do the like We profane his Name his Word and other holy Ordinances by the wickednesse of our lives we contemne misregard the greatnes of all his perfections and carry our selves toward him as if there were no greatnes in him at all and so leade others to the like contempt and misregard what a lamentable 〈…〉 this in man All the works of God praise him in their own kinde The heavens declare the glory of the Lord and the firmament sheweth forth his handie work and so it is with the rest of the works of God only man amongst these visible creatures faileth in this dutie albeit of all others hee be most bound God hath made him alone according to his own Image hath loaded him with infinite blessings and all for this end that he should set forth the praises of him Who hath called him out of darknes to his marvellous light His obliedgement to God is many wayes infinite therfore his unthankfulnes is most worthy of infinite wrath punishment Iustly therfore is the wrath of God revealed now against wicked and unthankfull man We will not take the cup of salvation and call upon his Name with praise therfore he justly presenteth unto us the cup of his furie yea the wicked shall drink the dreggs of it hereafter even Everlasting pain which shall make them so drunk and mad that they shall curse themselves and blaspheme God himself This much of the duty mentioned by the PROPHET Beside this wee may learne from the consideration of Gods infinite Greatnesse First That in him alone wee ought to seek the satisfaction contentment of all the desires of our hearts Nothing can be desired by us which is not in him and in him most perfectly All good is in him all truth all beauty all honour and dignitie all power and strength all riches and treasures all joy and comfort all peace and blesse and eternall life which comprehendeth in it That which the eye hath not seen the eare hath not heard and hath not entered in the heart of man to understand So there is in him that which is able fully to satisfie all our desires Why sufferest thou then thine heart to go a-whoring after the creatures all the good whereof is as but a shadow and vanitie when compared with that good which is in him If a man weâ— sitting under a most fruitfull tree where he might have aboundance of most delightsome fruits if he would but look up and stretch out his hand would hee not be thought mad if neglecting this he shall look only to the shadow of the fruits upon the ground follow after it Far greater madnesse is it to follow after that shadow of Gods perfections which is in the creatures when thou might enjoy that true that solide and eternall good that is in God if thou would but look up to him and stretch out the hand of thy soule to lay hold upon him If we had that all which is in this world have not him we have no more but a dreame of happinesse but if we have him suppose wee had nothing else wee should find in him true and solide blesse Let therefore all the desires of our heart bend to this great God the onely center wherein they will find rest Thus David psal 27. 4. One thing I have desired and that I will seek after that I may see the beauty of the Lord all the dayes of my life and enquire in his holy temple And againe psal 73. Whom have I in heaven but thee and in earth there is nothing that I desire besides thee Thou art the strength of my heart my portion for ever Hence our Saviour said to Martha though bâ—ssied in serving himself Martha Martha thou are troubled about many things leaving that good part which shall not be taken away namly to sit at Christs feet to heare his word that our souls may enjoy him But it may be yee will say There is none of us who desireth not God and the enjoying of that great goodnesse which is in him I Ans If thy desire were sincere and true it would bee effectuall that is it would make thee to do all that thou canst for the obtaining of them As in naturall things That inclination which they have to that which giveth them rest perfection maketh them to break through all impediments if they bee able Thus a stone if it had power should break thorow the very earth till it came to the center so if our desire of God were true and sincere wee should do all that is possible unto us for finding of him Now through his grace nothing is impossible and therfore nothing should withold us from him Secondly From the consideration of this infinite greatnesse of God wee may learne that it is a most high and honourable thing to serve him The greater any King is his service is the more honourable Now God is infinitlie greater then any earthly Monarch and therefore his service is far more glorious then that of any earthly Prince Yea it is more honourable to serve him then to reigne in this world For to bee set over men is lesse then to be conjoyned with God to have accesse to his presence that we may present our sutes to him to enjoy his familiaritie and to receive favours from him Hence DAVID who was a king over a mighty people gloried not in that but in this that he was the servant of God I am thy servant saieth he I am thy servant c. And againe I had rather hee a doore keeper in the house of my God then to dwell in the tents of wickednesse Thirdly This Greatnesse of God should teach us to carry our selves before him in all reverence humility The greater any King is the more he should be reverenced God therefore who is infinitly great is worthy of infinite reverence if it were possible Hence Abram though it pleased God to use him very familiarly said to him Behold I am but dust and ashes and I have taken upon mee to speak unto my Lord. Yea the most glorious spirits the Ceraphims in acknowledgement of his greatnes of their own smalnes nullity cover their faces before him saying Holy holy holy is the Lord God of hosts c. How much more becometh it us vile and sinfull creatures to humble our selves before this infinite Majestie Of our selves we have no good can do none All the good we have is of God that hath joyned with it in us manifold corruptions and miseries Now wee are in health and incontinent sick againe now in joy and incontinent cast down with sorrow now we live incontinent our breath goeth out wee are filled with terrours within and environed with troubles without and exposed to a thousand dangers How vile then should wee bee in our own eyes especially when wee come into the presence of this infinitly great King when he vouchsafeth
subjection Lest by any means when he bad preached unto others he himself should be a cast-away Our securitie is to feare alwayes our strength is to distrust our own strength and to put all our confidence in the Mercie of God and Merites of Christ Who hath prayed for us that our faith faile not Let us therefore say to God every one of us LORD thou hast been my help leave me not neither forsake me O GOD of my salvation Secondly we may perceive from this fall of Peter that one sinne especially if it be grievous draweth another after it and that without stay till Christ look againe upon the sinner Hence sinne is called by S. PAUL The sâ—ure of the devil Ye know when a bird is taken in a sâ—are she is still more and more fastened and entangled If thou give place but to a light lust at the first as Peter did to the servant-maid one to a hundereth but from that thou shalt fall into a greater sinne from that to worse againe as S. Peter from denying came to swearing and from swearing came to extreame cursing of himself This should teach us not to give any place to the devil but to resist him stedfastly and to pray with DAVID Order my steps in thy word and let no iniquitie have dominion over me Thirdly It is observed by holy AUGUSTINE in the place before citted that this fall of S. Peter was permitted by God to make him the more ready to compassionate others when they should fall He was by nature vehement as appeareth by many passages of the Gospell and particularly by cutting off the eare of Malchus He was to be a prime pastor ruller of the Church and to receive the keyes of the Kingdome of Heaven An innummerable multitude of people was to be committed unto him loaden with manifold iniquities Now if he had never fallen himself like enough it was that he would have been the lesse inclind to piâ—tie comiserate others Therefore saieth holy AUGUSTINE The secret of Gods providence was so disposed that he himself was permitted first to fall and that foullie that he might temper the severitie of the sentence against others by the remembrance and consideration of his own fall Thus God hath taught us also by his fall that it is most necessar in a pastor to have a tender heart ready to pitty compassionat others He will never act the part of a pastor faithfully that can do nothing else but rule with authoritie terrifie censure punish That is not the way to win men to God but to drive unstablished souls from God and to cast those that ar weak and distressed into despaire Fourthly It is to be observed that a man may deny Christ although by his mouth he say not that he knowes him not as S. Peter did We may professe that we know him with our mouths and yet by our works deny him as S. PAUL teacheth us Tit. 1. we deny him also wheÌ„ we deny our selves to be his disciples as we see in S. Peter here Now our Lord hath told us That he that will not take up his crosse and follow him cannot be his disciple and that hereby all men shall know that we are his disciples If we love one another And That we must abide it s his word and do the will of his Father If we would be his disciples So also S. PAUL saieth That they that are Christs hath crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof If therefore thou art not content to take up thy crosse with patiencâ— if thou love not thy brother abide not in Christs words art not carefull to do the will of his heavenly Father and to crucifie thy flesh with the lusts of it thou denies thy self to be his disciple consequently denies him In a word Christ is the trueth and therefore if thou believe him not thou deniest him Christ is the way If thou follow not him thou doest deny him Christ is the life therefore if thou be given to the dead works of sinne thou deniest him Thus alace many wayes often-times have we denied him and so have deserved that he should deny us before his Father and his Angels and have need to slie to the mercie of God whereof we may see a notable demonstration in Christ his dealing with S. Peter But there is mercie with God as yee will see most clearly in the next part of my text to which now I come S. Peter having fallen in the manner before declared immediatly whill he was yet speaking the Cock crew the second time and with all Jesus turning looked upon him where upon he remembred and called to minde the words of Jesus how he had said before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice and so went out and weeped bitterly Here is the historie of his rising or repentance Two things are to be considered in it First the cause of his repentance 2. the repentance it self for the first the cause of his repentance was Jesus turned and looked upon him Some thinke that the Look of Christ was only spirituall and that he did not look upon him with his bodily eyes But the Text showeth that he did this also for it is said That be turned and looked upon him Now to what purpose should his turning been mentioned if he had not looked upon him with the eyes of his body But say they S. Peter was without and could not be seen with the bodily eyes of Christ Yet this convinceth not but it may bee that he was brought to the court wherein Peter was or that being in an upper roome as the Gospell showeth he might from thence being turned about see him with the eyes of his body Neverthelesse it is certain that his spirituall look was that which pierced into the soul of S. Peter and cleansed and renewed his heart For clearing of this more fully ye are to consider that the spirituall look of God as it is descrived in scripture is somtimes in Justice somtimes in Mercie somtimes to Humble somtimes to Exalt somtimes to Reward somtimes to Punish In Iustice he looked upon the first world when all flesh had corrupted their wayes and the effect of his Look was an universall diludge of waters Thus he looked upon them that were building Baâ—el Gen. 10. and the effect of his look was the confounding of their languages and the scattering of them upon the earth He looked thus upon Sedom and Gomorrah Gen 18. I will go down saieth the Lord and see if it be according to the cry which is come up unto me and the effect was the destroying of them with fire brimstone from heaven Thus he looked upon Sâ—nnacherâ—b Isai 37. And the Angell of the LORD that same night smot a hundreth fourescore and five thousand of his armie He looked thus upon Corah Dathan and Abiram numb 16. and was displeased and in his fiâ—ie indignation he consumed
how could he have expressed it more fully then in the termes which he hath used To the will I give the keyes of the kingdom of heaven whatsoever ye binde on earth it shall be bound in Heaven c. Whose sinnes soever ye retaine they shall be retained c. Thirdly the manner of our Saviours speech when he promised this Power which is with a serious and vehement attestation Verily I say unto you and the ceremonie used at the performance of it which was by breathing on them with these words receive the holy Ghost these circumstances I say do shew that our Saviour intended to give and did actually give a greater power then is that of declaring a thing to be which already is beside the Repentance of men is a thing which pastors cannot perfectly know and therefore they cannot certainly declare a man to be loosed from sinne For these and other reasons I make no doubt that the Power promised here by our Saviour is not barely a declarative but also an effectuall Power which worketh some effect upon men So the holy Fathers have understood this CHRISOST in his 3. book of the priesthood saith that Christ hath given to men that are upon earth a power to dispose of things that are in heaven This Power saieth he he hath not given to the angels or Aâ—changels for to whom of them hath he said to the will I give the keyes of the Kingdome of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt binde on earth c. Earthly kings sayth he have power to binde loose also but their power extendeth to the bodies of men only whereas this Power reacheth unto the soul and unto heaven That which the servant doth here beneath the LORD confirmeth above and the LORD in a manner denizeth to follow the servant the binding on earth being prior at least in order of nature to the binding in heaven and the loosing on earth being before the loosing in heaven So writting upon the 20 of S. John on these words Whose sinnes soever ye retaine they are retained he sayeth that our Saviour indued his Apostles with such a Power as a king giveth to governours under him when he giveth them power to cast into prison and to take out of it and writting upon these words To thee will I give the keyes of the Kingdome of Heaven Matth. 16. he saieth that Christ hath given to a mortall man the Power of all things that are in heaven for this cause our Saviour addeth here these words on earth whatsoever ye bind On earth To what purpose is this aded but to signifie the amplitude and greatnes of his Power and that how soever it be done by earthly men yet it shall have an authoritie force of a sentence and law in heaven as if a mighty Emperour would say to one whom he much trusted and to whom he had given a most ample commission Whatsoever thou wilt do in the remotest parts of my dominion I shall alow and ratifie it The farrer that servants are from their Masters they use to take to themselves the greater liberty and it is a token of great trust in the master when he committeth power to them in such a case Thus we see that Pastors have properly a power to binde and loose sinners let us now consider more particularly in what manner they do binde and loose and how their binding and loosing is accompanyed with binding and loosing in heaven The Bond wherewith Pastors by vertue of the keyes do binde sinners is directly and immediatly an ecclesiasticall bond exercised about sinue as it as an offence of the Church So their loosing is directly and immediatly an untying and loosing of that ecclesiasticall bond wherwith they have bound a sinner whence of necessity their binding most go before their loosing in this kinde they can loose nothing this way but that which before they have bound But how then yee will say doeth their binding or loosing reach to a mans sinne as it is an offence of God I Ans This is not but mediatly and indirectly in so farre as they do such a thing upon the doing whereof Christ hath promised to binde or loose the sinnes of a man The like we have in haptisme wherin sinne is taken away if he that is baptised put no impediment all that the minister doth is but a washing of the body and an incalling of the blessed Trinitie yet this Action as an instrument or condition carrieth with it the remission of sinne and purging of the soul So in the matter that we have in hand the pastor bindeth the person guilty with an ecclesiasticall bond directly and againe looseth that same bond by ecclesiasticall absolution or reconciliation yet by vertue of Christs promise set down in these words upon the doing of this GOD in heaven doeth binde or loose the sinnes of such a man Thus we see how God not only principally but also alone immediatly taketh away sin for the minister only performeth an ecclesiasticall action upon the doing whereof GOD by vertue of his own Promise taketh away the sinne of such a man Secondly Yee may ask wherein this ecclesiasticall bond consisteth I answer it standeth in a certaine excoÌ„munication whereby a grievous offender is separated in whole or in part from the Church of Christ and from the society of the faithfull and according the loosing opposed hereunto consisteth in the reconciliation of such an one to the Church or in giving him the peace therof whence our Saviour said in the preceeding words If he neglect to hear the Church let him be to thee as a heathen or aâ— a Publican This excoÌ„munication is of two sorts the one is called the lesser excoÌ„munication the other is called the greater In that a man is bound for some grievous offence by debarring him from the society of the faithfull in some things especially in the participation of the blessed mysteries of the body blood of out LORD and by imposing of the works of pennance and humiliation this is called a ponetentiall and medeoinall excoÌ„munication because the chief end of it is to cure him that hath sinned from that disease wherein he hath fallen This kinde of binding we use toward grievous sinners who submite themselves to the direction of the Church and in the ancient Church it was used with great vigor and severitie In the first 300 years when the devotion of Christians was fervent and their puritie great men were not ordinarly admitted to this outward repentance till for a long time with many teares and with great tokens of unfeigned forrow they had earnestly intreated to be admitted in the number of publick penitents when that was granted then they were not immediatly received to their publick repentance but were thrust down as it were first to the degree of the catechumeny or those who were yet unbaptised and did but learne the mysteries of the christian religion and in this degree they were called
is no more partaker of the intercession and prayers of the Church and of the blessings which thereby are plentifully obtained to those that are within it In a word such an one is left to himself as a wretched and forlorne creature destitute of the presence assistance and protection which God graciously giveth to his Church and to the Members thereof and wherewith he covereth it as it were as the cloud did the tabernacle and so is exposed to the will the furie of the devil as a sheep without a shepherd to the Wolf for the kingdome of the devil is especially without the Church of God There he ruleth and reigneth in the children of disobedience Hence according to the judgement of many such are said 1. Cor. 5. To be delivered over unto Satan albeit it be true also that in the Primitive Church for the greater terrour of disobedient persons who suffered themselves to bee excommunicat◠Diverse of them were given over to Satan as to an Executioner to have their bodies afflicted by him So some think that the incestuous Corinthian 1. Cor. 5. was not only excommunicated but also delivered to the Devil to be afflicted bodily and so they think also of Alexander and Hymeneus of whom S. PAUL saith 1. Tim. 1. That he had delivered them to Satan that they might learne not to blaspheme This is the most dreadfull sentence of the Church which Christ promiseth here to ratifie and confirme in heaven It were better for a man saieth Augustine in his first book against the Adversaries of the Law and Prophets and 17 Chapter that he were stoned to death or killed with the sword or torne with the teeth of beasts then to be strucken with this sentence Hee that is bound this way saith he is bound with more grievous and terrible bonds then if they were of iron and adamant The principall Intention of the Church is not to reclaime the person guilty in this Excommunication for it is exercised against such who are incorrigeable and refuse to heare the voice of the Church It is true the reclaiming of such an one is secondarlie intended for he is separate from the society of good Christiās that he may be ashamed that so he may come in end to a sense of his own sinne but the maine intention of the Church is to purge it self from such rotten and infecting Members which obstinatly go on in an evil course and there is none but may see that this proceeding is full of equity if a member of the bodie be corrupted and the rest of the bodie in danger to be infected thereby it must needs bee cut off In all well governed Cities Leprous persons those that are infected with the Plague at separated from others in a word Those that ar obstinatly disobedient and refractarie in any wel governed society or at least cast out of that society and is it not reason that they who are disobedient to the voice of the Church who are ready to infect others with an infection that tendeth to everlasting death be removed and debarred from the fellowship of the faithfull Hence yee may observe first what is the reason that we so slowly proceed to the pronouncing of this sentence of excommunication against those that are disobedient to the voice of the Church Some that have zeal but without sufficient knowledge accuse us for this as negligent or favouring the errours of those persons God knoweth we detaste their errours and that the true cause of out leasurlie proceeding is that knowledge which we have of the terrour and dreadfulnesse of this sentence A physitian will use all means to cure a diseased part of the body before he proceed to the cutting it off and when he is forced to do that he will not do it but with grief and sorrow It is reported of the Emperour Titus who was called the delight of mankinde that even at the just executions of malefactors he used to sigh and monrue Though Absolom had rebelled against his father David and would have taken from him both his crown and his life yet when his army went out against him he said Deale gently with the young man and when he heard that he was killed he cryed out O Absolom Absolom my son Absolom would God I had died for thee and yet the love of spiritual father ought to be greater toward their children then the love of any carnall father can be as CHRIS observeth Is it any wonder then that we are loath to cut any off by the terrible and dreadfull sentence of excommunication and to deliver them to Satan the enemie of mans salvation especially since we are taught by the Apostle 2. Tim. 2. That the servant of the LORD should he gentle and patient in meeknes instructing them that are contrarie minded if GOD will give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth that they may escape out of the snares of the devil who holdeth them captive at his will Secondly Ye may perceive hence how wofull and lamentable is the state of those persons who by their obstinate disobedience to the voice of the Church draw upon themselves this fearfull and terrible sentence It is not without cause that such are compared by an ancient writter to those that are mad Mad persons though they be most strongly bound yet they esteem nothing of their bonds for they are not sensible of their own misery so is it with those of whom I speak They contemne all that is done to them in this kinde and yet in the meane time they are bound both in earth and heaven by GOD and by man Would God that their eyes were opened that they might see the miserable estate of their own soules which are fertered with most strong chains that will draw them unto eternall condemnation Heaven and Earth may passe away but this Word of our LORD shall stand firme Whatsoever ye binde on earth shall be bound in heaven Let them not therefore flatter themselves with this that they see not now the visible judgements of God immediatly ceasing upon men and women that they see not their bodies afflicted by the devil or any such thing GOD is a Patient and Long-suffering GOD but in end recompenseth the delay of punishment with the weight of it if we despise his Goodnesse and by so doing Treasure up wrath to our selves against the day of wrath revelation of the righteous Judgement of GOD. Lastly I beseech you all to remember that it is your duty to esteeme those to be bound both by GOD and by his Servants whom we do binde by this fearfull sentence of excommunication and to carry your selves toward thē as if they wer heathens and publicane So is the Commandement of our Saviour urged againe againe by the Blessed Apostles who requireth that we withdraw our selves from such persons In the ancient Church they did so shune the company of persons excommunicat that scarce they would
it self Hee is not content to say simply that he will praise God but useth sundry pregnant words to this purpose to signify the vehemencie and fervencie of his desire to honour God First he saieth I will extoll thee or exalt thee Wee cannot exalt God by making him higher for he is most high and we are low and base There can be no accession to his Hignesse and though there could yet cannot we contribute to it We are said to exalt him in that sense that we are said to magnifie glorifie and sanctifie him This we do by acknowledging proclaiming worshipping his Greatnesse Glory Holinesse So we exalt him when wee acknowledge his infinite Highnesse and Excellencie when we most highly esteeme of it most highly love it and most humbly submitt our selves unto it Thus I will extoll thee is as if hee had said I will most highly praise thee reverentlie worship thee magnificently proclaime and incomparably prefer thy Highnesse and Excellencie to all others Secondly he saieth He will blesse Him and his Name BLESSING is a wishing of good to another and the bestowing and conferring of it when it lyeth in our power IT comprehendeth two acts the one of the Will the other of the Vnderstanding By the first wee wish or will good by the other we conferre it and so it is a practicall kinde of speech This Blessing as it proceedeth from God is ever effectuall If he speak good to us it is done his word is able to do whatsoever he willeth As when a King hath the honours of a kingdom in his own hand If he say to one be thou a Duke to another be thou an Earl it is so by vertue of this his speech these honours are conferred But it is not so with our blessing especially of God His good is either inward or outward as for his inward good it is in himself in infinite perfection Hee laiketh nothing nor can wee contribute any thing in that kinde All that wee can do in respect of this good is to congratulate and expresse our joy at this that he possesseth in himself all good As for the outward good which belongeth to him namlie the knowledge the love the feare and worship of his Name unto that we may and ought to contribute by his grace Wee should not only wish that good but so much as lyeth in us should endeavour to procure it Thus when DAVID promiseth to blesse him and his Name he meaneth that he wished all to know to feare to love him and that hee would to the uttermost endeavour to effectuat what he wished Thirdly Hee promiseth to praise Him PRAISE is a proclaiming of the excellencie that is in any by reason of his actions and worthie deeds So God is often praised for his acts of mercie justice and power The excellencie that is in any by nature is rather honoured then praised saieth the Philosopher yet often men are praised for naturall excellencies as engyne beauty strength c. And God here and often elswhere in scripture is praised for his Naturall excellencies Infinite greatnes goodnes power mercie c. Lastly DAVID promiseth thus to exalt praise and blesse God and his Name Every day for ever and ever He will beginne it now but is never to end it So long as hee lived hee did praise him and now being dead doeth praise him on earth by this other songs of praise and in heaven doeth and shall for ever blesse him Beside this he promiseth to do it without intermission Every day saieth he which signifieth that nothing should befall no change no trouble that should divert him from this exercise Whence we may learne this profitable instruction that it is our duty in every estate whatsomever befall us to praise and blesse God No trouble or temptation should make the praise or blessing of him to depart from our mouth nothing should make our courage to quaile our patience to wearie our tranquillitie to cease or stay the lifting up of our hearts to blesse his holy Name For this should be done by us every day and at all times Psal 34. 1. Thou should blesse him in the day of thy sicknesse aswell as in the day of thy health in the day of thy want aswell as in the day of thy aboundance in the day of desolation aswel as in the day of consolation in the day of adversitie aswel as in the day of prosperitie What great matter is it saieth holy AUGUSTINE upon this place that thou blesses God in thy joyfull day when all things flow to thee according to thy heart What if a sorrowfull and melancholious day appeare will thou not blesse him then also If thou will not thou did not truly say Every day will I blesse thee How many and how grievous evils came upon Iob and that how suddenlie yet did hee not intermitt the praising of God in that his most sorrowfull day When all the evill tydings had come unto him hee worshiped and said The Lord hath given the Lord hath taken blessed be the Name of the Lord. Thus ought we all to do and the reasons are manifest For first If God be thy God then thy heart is upon him thou places in him thy soveraigne good which is to be found in him alone Now no crosse or trouble can bereave thee of him unlesse thou thy self forsake him Iob his hudge wealth was taken away and his children for whom he keeped it were taken away but God who gave the one and the other and was able to restore that and infinitly more could not be taken from him Thus the day of worldlie sorrow cannot take our God from us and so we have the ground and matter of our true and chief joy and consequently have reason still to blesse him 2. Whatsomever God doeth to his own he doeth it for the best He maketh all their sorrows and troubles to work for their good yea oftentimes promoveth their good by sicknesse want adversitie more then it should have been advanced by health aboundance prosperity LAZAR us sores poverty wer more profitable to him then all the wealth dainties of the Rich-man were to him Both found it to be so in end when the Rich-man was laid in flames of fire was faine to beg one drop of water which yet he could not have and when Lazarus was carried by the angels into the bosome of ABRAHAM Wee may not judge of these outward evils by our own sense but by the word wisdome goodnes and power of God which maketh them all to serve to our good Now if it be so we have reason in the midst of all our worldlie sorrowes to blesse and to praise the Name of our God Happy is he that can do so this is a most happy holy way by which a man may go through all the sorrows of this life to heaven rejoycing and exulting The Lord grant that we may so do
to speak to us or wee have libertie to speak to him Lastly The consideration of this infinite Greatnesse of God serveth to give us comfort and confidence in all our troubles The Lord useth this argumeÌ„t to Aâ—RAHAM to encourage him I am God Alsufficient saieth he walk before me and be upright and I will be thy exceeding great reward so when he sent Moses to the children of Israell to assure them that he was to deliver them out of the Egyptian bondage Hee declared to him his Name which signifieth his greatnesse and commanded him to reveale it unto them thus shal thou say unto them said the Lord Exod. 3 14. I am or Hee that is hath sent me unto you as if he would have said feare not hee hath spoken it who is the great and infinite Being who maketh every thing to bee that he will and giveth being unto all his promises In like manner the Lord reasoneth Isal 40. where he comforteth the fainting hearts of his people even ready to murmure with this consideration of his greatnesse Why sayest thou O Jacob why speakest thou O Israel my way is hid from the Lord and my judgement is passed over from my God Hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth fâ—inteth not neither is weary of his understanding there is no searching Hee giveth power to them that are faint and to them that have no might he encreaseth strength Even the youths weary and faint and the young men shall utterly fall But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint Thee is no trouble nor distresse against which this infinite greatnesse of God cannot comfort us Are thou weak and thy enemies strong yet remember that the power of this great God of whose greatnesse ther is no end is greater then all thy weaknes or their might Are thou oppressed with the greatnes of thy sinnes Remember that thy sinnes how great soever are small in respect of his mercies who is infinitly great in that as well as in other perfections Are thou perplexed and seest no outgate in thy difficulties Remember the Wisdome of Him that is infinitly great can find out the way In a word His infinite greatnesse can supply us in all our evils and wants Let us therefore seek our comfort hence against the manifold evils which afflict us or are imminent over our heads There is no day almost which bringeth not some evill with it and some tydings that are sorrowfull I shall instance but in one particular the death of your Reverend and worthy Pastor whereof yee lately heard I may truly say The losse of him was not a small losse He was a man endued with singular and excellent gifts especially of Learning and Devotion His Judgement was solid and piercing his Conception was most cleare he was strong in reasoning distinct and sweet and pithie in his expressions and by the diligent use of these gifts highly esteemed at home and famous abroad amongst the best learned as I very well know How comfortable his travels were to you how plainly and perfectly he instructed you how sweetly and powerfully hee exhorted and comforted you from this place I appeale to your own consciences But that which is most of all I am perswaded he had the true feare of God in his heart in his wayes he set him before his eyes and was fervent and frequent in the devot service of him He made not a shew of devotion but God Who seeth in secret I trust hath now openly rewarded him Hee had indeed an apprehension of death a long space before his end and I very well know that he was most earnestly and devotly prepared for it His preparation was fruitfull for God gave him a sweet and calme and holy departure which joyned with integritie of his life assureth us that he is now translated from this valley of teares into his Fathers house and to that City that hath foundations whose Builder and Maker is God For my self I make no doubt at all but that he is with this great God and is now entered into his joy So it is well with him but alace These and the like losses are matter of sorrow and heavinesse to us yet as I said we must not be too much cast down There is comfort against this in all our evils in that infinite greatnesse and sufficiencie of God whereof I have been speaking The Lord grant us confidence in him and that for the merits of Christ Iesus to whom c. A SERMON Vpon the CXXXIII Psalme Jule 22. 1638. A song of degrees of DAVID Vers 1. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unitie 2. It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aarons heard that went down the skirts of his garments As the dew of Hermon and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion for there the LORD commanded the blessing even life for evermore THis Psalme is one of the 15. songs of degreâ— The 1. wherof is the cxx the last the cxxxiv. Why these Psalmes are called particularly songs of degrees it is not certaine Some think they are called so from the fifteen degrees by which they ascended to the temple of Jerusalem whereupon they were sung upon particular occasions Some think they are so called in reference to the ascending of the Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem after their deliverance from captivitie foreseene by DAVID by the light of Gods Spirit But to leave things uncertaine This is certaine that these Psalmes are singularlie excellent and well agreeing to men that are sojourning here and ascending by degrees of pietie and vertue to the heavenly Ierusalem They are full of divine instructions affections wherby we may be directed and inflamed to make progresse and ascend in the way to our heavenly countrey and city In particular this Psalme which of the fifteene is the last except one though short is a most sweet and heavenly song wherin most divinlie DAVID commendeth brotherly love the coÌ„munion of the saints he representeth the beautie of it most liuelie it is very necessar to all to look thereupon that they who have concord peace may be thankfull to God for it and be carefull to maintaine it that they who have it not may desire seek after it And therfore it shall be fit for us this day to Behold how good how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unitie Behold saieth DAVID This word calleth us to attention and to the present view and inspection of the beautie of brotherly love He setteth and presenteth it as it were before our eyes and therfore saieth Behold Beside he doth not simply call us
and weaknes he saith not all spirits or all that are holy just wel-deserving wealthie or noble but all flesh shall come The poore have accesse aswell as the rich to poure out their heart before God the base aswell as the noble the unlearned aswell as the learned the sinfull Publican aswel as the Pharisee even the sinner I say if he have begun to compt his sin a miserie may come to God and bevaile his miserie and implore his mercie All these I say may come and shall be heard If any man come and is not heard it is because he cometh not as he ought nor seeketh aright Here first consider that latlie we came to God offered up our prayers to him as for other benefits so for a seasonable harvest We have found by experience that the Lord hath heard our prayers though having in them many defects and worthie to be cast back as dung in our faces We have found as the PROPHET speaketh in the end of this Psalme that he hath visited the earth and enriched it with the river of God blessed the springing of it hath crowned the year with his goodnes and hath made his paths to drop fatnes Let us no think that this was from chance or nature but let us with thankful hearts acknowledge it to be as indeed it is the visitation and blessing of God Let every heart and every mouth say Blessed be the Lord who-hath not put back our prayers but notwithstanding of our sinnes hath so visited blessed and enriched vs. Secondly if we would be still partakers of this great benefit let vs be carefull to continue our thankfulnes still There are many things that we stand in need of for which we must pray to him to purge away our iniquities as he saieth in the next verse To still the noise of the sea and tumults of the people to blesse the fruits that he hath given us that his wrath come nor upon us while it is betwixt our teeth Let us therefore that it may be well with us for ever resolve to performe not only this day but also all the dayes of our life our vows of obedience and to praise him with our life aswell as with our mouth As for the earthly blessings which he hath given us as on the one part we should esteem highly of them soon the other part Let us remember they are but the pleadges of better things abyding us in our countrey if his riches be so great toward us in our sojourning what may we expect when we shall sit down in his house at his table to be satisfied with the fatnesse of it If the river of God passing through the earth so refresh us here how shall we be delighted with that river of pleasures which maketh glad the citie of God The Lord grant that our hearts may be there and that we may walk in the way that leadeth into it and that for the merits of Christ To Whom c. FIRST SERMON UPON the Lamentations of JEREMIAH Chap. V. Verse 19. Thou O Lord remainest for ever Thy throne from generation to generation 20. Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever and forsake us so long-time 21. Turne us unto thee O Lord and we shall be turned renew our dayes as of old The holy PROPHET having made a pittifull complaint to God of the great desolation that had come upon Sion or the Church of God Ierusalem being taken and burnt the people of God being killed or lead in captivitie he in end shutteth up all and closeth with a fervent prayer Thou O Lord remainest for ever c. In this prayer two things are to be cōsidered First the ground of the PROPHETS petitions Thou O Lord remainest for ever thy thro◠from generation to generation Secondly the petitions themselves which are espetially two the first is set down by way of expostulation wherefore doest thou forget us forever and forsake us so long time which includeth this petition Lord forsake us not but restore thy favour to us againe and renew our dayes as of old The second is in the next words turne thou us unto thee O Lord and we shall be turned To returne againe to the first part which is the ground of the PROPHETS supplication and of his hope confidence to be heard it is set down in the first words we have in it three Prerogatives ascrived to God the first that he is UNCHANGEABLE Thou O Lord remainest Sayeth he secondly he ascriveth to him absolute Dominion imported by this that Hee is the Lord and hath a Throne Thirdly Eternity is ascrived both to him and his Kingdome Thou O Lord remainest for ever c. Let us consider these points shortly both in themselves and with a reference to the PROPHETS petitions Thou O Lord remainest c. Here the PROPHET to strengthen his hope the hope of the Church fixeth the eyes of his faith upon the Vnchangeablnes of God thou sayest he remainest The word in the originall signifieth to dwell to abide or sit still importeth when ascrived to God his constancie immntabilitie For clearing of this we are to consider that this is in God in a most excellent manner He is simple Vnchangeable both in his nature and in his decrees or purposes both which are meaned here In his nature at his perfections he is Vnchangeable If any chāge of this kynde could have place in him it should be either from imperfection to perfection or from perfection to imperfection but neither of these can be no new perfection can haue place in him because as we said before in him is the infinite fulnes of perfectiōn which is not capable of any increase o◠accession Neither can he change to any imperfection for none of his infinite perfections can be lossed They are one the same with his own nature and being Now his being is necessar for he hath it not from another and therefore as it ever was so it can never cease to be and consequently is Vnchangeable for Vnchangeablnes is nothing else but a necessitie of being that which he was before Thus it i◠most evident that God in his nature essentiall perfections is Unchangeable the acquiring of any new perfection being repugnant to the infinite fulnes of being that is in him and the losse of his perfection being contrate to the necessitie or infinit firmnes or stabilitie of his being or Nature Secondly as he is Vnchangeable in his naturall perfections so in his decrees and purposes toward us we often change our resolutions and purposes and the reason is we do not perfectly perceive and consider the good or the evil the conveniencie or inconveniencie of that which we are about therefore when thereafter we find our own errour we change and retraite the will and purpose which we had before This cannot have place in God who from all eternitie hade a most clear sight of all the good
before whom wee stand guilty till he speak peace ther is no solid calmnes in our minds Beside our hearts naturally are full of trouble and tormoyle and therefore cannot have peace unlesse it be created in them Now this is the proper work of God who saieth Isai 57. to this purpose I creat the fruit of the lips peace peace to him that is a far off Lastly so long as sinfull corruption is not healed in our soules their wound remaineth greene which suffereth us to have no rest Now it is God alone who can healâ— the soule and therefore it is he only who can give peace to it Thus the working of this peace in us is the peculiar work of God If he stand by no man nor angell can give it Hence DAVID even after the tydings of peace brought unto him by NATHAN cryeth yet to God for peace and joy Make me to heare the voyce of joy and gladnesse that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Upon the other part as it is God alone who giveth this peace so for our comfort wee are to know that hee can easily give it and keep and preserve us in it It costeth him no more but a word if be but speak peace wee are sure to have it I will heare what the Lord God will speak hee will speak peace unto his people If he but speak the word it is done To this purpose we have a notable place Isai 44. There the Lord is thus descrived The Lord who saieth to Jerusalem be thou inhabited and to the cities of Judah be yee built that sayeth unto the depth be dryed up that saieth to Cyrus his servant thou art my sheepherd and shalt perform all my pleasure So the Lord needeth no more but a word to build Judah to make Jerusalem inhabited to remove all impediments out of the way of his people to perswade the heart of Cyrus an heathen man to be their nursing father Thus Psal 44. the PROPHET saieth to God Thou art my King O God command deliverance for Jacob. If God but send forth his Commandement it shall be obeyed When the sea is most raging and the waves greatest if Christ say be still there shall be a great calm This serveth exceedingly for our comfort that our God whom we serve is able so easily to give us peace and calmnesse in all our troubles and distresses Yee found this latlie by your own experience When yee looked for the help of man yee were disappointed and felt that the Arme of flesh is a vaine thing to trust into but when your Troubles wer come to the hieght your 〈◊〉 desperate then the Lord spake peace to you and whâ—â— hâ—â—aid was performed Would God that yee were sensible of â—his his goodnes and O that yee may be alwayes mindfull 〈◊〉 that by the consideration of so great a benefite yee may 〈◊〉 alwayes stirred up to praise him and to trust in his mercie 〈◊〉 much of the benefite Now I come to the description of them to whom it belongeth Whose minde is stayed on thee c. The words in the originall signifieth the minde or thought is stayed and by some are referred to God by others to the godly Learned CALVIN writting upon this place referreth the words to God thus The counsell and purpose of God whereby he hath decreed to preserve the peace of his servants is unchangeable and therefore he will keep them in peace There can no alterations fall out in this world which may change his immutable minde so there is a secret opposition betwixt Gods thought and ours My thoughts are not as yours Isai 55. neither are my wayes as your wayes but as high as the heaven is above the earth so high are my thoughts above your thoughts and my wayes above your wayes The minde and the counsell of God is immutable whereas our thoughts are changeable every moment upon the least occasion He is the Lord and changeth not and therefore wee are not consumed Secondly The words may bee referred to the godly thus Their minds are stayed and fixed on God and therefore he will keep them in peace Our Interpreters have so expounded the words and this seemeth best to agree with them But yee will ask what is this to have our minds stayed on God I answere unto this first is required that our hearts bee withdrawn from all things else Wee cannot have our minds on God and the creature both for Wee cannot serve two masters Hence our blessed Lord requireth of his disciples that they deny themselves and telleth them that none can be his disciple except he hate father and mother wise and children c. So it wee would have our hearts stayed on God they must settle upon nothing besids him This is necessarie for the obtaining of our peace which wee cannot enjoy so long as our hearts are fixed upon any creature The reasons are cleare First the creatures are transitorie and changeable and therefore the heart set upon them must needs change with them 2. While as the heart is inordinatly set on the creature the affections are contrarie to sound reason and our actions are contrarie to God and his Law so during this inordinat love we have a warre which standeth not with peace 3. As long as the heart doth cleave inordinatly to any creature there must needs bee a continuall feare which is contrarie to the Peace of the minde For either wee feare that wee shall not obtaine that which wee love or that wee shall losse it when it is obtained or that we shall not recover it when it is lost Either we feare that our will shall be crossed or suppose our desires second us in all things yet our guilty conscience accuseth and tormenteth us 4. There is no creature how perfectly soever enjoyed by us that can give satisfaction to out soules without which they can haue no peace Such is the nobilitie of our soule such is the excellencie of our minds and wils that a world yea a thousand worlds known beloved and possessed cannot give them rest contentment Either the Object delighted in is unproportionated to the soule as the sound to the eye or the colour to the eare or at least is unable to equall the infinite desire of it This none can do but God O LORD thou hast made us for thy self saieth holy AUGUST and our hearts are restlesse till they rest in thee Thus when ever we would have peace or have our hearts on God wee must withdraw them from the creatures The next thing that is required for staying our hearts upon God is that we joyne unto him by sincere love and by humble submission of our desires wills to his so that we love nothing but in him or for him desire nothing but his Glory and the accomplishment of his will This is the solid way to Peace when men will and nil the same things then there is true
they shall be forced to remember and that remembrance shall be one of their greatest torments What greater torment have the damned then to remember how often and how willingly God called upon them yet they refused to hearken unto him What greater torment then to remember how easilie they might have escaped these infinite and eternall torments and how easily they might have attained unto eternal joyes Let us therefore take heed than we forget not Christ and if we have forgotten him let us call to minde againe as S. Peter did whose remembrance was most fruitfull for He went out and weept bitterly There was bitternes and grief in his heart and aboundant tears in his eyes Neither at that time only did he weep but as it is reported by Clemens as long as he lived He weept when he heard the cock crow so that at last his tears drew furrows in his cheeks We reade not his words which may bee were chocked with aboundance of his tears but no doubt since he called to minde his sinne repented fruitfully he had thoughts or inward words both of sorrow and confidence When he thought upon his sinne we may well thinke he said within himself Alace miserable man what have I done How do I yet live who have denied him who is the life what wonder though the earth should swallow me up who have denied my Lord and redeemer O wicked mouth how could thou deny that thou knewest him who hath bestowed so many benefits upon thee cursed tongue how could thou abjure him who hath showed so many tokens of his love unto thee In like manner while he thought upon these words of Christ I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not we may think that he hath said within himself I will turne to him who hath turned to me I will look to him who hath looked to me It is he that hath said As I live I love not the death of a sinner I will cast my self down at his feet and say Master and LORD I have sinned against the heaven and against thee and am no more worthy now to be called thy Son Would God we would imitate the Apostle in these tears of unfeigned sorrow Nothing more pleasing to God No face so beautifull in his Eyes as that which is bluddered with tears The teares of a penitent are the pearles which he delighteth in Nothing more profitable to us Hast thou lost thy goods thy tears will not recover them againe Hast thou lost thy children thy tears will not bring them back againe Hast thou lost health thy tears will not make thee better but rather worse But if thou hast lost GOD and his Favour the tears of unfeigned sorrow can bring him back againe and who would not for recovering of so great a good with Peter here weep bitterly with Mary Magdalen wash his feet with tears and with DAVID make his bed to swime with them But it may be ye will say to me I would do so if Christ would turne and look upon me Is not Christ turned to thee when he speaketh to thee in his Word and inviteth thee to come to him doth he not turne and look unto thee when he offereth to thee his own Body and his Blood Look therefore unto him and look unto thy self Look to him sweating his own Blood crowned with thorns scourged buffetted denuded of his garments and all for thee Canst thou look upon this sight without tears what are the tears of thine eyes to the Blood of his sacred Body and to the sorrowes and travailes of his Soul look upon thy self consider thy ungratitude the filthines and defilment of thy soul and body how thou art exposed by thy sinnes to his dreadfull and eternall wrath If thou can consider this aright it will make thee to say with the PROPHET O that my head were waters and that my eyes were fountaines of teares that I might weep day and night Blessed are they that so sow in teares they shall reap in joy but â—o to them that will needs laugh now for they shall mourne and that without comfort for ever The Lord make us wise in time and that for the merits of Christ to whom with the Father c. A SERMON UPON the XV. Chapter of MATTHEW Vers 21. Then Iesus went thence and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon Vers 22. And behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts and cryed unto him saying Have mercy on me O LORD thou Sonne of David my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil Vers 23. But he answered her not a word And his disciples came and besought him saying Send her away for she cryeth after usâ—â— Vers 24. But he answered and said I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel Vers 25. Then came she and worshipped him saying Lord help me Vers 26. But he answered and said It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to dogs Vers 27. And she said Truth Lord yet the dogs eat of the crumbes which fall from their Masters table Vers 28. Then Jesus answered and said unto her O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt And her daughter was made whole from that very houre I Have made choise of these words at this time which containe a most notable historie and most fit for the worke which we have in hand this day for in it is set before us an exact paterne teaching us how to pray and how to wrestle with God so as we may prevaile and have a blessed successe as the woman here mentioned had who prayed with such faith confidence humilitie and invincible constancie that not only obtained she her desire but much more O woman said our Saviour unto her great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt The historie is very easie and and plaine and requireth not so much to be explained as to be remarked and applyed Three things are chiefly considerable in it First the description of the person so much commended here Secondly her carriage toward Christ and his behaviour toward her Thirdly the obtaining of her suite and praise of her faith To come to the first The person that was here a supplicant to our Lord was a woman One of the weaker sex by which the devill first prevailed against man expelled him from paradise and the joyes of it Secondly she was a gentile or a heathen woman as S. Mark telleth us she was none of the peculiar people of God but a greek as it is in the original which according to the phrase of scripture is as much as a gentile and so a stranger from the Common-wealth of Israel and had her being among them who worshiped the devil in stead of the true God Thirdly yet more she was a Canaanite as S. Mathew calleth her S. Mark calleth her a Syrophenician both which agree
abide to look upon them let be to speak with them Alace it is a pitty to see the company of excommunicat persons so much haunted as it is by some among you This is to transgresse the expresse Cōmandement of God this is to disappoint the Gracious Intention of GOD which is that such Persons may be ashamed of their sinne yea this is to confirme and barden them into their sinne to make your selves partakers thereof I beseech you therefore to esteeme such as we cast out to be indeed cast out of the society of the faithfull and unworthy with whom good Christians should converse The LORD imprint these things in our hearts and that for the merits of Christ to whom c. THE FIRST SERMON Upon the XII Chapter of LUKE Vers 15. And he said unto them Take heed and beware of covetousnesse for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth Vers 16. And he spake a parable unto them saying The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully Vers 17. And he thought within himself saying what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits Vers 18. And he said This will I do I will pull down my barns and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods THere is no time of the year wherein ye are more distracted about worldly cares then at this time To the end therefore that you exceed not due measure I thought good to present to your meditation these Words of our Saviour wherein most powerfully he diswadeth frō covetousnesse First ye have his dehortation Take heed and beware of covetousnesse Secondly it is inforced by a pregnant reason for the life of man c. Thirdly this reason is confirmed and cleared by a most divine parable where in to the life is represented the folly wickednes punishment of avarice And he spake unto them a parable saying Let us return to the dehortation And he said unto them take heed c. Before we consider the words ye are to understand that this dehortation was occasioned by the discord of two brethren of whom one came to our Saviour as ye may reade in the preceeding words desiring him to move his brother to divide the inheritance with him It was covetousnesse which made the one to retain that part of the inheritance which was not his own and which made the other to have recourse to our Saviour not for the health of his soul as he should have done but for redresse in his temporall estate It made him more mindfull of his patrimony in earth then of that which is in heaven Hence our Saviour taketh occasion to exhort him and all these that were present and in them us all to take heed and beware of covetousnesse Take heed and beware of covetousnesse This is the duty which he recommendeth That which he wils us to beware of is covetousnesse Elsewher it is called The love of money but the word used here is more large signifying a desire and seeking after that which is more then is needfull and sufficient whether in money or houses or lands c. It is a vice in defect contrary to liberality whereby a man esteemeth loveth and delighteth in earthly riches more then he ought whence he exceeds just measure in retaining or acquiring of them Thus one is guilty of this sinne 1. when against the tenth commandement he coveteth that which is not his own or against the eight commandement violently or fraudulently takes it 2. when he setteth his heart upon that which is his own placeth his delight therein or which followeth therupon niggardly tetaineth it when by justice or love or mercy he is oblidged to cōmunicat it to others This is the vice from which here our Saviour diswadeth neither sayeth he simplie Be not covetous but Take heed and beware of it Take heed fore see or consider we cannot be aware except by sound and right judgement what is good and to be desired what is necessary and what not This he will have us to consider and weigh and with all that present effect of covetousnesse among these bretheren and the like wofull effects which avarice bringeth forth This is not enough we must also beware We must carefully watch and strongly guard our hearts that this enemie get no accesse By this our LORD insinuateth two things first that covetousnesse is insidious next that it is also a pernicious evil First We must beware of it because it is an insidious evil It subtily creeps into the heart of man To this purpose it bath often the maske the appearance of vertue somtimes it seemeth to be frugality somtims justice and pretendeth titles of just and right Thus easily it prevails with our earthly minds and therefore almost there is no vice so universall it entred into the society of the holy Apostles and overthrew Judas there amongst the primitive Christians it poysoned the heart of Ananias and Saphira the courts of kings the cottages of poor men are easily tempted by it as experience teacheth Secondly It is a most pernicious evil S. PAUL 1. Tim. 6. sayeth The love of money is the roote of all evil distrustfull anxiety lying fraude perjury thift oppression discord and murther spring from it There is nothing more wicked then a covetous may sayeth the wise-man Ecclesiast 10. 9. for such an one will set his soul to sayle Ther is no law of man no law of God or nature which it will not make men to trample under foot That same Apostle sayeth It is Idolatrie It maketh a man to yeeld that honour to his gold which he oweth to GOD. That he beleeveth that he trusteth to that he delighteth in to it he offereth sacrifice upō the altar of covetousnesse Cursed is that altar sayeth CHRISOST in his 18. homile upon the epist to the Ephes The sacrifices offered upon it are the bodies and souls of men if thou go to the altars of pagan Idols thou shalt find the blood of sheep and oxen but the altar of avarice smoaketh with the blood of men There the skin is plucked from the flesh and the flesh from the bones of the Poore There their flesh is eaten and their bones brocken and choped in pieces as for the Pot. MICAH 3. 3. On this alter a man often sacrificeth himself He killeth his soul with deadly wounds and often his bodie How many hath it made to drowne or hang or steb themselves no wonder therfore that the Apostle calleth it the serving of an Idol They that serve it may say to it For thy Sake we are killed all the day as holy AUGUSTINE marketh in his 100 sermon upon the saints Besids it is a vice almost incurable The older men grow it cleaveth the faster to them when they are nearest to the earth and grave they cover often most for it and cannot be satisfied till
the Servant of GOD. There is also a kinde of violence inferred to our sinful corruption for so great is the Power of GOD given to us by his Grace that violently as it were we break the bands whereby our naturall corruptions hath hitherto tyed us The Kingdome of heaven sayeth our Saviour suffereth violence and the violent entereth by force Thus we see our effectuall calling is not without cause called a drawing of us by the Father who of his infinite Goodnâ—s by his almighty Power worketh so on our hearts that of unwilling he maketh us to be willing to go to Christ to run after him This doctrine serveth first to teach us al humility If thou have any good thou may perceive from this which hath been said that it is not of thy self but from God O man who hath discerned thee what hast thou but that which thou hast received and of thou hast received it why â—oustest thou as if thou hadest not received it No honour herein is due to us but all the glory belongeth to him From whom every good gift and every perfect giving descendeth Againe if as yet thou have nothing which is truly good blame not God but thy self through whose default it is that thou art not drawn by him No man indeed can come to him except he be drawn but if any man be not drawn this is to be imputed to his own wickednes As GOD draweth none but out of his free Mercy so he leaveth none but out of his uncontrollable justice Humble therfore thy self and acknowledge as the truth is that thou hast not used the means a right which he hath given thee but on the contrary hath abused his manifold Blessings Lastly This serveth also to work in us humility while we consider the different dealing of God towards diverse persons of whom some are drawn and some are not drawn by him Go not to inquire curiously why this man is drawn and that man is not drawn although it may be that he that is drawn is no lesse if not more unworthy then he who is not drawn If thou search into this it is presumption humility contenteth it self with this that if any be not drawn it is through their own fault if any be drawn it is of the bounty of God who may do with his own what he will Humility maketh us cover our faces with the Seraphims to adore this great mysterie to cry out with them Holy holy holy is the LORD GOD of Hosts Holy is be in all his wayes Holy is he both when he draweth and when he draweth not when he calleth men to him and when he rejecteth them It maketh us to cry out with S. PAUL O the deepe of the riches both of the Wisdome and Knowledge of GOD. how unsearchable are his judgements and his Wayes are past finding one Secondly The consideration of this doctrine should stirre us up to earnest incalling on God for his Grace at all times Inquire not sayeth holy AUGUSTINE upon this place Why GOD draweth this man and why he draweth not that man but understand receive this counsell if thou thy self be not drawn pray to God that thou may be drawn Are we not yet converted we should carefully use the means especially of prayer that we may be converted And suppose we be coÌ„verted yet should we still cal on God that he would yet draw us more that we may run after him We should say with David Thou hast been mine help leave me not neither forsake me O God of my salvation Thirdly This should stirre us up to be carefull obediently to answer the Calling of God that we through our default deprive not our selves of his saving Draught Remember he that calleth thee is infinitly Excellent and most Worthy whom thou shouldest hearken unto He hath no need of thee but thou standest in great need of Him and without him cannot be but miserable To him thou art infinitely bound he is the Creator and thou the creature he the LORD and thou the servant he the Redâ—â—â—â—r and thou the captive 2. Consider that thou art most unworthy to be called by him but most worthy to perish in thine own sinnâ—s 3. That from which hee calleth thee 〈◊〉 sinne the greatest of evils and death the wages of sinne 4. That which he calleth thee unto is perfect Happines He calleth thee to life even the life of Grace he calleth thee to Peace even to that peace that passeth understanding he calleth thee to the Gifts Joy of his Spirit yea to the participation of his blessed Spirit himself He calleth thee to the great banquet wherein thou art to receive not earthly food but the bread of life which came down to give life to the world And will thou not hearken unto him wofull miserable shal thy estate be when some refused to come to the feast of the great King Luk. 14. He vaxed angry said they should never taste of his banquet If Wisdom call we answer not if she stretch out her hands and we regard not Prov. 1. 24. She also will laugh at our destruction and mock when our feare cometh we shall call but she shall not answer we shall seek her early but shall not find her The Lord make us wise that we may consider this aright and that for the Merits of Christ Iesus to whom with the Father c. THE SECOND SERMON Upon the VI Chapter of S. JOHN Vers 44. 〈…〉 And I will raise him up at the Last day Vers 45. It is written in the prophets And they shall be all taught of GOD. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto meeâ— YEe have already heard the instruction given by the LORD unto the murmuring Jews namely That none can come to him except he be drawn by his Father who sent him In the words now read he showeth first the happy estate of them who are drawn by the Father and come unto him confirming withall his former discourse where at they murmured 2. He proveth the necessity of that drawing before mentioned and more fully explaineâ—h it It is written in the prophets Thy shall be all taught of God And I will raise him up at the last day These words are added here by our LORD first to preveene the misinterpretation of his former words wherein he said that men cannot come to him except they be drawn by the Father Some might have thought because of this that he was inferiour to the Father therefore he saieth That he shall raise him up at the last day which importeth no lesse power then that is whereby men are drawn by the Father 2. These words ar added to confirme that which he said before namely That he is the bread of life and came down from heaven To confirme this I say especially in the minds of beleevers For if he raise up men at the last day undoubtedly he
is not from the earth but from heaven and if he give life to them that are dead he may be justly called The bread of life 3. He addeth these words to comfort Beleevers and to terrifie unbeleevers For no greater comfort can be to them that receive him by a true and lively faith then the assured hope that they shall be raised up by him from death to a glorious and immortall life and on the other part it is matter of exceeding terror to the unbelieving and wicked that they shall not be partakers of this blessed resurrection but they shall be raised up to shame and confusion This point is urged diverse times hereafter by our LORD and therefore it may be we shall have occasion to speak of it more fully Only now consider that this is a point which we should at this time deeply meditate upon He who calleth us and offereth himself unto us is no lesse then he who hath power of life and death even of eternall life and of eternall death If wee answer him and embrace his Calling we may look to have confidence joy and glory at our death and resurrection but if we do otherwayes we can expect nothing but terrour sorrow and confusion Though we think little now of death and resurrection yet they wil come It is appointed for all men once to die and after death cometh judgement The soul will be called out of the body the body will be called out of the grave and both will be called before the Tribunall of GOD. If thou hearkned devotly and obediently to his Calling here Thou shalt lift up thine head then being confident that thy redemption draweth near When GOD sayeth to thy soul at death Come out thou shalt encourage it and say Go 〈◊〉 my soule fear nâ—t it is the Voice of my Beloved calling not to destroy but to save thee It is the voice of him who hath often called me before and whom I have answered by his Grace It is the Voice of him that I was longing for He said to me before Behold I come I have answered even so Amen LORD Iesus come But on the contrary if thou hast despised his gracious and mercifull Calling here thy terrour shall be unspeakable at death and at the resurrection He shall call when thy Lamp is not prepared and albeit thou would not be drawn by his Mercy his Justice shall draw thy soule out of thy body at death and thy body out of the grave at the resurrection although thou call then he will not heare but will say Depart from me I know thee not Long have I cast open the doore of my Mercy unto thee but thou would not enter and now it is shute O how terrible shall this Calling or rather Drawing of iustice be to the disobedient soule body Faine would they draw back into that very nothing out of which they were brought Therefore the wicked shall say then unto the hills and to the mountains fall upon us and cover us from the Face of him that sitteth upon the Throne and from the Face of the Lamb. Let us therefore while we have time thinke both upon his Mercy Justice These are the two armes of his Providence whereby he draweth to good and from evil MERCY is as it were his Right-Hand which is alluring and comfortable justice his Left-Hand which is terrifying and dreadfull Let us labour That his left hand may be vnder our head as the Spouse speaketh and that his right hand may embrace us that is let us thinke upon his gracious Promises that we may be allured to obey him and withall consider his dreadfull terrours that we may stand in awe to despise his invitations I will speake no more of this Now I proceed It is written in the prophets And they shall be all taught of GOD c. Here he confirmeth and cleareth what he said of the drawing of men to him by the Father He confirmeth it by the testimony of scripture It is written sayeth he in the prophets they shall be all taught of GOD. This testimony is expresly set down Isaiah 54. 13. Where the PROPHET speaking of the happy estate of the Church of the new Testament sayeth to her All thy children shall be taught of the LORD and great shall be their peace According to the sense it is also to be found else-where especially in the 31. 33. of Iâ—r where the LORD speaking of the Church of the new Testament sayeth After those dayes it shall come to passe that I will put my law in their hearts writ it in their inward parts and they shall be my people and I will be their GOD and they shall not teach every man his brother and every man his neighbour but they shall know me from the highest to the least sayeth the LORD For clearing of this yee are to understand that to be taught of God is nothing else but to have our minds enlightned by the knowledge of him and to have his love â—â—â—ed abroad in our hearts so that we obey him and that not out of the fear of punishment but out of the love of righteousnes Of this teaching the Prophet spake when he said Psal 94. 12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastisest and teachest out of thy law and when he said againe Teach me to do thy Will O GOD for it is good This our Saviour manifesteth in the next words wherein he explaineth what it is To be taught by GOD saying That such an one heareth and learneth of the Father and cometh to him that is he that is so taught understandeth and beleeveth that which the Father revealeth and embraceth it by sincere love and affection and so cometh to Christ by faith by hope by love and obedience Hence S. AUGUSTINE in his book of the Grace of Christ 12. and 13. chapters inferreth That this doctrine of the Father is nothing else but his heavenly Grace communicated to us whereby he maketh us not only to know what we should do but also to do what we know whereby he maketh us not only to beleeve that which should be loved but also to love that which we beleeve This is the doctrine of the Father whereby from on hye by his unspeakable Power inwardly he manifesteth his truth and communicateth to us the love of himself This also is manifest as S. AUGUSTINE observeth there from the 1. Thess 4. 9. where S. PAUL sayeth As for brotherly love yee have not need that I should write unto you for yee are taught of GOD to love one another So the Teaching of GOD maketh us not only to know what should be done but also to do that which we know And he that knowes and doeth not is not caught by God He is not taught according to grace but according to the law he is not taught according to the spirit but according to the letter Secondly Yee are to consider that our Saviour by urging
this Teaching of GOD this hearing and learning of the Father doeth not condemne the outward ministrie of preaching or deny the necessity of it ordinarly For our Lord himself at this time was preaching outwardly the word and S. PAUL accordingly Rom. 10. 17. tels us That faith is by hearing for which effect preaching is needfull and therefore he with the Prophet sayeth there how beautifull upon the mountaines are the feet of them that bring glad tydings that bring glade tydings of good things Hence we reade in the 8. of the Acts that when it was the Will of God to convert the Ethiopian Eunuâ—h he miraculously sent Philip to him by an angell but he would not convert him by the Angell But you will say If man have any hand in this teaching Why is it called the teaching of God I Ans It is called so justly First Because the Word that is preached is not the word of man but the Word of God 2. Because man concurreth onely but outwardly as an instrument proposing the Word but it is God who worketh inwardly upon the soule he hath his Chayre in heaven that teacheth the heart without whose powerfull assistance all our words are but an empty sound as S. AUGUSTINE speaketh in his 3. Treatise upon the 1. Epist of S. John so writting on the same place he saieth God is the teacher of them that learne because that which is given and revealed within is from him Paul may plant and Apollo may water but it is God that giveth the increase so neither is he that planteth nor he that watereth any thing but God who giveth the increase 1. Cor. 3. 7. So then our Saviour by commending the teaching of God the bearing learning from the Father doth not exclude the necessity of the out Ministry but sheweth the power and efficacie of God Who is the principall Agent But it may be some man will yet say If no more be imported here by this teaching of God then that which hath been said it would seeme that there should be no difference in this betwixt them who lived under the Old Testament and those who live now under the New Which difference is plainly intended both by our Saviour by the Prophet There would seem I say to be no difference because God concurreth with his word preached then also and it was he that did work faith and love in the hearts of men I Ans This is true yet notwithstanding there is a great difference for the teaching of God then ordinarly was limitate to one Nation whereas now it is offered to all the world throughout al the world al the Children of the church of the Faithful are made really partakers of it 2. The manner of teaching now is more excellent because the Revellation of God is more cleare and the Love of God more aboundantly poured into the hearts of men Whence the PROPHET Isaiah Chap. 11. 7. speaking of this time saith That the whol earth shal be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea Now let us come to the Vses of this Doctrin First Wee may learne hence That we have no ground from this place to leane to private Revelations motions not warranted by the Word of God as if without the Meanes we might be taught by God and learne from him Some Phantastick persons in this last age have gone exceeding farre this way and by this mad conceat have stirred up horrible Confusions and have drawn many with themselves into perdition Farre be it from us to imagine any such thing God hath ordained meanes whereinto although he hath not tyed himself yet hath he tyed us to these meanes to wit his Word his Sacraments Prayer Meditation these ar as it were the conduits of his grace as it wer the veins by which we must search after the heavenly Wisdom If thou neglect the meanes thou but temptest God deceivest thine own soul And though the meanes seem to thy carnal minde base yet remember they are the Ordinances of God Nâ—aaman thought little of the the waters of Iordon he said The revers of Damascus were better thâ—n all the waters of Israel he disdained to go there and put off his clothes and waâ—h seven times in it at he was commanded but had he not used this meanâ— he had gone home as Leprous as he came forth Secondly Wee should consider That our Heart is deceatful and Sathan is subtill who can transforme himself into an Angel of light and make us beleeve that his Illusions and Fancies of our own hearts are the Inspirations of God when wee take not heed unto Gods word Many are deceived in this kind Some think their own Conceats to be the very light of God when indeed there is in them nothing but darknesse their carnal affections to bee the motions of Gods Spirit their wrath they think Zeale their pride courage c. And this deceat is commonly incident to proud and presumptuous men yea somtimes the saints of GOD are in some measure this way deceived and think the Indictment of their own spirit to proceed from God himself So we see Nathan being consulted by David concerning the building of the Temple said unto him Go and do all that is in â—hine heart for the Lord is with thee yet in the meane time the Lord had not said so as Gregory observeth For he appeared immediatly thereafter and forbade the Work albeit he approved the Intention Upon the other part men somtimes are so deceived in this kinde that they think that to bee but a Fancie of their own which is indeed the motion of the Spirit of God and so also it pleased God somtimes to exercise his own in time of temptations that they may be the more tryed and that they may grow in humility and other vertues These are like to the Disciples S. Mark 6. 49. who in the Tempest when they saw our LORD himself walking on the waters they thought it was but a Ghost Thus somtimes we take evill for good and good for evill and therefore we must not seperate the inward Word from the outward Wee must not beleeve every spirit but wee must try the spirits if they be of God Wee ought to try them by the Word of God and should have our recourse diligently to them to whom the dispensation of the Word is committed who should be more skillfull in discerning of the spirits according to Gods Word which is committed unto them To conclude this point then we ought not to despise the outward meant but should highly esteeme of them and should greatly praise GOD for the occasion which we have of them We have particular reason of thankfullnes in this respect There is no Nation under heaven with which GOD hath dealt more bountifully in this kinde then with us who live in these three NATION ES. No Nation hath the Gospell in greater plenty and purity No Nation