which requireth his ordinary presence Fourthly it is against the order of Nature the rule of reason and the law of Iustice to take wages for that worke which he doth not performe and to eate where he doth not labour It is a great wrong and iniury done to those that labour in feeding the Flocke to bee denyed to eate of the Milke of the Flocke to do the seruice and another to receiue the reward to take the Corne and to giue others the Straw to sow spirituall things and to be depriued of temporall thinges to beare the burden and to endure the heate of the day and other to come and take away the penny and price for which they couenanted It is a kind of theft to eate without labour and to feed themselues without taking paines Fiftly the danger is very great that groweth both to the Pastors and people by this sin of absence and want of attendance For if any of the Soules which belong vnto their charge doe perrish through their negligence and starue through want of foode they shall be arraigned as guilty of their death and destruction The Prophet Ezekell setteth downe the threatning of God z Ezek. 33 8. When I shall say vnto the wicked O wicked man thou shalt dye the death if thou dost not speake and admonish the wicked of his way that wicked man shall dye for his iniquity but his blood will I require at thine hand Heereunto accordeth the saying of Christ a Math. 15 14 If the Blind lead the Blind both shall fall into the Ditch The losse of the b Ierom. epist ad Furiam flocke is the reproach of the Shepheard and the peoples destruction shall be the Pastors confusion And when the Pastor is absent the people wil soone decline from zeale to coldnesse fall from vertue to vice turne from the worship of God to Idolatry reuolt from the workes of piety to damnable security Let a man with-hold his hand and cease from sowing good seede or vnder-sow his ground by sparing his Corne Thistles and Weedes will spring vp in stead thereof Let a man haue food withdrawne from him and abstaine from nourishment that feedeth the body he shall be filled with winde and fall into weaknesse When Moses was absent from the Children of Istaell but forty daies while he was talking with God in the Mountain c Exod. 32 1. they committed horrible Idolatry and turned the glory of God into the similitude of a Calfe that eateth hay Iehoash the King of Iudah d 2 King 12 2 3. 2 Chro. 24 17 did that which was good in the sight of the Lord all his time that Iehoiada the Priest was with him and taught him but after his death both King and Princes people left the house of the Lorde God of their Fathers and erected Groues and serued Idols so that wrath came vpon them because of this their trespasse This also experience taught the Apostle in the Church of the Galathians while he was present e Gal. 4 18 20. they kept the Faith they turned neither to the right hand nor to the left they did cleaue to the Doctrine of Christs Gospell but when he was gone the false Apostles entred and tooke occasion by his absence to sow Tares among the Wheat and to corrupt the truth with Leauen of false Doctrine When the Shepheard is gone the Wolues may safely enter into the Sheepefold not sparing the Flocke When the Watch-man is gone or fallen asleepe the Enemy may enter and sacke the Citty When the Husbandman that sowed good seede in his fielde is departed f Math. 13 25 the enuious man came and sowed Cockle and Darnell among the Corne. While the people haue the presence and residence of their faithfull Pastor to feede them and to goe in and out before them both in Doctrin and example yet such is the weaknesse of Flesh the corruption of Nature the strength of sin the subtilty of the Enemy the vanity of the world the vnconstancy of humane thinges that they are ready to fall and to giue ouer albeit I say that he be with thē and conuersant among them and remain in the midst of them If then much euill be done while the Ouer-seers are present much more will be committed while they are absent while there is none to stay them while the Bridle is cast in their owne neckes Thus Moses proueth that the people would corrupt themselues and turn from the right way after his death because they had beene rebellious and stiffe-necked he being aliue Deut. 31 27 29. I g Deut. 33. know thy rebellion and thy stiffe-necke behold I being yet aliue with you this day ye are rebellious against the Lord how much more then after my death Sixtly the necessity of hauing the presence of the Pastour continually to call vpon the people appeareth heerein because the danger of the Wolfe is continuall and therefore the vse of the Shepheard is continuall The Apostle telleth the Elders of Ephesus h Acts 20 29. That he knoweth this that aftcr his departing grieuous Wolues would enter in among them not sparing the Flocke Besides Sathan is busie in tempting subtile in vndermining crafty in deceiuing malicious in spoyling and cruell in destroying he compasseth the earth too and and fro and walketh vp and downe in it Now the more diligent the spirituall enemy is the more violent and watchfull ought the Pastour to be If the good man of the House knew at what houre the Theefe would come to rob and to steale doubtlesse he would watch and not suffer his house to bee broken downe Hence it is that Peter saith Be sober and watch i 1 Pet. 5 8 for your aduersary the Deuill as a roaring Lyon walketh about seeking whom he may deuour And surely this is the cause that in some places the people are defiled with all abhominations in other places they are peruerted and seduced by Iesuits and Seminary Priests and in all places grow cold and carelesse in Religion because they want meanes to guide them and stay them in the right way they haue not zealous Pastours to stirre them vp to godlinesse and to driue away the Wolfe farre from them Seuenthly it is of euill report a note of couetousnesse or euill suspicion of it and giueth great offence to the Church of God For where there is an vnnecessary absence of the Minister from his cure and charge hee giueth occasion to suspect that he rather desireth to feed vpon them then to feed them to seeke theirs then them to prey vppon them then to pray with them to possesse their goods then to win their Soules We are commanded to abstaine from all appearance of euill And the Apostle approoueth his Ministery to the consciences of the Corinthians by this k 2 Cor. 12 14 That hee sought not theirs but them Eightly the inconuenience is great that commeth by this absence it is the cause of a Vagrant
confesse it they haue great names and high Titles of honour giuen vnto them Å¿ Psal 82 6. I haue said ye are Gods and ye are all Children of the most high But ye shall die as a man and yee Princes shall fall like others If then there be so little difference in the life and lesse difference of the death of rich and poor of Maister and Seruant of Magistrate Subiect we shal find a greater equality and parity betweene them in holy and heauenly things We allow them to be as the elder brethren but they must know and consider that other are as the yonger bretheren of the house and haue the same priuiledges giuen vnto them For if the Lord Iesus be not ashamed to call vs all brethren shal they be ashamed to confesse one another to be equall in the matters of our redemption and saluation Shall the rich man disdaine the poore or the Prince his people or the Maister the seruant or the Free-man him that is bond seeing the Lord of life that is equall with his Father in might and Maiesty vouchsafeth to repute vs al in the place of Brethren Hence it is that he saith in the Gospell speaking of lodging the stranger in our houses of cloathing the naked with our Garments of feeding the hungry with our meats of visiting the prisoners with reliefe of refreshing the sicke with our comfort t Math. 25 40. Verily I say vnto you inasmuch as ye haue done it vnto one of the least of these my Brethren yee haue done it vnto mee Who are more disgraced and contemned in the worlde then such as are Strangers or Prisoners or naked in necessity Yet these poore contemptible ones are deare in his sight tender as the Apple of his eye and acknowledged of him to be his Bretheren Wee are not worthy therefore to bee esteemed of Christ if we regard not such as are in greatest price and cheefest account with him So then we must take heede that wee neuer despise and deride and disdain those that are called the Brethren of Christ nor refuse to imbrace them as our owne Brethren This is that vse which the Apostle vrgeth in setting downe the duties of Maisters u Ephes 6 9. Ye Maisters do the same thinges vnto them putting away threatning and know that euen your Maister also is in heauen neither is there respest of persons with him Where we see how hee moueth all Maisters to cast off all pride and high conceite of themselues and to Loue their faithfull seruants as their faithfull Bretheren It is not farre from this purpose which Iob speaketh touching his practise and behauiour toward his Seruants x Iob. 31 13 14 15. If I did contemne the iudgement of my seruant and of my Mayde when they did contend with me What then shall I do when God standeth vp And when he shall visit me What shall I answere He that hath made me in the womb hath he not made him Hath not he alone fashioned vs in the womb Where the holy man commendeth mildnesse in all Gouernors and reprooueth the exercise of cruelty toward their seruants Hee gaue them free libertie to declare and debate the matter with him to alledge what reasonable excuse soeuer they had considering with himselfe that we haue one common Creator and maker and are partakers of the same Nature and concluding thereuppon that albeit such as are bound to serue vs bee of low degree and despised in the world yet they neuerthelesse are our brethren So then such as are aduanced vnto high places and set in authority ouer others are not to trample them vnder their feete to despise and set them at naught to account them as vile persons in their eies but to vse them with mildnesse and to behaue themselues in al lowlines to rule their houses with al gentlenesse We must remember that wee haue a Maister in heauen so that albeit he hath exalted vs on high yet God standeth aboue all and is the Maister both of the Maister of the seruant O that this were well waighed and wisely considered and thoroughly learned of all Superiors that sit at the sterne and guide the ship The higher and greater our places are the lower and lesser ought our hearts to be If we be made Magistrates and Maisters and Rulers to gouern others let vs confesse they be Brethren with vs. This yeeldeth a profitable meditation to all Christian Gouernors when we behold any of our Inferiors thogh they were our bondmen in any trouble or distresse to thinke earnestly vpon these things If God haue made mee neuer so high when I see the people pinched with dearth and famine that they are ready to perish and famish in the streats for want of Bread I must knowe they are not Dogges though many make no better nor farther reckoning of them alas alas they are my Brethren When the Pestilence walketh in the darkenesse and the plague destroyeth at noone day that God striketh downe with his fearfull hand that thousands fall at our side and ten thousands at our right hand for he oftentimes maketh hauocke and bringeth desolation into many houses and families I must thinke it is no Murraine of Cattle they are my bretheren When I behold the oppression of the poore and the grinding of the faces of the needy that they are eaten vp as bread and sold as old shooes for nothing I must haue this feeling of their affliction they are not as Horsses or Asses ouer-laden with their burthen whom yet if it were so y Exo. 23 4 5. we were bound to pity raise vp though belonging to our enemy they are my poore and dear brethren whom God hath created whom Christ hath redeemed whom the holy spirit hath sanctified whom the word hath regenerated whom the church hath nourished whom the Angelles haue guarded and who together with me in the last day shall be glorified At that day shal God be all in al when Christ Iesus shall abolish all power and authority among men when Princes must resigne their kingdomes and cast downe their crownes at his feete then there shall be no more Prince and Subiects Pastor and people Mayster and Seruant Father and Sonne Husband and Wife These degrees indure but for a season which must haue end when Christ shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead If God haue made me a Maister and committed Seruants to my charge they must not be respected as my Swine or Oxen they are my Brethren and therefore I must looke vnto them in time of their sickenesse vse all good meanes for their deliuerance The Centurion in the gospell is commended that when his seruant fell sick was in danger of death he came to Christ z Math. 8 6. for help and succour If a man haue a Bullocke and beast that is diseased he will aske counsel seeke remedy much more ought we to deale mercifully with our seruants which God
like to the Priestes c Num. 7 9. 2 Sam. 6 3. who beeing commaunded to beare the Arke vppon their owne Shoulders did set it vpon a Cart and draw it with Oxen. So ought the Ministers to feede their Flockes themselues and not put them to bee fed of others Some d Damasus epist 4. compare such foolish and idle Pastours that put ouer their charges to others vnto Harlots which so soone as they haue brought forth their Children by and by commit them to be kept and nourished of others that they may sooner giue themselues to their lusts againe Others resemble them to a e Espenc lib. 3. digress ad 1. Timoth. man that doth marry a Wife and being himselfe vnapt for generation or vnwilling to giue due beneuolence is content she become fruitfull and made the Mother of many Children by another Father so is he accounted and presumed to be as vaine a man who being espoused and married to a Church as a man to his Wife doth vse the help of others in getting spirituall Children vnto God Christ Iesus is the Shepheard f 1 Pet. 5 4. the cheefe and great Shepheard of the Sheepe all other Pastours are but his Seruants and Substitutes and therefore themselues being his Deputies they cannot make a Deputy no more then one Seruant discharge himselfe by another So then we must know that they can no more be saide to preach the Word that preach by others then to be resident that are resident by others or to bee godly that lead a godly life by others and thus they may be saued by others and themselues goe to Hell But as euery man is bound to liue godly himselfe so is euery Pastour bound to preach in his owne person This appeareth vnder the comparisons and similitudes of Builders Captaines Ambassadours Stewards and Shepheards which wee spake of before When a man hath made choyce of a skilfull and cunning Builder to build his house the Worke-man hath not done his duty if he put it out to bee finished by another When a Prince hath made choyce of a Generall to lead his Army against the Enemy he may not send another in his roome and himselfe sit idle at home but his alleageance bindeth him to goe in his owne person The like we might say of the rest Thus we haue seene at large that the loue betweene the Pastour and people ouerthroweth the ordinary absence without iust and conscionable causes the one from the other so that if the Minister would assure his owne heart that he loueth the sheepe which he hath taken vpon him to teach he must shew it by feeding them with the wholesome and heauenly pastures of the word of God Secondly it reprooueth such as outwardly are in sheepes cloathing but inwardly are rauening Wolues vnto the Flocke not carefull Pastours not louing Parents but such as haue no prouision no store no food no Bread of Life to breake vnto them but seeke to starue and famish them through want of Milke and meat to put in their mouthes If they be resident and remaine with them and yet doe not instruct them and preach vnto them it is all one as if they were absent from them If there be meat and drinke in the house and none set vpon the Table or giuen to the Children they may dye and perish for hunger These idle Drones are no better then Murtherers and Man-slayers nay Soule-slayers which is the greatest and most bloody Murther For as the Steward that should feede the bodies of such as are in the Family and pineth them to death is a Murtherer and the Nurse that vndertaketh the nourishing of the Childe and yet eyther through daintinesse or idlenesse or wilfulnesse will not draw out the breast but suffereth the Child to languish and perish is a Murtherer of the Childe so such as are Stewards of Gods house and Nurses of Gods people yet feede not their Soules but starue them to death are Bloud-suckers and Murtherers in the highest degree They are worse then the Canibals that liue vpon bloud for these liue vpon the soules of men and carry them head-long to Hell The Lord complaineth in the Prophet g Hos 4 6. That the people perish through want of knowledge Such as are blindely led doe fall into the Ditch with their blind Leaders The bloud of such as perish in their ignorance through want of teaching h Ezek. 3 18. shall be required at the Watch-mans hand The Prophet Dauid hauing the Water of the well of Bethlehem that he longed and lusted to tast brought vnto him i 2 Sam. 23 17 yet would not drinke thereof when he had it but poured it for an offering vnto the Lord because it was the bloud of the men that went in ieopardy of their liues O that these men would consider of their sinne and had a feeling of their iniquity that they eate and drinke the bloud of Men and maintaine themselues by the destruction of their soules Suppose he lead an vnblameable life giue good example to others keepe hospitality fill their bellies make peace among his Neighbours be able priuately to exhort and comfort them and to performe other common workes of Charity yet he hath not discharged the duty of a Minister vnlesse he preach vnto them diligently and faithfully and diuide the word of truth aright Vse 3. Lastly seeing the Minister and people ought to be as Father and Sonne this sheweth the duty of the people that are vnder their Ministery that they regard their Ministers as their Parents honouring them yeelding them due recompence esteeming them as Fellow-workers with God to beget them to Christ to turne them to Saluation to nourish them vp and continue them in the estate of Christ Nay we should account of them if it be possible more then of naturall Parents Of our Parents wee haue receiued onely to be Of our Ministers we haue receiued to be well Of our Parents we haue taken our first birth of our Ministers we haue obtained our second birth Of our Parents we haue beene brought into the World by Generation of our Ministers we haue bin brought into the Church by Regeneration Our first begetting was to death our second or new birth is to Life and Saluation By the first birth wee are Heires of Wrath by the second we are made the Sonnes of God So then if it be better for vs to be borne againe of Water and the Holy Ghost k Iohn 1 13. which cannot proceede from the will of the flesh nor from the will of Man but of God we ought to esteeme of those that are Instruments of our Regeneration as dearelie and tenderly as if they were our Parents and to say with the Apostle l Rom. 10 15 How beautifull are the Feete of them which bring glad tydings of pcace and bring glad tydings of good thinges Hence it is that he speaketh to the Thessalonians m 1 Thes 5 12 We
contemneth the Preacher of the word who is a spirituall Father of the soule and giueth vs not this life but a new life not the first birth but the second birth not the sight of the body but the light of the mind which thinges are farre more excellent and precious then the other There can be therefore no greater vnthankfulnesse then to contemne the Ministers of Christ The second reproofe Secondly it meeteth with the starting holes and silly defences that many make for themselues who to excuse their contempt of the Gospell and treading vnder foote the word of God doe lay all the blame and fault vpon the Ministers Aske the question of the most proud Spirits and prophane persons whether they be enemies to the preaching of the Gospell and open contemners of the Gospell or not they will deny it and shew themselues ready to abiure it and yet none do more euidently contradict the truth then they These are sly and secret enemies who lightly esteeme Gods sacred and eternall word vnder pretence of mens persons They professe in word to magnifie the word but they regard not the Ministers that bring it They know well enough that if they should openly oppose themselues against the Scriptures and bid battell to God all men would cry out against them all men would hisse at them all men would point them out with the finger and nod their heads at them as they go in the streets But they goe more subtilly and circumspectly to worke they pretend the greatest loue to the truth that can be all their quarrell is to the Ministers that deliuer it And thus they thinke to slide away in the darke that they may not be espied whereas their owne consciences within them doe accuse them and their owne hearts euery way and euery day condemne them to be deepe dissemblers hollow hearted Hypocrites and the most daungerous enemies that the Church of God hath The same Apostle that writing to the Thessalonians chargeth them q 1 Thes 5 20 12 13. Not to despise prophsying exhorteth them also and beseecheth them in the same Chapter That they acknowledge them which labour among them and are ouer them in the Lord and admonish them that they haue them in singular loue for their workes sake The same Apostle that honoureth the Scripture with the greatest Titles of Dignity r 2 Tim. 3 16 17. and 4 2 5. and maketh it sufficient to make The man of God absolute being made perfect to euery good worke writing vnto Timothy dooth also commaund him to Preach in season and out of season to doe the worke of an Euangelist and to cause his Ministery to bee throughly liked off It is a vaine excuse and worse then the Figge-leaues that Adam sewed together to hide his shame to seem to approue and allow of the word and yet to reiect such as are appointed to speake in the Church and are set ouer vs in the Lord. He would be accounted a starke foole that being hungry would dislike and distast his meat and so starue his body through a wilfull famine because he cannot abide the Cooke that dressed it or that would refuse his drinke to quench his thirst because he neither loueth nor liketh him that drawed it for him and brought it vnto him Would not hee be condemned of extreame foolishnesse and simplicity that would not vouchsafe to receiue or looke vpon or heare to be read a Letter sent vnto him from his Prince and that for his good because hee careth not for the Messenger that offereth it vnto his handes Or would not all men account him worthy to dye an hundred times who hauing a pardon sealed and sent him from the King for his offences whereby he iustly deserued to haue the sentence of death pronounced against him to be immediatly executed vpon him should scorne the pardon and the Princes mercy because hee fauoureth not the man that is imployed to bring it Or would not all men say he were worthy to be drowned who beeing fallen into a swift streame ready to beare him away with the violence of the waues would not lay hand and hold on that which is preferred vnto him because he accounteth him his Enemy that desireth to saue him The like folly and madnesse is in those that refuse the word because they hate the person of the Minister that breaketh the bread of eternall Life that doth the message that God hath put in his mouth that publisheth in Christs Name a pardon of sinne to all people that will repent and beleeue the Gospell that would bring them to saluation of their Soules that they might not perish but haue euerlasting life The Prophet commendeth good King Hezekiah who albeit hee were sharpely reprooued and threatned with a greeuous iudgement hee did not breake out into raging speeches nor cast into prison nor put to death the Prophet that denounced a great plague against him but submitted himselfe to God and reuerenced the word of the Prophet saying Å¿ Esay 39 8. The word of the Lord is good which thou hast spoken All men will be readie to confesse in generall that the word of God is good euen as God is good but they cannot be brought to acknowledge the word in the mouth of the Minister to be good This is the shift of those that are wise to deceiue themselues If they bring vnto vs the Doctrine of saluation reuealed in the Scriptures it is that word whereby we shall be iudged in the last day and bee found guilty of horrible Treason against God Hence it is that the Apostle saith t Ro. 2 12 16. As many as haue sinned in the Law shal be iudged by the Law at the day when God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ according to my Gospell The Iewes and Gentiles oftentimes cried out against him and accounted him vnworthy to liue yet he sheweth that at the last day they should be iudged not onely according to the word but according to his word not onely according to the Gospell but according to his Gospell When the Lord was determined to giue his owne people into the hand of their enemies and to roote them out of that good Land which hee had giuen vnto their Fathers hee hydeth not from them the cause of his iudgements but setteth their sinnes in order before them that u 2 Chr. 36 16 they mocked the Messengers of God and despised his words and misused his Prophets vntill the wrath of the Lord arose against his people and till there was no remedy Where we see he ioyneth together the mocking of his Messengers and the despising of his words These two do necessarily follow one another where the one goeth before and leadeth the way the other will not come farre behinde If this were well and thoroughly waighed of vs it would auaile vs to great good and further vs in the worde of saluation and rid vs from manie stumbling blockes that lye
chalenge the name of Saints Reason 2. Secondly the seruants of God must be Saintes to the end there may be a conformity and likenesse vnto him that hath had mercy vpon vs. It is requisite that there should be a resemblance betweene God and his people God is holy it is one of his names he is called the holy one Christ is holy and he is called the holy one of God Seeing therefore God is holy that hath called vs it followeth that holinesse belongeth vnto vs. The sonne beareth the Image of his father and thereby is easily knowne whose sonne he is If we be the sonnes of God we must expresse his Image in holines and true righteousnes This is it which Moses declareth and repeateth Leuit. 11. i Leuit 11. 44. I am the Lord your God be sanctified therefore and be holy for I am holy and defile not your selues with any creeping thing that creepeth vpon the earth Heereunto accordeth the saying of the Apostle Peter k 1 Pet 1. 14. 15. As obedient Children fashion not your selues vnto the former lustes of your ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conuersation because it is written be ye holy for I am holy If then he that is the God of all the Saintes be holy if it be one of his essentiall attributes so that he can no more cease to be holy then he can cease to be God the Saintes themselues must be Saintes not onely in name but in deed they must be transformd into a likenes of him they must shew the fruites of holines and be partakers of the diuine nature in that they flee the corruption which is in the world through lust Reason 3. Thirdly the faithfull are called by the name of Saintes that there might be a difference betweene that which we haue of our selues and that which wee receiue from God betweene the old man and the new man betweene our first birth and our second birth betweene nature and grace No man is a Saint by nature we haue not holines from our selues but we are strangers to it and that is a stranger to vs nay we are enemies to holines who loue nothing else but prophanenesse and desire to be any thing else then to be Saintes and holy The Apostle putting vs in mind of our first birth that we might so much the more magnify the grace of God which is marueilous and glorious in his Saintes saith l Ephe 2. 12. 13. Remember that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh and called vncircumcision of them which were called Circumcision in the flesh made with handes that ye were at that time without Christ and were Alians from the common wealth of Israell and were strangers from the Couenants of peomise and had no hope and were without God in the world but now in Christ Iesus ye which once were farre off are made neere by the bloud of Christ And to the same purpose he speaketh in the Epistle to the Colossians m Col 1. 21. 22. You which were in times past strangers and enemies hath he now reconciled in that body of his flesh through death to make you holy and vnblameable and without fault in his sight Seeing then that we are called to holines seeing we must as Children resemble our father and seeing God will haue a difference betweene our naturall condition and the estate wherein we stand by grace we may conclude that all such as are in the number of true beleeuers are also Registred in the number of true Saintes sanctified inwardly by the spirit of God Vse 1. Let vs now make vse and application of this Doctrine vnto our selues First wee see plainely heereby that there are Saintes vpon the earth that is men and woemen regenerate and sanctified The prophet Dauid saith n Psal 16. 3. All my delight is in the Saintes that are vpon the earth whereby it appeareth that there are two sorts of Saintes one in heauen the other on the earth one sort is the spirits of iust and perfect men the other such as are clothed with flesh who haue a righteousnes begun in them but are yet farre from perfection some that haue already receiued their Crownes that are already glorified not hauing spot or wrinkle or any such thing others that are yet in warfare against sinne the world and the deuill and carry about with them the remnants of naturall corruption Therefore we professe to beleeue in the Articles of our Faith the Cōmunion of Saints So the Apostle saith o 1 Cor. 6 1 2 11. Dare any of you hauing businesse against another be iudged vnder the vniust and not vnder the Saints Do ye not know that the Saints shall iudge the world And afterward 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 This serueth to reprooue all those which in scorne and derision mock the seruants of God and vpbraide them with their profession saying O you are a Saint you are of the little flocke you are an holy man A yong Saint an old deuil Thus is Religion made a Prouerbe and common by-word and thus are men come to sit downe in the seate of Scorners but heare this O ye contemners of God! and know that whosoeuer is not holye is prophane he that is not pure is impure he that is not a Saint of God is a bond-slaue of the Deuill there is no meane betweene the one and the other He that is not of the little flocke of Sheepe is of the great Heard of Goats and of the multitude of vnbeleeuers that shall be condemned He that entreth not in at the straite gate that leadeth to life walketh in the broad way and entereth at the wide gate that leadeth to destruction He that is not a Saint before hee dieth is a Deuill incarnate before his death This is that which our Sauiour speaketh concerning Iudas p Iohn 6 70. Haue I not chosen twelue and one of you is a Deuill Now he spake of Iudas Iscariot the sonne of Simon for he it was that should betray him This Iudas was not a Saint and he is pronounced to be a Deuill Now choose whether thou wilt be a Saint or be accounted a Iudas a Deuill a member of the deuill For he that is not in some sort changed renewed regenerated and sanctified in the inner man shall neuer see life If we begin not the way to saluation in this world we shall neuer be receiued into glory in the world to come This is the Doctrine which Christ preacheth to Nichodemus q Iohn 3 5. Verily verily I say vnto thee except that a man be borne of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdome of God So the Apostle saith r Ro. 8 13 14 If ye liue after the flesh ye shall
glory in the names of Christians we would be accounted Christs we take vpon vs the Title of Saints and yet we are not carefull to bring foorth the fruits of Christians and to lead a sanctified life All Trees in the beginning when the world was created were made fruitfull nothing was barren nothing fruitlesse If we be the Garden of God we must be rrees of righteousnesse k Psal 92 13. and beare much fruite euen in our old age Many that are barren in bearing good fruit are too fruitful in bringing forth the vnsauoury fruits of the flesh which the Apostle nameth Gal. 5. who may iustly feare the curse that God l Luke 13 7. laid vpon the Figtree and euery day look to be hewne downe and cast into the fire It is not enough for vs to bee fruitful but we must labour to be more fruitfull It is not enough to bee holy but we must be more holy It is not enough to be Saints but we must encrease in sanctification This the Prophet sheweth in the Psalme m Psal 92 12. The righteous shall flourish like a Palme tree and shall grow like a Cedar in Lebanon Such as be planted in the house of the Lord shall florish in the Courts of our God they shall stil bring forth fruit in their age they shall be fat and flourishing Where we see that Gods Children are neuer void of the fruits of faith but haue them in them to their endlesse comfort Other Trees oftentimes fall to degenerate and grow out of kinde and if they do holde out yet age maketh them decay and dye albeit you digge and dung and water them neuer so much it cannot keepe them from wasting and withering it is not so with the faithfull which are planted in his Church as it were in his Garden euen in their old age they bring forth abundance and store of fruit albeit they bee neuer sold yet they shall neuer be barren but yeeld a plentiful increase being continually watered by the working of the spirit To this purpose Christ speaketh in the Gospell m Iohn 15. 1 2 I am the true Vine and my Father is tâ—e Husbandman euery branch that beareth no fruite in me hee taketh away and euery one that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruite And in the Reuelation of Iohn he saith n Reuel 22 11 He that is vniust let him be vniust still and hee that is filthy let him be filthy still he that is righteous let him be righteous still and he that is holy let him be holy still On the other side there is no comfort to prophane persons that are irreligious that are meere naturall men that find no change in them that are not bettered by the meanes afforded vnto them from God that keepe the spots of the Leopard and the skin of the Blackamoore continually vpon them These walk in the flesh and sauor nothing but of the flesh and therefore of the flesh shall reape corruption This is that which the Author to the Hebrewes speaketh o Heb. 6 7 8. The earth which drinketh in the raine that commeth oft vpon it and bringeth forth hearbes meet for them by whom it is dressed receiueth blessing of God but that which beareth Thornes and Briars is reprooued and is neere vnto cursing whose end is to be burned Where hee compareth those that continue in faith and bring forth the fruits of faith to good ground that answereth the labour of the husbandman but such as forsake the faith and a good conscience he resembleth to euill ground these bring foorth nothing but the vnfruitfull works of darknesse as it were so many thornes Thistles and therefore are neer to cursing consuming So the Prophet Esay notably expresseth this p Esay 65 20. There shall be no more there a child of years nor an olde man that hath not filled his daies for he that shall be an hundred yeare old shall die as a young man but the sinner being an hundred yeares old shall be accursed The faithfull in Christs kingdom shal flourish through his gifts be blessed of God but such as are vnfruitfull are accursed albeit they seeme for a time fresh and flourishing yet they are no better in the sight of God then dead carkasses and stinking carrions So that we see there can be no comfort without sanctification Vse 4. Lastly as all they that are in Christ are Saints so it is our dutie to vse the fellowship and to delight in the Communion of Saints abhorring renouncing separating and with-drawing our selues from all vngodly and vnlawfull societies of men in the world The q Psal 16 3. 119 63. delight of the Prophet was in the Saints He professeth himselfe to be a companion of al them that feare the Lord and keep his precepts The coniunction communion of the faithful is threefold in piety in amity in glory In piety because the harts of the faithful are ioyned together in faith in the feare of God In amity because they loue togither as children of the same father knowing that heerby we shal be known to be the disciples of Christ if we loue one another In glory because they are heirs of the same kingdom where are many mansion places prepared for theÌ„ If we desire to be partakers with the children of God in eternall happines in the heauens as al men wil seeme desirous of blessednes we must be vnited to them in a godly life in Christian loue we are willing to hear of felicity but we care not for the practise of piety or for walking in charity Balaam that was hyred with the wages of iniquity to curse the people of God wheÌ„ he saw the goodly order among them cried out r Num. 23 10 Let my soule die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his He desired to communicate with the godly in eternal life but he would not ioyn with them in a reformed life But it is necessarily required of vs to be linked to them in loue to be of one heart and to be ioyned with them in godlynesse to be of one faith if euer we look to enioy with them the same inheritance of immortality Such therefore as will neyther be friends and familiars with them but hate and abhor them worse then a Dog or a Serpent nor be Worshippers of God with them reforming their liues repenting from Dead-works but follow the lusts of the flesh with greedines and draw iniquity as with cartropes must know that they shut out themselus from the kingdom of heauen shal not ascend with them into the mountain of God Now as the faithful delight in those that are faithful and the godly in such as are godly so they account it a great griefe to be among the vngodlie where they shall see much iniquity and heare God dishonored feel themselues many waies indangered This made
subuert the truth their knowledge to ouerthrow the faith their riches to vndoo the poor their credit to crosse iustice their authority to disdain their strength to oppresse the weake their power to contemne others and euery gift to the dishonor of the giuer as the Serpent did his wilinesse to deceiue These are al like mad men armed It were better that a mad man had no armour and weapon then that he should vse or rather abuse them to the death and destruction of others so it were better these men wanted these guiftes then that they should prophane them to the dishonour of God to the hurt of others and to the bringing of a fearfull iudgement vpon their owne soules It were better to do nothing then to do euill as we say it is better to be ydle then to be ill occupied It were better to let the sword rest in the scabbard then to drawe it out to wound the innocent to let our riches corrupt and our garments be moth-eaten and our treasure be cankred then we weare them with pride wast them in drunkennesse whoredome and all wickednesse We must one day giue an account vnto God both what we haue receiued and howe wee haue bestowed that which we haue receiued If the Marchant that hath had his Factor in a strange Country wasting his goods committed to him on harlots and in riotous liuing will call him to an account how hee hath spent his time and mispent his goods shall wee not thinke that the eternall God will summon vs before the barre of his iudgement seate to giue in a reckoning an exact account what we haue done with such guifts as he hath lent vs and how we haue bestowed them The third reproofe Thirdly they are here also reproued which bar and lock vp such guifts of such as might be profitable to the Church and Common-wealth which suffer them not to imploy their guifts that desire to imploy them which doo little good themselues and yet hinder those that would do good The Dogge that lyeth in the manger will not eate the Hay himselfe nor suffer the Oxe that laboureth to eate of it So we haue lamentable experience of such men or rather Beasts as open not their own mouths but haue learned to shut the mouthes of others that would preach the gospell These are like to Amazia that proud Priest of Bethel that falsely informed the King against the true Prophet of God Amos and charged him to hold his peace a Amos 7. 10 12. hee sent to Ieroboam king of Israel saying Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel the Land is not able to beare his words And hee saide to Amos O thou the Seer flee thou away into the Land of Iudah and there eate thy Bread and prophesy there but prophesie no more at Bethel for it is the Kinges Chappell and it is the Kings Court These are like to the cruell Priests and Prophets that suffered not b Ier. 26 8. 38 6. Ieremiah to publish the word of the Lord but stopped his mouth and clapt him vp in prison and if their rage had not bin repressed and their malice restrained they woulde not haue rested till they had put him to death and brought him to destruction He was as a silly Lambe in the iawes and clawes of blood-sucking Wolues and led vnto the slaughter hee sought not anie reuenge against them but onely said c Ier. 26 14. 15 As for me bohold I am in your hands do with me as ye thinke good and right but know ye for certaine that if ye put mee to death ye shall surely bring innocent blood vpon your selues and vpon this Citty and vpon the Inhabitants thereof for of a truth the Lord hath sent me vnto you to speak all these words in your eares These are like to the d Acts 4 17. and 5 28. chiefe Priest and Pharisies who threatned and charged the Apostles that they should thenceforth speake or teach no man in Christs name but they answeared We ought rather to obey God then men And againe Whether it be right in the sight of God to obey you rather then God iudge ye These are like to that ambitious Diotrephes mentioned by the Apostle Iohn in his third Epistle e 3 Iohn 9 10 who as hee loued to haue the preheminence among them so hee pratled against the true seruants of God with malicious words and not therewith content neither hee himselfe receiueth the Brethren but forbiddeth them that woulde receiue them and thrusteth them out of the Church It is an horrible sinne to take away the preaching of Gods word from men For whatsoeuer men pretend to excuse their sinne and what Figge leaues soeuer they patch together to couer their shame they are guilty of the destruction and damnation of so many soules as by them might haue bin instructed Iudas was guilty of an hainous sinne for betraying and deliuering the body of one innocent to a temporall death but these shall be arraigned of high treason against Iesus Christ who betray many thousand soules into the hands of Satan and throw them into the iawes of death euen of eternall death Such are the bloody Papists which deny the vse of the scriptures to the people and debarre them of the meanes of getting knowledge And such are all carnall Gospellers which thinke the preaching of the Gospel to be a needlesse and superfluous thing and account the people to haue sufficient so that they haue a praying Ministry alone and the seruice read distinctly among them Let vs therefore take heede that we doo not stoppe the course of the Gospell or put out the light that would shine into our hearts but rather further with all our power the trueth that God hath set vp among vs and spread abroad his sauing health that so glory may be gained to his name The fourth reproofe Lastly it reprooueth the neglect of employing the gifts of God bestowed vpon them that is in the people Whether God haue giuen vs spiritual graces or temporall blessings we must take heede how we vse them We are readie to heare and willing to learne the faults of the Ministers yea we can speak of them our selues and talke of them all day long wee can tell that some vse not their guifts to the good of the Church others abuse them to the hurt of the Church but neuer consider how themselues employ their owne guifts or what account they shall giue to God that hath bestowed them The benefite of them is not in hauing of them but in the vsing of them not in the enioying but in the employing not in the possessing but in the practising Not to vse them is all one as if we had them not For as the couetous man wanteth as well the things that he hath as those which he hath not so doo these sluggards receiue the grace of God in vaine which haue the vse
suffered to continue consumeth al things that are neere vnto it We must shew our selues ready to bring water to quench this fire We must stop the Flood-gates that the streames of contention doo not ouer-flow and in the end drowne vs as in the deepe waters It is a deceitfull snare and wonderfull subtilty of Satan to cast matters of dissention betweene the Minister and people as it were a bone to gnaw vpon that so though the word bee among them yet that it may by that meanes be with lesse fruit and profit with them Well doth this enemy of mankind know that where there is hatred to the person there can be no loue to his preaching and where there is desire of contention there can be no hope of edification For whome the people hate they regard not to heare and where there is no liking to the man there will follow a loathing of his Ministry We see this in the example of Ahab toward Eliah and Micaiah e 1 Kin. 21 19 20. 22 7 8. whom he hated to the death and professeth his enmity toward them and therefore despised the word that came from their mouths When Eliah reproued him for killing of Naboth and taking possession of the Vineyard he saide Hast thou found me O mine enemy So when Iehoshaphat asked if there were not a Prophet of the Lord that they might enquire of him Ahab who had sold himselfe to worke wickednesse in the sight of the Lord aunswered There is yet one man Michaiah the Sonne of Imlah by whom we may aske counsell of the Lord but I hate him for hee dooth not prophesie good vnto me but euill Where we see he hated the Prophet and therfore abhorred his prophesie and regarded not to haue him in his presence We may behold this in the example of the Scribes and Pharisees toward Paule they could not abide him nor his doctrine so that he was employed principally among the Gentiles On the other side as the people loue the Ministers from the heart so for the most part they profit by them The Apostle giueth this Testimony of the Galathians that they loued him exceedingly and therefore regarded his Doctrine accordingly f Gal. 4 14 15 The triall of me which was in my flesh ye despised not neither abhorred but ye receiued me as an Angell of GOD yea as Christ Iesus what was then your felicity For I beare ye record that if it had bin possible ye would haue plucked out your owne eyes and haue giuen them vnto mee Hence it is that Christ and his Apostles labour to plant this truth and to settle this perswasion in the hearts of those whome they taught that they vvere dearely beloued to them When the Disciples were afraid at Christs words he answered again said vnto them g Mark 10 24 Children how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdome of God So the Prophet Esay speaketh h Esay 8 18. Behold I and the children whom the Lord hath giuen mee are as signes and as wonders in Israel Thus do the Apostles write in this manner to the Churches calling them beloued brethren and deare children As we haue louing words in our mouthes so we should haue louing affections in our hearts It is a pittiful sight lamentable condition when the Pastor in any place setteth himselfe against the people and the people against the Pastor when they that should loue together as Father and Son do wrangle together as Cats and Dogs and are euer snarling and byting one of another If a priuate house be diuided against it selfe it cannot stand so if a particular Church be in a bitter mutiny it runneth to ruine and is miserably torn in peeces It is a great praise of that congregation where they are at peace and vnity ioyne together in the word Sacraments and sing the Psalmes and songs of God to his endlesse praise It is a comfortable thing when the people reioyce in their Minister the Minister in his people when the people desire and delight in the companie of their Minister and the Minister in the company of his people and so take comfort in the sweet society one of another This reproueth those that vpon euery slight occasion for euery slender profit yea for euery toy trifle follow suits of Law and bring actions of trespasse one against another whereby they trouble not onely their neighbours at home but the Countrey abroad These haue forgotten the words of Abraham to Lot when a debate arose among their Heard-men i Gen. 13 8. Let there be no strife I pray thee betweene thee me neither betweene mine Heard-men and thine Heard-men for wee are Bretheren It is therefore a great shame and reproach to heare of such iarres and ciuill wars as are in many parishes It is a plaine argument that there is little loue betweene them and lesse good wrought among them The Minister accounteth them not as his Sonnes and Daughters he seeketh not to winne them to the faith he esteemeth them not as his Crown in the day of the Lord. On the other side the people do not reuerence their Minister as their father but hate him as their enemy God is not among such Ministers and people but is gon farre from them and they are departed farre from him God is k 1 Ioh. 4 16 12. loue they that dwell in loue dwell in God and God in them If we loue one another God dwelleth in vs and his loue is perfect in vs. The Deuill is the Father fountaine of all debate and hatred c Iames 4. 16. For where enuying and strife is there is sedition and all manner of euill workes How then can wee otherwise thinke but that Sathan beareth rule among them and possesseth the cheefe holde of their hearts seeing so small tokens of loue and so great fruits of the Old man nay of the old Serpent appeare among them Wherefore to return thither from whence we began we must remember the amiable names giuen to the Pastor and people they must consider they are as Father and Son neerely coupled and ioyned together and thereby stirre vppe themselues and admonish one another of their duties to open their hearts in loue and againe to shut them vp that hatred haue no entrance into them hnd that mallice do not abide in them Vse 2. Secondly these most louing Titles applied to the Minister and people shew the duties required of Pastors toward their charge and teach them to loue them as their children to tender their good to exhort them to lay vp for themselues spirituall riches Great is the loue of Parents towardes their Children If the Childe be sicke or wayward they doe not cast him out of doores or withdraw their affections from him Hence it is that Christ when he saw the people scattered abroad and dispersed heere and there as Sheepe without a Shepheard d Math. 9 36.
with the Kid the Lyon did eate Straw like the Bullocke Seeing then that the conuersion of a man worketh in him the loue of God and man seeing before true conuersion we hate others and other hate vs and lastly seeing after true conuersion we beginne to make conscience of hurting and harming others it followeth that such as by nature were as Beares and Buls as Aspes and Vipers as Wolues and Cockatrices as Lyons and Leopards that is fierce cruell couetous iniurious and vniust being conuerted to the Faith and gathered into the Church are made gentle milde and mercifull Vse 1. Now let vs come to the consideration of the Vses and to the application of the Doctrine to our selues First of all we see hereby that they are greatly deceiued that thinke true godlinesse to be vnprofitable and no gaine at al to returne and redowne to the practiser of it Great is the benefit of true Religion and much is the profit of our conuersion Without this a man is no better then a Beast nay worse then any Beast He liueth like a Swine hee dyeth like a Dogge he becommeth afterward a Deuill The holy man Iob describing the life and death of vngodly men saith of them q Iob. 21 14 15. They spend their daies in wealth and suddenly they go downe to the Graue They say also vnto God Depart from vs for we desire not the knowledge of thy waies Who is the Almighty that we should serue him And what profit should we haue if we should pray vnto him This is the voyce of Atheists that regard not God yea that thinke there is no God But true Religion bringeth with it the greatest profit and no gaine is comparable vnto it It maketh vs profitable to our selues and others the benefit that it bringeth to others is both to their Bodies and Soules Hence it is that the Wise man saith r Pro. 3 14 19 The Marchandize thereof is better then the Marchandize of Siluer and the gaine thereof is better then Gold it is more precious then Pearles and all things that thou canst desire are not to be compared to her Length of daies is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and glory her waies are waies of pleasure and all her pathes prosperity she is a Tree of Life to all that lay hold vpon her and blessed is he that retaineth her Howsoeuer therefore the World and the Children of this World doe repute and esteeme of godlinesse it is most certaine it is the greatest Iewell and offereth all other blessings with it Heereunto accordeth the saying of the Apostle Å¿ 1 Tim. 6 6. Godlinesse is great gaine if a man be content with that he hath And in another place t 1 Tim. 4 8. Bodily exercise profiteth little but godlinesse is profitable vnto all thinges which hath the promise of the life present and of that which is to come What can be more profitable then that which maketh a man happy and blessed who is by the fall of man and the corruption of his nature curssed and miserable And who is it that doth not desire blessednesse But godlinesse ioyned with true conuersion of a Sinner to God maketh his State and standing blessed The Psalmist witnesseth That he is u Psal 112 1. 119 1 2. 1 1 2. blessed that feareth the Lord and delighteth greatly in his Commaundements blessed are they that are vpright in their way and walke in the way of the Lord blessed are they that keepe his Testimonies and seeke him with their whole hearts blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsels of the wicked but delighteth in the law of the Lorde and exerciseth himselfe therein day and night What can be more profitable then to haue interest in Christ the treasure of al treasures and the Iewell of all Iewels to haue him our Mediator our Redeemer our Sauiour But when once we are truly conuerted wee haue gotten Christ he is become ours we haue him dwelling in vs him I say x Col. 1 18 19 and 2 9. Ephes 3 17. Iohn 17 3. in whom dwelleth the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily who is the head of the church whom to know is eternall life By him our bondage is turned into freedome our beggery into riches out thraldome into liberty our death into life Who is it then can be so simple or ignorant to affirme that profession to be without gaine and profit that bringeth Christ Iesus with it in whom all treasures are hid and had Or who can be so sottish or sencelesse to deny that when wee haue done all that we can our meanes are too slender our cost too smal our time too short and our labour too little in seeking to finde him and in digging and deluing after him For if we finde him we are sure to find al things and to want nothing that is good What thing can be more profitable then that which giueth a man iust Title to Gods blessings and a sanctified vse of his creatures The vngodly man that is not conuerted to God but peruerted in all his wayes hath no part or interest in the promises and mercies of God to warme himselfe with his wooll to feede himselfe with his meate y Psal 50 10. For all the Beasts of the Forrests are his and the beasts on a thousand Mountaines Such as are wicked persons are wrongfull Vsurpers and vniust intruders vppon the Lords goods and the portion that he hath prepared for his owne people nay they are shamefull Theeues and shamelesse Robbers that steal from the godly that which was created for them bestowed vpon them and sanctified vnto them Hence it is that the Apostle saith z Titus 1 15. Vnto the pure are all thinges pure but vnto them that are defiled and vnbeleeuing is nothing pure but euen their minds and consciences are defiled In Adam we haue lost the pure and free vse of the creatures of God in Christ Iesus the second Adam and a Heb. 1 2. heyre of al things we recouer our Title vnto them againe Now that which putteth vs in possession and bringeth the full fruition with freedome of conscience and comfort of heart of all these things must needs be holden most helpefull and profitable vnto vs in this life Last of all if wee consider the enduring and continuing of the gaine of godlinesse we shall finde the price of it to be aboue all other commodities the sweetnesse whereof may delight vs and the contentment thereof may satisfie vs and the certainty thereof may allure vs to the seeking and preferring of it before all other and to trauell and trafficke for it farre and neere What commodity canst thou name or remember that the richest Marchants bring from strange Countries which is not subiect to be lost by land and to perish by the Sea by stormes by robbers by rouers by tempestes and shipwracke so that when thou hast fetched it with the greatest
danger of thy life it may be taken from thee and thou from it which maketh it to bee but a shadow of true gaine But the profit of godlinesse is of a contrary Nature if once we haue gotten this Pearle the Theefe cannot steale it the moth cannot corrupt it the Sea cannot drown it the rust cannot fret it the Land cannot loose it the length of time cannot consume it the greatnesse of danger cannot take it from vs the vnfaithfulnesse of seruaunts the subtlety of enemies the fraud of false Brethren the force of the mighty the violence of the Oppressor the partiality of the Iudge the wresting of the Lawe can neuer depriue vs or debarre vs of this benefite yea b Cicer. pro Archia poeta that which an Heathen man saide once of humaine learning may more truly and iustly be spoken of godlinesse which indeed is true learning the which whosoeuer wanteth what Ornaments of Nature and Art soeuer otherwise he hath is vtterly vnlearned nay a starke foole It will follow vs as a sweete guide abroad to solace vs it will stay with vs a pleasant companion to delight vs at home it will lye with vs as a bed-fellow in the night to teach vs whereon to meditate it will sit downe with vs as a guest at the Table to direct vs it wil bee with vs as a skilfull Physitian in sicknesse to comfort vs it will sticke and stand to vs in prosperity to humble vs it will cleaue fast to vs in aduersity and in the euil day to refresh vs it will waite vppon vs in death it will descend with vs into the graue it will ascend with vs into heauen and alwayes follow vs from place to place as the shadow doth the body This made the Apostle Iohn say Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Reuel 14 13. To conclude therefore so often as wee thinke of true Religion or remember the day of our conuersion we must think with our selues that we made the most blessed change that euer was made and hold this for a firme and sure principle that no gaine is like to this gaine no profit like to this profit Vse 2 Secondly seeing Christian Religion planted in the heart of a man maketh him good and helpfull to others who before was vniust and vnprofitable let euery one proue his effectuall calling and true conuersion by earnest seeking after the good of others and by a carefull abstaining from hurting troubling and wronging of others It is to be chosen as a better thing to suffer then to offer wrong to receiue then to requite to take then to giue Obadiah liuing in Ahabs Court is commended for the manifestation of his Faith by his Workes as the Tree that sheweth what it is by the fruites hee hid c 1 Kin. 18 13 the Prophets of God from the sword of the persecutor and fed them in the Caue in the time of famine The Prophet affirmeth and assureth that such shall dwell in the Tabernacle of the Lord and rest in his holy mountain as make much d Psal 15 4. of those that feare the Lord and honour them whome God hath honoured To this purpose the Apostle setteth this downe as a certain signe of our adoption that God accepteth vs as his sonnes and daughters to wit our loue to the Saints e 1 Ioh. 3 14 We know that we are translated from death to life because we loue the Brethren Euery one must be able to shew the soundnesse of his faith and the truth of his conuersion by the fruits of his calling f Math. 3 8. and by the workes of regeneration and amendment of life An iniurious man that loueth himselfe but not another that hath no care to doe good to his Brother but to himselfe onely is not yet truely conuerted to God nor deliuered from the bondage of sinne nor made a member of Christ nor engrafted into the true Church nor endued with the grace of sanctification he is yet in the flesh and not in the spirit he is yet in death not restored to life he is the bondslaue of Sathan not brought into the liberty of the sonnes of God For where there is no change in conuersation there can bee no assurance of true conuersion The meditation of this point must enter deeply into our harts teach vs to try our selus whether as yet we born again by water and the spirit or not Whosoeuer can say thus I haue beene in bondage to sin now I am set free I haue beene the prisoner of Satan now I am at liberty I haue liued vnprofitably to God vnprofitably to my selfe vnprofitably to others now I haue learned to lead my life to the honour of God to the benefite of my brethren and to the comfort of mine owne soule whosoeuer I say can say thus may be assured of his conuersion and turning vnto God and that God hath begun his good worke in him which hee will finish at the appearance of Iesus Christ Let vs all therefore know and consider that it is required of vs to repent of sinnes to turne to God to chaunge our hearts and to amend our liues that so we may bring forth the fruits of righteousnesse and expresse our obedience to the Gospell To be without the fruits of the Gospel is to denie the Gospell and to be without godlinesse of conuersation is to be without Christ and to bee without an heart inwardly sanctifyed and without a life outwardly regenerated is to be without faith It had beene better for vs that we had neuer had the Gospell offered vnto vs then to haue it to contemne it It had beene better we had alwayes remained in darknesse then to haue light come among vs and not to walke in the light It is a worthy exhortation that the Apostle maketh to the Thessalonians g 1 Thess 5 5 6 7 8. Yee are all the Children of light and the children of the day we are not of the night neither of darkenesse Therefore let vs not sleepe as others do but let vs watch and be sober for they that sleepe sleepe in the night and they that bee drunken are drunken in the night but let vs which are of the day be sober putting on the Brest-plate of faith and loue and of the hope of saluation for an Helmet It is not euery h Math. 7 21. one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heauen but he that hath an earnest and carefull endeuour to do his will It is not enough for vs to bee called a Christian to beare the name of a Protestant to renounce the name of a Papist to make shew of the true Religion and to be an hearer of the word we haue learned better things and must giue an account of a farther dutie Obiection We will say peraduenture we hate and detest all the blinde and erroneous
serueth greatly to comfort vs both in prosperity and aduersitie and that for the time to come wee should repose our whole hope in God For seeing all thinges come to passe by the prouidence of God so that not so much as sinne it selfe is committed without his will it is a great comfort many waies to Gods Church and chosen Children Wee know that hee can moderate and will moderate the rage of the Deuill and the mallice of wicked men that they shall not hurt or hinder their Saluation For the Deuill is the Lordes Seruant or slaue to worke his will albeit he do it vnwillingly and by compulsion The Prophet Dauid saith c Psal 16 8. The Lorde is at my right hand therefore I shall not slide And when his Souldiers were purposed to stone him to death he was in great sorrow and heauinesse d 1 Sam. 30 6 But he comforted himselfe in the Lord his GOD. If then we cast vp our eyes and behold the prouidence of God euermore watching ouer vs wee shall not doubt of the loue and goodnesse of God nor of deliuerance to come from his hand albeit we see no ordinary meanes but all thinges goe a contrarie way This made the holie Man Iob say e Iob 13 15. Though the Lorde would kill mee yet will I trust in him And the Prophet f Psal 23. Though thou cast me into the place of Dragons and into the shaddow of death yet will I feare none euill The church being in great perplexity and danger in the daies of Mordecay he was not without comfort he liued not without hope hee ceased not to vse lawfull meanes for the deliuerie of it he was not at his wits end nor dispaired of an happy issue because his heart was grounded and established in the Doctrine of Gods prouidence as appeareth by his wordes to Ester g Est 4 13 14 Thinke not with thy selfe that thou shalt escape in the Kinges House more then all the Iewes for if thou holdst thy peace at this time comfort and deliuerance shall appeare to the Iewes out of another place but thou and thy Fathers House shall perrish and who knoweth whether thou art come to the Kingdome for such a time Againe this prouidence of God in euery thing teacheth contentation of minde in euery estate yea in aduersity when we lie vnder the Crosse so that all thinges goe against vs forasmuch as Gods prouidence hath appointed vs our lot and portion When we liue in peace and haue abundance of outward meanes to maintaine vs as plenty riches health pleasure friends libertie and such like we must remember from whom they come and so be put in mind to be thankfull for them because they come not to vs by chance but by Gods prouidence so that we must not barely looke vpon them nor wholely rest vpon them but behold his goodnesse and blessing in them For if wee consider that all prosperitie commeth from him as Meate Drinke ease peace and all plenty who is not pricked forward and stirred vp vnto Thankesgiuing towards so louing and bountifull a Father Hence it is that the Apostle saith h 1 Thes 5 18 In all thinges giue thankes for this is the will of God in Christ Iesus The Prophet Esay complayneth of the vnthankefulnesse of the Iewes towards GOD i Esa 1 4 5 6 7 I haue nourished and brought vp Children but they haue rebelled against mee the Oxe knoweth his Owner and the Asse his Maisters Cribbe but Israell hath not knowne mee my people hath not obeyed mee The Prophet Dauid dealt otherwise and behaued himselfe with greater dutie teaching vs all what to doe when hee saith k Psal 116 12 What shall I render vnto the Lord for all his benefits toward me I will take vp the cup of saluation and prayse the name of the Lord. But when these outward things whereby life is maintained do faile vs we must not faile to remember whence famine warre pestilence sicknesse trouble and affliction come that there is no euill in the City which the Lord hath not done Moreouer let vs depend vpon him for the time to come assuring our selues that he will not leaue vs nor forsake vs. He giueth vs euery day experience of his mercies so that by remembrance of benefits receiued from him wee cannot doubt of his fauour toward vs. Lastly this should bee a very strong reason vnto vs not to be vnmeasurably dismayed nor excessiuely offended when offences and great euils breake out among vs as oftentimes it falleth out whereby many are ready to shrinke backe and others are much disquieted to see the Church of God so troubled We are not to thinke it strange or to forsake the faith through these scandals for God would not suffer any euill to come to passe vnlesse out of that euill hee were able to bring good and out of that sinne to bring forth righteousnesse to the glory of his great name and for the saluation of his deere Church Hee would neuer haue left Adam vnto himselfe if he had not determined out of his fal to gaine praise to himselfe and to prouide better for his people It is necessary that offences come but woe to that man by whome they come Let vs not therefore fret our selues because of the wicked men neyther be enuious for the euill doers for they shall soone be cut downe like grasse and shall wither as the greene hearbe And we must rest and be resolued assuredly that God dooth not allow or fauour their sinne nor purposeth to free them from the guilt and punnishment of sin howsoeuer he turneth their wicked purpose to a good end For sinne l 1 Iohn 3 4 Iohn 8 44. is the transgression of his Law But God neuer swarueth nor stayeth from the strait rule of his owne will neither putteth wickednes into man but as the earth affoording sap and moysture as well to the euill trees as the good cannot be reproued because the cause why the euill trees bring forth euil fruit is of themselues and their owne nature or as the Sunne that rayseth euill smels and noysome fauors from vnsauoury puddles cannot iustly bee found fault withall because the reason thereof is not in the Sun beames but in those corrupt places euen so when God disposeth to good endes the sins of men that proceed from the instigation of the Deuill and abide in the vngodly themselues he cannot be called the cause or author of sinne although by his prouidence he moueth all thinges yea euen the vngodly that are not able to moue or remoue themselues Vse 3 Lastly seeing Gods prouidence extendeth to euery thing that is and disposeth it according to his owne pleasure it directeth vs in our obedience putteth vs in mind of a Christian duty namely to be patient in al aduersity If we consider that nothing can befal vs but that which is sent by the fatherly wil and counsell of God who hath alwaies iust
learne that there is no friend like to the Christian friend who is another of the same Such as are coupled together in this society and fellowship q Deut. 13 6. are made one soule Hence it is that Moses teaching that no naturall affection toward those that are nearest vnto vs ought to withdraw our hearts from God describeth such as are most deare and so haue greatest interest in vs where he calleth Brethren the sonnes of the same Mother he calleth the wife her that lyeth in the bosome he saith of a Friend that hee is as a mans owne soule whom he loueth as himselfe The Heathen glorie in certaine Golden r Cicero lib de amicitia paires of stedfast friends that haue bin ready to lay down their liues one for another Howbeit in all ages and times of the world they are able to reckon vp very few and those for the most part forged and counterfet rather to teach what should be done then what euer was truly done And yet if such friendship had euer bin practised and such friends euer really extant it had beene begun and ended in the flesh and therefore had been but a corrupt and carnall friendship For where God doth not couple together and make the knot and where the glory of his name is not the mark we shoot at there the very life of true friendship is wanting All the former examples of supposed friends that were fastned without the glew of Religion and the feare of God to hold them together might make a goodly shewe of rare loue to the eyes of naturall men howbeit they did al things to be praised of men to be magnified of the world to bee spoken of after their death and to be highly esteemed of others But they are not to be matched compared with true Religious friends which haue the bond of the spirit and of a good conscience to couple them together Such were Ruth and Naomi for when Ruth was willed to returne after her Sister she answeared Å¿ Ruth 1 15 16 Intreat me not to leaue thee nor to depart from thee for whether thou goest I will go and where thou dwellest I will dwell thy people shall be my people thy God my God where thou dyest I will dye and there I will be buried the Lord do so to mee and more also if ought but death depart thee and me Such were Ionathan Dauid of whom we spake before who did cleaue and adhere one to another as if they had beene no longer two but one man and as if one had beene of the bone and flesh of another Such were t Gen. 29 18. Iacob and Rachell hee thought no time too long he iudged no seruice too bitter he esteemed no wages too litle because he loued her Such were Reuben and Ioseph he would u Ge. 37 21 22 not content to shed Iosephs blood nor to lay violent hands vpon him but counselled his Brethren to cast him into a pit to the end hee might deliuer him out of their hand and restore him to his Father again Such were Moses Aaron Such were Salomon and Hiram x 1 King 5 1â— betweene whom was peace they made a Couenant one with another so that they did communicate either to other such commodities as they were stored withall Among these was mutual loue and friendship did binde them together There is a difference betweene loue and friendship For he may loue that is not beloued but hee cannot bee a Friend vnlesse he loue and be loued which the Apostle noteth when hee saith y Rom. 13 8. Owe nothing to any man but to loue one another This is the sum of the whole Law for he that loueth another hath fulfilled the law Hence it followeth that the nearest band and surest coniunction is betweene the faithful they onely can be true and trusty friends because they loue and are loued that which one doth the other is ready to require and return the like to performe mutuall kindnesse one to the other This is the right and religious friendship and this is onely to be found among the Saints that are members of the same body and ioyned in one brotherhood and Communion But it is not so betweene the godly and vngodly betweene the holy and prophane betweene the elect and the reprobate There is z 2 Cor. 6 14. no fellowship betweene righteousnesse and vnrighteousnesse there is no communion betweene light and darknesse there is no concord between Christ and Beliall These being mixed and ioyned together a Dan. 2 42 43 are like the feete of Nebucadnezzars Image which he saw in a dreame which were part of Iron and part of Clay which was easily dissolued and quickly broken in peeces so is it in the agreement and loue that is betweene the faithfull and vnfaithfull it is partly strong and partly weake but it cannot bee ioyned fast one with the other as Iron cannot be mixed with Clay For albeit the godly do loue the vngodly euen the Infidels according to the commaundement of God yet there can be no sound and sincere friendship betweene them because that is not mutuall loue it is not in both parties inasmuch as the wicked do hate extreamely the Children of God and contemne them in their hearts as Caine did Abell Let vs therefore sort and associate our selues with those that are godly men who will in time of triall proue our safest friendes All other society how strongly soeuer it seemeth to be planted and builded will fall to the ground We see Neighbors oftentimes forsake vs we see our alliance and Kindred renounce vs we see Brethren oftentimes shewe themselues as strangers one to another but where grace and Religion is there the friendship will neuer faile but is as a running streame that neuer waxeth dry Marke this in those sweet paires of frends which before we coupled togither in an equall yoake whom grace and godlinesse ioyned and therefore no vnkindnesse could seperate Ruth loued Naomi as greatly when she returned empty as when she came out full and well stored Ionathan was found as faithfull to Dauid when Saule sought to slay him as when he beganne to honour him when he lowred at him as when hee shewed the best countenance toward him And howsoeuer the vngodly may hide the intents of their hearts and promise to performe all duties of loue towards vs yet their loue hath no certaine foundation but will deceiue them that trust vnto it When Iob was in prosperity and authority euery one respected him and was readie to pleasure him he was honoured in â—he gate hee was reuerenced in the street he was feared in the house But when his goods were gone and al his dignity failed no man regarded him his friendes his seruants his Wife despised him Let vs heare in his owne words the complaint that he maketh and attend to that he speaketh where he declareth what befell him b Iob. 19
the little light of Grace and spark of Faith that was in them did so shine and breake out into such a flame that they were not ashamed to professe themselues to be his Disciples when the rest forsooke him they begged his body of Pilate they wrapped it in linnen cloaths with Myrrhe and Alloes and sweet Odours and bestowed the honour of buriall vpon him Thus it falleth out oftentimes that they which are first are last and the last are first We know not what stormes and Tempestes hang ouer our owne heades and what perillous times may come vppon vs we know not what weaknesse wee shall shew in them howe great the Rebellion of the Flesh will be and what comfort wee shall want our selues The Prophet pronounceth him l Psal 41 1. Blessed that iudgeth Wisely of the poore and promiseth that the Lord shall deliuer him in the time of trouble If wee haue any feeling of this happinesse or haue anie Faith in our hearts touching this promise let vs make it manifest by seeking the good of our weake Bretheren It is an hiddeous and horrible cruelty and out-rage by our want of mercy and of feeling their infirmities to hinder the saluation of any one for whom Christ died Hence it is that the Apostle saith Rom. 15 2 3. Let euerie man please his Neighbour in that which is good to edification for Christ also would not please himselfe but as it is Written The rebukes of them that rebuked thee fell on me It cost a great price to Redeeme a soule and to bring it from Death to Life from Hell to Heauen and therefore we must vse all meanes wherewith the Lorde shall enable vs to comfort such as are Comfortlesse by the Comfort where-with wee our selues are comforted of God There is no Man but desireth to finde Peace and Comfort in him-selfe What is this life of ours without it If a man should liue many thousand yeares vpon the face of the earth and haue experience of nothing but sorrow anguish misery and vexation of Spirit so that hee could feele no quietnesse no rest no consolation no tranquility in these daies of his Pilgrimage would he not desire to be out of such a life and preferre death before it Do we then wish for peace And would we finde comfort The greatest comfort in the World that can come vnto vs and refresh and cheere vppe our Soules is to winne and saue Soules Blessed are we if we haue beene Instruments to gaine but one Soule vnto God It is the greatest gaine it is the best Traffique it is the sweetest Marchandize It shall be said vnto vs in the last day Thou good and faithfull Seruant well done thou hast beene faithfull ouer little I will make thee Ruler ouer much enter into thy Maisters ioy Let vs set this before our eyes and consider before hand the price of the reward when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. Vse 3. Lastly seeing God hath such a care of them that are weake that he would not haue them cut off but cared for of all men this ought to serue as a notable encouragement vnto them to labor to grow in Grace and to encrease more and more that they may proceede from strength to strength and so come to a perfect man in Christ Iesus True it is there are degrees of Faith all haue not one measure of Grace and yet the least measure if it be but as a graine of Mustard-seede is of power to saue our Soules If there be wrought in vs by the sanctifying Spirit of God the beginnings and seeds of Faith to wit an humbling of our selues vnder the burthen of our sinnes an acknowledgement and feeling that we stand in neede of Christ an hungring and longing desire to be made partaker of Christ and all his merrits and a flying to the Throne of Grace from the sentence of the Law troubling the conscience trembling vnder the same if these preparations as it it were ploughings vp of the furrowes of our hearts be found in vs God will not cast vs away but make this weake measure of Grace to be effectuall to saluation This is a sweete comfort to all saint hearts that are euery foot like to sinke downe and as it were to giue vp the Ghost This ought to be a forcible meanes to work thankfulnesse in them when in the examination of their hearts they shall finde the least measure of Grace setled in them and know their mercifull Father willing to acknowledge it to accept it and to reward it Not that we should flatter our selues in our wantes or content our selues in our weakenesse to stand alwaies at one stay but heereby to be brought forward in well-doing and to runne the race with all cheerefulnesse that is set before vs. This a notable signe of a true and sincere hart when we feele our strength to come euery day vnto vs and an accesse to be added to our former course For if we desire to be better and better and deale as men that runne in a race who stand not still in the mid-way but presse with might and maine to the marke this is an infallible note of a sincere heart This is it which the Apostle testifieth Phil. 3 14 15. Bretheren I count not my selfe that I haue attained to it but one thing I doe I forget that which is behinde and endeuour my selfe vnto that which is before And follow hard toward the marke for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus It is the goodnesse of God to accept the small measure of Faith that we bring vnto him This graunteth not liberty vnto vs to doe nothing to stirre neither hand nor foote or to content our selues that we go not backward For we must all know and vnderstand that the beginnings of grace are deceitfull and counterfeit vnlesse there be a growth and encrease The kingdome of Heauen is like to q Math. 13 31 33. a graine of Mustard seed which at the first is so small and little that it is scarse discerned but after that it is cast into the ground of a prepared and purified heart it rooteth deeply it groweth speedily it spreadeth exceedingly It is like vnto Leauen which a woman taketh and hideth in three peckes of Meale till all be Leauened The Maister deliuering his Talents vnto his seruants that he had called saith vnto them Occupy vntill I come he doth not bid them hide them in the earth Luke 19 13. Hereunto commeth the exhortation that Paule giueth vnto Timothy who had greatly profited in godlinesse and was brought vp in the vnderstanding of the holy Scriptures from a childe Chapter 1. r 2 Tim. 2 6. I put thee in remembrance that thou stirre vp the gift of God which is thee by the putting on of mine handes The word is a borrowed speach from the fire which must bee euermore kindled and kept with a new supply from going out
Paule mentioning sundry iudgements that fell vpon the Israelites for their sinnes and offences gathereth this Exhortation wherefore c 1 Cor. 10 12 Let him that thinketh he standeth take heede least he fall They had the vse of the Sacraments and other pledges of Gods fauour yet they could not priuiledge them or defend them from the punishments that God brought vpon them Let no man therefore trust too much to the zeale of one or two yeaers but perseuer to the end and know he must be faithfull vnto the last gasp God hath not hired vs for a season to labour in his seruice for a day or a month or a yeare neither giueth vs leaue to depart at a time appointed nor maketh vs a Certificat vnder his hand that wee are at libertie to serue another but wee must all know that there is one condition of worshipping him to wit that wee dedicate both our Soule and Body both our life and death both our beginning and ending vnto him What did it profit d Gene. 19 25. Lots Wife to go out of Sodome commaunded by the Angell and accompanied by her Husband in as much as she looked backe and was turned into a piller of Salt What profit was it e Iude 5. to the Israelites to depart out of Aegipt and to passe ouer the Red Sea seeing afterward they fell to murmuring in the Wildernesse and were destroyed of the Destroyer What gaine or what good was f 2 Kin. 9. 10 it to Iehu to slay the Priests of Baall with the sword and to be zealous for the execution of the iudgements of the Lord to deface the Image and to throw downe the house of Baal and to make a Iakes of it for euer seeing he departed not from the sinnes of Ieroboam and regarded not to walke in the Law of the Lord God of Israel but worshipped the Golden Calues that were in Dan and Bethel It were as good neuer to begin as not to continue vnto the end When we haue once giuen our Names to Christ and tasted of the good worde of God and see many men come farre behinde vs we flatter our selues in an opinion of our sure standing we are ready to say If all the world should turne to be back-sliders and Apostataes yet we would neuer slide away But let vs take heed we be not deceiued for God will not be mocked It is a woorthy saying of the Prophet Ezechiell Chap. 18 24. If a Righteous Man turne away from his righteousnesse commit iniquity and do according to all the abhominations that the wicked man doth shall he liue All his righteousnesse that he hath done shall not be mentioned but in his transgression that he hath committed and in his sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die It is not enough to purpose well it is not enough to beginne well it is not enough to proceede well it is required of vs to perseuer well and to continue in a constant and setled course vnto the end If a man continue vnto his latter dayes and then giue ouer all is gone al is lost all is in vaine If a Childe that is set to Schoole do go lustily forward in his Learning a long time and afterward prooue an ydle boy and one that will take no paines he will neuer proue Learned nor is euer like to come to any preferment If a man beginne to builde an house and haue laide a good foundation it is neuer the better vnlesse the worke bee brought to an end and perfection He that runneth in a race though he set out neuer so swiftly and haue passed a great part of the way neuer so resolutely yet if hee stay in his course and hold not on to the end h 1 Cor. 9 24. hee receiueth not the prize hee obtaineth not the reward Hee that is Valiant and Couragious in the beginning of the fight neuer winneth the fielde nor getteth the Victory vnlesse he continue to the end of the battell We are taught and trained vp in Gods Schoole wee are partes of the building of his house and as liuely stones fitted to make an holie Temple vnto him we all runne in a Race and prooue Maisteries We are the Lords Soldiers to fight hand to hand against Sinne the World and the Deuill let vs therefore hold out till wee come to the marke and receiue the ende of our Faith euen the Saluation of our soules Saule beganne well but he declined and in the end became an open persecuter Ioash i 2 Chr. 24 17. behaued himselfe vprightly all the dayes of Iehoiadah and repaired the house of the Lord but after his death he fell to Idolatry he left the house of the Lord God of his Fathers and he serued Groues and Idols so that wrath came vpon Iudah and Ierusalem because of this trespasse The Israelites that would haue returned into Egypt dyed in the Wildernesse It shall not be needful to heape vp mo examples we haue too many such stumbling blockes lying in our way and set before our eyes let vs take heede by their falles and learne Wisedome by their foolishnesse and constancy by their inconstancy Vse 6. Lastly seeing many slide backe that haue seemed forward men and of great and eminent note aboue others it is our duty in regarde of the small strength and the little power of our owne Nature to pray heartily and earnestly vnto God not to lead vs into tentation nor to take away his holy spirit from vs but that he would stay vs vp by his grace We must entreat at the hands of God for our continuance as well as for our first conuersion For as the opening of the hart and the beginning of our regeneration and new birth is of Grace so we proceede in the midde way and perseuer vnto the end not by our selues or any thing in vs but by the same grace and goodnesse of God who worketh in vs both the will and the deede Hence it is that the k Psal 51 12. Prophet prayeth vnto God To restore vnto him the ioy of his saluation and to establish him with his free Spirit And in another place he praieth to the Lord who had kept him in his youth that he also would be his keeper in his old age when his head was hoare and haires gray l Psal 71 9 17 18. Cast me not off in the time of age forsake me not when my strength faileth ô God thou hast taught me from my youth euen vntill now therefore will I tell of thy wondrous workes yea euen vnto mine old age and gray head ô God forsake me not vntill I haue declared thine Arme vnto this Generation c. The Prophet knew well enough his pronenesse and inclination to goe backe and that it is at easie to fall through dotage as noneage and by the weakenesse and coldnesse of old age as by the lustes and frailty of youth Yea we see many that haue held a