The deplorable hardnes of hart in this age that cannot mourne Gen. 4. 22. Num. 20. 11 Seing wee haue so many causes of mourning without vs the troublesome estate of Gods Church Nehem. 1. 4 1. King 29. 4 1. Sam. 4. 19. Amos. 6. 6. Causes of mourning within vs our manifold sinnes Rom. 7. 24. 2 Kin. 20. 23 And our manifold tentations Act. 20. 19. Ioshua 10. 6. The other effect the spirit works in vs is a waiting for deliuerance 2. Cor. 1. 3. 4 Prou. 24. 13 The day of death and day of resurrection earnestly waited for by the godly Iob. 14. 14. Mat. 6. 10. Luke 11. 3. Death comes on the wicked as Iâ—hu came on Iehoram 2 King 9. 23. 24. We should not soiourne in the body like Ionas in the sides of the ship but like Abraham in the doore of the tabernacle Exod. 12. 11. Gen. 18. 1. 1. King 19. 9 Ionas 1. 5. The day of Christs second comming longed for 1 Cor. 1. 7. Philip. 3. 2 Tim. 4. 8. Heb. 9. 28. As the Iewes waited for the yeere of Iubilie so should we for the day of Christ but alas few doe so Reu. 22. 20. Leuit. 25. 10. The wounded coÌ„science euen of the godly deâ—ires not death Psal. 51. 9. Psal. 86. 3. Luke 2. 29. Adoption is eyther begun as now or accompished as wee looke for it There is also a two-fold redemption first of the soule froÌ„ sin secondly of the body from death Iohn 1. 29. Reu. 20. 5. 6 CoÌ„fort against the present base estate of our bodyes 2 King 19. Bernard He who hath the first redemption shall be sure of the second Bernard An obiection answered This verse abused to impugne Iustification by Faith Faith and hope compaired in their relation to Christ. Iohn 3. 36. 1 Cor. 13. 9. 10. Faith and hope compared in their mutuall relation betweene themselues Psal. 50. 15. Habak 2. 3. The right place assigned to euery one of these three Faith Hope Loue in the worke of saluation The doctrine of Iustification by Faith onely takes not away Hope Loue. Calumnie of the aduersary concerning this confuted Hope of a Christian is a strong thing depending on sure warrants The first wararant of our Hope is the word of God 1 Pet. 7. 4. A short description of the Nature of Hope August The conclusion of his first principall argument of comfort against the crosse Sixe seuerall reasons of comfort lurking vnder this one The worldlings comfort is in things that are seene the Christians not so Augustines Allegory on the words of Christ. Luke 11. 11. Worldlings haue no present pleasures such as are gone are lost such as are to come or vncertaine Impatience in trouble proceeds from the want of Hope Licentiousnes in prosperitie proceeds from the want of hope Without patience no grace can be preserued Ethnicke philosophers excluded from the praise of true Patience Worldlings sustyning great distresse for gaine are also excluded from the praise of true Patience Atheists who pine themselues to commit euill excluded from the praise of true Patience The Christian is freed from wickednes not from weaknes Why infirmities are left in vs after our regeneration Our infirmities are manifold Wee should strengthen our selues most where we are weakest Yet so that we remember that the enimie repulsed at one place will assault another Acts. 8. 31. Praier is a communing of the soule with God Our natural inabilitie to pray is eyther in our corrupt vnderstanding by which we seek things vnlawfull Numb 16. Or in our corrupt affection by which wee seeke things lawfull for the wrong end Iames. 4. 3. Mat. 6. 33. What good can we doe by Nature seeing we cannot doe so much as pray for our selues Gen. 4. 22. How the Spirit requests for vs. Chrisâ—an Mat hom 10. If the Lord refuse that which we wil it is because it is not for our weale And the refusal of anything to his owne is not without the graunt of a better Acts. 1. 6. Prayer which obtaines all other gifts is also a gift of God therefore the praise of all is due to the Lord 1 Cor. 4. 7. Comfort for the godly wheÌ„ no man will speake for them they want not Intercessours Miserable are those who bend their tongues against them for whom the holy Spirit maketh request 2. Chron. 18. Let not man therefore sinne vnder hope of secrecie Esay 29. 15. Psal. 94. 89 10. 11 But let the eye of the Lord be an awband euenin secret to keepe vs from sinne 2 Sam. 2. 22. Gen. 42. 18. The sonnes of Adam seeke to hide themselues from the Lord But in vaine The heart only makes the difference between the true christian counterfaite It is in great wisedome that God hath locked vp the hart of one man from another The soueraignty of God ouer man appears in this that hee is vpon the secrets of their hearts Man hath but his hart to hold him vp God can take it fâ—oÌ„ him when hee will Dan. 4. 6. We haue neede of great reuerence in praier seeing we speak to him who searcheth the heart Psal. 139. 23 Three things to be obserued in Prayer That preparation go before it Motiues to preparation That there be attention in prayer That after prayer therebe thanksgiuing to God The curse of Moab is vpon prophane men they pray and preuailes not Esay 1. 15. Ierem. 7. 9. Seeing the spirit requests for Saints onely how shall we know that he requests for vs who are sinners 1 Ioh. 1. 8. 1 Ioh. 5. 18. Rom. 7. 15. 17 In the christian man are two men the new and the old God iudges of the Christian by the new man and not by the old Num. 23. 21 Rom. 7. 24. How it is to be vnderstood that he who is borne of God sinneth not The new man liues in the body like Lot in Sodome Psal. 120. 5. Reioycing when he doth good grieued when he doth euill Rom. 7. 15. 〈◊〉 â—hould not pâ—â—sent petitioÌ„s to God which are not according to his wil. A Christian hath accesse to the priuie chaÌ„ber of the great king euer when he pleaseth The third principall argument of comfort is from the prouidence of God working all things to the good of his owne Manifold blessings of God are vpon the Godly Psal. 34. 19. 1 Cor. 10. 13 Zach. 1. 2â— If the first fruits of our comfort be so sweete what shall the full masse be None but a Christian can know the mysteries of the Gospell 1 Cor. 9. 11. 1 Cor. 2. 14. 1 Cor. 2. 5. 6. Pearles which none know but they who haue them Worldlings speake of them like birds counterfaiting the voyce of man Worldlings cursed with the curse of the Serpent Sure knowledge of Christian comfort is the mother of patience Ioh. 21. 15. Other men hazards vnder hope but the Christian runs as sure to obtaine Rom. 16. 20 2 Chron. 20. 17 One of Sathans slights is to cause vs to iudge of the works of
choise in things spirituall of that which is good for seeing vve cannot know vvhat is good for vs till the Spirit teach vs vvhat power haue vve of our selues to make choise of it It is true that men by the quicknesse of their naturall vvit haue found out many artes and trades profitable for this naturall life so Iubal was the first Father of them who play on Harpes and Organes and Tubal-cain the first inuenter of cunning working in brasse and iron but as for spirituall things which concerne the life to come man is not able by any power of Nature to help himselfe therein for vvhat can he doe seeing he doth not vnderstand those things that are of God But the spirit it selfe makes request The Apostle to the Galathians hath a commentary for these words when hee saith that God hath sent downe his Spirit into our harts by and againe tardius dando quod petimus instantiam nobis orationis indicit the Lord when hee is slow to giue that which vve aske doth it onely that he may commend his gifts vnto vs and make vs more instant and earnest in prayer For the better vnderstanding of this let vs distinguish our petitions sometime vve seeke those things which are not so expedient for our selues to be granted as refused vnto vs and in these non audit nos ad voluntatem vt exaudiat ad salutem the Lord regardeth not thy wil but thy vveale The Apostle buffeted by an Angell of Sathan besought the Lord to remoue that tentation from him but obtained not his vvil the Lord saw it was not for his weale and not onely doe we read that men beloued of God haue beene refused in mercy but others haue had their petitions granted in anger which wee may see not onely in the Israelites vvho obtayned flesh when they sought but in his anger but also in those damned Spirits vvho sought licence of the Lord Iesus to enter into Swine and obtained it but to the greater augmentation of their vvrath If therfore thy petition vnto God be for a thing absolutely necessary to thy saluation be assured that howeuer the Lord delay it hee shall not simply refuse it and if otherwise thou craue a thing not absolutely necessary for thee if the Lord refuse to satisfie thy will therein it is that hee may doe according to thy weale When the Disciple asked Iesus of the resurrection Lord wilt thou at this time restore the kingdome to Israell he satisfied them not in that which they craued It is not for you saith hee to know the times or seasons which the Father hath put into his owne hand but another thing meeter for them and lesse craued of them hee promised vnto them But yee shall receiue power of the holy Ghost when hee shall come vpon you and yee shall be witnesse vnto me A comfortable answere indeed an exchange most profitable for vs and wee rest content with it So be it euen so be it O Lord giue vs thine holy Spirit and deny vs any other thing thou wilt And of this againe we learne that we liue onely by mercy for not onely those things which we obtaine by prayer are begged by vs and giuen by God For what hast thou O man that thou hast not receiued but we see here that prayer it selfe whereby wee get all things is also a gift of God if we wanted not of our owne we would not seeke of another by prayer and if vve could also pray of our selues vve needed not another to teach vs Etiam ipsa Oratio inter gratiae munera reperitur it is the Lord who commands and worketh in vs both the will and the deed vnto him therefore belongs the prayse of all Wee haue here also to consider a great comfort for the Godly who are oft times redacted to that estate that there is none among men to speake for them Ieremie cannot finde one Ebed-melech neyther haue the Prophets of the Lord one Obadiah to hide them Daniel hath none to speak for him al stands vp that had credit to procure that he may be cast into the denne those that should be friends oftentimes become foes to the seruants of God but euen at this time their comfort is that not onely they haue Iesus the Iust an Aduocate for them at the right hand of his Father but haue also the Spirit the Comforter within them an Intercessor for them Miserable therfore must they be who bend their tongues to speake against those for whom the holy Ghost maketh request vnto God that rebuke which the Prophet gaue to Iehosaphat vvhen he went out to help wicked king Achab wilt thou helpe them that hate the Lord we may turne to those in our time that are enimies to the Children of God Will yee hurt them whom the Lord helpeth The Children of God in all their infirmities haue the holy Spirit for their helper vvhat euer man speakes against them hee maketh request vnto God for them It cannot then otherwise be but in the end comfort must be to them and confusion vnto their enimies That oracle which Zeresh gaue to Hamans husband shall assuredly prooue true vpon all the enimies of in all our waies principally to looke vnto it It is in the most part of men an argument of their Atheisme that they look curiously to the decking of the body which falleth vnder the eye of man but regard not the hid man of the heart which falleth vnder the eye of God And againe we learne here that it cannot be without great contempt to God to sinne against him vnder hope of secrecie it is with thy sin to ioyne a mocking of God for in effect thou sayest with the Atheist The Lord seeth not A most high sinne against his Maiestie whereby thou dost all thou canst to pull out the eyes of the Lord that hee should not see or at least thinks so of him in the false conclusion of thy darkned mind No meruaile therefore that against such as thou art the Prophet threaten that fearefull curse Woe be to them that seeke in deepe to hide their counsell from the Lord their works are in darkenesse and they say who seeth vs or who knoweth vs your turning of deuices shall it not be esteemed as the potters clay for shall the worke say to him that made it hee made me not or the thing formed say of him that fashioned it hee had none vnderstanding Vnderstand yee vnwise among the people and yee fooles when will yee be wise Hee that planted the eare shall hee not heare or he that formed the eye shall he not see he that teacheth man knowledge shall hee not know Certainely the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the heart of man that they be but vanitie Let vs therefore sanctifie the Lord God of hostes in our heart let vs neuer seeke to hide our wayes from heauen for that is impossible let
vs learne of Henoch to make our liues a walking with God and with Dauid let vs alwayes set the Lord before our eyes so in the middest of our owne house wee shall walke in the innocencie of our heart where there is no eye of man to make vs ashamed the reuerence of God shall keepe vs from sinne The feare of earnall men is the countenance of men what restrayned Abner and made him vnwilling to slay Asahel If I doe it said he how shall I hold vp my face to thy brother Ioab but the awe of spirituall men is the countenaunce of God this restrayned Ioseph that in secret hee durst not commit adultry and it was his reason to perswade his brethren I feare God and therefore dare doe you no euill Certainely this is onely true godlines when wee liue so as vnder the eye of God and the reuerence of his inuisible maiestie restraynes vs from doing those sinnes which otherwise we might doe vnknowne or at least vncontrouled of men And so much the more let vs endeauour to attaine to this holy disposition because how so euer our corrupt Nature cannot hide her crooked wayes from the Lord yet she desires and preases to doe it and if her deeds and thoughts be brought vnto the light it is sore against her will but the children of God renued by grace willingly presents their hearts to God that he should looke vpon them And this the Apostle points out here when hee saith that not onely God knowes the heart but that hee searches the heart Searching is the inquisition of a thing which is hid and couered and imports the contrary corruption of our Nature vvhich seekes to hide and obscure it selfe from the Lord. As Adam presently after his fall sought to couer his nakednesse with figge-tree leaues so hath he transmitted this heritable euill to all his posteritie that when they haue done wickedly they doe what they can to couer it but in vaine for the Lord is such a searcher from whose eyes no man can hide that for which he makes inquisition Laban searched the Tent of Iacob for his idols and could not finde them though they were there but what the Lord searches hee shall finde out If Saul hide himselfe the Lord can tell the people that he lurkes among the stuffe As a light where it comes makes things to be seene which were hid in darknesse so the Lord when he searches saith he will search with lights to tell thee that were thy deedes neuer so secret hee will make them manifest Let vs not therefore like the prophane Atheists seeke to hide our secrets from the searcher but let vs liue as in the sight of God Neyther is it without great cause that the Lord passing by other things looketh onely to the heart the heart being the essentiall difference that distinguisheth a true Christian from a counterfaite for outward exercises of godlinesse the hypocrite in appearance may match the holy one Ye shall see Cain sacrificing no lesse then Abel yee shall see Esas seeking the blessing with greater crying and moe teares than Iacob and Saul shall confesse his sinne no lesse than Dauid and Ahab shall humble himselfe in dust and ashes more penitent like than Ezechiah the Pharisee shall be more abundant in fasting and giuing of almes than the Publican As he that doth paint a fire may paint the colour and the forme of the bowing flame thereof but can no way paint the heate thereof so an Hypocrite can looke like a Christian speake like a Christian and in outward actions counterfait the Christian but can neuer attaine to the Christians heart therefore is it that the Lord most of all delights in the heart and we also most of all should take heede vnto it to keepe it holy Beside this that the Lord hath locked vp the heart of one man from another and hath reserued the knowledge of the heart to himselfe onely the Lord hath done it in great wisedome for seeing that man diuided himselfe by sinne from God their hearts by nature are so discordant among themselues that if their hearts were as manifest to others as their faces there could not be a fellowship nor societie entertained among men Looke how many men are in the world there are as many sundry iudgements and wils euery man hauing a kingdome in his breast and so carryed away with a desire of his owne super-excellencie that hee seeketh the aduancement of his owne will with the ouerthrow of all others whose will is not agreeable to his if hee might attaine vnto it Againe the heart of man is such a bottomlesse fountaine of wickednesse that if it were manifested the world should be infected with viler abhominations than any that yet are knowne in it for if the tongue which is but a little member of the body when it fomes out but a small part of that filth which abounds in the heart be so forcible as to corrupt the honest minds and manners of the hearers what should be done if the heart it selfe were laid open which is by nature but a stincking puddle and filthy store-house of all iniquitie And further for the comfort of the whole Church of God and euery member thereof let vs marke the soueraigntie of our God ouer all his creatures in these two that not onely hee is vpon their secrets whether they will or not for hee sits in their hearts but also hath soueraign commandement ouer them so that he can when he wil will when his glory requires eyther take their hearts vtterly from them or turne their owne hearts against themselues as domestick enimies to torment them And as for the first it is manifest out of this place that the Lord sitteth vpon the secret counsell of the wicked for hee searcheth the heart It was a great discouragement to Benhadad King of Aram that the secret conclusion which hee laid with his captaines in his cabinet counsel concerning the ordering of his battels against Israel were discouered as they were concluded by Elisha the Prophet vnto the King of Israell and who reueiled them to Elishaâ— but the Lord our God who sits as moderator in the counsell of the wicked whether they will or not to ouerrule their determinations direct them to his owne end which is his glory and good of his Church Let our enimies then take counsell and conspire together as they will hee that doth sit in the heauens shall haue them in derision The counsell of the Lord shall stand and what hee hath decreed shall onely come to passe let vs therefore rest in him It were good for men to consider this that albeit man be sustained and vpholden by his owne heart so that no other thing can help him if it faile him yet it is in the Lords power to doe with it what hee will how oft haue we seene that the Lord being angry at man passing by all the members of
his body and leauing them whole and sound hath stricken the heart with such terrours that most valiant men hauing eyes could not see hauing a tongue could not speak hauing hands could not strike to defend themselues and hauing feete could not doe so much as runne away their heart being taken from them by God they are left in a strait and comfortlesse estate But farre more miserable are they when the Lord turnes their owne hearts against themselues and makes them a terrour to themselues A fearefull example whereof wee haue in Belshazzar who seeing nothing without him but the figure of a hand which stirred him not was so stricken and pursued with his owne heart within him that his flesh trembled his countenance waxed pale his knees smote one against another If man considered this he would be loath to prouoke the Lord vnto anger seeing hee can neyther sustaine the wrath of God nor eschew it Moreouer wee are taught here seeing our Prayer is a conference with him who searcheth the heart that we should alway pray with our heart for otherwise if wee draw neere him with our lips our heart being farre from him hee will curse vs as deceiuers that hauing a male in our flock doe sacrifice a lame thing vnto the Lord that is in stead of the seruice of our hearts doe offer vnto him the seruice of our lips The Lord hath no delight in the sacrifice of fooles who are rash with their mouth to vtter a thing before him not considering that hee is in heauen and they are vpon earth the mouth may reach to men who are beside vs the heart onely may reach to God who is aboue It was a very godly protestation that Dauid made Try me O Lord and prooue my thoughts in the night and see if at any time I haue spoken that to thee with my mouth which I haue not thought with my heart and albeit wee haue not as yet atteyned vnto it yet is it that holy sinceritie whereat wee should ayme in all our prayers so to speake vnto God that our conscience may beare vs record that we lye not and that we haue spoken nothing with our mouth which we haue not thought vvith our heart We are therefore for the right ordering of our prayers to take heede to these three things First preparation before prayer Secondly attention in prayer Thirdly reuerent thanksgiuing after prayer As for the first as Moses and Iosua put off their shooes before they came neere the Lord so are we to remoue out of our hearts vncleane cogitations and affections whereby we haue trode in the filth of sinne before we pray for those are neuer lawfull but most vnlawfull in the time of prayer As for worldly cogitations they are sometimes lawfull but neuer in the time of prayer As Abraham vsed his Asses to serue him for the iourney but when he came to mount Moriah the place of the worship he left them at the foot of the hill so the thoughts of the world are sometime tollerable if wee vse them as seruants to carry vs through in our iourney from the earth to heauen but we must not take them with vs into the holy place wherein the Lord is to be worshipped To help vs to the preparation before prayer let vs consider first that he to whom we speake is the Father of light and we are by nature but the children of darknes call therefore vpon him in the sinceritie and vprightnesse of thine heart for he loues truth in the inward affections Secondly he is the Father of glory come therefore before him with feare and reuerence for thou art but dust and ashes Thirdly he is the Father of mercy repent thee therefore of thy sinnes and then draw neere with a true heart in assurance of Faith The second thing requisit is attention in Prayer the Lord to whom we speake is the searcher of the heart and therefore we should beware that we speake nothing to him with our mouth which our heart hath not conceiued For it is a great mockerie to the Lord to desire him to consider those petitions which we haue not considred our selues we scarcely heare what we say our selues and how then shall we craue the Lord may heare vs We finde by experience that it is not an easie thing to gather together in one and keepe vnited the powers of our soule in prayer vnto God Sathan knowes that the gathering of our forces is the weakening of his kingdome and that then we are strongest when we are most feruent in prayer and therefore doth hee labour all that hee can to slacke the earnestnesse of our affection and so to make vs more remisse in prayer by stealing into our hearts if not a prophane at least an impertinent cogitation so that vnlesse we fight without ceasing against the incursion of our enimie like Abraham dâ—iuing away the rauening birds from his Sacrifice vnlesse we expell them speedely as oft as they come vpon vs it is not possible that wee can intertaine conference with God by prayer And thirdly after thy prayer thou shouldst come away with reuerent thanksgiuing It is the fault of many carelesse worshippers they goe vnto God as men goe to a Well to refresh them when they are thirstie they goe to it and their face toward it but being refreshed they returne with their backe vpon it euen so doe they sit downe to their prayers without preparation powre them out without attention and deuotion and when they haue done goes away without reuerent thanksgiuing whereas indeede euery accesse to God by prayer should kindle in our harts a new affâ—ction toward him if we consider that when we pray and gets any accesse so oft we are confiâ—mâ—d in this that he who hath the keyes of the house of Dauid and opens and no man shuts hath opened to vs an entrance to the throne of grace which shall neuer be closed againe vpon vs whereof their should arise in our hearts a daily encrease of ioy which should make vs to abound in thanksgiuing Makes request for the Saints We haue further to learne that none are pertakers of the grace of Prayer but men sanctified in Christ Iesus the Spirit requests for Saints not for prophane and impenitent men howsoeuer sometime they babble for themselues yet are their prayers turned into sinne The curse of Moab is vpon them they pray and preuailes not As without sanctification we cannot see God so without sanctification wee cannot pray to God euery one that calles on the name of the Lord should depart from iniquitie Doe we not feele it by experience that the further we goe from our sinnes the neerer accesse we get vnto the Lord and on the contrary doth not the Lord protest against his people the Iewes albeit yee make many prayers yet I will not heare yoâ— for your hands are full of blood Will you steale murther and commit adultrie and come
and foresee their end for eyther that shall be fulfilled in them which Mâ—rdecay said to Ester who knowes if for this thou art come to the kingdome that by thee deliuerance may come to Gods people or else that which Moses in Gods name said to Pharaoh the oppressour of the Church in her adolescencie I haue set thee vp to declare my power because thou exaltest thy selfe against my people May wee not behold here how vnsure their standing is and how certaine their fall who when they are highest abuse their power most to hold the people of God lowest what else are they but obiects whom the Lord hath raised vp to declare his power and iustice vpon them If wee shall mark the course of the Lords proceeding euer since the beginning of the world wee shall finde a blessing following them whom he hath made instruments of good vnto his Church and that such againe haue not wanted their owne recompense of wrath who haue continued instruments of her trouble When the Lord concluded to bring his Church from Canaan to soiourne in Egypt hee sent such a famine in Canaan as compelled them to forsake it but made plentie in Egypt by the hand of Ioseph whom the Lord had sent before as a prouisor for his Church and by whom Pharaoh was made fauourable to Iacob but when the time came that the Lord was to translate his Church from Egypt to Canaan then hee altered Pharaohs countenance and raised vp a new King who knew not Ioseph hee turned the Egyptians hearts away from Israell so that they vexed Israell and made them to serue by crueltie Thus when the Lord will bring them to Egypt hee maketh Pharaoh fauourable which also brings a blessing vpon Pharaoh and his people but when the Lord vvill haue them to goe out of Egipt hee maketh another Pharaoh an enimie vnto them whereby both they are made willing to forsake Egypt and Pharaoh prepares the way for a fearefull iudgement on himselfe and his people Againe when the sinnes of Israell came to that ripenes that their time was come and their day drew neere the Lord stirred vp the King of Babell as the rod of his wrath and staffe of his indignation He sent him to the dissembling nation and gaue him a charge against the people of his wrath to take the spayle and the pray and to tread them vnder feete like mire in the streets and to this effect that the Lord might be auenged of the sinnes of Israell he subdued all the kingdomes round about them vnder the King of Babell that no stoppe nor impediment should be in the way to hold back the rodde of Ashur from Israell But yet againe when the Lord had accomplished all his worke vpon Israell and the time of mercy was come and the seauentie yeares of captiuitie expired then the Lord visited the proud heart of the King of Ashur and for his Churches sake he altered againe the gouernement of the whole earth translating the Empyre to the Medes and Persians that so Cyrus the Lords annoynted might performe to his people the promised deliuerance All which should learne vs in the greatest changes and alterations that fall out in the world to rest assured that the Lord will worke for the good of his Church though the earth should be moued and the mountaines fall into the middest of the sea yea though the waters thereof rage and be troubled yet there is a riuer whose streames shall make glad the cittie of our God in the middest of it yea if they who should be the nourishng Fathers of the Church forsake her and become her enimies they shall assuredly perish but comfort and deliuerance shall appeare vnto Gods people out of another place The Lord for a while may put the brydle of bondage in the Philistims hand to humble Israell for their sinnes but it shall be taken from them at length his Church shall with ioy draw water out of the Well of saluation and prayse the Lord saying though thou wert angry with mee thy wrath is turned away and thou comfortest mee yea Sion shall cry out and shout for ioy for great is the holy One of Israell in the middest of her And therefore in our lowest humiliations let vs answere our enimies Reioyce not against me O mine enimie though I fall I shall rise when I shall sit in darkenesse the Lord is a light vnto mee I will beare the wrath of the Lord because I haue sinned against him vntill hee plead my cause and execute iudgement for me he will bring me forth to the light and I shall see his righteousnesse then hee that is mine enimie shall looke vpon it and shame shall couer him who said to mee where is the Lord thy God now shall hee be trodden vnder as the mire in the streets yea so let all thine enimies perish O Lord. For the best This good or best is no other thing but that precious saluation prepared to be shewed in the last time reserued in the heauens for vs and whereunto wee are reserued by the power of God through Faith Of this it is euident that our best is not yet wrought it is onely in the vvorking and therefore vvee are not to looke for it in this life There is a great difference in this betweene the Godly and the wicked the one enioyes their best in this life the other not so but looketh for it If if should be demaunded when a wicked man is at his best I would answere his best is euill enough but then is bee at his best when hee comes first into the world for then his sinnes are fewest his iudgement easiest it had beene good for him that the knees had not preuented him but that hee had dyed in the birth For as a riuer which is smallest at the beginning increases as it proceedes by the accession of other waters vnto it so the wicked the longer he liueth waxeth worse and worse deceiuing and being deceiued proceeding from euill to worse till at length hee be swallowed vp in that lake that burnes with fire and brimstone And this the Apostle expresseth most significantly when hee compaâ—es the wicked man vnto one gathering a treasure wherein hee heapeth vp wrath vnto himselfe against the day of wrath for euen as the worldling who euery day casteth a piece of money into his treasure in few yeares multiplyes such a summe that hee himselfe is not able to keepe in minde the particulars thereof but when hee breaketh vp his boxe hee finds in it sundry sorts of coyne which were quite out of his remembrance Euen so it is and worse with thee O impenitent man who not onely euery day but euery houre and moment of the day doest multiply thy transgressions and defile thy conscience by hoording vp into it some dead worke or other to what a reckoning thinkest thou shall thy sinnes amount in the end though thou doest
Peter when hee heard that Iesus behoued to suffer because hee loued him said to him Maister pittie thy selfe but receiued this answere Goe behinde me Sathan for thou vnderstandest not the things that are of God culpans in vtroque non affectum sed consilium blaming in them both not their affection but their vnderstanding yet afterward when Peter was better informed that Iesus behoued to dye and rise the third day hee disswaded him no more but rather promised that hee would dye with him hee had now learned to loue Iesus not onely with his heart but also with his minde not earnestly onely but also wisely yet when it came to the poynt hee denyed his Maister at the voyce of a Damsell because hee had not learned to loue him with strength as hee did afterward when he had receiued the holy Spirit in greater measure hee loued Iesus euen to the very death with so strong an affection that before the Counsell hee choosed rather to dye for Christ than to denye him Licet vitam tunc minime posuit deposuit tamen in so much that albeit hee lost not his life yet hee freely laid it downe for Iesus These are thee three whereunto wee are to aspyre in all our life to loue the Lord heartely to loue him wisely for inconsiderate zeale and temerarious precipitation doth not please him and to loue him with so strong an affection that wee chose rather to suffer death than to forsake him But alas how farre are wee from this holy disposition who can say hee hath attained to that measure of holy Loue which the Law of God requireth in him and therefore should vve endeuour to grow daily in loue earnestly praying the Lord that hee vvould breath by his Spirit vpon that little sparke of heauenly life vvhich hee hath created in our hearts that it be not extinguished with the ashes of our corruption but may increase and become a great flame to burne vp our affections with such a loue of God as may carry vp all the powers of our soule toward him To this effect let vs meditate frequently vpon these foure causes for vvhich wee should loue the Lord first for that which hee is in himselfe to wit the fountaine of all goodnesse the greatest and supreame good if it be good that man would haue let him loue the Lord to vvhom there is none like in goodnes inuenito si potes aliquid pretiosius Deo dabitur tibi finde out if thou canst any thing more pretious than God and it shall bee giuen thee The Platonists by the light of nature saw that all the pulchritude and beautie which shineth in the creature vvas but spendor quidam summi illius boni which should transport vs in our affection toward him from whom it came Pulchrum coelum pulchra terra sed pulchrior qui fecit illa the heauen and earth are beautifull but more beautifull is hee who made them and therefore as oft as any good in the creature beginneth to steale our heart after it let vs in our affection goe vp to the Creator considering that the Lord hath not made these beautifull or profitable creatures that we should go a whooring after them but that by them as steps we should climbe vp to him that made them and rest in him The second cause that may breed the loue of God in vs if we meditate vpon it is that the Lord hath first loued vs Inuenimus eum sed non praeuenimus we haue found him but we did not preuent him we knovv him novv but were first knowne of him hee found vs first and that euen vvhen vve vvere enimies vnto him dilexit non existentes imo resistentes he loued vs vvhen vve vvere not yea vvhen vve vvere rebels against him and shall vve not novv being reconciled by the death of his sonne endeauour to loue him againe Thirdly the Lord by his continuall gifts hath testified his loue to vs he hath not beene vnto vs as a wildernesse or as a land of darknes if we vvill remember and tell what the Lord hath done to our soule vvee shall finde vvee are ouercome with the multitude of his mercies and there is none that hath deserued the loue of our hearts comparable to the Lord. If our loue be free let vs set it vpon him who is most worthy to be loued and if it be venall let vs also giue it vnto him who hath giuen vs most for it And fourthly it shall waken in vs the loue of God if vve consider in our hearts what great things the Lord hath promised to giue vnto vs euen such as the eye hath not seene and the eare hath neuer heard life without death youth without age light without darkenesse ioy without sadnes a kingdome without a change and in a word he shall then giue vs a blessed life non de his quae condidit sed de seipso not of those things which hee hath made but of himselfe But to returne to our former purpose that we may know vvhether this holy loue be created in our hearts by the spirit of grace or no we must try it by the fruits and effects of loue whereof novv it shall content vs to touch a few First it is the nature of Loue that it earnestly desires and seekes to obtaine that which is beloued Hereby shalt thou knovv whether thy affection of loue be ordered by Christ or remaine as yet disordered by Sathan The affection which Christ hath sanctified will follow vpward seeking to be there where he is Euery thing naturally returnes to the owne originall as the waters go downe to the deep from whence they came so carnall loue powred out like water returnes to Sathan who begat it and carries miserable man captiued with it downward to the bottomles pit but holy loue being as a sparke of heauenly fire kindled in our hearts by the holy Ghost ascends continually and rauishes vs vpward toward the Lord from whom it came not suffâ—ing vs to rest till we inioy him Let this then be the first tryall of our loue if wee vse carefully those holy meanes by which vve keepe and entertaine familiaritie with our God it is an argument that vve loue him and what other meanes is there by which man vpon earth is familiar with God but the exercises of the word and prayer Godly Dauid who protests in some places that he loued the Lord prooues it in other by the like of these reasons O how loue I thy law it is my meditation continually and againe I haue loued the habitation of thine house and the place where thine honour dwels One thing haue I desired of the Lord that I may dwell in the house of my God all the dayes of my life to behold the beautie of the Lord and to visit his holy temple As this doth serue for the comfort of those who delight in the exercise of
our heauenly Father may be glorified though workes can be no merits yet are they your witnesses and what haue yee done to remaine when yee are dead as witnesses of your loue toward the Lord Though your goodnesse extend not to the Lord yet where is your delight that should be on his Saints and excellent ones vpon earth where is your compassion and loue toward the brethren are not the men of this age like vnto that fig-tree which had faire leaues but not so much as one figge to giue vnto Iesus in his hunger hauing the shew of godlinesse but haue denyed the power therof yeelding words inough but no fruits to adorne the glorious Gospell of our Lord Iesus Of these and many moe if wee might insist in them it is manifest that all haue not the loue of God in their hearts who this day pretend it The last tryall of Loue which novv we bring is readinesse to suffer affliction for the cause of God The Apostles being beaten for preaching in the name of Iesus instead of mourning departed reioycing that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christs sake and all because they loued him For the loue of Rahel seauen yeeres of hard seruitude seemed vnto Iacob but a short space For the loue of Dinah Sichem willingly sustayned the circumcision and cutting of his flesh much more to him in whose heart abounds the loue of the Lord vvill bitter things become sweet and hard things easie This Loue hath made the holy Martyres step out of their owne element into the fire with greater ioy and willingnesse then worldlings haue when they fit downe to their banquetting tables to refresh them or lyes downe in their beds to rest them The Apostle who suffered all sorts of affliction for the Gospell giues this for a reason that the loue of Iesus constrayned him Thus much concerning the effects of holy loue by which we are to make sure our calling and consequently our election for our euerlasting comfort Euenâ—toâ—them that are called according to his purpose Hitherto the Apostle hath summarily set downe his third principall argument of comfort and now in the end of this verse he shortly breakes vp the confirmation thereof which is this they who loue God are called according to his purpose therefore all things must work for the best vnto them The necessitie of this reason shall appeare if we consider that the Lord cannot be frustrated of his end Those whom the Lord in his immutable purpose hath ordayned to glory and whom according to that purpose he hath called in time how can it be but all things must worke vnto their good for the working prouidence of God which is the executer of his purpose doth so ouer-rule all incidents which fall out in the world and doth so gouerne all secondary and inferiour causes that of necessitie they are directed to that end whereunto the supreame cause of all to wit the purpose and will of God hath ordayned them This is shortly set downe in these words and more largely explaned in the two verses following It is the last reason of comfort and the highest for now the Apostle leades vs out of our selues and sets vs vpon that rocke which is higher than wee hee carries vs by the hand as it were out of the earth vp into heauen and lets vs see how our saluation is so grounded in Gods eternall purpose that no accident in the world can change it We haue here then three things euery one of them depening vpon another the loue of God flowing from the calling of God and the calling of God comming from the purpose of God vnto which the Apostle here drawes vs that vve casting our anchor within the vaile and resting in the Lords immutable purpose may haue comfort in all our present tentations It is most expedient for the godly to marke this that our manifold changes doe not interrupt our peace let vs consider that the Lord hath in such sort dispensed our saluation that the ground thereof is laid in his owne immutable purpose but the markes and tokens thereof are placed in vs after our calling the markes and tokens are changeable like a wee our selues in whom they are are changeable but the ground holds fast being laid in that vnchangeable God in whom falles no shadow of alteration I am God and am not changed My sheepe none can take out of my hand The counsell of the Lord shall stand and his foundation remaines sure It is true that the tokens of election cannot be fully taken away from any that is effectually called nay not in the greatest desertion yet haue they in vs their owne intention and remission And this should comfort vs against our daily vicissitudes and changes when wee feele that our Faith doth faint our life languishes our hope houers and we are like to sincke in the tentation with Peter and our feeble hands fall downe with Moses yet let vs not dispaire no change in vs can alter Gods vnchangeable purpose he who hath begunne the worke in vs will also perfect it Because I am not changed saith the Lord therefore is it that yee O sonnes of Iacob are not consumed This purpose of God is called otherwise the will of God and the good pleasure of his Will In that the Apostle saith our calling is according to his purpose it teacheth vs to ascribe the whole praise of our saluation to the good pleasure of his will and not to our owne foreseene merits That poyson of pride which Sathan poured into our first parents and by which they aspyred to be equall with God doth yet breake forth in their posteritie the corrupt heart of man euer ayming at this to seeke vnto himselfe either in part or in whole the power and praise of his own saluation This is to start vp into the roome of God and to vsurpe that glory which belongs to the Lord and he will not giue to any other than the which no greater sacriledge can be committed against the Lord. O man content thee with that which the Lord offers thee and let that alone which hee reserues vnto himselfe My peace saith the Lord I giue to you my glory I will not giue to any other The first Preachers of the Gospell were Angels they proclaymed glory and peace but glory they gaue to God which is on high and peace they cryed to the children of his good will which are vpon earth It is inough that peace and saluation is giuen to be thine but as for the glory of saluation let it remain to the Lord. Hee is for this called the father of mercy because mercy bred in his owne bosome Hee hath found many causes without himselfe mouing him to execute iustice but a cause mouing him to shew mercie hee neuer found but the good pleasure of his will therefore the Apostle saith the Lord hath called vs with an holy calling not according to
in this that Christians are without a Crosse yea rather he shewes it is the lot of Gods children to be exercised with all sorts of crosses but herein hee reioyces that no crosse can seperate vs from the loue of God In this quarrell the Apostle prouokes all enimies whatsoeuer corporall or spirituall present or to come and against them all he takes vp the triumph in his owne name and in the name of all the children of God Neuerthelesse in all these things we are more then conquerours through him that loued vs. By the loue of Christ we are to vnderstand here that loue wherwith God in Christ hath loued vs for so he expounds it himselfe through him that loued vs. It is true also that the sense of our loue to God once shed abroad in our harts by the holy ghost can neuer fully nor finally be taken from vs I say fully and finally because of those inward tentations wherewith Gods children are so exercised that the sense of that loue in them is greatly diminished but in all those spirituall desertions oppressions Faith ouercomes at length and lets vs see the face of God our mercifull father shining toward vs in Christ we may be cast downe but we cannot perish if Peter be ready to sincke Iesus Christ shall succour him But as I said by the Loue of God I vnderstand that loue which hee hath borne toward vs from this most constant loue it comes to passe that wee who are weake and silly creatures cannot be ouercome notwithstanding the multitude of mightie enimies that are against vs. If our saluation were in our owne custodie and wee stoode by our owne strength the smallest tentation would ouercome vs our feet are ready to slide and then our feeble hands le ts goe that hold of mercy which once wee had gotten but howsoeuer we loose our hold the Lord holds it fast for vs wee may change but hee remaines the same because the Lord hath loued vs and whom once he loueth he loueth to the ende therefore is it that it cannot be but well with vs hee loued vs before wee were yea before the world was made If we search the beginning of Gods Loue towards vs wee may runne vp in our thought to the beginning of the world but cannot attaine to the beginning of this Loue before the mountaines were made and thou hadst formed the world euen from euerlasting to euerlasting thou art our God Likewise we are taught here that the end vvhich Sathan proposeth to himselfe in all tentations is to seperate vs from the loue of God vvhich notwithstanding he shall neuer effectuate There is a couenant knit vp betweene God and man the band whereof is Iesus Christ this Couenant Sathan doth what he can to dissolue it by alluring vs to sinne and accusing vs to God on Gods part he cannot preuaile on our part he assaults continually but in vaine also because the Lord vvho hath made a couenant with vs keepes vs also vvith him so that though vvee be tempted vve cannot be ouercome This is euident in Iobs tentations it was neyther the affliction of his body the losse of his children nor goods which Sathan craued so much as to empty his heart of the loue of God and make him to blaspheme If vve remembred this it vvould make vs endeauour to possesse our soules in patience in all our troubles for so oft as those things vvhich vve loue are seperate from vs Sathans end is to seperate vs from our God vvhom vve should loue aboue all things And in very deed this is a proper mark of the Children of God that hovveuer their outvvard estate change their heart is neuer changed from the loue of God they are Godly in prosperitie but more Godly in aduersitie the more they are troubled the neerer they draw vnto the Lord as fire in not quenched with wind but made greater so the loue of God waxeth stronger in the hearts of Gods children by tribulation whereas the wicked not rooted in Iesus Christ are like vnto chaffe and the dust of the earth carryed away with euery winde there is no pleasure so small nor profite so vaine which they preferre not before God Now before the Apostle subioynes the answere he maketh an enumeration of some perticular crosses and demaunds if they will doe it these crosses do eyther concerne our bodies our goods our dwellings or our mindes for we are not to thinke here that the Apostle beates the ayre triumphing against such enimies as we haue not No we haue both crosses of body and of minde which wee must prepare our selues to suffer so vsing all the helpes of this our mortall life as being content for the loue of God to want them for this is the tryall of true religion we must not looke to our houses as Nabuchadnezer did to his pallace of Babell as a place of his glory but remember that which Micah said to the Iewes This is not the place of your rest and whatsoeuer thing else wee vse for maintenance of this mortall life let vs so vse them as if we vsed them not that wee be not found when it comes to the tryall louers of them more then louers of God Blessed is the man who loues nothing otherwise but in God Nam solus is nihil charum amittit cui omnia chara sunt in eo qui non amittitur Againe perceiue here in this enumeration a gradation of seauen steppes by which the Apostle ascends It is a great thing to be in trouble but to be troubled and in anguish also is yet greater and for him that is in anguish to be banished in banishment to sustaine hunger and nakednesse and with these to be in continuall perill and last of all to dye by the sword euery one of these last is greater then the former yet all of them saith the Apostle are not able to seperate vs from the loue of Christ. Our warning is here that when we see vnto how many crosses Christians are subiect and how few of them God hath laid vpon vs wee should acknowledge the Lords fatherly indulgence toward vs who regarding our weakenesse hath hitherto dealt tenderly with vs. And againe it should prepare vs for greater afflictions so long as wee haue not resisted to the bloud nor laide downe our liues for Iesus we should remember that greater battailes than any which as yet we haue foughten are before vs wherein we must fight if it please the Lord to enter vs into them Shall tribulation Now hee commeth to the perticular enumeration The first is tribulation the vvord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhich the Apostle vseth signifieth a pressing out from the effect vvhich it vvorketh in the godly to vvit that it presseth out and maketh manifest that grace of God which before vvas latent in them like as in the vvicked it presseth out their vile and filthy
THREE HEAVENLY TREATISES VPON THE EIGHT Chapter to the Romanes Viz. 1 Heauen opened 2 The right way to eternall Glory 3 The Glorification of a Christian. VVherein the Counsaile of God concerning Mans saluation is so manifested that all men may see the Ancient of dayes the Iudge of the world in his generall Iustice Court absoluing the Christian from sinne and death Which is the first benefit wee haue by our Lord Iesus Christ. Come and see Written by Mr. William Cowper Minister of Gods word LONDON Printed by Thomas Snodham for William Firebrand and Iohn Budge and are to be sould at his shop at the great Southdoore of Paules 1609. TO THE MOST SAcred Christian truely Catholique and mightie Prince Iames King of great Britaine France and Ireland defender of the faith c. SIR The Apostle S. Paule that chosen vessell of God and his ambassadour sent forth into the world to bring in the house of Iapheth into the tents of Sem hauing in his peregrination vndertaken for preaching from Ierusalem vnto Illyricum seene the most pleasant parts of the world and in an extasie transported from earth into the third heauen seene also the pleasures of Paradise as one who knew both not by naked speculation but experience giues out his iudgement of both that the most excellent things of this world were but dung in respect of the Lord Iesus and that whatsoeuer pleasure on earth may delight the eye or eare they haue vnto others it shal be no small comfort vnto me and my greatest thankefulnesse shal be declared in my dayly prayers vnto the Lord God for your Maiestie that the name of Iacobs God may defend you from all euill and the Lord may send you helpe out of his Sanctuarie in all your need according as hee hath done O King beloued of God hated of none but for Gods sake keepe still your heart in the loue of God and his truth Reioyce in the strength of your God and feare not what flesh can doe vnto you Is it not the Lord who set your Highnesse on the throne to bee a feeder of his people Israel Is it not the Lord who hath deliuered your Maiestie from the contentions of the people and secret snares of your cursed enimies though the Archers grieued you hated you and shot at you were not the hands of your armes strengthened by the hands of the mightie God of Iacob Is it not the almightie who hath blessed your Maiesty with heauenly blessings from aboue with blessings of the depth that lyes beneath with blessings of the breast and wombe Sir let his liberall blessings wherewith the Lord your God hath preuented you be so many obligations binding your Highnesse to honour the Lord who hath honoured you Let his forepast manifold deliuerances be as so many confirmations that if your Maiestie rest in him and not in man he will still be a buckler vnto you Let Abaddon the King of the Locusts that Romish vsurper rage Vnto the Lord belongs the issues of death Can Balaam curse where God hath blessed yea can Sathan hurt the man who is hedged by the Lord Let the Ambassadours of new Babel more shamelesse than Sennacherib his Rabsache raile at good king Ezekiah ruling in Ierusalem the Lord hath yet a hooke for his nosethrils and a bridle for his lips Doe not the eyes of the Lord behold the whole earth to shew himself strong with them that are strong and of a perfect heart toward him Therefore feare not their feare but sanctifie the Lord God of hostes let him be your feare and hee shal be a Sanctuarie vnto your Maiestie Count it a part of your high glorie and no small matter of your Maiesties ioy that with Christ you beare this peece of his crosse that the rebukes of them who rebuke the Lord are fallen vpon you and trust still O King in the Lord and in the mercie of the most High and so your Maiestie shall neuer fall Long may your Highnesse liue and raigne ouer vs as a faithfull seruant to your God and a happie King of many blessings to your people Your Maiesties most humble Subiect and dayly Oratour William Cowper Minister at Perth works of God there is a difference and some of them more cleerely then others declares the glorie of God so it is also among his holy writs they breath all out one truth by a most sweet harmonie diuine enim lectiones ita sibi connectuntur tanqnam vna sit lectio quia omnes ex vno ore procedunt yet ye shall finde that in some of them the Lord commeth neere vnto vs as it were with the face of a man talking familiarly vnto vs in others againe hee mounts high aboue vs as it were with the wings of an Eagle And the Lord hath left it free to delight our selues most in those places of holy Scripture wherein for our estate we haue most edification and to seeke in this Apothecarie shop of that sweet Samaritan the Lord Iesus pharmaca morbo nostro conuenientia such medicines as are meet for our maladie Among all the bookes of the old Testament most frequent testimonies are brought by our blessed Sauiour and his holy Apostles out of the booke of the Psalmes Ierome called it a treasurie of all learning And among all the Epistles of the Apostles no meruaile this to the Romanes haue the first place not that it was first written but because aboue the rest it contayneth a most perfect compend of our Christian faith And this middle Chapter thereof hath in it an Abridgement of all these comforts and instructions one excepted which otherwise are dispersed throughout the whole Epistle and is so to call it a pleasant kâ—ot of the garden and Paradise of God and therefore shall it not be vnprofitable for vs by Gods grace to delight our selues for a while in it As to the connexion of this Chapter with the former wee are to know that it is a conclusion of the foregoing treatise of Iustification Wherein the Apostle summarilie collects the excellent state of a Christian iustified by faith in Christ Iesus declaring it to bee such that there is no condemnation to him that nothing were it neuer so euill is able to hurt him yea by the contrary that all things workes for the best vnto him And because there are onely two euils which grieue vs in this life to wit sinne that remaines in vs and affliction that followes vs in the following of Christ. Against both these the Apostle furnishes the iustified man with strong consolations Comforts against the remanents of sinne wee haue from the 1. verse to the 18. Comforts against our afflictions wee haue from the midst of the 18. verse to the 31. That this is the very purpose and order of the Apostle is euident out of his owne conclusion set downe from
deliuering vs from so fearefull a condemnation Last of all as this is the happy estate of them who are in Christ that now there is no condemnation for them so is it the contrary miserable estate of the damned doe what they will euery action of their life makes out the processe of their most iust condemnation for to the vncleane all things are vncleane yea euen their consciences are defiled and their prayer is abhominable and turned into sinne but thanks be to God through Iesus Christ who hath deliuered vs from this most vnhappie condition To them who are in Christ. Albeit the former mentioned deliuerance from the wrath to come be most comfortable yet this which is subioyned should waken euery man to take heed vnto himselfe when we heare that this deliuerance is limited and restrained onely to them who are in Christ. It is true that by the offence of one man the fault came on all to condemnation but by the obedience of one all are not made righteous onely they who receiue the abundance of grace and gift of righteousnesse shall reigne in life through one Iesus Christ. As therfore we haue receiued within our selues by nature the sentence of death knowing that we are borne heyres of the wrath of God by disobedience so wisedome craues that we neuer rest nor suffer our eies to sleepe nor our eye-lids to slumber but that wee should recount our former sinnes in the bitternesse of our heart and water our couch with teares in the night and call vpon the Lord without ceasing in the day continually vntill we finde that we are translated from darknesse to light taken out of nature and planted in Christ and that first sentence of absolution be pronounced to our conscience by the spirit of adoption goe thy way thy sinnes are forgiuen thee For the Apostle vseth here this limitation of the comfort to certain persons thereby to declare that it appertaines not vnto the remnant of the world When the originall world was ouerwhelmed with waters none were saued but such as were in the Arke when Sodome was burnt with fire none were saued but those of the familie of Lot when Iericho was destroyed none were preserued but such as were in the Familie of Rahab all these are figures shadowing vnto vs that when the Lord shall come to cut downe the wicked with the sword or hooke of his iustice to cast them for euer into the wine-presse of his wrath saluation shall belong onely to those who are of the houshold of faith euen that whole familie whereof God in Iesus Christ is the Father which number is indeede exceeding small if they bee compared with the remnant and great multitude of the world therefore let not their euill example deceiue vs but remembring the kingdome of heauen suffers violence let vs cast away these burdens and impediments specially this sinne which hangeth so fast on that we may enter in time into the arke of God and Familie of Rahab that so vvee may bee saued Wee haue here then first to obserue a certaine distinction of mankinde whereof some are in Christ these are vessels of honour reserued to mercy others out of Christ and these are vessels of dishonour ordained vnto wrath This distinction is first made in God his secret counsell electing some and leaâ—ing others according to the good pleasure of his will and this is onely knowne vnto himselfe It begins first to be manifest when the Lord by effectuall calling seperates his Elect from the children of wrath and disobedience and then it is knowne but properly and truely of those onely who are effectually called for that now name which To them that are in Christ. The Apostle you see changes the manner of his speach when hee spake of the power of sinne remayning in our nature he spake of it in his owne person but when hee speakes of our deliuerance by Iesus Christ he speakes of it in the person of others Thus the Apostle by an holy wisedome doth order his speach for the comfort of the children of GOD for least that other weake christians might bee discouraged by reason of their sinnes hee speakes of remanent sinfull corruption in his owne person to declare that none no not the holy Apostles are exempted from it Of deliuerance againe he speaks in the person of others least any should thinke that the grace of Christ were restrayned onely to such singular persons as holy Apostles were not also extended to others Commonly these whâ— are of such a tender Conscience makes exception of themselues as if the comfort of other christians belonged not to them the Apostle therefore includes within the communion of this benefit all vvhosoeuer Pastors people learned vnlearned poore rich weake and strong prouiding that they bee in Iesus Christ. Men who are truely godly in the matter of misery chiefly contemne themselues therefore the Apostle calles himselfe the chiefe of all sinners but they neuer exclude others from the same communion of mercie I know sayes the Apostle that there is layd vp for mee a crowne of glory and not onely for mee but for all them who loue the second appearing of the Lord Iesus It is farre otherwise with naturall men blinded with presumption they extoll their owne righteousnesse aboue others in their conceit with the proud Pharisee condemneth euery other man as a greater sinner than himselfe they carrie in their bagge two measures by the one they take to themselues making much of the smallest good which is in them by the other they giue setting that by for light which is most excellent in another Our Sauiour properly expresses their corrupt iudgement when hee compares it to the light of the eye which can see any other thing better than it selfe and can espye a moate sooner in another than a beame in it selfe After this manner hipocrites looke out curiosi ad cognoscendâ—m vitam alienam dâ—sidiosi ad corrigendum suam curious searchers of the life of others carelesse correcters of their owne Mens peracute perspiciens alienos errores tarda est ad proprios cognoscendos defectus the minde that sharply lookes to the faults of others doth but slowly consider her owne defects but let vs learne by the precept of our blessed Sauiour and practise of this holy Apostle rather to looke to our selues searching out our owne sins then neglecting our selues to prattle vainely of the sinnes of other men That are in Christ. But now to come to the matter The spirit of God in holy Scripture expresses our vnion with Christ by fiue sundry similitudes first by a marriage wherin Christ is the husband and we the spouse Secondly by a body whereof Christ is the head and wee the members Thirdly by a building or house wherein Christ is the foundation or ground stone and wee the vpper building vpon him Fourthly by the
men in the vvorld ye shall see some in stead of following Christ flying from him Qui enim male facit odit lucem for hee vvho doth euill hateth the light Others vvhere they should follow him runne before him not waiting vpon his light direction in matters of his vvorship followes their owne spirit doing that vvhich is good in their owne eyes they run vvith zeale but not in the right vvay And vve haue so much the more to take heede vnto the vvay because euery mans course declareth vvhat kinde of man he is vvhether carnall or spirituall and vvhat vvill be his end he that soweth to the flesh of the flesh will reape corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reape life euerlasting I am perswaded there is no man among vs vvho vvill not say hee vvould be at the best end vvhich is eternall life but here is the vvonderfull folly of men the proposed end of their pilgrimage vvhereat they vvould be is heauen but the vvay vvherein they vvalk is the vvay that leadeth close into hell Who vvill not esteeme him a foole vvho in word saith his iourney is toward the South and yet for no mans vvarning vvill refraine his feete from vvalking toward the North but more foolish is hee vvho professing himselfe a pilgrime trauailing towards heauenly Ierusalem keepes notwithstanding a contrarie course hauing his backe vpon heauen and his face towards hell vvalking not after the Spirit but after the Flesh. O pittifull blindnesse and folly how many witnesses of God haue forewarned thee in thy life all crying to thee vvith a loud voice this vvay wherein thou walkest O sinfull man is the way of death hee vvho liues after the Flesh shall dye assuredly yet wilt thou not returne nor change the course of thy life to walke after the liuing God that thy mayest be saued And hauing once found the right way which may lead vs vnto God let vs strengthen our selues to walke in it by those three most notable helpes of a godly life deliuered to vs by Dauid in three verses of 119 Psal. vers 57. O Lord I haue determined to keepe thy word 58. I haue made my supplication in thy presence with my whole hart 59. I haue considered my wayes and turned my feete vnto thy testimonies Determination is the first it is a good thing by setled resolution to conclude with thy selfe that thou wilt liue godly Supplication is the second except by continuall prayer our determination bee confiâ—med and strengthned by grâ—ce from God our conclusions vvhich vve take to day shall vanish to morrow Consideration is the third and it is profitable to reduce vs againe into the way of God so often as of weaknes we wander from it contrary to our first determination These are the three helpes to keepe our hart in the way of God so necessary that if without them we doe any worke it is not possible but wee shall bee snared And therefore as in a ship which is ready to sayle so soone as the sayles are hoysed vp presently some skilfull Marriner starteth to the rudder so euery morning wherein vve rise from our rest and make our selues ready to go forward in our pilgrimage let vs first of all take heed vnto the hart for it is the rudder of the whole bodie let vs knit it vnto God by this threefold cord whereof I haue spoken so shall our wayes be ordered aright and vve shall make a happie progresse euery day in that way which leades to eternall life By determination we begin to keepe a good course By supplication vve continue in it By consideration we see vvhether we be right or wrong if vve be out of the way consideration warnes vs to returne againe into it Happie is that man in whose life one of these three is alwayes an actour And fourthly by this metaphor of walking that in our Christian conuersation there should bee a continuall progresse in godlinesse For as in walking saith Basil the steps other thing but the life of Christ like that Reuel 11. 11. Againe the law of the spirit of life in Christ is no other thing but that forcible working liuely power vvhich is in Christ for it is customable to the holy Apostle to vse the vvord law to expresse any thing wherein there is a commanding or working power so hee hath ascribed a law to sinne a law to his members a law to death and now very properly hee oppones vnto them a law of the spirit of life in Christ vvhich is more liuely and powerfull to saue to free and to quicken then any law that hath contrary power can be able to destroy captiue or slay them who are in Christ. Thus the words being expounded the first lesson will arise out of the Apostles manner of speach who ascribing to sinne and death a law vvhich may condemne and destroy ascribes to Christ a more powerfull law to iustifie and preserue Most sure then is our estate vvho are in Iesus Christ for there is a power in our Lord vvhich shall bring euery contrary power of man and Angell in subiecton to him that tyrant sinne hath indeede oppressed and ouer-ruled many a one but our Lord Iesus the valiant conquerour hath a mightie power able to disanull the lavv of sinne and Sathan is that strong one vvho by nature possesses the hart of man as his owne house but Iesus is that stronger one vvho vvill dispossesse him and cast him out of the hearts of all such as are his The God of peace shall shortly tread Sathan vnder our feet and therefore suppose vve bee vveake in our selues yet vve vvill reioyce in the strength of the Lord Iesus Secondly vve learne here that without Christ vve liued in a vile seruitude and bondage of all seruants those are in vvorst case who are sould and of those vvho are sould they are vvorst vvho must doe seruice in prison and of them vvho are in prison most lamentable is their estate vvho are chayned and bound in prison yet such seruants were vve by nature before Christ made vs free vve were not onely the seruants of sinne and sould vnder sinne as witnesseth the Apostle but more also vve vvere as sayth Esay captiued and bound with chaines in prison the Iaylour vvhereof is infidelitie for wee were all shut vp vnder vnbeliefe a Iaylour so straite and tyrannous as permitted vs not so long as wee were in his keeping so much as â—o lift vp our head or looke vp to heauen for deliuerance from him from whom onely comes our helpe Our oppressers in this bondage are Sathan and Sinne and sinnes of so many sorts as doe miserably distract the soule Pride one while vsurping dominion ouer vs Auarice another while vendicating a seat to her selfe with power to commaund vs Concupiscence most commonly challenging vs to doe her seruice as our soueraigne Sic certant in me de me
heale mee O Lord and I shall be healed Tu audes Nouatiane mundum te diâ—cre qui etsi operibus mundus esses hoe solo verbo immundus fieres Ambrose spake it to the Nouatians Heretiques of his time and it may bee fuly turned ouer to the Iesuits of our time Darest thou O Iesuit call thy selfe cleane and holy albeit thou wert cleane in regard of thy works this one word were enough to make thee vncleane With him also agrees Augustine Sunt quidam inflâ—ti vtres spritu elationis pleni non magnitudine ingentes sed superbiae morbo tumentes vt audeant dicere inuenâ—ri homines 〈◊〉 peccato There are some saith hee like vnto vessels blowne vp with winde filled with a hautie spirit not solidly great but swelled with the sicknesse of pride who dare be bolde to say that men are found in earth without sinne Of such as these hee demaunds in that same place Interrogo te O homo sancte iuste sine macula oratio ista dimitte nobis debita nostra fidelium est an catechumenorum certe regeneratorum est immo filiorum nam si non est filiorum qua fronte dicitur Pater noster qui es in coelis vbi ergo estis O iusti sancti in quibus peccata non sunt I demand of thee O man thou who art iust and holy this prayer Forgiue vs our sinnes whether is it a prayer to bee sayd by Catechists onely or to be said also of such as are beleeuers and conuerted Christians surelie it is the prayer of men regenerated yea it is the prayer of the Sonnes of God for they call God their Father in heauen where then are ye O ye iust and holy ones in whom are no sinnes If the regenerate and sonnes of God haue need to craue remission of sinnes what are yee who say ye haue no sinne If wee say wee haue no sinne we lie and the truth is not in vs and our blessed Sauiour to let vs see how farre wee are from doing that which wee should doe saith When yee haue done all that yee can doe yet say yee are vnprofitable Seruants Where because they haue a silly subterfuge that albeit wee were neuer so righteous yet for humilities sake wee should say wee are vnprofitable I answere them as Augustine answered the same obiection in his time propter humilitatem ergo mentiris then for humilities sake thou lyest but it is certaine Christ neuer taught man to lye for humilitie this is but a forged falshoode of their owne And to ioyne the third witnesse with the former two Bernard who liued in a very corrupt time yet retained this truth Quis melior Propheta de quo dixit Deus inueni virum secundum cor meum tamen ipse necesse habuit dicere Deo Ne intres in iudicium cum seruo tuo who is better then the Prophet Dauid of whom the Lord said I haue found a man after mine owne heart yet had he need to say Lord enter not into iudgement with thy Seruant And againe Sufficit mihi ad omnem iustitiam solum habere propitium cui soli peccaui non peccare Dei iustitia est hominis iustitia indulgentia Dei It sufficeth me for all righteousnes to haue him onely mercifull to me whom I haue onely offended to bee without sinne is the righteousnesse of God mans righteousnesse is Gods indulgence pardoning his finne we conclude therefore with him Vâ— generationi huic miserae cui sufficere videtur sua insufficientia immo inopia tanta quis enim ad perfectionem illam quam Scripturae tradunt vel aspirare videtur woe to this miserable generation to whom their owne insufficiencie seemes sufficient for who is it that hath so much as aspired to that perfection which the holy Scripture commaunds vs But to maintaine their error they enforce these places of holy Scripture wherein mention is made of innocencie iustice and perfection in the Godly whereupon they simply inferre that the Law is fulfilled Their paralogismes shall easily be discouered if we keepe Augustines rule when the perfection of any man is mentioned wee must consider wherein for a man may bee righteous in comparison of others so Noah was a righteous man in comparison of that generation wherein hee liued yet was hee not without sinne A man may bee also so called in comparison of himselfe the Lord iudging a man according to that where vnto the greater part of his disposition is inclined for the Lord doth repute and account his Children not after the remanents of the old man but according to the new workmanship of his grace in them whereof it commeth to passe that albeit in a great part they bee sinfull yet the Lord giueth vnto them the names of Saints and righteous men Againe in handling of the Apostles words Philippians 3. let vs as many as are perfect bee thus minded hee moues the question seeing the Apostle hath said immediately before that he was not perfect how doth he now rancke himselfe among those who are perfect how agrees these two that hee is perfect and not perfect Hee answeres the Apostle was perfect secundum intentionem non secundum peruentionem that is perfect in regard of his intention and purpose not in regard of peruention and obtayning of his purpose And hereunto agrees that of Bernard Magnum illud electionis vas perfectum abnuit profectum fatetur that great chosen vessell of election graunts profection that is a going forward but denyes perfection for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not onely he who hath come to the end but hee also who is walking toward it we are so perfect in this life that wee are yet but walking to perfection therefore saith Ambrose Apostolus aliquando quasi perfectis loquitur aliquando quasi perfecturis hoc est aliquando laudat aliquando commonet the Apostle speaketh vnto Christians sometime as vnto men that are perfect othertimes as vnto men who are to perfect that which is required of them that is sometimes he prayses them for the good they haue done and otherwhiles he admonishes them of the good they haue to doe Wee conclude therefore with Augustine perfectio hominis est inuenisse se non esse perfectum this is the perfection of man to finde that hee is not perfect And as for that place of Saint Luke where it is said that Zacharie and Elizabeth walked without reproofe in all the Commandements of God because the Iesuits of Rhemes in their obseruations would wrest it to confirme their errour we will shortly make it manifest That it makes not for them Augustine hath two reasons whereby hee proues out of that same Scripture that Zacharie was not without sinne first because he was a Priest and was bound to offer aswell for his owne sins as the sins of the people Secondly in that the Euangelist saith hee walked
speakes of a naturall generation Let Paul speake before Agrippa of the heauenly vision and Festus shall count him a foole Let Lot speake to his Sonnes in Law of the iudgement to come vpon Sodome and they shall esteeme him as a mocker thus Naturalists can neyther vnderstand the words of mercy nor iudgement to be allured with the one or terrified with the other for he minds onely earthly things but as for the spiritual man he hath receiued that new mind Whereby he knowes him that is the true one hee is indued with new senses whereby he perceiues things which are excellent habet enim oculos interiores quibus videt iustitiae lumen he hath those naturall eyes whereby he seeth the light of righteousnesse And if from the vnderstanding we proceed to the affections whereupon can the naturall man set his affections but vpon those things which his vnderstanding commends for good for euery man hath his heart enclined to that which accoâ—ding to his knowledge hee thinks best for himselfe The Gadarens wil prefer their Swine before Christ and naturalists make more of their smallest earthly commodities than of those things which are aboue at the right hand of God 〈◊〉 the Christian accounts the testimonies of the Lord sweeter â—nto him then all the treasures of worldlings hee findes â—ore ioy in the lightsome countenance of God then in all abundance of Wheat and Wine the best things of this earth he accounts but doung the pleasures of the world are loathsome vnto him her glory is despised in his eyes habet enim olfactum interius de quo dixit Apostolus Christi bonus odor â—â—mus Deo in omni loco estque verbum illi odor vitae ad vitamâ— for he hath that internall sense of smelling whereof the Apostle speakes wee are vnto God the sweet sauour of Christ in euery place this makes the word of God vnto him either reason which should rule is ouer-ruled by the will or at least the crooked is led by the blinde that is a blinded vnderstanding directs the crooked will and peruerse affections a wrong way and what meruaile then if both fall into the ditch for where the eye which is the light of the body is darknesse how great must be the darknesse of the whole man and seeing the vnderstanding facultie of the soule giues no counsels nor conclusions but such as are deadly what can the will and affections doe but run headlong into the wayes of death This is that encrease of knowledge which we haue gotten by our Apostasie from God this is the fruit wee haue plucked from off the forbidden tree we haue a wisedome which brings out death the most excellent knowledge whereunto the quickest ingines could euer attaine by the light of nature profited them not vnto saluation Lanctantius compared all the learning of Philosophers to a liuelesse body wanting a head in seeing they were blind in hearing they heard not vnderstanding they vnderstood not while they professed themselues to be wise they became fooles As the sences are in the head so all spirituall vnderstanding of the way of life is in Christ Iesus by naturall philosophie they attayned to the knowledge of the creatures but learned not to know the Creator by natural reason they learned to discerne the sophistrie of men but not to resist the sophistrie of Sathan By practise also of Morall philosophie they attayned to a shew of those vertues which they called cardinall to a shew I say but as for true Prudence Iustice Temperance and Fortitude they attayned not vnto them without faith it is impossible to please God neyther can there be without it any thing which deserueth the name of vertue quid enim illis cum virtutibus qui Dei virtutem Christum ignorant for what haue they to doe with vertue who are ignorant of Christ the vertue and power of God All the light that is in nature is like to the sight of blinded Sampson for as he without a guide could not finde one pillar of the house no more can naturall vnderstanding finde out so much as one of the articles of our faith nascimur vniuersi viae ciuitatis prorsus ignari wee are all borne altogether ignorant of the way that leadeth to the citie of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle cals vs without a minde to know any thing pertayning to our owne saluation Whatsoeuer wisedome man hath without grace may leade him forward to euill but cannot teach him to eschew euill Achitophell was counted wise in his time and his wisedome and counsell as the oracle of God but hee had no wisedome to foresee nor preuent his miserable end he hanged himselfe in his impatiencie yet is the wit of naturalists in our time no better than his they are wise in their owne eyes and glories within themselues that by their subtile wits they haue gone through dangerous courses wherein others haue fallen yet they know not their end neither are sure that the politique deuise wherein they haue placed their confidence shall not at length be a snare to themselues Therefore the spirit of God vouchsafeth not vpon the men of this world the 〈◊〉 of wise men but calles them wise with arestriction they are wise saith Ieremie to doe euill Wiser saith our Sauiour in their owne generation than the children of God Basil properly compares them vnto Howlets which see somthing in the night but nothing in the day such are worldlings they haue some vnderstanding of the works of darknesse but no iudgement how to approue themselues to the light of God wise to compasse things present but carelesse for those which are to come Where if it be demaunded why then doth the Apostle attribute wisedome to them who vvalke after the flesh it is answered Prudentia dicitur cum res stulta sit quia sic ipsis videtur it is called wisedome because so it seemes to them who haue it albeit in very deed it bee foolishnesse The iudgements of the carnall and Christian man are so different that eyther of them esteemes another foolish but the one iudges with a warrant the other not so the spirituall Spirit they haue not As the waues of the Sea are stirred with euery winde so are their mindes perturbed through the tumultuous desire of their variable affections And as for peace of Conscience which ariseth of the sense of Gods mercy towards vs in Christ how can they haue it whose life is a continuance in inimitie with God for righteousnesse and peace doe kisse one another where there is no righteousnesse how can there be peace pax est haereditas ChristianoruÌ„ peace is the heritage of Christians The wicked haue their owne carnall securitie they blesse themselues in their heart when the word of the Lord doth curse them but the false conclusions of peace and safetie which they haue laid in their owne
hearts shall not preserue them from that sodaine destruction which as trauaile vpon a woman with childe shall come vpon them their securitie is like the securitie of Ionas who slept most soundly when he had most cause to watch and pray for the Lord was pursuing him as a fugitiue seruant the officers of God gathered about him to lay hands on him the windes commoned against him the raging waues of the Sea refusing all other satisfaction offered by the Mariners rolled with violence about the Barke wherein hee was determining not to rest till they apprehend him all his companions were afraid and compelled to cry euery man vnto his God onely Ionas was sleeping what think yee was this true peace no indeed but false securitie It fareth euen so with the wicked the Lord stands offended with them the heauens aboue closed vpon them hell beneath opened to receiue them Sathan the deuouring Lyon hungring for them waiting when they shall be giuen him for a pray but they are eating drinking making merry in the depth of a dead Conscience but certainely their securitie will end in a fearefull wakening they shall bee taken out of their bed of ease wherein they lye and shall be cast into that bottomles deepe of the wrath of God wherein their worme shall neuer dye and their fire shall neuer be quenched But to leaue them and returne to the Christian it may be demaunded how is he pertaker of peace whose crosses are so continuall as his who more exercised with inward terrours then hee Is not his battell without intermission where then is his peace To this I answere wee haue indeed peace with God with our selues and our Christian brethren but our peace is not perfect Pax nostra ex disiderio creatoris inchoatur ex manifesta autem visione perficitur a begun peace wee haue arising of that feruent desire wee haue towards our God but it is the manifest vision and cleare sight of God that must perfect it we attaine to the beginnings of this peace cum mentem Deo menti carnem subiugamus vvhen vve subdue the minde to God and the flesh to the minde but it cannot be perfect quamdiu mens ignoratione caecatur carnis suae impugnatione concutitur so long as the minde is darkned with ignorance and disquieted with the assaults of the flesh And to the same purpose saith Augustine Est nobis pax aliqua quia condelectamur Legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem sed non plena quia videmus aliam legem in membris nostris repugnantem legi mentis nostrae wee haue some peace vvithin our selues when vve finde that our inward man delights in the Law of God but it is no perfect peace because vve see an other Law in our members rebelling against the law of our mind neâ—ther can our peace with our brethren here be perfect cogitationes cordis nostri inuicem non videmus quaedam de nobis quae non sunt in nobis vel in melius inuicem vol in deterius opinamur thus haue vve a peace but not perfect not without interruption Yet our comfort stands that how euer our peace be interrupted by outward troubles and inward terrours of conscience yet it cannot bee taken from vs albeit no trouble for the present be sweet yet it vvorketh in vs good effects by it vvee are made more humble more feruent in prayer more abundant in teares the hard heart by this holy hammer of God being made soft so that sanctified trouble by the Lords wonderfull working becomes a meane to establish our peace Corda electorum aliquando concussa melius solidantur the harts of the elect are best setled after they haue beene shaken with crosses All the children of God findes this by experience that their inward troubles are preparatiues to inward consolations as hee who goes to build a house the higher he intends to raise it the deeper he layes the foundations thereof so the Lord humbles them lowest vvith his terrours to vvhom he purposes to communicate the highest measure of his consolations As his sufferings abounds in vs so shall our consolation abound through him vve vvill therefore that peace which vve haue in Christ and vvhich he hath left vs none shall be able to take from vs. Verse 7. Because the wisedome of the flesh is inimitie against God for it is not subiect to the Law of God neither indeede can it bee THe Apostle proceeds and giues the reason why hee called the wisedome of the flesh death because it is inimitie with God Hee proues it is inimitie with God because neither is it nor can it be subiect vnto the law of God Of this manner of reasoning vsed by the Apostle wee first learne that our life consists in our peace with God and that our death is procured by our inimitie with him Compare sinnefull Adam with innocent Adam and this shâ—ll be made manifest so long as hee stood at peace with God hee liued a ioyfull life familiar vvith his maker but from the time hee began the inimitie by transgression of the commandement not onely was the presence of God ioyfull to him before terrible now but hee became such a â—eâ—rour to himselfe that it vvas a death to him to liue in that state of life Oh that alway we could remember this that vvee cannot offend the Lord vnlesse wee slay our selues all our rebelling against the Lord is but a kicking of our heele against the pricke the losse is our owne vve depriue our selues of life but cannot spoyle the Lord of his glorie It is written of the Sidonians that when Herode intended warre against them they made friendship with Blastus Herods chamberlaine and besought him to make peace for them the reason is because their lands were nouâ—ished by the king therefore they were not able to beare his inimitie Alas that wee cannot bee as wise in a greater matter both our lands and our selues are nourished by the king of heauen vve are not able to endure his anger if hee please he can make the heauen aboue vs as brasse and the earth beneath vs as iron if he take his breath out of our nosthrils we fall like clay to the ground and are turned into dust hovv then is miserable man so bewitched that hee dares liue in that state of life which is inimitie with God Doe yee prouoke the Lord vnto anger are yee stronger than hee No no assuredly if thou walke on in thy sinnes the Lord shall crush thee with a scepter of iron and breake thee in peeces like a potters vessell so vnequall shalt thou finde the match if thou contend with thy maker Oh consider this yee that forget God least hee teare you in peeces and there bee none to deliuer Shall the Sidonians intreate for peace when Herodâ— proclaymes warre and shall man continue in inimitie when God from heauen proclaymes his peace farre be it
from vs that we should so doe Away with this wisedome of the flesh which is inimitie with God Perceiue againe how the spirit of God in such sort describes the nature of man vnrenued by Grace that no good is left in it out of vvhich the Semipelagians of our time may draw their vvorkes of preparation or merits of congruitie for vvhere as in the Soule of man there are but two faculties the Vnderstanding and the Will the spirit of God so describes his Vnderstanding that not onely hee saith the naturall man vnderstands not the things that are of God but as if that were not suffâ—cient to expresse mans miserable estate hee addeth neither indeed can he vnderstand them because they are spiritually discerned And againe his will hee so describeth it that it is not subiect vnto the Law of God and he addeth this neyther indeed can it bee what more can be said to abase the naturall pride of man he hath such a mind as neither vnderstands nor can vnderstand the things of God he hath such a will as neyther is subiect nor can be subiect to the Law of God This is the iudgement of gods spirit concerning the corruption of our nature vvee set it against the vaine opinion of all those vvho to magnifie the arme of flesh and the merits of man dreames of a good in our nature without grace which cannot be found in it Neyther let any man inferring more of the Apostles speach then himselfe concludes think it impossible that our rebellious vvill should be made obedient the Apostle takes not away this hope from man onely he denyes that nature is able to doe it Nature without grace may increase the inimitie but cannot make reconciliation but that vvhich is impossible to man is possible to God The nature of beasts birds and creeping things hath beene tamed by the nature of man saith Saint Iames but the tongue of man though the smallest member in the body yet so vnâ—uly an euill that no man is able to tame it Wee cannot change one haire of our head to make that vvhite vvhich is blacke far lesse can we change our hearts to make them holy vvhich are vncleane What then shall wee be out of all hope that vvhich vve are not able to doe shall vvee thinke it shall neuer bee done Let vs not so conclude though no man can tame the nature of man the Lord can Paul who vvas a rauening Wolfe in the Euening the Lord made a peaceable Lambe in the Morning Naturalists haue written that the bloud of the Goat causeth the hard Adamant to breake but the holy Scripture hath more surely taught that the bloud of Iesus hath vertue to turne a stony heart into a soft where it pleases the Lord of stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham There is nothing colder than ice yet sayth Augustine it is melted and made warme by the help of fire A thornie ground sayth Cyrill being vvell manured becomes fertile and the Lord sayth the Psalmist turneth a barren wildernes into a fruitfull land hee rayses the dead he makes the blind to see and the lame to vvalke he causes the Eagle to renue his youth shall we then close his hands and thinke it impossible for him to make the sinner conceiued and borne in sinne to cast the olde slough of nature and become a new creature And this haue I marked to keepe vs from that presumptuous iudging as to conclude any mans reprobation because of his present rebellion thou knowest not vvhat is in the counsell of God though in regard of his conuersation for the present hee be a stranger from the life of God And againe for our selues that vve may magnifie the mercie of the Lord our God vvho hath done that vnto vs by grace vvhich nature could neuer haue done that is hath made our rebellious harts subiect vnto his holy law and vve are sure hee vvill also performe that good worke which hee hath begunne in vs. The word which the Apostle vseth here to expresse mans naturall rebellion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noteth such a rebellion of mans corrupt nature as is not subiect according to order we are not to thinke that any rebell vvere he neuer so stubborne can exempt himselfe from subiection doe vvhat he can he bides vnder the Lords dominion but a naturall man saith the Apostle giueth not orderly subiection vnto God Ieroboam shooke off the yoke of his lawfull Lord and Rehoboam vvas not able to controll him But let man repine as he vvill can hee cast off the yoke of the Lord No no if man refuse to declare his subiection by an humble submission of his spirit to the Lords obedience the Lord for all that shall not lose his superioritie but shall declare his power vpon man by controlling him he shal bruise coutrary to Gods most holy will Woe be to him that striueth with his maker If the will of God be not done by vs assuredly it shall bee done vpon vs de his qui faciunt quae non vult facit ipse quae vult the Lord saith Augustine in a meruailous manner doth his will on them who doe that which hee will not and therefore woe shall bee vnto all which are opposit to God his most holy will Quid tam paenale quam semper velle quod nunquam erit semper nolle quod nunquam non erit what greater punishment can there be then this euermore to desire that vvhich neuer shall be alway to dislike that which foreuer shal be a wicked man shall neuer obtaine that vvhich hee desires but shall suffer for euer that vvhich he dislikes For remedy of this rebellion our Sauiour hath taught vs daily to pray thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen so we pray and the Lord giue vs grace that vve may practise it that in euery action of our life denying our selues vve make looke to our heauenly Father enquire for his will and follow it saying vvith our blessed Sauiour not my will O Lord but thine be done Verse 8. So then they that are after the flesh cannot please God HEre the Apostle concludes the miserable estate of them who walke after the flesh affirming that doe what they vvill they cannot please God To be in the flesh sometime is taken in a good part for it is all one with this to liue in the body but here it is taken in an euill part for to bee in the flesh and to be in Christ are opposit one to another so that to be in the flesh is to be in the state of nature vnregenerate a stranger from the grace of Christ and the phrase is very significant for it imports an vniuersall thraldome of mans nature vnto the lusts of the flesh That speach of the Apostle to Simon Magus I see that thou art altogether in the gall of bitternesse signifies much more
many times when it doth not appeare and these desertions which endure for a while are but meanes to effectuate a neerer communion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. hee turneth away from thee saith Chrysostome for a short while that he may haue thee for euer with himselfe Now it remaines that wee consider of these benefits wee haue by the dwelling of Christs Spirit in vs and of the duties which we owe againe vnto him The benefites are many and great Si enim tanta sit vis animae in massa terrae sustinenda mouendâ— impellenda quanta erit vis Dei in anima quae natura agilis est mouenda for if the soule be of such force to giue life and motion to this body which is but a masse of earth what shall the spirit of God doe vnto our soule which naturally is agill the wonderfull benefits that the body receiues by the dwelling of the soule in it may leade vs some way to consider of those great benefits which are brought vnto the soule by the dwelling of the spirit of God in vs. But of many we will shortly touch these two onely the first is that where this holy spirit comes to dwel he repaires the lodging man by nature being like vnto a ruinous pallace is restored by the grace of Christ. This reparation of man is sometimes called a new creation sometimes regeneration and it extends both to soule and body as to the soule the Lord strikes vp nevv lights in the miâ—do restores life to the heart communicates holinesse to the affections so that where before the soule was a habitation for vncleane spirits lying vnder the curse of Babel the Iim and Zijm dwelling in it the Ostriches lodging the Satires dauncing the Dragons crying within her pallaces that is defiled with all sorts of vile and vncleane affections the Lord Iesus hath sanctified it to be a holy habitation vnto himselfe And as to the reparation of our bodies it consists partly in making all the members thereof weapons of righteousnesse in this life and partly in deliuerance of them from mortalitie and corruptibilitie which shall be done in the day of resurrection which for the same cause is called by our Sauiour the day of regeneration for then shall hee change our mortall bodies and make them like vnto his owne glorious body thus by his dwelling in vs haue we the reparation both of our soules and bodies The other benefit we enioy by his dwelling in vs is the benefit of Prouision where hee comes to dwell hee is not burdenable after the manner of earthly Kings but his reward is vvith him for he hath not chosen vs to be his habitation for any neede hee hath of vs sed vt haberet in quem collocaret sua beneficia but that he might haue some on whom to bestow his benefits non indiget nostro ministerio vt domini seruorum sed sequimur ipsum vt homines lumen sâ—quuntur nihil ipsi praestantes sed beneficium a lumine accâ—pientes he hath no need of our seruice as other Lords haue neede of their seruants but we follow him as men follow the light giuing nothing to it but receiuing a benefit from it It falles commonly out that where men of meane estate receiue to lodge those that are more honourable they disease themselues to ease their guests but if thou receiue this rich spirit of the Lord to lodge non angustaberis sed dilataberis thou shalt not be straited but shalt be enlarged sayth Augustine hee knew the comfort hee reaped by this presence of God and therefore could speake the better thereofvnto others quando hic non eras angustias patiebar nunc implesti cellam meam non meam exclusisti sed angustiam meam when thou Lord dwelst not in me much anguish of minde oppressed mee now thou hast filled the cellers of my hart thou hast not excluded mee but excluded that anguish which troubled mee In a word the benefits wee receiue by him doe not onely concerne this life but are stretched out also to eternall life Dauid comprises all in a short summe the Lord is a light and defence hee will giue grace and glory and no good thing shall be withholden from them that loâ—e him The greater benefits we haue by the dwelling of Christ in vs the more are we obliged in our dutie to him O how should that house be kept in order wherein the King of glory is resident what daily circumspection ought to bee vsed that nothing be done to offend him not without cause are these watch-words giuen vs grieue not the spirit quench not the spirit There are none in a familie but they discerne the voyce of the master thereof and followes it they goe out and in at his commandement if he say vnto one Goe he goeth if to another Come he commeth if the Lord be our master let vs heare euery morning his voyce and inquire what his will is we should doe with a promise to reâ—igne the gouernment of our hearts vnto him for it is certaine he will not dwell where he rules not as he will admit no vncleane thing within his holy habitation so will he not dwell with the vncircumciâ—ed in hart the Lord will not take a wicked man by the hand noâ— haue fellowship vvith the throne of iniquitie If holy men when they see brothels abhorre them and goes by them how much more shall wee thinke that the most holy Lord will despise and passe by their soules which are polluted rather like to the filthie stewes of Sodome than the holy sanctuary of Sion for the Lord to dwell in And if hereby the weake conscience be cast downe reasoning within the selfe alas how can my beloued dwel with me who am so polluted and defiled remember that the more thou art displeased vvith thy selfe the more thy Lord is pleased with thee for thy daily pollutions hee hath appointed daily washings in that fountaine which he hath opened to the house of Dauid for sin and for vncleannesse Sweepe out thy sinnes euery day by the besome of holy anger and reuenge and vvater the house of thy hart with the teares of contrition quoniam sine aliquo vulnere esse non possumus medelis spiritualibus vulnera nostra curemuâ— seeing wee cannot be without some wounds of Conscience let vs daily goe to the next remedie that vvith spirituall medicines wee may cure them chastising our selues euery morning and examining our selues vpon our bed in the euening And againe seeing wee are made the Temples of the holy Ghost there should be within vs continuall sacrifices offered vnto God of prayer and praysing together with a daily slaughter of our beastly affections Among the Israelites Princes vvere knowen by the multitude of their sacrifices vvhich they offered vnto God but now they who sacrifice most of their vncleaâ—e affâ—ctions are most approued
as excellent Israelites of the Lord who can best discerne an Israelite From the time the Lord departed from Ierusalems Temple the daily sacrifice and oblation ceased and where there is not in man neither prayer nor praysing of God nor mortification of his beastly lusts but the spirituall Chaldeans hath come in and taken away this daily sacrifice it is an euident argument that the Lord dwelleth not there Last of all let vs marke here that the Apostle sayth this dwelling of the spirit is in vs it is not without vs the kingdome of God is within vs if hee dwell hee will dwell in our hearts by faith for he himselfe requires the heart As for them who lodge him in their mouths by professing him in their eyes by aduancing them to heauen in their hands by doing some workes of mercy and not in their hearts these are carnall men not spirituall pretend what they will hipocrits who drawes neere the Lord with their lips but their harts are farre from him accursed deceiuers vvho hauing a male in their flock vowes and sacrifices a corrupt thing vnto the Lord vvhich I doe not speake as if I did condemne the outward seruice done in the body to the Lord prouided it flowe from the hart Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit for they are Gods And this also is to be marked for the amendment of two sorts of men among vs who are in two extremities vve haue some who are become scorners of the grace of God in others neither can they be humbled themselues in the publike assemblies of the Saints nor be content to see others expresse their inward motion by outward humiliation they sit downe in the throne of God and condemnes others for hipocrisie not remembring that sinne is to be reserued to the iudgement of God vvho onely knowes the hart and that those same things vvhich they mislike in their brethren the Lord hath allowed in others The Apostles precept commaunds vs to lift vp to the Lord pure hands in prayer Dauids practise teaches vs to aduance our eyes to the Lord shall not thy brother lift vp his hands and his eyes to the Lord shall he not sigh to God nor mourne in his prayers like a Doue as Ezekiah did but thou incontinent wilt taxe him of hipocrisie Wee read that Iacob sought a blessing from the Lord with tearrs and obtained it Esau sought a blessing from his father with teares and crying and obtained it not were the teares of Iacob the worse because Esau also shed teares Iudge not least thou bee iudged the iudgement of Hypocrisie as I haue sayd belongs to the Lord. On the other extremitie are they who thinke they haue done enough when they haue discharged some outward exercises of religion though they take no paine to sanctifie the heart to works of diuine seruice On the Saboth they come to the house of God they bow their heads like a bulrush with the rest they pray and praise the Lord in the externall formes with the rest of the congregation but considers not whether or no they come into the temple by the motion of the Spirit as Simeon did if they pray and praise the Lord with prepared hearts as Dauid did neyther tâ—ye they when they goe out whether or no they haue met with the Lord found mercy and returneth home to their houses iustified as the Publican did It is true wee are to glorifie God with ouâ— bodyes because they are his but most of all with our spirits because God is a spirit he loueth truth in the inward affections and delights to bee worshipped in spirit and truth Wee are called by the Apostle the Temples of God Salomons Temple the further it was the finer in the outward Court stood an Alter of brasse whereupon beastes were sacrificed in the inward Court was an Altar of gold whereupon incense was sacrificed but the Sanctuarie or most holy place did farre exceed them both in it was nothing but fine gold in it the Lord gaue out his oracles from betweene the Cherubins in it stood the Arke of the couenant wherein was the Tables of the Law And so indeed the Christian ought to bee holy without his lookes his words his wayes should all declare that God dwelleth in his heart hee should haue ingrauen as it were on his forehead Holinesse to the Lord as Aaron had but much more should hee bee holy within betweene the secrets of his Soule should the Lord haue his residence and in his heart the testimonie of God which is the word of God should dwell plentifully But as for the wicked they are eyther compared to open sepulchers their mouth being like that gate of the Temple called Shallecheth out of which was carryed all the filth of the temple the abhomination of their heart being made manifest by their mouth or then in their best estate they are compared to painted Sepulchers beautifull without but within full of rottennesse hauing a shew of godlinesse wanting the power thereof But the man is blessed in whose heart there is no guile hee is a Nathamell indeede a true Israeliâ—e who is one within whose praise is not of men but of God But if any man haue not the Spirit of Christ the same is not his The Comfort being ended now followes the Caution Euery man saith Salomon boasts of his owne goodnesse but the Lord saith the Apostle knoweth who are his As the first great question in Religion is concerning the Sauiour of the world Art thou hee who is to come or shall wee looke for another so the second is concerning them who are to bee saued if the iudgement be referred to man now euery man among vs accounts himselfe a Christian If iudgement be sought from the Lord here hee giues one answere for all If any man haue not the Spirit of Christ the same is not his Albeit among men there be an allowable difference of estates yet concerning Christianitie both King and Subiect rich and poore learned and vnlearned comes all to be tryed by one rule It is a common thing among men to esteeme somewhat more of themselues for the priuiledge of their estate wherein they excell others but the Apostle destroyes the pride of all their glory with one word If any man so hee speakes without exception bee what thou wilt beside were thou neuer so noble neuer so rich neuer so learned if thou hast not the Spirit of Christ thou art none of his all the priuiledges of men without Iesus are nothing that which is high among men is abhomination to God Man in his best estate is altogether vanitie the glory of flesh is but as the floure of the field the Spirit of the Lord iudgeth of all the glory of man as of the pompe of Agrippa he came downe saith S. Luke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is all
earth other sinnes againe in his wise dispensation hee punisheth not in this life to assure all men that there is a iudgement to come And least yet the wicked man should flatter himselfe by his escaping of present iudgement let him remember that a sinner walking in his sinnes is sore punished when he is spared for I pray thee is not this a iudgement threatned against the apostate Israelites I will not visite your Daughters when they are Harlots nor your Spouses when they are Whores Certe tunc magis irascitur Deus cum non irascitur Certainely then is God most angry when hee seemes not to be angry at all Misericordiam hanc nolo for my owne part saith Bernard I will not haue such a mercy Insignis poena est vindicta impietatis conniuere Deum ac indulgere peccantibus non solum impunitatem sed longam concedere prosperitatem It is a notable punishment and reuenge of vngodlines when God wincks and ouersees sinners not onely graunting vnto them impunitie but also long prosperitie It was good for me saith Dauid that the Lord afflicted mee The wicked because they haue no changes feare not God And the prosperitie of fooles destroy them Hee is happely conquered and ouercome saith Augustine from whom the libertie of sinning is taken away Nihil enim infoelicius foelicitate peccantium qua poenalis nutritur impunitas mala volunt as velut interior hostis roberatur There is nothing more vnhappy then the happy estate of a sinner whereby penall impunitie is nourished and their wicked will as an inward and domestike enimie is strengthened thus are the wicked fearfully plagued when they are most spared when they are giuen vp to their owne hearts desire and their iniquitie hath dominion ouer them when the Lord hedges not in their way with thornes but giues them loose reynes to go where they will to their owne destruction this is terribilis lenitas parcens crudelitas from which vnhappy condition the Lord deliuer vs. The other impediment that stayes the Atheists of our time from profiting by the threatnings of God is because they see the same condition befalleth to the Godly which is threatned to the wicked Daniell goes with the rest into captiuitie Iosias no lesse then the greatest sinners among the people is slaine with the sword Ezekias also stricken with pestilence and many Godly ones among our selues fall vnder the same externall plagues which are threatned against the wicked therefore doe they dispise Religion and harden their hearts against the iudgements of God But herein also are they pittifully blinded for the Godly and wicked differs farre one from another euen when they are both doing the same externall actions Cain and Abel sacrificing together the Publicane and the Pharisee praying together yet are as farre vnlike one another as light and darknesse so when they suffer the same externall crosses yet there is a wonderfull difference betweene them non idcirco vobis aequales sumus quia in isto adhuc mundo constituti carnis incommoda vobiscum pariter incurrimus A very good answere for men of this world who thinck they are in no worse case then the Children of God thinke not that wee are in as euill case as ye are because that so long as we are in this world we are subiect to the same bodily inconueniences because hee was made to rule ouer them and in respect of his soule hee is a companion to the Angels for this cause the Naturalists called man a little world and Augustine counted man a greater miracle than any miracle that euer was wrought among men where other creatures were made by the simple commandement of God before the creation of man the Lord is said to vse consultation to declare saith Basile that the Lord esteemes more of man than of all the rest of his creatures neither is it said that the Lord put his hand to the making of any creature saue onely to the making of man and this also saith Tertullian to declare his excellencie Yet is not man so meruailous in regard of his two substances as in regard of their coniunction Among all the works of God the like of this is not to be found againe a Masse of clay quickned by the spirit of life and these two vnâ—ted together to make vp one man Commonly sayes Bernard the honorable agrees not with the ignoble the strong ouer goes the weake the liuing and the dead dwels not together Non sic in opere tuo domine non sic in commixtione tua it is not so in thy work O Lord it is not so in thy commixtion This is a doctrine commonly talked of that man consists of a soule and a body but is not so duely considered as it should It is a fearefull punishment which by nature lyes vpon the soule seeing shee turned her selfe willingly away from God she is so farre deserted of God that she regards not her selfe though it be a very common prouerbe in the mouthes of men I haue a soule to keepe yet hast thou such a soule as can teach thee to keepe any other thing better than it selfe a fearefull plague that because as I haue said the soule continued not in the loue of God it is now so far deserted that it regards not the owne selfe This haue I touched onely to waken vs that we may more deepely consider of that doctrine which men thinke they haue learned and know sufficiently already namely that man is a compound creature consisting of a soule and a body But to returne seeing at the first these two the soule and body were conioyned together by the hand of 〈◊〉 creator and agreed together in one happy harmony among themselues whence comes this disagreement that the soule being pertaker of life the body should be possest by death I answere wee are to consider these foure estates of mans soule and body vnited The first is their estate by creation wherin both of them concurred in a happy agreement to serue their maker The second is the estate of Apostasie wherein both of them in one cursed band conioyned fell away from God the faculties of the soule rebelling against God and abusing all the members of the body as weapons of vnrighteousnesse to offend him The third is the estate of grace wherein the soule being reconsiled with God by the mediation of Christ and quickned againe by his holy spirit the body is left for a while vnder the bands of death The fourth is the estate of glory wherein both of them being ioyned together againe shall be restored to a more happy life than that which they enioyed by creation As for the first estate we haue lost it as for the second the reprobate stands in it and therefore miserable is their condition as for the third it is the estate of the Saints of God vpon earth
had promised was also able to doe it so should we sanctifie the Lord God in our harts Of these figures shadowing the resurrection many more are to bee found in holy scripture As for examples in euery age of the world the Lord hath raised some from the dead to be witnesses of the resurrection of the rest Before the flood hee carryed vp Henoch aliue into heaâ—en and hee saw no death vnder the law Elias was transported in a fierie chariot and in the last age of the world not onely hath our Lord blessed for euer risen from thâ— lead and ascended into heauen as the first fruits of them which rise from the dead but also by his power hee raised Lazarus out of the graue euen after that stinking rottennesse had entred into his flesh and vpon the Crosse when hee seemed to bee most weake hee shewed himselfe most strong hee caused by his power many that were dead to come out of their graues and to enter into the citie Yea his seruant Peter by the power of the Lord Iesus raised the damsell Dorcas from death and in the name of the Lord Iesus made him that was lame of his feete to arise and walke when we see such power in the seruant of Christ working in his name shall we not reserue the praise of a greater power to himselfe And lastly as for the practises of God in nature we are not to neglect them for the Apostle himselfe brings arguments from them to confirme the resurrection Hee first propones the question of the Atheist how are the dead raised vp and with what body come they forth and then subioynes the answere O foole that which thou sowest is not quickned except it dye it is sowen in the earth bare corne and God raises it with another body at his pleasure seeing thou beholdest this daily working of God in nature why wilt not thou beleeue that the Lord is able to doe the like vnto thy selfe Qui illa reparat quae tibi sunt necessaria quanto magis te reparabit propter quem illa reparare dignatus est Seeing the Lord for thy sake repaires those things which are necessary to maintaine thy life will he not much more restore thy selfe and raise thee vp from death vnto eternall life And to insist in these same confirmations which we may haue from the working of God in nature both in our selues and in other creatures if eyther with Iustin Martyr wee consider of how small a beginning or then with Cyrill how of nothing God hath made vp man we shall see how iustly the Apostle calleth them fooles who deny the resurrection of our bodyes The Lord saith Iustin Martyr of a little drop of mans seede which as Iob saith is powred out like water buildeth vp daily this excellent workmanship of mans body who would beleeue that of so small a beginning and without forme so well a proportionate body in all the members thereof could be brought forth nisi aspectus fidem faceret were it not that daily sight and experience confirmeth it why then shall it be thought a thing impossible to the Lord to reedifie the same body after that by death it hath beene dissolued into dust and ashes And againe if with Cyrill wee will search out our beginning and consider what vvee vvere this day hundred yeare wee shall finde that vvee vvere not seeing the Lord of nothing hath brought out so pleasant and beautifull a creature as thou art this day shalt thou thinke it impossible to him an hundred yeares after this or longer or shorter as it pleaseth him to restore thee againe and raise thee from the dead qui potuit id quod non erat producere vt aliquid esset id quod â—am est cum ceciderit restituere non poterit he that could bring out that which was not and make it to be something shall wee thinke that he cannot raise vp againe that which now is after that it hath fallen Which of these two I pray thee is the greatest and most difficult worke in thy iudgement for vnto the Lord euery thing that he will is a like easie whether to make one who neuer was or to restore againe one who hath beene Doubtlesse to make a man in our iudgement is a greater thing then to raise him In the worke of creation the Lord made that to bee which was not in the worke of resurrection the Lord shall make that to bee which was before the one thou honourable manner in this life seeing they are to bee raysed vp as vessels of honour and glory in the life to come Againe when the Apostle saith that the Lord shall raise vp our mortall bodyes wee are to know that so hee calleth them in respect of that which they are now not in respect of that which they shall bee then For in the resurrection the Apostle teacheth vs in another place that our bodies shall bee raised immortall honourable glorious spirituall and impassionable First I say the body shal be raised immortal not subiect any more to death nor diseases nor standing in neede of these ordinary helps of meat drinke and sleepe by which our naturall life is preserued Secondly our body shall bee raised honourable now it is layd downe in dishonour for there is no flesh were it neuer so beautifull or beloued of man but after death it becommeth loathsome to the beholder so that euen Abraham shall desire that the dead body of his beloued Sarah may be buryed out of his sight but in the resurrection they shall be raised more honourable then euer they were they shall bee redeemed from all their infirmities euery blemish in the body that now makes it vnpleasant shall bee made beautifull in the resurrection and euery defectiue member thereof shall be restored to integritie Membri detruncatio vel obtusio nonne mors membri est si vniuersalis mors resurrectione rescinditur quanto magis portionalis for the perishing of the member is no other thing but the death of the member if the benefit of resurrection cut off the vniuersall death of the body shall it not also take away the portionall death of a member in the body if the whole man shall bee changed to glory shall hee not much more bee restored to health Out of all doubt the bodyes of Gods Children shall be raised perfect comely and euery way honourable hoc est enim credere resurrectionem integram credere Thirdly the body shall be raised a glorious body When hee shall appeare hee shall change our vile bodyes and make them like to his glorious body They who conuert many to righteousnesse shall shine like the stars in the firmament yea the iust saith our Sauiour shall shine like the Sun in the firmament A shadow of this glory we haue in Christs transfiguration on mount Tabor his face shined as the
these Aâ—heists haue receiued for doing seruice to God which they neuer did the more feareful plagues stripes from God shall be doubled vpon them Againe wee marke here that there is a double debt lying vpon vs the debt of sinne and the debt of obedience wee are freede of the one by a humble seeking and crauing of the remission thereof through Iesus Christ for the debt of sinne the Lord Iesus hath taught vs daily to seek Gods discharge Lord forgiue vs our debts and indeed as euery day wee contract some debt so it is great wisedome by daily repentance to sue the discharge of it for they who neglect to do it their debt multiples vpon them it stands vncancelled in the register of God written as it were with a pen of iron and the poynt of a Diamond and they shall at length be cast into that prison for non-payment wherin will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for euer But as for the debt of obedience whereof the Apostle here speakes wee cannot with a good conscience desire the Lord to discharge it nor exempt vs from it but wee must in all humilitie craue Grace of God that wee being enriched by him who of our selues are poore may be able in some measure to pay and performe it Where if the weake Children of God obiect and say how then can wee but drowne in this debt seeing no day of our life wee can pay to the Lord that debt of obedience which we owe vnto him To this there is giuen a three-fold comfort first the Lord dealeth with vs as a louing liberall man dealeth with his debter who knowing that he hath nothing of his owne wherewith to pay him and not willing to put him to shame stops priuately into his hand that which publikely againe he may giue vnto him so the Lord conuaies secret grace into the hearts of his children whereby they are in some measure able to serue him but as Dauid protested so may wee all whatsoeuer wee giue vnto the Lord wee haue it of his owne hand Secondly the Lord our God is so gracious that hee is content to accept part of payment at our hand till wee bee able to doe better if our faith bee but like the graine of Mustard seede yet if it bee true the Lord will not despise it though our repentance be not perfect and absolute though our prayers bee weake though wee cannot doe the good that wee would yet the good that wee doe is accepted at his hands through Iesus Christ. And thirdly wee haue this comfort that the more wee pay of this debt of obedience the more wee are able to pay In other debts it is not so for if the more be payed out by him that is indebted the lesse remaines behinde vnto himselfe but here the more wee pay the richer wee are the doing of one good worke of seruice vnto the Lord makes vs both more willing and able to doe an other the talents of spirituall Graces being of that nature that the more they are vsed the more they are encreased and these should worke in vs a delight to pay that debt which wee owe vnto the Lord. Last of all wee marke vpon this word that the good wee doe is debt and not merit When one of your seruants saith Iesus hath done that which hee is commaunded will one of you giue him thanks because hee hath done that which was commaunded him I beleeue not hee applyeth the Parable to his Disciples and in them to vs all so likewise when you haue done all those things which are commaunded you say that yee are vnprofitable Seruants Our Sauiour commaunds vs plainely to doe well but as plainely forbids all presumptuous conceit of our merit when vvee haue done well To speake against good works is impietie and to presume of the merits of our best works it Antichristian pride No man led by the Spirit of Iesus did euer vse this word of merit it is the proud speech of the spirit of Antichrist search the Scripture and ye shal see that none of all those who spake by diuine inspiration did euer vse it yea the Godly Fathers who haue liued in darke and corrupt times haue alway abhorred it If a man could liue saith Macarius from the dayes of Adam to the end of the world and fight neuer so strongly against Sathan yet were hee not able to deserue so great a glory as is prepared for vs how much lesse then are we able to promerit it that is his owne word who so short a space are militant here vpon earth Praetendat alter meritum sustinere se dicat aestus dieâ— ieiunare his in Sabbatho mihi adhaerere Deo bonum est let another man saith Bernard pretend merit let him boast that hee suffers the heat of the day and that he fasts â—wise in the Sabboth it is good for me to draw neere the Lord and put my hope in him Meritum enâ—m meum miseratio Domini non sum plane meriti inops quamdiu ille miserationum non fuerit for my merit is Gods mercy I shall not altogether want merits as long as he wants not compassion And againe sufficit ad meritum scire quod non sufficiant merita this is sufficient merit to know that merits are not sufficient this he makes more cleare in that Sermon of his de quadruplici debito wherein hee declares how man is so many wayes debter to the Lord that hee cannot doe that which hee ought why then shall any man say that hee hath done enough cum nec millissimâ—â— imo nec minimae parti debitorum suorum valeat respondere seeing he is not able to answer the thousand part no not the least part of that debt which hee oweth vnto God To liue Wee haue heard that wee are debters now haue wee to see wherein wee are debt-bound Wee owe to the Lord not onely these things which are ours but as sayeth Paul to Philemon we owe him our selues also Euery mans life must declare who it is whom hee acknowledgeth for a Superiour and vnto whom hee submitteth himselfe a debter Shew me saith Saint Iames thy Faith by thy workes shew mee saith Malachie thy Father by thy Sonly reuerence toward him let me know thy master by thy obedience and the attendance thou giuest him As Caesars money is discerned by his image and superscription so the Christian is knowne by his conuersation hee vvalkes after the Spirit and by his deedes more then by his words hee disclaimeth the gouernement of the flesh But surely as Chrisostome complained of bastard professors in his time so may wee in our time of many to whom wee are ambassadours in Christs name we haue more then cause to feare we haue bestowed labour vpon you in vaine for I pray you vvhat part of your liues giues sentence for you and proues that ye are
punishment serues to let vs see if we looke to them how horrible this death is which here is threatned against them vvho liue after the flesh As for the place it is called the winepresse of the wrath of God the lake that burnes with fire and brimstone Tophet prepared of old deepe and large the breath of the Lord like a riuer of brimstone doth kindle it It is that great deepe which the damned spirits themselues abhorre they know it to be the place appointed for their torment all that they craue was onely that the Lord vvould not send them thether to be tormented before the time It it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a place wherein is no light to see therefore Iude called it blacknesse of darknesse and our Sauiour called it vtter darknesse there is in it a burning fire but without light a gnawing worme without rest Saint Peter calles it a prison and our Sauiour calles it Gehenna for the horrible scrieches of them who are brunt in it and the vile and stinking filthinesse vvherewith it is replenished And as for the vniuersalitie of their paine It is certaine that as euery thing in them sinned so euery thing in them shall be punished No power of their soule no member of their body shall bee free from that wrath Surely it should astonish man to consider this for if now any one of Gods ordinary plagues inflicted vpon any one member of the body be so insufferable hovv intollerable vvill that paine be he vvho novv is payned vvith the tooth ach takes some comfort when he sees another tormented vvith the collicke and hee also if hee see another burnt vp with Anthonies fire beares his owne crosse the more patiently because he sees a greater laid vpon another No man in this life suffereth all things one cryeth with the Shunamites sonne for excessiue dolour alas my head my head another with Antiochus my belly the third with Asa my feete my feete but what are all these comparable to that paine vvherein head and belly and feete yea the whole man shall be racked vpon the torments of Gods wrath and that not vvith one plague onely but with manifold for as all the waters of the earth runne into the great Ocean so all the plagues of God shall concurre and meete together in hell for punishment of the damned But yet the eternitie of that paine doth still increase the horrour thereof their shall be no end of their punishment their fire shall neuer bee quenched their worme shall neuer dye they shall seeke death as a benefite and shall not finde it The fire of Sodome vvas ended in a day the deluge of water that drowned the originall world lasted but a yeere the famine that plagued Aegipt lasted but seauen yeeres the captiuitie of Israell was ended in seauenty yeeres but this wrath of God vpon the damned shall endure for euer and euer Thus wee see what a horrible death the Apostle threatneth here vvhile hee sayth if yee liue after the flesh yee shall dye The Lord giue vs wise and vnderstanding hearts that we may ponder it according to the waight therof and it may be to vs a liuely voyce of God to prouoke vs to flee from that fearefull wrath vvhich is to come But if yee mortifie c. Here followes the other member of the argument taken from the great vantage wee receiue by mortifying the lusts of the body if wee doe so wee shall liue Here also we haue first to consider that albeit the Apostle affirmed before verse 9. that these godly Romanes were not in the flesh yet now he exhorts them to a further mortification of the lusts of the flesh which were superfluous if there vvere nothing in them that needed to be mortified then we see clearely vvhich we may also feele in our selues that so long as we liue in the bodie there is euer some remanent life of sinne vvhich vvee haue neede to mortifie and put out In this battell we must fight without intermission till we haue gotten the victory for vvho can say that he hath in such sort cut away his superfluities that there remaynes nothing in him which hath need of reforming beleeue me when they are cut off they spring when they are chased away they returne when they are once quenched they kindle againe except thou dissemble thou shalt alway finde within thy selfe something that hath need to be subdued There is nothing harder sayth Cyrill than the Rocke yet in the seames and clifts thereof the noysome weede fasteneth her roote and springes out and albeit there be no man in the vvorld stronger than a Christian yet is hee oftentimes buffeted by Sathan and sinne which hath fastened their roote in him sends out her inordinate motions and affections against vvhich hee hath neede to fight continually But here it is inquired how doth the Apostle require this of them that they should mortifie their lusts lyeth it in the power of man to doe it To this I answere first that as man gaue life to sinne so is hee bound to put out the life thereof vpon no lesse paine than condemnation and therefore iustly is it required of him Secondly these same good workes vvhich the Lord vvorkes in vs hee is content to asscribe them to vs and calles them ours Of our selues vve must say with the Apostle we are not sufficient of our selues to thinke so much as a good thought our sufficiencie is of God and it is hee who worketh in vs both the vvill and the deed so hee workes in vs that he makes vs through his grace vvilling vvorkers vvith him through him that strengthens vs vve are able to doe all things and therefore the praise of all the good wee can doe should be ascribed vnto God When Dauid had offered to God aboundance of siluer and gold and other mettels vvhich hee had prepared for the house of God hee concludes in the humilitie of his heart What am I O Lord and what is my people that wee should be able to offer willingly after this sort for all things come of thee and of thine owne hand haue wee giuen thee But much more vvhen vve doe any worke of sanctification for the building of our selues vp into a spirituall Temple to the Lord our God we may say O Lord all the good wee can doe is of thee and of thine owne hand wee haue giuen backe vnto thee for except thou Lord hadst giuen vnto vs grace vve should neuer haue giuen to thee obedience Let therefore the presumptuous conceit of Merit yet againe be farre from vs seeing the good which vve doe is debt and is done also by the spirit of the Lord in vs let vs reserue the glory thereof vnto him Quare dona mea non merita tua quia si ego quarerem merita tua non venires ad dona mea seeke my gifts saith Augustine
are the Heyres of God heires annexed with Iesus Christ and the heritage whereunto they are borne is eternall life therefore of necessitie they must liue Here first wee haue to consider what action and operation of the spirit this is which distinguisheth the Sonnes of God from other men The operations of the Spirit are diuers hee hath an vniuersall operation by which he works in all his creatures conseruing leading and directing them to his owne determined ends for in him euery thing that is hath the being liuing and mouing as euery creature is made by God so is it ruled and led by the Spirit according to his appointment Hee hath againe a more speciall operation in man and them backe againe seauen mightie nations of the Canaanits are gathered before them to resist them and hold them out of Canaan but the shepheard and leader of Israell steps ouer all these impediments as if they had not beene in the way and places his people in the mountaine of his inheritance and afterward when he concluded to bring his people from Babell homeward to Canaan he prepared a way for them in the Wildernesse he commaunded the mountaines to bee made low and the vallies to be exalted he commanded the crooked to be straight and the rough places to become plaine and it was done This is for our comfort the Lord who hath taken vs by the hand to lead vs into his holy habitation shall remoue all impediments that are before vs though Sathan like a Lyon spoyled of his pray snatch after vs though he double his tentations vpon vs and with manifold afflictions compasse vs though terrible death and the horrible graue stand before vs threatning to swallow vs by the way yet shall we see the goodnesse of the Lord in the land of the liuing and ouer all our enimies shall be more than conquerors through him that loued vs and hath taken vs into his owne hand to lead vs to that inheritance which he hath prepared for vs. For it is manifest that both the beginning progresse and perfection of our saluation is ascribed to the spirit of God in holy scriptures when we were dead in sinne he quickned vs when he hath quickned vs he gouernes and leads vs and worketh continually in vs till he perfect vs. Thus is he the author and the finisher of our faith and all the glory of our saluation is his as wee cannot begin to doe well without him so we cannot continue in well doing without him if he lead vs not we wander from him and wearie our selues in the vvay of iniquitie It should serue to humble vs that wee are pointed out here to be but babes and children such as cannot goe by our selues vnlesse we be led by another As that Eunuch answered Phillip when he asked vnderstandest thou what thou readest how can I saith he vnderstand without a guide so may we answere the Lord when he commaunds vs to vvalk in his way how can wee O Lord that are but children and new borne babes walke in thy way without a guide It is a point of good religion to turne the Lords precepts into prayers Send out Lord thy light and thy truth let them lead mee let them bring mee into thine holy mountaine and to thy tabernacles Let thy good spirit lead mee vnto the land of righteousnesse When the Lord threatned that hee would no more goe before the Children of Israel to lead them as hee had done Moses tooke it so deepely to heart that he protested he would not goe one foote further except the Lord went with him and certainely if wee knew the manifold inconueniences whereunto wee shall fall if the Lord forsake vs wee would neuer enter our feete into that way wherein wee saw not the Lord going before vs in mercy to lead vs. Our life on earth should be ordered as was the life of Israell in the wildernesse the Lord went before them by day in a cloud by night in a pillar of fire when the cloud remoued they remoued what way so euer it went they followed where the cloud stood they camped thus the Lord led them by two and fortie stations fortie yeeres in the Wildernesse though Canaan was not farre from them yet they entred not into it till the Lord directed them The Lord hath in like manner praysed be his name for it brought vs out of the land of our bondage he might if he had pleased long ere now haue entred vs into our Canaan but it pleaseth him for a time to exercise vs and to haue vs walking vp and downe this Wildernesse Let vs possesse our harts with patience and reuerence the Lords dispensation in the meane time take heed that the Lord goe before vs that his word shine vnto vs as a lanthorne to our feete and that his holy spirit be our guide to lead vs in his righteousnesse then shall we be sure of a happy end of our iourney when wee liue not as wee list but vnder the gouerment of the holy spirit when our rising and lying downe our Verse 15. For yee haue not receiued the Spirit of bondage to feare againe but the Spirit of Adoption whereby wee cry Abba Father THe Apostle to strengthen his former argument sets downe a short discription in this and the subsequent verse of a threefold operation which the spirit maketh in them whom he leadeth for first he is vnto them a spirit of bondage working feare Secondly he is a Spirit of Adoption working loue through the sense of Gods mercy for hee not onely makes them whom hee leades the Sonnes of God but intimates vnto their spirits Gods loue towards them which otherwise was vnknowne vnto them and thirdly hee is a Spirit of intercession making vs to goe with boldnesse to the throne of grace and call vpon God as vpon our Father Of the which the first part of his argument is made cleare that they who are led by the spirit of God are the Sonnes of God yea by the testimonie of the Spirit they themselues know that it is so and therefore in most homely and humble manner acknowledge him for their Father This the Apostle propones in such a manner that hee applyes it particularly to the Godly Romaines vnto whom hee writeth Yee haue not saith he receiued againe the Spirit of bondage vnto feare as yee did in the time of your first conuersion yee haue proceeded further and haue experience of his other operations then yee felt him casting you downe with the sight of your sinnes but now ye feele him comforting you and raising you vp with the sense of Gods loue and mercy toward you in Iesus Christ. The spirit of God is called a Spirit of bondage vnto feare not as if hee made them in whom hee worketh slaues or bond-men but because in his first operation hee rebukes them of sinne in whom hee worketh and lets them see that bondage
shall perish but hee doth remaine they shall waxe old as doth a garment but hee is the same and his yeeres shall not faile Hee is the father of eternitie in whom there cannot fall so much as a shadow of change farre lesse is hee subiect to death but as for vs by suffering death we must enter into our kingdome wee cannot see him so long as wee liue nor be satisfied with his image till wee awake therefore should the day of death be a ioyfull day vnto vs because it is the day of our entrance to our inheritance Vnnaturall worldlings reioyce at the death of their Parents because by it they come to the heritage they carry merriest harts within them when they put on their blackest garments but as for vs wee should reioyce at the day of our owne death it is not the day of our sorrow as naturall men accounts it but the day of our delight in the which we enter into the fruition of our heauenly inheritance Hee cals vs not onely the Heyres of God but annexed Heyres with Iesus Christ that so he may shew Nos grandes futuros haeredes that wee are to be great heyres The Lord Iesus hath a twofold right to his fathers inheritance one by his eternall generation and so hee is the heyre of God in a manner proper and peculiar to himselfe onely the other hee hath by conquest for by the merit of his death he hath conquered eternall life for all his brethren and this right he communicates vnto vs whereby we also become heyres annexed with him in the first hee admits no companion in the second hee cals vs to be pertakers with him And this serues vnto vs not onely for a speciall comfort in the houre of tentation and day of death as wee marked before but should also prouoke vs to answere the heauenly vocation by a holy disposition seeing wee are the sonnes of God shall wee not resemble his image seeing wee are called to be heyres of an heauenly inheritance shall we any more minde earthly things Farre be it from vs that wee should be prophane like Esau who sould his birth-right for a mease of pottage or like Demas wee should forsake the fellowship of our brethren and imbrace this present world but let vs rather with the holy Apostle account all things to be but doung in respect of the excellent knowledge and fellowship of our Lord Iesus Seeing Christ must be our comfort in death when all other comforts will foâ—sake vs let vs make him our ioy and pleasure in life that so both in life and death he may be an aduantage vnto vs for these things for which miserable worldlings forsake their God shall in the end forsake them Let a couetous man see in the houre of his death those treasures of Gold and siluer which hee fought in his life more than God and they shall be no more pleasure to him than was those thirty peeces of siluer to Iudas which hee tooke in exchange of Iesus Christ. Present a spoonefull of Wine to the drunkard whose bellie was his God in his life time and hee shall not be able to receiue it Let the harlot stand at that time in the sight of the whoremonger shee may encrease his sorrow and terrifie his conscience but shall not render him comfort Yet these are the strange Gods after which most part of the world goes a whooring but let vs not cast in our portion among them we are pertakers of the heauenly vocation called to bee the sonnes and daughters of the liuing God blessed shall we be if we walke worthie of our calling For we see here whervnto we are called by adoption we are made the sons of God and brethren of Christ of rebels we are made the seruants of God yea more than that the friends of God hence forth call I not you seruants but friends yea more than friends he hath made vs brethren hee that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all one wherefore he is not ashamed to call them brethren O wonderfull comfort the Father cryes from heauen this is my beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased heare him the Sonne againe speaking to vs on earth saith I goe vp to your Father and my Father hee that is my Father is also your Father therefore goe yee vnto him and call vpon him as your Father O qualis ille dominus qui omnes seruos suos facit amicos suos quod multo maius est fratres suos O what a sweet Lord is hee who makes all his seruants his friends and which is much more his brethren Surely the yoake of Christ is easie and his burthen is light we are called to be annexed pertakers with him of all the good that is in him The Lord therefore more and more confirme vs that despysing all the subtill offers of Sathan whereby he would steale vs away from the loue of Christ and delighting in that high dignitie whereunto we are called our harts may cleaue to the Lord for euer without seperation THE RIGHT WAY TO Eternall Glory VVherein the counsaile of God concerning Mans saluation is so manifested that the Christian effectually called may heare himselfe after the Crosse ordayned to the Crowne and read his owne Name written in the booke of Life Being the second benefit wee haue by our Lord Iesus Christ. Come and see Written by Mr. William Cowper Minister of Gods word at Perth LONDON Printed by Thomas Snodham for William Firebrand and are to be sould at his shoppe in Popes-head Pallace 1609. â—â—… the welfare of your Highnesse royall children the terrour of your enimies and common benefite of all your Maiesties well affected subiects A good so much the more carefully to bee keept because Sathan out of all doubt spitefully doth enuie it as being the very fountaine out of which doth flow that great and common good both of your royall posteritie and loyall people the aspect of your Highnesse fauourable countenances looking in loue one of you to another and both of your maiesties in coniunct compassion to your people sweeter than the influence of the vndiuided Pleiades bringing to Church and common wealth vnder your happy raigne a flourishing spring of innumerable blessings We doe therefore blesse the Lord who hath confirmed your royall hearts and set it in the foremost of your godly cares how to keep and increase this holy and happy band of loue which keepeth you both For the continuance whereof as after my weake measure I stand vp a dayly supplicant vnto the Lord among others your Highnesse loyall subiects so doe I humbly craue that your Highnesse impute it not to me for presumption that I haue conioyned your maiesties in the participation of this small propine of the first fruits of my labors whom I doe wish for euer to be conioyned in the communion of al good present and to come but that rather
Lord Iesus and shall be clearely manifested that the wicked their enimies shall know them and be confounded to behold them And of this ariseth a warning to vs all that none of vs despise another but that euen those who for the present are euill and contrary minded wee waite vpon them patiently proouing if at any time God will giue them repentance that they may come out of the snare of the Diuell The sons of God are not yet reuealed he that presently is an enimie in regard of his rebellious conuersation what knowest thou whether in the counsell of God hee be one of Gods chosen children or not and if hee be so thou maist bee sure that ere hee dye the Lord shall conuert him if not of a persecuter to make him a Preacher as he did Paul yet at least a Professour of that same truth which thou hast embraced Secondly not onely are the persons of Gods sonnes vnknowne but their glory also now is obscured and their life is hid with Christ they are accounted the off-scowrings of the earth and intreated in the world as if they were the onely men to whom shame and ignominie did appertaine yea their glory is not knowne vnto themselues euen those who haue receiued the new Name and the testimonie of the Spirit recording to them that they are the Sonnes of God when they looke to their contemptible bodies and abundant corruption in their soules they seeme vnto themselues to be nothing lesse than the sonnes of God I marke it that we may learne to beware of Sathans pollicie whereby hee carryeth vs to iudge of our selues by our present estate which cannot but breed in vs horrible feare and doubtings To this craft let vs oppone that comfort of the Apostle dearely beloued now are wee the Sonnes of God yet doth it not appeare what we shall be it is but the beginnings and and not the perfection of grace and glory which we haue in this life by the beginnings let vs know that we are the sons of God and where wee finde no perfection let vs not be discouraged remembring this is the time wherein the glory of the sonnes of God is not yet reuealed We are here againe further to consider that where the Lord giues vnto the rest of his workes the name of a creature he vouchsafes vpon vs the names of sonnes shewing vs that albeit in regard of creation we are his creatures and come vnder that same name with the rest of his workes yet now in regard of his grace communicated vnto vs wee are The sinne of man hath brought this curse vpon the creature and the daily increase of mans sinne makes a daily encrease of the curse The first man that sinned was Adam and for his sake God cursed the earth the second notorious sinner we read of was Cain and for his sake God cursed the earth the second time and albeit the Lord doth not alway tell in expresse words how euery abhominable sinner that hath succeeded Cain hath in like manner drawne on a new curse vpon the creature yet that one serueth for all to teach vs that as sinne growes so growes the curse and the multiplication of the curse brings with it a daily diminution of that originall vertue and beautie which the creature had in the beginning The other part of this vanitie is the abuse of the creature which is threefold first concerning God secondly concerning the godly and thirdly concerning the wicked Concerning God this is a fearefull abuse that the creature which God made for his glory is abused to his dishonour as when the Iewes tooke the gold and siluer which God gaue them and made vp of it Baal to themselues or when the Persians worshipped the Sunne and the Egiptians beasts insteade of God for his vanitie and bondage the creatures in their owne kinde they sigh and groane complayning they should be abused to another end then that whereunto the Lord did make them and wheeat by their naturall inclination they would be also themselues Secondly the creature is abused as concerning the godly when they are compelled to doe euill to those to whom they would doe good for euery creature in the owne kinde is naturally bent to be a comfortable instrument and a seruant to the seruant of God but otherwise where the fire is forced to burne them or the water to choke them or that they are in any such sort abused by the wicked to trouble the seruants of God it is against their will a vanitie and seruitude whereof they faine would be deliuered And thirdly the creatures are abused when they are compelled to serue the wicked rebels and enimies of God sore against their will The Sunne is weary of shining to the wicked who hauing their eyes open to see the workes of God had neuer their hearts nor mouths open to glorifie him the Earth in like manner is wearied of the heauie burthen of sinne which daily increases vpon her she cryes vnto God and desires to be releeued of this bondage yea if the Lord did not restraine her she would open her mouth and swallow the wicked as she did Corah Dathan and Abiram and in very deed when once the creature shall be set at liberty and no superiour power shall hold them vnder this seruitude then shall the creatures declare that they serued the wicked sore against their will for no creature shall render any more seruice vnto them the Sunne shall shine no more vpon them the Earth shall beare them no longer and the water shall not giue so much as one drop out of her treasures to refresh them To cleare this out of that one temporall iudgement inflicted vpon the stife-necked Egiptians we may take some notice how fearefull that last and vniuersall wrath shall be that shall be powred out vpon all the wicked being assembled into one Out of the third heauen came his Angell to fight against them and slew their first borne In the second heauen the Sunne withdrew his countenance from them as from a people of darknesse not worthie of his light In the third heauen the elements by course fought against them the Fire flashed out terrible flames into their faces the soft Water gushed out of the bowels of the clouds and was turned into hard stones to strike them who in the hardnesse of their harts rebelled against God the Aire became pestilentious to them and corrupted their bodies with Biles and Botches the waters beneath were turned into bloud the earth was poysoned with venemous flyes which made it â—ot abhominable Frogs made their land stinck for the lothsomnesse of their sinnes their sensitiue creatures which serued them were horribly plagued their flockes by land consumed with murrâ—ine their Fish in the Sea rots and dâ—es their vegitatiue creatures are also destroyed their Vines and Fig-trees are blasted the flaxe that should haue clothed them the Barly that should hâ—ue
to the aduersary as to thinke I haue no faith because it is weake or I haue no loue because it is little or no sanctification because it is but in a beginning No but I will so hunger and thirst for more grace that I will still giue thankes for the grace I haue receiued for here vve haue no fulnesse our greatest measure is as the first fruits in respect of that which is to come On the other side because euery comfort vvhich is giuen to the godly is turned by prophane contemners and mockers into an occasion and nourishment of sinne they are to know this comfort belongs not vnto them It is a common thing to them to excuse the want of all Grace O it is but a small grace vvhich in this life is communicated to the best and they thinke their sinnes are well inough couered by this that all men are sinners as if there were no difference betweene sinne tyrannizing in the wicked and captiued in the the godly or as if beginnings of Grace in the regenerate did not seperate them in regard of conuersation from the vnregenerate who are void of all Grace Let them therefore know that the Spirit of God vvhom the godly receiue is not onely called the first fruits the earnest and the witnesse of God but also the seale and signet of the liuing God As a seale leaues in the waxe that similitude and impression of the forme which is in it selfe so the Spirit of God communicates his owne image to all those whom he seales against the day of redemption hee makes them nevv and holy creatures And this conuinces carnall professors of a lye vvho say they haue receiued the first fruites of the Spirit notwithstanding that their vvorks be wicked and vncleane they may rather if they would tell the truth say as those who being demaunded vvhether they had receiued the holy Ghost or no answered we know not vvhether there be an holy Ghost or no so may they instead of bragging of the first fruits of the Spirit say in truth we knovv not vvhat yee call the first fruits of the Spirit And thirdly out of this description vve may gather that albeit we haue no more but the first fruits of the Spirit yet are they sufficient to assure vs that hereafter vve shall enioy the whole Masse In two respects it is customable to men to giue an earnest penny in buying and selling either when the summe is greater than they are able to pay for the present or when the thing bought is of that nature that it cannot presently be deliuered but betweene the Lord and vs there is no buying nor selling he giues freely vnto vs both the earnest and the principall but first the one and then the other not that the Lord is vnable to pay presently all that he hath promised but because the principall is of that nature that it cannot be receiued till we be prepared for it As the husbandman must sow and tarâ—y with patience till the haruest come wherein he may sheare as the warriour must fight before he obtaine the victory and the wrestler receiues not his crowne till hee haue ouercome neither doth he that runnes in a race obtaine the prise till he haue finished it so must the Christian in all these be exercised before that the Lord possesse him in the promised kingdome of his sonne Christ Iesus And though payment of the principall for a time be delayed yet for our comfort the earnest and first fruits are presently deliuered vnto vs the Lord so dealing with vs as he delt with Israell in the Wildernesse when he caused the twelue spies to bring with them from the riuer of Eschol a branch of the Vine tree so full of the clusters of grapes that it was borne betweene two vpon a tree together with the figges and pomegranats and other fruits of that land for no other end but that Israell tasting of the first fruits of Canaan might be prouoked to a more earnest desire thereof as also to assure them that the Lord who had giuen them the beginnings would also put them in possession of the whole according to his promise euen so the Lord Iesus who hath gone before vs to our heauenly Canaan not to view it onely but to take possession thereof in our name hath sent downe vnto vs some of the first fruites thereof that we may taste them such as peace of Conscience and ioy of the Spirit that by proofe of the small beginnings we may knovv vvhat excellent comfort is laid vp in store for vs. We sigh in our selues Here followes now the two effects of the Spirit which he vvorkes in them vvho haue receiued it The first is a sense of their present misery which causes them to sigh vnto God for deliuerance and hee sayth they sigh within themselues to teach vs that it is not an hipocriticall and counterfait but an inward and godly sorrow vvhich the Spirit workes in the children of God Which I doe not so speake as if I did condemne those sighes which breake forth without for sometime the griefe of hart is so aboundant in the godly that not onely it breakes out in sighing and mourning but in strong crying to God also but to restraine the hipocrisie of others who make a faire shew of that in the flesh which is not in the Spirit True religion striues rather to be approued of God than seene of men one sigh proceeding from the heart is a louder crying in the eares of the Lord of hosts and more forcible to moue him than the noise of all the shooting Priests of Baal when they are gathered together into one We are therefore more deepely to consider this that the Spirit of God first teacheth vs to figh and mourne for our present misery before he comfort vs with a constant hope of deliuerance If now we mourne not wee shall not reioyce hereafter it is onely mourners whom God hath marked in the fore-head to saue from the wrath to come such a continuall mourner was Dauid who protests that in the night he watered his couch with teares and in the day mingled his cuppe therewith Iob in like manner my sighing said he comes before my eating The Saints of God are not ashamed to professe that of themselues which the mockers of this age esteeme a womanly affection there is nothing to be found among them but eating drinking singing and a contracting of one sin after another with carnall reioycing but woe be vnto them that now laugh for assuredly they shall weep the end of their ioy shall be endles mourning and gnashing of teeth they shall shed teares abundantly with Esau but shall finde no place for mercy Let vs therefore goe to the house of mourning with the Godly rather than to the banquetting houses of the wicked reioycing in their sinfull pleasures At one time Simon the Pharise gaue our Sauiour a dinner
and Mary who had beene a sinner brought him the sacrifice of a contrite heart and the Lord esteemed more of her teares than of the Phariâ—ies delicates No banquet pleaseth the Lord Iesus so well as a banquet of teares poured from a truely penitent heart The Lord is said to gather the teares of his children and keepe them in a bottell thereby to tell vs that they are pretious in his sight for hee is not like fooles who gather into their treasures things which are vaine and needlesse But alas how shall hee gather that which wee haue not scattered where are our teares the witnesses of our vnfained humiliation before God The hardnesse of hart hath ouergrowne this age that albeit there be more then cause yet there is no mourning The sonnes of Cain learned without a teacher to worke in brasse and iron and the wit of man can make the hardest mettall soft to receiue an impression but cannot get their owne stonie heart made soft yea the children of God finde in experience how hard a thing it is to get a melting heart The rocke rendred water to Moses at the third stroke but alas many strokes will our hearts take before they send out the sweete teares of repentance this I marke that knowing our naturall hardnesse we may learne without intermission to fight against it For herein is our case so much the more pittifull that hauing more than matter enough of mourning yet wee doe not mourne without vs should not the troublesome estate of the Church of God be a matter of our griefe though our priuate estate were neuer so peaceable Godly Nehemiah being placed in the honourable seruice of King Artashashte the Monarch of the world was not so much comforted with his owne good estate as grieued at the desolation of Ierusalem Decay of Religion and increase of Idolatrie made Eliah wearie of his life the Arke of God captiued and the glory departed from Israell draue all comfort out of the heart of the wife of Phinees these and many moe may teach vs that the affliction of Ioseph should be matter of our sorrow The causes of mourning within vs are partly our sinnes partly our manifold tentations As our sinnes are contracted with pleasure so are they dissolued with godly sorrow It is the best medicine which is most contrary to the nature of the disease our sinne is a sicknesse wherein there is a carnall delight to doe that which is forbidden and it is best cured by repentance wherein there is a spirituall displeasure and sorrowing for the euill which wee haue done this mourning for sinne lasts in the godly so long as they liue in the body yea those same sinnes which God hath forgiuen and put out of their affection are still in their remembrance for their humiliation so that with Godly Ezechia they recount all their dayes and their former sinnes in the bitternes of their heart so long as sinne remained in their affection it vvas the matter of their ioy but now being by grace remoued out of the affection it becomes the matter of their sorrow The other cause of our mourning is our manifold tentations for this world is no other thing but a stormie Sea wherein so many contrary windes of tribulation blowes vpon vs that we can hardly tell which of them we haue most cause to feare On euery side Sathan besets vs with tentations on the right hand and on the left vt quatuor angulis pulsata domus alâ—qua ex parte ruinam faciat that the house being shaken at all the foure corners may fall downe in one part or other no rest nor quietnes for vs in this habitation terrours within fightings without Propter quod vno consilio migrandum est Christianis For the which it is best for vs with one aduise to conclude that wee will remoue and in the meane time send vp our complaint to our Father in heauen as the Gibionites did to Ioshua shewing him how we are beseiged and enuironed for his sake and praying him to come with hast and helpe vs. Wayting for the Adoption Now followeth the other effect of the Spirit for hee not onely causeth vs as we haue heard to sigh and mourne for our present miseries but also comforts vs with the hope and expectation of deliuerance though in this life wee haue trouble yet haue we no trouble without comfort Blessed be God who comforts vs in all our tribulations and beside that which we presently haue it is yet much more which wee looke for The men of this world haue no ioy without sorrow euen in laughter their heart is sorrowfull pretend what they will in their countenance there is a heauinesse in their conscience arising of the weight of sinne but it is far otherwise with the Godly for euen in mourning they doe reioyce and vnder greatest heauinesse they carry a liuely hope of ioyfull deliuerance Againe wee are to marke that the Godly are described in holy Scripture to be such as doe not liue content with their present estate but waites and longs for a better and specially there are two dayes for which the Children of God are said to wait the first the day of death wherin they goe to the Lord the second the day of appearing wherein the Lord shall come vnto them they soiourne in the body more weary of it then Dauid was of his dwelling in the tents of Kedar they waite with patient Iob till the day of their change come and doe desire with the Apostle to bee dissolued that they may be with Christ they pray for it so oft as they vse that petition Let thy kingdome come seeking death so farre as it is a meanes to abolish sinne vtlerly that Christ their King may alone raigne in them but as for the wicked the remembrance of death is terrible vnto them and in their thought they put it farre from them and when it comes it comes vpon them vnlooked for As Iehu furiously came vpon Iehoram and hee made with all his speede to his chariot thinking to flye away but in vaine for the arrow of Iehu ouertooke him so death comes vpon the wicked in a day and place wherein they looked not for it and they being terryfied with it runnes with all the speede they can to their chariots that is to their refuges of vanitie but the dart of death surely ouer-takes them Miserable are they whose comfort standeth rather in an vncertaine delay of death than in any certaintie which they haue of eternall life But let vs be prepared for it as the good Israelites of God with our loynes girded vp and our staues in our hands ready to take our iourney from Egypt to Canaan whensoeuer the Lord our God shall commaund vs. As foules desirous to flye stretch out their wings so should man desirous to be with the Lord
stretch out his affections toward the heauens Abraham sat in the doore of his Tabeâ—nacle when the Angell appeared vnto him Elias came out to the mouth of his Caue when the Lord appeared to him and we must also reioyce to come out of the caue and tabernacle of this wretched body if we would meet with the Lord yea euen while as we dwell in the body if in our affection we come not out and stand as it were in the doore of our tabernacle but like Ionas sleeping in the sides of the ship we lye downe in the hollow of our heart sleeping in carelesse securitie it is not possible that the Lord can be familiar with vs. The other day for which the godly are said to wait is the day of Christs second comming The Apostle giues this as a token of the rich grace of God bestowed on the Corinthians that they waited for the appearance of Christ and to the Philippians hee saith our conuersation is in heauen from whence we looke for our sauiour the Lord Iesus yea hee giues it out as a marke of all those who are to be glorified when he sayth there is laid vp for me a crowne of righteousnesse and not for me onely but for all them who loue Christs second appearing And againe Christ was once offered to take away the sinnes of many and vnto them that looke for him shall he appeare the second time without sinne vnto saluation These and many moe places proues that there is great scarcitie of Faith and spirituall grace in this generation there being so few that vnfainedly longs for the day of his appearance suppose euery man in word mumble vp that petition let thy kingdome come yet are they few who when Iesus testifieth surely I come quicklie can in truth answer with the godly Amen euen so come Lord Iesus and all because we are neither weary of our present miserie nor certaine of that glorious deliuerance to come otherwise vve would long for it and reioyce at the smallest appearance thereof The woman with childe reckons her time as neere as shee can and albeit others haue no minde of it yet is it alway in her remembraunce because that then she hopes for deliuerance Among the Iewes as the day of their Iubilied awes neere so the ioy of them that were in prison encreased being assured that then they were to be releeued and should not wee much more reioyce the neere that the day of our eternall Iubilie draweth vnto vs wherein all teares shall be wiped away from our eyes and sorrow and mourning shall flye away for euer Where for the comfort of the weake Christian wee are to consider whether the Godly be alway in this estate that they dare lift vp their heads with ioy and pray for Christs second appearance or not To this I answere that their disposition herein is according to the estate of their conscience as the eye being hurt is content to be couered with a vaile and desireth not to behold the light wherein otherwise it reioyceth so the conscience of the Godly being any way wounded is afraid to stand before the light of the countenance of God till the time that it be cured againe And this made Dauid to craue that the Lord would spare him a little and giue him space to recouer his strength but after mourning and earnest calling for mercie the conscience being pacified then doe the Godly say with Simeon Now Lord let thy Seruant depart for mine eyes haue seene thy saluation For the Adoption He said before that we haue receiued the spirit of Adoption and now he saith that wee waite for Adoption but wee must vnderstand that there is a begun Adoption whereby wee are made the sonnes of God and that wee haue receiued alreadie there is in like manner a consummate Adoption whereby wee are manifested to be the sonnes of God and entred into the full possession of our fathers inheritance and that we waite for The redemption of our bodies As there is a two-fold adoption so also a two-fold redemption the first is defined by the Apostle to be the remission of our sinnes and that we haue receiued already the second is called in that same Chapter the redemption of the possession and here the redemption of our bodyes and this we looke for to come As the soule was first wounded by sinne and then the body with mortalitie and corruption so the Lord Iesus the restorer who came to repair the wound which sathan inflicted on man doth first of all restore life to the soule by the remission of sins which he hath obtayned by his suffering in the flesh and therefore the Herald of his first comming cryed before him behold the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world This is the first Resurrection blessed are they who are pertakers of it for vpon such the second death shall haue no power but in his second comming we shall also bee pertakers of the second redemption hee shall redeeme our bodyes from the power of the graue wherein now they lye captiued and deliuer them from the shame of mortalitie and corruption Let this comfort vs against the present base and contemptible state of our bodyes now they are but filthy sinckes of corruption and vessels so full of vncleannesse that the Lord hath appointed in the body fiue conduits to purge the naturall filth thereof and after this they are to be laid downe in the bed of corruption the wormes spread vnder them and aboue them as it is said of the King of Ashur shall deuoure and consume their flesh the earth shall eate vp their bones and turne them into dust the braine which was the seat of many proud and vaine imaginations becomes after death oftentimes the seat of the vgly â—oads the reynes that were the seat of concupiscence engendreth serpents and the bowels which could neuer be gotten satisfied with meate and drinke shall be replenished with armies of crawling wormes but against all these we haue this comfort that as presently we haue obtained remission of our sinnes so are we assured of a glorious redemption of our bodies qui enim resurgit in anima resurget in corpore ad vitam for hee that riseth now in his soule shall hereafter rise in his body to eternall life And of this euery man is admonished that if he loue his body he should in time take heed to the estate of his soule see that it be pertaker of the first redemption which is the remission of sinnes and be sure thy body shall be pertaker of the second redemption It is a pittifull thing to see what preposterous care is taken by men for conseruation of their bodily life there is nothing they leaue vndone vt differant mortem quam auferre non possunt that they may at the least prolong and delay death
Worldlings yee are cursed with the curse of the Serpent yee creepe as it were vpon your bellyes and yee lick the dust of the earth all the dayes of your life yee haue not an eye to looke vp vnto heauen nor an heart to seeke those things which are aboue Most fearefull is our estate vve warne you of it but it is the Lord who must deliuer you from it This resolute knowledge is the mother of spirituall courage constancy and patience for why shall hee feare in the euill day yea though the earth should be remoued and the mountaines fall into the middest of the sea who sees the Lord sitting on his throne and the glassie sea of the world before him gouerning all the waltrings changes and euents of things therein to the good of them who loue him Oh that wee had profâ—â—ed so much in the schoole of Christ all our dayes that without doubting or making any exception we could beleeue this which here the Apostle layes for a most sure ground of comfort that so we might change all our thoughts and cares into one namely how to grow in the loue of God that in a good conscience we might say to the Lord with Peter Lord thou knowest I loue thee casting the burthen of all the rest of our feares griefes and tentations vpon the Lord who cares for vs and hath giuen vs this promise for praemunire all comes for the best The Souldier with courage enters into the battell vnder hope to obtaine the victory the Marriner with boldnâ—sse commits himselfe to the stormie seas vnder hope of vantage and euery man hazards in his calling yet are they all vncertaine venturers and knowes not the end but the Christian runnes not as vncertaine but as one sure to obtaine the Crowne for hee knowes that the God of peace shall shortly tâ—ead Sathan vnder his feet What then shall not hee with courage enter into the battell wherein hee is made sure of the victory before he fight knowing that all the warriours of Christ shall be more than conquerours through him if we will onely stand still wee shall see the saluation of the Lord. Gideon with his three hundred fought against the great host of Midian without feare because hee was sure of victorie Dauid made hast and ranne to encounter with Goliah because hee was perswaded that God would deliuer him into his hands The Israelits were not afraide to enter into the Riuer of Iordane because they saw the Arke of God before them deuiding the waters And shall onely the Christian stand astonished in his tentations notwithstanding that the word of God goes before him to resolue him that whatsoeuer falles out shall come for the best to him The Lord increase vs and make vs to abound more and more in the loue of our GOD for perfect loue casts out feare the Lord strengthen our faith that through these mistie cloudes of affliction which now compasse vs we may see that comfortable end which God in his word hath discouered vnto vs. And to this effect we must beware of the subtile slights of Sathan who to the end that he may spoile vs of this comfort in trouble endeauours by all meanes either to quench the light of God vtterly in our mindes or at least to darken and obscure it by precipitation of our vnbeleeuing hearts carrying vs headlong to iudge of the workes of God by their beginnings and to measure our selues in trouble by our present estate and condition not suffering vs to tarrie while we see the end whereof it comes to passe that our hearts being tossed too and fro with restlesse perâ—urbations like trees of the forrest shaken with the winde we hasten in our necessities to be our owne prouisors in our dangers we will be our owne deliuerers and euery way vve become the caruers of our owne condition Wee haue so much the more neede to beware of this precipitation because the deerest seruants of God haue fallen through it into fearefull sinnes against the Lord As wee may see in Dauid who being in extreame danger in the Wildernesse of Maon said in his feare that all men were lyers Is not this a great blasphemie to say that the promises which the Lord made to him by Samuel were but lyes and in his other extremities hee is not ashamed to confesse that he thought that God had forgot to be mercifull and had shut vp his tender mercy in displeasure but when he saw the end then he was compelled to accuse himselfe and giue glory vnto God I should haue beene dumbe not opened my mouth because thou didst it and againe I said in my feare all men are lyers for notwithstanding all Samuels promises I looked for nothing but death but now considering the deliuerance I must say pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of all his Saints Seeing this precipitation made Dauid to stumble and fall may vvee not feare least it carry vs to the like inconuenience vnlesse we learne to beware of it in time let vs not therfore iudge of the vvorks of God before they be ended If wee should looke to Lazarus on the doung-hill full of byles and sores hauing no comfort but from the dogs and compare him with the rich Glutton clothed in purple and fairing daintely euery day what can wee iudge but that Lazarus is the most miserable of the two yet if wee tarrie till the Lord haue ended his worke and Lazarus be conuayed to Abrahams bosome and the rich Glutton be gone to his place then shall the truth appeare manifestly All things worke together for the best to them that loue God Let vs therefore learne to measure the euent of things not by their present condition but by the prediction of Gods word let vs cleaue to his promise and waite on the vision which hath his owne time appointed it shall speake at the last and shall not lye though it tarry let vs wait for it it shall surely come and not stay let vs goe into the Sanctuary of God and consider the end there shall we learne that There is no peace to the wicked howsoeuer they flourish for a time that it cannot be but well with them who loue the Lord Marke the vpright man and behold the iust the end of that man is peace but the transgressours shall be destroyed together and the end of the wicked shall be cut off Thus both in the troubles of the Godly and prosperitie of the wicked wee should suspend our iudgement till wee see the end All things worke together Mark the singular priuiledge of the Christian not onely afflictions but all other things whatsoeuer worke for the best vnto him and not onely so but they worke together Many working instruments are there in the world whose couse is not one they communicate not counsels yea their intentions oftentimes are contrary yet the Lord bringeth all
them And in a word the meanes which hee vseth are contrary to the worke it self which hee intends to performe in his Children Hee sent a fearefull darkenesse on Abraham euen then when hee was to communicate vnto him most ioyfull light he wrestled with Iacob and shook him too and â—ro euen then when hee came to blesse him hee strooke the Apostle Paul with blindnesse at that same time when hee came to open his eyes hee frownes for a while vpon his beloued as Ioseph did vpon his brethren but in the ende with louing affection shall hee embrace them hee may seeme angry at thy prayers as hee put backe the petitions of that woman of Canaan but at length hee will graunt a fauourable answere vnto them Let vs not therfore murmure against the Lord by whatsoeuer meanes it please him to worke It is enough wee know that all the wayes of God euen when hee deales most hardly with his children are mercie and tends to the good of those who loue him And as for Sathans stratagems it is also out of doubt that they worke for the best to them who loue the Lord not according to his purpose indeede but by the Lords operation who directeth all Sathans assaults to another end then hee intended and trappeth him continually in his owne snare If vnder the Serpents shape hee deceiued Adam vnder the Serpents name shall the Lord curse him and all those weapons whereby hee seeketh to destroy the worke of Gods grace in vs doth the Lord turne to destroy the workemanship of Sathan in vs I meane that whole bastard generation of peruerse affections which Sathan hath begotten vpon our mutable nature by a most vnhappy and vnlawfull copulation De veneno eius fit spirituale antidotum of this poyson the Lord maketh a spirituall preseruatiue The experience of all the Saints of God proues this that Sathan by his restlesse tentations doth destroy himselfe which is most euident both in his tentations for sinne committed tending to desperation as also in his tentations vnto sinne tending to presumption Euery accusation of the conscience for sinne past is vnto the Godly man a preseruatiue to keepe him from sinne in time to come hee reasoning with himselfe after this manner If mine enimie doe so disquiet my minde with inward terrour for those sinnes which foolishly I did by his entisement why shall I hearken to him any more and so increase the matter of my trouble for what fruit haue I of all those sinnes which I did by his instigation but terrour and shame and shall I looke that this forbidden tree can render vnto me any better fruit hereafter O what a faithlesse traitor is Sathan he entiseth man vnto sinne and when hee hath done it hee is the first accuser and troubler of man for sinne When hee comes first vnto vs hee is a tempter when wee haue finished his worke which is sinne hee is an accuser of vs vnto the Iudge and when hee returneth hee returneth a troubler and tormenter of vs for those same sinnes which he counselled vs to doe Stoppe thine eare therefore O my soule from the voyce of this deceitfull enchanter His tentations againe vnto sinne are vnto the Godly man prouocations that spurre him forward vnto the throne of grace for while as wee finde his restlesse malice pursuing in vs that little sparke of spirituall life whereby the Lord hath quickned vs and our owne weaknes and inabilitie to resist him then are wee forced with Israell in Egypt to sigh for the thraldome and to cry with Iehoshaphat O Lord our God wee know not what to doc but our eyes are toward thee And who feeleth not this that the grace of feruent prayer wherein otherwise wee faint our heart being more ready to fall downe than the hands of Moses vnlesse they be supported is greatly intended in the Children of God by the buffets of Sathan as is manifest in the holy Apostle Magna certe potestas quae imperat Diabolo vt se ipse destruat a great power of God this is certainly which commandeth Sathan to destroy himselfe Se enim destruit cum hominem quem tentando supplantare studet ex infirmo fortiorem efficit for then doth hee destroy himselfe when the man whom hee seeketh to ouerthrow by his tentation of a weake man is made stronger by those same meanes Thus the Lord our God ouer shootes Sathan in his owne bow and cuts off the head of Goliah with his owne sword his holy name be praised therefore Now as concerning outward afflictions it is true that as the Philistims could not vnderstand Sampsons riddle how sweet came out of the sowre and meat out of the eater so cannot Worldlings vnderstand that tribulation bringeth out patience and that our light and momentanie afflictions cause vnto vs a farre more excellent and eternall waight of glory but the Children of God haue learned by experience that albeit no visitation be sweet for the present yet afterward it brings the quiet fruite of righteousnesse vnto them who are thereby exercised and that there is more solide ioy in suffering rebuke with Christ than in all the pleasures of sinne which endure but a season As Moses the typycall Mediator of the olde Testament made by his prayer the bitter waters of Marah become sweet so Iesus the true Mediator by his passion hath mittigated to his children the bitternesse of the crosse yea hath made it profitable vnto them The prodigall sonne concluded not to returne home to his Father till he was brought low by affliction Hagar was proud in the house of Abraham but humble in the wildernesse Ionas sleepeth in the ship but watcheth and prayeth in the Whales belly Manasses liued in Ierusalem as a libertine but bound in chaines in Babell hee turneth his heart vnto the Lord his God Corporall diseases forced many in the Gospell to come to Christ where others enioying bodily health would not acknowledge him The earth which is not tilled and broken vp beares nothing but thornes and bryers the Vines waxe wilde in time vnlesse they be pruned and cut so would our wilde hearts ouergrow with the noysome weedes of vnruly affections if the Lord by sanctified trouble did not continually manure them It is good therefore sayd Ieremy for a man to beare the yoke in his youth and Dauid confesses it was good for him that he was afflicted yea our Sauiour saith euery branch that beares fruit my heauenly Father purges it that it may bring forth more fruit No worke can be made of gold and siluer without fire stones are not meet for pallace worke vnlesse they be pollished and squared by hammering no more is it possible that we can be vessels of honor in the house of our God except first we be fined and melted in the fire of affliction neyther can we be as liuing stones to be placed in the wall of heauenly
forget them as thou committest them yet the Apostle tels thee that thou hast laid them vp in a treasurie Yea not onely hast thou laid vp in store thy sinnes but with euery sinne hast gathered a portion of wrath proportionable to thy sinne which thou shalt know in that day wherein the Lord shall breake vp thy treasure and open the booke of thy conscience and set thy sinnes in order before thee then shall thine owne wickednesse correct thee and thy turning backe shall reproue thee then shalt thou know and behâ—ld that it is an euill thing and a bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God Thou shalt be astonished to see such a multitude of witnesses standing vp against thee those sins which thou hast cast behind thy backe thou shalt see them set in the light of the countenance of God woe then shall be vnto thee for the Lord then shall turne thine owne wayes vpon thiâ—e head the Lord shall giue thee to drincke of that cuppe which thou hast filled with thine owne hand when thou shalt haue accomplished the measure of thine iniquitie and hee shall double his stripes vpon thee according to the number of thy transgressions But as for the children of God if yee doe aske when they are at the best I answere praysed be God our worst is gone our good is begunne our best is at hand As our Sauiour said to his kinsmen so may wee say to the worldlings your time is alway but my time is not yet come We were at the worst immediately before our conuersion for our whole life till then was a walking with the children of disobedience in the broad way that leads to perdition then we were at the worst when we had proceeded furthest in the way of vnrighteousnesse for then we were furthest from God Our best began in the day of our recalling wherein the Lord by his word and holy spirit called vpon vs and made vs change our course turning our backes vpon Sathan and our faces toward the Lord and so caused vs to part company with the children of disobedience that where they went on in their sinnes to iudgement we came home with the penitent forlorne vnto our fathers familie That was a a happy day of diuision betweene vs and our sinnes in that day with Israell we entred into the borders of Canaan to Gilgall there were we circumsised and the shame of Egipt taken from vs euen our sinne which is our shame indeede and which wee brought vvith vs euen from our mothers wombe The Lord graunt that we may keepe it in thankfull remembrance and that we may count it a double shame to returne againe to the bondage of Egipt to serue any more that Prince of darknesse in bricke and clay that is to haue fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darknâ—sse but that like the redeemed of the Lord wee may walke from strength to strength till we appeare before the face of our God in Sion Alway this difference of estates betweene the godly and wicked should learne vs patience let vs not seeke that in the earth which our gratious father in his most wise dispensation hath reserued for vs in heauen Let vs not be like the foolish Iewes who loued the place of their banishment in Babell better than their home Now our life is hid with God in Christ and we know not yet what we shall be but we know when hee shall appeare we shall be like him the Lord shall carrie vs by his mercy and bring vs by his strength into his holy habitation hee shall plant vs in the mountaine of his inheritance euen the place which he hath prepared and sanctuary which he hath established then euerlasting ioy shall be vpon our head and sorrow and mourning shall flye from vs for euer And now till the Lord haue accomplished his worke in vs let vs not faint because the wicked floorish how euer they prosper they are to bee pittied more than enuied let them eate and drinke and be merry sure it is they will neuer see a better life then that which presently they enioy they haue receiued their consolation in this life and haue gotten their portion in this present world Surely no tongue can expresse their miserie and yet as Samuel mourned for Saul when God reiected him and Ieremie wept in secret for the pride of his people that would not repent of their sinnes how can wee but take vp a bitter lamentation for many of you whom in this time of grace wee see to be strangers from grace wee wish from our harts ye were not like the kinsemen of Lot they thought hee had but mocked when hee told them of an iminent iudgement and therefore for no request would goe out of Sodome but tarryed till the fire of the Lords indignation did consume them but that rather as Sarah followed Abraham from Caldee to Canaan so yee would take vs by the hand and goe with vs from hell to heauen but alas the lusts of the flesh hold you captiue or then the loue of the world doth bewitch you but all of them in the end shall deceiue you for all the labour vnder the Sunne is but vanitie and vexation of Spirit when you haue finished your taske you shall be lesse content than you were at the beginning you shall be as one wakened out of a dreame who in his sleepe thought hee was possessor of great riches but vvhen hee awaketh behold hee hath nothing or not vnlike that rich man who said in his securitie Now my Soule thou hast much goods for many yeares and euen vpon the next day redacted to such extreame necessitie with that other who dispised Lazarus that he had not so much as a drop of cold vvater to coole his tongue withall then shall you lament and say We haue wearied our selues in the way of iniquitie and it did not profit vs. Alas how shall I learne you to be wise Is not this a pittifull blindnesse the Lord vvhen hee created man made him Lord aboue all his creatures and now vnthankfull man sets euery creature in his heart aboue the Lord. O fearefull ingratitude Doe you so reward the Lord O foolish people and vnwise There is nothing which yee conceit to be good but when yee vvant it you are carefull to seeke it vvhen you haue it you are carefull to keepe it onely you are carelesse of the Lord Iesus though hee be that incomparable iewell vvhich bringeth light in darkenesse life in death comfort in trouble and mercy against all iudgement ye should set him as a signet on your heart as an ornament on your head and put him on as that glorious attire vvhich gets you place to stand before God But vvhat paines doe ye take to seeke him vvhat assurance haue yee that yee are in him or vvhat mourning doe yee make for that yee doe not possesse him can you say in truth that the
tenth part of your thoughts or words haue been bestowed vpon him No no it is the shame of many that they haue taken more paynes to keepe a signet on their hand than euer they did to keepe Iesus in their hart they wander after vanitie and follow lyes they forsake the fountaine of liuing waters Oh consider this yee that forget God least hee teare you in peeces and there be none to deliuer you The last lesson vve obserue in this part of the Verse is this as all things workes for the best to them who loue the Lord so all things workes for the vvorst vnto the vvicked there is nothing so cleane which they defile not nothing so excellent vvhich they abuse not Make Saul a King and Balaam a Prophet and Iudas an Apostle their preferment shall be their destruction if they be in prosperitie they contemne God and their prosperitie becomes their ruine if they be in aduersitie they blaspheme him and like raging waues of the sea cast out their owne dirt to their shame yea what speake I of these things euen their table shall be asâ—are vnto them Iesus Christ is a rocke of offence vnto them the Gospell the sauour of death vnto them and their prayer is turned into sinne and what more excellent things then these As a foule stomacke turnes most healthfull food into corruption so their polluted conscience turnes iudgement into gall and the fruit of righteousnesse into wormewood And all this should prouoke vs to a holy care to become good our selues or else there is nothing were it neuer so good can be profitable to vs. To them that loue God We haue heard the Apostles last argument of comfort which is that the Lord so ruleth all things by his prouidence that those things which seemes to be against his children are made to worke together for the aduancement of their good Deus enim adeo bonus est vt nihil mali esse sineret nisi etiam adeo esset potens vt ex quolibet malo possit elicere bonum for God is so good that hee would suffer no euill to be were it not he is also so powerfull that of euery euill hee is able to draw out good Now wee proceede to the persons to whom this comfort belongs who are first described to be such as loue God secondly as are called according to his purpose Here are three things conioyned together euery one depending on another First the purpose of God vvhich is no other thing but his eternall and immutable decree concerning our saluation Secondly our calling flowing from this purpose Thirdly a loue of God wrought in our hearts by this effectuall calling These three are so inseperably conioyned together that from the lowest of these we may goe vp to the highest of that vnâ—ayned loue of God which is in thee thou mayest know that he loued thee and in his vnchangeable purpose hath ordayned thee to life This is the greatest comfort that can be giuen to men vpon earth to let them see that or euer the Lord laide the foundations of the earth he first laid the foundation of thy saluation in his owne immutable purpose which being secret in it selfe and obscured from vs is now manifested vnto vs by our effectuall calling But of this we will speake more God willing hereafter The loue of God then is set downe here as a principall effect and token of our calling As the Lord calles none effectually but those whom hee hath elected so none caâ— loue him but those who are effectually called by him yea thou thy selfe who now loues the Lord before thy calling louedst him nod thy heart went a whooring from God and thou preferredst euery Creature before him and for the smallest pleasure of sinne thou caredst not to offend him It is thought among the multitude a common thing and an easie to loue the Lord and euery man abhorres in word to be counted such a monster as hath not the loue of God but they are farre deceiued for man till he be called by grace cannot loue the Lord herein is loue not that we loued God but that hee loued vs. If now we doe know him and know him so that we loue him it is because we were first knowne of him and so knowne that we were beloued of him not that there is any equalitie betweene these loues or that we are able to match the Lord in affection non enim pari vbertate fluunt hi duo amores for these two loues flowes not in a like plentie as the running of a little strand is nothing in comparison of the great Ocean so is our loue to God as nothing if it be compared with his incomprehensible loue toward vs yet is it most certaine amor Dei amorem animae parit it is Gods loue to vs which begets in the soule a loue to God Nemo itaque se amari diffidat qui iam amat let no man therefore who loues God distrust that he is beloued It is very comfortable that among all the pen-men of the holy Ghost none doe speake more of loue than Iohn euen hee who vvas Christs beloued Disciple whom hee loued aboue the rest for it doth teach vs that whosoeuer is greatly beloued of God shall also become a carefull practiser of loue toward others That therefore we may know the heart of God toward vs it shall not be needfull that we enter into his secret counsell but let vs goe and enter into our owne hearts and there we shall finde resolution albeit the Lord send not now to you that are men an Angell to witnesse as hee did to Daniel that he was a man greatly beloued of God or to testifie to you that are women that which he did to Mary that shee was freely beloued of the Lord yet so many of you as vpon knowledge in sinceritie can say with Peter Lord thou knowest that I loue thee haue here a testimonie no lesse certaine to wit his owne Oracle in his word to make you sure that yee are beloued of him And that the comfort may be the more sure vnto vs seeing loue is the principall token of our calling wee will speake a little of Loue that so we may know whether wee be endued with this most excellent grace of the spirit or no. Naturally the affection of Loue iâ— man is so inordinate that not vnproperly Nazianzen called it dulcem tyrannum a sweet tyrannie that by deceitfull allurements compels the whole man to follow it and it is not onely in it selfe distemperated but altogether set vpon wrong obiects our loue being so set vpon the creature that we neglect the Creator a fearefull ingratitude that where in the beginning the Lord set vp man as Prince and ruler ouer all his creatures putting all the workes of his hands in subiection vnder him that man should meet the Lord with such vnthankfulnesse as to set in his affection euery creature
the word and prayer so doth it serue for the conuiction of those to whom any other place is more amiable than the labernacles of God an euident proofe they haue not the loue of God because they neglect the meanes euen when they are offered by which familiar accesse is gotten vnto the Lord. And againe because the fight we haue of God in this life is but through a vaile and the tast we get of his goodnesse is but in part and that in the life to come the Lord will fully embrace vs in the armes of his mercy and kisse vs for euer with the kisses of his mouth therefore is it that the soule which vnfainedly loues the Lord cannot rest content with that familiaritie which by the Word and Prayer it hath with God in this life but doth long most earnestly to be with the Lord where shee knoweth that in a more excellent manner shee shall embrace him whereof proceedeth these and such like complaints As the Hart brayeth for the riuers of water so panteth my soule after thee O God O when shall I come and appeare before the presence of my God My Soule desireth after thee as the thirsty land For I would be dissolued and be with the Lord Therefore come euen so come Lord Iesus But alas here are wee taken in our sinnes thou sayest thou louest the Lord but how is it then that thou longest not to see him neyther desirest thou to be with him yea a small appearance of the day of deaâ—h or mention of the day of iudgement doth terrifie and afray thee where as otherwise if thou didst loue him they would be ioyfull dayes vnto thee seeing in the one wee goe to him and in the other he commeth to vs to gather vs and take vs thether where he is Surely those men who contenting themselues with the gifts of God in this life thinke not long to enioy himselfe are but like an adulterous woman who if so be shee possesse the goods of her husband regards not albeit shee neuer see himselfe I confesse indeed wee may reioyce in all the gifts which God hath giuen vs as in the tokens and testimonies of his loue but wee are alwayes to vse them with this protestation that nothing giuen vs in this life be allowed vnto vs for our portion and inheritance and that no contentment euer come vnto our hearts till wee get himselfe who gaue them If the loue of the Corinthians made the Apostle to say I seeke not yours but you how much more should the loue of God compell vs to say vnto him It is not thy gifts O Lord but thy selfe I long for thou art the portion of my soule if thou wouldest giue me all the workes of thine hands yet shall I neuer haue comfort nor contentment except thou dost giue me thy selfe Therefore O thou whom my Soule loueth shew me where thou feedest where thou lyest at noone and dost rest for why should I be as shee that turneth aside to the flockes of thy companions Blessed is he that hungers and thrists for thy righteousnesse for hee shall behold thy face and be filled with thine image for in thy presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand are pleasures for euermore The second tryall of our loue is Obedience and an holy care in all our callings to serue and honour the Lord. Preachers must be tryed by this rule Peter louest thou mee feede my flocke Gouernours and Counsellers must be tryed by this Can yee say in truth with the Godly Gouernour Dauid I loue the Lord then will yee also say with him what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits how shall I shew my loue toward him and what shall I doe in my time for aduancement of his glory If thou dost loue the Lord then wilt thou be a nourishing Father to his Church a carefull aduancer of his kingdome a wise prouisor to remoue those stumbling blocks which hinder the course of the Gospell If yee loue the Lord then will yee stand vp with Dauid and say Doe not I hate them O Lord that hate thee doe not I earnestly contend with them that rise vp against thee surely I hate them with vnfained hatred as if they were mine vtter enimies If ye honour the Lord as Dauid did the Lord shall blesse you as hee blessed Dauid Dauid sware vnto the Lord that hee would not rest till hee found out a place for the Lord euen an habitation for the mightie God of Iacob And the Lord sweares againe vnto Dauid that of the fruit of his body hee would set vp one to raigne after him But if otherwise there be nothing in you but a care to stablish your selues and your houses vvith the neglect of the glory of God then remember that the curse of Shebna and not the blessing of Eliakim shall be vpon you Yee shall not be fastned as a nayle in sure place but shall be rolled and turned away like a ball the Lord shall driue thee from thy station and out of thy dwelling place shall hee destroy thee For the wicked shall not haue his desire his thoughts shall not be performed neyther shall hee be established on the earth but euill shall hunt him to destruction The Lord shall take thee and plucke thee out of thy Tabernacle and roote thee out of the Land of the liuing And generally all of you in your callings remember that the value of your Christian loue must be tryed by the same touchstone not by your words but by your workes If any loue mee saith Iesus let him keepe my commandements but here also the hypocrisie of this age is discouered as the Iewes called Iesus their King and bowed their knees before him but spat in his face and buffetted him so the bastard Christians of this age call Christ their Lord and bowe their knees before him yet by their sinfull life they crucifie him and tread his bloud of the couenant vnder their feete they kisse and betray him with Iudas it is but a Scepter of reed they allow him for they giue him no commaundement ouer their affections wherefore great is the controuersie which the Lord hath this day with the men of this generation The third tryall of loue is Bountifulnesse the Apostle sayth Loue is bountifull experience proues that euery louer bostoweth bountifully on that which hee loueth yee loue your bodyes and therefore largely bestow vpon them to feede them and cloth them yea with excessiue apparrell yee loue your Children and lets them want no needfull thing for them yea yee loue your beasts and spares not to bestow largely vpon them onely you say you loue the Lord but wherein are yee bountifull toward him It is true that in nothing can a man be profitable to the Almightie but are there not workes commaunded vs which should so shine before men that by them
stand at the right hand of Iesus and heare that fearfull condemnation of the wicked Depart from mee c. when vvee shall see the earth open and swallow them then shall wee reioyce and prayse the mercy of our God O happie time wherein the Lord sent his messengers among vs to call vs from the fellowship of the damned There is no difference by nature betweene the Elect and reprobate neyther in inward nor outward disposition till God make it by grace Paul as bloudy a persecuter as euer was Domitian or Iulian. Zacheus as vnconscionable and couetous a Worldling as was that rich Glutton damned to hell The elect and reprobate men before Grace make a difference are like two men walking in one iourney with one minde and one heart like Eliah and Elisha walking and talking together when a chariot of fire did incontinent seperate them and Eliah is taken vp into heauen Elisha left vpon the earth not vnlike is it when the vnlooked for calling of God commeth and seperateth those two who before were walking together yea running in the same excesse of ryot the one changing the course of his life returneth back againe to the Lord from whom hee had stollen whereas the other not touched with the same Calling meruailes that his former companion hath forsaken him and walketh still on stubbornely in the former course of his sinnes to his condemnation Apply this vnto your selues and see whether this effectuall Calling hath seperated you in your conuersation from the wicked or not an euident argument that ye shall be seperated from them in their condemnation Blessed is hee that walketh not in the counsell of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornfull And if wee finde after tryall that the Lord hath called vs then should wee alway shew forth his prayses who hath translated vs from darknesse into his meruailous light The Lord shewed a great mercy to Israell when he deliuered them out of the house of bondage he set the remembrance of that benefit in the forefront of his law as a bond euer oblieging them vnto thankfulnesse but their bondage was not so horrible as ours Pharaoh oppressed their bodies and compelled them to worke in bricke and clay yet their spirits were free to sigh and cry to God for the bondage but here so long as we were the slaues of Sathan he compelled vs to worke the abhominable workes of darknesse and vncleannesse and therewithall did so captiue our spirits that we could not so much as cry and sigh vnto God for the bondage and therefore our deliuerance should neuer goe out of our remembrance and our hearts and mouthes should euer be filled with the prayses of our redeemer when we think of this yeere of Iubilie wherin he hath opened the doore of the prison and set vs at libertie as the freemen of God who were the captiued and bond slaues of Sathan The author of this calling is the Lord euen hee who calles things which are not and makes them to be Caâ—ling is a new creation and the first resurâ—ection The Lord that commanded light to shine out of darkenes is he who hath giuen to our mindes the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Iesus Christ. It is he who creates in vs a new hart and puts in our bowels a new spirit that we may walk in his statutes As man when hee was not could not helpe to create himselfe and Lazarus when he was dead helped not to raise himselfe so a stranger from Grace helpes not to call himselfe to the fellowship of Grace the Lord who makes the barraine wombe a mother of many children makes also the barraine hart to be fruitfull The praise of our calling belongs to the Lord onely Nemo dicat idâ—o me vocauit quia colâ—i Deum quomodo coluisses si vocatus non fuisses let no man say therefore hath God called me because I worshipped him for thou couldst not haue worshipped him vnlesse he had called thee The calling of God findes euery man either vainely or wickedly exercised When God called Paul to be a Preacher he found him a persecuter when he called Matthew he found him sitting at the receipt of custome when he called Peter and Andrew they were mending their nets no such minde had they as to be fishers of men As Saul was seeking his Fathers Asses when Samuel came to call him to the kingdome and as Rebecca had no errand to the well but to water her fathers goods when Eliezer came to seeke her in marriage vnto Isaac so if wee doe enquire at our owne consciences how we were exercised when God called vs we shall finde our harts were set vpon the trifling things of this world and that we had no minde of his kingdome let the praise therefore of our calling berâ—sâ—rued to the Lord onely As this worke of calling is the Lords onely so hee extends it to none but vnto those who are chosen it makes a perticular seperation of a few from the remanant and doth so distinguish betweene man and man in all ranckes and estates that of two brethren as Iacob and Esau of two Prophets as Moses and Balaam of two Kings as Dauid and Saul of two Apostles as Peter and Iudas of two theeues the one is taken the other is reiected The first distinction betweene man and man was in Gods eternall counsell and this is secret the last distinction will be in that last day wherein the one shall stand at the right hand of Iesus the other at the left and that shall be manifest the middle distinction is presently made by this calling of God his Gospell is the arme of his Grace being extended sometime to one corner of the world sometime to another according to his owne dispensation to seuer out his owne from among the remanent of the world Whereof it comes to passe that this sauing grace of the Gospell enters into a land but not into euery Cittie it enters into a Cittie and not into euery familie it enters into a familie but comes not on euery person of the familie Of Husband and Wife of Maisters and Seruants of Parents and Children of Brethren and Sisters the one is taken the other reiected It came to Iericho and chose out Zacheus it came to Philippi and chose out Lydia and the Iaylour it entred at Rome into the Court of Nero but lighted not vpon Nero it entred into the Familie of Narcissus but not into the heart of Narcissus As the Lord so gouernes the cloudes that he makes them raine vpon one Cittie and not vpon another so doth hee dispense the dew of his grace that he makes it drop vpon one hart not vpon another The Gospell is preached to many but the blessing that comes by the Gospell abides onely vpon the children of peace Let euery one among you see to himselfe this preaching of the Gospell
thee sinne committed by thy selfe no no when he beginneth to smite thee hee shall neuer lift vp his hand from thee but double his stripes vpon thee and there shall be no end of thy sorrow As the ioyes prepared for the godly so the paines prepared for the wicked are such as the eye neuer saw the tongue cannot vtter nor the heart conceiue That place of the damned is the great deepe the Ocean of all the iudgements of God all his temporall plagues are but like little riâ—ers and strands running into it If therefore the beautie of Sion doth not allure vs let the terrour of Sinai afray vs. The Lord proclaimed his Law in a fearefull manner vpon mount Sinai but in a more terrible manner will hee execute it if Moses who was so familiar with the Lord trembled when hee heard it proclaimed what horrible feare shall ouer-take the wicked when they shall see it executed vpon themselues Let therefore the children of wisedome hearken in time to the ioyfull tidings of peace which are daily proclaimed on mount Sion let vs drinke of the still and peaceable waters of Siloh which flow from it let vs embrace that mercy which Iesus by the merit of his death hath conquered vnto vs that so wee may be saued from the wrath which is to come His owne Sonne Iesus Christ is called Gods owne Son both in respect of his diuine and humane natures for as hee is God he was begotten of the Father by so vnspeakable a generation that as Esay saith none are able to declare it and as hee is man hee is the Sonne of God conceiued by the holy Ghost made man indeed but not after the manner of other men but of this see Verse 3. But gaue him for vs all This is very often alleadged in holy Scriptures as an argument of the great loue of God toward vs that he gaue his sonne to death for vs and so it is indeed for it is not by any corruptible thing as Gold and siluer that he hath redeemed vs but by the precious blood of his owne Sonne the Lambe vndefiled and without spot There is no man will giue much for that whereof he esteemes but little we measure the price of a thing according to the worth of it in our iudgement euen so of the greatnesse of that gift which our God hath giuen for vs wee may estimate the greatnesse of his affection toward vs. Pretious indeed in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints who to redeeme vs from death spared not to giue his dearest sonne vnto the death It was the Lords reasoning to Abraham now I perceiue thou louest mee because for my sake thou hast not spared thine onely sonne and haue we not much more cause to turne ouer the same reasoning to the Lord now Lord we perceiue thou louest vs because for our sake thou hast not spared thine onely one sonne The Lord shed abroad in our hearts more aboundantly the sense of that inestimable loue that we may be carefull to requite the kindnesse of the Lord putting his holy will before all things in our affection and endeauouring in holy loue to serue him who hath saued vs. Shall hee not with him giue vs all things also Wee are to vnderstand all things that are needfull for vs And here it is necessary that we put a difference betweene our right and our possession The children of God haue the right and propertie of all Gods good creatures for Christ their Lord is the heire of all and hath made them with himselfe fellow heires All things are yours saith the Apostle and yee are Christs and Christ is Gods But as for the possession of them the Lord giues it or with-holds it according as hee sees may be for the good of his children We know our father Abraham had the right of Canaan when he had not the possession of it and are not therefore to thinke it strange that the Lord giues not alwayes possession of that to his Children whereof they haue the right But as for the wicked they haue possession without a right and therefore shall be punished as theeues and robbers and violent vsurpers of Gods creatures whereunto Iesus Christ who is the heyre of all hath neuer giuen them a right Secondly wee marke here that the giuing and dispensation of earthly things is from God if wee could remember this it would moderate our care and make vs in our callings first to seeke the Lords blessing loath any manner of way to take the things of this world vnlesse we see they be giuen vs out of the hand of God For we are to know that Sathan who is a counterfaiter of God doth also arrogate to himself though falsely to be the giuer of things hee that durst say to the sonne of God all the kingdomes of the earth are mine I will giue them to thee if thou wilt fall downe and worship me will hee stand in awe to speake it vnto sinnefull man No indeed it is his daily tentation by which he circumuents many intangling their hearts with the loue of worldly gaine that to obtaine it they care not to lye to steale to sweare to oppresse to deceiue one another which in effect is to fall downe before Sathan and worship him Thus Sathan rules in the kingdome of Babell like a spirituall Nabuchadnezar presenting to his subiects his great image of gold accompanied with all sorts of musicall instruments that is worldly pleasures vvealth and prosperitie which bewitch the simple and makes them fall downe and worship yeelding themselues seruants to Mammon But happy are those children who refuse so to do and can stand vp vvith their father Abraham lifting vp his hand to heauen can say I will not haue so much as the latchet of a shoe from the king of Sodome I will haue nothing by any crooked or indirect meanes out of the hand of Sathan or any of his instruments the buddes of Balak shall not hire me to doe euill neither the wages of iniquitie nor the reward of Sodome for doing good shall euer cleaue to my hands I will looke for my portion from the Lord. Againe seeing God is the giuer of all things let vs learne with the Apostle in whatsoeuer state we are to be content remembring that euery mans portion of vvorldly things is measured vnto him from the Lord. We see that a steward in a familie ministers not alike vnto all that are in it the aged and the young the seruant and the Lord receiues not a like portion yet no man gainsayes it and shall vve not reuerence the Lords dispensation who is the great steward of his familie in heauen and earth shall vve murmure against him if he giue Beniamin a double portion and bestow vpon some of his children these worldly things in greater aboundance than he doth vpon others farre be it from vs for he dispenses these
perishing things in great vvisedome and loue toward vs as hee seeth may be best for vs. Certainely vve ought so to reioyce in that great gift the Lord Iesus whom the Father hath giuen vs and in vvhom he hath blessed vs vvith all spirituall blessings that vve take no thought for any other thing vvhatsoeuer vvhich hee hath thought expedient to hold from vs. Oh that vve could giue vnto the Lord this glory as to say vvithout grudging O Lord Iesus I can vvant nothing seeing I haue thee to be my portion And further seeing all these things are dispensed and giuen by God let vs as I said in our callings aboue all things seeke his blessing Adam may make himselfe a garment but it shall not couer his nakednesse Ionas may build himselfe a booth but it shall not defend him from the heat of the Sunne Peter fiâ—hed all night and hee profited nothing till Iesus spake the word Though we rise earely and lye down late and eate the bread of sorrow yet shall we labour in vain vnlesse the Lord giue the blessing Let vs therefore so vse the meanes that with them we ioyne prayer moderating our care let vs commit the successe to the Lord. It is true that Religion allowes not carelesnesse yea by the contrary it commaunds vs to be carefull for those vvhom God hath committed vnto vs If any man care not for his household hee is worse than an infidell This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a moderate foreseeing of things which are needefull but there is an vnlawfull care the daughter of distrust whereby men are carryed either beyond lawfull meanes or else if the meanes be lawfull beyond the measure of a temperate affection as though a man had not a Father in heauen to care for him or were able to compasse things by his owne wit This care is not vnprofitable onely but full of many perturbations for which our Sauiour compares it to thornes which are most easily gouerned when they are most lightly touched where as he who gripes them hardly inuolues them and makes them more perplex and hurts himselfe also Our Sauiour correcting Martha for too much care of the worldly part ioynes these two thou art carefull about many things and art troubled telling vs that which we finde in experience that many worldly cares breedes many troubles Let vs walke therefore in the right way vsing the meanes in sobernesse let vs cast our care on the Lord. Last of all it is to be marked here that the Apostle â—aith that God with Christ giues all things vnto vs so then Iesus Christ is the maine and great gift and all other things are but pendicles annexed vnto it Other gifts without Christ haue a shew of comfort but renders no solide comfort in the end they shall be deceiued at length who glories in other things vvere they neuer so excellent vvhile as they are strangers from Christ. When God said to Abraham feare not I am thy buckler and thy exceeding great reward not considering vvhat the Lord offered to him he answered in his weaknes O Lord what canst thou giue me seeing I go childlesse Euen he vvho vvas the Father of the faithfull could not conceiue hovv great good God promised to him vvhen he promised himselfe to be his reward And therefore let vs suspecting our vveakenesse that it carry vs not into the like errour vvatch ouer our owne hearts that they be not set vpon Gods secondary gifts more than vpon himselfe Albeit the Lord should giue vs pleasant Canaan for an inheritance and multiply our posteritie as the starres of heauen yet will we say O Lord all these shall not content vs vnlesse thou dost giue vs thy selfe It doth more reioyce vs that thou hast giuen vs thy Sonne Iesus to bee our Sauiour than that thou hast subdued all the workes of thine hands vnder vs. Verse 33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods chosen it is God that iustifies THe Apostle in his generall triumph contained in the last two Verses hauing proclaimed a defiance to all the enimies of a Christian doth now begin to challenge them perticularly triumphing first against sinne Verse 33. 34. thereafter against all sort of afflictions that come vpon vs by whatsoeuer instruments visible or inuisible Wee begun first at his triumph against sinne who saith he shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods chosen hee excepts no person neyther is any eyther in heauen in earth or in hell able to doe it hee reserues no sort of sinne seeke what they will there is nothing to be found in the Christian to accuse him and condemne him his interrogation is plaine his answere is supprest his reason is subioyned It is God that iustifies where the supreame Iudge absolues can any inferior iudge whatsoeuer condemne Where first wee haue to consider who is hee that this manner of way triumphs Is it not Paul who before his conuersion was a persecuter a blasphemer and an oppresser who confesseth himselfe to be the chiefe of all sinners and the least of all Saints yea indeed the same is hee but marke such a one hee was indeed but hath gotten mercy and therefore now like a man relieued of a heauy burthen which before oppressed him hee reioyces and triumphes Certainely no greater comfort can come to man than to feele his sins forgiuen him this onely causeth true reioycing See this in Dauid as long as the burden of his sinne lay vpon his conscience it prest out the very naturall moysture of his body hee had no rest night nor day but from the time that once Nathan proclaimed to him remission and that in his owne conscience he felt his sin forgiuen him then hee cryed out O blessed is the man whose wickednesse is forgiuen whose sinne is couered and vnto whom the Lord imputes not his iniquitie As hee that lay sicke sixe and thirty yeeres of the palsie arose with great ioy when Iesus relieved him and hee that was a creple when hee found that his feete which had failed him so long did not serue him leaped for ioy and followed the Apostles into the Temple to praise God so that soule which findes it selfe freed from the guiltinesse and seruitude of sinne of all burthens that euer lay vpon man the heauiest to beare will with much more abundant ioy exult and triumph in that mercy of God which hath made it free Secondly let the Apostle here stand vnto vs as an example of the like mercy of God to be shewed vpon our selues how great sinners soeuer wee haue beene if wee follow him in the like faith and repentance The Lord our God is not content by his word to promise mercy vnto penitent â—inners but also confirmes vs by the examples of his manifold mercies shewed to others before vs when wee looke vpon them let our weakenesse be strengthened let vs not think that the Lord
but that the workes of God may be made manifest which our Sauiour plainely teacheth vs when being demaunded concerning him that was borne blind whether it was for his owne sinnes or the sinnes of his Parents aunswered it was for neyther of them but that the workes of God might be made manifest in him And these workes of God manifested by affliction are of two sorts for not onely his meruailous power and constant truth in preseruing and deliuering his owne Church in all troubles against the power falshoode and malice of the world are manifested that all men may see it is not by the arme of man but by the power of God that his Church is continued vpon earth but likewise these manifold graces of God wrought secretly by his holy Spirit in the hearts of his children are made manifest to the world such as their constant faith their inuincible loue toward God their patience in the hardest sort of crosses And vnto these kindes of afflictions doe wee referre that which here is spoken These afflictions which are for Gods sake require these two things comprised by the Apostle in these words Faith and a good Conscience that is a good Religion and a good conuersation though thy life be so good that it be vnreproueable in the eyes of man yet if thou be not found in the faith thy suffering is not suffering for Gods cause and albeit the Religion thou professest be good if thy conuersation be euill though thou wouldest giue thy body to be burnt for Religion yet shall not thy suffering be suffering for Chists cause Let none of you suffer as euill doers but if any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed Non suppliciuÌ„ facit martyrem sed causa it is not the crosse makes the Martyr but the cause There hath beene no Heresie so grosse but some men haue beene bold to dye for it which is not Christian fortitude but miserable hardnesse of heart As the Lord Iesus hath his Apostles and Martyres so Sathan hath his false Apostles and Martyrs Martires Satanicae virtutis and therefore wee will conclude with Augustine Non est ex passione certa Iustitia it is not suffering that makes sure a cause to be righteous Sed ex Iustitia gloriosa passio but it is righteousnesse which makes suffering glorious For thy sake It is common to all the Godly to suffer with Christ as yee heard before but to suffer for Christ is not a honour communicated to them all the rarer that it is the more heartely should wee welcome it when God sends it The Apostle reioyced in the bonds wherewith hee was bound for Christs cause the golden chaines of earthly ambassadours are nothing so honourable as chaines of yron which are worne for Christs cause The Emperour Constantine honoured all the Fathers of the Counsell of Nice but made most of those who had suffered for the cause of Christ as in perticular hee kissed the hole of Paphnutius eye which had beene put out in time of trouble for Christs sake yet did hee reuerence it as the most honourable and precious part of his body no face so beautifull as that which is deformed no man so rich as hee who hath sustained spoliation of his goods if it be for Christs sake neyther is any death so glorious as that which is sustained for his cause Si enim beati qui moriuntur in Domino multo magis qui pro Domino for if they be blessed which dye in the Lord much more blessed are they wâ—o dye for the Lord. But now because no Christian is persecuted without some cause alleadged against him by his persecuters and that also in euery trouble his owne conscience saith that hee hath most iustly deserued it how can hee haue this comfort that he suffers for Christs sake The first is easily answered if we put a difference betweene the pretended and the true cause for which the wicked doe persecute vs. If Haman beare malice to Mordecay for his sake hee will forge a crime against all the people of the Iewes if Amazia can couer his hatred against Amos by pretending that Amos hath conspired against the King If the Princes of Darius enuy Daniels preferment they can delate him as a rebell to the kings proclamation If Ieremie exhort the Iewes to goe out to the King of Babell hee shall be accused as a confederate with the Chaldean It is a common stratagem of Sathans to staine the glory of Gods Children in their sufferings with false pretended crimes Vt qui conscientiae suae luce clarescunt fâ—lsis rumoribus sordidentur that they who are cleared by the light of their owne conscience may be defiled with false reports Sed bene sibi conscius non debet falsis moueri nec putare plus esse ponderis in alieno conuitio quam in suo testimonio but heeâ— who hath a good conscience ought not to be moued with false things nor to thinke there is more waight in any other mans traducing than is in his owne testimonie Our comfort doth stand sure if wee can say with Dauid They hate me without a cause And againe They are gathered together against mee not for mine offence not for my sinne O Lord. As for the other the accusation of our conscience in trouble charging vs with sinnes which no man can lay to our charge if wee will distinguish betweene the quarrell which conscience hath against vs and that wherewith the wicked doe charge vs it shall be manifest that the cause of our persecution is our disagreement with them in an euill course and not any sinne committed by vs against God and so shall our comfort still remaine that vvee are sufferers for Christs sake We are killed How farre forth this killing extends our Sauiour doth teach vs when hee sayes they are able to kill the body and doe no more Qui pro Christo moriuntur aliquid mortis accipiunt ne tot a contingat they may cast downe this earthly tabernacle but cannot hurt the man of God But here it is enquired seeing these godly ones were aliue when they sent vp this complaint vnto God how is it said they were slaine To this I answere that two manner of wayes are the godly pertakers of Christs afflictions euen when they are not troubled in their owne persons first by lympathie with others that are troubled for as the head of the misticall body accounts himselfe persecuted when his members are persecuted so among the liuely members therof the griefe and trouble of one is the griefe and trouble of the rest If we mourne with them that mournes and remember them who are in bonds as if wee were in bonds with them we are pertakers of their sufferings but now the want of this compassion in many who resting in their yâ—orie beds sorrowes not for Iosephs affliction proues them to be but dead
from the loue of God And hereof wee are warned that all our battailes are neyther present nor past some of them are to come let vs not waxe secure because of our fore-past victories When Israell came out of Egipt one nation followed them to pursue them but when theyâ—passed Iordan seauen nations came against them sure it is our hindmost battaile will be the heauiest and our last tentation greatest the horrour of hell the rottennesse of the graue the conscience of sinnes past the dolours of present death all standing vp at one time to impugne our faith but shall not be able to seperate vs from that loue of God wherein stands our life Againe wee are taught here that Christians are sure of perseuerance nothing to come can seperate vs from the loue of God this is proued first from the nature of GOD who is faithfull and will confirme vs vnto the end perfecting that which hee hath begunne in vs secondly from the nature of the seede whereof wee are begotten againe for it is immortall thirdly from the nature of that life which by that seed is communicated to vs it is the life of Christ which is not now any more subiect vnto death Neyther height nor depth By these I vnderstand Sathan hath two manner of wayes by which he wrestles against men some he mounts on the chariot of presumption others hee castâ— downe into the deepe of desperation by prosperitie hee puffes vp many to make their fall the more shamefull those tentations which he vsed against our blessed Sauiour doe wee think that hee will spare them against other men hee set him vp vpon the pinnacle of the temple of purpose if he could to haue throwne him downe and againe tooke him vp to the top of an high mountaine where making a shew to him of worldly kingdomes hee promised to giue them if hee would fall downe and worship him and albeit with these tentations hee did not preuaile against our blessed Sauiour yet how many in this world are daily bewitched with them that without any refusall they fall down and worship him But as Simon Magus while he assayed to flye from the top of the capitall vp into heauen was throwne downe to his destruction so shall the prosperitiâ— of those men bee their ruine and their high estate as a pinnacle whereupon they shall not continue Happy is the man whose heart is not exalted against God by any preferment that can come to him vpon the face of the earth for hee who rising in dignitie riseth also in pride against the Lord is raised vp as Pharaoh was that God may declare his power in casting him downe Nor depth The other sort of Sathans tentations tend vnto desperation whom hee seeth hee cannot puffe vp hee doth what hee can to cast downe by feares perturbations vvrong conceptions but our comfort is both by the Apostles testimonie and our owne experience wee may be cast downe but wee cannot perish Nor any other creature Now in the ende the Apostle doth draw his speach to the height his confidence is so great that not being content with the enumeration of aduersaries which hee hath made hee defieth yet all other whatsoeuer if any other be for hee speaketh this by way of supposition if there be yet any other creature than those whom I haue named I am sure be what they will they cannot seperate vs from the loue of Christ. Heâ—e in the last roome wee doe obserue the surety of a Christian aboue all other men in the world onely the Christian is sure his estate shall neuer be changed Worldlings may thinke with Babell in her prosperitie I shall neuer be moued and with the rich Glutton promise to themselues many yeeres to come but they shall be deceiued none of them shall continue in that slate wherein presently they stand the Lord shall driue them from their station as it were with wheeles and shall roll them like a ball as hee threatned to Shebna Pharaoh his pompe shall perish in the redde sea Nebuchadnezzar shall be changed from a Monarch of men vnto a companion of Beasts Manasses from the Pallace shall goe to the Prison and all the men of the world shall goe from the house to the graue their beautie and royall pompe shall consume as a Moth onely the Christian shall stand for euer in that happy vnion and fellowship with GOD this is the state of the Christian this is his life this is his glory and from it nothing present nor to come shall euer be able to transchange him Euerlasting praise therefore be to the Lord our God through Iesus Christ. Amen FINIS Act. 9. 15. Gen. 9. 27. Rom. 15. 19 2. Cor. 12. Philip. 3. 8. 1. Cor. 2. 9. Psal. 20. 1. Psal. 21. 1. Psal. 56 4. Psal. 18. 43 Gen. 49. 23. Gen. 49. 25. Psal. 21. 3. Psal. 18. 50 Gen. 12. 1 Psal. 68. 20 Reuel 9. 11. Numb 23. 8 Iob. 1. 10. 2. Kin. 18. Esa 37. 29. 2. Chr. 16. 9 Esa. 8. 12. Psal. 69. 9. Psal. 21. 7. Some books of holy Scripture meeter for vs then others are August de temp ser. 49. Why among the Epistles this to the Romanes is first Ierom. epist. ad Paulin. Two parts of this Chapter the first containes comfort against sinne The second comfortagainst the crosse This order of the Apostle is manifest out of his owne conclusion Rom. 8. 31. vers 33. 34. ver 35. Cant. 2. 4. Cant. 5. 1. Subdiuision of the first part Proposition Coherence of this Chapter with the former The Apostles former lamentation turned into a triumph Math. 17. 2. Psal. 50. 21. The life of a Christian is a mixed webbe wrought of trouble and comfort 2 Cor. 1. 3. 1 Pet. 1. 3. Bernard Psal. 125. 3. Hose 6. 2 Chrisost. in Mat. hom Papist wrongfully collect here that there is sin on or damnable act in them who are in Christ. Aquinas Caietane on this place Cypriain orat dom Reasons why the Lord suffers sin to remaine in the iustified man For the exercise of our Faith Aug. in Ioan. tract 41. 2. Tim. 2. 5. For our instruction that we may know what benefite we haue by Christ. Bernard For the greater glory of God and Sathans greater confusion Iosh. 10. 23. Rom. 16. 20 Ciril catech 8. 1 Cor. 15. 25 How Sathan is daily confounded in the godly Christians are not exempted from the condemnatory sentence of men But from the condemnatory sentence of God Iohn 5. 24. Three sundry dyats the Lord keepes against the wicked in the processe of their condemnation The first is kept against them in the iustice court of their owne Conscience Psal. 50. 5. â— Ioh. 3. 20 Aug. hom 50 The second is kept against them in the houre of death Aug. epist. ad Hesych The third dyat shall bee kept against them in the day of generall iudgement Dan. 12. 6. Reuel 10. 8. This iudgment shall proceede by