I may be as worthie to be accepted before God as I am worthie in my selfe to be detested for my sinnes When thou readest that he was clad in purple and crowned with thornes mocked and spit vpon behold the euerlasting shame that is due vnto thee and be ashamed of thy selfe in this point conforme thy self to Christ be content as he was to be reproched abused and despised so it be for a good cause When thou readest that before his crucifying he was stript of al his cloathes thinke it was that he beeing naked might beare thy shame on the crosse and with his most pretious and rich nakednesse couer thy deformitie When thou readest the complaint of Christ that he was forsaken of his father consider how he suffered the pangs and torments of hell as thy pledge and surety Learne by his vnspeakable torments what a fearefull thing it is to sinne against God and begin to renounce thy selfe and detest thy sinnes and to walke as a child of light according to the measure of grace receiued When thou commest to die set before thine eyes Christ in the midst of all his torments on the crosse in beholding of which spectacle to thy endlesse comfort thou shalt see a paradise in the middest of hell God the father reconciled vnto thee thy Sauiour reaching out his hands vnto thee to receiue thy soule vnto him and his crosse as a ladder to aduance it to eternall glorie Wheras he cried aloud with a strong voice at the point of death it was to shew that he died willingly without violence or constraint from any creature and that if it had so pleased him he could haue freed himselfe from death and haue cast his very enemies to the very bottom of hell When thou readest that he commended his soule into the handes of his Father consider that thy soule also so be it thou wilt beleeue in him is deliuered vp into the hands of God and shall be preserued against the rage and malice of all thine enemies and hereupon thou maist be bolde to commend thy spirit into the hands of God the father When thou readest of his death consider that thy sinnes were the cause of it and that thou shouldest haue suffered the same eternally vnlesse the sonne of God had come in thy roome againe consider his death as a ransome and apprehend the same by faith as the meanes of thy life for by death Christ hath wounded both the first and second death and hath made his crosse to be a throne or tribunall seate of iudgement against all his and thine enemies When thou readest of the trembling of the earth at the death of Christ thinke with thy selfe it did in his kind as it were grone vnder the burden of the sinnes of men in the world and by his motion then it signified that euen