A GODLY AND FRVITFVLL SERMON PREACHED AT LIETH IN Scotland by a faithfull Minister of Gods holy Gospell Psalme 74 10. O God how long shall the adversary reproch thee shall the enemy blaspheme thy name forever 22 Arise O God maintaine thine owne cause remember thy dayly reproch by the folish man Printed 1607. To the godly and Christian Reader IT every where goeth heard with Christs true Church as I heare and feare Neither doe men make that use of the miseries of it that were fit but even in affliction eyther fall away or become faint harted and careles In Scotland the Hierarchy prevaileth much and then Christes Discipline must needs be thrust to the walles Yet see notwithstanding how God stirreth up some to make opposition against that triple-headed Cerberus This Sermon is one playne proofe of it which was both preached and written there and came to my handes by good meanes I haue caused it more plainely to speake English then the Scottish phrase yeelded And yet God is witnes to my soule that I haue done it as neere as I could without any diminution of or addition to either matter or manner Such as it is I present it to thee ayming only at thy benefite and pleasure specially spirituall Farewell and the Lord giue thee grace to use it to all good purposes A GODLY AND FRVITFVL SERMON PREACHED AT Lieth in Scotland by a faithfull Minister of Gods holy Gospell Gal 5.1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made vs free and be not entangled againe with the yoke of bondage SEeing upon us the endes of the world are come saith Paul 1 Cor. 10.11 and now the end of all thinges is at hand saith Peter 1 Pet 4.7 and that day of the Lord is comming like a theefe in the night in the which the heavens shall passe away with a noyse and the elements shall melt with heat and the earth with the works that are therin shal be burnt up 2 Pet 3.10 and therfore seeing Sathan that great redde dragon knowing that he hath but a short time is upon his long chayne ranging and raging drawing downe frō the heavēs even some of the starres who should giue light in Gods Church casting thē to the earth Revel 12. and raysing up false Christs and false Apostles so that if it were possible the very elect should be deceaved Math. 24.24 For these causes we haue made choise of this portiō of holy scripture whereby we may be put in minde and our heartes may be stirred vp to fasten our affections fast upon that gratious liberty wherewith the Sonne of God hath made us free from every spirituall thraldome standing stedfast through faith not entāgling our selues againe with any yoke of bondage untill the crowne of that free kingdom be put upon our heads in the great day of the glorious appearing of our Saviour Iesus Christ The chiefe butte the Apostle Paul shoteth at in this epistle is to establish his doctrine concerning true Iustification by the righteousnes of Iesus onely through faith without any mixture of the works of the lawe whatsoever morall or Ceremoniall against those false Apostles who had crept in amōg the Galathians studying to deceiue bewitch them that they should not beleeue the truth to whom the Apostle before had described Iesus Christ in their sight and as it were crucified him amongst them by the playne and powerful preaching of the gospell cap. 3.1 For the lawe is excluded and debarred in the matter of Iustification faith onely having place apprehending and applying the imputed righteousnes of Iesus Christ But the lawe in the matter of sanctification is admitted as the rule to which the christian mā should square this conversation and as the lanterne that should lead him in the pathes of the Lords cōmandements The Apostle insisteth in this purpose from the beginning of the 3 chap. to the second parte of this fift and after that he hath throughly reasoned and in the end cōcluded in the last verse of the chap going before that they were not the children of the bondwoman Hagar as Ishmael that is servants and slaues under the law through workes and so lying under the curse thereof but sonnes of the free woeman Sara as Isaac that is heires of the promise through faith in Iesus In these wordes which we haue read he inferreth by way of a second conclusion of the premises a graue powerfull admonitiō that seeing they were free and freed from all the bonds bondage of the law morall and Ceremonial their geeat care should be to keepe themselues so The admonition hath 2 branches The one an exhortation to stand fast in the libertie The other a dehortatiō from the contrary not to intangle c. Between these two is interlaced a reason or argument to perswade to the one disswade from the other taken from the purchaser and giver of this libertie who is Christ and so from the excellency thereof This is the libertie wherewith Christ hath made us free therefore stand fast in it This is the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free therfore be not entangled againe with the yoke of bondage In the exhortation we begin at this word therefore which is a particle of illation relatiue of the last verse of the chapt going before upon the which this whole admonition is inforced as a necessary consequent and by a necessary consequent we are the children of the free woeman Sara c. Let us stand fast therfore in this liberty We are not the children of the servant let us not therefore be entangled c. we are the children of the fre woman and not of the servant let us therfore stād fast in the liberty wherwith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled againe with the yoke of bondage The second word is liberty There are sundry sorts of liberty a naturall liberty a civill liberty a bodily liberty a spirituall liberty The first three sorts we overpasse as not pertinent to this text and purpose The liberty of which the Apostle speaketh here is a supernatural spirituall and a heavenly liberty which is generally divided thus into a spiritual internal liberty and a spiritual external liberty The internall liberty is the purchase and gift of Christ to his owne children whereby he setts them at fredome both in soule body immediately from the spirituall thraldome of sinne Sathan c And this is twofold the liberty of Iustification and the libertie of sanctification The liberty which justification brings consisteth in these poynts in perfect freedom from sinne both originall and actuall in respect of meere imputation Now ye are freed frō sinne Rom. 6.22 From the guiltines therof Who will lay any thing to the charge of Gods chosen Rom. 8.33 From the punishment thereof death and condemnation There is no condemnation to thē which are in Christ Iesus Rom 8.1 From the law morall the revealer of sinne death in regard of the
corruptible thinges as silver or gold but with the pretious bloud of Christ as of a Lambe undefiled and without spotte 1 Pet 1.18.19 If ye aske which is the register or Charter of this libertie in and by the which our right of this liberty is sett downe and made sure we answer The word of the Old and New Testament principally the word of the Evangelists in the which this liberty all the sorts and particuler poynts therof are plainly and plentifully layd out before our eyes The word is truth if ye know the truth the truth shall make you free saith Christ Iohn 8.23 For it is both the Charter and working instrument of this liberty Now the meaning of this whole admonition is this shortly and simplie Seing ye are once set at liberty and so freed from spirituall thraldome by Iesus Christ the Lord of life and liberty stand fast to this libertie and fall not backe againe under the wofull misery of any spirituall bondage whatsoever To come to the doctrine First we see there is a libertie wherewith the Sonne of God hath priviledged his people whom Peter calleth the people set at libertie 1 Pet 2.9 which is heavenly spiritually and supernaturall and in nature far differēt from any earthly or worldly libertie which is even in all and every one of the sorts and poynts therof the purchase of his owne pretious bloud the free gift of his liberall loue the right wherof is conferred to them by the charter of his blessed word sealed up in the tables of their hearts and cōsciēces by the spirit of grace which is delivered to us from day to day by the publicke preaching of the word Therfore neither Angell in heavē nor man on earth should take upon them to chop or change in this liberty or the meanest poynt therof without the warrāt of the word unles they would that the purchaser of this libertie should be avenged of them for the violation thereof It is true in outward or earthly liberties given by men or which are amonge men for outward society or comodity men may doe as they think meet alter add impare c. But as for this liberty and the particulars therof which come as it were immediately out of the hands of Christ let men take heed how they meddle with them to add to alter to impaire or to pervert as they would wish that God should not meddle with them in wrath Yet such is the follie and presumption of mortall men that they haue oft their head and their hand in these inviolable liberties altering or disanulling thē for their owne further libertie or rather loosnes to the flesh Take an exāple from the Papists who in effect overthrow this liberty in all and every poynt thereof The libertie of Iustification and sanctification by their freewill in nature their preparations to Iustificatiō their good works chiefly of the outward man their pilgrimages purgatory and satisfactions by the which they entangle thēselues with the yoke of the law sin and condemnation the libertie of thinges indifferent or humane traditions by an heap of Idolatrous superfluous Ceremonies thrust upon the consciences of ignorant people as a parte of Gods worship necessary and meritorious The defensiue liberties by their unwritten verities and traditions mixed matched with the pure and sincere word of truth by their Antichristian Hierarchy and innumerable superstitious rites defeating yea excluding the true Discipline and comely order of the house of God Thus while they shew themselues enimies to this libertie in all the particulars of it they also declare that all the linckes of this spirituall yoke of bondage lie heavie upon the necke of their soules which is a just and deserved recompence of the violation of this liberty wherwith Christ hath made us free Therfore by their example we should beware of such for we haue great cause seing within thes few yeares it may be perceiving that we were inclyning their way in our Church govermēt they are so encreased encouraged that not onely here they set up their heades but also they haue been bold as yow know of late to set out the publicke ensignes of Idolatry as though their had been neither Prince nor Pastor in Israel as though both the edge of the civill and spirituall sword had been either broken or blunted and yet they are not much dashed nor dismayed As for us my brethren it becommeth us alwayes in holines and faithfulnes to preserue mainteine every one of these liberties so farr forth as our place or power will extend that we may stand fast in them seeing Christ by them hath made us free that we be not entangled againe with the yoke of bondage Secondly the Apostle sheweth that this happie priviledge which Christ hath purchased for us is not a loosnes but a libertie not a loosnes or a licence to sinne but a libertie in holines and righteousnes to serue the Lord not a loosenes or a loose rayne to rūne whithersoever our vayne and raging lusts leade us but a libertie which is likewies a yoke not like the yoke of bondage which is hard and heavie a yoke of iron but a goldē yoke of the which our Saviour Christ Math 11.30 saith My yoke is easie and my burden light not a loosenes that hath no limittes but a libertie which is bounded and limitted by the Lord himselfe in his blessed word which we shall easily perceiue by passing through shortly the particulers of this libertie First the liberty of Iustification sanctification is not a loosnes that they who imagine they injoy thē may doe what they lust but a liberty which should not be abused as an occasion to the flesh saith the Apostle in this same chapter 13 which hath his owne limitts prescribed by God in his word Being made free from sinne yea are made the servants of righteousnes Rom 6.18 Being freed from sinne ye are made servants unto God having your fruite in holines Rom 6 22. There is a limitte of this liberty righteousnes holines or the service of God Ye are a people set at liberty that ye should shew forth the vertues of him who hath called you out of darknes into his marveilous light 1. Pet 2.9 There is another limitte of this liberty further The freedome from the lawe is not a loosenes as though we might cast the law of God behind our backs as no way perteyning to us but a liberty limitted For albeit we be freed frō the curse and condemnation of it yet are we not simply freed from the command of it Albeit we be freed from the correction of it yet not from the direction of it It continueth to be a director and leader of us in the way of light Oh how far then are the Atheists and Epicures of this age blynded who are so in effect albeit lurking under the shadow of outward profession with all the Hypocrites in these dayes they resting themselues upon the broken reed
There is no meane between these two but of necessity he that standeth not in this happie liberty must be entangled with that unhappie yoke of bondage When we fall from the one we fall into the other when we declyne from the one we inclyne to the other But this agayne doubleth the misery For if it were but the first yoke and the first time therof it were so much the more tolerable But to be once yoked and freed and after freedom to be yoked againe that is commonly a remediles yoke which is never removed the last condition of that man is worse then the first For when in the first bondage onely one uncleaÌ„e spirit possessed the house that is the hart in the second seaven worse then the first enters in takes possession Wher the first yoke was but single the second shal be seavenfold bynding the heart so fast that it can hardly ever returne agayne to liberty For albeit there may be a yoke a yoke againe yet seldom falleth it out that there is a liberty and a liberty agayne Many haue been once yoked and after freed albeit not effectually and yet yoked agayne but few once freed and after yoked are freed agayne Besides that parable cited before out of Math 12 the Apostle Peter likewise cleares and confirmes this poynt 2 Pet. 2.20 Yf once after they haue escaped from the filthines of the world through the acknowledgment of our Lord Saviour Iesus Christ they are yet intangled againe therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them then the beginning for it had been better for theÌ„ not to haue knowne the way of righteousnes then after they haue knowne it to turne from the holy commandement given unto them As this is true of the yoke of sinne so is it true of the yoke particularly mentioned in this text and of every particular yoke of bondage whatsoever Now as concernyng us that may be sayd which the Apostle saith of the Ephesians chap 5.8 We were once darknes but now we are light in the Lord we were once under the heavy yoke of boÌ„dage both of sinne and of the man of sinne but now we are and haue been set at â—iberty principally from the bondage of Antichrist his darkened and corrupted doctrine and Discipline and therfore carefull should we be to walke in that light and liberty and stand fast therein that we be not entangled agayne with the yoke of bondage and so our darknes be doubled our yoke seaven fold strengthened and that proverbe turned even upon us The dog is returned to his owne vomit and the Sow which was washed to the wallowing in the myre 2 Peter 2 22. Yf any will say we need not to be affrayd or such yokes they are far from us in this land we are in no daÌ„ger wel if it be so we thanke the Lord if otherwise we pray him to ridd us froÌ„ them Onely this we say that the spirituall yokes of bondage use to come slipping and slyding in very subtilly and secretly under the shadow and cover of many fayre preteÌ„ses For evill in the beginning first entry is ever almost in a mystery hid up And this is the craft of Satan who when he hath any worke of weight to doe can transforme himselfe and his instruments into Angels of light Dolefull experience in times past teacheth this in the birth and growth of Antichrist the man of sinne which the Apostle calleth 2. Thes 2.7 the mystery of iniquity which doth already worke Behold the entry and creeping in of this yoke was evill even in the dayes of the Apostle the first degree and step whereof is little different froÌ„ our new moderators It was not very sensible or apparaÌ„t upon which while this man of sinne stood he appeared little higher then the rest but stood equall with them upon the earth yet by progresse of time sincerity and humility passing away covetousnes and ambition previaling he did climbe up step after step from this to Bishop froÌ„ Bishop to Archbishop from Archbishop to Patriach from Patriarch to Pope till he came to the top of this his pinnacle upon the which he stands now in his Antichristian greatnes Descend he will not the way he ascended because he is the maÌ„ of sinne appoynted for perdition It resteth there for that Sathan who carried him up in Gods righteous judgment and in his appoynted time shall throwe him downe and ridde the Church of him Therfore it is very requysit that Gods people but principally the Pastors of his people to whom the custody and chiefe care of this liberty is committed be very wise that nothing nether persoÌ„ nor pollicy enter into the house of God without a narrow triall examyning and sifting every thing exactly that under faire colours the subtill serpent slyde not into the paradice of God to ensnare and deceiue simple Eva. It was not for nought that Christ himselfe the purchaser of this liberty recommendeth to his Disciples Math. 10 16. the wisdome of the Serpent that the old Serpent in his instruments should not beguyle them and the simplicitie and innocencie of the Doue that the maliciousnes of that enemy who was a maÌ„ slayer from the beginning should not overcome them Our Master and Saviour joynes and mixes these two vertues togither because the SerpeÌ„ts wisdome not sanctified and marshalled with the Doues simplicity will make but an Achitophel or a Matchiavel and the Doues simplicity not sanctified accompanyed with the Serpents wisedome will make up but a silly and deceivable childishnes Therefore he recoÌ„mendeth to them to al his owne to the end of the world especially his servants in the ministery an holy wise simplicity a holy simple wisedome that without malice and deceit they may discharge the duties of their calling suffering nothing to enter into the house of God prejudiciall to this liberty or to any sort or poynt therof neyther hyding up any such thing vnder the collours or clokes of their pretences which the Apostle Paul 2. Cor. 4.2 calleth the clokes of shame and the carryer of them a walker in craftines the clokes of shame because the cover a shamefull and dishonest body that is plottes and purposes which if they were seene in their owne colours the very authors and inventors of them would be ashaÌ„ed of them such clokes beseeme not the Ministers of God the Apostle in that same place for his owne parte renounceth such They should be cladd with holines wisdoÌ„e simplicity sincerity making their very hearts and mindes in all the workes of their callings seene sensible approuable to the world and walking even as though every one saw their heart as well as their hand in respect of their syncerity and were witnes to their minde as well as to their mouth To this should be our studie and endevor that so we might stand fast in that liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and not entangle our selues agayne with any yoke