vvhether so-euer the soule goeth to the same place shall the conscience repaire and looke in vvhat estate thy conscience is when thou departest out of this life in the selfe same estate shall it meet thee in the great Day So that if thy conscience was a tormentor to thee at the time of thy death if thou gette it not then pacified it shall be also a tormentor to thee in that generall Iudgement Therefore this matter vvould bee vvell vveighed and euerie one of you should studie to haue a good conscience that vvhen the soule is seuered from the body leauing your conscience at rest and peace with God it may be restored vnto you meet you againe with as great peace and quietnes Thus farre concerning conscience what it is I beseech the liuing Lord so to sanctifie your memories that ye may keep these things and that euery one of these things may be so imprinted in your harts that ye may be mindful of them all your liues The second thing that we are to speake of is this We are to consider wherfore we should try our consciences for what causes we should examine our own soules and cōsciences I wil declare the reasons briefly It behooueth euery one of you to try your conscience Why Because the Lord will make his residence in no other part of the soule but in the conscience Hee hath appointed his dwelling to be in the hart of man and in the will and conscience of man and therefore it becomes you to make his dwelling place cleane to take heeed vnto your harts Next though the Lord of heauen made not his residence there yet in respect the eye of GOD is an all-seeing eye and able to pearce throgh the very thicknesse of mans flesh how darke and grosse soeuer it be and to enter into the very secret corners of thy conscience for vnto the all-seeing eye of GOD the most secret corner of the conscience is as cleare and manifest as any outward or bodily thing in the earth can be to the outward eye of the body In respect therefore that this eye is so pearcing and that hee casts his eye onely vpon our harts it behooueth vs to try our harts Thirdly hee is the Lord of the conscience There is no Monarch on earth that hath any soueraigntie or lordshippe ouer the conscience onely the GOD of heauen onely Christ Iesus King of heauen and earth is Lord of the conscience hee hath power onely to saue and lose Therefore vvhen thou commest to this Sacrament of the Lords Table thou oughtest carefully to looke vnto thy conscience to try and examine the state of it Last of all vvhich is a chiefe reason It behooueth thee to prooue thy conscience because the welfare and health of thy soule dependeth vpon thy conscience If thy conscience that is within thy soule be well if it be at peace and rest thy soule is vvell if thy conscience be in a good estate thy soule must needs be in a good estate if thy conscience bee in good health of necessity thy soule must be in good health for the good health happinesse of the soule dependes vpon a good conscience therefore it concerneth euery one of you to try well your consciences There vvas neuer any lavv made or deuised that forbade vs to haue a care of our healths it is lawfull for vs to seeke such things as may procure and preserue it but the health of thy soule standeth in the health of thy conscience and in preseruing thereof therefore by all lawes thou oughtest to attend thy conscience If thou keepe thy conscience wel thy soule is in health and if thy soule be in health let troubles come what will vpon thy bodie thou wilt indure them all but if thy soule be diseased with an euill conscience thou shalt not be able to beare out the least trouble that shall come vnto thy bodie vvhereas if the conscience were at rest and in good health that trouble could not happen vnto thy bodie but the strength of a good conscience vvould beare it out Then haue yee not reason and more then reason to take heed to your consciences to try and examine your consciences in vvhat estate and disposition they stand Now Certaine lessons to be learned by which a man may preserue health in his soule cōscience because it is a fruitlesse thing to tell you that health is necessarie and not to shew the vvay how this health may be obtayned and preserued therfore to keep your consciences in quiet good health I will giue you these few lessons First of all bee sure that yee retaine stedfast a perswasion of the mercie of GOD in Christ Iesus examine vvhen thou lyest downe and examine when thou risest vp in what estate thou art with God whether thou maist looke for mercy at his hands or not Art thou perswaded of mercy Assure thy selfe thy conscience is in a good estate thou hast health in thy soule for by the keeping of faith the conscience is preserued as saith the Apostle 1. Tim. 1.19 Keepe this perswasion preserue it vvhole and sound hurt it not bring not thy soule into doubting stay not nor hinder thy perswasion if thou desire to keep health in thy soule for if thou doubt or any way diminish thy perswasion and assurance assuredlie thy assurance cannot so soon be hindered nor diminished but at that very instant shall follow the diminishing of the health of thy soule yea it cannot be but in that very article of time shall follow the hurt of thy conscience for faith will not dwell but in a whole conscience Therefore at what time thou doost any thing against thy conscience at that very time thou losest a degree of thy perswasion of the mercy of God and vntill such time as thou fall downe at the feet of Christ and obtaine mercie for that wicked deed purchase peace at his hands and repaire thy persvvasion thou shalt euer doubt of mercie and vvant health in thy conscience Then this is the first lesson to keepe health in your soules To be perswaded of mercie The second lesson to keepe a good conscience or to keepe health in thy soule is this Yee must flie eschew and forbeare vvhatsoeuer may trouble the health of your soule whatsoeuer may trouble the quietnesse peaceable estate of your conscience cast it out forbeare it and eschew it This generall is good But let vs see vvhat it is that troubles the quiet estate of the conscience Onely sinne nothing but an euill nature Therefore vvee must of necessitie to keepe health in our soules forbeare and eschew sinne we must flie and auoyde sin It is not possible that ye can both keepe a good conscience and serue the affections of your hart therefore to keepe peace health in thy soule thou must take leaue of thy lusts thou must renounce the lusts and affections of thy hart and thou must not doe as thou wast wont
you first marke the nature of the signes and the nature of the thing signified yee must obserue both their natures And why Because nothing can be coupled nor conioyned with other but so farre as the nature of it will suffer if the nature of it will not suffer a coniunction they cannot be conioyned or will the nature of it suffer a coniunction looke how farre it will suffer a coniunction so farre are they conioyned Seeing then ye must obserue the nature of the things that are conioyned first marke the thing signified what the nature thereof is marking that ye shall see that the thing signified is of a spirituall nature of a heauenly and mysticall nature then may ye conclude that this spiritual thing will suffer a spirituall coniunction a mysticall and secret coniunction Againe obserue the signe The signe of his nature as I haue told you hath a relation vnto the thing signified the thing signified of his nature hath a relation vnto the signe So then the signe the thing signified will suffer to be conioyned by a mutuall relation both the signe and the thing signified in respect they haue a mutuall relation the one vnto the other they will suffer themselues to be conioyned by a relatiue coniunction Now if ye ask me what sort of coniunction is betweene that bread and that wine and the body and bloud of Christ To tell you in a word I say it is a secret and spirituall coniunction such a coniunction as standeth in a mutuall respect betwixt the bread and the body of Christ and betwixt the wine and the bloud of Christ then I say it is a secret a spirituall coniunction Ye would not be so inquisitiue of this coniunction if it were corporall visible or locall if you saw them both before your eyes you would not aske how they are conioyned or if thou didst see them both in one place But because you see but the one with your eyes and the other is hid this maketh the coniunction the more difficult to be vttered and vnderstood And how is it possible that ye can conceiue this secret and hid coniunction except you haue the eyes of your minde illuminated by the spirit whereby ye may come to the right vnderstanding But if yee haue any insight into these spirituall matters that come by faith this coniunction will appeare as cleerely by the eye of your faith as the physicall coniunction dooth to the eye of your body Novv to haue this matter made more plain there is another coniunction which serueth to make this coniunction very cleere namely the coniunction betwixt the vvord which I speake and the thing signified by that same word As if I speake to you of things in this language which yee vnderstand bee it of things past though neuer so long since of things to come though neuer so far off of things absent though neuer so farre distant yet so soone as I speake the vvord vvhether it be of things past or to come the thing it selfe will come into your minde The vvord is heard no sooner by your eare but the thing signified by the same vvord commeth into your minde What maketh the thing signified though absent to come into my mind This could not be except there were a coniunction betweene the word and the thing signified by the word As for example If I speak of the King who is now a great way distant from vs I pray God blesse him yee will no sooner heare the word but the King vvho is the thing signified by the word will come into your minde If I speake of things past though they be already expired yet the thing signified vvill presently come into your minde so there is a coniunction yee see between the word and the thing signified by the word Marke this coniunction and yee shall gette the nature of the coniunction and coupling of the signe which is the thing signified in the Sacrament For obserue what sort of coniunction is between the vvord and the thing signified by the word the same sort of coniunction is between the Sacrament which is seene to the eye of your body the thing signified by the Sacrament which is seene to the eye of your soule onely As for example so soone as thou seest that bread taken in the hand of the Minister thou seest it not so soone but incontinent the body of Christ must come into thy mind these two are so conioyned that they com both together the one to the outward senses the other to the inward senses This is not enough now because in the institution ye are commanded to goe further not onely to looke to that bread and that wine but to take that bread and that wine incontinent as your hand takes the one so your hart takes the other as your teeth eates the one so the teeth of your soule which is faith eates the other that is applyeth Christ vnto your soule So yee see there is a coniunction heere secret and mysticall and therefore Christ cannot be conioyned but by a secret and mysticall coniunction The coniunction betweene Christ and vs is a secret and mysticall coniunction which the Apostle in the fift of the Ephes calleth that spirituall coniunction ful of an high mysterie this coniunction cannot be taken vp at the first So seeing the coniunction is secret and spirituall and not perceiued but by the spirit of God all is as nothing except ye haue some portion and measure of his spirit All that is taught in the word and Sacraments will neuer doe you good will neuer carry your soules to heauen except the spirit of God illuminate your mindes and make you to finde in your soules the thing that ye hear in the word Then learn this seeing the word cānot be vnderstood but by the spirit of GOD craue that the Lord would illuminate the eyes of your mindes by his spirit and be you as careful to get the spirit as yee are carefull now in the hearing of the word Thus farre concerning the coniunction Now ye haue heard how the signe is cōioyned with the thing signified what remaineth for you to knowe This rests yet to knowe how the signe is receiued How the signe the thing signified is receiued and how the thing signified is receiued vvhether they bee both receiued with one mouth or not whether the signe and the thing signified be receiued after one fashion and manner or not And marking the diuerse manner of receiuing and the diuersity of the instruments yee shall not easily erre in the Sacrament The signe and the thing signified are receiued by two mouthes for ye see the signes that is that bread and wine wherunto they are giuen they are giuen to the mouth of the body Then the mouth of the body is the instrument that receiueth that bread and that vvine which are the signes As that bread and that wine are visible and corporall so the mouth and instrument
vnderstand not this therefore they imagin a gross carnal coniunction Except the spirit of God reueale these things they cannot be vnderstood The spirit of God must illuminate our mindes and be planted in all our harts before wee can come to the vnderstanding of this Then wouldest thou vnderstand hovv Christ is giuen thee This ground is true that the bodie of Christ is at the right hand of the Father the bloud of Christ is at the right hand of the Father yet notwithstanding though there be as great distance betwixt my body and the bodie of Christ as is betwixt heauen and earth yet Christes body is giuen to me because I haue a title to his body giuen to mee the right and title which is giuen to me of his body and bloud makes me to possesse his body and bloud The distance of the place hurteth not my title nor my right for if any of you haue a peece of Land lying in the farthest part of England if ye haue a good title to it the distance of the place cannot hurt your title so I say the distance of place hurts not my title and my right that I haue to Christ But though he be sitting at the right hand of the Father yet the title and right that I haue to him makes him mine so that I may say trulie this Christ is my property Then Christ is not made mine because I fetch him out of the heauens but he is mine because I haue a sure title right to him hauing a sure title and iust right to him the distance of place how farre soeuer it be can no wayes hurt my title nor right but where-euer he be he is mine because I haue a right title to him Yea not onely haue I a title to him but this title is confirmed to mee For as I gette a title to him in the vvord and if I got not that title to him in the word I durst not come to the Sacrament so in the Sacrament I get the confirmation of my title I get the Seale which confirmes my title Then to come to the point Christs bodie is sitting at the right hand of the Father and yet he is mine and is deliuered to me because I haue right to his bodie be it where it will hee was borne for mee giuen to mee and deliuered to mee So distance of place hurts not the suretie of my title as propinquitie of place helpes not the suretie of the same Though Christ would bow the heauens and touch thee with his bodie as he did Iudas yet this could not helpe thee for if thou hast not a title to him thou darest not call him thine So it is not the neernesse nor proximity of place that makes Christ mine It is onely the right that I haue to him I haue right to him only by faith So by faith only Chr. is made mine But they thinke they haue gotten a great vantage of vs if we be so farre from Chr. as the heauen is frō the earth but this shal be answered by Gods grace I haue a title to his body his body is distant frō my body yet his body is not distant from me that is from my soule I say his bodie and my soule are conioyned It is a strange ladder that will reach from the earth to the heauens yet let me tell you there is a corde that extendeth from the earth to the heauens Faith is that which couples vs and Christ and coupleth mee and Christ together and this is onely true fayth By true faith Christ though he be in the heauens is coupled and conioyned with me who am heere on earth I will shewe you this by a similitude Similitude taken from the sunne Is not the bodie of the sunne in the firmament It is impossible for you to touch the bodie of the sun yet the bodie of the sunne and yee are conioyned How By those beames that shine on you by that light that shineth vpon you Why may not the bodie of Christ then though it be in the heauens be conioyned with mee that am on the earth namelie by the beames by the light and gladnes that floweth from his bodie My bodie Christs body are conioined by the vertue and power flowing from his bodie which vertue and power quickneth my dead soule maketh me to liue the life of Christ to beginne to die to my selfe and euer the more I die to my selfe the more I liue to Christ This coniunction nowe is the ground as I told you of all our felicitie and happinesse and I haue made it cleere to you at this time so farre as God hath giuen me insight Alwaies yee see this coniunction is brought to passe by two speciall meanes by the holy spirit and by faith If there bee no other meanes but these two what needest thou a carnall or a visible coniunction Faith is invisible and the spirit is inuisible therefore thou canst not see it nor take it vp with the eye of thy bodie The power of the holy spirit is so subtile secret and inuisible that thou canst not perceiue it nor take it vppe with the eye of thy bodie and it will worke great effects in thy soule or euer thou perceiuest his working In respect therefore that the meanes of this coniunction are so subtill secret and spirituall why thinkest thou to get a sight of this coniunction with the eye of thy bodie why imaginest thou such a carnall coniunction as this which would doe thee no good if thou hadst it knowst thou not that the spirit that coupleth vs and Christ is infinite so that it is as easie for the spirit to couplevs and Christ how farre distant soeuer wee bee as it is easie for our soules to couple our head and the feete of our bodies though they be distant Then seeing this coniunction is the ground fountaine of all our happinesse And seeing this ground of happinesse is so subtil and so spirituall What is your part Remoue all your outward senses remoue al your naturall motions remoue your naturall discourses and your naturall reason and follow the sight and information of the spirit of God Craue that it would please him to illuminate your vnderstanding that by the light of his spirit yee may see cleerely the spirituall coniunction Except the eye of the spirit be giuen you to perceiue this spirituall coniunction It is not possible that yee can get any insight in it But if the Lord of his mercy will bestowe some measure of his holy spirit vpon you out of question yee shall soone come to the vnderstanding of it and yee shall thinke the time happie that euer yee heard this word Except yee haue some part of this spirit it is not possible that yee canne bee spirituall That which is borne of flesh and bloode will remaine flesh and bloud except the spirit come in and make it spirituall Therefore yee must bee borne againe of the spirit
yee must bee borne in the bodie of Christ his spirit must quicken you This is called the quickning and liuing spirit of Christ by Iohn And so soone as this spirit cometh what doth it It chaseth away darknesse out of the vnderstanding whereas before I knewe not God now I see him not onely generally that he is a God but that he is my God in Christ what more doth the holy spirit It opneth the heart as well as the minde and what doth it there Those things whereon I bestowed the affection of my heart and imployed the loue of my soule are by the working of the holy spirit made gall to mee he makes then venome to mee and to bee as deadly hated of mee as poyson Hee worketh such an inward disposition in my soule that hee makes mee to turne and flie from those things whereon I imployed my loue before and to imploy it vpon God This is a great perfection Alwayes in some measure he makes mee to loue God better then anie other thing Hee changeth the affections and inclinations of my soule he changeth the faculties and qualities of my soule And though our hearts minde be made new yet the substance of them is not changed but onely the faculties and qualities are changed in respect of the which change wee are called new creatures except you be found newe creatures Conclusion with an exhortation yee are not in Christ Now to come to the poynt This secret Coniunction is brought to passe by faith and by the holy spirit by faith wee lay hold on the bodie and bloud of Christ And though wee bee as farre distant as heauen and earth are the spirit serues vs as a ladder to conioyne vs with Christ As the ladder of Iacob which reached from the ground to the heauen to the selfe same vse serueth the spirit of God to conioyne the bodie of Christ with my soule Then obserue the whole in a word what makes you to haue anie right or title to Christ Nothing but the spirit Nothing but faith What should bee your studie then Seeke by all meanes possible to gett faith That as Peter Acts the 15.9 sayeth your hearts and consciences may be sanctified by faith And if you endeuour not as well to get faith in your hearts as in your mindes your faith auaileth not What auaileth the faith that fleeteth in the fantasie and brings a naked knowledge without the opening of the heart and consent of the will So there must be an opening of thy hart and consent of thy will to doe that thing that God commandeth or else thy faith availeth not Then striue to get faith in your hearts and mindes and doing so yee doe the duties of Christians This is not done without the diligent hearing of the word and diligent receiuing of the Sacrament Then be diligent in these exercises and be diligent in prayer Praying in the holy Ghost that hee would nourish your soules inwardlie with the body and bloud of Christ That hee would increase faith in your hearts and mindes and make it to grow vp more and more daily vntill you come to the full fruition of that blessed immortality Vnto the which the Lord of his mercie bring vs and that for the righteous merits of Christ Iesus To whome with the Father and the holy Ghost bee all honour praise and glorie both now and euer Amen THE THIRD Sermon vpon the Lords Supper 1. Cor. 11.23 For I haue receiued of the Lord that which I also haue deliuered vnto you to wit that the Lord Iesus in the night that hee was betraied tooke bread c. WE haue heard wel-beloued in Christ Iesus in our last exercise what names were giuen to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper as well in the Scriptures as by the Auncientes of the Latine and East Churches wee hearde the chiefe ends wherefore and wherevnto this holy Sacrament was at first instituted wee heard the things that were contained in this Sacrament what they were how they are coupled how they are deliuered and how they are receiued wee heard also some obiections that might bee obiected to the contrarie of this doctrine wee heard them propounded and as God gaue the grace refuted wee heard how the faythfull soule is said to eate Christs bodie and drinke Christs blood Wee heard the manner how Christ is or canne bee receiued of vs And we concluded in this poynt That Christ Iesus the Sauiour of mankinde our Sauiour cannot bee perceiued nor yet receiued but by a spirituall way apprehension Neyther the flesh of Christ nor the bloud of Christ nor Christ himselfe can bee perceiued but by the eye of fayth can bee receiued but by the mouth of faith nor can be layd hold on but by the hand of fayth Now faith is a spiritual thing for fayth is the gift of God poured downe into the heartes and mindes of men and women wrought in the soule of euery one and that by the mightie working and operation of the holy spirit So the onely waie to laie holde on Christ being by faith and faith of it owne nature beeing spiritual it followeth therefore that there is no waie to lay hold on Christ but a spirituall way there is not a hand to fasten on Christ but aspirituall hand there is not a mouth to digest Christ but a spirituall mouth The Scriptures samiliarly by all these tearmes describe the nature and efficacie of faith How we are said to eate the flesh and drinke the blood of Christ Wee are said to eate the flesh of Christ by faith and to drink his bloud by faith in this Sacrament chiefely in doing of two things First in calling to our remembrance the bitter death and passiof Christ the blood that hee shedde vpon the crosse the Supper which he instituted in remembrance of him before he went to the Crosse The commandement which hee gaue Doe this in remembrance of me I say wee eate his flesh and drinke his bloode spiritually First in this poynt in recording and remembring faithfully how hee died for vs how his blood was shedde vpon the crosse This is the first poynt a point that cannot be remembred truly except it be wrought by the mightie power of the holy spirit The second poynt of the spirituall eating standeth in this That I and euerie one of you beleeue firmly that he died for mee in particular That his bloud was shedde on the crosse for a full remission and redemption of me and my sinnes The cheefe and principall poynt of the eating of Christ his flesh and drinking of his blood standeth in beleeuing firmely that that flesh was deliuered to death for my sinnes that that blood of his was shedde for the remission of my sinnes and except euerie soule come neere to himselfe and firmely consent and agree and bee perswaded that Christ died for him that soule can not be saued that soule cannot eate the flesh nor drinke the blood of Christ Then the
before hee beeing I say lost by this sinne and left in this desperate estate in himself what doth God The euerliuing God only wise whose waies are vnsearchable hath found out a way how that man this way lost yet hee may bee saued heerein hee sought counsell from whom Not from any creature but hee counselled with himselfe The persons of the Trinitie tooke counsell of them selues one God was moued to seeke counsell from himselfe only moued in himselfe for hee had not an externall principall without himselfe to induce him So he seeking this counsaile at himselfe and being moued in himselfe thereto As Ephes 1.9 what doth hee when all men should haue died for euer it pleased him of his infinite mercie to select out of all and to elect a certaine number out of the lost race of Adam that should haue perished for euer In this his counsell and decree moued I say of himselfe and seeking counsell from himselfe only he selects a certaine number out of this rotten race which certaine number hee will haue sanctified hee will haue iustified hee will haue glorified And therefore to bring to passe the worke of their saluation what doth hee hee appointes his owne naturall sonne for hee had but one naturall sonne hee appointes the second person of the Trinitie his owne naturall sonne God in power glory and maiestie as high as himselfe equall with God the father in all things hee appoints him to worke this worke to bring to passe this worke of our redemption and eternall saluation This is but the mysterie of it in some measure disclosed And therefore in the fulnes of time for hee dispenseth all things according to his wisdome at such time as hee appointed hee makes his sonne to come downe to seise himselfe in the wombe of the Virgin to take on our flesh to take on the likenes of sinne hee tooke not on sin but he tooke on the likenes of sinne what call I that likenes our flesh is the likenesse of sinne he tooke on our flesh and nature the likenes of sin which was perfectly sanctified the verie moment of his conception in the verie wombe of the Virgin Hee tooke on this flesh that in this flesh and nature sin might be banished and cast out of vs foreuer And whereas we should all of vs haue gone one way for there was no exception of persons by nature Chr. Ies our sauiour hath elected vs according as his father in his secret election before the beginning of the world had elected vs the same Chr. Iesus in his owne time calleth vs and maketh vs partakers of that saluation which he hath purchased he repaires not only that image which was lost in our forefather Adam he placeth vs not in a terrestriall paradise where Adam was placed at the beginning and what more could haue bin sought by vs but he giues vs a far more excellent image thē we lost he placeth vs in a more high in a more celestial paradise thē we lost For so much the more heauēly is the paridise which he giues vs as the 2d Adam is more excellent then the first and as the son of God God himselfe is farre aboue any creature that euer was man or Angell Therfore it comes to passe that by the benefit of the second Adam Chr. Iesus our Sauior the son of God whereas had we remained in that Image wherin our forefather was first created wee should haue settled our selues in the earth for euer wee could not haue craued a beter paradise then an earthly paradise for earthly Tabernacles By benefit of the sonne of God I say it commeth to pass that we are plucked vp out of the earth to the heauen to a heauenly paradise And what haue wee to doe with heauen Are wee not made of the earth to returne to the earth Becomes not an earthly paradise an earthly bodie yet the Lord in his mercy sendeth downe his sonne to draw vs vp out of the earth to the heauen This is so high a thing that it cannot bee easily considered For this drawing of vs to a heauenly paradise is a thing more then could haue beene thought on That wee should liue the life of Angels in heauen how could the heart of man thinke on this yet it pleased the liuing Lord in the great riches and bowels of his mercie and in the exceeding greatnes of the power of his mercie towards vs The Apostle in that Epistle to the Ephesians cannot get words enow to expresse this he knowes not how to begin nor how to end when hee speakes of the riches of that mercie And if yee looke well into that Epistle to the Ephesians yee shall finde more high and excellent stiles giuen to the riches of that mercy in that Epistle then in any other part of the Scripture It pleased him I say of his own mercy not to giue vs simply the Image which wee lost nor to leaue vs in this earth but it pleased him to giue vs a better Image and beside that to place vs in heauen there to remaine with him for euer Now resteth his mercie and grace heere No But that this saluation which hee hath alreadie purchased and brought about by his sonne our Sauiour Christ Iesus that it might be wholly accomplished hauing nothing wanting in it As hee redeemed vs in his owne person perfectly So he makes this same redemption to come to our knowledge and make vs sure of it in our consciences and to this end what doeth hee As by his death he purchased our full redemption so hee makes it knowen vnto vs hee intimates it vnto vs by our inward calling letting vs both finde and feele in our hearts what hee did in his bodie for vs. For our Lord when hee makes his seruants to proclaime this redemption and to intimate it to our consciences hee workes this Iewell of faith in our soules which assures vs that the son of God hath died for vs For what could it auaile vs to see our redemption to see our saluation and our life a farre off if a way were not found out a hand and meanes giuen vnto vs whereby wee may apprehend that saluation and applie it to our selues What can it auaile a sicke man to see a drugge in an Apothecaries shoppe except hee may haue it and apply it to his sicke bodie So to the ende that this worke of our redemption and saluation may bee fully and freely accomplished looke how freely hee hath giuen his onely sonne to the death of the crosse for vs as freely hath hee found out this way and meanes and offered vs this hand whereby wee may take hold on Christ and applie him to our soules This meanes to conclude is faith There is not a way nor an instrument in the Scriptures of God whereby we can applie Chr. to our soules but only the instrument of faith therfore fayth cannot be enough cōmended Turn to faith it will make thee
euer God had Mark the speech of the Apostle Wee are alwaies in doubt saith hee but wee despaire not So doubting and faith may lodge in one soule And from whence floweth this doubting VVee knowe that in the regenerate man there is a remnant corruption for we haue not our heauen in this earth though wee beginne our heauen heere yet we get it not fully heere And if all corruption vvere avvay vvhat should there vvant of a full heauen heere So it is onely begunne in this life and not perfected therefore there remaines in the soule a great corruption which is neuer idle but continually occupied This corruption is euer bringing foorth the birth of finne more or lesse euery sinne hurts the conscience a hurt conscience impaireth the perswasion and so comes in the doubting For there is not a sinne that we commit but it banisheth light and casteth a myst ouer the eye of our faith whereby wee doubt and stagger in our sight and were it not that the Lord in his mercy taketh vs vp giueth vs the gift of repentance and maketh vs euery day as oft as wee sinne to cry as oft for mercy and so to repaire the losse that wee haue of faith to repayre the losse that vvee haue of the feeling of mercie we would wholly put out that same light But it pleaseth the Lord though wee be euery day sinning to giue vs the gift of repentance and by repentance to repaire our faith to repaire the sense and feeling of mercie in vs and to put vs in that same state of perswasion wherein wee were before Therefore if GOD beginne not continue not and end not with mercie in that very moment that hee abstracts his mercy from vs wee will decay So wee must be diligent in calling for mercy wee must be instant continually in seeking to haue a feeling of mercie Thus much for the doubting Novv howsoeuer it be sure and certaine A doubting and weake faith is faith shal neuer decay that the faith of the best children of GOD is often subiect to doubting yet it is as sure and certaine that it is neuer wholly extinct albeit it were neuer so vveake yet it shall neuer vtterlie decay and perish out of the hart wherein it once maketh residence This comfort consolation the Spirit of God hath sette downe in his vvord to support the troubled hart That hovvsoeuer faith be weake yet a weake faith is faith and where that faith is there will euer be mercie Yee haue in Romans 11.29 that The gifts and calling of GOD are vvithout repentance But among all his gifts that are of this sort faith is one of the chiefest therefore it cannot be reuoked againe Yee haue in Iude 3. That faith vvas once giuen vnto the Saints Once giuen that is constantly giuen neuer to be changed nor vtterly taken from them The Lord will not repent him of this gift but the soule which he hath loued once he will loue perpetually It is true and certaine that the sparkles of faith which are kindled in the hart by the Spirit of GOD may be obscured smothered for a long time they may be couered with the ashes of our owne corruption and with our own ill deedes and wickednes into which we daily fall It is true that the effects of a liuely faith will be interrupted and that thy lusts and affections will preuaile for a long time so that when thou lookest on thy selfe vpon the Iudgements of God that hang ouer thy soule and body and when thou lookest vpon thy dissolute life and on the anger of God against this dissolute life In the minde in the hart and conscience of him that hath so smothered and oppressed his faith it will oft times come to passe in his owne iudgement hauing his eyes fixed on himselfe onely that hee vvill thinke himselfe to be a reprobate to be an out-cast and neuer able to recouer mercy Where this corruption bursteth forth in this grosse maner after that the Lord hath called thee looke how soone the Lord beginneth to vvaken thee againe incontinent thou fixest thine eyes vpon thine owne life and entrest into a deepe consideration as well of the weight of thy sinne as of the weight of the wrath of GOD which thou seest following thereupon and art loath to remit these cogitations to thinke vpon the deepenesse of the mercie of God Resting on these considerations it cannot but come to passe that in thine owne iudgement thou art an out-cast And yet GOD forbidde it were so for though these sparks of the Spirit be couered by the corruption that is vvithin thy soule yet these sparkles are not wholly put out And to let you see that they are not extinguished The sparkles of faith though they be smothered they are not wholly put out nor are idle though they break not forth in the outward effects that the world may knowe thee to be a faithfull man as heeretofore yet these sparkles are not idle and thou shall finde them not to be idle in thee As for confirmation of my Argument that howsoeuer our bodies are let loose to all dissolution after our effectuall calling within vs in our soules that yet the sparkles are not idle ye see that though the fire be couered with the ashes yet it is a fire there is no man will say that the fire is put out though it be couered No more is faith put out of the soule though it be so couered that it neither giue heat â—or light outwardly An example of this we haue cleerely in the Prophet Dauid after his lamentation in that Psalme of Repentance Psalme 51.11 hee prayeth to GOD in these words Cast me not away from thy presence And what addeth he And take not thy holy Spirit from mee Had he not lost the Spirit by his adultery and murther No for he would not haue said then Take it not from mee But Restore it to mee It is true that he vseth the like in the verse following Restore mee to the ioy of thy saluation Not that hee wanted the spirit wholly but that the spirit lacked force in him and needed strengthening and fortification it would be stirred vp that the flame of it might appear Therfore I say in that Dauid speaketh so plainely after his adultery and murther Take not that Spirit from mee it is a certaine argument that the faithfull haue neuer the spirit of God alwaies taken from them in their greatest dissolutions The second point is this How proue I that these sparkles are not idle though the outward effects be interrupted As Dauid felt this in his conscience so euery one of you may feele it in your owne consciences The Spirit of God in mans hart can not be idle but these sparkles during the time that the body is let loose to all dissolutions these sparkles are accusing thy dissolution are finding fault vvith thy manners these sparkles suffer thee not to take the pleasure of thy bodie
eating of the flesh and drinking of the blood of Christ standeth in a faithfull memorie in a firme beleefe and in a true applying of the merits of the death and passion of Christ to my owne conscience in particular Ther were sundry things obiected against this kind of receiuing I wil not insist to repeat them But beside all the obiections which ye heard obiected against this kind of spiritual receiuing by faith They say If Christ his flesh nor his blood be not perceiued nor receiued but by the spirit by fayth in the spirit Then say they yee receiue him but by an imagination If hee bee not receiued carnally nor corporally but onely by the spirit and by faith Then is hee not receiued but by way of imagination conceite and fantasie So they account faith an imagination of the minde a fantasie and opinion fleeting in the hearts of men I cannot blame them to think so of faith For as none can iudge of the sweetnesse of honnie but they that haue tasted of it So there is none can discerne nor iudge of the nature of faith but they that haue felt it and rasted in their hearts what it is And if they had tasted and felt in their soules what faith brings with it alas they would not call that spirituall Iewell and onely iewell of the soule an imagination They call it an imagination and the Apostle describing it Heb. 11.1 calleth it a substance and a substantiall ground Marke how well these two agree An Imagination and a substantiall ground They call it an vncertaine opinion fleeting in the braine and fantasie of man Hee callâ—th it an euidence and demonstration in the same definition See how directly contrarie the Apostle and they are in the nature of faith Vpon this they inferre that as it is true in generall hee can not be deliuered nor giuen but that same way that hee is receiued and looke what way any thing is receiued the same way it is giuen and deliuered So as they say hee being receiued by way of Imagination hee is also in their fantasie giuen and deliuered by way of Imagination For if hee bee not giuen say they to thy hand to thy mouth nor to thy stomach corporally hee cannot be giuen but by an imagination and fantasticall opinion The reason that moueth them to thinke that Christ cannot bee theirs nor giuen to them truly in effect and really except he be giuen carnally is this That thing which is so far absent and distant from vs as the heauen is from the earth cannot be said to bee giuen to vs nor to bee ours But by your owne confession say they to vs Christ his bodie is as farre absent from vs as the heauen is from the earth Therefore Christ his bodie nor his flesh cannot be giuen vnto vs except by way of imagination and so not truely nor in effect This argument framed in this sorte would at the first sight seeme to be of some force But let vs examine the proposition of it The proposition is this That thing which is so farre absent from vs as the beauen is from the earth cannot be said to be deliuered to vs to be giuen to vs or any waies to be ours Now whether is this proposition true or false I say this proposition is vntrue and the contrarie most true A thing may be giuen to vs may become ours though the thing in person it selfe be as far distant from vs as the heauen is from the earth And how proue I this What maketh any thing to be ours What maketh any of you esteeme a thing to be giuen vnto you Is it not a Title Is it not a iust right to that thing If yee haue iust right giuen vnto you by him who hath power to giue it and a sure title confirmed to you by him who hath the power though the thing that he giueth vnto you be not deliuered into your handes yet by the right and title which hee granteth to you is not the thing yours There is no doubt of it for it is not the neerenesse of the thing to my bodie and to my hand that maketh the thing mine for it may bee in my hand and yet not belong to mee Neyther is it the distance nor absence of the thing that makes it not to be mine but it may be farre absent from mee and yet be mine because the title is mine because I haue gotten a right to it from him who hath the power to giue it So then this ground is true It is a sure title and a iust right that maketh a thing though it be farre distant from vs to bee ours But so it is that a liuely and trew faith in the blood and death of Christ maketh vs to haue a sure title and a good right to the flesh and blood of Christ and to his merits look what he merited by his death and shedding of his bloud vpon the crosse all that together with himselfe also appertaineth to mee and that by a title and a right which I haue gotten to him of God which is faith And the surer that my title is the more sure am I of the thing that is giuen mee by the Title Now this Sacrament of the Lords Supper was instituted to confirme our title to seal vp our right which wee haue to the bodie and blood to the death and passion of Christ and so the bodie of Christ is said to be giuen to vs The blood of Christ is said to be deliuered to vs when our title which we haue of him of his death of his bodie blood is confirmed in our hearts For this Sacrament was instituted for the grouth and encrease of our faith for the increase of our holinesse and sanctification which fayth the greater that it is in our hearts the more sure are wee that Christ his death appertaineth to vs. I grant as I haue said that the flesh of Christ is not deliuered into my hands his flesh is not put into my mouth nor entreth into my stomacke Yet God forbidde that thou shouldest say Hee is not truly giuen although Christs flesh bee not put into thy hand nor mouth of thy bodie and wherefore should it Hath hee not appointed breade and wine for the nourishment of the bodie and may not that content you Are they not sufficient to nourish you to this earthly and temporall life Hath he not appointed Christ to bee deliuered to the inward mouth of thy soule to be giuen into the hand of thy soule that thy soule may feede on him and be quickned with that life wherewith the Angels liue wherewith the sonne of God and God himselfe liue So the flesh of Christ is not appointed to nourish thy body but to nourish thy soule in the hope yea in the growth of that immortall life and therfore I say though the flesh of Christ bee not deliuered into the hand of thy body yet it is deliuered to that part that it should
sanctifying they call whispering And the whispering of those fiue words they call the consecratiō of the elements And whē the words are after this manner whispered they presuppose such a secret mōstrous vertue to be inclosed in the syllables That the vertue power which floweth from the words is able to chase away wholly the substance of the bread so that the very bread substance of it is altogether destroied by this power Secondly that this power which floweth from these words is able to fetch pull downe an othersubstance to wit the flesh blood of Christ Iesus that fitteth at the right hand of his father is able to put it within the compasse of that bread This is a strange and a great vertue that not only wil ouerthrowe that substance but put it within the compasse of that bread The same fiue words whispered in this maner haue such a monstrous operation say they that they are able both to chase a way the one substance to pull downe an other and to put it within the compasse of that bread We altogetheir denie That there is such a vertue in these words for as I haue said before wee denie not that the word hath a vertue but denie that there is such a vertue inclosed in the words wee denie the qualitie of the vertue or that it floweth from such a fountaine For we grant that the word hath a vertue there is neuer a word that God speaketh heere but it hath a vertue ioyned withit but wee deny that this vertue is inclosed in the syllables in the whispering or pronouncing of the words for if there were such avertue and power inclosed in the syllables by the same reason it should follow that there were avertue in the figure and shape of the letter that makes vp thewords Now there is noman wil think that there is any vertue in the figure or shape of the letter and there is as little vertue in the syllables or pronouncing of the words themselues So wee denie that there is anie vertue inclosed in the syllables or resident in the word But wee say that there is a power conioyned with the word and this power is not resident in the word but is resident in the eternal word in the essential Word wherof Iohn the Euangelist makes mention Cap. 1. The word which was from the beginning that is the sonne of God Christ Iesus wee say there is not a dram weight of this vertue and power resident in any creature that euer God created but it is onely resident in Christ Iesus And therefore there floweth no vertue from the sillables nor from the words that are spoken but from Christ and his spirit who giues the vertue to those words So wee differ in this we say that there is not anie vertue resident in the sillables wee say that the sillables and pronouncing of the sillables work nothing but wee say that the vertue is resident in the person of the sonne of God and heeworkes by his owne word Now wee say that there cannot be such a monstrous change as to say the whispering of so manie wordes should change the owne substance of the bread pull down the substance of the bodie of Christ and put his bodie in so narrow a compasse wee say that cannot bee And this I shall proue by these three rules namely Refutation of the doctrine of trāsubstantiation by 3. sorts of arguments By the veritie of the flesh of Christ Iesus By the articles of our Beliefe And by the true end of the institution of this Sacrament And so we shall see by Gods grace the infinite absurdities that follow vpon their opinion The first principle that I lay is this The first sort of argument Seeing that Christ Iesus the Sonne of GOD in the time appointed tooke true flesh of the wombe of the Virgin and vnited himselfe with our nature in one personall vnion to the end that our nature which fell altogether from integritie in the first Adam might recouer the same in the second Adam yea not onely the same but so much the greater as our second Adam excells the first in all de grees And in respect hee tooke on him a body like vnto ours in all things sinne excepted of necessity it must follow that the definition of a true body and the inseparable properties therof must be competent to him But these are the inseparable properties namely to be in one certaine place to be finite circumscribed visible and palpable for all these concurre quarto modo as the Logicians say to a body so that they cannot be separate from the subiect without the distraction thereof Then Treason on this manner A true humane body is in a certaine place Christ Iesus body is a true humane body therefore it is in a certaine place I call a place a certaine condition of an instrumentall bodie whereby it commeth to passe that where-euer the body be of necessitie it is limited within that place and vvhile it is there it cannot bee elsewhere If you would haue the probation of my Proposition from the Doctors read Augustine to Dardanus speaking of this same body of Christ Take avvay a certaine roome from the bodies and they shall be in no place and if they be in no place they are not The same Augustine writing vpon Iohn in his 30. Treatise saith The body in the which the Lord did arise of necessity must be in a place but his diuine efficacie and nature is diffused euery where And in his third Epistle he saith How much soeuer the body be or how little soeuer the body be it behoues to occupy the bounds of a place And besides these the history of the Acts proueth most euidently Christ his body to be in a certain place as Acts 3.21 the words are these Whom the heauens must containe vntill the time that all things be restored vvhich God had spoken by the mouth of all his holie Prophets Though I need not to insist in the probation of these things yet I proceede Secondly then I reason after this manner A humane body is finite and circumscribed but the body of Christ is a humane body What warrant from the Doctors haue I for this I leaue many purposely will alleage onely Augustine who writing to Dardanus Belieue saith he Christ to be euery where in that he is God but onely to be in heauen according to the nature of a true body And in his 146. Epistle I belieue saith he the body of Christ to be so in heauen as it vvas on the earth vvhen hee vvent vp to heauen But it was circumscribed in a certaine place on the earth Ergo it is so in the heauen And consequently it cannot be in the Masse-bread and in heauen both at one time The last reason is this A humane bodie is visible and palpable but Christ hath a humane body and hee is corporally present as they say therefore Christ his body is
visible and palpable I proue my Proposition by Christ his owne words taken out of Luke 24.39 In the which place to perswade the Apostles of the verity of his body and to proue euidently that it was not fantasticall heevseth the argument taken from these tvvo qualities and he commands his Apostles to feele and see giuing them thereby to vnderstand that as these two senses are the most certaine of all the rest so are they most able to discerne whether hee was a body or a spirit As if he would haue said If I be visible and palpable ye may be out of doubt that I haue a true body For as the Poet saith which Tertullian citeth also to this same purpose Tangere enim et tangi nisi corpus nulla potestres By these arguments it may be euidently seen how this Transubstantiation may no way stand with the verity of the bodie of Chr. Iesus And as it fights with the flesh of Christ Iesus so it repugnes directly the articles of our faith For in our Beliefe we professe Second sort of argumeÌ„t that Christ ascended out of this earth to the heauen where hee sits at the right hand of the Father vvhere hee gouerns and directs all things in heauen and earth from the which place he is to come at the last day to iudge the world This article teacheth vs that hee hath changed his dwelling vvhich hee had amongst vs on the earth and is ascended into the heauens where he sits at the right hand of his Father and shall remaine there according to the testimony of Peter which I cited out of the Acts 3.21 vntill the last day If hee sit at his Fathers right hand and be to remaine in heauen vntill the last day theÌ„ is he not corporally in the bread But the article of our Beliefe saith That he sitteth at the right hand of his Father and Peter saith in that place that the heauens must containe him vntill the last day Therefore this Transubstantiation is directly against the articles of our Beliefe the manifest place of the Scripture Thirdly it is opposite vnto the end Third sort of argumeÌ„t wherefore this Sacrament was instituted this is most euident for the end of the Sacrament is spirituall as the effect that floweth thereof is spiritual and the instrument whereby this spirituall food is applyed to vs is also spiritual But from a naturall and corporall presence a spirituall effect can neuer flowe therefore the corporall and naturall presence of the body and bloud of Christ Iesus repugnes directly the end of this Sacrament for the corporall presence must haue a corporall eating of this eating followeth a digestion in the stomacke and the thing that is digested in the stomack is neuer able to feed my soule to life eternall So this corporall presence must euer tend to a corporall end which is directly contrarie vnto the end wherefore this Sacrament was instituted Further Other arguments vnto the same effect if the bread were transubstantiate it should become the thing signified if it become the thing signified this Sacrament should want a signe and so it should not be a Sacrament for euery Sacrament as yee haue heard is a signe Now to say that the accidents of true bread as the colour and the roundnesse of it that they may serue as signes that is more then folly for between the signe and the thing signified there must be a conformity but there is no conformity between the accidents and the body and bloud of Christ Iesus For if that were so the accidents behoued to nourish vs corporally as the body and bloud of Christ Iesus is appointed to nourish vs spiritually Againe if the bread become the body and bloud of Christ Iesus it should follow that he had a body without bloud for hee hath instituted another signe besides to represent his bloud Also if there had been such a wonderfull thing as they speak of in this Sacrament there would haue been plaine mention made thereof in the Scripture for God himselfe works neuer a notable worke but he declares it either openly or more secretly in the Scripture that thereby hee may be glorified in his wonderfull works As yee may read in the Euangelist â—ohn 2.8 where the vvater was changed into wine Gene. 2.22 where the rib of Adam was changed into Heua Exodus 7.10 where Aarons rodde was turned into a Serpent there ye see that changing is manifestly expressed Therefore I say if there had bin such a monstrous change in these elemeÌ„ts of the Supper as they affirm the Scripture would not haue concealed it but expressed it but in respect there is no meÌ„tion made of this change in the Script therfore there is no such change in this action Further if there were such a change as they say either it is before these words of consecration be spoken or followes after the same words be spoken If the change be before the words of the coÌ„secration be spoken the consecration is superfluous their Proposition is false if the change be after the words be spoken This bread is my body their Proposition is false also because the word bread is spoken before the last syllable of their fiue words is pronounced These and infinite moe absurdities follow of this doctrine And yet they obstinately perseuer and vrge vs with the letter affirming that the words of Christ are so plaine that they admit no figure They would haue spoken more aduisedly if they had sought counsell of Augustine to haue discerned between a figuratiue speech and a proper speech for he in his third booke and 16. chapter of Christian doctrine speakes after this sort If the speech saith hee seeme to commaund a vvickedness or mischeife on to forbid any happinesse or any vvelfare it is not proper it is then figuratiue And he adds for an example a place out of Iohn 6.53 Except saith our Sauiour ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud yee haue no life in you Whereunto Augustine addeth This speech saith he sesmeth to coÌ„maund a mischiefe therefore it is a figuratiue speech vvhereby wee are commanded to coÌ„municate with the sufferings of Christ Iesus and with gladnes to keepe in perpetuall memory that the flesh of the Lord was crucified and wounded for vs. For otherwise it were more horrible as the same Augustine maketh mention in the second booke against the Aduersaries of the lavv to eate the flesh of Christ Iesus really then to murther him and more horrible to drinke his bloud then to shed his bloud Yet notwithstanding they are not ashamed still to hold maintaine that those words ought to be taken properly So that it appeareth that of very malice for contradiction sake to the end onely that they may withstand the truth they will not acknowledge this to be a sacrameÌ„tall speech For they are compelled will they nill they in other speeches of the like sort to acknowledge a
dumbe element and therefore these wordes cannot bee directed to the elements Thirdly looke to the end wherfore this Sacrament vvas appointed Is it not to lead vs to Christ Is it not to nourish my faith in Christ Is it not to nourish me in a constant perswasion of the Lords mercy in Christ Was this Sacrament appointed to make the elements Gods No for if ye marke Gods purpose in this institution yee shall finde that Christ hath not ordained this institution to nobilitate the Elements to fauour and respect the Elements which were Bread and Wine yesterday to be Gods to day Wee on the contrary say plainely that the institution of Christ respecteth not the elements to alter their nature Indeed it is appointed to alter vs to change vs and to make vs more and more spirituall and to sanctifie the elements to our vse But the speciall end is this To make vs holie and more more to growe vp in a sure faith in Christ and not to alter the Elements nor to make them gods And therefore by all these three Arguments it is euident that the words ought not to be directed to the Elements but to the people and faithfull Communicants Now to come to an end There is one thing Conclusion with an exhortatiō without the which wee cannot profit let vs discourse neuer so long vpon the right vnderstanding of the Sacrament Ye see now how all that is spoken concerning the Sacrament is grounded and dependeth vpon faith Let a man haue faith be it neuer so little hee shall get some hold of Christ and some insight in the vnderstanding of this Sacrament but wanting faith though a man endeuour himselfe to make the Sacraments neuer so sensible it is not possible that hee can gette any hold of Christ or any insight of him For without faith we cannot be Christians we can neither get a sight of God nor feele God in Christ without faith Faith is the onely thing that translates our soules out of that death and damnation vvherein vvee vvere conceiued and borne and planteth life in vs. So the vvhole studie and endeuour of a Christian should tend to this To craue that the Lord in his mercie vvould illuminate his minde vvith the eye of faith and that hee would kindle in his heart a loue of faith and vvorke in his hart a thirst and desire of the obiect of faith more and more to thirst and hunger for the foode of faith that nourishes vs to life eternall Without this faith hovv-soeuer the naturall man vnderstanding naturally would flatter himselfe surely there is no blessednesse but all his life is more then terrible misery For what-soeuer it be that flatters and pleaseth thee now be it a thought or motion of the minde or an action of the body that pleaseth thee now without faith the same very motion cogitation or action shall torment thee heereafter So vvithout faith it is not possible to please GOD and vvhatsoeuer pleaseth not GOD is done to torment thee Therefore craue mercie for whatsoeuer motion cogitation or action vvherein thou hast offended GOD or for the same God shall offend and torment thee And to eschevv the offence of God there is no meanes but by true faith therefore the studie of a Christian should be to grow in faith Now by hearing of the vvord thou gettest faith and by receiuing this Sacrament thou obtainest the increase of faith and hauing faith the receiuing of the Sacrament shall be fruitfull but vvithout faith thou eatest thineowne condemnation Then the whole study of a Christian is to get faith and this faith cannot be obtained with idlenesse but by earnest prayer therefore let euery one of vs fall downe and craue earnestly this faith and the increase of it whereby we may be worthy Receiuers of this blessed Sacrament and that for the righteous merits of Christ Iesus To whom with the Father and the holy Spirit be all honour praise and glory both now and euer Amen THE FOVRTH Sermon vpon the preparation to the Lords Supper 1. Cor. 11.28 Let euery man therefore examine himselfe and so let him eate of this Bread and drinke of this Cup. THough the doctrine of our triall and due examination well-beloued in Christ Iesus ought to goe before the doctrine and receiuing of the Sacrament yet notwithstanding seeing that preparation is alwaies at all times as well necessary for the hearing of the simple word as for the receiuing of the visible Sacrament for no man can heare the word of God fruitfully except in some measure he prepare his soule and prepare the eares of his hart how to hear therefore the doctrine of preparation and due examination must come in it ovvne place and be very necessary for cuery one of you The Apostle in the words vvhich we haue read deliuereth his counsaile and giueth his aduise and not onely giues his aduise but giues his admonition and commaund That we should not come to the Table of the Lord That we should not come to the hearing of the word rashly but that euery one of vs should come to this holy worke with reuerence that wee should prepare and sanctifie our selues in some measure And seeing we go vnto the King of heauens Table it becomes vs to put on our best array In a word hee deliuereth the whole doctrine and matter of this preparation when he saith Let euery man and let euery woman try and examine themselues As if he would say Let euery one of you try and examine your soules That is try the estate of your owne harts and condition of your owne consciences Marke and behold in vvhat estate you heart is with GOD and in what estate your conscience is with your neighbour He bids not your neighbour to try you hee bids not your companion to try your hart but he biddes your selfe in person to try your owne conscience hee biddes your selfe try your owne hart because none can be certaine of the estate of your hart or of the condition of your conscience but your selfe Now he excludes not others from the tryall of you neither for it is lawfull for the Pastor to try you but others cannot try you so narrowly as ye your selues may for no man can know so much of mee as I know of my selfe No man can be certaine of the estate of your hart and condition of your conscience yet you your selues may be certaine of it As for others men may iudge of your hart and conscience according to your works and effects and except your works effects bee very wicked and altogether vitious we are bound in conscience to iudge charitably of your harts and consciences Therefore there is none so meet to try the spirit of a man to try the hart or conscience of a man as is the man himselfe Now The heads to be intreated in this Sermons that this tryall may be the better made ye haue first to vnderstand what it is that ye
to doe thou must not be giuen to the seruice of thine affections and of thine appetite to put them in execution as thou hast formerly done But in-case thine affections or lust commaund thee to doe any thing what is thy part Thou must try how far this may stand with the good will of God and how far that affection which commaunds thee may agree with the law of God Is there such a harmonie as that that thing which thine affection commaunds thee may stand with Gods law and holy will Then no question it is a sanctified affection thou maist put it in execution But after this tryall if thou finde thine affections to be exorbitant out of rule carying thee from God against his law beware of it resist it put it not in execution for if thou fulfill the will of thine affections what pleasure can it bring with it It may well bring a flattering pleasure in the entrie but it closeth euer with a bitter remorse in the end Then to eschew this bitter remorse should yee not all try your affections Yee must examine and try them by the square of Gods lavv yee must see how farre they agree with his law and how fatre they dissent from it so farre as they are dissonant from that law let euery man deny himselfe renounce his affections and so this triall beeing taken in this manner by thy selfe it sanctifieth thine affections maketh Christ to lodge in thy soule maketh thy conscience to be at rest And the holy Spirit this way maketh both bodie and soule to bee in good health and to reioyce Then flie from sinne This is the second lesson The third lesson is this Studie to doe well Wouldest thou keepe health in thy soule Study to do better and better continually At the least haue a purpose in thy soule hart to doe better daily which is the last lesson Seeing that when we studie to do best that the iust man that is the most holy man falleth so often as 7. times a day yea rather 70. times seauen times what is thy part in these slips and snares Though thou fal as thou canst not eschew to fall lie not still there sleepe not there where thou hast faln it is a shame to sleepe there therefore arise againe And hovv shouldest thou rise By lifting vp thy soule and running to the Fountaine of grace and mercy by repayring to Christ Iesus to obtaine mercy for thy soule and to craue that hee would send out of himselfe that measure of peace that may put thy conscience at rest restore thy soule to health So lie not where thou fallest but incontinent arise craue mercy and in obtayning mercy thou shalt repaire thy fal thou shalt amend thy life by repētance by repentance thou shalt get peace thou shalt haue thy conscience at rest and get health to thy soule Now keep this rule if thou desirest to keepe thy soule in health look that thou sleep not in sinne as Dauid did lie not still vvhen thou art faln and so fall from one sinne to another as from adultery to murther from murther to the next c. As commonly if a man sleepe in sin and rise not in time one sin wil draw on another for there is no sin alone but alwaies the greater and more heynous that the sinne is it hath the greater and worse sinnes wayting on it Therefore when yee fall delay not to arise but repaire to the fountaine of mercie and seeke grace in time runne to prayer run to the Church of God wheresoeuer it be whether in the fielde or in the towne runne to Christ Iesus and craue mercy of him that yee may haue peace in your consciences and so by these meanes euery one of you shall preserue health in your soules By these meanes ye shall learne what difference is betwixt this liuing word of mercy and grace which sounds in our religion and that slaying letter that kills the soule of euery one that heares it I meane that Idolatrous doctrine of that dumbe Mass I mention this vnto you because I see that many in these dayes are fallen to it and the Lord is beginning to abstract his grace and mercy from this Country for the contempt of this quickning vvord which hath so cleerely sounded heere which our country-men for the greatest part running headlong to the diuell in a dumbe guise trauaile vtterly to banish Is not this a miserable thing that so fevv of you haue eyes to consider and discerne of the time of peace mercy and grace which is so aboundantly offred The Lord of his mercy giue you eyes in time Thus far concerning the reasons wherefore euery one of you should try and examine your owne consciences and this triall ought not to be for a day or for a yeere but it ought to be euery day and euery yeere of thy whole life For that conscience that should rest for euer with the liuing God that conscience which must euer behold the face of the Sonne of God it cannot be ouer-well cleansed wee cannot looke ouer-narrowly to it The more curious we be in searching out of this conscience we are the better occupied I speak of our own consciences I speak not of our neighbours Thirdly I come to the points In what points wee should examine our consciences wherein euery one of you should try and examine your selues Euery one of you ought to try examine your cōsciences in two things First whether thou be at peace with God who is the Lord of heauen or not Next examine thy conscience whether thou art in loue amity with thy neighbor or not Wouldest thou know whether thy conscience be at vnity peace with God or not Thou shalt know it this way The God of heauen can haue no societie nor company with that soule which is alwaies vncleane that is euery way defiled no hee cannot Now I speake not so precisely that I make a soule to be fully sanctified perfectly holy in this life no in this life there are wonderfull iniquities grosse sinnes great faults where-with euen the righteous are defiled but this is my meaning There is no soule can be at any peace with God or wherewith the Lord can haue any societie but in some measure it must bee sanctified and made holy For God cannot make residence in a soule that is alwaies as a slinking dunghill and therfore of force in some measure it must be sanctified there must be so much made cleane in one corner or other of that soule wherin the Lord of heauen by his holy Spirit may make his residence Now let vs see wherby the soule is sanctified Peter Act. 15.9 saith That the soule of man is purified by faith that the hart of man is purged by faith So faith openeth and purgeth the hart By faith in Chr. Iesus and in the merits of his bloud we haue peace with God Beeing iustified by faith we haue
turne to God so conioyne thee with God make all thine actions well pleassing vnto him There is no good actiō that we do though it seeme neuer so good before the world but it is abhomination before God if it be not done in fayth and will forward our condemnation hauing fayth all the creatures of god are seruiceable vnto vs they must all conspire to the furtherance of the worke of our saluation As on the contrarie wanting fayth there is none of the creatures of God but shall bee enemies vnto vs and conspire to our damnation For fayth conioynes vs with the God of heauen and makes vs heauenly This Iewell of faith seasons all the gifts graces which God giueth vnto vs All the riches of the earth is of no value to my soule without fayth And what auailes it any man to haue all the knowledge and wisdome in the earth without fayth For the diuell hath all this knowledge and is not the better What auailes it me to conquer all the Monarches kingdomes and whole riches in the earth what can all these auaile my soule Nothing but accuse mee if I want fayth Therefore all the benefits and gifts of God without faith auail nothing but to augment our misery All the gifts and graces of God are abused without fayth Fayth onely makes thee to vse the benefits and graces of God rightly Fayth onely should bee sought kept and intertained heere in this life hauing fayth all the rest of Gods graces are profitable vnto thee for this Iewell keeps them al in order makes them al fruitful whereas wanting this iewel there is nothing here on earth but it wil testifie against thee Let vs then speak of this faith how it is wroght in you I take my groūd out of the Euangelist Iohn How faith is created in our soules 6.44 where our Sauiour saith No man canne come to me except the Father which hath sent mee drawe him In the which words we see cleerely that except wee bee drawen except wee bee compelled except we be thrust except of vnwilling wee bee made willing by God the father it is not possible for vs to come to his sonne What is the reason of this that the spirit of God must drawe vs and make vs willing or euer wee come to God Because by nature wee are not only wounded and launced by sinne and iniquitie but as the Apostle sheweth Ephes 2.1 wee were wholly dead in trespasses and sinnes yea obserue how voide any dead bodie is of a naturall life so voide are our soules though they be liuing the naturall life so voide are they of the life of God of that heauenly and spirituall life whereunto wee in this life doe aspire vntill such time that the spirit of God draw our harts and mindes that is quicken our harts and mindes No it is not a drawing as wee commonly speake it is a very quickning of a dead thing It is a quickning of that thing which was voide of the life of the spirit Then except the spirit of God drawe vs that is quicken vs with that spirituall and heauenly life it is not possible for vs to come to heauen And except hee nourish this life which hee hath begunne it is not possible that wee canne stand in this life So the spirit of God is said to drawe vs that is to beginne this life in vs and by the same holy spirit to continue and nourish this life in vs. Now by the drawing of the spirit our soules are quickned and by the drawing of the spirit I vnderstand no other thing but the framing and creating of fayth in our soules which makes vs new creatures Now let vs see what order the spirit of GOD keepeth in drawing vs and informing and creating this faith in our soules First of all I diuide the soule into no more parts then commonly it vseth to bee diuided that is into the heart and the minde Our minde then being a cloud of darknesse altogether blinde naturally there being nothing in that minde of ours but vanitie error and ignorance whereby wee vanish away and can neuer long continue in any good resolution or purpose What doth the spirit of God The first worke that euer the spirit of God doth he taketh order with the minde and what doth hee to the minde he banisheth darknesse he chasethout vanitie and blindnes that naturally lurketh in the mind and insteed of this darknes he placeth in the minde a light a celestiall and a heauenly light a light which is resident in Christ Iesus only Then the spirit chaseth out that cloude of miste darknes and placeth light in the minde And what worketh he by this light We getting this inward and heauenly light in the minde a sanctified vnderstanding incontinent hee makes vs to see God not only as he is God the creator of the world but also as hee is God the redeemer and hath redeemed vs in his son Christ Iesus Now before I obtaine this light what is my heart mind doing There is not one of you but haue experience as I my selfe haue in what estate the heart and minde is before that this light enter The minde lieth drowned in blindnesse and the heart is hardned and they both conspire together in vice to sette vp an Idoll in stead of God a domesticall and inuisible Idoll what sort of Idoll is that No doubt some worldly or fleshly affection or other this is sette vp in the throne of thy heart and on this Idoll thou bestowest the seruice of thy whole heart of thy whole minde of thy whole soule and bodie So that the seruice both of the soule and bodie which should be bestowed vpon God only is imployed vpon that Idoll which is set vp in thy heart that is in the place of God in the steed of the most high God And thou art more addicted to the seruice of that Idoll then euer thou wast to the seruice of the liuing God yea vntill such time that this Idoll of ours bee banished and that this blindnes whereby this Idoll is serued be taken away there is not one of you but are seruants to one lust or other thy soule that should bee consecrated to the seruice of the liuing GOD is imployed vpon one affection or other vpon some worldly or fleshly lust of thine owne But from the time that the Lord beginneth to scatter the cloudes of our naturall mindes and vnderstandings and beginneth to chase away this thicke mist of the darke soule and placeth therein some sparke of heauenly light which floweth out of Chr. and whereas we were children of the night and darknesse before hee makes vs to be light in the Lord and to be children of the light and of the day Then we see that all the things in the world besides the liuing God are vanities deceiueable allurements vnconstant shadowes fleeting and flowing without any abiding and and then wee see that our hearts
saith whether yee bee in the faith of Christ or not For being in the faith and iustified thereby on necessitie yee must haue peace with God Then the next care must bee to try your faith and to see whether ye haue faith or not Faith can no waies be tried but by the fruits faith cannot be iudged on by me that looke vpon it only but by the effects Therefore to try whether ye be in the faith or not mark the fruits Take heed to thy mouth take heed to thy hand take heede to thy words and to thy deeds for except thou glorifie God in thy mouth and confesse to thy saluation except thou glorifie him also in thy deedes make thy holy life a witnes of thy holy faith all is but vaine all is but meere hypocrisie How a sincere faith is knowen Therefore to knowe the sinceritie of thy faith thou must take heede that there be a harmonie between thy hand thy mouth and thy hart that there be a natural consent that thy doings preiudge not thy hart that thy mouth preiudge not thy heart but that mouth and hand may testifie the sinceritie of the hart If the heart the hand the mouth consent agree in one harmonie together No question that heart that breakes forth into so good fruits is coupled with God There is no question the light of thy actions the beames and shining of thy life shall make the name of thy good God to bee glorified Therefore the whole weight of our triall standes cheefely vpon this point to see whether wee bee in the fayth or not to trie and examine whether Christ dwell in vs by fayth or not for without fayth there canne be no coupling or conioyning betwixt vs Christ without faith our hearts cannot bee sanctified and cleansed and without faith we cannot worke by charitie so all depends on this onely And therefore that yee might the better vnderstand whether yee haue fayth or no I was somewhat the more exact in this matter and I beganne to let you see how the holy spirit createth faith works faith in your soules hearts and mindes I began to shewe you what order the holy spirit kept in forming and in creating this notable instrument in your hearts and mindes Not onely how hee ingenders and begins fayth but also how he intertaines it how he nourisheth it And I shewed you the externall means and instruments which hee vseth to this effect To beget faith in our soules the holy spirit vseth the hearing of the word preached by him that is sent the ministerie of the Sacraments as ordinarie meanes and instruments which ordinary meanes are onely then effectuall when as the holy spirit concurs inwardly in our hearts with the word striking outwardly in our eares and with the Sacrament outwardly receiued And except the holy spirit grant his concurrence to the word and Sacrament word and Sacrament both will not worke faith So all depends vpon the working of this holy spirit The whole regeneration of mankind the renewing of the heart and of the conscience depend on the power of the holy spirit And therefore it behoueth vs carefully to imploy our selues in calling vpon God for his holy spirit By the same means and no other that the holy spirit begâ—ts faith in vs by the same meanes hee nourisheth and augments that which hee hath begotten And therefore as we got faith by the hearing of the word so by continuall and diligent hearing we haue this faith augmeÌ„ted nourished in vs. And from hence I tooke my exhortation That if yee would haue that spirituall life nourished in you and if yee would haue a further assurance of heauen of necessitie yee must both continually and diligently heare the blessed word of God Now it resteth that euery one of you carefully apply this doctrine to your owne soules and enter into the triall of your owne consciences To see if this faith as I spake be begunne in your hearts and mindes or not how farre or how little the holy spirit hath proceeded in that worke trie with mee and I with you The first effect of the holy spirit whereby yee may trie your mindes whether yee be in the faith oâ— not is this Reuolue in your memories and remember if at any time it pleased the Lord in his mercie to turn the darknesse of your mindes into light to cause that naturall darknesse which was within you to depart Through the which darknesse neyther had yee an eye to see your selues what you were by nature nor yet had ye an eye to see God in Christ nor anie parte of his mercie Examine I say whether this darknesse of the naturall vnderstanding bee turned into light by the working of the spirit or not If thou art become a childe of the light a childe of the day If thou art become as the Apostle speaketh light in the Lord If there bee this alteration made in thy minde That whereas naturally before it was closed vp in darknesse whereas it was filled with vanities and errors wherens it was closed vp in blindnes If the Lord hath at anie time inlightened the eye of thy minde and made thee to see thine owne miserie to see the vglinesse of thine owne nature to see the heinous sins in the which by nature thou liest If hee hath granted to thee an insight of thy selfe in some measure and on the other side if hee hath granted thee the remedie and hath giuen thee an insight of the mercie of God in Christ Iesus if thou hast obtained an insight of the riches of his grace in Christ No doubt the holy spirit hath begunne a good worke worke in thee A worke which will bring forth repentance which in his owne time hee will perfect So this is the first care which yee ought to haue and the first point wherein yee ought to examine your minds To see if there bee any light in it whereby yee may know your miserie and haue an insight of the free mercie of God in Christ Iesus This being done that thou findest a sight of these two in thy minde from thy minde goe to thy heart and as thou hast tryed thy minde so try thy heart And first examine thine heart if it bee altered or not that the will of it bee framed and bowed to GODs obedience that thy affection bee turned into the life of God and bee poured out on him as it was poured out on vanities on filthinesse and on the world before Try whether the ground of thy heart and the fountaine from whence thy motions and affections proceede bee sanctified or not for from a holy fountaine holy waters must distill from a holy fountaine holy motions holy cogitations and sanctified considerations must flowe Trie then and examine your hearts if the spirit of God hath wrought any such reformation as I speake of in your harts or not And that ye may perceiue the working of the holy Spirit the better in