common to all true Christians as well as Paul As first on the death of Christ Hee that spared not his owne Son but gave him for us all c. vers 32. Secondly on Gods free justification Who can lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is Christ that justifieth c. Thirdly upon Christs intercession Hee is at the right hand of God making request to God for us vers 34. Vpon these grounds commonto all true Beleevers doth the Apostle ground his resolution Thirdly to all the promises of God are added the seales in the true use of the Sacraments Reason 3 that if any of the faithfull should doubt of the generall promises he might there have it sealed to his particular person Circumcision a seale of the righteousnesse of faith Rom. 4.11 So Ephes 1.13 After yee beleeved the Gospell you were sealed with the spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance And 2 Cor. 1.22 Hee hath sealed us and given us the earnest of his spirit in our hearts Ephes 4.30 Grieve not the Holy Spirit whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption 2 Tim. 2.19 I end it with the consideration of the phrase the Apostle useth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hee hath given us the earnest of his spirit the word signifies a pledge given or a seale annexed that wee may not doubt of the promises as men that lend a little money and take a good pawne are sure to bee no losers So hath God given us not onely his word but his covenant nor only his covenant but a seale nor only a seale but an oath nor only his word covenant seale and oath but a pawne and pledge and that no ineane one it is his holy Spirit He hath sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts Gal. 4.6 I come to let you see how a man may be sure of his salvation by infallible signs and marks 1. A conscionable care of the meanes of salvation and a desire to use them when wee doe enjoy them The signes whereby we may be assured of our election for the end and the meanes to the end are never severed in Gods purpose and decree and therefore it followes that all such as doe carefully use the meanes of salvation are sure in the end to attaine saluation For example the best means of saluation is the hearing of the Word that is the Bread of life whereof hee that eateth shall live ever Ioh. 6.27 that is the treasure hid in the field Matth. 13.44 They that seek Christ there shal not misse of him Search the Scriptures for in them ye thinke ye have eternall life Ioh. 5.39 And our Saviour allowes of this doctrine Ioh. 10.27 They are my sheepe that heare my voyce and follow me Audiunt lupi boedi sed non sequuntur Musc in Joh. Wolves and goats heare but follow him not saith Musculus upon Iohn They that seed in the greene pastures and are led forth to the waters of comfort have the Lord for their shepherd and keeper and then hee converts their soules and brings them forth into the paths of righteousnesse these men need feare no evill for with his rod and staffe the Lord comforts them they that follow the steps and the voyce of that heavenly Mercurie Qui pias laeth anlmas reponis sedibus Virgaque levem coercet anrea tur bam Hor lib. 1. Od 10. He amnica nobu incumbit sellicitudo ut audiamus vocem sequamur Aug. lib. de ovibus cap. 3. Who seateth holy soules in joyfull places and with his golden rod ruleth the unconstant multitude as Horace Lib. 1. Ode 10. need never feare what death and hell can doe against them This onely care lieth upon us that wee heare his voyce and follow him saith Augustine Therefore much too blame are they that are so slacke in this dutie that they much care not whether they heare or no and are kept from this house upon small occasion it makes mee feare they want a love of the meanes and therefore in the end must want the consummation of all comforts the salvation of their soules 2. The spirit of supplication and prayer The second signe of our Election when a man can open his heart and poure out his soule in strong cries and effectuall prayers unto God confessing his sinnes and suing for mercie and forgivenesse For this prayer is a worke and effect of the Spirit which by meanes naturall cannot be attained for we know not what to pray for as we ought Rom. 8.26 And therefore they that have a minde and love to pray they that finde a sweetnesse and comfort in it have surely the Spirit of God in them There is an holy anoynting that teacheth us what to pray 1 Ioh. 2.27 that anoynting is the Spirit and that verie Spirit witnesseth with ours that wee are the sonnes of God Rom. 8.16 a good comfort for such as love to be talking and conferring with God that are still commending their soules to him in prayer I would have you to be like Iames the Iust whereof Eusebius Booke 2. Chap. 23. Genua epu in morem Cameli obdurata sensum contaclus amiserunt His knees being hardened like to a Camels lost the sense of feeling and resolve with Ambrose Bishop of Millaine when he was to be exiled by Iustina the mother of Valentinian told them he would never run away but if they had any purpose to kill him they should at any time finde him in the Church praying for himselfe and his people as Charion remembers it Chron. Booke 3. I would have you to bee like Anna the daughter of Phanuel that never departed out of the Temple but served God in prayer night and day Luke 2.37 so might you know that Gods Spirit is in you indeed 3. To be wained and estranged from the world The third signe of our election to entertaine heavenly conference to minde heavenly things as Phil. 3.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our conversation is in heaven If our hearts and that his soule is not filled O wretch that I am c. Rom. 7.24 Lastly a greedy desire of that which is able to satisfie an hungrie soule for I follow hard toward the marke Phil. 3.14 If any thus hunger and thirst blessed are they If any man thirst let him come to me and drinke c. Ioh. 7.37 what shall he drinke see Apoc. 21.6 I will give to him that is a thirst of the water of the well of life freely Yea but will that save Yes For he that drinketh of this shall never die nor be thirstie againe Ioh. 4.14 So that wee may say with Marie Hee will surely fill the hungrie with good things Luke 1.53 If any man thirst after God and his righteousnesse the Lambe that sits in the midst of the throne shall guide him and lead him to the fountaines of living waters Apoc. 7.17 If then you can say with David Psal 42.
for Rahab the harlot nor want for poore Lazarus shall bee accepted of God at the judgement A singular comfort for such as live in prophane and wicked places Vse that are enforced to complaine as David did Psal 120.5 Woe is me that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar for though the place where thou livest bee as Sodome and the sinnes of it mount as high as Heaven yet if thou bee a Lor that lovest holinesse and hatest iniquitie thou shalt surely be saved from the fire Though the place where thou livest be like the old world so sinfull that God repented that ever hee made it Gen. 6.6 yet if thou bee a Noah faithfull and holy thou for thy part shalt surely bee saved from the water what if thou live in Mesech amongst the untoward Ishmaelites that bend their bowes against the Lord and shoot their arrowes against Heaven like the Thracians in Herodotus his Melpomene For if thou bee a David David after Gods heart when thousands fall beside thee and ten thousand at thy right hand the plague shall not come nigh thee what if thou dwell amongst thornes prepared for the fire yet if thou be a Lilly or a Rose it shall goe well with thee in the day of vengeance what if thou live in the salt sea yet if thou retaine thy sweet and pleasing rellish there shall no harme happen unto thee What if thou passe thorow the weeds and gravell of a brinish Ocean yet if thou be like the river Arethusa commended for that rare qualitie by Virgil in his 10. â—clogue Quamvis fluctus subterlabere Sicanos Dor is amar a suam non intermiscuit undam Thou shalt bee è mult is millibus unus one of a thousand Titio ereptus ex igne one whom God will choose out of the midst of a perverse and crooked generation what then remaines but this that we continue constant and unmoveable in our most holy faith and though wee live in such evill dayes and dwell in such prophane places where wickednesse over-flowes the banks as the sea at an high tide and a full spring though wee be reserved ad tempora novissima to the last times and dwell neare the outsides and the common sewers where all Heretiques make their nests and like to Toads and Frogs engender in these sens and puddles Aug. de temp Scrm. 232. as Augustine is pleased to stile them though wee dwell amongst Papists Anabaptists Familists and have our residence amongst the Bastards of Barrow Browne c. yet if wee beleeve and repent if wee turne to the Lord though we turne from them if wee cleave to the Lord and renounce them if wee keepe our selves unspotted our consciences untouched we shall undoubtedly bee saved and received unto mercie notwithstanding all their peremptorie sentence of condemnation which they passe upon us Before I come to the two other branches let me note unto you the drift of all it is to prove that the Iewes are not all cast off and how it is proved because Paul knowes that hee himselfe is not cast off Here we have Paul sure and certaine of his owne salvation From whence gather A man while he is in this life may be sure and certaine of his owne salvation Doct. and life eternall And I adde ordinarily because I meane to oppose the Trent Councell denouncing the deepe Anathema upon them that say it a Si quis dixerit bominem ronaium justificatum toueri ex side ad credendum se esse ex numero praede stinatorum anathema sit If any man say that a man regenerate and justified is bound by faith to beleeve that he is in the number of the elect let hm bee accursed as Chemnitius notes to be in the 6. Session Canon 15. b Possunt quidom bon sperare peccata sibi remitti sed sine cerid siducia They may indeed hope well that their sinnes are forgiven but not with any certaine assurance In any particular man yet saith Christ Sonne thy sinnes are forgiven thee to one and to another Thy faith hath saved thee viz. the woman that had the bloudie issue Mar. 5.34 I fetch my reasons first from the nature and propertie of a free promise made by God as unto Ioshua I will never faile thee unto Abraham Gen. 17.7 I will be thy God c. So that if Gods promises be certaine and sure then is the salvation of the faithfull certaine and sure and because some men might doubt the Apostle tels us Heb. 6.17 18. that God was willing to confirme the promise And therefore bound himselfe by an oath that by two immutable things wherein it is impossible that God should lye that they might have strong consolation the one is his word the other his oath whosoever shall not beleeve God in these two maketh God a Liar in this that hee saith he hath given eternall life through his Son 1 Ioh. 5.10 That which the Papist replyes that the promises of God are true in generall but are not certaine to particular men by the certaintie of faith because it is no where faid in speciall I will give thee is most frivolous and idle for if the promise bee made to all that beleeve then when I know that I beleeve I know the promise is made to mee and besides it is false to say that the promises are onely generall See Rom. 10.9 If thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus c. thou shalt bee saved Here is certaintie of faith which is nothing else but that assured confidence of our heart by which it perceiveth and doubteth not that it hath right to what is promised and this is that new name written in the white stone Apoâ— 2.17 by this faith God dwelleth in our hearts and suffereth none to perish saith Lombard Booke 3. Distinct 23. Secondly from the propertie of justifying faith First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is an infallible perswasion Heb. 10.22 Reason 2 Secondly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the substance Hebr. 11.1 Thirdly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 through Christ we have boldnesse Ephes 3.12 Vpon these the Holy Ghost in Heb. 6. by an excellent metaphor compares faith to an anchor fastened in firme earth which the ship-man knowes to bee sound and constant against which no stormes can prevaile Which we have as the anchor of the soule both sure and stedfast Heb. 6.19 And Paul Rom. 8.38 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For I am perswaded that neither death nor life c. shall bee able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. And vers 16. The Spirit of God witnesseth to our spirits that we are the sons of God which Pighius and Andradius setting downe the Trent Councell as Chemnitius reciteth it contend to have beene not by faith but by revelation But I will make it appeare that Paul grounds not this assurance upon revelation but on a ground
our selves from thy presence masses of corruption mountaines of sin dead and dry trees fit fuell for thy fierce wrath to worke upon If wee should climbe up into heaven to hide us from thee thou art there or goe downe into the bottome and depth of hell thou art there also or take the wings of the morne and fly to the utmost part of the seas even there also will thy all-seeing eye behold us and thy right hand will quickly visit and finde us out wee will therefore here dissolve and melt our selves into a floud and fountaine of many teares bewailing and bemoaning our wofull and miserable estate for albeit by reason of that foule Chaos and staine of naturall corruption and originall sin wee have deserved long since to have had the sweet issue of all thy good blessings to be stopped and dried up thy milde and gentle corrections to bee turned into the sudden execution of bloudy to â—utes and fearefull judgements upon us even in this life and at ouâ— departing out of this world to be plunged everlastingly into a piâ—â— destruction there to be fried and scorched with Sataâ— and his Angels for evermore And yet for all this O Lord we have never ceased to adde oyle unto this flame and to blow up the coales of thy fearefull displeasure through the hot and eager pursuit of many loud crying actuall sinnes and transgressions so that from the crowne of the head to the sole of the foot there is not one place sound or whole within us but we are full of sores and swellings and botches full of sinne full or corruption our understandings which should have knowen thee to bee our true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ our Redeemer these are blinded and mis-led with ignorance and doubting our affections which should have beene good guides to have directed our feet into the way of peace they are become swift messengers of Satan to buffet us our bodies which should have been sweet Temples for thy blessed Spirit to dwell and lodge in they are sinks of sin and cages of filthy birds Our eyes O God are like open windowes and doores to receive sin our hearts like common Innes to lodge sin our heads like skilfull Politicians to contrive sinne our tongues smooth and sweet Orators to plead for the maintaining of sin and all our hands like stout Souldiers and couragious Champions to fight in the defence of sin Thus have we waged and managed war against thee our God ever since wee were borne so that now thou maist justly spâ—e us out of thy mouth cut us off in the midst of our sins come amongst us this verie present and binde us hand and foot and at the end of these few and miserable dayes send us all into hell together that so Satan might pay us our wages only whom thus long we have obeyed and served thus emptying our selves from all trust and confidence in the arme of flesh wee fly unto thee O God the anchor of our hope and the tower built for our defence with many deepe sighes and groanes from our perplexed consciences and diseased soules most humbly intreating thee to be gracious and mercifull to all our sins for they are wondrous great make it thy glorie to passe by and to winke at them poure into our soules the oyle of thy mercie supple our hard and dry hearts with the sweet influence of thy best graces and cure all our swelling wounds with the true balme of Gilead Purge good Lord and cleanse all the polluted and infected corners of our hearts that though 〈◊〉 this day our sins be as old as Adam as numberlesse as the stars oâ— heaven as high as the tallest Cedars in the Forrest Lord plucke them up by the roots burie them in everlasting forgetfulnesse that they may never stop the issue of thy blessings nor draw downe upon us the vials of thy wrath nor be a wound and griefe to our troubled consciences in this life or worke despaire in us at the end of our dayes nor stand up in judgement to be the utter ruine and condemnation of our soules and bodies at the last day Good Lord prepare us all for a better life sit us all for the Kingdome of thy Sonne Christ Jesus guide us all with thy blessed Spirit tutor us out of thy holy Word humble us by thy mercifull corrections and by thy fatherly blessings wed our affections and knit our hearts more neere unto thee in newnesse of life than ever heretofore they have beene that living as becommeth thy obedient children and servants an holy and a religious remnant of our dayes we may by thy grace and mercie be partakers of a joyfull and a comfortable death and after death of a glorious resurrection to everlasting life and peace among thy Saints Neither doe wee pray to thee for our selves onely but for all people and Nations of the earth but more particularly for the place in which wee live and therein according to our bounden dutie for thy servant and our Sovereigne Charles by thy speciall Providence King of Great Britaine France and Ireland Defender of the most true ancient Catholike and Apostolike faith and in all causes and over all persons within these his Majesties Realmes and Dominions next under thee and thy Sonne Christ Jesus supreme Governour adde unto his dayes as thou diddest unto the dayes of Hezekiah that he may enjoy a long and a prosperous reigne over us and in the meane time remember him in goodnesse for the good he hath done already to thy Church Bestow the sweetest of thy blessings upon our gracious Queene Marie our hopefull Prince Charles and the Lady Marie and the rest of those royall Branches beyond the seas season them in their young and tender yeares with thy feare that they may bee great in thy favour and if it may stand with thine eternall Decree let us never want an holy and a religious man of that house and line to governe the Scepters of these Kingdomes and to maintaine the preaching of thy glorious Gospell within these his Majesties Realmes and Dominions so long as the Sun and Moone endure Blesse 〈◊〉 King with an honourable valiant and a religious Councell and â—obilitie blesse him with a learned painfull and a zealous Clergie by what names or titles soever they be called whether they be Arch-Bishops or Bishops and all other painfull Labourers in this thy Vineyard blesse him with a wise prudent and a religious Gentrie blesse him with a peaceable a loyall and a religious Commonaltie and good God wee beseech thee to showre downe thy blessing upon the right hand and upon the left to them whom it hath pleased thee to send to this Congregation that by the blessing of thy good Spirit whensoever they shall stand on thy Mountaine to deliver a Message from thee give them good Father what wilt thou giue them give them wise and understanding hearts that they may open to thy people the wondrous things
of thy Law good Father touch their tongues with a coale from thine holy Altar that by the blessing of thy holy Spirit they may be able to worke some holinesse in the hearts of a sinfull and unbeleeving people and cut downe the head and strength of some sinne that remaineth in us and to this end and purpose make them sound in thy Doctrines terrible in thy threatnings sweet in thy comforts powerfull and effectuall in all thy perswasions and mercifull Father make thy word like the bow of ionathan and like the sword of Saul or Gideon that never returned emptie from the bloud of the slaine and the fat of the mightie Lastly wee come unto thee for our selves againe thy most unworthy servants that are here assembled in a reverent feare of thy most holy and blessed name most humbly intreating thee in Jesus Christ to be gracious and mercifull to all our sinnes and to be effectually present with thy blessed Spirit in the midst of us all and grant that thy word may drop and distill upon our tender consciences like raine upon the mowen grasse and as dew comes downe from Heaven to water the earth take away the scales of ignorance from all blinde and darke understandings remove farre from us all lets and hinderances whereby the blessed seed of thy Word hath beene too many and sundry times made unfruitfull in the hearts of sinfull and unbeleeving people and to everie soule that is present in thy house this day or at any other time grant 〈◊〉 all holy diligence to seeke thee godly wisdome to know theâ— and sanctified understanding to finde thee aright that so thâ— Word may prove the the sweet savour of life unto everlasting lift â—â—ough Jesus Christ our Lord and onely Saviour in whose most holy and blessed name wee are bold to conclude these our weake and imperfect prayers in that perfect forme of prayer which Christ hath taught us saying Our Father c. AN EXPOSITION VPON The eleventh Chapter to the ROMANS VERSE 1. I say then hath God cast away his people God forbid for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin IN the former Chapter the Apostle disputed at large touching the fall and rejection of the Iewes The Coherence and Argument Quatenus corum causa culpa contigit In Rom. 11. so farre forth as it came to passe through their meanes and fault saith Solo applying that unto them which was prophesied of them so long before in the 65. of Isaiah vers 2. Tota dit expendi manus meas All the day have I spread out my hands unto a rebellious people and Rom. 10.21 And in this Chapter hee disputes of the casting away of the lewes Quatenus à Deo ob bonam causam permissa suit Zab. de necess lib. 1. cap. 2. so farre forth as it was permitted by God for a good cause they were cut off that the Gentiles might be planted in Rom. 11.19 yet after this he goes about to comfort them by laying downe two conclusions which make the two maine and principall parts of the Chapter The first That the rejection was not uniuersall respectu subjecti i. in respect of the subject that is The Iewes were not all cast off from the first to the eleventh verse The second That their rejection was not universall respectu temporis i. in respect of the time that is eternall and forever from the eleventh verse to the end Or with Calvin more particularly thus In Rom. 11. The mitigation of their despaire after their rejection consists in these six Theorems 1. That all Israel is not rejected God hath not cast away his people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. which hee fore-knew vers 2. The 2. That by their fall the Gentiles have obtained salvation vers 11. The 3. That in the end the Iewes shall be converted to the faith and kingdome of Christ in great number vers 12. The 4. That Abraham who was the root was holy and therefore hath some holy branches among them vers 16. The 5. That God can as easily graft them into the Olive tree againe as hee cut them off vers 23 24. The 6. That Gods purpose and counsell to graft them in againe is like the Lawes of the Medes and Persians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. For the gifts of God are without repentance vers 29. This is the Coherence and Argument I have no purpose to insist upon the Author Paul so named of Sergius Paulus Of the Author of the Epistle the Pro-Consull of Cyprus whom he and Barnabas converted to the faith Act. 13.7 12. as Hierome avoucheth Lib de claris Scriptoribus nor of the signification of his name which in the Hebrew signifies Marvellous or as Buxtorâ—ius Etymol In the Greeke Ease and Rest à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cesso or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quies or small and little as Augustine De spiritu litiera cap. 7. In Psal 72. nor why his name was changed it is done by Augustine Hee was first Saul viz. superbus i. proud then Paul viz. Humilis i. humble Nor of the authoritie of this Epistle Lib. 4. de verbo Dei cap. 4. Non debet esse admirationi aliquaâ—na arbor ubi in candem proceritatem â—otasylva surrexâ—â— Quid primuÌ„ in eo admirer quid poste à comprobem quid postremò laudibus inestimandis vehendam arbitror planesum animi dubius which is knowen and beleeved to be divine by the witnesse of Gods Spirit in Scripturis non ex traditionibus i. in the Scriptures not by Traditions as Bellarmine vainely goes about to prove nor of the excellencie of this Chapter which I have select It was an excellent saying of Seneca in one of his Epistles Some one tree is not to be wondred at when as all the whole wood hath growen to the like talnesse I am altogether doubtfull what I should first admire what afterwards I should approve and what finally I should judge worthy to be extolled with inestimable praises * Convivium sapientâ—ae singuli libri singula â—ercula Ambr. script oâ—â—ic lib. 1. cap. 22. Hieron de Psalmis Epist ad Paulinum It is a banquet of wisdome and everie booke a daintie dish as Ambrose speaketh And as one said of the writings of Salvianus there is not one Iota or phrase in this whole Chapter which is not pregnant and full of supernaturall knowledge Thesaurus sapientiae i. even a treasure of wisdome as Hierome stileth the Booke of the Psalmes I come to the Analysis The parts are five 1. A consolation of the rejected Iewes Analysis that notwithstanding God had cast them off yet such a remnant of them as were within the covenant of election should be saved through grace from the first verse to the seventh 2. A confirmation of the rejection of the stubborne Iewes by Testimonies of two Prophets the one David Psal 69.22 Let their table
the Arke of the Covenant and the Temple which Salomon built Quis cladem illius urbis quis sunera sando Explicat aut possit lachrymis c. Virgil. 2.1 Aeneid Babylon who could say of herselfe as Isay 47.8 I am and none else beside mee I shall not sit as a widdow c. Yet now she is laid waste Ostriches cry there and the Satyres dance there Isay 13.21 Few places had such prerogatives as Nineveh so much state that Volateran reports that it was eight yeeres a building and all that time no lesse than ten thousand worke-men and Diodorus Slculus that the height of the wals were an hundred foot the breadth able to receive three carts on arow it had fifteene hundred turrets and yet none of these have sence but paper-wals to preserve their memoriâ—â— So the seven Churches of Asia I am seges est ubi Troja fuit Ovid. Epist 1. Nice Ephesus and Chalcedon famous for generall Councels and now the ruines and rubbish of them cannot bee found they are turned into pastures for oxen and sheepe 2. Outward privilege is no proofe of election for then all the Iewes enjoying the same privileges should bee saved aswell as any one of them Beware then you deceive not your hearts Vse that you trust not to these broken reeds that have no strength that you judge not of your estate by these outward marks It is not your hearing nor your maintaining of the Gospell but it is your sanctified holines in the heart Follow holines for without that no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 not Herods holines nor Pharisaicall holines not Popish holines in rites and ceremonies will you know that are of the Church I know you desire it for alas what good will it doe a man to have Princes to bow unto him doubt what shall become of his soule That saying of Trajan the Emperor will be but cold coÌ„fort at the day of death though my words perish in the aire yet When that day shall come that Christ shall set some on his right hand and others on his left you will have no comfort but in this that you led good lives kept cleere consciences served God in singlenesse of spirit for then hee will take you by the hands and bring you into his Palace admit you into his Court make you Inheritors of his Kingdome invest you into his glorie where I hope we all long to be and where I hope we shall all meet to praise the blessed Trinitie the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost to whom be glorie So I come to Pauls answer in the next words God forbid for I also am an Israelite Answ This answer consists of two branches The one Pauls reply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God forbid The other the strength of his reply in three Arguments 1. From the person Paul 2. From the fore-knowledge of God 3. From the state of the Church in the time of Elias I begin with the reply God forbid It seemes to bee a bare negation but is indeed in sence Bipartita propositio Ad Rom. 1. a two-fold proposition saith P. Martyr 1. God hath cast away none that are within the Covenant God forbid that 2. Which followes by way of corollarie All that are Iewes are not within the Covenant Doct. and from these two propositions follow two conclusions They that are within the Covenant of grace cannot finally be cast away 1. They that are within the Covenant of grace cannot finally bee cast away 2. All men are not within the Covenant of election and grace I beginne with the former and lay downe these grounds Reason 1 whereon it being built will stand like the house upon a rocke against the wind of Popish opposition The 1. God who elected them is unchangeable I am 1.17 I am God and change not Mal. 3.8 a Sine mutatione facit mutabilia moderatur mobiiased sine motu Aug de Trinit lib. 1. cap. 1. He being without change doth make things changeable and governeth things moveable but without motion saith Augustine b Et qui mutat opera non mutat concilium consess lib. 1. cap. 4. And hee who changeth his works changeth not his counsell c Et quodsemel habet nunquam admittit What he once hath he never loseth d Tempus ab aevo esse jubes stabilisque manous das cuncta manert Boet deconsol philos lib. 3. From all eternitie thou commandest time to bee and remaining stable thou causest all things to abide saith Boetius They that would see more may finde it in e De Ecclesiast Hierarch cap. 3. Dionysius the supposed Areopagite that though a man would fall yet God will bee sure in his Covenant The 2. Reason 2 Institut lib. 3. cap. 24. second given by Calvin All the elect are committed by God the Father to the keeping and protection of God the Sonne All that the Father giveth mee shall come to mee Ioh. 6.37 and in Ioh. 17.6 Thine they were and thou gavest them to me and therefore Christ cals himselfe the true Shepherd in Ioh. 10. and knowes everie one that God puts into his keeping vers 14. If a Shepherd then he is to tend and keepe all that is committed to his trust and if you will know how faithfully Christ doth keep them see Ioh. 17.12 All that thou hast given me I have kept and not one of them is lost save the sonne of perdition c. And Ioh. 6.37 Him that commeth to me from the Father I put not away nay there is not one that God hath commended to my keeping but I will shew him to my Father and bee accountable for their soules at the day of judgement For I will raise him up at the last day saith the Shepherd of Israel vers 39. The 3. Reason 3 If any thing should cut them off who are once in the Covenant it must needs be their owne sinne or the stratagem of an enemie Sin cannot because if any of them sinne they have an advocate with the father Iesus Christ 1 Ioh. 2.1 Hee will present them blamelesse and without spot and in the meane time keepe them that they shall not fall Iude 24. nor can the stratagems of Satan prevaile for I give unto them eternall life and none take them out of my hands and they shall never perish Ioh. 10.28 If the elect could be deceived it should bee by false Christs and false Prophets Matth. 24.24 they would deceive if it were possible the verie elect The 4. The assurance of salvation is sealed the covenant is not onely made as Gen. 17.7 but it is also sealed Reason 4 for God hath sealed us and hath given us an carnest-penny for hee hath sealed us and hath given us the earnest of his Spirit in our hearts 2 Cor. 1.22 So Ephes 4.30 Grieve not the holy Spirit of God by whom you are sealed c. So 2 Tim. 2.19 The foundation of God remaineth sure
changeth not his counsell 4. I adde they whom hee loved in Christ for whatsoever good the Lord promiseth as wee receive it it is per propter Christum through and for Christ He hath predestinated us to be adopted through Iesus Christ Ephes 1.5 yea no man is predestinate but for this purpose that hee may be a member of Christ for he predestinated us to be adopted through Christ into himselfe viz. into Christ 5. That they should bee justified and glorified So Paul Rom. 8.30 Whom hee predestinated them he will call whom he called them hee will justifie whom he justifieth them hee will glorisie 6. That he passed by others So Malac. 1.2 I loved Iacob and hated Esau Lastly to manifest his glorie in mercie and justice that hee might declare the riches of his glorie upon the vessells of mercie Rom. 9.23 But of this definition thus made and proved may arise these comfortable observations 1. Observ 1 God predestinated us because hee looked favourable on us in Iesus Christ both to holinesse and happinesse So the Scripture everie where attributes all the good that we have from God to bee through Christ Hee hath blessed us with all spirituall blessings in heavenly places in Christ Ephes 1.2 Hee hath chosen us in Christ Ephes 1.4 Hee hath predestinate us to bee adopted through Christ Ephes 1.5 Hee accepted us in his beloved viz. in Christ Vers 6. He redeemed us by the bloud of his sonne Christ Vers 7. Hee hath gathered together reconciled all things both in heaven in earth by one that is Christ ver 10. And therfore when we beg any thing of God we are taught to beg it in the name of Christ So Christ himselfe Iohn 14.13 Whatsoever yee aske the Father in my name that will I doe for you that the Father may be glorified in the Sonne So Ioh. 16.23 Whatsoever yee aske the Father in my name hee will give it you Whence we learne to disclaime our worthinesse and our owne workes from being meritorious causes of Gods blessings Excellently Moses Deut. 7.7 8. The Lord did not set his love upon you because yee were moe in number for yee were the fewest of all people but because he loved you O then let us feed Christ if we cannot in himselfe Vse yet in his members and cloath him though not in himselfe yet in his servants let us entertaine and lodge Christ in our hearts and soules that procures thus many blessings of his Father for us our free election our powerfull calling our free justification and assurance of glorie wee have by him Let us say with Paul 2 Thess 2.16 17. The same Iesus Christ our Lord and our God which hath loved us and given us everlasting consolation must also comfort and stablish our hearts c. 2. Observ 2 In that he predestinated us that we should be holy Note That whom God hath praedestinated to the end which is glorie them also he predestinated to use the meanes which is holinesse See Eph. 1.4 Hee hath chosen us before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and as the Apostle speakes of spirituall creation that we are his workmanship created in Christ Iesus unto good workes that we should walke in them Ephes 2.10 So of election and We are redeemed to be a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 3.7 8. I adde no more but that of Peter 1 Pet. 1.2 Wee are elect according to the fore-knowledge of God the Father to sanctification of the Spirit and to obedience Acts 13.48 As many as were ordained to eternall life beleeved Whence they are most justly to bee blamed who make predestination a libertie to their sinfull lives and use sinfully to reason after this manner If I bee predestinate unto glorie then I shall bee sure of it howsoever I live for Gods decrees bee immutable If I bee in Gods decree and purpose a reprobate then if I should strive never so much I shall be no better I cannot alter it Contra Colsum lib. 2. Vide P. Martyr Com. lec p. 447. like those in Origen Whereas thou shouldest rather reason thus If I belong to Gods election then shall I use the meanes to come unto glorie I will therefore use all holy and godly courses that I may get my election sure and sealed as Peter wils us a Pet. 1.10 when Paul had that promise I haue given unto thee the life of all that saile with thee Acts 27.24 Yet except they use the meanes to come to land the helpe of their ship if they shall now leape into the water they cannot be saved vers 31. So when Iacob feared his brother Esau and yet had that assurance from God that hee should prevaile with men Genes 32.28 Yet see how carefull he is of all meanes to pacifie him he will doe it with gifts Munera crede mihi placant hominesque Deosque and sends one drove before another Genes 33. And so I come from the definition to the order observed in it God hee conceives all things at once with one act of his understanding 2. Of the order of predestination to which all things both past and to come are present and as hee conceived so hee decreed all things at once but the reasonable creature being finite conceives one thing after another Therefore for our understandings wee may distinguish the counsell of God concerning man into two acts or two degrees 1. The purpose of God in himselfe in which he determines what hee will doe and the end of all his doings and that is to create all things specially man for his owne glorie as Isa 43.7 partly by shewing mercie on some and partly by shewing of his justice upon others 2. Is another purpose whereby hee decrees the execution of the former and laves downe meanes to accomplish the end thereof which two acts of the counsell of God are not to be severed nor yet confounded but distinctly considered with some difference for in the first God decrees some men to honour by shewing mercie and some to dishonour by shewing his justice upon them and this man more than that out of his will and pleasure and that is the onely cause that we can give even his will In the second are set downe the causes of the execution of the former decree and these are knowen and manifest for no man though left out of clection is condemned but for sinne no man though elected is yet saved but by the merits of Christ But I passe over this and come to the parts of predestination which are two The parts of Gods predestination are two 3. The parts of predestination The first the decree of election The second the decree of reprobation A diftinction plaine out of Rom. 9. and may be thus confirmed of some it is faid The Lord knoweth who are his 2 Tim. 2.19 And of others Christ shall say in judgement Depart from mee yee wicked I know you not Matth.
for them then the Lord stayed him and stopt his passage by bringing in the sea to drowne him and his host Exod. 14. as hee did with Saul when he would have taken away Davids life the Lord set downe how farre hee should proceed to chase him from place to place but not to death By all which it appeares that wee make not God to bee an idle looker on which suffers every creature to doe what they will But when God gives men over to bee blinded and hardned by Sathan and suffers wicked men for a time to worke mischiefe yet sets bounds and limitts to their rage and fury and in the end wonderfully rescues his servants from trouble This surely is not to doe nothing Fifthly a reducing of the ends to the rule of justice The bringing of some good out of evill for though Sathan and wicked men propose their ends the wicked that hee may serve his pleasures the Devill that hee may destroy yet such is the goodnesse of God Bâ—â—um est mala esse vel â—ieri alioquâ—â— sumâ—â—è bonus non permitteâ—et ca ficri Loâ— hard lib. 1. distinct 46. that hee will never suffer evill to be done if it were not to bring good out of it It is good that evils be or bee done otherwise the most good God would not suffer them to bee done and such is the wisdome of God that out of worst things he can chose the best ends as for example Iosephs brethen sold him for envy but God sent him to prouide for his old father and his brethren to preserve their lives Gen. 45.5 So in the death of Christ Sathan and the Iewes intended onely his death but God turned it to the salvation of all that beleeve As poyson is in it selfe evill but the skilfull Physician by tempering it cures the sicke and workes good out of it So doth God with sinne Shimei by cursing would shew his hatred of David but God would make knowne the patience of David which was good Now these workes as they proceed from the next cause man and the Devth be evill they be evill trees which cannot bring forth good fruits But as they proceed from the supreme cause and as hee brings good out of them they are good God and Satan will both have Ierusalem destroyed But Sathan that hee might bee avenged on them God that hee might punish their rebellion Christ is delivered to death the Iewes they doe it onely in malice But God hath another end the redemption and salvation of man and therefore in Act. 4.28 Pilate and the Iewes Gentiles gathered together to doe whatsoever thy hand and Councell had determined S. Enchirid ad Laurent ca. 101. Augustine shewes how God man may will the same thing and God in willing it doth well and yet man sinnes in willing it The father of an ungratious child is sicke Vt citius perveniat ad haereditaâ—em paâ—ris Vuâ—t Deus jâ—â—sâ—e fil uâ— iâ— pie God will have him to die â—n his just judgement the sonne That hee may sooner come to his fathers inheritance God wills it justly the sonne wickedly Albeit God doe order Res mala non habet â—aulan essi cientem sed desi ie 〈◊〉 De 〈◊〉 taâ—e Dei Lib 12. cap 7. determinate and governe sinnes that be done yet is he not properly the efficient cause of sinne It was a good saying of Augustine An evill thing hath no a cause efficient but defficient as the corruption of iudgement and the perversnesse of will and further I say that though the Papist accuseth us for making God the author of sin yet I will change my religion if I will not shew to any Romanist that will challenge me that wee of this Church teach no otherwise than the Papists themselues have written not onely out of Occam Durand and Bannes but principally out of Thomas Aquinas and Bellarmine himselfe In Râ—m 9. Dea â—ass gratiae lib. 2. Cap. 13. By a figure hee commands it and incites men unto it as a Huntsman sets the dog upon the Hare by letting goe the slip That God doth not onely permit the wicked to doe evill nor onely forsake the godly that the wicked may doe what they will against them But he oversees their wills he rules their wills he governs their wills nay he bowes and bends them by working invisibly in them and not only inclines the will to one evill rather than to another by permitting them to bee carried into one sinne and not into another but also positively hee bends them by inclining them to one evill and turning them from another occasionally and morally as hee speakes out of Thomas Aquinas Let them looke well into these speeches and they shall finde that wee say no more than they and if they would expound ours as candidly as their owne there would bee small or no difference Briefly then we say first in generall That God is not the author of sinne but the devill and mans corrupt will and the contrary we defie as blasphemy Secondly in particular wee beleeve that God wills nothing which is formerly sinne but hee fulfills his good wills by our evill wills as P. Lombard as hee wills that which is good Lib 1. Distinct 48. but hates it rather whence it followes that hee inspires it into no man nor creates any corruption in our wills which was not there before but forbids it absolutely within us by the light of his spirit as Rom. 2.15 without by the commandement Thou shalt heare a word behinde thee saying this is the way turne not out of it Isay 39.21 c. The first entrance of sinne into the world and the continuance of it in the world was the voluntary action of mans will God infusing no evill into him for God is not the cause why man is worse but that which God doth about and concerning sinne is contained in three actions First as the universall cause of all things hee sustaines mankinde and upholds his being yea the being motion of all his actions good and bad So that no man could either move to any action or have being himselfe if God sustained him not as Act. 17.28 whence it followes that the very positive act which the schoolemen call the subject of sinne and the materiall part of sin whereto sinne cleaveth is of God in the same sort that all other actions of the creature are this proposition doth Zanchius well illustrate A man rides upon a lame horse in this action are two things Motion and Halting the motion is of man man makes him move but his halting is of himselfe so in sinne the action or motion is of God but the deformity of man himselfe Secondly he withholds his grace as Iohn 12.39 Therefore they could not beleeve because Isay saith he hath blinded c. as being bound to no man but leaves the wicked to themselves whereupon it followes that their hearts grow hard and they cannot chose
offered by Moses and Aaron The Iewes they slue Christ and the Apostles and upon this followed the judgement Then came the floud upon the old world fire upon Sodome the sea in upon Aegvpt the spirit of slumber upon the Iewes There cannot be a greater judgement than to be strucke with a spirituall lethargie that nothing will waken to have hearts so hard that nothing can soften them to be like Epimenides in his cave or like the famous sleepers in the time of the Emperour Deâ—ius oâ— like Dionysius of Heraclea c. But this will better appeare in the two particulars whereof the first is Eyes that they should not see Salvian Lib 2. The eyes of the body which are fenestrae mentis the windowes of the minde should guide from corporall and the eyes of the minde from spirituall dangers * Tria impâ—â—iunt occulum 1. Tenâ—brae viz. peccata 2. Humor concretus viz. confluâ—us pecoâ—torum 3. Cura terrenorum With the former they lookt cleere enough not a mote in them but in the eyes of their mindes there were great beames that they could not see Three things hinder the eye 1. Darknesse to wit sinnes 2. a Concrete humour to wit a concusse of sinnes 3. The care for earthly things This Christ upbraided them with I speake to them in parables because seeing doe not see c. Matth. 13.13 which was a just judgement saith Musculus a Quia cùm loquebatâ—r perspicùe noluerunt intellâ—gire in paenam jam loquitur obscurè Because they would not understand when he spake cleerely to their punishment hee now speaketh obscurely And againe in Ioh. 12.40 He hath blinded their eyes c. Will you know a point by the way When the Iewes bewrayed their blindnesse that was in the time of Christ the Prophets and Apostles as Musculus observes and hee gives this note upon it b Malum ingenium impiorum nunquaÌ„ clâ—riùs deprehenditur qùam ubâ—lux veritatis splendere incipit The ill disposition of the wicked as never more clearely discerned than where the light of the truth begins to shine As c Splendente solenoctuae vespertiliones naturae defectum ostendunt sed noctè circum circa volitant hae solae aves The Sunne shining the Owles and Bats shew the defect of their nature but these birds alone in the night fly about here and there So wicked men shew themselves most vile when the best meanes are used to doe them good when this light came into the world then did this people bewray their blindnesse when Christ preached powerfully professed himselfe to bee the Messias then did they most of all whet their malice and rage against him when hee said I am of God and would have instructed them in his divinitie then they goe about to take him Ioh. 7.30 When he taught that high mysterie I and the Father are one then they goe about to stone him Ioh. 10.31 The more light they had the more their blindnesse appeared In the night time all colours are alike the foulest fogs and fens are not discerned from the crystall streames but in the morning they are discerned Reprobate men are never so bad as when the best meanes are used to doe them good Herod never worse than when Iohn preaches against Herodias till then all is well but if hee lay a plaister to that sore off goes his head Whence make a difference betweene the good and bad at the hearing of the word The one trembles and therefore onely is fit to heare as Isay 66.5 Heare yee that tremble at my word The other rages as Zidkijah did with Michaiah 1 King 22.24 When this Sunne shines the one is mollified like wax the other hardened like clay when the Law is read the one melteth like the heart of Iosiah 2 King 22.19 the other is never harder than then like as Pharaoh the more miracles Moses wrought and the more Aaron spake from God the more hee was hardened to be short we may see here both the nature of the word that it can discover a mans blindnesse and finde out everie uncleane corner in his heart as Heb. 4.12 It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Secondly it is a marke to know a castaway by his hearing of the word the seeing the light makes him more blind the hearing more hard Let them take heed then that have heard so many Sermons against pride and yet studie new tricks to cover foule carkasses more than ever they did So many against neglect of the word and now absent themselves more than ever they did Against greedinesse and yet wooe and sollicite the world more than ever they did I will not say what I feare not that they are reprobates But as old Iacob said of Simeon and Levi Genes 49.6 Into their secrets let not my soule come I come a little neerer It is not Eruit illis â—culos Soto in Rom. 11. He hath pluckt out their eyes that they should not see But though hee give other eyes to to see hee gives them eyes that they should not see a greater judgement than if hee had quite taken away their eyes Qui privati sunt oculis non possunt videndo seduci For They that have no eyes cannot be seduced by seeing But the purblinde though he have eyes and see somewhat as hee in Mark. 8.24 Menlike trees is many times more wronged by seeing than if he were quite blinde for so our Saviour tels this people in Ioh. 9.41 If yee were blinde yee should not have sinne but now you see therefore your sinne remaines They had eyes to see corâ—icem Legis the barke and outside of the Law sed non penetrabant oculi corum ad medullam but their eyes pierced not to the marrow thereof The points are many 1. That the word which is the best salve for some mens eyes doth take away the sight of others yet the fault is not in the word but in themselves Non crimen Phoebus noctua crimen habet The fault is not in the Sunne but in the Owle 2. When God gives a blessing as eyes to see and men abuse it and regard not God in justice deprives them of the use of it So in the Word and the Ministers which is the note of Anselmus But the note which I insist on is Observat that they saw his miracles and beleeved not The eyes of their body saw him doe those works which none could doe but God and by delegation from him as healing the sicke cleansing Lepers raising the dead yet they smoaked out the eyes of their understandings that it might not sinke into their hearts and for all that they saw they beleeved him not and therefore God in judgement casts such a mist upon their understanding that now they cannot see though they would and such a distemper is now in their eyes that the sight not onely failes but deceives them and
the atheisticall and loose companion O there were good lessons against precisenesse This is to bee like those Lamiae or Gorgones mentioned by Caelius Rhodoginus who can finde meanes to cure others but none to helpe themselves Secondly Vse 2 let us who enjoy the Gospell shew some signes and fruits of a spirituall life that it may appeare that the Gospell hath raised us from the dead this is it that Paul said to Titus chap. 2.11 12. The grace of God that is the Gospell that bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared and teacheth us to deny ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and that we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world soberly towards himselfe righteously towards his neighbour godly towards God as Aquinas speakes Let us lead such lives as beseemes the Gospell of Christ having our conversation honest walking in the Spirit giving good example doing of good workes as living but ready to dye having our bodies on earth but our minde and conversation in heaven not spending our dayes in eating and drinking but thirsting after righteousnesse not putting on robes and costly ornaments but putting on the Lord Iesus Christ not seeking sinfull pastimes but making melody to the Lord in our hearts not rejoycing in jests and merriments but in Psalmes and hymnes and spirituall songs not laying up treasure in earth but in heaven not waiting for honours and preferments but waiting for the comming of the Sonne of God and for that glorie which shall be revealed And so I come from the proposall of this second argument to the proofe and confirmation of it VERS 16. For if the first fruits bee holy so is the whole lumpe and if the root be holy so are the branches IT is the confirmation of the second argument from the hope that the Iewes shall bee restored because an holy people shall not bee cast off for ever but the Iewes are hereditarily an holy people therefore shall not bee cast off for ever Of this argument the assumption or minor onely is expressed and is amplified by two metaphors the one from the holy first fruits the other from the holy root the one taken from the Law of Moses the other from the course of Nature The Law of Moses was this as Numb 15.20 You shall offer a cake of the first of your corne that was the first fruit which being consecrate and holy the remnant was also holy that is was made good and wholesome The order of Nature is this the juyce and the sap or moysture comes first into the root and then into the branches So that if the sap be good in the root it is good also in the branches now to apply the first fruits were holy The root whence the Iewes came was good therefore they are good also Who are these first fruits and who this root is I cannot beleeve with Origen that it was Christ I acknowledge no other holy root but our Lord. Ego aliam radicem sanctam non agnosâ—o nisi Dominum nostrum But I beleeve with Chrysostome the whole streame of moderne writers that by the first fruits and the holy root wee must understand Abraham Isaac and Iacob with the rest of the Patriarches which are not these fruits or root in respect of their persons but in respect of the promise made to them and to their seed as Calvin hath well expounded it So that the meaning is God hath hath promised to be the God of them who are the fruits and of their children which are the lumpe of them who are the root and of their children who are the branches therefore in regard of Gods promise we must not doubt but God who hath mercie on the first fruits will have mercie on the rest hee that loved the root will also set his love upon the branches from whence note in generall 1. From the Law of paying the first fruits 1. That of all the fruits of the earth Doct. 1 and of all the blessings that God gives unto man some part is due backe unto God againe For though authoritie have dasht and cancelled that Law of Moses concerning the paying of tithes yet Gods part and right in all the creatures can no man take away God was to have the first borne both of man and beast Exod. 13.2 He was to have the first fruits of the Land Exod. 23.19 But who was to receive for God See Deut. 26.12 13. It was given to the Levite to the stranger to the fatherlesse and to the widdow The Lord is Land-Lord of the whole earth and of all that is in it man is but Gods Tenant at will and is bound to pay unto God a vearely rent that is some part of all the blessings of God and this God receives by his Deputies Some is to bee paid to the Levite some to the stranger some to the widdow some to the poore and fatherlesse So that such men as hold much from God and will not pay backe unto God againe that which is his owne are such as God will at last turne out of doores 2. Doct. 2 The promises of God made to godly Fathers belong to their children also And that one promise made to Abraham must bee the judge of all others I will bee thy God and of thy seed Genes 17.7 So Peter speaketh to those that were pricked in their hearts The promise is made to you and to your children and to those are a farre off Act. 2.39 But I come to sift the words more particularly If the first fruits bee holy the first maine point is from the letter of the Metaphor 3. Doct. 3 The paying of God that which is his gives us a right and interest in all the rest as the paying of the best and first fruits the paying of thankes and prayer The Ancients were not wont to drinke of the grape unlesse they had first offered it to some God Pluturch Symposiac 4. Doct. 4 Gods promises made to the Fathers shall bee fulfilled to some of their children though not to them all and in Gods appointed time though not so soone as the promise is made When he promised to send his Son this promise was made to the fathers and God fulfilled it to their children Acts 13.32 33. The promise of giving the land of Canaan made to the Fathers was long a fulfilling but at last fulfilled to their children If God have made Abraham a promise that his seed shall be blessed hee will fulfill it in Isaac though Ishmael be rejected Genes 21.12 If hee make the same promise to Isaac hee will fulfill it in Iacob though Esau bee reprobate Gen. 27. If the same promise bee made to Iacob and Iacob die many hundred of yeeres before yet some of his children shall inherit it yet am not I come to the pith of my Text and therefore there must bee a fifth conclusion 5. Children of good parents are holy Doct. 5 for the promise made unto the fathers though children of
holy exclamations to stirre and incite others unto it Thus doth the Prophet Psal 8. O Lord our God how excellent is thy name in all the world Hee sets downe his glorie in ordaining strength out of the mouthes of babes vers 2. In creating the Heavens deckt with Sunne Moone and Stars vers 3. In the making of man little inferiour to Angells giving him dominion over all other workes of his hands yet after all this he is faine to admire O Lord how excellent is thy name in all the world In another Psalme O Lord how glorious are thy workes and thy thoughts are verie deepe Psal 92.5 When David hath considered how the Lord redeemed his people from the hand of the oppressour gathered them out of the lands when they wandred in the wildernesse and had no Citie to dwell in hungrie and thirstie that their soule fainted in them hee breakes into this passion O that men would therefore praise the Lord c. Psal 107.8 Againe considering how often God hath satified the thirstie and filled the hungrie soule with gladnesse how he humbled their hearts with heavinesse and yet when they cried delivered them out of their distresse brought them out of darknesse and brake their bands in sunder He breaks out againe into that holy exclamation O that men would therfore praise the Lord vers 15. Againe considering how hee had broken for them the gates of brasse and smitten the barres of iron in sunder how hee sent his word and healed them and delivered them from the grave when their soule abhorred all manner of meat and they were hard at deaths doore Hee breakes out into that holy exclamation vers 21. Againe considering how they that goe to sea c. how they are mounted up to heaven and downe to the deepe againe how they reele and stagger and their skill failes yet the Lord turnes their storme into a calme and brings them to the haven Hee breakes out into that holy exclamation vers 31. Wee cannot remember how God hath called us Gentiles without God in the world Ephes 2.12 but it will cause an holy exclamation O the riches of the mercie and goodnesse of God how he hath cast off the Iew whom hee so much honoured but it should cause an holy exclamation O the unsearchable depth of the judgements of God! wee cannot looke upon the heaven beautified with starres upon the earth cloathed with flowers but it should cause an holy exclamation O the depth of his love and bountie unto us in Christ Iesus From whence wee may learne a three-fold dutie First Vse 1 to strive how we may affect and possesse mens hearts with the rarenesse and excellencie yea with an holy admiration of Gods workes and proceedings so doth David Psal 48.4 Sing unto God sing praises unto his name exalt him that rides upon the heavens in his name Iah According to thy name so thy praise shall be to the worlds end Psalm 48.10 And if wee doe remember his workes we must needs admire his workes Who can remember his worke of election and not wonder that hee should love Iacob and hate Esau His creation and not wonder how he could frame so many goodly creatures in heaven and in earth of nothing by nothing but a word His workes of redemption and not wonder at his goodnesse in sending his Sonne into the world to die for sinners His worke of vocation and not wonder how by the voice of his Gospell preached by weake men hee could subdue and convert Nations and Kingdomes Who can remember his framing in the wombe and not wonder I will praise thee for I am fearefully and wonderfully made Psal 139.14 Who can remember how God hath kept him from the wombe fed him with the lives of his creatures preserved him from dangers From the arrow that hath flowen abroad by night from the sicknesse that hath destroyed at noone day yea When thousands have fallen beside him and ten thousands at his right hand and not admire the loving kindnesse of the Lord Let our tongues sticke to the roofe of our mouths our right hands forget to play Let fathers forget their sonnes nurses their sucking babes mothers the fruit of the wombe But let us never cease to magnifie and admire the wayes and proceedings of God whose workes are unsearchable and wayes past finding out The second Vse is Vse 2 That when humane reason is offended with the deepnesse of the doctrine of predestination that wee renounce reason and give glorie unto God and with reverence admire what we cannot understand Let us beleeve that it is so Dâ—spatare vis mecum mirare mecum clama O altituao aâ—bo consenâ—iamus in pavore ne in crrore pereâ—mus Aug de â—â—rbis Apost Serm. 11. because the word hath revealed it but when by reason we cannot apprehend the manner the cause let us fall downe worship the Lord whose wisdome is deeper than the Ocean whose wayes are unsearchable and judgements past finding out It was the modestie of S. Augustine Wilt thou dispute with me wonder with me and crie O deepnesse let us both hoth agree in feare lest we perish in errour Let us learne the lesson of our Saviour I thanke thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise and learned and hast revealed them unto babes Is it so O Father because thy good pleasure was such Matth. 11.26 Thirdly Vse 3 it serves to condemne such men as murmure at Gods order and course in matter of reprobation and thinke much that God should leave one in the masse of corruption rather than another that hee should reprobate them before they had done any evill and appoint them to be vessels of wrath and brands of an everlasting burning in a blacke and bottomlesse Tophet before ever their mothers conceived them whereas God is most wise and just and of absolute power and authoritie and therefore alwayes doth and cannot chuse but order rule and dispose of all things most rightly and most wisely albeit our weake and sinite apprehensions cannot see the reason of it The Conclusion Let us beleeve what we see not admire what we understand not reverence and adore that God whose councels are so deepe and wisdome so infinite that men and Angels cannot finde them out And so I come to a second point in generall Wee must in the hidden mysteries and secrecies of Almightie God Doct. not be curious to know impossibilities much lesse object and except against the manner of Gods proceedings but containe our selves within the precincts and limits of his word adore and admire his counsels without all vaine and rash attempting to search and finde them out It is Davids speech Psal 36.6 His mercie reacheth unto the heavens his faithfulnesse unto the clouds his righteousnesse is like the mightie mountaines his judgements like the great deepe And therefore can wee neither finde the reason of them nor except against them First it