such as may argue modestie and awfulnes rather then too much familiaritie and boldnesse This is the Rule 2. The reason hereof given in the Text is For God is in heaven and thou upon earth Hee meaneth that there is as much distance between him and us men as is betweene heaven and earth and that as farre as heaven is higher then the earth so farre and more also is Gods greatnesse above our meanenesse and low condition And therefore as when we come before an earthly King we are wary and observant lest any word should fall from us that beseemeth not his presence so and much more carefull should we be when wee come before the King of Heaven lest any word may slip from us not beseeming his greatnes This Solomon requireth of us when we come to speak to God in our praiers or praises of his name and the same reason holdeth and therefore the same rule should be observed when wee come to heare God speaking to us in his word Wee must not be rash and bolde and over-familiar with our LORD and Master but heare with reverence when hee speaketh unto us and tremble at his word when he commandeth us and laieth upon us a charge of obedience And the reason is good for God is in heaven and wee are upon earth and therefore wee should learne to keep distance and never appeare before him without tokens of submission and reverence Now this reverence may bee seene and observed in three things 1. in a reverent esteeme of God and his word 2. in a dutifull behaviour while we are in his presence and 3. in a modest quietnesse silence while he is speaking unto us I. In a reverend esteeme of God and his word when we so think of them and the place where they are present as beseemeth his greatnesse and their worth and dignitie And this duty wee shall performe if wee observe two rules 1. That we conceive of God as of the Lord of heaven and earth whose glory so farre surpasseth not onely our meane condition but our shallow apprehension as that we are no more able to abide his presence then a weak eie is able to look upon the sunne in his strength And therefore S. Paul describeth God to bee the blessed and onely Potentate the King of kings and Lord of lords who onely hath immortality and dwelleth in the light which no man can approch unto whom no man hath seene nor can see 1. Tim. 6.15 16. In these words the glory of our Lord is set out by three things 1. By his owne greatnesse He is a Potentate a King and a Lord that hath immortality and light 2. By a comparison with all other great Ones He is the only Potentat the king of kings and Lord of lords 3. By his surpassing glory farre above all conceit and apprehension of men He dwelleth in the light that no man can approch unto no man hath seene him nor can see him Thus every word doth some way set out his incomparable glory which being considered accordingly will breed an awfull esteeme thereof and a trembling before him And from hence it is that the Seraphims did cover their faces when hee appeared unto them and the posts of the doore mooved when hee spake and the Prophet cried out Wo is me for I am undone because I am a man of uncleane lips and mine eyes have seene the King the Lord of hosts Isai 6.2 4. And for the same reason when Moses like the sons of Zebedee not knowing what hee asked desired to see Gods glory hee was told that no man could see Gods face and live Gods back-parts hee was vouchsafed to see that is some small luster of his glory and yet then hee had need to bee put to the clift of a rock and to be covered with Gods hand lest the glory of the LORD should overcome him with its luster Exod. 33.19 c. And from the same ground it is that the people of Israel after they had heard the voice of God speaking unto them in mount Sina they were amazed and said If wee heare the voice of the Lord our God any more wee shall die For who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire as we have and lived Deut. 5.25 Thus the Angels and the Prophets and the people of God have beene affected if God at any time have manifested himselfe to them in glory And thus and in this maner we should think of God when hee speaketh to us in his word and alwaies cary a reverend awe towards his Majesty whensoever wee are before him So Iacob did when God had reveiled himselfe unto him in a vision by night and he was now awaked out of his sleepe hee said Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not And hee was afraid saith the Text and said How dreadfull is this place This is no other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven Gen. 28.16 17. Note in this passage 1. How Iacob was affected at Gods presence He was afraid meaning that he was struck with an awfull conceit of Gods Majestie in whose presence he was And so should we be when we come into Gods presence and heare him uttering the wonderfull things of his Law wee should in all awfull reverence humble our selves before him 2. Note what Iacob said upon consideration of Gods presence First hee said God is in this place hee meant that God by appearing and reveiling himselfe to his servant did shew himselfe to bee there present though Iacob never thought of any such thing And so when God pleaseth to reveile himselfe unto us by his word though wee do not see or discerne it with our bodily eies yet wee must know that God is there present because he reveileth himselfe Secondly Iacob said How dreadful is this place This is no other but the house of God c. The meaning is that because God shewed himselfe by his visions in this place therefore the place was to bee esteemed as Gods house even as heaven it selfe in which it pleaseth him to dwell And so when wee come into the Church the place where God doth speak with us and hath promised his presence we should esteeme that as Gods house where he dwelleth and as the gate of heaven which is the place of his habitation Thus wee should think of God and his presence when he speaketh unto us out of his word And that is the first rule to be observed by us for declaring of our reverence towards him 2. That wee esteeme the word spoken by Gods Minister out of the Scriptures as the very word of the Almighty God This S. Paul commendeth in the Thessalonians For this cause saith he we thank God without ceasing because when yee received the word of God which yee heard of us yee received it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the
which the Saints are adorned that man or that woman will not likely be proud of a silk gowne or a gold ring or a beaver hat or an imbroidered petticoate or any thing that fine minions take pride in And if a man while he is labouring in his Trade shall think Yea but how much more paines should I take to enrich my soule with the treasures of Gods grace that man will not have the heart to dishonour God by dishonest gaine And if a man when hee exacteth diligent and daily labour from his apprentice or servants and chideth thē if they be slack in his service shall think with himselfe Yea but how much more justly may God require all obedience at my hands and chide and chasten mee for my great slothfulnesse in serving him that man will never rule over his servants with rigor nor oppresse them with too much work or too little meate And the like is true in all other the like cases And by this meanes we shall be kept from a sinfull abuse of the creatures which otherwise would bee a great hinderance to our happinesse and a blessed life 3. The same practice will bee a meanes to season our hearts with heavenly mindednesse even while wee are going about our worldly occasions If wee should at any time forget God and our countrey that is above every occurrence in this life would remember us of the life to come When we are at worke in our shops or sit downe to eate at our boards or lie downe to rest on our beds or walk out to take ayre in the fields and whersoever we are and whatsoever we doe some accident or other would befall us in our way that would present good thoughts to our mindes and memories And by this meanes we should have our conversation in heaven while we are upon the earth as the Apostle speaketh or as a learned Writer phraseth it we should have an heaven upon earth and so in good part we should even in this life enjoy that happinesse which we expect and desire fully to possesse in the life to come These are the proofes the uses follow Vse 1. This detecteth the folly preposterous course of worldlings who usually goe the quite contrary way The right way that which our Lord directeth us to by his example is that we use the creatures to bring us unto God but these men use God and his service to bring themselves to their desires in the world Such men I meane who shew great for wardnesse in religion that they may compasse their worldly ends They pray and they professe and they heare Sermons and they entertaine Preachers but their praying and their professing and their hearing and their honouring of Preachers are but as so many stalking horses under which they lie hid till they have caught the prey It is but a fable but the moral of it is an evident truth which wise men tell us of a fishermans sonne They say of him that he put himselfe into a Monastery and there lived as a poore Monke but being of good parts by nature and thriving well in his studies was for his well-deserving advanced to bee the Abbot of the Monastery Which place of dignity whē he had obtained hee in acknowledgment of his poore beginnings and to remember himselfe whose sonne he was caused a net to be spred upon his table-cloth whensoever hee went to meate Afterward for his vertues he was thought fit to be a Bishop and then was advanced to bee a Cardinal And still in humility and in thankfulnesse to God the net was every day spred upon his table And by this meanes he gained such an op nion of humility and holinesse that men thought him not onely worthy of the preferments which he had but even of farre greater and so in conclusion he was chosen to be Pope In which place he lived as a great Lord but forbore to spread the net any longer And being asked the reason he answered that now the fish was taken for which he had spred the net all this while meaning that now he had gotten the preferment at which he had still aimed Beloved brethren I suppose ye wil laugh at the devise and some men perhaps will be the better pleased with it because it was framed of a Clergyman But shall I tell you what the Poet said in a like case Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur Change but the name and the fable fitteth your selves It is not only meant of Scribes and Pharisees and such hypocriticall Preachers who devoure widdowes and mens houses too under a shew of zealous preaching But it is meant of hypocriticall professors also who scarse ever open their eyes save when they looke up to heaven but it is that they may be thought to be holy devout mē such as mind nothing but heavenly things And it is meant of covetous professors who frequent sermons and pray with their families and set up Lectures abroad and talk nothing but Scripture phrase and all this that they may draw customers to their shops or hook-in other mens estates into their hands and breake with the more advantage And it is meant of ambitious professors who talk still in a popular language and speak for the good of their countrey and finde fault with the errors in our government and like zealous Patriots indeed take part with the Commoners against their Alderman and with the subjects against their Soveraigne and all that they may steale the hearts of the multitude and by their voices and votes bee chosen into some place of honour to which they doe aspire Against all these and all others who pretend religion and intend their owne ends was this fable devised They are the men that spread the net till the fish be taken and more then that they minde not And of all these I say they take a foolish and preposterous course because they make religion to serve for worldly ends whereas all worldly things should serve the advancement of religion Vse 2. This is of great use for all them who would serve God in sincerity For it teacheth them how to gaine zeale and good affections towards God not onely by hearing of sermons and reading of Scriptures and using a constant course in all holy duties but even by the ordinary occurrences that they meete with in the world If they follow this course and make use of it they may grow in grace and gaine holy affections while they are in their shops and while they walk in the streetes and while they conferre with their friends and while they either think or do any thing by themselves And this I suppose may bee a sufficient motive to perswade us to this practice And for our better direction in the right use of it learned men have prescribed us some rules and holy men have left us some examples in whose steps if wee shall tread we may gaine the like comfort that they have done 1.
they kept the more silence because by this hee seemed the better affected to their nation But when he tould them that GOD bade him Depart from Ierusalem because hee would send him farre thence to the Gentiles the Text saith that they gave him audience unto that word but then they lifted up their voices and said Away with such a fellow from the earth for it is not fit that he should live Act. 22.2 22. And such like were the Pharises of whom wee reade that they joyned with the Sadduces to accuse Paul but when Paul had once said * Act. 23 6 9. Men and brethren I am a Pharisee the sonne of a Pharisee of the hope and Resurrection of the dead I am called in question the Pharisees perceiving that Paul tooke their part against the Sadduces whose enemies they were then they changed their note and Wee finde no evill in this man say they but if a spirit or an Angell have spoken unto him let us not fight against God The fault of both these sorts of men was that they accepted and magnified the Preacher while hee spake agreeably to their opinions but persecuted him when he crossed their Traditions and customes And the like is the fault of many men at this day Let a Preacher speake any thing in favour of their opinions and they magnifie him for a man of rare parts but let him once but crosse or gainesay that which they beleeve to bee true he shall be debased as unworthy to tread upon the ground In which kind I have met with some Papists so stiffe in what they have beene taught that a man might as soone charme a deaf adder as perswade them to consider of any reason And among our brethren of the German Churches a great number are so wedded to Luthers opinions that they esteeme every saying of his as an Oracle from heaven and as (a) Non-nulli in illius Lutheri dictis aut factis aliquid argui omnino pati nequesit siquis hoc facere audeat cum statim impietatis reum declamitando peragunt Camerar in vita Phil. Melancth pag. 239. Camerarius saith who was well acquainted with their maners if any man did question what he had affirmed they esteemed him as an enemie to God and true religion (b) Iis videndum ne praestantissimi atque summi viri bonam existimationem tribuendo nimium diminuere vide antur Camer ibid. by which excessive praises they did much diminish the honor of Gods servant as the same Author intimateth in the same place Thus they and I would to God the same fault were not too frequēt among our selves also But Zanchius telleth us that when he was at Geneva Viret and Calvin did both preach in diverse Churches at the same houre and upon this occasion hee asking a French-man then a constant hearer of Calvin why he did not sometimes at least go to heare so eloquent a Preacher as Viret was (c) Si veniret S. Paulus qui eadē horâ cōcionaretur qua Calvinus ego relicto Paulo audirem Calvinum Zanch Epist Nuncupat ad Senat. Antuerp praefixa Miscellaneis priorib circa medium He plainely professed If S. Paul should preach at the same houre that Calvin doth I would leave Paul to heare Calvin By which example hee (d) Hoc exempli causâ referre volui ut quônam tandem rapiātur qui praestantes viros nimium admirantur ostēderem Ex hominibus in summa faciunt sibi Deos c Zāch ibid. meant to shew with what madnesse they are caried who admire worthy men more then is fit for men of men they make them Gods and equall them with CHRIST himselfe And my selfe have knowne some Zelots who did even gape after the Preachers words while hee was upon a welcome theame but when once hee did but mention the reverent gesture of kneeling at Communion became as blank as if they had seene a ghost Of all these sorts of men I may speake in a like maner as (e) Teruill A polog ca. 6. num 55. pag 30. Tertullian did of the heathenish Romans who forbade the making of any new God but such as the Senat did approve Apud vos de humano arbitratu divinitas pensitatur Among you saith he Gods are esteemed as men please and Nisi ho mini Deus placuerit Deus non erit If God do not please men he must bee no God at all And so I may say of these men Among thē the truth of God is reckoned by the opinion of men if it be not approved by such a man as they follow it shall bee no truth at all This partiality towards Gods servants is a great derogation to Gods glory against which our Saviour giveth this caveat Call no man father upon earth for one is your father which is in heaven Nor bee yee called masters for one is your master even CHRIST Matt. 23.9 10. He meaneth that though we may and must reverence our Teachers and as the Apostle speaketh esteeme them very highly in love for their works sake 1 Thess 5.13 Yet wee may not make them Authors or Lords of our faith and therefore beleeve every thing to be true because they speake it For this were not to magnifie them as worthy men but to deifie them as if they were supernall Gods And therefore the Apostle reproveth the Corinthians as carnall men because they said I man of Paul and I am of Apollos and I am of Cephas For who is Paul saith hee and who is Apollos but ministers by whom ye have beleeved even as the Lord gave to every man 1 Cor. 3.4 5 And hereupon he inferreth Let no man glory in men for all things are yours ver 21. And therefore whosoever is best and greatest in the Church though he were as good as S. Paul yet we must esteeme him but as Gods Minister who is then to bee heard when hee speaketh what God hath put into his mouch Herein the Bereans are commended to us as a paterne for our practice They after Paul had preached unto them searched the Scriptures that they might see whether those things were so Act. 17.11 And so should we do If the best man alive sgould commend unto us his opinions we should examine them before we accept them and search the Scriptures to consider whether that which he speaketh bee agreeable to the Texts which he alledgeth that so God alone may bee the master of our faith And this wee shall the sooner do if wee be so disposed as these Bereans were that is men of noble and free spirits not servilly addicted to any without reason Salvianus an ancient and learned writer doth ascribe the cause of this partiall following of men to weaknesse of judgement want of consideration (a) Tam imbecilla sunt judicia hujus tēporis ac paene tā nulla ut hi qui legunt non tam considerent quid legant quà m cujus legant nec tam dictionis
and the third time he still went to Eli to know what he would have And all this while God said nothing to Samuel of the message that he intended for him But at last when God called as at other times Samuel Samuel then Samuel turned himselfe toward God and said Speak Lord for thy servant heareth And then God reveiled himselfe unto him by his word and instructed him in his will 1 Sam. 3.10 And so if our mindes wander abroad and talk with the vanities of the world while GOD speaketh unto us in his word preached or read it is no marvell if he take his word from us and give it to them that are better disposed for it Or if he suffer his word to remain with us yet hee may denie his grace that might make it profitable unto us Attention then is necessary in this respect also because it moveth God to teach and direct us in the right way 3. Attention is an act of the minde by which wee witnesse our due respect to GOD and his word Iob describing the account that men made of him in his prosperitie saith To mee men gave care and waited and kept silence at my counsell Iob 29.21 And on the contrary it is a great indignitie to a man if while he is talking with us wee turne our backs upon him and looke an other way A man of place or facion would take it in ill part to be so neglected by us But the indignity is much greater if when the Lord of heaven speaketh unto us about the weightie affaires of our salvation wee turne from him and talk with the vanities of the world Such behaviour is not fit for Gods presence nor can we think to please him when wee neglect him so much It is said of Lydia that the LORD opened her heart that she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul Act. 16.14 Which sheweth that if wee attend not when God speaketh to us in his word it is because our hearts are shut against God and we denie him entrance and entertainment but if God by his grace have once opened our hearts then we with attention will hearken to his word Again we read that Gods delight is in such men as do heare his word with an awfull reverence dutifull respect Thus saith the LORD The heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstoole c. for all those things hath mine hand made and all those things have been saith the Lord. But to this man will I looke even to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word Is 66.1 2. Which is as if hee should say Heaven earth and all the world are mine and I may be where with whom I will but hee that trembleth or standeth in aw of my word is the man that I have made choise of and that I delight to dwell with But if any bee carelesse and unrespective of God when he speaketh unto him that man as hee neglecteth God so is he neglected of him The summe is Attention to the word spoken is therefore necessary that wee may shew a due and dutifull respect to God whose word it is II. This may serve to shew the use of this dutie the next enquiry is to seek for such helps as may further us in the performance of it And sure this is a point of great moment and worthy thy of our best care For how ever attention bee so necessary for right hearing nor will any of us deny the profitable use of it yet such is our frailty and folly that usually our thoughts wander all the world over while wee are in Gods presence and should heare his word which is able to save our soules For sometimes wee do willingly busie our selves with earthly thoughts about our Trades and our Lands and our houshold affaires and other things of like nature And sometimes as the devill stood at Ioshuahs right hand to resist him Zach. 3.1 so hee standeth at our elbow and casteth worldly thoughts into our mindes or heavinesse of sleepe into our heads or disesteeme of the word spoken into our hearts And at all times such is the frailty of the flesh and our daily acquaintance with the things of this world that though we strive to be attentive yet by-thoughts will creepe in and distract our mindes while wee are about that good work By reason whereof it will bee hard to drive away idle thoughts and impossible to be altogether without them And therefore it will bee a labour well bestowed if by enquiry wee can finde out some such helpes as may serve to heale our infirmities and to keepe us stedfast in this duty For which purpose I have thought on some rules they that are experienced in asceticall exercises may perhaps adde more and finde better and they shall do well to further us with their store The rules that at this present I have in readinesse are these 1. Rule It will bee good to accustome our selves to the dayly reading of Scriptures and frequent Meditations on heavenly things For if the minde bee throughly seasoned with such thoughts it will not be so ready to admit of imaginations and fansies that being the readiest for our thoughts with which wee are most familiarly acquainted For proofe of this let us ask our owne hearts and they will tell us that if a man have beene busied in scraping and heaping up riches his minde while hee is in the Church will runne upon his baggs and bonds and his accounts and other such meanes of thriving in the world and if a man bee given to dalliance and fleshly lusts his mind will runne upon his Minion and the works of fleshly delights and if a man be set on ambition and desire of high places his minde will runne on the meanes of rising and of great offices and places of preferment And in a word as our Saviour saith Where a mans treasure is there will his heart bee also Matt. 6.21 Whence it followeth that if a mans study and delight be in Gods Law Citum satis atque efficax remedium poterit oboriti si eandem diligentiam atque instantiā quam te in illis secularibus studiis habuisse dixisti ad spiritaliū Scripturarum volueris lectionem meditationemque transferre c. Cass Coll. 14. c. 13. p. 645 646. and about duties of Gods service those things will most readily come to his minde wherein hee is oftenest busied And when such things are mentioned and talked of he wil as constantly and as attentively both heare and observe them as a worldly minded man will heare and speak of his profits or an effeminate man of his pleasures or an ambitious man of his honours And as a worldly man when he is about his purchases and bargains goeth seriously to work and is not easily diverted from the businesse that hee is about so the religious minded man if hee bee as heartily religious as the other is covetous
of a mans repentance after any the most hainous sin cōmitted I. It granteth a pardon to some sinnes For though it allow or approve no sin yet it pronounceth not damnation against every sin as namely not against any sins of infirmitie such as are sins of ignorance which had we knowen wee would not have committed and sinnes of subreption which escape without observing of them and which if we had noted and observed we would not have done them and sinnes of violent tentation which by reason of some sudden assault do sway our passions against the right rule and sometimes by feare and sometimes by joy sometimes by hopes do carie us away before wee have leisure to bethink our selves and in coole blood to consider what wee are a doing Such sins as these Divines call sinnes of infirmitie because they arise not out of an evill purpose of the minde but out of humane frailtie from which wee shall never be free as long as we live in this body of corruption And if men committ such sinnes as these the Gospell condemneth the sinnes as evill repugnant to Gods Law but it condemneth not the sinner for them so long as he disliketh and detesteth them in his sober thoughts and resolution Thus Saint Paul did when speaking of such like sinnes hee cried out as a man undone Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Rom. 7.24 For such sinnes as these the Gospell condemneth us not it onely condemneth men for deliberat content when they yeeld obedience to knowen sinne and against conscience transgresse the Law From hence it is that the Apostle delivering unto us the rule of the Gospel saith Let not sinne therefore reigne in your mortall bodies that yee should obey it in the lusts thereof Rom. 6.12 In this passage when he saith Let not sin by this word he meaneth the inbred corruption of nature which wee brought with us into the world and that habit of sinfulnesse which wee have since contracted by our custome in sinning and by which we are every day sollicited to the practice of actuall sin And because this sinfulnesse doth tempt and sway men to sin therefore the Apostle saith of it Let not sin reigne c. 2. when he saith of this sinfulnes Let it not reigne in your mortall bodies he meaneth that it should not beare sway and carie away our consent to act what it suggesteth and to do what it commandeth So S. Augustin expounds this word Non dixit Non sit sed Non regnet Inest peccatum quum delectaris regnat si consenseris The The Apostle said not saith hee Let not sin bee in your mortall bodies but let it not reigne It is in thee when it tickleth with delight but it reigneth in thee if it draw thee to consent August in Psal 50. pag. 175. B. Yea and so the Apostle expoundeth his own meaning when hee addeth in the next words Let not sin reigne that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof noting hereby as a learned (a) D. Abbot true Catholik cap. 11. pag. 281. Prelat of our Church hath observed that then sin is said to reigne in us when we give obedience to it to fulfill the lusts thereof 3. In that the Apostle saith not Let not sin be within you or Let it not tempt you or Let it not please and tickle you with delight but Let it not reigne in you by drawing you to obey it this giveth us to understād that though it be a miserie to be tempted by our lusts and a sin to bee tickled and delighted with them when we are tempted by them yet the Apostle now delivering the precepts of the Gospell and the rules by which Christians according to the new Covenant of grace are to bee regulated doth not charge men so deepely as to forbid them all tickling delights he only requireth that sinne do not reigne and that men do not obey it by consenting unto it This is the rule prescribed by the Gospell and here commended to us by our Apostle and as many as walke according to this rule peace shall be upon them as upon the Israel of God Other sinnes such as I called sins of infirmitie or humane frailtie to which we do not give deliberat consent these are pardoned in the blood of the Lamb. But if any man sin against this rule by consenting to sin or acting it and so suffer sin to reigne in him the Apostles sentence will take holde on him Bee not deceived Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminat nor abusers of themselves with mankinde nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdome of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10. This explication of this point was for the substance of it long since delivered by the learned Father S. Augustin (b) Aug. de verb. Domini Serm. 5. cap. 6 pag. 91. Aliud est non concupiscere aliud post concupiscentias non ire It is one thing saith hee not to lust which the Law commandeth when it saith Non concupisces Thou shalt not lust and an other thing not to follow after our lusts which an other Scripture commandeth when it saith Go not after thy lusts Ecclus 18.30 For as that learned Father further explaineth the point Non concupiscere perfecti est Not to lust or not to covet that which is unjust is the propertie of a perfect Saint whose habitation is in the Church Triumphant in Heaven But post concupiscentias suas non ire pugnantis est luctantis est laborantis est Not to go after a mans lusts by obeying their command and by doing what they do prescribe is the propertie of a man that striveth and fighteth against sin and laboureth under the burden of corruption such as they are who live in the Church Militant here upon earth (c) De Temp. Ser. 45. cap. 3. pag. 215. In an other place he speaketh to the same purpose For whereas the Apostle had said Fulfill not the lusts of the flesh Gal. 5.16 he descanteth on those words in this maner Melius quidem erat implere quod Lex dixit Ne concupiscas It were better saith he to fulfill that which the Law saith Thou shalt not lust for this is the perfection of righteousnes but because we cannot now fulfill this let us at least fulfill that which is elswhere said Post concupiscentias tuas ne eas Go not after thy lusts This then is one thing wherein the Gospell doth moderat the rigour of the Law that whereas the Law requireth perfect obedience in every point for every breach pronounceth a curse and a damnatory sentence the Gospell beareth with the sinner and pardoneth him his sinnes of infirmitie and humane frailtie if so be he giveth not approbation or assent thereto in his coole blood and deliberat thoughts 2. Secondly the Gospell doth herein mitigat the rigour of the Law because the Law for
5. I have taught you statuts and judgements that ye should do so and ver 10. God himselfe saith of his people I will make them to heare my words that they may leà rne to feare me that is to serve and obey me Againe chap. 5.1 Heare ô Israel saith Moses the statuts and judgements which I speake in your eares this day that ye may learne them and know them and do them And ver 31. God himselfe speaketh I will speake saith he all the commandements and statuts and judgemēts which thou shalt teach them that they may doe them The like speechs are found Deuter. 6.1 2. and 31.12 and elswhere but where the case is clear it is needles to heape up proofs Thus much is plaine from hence that Hearing is the meanes and Doing is the end for which Hearing serveth Now concerning things the one whereof is the meanes and the other the end the Learned give us this rule finis dat mediis mensuram the end prescribeth unto the meanes their quantity and measure namely how much and how far how often they may be used and that is so as is requisit for attaining of the end Others deliver the rule thus Media accipiunt amabilitatem ordinem mensuram à finc the desire and order and measure of the meanes are to be esteemed and must bee regulated by the end for which they are intended and for which they do serve so that they are to be used neither more nor lesse but so as they may further that end For better explaining of this take these examples Health is the end which both the Physician and the patient do aime at and Physick is the meanes either to recover or preserve it and therefore Physick is onely so farre forth good and to be used in that maner and measure as may further the patients health Againe meat and drink and exercise are the meanes strength and life and vigour are the end for which these meanes were ordained And therefore meat and drink and exercise are onely so far forth desireable as they are effectuall to preserve life and strength And just so it is in the case now propounded Hearing learning of Gods word are the meanes doing performing of that word is the end for which Hearing is intended It followeth Therefore hearing is only so farre forth good as it furthereth a godly life 3. Arg. Hearing and learning are exercises onely fit for a state of imperfection where men have neede of these helps to bring them unto and keepe them in obedience of Gods Laws And for this cause while we remaine in this mortall life where such is our ignorance that without instructions from Gods word wee know not how to serve him aright and such is our backwardnesse to good things that unlesse wee be eftsoones incited and urged to the doing of our duty out of the grounds of Gods word we would go in a blindefold securitie to hell and destruction in this life I say and while we are subject to these defects weaknesses there is necessary use of hearing and reading and learning But in heaven where is no ignorāce nor no backwardnesse nor no such defects infirmities there hearing and all helps of perswasion are of no use To this purpose the Apostle telleth us that Prophecies shall failc and the gift of tongues shall cease and knowledge * Ordinarium docendi munus Beza that is Arts sciēces serving for instruction shall vanish away 1 Cor. 13.8 And he giveth the reason of it in the next words for saith he we know in part and we prophecie in part but when that which is perfect is come then that which is unperfect shall bee done away He meaneth that these helps were ordained for a state of imperfection in which wee have neede of teaching and exhorting to supplie our defects but when wee shall bee perfect in knowledge and shall be ready to serve God without let then all these meanes of teaching and learning shall bee done away Whence I inferre that as the Angels in heaven do not heare Sermons nor read Scriptures nor use any other helps of learning or instruction so in the life to come when we also shall be like the Angels in heaven we shall neither heare nor reade nor learne any more And because hearing onely serveth to instruct us while we know not how to serve God aright to perswade us to serve God while wee may be drawen away from his service therefore Hearing of Gods word profiteth us only so farre as it serveth to make us better which is that which I said in my first conclusion II. Concl. Hearing of Gods word if it bee separated from doing is rejected in Scriptures as a thing of no worth This is proved 1. By that saying of our Saviour Matt. 7.26 Every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not shall be likened to a foolish man which built his house upon the sand or as S. Luke hath it He is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth against which the streame did beate vehemently immediately it fell and the ruine was great Luk. 6.49 2. By that reproofe mentioned in the Prophet where it is said of the Jews to their reproch They heare thy words but they do them not Ezek. 33.32 Where expresly hee onely telleth what they did do but impliedly blameth reproveth them for so doing 3. By that exhortation of the Apostle Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your owne selves Iam. 1.22 In which words the Apostle first giveth us a rule concerning Gods word and that is expressed both affirmatively Be yee doers and negatively not Hearers onely And secondly of this rule hee giveth us a reason because if a man heare do not do he deceiveth himselfe The meaning is he thinketh he serveth God by hearing of his word that thereby hee may further his owne salvation but he that thinketh so deceiveth his owne soule and will misse of his expectation The conclusion hence is Hearing without doing is a labour in vaine the practice of a foolish man and consequently rejected of God as a thing of no worth III. Concl. Hearing of Gods word without practicing what we learne by it doth hurt the soule by aggravating of the sinne This is proved 1. From the rule of our Saviour The servant that knew his Lords will and prepared not himselfe neither did according to his will shall bee beaten with many stripes c. for to whomsoever much is given of him shall bee much required and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more Luk. 12.47 48. Consider here 1. a doctrine The servant that knew his Lords will c. and 2. the proofe of it for to whomsoever much is given c. And from both these the conclusion is that where God giveth a man more meanes and better opportunities of learning and knowing Gods will
fruitlesse hearers are proud men and out of their pride disobey the knowen will of God 2. The second sort are prophane men and so in this place I call them who heare Gods word out of custome but minde not nor care not what the Preacher saith Hee may talk what he pleaseth but as it is said of Gallio in another case so it is true of these men they care for none of these things These hearers are herein like the unthankefull guests who when they were invited made light of it and went away about their other occasions Matth. 22.5 Nor are they much unlike to those profane men of Ephraim and Manasses who when Hezekiah sent messengers to invite them to Ierusalem that there they might keep the Passeover according to the Law and serve God according to his will they mocked the messengers and laughed them to scorne 2. Chr. 30.10 And so if any make light of the word preached and scorne or despise Gods messengers who shew them the waies of salvation such I call profane men who make no reckoning of Religion And of these and all others who disobey the Gospel and do not bring forth fruits of obedience I say they bee bad and ungodly hearers For if any man heare my words saith our Saviour and doth them not he is like a man who without a foundation built an house upon the earth against which the streame did beat vehemently and immediatly it fell and the ruine of that house was great Luk 6.48 49. And therefore I may conclude of these as I did of the rest when our Lord said Take heed how yee heare he meant that among other vices in hearers wee should take heed of fruitlesse hearing when men heare and doe not Thus I have gone through the severall sorts of bad hearers I now desire every Christian that shall vouchsafe to reade these lines that after his reading hee will examine himselfe by these notes I suppose hee hath beene an hearer of Gods word for some space of time and doth still continue in that practice for the salvation of his soule And pitty it were that hee should lose all that labour in hearing the Preacher his labor in instructing of him in Gods will and much more pitie that God should lose his labour in providing him so much good meanes of grace without use And sure the labour is all lost which is bestowed upon such as bee bad hearers of whom hitherto I have spoken Let every Christian then in the feare of God examine his owne heart whether hee have beene either a negligent or a partiall or a sensuall or a forgetfull or an unfruitfull Hearer and if he finde himselfe guilty let him now at least amend his error and make better use of the meanes of grace For direction wherein I have in this place no more to say but that hee would remember the words of the Text Take heed how yee heare CAP. XII Preparative duties to bee observed for right hearing Cap. 12 VVHen our Lord saith Take heede how yee heare he doth not onely signifie that there is danger in hearing amisse but also doth implie that by heedfulnesse we may avoid the danger and so heare that wee may reape benefit by it And that is the point which after the danger discovered commeth now to be spoken of For better proceeding wherein wee are in the first place to consider that this heedfulnesse includeth two things Consideration and Execution Consideration searcheth out what bee the things that are available for the purpose and Execution putteth them in practice when once they are found to be good The former of these two is included in the meaning of the word for so much this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See looke or take heed doth naturally import And the later of them is implied in the intention of the speaker For searching after availeable meanes is vaine without making use of them after they are found And therefore when our Lord said Take heed how yee heare hee meant that wee should consider how wee may heare with profit that wee lose not the fruit of our labour and that what rules we find to be good for the purpose we make use of them accordingly that our speculation may be seconded by our practice For our better direction wherein we are to consider of foure sorts of duties necessary for this purpose The first are duties going before our hearing the second are duties or rules to bee observed in the time of our hearing the third are such as are to bee practiced after the end of our hearing the last are common do diffuse thēselves through all these differēces of time I begin with the first of these I. First then before we come to heare there are certaine preparative duties that may fit and prepare us for the work For Gods word is like seede sowen by the Preacher and the Hearers are like the ground in which this seed is sowen as our Saviour hath taught us in the parable of the Sower immediatly preceding this caveat of heed-taking how we heare Now no wise man will sow his seed till he have manured his ground He will first plough dung and gather out the stones the rubbish and then cast in his seed with hope of a plentifull harvest and so we before the seed of Gods word bee sowen in our hearts we must take care that they bee prepared and made fit soile to receive such seed in This is meant by that of Ieremie Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thornes Ieremie 4.3 He meaneth that as no man doth sow his seed before he have ploughed the ground pulled up the weeds and thornes for else all both labour and seed would bee lost so every wise servant of God should prepare his heart before the seeds of grace and good instructions be sowen in it For else if the heart of a man bee hard and without feeling like the high way side that is hardened by often treading upon it it will not open or unclose it selfe to receive the seed And if it be filled with the cares of the world the love of riches and pleasures like the thornie ground that is overspread with rubbish though it receive the seed yet it choketh it in the springing It is then a point of necessary observation that if we will heare with profit we prepare our hearts aforehand that like good ground they may bring forth fruit to perfection Now for the ploughing up of the heart and preparing of it for the seed diverse duties are first to be performed which for that cause I call preparative duties and those are as followeth I. The first preparative dutie is that wee put off Worldly businesses and emptie our soules of earthly thoughts which either might take up our time due to this worke or distract our mindes in the performance of it For looke how long the minde roveth and so much of the good seed is